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The horses whinnies and brays against Alaris and slowly the sounds morph into something comprehendible. The horse considers itself comfortable. The stable is warm and dry and the steed is fed. Of course, it has never known anything else in its life.

"Lovely... Just lovely. Yes, if four horses like this one are delivered to the Black Sheep with riding gear and saddlebags, my master shall be very pleased indeed. Thank you, Gospedin Khozyain." Alaris smiles and bows to the hostler, then makes their way back out onto the streets and back to the temple. Time to get one last good workout in before getting on the road tomorrow.

Nimue waits outside the black wooden doors with the star-shaped silver knocker, but nothing happens. A few moment pass and the crows amongst the eaves begin to caw at her once more. First one and then another and another, until it seems as though she's being berated by the chorus of the entire murder.

Nimue closes her eyes, and rubs the bridge of her nose as the chorus of crows gets louder. 

"Better to mocked by crows than by people."  Nimue ignores her grandmother. The caws get louder. "You should ask what they want."  The noise grows until it's all Nimue can hear, everything else is drowned out. She opens her eyes, finally fed up, raising her voice at the crows. "Well, what is it you want from me?"

If this is any indication as to how this Morgenstern woman behaves, this conversation may be a little less than polite. She glares at the birds, daring them to do something. After a moment, she turns back to the door, and raises the knocker, striking the door once.

The knocker hits the metal plate beneath with a loud clack that is met with immediate silence from the crows up above. A few moments late, the distant clopping of shoes on hard floors comes into earshot on the far side of the door. There's a jingling of keys and then the aging wood creaks as it swings inwards, standing just a foot ajar. The interior is dark and an aging human with grey hair and spectacles looks expectantly through the gap at Nimue.

"Good day." The man is well-spoken and smartly dressed in blacks and greys with a touch of white shirt emerging at the collar. His skin is weathered and sunbeaten from the years. "Can I help you?"

Nimue regards the man as the door opens just wide enough to see his face. Not quite what she was expecting, but if she had learned anything over the past 100 years, it was to never expect things to be what she thinks they should be. Her until-now fruitless search for her family's fate had hammered that home a long time ago. "And a good day to you as well. I'm an amateur historian, and I've heard some very interesting things about this house. I was wondering if I might take a moment of your time. I have a few questions."

The man watches Nimue carefully with a penetrating stare.

"Well Haus Sternental is one of the eldest family homes in Piotrgrad, but I'm afraid that I'm no expert," he tells Nimue with a kindly smile. "Your questions might be better answered by a historian."

"It's really just one question." Nimue returns the man's stare. "100 years ago, a large group of elven warriors were defeated on these grounds. I was merely wondering if Haus Sternental had done something to attract the attention of such a force." 

The man peers around the door, looking at the Dwarf and the second Elf accompanying Nimue.

"Well, that was all long before my time and I can't say that I have much of a head for politics," he tells them with a soft chuckle, "but, to my understanding, they came to murder Herr Morgenstern."

    Astrid's uneasy smile is carried away at the mention of foul play and replaced with a look of surprise. She stands there quietly with mouth slightly agape as the questions continue.

"Fascinating." She gives the man an inquisitive look. "And who was Herr Morgenstern? I'm not from Piotrgrad, if that wasn't obvious." She chuckles good-naturedly.

"The Master?" The man asks, raising his eyebrows with a smile. "Perhaps he could answer that himself. Should I find out if he has time to see you?"

Nimue pauses as the information sinks in, taken off guard at this next revelation. If this Herr Morgenstern is the same one from 100 years ago...… She's suddenly acutely aware of the familial resemblances between her and her entire family. 

"Answer the question, Melda, you're looking far too conspicuous." 

"No no, that's alright. I wouldn't want to intrude, I'm sure Herr Morgenstern is a busy man." She turns, as if to leave.

At the far end of the the garden, the wrought iron gates swing shut with a resounding clang.

"It's no trouble at all," the man in the door tells Nimue, soft spoken as ever. He opens the door wider to allow her inside.

Every instinct in her body is screaming to just walk away, leave, find another way to get information. But the echoes of the closed gate ring in the air and in her head. She looks back at Caio, then Astrid. She knows this is exactly the opposite of what the Dwarf had had in mind, and Nimue was grateful that she'd chosen to stay anyway. She turns back to the man in the door, and smiles, knowing deep down that this is most likely a supremely bad idea. "How could I refuse such a generous offer." She takes a step in, chest tightening as she enters the halls of the place her family had died.

Alaris slips back into the temple and finds their way to the secluded courtyard where they left their armor. An acolyte hurries to lead a saddled horse into the central exercise area while Alaris dons their armor, tugging straps and laces into place.

The courtyard included a three-story stairway at each of the four cardinal directions. Alaris begins their training period by running the stairs for several minutes, warming up their muscles and opening up their lungs. At the top of each stairway hangs a heavy leather bag packed with sand. The paladin punches each bag for a minute before moving on to the next set of stairs. After ten circuits on the stairs, Alaris begins to practice leaping into the horse while the acolyte leads it around the courtyard at varying rates of speed. After each dismount, they perform a somersault and cross the courtyard to circle around and prepare for another vault.

After this, the real strength training begins. Ladders of heavy wood lean against the walls of the courtyard, between the stairways. Alaris rushes beneath one, leaps up and grabs a red-painted rung from the underside. With mighty flexes, they climb the ladder rung by rung, releasing each rung and catching the next. Higher and higher they climb, till their grip fails between the second and third tiers and they fall to the packed earth with a thud. Groaning and spitting out a little blood from biting the inside of their cheek, the paladin switches to heavy axework and stonethrowing.

The acolyte runs and alerts some of their friends to the spectacle of the Bogatyr in full sweat. The youngsters cheer as Alaris grinds through one log after another, flings larger and larger stones. Finally, Alaris kneels, eying the ladder and rubbing dirt over their hands.

One excited onlooker cries out, "How high? 2 mark says Bogatyr Alaris goes ten rungs past the red. 2 mark! Any takers?"

"Nobody goes ten rungs at the end... Nobody." Several of the kids, excited by the powerful display, disagree with the naysayers and the bets are on. The paladin pulls themselves higher... higher. Seven... Eight... Nine. Hands and arms screaming in agony, Alaris gives out a wail of effort as they throw themselves at the tenth rung... But no one goes ten rungs at the end of the day. Alaris slams into the dirt again and lies motionless expect for shallow breathing and a moan of frustration and pain. The little bookie rakes in the coins from his fellows and leads the horse back to its stall. Not a bad afternoon, all things considered...

     With relief, Astrid moves to follow behind Nimue to exit the grounds, however her heart sinks and the fear rises as the gate closes. Not good... This is not good. Do the others even know where we are...? 

     Before turning to follow, the cleric quickly grabs the oversized pocket watch hanging from her neck. She twists the stem a few times before speaking into it. 

We're going into House Sternental - Morgenstern's place- to discuss things with the Master... Don't like the feel. If you come,  my shield's at the inn.

     Astrid then straightens her robe, put on a brave face and follows.

The tense pause as Nimue hesitates to answer is punctuated by the angry caws and flapping wings of the crows above. Ghoul's attempt to get a better look inside had been thwarted by the ominous sentries, but hopefully it just appeared as if the crows were chasing off a stray critter. "Jumpy birds." Caio comments offhandedly to Astrid. As Nimue accepts the invitation and the gate clangs decidedly behind them, the ranger lets out a tense sigh. "If they wanted us dead, they'd have already arranged it." he says to the dwarf as they begin to follow, but his tone lacks the grim certainty it usually holds.

Nimue, Astrid and Caio cross the threshold into the entrance hall of Haus Sternental and the heavy doors close behind them with dull thud. The meagre light is dim inside. It seeps in through high windows of tinted glass only to be absorbed by the dark wood panelling that lines the walls. The old man leads them through corridors lit by flickering chandeliers to a cosy drawing room with wing-backed armchairs grouped around a fireplace.

"Please, wait here while I inquire with the Master," he tells them congenially, before slipping out and closing the door behind him.

The walls of the mansion seem to close in around her as they follow the smartly-dressed man. The lack of sunlight almost made it hard to breathe, and her heart ached once more for the sweeping terraces and balconys of her family's ancestral home. This place was.....oppressive. Humans. But were they? The butler certainly seemed to be, but if Herr Morgenstern, the one that her new friends had talked about, was the same one from 100 years ago...….

It was entirely probable that Herr Morgenstern was not human. I suppose we're about to find out. She shrugs helplessly, gazing at both Caio and Astrid. "Of all the ways that I thought this day could go, this wasn't one of them." She smiles a bit, but it's a little forced given their current surroundings. 

    "Possibly," Astrid replies to Caio. "Or they're the types that like to play with their quarry before finishing it." 

   "They might as well be living underground if they don't want the sun coming in," she comments as they are led through the house, trying to find something to talk about to keep her nerves in check. She paces a bit as they wait for the Master. "Yes, that's putting it lightly."