Will awoke slowly.  Pushing aside the lingering dizziness, he clambered to his feet and looked around in confusion.  This place... it was nothing like the hills above Clwyd Farm.  How had he ended up here ( Read more... )

Murphy stands out in front of the barracks' open gates, turning Fidelacchius over in her hands as she looks out at the woods. She's just finished putting out a call to potential first responders - and yelling at certain parties for being massive fricking idiots. Now all that's left is to wait until people show up. If they show up ( Read more... )

It was time to do what she'd been dreading. Standing in front of the newly-painted orphanage, Molly closed her eyes and took a breath ( Read more... )

Fletcher wakes to near-absolute silence. He blinks once, twice, three times before registering the fact that he’s lying on the frozen ground in the wilderness somewhere, snow falling peacefully around him. He squints at the web of bare branches overhead and the gray sky beyond, and the only thing that brings him to his feet is the sudden, too-real ( Read more... )

Prentiss hadn't lied when she said that the barracks were nearly inhospitable. Not that Spencer had expected her to lie to him, but he hadn't quite expected to find what he had: the building was in a state of disrepair and the furniture inside looked extremely well worn. He tried his best to make himself at home. He had tucked the sweaters in ( Read more... )

When the sun finally rises again, each guest will find him or herself back in their original room, with the door locked and a costume hanging beside it. The door will open - but only after they put on the clothes. When they leave, guests will find themselves descending a winding staircase into a dizzying room built entirely in crystal; the floor, ( Read more... )

There is a small white cat curled up on a writing desk. It opens first one bright green eye, then another, before stretching out to take in its surroundings. Which mostly happens to be books. Shelves full of books - a library then, and not just any library. There's a grandness and size to the place which forces the cat to crane its neck to look up ( Read more... )

( The days between the first and second halves of the Gala... )

Across the open lawn between the front of the castle proper and the white stone wall, the snow has been cleared away in large rings. At the center of each is a bonfire, roaring away without any apparent source of fuel. Hot drinks and small treats are available, as always, balanced on the trays of servants who wander the crowd. The walls themselves ( Read more... )

(Initially open to those that have remained at the Barracks or natives to the Wood. Will edit the post, or make a new one when she has moved on and arrived at the Gala itself. OR feel free to note a new 'ping' on your communicators at her arrival. She's no stranger to magic and contraptions of its ilk, so she'll figure out the communicator strapped ( Read more... )