| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Ew." Aliseya eloquently reacts to the stench of death. "Oh. Yeah..." she says on spotting the corpse.
"Don't you worry, cutie pie," Aliseya rubs Lexy's cheek as the latter shows hesitation to approach the rotting corpse.
Peering past the dead body and into the gatehouse, she suggests, "Maybe we should, like clean that up, and leave our poor tired buddies inside the gatehouse? Probably safer than leaving them out here."
Spotting looks from Naught, Sookie, and Christoph at the corpse, she mentions, "Oh. Right. You don't know about that... so, like, Zel and I... and a few other friends... we kinda got attacked by a couple of... those things." she points at the hound-like corpse.
"And a couple of trolls," she adds.
"Trolls? Like, regrow-their-head trolls?" Naught asks as she dismounts to move the not-dog corpse.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Like, yeah," Aliseya replies. Pointing at the corpse, she adds, "That was Gov's handiwork..."
Her eyes well up.
After a sniffle, she gets off her own horse, and, making sure her gloves are on before even thinking about touching that thing, she looks for the best way to help Naught move the big gross body out of the way. Preferably, without touching it...
Once moved out of the way, she then whips out a vial of perfume and spritzes the scent of death and puss away as much as possible.
As Naught approaches the stinky corpse, she spots foul-smelling fluids oozing from weeping sores across the scaly skin of this squat, once-powerful, and vaguely canine beast. With your numbers, you can devise a way to move the creature without risking touching the festering pustules.
Aliseya thinks to mask the worst of the foul stench with some spritzes of perfume. Combined with the lingering scent of death and puss, the air now smells like sweet foulness. Not at all great, but definitely an improvement. Most importantly, the horses are less wary of entering the gatehouse now.
Inside the gatehouse is a broad chamber with a vaulted roof. Two large fires burn in the room, and spiral stairways climb up in each corner toward the ceiling. A second gate of double doors stands on the far side of the room. And a stained and ragged gray tunic with blue trim lies on the ground.
Naught easily spots where rope can be attached to the handrails to hold all horses securely within. It'll be slightly cramped for five horses, perhaps, but certainly doable. The front gate can now be closed as well, with the body moved away.
You can either climb one of the two sets of stairs, or push through the rear double doors (which probably lead to the bridge) to continue on.
"Stupid flesh golems..." Naught angrily grumbles as she begins hefting the corpse out. "I got it, I got it," she says to Aliseya.
"Which way we going in?" Naught asks after the body has been disposed of and horses secured.
Rhia feels the tiny hairs at the back of her neck stand on end as she realizes that the dark cult she was drawn to find was only recently here. "No....no I believe they're gone."[ she says softly, reassuring the Count. "Do you have any idea what they wanted?"
Ignoring the foul scent with fortitude born of practice, Christoph dismounts from a shying Jitters and helps Naught to remove the offending corpse. Grisly task complete, he pauses to wipe his hands with a kerchief.
"I don't know. Some way we won't get ambushed and that leads to a safe place to sleep. Do you remember much about the place?" He inquires of the trio who had fought such harrowing battles amidst the ruins. "Broken down as it is, bound to be squatters. We should keep a sharp lookout."
True to his words, he utters a quick prayer to Pharasma and his eyes, for those looking closely enough, begin to take on an aquiline appearance. After grabbing his morningstar from where it hung at his back, he nods, "Right, I'm ready when you are."
"Then let us go... to wherever he would most likely be right now at this hour." Naught suggests.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And with the young ghost whisperer's query, the elderly man begins to tell a lengthy tale for the next 30 or 40 minutes. Through his tale, if she hasn't already realized it, she now realizes that this is none other than Count Alpon Caromarc, who once ruled all of Vieland, and the creature, Waxwood, his loyal servant...
Several years ago, agents of the Whispering Way became aware of the count's profound (many would say, profane) experiments into the creation of life and his connection with the Beast of Lepidstadt: a golem who, mysteriously to the count, somehow gained the semblance of sentience. Under the leadership of a necromancer named Auren Vrood, the cult proceeded to Lepidstadt, and sent ominous word to Caromarc that they knew his secret and sought to make a deal with him. The count, anticipating a blackmail attempt and seeking to be rid of those he perceived as dull-witted extortionists, agreed to meet them at midnight at the ominous standing stones outside the city known as the Spiral Cromlech. In his place, though, he sent the Beast. The Whispering Way, expecting exactly this reaction to their treachery, took the opportunity to invade Schloss Caromarc, subdue the count and his lesser creations within, and take control of the Bondslave Thrall. Vrood had expected to just use Caromarc as leverage to control the Beast, but the device proved even more useful to his aims.
With control over the greatest horror in Vieland, Vrood commanded the golem to break into the antiquities department of Lepidstadt University and steal an enigmatic and grotesque statuette of murky green stone known as the Seasage Effigy. The caper went off without a hitch, and the Whispering Way absconded with the statue. Abandoning Schloss Caromarc, the cultists headed east into the Shudderwood toward their next target (whatever that might be), leaving the count trapped inside a castle of his own crazed creations.
Having no more use for the Beast, the Whispering Way left the dazed golem to be found at the scene of the crime. The Beast had been captured, and the entire city was in an uproar over its upcoming trial. He became an easy scapegoat: blamed for a gristly string of murders, an angry mob wanted to burn the Beast alive.
A group of three young women and two men of some skill had been hired by one Judge Embreth Daramid, Magistrate of Lepidstadt, to investigate and defend the Beast at its trial. They found him innocent of the murders, but a mistrial was declared and the mob, unswayed by the evidence, wanted vengeance on the Beast. Desperate, the group came to Schloss Caromarc, savaged many of the count's "experiments," but rescued him from the cruel torturous confinement the necromancer Vrood had left him to suffer.
As the count enthusiastically told his tale, the creature Waxwood wrote down a few clarifications here and there when he trailed off, or when he failed to make full sense. Waxwood also motions for her to please take a seat, and whether she'd like something to drink, while the count gets lost in retelling his tale. And the count continues to refer to herself as Ceryse, apparently his deceased wife.
At the mention of the Whispering Way, Rhia shudders in recollection. From her family history, she knows that the Way is a cruel and secret organization and philosophy promoting undeath that has been active for thousands of years. Adherents of the Whispering Way believe that undeath is the truest form of life, an eternal reward for those clever enough to snatch it by any means necessary. The philosophy certainly predates its most famous convert, the necromancer Tar-Baphon, who came to be known by history as the Whispering Tyrant.
The horses secured in the fire-warmed gatehouse, the young women think it best to proceed through the rear gate and onto the bridge they recall. It occurs to Naught that the count might be dining at this hour, or possibly sleeping.
Slowly, very slowly, the door is creaked opened, for memories of the great flesh golem that guarded the bridge ahead are still fresh in their minds. Just in case...
One of the double stone doors opened fully, the party slowly walks through. No sign of any flesh creatures... though, it is very dark out. Taking in the view, they step onto a broad stone terrace of some twenty feet in width. Just ahead, they can make out the silhouette of a stone bridge arching above a waterfall that drops into the river far, far below. You cannot see how far in the near-darkness, though you can certainly hear some distance in the loudly roaring rapids. There are no rails on the bridge.
Fifty feet across lies the great front door of the first structure of the premises, a fortified manse.
Very dim light from the manse and the gatehouse behind you is barely sufficient to indicate the silhouette of the arched bridge. You can, barely, perceive the glistening of moisture on its surface, however. At this cold temperature, it might be ice.
"Careful, it's wet." Naught tells everyone before carefully making her way across.
"Definitely," the troubled dancer supports her friends' suggestions.
"Huh. Where would he be, where would he be..." she pensively wonders aloud about Naught's question.
"I... I don't know," she shrugs.
"Oh yeah, it is very wet," she looks over the edge into the darkness far below, a look of "Gods!" on her face. Spotting Naught heading over, Ali takes a deep breath, and, very carefully, follows behind her.
She tries not to think about what's below. Compulsively, she nonetheless must be thinking about it, as she talks herself into courage as she goes, "Omigods... it's fine... omigods... no worries... omigods..."
Sookie uses her spear to help steady herself as she carefully avoids the ice. She is slow to advance, making sure to offer a quick steadying hand or shoulder to grab onto if anyone finds themselves slipping. "Goodness, has this man never heard of guardrails? I swear, I have seen tenements with better safety standards."
Carefully, very carefully, the five companions make their way across the icy bridge, avoiding probable death in the dark rapids below.
The arched bridge ends at a small cobbled terrace, with a curious looking iron door depicting a scowling sun being devoured by ravenous clouds.
"Oh! There's a bell pull by the door... should I pull it?" Naught asks the others.
"Yeah..." Aliseya remarks as Zelda reminds her of the sentient whirlwind creature.
As Zel does her thing, Ali looks upwards and ponders what they did the last time they were here.
A moment later, she looks back at Naught. She shrugs.
On examining the door, Zelda finds it to be of solid iron, and locked. She does not notice anything that would indicate a trap. She surmises it would be pretty difficult to either pick the lock or break the door down.
She does recall that when the bellpull was pulled the last time, the muffled sounds of multiple bell chimes were heard from within the manse. A moment later, clicking noises in the door, and then, the whirlwind creature manifested and attacked.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When Zelda cautions everyone to step back, Naught, who had seemed excited to pull the bellpull, now looks a bit disappointed but complies. The rest of the group looks on with anticipation as Zelda rings the bell.
As soon as she rings it, a bad memory of being tossed up and then down into the falls below by the airy creature, almost to her death, comes back to her mind. The hairs rise on the back of her neck, and she privately rethinks, to her own horror, why she should have rung that damned bell!
Over the loud roaring of the rapids below, everyone barely hears the muted sounds of chimes ringing from within the manse before them. A moment passes. The door then makes a clicking sound...
...and the door simply opens.
Frozen in place, eyes dart around in anticipation of this notorious air creature. Yet, nothing is to be seen other than the interior of the manse before them.
Not even whomever opened the door...
First to enter carefully is Zelda, who walks into a familiar great hall. On the far wall, a huge portrait hangs above an enormous, lit fireplace in this large entry chamber.
The rest of the party follows the trapsmith into the hall.
A strange object of metal and flesh rests on the floor before them. Though predominantly a thing of metal and wire, this loping construct has some organic parts that seem more for decoration than for a purpose. It rests motionless upon its side, with two huge, scythe-like forearms outstretched.
Aliseya and Zelda recall this as the spider-like creature that attacked them on their earlier visit. One of the count's "experiments," they explain to the others. More broadly, they recall this manse to be a comfortable and luxuriously furnished residence for Count Caromarc.
Three doors lead further inside the manse. One lies on either side of the fireplace, with a third to her right. A set of steep stairs rises to the right as well.
Upstairs is the count's bedroom and guest rooms.
Ahead, behind the two doors flanking the fireplace, are mere storerooms and a kitchen.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When Zelda cautions everyone to step back, Naught, who had seemed excited to pull the bellpull, now looks a bit disappointed but complies.
Naught wipes her glum look after Zelda rings the bell, focusing and waiting on... anything. When the door simply opens after she shrugs and saunters in, eyes locking on the warped flesh beast. "Great, more of those things." she mutters.
"Where to now?"
A figurative light goes off over Aliseya's head. "Oh Zel, that's, like, the kitchen or storeroom I think."
Pointing up the stairs, "I think his bedroom was up there."
Looking at the door to the right, "I think the dining room, his library, and... and a game room were that way... and the bridge to the next building, too. That old burnt out workshop we found."
There is no response to Zelda's knock and call.
Apprehensive, and used to working alone, Christoph is caught off guard as the rest of the group starts across. He takes a moment to supplement the light of Zelda's lamp with a blessing from Pharasma before following. He keeps a wary eye out as the rest of the group open the door. On entering, he cuts off an oath at the horrific amalgamation of flesh and steel before him. "Pharasma preserve us. This is abomination."
Tracing a Spiral, he opines in a voice that is thick with disgust, "If it's not undead then it's still a desecration. This Count may have much to answer for."
He joins his companions, suggesting, "At this hour, the dining hall or the bedroom would make sense." He adds mentally, if sense can even apply to a madman like this.
"The dining hall first, then the others?"
Sookie pokes the construct with the butt of her spear. ”Dreadfully sloppy to leave a mess out all this time. I simply must have a word with the staff.”
”Second visit. Just as creepy.” Naught murmurs in agreement before heading up to the bedroom Ali pointed out.
"There were a lot of creepy 'experiments,'" she makes air quotes here, "crawling or lumbering around this place the last time," Aliseya chimes in. "All sorts of... ew!" She shudders at the memories.
"Well if he hasn't had the time to cleanup, at least he hasn't also had the time to..."
Pausing mid-sentence, her eyes widen as she inconclusively concludes, "...make new ones?"
Realizing while speaking that she is not convinced of what she just said, the prospect dawns on her that more... things... may be lurking around the next building... or the next corner...
"... we can hope," Naught says alongside a shudder.
Horrified yet curious, Christoph takes a long moment to study the twisted creature. As he gets closer, he's startled by its sudden jerk. He soon realizes the motion was probably the dead creature's broken body just settling... the falls may be far below, but a barely perceptible vibration can be felt throughout the manse.
Zelda stares off for a moment, lost in thought...
Zelda recalls to mind flashbacks of the battle: Govannon's enchanted scimitar and Aleks's dark blades pounding it repeatedly, before her own rapier slinked past its metal armor, right through the "head," finishing it off.
When Christoph suggests the dining hall first, he looks at Naught as she ascends the stairs instead. Reaching the top, Naught peers around. The others join her upstairs.
Enjoying an overview of the fine hall to your left as you ascend (except for the big dead fleshy-metal spidery-thing), the top of the stairs lead to a narrow hall extending to the left. There are three doors: one down the hall to the far left, one straight ahead, and one to your immediate right.
The leftmost door down the hall leads to a guest bedroom. White sheets cover the elegant oaken four-poster bed within. A matching wardrobe and dressing table round out this luxurious guest room.
Three simple cots are arranged within a small chamber behind the middle door. Numerous drawings and books litter a nearby table.
Behind the door to the immediate-right of the stairs is a tiny foyer with two more doors: one straight ahead, one to the right. Behind the door to the right is a second guest bedroom, very similarly decorated to the one down the hall. Naught spots another door in the far wall of this one. She finds it is locked.
Behind the final door (back in the small foyer) is a resplendent bedchamber. It holds a sublime four-poster bed surrounded by elegantly crafted oaken furniture. You surmise it to be the master bedroom. The furniture consists of a wardrobe, a dressing table, chest, and a tall dressing mirror. The bed was apparently used last night, and left unmade.
There's no sign of the count on this floor, so far.
Zelda and Aliseya both recall that this bridge was fallen before they arrived. A rope bridge stood in its place.
Naught scurries about, snooping the rooms looking for signs of the count. Or clothes that might fit her.
Afterwards she returns to the others. "You think he might be beyond the locked door? Or the bridge?"
Christoph silently joins the group as Naught makes her way up the stairs. He follows the slinking young woman -weapons in hand- as she searches the rooms. His eyes never stop their wary searching as they pick their way through this level of the manor. "I don't think this Count has entertained many guests. If that thing is any indication, that's not a surprise. Don't know what to make of those drawings, but looks like he means to replace that rope bridge. Who in their right mind would work here though..." He trails off sourly as he considers the 'thing' lying 'dead' (Can it even be called dead if it never lived?) below.
He opines in reply to Naught, "The locked room being his bedroom makes plenty of sense. Might also be downstairs. And the bridge... you mean the other rope one? Not that icy death trap we crossed?"
"... yeah, the most likely equally perilous one we haven't crossed yet. Or right here next to us all nice and conveniant behind this simple locked door." Naught replies.
"... which means he's probably across the bridge."
Naught's eyes notice the wardrobe in the master bedroom. It is crammed with seventeen fine men's outfits. Ten outfits would seem to befit a nobleman. Six seem quite scholarly. One outfit is so resplendent, it must have been intended for royalty.
One of the dressing table’s drawers contains a jewelry box holding a silver chain, a gold snuff box set with a translucent yellow gem, a platinum-handled magnifying glass in a leather case, and a monocle with a silver chain ending in a diamond pin.
Back in the room with three cots, aside from the architectural books on the table are a magnificent gold and green gemstone writing set with several jars of special inks, and a small portable ink jar with a silver clasp.
* 10 noble outfits worth 75 gp each
* 6 scholar's outfits worth 5 gp each
* 1 royal outfit worth 200 gp
The dressing table’s drawers:
* a jewelry box holding a silver chain worth 50 gp
* a gold snuff box set with a topaz worth 400 gp
* a platinum-handled magnifying glass in a leather case worth 600 gp
* a monocle with a silver chain ending in a diamond pin worth 800 gp
The room with drawings:
* technical manuals worth a total of 100 gp
* a magnificent jade and gold writing set with several jars of valuable inks worth 150 gp
* a small portable ink jar with a silver clasp worth 20 gp
Spotting the writing set the Storyteller's eyes go wide as she slinks up to it in a near crouch, hair writhing wildly.
Roland meanwhile covers his face with one wing while his witch is distracted.
Leaving the guest rooms and continuing back towards the stairs, Christoph trails Naught as she enters what's clearly the Count's bedroom. He whistles softly at the display of wealth. "Someone with this sort of money and a love of the grotesque... ain't a pretty picture."
He checks the final door on the floor and on finding it locked, he notes, "Don't think the Count would be in this other room with that fine one free and clear. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of leaving a possible enemy at our back. Breaking it down might run out our welcome though..." He pauses to wait to see what the others do, though the edge in his voice makes it clear he doesn't particularly care if the Count welcomes him or not.
”Zelda can probably pop it open.” Naught calls out without taking her eyes off the writing set.
”And is he friendly?” Naught asks, pulling herself away from the writing set.
"Ah, okay then." Naught replies comepletely forgetting about the writing set and moving to rejoin her friends.
"Like, wow." Ali says as she enters the master bedroom.
She whistles her approval on spotting the jewelry.
"Omigods, like... WOW."
She then looks back at the others, "Ehhh, yeah, he may be a creep, but I don't want to steal from him..."
Her widely-opened eyes do not blink for a long moment, for fear of parting her sight from the jewels. Eventually, she tears herself away from them, with a sigh.
"They're a little too masculine for me anyway..."
...
In the room with drawings, Ali comforts Naught with a hand on her shoulder.
"We, like, could ask the count who made the set for him. Oh!" she turns to Zelda quickly, "Maybe you can make something like that for Naught?"
When Naught spots the count's elegant attire, she tries on a few outfits. They're a little tall for her. But they otherwise would seem to fit her quite well, with only some minor tailoring to adjust the height.
Concern for finding the master of the keep relegates the locked door to the backs of everyone's minds, except perhaps a wary Christoph. But the group makes its way back down the stairs to the great hall once again.
With Zelda's suggestion that he might be eating dinner at this time, someone opens the oaken door near the bottom of the stairs. Opening the finely wrought metal latch, you open the door.
The narrow hall before you is walled with more paneled oak. It stretches about twenty feet ahead, then opens up to the left. Four doors line the walls, evenly flanking the group from either side.
You can still hear the low rumbling of the rapids from outside as you walk down the hall. When you reach the left turn in the hall, you find another fifteen feet of hall, leading straight ahead into a dining room. To your immediate right in this section of hall is a fifth door.
Straight ahead, the hall opens to a vaulted ceiling in a large room adorned with gilt. A pair of halberds hang above a huge lit fireplace in the far wall. A large bell hangs near it. A great dining table and twelve chairs take up the center of the room. A door is on the far left wall.
There does not seem to be anyone here. A bowl and spoon are on one side of the table, however.
Naught nods when Aliseya further disapproves of taking anything, though here eyes widen with interest when she mentions the possibility of Zelda making a similar writing set. Eagerly she looks back and forth between the dancer and the jeweler.
”Goody,” Naught flatly says as she takes out he ghost chopping axe.