THE UPPER LEVELS

[peckishmods]

up into the balconies

you climb

The breathing boughs of that nightmare tree crowd into the upper balconies of the ruined auditorium. You have to duck and bend to get by them in places, sometimes through spaces that seem to grow smaller as you press through. These branches are warm to the touch, some of them uncomfortably so, pulsing with something that isn't quite life.

You've climbed these stairs more than once in your time here; to take your place after your sorting, to watch new students find their House, or perhaps just for an assembly. This building always seemed so sturdy, so safe. It was a place to go for shows, for celebrations, and hell, to just get out of class. Now, the floorboards creek precariously, split and splintering where vines have crept through. Benches are broken, overturned and tossed aside to make room for the auditorium's new king: the malignant maple. Up here, the glowing blue seeds hanging from branches are close enough to pluck. Those that have ripened litter the floor and railings, filling the balconies with an eerie blue twinkle.

The air is muggy, clogged by falling ash. It stinks of coal and sulfer. But you keep moving, anyway. Keep opening portals and pushing on. Just a little bit higher, and then maybe you'll be able to plunge into the depths.

and you fight

By now there's a plan, and with it, a slowly growing brigade of people, of beings, of bugs, who are gathering to push back against inevitability.

and you never give up

TO ELSEWHERE
| TO THE BASE OF THE TREE | TO OUTSIDE | TO THE SORTING PATH |

IN THIS HUB
| THE SECOND FLOOR | OUT ON THE BOUGHS | THE THIRD FLOOR |

OOC POSTS
| OOC ACTION HUB | OOC CHATTER - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS |

Comments

THE SECOND FLOOR

[peckishmods]

This is where you sat when you were sorted, each quarter of this balcony painted beachy blue, spring pink, pine green or mahogany red. Once, it was a pain to shuffle past your peers and find a good seat for a show or assembly. Now the way is blocked by toppled tables, broken benches, fallen prom decorations and curtains of vines.

Blue seeds litter every surface, a hall of memories to be explored. Hurry.

OUT ON THE BOUGHS

[peckishmods]

There's only one way up, unfortunately, and it's via the nightmare tree. The boughs up here are so tightly packed they're practically stairs, but that doesn't make the trek to the third floor any more pleasant. The branches bend and give under foot and hand, not merely pliant but soft and warm and breathing. They groan and rumble and creak, not like wood, but like some creature, sleeping fitfully, unable to wake from its own bad dream. The malignant maple hates, hates, hates, hates being scaled. You can tell. You can feel it.

Grab a memory seed while you're here. Make it angrier.

THE THIRD FLOOR

[peckishmods]

Little stars and galaxies sputter around you, the remains of Peckenpaugh's ruined prom night. The same sights are not reflected in the sky. Though the roof is gone, a thick, sickly green-gray blanket of swirling clouds hides the moon from sight, and that tree is still growing, reaching ever upward, because that's the only place it seems it can go.

Up here, it's a jungle, dense and dangerous. The floorboards creak and crack with each step. Vines writhe and foliage rustles and a creeping fear follows your every step. Get what you can from here and leave as soon as possible. The floor seems like it could give away at any moment, and even that feels less threatening than whatever lurks within the leaves.