SO YOU WANT TO STEAL SOME CHILDREN (Endgame Catchall)

[facultwist]

Welcome to the container for your endgame! This will be the place where you can perform your polterheist (we really love that portmanteau), and where you'll be able to commentate on the final trial!

ICly, the whole heist will take place Monday, while the final trial watch will take place Thursday. For anything not related to endgame, please continue to use the main deadland post!

Comments

PLANNING

[facultwist]

[ OOCly, this will take place Tuesday ]

[emptynester]

[ In the morning on Monday, you have a visitor to the pool! Isabella enters through the passageway, all calm and official in her posture and gait, then climbs down to the middle of the pool and places an Ouija board on the ground. ]

I imagine you have questions. I'm here to help.

[ ooc: before you start planning things amongst yourselves, here's a chance to talk to isabella herself! feel free to ask what you like, and you're allowed to control the planchette without expending ghost energy! please keep in mind, though, that she can only see or hear what you put through on the ouija board! ]

[thatsplato]

[Misty's here, with a smile, the ever-eager girl scout, ready to show herself as reliable as ever. There's a weird tension that hangs off of her, even more striking with the fact that she doesn't seem tense or angry, no matter how much she should be. It's just... regular Misty vibes. Rancid. Her words, however, match the vibes a little better-- even if the tone or expression doesn't.]

How many times has this happened?

[sweetsynergy]

[Yeah this might as well be a thing.]

B-S-M-T L-A-Y-O-U-T D-E-E-T-S-?

An actual schematic is probably too much to hope for, I suppose.

[trustheart]

[ Chris narrows her eyes, and frowns. ]

H-O-W-C-O-M-E-U-N-E-V-E-R-R-E-A-C-H-E-D-O-U-T-B-4?

U-O-N-L-Y-N-E-E-D-U-S-N-O-W-?

[bellpepperexercise]

[Well, Isabella is their best shot right now. Even if Kana is hesitant about her, there’s no reason not to try.

H-O-W-M-A-N-Y-K-I-D-S

[goldendoll]

Y D-O-N-T W-E R-M-B-R H-E-R

HEISTING

[facultwist]

[ OOCly, this will take place Wednesday ]

[facultwist]

[ After the seance session with Isabella concludes, she walks to the administration center. She has no way of telling if you follow her or not, but she's said her piece and continues undaunted.

Without another word to you, she unlocks the administration center and strolls on in. Whether the door is open or not, you'll find you can walk right through it. She glances back to where she thinks you may be, and then her eyes flick towards a door on the far side of the room. With a small, almost imperceptible nod, she continues on, away from that door and further into the administration center itself.

The message should be clear: She's going to distract the Interim Headmistress and the Witch, while you get through that basement door.

It's locked, but that isn't really a problem for you, is it?

Here you'll find yourselves in the basement. You know your task. Now you just have to explore and accomplish it. ]

[ ooc: Welcome to the heist portion! The key to the map is as follows:
- The southernmost part of the map is where you enter.
- Rooms with openings mean they are unlocked. Rooms without openings are locked.
- Green spaces are ghost detecting equipment. Rinne will be your guide to this. On the way over, she's explained about various things, but the ones that will come up are REM Pods which detect your movement if you get close and Boo Buddies, little teddy bears that periodically speak to you. We're going full Buzzfeed Unsolved/Ghost Files here You want to stay out of these areas, and if you hear a Boo Buddy speak, you want to not respond.
- Blue spaces are thermal cameras. You will also want to stay out of these areas or find some way to disable them. Please note, you will have to conserve your ghostly abilities, so choose wisely if you would like to go this route!

ESCAPE & AFTERMATH

[facultwist]

[ OOCly, this will take place Thursday ]

[facultwist]

[ You've explored the basement. You've found the kids. Some of you are more than a little tired from all the ghost-exertion.

But you aren't done yet.

You still need to get them out and figure out where they will go to be safe from the Witch.

The three are just about prepared, some things packed away in little backpacks. What do you do next, ghosts of Burnbriar? ]

The Results (cw drowning references)

[facultwist]

[ And so, everyone still energized enough sets out to the western most edge of the storm, just beyond the central quad. With the sparkler from the admin basement, they make a torch to lead Isabella's children, after giving her signal to them once again. You have to move fast, because the fire at the administration building can't keep the Interim Headmistress and the Witch busy forever.

Mari, as the most experienced of the ghosts, starts the process. At first, it looks like she's just standing there, staring out into the roaring blizzard. Then, it almost...ripples. You ghosts, you appear cold to the living world. But you could swear, for a moment, the air around Mari is warm as something that almost looks like sunlight shimmers in front of you. Most of you have seen her channel her energy before with the long séance. Some of you have been privy to her own somewhat unintentional hauntings. But you haven't felt the energy like this before.

She's reaching out to you. To those of you who have expressed interest in helping with the storm.

It's as simple as accepting that energy, just like taking her hand. And then the more you focus, the more you picture it, something cutting through the storm like a piping hot knife, the more that shimmer stretches. This isn't something any of you could do on your own. Maybe it's not even something that you new ghosts could accomplish at all. But with this conduit, with Mari channeling and focusing your strength, it feels like you could do anything. Her hair rises into the air, flowing and floating as if she were submerged in water, but this time, this time, she has control.

You can almost, for a moment, imagine what it might feel like to create this storm...or, a fraction of it, at least.

The snow clears. It looks like the barrier that Witch has created is just expanding into a small tunnel. On the other side, in the not-so-far distance, you can see the dorms you thought you'd be spending your winter vacation in. They almost beckon to you. The hole you cut into it is only five feet tall, barely enough for the children to even stand in—but barely is all you need.

They can't see you, and in the cold they can't really feel you. But their eyes flick to where the torch is, and Emma flashes a great, big smile. ]

Tell Mom we'll be okay. And tell her we'll be waiting!

[ Emma grabs her brothers' hands and they charge forward through the tunnel you've created. With a burst of childish speed, they're through both faster than you may expect and slower than you'd like.

The longer you work at this, the more you can feel yourself drained. It's worse than any haunting you may have done, even if you've pushed yourself to the brink of exhaustion, mostly because you feel the Witch's energy encroaching around you. It's not a conscious attack, it's just the ambient energy that you're shoving up against to make this break in the barrier. It wants to immobilize you—but with your numbers and your boost from Mari, it can't. So it just leaves you drained.

You see the children go inside just in time. Quite literally so, because once they do, Mari collapses. The connection cuts, and that oppressive force eases. You can, metaphorically, breathe again, though you may need to lean on each other to get back to the pool, and Mari will definitely need some people to carry her (thank you, Dorothy and Mafuyu).

But the Witch herself makes no appearance. You can return to your underground base, so to speak, and rest up. You'll need to rest up, for at least a full day. Come Tuesday evening, however, you can still reach out to your fellow classmates. The Interim Headmistress, the Witch, neither one will try and stop you.

This is hurtling towards its inevitable conclusion, after all.

And what is an ending if there's no one to witness it? ]

TRIAL WATCH

[facultwist]

[ Maybe you've been able to catch some of your living friends' investigation. Maybe not. Whatever the case, you know what comes next, don't you? You know where to go.

Your story is coming to a close. How will it end? ]

[eternalfuture]

I guess all we can really do now is trust them, huh...

[sweetsynergy]

Oh thank god.

[Vanity bee-lines for one of the desk and- brushes some nonexistent ghost-dust off the sport coat that got left here last week. She tugs it back on, adjusting it and visibly relaxing just a bit.]

You would not believe how naked I've felt without this.

[al_fresco]

[ Guess who's here for this one! Surely no one found any evidence that will possibly upset her specifically. ]

Wow... so this is really it, huh? You guys weren't kidding, this trial room is creepy.

cw: ableism, abuse, imprisonment

[protomartyr]

[ Lottie spends the bulk of the initial part of the trial listening quietly and attentively. At Thomasin's evidence, she frowns. When Thomasin explains that her family thought of Elsa's burns as deformities, that Elsa was locked away for it, Lottie's hands curl into fists.

There's a heavy presence in this room. Lottie doesn't believe in the wilderness anymore, but she does know that ghosts are very, very real. She turns her gaze towards where she thinks the presence is coming from and says, coldly: ]

I think Elsa deserves to burn this place to the ground.

[ Killing game aside, most of Lottie's friends are already dead. What happens to the school doesn't matter, she thinks. Lottie was locked away for a few months; she can't imagine what it must have been like to endure that for most of your life. ]

[bellpepperexercise]

[Kana’s eyebrows furrow in confusion at the mention of her name. Her expression falls when the letters are mentioned, particularly that the Interim Headmistress—-Olivia—-has kept and reread a certain letter over and over again. A letter from Kana herself.]

I…wrote to her? Is it like those dreams that I…

[She sees that Olivia wrote a reminder to herself too: ALL YOU CAN DO IS GET HER KILLED. As if Kana were somebody that she wanted to save. As if they were friends.

And yet, Kana has no memory of any of this.]

Olivia. [Kana says the name aloud as if it might ring a bell if she does. But nothing.]

cw: emeto mention, necromancy stuff

[sweetsynergy]

[And then, uh, the last part of all this drops. Vanity's stomach lurches a bit, seeing the footage.]

What the FUCK-

[Emotions flicker through her rapid-fire, before settling on squirming, twisting anger.]

Oh fuck no, that space-bitch doesn't get to run off in my fucking body like some kind of goddamn skinsuit!

i don't think this properly counts as investigation but

[goldendoll]

[ wait. gears are turning. if the witch's ghost is present enough to be audible to the living in the room, then surely...

well, it's not like she's been doing this as long as any of the others. she barely realizes she's had the thought out loud: ]

... Can Elsa hear us, or is she just ignoring us so far?

[trustheart]

[ Chris frowns when she hears this, once again squeezing Rinne’s hand. ]

Elsa was alone too. Left by the person that she loved the most.

…

This has to stop. This is all just a cycle of people hurting and leaving each other. We can’t keep letting this happen…

[facultwist]

[ As Elsa roars into view, you'll notice something. Her cloaked head turns to look at the survivors in turn...but it looks at you too.

You've got her attention. Make use of it how you will. ]

[trustheart]

[ At the resolution Elsa makes, Chris finally lunges forward…and grabs the so-called witch in a hug. ]

I told her you could do it!

[ She looks back at the other ghosts expectantly. Chris Yukine publicly showing and encouraging affection? What reality is this?! ]

What are you guys waiting for?! Get over here!

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ Olivia suggests something and Rinne can't help but let out a groan. ]

Oh no. Just like Vanity suggested?

[ THE WORST SACRIFICE: VANITY WAS RETROACTIVELY RIGHT, I SAID IT IN THE DISCORD AND IM PUTTING IT HERE TOO ]

mods?

[rosewitch]

[When this is suggested, Anthy — frowns for a second. Thinks. Turns to Elsa thoughtfully.]

That second possible truth, with the gas leak — it's very flexible, isn't it? More people can come out than went in. Can you ask them if it's possible that there might be a clerical error? That you and Mari — and Olivia, if she wants — were staying here for the break as well, and the records of it just got lost?