Darkness...
Silence...
Nothing...
Then... a breath... breathing. The familiar, yet somehow unusual feeling of air moving in and out of lungs. And sound. Other creatures breathing. As eyelids part, light rushes in...
Vision returns to the strangers as the sensation of a cold hard floor spreads across their backs. Lying there, staring upward they see a smooth, flat ceiling, likely covered by some manner of plaster. Sitting up they look around a twenty foot by thirty foot room with carved stone-brick walls. Each of the shorter walls has a lantern mounted on it with a softly dancing flame inside. One of the long walls has a large solid stone door in it with some kind of oddly shaped slot in the center. Along the other long wall are six well made wooden desks, each with a matching chair; on one of them sits a simple book bound in dark leather with the title, "The castle, the Key, and the Chimera" embossed on the cover.
Ariok rubs his eyes in a groggy manner, mumbles a mild oath, and sits up where he is.
"Must've been a rough night" he says checking for empty bottles laying around.
As he regains his senses and notices his surroundings, he gets very quiet.
"Drunk and shanghi'd perhaps?"
He quickly sets to, quietly, looking over his gear. As usual, he is disappointed by the disrepair of his suit, the grey fabric hanging limply next to the metal rings that should be connecting it all.
The Aasimar continues to take inventory, but also looks at the others in the room, sizing up the group with more curiosity than trepidation.
He smiles at the sight of the android as if remembering a funny story.......but the thought flees his mind before he can grasp it. In fact, he realizes, all memories have fled his mind. Panic begins to spread as he now tries to take a mental inventory.
"Fine mess I've gotten myself into this time"
He tries to suppress his discomfort and sets to observing the others as they wake.......
The pristine white figure lying still has the look of a marble statue, some long dead hero envisioned in stone completed with a white tabard bearing a black horses head in the style of a chess piece. As he sits up blinking slowly and rotating his head to slowly scan the room, it becomes obvious there is something amiss with his features, a eerie sameness, as if one side of his face were reflected in a mirror.
"I am... White Knight II," he raises each arm in turn making a fist and bending them, before standing, "all limbs appear to be fully functional, I appear to be undamaged."
Looking to the others in the room he extends a hand index finger raised, and with the other hand reaches behind him to his white leather backpack exhaling in relief as he feels the shape of his spellbook.
Frowning next he seeks out a familiar awareness in the back of his mind, a simple tranquil thing that radiates contentment. Turning he glances down at a small white winged humanoid with a spherical head and crude, cheerful features, Pawn, this is Pawn VIII my over familiar familiar.
As if aware of the attention the mephit stretches languorously and yawns, "Just five more minutes boss, I am dreamin' eatin' the arms of a statue of a Lady... Mmmm, 's good marble to, heheh, everyone will be all confused, in a few years they'll be sayin' the artist wanted her armless as a metaphor, heheh."
White Knight's brow furrows, "Get up Pawn, we are in an unknown situation... In fact I do not recall any situations? Strange."
The Mephit opens his eyes and peers about cautiously, fumbling for a nearby white polearm and using it to lever himself up, "Errr, can't say I do either Boss? Who are this lot?"
White Knight II shrugs and turns to the most obviously wakeful person, a dishevelled Aasimar and inquires,
"Excuse me Sir, do I know you? And might I further inquire as to our present location and situation? I confess I possess no memory and would understand the nature and parameters of our current situation."
Pawn shakes his weapon, "Yeah give us the pram meters!"
"Be at peace, Knight." Ariok Says to the android, trying to sound reassuring.
The tall aasimar stands and streches to give the others a look at him, trying to put their minds at ease. His grey 'overcoat' covers what must be some kind of armor. He removes his helmet, revealing dark hair and the coller of his suit shows barely visible tatoos that extend downward.
His face is scarred, but he wears a bright smile as he continues.
"My name is Ariok. I am a cleric in the service of Desna. I am also suffering from what seems to be a bit of a mind blank. Perhaps we may be of assistance to one another in trying to figure this situation out?"
"Interesting, thanks to you Ariok. We can therefore suppose that the rest of those waking as we did are in a similar position of ignorance, unless one or more are feigning the condition in order to observe. I will check for magical auras..."
Chanting he scans the room again, noting the auras upon each individual in passing before turning his attention to the book upon the desk. If he can discern no auras he moves forward, followed by Pawn, and takes a seat at the desk and begins to read in earnest.
Pawn takes to the air and sits atop the desk keeping a suspicious eye upon the rest of the rooms occupants, "Don't anyone get any funny ideas right! You may not remember it, but I am one of the greatest warriors ever! And I'll jab this right up her bum if there is any funny business!"
oh, I am going to like pawn!
-By the Great Spirit, what...?
This is what first comes through Igmutanka's mind when he wakes up. He is in a strange place, surely not the one he went to sleep in... or so he believes.
-Actually... where was I when I went to sleep? Mmmm...
He rushes through his memories, and finds out it's an easy road - not much memories to analyze.
-I... Mmmm... I'm Igmutanka Hanhepi. I'm a Spirit Warrior. My combat medicine and the Wakantanka protect me. I'm from... uhh... from... I belong... I... where am I? where WAS I? Why can't I remember anything?
The bad feeling makes him stand on his feet. That's when he notices other people there, like him, or quite similar. They're starting to talk to each other.
-Manitus! Tell me, why have you brought me here? What do you want from me? Tell me, evil spirits, tell me... who am I?!
Rin pushed herself up to a sitting position. She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light then looked around to try to get a feel for where she was. And who she was with. She looked around for someone who looked like they had some confidence but everyone so far looked as confused as she was sure she did. What could she possibly have been doing before to end up where she was now? It was certainly unfamiliar. Mind you the feeling of her own self was a little unfamiliar at the moment as well.
"I can't seem to recall how I got here either."
The sound of her own voice took her by surprise. It was lighter and airy than she'd expected. Well of course that's the way it sounded. That's always how she'd sounded. Wasn't it? She couldn't recall.
Slowly Rin dared to test her own legs by standing. It was a successful endeavor though she was curious what would possess her to choose to wear such high heels. She leaned down to pull up a stocking that had slipped down to below her knee then adjusted the frills around her skirt that had gotten crumpled while she'd been on the floor. The rest of her seemed to be in place except the off center goggles crowning her champagne blonde hair which she didn't seem to notice.
Once she figured herself to be presentable she turned her sharp blue eyes on the others in the room. Quite a mismatched group in her opinion. None of them, including herself, seemed to match. At least the room held familiar features to her. Lamps, desks, walls. Pretty standard for a room. Still she didn't know this room and couldn't think of another she'd ever encountered before. Surely she'd been in many rooms before! She tried to drum one up to to the front of her mind but it was like trying to cup water in her hands. Trivial thoughts like that could be dealt with later she supposed with a soft sigh.
"And I'm not an evil spirit, I am Rin."
Better to clear that up now before that man got up in arms over the peculiar situation. He looked like he could handle himself if he chose to pick a fight with any "evil spirits" where as Rin was almost certain the best she could do back was step on a toe with her inappropriate footwear.
"Be at peace Igmutanka and Rim. I am Ariok, servant of Desna, and this is White Knight, and his....companion.... Pawn." Ariok says, looking mostly at the imposing half-orc.
"We seem to have all found ourselves in a similar situation. I have no memory of things before this, but I do not think I have been injured or robbed."
Ariok moves over to the only occupant of the room not yet fully awake and looks him over a bit.
"This one seems to be alive. Perhaps he can shed some light on this?"
"Ere I don't know what her implying there, but I think its pretty clear you lot all work for me - also you were all carrying my magical valuables..." Pawn declares, chest swelling with pomposity, until behind him White Knight removes his white plumed helm turns it backwards and places it over the Mephit's head.
Without his helm the android is revealed to be not just bald, but entirely hairless,
"Please excuse Pawn he believes engaging the mind before the mouth wastes precious time... Judging by what I am observing we all appear to be peers, or at least to have accrued broadly similar levels of magical equipment. It would appear that we are all in the same position, in regards to both ignorance, and situation, therefore I propose we make alliance until such time as matters change."
Pawn spins the helm around as White Knight speaks, sucks his cheeks in and puts on a serious expression mouthing along in a crude, but obviously recognizable impression of his Master.
Rin's mind has already moved past any concern over the orc as she pauses to examine the most mundane of details in the room. This was turning out to be quite the puzzle. Assuming the pattern continued then the last person on the ground would reveal as much as the others had about their situation. No one knew how they got here or seemed to recall much at all before being in this room.
"Fascinating."
Rin started to mumble to herself about the various sorts of rooms one could find in a house as if trying to remind herself what they were like. Still she couldn't actually recall any specific room besides this one.
When the smaller of the two statuelike people spoke she did turn and examine him. She did like the thought of having a quirky sidekick about and this odd creature fit the description. The relationship between WKII and WPVIII suggested they were familiar with each other already. The abbreviated names on their foreheads certainly suggested they went together if nothing else. Rin reached a hand up to her own forehead to double check she didn't have her own name chiseled in and was relieved to discover she did not. In a way she was envious of the pair. It wasn't until that moment she realized how alone she felt.
"It seems that we are to be comrades in this adventure. I suggest we rouse that one before we set off out of here. I would have hated to have woken up here by myself. Being confused together is much preferable to being confused alone."
Vision returns to Jacomo as the sensation of a cold hard floor spreads across his back. He blinks slowly, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for some thought of action or purpose to come to him.
My heart is heavy, but I know not why. Has something happened? Has someone died? Surely in a moment I shall remember… As he continues to stare at the ceiling, he continues to fail to remember… anything. What is this? What has happened to me? I am Jacomo Pagliacci… and that is all. He hears the voices of others next to him, speaking in a language he understands but with strange accents he does not recognize. Jacomo slowly turns his head to the right as he begins to listen, seeing a motley group of… people?.. who all seem to share his amnesiac state. One of them appears to possess angelic blood, while another is an earth mephit.
An aasimar and an earth mephit… How do I know this? The creatures and places that fill my mind seem impossible, yet I know them to be real.
The strangely dressed aasimar walks over and looks down at him from a face full of scars.
"This one seems to be alive. Perhaps he can shed some light on this?"
Alas, I cannot.
He listens to the pawn’s bluster and the knight’s proposal, followed by the young woman's declaration.
Jacomo sits up cross-legged, resting his hands on his knees, empty and palms-up. He makes no move to adjust the polearm slung over his shoulder on a simple strap of leather, nor any of the daggers that hang at his belt. His face is painted a bright white, with his upper eyelids and upper lip a matte black, and is further decorated with five bright red circles of identical size – one on each side of his face on his lower cheeks near his jaw, one over each eye and cheekbone, and one high in the middle of his forehead. His clothes are of chequered patterns which reflect the colors on his face, as is the lining of his hooded red cape and of his boots - thigh-high black leather affairs folded over below each knee – though the colors of his garb are worn and faded. He then stands in a single fluid motion, keeping his hands open and palms-out at his sides, and bows to the room.
”Apologies; I am Jacomo Pagliacci, mummer and acrobat. Beyond this, I know nothing of myself. I too agree with your proposal, sir Knight.”
"If we assume some agency brought us all here, it seems reasonable to conclude that these desks, that match our own number - excluding Pawn, who is more like to eat than sit at a desk..."
"Wood's seems like it would be nice and crunchy," the Mephit agrees, "and chairs are wingist."
"excluding Pawn, and this book might give some inkling as to what we find ourselves caught up in. I propose that we each take a desk, and I read the contents of the book out loud, likely skimming for relevant information and then honing in on seemingly pertinent points. Does that seem acceptable?"
"I see no reason not to examine our surroundings." Ariok says, carefully taking a seat at one of the desks.
After the briefest of introductions, the disoriented group of mismatched people set about exploring the room they find themselves in. After searching the desks, Ariok finds no sign of any traps. White Knight sees many auras on each of the other people but little else: the lanterns are lit by a continuous flame and there is some form of ambient magical energy- a sort of unidentifiable lingering aura. The book that sits on the fourth desk has a bookmark in it about three quarters of the way through.
Sitting down before the book White Knight places a finger on the lettering upon his forehead and begins absent mindedly tracing them as he gingerly opens the book to the marked page and begins to read aloud for the group.
Sitting on the desk Pawn eyes the assembled amnesiacs in turn, before becoming bored and extending a claw to scratch, "Pawn VIII is great everything else is second rate," onto the desk's surface. After a moment of artistic contemplation he adds a crude picture of himself flying out of an explosion.
-So it seems they're people... lost people, like me. We might as well work together...
Igmutanka feels trapped inside the room, longing for open skies and fresh air. He tries to find a way out - doors, windows, whatever, and a way to open whatever he might find.
-Mmmm... my name is... Igmutanka. I want to get out of here, and )I suppose you want it too.
Jacomo shrugs at the green fellow's words. "I have no desire to spend the remainder of my days here, but I am not yet bored by our environs. Perhaps you could try the door, if egress is your wish?" Our circumstances are quite puzzling, and possibly a puzzle - either way, something to distract from this dismal mood which threatens to swallow me.
The clown unshoulders the fine leather backpack which had been partially obscured by his cape and sets it down on the table nearest him, the last on the right. "Yes, sir Knight, parties and places, roles and marks - six of one and a half dozen of the other. Though you may do your companion a disservice; if he was not intended to use a desk, in whatever manner befits him, surely he would not have been provided one? Perhaps we should all sit while you read from the sole property at our common disposal - 'The Castle, the Key, and the Chimera.' It sounds a wondrous fable, undoubtedly as nourishing to the intellect as it is instructive to the morals." As the stoic figure of the knight begins to read aloud, Jacomo steps to the desk adjacent to his own and slides out the chair, inclining his head to Rin.
"M'lady?"
Igmutanka finds the door to be completely immovable. The slot in the middle looks as though it is designed to receive some manner of key.
At the desk, White Knight begins to read the book aloud: "Chapter Eleven, the..." as he continues reading the words echo through your minds, not as perceived sound but as overwhelming thought...""
For a moment the words overtake your mind so completely that all awareness of your surroundings fades away. As the world comes back into focus you find you are not at all where you thought you were... the ground beneath your feet is still of carved stone brick, as is the wall before, but the ceiling has been replaced with the open blue sky, and the other three walls with a view of quiet town. The wall before you is interrupted by a large opening with a raised portcullis. Around you the town seems too quiet- there is not a single person visible anywhere, which seems odd given that it seems to be mid-afternoon. All the same strangers who were in the unexplained room with you are standing nearby...
-What kind of...
Igmutanka looks everywhere, and tries to walk to the abandoned town to find anyone or anything that might look familiar.
-At least I'm not trapped between walls now.
What sorcery is this? Jacomo freezes in place facing Rin, still as a statue for the space of three breaths, then slowly begins to turn his head to take in his new surroundings before focusing his attention on White Knight II. Is this the book's doing, or the Knight's - or both? While we all may seem strange to one another, he and his companion are the strangest to me by far... and if this is a game, who better to send than playing pieces? I grow to dislike this situation.
As you begin to grow less disoriented, certain things become more clear... the wall in front of you rises thirty feet into the air and extends a hundred feet to the left and a hundred feet to the right. The archway you're standing next to is ten feet wide and fifteen feet tall. The portcullis is raised about ten feet up and the path you are standing in leads either back to the empty town, or into a courtyard inside the high walls and another wall with a big iron bound wooden door...
"Curiouser and curiouser," White Knight II says turning to his new companions in befuddlement, "I am going to cast some spells upon myself and my weapon in case of danger - please do not be alarmed."
Chanting he taps his own shoulder with a finger, and then casts a second spell this time stroking the length of his scimitar.
"Now ego being what it is I would suggest any entity powerful enough to perform this trickery is more likely to reside within the Keep. Do you concur? If so I suggest we try the large iron bound door."
Pawn takes flight, staying in the centre of the courtyard and ascends to a position above the walls scanning for anything of note.
Rin staggered a few steps back when the room shifted as she lost her orientation to her surroundings. When she caught herself she looked back up from the ground and let out a little gasp of surprise.
"Unexpectedly arrive indeed. Weren't we just..."
Rin never finished her sentence since nothing seemed quite right in the first place. She looked up and down the pathway they seemed to have been deposited on. The silence of the town was disconcerting. Where were all the people? Had they all gone somewhere like a town meeting? Or maybe to church? Neither seemed likely to leave a town quite this quiet.
"I must agree with your deductions Knight. Into the courtyard then?"
Without waiting for a real answer from the others Rin steps in towards the raised portcullis. An image of it slamming down closed on top of her danced across her mind but she dismissed it. Whoever, or whatever, brought them here put a lot of work into it. It seemed unlikely they'd start killing them off so quickly.
When the 'classroom' disappears around him, Arioks first instinct is to hold his breath. But, when he sees the others speaking and breathing normally, he exhales and take a moment to take everything in.
What kind of strange game are we in? And why would the puppetmaster not just start us here? Is it an effort to further disorient us?
He waits, quiet, as the others look around. When Knight and Pawn advance toward the keep, he hesitates, But when Rin follows he also does.
Strenght in numbers I suppose
-There must be someone in this town who can give us further information. Maybe something happened?
Igmutanka is naturally inclined to be under the open sky, so he wanders around a bit looking for any sign.
While searching for anything that can give him a clue, he looks at what the other people are doing.
-Does any of you have a clue why this place seems abandoned?
"I shall trust your judgement in the matter, sir Knight." Though not your motive. "I am as clueless as any, Igmutanka. All seems in good order; perhaps it is a holy day, with a festival or celebration elsewhere...? It does seem strange, but then very little about our situation seems normal. M'lady - a moment, if I may, before we proceed."
Jacomo opens his pack and pokes about inside, temporarily removing several wooden cases of varying size before drawing out a small box made of pressed wood. The lid has a chipped painting depicting a young boy juggling rings. Jacomo flips the simple catch of the lid and opens it, revealing an interior broken up into small partitioned spaces which contain a variety of stones and gems, including one that seems to be aflame! He plucks these from the case and tosses them into the air above his head in quick succession: one, two, three, four... nine in total. Rather than being the start of some routine or falling to the ground, they hang in the air and begin to revolve in strange orbits about his head and shoulders. With a snap of his fingers they all suddenly disappear, and you swear his clothes get a little brighter at the same time. He then packs the boxes away and reshoulders his pack.
"My apologies; I would like to make as good an impression as possible on the master of this keep." Or castle.
"Sure thing. Take your time."
Rin's words said yes but her actions were a little less cooperative. She stuck her head out to peek into the courtyard to take a better look around.
All remains calm and quiet as the intrepid strangers begin making their way into the courtyard. The courtyard seems fairly typical except in the far right corner there seems to be a heap of chewed upon bones. The doors where the path ends are a large set of simple but sturdy iron-bound wooden doors. The doors are closed but show no sign of being locked...
Jacomo walks over to the heap of bones for a casual inspection.
Igmutanka walks to one of the houses and knocks on the door.
-Maybe it's the time of some local rites? I hope I'm not interrupting...
Igmutanka wanders off the opposite direction of everyone else...
White Knight follows Jacomo examining the bones and trying to determine whether or not they have any signs of damage that might indicate the cause of death.
Pawn continues flies higher surveying the Keep from above.
-It seems there's nob-
Igmutanka realises everyone is going elsewhere, and runs back to the courtyard.
-Hey! Wait for me! At least, if there's some peril, we'll be together...
Jacomo kneels and carefully picks through the bone pile for a moment, pulling out a humanoid skull. He holds it level with his face, gazing into it's empty sockets.
"Alas, poor... townsfolk! I knew them not, sir Knight; fellows of infinite jest, women of most excellent fancy, I am sure." He stands, gently placing the skull onto the top of the pile. "While I believe I may be accustomed to mocking death, and possibly even inflicting it, I possess no skill in discerning it's method after the fact. It seems that beasts of burden and masters both lie here before us; perhaps a sickness?"
Jacomo looks around the courtyard. "Where now is the noble Igmutanka? He has the seeming and attire of one accustomed to the hunt; perhaps he could provide some insight from the disposition of these remains."
"Perhaps, but unlikely in my judgement, someone or something - assuming this place is real and not some elaborate illusion, which I am not - must have placed them in this pile; the fact that humanoid bones are mingled with those of animals implies that was done by foes rather than friends, thus lending credence to a theory involving an act of aggression... Though of course it is possible someone could have used a plague of some kind as a weapon..." White Knight says, brow twisting oddly around the embossed lettering on his forehead.
Ariok stays with the group and also examines the bone pile.
"Strange that these remains would be left here like this. These peoples either have no regard for their dead, or were unable to give them proper rites because of.....something...." he mutters, looking more concerned as they proceed.
When Jacomo begins his soliloquy, he becomes visibly unnerved.
Igmutanka reaches where the others are gathering and talking with curiosity.
-There seems to be nobody inside the houses. What is so interesting that's capturing the attention of you all?
"Is it not customary to shun the bodies of the dead in times of plague? Though I must admit my ignorance to any plague that leaves naught but bones of it's victims, and stacked too neatly are these to be the result of more corpulent corpses long since rotted away; I concede the point, sir Knight."
"Ah! The Hunter returns."
The chessman shrugs, "In truth I know little of customs, loved ones would not likely throw bones in with those of beasts, but in a large scale epidemic authorities might take severe actions in efforts to curtail infection... Still I do not think it likely, and see little we can do to ward ourselves should such a disease be rife."
Rin crouches down by the pile to take a closer look at the bones along with the others. It was certainly not your average everyday sight to see. Again Rin found herself trying to dig up what was a common sight but had a hard time conjuring up specific example. She gave her head a shake to clear those thoughts out. There was already another puzzle in front of her now with more tangible evidence to follow. She'd deal with her missing pieces at a more suitable time.
She stood back up and plucked a humanoid skull off the top of the pile and stared at it as if she was trying to read its now very empty mind.
"Mass graves are rarely a good sign. Perhaps these are the bodies of invaders and they are being treated as no better than animals?"
Sharing the info:
The bones bare the marks of large teeth and claws. These bones were not gnawed by rats or beetles, something big chewed on them. The depth of some of the claw marks indicates fighting, as if the people and creatures had been alive and trying to protect themselves.
White Knight nods, "So some kind of apex predator, or predators. Dragons, large magical beasts, demons, devils, other varieties of outsiders, the parameters are too wide to enable a proper identification. I propose we enter the Keep," he says making his way to the iron bound door and if nobody objects seeks to open it.
Pawn gives one last scan of the Keep from above and then swoops down to land behind his Master.
Ari moves to the door with the android, but stays behind him to be somewhat shielded when the door is opened.
"I'm with you, Knight. If something did this to these folks and beasts, better to track it down than wait for it to track us."