(no subject)

[rosestolilies]

Characters: Those characters participating in The Crone's little game.
Date: January 15
Summary: Three places. Three riddles. Three pieces of information to unlock.
Warnings: N/A

Once the characters reach their destination, they'll find it changed by the Crone's influence, and a puzzle awaiting them.

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THE LIBRARY

[rosestolilies]

The moment you enter the Library, it will be clear that something has changed. The air is full of an oppressive, musty smell, and the shelves are illuminated only by weak, flickering overhead lights, without which the library would be plunged into complete darkness. The shelves themselves have been transformed as well, and are now full of identical hard-cover books, each with a single word written where the book's title should be found: Aardvark, aardwolf, A-bomb, abaca, aback...These books are arranged in alphabetical order, turning the shelves into an enormous dictionary of nouns. If one should pull one off the shelf and attempt to read it they will find its pages blank.

On a table facing the entrance rests a book...or rather, a book cover. It lies open and flat on the table, revealing that all of its pages have been torn out. No matter how you try, the book will not budge from the tabletop, making its title impossible to read.

Next to the book is a scroll. And on it, the following poem is inscribed in a flowery hand:

It's the saddest tale one ever could tell
For a book lacking paper is nought but a shell.
Who pilfered these treasures with nary a care?
A fiend of the earth? A wild spirit of the air?
Who entered this tome with wicked intent
And stole all seven chapters, leaving it spent?

Courage, dear reader, whoever you are,
For the thief, although wicked, could not have gone far.
She could not escape with them all at a dash
And so on these very shelves all seven are stashed.
Like trees in a forest or thoughts in a mind
The best place to hide something is with its own kind.

Their hiding places are all known to me;
I'll guide you, dear reader, and charge you no fee.
Heed my advice, and the search will be sweeter,
But be sure to take note of the scheme, not the meter.

The first with a toy beloved by all
Owned by near every child, the large and the small.
The next with a bitter cure for your chill
Once swallowed it fixes your pains and your ills.
The third with, instead, a cure for the soul
An old piece of vellum, most carefully rolled.
The fourth is with clothes oft thought of as wrong
These small undergarments won't stay on for long.
The fifth is with one you won't easily miss:
From one mouth to another, imparting true bliss.
A pot of the sixth will help you recoup
when your spirits haven fallen and your shoulder droop.
And the last with a weapon fit for a lord
To cut to the chase or to cut through a board.

Good luck to you all as you search and you look.
I pray, return these errant chapters back to the book.

[OOC: Each chapter's hints correspond to a word, and the chapter can be found in the shelf, by the word's book. We'll let you know if you got it right. Happy hunting!]

[variabledge]

Raven hates the cold. If only it could be with a burning, fiery passion so that she wouldn't shiver so much. But huddling by a fire alone is boring, and she can only take so much of that.

So here she is following a whim, and what interests her more than solving the Crone's riddles is the promise of company. She's pathetic, she thinks, but at least she didn't turn to the bar this time. Maybe later, if the profound chill won't leave her bones without a stiff drink to chase it away.

She stands over the scroll, squinting at it in the dim light, practically buried under the weight of several coats and scarves. Winter and this old lady don't agree.

[experiencedlove]

Caprica, on the other hand, has a better tolerance for the cold than a human woman might, though she's still wearing a wool coat and leather gloves, and the chill makes her a bit flushed. She'd never seen snow before the Gardens — faintly, she remembers the blizzard that had occurred last year right around this time — and the frozen powder piled up on either side of the path as she walks toward the library still fascinates her a little.

She stamps snow off the soles of her boots as she enters, shedding her gloves and tucking them into her coat pocket. Usually so warm and inviting, the library is dark, oppressive, and the heavy scent of dust and ancient paper makes it difficult to breathe. A frown creases Caprica's brow and turns down the corners of her mouth, and she ventures forward, eventually spying the other woman in her layers of clothing, bent over the scroll on the table.

"What does it say?" she asks. This woman is a stranger, but that's never stopped her from approaching anyone before.

[variabledge]

She hears the sound of someone entering, but doesn't move more than to glance over her shoulder for a glimpse of the newcomer. Then she turns back to the table, tugging at the book cover awkwardly with one mittened hand. It doesn't budge.

She doesn't respond to the question immediately, but her lips quirk, and after a moment she glances over to size the other woman up properly.

"More poetry. Never had the eye for it, I'm afraid."

[dragoninstalled]

The change in the library is concerning, of course, and the atmosphere leaves Sol ill-at-ease. She's dealt with a hell of a lot worse than ominous atmosphere, though, so while she remains on guard, she doesn't hesitate. Striding right up to the table that has been left facing the door, she gives it and the objects resting on it a quick examination. Besides the fact that book cover won't budge, she can't find anything of particular interest, so it's not long before she turns her attention to the scroll instead.

[variabledge]

Well, this woman looks all business. Raven huffs out a breath, her hands retreating into her sleeves. Why does it have to be so cold out...even spending a few minutes indoors hasn't warmed her up yet.

But here was a good distraction.

"What do ya make of that, hmm? You a fan of riddles?"

[imperial_ray]

Dizzy, however, was if nothing else incredibly sharp when it came to wordplay. She did, after all, spend an incredible amount of time reading. Examining the riddle, she snapped her fingers.

"I've got it. We're looking for specific words. And they have to fit the rhyming scheme of their descriptions." Clever girl.

[spacejumping]

Though she's not wearing her armor, Samus remains (typically) on guard as she makes her way into the library. The temperature is hardly enough to bother her, having already experienced much colder climates, and isn't really enough to distract her from what she came her for. She makes her way to the library, standing in front of the scroll. Her eyes scan over the contents multiple times.

How obnoxiously cryptic, Samus thought to herself, as she began her attempt at deciphering the riddle.

The hint for the fifth chapter in particular caught her attention. "A kiss...?" She mutters under her breath.

[nosebleedqueen]

Kanako was following behind Samus, staring up at her. Kanako has rarely meet girls taller then herself, and in the presence of this tall beauty, it was all she could do to contain herself.

Kanako was busy in her dream world where Samus was carrying her in her arms when she heard the word kiss. "A Kiss would be nice..." She says in a daze.

Re: THE LIBRARY

[manymasked]

Undaunted by the changes in the library (hey, as long as it hasn't transformed into a tower full of monsters, she's seen worse), Minako pokes around the shelves a bit. Before long, she realizes there's little to be found there, and turns to the book and scroll on the table. She reads the poem over a few times, aloud but under her breath.

"So each of these pairs of lines must correspond to one of the words on the shelves... and the poem says to take note of the scheme. The rhyme scheme? Do the answers rhyme with the descriptions?"

After taking some time to think it over, Minako goes carefully through the shelves until she finds what she's looking for: the book with the word "ball" on its spine. She carries this book back over to the blank one, and regards it uncertainly.

"Is that right? ... What do I do with it now?"

Re: THE LIBRARY

[science_with_bonni]

A library! Bonnibel felt almost at home in a library! Well, except for the fact that Turtle Princess wasn't here to talk to, albeit quietly, and the whole place was more of a giant dictionary than anything. So, maybe not so much like home after all. The library at home didn't have an eviscerated book near the front either, and it didn't have a dusty scroll with, oh dear is that a riddle?

Well of course there's going to be a dusty scroll with a riddle on it somewhere in this place, right? She scrunched her brow, read the scroll and mumbled to herself, "Mmm, I see the pattern to this junk. They're simple rhyming couplets, so I'll assume I just have to find stuff that matches the rhyme and works in context? So, the toy beloved by all, for children large and small would be a ball. The cure for chills and ills being pills. Mhm, rolled vellum would probably be a scroll? Then the next one is...some junk" For some reason she found the 'thong' one to be a little embarrassing. Or maybe it was more embarrassing that thong was her first guess! You could have tried to at least tried to pretend to fit 'sarong' in there first, Bon. This place is really getting to you.' she thought to herself, in admonishing tones.

And, scolding herself nice and out of the way, she was off in search of books that'd match the words. And then what, bring them back to the empty book at the front? That part she was a little less certain about. After a bit of a stroll through the As, a walk through the Bs, then there went 'Backwater', then 'Balm', and she'd gone too far. A quick double back, a quick skim through the aisle, and there she was at 'Ball'.

LAKE SANGUINE

[rosestolilies]

Lake Sanguine has never been an inviting place, but now it looks eerier than ever. The lake of blood has frozen over, but this is not simply a flat pool of icy red. Instead, statues jut up from the surface, formed of frozen blood, creating an uncanny tableau. Each sculpture depicts a lovingly rendered girl or woman, from all walks and stations of life, engaged in a variety of activities.Here a small girl picks flowers. Here, a trio of old women sit around a table, playing cards. Here, a mother cradles her newborn daughter. Here, a stern businesswoman, dressed in a suit, speaks into a cell phone. Here, a woman removes a cake from an oven. There are dozens of them. And from each one comes a humming sound, from each one soft, but combined together they form a strangely melodious sound, which echoes throughout the cavern.

At the center of the lake rides a pedestal, with the following etched upon its surface:

I rest inside this bleeding chamber
Within the water's source
I beat just like a hammer
I can only run my course

Choose carefully, brave stranger
For once chosen, right or wrong,
These figures shall all shatter
And I shall end my song

[ritsu_kouyou]

Akiha was the first out of the Dimension Door, Lamba-11 right behind her, as she'd come to understand how this spell of Kris' worked. The magician had to be the last one through, so Akiha stopped at the edge of the lake and looked across the frozen expanse. She'd never actually been to the lake proper, having her maids collect blood from it, but even she knew it wasn't supposed to be frozen.

It didn't help any being frozen as opposed to liquid. The muscle along Akiha's jaw twitched as she walked to the edge, hand slowly clenching and unclenching down at her side. She could feel her own blood stir and forced instincts back down. No, she was the one in control.

"Do you think it's safe to walk on?"

[ported]

Being the last to step through, Kris stared. An unknown phenomena, even to her! It must have been really cold for the lake of blood to freeze that fast, as far as Kris knew.

"Want me to give it a try?"

[reverentresistance]

Ky didn't see people around to ask to go with her to the answer to the riddle, and while the very idea of following a riddle seems like it's not going to lead to anything productive. Still, she didn't have a whole lot more options than going to the obvious conclusion. She could stay in the room she'd claimed, or she could try to find out something of what was going on. And so, wary of a trap but curious, she ventured out.

She hadn't been to Lake Sanguine before, but she walks through, looking at the grotesque tableau of statues, even more revolted when she realizes what they're made of. She walks through, murmuring prayers under her breath for the souls that the statues represent.

Re: LAKE SANGUINE

[just_your_problem]

She had tried to ignore it, the smell. However, the smell eventually became ingrained and her curiosity won out. The scent, although it thoroughly repulsed her, drew her in. Her unique way of handing her cravings aside, the scent of blood was so thick that she swore she could taste it. Blood lust, it was so alien to her that it made every fiber in her body ache and scream!

She was here to feed, yes. She needed to be sated or she would be driven mad. No, not out of a physical hunger but a mental one. She, for reasons beyond her, needed to know what was going on here. What was the Crone playing at? One paw in front of the other she skulked about her in wolf form, sniffing madly at the air and ground. Marceline huffed and panted, the riddle still fresh in her mind. Too bad she didn't think of it, it would've made an awesome song! Circling the first statue she came upon she let out several barks followed by a low howl.

[lastwaltz]

My, a lake made of blood. It didn't seem to quite fit in with the rest of the Gardens' decor, though it definitely deserved investigation. Ryoko approached curiously, knelt down at the shore to analyze the area in greater detail, but... the data was disappointingly mundane and she couldn't get a read off of anything at all besides the fact that the lake was made of frozen blood.

According to the data, the ice was solid enough to support quite a bit of weight, so she carefully stepped on and approached the nearest statue when she heard the wolfish howl and froze in place. A Garden animal? Or something else? She scanned the area, looking for the source of the noise.

THE ARCADE

[rosestolilies]

The arcade is usually a lively place, full of loud noises and bright, colorful lights. Today, though, its machines are silent, and their displays show only static through broken screens. There are only two exceptions.

The first is a large machine, and a new one at that. It displays the title screen, which reads ULTIMATE HEARTS FIGHTING CHAMPIONS, and prompts the player to insert credit to play. The game will not accept any coin or token.

The second is a simple pinball machine. It seems to be stuck on infinite play, and doesn't tally any points; the small screen at the top constantly reads TILT, but the game functions as normal. Otherwisem, it seems to be a normal pinball machine in every way except one: There is a space, directly above where the return feeds the ball in, marked ULTIMATE PRIZE in the center of a pink heart. However, the surface of the game subtly curves around it so that no matter how you strike the ball with the flippers, it will only ever come tantalizingly close; It will never quite reach.

[mnementomori]

Xion is here alone despite the advice to go in groups. She's running through her usual Mission Routine, which is checking everything for clues. And possibly hitting some of the broken arcade machines with her Keyblade when they don't respond. It can't hurt, right?

[fionna_time]

"What the heck, man? I thought this was supposed to be the place where the video games and junk are played! And what's with the mysterious clues, anyway?"

She's only really speaking to quiet her fears. Fionna preferred loud talking, and was usually the one that helped incorporate that in a group. Unnecessary silences troubled her, and whatever this whole mystery riddle was about, it made her uneasy.

Fionna was going to get to the bottom of it though. Now where was that girl she was talking to earlier?

[namedforthesky]

"Xion!"

Sora'd gone to the arcade herself. If there's one thing she can do, it's video games. It's just luck Xion is here, too. So she'll run up to her and smile.

"Any ideas on what we're supposed to do?"

[of_the_highest_caliber]

There are a few girls gathered at the machine that can't take any money, so Subaru has decided to take it upon herself to try the challenge of the pinball machine. Sleeves rolled up, she is all into hammering that bearing around for all it is worth, but she can just never seem to make that perfect shot.

Her sentences pause whenever she smacks the buttons for the flippers, attempting to get the speed of the ball up so high that it should just careen right into the hole it needs to be in.


"This thing... isn't set up... fair... aw, man!" Smacking the side of the machine with her hands as the ball seems to swerve around that target. "Could there be magnets?" Which makes her wonder if this means she has to cheat, too...

[fionna_time]

"Subaru, what's up?" Fionna greeted, grinning. She was really glad she was here, actually: it made her feel less stupid for not immediately getting what was going on with the video games. She was still kicking idly at the other game, and this time, sighed, plunging into her pocket.

"Wonder if this will work?" She said, showing Subaru two coins from her treefort. "Is this a credit?"

[undefines]

Nue had, of course, followed Sanae to the arcade. After all, it wasn't like she had anything better to do, and this at least made her feel constructive. She had broken away from the shrine maiden before long, though, choosing to wander between the machines rather than talk with the others that had come here. Maybe there was another hint, somewhere?

She had to admit the blank screens were kind of creepy, though. Passing a row of arcade machines, she tried smashing the buttons on each one at random. Predictably, this did absolutely nothing of note, and Nue responded by huffing and giving the last one a swift kick. This was so dumb.

[hihou]

"Aiming to break your toes?" came Sanae's almost psychically enhanced chiding. She gave a sigh, walking over to the youkai.

"I take it you never saw an arcade like this before coming here..."