earth_367 | Fear Factor

Fear Factor

The Haunted House Illyana and Piotr's hometown is a small farming community near Lake Baikal in Siberia. It has a population of about 10,000 people, making it larger than it was the last time the Rasputins lived there in the 1980s. It retains its small town feel, though, with nearly everyone knowing everyone else's business. The entire town is run down, dreary, and populated by a stoic people who don't enjoy entertaining strangers.

Around town, the Rasputins are well-known. The townsfolk are wary of the mutant siblings and their associates, but comply with any investigation the X-Men conduct. Although they fear the Rasputins, they also respect and trust Illyana's expertise and intentions on the topic of expunging any evil influences from the town.

After gathering some information, the group learns of a small family who live on the outskirts of town. Although they've become reclusive and secretive in recent weeks, nobody in town has seen them at all in the last couple of days.

This house is one of the many solitary structures which lie on the outskirts of town, amid the flat fields and farmland. As the group approaches, it is incredibly quiet and the house appears vacant. Knocking on the door yields no answer, and entering by any means will trap the trespasser inside.

Once they enter, the characters find themselves trapped in an illusory maze of rooms which Illyana identifies as the work of a fear demon which has escaped from Limbo. They will need to navigate the maze to reach the possessed girl at the heart of it.

Fear Rooms

Every character has a room dedicated to a particular fear of theirs. These should be tangible, superficial fears like heights, creepy crawlies, or claustrophobia. They should not be existential fears.

Somewhere in the room, there is a physical key that needs to be retrieved. Once you have the key and unlock the next door, the obstacle disappears.

In order to clear the room, the person experiencing it must feel fear. That means you can't use your powers to circumnavigate the obstacle or send someone who isn't bothered by it.

You run the environment in your character's fear room. I will post Illyana's spider room as an example 🕷️

Big Rooms

Throughout the course of the maze, there are three big rooms. These rooms have specific goals that must be completed to proceed.

Completing the big rooms will lead to the rescue of one of the inhabitants of the house.

I play the environment in the big rooms.

Resolution Ultimately, the group is able to rescue both of the parents and reach the daughter, who is sequestered at the center of the maze. Illyana performs an exorcism on the girl, and with the fear demon separated from the child, she teleports back to Limbo with it. When she vanishes with the demon, the illusory maze vanishes.

She is gone for about a half-hour before she returns, giving the rest of the team time to attend to the family. They are shell-shocked and malnourished, but cogent and grateful for rescue. When Illyana returns, she updates the team on the goings-on in Limbo.

Back in town, the locals ply everyone with good food and drink before they leave in thanks, and even bring several members of the team crowns woven of wheat and flowers.

Before the Mission Fear Rooms Big Rooms After the Mission Plotting

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As the group enters the first room in the maze, the walls become covered in ever-thickening spider webs. Illyana makes a loud noise halfway between complaint and disgust.

“I do not want to do this,” she moans. Though she was, of course, the person who had explained the rules of this particular scenario to the group just moments ago — no clever evasion, only fear — she attempts to drop behind the next person in the marching order as they approach a particularly heavy curtain of webs.

Edited Date: 2025-11-05 10:55 pm (UTC)

With a resigned sigh, Manuel allows Illyana to position herself behind him. He doesn't like this either -- something that makes webs like this has to be at least as big as the spider that had nearly killed the woman in the Savage Land -- and for once he's glad he can't feel her hidden emotions. Though, the fact that some arbitrary magical rule won't allow him to soothe her fears either is a thorn in his side. But she'd forbidden him and so he's keeping his empathic influence to himself and focusing on the supposedly illusory spectacle in front of them.

No matter how real it seems, he's willing to trust the judgement of their residence sorceress.

So he pulls in a stiff breath and continues forward, eyes scanning their surroundings intently as he murmurs back, "You are the one that said we must. So just...keep an eye out for the key." And the spider. (Or spiders? It occurs to him that if this is the work of smaller creatures, there must be thousands upon thousands of them.) But that goes without saying. Stepping into the webbing is unavoidable and he grimaces at the faint tug each time he lifts a boot from the sticky floor. If they need to run, it won't be easy.

Edited (🕷️🕸️🕷️🕸️🕷️) Date: 2025-11-07 05:15 am (UTC)

"It will be alright, воробушек," Piotr reassures on back of Manuel's comment, already in his metal form to be safe. He's catching higher up cobwebs with his head thanks to his height, a fact that he takes without much complaint, though he does spend a lot of time trying to pick them off.

"Manuel, would you like me to go in front?" he asks, and then quickly after to Illyana, "...we will really all have to go through a thing that scares us?" He's afraid of what he's afraid of, honestly.

Manuel would, in fact, prefer that Piotr go first. But something stops him from admitting it. Perhaps his pride. Perhaps the current audience. Regardless, he gives a small shake of his head and continues along. He can feel the other man's mounting anxiety, uncertain as the rest of them about what's to come, and adds evenly, "Do not get ahead of yourself. Better to take this one room at a time, no?"

Edited Date: 2025-11-07 07:00 pm (UTC)

Rogue, truly afraid of very little, nods solemnly at this sentiment. She's not sure what her room will bring. Maybe it'll just be a mirror. Or hopefully something a little less consequential. But there's no use dealing with that right now.

"That's all we can do, ain't it? And this isn't too much to be scared of. I know we can all best some lil creepy crawlies." (Which were, admittedly, both creepy and crawly, but that's besides the point.)

The door creaks open, but stops halfway as it hits an unseen obstacle. Dim lights flicker overhead, but most of their brightness is blocked out by furniture packed to the ceiling. The only way through is a narrow passage, just wide enough for a man to squeeze through. Warren immediately recognizes the furniture. His mother's favorite couch, his father's desk, a floor lamp he knocked over and broke when he was fifteen.

Warren hesitates. His wings suddenly feel huge. "I don't know how we're supposed to search... this."

Kitty phases right through Warren to take the lead. She might as well. There's still a little air in here, which is all she needs. "I mean, I can. And I could make us all intangible so we could walk in the furniture. But. That probably doesn't count." Reluctantly, to play fair, she goes tangible again.

Stepping inside this room is like stepping inside a luxury yacht, opulently decorated with a crystal chandelier and cushy leather couches but with no windows. There's a bar off to one side, obviously unmanned, and a few bookshelves and the like along the sides of the room to fill it out and give the impression of an office fused with a sitting room. It seems rather innocuous, but once the door shuts behind them there's suddenly water rising up from the hardwood floors, evenly distributed across the whole room, slow but steady.

Emma immediately groans. The lights in the room flicker. Why couldn't she have a stupid, non-dangerous phobia?

"I suppose we have a time limit here."

"Oh, this isn't really that scary." Kitty announces, upon walking into a classroom. It was her classroom, only there's no teacher. The desks are empty, but there's a test on each chair, holding each one of their names. Everyone's tests, if they choose to open them, are simple studies of things they know. Kitty's is an absolute mess of equations in messy word problems written in an alien hand. A disembodied voice says, "You have five minutes."

Kitty gasps. Okay. Maybe it really is that scary.

Despite herself, Emma lets out a startled little laugh. Of course this would be Kitty's fear — at least the rest of them shouldn't be too spooked at this. Dutifully, she slides into her seat after picking up her test, leafing through it.

"I would make fun of you, darling, but this is a welcome break from more serious things."

Edited (sorry Kitty) Date: 2025-11-13 02:52 am (UTC)

This room is large and octagonal, and made of cold stone covered in moss and ivy, like a garden courtyard. The ceiling is high and identical to the floor. The room is lit by a handful of wall sconces which bear candles that burn with blue flame.

In the center of the room is an octagonal platform with a large upright mirror which appears to be supernaturally balanced. Looking into the mirror reflects a version of yourself which you most fear becoming. Even if this version of you is physically identical to your current self, you are able to tell this is a version of yourself which you revile. It is difficult to look into the mirror. Above the mirror platform, there is a well-like passage leading upwards.

When all the characters have entered the room, the door disappears behind them.

This is a large open room in which a maze has been constructed of various bookshelves, cupboards, sideboards, cabinets, and other pieces of furniture. Some of them are flush with the group and rise to the ceiling, while others offer glimpses or pathways into other sections of the maze. Each shelf is full of objects which are enticing to the people viewing them, whether they are books on topics of interest, priceless trinkets, or sentimental items from childhood memories.

The first person who steps into this room is grabbed by the ankles by a pair of gloved hands and dragged under a sideboard, and will remain separated from the rest of the group until rescued.

The final room is a long hallway with dark wood-paneled walls and a red runner carpet. It leads to a single door which appears to be about fifty feet away from the entrance. There is nothing unusual about the appearance of the hallway.

Illyana is the first person to step across the threshold of this room, and as soon as she does she drops to her hands and knees and becomes unresponsive, albeit still conscious.

discuss your fears

Ahhh ty JJ!!! Love to freak out these losers

I THINK I'm going to go drowning for Emma and ??? maybe some Slavic cryptid for Piotr but also if other ppl need those or something lmk and I can adjust!! Also I want to do things 🥰 lmk if you want either of my dummies

Edited (I keep waffling lmao) Date: 2025-11-03 03:22 am (UTC)

I love fear room…thank you so much jj! I want threads n things 🥰
Upon heavy consideration: Kitty I will go with fear of failing a class/in a testing or trivia situation where she knows Nothing.

And Rogue is afraid of creepy dolls.

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January 2026

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Page Summary

allhell - Before the Mission
allhell - Fear Rooms
allhell - Big Rooms
allhell - After the Mission
allhell - OOC: Plotting, Questions, Chatter

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earth-367

An X-Men GPSL (IC)

Fear Factor

Fear Factor

Before the Mission

Fear Rooms

Illyana's Room

Illyana's Room

Illyana's Room

Illyana's Room

Illyana's Room

Warren's Room

Warren's Room

Emma's Room

Kitty's Room

Kitty's Room

Big Rooms

The Mirror Room

The Library

The Long Hallway

After the Mission

OOC: Plotting, Questions, Chatter

Re: OOC: Plotting, Questions, Chatter

Re: OOC: Plotting, Questions, Chatter

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January 2026

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