And What We Found There

[lilbooth]

Terresa frowned as their calls were met with silence. Maybe there was some magical barrier keeping the lounge safe, or maybe they had all disappeared as well. She turned back to Sasha with a worried look as the group of six figures approached backward. "I think they may be fleeing from something Miss Sasha." She said as she pointed down the hallway. "They will soon be upon us, bringing whatever evil is haunting them. I'd prefer my back not be to the wall when it arrives." She said as she began marching forward, checking all the adjacent door to see if one of them would move.

[devilbird]

Having a nurse in her pocket would be a nice boon. That experience and knowledge of how to handle human subjects, and keep them in good health, would be lovely for her research. Even just having access to more drugs and compounds could open up new avenues of experimentation. Besides, it wasn't as if Josephine was completely heartless. Her assault wasn't in the name of the advancement of knowledge, but an unfortunate casualty of the chaos. Just senseless rape.

Still, Josephine herself was no fighter. She doubted she could successfully rescue the nurse without just becoming another target for the entity. Even if she did get her away from the tentacles, she doubted she could escape the room while dragging her. Unfortunately, it seemed that nurse Baileford's best use right now was as a distraction. The more tentacles on her, the less Josephine would have to avoid while she looked for her book.

As she decided to leave the woman to her fate for now, a foreign thought entered her mind and made her body flush with warmth. She dismissed it for now, but not before wondering what brought the thought on. The lewd sight in front of her? That didn't seem likely, as Josephine had studied many aspects of the human body, and would have thought herself desensitized to it by now.

Josephine wandered off to look for her book to reverse this fiasco. As she did, she made a mental note to find nurse Baileford again if they both survived this. It would be enlightening to analyze if that purple mucus had any effect on her body, and if there were any leftover samples.

[MiscChaos]

Sasha lets out a sigh of annoyance as they get no response from the other side. Meaning it's either empty or the individuals on the other side are unacceptably cowardly and have no place in the new world. Well, she supposes that is a little harsh. Just because one has less courage than a rat is gifted with does not mean they should be consigned to an eternity of suffering by being left in the old, corrupted world. They can have use in the new world even if handling sensitive material isn't one of them. But she has distracted herself. Without the door opening, they're left with forcing the door open, which is a much less appealing option. If they do it roughly enough, then the door would not be able to be closed, which would defeat the purpose of a safe room to begin with. And that's discounting the noise they would make breaking down the door. She has no desire to attract whatever foul fiends inhabit this hellscape.

Of course, that seems to be too little, too late as she sees a large group of people round the corner backing away from something swiftly. Meaning that the beasts that inhabit this plane more than likely found them. She can't help but feel that their form is terrible and that they are likely to... and there's one of them falling. With that, her course is set. As the herald of the new world, she cannot allow the innocent to fall to such malicious influences.

"This way, quickly! With the lot of us, we should be able to force the door to the Teacher's Lounge easily." She shouts to the group. She wonders if her spell would work, but she's not sure if such beings are capable of being affected by spells and if they cannot be, then she's wasted her single use of the spell for the day. She decides to save it for a more dire situation or one she can be assured that it will work in. In the meantime, she moves between the Teacher's Lounge and the group. It looks like quite a few of them are picking up their fallen and she feels attempting to help in that would simply add too many cooks in the kitchen. What she's doing now is making a go between for the group and whatever is following them. While they run for the Teacher's Lounge, she will be the wall to keep them safe.

[mrblah]

devilbird

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Josephine had to leave the poor nurse to her lonesome, but that was probably fine. She didn't seem entirely uncomfortable under the care of the tentacles...

Instead, she turned to continue her search. She checked aisle after aisle, taking a great deal of time to try and find something useful but finding little in the tomes of the arcane college. Just the usual theories and textbooks of a variety of subjects. As she'd almost decided no book could help her with this situation, she saw a black leather-bound book drop from its position in one of the bookcases as if pulled by an invisible hand. What was even odder was that she was sure she checked that specific bookcase, yet...

"Funny. I'd been searching everywhere, but it's only after I come back here that I finally find you." A quiet voice spoke up from behind her, and Josephine spun around to see a slightly familiar white-haired student by the end of the aisle. She held an old black compass in her hand, and was looking directly at Josephine with a suspicious, sharp look. This was the librarian of Lacuna's library, though Josephine had never caught her name. "Though... I can't say I know who you are, exactly?"

exalted

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Alcott grumbled something with an insulted look, still frowning deeply as he followed Adelaide. "HOW COULD YOU EXPECT TO CARRY ANOTHER PERSON'S LOAD IF YOURS IS JUST AS HEAVY?" His rhetoric, however, was spoken just as loudly as basically any other thing that came from his mouth.

The first room Adelaide checked looked... as if it'd been ransacked. Each and every dorm room had a few standard commodities within them, and one of those commodities was a wardrobe for a student's uniforms and other such clothing. The wardrobe in this room had looked to been emptied, with several of Lacuna's student uniforms thrown about here and so in a rather messy display. The bed's covers were suitably messed and unmade, and several of the other dressers' drawers were also wide open. [Diligence check; Hard. Adelaide = 16.]

It was hard to tell if much had been taken from the room. Adelaide hardly knew whoever owned this dorm, so she couldn't have known just how much they owned. She had to continue on to the other rooms, only to find them in similar states of disarray. [Diligence check; Moderate. Adelaide = 15.] She eventually stumbled upon a room that belonged to someone she knew a little better, and to the best of her knowledge, she'd say that none of their belongings were gone. How... strange.

"HAVE YOU FINISHED WITH YOUR SEARCH OF THIS PLACE? WE SHOULD CEASE WITH THIS FARCE, ADELAIDE FORTUNE. PENELOPE BEZZENBERGER IS NO LONGER HERE, AND IF YOU INSIST ON THIS ANY FURTHER, I MAY HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SEPARATE YOU FROM THIS PLACE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD." There's Alcott again, crouching down some to peak into the room Adelaide was searching through.

lilbooth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The closest doors Teresa checked opened into familiar rooms and such, simple filler for the college that weren't even important enough to describe. "Quick! W-we have to get inside!" It seemed that while she was checking those doors, however, Sasha called over the group of 6 and they were trying to knock down the door to the teachers lounge. With their combined might, it didn't stay standing for too long, and they loaded in one by one with an unconscious maid. Meanwhile, Sasha was glaring at the... ceiling? Teresa followed her line of sight, and it didn't take her too long to realize the dangerous alien creatures swimming through the ceiling stone. Slithering snake-like shadows hissed at their prey as they continued their way over to her and Sasha, prompting Teresa to quickly follow after them as Sasha was turning into the room.

They slammed the door shut immediately, grabbing a board off the wall and using it as a sort of barricade to keep the damned things chasing them out. Seconds passed by as they waited for some sort of attack against the closed door, and seconds turned into minutes... nothing came of it. "I—I think they're gone..." One of the redheads breathed a sigh of relief, probably feeling as most of the others in the room did. Regardless, after that brief fiasco, the eight of them were now inside of the Teachers Lounge—though, apparently the teachers had already vacated the room. It did have a convenient source of lighting in the form of the arcane chandelier hanging overhead, illuminating the room without the help of the odd fireflies. It looked like a decently comfortable lounge room. On one of the tables looked to be an in-progress game of poker, with some coins spilled out onto the table. Some of the other tables had open books on them, and one of them... had a knife lodged into the wood?

These weren't familiar sights to Teresa. Students like her were usually not allowed in the teachers lounge, but this time... was probably an acceptable exception. However, now that they were inside and failed to find a professor, what were they to do now? Perhaps this was an opportune moment for a little bit of investigating. Maybe there's something in the room that could help them figure out what happened to everyone.

MiscChaos

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Sasha watched as the group of women wrestled another from the clutches of whatever was pursuing them, then they hightailed it over to and past her, with their enemies trailing behind them. When she saw them, she was surprised to see how... inhumane, they were. In a way they also seemed somewhat underwhelming, as they looked just like shadows compressed into the forms of snakes rather than anything especially monstrous. Still, she could feel a sense of otherworldly danger from them regardless.

"Quick! W-we have to get inside!" She heard the sounds of a door being kicked open, and turned her head to see that the group she helped had managed to break down the door with their combined effort. After they got in, she came up from behind them with Teresa following, and the two of them quickly loaded into the room to then close and barricade the door with a nearby board.

... Silence. It seemed the strange creatures she'd seen had given up their pursuit. Sasha heard one of the redheads breathe a sigh of relief. "I—I think they're gone..." She'd better hope she didn't jinx them. The eight of them were now inside of the Teachers Lounge, though it seemed devoid of teachers, unfortunately. It did have a convenient source of lighting in the form of the arcane chandelier hanging overhead, illuminating the room without the help of the odd fireflies. It looked like a decently comfortable lounge room. On one of the tables looked to be an in-progress game of poker, with some coins spilled out onto the table. Some of the other tables had open books on them, and one of them... had a knife lodged into the wood?

This is the first time Sasha had ever been inside of the teachers lounge, as the room was usually guarded off from students. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to get familiar with it? Something there could help them with their situation.

Blue56 and Mark3000

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Bravery contest; Victoria and Cohorts = 34. Shadow Snake and Cohorts = 19.]

With the combined might of several adult women (oh and Ninette), the group was able to pull back the maid from the dangerous clutches of the shadowed snakes, even managing to pull the ones holding onto the maid out of place and almost off of the ceiling. They released with an irritated hiss just before this could happen, and paused for a brief moment, giving the group enough time to recover and resume their frantic retreat. "This way, quickly! With the lot of us, we should be able to force the door to the Teacher's Lounge easily."

A voice had called out to them, offering salvation in the form of a proposed hideaway. The group had little choice but to take this offer as they pulled the still unconscious maid and hurried their way down the hall, where another student stood waiting to put herself between them and the now again pursuing snakes. "Quick! W-we have to get inside!" Madeline shouted frantically to the others, and after putting the maid down, they all tried to force open the door. Their combined efforts were enough to get themselves into the room. They were followed by their savior and another woman, who quickly closed the door and barricaded it as soon as they could.

... Everyone was quiet within the room, simply staring at the door as they waited for some sign. Seconds turned to minutes... nothing happened. "I—I think they're gone..." Madeline breathed a sigh of relief.

The eight of them were now inside the Teachers Lounge. Looking around, they'd see that it lacked any teachers, but it did have an arcane chandelier above that was still lit, illuminating the room without the help of the odd fireflies. It looked like a decently comfortable lounge room. On one of the tables looked to be an in-progress game of poker, with some coins spilled out onto the table. Some of the other tables had open books on them, and one of them... had a knife lodged into the wood?

This is the first time any of them had ever been inside of the teachers lounge. The room was usually guarded off from students. Maybe this could be some sort of opportunity.

Littlemankitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Bravery contest; Victoria and Cohorts = 34. Shadow Snake and Cohorts = 19.]

Victoria found several helping hands pulling the maid as she had, and the combined might of several adult women (and uh, Ninette kinda) proved too much for their dark reptilian(?) pursuers. She heard the snakes hiss in irritation and release, then they paused for whatever reason, giving the group enough time to recover and resume their frantic retreat. "This way, quickly! With the lot of us, we should be able to force the door to the Teacher's Lounge easily."

A voice had called out to them, offering salvation in the form of a proposed hideaway. The group had little choice but to take this offer as they pulled the still unconscious maid and hurried their way down the hall, where Victoria was guided out of the way of another woman who stood by to put herself between them and the snakes. "Quick! W-we have to get inside!" Madeline shouted frantically to the others, and after putting the maid down, they all tried to force open the door. Their combined efforts were enough to get themselves into the room. They were followed by their savior and her friend, who quickly closed the door and barricaded it as soon as they could.

... Victoria could hear everyone's labored breaths and the sounds of moving cloth brushing against each other, but other than that, it was quiet. She could tell that their pursuers had given up on their chase, and she was just waiting for the others to catch up. "I—I think they're gone..." Madeline breathed a sigh of relief. The eight of them were now inside the Teachers Lounge. Looking around, they (but not the blind woman) would see that it was devoid of human life, but it had an arcane chandelier above that was still lit, illuminating the room without the help of the odd fireflies (that Victoria probably hasn't noticed).

The realization that this was the first time she'd ever been inside of the teachers lounge struck Victoria. Students usually weren't allowed in, but considering the emergency, this would probably be a good exception for that rule... and maybe it could be an opportunity too.

RandomRoninKitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Bravery contest; Victoria and Cohorts = 34. Shadow Snake and Cohorts = 19.]

"INSOLENT WHELPS. THEY KNOW NOT WHO THEY CHALLENGE." Doggo Borkinson was suddenly talking pretty big from his position of not helping at all, as the group of 5 struggled to pull the maid away from the clutches of the snakes. They succeeded, almost even pulling their enemies from their hiding places and forcing them to surrender their unconscious maid, lest they be revealed to the floor. The pause that resulted as the snakes recomposed themselves gave the group enough time to resume their retreat, just as a voice called out. "This way, quickly! With the lot of us, we should be able to force the door to the Teacher's Lounge easily."

Naturally, they didn't have much of a choice but to follow the voice's suggestion. Ninette and the others rushed over to where another female student stood, gesturing them over and staying behind to put herself between them and the snakes. "UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, I'D SEE THIS SACRIFICE AS UTTER FOOLISHNESS, BUT SEEING AS THIS IS FOR OUR SAKE I'D SAY THAT THIS ONE KNOWS OUR WORTH. WHEN WE RECOVER HER BODY, LET US BURY HER IN A CONVENIENT LOCATION." Doggo Borkinson spoke up to add his own commentary, just as unconcerned as he always was about the danger Ninette and the others were in. "Quick! W-we have to get inside!" Madeline then said the obvious as the others pushed and attacked the door into the lounge. The wooden door didn't hold forever against the onslaught of the frantic women, and soon enough, they were piling inside.

The other two students, the sacrifice and her cohort, came in right after, closing and barricading the door with a nearby board off the wall. Everyone waited and listened with bated breath for any signs of their attackers... but nothing came from it. "I—I think they're gone..." Madeline breathed a sigh of relief. The eight of them were now safe in the Teachers Lounge. Looking around, Ninette would find that it was empty of any people, but it DID have an arcane chandelier above that was still lit, illuminating the room without the help of the odd fireflies. It looked like a decently comfortable lounge room. On one of the tables looked to be an in-progress game of poker, with some coins spilled out onto the table. Some of the other tables had open books on them, and one of them... had a knife lodged into the wood? "EXCELLENT. RECOVER THE KNIFE FOR SAFEKEEPING. WE MAY NEED IT AT A LATER TIME."

Ninette's stuffed friend may have had a point. This was the first time she'd ever been inside the teachers lounge, as it often was blocked off from student visitation. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to see what they do in their free time, or something? Maybe try to find test scores and cheat on them. Who knows.

[devilbird]

The search for the book was proving fruitless, and Josephine was taking entirely too much time looking for what was proving to be a wild goose. She was about to give up, retreat, and plan out a new strategy when something moved out of the corner of her eye. A book fell from the shelves, though one she could swear wasn't there before. She took a step towards it to investigate when a voice behind her caught her off guard. She spun around and defensively stepped away from its originator. A fellow student, and a librarian if Josephine recalled, stood before her. She held out a strange compass and alluded to have been hunting her down. Did that mean that device was able to track her?

Normally, Josephine would be fascinated by such a strange and unique lady. However, this was a dangerous situation, and this girl was far too calm. Sure, so was Josephine, but the average moron that infested this world would likely be cowering in fear of the unknown. She would strike up conversation about her motives, study her strength and skills, and might even propose that they become allies... but right now it was vital to treat her with suspicion and paranoia. Until proven otherwise, this girl should be considered an enemy.

"Ah, but it is rude to ask someone's name before introducing yourself," Josephine said coyly, "It's important to start off on the right foot, don't you think? Especially since you seem to have business with me."

She tried to be subtle about it, but all while she was talking Josepine was keeping an eye out for an ambush, stray tentacles, and any exits she could make use of if forced to flee.

[Blue56]

Bridgette let out a sigh of relief and hunched over to catch her breath once they made it inside the teachers lounge. What she had just done was utterly insane, it was a miracle she had come out unharmed, and for that she was incredibly grateful. She stands up straight again and looks to Madeline as her friend breaks the silence. "Perhaps, but let's give it a bit longer, just to be safe. We should probably wait for her to wake up anyway." Bridgette replies, gesturing to the maid, who still lay unconscious from whatever those snakes had done to her. "Still, that went much better than I expected. Guess those things aren't so tough against all of us at once." A smile spreads across Bridgette's face as she says this, feeling it was important to keep spirits high in times like these.

Next, she turns her attention to the other two women they had encountered on their way here. "Thank you for coming to our aid." Bridgette tells them with a bright smile, despite the fact that they hadn't really done all that much to help. Their sheer numbers had helped them get this far, so it would be best to ensure that she has as many allies as possible in order to get out of this alive. "Name's Bridgette Clarke, pleasure to meet you, even if the circumstances are far from pleasant." She introduces herself, giving the best approximation of a curtsy that she can muster, being unused to such things.

With introductions out of the way, Bridgette turns to survey the teachers lounge and finds it disappointingly empty. "The Professor isn't here.... I suppose we guessed wrong then." She frowns slightly as she says aloud, mostly for Victoria's benefit. "I suppose we'll need to move out and head for her classroom next. Or perhaps there might be some clues to her whereabouts here..." With that in mind, Bridgette moves over to start examining the books laid out on the tables. Perhaps some sort of schedule might be written within. This miiiiight also be a great opportunity to get ahead on some of the upcoming lessons. Not that such a thing was her priority in this situation of course, but if she just so happened to stumble across something like that, well why not take advantage of it?

[lilbooth]

Teresa sighed in relief as they made entry into the teacher's lounge and barred the door shut. A few tense moments passed when she was sure the shadows would slip through the gap between the door and the frame. But after what felt like an eternity they still had not invaded the room. She was worried that they might still burst through at any moment, but as the minutes went by the adrenalin slowly left her. She eased up ever so slightly and took stock of the room. She was not thrilled that there were no teacher's actually present in the lounge. Perhaps they had all vanished as well, or maybe they all quickly escaped. Either way they weren't here now and could be of no use to her or the other students. She was quick to go and stealthily grab the knife sticking from the table. Whether it was important or not she didn't want it being used against her, and since she figured no one else in room was carrying weaponry, it would give her a clear advantage. If she managed to get the knife she would go to the table with the books next. Maybe one of them was open to a page that had something to do with the current disturbance. Teachers make mistakes just as often as students, maybe one of them had inadvertently summoned whatever creatures lurked in the shadows. While she sat and began scanning the books she pointed to one of the nearest students. "You, come over here and help me check these books, the answer to all of this may be on these open pages." She said while gesturing to the books. She was looking for any mention of darkness or shadow, which she was sure there was a lot of mentions of that in the literature in general. But never the less, she began to spot check the pages of all the open books, looking for names or incantations or anything really that could either explain this or help her find a way to safety.

[exalted]

Adelaide frowned beneath her mask as she examined the rooms, pondering the evidence when her deductions were interrupted again by her now near pet buffoon.

"The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must," she rebuked him again, moving to the next room, "God places the heaviest burdens on those who can carry it's weight."

She frowned again as she saw the state of the next room. One impudently messy student she could accept, Penelope had written strict rules as to the cleanliness a student's room should be kept, but two was to bizarre to be coincidence. She checked the name plate on the door and knew there was no way that Judith Gibbs, niece to Colonel Simmerson of the South Essex Light Foot was that tardy in her cleaning and duty. No, it now appeared as a surety someone had crassly searched and the tossed the rooms looking for.... what exactly she still did not know, but appeared whatever was searched for was not here either.

The constant incessant whine of the Buffoon distracted her again and she turned for the door, adjusting the ribbon around her neck as she sighed.

"It would not do for us to arrive at my Lady Penelope early," she chastised him, heading for exit that would most quickly see her to an exit of the Blackburn house, "Arriving just in time will be fine."

[Mark3000]

Once they entered the Teacher's Lounge, the busty nun bent over trying to catch her breath. Never had she been so afraid or exerted herself so much. But she couldn't help but smile either. together, they managed to save the maid from whatever fate those serpents had in store for her. But the lot of them had been lucky. If something like this happened again, they might not be so lucky.

Finally managing to stand up, Margaret realizes just how empty the Teacher's Lounge was. Even though it was her first time in here, she expected at least one or two teachers to be hear. Just as she was about to look around, Margaret heard Teresa call out to their group. Responding quickly, Margaret rushed over and started to search the books as well. Though she was unsure of what they were looking for. "Will we really find something here?" Margaret asked with a puzzled look.

[Littlemankitten]

Victoria didn't have much time to contemplate who the mysterious voice was, not that it really mattered as long as they got out from the clutches of those damn snake things. Victoria quite literally blindly rushed towards the promise of salvation, which turned out to be the teachers office they were looking for all along. How convenient. Victoria immediately started trying to gain a bearing of her surroundings, pacing around the entirety of room while carefully avoiding any obstacles, by the time she was done she felt she knew roughly what she was working with in terms of the layout. Unfortunately for Victoria, she didn't have the capability to look for any opportunities such as test answers. So instead she opted to slowly feel out the table as she heard Bridgette talk. So, none of the teachers were here. How unfortunate yet somehow unsurprising. She looked towards Bridgette's, a slight grimace on her face. "What will we do if those things are still waiting for us outside? I could not see them, but I'm sure they were not something we can simply attack." She then turns her 'attention' back to where she was feeling, finding a few books and papers that she unfortunately couldn't read.

[RandomRoninKitten]

Ninette starts to move to grab the knife, however one of the other women, pretending to be stealthy, grabs it before she even makes her way over. "I think we have to keep an eye on her, she just snuck the knife out of that book." she mumbles to Mister Doggo Borkinson. She briefly wonders if she should call her out on it, however she could easily just say that she needs it to protect herself from the creatures that are apparently inhabiting the place. Since her original option was now unavailable, Ninette decides to go pretend to help the woman that had called out for assistance parsing the information in the books to try to figure out what's going on. While it would likely be ultimately fruitless, Ninette decides that on the off chance she does discover information, she'll keep it to herself.

Ninette quickly moves over to Bridgette again and wraps her free arm around her hips, then starts reading over her shoulder, making sure to lift Mister Doggo Borkinson up with her other hand so that he could read as well, should he choose to.

[MiscChaos]

It takes considerable willpower for Sasha not to leap for the girl in the clutches of the... the only word she has for them are monsters. Serpentine monsters. But she manages to hold herself long enough for the others to do the rescue themselves. She hangs around long enough to make sure everyone else has made it into the room and then she dives in like the devil himself is after her. And given the snakes and just how unnatural they feel, he just might be. She breathes a sigh of relief as they bolt the door closed, but still feels a bit confused. The creatures just outside are clearly not of this world. She would think that a flimsy bit of wood would not impede them in the slightest. So why does she not hear even the attempt of entry from such creatures? They very clearly mean them harm and just as clearly know where they are. She just doesn’t know, but it’s probably for the best if they stay in the room for the time being. She doesn’t know if it’s necessarily safe, but she knows that she’d much rather not invite the creatures into the room.

With the action over, she looks around, trying to see if there’s anything of use in the room and if there are any alternate ways of getting out. She also moves over to the table and pulls the knife from the wood. She doesn’t know how useful a weapon will be against those hell-beings, but any protection at all is better than none. She sees the others look to the books and decides that they should have that well in hand. Instead… well, this is a teacher’s lounge. There should be something of important within it. Instead of poking at the books, she does a thorough scan of the room itself. Hidden passageways, dropped pages or books, anything that could be used. Well, she supposes it’s a great thing the Librarian took a different path. Thus far the one they’re on seems to be useless save for being another source of danger.
But first, she believes one of the students have introduced themselves. “I’m simply glad we could help in what way we could, Bridgette, even if it meant nothing more than pointing out a place to hide within.” She says with a smile. “My name is Sasha Rogue. I’d say a pleasure to meet you, but the situation is a bit… unusual.” With introductions made, she turns back to searching the room for its secrets.

[mrblah]

devilbird

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"..." The librarian silently stared at Josephine, looking her up and down with an inquisitive gaze. "I don't mean to ask your name. I want to know who you are... perhaps more so 'what.'" She pocketed her compass, breathing a small sigh of relief after she did. Still, Josephine could tell the young woman was tense and alert. "But there are more important things for me to attend to, so let's skip to the point. You have something that you shouldn't have and you took it away from a place you should've never been. We both know what I'm talking about, so I'd like for you to hand that back to me." Her tone of voice remained quiet and stern, but her words were more aggressive than she sounded. The unnamed young woman at least wasn't entirely hostile, if a little blunt.

Josephine knew the usual exits in and out of the library, so those were on the table if she had to flee quickly. There weren't any tentacles heading their way, but there were always those ones with Regina. If they ever finished with the woman, it's entirely possible they'd come over. There were also no signs of an ambush—no one hiding behind the bookcases and nothing out of place. It didn't seem too surprising. This woman looked like she'd prefer to work alone.

exalted

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Alcott seemed exasperated with Adelaide, but once she passed by him to head out, he was much more enthusiastic in following her. The two headed through the halls of the building, eventually making their way down the stairs to the lobby and out to the main building. They were just passing through a more open hall that led to the main building of Lacuna. The windows of the hall showed the outside, restating the odd fact that it was night when just not too long ago it was very clearly day. Alcott wouldn't stop glancing outside. "I MUST SAY... NO MATTER HOW YOU OBSERVE THE SITUATION, IT IS BIZARRE. IT MUST BE ARCANE IN NATURE, BUT NEVER IN OUR STUDIES HAVE WE HEARD OF THIS EVEN BEING POSSIBLE. DO YOU NOT WONDER ABOUT IT, ADELAIDE FORTUNE?" Still as loud as ever, but the mini giant had a point. They've never heard of this phenomena before. It shouldn't be possible.

They were passing into the main building now... as was signified by something entirely unexpected and a little creepy. The air in the main building felt... heavier, as if some strange alien presence was near. There was a distinct change in the temperature and humidity, too—it was cooler yet more humid in the main building. "HM. THIS IS ALARMING. I BELIEVE THE EXIT IS THIS WAY." Alcott turned to head down the hall they just entered, clearly expecting for Adelaide to follow him.

lilbooth

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Knowledge check; Difficult. Teresa = 13. Margaret = 13.]

She... wasn't finding anything at all, and her helper seemed to be doing just as horribly. She found a great deal many books offering the information you'd expect to see from a teacher's book—which is to say, most of them were novels? Dark romantic novels with some legitimate teacher material that she couldn't exactly get. Just whose desk was she checking..?"Will we really find something here?" Her helper was the religious woman with the large chest. She seemed to be questioning their chances... which, considering the fact that they found nothing, the answer should be quite apparent.

Regardless, there were other matters Teresa could attend to. It seemed the others in the room were busying themselves with their own searches of sorts. The blind woman was walking about to get a lay of the room, the two Irishwomen were checking books and papers while conversing, the odd girl with the stuffed animal seemed to be reading something, and Sasha seemed to be checking the barrels for who knows what.

MiscChaos

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Diligence check; Difficult. Sasha = 20.]

As Bridgette left to return to her investigation, Sasha got right back to hers. Much like the blind woman had been, she spent some time searching around the room, peering over things that stood out to her to try and find anything of use. She just about poured over every possible nook and cranny of the room when she was feeling like she'd gotten nowhere. The bricks were all made and looked the same, the rugs had an unsurprising amount of dust beneath them, the lights didn't reveal a secret passageway when pulled, and there were no magically invisible elevators that would lead to a hidden office. For a supposedly arcane college, the teacher's lounge was painfully dull.

Or so she thought. While Sasha had truly looked everywhere possible for some form of alternate way out, she hadn't exactly checked... the barrels. It seemed odd that no one would check them considering the lack of purpose they would have in a teacher's lounge. The lid of one of them was left ajar... the barrels were full of gunpowder. There was enough of the powder to be quite dangerous if it were lit, even despite its nature as a low explosive. Again, why would this be in a teacher's lounge?

Blue56

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

With the party gathered and practically trapped in the room for now, everyone seemed to disperse to do something to spend the time, with most of them going over a few books on the tables to find any clues or maybe even follow Bridgette's example by taking the chance to get something useful for the future. Victoria was walking about to get a layout of the room, and Madeline was doing something similar to find any other, more hidden, clues. Ninette seemed to be searching for anything as well. When she approached her savior to offer her gratitude, the woman had been doing her own search. She paused whatever she was doing to look over at Bridgette as she introduced herself. “I’m simply glad we could help in what way we could, Bridgette, even if it meant nothing more than pointing out a place to hide within.” The woman smiled. “My name is Sasha Rogue. I’d say a pleasure to meet you, but the situation is a bit… unusual.” With their names exchanged, they both returned to their matters.

[Knowledge check; Difficult. Bridgette = 12. Madeline = 13.]

Now with Bridgette's own investigation... well, she wasn't finding much of anything that'd help her scholarly pursuits. She was finding lots of teacher stuff, sure, but it was difficult to understand the content, as if she were trying to read something too advanced for her. She had much better luck with finding a schedule, which was displayed on a wall to the right, but... it was honestly hard to tell just what time it was. There were no clocks in the room, and it obviously wasn't the same time it was during the day. Last she remembered it was maybe just coming to noon, so with the schedule's help, she could determine that Professor Ainsworth would've been on break until after lunch. Which again meant that she'd either be in the lounge, or... where else? The dining hall, where they'd just left?

Maybe she was gone like all the others?

"Find anything?" Madeline approached, her smile looking faded and strained. They'd all been through a lot of odd and scary phenomena that they couldn't understand. Not even the bright and willful redhead could shrug it off without some effects. "I haven't had much luck on my end. Mostly just papers... dropped junk... nothing so interesting like a secret book of magic that would give us powers or something."

Mark3000

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Knowledge check; Difficult. Margaret = 13. Teresa = 13.]

Margaret answered her own question. She found nothing of any particular value to them given their situation, having just as much bad luck as the woman she was helping. A stack of useless books and novels were stacked to the side between them, growing higher and higher as they sought to remove the ones they'd checked away. By the time they've gone through all they could, every single book on the desk was organized into three separate stacks. Which is to say that they ran out of books to check, and found nothing.

It was disappointing, but oh well. There were other matters to see, regardless. Perhaps she could speak with the others about their plan from here? There position didn't seem to be the best, and there was something clearly unholy in the college at the moment. Or she could assist the others with their investigations? Ninette seemed to have found something to read, the two redheads were discussing while doing something similar to what her and the unnamed woman was doing, and the other still yet to be named woman was checking the barrels, while Victoria wandered around the room.

Littlemankitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Victoria was able to get a good feel of the room. A chair here, a table there, the rug she nearly slipped on... yes, it all seemed pretty normal. She could hear trace amounts of activity around her from the others. Some spoke, and others investigated. Simple matters that she couldn't really engage in considering her disability. Seemed it was time to just sit and wait for whatever happens next.

[Diligence check; Moderate. Victoria = 10.]

Absolutely nothing was wrong and nothing was out of place.

RandomRoninKitten

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Knowledge check; Difficult. Ninette = 24.]

"WHEN THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY, WE SHALL SNEAK THAT KNIFE RIGHT INTO HER FOOT. NO MERE MORTAL COULD EVER HOPE TO STILL A BLADED WEAPON WE INTENDED TO STEAL IN MY PRESENCE." Responded the cuddly stuffed animal Ninette carried around with her. Doggo Borkinson seemed to appreciate being placed in a way that he could read the book Ninette was, though considering the fact that his expression never changed, it was hard to tell if he was reading alongside her.

Ninette... found something very nice. While they didn't find Professor Ainsworth, she might've found something that belonged to her. The book Ninette was reading from had a strange latin title she couldn't read, but the more she read, the more she realized that it was a book that detailed the study of a strange creature once met in a dream. Checking the last page, she saw what looked to be a drawing of it... a feeling of discomfort came when she studied the image. "YES... THIS INFORMATION IS CRUCIAL. I BELIEVE WE CAN USE THIS OLD CREATURE TO OUR BENEFIT. HAVE HIM TEAR REALITY APART, AND THEN WE SHALL TAKE POWER WITHIN US AND PLUNGE THE WORLD INTO DARKNESS." Doggo Borkinson began to evilly laugh, and it would've been incredibly scary and intimidating to all in the room if only they could hear it like Ninette did.

"When I first asked for its name... it wouldn't respond to me. I saw it deep within in an ocean deeper than mankind has ever seen. I would look around, and I saw great stones and monoliths all around it, while the beast itself remained secure in its throne—a mess of broken monoliths that it sat upon. All around me as well, I saw... women, naked and violated by the creature's many tentacles. Underwater, where I should not have been able to breathe, I could hear their moans and purrs of delight as they were corrupted. And only after I observed its terrible nature did it speak to me.

It introduced itself as Ol'Lagium, the Serpent Lord. It demanded I acquire more sacrifices for it, that I would find its "prey" and do unto her as it did onto them. Naturally, as the upright and honest man of God that I was, I declined the demon, and I asserted that I would rebuke it, but... Ol'Lagium merely laughed at my impudence, unbothered by my rejection. Every night since then, I would know why. It already had me under control. I felt its influence in the night, when I tried to sleep. A cold feeling would wash over me, yet my skin would feel moist and clammy. The air grew humid and... I would feel aroused. Images and thoughts of the pure women I've seen in my time would flash before my eyes, from the nuns at the church, to my lovely wife, to my own mother... and my daughter. The horrific torture inflamed my desire for them all. And no matter how much I pleaded for release from my God, I found nothing but silence, and Ol'Lagium would be the only one to grant my wish.

I could not fight it for many nights. My first was my daughter, and then from her, to my wife, and the nuns, and my mother. Then I turned to simple strangers on the street, over and over and over... for every sacrifice I gave to it, I'd feel bliss. We were two of the same. I grew to love my new Lord with all the passion I could, and he used me as he saw fit.

Ol'Lagium calls me again. I need to hurry and find it a sacrifice. The Serpent Lord hates to wait.

[Mark3000]

Margaret let out a sigh as she put away the last book on her side of the shelf. She had hoped to have found something that could have helped them out of their predicament. The busty nun couldn't help but feel a shiver down her spine. Everything about this situation was beyond belief. She had come to this academy to investigate the occult activity for the church, perhaps bring a few souls back into the Lord's Light. Now it felt as though she would be the one swallowed by this unending darkness.

From her brief episode of despair, Margaret noticed Ninette reading another book. It looked as though she had found something. Curious, she approached the young woman and her stuffed friend trying to put on a calm face. "Ninette? Where you able to find something?" She asked curious if she'd found something that could help them.

[devilbird]

Josephine took a step back, reflexively taking a quick glance back as the woman demanded the shard of metal. She wasn't sure why yet, but she needed it. If she gave it over, she would likely lose the ability to research it, discovering what the mystery behind it was. Plus, her absentee companion would likely be very upset if she gave it away so freely. Finally, there was the fact that this woman seemed to know too much about her in the first place. She was suspicious, and there was no reason to believe that all of the madness would end if she handed over the shard. She took another step back, still cautious of anything that she might have missed. Still, running from this woman would prove difficult. While strange, the way she held that compass suggested that it would keep pointing the fair haired lady straight to her. She wouldn't be able to hide, it seemed.

"Perhaps a trade?" she offered, "It seems you know more of this shard than one should. I'd be very much interested in such knowledge."

[lilbooth]

With her search through the books returning fruitless Teresa took a step back and started to look over the room to see if she had missed anything obvious. She had lived in and visited her fair share of castles, mansions, and schools. Almost all of them had secret passages or cupboards or the like. Perhaps the teachers had just vanished as the rest of the school's populace, but if they hadn't... they may have escaped through some secret tunnel or passageway. The other students around her all seemed to be doing their part to unravel what was going on and she was going to do hers. She began looking for loose panels on the wall, levers disguised as candlesticks, rugs covered trap doors. Anything she could think of that may lead to some secret passage.

[MiscChaos]

Sasha's frustrations with just how dull this Teacher's Lounge is builds more and more the longer she searches without finding anything. Why on earth did the Library suggest they head here if there was nothing to find!? She knows her anger is just a cover for her fear of something cornering them, but she can't acknowledge that right now. She has to find something of use! She cannot defend everyone from the terrors outside that door without an escape route or a weapon of some sort.

Just as she thinks that, she arrives a the barrels and her stomach drops and she feels the color drain from her face. That's... that's a lot of gunpowder. That is an obscene, blatantly dangerous amount of gunpowder. Why is there so much gunpowder? She takes back everything she thought about the Teacher's Lounge being dull and pointless. "Girls, I would like to ask that no one lights a spark for the time being. We seem to have 2 barrels full of gunpowder over here and I would rather not have them explode. That would end poorly for us in this small room." She says, her shock and fear coloring her words. She gathers herself and tries to pull her thoughts into a coherent state. "OK." She says out loud, her tone returning to normal. "Does anyone know what rooms are next door? Or suspect if this will affect the monsters? I'm loathe to risk testing the latter since it could potentially waste the resource, but if we know where to go, we can blast our way there rather than risk going back out into that hallway."

[Blue56]

What should have been a simple reading of some books proved to be quite the frustrating experience for Bridgette. It stood to reason that the teachers would have books of a higher difficulty than she was used to, but every page she looked at might as well have been in a foreign language. She had suspected that her lack of education would start to become a problem after today's test, but things were worse than she had thought if she was apparently too illiterate to even cheat properly. Bridgette's mood only soured further as the one useful piece of information she did turn up, the teacher's schedule, turned out to be poor news as well. If Professor Ainsworth was supposed to be on break, but she wasn't here or in the Dining Hall, where else could she be? Did she stay in her classroom? Or was it as Bridgette had first feared and she simply wasn't here just like so many others? The thought brings a wave of panic crashing over her, until she hears a familiar voice and turns to see Madeline. Her friend looked just as worn down by everything as she was. If everyone lost hope, weren't they done for? It was difficult, but Bridgette knew she couldn't let herself give up now. She took a deep breath and gave her friend the most genuine smile she could muster. "That would certainly be convenient for something like that to just be lying around. Course, these books could be important, but I can't make heads or tails of them regardless." She says, before sighing lightly and preparing to give Madeline the bad news. "I did find the teacher's schedule but... Professor Ainsworth is supposed to be on break around now. So if she's not here, I've no idea where else she would be. As for the other teachers..." Bridgette glances back over at the schedule trying to see where the other faculty members should be. If she couldn't find Professor Ainsworth, surely one of the other teachers might have an idea of where she is or how to get out of this mess.

Sasha's announcement catches her attention before she can ponder on their next move any further. Gunpowder? In the teachers lounge? Bridgette had no idea what purpose that could serve, but frankly it didn't matter right now. She hadn't had much cause to work with gunpowder before, but this was closer to her area of expertise than reading books for sure. Blasting through the wall was an... unorthodox solution to be sure, but it was certainly possible. "I have no idea what would be capable of hurting those things, but it would be tough to use gunpowder as a weapon without a gun. Or at the very least some way to ignite it from a distance." Bridgette replies, walking over to take a look at the gunpowder barrels. "Well, there's certainly more than enough to get through a wall and if we flip over some tables, that could keep us safe from the blast. But again, we need some way to ignite it or it won't be much use to us." There was the chandelier that was providing light, but that would be difficult to use. They needed something else, some matches perhaps if any of the professors smoked and left things like that lying around.

[RandomRoninKitten]

Ninette nodded when Mister Doggo Borkinson stated exactly what she was thinking; when the opportunity presented itself, she would certainly get her hands on the knife. That time was not now, however, as she needed to try to find something useful in these books. There really wasn't much else to do in the teacher's lounge, anyway.

Search through the book she did, and what she found was quite interesting. A strange dream-dwelling creature of seemingly immeasurable mass that tormented whoever wrote this into being attracted to... pretty much every female in his life. This creature sounded quite powerful, and this thought was reinforced by Mister Doggo Borkinson's desire to use it towards their own ends together. If it wasn't for the fact that the others would hear her, she'd have laughed right alongside him, but for now, she'd have to keep this to herself. Speaking of the others, she was approached by the woman with planets on her chest, asking if she found anything.

"I don't think any of these books are useful..." she replied, with a frown, as she slammed the book shut and flipped it onto the floor in a false show of frustration after which she made a show of pouting. She then turned to the boobs attached to a woman "Did you find anything? I miss the teachers... I felt safer with them around...." she said. Just then, Sasha announced that she found gunpowder. Well, that was certainly useful and exciting, especially since she was suggesting using it to blow a hole in the wall. She wasn't sure if such a thing would be to her benefit or not, though she supposed at the very least it would allow them to get to the other room, if it worked, and at worst those setting off the explosion would perhaps be incapacitated by the explosion if they made an error... or perhaps worst, they'd remove themselves as Doggo Borkinson and her own competition. With that in mind, though, she figured she may as well ask for Mister Doggo Borkinson's opinion on the subject.. but with the Nun so close, she wasn't sure if she could do that, so instead, she tried looking from Sasha and the barrels of Gunpowder, back to Mister Doggo Borkinson's face in hopes that he would understand what she was asking, though just to be careful, she then looked to Whore-Tits "W-wouldn't it be dangerous to set those off in... h-here?" she asked her, trying to sound as nervous as possible.

[Littlemankitten]

Victoria was of no help, and she knew it. She found herself in that situation a lot where her lack of vision her rendered her almost completely incapable of doing anything. She just stumbled around for a while, trying to make sense of any of her surroundings. All she could find though was a rug, a desk, and some books she couldn't read. It seemed she'd just have to wait around for and be useless for a bit... Wait what was that about barrels of gunpowder? "Are you really saying some of the teachers kept kegs of gunpowder here? What are they thinking? I cannot fathom an explanation for them being here.." She sighs and shakes her head slightly, before considering what Shasha says. "I could not tell what those monsters were, but using those against them sounds to much like a gamble to be worth taking considering how little any of us know... U-unfortunately I do not know the adjacent rooms contents, but I think its our best bet of escape if we find cover and a way to light it."