dramatispersonae | [Quest for Selenia]

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•cecily

[Quest for Selenia]

[There's a tugging sensation, and the scenery around you blurs. When it resolves itself, you're standing in an impressive -- albeit not very long -- hallway. The walls are old stone and the ceiling is high. The floor is marble. The wall behind you is mostly taken up by a large painting, under which stands a tall porcelain vase containing white lilies. At the other end of the hall is a large wooden door.

There are four other doors, two on each of the remaining walls. These doors appear to have a small paintings hung on them in lieu of any other identifying feature.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[hmm...starts picking through the roses]

Careful not to prick yourself! They may be dry, but they still have their thorns.

[...]

Who would make a bed of thorns...?

[PUTTING ON HIS GLOVES FIRST]

It's almost like it's symbolic, or something.

Even through the gloves, a thorn eventually scratches you... and a drop of blood falls onto one white rose, staining it a vivid crimson.

There's a ting sound from above.

Ow--

[wait...looks up]

There's a key-shaped shadow resting between the ceiling and one of the gauzy draperies.

[gently tugs that drape down if he can]

You're tall enough that you can probably get a grip on one of the dangly bits, sure. Down comes the drapery, and a key with it. The light turns out to be coming from small paper lamps in the shape of stars.

The music stops.

[looking up at the lamp for a moment, turning the key in his hand...]

[...then steps out and backtracks to the next-to-final door, with the red spider-lilies.]

As you step inside, you hear the sound of music...

A large vase containing red roses sits against each of the four walls -- on the one opposite from you, there is also a painting. Red velvet drapery held back with golden cords frames them like curtains. In the center of the room is a large four-poster bed with identical velvet drapery... except that there are no cords to hold these back. The bed itself is completely concealed from view.

...That small man looks so distraught...

[going to pull back the drapery covering the bed]

There's a dressmaker's dummy lying on the bed. A long metal stake impales it through the chest and pins it to the mattress, like an insect on in display case.

[...oh.]

[is it possible to pull that stake out?]

It is! It leaves a nice-sized hole behind, though. Luckily it's just a dummy and there's no blood.

[looks over the stake and then carefully sets it down on the ground]

[then leans over to look the dummy over again, trying to gauge the size of the hole]

It's big enough that you could probably fit your hand through it.

If that's a reassuring method of measurement.

[...]

[ . . . ]

[going to fit my hand through it]

Good plan.

... because there's a key in there. The music stops.

[...]

I apologize for the uh, intrusion. Ma'am.

[just...going to back right back up to the hallway.]

Well! There's only one door left. The big wooden one at the opposite end of the hall from where you appeared.

[heading over to that door to look it over]

It's a large door, made of some hardwood -- oak, maybe? What's odd about it is that there are four keyholes, and none of them are near the doorknob. Something has been carved into the door, and leafed with gold: a treble clef. The keyholes are located as though they were notes on the clef.

...So I need to match the right key to the right note...

[takes the first key and places it in the highest note, testing it]

It's pretty easy to figure out which key goes where, really. As soon as you put a key in its matching hole, a piano note sounds. So even going by trial and error, you'll get the answer soon enough. Once all four keys are in their proper place -- the first key you received goes in the fourth hole, the last key you received goes in the third hole, the second key goes in the first hole, and the third key goes in the second hole -- the notes sound again, and continue into a full song.

As it plays, the door swings open just a crack. Will you go inside?

[~~That is good to hear because the player is ironically tone-deaf.~~]

[And yes, stepping inside.]

[Quest for Selenia]

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