Chapter 11
General Summary
Part 1: Hasten Neuroses
Chapter Eleven: The Wet Rosebush
Chapter 10 Recap:
Last time, we left Denali's house with Elliott in tow, where we discovered that he does indeed wash his own dishes, and is fairly hot while doing it.
In Thieves Can!, Imari made the cutest impulse buy possible, and bought an exotic pet of indeterminate species that is now her familiar. She named it Mortis, calling it Morty for short.
One train ride later, the group was lead by Elliott, who had the coordinates to the place Denali said they would find Jiro's Grave, where they could retrieve some God-Bones.
At the coordinates, they found a few swords, which animated when picked up, and attacked them. Upon the defeat of the swords, a courtyard and the entrance to a building appeared—but Elliott, for some reason, was the only one who couldn't see it. He was unable to enter, even when led to the entrance.
Inside, the group had to enter their first names into a keypad in the style of someone born in the 20th century. Past the entrance was an archway reading 'Nycterai Urb Hiil,' which translates to 'Dark Gods Stick Together,' beyond which was a hallway of chains that had it out for Rika personally. Further was a room with a similar arch reading 'play dead,' whose door could be unlocked by playing four notes on an instrument—but empty as this room was, it was quite educational! Morty learned how to play dead and the crew learned a lot about numerology thanks to the numbers involved in Leet Speak.
In the next room, the party found walls decorated with faux foliage, and a light fixture attached to the very high ceiling, which was far enough away that it could only provide very dim light to the room. Several hundred moths circled the light. On the walls were two West Virginian maps, and a perfect replica of the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant—ass and all—not that our half dozen heroes would know that. When Rika found the exit door behind plastic branches of plastic leaves and tried to open it, dozens of metal moth eggs clattered from the faux foliage to the floor, creating beautifully difficult terrain, and the Mothman was animated by hundreds of tiny moth constructs diving from the ceiling and plugging into as many pinpricks in the statue.
Roll for initiative!
Reqi, 25 Pereundei, 253 E.W
9:18 am
The construct of the mothman fought visciously against these Level 1 intruders. It was little match for our crew, however, that used their minds as much as their bodies in defeating it. They tried attacking it with water, which was somewhat successful. They were also able to disarm the Mothman—you know, remove his arms?
Their greatest success was in luring the active moths away from attacking with Rika and Thad's alternating light spells that drew them toward the ceiling. They inspected the room further.
Rhizel noticed quickly based on a signature on the back of the Mothman that the craftsman of this particular construct was none other than Mills, one of the two individuals that paid for his education as a thanks for his services.
When the group of them lifted the Mothman statue back on the pedestal where they found it, the Moths got to work fixing the statue. They repaired it completely, even getting the water-damaged moths back into working order. Once all was back in order, there was a click, and the door to leave was opened.
Next was a room that was empty except for the bust of a Wild Boar, with no door in sight. As they approached it, it began to speak.
Nine eyes in your group of six,
Yet one with none is in your mix.
Let that one now explain
How theirs have been sought in vain.
Yet one with none is in your mix.
Let that one now explain
How theirs have been sought in vain.
After almost no time at all, Spickle pointed out that it wasn't an "eye," the body part, but an "i," the letter, and Thad was the only one without any in his name. Thad approached the boar bust, and delivered the response. The statue and its pedestal slid as one to the left, and revealed a staircase leading below.
Below, they found a room that was empty except for two large square tiles on either side. They found that one lit up Teal, and the other lit up Lilac, if stepped on. Through trial and error, they found that the left plate—Teal—would only light for Rika, and further would sink in place. The right plate—Lilac—lit up for anyone except Rika, but did not sink into place until all five of the others stood on top of it. Once both plates sank into the floor, a section of wall slid beneath the floor, and they were able to cross the threshold leading to another stairwell.
They passed another archway here, which read, Y0U 4R3 63771N6 3V3R C1053R 70 H4573N N3UR0535.
The stairs down were steep and narrow, allowing little more than single file. At the bottom of the stairs, they found a small ledge, hardly 3x3ft in size, with a wooden door and a simple knob. It wasn't even locked.
The door opened into perfect, opaque, inky blackness. There was entirely nothing to see on the other side. One by one, they hazarded to go in.
Jock's Trash Channel
Thad found himself in a small room with a desk and a chair. There was a crystal ball sitting at the desk, as well as a notebook and pen. On the wall opposite to where he came in was a steel door with another pinpad and the prompt PASSWORD with six blanks beneath. The first page of the notebook read, "The password required is the same used on the other side of the door. Set your sights upon it."
Thad gazed into the crystal ball and found it easy to see the other side of the door. There was a page taped to the back of the steel door that read,
Tgg ky Scucjtqknx itace hpacjo vcqb Ytqp: qbp Psap ky Punpj—qbp Psap ky Pupnxqbcja.
Ytqp co tj khopnutqknx ky Qcip, ky Lnklbpex, ky Bcoqknx, ky qbp Pjcaitqce Yrqrnpo Rjtukcsthgp. Cq qkrebpo pupnx lgtjtn oxoqpi cj lnpecopgx kjp lgtep—vbpnpupn qbp ikoq cjoqthcgcqx co. Cq ropo qbp vptf lkcjq qk poqthgcob ekjjpeqckj, hrq cj npqrnj, oqthcgczpo qbp vptf lkcjq vcqb cqo lnpopjep.
Srncja qbp ycnoq jcjpqx-jcjp xptno qbtq ykggkvps qbp Lgtjtn Vtno, qbp atqpvtx qk Ytqp vto utrgqps. Cq vto ciltoothgp hx enptqrnpo cj tjx vtx. Jk ipootapo ekrgs apq cj kn krq. Kjgx qbp ekjjpeqckj qk qbp lgtjp cqopgy npitcjps, iptjcja qbtq qbp oqthcgcqx ky Ytqp vto oqcgg lnkucsps—jk lgtjp etj ornucup vcqbkrq cq.
jk lgtjp etj ornucup vcqbkrq cq.
Thad was able to decipher this, and the password he seeked was found in the first six letters of the encrypted alphabet: the keyword "thespy." He entered, 8 - 44 - 33 - 7777 - 7 - 999, and the door opened with a click.
Mingled Vesper
Rhizel found himself in a nursery full of children's toys, and six white spotted piglets playing throughout the room. As Rhizel entered, they excitedly crowded around him, greeting him by name, and began to beg him to "make the colors, make the colors, make the colors!" They demanded it again, and again, and again—and sooner than he would have hoped, Rhizel ran out of spell slots needed to cast the Color Spray they wanted to see.
The piglets would not be reasoned with. They asked again and again that he make the colors, and he eventually tried it again. To his shock, it worked—but he found himself to be very suddenly terrified of drowning in shallow puddles.
He cast it again, and again, and again, each time with a new odd side effect, but eventually, the exit door clicked open, and to his horror, the piglets cheerfully said, "see you next time!" He left—crawling over the furniture as he went, because he was wholly convinced that the floor was lava.
Data Imbroglios
Spickle found himself in a laboratory, but not just any laboratory—it was the one he shared with his professor when he was in college. He had inherited it and used it with Komi still, but the arrangement of furniture and the technology equipment suggested a time from Spickle's past: Spickle and their professor had the lab set up this way in the year 191—the year the War of the Gods began.
Something specific happened here, though, and Spickle's suspicions were confirmed when the date on a daily calendar in the corner matched his memory; this was the day they prepared a specific potion that the Kantuk bought almost immediately; the potion Spickle and his professor developed together. But it was Spickle's addition that changed the spell; instead of using the final ingredient his professor requested, Spickle substituted the best they could find—a spell with a similar name to the herb needed.
The spell had worked—perhaps, too well.
On full inspection of the lab, Spickle found one thing out of place—there was a door that didn't belong. It was Spickle's exit door; a drawbridge that opened over a chasm. It was upright, and on the wrong side of the chasm. There was a construct with its arm on a lever, and a warning light demanding maintenance.
Spickle found lodestones in with the lab supplies and used a Gaseous Form spell to cross the chasm to mend the construct. The drawbridge lowered over the chasm, and revealed another locked door. In place of a locking mechanism, however, was an empty vial fixed to the door with the word "Bless" inscribed.
Spickle repeated their actions from that fateful day. All of the components necessary to complete the base of the potion were present in the lab, and it only took ten minutes to prepare. When the spell was ready, they cast Bless into it, and then poured the potion into the vial on the door, which opened with a click.
Clever Gainsay
Komi entered a room that was completely bare, except for a wall of water. She approached it slowly, curious about its lack of respect for the laws of gravity, and then noticed her exit door was on the other side. She entered the water, tried the door, and found it locked. When she moved to exit the wall of water, she found that it was no longer just a wall—the entire room was full.
She tried the door she entered from and the door she left. She found a small drain in the floor, but it didn't seem to be in operation. Having no magic and seeing no other way out, she decided to follow a hunch she'd had since that day on the beach when she lost the coolest seashell she'd ever found.
She took a breath of water.
And it was fine.
The water drained away, and the door opened with a click.
Scalier Prow
Imari found herself in a room with blacklights, neon signs, bowling carpet, and a door locked with another keypad. When she interacted with it, it displayed the following verse:
Verily shall I never forsake thee, nor shall I disappoint thee
I shall not roam hither and thither and leave thee stranded
I shall not bring tears to thine eyes, nor bid thee farewell
Nor shall I utter falsehoods to cause thee pain
I shall not roam hither and thither and leave thee stranded
I shall not bring tears to thine eyes, nor bid thee farewell
Nor shall I utter falsehoods to cause thee pain
Beneath this was the question, "Who penned these timeless words?"
The truth was that this song was ancient. It had been around for hundreds of thousands of years; babes for generations had been sung to sleep to its gentle, unforgettable melody.
Absolutely no one knew who wrote it. It was nearly as old as time itself.
But the Fates knew. And so did Imari.
In the six empty blanks, Imari typed, "2 - 7777 - 8 - 555 - 33 - 999," and the door opened with a click.
Smoky Wrings
Rika opened the front door to the apartment she lived in a couple years ago. She saw her boyfriend—her ex-boyfriend—sitting on the couch, watching television. She could feel the rage she felt that day. This was THAT day. The day she found out he was cheating on her. He didn't know she knew, but he was about to find out.
She dropped a tabloid magazine next to him, and asked if he had anything to tell her. He looked confused until he saw the cover. BRYANS CAUGHT CHEATING! RIKA DEVASTATED. The cover displayed a photo of him kissing Izaelia Evans.
Bryan laughed at the cover, and told her that was the worst photoshop job he had ever seen, and Rika said she wasn't joking around. When he realized she was being serious, he stopped laughing, and told her he couldn't believe she would think he was capable of something so disgusting as cheating.
In the fight that ensued, he called her names no one should be called, insulting her in every possible way, and told her that if she was cheated on by anyone, it would be her own fault; she was so full of herself, always played the victim, and was impossible to be with.
After reliving one of the worst nights of her life, Rika—Rika in the present—watched the entire scene rewind, like the kind thing to do before returning a tape. She entered her apartment through the front door again, and saw herself drop the tabloid magazine again, and him laugh at it again... but this time, she knew he was lying.
Every single thing he said was a lie. And she didn't just guess. She knew. She knew in a way she had never known anything before.
When it was over, the front door of Rika's apartment opened again with a click, and instead of it leading outside, it lead to perfect, inky, opaque blackness.
The group met again on the other side of the door in another small—but not quite as small—room behind a wooden door and a single doorknob. They shared with one another what they experienced alone. This was made slightly awkward by Rhizel still being completely convinced that the floor was lava; he spent this conversation terrified and held in Thad's arms, horrified and wholly confused as to why everyone was so calm while standing in lava.
There was one final door ahead of them. There were fourteen removable tiles above the door that read:
H A S T E N N E U R O S E S
The fifth, twelfth, and fourteenth tiles would not budge from their places. They began rearranging the tiles, finding that some put in new places no longer moved. Once all the tiles were in the correct position, it read something entirely different, one phrase being an anagram of the other.
T H E S E E R O N N A S U S
The final door opened with a click, and they saw before them a vast chamber with a single individual standing in the center, with a floating notebook and pen beside her. Her complexion was a light teal. None of them knew her by face, but they all knew one thing for sure: they were standing before a goddess.
"Hello," she said to them. "My name is Susan."
Hi! I'm Thad!
Go back to Chapter 10
Continue to Chapter 12
Silly Little Quotes
Oh, it can't beat off anymore
My name is Thad. T-H-A-D.
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Report Date
20 Nov 2024
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Previous Sessions
Chapter 1Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10