You wake up with a jolt, a dull ache in the back of your head.
Cold sweat is sticking to your...
Cold sweat is sticking to your...
Nightshade & Gasoline, a write-in urban fantasy quest
- Thread starter Mourning Dove
- Start date
- Original Fantasy Modern
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 14
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 9
-
Statistics (9 threadmarks, 5.8k words)
User Total Mourning Dove 9
Prologue - 1
- Location
- Switzerland
You wake up with a jolt, a dull ache in the back of your head.
Cold sweat is sticking to your temples. Your bedsheets are tangled around your ankles. Must have been another nightmare.
>look around
The room around you is dark, curtains drawn closed to block out the evening sun. There isn't much to see anyway. Just about what you'd expect from the apartment of an average college student: Mismatched furniture, old coffee cups, towering stacks of books on every available surface, a rusty old cauldron- Ah, right. You aren't exactly as average as you once used to be.
Coming from the bathroom door right beside the tiny kitchen area, you can hear a dull scratching sound. Did another stray cat get in through the window?
[] input command
Cold sweat is sticking to your temples. Your bedsheets are tangled around your ankles. Must have been another nightmare.
>look around
The room around you is dark, curtains drawn closed to block out the evening sun. There isn't much to see anyway. Just about what you'd expect from the apartment of an average college student: Mismatched furniture, old coffee cups, towering stacks of books on every available surface, a rusty old cauldron- Ah, right. You aren't exactly as average as you once used to be.
Coming from the bathroom door right beside the tiny kitchen area, you can hear a dull scratching sound. Did another stray cat get in through the window?
[] input command
Status:
no injuries
slightly hungry
Inventory (no bag):
-empty-
Objective:
find the source of the scratching noise
no injuries
slightly hungry
Inventory (no bag):
-empty-
Objective:
find the source of the scratching noise
Hi there! Thanks for joining me on this quest. Nightshade & Gasoline is an urban fantasy/supernatural/maybe romance adventure that mostly uses a write-in system, which means you can write your own commands.
Commands
⋅ Commands can be anything, from []look around the room to []attack the demon with a majestic war cry.
⋅ This, of course, leaves room for a lot of silly antics. While I'm happy to indulge you, I'd like to heave a good balance between silly and plot-advancing commands. I'd prefer not to spend five posts trying to eat a cactus.
⋅ I will take the liberty of ignoring commands if they're too extreme or simply nonsensical. Prompts like [] jump off a roof or [] become invincible will be ignored.
⋅ You can suggest up to 3 commands per person.
⋅ I encourage you to second other people's commands if you like them.
⋅ After a period of time has passed, I will follow the 3 commands with the highest number of votes and try put them in an order that makes sense narratively. If two commands are tied, it's first come first serve. If two commands directly contradict each other, I'll discard the one with the lower number of votes and the command with the next-highest number of votes will take its place in the Top 3.
⋅ This, of course, leaves room for a lot of silly antics. While I'm happy to indulge you, I'd like to heave a good balance between silly and plot-advancing commands. I'd prefer not to spend five posts trying to eat a cactus.
⋅ I will take the liberty of ignoring commands if they're too extreme or simply nonsensical. Prompts like [] jump off a roof or [] become invincible will be ignored.
⋅ You can suggest up to 3 commands per person.
⋅ I encourage you to second other people's commands if you like them.
⋅ After a period of time has passed, I will follow the 3 commands with the highest number of votes and try put them in an order that makes sense narratively. If two commands are tied, it's first come first serve. If two commands directly contradict each other, I'll discard the one with the lower number of votes and the command with the next-highest number of votes will take its place in the Top 3.
⋅ Whether a command actually works out the way you want it to or not depends very much on the situation, our protagonist's experience, how prepared they are, ect. I am not using a strict stat system here, but my best judgement. I'll try my hardest to keep it fair, fun, and narratively interesting.
Objectives
⋅ For now, I'll use objectives (found in the "status-inventory-objectives" spoiler right above this one) to guide you in a general direction. Once our introductory chapter is done, deciding on our objectives is up to you.
Our Protagonist
⋅ Right now, our protagonist is a nameless college student, with some secrets and a past you may find out about in the course of our adventure.
⋅ I'd really like to write them as non-binary using "they/them" pronouns. They simply don't identify with a gender. I hope that works for you. If not, this quest might not be for you.
⋅ Once we get to a mirror, you can customise their appearance and choose a name.
And that's pretty much everything for now!
This actually isn't my first time starting this quest. I started Nightshade & Gasoline a few month ago on another forum, just after I found out about Quest RPs, but their quest section was very, very small, so we only got a few posts in. But I really do like this world and the characters I made up for it, so I'd like to give it another try. I hope this'll be a fun experience for all of us.
Ah yes and lastly, this kind of modern/urban fantasy setting is largely inspired by bell,book,and candle, a wonderful (and incredibly long) Haikyuu!!AU by skittidyne. No knowledge of bell, book and candle is needed to understand this RP, and there are quite a few differences between our world and the world of bbac, but I hope to capture the same kind of feeling.
⋅ I'd really like to write them as non-binary using "they/them" pronouns. They simply don't identify with a gender. I hope that works for you. If not, this quest might not be for you.
⋅ Once we get to a mirror, you can customise their appearance and choose a name.
And that's pretty much everything for now!
This actually isn't my first time starting this quest. I started Nightshade & Gasoline a few month ago on another forum, just after I found out about Quest RPs, but their quest section was very, very small, so we only got a few posts in. But I really do like this world and the characters I made up for it, so I'd like to give it another try. I hope this'll be a fun experience for all of us.
Ah yes and lastly, this kind of modern/urban fantasy setting is largely inspired by bell,book,and candle, a wonderful (and incredibly long) Haikyuu!!AU by skittidyne. No knowledge of bell, book and candle is needed to understand this RP, and there are quite a few differences between our world and the world of bbac, but I hope to capture the same kind of feeling.
Also, a warning: this quest will include depictions of violence further down the line. It will never go into outright gore territory though, and I will put anything I deem too graphic behind spoiler bars.
Last edited:
Prologue - 2
- Location
- Switzerland
>look inside the cauldron. Anything edible?
You reluctantly drag yourself out of bed and make your way across the room to your little kitchenette. It takes you a moment and a lot of squinting, but you can make out the shape of your cauldron – on the floor, of all places. You are momentarily irritaded at your past self for putting it there, then you remember the entirety of your counter is taken up by a mess of dried herbs and tree bark.
Sighing, you bend down and take a look inside the cauldron. Blackness stares back at you. It's far too dark to make out its contents. You are about to give up when a faint smell catches your attention. It's herby and familiar and far too delicious to be one of your failed attempts at magic.
Ah, yes. You finally gave up trying to cook up a spell yesterday evening and made yourself some herbal tea instead.
>skim the book names. Just what kind of stuff do we read?
You take a look at the nearest stack of books. You don't even need to get up to do so. There's one right there, sitting on the tiled floor beneath your dinner table.
You try to make out their titles in the darkness and have to resort to picking them up one by one, bringing them really close to your face like you're a 90-year-old on the brink of blindness. But hey, it works.
A History of Wendigo Sightings in the 20th Century, Glossary of Lesser Demons, "It's a prop for LARPing" – Convenient Excuses for your Hunter Equipment, Scientific Writing and Essay Stru– Ah, that one's a leftover from last year's coursework.
You flinch as you hear another dull scratch coming from your bathroom door. God, you hope that doesn't leave any marks.
[] input command
You reluctantly drag yourself out of bed and make your way across the room to your little kitchenette. It takes you a moment and a lot of squinting, but you can make out the shape of your cauldron – on the floor, of all places. You are momentarily irritaded at your past self for putting it there, then you remember the entirety of your counter is taken up by a mess of dried herbs and tree bark.
Sighing, you bend down and take a look inside the cauldron. Blackness stares back at you. It's far too dark to make out its contents. You are about to give up when a faint smell catches your attention. It's herby and familiar and far too delicious to be one of your failed attempts at magic.
Ah, yes. You finally gave up trying to cook up a spell yesterday evening and made yourself some herbal tea instead.
>skim the book names. Just what kind of stuff do we read?
You take a look at the nearest stack of books. You don't even need to get up to do so. There's one right there, sitting on the tiled floor beneath your dinner table.
You try to make out their titles in the darkness and have to resort to picking them up one by one, bringing them really close to your face like you're a 90-year-old on the brink of blindness. But hey, it works.
A History of Wendigo Sightings in the 20th Century, Glossary of Lesser Demons, "It's a prop for LARPing" – Convenient Excuses for your Hunter Equipment, Scientific Writing and Essay Stru– Ah, that one's a leftover from last year's coursework.
You flinch as you hear another dull scratch coming from your bathroom door. God, you hope that doesn't leave any marks.
[] input command
Status:
no injuries
slightly hungry
Inventory (no bag):
-empty-
Objective:
find the source of the scratching noise
no injuries
slightly hungry
Inventory (no bag):
-empty-
Objective:
find the source of the scratching noise
Last edited:
lavanderjasmine
Master of decoration
- Location
- R'lyeh
[x] Turn on lights.
[x] Look through keyhole in door to the bathroom. Better to be cautious.
[x] Look around for something that you can use as weapon.
[x] Look through keyhole in door to the bathroom. Better to be cautious.
[x] Look around for something that you can use as weapon.
Last edited:
- Location
- Switzerland
Good thinking, but I'm actually not gonna be that stingy when small things like this are concerned. It is possible for bathroom doors to have a keyhole (Ours has one. I just checked. But we do live in a very old house.), so you're gonna get a keyhole to peek through. It's a smart move, so I see no reason to make you lose an action for it.
Do keep being that attentive though! It might save our asses at some point later in the story
Ah yeah, and thaks for your votes, guys! I'll have another update later today. Feel free to keep voring till then. (EDIT: Voting. I meant voting.)
Last edited:
Scify
It always starts with a lighthouse.
what type of people do you think we are‽Ah, good. I hoped that would be the case, but you can never tell with a new QM. And, to be fair, it would be in line with text adventures to get a response back like "You try in vain to peer through the doorknob; alas, it is quite solid."
lavanderjasmine
Master of decoration
- Location
- R'lyeh
Thanks for noticing this. I wiil edit my vote, so it will be making more sense.
- Location
- Leeds
Watching but I'll be waiting a bit to get a better grasp on how this quest works before I start voting.
Prologue - 3
- Location
- Switzerland
[X]Turn on lights: 3 votes
[X]Peek through keyhole: 2 votes
Everything else is tied with 1 vote, so it's first come first serve and we're going with [X]pour yourself a cup of tea.
[X]Peek through keyhole: 2 votes
Everything else is tied with 1 vote, so it's first come first serve and we're going with [X]pour yourself a cup of tea.
>turn on the lights
You decide it's about time you turn on the lights before you end up stumbling over a stack of books. This is an important day. A broken leg is just about the last thing you need.
You regret your decision the moment you hit the switch. The light is blinding and your room is just as much of a mess as you feared it'd be. You'd rather not see this, actually.
>pour yourself a cup of tea.
You drag yourself back to the cauldron and grab a cup from the counter, then spend a good minute trying to figure out how to actually pour the tea. You highly doubt you own a ladle, and you can't exactly lift up the cauldron. It's heavy and bronze, with several runes etched into it you don't really dare to touch. Sure, they look like little more than a collection of random strokes to you, but you know the things are supposed to do something.
You resort to just kind of... dipping the cup in there and wiping off the sides and bottom with a stray piece of paper. Belatedly, you take a look to make sure you didn't ruin any important notes, but it's just another failed attempt at replicating those runes.
The tea is just as delicious as it smells. For a matter of fact, you feel more awake almost immediately. Weird, tea normally doesn't really do anything for you.
>peek through the keyhole in the bathroom door. Better to be careful
You've put this off long enough, you decide, and walk over to the bathroom door, steeling yourself in case whatever you see in there isn't... well, alive. The scratching noise has momentarily stopped and you indulge the thought that maybe, the creature has escaped back through the window.
Carefully, you lean down to peek through the keyhole.
Two bright, yellow-white orbs stare back at you from the other end of the dim room, glinting in the dark much like cat eyes. In fact, they're about the right size and height to belong to a stray cat and for a moment, you want to let out a relieved breath. Then the creature starts to move forward, the bright orbs swaying from side to side in a sluggish, stuttering, entirely unnatural manner.
You reel back just as it leaps off the ground and crashes full force into the door. the old wood rattles, but doesn't budge.
Shit. Your mind starts reeling with names and terms and drawings on old parchment. Imp. Trow. Poltergeist. Redcap? No – those live in old ruins. Shit shit shit. You should have paid more attention when Maeve was giving her rundown of lesser demons.
You try to calm yourself. Whatever it's name is, the thing can't be too dangerous. The bathroom window at the back of the room must still be open, so you could probably just grab it and throw it out there. Then again, maybe there's a smarter way to go about this.
[] input command
Status:
no injuries
slightly hungry
finally fully awake. Thanks, tea.
Inventory (no bag):
-empty-
Objective:
get rid of the creature in your bathroom
no injuries
slightly hungry
finally fully awake. Thanks, tea.
Inventory (no bag):
-empty-
Objective:
get rid of the creature in your bathroom
Last edited:
Scify
It always starts with a lighthouse.
@Mourning Dove what's your stance on creating useful minor things for the purpose of a vote?
[x] Check the glossary of lesser demons for anything that looks like that thing
[x] Grab a stool, or anything else that could really work as a makeshift shield
[x] Check your rune notes for anything useful
[x] Check the glossary of lesser demons for anything that looks like that thing
[x] Grab a stool, or anything else that could really work as a makeshift shield
[x] Check your rune notes for anything useful
- Location
- Leeds
[X] Find a spell to turn you into a man bat. Live the rest of your life in the dark.
-[X] Occasionally commit crimes in Gotham.
lavanderjasmine
Master of decoration
- Location
- R'lyeh
[x] Check the glossary of lesser demons for anything that looks like that thing
[x] Grab a stool, or anything else that could really work as a makeshift shield
[x] Check your rune notes for anything useful
[x] Grab a stool, or anything else that could really work as a makeshift shield
[x] Check your rune notes for anything useful
Last edited:
- Location
- Leeds
please use default text. I can't read that.
lavanderjasmine
Master of decoration
- Location
- R'lyeh
I edited it. I hope that now it is readable for you.
AProcrastinator
You can Certainly Try
- Location
- Getting Somewhere
- Pronouns
- She/Hers
[x] Sigh to yourself, and find your center. Not even two minutes into having to shut up exist like everyone else, and you're already having a terrible day.
[x] Take a moment to mentally list the spells you know and have prepared. Unless the thing in your bathroom really likes tea, this probably isn't going to end peaceably. Better to have an idea of what you're capable of before you start making split-second decisions, right?
[x] Check the glossary of lesser demons for anything that looks like that thing.
[x] Take a moment to mentally list the spells you know and have prepared. Unless the thing in your bathroom really likes tea, this probably isn't going to end peaceably. Better to have an idea of what you're capable of before you start making split-second decisions, right?
[x] Check the glossary of lesser demons for anything that looks like that thing.
- Location
- Leeds
Much better. Cheers.
Prologue - 4
- Location
- Switzerland
Oh yeah, that's an Important question, thanks! Short answer: Sure. Long answer:
- Generally, yes. I'm not going to list every single object in a room. You can assume that certain common objects are there if it makes sense for them to be there. For example, our apartment definitely has a bunch of clothes and some basic kitchen utensils lying around, and probably a bunch of other old stuff. If an object you come up with is too far out there or actually can't be there for plot reasons, I'll try to let you know well before the update, so you can adjust your votes.
- I'll make sure to mention objects that are out of the ordinary, especially magical ones (at least ones our protagonist recognizes as magical). In this case, that'd be the cauldron, the books, the herbs, and our rune notes.
- You are always free to enter commands like >search the room for sharp objects or >go through the kitchen cupboards and see what you can find. You know what, I'm actually going to go ahead and automatically use the >look around the room command every time we enter a new location. That way, you don't have to waste any of your commands on looking around and you get a basic idea of your surroundings.
>look around the room
You live in an old studio apartment barely big enough to fit the little furniture you have. All in all, it's pretty standard fare: There's a tiny, embarrassingly underused kitchenette tucked into a corner, some cluttered bookshelves, a wardrobe, and of course your king-size bed. There's also a small desk by the window, where you technically put your phone and laptop yesterday night. They should still be there, if you can find them under the pile of notes and scribbles. On the wall facing the window, there's a wooden door leading out into the staircase, with your coat and backpack hanging next to it.
Nothing all too interesting – safe for, you know, the herbs, the leather bound tomes, the scribbled runes, and your eccentric new substitute for a teapot.
>sigh to yourself, and find your center. Not even two minutes into having to exist like everyone else, and you're already having a terrible day.
You close your eyes, take a long, deep breath, and ponder your existence. There's a lesser demon in your bathroom. A demon. You're supposed to be enjoying your summer break right now. What did you do to deserve this?
Pulsing lights flash before your eyes. Bodies moving. Spilled beer on the pavement. A flickering streetlight, metal pole bent. Blood on black leather. So much-
Ah, yes. Not the most pleasant topic to think about. Back to the demon.
>check the glossary of lesser demons for anything that looks like that thing
Ok. Ok, you got this. You stumble over to the kitchenette and grab the book in question, glad you didn't have to search for it first. It's thick and solid. If worse comes to worst, you can probably squash the thing in your bathroom with this.
For a moment, you're worried you'll be spending the next 30 minutes browsing through a list of barely familiar names, then you see them: Illustrations. Great.
You find those glowing eyes near the middle of the book. The inscription next to it reads:
Imps
Lesser demons with glowing eyes and animal-like features, most notably fur. Other features can include: tails, horns, paws, hooves, claws [...]
Very common in both urban and rural areas. Aggressive towards other spirits and any human with magic perception. No magic abilities. Not venomous.
ACoC: Loneliness, feeling of isolation.
There's a scribbled old note in the corner. Must be Maeve's. Lesser demons with glowing eyes and animal-like features, most notably fur. Other features can include: tails, horns, paws, hooves, claws [...]
Very common in both urban and rural areas. Aggressive towards other spirits and any human with magic perception. No magic abilities. Not venomous.
ACoC: Loneliness, feeling of isolation.
Will go for throat. Claws fucking sharp. Sensible eyes, no light. Salt! Ask A. abt herbs
>grab a stool, or anything else that could really work as a makeshift shield
Still processing the information you got from the book, you let your eyes wander around the apartment. Might as well start with something basic. Protection.
You do own a stool. It's round, made out of some kind of plastic, and surprisingly light when you pick it up. You try holding it up in front of yourself like a shield. It feels kind of awkward and clunky, sure, but you think you can work with this.
>check your rune notes for anything useful
Ah, well...
The biggest part of your notes is lying on your desk in one big pile. Many of them are from your desperate cramming session last night. They're a mess of question marks and drawings of the same rune you copied from the cauldron over and over, trying to find some way, some secret, to make it work. You dig further down until you find something halfway legible.
Wendigo book p.122 mentions rune for "Dissolve". GoLD p.7 mentions "Banish". No pictures of the runes themselves. Nowhere. Why?
If all magic is cast through runes, is there a rune for every possible spell? Can you combine-
The paper's stained there. Tea, probably. It continues a bit further down.If all magic is cast through runes, is there a rune for every possible spell? Can you combine-
-means that brewing herbs/plants/maybe other stuff somehow aids casting. Why brewing? Do they drink it?? Before drawing the runes or after?
Rune on cauldron bottom left means "Heat", "Fire", or sth similar.
Ah yes. Your one success. The closest thing you've gotten to actually casting magic was when you tried to activate one of the runes in the cauldron. It took you a good hour of concentrated staring, improvised chanting, and trying to "find the power within you" to figure it out. Then, something happened. The rune flickered under your touch. You felt a pull somewhere deep in your chest, and very briefly, for just a second, you felt a sense of overwhelming heat radiating off of it.
Then, you blacked out.
You came to a few minutes later, the world still spinning around you. That's the last time you tried actually activating the cauldron.
You figure there are two explanations for that particular debacle:
A) You did something very, very wrong.
B) Activating that one rune was enough to drain all of your magic energy. You're weak as shit.
You really don't like B, but you get the creeping sense that there's something to it. That doesn't bode very well for you. You're kind of supposed to impress a bunch of people later today.
"Just figure it out! Something's bound to work," Maeve said last week, once you were done dragging all those books and the cauldron up the stairs to your apartment. Well, she might have been wrong about that one.
It doesn't matter now. You've got an imp to take care of, magic or no. You can at least do that much, right?
[] input command
Status:
no injuries
slightly hungry
finally fully awake. Thanks, tea.
Inventory (no bag):
Left hand: Improvised stool shield
Objective:
get rid of the imp.
no injuries
slightly hungry
finally fully awake. Thanks, tea.
Inventory (no bag):
Left hand: Improvised stool shield
Objective:
get rid of the imp.
Magic power:
Very low
Runes known:
"Heat" (you do not know how to write this rune)
Very low
Runes known:
"Heat" (you do not know how to write this rune)
>Sigh to yourself actually didn't make the vote, but I figured I'd include it anyway because it fits nicely and doesn't actually have any bearing on our little imp encounter! I won't do that too often, but I really wanted to give you a bit of a longer update. A sot of apology for how long this took. Life got busy.
However, I'll have a bunch of free time this weekend, so look forward to that!
Last edited:
- Location
- Leeds
Not unexpected.
Imp is probably light sensitive, just wish that was saying whether they prefer or dislike light. Well I'll take a guess at dislike.
Pretty classical purifying agent
Thats the second time herbs are mentioned.
Do we have a clue IC who A is?
But why didn't mine make it in?
- Location
- Switzerland
But why didn't mine make it in?
I'm sorry, dear. I'm saving your idea for the possible sequel/spin-off quest Nightshade, Gasoline & Men in Batsuits - a magical Gotham AU.
Last edited:
- Location
- Leeds
Alas, I suppose that will have to do.
AProcrastinator
You can Certainly Try
- Location
- Getting Somewhere
- Pronouns
- She/Hers
[q] Become Vengeance
[q] Become the Night
[q] Become Batman
[q] Become the Night
[q] Become Batman