MIDNIGHT HOWL

[thewatchers]

Midnight Howl
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This sleepy town in Romania has had little in the way of disturbances for the last few decades, putting aside the general region’s troubled and entirely non-magical history. But with supernatural phenomena on the rise, a supposed shifter in the area, and a graveyard that refuses to stay silent as graveyards should, the Academy has asked for willing students and staff to go and perform what should be a fairly routine investigation.

The town itself is much like any other quiet, European town. People go about their business as normal, at least in the day. But at night, they bar their doors and light lamps, and leave these new investigators to their work.

A.
In the woods, there are obvious signs of some kind of predator; torn up ground, clawmarks in trees, and even the occasional set of pawprints. While the signs are obvious, following them is no mean feat; the forest ranges from simply obtrusive to almost hostile in its obstacles, providing briar patches, long grass that hides holes, pits and boggy ground, and trees with branches at a height to conveniently bang your head against while you’re searching for any further signs of disturbance. There’s even a river in the middle of the trail, just deep enough that it’s uncomfortable to wade through.

Should you manage to get through all these inconveniences and not just get fed up and turn back, however, you’ll find a shivering werewolf stuck halfway between being human and beast. Far from being hostile, they just seem incredibly confused, and after being reassured that they won’t be driven out, will be grateful to be led back to the village and back home. Keen-eyed characters will note that there seems to be some kind of marking on the person’s back that shines out, even through the fur.

B.
The local graveyard has been suffering from an influx of disturbed and toppled graves, at first it seems to be caused by vandalism or simply the sheer age of the stones but the sheer numbers - and strange noises at night quickly made the town more wary. Instead of the expected screams and wails, there was laughter and singing.

Jovial spirits and corpses in various states of decomposition can be found holding a tea party, accompanied by various stuffed animals, for a small boy of five, who is apparently extremely content with his new playmates being dead. Though these undead aren’t hostile, they will defend themselves - and prioritise defending the child - if attacked. They also cannot speak, and anyone who can see magic will be able to see that their animated state is tied to the boy who apparently raised them - and that all of them are marked by a strange, circular sigil.

The boy himself is friendly despite his choice of company and will only be upset - and refuse to speak - if his new playmates are harmed. If approached with care, he will reveal that though he could always see ghosts, he was able to revive his new friends after a strange dream where he woke up with some kind of marking on his palm.

C.
Though the ruins of failed infrastructure certainly aren’t uncommon throughout Europe, asking around will reveal that once upon a time, there used to be a minor railway that served workers and travelers passing through that was eventually closed due to lack of use. The remains of the station still exist, however, and lately there have been sights and sounds indicating that it’s in use - despite the train service being discontinued a decade ago.
[ This prompt involves a NPC. You can engage with this NPC in the toplevel below. ]

D.
Wildcard option, in case there's anything else you'd like to do.

code bases by tricklet

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NPC TOPLEVEL

[thewatchers]

[ A figure dressed in white stands on the ruined train platform, jauntily ushering stray spirits onto a train that seems to shimmer in and out of existence of its own accord.

The Phantom Express is stopping to collect passengers, it seems. ]

Ho, there! Are you looking to board?

[ They sound entirely too cheerful about this possibility, but maybe that's just the customer service voice kicking in. Who knows. ]

[imitationsoul]

[ Miach looks sincerely contemplative, just standing at the platform examining the train curiously and rocking back and forth on her heels. ]

Depends on where you're going, wouldn't you say?

[ Not that it isn't possible to make an educated guess. ]

[thewatchers]

Oh, we go all sorts of places, miss.

[ Their head bobs up and down slightly. The mouth doesn't move, the smile doesn't falter. ]

No schedule, but our passengers have all been ve-ry accommodating so far.

[imitationsoul]

[ She wants to flick that little head just to see if it'd bounce back and forth a little, but even Miach has the self-preservation instinct to do literally anything else but that. ]

Well, I don't mind not fitting yourself onto the socially accepted timetables. We could all stand to have a little more freedom.

But I'm here on a mission, so I sadly can't afford to get on a train where I don't even know the next stop.... Boring, isn't it?

[thewatchers]

[ They shrug. ] Who can say, who can say? Not me. [ They shift their weight from foot to foot. ]

We all have different tracks in life that carry us to our own destinations. Sometimes those tracks merely run alongside each other for a while.

[trademark_skull]

[Casually walks up closer. Not to get on, not yet? He was just looking around and who else the train might be waiting for.]

...Don't these sorts of things have a fee? [Sorry, no ticket here.]

[thewatchers]

Oh, yes. Everything has its price. [ They don't elaborate on this, but there's the faint jingle of coins as they pace on the rotting platform. ]

Do you have business here, young man?

[trademark_skull]

[For some reason, Emizel was not expecting physical coins of all things. Or at least that had to be. He tilt his head a bit as though trying to spot a pouch, or, something?]

I was wondering about your passengers.

[His gaze went back up to the train itself. This may be school business, but he may also be here for reaper business too.]

[thewatchers]

[ The coat appears to have pockets, so there's at least a reasonable explanation for it. Probably. ]

Looking to get a head start on collecting souls? My, my, they do start them young.

[untilitisdone]

-Pre-prompt A-

It had been made VERY clear to the Slayer. He was being sent on this investigation as insurance. He was not expected to help or to do much of anything but stand in the background and try not to look too menacing. If things got violent, well...

You don't bring along someone called "The Slayer" for their skills in peacefully ending tense situations.

The motel they stayed at before beginning their investigation was not luxurious, but he had been through worse. While everyone else discussed things like types of werewolves and fairy magic, the Slayer sat down and popped open the secret bottom to his suitcase that hid the guns. He stayed out of the conversation as he methodically checked over his weapons and loaded them all. Armor would apparently stand out too much among civilians, so he'd been forced to leave the praetor suit behind, but he had is shotgun, and his sword, both of which were easily concealable under the large jacket he had acquired.

He hoped this wouldn't get violent, even if he had trouble expressing it, but he would never be found unready.

-A-

Into the woods he went, alert for trouble. Forest wasn't terrain he knew much about, but he was able to bypass most of the obstacles by simple virtue of being huge and implacable. Branches got shoved aside or broken, briar patches got trampled underfoot or ripped up, and if the stream annoyed him, you couldn't tell by looking. He left a trail relatively clear of obstacles behind him, for anyone who doesn't feel like trailbreaking.

When they found the werewolf, the shotgun was out as fast as you could blink, trained on the beast's center of mass. He didn't fire, though. It didn't look hostile. In fact it looked almost scared. He didn't put the gun away, instead just standing their uncertainly, keeping an eye on the thing but unwilling to commit to anything helpful or violent. This was outside of his area of expertise.

Help?

pre-A

[stavros]

"...Mr. Slayer, correct?"

It was silly, of course, but probably less silly than going with 'Mr. of Doom.' Kokoro nodded her head in greeting.

"You're a Hunter, right? Like myself. Do you have much experience with this sort of thing?"

[untilitisdone]

"Much experience" she said. This was...broadly correct.

He nodded.

[stavros]

"I see." She set her own bag down and started sorting through bottles of holy water. "One must hope this won't go south. Most missions are calm, but... I must admit the last time I was in Romania still remains in mind."

[untilitisdone]

He stopped polishing the inside of the barrel of his shotgun and tilted his head slightly, with a quizzical look, wondering what happened last time she was in Romania.

A

[norangeskill]

Uh oh.

"Wait," the cat is probably well aware by now that speaking up won't change a thing, but she had to try anyway. Before he actually does pull the trigger.

"They haven't even done anything!"

[untilitisdone]

The Slayer kept the gun trained on the werewolf, but he did not fire. As the cat had said, it hadn't done anything yet. It also didn't feel like a daemon.

He turned to the cat. If they weren't killing here, then what was the game plan?

[norangeskill]

They were...supposed to do things besides killing?

Thankfully he still hadn't shot the werewolf yet. However nothing else had changed and now Kali felt even more on the spot. The silence is not helping.

"W-we should uh, listen to what they have to say first."

Dip..lomacy?

B

[unpocoloco]

"I don't see anything wrong here."

It takes him a while to muster the nerve and say so, arms hugging his chest, but he speaks it with a sort of shrug. He glances over the tea party, to the side and addressing those on the mission with him.

"I mean, magic things like this happen all the time. A kid's just having a good time with some people who could probably also use the company. A lot of the dead are lonely, you know? People don't often come to talk or visit."

[imitationsoul]

"I don't know, if I was dead, I'd be pretty pissed to be interrupted in that. It takes all the romanticism out of it." Miach shrugs lightly, barely paying attention to the rest of the team as she glances over at the little party.

In truth, she doesn't feel any inclination to break the group up either. Most missions don't really have an appeal to her, but this one does feel a little more ridiculous.

"Still... Nothing here is coming to harm but people's perception of what a prim and proper death should look like. Hardly our division."

[unpocoloco]

Romanticism. He opens his mouth to say something but falters on how exactly to put it. Not "Romantic" that's for sure. Death was incredibly unglamorous past the surface.

But with the latter point he decides to let it go, sighing. He rubs at his neck.

"We probably have to figure something out for keeping the village from knowing. The veil and all." He sounds very unhappy with that.

[imitationsoul]

"Oh yes, the precious precious veil..."

Miach likewise does not sound amused. The veil is such a nuisance and its benefits are, in her eyes, mostly the comfort of the populace. Spoiled as they all are.

"I'm not wild about helping with that. Though if we do not, this human boy may suffer the price of the village's superstitions."

A

[emergensirations]

A river that requires wading through for everyone else is much, much too high for them in this form. They wander up one side of the bank, then the other, looking for some manner of way they can get across. They're not having much luck.

Which is why, with reluctance, they turn back to the rest of the group.

"Hey! Hey! I need help!"

They hold up their little arms. Come on. Pick them up.

[descolation]

Hello, fellow small person. Desco floats over to Sira, tilting her head curiously at them. She does recognize them as one of Avery's minions and she's pretty sure she knows which one, too.

"Do you want to cross the river? Desco can help!"

And she proceeds to pick up Sira easily, despite the fact that they're probably the same size. Then she simply levitates herself into the air just enough to cross the river.

[emergensirations]

They're reaching up for anyone at all but not having much luck. Almost everyone is either ignoring them or moving along without them. At least, until the other daemon appears.

They don't have time to tense. They're scooped up, easily so. It's not too surprising, considering they're made of fluff and cotton, but they still make a faint noise of surprise before clinging on. They don't know if they can drown in this fake body but they know that being swept up by a river would suck. A lot.

"Whoa... cool power," They mutter, as they peer down at the river they float over. "Where'd you get this?"

[descolation]

Luckily for Sira, Desco's grip on them is pretty firm. Not enough to cause them any kind of pain, but enough to make sure they don't have to worry about being swept away by the river below any time soon. Her current speed isn't exactly anything to write home about, but at least the two of them are making a clear amount of progress. And hey, the view is nice.

If you like water, that is.

"Desco was born with this power! She's been practicing it for a while now!"