WEEK 4 CYOA - OTOME, DENJI, MALIK, LUCRETIA

[dormheads]

Comments

[disreguarded]

[goooooood morning students, it's a wonderful day outside! not that you'd know because you're suddenly inside, and it is vaguely dark. let's go with dim.

you seem to be in a study! this room is is a seventy-foot tall chamber full of books, desks, and cabinets. there are curtains around the room in a deep cobalt blue color, pinned up and dusty. the rugs along the floor match the drapes in color, and for the most part, the décor is pretty austere and unwelcoming. except for the wall! on the wall you can see directly upon appearing in this room, there are a few forty-foot tall, fifty foot wide stained glass windows that resemble some possibly familiar imagery. there are four desks in particular that seem to be covered in papers and jars and things, and there's a cabinet in the corner of the room.

when you appear, you feel... disoriented. disconnected. vaguely ill. and - anxious, sad. just for the first minute or so. weird!

what would you like to do first?]

[godcards]

[ So this is happening. Malik can't even appreciate the absurdity of it all, considering he apparently took a dirt nap last week. This is far more pleasant by comparison, and maybe he'll even remember it this time.

He takes a minute to get his bearings, to shake off those-- feelings? Whatever that was. Being more inclined towards books, he gravitates towards those to see what kind of subject material they contain. Maybe a hint as to what interests the owner of this study has? Or had? ]

[momming]

... I think it's our turn now, so let's be as careful as we can. No one's come back uninjured yet.

[ DENJI. But no, she's going to gaze thoughtfully at the stained glass before going to investigate the desks. Four of them, four cluttered desks. Hm. ]

[ambiography]

Otome's right. Try not to touch things too much, especially if they look potentially dangerous. I should have--

[--wait a second where is her staff. she's checking through her belongings briefly, also, then huffs out a frustrated little breath. ofc her healing item isn't on her.]

No, nevermind, I don't know what I expected.

[she'll help otome check the desks? there are four, so. splitting the effort a bit.]

[sawboned]

[Denji full on sits down on the floor after coming to, letting the waves of anxiety-nausea fully pass before taking into his surrounding and companions]

The hell is this...?

[he spots Otome and Lucretia checking the desks and hops up to wander over there—Malik who?—particularly interested in whatever weird jars or trinkets there are around the tables, given that papers and books mean nothing to him]

Well, least I woke up with all the smart people. What're we doin'?

[disreguarded]

[the books are a lot of different topics! it's a lot of magical theory - stuff about different planes of existence, a couple about something called dunamancy, and - a weird sketchbook type thing. does malik pick any of them up?

the desk closest to otome is covered in junk, but most notably she'll find what looks to be a long, spiraled white horn, a porcelain mask, and a coral ring.

the desk closest to lucretia has a jar with a little doll in it. she'd recognize the species, probably, since kenki exist in lucretia's world. there's also a note.

denji doesn't see much near the tables other than a bunch of crumpled notes, but there is a big fucking axe on one of the tables. it's bright pink and has little hamsters engraved into the handle.]

[disreguarded]

[A completely different place!

Well. First, you're in that space area again. You float in this weird, far too quiet place, and then, like reality is ripping, you wake up, one year older.

You are in the middle of the woods. And for a second you think maybe that you left your little field trip, that it’s all done, because that’s how people end up, right? They come out of the woods. But - it’s utterly silent here. The trees behind you are tightly knitted together, not allowing for you to leave. And maybe worst of all, you’re alone.

In front of you is a hut. There’s the remnants of a stone chimney, a cluster of barrels on one side of the house, some boxes on the other. No windows. And the strangest thing is that there are roots emerging from the ground around the hut. Like the hut itself is rooted to the ground.

The hut is welcoming. It beckons you inside.]

DENJI

[disreguarded]

[What do you do?]

[sawboned]

Hey! Miss Otome! Miss Lucretia! Other guy!

[Denji looks around, not getting a response]

Alright, alright, some new crap...

[he's gonna dig and scrounge through the cluster of barrels like the raccoon that he is

even so, he remains alert to sounds or motion, either from the house or treeline]

[disreguarded]

[there's the sound of something breathing in the hut. it's heavy, and raspy. but he can go through the barrels, sure! it's full of herbs and alchemical materials. there's also a dead rat in here for some reason.]

[sawboned]

[he sniffs a few things and examines some of the alchemical materials, but doesn't know what any of them are so tosses them back—and he doesn't eat rat anymore so, nothing here for him!

he shrugs and goes over to the door, booting it open with his axe over his shoulder]

Pardon the intrusion! You the Devil that controls this place?

[disreguarded]

[he kicks the door open! this is considered rude in many cultures.


The inside of the hut is warm, and muggy. It smells intensely of mildew and herbs, and it’s very small. There’s a table in the middle of the room with a single lantern that glows low, reflecting off various trinkets and collectables all over the hut’s interior. Organized, intently placed, but in a chaotic sort of way. Chains, ropes and twine hang from the ceiling, supporting cages of different sizes.

But most importantly, there is a - well. A woman, sort of. She stretches towards you, and you notice almost immediately that the arms are unnatural - like each arm has two elbows, bending and unbending, double jointed. The woman tilts her head. Doesn't smile, just watches him, almost hungrily.]

I am no devil. You'll want to put the axe away, Denji.

OTOME

[disreguarded]

[What do you do?]

[momming]

[ Yes, wonderful, she hates being alone.

But also the best way to remedy this is to keep moving, so she kind of limps to check out the boxes first. ]

[disreguarded]

[the boxes are old and moldy. filled with alchemical type ingredients, like jars of herbs and materials. mugworst, wormwood, blackroot. it smells fucking awful.]

[momming]

[ Eh. She's dealt with worse. And she hesitates for a minute, like she's thinking-- because honestly herbs make her think of Tsuyukusa and maybe he'd take an interest in things like this.

But also someone's house is right there, so she decides against it, gives the hut a wary glance and finally just walks towards it to see if there's anyone home. ]

MALIK

[disreguarded]

[What do you do?]

[godcards]

[ well. outside is terrifying, and there's no signs of life from his party members. so. time to go inside! actually, no, he knocks first because what if someone is living in this spooky hut in the woods and they murder him for barging in? at least this way he can run (or try) if someone is there. ]

[disreguarded]

[he knocks! which is very polite of him. there's a like... crackling, raspy laugh that comes from inside.]

Come in, child.

[godcards]

[ well that sure as hell doesn't sound like anyone he wants it to be. or denji.

he slowly opens the door. peeks inside first. ]

Hello...?

LUCRETIA

[disreguarded]

[What do you do?]

[ambiography]

[well!! cool!! this is terrible.

she takes a minute to gather herself, and then heads toward the hut; she's keeping an eye out for, you know, obvious traps, but if it seems fine... then she'll head in.]

[disreguarded]

[no traps! she makes her way across the sort of swampy ground, and the door is partly open - does she just walk in?]

[ambiography]

[she does! we're going in.]

END

[disreguarded]

[Better pull yourself out of that grave. You have work to do.

All four characters crawl out of their graves, and can exit the cyoa out into the looping woods of Wiwaldi.

When you do, all of your injuries open up again to your desired amount of awful, as well as two other things: first, all eyes you have are now engraved into your skin as wounds, like someone took a knife and etched them in. Yes, they are bleeding, and will probably randomly bleed should you desire that. Second, if you got a mental effect from the tentacle baby, you will feel that periodically for a few seconds at a time until the start of trial. Oh, and you’ll remember all thousand years of floating in space, if you did that.

Lucretia, for accepting your deal, every so often, you’ll suddenly forget who you are entirely for about ten minutes, until trial start! Hooray.

Denji, for accepting your deal, every so often, you'll lose your humanity for about ten minutes, until trial start! Yaaay.

Here are the eye locations, for your reference:

Malik: back of neck, back of hand, side, forehead.
Otome: right arm, hip, back
Denji: shoulder, side of his neck, on his chest somewhere, back of his right hand, left palm
Lucretia: palm of left hand, throat, clavicle, back of her calf

And you'll get a reward too which I will give y'all a link to in the discord later since I can't actually access it yet.]