but when the dusk descends (march catchall, open + closed)

[fromshadows]

Who: Blake (descendsfromshadows) + various
What: Some event stuff, some non-event stuff!
When: March
Where: Gaze, the Clockhouse, Turning Goat + various

Content Warnings: Minor violence, gambling + will add others as necessary



(OOC: Some open starters below, closed starters will be posted in the comments. Event plotting post is here, or hit me up at cosmonautdelta!)



▒▒▒ 𝐢. 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 [𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞]

[ It had been late afternoon by the time that Blake had gotten to the Clockhouse for the first time, and she'd barely had the time to appreciate it, let alone actually meet anybody that lived there. Late afternoon or not, she'd fallen asleep the moment she'd slumped down onto the couch, the long, hard sleep of someone who's just... well, falling into a void, briefly being a squid, washing up on shore, and having to adjust to finding herself into an entirely new world. It's a lot to get used to.

She'd dreamed in frantic snippets. Golden fire falling into darkness, and silver fire fading. Liferopes burned away. A raven's feathers in her hair, and black blood in her veins.

When she wakes, bleary and rumpled, the light coming in through the windows suggests that it's some time in the morning, but it's hard to be sure. Thankfully her Huntress uniform is (sort of) comfortable enough to sleep in, but she till feels out of sorts, absent of the routine she'd settled into again in Atlas. And though she casts a longing glance toward the kitchen, she's not sure she feels comfortable enough to just rummage around in search of tea. She knows that Qrow and Oscar, at least, would tell her that she's allowed, but there are people that she doesn't know that live here, too, and she doesn't want to presume.

So she winds up in the library.

As half-empty as it is, libraries have always been Blake's place of refuge. How was she supposed to resist? Curling up in a chair with her legs tucked under her, Blake idly thumbs through the book she's picked out, but her gaze is wandering between it and the view outside, past the verandah, onto the vast lawn and grey skies beyond. The weather looks like it's going to turn foul, and Blake's never been more glad to have somewhere she can shelter.

A soft sound catches her attention, and one feline ear flicks toward the doorway before her head turns. ]

I hope it's okay that I'm in here. And that I slept on the couch. [ Blake ducks her head, sheepish. ] For what it's worth, it's a very comfortable couch.

▒▒▒ 𝐢𝐢. 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 [𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥]

[ To say that Goat Turning isn't Blake's usual place is... understating it.

It's loud. People are yelling in excitement, in frustration, in congratulations. In such a packed place, the scents of food are almost overwhelming, and it's uncomfortably warm. But Blake's determined to explore this city, and that includes checking out the big events that are happening (much to her current chagrin). She'd been handed some chips, and after watching some games, had been bemused to find out that poker was the same here as it is in her world.

She'd tried a couple, keeping her commemorative coin tucked carefully in her pocket, and had come out slightly up. Blake's never been into gambling, but she'll grudgingly admit that she has a pretty good poker face, and it had served her well. She's not sure if she'll attempt any more tonight -- but it's open for two weeks, so she'll have plenty of opportunities to come back if she likes.

For now, Blake stands off to the side, and she watches, avid golden-yellow gaze roving over the crowd, feline ears swiveling every which way to catch the noise and snippets of conversation. There's a silent dread in her blood, and she doesn't know if she can put a name to it.

Someone comes to stand next to her, a new free drink in their hand -- the same one that Blake picked, something red and fruity and sour. And for a while, typical wallflower that she is, Blake doesn't say anything, until eventually she says wryly: ]

Should we be concerned that this place printed coins with our faces on them? Seems a little creepy.

[ Especially since she's been here for all of a few days, and hasn't come close to this area of the city before. How did they know? ]

Comments

[fromshadows]

I know.

[ Blake's voice is somber, her shoulders slumping as her ears lay flat, worry as plain on her face as it is in her voice. ]

She put me in a locked room too. I questioned her about this place as much as I could, and I tried to... get her to see how different she was acting. I don't know if it's corruption, or Ange's magic, or both.

[ Blake turns, and though she sticks close to the wall, she starts examining the room again. For the most part, it looks like any normal room, though the paintings are full of golden butterflies and red swathes of color. On a small table, there's a lockbox that Blake can see a combination lock on, which piques her interest. The door is solidly shut. ]

There has to be a way out. [ But if Penny hasn't figured it out by now, what chance does Blake have? Still, Blake's determined. ] What do you see in your room, Penny? Anything out of place? Anything that stands out?

[hacktivated]

[ Penny, at least, has some insight about that. ]

I believe it may be corruption, and perhaps also one of the city's temporary effects.

[ As for Ange's magic... well, Penny would very much like for that to not be the case, but she doesn't know well enough to say.

They can worry about that later, though. Right now they need to stay focused on getting out of here, and to that end Penny turns her attention to the room. She's already thoroughly categorized the entire contents of the room, and she'll happily launch into an absolutely exhaustive list of everything she's noticed in the room.

Fortunately, she does start from what she considers the most interesting of the rooms features first. She notes the lockbox with its crows, the painting of the golden butterflies, and the scythes carved into the bed posts before she starts going on about the filigree pattern on the throw pillows or the exact number of scratches where the chair has been moved back and forth.

She does, at least, has the sense to stop before she gets too far in the weeds. ]

What about you?

[fromshadows]

[ Admittedly, Blake doesn't know much about corruption yet. She's heard of the concept, but she doesn't really know how far it can go to influence people, and what kind of specific effects it can have. But if that's Penny's guess, then Blake will trust that.

She listens carefully as Penny runs down the list of everything in her room. It's very Ange and Ruby themed, just like her own, but there's differences in the decoration. ]

I've got a lockbox in my room as well. It looks like a three number password, but... I have no idea what the combination might be. Maybe dates important to Ruby or Ange?

[ That almost feels too obvious, though. Blake does the same as Penny, and runs down a list of her own room's features, including the painting of red roses in bloom, the lockbox's glowing red stone set into the top, and the golden butterflies in the wallpaper. Unlike Penny, though, Blake only describes the general state of the room as tidy but like nobody's ever been here, and stops there. ]

I don't know what's in the lockboxes, but I think it has to be important if we've both got one. Maybe a way out?

[hacktivated]

Or a clue to the way out!

[ Either way it's a place to start. The dates idea doesn't quite sound likely, but it's at least worth trying. She relays the date of Ruby and Ange's wedding to Blake, then tries it on her own lockbox. Unsurprisingly, it stays locked. ]

I am afraid my attempt was unsuccessful. But I think there must be a way for us to discover the code.

[ That's how things usually work in Trench. She scans the room again. ]

There may be books containing the codes. Or numbers hidden behind paintings and furniture!

[fromshadows]

[ While Penny tries her own combinations, Blake tries the dates she can think of. Ruby's birthday, Yang's birthday, the first day they attended Beacon, but none of them work. ]

When Ruby locked me in here... she said there was no way to get out on my own. [ Blake's voice is pensive, looking around the room thoughtfully. ] So I can only assume that if we do find a code, it won't let us out of our rooms. But... maybe there might be clues to each other's lockboxes?

[ It's a bit of a stretch, but it's the best idea Blake has right now. So she leans into the wall, and says with determination: ]

Good idea, Penny. Let's search books, and behind the paintings, and everywhere else a code might be hidden. I'm sure we'll find something.

[ Except, none of the obvious places contain codes. Blake even resorts to looking underneath the beds, and climbing on a chair to see the ceiling better, and removing the paintings from the walls to examine the backs. She glances at the door, worriedly thinking about calling for help again, but she knows it'll be useless. But she cannot just let them rot in here. They have to find a way out. ]

I'm... not having much luck. How about you?