Betrayal at House on the Hill

[angelcage]

[ You sleep, the ground cold beneath your cheek. The ground is hard as stone, cold marble beneath a fine layer of dust that doesn't come anywhere near acting as a cushion. The dust stirs with your breathing.


>> Wake up ]

Comments

[angelcage]

[ It looks up at him and squeaks adorably.

And then, like his namesake, scampers from one part of the pentagram line to the other. The another. And another.

It's time for fun with rat rituals: memory game edition. ]

[court_chesster]

Can we really still do this without a sacrifice?

[But who could resist that precious little whiskered face? Despite his misgivings, Simon follows its movements closely.]

[angelcage]

[ Squeak, squeakum, squeak squeaker. Scampers gets on its furry hind legs and its tail wriggles behind it while it goes in a circle.

Ehhh, worth a shot. ]

[court_chesster]

[Okay, he thinks he understands this. He has no tail to wriggle, but he also goes in a circle and repeats what he thinks he heard the rat say:]

Tráde, quaesó, mihí caseum.

[angelcage]

[ A big chunk of gouda appears at one of the points of the pentagram.

The rat looks super pleased. ]

[court_chesster]

...Seriously, Scampers? If all this was about cheese, I could've bought you cheese.

[He wants a bite of it, too.]

[angelcage]

[ Scampers shakes its head.

No, you're thinking too small. This is phase one, phase one of the ritual!

Continue, great squeaker!! ]

[court_chesster]

[Okay. Phase one. He can do this. He scoops up the rat (yes, it can keep the cheese), sits in the middle of the pentagram with the animal in his lap, closes his eyes, and lets inspiration come to him.]

[He squeaks.]

[angelcage]

[ Images fill his mind: not this meager army he's amassed within the house. But within all the walls, tearing and ripping all the flesh of those within to pieces. Judgement for those who have done wrong at the teeth of animals, innocent of sin. They want to eat. They want to swarm. He has many he can offer them.

But first, they need to outnumber.

He can open his mind and channel them: he can bring more here. Reach into the house, and pull out its front door. Through there, they can enter. ]

[court_chesster]

[Then he bids them come. Destroy, feed, leave none alive.

...Except me. Leave me alive. There's more cheese in it for you.]

[angelcage]

[ In the entrance hall: the outline of the front door begins to trace itself out on a bare wall. ]