[HUB ISLAND | IT'S NOT HALLOW BUT I'M FEELING WEENIE]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members
Where: Coven base camp, around the island
When: Day It's Not Halloween, What Do You Mean
Open/Closed: Open to (h)All(oween)

Tonight is a night like any other. There's no calendar with no holiday...but some tiny events seem to line up with a coincidental, theoretical holiday. A ▢ The hub island is quite large, which means there's still a lot of unexplored territories. Were you there when the pumpkins were discovered? Why were they discovered? Who is roaming around in the forest in the middle of the night like some wild animal in order to stumble upon these pumpkins??? All good questions, all with no answers. The important thing is that in the central part of the island, a fast growing gourd plant has taken over a lot of the trees in the area. The long, thick vines have choked out a lot of trees, with bumpy green pumpkin-type plants growing along them and hanging fatly from the trunks. Inside are fragrant seeds and a milk-like substance that's sweet. They're all very thick and squatty, making them good for soup. For carving? Well, you can try! B ▢ As a pre-celebratory gesture, Brie has brought out a festive little chest. If you happen to complete your Bonus AC, you're welcome to your customized dagger right now, complete with your name inscribed on the hilt. Everyone can take stuff from the chest, though. Inside are hundreds of pieces of candy -- some are pretty well preserved, but others have that weird ass grey separated stuff that happens to chocolate after a while. What kind of candy? If you can dream it, it's probably in there. Just only take a couple pieces or Brie might stab you. C ▢ ...Actually, she doesn't really have time to stab you. Brie is quietly taking people aside and showing people this little map she's found. Well, it appears to be a map. The outline on the paper is roughly the same shape and size as the island, scaled down, and it's covered in tiny red dots, scattered throughout the landscape. She's got a hunch that these dots mean something -- buried treasure. She's only one person, and there are tens of dots on this map. Her price for letting you in on this little venture is half of whatever you find...or at least access to it. She's digging up holes on her own...here's a shovel, go dig for yourself! D ▢ What can you find located in the group? Honestly, the item variety is wide and expansive. Most of the items are small tins, containing a piece of paper with a small story (more on this later, huhuhu), clipped photograph and little item -- these are up to your discretion! However, despite the island being absent of magic, these tins all seem to have an enchantment or hex placed upon them. The effects are varied. Some tins fill up with a black, inky tar-like substance that won't stop pouring out. Some tins act like vacuums and attempt to suck your arm into a black hole they contain. Others will emit a disgusting smell, begin screaming...and these are just a few of the weird wonders they contain. The verdict? These appear to be time capsules that are unhappy they were lifted from the ground too early! (OOC: The tins are the size of those Danish butter cookie tins we all use as sewing kits; you know what I mean.) E ▢ Some lucky coven members actually get something better than a broken toy. Others contain tons of cold coins, beautiful antiques (like compacts, compasses and pocket telescopes. Stuff like that)!. Are you lucky enough to dig up actual treasure? (OOC: Want to test your luck? See if your character finds an actually worthwhile find when you reply to this thread.) F ▢ Those with the cursed items will eventually find that midnight strikes and the carriage has become a pumpkin...well, sort of. At midnight, all of the cursed artifacts (not those nice shiny ones) become potatoes. That's good news in its own right -- potatoes are a food! But it's sort of disappoint and very starchy.

Comments

[meritedly]

[ okay Mc Snide.

it's safe to conclude that anything involving a unit is some branch of military. of what country and mission? that he's not sure about. it didn't feel worth it to pry, at least not here and now, so he lets it go easily enough. just going to store away that information for later. ]

We have yet to hear from Qri regarding a lot of things.

[ yes this is still a point of contention for him. it's irksome and despite her so called authority? he doesn't buy it for a second. ]

The bones at least do have an intriguing backstory. [ pun not intended. ]

[reckoner]

[ At least his nickname bears some relation to identifiable attributes.

Had he pried, Gaelio would have directed him to ask the unit himself. Too bad direct interrogation of Qri remained unavailable, leaving the lot of them to periodic griping sessions. It isn't impossible that discussing the same information to exhaustion and beyond, with different minds, could produce an unexpected and fruitful angle, but...

it's unlikely. ]

Mm.

[ Yet, they haven't got much other choice.

And Qri's an easy target for general discontent. Gaelio muses on her puzzle, before raising his eyebrows at intriguing. ]

Do you mean the genocide?

[ because uh intriguing is one word for it. ]

[meritedly]

[ the genocide. that just happened. wow. ]

Yes... I was not around to witness the incident, but the story has not been kept under wraps.

[ he shrugs. not his concern. he's avoided the bones if only for obvious reasons, but the magic they supposedly possess has been spoken about quite frequently.

hm.]

Do you have any?

[reckoner]

Bones?

[ Gaelio considers gesturing to his frame or knocking on his skull, indicating the obvious skeleton.

But that's a bit too ridiculous. ]

No, that was before my arrival, too.

[ So technically not too soon.

The rumor that they enhanced magic did, does intrigue him. How would that affect illusions -- by enabling greater duration or less imaginative effort? By allowing them to have real impact, if temporarily? Not that it matters, as he hasn't got any.

How sordid to even consider. Any attempt to envision how Qri absorbed them, too, proves distasteful.

Anyway. ]

If you don't want the chocolate, will you dig?

[meritedly]

[ will he!! dig!! he asks!!

yamato quirks a brow and looks either amused or downright unamused.

he's the type of guy where a facial expression could mean a million different things. ]

What exactly are we digging for? Treasure?

[ he's heard the rumors anyway but he finds it hard to believe and a bit too childish and mundane. treasure? seriously? ]

[reckoner]

[ Having spent sixteen years studying an inscrutable face, it's a new challenge to be presented with an expression both so earnest and forthright, yet capable of a multitude of interpretations without seeming artificial.

Disinclined, too, to assume, not enough invested in fixation. But if pressed, based on experience to date, Gaelio would read the latter in that quirk. ]

So she claims. It could be dangerous, instead.

[ Observed, apathetic. Or it could be pointless, but what better use had they for their time? ]