As Kal stands at the top of the stairs, the attic seems quiet. There is no sign of the nursemaid's ghost anywhere. The first door that Kal comes to is padlocked. The key is probably somewhere else in the house, although, it could be easily picked with the right tools.
As Kal stands at the top of the stairs, the attic seems quiet. There is no sign of the nursemaid's ghost anywhere. The first door that Kal comes to is padlocked. The key is probably somewhere else in the house, although, it could be easily picked with the right tools.
((I knew I'd seen a locked door somewhere! Aargh, Star specifically didn't want to go all the way back up the stairs :P ))
((Well, maybe it's locked for a reason. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward?))
Emma silently follows everyone into the last room. She looks around as she passes through the door when suddenly she sees the wolf right next to her. Instinctively, she springs backwards while an unstoppable, high-pitched sound travels up from her stomach, ending with a scream that momentarily breaks the eerie silence of the house.
But the wolf isn't alive, and it isn't going to pounce on her. Embarrassed, Emma apologizes. "Sorry, I just... I thought this thing is alive." She walks closer, poking the frozen wolf lightly, cautiously, almost expecting it to stir to life. It looks so real. "Why would anyone put something like this in their house? Even if it is dead, it looks like it could reanimate any moment now." Not to mention that objects that she considered inanimate have already punched her in this house. "Are you sure this is the best place to sleep in?" She asks Juniper, following her suggestion. "Even the kitchen's cold floor looks better."
Vice sits down in one of the fur covered chair, lets out a sigh. He feels like he could fall asleep right then and there, until Emma’s scream pierced the silence. He sits up a little straighter, runs his hand over his short white hair, and takes another weary look at the taxidermy wolves.
“Emma’s right.” He says to Juniper, “I don’t have a good feeling about the wolves.”
Juniper, at first, has no idea what the others’ concerns may be, having spent days running with wolves decades ago when she first learned to befriend wild beasts. But it only takes a moment for her to get the drift. Not everyone has a long-standing positive relationship with the creatures. And the ones they met earlier were… off somehow. She couldn’t blame the others for being disturbed.
“There is only one door to this room, so it’s easier to guard. There is space and warmth enough for all of our comfort. But I understand. We could move these stuffed animals out into the hall?”
"That could help, I guess." Emma already accepted that they'll sleep in this foreign house, maybe even eat in it. Moving a few stuffed animals did not seem as problematic, even if the residents do show up at some point.
Wrapping her arms around the stuffed wolf, Emma carefully lifts it upward, wary of damaging the thing, and then carries it out of the room. Placing the wolf in one corner of the lobby room, facing the corner.
Unless the others also carry wolves out, Emma would repeat the process until all wolves are in the croner, facing the corner, of the lobby room.
Juniper helps Emma as much as she is able, though she is wiry and supple rather than strong like the guilds woman. After the first wolf is out in the hall, the lithe elf shifts to holding the door open rather than trying to help lift, for Emma can likely manage even faster without her help.
“I can take a morning watch. But right now I wouldn’t be any use if another guardian suit of armor appeared,” she says, wearily. She moves to the fire to boil water and lays out hard tack, readying rations to consume, unless Emma should want to do that instead. The elf hasn’t the energy to argue about it.
Vice helps Emma move the stuffed wolves out of the room as well. He smiles at Juniper, somewhat weary, but also genuine. He could tell Juniper didn't think the wolves were a big deal, but she was still willing to help. "Thank you." He says softly.
"I can take the first watch." Vice continues, "You should rest." He goes to see if he could help Juniper light the fireplace, at least make their rest a little more comfortable.
Emma doesn't comment on Juniper's choice of nutrition. If that's what the Elf wants to eat, so be it. She'll probably try to make something more appetising once she wakes up, but right now, she hasn't the resolve to do anything but try to sleep, and after not eating anything for long enough, neither does she have an appetite. If you don't eat for long enough, the body just forgets it is hungry, for a while.
Having moved all the wolves away, with the help of those who did, Emma finally searches for a comfortable place to sleep. Not that any place in the room seems particularly better than any other, so eventually she settles in the northeastern corner, laying out an old, well-worn sleeping bag. One might guess she's been sleeping in it for a long time, given its look, but in truth, it was just cheaper to get a used one from someone who no longer needed it. Several patches seal old holes in it, so at least is able to keep the heat in, and that's all that matters.
"Wake me up if you need me to watch, if I didn't wake up by then." She didn't really want to choose a time because she knew she'll wake up early either way and beyond that, she had no experience and thus no preference for a better time to watch. But if Vice wants to take the first watch, that at least means she can go to sleep right away, and hopefully, given how tired she was and despite her anxiety, fall asleep quickly.
Everyone settle's down for the night, whilst Vice takes first watch.
@Vice(WhiteByakko)
As Vice sits watching over the room, to keep an eye out for any trouble, hears footsteps from above. The footsteps pace around the room before heading towards the staircase. At first the footsteps slowly creak down the steps. Then they begin picking up pace before it sounds like someone is running down the stairs. The footsteps sound like they are coming closer and closer until they suddenly stop, and there are no more noises.
@Emma(FireCat5)
As Emma sleeps, she dreams. She dreams of her standing on top of a cliff. In front of her is a man in gold armour. She cannot see his face, but the man feels familiar. She feels a sense of longing for the man. However, there is dark cloud in the sky that is running an otherwise bright sky.
@Star(EMIW)
Star dreams of a suit of armour standing in front of him. This is one is larger than the suit of armour that he encountered before. It charges at him and pushes him off the banister. Then Star is falling, falling off the balcony away from his allies. He plunges into darkness as their faces grow smaller the further away they are. Star continues to fall through the abyss. Never to land of the floor.
@Juniper(DandDSince1973)
.Juniper dreams of a temple built on a mountain. The temple, and the mountain it stands on, are mostly covered in snow. As Juniper stands in front of temple, she feels the snow continuing to fall down on her and the ground around her, covering her tracks. However, she also feels the presence of something dark and evil lying within the temple. The presence beckons her to enter the temple.
@Kal(VanderLegion)
Kal dreams of an enormous tree. The tree is one of the biggest he has ever seen. Around the tree is a small village located near a river.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Not the front door then. "I suppose that would have been too easy," he says to Vice, standing nearby in the hall (before all the stuff with moving the stuffed animals, sorry I've been a bit absent).
He watches the activity with the wolves with interest, moreso at the fact of their existence than at Emma's reaction to them. He supposed they were trophies, of a sort, which was natural. The hunters of his tribe would keep a tooth or a horn from the most fearsome beast they had bested, wear it on a necklace, or displayed in their hut. Never the whole animal though.
"What if the dead wolves come alive, like the armour upstairs?" Star asks the group. "Vice, on your watch, listen for snarling or howling," he suggests knowingly.
Vice nods. He thought the same about the wolves - their gleaming fur, their postures frozen, poised to pounce. It reminds him too much of the animated armor for him to rest easily with them in the room. Theyhad put them outside in the hall, but he’ll still have to listen for any movements.
As others rest beside the fireplace, firelight flickering, Vice hears footsteps moving through the house. It sounded like it was from upstairs - but they had searched everything upstairs, didn’t they? Now Vice’s thinking about it, he couldn’t be sure. He tenses as the footsteps draw closer, eventually dissipating. Not wanting to wake others up for nothing or his own imagination, the half-elf puts a hand on his shortsword as he creeps close to the doors and peers outside. Does he see anything?
Vice creeps to the door without making a noise. The rest of the group sleeps peacefully, undisturbed. However, he fails to see anything out in the hall.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Star gives little distressed noises in his sleep, his hands reaching out, claws trying to grab hold of anything in the endless void to stop his fall.
He wakes with a jolt, spinning to crouch with all four limbs gripping his mat. He pants, breathless from the fright. He stares at Vice, frozen by the door, before saying "Sorry, I... Bad dream." He sits, and smoothes down his hackles which have raised up in response to the fear. "Did you hear something? Is it the wolves?"
The young druid had dropped a few morsels of dry tack and dried mushrooms she had picked and preserved herself before her sojourn to Deggerford into a light broth of boiled wild rosemary and carrot greens and a pinch of salt, until they softened fragrantly. She had then quietly and quickly consumed the humble meal before sitting cross legged, back to the hearth, and falling slowly into a trance state. For though her body was tired, her mind was active, and fear gnawed at her subconscious like a creeping infestation.
If the others should cast a glance toward Juniper, an hour or so later, they might be surprised to see, despite the warmth of the parlor, the elf’s breath escaping in crystallized puffs, as if she were rather in some frozen land north of the spine of the world.
(OOC: I believe Emma volunteered for the second watch? Juniper can take the watch after her.)
Noting nothing unusual outside, Vice gently closes the door again and turns back to the room. It almost seemed like it was just his imagination. He sees Star awake, his furs dishevelled, looking like he’s had a bad room. Vice shakes his head, “The wolves are fine.”
The half-elf pauses for a moment, glancing back at the door, seems unsure about something. Finally he says to Star, “I thought I heard footsteps coming down from upstairs. But I didn’t see anything. Could be the wind, but you know.” He looks towards Juniper, the elf still serenely in her trance, a little smile visits his lips, not realizing it. He doesn’t feel the need to wake others, and Star is already awake.
“It’s your watch.” The white-haired half-elf says to the tabaxi. He finds a corner and lies down on his bedrolls, making himself comfortable, cuddling with Lancelot. “Good night.”
He wasn't getting back to sleep straight away in any case. The thought of that endless fall, the infinite void, would be with him for a while.
Star will take the second watch, and at the end will wake Emma (if she's still happy to take watch), though Juniper's trance will probably end before long too.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
((I knew I'd seen a locked door somewhere! Aargh, Star specifically didn't want to go all the way back up the stairs :P ))
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
((Well, maybe it's locked for a reason. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward?))
Emma silently follows everyone into the last room. She looks around as she passes through the door when suddenly she sees the wolf right next to her. Instinctively, she springs backwards while an unstoppable, high-pitched sound travels up from her stomach, ending with a scream that momentarily breaks the eerie silence of the house.
But the wolf isn't alive, and it isn't going to pounce on her. Embarrassed, Emma apologizes. "Sorry, I just... I thought this thing is alive." She walks closer, poking the frozen wolf lightly, cautiously, almost expecting it to stir to life. It looks so real. "Why would anyone put something like this in their house? Even if it is dead, it looks like it could reanimate any moment now." Not to mention that objects that she considered inanimate have already punched her in this house. "Are you sure this is the best place to sleep in?" She asks Juniper, following her suggestion. "Even the kitchen's cold floor looks better."
Varielky
Vice sits down in one of the fur covered chair, lets out a sigh. He feels like he could fall asleep right then and there, until Emma’s scream pierced the silence. He sits up a little straighter, runs his hand over his short white hair, and takes another weary look at the taxidermy wolves.
“Emma’s right.” He says to Juniper, “I don’t have a good feeling about the wolves.”
Juniper, at first, has no idea what the others’ concerns may be, having spent days running with wolves decades ago when she first learned to befriend wild beasts. But it only takes a moment for her to get the drift. Not everyone has a long-standing positive relationship with the creatures. And the ones they met earlier were… off somehow. She couldn’t blame the others for being disturbed.
“There is only one door to this room, so it’s easier to guard. There is space and warmth enough for all of our comfort. But I understand. We could move these stuffed animals out into the hall?”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"That could help, I guess." Emma already accepted that they'll sleep in this foreign house, maybe even eat in it. Moving a few stuffed animals did not seem as problematic, even if the residents do show up at some point.
Wrapping her arms around the stuffed wolf, Emma carefully lifts it upward, wary of damaging the thing, and then carries it out of the room. Placing the wolf in one corner of the lobby room, facing the corner.
Unless the others also carry wolves out, Emma would repeat the process until all wolves are in the croner, facing the corner, of the lobby room.
Varielky
Juniper helps Emma as much as she is able, though she is wiry and supple rather than strong like the guilds woman. After the first wolf is out in the hall, the lithe elf shifts to holding the door open rather than trying to help lift, for Emma can likely manage even faster without her help.
“I can take a morning watch. But right now I wouldn’t be any use if another guardian suit of armor appeared,” she says, wearily. She moves to the fire to boil water and lays out hard tack, readying rations to consume, unless Emma should want to do that instead. The elf hasn’t the energy to argue about it.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Vice helps Emma move the stuffed wolves out of the room as well. He smiles at Juniper, somewhat weary, but also genuine. He could tell Juniper didn't think the wolves were a big deal, but she was still willing to help. "Thank you." He says softly.
"I can take the first watch." Vice continues, "You should rest." He goes to see if he could help Juniper light the fireplace, at least make their rest a little more comfortable.
Emma doesn't comment on Juniper's choice of nutrition. If that's what the Elf wants to eat, so be it. She'll probably try to make something more appetising once she wakes up, but right now, she hasn't the resolve to do anything but try to sleep, and after not eating anything for long enough, neither does she have an appetite. If you don't eat for long enough, the body just forgets it is hungry, for a while.
Having moved all the wolves away, with the help of those who did, Emma finally searches for a comfortable place to sleep. Not that any place in the room seems particularly better than any other, so eventually she settles in the northeastern corner, laying out an old, well-worn sleeping bag. One might guess she's been sleeping in it for a long time, given its look, but in truth, it was just cheaper to get a used one from someone who no longer needed it. Several patches seal old holes in it, so at least is able to keep the heat in, and that's all that matters.
"Wake me up if you need me to watch, if I didn't wake up by then." She didn't really want to choose a time because she knew she'll wake up early either way and beyond that, she had no experience and thus no preference for a better time to watch. But if Vice wants to take the first watch, that at least means she can go to sleep right away, and hopefully, given how tired she was and despite her anxiety, fall asleep quickly.
Varielky
Everyone settle's down for the night, whilst Vice takes first watch.
@Vice(WhiteByakko)
As Vice sits watching over the room, to keep an eye out for any trouble, hears footsteps from above. The footsteps pace around the room before heading towards the staircase. At first the footsteps slowly creak down the steps. Then they begin picking up pace before it sounds like someone is running down the stairs. The footsteps sound like they are coming closer and closer until they suddenly stop, and there are no more noises.
@Emma(FireCat5)
As Emma sleeps, she dreams. She dreams of her standing on top of a cliff. In front of her is a man in gold armour. She cannot see his face, but the man feels familiar. She feels a sense of longing for the man. However, there is dark cloud in the sky that is running an otherwise bright sky.
@Star(EMIW)
Star dreams of a suit of armour standing in front of him. This is one is larger than the suit of armour that he encountered before. It charges at him and pushes him off the banister. Then Star is falling, falling off the balcony away from his allies. He plunges into darkness as their faces grow smaller the further away they are. Star continues to fall through the abyss. Never to land of the floor.
@Juniper(DandDSince1973)
.Juniper dreams of a temple built on a mountain. The temple, and the mountain it stands on, are mostly covered in snow. As Juniper stands in front of temple, she feels the snow continuing to fall down on her and the ground around her, covering her tracks. However, she also feels the presence of something dark and evil lying within the temple. The presence beckons her to enter the temple.
@Kal(VanderLegion)
Kal dreams of an enormous tree. The tree is one of the biggest he has ever seen. Around the tree is a small village located near a river.
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Not the front door then. "I suppose that would have been too easy," he says to Vice, standing nearby in the hall (before all the stuff with moving the stuffed animals, sorry I've been a bit absent).
He watches the activity with the wolves with interest, moreso at the fact of their existence than at Emma's reaction to them. He supposed they were trophies, of a sort, which was natural. The hunters of his tribe would keep a tooth or a horn from the most fearsome beast they had bested, wear it on a necklace, or displayed in their hut. Never the whole animal though.
"What if the dead wolves come alive, like the armour upstairs?" Star asks the group. "Vice, on your watch, listen for snarling or howling," he suggests knowingly.
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Vice nods. He thought the same about the wolves - their gleaming fur, their postures frozen, poised to pounce. It reminds him too much of the animated armor for him to rest easily with them in the room. They had put them outside in the hall, but he’ll still have to listen for any movements.
As others rest beside the fireplace, firelight flickering, Vice hears footsteps moving through the house. It sounded like it was from upstairs - but they had searched everything upstairs, didn’t they? Now Vice’s thinking about it, he couldn’t be sure. He tenses as the footsteps draw closer, eventually dissipating. Not wanting to wake others up for nothing or his own imagination, the half-elf puts a hand on his shortsword as he creeps close to the doors and peers outside. Does he see anything?
Perception: 11
Stealth: 21
@Vice(WhiteByakko)
Vice creeps to the door without making a noise. The rest of the group sleeps peacefully, undisturbed. However, he fails to see anything out in the hall.
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
((Does the footsteps sound like Lancelot?))
(Sorry, Lancelot is in the room with you all.)
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.” ― Gary Gygax
Star gives little distressed noises in his sleep, his hands reaching out, claws trying to grab hold of anything in the endless void to stop his fall.
He wakes with a jolt, spinning to crouch with all four limbs gripping his mat. He pants, breathless from the fright. He stares at Vice, frozen by the door, before saying "Sorry, I... Bad dream." He sits, and smoothes down his hackles which have raised up in response to the fear. "Did you hear something? Is it the wolves?"
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
The young druid had dropped a few morsels of dry tack and dried mushrooms she had picked and preserved herself before her sojourn to Deggerford into a light broth of boiled wild rosemary and carrot greens and a pinch of salt, until they softened fragrantly. She had then quietly and quickly consumed the humble meal before sitting cross legged, back to the hearth, and falling slowly into a trance state. For though her body was tired, her mind was active, and fear gnawed at her subconscious like a creeping infestation.
If the others should cast a glance toward Juniper, an hour or so later, they might be surprised to see, despite the warmth of the parlor, the elf’s breath escaping in crystallized puffs, as if she were rather in some frozen land north of the spine of the world.
(OOC: I believe Emma volunteered for the second watch? Juniper can take the watch after her.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Noting nothing unusual outside, Vice gently closes the door again and turns back to the room. It almost seemed like it was just his imagination. He sees Star awake, his furs dishevelled, looking like he’s had a bad room. Vice shakes his head, “The wolves are fine.”
The half-elf pauses for a moment, glancing back at the door, seems unsure about something. Finally he says to Star, “I thought I heard footsteps coming down from upstairs. But I didn’t see anything. Could be the wind, but you know.” He looks towards Juniper, the elf still serenely in her trance, a little smile visits his lips, not realizing it. He doesn’t feel the need to wake others, and Star is already awake.
“It’s your watch.” The white-haired half-elf says to the tabaxi. He finds a corner and lies down on his bedrolls, making himself comfortable, cuddling with Lancelot. “Good night.”
"Ah.. Alright."
He wasn't getting back to sleep straight away in any case. The thought of that endless fall, the infinite void, would be with him for a while.
Star will take the second watch, and at the end will wake Emma (if she's still happy to take watch), though Juniper's trance will probably end before long too.
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Kal walks towards the enormous tree to get a closer look, glancing around at the village on his way.