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

[balancingedge]

[He may not be all that savvy when it comes to horror movie and tv show tropes, but splitting up in a creepy and mostly abandoned building did not sit well with him. Especially after juuust getting over the slight paranoia of glowing yellow eyes watching him again. He keeps Pidge and the other two on the other side of the room in his periphery. Not to mention an ear out for anything they say or something else moving besides their footsteps.]

Just how many of them are there? [He asks, while reading a plaque on how more dolls were found over time.]

[thegoofball]

Too many. [He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks through.

He spots the strange...something underneath the photograph Shiro's looking at, and he reaches out for it without even thinking. It stands out, and is therefore important in some way, but when he gets a look at it...

Mog. No record of purchase or receipt of donation.]

Shiro...You should look at this. [He swallows.] It looks like their inventory, but...

[pidgeypidge]

[Fortunately(?) for them, Pidge is pretty savvy when it comes to horror movie tropes. And splitting up in a creepy abandoned building that might or might not be haunted is pretty much at the top of the list of Mistakes That Get People Murdered. So while she does go off on her own to poke around the room, she's definitely keeping an ear out for anything screwy.

She's also systematically snapping photos of anything that looks like it might be important (so pretty much everything), and it's only when Lance speaks up that she turns to look at him properly.] But it's creepy~? [Try not to sound so excited, Pidge.]

[spaceforged]

[Shiro breaks away from his reading to get a look at what Lance found. He reads over the inventory with a frown on his face.]

...no record of purchase? [He picks up the photos and looks through them scanning with care for a moogle doll. There is no sign of a moogle. What he finds instead stops him cold. He stares at the dolls in the third photograph. Sitting among them with a face he's known for years and clad in his Paladin armor accented in red is Keith. There's no scar, his hair is shorter, face rounder.

Shiro points to him.] Keith, Pidge. I need you over here. We found something. I think our next stop should be to see the dolls themselves.

[balancingedge]

[Pidge isn't the only one who is taking photos of what they find and may be of interest later, and is likely about to turn to her with a quirked eyebrow because wow, Katie. Someone certainly sounds far too excited for this madness. What are you even doing?

That's when his attention snaps to the other group. He taps on Pidge's shoulder slightly just in case and moves over to the other two. His gaze immediately goes to where Shiro points as he looks at the photos, and his eyes widen.]

Me? [Or at least, a version of him. His eyebrows crease in confusion, mouth making a fine line. It looks like a doll version of himself when he was younger; from before he even knew his mother was still alive.

He has no memory of this. He has no idea why anyone would make a doll of him, not in a style like the others shown in this photo. Back in their reality, sure. They're all heroes to a lot of people, but this...

He pushes it aside for now, shoves it down to contemplate later. There are more important matters to deal with right now; they aren't safe.]

What else have you found? I heard something about an inventory? ['Are any of the others listed?' he asks, even though he doesn't see any of them in the photo. No one he recognizes.]

[thegoofball]

[Things are getting worse and worse. The dolls alone were bad enough - dolls are creepy even when they're not in half-abandoned museums and are mysteriously appearing!

When one of those dolls is someone you know...

Well. To say Lance doesn't like it would be an understatement. He does not like this one bit and he regrets coming here and he would like to leave, actually, so he'll not have to deal with all of this creepy nonsense and in fact get to live another day.

They're all going to die.]

Y-yeah, it seems like a list of all the dolls they have. [He swallows, offering the paper to Keith.] And one they don't know anything about.

[But none of them. Just Keith.]

[pidgeypidge]

[Maybe she is a little more excited about this than she should be. Don't judge her. But she's quick enough to join the rest of the group at Shiro's prompting. All it takes is a quick glance at the photos to have her eyes widening, though.] Wow, that's... cute.

[And weird. And also a little creepy. But she can't help noticing that there's only a Keith doll. None of the rest of them seem to have been represented. Which is both something of a relief and slightly disappointing.]

I agree. Getting a look at the dolls next seems like the best plan. [And not just because she wants to get some photos of them. But mostly for that reason. So don't mind her if she casually snaps a quick photo of the photo and another of the list.

It's all for science. It's fine.]

[spaceforged]

We need to see these dolls up close for ourselves. Are we all in agreement? [He looks to Keith, waiting for his voice to be raised in command. He might be the commander on the field but they're equals. If Keith suggests a different path than the displays.

He'll fall in line with him. They're united. He takes a second to use his slate to take pictures of the inventory and photos.]

To the Display Cases! D6 roll = 2 (treat)

[balancingedge]

Let's go. I'm curious about "Mog," myself.

[Yes, they are in agreement.] We may find out more about them from the employees only section, and we have to go through the display cases to get there.

[Just seeing the dolls won't give definite clues. Besides, it's... weird. An inventory shouldn't be just sitting there out in the open where anyone could find. Even if the atmosphere of this place wasn't so wrong, that would have been enough to tip anyone off to something being up.

He heads for the door leading to the display cases section of the museum.]

[thegoofball]

[He knows he shouldn't be surprised - and truthfully, he isn't. But still, keeping up with exploring the spooky, definitely haunted mansion?

He'd say "thanks but no thanks" but that would mean leaving alone, and that's not happening.]

Great. Sounds like a great plan.

[Sarcasm drips from his voice, and he lets out a gusty sigh.

They're all going to die.]

[pidgeypidge]

[Of course she's in agreement, Shiro! But she's also not going to push the issue too much if everyone else isn't up for it.]

Let's do it.

[There's not really much else to say after that, so she'll happily follow Keith toward the door to the next section.

Don't worry, Lance. It'll probably be fine.]

This is gonna be great.

[spaceforged]

[Like he always does he ignores Lance’s sarcasm. He ghosts after Keith with his hand falling to the sword belted to his hip. He glances back at Pidge and one thoughtful look at the mentioned sharpshooter. He shakes his head and slows his pace to let the pair catch up and possibly use him as a shield.

They pass into the display cases room and that’s when he notices a bottle sitting out by a case. He drifts closer without touching it. It looks suspiciously like wine. He signals for Keith to come over in case he missed it.]

[balancingedge]

[Unlike Shiro, he doesn't hesitate to touch it. Nothing happens, at the initial poke, so he grabs it, eyebrow raised. It's full, the seal hasn't been tampered with, and yes, it is indeed wine. He inspects the label, which reads:

Kuponay Savignmog.

... Really?] Who brings alcohol to a museum?

[He makes a face, but places the bottle in his pack. Oh well. Theirs, now.]

[thegoofball]

People who are smarter than us.

[No, he's not interested in the wine. Why would you think that? He's a responsible young man who wouldn't ever do anything like try to make a sneaky swipe towards Keith's bag to get a better look at the bottle.

Nope. He would never do that.

Except for the fact he does try to do that.]

[pidgeypidge]

I wouldn't bring booze to a museum.

[Because she'd actually want to pay attention to the exhibits, and having alcohol would kind of be counterproductive.

Either way, she's just shaking her head at Lance's casual attempt to swipe at Keith's bag.]

[spaceforged]

[Shiro simply steps between Lance's swiping hand and Keith's bag. He shakes his head.] It might have been intended as a gift for the staff. Let's keep a look out and move on.

[So far there's nothing to glean more secrets from but, he has thoughts on that. Something is going on. It feels slightly off.]

D6 roll = 4 (Clue, and not the board game)

[balancingedge]

[Even if Shiro hadn't done so, Keith noticed immediately. Lance, they don't have a corkscrew on them. You wouldn't get it opened even they wanted to right now. Not without possibly hurting themselves.]

Might be. [Though that also doesn't make sense.] Let's go.

[There may be something they haven't noticed yet.]

[thegoofball]

[Fine. Be that way.

Lance pouts, hand dropping to his side. He sees how it is.]

Man, this sucks. Who even cares about all these creepy dolls? They're haunted! Case closed!

[He doesn't want to go deeper.]

[pidgeypidge]

[That was actually a good point.] But if it was a gift for the staff, wouldn't they have taken it when they left?

[Unless it was just left behind in all the excitement. But either way it's probably a good idea to keep moving. They could always take a closer look at the wine later.]

Yea, let's go.

[She sees that pout, Lance, and she's trying very hard not to poke at him for it.]

You know, you could always stay in here if you don't want to come see the rest of the building with us.

[Or maybe she's not trying very hard at all.]

[spaceforged]

[He lets the teasing play out. It's harmless and could relieve some tension of being in a creepy dollhouse.]

Either that or it could have been a prop? [They can inspect it later. As they move through the room Shiro checks drawers and cabinets. Most of them don't seem worth anything. But on their way to the door he finds one that's locked.]

...Interesting. [He checks if it can be popped it open with just a tug. Nope.]

Keith, you're up.

[balancingedge]

The liquid inside it is real enough. [He can't smell it that strongly, but the weight told him enough that it's real alright. And now that he's said it he's going to need to keep an eye on Lance going for his backpack again.

He watches Shiro, holding up his lantern so the other can see what he's doing. When one of them refuses to open, he quirks an eyebrow. Well. That needs to be fixed.

He hands Shiro his lantern because he'll need both hands for this. He also pulls out a lockpick set from his pocket and gets to work. Never leaves home without at least one. It takes a bit to figure out how this particular lock works, but soon he has it clicking unlocked and opens it.]

[thegoofball]

Is it real or is it real-real? [He eyes Keith's backpack again, but he doesn't say anything about it.

He does, however, lean in close as Keith begins to pick the lock, hands on his hips.]

Been getting a lot of practice with breaking and entering in, huh?

[No, he's not still mad about his chandelier. Nope.

He pokes through the contents once the door swings open, brow furrowing.]

This all looks like stuff for doll repair - and some weapons?

[pidgeypidge]

[Of course she's not expecting Lance to agree to hang out in this part alone. Still, she can't resist the urge to tease him a little.]

Maybe.

[She's not really sure why they'd need a prop wine bottle, so she just shrugs it off and follows Shiro's lead, keeping an eye out for anything that might look interesting. But really, it's mostly just more of the same generic spooky building stuff aside from that one locked cabinet.

Which Keith is apparently handling. So she makes sure to stand out of the way while Keith works his magic, and then she weasels her way around to get a better look.]

Dibs on the slingshot.

[She doesn't even need a weapon like that, but it might be nice to have.]

[spaceforged]

[Shiro holds up the lamp to let them get a better look at the contents. Pidge is already calling dibs and he can't see anything good coming of allowing it. But, until it's a problem he'll keep observing and letting it happen.]

Good call, Lance. It could supply for doll repair. Maybe for anything immediate and more involved repairs have a specific room? But we still don't know about this mog that wasn't purchased by the museum.

[He ignores Lance's remarks about breaking and entering. He doesn't need to know he's learning how to pick locks himself just by observing. He'd likely explode.]

[balancingedge]

We'll find out when we get home. [That's the last he's saying about it. There's a corkscrew in one of the kitchen drawers. They'll open it and find out later.

If only Lance knew. Eh, why not.] Had a lot of practice growing up.

[He looks to Pidge. Eh, he takes a photo then hands the slingshot to her. Before closing it again and locking it.]

Let's keep moving.