Fantasy MAGIC SCHOOL THAT'S POSSIBLY HAUNTED (CLOSED)

[SusieLivesHere]

PROMPT>>
This moderately-sized magic school is located in a valley and is designed in a style that puts you in mind of ancient Roman architecture. Overall the school has a fair reputation. Also, it's rumoured to be haunted. Recently, the school's mythology club organised a fundraising event for the school and a student set the building on fire <<

WHo knows what else? I sure don't.

Here's the premise for our characters:

You may or may not be involved with the mythology club, but the rumour going round is that the fire wasn't an accident. Rumours are spreading that other, more illicit, club activities within the school's basement/cellar/dungeons/lower levels have brought an evil curse on the school.
No one dares go down there, people hear strange things, noises and creakings. The teachers either refuse to comment on it or play it off as bad plumbing.
The annual exam is coming up. The biggy. the one that could decide the rest of your magical future. Are you magical enough? Gifted? Or are you just kidding yourself?
The exam requires students to work in a team to overcome obstacles and basically survive. It can take place anywhere on or off school grounds. So naturally it's the day before your exam, you find out the other two students you are to take it with, and where it will be held... and no, surely not... THE BASEMENT/CELLAR/DUNGEONS!

Crazy.

OOC chat: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/magic-school-thats-possibly-haunted-closed.337355/

 

[SusieLivesHere]

Rose stood at the top of the stairs looking incredulously down into the lower levels. It was dark and smelled like damp, and worse. She turned to face the teacher who had assigned them this task.
"You can't be serious." her accent giving away that she was one step away from saying "my father will hear about this," but she was all too aware of how cliche and bloody awful that would be.
The teacher, Mrs NPC continued to smile blithely.
"Yes, we are serious. This is your task for this end of year examination period. Find out the source of the rumours abroad this school."
Rose had to bite back that she knew very well what the source was. Being it herself. Whatever. She didn't need any evidence to know that the mythology club geeks had awoken something... supernatural on the school grounds. That fire was just too good to be coincidental. She looked at the other students chosen. She had never met them before. Great.
She gazed back down the grotty wooden stairs. Sucking in a lung full of air, head held high, made the first step down. Her small, illicit, kitten heel clicking against the wood.

 

[Flyingbanshee]

Diane coughed a little as Rose made a few purposeful strides to the stairs.
''Well, this is nice!'' She said, clasping her hands together. Bright neon colours flashed on her nails, and her gaudy costume jewellery clattered with the motion. 'I suppose a few introductions should be in order? I'm Diane Blanchard, secretary for the mythology club. Don't fall over yourselves in enthusiasm or anything.' She glanced at her new companions and coughed 'ahem' again. 'Who are you guys then?'

 

[SusieLivesHere]

Rose turned and from her lowered position to address Diane. She was dressed in a way that didn't suit Rose's more sophisticated style. At least, what Rose considered sophisticated. Had they not been teammates Rose may have been tempted to mock her. At any rate, she had just declared herself part of the mythology club. Another social no-no in Rose's eyes. Who knows what dark magic she had been responsible for.
She smiled falsly. "I'm Rose Hawthorn." Teamwork marks She thought as the teacher could still view them. "I've specialised in reparation and restoration magics. How about you two?" It was only half a lie, she was studying reparation and restoration as her major subjects, as per her parent's ideas, but her only real talent was with cloth and fabric. A talent she doubted would help down here.

 

[LadyDeGrey]

Jack shifted awkwardly at the top of the stairs, still trying to process what they had just taken place, with cautious eyes watching the pair's interaction. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the two students he had been assigned to work with but he supposed they wouldn't get anywhere if they didn't try to make friends. So he put on his best smile, the one he reserved for important greetings and business, and began his way down the stairs behind them.
"My name's Jack, I specialise in Transfiguration and Magical Creatures." He replied to Rose's question, friendly and outgoing mask perfectly practiced on his face. He was well dressed in the casual sort of way with a simple shirt and jacket in fairly bland colours, almost the opposite to Diane's flamboyant aesthetic. He was good looking though, with styled brown hair and striking blue eyes. The contrast between that and his clothing gave him an almost awkward and out of place look.

 

[Flyingbanshee]

Diane inhaled sharply, in a way that suggested that she probably hadn't cottoned on to Rose's derision. Even so, she inched away from her and nodded at Jack.
'I think I sat behind you in transfiguration. I was the one who was trying to turn a wasp into a ballpoint pen and came out with a can opener. Messy business.'
Magical talent was not Diane's forte. If she's ever bothered to sit and focus on something for more than a few minutes, maybe that might not have been the case, but as it stood, Mythology was her current and only academic love.
She wasn't in any particular rush to point this out to the others.
''Anyway, shall we get a move on?''
And with that she firmly placed her foot onto the creaking stairway, making sure to only stand on the steps that Rose had already tested.

 

[SusieLivesHere]

"Magical creatures? Don't suppose that counts rats does it?" Rose said as she suspected many hid here. As she reached the bottom of the stairs the doors clattered closed behind them and Rose thought she heard a bolt clack into place. The room was pitch black. The only noises drips and onimous echos. " don't suppose anyone is particularly good at conjuration?" Rose said, trying to keep the panic from her voice as she tried to create a light in her hand. On the fourth or fifth try she managed a weak glowing ball that hovered above her hand. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Her fear came true, a rat scurried past, her light went out again.

 

[LadyDeGrey]

The slamming of the doors made Jack jump, his head swinging around to look back up the stairs. He took a breath to steady himself before turning back to the situation in hand just in time to see Rose's light fail. Another deep breath and he repeated the spell she had attempted, a medium sized glowing orb raising itself up between the three of them and sending the rats scattering as it illuminated the hallway. His father was not the kind to accept failure, so the spells outside of his own specialisation that he knew, he knew well.
"Rats are not exactly considered magical creatures, no..." he murmured quietly, squinting down the hallway in an attempt to see as far down it as possible. The end was still shrouded in murky darkness.

 

[Flyingbanshee]

''The rat is just as scared of us as we are of it'' said Diane evenly, scraping the heel of her foot against the stones and shuddering.
She flicked her fingers in an attempt to spark some kind of light and, when that failed, held up her hand.
''Did you hear that?'' She pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. ''Sounds...distinctly not good'

 

[SusieLivesHere]

"Well... I guess that's where we're headed then." Rose said. Her mind filled with more rats. More calm in the glow of Jack's light, she managed her own small orb. Rose couldn't help but sideways glance at Diane as they headed down the corridor. Mythology Club? What secrets did she have about the fire? Had she been there? Did Diane know what was hidden down here?
"You weren't a part of the mythology club when that terrible accident happened, were you?" They reached the door. There were some scrabbling noises coming from behind. There had been other paths, all silent. Rose reached for the handle, both hoping it was and wasn't locked. It swung open smoothly to reveal some sort of generator room.
Rose squealed and her orb disappeared again. About 10 or 15 large rats had formed a wriggling mass in the middle of the room. This school had a serious rat problem. It was grotesque. The machinery and pipes seemed seriously upset. Spewing steam and juddering erratically.
The rats weren't running away. Why weren't they running away?

 

[Flyingbanshee]

Diane barely had time to respond to Rose's now less subtle jibes before the door swung open, revealing the writhing mass of rats.
'Ack!' She shrieked, leaping back about a foot before composing herself. ''That's...utterly bizarre and not a little disturbing,'' she said, her breath hitching a little. She glanced around the now revealed room, and muttered something inaudible to herself. The steam, she thought, maybe I can...
Inspiration struck, and she sent a simple concussive blast to the pipes at a loose point where a lot of the steam was escaping. The pipe splintered with a jarring creaking noise, as steam poured through the new exit and filled the room.

 

[LadyDeGrey]

Jack licked his lips uncertainly, still just outside the door as the steam escaped out of the pipes, his light floating serenely through it and into the room. He was vaguely interested in the answer to Rose's question. He wasn't generally in the loop when it came to rumours but this was one he had heard a lot about. It was hard not to.
After a slight hesitation he made his way into the room, glancing around to see if the rats were dispersing. They were, but oddly slowly. He was familiar with the species as, although not magical creatures, were loosely studied in his classes.
"Rats are attracted to magic.." he murmured curiously, and mostly to himself, as he prodded one of them gently with his foot. It sniffled up at him a moment before jumping away, claws scratching against the stone floors.

 

[SusieLivesHere]

Startled by the steam rose leapt backwards as if the steam might burn her, casting derision in Diane's direction. The rats, however, seemed unperturbed. She looked on with unhidden disgust as Jack approached one.
"They're always attracted to magic or just these ones?" The steam started to clear. Jack's light floated and lit up the room. "Well, I think we know the source of the noises..." The machinery which reminded Rose of the inside of a submarine was still half-heartedly juddering along. She braced herself and walked through, on closer inspection the pipes and mechanisms seemed scarred, scratched and torn...
"Could rats do this?" She asked aloud. and began casting a restoration spell... Maybe the school just wanted free maintenance. She thought with frustration, trying to ignore the rats. How about pest control?

 

[Flyingbanshee]

''Well it doesn't look like they're that interested in us,'' said Diane curtly. ''Come on, let's see if there's-''
She took a step forward into the room, but as she did so, one rat sprang free from the pack and kept at her, sinking its teeth into her forearm. Diane let out a piercing shriek and started batting at it, running around the hall and yelling
''GETITOFFGRTITOFFGETITOFF!''

 

[LadyDeGrey]

Jack, who had been following what Rose was doing up to that point, jumped harshly at the scream that emerged from Diane, staring at her with wide, startled eyes. For a moment he did nothing before suddenly snapping out of it, quickly grabbing the rat by its scruff as she came passed him. It let go of her and he threw it, watching it roll across the floor with wide eyes before it shook itself and raced back into the pack.
Jack frowned slightly, brushing his hand off on his trousers before turning to look at the girl.
"Are you alright?"

 

[SusieLivesHere]

Rose was startled by the scream. Rose watched in horror as Jack pulled the rat off of Diane, and the rat scrabbled away behind rickety metallic shelves, it was too dark to see exactly what was at the foot. She noticed that all the rats seemed to be going that way rats are attracted to magic. She put a cursory glance at Diane's arm, noticed it was bleeding. Squeamish to the last she squinted and performed a very different kind of restoration spell. It wasn't too dissimilar to the time her friend Mandy had gotten a godawful tattoo. Rose had removed it by repairing the skin to its original state.
Half way through the same thing happened again, one of the rats launched an attack on Rose's calf. With the spell interrupted, Diane would have a scar... Having no defensive spells Rose kicked the rat away. "What are they trying to protect over there?" Rose said trying to disengage from the guilt over Diane's wound.

 

[Flyingbanshee]

Diane, a sport fan through and through, launched a spectacular kick at another rat near Rose's feet, sending it tumbling through the air as it slid under a loose grate. Grumbling, she rubbed the scar, trying not to aggravate it anymore and failing.
''Filthy beasts'' she muttered. Then she paused and kicked at a loose stone. ''Thank you. Both of you. Sorry. Let's go. Let's figure this out. Before I get rabies or something. Hahaha...that's not funny.''
Rose is right, she thought, they're guarding something. She sent a small stunning spell into the mass to see if that might help at all.

 

[LadyDeGrey]

Jack let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding and smiled slightly at Diane before focusing back on the rats. They separated at the blast but soon swarmed the area again, causing him to frown. What kind of magic could be powerful enough to attract so many rats so strongly? He sure didn't know the answer.
"Anyone got any ideas?" He asked uncertainty.

 

[SusieLivesHere]

"Let's see what's behind these shelves, without, of course, knocking them over." Rose positioned herself at one end of the shelves and peered behind bringing a mage light in her hand. She was ironically feeling more confident, now she knew what a rat attack looked and felt like. With one eye she could just about see. "oh my gods.. there's a huge hole into this... crawl space?" Rose described the scene to her companions, the hole was maybe 3 feet high, swarming with rats, a lot of scraps of paper, cardboard, and even metal. Rose tried to send the light on without her to where she couldn't reach. She noticed writing in purple around the jagged hole. She couldn't read it. She suddenly doubted this had ever been just water or rat damage. And suddenly her light popped and disappeared as if it had hit a magic wall. What kind of spell...

 

[Flyingbanshee]

'It's Greek!'' Diane blurted out, slapping her hand over her mouth. ''Sorry I mean, it's Ancient Greek. I don't know a lot, I'm better at Latin, but I could maybe...hang on...look, that word there, that's Pathos. There's ethos....and logos. Hmmm.''
She tapped her finger to her chin, mouthing the words and counting off on her fingers.
''Erebos! That means dark. Suppose that answers the question about what magic is at play here...uhhh...m she closed her eyes and muttered to herself.
''I can't be sure, but I think it's...it seems to be about 'challenges' that await us. All of the matching one of those three things. Ethos is about character...logos is logic and knowledge...pathos is emotion. Hmmmm.'' She glanced at the floor, staring into the opening.
''One last thing, the only other word I can really translate is Theogony. That, uh, that's the title of a really old poem by this guy, Hesiod. Uh....it's about the genesis of the old gods? The tone on this wall is...vaguely threatning or maybe it's a warning so let's be...careful. Also,' and with that she formed a large fireball in her hands, 'apparently rats hate fire. Stand clear for a second, yeah?''

 

[SusieLivesHere]

Rose listened to the barrage trying her best not to pretend to fall asleep or roll her eyes. Mythology nerds. Then Diane pulled a fireball out of nowhere.
"WOAH, hang on there big brains. This shelf is filled with accelerants and paint and all kinds of flammable, explodable shit. Let's move it first... or at least decrease the size of the fire..." She tried to hide her jealousy at the impressive magic, and gestured the shelf, implying her nails were too precious to waste lifting.
Suddenly something occurred to Rose... she looked sideways at Jack trying to silently communicate. She mouthed the words "Mythology club, fire" behind Diane's back. Rose had had plenty of practice. This nerd was going to ruin their test by fire, just like the mythology club incident...

 

[LadyDeGrey]

Jacks eyes widened at the sight of the fireball, stumbling backwards in fear. His hands gripped into tight, painful balls and he continued to step away from the fire even as Rose spoke, attempting to control his breathing as best he could. Rats were not the only things that were afraid of fire.
Something moving caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he tore his gaze away from the orange monster to look at Rose, seeing her silent sentence. He frowned, not quite catching it at first before realisation dawned on his face and he turned back towards the flame and gulped. He didn't like to assume but in the current situation it would seem to make sense.

 

[Flyingbanshee]

Spite is a powerful motivator, and Diane briefly toyed with the idea of hurling the fireball in spite of Rose's quite reasonable arguement.
But, just as she flicked her wrist to unleash the blasts she glanced towards Jack, and saw him shivering quietly. She sighed and exstinguished the flame. Then she went to the shelf and started clearing it, flushed red with annoyance and not a little shame.
''Fine. Who's got a better idea?''

 

[SusieLivesHere]

Rose watched astonished as Jack cowered away. She was not of a particularly empathetic nature and couldn't bring herself to say anything. There was no reparation spell for courage. She began reluctantly clearing the shelf. Rats all the while becoming more frantic. once the shelf was cleared enough she began pushing it to one side to reveal the hole. It had chewed crumbling edges.
"Ok... maybe fire now.." Rose said with anxious glances to Jack. "Small fire" she hastily added on. Why was Jack so afraid?? Did he have anything to do with the recent incident?

 

[LadyDeGrey]

Jack visibly relaxed when the fire was put out, breathing levelling out quickly. After a short moment of pause he moved forwards to help the girls clear the shelves.
He blanched slightly at Rose's words but took a breath and nodded. He needed to get a hold of himself. He did take a couple of steps backwards though, both to be out of the way of the fire and the stampede of rats that would surely follow.
"I would stand back though. Those rats aren't going to appreciate it very much."