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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 9, 2022 15:14:52 GMT -6
Furthermore, all of the chairs and tables looked TOO perfectly placed. All of the chairs were pushed in to the exact same distance from teh table, their own legs not touching it but instead staying an inch away, all at precise angles from each other. No real person could get it that accurate- it was impossible. There were no fingerprints on the tables, no evidence that anyone had ever actually touched them... well, except for where Aspen was practically rubbing themself all over one. "...It's not real, love. There's no actual flowers in there. It's. It's a carving, dear." She said, with the dryad looking up at her. Fiera guided their hand to touch the underside of the table instead, allowing them to feel the frosted glass making up the etching. "See?" She said, and a little hum of understanding came from their throat as they glided their fingers over it.
Fiera 3 Aspen 9.3/9.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 9, 2022 15:16:49 GMT -6
Fiera supposed it was a good thing that this fake cafe at least had some real food, but it was nothing that could keep anyone going to for too long... and she ultimately saw no reason to stick around. Other than the chocolates that she had already looted (popping another one in her mouth as she thought about it), the eerily pristine room had nothing else of interest for her to snatch up and take with her. Still, there were two doors she could exit through, both carved in a victorian fashion with crystal doorknobs. Now THOSE would be worth a pretty penny if she could figure out how to prise them out and take them with her. But alas, that probably wouldn't be an option. One door was on the far side of the long, skinny room, and the other was right next to it on the right wall, opposite from the window.
Fiera 4 Aspen 9.4/9.4 14
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 9, 2022 15:19:25 GMT -6
The other door was shoved into the corner between the last china cabinet and the wall, as if trying to hide from her. It was an awkward bit of positioning with the other door being right there, but Fiera felt a twinge of interest looking at it. "Could be interesting, right Aspen?" She said, jerking a her thumb in the door's direction. The dryad didn't respond but just raised their eyebrows instead, not comprehending what she was saying but also realizing that Fiera was trying to move on. They followed close behind her as Fiera selected the door in the corner, turning the knob and finding the door stuck. She huffed and put her weight behind it, trying to open it. It wasn't locked- she could feel the mechanisms turning- but something about the shape of the walls made it difficult for the door to open. "Oh come on, you stupid thing." She hissed.
Fiera 5 Aspen 10.0/10.0 15
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 9, 2022 15:34:58 GMT -6
Finally it opened in a sudden burst, and Fiera squeaked as she gripped the knob to avoid flinging herself into the darkness beyond. And it WAS dark. A single lightbulb hung from a long black wire, stretching up into a darkness that Fiera couldn't see the end of. Aspen's ears flicked up as they eyed it nervously, with Fiera's undignified cry not exactly disavowing their concerns. "No no, don't worry about it!" Fiera said, waving at them. "I'm fine, it just surprised me is all." She stepped back into the dark. "See? Fine!" She said. Then she glanced down. Her boots clattered lightly on the iron grating beneath her. Even though it was clearly industrial in nature, it was still arranged in artistic loops and whorls, leading down as a staircase that the humanish couldn't see the end of. She thought she could detect a light from below, but with the cafe's light behind her she couldn't quite tell.
Fiera 6 Aspen 10.1/10.1 16
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 9, 2022 15:56:46 GMT -6
"Well... I guess there's only one way to find out what's down there, eh?" She said, talking mostly to herself- Aspen's comprehension of common wasn't great yet, and it wasn't like they could respond. Still, the dryad followed tentatively as Fiera stepped out further onto the catwalk, letting the door swing shut behind them. Well... sort of shut. It looked like it wasn't fantastically aligned from the inside either, not closing fully and allowing a crackful of light to spill onto the floor. That put Fiera's nerves at ease a bit- it meant that they could get out of here quickly if they needed to. She nodded at Aspen and made her way down the stairs, clinging to a spiraling guardrail that she suspected was there more for show than to actually withstand someone's weight if they slipped. Thankfully, that wasn't something that the pair of them needed to worry about, for different reasons.
Fiera 7 Aspen 10.2/10.2 17
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 8:22:39 GMT -6
Fiera for one was part cat. Moving nimbly had never been something she had troubles with, although she did need to take a little longer to get out of bed nowadays. Still, she was just as flexible and quick on her feet as before, so she could easily readjust if the staircase slipped. Aspen on the other hand was a lot slower and more stolid, but had an advantage that even Fiera couldn't beat- roots on their feet. After all, their feet could shapeshift just as easily as their hands, and so with each step they were able to grow around the mesh floor of the staircase, practically gluing themselves to it. As long as the step was holding on to something more stable by a thread, Aspen wouldn't be falling off of it any time soon... though they might end up upside down if it decided to collapse under them.
Fiear 8 Aspen 10.3/10.3 18
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 8:24:53 GMT -6
That didn't seem to be a problem they were going to have to worry about, however. As Fiera traipsed down the stairs they began to spiral around a central bar that she was pretty sure wasn't there before. It made it all feel a lot more stable however, and a lot less... industrial. The bar had delicate vines with carved roses flowing around it, as if trying to make itself look more pretty than functional. As the pair descended, the light grew brighter and brighter, until that crack from the cafe was all but forgotten. The humanish couldn't quite see what was down there yet, but it certainly sounded a lot more exciting than what was upstairs. She could hear some sort of commotion coming from below her, something similar to human voices even if she couldn't pick out any individual words. Were there more people than her down here after all?
Fiera 9 Aspen 10.4/10.4 19
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 8:36:01 GMT -6
The thought was unlikely, but not impossible. She had heard of people coming in in groups to throw massive parties in relative privacy. The mansion didn’t frequently let different traveling parties cross paths after all, but it wasn’t impossible. Though the idea of coming across one of those SPECIFIC types of parties, uh… she glanced back at Aspen and considered going back upstairs. She didn’t need the dryad getting… the wrong ideas about her. As she got closer though, the sounds didn’t change in pitch or frequency and she still couldn’t get any individual words out of it all, and as she got even closer she realized the light wasn’t flickering at all either- like there was no one around to pass in front of it and cast shadows. Her eyebrows furrowed as she realized that perhaps she should be a little bit concerned again, albeit for different reasons.
Fiera 10 Aspen 11.0/11.0 20
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 8:48:27 GMT -6
As they finally reached the last few steps, Fiera's suspicions were concerned. The noise down here sounded like a nightclub, or perhaps a very popular bar, but there were no people to be found. It was almost as if it was just the noise of a crowd being played from a distance, or perhaps echoing from a different room, though the humanish couldn't see the source. Aspen seemed a little unnerved too, their head constantly flicking around as if trying to determine the source of the noise. Fiera clicked her tongue. "I wouldn't bother, love- it seems like it's just another trick." She said dryly as she began to examine her surroundings. Sure enough, the sound of people seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, as if the people it came from were invisible, but she couldn't "tune in" to any given conversation, and all the voices seemed to be coming from the exact same distance away.
Fiera 11 Aspen 11.1/11.1 21
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 9:09:06 GMT -6
The noise's similarity to a nightclub wasn't entirely unfounded however. Fiera couldn't help but notice the similarities in the room she was in. It looked like the mansion was appealing to more than one form of romance this month. Though this time it appeared to be appealing to more... carnal urges. The kind where two people were two ships in the night who would ah... go crashing violently into each other, with the architecture around them encouraging it. The staircase led down into just one corner of the room, with glossy wooden floors creaking under her feet. She could only tell this by the way they bent and deformed slightly however- the noise around her was far too loud for her to hear the creaks in the traditional way. Aspen seemed wary to step on it too- perhaps they could tell that there was something fake about the wood...or maybe it was just the ghostly voices freaking them out.
Fiera 12 Aspen 11.2/11.2 22
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 9:31:58 GMT -6
The shiny wood led to floors with gold-leaf molding, with rich crimson patterns trailing up the wallpaper back up into the dark... but Fiera could have sworn she didn't see that on her way down. There were tables here too, twirling doodads of gold and black granite, though these weren't really meant to be sat by. Instead they were nearly chest height, perfect for setting drinks on while chit-chatting to the cute person across the bar from you. And what a bar it was. Off to the left it must have spanned nearly twenty feet, with only a smattering of plush covered barstools in front of it, no doubt to entertain the throngs of people that would be coming, ordering something inadvisable and going before shuffling off onto the dancefloor. It glowed from underneath with an amber light, not to mention the white light shining through all of the bottles.
Fiera 13 Aspen 11.3/11.3 23
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 9:36:54 GMT -6
Fiera leaned over the bar, which was polished to a glossy sheen, to get a closer look at those bottles. They were filled with a veritable rainbow of liquors, shaped in every imaginable way, but none of them had a recognizable label. Some were simply crystal bottles in winding, elegantly blown shapes but with completely unidentifiable liquids. Others looked like traditional whiskeys or vodkas, but the labels had been imperfectly peeled off, and the foil caps removed. Who knew what they were cut with. Finally, there were some that DID have labels, but in languages that Fiera couldn't even begin to attempt to translate, looking for all the world like something from another planet. Fiera had been pretty gung-ho before about stealing chocolates out of bowls, but even if booze was much more her "thing", she couldn't bring herself to take a bottle from this shelf. Who knew what what sort of case of poisoning she'd end up with in the end.
Fiera 14 Aspen 11.4/11.4 24
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 9:39:07 GMT -6
As she looked up the bar though, she realized it wasn't perfectly clean. Instead glasses of all shapes and sizes with all sorts of liquid remnants were strewn across the bar. Some were carefully placed on woven coasters, others were spilled haphazardly. Aspen carefully reached out a finger toward one of those spills, curious about its contents. Fiera yelped briefly and grabbed their wrist, tugging them away. "No no! Let's not! Figure out what that does to you today, eh?" She said in a hurry. Aspen was undoubtedly an adult, and was even close to Fiera's side, but at the same time she had no clue what alcoholic beverages could do to a creature that was a crossbreed between a harachiu and a nyssa. And frankly, if Aspen was going to explore alcohols she wouldn't want their first taste to be something spilled on a bar in a magic mansion.
Fiera 15 Aspen 12.0/12.0 25
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 10, 2022 11:02:58 GMT -6
That was just asking for trouble... more than they were already in, at least. The sounds around them meant that there was no way Fiera would be able to hear anyone- or anything- coming. She didn't need Aspen bobbling around like a drunk added on top of that. After Fiera's warning however, they didn't seem too interested in it again. Fiera supposed she should be glad that Aspen was paying attention to their surroundings for once though... even if they weren't paying too much attention as to whether or not those things were dangerous. Still, that was something that she could train them out of. Fiera glanced around. There were a few doors from here on out- one leading to behind the bar. A back room? Perhaps. Another next to the staircase, with a glyph on it that Fiera couldn't read but... gave her the vague sense that it was a bathroom.
Fiera 16 Aspen 12.1/12.1 26
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Yang
Flea Market Artist
Posts: 1,001
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Post by Yang on Feb 10, 2022 13:26:10 GMT -6
There were more than a few others with a strong nose that might pick up the scent of something askew, open, or spilt. A low snuffling echoed faintly, and a lumbering thing made its way closer and closer. Surely dangerous, wild animals wouldn't be allowed to run around such a magical place as a massive, festival-holding mansion...right? An un-armored PHIL sniffs and snorfs along its path, its retained size and strength, a dampener to others who would plan to attack. It's fish, freshly devoured, had it paying little mind to those who were along his chosen path. What strange, potentially sweet things, had fallen over here..?
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