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Basement Bonanza Log
The House
The house is much like the rest of the housing around it. Victorian style with some side yards, an outside that's desperately in need of paint, and wild, fancy architecture. Along the side is a fenced yard containing a small kitchen garden, complete with a recently added chicken coop in the back.
The front door leads to a small foyer, whereas the side door by the garden goes straight into the kitchen. In the kitchen, there will be a number of foods available for anyone chipping in to snack on, with options for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. (No blood, sorry vampires, but if you get peckish you might find someone willing to let you have a bite.) Shinjiro will aggressively shoo away anyone who shows up just to get food without actually contributing. It's for people who help only!!
The interior is weird, as to be expected. They've made it mostly liveable, most of the furniture in the living spaces in new, but there's still Victorian Classics such as too many patterns and portraits of strangers on the wall, and bad wallpaper in surprisingly cozy places. There's even a restroom on the ground floor, complete with fireplace by the tub. People taking a break are welcome to tool around on the ground floor, where things are markedly more normal. Any attempts to go upstairs, where the residents bedrooms are, will be dissuaded.
There's a dog to pet (Koromaru, an incredibly intelligent white shiba inu) or a Petal Wolf (Bela) or, if you want to risk a few fingers, Fie's hyena (Alfin). The hyena occasionally breaks out into mad giggles in other people's voices, occasionally parroting contextless statements in perfect mimicry of the people who live there. Scrounging around somewhere will be Louis's cat, Juniper, and then there's the coop full of chickens outside, a snapping turtle in the pond...
But you people aren't here for the relatively normal living space.
THE BASEMENT.
The air is cooler in the basement, and with that soft scent of wet stone. It's not disgusting or overwhelming, despite how locked up and sealed the area had been, and for who knows how long. More than anything else, it's just dark. They've carried a few magitech lanterns down to the foot of the stairs, at least, in initially scoping it out to try and see what's down there: and even from just stepping off the stairs, it's clear to see that this is some sort of wild magical hoarder situation.
Walls are packed with everything from displays of oddities and curiosities to books and containers of liquids, the labels long since faded and peeled, to even rusted lockboxes, worryingly rectangular and human-lengthed, each with stiff, sturdy locks. In another corner, there's more shelves cluttered and overflowing with wet specimens preserved in jars. Many are completely unidentifiable. Many are absolutely identifiable, and it's unclear which is worse. There's everything from animals to plants to fish to even pieces of monsters or humans/witches alike.
Scattered throughout, there's lumpy sheets covering what can only be assumed to be furniture, as well as household items, baubles, trinkets, books, scrolls, and just general things crammed in any and every nook and cranny that can be found. If there was any sort of organization, it was lost well before the prior owner stopped their collecting.
In one corner, there's an iron spiral staircase that just leads into the ceiling, going nowhere. A few iron Maidens and sarcophagi can be found stored away, some of them haphazardly fallen over.
It's absolute chaos of junk layered on top of junk, pinned down by even more junk. And it's clearly going to take a lot of trips up and down those stone stairs to even begin to unearth some of the wild things stashed away.
Maybe if you're lucky, you'll unearth a friend to help light your way.
The Stuff.
I've gone ahead and written up some examples for people to run wild with-- and for anything else, feel free to either make things up, OR request something in the top thread!
Some of the Major Attractions of the Basement include:
An Iron Maiden. - Unlike many others, there's no spikes visible within. In fact, it looks almost welcoming. There's a faint enchantment to it, gently pulling at the senses of whomever gets too close. It's plush, and soft inside. Doesn't it look warm? The rest of the basement is so musty and damp and cold. Surely taking a rest would be fine.
Once someone steps into it, however, the doors close shut, and the victim is forced to rewatch their most embarrassing memory. When said memory has played out, however, they are released, no worse for the wear, and immune to the Maiden's Seduction for the next several days. Good thing you're the only one who saw that memory..... right??
A helpful (if creepy) teapot. - This teapot has one job, and it will perform it. It will serve you tea. It will not stop until it has served you tea. No, it doesn't even know what tea is. It also doesn't seem to care if you have a container to hold a beverage or not. It. Will. Serve. You. Tea.
...However, who knows what liquid is actually within it. Feel free to use this skittering, crawling friend for anything. It could be as benign as incessantly following your character like an annoying and needy dog. It could be as horrifying as using force and chitinous claws to make your character ingest something. (Which could be delicious tea. Or could be anything else. Up to you!)
A speaker of secrets. - A jarringly hideous piece of taxidermy, the ravens screech the secrets of whomever touches it. Sometimes they're wrong, though. It's anyone's guess if they're yelling your deepest secrets, or if they're just making things up. Anyway, here's hoping whoever you're with doesn't just think you're using it as an excuse. (Or, if what they speak is true, hopefully people believe your excuse. Good luck carrying this thing all the way up and through the house.)
Vaguely Insulting Dishware. - What it says on the tin. The text seems to shift and change to insult you, specifically, and often times very passive aggressively.
A beautiful, floral chair - Like a flower in full bloom, this is another object that anyone nearby could find themselves magically drawn towards. It even smells soft and sweet- almost like fresh rain and honeysuckle. It's pristine looking, in comparison to all the objects around it, covered with dust and debris, and looks soft and pillowy and inviting. It's wide enough that someone could crawl onto and drape themselves across it.
At which point the petals will pull closed, enveloping them in a sweet cocoon of which they come out.... different. The effects are, as always, up to the player, as is the duration of them. (Transmutation spells are finite, of course, and the effects aren't strong enough to last more than a few days.)
A giant crystal. - It'll take a team to move this humongous chunk of rock-- Or maybe just a duo of dragon or chimera. The first person to touch it, however, will find that it is not only reflective, but it projects. The light hitting it is projected in prisms, and all take a form based on the person who touches it. This could be a warped, twisted reflection showing how one thinks of themself. It could be a projection of deepest fantasies. It could just be whatever you're thinking at the moment. Or maybe it's a mockery. Play around at your hearts content!
Potions of any and all type! - You're not the type to just drink mysterious liquids in someone's basement (Unless you are, in which case, go for it!) but so many of these are cracked and worn. It's entirely possible some of them work on contact or inhalation. The effects can be almost anything, from Alice in Wonderland style shrinking and growing, to floating or glowing or transmuting. Perhaps one is a mood enhancer! Another could be poison. And a third could make the tips of your fingers grow hair. It's a mixed bag.
Cursed jewelry of any and all types - Same thing as the potions, these can be enchanted to have effects as minor as making your hair always look perfect (though there's a smell of cod liver that won't go away--) to as major as clamping in and biting through the skin, drinking your blood to fuel its dark powers. (Said dark powers could be anything from animatronic taxidermy coming alive to mimic your every move, to a spell to charm everyone around you, to the ability to speak with termites.) Again, go wild! And if you have trouble getting that jewelry off, there's gotta be some bolt cutters somewhere around here.... right?
There is MUCH MUCH ELSE that can be found! If you would like to be assigned a random Thing, feel free to give me the general vibe of what you're wanting, and I'll come up with something crazy for you! If you would like more than one thing, THAT IS FINE TOO!
FINAL OOC NOTES
In a list format because i'm lazy:
--NO EFFECT IN THE BASEMENT CAN BE GAMEBREAKING. Mind control, dreamwalking, and memory alteration are no-go.
--The contents of the unenchanted books in the basement are mostly nonsense or boring, but you can absolutely find some sort of burn book with hot deets on (non-plot) NPCs
--Any effect will eventually wear off. The process can be expedited with a witch. It's your choice how skilled that witch needs to be.
--"But susan someone else in a previous thread already took care of the item i was gonna use!" it's magic there can be two of them. or it can teleport itself repeatedly back into the basement. i'm not going to keep track and time isn't real.
--Mark any explicit content, plzkthx.
--Let me know if your character is enough of a jerk to try going to the second floor of the house. because a witch lives here and nearly all of them are mistrustful as hell so you know that's not gonna work out. (I'll let you know exactly how, if your character would try it.)
--If you're gonna die, talk to the mods about it first. if you're gonna kill anyone then double talk to the mods about it first.
--Go wild like you graduated from crazy go nuts university
And most importantly:
--FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS! I'm available in the top comments here, though you are welcome to PM me, or shoot me a DM on discord (Soozaphone#3966), or shoot me a private plurk (
RANDOM ME!
Type: fancy-looking and/or actually suspicious/horrifying looking objects, weapons.
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A coal stove. It's ornate, silvery, and beautiful. One of the larger pieces in the basement. Like some others, it has a way of catching your eye when you dsraw too close, preoccupying your thoughts-- and once it ensnares you, it feels as though the world is burning. The air is clogged with smoke and heat that only you can see and are aware of. The effect lasts for about 10 minutes, and no matter where you go it feels as though everything is burning- as though you're becoming coal and embers yourself. And once it's over, it's over suddenly and you're left with an absolute chill that's difficult to rid yourself of.
Some mushrooms! - These seem to grow all over a certain corner of the basement-- in a patch where a bunch of potions have fallen over and soaked into a half-rotted piece of wood. They blink and peer and seem completely inoccuous.... until they start growing on you. Slowly sprouting about your body, in various places, in various sizes. Small caps, each with a bright, alert eye, looking about peacefully. And then another. And another.
Maybe a witch who specializes in alchemy can help your fungal infection....?
For things that lookm fancy, you can't go wrong with a set of Amethyst Wands. - Meant to be a set for focusing withcraft and spells, they're a little broken and worn out. But still really good for helping your focus! You'll find it easier to pay attention when holding one, though often at the expense of being able to focus on more than one thing at once.
Fancy opera glasses! - Not only do they help you see at a distance, they also let you see faint glowing around magical objects! The entire basement is flooded with light through them.
A snuff jar. exactly what it says on the tin.
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and maybe clear up an infection, yikes.Also: Because Jin Guangyao here is a dirty little once-upon-a-time-spy snoop he might just poke around elsewhere in the house to see what's what with no particular goal in mind? Especially when there's such easy excuses as 'oh I had to find someone to warn them about blah-blah-blah ;A; !'
i'vebeenwaitingforthis.wav
The ground floor is fine. Really, it's kind of boring, without much to find. Food in the fridge, creases in the couch where it gets napped on, shoes by the door. (Some of the shoes are incredibly dusty and have clearly not been worn in a long time since their owner grew hooves.) There's a coat closet. Half of shinjiro's coats have dog biscuits in the pockets. If you pull one out, you will find a collection of doggo and doggo-like creatures suddenly begging.
The stairs to upstairs, though, have absolutely been trapped. Fie used to run with a mercenary band and Louis is a witch who used to run an actual lion yakuza, and none of them trust strangers just mosying around the house. We're really just lucky they talked Fie out of using her actual explosives.
The first warning will be Koromaru sitting at the base of the stairs, clearly watching Jin Guangyao with more Understanding than one would expect from a dog. He'll arf a few times at the approach in warning, but after that, your life is in your own hands. He won't stop anyone from passing, because they have clearly chosen their own fate.
A third of the way up the stairs, a loud POP goes off, and he may feel a sting across his forehead. (That is because the words NOSY ASSHOLE have suddenly appeared as though written in dark ink across it. It will linger for 24 hours.)
Should he continue, at the 2/3rd's point there is a lot more smoke and sparks, all to draw attention. It's incredibly loud and bright. Almost like mini fireworks inside the house. (By now, Alfin has heard the signal, and the hyena approaches.)
At the very top step is a spell that acts like a leg-trap. (Think a bear trap, but with no spikes.) So enjoy being stuck there as a hyena bears down. With any luck, Fie might appear to call off an attack. But he might get nipped and harried until Louis can come and dispel it. He won't be grievously injured! But he will definitely have some of his clothes ruined and torn by Alfin harrying him, and then be left to explain himself to whomever finds him. Hopefully it's a member of the household, or else they'll find themself in the exact same predicament.
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Time to write up some prompts, ehehe.
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Perfect!!
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