The Halls of Medeia - Chapter 1

[Alastor]

"We may talk tomorrow, to be sure." Niles answers Frances. "Let us meet at one o'clock, once ye have naught to do."

[Ail]

Alma nods as George tells his story and her eyes twinkle.


"Then tomorrow we'll go there. I'll show you how!
For now, though, come with me, I want to show you my secret place."


Dinner finishes soon after, and the students. Students have some two hours before bedtime.

Alma leads George to the ground floor in the east wing. This is the wing where the boys and male teachers live, on the first and second floor, but the ground floor holds only the infirmary, some offices and rooms for administrative staff, and storage rooms. Alma leads George silently until she comes to the end of the corridor, and opens a narrow door, not disguised, but hidden amid heavy wooden closets and a general lack of light.

She opens it, leading to a very small room that has nothing else but an iron spiral staircase leading to the upper floors. It is narrow enough only for one person each time, and the steps are high and hard. Alma takes the lead and George may follow after her.

The stair case ends in the third floor (OOC: ground floor counts as 0th, so there are 4 floors in all). George's room is on the first, and he seldom comes to this hall. Alma leads him to the doors at the end of the corridor, separating the dormitories from the vestibule that connects to the south wing. She tries them, and they prove to be locked, but she smiles coyly. Taking a finger to her lips in a "shhh" sign, she moves to a sash window at the end of the corridor and pushing it up clambered through the open space and landed on the other side.


"Be careful, it's very narrow!"


George can see she is standing in a ledge about 50cm wide, and protected by a stone balustrade equally high. The balustrade gives over the inner yard of the school, 3 stories up. Extending in front of the window, George can see the roof of the south wing, covering the refectory. A turret ahead of him obstructs the view of the western part of the south wing's roof, over the library.

Alma stays down, crawling along the balustrade until she reaches the south wing. She gestures for George to come to her.


"Come, I want to show you the view!"

[steveflam]

George smiles and follows Alma

[Ail]

Very carefully, George goes through the window as Alma did and lands on the narrow ledge. Crawling, he feels well protected by the balustrade and tries to ignore the yard below.

The ledge skirts a small turret, a round room that projects from the corner between the east and the south wings, before it reaches the roof of the refectory. Facing west, George can see the upper body of the tower at the centre of the south wing, an elaborately ornamented octagonal affair.

From its base, a small door gives issue to the ledge and George presumes there will be an equivalent on the other side of the roof.


An idea of what the roof looks like. George and Alma are coming from the left, but in the game we have one less floor and so they are at the level of the roof base, not on top of it.

"My sister likes to play here, so I come to meet her sometimes."
She showed me this way. We could climb the roof to the other side, and take a look at the ruins, but there may be an easier way."


She points to further down the ledge, where George can see a glass trapdoor opening in the roof.


"There is another on the other side", she says, "Do you have any skill in breaking in? That is always locked. But we can crawl to the tower there and just go around the roof."


She smiles at George, clearly excited, and waits for his preference.

[Ail]

"We can not go into the woods, Christine, that's where the sounds are coming from, and we can not go into the camp, you said so yourself. These fields don't have much that can count as a shelter, except for sparse trees and clumps of bushes. We could try to find one, and make a fire to warm us. Or we could try to go to the village and find a pub. Should take ... erm, about an hour, maybe two, if we don't get lost in the night. Orienteering is hard with this light."


OOC: corrected the time it takes to go from the camp to the nearest village.

[steveflam]

Very carefully, George goes through the window as Alma did and lands on the narrow ledge. Crawling, he feels well protected by the balustrade and tries to ignore the yard below.

The ledge skirts a small turret, a round room that projects from the corner between the east and the south wings, before it reaches the roof of the refectory. Facing west, George can see the upper body of the tower at the centre of the south wing, an elaborately ornamented octagonal affair.

From its base, a small door gives issue to the ledge and George presumes there will be an equivalent on the other side of the roof.


An idea of what the roof looks like. George and Alma are coming from the left, but in the game we have one less floor and so they are at the level of the roof base, not on top of it.

"My sister likes to play here, so I come to meet her sometimes."
She showed me this way. We could climb the roof to the other side, and take a look at the ruins, but there may be an easier way."


She points to further down the ledge, where George can see a glass trapdoor opening in the roof.


"There is another on the other side", she says, "Do you have any skill in breaking in? That is always locked. But we can crawl to the tower there and just go around the roof."


She smiles at George, clearly excited, and waits for his preference.

"Pretty cool up here, Alma. AS to me bein able ter open that glass door. Me talents lay in knowledges, not thieving skills. We'll 'ave ter do it your way."

[A G Thing]

Still trying to lead him away from the voices and the woods Christine knows she has been heading towards town already even as he speaks up of their options. Her voice is filled with brash resolve as she talks to the boy she drags behind her hobbling gait in her haste to leave.

"Then I say we head for town! We don't have much else beyond that and school and I want those answers before I get in trouble for this. If we head toward where the road is, it should make it easier to reach the town once we find it. We don't want to stay in this camp or go through the woods. And if that beast is lurking around the school maybe being away from there until the sun rises would be best for us."

After these words however, Christine slows to a stop and turns to look to Oliver with a confident yet also friendly and undecided look on her face and adjusts her glasses for a second. She seems to be questioning something as she pauses her hobbling on her leg and only after a brief pause where her brow crinkles in amused thought, does she take his hand again and looks him in the eye as she speaks though she does not move again.

"Still if you think otherwise I guess I can't in good conscience keep trying to drag us toward town though. And I can't reasonably suggest we separate either with what has happened so far. If you really want to go back to the school I will go back with you. Honestly since before you showed up I had nearly gotten myself killed. And I am glad I was here to stop you from disrupting my kins practices. But I say we find that Pub and wait for morning to get our answers. But what do you think Oliver?"

[Ail]

"Then it's best to walk around, safer that way. The roof is slippery and, to be honest, I tried it once only.", she smirks.


Alma clearly looks different from the first time George met her, but here she seems to be in her element.

They walk around the roof and sit on the other side, feet against the balustrade, looking at the south quadrangle. This is the first time George has a good look at the ruins from the inside.

The south quadrangle must have looked like a replica of the north one. The south wing, where the library and refectory are is just, in fact, the middle wing of the castle. South of it extend another 3 sides in various states of disrepair.

The most striking feature are the remains in the southwest corner, opposite the students. It is a ruined tower, now virtually separated from the south and west bodies. It shows signs of fire, and looks like a crumbling structure, with stone boulders lying at its base and apparently open to the sky, and the full moonlight seems to shine through the windows of its first floor.

The opposite tower, at the southeast corner, seems to be in good condition, but the body between the two towers shows clear signs of old age. Although it is still standing, the glasses are broken, there are holes in the roof and some in the walls. Due to the inclined slope where the castle is built, the wings were build with one extra floor, so George can count 3 storeys above the ground floor on the south side.

Not so on the west facade. Although it should have had 5 storeys altogether, the top two have collapsed... where it still stands, that is. Connected to the central wing, where the library functions, the building still rises up to the second floor, but in a sorry condition. But it stops abruptly before it reaches half the distance to the tower in the corner. In that space, lie a pile of rubble and stones over which a brick and wood wall was shoddily built, but tall enough to prevent access and viewing from the outside. George knows what it looks like, he's been looking at that wall for many months now, every time he thinks of starting his explorations.

The west facade is the best looking of the three. Apparently it is whole, but although time and neglect still have left its marks. George knows that on the outside, all the windows and doors have been barred with thick wooden planks, but on the inside there were few such precautions.

OOC: Spot check for George, DC 12.


"I come here now and then. I like to look at the past, makes me feel more connected. Sometimes I see spirits going around. A woman in white crossing the yard, a ghost in the tower. Must be people who lived here centuries ago.

I talk to my sister a lot, but I haven't done this so often now. She tells me that occasionally some boys come to the top rooms on the south side, and I don't want to be caught."

[Ail]

Oliver smiles at Christine, then shrugs.


"With your foot in that condition, maybe you could be healed faster if we went back to school. But we'd have to climb the hills and then the wall, and go closer to the woods.

I have been punished before, Christine, but have you? Are you ready for it? I suppose spending the night out will make it more serious than just being late, but we'll probably be grounded anyway and you won't have your answers then.

Maybe... if we find a pub, someone there can fix your ankle. Then at least it will hurt less when we have to face our responsibility.

Lean on me while you walk. I may even carry you part of the way, if you like."

[steveflam]

"Then it's best to walk around, safer that way. The roof is slippery and, to be honest, I tried it once only.", she smirks.



OOC: Spot check for George, DC 12.


"I come here now and then. I like to look at the past, makes me feel more connected. Sometimes I see spirits going around. A woman in white crossing the yard, a ghost in the tower. Must be people who lived here centuries ago.

I talk to my sister a lot, but I haven't done this so often now. She tells me that occasionally some boys come to the top rooms on the south side, and I don't want to be caught."

"Yeah, they may have been part of what happened to the ruins before they burned and whatnot. I hope we can see yer granny or even your sister, for your sake. This is a really cool place Alma. Thanks for showing it to me. Your really lucky to be able to talk to ghosts an spirits, Alma. That's a really spot on gift you 'ave"

He points out the clean windows to Alma. "See there, the windows are clean. But the ones below are dirty. That's strange. Have you any idea why they are so?"

[Ail]

Alma looks, and is surprised. As that section is close to the place where they're sitting, the awkward angle makes it relatively hard to notice, especially at night.

"No George, I had never noticed. Do you have any idea?"



[OOC: Come to think of it, the DC was too low, but at 22, George would still make it. Plus, I described the ruins as in the daylight, forgetting that it's only the full moon illuminating them. Bah, next time!].

[steveflam]

Alma looks, and is surprised. As that section is close to the place where they're sitting, the awkward angle makes it relatively hard to notice, especially at night.

"No George, I had never noticed. Do you have any idea?"

George can only think of one conclusion and relates so.

"That means someone is going there regularly. Why else would it be clean like that. Is someone cleaning up the ruins? Although I am new, I presume that none are allowed in the ruins, teachers included? I am no rat, but I think the Principal or her sister should be made aware of this as it is a serious infringement of the rules. It could also have omething to so with all the weirdness going around here."

He stops, thinkiing.

"So, will we see your granny or sister here or do we need o go somewhere else?"

[A G Thing]

"Thank you Oliver!" Christine smiles earnestly as she leans on his right shoulder to rest her rather sore left foot. She sighs just a bit and smiles with just a touch of embarrassment as she pushes her glasses back up from where they had slipped down her nose.

"I am sure even just a bit of rest will help with it. Besides it would be much worse if you hadn't been here!" As they begin heading toward their destination again she considers her answer to his other questions for a moment. Still it is only a moments pause before she speaks again.

"As for being punished, don't spread it around too much but I have been many times, for this exact infraction more than others. I had a few fights others started or some rather loud verbal clashes with those who sought to force me one way or the other. I guess I don't like being told what to do when I think it's wrong!" She snickers a bit. "But at first I was punished by my family and then by many a headmaster or headmistress when I eventually pushed it too far in any of the many schools I attended before this. I just didn't do so here. Very much!" She talks sounding as if trying to lighten the mood a bit and she felt the need to speak in some confidence about her past to assure him this was not how this normally went down!

"So I didn't exactly have a clear record before coming to school here. It comes with the territory when you speak out or sneak out as often as I do. I really should look into being better at holding my tongue and not being caught really but most of the time it was due to me being forced to stand up or just pushing my luck. I fought the narrow views and structure because it made me angry when it was unjust. And I went out when I wanted to see a show at the theater, have an adventure or just feel free of all the rules that people in these kind of places drown their curiosity in." She seems to brighten considerably with the mention of these past adventures as she seems to call them.

"I kept getting bored. I wanted to be free with my friends and have a good time. To gain experience rather than just knowledge. To stand up rather than just wait for someone else to do it. Outside of the fights when we went out, we usually did have a good time though most of the times that I got caught I can say it was not always my fault but you have to take the cards your dealt as my uncle would say!" She laughs a little bit at the end as if some lost humor in the memory of her uncle made her far happier perhaps at his expense but lovingly so. But this fades a little bit when she speaks again.

"But it was made quite clear to me that maybe I was taking it just a bit too far. So when I was sent here I thought I wouldn't sneak out as much anymore. I thought maybe I would be responsible and thus boring like people expected of me. I tried for a while. But honestly, before even these attacks happened I was already being tempted and admittedly tempting myself back into old habits. And with my wandering kin nearby and some of the new friends I had made this year I was sure I was going to be breaking into my bad habits again!" She seems a bit more reserved about this part but doesn't leave much time for Oliver to dwell on it.

"I can't just sit still I guess, and if I let risks stop me I would never have any fun outside the rules at all would I? When I saw my sister again, she wouldn't even speak to me if I didn't keep having adventures like she taught me to." She looks to Oliver as she speaks this part and a noticeable shift in her face makes her look far more mischievously curious and playful! "But now I have to admit I am curious good Sir Oliver?" She says this last part with a rather exaggerated tone of respectability! "Just what kind of trouble and how much of it have you been in to claim such proudly? I would think I would have heard something of your reputation if you were such a miscreant? Being a miscreant myself I like to think myself quite knowing of those that share my proclivities!"

All the while she keeps hobbling with him waiting to hear his tale, hoping to happily pass the time in the distraction of conversation until they reached their destination.

[Ail]

Alma laughs at George's question:

"Ahahah... Granny up here? No, she doesn't like the cold, she doesn't go out anymore. Indoors is warmer, you know. But my sister? Sure, she'll be around."

As she smiles to George, her focus shifts to a point above him and she seems to lose connection with the present and real world. Then she comes back to George:

"See? She's here, just behind you. In fact, she's even playing with your hair."

For the briefest of moments, George feels like a cold, moist hand brushing his face.


==============================================


Oliver grins as Christine tells her tales.

"Well, fair damsel, seems that I can't claim as much trophies as you can. You have had a rich life, it seems. Probably painful in some respects, but certainly interesting."

He gives a chuckle and winks.

"Well, I am an explorer. I like to go out and see the world, but it's not necessarily for adventure. I'm more like a scienties, I like to know things. But I guess that I only do it because I also have the appeal of adventure, maybe. I don't like to learn in a lab, like George, I like to go out, see and do. So most of the times I've been caught, here, were for things like this: getting out when I shouldn't.

But not at the start. In the first year, I would mostly steal into the chemistry lab at night and do experiments there. That's until they found out, which was when I began experimenting with things that went boom-in-the-night."

He winks again.

"For a time I had an interest in animals, but now I don't care much anymore. I am more into geology, though, to be frank, that can be a temporary thing."

================================================

The dinner is over, and Niles looks around as the students and the teachers leave for their relaxation moments before bedtime. Frances has given him an lead that might be worth to follow, but he still does not know what her motives are. Looking around the hall, he can only guess at whom might be involved in this secret society, if there is one. And what if there is? Most of them are harmless, children's play without real consequences. At this level, some of them could evolve into dangerous things, or students could be humiliated to be part of them or for not being part of them, but Niles has no much to go by. Maybe Frances will tell him something more useful, or he could try to find from someone else if there is anything sinister going around.

The coincidence between the medallion found with the dead boy and rumours of a secret society might be grounds for him to worry.

[Ail]

As they talk and share their stories, Christine and Oliver reach Elmsbrook. On the High Street, they find the village's pub, The Rampant Bear.

It's well filled with locals having their evening drinks and sharing local gossip. Behind the counter, a man is serving the drinks while an open door behind him shows a woman fixing snacks in the kitchen.