GAMBIT BRIAR and THE HAUNTED HOUSE

Your fate in this route may be affected only by your current skills. They will be recorded as they appear the moment this thread is published so as to avoid discrepancies between skill level ups and your character's fate.

Most rewards gained in your adventure will be account bound and therefore not tradeable. A handful of the benefits will be for the character you bring only.

There will be fewer choices on this route, except for at a critical juncture. Your story will unfold based on the whims of the universe and your skills.

As the story progresses, encounters will become riskier though you can choose to abandon the adventure at any time. If you choose to remain, you do so understanding the risks!

Plague is an Advanced Fighter and Beginner Intellectual
Lets begin!

GAMBIT BRIAR - THE HOUSE

You emerge from an unfamiliar part of the forest into a clearing, blinking slowly as your eyes adjust to the sudden deepening of the gloom that surrounded you your whole walk. As the dim light slowly becomes more and more comfortable you start making out a hulking shape on the other side of the clearing. Old and creaking woodenly in a wind you can't feel you lay eyes on a dilapidated mansion. The whole building skews to one side, and even in the gloom you can make out that parts of it appear to jut out unnaturally as if grafted onto its massive shape after the fact. Something about it seems wrong, though you are not sure why.

---

• Approach the mansion
  
• Flee with your tail between you legs [Leave]
  

Pale paws carried the man through the thick and tangled forest as he used slender, winding paths to make his way through. As one path ended and branched off into other directions he picked one at random and followed it on. Coming into this place had been a mistake from the start, but his own curiosity had led him astray. The thorns of the briar raked at his fur and as the darkness began to settle in around him it became harder and harder to see where exactly he was going. The thorns scratched and pulled at him until he finally found himself in a clearing. There was very little light coming in from the cloud covered moon and as his emerald gaze scanned the area uncertainly he spotted a large, looming shape across from him in the clearing. Since there wasn't really another place for him to go at this point besides back the way he came, Plague trudged forward toward the shadowed structure and slowly more details about it became clear as his eyes adjusted more to the change in light. He paused at the stairs that led up to the building's doorway and frowned as he examined the dilapidated, uneven build of it - the creaking and moaning the building seemed to naturally give off making him even more unsure of his decision to investigate the unusual mansion. His curiosity hadn't been a friend to him today thus far, but for some reason he continued to let it drive him as he began to climb the stairs that would take him up to the main structure of the building.

Success

You take a few shaky steps up the wooden stairs, fighting what feels like a much heavier keel to one side than you'd expect, however you stick to the left side of the stairs and make it safe and sound to the landing and push your way into the foyer. As you pass through the doors you spot something shiny, you grab it and stash it for later.

Plague has found 100 Gems

GAMBIT BRIAR - HALLWAY

The space before you is wide and open. The air is musty and through the gloom you can see motes of dust. Wherever you are it’s not seen life in a long time. In the center of the foyer is a massive carpeted staircase. You can see doors on either side of the ground floor, but you feel something drawing you up the stairs. Your paws move before you have time to process this fact, puffs of dust rising with each paw step and you quickly feel your paws become covered. This time your trek up the stairs is a safe one, though the place has clearly been abandoned the steps are sturdy and carry your weight. Still you press yourself to the heavy wooden banister until the moment you reach the top floor. You peer into the dark and notice there is a hallway off to the left. On the right is a door, you try it first but the room beyond is covered in debris so you can’t enter, the furthest wall is all but collapsed, the night sky visible through it’s crumbling structure. So you start down the hallway, losing count of the doors you’ve passed as you feel yourself once more drawn towards the middle of the hallway. You pause, even a few feet from the door your being drawn to you can hear something making noise from the room behind.

---

• Approach the door
  
• 2 Spoopy 5 me [Leave]
  

As he went forward up the stairs, he readjusted his path to the left side the stairs after feeling how they creaked, bowed, and leaned under his weight. At least to the left there was a bit of a railing that he could lean into and the wood seemed to be braced more properly along the edge. By the time he got to the top of the stairs he was wondering if perhaps this adventure was a poor choice, but he had come this far so decided to at least give a bit more time. Going back out into the dark forest didn't sound all that pleasant either. He pushed forward and walked into the first open space inside the mansion. The darkness and gloom only intensified once he was inside and the air was still - almost unnaturally so. It felt like he was walking into a time capsule or something that hadn't been disturbed in a very, very long time. He walked with slow, careful steps as he walked further into the den, every nerve on high alert. Plague eyed the doors around him, but after looking at the staircase once more he decided that it would be easier to search from top to bottom. At least that way if there was something upstairs it wouldn't be able to sneak up on him while he was looking around downstairs. He pushed forward despite his subconscious telling him he should probably turn back. These stairs were far more solid than the ones he encountered outside, but he decided to stay along the edge just in case - following the same logic he had before. When he reached the landing at the top of the stairs he scanned the area around him for a moment. His first instinct was to go for the room closest to him, but after attempting to nudge the door open with his shoulder he quickly realized it was no use. The gap he managed to open the door by revealed that the roof had collapsed in on the room and the debris were now blocking his path. He looked out into the night sky for a moment before pulling his head back out of the gap he had created. Moving forward down the hallway to his left, his emerald gaze glanced from door to door as he passed them, but he didn't stop to check each of them. There was an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach and he found himself lingering in the middle of the hallway rather than swaying to one side or another. His ears were perked forward and his hackles were bristled as he carefully moved forward - fully prepared to spring back and flee down the stairs again at a moments notice. A sound he couldn't quite identify caught his attention and made him freeze in place. His eyes shifted to the door that seemed to be concealing whatever it was and he inched forward again, moving toward it hesitantly. With a frown he stood a few feet away from the door, listening and trying to decipher what it could be. It was muffled too much to be able to tell and despite his heart beating with adrenaline and anxiety he allowed himself to move forward to check the door.

Success

As you approach the door, the sounds get louder. For a moment your courage flags. You press your ear to the door, jumping as something smashes into the wood on the other side. You freeze, listening intently, after what feels like a lifetime the sounds end and you finally summon the courage to open the door, something scrapes across the floor as you do so and as you look down you see what must have been flung at the door, a cracked glass orb. You silently thank the universe you listened to your instincts, getting hit by that would have hurt a lot. You can’t help but feel a bit more confident in yourself.

Plague has gained 5 Fighting Skill points

GAMBIT BRIAR - Fix Me!

You lift your gaze to a truly horrific site, the room you’ve entered is illuminated by the moon visible beyond the window in the opposite wall. Swinging ominously in that pale light are countless shapes that hang from the roof. You cast your gaze about, all around you on shelves, the floor and any other surface in the room are what feels like hundreds and hundreds of small figures. You freeze, waiting for the tiny creatures to jump you and rip you to shreds. But nothing else seems to move beyond the figures hanging from the roof, pushed by the still unfelt breeze. Taking a breath you peer closer at the closest figure and fight back the urge to recoil. It’s a strange thing, a soft body that seemed to be filled with something, and hard solid limbs… but it doesn’t resemble anything you’ve ever seen, the head is a sphere, molded fur of some kind on its head and forward facing eyes. The limbs are mismatched, different in tone and shape, one of them appears to be the leg of a deer, and you recognize a plush lupine tail poking from the back of the body. A doll, and the figures hanging from the roof are marionettes. The sphere at your paws appears to have been another strange head and as you look around all the figures are mismatched in a similar manner, limbs and heads of animals you recognize grafted onto bodies that have limbs and heads you don't. Something about it is all very wrong. In the center of the room lays a pile of limbs and heads, a single cloth body piece in front of the pile. You take a step towards it, and somewhere in the back of your mind comes a voice: Fix me.

---

• Fix them!
  
• Take a Puppet down from the roof
  
• Nope out of there! [Leave]
  

Just as he pressed his shoulder and ear to the door to listen closer, he heard a loud crash on the other side and he jumped back a step - the sudden sound making his heart rate spike. After a few long moments of silence he let out a slightly shaky sigh and he steeled himself so that he could finally push open the door. He moved slowly and cautiously, the door pushing away whatever it was that had hit the door to begin with. Peeking around the door and blinking to adjust to the change in light, he scanned the floor and saw pieces and bits of what would have formed a large glass orb. It was hard to tell what it really was or what could have sent it flying in his direction, but he was at least grateful that he'd narrowly escaped having that thing hit him instead. The pale wolf stepped over the pieces of glass carefully before lifting his eyes to look at the room around him and his eyes grew wide. There were countless figures hanging all around the room, all with slightly different shapes and forms. He stood frozen in place as he took it all in, watching them sway unnervingly even though there didn't seem to be a breeze. As his gaze continued to scan his surroundings he saw that the figures didn't stop at just the ones hanging around the room from the ceiling - they lined the walls on shelves as well. From here he couldn't really make out any distinguishing features of them so he dared to walk a bit closer to the one hanging closest to him so he could examine it a bit more throughly. It was a grotesque conglomeration of bits and pieces that didn't seem to make sense or fit together in any sort of sensible fashion. Some of the pieces he could kind of recognize from various animals, but some he couldn't. It made him pull up a lip in a bit of an uneasy snarl. When he glanced down at the glass sphere that was shattered from being thrown against the door, he realized that it was a similar shape to the head of the doll he was looking at and something about it made his hackles bristle. Shifting his gaze toward the center of the room, his eyes landed on a pile of bits and pieces that all seemed to be things that made up these creepy, unnatural figures. Taking a couple of steps closer to the pile to investigate, Plague's eyes glanced down to the soft looking body that seemed to make up the middle portion of all of these dolls. A body-less voice whispered to him, sounding like it was coming from just behind his ear. It made his head quickly turn to look, but no one was there. Fix me. The voice made his skin crawl and he took a step back from the limbless "body" with a hard shake of his head. Nope, not a chance. Whatever was happening here - he wanted nothing of it. However... he knew not a soul was going to believe him when he went back if he tried to tell this story. It was too fantastical and too much like a nightmare to be believable. His emerald eyes looked to the dolls hanging around him and went back to the one he had been examining before. Well, if they wouldn't believe him, then he was going to have to take proof. He went to pull it down, attempting to remove it from where it was hanging.

Failure

You carefully try to remove one of the puppets from the rafters, something telling you to be cautious about not letting it fall. You rise up onto your hind paws and gently try to hook one of the puppets with your paws, it takes a few tries and one of them is just barely dangling off the edge. Just one more- You swing with more force than you mean too, knocking the puppet off the rafter and it clatters to the ground loudly. For a moment you stare at it's twisted mangled form and then the puppets hanging above your head begin to swing wildly, their limbs clanking ominously and you suddenly feel the need to flee. It takes a moment to make your limbs listen to your brain, but the sudden pain as a puppet hits you sends you pounding out of the room. You peel down the hallway, then race down a smaller staircase and stop only once you're at the bottom. You skid to a halt, panting and sore. You quickly take stock of your wounds and notice pain in you rump, that one's likely gonna hurt for a while after you get out of here.

Plague has become injured

GAMBIT BRIAR - F̸̢̀I̷͍̽N̷̟͑D̵̢͗ ̸̠̅M̷̭͒E̵̪͒!̵̧̉

The room before you is a kitchen, oddly the centerpiece of the room is a magnificent dark wooden table, it’s covered with tarnished aged silverware and plates and grotesquely a carcass of some kind, right in the middle of the table. The corpse is old and mutilated beyond recognition, you’re not even sure what it was anymore, somehow so old it’s stopped smelling of anything and yet remarkably pristine despite it’s otherwise gory appearance. The voice from earlier whispers in the back of your mind: find me. You cast about the room, toss open cabinets and search under everything you can. Still the voice returns: Find me. You jump up onto the table, hoping it’ll offer you a better vantage point… still nothing… You step closer to the mangled thing on the table and the voice cries out once more, stronger this time. Find me! You look down at the corpse and feel a familiar pull… With a dawning horror you realize what the voice wants from you and glance up, through the door opposite you you can see the front foyer, offering a tantalizing escape…

---

• Find them! In the Corpse
  
• Find them! By searching the room again.
  
• The door is right there! [Leave]
  

His attempt to bring the unnerving doll took an unintended turn as his attempts to carefully remove it from its strings went awry and he sent it clattering to the ground. He looked at it and even though he logically knew it was an inanimate object, he still felt an uneasy chill settle over him. A rattling above him made his skin crawl and he looked up to see the other puppets swinging wildly above him despite the fact that the air around him was still perfectly still. He knew he had to get out and fast, but his muscles were locked up as he watched the dolls above him swing to and fro. A sharp pain near his hip finally broke him out of the trance and he went running for the door, his long limbs carrying him like a bat out of hell as he escaped the room he had wandered into. Fuck trying to prove all of this to anyone who might ask - he wasn't sticking around to see what else these puppets could do. His adrenaline induced haze sent him down an unknown staircase at the end of the hallway and he didn't stop until he was on the lower level of the mansion once again. He panted hard from the sudden bolting run and he gritted his teeth as he realized just how hard that puppet had hit him. He twisted to looked at his right hip, glad to see that he at least wasn't bleeding or cut. It was certainly sore though and was at least a deep bruise if not more. Now that his heart had slowly begun to come down from the initial fright, he took a look around at the room he had landed himself in. There was a huge, dark wood table ahead of him and cabinets that lined the walls. He crept forward, approaching everything with an extra dose of caution after how his last room exploration had gone. He approached the table and his eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the unusual carcass that sat as the centerpiece. He couldn't even tell what kind of creature it had once been and while it looked far from fresh, it was still somehow not rotting either. The same disembodied voice from before came to hime once again and made his ear flick - "Find me." He grit his teeth and despite his initial refusal to give in to whatever spirit clearly lingered in this place, he found himself not wanting to anger it again. He turned away from the table and began his search, throughly combing the room though the cabinets and turning the room upside down in an effort to find it... whatever it was. After a while his frustration and the continued insistence of this strange voice drew him to climb on top of the table. He looked around the room just in case there was some corner he might have missed. His emerald gaze landed on the unidentifiable corpse again and that uneasy chill came over him again when he realized that the voice pushing him onward grew louder in that moment. He made a brief glance toward the door, but now he was invested in satisfying this damn thing. Turning his attention toward the disgusting thing, he steeled himself and resumed his search, carefully poking through the mangled corpse.

Success

You swallow the lump forming in your throat and tear your gaze from the temptation of escape. Taking a moment to calm yourself you close your eyes and then- plunge your muzzle into the corpse! It is uncomfortably and inexplicably soft and wet for how old it must be and there is little resistance as you fish around for something, you’re not sure what, in the old gore. You fight down your revulsion and press on, even as you start to wonder what you’re even doing anymore. Then your nose bumps something hard and you feel a tug at the back of your mind. Clamping down on whatever it is you hurry to pull yourself and your prize free. With a wet squelching noise you release yourself from the body and slowly open your eyes, noticing a skull clamped tightly between your fangs. You jump down off of the table and stash it, heading back out into the foyer.

Plague has gained 10 Fighting Skill points, He also now has a skull! Wow!

GAMBIT BRIAR - Ș̵̨̦̫̗̤̻̝͌̊̌͗̌̚à̶͙̗̭̜̈́͆͊͂̿̉́̔v̸̢͇͇̹̘͒̈͐ͅe̴̖͖̺͍̼̦̬̩̻͗̄̈́͛̄̚͘ ̷͙̩̣͔̣̖͖̤̞̃͜M̵̬̩̟͉̯͑͆̈́e̴̮̪̻͉̔!̸̹͙̹̮̙͇́͗͑̿̈́͗

The door you’ve just exited was the one you saw earlier off to the left of the stairs… all that remains is the door on the right. You cautiously pad towards it, noticing it’s less a door and more an open frame, stairs leading down into darkness not even your eyes can see through. You hesitate for a moment, then something wills your legs to start moving and you cautiously descend into the darkness. Your movements are slow, now even in the thick of if you can hardly see the end of your nose, let alone the end of the stairs. The darkness feels thick, like it’s pressed down on you. You take a step forward and realize you’ve hit the ground floor, you glance over your shoulder, the door way you’d stepped in through is a tiny pin prick up much higher than you thought you’d descended. Something moves in the dark, you can hear it and you jump when something brushes past you, ruffling your fur. The voice returns, stronger than ever: Save me!

---

• Save them!
  
• Locked
  
• Save them by using your skull as a helmet!
  
• Locked
  
• Alright that’s enough adventure for one day! [Leave]
  

Given the fact that he had been so sure that this was an old, withered corpse of some sort, the fact that it there was somehow still a good bit of wetness and give to the unnamed meat put him off even more than he already had been. It made him pause as he swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat, but he did eventually continue his search even though he didn't know what exactly what it was he was looking for. He let himself follow the unsettling pressure he felt from some unseen force as it tried to guide him to the right thing and eventually he finally found something solid among the pile of meat. His teeth clamped down on what felt like some kind of bone and after some pulling a skull emerged. It was oddly clean despite the environment he had pulled it from and after shaking it off a bit it was what he would have expected to find on a fully decomposed corpse. It couldn't quite name what kind of skull it was just yet, but something told him he should hold on to it for now so he did just that as he hopped down from the table. He got the sense that his work here was done so he left the room, finding himself in the foyer of the mansion once again. With everything that had happened thus far, a logical wolf would probably have left then and there, but his curiosity continued to be his downfall. He spotted the one doorway he hadn't explored just yet and he moved toward it with a bit of hesitation. There was no door blocking his path this time, instead just an opening with stairs that led down into a foreboding darkness. Steeling his nerves, Plague began to carefully and slowly go down the stairs, blinking and squinting to make his eyes adjust to the darkness the best they could. It didn't really matter though since the heavy, oppressive darkness blocked everything from view. He reached the bottom of the stairs and with a glance back the way he came and a look up at the doorway that seemed far too high to be real, he heavily considered turning back - especially when he sensed something looming in the darkness near him. He nearly dropped the skull he was still carrying when something brushed against him, sending a chill over his skin and making him freeze up again. Just as he was about to dart back up the stairs, the same voice from before that had pushed him through these trials of sorts returned. Save me! It made him stop and look back toward the darkness uncertainly. It was drawing him in, calling for his assistance. The longer this went on, the more he wondered what it could be or even who it could be and that was enough to make his intrigue outweigh his fear. In a last minute stroke of what he thought might be ingenuity, he placed the skull on the ground long enough for him to slip his head inside, the piece of hard bone fitting his head oddly perfectly so that his emerald eyes could look through the eye holes. With his makeshift helmet secured, he dove into the darkness, following the voice and pull of this unknown presence as he went to its rescue. Talk

Success

The fur along your spine begins to rise and you feel a growl bubbling in your throat, you’re just about at your wits end in the place and you aren’t eager to be toyed with by whatever it is that’s lurking in here. You hear a tail scraping against the floor and leap into action. You’re really only aware of snippets of the fight. Your fangs meeting fur, the feelings of a wing hitting your face. Something squishy and leathery wrapping around your legs. The crunch of an exoskeleton beneath your paws. You’ve fought through worse before though and you can feel your enemy slowing while you show no signs of stopping, you prevail and as you lick the blood from your lips, tense and waiting for the next attack in the pitch darkness you hear whatever it is retreating, sliding further and further away from you. You remain tense for a moment longer and then suddenly an electric hum starts and you are thrown into light. You blink against the sudden light, and as you slowly open your eyes you notice something glinting, you quickly snatch it up before turning, removing your new head gear, to inspect your surroundings

Plague has found a [Redacted]!

GAMBIT BRIAR - Ŗ̸̛̘̤̤̪͐̅̾͑̈́͗ĕ̸̫̫̘̮͖̣͓̖͆̈́̿̿͜ͅL̷̡̼̝͎̥̏̊̌͋̓́͐̚͝͠E̴̛̤͇̤̩͑͂̀ͅą̶͖̟̭͖̗̣͌̆͆̓̈s̶͇͎͎̦̮̊́͋̓̊̚e̸̡̮̠͙̥̱̖̥͆ ̵͉͚̦̱̒͆͐͛̈́͘m̴̨̺̻̗͇͚̐̈̓̆̊͗Ë̶̛̦͓̞̬͇̯͍̲̰!̶͖̰̱̬̹͓̉̋̇

You are in a concrete basement, the floor and walls around you are a dull, dirty grey, eerily red near the pipes that run along the roof. You cast about frantically, searching for your opponent but it’s disappeared… Which you realize is impossible. The basement is too small and too brightly lit for whatever you were fighting to have disappeared, you’re certain it was larger than you and you were blocking the only exit… You shiver, taking a few more moments to observe where you’ve found yourself and notice against the far wall is a small wire cage, the door was slightly open and through the gaps in the fencing you can see a skeleton laid out, it somehow resembles the doll from before and the voice returns, this time louder than it’s ever been and somehow distorted: ReLEase mE! You hear something rumbling under the hum from the lightbulb above you, it sounded almost like… laughter? You feel like whatever thing has been leading you this whole time has started to mock you. You feel like you’re being taunted, called a coward.

---

• Release them!
  
• I am a coward, and proud of it! [Leave]
  

Plague dove into the fight, blind both by the sheer darkness of the place he had found himself and from the lack of knowledge of what he was up against. He kept his ears perked to catch any slight shift or sound that might give away it's position and as he clashed with whatever it was he tried to keep as close as he could so he wouldn't loose track of it. He fought with furry and lost track of exactly what was happening between the various wild attacks. He felt bits and pieces of the creature and most notably he felt what seemed like a wing - a bat perhaps? Of course there wasn't time to consider such a thing in the heat of battle, but it was a clue he might ponder after this was all over. He felt his opponent retreat and he stood in the darkness, hackles raised and lips pulled back in a vicious snarl while he waited for the next attack. When it didn't come and his ears flicked to hear something shifting farther and farther away from him, he slowly let his shoulders begin to relax and even though he was still on high alert he shifted out of his battle ready stance. All at onece the blinding darkness disappeared with a sudden appearance of light accompanied by an odd buzzing. It made him stagger back a step and he squinted against the brightness till his eyes could adjust once more. Dipping his head to the ground, he let the skull slip off of his face and it fell to the floor with a soft clank. Looking around at his now illuminated surroundings, he eyed the unusually flat for rock and not quite a texture he had ever seen. Something had clearly created this place just as they had the building that stood above him. His emerald eyes cast quick glances around the space, eager to see what it was he had been fighting, but it seemed to have disappeared. The thought made him frown as he glanced back at the stairs behind him. How could it have slipped past him without him noticing? Unless it didn't? It was yet another unanswered question about this place that made his skin crawl uneasily. As he gave the room another, more through look he noticed a cage of sorts. After taking a couple steps closer to the cage in question he realized there was an odd skeleton laid out in it and with a deep frown he realized it looked too similar to the dolls he had seen before. That haunting voice returned once again, this time commanding him to release it. The fur along his back bristled uneasily as a deep, rumbling sound that resembled a laugh followed the command, making him feel like this presence had been making a fool of him this entire time. A snarl twitched at his lips as he looked at the skeleton before he turned away from it. He still didn't know what this... thing was, but he wasn't about to stick around and find out. After the fight he had put in he wasn't about to release something that was just going to mock him in return. Picking up the skull he had worn before, he climbed up the stairs from the basement and made his way out through the foyer and back into the dark of night. His curiosity had taken him a long way, but he knew when to just walk away. Talk

Leaving

You decide, actually, no that's enough! You start up the stairs, the rumbling laughter growing louder as you leave but nothing bars your way as you exit the door and bound down the stairs. The walk back out in the briar seems to take longer than it took to get there and your afraid that you’ll get lost in these unfamiliar woods once more… or worse find yourself back at the house. But finally after what feels like the longest night of your life you find yourself back on familiar territory. You practically collapse, and finally feel safe enough to take stock of all that’s happened.

Plague has left the mansion behind, with all his spoils in tow.

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

Plague received a total of 1 punishment and 4 rewards:

1 Reward is 100 gems [Added! - nyx]
1 Reward is +5 fighting skill points [Added! - nyx]
1 punishment is mild bruising on his rump (You may play this Icly as you wish, heals min. 1 ooc week)
1 Reward is +10 Fighting skill points [Added! - nyx]
1 Reward is Redacted and to keep things mysterious for other players still deciding their paths, will be revealed closer to the adventure deadline.


Plague has 1 redacted rewards, Please stay tuned for your prize reveals!

Thank you for your participation!
- Lolaf