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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 (
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Mettaton nearly answers her, but then she just... snubs him by turning away. The cat doll thing just feels like a mockery of the attention he really seeks, and anger flares in him as he stomps his heels indignantly. Look at me! it demands without words.]
It's! [He doesn't even care about not sounding calm.] Jewelry!
[They're both jewelry in a sense, but he's mostly talking about the shoulder jewelry he wears. Mettaton is torn between his desire for attention and love, and his wondering at Mikasa's struggle with her own ornate piece. (Why won't it come off?) But he can't focus on that! Not when he feeds on compliments, and she's feeding into his flaring rage like nobody's business.
He smiles menacingly through teeth. He's getting emotional enough for the hints of a high-emotion-shift to begin to tint his fur and sharpen his gaze, ire gripping him.
He thinks to demand her eyes, but he's so choked by sudden anger that he just thumps his foot a second time in demand.]
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The stamp gets her attention. Even if his footfall was muffled by the lawn, she could hear him rattle. Her head turns, antenna giving a flicker at the strain in his voice. Eyes shifting so she was looking slightly above his head to save her eyesight from the sparkles.
Completely calm, 100% chill as a cucumber, she was chilling. Mostly, her tail was annoying. And he got a slow blink...because that sure is a lot of jewels.]
Yeah? But there's a lot of jewelry in this city... [Being a poor farm girl, she didn't know or care much for it. It was just expensive shinies.] Or is it a really good find?
[As in was it something worth a lot and he'd have never been able to get it otherwise.]
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Claws are balled into fists tight enough that, were he made of flesh and muscle, he'd surely puncture his own palms with them.]
There's so much jewelry, darling. Yes. You're right about that. But they're worthless if they're not decorating my regal form. What's a pair of earrings if they're not enhancing my ears? A necklace is nothing if it's not resting upon my neck! A ring is worthless if it's not a band upon the premium real estate that are my eight dazzling digits!
[He mimes these pieces of jewelry with his fingers, gesturing wildly to his ear, cupping his neck, then pointing daintily to his... ring??? finger. He smiles at her with his teeth.]
It's a package deal worth dying to behold! All of me! I'M the good find, don't you agree?!
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Jewelry is only worth something to people who aren't starving. [It's probably a sad, practical view to most here. Gems, while worth a lot, wouldn't feed a poor person. Even if one was fortunate to find one, the connections to sell it wouldn't be there.
But that thought process, is why her answer might have been something he'd like to hear.]
You are. I'd prefer you over anything like that.
[Because a life was worth more than any fancy stone. Though it still wasn't technically a compliment.]
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...She'd prefer him over anything like jewels, she says. One of his ears rise. It softens him only somewhat, muting his growing fury ever-so-slightly. So it's not the kind of praise he wants, so it's not compliment buzzwords like sexy, enticing, handsome, gorgeous, dreamboat, and so forth. It's something. He exhales a huff of breath with the lungs he doesn't have for the air he doesn't need.]
You'd prefer me... over jewelry? Yes... then tell me how much I'm worth to you.
[He wants a monetary amount. He's not being very specific as he looms over her, planting his fists upon his hips indignantly. He even half-turns away from her, his tail flicking with another warning stomp of his impeccably-heeled foot.]
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Can't put money to it... [As much as the nobles had tried. Even with the human traffickers considering her valuable. Life wasn't something you could put a value to. She'd stand by that.
Or sit, like she was the moment. Not even flinching when he stamps. Jewels where just fancy rocks, polished to a shine. Something useless given a value. It was no contest which she'd prefer.]
You're not a thing that can be brought. People are more vaulable than any price...
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[Say it louder for the Mettaton in the back! Call him priceless like a treasure! That's what he wants to hear. ...So that's not what she was going for, but it's what Mettaton interprets. His ears are upright, his eye's bright with a passionate flame — or maybe even a furious one. He nearly clasps her hands in his madness.
...He doesn't, though. He has just enough sense to avoid grabbing her hands, clasping his own hands together instead.]
everything went better than expected.jpg
You didn't think so?
[Of all the people to have self-esteem issues, she didn't think Mtt was one of them.]
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[It's not self-esteem problems after all... But his temper's gone down, and even the air itself seems to reflect this, no longer charged with static as though ready to ignite the flammable nature of Mettaton. His ears lean back in a perfectly contented posture, his eyelid dropped back to that easygoing, half-lidded stare, and he nods approvingly.]
I knew you were my friend for a reason, sweetheart! You're the first person who gets it... [Really, why couldn't anyone else see that he was so expensive that he'd be rendered priceless??? He'd been on a rage bender for like, fifteen minutes! Mikasa somehow managed to quell that fury. The harrowing implication otherwise is that nobody else has told him he's beautiful...] Well. I'll leave you to un-sticking your tail... It's a strange piece, I'll give it that... Haha.
[The best reason to extricate Mettaton from this situation is that he'll just end up getting mad all over again if he stays, mood swinging like a pendulum. He cheerfully waves Mikasa off, blowing her a kiss in his dazzling jewelry.]
Well, toodles!!!
[And as he pranced in, Mettaton prances off with a bouncy skip on bouncy feet in glistening heels. Did that whole entire interaction even happen...? He might just end up blinding her on his way off, the sun glinting off of those diamond facets, further adding to its surrealism.]