isleofavalon | [open] some dark web quests~

🧙 WHO: Klaudia and anyone!
⚔️️ WHAT: Some spooky apparition and ransom note quests
🕒 WHEN: Towards the end of the month, after the solstice
🗺️ WHERE: Network and around Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: implied animal harm, [explicit animal cracker harm], ghosts???

☠🛡️ Creepers [Around Camelot]

It's nighttime in Camelot. The moon is at least mostly full, so it's not as dark as it could be; but the streets are quiet and most everyone should be in bed.

Maybe you're walking alone through the town, when you catch a glimmer of... something(?) out of the corner of your eye. Seven feet tall and glowing faintly, it looks almost human, except the limbs are entirely too long and move with unnatural joints. The face remains indistinguishable, and when you snap your attention for a closer look--it's not there anymore.

Or maybe you're enjoying a quiet evening at home, minding your own business when a ghostly visage appears in the window. Doesn't matter if it's the first floor or the second floor. It's close enough to the window that you should see its breath--only there is no fog on the glass. Just a faintly human-shaped slightly-glowing face with no distinguishable features. It presses its white glowing hand up against the glass, and the mouth(?) slowly opens wide like a scream, before it sinks below the window frame and out of view. The glow fades shortly after.

Or maybe you're looking for whatever this thing is? It's appeared a few times now, and people are starting to Talk. Is there some new horror unleashed on the town, or is someone just pulling a prank?

☠🛡️ Ransom [Over the network]

[An anonymous video post appears on the network. As it starts, it's clearly the middle of the night, though there's very little to set the scene by. The camera is facing down at the ground, which is primarily a barren patch of reddish dirt with some shoots of grass. Some sort of artificial light hangs overhead, illuminating the ground where a bunch of animal crackers have been laid out on the dirt. All of the animal shapes are rabbits, and for every single one, the head has been meticulously snapped off of the body. The heads are scattered about carelessly, but the bodies have been arranged to form a message:]

999,999,999G FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF LORD AND LADY FUZZLERTON
FAILURE TO PAY WILL BE EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT

[Two rabbit crackers have been placed facing each other at the bottom of the message, wholly intact and awaiting their fate.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hijikata has earned himself an eyeroll for his troubles, but he turns the question back on her too quickly for her to provoke him further.]

No idea! Lucky for you, I've never been a ghost, so I wouldn't know.

[She hasn't forgotten her promise to haunt him if she dies, even if it was an empty threat. She's obviously not planning on dying anytime soon, but she hopes he remembers anyway.]

[Though, speaking of ghosts... If she doesn't want to look too suspicious, then maybe there should be another appearance of said ghost. Wouldn't that be a good alibi if she was here with him when it showed up?]

[She's careful to make sure that his attention is focused out ahead of them--and then makes a few small motions with her hands behind his back. In the distance, close to another residence, the tall ghost-figure fades into view. It crouches down to the first floor window, pressing its hand against the glass and moving its face close.]

[Oh, he definitely remembers that promise (wasn't it more of a threat, really?), and he has no intention of letting her die on his watch... but he almost bowls her over in a panicked back-up motion when the tall spectral creature suddenly appears again.]

Th-there!!

...

What the hell is it doing? Just peeping on the people?

[Creepy!! He doesn't want that thing watching him sleep, so he doesn't wish that on anybody else either! He quickly regains his composure, hoping Klaudia will lets this slide for once.]

I'm going to give it a warning.

[He squares his shoulders and briskly marches towards the apparition, one hand on his sword hilt, useless as it'll be in case of an altercation. He'll just treat it as a peeping creeper rather than a spooky ghoul, that should do the trick! And even then, he's a death mage!! He isn't afraid! This will definitely be true if only he tells himself fervently enough! Once he's within hearing distance he calls out to the ghost.]

Hey, Sir or Madam? May I ask what you're doing?

[He almost stumbles in her, and she has to put a hand on his back to keep from getting bowled over. Oh, how bad that could have gone to lose her concentration on the spell right there. So risky...]

[But the moment passes and he starts to storm closer--a surprising reaction. Any thought of teasing him for his reaction before is put on pause.]

What? Really?

[This new backbone of his is interesting... And she's supposed to be scaring people! If she can't even scare this guy, what is she doing?]

[She follows after him, but lagging by a few feet. She hears him address her apparition, but unfortunately a creature made of light can't make sound and can't respond in a manner like that. So she has to improvise...]

[The apparition turns to look at Hijikata, then turns its head to the side ninety degrees. It's mouth opens, but no sound comes out. The jaw hangs groutesquely, sagging sideways as it opens wider and wider... The whole creature begins to melt like liquid into the ground.]

[Honestly, even if the ghost had disappeared upon Hijikata's collision with Klaudia it's doubtful whether he'd have put two and two together. He can be pretty slow on the uptake, after all. As the spectre turns towards him, so slow and eerie in its motions, he stops his approach and just stares... and when it sags and melts and disappears he's visibly horrified, all bravery gone.]

...

I-it left. We can turn back, I'd say.

[This is too much!! He won't even be able to sleep now! Why did he have to see that?! That melting ghoul face will haunt his dreams!]

(Apologies for the super delayed response. September and October took me out. If this thread is too old, feel free to ignore; I'm just slowly clearing out my inbox.)

[It's all Klaudia can do not to start laughing. So much for whatever backbone he was developing. This guy... how did someone like him end up with death magic anyway? She thought that the magic was more attuned to people who had an affinity for it, but apparently not.]

Are you sure? What if it comes back?

[The most innocent of questions.]

[Hijikata can barely suppress a full-body wince. Why did she have to ask that?! He opens his mouth, wanting to say that they'd best inform the local authorities and leave it to them, but he's a death mage and an aspiring knight, so how shoddy would that look?]

If it comes back, then...

[He hopes it sounds like a purposeful, meaningful pause, but he's actually frantically grasping for a justification to head back to the hotel.]

Then how can we tell where it'll appear? It may just pop back up all the way in Celliwig. Who knows?

[After a moment, Klaudia nods along like he has a good point. It could pop up anywhere! How could they possibly be able to follow it? What a shame.]

That's true. And if it does pop up somewhere and attacks the living or consumes their souls or something... then it's not really our fault, right? It's not like there's anything that we can do.

[Hijikata had already started to relax at her apparent agreement, so what she says next makes him want to whine in frustration (he suppresses it, though).]

Well... that...

[Ughhhhh!! Why is she like this?!]

That'd be terrible, of course. So let me inform the police, and we'll also keep an eye on the perimeter.

[We. If he has to stay out here, then so does she! He's not facing this horror alone!]

[Oh. Well. That changes things. It's one thing to run around scaring people, but she really doesn't want to get more authorities involved... She doesn't want to be attached to this in any formal capacity.]

Well, you can have fun with that. If there's no ghost here, I'm out.

[And she's going to turn and start walking away.]

There's no ghost here now!! Wasn't it you who said--

[He breaks off with a mix of a sigh and a groan, then wearily takes out his phone to go through with his plan and inform the police of the ghost sighting so they can dispatch some trained death mages or whatever.

He wants to tell Klaudia to not olly out and leave him behind to possibly have his soul consumed, but how can he really command a civilian to stay on ghost watch duty with him? (Never mind that he's a civilian too; he just can't not make his life harder than it needs to be by shouldering unnecessary responsibilities.) It'd only be one more thing for her to hold against him. She can probably hear the whiny strain in his voice as his call is accepted.]

This is Toshirou Hijikata. I want to report a strange ghost-like being that's been moving around in the city centre. Yes, I can give you a description...

[Why does he feel like he has the longest night ahead of him?]

[open] some dark web quests~

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