RP:Creepy, Kooky, Clownish

Summary: A haunted house mysteriously appears in Xalious, and the curiosity of an elf draws in an avian, a vampire, and a blindfolded goat-boy to test their fate against the interior horrors. Nothing is as it seems within, and it's obvious that mischief and magic are afoot. Will Bastion, Brennia, Daermon, and Lanara escape the unimaginable, unscathed?

Part One:

Lanara makes her way through Xalious, stopping here and there to visit with old friends, and gather some herbs. However, as she nears the narrow ledge, she comes across a massive, spooky-looking house. “I don’t remember that being here…” She mutters, as she looks left and right, wondering if this was someone playing a trick on her or performing some sort of weird illusion-type magic. Monstrous homes aren’t built overnight, and though she had been away from the lands just shy of a year, there was no way that this place was built only to be abandoned. The roof is moss-covered and caved in, there are signs of rot and decay on the stones and steps, and the horrific smells and sounds that emanated from within were obvious signs that this house didn’t just merely appear. Whereas most sane beings would turn tail and flee, the elf finds herself intrigued, and so she steps over the threshold, and stands before the house that seems to be balancing at the cliff’s edge, enshrouded in heavy fog. Being an ex-witch, Lana is often drawn to places of darkness and pain, and so it’s no surprise when she lifts her hand to rap lightly at the door, only to find it open from within. Blackness is all that greets her, as the door creaks loudly and seems to stretch violently on its hinges. A ‘what the hell’ shrug is given in response as the woman steps over the threshold and into the haunted house, wondering what would await her curious nature.

Brennia had seen her dance instructor wonder into a spooky looking house, luckily the skies are darkening, and she lands on the ground from above just before the walkway to the house and not a moment later Daermon was emerging from the darker shadows within the area asking if everything was okay. Brennia motions for him to follow and he does while looking around for anything nefarious. Her feathers are puffed out a little as she’s getting quite the eerie vibe from this place, but she needs to make sure Lanara is being safe. After walking right in behind Lanara that sultry alto timbre calls out, “Lanara?” She swore she just saw her walk in here right? Or was it the house playing a trick on her? She was looking around and the smell of the house hits her causing her to grimace with an, “ugh!” She pulls the scarf that was hanging loosely around her neck to her nose and mouth area while Daermon makes a mention of smelling it too and trying to pull the collar of this black suit up against the assault on the senses. Deep blue eyes finally spot Lanara, how’d she get within the large old house so fast? Odd. “Hey, there you are. What are you doing in here?”

Bastion is wearing a blindfold. Bastion walks past everyone present, and into the house. Well, into the door. But the door is shut. Therefore, he walks into the door with a loud -thump-, and falls backwards, rather ungracefully.

Lanara walks through the foyer and down a long hallway, her eyes straining to sift through the darkness that seems to encompass the interior of the house. Stepping over shards of glass, scattered bottles, and the occasional pile of dung, she winces as the soles of her boots are covered in unimaginable gore. As she arrives at the end of the hall, a glowing door rests to her left, and a generic wooden door rests to her right. The elf tries to turn the handle of the plain door; first, however she finds that it’s locked. Not getting the least bit discouraged, she rests her hand on the knob of the eerily glowing door to her left, and it’s at that moment that she hears her name being called, and she turns around. The island alto voice could only belong to that of one beautiful woman with liberty eyes and black wings, and with a faint smile, Lana turns around to greet Headmistress Brennia. However, as she her heel turns back towards the door which she entered through, it slams shut behind Brennia and Daermon, and the hallway is suddenly illuminated with light. Sconces on the wall hold crimson candles, which have seemingly lit on their own, and the elf shields her eyes for a moment until they adjust to the sudden brightness. When she is able to safely look at Brennia, she smiles, despite all of the oddities that are occurring within this seemingly haunted house. “Hi, Brennia! I… I don’t know, actually. I just felt compelled to enter this house. I am thinking some type of magic is afoot, but I’m not sure…” Daermon is greeted with a smile and a wave, and as Lana aims to walk to them, she finds that she’s incapable of moving. “I…. Help! Something is holding me… My ankle!” Lana aims to lift her left foot, but she finds that whatever invisible force is holding onto her is much stronger than her slight frame. As the elf wrestles with the unknown, a large bang is heard at the door, and she whips her head to look at Brennia and Daer, not knowing that it was a blind-folded Bastion that has walked into the closed door. “What was that?!”

Brennia smiles in return and embraces Lanara, wings accompanying and Lanara would feel that whatever Brennia’s suit was made out of was tough, like a ‘Hollow’ version of Kevlar woven into fabric. A slight jump as the door had slammed shut, “well you aren’t hanging out here alone!” A slightly nervous chuckle and Daermon nods with a smile in return to Lanara. Just as he was going to ask how she is he was watching her struggle and helping Brennia try to pull her free, but got distracted by the loud bang at the door and instructs the women to stay where they are while he investigates. Brennia becomes frustrated while trying to help Lanara escape and shouts at nothing in particular, “let go!” While doing so she accidentally laced the words with bardic magic and the force did let Lanara’s ankle go. Daermon pulls the front door open to find Bastion on his arse, if the blindfolded fellow would lift his obstruction he would find a six foot five man in an all black suit offering a hand down to help him up asking, “you alright? What are you doing here?” Brennia tries to usher Lanara back to where Daermon is, but this hallway seems different and she mentions, “I swear we just came this way…”

Bastion blinks at Daermon. "You? Why are you here? And... Why am I here?" Bastion cast a critical, mistrusting eye at Daermon. The vampire had made an impression before, and seemed a likely candidate for some of Bastion's troubles of late. Not that anybody could see his critical, judging eye past his blindfold... nor could he see Daermon. But he recognized his voice, he did! And he had other senses that were quite sharp, and intuitive. "There is an ominous supernatural presence about this strange abode. I intend to... ah, investigate it. Exorcism is one of my many duties, when spirits and demons interfere with the lives of the locals. There have been, younglings who were playing about this place, and they are now missing. I intend to find them." Perhaps they were just playing pranks, and he hoped it was so. But he felt something massive and ominous, and doubted that was the case. He also doubted he could truly exorcise whatever spirit may possess or inhabit such a place... it seemed quite beyond his talents. He'd need the aid of a true priest.

Lanara is quite literally yanked from her spot on the floor and finds herself shot backwards, though she thankfully doesn’t fly just too far, as her winged savior helps her to remain upright. The is some intense bardic magic! Lana stares wide-eyed at the door, her arm looping through Brennia’s as the two women aim to join Daermon and the blind-folded horned boy, when they end up in a hallway unlike the one they were previously in. This hallway seems a tad dimmer, and fog floats from beneath a single door at the end of the hall. Feeling compelled to venture further, although her skin is prickled with goose-flesh and fear racks her bones, she gently tugs Brennia in the direction of the door. As they near the door, Lana aims to touch the knob, and finds that it’s pulsing, like a heartbeat. “It’s… Alive!” The vampire and goat-boy are long forgotten as they are no longer in sight, and the previous hallway is but a distant memory. What had they all gotten themselves into?!

Brennia doesn’t like this at all and walks side by side with Lanara, one of those velvety onyx wings curves around her friend as if protecting her. She looked distracted for a second, as if thinking very hard, but presses on. When she sees fog rolling through the hallway from under doors she feels the feathers on her wings puff out some more, “this is not the hallway we were just in.” She keeps her timbre calm and soothing despite the situation they have found themselves in. She hasn’t been separated from Daermon since he started protecting her and being away from him felt alien and she didn’t like it. “It is?!” She wants to pull Lanara back from the door, but her tattooed hand feels the door, “it is…. It’s breathing?” They open to door into a darkened room and once the lights alight Lanara will tell us what horrors lies within. Meanwhile out in the entrance of the haunted house Dearmon answers Bastion, “trying to help a couple of friends out of here.” He takes a step back and glances down the hall to which he just left them, but they aren’t there and then panic is being sent through his and Brennia’s bond. She’s scared and only he knows it, but he cannot see them and this causes a frustrated short growl to come from the vampire, “if you’re coming inside, stay close. There is something not right about this place.” He calls down to Bastion before taking off down a hallway.

Bastion would've stayed close, if only there wasn't another external force bent on misguiding him. Having run afoul of envious and possessive dark fae forces recently, Bastion found himself the target of more than simply mischievous jokes at his expense. He walked side by side with Daermon, but before he knew it, Daermon was simply no longer there. When had they separated? How? The truth was, he'd split off from Daermon almost immediately after entering the house, though he didn't know that. The Daermon he thought he'd been walking next to simply wasn't there. And now that he was in, and alone, there was another force that had taken interest in the uncannily pure hearted boy. He clenched his fists, realizing something was duping him, even if he didn't understand what, and pulled up his blindfold... just a peek. What he saw, he didn't completely comprehend. He didn't know what happened, but when he came to, his blindfold was back on, his nails were chipped and bleeding, and he had screamed so much his throat had gone hoarse. He felt blood dripping from his ears, and his mind felt fuzzy. Where was he? He didn't know. He couldn't take off the blindfold, he couldn't. He'd see it again. See... what? What was it? His eyes pierced all veils, magical and mundane. But even trying to remember hurt his head and he gasped in shock at the pain, feeling the drip from his ears increase.

Lanara inches nearer to Brennia, and gently trails her fingertips the length of a velvety black wing, as though she were both giving and receiving comfort from her friend. “I don’t like this at all, either. Where are we!? I don’t even remember this house being out here, let alone this hallway!” Swallowing hard, the women look at each other and with joined strength, they step over the threshold and into the awaiting room of horrors. As soon as they enter the room, the door slams behind them, as expected. Someone begins to rapidly bang on the other side of the door, and try their damnedest to turn the knob, but another invisible force is keeping it locked. Thinking its Daer trying to rescue them, Lana steps aside to let Brennia use her magic to aide in unlocking the door, as she had done before. Only now does Lana move to the middle of the room to examine the new location and as her eyes settle on something in the far corner of the room, she hears the shrill echo of Bastion’s screams from a few rooms over. Fear inches its way up her spine, and the elf begins to itch, as though something were crawling all over her skin. The scratching becomes so intense that Lana’s silken skin begins to bleed as her nails tears through her flesh, making scratch marks up and down her tanned arms. The object, which she discovers is a handheld mirror, begins to levitate off of the floor and whooshes its way through the room, only to rest before the elf’s fair face. “LOOK INTO THE MIRROR. YOUR FATE WILL BE DECIDED. TRICK OR TREAT? WE WILL SEE IT IN THE EYES!!!” The voice is inhuman, gargled, and scratchy, and though Lana stops itching, she closes her eyes and vehemently shakes her head. “I will not look into the mirror!” However, as she declines, she finds her own eyelids before forced open. As her big brown eyes are forced to gaze into the mirror, she sees nothing more than her own reflection, and then everything goes black and she finds herself standing outside, on the porch of the haunted house. “What the hell?!” Lana turns to try and re-enter, but finds that she’s unable to open the door. Praying that Brennia, Daermon, and Bastion will be alright, she retreats from the house, and slips her hands into her pockets, only to find a small pouch filled with candy corn, hidden within. Clearly, she was given a treat.

Brennia rushed to the door trying to pry it open and went to shout at it like she did before, but got distracted by Lanara and blue eyes go wide. “What are you doing?!” She rushed over and tries to pull the dancer’s arms down so she didn’t dig at her skin anymore, but had to duck out of the way from the flying hand mirror, “merde!” She exclaims and heard the voice as well, “don’t do it, Lanara! Be strong!” She tries to grab the handle of the mirror, but gets thrown back and against the door to which it finally opened and slammed shut, “No!” Brennia rushes to the door and tries to yank it open again only to hear on the other side what just happened replay over and over again. Brennia keeps trying to force the door open until her well manicured nails are chipping against the door, “Lanara!” Dearmon was going door to door bursting open doors with one single kick, his time fighting mind flayers has made his own concentration too difficult to pierce from the magic of this house, but he quickly comes upon Bastion. Gloved hand pulls him by the arm, “were getting out of here.” When he exits the room he finds Brennia trying to scrape at a door and silence grows between them. She looks at him with teared up blue eyes and they just look at each other for a long moment without a word. Dearmon walks over to the door she was trying to open and turns the knob with ease to show her nothing was within… At least not anymore. Dearmon holds tight to Brennia’s hand and Bastion’s arm in the other when the front door appears before them. Brennia rushes out as she spots Lanara and nearly plows her over in one of the tightest, warmest hugs, “Lanara! Are you okay?” She holds her back by the shoulders and studies her.

Bastion heard him, but hadn't sensed his presence before he approached. What was that? It wasn't Daermon, no. The stranger that Daermon thought was Bastion would stand in the room with him and Brennia when he brought him to her, and give them a terrifying smile, before pointing at Brennia. Meanwhile, Bastion smelled rot, and decay, and heard a voice that at once far too jovial and gravelly, as though the throat that issued it had suffered from long disuse. "Hu hu huh, what've got here, boys? Looks like a farmer couldn't keep his hands off the family goat! Well, don't feel too bad there son, we know ya gotta get her through the fence somehow!" His jovial commentary was followed by a strange honking sound. "Tell ya what, kiddo. You're here, I'm here, we're practically family." The stranger had his arm thrown over Bastion's shoulder, and he cringed away from him. "Ah, don't be like that. Here's the deal, kiddo. You've never heard my name, but I would sure be darn obliged if you'd say it for me. Not once, not twice... but three times." Bastion could almost feel the man smiling at him, as the horrors of the house came alive all around him, unseen behind his blindfold.

Lanara is so ecstatic to see that Brennia is safe and sound that she clings to the avian’s form and peers into those blue eyes for a long moment. “I’m okay. Are you alright?! That was some scary shi-…..” The elf’s words are cut off as she peers behind Brennia and looks for Daermon and Bastion. “Where are the guys? I… I thought I saw you coming out with them… But…” Lana breaks from the embrace and wildly scours the land with her dark eyes, only to rush towards a broken window of the haunted house, where she stands on her tip-toes and peers in. As Brennia stands beside her, the two women spy Bastion standing with some man that looks as though he stepped from a freakshow. The voice. The look. The clown costume. The horror! Lana gnaws on her lower lip and peers at Daermon as he locks eyes with her from indoors, as he was still aiming to rescue the goat-fellow. “Do. Something.” Lana mouths, though any further words fail her as the creepy jester turns to peer at the two women standing outside the window. As he points at Brennia, the elf stands before her friend, as though to protect the Headmistress. Fists are raised, a ‘come and get me’ look is in place on her pretty face, and a soft growl escapes the petite brunette. However, the jester giggles and gurgles and returns his attention to Bastion. The maniacal jester opens his mouth and a hundred flies escape and aim for the horned boy, before they swirl and fly over to Daermon, momentarily blinding him. As the vampire aims to ward off the buzzing flies, and as Lana and Brennia frantically pound against the window, the clown vanishes, and with him…. Bastion.