Curiosities failed to kill the rats

RP Date: 2026-10-07

Location: Curiosities Shop

Participants: Hildako, Spizzzo

Summary

Hildako gains access to the curiosities shop, a change of clothes, and bonus rats.

This archive was published after approval by all listed participants.

Roleplay

Hildako stands in middle of the road, back turned toward her daughter's photography shop. In fact, she's not even aware it's hers at this time! She is, however, aware that her mother is also here. Her gaze is fixed on the dusty glass of the curiosities shop, and she's hmming thoughtfully to herself while tapping a single, dark red nail against her lower lip. She has seen no one go in or come out, and now she's debating on whether she'd enter the place.

Spizzzo is coming up the street, headed toward the village square, carrying a wooden bucket with a wooden plate clamped tightly to it as a makeshift lid. Angry squeaks emanate from the bucket, and the half-elf is so focused on keeping it clenched shut between his hands he nearly tramples Hildako, coming to an abrupt stop just in time. "Oh! Do pardon me, Miss, I'm ever so sorry. I should be watching where I'm going." He offers a kind smile, moustache twitching over his lips.

Hildako tries not to imagine the contents of the bucket as she swiftly steps to the side, twisting to watch Spizzzo through narrowed, wholly black eyes. "I dare not ask," she declares of his angry victims. She looks beyond him then the way he is headed. "Hey, you were at the meeting!" she exclaims, recalling suddenly his departure. "My mother and my daughter were both there, but thank the gods neither of them saw me. Hey, do you think that shop has clothes?" She juts her thumb in the direction of the curiosities shop. Currently she's wearing a torn dress, her hair is absolutely frizzy, there's lipstick missing and chipped nail polish. "I can't let them see me like this."

Spizzzo takes all these thoughts sequentially before dealing with any of them. A new person, new to him at least. Arrived with her family, or shortly thereafter. Her appearance is the known Grimwych Chic of someone recently out of a lake. She's not worried about food or shelter, but clothes. Well, clothes are important, he needed new clothes as well. Resolving into a friendly smile, Spizzzo sets one foot on the door to the shop, just below the knob, and doesn't kick so much as press until the latch gives way. His hands keep a death lock on his squealing bucket. "Well! It surely might! One ought to make a good impression when reuniting with family, I imagine." As the curiosity shop door creeks open, he dips his head, "Ladies first! Hopefully they'll have something to favor your eyes, if you don't mind me saying. They're quite striking "

Hildako smiles thinly at Spizzzo and expresses gratitude for his opening of the door. She slips past him and into the shop, gaze roaming over dust covered objects. The demon glances back at Spizzzo. "There's no such thing as a good impression in our family," she replies, flashing him fanged smile before looking down at the bucket. "Bet we can find something heavy enough to hold that lid down and then we could both explore."

Spizzzo tilts his head side to side, "Might do, but unfortunately my foes have become quite wiley, and tend to evade capture. I fear the foolish amongst their ranks have been thinned out, leaving only the most dangerous to contend with." He smiles brightly at this news and moves through some abandoned shelves and display cases of costume jewelry and taxidermied bats, some of whom are used as displays for the costume jewelry. "Lucky to have your family along, though. It seems a few groups have come through with families. Have you been here long? I haven't seen you by my stew pot."

Hildako skitters between the rows of items. Past tarot decks and crystals and a grimoire that looked like it was cut from human flesh. As he enlightens her about the condition of the bucket's contents, she chuckles. His next words send a shudder through her. A clicking noise comes from her mouth, a sound of loathing and disdain. "Noooo, I am not lucky," she returns, and then there's a delighted aha! that follows. Hildako discovers an armoire that, upon opening it, is filled with a random slew of women's finery. She selects a short, black dress. Beneath it are matching shoes that are... oddly her size? What good fortune! "I've only been here a couple days. But perhaps I should. I'm guessing that's what those are for?" she indicates the bucket.

Spizzzo bumps the corner of a table stacked with atlases of places that either don't exist or don't exist here, puffing up a cloud of dust. He pauses, nose twitching like a rabbit's, and looks up until he stifles the sneeze. He takes the turn of fortune in stride, "Well, in that case you have my condolences for your misfortune." He wiggles his nose again and nods, lofting the bucket. "They are made of meat, and I was lucky enough to receive a bevy of herbs and spices from a mysterious benefactor. The stew is good, and the meat is cooked thoroughly, and I think that is a blessing. Oh, cute shoes."

Hildako hmms thoughtfully at Spizzzo. "I suppose there are worse things to eat," she concludes. Then again, with her arachnid tendencies, she often ate worse than rats. But she also ate several of her late husbands. Literally. "Your condolences are accepted," Hildako says before she lifts a single finger. "Give me just a moment!" She slipped past an archway into another room and could be heard moving around in there. When she steps back out, she's donned a black flapper dress, some black shoes, and a new shaw she found hanging on the other side of the wall. "Better?" she asks, her gaze scanning the room. Ah! There, against the back wall, was an ornate mirror.

Spizzzo pokes an old brass oil lamp with his elbow, setting it teetering back and forth until something begins to issue forth from the spout. First a dark cloud, and then a high keening, and then...another rat. Spizzzo and the rat stare off for a moment. Not enough time, not enough hands. They go their separate ways, and Spizzzo joins Hildako near the mirror. "Very nice! You see, I have been saying Grimwych provides."

Hildako watches the square off between rat and man for an amused moment. When Spizzzo draws nearer and shares his opinion on her new garb, she nods her head. "It has to, if it's going to house so many Foxxes," she murmurs more to herself. Shifting her pose, she checks herself from all sides before trying to wrangle her mess of hair into something far more presentable. "Oh! I found this too," the black widow says, reaching behind the arch again for something in the backroom. It's a small handbag, and when she upends it, makeup pours out. "A little too convenient, no?"

Spizzzo shakes his head, "Not at all, not at all. Have you gotten any parcels at the post office yet? I believe there is a spirit here watching over us. I was given spices just when the stew was getting a bit hard to swallow." He tilts his head, reflecting, and then offering, "I'm Spizzzo, by the way. Spizzzo Spizzzoson. A pleasure."

Hildako blinks and glances over to Spizzzo. "Yes actually. A fork twisted into the shape of a woman and a few letters, some backwards. I have no idea who it could have come from," she answers. "I am wary of this place still." When he introduces himself, the demon smiles at him a little too wide. "Hildako Foxx. A pleasure."

Spizzzo pokes at his shirt pocket with his elbow repeatedly, until he's able to nudge a little fork man above the fabric. "From 73HI3. Some sort of riddle, do you think?" He dips his head, and opens his mouth to say something like 'A pleasure' or 'nice to meet you' but instead violently sneezes into his elbow, which causes his hand to slip off the plate, which causes his other hand to launch the bucket into the air, which causes several large field rats to seek liberation.

Hildako watches as the rats find freedom, her nose curling as they scatter all over the shop. "Well, that's going to be fun to chase out," she mutters to herself before nodding to Spizzzo. "Yes, from 73HI3." As she speaks, she steps back into the backroom again. Hildako searches the room for any leftover rat traps and finds a couple, which she brings back out with her. They're covered in dust. "I'll plop these down, do you want me to bring you the bodies?"

Spizzzo looks after the rats, reaching briefly for one who glares at him before disappearing into a shelf of taxidermied rats, which frankly is not fair. He lets out a deep sigh, then fixed his smile and nods to Hildako. "Yes, please. Or..." He looks around the shop again, and shrugs, "Maybe not. Depending on what they might chew on in here. I prefer to get them from outdoor spaces."

Hildako looks around again, prompted by his own roving stare. "Yeah, that's probably something to think about. There's no telling what all is in here and it's going to take me forever to start sorting it all out." She grabs the back of makeup and moves back toward the mirror, carefully painting her face as she continues to speak with Spizzzo. "So what are you going to do... about what they voted?" Suddenly she turns to the darker conversation, carefully applying black lipstick.

Spizzzo presses his lips into a thin line as he reflects on the vote, nodding to Hildako. "Well. I don't blame anyone for wanting to return to their homes. I don't blame anyone for being scared. I don't want to make anything confrontational that doesn't need to be. But whoever they want to sacrifice can come stay in the watch tower." Spizzzo nods his head, as if that is a definitive answer. He looks at Hildako again, raising an eyebrow, "I don't think I recall how you voted? I was a bit out of sorts." He smiles and shakes his head, "Not to put you on the spot. You don't need to answer."

Hildako lifts a shoulder upward. "I didn't. The last thing I needed at that moment was to be recognized while in such dour shape," the vain woman replies. "We have a business back home to return to, but... I could honestly use the fresh start. It would've been better without my family here."

Spizzzo nods and looks around the curiosity shop. "You think you'll set up here? It's a good place, plenty of little treasures to discover." With his hands free he tugs on the purple cloth with a tree emblem he's fashioned into a cloak, "I found this and the rats in the old watch tower."

Hildako will brb

Hildako looks at the cloak, then towards a skittering rat. "I think I will. I haven't seen anyone else coming and going. Perhaps there's useful things among all this.... ware." Her lips press into a thin line, as she didn't want to admit that she'd be peddling junk. Nonetheless, working is something a Foxx knows how to do. And she suspects she'll clean it up fairly easily. "Is there anything in particular I should keep an eye out for you?"

Spizzzo turns up his head and muses for a moment before pulling out his tin of Dapper Donovan's Moustache Wax: For the Distinguished Gent. "I don't know how long this will last me, but I assume it is finite."

Hildako looks at the tin and lifts her chin slightly before regarding the room once more. "If I come across any, I'll let you know," she promises, fanged smile resurfacing once more. "I know just how important it is to look your finest at all times, and I wouldn't let a gentleman down if it could be helped."

Spizzzo smiles brightly and twists the tips of his moustache back into place, then collects his bucket and plate. "Well! I do appreciate it, and I apologize for increasing the rat population. If nobody else has, let me welcome you to the beautiful town of Grimwych. I believe it is a place for new beginnings. And if anyone tries to sacrifice you in a stone circle, you're always welcome in the watch tower."

Hildako chuckles softly. "If anyone tries, I'll consume them," she replies to the latter of his statement, though she accepts his apology as well. "I could use a full belly." That grin again, confirming that Hildako likely meant her threat entirely. "Maybe I'll get lucky and mother will be the sacrifice. Then I won't have to compete with her anymore." A wink follows before she lifts a hand and waves at Spizzzo. "I better get to work."

Spizzzo chuckles quizzically at these strange jokes, as he does to most things people say around here. Different worlds, different mores. He bows deeply and makes his way home.