Mael Guerra<p><a href="https://cr8r.gg/tags/pennedpossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pennedpossibilities</span></a> 627 — How does your MC have their home decorated?</p><p>Zaphod, you've seen the place, and we both know Leland wouldn't answer this well.</p><p>"You know, when me and Tenn made the first visit, I was expecting some old, ramshackle, patched together place. Leland spoke of it in terms of the family home, the old home place, that kind of thing. And it isn't like he's not *old*.</p><p>But then we show up, and there's a two story house that looks either recently built, or recently updated. Fresh looking siding, a nice blue color. The only thing that looked remotely old was part of the foundation, that and part of a shed off the the side of the so called yard.</p><p>Even seeing that, I expected something like the way my grandparents did things inside.</p><p>Again, total upended my expectation. There's touches of the old fashioned there. Wood paneling in the library, wood floors, a couple of very old pictures.</p><p>But it's mostly the *lack* of decorating that stands out. The downstairs and the bedrooms all have wallpaper, but there's no display of *things*. The man has been all over the world, and you'd think that there would be little things picked up along the way. Even the library upstairs, the decor *is* the books. There's shelves, comfy seating, and a couple locked bookshelves where his rare books are displayed.</p><p>The furniture is all modern, simple, and comfortable. The exception is the kitchen table, which he said was his grandfather's. It's in great shape, but it's very plain and has seen some heavy use.</p><p>And, most people would never see anything else. The rest of the house isn't obvious from the outside. It isn't even that easy to find if you're looking for it, because the entry you the underground section is subtle. Not totally hidden, but you'd have you be looking to notice the panel.</p><p>Downstairs, it's almost absurd. The main room is a workroom. Steel table, a large working circle for rituals. Nothing weird in that regard.</p><p>But it's like the man went for every necromancer and wizard trope out there. There's a giant stuffed alligator suspended over everything, skulls with dribbly candles on them, and when I asked about them he just grinned at me and said that's what a wizard's room is supposed to look like. There's shelves on the walls *stuffed* with all the little things from his travels. Some of which are a little fucking terrifying. I think he has a demon trapped in a jar. Either that, or he wants anyone going down there to think that, and it's a damn good job of making it seem that way.</p><p>Some of those skulls are from things that haven't walked around since the god wars. The things that *are* from normal creatures are still a bit ballsy. There's a collection of vampire skulls, including a few of types I didn't know existed. </p><p>Dried body parts, bits of Egyptian funerary relics, preserved insects and arachnids, jars and bottles with things floating in them that I didn't recognize. </p><p>Then there's the *other* door, the one he doesn't let anyone into. That's where he says he keeps the dangerous stuff. That door is decorated, but with purpose. There's wards and various inscriptions all over the damn thing. That's not my kind of magic, but what I could recognize was lethal, if you tried to even touch the door without knowing how to turn things off.</p><p>Tenn had told me a little about how he worked, when they were overseas. I believed her, but I didn't really *get* it. That door? That drove the idea home for me. </p><p>But, he also outright said that most of the stuff down there is just for looks. That, he has a reputation to uphold if anyone ever comes down there with him. They should be *eager* to get out, and not eager to come back. And that's with all the little jokes and gags mixed in with the terrifying stuff."</p>