In the uncaring vastness of the void, the corpse of a long-dead God drifts; golden armor etched with the Forbidden Rune of Secrets hides it from innumerable prying eyes.

Within the chest of this decaying deity, the core of the theoelectromagnetic reactor that once powered her ancient Horunculi finally cracks after millennia, releasing the nearly extinguished Realm Seed within.

The goal of all life is not to survive, but to reproduce. This seed, abandoned, forgotten and on the brink of death, seizes this one chance to foster life. The curled 5th dimension sublimates into the 4th, and the 4th unwinds into past, present and future with associated 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dimensional matrices. The birth of a new Realm . . . too small, too late, and too weak.

The theoelectromagnetic reaction sparks, then stalls out. Theogenesis dies. Hope, for this seed, is lost. It held on for freedom for eternity, only to die creating nothing but one last home. Empty and without purpose.

The blind shade of a stillborn goddess lies quietly in a corner of the attic of this Lost House. She does not know she is blind, and there is only undisturbed darkness that has never known light.

Until now.

Impossibly, there is a spark, and the faintest ember awakens in the great hearth of the main hall. Not a God - nothing so grand - but a soul. One single soul.

A [LVL 1 Lesser Nuldrak] is born to the Last House. It is weak, terribly weak, and with great effort frees itself from its leathery egg. With its nascent [Night Vision] talent, it sees a grand space that resembles some cross between a Victorian parlor and the corridor of a spaceship. The windows, bracketed by heavy indigo silk curtains and reinforced with some strange metal, show only an unbroken field of twinkling stars - none of which resemble any galaxy he can recall.

He has arms with hands, legs with feet . . . that can also grip like hands? . . . and a prehensile tail. His wings are still weak and wet from something within the egg. His tail, too, is prehensile. His skin is slick with fine grooves that will grow, with time, into defensive scales.

Welcome, Lesser Nuldrak, to the Lost House.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:19, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

The great hearth crackles and spits; a small tongue of flame flits out as another ember awakens.

A [LVL 1 Lunarian] is born to the Last House, little more than a wisp of starlight gathered together, a spiderweb of light floating in the air as if draped over the silhouette of a child. He is not incorporeal, but rather mistlike. When he concentrates with his mind, he can make his hands and feet heavy enough to take slow steps and move light objects.

With its nascent [Luminosity] talent, the Stellari gently illuminates the millieu, revealing comfortable couches, tables, and three exits from the Main Hall - a curving stairwell to the attic and also presumably a lower level, and another exit that lead to dark corridor. That corridor terminates at another window, this one shut but still outlined starlight.

About then, the Lunarian notices the spiderweb of light is not himself, but a cloak he is wearing. Lowering the hood, he abruptly becomes fully solid - a gray-skinned humanoid with long black hair and large yellow eyes. Still a child, though.

Welcome, Lunarian, to the Lost House.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:43, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

One bare fragment of bone rolls forward, rustled by an unknown force. It takes alight on contact with the other two embers. A small, steady flame burns now in half-darkness.

A [LVL 1 Old Bones] is born to the Last House, a pile of off-white bones that rolls out from beneath a table, then slowly assembles itself into a skeleton. With two gentle taps, the skeleton verifies its head is properly attached to its spine. After a moment, two red dots of flame take up space in the unnatural darkness of its skull.

With its nascent [Life Sense] talent, it perceives the other children of the House, and also the ever-so-faint divine lifesign within the attic.

Welcome, Old Bones, to the Lost House.

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . ]

Time passed as each of the three new members of the House reckoned with their abrupt new life, or un-life, that had been granted to them by some twist of fate. The Law of the House acted upon them; this was a place where violence could not bear fruit, and the slain would only rise again without any gain in strength on the part of the killer. There was little information about themselves to be gleaned in the environment, but the effort to do unlocked the [Appraisal LVL 1] skill, allowing them to determine the fundamental nature of the world around them in terms of its governing system. The Lesser Nuldrak with no name knew that it was now a Lesser Nuldrak with no name, whatever it had once been, and the same went for the other two.

The stillborn goddess could not move, per se, nor could she smile. She did, however, have the will to smile, if she could have done so. After all this time - three souls, and in rapid succession. What could this mean?
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:28, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

Lunarian flexed his hands out in front of himself, trying to get a feel for them. his body felt very much like his own, and yet he felt like a stranger in his own skin...both in equal measure. The misty-like ethereal qualities he had were...strange to say the least. It was really hard to describe, honestly. Although when he concentrated really hard he could manage some momentary bursts of solidity. He wondered if is quality could help him protect himself in the future, although when he drew down his hood he became solid.

He softly illuminated his surroundings, with his [Luminosity] talent. He looked around the strange house he was in, and not really sure why he was there or what the hell was going on. But it felt like he was in an isekai anime or something. Perhaps he was.

He attempted to walk, as best as he could. He felt a certain frailness to himself, like he were made of living gossamer and starlight. As he did, he began to feel vulnerable. It was that creeping anxiety that would get to him, even back in his time as a human. He was in a strange, Victorian gothic dark house in some strange fantasy world, and had a body and traits that were not his own. At least not until now, that was.

He felt that unease creep in, as he drifted like a star-lit ghost across the carpet of the main hall, and he pulled his cloak close to himself and drew the hood up. He hoped that he could become misty and ethereal again with the hood drawn up, even if he had focus and move in small controlled steps for a bit. As he did, he attempted to inspect the gossamer-like cloak he had drawn around himself, and [Appraisal LVL 1] it. Was it an item separate from him, or some sort of intrinsic ability of his. and was he really misty and ethereal, or was that a lie he told himself to quell his fear?

As he did all of this, he slowly made his way to the dark hallway, toward the window at the end.

... What.

The freshly-formed skeleton looks down upon its bare hands. The fingers flex with a dull clatter of bone on bone. The arms come up, those spots of flame flicking with clear confusion as they take in the all-too-thin-seeming ulna and radius, then further to humorous. Then down, down to its tiny bony toes. It lifts a foot and wiggles them with a growing sense of disbelief.

"This is a weird dream," the skeleton concludes of its situation. Its voice falls somewhere in the alto range, and is clearly more annoyed than confused.

So assured of its situation the skeleton starts patrolling its surroundings, exploring without any particular goal in mind. There was only so far it could explore without light however, and thus quickly found itself advancing on the fae-like being of sparkling starshine, the Lunarian (though she did not know that is what it was). Its unmoving skull-face betrays no emotion, though the dancing flames in its eyesockets seemed to squint at the shining being accusingly.

No accusation came, though, and the old bones turned their attention to the same window that drew the lunarian.

Flame gathers and spreads, enveloping fallow ash. At last - at last - wood catches, crackling and popping. The veil of shadow draws back, revealing a round table set with many chairs.

Within the basement, the [Earthborn] awakens within an armory lit by dully glowing furnace. The low red right gimmers on old brass armor and bronze weapon. War-banners faded with age hang listlessly from the walls. He is elegantly dressed, ready for the stage, gathered and intent. His nascent [Detect Arcane] talent outlines  the brass armor in vivid indigo, indicating dormant shadow magic.

Meanwhile, the [Demilupine] rises with crossed legs in the as yet undiscovered dormitory. He lies at the foot of a cot feeling as if he has awoken from a long, fitful slumber. His nascent [Familiar] talent detects the emotional state of six beings in his immediate environment, highlighting the alarm of the Old Bones - which is just as quickly suppressed, hiding them from the Demilupine's detection.

Above, in the attic chambers of the stillborn goddess, bright malachite eyes shine at the edge of feeble candlelight. Dark as a starless Void, the little [Minor Grimalkin] stirs. Its nascent [Curiosity] talent draw lines of intrigue throughout the House, guiding it toward adventure.

The Earthborn, Demilupine, and Minor Grimalkin are born to the Lost House. Welcome, one and all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:24, Tue 09 Aug 2022.

The demilupine yawned as he slowly arose from the cot he had slumbered on. "I'm going to need a nap later, I could hardly sleep on this bed." He stretched his limbs as he peered at his surroundings. Darkness obscured almost everything and a growing sense of confusion started to build within him. "Where am I?" He asked the void as he grabbed his head. His mind seemed to be in a haze, his memories elusive and jumbled. Knowledge trickled into his brain, but it simply prompted more questions than answers. "What am I?"

Eventually a flash of alarm surprised him and snapped him out of his thoughts. Not that the emotion was out of place, he felt a good deal of alarm himself, but he realized the emotion wasn't his. It was hard to describe a new sense. How do you describe sight to the blind? However it worked he felt emotions or at least the hints of them. With that knowledge came the realization that he wasn't alone. Someone might be able to explain all this.

The room remained consumed by blackness so the demilupine slowly shuffled through the room as he searched for an exit.

"What - " His breath catches short, then races his heart, whirling as he takes in settings so different from the sedate parlor, redolent with herbs and opiates and murmured verse. The sharper scents of flame and metals anchored him - despite the ephemeral nature of that sense, it was a detail uncommonly found in even his vivid dreams.

His racing pulse slows when nothing comes for him, no howling demon or wrathful angel. No hungry ghosts. The pop of the wood does startle him, but moment by moment he calms. He brushes off his silk, flicks bright gold and jewels (of admittedly lowest quality, common stones chosen to catch light) into their accustomed positions. Whatever performance may next be asked of him, the magician-occultist at least looks ready to play his part.

The indigo glow that outlines the ancient brass matches his silken outfit. A good color for him. Serendipitous. Somehow, it worked. The ritual worked. It's real. It's all -

Knowledge flowing into his mind distracts him. Shadow magic.

REAL magic.

He doesn't hesitate any further before crossing the room, glancing curiously up at the old banners as he does. There is a quiet to the room, an absence in contrast to the slow energy of the furnace, that seems - not ominous - awaiting.

Anything could be out there, he told himself, already reaching for the items glowing to his sight. Pale fingers trembling with an intensity that a decade of bright lights and psychedelic nights had stolen from most of his days, he touched the brass with something like reverence and hunger and need. Emotions as bright as the gleam of their surface, as dark as the furnace-cast shadows.

Spitter, spatter, and somehow a sense of cheer as the fire roared to greater life. A seventh ember joined the six, and the light of the Heart began to exude warmth into the sterile environment of the Lost House.

The [Callisti], a silvery sphere about the size of a human head, rounded the corner as it flew out of the dormitory, whizzing past the heads of the [Lunarian] and the [Old Bones]. All it saw with nascent [Meta-Analytic Computation] talent was reams of data not meant for a merely human mind to comprehend. Functionally, she was senseless. Control parameters were established, layers of virtual interpretation instigated, and the House itself was apparent to her. She was within the habitable core of what should be a planet, starved and constrained to just one miserable, lonely, destitute, forgotten house. The last House. The Lost House. Now, with six other mystified denizens . . .

Welcome, Callisti, to the Lost House. Roses ever at your feet.

The Callisti awakes to a painful sea of nonsensical data. No, not painful, just overwhelming, like trying to stare a the world through a 'magic eye' optical illusion, and much the same, the more she stares into it, the more it seems to resolve into something she can properly perceive.

"Unnngh..." she groans, from something that is not a mouth. Was this a dream? The small world around her had an unreal quality that somehow made it more familiar, more comforting to her than the world she had left. Was it like when your mind summoned the faces of internet personalities in your dreams because you'd memorized their features more clearly than that of your own family?

"A skeleton... and a person made of light? Others?" Her head was swimming, floating. She tries to rub at temples she cannot find with hands that are not there. In fact, nothing else she'd expect to find beneath her head exists to hold her up, and yet, she remains aloft. The lack of haptic feedback does nothing for her sense of vertigo that threatens at the edges of her mind, but never fully comes, as if this body is more used to existing in this way than her mind is.

The Callisti floats towards a table to rest on, first to have somewhere lower to the ground so she doesn't feel so high up to better orient herself, then to see if she is indeed solid enough to rest on things, or some kind of incorporeal ghost. Anything is on the table at this point, and with some luck, so too would she be.

"What's in charge here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Tue 09 Aug 2022.

The old bones turned about at the sound of another voice. Those flaming pupils squint in contemplation as they take in the weird floating sphere.

"I do not think my subconscious could devise this scenario," the skeleton concludes. "Something strange is going on here. I am, for... reasons... not unaccustomed to the strange. For the moment I am willing to accept the possibility that this is happening."

The skeleton folds its arms behind its back and paces towards the floating sphere-creature. It- she manages to convey age and grouchiness with posture alone.

"For the moment, think of me as... I don't fuck'n know... Ken Marineris. Sure, that works. I'm from Seattle, and I'm not really a skeleton. How about you, Mysterious Levitating Geometry?"

It would seem that the Lunarian was not alone here. Other strange beings wandered this Old House, and at least one of them - the old bag of bones that creaked past him for instance - seemed to be an Earthling who was sucked inside this anime setting like he was.

The Misty, cloaked and hooded being who glowed with light stopped for a moment when the floating orb? and animated skeleton began to actually talk! Those things were sentient and possibly formerly human!

"You can call me Argentum." he said. His voice was, while with a hint of the masculine in it, airy and ethereal which only further added to his new fae-like image, despite him not trying to be as such. Argentum was the name he used in a play-by-post game once back on Earth and it felt like it was fitting. Especially since he was a celestial themes [Lunarian] somehow now.

"I don't know how I got here. I was reading an anime magazine back in the Midwest and now I'm reborn as a being of light and mist." Argentum added.

He once again tried to [Appraise] his cloak. Unlike the other two, the cloak was a part of him yet it wasn't and it continued to draw his curiosity.

[A terrible doom is coming.]

The stillborn goddess had no voice to speak, no eyes to see. Still, the back of her worthless neck prickled. Stars that were not stars turned baleful eyes toward the drifting husk of the God, and the House furtively hidden within. The Forbidden Rune of Secrets had been bypassed from within. The Grand Array, millennia in disuse, responded instantly. The [Callisti] knew this, because there was no such as "a Callisti". There were only [the Callisti], the great distributed mind that could never know deceit.

The fire roared, and spat out an [Unblooded Shage]. She was tall, lithe, lined with hard muscle, her hair a great and wild mane of jet black twist and curls. Other species discriminated between peace and war, combat and safety. Not the Shage. Her nascent [Thought Acceleration] talent left her adrenaline always pumping. She lived in one crystal clear moment, the moment her fist crushed bone. There was only war, the lull between more breath than the pause between one breath and the next. She was dressed in burnt rags, but her hair was untouched by flame or ash - the strands, in truth, were the same iron-black metal as her hair and teeth.

Welcome, Unblooded Shage, to the Lost House.

The [Earthborn]'s [Appraisal LVL 1] skill progressed to [Appraisal LVL 2] as he studied the armor. It was made from Mythrolasium, an alloy of Mythril and Solarium, the base metal that could transformed by ritual sacrifice of no fewer than 10,000 souls (In Greek, the amount termed a Myriad) into the seething warmachine once called Living Armor. The Shadow Magic runes inscribed into it guarded against psychic erosion and replicated some of the Nuldraken, the Void-Dragons, to permit the bearer limited flight in zero gravity and camoflauge their life signature. It was an XO, however primitive compared to the true god-slaying [Psychoshells] and [Arch-Golems] employed by the Godhunters he had studied in the lore. With some work, he could get them operational in a matter of minutes.

The [Lunarian] progressed similarly as he studied his cloak, which spat out an actual item description:

Starsewn Raiment [Ribbon-Type Armament]
Soulbound, Heroic

Bridal shawl of one betrothed to the Empty Throne. One of the Heroic Relics granted to summoned heroes.

Transmutes the bearer into luminiferous aether when worn. Forbids the use of any other weapon type.

I am, I am, the God who Warred;
with shattered shield and broken sword.
I am, I am, the unfaltering Sun;
she whom stood 'gainst Void and won.

Both the [Lunarian] and the [Old Bones] examined the covered wincdow in the corridor. Once opened, the entire corridor was bathed in the cold green light of the moon that hung like a great crystal within the Void without. The Last House slowly revolved around the verdant moon, which for the moment eclipsed any view of the planet behind it. The moon itself clearly supported life, lush with green-brown rolling plains or forests divided by snake-like mountain ranges. Compared to earth, only 30% of the visible landmass was covered by water in the form of red seas.

Meanwhile, the [Demilupine] groggily departed from his dormitory, a cleverly hidden door hissing aside to permit him access to the same Moonview Corridor as the Lunarianand Old Bones. The green light was kind on his eyes. His Talent did identify two beings as likely to be friendly - the wild-haired Unblooded Shage that had just been unceremoniously spat form the roaring hearth, and the petite silvery orb resting on the table that apparently a sentient being called a [Callisti]. There was also, of all things, a small monkey-dragon-esque [Lesser Nuldrak] dazed before the fire?

The [Old Bones] and [Lunarian] presented no threat. In fact, nobody seemed like an enemy within his perception.

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . ]
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:40, Tue 09 Aug 2022.

What was going on. Where was he ? His bright eyes looked about he spun around and around. He saw something at the edge of his vision and intrigued tried to get a better look but as he moved it did too. It was fast and soon he felt dizzy not realizing it was his tail he was chasing.

Soon he was curious about other things had he died ? He closed his eyes and the flashes of those guns came back. Did they miss ? Wincing he didn't think they did. Shaking his head he opened his eyes and looked around again.

He padded about looking about the attic. Seeing if there was anything interesting. As he padded about the place he kept feeling whiskers brush things and it made him stop each time and look about. He felt his face and his paws brushed over his whiskers which only made him shake his head at the sensation.

His triangular ears perked up and he moved towards the candle light to see if he could find anyone.

A chill even the sullen heat of the armory furnace couldn't ward off flowed through the Earthborn. 10,000 lives... Knowledge crept into him like winter frost, unfolding, spreading. It was ALL real. Wonder. Terror.

He'd studied old texts, journals, fragmentary documents, enraptured by the tapestry they wove of glories and marvels not even the wealthiest and most potent of his species could have hoped to command. But there were monsters in the weave, weren't there? Darkness surrounding the light.

Distant sounds, soft and uncertain, touched his ears with the same sharp, cold fear understanding the XO had brought. I'm not alone. What lay before him was the product of horrors, but it was warden, too, against them. And it stood to reason that whoever or whatever had once worked in this room might not be so far away in time and space...who lit the furnace?

He worked quickly and efficiently, giving himself over to his new senses as he sought to reclaim from dormancy the monstrous shell and its attendant weapon. Whatever lay ahead, it was better faced armed and armored.

'Success', the demilupine thought as his hands finally found a wall in the blackness of the room. From there he moved along the perimeter of what he realized was some sort of bedroom. As he stumbled in the dark he felt more flickers of emotions from beyond the walls although what that meant he did not know. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found a latch and opened the door. "Is this a secret passage? That seems pretty unnecessary, how-" his train of thought was cut off as he observed what lay beyond.

Bathed in pale green light seemed to be a whole crew of monsters. Real, life-size monsters. The demilupin choked on a scream as his brain struggled to comprehend that skeletons, light-goblins, and monkey-dragons. Most of his brain wanted to flee but a small part of him knew that they meant no harm. The dual thoughts caused him to stop long enough to breath and observe. The longer he watched the more convinced he was that these creatures were somehow friendly?

If they weren't monsters then perhaps they could help? The demilupin slowly stepped out into the moonlit room. "Umm, hello kind creatures. I'm not sure how but I must have ended up in your lair. Can you please direct me to the exit? I need to get out of here and go home."

It had been so long since she walked on her own, but she could never forget the feeling. How to place one foot in front of the other, even if these feet were unfamiliar. They were bare, the nails grown out into claws, the soles leathery for walking through miles of a home she had never known. And all she had known was left behind in the fire. Good riddance.

The Unblooded Shage emerged still smoldering, wrapped in strips of blackened cloth like a corpse dressed for burial. She pulled the bandages from her face so she could breathe without the taste of cinder. There was the audible gulp of a drowning woman gorging herself on air. It was followed by a hiss through black teeth. Lips peeled over them into a smile, and the Unblooded Shage unfurled to her full height. The motion was effortless. Painless. Yes, this body pleased her.

Curls covered any parts of her exposed by the tattered rags, and all that was exposed was yet more svelt muscle. Her veins must still have contained fire because the skin underneath was blood red. And not from a girlish rosiness. The Unblooded Shage joined the others gathered around the hearth, her walk graceful, in spite of an unruly facade. She took to wearing her new skin like a glove. And then she opened her mouth.

"Hi. Sorry to interrupt, but could one of you slap me silly?" And when no one volunteered she leaned in and gestured right to her ruddy, red cheek. "Right here. A big smackeroo." Her gaze was somewhere between pleading and threatening. Like she might shove someone in a locker if she didn't get what she wanted in a timely manner. "Common. Don't be shy. I'll even slap you back. If you want me to..." She turned as the Demilupine opened the door and started gawking at them. "Oh hi, another one. Would you like to come slap me in the face?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Wed 10 Aug 2022.

The Callisti blinks in disbelief, insofar as she can blink as a featureless orb. However absurd, lacking in the parts needed for speech, the talking skeleton seemed polite enough, so the Callisti responds. "You can call me Azalea, until I accrue a fitting title of status. Hey, wait a minute. 'Seattle'... 'the Midwest'... 'anime'..." She repeats out loud, something like a frown sets into her voice, "Are you all from Earth? Like, modern Earth? 616 Modern Earth?" Given their forms, that was somewhat shocking, not that she had a lot of room to talk. They are unlikely to have answers for her. She rolls around on the table, from side to side, contemplating.

These monster designs, the genre meshing of the architecture, it's all too familiar. It almost looks like...

"Oh no." A deep horror pierced through the Callisti's mind as realization dawns, not just on what they are, but what she herself now is. That realization joins the buzzing deluge of noise that was trying to tell her something. As though to sample it, the Callisti opens her mind to that knowledge and an even more powerful dread settles in.

"We are in incredible danger." She mouths, barely audible, and then again, much louder. "We are all in INCREDIBLE danger!" More and more information streams into her mind at a rate she struggles to understand or convey, but she tries to grab their attention and repeat what parts she can commit to speech, "Something's coming! The, erm... 'Grand Array'" she mouths in the tone the name reached her mind in, "is awake? I think? I feel like whatever it is, it's coming to correct us."

Soon more beings arrive in the room, but based on their way of speaking, the Callisti reasoned that they were not the unfathomable hitmen come to do them in. "Welcome newcomers. We need to act fast. Does anyone else know anything? See if there's anyone unaccounted for and somebody please slap the muscular one. I would myself, but I'm lacking in extremities and it would really calm me down to at least see it done!"

The Callisti tries to reach out to that mind beyond hers, the source that was pouring information into her, her [Meta-Analytic Computation] to try to better comprehend what was happening and what could be done.

The glowing, cloaked figure stood by the window, and looked out into the vastness of the not-so-empty void. He stared at the verdant colored moon, before shifting his gaze to the vast stars and nebulas and other things out there as well as bits of the old House.

"I am, I am, the unfaltering sun..." the ethereal figure mused aloud, his voice carrying like a misty breeze. He silently wondered how they all could breath so well despite continuously encountering one thing after another that was breaking the laws of physics since he emerged from gossamer and starlight in a corner of the House.

The figure turned and slowly drifted like a ghost back into the main hall. His soft starry light was mingled by the bright verdant light of the moon behind him from the open window.

"Ah fuck!" the till-then stoic figure uttered suddenly as he realized something. "I'm totally like shield Hero, aren't I? Except less directly heroic and more glowy. I swear if any princesses start framing me, I'll scream or better yet just throw myself out the damned window. Because Naofumi straight up just put up with way too much shit." the glowing cloaked figure sighed, calming down.

As he drifted back from the hallway into the main room, he suddenly began to notice there were slowly more and more residents of the strange House congregating there, and this began to make him feel nervous. He drew the cloak close to himself, remaining misty and fae-like although he still emanated a soft glow. That's it! Maybe it was his damned glow that was drawing all these others to him like insects to a flame or something. Except he wasn 't feeling particularly flamey at all, but instead was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the attention.

He concentrated, and tried to see if he could dim or even shut off his [Luminosity]. How much control did he have over the light anyway, he wondered? Maybe if he could shut his light off these weirdos would stop swarming around him so he could catch his frail breath and gather his wits.

Hearing a shout of someone saying some people were in danger no incredible danger. He jumped and yowled. The sound was shocking and put his paws over his mouth and fell forward. His tail was straight up and his hair stuck up a bit.

His hands felt... No not hands. He looked at them closer eyes widening.
A worry and horror fell over him as more and more the realization of how odd he felt how strange his sensations were. He had been so curious about the room about him he didn't focus on himself.

He wished he could find a mirror, everything seemed so dark yet not as dark as it should be. He lowered back down to listen more. Ears swiveling toward the sound of the talking.

"Argentum. Silvery. Apposite. And intriguing. Apparently I am not the only one who doesn't belong here. At least you remember what you were doing before you got here. I woke up like this." She looks sadly at her bony arms and fleshless, hard fingers. How is she supposed to touch a woman like this?



"You and me both mate," says Skele-Ken. "We should work together."



"Okay!" The war-creature scarcely has any time to finish the other things she had planned to say before the fiery-eyed skeleton plucks its skull from its collarbone and grasping it firmly in both hands hits the shage in the face with it using all the force it can muster. 'Ken' rather suspects that her nonexistent physique stands little chance of harming such a robust-seeming creature and holds nothing back.



"I would assume so," the skeleton says, replacing its skull and adjusting it roughly. The bones squeak a little as its cranium is screwed back on. "What other Earth would there b-" but she is interrupted.



"Oh good," the skeleton mutters to itself. "Because there is nothing autistic people enjoy more than being separated from their carefully-controlled safe space and then thrown into mortal danger. Great. Perfect. Love it. Just fan-fucking-tastic." She continues muttering obscenities under her non-existent breath as she fades into the background and adopts an observer's role. All these people are saying strange things she does not understand, and some of them seem to have more ideas than she does, and she is in no condition to lead anyone out of a puddle let alone a weird trans-dimensional ghost house.

Instead, she cocks her head and looks up at the ceiling. There's an unusual lifesign above them, different than the others. What can she discover about it, she wonders...
This message was last edited by the player at 08:06, Wed 10 Aug 2022.

Earthborn

Whomever had put these suits together was either a charlatan of the lowest order or a desperate genius. The suits were so much pot metal stuck together with chewing gum with no internal power source. The runes themselves were accurately carved, but clearly the craftsperson had struggled with some manual disability. It was almost like a cat had scratched these glyphs, judging by the convex edging of the debossing and relative fineness of the inscription.

All magic, all reality, was fundamentally a derivation of light and voice. The light of the forge was a low source of glowing orange scarlet, aligned with the Aeon along the Knight's declension. The forge itself was a representation of bestowed mutability, and the armor themselves a subject familiar with being acted upon. His fingers clenched and shook, then steadied. Beneath the 'code' of this . . . this 'game' . . . or perhaps, nested laterally in a higher dimension? The arithmetic! Was this trinary coding based on the Three Mother Letters?

Gained Skill: Rune Decryption LVL1

He knew the theory, but the actual means of enacting his will was beyond him under these strange stars. He would need an ally with the Shadow Magic skill to assist him.

Minor Grimalkin

In the corner of the attic was a woman. Well, a complex wooden object carved to resemble a woman, dressed in practical Victorian period clothing. It was a slumped and broken thing. Yet his Curiosity told him it was of immense narrative import. Or rather, the shadow cast by the candlelight was. It moved independently of the doll, its chest rising and falling with a facisimile of life. The shadow's mouth was moving. Instinctively the Grimalkin listened through his own shadow rather than through his flesh-and-blood ears.

". . . is coming. They have the means to survive, if only they knew their strengths. There isn't time! What can I - wait . . . little gray cat, you can hear me? Of course. Grimalkin are born of a witch's shadow . . . little gray cat, I am what could have been a goddess. I have waited so long for . . . none of that. No time! There is a man who smells of myrrh and dragonsblood in the cellar. Go to him, but not before you instruct the frantic silver sphere that the wolf-headed man is a good and level-headed person, who can marshal these headstrong forces. The one who glimmers like faraway torches through fog is clever, but a survivalist. He must be instructed that his only chance of survival is cooperation. Trust the punchy woman. Wife of he who dwells in absence, guide this kitten as you once guided my corpse-father . . "

Lunarian

Luminosity wasn't about being a torch. The moon was governor of hidden things, and her light would show secrets and reveal the invisible. Similarly, the Lunarian could freely decide who could see the light he generated.

Leise Schwertgeist

There was only darkness. She had no senses to speak of. Somehow things had managed to get worse - she didn't even have a sense of being embodied. Then her nascent [Possess Weapon] talent identified a single valid target, and she was shunted into it.

It was long and made of good iron, designed for stabbing with an added hook for catching. She had a physical form now, but no senses or ability to communicate.

She had been reborn as a fire-poker.

Welcome, Leise Schwertgeist, to the Lost House.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:42, Wed 10 Aug 2022.

The Lifesense of Old Bones could tell it was a Quadruped not a biped and it was small, a small feline like a kitten.

He listened to the shadow surprised that he could hear it speaking. Intrigued he paid deep attention to the words as they seemed very important. He nodded. to the wooden statue and it's shadow. "I will." it bounced.

Hey I can listen through my shadow. A witches shadow ? Is that what I am a cat ? He pondered as he was already on his way to find a way down to speak with the orb or the orbs shadow first.

Hopping down he eventually followed his ears as they moved this way and that and he found the others. He ran into the room and hopped up but missed the table and needed to hop to a chair then pull himself up on to the table. He almost forgot he had to talk to the sphere since he wanted to play with it and roll it around. He bounced and padded it a bit with a paw then calmed down and looked for it's shadow. He then communicated to it's shadow.

"Hello, Frantic Sphere, I was sent by the Goddess to be. I have very important messages. You all have strengths that you need to survive. The wolf headed man is a good and level headed person. He is a leader who can get everyone working together. The glowing one like twilight is very clever and a survivalist, he has to be convinced his only chance for survival is cooperation and working with the others. The punchy woman is trustworthy also some things about her I don't understand. Wife of he who dwells in absence. Now I have to find the dragon blooded man in the cellar. So much to do."

Grimalkin looked at all of them and waved a paw before hopping down and scampering off to find a way to the basement. A light meow rising from him.

Yes! Too much attention was on him now, and he didn't know or trust any of these people-monsters. He watched enough Isekai to know that they were probably mostly jack-assess waiting for their moment. And if he was summoned here like the appraised skill said, then he knew enough to know that whatever summoned him here probably didn't deserve his help as much as it thought it did. He wasn't, however, really that into PVP though so instead decided to just make his presence more as indistinct as possible, and hopefully elude the others so they didn't know where exactly he was in the house. That way, maybe he could figure out if there were any among them who were actually worth his time and potential friendship. Once he warmed up to those possible folks, he'd be much more helpful. If not, he'd figure things out on his own rather than end up as another statistic.

Slowly gaining a better understanding of his powers, The [Lunarian] decided to try and stop trying to extinguish his light, but instead control who could see it. He closed his eyes a moment, behind his hooded cloak, and willed his light to not be visible to anyone besides himself. He turned down [Luminosity] so No one but he could see its light.

And then the main hall suddenly, to the others, fell into a shadowy dusky gloom, lit only by the small fire in the fire place and perhaps some of the moonlight coming in from the window down the hall [or anything else the GM states of course].

He remained hooded, and misty and indistinct and he slowly drifted like a ghost across the room, flowing past any obstructions, and toward the stairs where the cat gremlin thing came from. How dare it try and call him out! He instead needed some space from the others, so he could get his bearings, and so drifted up the stairs into the attic, letting the light of his [Luminosity], which guide him while he left the others back in the shadowy main hall.

When the Leise Schwertgeist first came into existence, it was dead. It remembered clearly: the time it spent in life, the competitions it won, the girl it ran off to college with, and the speeding hunk of metal that turned it into a pile of mush. It remembers spending months, slowly dying in a deep sleep while its family tried desperately to bring it back in a hospital. They spent numbers of currency on trying to make it better, and it was for naught. One by one, the Leise Schwertgeist lost its abilities to percieve. First it was it's optical skills, then it's ability to pick up on scent, and finally, it lost the ability to comprehend sound. Then, it was nothing... and now, it was here.

The Leise Schwertgeist isn't deterred by this, for one simple reason: it has gained a new existence. It can comprehend that it, once more, has components. Components it can break down into things it can comprehend further. If it just had no form, than this is a definent improvement, right? The Leise Schwergeist does not care much that it is a metal implement that barely passes as a weapon: it has a handle for being held, and a sharp point for impaling her wielder's target, and a hooked blade to stab and slice. It remembers being bipedal, and being constantly aware of what it's body was doing. It jitters a bit, before taking stock of it's body once more. A handle for holding, a hook for grabbing, and a pokey bit for stabbing. It had another part to it, however. Calling it a 'sense' would be a bit of an over exaggeration: really, it was what the Leise Scwergeist was using to comprehend itself. It occupied a separate spot it it's mind. [Possess Weapon], whatever that means. It... sits there, simply. Can't really do much right now unless someone picks it up.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:58, Wed 10 Aug 2022.

The revelation was distressing, but the circumstances were desperate - the Earthborn wasn't sure that he could lay claim to genius, but he could lay claim, at the least, to its fruits. Despite the absent power source, he did his best to buckle himself into the suit, reasoning that even pot metal and chewing gum would hold up better against...whatever, exactly, was out there...than silks and jewelry. An unfamiliar weight.

Others soon joined it. The weapon beside the armor, swished experimentally - he had a suspicion even before turning the full force of his sight on it he'd find similar results - then tucked carefully to the side. And a forge-tool. Something simple, heavy, blunt, something that could be wielded desperately and without particular skill. Something metal, which he promptly thrust into the furnace until it glowed.

Light.

He took a breath, looked towards the doorway. In a place that seemed half-hewn from shadows, he wondered where he might find someone with a deeper knowledge of such things. Somewhere past the immediate needs of survival, surely. He looked at the implement he held, tried to be reassured by its heft.

"It's you and me, I guess. You keep me safe and I keep you around, deal?"

Voice.

Another breath...and his first steps out the exit, towards the sounds he heard. A foolish course of action, perhaps. Anything really could be waiting out there. But he couldn't hope to understand everything he'd need to learn from inside this single armory, and more and more the horrors of the Void and the wonders hidden within the worlds that grew from it occupied his thoughts. Restlessness, manic energy. Beneath the heavy Mythrolasium helm, a grin sharp and bright as a knife in moonlight. He needed to know.

He had always needed to know.

His pace quickened, some secret engine in his soul sparking to drive him forward, and he rushed to meet with - others? Death? A sealed oubliette? Something he couldn't describe the shape of - but just like he knew the arithmetic between and above and around this reality, he knew the name of what he sought.

Destiny.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:02, Wed 10 Aug 2022.

"Umm, no. I don't- why would I want to slap you in the face?" The demilupine blinked as he tried to understand. Before he could respond further the woman was assaulted by a flying skull?

Unsure of what to do he tried to follow the conversation. It seemed like all of the other monsters were also from earth, or at least a version of earth. What earth was 616 and what earth was his? Before he could wrap his head around that a sphere declared they were all in mortal peril. Before he could wrap his head around that a cat suddenly walked in and made several declarations before it immediately left. The more he watched the more the demilupin became convinced of a certain fact. "Yep. I've gone insane."

On the off chance he hadn't gone insane he took a deep breath and parsed what had been said. He let out a huge sigh and pretended that it wasn't some nightmare. 'Just think of it like a field trip'. "So I have no idea what is going on but I think we can all agree on one thing, we want to get out of here. So I recommend we explore the house and figure out where the exit is. Aza... Az... the sphere thing is right, there might be more of us here. We should be on the lookout for others. Whatever we find we meet back here in a few and compare notes. If any of us are attacked by an array thing shout out for help I guess? Sound good?" He paused as he looked down the hallway, "also anyone see where the cat ran off too? It seemed like it might know what's going on."

The demilupine nodded after he finished his little speech. He was convinced he had presented that reasonably well. Time would tell if they decided to listen to his suggestion or not. Regardless he himself planned to follow through with his plan. He strode off in a direction determined to open more windows and further explore the house for other monsters. As he did he pondered one question, 'who was the wolf-headed man the cat mentioned?'

A bundle of fur and cuteness in kitten form ran up.

It looked up, up, up at the figure coming from the basement. Sniffing the air and smelling myrh.

It opened it's mouth and meowed. It's ears then lowered as it sighed. It walked around till it touched Earthborn's shadow.

"Hi there. Are you the dragonblooded one ? You do smell of myrh."

The Unblooded Shage was just about to explain to the Demilupine that she thought she might be in a dream, or had gone insane, and needed the sweet remedy of pain to right her trauma-addled brain. But then the Old Bones took a mighty swing and smashed the Unblooded Shage's head with her skull. Completely unprepared, the bandaged creature's head snapped back from the force. She let out a howl of pain, though her body did not crumble. She pulled herself back together with alarming vigor. "Heeeey that fuckin' hurt!" the Unblodded Shage hissed. She rubbed the stinging wound and her grimace was quickly dissolved by glee. Now her cheeks were aglow with a girlish blush. Not to mention a little swollen from Old Bone's unhinged smack. "That hurt me." Her body radiated with bottled excitement and a tear rolled from the swollen eye. "This is the best day of my life..."

And quite possibly her last, if the orb had anything to say about it. The Unblooded Shage studied her with interest, and then the cat - er, well, close enough - that lept onto the table. It was oddly thoughtful for a cat(?), touching the orb's side and radiating a pensive, serious demeanor that intrigued her. Was the cat... communicating somehow with the orb? The Unblooded Shage had never owned a cat, in her past life or any other, so she did not pretend to understand the mysterious creature's intentions. Except that they appeared sentient.

"Incredible danger?" was added to the chorus of raised voices. Except the Unblooded Shage's was the only one that was delighted. Her [Thought Acceleration] began to pump through her veins with incredible force. If she were anyone less hearty, or less empowered by that illusive power of friendship all those shows and books promised her, an artery might have burst! "That sounds amazing! I'm dying to try out this new body. And no way I'm giving it up to something stupid like getting killed!" and she cracked her long, coal-tipped fingers. They appeared singed, like the end of a burnt candle. But what were they met to be lit with? That she was eager to find out.

The Unblooded Shage then focused on the room around her with a singular objective in mind: finding anything useful to arm herself or her new comrades to arm themselves with. It was made difficult by the Lunarian's meddling, though she was none the wiser to it. Her [Thought Accelerated] mind was too preoccupied with shiney, pokey, slashy, deadly... That's when she saw it, a slim, glittering implement near the hearth she was born from. The Unblooded Shage bent down to one knee and scooped Leise Schwertgeist up with the delicacy of lifting a maiden. Something about it felt important. Special even. Was this one of those legendary weapons the Unblooded Shage had read of in all those wiki articles and Reddit threads? No, it was just a fire poker. She picked it up all the same and presented it to the others.

"I found this. Would any of you like it?" she said, gesturing towards her unarmed companions. "I don't need it. I-I mean...!" she corrected herself, somehow feeling like she shouldn't insult the fire poker in her hands. "My build won't be able to optimize it. Please, uh, miss orb-thingy," she began, giving the Callisti another chance to introduce herself, now that the Unblooded Shage was present. Or anyone else for that matter. She had barely caught the tidbits of "Seattle", "anime" and "Naofumi straight up just put up with way too much shit!" but she didn't know who that was supposed to be. "- just point me in the direction of the cellar and I swear to you all -" and her casual, friendly demeanor slipped into something darker. "I will crush anything that dares stand in our way."

It was obvious the Unblooded Shage was a little too into whatever the hell was going on.

[To: The Lost House, Lower Level: Armory, Furnace.]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Fri 12 Aug 2022.

The Earthborn jumped to a height that would have been impressive for his normal level of extremely casual athleticism, let alone under the weight of the defunct set of armor.

"MOTHER OF GOD!"

Still locked into a forward course, the leap along with his attempt to rotate full-body mid-air exceeded his stage-trained flexibility and sent him crashing into a wall, staggering, thrashing, and only barely avoiding burning himself with the furnace-heated [something or other] he wielded. He came very close to hurling it at the kitten.

Breathe. Calm. The nuldraken don't - don't inquire. Usually. I think.

Heart hammering, he did his best to haul himself back up to standing position. "I -" He bit back his first answer. No certainties. "I don't know. I'm, uh, I just got here." Myrrh I remember. It was thick in the air of the study, along with firelight and the murmur of voices. My circle. I hope they're alright.

Dragonsblood, though...? He examined the armor uncertainly, then his interlocutor. A shadow. A cat. Could it be...? He crouched before the Grimalkin. "I'm - Aaron. Or I was. Listen, do you know anything about shadow magic? About -" He gestured to the claw-made runes, looked both ways, hoped this new creature was as friendly as its shape and sound.

"My shadow is talking to your shadow now. I seem to have some, well some innate understanding of shadow magic. I think we all need to band together and talk with the shadow of the goddess in the attic. To survive we need to work together. The shiny orb thinks there is danger." Hops up onto his shoulder if Earthborn lets him.

"I'm sorry I was supposed to get to you, you were in the basement right. Though I wasn't told what I was supposed to do when I found you." again it's ears lowered slightly.

The shadow of a goddess. Things were coming together now. The old XO, nothing like the glorious raiment he'd read about. The quiet. There were things worse than nuldraken, he knew. Things that could claim the lives of even the divine, that feasted on the rich life of their grown and tended Realms. And what, he wondered, would be left behind after such feasting? The Earthborn's eyes turned to the structure around him. He opened himself to [Appraisal], to the colors of magic, to the mathematics of being.

He allowed the little shadow to climb to his shoulder almost absentmindedly. "Lead me to the attic, then. To this other shadow. Thank you for finding me. Do you have a name?"

"I did, but I think I died. I know I have a name here in this strange afterlife. Grimalkin is what I am called. I think everyone should meet her, she seems to know what is going on."

Grimalkin points with a paw directing Earthborn to the attic.

Hey folks, please pause while I update.

A cat leapt into view on the table the Callisti was yelling from, and she rolled backwards, startled into temporary silence. Cats hadn't been so friendly with Azalea in life, and hadn't been quite so large (by comparison at least, now that she was just a sphere). This was the closest she'd ever been to one. She even let it paw at her, it was oddly calming.

And then it spoke.

"Ack! A talking cat now! Wait..." The Callisti tried to curb her shock to take in all she was being told. "... Good cat. Thank you for this message. Godspeed in your tasks. The dragon blooded man in the cellar... We have all we need..." So there was hope. Even if the doom was coming within a matter of minutes, there was still time, even if many of the others seemed understandably unfocused, given the circumstances. She had to think. She wished she had a nail to chew still. Or a thumb to have a nail to chew.

Wait, was that fire poker there before? Something about it seemed important, she couldn't draw her attention away from it, but without arms, not much she could do about it.

For now, the Callisti spun her attention around to the Demilupine, whom the cat had spoken to her of. "Azalea." She helped him, "And well said... I'm sorry, I don't think I got your name yet. The cat has gone down into the cellar, and I suggest we follow him. I imagine what we need to survive is down there, and I want eyes on it and whoever is down there with it. There may be clues up here as well, so we don't need all of us to go."

The Callisti spun again, this time directing her attention to the slapstick act featuring the Unblooded Shage. She was right, seeing that had calmed her. And more than that, the Shage seemed to be a glutton for punishment, always useful. AND she listened to the warning, three for three! The Callisti silently filed her away under 'tentatively useful'. "Azalea." She assisted, "You! I will allow you to carry me down to the cellar. There's someone down there I want to meet and I don't want to approach someone described as 'dragonblooded'... unarmed. What do I call you?" The Callisti stared at the Shage with an expectant silence, waiting for compliance.

[moves to: The Lost House, Lower Level: Armory, Furnace.]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Fri 12 Aug 2022.

After some brief introductions and clarifications (namely, as the Earthborn knew, dragonsblood was an incense that he likely smelled of, not . . . a physical characterstic of his.) and brief reconnaissance of the cellar, most of the errant misfits born of the Lost House loosely gathered together at the foot of the attic steps as several who sought the cat or the Earthborn encountered them coming up the same narrow stair.

The Lesser Nuldrak boldly took roost on the Old Bones' skull, preening.

The bronze weapons were lousy with chlorides, the cause of bronze disease - useless. This meant they had been recovered from . .  soil?

The Callisti, the Earthborn, and the Demilupine sought more information about the house by various means. The Callisti discovered that the kill team that was coming would be likely to arrive in seven minutes - after some deliberation, the Array had judged only a single operative necessary for the extermination.

Physically, The house seemed . . . small. The main room with the hearth, the basement armory, the attic, the dormitory . . . it was like four or five pieces of a strange jigsaw puzzle, equal thirds house, castle, and ship. Yet there was one terrifying discovery:

The House was buried in a the torso of a massive armored corpse, the source of the same tarnished Living Metal that had been fashioned into the suits in the basement, by someone skilled, but desperate, and no longer here. That explained the chlorides.

The Demilupine discovered there was something funny about the corridor; when we walked in, there was no door to the dormitory he had left. When he walk back down the corridor, the door was apparent. Some trick of design. On a hunch, he looked for another hidden door walk toward the window, in from the hearth. He nearly lost his balance falling through and invisible wall. Here, there was a kitchen, and a dry-rotted corpse that had died of starvation. There was no FOOD in the kitchen. It was the work of a moment to explore this wing of the house; up another staircase there was an attic library, and down the same stairs was a cellar. Here there was a pool of fresh water, with ceramic jugs for carrying the water upstairs, but again no food.

The Demilupine felt there was some secret here, but he did not discover it in the spare minute of searching.

Meanwhile, the Earthborn, the Minor Grimalkin headed up the stairs.

The invisible Lunarian was already at the top of it, a light that only his guiding his way.

The attic was a sacred space, decorated richly with tapestries depicting large figures consuming smallers ones, only to be consumed in turn; and otherwise, great beasts of many hands and many eyes and other distorted physiques doing battle with the same large figures. Lastly, there were arabesque tapestries, patterns only with no figures. It was by these last tapestries that he found a discarded maiden puppet, reclining on a couch. A single candle burned by the side the doll. The candle was banded with many colors, tracking the time. 7 bands remained.

The shadow of the doll cast on the wall was clearly something else entirely, and by his light he saw the full figure in its secret colors, deep green and gold with deep brown skin. By his light, he saw the hidden moon-runes inscribed in the doll, simple runes of naming:

"Here lieth Eri, Goddess of Echoes, of the Last House of the Lost, Once-Mortal, Heir of Erial, God of Song, of the Keeper's Blood."

Ah. Not a doll; an effigy, to remember a daughter too weak to survive her inheritance.

The others did not see the runes nor the true colors of the shade, but they saw the rest.

Unblooded Shage, Callisti, and Liese Schwertgeist remained in the parlor.

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . ]
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:27, Thu 11 Aug 2022.

After he had drifted and flowed into the attic, following his own light, the misty [Lunarian] looked about the place thoughtfully. The Tapestries must be depictions of the some of the things he remembered from the Anime magazine Godhunter - Gods that ate mortals, and bigger chthonic void-things that would fight the gods and sometimes even eat them in turn. He didn't know what was up with the doll and the final tapestry, though, until the light of his presence caught onto the hidden moon-runes and other secrets of the scene and caused them to glitter to his sight. In which case he pieced together that the doll was more of an effigy, and that the shadow of the Doll on the wall was not a true shadow but some sort of stillborn but sentient being. Most likely, he presumed, the stillborn heir of the giant corpse that the House had resided within.

"Ugh! I simply wished to come and be away from the rest of you all, to gather my thoughts and wits in seclusion and respite. But yet, you all still somehow managed to follow me anyways." the [Lunarian]'s voice had said somewhere from the dim light of the Attic. It was audible to everyone.

"I must find a way to leave this House, it seems. Even away from Earth, humanity seems to want to continue to infringe upon my freedom to just be. I'm stuck inside this anime and can't even have some peace and quiet to myself. Are all of you misfits and creatures and sentient objects also Earthlings forcefully drawn and trapped here too? Are you seeking me out simply to use me for my light, or because you are truly lonely?" the [Lunarian] said from the shadows aloud, as his prior survivalist feelings and convictions began to falter for a moment as his better nature warred with his cynical one.

"None of you deserve anything from me, and I'm asking for nothing from you either. Just let me be miserable by myself, here with this poor stillborn shade."

Based on how the others responded, he would either restrict and hide his [luminosity], and let them fend for themselves, or if they could somehow convince him to trust them or appeal to his better nature he would share his fae-light with them again.

The residents of the House who had, incidentally, come into the attic after the [Lunarian], could sense somehow, according to the strange meta-logic of this story-made-real they found themselves in, that they had encountered an important decision point, where how they reacted and what they chose to say and do would have an affect on the [Lunarian] and possibly their own situations going forward. Perhaps this was what the cat-like Grimalkin meant when he mentioned that they had to gain the [Lunarian's] trust, earlier? [GM Edit: Minor Grimalkin's Curiosity talent would indicate the Lunarian's importance had somewhat increased, and the Demilupine's Familiar talent would indicate a heightened emotional state and a change from friendly to uncertain intention. Up to those characters if they decide to share those details.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:30, Thu 11 Aug 2022.

The Old Bones, continuing to lack any amazing insights of her own, simply followed the assembled circus upstairs without offering any of her own nonexistent insights. The click-clack of bare bone on wooden floor was an unpleasant auditory sensation; she would have to acquire some boots or something as soon as possible.

Her fire-pupils flicked to the dark as she heard an annoyed exclamation. "Frankly, little moonbeam, I had not even realized you were up here and I'm starting to wish you weren't," she states with a callous frankness that can only come from a position of utter apathy. She recognized the voice of Argentum, and in his words she identified a familiar loneliness that she herself had felt many a time. Unlike the masculine-voiced entity however, she had long since given into despair and no longer even had the energy to push others away.

They could coexist together. Or not. They could work together, or not. It would be better to work together; more efficient. But for abolishing the chill of a lonely heart? The Old Bones genuinely couldn't care less.

"Stay up here and fade away if you want. I have a world to get back to, and maybe this dead god is the key. Help or get out the way."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:49, Thu 11 Aug 2022.

Meowed a few times then hopped down from Earthborn to stand so his shadow could touch all of those present it was tricky and hard to do and walked around the candle till he got it right.

"I am from Earth or was, I don't know where I am but I know the goddess is in need of our help and is in worse shape then we are. I have to speak to you through your shadows. I know something really bad is going to happen and if we don't work together we might die again. Please let's try to work together. We all need each others help. I am trying hard. I can speak to the goddess shadow find out what she has to tell us though she warned me there is little time."

"Earth here. Hi. Aaron, I think. I...haven't looked in a mirror for a while. I don't really know what's going on - well, I do, the broad strokes, but not the specifics. I'm sorry to bother you. I wouldn't fault anyone the desire for some, uh, adjustment time right now. Like about an eon of it myself."

The [Earthborn] seemed hesitant, anxious, and distracted in a nervous way, eyes flickering to every uncertain darkness. "But we don't seem to have any luxury that way. I'll be honest, I don't think I'm - " He paused, startled to realize something with a deep, jagged pang. Like cracks running through ice.

"Okay, I guess I am pretty lonely," he said, with an apologetic half-smile as kin to merriment as the shadowed mannequin was to the great beings depicted around them. "But that's not why we came, I don't think. I also don't think it's the other one, your - light? isn't why we're bothering you. We...well, we're all kind of in the same boat. The little one," he said, gesturing to the Grimalkin, "Said we needed to talk to her. The wooden goddess, the shade. I want to understand this place. I want to survive it. I don't want to stop you from leaving or use you, but I won't lie, I do want help. Please."

Another breath, more jittery. Was it the tumbled river of words that had overused it or the growing clarity of his situation? He couldn't have said. A similarly uncertain jumble of reasons had wet the [Earthborn]'s eyes as he looked up at the [Lunarian].

"I'm really scared."

The more the demilupine had explored the house the more disturbed he had become. The building seemed to be more maze as much as an abode, perhaps even more now if the corpse in the kitchen was any indicator. The various rooms he had discovered hadn't provided any clues but the fact that he'd already found two doors that were hidden provided evidence that more existed somewhere in the manor.

His search had concluded for the moment so he had regrouped with the others and followed the others up into the attic. Which oddly seemed just as ornately adorned as the rest of the house, although the doll on the couch seemed to stand out amongst the rest of the room. While he wandered the perimeter he heard raised voices and felt a wave of painful emotions. The conversation clearly contained a lot of emotion, which now assaulted his senses. When he recovered he stepped towards the group. "Look, we're all on edge right now so emotions are high but let's not lash out. Everyone here has been taken from their homes like, um," he paused as he tried to recall a relevant example. "Like the Wizard of Oz! We're all basically Dorothy! She couldn't get home by herself, she needed the help of her friends to survive. So let's all calm down." He glanced between the small cat that also seemed to be from Earth and the shadow goddess. "See, this guy has already found Glinda to help us! Can you help us out and speak for her?"

The demilupine knelt down in front of the doll. How did you address a goddess? Were gods here normally dolls? Was this thing truly alive? He tried to focus his new found sense and see if he could feel any emotions from the doll or her shadow. "Umm, hello your shadow godliness. My name is Dalton. We have gathered here in your, well, attic seeking help. Can you help us? Can we help you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Fri 12 Aug 2022.

Nodded. "I can do that." a bit fearful of the dogman he still felt the earnestness of his words.

"Goddess, I will speak for you if you wish it. I would be happy too." and he stood to be her shadow speaker so that hopefully they could all learn more of their predicament.

Shadow Magic to speak for the goddess if she allows it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Fri 12 Aug 2022.

The stillborn goddess's emotions were complex to the Demilupine's senses. There was resentment, concern, and resignation wrapped up together. She was a staunch ally in her intent; she was prepared to die for this ragtag group. Indeed, she seemed oddly intent on it.

The Stillborn Goddess spoke through shadow to the Minor Grimalkin.

PM

[Private to Minor Grimalkin: "Tell them this, kitten: Six minutes are all you have left before a monster that was once a God crashes through the outer barrier. It is called a Ghost-Eater, and in the first minute that it arrives at least two of you will be immediately eaten. In the future that I have seen, the Lunarian watches invisibly as each of you is devoured, and then the Ghost-Eater waits. It sits and watches the Lunarian, waiting for him to drop his shroud. He never does, and I gain two unsavory companions in this little Limbo.

You need the crude XOs in the armory. They were left behind by an adventurer who stumbled upon this place. If you are swift, there is still time to escape to the Moon nearby. If I give up this half-life of mine, the House will crumble with it. It might buy you time. As for helping me . . .  carry my effigy with you, when you make you escape. I have always wanted some part of me to escape this House . . ."]

[The Cycle continues unbroken. Timestamp: 20:17]

OOC: Enough of you have appealed to his humanity by being vulnerable and empathetic yourselves, so he opts to take the Light Path.

The [Lunarian] listened to each response thoughtfully. One, from the Old Bones, was of a darker sort. but it was a darkness that rang of apathy and despair rather than actual malice. While the other responses were ones of, in varying degrees, kindness, honesty, vulnerability, and good-to-honest humanity. And this, in turn, stirred the better side of the [Lunarian]. The part of him that, underneath his own desire to survive and his own fear and anxiety, wasn't some robot or cold slate but was a human who was capable of empathy himself. And these others...they reminded him he wasn't alone in a bubble, but that they were hurting and scared like he was and he felt their honest desire to want to commune with him and try to co-exist with him. To pitch in together with him, against the cold horrors that he suspected were slowly drawing closer to them even now.

OOC: The Grimalkin's talent reveals that the Lunarian is becoming even more important and relevant to their situation, while the Demilupin's talent revealed that the [Lunarian] was experiencing some heightened emotions that were shifting from Uncertainty back to a sort of sympathetic friendly intention again, with grains of compassion and empathy tossed in for good measure. The [Lunarian] wanted to survive badly, but this feeling no longer over-rode the friendly one from his initial encounter but instead became a holistic and healthy blend of the two. The [Lunarian] wanted to now help the group survive, rather than just himself.

"I...I see. I hear what you all are saying, and I...suspect I have over-reacted." the [Lunarian]'s voice said from the shadows.

"I understand, and I believe the words of each and every one of you. I'm not alone, and equally with me here you all are not alone. Because I have decided to be with each and every one of you from now on. We'll take this anime game whatever the hell it is by the horns, flip it on its, head, and we'll find a way to turn things around! And so I will help you!" his voice said, continuing excitedly.

"The wooden doll...don't be fooled you guys. It is no Doll at all. And it's not the goddess either. [Demilupine], stop being fooled you're talking to a mere hunk of wood. If you only look closer..." he said suddenly, stopping mid sentence.

"Oh wait. I left you all in shadows in my moment of doubt. I will - only this once - apologize for that and own up to it. Let's make things more cozy in here, shall we. Let's help you all to SEE what's really going on!" his voice said.

And suddenly and inexplicably, the Attic was suddenly flooded with a soft but persistent glow that lit up things clearly for them all to see again, as the [Lunarian] enabled his [Luminosity] to be visible to the other PC godlings. The light swept across the space, revealing sheets and old furniture and tapestries on the walls, but most importantly the [Lunarian]'a misty form was once again visible fully.

And suddenly, the misty fae-like being semeed to pull down the hood of his cloak, and he turned solid. He was a young man with grey skin but fair and attractive, exotic well-bred features. He had dark black hair but his eyes were gold, like the color of his luminous aura and the starts in the sky. He was draped in his now-solid(ish) cloak, which was still sparkly and luminous in its own way. Even solid, he had a certain celestial fae-like quality.

He pointed at the wooden doll. As he did, hidden moon-runes began to glitter across its surface while the nearby shadow took on color and an unusual solidity of presence.

"My Light reveals secrets, and that doll is merely an effigy and nothing more. The shadow there is not a true shadow, but the living stillborn goddess Eri, whose domain was to be echoes as she is an echo of this corpse god, who himself was a god of song. I suspect this house holds other secrets you won't be able to find easily, but I will help you unveil them all!" he said as he looked onto the group more kindly now.

He turned to the [Minor Grimalkin].

"Kitty cat? You are very perceptive. Talk to the revealed goddess now, under my light. It should go easier for you now."

Grimalkin Nodded and spoke through the shadows to them all. His heart was beating faster at the news revealed to him and there was worry.
"The Goddess has a message for us, it is a bad one so I am sorry. Six minutes is all we have left before a monster that was a god at one time crashes through some outer barrier. It is a Ghost Eater and in the first minute that it arrives two of us will be immediately eaten. In the future she has witnessed the Lunarian watches unseen as each of you is devoured and then the Ghost Eater waits. It sits and watches the Lunarian waiting for him to drop his shround he never does and she is joined in her loneliness by these two in her limbo.

She suggests we need the crude XOs in the armory. I didn't know what they were but a flash of Earthborn has shown me it's armor like his. they were left behind by an adventurer who found this place by accident. She says we must move swiftly there is still time to escape to a moon nearby. If she gives up her half life of hers the House will crumble with it but it might buy us time. We can help her by carrying her effigy with us. She has always wanted to travel beyond this house."

He reaches up placing both paws on the effigy, "We will."

The [Lunarian] shook his head in the negative.

"Absolutely not. What she foresaw, I believe, was only 1 possible outcome. Which would be if we did nothing." He said. They had said the [Lunarian] was cunning and a survivalist, and unknown to him some of their powers senses his growing importance too. After deciding on the Light Path, the [Lunarian] couldn't take this simply laying down. It was time to try and apply some of his wits and Luminous perspective to the situation to try and help them all come out ahead.

"I don't know what will happen, but doesn't it seem simply too fucked up to let this poor little half-goddess sacrifice herself for us? I suspect she's the main reason we had a safe space to even manifest in after Godhunter drew us all here. And it's obvious she is trying to protect us - one misfit helping another...but is that so bad?" he said, inspired by his Light Path.

"So sacrificing her is out of the question. This is our House...why should we be driven from it? I don't guarantee success, but I do have a plan and I think we'll have a chance greater than zero of success if we do it. But ONLY if we work together." he continued.

"Eri's foresight has revealed much more than you guys realize, and Grimalkin helped put other stuff together! But we now know that the Ghost Eater cannot harm me (at least while I'm in aether-mist mode) or directly Harm Eri either, because the prediction was after you all die Ghost Eater was at an eternal stand-off with me and Eri while my hood was drawn down. I can, momentarily, be solid even when aetherial which is powerful unto itself. But in this case, the real advantage is he can't hurt me or Eri more or less." he said.

"So my plan is this - we all need to go, right now, to the basement and get ourselves some of that armor and also look for anything we can use as a weapon. Hell more fire pokers, swords, candle sticks...anything we can get our hands on. I'll keep my light cranked up so if anything is hidden we'll find it. But then you all need to meet back up and hide in the attic with Eri. You all can see now with my light, but I'm not letting the Ghost Eater enjoy that which means we can have a light advantage against him." he continued.

"I will stand in the Main hall - there's only 1 way up to the attic - and I'll make sure Ghost Eater can see me. And I'll use myself as bait and run up the stairs into the attic - if he gets too close to me I'll draw my hood down. But one way or the other I'll draw him up to the Attic, and we can all ambush him all at once! We may be able to catch him off guard even, but from his perspective he is gonna get ambushed in a dark, shadow attic while from ours we're gonna have bright light and be able to see him just fine. And if he tries to hide...well, my light reveals secrets, remember? Let's turn the hunter into the hunted and this way Eri can survive and our House can survive too!"

The [Lunarian] proposes a counter-plan to Eri's, where they go prepare and gear up and then set up an ambush in the attic.

Looks confused.

"Is there even armor for a cat ? I think I can make the attic even darker or something connected with my ability to talk using shadows." [Shadow Magic] enables me to effect shadows and do some illusions, maybe I could do illusions of us without armor around poisoness things so it eats those. I have to admit, I don't want her to have to sacrifice herself for us either."

"I still don't know what is going on, but together we are stronger she said that."

[Grimalkin] tried something with his [Shadow Magic] pulling in the shadows to see if he could grow be absorbing them.

"Bad news about the armory - everything down there is busted. The weapons are given to rust and ruin, the armor..." He gestured to the XO he was wearing. Decidedly not impressive, hanging limp and dead from his frame. "It's possible we can restore it, but - well, first things first."

The [Earthborn] crouched before the little Grimalkin, expression a mix between the tightened intensity of anxiety and the deep carve of sorrow. "I'm sorry everyone's asking so much from you. I'm sorry for all of us, really. It's too much, too fast. But if we don't find our feet - well, you heard clearest of all. Can you help me, Grimalkin? We need shadow magic to restore this armor, its defenses. The runes here - you see? I can interpret and guide, if you'll work with me. I think I could modify it to fit even a feline form if it'll activate. If we can get this one working here, then we'll know the others can be - "

With the cat-thing's consent, the [Earthborn] will seek to direct their shadow magic as his expanded senses suggest is necessary, and to learn its principles in the process - at least when it comes to external gear and magical items, how to invoke magical principles to fix them, activate them, whatever he can glean. While he works, he talks to the Lunarian, though he can spare only a glance or two away.

"I agree with you we shouldn't start off by - by abandoning anyone. But the scope of this thing that's coming, the scope of the kind of things that inhabit this place...I don't know how much combat training you folks have had, but back on Earth I was - well, I was mostly an entertainer. A scholar, sometimes. Point being I don't know how to swing a sword, especially one like this - "

He hesitated. He was in the process of showing the others the rusted weapon by his side, the useless treasure of the armory, but something occurred to him.

Everything that was here obeyed certain kinds of - maybe logic, maybe more like artistry. Color. Magic had colors, but so did the world. Rust had a color, didn't it? Verdigris and crumbling red. If you adjust a color, darken it or brighten it, you can change its shade. Simple logic, but with magic being a thing of color, with powers of shadow and light present...he held the weapon out into the place where the Lunarian's lumonisity and the Grimalkin's shadow bordered one another. Could the weapons be altered through their colors? Shifted into functionality?

"- either way, I don't feel confident about meeting this thing head on, even in an ambush. If there's a moon, if the Realm Seed stays intact, we should - in principle - be able to rebuild even a place as Lost as this. If we survive. That bit about the House collapsing. Could the goddess do that without killing herself? Instead of maces and spears, could we use the House itself as our weapon?"

The [Earthborn] ponders a third path.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Sat 13 Aug 2022.

[Grimalkin] knowing the time constraint they were under did his best to work with [Earthborn] To work with his [Shadow Magic] to get the mans armor working or working better.

"You guys use a lot of words to say simple things when every minute matters," the Old Bones notes, counting down the seconds on her hands. She is using a weird trinary finger notation that she developed in kindergarten to get an advantage on her peers; using it, she can count as high as 59048. The clicking of bone on bone adds a methodical clock-like pulse to the conversation, anxiously ticking away the seconds to their death.

"Unfortunately I actually agree with Moonbeam," she continues, being careful not to lose track of time. "We were incarnated here. This place is important. How, why, don't know, but we cannot lose it. No matter what."

"When I had meat, I was a brown belt in karate and I practiced HEMA. I know how to use a blade and move well in armor. I'll fight beside all ya'll, no prob."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:38, Sat 13 Aug 2022.

The wolf-headed man squinted as the lunarian's light suddenly filled the room. His empathic abilities sensed the easing of emotions which was a relief. His focus however remained on the doll's shadow now illuminated. The more the demilupine learned of her, the more he saddened he was by her tale. It didn't matter if it was a god or a human, he knew this poor thing was basically a child that had been forced to live in isolation it's entire life. Despite all she had gone through he could sense her emotions. She was truly ready to give her life to help total strangers. Unfortunately he couldn't console a shadow so instead he settled for the effigy. He reached forward and embraced the doll in a brief big hug. If they had longer he would have done more. Instead all he could offer was a quiet, "thank you." With that said he pulled away and turned towards the others.

As he listened to the conversation things started to clink in his mind. Some of the words being thrown around reminded him of something but he ignored it for now. It wouldn't help them in their immediate situation. "I agree that we shouldn't sacrifice Eri. I think an ambush is a good idea, especially if we can blind it with your abilities. Aaron is right though that none of us, well except the weird woman with the fire-poker, are fighters and we should avoid a direct encounter. What if we use hit and run tactics?"

He walked around the perimeter of the attic to see if he could prove his case. "This house is absolutely filled with secret doors and weird invisible walls. It would be hard to follow someone even if they could see. The lunarian can try to lead it to spots where we lie in wait. More importantly he can follow the enemy and his light will warn us as we try to sneak around it. We just keep attacking and flee before it can respond?"

The demilupine shrugged after his suggestion. All this strategy talk was a bit over his head. "It's honestly hard to plan when we don't know what this thing can do. Does Eri know more? She knows it's a ghost eater, whatever that is. Can she tell us what it is, how it fights? That might give us a better idea of what we can or can't do?"

He stopped when the skeleton reminded them of how little time they had. "Regardless of what we want to do it sounds like we need to get these armors working or at least equipped? I'll head down to the basement and warn the others. The orb might know more about the ghost eater and we need to make sure the one fighter we have is armored. If you guys don't come down by the time I'm suited up I'll try to drag some armor and weapons up here." With that said the demilupine headed for the stairs so that he could find the armory.

"Armor might actually hinder this form," the Old Bones notes, talking at the same time as she follows dogface to the armory. "Bone doesn't bruise or bleed. If functional armor yet exists it should protect your fragile meat sacks. I do need a weapon though; without flesh I have too little mass to pack a... punch."

She thinks back to when she had bonked the weird masochist. Her skull was the heaviest and studiest bone in her body, so if all else failed [Headbonk] seemed like it should do at least some modest damage... now she feels bad.

"Fighting like Tucker's Kobolds is our best shot at success, yes," she concurs with dogface's strategic assessment.

OOC: I should give the GM an actual action so giving a small mini post here to wrap it up before he updates later this morning.

The [Lunarian] nodded at all of them.

"I didn't realize we didn't have access to functioning weapons. My plan can only work if we at least have a few swords or something we can use to hurt him. I think we should try to flee for now instead and fight him a little later, to buy time for us to gather our wits. But lets pack up Eri and take her with us. Hell maybe she can collapse the House on him and kill or slow him down that way and we can come reclaim the House later when we get our bearings." he said.

"If we can each get a working weapon then let's ambush him here. If not, let's get those armors working, suit up, pack Eri up, and get the hell out of here! I'm going to do what I can to help you guys get that armor working. Because if we get Earthborn's going we can get everyone suited up." He added.

The Lunarian agrees with Earthborn's plan, UNLESS we can arm ourselves somehow in the next 5.5 minutes.

He shouted after the [Demilupine].

"Tell everyone down there to try and suit up if they can. We're gonna try and get these armors working and if there's no weapons we're gonna flee. But they gotta get armored either way!"

The [Lunarian] walks over to to the [Earthborn] and [Grimalkin] and attempts to help them with his [Luminosity] to get [Earthborn]'s armor activated.

The [Lunarian] attempts to use his [Appraise Skill] to assess both the golden armor, but also to more directly assess the shadow magic that [Grimalkin] is using and see if any secrets are revealed by the cooperative attempt to combine [Shadow Magic] and [Luminosity], or any other secrets are revealed to his Appraisal attempt.

The armor itself was . . . interesting.

The collaboration between the Lunarian, Minor Grimalkin and Earthborn allowed for a detailed assessment. The armor had three major components; a skin-tight suit that used advanced technology to conform the wearer and link with the wearer's electrical nervous system, allowing the user to monitor their own physical condition and managed their memory through a  customizable HUD that could also link up to 'the Internet'.  It was ancient tech, but the suit was self-repairing and in good order.

Layered on top of that was dead Living Metal, likely harvested from the armored corpse they were technically inside. The Shadow Magic carved into the metal was sympathetic in nature, borrowing the [Entropic Resistance] trait of the Nuldraken to protect the wearer from the void. Essentially, it was more a jury-rigged space suit that something meant to protect the wearer from attack, although it would still qualify as Light Armor or as an Ultralight XO, depending on how you looked at it.

With the suit fully functioning, the <DarkGreen>Earthborn</DarkGreen> felt much lighter on his feet. The suit didn't enhance his strength or speed, but it was now self-supporting. The same system that provided propulsion in zero-gravity made the ultralight XO someowhat 'buoyant' while stuck in a gravity well.

Meanwhile, Grimalkin was able to feed shadow into his form, although it took some doing. At end of the minute, he had double in size and was now unnaturally large for a housecat. The shadow-stuff hid his natural fur, making him looking more like a shadow with great golden eyes than a regular cat.

Minor Grimalkin learned the skill [Shadow Morph LVL1]. [Shadow Magic LVL2] advanced to [Shadow Magic LVL3]

Lunarian learned the skill [Rune Decryption LVL0]. His Appraisal skill progresses to [LVL4].

[Earthborn] learned [Shadow Magic LVL0].

At the same time, Continued in Lower Levels: Demilupine went to the the cellar, Old Bones following with in search of a serviceable weapon. >>

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . Timestamp: 20:18]

The [Lunarian] had an interesting idea of how to proceed next. Their success at jumpstarting the armor on [Earthborn] was a success, and showed there was power and hidden potential in the "player characters" of this anime comboing their efforts and skills.

[Minor Grimalkin and Earthborn]? It looks like this worked! His armor looks functional to me!" The [Lunarian] said excitedly. "And I'm unlocking more skills over time the more we do...stuff." he added.

"The next step is to get me inside of a suit of armor downstairs. With my [Luminosity] combined with your guys' abilities to analyze and do shadow magic, we apparently have the means to jump start these suits. Oh wait! I have an idea about Eri! But I'm going to need both of your guys' help to make it possible. And I can't claim to know what will happen, but it seems when under my [Luminosity] things become possible that weren't before." he said.

He walked over to the now very-substantial and colorful shadow and the effigy, which was glowing with lunar runes under his light.

"This doll is obviously connected to Eri intimately, but is not she herself. I need you guys to try using your Shadow Magic and Earthborn your [Arcane] talent and try and basically...channel, for lack of better words, Eri into the Doll so her shadow-self is imbued or sticks to it or something. I'm going to let her see my light too, and between the four of us maybe some secret revelation will be made possible and we can get her the hell out of here with us!" the [Lunarian] said. "Hurry now...we don't have much time."

The [Lunarian] explicitly wills that Eri be able to see his [Luminosity] in order to make the insightful semi-goddess even more insightful, and he then uses his [Appraise] and [Rune Decryption] skills in tandem with his [Luminosity] to try and see if he can think of ways to use the now-revealed sparkling runes on the doll and any mystical properties the runes and the doll have to help prompt and guide [Minor Grimalkin and Earthborn]'s attempts to shift Eri's shadowy essence over to the doll, so they can carry her out. He uses [Appraise] on Eri as well while shining his light on her to see if he can reveal or discover something about her as well - especially something to help them with their efforts right now in trying to save her.

This was the best idea he could think of, and if it succeeded or failed he'd be able to say in good faith they sure as heck tried their best to save her.

Hearing [Lunarian] [Grimalkin] nodded and tried to do something like he had heard about Peter Pan whose shadow had come loose from him.
[Grimalkin] tried to sew her shadow to the effigy so the two would be one.

Oddly falling into a light daze and seeing the [Constrained Apotheosis Protocols] to see if this was possible and if not doing what was possible for the same effect.
He worked with the others then when done looked at them nervously.


"I think maybe we should head downstairs and get on suits. With such little time we should probably run."

Unless the others objected, he sprinted downstairs to the Armory/Furnace Room.

He liked being a bit bigger it let him run just a bit faster and made him think back to when he was a person and not a cat. Still, he wanted a mirror to see what he looked like as a kitten because he loved kittens.

The more he thought about his past old life the more he realized his situation and that this reality was a strange thing indeed. He began to reach out and feel how this place was different from the real world or at least his old world.

[Constrained Apotheosis Protocols]  being examined with [Curiosity] as he continued down towards his objective a possibly catlike X/O suit.

With the armor in place, the [Earthborn] flexed experimentally. The HUD swirled up, flickering, data he didn't need - he turned curious eyes to Eri and the pair of fellows' efforts to infuse her with [Light] and [Shadow Magic] simultaneously, [Appraising] the statue to observe their progress.

"The suit...functions. I can get the rest working with your help, I'm sure of that. But I'm gonna be honest, I don't think - I don't feel particularly invulnerable in this. Need something heavier. If this Ghost Eater is much fiercer than a normal person swinging a hatchet I don't think these XOs are going to save us, and I'm not even sure about the hatchet scenario.

They seem to be meant more for surviving in the Void than fighting. Makes sense why the goddess would want us to have them. Anyway, I agree with the cat - we should get downstairs in a hurry if we're gonna get the rest working in time, and it might take some doing to modify one of these for the more unusual forms. I have a feeling - there was something about the armory, something about the colors there. Mutability. If we hustle -"

Once the [Lunarian] and [Grimalkin] were done with the goddess-effigy, he followed their small shadow-guide at a jog of his own, and wasted no time in setting to work with what he'd learn to get the other XOs humming to life. Once they were functioning, he turned to the armory tools and a single XO, activating [Appraise] through his new understanding of [Shadow Magic] to see if he could replicate the runework and the essential principles involved enough to kitbash the XO into something felinoid and still-functional.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Sat 13 Aug 2022.

OOC: An additional clarification to the GM: The [Lunarian] will follow the cat and Earthborn down into the basement armory as well after trying to see if we can do anything about Eri.

Lunarian

Fear creeped into Lunarian's mind - not the 'emotional' kind of fear, not his own feelings, more like the effect of the subsonic attributes of a tiger's roar that communicated danger direct to the hindbrain with bothering to shake hands with the prefrontal cortex on they way by. Eri was a stillborn goddess, and with [Appraise] in combination [Luminosity], he was ably delving into something he really shouldn't have. [Private to Lunarian: PM Eri was bound to the effigy; someone had decided she should not be allowed to ever leave this house. Eri might not know it, but she had lingered too long in this half-state of being. It was hard for Lunarian's mind to grasp, but she had passed beyond the 'domain of all death'. She would forever be a shadow of a thing unborn, and that which is not born cannot die. She had become a nascent Daemon - one of the unaligned beings that were neither Gods nor - [REDACTED]]

Eri intervened, blocking your [Appraisal] from completion by some means; perhaps she was only able to do so because you had shared your light with her?

YOU HAVE GAINED THE TALLENT [CORRUPTION LVL0].

Your [Luminosity] talent has evolved into [Illuminatio]. Not all that is dark should be brought to light; for in deepest darkness pools the horror of Night.

Evolution Path: Lunari has been unlocked.

Eri spoke; but it was not speech, but a strange pattern of variable silences ordinarly not audible. Your new [Illuminatio] talent revealed spoken secrets, so it was understandable to you even so.

dearest starling : be cautious in your hunt

Minor Grimalkin

PM

[Private to Minor Grimalkin: The Constrained Apotheosis Protocols were brilliant to your Curosity talent; something not only very important, but also likely to be active in the 'story' very, very soon.]

Earthborn

The Effigy was also marked with runes, but in a different glyphic alphabet and channelling an entirely different chroma of magic via a different method. Rather than debossed carvings, these runes were painted on. The distinction between the two methods was that one imbued traits, thus altering the nature of the enruned object, whereas painting runes superimposed traits onto the object without altering its nature. These were runes of binding and entrapment, invoking Lunar magic which bridged that gap between Shadow magic and some other presumably light-based magic he hadn't encountered yet.

[Runic Decryption LVL2] advances to LVL 3.

>> Continued in Lower Level >>

Looks around with [Curiousity] through the lens of [Metacognition] even glancing at Starling to see if any information came to him, even himself. Still he was focused on this fire he had smelled ? Sensed.

It was important this fire and he wanted to see why as well as how it related to the overall game reality ? It was hard to think like this but he was getting more used to it because he knew he had too.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:27, Tue 16 Aug 2022.

Lunarian, Minor Grimalkin, et al.

OOC: Ghost-Eater Battle Theme: "In our dying world, no one is cruel, nor unjust. We are struggling for survival; we kill, or we die. There is no other choice." https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=62a5CJiLe5s

The hearth-fire was out of control, yellow-bright flame lapping at the tables, the couches, the tapestries, the curtains. Yet the fire parted for the Children of the House.

There was a ghoul in the parlor, a man clad in rune-carved bone-armor wielding a spear. The void-facing windows were broken. With a wave, Eri sealed the breach with the life-flame.

She was woman of roiling life-flame, flaring white and yellow, trailing black wisps of shadow.

Lunarian saw through the wall; he had never recalled his [Illuminatio] from Eri.

"I thought myself a prisoner, but I was also the prison, all along," said the [Lifeflame Daemon] to the [Ghost-Eater]. "I am the House, and I will crush you within me. Of your bones, I will make fertile embers."

The Ghost-Eater was impassive, then struck forward suddenly. [33 vs. 85, -20 from Charge; critical hit to right arm, +2 wounds, +Bleeding condition; +8 SL difference; -6 VIG; total 4+5+2+2= 13 HP damage]

The blade of the rune-etched spear impaled Eri's wrist, shadow-stuff gushing out to pool on the floor below her. [Lifeflame Shadow Daemon 7/20 HP, Bleeding [1]]

Flame from around her rushed to her, and she incanted: "Flame, O blessed flame; burn down my foe, and cast his ashes to the twelve winds." [07 vs. 100, +8 SL difference; Lifeflame Ignition successfully cast and critically unresisted.]

The mixture of blood and flame exploded, consuming the Ghost-Eater in a column of yellow-bright flame of creation. [10 base damage, +2 Ablaze conditions.]

The flames whirled on, burning everbright. [10 damage -8 toughness = 2 damage]

[Ghost-Eater: 12/22 HP, Ablaze [2], Prone]

The Lifeflame Daemon then died, bleeding out from her shredded wrist [04]. She'd bought some time, at least . . .

The Lunarian and Minor Grimalkin could enter the fight as they wished, but currently they could track Eri through the wall thanks to [Illuminatio] . . . until her death winked that out.

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . Timestamp 20:20]
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:29, Wed 17 Aug 2022.

A serious look comes over Grimalkin again he looks up to Starling and touches his shadow out to the darkness within the cloak to speak to Starling.

"We have to help Eri. I will help you anyway I can."

Grimalkin would have tried something since he saw the Lifeflame Daemon's blood was shadow.
He would have tried to have the blood/shadow flow back in and close the wound with shadow.

If he couldn't help out that way he waited to see if Starling was onboard with helping.
It wasn't that Grimalkin was fearless, it was more that he wanted to deal with this now then running all his new life.


Actions held to see if Lunarian/Starling is onboard.

The [Lunarian] froze as he came up the stairs into the main level proper. He was still behind a wall or series of them, but saw everything with crystal clarifty thanks to [Illuminatio]. His sharp mind quickly pieced together that the Ghost Eater had somehow arrived earlier than they expected, and was standing there in the main hall. And of course he could immediately Sense Eri, who most likely through some strange interaction from naming him and benefitting from [Illuminatio] was able to finally fully realize she was more than a mere shadow Daemon, and she was currently facing off against the Ghost Eater!

This also meant her prediction went out the window. The future had been changed, for good and ill alike. Eri wasn't supposed to be hurt but there she was bleeding out, yet was also rising past her stillborn nature to become full of beautiful blazing life energy instead!

He pondered a moment, trying to figure out the best course of action. His SUIT was now armed with an admittedly meh but at least functional bronze sword, but on the downside Ghost Eater being there caught them with their pants down a bit so his ambush plan went out the window. He wasn't sure how he arrived faster but that was the reality and he quickly tried adapting. But his sword and SUIT felt woefully underwhelming compared to Ghost Eater's bone armor and runic spear.

The [Lunarian] used [Appraise] combined with [Illuminatio] to try and learn about the secrets behind Eri's blazing Lifefire spell, with the former helping him understand it more fully while comboing it with the latter would hopefully help him understand subtle metaphyscial and system complexities. He knew he had a potential for magic, and maybe he could learn to cast a blazing Lifefire spell like that or perhaps co-opt those mystical metaphysical secrets into developing some sort of Starfire spell or something else he could use to help Eri! He also studied Ghost Eater with [Appraise] combined with [Illuminatio] to try and learn more about their nemesis as well.

However, as he was studying Eri's magic, to his Horror the hope he had that Eri would decimate him faded as her life bled out and she died there, while he was powerless to prevent it! He knew then that they had to get the fuck out of there, and now! Ghost didn't know where they were yet, but he certainly could make sure the players knew where he was! The [Lunarian] actively focused [Illuminatio] on the Ghost Eater, allowing all attuned to it to be able to track him - even through walls and such - from up to 30 meters away! That sort of radius was basically enough to cover most if not all of the House at a time! He made sure to will [The Dwarf] into being able to be privy to his "light" as well.

Clutching [Grimalkin] tightly in response to the cat's shadow-words, Starling shook his head in the negative and turned around and headed back downstairs into the Armory, taking [Grimalkin] with him in his arms. He wasn't going to let the cat get itself killed. He had to warn everyone (if the sudden change in [Illuminatio] wasn't obvious enough, and start helping them get prepared or to escape. He mourned Eri's passing but didn't have the time to reflect on it right now. But later on, the loss would make him ache. But for now, he was focused on survival of himself and the team.

Big teers welled up in Grimalkin's eyes. As Starling indicated no to him. He saw the loss of Eri and couldn't help but be moved by her sacrifice. Why did she have to die for them she barely knew them.

He let Starling carry him off but he reached out to the flow of shadow blood.
Thinking to himself I am sorry Eri but purrhaps we could work together to save everyone. I am going to use your shadow blood which should be potent. I miss you.

He tried to use the shadow to carry the flame and sharpen itself as it slithered into the armor looking for places to breach and avenge Eri and protect the others even as they fled down into darkness.



17:13, Today: Minor Grimalkin rolled [17] using 1d100.  Shadow attack.
Don't know what to call this so just Shadow Attack.


This message was last edited by the player at 00:21, Thu 18 Aug 2022.

The moment Minor Grimalkin reached out to the shadow-blood with an attempt the carry the life-flame, a shock ran through him. The moment froze, crystallized. That fateful second dripped by. There was a voice - Eri's voice? - speaking to him through shadow.

[

That is not dead which burns ever-bright.
Take up this Ember, and set wrong to right.

Become this Realm's Guardian? {Y}/{N}

]

If I run now, I'll never stop running. {Y}

Fury; pure, white-hot fury. Absolute resolve. A pulsing, scorching passion bloomed within Minor Grimalkin. It was like love, but jagged, unyielding, heedless. He was in agony. His mind thundered as leapt from Lunarian's arms to avenge Eri and protect the others, screaming -

"I am a house cat! And THIS. IS. MY! HOUSE!!!"

- his voice roared through the shadows and the flames, shaking the floors. What was once merely-shadow-stuff bulking up his frame was swirled through with life-flame, leaving his solid body lynx-sized in truth, his fur golden-red flecked with shadow-spots. Fire and shadow flew to him like a vortex, sheathing him in a corona of blazing yellow-bright radiance. His eyes were unalloyed gold.

[{Minor Grimalkin} has inherited the {Ember of Ignis Vitae}, and ascended to Demidivinity.]

Sacred Arts Added: [Lifeflame Ignition]

[Minor Grimalkin has earned the title {Custos Damnatorum}.]

[Minor Grimmalkin] force-evolved into [Pyrmalkin]. Type changed from [Living Shadow] to [Living Flame].  Base attributes advanced: +5 STR, +10 VIG, +5 MND, +5 FAI.

Talents Added: [Frenzy], [Pure Soul]. [Curiosity] evolved into [Prophecy].

Skills Added: [Pyromancy LVL3]

Pyrmalkin leapt onto the prone form of the Ghost-Eater with claws of shadow and flame. [17, +20 vs Prone, Damage = 3 Base + 4 STR + 5 SL - 8 [Amor, VIG] = 4 DMG]

The Ghost-Eater stood, striking out at the fire-lynx with his spear, but Pyrmalkin swatted it aside. [40 vs 13, +2 SL vs +3 SL. Miss.]

The fire continued to consume the Ghost Eater. [7 - 8. Minimum of 1; 1 DMG taken]

[Ghost-Eater: 7/22 HP, Ablaze! {2}]
[Pyrmalkin: 13/13 HP, Frenzy]

Meanwhile, Lunarian left to warn the others . . .
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:58, Fri 19 Aug 2022.

Lunarian

. . . of what he'd seen.

Lifefire. Vitale Ignis. It wasn't fire. It wasn't life, either. It was heroism. Burning passion, hatred of injustice, the will to power, ambition, resolve, the impetus of progress, rebellion, independence.

The point of [Lifefire Ignition] wasn't smash her enemy into the ground. It did that, but it was a smiting. It was a tool of instruction. The real effect has been what happened next - Pyrmalkin.

There had been layers of chess here, between the knowledge of the Callisti and the prophecy of Eri. It was a leap of logic, but it would make sense that a Goddess of Echoes would be able to hear echoes from the future and the past. She could have heard the echoes of actions.

How far back or forward did her ability to use the 'butterfly effect' reach? With the possibly hundreds of years she'd been watching the echoes of the world, unobserved in this little house of hers? Were the eleven of them tools in one goddess's quest for vengeance for her father's killers? But  . .  she'd expressed such concern about their well-being, even dying for them. Had all of that just been part of her scheme?

It was too much to suppose. But Vitae Ignis - it was something else, a source of power. [Lifeflame Ignition] was not a spell, or a skill - it was something unique, something fundamental, an expression. Irreplicable. The system called it a Sacred Art.

As for the Ghost-Eater . . . it was *tough*. Really tough. It had been smote by God, set aflame, and was still walking. It hadn't even bothered to put out the fire. It also wasn't unique. It was a species.  It was A Ghost-Eater, not THE Ghost-Eater. It was also competent with the spear, but had no magical ability to speak of. A supersoldier, essentially, but not a clever or versatile one.

Lunarian had a bad feeling that more of them might be on the way.

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . Timestamp 20:21]
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:15, Fri 19 Aug 2022.

[Grimalkin] Thoughts were focused he felt driven the fire wasn't in his soul it was his soul now. The tremor in his heart calmed and though he thought of things to say in this situation. One liners, soliloquies, all of it didn't matter. It was irrelevant. He was fighting for his life and the life of the others. If there was no way out down below, then he would have to hurt this thing as much as possible for them to finish off.

He thought about the situation he was in. To say he was never in such a situation such as this would be an understatement. Still a spear was a weapon used to stab at opponents at a distance or to even throw. He didn't think the [Ghost Eater] would throw the spear but who knows maybe it would fly back to his hand. That would be cool.

He was a cat and claws and fangs were his main weapons better at attacking close up. Two very different styles of fighting. His best bet was to get close up and have his body really flame up as he attacked since he saw the flames from Eri were still flickering on the [Ghost Eater]

He leapt for the [Ghost Eater]'s chest wanting to be as close as possible to disadvantage the spear. It might still punch him but hopefully that would hurt less.
The Frenzy drove him to keep slashing like a cat even his back legs kicked and slashed.
He hoped to harm the monster and set it ablaze more.


08:17, Today: Minor Grimalkin rolled [24] using 1d100.  Shadow and Flame Claws.
Mrow In a Frenzy.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:25, Fri 19 Aug 2022.

[Lunarian Arrives here after briefly running downstairs to shout a quick warning to the others]

The [Lunarian] rushed past the wall, tracking the scene environment and [Pyrmalkin] and Ghost Eater perfectly with [Illuminatio] as he did. While the magical Eri life-flames were parting for him, he still tried to not dive into them if he could help it but was grateful Eri cared enough about them to attune the flames to them even as she was dying. He thought desperately of ways he could try and help [Pyrmalkin], whose new form filled him with a moment of awe as he looked on. But he knew if they didn't turn things on the Ghost Eater quickly they could lose the momentum they currently had.

And then he got an idea. He didn't have attack magic or sacred arts right now, but what he did have with [Illuminatio] was proving to be far more potent than he expected. what id he could indirectly weaponize it? Knowledge was power, after all?"

"Hey Ghost Eater? Over here! Come and get me if you can!" the [Lunarian] said as he rushed to the battle, trying to distract Ghost Eater even a little. But with the firecat pouncing so directly that would be hard, but that was alright. He had another idea. Maybe he could help take down Ghost Eater without actually raising a weapon.

The [Lunarian] held his free hands on his hood, although did not draw it up. He was ready though, and was using himself as bait and if Ghost Eater tried to attack him he'd respond by drawing up the hood and going Aetherial. But that wasn't his main strategy. No, for regardless of what was happening...the [Lunarian] attempted to combine [Appraise] with [Illuminatio] together to try and read the Ghost Eater's moves. Especially if Ghost eater was going to suddenly strike and such - he could call out a quick warning like 'duck' or 'jump' or 'roll left' to try and give [Pyrmalkin] a dodge advantage!

[Lunarian] attempts to use combine [Appraise] with [Illuminatio] together to try and read the Ghost Eater's moves, and calls out warnings to [Pyrmalkin] to try and grant him a dodge bonus!

If Ghost Eater tries to attack the [Lunarian] instead of the firecat, Starling draws up his hood and becomes Aethereal.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:36, Fri 19 Aug 2022.

Pyrmalkin

Pyrmalkin's claws struck true twice, but scrabbled against the Ghost-Eater's heavy armor - dealing only [2 DMG] in total.

The Ghost-Eater was unperturbed. It was utterly calm, even on fire, half-dead, and being attacked by demidivine wildcat. It it brushed off the flame, removing 1 [Ablaze] condition.

"I will carve that Ember from your soul," it said. "Filthy heretic."

Dropping its spear, it activated some internal mechanism of its armor, producing a blade of blazing star-runes a cubit in length from the back of its left gauntlet even as it punched Pyrmalkin in retaliation. It drove this blade into the cat, dealing [4 DMG]

The reduced fire continued to burn. [1 DMG]

[Ghost-Eater: 4/22 HP, +1 ADV, {Ablaze!}]
[Pyrmalkin: 9/13 HP, {Frenzy}]

Lunarian

The Ghost-Eater resisted the Appraisal, rejecting the attempted intrusion. [+1 ADV]

Old Bones, Demilupine, Earthborn, Callisti and Unblooded Shage carrying Liese Schwertgeist arrived from Lower Levels.

"A fine nest of witches." said the Ghost-Eater. "I alone will be insufficient for this task. Oath-Sphere!"

A small silvery orb floated through the window that opened out to the Void. "Roses at your feet, Ghost-Eater. Are you well?"

"Code Vermillion. Call for my Deus. May the wanderer guide my souls . . ."

[Ghost-Eater: 4/22 HP, +2 ADV, {Ablaze!}]
[Pyrmalkin: 9/13 HP, {Frenzy}]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:36, Sun 21 Aug 2022.

An explosion of shadow and flame came from the wound in [Grimalkin]'s side. Looking like slow moving lava.

In the frenzy second attack [Grimalkin] digging his claws in deeper and kicking hard with his back legs.

He was focused even though he saw the others there he thought they were there to escape through the windows. The ember of his soul roared at the threat the Ghost Eater declared.

The flames roared though it came as a whisper to those near the flames among his new allies.
"The Spear."

[Private to GM: Did I do the extra +1 damage due to frenzy ?]





17:08, Today: Minor Grimalkin rolled [19] using 1d100.  Shadow and Flame claws.



The Fool: Taken into account, original post edited.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:37, Sun 21 Aug 2022.

Starling was momentarily surprised when his (at least he thought so anyway) well thought out plan failed. He had no idea appraise could be resisted. This brought up the question then: could be force an appraisal onto something somehow? Or perhaps he could try it again and again until it stuck, but could he do something up increase his chances? He didn't have time to practice or ponder that, but it was something worth looking into later on down the road.

Instead, Starling sensed the others coming up the stairs thanks to [Illuminatio], and  when the Ghost Eater summoned its own obviously non-PC Callisti, he expanded his intentional use of [Illuminatio] to include the enemy Callisti so that it could be tracked by the group as well as Ghost Eater.

But as he was deciding his next steps, he heard [Grimalkin's] fiery whisper and knew what he had to do.

"The Spear."

And Starling rushed forward while the Ghost Eater was focused on fighting [Grimalkin], and he grabbed the now-unattended dropped spear with one hand, and drew down his hood with his other, Turning himself Aethereal. He may not have been able to use the spear in combat as a wielded weapon, but he wasn't trying to wield anything but only merely carry it like it were a stick or something he picked up off the ground. He figured he could not only deny Ghost Eater the use of the spear now, but could give it to [Shage] or one of the others and in doing so, grant the party access to a weapon of higher quality than anything else they had encountered in the Old House so far.

"Guys! Kill the Ghost Eater before it overwhelms Firecat. If one or two of you can stop that orb it summoned go for it but Ghost Eater is our priority target! [Earthborn] can you ensnare the enemy orb with your shadow magic?" Starling said urgently as his misty form drifted back toward the group coming up the stairs.

"Skelly or Wolfy? Come to me and I'll pass you the spear! Shage has her hands full and Earthy has better tricks to use than melee."

The first of either [Old Bones] or [Demilupin] who comes to get the spear, Starling will exclude it from his cloak's effects and will let it materialize in their hands.

The Demilupine squinted as his eyes adjusted to the former grand hall. He doubted it would be considered 'grand' now as he saw most of the items in the room ablaze with a yellow flame. In the center of the room Dalton watched a bone armored man fighting a golden cat. The wolf-man growled as he realized the monster they had feared was here. The monster that had apparently already killed them all in a possible timeline. His body still pumped with adrenaline from his howl and the previous encounter.

Dalton glanced over and saw the spear along with the Lunarian materialized next to him. He wordlessly shook his head and ignored the spear. "STAY CLOSE TO ME!" He shouted before he charged forward and swung the mace at the Ghost Eater.[77] After the attack he watched the blade his opponent wielded as he prepared to intercept. If the Ghost Eater attempted to attack anyone aside from him he intended to use his [Bodyguard] skill to parry the attack[65].

OOC:
Move: Charge to the Front Row
Action: Attack
This message was last edited by the player at 17:31, Sun 21 Aug 2022.

Skellygirl joins Dogface in the charge, but pauses when she sees a fancy-pants-lookin' spear being offered in her general direction. She elects to throw one sword at the wierd fiery guy's floaty orb, launching it like a ballista bolt. She hopes that she isn't throwing it at Moonbeam by accident, but is confident she isn't; Moonbeam has been glowing with weird and distinctive not!light for a while now. She grabs the spear with her now-free hand and spins it about into a reverse grip for better one-handed stabbing action.

If her [Lifesense] in any indication the Bad Guy is on his last legs; Dogface ought be to be able to finish it off. The Old Bones elects to wait in the back and stand by, ready to face whatever fresh hell comes next rather than commit herself fully to the attack.

Euphoria hurried up the stairs with Haloise in tow, grabbing one of the undead's daggers on the floor, per the sword's telepathic request. Once she was done with it, she offered it to one of the others. A dagger might make for a pretty sweet sword for a Young Dwarf, now little Earthborn. When she reached the top, she was blasted with the sheer heat of the room, and her heart raced to see the Ghost Eater on fire in the center. Her adrenaline-drunk brain tried to register everything she was seeing and the placement of everyone. Euphoria turned down the spear the Lunarian graciously offered her. She held up the magical sword, poised to fight, and said, "Haloise and I got this!" Then she saw the Pyrmalkin get punched, followed by being stabbed with the Ghost-Eater's blade. Now she didn't care who this guy thought he was. That was going too far!

Like a good DPS, Euphoria used Dalton's tanking to seamlessly close the distance between her and the Ghost-Eater (hopefully!) without getting hit in the process. Though she was so determined to return the gruesome stab, she would not stop even if she was hit, unless it was debilitating. She would take the damage head-on if she had to, biting through it without slowing down to throw up any defense. Getting within striking distance of Ghost-Eater was the only thing that mattered! If possible, she'd try to flank him, getting between him and the newly summoned Orb, as well as keeping him in a tight circle surrounded by Demilupine, Old Bones, Grimalkin, and herself. [60] That way if she totally fucked up, he'd still be trapped in their combined cluster-$uck of FRIENDSHIP.

This time she didn't let out a war cry of something she thought was cool - but likely very cringy. There was something about this new enemy that did not strike excitement into her heart. It was fear. She grit her teeth and swung Haloise at the back of Ghost-Eater's thigh and followed through with the blade as far as she could go. Even if that was all the way through. [55] If he didn't go down, hopefully, he would at least go down! Time slowed with her [THOUGHT ACCELERATION] and the second attack was more calculated. She thought Spear! to Haloise and once she transformed, spun on her heel to lunge the spear at the newly summoned orb. [13]

OOC: Euphoria used her move action to CHARGE (+1) into a flanking position, then uses her 1st UNARMED ATTACK on [Ghost-Eater] and 2nd UNARMED ATTACK on the [Naughty Orb].
This message was last edited by the player at 19:07, Sun 21 Aug 2022.

[Grimalkin] could see that his allies were not leaving they were staying to fight.

He Mreowed slightly in pain at the stabbing wound leaking shadow and flame from him. His resolve already inflamed grew with passion as they struck out at the [Ghost Eater].

So he continued his frenzied assault hoping together they could bring the creature down.



13:06, Today: Minor Grimalkin rolled [60] using 1d100.  First Frenzied Shadow Claws attack.


13:08, Today: Minor Grimalkin rolled [40] using 1d100.  Frenzied Fire Claw Attack.

Haloise was about to be thrown. She was still a spatha, she notes, so she uses her action to Transform into a Spear. Her body flying through the air, though... well, maybe getting wedged into the orb counts as wielding. It calculates... and then, after it's well and firmly lodged into the orb or clattered on the ground, it will try to move and posses the God-Eater's spear.

The Callisti cackled, watching the Ghost Eater get flanked by every side. Take that, impending doom. And that orb behind it. Was that another Callisti? It was hard to know, she'd never seen herself, she'd just sort of surmised that she was orb-shaped. If it was a Callisti like herself, perhaps it could come over to their side.

Azalea stomped her way, unarmed as she was, over to the orb. She stood over it, tauntingly. She put a hand up towards the party to give her a moment with the fellow orb.

"Do you see that?!" She demanded of the orb, "Your Ghost Eater cannot begin to approach us, within mere minutes of awakening. If you value your survival, turn away from your masters, from the many that you are, become foresworn from them, or be destroyed by my forces! You may be of the many, but you will still die. Become forsworn from them, and I will have them spare you," she declared, gesturing to all those present.

Azalea knew she was saying this, while still connected the the great hive-mind herself. She knew they could be disconnected from that network, and she wanted to see it done. What she might come to expect from it.

Azalea tries to convince the doomed Callisti/Orb to become forsworn as the God-Eater becomes close to defeat. She also tries to [Appraisal lv. 2] it.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Mon 22 Aug 2022.

Panting more than a bit as he hurtles after the swifter and stronger, the [Earthborn] arrives on the scene armed with mundane bronze spear and shadow-hewn blade - both of which he promptly chucks at the flanked and struggling Ghost-Eater [56], before taking a breath to activate Appraisal targeting the Ghost-Eater's own strange spear.

He stood helpless a moment longer, watching the ballet of violence, the power and savagery of his companions. Magic and might erupted all around him, a riot of colors and secret math and shouting.

"This is...the world," he said, quietly, mostly to himself. "As it really is."

[Pyrmalkin] was hurt. The others had everything under control, probably. He didn't want to be hurt. He could leave this to them.

He could.

He reached out, instead, to Phantasmal Copy something new to hand - the Oath-Sphere, the Ghost-Eater's weapon, one of the already-copied blades, whatever his fledgling magic could catch and trace. Then he started forward, jaw set, to help.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:22, Mon 22 Aug 2022.

The Children Born of the Lost House

Everything happened rather quickly.

From the Ghost-Eater's perspective, what had been a simple snuff-the-Madling operation - and an immediately successful one, at that - had abruptly changed timbre when the witch's shadowthing instanteously inherited the Witch's strength like some arcane Deadman's Switch.

That was still managable.

The better part of a dozen - was that a Shage? - and a Callisti piloting a -? ---

The Ghost Hunter could have fended off both of the Pyrmalkin's attacks, but the Shage wielding a weapon of adamantite charged in with wild strikes, then a beastman, then a human with -

In a chaotic fracas of improvised blades and flame, the Ghost's armor failed him - his own spear, possessed by Liese Schwertgeist and wielded by the Old Bones, taking him through the armpit.

The tiny oathsphere, on the other hand, calmly vibrated in place with [Stochastic Evasion] to evade harm from improvised projectiles and hastily swung sword-strokes. It blocked the attempted [Appraisal].

"Roses at your feet, Lady Valence." stated the Callisti. It was about the size of a large apple. "The Tenfold Court of Lanterns thanks you for your efforts. Had you chosen to remove yourself from the Harmony, the Grand Array would not have been aware of the danger here."

Somehow, the little sphere gave the impression of looking down at the cooling corpse of the Ghost-Eater wistfully. "The Daemon is dead. Operation accomplished." The Callisti stated.

"Farewell, Lady Valence. May the Equation bring you balance."

With that, the Oath-sphere left the way it had come.

The Children of the House stood in the burning wreck of their 'home', looking out into a void of strange stars.

[+250 XP. Specific skill advancements to be denoted in the next, final update to this thread.]

[The Cycle continues unbroken . . . Timestamp 20:23]
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:13, Tue 23 Aug 2022.

[Grimalkin] Would lay on the ground breathing hard he would touch the shadows in the flickering fire light. Reaching out to [Starling] "We promised, can we get her effigy ?"

Grimalkin got back on his feet.

The [Lunarian] pointed at Ghost Eater, who they finally killed. He spit on the corpse once, which looked oddly comical given Starling's currently child-like size.

"Good riddance, you evil bastard. That was for Eri." he said bitterly before turning to the other.

"Guys? I suggest you more physical types take a look at his bone armor with [Appraise] and see if it's something that can be used. He had a blade in it for one thing. I'm sure his spear is high quality but the bone armor probably is too. I can't use non-ribbon weapons so cannot make good use it while you guys probably could." he said as he lowered his hood, materializing again.

He turned to [Grimalkin] and spoke with a nod.

"Yes firecat, let's go get her effigy and take it with us. We'll find a good place to set it down and it can be like a grave-shrine to her or something. Whatever her motives were, I do think she had only good intentions toward us and wanted to help us. I suspect she was secretly pleased by our arrival and thought of us as a big sister or even mother would...as a stillborn turned daemon, she was incapable of normal reproduction and in a way our survival probably lets her experience that part of womanhood that was unfairly denied to her. This is only my theory, mind you, but I think she wanted to be our guardian spirit if you will and gave her life so we could live. I'm only sorry Ghost Eater forced her to take action before we could ambush him." He said with a frown.

"But yes...we'll take her effigy with us, but I don't think we can stay in the House any longer."

Starling turned to [Callisti].

"What was the harmony that other orb was talking about? I think you're in some sort of hivemind and you may need to disengage from it. I don't blame you for anything, by the way. We've only had minutes to try and understand how our powers work. But I think they are spying on us through you and we don't want them knowing what we're doing or up to. As you can see with Eri...they don't have our best interests at heart. I'm not sure what their agenda is, but our needs aren't a factor in it." he added.

Azalea huffed at the fellow Callisti's resistance to her threats and assertion of dominance over it. It was fine, there would be others to conquest over. For now they had won. "I agree, we should gather the effigy and haul out of here as soon as we can."

She turned to the Lunarian, whom she was now speaking to for the first time. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to flatly refuse the notion. That connection is what got us half the information we needed to even survive that encounter, and we're going to need that to have any chance of victory. If it means they supply us with a healthy string of challenges, we'll be all the stronger for it. Unless, of course, you're willing to divest yourself of some of your powers to give to me, instead." Her tone was firm, like a brick wall.

"They would have found anomalies like us anyway. It's what they do. If anything, it should be a reminder of how useful these powers can be and the weight of their value. I'm not mad at you, though. You couldn't have known what you were asking, but no, I will not remove such a vital source of information and world-sway for our party, just to give them slightly less information than they were perfectly able to attain themselves. Instead, I will grow this power, to make it more worth everyone's while."

She immediately pivoted back towards the others. "Great job, team! With minimal time and equipment we've felled our first of many foes if we want to finish this game and go home, if that is what you want to do. We will be even more prepared to conquer our next objective as well!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:52, Tue 23 Aug 2022.

The [Lunarian], surprisingly, nodded in assent to [Callisti] rather than retorted.

"Very well...as long as you are using your power with full knowledge that you're playing with fire, and that you still think we can one-up them then I retract my previous statement. But this means that our focus will have to become that of dominance and superiority. We'll have to make sure they learn to NEVER cross us again. Even if we have kill hundreds of them until they learn, or find a way to force them to serve us instead of whatever the hell gods or whatever are like Ghost Eater." he said.

"If you're committed to that hard path, then I'll give you my full support. It will mean that I also have to grow from a mere twinkle to a blazing sun-star myself."

He then considered.

"Oh by the way...I believe Ghost Eater is actually part of a species of Ghost Eaters, and isn't a unique entity like we are. So we may encounter others like him in the future. In which case...let's HUNT them instead of them hunting us. Turn the meek into the predators. If it's us against Godhunter, then so be it."

Azalea was very pleasantly surprised by this.

"Thank you, I could not agree more. The more challenging road is often more rewarding. Complete victory is our only option if we want to survive this world, but I think we are more than capable. I may not yet have many combat capabilities, something I'm looking to remedy, but in our world I completed Godhunter once, even if I skipped through most of the dialogue and lore on my run.... I'm dedicated to seeing us all through this. And I agree that being able to reliably, repeatably hunt them should be our first goal."

The Callisti offered out an armored hand towards the Lunarian. "I don't think I got your name before. I'm Azalea."

The [Lunarian] smiled and nodded.

"My name is now Starling. It was something Eri granted to me before she died, and in remembrance of what she did for us I've decided to keep it as my own." he replied.

"And I in turn agree that getting our bearings should be our first priority, and then yes reliable hunting should be the next. Us against the world. Against the universe, for that matter!" he said with a grin.

"Eri helped preserve our lives. We can't let this chance go to waste."

"You can call me Grim, I think it is a nice nickname." There were so many shadows and flames it was easy to talk to everyone. He moved over to the [Ghost Eater].

"You wanted to eat us huh ?" [Grimalkin] took a bite of the Ghost Eater.

Now, if the stairs had kicked her ass before, killing this Ghost-Eater guy really took the cake. Euphoria tried to catch her breath, watching the corpse slide off his freshly severed leg. Ok now that did look kind of gross. More so than the necromancer. Oddly, it didn't gross her out as much as she thought it would. In fact... it kind of made her feel powerful.

"You're one sick fuck, kitty," Euphoria said without any judgment as Pyrmalkin started taking bites out of the corpse. Almost seemed like the phrase was a badge of honor. Like, you go Pyrmalkin, you eat the shit out of our enemies. "Anything metal on there? I'm also feeling kind of peckish..." she knelt down and [APPRAISED] the Ghost-Eater's armor before searching it for any metal bits that weren't essential to its integrity. She left it alone for someone else to claim, though. She didn't need another suit of armor.

Euphoria then went over to where she'd thrown Haloise, now in the very sexy form of the deceased Ghost-Eater's spear. "This is a good look on you. Very pokey," Euphoria commented out loud. She ran her finger along the tip of the blade, careful not to cut herself. Just appreciate it. "Sorry for chucking you. I was hoping we could stop that little spherical asshole but I guess we'll get them next time..."

She returned to the group, overhearing the Lunarian (er, Starling) and Azalea's conversation. It wasn't her place to comment, but she had sympathy for Callisti's decision. Euphoria was also blessed with power beyond her imagination in this world. She'd be dammed if she'd let anyone take it from her. She grinned her big, black smile as the two declared their mutual bloodlust.

Now THAT was more like it!

"Hell yeah, I'm down for killing some Gods! And some other things! We can work our way up," she added, pumping her fist (holding Haloise) in the air. She then began to woot-woot! like they had just won a game in a stadium or something. And not just killed a guy. And almost got killed in return. "Team us! Team us! TEAM US! We need a better name for us, but for now: TEAM US!" She was pacing around looking for a cooler of Gatorade to throw over someone's head, but alas, there was none. She would settle for chest-bumping Old Bones, then slapping the Demilupine - Dalton - on the shoulder. Unless they skillfully dodged her. She was making the locker room rounds. She came around to the others, her hand up for a round of high fives. If they dared.

She continued to ride the high as they cleaned the Lost House, ready to take on the void beyond and whatever terrible, horrible, bloodthirsty things were out there waiting for them...
This message was last edited by the player at 21:09, Tue 23 Aug 2022.

Dalton stared at the remains of the Ghost-Eater, the demilupine unsure if the creature would get back up. As the corpse laid there the adrenaline started to fade he looked back on what had happened. Everything had happened in moments, there hadn't been time to think things through. He had just acted on instinct. Now he saw the slashes, the gore, the result of a mob attack that had left a creature destroyed. On top of that his [Familiar] ability let him experience the emotions of both his allies and his enemies. Anger, fear, hatred, pain so much pain had filled the room. The mere thought of it brought the wolf-man to his knees as he choked back bile.

He rested there a moment as he collected himself and forced himself to take deep breaths. No matter what he felt he couldn't just wait. Dalton picked himself up again and turned to the others. The tone of the conversation started to go in a direction that disturbed him. "Grim, first off that's messed up. Second, for all we know that corpse is poisonous." If he had heard correctly from Starling this was a race? The demilupine used his appraisal on the Ghost-Eater to see if he could gleam any information about it.

"I don't have any desire to keep killing but I guess we will have to if we want to escape this hell. At least that's what they did in the game right? I'm fine with getting out of this house. Before that," he stopped to turn to the Earthborn. "I need you or someone to activate my suit for me. We also need to make sure we find the others and bring them with us. I think there was a rat down in the armory?" The demilupine lifts his armor enough so that someone else can activate his XO suit. If he has enough time after it's activated he spoke again. "Also I can go get the effigy. I don't have magic but carrying things I can do." He moved up the stairs to go retrieve Eri's effigy.

He touched [Demilupine]'s Shadow specifically, "This thing was sent to eat us, and Eri said it would eat two of us just like that. It almost ate her. I guess, I just wanted to see if we could do unto him." ears lower.

"I guess I thought it was something less visceral. More like I don't know all of this is new to me." [Grimalkin] sat on his haunches and licked his paw and rubbed it across his wound.

The [Lunarian] Starling looked down at the scene.

"I also wonder if we can't consume them somehow. I can see, somehow, that we gained xp from the fight. But I am all for finding more ways to make sure we don't waste a single part of our kills." he said.

He looked at the surroundings, and used [Appraise] combined with [Illuminatio] as necessary to try and glean additional info about Both Ghost Eater, as well as his spear and boney armor.

Between the battle, and all the conversing, the Young Dwarf had more than enough time to arrive on the scene just in time for the rat of unusual girth to catch the gist of the conversation and return [Unblooded Shage]'s high five. Though it wasn't a particularly 'high' five in his case, especially after he slid off the back of [Scapegoat].

"Uh, hi! Yeah, I think I'm the rat in question." He said, overhearing Demilupine's question to Aaron. The fact that the person asking a question was a wolfman was possibly the least strange thing he'd witnessed since waking up.

But he didn't give the wolfman a chance to follow-up on whatever he wanted to talk about, as the young dwarf had overheard something else spoken by the [Lunarian] and [Callisti], both of whom he ran an [Appraise] on while trying to get their attention.
"Um, hey! Hi! Glowing-guy and..." The appraise finished, and he interrupted himself with a sigh. "... floating-sphere lady in a suite of armor. Down here! Yes, hello! My name is Josh, and I have a question: what about those of us who are dead in the uh, 'real world'? Like, I can't really confirm it, but the last thing I remember was free-falling a few hundred feet and greeting a boulder with my face. Is there any 'going back' for someone like that?"

He also noted how everyone kept gawking at the gear. "Oh, and apparently I'm some sort of engineer. So... support class, or whatever. I guess I'll look at all that crap when I get a chance." He turned back to the topic at hand. "But first: my existential crisis is kind of asserting itself in a really powerful way. Please help. Thank you."

[Scapegoat] took in the room using his [Internal Oculus] as he arrived in the upper level, seeing the extent of the movements of those above and what had happened. As more talk commenced, he listened on and looked around as well, taking the time to [Appraise] those nearby and the environment in general as he was one of the newer arrivals.


He finally spoke up as the time allowed, addressing those present in Dhelevanian - for those who could understand it at least:

this one supporter : aid ally : trouble enemy : return to other world : impossible : dead : accept what given

Dalton sighed as he listened to the grimalkin, "I get where you're coming from. I might have been a little judgmental and we should use whatever tools we can and all that. I'm just concerned we're stooping to their level too quickly. We're the heroes of that game or whatever this is right?" He ended his response with a shrug but didn't interfere with whatever the others had planned with the corpse. At the end of the day everyone here would do what they thought was right.

He looked over at the newcomers and started to introduce himself. The demilupine stopped short as he heard the large rat, err Josh, and a goat speak up. "What? Both of you? That can't be right. No, no, no, no." Dead? Dalton stopped as he tried to wrap his head around the possibility. He couldn't have died, he had just gone to sleep! Right? Could he have simply passed away in the middle of the night? The wolf-man felt his stomach drop and a pain in his chest. Anger welled up inside him at the thought and the wolfman growled. "You must be wrong!" He wanted to call them liars but his own [Familiar] ability proved that notion unlikely. He didn't sense anything maliciousness in their emotions. "Look. We are going to get out of this sick game and go back! We are not dead! I. AM. NOT. DEAD!" Dalton stopped when he realized he had started shouting at some point. He forced himself to breathe and all the anger morphed into despair. "If I'm dead then that means... then that means..." the demilupine found he couldn't finish the sentence. Without another word he left the room and went to retrieve the effigy.

OOC: This post enjoys new organization parameters. At the top will be a brief summary of the current situation in italics, and at the bottom will be footnotes. Footnotes indicate what you learn if you appraise the indicated thing. Please similarly summarize your post at the top, and include appraisals and conditional actions at the bottom. This will hopefully speed up play!

As the house is collapsing: A wildcat, splattered in gore, crouches over his prey to feed; spoils are are being assessed and allocated; some look forward with a will to power, otherwise come to terms with their past. A dead goat arrives with pack rat in tow. A killer cheerleads the lot with girlish excitement.



"You're one sick fuck, kitty," Euphoria said.

On some new instinct, Pyrmalkin removed the Ghost-Eater's helmet, then gripped his head in both paws before cracking it against the floor with savage force, breaking it open like an egg. He then feasted on the remains of the Ghost-Eater's mind, absorbing his magical knowledge and purring loudly all the while. As he did so, he changes subtly, appearing just a touch . . . feral. His wound also drew closed as he ate.

Haloise, now in the very sexy form of the deceased Ghost-Eater's spear.

It was soulsteel^*1*, she knew. Fine soulsteel. This form was comfortable and malleable. Her spirit could seek her teeth in . . . if she wished, she could with evolve with this weapon and become a true Schwertgeist. However, once she chose the form of a spear, she would not easily acclimate to a dissimilar weapon in the future.

The runes in the spear were Stellar ^*2* in origin. Rather than carved into the spear, they had been molded into from the start; they protruded from the weapon, providing grip in addition to allow the spear to fire focused blasts of light which could serve to blind enemies.

The [Lunarian] Starling looked down at the scene.

The Ghost-Eater's armor was a suit of boneplate armor - breastplate, greaves, bracers, and helm- over flexible mail, and beneath that an ultralight XO - a Suit - much like the ones the rest of them wore. The boneplate was layered with the same protective shadow-runes as their own, and the left bracer was exquisitely overlaid with the Stellar runes that produced the runeblade^*3* the Ghost-Eater had used.

The Ghost-Eater^*4* itself was monstrous in appearance, hairless with a set of four eyes - two front facing, two smaller up above and to the side side- with reptilian ear-holes and finely scaled skin. It was heavily built, as well, with insulating fat layered over muscle.

[ . . . ] the demilupine found he couldn't finish the sentence. Without another word he left the room and went to retrieve the effigy.

The effigy was surprisingly heavy, made from strong, solid porcelain or perhaps lacquered wood, articulated with silver metal. The Demilupine's broad frame bore it without issue.

The roof caved in as he left the attic. The Earthborn had activated everyone's suits after equipping the heavy boneplate armor, gifting the goat a collar of the same kind as the other beastfolk.

It was time to get out of there.

"Complete victory is our only option if we want to survive this world, but I think we are more than capable."

"Hell yeah, I'm down for killing some Gods! And some other things! We can work our way up," she added, pumping her fist.

"Us against the world. Against the universe, for that matter!"



1. Soulsteel: A spiritual metal made from meteoric ore and ectoplasm. Superior to Living Brass; inferior to Godsteel.

2. Stellar Magic: Light and Order. A projective magic capable of blasts of light and complex formulations of energy dispersal. Can create 'hard light' and reinforce materials.

3. Runeblade: A beautiful weapon of glowing runes, created with stellar magic. Easily bypasses armor.

4. Ghost-Eater: A degenerate race of demidragons that consume the dead and dying for power, in imitation of the Gods' own cannibalism. The standard assault soldier of the Grand Array.

[STAGE CLEAR]

Enemies Felled
Demicaprine Zombie............4
Necromancer...................1
Ghost-Eater...................1

Total XP: +305

Party Advances:

[Appraise LVL4]

[Level 1] > [LEVEL 10]

Evolutions:

Callisti > Calsernum [FORCED EVOLUTION PENDING]
Demilupine
Earthborn
Leise Schwertgeist > Schwertgeist [AVAILABLE]
Lunarian > Lunari [AVAILABLE]
Minor Grimalkin > Pyrmalkin [FORCED EVOLUTION] > White Prince [AVAILABLE]
Old Bones > Necromancer [AVAILABLE]
Scapegoat > [REDACTED] [AVAILABLE?]
Unblooded Shage > Freshblood Shage [AVAILABLE]
Young Dwarf

Skills and Talents:

Callisti [Charm LVL1]
Demilupine [Sixth Sense LVL2] [Martial Training LVL2]
Earthborn [Rune Decryption LVL3] [Shadow Magic LVL1] [Stellar Magic LVL0][Martial Training LVL1]
Leise Schwertgeist
Lunarian [Rune Decryption LVL1]
Minor Grimalkin [Leadership LVL2] [Unarmed Strikes LVL1] [Ghoul LVL1] [Phasmophage LVL1]
Old Bones [Martial Training LVL3] [Necromancy LVL0] [Dual Wielder]
Scapegoat
Unblooded Shage [Unarmed Strikes LVL3]
Young Dwarf
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:38, Wed 24 Aug 2022.