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« 007 ⇢ event007.exe »

Who: CERES & you
When: IC: 10/19 | OOC: 12/16
Where: ViViD
What: Intro Log
Rating/Warning: PG-13

//event007.EXE

The Haunting II: Haunt Harder

ViViD has opened up a new world that new arrivals will be pulled into while frequent players will be invited to check out. This particular setting is the new beta world that CERES is constructing in time for the Hallow's Eve celebrations and festivals. It's a world inhabited by the undead and several ghouls and monsters of typical horror lore. Inside, one will encounter werewolves, lichens, vampires, succubi, incubi, specters, mummies, and so on. They will be on the prowl and eager to attack, but players need only concern themselves with getting through and getting out.

At first, players will awaken outside of a large manor supposedly owned by a wealthy noble who is rumored to be practicing strange alchemic experiments within. Many know him simply as The Count.

New arrivals and those logging into ViViD will first find themselves being greeted by their guide at the start screen:

"F̳̰̘̝̭͚̙̝̺̅̀͋̊̑͐̎͜͝͝͝Ü͎͉̗̬͍̫̤̳̳̓̉͌͛͒́̔̎͝ͅÇ̢͎̳̰̫̝̝̮̣̈̓̽̂͒̌̾͊̊̓K̯̺͎̬̟̠̳̤̙̥̍͊͒̐͌̏̍̂̚̚!̧̛̹̲͎͕̥͓̥̻̟̿͐̔̑̈͗̕͘͠-ɯǝɥʇ ʇɐǝq oʇ ʍoɥ sı ǝɹǝɥ

¡ǝuo lɐuıɟ ǝɥʇ ʇǝǝɯ noʎ ǝɹoɟǝq sʇsoɥƃ ɹnoɟ ǝlʇʇɐq oʇ pǝǝu llıʍ noʎ

ʎɐpoʇ suoıʇɔnɹʇsuı ɹnoʎ ƃuıʌıƃ ǝq llıʍ ı

ɹouɐɯ ɐıɔoɹʇɐ oʇ ǝɯoɔlǝʍ

slɐʌıɹɹɐ ʍǝu ollǝɥ"

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ xxxx ] Yes, those are all the directions you get. Welcome, indeed, to Atrocia Manor. On the outside, you'll notice a faint howling in the distance. You better start running. That howling is only going to get louder as the werewolves start approaching. They roam in packs and will approach you from all sides, leveling a menacing stare at you before-!!!

-licking your hand. They'll all suddenly surround your character and start licking and lavishing attention on you as their tails wag from side to side happily. They may even roll over and show you their bellies for belly rubs. Please give them a treat and lots of love.

PHASE II

[ xxxx ] Once you survive that grueling challenge, it's on to the next part. This is where things start to heat up. The inner atrium of the mansion is dark, only lit by faint torches. In the center are three of the four ghosts that were spoken of, slowly moving in circles around a shrouded figure. Before you can glimpse at the figure, it disappears and the ghosts turn to you and start approaching from every side. They block you in, leaving you in the center and slowly looming around you.

Their howls are prolonged and deep, piercing your ears, and they seem to want to lead you into a room. You can choose to run from their frightful faces or you can follow them. They will seat you down at the dinner table then slowly pull forth a power point presentation. This is your love and/or sex life. Yes, you have a sad one. How dare you? The ghosts will guilt you for this, and somewhere in the midst of their lecture, you notice a faint figure moving along the windows. It's only for a flicker of a second that it appears, but the impression it leaves on you remains.

PHASE III

[ xxxx ] Feeling tired already? Well, don't stop and rest now! The challenges will only get worse. As you escape the three ghosts, you will ascend the stairs to the second level. Awaiting you is a vicious vampire …panda. Does it want your blood? Nope. It wants to talk to you about how to properly file your tax forms for a successful tax return. It will then lecture you on the EVILS of tax evasion. Be prepared for a scary ride with this one. It's not letting you out of the room until you listen to everything it has to say. For those who attempt to escape, it will… do absolutely nothing. It will sit there and watch you run.

PHASE IV

[ xxxx ] You escape the horrors of both the first floor and the second floor only to arrive at the basement. The mysterious fourth ghost awaits with its back turned to you. It's covered in a shroud, and you are sure it's going to talk about diversifying your stock profile next. Oh, how wrong you are.

Because this one legitimately wants you dead, and it will wear the face of your worst enemy or your least favorite person while swiping down a scythe to reap away your life quickly. It won't be easy to kill, but once you whittle down its life halfway, it will finally reveal its true form. That's when the entire dungeon will start to glitch, and the ghost will cradle you between its hands before warning you:

sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ
sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ
sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ
sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ
sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ
sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ sn ǝɹǝʌǝɹ sn ɹɐǝɟ

It will then fade away, and congratulations! You won! Sort of...

BONUS

[ whyo'clock ] Congratulations on surviving Atrocia Manor! Here's your complimentary coupon for 35% off on your next Vidia's Secret purchase. Wasn't that a fun ride? But wait. There's more! The final final boss awaits you outside in the courtyard. It's the most gruesome of them all. The worst ghost you can encounter because it's one that has known great suffering and is out for vengeance.

It will follow you around and try to eat you basically. One floating dot at the time until it can reach you.

[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to CEREALIA's latest intro post. For your convenience, we have compiled a post detailing everyone's usual arrival experience (which is not entirely applicable this round for reasons stated above^) and a FAQ that should explain everything in more detail. Please read them thoroughly before playing. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She feels some of her anxiety ebb away and her shoulders relax.]

I'm... decent. I can clean and do laundry, things like that. I think I could repair this. [She looks at the half of the warmer and stoops to pick up the half dropped by the werewolf when it decided it was bored with this game.]

It probably won't be very good, but I can try. Please let me try.

[He can't help but feel a familiar tug of sadness inside him, and the way this girl pleads with him sits oddly in his stomach. He doesn't like it.

But he doesn't let it show with the way he smiles brightly.]

I won't stop you if you want to try. I'll definitely consider it a precious gift.

[She looks surprised, then flustered, and bows her head as she carefully pockets both halves of the warmer for later.]

...Thank you. [She glances up after a moment, clasping her hands to her chest as she decides what to do next.]

Can I have your name?

[Good bye for now, arm warmers...]

Oh, it's Soramaru! Kumou Soramaru. What's yours?

Jennifer. Just... Jennifer. [She does a slightly curtsy, to be polite.] Pleased to meet you, sir.

[She's too curious not to press on and ask a question of him.] Do you live here?

[Oh, a... a curtsy. A Western thing. He's not used to getting those... He'll bow in return, also to be polite.]

It's nice to meet you too, Jennifer. [And then he shakes his head in response to her question.] I just arrived in this place not very long ago. Are you new as well?

[She clasps her hands at her chest, nodding.]

I haven't met anyone who lives here. Except... maybe the werewolves and the ghosts... [Which were bad enough. Ghosts. Why this.] I don't really know how I got here either. It doesn't look anything like home. Were we kidnapped...?

[Yeah, he's met the werewolves and they're a bunch of jerks. Ghosts, though... he's sure they'll be equally as irritating to deal with.]

I... they tried to explain some of it to me in the beginning, before I got here. [There had been a powerpoint presentation or something? Look, that introduction might as well have been in another language with how much he understood.] Very little of it made sense to me.

[But they're so cute... You know, when they're not trying to rip your arm warmers in half and all.

Jennifer shakes her head slowly and sighs softly. She was growing a little to used to not having answers and jut going in blindly. This clearly wasn't one of her memories she was unlocking, she'd figured that out quickly enough, but that didn't make this any easier.]

Maybe if we keep looking we can find someone who knows more? Someone has to be in charge here, right? [She hesitates and then looks nervous, fidgeting] ...I said 'we, but it doesn't have to be. Um, that is...

[Jennifer shakes her head again, aware enough to know that she's being weird, but not knowing how to stop it.]

[He doesn't appear to mind at all, going right along with her suggestion and not sparing a moment's pause at her hesitation.]

That's a great idea! Let's do it. I'm sure if we work together, we'll figure something out.

[Two minds were better than one, right?]

Ah, but we'll have to be careful. It's a large place to explore, it would be bad if one of us got hurt or ended up separated from the other.

[Jennifer can't help but look a little lost and baffled by him. He's just so... nice. It's strange to have someone who actually seems to want to be around her or might care what happens to her.]

I... [She places a hand on the pocket of her dress, hesitates a moment, and removes a short kitchen knife from it.] It's not much, but I have a weapon, so I can defend myself a little. So you don't have to worry about me.

[Jennifer offers a shy smile.] But I'll try to stick close to you, sir.

[He raises an eyebrow at the knife, slightly surprised at the fact that she'd been carrying something like that around with her in the first place. Instead of questioning her, though, he nods. It was better this way... so that if something were to happen, she could have a chance.

His train of thought is interrupted when he's called 'sir' and he laughs a little at that, not at all mockingly. It's just a bit embarrassing for him to be addressed so formally.]

"Sir"? What's with that? Just call me Soramaru.

It-- It's just polite? [Though Soramaru seems like he might be younger than her anyway. She looks embarrassed and clutches her free hand to her chest again, fiddling with her brooch.]

Soramaru...? Is that Eastern? [She assumes, since he certainly doesn't look Western.]

We're friends now, we should address each other more casually, don't you think?

[Yeah, he's shoving the friends card in your face.]

Oh, yes. I'm from Shiga. [Err... think bigger, Soramaru.] That's in the country of Japan.

What? [She's so startled she actually drops her knife, right on the ground, and looks bewildered] Friends? But-- You've just met me. You don't know anything about me.

[The fact that he's from Japan is super interesting, but she's too busy being shocked that someone actually wants to be friends with her please hold.]

[He looks super concerned when she drops that knife.]

Hey, be careful with that...

[Leans down to pick it up, holding it back out to her handle first. He's not really seeing a problem with this friend thing.]

I'll get to know you, then. That's what friends do, after all.

[She blushes furiously and takes the knife back with shaking hands.]

I... Maybe that's... not a good idea. You probably won't like me very much then. [She doesn't have a very good reason, just that everyone who becomes her friend either ends up trying to kill her or dead, and she'd really rather not see Soramaru become either.] No one ever does.

[That's... troubling to hear. Not because he's worried he won't like her, but because it's such a sad thing to say.]

... Jennifer? Why would you think that?

[She looks--puzzled. Confused and concerned, because she's never thought to question why before. It just... was.] I-I don't know. That's how it's always been.

[She stares down at the knife in her hands, twisting her hands over the handle.] The other children, and even the adults... It's just how it was. How it is. I'm just not that sort of person who's liked by others.

[It's like his heart sinks when he hears her answer. No one should ever be treated in such a way. Especially not someone as kind and generous as her.]

I like you, [he says, almost too casually and without pause. There's not a hint or trace of insincerity or doubt in those words.] And that won't change!

You can't just say that... [It's a weak protest spoken quietly, even if her heart beats faster at the idea of having a friend--a real, human friend. It's exciting and terrifying, because at the same time she's instantly fearing for his life. Nothing good lasts.

How had that one lesson books she'd picked up gone? The moral: everlasting happiness is a joke.

She fidgets again and puts her knife back in her pocket, clutching her hands together as she looks around for a distraction.] Should... Should we get going?

[He's having a hard time understanding why he can't say it!! That's just what he does, so... he's probably never going to understand.

He shifts with the change in subject smoothly, deciding it was something they'd need to speak about another time in a more appropriate place.]

Oh, right. I'll lead the way, you stick close, okay?

[She nods and makes a motion like she might grab his hand or his sleeve or something before he goes too far, but she seems to think better of it and just clutches her hands together again.]

If we got in, there has to be a way out. But... It's probably not going to be easy. [And then, as if trying to explain herself, she continues:] Things usually aren't, right? Especially if it looks or sounds easy in the first place.

[Jennifer trails off and makes a quiet noise.] ...Sorry. That's not very optimistic, is it.

[He's too busy leading!! the way!! to notice but he will turn to look back at Jennifer when she apologizes.]

It's okay, you're probably right. Nothing about this place seems easy. [He doesn't look at all worried about it, though.] ... Still, I feel safer now that I'm not alone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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