Christoph carefully slices open the envelope and is able to extract the letter within. But he finds the blood-soaked and weather-worn letter to be in poor condition and barely legible...
Aliseya looks dejected by Christoph's dismal assessment of the brother's odds of survival.
"Oh..." she answers his query, "it, uh... kinda just came to me? Sometimes, when I hold an object that someone found meaningful in life, I just, kinda, like know things about them. You know?"
She looks back at the Speaker with hope that her explanation means something, and shrugs.
Sunny continues to watch as people examine the passed people, though soon she's moving to resaddle/set Chauncy as well.
Eventually coming back to catch up with the conversation. (With a pleasant wave to Istivan Langa. Though the fellow's glowing sword does hold Sunny's gave in obvious wonder for a time.
She comes to stand closes to Aliseya as Christoph continues to peruse the extracted paper.
"Oh..." she answers his query, "It, uh... kinda just came to me? Sometimes, when I hold an object that someone found meaningful in life, I just, kinda, like know things about them. You know?"
The tanned, blond Elf lass nods to Aliseya, "Oh, aye. Some Kin is like that. They be all feelin' things an' explainin' whut's maybe comin' over tha' horizon, like." She smiles encouragingly.
"Is, uhm, bein'," Sunny obviously searches for words, "A tunes." She frowns and shakes her blond mop."Uh nup, a-tuned likey. They is attuned ta' things rilly little, littler things whut add up ta' bigger things..." Sunny's voice trails off as her thoughts outreach her speaking.
Her expression switches mercurially back to brightness. "I ken whut t'is ye tryin' ta' be speakin'." She nods encouragingly. (^_^)
Though her attention has already moved onto Christoph's inscrutable countenance as they peruse the stained parchment.
"Is ye kennin' summ-it from tha' cloth we founded?" She brightly enquires, tilting her head, "Is lookin' rilly scummer, there." Her features frown again. "I get keepin' things on'a cloth is bein' easy ta' carry but, Jimminies, tha' stuff dun't hold up ta' life now. Does it?"
:/
Rhia takes a few moments to look over the worn letter, but is unable to make any sense of it, the spirits reading over her shoulder faring no better.
As Aliseya explains the knowledge gleaned from picking up the locket, she cocks her head to the side in intrigue as she studies her for a moment. "Hunh...psychometry. That's a very rare talent."
...and just when she's about to give up, Zelda catches the light behind the note at just the right angle. She spots the faint tracings of some lettering in spite of the deeply-stained and worn-out paper...
Sunny quietly 'Oooos' at Zelda's abilities. She was listening intently as the other woman explained what had been left on the piece of material they'd found.
Once that tiny piece of the mystery is resolved, Sunny starts packing up again and even offers Chauncy's saddle as somewhere to carry the extra loads they've acquired.
With such things cleared up, she steps back towards the ruin's entrance.
"Is we gonna go in an' poke about some more? Or is gettin' ta' tha' other place a tad more of concern?" She asks, absently leaning against the doorway's arch with one tanned arm. (^_^)
Aside from being a grisly sight, there's nothing remarkable about the remaining four bodies (three dead goats and a dead horse) on being searched.
The red-orange sky of dusk darkens closer to moonlit black as evening arrives. Time flew as all the bodies were uncovered and searched. Istivan has returned with everyone's horses, and with the corpses searched, the companions ponder whether to visit the deceased woman's brother before carrying on to Ascanor Lodge.
But before heading out, Sunny reminds them that the dead weaverworm erupted from a hole in the ground. That hole remains partially blocked by its dead form. To explore below ground, either the weaver's heavy body must be pulled out and removed, or one slim and dexterous person at a time could possibly slip down through the narrow opening.
And speaking of Sunny, who is this tree-climbing, serpent-riding, net-wearing, many-weaponed, mysterious lady anyway?
Sunny looks to the darkening sky.
"Sun goes away lot sooner than back home...." She muses as she watches the colours of the sunset. Before turning to her newfound friends.
"Is we pullin' tha' critter out'a tha' place an' maybe settlin' in't tha' roofed space fer tha' night?" She asks brightly. (^_^)
Taking a moment once the retrieved bodies are settled, Rhia sits beside the body of the hunter woman first closing her eyes for a moment. As she opens her eyes, they glow with an ethereal white light as she rests a hand on the corpse's chest, breathing out as her exhalation flows into the woman's mount like a sudden inhalation of breath as her magic calls across the veil. "Why were you here?"
As Rhia begins to make her preperations with the passed lass that they've found Sunny quielty moves from the ruin's door way to settle in a crouch a close ways off and watch.
As the magic begins to take hold the tanned Elf's large blue eyes seem to grow even bigger in awe or wonder or amazment.
The old huntress's desiccated corpse crackles as the semblance of life eerily returns to it.
"I... was... hunting..." responds the corpse's raspy voice, sending chills up your spines.
A small lump then appears in her throat. It moves, up her throat, and into her left cheek. A tiny black form emerges from her lips... a spider. The tiny creature scurries off her face to the ground, fleeing the reanimated corpse.
A small lump then appears in her throat. It moves, up her throat, and into her left cheek. A tiny black form emerges from her lips... a spider. The tiny creature scurries off her face to the ground, fleeing the reanimated corpse.
"Here? Wus that s'posed ta' happen?" She asks, obviously more interested in the happenings than anything else.
"Like. Does we need that bit?" She points, even as she shifts to follow the path of the little critter that's making its get away.
It's not hard at all for Sunny to follow the tiny spider. No bigger than a small coin, it does not move very fast at all. Aside from the creepy factor of emerging from the dead body, it seems like an ordinary spider.
Since the little critter seems 'normal' and not actually going any where in particular. Sunny deftly scoops it up and gently settles it in a nearby bush before skipping back and settling in to watch the next event. She glances to her freinds.
"I wonder whut's gon'a happen with tha' next question?" She asks innocently.
"We're you alone or with companion's" Rhia asks, calmly, clearly accustomed to the strangeness of speaking with the dead.
The corpse's lungs rattle as it takes in another unnatural breath.
"Alone..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Aliseya's eyes widen when she first sees Rhia's eyes glow white. As she begins speaking with the dead, she listens intently while huddling in close to Naught.
"Do I look that awesome when I... um, change?" she whispers her question into Naught's ear.
...
Memories of the witchy woman are plentiful and fresh in her mind. Naught hesitates a moment, careful to choose the right words. She then smoothly responds, "You always look awesome."
...
Smiling, Aliseya nuzzles in closer. The couple look on with fascination as Rhia does her thing with the dead.
Rhia nods at the answer. How did you die?"
For a moment it looks as if she might say something. The moment passes, however, and she remains silent though still watching intently.
Dead lungs fill with air once again. The croaky voice of the corpse answers Rhia once more.
"I was lured... by the creature's song......"
Another unsettling breath is taken.
"When I... came to, it... bit my neck......."
A third unnatural breath. You hear the semblance of fear and sorrow this time, lingering in her raspy voice.
"I was... so cold... and frightened... And then... all... went... dark......."
The corpse's chest ceases to move once more.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
(;_;)
Rhia's expression is one of deep sympathy as the fallen woman's shade relates the details of her death. "Is there anyone that you would want to know what happened to you?"
"Angelov..."
The corpse replies with a more sudden and sadly urgent intake of air. A muffled popping sound emerges from her chest, and the rest of her speech is reduced in volume to a whisper:
"My brother..."
Sunny winces at the wet, popping sound. Recoiling slightly at the noise. (>_o)
"Icky. They's doin' they's best. I s'pose..."
"Where could we find your brother?" Rhia asks softly.
The corpse's chest crackles even more uneasily as it draws in breath. An eerie whistling accompanies her voice as she whispers her next response.
"I lost my way... when... diabeł w szarości... bewitched me......."
Another eerie breath is drawn. She becomes more terse.
"Was hunting boar... stalked it west... farther from home than usual......"
Another eerie breath. A few of your horses whinny.
"He must be home... maybe a mile... east......."
A weaker breath, Rhia must lean in closer to hear her clearly.
"Hurry......."
If her tear ducts were not desiccated from death, you'd expect tears to roll down her face by the tone in her voice.
...
The phrase translates into "devil in gray".
You're not familiar with any special meaning to this designation, other than the fact that the weaverworm had a grayish coloration.
Sunny perks up at the last word uttered. She looks to her new freinds...
Nodding sadly, Rhia rests her hand on the dead woman's chest, whispering quietly. "Rest. We will see if we can find your brother, at least to let him know what happened."
taking a moment to clear her head, she turns to the other corpse, repeating the ritual as she calls to the departed soul from across the Veil.
"How did you end up dying here??"
The old woman's corpse rests in final repose once more.
When Rhia turns to and questions the dead nobleman, nothing seems to happen...
...at first. A dozen seconds after she asks, the man's corpse suddenly takes in breath. His deathly, whispered words are dramatically prolonged.
"Thaaah... grrraaayyy... creeeatuuure... ssslewww... mmmeeeeeee......."
With Rhia's attention shifting to the other passed person, Sunny moves to finish prepping the fallen Lass for the 'Transport' to come.
"Uh... 'East' be that-a-way, right?" She asks her companions, pointing off into the forest.
(^_^)
"Where did you come here from?"
The corpse of the middle-aged minor nobleman struggles to respond. His dead voice quite apparently needs a good throat clearing. For his whispering is randomly broken up by moments of throaty projection, disturbing to his listeners.
"Fffrooo... OOO... oooOooOoommm... thhheee....... EEE... eeeEeEeaaassst..."
Aliseya shudders as the corpse's disturbing voice threatens to cough up things she'd rather not know about.
"Ew!"
When Sunny asks about east, Aliseya pensively looks at her, then looks up at the sky in the dark reddish area where the sun just set, then turns around and squints in the opposite direction.
Seeing that Sunny is pointing in that direction...
"Um... yep, I think?"
Sunny nods happily at Aliseya's reply/confirmation, quickly setting about and continuing to get ready to move out...
Probalby all the better to distract herself from the other sounds the current speaker is making.
Sunny moves back over to Aliseya's side, speaking quietly so as not to disturb Rhia's endeavours.
"Uhm.. is we expectin' trouble when we get's ta tha' Lass' place, ye think? Whut is it ye know of people's places here abouts?" The tanned Elf tilts her head slightly.
"Cause, I can be gettin' different kit on should ye be thinkin' there might be a tad trobule." Sunny point with a thumb over a tanned shoulder to the ruins, "Y'know, like we done founded in there..."
Feeling the temporary thinning of the veil slipping away, Rhia considers what would likely be her last question, carefully. "Who were you supposed to be meeting at at Ascanor Lodge?"
"Ciiilaaasss Graaayyydonnn......."
The dead man's voice whispers a final response to the ghost whisperer. As his last breath escapes, the body rests in deathly repose once more.
Ardeal and Barstoi are counties of Ustalav's eastern Soivoda region. Both are due east of the Palatinate of Lozeri where you are presently located.
As Rhia speaks with the bodies, Sookie listens intently. She casts more than one glance at Christoph, as if wondering with mild amusement how he'll respond to this.
As Sunny begins packing her big snake, she offers a hand to help Sunny lift the old woman's body together.
She pauses midway to the pack saddle, jerking Sunny to a halt. She grows pensive when the dead nobleman mentions the name of Cilas Graydon.
She then casts a disapproving glare at the dead man.
"Who's he to the bloody Margrave of Sturnidae?"
Realizing she jerked Sunny to a halt, "Oh! Sorry lass." She continues to carry the woman's body to the pack with Sunny.
Aliseya blinks twice back at Sunny's questions.
"I umm... guess so? I'm not from here, and I don't think any one else here is, either?" She looks around at her friends for confirmation.
"But, like... so far? Yeah, not exactly a safe and friendly place for sure. We'd best be prepared for anything in these woods..."
Aliseya looks around wide-eyed at the darkening trees.
To Sookie's question, Ali looks dumbfounded and shrugs.
"Like... what's a margrave?"
As the man's soul returns to it's place of rest, Rhia turns as she overhears Sookie's comment. "You know who he was talking about?"
As Rhia speaks with the bodies, Sookie listens intently. She casts more than one glance at Christoph, as if wondering with mild amusement how he'll respond to this.
As Sunny begins packing her big snake, she offers a hand to help Sunny lift the old woman's body together.
"Oh! Thank'e muchly!" (^_^)
She pauses midway to the pack saddle, jerking Sunny to a halt. She grows pensive when the dead nobleman mentions the name of Cilas Graydon.
She then casts a disapproving glare at the dead man.
"Who's he to the bloody Margrave of Sturnidae?"
Realizing she jerked Sunny to a halt, "Oh! Sorry lass." She continues to carry the woman's body to the pack with Sunny.
Sunny nods and smiles, "Is okeys." She reassures Sookie, as they deftly put the passed Lass into position on hte pack saddle...before returning to Aliseay, then nodding as the other woman replies to her earlier question.
Aliseya blinks twice back at Sunny's questions.
"I umm... guess so? I'm not from here, and I don't think any one else here is, either?" She looks around at her friends for confirmation.
"But, like... so far? Yeah, not exactly a safe and friendly place for sure. We'd best be prepared for anything in these woods..."
Aliseya looks around wide-eyed at the darkening trees.
To Sookie's question, Ali looks dumbfounded and shrugs.
"Like... what's a margrave?"
With a nod to Aliseya, Sunny skips back over to Chauncy and, again, begins to sort through her things. Seeming unpacking yet another bundle of netting and twine, though there's quite the plethora or more of shells seeming tangled into this new pile.
Setting it aside, the Elf lass quickly unwraps her tanned self of her current scabbards and netting. Deftly folding the former gear into a neat pile. Before swiftly donning the new raiment.
And replacing her swords. She adjusts a couple of 'Poles' that had been strapped along Chauncy's sides. Showing them to be a lance and long spear, respectivly. To each she adds a well crafted banner Adjusting their attitude to a rather 'Rakish' lean.
Once everything's unpacked, undressed, redressed, repacked and adjusted to her liking she skips back over to her freinds and offers to help with anything else they might need doing. Her freind's might note a large, semi-scalloped, round object/item still amongst Sunny's possesions. Possibly a shield of some sort?
(^_^)
As the man's soul returns to it's place of rest, Rhia turns as she overhears Sookie's comment. "You know who he was talking about?"
With attention turning to Sookie Sunny steps a little bit clser, though she obviously doesn't want to crowd any body. Watching people's replies with interest.
Sookie is respectful of the woman's body as she helps Sunny pack it to her large snake. She does cast a curious glance at the large serpent more than once.
The tweed-clad lady smiles back at Sunny after the body has been packed. As she walks back, she responds to Aliseya.
"A fancy title is all. It means a regional military governor."
She then answers Rhia, seemingly thinking back to memories of long ago.
"I only know of him by the legends. Never met the man... and never want to. But Graydon's a retired military commander who served Count Neska in Barstoi. Graydon's infamous for the ruthless brutality of his martial strategies, and is pretty much loathed by the peoples of both Ardeal and Barstoi. Toward the end of the civil war between Barstoi and Ardeal, Graydon broke with Neska and openly denounced him as a tyrant, an act that many credit as one of the causes behind Neska’s retreat from Ardeal. Anyway, he was forced to flee his home county. So he sought amnesty in Lozeri, where we are now, and soon became a strong voice in Palatine politics. Back in Barstoi, Neska convicted Graydon of treason, revoked his title, and placed a sizable bounty on his head as I recall. Last I heard, Graydon continues to identify himself by his ancestral title as an act of fearlessness and defiance."
|
"I am so glad you know about all of those uppity class people. I guess we should take this one back to his people as well.
Zelda deftly wraps up the second body and throws him over her saddle. "well let's drop these bodies off then move on."
Strangly Zelda seems more concerned with dropping off the body then about carring the dead body on her horse. She clearly wants to get this done as quickly as possible.
"...I'm not," Sookie responds to Zelda's first sentence after a moment of pensive hesitation.
"Yes, let's!" she says more excitedly, perhaps just as ready to be done with the dead nobleman in particular.
"Mmm-hmmm..." Aliseya's smiling eyes narrow at Sookie for a moment.
*Continues to look/watch her new friends innocently...*
(^_^)
Rhia studies Sookie in silence for a moment before nodding, though an air of skepticism is clear. "Do we want to check down in the monster's lair before we head off?"