The staircase continued downward for awhile, the ended in a sparse stone room clearly intended as a gaol. There were stout iron cages, barred and crossbared, set into the stone foundations of the Lost House.

Shrouded in darkness with only a bare scrap of light, not much else can be seen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:45, Sun 14 Aug 2022.

Callisti, et al.

The Callisti's knowledge of the room was not limited by light.

The cells were occupied, but not by anything living, There were [Demicaprine] corposes huddled in the cells, long dead but surprisingly undecomposed. There was a warden's office to the right behind a locked door, and to the left another staircase even further down. The bare scrap of light that filtered up from it was blue, only enough to reveal the bars of the cells and little more.

The demilupine rubbed his jaw with a sigh. It seemed that his experiment had failed, which was unfortunate. He had waited a few moments but when he saw the others had descended into the furnace he figured he could do little else in the room. He followed the others down the staircase and deeper into the depths. The room they had descended into looked like some sort of prison? There was little to no light in the room, so it was hard to see anything else. "Anyone else have magical glowing powers, or just a normal torch? It'd be nice to see down here." He remarked as he squinted into the gloom.

He followed the others and walked the perimeter of the room, his hands on the walls. Although he couldn't see much he eventually felt a door at the end of the hall. Unlike every other room in the house they had encountered so far this one remained locked. "Seems this door is locked. Maybe something useful is inside? Unless someone has a better idea I'm not sure we have time to look for a key." As he made the comment he stepped back from the door and stretched his shoulders. Unless someone stopped him he charged the door in an attempt to burst it open.

[From: Armory, Furnace]

Euphoria slipped down the stairs behind Demilupine and Azalea. She arrived just in time to see everything was really freaking dark. And also to watch Demilupine try to throw himself a door. "Heeey be careful over there! You're already injured! And I'm really really sorry about it..."

[From: Armory, Furnace]

Azalea almost didn't notice the descent into darkness, she could see as well as day, even if the macabre scene before her would best be viewed in 0 visibility.

The Demilupine was the first she noticed joining her in the darkness. She remembered he'd asked her about the Ghost Eater and she tried her best to remember. "In the game version, they were like... player hunters, who hunt free-roaming logged out players. They sort of visibly monster-ify as a punishment. So we should expect someone like us, but tremendously better armed, and specializing specifically in bloodsport. I imagine the 'real' version is probably nothing so simple, so be prepared for way worse." The Callisti drifted away into the room. Others would probably be there with light, but time was short and she could get a head start. A light down those stairs had her affixed attention. "I can see in the dark. There may be a way out of here, like an escape route down some stairs on the left I can see. I'm going to go on ahead. There's a warden's office over there on the right. Might be some weapons in there. I'm trusting your leadership skills, we won't have much time."

Another set of footsteps joins them in the darkness and Azalea delights to see the Unblooded Shage, Euphoria. "Ah! You got your armor working. Excellent. It's your best look yet." Azalea knew that Euphoria couldn't see in the dark like she could, so she grabbed her hand in her new XO armor hand. "I'm going on ahead, I found a deeper floor with some light. If you trust me to, I'll lead you there. I need some muscle, just in case." Azalea tugged on her arm with a little insistance, eager to lead her into the darkness.

The Callisti zips her way down, to the stairway on the left, leading the Unblooded Shage if she is followed.

The new form Haloise took was longer across, but much shorter in length. It hums to itself in satisfaction, basking in the attention it's receiving from it's wielder... it cuts that thought off. Hm. That's not normal. It catalogues processing that for later as Euphoria enters into the underground area, it begins cataloging the area, making a new mental map with it's blindsense. In particular, it is searching for weapons and objects that could be used as shields, like pot lids, or secret passages in the walls or beneath. If anything of this criteria is met, it will notify it's wielder. It thinks for a moment... this situation may be tough, but... it can work with this. It's an adult. No need for nerves. It takes a deep breath, and embodies cold steel as it does it's task.

There was a thunderous crash as 160 kilograms of wolfman dadbod impacted a reinforced solid wood door with brass hinges at speed. Demilupine had the reaction speed to catch the door he had just bashed down and set it gently aside without breaking anything inside. His wolf-eyes made out a small warden's office. Using his hands to investigate what his eyes could not see, he laid paw on a stout mace pair with a small bronze-hubbed wooden round shield, and then a long bronze hauberk of segmented plates, along with a bronze helm and furred cape.

[Goliath Set]
[Soulbound, Medium Armor]

[Bronze armor of the ancient wolf-headed barbarians. Given the scarcity of high quality bronze and the evident craftsmanship, this was made for a chieftain.

Before they played the part of honor-guard by the will of the Gods, the Demilupines were fierce desert warriors known as the Ze'evi. It was only after a great flood destroyed their homeland that they came as refugees to dwell in the frigid southlands.]

With the assistance of the non-anthropomorphic dream team, there was also discovered a pouch containing large valuable copper coins, three dozen such. Another bronze mace and shield were present as well, something standard-issue?

The Demicaprine corpses in the cells were equipped with bronze spears.. The corpses themselves were dry-rotted, dead with deeply slit throats.

Above, yet another ember joins the out-of-control hearthfire . . .

Below, in the crypt. Scapegoat became aware of himself. He could not see or speak; his eyes and mouth were wired shut. He could hear; his ears were stoppered with sacred incense. He could not move; a reflexive use of [Appraisal] told him he was, in fact, a dead goat.

His nascent [Internal Oculus] talent detected no fewer than sixteen spirits within 100 meters. One was very near, and its anima was blue-water, the tell-tale indicator of ectoplasm, the stuff of spirts divested of matter. The ghost noticed his noticing but took no offensive action against the dead goat.

Welcome, Scapegoat, to the Lost House.

There was a thunderous crash; the dead goat was knocked from the altar. A strange bell about its neck rang silently, lower in vibration than the living could hear. However, it was loud enough to wake the dead.

The dead goat stiffened, false life thrumming through its limbs as the bell called for the children of the Second Mother to awaken and bring more living to her bosom.

The dead goat that now knew itself as Scapegoat used its nascent [Silent Liturgy LVL1] talent to shake the ghost's control, dispelling the [Animosity: Living] baleful talent it tried to instill before it could take hold.

Via spirit, the Scapegoat could transmit emotional information to anyone within range of its [Internal Oculus] via a simple use of [Silent Liturgy LVL1].

The Scapegoat had gathered itself to its feet, and had just pissed off a sorcerous ghost. The house above was clouded with overflowing yellow-fire, the anima of creation flowing out of control and diverted to destruction.

Meanwhile, above in the Gaol . . .

The Demicaprine corpses shambled to life, claw-like hands seizing their bronze spears as they rose to a crouch. Vibrant azure water filled their eyes, glowing softly in the darkness.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:23, Tue 16 Aug 2022.

[Scapegoat] took stock of his surroundings and situation, noting that he was still fairly limited all things considered. He could move as of now, but he was still hindered by being unable to see or hear, so his surroundings were a challenge. He knew not what was around him beyond what he could sense through his [Inner Oculus] ability, something he marveled at. He gathered himself then and studied each of the sixteen spirits within his range - as passively as he could at least. He would need the aid of at least one of them to assist he felt, but which? Which would be the most likely willing to assist him? And how to communicate to them?

His [Silent Liturgy Lvl1] beckoned him at that, giving him a way to signal to them - emotionally at least. That would be simple in itself though.. what emotion? Fear would make him a target more likely than not. Concern? Pleading? Desire? Perhaps a small mix of two could get their attention: Awe and Concern. Yes, Concern would indicate to them he was worried, not quite fearful but definitely in need of aid. And awe.. something surprising. Something that might draw on their own curiosity.

So to the closest he could find, he sent those feelings [Silent Liturgy Lvl 1], trying to draw them closer to aid him. Meanwhile, he tried to feel his way around his current environment, slowly, to see what could be found. He also took the time for some self-introspection. Where - or what - was he?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:35, Wed 17 Aug 2022.

"A game", Dalton whispered as Azalea rushed past him. The familiar terms, the odd abilities, it all made sense to the demilupine. He was in some sort of simulation based off the game he head heard so much about. What had it been called again? He mentally cursed as he wished he had listened to his boys more. There were still a lot of questions that needed answers but this seemed like a good place to start his understanding.

Once that revelation had been made he had charged the door like he had planned. It worked, actually far better than he had anticipated. The body he was in seemed far stronger than his original one, faster too he noted as he grabbed the door he had knocked off it's hinges. As Azalea said it seemed to be some sort of office. With no light his hands had done the exploration. Fortunately for the wolf-headed man he had found not only some weapons but armor! His [Appraisal] told him that it had belonged to other wolf-headed people so he was confident it would fit him. Dalton was glad that he was alone in the hallway as he tried to wrestle the armor onto his person in the blackness. Once he had the armor, helmet, and cloak equipped he reached down to pick up the mace and shield.

Now fully equipped the demilupine felt a lot safer. He didn't know how to use the new found equipment but the shield seemed pretty self explanatory. He exited the office and turned to find several blue orbs peering at him from behind the bars. Dalton looked between the new eyes and the door he had ripped off. "O-oh. Uh oh." Had something always been in those cells? Had he activated a trap? Were these creatures friendly? He tried to use his [Familiar] talent to sense their intentions. "Umm, good evening. How are all of you doing?" He had a hunch they wouldn't be friendly, most creatures in videogames weren't, but was reluctant to leave in case someone else wandered down into the hallway.