RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

Post by alhoon »

Raen clears his throat. He is still a bit woozy. "Yes. We had a peaceful dinner two days ago and he was a very competent and polite man. Forgive me, I usually react better to ghastly sights."
When his profession is brought to light, Raen makes a small frown; he's still not used to be an open practicioner. "Yes, I can use magic and I have been helping the Gendarme for the past few months as a free-lancer."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, CHAPTER FIVE

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ewancummins wrote:THOM'S MANSE


With his swordsman Bastian and the security detail on watch, Thom has time to play host to Charlotte, Lorna, and little Sandor.

The baby boy cries incessantly.
Both women show obvious signs of worry at the husbands' unexpected and sudden departure.

Being the gentleman that he is, Thom excuses himself and orders his servants to make sure Charlotte, Lorna and little Sandor have any refreshments they need (including alcohol if they appear especially shaken up) and to make sure they are comfortable as possible.

Seeing Bastian in the hall, he nods affectionately towards him and then commands him to summon Pharamond and Gaston to his private office. Once Bastian leaves to summons the others, Thom goes to his guards. "Secure the perimeter, prepare our escape route, and above all else protect our guests."

After giving the orders to his guards, Thom awaits Pharamond, Gaston and Bastian in his office...
History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle and forgets the blood. What ever history remembers of me if it remembers me at all, it shall only be the fraction of the truth.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, CHAPTER FIVE

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THOM
RocEter wrote:
ewancummins wrote:THOM'S MANSE


With his swordsman Bastian and the security detail on watch, Thom has time to play host to Charlotte, Lorna, and little Sandor.

The baby boy cries incessantly.
Both women show obvious signs of worry at the husbands' unexpected and sudden departure.

Being the gentleman that he is, Thom excuses himself and orders his servants to make sure Charlotte, Lorna and little Sandor have any refreshments they need (including alcohol if they appear especially shaken up) and to make sure they are comfortable as possible.

Seeing Bastian in the hall, he nods affectionately towards him and then commands him to summon Pharamond and Gaston to his private office. Once Bastian leaves to summons the others, Thom goes to his guards. "Secure the perimeter, prepare our escape route, and above all else protect our guests."

After giving the orders to his guards, Thom awaits Pharamond, Gaston and Bastian in his office...
Thom calms the jittery housewives and charms away Baby Sandor's tears.

A short while later, Gaston and Bastian meet Thom in his office, as per his orders.

Both men bow before their master.
Gaston speaks first.
"Master, further orders?"

Pharamond enters just then, and closes the door. He also bows before Thom, and then stands silently, awaiting his master's instructions.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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OUTSIDE

Still stunned by what remains of Hornsby, Dorgio manages a nod toward Thibbault. "Captain."

He walks to Raen after the mage is done retching and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes," he tells Thibault, "this was one of Benn's servants, a trusted aid." He pauses. "Captain, I know this sounds strange, but you may want to be on the lookout for especially large numbers of rats. I know rats in Pont are no news, but I have been noticing them more and more lately, in swarms. They may be harbingers of whatever has taken Benn's children, and maybe behind that poor woman's murder the other day. Something to look out for, at least."

He looks down toward the ground, seeing Hornsby's ragged face even with his eyes shut. "Damn..." he says to no one in particular. "Is there truly no other trace of Hornsby?"
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Re: RAVENLOFT: THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, CHAPTER FIVE

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ewancummins wrote:THOM
RocEter wrote:
ewancummins wrote:THOM'S MANSE


With his swordsman Bastian and the security detail on watch, Thom has time to play host to Charlotte, Lorna, and little Sandor.

The baby boy cries incessantly.
Both women show obvious signs of worry at the husbands' unexpected and sudden departure.

Being the gentleman that he is, Thom excuses himself and orders his servants to make sure Charlotte, Lorna and little Sandor have any refreshments they need (including alcohol if they appear especially shaken up) and to make sure they are comfortable as possible.

Seeing Bastian in the hall, he nods affectionately towards him and then commands him to summon Pharamond and Gaston to his private office. Once Bastian leaves to summons the others, Thom goes to his guards. "Secure the perimeter, prepare our escape route, and above all else protect our guests."

After giving the orders to his guards, Thom awaits Pharamond, Gaston and Bastian in his office...
Thom calms the jittery housewives and charms away Baby Sandor's tears.

A short while later, Gaston and Bastian meet Thom in his office, as per his orders.

Both men bow before their master.
Gaston speaks first.
"Master, further orders?"

Pharamond enters just then, and closes the door. He also bows before Thom, and then stands silently, awaiting his master's instructions.

"Pharamond, please take this to Franklin down in the workshop." Thom says, him a piece of fold parchment. "Tell him to begin immediately. After you have done, please instruct the staff to prepare as many rooms for our guests as possible and to move some of the furniture from the Nursery to a guest room for Lorna. I suspect we will be having our guests stay for the night, if not longer." Thom says to Pharamond.

After Pharamond leaves to attend to his task, Thom turns his attention to Gaston. "I have a task for you to take care of, and personally manage for its duration, at first light." He says to Gaston, then offers him a sealed scroll. "That is all, please return to our guests and insure their security."

Once Gaston is gone, Thom stands up from his chair and moves to the window. He says to Bastian "You remember the man I told you about? The one whom is responsible for this scar on the back of head? Well, it would appear he is back in town. I don't believe coincidences, his appearance coincides with the recent happenings. Suffice to say, I don't trust the man. I want to know everything, Whom he has been in contact with and continues to make contact with. Where he has been and where he is going. How he arrived, what is doing here, what does he want and how does he plan on doing it. I want to know why he wants what he wants and why return now?"

Thom turns around on his heel quickly and fetches yet another sealed scroll from his desk. Walking over to Bastian, he hands him the scroll. "Follow the instructions on this scroll, do this at first light. In this case Bastian, no detail is too small." He says to Bastian.

Walking to the door, Thom stops before opening it and turns his to Bastian. "Come, we have guests to entertain and protect." He says.

Thom proceeds to rejoin his guests, hoping for quiet evening...
History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle and forgets the blood. What ever history remembers of me if it remembers me at all, it shall only be the fraction of the truth.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Bennedict steps outside. "No, no sign of him anywhere," he says, "Or the children. They were taken from the nursery..."

He looks in the direction of the barks. "Yours, Captain?"
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Brock Marsh Runoff wrote:OUTSIDE

Still stunned by what remains of Hornsby, Dorgio manages a nod toward Thibbault. "Captain."

He walks to Raen after the mage is done retching and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes," he tells Thibault, "this was one of Benn's servants, a trusted aid." He pauses. "Captain, I know this sounds strange, but you may want to be on the lookout for especially large numbers of rats. I know rats in Pont are no news, but I have been noticing them more and more lately, in swarms. They may be harbingers of whatever has taken Benn's children, and maybe behind that poor woman's murder the other day. Something to look out for, at least."

He looks down toward the ground, seeing Hornsby's ragged face even with his eyes shut. "Damn..." he says to no one in particular. "Is there truly no other trace of Hornsby?"
''Rats, you say? Ah, yes..."
Thibault falls silent for a moment, then relays orders to his men to be on the look out for any unusual rodent activity in the area.



Adam wrote:Bennedict steps outside. "No, no sign of him anywhere," he says, "Or the children. They were taken from the nursery..."

He looks in the direction of the barks. "Yours, Captain?"

THE SEARCH

"Yes", says Captain Thibault.
"I gathered from the state of things in the house that I was looking at more than a simple burglary. Murder, possibly an abduction as well. So I sent for bloodhounds. If they can be tracked from the house by scent, Monsieur Gehrman, we will find your children and the maid. "
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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He looks, coldly, at the head of his former servant. "I assume the blood will be sufficient for them to track. If you need it, I can get you something from the children, as well..." He drifts off for a second before snapping back, "And, possibly, something that may have belonged to the bastard that did this, recovered from another crime scene."
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Adam wrote:He looks, coldly, at the head of his former servant. "I assume the blood will be sufficient for them to track. If you need it, I can get you something from the children, as well..." He drifts off for a second before snapping back, "And, possibly, something that may have belonged to the bastard that did this, recovered from another crime scene."

''So it's true! The Woman-Killer is back in the city after, what-- seven years? No, eight. Jonathon Matyr."
Thibault shakes his head. "Mad. He must know he's marked here. Why did he come back? Some dark compulsion... I...well, let's not waste time. Yes, hurry, grab things that carry the smell of the children, and whatever item it is this vile criminal left behind at the other scene."


...

THE SEARCH, CONTINUED

The dogs sniff at the blood in the nursery, and at objects brought to them: blankets and clothes of Benn’s small children, and something Benn recovered from a locked cabinet—a silvery steel hunting knife with a hilt shaped like a raven’s clawed foot.

Then the beasts bound out of nursery down the hall, through the kitchen, out the back door and into the back garden.
They become agitated near the garden gate that lets onto the back street, barking and leaping. The animals bound back into the garden and destroy a flower bed, rubbing their snouts in the dirt.

“Something’s wrong—they’re off the scent.”

KAT, helping the searchers
VIEW CONTENT:
(and thus moving well ahead of Captain Thibault, who has remained behind to conduct a further search of the house and coordinate the arrival of reinforcements…)
trips on a root exposed by the dog’s digging near the gate while she examines the ironwork. Quick reflexes save her from hurting herself falling over the low points of the decorative wrought iron fencing. But she gets something sticky all over her dress. Not blood. It leaves a green stain on the blue silk. And –ugh—a yellow stain on her fingertips.
Smells like rotten ginger and worse things.
And it won’t rub off!
Kat has just enough time to straight her garments when the bloodhounds bound through the gate and into the street, snarling and yowling.
''Back on the trail!” their handler says, and then he’s off with them, running to put a little slack in the leashes he holds in his hands.



The hunt takes the party
VIEW CONTENT:
(Benn, any of his friends who come to help, the hound master and dog-boy, six other gendarmes)
down crooked streets and through back alleys, sometimes the dogs stop to sniff the air again before turning.

Black ash falls from the sky. The dogs stop several times, rolling to wipe the stuff off their coats. They don’t lick it.

The trail runs crooked and crazy, and splits several times so that the hounds pull in different directions. They keep on doing that—pulling apart and sniffing again at the air. Finally, the Hound-Master turns to the sergeant Captain Thibault placed in charge of this detail and says,
"What’s more important, the children or the one covered in the dead man’s blood? They aren’t in the same place. The killer was following, but then he went off another way. I can split the team, send my apprentice with one set of dogs. Or we can bring ‘em all in after just the killer or just the children. That’d give us a better chance of finding the one, but we might lose the trail of the other.”

The sergeant shakes his head and turns to Benn,
''Monsieur? I can’t decide. They aren’t my young ones."
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Bennedict strokes his mustache, pensively. "Then the maid may have made it out with the children..."

He looks to Dorgio. "I want to go after my little ones. Maybe you and the others can stay on Matyr?"
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Raen looks at Benn with determination, although he's still a bit pale from before. "I'll go to find the kids with you Benn although I agree with the sergeant." He doesn't explain his justification for this.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, CHAPTER FIVE

Post by ewancummins »

THOM'S MANSE

RocEter wrote:


Walking to the door, Thom stops before opening it and turns his to Bastian. "Come, we have guests to entertain and protect." He says.

Thom proceeds to rejoin his guests, hoping for quiet evening...
Thom is pressed to keep the women diverted, and to avoid giving answers--incomplete and worrisome as those would be if he doesn't lie-- to their pointed questions about where their husbands and the other guests have gone.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

Post by kintire »

Kat nods

"I'm happy to keep after this Matyr."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Sara was following Kat searching for clues when hears the commotion, she hurries back but stepped when realizes what has actually happened. Without taking a look at poor man's head she goes near Benn and says:

"I will help you any way I can Benn and I hope we find your children really soon. I can assist the team that will not have the dogs if that is ok with you. We need to decide fast before the trail gets cold."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Five

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Dorgio nods to Ben. "Of course, I would be making the same choice, if it were Sandor...I'll stay on Jon's trail."
"You said I killed you--haunt me, then!...Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!” -Wuthering Heights
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