Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary is a Sandbox Verse Fearblog written by Bryn. It tells the story of Poe, a Runner from the Convocation. It can be read here.

Summary
The story opens with Poe telling a story from before he became a Runner, explaining the death of his girlfriend, Addie, at the hands of the Faceless Bastard. He tells a number of stories about both recent encounters he's had with the Fears and those which occurred to him in his early days as a Runner. This continues until he meets ARC agent Eric Zane, who convinces him to assist ARC by providing information in exchange for funding.

Shortly after Poe and Eric team up, they encounter a Dying Man shard. They visit the Mountebank Club for information on the matter, and learn about both the shard (known as the Carcass) and a turf war between Timberwolves and Puppets. They are captured by Puppets while traveling to ARC headquarters, but they and a Puppet-in-training named Clara Bendis escape with assistance from a renegade Mountebank calling himself Asher Lyall. (This also acts as a crossover with the night shop, written by the Mountebank in question.) Asher is presumed to perish in conflict with the rest of the Mountebanks.

Outside of the underground tunnels in which Poe and Eric were being kept, they find a Timberwolf who formerly worked for ARC named Caledon Carter, also known as Zagreus. Caledon joins Poe's group, and assists in killing the Carcass after it attacks them again outside of ARC headquarters. After this, Caledon and Clara are handed over to ARC, who imprison Caledon and try to decide how to handle Clara, given her unusual situation.

Asher's former friend, a reluctant Nest named Giles Grimholt, confronts Poe and Eric about Asher's death. He successfully convinces them to allow him to come with them, and the three wander aimlessly for some time until meeting Asher, who reveals his real name to be Kaden Crowley. Kaden explains that he was able to escape due to magical powers he gained from a deal he made with his former patron, Jack of All, and joins Poe, Eric, and Giles.

While Poe's group eats dinner at a fast-food restaurant, they encounter a Timberwolf named Triptolemus, who was assigned to Zagreus to ensure he didn't betray them like he had ARC. Triptolemus accosts the group when they leave the restaurant, summoning his allies to attack, but Giles easily defeats them using the Convocation's birds. Later, Clara and Caledon arrive at another restaurant Poe's group was eating at, explaining that they were allowed to leave by ARC provided they be accompanied by noted agents Ash and Alice.

Poe's group, now joined by Clara, Caledon, Ash, and Alice, stay at a hotel using ARC funding for some time, but leave when Clara starts seeing the Slender Man nearby. The group travel from there to Addie's grave. When they arrive, they are attacked by Timberwolves, Puppets, and Mountebanks, allied against them; they successfully defeat most of the servants in question, but are attacked by the Black Dog. At Giles' suggestion, Poe attacks it with a knife and Giles electrocutes it, rendering it unable to regenerate. With the Dog severely weakened, Poe sets a rose on Addie's grave and leaves, signing the last post of the blog with his real name, Henry Hallack.