[EXAM] A Simple Task (Simply)

[Sosiqui]

The exam request was slipped under Simply's door, along with what looked like a little smudge of machine oil. Weird.

Quote:

Hi spookie!! It's time for your exam!! Just come to the old greenhouses at noon!! THANKS!!!!

... Whoever wrote that note probably needed to be fined for excessive abuse of exclamation points. Still, even though the old greenhouses hadn't been used much since Professor Cadmus disappeared long before Simply's arrival at Amityville, they looked... very green. Very lively and virile. At a few points they had pushed out the glass panels and were waving green vines and leaves into the sky.

The doors were locked firmly with a very large, thick chain and padlock - and, next to the doors, waited the figure of Amityville's janitor, Moira. She was humming off-key. As one does.

Raja

Please quote me in your reply ty <33

 

[Raja]

It was good paper crinkled when stepped on, or at least made a noise. Because otherwise, Simply might have missed it. Entirely. She wasn't the most observant student at times, and as such she earned a bit of oil on her foot.

It was a good thing she wasn't going near the expensive carpets of the demon dorm. Never ever permitted.

Still, she did pluck up the note curiously as she read it. "Tests, huh?" She inquired, smiling a bit too broadly for a ghoul who was about to take an exam. Yea, she probably didn't fully get it. That didn't matter, she had a greenhouse to find.

And find it she did. Daaaang, how had she not climbed in through one of those holes yet? Like. Seriously. The inside of the greenhouse seemed like the kind of adventure that could keep her busy for a while. She was staring up rather happily, eyes searching over the area for an entrance until they finally came down to settle down on Moira. Who was rather near the chained doors.

This was probably part of why she hadn't dug up some trouble inside. Oh well, time to remedy that! Afterall, why else had Moira brought her here? "Hello hello! I CAME LIKE YOU ASKED!" She called happily, bouncing forward with a skip in her step as she literally frolicked up to the teacher without so much as a second thought.

She had things on her head... back... did that mean piggyback rides were acceptable? She made a mental note to ask. Maybe after her jungle adventure. "Do I get to get to go inside? Is it wild in there? Are there other things in there?" If nothing else, Moira would probably learn that if Simply went around writing notes, she would have been fined just as much for exclamation point abuse. Because the world was an exciting place after all!

Sosiqui

For the record, she's 4'6" so may be short depending on Moira's height. Also thank you~! I'm sure this will be fun. *v*

 

[Sosiqui]

Moira clapped her hands when she saw the ghoul, her face brightening into a broad smile. "Ah, welcome, welcome spookie!! Don't think we've met - my name's Moira, Amityville Academy Janitor, at your service~" She briefly made a thumbs-up gesture, then began shambling away from the greenhouse doors.

Wait.

What?

"We're goin' somewhere special," she told Simply, with a wink. "Hmm, lessee... ah, here it is!" With a heave, the zombie cleared aside a mass of greenery that had been covering up a door set into the floor; another heave, and the doors creaked open, releasing a puff of dust and air that smelled like green growing things. Which was a feat, given that the greenhouse already smelled like that.

There were stairs leading down, lit by glowing stones set into the wall. "Come along, spookie... you like gardening at all, hmm? I'm better with metal, myself, but..." She started down the stairs, clearly expecting to be followed.

Raja

Moira's only a little taller, haha, because of her always-stooped posture. biggrin

 

[Raja]

Oh! Oh this was a good teacher, she liked having fun and stuff! Not as cranky as that one Rengath guy with the play. He was sort of stiff and stuffy. She the thumbs up was returned happily along with a smile. "I'm Simply! A werefox monster!" She was not the least bit phased that her exam was coming from a janitor, nope. What concerned her more was going away from the doors.

Adventure was escaping her. It was as if Moira might have crushed all of her hopes, all of he- WAIT SOMEWHERE SPECIAL?

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The sunshine and rainbows returned as she scampered over to follow after Moira, instantly curious. "What kind of special place? Is it full of rocks, and turns, and mazes, and curses-" She might have read one too many fantasy adventure books. Though she didn't get to worry over it too long as they reached some odd doors that, at that point, got opened. She sniffed a bit at the smell, tilting her head.

Smelled like the jungliest jungle of them all. With some moss on top of it. "I like playing in the woods and climbing trees? Does that count?" She didn't really grow things. "Buildings and metal are fun too though!" She wasn't more than a step behind Moira, ever so eager to see just what the dungeon of greenier had to offer them.

Sosiqui

Woo! The short people attack~! Also, sidenote, she is perpetually happy.

 

[Sosiqui]

The tunnel had vines crawling up the inside of it; it also seemed to be leading towards a bright glow. The zombie shambled along, humming happily. "Full of all of those," she assured Simply when the werefox asked about the tunnel's amenities. "But we won't see 'em all... not if you're lucky!" Or maybe unlucky. The ghoul did seem really excited about everything.

Moira pushed aside a waist-high gate and walked into a huge underground chamber, with a floor of loose dirt and a very, very large plant in it. Well, 'plant' wasn't quite the right word, but 'tree' was inaccurate. It looked like a massive vine, its largest coils thicker than Moira and Simply put together.

The zombie gestured to it with a flourish. "Behold, the birthplace of all gnomekind! The gnomeliad!"

Wait.

What?

Raja

 

[Raja]

Oooo... everything she had hoped for and dreamed for in one. This place was going to be awesome! With a few extra exclamation points on there. "Reaaaaaaallly?" Yes, that was obvious hope in her voice as her tail gleefully flicked from side to side. She was behaving to some degree by not actually reaching out and touching anything as she went...

But that didn't stop her from hopping from side to side to lean close to things before darting after Moira once more. Moira wasn't slow, but she wasn't exactly fast either. Which made keeping up easy for the energetic little ghoul as they finally arrived at their goal.

The grand pubah of vines. That apparently made all the tiny things in the world. "You mean the little guys who liked tripping me at the dance?" Yes, that fun house. That was her prime memory of gnomes. Tiles that loved to suddenly jerk underfoot. She curiously looked at the thing a moment before seeming to come to a decision. "If I came from a giant veggie I might be cranky too. But they should cheer up!"

And that observation helped NO ONE. "What does the gnomey-roots gotta do with adventure time?"

Sosiqui

 

[Sosiqui]

"Really, really." Moira scooted closer to Simply, looking serious. "I had to make a special deal with the gnomes to let you in here, you know... but they need help, see? We need to get the pods. To make more gnomes. But they only grow up there, and..."

She reached out and poked the nearest vine. Instantly, it recoiled like a live thing and the entire plant started shifting about as if agitated. "Well, it doesn't like being harvested. But you're just the ghoul to do it!" Moira abruptly reached for Simply's hands, aiming to clasp them ardently. "Will you do it, Simply? Will you save gnomekind?"


... "We do need them," she added, apologetically.

Raja

 

[Raja]

Ooo! Special favors and deals were tough to work with. Even she knew that. She nodded heavily the words. "Oh but I appreciate being able to come! This please is interesting!" And then, she magical words came. Absolute and utter magic.

She was going to be a hero again. She was going to save- ...well gnomekind wasn't THAT important, even if they seemed necessary, but still HERO MODE! "YES YES! I CAN DO IT!" There were more than a few happy hops despite the demonstration of the tree being less than kind when agitated, because yessss~! She happy bounced while still grasping at Moira's hands, Jack only knew she hopefully wouldn't try to drag the poor Janitor up with her.

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"I get to climb it and get the gnomes, and save the world with less explosions this time right!?" Despite the lock on her wrist, she DID remember the world had tried to end. Sort of.

Then a pause. "As long as they aren't in charge of moving tiles." Her face was utterly stoic, if only for a second before she went back to staring at the tree and waiting for the final okay to try and climb it. Well.. vine... tree... vegetation. THE THING!

Proper fear, and common sense weren't in the ghoul's mental capacity.

Sosiqui

 

[Sosiqui]

"Good ghoul!" Moira clapped Simply on the back, then sidestepped towards a small cupboard set into the curve of the wall. She opened it and pulled out a pair of rather large pruning shears. "Just... well, climb up there and then pick out some nice pods, okay? Uh..." A vine whipped past her, cracking angrily in the air.

"Be careful!"

Phase One: Subdue!

The gnomeliad vine doesn't really want to be harvested, but it's for its own good... Simply must subdue it so she can climb up to the harvestable pods!

- The vine has 15HP that must be depleted to subdue it.
- The vine does 2HP auto-damage every turn; it attacks by flailing its vines and leaves around, or by pushing roots up to tangle at feet.
- Roll your standard melee dice; you may also use your FEAR attack if you like!

Once the vine has been subdued, move on to Phase Two.

Phase Two: Climb!

Vine subdued? Great! Now it's time to climb. The vine has lots of footholds and handholds, but it is kind of long... and even though it's been taught a lesson it's still cranky, and twitchy. The path can change right under Simply's paws!

To climb:
- The vine is 30 feet high.
- Roll 1d12. The result is how many feet you climb in that turn.
- If you roll a 1, you don't gain any feet... in fact, you slip down 5 feet!

You pass this phase when you have climbed to the top.

Phase Three: Harvest!

At long last, the pods! They are tall and healthy and look.. like oversized pea pods a good four feet tall. Okay. Sure. Simply must select five pods of her choice to be presented to Moira. Just RP picking out the pods, then tug them off the vine and toss them down to Moira!

In your pod-picking post, roll 5d6. The results will be used when Moira assesses the pods; you need not RP anything related to the numbers that come up.

When you are done and Simply has approached Moira, just quote me! Or quote if you want a reaction from Moira at any point~

Raja

 

[Raja]

YES! She was a good ghoul! And she'd prove how amazing she was by beating this thing too! "Got it!" She took the sheer's before tucking them carefully into the top of one of her sleeves. So as not to lose them, before darting straight at the vine.

IT WOULD BE BEAST TO PLANT COMBAT! And of course she'd win!

Right? RIGHT!

Minus the fact she darted forward and instantly got one of her ankles caught in a vine that left her face planting straight into the roots of the thing. Great start. Graceful, beautiful, and a proper portrayal of the monster kind.

Simply's HP: 28/30
Vine's HP: 15/15
Damage Dealt: 0
Fear: The Chill Y1  

[Raja]

And then as she clambered back up to her feet she quickly caught one of the vines in her clawed hands and tore at it, clinging to it as he drug her around in a bit of a wrestling batch. Claws versus vines. What would win!?

Simply's HP: 26/30
Vine's HP: 13/15
Damage Dealt: 2
Fear: The Chill Y1  

[Raja]

Vines. Vines just might win. She took a nice wallop to the head at that point, rubbing at it as the tendrils recoiled to prepare for another strike.

Ouchies. That hurt just a bit.

Simply's HP: 24/30
Vine's HP: 13/15
Damage Dealt: 0
Fear: The Chill Y1  

[Raja]

OK! That thing was being mean. "NAUGHTY VINE!" And with that growl of sorts she leapt at the thing even as it left another nice slap along her arm and bit at it rather angrily. Her feet kicked at it a bit too in the process leaving several long claw marks along the things surface.

HAH! That might have hurt it a bit! Though...

She gagged a bit, spitting out some of the goop that had left a rather nasty taste in her mouth. "Tastes... really bad..."

Simply's HP: 22/30
Vine's HP: 8/15
Damage Dealt: 5
Fear: The Chill Y1  

[Raja]

And then while she was trying to busily get her ill thought out ick from her mouth, she found her feet being pulled from below her once more. WOOPS!

Back on the floor. "MEANIE!" She was talking to a vine.

Simply's HP: 20/30
Vine's HP: 8/15
Damage Dealt: 0
Fear: The Chill Y1  

[Raja]

Arguing with vines before getting up was also likely a bad idea, as even as she was working to scramble back to her feet she got another whack along her back.

Who knew veggies had such a bad temper?

Simply's HP: 18/30
Vine's HP: 8/15
Damage Dealt: 0
Fear: The Chill Y1