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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 (
Shinjiro Aragaki | Persona 3 | OTA
[Shinjiro is not in a hurry to go back downstairs. He'd been the first one to walk down there, after all, after Fie had finally forced the door open, and after damn near tripping over a pile of things at the bottom of the stairs (one of his hooves is still sore from that, and he's wrapped it up to relieve the ache-) and then managing to get those stupid hairbrushes bound to him....
Yeah. He's not eager to go find out what other hellacious things are waiting.
He's at least managed to rid hismelf of the hairbrushes, though, and for most of the day can be found upstairs in the kitchen. There's plenty of food spread out in a sort of "make your own plate" style-- everything from raw, fresh vegetables and leafy greens to some charred meat, with a couple more unique odds and ends thrown in for various monster types.
There's also coffee and tea if anyone wants-- the former of which he seems to be making right now, carefully eyeing how much near-boiling water he's pouring over the grounds to make a carafe full of drip coffee. If anyone wants to chat or grab something to eat while taking a break, it's a great time.]
Below decks - Glitter Slugs
[Somehow, Shinjiro managed to convince a floating lantern to follow him around and give light as he sorts through boxes that he desperately hopes are normal. The fish-like magitech lamp swims lazily in circles around where he stands, working on trying to wrench open a particularly rusted box. By now, he's learned to wear some sort of work gloves while rummaging through, to keep his hands from getting shredded or cursed too badly.]
I'm almost afraid to wonder what the hell's gonna be in here....
[And with a huff of effort, he finally wrenched it open! A little bit too hard, because brightly-coloured, almost crystalline slugs go flying out, showering the area as they plop down on various surfaces and people. They seem to act just like normal slugs, writhing and curling and wriggling their way back upright. The box itself seems to be full of old papers and dirt, which is likely what the slugs had been feeding on all this time.]
What-- damn it. [Another curse, and he's already starting to brush the slugs off, groaning at the incredibly metallic glitter slime trails they leave in their wake. There's so many of them. Hope too many didn't get in your hair.]
Basement - A Potion cabinet.
[He knows it's one of the most important things to get out of here, but it's also one of the things he's been dreading the most. A whole cabinet, shelves sinking under the weight of the contents, piled high with potions and liquids of completely unknown purpose and origin. He's been staring at it for a good few minutes here, almost as though it's a jenga tower. Because even looking it it, it's obvious that at any instant, it could collapse and send all of these things tumbling to the ground.
Extra not good is how many of them are clearly leaking. Based on the old shards of glass around, a lot of them have already either fallen or burst.]
Maybe just.... try and get them off down one at a time? Pretty sure this stuff's gonna have to get hauled to the coven.
[How do you get rid of mystery potions, anyway? You can't just dump it in the river. He finally approaches it and stretches, those ungulate legs straitening as best theycan to get some additional height, and he carefully takes a few off the top with gloved hands.
...Only for a cascade to follow. At least it isn't the whole cabinet, but only a few from the top, raining down to the floor and people nearby. One of the ones that strikes Shinjiro right in the chest renders everything it drips on invisible-- so after he steps back, there's a lovely viewhole directly through his midsection.]
--Alright, I'm fucking done with all this. [He's so resigned.] You okay?
Potion Cabinet
Being the cautious person he was, Elliot had at least come prepared. He'd brought the gear he used to work with severe cwyld patients to sort through the potions - because seriously, who knows how toxic some of this stuff is. So not only did he have gloves and protective clothing, but he was even wearing a mask while he sorted through some of the more questionable potions. At least it's easy to tell who it is from the locks of red hair still exposed. Clearly, his infirmary job is fun.
He was in the middle of sorting a box from the cabinet when Shinjiro knocks some off. Some of the invisibility potion splashes onto him as well and...]
Uh...
[He holds up his arm, which looks like a good chunk of it has vanished]
I-I...think so?
no subject
He brings up a hand to press at the clear hole in his chest-- and it meets his sternum, so he's clearly still physical there. Just invisible. Sadly, he made the mistake of touching it while it was still damp, and so his fingers come back a little stubbier-looking.]
...Close as we can be. At least it's just... whatever this is.
[A sigh, and he takes another step back to look down and assess the broklen glass and swirling concoctions, which are really starting to smell noxious. There's some smoke forming from the puddle.]
Guess we can't just leave this here, huh. How do you guys do potion cleanup usually?
no subject
But at the same time, considering they were dealing with a bunch of strange artifacts and potions...yeah. Sometimes being a little extreme was the smart move.
He looks at Shinji- he doesn't see to be screaming in pain and Elliot doesn't feel any different either even with a bit of his arm missing.]
Yeah...thank goodness it's just invisibility. [And you know, nothing less scary.
He looks away at that smoke forming. Thanks to the mask he can't smell it, but...boy. that's not good looking]
It depends on the potion. Some you can just wipe up while others are dangerous enough that you need to neutralize them first. Though... [Er] I don't suppose you have any neutralizing potions do you?
no subject
Nope.
[At least he leaves it at that, rather than making any sort of sarcastic comment. Because even he can recognize when this is Probably A Bad Thing. The puddle on the floor is starting to flouresce, slightly, and the fluid is moving almost like waves, cresting out, ebbing back, with who knows what properties interacting.]
I'm just gonna throw something in it, see what happens.
[Science.
And with that, he moves to a nearby shelf of things, looking for something that doesn't seem too magical. Maybe one of the books?] Unless you got a better idea, I mean.
no subject
It's a good thing the masks hides Elliot's facial expressions, because this sure seems like a bad idea. But it's not like he has a better idea so...
Excuse him as he takes several steps back so he's a fair distance from the potion puddle. Just in case. ]
Better that than us I guess. Just be careful....
no subject
And so he does. It lands with a wet thud, and he just steps back to watch it, in case something too alarming happens. But instead trhe colour just begins to bleed out from the book, slowly replacing with a pale pink colour. That then gets darker and darker, until the book is hot-pink throughout.
Which, really, tells them absolutely nothing.]
Alright. So it turns paper pink.
[Science.]
Maybe it'll just.... fizzle out.
no subject
O-Or it'll grow and turn this whole basement hot pink...
[He tries to think of possible solutions. It's not like he can brew up a proper potion for it on the spot.]
Maybe...I can make a little barrier around it? To keep it contained.
no subject
[He would not mind if this whole fucking place was just voided from existence and they could lock it back up and ignore it. But seeing how volatile and possibly dangerous a few things have been.... Yeah. They can't just leave it.
A sigh, and he scratches again at the invisible part of his chest, hoping he's not allergic to this potion.]
Yeah, that can buy us some time to figure how to to stop it. Do you gotta concentrate the whole time, or will it stay there once you throw it down?
no subject
Y-Yeah, let's...let's leave "trying random stuff from this room on it" as our last resort plan.
[Cause that has a real good chance of killing them all]
It's just a small barrier, so it should be fine as long as I'm awake and no one tries to break it. A drain on my magic that size shouldn't affect me much as long as I don't try to cast any high-level spells at the same time.
[The boy may get winded easily when running, but he's got more than enough magic stamina to go around.]
Glitter Slugs
More than a few manage to get into her hair, but— once she sees Shinjiro fighting with them... and then she sees the glitter slime they’re leaving behind and has to choke back a small laugh.]
—here, hold still. Let me help.
no subject
Hopefully looking like a craft project is the only thing these things do....
[But he does still as she speaks, rolling his eyes at the way she choked back a laugh, but not arguing it as he leans forward to let her start picking some off his horns and hair.]
I think I've seen one or two've these in the garden.... but not so damn many of them.
no subject
[She plunks slug after slug back into the box. Sadly it doesn't help much with the slime they've left every place they'd touched.]
But I also have a bad feeling that this is going to be ten times harder to get rid of than any kind of normal glitter.
no subject
[Who knows, really. When she turns to put some of the slugs back in the box (and is out of range of his horns), he shakes his head like a dog to dislodge a few more. He's sure they've got a real good grip in there, because he can still feel a ton of the cool creatures all over him.
Reaching up, he shifts the magitech anglerfish that's lighting their area, and starts peeling some from his arms.]
Pretty much anything here seems like it's got some kinda use in magic. You wanna keep any?
[Because hey, they can absolutely through some in a jar with some damp cardboard. After a moment, he'll reach over and pluck a hot glittery pink one from the top of Towa's head. This cleanup is a nightmare.]
no subject
[A quick check of her head and-- yeah, she's going to be getting hot pink glitter from her hair for days... maybe weeks.]
I hadn't thought about it but-- maybe taking one or two along wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least I can do some studying and see if there's not a good use we can find for them. [...] I'll see if I can't find something that won't deter them from your garden while I'm at it.
kitchen
But now, it looks like she might've hit her limit for the time being. Her hair's messed up (moreso than usual), there's a long set of scratches running down her right forearm, and she smells vaguely of nicely cooked and seasoned fish. There are no fish on the table.
Fie pulls out a chair at their well laden dining table, sits down, and just puts her head on her arms, letting out a tired sigh. It's been a long few hours, and she isn't about to take a nap with so many unknown people in their home. This'll have to do.]
no subject
But it's a different kind of quiet when she slumps in and sighs, the sort that cuts through the noise and bustle in and around the house. And so Shinjiro stops what he'd been doing, brows coming together in concern, and he just... makes his way over to where she's taking a rest.]
Hey.
[It's quiet and he'll just... put his hands on her shoulders, softly rubbing them. The exhaustion is evident just in her posture.]
You need me to take you to Elliot's place for a nap? [technically her place also, but.... well. He's stopped considering it that a while ago.]