daybreakacademy | EVENT - HALLOW'S EVE DANCE

HALLOW'S EVE DANCE
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As October comes to a close, the world of spirits and the world of the living draw ever closer, or so it’s said. In the darkening of the nights ahead, you can almost believe it.

With their usual flair, the Academy has arranged several different types of entertainment for students, staff and visitors alike, running for several days up to the end of October. The month will then be sent off with a bang on Halloween itself, with a ball whose themes and effects are provided by none other than Daybreak’s new student council.

A. HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES (SOLEIL TOWN SQUARE)
Soleil’s main square has been temporarily commandeered for the use of a festive Halloween fairground, transforming the sunny, cheerful town into something more gothic and autumnal. Traditional fairground games with all manner of prizes are available, with everything from bobbing for apples to shooting Halloween-themed targets in stalls on display. And should you pass through on Halloween itself, you’ll find all manner of costumed trick-or-treaters happy to play pranks or beg for candy - some of them more human than others.

Or, perhaps, you’re one of those very trick-or-treaters. Whether you’re going to the ball or content to do all your socializing here, there’s plenty of room for more costumed party goers to ask for treats or deliver tricks to teachers and students alike.

B. TEST OF COURAGE (SOLEIL AMUSEMENT PARK)
If you’re looking for something that wears more on the nerves, however, Soleil’s amusement park has thrown its doors open and invited the Halloween spirit in. Of particular note is Daybreak’s infamous haunted house challenge, designed and staffed by the Academy’s mercurial faculty. An array of escape rooms, devious traps and seemingly inescapable mazes with scares lurking around every corner, depending on the routes you take, await those brave enough to enter; being a little more restricted doesn’t seem to have lessened their creativity this year.

C. DANCE MACABRE
This year’s Halloween ball is set in the forest within an intertwined ring of trees, each one’s trunk decorated with a frightful face. Their branches interlock to form a windproof wall and weather-resistant roof. The main entrance is easy to spot - it’s the biggest tree of all, and those who step into its frightening facial expression will find that the tree is hollow and allows them access to the party within.

Once inside, party goers will be greeted with laden tables and a floor perpetually in fog. Not to fear, though - those who want to dance will have an elevated, separate stage to show off their footwork. There’s plenty of room to mingle and compliment each other’s costumes, too.

Those who want to escape the rigors of social interaction will find that the specially-made foliage conceals several hidey-holes, away from the main floor. Use them to scare other party goers, have private conversations, and more - it’s up to you.

D. PARTY FOOD
The banquet tables smell divine - while looking utterly revolting, in colors that fruits and vegetables should not be, and disturbingly realistic looking eyeballs and fingers decorating the tops of hors d'oeuvres and desserts, all of them radiating illusion magic for those able to pick it up. Thankfully, each tray had a nice clean label describing what the dish actually is, along with a list of ingredients - an allergic shock might be scary, but it’s not in the spirit of the holiday.
And speaking of spirits, as with previous dances, there is a manned bar with specialty spooky mixes on display, and for those too young or don’t wish to partake, there is hot mulled non-alcoholic cider, punch, and coffee.

E. COSTUME PARTY
What good would a Halloween celebration be without costumes? With the secondhand marketplace and your own ingenuity, the sky's the limit when it comes to dressing up splendidly for the occasion.

What’s more, the student council has arranged two contests - one for mundane costumes, and one for magical ones. Participants are encouraged to display the full effects of their costumes and win over the judges’ hearts with Halloween flair and fervor!

(For official judging, submit your characters' costumes here!)

F. BONFIRES
As the night winds down, the trees suddenly merge together into a giant wicker man that abruptly bursts into flame, laughing maniacally. It then explodes, launching several smaller bonfires across the area and crumbling into a large one that serves as an easy beacon for any lost souls who can’t find their way back without help.

For those who want more privacy or smaller groups to tell scary stories or socialize, they’re free to locate one of the smaller bonfires - or just take the opportunity to wander off into the forest itself. It is, after all, Halloween - who knows who or what you might meet?

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hornet's weapon is out and in her hand within a matter of seconds before Rex has even finished his sentence. If I was going to murder you he says and whoosh, there it is, like magic. The magic of supernaturally good reflexes.

"I doubt it."

Her tone doesn't change at all, despite her indicating very clearly that she's armed and ready. There's tension in every part of her body; if Rex cares to look, it's clearly the actions of someone used to defending herself, and getting that defense in prematurely if necessary.

Rex is, of course, aware that Hornet is suddenly armed and ready. His stance doesn’t change at all, but only because he is always armed and ready. Having no stance and going from 0 to decapitation is his deal.The decorative moon and coffin could deliver a weapon and his elaborate vampire coat is packed with things for killing, because he’s Rex.

“You don’t think it would be easy to hide a body here?” He says, pretending he hasn’t noticed her defensive reaction and pointing at an especially good spot for body concealment. Turn it into a conversation! That’ll defuse the situation! If that point happens to also be a subtle preparation for casting a barrier, well, that’s a coincidence.

"Maybe," she concedes. "But there's too many people around. It could be discovered later, or someone could walk in on you. It's too much risk if you want to hide it."

Hornet doesn't relax, but her tone doesn't change either. Just making normal conversation like normal people about hiding bodies.

"The location might be an advantage, but the wider environment provides too much of a disadvantage to be worth it."

"Oh, it'd be found, but not until they were dismantling this display." He spends a moment stroking his beard (the desire to do so is irresitable, sometimes he even twirls his moustache). "It'd be easy enough to be a world away before then."

It's completely inadvertent, the way his eyes flash red and hold the glow for a few seconds when he turns his head, but probably not helping. "Being witnessed would likely just get applause tonight."

"If you just left it there, you wouldn't be able to retrieve it. If you're killing someone, you should take responsibility for the body in all stages."

That is a very weird thing to say about hiding dead bodies, Hornet.

She's not bothered by the eye flash. Or, at least, it doesn't make her more on edge than she is already, all the time.

Well that's a weird attitude to have about corpses. His pokerface stays precisely the same as always but he does the doggish head tilt.

"I can't see why, unless I have a use for it. I'm not planning to eat it." Right now, his head adds for some reason.

"You should at least bury them if you're not going to use them."

Eating them is definitely not off the table - even if Hornet looks human she certainly doesn't adhere to agreed-upon human social norms - but she doesn't think it's particularly relevant to the discussion right now, so she doesn't mention it.

"Otherwise it goes to waste, or something else might make use of it instead. Then it could become a foe once more."

"Well, that would be a problem if I intended to stay here, but in this hypothetical scenario, I'd murder you, hide the body and never return," he outlines the scenario more clearly, all of it completely normal. He twiddles the moustache and adds- "A simple decapitation prevents most methods of reanimation or resurrection. If there's time sanctification will make speaking to the spirit difficult, preserving my identity."

See. It's all very reasonable.

"If you're not planning to return, and you don't want to make use of it, then it's an adequate plan." Hornet says grudgingly, though her tone indicates she's not quite sold on the idea.

Totally Normal Conversation here. They've just been standing here chatting about hiding corpses.

At least it's....seasonal?

"Well, if you were here to murder me, how would you do it?" Rex often wonders this of people he meets, but this is the first time he's actually asked.

He has his head tipped in interest, leaning on his floating coffin with one arm. It means he can get his hands on the chewy sword centre easily, but mostly it's to look casual.

"Somewhere secluded, with traps. Quick and quiet."

She's a hunter, after all. Whittling down the prey, getting it at a disadvantage, is what she's learned to do. Dueling in honorable, straightforward combat is something she learned, but rarely uses, out in the wild.

"Not somewhere crowded where people can see and interfere."

“Reasonable, if you have the time to plan ahead. Indeed, if possible I’d have become involved in the creation of this facility and arranged for an ‘accidental decapitation’ to occur.” It’d be questioned elsewhere, Rex understands, but Daybreak would probably shrug and flush the kid down the toilet.

Rex glances over at the entrance to the room, where there’s a few people gathering and staring at the pair of weirdos. One whispers, a little too loudly, ‘are they part of the scares?’ Rex calculates for a second, before looking over properly so the red eyes appear. “Well, new hypothetical- if you had just one night, in which you could easily infiltrate the school undetected under the guise of wearing a costume, how would you murder someone in this room?”

And people think Rex isn’t fun.

Edited 2019-11-04 08:10 (UTC)

She makes a dismissive noise. "Planning ahead so much can get you into trouble. It's not worth it."

She works better with a framework, the light draping of a safety net, rather than everything laid out piece by piece, the tightening snare of everything having to be just so.

"It depends," she says, completely unperturbed by all the weird looks they're both getting. "I would need a reason to consider them worth my needle first. None of them look particularly promising."

She hunts as she's able, but she won't take the life of anyone or anything without reason. But the way she says it isn't reassuring in the slightest.

First, Rex thinks, it is impossible to plan too far ahead and anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't planned for how wrong they are.

"For the hypothetical, disregard what would qualify them for death," he says, waving a hand at the group. Some of whom flinch away from the gesture. "Just what method you'd use if you had but one night, in disguise."

EVENT - HALLOW'S EVE DANCE

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