I smell a fish here... This one is a deep one hybrid, a race of underwater creature, worshippng strange old and evil gods. I don't know what's its doing here.. All I know is that they are quite adept of proselytism, seeking new converts, or maybe sacrifices.
"Kill it," Reine suggested, almost out of hand. It was a part of her act, but not terribly far off from what she'd immediately felt at Lachen's pronouncement.
"Unless it wishes to save its life by telling us useful things?"
Broom regretted not having Us there to help know more about the strange fish people. She stared at the fish man. There was something oddly familiar about him, or his race anyway. She sent her mind out to find thoughts about what he was.
Her eyes went wide with what she found about the horrible race. But behind all the horrific minds there was an aspect that Broom could not help but find alluring. She felt a repulsive kinship, these were touched by the same types of beings that part of herself was kin to.
But beyond even that, he came form the watery void that called to her. She stared into the fishman's eyes.
The repulsive hybrid replied to Broom in the same disgusting language, eyes bulging as it desperately grasped at a chance to live.
Broom was conflicted over the offer. While she had no interest in helping the dark things, she did yearn to experience the deep void. After an uncomfortably long time she asked
Desdemona looked on in horror, the madness of the thing's words sending a shiver through her - but she was still trying to resist the shadow's pull, and it took the greater part of her attention.
The fishy guard shook his head.
Broom looked up "He hasn't seen the count. He says nobody has. But Priestess Melisenn is the one in charge.
Is there anything else We can ask, or should we just go now?"
"I... there are two people in that building," Desdemona told them, acquiescing to the shadow's pressure in the hope that it would release her. "Human people." Sure enough, she stopped feeling as though she were being hauled to and through the gate, and the shadow oozed back to reattach itself to her feet.
With that distraction over for now, Desdemona ran back what Broom - and the fish-man - had said, in her mind. "Ask it if there are more like it inside, and where," she suggested, her heart still beating fast and making her sound a bit breathless. "What are they armed with? Are they expecting trouble? Where they expecting us?" Thinking, she clarified, "I mean our group, not your Us. Can it draw us a rough map of the compound?"
Two men only? Guards or servants? If your shadow can make a difference, of course.
The guard didn't answer Broom's question directly, but it did respond.
Feel free to have Des freak out about the shadow be able to show her visions. It's just fluff but I think it's reasonable and fun. :)
The fish-faced guard quickly sketched out the estate's grounds.
Reine frowned. She hadn't really planned a full-on assault of the place, though she realized that was pretty much what she'd launched the group into.
She had the keys though. That was what she'd set out to do. Get the keys. Without creating an alarm.
"What would happen if the next guard shift showed up to find no one on duty," Reine mused aloud, "and when is the next guard shift scheduled?"
Desdemona stiffened, going an even paler shade than usual.
Her mind was flooded with a vision of... not light and shadow, but shadow and a deeper darkness, infused more with meaning that described color than with color itself.
Two humans reclining comfortably in chairs, in front of a fireplace that blazed with a light and heat so bright it was painful. Not guards, not servants... guests.
Of the fish-men?
"They have guests," Desdemona gasped, describing what she saw. Or rather, what the shadow had seen, and where.
Confirmation that the light hurt, she filed away in a place of concept and memory so diffuse the darkness would hopefully never find it... though, she might not be able to recall it, herself.
Since the question hadn't been directed at him, Reine's mind-locked guard didn't say anything in answer.
Reine turned to the man whose keys she now held.
"When is the next shift scheduled?" she asked him.
He responded woodenly "Night shift comes on after dinner."
Broom had kept staring at the fish man as the others made plans, translating questions when asked.
"Why would anyone be visiting if the Count isn't here and hasn't been for a while?" she asked absently to nobody in particular.
"We think we should find out who they are. Maybe they know where the Count is if they are waiting for him."
She looked up from the prisoner "What are we going to do with him? Should we leave him tied up and let him go when we are done? He hasn't done anything other than guard the Count's gate. We mean we are kind of the intruders after all." She paused and looked at the nearby corpse "And We feel kind of bad for what happened to his friend."
His friend died in the line of duty. Part of me respect that. The other doesn't. Your call, I can give this one a swift, painless death, or we'll have to risk to bind him somewhere. Maybe one of you can order him to run away and never come back?
Lachen eyes Reine while saying the end of the sentence
"I think the behavior of the other fish-men we encountered speaks ill as to the intentions and proclivities of this one," Desdemona sniffed, privately happy to have another distraction from her shock.
"If we spare it, can we trust that it will kill no others? Can we take that risk? Though if you wish to spare it, I won't protest... but nor shall I take any part of blame in the deaths of whomever it might kill."
Her face changed as an idea struck her. "You've shown talent at plumbing the minds of others before, Broom. Why don't you have a look within, and see if it can be trusted? If so, then we may simply tie, and later, release it." She didn't mention that she, too, had the capacity to read minds - for one, she didn't care for the providence of the ability, and for another, she wasn't sure she wanted to share that little tidbit. Better for them to think she might, than to know it.
Broom quickly sat up and looked at Des, her eyes wide with excitement emphasizing the odd black veins around the edges of her eyes more so than usual. Had Des just suggested what she though Des had?
Broom blinked with a moment's inner turmoil. "Should We ask to make sure? But then what if Des changed her mind?"
The dark haired woman with the strange eyes started eagerly pulling off her pack only to find what she was looking for right there on top.
"Is this the right time? Should We really be doing this here?" Broom took the little lump of incense carefully wrapped in a cloth and held it tentatively, her hand trembling a little with excitement. "Every other time We asked nobody seemed interested, but now Des asked Us! If not now then when?"
She unwrapped the incense and laid it on the floor before fishing around in her pack. She was perplexed for a moment as the item she was looking for wasn't on top! "Why don't We have any tinder twigs! First rope and now tinder twigs! We need to be more prepared."
Having silently chastised herself for lacking some basic items, she instead found the flint and steel just off to the side of her pack. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do.
Everything in hand, she made ready to light the magical material that would link everyone's mind.
Having no idea about what Broom is about to do, and how happy she seems to be about it, Lachen shows no objection.
Have your fun, girl.
It only took a few seconds for Broom to prepare the incense. Once she lit the taper, sweet smelling smoke started to fill the small gatehouse and soon the entire space was suffused with the spectral scent of seared sugar. Soon after, mental whispers were flittering around the room like surprised butterflies, each member of the group and Reine's mindlocked guard hearing and sharing the briefest of fleeting thoughts.
Desdemona, who had been peering more closely at the fish-man with deep curiosity, had missed Broom's picking out the incense. She had been referring to Broom's mental searches with Us, which she had assumed to be magic similar to mind reading. When she finally looked up to see the nub being lit, it was too late!
Everything was shadows, layers on layers of shadows, full of malice and nowhere to hide, nothing you could fight. The pale woman's mind was a study in paranoia... but the others' weren't. Taking sudden inspiration, Desdemona went roaming.
Where could be worse than home?
First, she dove into the fish-guard's mind. The guests... what was there to see, there? Why were they here? The guards? The layout of the buildings? Curiosity was a sharp need, almost a necessity - to learn, to know.
It might drive her into other minds, soon. But first, this one.
She let that occupy her, and left the darkness alone in her skull, a parasitic passenger in her mind, lurking in front and hunting behind, everywhere and nowhere.
Desdemona could feel all of that like they were her own thoughts, but as she focused on the guard's feelings about his village, his people, his work- The Work. The Purpose. She had never in her life felt the sense of unity and oneness and wholeness this fish-faced man away from home did. He knew intimately, wholly, that he served something greater, something wiser and better than he, that his service was in the furtherance of something truly wonderful, and even if he didn't live to see it to the end then his life would have had meaning.
It was enticing, knowing one could have such closeness with one's family, one's community, one's leader/king/God. Desdemona didn't even have that with the most basic part of herself- her shadow. If she just went down to the water, swam out into the dark, and let herself sink... she could know it too.
Broom breathed deeply of the scented smoke and let the sensation wash over her. First there was just Them as always, comfortable and reassuring and the distant sensation of Us rushing back to take part. Broom felt a little guilty. Although Us was part of Them she was also distinct by design, she should have waited until Us was there to participate.
Slowly as she started to become aware of others her excitement grew. It was so different from bumping into the random thoughts of strangers, eavesdropping on their memories. Here she knew who the thoughts belonged to and more importantly she could actually interact with them.
Since she had awoken in the asylum, it was always just the two of them, but with this little lump of magical material she could invite in everyone else and she very much enjoyed the company.
Broom's thoughts had two tones to them. One was full of excitement while the other a flat monotone, yet they both spoke in unison.
"Isn't this great! We can all just share our thoughts with each other kind of like We do! We can just think something and we all just know!"
"This is pleasing. We can all smoothly exchange thoughts without barriers similar to Us. We find this seamless sharing of ideas and experiences agreeable."
But, she was still felt a little guilty about possibly perhaps willfully misinterpreting Des' request in order to use the incense so she focused her attention first on the fishman to at least make good on her excuse for opening everyone's minds to each other.
"If we let you go, will you leave the town and leave the townsfolk alone?"
"If you were released, can you assure us that you will inflict no harm on the townsfolk?"
As she questioned the prisoner, she also gently felt about getting a feel for the mood of her companions.
The fishy guard shook his head, responding verbally in a language only Broom and Desdemona understood but mentally so that everyone could hear. "I don't care about this place, I hate this place, I just want to go home, I will go home but if I return alone the priest will kill me/sacrifice me/make an example of me. Unless you kill everyone?" The last bit almost seemed hopeful, as if the group killing all his companions might solve all his problems.
Broom considered the fishman's request with conflicting emotions.
"We don't want to just kill everyone though. Maybe We can convince everyone to just go home. Or maybe the priestess can be convinced to let you go. Just wait here and we will see what we can do to help you return home safely."
"We have no desire to kill more than necessary. Alternatively we can attempt to negotiate with your companions. Or perhaps parley terms with the priestess for your release from your duties. Remain here and we will work towards your safe return home"
Broom turned to everyone else, enjoying having everyone's thoughts so close to her own and the ease with which they could all communicate. She wished that she could do this all the time.
"Is there anything else we wanted to talk about, or should we go now?"
"Are there any more question before we proceed?"
Desdemona, satisfied about the fishman's familiar sense of purpose - not divine, exactly, but certainly monumental - had been desperately trying to rein in her curiosity about her fellow adventurers. Was there some clue as to what had happened to them all to end up in an asylum in their memories? Where did this Lachen fellow come from? Why was Reine so angry all the time? How did the down-to-earth John come to be here? And Broom would be a veritable cornucopia of information about all manner of things, not just questions about her past as a doctor... all puzzle pieces that could be pieced together, with the correct study, to achieve a deeper knowledge...
It was like trying to wrangle a living thing, her curiosity a compressed void with ropy tentacles that lashed out of her grasp as she slowly lost ground in her will not to plumb those depths.
But she couldn't let the darkness loose. If it infected the others as well... where would there be to go?
Nowhere, the thought came unbidden, chilling her.
Paralyzed with fear of the dark, she had no fear left for anything else. Even the Tatter Man dwelt in her ragged memories as a threat, but not a frightening one.
How long will the incense last? she wondered, unsure if she'd said it aloud, or if that mattered.
For the fishman, she held a sense of assurance that whatever happened, the other ones would likely die, regardless... and that same curiosity about the Power that it served. No room for fear in her, but perhaps awe was not out of the question.
To Broom's surprise? horror? bemusement? the fish hybrid guard was thinking of her with a nearly religious zeal, like she was a priest herself. Maybe the mental communication reminded it of something religion-adjacent. Anything you ask, it thought fawningly.
Broom let her thoughts flow without reservation. Accustomed as she was to her own condition she never even considered keeping her thoughts to herself simply transmitting whatever came to mind via the telepathy now that the matter regarding the fish man had been resolved.
"We don't know how long you all would like to stay in the incense, but We can keep it going as long as you want."
"We will continue burning the incense as long as you are willing to participate"
"How are you doing Des? Is there anything else that We can do to help you?"
"How are you doing Des? Is there anything we can do to ease your burdens?"
"Do you think that you can become the estate's noble again if we show the Duke has been doing bad things Reine?"
"Once the Duke's malfeasance is brought to light, do you think you will regain title and ownership of the Estate Reine?"
"We enjoy your company John. You don't become scary, or cold or angry or anything. You are just who you are."
"We experience comfort in your company John. You do not seem to harbour deeper secrets. You are as you appear to be."
"You don't seem very happy Lachem. Is there anything We can make for dinner that would cheer you up?"
"You appear to often be brooding Lachem. Is there any sustenance that we can prepare for you that would improve your mood?"
Broom glanced off in the direction of the lake as she considered the fish man.
"It would really be nice to visit the dark places below. We have dreams about it and We can hear it calling when We get close. Someone told Us that We shouldn't go on boats, but the trip from the asylum was nice."
"We yearn to visit the deeps. It is in our thoughts and its calling intensifies as We get closer. We have been warned of the dangers of boat travel despite the pleasantness of our trip from the asylum."
Her thoughts on this matter had a wistfulness to them.
Desdemona nearly recoiled violently from Lachen's mind. The dark - it was there too! She had to get away, before it-
NO.
She took a breath, a physical moment, to calm herself, and to slow her mental retreat to a stop.
This wasn't the darkness that lurked everywhere. This was... something different. Something... oddly fascinating.
Besides which, Lachen was a predator. One should never run from such, unless one wished to be chased. Des' fears centered around one thing; there was no room for anything else in them. No, the thing in Lachen's mind wasn't the formless dark... but perhaps as eternal?
All the while, she was also rummaging gleefully in Broom's nigh-overwhelming flood of information. There was something so similar in the Being that she felt drawn to and the one in Lachen's mind; maybe it was just the power They wielded, or Their unknowable minds.
Its mind?
Curiosity. Curiosity like a thirst, like a knife.
But she had not attained her goals by being driven by her passions.
...Had she?
Setting aside the question of what her goals had even been, she agreed with Broom. Broom is quite correct. I may have had some connection to this estate, once. I do not know if it might fall to my possession again; yet, far be it from the rights of any to deny me entrance now. You, fish-folk. Give the Doctor your name, if you have one. Can you convince any of the others to follow her, and save their- that is, serve the greater Purpose from a more pure vessel of its will?
The dark was whispering to her again, knowledge that she had no part in knowing. But she understood the thing's thoughts, as well as if she'd been born to the language. That, and - Broom. Such a wealth of information streaming through her at all times!
How do you manage? she thought to Broom, thoroughly enchanted. Why, no wonder Broom's mind had split to deal with such an influx! She would eagerly do the same for such a prize, the better to know all of it, more each and every second.
Turning briefly from the glut of information at her fingertips, she took a look at Reine. Perhaps it was better to edge around that bonfire of rage, for now. She didn't fear getting singed, but there was no real reason to get caught in the conflagration if she could avoid it.
She motioned toward the gate. Shall we?
"Let's not keep those 'guests' waiting."
Setting aside the question of what her goals had even been, she agreed with Broom. Broom is quite correct. I may have had some connection to this estate, once. I do not know if it might fall to my possession again; yet, far be it from the rights of any to deny me entrance now. You, fish-folk. Give the Doctor your name, if you have one. Can you convince any of the others to follow her, and save their- that is, serve the greater Purpose from a more pure vessel of its will?
The hybrid deep one rolled up onto its knees, its posture something between supplication to a lord and groveling before a god.
Mentally, an image of an eel or a long, sinuous fish flashing into a hole to escape a predator accompanied the hybrid's burbling, tongue twisting words. Something cowardly but quick, a survivor not likely to stand its ground or be a threat to anything larger or fiercer.
The revelation of the fish-man's name was a startling development to Desdemona. They... they had once been human?!?
There had been stories of people missing, hadn't there. Desdemona hadn't paid them much heed, but perhaps she had been remiss.
"His name was Percival, once. He'll come with us and try to convince the others to leave us be if you all agree," she distractedly told the others, the words a strange echo of her thoughts. "I wouldn't trust a coward too far, but he didn't seem to be lying to me. I'd say it's worth the risk to avoid having to kill them all, wouldn't you?"
She glanced at Lachen, then his weapon, and then back to the fishman, her mind carefully blank - a skill honed from what seemed like eons of hiding her thoughts from the dark.
Lachen could probably connect the dots on his own.
Desdemona smiled at Broom. "Lead on... priestess," she teased.
He has seen what I can do. If you think he can live a little longer, as long as he doesn't try to harm us, it doesn't bother me a bit.
So you call him "he" , and not "it" anymore, Lachen?
F*** off. I'll call him Percival if I want.
I'll call it "prey"
The warrior comes near the fishman
Percival...
He lets the name sink in
If you think I can kill you easily, that's true. If you think I can harm you, and break you painfully, and take me time to do it, it's true too. But if you think I'm the most dangerous man around, I'll tell you the truth, my truth: I think these ladies are even more powerful and dangerous than I am. So don't try any silly game.
Lachen's voice takes a sinister, silky tone as he adds, close to where Percival's ears should be.
You're out of your depth.
Oh, the cruel irony. I like it, Lachen.
Percy the fish-man quailed at Lachen's threat. Even though he had once been a man it didn't seem like he understood the words Lachen was saying. He fully understood the telepathic threat, though. He blurted something in in tongue-wrenching language.
His intent was undercut by the brief image of shoving a knife in Lachen's kidney, accompanied by a positively giddy sense of anticipation, though. Just a flash and then gone, smothered by a mortified embarrassment and wave of fear as he realized what he'd just done.
Using the guard's keys, the Briarstone survivors (for Lachen surely counts as such, even if he wasn't a patient) open the gatehouse door into the compound. At some point in the past few minutes the overcast sky had stopped hinting at rain and started to pour.
Within the tall surrounding hedge, the garden of Iris Hill appeared eerily shrouded by a thin mist that clung to the grass despite the rain. All the buildings appeared dark and quiet, and the odor of heather and ivy seemed mixed with some sweetly sour, unwholesome essence.
Evidence of neglect lay strewn across the once magnificent garden. The grass is tall and yellow, and weeds choked flowerbeds along the sides of the estate’s buildings, leaving only a smattering of color floating in the mist from the few flowers that survive. A few overgrown bushes once trimmed to look like humanoids stood in a rough circle around a brick well at the center of the estate.
A gravel path led from the gatehouse and circled the well before branching off to each of the estate’s buildings.
Desdemona's already mild desire to keep Percy alive for his potential usefulness guttered and went out with the mind-reading insight to his "loyalty." This did not seem, to her, a fish-folk with any intention of helping them sway his fellows once they outnumbered the small group of non-fish-folk, awe for the "priestess" or not.
"Tch." Desdemona tsk'ed, raising her brows at Lachen. Do as you will, the look seemed to indicate, though she didn't think a word.
If he was willing to prolong the little traitor's life, she wouldn't argue; she didn't consider it her business any longer. Percy had imagined his kidneys punctured, after all.
She was dimly aware of that icy pragmatism closing in on her, like a blanket of frost under glass walls. Getting closer.
"I'll just have a glance down that well," she said, distracted as always. She drifted that way before realizing that it wasn't her will that had moved her there.
With a rictus smile, she looked down into the depths, where she shouldn't be able to see... but, she was beginning to realize, while she could have no secrets from the dark, it held little from her, either.
Broom was perplexed by the almost reverent tone of Percival the fish man when referring to her.
Percival! That was not nice. But you weren't being very nice either Lachen.
Your threats are unwarranted. Both of you.
We will have to keep an eye on both of them
We will have to keep an eye on both of them
With a little reluctance Broom licked her finger and pinched out the glowing ember on the block of incense. The wonderful haze slowly started to lift as she carefully wrapped up the remaining incense.
We wonder where We can find more of this when it runs out.
We wonder where We can find more of this when it runs out.
Moments before the cloud lifted Us came skittering into the gatehouse. Her screechy little sounds accompanied by equally screechy little thoughts through the power of the incense.
Wait! We have questions! Des! What is the shadow? Is it your shadow or someone else's shadow? Reine! Why do you radiate terror? How do you do it? How do you practice? Lachen! How did you end up at Briarstone? Were you a patient? Shouldn't you have been a patient?
Broom looked shocked and embarrassed as she scooped up the little aberration
Us! Those are rude questions! You know that they are personal.
Us. Those questions are inappropriate. You should know better.
Us turned her many eyes to Broom. We created Us to find answers! This is the fist time Us has been able to ask questions instead of just looking for answers. We want to know these answers so why not ask the questions whileSkeetcheeekeeek sktcheetchikieech?
Us' speech dissolved into incoherence as the effects of the cloud wore off. Broom admonished Us "Go look for thoughts on asking questions without being rude."
Us nestled sulkily into Broom's hand before dissolving into a puddle and absorbing into her palm becoming the dark vaguely scorpion shaped mark under her skin that slowly began to creep up her wrist and under her sleeve.
"We are so sorry for Us' behaviour, that was rude. We will make it up to you all when We are done. We should get going."
***
Still a little embarrassed Broom scanned the yard taking in its sorry state. "This will need a lot of work to make nice again. What is that strange smell?"
Inside the hedge, the ground floors of the various buildings that made up Iris Hill were built with solid stone blocks, and thick vines of ivy cover the walls with a verdant blanket. Sturdy timber-frame construction made up the second floors of the buildings, jutting slightly from the thick walls below. The manor, with two large chimneys and circular dormer windows, was clearly the tallest building among the others on the estate. The ceilings of both the ground and main floors of the buildings were 10 feet high, and the attic stretched up to 15 feet at its apex.
The group cautiously (or distractedly) moved into the overgrown grounds. John's new pup didn't like the odd smell and wanted to stay in the gatehouse.
Des and her shadow led the way toward the well.
Broom couldn't get that smell out of her mind. It seemed unpleasantly familiar somehow, but for the life of her she could not remember where she could have encountered that odour before. It was entirely possible she had never personally encountered the smell but just remembered someone else's memory of the smell.
But this wasn't something that she had to send her mind or Us out to find. This was something that she felt she, or at least some of her actually had knowledge of.
Suddenly it dawned on her. "Oh!" she gasped as she covered her mouth. "We think We know what the smell might be." she whispered.
Broom glanced around with a mixture of dread and giddy excitement. "There might be an Mgepoghnah, or umm... She struggled for a moment looking for the right words in the common tongue. ...ah! An Elder Thing nearby." Glancing around again as if she expected the creature to be just standing in the grass.
"They aren't usually nice, but they come from the darkness above. The fishman comes from the darkness below, and that we can hear and might even be able to get to ourselves. But the darkness above, how would We ever get to see that? Maybe the Elder Thing could show Us, if it doesn't just try to kill us first."
Sorry, Percival. You blew your chances on that one. Can't take the risk of you backstabbing me. Nothing personal, of course; I'll kill you quick and as painlessy as possible. Even if part of me would like to gut you like the fish you are. Or even make a great, lasting bonfire, and tie you not too far, not too close, until you die from the heat and the lack of water, which would take some time, I guess.
Lachen puts down his massive hammer, and takes another weapon.
A trident. I guess that's adequate. Say goodbie to the Bad Guy.
Without any emotion, Lachen pluges the weapon in the fishman's face, using full force to kill him in one blow, as promised
LOL
(+2 AA?)
The loss of the incense was both a blessing and infuriating. All that knowledge, no longer accessible!
"Don't worry, Broom and Us. I think it doesn't care about inquiries. At least, it hasn't done anything drastic about them yet. I'm not certain what it is, really."
Fully occupied with both her inner worries and her painful curiosity on the revelation that Us could speak, and that Broom had detected Elder Things!, Desdemona wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings, and didn't seem to notice Percival's brutal death (though she somehow found herself out of range to be splattered by his blood). Or was it the shadow that wasn't paying attention? Academic, at this point. It was firmly anchored to her feet, mimicking her actions again, so at least it was behaving.
Instead, she bored into the shadowy mess that had been her memories, once - trying to think of anything she might have read about something so alien... and so fascinating.
"What more do you know, Broom?"