#~event

[sageisaacs]

@basilisaacs

Sage: Yo, I think Im like sick??? Sage: my powers are on the fritz and I fried my microwave Sage: also the worst case of dragon rash or something

[dominic-kingsley]

Dominic wandered through the stalls of the German style outdoor market, admiring all of the crafts. It was impressive the skill that it took to make these things, and while he wasn’t exactly crafty he did enjoy having something technical to do with his hands. He’d already done the bulk of his Christmas shopping, but now he was looking for something unique to get his mother, or whatever caught his eye as perfect for one of his partners or sisters. He chuckled at the thought of his mother having to disrupt her perfect decor for whatever little trinket he got her. At the next stall someone was examining an interesting piece. Dominic came closer for a good look. “Wow, I was also looking for something like that. And it looks really well made.” He directed the second comment to the vendor with a smile.

[dominic-kingsley]

Riverfest 2020: July 4, early afternoon

Dominic distractedly watched the magic show at the Riverfest. He didn’t know why he was subjecting himself to this particular event, there being plenty of things to do along the river. But, it had caught his eye and he had stopped for a moment to see what type of “magic” they were doing. There were enough magic users in Edgewood that at least somebody on the planning board for this event had a good laugh when they booked a “magician”. He saw real magic on the regular and it didn’t bother him, but seeing this farce reminded him that he could no longer access real magic either. He knew that he was better off without whatever tainted his powers, but now he was as useless as this illusionist against threats to his loved ones, like whatever attacked his sister and almost hurt his other sister in January.

He heard someone talking and jolted, realizing they were addressing him. “Oh, sorry, I am in the way.” He stepped back to let them pass. “I was just really intrigued by the magic show.” Dominic had been standing behind the seats to let the kids have them yet had ended up standing right in the middle of the walkway.

[phoenix-castillo]

Phoenix wove through the crowd, holding her hands out to keep someone from running into her and sharing her fate. The blood of a red snowcone was soaking through her hair and dripping onto her yellow shirt, probably making for a terrifying sight. From fifty feet up its a miracle that the snowcone didn’t do damage like hail, a sign of wrath from the child who thought it would be fun to throw. 

She felt a trickle of juice down her face, so she stepped to the side of the path to wipe her face with the sleeve of her already ruined shirt. “I would kill for a towel right now. I probably look like a horror movie.”

[heatherpayne]

hunting, but definitely not that

January 11, 9:08 A.M.,  Edgewood Memorial Hospital 

Heather was not a hunter. She came from a long line of witches. She practiced magic and was born with innate powers. And, most importantly, she didn’t hurt innocents like some hunters whose idea of valid people didn’t stretch beyond humans.

However, Heather was not an idle bystander either. This was not her original mission in coming to Edgewood, but clearly something bad was going down, and she had the ability to stop it. 

She had spent Friday night in her house to avoid any full moon activity and awoke Saturday morning to hear that hiding out had been necessary. Someone was dead, and there were rumors of other incidents around town. The time of month coupled with some reports on social media of hearing strange howls made Heather pretty sure that this was a werecreature. 

The witch had no actually experience dealing with weres, but she knew enough to pack a silver dagger. Raiden would be so proud, she thought. She put a crossbow in a large backpack and strapped some more knives to her body before heading out to the hospital. 

The creature was clearly long gone by the time she reached the hospital. To her dismay, part of the parking garage was cordoned off. After parking an nonsuspicious distance from the blockage, she made her way on foot around the detail and to a side door to the garage. Making sure she wasn’t seen, she slipped in and headed towards where she thought the attack had happened. 

Heather passed a concrete post with large claw marks gouged into it and paused to take a picture. She shuddered involuntarily thinking of how large the creature had to be. Her hand drifted down to the sheath on her thigh. 

Turning a corner, Heather spotted security and police, then quickly pulled back. She turned to head another way, to ram into someone. “Hey!” she exclaimed in surprise, and then lowered her voice to not be heard, “What the hell are you doing here?”

[phoenix-castillo]

The Shrieking Shack: Self-para

Friday, January 10th, 2019, 3:04 PM

The wind howled as Phoenix stood just inside ready to hold the door open for the students running towards the Mystery Shack, bent over against the winter chill. They were only running a few minutes late, but since this was the last tour of the day, they were lucky that Phoenix had waited to start the tour. She moved the door open when they only had a few yards to spare, and the harsh wind gusted into the Shack, startling the family already waiting inside. Even more startling was the piercing howl that briefly drowned out the sound of the wind.

The next few seconds were a blur for Phoenix as a primal fear took her and her shields failed, letting in the frantic clamor of those around her. Someone screamed. Someone was thinking about horror movies. The students ended up inside. Someone else whined about the cold. The door slammed, startling the telepath back to reality. 

Phoenix took stock of her small tour group. It consisted of three college students--Mark, Dylan, and Cassidy--and a woman and her son--Kendra and Oliver. Oliver looked around eleven and was grasping his mom’s hand tightly. 

“Are there wolves out here?” asked Cassidy worriedly. 

Phoenix shook her head. “There shouldn’t be wild wolves in this part of Wisconsin. It was most likely a coyote, and it was miles off.” Luckily, that seemed to mostly assure the guests. Phoenix was sure though that the howl hadn’t been a coyote, though there are some in this area. She glanced at the time on her phone. It was still hours before moonrise, so that couldn’t have been a werewolf yet. 

She was concerned, but she pushed it down to get through her tour. The guide gave her spiel about how the Mystery Shack was a place of wonders and horrors, and then began the tour. She led them through taxidermy chimeras, various artifacts, and random items claimed to be tied to the weird and unexplained.

The college students talked among themselves a lot, though Mark kept making comments to Phoenix about how everything looked fake and this was a waste of his money. Cassidy kept telling him to stop being obnoxious, but Phoenix knew how to handle nonbelievers like him. What she really enjoyed was telling the little boy about the stuff and answering his numerous questions. 

Another howl sounds, decidedly closer. “What is that, a werewolf?” joked Mark. “No, it’s a wraith,” Phoenix replied seriously. She lowered her voice and stared him down. “It is trying to break through into this world. The veil between realms is thin here in Edgewood.” She got a kick out of working this into her routine, but what in the world were the weres doing out this early? 

A few minutes go past, with his obnoxious comments redoubled. Dylan joins in, and Cassidy gives up stopping them. Phoenix considers ways to expand on her wraith story. She wonders if they should install speakers to make eerie noises during tours. 

The third howl is imminently close. Dylan cusses. Cassidy literally jumps in the air. And little Oliver starts crying. “Is the wraith here for my soul?” he asks shakily. Phoenix scolds herself for threatening Mark where the little one could hear. Crouching down in front of the little boy, she assures him, “No, he only eats the souls of very bad people. And also this shack is a safe place. No monsters can get in.” Would she lie to a distraught little boy? Absolutely. Her entire job was spinning tales. She brushed his mind to make sure that her assurance worked, and then stood back up. 

“What’s that noise?” Dylan asked. Phoenix glared at him and whispered to stop. They did not need to scare Oliver any more. “No, seriously, there it is again.” 

Everyone stood still, and then it went again. Phoenix’s blood ran cold. Something was moving outside. It sounded like it was scratching on the walls. This had never happened before. For the first time, she wondered if this was something other than a were, something worse. Whatever wanted in could not be good. She mentally reviewed where she had wooden stakes stashed around the Shack, but this problem likely required silver. 

“Yeah, I hear it too,” Cassidy agreed. “Do you have mice?” 

Oliver’s mom Kendra sent the tour guide a scandalized look. “No, of course not,” Phoenix said. Though a bad review for mice was better than whatever was out there. “Those are the goblins that live in our attic. They use the secret passageways to move about. They are usually quieter though.” 

Oliver was clearly the only one to buy that there weren’t mice in the walls, and actually asked excitedly if he could meet the goblins. Phoenix had to sadly inform him that they are very secretive and shy. 

Over the next ten minutes, the scratching continued, moving around the Shack. Phoenix’s heart did not slow down the entire time. She was grateful that she was the only telepath in the room since she was struggling enough to keep her composure. Even after the scratching stops for a few minutes, she does not release her breath until a howl sounds from a distance. 

No one stuck around to look around the gift shop, and Phoenix did not blame them. She advised them to not stop anywhere near here since the coyotes might still be out. The Mystery Shack was not getting good reviews today. 

Phoenix reentered the Shack and pulled a silver dagger off of its display in the exhibits. She held it out in front of her as she walked slowly around the outside of the Shack. She found many paw prints, showing that something really was circling the shack. Phoenix is no expert on tracks, but they seemed very large to her. Some of the tracks are smeared with some weird red-blue fluid. The red looks like blood, but nothing bled blue except some weird crabs, right? Maybe it was chemicals, like antifreeze. Phoenix snapped some photos of the tracks and the weird liquid. 

She followed the tracks to the woodline, where they continued off north. Towards town. 

She shakily sent a text to Russell to be on the lookout. Then Phoenix hopped in her car without cleaning up the Shack for the night or ever letting go of the silver dagger. She and Griffin never went out on full moons, but she was making extra sure to lock up tight tonight. 

[phoenix-castillo]

A Whole New World - Self Para

Phoenix loved the back roads of Edgewood. She could just chill and listen to her music as she spent some time alone and enjoying the scenery, which never got old. 

The time alone was especially important on a day like today, which had been the definition of crazy. Phoenix loved people, but they had just been all over the place today and she was just exhausted. The telepath had been all over town today doing last minute errands she had somehow forgotten or were new because most of their food spoiled, and was finally able to go home. After, of course, her car took fifteen minutes to get started, a problem which had never occurred before. 

She was humming along to Bruno Mars as a sudden wave of nausea hit her and her vision blurred. Phoenix slammed on the brakes and pulled over just in time to slump onto the wheel. Luckily, no one else was around to worry about.

Phoenix was in the forest. No, not just any forest. None of the plants were recognizable and the air was just bright. She was definitely not in Edgewood anymore. A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling the leaves on the trees. She looked up to see that the trees went on seemingly forever. A nearby vine bloomed before her very eyes, revealing a flower the size of her face. She reached for a leaf and turned it over to see that it was silver on the underside. 

An upbeat melody came through the trees. Phoenix followed the melody, taking an existing path through the dense undergrowth, a path that wove around and seemed to circle around on itself. As she approached, more sounds made their way to her ears: chatting, laughter, hoof beats, and the flapping of wings. 

She quickened her pace. Phoenix knew that she should be there. Someone was waiting for her and Griffin. 

She stopped, and a roaring in her ears replaced the sounds of merriment. Where was Griffin? He deserved to be here too. Hadn’t he been right behind her?

A cold wind drafted through, making it suddenly feel like Winter for a second. The music came back, this time a haunting full of tension but also a level of sorrow. She started running. She had to get to Griffin. She must protect him. The music quickened in time with her steps, and her breaths grew labored. 

Phoenix snapped back to her car. It was rolling slowly along the shoulder, as she had only slammed the brakes but not put it into park. She did that now and turned off the radio. 

Phoenix tried to catch her breath as she leaned back in the driver’s seat. What in the world had that been? That forest was like none she had ever seen before, for surely she would remember a place like that, yet it felt intimately familiar. 

She had never had such a vivid daydream before, and surely it was more than that. It reminded her slightly of what she had read earlier today from Monty. Had she somehow caught this from him? She would have to bug him more about this when he was in a better mood. For now, she needed to lay down and watch some Brooklyn 99. 

Phoenix drove carefully the rest of the way home, a deep sense of homesickness and a haunting melody gripping her mind.