His companions chose a table, and Oscar would shakily take a seat as he kept an eye out for lingering ghouls. Everyone seemed to be having a good time but him, with his dower easiness being a bleak beacon amongst the festivity. This was most obvious to Oscar, who gradually began to feel silly as he looked down upon his bare plate. Surely his fears were all in his head, if he did not at least try to have fun then he would no doubt regret it in the morning.

Oscar slowly added food to his plate, but could do nothing but stare at his meal with contempt. He took a deep breath, preparing to eat a torchic wing with the same level of anxiety as someone that was about to jump out of a plane. Before he could take a bit though, something shifted in the atmosphere. Bloody words began to appear on the walls, and people around him began to get flustered. Their ghost hosts looked on, enjoying the show from afar. As Oscar leered at the specter spectators, he would growl as he slammed the wing back onto his plate.

"I knew it! These fuckin' ghosts are playing us! We gotta--we gotta."

Oscar trailed off as his mind became blanketed by fog. Suddenly he was not quite sure why he was so mad, or even what he was doing. He looked back and forth between the people sitting next to him, unable to recall who they were. "I uhhh--I swear I was saying something. Sorry." Oscar dreamily stood up as the woman sitting next to him ran off in a hurry. Try as he might he could not remember who she was, but he did feel as though he should not let her wander off alone--just as he felt that he should not leave the nearby male by himself.

He whistled toward him, "Hey keep up, the plot's moving this way." Oscar casually followed the girl, completely forgetting what had made him so previously fearful.

With his phobia cleansed, Oscar got to actually appreciate the gothic architecture of the mansion. It was a remarkable house, somehow still beautiful despite its age. As Oscar took in the devilish ambience, it was a miracle how he managed to keep up with the girl. Eventually his trance was broken as the girl tugged on his sleeve, forcing him to turn his attention toward the newly opened rooms. He wandered with the girl, sorting through pages upon pages of research that made little sense to him. "This all seems like nonsense. Or at least not very important." Hunts, tormenting pokemon, who cared about any of that when they were trapped in a aesthetically pleasing old mansion!

A crash and a scream captured Oscar's attention next, and he would eagerly run off to see what exciting development had taken place within the Main Hall. What he found were three statues, or more accurately two statues and one shattered mess. Oscar ignored the intact statues in favor of the shattered one, bending down to get a closer look. He sifted through the debris, believing the shattered material to be some sort of crystal.

Eventually he stood up and nodded, "Yep, this sure is a pile of broken shit."

tl;dr
--Oscar forgets who he is, who his companions are, and why he was afraid.
--Oscar tries to follow Aurelie Lefevre and encourages Alba Evovae to follow along.
--Oscar examines the broken statue.
--Riddle answer: Crystal

"Hmmmm?" Howard looked up from his spooky doomsday notes. Remarkably, his paper bag had dried again, though he hadn't seemed to notice. Yet with Howard, predicting what was going through his head sometimes was impossible. "Yeah, I'm famished."

He stood, tucking several journals into his pocket for later. They were historical records, and GIDEON GRAVES would likely appreciate copies for the museum when this was all over. The originals could sit in Howard's apartment next to his notes on Unown documentation and Vivillon napkins.

"It's good that they disappeared, actually. If it was one or two reports, then I'd chalk it up to a coincidence that I'd have to look into. As it is, there's a pattern between the disappearances. If we track when the journals cut off..."

He raised a gloved finger.

"We can predict our own disappearances, and prepare against it." Howard's wisdom was quickly cut off by him taking a quaff of his wine bottle, before shamelessly devouring several crackers shaped like Pumpkaboos from a nearby table as they poked around the banquet hall. "Arceus above, I haven't bought groceries in a month."

He popped a cracker into his mouth, his visage reflected in Alabaster pillars.

"Haven't eaten in ages."

---

HOWARD HATES READING CONFIRMED???
Takes journal stuff with him, proposes using the disappearances to date when the people at the party are going to disappear
Agrees with Cillian and goes to raid the banquet table
RIDDLE: ALABASTER (teal is going to hell)

[attr="class","emapkmnteam"][attr="class","emapkmn"]
[attr="class","emapkmn"]
[attr="class","emapkmn"]
[attr="class","emapkmn"]
[attr="class","emapkmn"]
[attr="class","emapkmn"]

As the evening continues to progress in eerie ways, Cass feels similiar to DESIREE BLOOMS with the lack of her support pokémon, with the masks now refusing to be taken off. They're trapped. And it's almost consolation that Helm can't really remember, though the comforting smell of warm garbage is still something that she knows to miss. Seeing how others lose their mind though, she stands a bit taller, maybe scoffing slightly as she tries to focus on any emotion that isn't outright panic.

"There's ... I think there's a mystery to solve," she offers cautiously as she looks around, nodding then. "Though I am not entirely sure what it might hold ..." She's read quickly over some of the research notes and their horrifying contents, trying to form a puzzle in her mind as she almost isn't sure whose mind it is.

But there, a piece of her.

Helm, or Cass, or whoever it might be.

"It seems like the family might've been the landlords or something of that village ...?" she wonders. Or maybe it's not even related to the family - and someone is just using this as a stage ... but her thoughts are abruptly interrupted as a loud crash draws all attention to it. "Well, tell us if you develop telekinetic powers - they'll definitely come in handy, I bet," she joins the other's quip, though she also has troubles holding onto that pink thread. But for now, she has to focus, as they also approach ... "The ... another trio, huh."

Her mask grows uncomfortable, as do her hands as she shakes her entire body out in an attempt to get rid of this nagging feeling. "So ... adding that onto the files. I think I read ... it's like, Entei?" The missing one. Because she's seen the water one. And has then read more about the other two, too.

But this material ... it might be alabaster if her wikipedia deep dives are worth anything.

Thea Naito Vespa Baskerville DESIREE BLOOMS
tl;dr
RIDDLE alabaster
- link to post with outfit descriptions; codename helm
- slightly losin her mind but trying to hold onto it
- makes some chatter with desiree, looks at the research notebooks, makes some guesses/thinking out louds,
- approaches the origin of the crash, thonks about the material and the nature of the third statue

information so far

SPOILER: Click to show

• hollowcrest hall used to be the grand estate of the rennard family, over a century old, commissioned by reginald rennard (first in hoenn). family vanished after the ultra beast war.
• rumoured to be built atop ancient pokémon burial grounds. strange portals have been witnessed (allegedly). halloween night most unsettling with multiple disappearances.
• ancient paintings and sculptures scattered throughout the mansion, often depicting legendary pokémon.
• (BITTER)piercing scream from the dining room; the dining room doors then open. 3 grand tables designed after the aguav, hondew and durin berry, but food-wise identical.
• (FIELD) all clocks stop. everyone compelled to return pokémon back to their balls. masks unremovable; forgetfulness hits some. messages appear in red paint "help", "run", "you are not alone". all doors to the outside are shut. some locked rooms unlock that hold various old, forgotten relicts, including strange rocks that emit a faint magnetic energy, likely relics from places like Chargestone Cave or Mt. Coronet. dusty notebooks filled with cryptic researc (documentation of pkmn catch attempts, each entry sealed with completion stamp).
• (x) research belongs to various scientists from decades past. harrowing field studies, relentless hunt for pkmn terrorising nearby villages: using Spite and Imprison. mysterious disappearances > pkmn? incomplete research > researchers vanished before?
  presently: guests aren't doing too hot with face and name forgotten, animalistic. loud crash from the entrance hall: three statues before, now only two with one shattered. carved from soft, translucent material; fine-grained gypsum or calcite is easily marred.
• (x)
• (x)

[attr="class","aurelie-lyrics"]Give a man a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

[attr="class","border"]

As usual, Aurelie always seemed at least one step behind everyone else, if not more. Just as everyone else finished studying the rock samples and research journals, she charged in to pore over them. When she started reading, most other people were already filtering back to the main dining room to discuss their findings, eat and drink some more, or try to find a way out.

Especially when the sound of someone shattering pierced the air, followed by another eerie scream. At that point, many others ran back bravely to investigate, including oscar clayton. Aurelie, however, was happy to stay in the back room, away from whatever scary new thing was happening in the entrance hall.

Reading about the harrowing studies of Pokemon terrorizing towns and villages was scary enough. What really sent a chill down Aurelie's spine, though, was how much the journal accounts reminded her of the hunt for the Bloodmoon Beast, only a year ago.

Mysterious disappearances, savage Pokemon, dangerous hunts... It kind of fit. Enough to make her shiver, anyway. She had to remind herself, These journals all came from decades ago, though. Surely, all these stories can't be Megalopolans. They weren't in Hoenn for that long, not for decades...right?

No, surely these accounts had more to do with this mysterious mansion and its ghosts. Which somehow was a reassuring thought, compared to facing more cannibalistic Megalopolans. She put the journal she was reading back down, shuddering.

The rock samples were more interesting, at least, and less alarming. Aurelie held them to the light and ran her finger across their surfaces. They were at least harder than talc or calcite, which she knew could be scratched by a fingernail. She was no geologist, though, to identify any of the strange rocks.

This is the strangest party I've ever been to, she couldn't help reflecting. Good food, interesting music, but no dancing, and so many ghosts and strange, spooky shenanigans. And everyone here seems either too jaded or too scared to be enjoying themselves!

Herself included in the scared category, she realized. She sincerely hoped there was a reason all this was happening. And that the graveyard that Alba Evovae had said this mansion was supposedly built on wasn't about to give up its dead, or something equally terrifying...

---

Open to interactions (but can't promise to interact back for a while)

Notes
- Mask, Dress
- Reads the journals in the back rooms
- Doesn't even bother to investigate the broken statues in the entrance hall
- Reminded of the Blood, Mud, & Iron raid by the journals, starts thinking about Megalopolans again
- Guess for riddle: Calcite