Howler in the Dark

WinterFes Starter | @greenishmoon​

Jill had just stepped back from her snowman she’d made next to Nya’s down in the Swirling Gulf. she used purple snow for hers just because she could and it was there, but didn’t know that at the end, the snowman would take an exaggerated form of whatever expression Jill herself was wearing.. which can only be described as the epitome of resting bitch face.

“…”

“Why does mine look so mad?”

Nya was of course using as many different colours as she could arrange in one place, doing her best to make a kaleidoscopic rainbow snownya. She was distracted from this magnificent sculpt by the sound of Jill speaking up beside her, and the moment she looked she started laughing. 

“Oh, forgive me; for a moment there I couldn’t tell which was which!”

“Brushes like the kind you were using on that star map… ? Or do you perhaps mean more of a calligraphy brush?” She set her phone down on the countertop a moment while she opened up the journal, getting a feel for the texture of the leather and the pages within.

“I would need a much bigger journal if I were to pen letters with a calligraphy brush…” she mused.

“Oh—thank you.” She picked up the pen now and started writing her name on the test sheet of paper, slowly and deliberately. “I am not sure how popular it is in general… but it is what I tend to prefer… and I was able to find people with similar preferences online.”

“Both I suppose, though if you wanted to use something like this to write;” she picked up the fine brush she had been using and twirled it lightly between her fingers “well, it’d be an exercise in patience, at least.”

“Something to consider, perhaps you could start sending them as scrolls! Wouldn’t that be novel. I’d say it’s certainly fallen out of fashion in this era but I heartily approve, it’s far more personal than most modern forms of correspondence. Though, I do have a weakness for tradition.”

Before turning her attention to the journals, she glanced at the map that Nya had just moved aside, perhaps unintentionally a bit longer than might’ve been polite. She wasn’t trying to be nosy, just curious, but that can wait, she thought. But soon she did turn her gaze at the journals behind Nya.

“Nothing specific… is that one on the left there dark blue, or black…? If it’s blue, I’d like that one, please.”

“If my request is too broad, it is only because I would defer to your judgement here rather than my own.” She scanned over the collection of fountain pens that Nya got out, briefly lingering on the ornate ones, but eventually settling on the more simple ones.

“I would love to purchase that journal to test these out in,” she said, taking a moment to pull out her phone now so that she’d be able to pay. “Letters. Pen pal letters, specifically.”

“Dark blue.” She replied, without turning her head to look. “So dark it is almost, but certainly not, actually black.” She smiled, then turned around to collect it, laying it on the counter a moment later. “Well, personally I have a penchant for quills myself, but it certainly isn’t the fastest option. Sometimes even brushes if I’m feeling particularly self indulgent.”

Rosalina’s smile grew wider at the compliment, once again bowing her head but this time in thanks. It wasn’t the first time she’s heard that specific compliment, but it still wasn’t one she heard often… it was nice to hear.

“Thank you.” And she remained smiling even when the answer she got wasn’t wholly confidence inspiring for what she was looking for.

“Journals should be fine for today… and whatever you would recommend for a comfortable writing utensil… whether it be made of a feather or otherwise.”

“Few things more important that keeping a proper journal.” She moved her map in progress o the side and stood up from her chair, gesturing towards a collection of shelves beside the counter. “There’s a number there, unless you have a specific aesthetic in mind.”

“Such a broad request, dear! I suppose much of it comes down to personal taste and what one is used to. But for comfort I would recommend something that has decent weight without producing strain over long periods, combine that with a good flow and pleasantly bold lettering...” Her head came back to the counter. “I believe fountainpens are generally the best bet, I have a number you can try.” 

[ @greenishmoon ]

The bell above the door rung quietly when Rosalina pushed it open and stepped inside the hole-in-the-wall book stop, so she figured there would be no need to announce her entry further. At present, it seemed like she was the only one in the shop anyway.

She approached the counter and, with a small bow of her head, greeted the woman on the other side. “Hello,”

“Are you doing well today? I was hoping to buy some stationery…”

It would have been hard not to hear the bell even if the counter wasn’t far from the entrance, but she didn’t look up immediately. She was busy leaving white dots and lines on a home made star map. But she made sure to raise her head and smile as the tall woman approached. 

“Good afternoon, what a lovely voice you have ”

It’s hard to say whether Jill’s being transfixed on the lasso maneuvers was do to her being a cow girl or just… her being Jill. Either way, she watched as it looped around and around, and then eventually settled around her and tightened up, pulling her close to Nya and nearly off her feet as she stumbled.

“You’re just saying that because you’ve got the rope.”

“That depends. Are you gonna lead me around like this, and is the cowbell really necessary?” she asked, flicking her cow-like ears on her head in mild annoyance.

“Well dear I meant in general.” Her smile grew wider and for a moment she pulled it tightly before letting it go slack again. “But you’re not wrong.”

She hadn’t made it especially clear whether she had crushed or consumed any of the candy to begin with, yet she wore the cowgirl attire like a second skin and was making a clear display of enjoying herself with a lasso. Masterfully handled; from side to side, over her head and then over the bovine bartender to pull her closer.

“This is a good look on you, you know.”

[ @greenishmoon​ ]

Lisa walked on up to the front counter of this very peculiar bookstore, lazily leaning on it on her elbow as she addressed the owner—at least who she assumed was the owner.

“I see you have a section labeled magic,” she said.

“Before I waste my time, maybe you can tell me what magic means to you?” She’s already been in another bookstore with a similar section before. Unfortunately, all they meant was ‘fantasy novels’ and other made up stories set in other magical worlds. Not what she was interested in… not right now.

She’d taken note of the woman as she’d entered, but she’d seemed to be moving with some purpose so Nya had remained behind the counter, transcribing yet another copy. She’d felt a little docile recently, but she made sure to perk up as bright as usual when she finally approached the counter.

“How very keen.”

“Well I do love a good card trick, and pulling a rabbit from a hat never fails to amuse. Pulling anything from a hat really, especially if it’s larger than the vessel itself.” She pushed the tome she’d been writing arcane sigils and circles onto a little further across the desk. At a glance the pages visible seemed to be concerned with mana.

here’s the blog

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said, completely unimpressed and unmoved. Maria couldn’t even tell it was her behind the boxes until she turned. “Dying? I don’t know if I can help with that.”

“I can delay it, however. Do you want me to carry the boxes, or you?” She could probably do both, truthfully speaking. She wouldn’t, though, and hopefully Nya knew well enough to expect that to be a genuine offer. So, instead, she knelt down a bit to get her hands beneath the boxes, lifting them up in her own grasp with ease when she stood up straight again.

“Where to?”

“Oh you are a balm to soothe all woes, I’m sure. Well...” She managed a sort of half smile that graduated to full fledged relief as the box was lifted from her. “See? My saviour, thank you!”

Gravity... Still a terrible experience honestly. Not only did she have to be as feeble as a person. but she had to carry a whole person’s weight around, all the time? Even worse when you had to carry other things too. Like a box of books. Awful. Still, she might have spotted a saviour from boredom at the very least. 

“Ahh, hello dear, long time no see. You’ve been well I hope? Do you think you could lend me a hand? A tall, strong lady like yourself.”

“You give me the impression that you don’t really care about too much.” She paused, then decided to add on during Nya’s absent silence in case that comment accidentally offended. “I don’t mean that in a bad way, necessarily. Just carefree.”

“I think most people would say them being here is impossible.” Jill obviously didn’t understand just how impossible it should’ve been for Nya, though. When the glass was filled, Jill went to reach for it for a second, then stopped, said “This one’s yours too,” and then carefully slid it towards Nya without spilling.

“If believing in nothing is dangerous, then consider me a slut for adrenaline. I don’t need to be told what to believe in, I’d rather no one at all tell me what I ‘need.’ If you’re trying to help me in that regard, I’d say don’t bother. I don’t need it.”

“Carefree is a pleasant way of looking at it. I’ve even been quite goal driven in the past.” But here? She supposed she was a shadow of herself in more ways than one. She reached for her glass and knocked it back without display.

“Most people, to be frank, would be wrong.” Her finger started tracing an invisible pattern on the bar, concentric circles with lines in between. “Countless worlds are closer than many might believe, lying just on top of or behind one another. Travelling between them or taking someone can be remarkably simple if you know the right things.”

“But people only tend to perceive what they know.” She took the glass Jill had offered now, downing that one too. 

Event Starter | @greenishmoon​

The two of them were unfortunate enough to be caught in a downpour of rain on their way back to the tiny makeshift shelter they made. Well, mostly Nya made, which made Jill nervous, because Nya didn’t ask for anything in return this time. She didn’t know what Nya was, but she was still holding that favour over her head, and the fact that she didn’t ask for another for her help here made Jill think she had something up her sleeve or something.

Or maybe she was just being paranoid. In any case, the two of them were stood under a very large leaf right now keeping them dry. Jill crouched down to look at another small creature sheltering underneath a more aptly sized leaf: a fluffy, grey-brown chinchilla. Adorable.

“What the fuck is that.”

This was far from her idea of a good time. Playing around with with sapient mortals was already such a base thing, but playing survivor on a desert island that only really housed beasts was of so little interest this was probably the quietest she’d ever been. She could go hunting other citizens that had been brought here she supposed, could be good for a laugh if they’re only expecting lizards. 

“Hm?” She was leaning her chin into her palm and had been staring at nothing until Jill spoke.

             ❝  WHAT BUSINESS is that of yours?  ❞ he paused at the spine of a book on the shelf, and plucked it from its place among the others, taken by its promise of information regarding islamic theology. letting it fall open in his hand, he flipped a few pages, only to snap it shut and return it to the shelf in dissatisfaction, resuming his search.

“The business of owning, organising, lending and selling books, I suppose. Bibliothecography? Informatics.”

         @greenishmoon.

             ❝  … “ MOTHERFUCKING SHARKS ”.  ❞ he repeated the title of the book granted unto him numbly— before dropping it to the floor, and resuming his search amid the library’s non-fiction shelves with a slightly more furrowed brow. clearly this day had a sense of humour, and he was missing the joke.

The pile was growing it seemed. 

She was here not to check a book out nor return one, but to make her own addition to the shelves. An incredibly unofficial, unauthorised addition. She had the tome in her hands when she couldn’t but pause. 

“Oh, that one’s better than you might give it credit for.”

(Repost, don’t reblog!)

Name: You know like, Nya...rlathotep  Titles: Deep breath...

The Crawling Chaos

Ahtu

The God of a Thousand Forms

The Black Pharaoh

The Black Wind

The Bloated Woman

The Crawling Mist

The Dark Demon

The Black Demon

The Dark One

The Dweller in Darkness

The Faceless God

The Floating Horror

The Haunter of the Dark

Face Eater

Mother of All Bats

Dark Wing

Sand Bat

Fly-The-Light

The Howler in the Dark

The God of the Bloody Tongue, or the Bloody Tongue

L'rog'g (also Lrogg)

Mr. Tiddles

The Bat God of L'gy'hx

Mr. Skin

Randall Flagg

Gardner Bose

Sauron

Shugoran

Thing in the Yellow Mask

The White Man

The Skinless One

The Masked Messenger

The Moon Presence

Prince of Darkest Dark

God of the Desert

Master of Evil

Stalker Among the Stars

Blind, Faceless One

Mighty Messenger

Mother of the Million Favoured Ones

Howler in the Night

Bill Cipher

Rank: Subgiant... Still... Ten months later 

Series: Demonbane/General Lovecraft Mythos

Abilities (unlocked):

Shapeshifting, 5 times a day for 10 minutes each.

Teleportation, 10 times a day.

Weapons (unlocked):

Her shapeshifted forms

Important Items:

Copies of various heinous grimoires

Threat Level:

Jeez, how do you even rank this. Right now? She’s relatively harmless I suppose. If she wanted to she could give you a bad reputation by wearing your face and doing some inscrutable things. 

In the long run though it really is hard to describe. There’s really nothing she can’t do. Like it’s dumb. It’s absurd. It’s not even fun to talk about how outrageously broken she is. Go look at her app if you don’t believe me.

Friendship Level:

She’ll definitely act like she’s your friend, and she’s a fantastic actor. Does it really matter if you never know her true intentions? It’s best you don’t know anyway.

Main Places of Activity:

Literally anywhere, I can’t stress this enough. She’s slowly opening her own book shop so she might be found there slightly more than not. Where? Pending.

Places they never visit:

If I had to pick one? Yesteryear, there’s almost never anyone there.

Occupation:

Bartender at G3H ENN-A

Horror Doctor at The Belt