Festival: Candy Trail

It is far too early in the day for night to have fallen across the lands, but that seems to come along with the beginning of the Shadow Festival. Even with the long nights, there are high spirits within the root towns of Yamato. Carmina Gadelica, home to many refugees and outcasts, seems to be celebrating with the most gusto.

Lanterns are lit, strung across the streets, giving the roads and alleyways a flickering appearance as the firelight catches on nearby windows. Decorations are hung in store fronts, showing images of skeletons, bats, pumpkins, colorful fall leaves, and spooky monsters.

Children laugh and play, dressed in simple costumes, mant to resemble their favorite monsters. Spiced smells linger in the air as various bakeries and shops have added treats with a fall themeing to their menus. Even in this darkest of time, people have found ways to bright light.

One of which seems to be a series of houses throughout the city which have been lavishly decorated. They likely belong to a number of noble families, who have invited young and old to visit in order to gather treats. For the Lander children, it is an excuse to have more sweets than their bellies can handle. For Adventurers, there is a quest associated with it, prompting them to gather a certain amount of goodies in order to earn a reward.

For now, the group gathers at the start of the trail. Where the children largely walk the trail with their families, most seem to give the Adventurers a bit more space, either through awe or worry.

    Upon the head, Merek wears cat ears along with a lot of patchwork things, while he walks along with the party. "You know, I quite often looked forward to things like this while back in the world," he notes. The man seems to be excited to find candy. "I am glad to relax a little bit admittedly."

Yeowang has gathered here as well, her costume fairly simple: a white kimono-like garment including sash and the usual accoutrements, and her long hair is bound up in a tight bun atop her head. She almost looks like a bride, that way, and that's likely what the costume is. But halloween is a festival for children, so she's mostly smiling to the Lander children, giving them candy when the opportunity presents, and looking around to see what the rumors have to say about a quest for players. She hasn't managed to get with the program yet, so she's trying like anything to catch up to where everyone else is.

    Wisteria arrives with Mizuki, which is not terribly surprising. Tonight, she has been talked into a costume by Mizuki. She is dressed in a blue/black cloak with a peaked hood that comes down in front of her face like a raven's beak. The cloak is clasped at the throat with a red jewel in a dull gold setting. When the cloak is open (mostly just when walking or posing) her full costume is revealed. A fur tight unitard along with a belt made of round disks each set with a stone. Her large bunny paws bare. She looks around "You're sure Raven was a bunny once?" her long ears stuck through the hood twitch a little.

    Setsuna had been waiting for this day for , well , for a while. and he was absolutely one of those reasons why the Adventurers were being given wide space. The skeleton knight of Setsuna's is dressed in adventurer gear, noob gear , but still adventurer gear magic staff and all. Even a sign around the knights neck that says 'Hi I'm an adventurer' andn then to complete the pair Setsuna was wearing white face paint, around a black tight hood. His clothes are black with the bones drawn on (as well as one can with no artistic skill), he even has an authentic skeleton left leg to go with his skeleton outfit. Yes nothing here will go wrong with the necromancer and his skeleton knight.

SpritesHero is not here for fun. He is certainly not here for play, and appears to have taken every step he could think of to ensure that he will absolutely not get harassed by any over-eager young whippersnappers. Thus it is that he lurks, watchfully attentive, arms folded formidably over his robes-broadened chest. The wisps of smoke that have replaced his feet propel him this way and that through the town, his robe rippling in passing and glistening with frost. Yes, yes, he's totally cast his own magic on himself.

Given recent circumstances, it is perhaps unwise to be out taking part in simple revelry while there are... much more dire things to deal with. But politics sucks! So Prophylaxis is here, and dressed in the manner that only a doctor could think to dress for Halloween.

...Like a patchwork plague doctor in a black, feathered cloak and a crow-like mask. He's even brought along a handful of EXTREMELY WORRYING 'classic' medical implements that he had specially made. Corkscrews can be used to remove worms, did you know? Well now you do!

AND YOU WILL NEVER UN-KNOW.

The Force is strong... or perhaps double strong.

Approaching are two Spriggans who have apparently learned how to use the Force and have now become true Jedi.

Yes, they're Spriggans. It's Kotono and Miyako.

Kotono is wearing robes with a blue-and-white color scheme to them, while she wields a pair of smaller lightsabers with green blades to them. Hey, it's how she wields her weapons normally, so that's how she wields her lightsabers.

And unlike her usual ninja-style stance, Kotono is walking in normally this time. Of course if the need arises, she will use her ninja skills.

It's time for Candy and costumes. This sort of thing is what Gwen lived for in realty. she's woreked on her costume for a while. Also a second one she bribed Shiruba into as well and so the party would find a pair of Lovely Angels showing up to join this with Gwen hair dyed red and blonde as Kei and Shiruba as Kei's partner Yuri. Gwen's done a fairly good job on the costumes only really her own wings seeming off...

"So the mission is to get candy Yrui!" Oh god she's in character!

Giganpor has, surprisingly, found something that only an 80's fanboy would recognize on him. And somehow managed to get his hair to grow out that far.

Seriously, he's an armor smith. And he has time on his hands. Of course he's going to go for something from something that inspired him. Granted the durability sucks on it, but... he's a dead ringer for a certain red head in gold and white armor, with a big green glass piece on one wrist, and just wandering around as he walks.

Granted some parts may be a little off, but it's obvious who he's going for if any were anime fans. The only part throwing it off is that he has a candy bag. And looks like a grown man, too.

But, well, Giganpor looks curious and is definitely going all out on the costume at least.

In order to honor both the season and one of his all time favorites who inspired him to get into professional wrestling in the first place, it seems Syx has picked an appropriate outfit.

Dressed in an all black suit, with a purple striped tie, and a wide brim hat with a purple band.

He finishes up the look with a pair of purple gloves. Anyone who knows professional wrestling in any capacity should know exactly who he's dressed up as.

It took more gloading and bribing than usual, but Gwen did finally get Shiruba to come out for some surrogate sisterly fun. At least with Gwen's skills she didn't have to worry about a costume, and Gwen was nice enough to give her the less... flashy of the pair, with a white mini vest over a black leotard, a really small white skirt and long white boots to match. Shiruba already had pretty long hair, which has been dyed as close to Yuri's purple as they could manage. And then they dyed her tail too, to 'hide' it as part of the long hair.

"Something sweet would be nice, I suppose." She's not as 'into character' as Gwen is, but she's at least not being mopey. A little fun to get her mind off all the other Guild Leader affairs couldn't hurt, right?

    Miyako enters along with Kotono, as usual for the pair. Her own Jedi robes are turquoise and black, clearly made of fine fabrics, and the naginata she twirls shows a bright teal lightsaber blade.

    "Good day, friends and comrades!" she calls as they approach the others. "A wonderful day, is it not?"

    Halloween event. HALLOWEEN EVENT.

                                       ~~                                      

    Sam has feelings about Halloween.

    Halloween is when you get to be a cool character for a night!

    Little sam is wearing an iconic red cap and shirt and overalls. The other second-graders giggle. "Why are you wearing a raccoon tail?" "I'm raccoon Mario!"

    Young Sam comes to the door, gold-colored fabric shaped into a suit of armor, with a green soda bottle with the armor cut off for a gun arm, and a red fabric 'helmet' with green cellophane visor. "Trick or treat!" "Ooh, and who are you supposed to be?" "Samus Aran!" "Seamus who?"

                          Who are you supposed to be?                          

                          Who are you supposed to be?                          

                          Who are you supposed to be?                          

    Sam steps into the room full of dancing teenagers, most of whom have some odd accessory or perhaps an odd clothing style. Sam is wearing armor made of cardboard painted red and white and a glowing green plastic sword. "You said this was going to be a costume party!" "Not THAT kind of costume..." "I'll go change..."

    Sam comes to the door in grey and red, with a red visored helmet and matching gun-arm and gloves and boots, a long yellow scarf around his neck, and an oval-shaped shield across his back painted the same grey with red around the edges and a little window cut in the middle. "Who are you supposed to be? A ninja turtle?" Sam raises the gun arm and triggers the concealed camera flash, blinding them in annoyance.

                                       ~~                                      

    But this year... THIS YEAR! He is surrounded by at least some decent proportion of geeks!

    ...And yet somehow, Mizuki thought it would be a good idea to go as an American cartoon character. Well, comic book character, but he only ever saw the cartoon. At least Wisteria was down for a pair costume!

    Mizuki is still in cat form, the outfit showing that yes, she does have stripes on her arms and that weird stripe with short cross-stripes running down her back. Because she is... Well, most striking perhaps is that her hair has been died red for the occasion. It's also been brushed and washed into submission so that it isn't so wild and shaggy. The outfit consists primarily of a two-piece, sleeveless midriff-baring purple number with silver accessories, including a silvery... neck thing? with a gem on it and matching silvery bracers with gems on the back of the wrists and a little silvery band around her right upper arm, a short purple skirt that incorporates a silvery belt around the waist, and purple thigh-high boots with silver trim -- although in were-fang form they lose the foot part of the boots.

    Yes, it's Starfire from the Teen Titans cartoon, the only version of the character she is familiar with!

    And she can practically hear it now: 'What's your costume supposed to be?'

    Well, at least Wis was willing to go along with it! "Yes," Mizuki answers, "Believe me, the Internet would never let us forget it." She replies dryly, then perks up, clasping hands together. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe they put an event in this game so we get to go TRICK-OR-TREATING again as adults! How cool is that?! I feel like a kid again!" She blinks, then coughs, and is clearly trying to... 'do a voice' that's a bit softer. "I mean... This strange Earth custom of 'Halloween' sounds fascinating, and I cannot wait to partake in it together with all of my friends!" She hugs Wisteria. "I wonder if they will have any mustard-flavored candy?"

The first house along the trail is brightly lit with the glow of an orange lantern which dangles out front. This clearly indicates it as one of the stopping points along the trail. The house has a warm atmosphere, with piles of colorful leaves raked together in the yard and playful decorations featuring scarecrows and owls.

The house is lavish, with fine embroidery on the window dressings and a clearly artistic flair to the way it was built. The decorations share that same eccentric nature, with folded cloth bats hanging from the trees and spiders made from bits of wire that dangle from string webbings.

The owner is a well known seamstress, known for creating fine clothing for nobility throughout Yamato. The Sylph woman is a little portly around the middle, but has a warm smile and a sweet nature. However, she also has a very keen eye.

"Come on up, come closer!" She invites, waving them forward. "Let me see those costumes of yours. I can forgive a few loose threads from the children, but I hope you all have something impressive to show me."

Challenge: Tailoring

    Merek's attire is a little bit patchwork. It looks like a cat costume with things from different anime. Outlaw Star cape, a few paws along with the cat ears. The man seems to be a little bit happy with that all the same. The man nods a bit while he will lift the bag up.

Yeowang's costume is not spectacular, but there's no egregious faults with it. No loose threads, no rips or tears. She smiles warmly as she approaches the Lander and bows low, the rises and smiles as the woman inspects us.

Look if there's one thing in his entire life that Syx knows, it's wrestling atire from the 1990s. His costume is impecable. Is it all made by him? Probably not, but it seems he at least knows where to find the parts to put the costume together.

Of course there's more than just the outfit to the costume. Syx is entirely in character as The Undertaker as he looms menacingly towards the side of the gathering. He reaches up with his hands and tugs his gloves a bit tighter.

The idea of being inspected has Giganpor raise an eyebrow, moving over to do so. It's not his best armored suit, but well... the suit's lacking some lines here and there, and it's obviously not fully one piece of metal in places it probably should be. Ah well.

"Uh, thank you? And sorry if it is not up to inspection. I literally put this together in a month."

    Wistiera puts her arm around Mizuki's shoulders "This will be fun." she says with a smile that shows enough razor fangs to impress her cosplay's father. "Okay lets see if we can't get this quest rolling, maybe we can find some chance or glitch in the quest since it's like a yearly.. sure those had less oversight right?" Her costume is good, but it's made by someone going off descriptions more than memory and just trusting in Mizukichi's knowledge of the character to be right.

SpritesHero squints, if a spectre can squint. Glances about himself, if the swiveling of his hood is any indication. Finds himself carried along by the crowd to a house where he is, if against his will, assessed for his tailoring skills. Which, if one were to be honest, seem to be limited to having purchased robes and roughed them up a bit. Dangling threads? Plenty of those. Finding himself near someone in a plage-doctor mask (Prophylaxis), his hood swivels once more. "Sir?" he asks, uncertainly. He really should have invested in a voice modulator, because those tones are neither ringing nor sepulchral.

Oh geez, they're actually getting inspected? That's.. awkward... and is ruffling a bit of Shiruba's self-confidence in appearances. She nearly trips over her long 'hair', but manages to catch herself, and turn it into a haphazard effort at doing a few cliche anime action poses, and finishing alongside Gwen.

It's probably clear to a professional that her costume, while very well done, wasn't done by herself. Especially when she's next to her 'partner' and her similar style of outfit.

    Miyako steps up to be inspected with the rest, giving her naginata a twirl as it makes that famous lightsaber humm. Her costume is adequate, but the sewing is clearly sloppy in places, and things are a bit uneven here and there. It at least fits her well, though. Nothing is in danger of falling out, despite a slightly revealing cut. She smiles and steps aside for Kotono.

Walking forwards with a look of uneasiness, Kotono shows off her costume. Unfortunately, it was not very well made. In fact, if they were to look closely, they'd find the fabric is very cheap and not very well put together. In fact, it looks more like she took something that was store bought and altered a little to give her own touches to. She puts on a brave smile, but it's obvious she's not going to get much for this.

    Together the skeleon and adventurer approach the old lady with the knight holding up the bag and even making noises that sounds like trick or treat, though no real words. Next to him stands Setsuna who is walking a little more rigid then normal. However they weren't expecting to get the eagle eye old lady who has horrible eye sight until she sees problems. Pointing out how she can obviously see flesh under the shirt, how the paint is already running also obviously that bone leg is so fake. Walking away the skeleton knight makes more noises at Setsuna and Setsuna looks over at it, " Yeah yeah, at least she liked your costume. I knew I should have invested in professional made stuff. Next year I am going to have to really commit to looking the part. "

Stitching seams is not the only thing in this world that can make a hand swift with the needle and thread. A doctor's hand must be steady and keen-- unlike fabric, there can be no snipping and trying again when flesh must be stretched over gaping wounds. Prophylaxis gazes at the seamstress through the lenses of his exaggerated mask. The hoary scent of various antiseptic herbs follows in his wake as he approaches. "Madame," the Plague Doctor says with a doffing of his black, silk hat. "You called for a chirurgeon? Might I inquire what manner of ailment plagues you? I come prepared for any eventuality..."

He pulls open the breast of his coat, revealing a glimmering array of tools, each with utterly indecipherable purpose, which click or clack or snick or snack when drawn from their holster. He gives the woman a meaningful look and pulls a syringe meaningfully from one of the slots and lightly taps the needle-tip, causing a fluorescent liquid to ooze from within.

Does she wish to approach to investigate the seams of this particular 'costume...?'

They are all Nerds here that is the truth of the matter. Gwen is an up and comming sort when it comes to this thin so she boldly presents her costume to the older Sylph to take a look at her work and she beams. "Hello there what do you think? I did thi based off a story where I'm from!"

    Mizukifire walks along the trail almost bouncing with joy. It's Halloween again! It's trick-or-treating time again! It's when you get to cosplay in normal society and it's ACCEPTABLE AND OKAY! Oh, and there's going to be candy too! The fall atmosphere and the decorations just bring back that feel...

    When they approach the first house, she's still doing the voice: "This is the part where we ask for the trick or the treat, yes?" She smiles as the Lander comes into view. "Oh, merry Halloween to you my fair Lander! Will you be giving us the trick or the treat today?" Invited closer, she steps forward. The costume... well, she asked Gwen for help with it, but Sam didn't have any experience making costumes as an adult, so... well, at least it looks like it was made with love and attention to detail, even if it still ended up an amateur job. Mizuki's ears blush when the skirt is examined, reminding her of how short it is. Still, she remains in character, and holds a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "So I understand we're out collecting candy today, but what happens if one of the Landers elects the trick instead? And why are they giving us candy, anyway? Oh right, it's to show how thankful they are that the first harvest in a new world turned out okay, yes?"

Stage 2: The Musician's House

As each person steps up, there is a ooo and a a look as if they were the most wonderful thing. However, those with keen senses can tell that the woman has a shrewd eye. Certain people seem to be slipped more candy than others. Prophylaxis gets a surprised, almost nervous look from the woman who gives an audible, "Oh my. Um, yes. Quite a belivable costume. These should leave you in good health." There is a look of momentary worry for Shiruba nearly tripping. Others get confused expressions as she doesn't seem to recognize the costumes.

Mizuki is given a smile, the Sylph somewhat charmed by their greeting. "Only treats, my dear!" Gwen is given what is likely a fist-full of candies, "I've never seen anything like it! Such fine craftsmanship!" Kotono, though, seems to be the last person to step forward and the Sylph reaches for her bowl, only to realize there is just a single candy left. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I wasn't expecting so many visitors." She at least makes sure that the girl walks away with something.

Further along the road, they travel deeper into the more affluent part of Carmina Gadelica. A group of children run by in front of them, giggling as they carry along bags filled with treats, racing ahead to the next house.

A few moments later, their voices can be heard singing a spooky sounding song from among those known to the Landers. Rounding the corner, the group finds the children standing before a modest, but well built home which seems to be following a siren theme. There are bits of 'debris' meant to look like shipwrecks, and a tattered pirate's banner that hangs from the roof.

An undine man stands in front of the children, clapping enthusiastically and then handing out a series of blue candies into their bags. Then, spotting the group, he grins enthusiastically. "Go on now, children." The children laugh and run off, zooming past the Adventurers as they are invited to the porch.

"I've heard the same few songs all night. Would you happen to have something different to soothe these old ears?" He asks, looking at each of them, in-turn. "Something spooky to go along with the season?" The Undine suggests.

Challenge: Song

Yup. That's definitely got to be Prophylaxis. "May I congratulate you, sir," Robert offers, "On being utterly terrifying. Brilliant, sir." After which compliment he finds himself bundled off to the next house in this festival's version of a man being yanked off-stage by a cane. He's mysteriously shoved to the front of the crowd, smack dab in front of the next house, and asked to...uh....sing? The old man must have a suicide wish. Conceivably Robert has a deer-in-the-headlights look--not that his face is visible. Conceivable it is simply a brilliantly executed, ominous silence, interrupted only the tinkling of frost crystals shattering and reforming along his robes. Black mist puffs away from his hood, accompanied by an eerie sigh. Or maybe it's a nervous exhale.

    Merek thinks about it a moment, and will nod, "I do have a song," he notes, while he checks on the candy, thanking that woman that offered it while he thinks. "Psycho killer, this must be the place, we used to go, so why don't we go. EASTBOUND!"

Shiruba looks in her bag afterwards. "... Oh, this is actual candy!" Not just some odd giveaway item. "My parents almost never let me have candy." That certainly seemed to get her to perk up. Enough that she's the one that grabs Gwen to lead her to the next house. "Come on, Kei, let's go. That's only the first stop on this que--mission! Yes, mission. I totally meant to say mission."

The burst of ethusiasm doesn't taper too much when the next patron asks them to sing. And Shiruba... well, Shiruba tries. She does, honestly, she tries.

But being a lupine Cait Sith you only get some yips and yaps that are off-key, and a drawn out "Arooooooo~" which at least suits the atmosphere even if it isn't exactly singing.

Yeowang accepts her treats, and moves along with the group, peering ahead as she listens to the singing children. A moment later, she realizes that our destination is thar same place. Alas, she doesn't know too many Halloween songs, and no songs that any Landers would know. She /does/ know a set of lyrics to the Peer Gynt Suite, In the Hall of the Mountain King. She learned them in English, though since it's translated anyhow doesn't much matter, but the rhymes and rhythms might not work in the listeners' languages. And Halloween's not even the name of the local holiday. But she goes for it.

"Halloween's a scary night
Scary night, scary night
Halloween's a scary night

And it goes on for a bit more. Sadly, she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. And frankly it sounds like crap without a full orchestra, which is how she learned it."

    Setsuna was in luck, the old man had only asked the adventurers to sing, he knew that would not go well if he himself had to sing. Instead he kicks his 'adventurer' partner, " Well sing like the man asked. " Moments later there is a lot of groans and grunts as the skeleton does it'sbest to comply. If someone really focuses on the noise and looks for a rhythm you think, just maybe it was going for the Addam's family theme song.

Getting only one treat is better than none.

Kotono now realizes that she has to sing and she doesn't know what exactly she's supposed to sing. Nevertheless, she tries to open her mouth and sing.

Except nothing comes out.

She clears her throat and tries again, "Michael Rennie was ill the day the Earth stood still, but he told us just where we stand..."

She trails off as she realizes that they wouldn't even know what the Rocky Horror Picture Show is.

It seems once again Syx's Harmonics is going to come in handy. Music related challenges are something he's quite capable of. Staying in character, however, means he can't exactly sing. Thankfully the Undertaker's entrance theme doesn't have any lyrics.

Syx begins to hum and intone the somber funeral march that is the Undertaker's theme. It's slow and serious and somber, and very, /very/ spooky sounding.

    Mizuki beams at the lady. "Thanks so much, miss <Name>!" She adds the candy to her inventory and practically skips down the trail to the next house. The running and giggling children make her smile, too. Even children from a completely different culture are enjoying the fun of Halloween! As they approach the next house, she looks suitably impressed! "Ooh, I love your decorations! It's nice to see someone who loves Halloween -- err, the Shadow Festival so much!" Her tail is twitching with excitement.

    And then.

    AND THEN.

    A Lander asks for a Halloween song.

    There are not many Halloween songs.

    But there is one. And it is one that Landers could not possibly have heard before.

    Mizuki's eyes widen, followed by her mouth as the realization hits. She looks about to BURST with Halloween spirit!

    She takes a deep breath, then smiles, and raises her hands for spooky gestures.

    She lowers her voice and leans forward conspiratorially, looking at the Lander and any children nearby: "Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to hear something strange?" She then raises her voice and stands tall, starting to pace around as she continues, "Come with us and you will see, this our town of Hallo-wee-een!"

    She does the whole thing. Somehow, in this world, music comes even more easily to her...

    Afterwards she grins wide and looks expectantly around at all the Landers for their reaction.

Yep this is definitely, absolutely Prophylaxis. The doctor somehow exudes an aura of... vague disappointment(?) that he won't be getting to perform any terrifying procedures on this poor woman today. But he accepts a bribe of treats to go away and please do not continue to terrify the children. The Plague Doctor gives Robert a quick thumbs up in acknowledgment before continuing to stay absolutely, 100% in character in time for the next unfortunate domicile they happen upon.

A song. They want a song? Prophylaxis can't sing! Especially not with a damn plague doctor mask on. He's got a /schnoz/ right there in the way you know? One packed full of a variety of herbs and spices!

Instead he gives the old man a look and gestures vaguely to the sky, which has abruptly begun to turn stormy. Cracks of thunder roll in the distance as a keening note whistles when the wind rustles through the ramparts. Probably... not the /best/ replacement for song, but...

    Wisteria is... well she's a history nerd so her choice of song is both a bit odd and definately old. "Where are you from? From Higo. -Where in Higo? In Kumamoto. -Where in kumamoto. in Senba. A tanuki is in the Senba mountains. A hunter shoots it with agun: Boils it -Roasts it- eats it. Let's hide it in the leaves."

    Some people just can't carry a tune in a bucket. Miyako is not one of those. Most adventurers know of her as a Bard, after all, and she hasn't been faking it with system assists. Her naginata is handed to Kotono for the moment - "Do hang on to this, Ko-chan?" she asks - and she then produces her guitar.

        ./~ Blackbird, blackbird, flyin' late, grease in the pot and ash in the grate
        ./~ They barred the door and they shut the gate, they got no place for me
        ./~ My bottle's empty and my head is sore, I don't know where I've been before
        ./~ Bar your gate, and shut your door, the blackbird's flyin' free.

    The song goes on, telling the tale of a wanderer in the night, barred from home and hearth. It ends with the truth of his wandering:

        ./~ Where am I going to sleep tonight? I can't turn left, and I won't turn right
        ./~ Where the road goes on in the cold moonlight, and the lonely blackbird flies
        ./~ I'm going to sleep in a lonely bed, with white and whiter linen spread
        ./~ A cold grey stone at my foot and head
        ./~ And pennies on my eyes.....


(OOC: https://youtu.be/aMZyCr7q6X4 )

Giganpor shakes his head, considering, "Hm... bit American, but it's still a classic..." He clears his throat, then looks at the others with a small grin, "Granted, I'm not in the right costume."

Clearing his voice, he starts off, and actually pulls off a passable performance, with motions, of Thriller. Everyone gets treated to a Guy Shishio doing the Thriller dance, too. Even if no one else joins in, it's still fun. And he does the entire song.
(OOC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJwxcYTa_VQ )

Gwen smile at the old woman and says "I should come back to talk shop with you at some point! I run a shop near the tower." She nods she's beaming at this sort of praise and soon they will be moving on to the next one. So they were asked to sing? She could do that, she totally could do that.

She'll start belting out a song a random song the first thing that comes to mind. Is the song Big Iron.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzICMIu5zFY

Stage 3: The Politician's House

It is probably a bad thing that the old musician had asked a random group of strangrers to sing. Some voices are outstanding, rising above the others, but there are some that cause him to twitch and wince. Much of the music is unfamiliar to him, but the Lander seems enthralled by a few choice bits of music.

"Ooo, that is spooky sounding." He nods enthusiastically to Syx. Though he doesn't understand what a Halloween is, he does seem to watch Mizuki's performance intensely. "Yes, yes. Very good! You'll have to stop by later and teach me that one!" Wisteria is met with a confused look, "Odd, but... strangely good." Miyako is also met with a raised eyebrow as he listens, nodding his head.

Then someone howls and it seems to distract him. "Yes, yes. You all did very well!" He's lying. "Come, come, candy for everyone!" He hands out small treats that seem to be wrapped in rice paper, likely some kind of rice candy.

They seem to be reaching the edge of the more affluent districts of Carmina Gadelica now. The streets are still brightly lit, but the sounds of the Festival seem to have ebbed away slightly.

There are no children around the third house, perhaps because it doesn't exactly look the most welcoming of places. Though there are a few decorations, they seem to have been put up in an almost haphazard manner. There are a few bundles of fall vegetables and little more than that to even mark the houes as part of the trail.

Sitting on the porch is a absolutely rotund looking Cait sith, complete with red tabby cat ears and a tail that twitches irritatedly behind him. He has the attitude of a cat that doesn't want to deal with other people. This likely explains why there are no children around.

"Yeah? Don't just stand there." He calls out, "Let's get this overwith. I don't see why the hell I should have to give out free sweets to people. Stupid holiday." He grumbles to himself. "Got to put on a good face for the common folk, though, right?" He offers up a toothy grin, but then looks at them, skeptically. "You're all too old for treats. Why the hell should I give you anything?"

Challenge: Negotiation

    Merek walks along and to the next while he takes a moment to nod, "Well, I think it would be nice to give candy to people, you can make friends!" The man often explains with the simplest way while he takes a look about the place.

Shiruba opens her mouth as if to object that she's not too old... And then stops herself as she remembers the body she has now is like mid-twenties, regardless of how young she may of been before.

Okay, different tactic.

Instead of a snarky remark... Shiruba just makes her best 'puppy dog eyes' face possible. "You don't want to be known as the one man who didn't join in the holiday cheer, do you? Think of how depressing such a reputation would be!"

Yeowang would have done better if she could have remembered all the lyrics, probably. Finishing off, "dah-dah dah-dah dah-dah!" wasn't particularly lyrical, was it? She comes to the next house, and it's some old grandpa, grouchy and sour, and not entirely wrong about going from house to house hoping for treats. A lot like her granddad, come to think of it, and she'll smile warmly. "It's a long night, isn't it?" she says sympathetically. Her granddad was a sucker for shoulder rubs from his granddaughter, so she'll try it with this fellow. Putting on the sweet granddaughter expression, she says placatingly, "The weather's turning, and the days are getting shorter. And who's got the time for nonsense, am I right? But we'll be done soon, so don't let us cause you any trouble."

Now Syx is pretty good at things, and he takes the offered candy for his spooky song, before getting on and moving to the next house. He remembers once upon a time going to the expensive looking houses because they would give better candy...Even if it was the butler that was the one handing out the candy.

Everyone else seems to be intent on talking the guy into giving them candy. Syx has other ideas, he doesn't really care for this guy's attitude. It's a celebration, after all!

Syx makes eye contact with the Lander, and then raises his hands up to his sides, above his head for a moment, still maintaining eye contact, before he drops his hands, and four jets of flame shoot up into the sky from behind him.

The lander should give him candy because he could very well have made those jets of flame inside of his house instead of outside.

SpritesHero really can't help it. This cait sith is sort of fellow. Cat. Thing. Whatever. "You've already bought the sweets," he observes, each word roiling the smoke that hides the features for all that his tones are lightened with amusement. "You can't sell them. I doubt you'll be eating them yourself, unless you want to be prying toffee out of your fangs, or..." pause. "Exercising more. You say we're old? Long in the tooth?Even better. Give them to us, there's a good chance that at least one of us will be suffering from a nasty toothache come morning. Think of it as a way of getting a bit of your own back, while still keeping your good face, yeah?"

Look, not everyone can serenade with the dulcet sounds of a siren's voice. Some people have a literal mouthful of herbs to talk around! This is what Prophylaxis gets for trying to go for a realistic costume. 'Shafted!' Bah, it's fine. It's /fine./

What's not fine is someone poo-pooing the holiday spirit. The doctor gives this politician a look that could wither even the mightiest of oaks. He doesn't light anyone's house on fire, or anyone's /anything else/ on fire, but you can just tell he's seriously considering it.

    Wisteria smiles at the man, forgetting she's in bun form and showing lots of razor fangs. "It's sung with a ball game, I'll teach you." she says happily and waves before the group moves off to do some more trick-or-treating.

    The group progresses on to the fat CaitSith's house, and it seems he doesn't want to play the game. So halloween it is, the spookier side. The bungirl in her dark cloak leans forward and smiles, lots of razor triangles on display. This time her smile a little more predatory. "But sir, you have candy, and we're ever so huunnnngry." she says with her best halloween growl.

Sighing, he shakes his head. "Guys, guys. Hang on." He moves over to the old man, "Listen, I didn't understand the holiday before either."

"See, before I came to this world? I was stuck in a way that wouldn't allow me to enjoy the world we came from. Even this was well... wrong to me. But, you sir? I know it may seem like you are doing nothing, but I would like to show you something."

Giganpor shifts briefly to his Were Lion form, his eyes scanning a bit it seems and using the keener senses. "There." He points down the street some. "See those kids? They just came from here. Because you gave them candy, you put a smile on their face. To some this is a way to have fun, get candy, and see the creative costumes people can make. Others see it as a way of honoring the tales of old. I bet you have quite a few, and probably some more to share on the costumes involved among those kids."

He smiles, and shakes his head, "If you do not wish to give candy to us adults, that is fine, but please remember to keep to the spirit for the kids. We do not all live like the Alvs of old, but in that time get some joy out of it. Have fun with the kids and spread some of your tales, elder."

Giganpor smiles at the old man, hoping his words do some nice justice there and turns to go either way.

If there's one thing Kotono is good at, it's talking nicely. She takes a deep breath and blows it out before speaking gently.

"I understand how you might feel about us being 'too old' for this. I can appreciate that fully. However, I also believe that Halloween is something that everyone can celebrate. I mean, people of all ages go to Halloween parties, so I personally don't see the harm in a few of us getting a few candies." She smiles sweetly. (No pun intended!)

Gwen has fun with the song dshe does okay which is pretty good for her she'll tkae the cany thank their host badore she end sup on her way with everyon else but when it comes to the next house she's got a few issues. "Well for one we're willing to help spread awareness of the candy if we like it we'll end up going to the people hwo make it to buy more or one, two it's in good fun, I'm certaiun you enjoyed it. when you were young. Four I doubt you can eat all the candy you have on hand by yourself."7

    Miyako steps up to the rotund gentleman and makes a florid, sweeping bow. "My good sir," she begins, "As my colleague so aptly stated," she gestures at Giganpor, "You need not give any candy to anyone you do not wish to." She smiles, wide and warm.

    "It's interesting, though. Every time I wander the villages and towns I hear talk of how childish Adventurers can be. How immature so many of us are." She shrugs, waving a dismissive hand.

    "Honestly I won't argue it. Many of us are... well, less than ideal heroes, shall we say. But tonight is a night for everyone to be childish. So hand out your treats where you think them deserved, and when you shut your door tonight, sit with your family and laugh at how silly and childish these adventurers are. How pointless and frivolous their customs. How you sent them away with nothing but a pittance for their efforts." She smiles and waves her hand again.

    "After all, this is a night for tricks, as well as treats, is it not?"

    At the beginning of Giganpor's performance , the skeleton knight seems to be pulled into the music. Then moments later so is Setsuna as they do the dance along with Giganpor. It seemed the necromancer was pulled into the moment for sure and can't get out of it till the performance is over.

     Eventually though they are freed and meet the old grumpy man and as he listens to Giganpor's words he nods his heads . " You are right. We should keep thespirit for the children. " Setsuna approaches the old man and looks at him for a moment with the knight intimidating the old man like two yakuza members and Setsuna says the words very carefully. "Trick. Or. Treat." Is that a threat? It may be a threat. Staring down the old man is a negotiation tactic that doesn't end to well. So Setsuna and the knight walk to the edge of the mans property and Setsuna opens his inventory and retrieves a bucket of eggs and places it off the man's property. "Oh no there is a bucket of eggs here, I hope no one takes offense to this Donkey's House and throws eggs at it. That would be horrible if not completely deserving of karma. Remember this is all for the children." The necromancer over acts the performance. However it was , for the children.

    The lander loved it! "Yes, I will definitely come by!" She... actually looks forward to chatting with a Lander about the Shadow Festival and how it came to mean so much to them! She walks on to the next house with a spring in her step. She notices the haphazard decorations... well... maybe this person isn't good at decorations. They could still love Halloween! Sam wasn't good at costumes and decorations either, after all...

    Boy, he looks grumpy. Maybe he just has resting bitch face? Mizuki BEAMS at him.

    ...And then looks shocked as he speaks. And the words 'too old' hit like an arrow. She starts to deflate...

    What's he supposed to say? No one's going to listen to him, anyway. Some guy ranting about geeky dress-up would just look foolish.

    ...But Sam is wearing TWO costumes today. MIZUKI wouldn't give up, would she?

    Mizukifire un-slumps. "Too old for *free candy*?" She breathes, "Never."

    She marches up to the Cait Sith, grinning madly.

    ...And then Giganpor delivers a speech even better than she could hope to. She stares at him for a moment in awe. She may not like what he did, but today, he's stood up for Halloween!

    After a moment, she looks back from Giganpor to the Lander. "Holidays are a lot of work, it's true! Sometimes, when you... when you're focused on something else, it feels like a lot of work when a day suddenly rolls around and you're supposed to put up decorations, or make a costume." Her ears splay as she looks over the man. "...Or maybe you feel like you have a body that wouldn't look good in any costume... Even if you like the spirit of the holiday, it can kind of feel like a bother. I don't know how you ended up being on candy duty... but you're here now."

    She holds an arm out towards Giganpor. "Listen to Lion-Man over here. The kids are enjoying this. We're enjoying it. I'm not going to say you have to enjoy it too if the Shadow Festival just isn't your thing, but there must be something else you DO enjoy. Think of that, and how you'd like for others not to rain on your parade when you're enjoying it. Being grumpy to eachother just makes everyone grumpy. If everyone supports eachother, we can all have more good times!" She steps forward to try and give him a comforting hug if he allows. "Try to have an okay Shadow Festival, and when the time comes for whatever your thing is, remember the smiles on our and the children's faces and know that we're with you in spirit, okay?"

    She steps back and smiles hopefully, waiting to see if his mood was lifted at all.

Stage 4: The Witch's House

There are a number of different ways of convincing the fat cat to give up his stash of candy, some more effective than others. "I suppose you're right, I don't have anything else to do with these and I will just get fatter." He mutters to SpritesHero. "Yes, yes. No trouble." He agrees with Yeowang. He doesn't seem to be interested in Merek's idea of making friends, though, and just gives a feline grunt.

Luckily, Giganpor, Gwen, Kotono and others appeal to the man's heart, and while he might be old and fat, he isn't entirely selfish. "Yes. I do try to at least keep the spirit of the holiday. I'm just old and grumpy." He sighs and reaches to collect the bowl, then pauses.

Wisteria is given a hesitant glance, with her hungry growl, and he clears his throat, about to say something else. His eyes flick to Setsuna's bucket of eggs and looks... uncomfortable. That's when Syx makes eye contact and starts shooting up fire. The cat's ears flatten and he seems all too happy to all but shove handfuls of candy towards the adventurers. These ones seem to be small red candies, which have a variety of berry flavors.

The brighter lights that mark the Festival seem to fade away a bit as the trail leads down into the common parts of the city of Carmina Gadelica. Houses are packed closer together. There are still families who walk the candy trail, but there are signs that many of the houses have already run out of treats and have closed up for the evening.

After a while, the group does come along one house that still has the lantern lit and even a glance likely tells why they might still have treats so late into the evening. The house is dark in color, with shuttered windows and very real cobwebs that cling to the trees, complete with very real spiders.

The front porch sags at an unusual angle, the door tilted slightly out of the frame. The building looks as if it could fall over from the next passing storm, complete with signs of broken timber and hastily patched up walls.

Sitting on the porch is an older, Imp woman, with a distinctly hooked nose and skin so pale that it looks almost white in the moonlight. She is dressed in shabby clothing, rocking on her chair and humming to herself when they approach.

"Oh, yes. Hello my dears. Won't you come closer? These eyes don't see as well as they used to." She squints. "I used to be a powerful witch, you know. Or at least that's what the children say." The Imp titters to herself. That's when a couple of children start throwing vegetables at her house. With a sigh, she looks to the group. "Perhaps you could put on a display of dark magic for me? Keep those little ruffians worried enough about the old witch... I only give treats to nice children, anyways."

Challenge: Dark

    "I know something that's better. That is, fire magic," Merek mentions, then he sends a fireball into the sky, which begins to generally try to explode. Which that does, and it's likely that it will assist in keeping people away from the place. There's a nod.

Giganpor considers, "I am not that well versed at Dark, but... perhaps..." He lowers his voice, then gives off a resounding growl sound. Something that only a large beast might pull off. He moves around to another area, watching the others before doing another sound. He keeps the species varied, even if he is limited to felines by his form.

Something that has some serious bite, is scary, and well... it's obvious he has to tap into some Were-Lion instincts a bit here and there. Then a lower roar than what others have seen him do. Ones meant to put the fear of the dark into children just for fun. It's fun for him, to scare children a bit here and there. And yes, the lion man looks to be having fun.

Shiruba would of rather of had a nice chat with the old witch, but they're interrupted by brats throwing produce. "Oh, is this the 'trick' part of trick or treating?" she asks, mostly of her partner in crime. "Tricks, I can do!"

Too bad this world doesn't actually have guns to go with their costumes, but Shiruba will make do. She still has something similar in her magic arts.

"Not so fast, you rude little gremlins!" Shiruba spins on her heel, purple hair/tail whipping behind her as she does so, and channels her magic into making a 'finger gun' gesture to make up not having the real thing. But thanks to magic she can 'shoot' this gun, firing a chunk of crystallized darkness through several of the vegetables, and pinning them to a nearby tree just above one of the kid's heads. That should scare some sense into him.

Yeowang pats the old man on the shoulder and collects her candies, moving on to the next house, with the old imp woman and the naught children. Halloween pranks seem to be universal, then? Well, two can play at that game, and when the lady asks for a display of dark magic, she'll comply. Or, try to. She hasn't quite got the hang of magic in this world, for all that she's been here so long. But she knows the spell for a sphere of dark malevolence that ought to scare the children straight for a week or two. Shadows, to start with, and horrible screams, and an enervating weakness that engulfs them, with shadowy shapes and little flickers of horrible things.

SpritesHero appears to be getting into the spirit of things. No, not the spirit of Halloween. The spirit of terrifying overly-rambunctious kids. His hood tilts to the head, contemplatively, and then he's turning around, his eyeless, smoke-shrouded gaze lingering upon the children. He lifts his hand, his silvery and black mists rippling in anticipation. The frost of his robes glitters more harshly still and, with the lightest of sighs as though souls were being exhaled from their bodies, his magic wraps its hungry fingers around the incoming produce. Which rots, decays, dessicates, and is soundlessly dispersed on the wind in a stream of ash. Die, vegetables, die.

After collecting her candies, Kotono is asked to demonstrate her mastery of the dark arts. "I have to convert to the Dark Side?" She rolls her eyes before shrugging. "Very well then!" With that, Kotono projects forth a dark ball of energy briefly before making it disappear. "That's just a sample of what I can do."

Now Syx doesn't have any dark magic. He knows this. And he just pulled his fancy fire trick at the last house, so he doesn't want to repeat himself. So he decides to try to do some kind of dark magic, maybe pull off the Undertaker's infamous teleportation move...But it fails and he's just left standing there with some smoke billowing around him.

    Wisteria smiles, a much happier smile with no fangs. "Thanks Mr. We all love candy and playing dressup it's fun, try a silly hat next year and like make the kids dance or something it'll be funny." she skips off happily

    Then the group is heading along a dark path, and Wist hooks arms with Mizukichi. "This is fun thanks for helping me pick a costume." she says chirpily.

    When they get the speach from the 'witch' "Oooh hey, did you really? Were you like a Hunter? Did you work for the Tower? Was there an epic battle? How are you with curses? I love curses, I've been working on rebuilding crystal latice enchanting it's so neat and dark magics just work great with it." she says happily without ever giving the woman a chance to answer. "My costume is from a famous witch in our world." she poses "She uses dark magics too... lets see...." she licks her lips and tries to remember what Mizuki taught her. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" dark power crackles around the Bun Were drifting like dark chains and snapping out at people, carefully controlled to keep the curses from quite reaching people as her red eyes blaze beneith her hood.

    Setsuna and the skeleton knight both point to there eyes and then points to the man as they walk away. It would not be surprising if they camped out on the old man's lawn the rest of the night. As soon as they are out of sight however Setsuna goes back to smiling and enjoying the knight. Eventually making it to a witches house that wants a display of dark magic, so what does the necromancer do he raises bones out of the groud and they start to look very impressive. Skulls floating around laughing, dark flames, and then , well it just repeats. No finisher, simply repeats, whih obviously loses the wow factor, every moment of repetition.

    Too old and grumpy... Mizuki stops in her tracks for a moment. "...I hope you get a chance to be something else, too..." She looks a bit more somber as she reflects on that on her way along the path. Although she brightens up bit by bit as she sees other groups of children and adventurers pass.

    Ooh, a spooky-looking house! As she passes the real spiders though she holds hands over her head and pulls her hair a bit aside in the opposite direction. She does not want to experience spiders in her hair and fur again!

    "Trick or treeeat!" She beams, then comes closer when asked... and then her fur bristles when a vegetable hits the house. She whirls. "SERIOUSLY? You are being very naughty little children!" She ROARS. "If you behaved like that on Tamaran, your parents would be so ashamed they would feed you to the gnarlakks!" She roars again, this time with fire breath, and conjures little bolts of fire to hurl into the sky like starbolts.

    Once the children have been suitably chased off, she turns back around, all smiles and enthusiasm again. "They're just envious of you because witches are *cool*. You need the hat, though, and the matching outfit to remind them that you're a badass bitch and not to be trifled with! They're only doing that because they don't *really* believe you're a witch, so they think you won't do anything -- if they did, they'd be afraid of being turned into frogs! Or cats. Or whatever! Even if you're too nice to do that. They need to believe you *could*."

    Mizuki holds a finger to her chin. "Actually, COULD you? Like, get some friendly kid to pretend to get 'caught' and help you put on a show, start some rumors going? Have to make it clear you're merciful too at the end, though, don't want people to think you're actually mean..."

    Miyako hmms softly and considers the challenge. Dark magic, eh? Well, she's got some practice with that, and being a Spriggan she's fairly good at it. She casts a glance at Kotono, and smiles, then - in as deep a voice as she can manage - "Forever will the Dark Side dominate your destiny."

    A few quickly-scribbled runes, and shadows rise up around her like a cloak, wrapping her from behind, then covering her entirely. A long moment passes before they fade, revealing a changed figure. Now she stands in gleaming black armor, a panel of buttons on her chest, while her helmet has an almost skull-like shape very familiar to the adventurers.

    She turns to face the children, lightsaber-naginata in hand, and advances on them, breath hissing loudly through the mask...

    Koh-hiss, koh-hiss. "Now, you will realize the power, of the Dark Side of the Force..."

Gwen smiles at the old man thanks him and will be heading off to the next point. The witch seem friendly enough but she's got osme kids causing an ruccus and Gwen startt ot think she does have a feew dark spells. Sure her ability to use them is horrible and they won't do much if any damage. She can try to make them look good however. So she start chanting. "I call upon the dark house upon the hill by the name of Lovecraft...." Then coems what seem to be hyorrible tentacles of darkness wriggling towars the kids...

That could have gone much worse! They could have burnt down a man's home, or at the very least laid absolute waste to the neighborhood with a truly heinous conflagration. But it all turned out for the best! And they all come away with a handful or two (or syx) to show for their holiday cheer.

But the evening wears on, and the number of homes still willing or able to hand out treats is dwindling. Finally, they come to a place that...

Looks about the most Halloween-y thing they've seen all night.

After a cursory check for chicken legs, Prophylaxis approaches the woman who all but certainly is some kind of-- former?-- witch. She confirms his suspicions almost immediately, but...

Then a tomato splatters against a wall. Prophylaxis's head snaps to stare the offending vegetable, then toward the children responsible with a glare that immediately registers as 'badly offended schoolteacher.' "Say no more," the doctor answers as he turns towards the batch of bad apples. "Children," he says ominously, his cloak rattling in the wind. "Those who do not know their manners shall suffer all the horrors of a distant world. Behold...!"

He throws open his shroud, a globe of darkness surging outward to engulf the naughty, awful children in its nightmarish shroud. A sensation like a flurry of bat-wings flutter against their faces, but then...

Their awareness would be replaced by a very specific scene.

...Of being strapped to a chair, bound tight, before a very unsanitary-looking gentleman turns over to fix them with a snaggle-toothed smile. A sound like a screaming banshee splits the air as the figure lifts a whirling, foot-spun dentist's drill toward the child's mouth and croons in a voice as sing-song as it is sickly, rottingly sweet, "Open wiiiiiide~"

"Behold, children," Prophylaxis whispers menacingly, "The Cavity Man!"

Stage 5: The Monster House

The sweet little old Imp lady watches the fire and darkness being thrown about with an almost childlike glee. She has probably suffered the taunts of those children for a long time, and this is the first time they have felt real fear. She laughs, a somewhat crackling sound, but it is without any real malice, she just seems to be enjoying the display.

The children, however, are definitely spooked. There are a few screams, and then they go running back up the road, clinging to their bags of candy as if for dear life. "That'll teach you young whippersnappers! Don't you mess with the mean old witch."

Once the children are out of ear-shot, though, she seems to calm down back to her normal self. She offers them a sweet smile. "You are all so kind to help out an old lady. Here, take some sweets, it's all I have to offer, but I promise they're delicious." She gives them what look to be candy-coated berries, which have a satisfying crunch when with real fruit juice centers. "Maybe I do need a hat... and a familiar maybe!" She laughs again.

The group eventually makes it to the end of the candy trail, but for some reason, it's difficult to find the last house. No one seems to have a lantern lit.

It might seem about time to turn back when a trio of children (the friendly ones they had seen before at the musician's house) come screaming in their direction, "Monster!" They call out, as if trying to warn you of the danger. Then, a crash follows from one of the houses just down the road.

The children scatter.

By the time they reach the house, it is obvious that something has gone very wrong. Part of the stucture has been destroyed and there is a man frantically trying to hold onto what looks to be a tiny, three-headed dog attached to a chain. One head keeps trying to chase the one solitary tale, the other is trying to lick itself in compromising places, and the third is belching fireballs which is likely the source of the damage.

"I... I didn't think it would be this hard to control." The frantic looking human explains as he tries to keep the dog in line. "It was so nice, but then one of the kids ran off with its bone and now it's gone crazy!"

Sure, it's a monster, but it's just a little monster, right? Look, it's tail is wagging even as it causes chaos and destruction. Adorable little firestarter.

Challenge:
Monster Handling (calm the monster) or Searching (find it a new toy)

    Merek looks about and picks up what looks like a few toys that are about, anything really that it might take interest in. The man brings that to the nice puppy.

Taking off quickly, Kotono does a little searching to find something that will calm the monster puppy down. She comes up with several potential options and, after a little mental debating, decides to take them all and bring them back. "The more the merrier!"

Children are one thing. Animals are something else. Who goes after animals? Daww. It may be three-headed and ornery animal, but there's something about li'l Fido here that brings back memories from elsewhere. Something that reminds him of the way his dog used to charge the fence and bark at the neighborhood pets, hackles up, teeth bared, tail....wagging. Well schucks. Sprites fishes about in his robes in a most un-otherworldly spirit like manner, and manages to come up with a bit of dried meat. It was probably meant to be his lunch, but the dog-tax calls. Not that Sprites gets close. It may be cute, but he's not sticking his hand near it. There's the muttered invocation of a spell, and the earth itself flicks that bit of jerky towards the target puppy. Food's a toy too, right? Right?

Giganpor raises an eyebrow, "A cerberus?" He looks considerate, "That would make for a strange Were-Fang."

Then he seems to consider before he raises his hand with the false gem stone on it, showing that it's actually a bit of a shield as he casts a spell. "Fires of the world, heed my call! Come forth, Flaris!" A summoning circle appears, releasing a small firey cat elemental. "Flaris, flame wall between it and the house!" The elemental cat runs to get into position, then spews out a fire break of a wall behind the puppy to stop it from retreating so quickly and hisses at it to get it's attention.

Shaking his head at the doggo, he sighs and starts moving Flaris by commands to setup a play pen made of fire for the puppy to deal with. It shouldn't be fire proof as well, right? Hopefully not!

    Miyako smiles lightly. "I'm more of a cat person, but I have to admit, he is definitely cute." She smiles a little wider, then... opens up her inventory.

    She takes a few moments to scroll through her library of items before picking an item and materializing it. "Here we go, boy," she calls to the dog, tossing the item - a monster-bone drop item! "Fetch!"

Yeowang smiles to the old woman, and agrees, "I'm sure a black cat would be perfect." Old ladies and cats go together naturally in any event, right? Then the children rush by with a warning, but she'll continue on just the same, to see what spooked them? And when we find it, she doubletakes. "Well," she says thoughtfully, and falls silent. She's got no idea what you do to calm down a three-headed dog. But ,,, maybe it had some dog toys around the yard? She looks around for recently turned earth, indicating where a dog might have buried a toy or bone, and she's rewarded with a ... yuck, a well-chewed bone.

She'll pick it up, and take it over to him, where one of the heads snatches it away from her. She keeps her hands clear of the teeth, but after a moment, it seems okay with her, and she will pet it tentatively. The fact it doesn't bite her hand off, she considers success.

It's probably best that the contents of Prophylaxis' nightmare sphere are known only to those who suffered the worst of its effects. Forever. You think they're going to forget it any time soon? Noooo, that's the kind of fear that will stick in the subconscious for /years./ Any time they even consider doing anything mischievious at kindly old ladies who may or may not be witches, they might just hear the distant scream of the Cavity Man's drill, waiting for them to return to his chair...

...

But that's then! This is now. With his bucket full of candy, Prophylaxis is rather satisfied by the night's haul. Just then, someone screams 'monster' and the doctor turns to see...

...

"Oh my gosh," he coos, approaching the flame-throwing head with a demeanor utterly unbefitting someone who just scared the pants off of some adolescent brats. "Would you wuckit the boys. Whoses good boys? Who's a good boy~" It's breathing fire, which is a problem. But the doctor has a solution for that! It involves conjuring a cloud of rain to help dampen the worst of the flame, while the doctor himself thoroughly pampers this one particular head.

Such a good doggo, look how cute they are!

A cerberus?! The guy probably doesn't want Syx to suplex his dog...So instead he starts blinking around the area looking for some kind of toy for the beast.

He's probably going too fast to actually find anything useful though.

Shiruba points a not-gun finger at the former witch. "Maybe a crow? Or some rats. You could have them in a cage, and tell the kids they were the brats that didn't get away..." Someone already mentioned a trick like that, so she's just building on it. "Regardless, enjoy the rest of the festival!" And merrily on their way they go.

By now Shiruba is in much better spirits. Pun intended. This had turned out to be quite pleasant and fun... But now they've got a less intentional scary sight, with a ravaged home due to strange monster behavoir. "Where did you even find a... no, nevermind. Not really important." Shiruba gives Gwen a slap on the back. "Com'n Kei, its the mystery of the missing toys!"

She turns around, and holds out a gloved hand (and the Relic device strapped to her wrist). It sweeps over the area, then pings on part of what was likely deocrations on the house at one point. But the strand is made of something tougher than rope, and hasn't burned up. Perfect. Shiruba grabs it, then runs back. "Here, here boy!" She flicks it back and forth at the fire burping head. "Get it! Get it! Grrr!" She figures if she can get one head to play tugowar he'll be too occupied to keep breathing fire.

(The downside: Now everything smells like wet dog. Prophylaxis is OK with this.)

    Setsuna and the knight happily take the candy from the witch and off they go when they hear the sound all adventurers are ready for. The call of children shouting and screaming and Setsuna runs up and sees.... a cute little cerberus puppy. " D'aaaaww," Setsuna says without even realizing as he approaches the puppy and begins to ppet it. Then the flames of Giganpor's play pen appear and Setsuna frowns, however what Setsuna does next is obviously unexpected. He pulls his dagger and stabs his own knight, and pushes over the 'stopped' knight so the cerberus can chew on him and the other skeletons that Setsuna summons. "Such good boys, and lady of course." He reaches down and pets the cerberus as they chew on the skeleton, " Wakko, Yakko, and Dot." Looking up at the supposed owner , "So what you plan to do with them?"

    Mizuki cackles with the witch, and gives her a friendly nod before heading on along the trail. Suddenly, she turns to Wisteria. "You said it! That was soo good, friend Raven!" She glomps affectionately and then continues walking.

    When the children shout about a monster, Mizuki first assumes it's a decoration that was too good, or perhaps a were fang Lander... but then... there's a real problem! "Oh no! Don't you worry, you adorable little Earth creature! Starfire will find you a new toy!" She turns to the others. "Robin's not here to say it, so... Titans, go!"

    Using her were fang senses, she tries to track down anything with a captivating smell that seems like it might hold the three-headed puppy's attention! "See, Raven, being a bunny isn't so bad! Thanks to getting turned into animals, we were able to help this nice man and his pet!"

    Eventually she returns with whatever she finds and drops it at the puppy's feet. "There you go!" If it's docile enough, she'll crouch and pet it. "Aww, aren't you just such a cute little thing! You remind me of an adorable globnor I had back on Tamaran as a little girl..." She looks up to the man. "You have great taste in pets! Most Yamato pets are a bit boring, honestly..."

    Wisteria on spotting the issue and seeing what is going on smiles. "Awww PUPPY!" She announces happily and then the puppy has lost it's bone, that's sad. She says and then taps her foot on the ground and is thrown skyward by a rising stone pillar. She glances around and spotting the biggest bone decoration she can find she sends one of her dark chains shooting out to grab it, and as she comes down, more chains reach out to help catch the puppy so he can be presented with presents.

The rain is enough to stamp out the worst of the fire, and it seems to extinguish the flame-belching one's breath for the time being. Instead, he hiccups a bubble which makes some sparks when it pops.

With so many new people to play with and many new toys being offered out, the little monster seems to be beside himself, literally. The heads seem to look in different directions, drawn towards different people, tail wagging a mile an hour with an obvious case of happytail.

It's hard to remember that this thing is a monster. It has the monster symbol and everything. But damnit, it is cute! The poor owner just gets an overwhelmed look on his face, but seems relieved that the Adventurers are there to help. "I... guess I really didn't think about it. I just thought it would be fun for the Festival." Apparently Landers don't have those TV advertisements about how pets are forever, not just for holidays.

With a nervous look, he shoves the chain into Setsuna's hands. "Here, you seem better with them than me. And... you have your own supply of bones so it should be fine!"

He grabs up candies, making sure they each leave with some. These are dog-bone shaped, but if anyone dares to eat them, they taste like caramels.

When the group finally completes the trail, there is a bright eyed young Spriggan who is more than happy to count out their hauls. They are allowed to keep all of the candy they've found, too. At the end, they are each handed an additional bag of sweets, except the one that SpritesHero is handed has a strange rune on the bag. There is something special about that one.

"Thank you~" Shiruba adds the bag of sweets to the rest of her haul for the night. So many different candies to try. And no overbearing parental figure to nag her about too much sugar making her fat or whatever.

Speaking of family, though, she also grabs Gwen for an extra big hug. "And thank you for helping me get out of that slump." She just needed a reminder that even with all the responsibilities and serious matters she's still allowed to have fun for herself.

Gwen has some fun with the magic she enjoyed it and away she goes. "Thank you and you ahve a good evening miss!!" She waves as she head out and they now come ot the last. When they hit the monster hous she get it and will try to help calm the three headed monster dog it doesnt' go so well but she does not end up bit. "Easy I know they took your bone but we'll get you something new! I promise!"

    Setsuna has a new three headed puppy it was really unexpected , who would just give away a puppy. For a moment he must wonder, how will Roki deal with a puppy. At the same time he is pretty sure he might have got some candy but really he is just sitting there and watching the cerberus puppy. "I will make sure he is taken great care of. " Setsuna adds as he looks at the trio and then notices the doctor of plagues and well... if Setsuna had to go to war for the puppy he would. Reaching out gently he gives the cerberus scritches on the neck while they chew.

SpritesHero has loot. It is the best loot, for he is the best. He brushes his hood back, dispelling the smoke around his face to enjoy his just desserts: A whole bag of lovely, lovely beans with a vibrant assortment of colors. He snags one, midnight black, lightly tosses it into his mouth. Chews appreciatively. Snags another, mint-green, tosses it into his mouth. Grimaces. Picks out a third. A sort of...questionably yellow-brown hue. No, he certainly does NOT stick that in his mouth. His gaze wanders the crowd, settles on Mizuki. Why her? Who knows. Maybe he doesn't like her outfit. Maybe she's too perky for his tastes. Most likely it had something to do with "spirit of the holidays." He leaves but, as he brushes past, can be noticed to lightly flick said turd-colored bean into her bag. Mischief managed.

    Wisteria pets the puppy happily. "It's a puppy.. I mean not as good as kitty or bunny but puppy and it's got THREE HEADS!" she giggles happily.

Prophylaxis has no objection to this new addition to the Scale Emblem Alliance. How could he? It's a TRIPLE DOGGO.

Clearly the way to get past the Plague Doctor's usual issues with strange pets is to make sure they're cute.

(For some reason, Giant Grunties count as cute)

    Miyako shrugs. "Well, I can't say I'm sad to see him go, I wouldn't want to be in charge of feeding those three." She smiles lazily and pulls out a candy to munch on it.

    Sam may have been more of a cat person but damn it this is all too cute. Mizukifire is happy to keep petting it and giving it attention for now!

    Also: Candy prize! "We win MORE TREATS for collecting treats?! And adults get to trick-or-treat too... I love Yamato's version of Halloween..."

    She tries some of the candy, savoring the sweetness, and eventually picks out... a single jelly bean? Huh, how'd that end up in their loose. Oh well, she eats it...

    And then makes a face. Who makes a mustard-flavored jelly bean?!

    Wait. Remember your character! She tries to look like that was the most delicious thing. "Oh, they DO have mustard-flavored candy on this planet! Amazing!"