Halloween 2020: Choose Your Spooky Outcome: Chapter 5
For those who’ve missed it: here’s a link to the Choose Your Spooky Outcome Discord
“I’d like the advice, please.” If there’s one thing becoming steadily apparent, it’s that the watcher knows more about all this than you do. Given that you’re still unsure what you’re even here searching for, the compass might not be useful, and who knows what that guillotine entails. This way, you’re pretty sure whatever info is dispensed, it will be useful in some capacity.
“A choice of wisdom, if not the bravest selection.” The watcher motions, and the attendants file away from the room. Around you, the crowd grows silent, not even a rustle of fabric as the watcher pauses. None will risk obscuring her words, if any are even capable of such a feat.
Slowly, the watcher leans forward, as if to take a better look at you. “As you have enticed three guests to share our celebration this night, I shall gift you with three pieces of guidance: the general, the specific, and the personal. First, the general. Tonight, you walk The Between on the night of All Hallows Eve. There are many aspects to this night, and the connection to death is merely one such facet. Every spirit of the season is here for tonight, yet only for the eve. Tarry not, for these are not places as you know them, more akin to symphonies. They exist as the music plays, and vanish when it ceases. Do not remain when the song of Halloween falls silent, traveler, else your traveling may be done.”
Not exactly earth-shattering, but that does help make some sense of the other piles, in a way. You absorb the information quickly, which is a good thing, because the watcher isn’t slowing down. “Next, the specific. To find something in this place, you will need more than a location. You will need the right name or phrase to draw it forth. The wrong words, and there is no telling what will come forth. I cannot tell you the words you seek, only that the answer lies in the first message you failed.”
Okay, that one is a lot more convoluted, a good bit to sort through there, though a little more context sure would have been nice.
“Lastly, the personal. The trust placed in you as a vassal is no small thing. Never treat it as such, and do not even consider betraying it. Those who wield the magic of All Hallows Eve have a lengthy reach, even into the realms of death.”
The watcher starts to lean back, advice all spent, yet she stalls halfway up, mask turning to Victoria. Beneath the painted patterns, you can see just how bare the mask’s material truly is. Crisp white.
Bone white.
“As for you, aspiring Willowbrook, take care in your ambitions. I would love to see you revel in these halls once more, but not for many, many years. Bring the dance of a full life next time, my Restless Raven.”
At the words, Victoria suddenly bows her head, ostensibly in respect but you’re almost positive you catch a few tears slip before she’s out of sight. “With great pleasure.”
A nod, as the watcher sits fully upright once more, back as stiff as the bold purple collar framing her head and mask. “Traveler, your time at the Ball of Bones has come to an end. May the road lead you well.”
She lifts a hand and snaps. That’s all it takes for everything to vanish. The mansions, the guests, the music; all that remains are you, Jim, Thad, and Victoria carefully wiping her eyes so as not to smear the purple paint crafted intricately along her face.
“Are you okay?”
“I am,” she replied. “Merely taken by surprise. Even for one accustomed to the unknown, that was… well, I’m not unhappy about it, to say the least.”
The sound of someone guzzling draws your attention back to the others, where you see Jim shaking the last dregs out of a flask that was hidden somewhere on his body. Probably not the shorts though, given how little room there is for Jim himself. “Did that mushroom have a secondary effect, or did we get kicked out of the party? Dude, tell me you knocked over a ghost table on the way out!”
Thad’s assessment is somewhat more helpful. “Seems to me we’re on a road again, this time only the one direction, unless we wanted to go backward.” Turning, Thad tries to take a step to the rear, however his movements are slow and heavy, like he’s walking through invisible pudding.
“I think we have to press on,” you surmise. “Looks like there’s no backtracking here.”
Together, all of you head down the road. In minutes, Victoria has composed herself and is back to normal, while Jim has his head toward the ground, eyes peeled for any more flora with potential mind-altering properties. Thad has taken to walking at your side, not quite flanking but never letting you get to far away. It’s a guarding position, you soon realize; Thad is trying to keep you safe. You want to assure him there’s no need, but you’d both know it was a lie the moment the words were out. Instead, you focus on hoping his protection just won’t be required.
After a short walk, you see a shape forming in the distance. Tall, gnarled, with twisted branches jutting out at all angles. With every step, it comes into better view. Soon, you notice that the tree is at the center of another crossroads, the dead center in fact. Drawing near, you can spot items dangling from its branches, though the tree is too wide to examine them all at once.
Before a idea is even offered, Jim has barreled forth to check out the other side of the tree. You have to give him, what Jim lacks in sobriety, he makes up for in enthusiasm. “Hey anybody got a broom? There’s a monster mask hanging in the tree, and since it’s probably magic I want to see if I can turn it into a bong.”
Walking around, you see the mask he’s referring too, a twisted expression paired with fangs and horns, definitely not a pleasant false face dangling from the branch, one that points outward to the road ahead.
“Looks like apples over here,” Thad informs you from the right side of the tree. Sure enough, a quick walk confirms that a branch pointing along the right road has a small basket filled with shiny red apples.
“And once more, the sweet treats round out our offerings.” You hustle over and find Victoria nodding to another basket, this one stuff with wrapped candies in the same reds and blues, greens and yellows, even a few orange ones in the mix.
Looks like continuing forward means choosing another path. What will it be this time?