Welcome back cadets.
Brief recap: The witch Revolta has abducted Tanis the mummy and her Necronomicon. The Calloway Academy is under siege by zombies and the Grimwood Finishing School is a wreck. Cadet Anon and his companion Sibella Dracula are doing everything they can to stop Revolta and save their friends, but it's not easy; it's become clear now that Revolta is using Sibella's own friends against her.
Last week the party survived an attack from Winnie the werewolf during which Sibella was briefly eaten, then regurgitated. They now find themselves trapped in a haunted castle searching for Phantasma's lost teddy bear before the ghost girl loses all of her marbles and chops Anon's head off.
Previous threads, Inventory and character bios can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uk9R5dPYljDVtx180icdkOCX_u4youc4KMuy_k7T0_k/edit
From the previous thread:
>Lead child and preteen Phanty to the room Sibs is in. Maybe she found more pieces of teddy, if not, I am sure the girls would be happy for even one.
Preteen Phanty follows you back upstairs, lured by Miss Grimwood's lullaby coming over your radio. You've noticed that the mocking 'radio DJ' Phantasma voices have quieted down for the duration of the song as well.
When you arrive upstairs you see that Sibella has written something on the inside of the mirror with the tube of lipstick she carries on her.
"SRIATSNWOD ONAIP EHT HSAMS"
>Well then away to the room with a teddy chunk "Morton do we know what breaking mirrors does to the mirror world?"
"Mirrors are sometimes thought to be portals into the afterlife or another nebulous "in between" dimension; breaking one would certainly break that connection, but shouldn't affect the occupants of the other side... unless they were halfway through the barrier at the time."
"Plus you'd get seven years bad luck, hoohooheehheeha!" Phantasma's voice breaks in. "Not that you'll live that long..."
>>44133354
We know how to get the teddy out right? Can we use the same method for Sibella?
>>44133731
At present you DON'T know how to get the teddy, actually. You went searching in a closet (and rolled a natural 20) and a minute later Sibella was holding 1/3rd of the teddy bear. But it's still on the other side of the mirror with her.
>>44133354
> Sibella directs us to the ONAIP
I regret not suggesting investigating that earlier.
I say we go make kindling out of that mutherfucker.
>>44133826
Things are a bit slow, I'd like to wait for a couple more replies before I progress the story.
In the meantime, have any questions about the setting or feedback about the game?
>>44134028
gonna be honest, I agree with
>>44133826
>>44134028
Hmm, what were the dates like with Sibella? I assume we didn't hit many restaurants, given her palate choices. (I guess that begs the question of what she thinks of our foods. She like chocolate?) Did we have a favorite spot to spend time together?
Hey spew, you should make an email list or something, to announce when you make these. Prolly get more people to show up.
>>44134028
Were we together during Valentines day? How'd that go? We give her anything?On the day of the V, the girls want the D.
>>44134136
Initially the relationship was a secret, but sneaking around was easier because you DID have a legitimate reason to be following each other around outside of school. Typically you would take Sibella out to observe some human social customs; she favored quiet affairs like drive-in movies and coffeehouse poetry readings. Sibella also camped out for three days to see "Dark Knight", which you joined her for in her pup tent. The fact that she needs to sleep in her native soil didn't stop either of you from cuddling.
You have taken her out to dinner, but Sibella's biology leaves her with a VERY small appetite for solid foods, and of course she has to be very careful not to order anything with garlic, so her options are rather limited. She mostly just sits there watching you eat and commenting on the other people in the room.
You've brought her chocolates on Valentine's day only to find them the next day hollowed out with the fruit-cream fillings gone. She nevertheless claimed they were delicious.
On valentine's day the two of you went to an opera (which was dreadful, but Sibella enjoyed the chance to dress up and was all over your dress uniform), went dancing (which was cut short because Sibella tried a formal waltz in the middle of a discotheque), then took a carriage ride through the park at night where you made out for thirty minutes and were permitted to slip a hand inside her dress. You gave her a card (all the cadets were expected to give a card to their escortee; yours was a bit more personal than most) and she gave you a photograph of herself wearing a silk robe and showing a LOT of leg, signed with a lipstick kiss.
>>44134334
Could people perhaps leave a comment on the Gmail Doc with their email address on it, and I'll start sending out announcements shortly before I put the thread up each week?
>>44133826
>>44134062
You head back downstairs to the large den that you first entered through, where the old piano rests.
Halfway down the stairs you freeze when a fresh peal of spectral laughter splits the air. You shine your flashlight upwards to see Phantasma hanging from the chandelier, a black cape and wide brimmed hat capped with the jaunty blue peacock feather concealing her features. A polished white mask covers half her face, though not the crazed stare in her eyes.
"Hahaha-HO, hold fast, montebank!" she commands you, swinging dramatically from the chandelier and leaping onto the staircase in front of you, blocking your path. She draws a rapier from a scabbard at her hip and squares off into a fencing stance. "Before you stands the ANGEL OF MUSIC, and I shall avenge the loss of Phantasma's beloved! Have at thee!"
(Roll d20 to avoid the thrust of her sword, or post an alternative idea)
Rolled 4 (1d20)
>>44135245
>>44135245
We sing back at her, trying to coax her into song.
"Angel, I hear you.
Speak, I listen.
Stay by my side,
Guide me."
This is just a distraction, meanwhile we fumble to get some salt into our hands surreptitiously if we can.
>>44135631
Forgot to finish the line (since I couldn't remember precisely):
"Angel, my soul was weak,
Forgive me.
Enter at last, Master."
Want to add, if she takes up the cue to sing with us, let's see where she goes with this. Entrancing her with song might work.
>>44135245
Miss Grimwoods voice calmed the younger Phantasma. It should be worth another try
>>44135531
Well once again Worst Cadet can't dodge to save his life, and he takes a stab of the sword through his chest.
An icy pain shoots through your ribcage where Phantasma's sword spears you, and you'd swear that you'd just been stabbed through the heart. Your vision blurs and you are unable to breath, and you tumble down the stairs.
When you lift your head you find yourself unharmed from the attack, apart from being bruised and aching in pain from the fall. But there's no blood, and no sword sticking out of your chest.
Phantasma stalks down the staircase, her sword point trained on you.
>>44135631
>>44135679
Phantasma stops, the words of your songs briefly cutting through the fog of madness that has enveloped her mind.
"Flattering child, you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide
Look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside!"
Her face, what you can see of it under her mask, seems to think her own tongue has betrayed her. She clasps a hand over her mouth and turns away from you, hiding behind her cape.
>>44136000
>Worst Cadet
God, the rolls some of these Anons do....Our shooting wasn't that bad when we pecked the Creeper in the eye.
>>44136000
We keep singing, through the pain in our chest.
"Angel of Music, guide and guardian,
Grant to me your glory.
Angel of Music, hide no longer.
Come to me, strange Angel."
Meanwhile, ready some salt in our hand, especially now that she's not looking. (Though she might be able to see through her own cape, given than she's fully spectral.)
Maneuver towards the piano, keeping an eye on The Phantom. Where's little tike Phanty?
Rolled 16 (1d20)
>>44136269
It wasn't that bad when i decided to stab you in the back either
>>44136269
We can always practice to get better at these skills at least.
>>44136593
What is this roll for? Who is stabbing who in the back?
>>44136368
>Where's little tike Phanty?
She stayed behind in the room with Sibella. Probably for the best, no need for her to get stabbed by Swashbuckler Phanty.
>Handful of salt: readied
>You back up until you feel the piano keys behind you.
Phantasma slowly gets a grip on herself, the song striking some chord within her. As you sing the final lines of the song she turns and walks towards you, and you see tears in her eyes.
"I was going to perform that, o-on Broadway, someday. I wanted to be a st-star. I practiced soooo long for it."
She glares angrily at the piano you're leaning against.
"I wasted so much time! AND WHY? FOR WHAT?"
>>44136769
>>44136593 This roll was to stab
>>44136269 In the back
it was successful so he is dead now.
>>44137145
Well alright then.
What do about Phantasma?
>>44137265
>I don't think it was a Waste. im sure you're great.
>>44136769
>>44137265
Try to goad her into smashing the piano for us
>>44137378
Phantasma tears the mask off her face, revealing a decayed, skeletal face.
"It doesn't matter HOW good I am, because I'm DEAD!"
>>44137430
What does Anon say to goad the ghost girl?
>>44137541
Then why don't you just kill an instrument
then you'd get a ghost version
>>44137748
What am i saying
You'd only be able to play one genre on it.
SOUL.
[cue awkward silence with a stupid smile on our face]
>>44137541
"You can't keep yourself together, you can't even find the one possession in the world that means anything to you. No, it doesn't matter how good you are because you're too scatterbrained for anyone to take you seriously. I certainly don't; and I'm not afraid of your childish shenanigans."
Hopefully we can dodge out of the way of her, hopefully, wrath?
>>44137930
What the hell man? Are you trying to make her so angry she can't control herself? To what end?
>>44137748
She can clearly play the piano and organ.
"Would you like perform for me?" I ask Phantasma.
I want to start smashing the piano but not sure if she'll flip out and try to stop us. If we can work through some catharsis, she might let us take a crack at it.
>>44137930
He's probably trying to make her angry so she'll rage and smash the piano. He just wasn't clear about what he's doing.Or maybe he's just being silly and trollin' the thread.
But she might just as soon attack us.... We are Worst Cadet for dodge.
Rolled 9 (1d20)
>>44137930
Phantasm shrieks and howls in pure frustration and pain. Her skeletal face stretches and warps and her body twists like pulled taffy.
The piano abruptly levitates into the air, flips upside down in the air, and comes crashing down towards you.
(rolling to dodge)
>>44138035
Why did we do that option? I was being serious on asking her to destroy the piano to play Soul.
>>44138035
Welp, she dropped a fucking piano on us.
Sometimes I forget we're a cartoon.
>>44138035
OUCH!
The piano comes crashing down and you are barely able to fling yourself in the opposite direction, and end up caught in the telekinetic heave from Phantasma. You are slammed in your side by the hurled antique furniture and crash against the book case on the opposite wall.
>>44137748
>>44137861
>You'd only be able to play one genre on it.
>SOUL.
Phantasma, heaving in despair on her knees, hears your pun and cracks a smile.
"Heeheheheee...(snort) hehehahaaahahaHAHA! SOUL! HAHAHA!"
Phantasma's fearsome visage shrinks back to the schoolgirl you knew, more or less. She's still got the Phantom of the Opera costume on but it's clearly just that, a costume, and one a few sizes too big for her at that.
"You're funny..." she sighs, and disappears.
You're having difficulty breathing. You may have broken a rib.
>>44137930
Brilliant... only not. I'm sending you my medical bill.
>>44138234
We check the wreckage of the piano and then let's go check on Sibella.
>>44138309
You struggle across the floor and through the wreckage of the piano to get the flashlight that was knocked from your hands. Once you have it you catch sight of the Grandfather clock in the corner of the room, specifically the glass door protecting the inner mechanisms and the pendulum ticking back and forth. In the surface of the glass you can dimly see Sibella, holding up both halves of the teddy bear's torso in her hands.
>>44137968
>>44138032
>>44138309
I wasn't the anon who suggested we provoke Phantasma to bust up the ivories, I just provided the provocation.
We should probably check to see what smashing the piano actually accomplished.
>>44138450
toonspew no offense but what is up with some of these pictures.
>>44138544
LOL I don't know man I didn't make 'em. There's not a whole ton of Ghoul School fanart out there, you gotta take what you can get. This pic just happened to have the two ghouls currently relevant to the game in it.
>>44138450
Sibella now has two-thirds of the bear; all that's missing is the head. She reaches into a hidden pocket in her skirt and produces a small sewing kit; with a needle and a length of thread that she snips off in her fangs, she sets about repairing the damage that Revolta's claws did to the plush bear.
>>44138654
BUMP
Wow really slow this weekend. Wonder if it's the Christmas season setting in?
C'mon Anons need a choice: where do you look next for the final piece of the bear?
>>44139014
Well, It's also finals week.
people are scared.
Is there a backyard.
>>44139014
What parts of the castle havent we checked?
>>44139014
Well, we're up to 45 posts with this thread, and only 5 posters. I'm not too fond of railroading a quest when nobody's around to go a questin'.
If we need suggestions on where to look, though, I'd say we try to consult Sibella, considering she's really the one who found the other two pieces.
>>44139090
>>44139153
There's no exterior grounds really; it's too mountainous to have any sort of gardens or back yard.
You've already searched the upstairs quarters/guest rooms, the basement/dungeon, the den, and Iggy went through the servant's quarters.
Remaining to be searched are:
>the banquet hall
>the kitchen
>the library
>the nursery
>the games room
Cadet anon has currently suffered having his torso crushed by a piano and his left hand impaled on a spike, so you're going to want to make some educated decisions about where to look; too much wasted time will result in more ghost attacks.
>>44139381
I vote for library
>>44139381
Nursery for me
>>44139381
>>44139595
The reason I picked the nursery is that according to her grave Phantasma died when she was two.
>>44139849
HAha, okay i change my library vote to that one
ghosts dont age. right?
>>44139381
Nursery.
>>44139595
>>44139907
>>44139924
You venture into the nursery; it's decorated in lace and baby blue colors everywhere, children's toys are scattered on the ground and a bassinet occupying one corner of the room. A rocking chair rests next to a bookshelf full of classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales, softly rocking itself as though occupied by some invisible grandmother.
You suspect that on her side of the mirror, Sibella will have followed you; but she'll need you to expose the teddy bear's head before she can grab it. Where could it be?
(Rolling for Phantasma attack; 10 or less and she shows up)
Rolled 13 (1d20)
>>44140073
(rolling)
>>44140089
God, it's so good to see a 13 after these rolls, Spew, if it's not to much to ask, please make the rolls for us for the rest of the game, before the RNGod feels like fucking with us
>>44140073
Check the bassinet
>>44140179
I can do that, heh. No blaming me when the dice come up bad though.
>>44140238
The bassinet is empty, though that's to be expected. If the teddy was on this side of the mirror, Phantasma would have found it herself already.
You need to change something in the room to allow Sibella to find the bear's head. If it was ever here in the first place.
(rolling to see if Sibella finds the head in the bassinet; needs a 15 or higher)
Rolled 18 (1d20)
>>44140298
(rolling)
>>44140334
Fucking finally, after all these rolls, all is going joy and straight-fowardness!
I feel like i'm gonna cry!
Rolled 20 (1d20)
>>44140334
Rolling for Toon's penis size
>>44140298
>>44140334
You check the hand-mirror in your exorcism kit and see Sibella waiting on the opposite side; sure enough, she has the entire bear and is hastily sewing it back together into one piece. Success!
That is until your flashlight blinks out. You've been running it nonstop since you left Grimwood, guess the batteries had to die eventually.
You'll need a source of light before any reflections will even appear in a mirror. And you'll need to somehow summon the Phantasmas forward in order to give her bear back to her.
You're not one to be afraid of the dark but you know you'd feel a lot better if you could see what you were doing. It wasn't that long ago that Phantasma was coming at you with a very real axe, and you'd have no way to dodge if she attacked again right now.
>>44140469
Damn right
>>44140469
Do we need to say anything else? he's gifted
>>44140489
Did we notice any candles or anything in this room before the lights went out?
>>44140489
At this point i'd rather build a torch out of the chair and ribbons...
Surely we have a lighter with us, since we are cool, and cool dudes have lighters for smoking and look alpha and shit
>>44140559
>>44140609
Check the link in OP; there's an ongoing Anon Inventory on the first page.
But the answer is yes, you have a lighter as well as a pack of candles as part of your exorcism kit.
>>44140632
Use one of the candles, those things can last for hours, and a couple of minutes couldn't waste one and fuck us when we do the exorcism... right?
>>44140609
Yeah I dont want to waste candles in case we need to do the exorcism. Homemade torch sounds good. Watch us roll a one and burn the whole damn place down
>>44140753
So be it, torch it is
Let's hope that won't take too much time
>>44140753
>>44140785
Feeling around in the nursery you make your way to the rocking chair and kick it into kindling with your military boots. As soon as you're finished you are reminded of your bruised ribs as your entire torso feels like it's on fire from the exertion.
You grab a leg from the chair and it's about the right length. Some strips of bedding from the bassinet wrap around the end of it well enough, and soon you have your torch back. You can't imagine that all that noise, nor tearing up these symbols of childhood, will be greatly appreciated by the spirits dwelling here.
You'll need to get somewhere with some space; which room do you limp to next?
>>44140974
>You can't imagine that all that noise, nor tearing up these symbols of childhood, will be greatly appreciated by the spirits dwelling here
Fuck them, after all the shit we suffered through, they are lucky that we haven't burned the whole place down out of spite
Let's go to the banquet hall, that sounds big enough
>>44140974
Since we have the complete bear try heading back to the room we first found Sibella in? Then again its been a long time since we heard from Iggy.
>>44141058
Oh right, I forgot about Iggy, maybe we should bring him back, i'm getting kinda worried about him
>>44141052
You take your torch and grit your teeth through the pain in your torso and head for the banquet hall. The sounds of distant giggling have been replaced with muffled music, some sort of 80's synth band.
When you open the doors you see why; there's a party in full swing in here.
The banquet hall is lit by a disco ball and multiple colored spotlights, the floors obscured by a layer of fake fog but occasionally pulsating with colored light. On one side of the wall there's punch and snacks, on the other side there's a DJ's station and a row of speakers.
The room is filled with skeletons. They generally seem to be having a good time. They hold hands, dance together, one couple is even making out right on the dance floor, despite their total lack of lips and tongue. Their clothing is tattered and dusty but you recognise the male skeletons immediately; they're all wearing the Calloway school uniform. Their female partners become clear a little after; you quickly spot one wearing one of Sibella's clingy purple dresses, another wearing one of Elsa's hand-stitched outfits. A shorter skeleton passes by dangling white cotton bandages from its bones.
>>44141275
This seems to be the last place we want to be. Slowly and quietly leave.
>>44141504
You close the door and retreat, and realize you're in the library. You were just standing in the hall? You take a few steps forward between the tall library stacks you're standing between, looking for the exit.
You exit the stacks and see you're near the card-filing cabinets. Phantasma is floating there, calmly reading a book. She hears your approach and turns just long enough to put a finger to her lips and whisper "SHUUUUUUUSH...!"
>>44141636
Dont think its mentioned in our inventory but do we have any first aid stuff?
Quietly look around so we dont anger librarian Phantasma
>>44141769
No you don't have any first aid gear unfortunately.
What are you looking for specifically? It's mostly just books here.
>>44141822
Is our torch lit?
>>44142196
Yes, it is.
Incidentally, since the thread is moving very slowly and people were asking earlier, anyone who is interested in being added to a mailing list can contact me at [email protected] and they'll be notified of all future threads.
If this one doesn't pick up I may put it on hiatus until tomorrow, or maybe just hold the adventure until after Finals are over. What do you think?
>>44142239
I'll be here either way
>>44142239
I actually am gonna start studying, it's hard to focus on so many things at once.
