If You Don't

[animusmods]

Characters: All who are signed up for the If You Don't event!
Setting: Everywhere
Format: Anything
Summary: The shadow children come out to play, hungry for their candy...
Warnings: Psychological horror, possible character death.

As those who are participating in the event wake up on the morning of the 26th, they'll see clawing hands at the edges of their vision that dart away as soon as they're fully awake. Maybe it was just a lingering dream? But there's another note left for them to find:

trick or treat
smell my feet
give me something good to eat

i f y o u d o n ' t

There is a drawing of a heart at the bottom of the paper, as usual for notes received during Ruana's games, though it's wet and red and appears to be fresh blood.

Still nothing, will happen until the sun begins to set. Once it does, skittering, shifting shadow children will come out to play, tracking down one of the characters participating in the game. They will request a specific kind of candy--not with a normal voice, but with a penetrating, tearing sort of mental intrusion.

You will have until 11:59 PM to figure out what they want, and woe betide you if you get it wrong and give them something they don't like...

Reply to the subthread for each night to receive your character's riddle for that night. Note: While you can request riddles in advance, you will not receive the riddles for nights 2 and on until your character has solved or failed to solve the riddle preceding it and received their consequences, if applicable.

Riddle Subthreads:
October 26th
October 27th
October 28th
October 29th
October 30th
October 31st

Feel free to create your own top-levels for IC mingling during these days - to have your character trying to puzzle out their riddles, search for/negotiate with people who have the candies they need, make attempts to steal candies, and deal with any consequences they get later on for not giving their shadow children the correct candies - but be sure you indicate which night it is in the subject header.

Some other things to note:
- Now that all the remaining candy in the Tower has been put into bowls, it can be perceived and interacted with by everyone, even those who are not signed up for the event.
- Candy that is removed from a bowl will remain in existence so long as it is in a character's hand, but will vanish if set down, put into a bag, etc. If it is transferred from one bowl to another, that is okay. If it is taken from a bowl and handed to a shadow child, that is okay.
- Only the character being asked for candy will be able to hear the shadow child that is doing the asking, though others will be able to see it.
- The shadow child will follow your character until they fetch the candy from their room and will repeat the riddle at any time, when asked; this can be handwaved without a mod response.
- The shadow children will not take any notice of characters that are not the ones they are asking for candy from.

Mod replies will only occur in the riddle subthreads, to 1. give out the riddle and 2. respond with any consequences once a character has given (or not given) a shadow child their candy.

Comments

OCTOBER 26TH

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 26th.]

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji had only searched for a little while that morning before quickly realizing all the candy was gone now. He was going to have to make do with the small amount he does have in his bowl. Hopefully he wasn't asked for a specific type of candy. He wasn't about to steal from someone else to try to 'win' this latest game.

He's up in his room at sundown, lost in thought as he stares up at the ceiling.]

[heavenscorpse]

[V/V is as nervous as you'd expect someone given a note like that to be. She thinks she got a good haul of candy - but what if she didn't? Maybe she searched the wrong floors?

Well, it's too late now. She spends most of the 26th near her room, making sure nothing happens to her candy bowl, and at sundown she's sitting on her bed with the bowl in her lap.]

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch couldn't sleep the night before. There had been so little candy that time...was the worst of it going to start? At some point he had to have dozed off because Lucifel had apparently returned to his own room, and then there was something on his nightstand he was sure hadn't been there before he closed his eyes.

Either way, he slept through a good portion of the afternoon. He was sleeping as he had the past week: a pillow placed over his candy bowl and himself slumped over it, a rolled up blanket beside it to support his head. He flinched as his waking mind registered Eleven's screaming once more and groaned into the blanket under his head. But he'd have no choice but to stay awake, wouldn't he?*

[great_king_of_evil]

[ At sundown, Ganondorf is playing his very own music them on the pipe-organ in the music floor. Again you say? Well, at least music relaxes him and he's not plotting evil things while he's doing that.

Or maybe it actually helps him plotting thing. Either way, he doesn't look nervous or bothered in the slightest. ]

[midgarhorizon]

[Reno's sitting in an empty room on Dorm 5 come sundown, sitting on one of the beds and holding his head. That bowl on his table in his actual room haunts him every time he looks at it. It all would start again, making his palms sweaty and shake. It's all he can do not to run, hide, trying to fight the feeling back down, so he came here to wait for the consequences of Ruana's new game. Just any place that didn't have that damn bowl is better than there.]

[savedbyasong]

The candy elsewhere had disappeared, those in his trunk and sauna locker. Shion took note of that and was just sat on his bed writing up his notes of what he had observed whilst candy gathering over the last few days. It had been interesting, but now it had all gone, and he had this new note. Some kind of childish rhyme, and a threat...

[sicharia]

[Come sundown, Claudia is already inside her room, seated on her bed with a book open on her lap. She isn't doing a spectacular job of reading, though; she's on edge, which makes focusing on the pages in front of her difficult.]

[bydefacto]

[Sealand knows not to stay out his room after dark, so it's just before sundown that he heads back to his room, having spent most of the afternoon in the media room. He'd tried to look for candy that morning, but had soon given up when he found nothing.

When sundown arrives, he's lying on his bed, holding his stuffed seagull to his chest. He yawns and his eyes close, soon dozing off.]

OCTOBER 27TH

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 27th.]

sorry for asking for all of these on the first night...

[heavenscorpse]

[At sundown V/V is ready, though only slightly less nervous. That riddle hadn't been very clear, and only luck had gotten her to choose the right candy. She might not be so lucky this time.

Her bowl is on her bed as she paces the inside of her room.]

OCTOBER 28TH

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 28th.]

[heavenscorpse]

[That last one went badly. (But really, if rock candy won't satisfy you when you ask for stones, maybe you're too picky.)

V/V has spent a lot of this day in her room, on account of just being too tired to go elsewhere, and not wanting to have trouble with the shadow child she was expecting to come. More than she has to, anyway.

She's lying on her back with the candy bowl next to her.]

OCTOBER 29TH

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 29th.]

[savedbyasong]

Today he wasn't in his room, but still in the library having completely forgotten about time. He was surrounded by books and was taking notes from one of them, frowning as he concentrated.

OCTOBER 30TH

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 30th.]

[sageprincess]

[Fifth verse, same as the first four. There's only two days left of Ruana's control over the Tower, and the last thing Zelda wants to do is prolong the "game." Once again, she patiently waits for the shadow child's arrival, idly stirring through her bowl of candy and making up possible descriptions for each piece as she does.]

OCTOBER 31ST

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 31st.]

[OU] Sephiroth - OCTOBER 31ST

[neverbeamemory]

[How many more days is this going to go on for? It had to be nearing the end of the month now - Ruana's game has to be nearly over.

It's much too routine to be going back to his Dormitory every Sundown to pacify some shadow child, the brethren of which had killed him two months prior. Sephiroth is sat, somewhat irritatingly bored on the end of his bed waiting for that shadow to appear again.]

[heavenscorpse]

[On the 28th, it takes V/V a great deal of effort to move as fast as she can move - that is to say, not very - but right now she's on a mission. She's failed the first two parts of tonight's riddle and failed both parts of last night's riddle - she needs to not fail at least this part.

She's going up and down the dormitory halls, stopping anyone she meets and poking into people's rooms, asking:] Sorry, have you got any sticks of gum I can use?

[She won't steal from bowls, but asking desperately is well within her means.

A shadow child is tailing her.]

IC Mingle - 26th

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch can be found most of the night in his room. He's curled up on his side, looking rather...ill. In fact, sometimes thickly wet coughing can be heard from under the covers, though the stuff beside him isn't anything that should be coming up after a coughing fit - is that caramel?

Either way, he's not as feeble as his posture might suggest. He's alert, if uncomfortable, if someone enters, will answer the door if someone knocks, and will gladly help with riddles. He will also attempt to fend off thieves.*

[scentofmakai]

[Zett has found a towel and, after he entered without knocking, is using it to mop up some of the caramel from Enoch's bed.]

Mingle for the 28th

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji is looking more than a little desperate as he wanders the floors of the Tower, hoping to catch the attention of someone he knows... or at least someone friendly enough to spare some candy. He's missing candy for his riddle... The shadow child is still following him expectantly. It needs replacements to walk and touch... it's ridiculous, but he has to ask.]]

Excuse me! If anyone has any candy shaped like hands or feet, can they let me know?

[He's willing to trade other candy for it... he's willing to do almost anything really. Considering how his last punishments have been related to the candy he was supposed to give away, he doesn't want to think of what might happen if he can't offer the shadow child any hands or feet...]

[heavenscorpse]

[Dragging herself around the dorms is hard, but V/V will not give up on this riddle now that she knows she got at least one part of it right.

A shadow child is tailing her as she bumps into Ryoji.]

Sorry, I don't think I have any hands or feet. I'm sure I don't, I've been keeping good track.

Um, if you have any sticks of gum, I can trade you other things for them.

IC Mingle - 26th

[oforder]

[ Need two of them for clapping: The riddle was obvious. Hands. Wilhelm nodded to the child, and got up from his desk, the child following along expectantly. After one last glance at the Compass, Wilhelm attempted to plan his route accordingly; hopefully, someone wouldn't mind making a trade. ]

I will be requiring candy that is shaped like human hands. [ He said, as he passed anyone by. ]

I will be willing to trade for it.

[ Wilhelm looks back at the child. Hopefully, trading isn't against the rules of this event, but... it looks like it isn't. For a Ruana event, this one seems fairly straightforward, at first glance. ]

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch leans on the bathroom door, coughing through something thick. There's a barely-contained retch and he coughs a thick glob of caramel into his hand. With an exhausted sigh, he looks up as Wilhelm speaks. Wilhelm may annoy him but that's no reason to leave him to fail.*

It's a bit late to trade for what I need, but...I have a candy arm with the hand attached. What would you like to trade?

IC Mingle for 26th

[ladyliberty]

[Amelia makes her way out of her room, trailed by the shadow child. She's trying to ignore it. She has to get that candy, somehow. She'll steal it if she has to. But first she'll try knocking on doors.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick's room is probably one of the first ones Amelia comes across, seeing as he lives just down the hall. Not that she'll need to go that far--the blood-curdling scream that comes from behind his door should be easy enough to hear from wherever she is at the moment.]

IC mingle - 27th

[keepscalm]

[Something disgusting that crunches and isn't too small. He has plenty of certain candies that he can trade, so hopefully he can strike a bargain. It would be a pain in the arse trying to steal what he needs, given he can't really sneak into the dormitories of others.

So he's going door-to-door, the shadow child at his feet. He tries to look nonchalant for anyone that answers his business-like knocks, his arms folded across his chest and his head held high, but it's painfully obvious that he'd rather not be doing this.] Do you have any sweets that are crunchy and unappetizing? I'm willing to trade, if need be.

[savedbyasong]

Crunchy and unappetizing? [Shion frowned as he opened the door, he wasn't sure since most sweets were appetizing...] You can come and have a look though. [He gestured at his pot]

IC mingle for 27th

[bydefacto]

[Sealand almost falls out of the bed in his haste, still shaking. He has to find two more stars for the shadow, and first to try-- England. That jerk might have some of those star like sweets... and surely he isn't a complete jerk enough not to help Sealand.

The shadow child trailing very close behind him, Sealand goes to look for his brother.] England...!

[keepscalm]

[The sound of his own name catches England's attention as he's wandering the halls with his own shadow child. He turns in the direction of the familiar voice, eyebrows furrowed in something that is definitely not concern as he looks down towards his brother.]

Yes? What is it? [As he asks, though, he notices that Sealand has one of the creatures tailing him, as well. Is the lad frightened? England certainly wouldn't blame him if that were the case. These things don't exactly make for very polite visitors.]

Mingle, 27th

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch has taken to the dorm halls, knocking on doors and addressing passersby- when he isn't doubled over in a coughing fit, hacking up caramel. If he's able to speak, he'll ask, hoarse and likely breathless if it's just after one of those fits:*

I'm looking for a hand made of candy, or something painful to eat...I'm willing to trade...

[neverbeamemory]

[It's just after Sephiroth's own candy child has vanished that there is a knock on the Dormitory door. Being the only one in the Dormitory at the time and feeling relieved that he'd picked the right candy-

No one ever calls on this room, or at least not while he's not in it. The door opens just as a drop of caramel hits near the threshold of the doorway. Talk about instant repulsion Sephiroth takes half a step back and flicks his eyes up to the offender, about to give them perhaps a piece of his mind.

Then registering who it is, he pulls his posture back into something more neutral.]

Enoch?

[Coughing up...just what was that anyway? Was there some sort of epidemic going around again...]

IC Mingle for 29th

[ladyliberty]

[Moving sluggishly, Amelia drags herself out of her room and starts knocking on doors, or interrogating others passing by--]

Do you have saltwater taffy? I need a bunch.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica's in her room, waiting for the inevitable riddle, when she hears a knock on the door.

It could be a trick. Everyone was just a drone trying to fool her. She couldn't trust...

She... she couldn't. But she had to. So, with swords drawn just in case:]

W-who's there? I h-have taffy I-if you need it...

IC mingle - 29th

[keepscalm]

[He's at it again, unfortunately enough, knocking on doors and acting every part the reluctant, but diplomatic trader.]

If you've got any apples or pumpkins about that you're willing to part with, I'd be glad to offer an exchange.

[Hopefully, anyway.]

[bydefacto]

[Sealand is rushing through the corridor himself, looking for anything that might count as being "extra hot, hot, hot". He's still not sure of any candy in the game that's hot, in all honesty.

He overhears England before he sees him, and frowns. England needs help? He spots him, and hurries on over as his brother moves on down the corridor. It would be irresponsible of him as a nation not to help when England gave him that star candy.]

H-Hey! Jerk! You need apples?

IC mingle - 29th

[brbtalkingtogod]

[Lucifel is knocking on doors and speaking to everyone who is coming his way.]

hey, someone willing to trade their chocolate crosses?

[sageprincess]

[Opening her door to Lucifel, Zelda nods before slipping back to her nightstand and rummaging through her stash of candy. Her own shadow child seems to have already been taken care of.]

How many do you require?