Basement Bonanza Log

[hoboagogo]

BASEMENT BONANZA



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 ( soozaphone ) if you'd prefer it be top-secret!!

Comments

Minato Arisato | Persona 3

[afoolshope]

He Is Absolutely Here For the Food

[Also, he lives here. So, while on animal sitting duty, Minato meandered his way downstairs to help himself to the food Shinjiro made for the hunters. He forced himself not to pile his plate high (although it was still a lot) and then grabbed a separate plate to bring up food for the canines upstairs. Alfin wasn't laughing and was chilling for now but it was only a matter of time so Minato had to be quick and distracting.

Not that it meant someone couldn't stop him as they see the blue-haired boy with too much food headed towards the forbidden upstairs.]

Canine bonding

[While most are dissuaded from coming upstairs, it doesn't meant anyone couldn't somehow make their way up there somehow. Most of the doors were shut, but one room was open. The door was mostly shut, but there was the sound of music coming from it. Perhaps that's what piqued your curiosity in coming up here?

Minato will look up if you open the door, Koromaru was on his lap on the bed and his head perked up as well. Alfin, the hyena, was getting a nice relaxing belly rub on Minato's other side, while a petal wolf was curled up at the foot of the bed. Giggles started coming out of Alfin, however, and Minato's hand moved to rub her chin to get her to quiet down again.]

Can I help you?

[He personally didn't mind if one of the hunters came up here, as long as they didn't steal anything anyway. But there was a reason Minato was on pet sitting duty and that was very much the hyena that was still giggling, although not in full hysterics yet.]

Front Yard

[It wasn't that Minato was scared of the basement, there was a definitely a healthy amount of wariness. So, he largely stayed out of there. But he didn't want to stay cooped up upstairs all day, so he eventually ushered the animals outside to play. It was the late afternoon, so the sun wasn't baring down on anyone and it was a clear day, no summer rain today.

So, aside from making sure Alfin didn't get too distracted by new people or wander off to accidentally eat some chickens, Minato was keeping them all busy with toys and running around. Or, there was a dog pile on him as he inevitably tried to lay down in the shade for nap. Hmm... three warm animal bodies on top of him. Not quite comfortable enough for a nap but also, he didn't want to move.]

Wildcard

[Or, yanno, I can make a prompt where he does eventually go down to the basement to get into shenanigans. Let me know! mossflowered]

Canine Bonding ofc

[rightfoot]

[ He needs a break. There's people in and out of the house, and while he's good at putting on a good face - it gets...pretty exhausting after awhile, to be honest. So he makes his way carefully up the steps of the house towards the rooms and down the hallway. Most of the rooms had doors secure and shut, but there was one cracked open. He wondered if it was intentional so, he shifts over to peek inside and -- ]

Well, no, since I live here. Just taking a break from the...strange things happening. This is where you all are hiding out.

[afoolshope]

I’m kind of useless so I figured I could keep the dogs distracted while the party continued downstairs.

[But yes, he was hiding out too. As much as he enjoyed being with people, it was a bit much even for him.

He pulled his legs in, crossing them tailor style to give room for Louis to sit if he wanted.]

Are there a lot of people in the basement now?

[rightfoot]

[ He reads the room, though he takes his time and then finally settles down in the offered spot. He... totally understands. ]

There's a lot of people, yeah. I've mostly just kept people from breaking too many things or releasing horrible hexes. There's only so much you can do there anyway.

[ He looks towards the dogs. ]

They seem to like you. And Shinjiro, too. You guys some sort of dog whisperers or is it like -

A human thing.

[afoolshope]

Well, I’ll just hope for the best, then.

[Minato shook his head with a small shrug, looking at Koromaru briefly.]

Koromaru lived with me at the Iwatodai dorms back home, so he’s used to me. Alfin seems easy enough to distract and I think Bela is just tolerating me for now because it’s quiet in here.

[Well, quiet plus old jazz.]

Plenty of humans are bad with animals. Just depends on the person.

[rightfoot]

Bela will go where Koromaru is. He's pretty loyal to him. So if Koromaru likes you, then Bela does, too.

[ Louis shifts, extending his hand towards the Petal Wolf, and when he approaches, moves his fingers over the tufts of colorful petals in full bloom for summer. He's so easy going compared to when Louis first got him. It was almost a year ago, by his count. ]

Bela bit me many times when I first got him. He was pretty predatory.

[ He looks amused. ]

I wouldn't have said I'd be good with animals like this, either. I'm not fully convinced Bela doesn't see me as a convenient dinner.

[ a pause ]

I don't know if you've seen him around, but there's a cat who stays near my room. He probably hid with all of the people.

[afoolshope]

Really? [He looked at Koromaru.] Intending to lead your own pack, Koro-chan?

[He just got happy panting in reply. It earned a smile from Minato as well.]

I don't know much about wolves, let alone petal wolves, but I don't think that's the case this time around. He would have tried to eat you much earlier. [A thoughtful tilt of his head.] I don't think I have. I'll keep a look out though. I like cats.

canine bonding <3

[intrusivethot]

[ Never has Ren met an opportunity to poke his nose where it doesn't belong and gone on his merry way toward minding his own business. While the basement was the main draw for hunters, Ren would be remiss not to make use of his picaresque tendencies and explore more of the house, if not to late his curiosity then to discern whether there are other causes to The Dark Below - underlying conditions, if you like.

As a rabbit would a warren, so Ren is with the deserted upstairs, though early on in his quest his long ears twitch toward the sounds of both music and some manner of predatory animal. His ability to pick out the latter had become quite sharp since the changes had begun setting in, but it's with a human's or gremlin's inquisitiveness that he then pokes his head into the roof from which music was drifting, his altered (and in his opinion, cute) nose wiggling in first, followed closely by the rest of Ren, grinning when he sees who's inside. ]

I'm a bit lost; this isn't the hotdog eating contest, is it.

[afoolshope]

[That set Alfin off, laughing and kicking her paws. She also repeated “hot dog contest” a few times. It caused both Bela and Koromaru to jump slightly. Bela settled down with a soft grump as he gave an annoyed look to Ren, Koromaru simply tilted his head at the bunny boy. Red, intelligent eyes regarding him silently before making a decision and panting with a smile.

Minato figured Koromaru caught on a little as well, and while he rolled his eyes now that he couldn’t get Alfin to quiet down quickly, he shook his head at Ren with a wry, small smile.]

Should I be worried that the foolish bunny wandered into a den of wolves?

[One wolf made of petals, an albino shiba, and a hyena but close enough. He went back to the belly rubs to quiet Alfin down as Koromaru jumped off the bed to greet Ren, curled tail wagging.]

I would think you a bit more worldly than that.

[Those Divination classes were paying off but it also helped that he had passing experience due to Minako. The feeling was fainter and different, but unmistakable.]

[intrusivethot]

[ Oh - wow. Ren is a cat person by nature and a bunny person by cosmic abduction and transformation, but he supposes the talking dog-related-entity isn't that different from Morgana. The other dog's red eyes are likewise intimidating but it's its kind countenance and cute little vest wings ohmygod that tempts Ren to ease into the room properly, smirking at the "wolves." ]

Foolishness and bravery are often mistaken for one another.

[ Akechi's rubbed off on him.

And he supposes that hanging out with Minato isn't that horrible either. The emphasis Minato places in the sentence is peculiar and gives much to think about while Ren comes to hold out his hand for the white dog to sniff. Tasty smelling, right? ]

I've been known to be a bit of a hermit when it suits me. But having the strength to forge your own path ensures that your fortune is all of your making~.

[ The dog pants again and mooshes his face eagerly into Ren's hand, the boy laughing lowly and commencing with the pets he so richly deserves. He throws Minato an oddly pointed look; did he understand? Or is Minato something even bigger than Ren knows the boundaries of, not unlike Lavenza or the master of the Velvet Room himself? ]

im not very clever

[afoolshope]

[Minato's smile only broadened at that. The pointed look is swiftly answered with a small shake of his head. No, he is not an attendant nor is his Igor himself.]

Unfortunately, this magician was bound by a contract. But I suppose my judgement was still sound even at the end of the road, the choice I made still mine. All ended up right in the universe. [beat.] Mostly. If a wildcard was still needed after me.

[He was a bit concerned about that. But overall, he was confidant things still worked out after his death.]

i disagree

[intrusivethot]

[ Ren snorts quietly the longer they meander and twist up their own sentences to fit the scheme. So! It seems the tingle in the back of his head led him in an interesting direction. Still, it was a different sensation to what Akechi felt like, maybe the mark of a more accomplished Wild Card as opposed to the detective's stunted potential - not a cruelty, by the way, but it's the best description of the hand Akechi had been dealt. How interesting, is all he means.

Ren shrugs loosely and comes to squeeze himself onto the bed amongst all the dog that was happening there, easy as he's leveraging his kinship with the white dog into petting the others one by one. Carefully. He's aware he's still dinner to the enthusiastic type. ]

Can't say I'm surprised that that world existed before me, but yeah, I'm the newest model. I think we're doing okay.

:P

[afoolshope]

[Don't worry, he's not going to keep this up. Too much thinking and wordplay. Bela, at least, is fine to not eat the bunny in the room. If Koromaru likes Ren, then so will Bela. Minato learned from Louis that Bela tends to look at Koromaru like a leader.

Alfin he's unsure about. Sorry, bro.]

I'm glad to hear that. Did the Dark Hour return or is it something else entirely?

( front yard )

[fabrications]

[ Akechi has had a perhaps too interesting day down there in the basement, but overall it wasn't a terrible venture. He even found a few curiosities he considered worth keeping.

There were plenty that weren't worth keeping, however, and one appears to have followed him. A little porcelain teacup with legs - no, with several fingers supporting it like legs - skitters out of the door behind him and goes tearing across the front lawn. Akechi watches it go, weighing the merits of pretending he didn't see anything... but then he realizes it's going right for Minato and his group of dogs. He has no idea what the creepy thing is actually made of - porcelain is just his best guess - but whatever it is it probably isn't good for animals to eat, or step on and break. ]

Ah-- be careful!

[ Hopefully Minato is close enough to grab the teacup before a dog does, but if he's not Akechi will break into a light jog in hopes of catching up with it. ]

[afoolshope]

[?!

Minato turned at the shout, eyes widening at the runaway teacup with... fingers for legs? Bela and Koromaru went to try and eat it, Alfin meanwhile howled in laughter. Minato, meanwhile, managed to get ahead of the growling wolf and dog to grab the cup before fangs could sink in.

The fingers latched onto his hand, however, squeezing tight enough to make him wince. Ow, that smarts. He grabbed the teacup by the handle to try and pull it off. At least there wasn't any hot tea in it.]

Guys, calm down, don't... [He had to lift his hand as now three dogs were trying to snap their jaws onto the teacup.] Don't jump, down!

[At least Koromaru listened, the shiba settle down and whining in concern. Minato looked at the person who called out to him, ignoring his fingers being crushed for now.]

Is this yours?

[fabrications]

Absolutely not.

[ ... Okay, that may have been slightly too vehement of an answer. Akechi clears his throat. ]

But I believe I'm the one that 'woke it up', so to speak. It must have followed me up here.

[ He pauses for a moment, then gestures for Minato to step closer. He'snot about to get into that mess of dogs uninvited. ]

Do you have anything to drink handy? The set seemed to settle down if it thought it was going to be used.

[afoolshope]

[That earned some eyebrows. He was tempted to just say that it was the teen's then but he had something a bit more urgent than being snarky. Namely, saving his fingers.

After a few more calls and his other hand gesturing for the other two to settle down, Koromaru even jumping in to help distract, Minato stepped closer to the other and listened to his adviced.]

Not out here, but I'm sure Shinjiro has something in the kitchen.

[He whistled to the animals to follow, although it took a few tries. Koromaru was the only one who really listened, Bela tended to do his own thing and Alfin was... Alfin. But eventually, they all followed along.]

Do you know where the teapot is?

[fabrications]

[ Is Minato asking him...?

He must be. Akechi shakes his head. ]

I'm afraid I'm just visiting. I'm sure I could find it if you can show me the kitchen, though.

[ He's not actually worried about Minato, but he does hope the teacup doesn't actually hurt him - if only to prevent the terrible first impression he's made from getting even worse. ]

[afoolshope]

[He's only asking since Akechi admitted to possibly letting the teacup out. He figured Akechi might know where the rest of the set is. Still, he seemed to be agreeable now and Minato nodded.]

I can try without the teapot, but if it's part of a set...

[Well, he imagined it'd have to be used together, right? Isn't that how these weird curses and stuff worked? Minato was new, so he wasn't sure. Besides, now that he thought about it, he could also keep the dogs busy with food if they go to the kitchen first.]

I don't know much about how these things work.

Front Yard

[fuckingpassw0rd]

[Add one other very large dog sniffing curiously at the dogly pile before a voice booms from farther away.]

Sumo! Goddamit you old mutt, you're not supposed to be able to run this fast anymore!

[afoolshope]

[Minato reached up to rub and play with the big cheeks of the Saint Bernard. He grunted as Bela and Koromaru stepped off of him to also sniff and see who this newcomer was. Without the weight, Minato sat up properly.]

You’re bigger than I thought you’d be.

[He got a big slobbering kiss in response but it only made him laugh softly. That was enough for Koromaru to decide he was good people and barked happily.]

[fuckingpassw0rd]

[Oh good, no one's dead, although Minato is covered with a bunch of slobber now.]

Shit. Sorry kid, I don't know how Saint-Benards managed to be made of half slobber, yet here we are.

[Borf.]

Yeah you are, don't deny it.

[afoolshope]

[Nope, no one got trampled.]

It’s fine. I’ll clean up later. He’s a good boy.

[He seemed like a good boy, anyway. Minato continued to scratch and rub the face and ears.]

There aren’t too many dogs like this in Japan.

[fuckingpassw0rd]

[Sumo's past crimes are to remain completely classified.]

Right. [Hank for his part looks over and recognizes one of the dogs.] Koromaru, right? The albino Shiba. We spoke on the network.

Well now the irony of me calling him Sumo is pretty fucking funny.

[afoolshope]

Arf!

[Koromaru approached Hank, curled tail wagging.]

I think it fits. He’s big.

Ah, this is Bela, he’s a petal wolf, and Alfin, she’s a hyena. They’re behaved for the most part.

[So, yanno, don’t worry. Bela tended to follow Koromaru like a leader anyway.]