Joren's throat tightens as he hears Ashley's voice. Quietly, he responds to Vilus:
"Aye. Aye, she was saying us. I am hoping she and Samir are really together. Yet I am not trusting my senses in this place, neither sight nor hearing."
Then louder, calling out carefully as he had to Samir: "No, we are not seeing you Ash. And we are not trusting our senses after the path we have been traversing through this house. Can... can you help with easing my mind... when we were first meeting, before crossing the Shield Pass, within the first couple hours, you were offering me something to drink. Something I was enjoying very much. Can you be telling me what that was?"
(OOC: it was a swig from a jug of goat's milk she had bought... as with Samir's voice, Joren does not trust that some entity is not imitating Ashley's voice.)
He continues, giving her and Samir time to form responses to his request: "As for what this place is, neither Vilus or I are knowing, and hoping you might be guessing better than we. Yet I am suspecting Mal was the half-elven child of the couple Mayor Shamp spoke of moving in here decades ago. With half-elves living longer, the timeline is matching. And the source of Mal's mind-altering magic being mixed up with all this strangeness, then and now."
Samir mutters to himself, his brow pinched as he thinks, casting his memory back to that moment. So much had happened since then. "Oh!" he chirps quietly, then louder, "We needed the guard to leave, so we made him have to use the facilities. The sound of trickling water!"
Joren breathes a sigh of relief. "Really being you, Samir! This house is tricking the mind constantly, starting when Vilus and I found ourselves alone outside with the three of you vanishing and the sun suddenly sinking lower towards the horizon. We were following your footsteps to a locked but not locked cellar door and passing through some nastiness in the cellar before climbing up through this trap door, following the faint sound of Ash's voice."
"From where I am standing, I am seeing a dimly lit dining room, half-eaten spoiled dinner for four, food and wine spilled, plates and glasses fallen and smashed, fireplaces having ashes once stoked angrily and charred remains of a letter. Can you and Ash be making your way over to us? I was going to inspect the discarded and burned letter in the fireplace. Vilus, you and I should both stay holding ends of this rope so we are not separating."
Joren pauses. "Are either of you knowing where Mal is? I am thinking we are seeing flickers of his childhood or maybe the source of his mind magic."
Joren's throat tightens as he hears Ashley's voice. Quietly, he responds to Vilus:
"Aye. Aye, she was saying us. I am hoping she and Samir are really together. Yet I am not trusting my senses in this place, neither sight nor hearing."
Then louder, calling out carefully as he had to Samir: "No, we are not seeing you Ash. And we are not trusting our senses after the path we have been traversing through this house. Can... can you help with easing my mind... when we were first meeting, before crossing the Shield Pass, within the first couple hours, you were offering me something to drink. Something I was enjoying very much. Can you be telling me what that was?"
(OOC: it was a swig from a jug of goat's milk she had bought... as with Samir's voice, Joren does not trust that some entity is not imitating Ashley's voice.)
He continues, giving her and Samir time to form responses to his request: "As for what this place is, neither Vilus or I are knowing, and hoping you might be guessing better than we. Yet I am suspecting Mal was the half-elven child of the couple Mayor Shamp spoke of moving in here decades ago. With half-elves living longer, the timeline is matching. And the source of Mal's mind-altering magic being mixed up with all this strangeness, then and now."
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
Samir mutters to himself, his brow pinched as he thinks, casting his memory back to that moment. So much had happened since then. "Oh!" he chirps quietly, then louder, "We needed the guard to leave, so we made him have to use the facilities. The sound of trickling water!"
Joren breathes a sigh of relief. "Really being you, Samir! This house is tricking the mind constantly, starting when Vilus and I found ourselves alone outside with the three of you vanishing and the sun suddenly sinking lower towards the horizon. We were following your footsteps to a locked but not locked cellar door and passing through some nastiness in the cellar before climbing up through this trap door, following the faint sound of Ash's voice."
"From where I am standing, I am seeing a dimly lit dining room, half-eaten spoiled dinner for four, food and wine spilled, plates and glasses fallen and smashed, fireplaces having ashes once stoked angrily and charred remains of a letter. Can you and Ash be making your way over to us? I was going to inspect the discarded and burned letter in the fireplace. Vilus, you and I should both stay holding ends of this rope so we are not separating."
Joren pauses. "Are either of you knowing where Mal is? I am thinking we are seeing flickers of his childhood or maybe the source of his mind magic."
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven