A Squad of Snickets

A (multimuse) Side Blog for RP. Nonselective. If I haven't responded in 24 hours, tumblr ate it. Please try again!

[rpdepartment]

adventuring sentence starters! based on Tomb Raider, Uncharted and Indiana Jones

31 starters, TW: death mention, injuries

"Isn't this exciting?"

"Let's face it: we're lost"

"This was a terrible idea"

"It's full of moskitos, here!"

"Wait, there could be a trap"

"This is it! That's the entrance!"

"Stand back, I've got a machete"

"That looks dangerous. Be careful"

"I can't believe we finally found it!"

"Careful, that bridge looks unstable"

"I really, really thought we were done for"

"These darts still work after so many years!"

"How did you convince me to get in here?!"

"Don't tell me you want to climb that, now?"

"Remind me what we're looking for, exactly?"

"Are you sure the trasure is still down there?"

"There's something spooky about this jungle"

"There's something written here. Can you read it?"

"I think I saw a snake. Why did it have to be snakes?!"

"What should I look out for? Jaguars? Spiders? Bigfoot?"

"Watch your steps. I don't think you could survive that fall"

"Do you think we'll find monsters and mummies down here?"

"Spiked walls! Of course it had to be spiked walls! Now what?!"

"To think all of this was undiscovered until now! Isn't it beautiful?"

"So, what do I need to expect? Rolling boulders and spike traps?"

"Legends say that anyone who gets in here will face a terrible curse"

"Hold still. Going around with an open wound here isn't a good idea"

"Only those who face the trials will reach the relics hidden deep in the temple"

"That definitively is a skeleton. In the middle of the room. Doesn't seem suspicious at all"

"Will you stand still? You're going to destroy something ancient and valuable if you keep running around!"

"I mean, I understand all the traps. I wouldn't be happy some randos walked in my tomb to steal my belongings, either"

[vfdlibrarian]

Ashes, Ashes

@teadrinkingtroublemaker

“If he’s clever, up. But even if he has a goal in mind, I’m not sure he knows how to get there.” The mountains were a confusing and treacherous place, and few of the roads and paths were direct. “Our advantage is in knowing the area. Let’s use it.”

As they walked Kit’s mind was spinning. Right now, they were relying on luck to beat their enemy to the gates. It could work, but Kit liked being more certain. Was there some way they could interfere from a distance. The salmon in the river were VFD trained, but they could do little against a car unless it drove into the water. Perhaps setting of an avalanche? But that wasn’t something that could really be aimed. “I wish we still had the lions.” She muttered.

“The lions?” Dewey asked. “Oh. Right, those lions.” He hadn’t gone near the lions as a rule. They were intimidating, and though they were supposedly tame, they were fierce. So much like the rest of VFD, truth be told. “I think we should set a trap. Set a flare that will lead him off the edge of a ravine, should he try to approach it.” The only trouble was, they didn’t have a flare. “Never mind. Scratch that. Can we make a flare?”

[snicketsquadron]

“Lions are just large cats. They liked boxes and naps.” Kit had quite admired the lions. And it was a challenge among the braver-or more foolhardy- volunteers to get close to them. “Well, first we would need a ravine. Although there are cliffs everywhere, so that shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t know about a flare, but perhaps a fire....” She wished she had brought a verdant flammable device. But there was also the risk that it would catch the attention of volunteers at headquarters. 

((apparently originally answered here))

[snicketsquadron]

Kit raised her eyebrows at Violet's question. "Through VFD, of course. Before the schism." She knew the Baudelaire's had been kept from much of the truth, of course. But the sheer depth of the unknown was even bigger than she expected. "No one's told you anything, have they? If your parents hadn't-" but Kit stopped herself. It would do no good to speak ill of the dead. And plenty of other failures were to blame. If Olaf hadn't gotten the children first. If they'd been sent to Monty properly. If their guardians had lived long enough to teach them anything. "I'm sorry, Violet. I know it's a lot."

And once again, they didn't have the time to go into detail. The Hotel would be good for that. But Kit tried to at least cover the immediate basics. "The hotel denouement. Yes, I've been a volunteer all my life, that was during my apprenticeship. I was returning an object in the Museum of Items to it's proper owners. I got the item out but not myself. But that's not really important, at the moment."

[hvbris]

𝐊𝐈𝐓 & 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 @snicketsquadron

What? "Olaf was a volunteer?" she asked in bewildered disbelief, eyes wide open, "but he's a wicked man!" Wasn't VFD supposed to be a noble organisation? Why would they work with Olaf? Again, more questions. They never stopped coming, flooding her brain. "Is that why Jacques and Olaf have the same tattoo, then?"

"No, no one has told me anything. We have managed to gather little pieces of information here and there. At Aunt Josephine's or at the Mill. But it all feels like an endless puzzle, and every new piece only confuses me more." Kit didn't need to finish that sentence, she had thought it countless of times before, usually followed by a horrible feeling of guilt. But if their parents had told them about all this, then maybe they wouldn't be so lost and confused.

"You were returning an object to it's proper owners?" That sounded a lot like stealing, but if the museum had stolen the object first, then she supposed it wasn't theft. Maybe life was all just a question of perspective. "What object? I know... I know this isn't the moment, and I know we have more pressing matters. It's just-" She sighed. "It never seems to be the right moment, and then we never get any answers."

[snicketsquadron]

"He was a wicked child, too" Kit said, with scarcely a thought. But that was hardly fair, was it? It was just so hard, looking back at their youth, to not see the wickedness in Olaf as if it was always there. It was easier to act like he had never been good, she had never been close to him. But that wasn't true, and it was the truth Violet would have to learn to live with.

"Violet, you think of yourself as a noble person, yes? But you've also done things you're not proud of, correct? I don't think that makes you a wicked person. Good and evil matter. Choices matter. Even to the end, there's no throwing in the towel. But I'm sure you've been faced with hard decisions already. And I am afraid they will only get harder."

At the mention of the tattoo, Kit nodded and flashed a glimpse of her own ankle. "Yes. As do I. As did both of your parents." There was so much! There was so much to say, and so little time! And yes, Violet was right, it would never be the right moment, so they may as well start now.

"It is an endless puzzle, Violet. You could spend your whole life learning more and never get all of it. But I hope I can give you at least some corner pieces. It is...debatable, when VFD began. My brother would argue that any scholar dedicated to knowledge throughout history was a colleague of ours. But in it's current incarnation, it began as a volunteer fire department."

[universeofmuses]

[  brush  ]  sender  brushes  /  styles  /  dyes  receiver’s  hair

(Kit to Violet)

Safe had never been a long state of affairs for Violet and her siblings, the guardians that her and the rest of her family had been placed with had on some level or another been incompetent to keep them safe from Count Olaf and his theater troupe from getting to them. However Kit felt different, she was capable and smart and strong, in so many ways Violet looked up to her.

Violet and her siblings and Kit were still in the wilds of the Mortmain Mountains, they had escaped Count Olaf and his troupe. For now they were safe, it was dark and it was cold, they would make camp for the night so they should too. Luckily Kit knew how to make a rather comfortable campsite for them based on the branches, leaves twigs and other items in the forest.

Klaus and Sunny had gone to sleep already, the journey they had been on together had been rough. As she watched the sleep she found herself a bit restless, she couldnt rest knowing that Count Olaf was out there nearby lurking waiting to kill them for their inheritance. To pass the time until her body gave of from exhaustion she was watching them sleep, that was until Kit had offered to brush her hair. It seemed like such a small odd thing to offer, but it occurred to Violet that Kit was offering as a way to help her relax.

As Kit worked on her hair Violet felt tension just leave her body, so much more tension than she thought she had in her, "Its hard to believe that I used to do this every night before bed." Violet said thoughtfully, it was hard to remember a time before danger, running, life and death. "Do you think we'll ever be free of Count Olaf?" She asked worriedly, she hated to think that this would be their life now.

[universeofmuses]

There was still so much about VFD that Violet and her siblings were still learning, they had an overall idea of what they were but there was still so much nuance to them and what happened to them that made it difficult to know if they were still around or if they were dying away. So far from what they had seen so far, VFD was dying away. “Was the organization bigger than it is today?” She asked the older woman curiously, she wanted to know what the woman knew about this shadow organization, what were they doing now?

At Kit’s words Violet looked around and recognized that this wasnt really a safe place to get into serious discussions, they needed to keep their wits about them to an extent so they could see another day, so they could have these deeper discussions that she and her siblings so desperately needed after all of this time. To so desperately understand why they were targets of such ire from Count Olaf, to be plunged into this world of intrigue and danger.

To have something like this memory of her mother, to know something about one of the two people she so desperately wished to see again, to talk to again. This moment, this memory, this moment of brevity was something that had brought a warm and fuzzy feeling to Violet, something that she so needed to remind her that there is some good in the world. It reminded her of what their lives were and while it made her sad that their lives weren’t the same, the feeling of the memories was something warm in this cold time that brought her some solace in their situations now. “Dad was the real cook in the family, though she could make some excellent tasting dishes.” Violet said with a soft giggle in her voice. “I hope you mean studying and not necessarily cooking them.” Violet said with a bit of a frown on her face hoping for the former and not the later in the sentence.

[snicketsquadron]

"Oh yes" Kit replied. "Headquarters all over the world, bustling with activity. Full of volunteers on missions to make the world a quiet place. Hundreds of people at least. And now..." she sighed. "I can't say for sure how many volunteers are left. How many have not been lost to the side of the firestarters." By that, Kit meant both those who had died and those who had switched to the side of arson. She didn't explain this to Violet, it was merely how she saw the schism. Whether dead or wicked, those volunteers were no longer part of VFD. "But it is never enough."

It was a sombering thought. And not the most pleasant one, when they all still had to be wary of enemies. Kit could still take the Baudelaires to a safe place. But she felt incensed that it was the last safe place. It shouldn't have been. The mountain headquarters should still be there, and the various libraries, and all the homes of her friends... but 'shoulds' would get them nowhere.

Violet, at least, was taking the moment to appreciate her parents. She had wisdom beyond her years, tempered in the trials the children had faced. "Yes, Bertrand was an artist in the kitchen." Kit laughed as Violet asked about eating bats. "No, training them. To carry messages between volunteers, and other such things. We used to have eagles, as well. And salmon. But bats are smaller, more mobile, and can use echolocation to travel through dark nights."

[snicketsquadron]

"Don't bother" Kit said, her voice clipped and curt. "You've already failed to love me forever, promising it again just wastes both of our time. Do you even remember any poetry?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"This isn't personal, Olaf" she said, and it wasn't a lie though it felt a little like one. "I haven't forgiven you anything and I don't want anything from you. But even the worst people don't deserve the esoteric justice system of Allagrugous Acres. And unlike you I stick to my principles."

[hvbris]

𝐊𝐈𝐓 & 𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐅 @snicketsquadron

Kit's animosity only seemed to amuse him. His smile was sharp, but it didn't exactly reach his eyes, either. He offered her that smile like one would give a terrible gift, the kind of gift you return after Christmas. "I've burned plenty of poetry books, maybe I'll remember one poem? The pages look a lot nicer when they're ablaze, you know, Kit."

He raised his hands in the air, as dramatically as usual. "Worst people? Such harsh words, coming from a volunteer. But even with all that harshness, you still want to help me? Why? Because it's the right thing to do." His grin widened, and it looked nasty now. "Doing the right thing's overrated."

[snicketsquadron]

"And you look and sound much nicer with your mouth closed, O" Kit shot back at him with a matching edged smile. Both of them knew how to hide steel in silk. Though it seemed Olaf had abandoned subtlety for waving a metaphorical big club around instead.

"Because doing the wrong thing has worked out so well for you?" Kit asked, arching one eyebrow. "Can you really look me in the eye and tell me any of it has made you happy? And doing the right thing won't stop me from hurting you if I need to, Olaf. In fact my principles might demand it, in some circumstances. Don't make me."

[drowninginredink]

The one detail in Penultimate Peril that I will never, ever get over is that Lemony Snicket smokes. He shows up and offers to take away the Baudelaires, and he's smoking a cigarette.

All through the series, fire is the ultimate Bad Thing. The good guys are firefighters and the bad guys are firestarters. Arson is the worst crime. And the Baudelaires' descent into moral ambiguity is shown through them starting multiple fires.

Lemony Snicket might as well be the poster boy for VFD. He was raised in it since infancy. He lost Beatrice because of the consequences of being a volunteer. He has been on the lam for at least fifteen years because of his dedication to it. He lost both of his siblings to it. There are plenty of people in the series who question VFD and its motives, but for all it's done to hurt him, Snicket is very loyal. He does point out some flaws, but not as many as you'd expect.

And yet Lemony smokes. Lemony starts fires every day to feed his own addiction. He carries a lighter or matches with him at all times, just like the villains do. He regularly engages in a massive fire hazard. He says himself that a man who smokes cigarettes is somewhere in between wicked and noble. I want to know how someone so deep in VFD even started smoking.

I think the one thing I am the saltiest about Netflix not including is that. Truly Lemony being a smoker is everything to me.

[canonfoddcr]

@snicketsquadron [ x ]

Olaf takes a bow at the compliment. He'd be willing to say that nobody fights like him, but deep down he knows that's not really true. He's just willing to fight dirty when others aren't.

"Delightful way to go," he jokes. "Though in my experience salmon aren't as hungry as catfish."

He shrugs and reaches into his pocket to pull out a slightly crumpled telegram.

"This," he says, sounding bored. "From one of your brothers. Not that I really care."

[snicketsquadron]

Kit snatched the letter out of Olaf's hand with the alacrity of a spring trap. Her eyes scanned the telegram intensely. It was coded, of course. But to the eyes of a well-trained volunteer, reading codes was no less fluent than reading French or Russian. And this particular code was a family one, not a VFD one, one of the secret languages so often made up by siblings, even those whose parents and grandparents hadn't been involved in espionage for generations.

"Lemony's gotten himself stuck in a bad situation again. I don't suppose we have an eagle to send?"

[snicketsquadron]

Dashiell had been walking for what felt like hours. Tunnels that were originally concrete had given way to natural stone. It was quiet, except for the odd scratch or scuttle from small animals. He wasn't bad at navigation- everyone was trained in it to some extent. But the sheer complexity of the tunnel system was straining his ability to memorize the path he'd taken.

The sudden voice startled him- whoever it was had approached in near-total silence. He turned his light toward her and it glinted off of a polished sword. But more fascinating than that was the young woman's appearance- skin so pale the veins were visible, and metallic blonde hair. Dashiell considered the possibility that he had missed the spores of some psychedelic mushrooms in the tunnels, but if this was a drug-induced vision, it was a little too simple and coherent.

Her words and accent were strange, but he could guess he was the 'overlander'. His first thought was- who threatens my survival, you or the gnawers? After all, she was the one that pulled a sword on him. But she was also the first person he had seen, and even if he didn't trust her yet, he'd learn more about her and everything else by going along for now. He turned the light off. "Thank you. I appreciate anyone concerned with my survival. What are gnawers?"

[hvbris]

𝐃𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐋 & 𝐋𝐔𝐗𝐀@snicketsquadron

Luxa lowered her sword, but didn't sheathe it. She gauged the Overlander, her chin tilted upward in an expression of disdain -an air that made her look regal but also haughty. "I'll ask the questions for now," she replied dryly. And with that, she turned on her heels and walked away, expecting him to follow.

"How did you find your way to the Underland?" She knew that there were some passageways, scattered in the Overland. But she wanted to know which one he had used.

After a few pace spent in cold silence, her purple eyes scanning their surroundings, she finally decided to answer his questions. "Gnawers are the enemies of my people, we have been at war with them for centuries. And if they found you wandering the tunnels alone, you wouldn't last long." She raised her eyebrows knowingly.

[snicketsquadron]

"Oh, questions are a great way to learn" Dashiell said in his best Librarian Voice. "I certainly encourage you to ask many of them." So far, all she'd done was bark orders or make demands.

Ah, there was the first question. "I found a tunnel in a park, and had to satisfy my own curiosity" he answered simply.

For a while, it seemed she really woudn't answer any of his questions. But Dashiell was patient, and knew people often filled silences with enough time. "Why would they kill me? Do I count as one of your people? Why have you been at war?"

[snicketsquadron]

Kit couldn't blame Violet for being suspicious. VFD had been supposed to protect these children, and they had failed at every turn. The schism had scattered enemies and allies, the Baudelaire parents' own secrecy had kept them in the dark, and several of the volunteers who had tried to help had made mistakes or fallen to bad ends.

"I know Olaf better than most, to my misfortune. I can't promise an absolute end to trouble- there's always more to do- but I can take you to a safe place." The last safe place. Kit had run into the girl in the mountains, and her plan was to take them to the Hotel and it's catalogue. "It may be hard to believe, Violet, but I know some of what you're going through right now. I was...a little older than you when I was first arrested. My brother was younger." Violet didn't even know Lemony, but that hardly mattered now.

[hvbris]

𝐊𝐈𝐓 & 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 @snicketsquadron

Violet raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You know Count Olaf? How?" It was a concerning revelation, as the last person who knew Olaf had pushed her siblings and her down an elevator shaft. "What safe place?" Lately, it feels like all Violet asked was questions. And she never got any answers. In fact, every question only seemed to lead to more questions, like cutting the heads off a hydra.

And here they came, again. More questions. "You were a volunteer when you got arrested? Why did you get arrested?" A volunteer. Was Violet a Volunteer, now? She had volunteered plenty of times before. Braved a storm to try and save Josephine. Broken out of prison to try and save the Quagmire triplets. And yet, she wasn't any closer to figuring out the VFD mystery.

[snicketsquadron]

Kit raised her eyebrows at Violet's question. "Through VFD, of course. Before the schism." She knew the Baudelaire's had been kept from much of the truth, of course. But the sheer depth of the unknown was even bigger than she expected. "No one's told you anything, have they? If your parents hadn't-" but Kit stopped herself. It would do no good to speak ill of the dead. And plenty of other failures were to blame. If Olaf hadn't gotten the children first. If they'd been sent to Monty properly. If their guardians had lived long enough to teach them anything. "I'm sorry, Violet. I know it's a lot."

And once again, they didn't have the time to go into detail. The Hotel would be good for that. But Kit tried to at least cover the immediate basics. "The hotel denouement. Yes, I've been a volunteer all my life, that was during my apprenticeship. I was returning an object in the Museum of Items to it's proper owners. I got the item out but not myself. But that's not really important, at the moment."

[hvbris]

"I'll keep you safe." Kit to Violet

𝐊𝐈𝐓 & 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 @snicketsquadron

Violet wanted to believe Kit, like any other kid would love to believe an adult when they tell them such things. But Violet didn't feel like a kid anymore, and adults had failed at keeping her safe. Over and over again. Still, she offered the woman a polite smile, mostly because it felt like the right way to react.

"Thank you," she replied, "but how are you going to keep me safe? It feels like wherever I go, trouble follows. Everyone falls for Olaf's tricks. And now, I'm wanted for terrible crimes I haven't even committed." And some crimes she had committed, like the fire burning through the Hinterlands.

[snicketsquadron]

Kit couldn't blame Violet for being suspicious. VFD had been supposed to protect these children, and they had failed at every turn. The schism had scattered enemies and allies, the Baudelaire parents' own secrecy had kept them in the dark, and several of the volunteers who had tried to help had made mistakes or fallen to bad ends.

"I know Olaf better than most, to my misfortune. I can't promise an absolute end to trouble- there's always more to do- but I can take you to a safe place." The last safe place. Kit had run into the girl in the mountains, and her plan was to take them to the Hotel and it's catalogue. "It may be hard to believe, Violet, but I know some of what you're going through right now. I was...a little older than you when I was first arrested. My brother was younger." Violet didn't even know Lemony, but that hardly mattered now.

[hvbris]

@snicketsquadron sent "I'll keep you safe."

𝐊𝐈𝐓 & 𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐅 @snicketsquadron

Olaf let out a little scoff like one would put on armor. It was a dry, acidic sound. A way for him to say 'I don't need you to keep me safe,' not because it was true, but because he'd rather die than admit he needed it.

"Shouldn't I be the one promising you romantic idiocies like that?" he sneered with a sarcastic smile. "That I'll keep you safe, and that I'll love you forever? Do you want me to recite some poetry, too? Buy you a thousand roses, maybe?" When Olaf heard the expression "hurt people hurt people" he only saw it as advice to hurt someone twice.

[snicketsquadron]

"Don't bother" Kit said, her voice clipped and curt. "You've already failed to love me forever, promising it again just wastes both of our time. Do you even remember any poetry?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"This isn't personal, Olaf" she said, and it wasn't a lie though it felt a little like one. "I haven't forgiven you anything and I don't want anything from you. But even the worst people don't deserve the esoteric justice system of Allagrugous Acres. And unlike you I stick to my principles."

[universeofmuses]

❝ what happened? tell me what happened. ❞ (Jacob to Lemony or Kit)

Kit's usual stoic demeanor had been cracked to its very foundation on this night, this was the night that her heart was broken forever, shattered into a billion little peaces. Her best friend had killed her fiance's father and spurred him to join the opposite side of the schism, her brother was wanted for a murder he didnt commit, everything seemed to be unraveling the way a knitted scarf would unravel if the loose thread was pulled on.

"The fire chief is dead, Lemony is wanted for his murder, and now the schism is as fractured the VFD so deeply, I wonder if it can ever be repaired. What will happen to everyone now?" Kit choked out softly as she sat on the grand staircase in the opera house. When she woke up this morning she had never thought she would have been here, that everything that had happened would have happened.

[universeofmuses]

Kit needed to get things together, yes things weren’t good, but they could have been so much worse. Her brother while he was on the run was still free, the sugar bowl was in good hands that would get it to proper place where they ensure that the schism wouldnt hold all the cards here. Still the fact that what they had all built was now falling apart around them felt like they were in free fall, the question now was how much worse were things going to get before they get better.

When her father brought up the memory she couldn’t help but smile and chuckle despite the tears that were in her eyes, “I was seventeen dad, and wasnt terrifying it was some good irresponsible fun.” She said remembering the night. Sure it wasnt right what she had done but it was harmless fun that did result in her getting tossed in jail for a few hours. “I know, he always won at hide and seek.” She said as the memories of their childhood came back to her, “You’re right, so what do we do now.” She said as she started to push her feelings down and get back to business, back to work.

[snicketsquadron]

Jacob was glad he could get Kit to smile. He wasn't a firm believer in silver linings, per se. But he did believe in finding the seed of hope or motivation or whatever else it took to get the job done, even in dire circumstances. "Good, good. If you're not arrested at least once, have you really lived out your full adolescence?" he said, humor in his voice. It was good fun. And besides that, it was important for young people to know when to follow authority, when to break it, and how to escape prisons. All of that would serve them well in adulthood.

"You sit and have a cup of tea to settle your nerves. Then you slow down and tell me what happened in more detail, once we're not in a rush. Then we start sorting through and contacting our allies. figuring out who we can trust, getting word to them. There might be retaliation from our enemies over this. Even five minutes of warning could save lives."

[snicketsquadron]

Sub-sub-sub Librarians

Dashiell Qwerty had come to New York on VFD business. He had spent the morning in the public libraries, taking them in and connecting with fellow librarians. In the evening, he planned to possibly visit a soup kitchen. Volunteering extended beyond the borders of VFD business for him. But for now, it was around noon, and he was in central park for his official mission- retrieving an item from another agent.

Always observant, he took in the scenery around him as he walked the grounds. There were children with backpacks walking home from school, people sitting on the benches having lunch, tourists taking photos. He found what he needed- a sealed envelope- tucked between the pages of an abandoned newspaper.

But something else caught his eye. An instinct, perhaps, honed by years of working in a secret organization, or simply being a librarian. There was a large stone on the ground, but it was the scrape marks around the base that drew his eye- as if it had been moved. When he was sure no one was around to pester him about it he shoved the rock aside and dropped into the revealed tunnel.

Dashiell knew that these weren't the VFD tunnels dug under the city and it's local environs. They were likely no more than relics of old construction. But they could be useful to VFD, and thus were worth exploring enough to document. He had a flashlight with him- a librarian should always be prepared to read in the dark- and began exploring the complex concrete passageways.

@hvbris

[hvbris]

𝐃𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐋 & 𝐋𝐔𝐗𝐀 @snicketsquadron

Luxa spotted the light in an instant. Of course she did, it stuck out like a sore thumb in the damp darkness of the tunnels. It was bright and unnatural. It didn't have the recognizable flickering of a flame or the dimness of a Shiners' body. With a frown, she approached the source of the light slowly, her sword unsheathed.

When she found who was responsible for this strange light, her frown only deepened. An Overlander. It was easy to tell he wasn't from the Underland. No one here would wear their hair like that, or wear such a strange jacket. Besides, the only torch they had was in the Museum.

"You! Overlander!" she exclaimed, brandishing her sword in his direction. It was not a very warm welcome, but Luxa wasn't a very warm young lady. "You should turn off that light, unless you want to attract all the Gnawers in the area."

How had he landed here? It wasn't totally unheard of, to find Overlander in the Underland. But it was rare. "You should also follow me." She raised an eyebrow. "If you wish to survive, that is."

[snicketsquadron]

Dashiell had been walking for what felt like hours. Tunnels that were originally concrete had given way to natural stone. It was quiet, except for the odd scratch or scuttle from small animals. He wasn't bad at navigation- everyone was trained in it to some extent. But the sheer complexity of the tunnel system was straining his ability to memorize the path he'd taken.

The sudden voice startled him- whoever it was had approached in near-total silence. He turned his light toward her and it glinted off of a polished sword. But more fascinating than that was the young woman's appearance- skin so pale the veins were visible, and metallic blonde hair. Dashiell considered the possibility that he had missed the spores of some psychedelic mushrooms in the tunnels, but if this was a drug-induced vision, it was a little too simple and coherent.

Her words and accent were strange, but he could guess he was the 'overlander'. His first thought was- who threatens my survival, you or the gnawers? After all, she was the one that pulled a sword on him. But she was also the first person he had seen, and even if he didn't trust her yet, he'd learn more about her and everything else by going along for now. He turned the light off. "Thank you. I appreciate anyone concerned with my survival. What are gnawers?"

[snicketsquadron]

Sub-sub-sub Librarians

Dashiell Qwerty had come to New York on VFD business. He had spent the morning in the public libraries, taking them in and connecting with fellow librarians. In the evening, he planned to possibly visit a soup kitchen. Volunteering extended beyond the borders of VFD business for him. But for now, it was around noon, and he was in central park for his official mission- retrieving an item from another agent.

Always observant, he took in the scenery around him as he walked the grounds. There were children with backpacks walking home from school, people sitting on the benches having lunch, tourists taking photos. He found what he needed- a sealed envelope- tucked between the pages of an abandoned newspaper.

But something else caught his eye. An instinct, perhaps, honed by years of working in a secret organization, or simply being a librarian. There was a large stone on the ground, but it was the scrape marks around the base that drew his eye- as if it had been moved. When he was sure no one was around to pester him about it he shoved the rock aside and dropped into the revealed tunnel.

Dashiell knew that these weren't the VFD tunnels dug under the city and it's local environs. They were likely no more than relics of old construction. But they could be useful to VFD, and thus were worth exploring enough to document. He had a flashlight with him- a librarian should always be prepared to read in the dark- and began exploring the complex concrete passageways.

@hvbris

[theoriquewitherseld]

As the progeny of the late matriarch of the prestigious Snicket Clan, the perseverance and name of the Snicket bloodline falls squarely on her shoulders – through espousal and accouchement. She faces this with as much enthusiasm as one does on smelling a foul, moldy sock. In the meantime, she busies herself up on tinkering with the machineries, automobiles, and thingamajigs and being a doting sister to her two brothers – a preoccupancy she is more fain with.

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[theoriquewitherseld]

The eldest Snicket sibling and twin to Kit Snicket, he drives around the ever-reliable taxi around town and tenures as a part-time journalist in The Stain’d Lighthouse to support his siblings. Among coworkers, he serves as the epitome of strait and quality work ethic. Outside work, he is the reserved, gallant, sable-clad fellow sporting a fancy white hat on his crumpet. All other information about him is private, unknown, and none of your business.

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[parsleysoda1984]

A Series of Unfortunate Events // Business Cards