Awards Killing Game 2x2: Moon of Hope (Game Thread) - Grand Finale: Shoot The Moon

[Part 3/3]

Lulu Versus SUPREME WRESTLER KING BLOCKY BOO​

Standing near the crumbled wall of the Restroom, Lulu gestures her gun to tell Atmey to get out of the way. She's positively glowing with excitement at this. Actually, she's literally glowing. It's hard for both of us to keep our eyes away, but yours truly limbers up to give her a beatdown nonetheless. The sound of cracking knuckles fills the empty studio, juxtaposed against the ticking of the clocks, it resembles the noise of an egg timer being wound. Because it's gonna be a quick, and end in something being cracked on the floor, gahahaha!

Atmey meanwhile looks pissed. Something about her glow seemed to overwrite his request. It's almost... antisocial.

A single shot is fired, and I cover the room in darkness, even enough to snuff out Lulu's strange glow. She screams, clearly not serious about fighting me, and flees immediately. Well. Guess I gotta do this thing. Atmey's been a cool guy most of the way through this, and I can hear the groaning of the mummy from the Paranormal stairs near the Solarium, so we quickly move to the tower.

Atmey heads up, and the helicopter grows closer, taking on a golden shine. It's completely noticeable, I'm even surprised how unsubtle it is. Where'd they even get this from?

Well, anyway some people pass through, but Thanos is the only one to actually try and enter the roof to confront the two of them head on. "Nuh-uh buddy, I'm guarding this." I say. He convinces me to let him through since technically he was a killer on Day 1, and yeah man I'm not that committed to doing this anyway.

The Rooftop Rumble​

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Luke Atmey and Coral Glasses have both set up camp, swapping armor and waiting around as the helicopter begins its final approach. They immediately jump to arms when Thanos enters with a final offer, which they refuse without even hearing.

The demonic blacksmith mummy suddenly emerges from the Clock Tower behind Thanos, wielding both Lee's katana and the boomerang Atmey requested. Coral loads a round of golden, coin-shaped pellets into her shotgun. Atmey raises a sword.

Alas. It was never going to be peaceful. Good. I wanted a fight. I toss Thanos a gauntlet per his request, and sit back to watch the show.

SHWING! * CLASH * BANG!

Thanos parries Atmey's initial attack with a gauntlet, while Coral tries to get close enough to use her golden coins and pay off their attacker, but Rahliman cuts her off with a thrown boomerang. She cartwheels backwards, as arms sprout from her fashionable ARMISTICE coat. Rahliman charges towards Atmey and it momentarily becomes 2-on-1.... before Thanos tosses a golden headpiece away from Atmey to distract the demonic spirit.

Allured by the actual gold over his painted katana, he drops the weapon and dives for it near the edge of the roof. Atmey tosses his boomerang to knock the headpiece further away, and Coral delivers the coup-de-grace by wheeling over to knock the golden headpiece completely over the roof. Rahliman leaps after it, hanging in mid-air for a few seconds.... before remembering gravity exists. He crashes into the ground, and vanishes into dust.

"I've helped you defeat your adversary, now can you trust me!?" Thanos pleads, half-laughing
"NO" they shout in unison.

The helicopter comes in for a landing, and Atmey gives up fighting to sprint towards it. Coral blasts herself across the rooftop. Thanos remains still, waiting for his moment. The RePossessors leap for the helicopter frame from below, then take a few minutes to pull themselves up, and into the back of the helicopter. The downward force blows Atmey's yellow toupee away, and into the bushes around the western grounds of the Complex. Atmey.... is finally Tigre. The loan shark, and champion of stolen valor. It seems almost natural he'd ally with an auditor in a place like this.

Thanos simply waves, and smiles. He wishes them farewell on their journey... and the helicopter rises. It makes a few dozen meters into the air, when...

Thanos pulls out a podcast microphone and a small speaker, borrowed from MCD's podcast on request. Tigre's eyes widen, and he doesn't hesitate to toss the boomerang right at the threat. Thanos places the speaker on the ground, and takes a deep breath as the streak of gold whizzes through the air.

FALCONS, KILL!

The microphone is knocked out of his hand, but the war call's been made. About six or so ghostly peregrene falcons manifest around the roof, and fly straight for the engine, gaining speeds quickly as they attempt a divebomb for the engine.

BANG!

...with a precisely timed blast, Coral fires her shotgun and scatters golden coins into the air. She thanks them for their service, but they can refer to their tax office for further claims. It seems she's just paid the falcons off with a 2 million dollar blast of falcon pellets. They chase after the shiny coins as they rain down over Thanos, and the roof as a whole.

Thanos sighs, then snaps his fingers, turning the falcons to dust. Their flight is secured. Maybe he should have just killed them when he had th-

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SHING!

Vigil, mounted on his mausoleum, wielding some kind of large sniper rifle, takes a single shot. His coffin is open. A thin, piercing beam of light shoots through the helicopter, and we can faintly make out that it's broken the pilot window. The helicopter begins to dive dramatically as it passes over the Forest Grounds to the west. A body, clearly that of the former pilot, falls from the copter as it drops, but Tigre takes control of the copter himself. A distant yell, but then... it stabilizes.

Coral opens the side door, wearing a headset and providing perfect piloting instructions, riding shotgun in the helicopter. With full shotgun proficiency, she manages to guide the false phoenix to flight, and they take off, gaining altitude, and growing distant.

Coral tosses money down over the Graveyard as a formality, though their attacker only had one bullet to fire, and the attempt failed. Vigil makes a resigned puff of smoke, and then begins dismantling the rifle. The helicopter flies off into the distance.

The RePossessors made a killing, and went who knows where with all the money of the Ghost Complex. I'm so proud.



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And that's that! Pretty great account right? They've bled this place dry, and left you all behind. Now, with five dark moon shards, we can really start the Grand Finale of the Grand Experiment!

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...

King Blocky Boo goes dead silent. Roots constrict the walls, and Albina grins from ear to ear, but her face falls too. Footsteps approach the Foyer where KBB was about to announce the end of the Killing Game for all.


...hah. This experiment was a total failure. It's time to wrap it up, starting with your demise...

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...old friend.


The Grand Finale of the Grand Experiment begins soon.​
 
The Complex lets out a distant rumble. The once-grand facility provided emerging technology powered by dark wavelengths and wondrous, ghostly energy. Now, it's been ruined beyond repair, torn apart by the very forces that created it, and a handful of destructive, unsupervised test subjects in the pursuit of escaping inevitable death.

The Final Grand Experiment had failed, and the perpetrator, the one responsible for abandoning them all to die at the hands of a cubical demonic spirit finally stood before them. Gadd Zooks had emerged.


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Master Gadd, thou hath escaped thy mysterious prison! How?!

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Vigil, it is wonderful to see you again.

Thanks to Tanner's claimed authority from my final message, he gained heightened knowledge of the Complex, and was able to inform Mona of what lay beyond the Dungeon painting. She was able to recover it in the Paranormal Dimension, and throw me back in the Portrificationizer. Those complex spirits really must be laughing it up, putting me right next to the key to my freedom. If this place wasn't about to collapse in on itself, I might have made more adjustments to the sorting algorithm.

Tanner just couldn't resist being of assistance, in the end.


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Gaddsy!!

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...look, Boss...

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K-Keep it together a bit longer, both of you. I'm terrified right now, but...

My recklessness has endangered all of you long enough. I surmise from the walk here that many of the test subjects were killed, their Gaddgets destroyed, and their ghost powers lost to the ether.

This wasn't meant to happen. Th-the Grand Experiment was going to put to rest all of my theories, regarding the Dark Moon, and the Complex.


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Coming across confirmation that something can cross the dark forest in the sky above us, the void of space, I decided to run a test to replicate the conditions which formed the Legend of the Moon of Hope, by shattering the moon myself, as the Final Grand Experiment. This would trigger the protocols I gave to Mona, and send the shards into corners of the Complex for retrieval by yourselves. Ghosts love making mischief, and puzzles after all.

Arf!

Y-y-yes, Polty.

Of course, this was meant to occur in a controlled environment, and without the killing, so I could d-document the results of trying to unite them again. If my theories were correct, I could have p-possibly used their power to untangle the Valley from the mysterious conditions thrust upon it.

[Gadd points his vacuum towards King Blocky Boo, who is cleaning ghost wax from one of his earholes.]

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...

...That menace before you is no king, as you're all well aware. He's a former stakeholder in the Evershade Valley project, an ex-wrestler who took after Solaire. He funded one of the five mansions that were planned to be built, but the project stalled with ever-increasing delays, leaving him to die unfulfilled. I know not what power caused him to be fused with the demonic spirit in the tale of the Moon of Hope, but I too, share a similar existence.


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I do apologise for disappearing again, I merely wanted to pose a question to my fellow rival, and confirm the true reason for this Complex's existence, before my likely death. I may not have even made it to the end of the experiment I planned originally.

There's a great chance my destabilised spirit may cease to come apart at the seams when I lack a physical form.

This body is frail, and old, and failing me dearly, and I fear many things... but not death, and certainly not that cubical menace floating before you all!


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Heh heh heh heh. HA HA HA HA! You got me good, Gadd. So that blank portrait in the dungeons was you, huh? Which one of you snuck it out!? When?? I'll destroy you right now and get what I need! All of the Dark Moon is now in play!

Who cares if I'm not an actual king, I've got the authority of this spirit now, and I'm going to use it after I put you in the ground for everything you did, old man! Won my house in the "Lottery!?" You fraud!


Yes... all of the Dark Moon is in play, which means I have an opportunity to correct my grave mistake.

You wanna try? Your damn complex's collapsing to the ground!

Roots... I see. You gave one of the subjects VILEWOODROT, I presume? One of the three powers I swore to never distribute?

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...so what if I did. It was cool. Albina did a great job bringing your little Haunted Towers experiment to full power, and Belladonna's a former tennant, just like I was gonna be. I've clearly outgrown this place, however.


"Scusi, Cubist Maestro. Her name... is Fascia."

With a calamitous shock, a ruby-red rose shoots through the foyer, and up into the 2nd floor. Its flower blossoms, and its vines unfurl with hundreds of red, gazing eyes. It sends a shock of cold air throughout the Complex, and begins to hum a nauseating tune.

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Yes. My name. Fascia. This "house" will... forever... be mine. Hehehe...

My embrace... my roots taking place... if you aren't planning on leaving... would you all care to hear... my song?


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Foul, noxious weed! So this is where the fifth demonic spirit lay. Miss Albina, what hast thy ignorance wrought upon this land... alas, the roots have clearly taken hold. She's been fed the blood of some of the test subjects, and her strength grows more. There may still a chance to destroy it, but the Complex is... doomed.

We must vacate at once.

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...nay.... Master Gadd, wherever thou may go, I was here before yond building, and I shall be here after it. The grounds shall endureth anon. Even if I cannot follow thy genius anymore. Protecting this land is my duty, and my master's gaze falls on me to uproot this demon where it stands.


...regardless, Vigil, Belladonna will sing at midnight, and kill everyone who hears her song. All of you can take temporary countermeasures against this, or we can flee far enough... but you must reconsider...

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Wait! If the complex falls apart- me!? What happens to my form!?

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If my theories are correct, Mona, the Paranormal Dimension will keep it in tact, but only for a while. I dearly apologise for what happened, but if we can recover your body... and the Dark Moon is reassembled...

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Ahh, I missed this, in some way. The old days are coming back to me now. But also Gadd, I quit. I'm grabbing my things and leaving as soon as-

Tanner...! Rashness is...!

All of you, please calm down. There's a solution amidst this chaos, but there al-

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No, you old prune. I think it's about damn time for more chaos. I've been studying my personal shard.

Y'know, we've been talking about these powers since the shards started manifesting. Speed, Social, Stamina, Strength, Stealth. Did you know... there were MORE?"

..! Impossible... you're a brute! How did you figure out what was left in the last shard?

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A brute, but a brute who likes reading! You think I spent my nights in the Horology Studio doing nothing but watching the time pass?!

Scheming means I know how to do this. Sleuthing means I know where to do this. Situational Awareness means I know now's the time and the place, and Survival Instinct means I know this is my best plan!

Time for a little move I like to call...

COMPLETE AND TOTAL EXTERMINATION!​

Leaping up into the sky, King Blocky Boo reaches a peak at the spot where the Dark Moon once hung. He begins to glow with shining purple energy, before diving down, and slamming his fist into the roof of the complex. A great wave of power ripples throughout the complex, striking everyone. Your physical form seems to fade...

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You blink into consciousness. The world is spinning, and ghostly. Surrounding you and everyone else on all sides... countless wraiths, beginning to manifest.


What... what have you done?

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Just sent us all to the Paranormal Dimension, that's where! You wanna get out to escape Fascia? To get out of the Killing Game? You're in my domain, now! There's only one way out, and you're gonna take it.

Give me a Dark Moon Shard, and I'll warp you right out of here. I ain't lying! Right onto the front lawn. Of course, this offer's only good for five of you. The rest... well, once I put the Dark Moon back together under my power, I'm afraid this place ain't gonna be able to support anyone living.

Though Mona, Vigil, Tanner? You three are cool. Look forward to ghost paradise! Hell, I'll even let Gadd stick around if he submits to me completely.


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...Subjects, I know you have your apprehensions about me, but... if you bring me all the pieces of the Dark Moon, I'll be able to use them to finally revert the source of the Valley's corruption, and unravel us all from this mess. It will be a struggle to make it out of here... but all of us can leave."

Course, that includes taking mine, and any others I get my hands on, and that means you pass up surviving when I get you outta here!

D-do not fall for his trickery! He hosted this vile game! Together, the shard holders and survivors of the Grand Experiment can solve this!


"...Scusi. Fascia and I will not be leaving. You, however, will be. In pieces, or whole, it matters not to me. Fascia must continue to grow.

Her new Gallery will now be closing. Please vacate the exhibition... posthaste."
​




It is now the Grand Finale. A terrifying paranormal thunderstorm approaches from the back and sides of the Valley. The Dark Moon remains shattered. Reality is collapsing, and so is the GHOST Complex. All players have been warped into the Paranormal Dimension, and must escape before the entire Valley is sucked into the void, or everyone is ensnared by the roots of a bloodthirsty demonic spirit.


Players start in the Paranormal Dimension, within their Bedrooms, with their inventories. The only way out is through the Front Garden on the normal map. 4 Z-Gates on the map provide passage back to reality, but will only activate when Gadd Zooks restores their power at the halfway point of the night.
  • All non-living players and any interested spectators/RePossessors have been summoned as Grand Wraiths in rooms near the Z-Gates. They can choose one set of elemental powers previously posted in this thread, from Water, Ice, Fire, or Slime. Wraiths can submit minor night actions to help or hinder the escape of the remaining players, but if they're malicious, they must be accounted for in order to leave the Paranormal Dimension. Lean into ghost weaknesses, and defeat King Boo's ghostly army.
  • All five Dark Moon Shards are in play. Their holders will receive reminders of their powers for Endgame. Dark Moon shards can still be stolen like any other item.
    • Submitting to meet with King Blocky Boo in the Clock Tower Heights with a Dark Moon shard only in the first half of the night grants you immediate and safe passage to the Foyer within reality. This will make him harder to defeat for the players left behind, exponentially increasing with each shard.
    • In the second half of the night, King Blocky Boo will seek out players with shards, and fight them. Use every countermeasure left in your hands to defend yourself. Should he gain all five shards and complete the Dark Moon, everyone left alive within the Complex will be rendered ghosts forever.
    • If all players with shards submit to meet with Gadd Zooks in the Dark Lab in the first half of the night, this will allow him to distribute their powers to everyone. Regardless of this happening, if Gadd and anyone working with him unites all five shards through this method or by defeating King Blocky Boo and reclaiming the final shard (and any others he might have obtained), a powerful, worldchanging force will take effect.
  • Fascia (Belladonna) has reached her final stage of growth. She has constricted the Complex, and blocked access to all rooms with blue names, except for Albina. For surviving until the end, and growing Belladonna to full strength, Albina has been granted a separate win condition. Albina has three lives, and she will likely be out for blood. Fascia can be fought, has Ice affinity, and unique powers at her disposal, but beware her fatal midnight song. You may need to take extra precautions in order to survive.
  • All NPC powers are available for use. These will be updated to include Crystal Frames shortly.
  • You may form any number of alliances and commit any number of kills, but if you are killed, you cannot win the game. Failure to escape the Complex before the end of the night will result in death.


Endgame GHOST Complex Map

MAP

Map Key:
🟥⛔ - Door is locked, pathway cannot be used.
🟨👻 - Door is paranormal exclusive, cannot be used on the normal map.
🟩✅ - Door is unlocked.
🛗 - Elevator, connects all three floors.
↖️↗️ - Staircase or passage to floor above.
↙️↘️ - Staircase of passage to floor below.
💡 - Room is always lit by Darklight.
⚠️ - Hazard, varies by location.
🌙 - Dark Moon Shard (Claimed)
📹 - Pixelator, allows transport between two specific rooms.
🌀 - Z-Gate - allows living players access to/from the Paranormal Dimension.
💧🧊🔥🧪- Elementals - Harmless ghosts imparting elemental energy gather here.

FIRST FLOOR - Valley of Darklights



1F Emerald Wing
  • Foyer: The large central foyer that one enters the Complex through. Besides a grand entrance and chandelier, there's even an aquarium with tropical fish. A huge mess from the great fight on Night 1 remains in the lobby. The chandelier has been smashed. A vault with a rusted-over lock has been uncovered behind a mysterious painting.
  • Archives: This room contains several boxes of densely-written documents, and a large computer server plugged into the wall.
  • ↕️ Clock Tower: A huge clock tower that extends through all three floors and the roof of the Complex. Inside the tower is a staircase extending both up and down, and a huge pendulum swinging behind frosted glass. The clock can be seen while standing outside at the front of the Complex. The clock tower has stopped entirely.
  • Studio: A small room full of art supplies and blank canvases, as well as a nearly depleted amount of paint
  • ↕️ Hollow Tree: A large tree that extends through the entire Complex. Inside the tree is a beanstalk, which shoots through the center of the tree. You'll need to climb it to get higher or lower.

1F Topaz Wing
  • Study: A room full of books on the four exhibits in the back of the Complex. The Laptop remains missing.
  • 💡Garage: Contains a single car parked in the middle of the garage, a large garage door exiting to the outside, and various car tools lying around the interior. The car is outside, and exploded. NO fuel or motor oil remains in here.
  • 💡Metal Laboratory: A high-end laboratory with all sorts of high-end technological equipment lying around in various stages of repair and examination. [Gaddget Roles have a special affinity for this room.]
  • Drafting Office: An office for drafting designs, full of blueprints and other writing supplies.
  • 🟦🛗 Shaft: A three-floor mining elevator now integrated into the main Complex.

1F Amethyst Wing
  • Plant Nursery: A room full of exotic plants that require special growth conditions. It's been carefully arranged to provide said plants with all the right conditions they could want, but someone has wrecked most of the plants beyond saving.
  • Container Yard: A large room full of various containers, with unknown contents. A big garage-style door leads outside, and handtrucks are available for moving them. The forklift is now a wreckage at the bottom of the cliffside.
  • Coatroom: A burnt mess of a room that once held clothes and costumes.
  • Workshop: A fancy workshop with plenty of tools and supplies, as well as a large workbench.
  • 🟥🛗 Cargo Lift: A moving cargo platform that now serves as an elevator for the three floors of the Complex.

1F Ruby Wing
  • 💡 Gloomy Bedrooms: A large communal dorm room that sleeps nine. It's decorated in a fancy mansion style.
  • Chalet: A comfortable resting area, with a rocking chair, a fancy fireplace, and a big couch. The fireplace is currently lit.
  • Bathroom: A rather upscale bathroom, with all the essentials - toilet, sink, bathtub, and least of all, soap.
  • ⬆️ Aviation Exhibit: A big museum room about the history of aviation. A couple full-scale airplanes are on display. A back exit leads to the outside. The Z Gate has been activated. The exhibit is in shambles.

1F Sapphire Wing
  • 💡 Old Bedrooms: A large communal dorm room that sleeps nine. It's decorated in a warm bunkhouse style.
  • 💡East Gallery: A fancy art gallery, this one devoted entirely to sculptures and physical displays. Mostly everything's been smashed to bits.
  • ⬆️ Train Exhibit: A big museum room about the history of railroads. The train has been derailed for good.

Five Grounds: The outer grounds of the mansion. The same forces that created the G.H.O.S.T. Complex have left the land it sits on a patchwork of types - one part well-managed lawn, one part overgrown forest, one part desert sands, one part frozen turf, and one part barren rock.
  • Front Garden: The main feature of the Mansion Grounds. A large, well-manicured garden with plenty of plants and a fancy fountain as the centerpiece. The fountain has been damaged slightly, and a golden grappling hook labeled AURUMDESIRE is here.
  • Graveyard: The main feature of the Forest Grounds. A fully-loaded graveyard with plenty of gravestones, as well as a large mausoleum in the back. The mausoleum has a Pixilator, which connects to the Crypt.
  • Clockworks Court: The main feature of the Sandy Grounds. A fenced approach to the Complex with plenty of clockwork pieces buried in the sand, some of them still turning. The gear mechanism has been solved, and the clock tower was struck with the "key".
  • Ice Lake: The main feature of the Snowy Grounds The lake has been converted to a pile of frozen papery mush, with a tunnel leading to an unsealed hatch. A long ice slide leads from here to Under the Ice. A small fishing hut is adjacent to the now not-lake. An abandoned, frozen-over water pump serves as a spawning ground for Ice Elemental spirits.
  • Cliffside: The main feature of the Rocky Grounds. The side of the outside sharply drops here rather than sloping down, with plenty of pointy, spiky rocks at the bottom. Spiked into the cliffside is a Pixilator, which connects to the Solarium.Lot of wreckage down there.

SECOND FLOOR - Abridged Heights



2F Emerald Wing
  • Greenhouse: A well-stocked glass-roofed room with plenty of conventional plants. Automated systems manage their care, but someone has dug up most of the plants rather brutally.
  • ⬇️ Clock Tower Heights: A huge clock tower that extends through all three floors and the roof of the Complex. Inside the tower is a staircase extending both up and down, and a huge pendulum stands still behind frosted glass. The clock can be seen while standing outside at the front of the Complex. You can ascend here to the Belfry, where there's plenty of bats and dust.
  • Parlor: A nice sitting room for lounging around. A phonograph with several records has been moved elsewhere. There's a couple chairs, a grandfather clock, and a lit fireplace as well. The fire is ghostly and eternal, and Fire Elementals make their home here.
  • ⬇️ Hollow Tree Heights: A large tree that extends through the entire Complex. Inside the tree is a beanstalk, which shoots through the center of the tree. You'll need to climb it to get higher or lower. The beanstalk terminates at the Tree Tops, where you find a small treehouse filled with old furniture.
  • Crow's Nest: A thin, rickety bridge that spans the exhibits of the second floor. It's only wide enough for one person to cross at a time. The east bridge has been torched, and is still usable, but could break easily with a good enough impact.

2F Topaz Wing
  • 💡 West Gallery: A fancy art gallery, this one devoted entirely to empty walls and burned paintings and spider gunk.
  • Library: A library well stocked with many, many books, along with a huge globe of the world and a grand piano, which has been smashed.
  • Kiln Room: A room with a large firing kiln, though it's not big enough to fit a person inside. There's also plenty of clay and modeling supplies.
  • Toolshed: The ??? room has been revealed and unlocked. A large toolshed with all sorts of gardening tools and supplies to maintain the many plants within the Complex.
  • 🟦🛗 Shaft: A three-floor mining elevator now integrated into the main Complex.

2F Amethyst Wing
  • Rumpus Room: A playroom with a whole lot of dolls, as well as an oversized dollhouse and huge teddy bear.
  • Solarium: A room with huge glass windows to sit and vi