melodiesofeternity | Event || A History of Light and Darkness

Event || A History of Light and Darkness

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.

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... I still have your tea if you want it.

[It's a very odd habit she can't break. Hopefully, he doesn't notice her face turn pink... or red.]

A-Ah... yes. But if you're not, I can get down.

[He shook his head. If he was gonna get used to this kind of thing, he needed to stop with the chasers as far as he was concerned. A man took his damn medicine and didn't bitch about it!

But he stood up straighter and hooked his arms beneath her knees. His fingers worked to turn the massive sword's blade backward. No need to accidentally stick anybody, right?]

I'm- I'm just checkin'! S'fine!

[Holy shit his heart was going to explode. He turned and headed for the faculty office. Was she always this light? Ah, but she ate like a damn bird. He needed to make bigger dinners.]

[There was nothing wrong with a chaser. It'd help make sure the medicine went down, but it was his choice. For now, she would put away her own weapon while he carefully stored his own. Right, sword on the back... she'd be careful.]

If you're certain.

[He already was holding onto her knees... She would make sure to duck down when necessary.]

[If these two ~~lovebirds~~ platonic buddies are ready to go, the door to the office opens a little wider.]

Is he gone?

[The same sliver of face scans the area around the two, and seeing no sign of the Moggle Mog doll, finally opens the door. A short-for-her-kind Bangaa woman stands inside the office.]

Quickly, come inside. He could come back.

[The office behind her has been converted into a temporary shelter, with a lobby couch now serving as a bed and a pile of vending machine wrappers in the corner. It does not look like the Curator has left her office in days.]

[Well, he saw no reason to refuse the offer. But he shouldn't linger for long if he can't just get her out of here and to safety. Kanji's on the move to take that offer and head inside.]

Uhh, just lettin' ya know, some people're planning on burning the museum down with everything in it, so we probably shouldn't stick for very long.

[Naoto was somewhat startled at the appearance, having been bothered enough by the King, that she almost forgot about the Curator. But now she was there and inviting them in... with Naoto shooting a sharp leer down at Kanji. Did he have to tell her that?]

[It'll go away once they're properly inside the office, her brows furrowing at the sight.]

How long have you been stuck in here?

[The Curator gasps, and shakes her head at Kanji.]

No, you can't burn it down! Absolutely not!

[Huffing, she faces Naoto.]

I'm not stuck exactly, but I can't leave until I figure out what's going on here. If I leave, that awful Mog will take them all away and I'll never get them back!

[Her voice rises as she says that, and she has to take a moment to breath and calm herself.]

But I am getting ahead of myself. My name is Celain, and I am the curator of this museum. Please, tell me who you are and what you've learned so far.

Not me, damn it, but... somebody might! S'why... ugh, nevermind.

[But that's a kicker right there. The king dude wanted to take the dolls somewhere. He scratched his head and gave things some thought.]

Kanji. So this place is about history, craftsmanship, but it's... it's old. It didn't do a good job to hold kids' interest. I can feel that- I had some kids from home who didn't give a shit about dolls, or... all the work n' love that goes into 'em.

But somethin' has the dolls up in arms, and the rooms are cursed. Also the dolls keep gettin' cleaned of dirt on their feet, like they've been on regular trips outside somewhere. Since... April, right? When we all got here? But way more lately.

[... just because she said no didn't mean Naoto would stop considering the option. Nonetheless, she wanted to know what they uncovered.]

[Though, providing some critique and feedback into the museum overall would help entertain future customers so she didn't stop Kanji from doing that.]

Indeed. Though, their more frequent activity this month I assume has to do with that moogle we just faced. Whether or not he may be behind them since April, however, is a point of debate. Still, he did refer to us as 'Calamity-marked'. Whether him or another source, it's likely there is a shared disdain towards us.

[Celain thinks it over.]

I suppose it did start about that time...but I don't recall seeing the moogle doll until earlier this month. That's when everything started going wrong! Even when the dolls started becoming active, they never tried to harm anyone...until that moogle came.

[She frowns at Kanji.] There are some children who love this place. True, it might not be for everyone, but it's not old, it's vintage!

[Kanji isn't endearing himself to her. She focuses on Naoto, who has offended her less.]

Shit, ya sound like my mom...

[He couldn't mask the eye roll, scratching the back of his head. It's vintage... still old as hell, lady. Naoto was the better talker anyway, so it was no skin off his back if he leaves the puzzling to the detective.

Wait.]

Hold on- you were cleaning the dolls along, weren't ya, and knew they moved this whole damn time? Ya didn't let somebody know??

Until the moogle doll...

[She placed a hand on her chin, considering this new information. Could it be part of the hauntings...?]

... There's been a number of incidents involving Moogles this month. And supposedly, King Moggle Mog influence strengthens during this month. Still... do you know who brought this doll, or which doll might've brought it in?

[Celain snorts at Kanji's question and directs her answers at Naoto.]

There have always been stories about the dolls being...active...sometimes. It may be strange for Outworlders, but in this world, Black Mages and Puppetmasters can animate dolls. I'd never seen them move, but sometimes if I lose my keys, they appear the next morning on my desk, or if I fall asleep in my office, I wake up and find a cup of coffee. So I didn't think it was so strange, at first...

[She sighs.] But the moogle doll just appeared one day. There's no record of an acquisition from before I took over, and I certainly didn't bring it in. I thought it must've just been in storage and been overlooked, but now I think it might be something more sinister.

[Celain sits down on her couch and looks up at the sky.] I am not sure what makes this year so different than all the others. The Moggle Mog stories are all just silly legend.

Yeah, screw you too.

[He turned to Naoto.]

So we just find the doll and do somethin' with it. It can't do its thing if it's been turned to fluff. There has to be a mastermind who'll try to send a replacement somehow.

I mean, it ain't like we can talk to the dolls and have 'em show us anything.

[From her place on Kanji's shoulders, Naoto placed her hands calmly on his head, hoping that'd ease his temper a little.]

... That's what we'll do for now; perhaps not destroy it, but relieve the museum of it. Still, the fact the dolls move around, but we don't know who is controlling them normally... that's something we'll have to examine later. At least, you're neither a Black Mage or Puppet Master yourself, are you?

[Celain shakes her head.] No, I'm a Scholar. I don't think the dolls had been animated since the old days of the Puppetmaster tours, until now. The previous curator...she used to think the dolls were special. That they didn't need someone controlling them in order to move from time to time. But there was never anything like this, where they moved so obviously.

[She finally acknowledges Kanji.] Talk to them....hmmm? That might.... Never mind. If you can find the moogle doll and destroy it, that might help.

[H-he wasn't a pet... but the visible tension in his body had begun to ease and he settled on a frown, face flushed less from anger and more by something else.]

Yeah... we can keep goin' at it. But you know you gotta split until the place is secure. At least hang out outside or somethin'.

[She knows he's not a pet... but it's nice to know he relaxed still.]

[There's a mental note of Celain's pause at the mention of talking to the dolls, but that might only get them so far right now.]

... Right. We'll go get the moogle doll, but Kanji-kun's correct. You should try to move to a safer location.

[Celain seems distracted, but she nods absently.]

I suppose if you insist...You two kids go on ahead. You don't want an old bangaa interrupting your date. I can reach the emergency exit on my own. If you scared him off earlier, I doubt the mog doll will be back right away. You can rest and come back later.

[She still hasn't learned all she needs, so she's reluctant to actually leave the musuem yet. Perhaps when the other groups report in and share their intel...]

[Stubborn. He can't just grab her and get her out of here, either. With a sigh, he let it go, if... anything because of the head rubs. They were nice. But he started, raised a fist as he visibly bristled:]

Wh-what the hell d'you mean, date!? Th-this is a rescue mission!

[He frowned and turned away to the door, ears visibly red.]

...And we saw to your safety! We're gonna check around for the moogle doll n' go talk to the others.

This would be an odd choice for a date...

[Not even going to comment on the whole 'Celain assumes they're dating in the first place'.]

If we don't find the doll, we will have to come back.

My museum is a perfectly fine destination for a date. PLENTY of romances have started here.

[Celain grumbles. First, they say her museum isn't good for kids, now they claim it's not a place for lovers? What's next, will these punk teenagers deny that craftspeople and collectors don't belong here either?]

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Event || A History of Light and Darkness

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