Having stayed with the children to keep them calm and quite with stories and songs, Vashti listens to everything they choose to tell her before the two barbarian lovers flight brings her back to the group.
They will not be safe unless we MAKE it safe for them.
We are in the lair of wickedness and villiany. I do not believe all we face will be evil, we found Littles here, did we not? But, to win and survive this foray, we MUST carve our path through it. They butcher children for their supper. Treat them better, grant them swift oblivion. This is our family, we have only ourselves here. There are none but us. If we fail, if we falter, if we fall to our disagreements...homes, families, towns...they die by ice and winter..
L13
The walls of this cozy bedroom are painted powder blue. A bed occupies the east side of the room, its headboard pushed against the wall with a nightstand on either side. A desk and chair sit next to the south wall. A dresser with a large mirror above it is pushed against the west wall. A curtain rod is affixed above the mirror with curtains pulled away to either side.
Loot
A large glass snow globe depicting Whitethrone's Royal Palace with a music box built into the base sits atop one of the nightstands . Under the desk is a box containing dozens of handwritten letters to Queen Elvanna and prospective parents. The handwriting is childlike. There are also many requisition orders, all stamped with approval, for children from orphanages to be brought to the clock tower.
L15
Toys and dolls are strewn about the floor of this room, and small tables and chairs sized for children sit in the northeast and northwest corners. Books, papers, quills, and ink vials sit atop the tables. A cot stands to the southeast. The windows are barred, but the shutters are open to let in light. When the door opens, a young girl puts a finger to her lips. "Shhh! You'll wake up Granny."
Getting lost in staring at the imprisoned miniature palace Neverhome doesn't even realize he's taken it with them when he's accosted by the young girl. "Apologies... is your name Evija, little one?" Neverhome asks her kindly.
Stopping in front of the mirror in the first room, Sigrun draws the curtains closed across it's surface as they begin to move on. "No surprises." she says quietly.
As they discover the little girl she remains silent, listening to Lyosha interact with her.
With a flick of her wrist, Vashti summons a large cookie covered in white frosting and colurful sprinkes.
Kneeling down she wordlessly offers it to the child.
It should prove interesting to see how Lyosha handles this...
The little girl shakes her head while munching on the cookie. "No, silly. I'm Sasha. Are you my new daddy? Granny said someone would come today and take me home."
The little girl's question catches Neverhome off guard, who can only let his mouth hang slightly ajar until he focuses enough to answer. "Nyet... I'm sorry Sasha. I would not make very good father, but I can take you to yours, or your home, if you wish?"
The elf just smirks at the shocked reaction, hiding his smile behind a gloved hand as he wipes a bit of dried blood off his cheek. Once again, the unthinking man just put his foot in his mouth again.
Sigrun smiles quietly as Lyosha speaks to the little girl.
Sasha's face falls, and she starts to sniffle. "But Granny Nan said my new daddy would be coming today. I don't have any other home. Do you know when my new parents are going to be here? Granny said they were very nice."
Neverhome's face falls as well. "I am... sorry Miss Sasha, I'm sure your parents are very nice. If is okay, I can help you look for them when we leave here?" he offers before glancing quickly at Vashti. He wondered if she would mind taking in the girl, but he wasn't about to just force the responsibility on her.
Maybe he was being paranoid, maybe he was just slowly letting the evil of this nation cloud his judgement. . . but he was very very confused. The other children were downstairs being used as.... as... food. He wondered what made this child different or special. Was she perhaps the child of an important witch? Was the something else intirely?
There are others downstairs, children, I mean." he said lowly his whiskers twitching, his tail lashing. He didnt like this place... they couldnt get to a dragon fast enough it seemed.
"Da, did you meet any of them earlier? Are any of them of your friends?" he adds on.
The elf taps his foot, looking forward.
"We need to move her somewhere safer and keep moving. We already have used until some of our advantage."
Suspicious Percy is suspicious...
Human children are strange creatures, and even on the best of days, they're difficult to read. With the recent emotional events, you're not up for the task.
------------------------------------
Sasha nods. "Ya, they're waiting for new parents just like me! I have a tickle in my tummy, so Granny's keeping me up here until I feel better. She says I'm cun-tay-jus."
Hearing that particular word, the elf takes a step further back from the little one, shaking his head.
"Send her back to the others. I'd prefer we not get too up close and friendly with anyone contagious."
"Yea. I don't feel like fighting a dragon with da flu."
"Vashti, can you tell what she is ill with? We wouldn't want to expose the other children unnecessarily." Sigrun says quietly.
Zses waits for Vashti's diagnosis: after what happened with the "granny" in the other room, the witch was a little suspicious of what was going on.
I don't think the child is dangerous...but after what they did to the other kids, I wouldn't be surprised if they used some kind of spell on this little girl to stop intruders. There isn't anyone beside her on this floor...
Vashti's able to determine that Sasha's suffering from a minor stomach bug. She probably ate something that didn't agree with her. It's nothing serious and should clear up in a day or two.
" If you promise to be careful will you wait with other children for us?" Neverhome asks her while extending out his hand.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sasha takes Neverhome's hand and allows herself to be led out of the room - and promptly begins to shriek in horror when she sees the bloody mess in the next room. "Granny Nan! Someone hurt her! She needs help!"
crap... Look at me sweetie, right here in my eyes, no where else. Just me, here little one.
Vashti grabs the child's head and gently moving it face her as she talks to Sasha.
Knowing the longer they stay near, the more the child will see and pick up.
No child should know the sound of a body exhaling it's last gasp of air, the metallic smell of blood,or the stench of shredded organs leaking into their nose.
Bodily picking her up, she shelters Sasha head in her chest as she carries her from the scene, to the other children.
Whispering a soft lullaby in her native tongue, she brings her to the others.
Waiting until Vashti and the little girl was gone Neverhome turned a solid glare towards Silence.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nonplussed by Neverhomes stare the felinerai merely went to the next series of rooms they hadn't searched yet fully expecting at this point to find some sort of soup kitchen for the poor, or a kennel full of puppies being trained to be guide dogs for the blind so the evil witch had more reasons for them to think he was wrong. His mind was set, evil witches were evil, whether the girl was an outlier or not, those trolls were eating children and the old witch lived above them doing it.
L10
Three tables occupy the northern half of this room. A five-foot-square extension with a small access door on its western face runs from floor to ceiling just south of the eastern doors. A gigantic cast-iron cauldron stands in the southeast corner with wood stacked beneath it. A large iron stove with twin flue pipes running into the walls dominates the southwest corner. As you step into the room, the stove suddenly lurches to life and pulls away from the wall, the serrated jaws of its oven doors snapping like those of a hungry crocodile.
By Imbrex, really?! The kitchenware too! Percy cries in disbelief.
Ered takes no time in responding, whipping his winter coat away from his sheathed weapon. Drawing it into the open with one hand, he extends the other as a series of hardened pellets of hail fly out from his hand, a barrage of cold and pain slamming into the magical creation.
"We should always expect the worst!"
I bet that makes some really nice cookies. The felinerai said flippantly his tail lashing as Ered charged past him into the room and let lose a swirling blast of snow. That might not be a bad idea.
He followed into the room only he darted to the left, (is that a tub? I hope thats a tub} glancing at it and wondering how to get the water inside it onto the killer stove.
"This I don't need."
Hobbes draws his bow and fires at the frisky appliance.
Allie sighed, staying where she was. If they wanted to fight an enchanted stove straight out of a fairytale then fine. She however wasn't wasting her spells on something that couldn't move. "This is stupid..." She mumbled to herself. "It can't even move..."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Funny considering that it's walking toward us." Sigrun says over her shoulder before charging toward it.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Calistrai's teats! Gah, KILL IT!!
Ered's magical attack batters the stove quite a bit and is surprisingly effective. Meanwhile, Hobbes' and Sigrun's attacks also connect but bounce harmlessly off the stove. Its metal body has clearly been magically hardened. In retaliation, the stove hops swiftly forward and clamps its doors down on Sigrun's arm.
I'd appreciate it if people would add little figures or something to the map so I know where you're positioned