I have this feeling, that my luck is none too good

[casthulhu]

WHO: Adventurers!
WHERE: The new Dungeon of Dread: located in Central Park, aka the unluckiest place in the City that isn't Times Square.
WHEN: December 15-22
SUMMARY: The Cityverse's demonic interlopers strike again, this time manifesting a haunted castle that must be defeated according to the laws of fantasy and sorcery.
WARNINGS: Violence, scary stuff
FORMAT: Prose

It wouldn't be accurate to say a haunted castle simply appeared in the middle of Central Park one night. The dungeon didn't pop into existence in an instant, but emerged slowly during the night’s darkest hours. A haze, an outline, a hallucination slowly becoming solid and real, a thing of nightmare and medieval myth emerging into Manhattan from beyond.

The castle was the latest visitation from a plane of existence that had apparently written its mission statement around keeping the City from having nice things. This dungeon was well in keeping with that theme. It was made of sad grey stone that had no recognizable blocks or bricks, but seemed to be one solid piece that had been carved into turrets and walls and stairs by unimaginable forces. Its grim edifice reared high into the sky, looming over the Park. When the Sun rose the next day, people came to stare and gawk and wonder. Then, if they were smart, they ran.

Around the castle, the air smelled foul and was tinged with fear. A perpetual cloud swirled overhead, no matter what the weather was like elsewhere in the City. The surrounding ground wilted and browned. There were noises coming from within the castle, snarls and shrieks and whispers. Those were what people ran from, carrying rumour of the dungeon with them into the City.

There was one other odd thing about the castle. Its defenses were impregnable, its foundations unshakeable, its safety untouchable by mortal means- but its front gate was completely open and undefended. The portcullis was up, the doors were swung inward, and the ramparts were unguarded. It was an open invitation. A grinning gargoyle perched above the entrance arch showed no signs of life or threat, although possibly there was some amusement in its laughing, toothy face, a mocking challenge.

Anyone who dared to pass that gate would pass through a dark, clammy tunnel beneath the castle’s forbidding outer wall. The tunnel seemed to be longer than it should have been, certainly longer than the thickness of the wall would have suggested. It went on and on, a dim journey surrounded by whispers.

At the end of that journey, the tunnel opened into an impossible courtyard hewn of the same blockless stone as the rest of the castle. The courtyard was dominated by doors and stairs- stairs leading upward and downward, doors of wood and iron, doors in ceilings, floors, and walls. There were doors carved with leering faces or painted with grotesque warnings or engraved with eldritch runes. Each time anyone returned to the courtyard, the doors seemed to be in different places, and there were fewer of them.

No matter which door was opened, the effect would be the same: whoever stepped over that threshold would pass into more darkness and emerge into a completely different location. They would find themselves joined with others who had also braved the gate and passed through a door. Together they would face perils and mysteries and dangerous riches. Regardless of where they were, there would be an exit that would return them to the courtyard so they could leave the castle or try another room- if they survived.

Let the adventure begin.

[ooc: players with AIM are invited into goddamndungeonchat for adventure planning and discussion!]