ACTION ✖ no rest for the wicked

[bloater]

[The fourth floor is foggy tonight, the air dense. Floating debris trails from the inside out, accompanied by a musty, earthy scent that will begin to creep through the cracks of doorways along with visible and thick clouds of spores. In good time, each room will fill up -- the hallway outside is worse for it, dark and especially dusty. Visibility has been compromised.

Something big is stirring. The host site staggers down an aimless path, unaware of anything but itself, for now. The sounds it makes are inhuman, as if each heavy step causes it to choke out a steady string of hellish growling and grumbling. Fungal plates as thick as armor are growing all over its oversized body, a body that has expanded over time and looks like a thing that is rotting on the move, chunks of infected flesh dripping off its bloated frame.

Whatever it is, it is very alive.

At the first hint of noise or stirring nearby, this thing will charge. Many residents would be wise not to approach it, but it's not going away until someone puts it out of its misery.]

Comments

[molotov]

[Molotov lives on the fifth floor, but she's headed downstairs when she notices the change in the air. Something is wrong, she knows that, and she's wise enough not to just head straight down the corridor, but she can barely see through the blackness and the dust.

There's almost no noise as she takes hesitant steps past the landing, squinting to try and see what lies ahead. Molotov thinks she's being as silent as possible, pausing every time the noises start, but her nails make the faintest scratching noise as they pull along the wall, guiding her way.

She's not even halfway down the hall before she makes out the shape of the... thing. Her eye opens wide, and she gasps, already trying to turn back.]

[bloater]

[The only warning Molotov gets is a freakish scream, distorted and loud.

It plows towards her with an alarming amount of speed for its size, stumbling on with true purpose. It seems to know exactly how to follow her despite a lack of eyes, targeting her, but it can't catch up in an instant. To make up for that delay, a baseball-sized chunk of its body goes flying through the air.

Good aim, for a mushroom monster. If she doesn't move fast enough, this could be a direct hit. Once that body-bit lands against something solid, spores will explode into the air to choke the life out of anyone that breathes them in.]

[molotov]

[Molotov is already running by the time the thing hits her shoulder with... something. It hurts, the force impacting her, and she shrieks, immediately stumbling and inhaling. She can feel herself choking, starts coughing hard, but she thinks it's just the suffocating dust.

She doesn't stop moving though, even if she's slowed down -- she's going to reach those stairs. She has to. It isn't an option anymore.]

[bloater]

[She'll feel acid biting into her skin for its precision, a rather painful burning sensation accompanying that choking one; the spores are seeping into her airways and spreading the fungus inside her. The next bomb lands not against her, but against the first step to the fifth floor. It's almost impossible to see through the fog now or to breathe properly at all, and the bloater's hideous song is getting louder, closer.

That thudding sound echoing in the hallway means it's trying to go faster. It knows it's slowed her down.]

[indirectcause]

[Ben, as is the usual story of his life, was only heading up to his room on the next floor, when he notices all the weird dust creeping through the fourth floor hallway. He frowns, confused, peering through into the dusty cloud to see that SHAPE shifting through the dark.

At least he's not been from home long enough to have completely lost his Things That Could Kill You survival instinct. He starts slowly backing away, trying his best not to make a single, solitary sound.

God fucking damnit this place.]

[willrememberthat]

[Guess who was just coming up to visit you, Ben?]

Ben!

[It's a hushed whisper accompanied by Clem hurrying over to him. She automatically grabs for his arm.]

What... what's happening?

[indirectcause]

[He startles at the sound of Clem's voice, and then realises...oh. This is even worse now. Determined not to repeat his mistakes of the past, he shifts to make sure she's behind him, before replying, equally quiet.]

There's something in the hallway.

[babyaliendaddy]

[Unwittingly, Tucker had knocked his journal open when he stumbled to go open his door and get some goddamned air, so he didn't notice he was broadcasting when he saw the thing moving down the hall. Like a giant ... monster ... mushroom.]

What the fuck!?

[He can hear his voice going up an octave, but fuck not sounding like a girl.] WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING!?

[bloater]

[Oh, you're a loud one. Low-hanging fruit.

With a hulking roar, the bloater zeroes in on the source of sound. It's coming right at Tucker, limbs twitching greedily. Better not let it trap you back in your room.]

[babyaliendaddy]

[Awwwwwwww shit. Tucker starts looking around wildly in his room, yelling out.] Sword?! Sword?! Where the fuck is my sword?!

[And this seems like a good time to get his armor on, so he's just gonna slam the door in the Mushroom Monsters face while he literally jumps into his gear and tries to find that damned uber-blade.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Unfortunately for Elsa, her room is on the fourth floor. And unlike how she was a few months ago, she doesn't like spending too much time in it. Partly because it still doesn't feel like her room, and partly because she was trying to break those old, unhealthy habits.

She had been planning an evening with her sister, and since Anna's room was a few floors down, Elsa's the one that volunteered to visit. The lower floors had more attractions, after all, so there was no point in Anna making the trek up to Elsa's room, only to head all the way back down.

Since it's still early in the evening, no news of the bloater's arrival has gotten out when Elsa leaves her room. She pauses, brows furrowing at the new scent in the air and the surrounding spores. Something was happening, something was wrong, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickling...

Glancing to her left, she sees the lumbering monster some ways down the hall. So very unused to seeing horrific things such as this, the queen can't help but let out a strangled yell of horrified surprise.]

[bloater]

[Elsa opening her door and stepping out into the hallway is not enough to catch the bloater's attention, its back turned and its legs lumbering in the opposite direction, but that little yell does the trick. With a furious snarl, it jerks around to face her and toss a spore-bomb against her doorframe.

And then it's on the move. If Elsa doesn't move too, it's gonna close that gap between them in just a few moments.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[For one terrifying moment, Elsa is (no pun intended) frozen to the spot. God, what is that thing? In her isolation, she's read her fair share of fairy tales and books on myth, and she's never come across anything quite as gruesome as this... thing. The thing is even worse when it turns around, and it's only thanks to the sudden explosion of spores so close to her that Elsa snaps out of her thoughts. With another scream, Elsa turns on her heel, and runs.]

[forsometimenow]

[Jennifer was exhausted. The dwindling amount of medics had left her feeling obligated to be in the clinic more and more- and it was without Simon helping nearly as much, since he was in the castle as much as possible to help out there. She was so tired she didn't even notice that she'd emerged onto the fourth floor instead of the fifth, where her room was.

She stopped, looked around at the unfamiliar name plates, then sighed and paused a moment to catch her breath before going back up the stairs.]

I... really... need... to do more cardio.

[bloater]

[As soon as Jennifer finishes her sentence, our friend the bloater decides to punctuate it. A piece of its infected flesh slams against the railing, right to the side of her.

Here's a good chance to practice, because it's running and twitching its way straight towards her now, growling all the way.]

[forsometimenow]

[Yep, that'll do it. Jennifer jumps back in shock at the- whatever it was that just hit the wall next to her.]

What the hell-

[And then she catches sight of the monster. Instead of running, like a sensible person would do, she's rooted to the spot, unable to do much but gape. As it comes closer, she slowly begins to back down the stairs.]

Oh, God... oh, God, oh, God...

[dgaf]

[ Effy gets the occasional bad trip (at least what she dismisses as a bad trip) and those images and sounds are often as real to her as everything else. And as much as being in a magical castle has caused her to believe in the physically impossible a rotting mound of rotting flesh and god knows what else seems more the stuff of bad dreams and bad trips than reality.

She's standing by the side of the hallway, covering her mouth with one hand to keep the terrible smell at bay, staring hard at the monster and keeping still, for now.

Sometimes if she blinks, the visions go away, and sometimes if she pretends they're not there, then they're suddenly not. She goes to stand up straighter then, chin tipped high in defiance, and starts to walk further down the hallway, expecting to walk through it as if it's nothing but her imagination. ]

[bloater]

[If only she had kept still, or walked a little slower, with nothing but caution and quiet in mind. Effy may have been able to walk right past it, her enemy blind as a bat.

But one of her steps is a scant too loud, too close, and that's enough to unsettle an infected. It lunges at her with the same choking snarl it lets out each time it senses someone too close, arms reaching out to grab hold of whomever that someone may be.

Such a small target, it wants to snap her like a twig.]

[dgaf]

[ Effy is of the mind that facing one's fears head on is the best way to get through life, in theory. In practice, she flees from what she fears the most (showing her cards, opening herself up, love) and goes to face the other things that don't frighten her as much. Things like a snarling mound of flesh lunging at her with arms that don't even look like arms anymore.

She drops herself to the ground nearly at the last second, then goes scrambling on all fours for the cover of a doorway, though she can't help but let out a breathless laugh at this whole situation. So is it or isn't it her imagination? She has a mind to put it to the test, looking about for something to hit it with.

If she can touch it, it should be real, right? ]

Latest late to ever late

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine hadn't meant to stay up so late working on her latest spelling problem. The time had simply gotten away from her.

She's so consumed with her work that when the first whiffs of fog rolls in, she mostly ignores it. After all, the castle had done weirder. It seemed harmless at first.

But then she hears screams from the hall. Agonized, terrified screams. Who she cannot place, but something terrible is happening out there. Dairine rushes over to her emergency stash of weapons and loads up her invisible her quiver, bow, and after a thought some old fireworks. Maybe they could fuel a spell or two? Grabbing Spot and her elven cloak, she finally feels ready to face... whatever unknown is on the other side.

Securing her shield spell first, she slowly opens the door to peer outside.]

On the other hand, probably will kill it-

[radiantwingedone]

[ The screams were honestly why he left the library. The stink of the place has one arm held over his mouth and nose, and he keeps his eyes shut, just in case the smell would make them sting and distract him. His steps, despite the heels to his boots, are near silent as he stays close to a wall.

While he has no idea what the hall looks like, he is holding a spell ready - glowing golden yellow - above the hand above his nose.

The noise of a door has him stopping. Does he ask who it is? Or does he stay silent for some sign it isn't a friendly.

Waiting is a good idea. ]

[bloater]

[Someways down the hall, it hasn't heard them yet. Good job staying quiet, so far. If you squint, you can see the bloater meandering through the fog, and if you listen, you can definitely hear its unhappy garbling.]

[teenagebadboy]

[Aaron steps out onto the fourth floor. He's heading towards Tucker's room to help the guy out. The strange change of the floor has him gob-smacked for a second. He the threads carefully with the broken chair leg in his hand. Clyde walks by his side and it whines slightly. The dog sense that something bad is up. Noticing the whines Aaron sits down and pats Clyde on the back.]

Shhh... it's all right. [He whispers for some reason.]

[bloater]

[ OOC: Wanna move this up to the thread above? Our monster friend is stuck in a tangle with Tucker. ;) ]

[teenagebadboy]

((OOC: I made a reply to the thread above.))