At An Old Oak Tree...

[Birdy]

You are walking along, minding your own business, poking though your bag of swag, when you hear it.

A blood-curdling, ear-piercing, makes-your-hair-stand-on-end scream.

You freeze. Was someone playing a prank? Trying to scare you? Or was someone really in trouble? The scream had kinda sounded like--

It comes again. Less piercing this time, perhaps, but still loud.


...You think you know the direction it came from. Turning, you hurry that way, and eventually find yourself at the roots of an old oak tree.

Birdy's home.

The dumbwaiter-like contraption that dangles from the treehouse's deck is before you - apparently Birdy is either expecting trick-or-treaters, or someone used it recently. (Not Birdy, likely - you hear more loud shouting from above, though you can't quite make out the words, if there even are any to make out that is.)

Climbing onto the platform, you grab the rope in your hands and being the ascent to the deck above. Upon reaching the top, you step onto the deck and over to the door. You knock, but no one answers. Remembering the sounds from before, you worry that maybe something happened, and Birdy can't come to the door for some reason. Steeling yourself, you grasp the doorknob, and - after taking a quick breath - open it and hurry inside.


You see nothing at first, but then a rather harried-looking young woman rushes past. You watch as she paces the floor, having not noticed you yet, muttering to herself.

"Gyaaaah, I need more time," she growls. "I still have Hero City posts to write, not to mention the fics that keep invading my brain, not to mention it's practically NaNo time and I still don't have that outline written, and furthermore--"

She turns and looks right at you - whoops, guess she did know you were there after all?

"I have nothing planned for trick-or-treating!"

She sighs, and runs a hand though her (rather disheveled) hair.

"Right. Sorry. Been busy. But I... did sort of manage to cobble something together."

She gestures towards an odd, somewhat tall box-looking thing, with two levers sticking out of it on the front, and a small shelf nestled between the levers, which appears to hold a small cube.

"All you do is roll the die and pull a lever," she explains. "That's it. The rest, well... you'll see. Assuming it even works." She shrugs.

"In the meantime, I need candy. Chocolate. ...Something. So I'm gonna go raid other houses. In the meantime, have fun with the box that may or may not even work."

And with that, she grabs a bag and hoodie sitting by the door, exits, and leaves you alone.

Walking over to the box, you examine it closer. It doesn't look too remarkable, and you see now the cube is indeed a die.

So, will you roll the die and pull a lever? Or will you take the opportunity to... try something else?

Make your choice now, brave one...

[Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff)]

Queen!Cassie is extremely grateful for the character design of the Queen as she didn't want to climb a tree in a skirt. She waves to Birdy who leaves before she can get a word of encouragement in edgewise.

Cassie tries to roll the die but a sharp pain from a bracelet around her wrist prevents her. And then she realizes--meta-Cassie is on her phone.

So she settles for just pulling the lever to see what happens...

[Shinko]

Shinko rolls the die around in her hand curiously as she watches Birdy flee. She isn't sure how many sides it has since this wasn't specified, lol, but she figures it is perhaps a standard six-sided die. With a cry of "yolo!" she drops the die to rattle on the floor.

1-6

That done, she reaches up to give one of the levers a yank.

[Fraze]

Kid!Fraze, having turned sideways to get his posterboard costume into the treehouse, inspects the machine. He tries to find a crack or gap to peer into to see what's inside, but doesn't have much success. Of course, that scream didn't sound too reassuring, so the smartest thing would really be to just turn around and leave.

And yet...the curiosity is overwhelming.

After a bit of thought, he decides to pull a lever first, then roll the die from a distance. That way, he'd be clear of the machine in case it shoots lightning at him or something.

He tentatively reaches for the right lever, and when nothing happens when he touches it, gives it a pull. Then he rolls the dice.
1-6

[Coaster]

"Wait, you're the one that wrote Chlorolad?! I'm a huge fan--"

Vampire-Wizardess!Coaster's words apparently fall on deaf ears as Birdy leaves to get some candy.

"Well, I hope NaNo goes well for you, at least..."

Once it's her turn, she rolls the die:

1-6

and pulls the lever on the left. She would have considered pulling both at once, but it simply wouldn't do to have a "wrong lever" situation happen, now would it?

[Gelquie]

The sheet ghost clad in pink fuzzy chains waves at Birdy as she goes, handing her something that might or might not be a taser, whispering: "I borrowed it; use it on your characters if you need to. Just bring it back when you're done, or my character will get upset at me again."

She takes her time to look at the contraption, wondering what it even does. But well, as always, the only way to go is forward. Although, what if... She takes a moment to roll the dice:

1-6

And decides to pull both levers. Because why not?

[Twillie]

Curious of what is to come, Twillie!Twillie grabs the die and rolls it...

1-6

Then, facing the levers, she thinks for minute? Which one to choose? Not wanting to be indecisive, she quickly pulls down the lever on the right. ...then starts to think again. Did the levers give different results? What if she chose the mediocre option? Without thinking, she pulls down the lever on the left. But wait, what if she just messed everything up now? Feeling guilty, she pulls down the right lever again, just on the off chance that that would cancel out her previous pull. 

Twillie!Twillie then backs away from the machine and just lets it do its thing, embarrassed. 

[Celestial]

Celestial blinks at Birdy running around before shaking her head. "I know. I did not have a time to do any kind of Trick or Treat house, even if I had the ideas. With work, I did not even think about coming out but I decided to, even if..." she gestures at the black faux-velvet dress she was wearing. "I kind of had to grab one of our displays in order to find an appropriate costume."

She reaches out and pats Birdy on the shoulder before she runs away. "You did a fine job, I think. A box is definitely better than nothing," she says and takes a dice. "Come on, Ranumgen, be good."

1-6

Celestial looks at the dice, then back to the lever then back to the dice before folding her arms, not touching the levers at all. "Let's see what happens."

[♥ Azzie]

"Ben, get back here!"

The distant yell was to no avail, however, and momentarily a cheerful little boy in a frog costume scampers into Birdy's house. Excited, he grabs the die and tosses it, yanking on a lever while waiting for it to finish rolling.

1-6

[Liou]

As soon as Birdy's scream echoes across the neighbourhood, a toad-like woman whips out her clipboard and begins to scribble. "Noise... disturbance," a girlish voice mutters.

A sharp rapping sound is heard on the dumb waiter-like contraption, and it begins to move by itself. Slowly, the pink-clad woman ascends, her look of utter disapproval coming into view.

Her short, stubby wand raps sharply against the wall. "Hello?" she asks coldly. "As High Inquisitor, it is my duty to inspect organisers of Halloween activities."

After another moment, she scribbles in her clipboard again. "Terrible... service..."

She then gives a disdainful little sigh, tosses the die, pulls on the right-hand lever, and promptly wipes her hand on a pink handkerchief decorated with gambolling kittens. She watches the contraption, preparing to be thoroughly disappointed by its performance.

1-6

[Birdy]

(Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) )


You pull the lever, but nothing seems to happen. Until the die seems to roll on its own...

First a five is rolled. The die seems to pause, waiting, and then rolls again, resulting in a single black dot appearing on the upwards-facing surface.

Then, the trapdoor under your feet opens, sending you plummeting downwards.

But not for long - you find yourself on a slide that seems to be wrapped around the tree (wait, was that even there before?), and soon find yourself at the roots of the old oak tree.

You instinctively brush yourself off, and glance around nervously. It seems awfully dark, but before you can reach for your flashlight, a voice cuts through the darkness.

"I was wondering if anyone would roll a one."

You turn, and as you face what you think is the direction of the voice, a lantern - one of those battery-operated kinds - flickers on, and you can see the speaker.

A woman, aged about thirty, with her black hair pulled back in a messy-looking bun. (And, you note, no costume - just regular boring ol' everyday clothes. Black jeans, grey t-shirt and tennis shoes, blue denim jacket.)

You get the idea you've seen her somewhere before - a beach, perhaps? Some little seaside cove, in a place locked in the eternal grasp of the wrath of winter? - but before you can place her for certain, she reaches for the messenger-style bag she has thrown over her head and shoulders.

"I suppose you'll be wanting a treat," she says, rummaging through the contents of the bag, before pausing, smiling, and pulling out what looks like something made out of leather. "Well, can't say this is the most... traditional of treats, but..." she shrugs, and tosses the leather to you.

You examine it, and it appears to be a... wallet? You look up and see the woman is... well, it's not a smile exactly, but not exactly a smirk either.

"Found that the other day," she explains, casually leaning against the trunk of the tree, hands in the pockets of her jeans. "I asked around, but it was so strange... no one seemed to know who it belonged to. Not one person claimed the wallet. After a while, people told me I should just keep it, since no one was claiming it." She shrugged. "I have no use for such a wallet, so... enjoy. And who knows? You may find something... fascinating inside."

...You get the idea there may be something she's not telling you, but perhaps it's best not to question it.

---

(Shinko , Fraze , Coaster )


You find yourself in what appears to be a small, personal library with two other people. ...What? How... how did you even get here? Some sort of spontaneous teleportation?

Upon looking around, you finally notice the bearded, glasses-wearing pirate (who you note seems to be missing his left leg from the knee down) sitting on what looks like a giant treasure chest.

"You all must have rolled a three," he said. "Lucky me."

"I suppose you'll be wanting some swag, then," he says, pushing himself to his feet--err, foot, and maneuvering around to the side of the chest. (As he does, you think you can hear him mutter "She'll use her writing powers to make me a pirate and give me a beard, but will she use them to give me even a peg leg? Oh noooo...")

The chest is opened, and you find yourself staring at a trove of treasure. Jewels, gems, coins, and all sorts of other assorted shiny things glimmer back at you.

"It's fake," the pirate tells you, noticing how you're staring at the shinys. "Nothing but smoothed glass, plastic gems, rounded bits of metal, and whatever other shiny things she could find."

"However," he adds, shoving aside some of the "treasure" inside the chest, and pulling out a small box, "there is something to be given out."

He opens the smaller box, and inside, you find bags of chocolate coins. You take one of them, as do your companions.

"Enjoy," he says. Then after a pause, adds, "And... stay safe out there, going to the other houses."

---

(Gelquie , Twillie , Liou )


You find yourself with two other people suddenly... on the roof? Or, well, a deck, anyway. That happens to be at the very top of the tree, in the branches. You realize you can see all over the place, a 360-degree panoramic view.

Shaking your head, you try to return your thoughts to the fact you seemed to spontaneously teleport up here, but before you can chase that train too far, the branches nearby seem to rustle in the breeze.

...Except there is no breeze. So... how are they moving?

Whirling, you face the source - or what you think is the direction of the source - of the disturbance.

It takes a moment, but then you catch sight of movement - and then in the dim light from the nearby lanterns you see the costumed teenager.

He is wearing, you note, what appears to be the garb of a... superhero, complete with a mask tied around his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm cheating," he says with what looks like a small grin. "Why make an elaborate costume when you already have one?"

He nimbly jumps from the branches above, landing in a crouch before standing and walking over to a small table.

"I suppose you're here for a treat," he says.

He picks up something from the table and hands it to you. You examine it, and see it is a small rose plant, no more than a few inches tall, in a little pot of similar height.

"I made it myself," the teenager says proudly. "...Well, sort of," he amends. "I mostly helped it along, really. I can't grow something from nothing, there has to be something there to work with."

"Anyway," he says, "I'm afraid that's all I've got for you. You're welcome to stay and enjoy the view, if you like, or if you'd rather go back inside, the trapdoor to the stairs is that-a-way," he motions to the side, where you can see the trapdoor illuminated by the lanterns. "Just be careful out there whenever you get back to your trick-or-treating," he says.

---

(Celestial )


You find yourself suddenly... in the kitchen? Looking around, you soon notice the blond-haired knight standing there. He's wearing a full set of armour, with a sword at his right hip, arms crossed over his chest.

...You begin to question Ranumgen's judgement. But then again, it's Ranumgen.

And then again, this knight is on the short side - barely over five feet tall. But then again... he does have a sword.

You shake yourself our of the tangent of thoughts and face the knight, waiting for him to speak first.

Finally, he does.

"I suppose you're here for a treat," he says. "Well... I guess I do have something..."

He reaches over onto the counter and picks up a small bag of candy.

"Here," he says, tossing you the bag. "Ginger candy. I made it myself," he adds.

(He doesn't seem interested in moving from his spot, but then again, he is right next to the rest of the bags of ginger candy, so maybe he's guarding them?)

---

(♥ Azzie )


You find yourself suddenly teleported to what looks like a bedroom - it's hard to tell from the mess, but you think that's a bed under all the pokemon. ...Actually, the entire room is filled with pokemon. More pokemon than you can count, all sitting or flying or bouncing or... well, there's a lot of movement. And chasing them all around is a brightly-clad white-haired elven-looking creature, who is muttering something you can't quite make out, but it doesn't sound very polite, if the tone is any indication.

Then he seems to notice you, and makes a sound like a stifled growl.

"Seriously?" he growls. "She told me I would have this year off!"

"And you believed her," comes another voice. You turn, and see a pirate Grundo with an x-shaped scar across his face. "Really, it's been how many years? You should know by now she can be just as tricky as you are, if not more so at times."

The elf's eyes seem to glow around the edges, and a similar glow starts at his hands. But before you or the Grundo can react, a cry of "PI-KAAAA" cuts through the air, as a rather enthusiastic pikachu leaps from above into the elf's chest, knocking him backwards to the floor in a shower of sparks where he is promptly dogpiled (pokepiled?) by multiple pokemon.

"Don't mind him," the Grundo says, turning back to you, "he's a grouch. It's nothing personal," he ends with a smile. "As for treats, uh... hmm. I'm really not sure Birdy planned this far ahead, ah... just a sec."

He moves over to a bookshelf, where an owl-shaped cookie jar sits. Opening it, he empties some candy into a bag and replaces the lid of the jar, then ties the bag closed as he walks over to you.

"Here we go," he says, handing you the bag. "Fresh from her personal stash. And don't worry," he hastily adds. "She won't mind - really."

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Whadayamean ToT houses don't need summaries? >.> Maybe I wanna add one, or have some author's comments, or something. D:

...Anywho. *coughs*

I'm so sorry to everyone for getting this up late. ;-; Really meant to sooner but brain decided things like "work" and "sleep" and "being mush" were more fun, ew. D:

Anywho, hope you may have gotten at least some enjoyment out of Birdy being self-indulgent in flinging her characters from various RPs at people. >.>

...also the levers were supposed to do different things (as Coaster noted, one option was gonna be a "wrong lever" thing), but that was quickly discarded in favour of spontaneous teleportation for the most part. Because um... Writer Powers. \ o /

...Also I find it amusing that my most anti-social character (#3) got the most rolls, ha. Ranumgen's a troll, for sure. =P (Also why he seems kinda grumpy - he's not the best at peopleing.)

Also for Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) 's "roll", I Ranumgen'd it. I got a 5, which was meant to do nothing. But that's boring so I rerolled and got a 1 and was happy. \ o / (Enjoy your most-certainly-not-illegally-obtained-from-another-mafioso wallet!)

(And for #2... he likes his ginger candy. Thus, he guards it. x3; )


...Aaand I think that's it.

Apologies again for such a late set of replies. </3