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

[topgun_textiles]

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.

[pishirogane]

[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?

[eternitynpc]

[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.

[topgun_textiles]

[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'.

[pishirogane]

[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.

[eternitynpc]

[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...]

[topgun_textiles]

[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.

[pishirogane]

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.

[eternitynpc]

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?]