Event || A History of Light and Darkness

[eternitymods]

Who: Brave Explorers and/or Those Poor Souls Being Dragged Along by Friends
When: Oct 15-30th
Where: Thilmit Border Post, inside the Old Heranean Doll Museum
What: The Heroes of Light received a strange letter, and are now being asked to investigate the strange occurrences at the old doll museum.
Warnings/Notes: OOC Post Warnings for Spookiness, Creepy Dolls. Post toplevels for each group. Please post warnings as needed for memory fragments and exploration. For random numbers, use the dice functions on Plurk or Discord.



The Old Heranean Doll Museum is a small building, but somehow the dark, dusty windows and poorly maintained roof give it a menacing feel as you approach. The sign says, "OPEN"...although, as you approached, you think it might have been turned to "CLOSED".

The door creaks as it swings open, though there is no one from the museum to greet you as you enter. A cold breeze blows in behind you, sapping any lingering warmth in the room. The building is dark, and cobwebs are starting to form in the corners of the lobby and on the velvet rope stanchions that guide the flow of traffic in and out. Out of a shadowy corner, a large centipede skitters across the floor and into a crack low on the wall.

At the reception desk, one of the antique dolls sits, unmoving, unblinking. That goes without saying. Its eyes do not follow you as you enter.... The hairs prickling up on the back of your neck are just coincidence, that's all.

There is another doll perched on the wooden brochure display stand near the door. It's strange that the curator leaves the display pieces out where visitors can touch them....

As you enter, you hear something whistling through the air toward you a moment before it makes a impact. A tiny pebble, too small to do any damage other than a brief stinging. During this moment of distraction, the door slams and locks.

When you look at the spots where the dolls were perched a moment ago, there is now just empty space. There is movement in the shadows, and the nearly imperceptible sound of tiny shapes creeping around.

As you move past the lobby into the exhibits, a sign above the entryway declares:

Welcome to the Old Heranean Doll Museum. We hope you enjoy our historic Heroes of Light displays.

Comments

Clues

[eternitymods]

When your group triggers a Clue, please post a link to the comment thread here. A mod will respond to your thread to let you know what your party learns.

Re: Clues

[neverbeamemory]

4 in the History section pls

Re: Clues

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Rolled a 4 at the display case area

[spaceforged]

Rolled a 4 in the history section.

Re: Clues

[timecrash]

Rolled a 5 after rolling a 3 in the Children's Fun Center

[topgun_textiles]

A clue in the Preservation Room!

[sassafrisk]

Rolled a 6 in the History of Dolls section.

[mech_and_mutt]

A clue in Preservation!

Treats

[eternitymods]

When your group triggers a Treat, please post a link to the comment thread here. A mod will respond to your thread to let you know what your party receives.

[mythmaker]

On Azusa's roll, they defeated a Touch Me! We played it out, so we'd like a treat please!

Team: Orcelito, Snow White, Naomi

[princeandscholar]

Outside the Entrance

[princeandscholar]

In true Tactician form, Orcelito arrived early to scout the building – from the outside, at least. When his teammates find him, he’s standing by the entrance wearing the long coat of his class, grimoire by his side. His posture is stiff, and his voice sharp as he addresses his Moogle.

“Mari, I am not here to look for Kupo nuts. If you don't want to come, you can keep watch outside.” She mumbles something in response, ears back. Fine. But even if he doesn’t accept all her excellent advice, at least she convinced him not to go in alone.

Orcelito meets his teammates with a welcoming nod, though his usual smile is absent. It was a last minute request (from Mari) to call for more experienced heroes. While nervous, he doesn’t let it show; these are his teammates, after all. He can’t afford to hesitate. His manner is cordial, if more serious than normal.

“Thank you for responding to my request on short notice. I'm Orcelito Noctircus, and this is Marigold.”

He doesn't dwell on formalities, moving on swiftly with his plan. “I haven’t seen any causes for concern, but I’m told the monsters are inside. If we are engaged, I would prefer not to damage the interior more than necessary.” He wishes he could give them more intel. “My goal is to investigate and, if we can, find out what happened to the curator.”

Taking grimoire in hand, Orcelito nods towards the door. “I presume you’re both ready?”

Dollbusters: Azusa Miura, Dante, Red Savarin, Ena

[mythmaker]

Round 1: The Gift Shop (RNG: 1 - Random Encounter)

[mythmaker]

[Whrr, whrr.

A small circular vacuum moves in front of Azusa, sensors scanning the area around it in the ways only a Roomba knows how to. Every so often, it turns around to make sure its master is safe, and she is. Azusa stands close next to Ena, her support ever since she'd called her asking her to come with her to the museum. That she'd found Red outside talking to a curiously handsome fishman had been another stroke of good luck, as he would've been her second call.]

What do you think is going on, then?

[Roomba-san pauses, moves back where Red had just been walking to suck up a piece of shedded fur, and then zooms back over to resume guiding Azusa. She looks over the stands where merchandise would be, shining her flashlight and refusing to budge away from the group.]

You don't think there are...

[Her flashlight hits something. Something that moves. There, on one of the stands, is a frog. To those in the know, it's a Touch Me, a dangerous, five-star enemy of the bestiary. Azusa is not aware of this.]

...frogs? My, my. I think she's lost.

[Said frog ribbits and then jumps towards Dante. Think fast, buddy!]

Team: Amanda, Okuyasu, Sasami, Uendo, Ursula

[righthandstand]

[Okuyasu is fully prepared to fight off a monster or ghosts. After that weird encounter in the old house, he's knows he has to be prepared for more than a squatter. He arrives at the house with a duffle bag that he sets on the ground and opens for the rest of the group.]

I guess that we might be stuck in there waiting for something to happen, so I brought us some supplies. I got two flashlights from our house and wire cutters if anyone needs 'em. [He holds out said supplies for the others to take. He knows that old buildings can't take too much of a pounding, especially if they're going to be sneaky about this.]

And I got us snacks! I brought apples and these things wrapped up in leaves? Its made from corn but it's pretty sweet. And a couple water bottles if we're thirsty.

[and here's a small book.]

I found this at the farm office. It's a crossword puzzle book. Don't worry, I asked if anyone wanted to keep it first.

[This isn't a camping trip, Okuyasu.]

[beariot]

[ Well this young man certainly was... prepared. ]

I appreciate everything you put thought to, but I at least won't be needing a flashlight. I can use fire magic to create a pretty worthwhile torch.

Team: Radical Newbies!

[timecrash]

This space intentionally left blank

Round 1: Fun Sold Seperately

[timecrash]

Serge is already mildly concerned by the fact that the door's locked behind them all... but it's been decided by the majority that they should all split up and search for clues! No way could this possibly go horribly wrong.

He leads the way off into the 'Children Fun Center', sliding around the pastel-colored counter display. It's all so bright and cheerful, with a room covered in soft, spongy mats, paper and craft supplies strewn over every available surface. "Man... I probably would've loved this place as a kid. Look at all this stuff. You could make a hell of a mess with all this glue and glitter."

Kouhai Team: Kanji, Naoto

[topgun_textiles]

A History of Dolls

[topgun_textiles]

"Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world..."

"The earliest dolls were made from available materials such as clay, stone, wood, bone, ivory, leather, or wax..."

"Archaeological evidence places dolls as the foremost candidate for the oldest known toy."


He could have sworn the power was off in the building, but nothing stopped the droning sound system from giving factoids while the pair stood face to face with wall-to-wall placards and cases filled with sheets of old wax samples, stray bits of doll hair made out of yawn. The air was still and dusty, lending a hollowness to the narrator's voice hanging and echoing through the abandoned building.

But he blinked, froze. Within the stacked-high little jars of finely-crafted glass eyes ready to be used to grant expression and purpose into a waiting doll's countenance, he could swear some of them had turned to look at him. Some had even begun to follow his movements.

The Lady of Bliss Troupe: Madhuri, Yotsuyu, Papyrus, Kuja

[songbird_slayer]

The Display Cases (Trap!)

[songbird_slayer]

[She ran her fingers over the edge of yet another empty display case. With nothing but their lonely stands and placards describing their history, this room made this museum a rather sorry one indeed. But she was no tracker, unable to notice the faint impressions of tiny footprints leading outward to the rest of the building proper, denoting the miniature escapees.]

Every last one of these... should thievery be the cause, they would be a very rich man or woman indeed.

Mirror Team: Frisk, Frisk, Riku, Takeshi, Marinette

[sassafrisk]

On getting the mysterious message, Frisk's first thought was, "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE." Their second was, "Wait, I smell adventure." Their third was, "I should get my friends all together and get all adventurin' up in this creepy doll museum!" Unfortunately for Frisk.bin, in their intense hours-long internal debate over whether the possibility of adventure was worth dealing with creepy dolls brief hesitation, everybody else had already joined up with different parties that didn't really have much room for them. Pretty much the only ones left were Frisk.exe and Marinette.

Thankfully, networking was one of Frisk's best skills, so they somehow managed to rope two new people into their adventuring schemes. They wait in the lobby for the others to arrive, nervously eyeing the lowkey-highkey terrifying dolls and nervously fiddling with one of their many, many bladed weapons.

Re: Mirror Team: Frisk, Frisk, Riku, Takeshi, Marinette

[waningsigns]

[Frisk.exe comes... well, not skidding exactly, it's hard to skid when you're floating three inches off the ground. They're so happy they picked Illusionist. Levitation is awesome. But anyway, if they were on the ground, they would currently be skidding through the front door with a manic grin and a long, heavy stick in their hands. As it is, it's more... very speedy, slightly sideways floating.]

"Ghosts! Ghosts! Ghosts!" [they chant, whisper-shouting and waving the stick about like a bat.] "It's Halloween, gonna fight a ghost!"

The Swordmasters: Adrien, Baiken, Sephiroth

[modelcivilian]

Round 1 Swordmasters: A History of Dolls - Roll 4

[neverbeamemory]

[After the brief distraction of the pebble impacting with the firm leather of his upper arm, Sephiroth immediately strides back towards the door he'd entered and tries to force it back open. Of course, it's locked shut now. He's not one to get creeped out easily at all, but the fact that the two dolls that were present in the lobby area just aren't there anymore can mean only one of two things.

Either, they moved on their own, or they were simply not there in the first place and whatever veil of illusion they were being made to see upon entry had been lifted.

It doesn't take long for Sephiroth to find himself in the company of Adrien and Baiken; the former being the 14-year old boy had assisted him at the swordmasters guild before, it seemed at least they'd be capable enough to deal with any troublesome doll that might decide to jump out at them.

The history section is the natural place to start; can't start learning about anything without the background knowledge]

Team Cinnamon Rolls: Finn, Tidus, Sora, Nozomi

[hatejakku]

Preservation Room: Random Encounter!

[hatejakku]

Finn was deciding the merits of just turning around rather than staying with the group. And he thought the Children's Corner sounded bad.

Dolls weren't a fear for him. Why would they be? But seeing them in pieces, missing eyes or arms or torsos or heads, no hair, no clothes, jaws hanging open on hinges, dangling from hooks in the ceiling, scattered across long wooden tables- He wasn't a fan of this section.

But it was creeping him out, so he naturally went first to spare the others at least a little bit. The next corner they turn entered into a short hallway with an open door to their right beside a long dirty pane of plexiglass. The hall ended there, so it must have been a way for kids to watch how the dolls were made. Now, the workshop just looks like it was left in a hurry, all of the dolls, tools, and pieces abandoned in place. The single light flickering overhead doesn't help the atmosphere. The floor was concrete and the walls were tiled, zapping out any warmth the place could have had. There were just splinters and unseeing eyes everywhere.

Finn was quiet as he slowly walked in, aiming for the next doorway at the end of the room. But once he passed the tables and had a clear path, he paused. "Guys."

There's a chest in front of them, blocking the door. A simple chest alone would have been weird enough but this one was spectral. It was somewhere between white, cyan, and transparent, wisps of vapor rising from the lid.

Finn would love to be cool and confident and have all the answers right now, but, um- "Guys, I have no idea what to do." Should they touch it? Should they leave? Should they hop over it one by one? Finn was bravely on point this whole time. Give him a break.

Team: Ignis, Ravus, Gladio, Dylas

[regalblaze]

The Entrance

Ignis had encountered countless daemons before, terrifying monsters and savage animals. Mind lashers, flayers, exploding bombs filled with dark energies and black sludge and mucus- but nothing compares to this.

He's been standing in front of the reception desk in what appears to be a staredown. With a doll. With an extremely creepy doll that somehow feels alive despite the obvious fact that it is not. Slowly, Ignis' fingers wrap around the daggers sheathed at his belt, ready to pull it out and shove it into the doll if even hair moves on its head.

...he kind of forgot that the others are with him. Whoever was the last one to enter and closed the door, it made Ignis almost jump out of his skin. However, he didn't move an inch.
Godsdamn this place. He can feel it shaving years off of his lifespan.

"Careful," he says simply and narrows his eyes back at the doll.

[sonoftenebrae]

Ravus sweeps through the lobby as if he owns the place. He doesn't see any obvious threats, and after years spent in close proximity to the empire's Magitek Troopers, he's long since gotten over any feelings of discomfort around lifeless doll faces.

Honestly, he's more disgusted than anything. The state of this place. The disrepair is bordering on neglect, and the antique dolls have just been left strewn about. Pathetic.

"Come. The lest time we waste here, the better. Let us be quick."

He flinches when the door slams, because of the dust the motion stirs up, he will firmly maintain.

Team: Ashe, Castor, Cor, Noctis, Regis

[regisrex]

Gathering + Preservation room: rolled 5

[regisrex]

Regis and Cor flew in with Noctis, to meet up with two people for the exploration itself. Regis had his Summoner on, since that was his stronger asterisk and he was still not steady enough, by his own standards, to take up exploration with Stave Master active.

The faces that their meeting was with were, indeed, familiar. He inclined his head, slightly.

"Castor. Your Majesty." Although he was aware that Ashe might not, actually, recognize him back. He glanced at Noctis, then at everyone else in turn. "I am ready for what is to come whenever we all are."

Big Team is Big: Reno, Bonnie, Johnny, Angeal, Olivier, Terra, Prompto, Kenichi

[shinra_dog]

Reno's eyebrows rose when the group had fully assembled. "Wow... Okay, more of us than I thought, but okay -- no, this is good. This is good." He nodded decisively. "Rather go in guns blazin' on this crazy shit."

He didn't recognize the two that had come with Angeal, but if the SOLDIER trusted them then he would too -- at least for this.

"Reno," he introduced himself to them.

[angealwings]

"Angeal." Introductions were, indeed, a good beginning. Guns blazing, on the other hand...

"Might I ask that we go in with the guns at the ready, though not necessarily firing. There may be some information worth recovering."

For the sake of getting them all on the same page.

Team: Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Pidge

[spaceforged]

History section + gathering. D6 roll = 4

[spaceforged]

Remember, stick together. Do not go off alone and don't lose your lanterns.

[Shiro says as he stands in front of the reception desk. The doll sitting on the surface seems to stare into nothing but a vague nameless sense of dread curls in his mind.

He hadn't known what to expect when he had discussed coming to investigate the museum. The state of the small building puts him on edge. This is a trap, his senses tell him. He checks his lantern. More than enough fuel.]

Let's check for any sort of records, first. We can search for who owned this place and maybe find out who sent those letters.

TEAM UNTOUCHA-DOLL: ren, ann, futaba and iwai

[masqueraid]

multimedia room: it's a trap

[masqueraid]

( definitely nothing sinister about this place, or the dolls that kept making themselves known. although stealth wasn't exactly a necessity in this situation, the ninja-clad ren found it hard to infiltrate any other way...

so as he waved to the rest of the team to follow him through the double doors, it's with a quiet— ) Hmm... ( that he finds himself inside the room playing a short film. it was nothing they hadn't already heard before probably, but there was just something about those puppets... )

Anything useful? ( what do you think, guys? )

Employee's Only Section

[eternitymods]

In the employee's only section at the back of the museum, there is an empty break room, a storage room, an office with a locked door, and an emergency exit. A light shines from the crack underneath the door leading to the Curator's office.

For this section, please start with a single roll.

Roll a 1: A ghostly monster will appear. The Curator will open the door and allow you to enter to escape the battle. (The group can still elect to fight and receive a prize if they want).

Roll a 2: Your group can enter the storage room and retrieve a prize. (Group can roll again after receiving their prize.)

Roll a 3: ????

Roll a 4: The Curator will open her door and allow you to enter and talk to her.

Roll a 5: The group will encounter a group of dolls (5+). The dolls will attempt to prevent the party from reaching the Curator's office. After defeating the dolls, the group can enter the office.

Roll a 6: The group can choose their roll.

Please start a thread here when your group enters the Employee's Only Section and put your roll result in your subject line. A mod will respond to your thread with the results of prize rolls, clues from the Curator, and the result of a trap roll.

Rikki rolled a 6, so we're taking the dreaded 3: ???

[mythmaker]

Roomba-san. Please destroy this. 💜

[After wandering out of the preservation group and down another hallway because she spotted something pale in the distance, Azusa is naturally disappointed to find something so disturbing. Her Roomba whirrs behind her, obeying her command and setting the mask on fire. Ah, the perks of being a puppeteer. The mask is ashes in a matter of moments, and she safely puts the fire out with her bottle of water. Only she can prevent haunted museum fires, after all.

After collecting herself, she realizes she's separated herself from the rest of the group. Just where is she? It only takes her a moment longer to notice an employee's only sign resting on the ground nearby.]

My, my.

[She steps inside, the soft motor of her faithful vacuum sounding behind her. With a smile, she crouches and gives her companion a few pets as if he's a real pet.]

Just what do you suppose is back here? And where do you suppose the others are?

[Hopefully they'll follow all the clues she's left behind and find her in time.]

CONCLUSION

[eternitynpc]

Thanks to the effort of all the brave heroes who investigated, the curator was able to piece together much of the story behind the doll museum's mysterious happening. Of course, there are some things that are still shrouded in mystery. In particular, the vile and dreaded King... Where did he come from...? The clues, legitimate as they are, do not make a shred of sense! More than that, they do not point to any place she knows of. Is this some place on another world? Or could it be somewhere on Vaikuntha, a place that isn't listed on any maps? Perhaps this is a mystery for the heroes to resolve on their own before the next Night of the Thirteen Moogles...

Regardless, it is clear beyond the shadow of a doubt he entered the museum through a rift when the Night of the Thirteen Moogles's celebrations started. Perhaps, she theorizes, his presence on the forefront of so many people's minds across Vaikuntha and the seething hatred for the Heroes of Light is what allowed his spirit to materialize. This energy from the rift allowed the dolls shaped after past Heroes of Light to move on their own. Haunted? Perhaps that is what some want to believe, but why go for a mystical explanation when a perfectly reasonable one is here, right?

With his powers, whatever their source is, he tricked the dolls into believing the current generation of Heroes of Light brought the Calamity with them. Since the new generation of Heroes of Light were draining the power he was harvesting from the Lost Souls of Moogles - And this through the Spirits High and Low quests undertaken by the heroes - He set the two sets of Heroes against one another in hopes of eliminating all threats to himself. What more beautiful and delicious of a revenge, after all, than to have his archnemesises kill each other? Truly, the King's evil knows no bounds. Thus, the Heroes of Light dolls lured the new Heroes of Light into the Museum. But of course, as you all well know, they were unable to defeat them.

Subsequently, the Heroes beat up the King's doll form, which was the only form he was able to maintain. It wouldn't have been possible, had the heroes not worked to drain his power source. Ultimately, Moggle Mog escaped, severely weakened and still in doll form, and the Hero of Light dolls are no longer a threat. Perhaps they have found some measure of peace. Of course, this is no true victory. Weakened or not, the King now has a physical form. Perhaps he is plotting right at this moment how to bring his enemies down.

But, she theorizes, he will always be too prideful and will always aim to kill them during the month of his own downfall.

[OOC: Characters can discuss the event underneath this header. Groups are free to continue their event threads if they have not reached the conclusion, and can thread out reactions or meetings after the conclusion if they wish.]