(open) rough seas will be calm

[scythegun]

WHO: Jaeger (eventually) and you!
WHERE: Dreamscapes.
WHEN: 8/25.
WHAT: Dreamdives!
WARNINGS: Suicidal implications, threads are warned accordingly.

[You find yourself on a grassy plain. It's nighttime, and while this whole thing is probably incredibly surreal, the scenery is at least peaceful. You can see a dark building ahead of you.

If you look behind you, you'll notice that there's a large, thick forest. Listening for a moment will tell you that there's plenty of wildlife there, and it doesn't sound happy to see you. It's probably not a good idea to head that direction. But hey, if you really want to, there's nothing stopping you.

If you choose to approach the building, you'll hear the distant sound of waves crashing, but otherwise all is silent. It would almost be serene, if not for the ominous look of the building. It appears to be a very large manor. There are plenty of lights on inside despite the late hour, which gives you a little more light to see the building itself. For some reason there are massive chains decorating the left side of the building that don't actually seem to be there for any specific purpose, and above that are flags for... some reason. The whole thing is kind of an experience, and the gloomy atmosphere and isolated nature of the house probably aren't doing much to make you feel at ease.

Since the manor is most likely where you're headed, you might want to get a bit closer to the front door to check it out. Be careful, though - you won't be able to get too close without two guards spotting you. They're dressed in yellow uniforms complete with masks that hide the upper halves of their faces. They don't exactly look friendly; one of them has a crossbow in hand and the other has some kind of large daggers that look like they're attached to the back of his hands.

You'll find that there's a solid wall around the perimeter of the manor; you can hide here for a moment if you'd like. Climbing over the wall seems to be out of the question given the height of it and the spikes on top.

How do you want to proceed?]

Comments

[scythegun]

[The first guard barely has time to react to the scythe before it's being brought down on the back of his head. He's out like a light, good job!

Unfortunately, the second guard is already firing crossbow bolts at you, so have fun with that. His aim's pretty good, and he can fire three shots before he needs to reload, so you'll have a moment to approach, assuming you can avoid the bolts!]

[thesettingsun]

[That is good aim, and Shuji doesn't have any confidence in his ability to avoid the bolts. He does have confidence that his satchel contains a generous amount of ink he can heal himself with, so he's going to let those shots hit him in nonvital areas in order to get close enough to whack.

He'll get ink all over his clothes, but they're dream clothes, it's fine.]

[scythegun]

[The ink actually gets the guard to pause and he has no damn idea what to do with that. He'll back up a bit as Shuji gets closer, but there isn't really anywhere for him to go and his only weapon's the crossbow, so you shouldn't have any trouble taking him out.]

[thesettingsun]

[Another whack to the back of the head!]

I really am sorry about this.

[When the other guard is out, Shuji will untransform his scythe and put it back in his satchel, then take out some ink to drink... he hadn't even considered if his ink healing wouldn't work here, um.]

[scythegun]

[As long as Jaeger knows about it, it's fine! You can drink your ink and heal back up, don't worry.

While you're over here near the door, you'll notice that it's very quiet. It doesn't sound like there's anyone on the other side of the door.]

[thesettingsun]

[That's weird. Guess it's not a very busy headquarters.

With the ink put away, Shuji will open the door and slip inside.]

[scythegun]

[You'll enter into a large room that's sparsely decorated. The decorations all look fancy and extravagant, the sort of things that make the place feel more like a manor than the base of operations of a shady guild. The place strikes a weird balance of not looking brand-new, but not looking like it's been lived-in either. This is the sort of thing you're looking at, there's a lot of open space and... no one about, actually.

To your left there's a small alcove that you can check out if you want. To your right there's a hallway that bends and seems to lead further back into the manor.

The strangest thing is that straight ahead... looks incomplete, somehow. You can look up and see that there's an upstairs and that there's a railing to prevent anyone from falling down, but that railing stops at one point in front of you. There's probably supposed to be stairs there, actually? But there definitely aren't any stairs there.

Where to now?]

[thesettingsun]

[Well, at least he doesn't have to worry about somebody immediately yelling at him for not being supposed to be here.

Since the right seems to lead further back, let's check out the alcove first. It's more efficient to search the whole place that way.]

[scythegun]

[There isn't much over here, really - more of the fancy decorations and... strangely enough there are some boxes and crates that don't look unpacked. There are also some pots that just... have swords in them. As you do???]

[thesettingsun]

[As you do.

Shuji doesn't feel right about searching past-Jaeger's stuff, but...]

If you live here, you really should get around to unpacking your personal effects. It's your home, you know?

[He doesn't know if Jaeger can hear him, but he has to say it.

Alright, now it's time to head down the hallway.]

[scythegun]

[no one knows why yeager is like this.

Anyway, the hallway! It leads further back into the manor - it has more of the same decor, but this time there aren't any boxes or pots, just four doors. There are two on the left and two on the right. Slightly more pressing is the guard leaning against the left wall between the two doors; he doesn't seem to have noticed you yet, at least.]

[thesettingsun]

[Shuji hesitates for just a moment, before he decides that the best idea if he doesn't want to knock everyone out: act like you're supposed to be here.

So he continues walking down the hallway, greeting the guard with a smile and-]

Good evening.

[Like of course there's no reason he would be stopped or want to hide his presence from anyone. He'll just open the nearer right door if the guard doesn't throw a fuss.]

[scythegun]

[The guard's got the same knives as the other two, but unlike both of them he actually doesn't tense when he sees you. He doesn't even stop leaning against the wall.]

'Evening.

[...Apparently he's just perfectly fine with you being here.

The first door on the right is open, so you can go in if you'd like!]

[thesettingsun]

[Welp, that works just fine for him! Into the room he goes.]

[scythegun]

[You'll enter into a fairly large room, decorated like the rest of the manor. There's a long table in the center, surrounded by chairs. It's either some kind of conference room or a dining hall; either way, there's no one in here so you can take your time to explore.

Aside from the table and chairs, there isn't much else to this room. There's a painting on the wall? Yeah, not too much here.

But there are plenty of things on the table! Most of them look like weapons, but there are also some clothes... Which do you want to look at first?]

[thesettingsun]

[Um, this is Shuji, obviously he's going to look at clothes first? It's like you don't even know him, bracket text.]

[scythegun]

[There are three outfits set up in the middle of the table here, but they're mostly similar. They look identical to what the guards are wearing - there's a dark blue version on the left, the familiar yellow version in the center, and a white version on the right. Each one has a slightly different face mask, though all of them have the same red eyes.

...Strangely enough, the outfits all look like they're in your size.]

[thesettingsun]

[Well, that's one way to get around more easily.

After locking the door behind him, because there are some things he cannot risk even in Jaeger's head, he'll change into the dark blue outfit. Easier to conceal ink stains on than yellow or white. He'd have gone for a red one if they had one but alas.

...Does everything look red while he's wearing this mask? Because that's neat but also unnecessarily edgy.]

[scythegun]

[Of course it does. "Unnecessarily edgy" absolutely describes at least half of Yeager's #aesthetic.

Now that you're changed, do you want to check out the weapons?]

[thesettingsun]

[He'll take a look at the weapons! And also glance at the painting now that he's definitely ruined the color composition, why not.]

[scythegun]

[The weapons are spread out on the rest of the table, grouped by similar weapon types although each individual weapon is unique. There are an alarming number of them, actually, um.

The weapon types present are: swords, greatswords, axes, battleaxes, knives, staves, chains, are those scarves? those aren't weapons, spears, bows, crossbows, and those knives the guards were using. Whew, that's a lot of weapons.

As for the painting, it looks really nice, even with your monochrome vision! It depicts a bustling, seaside town and looks very peaceful.]

[thesettingsun]

[Yeager's taste is acceptable when it comes to paintings. Also when it comes to weapon collecting. Shuji understands why his briefcase turns into a million different things now.

Shuji keeps his satchel around his waist, but his remaining clothes will have to be left here... folded and put in a corner, he's not a slob. He leaves the room and tries the next door on the right.

He doesn't have to explain to that guard why he's wearing different clothes now or even glance his direction. He can do what he wants?]

[scythegun]

[The guard will just sort of stare at you as you exit the room, but he won't say anything, so you're good!

The last door on the right opens into... well, it might be familiar if you've ever been into Jaeger's shop. It looks like the interior of Leviathan's Claw! The walls and floor are even identical, which probably makes the transition from "fancy manor" to "cluttered curio shop" kind of bizarre.

The shelves are laid out the same way they always are, and while there are plenty of unique and strange items, there doesn't seem to be anything too strange that's visible here. Do you want to proceed further in?]

[thesettingsun]

[Let him stare if he wants. No one died from being stared at, probably.

Shuji's definitely been in Leviathan's Claw before - multiple times, once when he was tiny, that was an experience - so the transition's not as startling as it could be. The shelves get a glance over, but... well, the shop's shelves are always filled with bizarre things. If he tried to examine all of them individually, he'd be here forever.

So he'll go further in.]

[scythegun]

[You absolutely would be. Jaeger always has a pretty damn impressive stock of Weird Stuff.

The back of the store mostly looks familiar... except for a trunk in the very back. There doesn't seem to be a door for the back room either, so that's kind of odd. The trunk is fairly large and closed at the moment, but it doesn't look like it's locked.]