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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 (
1!
Well, your frame is...not sequin-y! Maybe you should worry more about your own appearance than other people's, hm?
[ will the mirror reply back, she wonders. it'd sure be something if it did. ]
no subject
She is, and while he's definitely amused there's something warm and fond in there, too. Though before he gets a chance to act on it... ]
And you, dear - who told you it was okay to wear those colors with silver hair? I'm surprised you can stand to be seen!
[ ... This thing is really mean. Akechi looks less and less impressed with each word. ]
I can only imagine what sort of person made something like this...
no subject
[ she balls her hands into fists at her sides, huffing at the mirror. ]
That was uncalled for! Whoever made you must've been real desperate for some horrible advice!
[ it is SUPER mean, and sylvia's having none of it. she's tempted to smash this thing into pieces, but she's learned her lesson about running into things head first, so she refrains. she looks over at akechi. ]
...My fashion sense isn't that bad, is it?
no subject
[ Yeah, that's enough from the mirror. Akechi turns it around and sets it face down on the table again, muffling the rest of whatever it was about to say. ]
Your fashion sense isn't bad at all.
[ Akechi doesn't know much about women's fashion, sure, but he knows enough to know that Sylvia is fine. ]
I think that mirror just exists to aggravate people.
no subject
[ she's glad to know that her fashion's still on-point, though! that's how she's going to interpret akechi's comment, anyway. she rolls her eyes when she hears the mirror's muffled voice spewing more insults at them. ]
Man, there's a lot of weird stuff down here! I just got here but I'm already seeing a bunch of other weird stuff to tinker with.
[ the mirror's voice gets louder in protest, and at that, sylvia just casually puts her palm on its backside. her touch is light, so as to not crush it, but enough to get the mirror to start muttering something in protest. take that, you nasty old thing.
still, she gives him a small smirk and says: ]
Think we'll find anything else that'll try to bully us?
no subject
[ He eyes the mirror once again, taking note of its protests. Simply leaving it there to gather dust until the next person finds it is a solid enough plan, but he really thinks this calls for more drastic measures. After a moment of thought, he meets Sylvia's smirk with an incredibly innocent expression of his own. ]
Want to find a tacky box to hide it in?
no subject
Heck yeah I do!
[ she starts scouting the nearby area for a box of any kind. it'll probably be enchanted with something, like everything else down here, but unless it'll pose a threat she could care less. begone, bully mirror.
she spots a glint of something nearby though -- something shiny that caught some light -- and lo and behold, there's something that looks like a box nearby. she doesn't want to move her foot though, so she points in its general direction. ]
Hey, can you check over there? I saw something square-ish that might work!
no subject
This one?
no subject
[ Though there's something about that box that's drawing her in, now that Akechi has it in his hands. And for some reason, she doesn't really like the fact he's holding onto it.
The box should be hers. And whatever's in it should also be hers. ]
Heeeey, Akechi? You mind if I take a look at that for a second?
no subject
No.
[ He shifts the box to hold it securely under one arm. ]
If you wanted it, you should have picked it up first.
no subject
[ Like she's one to talk. Sylvia narrows her eyes at him, then turns her body so she's facing him head-on. ]
I saw it first, Akechi. Hand it over.
no subject
[ Akechi doesn't retreat, but he does turn his body slightly to better defend the Box. ]
There's plenty of other boxes here. Go get your own.
no subject
In fact, this particular incident sets off something within her -- something instinctual -- and Sylvia snarls before she uses her hind legs to leap up and towards Akechi. She's going for the tackle here, and she is absolutely seeing red. It's certainly not as bad as what happened with Jongdae, but she's irrationally mad about this.
Something's not right here. ]
no subject
He was not expecting her to tackle him.
Akechi goes down with a yelp, lifting his free hand up to brace against Sylvia's shoulder and throwing his other one out to break his fall. He lets out a startled yelp as he topples backwards, though he's quick to recover his wits. ]
Sylvia--!
[ His tone comes out clipped and annoyed... but the good news is that by catching himself he ended up dropping the box, which means he's now extremely confused about what just happened. ]
no subject
And then it rolls out of Akechi's hand, and Sylvia pauses. She blinks, looks down at him, and then she gasps and pulls back and off of him. ]
Did I...? [ She looks confused, kind of guilty also. ]
What happened? Are you okay?