WFTW EVENT: Pumpkipew Panic!

Lily stood amidst the crowd as she listened to the strangely dressed tall man making his speech, pauses and all. She wasn't sure why he had covered himself with a white sheet of cloth, although from what she could gather it was supposed to resemble a ghost? Truthfully she wasn't very familiar with the customs of Halloween and those that celebrated it. It was distinctly different from the harvest festival, which had a clear connection to people celebrating a successful harvest that would get them through the harsh winter. Similar to how the creatures living in the wilds would stock up for the coldest time of the season, except with more extravagance. What purpose Halloween had was lost on her.

However that was part of the reason she was here! She wanted to learn more about all these events and customs that the civilized people had invented in their many years of having separated themselves from nature. Even if this affair with fake ghosts and rotten houses didn't immediately make sense to her she was sure there was some deeper meaning behind it. Or maybe it was just fun, and the dryad wasn't someone to declare something pointless just because it was entertaining. Even animals liked to entertain themselves in the downtime between resting and hunting.

Her viridian gaze shifted from the gaunt speaker to the building behind him. It looked a lot like a building which had been abandoned long ago and which would have been overgrown by plants if the trees in the area didn't all look died and dried out. The sight of those dark trees made her a little bit uncomfortable, but the leafclad girl shook her head. Nothing strange about old trees fading away. Over time new trees would grow here.

For a moment she looked around for Basin, or Nepo, or Saku. However none of her friends were with her this time around. Basin couldn't even have entered the house where the event would be held anyway, and the other two had decided that they'd rather stick with the earth elemental. While Basin had an interest in civilization Nepo and Saku seemed to be less passionate on the subject, so when the big stone figure had decided to stay behind they'd quickly stuck with him. Leaving the dryad to enjoy this event on her own. She felt a bit disappointed that they wouldn't join her, although from the sounds of it maybe this event wouldn't really have worked for them anyway. Looking at the strange tools on display which would be used to shoot pumpkin seeds on each other Lily figured that none of her three companions could really use them.

Once the speech was over she hurried over towards where one of the attendees gave her a pumpkipew. The dryad lifted the weapon and studied it curiously, feeling some kind of magic from it but being unable to tell what it was. "So... how do you use these?" Lily had never actually seen a gun before, let alone been taught how to use one.

The attendee, the pumpkee, silently took the gun and demonstrated it, shooting at the ground so the pumpkin seed that was ejected from the strange device harmlessly bounced off of the barren ground. The leafclad girl took the weapon back with a wide smile "Thank you!" The pumpkee nodded and put the black collar around Lily's neck, then led her into the mansion where the madness would soon start. It looked like she was one of the first to enter, but she was pretty certain the mansion would soon be filled with people shooting pumpkin seeds at each other.

Would they collect the seeds afterwards so they could plant them for the harvest festival next year?

---

A rather nervous-looking fellow was making his way through a hallway, holding his pumpkipew in front of him and slowly turning around to keep an eye on everything around him. There didn't seem to be anybody in the hallway other than him, but the organizer of this event had done a great job creating a spooky atmosphere that could quickly get on your nerves even if you were all alone. Especially if you were all alone, since there was nobody else to reassure you or to remind you that the world was still normal. It wasn't like he was about to freak out, but he could definitely feel the tension in the air, the worry that something would pop up out of nowhere.

When the man passed by her hiding place Lily waited a couple more seconds before moving silently. This entire mansion was made out of wood and stone, which meant that she had no problem fading into the backdrop of the walls and the floor. Reaching up she grabbed the pumpkipew which she'd hung from the ceiling with some vines, where it would be easily missed. Taking careful aim she waited until the man was facing the other way entirely before she pulled the trigger, sending a pumpkin seed flying which clipped the man's leg.

Using projectile weapons of any kind wasn't really Lily's strong suit. Using any kind of weapon wasn't really her strong suit. Nevertheless the seed did its job as it erupted into a burst of confetti and its magic effect took hold of the man...

"HELP, MY HEAD! IT'S STUCK IN A PUMPKIN!!"

Suddenly the man was wearing a fancy long black cloak, wearing oversized white gloves and boots, and on his head was a large pumpkin. Or rather, a jack-o'-lantern. It looked very comical, all things considered, but the man himself seemed to be less than pleased with it as he ineffectively tried to pull the pumpkin helmet off of his head.

Lily, for her part, giggled as she ran in the other direction, diving into an open doorway to avoid retaliatory fire. She still didn't know what exactly this was all about but she was having a lot of fun.

WC: 996
PWC: 996

The past days had seen Beira rather shifty and querulous. It was a feeling of growing dissatisfaction, and the Winter Goddess, normally an introvert, became something more of a recluse, avoiding people when and where she could, and keeping her interactions with those she could not avoid as short and as quick as possible. All the same, Beira was not quite pleased with her present emotional state, and decided to take a walk, as she usually did, when she wanted to get rid of mental cobwebs or give herself time, space and quiet to think. That was why she always did her walks at night.

It seemed, however, that this night was not going to be a quiet one. Everyone seemed to be outside, there was a lot of noise and light, people running about in strange clothes (strange even for Fioreans), and pumpkins. A lot of pumpkins. Beira remembered. It was Halloween season again, where Fioreans tried to be scary and did strange stuff and ate ghosts and talked about pumpkins. Wait, was it the other way round? Beira could not tell, but she was not sure she cared, in any case. After all, it wasn't like anyone really could tell her the correlation between ghosts and pumpkins. So there was no point in asking.

As the God Slayer walked idly down the road, her thoughts racing to and fro, her attention was captured by weird music. Deciding to abandon her increasingly ominous thoughts, the Utgardian wandered in the direction of the sound, the increase in volume informing her that she wasn't missing her way. Eventually, she arrived at an immense building, spooky and sinister in the pale moonlight. Before the building was another weirdly-dressed fellow, talking about pumpkin seeds and other boring agricultural stuff. Or was he talking about agriculture? Beira had no idea, but it didn't sound interesting. Then he mentioned 'war', and her attention was caught. Slowly, she drew closer, as she realized he was inviting people to come into the strange building behind him and participate in a war. Why? She had no idea. But then again, Fioreans were always known for being rather difficult to understand. But if it was an engagement of martial prowess, Beira was game.

"I will participate in your war, whatever it is,", the God Slayer said, stepping forward. Immediately, she was offered a strange weapon, though on closer observation, it resembled what Fioreans called a gun. So the battle would be one of long range. She wasn't scared of long-range battles; she had fought well with a bow before. After clarifying that physical martial engagements were not part of the war (to no small disappointment of hers), Beira decided that it would be a good test of her combat skills to be able to learn the use of a weapon so strange to her. To do well in this contest would be all the reward she needed, for it would be proof to herself that she was a great warrior, even capable of triumphing in battles which she was not advantaged by the privilege of knowledge.

As the Utgardian began stepping towards the house, a loud crash caught her attention. It seemed some of the bystanders had decided that the strangely dressed fellow in a white bed sheet was infinitely cool standing on pumpkins, and they had to exhibit the same or at least a similar level of coolness. How they had failed, Beira did not know. What she knew was that there were a bunch of sprawled teenagers, and pumpkins flying everywhere. As one of the teenagers rose to his feet, a hollowed pumpkin landed on his head. It was quite amusing, although it appeared that, for all intents and purposes, the young bloke was unable to get the pumpkin off his head. He began screaming and running about, flailing like a headless chicken.

"HELP, MY HEAD! IT'S STUCK IN A PUMPKIN!!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs, though the sound was muffled by the pumpkin. Beira responded with a quick, well-thrown punch, which shattered the pumpkin and knocked the teen off his feet. He was somewhat dazed, but that was about as hurt as he was. Beira nodded to his companions, who offered their thanks, and turned back to collect the weapon that had been handed to her. She fixed the black collar round her neck, and took a minute or two to study this strange gun, and how best to hold it. Eventually settling for a comfortable way to wield her weapon, making sure that its nozzle was always pointed away from her, Beira strode confidently, but warily into the mansion.

It seemed the battle had already begun inside. It was time to attend to matters of war.


WC: 795 words

The raven haired angel could not help but smile slightly as she listened to the oddly dressed figure explain the rules of the game. It sounded like fun and after her enjoyable evening at the singles night, Medeia was in a rather good mood. Her encounter with Illya had been wonderful and the witch truly hoped that one day she would encounter the idol again. It seemed to be a habit for hers, making friends with celebrities. as she had now become quite close to both Illya and Sakura. It was always handy to have allies in high places and she never knew when their connections might be useful. With any luck, the playing around in the mansion today might be another chance for her to extend her web of influence somewhat. In any case, it would no doubt be an adrenaline pumping experience regardless. It had been a while since she had taken part in anything combat related and although there was no risk of taking nor dealing out any damage, it would at least keep her skills at peak efficiency.

As the figure disappeared and the group of people started to move off into the mansion, a member of staff would approach her, holding both a weapon and something else which caused her eyebrow to rise. A collar? The nerve of it! The expression on her face darkened somewhat and the member of staff seemed to wilt when under the intense gaze of her purple orbs. However, he held himself together well enough to explain the situation again, as it seemed Medeia had glossed over that part the first time. With a deep sigh, she would take the device and attach it to her neck although she hardly looked pleased. The weapon handed to her was rather odd though and caused her mood to mellow. She was not all that familiar with guns but had enough experience with weapons to know the basics. As soon as she was ready to go, the member of staff quickly got out of there, lest he receive any further looks from her. The witch simply shrugged and started walking towards the mansion.

Yet, before she could even enter the building, a strange figure came running out of the front doors. His arms were waving like crazy and he shouted, "HELP, MY HEAD! IT'S STUCK IN A PUMPKIN!!" His behaviour was incredibly strange and the strangest part was that there was nothing even on his head at all. At first, Medeia thought that he was simply insane but as he ran in her direction, she began to pick up a potent scent.

Alcohol.

Rolling her eyes at the drunken fool, she would kick him in the backside as he ran past her, causing him to fall flat on his face. Mumbling and groaning, he would continue with his mindless ravings while Medeia would simply leave him where he lay. Opening the door to the mansion, she would then make her way inside, her slayer senses immediately on the lookout for a target, her odd pumpkin gun in hand.

(516 Words)

Noah had reached Fiore not all that long ago; the wolves had guided him to the Silver Wolf guide and there he had remained, taking the time to learn as much as he could of the land. But this... This was new. He wasn't a stranger to the actual holiday, they had something like it in his homeland and in his last few years he'd heard of it in the small islands he visited. Though the sheer scale of this one... he didn't quite know how to feel about it. Quite frankly he might have skipped it, but some of his new guildmates had thought it a good idea that he should visit it and see for himself; curiosity did the rest. He'd been told it was something big but this? The sheer size and co-ordination of it was insane.

So there he stood, in tones of silver and orange with a long coat which he will leave somewhere in the foyer. From here he stood with the other watching a ghost made of sheets standing in front of a seriously well done house explaining the rules of the game. It sounded simple, martial weapons were what he knew best; these guns were new but he looked forward to studying them too. While he waits he looks around again at the colors, the sheer size of everything; if nothing else Fiore celebrated differently. Noah always knew less as more, it allowed for focus; if it wasn't for the purer intentions and sheer work this must have required, he may have considered it an over-indulgence. Sensing this Noah was starting to trail off, his spirit forms itself and faces him Remember you're here to enjoy yourself as much as learn. Try not to get so much in your own head today. It's a festival after all. That means you gotta try enjoy yourself.

Noah takes a second to think on this before his eyes take on an orange hue to match the rather festive themes around him. I can do that. he speaks out loud which may garner some looks to those who can't see but otherwise Noah simply enters the building and taking the opportunity to be collared and gifted a weapon. As soon as the mechanics of a gun were explained to him, Noah went straight past the snacks and straight into the arena so he could try out a few shots before the actual game starts. He's not the only one with the idea and a few shots later he hears the sound of gunfire followed by a scream of surprise
HELP, MY HEAD! IT'S STUCK IN A PUMPKIN!! followed quickly by a young man running blind with what is indeed a pumpkin placed on his head, presumably by the seeds of the gun? Regardless Noah grabs him and crushes the front of the pumpkin, at least this way he would be able to carry on and see. Having finished his practice run he re-enters the main hall and waits to see what will happen next.

WC:508

First things first: in a terrain of which one has little to no knowledge, nothing is more important than reconnaissance. In the event that comfortable reconnaissance is not a plausible option, it would be best to find a well-defendable position, and from there attempt to gain information sufficient to grant one a reasonable advantage. These were some of the lessons Beira had learnt in one of the Utgardian battle schools. And even though she was quite aware that this was not one of the more traditional battle fields with all the blood and gore and carnage, it still did have a lot of characteristics of a battleground. Besides, the strange guy in the white bed sheet outside had described this as an "all-out war". Application of strategies suited for war would be definitely advantageous, although some things would definitely have to be adjusted.

The fact that Beira could not use her magic was challenging, but it wasn't something she was disturbed about. Definitely, the inability to use magic in this strange mansion was so that the playing field would be more level. Of course, were she to have her magic, she would have simply used her extrasensory abilities to get a feel of the entire area. Since she didn't, it would be best to try the more traditional approaches to information gathering. First, she would find a hiding place. The problem with good hiding places was that if you saw a place and felt it was strategically advantageous, chances were that someone else would have arrived at a similar conclusion as yourself. As such, good vantage points were always attacked, and one had to be vigilant to secure it.

Beira soon found what she was looking for. A corner in the hallway, with a large cupboard arranged in such a way as to provide decent cover. The signs of dust having been disturbed on the floor told Beira that someone had recently been there. It was best to attempt to take this person by surprise, that is, if the person was still there at all. All this while, Beira had been taking care to sneak around. Now she hear a number of footsteps approaching, most certainly more than even two people. Wasn't this supposed to be a single 'one against the world' kind of thing? Well, that didn't matter now. What mattered was having the advantage when this group came. Leaping atop the cupboard, she brought her gun downwards, pulling the trigger even before her senses had recorded whether someone was hiding there or not.

Her preemptive judgment proved very correct. The person hiding behind the cupboard screeched as she was showered from above with pumpkin bullets. Beira's victim ran off screaming, some red viscous liquid on her skin and clothes. Initially, Beira was alarmed. These weapons were not supposed to be fatal. But quickly, the God Slayer set her mind at ease with two observations. Firstly, the woman had run off at full tilt. If she had been injured, she would not have been able to move that efficiently. Secondly, the victim was expected to be bleeding. There was no motion of the red stuff. Beira touched a drop of the stuff with her finger and smelt it. The smell was strange, but it wasn't blood. Beira was quite familiar with the smell of blood. Having secured the hiding place, Beira peered out from her cover, prepared to spray the incoming tide of...

...kids?! Yes, kids. About five of them, dressed rather quite oddly. It seemed one of Halloween's ideas was to dress in rather strange manners. One of the younglings saw Beira looking incredulously at the gang, and immediately called the group's attention to her. At first, Beira thought that they would attack, but it seemed they had different intentions. Swarming her hiding place, they began clamoring for what the God Slayer could not initially quite decipher, but eventually, one of them, probably their de facto leader, stepped forward, and quieted the others. "Don't you think our costumes are wonderful, lady?"

"Grand. Now, leave. I've got a war to fight."

The clamor rose again, but the kid leader called for silence again. "We can't just go, until we're compensated for all the efforts we took to be this well attired." The others hooted their approval, calling on Beira to reward them. Initially, her intention was to attempt to ignore them, but the God Slayer realized that this would be very difficult to do, and still be effective in the battle. All this while, the kids kept clamoring, and their leader continued pressing home the reasons why they were worthy of Beira's treats. "Okay, fine! I don't have any sweets, but here, take some jewels." The boy accepted the money eagerly, but didn't go. "While I am most appreciative of this money," he said, "it is too small for the five of us."

Beira looked at him with growing irritation, but her eye was quickly drawn away to someone who had just come and had taken note of her and the kids. His hesitation, due to unwillingness to shoot the kids was enough for Beira to shoot him first, sending him fleeing, while she took note that getting hit by those seeds was probably not in her best interests. The kids now resumed their clamor, persuading her that they had assisted her in adding another 'kill' to her scorecard. Eager to get rid of them, the Utgardian handed the children more money. "Fine, fine, you little thieves. Take this and begone." With yelps and cries of delight, the kids rushed off, seeking their next victim. Beira, for her part, decided she had stayed long in this room, and thus followed a door adjacent to her hiding spot, which led to a dark, spooky stairwell.


WC: 965 words
Personal WC: 1760/...

As Noah turns his back he feels a *tap* on the small of his back. Looking back it seems that some had already taken to shooting others when they weren't looking. With a quick turn he aims to fire off a few rounds and, seeing their just children messing around he aims towards the floor in front of them. Given he didn't have much experience with using a gun it ended up just spraying across the area anyways, which was still enough to scare them off to ambush some other prey. But as he enters a hall he started to hear Candy! Candy! We want Candy! a moment later a child dressed eerily like the monks of his homeland appear next to him, followed by another and another, till there were about 6 all in all. The sight of them was nothing short of surprising, he had no idea that anyone even knew the look.

He offered them a smile What wonderful outfits you have there, what is it?
At this the young children looked excited to share Magic!
With this response Noah looked closer and, indeed the costumes seemed to shimmer slightly. He was about to ask when the response came anyways Magic! We made them, what are you seeing?
The young man can't decide what's more impressive. The fact that these children took the time to learn whatever spell they were using, the fact they had the aptitude so young, or that they went through that much effort. Regardless they had just offered him a glimpse of home his real home for the first time in many years. That satisfied him. He walked to the table grabbing one of the bowls off the table, bringing it down to the kids for them to take as much as they'd like You made this? What I see is something worthy of a reward. The children happily take a handful or two each before they run off. All except one who remains standing in front of Noah. He offers the bowl again and is met with a slight head shake. Before he could ask the child reaches into the bowl and the hand reaches out the other side. Now thoroughly surprised, Noah summons the spirit to investigate. It takes a moment, but the spirit looks back and does something Noah hadn't seen. It taps the young boy on the shoulder.

It's a spirit like me. And not like me. Seems to be magic based, made to give a scare and nothing more. It's not really there though. And like me it has limited interaction with the world, but you can see it. As if to illustrate the point the ghost boy simply walks through Noah which gives him the oddest sensation before it disappears again. Despite the shock, having it somewhat explained helps to alleviate tensions a bit. He looked around for the the first time and realized more and more people were jumping into the battle area. Deciding the best way to get into the spirit of things, he jumps back in prepared for a fight.

WC: 516
TWC: 1024

It was far more entertaining then she had first thought it would be and she had only spent about five seconds inside the mansion before she was forced to take cover behind the nearest chair. The pumpkin bullets were coming from all sides and even with her enhanced senses, it was pretty difficult for the witch to make out anything. The rather limited light did not help either but after a while, she was able to pop her head around and fire a few seeds at her attackers, hearing quite a pleasurable squelch as at least one hit the target. A male voice would then be heard, followed by a loud “Eww” like noise. As it turned out, her seed had exploded on impact, covering him in a red like syrup. He was not alone though and the sounds of laughter could soon be heard, shortly before another barrage of seeds came barreling towards her. She was well and truly stuck behind the chair and deeply wished that she had brought Armina with her. In honesty, her maid was probably better at this than she was.

All of a sudden, her vision would suddenly be clouded by what seemed to be a white mist. At first, she thought that perhaps she had been struck by a seed and that this was the effect but that was shortly dismissed as she heard a familiar dark laugh. That of her brother, Argyle. Annoyed by the interruption, Medeia would seem to forget all about the game for a moment and wander out from her cover, walking through the clouded area in front of her. Stretching a hand out in front of her, the witch would blunder on for some time, before her eyes would fall upon a rather unpleasant scene. Sitting there would be a tombstone but what was worse were the words written upon it. “Priya - Medeia.” If had only been the latter then she could have passed it off as simply her mind playing tricks but her angelic name as well? That was something else entirely. Was this a vision after all? A warning from her angelic kin? The thought made her blood boil and she turned away in disgust for a moment. Yet, when she turned back, the entire scene was gone, to be replaced by the darkness of the mansion once more.

Annoyed, the witch would scowl, before feeling a sudden burst of seeds strike her abdomen. Oh, those little irritants had done it now and as she tried to shake the disturbing experience that she had just suffered, she would begin to fire her seed gun as quickly as possible at anything that caught her eye in the gloom.. There was not going to be any more defence on her part. No, she was going to go on the attack. She would occasionally feel another seed hit her but it did little to stop her. Now she was irritated and there was a tad more venom behind her playing.

(503 Words)
(1019 Thread WC)

Asher honestly didn't know why he was here. Or what was going on as well. But it looked fun so he didn't mind! He knew about All Hallows Eve, of course, they celebrated it in his home village, with candles in all the windowsills, a giant bonfire in the middle of the village and people wearing masks dancing around it to scare away spirits. People also gathered at the local graveyard to pay respects to their dead and ask pretty please to not haunt them, but Asher never got the chance to experience that part since he and his grandfather didn't have family buried there. But in other parts of Fiore they did things differently it seems. It was called Halloween and based on the events going on it was about dressing up in usually spooky attire, giving candy to children, scaring each other, and getting drunk? Asher didn't totally get the lack of ceremony he was used to but he found that except for the sweets he enjoyed this version better. More smiling people and less masked village children terrorizing him! He had even been convinced to join the festivities by buying a costume (it changed his eye colour!), though he didn't get why he was dressing as a wizard when he already was one. It was a fun costume nonetheless!

Asher's Costume:

But the events that lead to Asher arriving at the manner was rather spooky itself. He had been giving out candy local girls had given him to children in costumes when the road around him suddenly became dark and empty. A mist appears all around the Ocean Dragon Slayer, and he sees a shadow moving ahead but can't make it out and as he stepped closer to the mist he sees a tombstone. A tombstone with his name on it! The moment the water mage looks away it's gone, but why was it there? A vision of the future perhaps? Or a nasty prank from a nearby illusion mage? Who knows... But it left Asher shivering in fear and looking around helplessly for someone else. Suddenly there was a snap of a twig, causing Asher's fear to snap as well. The young man booked it, keeping on hand on his hat as he ran.

And that was how he ended up at the manor. Immediately drawn to the crowd, and despite how spooky the manor was, he had decided to join the game. Taking his own Pumkinpew, Asher wandered into the manor, wary of the rather intimidating fellow contestants but still wanting to make friends. He admittedly didn't listen to the rules that much but was outside the main halls when he started curiously fiddling with his Pumpinpew as he wandered. Asher had barely seen a gun before, let alone used one so of course as he was fiddling it went off.

And suddenly a pumpkin seed slammed some poor contestant in the back of the head.

There was a beat of silence where Asher just stood gobsmacked and sweating like mad. "Uh, sorry about that?" He questioned because he wasn't sure if that was what he was supposed to do. Then stood even more shocked as the seed affected the person. Was he supposed to laugh or cry? Beg for forgiveness? Run?

The stairwell at whose foot Beira now stood seemed to spiral upwards and upwards indefinitely, disappearing out of sight into the darkness created by artfully placed sources of dismal light. Whoever was responsible for this whole Halloween castle set up probably deserved to be commended, as far as the God Slayer was concerned. And yet, despite the ingenious design of the place, the utilitarian part of Beira’s mind could not help but feel slightly irritated that this building, as massive as it was, served no other purpose except to provide space for people who wanted to run around doing nothing but engaging in tomfoolery. Like herself. She looked down at the strange pumpkin seed spitter in her hands and frowned slightly. It was hypocritical of her to criticize the whole thing, when she had decided to participate in it. For a moment, the God Slayer was inclined to return the way she had come, drop her weapon where she had picked it, return the collar, and disappear where no one would see her embarrassing herself. She was, after all, supposed to be royalty. And royalty was meant to act dignified and proper, not waste time and energy goofing around, as though there weren’t more important things to do with their time.

She had turned away from the stairs, having shamed herself enough mentally to act as she was ’supposed to’ and leave the fooling to the kids and the immature, when a strange mist suddenly seemed to permeate the area. This was logically wrong, seeing as the mist had not been her as at the time Beira had arrived at the stairwell, and there were no windows leading outside through which mist could come in. Even if there had been, unless the mist was propelled by a fan or another ventilation device, there was no way by which the strange white mist would so quickly descend around the area in which the Utgardian God Slayer stood. Beira wasn’t quite certain, but she thought she heard the sound of muffled footfalls on the stairwell above her. Looking up, she saw, or thought she saw, a shadow; it looked humanoid in shape, and it moved slowly, as though requiring great effort to move. Curious, Beira began attempting to follow the shadow, while herself attempting not to make any sound that would give away the fact that the shadow, whoever or whatever it was, was being followed.

Maybe it was the illusion of the lighting, or perhaps there was something more preternatural about this place, but the staircase suddenly didn’t seem as long as Beira had imagined, and the Winter God Slayer saw herself standing on a wide landing, with the mist still all around. Ahead was the figure she had followed, still moving slowly on. Resolved to get closer and identify the identity and nature of this strange shadow, Beira increased the speed of her walking, though she still moved silently, unwilling to have the shadow aware of her presence. Suddenly, through the mist, the Utgardian seemed to see something squat and immobile, jutting up from the ground. Initially, she was minded to pay it as little heed as possible, assuming that it would probably be one of the many items lying around in the strange house. But as she drew closer, Beira realized that there were writings on the object, which had been revealed to be apparently made of stone. To Beira’s alarm, she recognized it to be a grave stone, of Utgardian design, no less, as the shape, and the unique Utgardian script gave the object’s identity away. What could an object of Utgardian origins be doing in such a place as this?

Gazing carefully at the stone, Beira peered at the item to read the markings inscribed on it, and she froze. If she had probably been less trained to keep a strong rein on her emotions and reactions, she would have probably stumbled backwards. For etched into the stone were the words, “Here lies Beira the Third, Far-Daughter of Hrim the Old, Child of Utgardr.” This was quite odd. Even the wordings were written as they would have been on an Utgardian cenotaph, linking her as descendant to her most notable ancestor, instead of her parents. It made no sense, unless this was some sort of illusion cast upon her, for as far as she knew, Beira herself was the only surviving Utgardian in Fiore. There was most likely some hidden prank player, casting an illusion to make her see something unsettling, so as to take advantage of the opportunity to shower her with those strange pumpkin seeds with even stranger effects. Quickly, the God Slayer turned this way and that, but it seemed she was just being paranoid; she was truly alone. Confused, she turned back to the stone. Perhaps studying it more might give her a few answers, and in the absence of those, clues with which she might piece things together to solve the problem of her befuddlement. The grave marker stone, however, was nowhere to be found.

What could this possibly mean? The Winter God Slayer was quite perturbed by this, although she was careful to keep her expression straight and unfazed. She took a few more steps in the mist, only to discover that the haze had begun to fade. In a few moments, there was nothing to show that it had even been there at all. Just the same way it had come. Could it have been a trick, cast by an illusionist to unnerve her? If that was the case, why hadn’t the illusionist attacked? All the time she had been staring at the stone, someone could have had all the time in the world to shoot her with one of those weird guns. But then, no one in the house was expected to be able to use magic. What was it then? A warning? An omen of the future? It was very confusing. If she was to die anytime soon, Beira wasn’t sure that her place of rest would have an Utgardian stone marking it.

Whatever it was, it had given Beira an interesting reminder. Death was a surety. All living things would eventually die. So what was the point in attempting to be so serious all her life? While she initially sought to defend her enforced stoicism with the argument that she was royalty, the truth was that whatever throne she could lay claim to had passed, along with the memory of her people. As far as Fiore was concerned, she was no royalty. So a little tomfoolery could be forgiven, she supposed… as long as she did nothing too embarrassing. The sound of ‘gunfire’ caught her attention. It sounded to the left and below her. Quickly taking in her surroundings, Beira realized that the stairwell had led to a sort of balcony which overlooked a wide room with all sorts of obstacles, and people engaging in warfare. By a sweet act of chance, Beira had received a vantage position with many below unaware of her presence above them. But she could not deny that the vision she had seen had alarmed her. Finding cover, in case someone else got to the balcony, she began sniping gleefully at the unwary victims below.


WC: 1213
Personal WC: 2973/...

And so the battle had begun in earnest. This time when when the young slayer set foot in the arena he immediately hears the sound of what must be a hundred pumpkin guns firing in all directions. What experience he had taught him that caution was a necessary measure. Stick to cover, avoid wide open areas until you had more thoroughly scouted your location, use the shadows and avoid the bright light where you can be easily seen. But his curiosity screamed the direct opposite directive. The only way to see all these faces, watch how they move, fight and adapt; he could only do that by being in the center of the ever growing chaos. The two sides fought for a bit but curiosity won over caution in the end. He's thrown himself into danger much more casually than this in the past into greater dangers, the worst these seeds might do is give him a few bad scares. He could live with that if it meant he could eventually learn more. Squaring his shoulders, Noah takes advantage of his enhanced senses to zone in on only the nearest threats while adjusting his eyes to scan all around; it's a small advantage but being able to hear and see your opponents before they register you can be the difference in 2 seconds, and in 2 seconds good fighter can give himself a distinct enough advantage. Despite that it's a hard process to perfect even in the calmest areas, with this much noise it's a concentration sink and so the benefit it gives is closer to half a second at most.

Once he's taken a moment to scan the area he bolts recklessly into action. He starts running and doesn't stop, choosing to barrel in and give his opponents no time to react, the chaos works to his favor in this regard as he goes firing shots, some of which even make their mark before disappearing into a new area. Sometimes he hears footsteps from behind as others give chase but most give up eventually, preferring to fight whoever is in the area. Noah is barely keeping his head and some of the more experienced shots are able to tag him even as he runs through Overall all though he feels things are going well when he steps into a corridor which leads him into a room.

The instant he does everything else goes quiet, to the point he here's the echoes of his feet. No sound, no people, a thick mist surrounding him. All he sees is the door ahead but as he runs through he simply re-enters the room from a different door. He tries this a few times but each occasion the outcome is the same. Eventually he has to accept that he was locked in. He takes a moment to look around and eventually he notices an area where the mist is thicker than anywhere else. As he walks up to it even his vision is completely covered. As he moves he starts to wonder if this is a feature of the event or if he should be genuinely worried. He keeps moving until his foot strikes something hard, quickly he kneels to look at it but fins he won't need to. The grooves, the design, he can tell it's his armor, which he left at home, but in places it feels chipped and cracked, pieces missing. As he moves up it he finds it is leaning on a stone, he runs his hand on it and chills run down his spine, the words are his name, written in Fiorian and his home language. He steps back and finds himself at the door ushered out of the room and this time no door appears to let him back in; he is stunned a moment before feeling seeds pepper his back. He takes the time to get in cover and steady his breathing. It wasn't real. Whatever is was, that couldn't be real.

WC: 666
TWC: 1690

No sooner is he out than a hail of gunfire. It's fortunate that these weren't real weapons or he'd be swiss cheese. His surprise from the earlier events mean that he doesn't even notice until he's being hit and even then it took him a moment to realize what had just happened and eventually dive behind some 'ruins' covered in dust and cobwebs. Once the guns die down he take peeks to quickly check the situation. Three pillars, one person with his back turned to Noah, a black cat with blue eyes, two doorways.

To anyone else a day so full of suspense would be too much. To Noah? it's an absolute blast. The mystery before the big reveals set his blood boiling. He's visibly excited, he's genuinely having far too much fun despite all the craziness. And that mental energy directly translates into his physical power. With no hesitation he jumps out of his cover and peppers anyone in the area before leaping through one of the doors into a second area. As soon as he does he repeats the same process, using all of his senses to check the area. He seems to have leapt into a circular staircase, all up and down the area are fighters who are going at each other like crazy. The sounds and sight of a dozen or so fighters gleefully firing as they ascend and descend the staircase. To the right wide double doors lead to a balcony overseeing what can only be described as the dinner party of the skeletons. On the seat of honor sits a crowned skeleton, next to him a black cat with blue eyes. Noah opts for the fun option and gets into the thick of the in-fighting. It quickly becomes apparent that there is no real way to defend yourself from hundreds of pellets and instead the best you could hope for was to shoot everything and everyone with no distinction. The magic of the pellets changes and cancels out countless times and if there's a score he doesn't really care anymore, he's enjoying himself blasting the others around him with the same tools they used. Despite the relatively short climb, the sheer carnage meant it took him maybe 20 minutes to edge out the others and reach the top of the staircase. Thankfully as he climbed the number of competitors thinned out and allowed him to each the top. There he found himself atop a tower with no-one else; for a moment he was surprised until he saw the giant glowing runes. "Jump" was all they said. Ever the man of excitement he did just that and found himself plummeting towards a painted target on the floor, as he falls other people appear from windows and towers all aiming for the patch of grass marked. The second he lands he is met with the earth giving way and gently slowing him down before ejecting him a few meters away back at the start of the mansion. As he looks around he sees others happily cheering and celebrating, while others prepare to go right back in. Noah decides now is the time to sit and so he does. As he looks around he sees trees, bushes, a black cat with blue eyes... the black cat with blue eyes. It seemed to constantly appear wherever he was next. Oddly he gets the sense that it is staring at him with all the intelligence of a sentient being, maybe even more. He doesn't approach. The night has had its fill of insanity and he's just happy to be taking a break, however he does pick a small strawman's head and throw it past the cat in an attempted game of catch. It simply lets it fly past without moving, silently staring at the him.

WC: 636
TWC: 2326

Somewhere in the depths of the manor a woman of short stature and wearing a dress made of leafs was shooting at a moose head attached to the wall of a spacious room. No-one else was in sight for the moment, Lily having found herself a spot which the other contestants hadn't reached so far. Most of them were too occupied with the pumpkin war, barricading themselves or running through the hallways shooting each other wildly. Many magical effects had already taken place, from fake blood to strange costumes to gender changes. She'd also heard some people scream in actual terror, although it only lasted a short while. Given that the dryad hadn't come across anything dangerous she imagined that these people were just really startled, like that guy she'd managed to shoot first.

For now though she was doing some target practice. After her first successful shot she'd made some attempts at shooting others but as it turned out her aim was just not good enough. The results of her efforts were that she'd been hit several times and her dress had turned from its usual lively green to an autumn mix of orange, red and brown. She'd have changed it back except that it seemed fitting for the occasion, even going so far as to darken her skin to match. There'd also been some strange red syrup covering her but she'd washed that away with her water magic.

So here she was, doing her best to hit the moose head. The floor was covered with seeds where it met the wall that the moose head was attached to. The leafclad girl lifted her pumpkipew once more and quickly launched a spray of seeds, some of them managing to hit the target but most of them bouncing off from the wooden wall instead. She wasn't terribly upset about that since it was already a distinct improvement from her original skill level, but it looked like she wouldn't be able to raise her proficiency with firearms to the point of being reliable today.

Which was fine with her, since this was all in good fun anyway! Figuring that she'd practised enough she lowered her magic gun and hummed as she turned around to leave the room, only to come to a halt when she saw a black cat staring at her. Tilting her head she looked at it with open curiosity, primarily because she hadn't been able to sense its presence until she laid eyes on it.

"...Hello. How did you get here?" Crouching she looked the cat in the eyes, smiling. The cat didn't react beyond a lazy flick of its tail, studying her the way cats often did. Although the fact that it didn't lose interest at all was a bit strange...

"Are you lost?" Lily reached her hand out towards the cat, but at that point the feline turned around and ran away, leaving the dryad blinking for a second before she rose up and ran after it. "H-Hey! What's wrong?" It was entirely possible that it had just decided to leave her alone, but Lily was used to animals reacting positively to her. Having one react as if they didn't wish for her to come closer was legitimately confusing for her, especially one so small and non-hostile.

She managed to run fast enough to keep up with the black cat, but only just. At times she only barely saw its tail as it went around a corner. Throughout her chase she also found several people fighting in the hallways, which resulted in her doing her best not to get hit too many times even as she was sprayed by seeds both intentionally and unintentionally. She thought she heard some strange sounds behind her but by this point she was invested in figuring out what was going on with that cat.

That is, until she completely lost sight of it and she was forced to abandon her chase. Looking around Lily flexed her limbs to make sure they hadn't become rigid, realizing that she was close by the entrance again. "...That was strange." That was the only conclusion she could draw from the spontaneous and confusing encounter. After several seconds she realized that if she remained her she'd quickly be shot, so she dove into a room and readied her gun only to find someone else already in that room. After a short moment of surprise for both sides they both raised their gun and began spraying each other, Lily diving behind a couch for protection as neither side seemed intent on easing up.

She'd try to figure out what happened to the cat later. For now she'd return to the pumpkin battlefield.

WC: 786
PWC: 1,782

"I have no idea how I got here, but this seems fun enough, right?"

As he was handed the Pumpkipew, he felt a sort of jolt as he rushed in, he felt frightend as he walked the halls, the weapon shaky in his hands, he couldn't help but feel scared in a place like this. He had herd a commotion from far ahead and decided to stay away from it. He heard the cries of people who had their heads stuck in pumkins

"um.....o-ok, I dont think I like this anymore...."

He began to back up, his heart racing he soon broke into a run. His heart pounding as he ran fast headlong into the main hall through darting fire, he had no idea where it came from but he was sure as heck not to look as seeds were flying so fast past his face he could feel the wind from them as they whirled toward either a wall or a person. Roosko had never been through something like this, he looked for a moment to see smiles on faces around him, this prompted his own smile to appear, like a child he began to fire the pumpkipew in many directions giggling like a child, this is the happiest he had been in a long time.

"haha!....This is fun!!"
Soon Roosko found himself outside the other side of the hall, he found a small hole in his cloak as he stared directly through it, a small amount of pain was felt, he saw the welt that the seed had delt. Most likely a combination of him running into the seed at its maximum velocity, he turned and saw someone move at the end of the hall, he was confused..so he held up his gun and spoke softly but sternly, well half heartedly stern.

"Who's T-There!? I-Im armed!"

A brease whisps its way past him before sending chills up his spine, he turned and saw nothing, before a loud bang was herd, he almost drooped his pumkipew as Roosko pointed up at this strange spectral figure staring at him. Heart racing, blood pumping, and body-SHAKING! He would have let out a massive scream of fear. But the ghost had yelled louder, droping its jaw like it was a nutcracker, scaring Roosko more, he then ran off and hid in a corner. His sobs were audible for a long ways down the corridors, he sat with his hands hugging his legs as he began to cry.

"pl-please be gone....p-please....I-I don't want to do this anymore!....h-h-help....

Theo's costume:

"Kekekekeke!"

There was a madman running through the mansion, randomly pelting people with pumpkin seeds. He wasn't very sneaky, since he was also adding a little 'pew pew' noise every time he pulled the trigger, but he seemed to be having a blast. And in a way he was, he was also scared out of his mind and trying to cover it up.

See, there was weird crap going on in this mansion.

---

As soon as he'd gotten his collar, which felt too tight around his neck but the lady wouldn't let him take it off, and his neato looking gun, he took off into the haunted house on a mission. Life had been tense and honestly taken a big, steaming dump on him for quite a while now. Happening across this would give him just a little break from his thinly veiled gloom and let him blow off some steam. Theo Silversong was a quirky guy who could get into anything if it was silly enough. The sugary goods in the snack foyer only gave him more hyperactive energy for this event, so not unlike a sugar-cracked-out child, the Silver Wolf ace had not even hesitated to enter the chaotic fray deeper in the house. Many took the stealthy approach, but not Theo. He was the cackling idiot running from room to room, screaming as he rained down seedy destruction and took his own shots with dramatic, self-choreographed death scenes.

Eventually, though, he ended up alone in the deeper parts of the house that others had yet to reach. Good, he needed a small breather. Running around like a derp was more cardio than he was used to. But...that's when it started to happen. It began with the kids. Out of nowhere, and scaring the pants off of him, the trick-or-treaters appeared. They didn't have guns or collars, so he wondered why they were here, but they wouldn't answer. Little turds! All they wanted was candy and compliments for their gory murder victim costumes. They were lucky to choose him, since he always had candy on him. He was unfortunate that he now had to hand over his stash so they'd leave him alone. But then, as soon as they left the room full of furniture ghosts, a mist appeared. A spoopy mist. "Nnngh..." he groaned in growing fear, now hating that he'd come up alone. "I treated you candy, kids! Why are you tricking me?!" he called to those trick-or-treaters, though deep down he knew this wasn't the prank of a young mage. He just wanted to blame them because it was less terrifying. Even though he wanted to close his eyes and pretend this was all not happening, he turned around to see a shadow coming toward him. If it was a person, he couldn't tell who. "Uh..Uh I gave all my treats away, okay? So...like....no to all of this creepy crap pleasedon'tkillmeMr.Shadowman nngh nghhhh..." he begged, and just as he was certain this thing was gonna suck out his soul or something, it dissolved just as it touched him and sank into the floor. "...Ngh?" Theo asked, peeking down, then going white as a sheet. "Here lies Theo Byron Sinclar-Ragnos," he read in a monotone voice, before repeating it in a more disbelieving scream, "HERE LIES THEO B-B-B...." he trailed, then quirked his head to the side. "...My middle name is Byron? ...Ew, that doesn't feel right at all. I don't have enough waistcoats to pull off this name at all, what were they thinking?" mumbled the distracted man, forgetting about his terror for a second. "Oh...right...AAAAAAHHHHH WHY AM I DEAD?!" he resumed freaking out, turning around as if to ask whoever he felt behind him if they saw what he did. Except when he did that he only saw a black cat, which he blinked at, then accepted that he'd just asked a random black cat about his fate and even paused for its response. When it gave none, he sighed and looked back to the tombstone thinking it might tell him what killed him or when he died so he could either look forward to it or avoid it, but....it was gone.

"WHERE DID MY DEATH STONE THING GO?" he exclaimed, searching around the room and under sheets as if the gravestone just grew legs and wandered off. No dice. It was gone. What wasn't gone, though, was the cat. Even as he left the room, blaming it for all the freaky crap that just happened, the cat followed. And followed. No matter how fast he walked, the cat was always a few feet behind him when he turned to look, judging him, knowing things he didn't. This cat knew why his middle name was Byron. He could feel it. It was in that stare...

Once he finished his staredown with the cat for the twentieth time, he turned to try and catch up with other people and rammed face-first into a very tall man. Yay a person--WHEW THE BOOZE SMELL! Was this guy a person-sized bottle of the stuff? He felt drunk just smelling him. The man only wobbled and giggled, accidentally spitting out his fake vampire teeth into a spitty puddle on the ground. As Theo stared in disgust, the man pretended to grab an invisible mic, as if he was in a comedy club. "Ay ay ayyyyy, where all my *hic* zombguys and ghouls at?" he punned, starting some sort of routine.

"Quick, wha did the vam*hic*pire say to the ghost at the *hic* hallerween party?"

"...what?"

"WHY DON'T YOU LIVE A LITTLE! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"...oh god..."

"What kind of dessert does a *hic hic* ghost like?"

"Neh?"

"I SCREAM! BAHAHAA!"

"...heh."

Encouraged by the half laugh, the drunken vampire pulled out his best material. "Finally! What did the ghost wear to the Ha Ha Hallenqween par*hic*y?"

"What?"

"BOOOOOOOts..."

"Pffft, hahahaha!" Theo broke on the last one, falling into a peel of giggles. "Booots...heh, that one was good," he told the guy, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed him to find someone else to afflict with his jokes.

Even still, as the man wandered, trying to find his way back to seed-shooting civilization, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of spell had been put on this place. He was normally very good with his sense of direction. How else could be he a treasure hunter, given that the best treasures weren't marked on any map and definitely had no instructions other than old rumors? It was as if the rooms and halls were seamlessly blending together. Maybe he was walking in a circle?

Just as he rounded yet another corner in the vacant halls, he rammed into a snack cart and fell over. Somehow the old woman pushing it kept it from toppling its goods on top of him, but she didn't seem angry in the least that he'd almost ruined everything. In fact, she smiled like Granny Bon Bon would when she was about to stuff him full of sweet treats. Theo should have been wary of her, since he'd run into nothing but the weird and scary since getting lost up here, but...that would require extra thought. "Fancy a sweet, darling?" her old voice crackled, holding out a Pumpkin cookie. Theo was a sucker for sweet stuff. "Yes, ma'am," he answered in polite awe, taking it from her and munching on it without hesitation. What was she doing up here? Did she get lost, too? Ah, he didn't care. "This is delicious!" he mumbled happily through the cookie crumbs, and the cackling dessert peddler peddled him some pie and a latte as well, all pumpkin themed and tasty. Once his belly was satisfied and she was content that the whippersnapper had had enough, she slowly pushed her cart around the corner and disappeared.

"What a nice old lady!" Theo chirped warmly to himself (and the stalking cat) as he once more resumed his task of trying to find his way back. It didn't occur to him to ask the old lady how she'd gotten here or if she knew how to get back, nor did he consider he should walk with her to benefit them both, but such was Theo's way. He pressed onward, taking halls at random until he finally got frustrated enough to dart back into a room to peek out the window to get his bearings. The window was much higher up than he thought, but at least he could see people out in the spooky yard ducking from behind dead trees and gravestones to shoot each other. When had he climbed so many stairs?

As he peered out the window, a bone-chilling development took place behind him. "BWAKAKAKAKEKEKEKEKEKEKEEEEEEH!" rang out a hollow, haunted cackle. Theo froze in place, wide eyes still staring out the window, but no longer seeing anything. The haze and seeing his tombstone had been scary, but whatever this new horror was, it felt much more dangerous to his life as of this moment. "TURN AROUND, BOY!" the new threat screamed after an impatient pause, to which Theo complied.

What Theo saw was frightening indeed. With the legless body of an old-timey rich man in fine but tattered threads, nothing was scary until his eyes reached the head. There was no human head, but instead a jack o' lantern carved with thin but menacing features. It glowed from within, but not from a candle, but from some spoopy magic. His outside glowed too in a soft orange aura. "BOY!" he roared again, but this time more amicable. As amicable as a menacing, pumpkin-headed ghost could be. "My name is Sir Jacky Pumpolian the 3rd, a master of the dark arts and season bound demon," he began, waving the ornate lantern in his hand around for creepy effect, "and I have manifested before you to ask three riddles!"

Theo shrieked.

"WHY DO YOU SCREAM? I HAVE NOT YET FINISHED?!"

Theo silenced but didn't answer. In truth, ghosts freaked him out in general, but this one also claimed to be a demon. He'd dealt with demons. Not a fan. Also....riddles. Nothing good from asking someone stupid to answer riddles.

"Ahem, where was I-- OH YES, I will ask you three riddles! Should you answer them wrong, you will suffer a TERRIBLE FATE!" Sir Jacky Pumpolian the 3rd finished, raising both arms into boney-handed claws as his aura spiked. "BWAKAKAKEKEKEKEK-- Why are you not shrieking? This is where you shriek, boy. You may shriek now!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"OKAY THAT IS ENOUGH!" the pumpkin demon cut off Theo's unending shriek, growing tired with the dumb lad. Time to move on and get to the fun parts, which would hopefully be the killing. "FIRST RIDDLE! The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?"

Theo just gaped at him, eyes bugged out. Was he even thinking? But then he answered. "A back scratcher."

"Wha...INCORRECT. The answer was COFFIN. SECOND RIDDLE! What do you call a skeleton that makes you laugh and giggle when you’re sad?"

More gaping from Theo. Maybe this was his thinking face. "Funny...bone...."

"I feel like that was a fluke," Sir Pumpolian wheezed, but he sighed and accepted it. "Fine, you get that one. THE LAST RIDDLE!  I have a name but it isn’t mine, you don’t think about me while in your prime. People cry when I’m in their sight, others lie with me all day and night. What am I?"

More glazed staring. This boy just wasn't bright, which was frustrating, but also ended up with the result Jacky wanted, so beggars couldn't be choosers. "Uh..." Theo grunted, his brows furrowing. He was giving it all the brainpower he had. He gasped like he'd realized something, paused again, then made a fart noise with his mouth as whatever he had escaped him. "Iunno,"

"FOOOOL! A GRAVESTONE!" roared Jacky, flying up to put his pumpkiny face in Theo's terrified one. "Whilst you may have managed to answer one riddle correctly, YOU FAILED THE OTHERS AND NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER THe CONSEQUENCES!"

Theo started screaming again as the fruity wraith flew backwards, thrusting his narrow arms out as his outfit split open to reveal festering dark magic. "BWAKAKAKAKAKEKEKEKEEEEH!" he cackled, his ghostly voice echoing all around and right through Theo, quaking him right down to his toenails. The gravestone prophecy? SO SOON? HE WASN'T READY TO ACCEPT THAT BYRON WAS HIS MIDDLE NAME!

"NOOOOOO!" Theo cried, dodging a trio of dark tendrils that whipped out and tried to either stab him or drag him inside Jacky's expanded torso of nightmares. The fight continued like this, where Sir Jacky Pumpolian the 3rd lobbed some sort of dark spell at him and he ungracefully dodged while screaming and failing to escape. It wasn't until the glass of one of the windows was busted out by an orb of dark magic and the glass that rained down on those below caused a scream from the other players. That's right. It wasn't just his life here, there were others. Theo stopped screaming, turning around to face his enemy with no less fear, but with much sharper and determined eyes. Sir Pumpolian had to be stopped here or he'd ruin this fun event and hurt people.

Rustling up some previously thought dead heroics from his Rising Star days, Theo surprised the Halloween demon. He was quite strong for such a dull and fearful boy. Before he could even recover from his surprise, Theo went for the obvious weak spot. The jackk o' lantern head. For what happened to old jack o' lanterns? They were smashed in the street by punk kids. Stretchy jello arms whipped out and snatched the head right off the ghost's shoulders and brought it back closer to his body. "What-- HEY! RELEASE MY HEAD HIS INSTAN---"

*splat*

Theo smashed the jack o' lantern on the floor and watched the hollow gourd bust into various sized chunks. The orange glow from within was released and rushed back to the body, which disappeared in an orange flash. For good measure, Theo continued to stomp on the pieces until it looks like a piece of dropped pumpkin pie from the old lady's cart earlier. Once he was satisfied that it was over, he simply turned and walked out the door of the room, shutting that whole memory into the back of his mind. Nope. Not dealing with that right now. Getting back to the game was what mattered.

---

Once he'd made it back to where people were playing the game and not where he'd encountered some of the weirdest crap he'd run into in a long time, he resumed shooting up everyone he saw with a jittery, nervous craziness. The cat was still following him and staring like it knew all the secrets he could ever want to know, but wasn't going to tell him, and he couldn't get seeing his grave out of his head. Was it a fortune or a prank? He had to distract himself with pumpkipew carnage!

Theo was terrified of death. He had every right to be. He'd died three times already, and he could firmly say that the process and the result was horrific.

What brought a pause to his projectile massacring were the unhappy sounds he caught amongst the laughter of both himself and others engaged in the war. Following the noise, it took him into an empty room. While was spooked by walking into another empty room and desperately hoped no more weirdo stuff would happen to him, he was spurred on by the sobs coming from the corner. Locating the source, his icy blue hues landed on a boy. A man? He wasn't sure of age, but it didn't matter. "Hey, dude, why're you crying?" he asked, poking him with the tip of his Pumpkipew, just to make sure he was a real person and not some ghost that had lured him in only to jumpscare with some sort of ghoulish face and shriek.

@Roosko Lambet

[wc: 2685 || OOC NOTE: You can ignore most of the post between the lines. I was satisfying the event's prompt challenge for tickets. xD]

Despite Beira's enjoyment of her vantage point, she soon realized she had to get a move on, because it seemed that the sound of war getting louder, and wafting through the door from which she had just come. As a matter of fact, the fighting sounded like it was on the staircase now. Hefting her weapon, the God Slayer began moving surreptitiously, covered by the banister behind which she hid, even as people fired shots upwards, in order to hopefully dislodge the sniper who had been having a field day raining vengeance on them. It was very likely that some of them had decided to find where the attacker from above was hiding and dislodge her. But Beira had other plans. By the time the combatants came upstairs, the Utgardian would have been long gone.

As Beira made good her escape while hugging the banister, and keeping an eye out for shooters on her floor, she suddenly sensed that she was being followed. Turning sharply, she saw a cat. Its fur was sleek, lustrous and black in color, apparently well fed, but not fat, with striking blue eyes. It was sitting down and looking at her silently. For a moment, neither moved, their eyes locked onto each other's. Then the spell was broken as a spray of pumpkin seeds sailed from the door leading to the staircase through which the Winter God Slayer had come. Beira quickly dove for cover, but was hit by a few seeds. "Of all the irritating--" Wait! Something was not right. Those words were supposed to have been said out loud. She tried to whistle. No sound. She coughed. Not a sound. She was rendered effectively mute, most likely as a result of those blasted pumpkin seeds.

Beira turned to look at the black cat with a grimace. It was still there, though like herself, it had run for cover when she had been fired on. "This is all your fault, you useless feline," the God Slayer thought silently. The cat, of course, watched her, with those big blue eyes. She would deal with it later. For now, she had to handle whoever had shot at her. Whoever it was was advancing, and spraying her cover with pumpkin seeds. A good strategy, to keep the enemy hung up with superior offence. The only problem was that her enemy's offense was not superior; Beira's hiding place provided her with safety until he could get close, and she would not allow that to happen. Without exposing herself, Beira quickly raised her gun over her cover, and pulled the trigger, swinging the weapon wildly from side to side. There was a high pitched scream, and the sound of retreating footsteps. Quickly taking her chance, the Utgardian sprinted through the door at the other end of the area, escaping from the room.

The cat was still there. Beira stepped towards it, but as she got close, it turned and ran away, disappearing through the door she had just come through. "Oh well, I suppose that's good riddance to... not so bad rubbish," the God Slayer mused, wending her way between stashes of furniture. The room she was presently in seemed like it had not been entered in a while. Beira turned to see the cat still there. "Why is that tedious little scamp following me?" she wondered, aiming at it with her gun. The cat didn't respond. The God Slayer sighed quietly and turned away. Somehow it just felt wrong to attack the not so little kitty. She decided she would try her possible best to ignore the creature. It didn't seem to be getting in her way, after all.

Suddenly, the sound of a laugh caught Beira's attention. Looking up, she saw a man approaching her. His dressing was strange, as was expected for a Halloween celebrating person, but it looked sloppy, even someone not well versed in Fiore's customs and traditions could tell. From the way he walked, it was very likely that this fellow was under the effect of alcohol, as he stumbled up and down, the furniture in the room not doing him any favors at all. "Hey, pretty lady," he said with a silly laugh, revealing fake canines taped onto his real ones. Even the way the had been taped was very unimpressive. "Have I got some jokes you'd love to hear." Beira was not a fan of such jocular trivialities, so she resumed making her way out of the room, ignoring the fellow.

"What did I say when they buried my grandpa in the wrong place?" the man asked, before tripping over a dusty sofa. Beira didn't answer. "You've made a grave mistake! Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Beira rolled her eyes. What sort of dumb joke was that? She felt like shooting the fellow with the weapon in her hand, but it felt unfair to attack someone without a weapon. This one would be ignored, as long as he didn't attempt to touch Beira. Following her was something she wouldn't allow either. The cat was enough, and it had gone nowhere. The man, unfazed by Beira's apparent lack of humor, rose to his feet, swaying slightly as he held up a finger. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm sure you'll be rolling on the floor after hearing this one," he said. "Why can't trees be vampires? Because they're all bark and no bite!" With that, he doubled over, laughing as though his very life depended on it. Beira shook her head exasperatedly, and walked past him.

"Okay, okay, okay," he said, managing with all his impaired movement, to run and place himself between the Winter God Slayer and the door. "This one will be sure to make you laugh your heart out. What happened to Frankenstein's Monster at the annual comedy convention?" Beira raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what Frankenstein's monster was, or who this Frankenstein was, or whether Frankenstein was even a place. Whatever the level of her confusion, the inebriated fellow didn't mind, as he announced, "he was in stitches! Get it? Stitches!!!" In response, Beira lifted her gun, and pulled the trigger, spraying the fellow in the face with seeds. There was a comical bang, and confetti flew everywhere as the fellow dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The God Slayer had no idea what had happened to him, but so far, the effects of the guns were harmless, so she was not worried about his state of well being.

Stepping over the fellow's body, Beira stepped out of the room into another hot zone full of flying pumpkin seeds. Quickly, she found a decent place to hide, and began retaliating to attacks, while still being stared at by the black cat.


WC: 1124
Personal WC: 4097/...

---

I found the first joke online, had some external inspiration for the second, but came up with the last joke myself. No idea if it's funny, but then I care not, haha.

It appeared that her annoyance was rather bothersome to the people around her as rather than shoot at her as they had before, they now simply ran as soon as she got close. In a way though, it gave her a small amount of amusement, not to mention making it far easier for her to shoot them in the back. Medeia had lost count of how many times she had been shot by now but she simply continued onwards, paying little heed to that and simply plowing onwards throughout the mansion. A smile did cross her face as she managed to catch a rather mouthy kid who ended up having his clothes completely covered by pumpkin juice as her shot made contact. He sure was not mouthing off after that and he looked for a moment as though he was going to cry. With a chuckle, she simply watched him run away, continuing on with her pumpkin seed onslaught.

Yet, as she turned yet another corner and her next target came into view. The witch would raise an eyebrow and come to a stop. Coming towards her was an elderly woman, dressed in a purple witches outfit, pushing a cart full of pumpkin based treats. Medeia had no idea what she was thinking by wandering about in the middle of the mayhem but what surprised her even more was the fact that the old woman actually grasped her rather firmly by the arm as the raven haired mage tried to walk past her.

“Try something from the cart, my dear?” The old dear asked, smiling at Medeia and refusing to let go of her.

“No thank you,” Medeia replied, trying to remain civil, “We are in the middle of a pumpkin seed war if you did not. Surely there must be somewhere else where you can offer free samples?”

“I insist!” The elderly woman answered, her hold tightening around Medeia’s arm. “I promise you that they taste delicious. Try one!”

“Perhaps another ti…”

“Try one!”

Medeia blinked, somewhat amazed by the gall of the woman. With a shrug, the angel would then pick up a slice of pumpkin pie and take a bite. After a few moments chewing, a surprised smile crossed her face. It tasted absolutely delicious and Medeia had to nod in approval. “It has been a while since I have tasted something that good. You were not joking when you spoke about your wares. I could spend all day just standing here and sampling the rest of your goodies.”

“Thank you for the praise, my dear, but I must be moving on now,” the old dear said in response, “There are so many people running around and I want to grab as many as possible before the end. Take care of yourself.”

With that, the elderly woman would finally let go of Medeia’s arm and continue on her way, leaving a rather bemused angel behind, her earlier anger having been replaced by sheer confusion. This was certainly turning out to be one strange day.

(508 Words)
(1527 Thread WC)

The crossfire was eventually ended when the other side managed to catch Lily unawares and barrage her with seeds. The dryad threw up her hands to protect herself as she was objected by the little objects, some of them exploding into a shower of confetti and smoke. She could also feel some kind of magic effect trying to take hold of her, but it seemed to misfire because of her unusual nature. Suddenly she was a good foot taller and her leaf dress had become fancier, with wide sleeves extending downwards from her elbows all the way to her hands, obscuring them whenever she had them lowered. A second effect robbed her voice, but at the same time also made any other sound she made disappear.

And last there was the third enchantment which managed to hit her, causing a ghost to rise up from the ground and wail loudly. The man who'd been shooting her immediately ran away at that point, the appearance of a real ghost having been enough to make him decide to shoot someone else while leaving the leafclad girl with the apparition. Lily for her part blinked and stepped backwards, her eyes wide as she lifted her weapon and shot repeatedly at the ethereal being. However the seeds passed straight through the haunting menace without doing anything to it.

The ghost had the appearance of a hanged man, wearing dirty, rotten clothes and his dried up skin clinging to his bones. His expression was hollow and his mouth was hanging open wide even after he finished his howling. Manacles were attached to his ankles and wrists, binding him despite him floating in the air without the slightest inconvenience. A noose was tied around his neck, tight enough to draw blood, with the attached rope dangling behind him. All in all it was a very convincing appearance, leaving Lily more than a bit disturbed as she slowly backed away from the mysterious thing. Why was this thing here? Wasn't this supposed to be a fun game of pumpkin seed war?

The ghost, meanwhile, slowly advanced on the plant woman, drifting through the air with the accompanying sound of clinking and clanking manacles. His hands were raised towards her, torn fingernails adorning the withered fingers which seemed intent on grasping her. Lily for her part wasn't sticking around to find out what the ghost wanted to do with her and made a break for it, running out of the room at full speed. If she hadn't been rendered mute she probably would have screamed, but as it was her expression was pale and she was no longer looking quite as enthusiastic about this event. Did the pumpkin king accidentally choose a haunted house which was actually haunted? Or was it intentional? Why would a hanged man be here anyway?

As she run she realized that she wasn't making any sound with her footsteps. Whatever enchantment was responsible for her being unable to scream had also turned her into a silent dryad. While that would be useful for the pumpkin seed wars she was currently distracted by wondering what the ghost was all about. Suppressing the light trembling of her arms she turned around, breathing a silent sigh of relief when she didn't see anything. It looked like the ghost hadn't followed her. Closing her eyes she stretched and slowly inhaled and exhaled, regaining her cool as she reminded herself why she was here. The ghost was a rather unpleasant experience, but it wasn't like the night was ruined with just that. She'd just have to get back into the rhythm of things. And hey! Now she could sneak up on people better!

She was still hyping herself back up when a man dressed like a bat, also known as a vampire, stumbled by. Even someone as inexperienced with alcohol as Lily could tell that this man was under the influence of some kind of chemical. There were quite a lot of toxins which could affect your mental state. Walking up to the man Lily tried to ask him if he was all right, but then remembered that she couldn't actually say anything right now.

"Oh, hello there tall lady." The man gave her a wide smile, showing his fake pointy teeth in the process. He giggled and hiccuped before continuing. "I have a few vampire puns for you, but they suck." He giggled even harder after that, although Lily was left wondering what he found so funny. After having properly enjoyed his own pun the man coughed and got started.

"Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?"

With a confused expression on her face Lily tried to answer, but once again remembered that one of those seeds had left her literally speechless.

"Because demons are a ghoul's best friend!" The drunk vampire laughed at his own joke, which was good because Lily was both incapable of laughing right now and didn't really understand the joke anyway.

"Okay, next one. Why did the headless horseman go into business? He wanted to get ahead in life!" It looked like Lily didn't really need to respond to the man's jokes: he was having a blast just telling them. In fact the sheer joy with which he laughed at them made Lily giggle silently, the incident with the ghost fading from her mind as she was bombarded by, admittedly rather bad, jokes.

"Okay, last one, last one, I promise." The man waited a couple of seconds for effect, trying to hold in his laughter. "Know why skeletons are so calm? Because nothing gets under their skin!" Laughing, hiccuping and giggling the man went on his way, swinging his pumpkipew wildly and shooting randomly at things in his surroundings.

Lily watched the man leave with a smile on her face, then gripped her seed gun a bit tighter and went on her way. She hoped that these trick enchantments would wear off soon. She didn't like that she was incapable of making a sound.

WC: 1,003
PWC: 2,785

By this point, Medeia was unsure about just what was going on and as she reached the back door of the mansion and slowly slipped out into the gardens, the angel was pretty much prepared for anything. She had to give the event organiser credit though, he had managed to come up with something rather unique and although she would never verbally give him any praise, the witch made a note to return next year should the event take place again. Halloween had always been her favourite time of year anyway and after having enjoyed the old dear’s food moments before, her mood had returned to being rather bright. All she wanted to know was what or who was next for her to face. Pumpkin weapon in hand, she would slowly start to make her way through the gardens, her senses peeled for her next target.

She did not have to wait long either as a loud cackle would suddenly reach her ears, causing her to swiftly turn around. From the shadows would spawn a rather odd looking creature, carrying a lantern with a pumpkin for a head. Medeia actually remembered fighting such a creature the year before, a rather difficult fight that she had struggled with for the most part. Of course, her strength had increased greatly since then and although she was unable to use magic, she still believed that she could beat the creature if necessary.

“Greetings,” the being said, its voice sounding like a thousand nails being scratched against a blackboard, “My name is Sir Jacky Pumpolian the 3rd and I have come to challenge you to a game of riddles. Get them right and I shall leave you be but get them wrong and you will pay dearly. Will you accept my challenge or shall I get straight to the carving?”

The angel scoffed at the threat, “I am certain that it would be me who would be doing the carving but I admit that I find your challenge amusing. Ask your riddles, pumpkin.”

Laughing, Sir Jacky would nod and begin, “The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?”

Medeia pondered for a few moments, tilting her head as she thought over the riddle. Once those moments passed, her eyes lit up and a smile would cross her lips, “A coffin.”

“Very good,” the odd looking creature replied, “One down, two to go. Now, what do you call a skeleton that makes you laugh and giggle when you’re sad?”

“One who needs more practice,” Medeia quipped dryly, before adding, “A funny bone.”

“Well done!” Sir Jacky approvingly answered. “Here is your last one. I have a name but it isn’t mine, you don’t think about me while in your prime. People cry when I’m in their sight, other lie with me all day and night. What am I?”

The witch had to think a little harder about that one and a full minute passed which she pondered. In anticipation, Sir Jacky would smile, seeming to think that had bested her at last but just as he was about to say that her time was up, Medeia answered with, “Tombstone.”

“Blast it!” The pumpkin hissed, “Alright. You have passed my test, spoilsport!”

With that, he would vanish back into the shadows, leaving the mage alone once again. Shaking her head, Medeia would turn and continue with her hunt, wondering what else she would walk into.

(588 Words)
(2115 Thread WC)

Noah eventually gets tired of being stared at by the cat and gets back up. He figures he can't leave the grounds with the equipment, so he decides to head back into the front hall to relax. As if this evening of madness is never ending, he had no sooner entered the halls than a man clearly more than a little drunk makes his way towards Noah, Well hello there lazy bones! the man says with a heavy hand on Noah's shoulder, laughing as though it were the funniest thing anyone had said in years. As he takes a look at the man's costume it's clear he's wearing a vampire inspired outfit, a white shirt with popped collar, black cloak with a red inlining, dark pants, white face paints and black mascara. In his mouth are plastic fangs that shine white with red tips, "I hope I'm not a pain in the neck. but I just wish to wish you a spookiest of Halloween my friend. This whole event is simply fang-tastic". Despite the man's inebriated nature, or because of it, he says much of this in a single, continuous stream, pausing to laugh before immediately launching back in.

Noah was about to speak himself when he hears the voice of an older woman as she approaches. Looking at her she is dressed in tones of black and purple with a pointed crooked hat and greenish face paint. Enough of that Oren, save your puns and jokes for those who ask. Why don't you get some water and try relax. I'm sorry dear, thank you very much for hearing an old man out; he gets this way when he's enjoying himself and this is the holiday he most loves. Here take this small gift, I want you to have it.

Noah simply smiles, offers his thanks and takes the foil package, not wishing to be rude to one who offers. After the pair stroll off to enjoy themselves, he opens it to find a soft, crumby, orange colored piece of cake; when he takes a small bite he finds it is as delicious as it looks. With a smile he happily eats the remainder of the cake as he sits back in one of the chairs, watching the video lacrima of the games inside.

Beira's tenacity and mastery of battle strategy eventually paid off, and she remained alone in the room which she had entered to do her latest engagement of battle. The fight had been long and terrible, but she was now alone; the room was hers, and she had gained the mastery. However, it would not do well for her to simply stop there. There were other rooms to conquer, and other humans to shoot at. There was something perversely scientific about studying the effects that these strange pumpkin seed bullets had on people, effects that ran the entire gamut from rib cracking hilarious to spine tingling disturbing. Fortunately, nothing seemed fatal or dangerous; it all appeared to be one great joke, and Beira could say in all honesty, though she would never admit this to another person's face, that she was actually having a better time than she had thought.

The sound of a squeak caught her attention, causing the God Slayer to furtively look in the direction of the sound. It seemed, however, that there was no reason for stealth; the owner of the sound was a wheeled cart, being pushed along by this tiny old lady with a nice smile, dressed in another strange costume. Beira had no idea what sort of costume it was, and presently, she was not interested in figuring out. The lady's hat looked funny, though. On sighting her, the old woman approached eagerly, beaming at her. "Hello, dearie. You look hungry. You have definitely got to try out one of my goodies. Don't worry, they're free," the old lady stated. "Greetings, old one, and thank you for your offer, but I shall be fine as I am," Beira said, looking warily at the cart, although she had to admit that the items in the cart were positively mouth watering. Still, who knew what trap could be hidden beneath the old nice woman facade?

"Nonsense, child," the old lady replied, waving a hand dismissively. "You'll be much finer once you have one of my treats. Go on, and don't be shy." With a guarded mind, Beira took a slice of pumpkin pie, and slowly, carefully, bit into it. Her guarded expression changed to one of genuine surprise. "Well, this I did not expect," the God Slayer said surprised. "It is really quite good... whatever this is." The old woman grinned at her. "You're welcome, dear," the lady said, as she began pushing her cart and walking on by. Beira watched quietly as the woman left the room, even as the God Slayer enjoyed the snack in her hand. Whoever the woman was, Beira could not tell, but she was interested in finding out what sort of food it was that she had just eaten.

Suddenly, a loud cackle filled the room, and a dull orange light flickered into existence in the far shadows. Slowly, the light drew nearer, and Beira realized that it was the illumination of some strange pumpkin headed apparition. The ghostly creature drew closer, cackling as it did so, an aura of menace surrounding it. Beira made ready her pumpkin gun thing, but she did not fire, and would not, unless the creature proved hostile. "Well, hello, ill-fated one," whispered the phantom. "I am Sir Jacky Pumpolian the Third, Master of the Dark Arts, and a creature of darkness and woe bound to this season."

"Hello, creature with the tediously long name. I am Beira the Third of Utgardr. I suppose we do have something in common," the God Slayer replied.

"How delightful," the ghost said with a cackle. "Now, since you stand before me, you shall answer three riddles of mine. Should you fail to answer my riddles, you will suffer a most grievous and dastardly fate. Now, listen! The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?"

Beira frowned. It took a bit of thinking, but she guessed at the answer. "What do you Fioreans call your corpse boxes? Ah, yes. A coffin."

Sir Jacky hissed in anger, but composed himself. "Very good, but hear this one: What do you call a skeleton that makes you laugh and giggle when you’re sad?" Beira was totally confused. "The dead do not speak, and when they do, it is not to make the living laugh," she replied. "I cannot guess this one." Sir Jacky screeched in laughter and said, "The answer is 'a funny bone'!"

"What in existence is a funny bone?" Beira asked in a mixture of confusion and irritation, but the ghost had gone on to the third riddle. "I have a name but it isn’t mine, you don’t think about me while in your prime. People cry when I’m in their sight, other lie with me all day and night. What am I?"

Somehow, by some chance reaching of her mental faculties, Beira realized the answer. "A sepulchre's marker," she replied. The ghost shook his pumpkin head, chuckling ominously. "The answer is a tombstone." Beira stamped her foot angrily. "What nonsense is this? What's the difference between a tombstone and a sepulchre's marker?" Sir Jacky was silent for a moment, but then he cackled loud. "No matter, no matter! You failed one of my riddles. Prepare to die!"


"You haven't even told me what a funny bone--" the Utgardian paused even as she leaped out of the way of a stream of dark flame which issued forth from the ghost's head, aimed at her. Without a word, Beira fled the room, the ghost on her tail. She couldn't use magic here, and that was highly disadvantageous. The best thing to do would be to get her magic back, and then Sir Jacky would not be so light hearted. Dodging another gout of dark flame, Beira leaped down a flight of stairs, breaking her fall with a well-executed roll. With a sprint and another leap, she had made her way outside. The ghost still pursued her. Climbing to the top of a hedge, Beira raced along the structure, and then, dodging another blast of dark fire, the God Slayer leaped off the hedge, having escaped the perimeter of the haunted castle. Foolishly, the ghost followed. Quickly, the God Slayer turned, flinging a shard of dark ice which impaled the ghost's head. With an anguished wail, the ghost disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Perhaps that was enough trick-or-treat for a day. It was probably time for a good night's rest.


WC: 1087 words
Personal WC: 5184/...