TOIL AND TROUBLE ❄ PART 2

[nightmods]

TOIL AND TROUBLE ❄ PART 2

They say to never split the party but this Halloween, they absolutely need to. A quick flyby of the Sandersons' house shows it's empty - they're out trying to find the children that stole their magic book.

In the meantime, they have other problems. They are seriously outnumbered by the witches and there are still un-evacuated children in the town. They know that Sarah Sanderson will likely soon sing her song to lure children to wherever the Sandersons' intend to feed on them. There are also allies to try to gather, and other witch problems that have surfaced.

There is nothing else for it. The Guardians have to split up in the hopes the situation will get stable enough they can find Jamie's classmates who stole the book before the Sandersons do.

Or hope they can run down the clock until dawn, when they'll disappear in the light of day.

OOC DETAILS
❅ Format: The mod will be using prose because multiple npcs may need to be written speaking but players can pick any format they want, including actionspam.

❅ NPCing: This part of the plot will have mod npcing. If you can, please try to tag at least about once a day to your respective threads so the mod can try to block out some semi-predictable time for npc tags.

❅ Status effects: There will be more dangerous witches here. Witches have magic and that means curses and other injuries the myth healing might not instantly fix. (Magical burns, etc.) You can play with this as you want. Spells and effects can either wear off in a short amount of time, wear off when the plot is over when day breaks, or need magical healing intervention at the Pole. Player choice.

❅ Long-term effects: Players who go with some kind of status effect for a character can optionally have long-term consequences from it if they like.

❅ Environment: Feel free to manipulate the environment in each setting location. You will often have whole setting areas to work with or even the whole open town. In some places, you absolutely can hotwire a car to run over a witch.

Comments

EVERYONE HAIL TO THE PUMPKIN KING ❄ Dick and Crowley

[nightmods]

The witches are an overwhelming force this Halloween, but Halloween is missing something.

Last year, a magic door in the middle of the woods appeared, leading to a realm where it was Halloween year round. On October 31, led by Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, the residents of Halloweentown traveled to Earth and wreaked Halloween havoc.

However...they showed some sportsmanship. No children were truly permanently traumatized, since they were expecting spooks and scares on that day. And Jack Skellington made it clear to the Guardians they intended to do no harm to anyone. Where's the fun in hurting people instead of scaring them?

And as promised, they returned to their realm at 12 am on November 1st.

This year, though, they're nowhere to be found. Knowing the residents of Halloweentown may find the witches to be unsporting in the harm they cause, Jack tasks some of the group to travel to Halloweentown and see if the residents of Halloweentown might be willing to increase their numbers against the witches.

"They aren't that bad," Jack explains. "We don't really have anyone that handles Halloween as a holiday in our world but they kinda fit right in? We need to find out why they didn't show up this year and see if they're willing to help. Even if they have a reason for skipping this Halloween, I don't know if Jack - the other Jack - will like that this is happening to his holiday."

He adds, "Just two warnings. One, Halloweentown is a liiittle creepy. You may want to spook it up a bit and maybe go in a creepy costume so they don't freak out about humanish people showing up." A pause. "Okay, never mind, Crowley, you're probably edgy enough. And two, Jack can be...A Lot? Kinda dramatic. And unfortunately, he's the one you'll need to convince. Even the mayor follows his lead. They call him the Pumpkin King."

He adds, "Even with needing to maybe play it cool, I do think you'll be safe there."

Jack gives them directions to the spooky door and a snow globe. It's definitely odd, a door with a Jack O'Lantern on it that opens to...a black nothingness.

Super inviting, right? Ready to jump?

[demonicmiracle]

Despite the reassurance that he's 'edgy enough' for Halloweentown, Crowley takes a few seconds to make some minor cosmetic changes, figuring that the less human he looks, the better. He loses the glasses, tucking them into a pocket, and allows the yellow of his irises to overtake the sclera. Scales creep in around his throat and at his temples, along with a set of horns growing from his skull, black and curled slightly at the tip.

When he grins at Dick beside him, there are fangs where his canines should be. "Let's see what all the fuss is, hm?" And then he's gone, stepping into the blackness behind the door.

What's the worst that could happen?

[forceforlight]

Dick's changes have to be done a little more carefully. He can't just change his appearance at will, after all.

Still, the addition of some tooth caps to create fangs and a cape over his clothes seems to work. Maybe a little too well. Dick looks down at himself and grimaces. "Okay. I'm a little concerned about the strength of belief about me being a vampire, but all right. I think I'm ready."

What all the fuss is about indeed, Dick wonders, even as he takes the step to follow Crowley through into this Halloweentown.

[nightmods]

There's the sensation of falling through a black voice, first vertically and then somehow horizontally as if they're being dragged forward through space. The wind picks up, causing them to drift. It smells of Autumn things but not necessarily the good ones, like pumpkin spice and cider. It's the earthier and more subtle smells of Autumn like rotting leaves and mold.

They land in a graveyard in a world under an endless, starless night. The moon is unnaturally huge and bright. Dark hills, some rings with spiked fences lead up to dark and tall and unnaturally twisted buildings in the distance, with little lights like eyes.

There is nothing subtle about this graveyard, shadows of humanish and not so humanish figures flicker across the graves, whispering and snickering to themselves, as if sharing the hot goss amongst themselves about the new arrivals. They may possibly be judging them on their creepiness. Sorry, Dick and Crowley, you're maybe only a four and five. And there are people in town that are solid 10s like Jack, woof.

Ghosts are disturbed by their presence and whoosh out from Jack O'Lanterns, wailing into the skies, but it's not really like they're trying to scare them, more like spooking a flock of birds.

One of the Jack O'Lanterns speaks to them. "You must be new in town. You're late for the holiday, you know, but it doesn't matter anyway. Word is Halloween's been canceled this year."

[demonicmiracle]

Well, first of all, he could be more spooky if he wanted, he just didn't want to scare the human.

But that's neither here nor there, and Crowley is, mostly, focused on actually getting to their goal and doing what they need to do, so after a quick glance to Dick to make sure he's still fine, Crowley turns his attention to the Jack O'Lantern.

"Seems a shame to cancel the best holiday of the year." This isn't a bit, Crowley loves Halloween, especially since it's one of the few holidays that hasn't been overtaken by religious nonsense. "But we're here looking for an audience with the Pumpkin King, actually. Any chance you could point us in the right direction?"

OPERATION LOUDSPEAKER IS POPPIN' ❄ Branch, Puss, Aqua, Rowan

[nightmods]

They know to expect the singing of one of the Sanderson sisters and how dangerous it is. It can enchant every kid in town Pied Piper style to go wherever the Sandersons intend to feed on their life force.

But that is something that can be fought. They've placed countless speakers around town in discreet places. The bluetooth connections and volume have been enhanced by magic thanks to the yetis.

Where the singers and their protectors are, they have computers ready to lay down background tracks, mics, and other equipment necessary for what they're about to do.

But fighting the Sandersons will have consequences. They won't get let off easy.

[onegrownup]

Once the team decided on a spot to put on their impromptu concert, Aqua wasted no time. With a sweep of her arm, a sphere of translucent hexagons rises from the ground to encircle Branch, Puss, and the music equipment.

The barrier won't hold forever. If the witches were to attack it with their heightened, otherworldly magic, there's a chance they could get through.

But Aqua has no intention of letting them get that close. She sweeps the area with her gaze, ready to attack at the first sign of trouble.

[rallieshearts]

Rowan drops their rucksack on a bench and flops down next to it, already pulling it open. They seem pretty relaxed; the witches might be new, but putting themself in danger's way with a hastily put together plan at best isn't. Despite what they're all letting themselves in for, their confidence is calming, skinny frame sprawled over the bench, making themself at home. "Okay, so you've both got spare batteries, but there's a second set of spares in the bag if shit happens, along with a handful of them speakers the yetis set up." They tell Puss and Branch, cockney accent as rough as ever. The notebook they pull out and flip open is as small as they could get their hands on, but they're still planning on relying on their phone once they get set up, for mobility's sake. "I'll keep my mic off unless you need a backup or shit goes down, so it's all you." Fingers fly across the keys, but they glance up at Puss and Branch long enough to give them a bright, encouraging grin, as though it's all going to be that easy.

With that said, they glance over at Aqua, nodding in respect as her shield takes form. "Any kids show up to listen in, I'll be calling in one of the other teens to pull them out. I'll try and give you heads up, but if you see someone grab a kid make sure it ain't one of ours, 'kay? Any fuck off scary wolves and all, that might be us." Specifically, Rowan, but that's a last resort, if they need to defend themself. It still feels weird to change in front of people that aren't Garou or Kin. "Shit gets too hairy and we need to move, you're the boss; you lead the way and I'll make sure we're still connected as we go."

[branchifer]

There is something about this that feels bad and it's not that he's suddenly, randomly, three feet tall, which he assumes is a power like some other people have gotten powers.

Yes, it's incredibly disorienting and there are like ten million things different/badwrong with his body right now compared to the usual.

What feels awful is that children are in their homes cowering because of monsters walking right through their doors. Back when he was a child, his grandma'd had to comfort him often, after frequent nightmares about massive hands just reaching right through the door of their pod. And now there are more monsters, ones that want to suck the life out of these children. The combination of it being kids and evil people wanting to essentially suck the metaphorical marrow out of them is...

It feels bad because of what it reminds him of. And it feels bad because of the strange irony of singing blocking the sound being a good thing here.

Instead of singing blocking the sound when he needed to hear them coming, and needed to hear her warning and stopped too late and turned and saw the looming shape too late and reacted too late and she shoved him out of the way to save him and the hand closed around her and she was carried away screaming and -

He's trying not to spiral. He's trying not to get into a loop of bad thoughts.

But this is his first actual mission protecting kids and that's not always easy when you were once a kid that desperately needed to be protected. Even when he'd been protected in some way, like his grandma saving him, he'd also suffered, from terrible loss and guilt and all-consuming fear, and the knowledge of what had been done to her when no child should know about that kind of horror.

Expression pensive, his eyes scan the sky for threats. (He's used to looking upward for them.) It won't be a massive, looming shape this time, but they might be able to make out a dark flying shape briefly blocking the stars before the singing starts. His huge ears are scanning around like little radar dishes for the slightest strains of song in the air. His hands keep moving back and forth from fiddling with his face mic and clenching and un-clenching at his sides.

He keeps his voice very quiet to not speak over any strains of song in the sky above.

"If a fight breaks out, I'll keep on top of the phrase looper. With this being big thing, I'm complete dead weight right now." He'd have better chances small, where he's in control of his body and can sneak up and tase people with the stun baton Boba gave him. "It's messing up my everything. My balance, my center of gravity, everything. I'm having trouble staying upright."

A pause and he clutches a hand to his chest, eyes wide and confused about something.

"I think my heart-rate even slowed down," he hisses at them, confused. "It's, like...beating instead of being normal and whirring. Is that a thing? Do big people actually feel the individual heartbeats normally or is that a bad thing? Am I dying?"

The thing about being scaled up is even if magic is causing it, it's not a great thing if only magic is holding it all together. The magic is making sure he isn't an abomination unto science each time he shifts back and forth. And boooy do some things have to change biologically when you scale up so you don't basically boil internally and explode from excessive body heat caused by an incredibly fast metabolism and a heart-rate of about 600 beats a minute.

[favoritefearlesshero]

"Never fear, my friend," Puss says to Rowan, "I have your scent. I'll know you from any magical brigands! Just keep the children safe, and us sounding incredible!"

The bravado comes naturally, but not in the way it used to back when Puss thought he was invincible. Instead, it comes from a place of wanting to share with someone who needs it. Aqua's steely, Rowan is at least acting like they've been here before.

...Branch though. Branch is not doing well. He doesn't need his keen feline senses to know that. Not only that Branch is making it entirely obvious by, y'know, asking if he was dying, but that Puss has had panic attacks before and that's close enough to what's happening that he can't help but feel sympathy.

"Remind me to tell you about the time I was put in the body of a donkey."

A little distraction can't hurt. And a little less of Puss's dignity is a fair trade to make sure they win.

LULLABY ❄ Aziraphale and Tim Drake

[nightmods]

A powerful witch has awakened just outside town, a cloud in the shape of her ghastly cackling face rising from a column of green fire. Magical lightning is striking all over town - a danger to the Guardians and the children they're trying to save.

The witch head in the clouds roars and clearly wants to punish anyone on the streets with her lightning.

...But that roar sounds oddly like someone feeling rage and pain.

The column of fire easily marks where to go in the woods.

[oldbookshop]

[ Well. Aziraphale certainly has a bit of a feeling about this task. Less fear or dread than worry.

There's no polite, angelic way to say I'm rather familiar with what anguish sounds like compared to rage alone, so he sort of opts not to say it. He just volunteers for the job instead. The Wilderlands gave him plenty of time to get reacquainted with tromping through the woods, anyway. May as well give that good use. ]

Well. If nothing else, we won't get lost on the way.

[ What's the fine line between warding things off and asking to be found? Difficult to say. He expects they'll find out. ]

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim's still staring up at the swirl of clouds and light that resolve into a face more often that not. Like Aziraphale, he's not afraid, but afraid for and dreading only the not-as-remote-as-he'd-like possibility that knows the face in the sky.

Oh, the face itself doesn't look particularly familiar, but he's seen a miserable, hurt, angry face in the sky before. ]

Unless they see us and don't want to be found.

[ Then she - they, he has no way of knowing if it's Greta torn out of time - could fly along in a breeze. Tim starts walking briskly, not wanting to leave Aziraphale behind at a run. ]

We need to find out what their name is.

[nightmods]

The forest is strange and gnarled, like it's more overgrown and twisted because of whats happening inside it. It gets worse as they go in.

It seems more strange and dreamlike as they move along as well. Like it's been corroded by the presence of what's at the center. This world is one of belief and the will of the being they're moving towards is manipulating the environment.

They start to find different items that have somehow manifested in this place. A cornhusk doll with a dress sewn on that's made of faded, natty fabric, like an old dress had been repurposed. The doll looks very old-fashioned, it even has a coif-like bonnet.

A book of fairy tales that looks extremely old. Like...should be in a museum old. It looks as if it was printed in the 1700s. It's also been burned, a massive hole burned through it like lightning has angrily been thrown through it.

A pair of shackles, small enough to fit a child's wrists.

[oldbookshop]

All the more reason to get introduced. [ Will it be as easy as that? Unlikely. Can't let a little thing like probability stop them, though.

Tim's lack of running is appreciated. Aziraphale can power-walk with the best of them, but running was never his forte. And the further in they go, the more unfortunate a picture is painted. Aziraphale supposes he shouldn't be surprised. But it is--

Well.

Doesn't much matter how it makes him feel, just this second. He can deal with that later. ]

... better a gentle approach, I think. If we can. Yes?

[ He bends down to brush his fingers against the damaged book for a moment, trying to see if it's beyond a bit of miraculous fixing. The sort of effort Heaven would consider too frivolous, probably. But Heaven isn't here. (They never really are, when it comes to the context to things they'd call too frivolous. He's good at pretending he hasn't noticed that.) ]

HARD BARGAIN ❄ Loki and Elle

[nightmods]

An extremely beautiful blonde woman, her hair in a tight bun, contacts the group on the comms.

"You do not know me, but Katherine can confirm I am an ally," she says with a light Russian accent. "My name is Vasilisa, I have long been ally to the Guardians. You must hurry. Jack, fool that he is, is in danger. He sought the magic of a powerful witch to end the threat in Burgess, but he has entered into more than he bargained for. My babushka always drives a hard bargain and those who stumble over their words and incorrectly solve her riddles sometimes wind up in her pot."

She sighs.

"I have given Katherine a lantern she will give you. You can it use to find grandmother. She is likely in her chicken house setting her pot to boil as we speak."

Katherine appears on the comms as well.

"She is what she says she is," says Kathering. "She's been an ally to the Guardians for a long time and while she's a bit...estranged from her grandmother, she knows her better than anyone."

"Baba Yaga," says Vasilisa, "is indeed strong enough to give you a charm to protect all children in Burgess, but rarely does such a gift come without a price."

Katherine snowglobes her way to them and manages to pass along the lantern and snowglobes that set them on their path deep in the pitch black woods of the Ural mountains.

Until they find an area lit by a magical fire and many floating glowing lanterns. What they find there is a house on chicken legs, an absolutely ancient woman preparing a boiling pot.

Sure enough, there is Jack, bound and gagged, hanging upside down from a peg on the outside of the house. The binding is glowing and covered in ancient writing, limiting his powers. His staff rests on the ground several feet away.

"Mmmm! Mmmph!" he calls out, shaking his head at their presence.

"Ah," says the ancient woman bent over the fire. "I see more Guardians have come to bargain with Baba Yaga. Even more fools to add to my pot."

[bestbrotherever]

Loki had been looking for something to do to distract himself from the trouble with the teens, and witch-bashing was getting repetitive. Negotiation seemed right up his alley. As Vasilisa and Katherine explain, though, his headache grows.

"So. This Baba Yaga is a witch with power to rival all of the ones we are currently facing. What does she want with Frost, and what else would she accept as replacement payment? Do we even owe her anything, as I have not seen any evidence of her assistance in this crisis?"

[millenyal_pink]

Elle immediately volunteers herself. She knows where her strengths lie, and she definitely doesn't want to be left behind on this. She isn't sure what to think about Loki's presence, but decides to put aside any preconceived notions and approach this practically. For now.

She wracks her brain, trying to call upon everything she knows. She's made a point to familiarize herself with a lot of cultural figures like the Baba Yaga, just in case, so she knows it's in there somewhere..

"More powerful, probably. She's been in folktales for centuries and most of these chumps only popped up in the last fifty years. If Jack tried to make a bargain with her, he must've been desperate," or an idiot, but she doesn't say that part aloud.

"If Jack's captured she may not be owed anything. He might've fucked up on one of the games she likes to play. She's... well, a trickster of sorts."

[nightmods]

"My babushka most likely entrapped Frost by making him lose one of her challenges or making him fall for one of her tricks," says Vasilisa. "He most likely tried to outsmart her in exchange for power that would allow him to protect. Some who challenge her walk away with what they seek."

A pause.

"I did. And eventually I earned even more. I learned much from her but not enough to give you magics that would overpower the witches. Nicholas St. North, stubborn fool that he is, defeated her in some of her challenges once, too. In exchange for something to save some children."

She shakes her head.

"Frost may have tried the same. And failed. You owe her nothing and she owes you nothing. She cannot be paid or bribed for Frost, so little there is that she needs. But she can sometimes be bargained with. Talked into challenges to meet your needs or for gifts of her power."

Katherine cuts in. "Jack most likely took the risk because he has...gotten more reckless." A pause, as she considers how to describe it. "Desperate. To do the work of the others and compensate for losing them he's bargained with dangerous myths and faced their challenges. Made dangerous deals and barely escaped with his skin. Until now, he's had to. There are so few of us left to help him and even fewer of us that have any power."

Katherine bites her lip, not wanting to share anything private but knowing these strangers who have walked into this situation need to know.

"The friendly face he presents, the laughter he hides behind, has started to become a mask. Something to keep the children feeling joy and to keep them unafraid. Behind it is something wild and desperate and close to breaking. I've seen it during a few darker moments." A pause. "I fear that he's started to see his life as nothing more than a bargaining chip. Only stopping Kuk matters to him. Only the children matter to him. Not himself."

[bestbrotherever]

Loki sighs heavily. "I believe I understand the broad picture now. It sounds rather familiar, though I am more used to being the vastly powerful trickster. And I do not suppose she has ever been the representative of a nominally benevolent empire to back her bargaining power."

If he were in her shoes, he'd suggest that they just surrender and accept whatever terms offered. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option. While they could "surrender" by declining to engage and allowing her to do what she wished with Frost, they could not leave him to that fate. Not when he was the only native Guardian left.

"We need something to bargain with. But something to replace Frost will be hard to come by. I would not want to risk failing a challenge of hers and adding to her bargaining power with nothing to show for our efforts. Attempting to trick her would be even more risky, which is not acceptable."

He turns to Vasilisa. "Does she want Frost for his power, or to have a life? We may be able to trade lives for him. I could likely capture a few of our enemies alive..."

LABYRINTH ❄ Henry

[nightmods]

Something is seriously wrong at the bowling alley. Inside it is a terrible realm, much larger than the outside. A witch lies inside, capable of destroying anyone that wanders in.

The Guardian that faces her will have to stop her before the bowling alley is due to open, before she kills anyone from the town of Burgess.

Her realm is a strange one, full of surreal images. The main chamber looks vaguely like a massive orchestra hall, with shadows of an orchestra around her. And in the center is the conductor, a terrifying being without a face.

[wisdomreceiver]

Every single step that Henry takes comes with an eerie creaking sound. It might be that he never seems to be fully present in his environment, always on the verge of dissociating, but he's somehow circled back into focus by being at his blankest.

Henry's only weapon is the sword of obedience, that in his world would be able to merely pin down those malevolent ghosts and spirit. Will it have another effect here? He's not sure. He's not even completely sure that all of the creatures are hostile, but he will not ask questions. It's better to start swinging, and if they respond in a way that hints they are civilized he will leave them alone.

Still, the sword alone probably won't suffice. He looks around: what can he find here to use as a weapon?

[nightmods]

There is a spear sticking out of the ground not far near him. It radiates power - and intent. It was meant to be used to grant mercy but something failed in the transition of the witch into this world.

Will he pick it up?

[wisdomreceiver]

Henry looks at it for a moment. It does have something unusual to it, its energy is perceivable but not exactly describable. Not to him. And of course, he will go for it, but before he tries to lift it it occurs to him that this is a strange place. If he picks it up, he will trigger something. He squints. Better to keep exploring first.

Now, where are the bowling pins? Henry has An Idea. Maybe he should go back, it doesn't seem like nobody saw him.
Oh, there they are! He grabs a bowling ball, guides the throw. Strike!

Well, clearly it is perfectly logical that something will unlock now.

[nightmods]

All that does is causes the orchestra to stop and all of their flat paper doll-esque faceless heads turn to look at him.

Then the massive monster starts conducting and the music cues up again. Through the massive hall, giant spoked wheels start rolling at Henry at high speeds, trying to hit him.

He's the bowling pin now.