2/3 Nalthar 2024/04/17(Wed)22:58 No. 1089093 ID: 5ebd37
File 171341992896.jpg - (686.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 30 sad news for bats.jpg )

Sounds of activity rouse you from your dreamless slumber. Blearily you sit up, finding yourself still beside the fire. Your thick cloak has been draped over you, and your long knife set carefully aside.

The mood in camp is dour, but not as bleak as you would have expected. Mice are moving about the camp, doing various chores. Up on the wood pile a pair are wielding a crude crosscut saw to take small pieces off one of the logs. With a clunk another pair deposit a tub full of snow by the fire. They eye you and whisper together, but don't approach.

You spot the hedgehog Afton among the bustle, head and shoulders above the smaller rodents. A pair of young bats are talking to him. As you watch Afton looks at them sadly and slowly shakes his head.
At this, the pair slump like puppets with cut strings. The smaller one starts weeping, keening in a pitch that scrapes the upper range of your hearing. The older bat stiffly leads them away, moving like all the life has been drained from them. Placing the younger on their back, the bat climbs up to the highest shelf and disappears. Afton shakes his head sadly once more, and spotting you, walks over.

"Morning, young Tem'rty. Hope ye slept well, as there's another hard day ahead of us.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/04/17(Wed)22:59 No. 1089094 ID: 5ebd37
File 171341995884.jpg - (647.43KB , 800x600 , cadvere 31 first floor map.jpg )

Afton leads you into one of the tents where hardened looking mice and rats are strapping on hunting equipment. A few shrews are running a grindstone, sharpening knives and repairing straps. Surrep is here, discussing something with her fellow rats in hushed tones.

The hedgehog brings you to a makeshift table where some rough maps and diagrams are arranged. "Don't know if ye have any experience with human's houses, but this'ns not much different, just bigger. Ye've the garb of a hunter, so I hope we can count on ye. We've mapped out most of the first floor, take a look 'ere"

1: The library: There are fungos feeding on the books, and the window makes for a quick escape. Tis usually quiet, but teams of puppets will occasionally come to take a book or clear out the fungos, so stay alert.

2: The entry and main hall: Empty, and sometimes patrolled by the glow eyed ones. Best to avoid unless ye need to bypass the underfloor.

3: The dining room: This is where we usually hunt. There's a rottin feast up on the table, but the fungos are runnin a mite thin lately. And keep quiet, the master gets upset when 'e catches folks here.

4: The kitchen: Puppets work here at mealtimes, but even when they're dormant there's glow eyes on guard. Some sort of moving platform takes food up to the higher floors. There's a pantry too, but ye'd never make it to the door without gettin caught. And don't expect any help for any foolishness, just don't mess with this room.

5: The water closet: Not much, a human toilet and sink, some cleaning chemicals. The tiled walls keep the fungos out, so no reason to go there.

6:The lounge: Some human furniture, that's about it. Might be some fungos, and the only time puppets show up is when they're carryin a book from the library. Probably the safest place to hunt.

7: The servant's quarters: Moldering beds with plenty of fungos to catch. The human servant stays in here, but he's away for at least the next several days. There's also the stairs to the basement, but keep out. The stone walls down there mean ye'd be out in the open with no easy escape.

"So" he claps you on the back "where would ye like to hunt?"

Huh, is it *possible* to work for the puppet master while still alive? Maybe someone could infiltrate their ranks, and serve as a double agent?

>>1089094
If the fungos are getting thin in the dining room then they're being overhunted. Gotta hunt somewhere else today.
...the chemicals from the bathroom might be potentially useful for a plan of some sort. Which chemicals are they? For instance, we could kill a human by mixing specific chemicals together in a place where the fumes would reach the room they're in, and sabotaging the exit so they can't get out.

The library is a good place to hunt today, I think. Might even find a book worth reading.

>>1089094
Quick question has anyone considered burrowing a hole into the shaft the moving platform goes through and swiping food as it travels, I assume no guards go with the plates.

I think the servant's quarters are probably the best place to hunt. If this is a place we don't typically have access to, it's good to profit from it while the opportunity is still there.

Just have a question do any of you know how to write human language? To leave the message for the puppet master, will he freak out if he sees that we can talk with him. As for the hunting go for the servant's quarters.

Nalthar 2024/04/25(Thu)20:33 No. 1089720 ID: 5ebd37
File 171410242145.jpg - (585.06KB , 800x600 , cadvere 32 watch yourself.jpg )

The servant's quarters strikes you as the most likely place, if it's usually inaccessible. Afton nods "Aye, Most of the other teams will be hunting there as well. Got to get in while we can. There aren't any puppets in there but be careful, the glow eyes may patrol through, or hear ye from the kitchen."

The library doesn't seem like the best place to hunt today, but it intrigues you nonetheless. Reading is a skill in short supply in the forest, and you know but a little. You ask if any here know the ways of words. "Not many" Afton replies "But yer in luck, we have a scholar among us. A chemist even." the hedgehog directs your gaze to a small mouse in a big coat. "Just joined us last month. Iffn ye need anything to do with the alchemic craft, Lisel's your woman. She'd probably love having someone actually listen about salts n' fumes n' whatnot."

You wonder whether food could be stolen or poisoned on its way up. Afton shakes his head "We did steal some once, a long while ago. That's why the bastard keeps four guards on the thing at all times now." Considering how locked down the mysterious master of the house has everything, you ask about the possibility of contacting them, offering service in exchange for clemency.

The grizzled urchin grabs you by the shoulder and fixes his one good eye on you. "Yer a woods lad, so I wouldn't expect ye to know, but ye don't muck around with humans. First thing ye learn as a house raider, and I've seen enough good men n' women die that didn't heed the adage; 'keep hidden, keep alive'. They're fickle things, humans, and they'll as soon kill ye as look at ye. And this one's madder than any I've known, so don't ye dare bring 'is ire upon this refuge, got it?" Faced with his unrelenting glare, you cautiously nod. "Good lad. Now ye'll need t'partner up with someone, seein' as ye don't know these walls yet. Why don't ye ask around?"

Around you the other hunters are finishing up their preparations. Surrep has moved away from her group and is having her needle sharpened. The tent entrance brushes open and Jasper slouches in, looking like he's had a long night. Across the room, Lisel is eyeing you appraisingly. Seems like you have time to talk to one person before it's time to head out.

Well if Lisel is eyeing you time to eye her back. Go and talk to her you fool.

Lisel is the most interesting. I want to hear what sort of alchemy she can do, and understand better what she would most desire from a raid on the house. If we can help her advance her craft, her elixirs so advanced might prove to make life easier for everyone.

Nalthar 2024/04/27(Sat)21:00 No. 1089892 ID: 5ebd37
File 171427683067.jpg - (511.71KB , 800x600 , cadvere 33 science mouse.jpg )

Lisel peers at you through thick glass goggles as you approach. The white-furred mouse extends a slim hand from her voluminous sleeve to shake yours. "Tem'rty was it? Pleased to meet you." Glancing around, she drops to a whisper "I couldn't help but overhear, you are curious about the murderous master of this manor? That is an interest we share, my friend. We can talk more when we have a bit of privacy, but suffice to say, this house holds secrets that I have come a long way to obtain."

She reaches into her cuff and retrieves a pair of vials. "In the meantime, I have a few tinctures that, applied to your blade, should provide effects you will find most pleasing. This one" she shakes the greenish goop "has a stunning effect on fungal creatures. It is rather adhesive though, so not as useful in a fight." The other vial has a silvery fluid. "And this one slicks edges for smoother stabbing. It may make chopping a bit harder though, it has not been fully tested. So, would you like to try one?"

Try the silvery fluid

We're hunting fungal creatures; let us take the green goop.

If we want to make a secret ally of her, then it would do us well to make a gesture of goodwill. Ask what she's interested in finding within the mansion, and offer to keep a lookout for it during your hunting.

greenish goop, getting stunned in video games is so annoying so use that for a hit and run strategy.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/05/07(Tue)13:00 No. 1090494 ID: 5ebd37
File 171511203382.jpg - (627.46KB , 800x600 , cadvere 34 applied chemsitry.jpg )

You choose the paralytic solution and offer your long knife. Lisel dabs a bit of the green slime onto a rag and methodically presses it along your weapon's edge. "There, give it a few minutes to set. And mind you don't go and lick it, though it smells refreshingly of mint." The two of you take a seat along the tent wall and observe the bustle while you wait. You remark that this is your first time being among other animals. The elders would do the talking those few times that travelers came by your small nest.

"Well you are in good company among these fine folk." the chemist replies "Given the harsh circumstances they have done exceedingly well." She sniffs "Hah, you woodlanders can be a downright odd lot though. Those tinker shrews, they seem to operate half on craft and the other half on mysticism. And the bugfolk!" You look at her quizzically "Ah, you wouldn't have met her yet; there is a moth priestess here. Up on the high shelf she keeps to herself, sending her beetle guards out to hunt. Apparently they are here to rescue their princess." At that you have to scoff. A princess, from one of the legendarily reclusive bug kingdoms, here? Lisel grins at your disbelief "I have not seen any sign of this being true, but to rescue a princess, why, surely that would give you access to their lands. They say some of the insectfolk produce strange substances within their own bodies. I would so love to investigate that for myself. Ah, well. The solutions ought to be set by now." she rubs the edge of the knife and nods, handing it back to you.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/05/07(Tue)13:01 No. 1090495 ID: 5ebd37
File 171511207529.jpg - (553.23KB , 800x600 , cadvere 35 the library.jpg )

The dim light of day greets you as you follow the other hunters out of the woodshed. Last night's storm has died down to a gentle drift of flakes, though the sky remains a desolate gray. You and Lisel lag behind the others, as the little chemist struggles through the deep snow. Sound carries in the still and frozen air, distant crunching alerting you to the presence of a wolf, its hulking shape intimidating even at this distance. You watch as it patrols through the trees, your eye following the dark line that tethers it to the house.

The pair of you catch up to the others outside the library window. Single file you shimmy up the rough cord to the sill and make your way inside. The pallid light filtering through the dusty windows barely penetrates the room, stacks of shelves looming above and stretching far into the gloom.

While the other hunters start making their way down to the floor, Lisel nudges you and then makes a show of patting her pockets. "Oh dear, I seem to be all out of carbolic and lye powder. I'm just going to borrow Tem'rty and gather some at the washroom. We will meet up with you at the hunting ground." The other hunters wave her off, and she leads you down into the tangled stacks. Once you are halfway across the room she pulls a small lantern from her sleeve, twisting a knob to fill it with a harsh white light. "Now we have a bit of privacy, we can discuss how we might help one another not just survive, but wrest the secrets from this rotten manse."

Alright if she is interested in secrets may she start out by telling her own. To be honest I don't know if your character has any secrets worth telling.

Our mission is to gain easy access to unlimited food. We're skilled with a knife, and experienced in hunting; once we learn the ways of this place, we'll be able to raid places others wouldn't dare. If she can promise to help us analyze how the puppets are controlled, then we can promise to fetch her materials the others won't get for her.

>>1090495
Oh? That sounds interesting. What places hold secrets of interest?

1/3 Nalthar 2024/05/16(Thu)23:21 No. 1091113 ID: 5ebd37
File 171592686746.jpg - (498.16KB , 800x600 , cadvere 36 stalking the stacks.jpg )

The stacks tower over you as you follow Lisel across the dusty floor. Abandoned puppets can be seen, perched on shelves or dangling limp. Their lifeless eyes nonetheless leave you feeling uncomfortably watched.

You walk along, pondering what you could offer this odd mouse, and what you need from her. The sound of your footsteps is eaten away by the dense carpet, the air itself seeming to close in on you, until you speak just to break the dreadful silence. You recount a bit of your family's plight, how you need to find a source of food if they are to have any hope to survive, and time is not on your side.

"Ill times indeed" Lisel commiserates "If you will but aid my research, I'll do all I can to assist your quest. Allow me to explain why I'm here."

2/3 Nalthar 2024/05/16(Thu)23:22 No. 1091114 ID: 5ebd37
File 171592692555.jpg - (589.22KB , 800x600 , cadvere 37 surreptitious science.jpg )

I come from a family of house raiders, far to the south. Far enough away from the forest that the humans still think talking mice are just a myth. It certainly makes raiding easy when they just leave traps and poison out as if we are dumb beasts. My family have been living in a great house, bigger even than this one, for several generations now. The lord of that house's son is a man of science and learning, and I was his secret apprentice. Watching his experiments, reading books left out at night. At first it was to better help my family avoid poisons and the like, but I became fascinated. There is so much that can be done with just simple substances that could make all animal's lives safer, easier!

The young master has correspondence with other scientists, sharing discoveries and inventions. One day a package came with the most extraordinary sample. A vial of glowing, boiling fluid with more energetic properties than anything I've even heard of! The attached letter spoke of the substance's life-giving effects, though I see now the writer meant that in a far more macabre sense then I would. But at the time I was spellbound, mind awash with the possibilities! Sadly, the sample soon faded once opened, and none of the master's return letters were answered. But I couldn't just let it go, so I trained a replacement and set out to find the source. Years later and I've finally found it, here, in this house.

You've seen it, haven't you? The fluid that bursts out of the reanimated corpses that roam these halls. That's what I have been seeking, and I exaggerate not when I say that with it I could change the world. What samples I've managed to obtain have been inconclusive, and I don't have the tools to fully analyze. I just need to find where they produce it, or if there are any notes.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/05/16(Thu)23:22 No. 1091115 ID: 5ebd37
File 171592695720.jpg - (527.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 38 eager chemist.jpg )

You stop as the pair of you come to the closed library door. Lisel hops in place a little, excitedly. "Oh its so good to be able to talk about this with someone at last. The others are just too wrapped up in their own problems to see the potential here." She looks up at you with eager eyes "So what do you say, shall we work together?"

>>1091115
Alright, but on one condition. If it turns out that creating or using this chemical requires the suffering or deaths of living people, then she'll stop. If this is a means to reanimate dead flesh and control it *without* the living paying a terrible price, then... well, that's gross but definitely useful.

I mean she does give me the mad scientist vibes, but not to the point of creating dead puppet minions. Sure work with her but only under one condition she always has to refer to you as daddy.

Yes, we work together. We are another that would see past the present to a better future, and in this respect we are allies. But we have our own ideals, and need to make them known. Our first responsibility is to the welfare of the people we seek to aid, and our adventures to improve their lot are secondary to the fact of survival.

Nalthar 2024/05/22(Wed)21:59 No. 1091599 ID: 5ebd37
File 171644037160.jpg - (520.63KB , 800x600 , cadvere 39 the way is shut.jpg )

Despite her odd manner, you find the mouse's story intriguing. Holding out a hand, you tell her that you'll help her, as long as she isn't planning any corpse desecrating herself. "Ha, no chance of that!" she says, grasping your hand firmly "My interests are far more, ah, mechanical."

"Let us get to it then!" Lisel spins around and neatly smacks her snout into the shut door. "Ah, right, this way is closed now. Hmm, the lounge should still be accessible, or we could risk the underfloor. Which would you prefer?"

Let's go lounge-ward

We know what it's like to slink between the walls; I doubt things would be better under the floorboards. Let us make our way to the lounge.

Let's go with the risky maneuver, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Nalthar 2024/05/29(Wed)22:12 No. 1092078 ID: 5ebd37
File 171704594550.jpg - (487.32KB , 800x600 , cadvere 40 dark lounge.jpg )

Remembering last night's crawl through the spider-infested tunnel makes you shudder. Taking Lisel by the shoulder you somewhat hurriedly usher her through a gap in the bookshelves to the lounge door, which does indeed stand ajar.

The lounge is still and dark. Hulking furniture emerges from the gloom into the harsh lantern light. From this side you can make out a plush chair across from an equally soft looking couch. Each has an accompanying end table, their contents hidden high over your head. There is a wicker box next to the near chair, with spools of thread spilling out. Past the chair a cold hearth holds a heap of forgotten ashes. Something glints in the piled gray as Lisel sweeps her lantern around. The center of the room is dominated by a large table with a trailing table cloth. Something shiny peeks above the table's edge.
The other end of the room is lost in shadow.

>>1092078
Check the glint in the ashes. Whatever's shining on top of the table won't be worth the exposure.

>>1092082
Yeah, go for the free loot!

We're looking for fungos, right? They might be most visible in the dark, where their glow is most obvious. It looks for not like the coast is clear. Absent anything else of interest, including fungal glow, it makes sense to investigate what remains of whatever's been burned. Leftover cutlery on a table doesn't merit investigation.

Nalthar 2024/06/04(Tue)15:34 No. 1092386 ID: 5ebd37
File 171754044348.jpg - (466.50KB , 800x600 , cadvere 41 hearth ash.jpg )

You pad over to the hearth, ashes cold and white covering the stones. Shards of a shattered tumbler stick out of the pile, and scattered around are the half-burnt remains of a pile of papers. Writing can still be made out on some of them, if you could read that is.

"Oh, what's this?" Lisel paws through some of the fragments. "This... this is a letter from where I used to live. Why would it be burned?" she rubs her chin, smearing ash into her pale fur. "Tem'rty, give me a bit to go through these, would you? Why don't you see if there's anything useful around." she sweeps the lantern light around the room. " I don't see any signs of fungus, but the rats have been asking for more weapons. Maybe you can find something sharp." She tilts the lantern up, revealing the dangling forms of more grisly puppets. "Just keep an eye out, be ready to hide if the lights come on."

While Lisel continues pawing through the ashes you survey the room. You can't see much of interest from down here, but there appears to be something on top of the central table. As well, the end table in the corner, next to the couch, has fallen over, its contents hidden on its far side. There's also the wicker basket next to the door you came in from.

Wicker box probably has some needles, those would work as weapons.

Time to do like the rats and start to scavenge what we can. Is there a limit to how much we can carry?

The table is exposed, and there's no easy path of retreat from it. Stay low, and investigate the toppled end table while Lisle puts this letter back together.

Nalthar 2024/06/08(Sat)20:16 No. 1092689 ID: 5ebd37
File 171790300421.jpg - (457.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 42 tumbled in the corner.jpg )

Nosing through the sewing basket you find it has already been looted. Nothing but ratty spools and an empty needlebook. But at the bottom of the basket you find a tear in the lining that has been overlooked, where a small scissors has slipped inside. Tucking the bulky tool into a handy loop inside your cloak you make your way across the room to the fallen table.

The table has dumped its contents into the corner by the far door. You find a some kind of U-shaped curve of wooden tube that tapers into point, a bag of pungent herb you can't aren't familiar with, and something you've only heard of from travelers; a box of matches.

while you inspect your findings you hear a sound from behind the door. A muffled voice you can't quite make out, something about a book. Lights turn on in the hallway, creeping in through the slightly open doorway.

Hide!

Try to hide behind the open door. As for the matches they can be used to burn this house. But do not use it yet, that would be the last case scenario.

This basket is so long disused that it may constitute a good hiding spot. If additional stealth is desired, you may be able to worm your way into the slit in the basket lining in which you found the scissors.

Don't lose track of Lisel. Best not to hide together, lest you both be discovered at once; but see where she is before seeking refuge yourself. When the coast is clear, try to reunite. Pilfer the matches, if you can hold them.

1/3 Nalthar 2024/06/20(Thu)18:15 No. 1093208 ID: 5ebd37
File 171893252632.jpg - (541.96KB , 800x600 , cadvere 43 hide a mice.jpg )

Hearing the sound of little claws clicking on the hallway floor boards, you hastily gather the loose matches back into their box and shove the thing into your cloak. The wolf hair garment is built for storage, but you don't think you will be able to take any more bulky items without dropping something.

Crossing to the door hinge, you try to peek through the gap to see who is coming. Unfortunately the angle is bad. All you see is the bathroom door opposite and a dusty hall runner carpet. Feeling exposed, you scamper back to the sewing basket. You hiss at Lisel to hide, and she without hesitation drops the paper she is examining and burrows into the ash. Tumbling under the spools, you hunker down in a corner and peer through the wicker. The room is deathly still as a tense minute crawls by. Then the lights come on.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/06/20(Thu)18:15 No. 1093209 ID: 5ebd37
File 171893255880.jpg - (674.59KB , 800x600 , cadvere 44 servants arrive.jpg )

Oil lamps flicker to life around the walls as the door nudges open an inch. A pair of glowing eyed rats, kited in spiked armor and wielding long spears creep in. Wisps of steam hiss from their clenched teeth, leaving ghostly trails behind them.

From above, the hiss of twine on metal sounds and half a dozen slumped shapes descend. The poorly dressed mice flop onto the floor splayed like ragdolls, then spring into haphazard poses. The horrid servants move haltingly, seeming to lead with the head while their body drags along like a sack of grain on a hook. Their limbs contort and twist in ways no living body could bear. Silent but for the faint creak of the cords they hang from, the motley crew stumble across the floor and flank the rat guards.

3/3 Nalthar 2024/06/20(Thu)18:16 No. 1093210 ID: 5ebd37
File 171893259037.jpg - (573.87KB , 800x600 , cadvere 45 decrepit pantomime.jpg )

"Morning fellows, morning! I have a task for you!" A gratingly high-pitched voice calls down from somewhere above. It sounds distant, like an echo from a tin can. "I must have my copy of Memorie sulla elettricità animale. I must... it should be, but why. It seemed so clear the way he wrote itGOOD SIR!"

One of the puppets jerks and starts trembling.
"Is that any way to address your betters? Henry control your men!"
Another puppet wobbles over and pantomimes a slap across the trembler's snout. The stricken puppet staggers, and then doubles over in a bow so low it thumps it's head against the floor.
"Good. I'll not tolerate such slovenly behavior in future. Now prepare yourselves while my guards retrieve the book."

The group troops across the room to the library door. The two guards slip past the door, and you can hear the voice shrieking orders in the next room. Hanging limply from their strings, the servants wait by the door unmoving. Stillness grips the lounge once more, save for the flickering lamplight.

>>1093210
Wait. Do not move, do not make noise. The danger is not yet past.

We are on a mission not only of survival, but of increase of knowledge. Hidden as we are, we may have a chance at discovering something new about our situation. What is pulling the strings? Your vantage is poor, but if you can afford to find a position that will allow you to better look upwards, it might be work the risk of motion.

Remember the presence of these armored rats. It will be a god thing to ask about later; are the house's puppets known to be chaperoned by fire-breathing lanterns?

So I think that is one of the elite guards. They seem like important, try to hide and if that works out try to follow them see where they would go.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/07/04(Thu)11:58 No. 1093781 ID: 5ebd37
File 172011950317.jpg - (512.82KB , 800x600 , cadvere 46 an odd device.jpg )

Moving as carefully as you can, you poke your head up out of the spool pile. With the lamps lit the ceiling's secrets are laid bare. You follow the puppets' strings up to a dizzying tangle of pulleys on tracks. Light glints off copper colored wire wound through the cords. Yet there is no sign of who is pulling these strings, they simply vanish into holes in the plaster.

The only other thing of note above is an odd metal trumpet sticking out high over the mantle piece. It seems oddly placed for a piece of decoration, being off center and right at the top of the wall. Beside it is a what seems to be a stylized eye crafted out of glass and metal. A sinuous pattern of reflected light sprays out from the curved glass.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/07/04(Thu)11:59 No. 1093782 ID: 5ebd37
File 172011954110.jpg - (541.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 47 the empty hall.jpg )

The door creaks open wider, pushed by the returning guards. A large book is revealed, held aloft by a team of puppets. The lounge puppets drift over and form two lines. neither team can cross the threshold, so the book is shuffled along from hand to hand till it has changed teams.

Stiffly holding the tome like pallbearers with a casket, the group turn their heads in unison. Legs dangling, pulleys squeaking, the entire assembly moves across the room as one mass, followed by the guards.

As the armored rats are passing your hiding spot one twitches and halts. From your vantage you can see the spool of perforated paper attached to its back, similar to what you observed on the bat and spiders from last night. With a staccato series of clicks the spool spins, feeding the patterned paper into the rat's head. Jerking in place, and with a little burst of steam, the thug whips its head around to fix its burning eyes on your location. Gripping its wickedly serrated glaive it stalks towards you.

"No dawdling, James!" the tinny voice calls out. The approaching guard stops as if struck, its spool angrily clicking away, then turns on its heel and trudges away. As it reaches the hallway door the book has already been passed off to another team of puppets. Without even a backwards glance the guards follow the tome out and around the corner. With a spasm of strings, the servants in the lounge are hurled away, as if tossed aside by an unseen hand. Silence and darkness return, as the lamps extinguish.

Creeping out of the basket, you dart under the table. When no voices cry out you rush to the open hall door and peek out. The book carriers have already reached the kitchen door and handed it off, drawing to the sides of the hall and slumping. The lights flick off and the kitchen door clicks shut. Across the way the bathroom door stands ajar, and you remember that across from the kitchen is the servant's quarters where the others are hunting.

Lisel creeps up beside you, the already pale mouse now completely ashen white. "That was certainly harrowing. Shall we head on?"

Might as well keep moving. Bathroom might have extra passage ways that we could go

We should try to disguise in order to look like one of the puppets. We need to get closure and figure out how all of this works and to see this crazy guy. We need to blend in, do you have any idea how we might achieve that?

The kitchen is empty of fungos. We should join the others with what doodads we've collected so far.

Spare a moment to talk to Lisel, though. Do you need to clean the ash from her fur? Is she leaving tracks that would be easily noticed? Has she collected all the fragments of correspondences that she is interested in and able to carry? While learning more about the smoking lanterns would be nice, that can wait; knowing what she's gleaned from the fragments of the letters can also be postponed.

1/3 Nalthar 2024/07/18(Thu)22:08 No. 1094492 ID: 44c167
File 172136570994.jpg - (625.66KB , 800x600 , cadvere 48 swept off her feet.jpg )

You point out that Lisel is leaving an ashy trail. She looks down, "Ah, ha, so I am. Let me just pop in the washroom and clean off." You nod and scoop her up so as not to leave any footprints, eliciting a startled squeak. "Oh ho ho, how dashing. Sweeping me off my feet, eh?" Lisel bats her eyes at you, as far as you can tell through her thick goggles. You huff and roll your eyes at the teasing. Hurrying across the hall you slip into the washroom.

Nails clicking on the tiled floor echo through the empty room as you carry Lisel. She directs you to a wicker piece of furniture, and the pair of you scurry up the side. At the top is a porcelain basin, partially filled with water from a leaking metal contraption. While Lisel dips her paws and starts scrubbing the worst of the ash off, you survey the rest of the room.

There's not much to see. The light from Lisel's little lantern bounces off an ornately framed mirror above you, illuminating odd corners of the space. An inscrutable furnishing dominates, a deep basin and a metal box connected by pipes and a dangling chain. Faint scents linger from a basket of shriveled petals on a wicker cabinet.

2/3 Nalthar 2024/07/18(Thu)22:09 No. 1094493 ID: 44c167
File 172136576268.jpg - (473.77KB , 800x600 , cadvere 49 wash your paws.jpg )

You ask Lisel if she found anything of use in the burned letters. Pausing in her cleaning she considers. "Not as much as I would have liked. It doesn't seem as though he even opened the one from my old home. None of the others were of a scientific bent, rather, they all mention some party that went wrong. A lot of talk of cutting ties, even one or two disownings. It seems our puppeteer held a demonstration of his hobby and it was received poorly."

"There was one odd detail in a letter from his brother. Something to the effect of the master is exiled here until his blunder is forgotten, but there was a mention of a vault and something to be kept secret, even from the servants. What exactly was burned away, though I would suspect its just money. Humans are always overly paranoid about their money."

Listening to the soft splashes echo back from the tiled walls, you think about the behavior of the glowing eyed guards earlier. You ask Lisel if anyone has tried to disguise themselves as a puppet to get past them.

"Well its not appearance that's the issue, per se, its that the behavior of the marionettes is difficult to imitate. Your lack of strings can be missed in low light, but it is rather obvious that you are bound to the ground instead of dangling. I believe some of the others have posed as discarded ones in order to escape detection, to some success, but you obviously can't move while doing that."

"Speaking of their movement, did you notice? Those puppets were holding up that book grasping with their hands, something controlled by strings shouldn't be able to do that. A book whose author I happen to know of; Galvani, whom has made much study of electricity." With a smug look on her face she climbs out of the basin. "I think it's safe to say my hypothesis is correct, he's using electricity to manipulate the nerves of the dead. The only question is how he generates it."

3/3 Nalthar 2024/07/18(Thu)22:09 No. 1094494 ID: 44c167
File 172136579780.jpg - (570.48KB , 800x600 , cadvere 50 cleaning supplies.jpg )

Back to her usual look, the pale mouse rubs herself against a thick cloth by the basin. "Anyway, I'll just get a quick refill of carbolic acid under the sink here" she pats the tank strapped to her back "then we can meet up with the others."

Tugging open the wicker cabinet door, Lisel's lantern reveals dusty bottles and cleaning supplies. The science mouse pads over to an amber bottle with a syringe jammed in the mouth. Leaving her pack on the ground, she climbs up and starts carefully transferring the acid.

You poke around the cabinet while you wait. A box flops over as you try to peek inside, uncovering a hole in the wall. Eight glowing eyes glare back at you.

Hmmm until we are shown how this puppet master is generating electricity I am going to imagine that he has 100 off alive imprisoned hamsters that are running on a wheel in order to power his dead army. As for Lisel how did she manage to stay alive for so long if she is so careless, are her goggles hindering her sight? Interesting, it appears that the host of this home is cut off from his human friends, I mean he has people who bring him food but other than that he is practically alone with his army of dead servants. No wonder why he was so ecstatic when he saw new intruders, but this makes me wonder what is the state of his mind? Isolation can change human behavior for the worse. With all of that said I don't think that we have spiders who are on our side, so maybe get ready for a battle.

A true warrior appreciates the avoided battle. Replace the covering over the hole, and scurry off, giving a warning to Lisel that she may want to abscond with the acid she's collected so far. It's probably best to remove yourselves from this vicinity.

Nalthar 2024/07/27(Sat)10:05 No. 1094806 ID: 44c167
File 172209995746.jpg - (608.41KB , 800x600 , cadvere 51 bats again.jpg )

You throw your weight against the box to cover the hole again. The muffled clicks of a spinning spool are heard for a second, then the box shudders as the spider scrabbles against it. It's chittering is answered by a distant screech somewhere higher up inside the wall.

Lisel looks up at the commotion as you back away from the box, hand on your long knife. "Oh dear. Give me a minute to seal this up please." She hops down and fiddles with her bulky pack, air hissing as she tightens valves and straps.

The tense quiet is shattered as a tile strikes the floor. You hurriedly poke you head out of the cabinet and look up. Far up above a bat wrings itself through the newly revealed hole and launches downward with a piercing shriek.

Try to close the door of the cabinet, try to keep it shut as long as you can, and tell your companion that you got another opponent who is closing in on you right now. Keep your blad ready if the bat breaks your shield.

A rock and a hard place; the spider is summoning allies from within the wall, the bat assaulting from outside the cabinet. We can hear the coordination; we may need to fight for our immediate survival, but I fear a prolonged stand will simply allow greater forces to mass against us. We need a plan of egress.

If we seek our allies, then we risk bringing the battle to them. We are empty-handed, but racing for the safehouse once the coast is clear may be the most graceful option. We can ask Lisel, but I don't think that sounding an alarm is advisable; stealth is the mices' greatest asset. It might be nice to send a warning, or to use the disturbance we've caused to draw attention away from the borrowers, but I'm not certain how we might best do that.

But more to the present threat; we know how to weild a blade, but how does Lisel fight? Can we use the materials in this cabinet to our advantage, or would that cause so great a disturbance as to completely reveal the mices' presence to the master of the house? Note that this bat seems to be controlled not by a series of tubes, as those you met with earlier, but a roll of paper; severing it may bring the danger it poses to an end.

Nalthar 2024/07/30(Tue)22:32 No. 1094998 ID: 44c167
File 172240397444.jpg - (278.55KB , 800x600 , cadvere 52 hiding in the cupboard.jpg )

Slipping back behind the closed half of the cabinet, you listen as the bat clumsily hits the floor, claws skittering on tile. Lisel turns down her lantern, the harsh white guttering to a pallid gray.

The sound of the spider scratching at the back of the cupboard abruptly stops. You hear the faint clicking of its control spool spinning, then the tapping of its many legs as it retreats deeper into the wall.

Every squeak and scrape as Lisel adjusts her contraption seems like a thunder crack as you wait for the bat to inevitably find your hiding spot. It stalks slowly across the room, sporadically stopping and letting out a short screech, before adjusting its course, each time seeming to get closer.

After a tense eternity Lisel pokes you. "Lure it over here. I need a clear shot at short range." she whispers.

Perhaps the spider's retreat gives us a reprieve to focus on the other threat. Is there any trinket at hand we might be able to throw, to summon the bat's attention? It seems to be using sound to track you; if there's a bit of metal or wood about, you might cast it out into the room in a place that would give Lisel the best shot possible.

Try hitting the door of the cabinet that can create the sound to attract the bat, also remember the weapon that we upgraded that can be used as well if the situation becomes drastic.

Nalthar 2024/08/06(Tue)17:46 No. 1095441 ID: 44c167
File 172299160645.jpg - (474.56KB , 800x600 , cadvere 53 clinging to the door.jpg )

You pull the stopper from a perfume bottle and rap it against the door, before dropping it to clatter on the floor. A skittering rush from the darkness, and the bat slams into the open door. Clinging to the wood it swivels its head around wildly.

Lisel inches past you and points the hose from her tank at the bat and yanks the lever. Or tries to, the mechanism stiffly refuses to turn. "Shit" she mutters as the glowing-eyed thing fixes its glare on you.

You draw your long knife and ready yourself as the bat hisses and tenses for a spring.

Hm, not much you can do but try to get your sword in the way of the lunge. See if you can get the bat to impale itself, and then use the attachment point to throw the bat off to the side?

The bat is expecting to hit against the door of the cabinet so when the bat is lunging quickly open it, catch it off guard, and go for the neck or the eyes. Survival first celebration hug after the danger passes.

Yes, survival comes before anything else. If you can kill the bat, then kill the bat; if you can render the bat inoperable, then that might be cause less of a scene, and leave less gore to trail after you. The ribbon connecting the bat's skull to the console on its back may prove just as lethal as a stab through its chest. After all, this bat is already dead.

Nalthar 2024/08/13(Tue)16:33 No. 1095804 ID: 355e44
File 172359198976.jpg - (577.74KB , 800x600 , cadvere 54 taking control.jpg )

The bat flings itself at you, heedless of your blade, and gets impaled right below the collarbone. With that as leverage you are able to avoid its snapping fangs and shove it to the ground. Pinning the writhing thing, it struggles for several moments then pauses. The spool attached to its back clicks and rapidly winds.

Watching the perforated paper whip past your snout, you catch it in your teeth and yank. The thin material easily sheers along a row of holes, the ragged end vanishing into the bat's head. The creature remains still for a moment, shakes its head as if in confusion, then resumes writhing in your grip.

Behind you, Lisel has been bashing the spigot against the cabinet door. Whipping the battered metal behind her, she brings it around in one last desperate slam. Amber droplets shower around her as the lever jars loose, hissing where they land. Wrenching it closed again she screams over the screeching "Get clear!"

Get clear!!

I think the bat's natural state, due to whatever's been done to it, is to just lay there and do nothing. The spool is a kind of artificial brain, but it has to rewind occasionally to replay itself. Maybe you should ask her to wait a moment to see what the bat does without the spool. Maybe the effect will wear off now, and you'll be left with a zombie bat that doesn't move anymore...

1/2 Nalthar 2024/08/20(Tue)14:55 No. 1096184 ID: 355e44
File 172419092015.jpg - (620.47KB , 800x600 , cadvere 55 acid bath.jpg )

You wave Lisel off, curious to see what the bat does now that its contraption is severed. It continues to struggle, scratching at the wood and even biting it. It almost looks as though the thing is trying to fight even with its opponent out of reach. The dreadful screeching is getting softer, no doubt due to the knife stuck through the bat's chest.

"Tem'rty, please." Lisel's voice is bereft of the enthusiasm you've grown accustomed to. Startled, you turn to her and flinch at the sight. Her face is peppered with hissing acid, eating away the fur and in spots burning into the skin. With a tight set to her jaw she flicks the hose in her grip to indicate you should move, so you get up and quickly back away from the violent bat.

As soon as you release it the bat rears up, attempting to get back on its feet. Before it can do more than raise its head Lisel steps forward and sharply turns the handle. A jet of concentrated acid shoots the bat square in the face, the pressure blasting the creature onto its back. Even as its eyes sputter and run the thing tries to rise. So Lisel sprays it once more, and then again, until the flesh sloughs off and the big ears crumple. Truly blinded, the bat's flailing carries it out of the cabinet, where it lands on its neck with a snap. Little more than a ragged heap now, the body occasionally twitches but otherwise lays still.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/08/20(Tue)15:00 No. 1096187 ID: 355e44
File 172419123884.jpg - (540.85KB , 800x600 , cadvere 56 cost of her mistake.jpg )

Lisel stows the nozzle behind her and slips to her knees. Reaching into her sleeve she retrieves a pouch of white powder, which she starts smearing on the worst patches of acid. "I must apologize, Tem'rty" the white mouse says in a subdued tone "This shouldn't have happened, and I put you in harm's way."

She winces as the powder fizzes on the largest burn. "There is no place for carelessness in chemistry."

quickly you are in the bathroom find some water and pour it over the acid wound. That is what I remember from my chemistry lesson when it comes to dealing with it.

Nalthar 2024/08/28(Wed)21:11 No. 1096644 ID: 355e44
File 172490471897.jpg - (521.48KB , 800x600 , cadvere 57 highwater.jpg )

You ask Lisel how you can help with her injuries. "I could use some water." She replies. "I don't think I can climb up to the sink again just now."

You cross over to the sink, keeping a safe distance from the bat still intermittently spasming on the floor. Shooting up the wickerwork you find yourself on the side of the sink. Down in the basin another drip plinks into the pooled water. But how are you going to get it down to Lisel?

With Lisel's injury, we should prioritize retreat once our first aid is complete. IS there nothing on the sink that might act as vessel? A leftover cap from some toilet water or phial of medicine? It might help to know what Lisel wants the water for--does she need a basin to wash in, or a stream to drink from? In the worst case, we may be able to find a container and simply dribble it from the height one other floor, for her to use the streaming water. Otherwise, we'll have to scanenge something to carry it down.

If it would serve the purpose, and you feel safe going back into the wicker cabinet, it looks like there are cotton balls there ( >>1094494
). You could soak those in water, and carry the sopping wads down.

>>1096647

Brilliant idea go with that.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/04(Wed)22:43 No. 1096987 ID: 355e44
File 172551500055.jpg - (574.47KB , 800x600 , cadvere 58 aquire cotton.jpg )

Ah of course, the cotton. Sighing to yourself you slink back into the cabinet. Climbing up to push over the glass jar, the cotton balls slide out with a pleasant tumbling noise. You stuff a bunch under your cloak. It makes movement difficult, but you only need to carry them a short way.

Watching you stumble along, Lisel's snickers are punctuated by hisses of pain. You manage to get most of the puffballs up to the sink, where you dump the lot into the little pool. Then it's simply a matter of tossing them back down to splat on the floor.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/04(Wed)22:45 No. 1096988 ID: 355e44
File 172551510716.jpg - (596.56KB , 800x600 , cadvere 59 pinkeye.jpg )

While you wring the sodden cotton over Lisel's acid burns the chemist seems to be getting her spirit back. She takes off and carefully wipes her goggles, giving you your first look at her striking pink eyes. Noticing you staring, she quickly dons them again. Her cheeks lightly flushed she leans closer to you and murmurs "Mister Tem'rty, would you like to examine the body with me?"

Oh I'm always up for examining bodies.

Did she get an acid burn on her face, that is seriously dangerous. The first thing that you should do is clean her face with water and then you can examine her body.

First aid must be the first priority. Make sure that Lisel is safe and assess her mobility before anything else. After that, we might spend a moment to examine the corpse of the bat, but beware; having caused such a disturbance here, are we not liable to attract even greater attention?

Will nothing come to the aid of the fallen bat, or follow its alarm? How fastidious should we be in covering our tracks, to put the cotton jar back where it was, in order to try to prevent discovery of the entire rodent operation on the grounds. Lisel may be able to advise here.

I would think retreat, as soon as we've put things in order, should be the priority, so as to avoid any coming reprisal, but if Lisel thinks that's not necessary, in spite of her injury, then we might tarry a bit further, and extract with the rest of the group.

Nalthar 2024/09/14(Sat)18:39 No. 1097410 ID: 355e44
File 172636437552.jpg - (676.04KB , 800x600 , cadvere 60 a shattered cranium.jpg )

Your instinct is telling you to get out of here before anything more creeps up on you. Yet gazing down into those smoked lenses, knowing what captivatingly rosy eyes are hidden behind them, you can't help but assent. You almost blurt out something about checking her body, but manage to hold your tongue.

With the last of the acid washed off you check Lisel's injuries. Minor burns pepper her head and hands, with one large and raw oozing blood on her snout. Luckily the cotton fuzz, mixed with a little adhesive from Lisel's pocket, makes for a makeshift bandage.

The two of you look down at the ragged heap of former bat sprawled on the tiles. Even before its acid bath it was in sorry shape, with patchy fur and only a faded and worn pair of trousers to its name. The skull is scoured of flesh, its surface pitted and stained. Lisel picks up the grim bone to examine the back, where the strip of paper was spooling into. "I'm glad you agreed" the chemist says "None of the others will. Too much respect for the dead. Which is admirable..." She brings the skull down sharply on her knee, splitting the brittle thing open like an egg "but we must learn, if we are to overcome these strange foes."

You are no stranger to grisly innards, having slaughtered many fungal beasts, but you've never seen anything like this. A thicket of coppery wires sprout from the gnarled brain meat, snaking their way to a slim metal tube. The torn edge of the perforated sheet you tore from the bat's back still peeks from a wide slot on the side of the device.

Lisel stares down at the glistening organ and rather hurriedly sets it down. "Ah ha, well, the anatomy books don't quite prepare you for the real thing do they?" she mutters, seemingly more to herself than to you. "Anyway, it is the heart we want, and that glowing liquid within." She pulls out a small workknife and crouches down by the corpse's ragged torso. Setting blade to flesh, she hesitates, hand beginning to tremble. "Come now Lisel, for learning." she whispers, but still does not move.

Something is making scraping sounds in the cabinet again.

>>1097410
Help her cut. You are more experienced in that sort of thing.

I think we are on a timer, so cut for her, pick up what needs to be picked up and, move your position.

It is unwise to further tempt fate, especially with Lisel injured. Can we not attempt to take the bat with us, and butcher it later? We must move, and now, if we are to move at Lisel's reduced pace.

I think it is time to leave, as neither we nor Lisel should try to fight any of these monsters one vs one while the other harvests organs.
We should grab Lisel, the brain, and maybe the perforated piece of paper we ripped from the creature's back. Then make a break for it before whatever is in the cabinet spots us leaving and gives chase. We should maybe head back to the lounge, since it's nearby and relatively safe.
Prioritize our safety, we can get the heart another day if we survive this one.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/17(Tue)15:35 No. 1097498 ID: 355e44
File 172661253796.jpg - (638.89KB , 800x600 , cadvere 61 ticking heart.jpg )

Gently, you close your paw around hers, and push her blade aside. Drawing your long knife you stand over the cadaver. Butchering a fellow animal hews nauseatingly close to bestial cannibalism, but you steel yourself and strike. Lisel trembles yet doesn't look away as you quickly clear the decrepit flesh from the bat's ribs. Prying the bones apart reveals yet another metallic intrusion.

Where the bat's heart should be is a strange vessel, sprouting wires that burrow into the surrounding muscles. In its center a wheel ticks, half turning before resetting. You drive your knife into the thicket of wires and start cutting the horrid thing loose. As the connections are severed the body jolts and jerks. With one last spasm the last is cut, the device clicking to a halt. Glowing liquid oozes from a rent where you scraped the side, hissing when it meets flesh. Lisel hands you a thick cloth, and you hurriedly wrap it up, glad to get it out of your sight.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/17(Tue)15:36 No. 1097499 ID: 355e44
File 172661258726.jpg - (411.85KB , 800x600 , cadvere 62 long dark hall.jpg )

The scratching is getting louder in the cabinet, it's well time you were out of this room. Lisel gathers the little bundle in her arms and you hastily escort her to the door. Looking down the hallway towards the room you know the others are hunting in, its a long walk of at least twenty feet. The runner carpet bunches in few spots, but otherwise there is no cover from the guard patrol of three armed rats, which even now you can see are headed this way. A few inches from you is a hole in the floor, large enough to give you access to the underfloor.

Back in the bathroom you hear a thud as the box that was blocking the hole in the cabinet falls over.

Guess we're gonna try escaping through the underfloor.

Is it possible for us to return the way we came, the more we push forward the more monsters are there. We are not equipped for any more fights.

We could try going into the underfloor for cover while the guards patrol. If they don't notice us and walk by, climb back out. If they do notice us or if something else causes them to stay active in the hall, venture through the underfloor.
Also if we do go into the underfloor, make sure to have the lantern light as low as possible.

1/2 Nalthar 2024/09/24(Tue)18:20 No. 1097752 ID: 355e44
File 172722720199.jpg - (513.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 63 under their noses.jpg )

Lisel winds her lamp down to the barest hint of light. Under cover of darkness the two of you slip into the hole in the floor. Clinging to the wall, you peek out as the glowing eyes of the guards slowly make their way down the hall. Below you spiderfolk pass unseen, their skittering loud in the dusty underfloor. No doubt they are headed to the bathroom to catch you. The occasional bat screech echoes down the corridors.

"This is odd" Lisel murmurs beside you, "they haven't responded so... stridently in the past."

After a long, tense wait the three guards slink past. Their seem to take no notice of your presence, nor of the scurrying below. Once they are well past you ascend, pulling Lisel up behind you. The pair of you pad softly down the carpet to the door of the servant's quarters.

2/2 Nalthar 2024/09/24(Tue)18:20 No. 1097753 ID: 355e44
File 172722725203.jpg - (429.67KB , 800x600 , cadvere 64 unkempt beds.jpg )

Slipping through a gap beside the door frame you find yourselves in a musty space. Distant glows of fungos pepper the dark hulks of unkempt beds, looming above you. One glow pops out from under a slumped bed sheet, revealing itself to be a lamp in Surrep's hands as she approaches you.

"What took you so long?" she hisses, then her gaze falls to Lisel's bandages. "Trouble?"

Yep! Patrol, spider, bat, patrol.

Trouble is always expected at this place. We managed to deal with it but we are not sure how long we will be able to get lucky with these missions.

Nalthar 2024/09/30(Mon)22:41 No. 1098070 ID: 355e44
File 172776129223.jpg - (500.25KB , 800x600 , cadvere 65 fungo wrangling.jpg )

You recount the near misses and escapes of the morning. Surrep shakes her head, "We nearly dodged some patrols ourselves. It has become more dangerous these past few days." She glances back at the bed and lowers her voice to a whisper. "We can't go on like this, the puppetmaster clearly knows he has folk hidden in his walls. It is only a matter of time before his thralls root us out. Afton is wrong, just keeping out of sight isn't going to be enough to keep us safe." She leans in conspiratorially "Would you two not agree?"

>>1098070
Tell him you can't make an informed judgement, having just gotten here, but you would like to do more than hide.

It sounds like Surrep has a more ambitious plan than simply scavenging. So what is the plan, targeting the puppet master?

Nalthar 2024/10/09(Wed)22:32 No. 1098429 ID: 355e44
File 172853836032.jpg - (614.84KB , 800x600 , cadvere 66 this is not suspicious.jpg )

You've only been in this house for a day, and it has been more harrowing than your entire journey through the woods. So you agree, and ask the lanky rat what she has planned. She glances surreptitiously over her shoulder once more, as the sounds of rustling and squeaking creep from under the bed. "Not here. If the mice catch wind they'll tell Afton for sure. Ah, other than you, Lisel. You seem a fair dash more adaptable than your usual house mouse."

The chemist grins "Ah ha, well I do try. My family traveled far, and we had to stray from the typical house raider's precepts or we would not have survived. The other mice, hiding is all they know, and its an easy life, when it works." She catches herself before she can ramble too long, "But yes, this is not the place to discuss these things."

Surrep leans in closer, "Tonight, come have supper with my family. We are roosting on the first shelf, so we'll have privacy. In the meantime, better get to hunting. We can't be sure how many days we will have access to this room, let's make it count."

You nod, and head towards the bed. As you walk away you hear Lisel whispering to Surrep. "One thing more, I have something I need to examine. I don't think Afton would like knowing about it, so I would keep it up on your shelf, if that is acceptable."

Nalthar 2024/10/09(Wed)22:32 No. 1098430 ID: 355e44
File 172853837768.jpg - (522.00KB , 800x600 , cadvere 67 moldering old bed.jpg )

Time to earn your keep. Looks as though you have your pick of hunting grounds. Rats and mice can be observed combing over the slumping covers, stalking the dusty under-bed, and even burrowing into the fungo tunnels that infest the mattress. Now where would you feel most at home?

I would feel most at home where the home doesn't want to kill you.