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[repeat] A hedgehog. Begin your investigation into why these book-based inclusion-intrusions somehow don't trigger every alarm known (and made) by elfkind. Maybe one of the shelf elves based out of a library will know something about this whumphenomena. You should have their contact numbers for last-minute N-or-N clarification emergencies...
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Dec 6, 2021 16:26
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 03:00 |
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 Image is of a star! No correct guesses. Current score: 3-3. Random action chosen: 1d5 2 Slaan's Break out the Flamethrower action chosen. Enough of this. Nursing your head, you head to the security armoury, just next to the sleigh room. Added after last year's events, a cache of strong weaponry accessible only by trusted senior staff. The door's scanner recognizes your thumbprint and you're in. A fairly small room compared to the others, but nevertheless stocked floor-to-ceiling with the latest in Pole Defence Technology. You grab the flamethrower. Its pilot light ignites with a satisfying hsssssssss. The Armoury's door locks itself behind you as you quickly pop outside, into the deserted car park, where you experimentally pull the trigger quickly once. A whooosh of flame erupts from your weapon, melting the nearby snow and sending the birds in the trees scattering. "This will do nicely," you think. You head back indoors and approach the kitchen. You see Volume 2 floating in mid-air just outside the door. Without warning, you fire your flamethrower at it. WHOOOSH! The book collapses to the ground, aflame. With your recently-awakened psychic senses, you feel rather than hear a high-pitched scream of distress as something intangible floats past your head and further into the Workshop Complex. From your office, you hear the office clock chime the hour. Three hours remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 7, 2021 02:14
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Bear Begin cleansing the north pole at the stables to make sure Rudelf can get the team ready
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Dec 7, 2021 02:42
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Human Grab the source of the scream and interrogate it.
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Dec 7, 2021 03:04
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Ornament Take a big gulp of coffee and barbeque the intruder.
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Dec 7, 2021 05:13
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A candy cane Pursue
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Dec 7, 2021 08:53
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A hedgehog. Flamethrower only upset it. Grab your ghostbusting gear and keep hunting down this ethereal meddler.
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Dec 7, 2021 10:40
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 Image is of an owl! No correct guesses. Current score: 3-4. Random action chosen: 1d5 4 Malbogio's Pursue action chosen. You look down the corridor at where whatever that thing was went. How can you track something that you can't see? You walk in that direction, quiet footsteps, eyes and ears alert for the slightest sign of activity. From somewhere quite far ahead, you hear a whumf. You approach the door of one of the many storerooms the Workshop Complex has. Time to put your psychic training to use. You close your eyes and part of your mind floats away from your corporeal form and into the room. It is a mess. Everything not book-related lies stattered across all the shelving and floor. Books are bursting out of their storage crates and flying towards another neat pile like the one in your office. Grisham stacked upon Brown stacked upon naff novelty stocking filler. And at the base of the stack you see a ghost, a being of spectral energy, swinging their arms around, directing the books into place and making the pile of literature grow ever higher. She is (or was) an elf, wooden-framed reading glasses on a chain perched above rather angular features, a plain brown cardigan atop a plain white blouse, a torso trailing away to nothing. She hasn't noticed you yet. Two hours, fifty minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 8, 2021 01:57
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A candy cane Attempt diplomacy
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Dec 8, 2021 02:42
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A bear Press the Lockdown BIG RED BUTTON you had installed in every room after last year. Let us see it get away from multiple layers of steel and magic barriers!
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Dec 8, 2021 03:09
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A quadruped smaller than a bear with brown fur. Resurrect it.
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Dec 8, 2021 03:31
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 Image is of a squirrel in a tree. I think they count as quadrapeds so I'll go with AJ_Impy's suggestion. Curent score: 4-4. Resurrect it action chosen. You float the psychic part of your mind back to your body. How do you subdue a ghost? Your first thought is to resurrect her, but you don't know of anywhere any elf cadavers could be. Hopefully a temporary body will suffice, then negotaions can begin and you can start to learn this spirit's story. Luckily, the storeroom next door is dedicated to dolls. You briefly consider the Funko-Pops, but decide that's too cruel even for you. You settle on a Librarian Barbie figure; the clothes are a rough match, if nothing else. You enter the haunted room. Very carefully, making no sound or psychic ripple, you approach the ghost from behind, her attention focused on the almost-complete book stack. Slow footstep after slow footstep, slow, shallow breaths, inch by inch you advance. As the last book is placed atop the pile, the ghost floats around it, turning and seeing you. She screams and your psychic senses are assulted. Now! You rush towards her, moving your hands ultra into the psychic dimension, roughly grabbing the ghost and flinging it into the doll's space. The psychic scream abruptly stops. The room is completely still. You look down at the Librarian Barbie figure in your hands. She punches you in the face. Two hours, forty minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 9, 2021 02:52
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Another four legged friend, this one larger than a squirrel. Doll fight! Doll fight!
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Dec 9, 2021 03:14
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Bear Play dress up with the dolly in one of the spare dollhouses kept around the workshop
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Dec 9, 2021 04:00
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A hedgehog. Take the blow bravely on the chin, like an elf being struck by a much smaller and weaker thing. That is made of something hard. (Okay, so maybe it stung and you flinched a bit.) Then interrogate her, gently. Ask her what the jingles she thinks she's been up to, on This Night of all Nights. Summoning books, willy-nilly?
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Dec 9, 2021 11:43
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 Image is of a fox! Foxes are *googles* bigger than squirrels! Another one for AJ_Impy. Current score: 5-4. Doll fight action chosen. Staring at the doll while holding her at arm's length with one hand, you use the other to touch the spot on your left cheek where she punched you. It feels a bit like a shaving cut. You notice the blood on your fingers. The doll smiles at you. She drew blood! You toss the doll into the air and with your right foot volley-kick the doll into the shelving. She grabs one of the upright poles, spins around once and launches herself at you, feet raised in a flying kick. You catch her and try to pull the doll's head from her body. She bites your fingers. You pull your hand back in pain - Barbies have teeth now? - and drop her. She runs off, scurrying into the endless expanse of shelves. You crouch down, looking for your opponent. A book lands on your head with a whumf. OK, you think, if that's the game. You close your eyes and open your psychic senses. There's nothing. You're the only living being in this room. No sign of- wait, to your left, something, like an ant walking across a classroom blackboard, barely noticable but there- Your left arm swings out and catches the doll unawares, sending her sprawling to the ground. Her ambush foiled, she gathers herself and charges, a recently-found box-cutter knife in her hands. You dodge out of the way and kick her into the stack of books. Books collapse around both of you as the doll lets out another piercing psychic scream. You crawl your way out of the pile and get back to your feet. Three metres ahead of you you see the Librarian Barbie doll, box-cutter in hand, beckoning you to make another attack. Two hours, thirty minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 10, 2021 02:22
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A candy cane Attempt diplomacy
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Dec 10, 2021 02:37
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hmmm... Oh, why not. Image>[A Small Bird] Action>[Call for backup to enjoy the show. And maybe give you a hand if it gets real bad, but honestly this is downright quaint public entertainment compared to last year. So far.]
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Dec 10, 2021 03:05
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Hmm. A quadruped larger than a fox. Reveal the spirit inhabiting the doll's dark secret to get them to surrender.
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Dec 10, 2021 04:22
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Bear Up up down down left right left right a b start this fool
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Dec 10, 2021 04:32
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 Image is of a bear looking at a tree. AJ_Impy was right; Slaan was more right. Current score: 6-4. Up up down down left right left right a b start action chosen. You smile at the doll and close your eyes. You shut down your psychic senses as well. Ignore the doll, ignore the warehouse, ignore Christmas. Your focus is totally and solely on yourself. A step forward. A step forward. A step back. A step back. A step left. A step right. A step left. A step right. A kick. A punch. You shout with determination as you snap your eyes open. You feel ready to take on anything! You feel... ...no different than before. The doll looks at you and scoffs. "It's B, A, Start, jackass," she says. Two hours, twenty minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 11, 2021 02:50
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A candy cane Attempt diplomacy
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Dec 11, 2021 03:49
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A quadruped smaller than a bear. Succeed at diplomacy.
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Dec 11, 2021 04:26
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An elf Hit it with the flamethrower again
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Dec 11, 2021 06:05
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MISTAKES WERE MADE. TIMELINE SEVERED. Image is of a hedgehog! Sorry, Scribbleykins. No correct guesses. Current score: 6-5. Random action chosen: 1d3 3 Slaan's More Flamethrower action chosen. "Jackass? Well, at least there's one button I definitely know how to press," you say to the doll. You remove the flamethrower from its position strapped to your back and into your arms. Its pilot light ignites with a satisfying hsssssssss. The doll stares at you, aghast. "You wouldn't-" WHOOOSH! A burst of flame erupts in front of you, sending the doll scrambling for cover. You see her dash into the recently-toppled mound of books. WHOOOSH! Another blast. You see copies of Chapterhouse Dune and The Thursday Murder Club start to smoulder. There's another piercing psychic scream and you see the doll, box-cutter knife raised, rushing towards you. You smile and aim your flamethrower. WHOOOSH! The doll runs straight through the blast and, with her clothes now aflame, charges towards you with her knife. You ready your legs for a kick and- -and she's run past you. You didn't feel a thing. You see the small flaming being running away from you and pull the trigger again. WHeeerp. poo poo! Your flamethrower's busted! You look down and see a neat cut in one of the fuel pipes, leaking fuel all over the floor. Leaking fuel all over the floor where you're standing, next to the mound of burning books. You have seconds to act. Two hours, ten minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD. Cloud Potato fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Dec 12, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2021 02:54
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Image is of a hedgehog! And here's a fun fact I just learned: they're quadrapeds that are smaller than most bears! AJ_Impy guesses correctly! Current score: 7-4. Interesting side-note: Quadraped guesses are banned for the rest of the year. Succeed at diplomacy action chosen. "Jackass?" You scoff. "And there was me thinking we hadn't met before." You remove the flamethrower from its position strapped to your back and set it to one side. You kick an errant copy of Chapterhouse Dune aside and sit on the floor, cross-legged. "But, since it turns out you can talk, let's give diplomacy a try before I burn this warehouse down trying to fight you. My name is Jingleterry." The doll lets out a long breath (or at least tries to - it's a hard habit to break!) and sits down herself, her box-cutter knife by her side, still within reach. "You're hardly the loquacious type yourself, Jingleterry. Call me Caltime." "Nice to meet you," you say. "So, the books?" "I used to be the librarian here," Caltime says. "I looked after all the books we brought in to be shipped out every year, helped co-ordinate the elven printing-presses we used to have. Us elves even had our own library, of books we wanted to read. Then I died." "What happened?" The doll shakes her head. "It's... fuzzy. When I try to remember what happened, my mind just... slides off it like it's glass. Does that make sense? Ever since then, I've been a ghost, haunting the Workshop Complex. I assumed that was my fate, to wander these halls until they fall, but last year, something changed. A new psychic energy was wandering around the complex. It nourished me, made me stronger. I discovered that, with enough effort, I could move books, only books. Stacking them into neat piles, bringing order to this place finally. Then I was rudely grabbed and shoved into this cliché of a physical form." Caltime smiles sadly. "So, any questions?" Two hours, ten minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD. Cloud Potato fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Dec 13, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2021 04:06
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Tree Whatever, I've got a job to do. Come help if you want. Wake the Big Man.
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Dec 12, 2021 04:11
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A bird Drink coffee
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Dec 12, 2021 04:30
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A mammal with fur, larger than a hedgehog. Trace the source of her ghostification whilst asking salient questions. AJ_Impy fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Dec 12, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2021 05:32
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A gift Drink some coffee, it's going to be a long night
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Dec 12, 2021 08:17
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A candy cane Recruit Caltime
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Dec 12, 2021 10:00
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A snowflake. Shrug and apologize, it was the thing you had at hand. If you want, you can find a woodchipper and a toy more to her taste and you can try to repeat the process. If not, you'd better get on with your business now that she isn't disrupting it any longer. The Big Man is gonna wake up soon and get ready for his... lengthy trip.
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Dec 12, 2021 15:55
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 Image is of two rabbits! I'm running late, so AJ_Impy gets this one. Current score: 8-4. Trace the source of her ghostification whilst asking salient questions action chosen. You think about Caltime's story. Eventually you ask her "Do you know why you became a ghost? I'll admit it's been a while since I attended religion classes, but what happened to the big naughty-or-nice list in the sky?" She shrugs. "No idea. To be honest, I wasn't expecting an afterlife. Usually, in stories like this, there would be some sort of unfinished business, but I can't think what. The Work Continues, the books get delivered, children across the world are introduced to the joys of reading. Our elven library was disbanded only after my death, with no-one running it, so surely that couldn't have caused my situation." You raise an eyebrow. "What about your death? Maybe your business... is revenge!" "But I've told you, I don't remember how I died." You lean forward. "What do you remember? I really think this might be it." The doll takes a deep faux-breath, and closes her eyes. "I was in the library, as always. I had just loaned a book out to a customer, and was sitting in my comfy chair with a book, and then- And then it just...stops, and I'm floating over a body." "Can you recall any other details?" "A heavy book... my head was-" Caltime wails and cries at the extremely painful memory. You stand up and embrace her. As you do, you hear the office clock chime the hour. It's time to wake the Big Man. Two hours, ten minutes remain. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 13, 2021 03:53
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Corvidae Wake The Big Man
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Dec 13, 2021 03:56
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A candy cane Wake the Big Man
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Dec 13, 2021 04:35
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Another mammal, still brown furred. Less than 5 digits on each limb. Wake the big man, warn him his food and drink have been spiked and there's the ghost of a murdered elf librarian active.
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Dec 13, 2021 04:45
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A gift Wake the big man with a steaming cup of joe.
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Dec 13, 2021 05:58
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A bird Drink a double sized cup of coffee
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Dec 13, 2021 18:44
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A badger. Wake the Big Man. Ask about Caltime's tragic death (m-m-murder???). Maybe he remembers? Scribbleykins fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Dec 13, 2021 |
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Dec 13, 2021 19:51
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 03:00 |
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 Image is of a bird! Apologies, Slaan, but I don't think it's Corvidae? Dog Kisser guesses correctly! Current score: 9-4. Drink a double sized cup of coffee action chosen. "Shh, shh, shh, it's OK, Caltime," you softly say into the doll's ears. "No more questions for now. C'mon, let's go back to the office, get nice and warm, I'll stick some coffee on, yeah?" Caltime nods and both of you leave the warehouse. You put the doll in one of the comfy chairs in the office and, ignoring the snores coming from the Big Man's room, head to the kitchen. With a practised ease, you grind the beans, compress them, stick them in the coffee brewer and turn on the hot water. You go to the cupboard and get three cups: an extra-large for yourself, a regular for the Big Man, and an espresso cup for Caltime. "D'ya want sugar?" you shout out towards the office. "Nah!" Caltime replies. After a few minutes the brewer turns itself off with a soft click. Pour the coffee, stir the coffee. Minty mocha for yourself, PSL for the Big Man, just a shot for the doll. You leave the Big Man's cup on the side, and take yours and Caltime's through to the office. She accepts her cup and sets it on the arm of her chair. "Better let it cool a bit, it might melt my plastic!" she says. "Fair enough!" you say, before taking a long, long drink. Mmmm! Coffee gooood. Wait. Didn't you lace the brewer and the soup with LSD earlier? Uh-oh! One hour, fifty minutes remain. The Big Man is still asleep. You have recently ingested LSD. The roof door remains unlocked. The soup and the coffee brewer are laced with LSD.
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Dec 14, 2021 02:54
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