undergrounds | Down the Rabbit Hole

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Down the Rabbit Hole

This event runs from 26th-29th November 2015.

follow the white rabbit.

Maybe you took a wrong turn when trying to catch the train on the Underground. Maybe you walked down the street and fell into a manhole. Maybe you caught sight of a strange figure with white rabbit ears and followed them into misty darkness...

You've stumbled into the Other Realm, but you're no longer in London. This is Wonderland, a twisted version of the classic tale created by the fae. What's going on?

Summary
26th November 2015 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In honour of this great occasion, the fae have created their own version of Wonderland... and your characters have fallen down the rabbit hole. Participating characters will be trapped for up to three days in the Wonderland version of the Other Realm.

Characters will enter Wonderland with their powers intact and they may retain any possessions or weapons that they were carrying before being spirited away. However, they will find themselves... altered. Items will become poor copies of themselves e.g. a real blade will become a wooden toy sword, a magic ring will become a cheap plastic bit of jewellery, etc. Supernatural powers and characteristics will take a turn for the absurd e.g. vampires will sparkle in the sunlight, shapeshifters will turn into either ridiculously adorable or monstrous versions of their animal forms, magic will backfire.

If your character is a member of the Seelie or Unseelie Court, then they know what is happening and they're in on the act. Have fun. If your character is not a member of the Seelie or Unseelie Court, then enjoy getting sucked into their game. When in the Other Realm, characters will enter a dream-like state influenced by the fae magic around them. This world will be dictated by dream logic: the most absurd events will seem perfectly normal.

To escape, characters must beat the fae at their own game. Some escape options are suggested below, but feel free to make up your own! If you have any questions about this event, please ask them here.

Prompts

1) I AM THE WALRUS. Fae of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, this is your game. Why not choose a part? You could play the White Rabbit, luring unsuspecting mortals into Wonderland. Or the Cheshire Cat, providing cryptic advice before literally disappearing. Or even the Queen of Hearts: off with their heads! The fae can play any Alice character, with the exception of Alice herself.

2) EAT ME/DRINK ME. What's this? You come across a cake or a biscuit with the label "EAT ME" on it. Or a small bottle that says "DRINK ME". Some of the food will make you shrink to the size of a mouse. Some of it will make you grow to the size of a house. Beware: fairy food ties you to the Other Realm and makes it harder to escape. Perhaps there's a door that will lead you out if only you're the right size to fit it... now where's the key?

3) MAD TEA PARTY. A merry unbirthday to you! Why not join the Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse for a most unconventional tea party. Solve their riddles correctly and you may yet be able to leave.

4) PAINT THE ROSES RED. The Faery Queen dislikes white roses. Paint them red, she says! Paint them red. Paint them all red or she'll chop off your head.

5) CHECKMATE. Even a pawn can become a queen. Avoid being captured by the Knight or killed by the Queen and you too may reach the other side of Wonderland to be crowned as a Queen. Checkmate the King and you'll win the game and be able to escape.

6) CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE. Perhaps a game of croquet, an encounter with the fearsome Jabberwock or a trial of stolen tarts. Anything Wonderland-inspired is up for grabs.

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Paint the Roses Red

Sirius can honestly only wonder how he got himself into this one. Gone were the days when he could blame it on one of his friends (although it was more likely that he was the one at fault) and so he was left to wonder. He tries retracing his steps, remembering that he was on his way home, but for some reason was taking an alternate route than usual. Then he'd blinked, and found himself being shouted at to paint the roses and there had been guards with weapons and he'd said okay.

And that's where he was now. Holding a can of red paint and a paintbrush really not at all suited for the job at hand and praying that no one would notice the trail of rose petals and mutilated plants he was leaving behind him.

Beware the Jabberwock my son

Having successfully escaped from his job of painting roses, and no longer leaving a trail of paint behind him, Sirius had set about finding a way out of this place. The Other Realm was not really a place Sirius had spent any amount of time in (aside from maybe the odd dare), and had generally kept his distance. But there had to be an exit around here somewhere, right?

He made his way along a path that seemed vaguely promising (though who could tell) which lead him into a forest (that one might describe as a tulgy wood). As the path grew darker, and Sirius's hearing started to suggest that he was not alone in this forest, he was beginning to regret his earlier decision.

Checkmate
In the end, it all came down to running and hiding. That was what Sirius Black's life had amounted to.

He'd made it out of the forest, and then had simply asked for directions, and the next thing he knew he'd pissed the Knight off and was now trying to avoid him for the sake of his life. He'd tried to review the conversation, tried to figure out exactly what it was he had said that could have made him so angry. So far he was coming up blank.

He dove into a hedge maze, hoping that would be enough to shield him, and confuse his opponent long enough to catch his breath.

Normally the games of the Courts don't appeal overmuch to Eames, far too old-fashioned for his taste, but this seems like fun. And of course, who is Eames to turn his nose up at the chance to be obnoxious an unhelpful to droves of people in such a short space of time?

The Cheshire Cat appears most often to the lost and confused, hood up and obscuring his face in shadow, but for a smile that seems almost as though it's illuminated in contrast, he appears seemingly out of nowhere. In a tree, maybe. Or perhaps suddenly he's there with his feet up on a table when your back's turned, one that certainly wasn't there a moment ago. A soft, amused laugh may be the easiest way to know he's there. Or perhaps it's the way he asks, "lost, are we?" with seemingly little care for the fact that you may be hiding from what ever other nasties are lurking about.

Finnick hasn't necessarily been one for games in the last few years. His old Seelie friends have told him he's more serious than ever, which could be a factor into why he has decided to participate in this charade.

He's taken on a character that embodies so much about how he feels about the world right now: the hookah-smoking caterpillar. As you wander through Wonderland you may find yourself in an enchanted forest with gigantic mushrooms towering overhead. On one of these, a little lower to the ground, Finnick is lounging among pillows that seem to be part of the mushroom, smoking a hookah that similarly seems to be growing out of the mushroom's cap. His clothes are loose and comfortable but they look like they belong to a wealthy man, though they seem to give his skin a light blue-ish tint.

He is almost certainly guaranteed to rudely ignore you the first time you address him, but if you try to leave without having a conversation he will be outraged at your audacity. Play your cards right, and you may inspire him to give you a little information or point you in the right direction, but you'll have to deal with this self-important exercise in frustration first.

Eat Me

Matt wasn't used to all things magical. Sure, he was starting to get the hang of his ability to influence others (or manipulation, if you wanted to be more negative), but a dream like world? This was just a bit much.

He found himself in the middle of a room surrounded on all sides by doors. They were all too small for him to fit through which was incredibly troublesome. A small table sat in the middle of the room. A plate with little cakes was sitting on top, a tiny placard in front with the words "Eat Me" written in beautiful script. Matt knew a trick when he saw one but seeing as there was no other way out of the room, he found himself contemplating following the directions. He picked up a cake and inspected it, figuring to throw caution to the wind.

What was the worst that could happen?

Matt took a bite and found that the world around him was growing larger. That, or he was getting smaller. He didn't stop until he was only a few inches tall.

"Well, shit."

Curiouser and Curiouser

The strangest object Matt had encountered here was by far the mirror. He stared at the looking glass and saw a window into a familiar room. It was the apartment he shared with Simon in London. But, something seemed off. There were items in the room that Matt didn't remember owning - a chess board, a large bound book with gold leaf pages, and a package of playing cards. What were they doing there? And better yet, why couldn't he cross through the glass and return home? It was incredibly perplexing.

Matt studied the large framed mirror looking for a way to pass through. He was ready to escape the strange, mad world he'd been stuck in for days. He wanted to go home and pick up his semi-normal life. He reached out and touched the glass, watching small silver ripples spread out from his fingertips. He wondered - if he pushed harder would he be able to walk through? Was it really that simple?

Matt pulled his hand back, hesitant to try. Perhaps if he searched a bit longer another way through the mirror would appear.

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I AM THE WALRUS

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