Ghosts of Gauntcliff Chapter Four

[RocEter]

Thom can feel the gently coastal breeze on his now bald head, his wig lost as the water enveloped him and Petrie. His hat lies not far from him in the mud. Picking up his hat Thom violently shakes the mud off it and places it back on his head and then readjusts the flattened collar of his jacket to cover the back his neck. Before he does Petrie can see the scars along the back of neck and head. "Well that wasn't at all what I was expecting." He says. "Lets return to the Chateau, shall we?"

[Ken of Ghastria]

Benn's room --

"Benn is right. This may be the only chance we have to get into the plane where Jonas is. But we should gather our strength. I'll go find Everline and Primeiro, if they're still here in the chateau."

He darts away to look for the other two.

After Eustace finds the two of them, Primeiro quickly joins him in heading back to Benn's room... and there he sees the horrifying tableau! Juergin is being sucked into the floor itself as a foul black stain creeps over the lad. Dorgio tries desperately to pull Juergin out as Benn prepares to assist. Benn's wife, meanwhile, understandably screams madly at the scene before her!

"Ezra's bones!" he exclaims. He immediately leaps forward to aid Dorgio in his rescue attempt.

____________________________________
If it's OK, I'm skipping past Eustace's inevitable finding of Everline and Primeiro and heading right to the fun stuff.

[Adam]

"This may be our only chance! Hold on, Jonas!" Benn states, before frantically reaching out and trying to press through the inky blackness in Juergin's place.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Well, isn't this nice," Everline sighs. She draws a wand from her belt and dashes forward, trying to stay with Benn or at least catch hold of Juergin.

(OOC: Everline starts using Detect Magic again.)

[ewancummins]

Benn and Juergin are both sucked into the stain, vanishing just before Evereline can reach them. The black spot vanishes, leaving the floor unmarked.

Charlotte rushes forward to claw at the closet floor.

"NO!!!"

[Ken of Ghastria]

Unbalanced by the sudden shift, Primeiro stumbles forward, expect to falling into the blackness himself and ... THUD. He hits the very solid floor. There is no trace of the black stain -- or of Juergin or Benn. "What... what happened to them?!" he says. "What WAS that?"

[ewancummins]

Charlotte continues to claw at the floorboards.

[ewancummins]

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Jürgen lands on a hard surface, in total darkness.

Juergin gets up and then stops. His mind tries to reach Dark One, "You there?"

"Yes, I am here. Benn is hurt." Dark One's voice sounds close, but Jürgen cannot see in the pitch black.

"I need a light. For now, can you guide me to Benn’s side?" The lad fumbles for a candle and his flint and steel.

"Yes, follow my voice."

Juergin does so. He tries to light his candle as well. As he searches for his items, he whispers, "Benn......... Benn............ can you hear me?"

No answer comes.


The candle flickers to life, but its glow is feeble, only half the brightness Jürgen would expect.
He sees a hard earthen floor at his feet, the shadowy outlines of some sort of tall, skinny wooden frames- maybe easels or tanner’s racks - stacked along a stone wall, and not much else. The room might be very large.
Dark One flits just ahead of him, a blur at the edge of the candle’s light.

"Lead me to Benn." Juergin tries to get a better look at the outlines of wooden frames so he can see what they are."

The frames are hollow rectangles, about man-height, with four angled legs on each frame to hold it upright.Jürgen has seen frames like these before, in a shop in Ludendorff where Papa had a portrait made. Jürgen can’t be sure, but he thinks they are probably easels used by a painter. Looking closely, he sees dents or marks at points where the canvas might be attached to the frames.

Dark One whispers,“Benn is just ahead of us, on the floor. He is hurt." Dark One floats a bit closer.

"Is he hurt badly?"

"I do not know how bad it is."

"I need to get to him. We will need him; wherever this is he is very smart and experienced."

Dark One leads Jürgen on a bit further, and the boy looks down to see Benn stretched out on the floor, blood oozing from his head.

Juergin leans the candle against his leg so it won’t fall. He rips his shirt off. He checks Benn's injury. he also removes his waterskin because he thinks he might need the water for Benn.

Jürgen dresses the gash on Benn’s brow, and stops the bleeding.

He tries to feed Benn some water slowly by dripping it on the man’s lips so not as to drown him with a big drink.

Benn doesn't respond.

Juergin now checks Benn for a sun rod or anything that can be used as a light source."Dark One, can you scout the place here? I will try to tend to Benn."
The lad will actually squeeze Benn’s cheek slightly to see if the man reacts.

Benn barely stirs.

Juergin slaps his cheek harder. "Wake up, Herr Benn, Jonas needs you!"

Benn still barely stirs.

Juergin searches Benn quickly, hoping he might find something useful.

Jürgen finds Benn’s cane on the ground. He also finds a magnifying glass in the man’s pocket, and a book.

Juergin is happy to find these items but they need light, otherwise this is going to be real hard to look around with only one candle. Or he needs to wake Benn somehow.

Benn’s body sinks into the floor.

Juergin grabs onto Benn’s body "Dark One he is sinking into the floor, this is not normal!"

Dark One reaches from behind Jürgen to touch his shoulder. “He’s gone, boy. It’s just us now.”

Juergin looks; making sure Benn is gone as he was holding onto him.

Benn is gone.

"Dark One, is this a dream?”

“It’s real.”
When Jürgen turns round to look at Dark One, his shadowy friend has vanished- replaced by a tall, pallid man dressed only in a loin cloth. Red welts mar his face. Lank black hair hangs down over his washed-out blue eyes. His droopy mustache twitches as he runs his pink tongue over blistered lips.

“Playtime.”

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Charlotte. Charlotte, stop it!" Everline shouts, seizing the maddened woman by the wrists. "That won't help anyone, Charlotte, stop! Your husband and child need you sane! Control yourself!"

[ewancummins]

"Charlotte. Charlotte, stop it!" Everline shouts, seizing the maddened woman by the wrists. "That won't help anyone, Charlotte, stop! Your husband and child need you sane! Control yourself!"

Charlotte's fingers bleed where the nails have torn and splinters have dug into the flesh. She thrashes, trying to shake free of Everline grip.


''NO! NO NO!"

[RocEter]

"Well come on young man, lets be heading back to the Chateau. I could use some dry clean clothing and some wine." Thom says standing up. Once up Thom starts walking back towards the Chateau, at the same pace they left it. He pulls a long drink from his water skin as he walks.

[ewancummins]

"Well come on young man, lets be heading back to the Chateau. I could use some dry clean clothing and some wine." Thom says standing up. Once up Thom starts walking back towards the Chateau, at the same pace they left it. He pulls a long drink from his water skin as he walks.

After walking for just a short distance, Thom hears voices ahead, hidden behind a line of brush.

"No, not here. Dig there, I told you! The ground is too sandy here, it won't hold up."
"Bah, you dig the blasted pit!"

He sees a little sand fly over the top of the bushes.

[RocEter]

Thom stops in his tracks, motioning for Petrie to stop as well, when hears the voices and sees the sand fly over the top of some bushes. Using simple hand singles Thom indicates that there are at least two men just beyond the bushes to Petrie. The next set of hand signals are a little more complex, he is hoping that Petrie will understand that he wants him to stay still while he moves in for a better a look.

Ducking low and choosing his steps carefully Thom does his best to stay out sight..

[ewancummins]

Thom stops in his tracks, motioning for Petrie to stop as well, when hears the voices and sees the sand fly over the top of some bushes. Using simple hand singles Thom indicates that there are at least two men just beyond the bushes to Petrie. The next set of hand signals are a little more complex, he is hoping that Petrie will understand that he wants him to stay still while he moves in for a better a look.

Ducking low and choosing his steps carefully Thom does his best to stay out sight..

Peeking through the bushes, Thom spots a couple of men in the rough garb worn by laborers or sailors. The tallest of the pair digs a hole in the ground, while the smaller man kicks dirt into a shallow scraping closer to Thom's position.

The shorter man, and ugly bald fellow, wears a cutlass at his waist, suspended by a broad leather baldric. "Keep digging, Bruno. You know we have to plant it deep." He chuckles and takes a swig from his wineskin. "We'll come back soon, when we have a bigger crew."

Bruno, the big blond guy digging the pit, only grunts in response.

Both men speak Mordentish, but with a queer accent.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Charlotte, come to your senses!" Everline shouts in Charlotte's face as loud as she can, holding her hands fast.