DUNGEON SIGN-UPS - SILVEREAGLE MANOR

[phantasmods]

LET THE SIGN-UPS BEGIN.

SILVEREAGLE MANOR

Tucked fairly deep into the mountain foothills, where no roads even reach anymore if any ever did, Silvereagle Manor was once the home of the Ahnrenti family, a house of nobles that rose to their position via clever use of magic and, if historical accounts that border on the mythological are to be believed, a unique position communicating with the spirit of the planet. It's in search of more information about the latter - which may or may not be the same as the entity involved with the magic of the Fissures - that the expedition team has come to the manor.

Surrounded by high stone walls that have mostly withstood the test of time, the castlelike building was well preserved - at least until it, like everything else in the Fissure-ridden world, was abandoned around a century ago. The property still shows many signs - literally - of having been a historically preserved site - the lower floor and outbuildings having many of the trappings of a museum, while a luxury hotel takes up a portion of the upper floors. In addition to the main house - a four story building with a high tower at one end offering views of the whole area around it - the complex boasts a variety of gardens (now overgrown), a gardener's house, and a stable. And that's just what's visible on the surface...

There are very many areas of the manor to explore - two gardens, five floors, the tower, and a special mention to the library! Darkness-related magics seem to prevail here, as well as any number of ghostly and other spooky things. There are also two Subfissures in this dungeon!

• The Entrance Gardens were once a well-maintained carriage track leading up to the manor itself, but they're now incredibly overgrown with strangling (not literally) ivy. This area is home to the first Subfissure effect, which compels characters to honestly.
• The Rear Gardens, on the other hand, are overgrown with something both more beautiful and more dangerous - thorny brambles of rose, dotted with a multitude of late-season blooms. This area is also home to the stables and gardener's house.
• The Ground Floor is home to the massive entrance hall, the kitchens, and numerous sitting rooms that all hold the museum-like trappings of the years the building was maintained for its historic value. In addition, music flows throughout this floor from the grand two-story ballroom immediately off the matching entrance hall - and within are the echoes of dancers, looping through an eternal waltz.
• The Second Floor (the parts of it that aren't the upper halves of the entrance hall and ballroom) was once guest quarters, and afterwards a luxury hotel. There are also converted servants' rooms on this floor, for those who were too cheap for a full guest suite.
• The Third Floor is where the family's more private quarters begin - although there are a handful of guest rooms here, for the highest ranked of visitors and the family's chief servants, the majority of the floor is patrolled by dusty suits of armor that will nonetheless remove any visitors who are in places they shouldn't be.
• Of special note on the third floor is the two-story Library, home to the historical collection of magical books. Was someone else researching here, or is the mess just a side effect of the books flying around as their automatic sorting enchantments go haywire? At least there's no guards.
• The Fourth Floor is home to the second Subfissure effect. If you're familiar with old movies, this one should look familiar... Also patrolled by guards, this is home to the family's personal quarters, including their own magical labs, and the staircase up to the tower.
• The Tower, standing roughly three floors of stairs up above the fourth floor, is home to a telescope observatory! It'll take a good amount of work to get it operational again, but it looks like the massive telescope will still be functional with some polish, thanks to the fact that the roof and windows have all been closed all this time. If you peek out, even without the telescope, it's one hell of a view.
• And then finally, there is the Basement. While a portion of the floor is devoted to cellars of both the wine and vegetable variety - long since empty, sorry to say - a corded-off and locked door leads to a sort of temple, in which someone's left a surprising number of tools and instruments...

DUNGEON-WIDE EFFECTS

The main effect of the dungeon is one you've all been waiting for - that's right, it's our much awaited species swap dungeon! Characters entering the Fissure will find themselves turned into members of some other type of sentient race - aliens, robots, fantasy critters, if it thinks it's probably fair game for this effect. This magic is also more potent than most of the ones characters have dealt with so far - not only does it bring powers to the table for those who are of a species that has powers, but it also does not end in stable areas. Whatever you are, you're stuck as that for the duration of the dungeon, buddy!

Additionally, there are two sub-Fissures in this dungeon. The first, in the entrance gardens, forces characters to speak honestly and prevents them from lying - even going so far as compelling them, if they're trying to hide something intentionally. The second, on the fourth floor, is a suggestion from our very own Eric - it renders the area as something similar to a black-and-white, silent movie, with subtitles when characters blink or close their eyes.

Not sure what counts? There's a comment header below specifically for you to ask the mods if something you have in mind is appropriate!

LOOT

Characters obtain one piece of loot for signing up for the dungeon and an additional roll per 15 comments on the dungeon log. Additionally, characters can receive a bonus loot roll for tagging someone new on the Test Drive! Please also note that comment based loot is capped at five rolls, making for a total of up to seven pieces of loot that each character can gain.

Newcomers who participate in the dungeon can also receive loot for comments made to the last two days of the dungeon log, in addition to their entry loot attached to their acceptance notices. This loot can be found under the sign-ups header at the conclusion of the dungeon, in a comment with their journal name as the subject line.

IC LENGTH

The dungeon will last for six IC days, including travel time. Characters will leave via Incendia on the morning of October 1st and arrive at the manor in the early evening to early night, depending on the exact time they left. They will remain until the morning of October 6th, at which point there is another day's journey back to Incendia and the stations. (That's five nights and four days of actual exploration time!)

MID-DUNGEON EVENT

There is no particular mid-dungeon event this time around! However, there will be two exploration opportunities running the length of the dungeon - one in the library and one in the basement! Rather than having specific headers, mods will keep an eye out for top-levels that include these areas and let you know in-thread if you find anything of interest! For the sake of fairness, we'll be focusing mostly on characters who haven't participated in any explorations or major plot stuff recently.

SIGN-UP FORM

<b>Player name:</b><br /><b>Character name + Journal</b>:<br />

EVERYTHING ELSE:

...Be with you: Fourth character slots are now open for existing players! As with third character slots, there is a maximum of two applications per application cycle. This will probably be the cap going forward until near endgame. Applications open in a week (as usual).

And now, the weather;

9/24-28: Largely clear with stray clouds; breezy, cool.
9/29-30: Overcast, with both occasional sunbreaks and some drizzling.
10/1: Overcast in the morning at the Station; the clouds follow characters into the mountains to Silvereagle Manor, and begin to open up in a steady drizzle there.
10/2-3: Frequent rain; usually drizzle but occasionally pounding. No sunbreaks even during breaks in the rain; remains overcast.
10/4: Rare sunbreaks, overcast.
10/5: Steady rain until late afternoon, heavier than a drizzle but not quite pounding. Overcast after.
10/6: Overcast leading into sunbreaks, with a mostly sunny (though still chilly) afternoon.
10/7-9: Sunny but cool; nights are not yet approaching freezing, but cold enough that most people will want some kind of jacket, especially with the sea breeze.

TEST DRIVE MEME - OCTOBER 2018

[phantasmods]

Hello and welcome to Phantasmal Rift's Test Drive Meme!

Test drive threads are assumed to be game canon for accepted characters unless otherwise noted, so don't feel like you'll have to introduce yourself a second time to everyone you meet! As an added bonus, participation in the test drive comes with the chance to earn up to two items of loot for your trouble! Characters who are accepted can earn one item for having a top level, and one for tagging out to someone else's top level! Your SWEET LOOT will be included with your acceptance notice.

Additionally, characters currently in game can earn themselves a piece of bonus loot for the dungeon by tagging people's top-levels on the test drive! Existing characters get their bonus loot along with the rest of their loot at the conclusion of the dungeon.

This test drive takes place in Silvereagle Manor. Once upon a time, this castlelike home was the refuge of a family of magical nobility straddling the line between church and liege. Then, some centuries after the family itself died out or dispersed to the winds, the building was restored and preserved as a historical heritage site, complete with lots of little museum plaques and a ticket counter in the huge entrance hall. Then after that, an apocalypse of sorts happened, and now the building's stood empty for a century, surrounded by magical distortions with quite interesting effects.

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

One of these effects will be immediately apparent to those who find themselves in the manor or upon the grounds, as it affects near all who enter within, whether they arrive through the shifting of dimensions or more mundane means. It is, after all, quite a sudden change to not be in the body you instinctively recognize as your own.

Though the changes will be significantly greater for some than others, and nearly everyone will be basically recognizable as themselves, they will find that the type of being they are as has shifted. They might be an alien, or a robot, or a fantasy creature - or, if they're not normally human, they might suddenly find themselves to be such. With luck, the experience isn't too disorienting, but...

Well, any new arrivals are likely to be glad of the veterans hanging around to explain that this is surely only temporary, aren't they?

GARDEN OF TRUTH

The forward grounds of the manor, once a well-cared for path up to the building complete with a fountain and carriage loop, are now almost entirely coated in creeping ivy. It climbs the remains of ornamental trees and the scattered lamp posts around the grounds - some of which still attempt to flicker weakly in response to the passage of travellers, magical lights lighting no more than a few feet in a circle around them against the rain.

Did I mention that it's raining? Whether it's a steady drizzle or something more intense, the gardens are constantly under cloud and experiencing the wet weather of autumn more often than not. You may end up wanting to run for the cover of the front stairs of the manor house itself, which provides more than enough cover for those not willing to venture into the ruined building itself.

But whether you're on the stairs or out in the wet, you'll feel a tickle in the back of your throat... All characters in the entry garden will find themselves compelled to tell the truth to whoever they're talking to. Lying is nearly impossible, and even if you manage it, it won't reach the ears of the listener as anything more than mumbling - and attempts to simply omit the truth will cause the itch in your throat to increase to the point that it becomes unbearable. Better get ready to spill your guts.

PUT ON YOUR DANCING SHOES

Inside those doors, beyond the entrance hall and its abandoned ticket counters, you'll be able to follow a thread of music to another set of grand doors, and opening those reveals a beautiful, pristine ballroom. This room is obviously affected by the magic of the building in some kind of way - even if it were not for the music, the unnatural cleanliness of the room compared to the disrepair of the rest of the building, there's the translucent shadows of dancers spinning around the floor. Engaged in waltzes and pavanes to the music, they are largely indistinct to those who are flesh and blood.

If you choose to enter in among the sweeping ballgowns and robes - possibly with your clothes having suddenly manifested into appropriately matching attire themselves by the magic of this place - you're likely to find that one of the specters takes your hands to lead or by led in the dance. No good comes from dancing without a partner, after all! The images, for all their wispiness, are surprisingly forceful in this matter, with unnaturally strong grips and a penchant for steering through the middle of the group, and it might be a while until you can lead your new partner back to the edge of the dance floor in order to beg off. However, those who enter the dancefloor with a partner already in hand will find themselves ignored by the dancers, as are those who enter with the intention of sweeping someone already inside off their feet.

SPOOKY SCARY...

The dancers aren't the only haunted things having fun around the first floor. While there's any number of magically animated brooms and dusters fighting a doomed battle against cobwebs and mildew, they're not the only thing moving about. With the music from the ballroom filtering across the whole floor, you might occasionally hear the clack-clack of something hard hitting the floor.

Where the skeletons come from is a question for another day. Because they're certainly... here... and they've come to dance themselves right into the dust, since they have, apparently, already danced their hearts out.

Unlike the ballroom dancers, the skeletons are performers - many of them have questionable hats, capes made of drapes, or other accessories to dance with, and once they realize they have an audience, they'll do their best to insert themselves into the line of a character's vision as much as possible. They're actually rather friendly and nonviolent, as much as skeletons can be, and rather than fighting over the spotlight, most of them will coordinate their dancing if they wind up sharing someone's attention. If you ever wanted to see how many synchronized cha-cha-ing skeletons you can collect into a single room... Well, now you have a chance to live out that extremely specific fantasy, I guess.