Old Milborough Manor

Phantom

With your Gastly in tow, you are left with the remains of the living room: the old couches, the broken table, the old fireplace. The fireplace in particular strikes your curiosity. Also, to the left of the fireplace is a stairwell that leads upwards.

uv
(fortunately I planned for there to be a trapdoor there, but it occurred to me I didn't really have any rules in mind for how far you could interact with things. I think I'll just have it loose and wingy so it's more potential fun for everybody, as long as nothing happens that directly contradicts something I said or gives you something I didn't say was there. I guess I'll edit the first post.)

You descend the dark stairs, aided by the old lamp that had been lying nearby. The room you find is mostly filled with old crates and barrels. They are covered with so much mold, but are surprisingly intact. They may even still contain things! If you don't mind touching all that mold. It could be poisonous. At the very least, it smells pretty gross.

Stala

You hear the ominous flapping of wings, and a black feather falls from above. Seems like a bad omen... but it could be a good one, too, depending on what you're looking for. There's probably a nest up in this tree that you ran into, actually.

Alraune said:

uv
(fortunately I planned for there to be a trapdoor there, but it occurred to me I didn't really have any rules in mind for how far you could interact with things. I think I'll just have it loose and wingy so it's more potential fun for everybody, as long as nothing happens that directly contradicts something I said or gives you something I didn't say was there. I guess I'll edit the first post.)

Click to expand...

(oops, sorry. I kind of just thought it would make sense for there to be a trapdoor? I should have asked, really. :x)

Alraune said:

You descend the dark stairs, aided by the old lamp that had been lying nearby. The room you find is mostly filled with old crates and barrels. They are covered with so much mold, but are surprisingly intact. They may even still contain things! If you don't mind touching all that mold. It could be poisonous. At the very least, it smells pretty gross.

Click to expand...

"It stinks down here," uv holds her nose in one hand, and holds the lamp high over their heads with the other. The lamp isn't very bright, but it's enough to illuminate a short distance around them. "Hey, maybe there's something neat in those crates! You should have a look, Crackle."
Why am I looking? Those things look gross. And I came down here to find whatever it was we heard earlier, not to go looting.
"There might be a clue! A valuable clue. Besides, I have my hands full, and you aren't doing anything." All vestiges of uv's fear and anxiety have vanished in the face of potential free stuff. Because free stuff!
Crackle rolls his eyes and grabs a crate, pulling at one of the sides while also trying very hard not to think about all the microbes now coating his hands.

uv

The crate that Crackle cracks open falls apart in several large pieces, revealing, among other decayed chunks of rubbish,

a pot of Odd Incense (which may have been contributing to the smell), and some tiny mushrooms that were growing on the inside, of which you may carry one.
Behind some crates you notice a narrow, dark hallway. Uncomfortably, cool air flows through it. It's a very subtle flow, but it's noticeable due to the staleness of the room you are currently in.

Alraune said:

uv

The crate that Crackle cracks open falls apart in several large pieces, revealing, among other decayed chunks of rubbish,

a pot of Odd Incense (which may have been contributing to the smell), and some tiny mushrooms that were growing on the inside, of which you may carry one.
Behind some crates you notice a narrow, dark hallway. Uncomfortably, cool air flows through it. It's a very subtle flow, but it's noticeable due to the staleness of the room you are currently in.

Click to expand...

Crackle recoils from the muck that falls out of the crate, growling, while uv quickly notices the treasure among the trash. "So this is why everything smells bad. It's so pretty!" She turns the Odd Incense over in her hand, admiring the purple metal.
"This'll go great on the mantelpiece!"
But it smells.
"So do you. Here, have a mushroom. Shall we continue?"
Crackle scowls, and tucks the tinymushroom in his shorts pocket. It looks like we can go further that way if we can get past these crates. uv nods. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. This isn't so bad, really." She stuffs the Odd Incense into her bag and helps Crackle move some of the barrels aside. The cool air raises goosebumps on her skin. Well, maybe it isn't so great, but she's cheered up by the prospect of free things considerably. They make a wide enough gap between the crates and the wall to slip past comfortably, so Crackle grabs the lamp and they do so.
I wonder how much fuel is in this lamp, anyway.

uv

As you walk through the hallway, your lamp dies with a comical fizzling sound. Fortunately, the hallway is straight so it should be easy to continue forward. Without the orange light of your lamp, you can detect a faint blue glow in the chamber ahead of you...

Alraune said:

Stala

You hear the ominous flapping of wings, and a black feather falls from above. Seems like a bad omen... but it could be a good one, too, depending on what you're looking for. There's probably a nest up in this tree that you ran into, actually.

Click to expand...

Stala stared at the feather, then up the tree, a plan formulating in her head. "Y'know Arizona? I reckon there's something cool up there!" At that, she jogged back a few metres. Arizona was about to follow when she ran at the tree, top speed. Using her momentum, she tried to run up the trunk to a point where she could grab onto a branch. It took a few tries, but eventually she was climbing up like it was her true calling.

Arizona just sort of scratched around at the bottom of the tree, Torchic aren't known for being great climbers.

Alraune said:

uv

As you walk through the hallway, your lamp dies with a comical fizzling sound. Fortunately, the hallway is straight so it should be easy to continue forward. Without the orange light of your lamp, you can detect a faint blue glow in the chamber ahead of you...

Click to expand...

uv screeches and latches onto Crackle, who almost drops the lamp in surprise. Oh my god, calm down! Crackle removes uv's arms from around his throat. Let your eyes adjust to the darkness. We'll be fine! See, it's a bit lighter over there...
uv nods, but keeps right behind the lucario anyway. Whatever they meet, Crackle can meet it first - he is a pokemon. Slowly they walk to the chamber, the only sound being uv's squeaky wet shoes. The blue glow becomes steadily brighter until they reach the entrance to the chamber.

Alraune said:

Lucky you! Not only have you already found a new Pokemon, but also one which provides function. She provides light for you and makes the path to the mansion much clearer. She'll likely make other things clear to you that you may or may not have wanted to know, too...

Click to expand...

Looking wary at the ominous narration, Blastoise nevertheless pushes ahead, after he takes a moment to grab his omanyte, thank him, and put him on his head once more. He chats with the lampent, asking her a series of standard yes/no questions to get a feel for what she was like. After a bit of this, Blastoise arrives at the mansion. Not quite liking the look of the place's entrance, he asks Woolfe to float up so he can see any alternative entryways.

Stala

As you climb the tree, your arm accidentally slips into a hole in the tree- right into a

male Hoothoot! He flaps his tiny wings wildly and hoots furiously at you for disturbing him. He seems too frightened by your arm to make an actual, effective, defensive action, though, so your arm doesn't get pecked and scratched to pieces!


uv

You enter the room to see a somewhat disturbing scene. The air is quite cold here, and has a vague sense of disturbance, though nothing you can really nail down. A faded mess of circles and triangles, painted in some red substance, probably one of those magic circles you see on the covers of new age books, is on the floor in the center of the small chamber. A pile of oddly-colored dust sits in the center of the circle. On the corners of the triangles that meet with the edges of the circle, forming a ring, sit

several Litwick! They seem to have been sleeping before you shrieked. You might be able to catch one before they manage to crawl away.


Blastoise

Your Lampent floats about, inspecting the mansion. She returns and manages to somehow convey to you that there are several broken windows on all levels of the mansion, as well as what looks like some basement exit or cellar door in the back of the mansion.

Alraune said:

Your Lampent floats about, inspecting the mansion. She returns and manages to somehow convey to you that there are several broken windows on all levels of the mansion, as well as what looks like some basement exit or cellar door in the back of the mansion.

Click to expand...

Blastoise, of course, is a master of pokémon body language and understands Woolfe perfectly. Translating something about a 'feller's boar', He decides to investigate this home-spun man and his porcine companion, and in his exploration finds a cellar door. After asking his lampent to please mention things like this in the future, he opens it up and heads inside, ducking to avoid damage to his omanyte.

Blastoise

It smells pretty stale down here. You descend the stairs and find yourself in a room full of barrels and crates. A wine rack sits in the back of the room. If it's still good, it might be valuable. But forget that, there's tons of crates and barrels and stuff full of stuff that you don't know! Or the might be empty. There's no way of knowing. They're old crates and barrels. At the opposite end of the room are some stairs that leads upwards, probably into the mansion.

Alraune said:

Stala

As you climb the tree, your arm accidentally slips into a hole in the tree- right into a

male Hoothoot! He flaps his tiny wings wildly and hoots furiously at you for disturbing him. He seems too frightened by your arm to make an actual, effective, defensive action, though, so your arm doesn't get pecked and scratched to pieces!

Click to expand...

Stala grins, "Hello mister! Sorry 'bout that, how about being a new friend?" Before the Hoothoot has a chance to respond, he is sucked into a pokeball. Stala hops down from the tree and picks up Arizona. "I found a new friend!" she smiles. "Now, how 'bout we go check out one of the buildings?"

Arizona's heart cries out for the unfortunate soul Stala caught.

Alraune said:

It smells pretty stale down here. You descend the stairs and find yourself in a room full of barrels and crates. A wine rack sits in the back of the room. If it's still good, it might be valuable. But forget that, there's tons of crates and barrels and stuff full of stuff that you don't know! Or the might be empty. There's no way of knowing. They're old crates and barrels. At the opposite end of the room are some stairs that leads upwards, probably into the mansion.

Click to expand...

Barrels! Crates! Wine! Feels like Skyrim up in here, to be honest. Trying to avoid picking up a bucket accidentally, Blastoise asks his lampent if she wants a wine.

"Wait, do fire ghosts even drink stu- wait, I'm dumb, alcohol is flammable. You should probably stay away from the wine, then." Feeling bad for even bringing it up, he pulls a Pinap Juice out from inside his vest and profers it to the ghost. At the same time, he lifts a couple of lids from a couple of barrels and checks about inside.

Alraune said:

Phantom

With your Gastly in tow, you are left with the remains of the living room: the old couches, the broken table, the old fireplace. The fireplace in particular strikes your curiosity. Also, to the left of the fireplace is a stairwell that leads upwards.

Click to expand...

With a smile Phantom minimizes her new capture and tucks the ball safely away in her pack. As she glances around she takes note of her surroundings; specifically the old fireplace in the sitting room. Cato at her side she walks into the sitting room, and passes the old furniture to the fireplace.

Phantom kneels touches the ledge above the fire place, scowling at the dust that now was smudged on her fingers. She brushes her hands off on her jeans and continues to inspect the fireplace. She thinks briefly about starting a fire, but decides against it.

Stala
A few yards away you see a small cabin that can't be more than two rooms large inside. Maybe some servant lived in it? Behind you on the horizon you can see the mansion.

Blastoise
Stuck on the outside of one of the barrels is

a Spell Tag. Inside the barrel is some rotting sludge at the very bottom. It probably used to be some sort of food fortysomething years ago. The stench is overpowering, and it would be in your best interest to cover it back up. The other barrels have no protective tag, and seem to either be empty or contain some equally stinky sludge.

Phantom
In the fireplace, you find some

charcoal! It's pretty useless for kindling now, but it may come in handy later!

(Some lucky rolls on items in this one.
Also, check the first post for a flavorful surprise! I made a small edit...hopefully it enhances the experience.)

Alraune said:

Phantom
In the fireplace, you find some

charcoal! It's pretty useless for kindling now, but it may come in handy later!

(Some lucky rolls on items in this one.
Also, check the first post for a flavorful surprise! I made a small edit...hopefully it enhances the experience.)

Click to expand...

Phantom inspects the charcoal, Could come in handy later, she thought. She handed the black rock to Cato. After inspecting the room Phantom left the sitting room and took a moment to look at the stairs. They looked strong enough. Just in case, as Phantom climbed the stairs she did so slowly.

[By the way, the link on the OP gives me a 403 error.]

Phantom said:

Phantom inspects the charcoal, Could come in handy later, she thought. She handed the black rock to Cato. After inspecting the room Phantom left the sitting room and took a moment to look at the stairs. They looked strong enough. Just in case, as Phantom climbed the stairs she did so slowly.

[By the way, the link on the OP gives me a 403 error.]

Click to expand...

(Aww, it does? Hum. That's odd. does this link work? I didn't want to link to FA directly, but... At first I thought maybe only members can see the download link, but I logged out to test it and I can still access it. Anybody else having that problem?)

The stairs creak loudly beneath your weight, but they seem to hold up. A couple more portraits hang precariously on the wall to your right as you ascend. At the top of the staircase, you find yourself in a hallway. There are three doors to your left, and three doors to your right. Six rooms on this floor. A couple doors on each side of the hallway hang open, unable to be closed, while a door on each side is still closed, but may be able to be opened. There is another staircase upward at the end of this hallway.

Alraune said:

(Aww, it does? Hum. That's odd. does this link work? I didn't want to link to FA directly, but... At first I thought maybe only members can see the download link, but I logged out to test it and I can still access it. Anybody else having that problem?)

The stairs creak loudly beneath your weight, but they seem to hold up. A couple more portraits hang precariously on the wall to your right as you ascend. At the top of the staircase, you find yourself in a hallway. There are three doors to your left, and three doors to your right. Six rooms on this floor. A couple doors on each side of the hallway hang open, unable to be closed, while a door on each side is still closed, but may be able to be opened. There is another staircase upward at the end of this hallway.

Click to expand...

Phantom let out a low whistle. Cato's tail flame was making their shadow's dance along the walls. Six rooms, she contemplated, I might as well look in them all. Left to right might be a good idea. Then she noticed something. On each side, only one door on each side of the hall was closed. Weird.

It was a good a place to start as any. She stepped forward to the closed door on the left side. She took in a deep breath, and exhaled as she tried the door handle.

[That one worked, no idea what it was though. But, yeah, I tried the one in the OP on the computer I'm on, and then again on my mobile, both 403's.]

Phantom
(I had a friend who I know for definitely sure doesn't have an FA account, and they loaded the just-the-mp3 link just fine, so that's not the problem. :( idk what's up. What happens if you click "Download" on the FA page? That link location is what I put in the OP.)

With some effort, the door opens. It appears to be an old reading room. Like the rest of the floor of the hallway, the floor in here was once hardwood but is now rotting wood. The three other walls are covered in bookshelves. A couple of books have fallen off of their shelves and lie open in the floor, ruined by exposure. The books most tightly packed on their shelves are probably still readable. In the rightmost corner of the room is a small, old desk with a small red book sitting on it.

Alraune said:

Phantom
(I had a friend who I know for definitely sure doesn't have an FA account, and they loaded the just-the-mp3 link just fine, so that's not the problem. :( idk what's up. What happens if you click "Download" on the FA page? That link location is what I put in the OP.)

With some effort, the door opens. It appears to be an old reading room. Like the rest of the floor of the hallway, the floor in here was once hardwood but is now rotting wood. The three other walls are covered in bookshelves. A couple of books have fallen off of their shelves and lie open in the floor, ruined by exposure. The books most tightly packed on their shelves are probably still readable. In the rightmost corner of the room is a small, old desk with a small red book sitting on it.

Click to expand...

That's a lot of books. She walked across the room to the old desk in the corner. One book in particular caught her eye. A small red book sat on the desk like someone had just left and were going to be coming back to finish it. Phantom picked up the book and opened it.

[It tried to download it to my phone. I can't check it out on the computer, media's blocked.]