Reine, while also amused a bit by Broom's head-first dive into the project, began to frown as she saw Broom begin aiming food toward the stairs.
"Broom," she said, "while I appreciate your thoroughness, perhaps we could just move the slime-thing into the secret jail, rather than up the stairs? You know - just so that no one stumbles into danger accidentally while investigating or cleaning up there - and so that it doesn't accidentally find its way out of the castle. We can bring some of the bodies down here, if that helps."
"You're right, that's a great idea! It can also clean up all the bales of rotten straw while its in there!"
Broom happily altered her plan and moved the trail into the room with the secret jail cell.
It certainly seemed like it was working. The ooze roused itself and lashed out at the "floating" food with a translucent pseudopod, grabbing it right out of the the invisible helper's grip. As more food was dangled in front of it, the puddle crawled forward across the floor along the line of prepared offerings.
Desdemona watched with bated breath as the ooze passed, glorping its way up the stairs. How fascinating! If only she had a laboratory to examine it better in...
It was so engrossing that she nearly forgot the shadow entirely.
"Make it reach up a bit, Broom - yes, a little farther. Amazing! Look at that extension!" she whispered.
Broom waited at the base of the stairs until she could see the ooze through the door to the room. Knowing that it could lash out with an oozy arm kind of like she could she backed up the stairs until it had passed.
She waited a few moments until the ooze was out of view before cautiously creeping down the stairs again. Before peeking around the corner, she took US and placed her on the ceiling where she clung effortlessly.
Us peeked around the corner from her vantage and gave the all clear once the ooze was down near the storage room. Approaching the room with Us skittering along the ceiling above her she waited a few more moments before having Us check once again that the ooze was safely down the secret hall before peeking inside.
Finally she entered the room. Staying as far back from the secret cell as possible she used a different little cantrip to close the cell door on the living puddle before retreating from the room and closing the storage room door as well.
You really like to think outside of the box. In fact, you are so far from the box you probably don't remember where it is. I'm impressed.
"Well done, Broom!" Reine congratulated the little doctor, quite sincerely, once the project was safely completed.
"Now, shall we see what was behind that door? And let's be careful about it, who knows whether that ooze thing was left there to keep something dangerous safely locked away."
It took a while but eventually Broom and her invisible friend were able to safely lure the ooze up the stairs and into the once-concealed cell. The next door was locked but the keys on the key ring opened it easily. Down a short hallway, the next room was built around a deep, dark well and had an opening to the sky above at the apex of the ceiling.
Lachen spots quickly the faint traces of footprints on the ground
Skums. A good number of them, but those aren't recent tracks. They came from the well. It should be safe, but its better to stay alert.
Reine's eyes had narrowed at the sight of the footprints, and she grunted.
"This is probably where they came in. Which means the well might lead us somewhere interesting. In the meantime, either that ooze came with them, or someone brought it here somehow to... what? Keep new Skum from getting in? Or keep the ones here from getting out again?" She looked up to where she could see sky above.
"Unless they could just climb in and out through that."
Reine looked at the others and shrugged.
"We still need to bury that body, and get rid of the ones upstairs before they start to rot. We should also see if we've missed anything else in here. Probably should talk to Winter and her people again, and see if they want to set a guard here, and decide whether we need to go down this damned well."
Desdemona came in as well, letting her fingers brush against the well rim. She peered down into it, forgetting that human eyes could not see so far into the dark...
...and certainly not as far as the shadow could fly.
She didn't even realize it was gone until she looked up again.
bleh
Broom's hand went immediately for her broom upon spotting the muddied footprints. It was only Lachen's interest in them that kept her impulses at bay.
She fidgeted as she waited for a convenient opportunity to clean up. She was going to send Us down the well to have a look, but as soon as the shadow went she reconsidered; she didn't want Us and the shadow left alone together out of sight at the bottom of the dark well.
"Maybe the fish men were running from the ooze and it forced them up here? But that doesn't make sense. The fish men went through a lot of trouble with making zombies and kidnapping people. And the lady was spreading rumors about the mercenaries leaving and trying to sound like there was nothing wrong here. That's an awful lot of planning if they were just suddenly forced to come here or were unexpectedly trapped."
Desdemona could see water about 25 feet down from the lip of the well. Her shadow, not needing to breathe and more comfortable in the dark than even the dim light of the fort's tunnels, slipped down into the cold water like a snake. The bottom of the well was another 15 feet down, where a tunnel opening led to one of the town's aqueducts, heading straight to the north.
Desdemona tried to look away from the deeps, but it was too late - the shadow swarmed up into her eyes, telling her of quiet waters and dark peace...
Shuddering, she reported, "There's nothing down there but water. I believe it leads to the town, through aqueducts. But... if the skum came from here..."
She raised a brow. "Then perhaps they originated in town, as well? Or from wherever this water flows from? I must admit, I find it more far-fetched to believe that they simply came upon the aqueducts by chance, than that someone has summoned these things in town, or close to it."
All the while, she held herself as though cold. She was cold, but it came from within, not without.
That mucilaginous darkness! She could feel it sliding down her mind like a cool, wet slime. It made her want to vomit.
After a little more poking about finding nothing of interest, Broom helped make ready to leave the fort. She listened with curiosity as both Reine and Des discussed who would carry the desiccated corpse to its final resting place. Curiosity because she had just assumed that she would do it.
A little consultation with Us and sending her own mind out on the matter came up with a few different burial practices that fit her needs. Gently gathering up the dried body she did what she could to fold it up into a smaller package and wrapped the body in one of the sheets used as a dust cover that she had taken from Briarstone.
The body still had some weight, but it wasn't too bad dried out as it was. It wouldn't fit in her magic pack so she just carried it in her arms. She may not be the strongest individual around, but she had remarkable endurance. As long as she could pick it up she could carry it for as long as needed.
...
It was only when they arrived at the church that the she was reminded that there was no priest to perform the burial. Undeterred, Broom considered options. "Is there anything special about being a priest that is needed to do a burial properly?" she asked. "We touched a lot of minds yesterday that were thinking about Sarenrae. We could see if We could find them again. Or do you think We should see if We can find minds thinking about Pharasma? Maybe We could do the ceremony?"
After a moment's thought on the matter, Broom sent both her mind and that of Us out to look for the proper way to conduct a burial. Out of respect for the church she was in, she looked for Pharasman burial rites.
Broom figured that she might have found some thoughts that fit the situation and Us had much to add. Together she cobbled together an idea of what she guessed needed to be done.
Out in the cemetery she found an empty plot and using whatever was available started to dig a hole. It wasn't pretty but it would do. Scrounging around for some wood she did what she could to fashion a crude memorial with Pharasma's spiral roughly carved into it.
Inside the church she looked around for a Pharasman bible and anything that looked like blessed water or perhaps incense or oils. Gathering together the eclectic items she lowered the body into the hole and began enacting a ceremony of sorts.
She read passages from the book, sprinkled the consecrated liquids over the corps and wafted the incense around the grave and after asking everyone in attendance if they had any final words she began to fill the grave.
Anyone with proper knowledge on the matter would have realized that although what she was doing was Pharasman in nature, this ceremony was a random mishmash of fragments from a wide variety of burial rites meant for different occasions and purposes. She was reciting passages and performing acts without understanding anything about their meaning or proper application.
However none of that deterred Broom. Happy with her work she made sure that the simple grave was as tidy as she could make it before cheerfully concluding. "Didn't we need authority to search Iris Hill? Do you think Winter has permission for us yet?"
At the new Pharasmin chapel, Lelwyn Hasok happily assisted Broom with everything she needed, especially once she demonstrated a remarkable familiarity with Church doctrine. The painter brought her a copy of The Bones Land in a Spiral, Pharasma's holy book, and he turned out to be a passable singer as he performed a traditional mourning song. Once again, the isolated man just seemed happy to have company.
The group returned to the Sleepless Agency where they found the children playing in the grass in front of the building with Nipper. Tolman Leolies, the childrens' minder back at the Asylum, was watching from the front door of the Agency with Meg standing nearby. The female cadet wasn't quite neglecting her duties but she was clearly trying to keep a conversation going with the handsome young man.
The agent-in-training looked the group over as they returned. "Do you need anything, ma'ams? Sir?"
"Is Winter around?" Reine's question was casual, but not excessively friendly. Then again, it didn't sound angry, either, so perhaps she liked the agent-in-training after all.
I'm not sure which season this is...But if winter isn't around, it will probably coming sooner or later. Are you cold?
Lachen misunderstand Reine's words, but there is an unexpected and genuine concern and kindness in his tone
Meg looked at Lachen skeptically before turning back to Reine. "I think she was in the front library when we came out here, ma'am." The trainee gestures at Lachen, the stranger. "Will he be assisting you and the deputy Accuser?"
The young woman turned toward Lachen. "Your name, sir, for our records?"
Lachen seems to get real tense suddenly, and there is a brief flash of anger in his eyes, then he calms down
The name is Lachen, spelled L-A-C-H-E-N.
If he has a last name-and he certainly has one-the man they call Lachen doesn't bother giving it.
Meg looked curiously at Lachen, then glanced at Des and Reine for a moment before turning back to Lachen. "Your surname, sir?"
"Some of us have none that we recall, I'm afraid," Desdemona supplied absently, occupied with watching Broom and Us use her unusual expertise. Her assumption that others might not recall their names, or have a last name at all, may have been erroneous, but that absentminded thoughtlessness at least wasn't malicious... this time.
The girl is right, again.
Which wasn't, probably, technically, a lie.
Lachen knew of his last name, of course. He wasn't willing to give it, that's all.
Meg glanced at Des, looked back at Lachen, then nodded at Des. "Yes, my lady." She moves over to the door and opens it for the group.
They knew the front library well. Just off the front hall, it had been the first room the group entered when they'd first arrived and spoken to Cesadia Wrentz. The dark haired Pharasmin was sitting at one of the desks with a few books opened in front of her, diligently taking notes. Engrossed in whatever it was she was doing, Winter didn't look up as the party entered the room.
After a few minutes, Winter looked up. "Oh! I didn't see you there. What did you find at the fort?"
"Dead people, mostly," Reine said. "And fishmen. Who seemed to have come in through the well. They seem to have eaten some folks."
Broom waited for Reine to finish before she cleared her throat and began recounting the events, again through her peculiar interpretation.
Mixed in to all of this were the actual events that occurred within the fort. The prisoners, the ooze, the well and the ghost; Broom left nothing out but the facts had to be teased from the speculation and leaps of logic. Sprinkled in with her report were times when she would suddenly stop and cock her head as if listening to someone before she related some factoid that was often only tangentially related to the topic that she was just speaking of.
"So after We performed the burial to stop the ghost, we all came back here to see if We would be allowed to go to the count's house yet."
Desdemona, still vaguely miffed that Winter hadn't noticed them immediately - only vaguely due to that she wasn't quite sure why she felt that their importance was such that they should be seen to right away; it was just a niggle in her mind - merely looked on in cool agreement, deigning to nod now and then as Broom touched on an actual event rather than a tangential idea or concept, or seemingly unrelated situation.
As the woman wrapped up her explanation, she graced Broom with a smile. "A wonderful retelling of events, thank you, Broom. Certainly we need no permission... but we thought it best to inform you of our intent." She addressed the last to Winter, her attitude one of a person who honestly believed that she was doing a good deed.
"It would be well to learn more of what Count Lowls was doing there. Perhaps we'll learn why he disappeared. More hungry fish-men, perchance." She didn't seem perturbed at the idea, more clinically interested.
"But forgive me, how rude. Let me introduce our new co-investigator. This is Lachen," she added, seeming a bit contrite for the first time.
The big man nods respectfully
Having just joined the group, I have no further information to give. In fact, I learnt much listening to these ladies.
Winter nodded. "We are happy for any help, Lachen." She, at least, didn't have any questions about the new man's surname. "Because we won't be getting any from the crown for at least week. I spoke to my superiors and that is the fastest they can organize any relief and get it here."
She smiled at Broom and inclined her head to Desdemona. "I don't know where you would look next, in any case. I was hoping there would be some clue at the fort. Fish men, you said? Why would they be involved with this? It can't be a coincidence."
The Pharasmin inquisitor and deputy Royal Accuser shook her head. "I can go and perform rites over the remains you found. Do you need anything else from me?"
Desdemona nodded slightly in satisfaction after an acceptable amount of time had passed. To assert the proper order of things, of course. "Perhaps you might be so kind as to see to those people we sent back from the fort, and find out if they know anything of value once they've had some time to calm down and think. I'm sure we wouldn't be averse to further supplies, as well, but at worst, we can manage without. Though... would you know where we might learn more about these fish... creatures?" She made a moue of distaste. "There's been altogether too many odd coincidences of late for my taste. A bit of research before we go might do us good."
She didn't want to bring it up, with her memory so lacking, but learning more about the Count and his home might be useful as well.
Or maybe they should find those "nobles" and simply scare the pants off them, and get them to speak what they knew.
Already percolating with plans and plots, Desdemona momentarily forgot Winter.
Winter frowned and gestured at the books. "There are some taxonomical volumes here." She got up and walked over to a shelf behind the desk where she'd been sitting. "What did you say they looked like?" With a bit of description and some time reading through the beautifully illuminated bestiaries, the group was able to find more information about the fish-men.
None of it explained what they were doing in a land-locked fort, though.
About those skums.. What do you think? Could they be used as pawn from someone with a plan? Are they a distraction? They surely don't look they belong to these lands.
Rather fascinated by the new knowledge about the skum, Desdemona had reverted to being a bit distant and dreamy, her mind elsewhere. She had remembered to thank Winter for the access, and now she gazed out the window, the tiny stone Broom had giver her slowly orbiting her head, like a very lazy and confused halo.
"It stands to reason that someone had enemies in the fort, and utilized these fish men, the skum, to deal with them. I'm quite certain you're right, that they were mere pawns, and not the masterminds of that attack. As for a distraction..." Des pursed her lips, still musing half to herself. "Whom would they be meant to distract - and more importantly, from what? I believe the missing Count is quite deeply entrenched in all this skullduggery. Yes, there will be answers at his estate, I'm certain of it."
As though suddenly realizing where she was, she turned from the window to look at the others, blinking in mild surprise. "We ran into some nobles, earlier, who meant to go there. Unpleasant sorts. Perhaps they might be persuaded to tell us more, before we go haring off. That is, unless they've already put action to words, and are there in any case."
"Is there anything else you need us to do? We hope that we were able to prove that we are different than before. Unless you still need us to look for the Witch maybe you can let us investigate the Count's manner now? Do we need any special papers to show Melisenn so she will let us in?"
Winter shook her head. "She wouldn't let Accuser Omari himself in when he presented his credentials at the gate. I doubt anything I could give you would convince Miss Kororo to let you in." She frowned. "I expect you will have to use more than gentle persuasion if you want to enter Iris Hill."
The deputy royal accuser gestured north, indicating the Count's manor. "If you feel ready to do what needs to be done, you have my- and the crown's, for all the good that will do here and now- blessing."
Broom nodded. This sounded very official, should she salute? Seeing nobody else doing anything special she decided against it. "We will head there right away and let you know about anything we find."
She then waited for everyone else to file out of the room before following along.
"So, how are we going to get in if they don't let us? Should we wait for tonight and sneak in? Can anyone open a locked window?"
Through the town and past even the Silver Wagon, the Count's estate sat atop a hill at the northwest edge of town, providing a sweeping view of Thrushmoor and Avalon Bay. Or at least it would if a dense, 10 foot tall hedge hadn't been grown around the entirety of the grounds, blocking the view and any chance of access to the buildings inside without first going through the gatehouse plugging the only gap in the hedge.
Weirdly, everyone but Lachen felt that the hedge didn't belong there. It just didn't fit right in what passed for their spotty memories.
The squat gatehouse sported a pair of heavy wooden doors with a small sliding hatch in the left-most door. The doors were, predictably, shut.
I suppose you know your way around high society? That's isn't my forte.
Lachen seems to speak directly to the women of the group, ignoring the ranger, whether purposely or not. He then looks at the tall hedge, and adds with a wicked smile
Nice bush, but it must take quite some time to trim it.
Broom looked at the hedge thoughtfully "We think We have tended to hedges before, but not really making them look nice. More like just cutting them back so they don't get in the way. We could try though if you would like. We're sure that with everyone helping it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to tidy them up."
Broom frowned "But maybe we should wait until after we have investigated the manner."
Broom held out her hand and the odd tattoo slid down her wrist and onto her palm where it oozed out of her hand into a palm full of black liquid that quickly formed into Us. "Us is good at climbing, do you want her to have a look over the hedge?"
Having simply missed Lachen's innuendo entirely, Desdemona had nodded to him absently. Fascinated as always by Us, Desdemona was distracted from noticing that her shadow was stretching away toward the hedge.
"I haven't any skill with locks, I'm afraid... but, I saw earlier that Us was able to climb upside down on the ceiling, just like a spider! How does... Us do it? It- I mean, Us is far too large for such things, one would think! Though, I'll admit my knowledge of spiders is not strong."
lmao. Help us, Us! You're our only hope!
Want me to work on the locks? Aren't we supposed to knock at the door politely?