Haunted House GP

[londoncallingmods]

 The house doesn't exist, that's the first thing anyone who might find themselves inside it would want to know. Now, you might ask how one could find themselves inside something that doesn't exist, but you'd honestly be better off asking yourself how you could leave something that doesn't exist. After all, ideas and concepts can't be burnt or broken, and you can't breakdown a door that's not there- Or was there and then decided to be somewhere else for a while...

 

You wake in a house though, a house that doesn't exist. A house that defies the laws of reality. There are corridors that go on for days, rooms full of nightmares, and millions of doors that lead you anywhere but out. Trapped inside with you are dozens of other people, all searching for an exit, or an explanation.

 

Behind every door you'll find your darkest fears, maybe even memories you've tried to forget, or secrets you never wanted to share... 

 

(OTA! Here is your first of two Halloween gps! This one is, of course, set in the haunted house where your pup can run into anything you can dream up! Deadly traps! Spooky monsters! An existential crises! Top level your pups waking up or running into danger, and then go ahead and tag other players! Since this is all magic-y and spooky don't worry too much about time lines and who bumped into who first. Only rule is that your pup can't escape until November 1st! Have fun! Also, because there are two GPs going up this week, both are open to new top levels for two whole weeks! And, of course, you can keep tagging long after that if you want. :D I'll post reminders daily on slack.)

Comments

[miss_ives]

"And yet, you're no daywalker," Vanessa replied evenly. What she was doing did not come from a spell, or not any of the sort of spells Vanessa had ever witnessed.

[offthebeatenpath]

"Daywalker?" Em might could guess, based on books she'd read, but asking was easier with less risk of misunderstandings.

[miss_ives]

"A witch," Vanessa replied, the word crisp in the halflit corridor.

[offthebeatenpath]

See? This was why it was better to ask, because 'witch' wouldn't have been her first assumption. "No," she agreed, "I'm not a witch."

[miss_ives]

"But you've got magic," Vanessa prodded, as they followed the small sun down the hallway.

[offthebeatenpath]

"That was the family story when I was a kid." Mémé had often told her the story of the family magic and how it had been handed down through the generations. "And I do believe in magic. But what I have..." She paused, assuring herself she remembered the quote correctly. "'Fear not, my Holly, I shall use no magic. Have I not told thee that there is no such thing as magic, though there is such a thing as understanding and applying the forces which are in Nature?'"

[miss_ives]

"Most sorts of witches could say those words," Vanessa replied, glancing at the young woman. "What do you call yourself, then?"

[offthebeatenpath]

With as long as she'd been in London and having to hide, Em hesitated before answering. But she did answer, because she hated having to hide when she was proud of what she was. "I'm a mutant," she said, the words simple, tone even. "With precognition and psionic projections," she added, as she might have with another mutant, although she didn't get the impression Ms. Ives was one.

[miss_ives]

"A mutant," Vanessa echoed, frowning at the word. Precognition and psionic projections, she understood. But what Ms. Colbert might mean by mutant, she had no idea.

[offthebeatenpath]

"That's not exactly public knowledge." Mostly she meant that mutants existed in this world, but also that Em was one of them.

[miss_ives]

"What are mutants?" Vanessa asked, still unsure what to make of the word.

[offthebeatenpath]

Em took a moment to consider how to explain, since the science was kind of beyond her, at least when you got to the specifics. "People with a particular genetic anomaly which gives them abilities outside baseline human range. Just one example from the 'more things in heaven and earth' list.

[miss_ives]

"But witches aren't mutants?" Vanessa pressed simply. "Or is it simply that mutants aren't witches?"

[offthebeatenpath]

"I've known one mutant who was a witch," Em answered, the corner of her mouth twitching up at the thought of Illyana's reaction to this conversation, or to being called a witch instead of sorceress. "Or one witch who was a mutant, maybe. But I believe they're rarely overlapping groups, rather than distinct labels for the same thing. I'm not exactly an expert, though."

[miss_ives]

"Most witches don't have that - genetic anomaly?" Vanessa guessed. It was the only thing in he description of mutants that might not fit.

[offthebeatenpath]

"Not that I know of. But I don't know much about witches, so maybe I'm wrong." She didn't have any problem admitting that much. "I do know mutants aren't the only different people in the world. Ghosts, demons, I've even run into a werewolf and a vampire. Uh, not at the same time. Just, not as many as the other things. And who knows what else is out there."

[miss_ives]

"Who knows," Vanessa echoed, her look troubled.

[offthebeatenpath]

"I've said something to bother you." Not that Em knew what. Under the circumstances, she hadn't censored herself the way she might have otherwise, especially since Ms. Ives seemed to know about some of the stranger aspects of the world already.

"Is it my being a mutant?"

[miss_ives]

"It's nothing to do with you," Vanessa assured her, glancing over at Ms. Colbert. "And this is not getting us anywhere."

[offthebeatenpath]

It was opening up a lot more questions, which was somewhere, but didn't do much for getting them out of this place. And this wasn't really the time for making those distinctions. Em straightened. "No, it's not. Shall we continue?"

[miss_ives]

"Let's try another room," Vanessa stated, and stepped towards the door on her left to open it.

[offthebeatenpath]

Just in case, Em pulled a card from the deck, but she didn't recognize what the Fool showed her. At least it wasn't a blatantly obvious threat, though, so she nodded. "Okay," she said, moving to the opposite side of the door so they didn't make a single target.

[miss_ives]

The room Vanessa opened the door on was unpredictably round, with stone walls, and a huge frame hidden under a drape. Vanessa walked into it curiously, drawn to the frame standing in the centre.

[offthebeatenpath]

Curiosity pulled Em into the room after her, but hesitantly. Don't ask questions if you aren't willing to get an answer, and who knew what they might find under that cloth. With nothing else in the room, it would be something significant, but that could mean too many different things. Em decided to follow Ms. Ives' lead.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa didn't even think to ask her companion whether she knew where they were. Her whole attention was on the frame, and she reached out for the drape and pulled it off, gasping and taking a step back as the portrait of an ugly, shriveled old man in chains and tattered clothes was revealed.