Name: aislynnlynx, full name Aislynn Lynx, feel free to call me Lynx or Lynn. 

Pronouns: she/they 

CBer, AE, or CAPTCHA: Cber

Appearance: hooded black cloak, gray-black-white wolf mask, indigo eyes, black huntress outfit, a ton of weapons. 

Personality: Acts sweet and nice, secretly has an ambition to blow up the moon. 

What are you bringing?: Hmm. 1500 pens [idk how that's gonna fit, it just is.] 20 notebooks [again. idk how its gonna fit but stories are stories.] changes of clothes [which are all purple or black] more boots, another scarf, silk cloth, a couple of ropes, a grappling hook, vials of poison, necessites [like soap] more chunks of soap, more notebooks, a computer, an ipad, a wifi thing, chargers, portable chargers, apple pencil, watercolors, oil paints, acrylics, tempura paints, just everything that counts as paint, a first aid kit [no, 50.] a lot of food and water [a lot a lot. like, 50 packs of doritoes, along with a ton of other stuff.], a sword, a bow with a quiver of obsidian-tipped arrows, a dagger, a mace, generally a ton of weapons, more weapons, even more weapons, shades, a disguise outfit, a scuba diving outfit, another ipad, yet another ipad, my stash of chocolate, and a bag of rocks, all of which that are only accessable with a special mechanism that only i can activate and can activate anywhere, and *heh* this all somehow fits into a pastel purple-turquoise duffel bag. perks of being in a story :D 

What would you wear to a ball?: i would just wear my normal attire with a silver diadem looking thing and bring a torch to burn the whole thing down. 

What is your favorite food?: i am an unbiased person. 

How do you like your marshmallows cooked?: i prefer them to be banished out of existance. or set on fire. 

Would you prefer to be put in a room by yourself or with others? with myself, please. well, technically others...*sigh* split personality disorder, apologies. 

Anything else we should know? i have 3 sides: lynx [current, -the inbetween-], irixa [chaotic.], orii [idgaf side] 

Nerd and Fidelity-- both of you reserved spots that I have not yet received character sheets for. If you (and/or your AEs) would like to attend Elmstone Manor, please send in those sheets by the end of the day tomorrow. Thank you!

Day One, Part One

Moth reported to the train station promptly at ten o’clock. (The letter hadn’t specified a time, so they figured it would be best to show up relatively early.) The platform was busy: people in sharp suits walked briskly across, briefcases in hand; parents tried to corral their children; and they caught sight of two women kissing under the departures sign. They took a deep breath, tucked their hands into the pockets of their aviator jacket, and tried to look like they knew where they were going.

They didn’t.

Luckily, when they walked up to the platform, a train had just arrived. A placard on the side read “Elmstone Manor Express” in neat calligraphy. The train was dark blue, had a cute little smokestack on the front, and looked so old-fashioned it was like Moth had traveled back in time. (They hadn’t. All the people around them were still on their phones, wearing jeans, and generally embodying the 21st century.)

Moth watched as the door slid open and out hopped a man wearing white gloves, gray trousers, and some kind of black suit (Moth was never one for the intricacies of fancy dress). He bowed slightly, took their suitcase, and motioned for them to step on board. Only once they had done so did he speak.

“Welcome aboard the Elmstone Manor Express,” he said in a fittingly precise British accent. “I hope you have a nice trip. If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to ring the bell, and I will be right in.”

Moth looked over at the red tassel dangling from the ceiling, and when they looked back, the butler was gone. Shrugging to themself, they plopped down on the blue upholstered seat in the first booth and pulled out their book.

The rain click-clacked along for some time before coming into another train station, where Sybill got on. Xe sat across from Moth, glanced at the look on their face, and wisely decided to start reading too.

As the day went on, the rest of the visitors boarded as well, some reading, some chatting, and some simply watching the countryside pass by through the windows. Dreamii and Quill, for example, had a lengthy discussion covering such varied topics as ballrooms, their favorite parts of ballrooms, and how excited they were to visit a place with a ballroom.

At midday, the butler stepped into the carriage and distributed sandwiches to anyone who was hungry. He apologized for the simplicity, noting that it wouldn’t be too much longer and there was sure to be food ready for them at the manor. No one had thought to complain; they were quite delicious sandwiches.

Finally, the train pulled into a station so small it didn’t really qualify as a station. Fidelity said as much, but no one responded. Perhaps they just hadn’t heard her, she thought.

The visitors piled out in a babble of “finally!” and “can you pass me my suitcase” and “that was a long ride,” but it all petered out as they caught sight of the manor. The words tall and imposing came to mind, followed by incredible and perhaps back to tall and imposing. It had loads of towers, all reaching up toward the sky. The windows were arched. The whole thing was built out of some kind of stone that had darkened with age. The landscape was perfectly manicured; no ivy crept up the side of the building; there were no unkempt blackberry bushes for picking in the summer. There was only lawn, and bushes, and the neat stone of the estate.

Most of the guests took in the building and imagined fairytale princesses or ballroom dances or libraries with bookshelves stretching to the ceiling, and they would not have been wrong. 

But one of them looked at it and imagined it as the scene of a horror movie. 

And they would not have been wrong either.

Day One, Part Two

The guests gradually became aware that there were three people standing in front of them, who’d seemingly appeared out of nowhere while they’d been distracted ogling the manor.

“Hello,” said the man in the middle, in a low, grim voice that silenced the crowd like the strictest of teachers. “My name is Lord Elmstone, and I will be your host. These are my children, Juniper and Finn.”

Juniper and Finn did not appear to be Lord Elmstone’s children.

The lord was pale, and tall, and had neatly combed hair that was starting to gray in the middle. All of his features were sharp: his chin, his nose, his shoulders. He wore an expensive-looking black suit. He had an intricately carved cane, the kind that was there to thump imposingly as one walked more than it was to provide support. He looked, on first glance, to be about the age of one of their grandfathers.

Finn also had white skin, but that was where the similarity ended. Their hair was brown and curly, trimmed short but still a little messy. Their eyes were brown too, a soft, warm shade, and sat behind round gold glasses. They wore a navy blue sweater with the collar of a white shirt folded neatly over the top. They were perhaps high school or college age.

Juniper’s skin was a cool brown, the color of an acorn, and her black hair was braided neatly back in cornrows. Her eyes held a hint of a smile as she looked at the guests. She wore a knee-length white dress that looked like it would be fun to twirl in. She was a little older than Finn.

So, all in all, it was clear their relationship was not as simple as Lord Elmstone wanted them to believe. Probably they were just adopted, thought Luna. Maybe they were kidnapped as children, thought Lynx. Or they were his step-children, thought Oli.

“Before you are shown to your rooms,” continued Lord Elmstone, “we have some business to take care of. I am aware that several of you directly violated my instructions to not bring electronic devices.” 

Summer and Lynx tried very hard not to make eye contact with anyone.

“You will see that there was good reason for this instruction. Take out your devices.”

They didn’t move.

“Go on.”

Awkwardly, Summer bent down to unzip her backpack, dug around for a moment, and pulled out her phone, which had a bubblegum-pink case. Lord Elmstone nodded curtly and directed his gaze toward Lynx. Sighing dramatically, she unzipped her duffel bag and began to dump it out. The rest of the guests watched, alternately amused, frustrated, and amused-frustrated, as out fell an obscene amount of pens, piles of notebooks, a whole bunch of paint, unreasonable quantities of weapons, countless bags of Doritos, and (finally) not just one electronic device but a computer, an iPad, an unidentifiable box labeled “wifi”, a pile of chargers, and an apple pencil.

Summer broke the stunned silence. “I thought I was breaking the rules, but-” she had to pause because she was laughing too hard- “but wow, Lynx, that’s a lot.”

“Now,” said Lord Elmstone, and Summer stopped laughing. “Why don’t you try to turn on your devices?”

Summer dutifully pressed the power button on her phone, while Lynx did the same on their iPad. Nothing happened. It was like they had just died, even though they’d both made sure the devices were fully charged before they left.

The lord reached out a hand to Lynx, and they dropped the iPad in his hand with only a slight hesitation. He then proceeded to snap it in half. With his bare hands.

There were general reactions of surprise from the group. Lynx’s face was more enraged. He had the audacity to take their precious iPad and break it in half?

“Look,” he said sharply, tapping the side of the iPad on his hand. Out fell a pile of black ash.

At least half the guests were thinking some variation of “oh my god.”

“This is what happens when you don’t follow instructions,” Lord Elmstone said. “Do you all understand?”

There were various murmurs of assent.

“Do you all understand?” he repeated.

“Yes, sir,” they chorused.

“Good. I will leave you all to get settled in.” And with that, he turned and walked briskly back up to the manor.

“Well, he’s certainly pleasant,” said Sybill, with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

“He, uh, he has his… quirks,” Juniper said.

Sybill scoffed.

Finn looked vaguely uncomfortable but kept their mouth shut.

“Anyway!” Juniper said brightly. “Let’s go up and take a tour of the manor, shall we?”

The group grudgingly followed her up the lawn, leaving their bags with the butler, who promised to carry them up to the bedrooms. Juniper knocked, and another butler inside the massive wooden doors creaked them open. 

Fidelity gasped when she saw inside. There was a large space in front of them, branching out into several different hallways. The floor was a beautiful old stone, as were the walls. The light came from old-fashioned torches and stained glass windows high up near the (high high) ceiling. The entryway felt like a cathedral, a ballroom, and an ancient castle all at the same time.

From the entrance, the group traveled down a hallway, past a dining room set with three long walnut tables, a sitting room with stiff blue chairs, and a surprisingly modern-looking restroom, then finally to the most amazing room Dreamii had ever seen in her entire life.

The library.

All four walls were covered in bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling, with the exception of a gap on the far wall for a cozy fireplace surrounded by three red armchairs. Bookshelves were packed into the floor of the room, too, for optimum book storage. The cold stone floor was covered in assorted rugs, many decorated with starbursts and mandalas. When Dreamii breathed in, she could smell that wonderful, wonderful scent of old books and crackling fire that felt like she was being wrapped in a hug.

“This is my favorite room in the manor,” Finn said, in a quiet voice suitable to the surroundings. The group all nodded. Everyone could see themselves spending endless hours in here, curled up by the fire with a good book.

“Now, I promise we can all come back here, but I do have to show you where your rooms are,” Juniper said, her voice soft and quiet too.

Compared to the library, the bedrooms were nothing special. But compared to the bedroom Oli had at home, they were wonderful. She was put in a room with Bean and a little dragon by the name of Perry. They were each given a twin-sized bed draped in the kind of ornate gold sheets one would find at a palace, though Oli wasn’t sure how much Perry would need such a large bed. For her, in any case, it was wonderful. Soft enough to be comfortable, firm enough that she didn’t feel like she was drowning. She could almost fall asleep right now.

(Summer, Quill, and Luna had a room together, as did Raven and Fidelity, but everyone else was on their own.)

—

Apologies for the delay! This section ended up longer than the last one, and my school year started, so I have less time for writing. I’m hoping to post at least once a week moving forward, so don’t lose hope :) Next section, we'll get into the meat of the plot! And by that, I mean that someone may or may not perish. Also there may be marshmallows.