(1/6) kpwlt 2024/01/23(Tue)05:47 No. 1081684 ID: 127310
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Your name is Rose Marshall. You have just attended your uncle's funeral. You are currently standing by his open grave.

Your maternal uncle, George Duckweed, was an odd fellow. He very seldom appeared at family gatherings, even when he was invited. You really got the sense that he was disliked by much of the family, though he was always kind to you. Nobody knew whether or not he had any children, spouse, job, or house. He was a bit like you, in that regard, aside from the fact that he definitely had a car.

(2/6) kpwlt 2024/01/23(Tue)05:47 No. 1081685 ID: 127310
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After your assortment of aunts, uncles, and cousins had dispersed, a man very clearly not related to you approaches. He gazes at you gently through his round glasses.

"Terribly sorry to interrupt this moment of solemn reflection for you, Ms Marshall." You wouldn’t have called it that, but whatever. “My name is Milton Falk. I was Mister Duckweed’s lawyer. It might interest you to know that your uncle left you his house. Now, while it's definitely liveable, it's not exactly finished, but if you're anything like Mister Duckweed, you should be able to finish it off without too much trouble or cost to yourself."

"If you're interested in taking a visit to the house before deciding whether or not you want it, give me a call at any time."

The man pushes his card into your hands and walks off.

(3/6) kpwlt 2024/01/23(Tue)05:47 No. 1081686 ID: 127310
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A couple of months later, you decide to call Falk. His car pulls up in front of the library you made the call in within the hour.

Falk’s car is clean and empty, aside from a bloated manila folder exuding a cloud of dust on the back seat.

The drive is smooth, but long. After what feels like a couple of hours, you have departed from civilisation. There is now only one road that stretches to the horizon, and the view out the window is desolate.

You tire. You give in to the embrace of sleep.

(4/6) kpwlt 2024/01/23(Tue)05:48 No. 1081687 ID: 127310
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You are eventually woken by the car stopping.
You both exit the vehicle.

Before you is the house. All around you is nothing. Seemingly not in a metaphorical sense. The sky is white, as is the ground, which looks to have the texture of concrete.

(5/6) kpwlt 2024/01/23(Tue)05:48 No. 1081688 ID: 127310
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“Well, feel free to take a look around. I’m afraid I can’t stay, but when you’re done, give me a call and I’ll come right away. I'd say give yourself a day to make up your mind. Anyway, you don't need to call me unless you don't want the house, but if you do..."
At this point he hands a second card and the housekey.

MILTON FALK
Property Lawyer - KP Legal
Email: falkmilton@kplegal.net
Phone: 4

After this, he drives off.

(6/6) kpwlt 2024/01/23(Tue)05:48 No. 1081689 ID: 127310
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After entering the house and fiddling with the lights, you spot an elaborate layout of pieces of paper on the ground, right in the way of the hall.

The first is a note.
"Dear Rose,
Welcome to my house! I've been building it over the past few years, just for fun. It's yours now, and I'm afraid if things are the way they were when I wrote this note, it's not quite finished. It's completely built, but it's not real at the moment. Your job is to realise it. Bring it into the real world. It won't be as physically demanding as building it, but you will need to work hard. The house just needs a bit of tender loving care. Live in it for a bit, it'll show you its woes soon enough.
Love from,
Uncle George"

He's signed his name with a flourish.

The next three are maps of the house. The leftmost one seems to be the top floor, and the rightmost one seems to be the bottom. These'll probably help you in exploring the house.

Hmm. Well, are you up for paranormal hijinks, and/or unwilling to admit their possibility? If so, I guess get to exploring. Else, keep the lawyer on speed-dial. Start wandering around with the map, and if you get bored, open the entrance to the red realm.

I don't think going straight for the paranormal bits is proper weird house etiquette.
I'd say go in the hall, take a peek at the living room then go upstairs to the master bedroom.

>Red Realm
Great. A literal closet of skeletons.
>Nobody knew whether or not he had any children
Give the house a once-over, make sure he's not keeping anyone captive.

Get started on that TLC. Give the house a kiss a friendly pat and introduce yourself.
Tour the house, but be careful around the Locked Room and Limitless Space.

(1/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:30 No. 1086014 ID: 127310
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>Hmm. Well, are you up for paranormal hijinks, and/or unwilling to admit their possibility?

You think that you'd be mad not to admit the possibility of paranormal hijinks, considering that your weird uncle's lawyer has just brought you to a house in some kind of pitch white netherworld.

>I don't think going straight for the paranormal bits is proper weird house etiquette.

No, probably not. You'll save those for a rainy day.

>Great. A literal closet of skeletons.

You're trying to suspend judgement for the minute. Who knows, the Red Realm could be what Uncle George called his home cinema.

>Get started on that TLC. Give the house a kiss a friendly pat and introduce yourself.

You tap your hand on the wall gently a couple of times. You mentally say hello and tell it your name. You don't say it out loud because, well, that would make you feel a bit stupid.

>If so, I guess get to exploring.
>I'd say go in the hall, take a peek at the living room then go upstairs to the master bedroom.
>Give the house a once-over, make sure he's not keeping anyone captive.
>Tour the house, but be careful around the Locked Room and Limitless Space.

Alright! Time to start your tour of the house.

There's not a lot in the hallway. Just a few family photos framed on the wall. They look pretty old. You can pick Uncle George in all of them, but he's a lot younger than you've ever seen him.

(2/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:30 No. 1086015 ID: 127310
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Ah, the living room. This room looks like it's doubled as George's personal library, for neighbouring the central fireplace there is a bookshelf loaded with compendiums and novels.

You recognise some of the authors. You do not recognise most.

This seems to be a comforting place, with two comfortable chairs huddled close to the fireplace, and a long stretch of seatspace towards the back of the room.

(3/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:30 No. 1086016 ID: 127310
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Next, you enter the clean, vinyl tiled kitchen. It looks as though Uncle George put everything back in its place before he died, as there isn't a single dish or piece of silverware in sight.

Almost every appliance in the kitchen is labelled, from the pan on the stove to the microwave. In fact, the only thing that stands free of annotation is the refrigerator.

There is not a lot to note in the dining room. At least, it feels slightly underwhelming. It is a nice place, but it's also just a dining room. You might notice some things about it later, though.

Also connected to the kitchen is a pantry, as well as a cold storage room.

(4/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:30 No. 1086017 ID: 127310
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Now going upstairs, the guest bedroom is quite a nice place. It has a little guestbook of its own lying akimbo on the bedside table. You can see several recurring signatures.

The bedroom has an empty closet. One could imagine that George's guests used to put their clothes in there.

Overall, this room seems pretty normal, all things considered.

After checking out the guest bedroom, you apprehensively try the handle of the so-called locked room. To your surprise, it is genuinely locked. The door bears a keyhole, however.

(5/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:30 No. 1086018 ID: 127310
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The first three things that strike you when entering the study is the whispered smell of mildew, the torn papers peppered on the ground and desk, and the fine layer of dust covering most surfaces in the room.

The desk is positioned so the person seated at it would face the door.

In the centre of the desk there sits a relic of a computer. To its left, a red telephone. Taped to the phone is a note.

1 - Boris / 2 - Gretchen / 3 - Kaspar
4 - The Lobster / 5 - Milton / 6 - Machine God
7 - ANOMAT Cleanup / 8 - W.O.L.A.N.D / 9 - The Logic Clown
* - Operator / 0 - Wormwood / # - Death (Instant)

Um. Interesting.

(6/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:30 No. 1086019 ID: 127310
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Alright, into the master bedroom now.

Wonderful. The room oozes comfort and smells like nostalgia. It’s not luxurious to the point of decadence, but you can really tell that your Uncle George didn’t skimp on this room.

The wallpaper is floral. The bed is frilly, and the uncovered window would normally let in the warm sunlight and fill the room with a feeling of kind sanctity (there’s no sunlight here, obviously, just the endless un-darkness).

All in all, much nicer than where you were sleeping before.

(7/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:31 No. 1086020 ID: 127310
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Heading all the way down the stairs into the basement now, the storage area certainly lives up to its name.

Boxes, seemingly full of random junk Uncle George couldn’t bring himself to throw away, just litter the place.

There are also some weird gadgets and contraptions that probably couldn’t fit in the boxes here. One in particular catches your eye. It’s about the size and shape of a toilet cubicle. On its door is a handle, and the faded, but visible word “LETHE”. Inside is a short bench to sit on, and a button to the right of this bench. Very peculiar.

(8/8) kpwlt 2024/03/10(Sun)06:31 No. 1086021 ID: 127310
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The pool room is quite a sight to behold. There’s four portraits of people here, one of whom you recognise as George. Under each portrait hangs a vertical cue stick. A scoreboard hangs opposite. Trophies sit on a shelf, with a perfect view of the entrance to the Red Realm. If you had any friends right now, this would be a pretty great room to hang out in.

Finally, you’re curious about the Red Realm. You’ll just take a peek through the door. You won’t even go through.

To your surprise, what lies behind the door is a relatively small room, rather than what you would call a realm. In the middle of this room is a tall, red obelisk with a keyhole on its front. Above this keyhole, words are written.
FORGET
EVERYTHING
YOU
KNOW

That’s a bit weird. But that also concludes your tour of the house. You could probably either go to bed now (you’re pretty tired), or figure out something else to do.

Can you go to bed? Are you tired? Because this is pretty obviously a dream. In particular, your uncle specified the house was not quite finished, and yet here it is finished. He also said it wasn't real yet. The word "LETHE" also relates to dreaming and/or dying.

Best to wake up in Falk's car, and see what half-built nonsense your uncle actually left you. You can always go back to the dream later.

Hmm. It's a bit strange, in hindsight, how your uncle's lawyer chose to inform you of your inheritance at his funeral, after everyone else left. Why was there no reading of the will? Was he specially instructed to inform you discreetly, without anyone else's knowledge?

Also interesting is the content of the note; it suggests he didn't know exactly when he was going to die. That, plus the long-undisturbed state the study, actually rules out the pound-sign button on the phone as the cause of death. (Were you ever informed of how he died, come to think of it? A question for the lawyer if/when you eventually call him, I suppose.)

This also suggests that the placement of the note and maps, along with the appliance labels and lack of dirty dishes, is evidence toward someone else going through the house and preparing it for your arrival after your uncle's death - likely the lawyer. But then, why wasn't the study cleaned up in the same way? The dust and mildew can be written off as lower priority than dirty dishes and clean sheets, but why were torn-up and potentially incriminating notes just left there? Unless you're meant to find them? Also, how is the study already mildewing if he just finished building the physical house in a void devoid of precipitation?

The guest-book (and it's interesting how this non-existent house has had a number of guests already - three of which frequented the pool table enough to have dedicated cues) could tell an interesting story, now that we can guess that someone else has been through here since your uncle's death - is it actually open to the last entry, or did someone leave it open at the spot where they found the name they were looking for? Who was the last entry for, for that matter? And are there any names in those pages you recognize, from the hotline phone in the study or otherwise?

Great. Your uncle was a warhammer-or-whatever diehard fan, and he went crazy-senile with old age.

Replace anything he tinkered with, and sell or donate the goods to his other buddies in the fandom.

Ah well. At least he wasn't a mass-murderer.
Bed now.

Open the door to Limitless Space.

>>1086064
Yes, don't forget the limitless space, that might be where the unfinished part of the house is.

Lethe is the river that makes you forget, so maybe don't press that button. Could the red obelisk and the booth be related?

>>1086078
The house is "unfinished" because it's not "real". We are currently somewhere that is not inside the material plane, or something like that.

So do you know of anyone who could offer you expert advice on the supernatural, now that you are in an urban fantasy or horror or magical realism or *shudder* paranormal romance novel?

>>1086016
Man, if somebody inherited my house, most time of the year they'd inherit a DISASTER

After the ominous telephone and the creepy LETHE booth, curiosity made me apprehensively google "suicide machine", expecting some kind of creepy victorian-era devices. Instead google gave me emergency hotline numbers, and a few reluctant links to a 3d printed suicide pod thing. I was expecting creepy, not sad.... :( Yeaaah, maybe don't touch the telephone or the booth, yet. Keep an eye out for keys. What are the names in the guest book? Have you seen them anywhere else in the house? What's in the fridge; anything edible?

(1/4) kpwlt 2024/03/20(Wed)07:39 No. 1086817 ID: 127310
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>Can you go to bed? Are you tired? Because this is pretty obviously a dream. In particular, your uncle specified the house was not quite finished, and yet here it is finished. He also said it wasn't real yet. The word "LETHE" also relates to dreaming and/or dying.

>Best to wake up in Falk's car, and see what half-built nonsense your uncle actually left you. You can always go back to the dream later.

You pinch yourself all over and even throw yourself at the ground a few times to see if you wake up. You don’t.

>The house is "unfinished" because it's not "real". We are currently somewhere that is not inside the material plane, or something like that.

Oh yes. That sounds right.

>Hmm. It's a bit strange, in hindsight, how your uncle's lawyer chose to inform you of your inheritance at his funeral, after everyone else left. Why was there no reading of the will? Was he specially instructed to inform you discreetly, without anyone else's knowledge?

>Also interesting is the content of the note; it suggests he didn't know exactly when he was going to die. That, plus the long-undisturbed state the study, actually rules out the pound-sign button on the phone as the cause of death. (Were you ever informed of how he died, come to think of it? A question for the lawyer if/when you eventually call him, I suppose.)

>This also suggests that the placement of the note and maps, along with the appliance labels and lack of dirty dishes, is evidence toward someone else going through the house and preparing it for your arrival after your uncle's death - likely the lawyer. But then, why wasn't the study cleaned up in the same way? The dust and mildew can be written off as lower priority than dirty dishes and clean sheets, but why were torn-up and potentially incriminating notes just left there? Unless you're meant to find them? Also, how is the study already mildewing if he just finished building the physical house in a void devoid of precipitation?

You don’t know how your uncle died. You don’t know who would clean up the kitchen before your arrival, you don’t see why the lawyer would. As for the mildew, the only reason you can think of is that someone deliberately brought..? created..? put it here.

>The guest-book (and it's interesting how this non-existent house has had a number of guests already - three of which frequented the pool table enough to have dedicated cues) could tell an interesting story, now that we can guess that someone else has been through here since your uncle's death - is it actually open to the last entry, or did someone leave it open at the spot where they found the name they were looking for? Who was the last entry for, for that matter? And are there any names in those pages you recognize, from the hotline phone in the study or otherwise?

>What are the names in the guest book? Have you seen them anywhere else in the house?

You go to the guest book. Milton Falk has signed his name over the two open pages, which are otherwise blank. There are many names throughout the earlier pages of this book, though three in particular repeat myriads of times.

“BORIS”
“gretchen”
“Kaspar”

(2/4) kpwlt 2024/03/20(Wed)07:40 No. 1086818 ID: 127310
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>Lethe is the river that makes you forget, so maybe don't press that button. Could the red obelisk and the booth be related?
>Yeaaah, maybe don't touch the telephone or the booth, yet.

If the booth makes you forget and the obelisk wants you to forget, then they had better be related. As for the phone, it’s red too. Could be related.

>So do you know of anyone who could offer you expert advice on the supernatural, now that you are in an urban fantasy or horror or magical realism or *shudder* paranormal romance novel?

You have no idea. Maybe some of the people on that note on the phone could clue you in? Hopefully they’re normal about it. Hopefully. Nothing would be more horrifying right now than finding out your entire life was just a setup to a paranormal romance novel.

(3/4) kpwlt 2024/03/20(Wed)07:40 No. 1086819 ID: 127310
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>What's in the fridge; anything edible?

You race down to the fridge. Although it’s mostly barren, there’re milk, eggs, butter, bread, and a few jars of various jams. That’s pretty normal. In the crisper there are numerous vials filled with various liquids. Uh. Slotted into the door is a cylinder wrapped in paper. Unwrapping it reveals a crusty bread roll with some vegetables and pork inside. Interesting…

(4/4) kpwlt 2024/03/20(Wed)07:40 No. 1086820 ID: 127310
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>Open the door to Limitless Space.
>Yes, don't forget the limitless space, that might be where the unfinished part of the house is.

Limitless space time. You open the door and can suddenly feel a pressure and moisture change in the threshold between the basement proper and the space.

You step in and the door slams shut behind you. You panic and tug at it again, but it opens easily. You’re still panicking, however, so you run out. It only closes of its own volition once you take steps away from it.

Now that you’re out again, though you’re still a bit spooked, you can comprehend the sight that greeted you in limitless space.

It was a well.

Well well well.

Wait - the lawyer's card says his name is Milton Falk, phone #4, but the phone says Milton is #5, and #4 is The Lobster.

Oh hey, bánh mì. Ăn đi. Assuming you're hungry. Are the potions labeled?

Peer in the well. Got any pennies? Or wishes?

What's down the well?

Well isn't that something?
Looks like its a well on a rock in a starry void. Maybe get a doorstop before you go back in to investigate.

Hmm what's that vertical white structure?

(1/3) kpwlt 2024/04/05(Fri)06:48 No. 1088042 ID: 127310
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>Wait - the lawyer's card says his name is Milton Falk, phone #4, but the phone says Milton is #5, and #4 is The Lobster.

Indeed. Looks like someone got a bit lazy and forgot to amend something somewhere along the line.

>Oh hey, bánh mì. Ăn đi. Assuming you're hungry. Are the potions labeled?

You aren’t hungry right this moment. The potions have absolutely no labels. The only distinguishing features between them are the colours. You could probably taste test them to find out what their deal is. If you wanted to.

(2/3) kpwlt 2024/04/05(Fri)06:48 No. 1088043 ID: 127310
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>Hmm what's that vertical white structure?

Tentatively going back into limitless space, (and checking the door after it slams shut behind you), the vertical white structure seems to be some kind of damaged column. Peering over the ledge, it seems to go up and down as far as you can see. There’s no way to tell if it’s floating or attached to something.

It sort of looks like it’s maybe made of concrete?

(3/3) kpwlt 2024/04/05(Fri)06:48 No. 1088044 ID: 127310
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>Peer in the well. Got any pennies? Or wishes?
>What's down the well?

You peer down the well. You’ve bent over the well enough that you can look down it, but not so much that you could easily be pushed in.

It’s hard to make out with your head blocking the light, but you can make out flashes of something reflective down there. Something moist-looking. It’s definitely not a pool of water down there, the reflection would be suggestive of that if it was, but the bottom and lower sides of the well are definitely coated in water. You’d estimate it’s almost two metres to the bottom of the well.

The well feels familiar. You don’t want to go into the well, but you feel like you might want to, one day. You feel like you might have wanted to in the past.

You pull out a coin and toss it in. It makes a sound not unlike an egg being dropped on the pavement when it hits the bottom. You haven’t got the sense for it yet, but I’ll tell you now that this action has caused a ripple in planes yet unseen.

Not limitless enough to be unable to lay concrete, I suppose!

Your uncle has phone numbers for Boris, Gretchen and Kaspar, and they have left their names in his guest book often, so they're probably your neighbors. How they're your neighbors in a white void I have no idea, but he was clearly a friend of theirs, or a terrible enemy. They probably know your uncle has passed away, but you might want to make sure. Good to get to know your neighbors anyway.

You could also study some of George's reading material. You still have no idea how to realise this house. Perhaps he learned about the realisation process in the books in his study.

Well now you've seen the whole house, do you think you'll keep it? It seems pretty nice, but the commute might be a bit much.

(1/3) kpwlt 2024/04/09(Tue)01:05 No. 1088366 ID: 127310
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>Well now you've seen the whole house, do you think you'll keep it? It seems pretty nice, but the commute might be a bit much.

You will definitely keep it. It’s at least a thousand times better than what you were going through beforehand.

Not like you’ve got anywhere to commute to anyway.

>Your uncle has phone numbers for Boris, Gretchen and Kaspar, and they have left their names in his guest book often, so they're probably your neighbors. How they're your neighbors in a white void I have no idea, but he was clearly a friend of theirs, or a terrible enemy. They probably know your uncle has passed away, but you might want to make sure. Good to get to know your neighbors anyway.

Good idea. They might be able to help you understand more of what’s going on here.

You excuse yourself from the presence of the well and head upstairs to your uncle’s… your study.
You decide to call them in order.

You dial 1 on the phone. It rings and buzzes in your hand for a while.
“This is Boris. I’m sorry I’m not able to take your call right now. I’ll call you back when I am available.”
The phone hangs up. You know, Boris’ voice sort of reminds you of your grandfather.

You dial 2 on the phone. After a couple of minutes someone you can only assume to be Gretchen picks up.
“George! It’s been ages!”
You let her know that this is his niece, Rose. You decide to leave out the part where he dies for now.

“Oh! Oh. Oh…”
Gretchen seems to infer what you didn’t mention from the fact that you are talking to her at all. She clearly doesn’t mean to insult you, but her tone becomes more reserved and solemn.

“I’m Gretchen. George talked about you inheriting his place a lot. Didn’t think it’d ever come to pass. Anyway, what’d’y’need?”
You ask whether she has any tips for finishing the place off.

“Well, can’t really speak with too much authority considering mine’s not done either, but the houses really like being lived in. Live in the house, clean it, just basically tend to a normal house. I’m sure you’ll get a sense of what needs doing. Sometimes the houses go through a bad day and throw some real weird things at you, just be prepared to deal with them. I think it also helps the houses feel more lived in if you have some friends over every once in a while.”

You thank her for the tips, but don’t hang up.
[You can progress this conversation non-chronologically. Any questions you wish to ask Gretchen this update will be retroactively added to this conversation.]

After asking all further questions you want, you thank her a final time, and hang up.

Finally, you dial 3. Kaspar picks up almost immediately.
“Hi Mr Duckweed.”
You quickly tell him that you are in fact Rose, and that Mr Duckweed is your uncle.

“Oh… Uh… What happened to Mr Duckweed?”
His voice has become much quieter, even though it was fairly soft before.
You try to break the unfortunate news as gently as you possibly can, though you will forever remember this moment as though you dumped it on him like a piano that has been dropped down a mineshaft.

“Oh. Sorry.”
You can hear the tears in his words. Seems like it hit him pretty hard (kindly imagine the sound a piano makes on impact). He hangs up.

(2/3) kpwlt 2024/04/09(Tue)01:05 No. 1088367 ID: 127310
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>You could also study some of George's reading material. You still have no idea how to realise this house. Perhaps he learned about the realisation process in the books in his study.

There don’t seem to be any books in the study, but you’ll check out the ones on the shelf downstairs.

You scan the bookshelf. You see lots of books by people called things like Orwell, Milton, Adams, things like that. Finally, your eyes land on a shelf which seems to be filled entirely with house related books.

You quickly pull out the more boring looking ones. Sand, Silt, & Clay. Domestic Materials. [i]A Firm Foundation. Structures of a Friendly House. Turning ‘House’ into ‘Home’.

(3/3) kpwlt 2024/04/09(Tue)01:05 No. 1088368 ID: 127310
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All that are left are a few more esoteric looking ones. Home Realisation. Astral Projection: A Guide for Infernal Beings. Fischer’s Non-Exhaustive List of Void Anomalies. Well Maintenance & Navigation. Reincarnation Basics.

Hmm. Re: Gretchen, towards the end of the conversation, you could tentatively invite her over, on the grounds that you'd like to know more about your uncle, and also could use whatever help you can get about the house.

Books: I'd look at "Home Realization" and "Well Maintenance & Navigation".

>>1088367
Check out the synopsis for
1, Structures of a Friendly House
2, Turning ‘House’ into ‘Home’.
3, Home Realisation
4, Well Maintenance & Navigation (uh oh, better check to see what dropping the coin did)

>>1088366
Ask Gretchen about the Red Realm and the well. The Lethe, too.

Oh ask Gretchen how you're supposed to get food. The house has tapwater right? Safe to drink?

To Gretchen: "There's probably something my uncle read to get started but... maybe we can step back to explain me what's going on here, to begin with? Not that I'm ungrateful - I'll absolutely continue his work if that's what he wanted of me - but I am curious as to 'the point' behind the house's existence. Existences, plural? Apparently this is just a thing, if your similar situation is indicative."

"You said you didn't think it would ever happen? I apologize if this seems rude, but the way you phrased that struck me as odd."

"How do I differentiate things that need 'dealing with' from things that are an intended part of the layout - or at least my uncle's vision for it? Is it like pruning a plant, where I decide what should persist and what should be changed or cut short? Or are there things that are objectively bad for the house?"

Ask Gretchen about getting food and deliveries so you can invite her to lunch.

Take a look at the table of contents on those esoteric and house care books, just to get a feel for what you might be dealing with.

(1/2) kpwlt 2024/04/14(Sun)04:14 No. 1088740 ID: 127310
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[The following is a continuation of an earlier conversation with Gretchen


>Oh ask Gretchen how you're supposed to get food. The house has tapwater right? Safe to drink?
>Ask Gretchen about getting food and deliveries so you can invite her to lunch.

You ask Gretchen about how you’re supposed to avoid starving.
“Yes, drinking whatever water the house gives you is fine. Unless you're at Kaspar’s. You can get food by doing chores. George always said it was part of your symbiotic relationship with the house. Make the house, uh, feel good and it’ll give you something to eat. I think. Most of the time at least.”

>"How do I differentiate things that need 'dealing with' from things that are an intended part of the layout - or at least my uncle's vision for it? Is it like pruning a plant, where I decide what should persist and what should be changed or cut short? Or are there things that are objectively bad for the house?"

“Oh you’re pretty much free to shape it however you want. If you like doing renos. Otherwise, the house’ll throw you some chores to do most days. You’ll get an innate sense of it, so you’ll know what it wants most of the time at least.”

>"You said you didn't think it would ever happen? I apologize if this seems rude, but the way you phrased that struck me as odd."

“You… You don’t know?”

Gretchen seems to wait. Presumably to decide whether this is something she should tell you. You can almost hear her trying to manifest your dead uncle’s guidance in her own mind.
“Listen… Your uncle was a… very special kind of person. He wasn’t going to die of natural causes for, uh, forever. Um. If you’re the same kind of person he was then you probably won’t either.”

>Ask Gretchen about the Red Realm and the well. The Lethe, too.

“The Red Realm is something we use to talk to the house. Sort of. It’s kind of like dreaming but you’re in the house’s dream.

The well is pretty important, I think. George used to go on about how there was something sleeping at the bottom of the well. All of the wells. I think that was a metaphor though. Anyway, George always said he was from the well, so I presumed you were too, and I was sorta hoping you could tell me more about it?

The Lethe? George always said he used it ‘to forget’. Always sounded super depressing. Anyway, it’s really not that bad. Yes, it does make you forget literally everything, but you remember everything afterwards and it shows you something else. Something like, what your life could be like if you didn’t make the choices you did before or something like that. Also, I think he hid his key to the Red Realm in there.”

>"There's probably something my uncle read to get started but... maybe we can step back to explain me what's going on here, to begin with? Not that I'm ungrateful - I'll absolutely continue his work if that's what he wanted of me - but I am curious as to 'the point' behind the house's existence. Existences, plural? Apparently this is just a thing, if your similar situation is indicative."

“Uh… It’s just a house I think. No deeper purpose as far as I know. It’s sort of like asking, well, why is there anything at all? What’s the point of something existing instead of nothing? Y’know?”

>Re: Gretchen, towards the end of the conversation, you could tentatively invite her over, on the grounds that you'd like to know more about your uncle, and also could use whatever help you can get about the house.

“Sure! I’ll come over first thing tomorrow! Get some rest before then.”

You thank her a final time, and hang up.

(2/2) kpwlt 2024/04/14(Sun)04:14 No. 1088741 ID: 127310
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>1, Structures of a Friendly House
>2, Turning ‘House’ into ‘Home’.
>3, Home Realisation
>4, Well Maintenance & Navigation (uh oh, better check to see what dropping the coin did)

You don’t feel like even glancing through most of the books, so you condense a list of just four for now.

Structures of a Friendly House

You turn the book over to reveal its synopsis.

In this gripping read, accredited houseologist James M. Rand and architecture professor Kosta Alexandrou discuss numerous houses. From their facades to their floor plans, Rand and Alexandrou break down what makes these houses truly friendly.

You check out the contents now.

Foreword - 1
Acknowledgement - 2
Contents - 3
Introduction - 4
1. What is a friendly house? - 7
2. Examples of friendly houses - 51
3. Friendly house analysis - 86
4. Potential ethical issues of friendly houses - 134
5. Rand has a mental breakdown - 151
6. Implementing structures of a friendly house - 160
7. Conclusion - 206

Interesting.

Turning ‘House’ into ‘Home’

Weirdly enough, this book has nothing on the back. Where you would expect the table of contents to be, it just says Property of Jeremy.

Home Realisation

A house is a fascinating thing. One minute, it pops up in the void, then, after potentially lifetimes spent with it, you occupy its realised husk. This book will tell you how.

This book has no page numbers from the looks of it, and no table of contents. However, flipping through lets you see the headings.

Communicating with the house
The void
Surviving the void
What to do if you’ve died in the void
Finding out what the house wants
Home symbiosis
The gradual process of realisation
Coming to terms with the realisation of your house

Alright.

Well Maintenance & Navigation

Well Maintenance & Navigation is an essential guide for anyone wishing to involve themselves with any form of Reality Wells. In this edition, author K. P. W. Lett describes how to deal with Reality Wells, and how, if needed, to navigate the turning tunnels found inside them. However, the most important thing to do with a Reality Well is not to panic about it. They are quite safe and oftentimes completely stable, leaving plenty of room for error.

Reality Well Morphology
Using Reality Wells
Using Reality Wells to produce Reality
Reality Well Navigation
Well Problems
Creating Wells

All this reading has gotten you tired! Although it doesn’t seem to be night right now, you might like to turn in.

Do you know how your uncle died? Did he die here, in his house? Is it possible the house will try to kill you?

>>1088741
Hmmm, so, did your parents have weird tentacles too?

>What to do if you’ve died in the void
This seems important...
>husk
Ah. So, this is where a living house exists. The only houses that exist in reality are dead ones.

>sleep?
Well alright, go take a nap then.

Maybe skim "surviving the void" and "well problems" for anything urgent like "drink 3 tablespoons of vinegar before bedtime or you die" before going to sleep. Just in case.

Take a brief look at "what to do if you've died" before you hit the sack.

Sleep well, and don't forget to make your bed when you wake up! This place has got to be spick and span!

(1/3) kpwlt 2024/04/18(Thu)01:20 No. 1089098 ID: 10556b
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>Do you know how your uncle died? Did he die here, in his house? Is it possible the house will try to kill you?

You don’t know how, where, or why your uncle died.

>Hmmm, so, did your parents have weird tentacles too?

Well, for one, they’re not weird. Everyone in your family has tentacles. You have 21 tentacles. Apparently, both your parents also have 21 each. You haven’t asked anyone else in your family exactly how many they have.

>Ah. So, this is where a living house exists. The only houses that exist in reality are dead ones.

That’s marginally unsettling. Does that mean the goal is to eventually kill the house?

>What to do if you’ve died in the void

You crack open Home Realisation and flip to What to do if you’ve died in the void[.

Since 20ΦΔ, ANOMAT has placed standardised resurrection devices in all new houses, in order to reduce the danger associated with owning a house. Although some houses conceptualised before 20ΦΔ do utilise ANOMAT resurrection devices, many use homemade ones. It is exceptionally uncommon for a home to not have some form of resurrection device.

Automatic resurrection devices are the most common form, though some resurrection devices will require more contribution on the part of the dead. Check which kind your house has.

If your house lacks a resurrection device, attempt to contact your neighbours. They are also able to bring you back.

If this is also impossible, you must wait for an astral ripple. It is a very rare occurrence, so there is no telling how long you might spend dead.

>"surviving the void"

The first rule of surviving the void is to have fun. Nothing’s more dangerous than a grump.

After that, it is important to complete your chores. These will get more difficult as you go along. Pay attention to what day it is, and stay physically safe.

Try not to attract attention from any alternate planes. If you absolutely must, remember that infernal beings can be reasoned with, while astral beings can’t, as a rule of thumb. Void beings will vary.

Learn the difference between day and night. Optionally, learn the difference between day, night, and the time in between them. Knowing this will be critical to your survival, as the rules of the void can sometimes change based on these times.

>"well problems"

You switch to K. P. W. Lett’s tome now.

Reality Wells can experience a number of ailments that can affect their effectiveness. Any sort of external Well degradation or abnormal emission can be indicative of an issue. In order to prevent this, it is advised to have your Well regularly checked by Well Experts, such as those from W.O.L.A.N.D.

Common Well issues that can be solved by Well Experts include, but are not limited to:

Well Decay
Lacerations
Shallow Hellbender Lairs
Wellborne Interlopers
Shallow Cave-Ins
Blood Flooding
Infernal Presence

That’s enough reading for one day!

>Sleep well, and don't forget to make your bed when you wake up! This place has got to be spick and span!

Alright mum. You wiggle your way up the stairs, leaving a circle of books on the ground.

You slip into bed even though it’s still bright outside.

(2/3) kpwlt 2024/04/18(Thu)01:20 No. 1089099 ID: 10556b
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Nevermind, it is dark now. That’s a bit weird.

You sleep peacefully under a pinkish moon-like object. (?)

(3/3) kpwlt 2024/04/18(Thu)01:20 No. 1089100 ID: 10556b
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You wake up. The darkness has turned back to light.

DAY 1: Day of Chores

Tasks for Today
* Locate the Echo Chamber in Storage (BASEMENT) - 1 ʁ
* Move the Echo Chamber to Kitchen (GROUND) - 1 ʁ
* Use the Echo Chamber to alter two items - 2 ʁ
* Consume a beverage on Porch (GROUND) - 2 ʁ

You can hear a knocking on your door.

>>1089098
>Does that mean the goal is to eventually kill the house?
Well, the book made it sound like the house will eventually die on its own. Doesn't have to be malice on your part.

>>1089098
>resurrection devices
Huh. Do we know where ours is? Maybe your uncle is only temporarily dead? Or maybe... he died in reality, not the void?

>>1089100
These chores don't seem too bad.
Go answer the door.

Wow, they got here early. Or are you just a late sleeper?

Do you know what "ʁ " means?

Answer the door, hopefully it's a neighbor you can share a drink on the porch with

>>1089098
Huh. Do you know if folks outside your family have tentacles instead of hands, or if it's a quirk unique to your bloodline, on a scale of "the way of things" to "common" to "not unheard of" to "your family might be strange?"

>>1089113
Agreed - two birds, one stone, and all that. If you need a moment to freshen up for the morning, make sure to inform your guest of that fact. Also, ask if they need to put a new signature in the guest-book, or if that's only for overnight stays. Maybe ask real quick if they knew your uncle well enough to know what your house's resurrection device was called or looks like.

(1/2) kpwlt 2024/04/23(Tue)08:46 No. 1089459 ID: 127310
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>Well, the book made it sound like the house will eventually die on its own. Doesn't have to be malice on your part.

You guess so.

>Huh. Do we know where ours is? Maybe your uncle is only temporarily dead? Or maybe... he died in reality, not the void?

No way to know for sure. Not yet, anyway.

>Do you know what "ʁ " means?

Nobody’s ever told you, but you have a certain intuition that the ʁ symbol is shorthand for some measure of realisation. Check the computer to find out more.

>Huh. Do you know if folks outside your family have tentacles instead of hands, or if it's a quirk unique to your bloodline, on a scale of "the way of things" to "common" to "not unheard of" to "your family might be strange?"

Okay, your family might be strange. You know that most people don’t have tentacles. People in family also tend to try to hide their tentacles from those outside the family too.

>Wow, they got here early. Or are you just a late sleeper?

You aren’t really an early riser, but you wouldn’t say you sleep in that long.

>Go answer the door.
>Answer the door, hopefully it's a neighbor you can share a drink on the porch with

Alright, you go downstairs and open the front door.

A young lady stands there.

“Hi Rose! I’m Gretchen.”
She sounds essentially the same as she did over the phone.

“Did you just get up? Guess I’m gonna have a long day.”
She catches your confused look and explains.
“Time works a bit weirdly here. Days basically start when you wake up and end when you finish your chores, so all of our days can be different lengths. They all start and end at the same time though, so they stretch. Sort of.”

(2/2) kpwlt 2024/04/23(Tue)08:47 No. 1089461 ID: 127310
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You find it appropriate to ask Gretchen about the resurrection device.

“Oh, that? Yeah, it’s just around here.”

She leads you out and around to the left side of the house to show you a panel bearing an image of a bird.

“Light means it’s still working.” She points to a glowing diode on the front of the box.

“Don’t touch it, I reckon, just call ANOMAT if the light ever turns off. Shouldn’t do, though.

Boris, Kaspar, and I all also have our own resurrection devices. George didn’t have one before ANOMAT started making them, though. Anyway, most of them are pretty straightforward. Except Kaspar’s.”

Rightio

“If you want me to explain anything here, just ask. I’ve come over plenty of times. By the way, we should probably get cracking on your chores!”

Well, doesn't seem like there's any big hurry. But, seeing as how one of them was share a drink on the porch, might as well, haha.

hang out on the porch, share a drink and get to know each other.

>>1089459
Oh, if the chores are associated with realization then the house *wants* to eventually die? Or are the chores needed for it to exist happily and the process of realization is a byproduct? Well, either way the house is requesting things that will eventually kill it, so I guess it's all good.

>>1089461
Ask about the Echo Chamber. How's it work?

You did make your bed, didn't you?

(1/2) kpwlt 2024/04/28(Sun)09:07 No. 1089925 ID: 127310
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>You did make your bed, didn't you?


YES! Yes you made your bed! Forget about the bloody bed! Actually, you know what? Have a discussion thread to speculate on the status of the bed.

https://questden.org/kusaba/questdis/res/142104.html

(2/2) kpwlt 2024/04/28(Sun)09:07 No. 1089926 ID: 127310
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>Oh, if the chores are associated with realization then the house *wants* to eventually die? Or are the chores needed for it to exist happily and the process of realization is a byproduct? Well, either way the house is requesting things that will eventually kill it, so I guess it's all good.

Mmmmaybe? Maybe right now, since you don’t know a whole lot, it’s best to just do whatever feels right and deal with any ethical dilemmas when they properly actually arise.

>Ask about the Echo Chamber. How's it work?

You ask Gretchen about the Echo Chamber.

“That sounds like one of those gadgets George would keep in the basement and bring out for us to mess around with every now and then. I never put much effort into remembering their names, so, sorry.”

>Well, doesn't seem like there's any big hurry. But, seeing as how one of them was share a drink on the porch, might as well, haha.
>hang out on the porch, share a drink and get to know each other.

Well, you’d love to, but the only drinks in the house are the potions.

“Everything alright?”

You, uh, could also drink the milk, but… It’s just, you’ve never really been fond of milk.

The chore list seems to be an order of operations. Clearly you need to use this echo chamber to turn two glasses of milk into something actually good

>>1089926
Offer your guest some milk. Drink some tapwater if you don't want milk.
I don't suppose she knows anything about the unlabeled potions?