#Harper can summon her spirit any time he wants

[dasspaceace]

Maraveth the Hellwalker, a.k.a Moony, cus Harper couldn't say Mommy as a toddler. .

She was a visual anomaly, having bright red hair instead of the typically dark brown or black with whatever color highlights that Umbrastriders usually have.

She was described as a terror upon enemies, a ruthless fighter that gave no quarter and knew no fear. She was also a very devoted and loving mother & wife. The earliest memory Harper has of his mother is play hiding from her under a table in their hallway, and being 'attack kissed' all over his face when she found him.

Be proud of your boy Moony, he grew up & became a god.

[procrastinatingbardwrites]

The Bard: Before

When Cadence Harper was ten years old she lost her parents.

There was no evil warlord. There was no dramatic confrontation, no tearful oaths to avenge them. There was only a boat, a lake, and a sudden storm. There was an accident, and all at once Cadence was an orphan.

She had no other family in Neverwinter. Her father's people were scattered far and wide; word was sent out, but there was no real hope that any of them would receive it in time. Her mother's people were easier to find.

Elves generally were.

When Cadence Harper was twelve years old she left the elven city of Reitheillaethor, the name of which always felt odd on her tongue. She snuck out in the dead of night, silent as a spirit, passing like a shadow.

She had a knapsack full of supplies, a small pouch of gold, and her father's flute. She had those things, and she had a hot human anger burning inside her. She'd never fit in that place. It was so stifling, so cold. It was all stiff and formal, and she'd never be quiet enough, still enough, good enough. Not for any of them. She was too hot and fast and human for them, and they made it clear with every word and look. Those people might have been her kin, but they'd never be her family.

They searched. She hid.

Half-breed, they had called her. Never imagining that she would hear. Or perhaps, not caring.

Fuck 'em.

When Cadence Harper was twelve and a half years old she met a traveling band of musicians. She was living rough, playing her father's flute for coin. A half-orc man stopped to listen one day, nodding along with the tune, and after a few moments he turned and gave a sharp whistle. Cadence kept playing, her eyes darting left and right, marking the most likely escape routes in case this went south. But then a halfling woman joined the half-orc. After a few seconds the halfling smiled and pulled out an instrument of her own – not quite a flute, not quite a horn – and joined in with Cadence's song. And the half-orc began to sing in a surprisingly smooth baritone.

Cadence's hat filled with silver and copper and even a few gold pieces.

And when they were done, the halfling woman grinned.

"You're not bad, kid," she said. "Little rough around the edges, maybe, but you've got talent."

"Thanks," Cadence said, suspicious.

The half-orc man laughed. It was a deep rumbling laugh. It was a good sound.

"Good instincts, too," he said.

"Say, kid," the halfling said, leaning forward with a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "You wanna come with us?"

Cadence considered. She had nowhere else to go.

"I'm keeping the coin," she said, firmly. They laughed.

And all at once she had a new family.

When Cadence Harper was thirteen years old she discovered that her music had genuine magical power behind it.

That music and magic were intertwined wasn't new information. She'd seen plenty of magic from her new family whenever they performed. What surprised her was that she was capable of it. But the discovery only delighted the others. Dench picked her up in his big half-orc arms and swung her around, whooping as Bree danced around them, and Tagger, Dane, and Grif clapped and cheered.

"Knew you had it in you, half-pint!" Dench crowed. "Knew it!"

"It was just some sparks," Cadence laughed.

"Bollucks," Grif said. "That was magic, and this calls for a party!"

So they stopped at the next town, took some rooms in the inn, and had a rousing party in the tavern. Bree even let her have half a pint of ale ("But only one; you're still just a squirt even if you are a foot taller than me, and don't bother arguing!"), and they stayed up late into the night, singing and laughing and entertaining the locals.

And Cadence was happy.

When Cadence Harper was seventeen years old she lost everything again.

It happened like this:

They had come to a town called Stratford and were playing a show during a midsummer festival. One moment the sky was a bright clear blue; the next, it was a slate gray, and a wintry chill howled down the mountain.  

There was a roar.

There were screams.

The dragon fell upon them.

In the chaos that followed Cadence found herself alone, separated from her family, shivering in a snowstorm that shouldn't be there. She hurried through it, skidding on ice that hadn't been there an hour ago, calling out for Dench, for Grif, for Tagger, for Dane, for Bree. If they called back, their voices were lost in the howling wind.

The dragon found her instead.

For one hundred and twelve days Cadence Harper was trapped in the dragon's lair.

It kept her in a hanging cage, dangling thirty feet above a frozen hoard. It brought her furs to keep warm, and food and water to keep nourished.

Little Songbird, it called her, and demanded music.

For one hundred and twelve days.

Time had always been a funny thing for Cadence. In the elven city it seemed to launch her forward, moving far more quickly for her than for the pureblooded elf children. In the rest of the world, time slowed, and she watched humans and half-orcs and nearly all the other races grow older faster, while she remained more or less the same.

For one hundred and twelve days, time stretched out into agony.

On the hundred and thirteenth day a group of adventurers came to the cave.  

The dragon was sleeping. Cadence was letting her voice rest. She had sung so much during her captivity; her throat was always so sore, and sometimes she worried that her voice was damaged forever. She sipped on ice-cold water (everything here was ice-cold; she had almost forgotten what it was like to be warm, to have hot food to eat or hot tea to drink), and when she saw the small group creeping into the cave, she sat bolt upright. The adventurers saw her as well, and they froze.

Cadence looked to the sleeping dragon, and back to them. And for the first time in one hundred and twelve days, she summoned her small magic.

Can you kill it? she whispered, and sent the question to the adventurer in front. He was a human, broad and armored, carrying a shield and axe.

He met her gaze and nodded once. Yes, she heard him reply.

Cadence stood up in the cage. She took a long, slow drink of the cold water.

Be quiet, she sent, and I'll do what I can to keep it sleeping.

The adventurer nodded again and whispered to his companions.

Cadence took her father's flute from her belt, wet her lips, and began to play a lullaby.

The adventurers moved forward.

The fight was terrible. It was loud and violent; the dragon's roars of rage and surprise shook the walls of the cave. Cadence threw everything she had at disabling the thing, giving the adventurers every advantage that she could. She screamed curses at the dragon to distract it from the intruding heroes; she sang songs of inspiration and bravery for the adventurers. And eventually, finally, the dragon fell. The adventurers brought down her cage and let her out.

One hundred and thirteen days after the dragon took her, Cadence Harper was free.

People deal with traumatic experiences in various ways.

Sometimes they find a way to talk about what happened to them; sometimes, they're lucky enough to find someone who will simply listen to them. Sometimes they work through it by creating something: art, music, crafts, food. Sometimes...they simply work, throwing themselves into physical or mental labor in an effort to drive the memories of the experience from their minds. The methods of dealing with the trauma are as varied as the people who experience them.

Sometimes it's impossible to tell.

When Cadence Harper and the adventuring party who set her free made their way to a town, she thanked them, and took a room at the inn. She took a hot bath. She put on clean clothing. She had a hot meal. She slept in a warm bed. She let her throat recover, speaking seldom and singing not at all, but merely sitting in a corner of the tavern and watching people. Listening to their voices, their stories. For a time, the adventurers stayed in the town, and eventually they asked if she wanted to travel with them for a while. Cadence considered, then agreed, only asking for a little time to take care of some business. Then she went to the town's only music shop and purchased a violin.

She did not play her father's flute again.

Cadence didn't blame the band for leaving. They had every reason to believe she was dead, after all. Still, it was hard not knowing where they were. It was hard not knowing whether they had survived the dragon's attack on Stratford.

She chose to believe that they had.

She needed to believe that they had.

There was a song they all used to play together. It was a song of longing, a promise to wait. The way it was structured, it would sound good if any of the parts were played alone, but it really became something special when all parts played together. Once, Bree had told her that if ever they were separated, that was how they found their way back again.

Everywhere she went, Cadence played...and Cadence listened.

One day Cadence would find them again.

She had to believe that, because otherwise... well, otherwise, she was alone again.

[toomuchplot]

Zach’s Goodbye

A/N: Slowly but surely, I’m getting back online. I’m writing to return my writing mojo, so I wrote this bit: a glimpse in the future of Rose, Dan, and Zach

As Dan has put it, Rose’s house in the Kemfeld commune was a haven for downtrodden, suffering, and homeless, as well as Dan himself.

Rose disagreed with his refusal to put himself into any of the aforementioned categories, and said that her doors were always open to be called a home. Dan replied that his real home was burnt to a crisp in Harper Hill along with the entire town, and no other place deserved to carry this name.

He moved around in between missions too much, never staying in the same place; for a guy who actually created the Kemfeld commune he barely even visited it. But when he did, he stayed at Rose’s place, even if mostly to discuss strategies and stock up on potions.

The table was covered with maps and notes from their spies, two tea cups were standing nearby, their delicious aroma making Dan glance at the teapot every so often: Rose's proficiency with potions carried on to her ability to mix perfect tea blends. Amber's somber eyes gazed down at them from the giant portrait on the wall; when Rose had bad days she imagined her looking accusing at what the world has turned into in her absence – but as always, it was merely her imagination.

Rose felt it before it happened: the field of protective energy she surrounded the house with wobbled, and the magical alarm went off, indicating the intruder that wasn’t recorded in the commune’s database has come to their doors.

Dan rose, hands ready to cast lightning bolts on whoever dared to trespass; in a swift motion Rose brought up a glimmering sphere that projected an image of the exit from the hidden underground passageway – and in front of it was a familiar face.

Dan’s hands fell, more from shock than from the dissipated danger.

It occurred to Rose that Dan hasn't talked to Zach face to face since the Salvos Island incident. Since Zach created a machine with an artificial spiritual core he planned to use in a battle against the spirits. Since it gained consciousness, rebelled against its inventor and wiped out the largest commune designed to keep people safe.

They were lucky the spirits didn't know about this, Rose thought, looking at Dan's expression going through a myriad of emotions. They've learnt the power of interpersonal relationships, they would've been delighted to know the leader of the rebellion could be resorted to a mumbling mess just by seeing another person's face.

Zach changed. His hair was cut in overgrown chunks, his clothes clean but threadbare; of course, he didn’t have magic to assist him with performing daily self-care tasks.

Rose glanced back at Dan, at his completely lost expression, trembling lips, and sighed. If Dan had any self-awareness he would’ve been afraid of Zach, of what he was doing to him; but some people never learnt, not even when they turned forty.

“I will talk to him. Stay here.”

Giving Dan an excuse was the least she could do. Besides, she really did want to talk to Zach, whom she used to consider her brother.

Zach stepped forward the moment he saw Rose coming, and glanced behind her back, his eyes saddening imperceptibly when he saw no one else was there.

“I'm not here to seek forgiveness,” he spread his arms slightly, as though to show he was unarmed – as though he thought Rose would immediately attack him if he was carrying a weapon.

Rose dropped her prepared I can never forgive you speech. She expected Zach to justify himself, as always, he has always deemed himself the smartest. He considered himself to be incapable of making a mistake, and now he was finally taught the hardest lesson.

“Good. I'm not about to offer it.”

“I heard that Dan grew a moustache,” Zach said with a hint of absent-mindedness, glancing behind Rose’s back again.

Rose crossed her arms. “He doesn't want to talk to you.”

“Understandable,” he paused, looking up at the shimmering dome covering the commune. “How are you? Got any news spirit-wise?” Spirits were probably the safest topic to talk about. “I hear your team has tackled Sight recently?”

“We won Sight’s lair back, the one in Bullard Valley,” Rose could mention the number of casualties, but she decided against it. Death went without saying.

“Sight must be mighty peeved,” Zach said, attempting to make his tone light.

“It will come back,” Rose said, tightening her arms around herself. She kept thinking – one day they would come for Kemfeld too, and she couldn’t promise to to be able to protect the people relying on her.

Zach stepped towards her, hand jerking as if wanting to reach out.

“Rose,” he began, and by the way his gaze shifted uneasily she realized they were about to touch the forbidden topic. “I want to talk to Dan about Salvos Island. I want to fix things.”

“Nothing can revive the dead,” Rose said harshly, “not even necromancy.”

People considered her the expert on the matter, and they were right – just as they were disappointed when they came to her in hopes to have another chance with a loved one.

“I don't know what to do, Rose,” Zach said, looking completely lost for the first time since Rose knew him.

Of course, Zach wouldn’t come here, wouldn’t talk about Salvos if it wasn’t for wanting closure.

“Me neither. You've passed the point of no return, Hubbard.”

Zach looked up to squint at the top floor windows – and Rose wondered if Dan as even capable of looking at him right now from the safety of the window and Rose’s excuse.

“He loved you, you know,” she said bluntly. “That's why he can't handle seeing you.”

“I know,” Zach muttered. “That's the worst thing, Rose. I know.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Worst?”

Rose was simply incapable of understanding. She had her beloved wife, her darling daughter, even her dear sister was miraculously still alive – she practically got a second chance to live her life.

“You will understand, eventually,” Zach sighed. Uneven bangs fell into his eyes, dulled with time. Rose watched the crack creeping in the lens of his glasses, thinking about second chances and how her heart was breaking every time she had to deny them to people who came to seek help.

Maybe there was some closure she could provide, after all.

And so, despite the impenetrable barriers the past years have erected between them, despite the horrible things they both did – Rose hugged him.

Because she knew Zach, and knew what he was about to do. The least she could do was say a proper goodbye.

Twenty four hours later the news of Zachariah N. Hubbard's death have reached the commune. Everyone had a different version, but one thing was similar in all the stories told in awed whispers: he marched up to Nature’s land in what was a suicide mission, attempted to take the spirit out and was murdered with such brutality no remains could be found.

Two more hours later Danniel Fitch has abandoned his mission in Rookwick and went back to his no longer standing home in Harper Hill to organize a funeral for a body that wasn't there – a funeral only two people attended. Zach made sure his name was dissolved into murmurs and rumours, and most of those who knew him before the war were long since gone.

It was also the last time Rose has ever seen Dan cry as he took a painfully long time to carve each letter of Zach’s name into the stone.

That was also the first and last time he admitted his feelings for Zach.

“Rose. I should've told him I loved him,” he told the stone.

“Yes,” Rose said, because there was nothing else to say; Zach would've hated any eulogy they came up with. “You should have.”

Eight years later Rose finally understood what Zach meant, when Harlow’s mutilated body was thrown to her feet. Her darling son took her hand and said, “At least the commune is safe” – and she was terrified.

She couldn't sleep in fear of remembering. Couldn't think about the choice she made, couldn't ask herself whether it was worth it.

Her darling son has hidden the books where necromancy rituals were described, but he shouldn't have been worried: Rose wouldn't dare summon Harlow’s ghost.

Seeing disappointment in Harlow’s wispy features would be a punishment worse than torture.

And so she drunk until she couldn't remember her own name: she has invented the potion herself, and it was a foolproof way of erasing her memories.

No one needed her anyway; she was fifty-seven, and her darling son was ready to take over as the leader of Kemfeld.

Much, much later seventy-six-year-old Rose saw her friends once again, but couldn’t recognize them.

[kurtty-drabbles]

Koh prequel au

N/A: a small prequel on my Lovecraft au

@djinmer4    

Music that inspires this

In dreams, nothing is bound to any rule, as the view can spot obese trees that seem to defy logic, deformed and mutated plants that can even walk, the atmosphere is filled with fog and shades of green as well the sky that has a perpetual moss green giving the impression you are under the swamp, drowning and you will never see the light again.

A girl with a ponytail, her school uniform manages to moves her hands and the toes with easy. The girl only replied with a sense of dread "I´m here, again" as she starts to assert the situation.

If you can´t hide your emotions, hide your face. Or else he will found you.

It was the advice her teacher, Agatha often gives when they study the dream and the mind, don´t let him see your face, ever. And Kitty covers her face waiting to wake up.

Don´t let him see your face. Don´t let him see your face.

Kitty did just that a soft hand plays with the loose lock of her hair, toying gently and another hand touches her shoulder as finally, his voice made himself present.

"Don´t do this, I want to see your face, your emotions, please, show your face" the voice is too sweet and kind and Kitty would like to obey but then she remembers to never let him see your face and continues to hide your face. "still afraid of me? my dear, you are the only one who does not need to be afraid"

The girl refuses to let her face be seen. And his voice change to female to male.

"Now, that is just plain rude, but I still love you, my dear, if I wanted to hurt you I would have done ages ago, what I can do to prove I just want to talk with you and nothing more?" his voice is too sincere and Kitty would like to see his face, but then the warning pops up, then she speaks.

"You speak that but offers nothing to trust you, give me a proof of your good faith" Kitty speaks feeling his body curling around her forcing the girl to sit. No angry rebuke or anything akin. Instead, the creature laughs amused and agrees.

"Very well, closes your eyes and open your hands" the creature instructed and Kitty did just that as her hands meet with something soft to touch and heavy at the same time, as she opens her eyes she sees a "mask" of a woman with dark hair. "This one is one of my favourites masks, is this proof enough of my good intentions...with you?"

Kitty looks at the head that her childlike arms are holding and merely nods, is not the first or second time, Kitty holds a beheaded head.

"Is ok, now, why you summon me here?"  Kitty ask curiously as why he, among all the others spirits/entities, would even summon her to this place? Kitty Pryde is nothing but a mere witch in training.

"I just wanted to see you, even if is in this way," the creature said enigmatically and Kitty is left wondering what he meant by that "and you are getting way too interested in the Dennis Hopper´s case, little one, more than any human child has any right to and I need to know why"

Oh, that makes more sense. Will he scowl me too?

"Well, to be honest, this is because of HIM,"Kitty can´t help but emphasise the word HIM as to signalise how important it is " I read and study many cases of people that made deal or even work for him and failed and the consequences are always bad ...for them, and with Dennis Hopper...I was wondering if maybe"

"Say his name," the creature asks kindly almost pleading"do not worry, little one, you aren´t in trouble, just say his name, please" Kitty decides to not anger the entity and says the name(is a taboo, but in a way, Kitty being here is also a taboo)

"Nyarlathotep," she said in a low voice and the entity seems pleased with that.

"Aw, little one, you never change, always wanting to meddle in human´s affairs" is an odd way to phrase it but he is an ancient entity " Well, since you are so interested, I can confirm that Dennis Hopper was linked to a cult, yes, his cult" the last line was spoken as is a joke.

"Let me guess? He failed the initiation"

"No, he passes, the problem is the reward he asked was too much and the man didn´t handle very well"

"No one found his body, did him"she amends as the entity looks at her again "Nyarlathotep eat him?"

"Hardly, in the end, it was all his insanity and guilt that drove him to his own demise, but, if you want to play the hero, little one, I can tell you where is the body"

"Oh, free of charge?" Kitty knows that this entity never does deals out of the generosity of his heart and she does not have much to offer or something she is willing to give.

"Yes, to you, yes, the only request I can make it for you to be safe, there are many people that workship HIM" the entity plays with her tone for a moment and Kitty does appreciate to make fun of " that are not suitable company for young ones like you"

"I see, well, I can take care of myself, but thanks for your concern," Kitty said and the man smiles, a little serene. He told where the Dennis Harper´s body is located.

"You know, does your school ever talk about Zaorva?" Kitty nods and is ready to answer some of his questions in case the entity makes this a pop quiz " has anyone ever tell you that you are similar to Zaorva?"

"Am I?" Kitty asked clearly confused as the entity giggles amused and fondly and then is time to leave.

"Kitty?" Wanda´s eyes meet with Kitty´s as both should be in the classroom now. "wake up, you are having one of those dreams"

"Again? What did I say?"

"Nothing I could understand, it was the same gibberish as always," Wanda said and Kitty just rolls her eyes and get up from the bed. This time, her dream led her to solve a mystery. It wasn´t bad.

[yamirla-england-blog]

“Ten Interesting British Novels”

“White Teeth” by Zadie Smith - “At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for “no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith. Set against London’ s racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence”. (Amazon)

“Juliet, Naked” by Nick Hornby - “Nick Hornby returns to his roots—music and messy relationships—in this funny and touching novel that thoughtfully and sympathetically looks at how lives can be wasted but how they are never beyond redemption. Annie lives in a dull town on England’s bleak east coast and is in a relationship with Duncan that mirrors the place; Tucker, once a brilliant songwriter and performer, has gone into seclusion in rural America—or at least that’s what his fans think. Duncan is obsessed with Tucker’s work to the point of derangement, and when Annie dares to go public on her dislike of his latest album, there are quite unexpected, life-changing consequences for all three”. (Amazon)

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens - “It was the time of the French Revolution — a time of great change and great danger. It was a time when injustice was met by a lust for vengeance, and rarely was a distinction made between the innocent and the guilty. Against this tumultuous historical backdrop, Dickens' great story of unsurpassed adventure and courage unfolds. Unjustly imprisoned for 18 years in the Bastille, Dr. Alexandre Manette is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, and safely transported from France to England. It would seem that they could take up the threads of their lives in peace. As fate would have it though, the pair are summoned to the Old Bailey to testify against a young Frenchman — Charles Darnay — falsely accused of treason. Strangely enough, Darnay bears an uncanny resemblance to another man in the courtroom, the dissolute lawyer's clerk Sydney Carton. It is a coincidence that saves Darnay from certain doom more than once. Brilliantly plotted, the novel is rich in drama, romance, and heroics that culminate in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine”. (Amazon)

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen - "Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the British Regency. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London. Page 2 of a letter from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra (11 June 1799) in which she first mentions Pride and Prejudice, using its working title First Impressions. (NLA) Set in England in the early 19th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth. Pride and Prejudice retains a fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top of lists of "most loved books." It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, selling over 20 million copies, and receives considerable attention from literary scholars. Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic adaptations and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's memorable characters or themes”. (Amazon)

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte - “Jane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published on 16 October 1847, by Smith, Elder & Co. of London, England, under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York. Primarily of the bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its title character, including her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalisation of the action the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, and all the events are coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry Jane Eyre revolutionised the art of fiction. Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of classism, sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism”. (Amazon)

“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte - “Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's first and only published novel, written between October 1845 and June 1846, and published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell; Brontë died the following year, aged 30. The decision to publish came after the success of her sister Charlotte's novel, Jane Eyre. After Emily's death, Charlotte edited the manuscript of Wuthering Heights, and arranged for the edited version to be published as a posthumous second edition in 1850. Wuthering Heights is the name of the farmhouse where the story unfolds. The book's core theme is the destructive effect of jealousy and vengefulness both on the jealous or vengeful individuals and on their communities”. (Amazon)

“The Tempest” by William Shakespeare - “Putting romance onstage, The Tempest gives us a magician, Prospero, a former duke of Milan who was displaced by his treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero is exiled on an island, where his only companions are his daughter, Miranda, the spirit Ariel, and the monster Caliban. When his enemies are among those caught in a storm near the island, Prospero turns his power upon them through Ariel and other spirits. - The characters exceed the roles of villains and heroes. Prospero seems heroic, yet he enslaves Caliban and has an appetite for revenge. Caliban seems to be a monster for attacking Miranda, but appears heroic in resisting Prospero, evoking the period of colonialism during which the play was written. Miranda’s engagement to Ferdinand, the Prince of Naples and a member of the shipwrecked party, helps resolve the drama”. (Amazon)

“1984″ by George Orwell - “Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching... A startling and haunting vision of the world, 1984 is so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the influence of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions—a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time”. (Amazon)

“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding - “At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued”. (Amazon)

“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien - “Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum”. (Amazon)

[adventuresofdroop]

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

Over an awkward breakfast in the temple, the party debated how best to spend their last tenday before the caravan was to depart for Wave Echo Cave. With no pressing business of unfinished goals in the city, they decided to go their separate ways and regroup when the supplies and workers would be ready to go.

First, they went to Allis Lhyssich’s shop with the starmetal, now that Winstrock was not otherwise horizontally occupied. He was in awe of the chunks of metal they had found. The party decide to keep one, now in Ander’s possession, but the other was given to Allis in exchange for a new rapier crafted from the metal. Half would be consumed in forging the weapon, and Allis would keep the other half as payment for rushing this out in time for the group to leave the following week.

Ander decided to head first to the Library of the Unseen University to do some research on Wave Echo Cave and try to discover what might have been lurking down that passage they caved in. He found a paper written by the dragonborn wizard Edroneus speculating about Abeloth lairs being established in underground seas in the region. Reading about Abeloths and what they can do, he returned to the temple traumatized and decided to spend the remaining half of his time trying to forget what he had learned by gambling.

He met up with Ser Winstrock, who had been recently victorious in the fighting pits, winning several bouts and pocketing 100 gold for his efforts.

Winstrock dragged Ander out of the temple to go to a casino where he wagered his winnings from the fighting pits and did quite well, netting an additional 150 gold. Ander, perhaps still distracted from his findings, did not do so well and lost half of the 100 gold he was persuaded to put up by Winstrock. The latter, feeling a bit guilty for pushing his friend, gave him a bit of his own winnings to make up for this loss.

Sedoris returned to her roots as a traveling bard and bounced from tavern to pub to inn playing for the patrons and having a wonderful time. The novelty of a tiefling bard, and one who was from so far away with so many new songs they had never heard no less, turned out to be a lucrative hook and she made about 15 gold a night. Unfortunately, she did accidentally draw the ire of another lizardfolk druid in one bar, unintentionally forgetting to correct a very old song lyric that made use of what turned out to be a slur referring to the lizardfolk race. She was unharmed, but later had to discuss this incident with Daskan, being genuinely confused by this incident. She’d been called slurs all her life, after all, it was just the way of the world and she hadn’t given it a second thought.

Droop and Sha’shi’ decided to spend their time bettering themselves and training. Ander put Droop in contact with some other rogues and thieves in the city, who were able to quickly improve his grasp of Thieves’ Cant, which would be helpful in mitigating the incidents they’ve had where Droop was not picking up on subtle signals in tense situations.

After realizing they have run into numerous elves on their travels but no one in the group knows Elvish, Sha’shi’ enlisted the help of their elven Haper friends to learn the language in record time. Using various spells and potions to tamper with her brain, she was able to absorb the language (at significant expense, for these aids).

Lastly, Daskan decided to get away from the city and commune with nature. He wandered the wilderness off to the east of the city on his own observing the wildlife and learning all he could about new beasts he had never seen before.

This would allow him a greater range of minions he might summon forth in the future, as well as more useful forms that he might take with his wild shape ability.

They all regrouped on the final day. In saying their goodbyes, Winstrock suggested to Androsli that perhaps she might accompany them and move into the now-refurbished manor house down in Phandalin. She could still continue working for the Harpers at the Shrine of Luck with Sister Garaele. He was incredibly persuasive, and she decided it was time for a new adventure in her life. She took some time to pack and turn over control of the temple to her acolytes, then joined the group as they went to collect Winstrock’s new adamantine rapier.

(Above: Actual footage of Winstrock breaking the news to the others)

With the caravan organized, they set off at last for Wave Echo Cave!

On the way they were accosted by a mysterious figure with snakes for hair, accompanied by two giant constrictor snakes. Sha’shi’ sprang into action and attempted to negotiate with these beings.

Unfortunately, she greatly insulted the medusa and provoked her ire, but she was able to persuade one of the snakes that the beef only existed between its master and the group and so would sit out the fight.

Daskan summoned his bear companions while Winstrock and Ander closed in for melee combat; Sedoris and Droop stayed back and rained crossbow bolts into the medusa. One bear was immediately constricted by the giant snake, but the medusa was thankfully dispatched quickly before she could make effective use of her petrifying gaze on any of the party. With their master dead, Sha’shi’ spoke to the snakes again and convinced them that they were free and they would be left in peace if they ceased fighting. They agreed, after which Daskan went a step further and persuaded one of the snakes to accompany them on their journey.

Unfortunately, they did nothing to engage the snake further along the way, so after a while it became bored of the trip and slithered off into the woods at night (but not until after Daskan had learned all about it so he could summon more or take its shape himself).

Stopping off in Phandalin, they left the caravan on the outskirts and checked in on their manor, which had been fully repaired and was having its inner walls finished, with the kitchen equipment arriving next. The group eagerly explored the building and laid claim to the rooms that would be theirs (Sha’shi’ continuing to issue extremely specific instructions regarding her furniture and its placement, and demanding Droop’s room be adjacent to hers). Winstrock claimed the room directly above Sha’shi’s so she might enjoy the banging of his headboard each night.

They also stopped in briefly to check on the Alderlef Farm and see how Qelline and Carp were doing with the owlbear nests. Carp had been diligently taking a wheelbarrow full of the prescribed foods out to the edge of the woods each evening and after a few days there were always several owlbears waiting for him.

A few days earlier, however, they stopped showing up and the food went untouched. Daskan dashed off into the woods (Carp had heeded their warning to not go in there himself), and confirmed that the nests appeared abandoned, with nothing but eggshells remaining.

Daskan complimented Carp on his handling of the owlbears and suggested that if he ever wanted to become a full druid, he could put him in touch with people when the time came. Carp looked overjoyed at this, though his mother was not thrilled with the idea.

Continuing on to the cave, they were greeted by the Rockseekers. While the wagons were unloaded and workers led inside, they were brought up to speed. It seems the idea to give tours worked out well, though once the original curiosity-seekers had visited, business quieted down, which honestly made it easier to keep things organized and safe. The lake had been steadily filling with water, but then one day it suddenly gave a great “burp” and the level dropped back to its original state.

The crew set out once again on the boat and sent Daskan-Lapras to investigate (Ander insisted on staying on shore, remembering his research about abeloths). On the way down, he noticed the corpse of the plesiosaur rotting on the bottom; it seems that such a large creature in a small lake was relying on biomass coming into the system via that passageway and it starved once that was closed off. Sadly continuing on, he examined the tunnel and confirmed that it was still effectively sealed off, but that it had shifted to allow water to flow through due to the overwhelming pressure.

Confirming they seemed mostly safe for the moment, they warned the Rockseekers about the possibility that an aboleth might have made its lair behind that tunnel. They were given their next mission: To arrange for a closer, fresher, more reliable food supply.

Departing at last, they set off in the direction of Triboar and Yartar. One night along the way, when they were very near the southern tip of the Neverwinter Wood, a treant approached them, angry at humanoids not respecting the forest and destroying his trees. Daskan tried reasoning with him in Druidic, but with no success; Ser Winstrock taking out an axe did not endear the group to the treant who animated two trees to flank the group as he charged forward.

Thankfully, Sha’shi’s newfound language skills allowed her to also intervene in Elvish, which the treant understood. She persuaded him that they meant no harm and would not hurt the trees. The treant apologized for his actions, which just underscored his philosophy that anything done in haste is always incorrect. He and his tree friends retreated into the forest without further bloodshed.

The following night, the camp was visited by a vengeful ghost, who floated into Ander’s body and possessed him...

...forcing him to attack Daskan (in the form of a cave bear for its heightened senses while on watch duty). Unwilling to attack Ander, Sedoris did attempt to grapple and restrain him, without much success. Eventually, Ander’s own fortitude expelled the spirit, which flitted instead into Sedoris.

Sha’shi’ decided to try an unusual approach and cast polymorph on Sedoris to turn her into a frog. This succeeded in expelling the spirit, which was ill-suited to possess the amphibian. Winstrock was able to rush up and finish off the ghost before it could possess another of his compatriots.

Finally arriving in Triboar, the party headed straight for the tower in the center of town and met the Lord Protector, Darathra Shendrel. They asked if anyone might be knowledgeable about the history of the area. They were pointed in the direction of the apothecary, run by probably the most educated of the townsfolk, but were advised to not get their hopes up. Asking after where they might find hirelings for JBI, they were pointed in the direction of the Triboar Travellers which hires out mercenaries and crews and equipment for caravans. Lastly, for food supplies, they were referred to the local branch of Lionshield Coster, The Lion’s Share.

Visiting The Lion’s Share, they learned that there was in fact another branch of Lionshield Coster back in Phandalin they might have spoken to.

However, the proprietor agreed to send messages to the Phandalin branch and headquarters in Yartar to make the arrangements.

Moving on to the apothecary, they simply learned that there were rumors or legends in the region of a cloaked figure who appeared at night in the fog. Daskan purchased some “sweet water” flasks, and they learned there was rumored to be a Harper agent (a woman) somewhere in town.

They decided to head to the Triboar Arms, a tavern, for a bite to eat and see if they might talk to some more people about all these rumors. Winstrock seized upon some inspiration and whipped out the Alchemy Bottle. Approaching the tiefling bartender, he offered to trade 2 gallons of mayonnaise for lunch. Baffled, the barkeep said, “What the hell would I do with two gallons of mayo, who asks such a thing?” In the end, he did indeed accept the offer of a gallon of honey, which was rare since their town’s resident beekeeper died of old age.

Sedoris was particularly interested in the first tiefling she had seen in ages, who she also found quite attractive. She struck up a spirited conversation with him while the rest, having finished lunch, turned their attention to a group of rangers meeting around another table. Sha’shi’ approached them and, overcoming some initial awkwardness, learned that rangers often came to do a pilgrimage of sorts to Gwaeron’s Slumber, a wood where Gwaeron Windstrom, the god of tracking, is said to visit, but that the wood is no longer safe, plagued by an oni that took up residence in a cave in there. They offered the services of JBI for demon extermination and were offered 100 gold to take care of the problem, payable upon return of the oni’s head.

They also learned from one of the elves that the Harper in town is the Lord Protector herself, so they returned to the tower, somewhat embarrassed for not having asked before. They learned that she has not heard from any other Harper agents in a while, and is troubled that she received no warning of a fire giant in the area of the Starmetal Hills that might soon find their town, currently mostly defenseless. She also enlisted the services of JBI to take care of the giant before it finds Triboar, at the price of 150 gold.

Debating for a moment continuing to Yartar first, they decided to take care of these contracts first before potentially being saddled with more work in the next city. They set off at once for Gwaeron’s Slumber, a dense forest that was so quiet it almost felt like the air was pressing in on their ears and muffling everything. It wasn’t long before the oni found them and lunged out from behind the thick trees, unleashing a cone of cold that nearly killed poor Droop again.

Shaking off the frost, the team moved to encircle the now-gigantic demon. Massive damage was dealt, to which the oni responded by casting invisibility and fleeing. Winstrock took some wild shots with a crossbow but, unsurprisingly, did not land any of those shots.

Daskan, thinking quickly, cast faerie fire, which causes any creatures in the area of the spell’s effect to glow, allowing them to again target the oni. Ander turned quickly and with his steady aim fired a bolt straight into the demon’s eye and felled it at last.

Daskan simply picked up the entire body and carried it on his shoulders back to the Triboar Arms, earning the admiration of the group of rangers. They were enticed to remain in town for some time, as they might be interested in offering them employment on their way back through after visiting Yartar.

Taking rooms in the inn to rest up, they set out the following morning to try to track the fire giant to the north. Daskan, in the form of a bear again, was able to detect the scent of smoke, and soon they saw a pillar of that smoke rising over the horizon. Fire giants, it turns out, are really obvious and easy to track, and soon they found him.

Daskan, still in bear form, charged ahead recklessly and sank his teeth and claws into the giant. The rest of the party ran to catch up and began hurling all of their spells and bolts at the creature. The giant swung his enormous greatsword twice into Daskan-bear, dealing brutal levels of damage and forcing him back into his lizardfolk form.

Winstrock, using his magic ring, sprang ahead to attack the giant from behind. His eagerness was unfortunately rewarded with a vicious double swipe of the greatsword, pushing him to the very edge of death.

Fortunately, Daskan took the shape of a giant constrictor snake while Ander, inspired by Sedoris’ encouragement, landed some precise crossbow shots to the head and neck. Combined with Sha’shi’s cold magic and some more crack shots from Droop’s crossbow, the giant finally fell (with Winstrock barely dodging out of the way before the falling corpse claimed his little remaining life force).

Slipping the enormous greatsword into the bag of holding, they retreated, badly wounded, to Triboar to speak with the Lord Protector and recover.

[staytheb]

warzone [sujira wattana]

Word Count: 1,997 Summary: the other applicant i applied with for the same story to create a different character from the first one i had applied with.

warzone masterlist

okay, so she’s different from Harper for sure as i based Suijra upon LIAR GAME's Nao and Fruits Basket's Tohru in hopes of making a "weaker" girl or something like that. lol but yeah, as for Sujira and Sehun’s relationship is kinda based upon Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship mixed with a bit of Kyo and Tohru's too. oh yeah the summoning bit on how Sujira summons Sehun is based on Cardcaptor Sakura as i really liked that and of course to make it different from Harper’s. anywho, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

BACKGROUND:

Sujira and her brother, Jirayu, are of Thai ancestry. She comes from a single-parent home when her father left when she was around seven or eight years old. She doesn't really remember the details and her brother nor her mother ever talk about that incident. They just live their life as they do and have been doing so without much hindrance or altercations. Anyways, when Sujira got older and became an adult she continued to live life with the flow and didn't make a fuss about anything really. Not until the day she received a parcel from her brother. It had a necklace and a letter that seemed to have been written in a rush detailing that her brother had a dreamed to where he was told to give her the necklace and that when the time was right she'll know what to do with it. He also warned her if people start asking and she feels like her life is at risk, then she would need to run and escape the city to the forbidden areas and she'll get her answers then. Of course she was confused and didn't know about anything of that or at the time was where her brother was playing double agent when he realized that what he was doing at his government job was not the path he wanted to continue. Sujira assumed it was maybe stress or something and didn't really think to much about it. Later that same day Sujira told her mother about it and her mother's eyes went wide upon seeing it as she knew the stories behind it, but figure it was just stories. Anyways, Sujira wore the necklace and her mother just advised her to keep it hidden. Then one day Sujira was casually out photographing for a client when the client recognized her necklace. The client asked a lot of question about it and Sujira told the client about it and when the client seemed to have this glazed over looked in their eye while approaching her, Sujira then felt the urge that she needed to get away. When the client noticed that they then ordered their guards to detained her. Sujira made her escape and surprisingly she didn't know how she was able to get away from them, but she had a feeling the necklace she was wearing had to do something with it as she moved like she was featherless although that didn't mean she wouldn't get injured in the process as she truly felt like her life was in danger. Upon thinking that she got this vision in her head of how to properly use the necklace and access it's powers and what not. She didn't trust it and so continued her escape without trying anything until she was far away and felt like she wasn't in danger anymore. Sujira tried out what her mind's eyes saw. After that Sujira somehow found her way to Naveen's rebel group after some walking.

FAMILY: + mother / Reuangrin Wattana / Horticulturist Sujira is very much like her mother. Don't be seen, don't be heard, and then everything should be alright for you and nothing bad will happen. Just do as your told is what her mother tells her since she was younger. Anyways, Sujira and her mom talk and are polite, but other than that it's just basic pleasantries of their every day lives as her mother is busy with work in trying to improve and cultivate plants, flowers, trees, and shrubs since within the city's walls they are rare and need to be modified as no one is allowed to stepped outside the walls and what not... or what her mother tells her. + older brother / Jirayu Wattana / N/A The two were close especially when their father walked out on the family and was never heard from again leaving the alone whenever their mother had to work to provide for their family of three. Sujira looked up to her brother a lot and for a lot of things while growing up. But as they got older she saw her brother less due to his studies and then his job with the government. They kept in touch, but it wasn't as often as she wished for. Later on though it becomes nothing when her brother goes rogue and she has no idea of his whereabouts or well-being at all. OTHERS:  + rebel leader / Naveen Manai / rebel / when they first meet, Sujira is hesitant with how all of this works and how someone so young could be the leader of her own rebel group when they're like the same age and what not. later on Sujira is gonna admire Naveen and her strength with how things are going to be now for her. Sujira is gonna try her best to learn from Naveen and hope that she would be able to help her in finding her brother who told her to go to Naveen for answers and shelter. + fellow rebel / Harper Lee / rebel when they first meet, Harper is going to see a bit of herself in Sujira of not being totally aware of how the whole corruption thing worked and what not. Harper is going to be like a friend towards her, but to also know that she can't go back to the life she once knew.

QUESTIONING BIT

GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM! WE'VE GOT A NEW ONE. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF : Um, hello. I'm Sujira Wattana. OKAY, GOOD TO KNOW! NOW, WHAT KIND OF WEAPONS DO YOU WORK BEST WITH? : I'm, well, honestly, I'm not good with any weapons, but my brother told me that I have a pretty good arm and aim when I throw things. He taught me how to throw because he was really good with sports and such when we were younger. CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU SUMMONED YOUR SPIRIT? : Um, I just take a hold of my necklace in a firm grasp while calling for it to show it's true form in my head and then this weird looking long staff appears before me. I take a hold of it and swing it around to which I'm not sure how I'm able to do it and then this symbol that resembles my necklace appears on the ground but in a larger form. Then I automatically strike the staff towards the ground and this blinding light erupts and the ground before me forms this strong breeze that flies towards the sky and yeah that's it. HOW WOULD YOU REACT IN A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE, AND WHAT WOULD YOUR SPIRIT DO TO AID YOU? : I don't know how I would react, but my spirit would probably conjure a big whirlwind to help out. He's pretty cool when he manipulates the air. IF YOU DIED, HOW WOULD YOU WANT TO DIE? WHAT WOULD YOUR SPIRIT'S LAST ACT BE FOR/TOWARD YOU?  : Dying? I never thought that far, but my spirit's last act would probably send a gentle breeze or something related to anything with the air. He does that. Move air here and there to his own liking. From a little gust of wind to a large tornado. WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST THE GROUP DOES ON THEIR DOWN TIME? (for example, if they have to travel, they have x days to get to their destination; they'd have time to do...) : Make memories. Whether we're in a bad situation of sorts, but memories last a long time. Even if the memory itself may be hazy, the feelings is what remains of that memory you would want to hold on to. IF YOUR SPIRIT OFFERED YOU THE CHANCE TO LEAVE WITH THEM TO PLANET EXO, WOULD YOU? WHY? : I can't say for sure, but I would rather stay until I know for sure how my mother and brother are doing. I would regret not knowing what would happen to them. Besides, why would Sehun offer that to me in the first place? I'm sure there's someone else he can ask. PLEASE PICK A NUMBER FROM ONE TO EIGHT : 3 ANY LAST WORDS? : Um, I do, but I don't think it matters so no.

LOVE INTEREST : Wind, Oh Sehun IT WAS I WHO SUMMONED YOU: Sehun gave her a once over and scoffed upon seeing the (only and damn) necklace (after returning back to it's original form and around Sujira's neck) she was wearing that allowed her to summon him. He was annoyed at the fact that Sujira was in charge of him because she looked just like the last woman who had last summoned him and who he kind of maybe had some sort of feelings for until she died an untimely death and he never saw her reincarnated since until now. Anyways, as for Sujira she couldn't believe that the Wind God was before her as she really thought they were just stories to help the young ones to sleep and what not. Also she was assuming Sehun to be some sort of old man with the whole beard and hunched back and everything of how many versions she has heard of the god stories. Not some good-looking guy with a scowling attitude. Sehun does however question her when she circles him and wonders if this is the same Wind God from the stories she heard and he asks her about it and yeah he isn't amused with how he's been talked about. A few seconds later Sehun noticed her disheveled figure and see that she's bleeding and injured. He mentions it and that props Sujira back to reality and the situation at hand. Sujira began walking off until she feels like a slight, but urgent push from behind her and turns to see Sehun now several feet away from her and he asks her why she summoned him and she simply just told him to try it out. He was not happy or amused about that. INTERACTIONS : Sehun basically ignores and has distrusts in Sujira and only listens when Junmyeon tells him to or something like that. Of course this doesn't stop Sujira from making small talk with Sehun whenever she sees him and the likes although soon enough she'll soon get fed up with his attitude towards her and wonders what did she do wrong for him to treat her like so. So out of annoyance, Sujira will command him to do this and that for her even though it's just minuscule little things because she knows that Sehun cannot hurt her intentionally. Also, Sujira may be seeing Sehun as like some sort of a substitute brother since she really misses Jirayu and hope to see him soon. Other than that, Sujira scolds Sehun and back talks to him which is out of her character, but she rarely gets a reaction out of him and so for some reason this irks her to egg him on of sorts. They bicker on and off and others assume that they're just like cat and dog and won't ever get along, but that isn't true as they do, it's just misunderstandings at its finest or something like that. Anyways, over time though they grow closer once they actually talk and hang around one another. Sehun even comes to tease Sujira often and gets annoyed when others call her by the nickname "Seoklyu" besides him because his last reincarnated love had a fascination for the pomegranate fruit itself and it's weird how much it and Sujira has come back to him in this life time.

SUGGESTIONS:

Sujira reuniting with her brother and he learns that the god Sujira is in control of is one of the deadliest so warns Sehun to not do anything stupid that would hurt his sister. Sehun just scoffs and replies with that his sister should be the one that shouldn't do anything stupid that would end up hurting herself.

[classicfilmfreak]

New Post has been published on http://www.classicfilmfreak.com/2017/09/07/night-monster-1942-starring-bela-lugosi-lionel-atwill/

Night Monster (1942) starring Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill

When the frogs stop croaking . . . watch out!

The beginning of Night Monster is rather subdued but with enough hints of disquiet and mystery to stimulate the interest.  In keeping with the body-plentiful tradition of Universal horror films of the ’30s and ’40s, there will be eight deaths, including one which has occurred before the movie begins.  Distracting from this, however, is the talky script, which has a positive effect, extending the suspense between body-findings.

At the fog-enshrouded Ingston mansion, the gate keeper (Cyril Delevanti, Deborah Kerr’s grandfather in The Night of the Iguana, 1964) opens the gate for a man who apparently has walked down the dirt road from nowhere.  Inside the house, he sees the housekeeper, Sarah Judd (Doris Lloyd, the Baroness Ebberfeld in The Sound of Music, 1956), on her knees, scrubbing a spot on the carpeted steps of an elaborate staircase.

The man, who wears a turban, watches from behind a balustrade as Margaret Ingston (Fay Helm, Mrs. Fuddle in the Blondie series, 1938-50), daughter of the household head, approaches Judd and accuses her of cleaning blood from the carpet.  The two argue, Margaret insisting she isn’t insane and the housekeeper finally sending her to her room—a servant giving orders to her employer?

Later, the maid, Milly Carson (Janet Shaw, the waitress at the Till Two bar in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, 1943), descends the staircase and phones the local constable.  Her warnings about the strange goings-on in the Ingston household are cut short by the butler, Rolf (Bela Lugosi), who quietly emerges through the door behind her.  She gives her notice and prepares to leave.

With this atmosphere—the sense of unrest, the suspicious characters and the underlying creepy music—the mood is set. . . .

Despite the bodies that will accumulate, the two top-billed stars in Night Monster step outside their usual sinister roles, their names used here for their marquee value.  Lugosi, well into a physical and mental collapse, is relegated to the role of butler, either announcing dinner, summoning guests to the library or finding bodies.  The Human Monster, back in 1940, is the last film to qualify as a true Lugosi vehicle.

Lionel Atwill, though much more of a star than his two doctor companions, is the first of the three to be dispatched, after only a brief time on screen.  1942 was one of his busiest years, playing doctors in both The Mad Doctor of Market Street and The Ghost of Frankenstein, and important roles in To Be or Not to Be and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon as Moriarity opposite Basil Rathbone’s Holmes.  He appeared in nine films that year.

Directed by Ford Beebe, Night Monster comes at a time when the luster of Universal as the master of horror is clearly in decline.  The abundant fog around the Ingston mansion, and on the much-traveled road leading to it, is essential to hide a barren set.  The elaborate two-level staircase appears in many of the studio’s films.

Much of the spirit and many of the trademarks of Universal, however, still shine through.  Hans J. Salter’s music, one of the strongest ingredients in the film, provides an eerie atmosphere, starting with the main title, which would be reused in The Ghost of Frankenstein.  Behind the opening credits, as so often in the studio’s horror movies, the camera traverses those familiar, desolate, foggy woods, as in The Wolf Man (1941).

Charles Van Enger, rather undistinguished as cinematographers go, was nonetheless a stalwart of Universal and Warner Bros.  His greatest claim to fame is his uncredited work on the 1925 Lon Chaney, Sr. Phantom of the Opera.  He spent the last years of his career in television—Lassie, The Betty Hutton Show, Gilligan’s Island and many others.

Returning to the doings at the mansion, Laurie, the lecherous chauffeur (Leif Erickson, best known for TV’s The High Chaparral, 1967-71), has been sent by the head of the household, Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan, brother of Frank, Professor Marvel in The Wizard of Oz, 1939), to the train station to pick up three doctors.

Doctors King (Atwill), Timmons (Frank Reicher, the ship captain in King Kong, 1933) and Phipps (Francis Pierlot, player of small roles, such as Herkimer in Anne of the Indies, 1951) had earlier attended the wheelchair-bound Ingston, who, after his “major illness,” as King describes it, is now without arms and legs.

Ingston seems free of grudges, saying the doctors did all that medical science allowed.  “I don’t think you’ve ever been properly rewarded,” he tells them at dinner.  “But you will be.  You will be.”

Summoned by Margaret Ingston, a fourth doctor, psychiatrist Lynn Harper (Irene Hervey, her last movie role was in Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me, 1971), is en route when her car breaks down.  Walking down the road toward the mansion, she hears a scream, just after the frogs had stopped croaking, but fortunately meets a car driven by a frequent visitor to the Ingstons, Dick Baldwin (Don Porter, most adept in comic roles in both movies and TV).

With patches of blood near the body, a strangled Milly—the source of the scream—is found by Constable Cap Beggs (Robert Homans, grim-faced actor of countless judges and law officers).  Beggs was alerted by the buggy-driving Jed Harmon (Eddy Waller, character actor in many a Western) of the suspicious whereabouts of the maid.

The eavesdropping man with the turban turns out to be a live-in guest, an Eastern mystic, Agor Singh (Niles Asther, a Danish actor who once proposed, unsuccessfully, to Greta Garbo).  In an incomprehensible discourse to guests in the library, Singh explains how rearranging “cosmic substances” can materialize objects through deep concentration.

He demonstrates by evoking a kneeling skeleton—the undoubted work of Universal’s special effects master John P. Fulton, though no screen credit is given.  Singh says certain details in the process, such as the residual blood, even after the skeleton itself has disappeared, cannot be explained to the “uninitiated.”

During a later scene in the library, Rolf enters to summon everyone to the room of Dr. King—strangled by his bed, only a claw-like hand visible and blood blotches on the floor.  Then, between various stretches of dialogue, follows the similar death of Dr. Timmons, a hand clutching the bedspread.  After Dr. Phipps has also been strangled, Baldwin and Beggs follow the blood to a secret passage (a set from The Cat and the Canary, 1939).

Margaret argues with housekeeper Judd and sets fire to the house in a fit of insanity while, outside in the woods, Baldwin and Harper are being stalked by a shadowy, stiff-walking man.  It’s Kurt Ingston!  But he’s . . . walking!  (Was there ever any doubt that he was the murderer?  A man in a wheelchair should always be the first suspected—and, quite often, he’ll be the killer.)

Failing to kill Baldwin, Ingston tries to strangle Harper, but Singh appears and shoots him, his legs gradually dematerializing as he dies.  In the background, flames consume the Ingston mansion—the same model used in The Ghost of Frankenstein.

For what it is, Night Monster isn’t all that bad.  Of course it never escapes its class “B” horror status, not that it tries or wants to, but it has a certain measured, suspenseful pace.  The key murders, Milly’s aside, are sensitively spaced, beginning later in the plot than perhaps expected.  While Calvin Thomas Beck, for example, accords the movie only one line in passing, justified in the context of his Heroes of the Horrors, as it’s not a Lugosi vehicle, a number of other critics give Night Monster surprisingly high marks.  A competent cast moves about in sharp black-and-white photography, and the premise of materializing legs to commit murder is a little different.

And what better way to end a horror movie about a ridiculous, untenable premise than with an appropriately empty warning, presumably to those who might try rearranging those cosmic substances: “A little knowledge of the occult is dangerous,” Singh ruminates in the film’s last lines.  “Unless it’s used for good, disaster will follow its wake.  That is Cosmic Law.”

Let that be a lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoaL3ClDuX4

[staytheb]

warzone [harper lee]

Word Count: 1,938 Summary: the first applicant i applied with for the original story

warzone masterlist

um, I based Harper and Junmyeon's relationship in a way like with Tomoe and Nanami of Kamisama Hajimemashita [x] as well as with Hiyori and Yato of Noragami [x]. also here about the mark thing and Harper isn't targeted or anything because of it though when i initially wrote this in the first place. happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

BACKGROUND: Harper and her sister, Gemma, are of Chinese-Korean descent. Harper's father is from Mainland China of the Jilin province and is mainly Chinese with a quarter of Korean in him whereas her mother is of both Chinese and Korean blood, but has lived in Seoul all of her life in the large Chinese community in Seoul, South Korea. Her father came to South Korea due to business reasoning and met her mother while living in Seoul. Over time they got married and had their two daughters who are four years apart from one another. Anyways, Harper's family is well off and at first Harper just thought it was because of her parents' job, but soon learned through Gemma was that their parents were part of the corruption although not as big, but they were still somehow associated with it. At the time, Harper was thirteen and Gemma was seventeen as Harper tried to live her life as normal as possible without thinking too much about her parents being a part of the corruption. Unfortunately for her sister, Gemma just couldn't sit still about it and went to do some more digging and other things that she didn't want Harper becoming involve with since she was still young. It also didn't help that their parents didn't approve of Gemma's sexual orientation in the same-sex and deemed it as something that wasn't just right. Plus they assumed their oldest daughter was just going through a phase and tried introducing her to some of their males associates. It wasn't until two years later when an incident happened between Gemma and one of their parents' male friend where Gemma had seriously injured the guy for almost sexually assaulting her. This wasn't the first time, but it was surely going to be the last time as Gemma wanted nothing to do with the corruption. With Harper witnessing the scene when she came to check up on her sister when she heard weird sounds coming from Gemma's room and became worried about her. Anyways, Gemma took a hold of her sister's hand and they ran out of there as fast as possible when the older male was yelling out things and their parents came to check up on them. The parents have discovered that Gemma had been snooping around when they searched her room and learned that their daughter learned that they were a part of the corruption and could have possibly ran off with something that could affect the corruption in the future, but didn't want to be blame for it. So their parents killed the guy to leave no witness and have been searching for their daughters because of it. When they ran away from home, Gemma had led Harper to Kimmy before going off to a safe house and away from the city as possible. Gemma later explained as much as she could for Harper's understanding of the world and the corruption. Now they were on their own and going to fight a battle that won't be easy and their lives were never going to be the same that day.

FAMILY: + sister / Gemma Lee / rebel Gemma has a small (okay, maybe it's a big and obvious) sister complex when it comes to Harper like she teases her a lot, but is also very protective of her. They talk about anything and everything and really rely on one another. Some times though, Gemma doesn't want Harper to worry too much, but knows that it's bound to happen since Harper looks up to her and Gemma wants to do right and to not disappoint her little sister. Gemma met Kimmy while at school during her first year of high school and they hit it off and knew that she was more attracted to girls than boys. Also, she felt like it was fate that brought them together and that it will be their destiny to change their destination from what the world has become now. FRIENDS: + sister's girlfriend, good friend / Kimmy Nam / rebel Kimmy and Harper treat each other like actual sisters as well as like friends. Kimmy just has a little too much positivity in her which slightly annoys Harper at times, but she doesn't do anything because that's just how Kimmy is. Anyways, when Harper can't talk with Gemma she would usually go to Kimmy and talk things out and ask for another opinion. Still though Kimmy acts as the peace-maker between the two and the one that keeps them all in check when she needs to. Kimmy was the one that informed Gemma about her parents because her own parents were a part of the corruption when she chanced upon a list. Unfortunately she didn't think too much of it at the time until there was like a dinner meeting and she saw some of the people on the list appear at her home although Gemma's parents didn't recognize her at all. OTHERS: + familiar stranger/fellow rebel / Naveen Manai / rebel / they're not close, but have seen one another on several occasions through the different sections of rebels in the area. they respect one another as they are fighting for the same thing and tolerate one another out of mutual respect because of their cause against the corruption.

+ fellow rebel / Sujira Wattana / rebel not close, but becomes something like a sister to her as she learns that Sujira escaped without a family and learning that her brother had forewarned her about such things. also the one to remind Sujira that she can't go back to the life she once knew or to the people she hold dear easily as well.

QUESTIONING BIT

GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM! WE'VE GOT A NEW ONE. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF : Hello, I'm Harper Lee. OKAY, GOOD TO KNOW! NOW, WHAT KIND OF WEAPONS DO YOU WORK BEST WITH? : I actually work best with my hands and feet. The only time I need to use an actual weapon is when I find something on the floor or nearby and use it. CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU SUMMONED YOUR SPIRIT? : I draw or make a circle around me, then draw blood from my left palm, and lift it towards the sky before whispering his name to come to me. HOW WOULD YOU REACT IN A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE, AND WHAT WOULD YOUR SPIRIT DO TO AID YOU? : I'll probably panic or freeze up. Not sure. He'll aid me by getting me out of that damn situation. IF YOU DIED, HOW WOULD YOU WANT TO DIE? WHAT WOULD YOUR SPIRIT'S LAST ACT BE FOR/TOWARD YOU?  : If I die, I wanna be facing my enemy before my last breath leaves my body. As for my spirit, I want him to make sure Gemma and Kimmy are safe. WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST THE GROUP DOES ON THEIR DOWN TIME? (for example, if they have to travel, they have x days to get to their destination; they'd have time to do...) : Talk. Play games. Distract ourselves for a little bit and that nothing else exist in the world, but our moment. IF YOUR SPIRIT OFFERED YOU THE CHANCE TO LEAVE WITH THEM TO PLANET EXO, WOULD YOU? WHY? : I'm not sure. It really depends because I wouldn't want to leave my loved ones behind not knowing what would happen to them if I suddenly up and leave. PLEASE PICK A NUMBER FROM ONE TO EIGHT : 7 ANY LAST WORDS? : No.

LOVE INTEREST : Water, Kim Junmyeon IT WAS I WHO SUMMONED YOU: Junmyeon was not please to see Harper as she wasn't of any relation to the man he had bestowed the privileged to summon him long ago. Junmyeon preferred to have been summoned by the relative of Danse Moon since they at least would have known the history about him unlike Harper who just did it without thinking. He can't do anything about it as Harper has his water mark upon her and that she is in control of him to summon the god whenever she likes. Harper was actually surprised that the summoning of the water god worked. She thought the old man was joking before he passed and told her about how to summon the water god after he kissed the back of her hand for some odd reason. Other than that it didn't hurt to try and see how it would go since anything helpful to beat the corruption was worth a try. Once done, Harper pokes Junmyeon to see if he's actually real and standing before her while just giving him a once over several times. Junmyeon finds it annoying that she keeps poking him when he is there standing before her. INTERACTIONS :  Although Junmyeon has a calm nature and is caring towards the human race there is something about Harper that irks him just a tiny bit and he doesn't really know why. He does however have a high tolerance and self-controlled when Harper discovers that she can command him to not do or do things and he has to obey her despite some opposition on his part. Harper doesn't do this often and doesn't abuse this power that she has upon Junmyeon either although she knows how strong and powerful he can be seeing him demonstrate his godly abilities when she asked for a sneak peek of it so she can believe it as well since it's still surreal to her. Over time though the two have learned to tolerate one another to where they don't have to talk and know what the other is thinking or is about to do. They have silently come to become in sync of the other without their knowledge of doing so. Harper has also come to recognize Junmyeon's scent although she doesn't know why and hasn't told anyone about it. Of course Harper realized that she has grown some sort of romantic feelings for the god since spending more time with him and knows that it isn't possible for the two of them to be together. So Harper tries to keep it to herself and go about her life as normally as possible. Junmyeon has a feeling that she may like him, but doesn't say or do anything about it because he, too, has come to cherish her in his own way and knows that their love isn't possible. Although he is a little concern about Harper's soul wandering around a little more often than before when she was asleep. Now Harper involuntarily will fall asleep at random times throughout the day as her soul slips out of her from time to time. She has no awareness of this and just thinks that she's tired from everything that's been going on. Junmyeon does not have the heart to actually tell her what's going on and hopes that he doesn't have to though.

SUGGESTIONS: Harper suddenly falling asleep and Junmyeon has to watch over or carry her back to the safe house. The girls all summoning their gods at once for the fun of it and to see which one will respond first. Junmyeon being consumed by sudden rage to attack the ones that hurt Harper, but she commands him to calm down and that she's fine and it works and all the gods are surprised by this. Some of the girls arguing over something when they first meet or something like that and after talking they forget why they were arguing in the first place while the gods watched the whole thing in total confusion.