Café de Nuit

(((OOC: Have I found any horses yet?)))

The young man at the door dives aside as the color spray splatters around the doorframe, reappearing with a drawn pistol (pointed at the ground) in his hands.

"What the blue devils is wrong with you people?" he yells. "I am NOT a scarecrow!" This is manifestly true; he actually looks rather like a bad Dementlieuse fashion plate sprung to life, replete with canary-yellow silk cravat and a bright blue waistcoat. He has rectangular-rimmed glasses, longish pale hair pulled back in a ponytail, and has an unpleasant peevish expression; he's of average height, but rather thin.

He catches sight of the farmer, still with knives drawn; whipping his pistol into position, he says, "Don't come any closer!"

Rafael wrote:

Lord Cyclohexane wrote:Avra, etc ...

[Avra, lamentably, is not with you any more. [snip] [...] I had no choice but to write him out. [...] ]

[My previous post and its reference to Avra still stands. My reasoning is over in the OOC Chat (clickable link); sorry to everyone I've confused]

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Nathan of the FoS wrote:"What the blue devils is wrong with you people?" he yells. "I am NOT a scarecrow!" [...]

He catches sight of the farmer, still with knives drawn; whipping his pistol into position, he says, "Don't come any closer!"

Adrian comes up from behind the farmer, puts the farmer into a full-nelson and turns 90 degrees to the right, just so the farmer's knives aren't pointed at the young man at the door. While doing so, Adrian is saying, "Sir, relax! This man's a touch thin, but definitely no scarecrow! Please, sir, relax!" Adrian is avoiding the knives himself, as best he can, but is more concerned about preventing others from getting hurt. It would be a horrible shame for everyone to have survived the ghost attack, only for people to get killed due to a simple misunderstanding.

Shana straightens up looking a little shamefaced

"I'm very sorry sir.. we've just had a rather unpleasant experience. Just a little... jumpy. My humble apologies"

The young man looks back and forth between the old farmer, still with knives drawn, the man struggling with him, and the young lady. "A proper madhouse," he mutters. "I'm lucky I wasn't killed." Slowly, keeping an eye on the farmer, he lowers his pistol but doesn't return it to the holster. "Roland Dykes," he says, gesturing with his free hand to himself. "Who are you people, anyway?"

George looks up at the newcomer and says, "My name is George. Are you the Darklord of this domain, or is it the old farmer?"

"Shana Vale" I glance at George a little puzzled then turn back to the stranger "we are recuperating from a terrible experience with ghosts, and are a little skittish just now. Won't you come in?"

I seem to have recovered my poise and approach the newcomer with a friendly smile.

[you may notice Shana seems unfazed by the pistols; either she's extremely brave, or she has no idea what they are...]

Moorkroft seems confused by George's strange question of the newcomer. ''Darklord? What is he talking about?''

''Oh, no. That is a lie. Shut up! Leave me alone. Liars. You think I don't know what you are?'', he says as he looks around.

George replies to Moorkroft: "Darklord, whoever it is that rules this domain. The ghosts told me about them."

Then, half to himself, George say, "But, how could the ghosts have told me anything? They were illusions. All of this is an illusion."

George shouts to the air, "Whoever you are who rules here, stop playing with us!! Dispel your illusions and let us see this domain as it really is!!"

Tavian wrote:(((OOC: Have I found any horses yet?)))

[No. The stable is empty, although it seems that, until recently, it housed horses or mounts. There's a very special smell hanging in the air... Like horsecrap...]

Lord Cyclohexane wrote: "Sir, relax! This man's a touch thin, but definitely no scarecrow! Please, sir, relax!" Adrian is avoiding the knives himself, as best he can, but is more concerned about preventing others from getting hurt. It would be a horrible shame for everyone to have survived the ghost attack, only for people to get killed due to a simple misunderstanding.

The old main suddenly pales, and starts to breath heavily...

"Gods... My heart... Can't breathe..."

He falls back against Adrian with all his weight, obviously unable to stand, his left arm twitching like if he had a spastic attack, spittle running out of his mouth...

Outside, you can hear the mocking laughter of croaking crows...

"I don't know what you're talking about," the newcomer says to George shortly. "Furthermore, even an ignoramus should know that the "illusion" and the "reality" of this land are the same thing."

"Thank you," he says, still with very ill grace, to Shana, and is about to step inside when the old man has his attack.

"Huh," he says, staring at him as if at a rather interesting specimen. "Let me get my trunk."

Turning, he walks away from the stable; if anyone looks out the door they can see a small wagon drawn by a donkey near the stable, in a flat and featureless expanse of cornfields.*

OOC: Rafael, is that right?

Finding it hard to feel insulted by someone who may or may not be real, George nevertheless replies, "Sir, it's my understanding that the hallmark of a well-done illusion is that even a learned man would not be able to tell the difference between it and reality."

To the rest of the group, George says, "People, consider what we've been through recently: our surroundings changing with no warning; signs of vampirism appearing where the person was clearly alive; going from mortal peril to relative safety with no apparent memory of how we escaped. Does this not all seem the slightest bit unreal to anyone else? Or are you all perhaps part of the illusion and I am the only one trapped within it?"

"By Ezra, will nobody see to that man?"

Erdwin jumps up from the meal he had been enjoying, and rushes to the farmer's side. He lays his hands on the man's throat, as though seeing if there is yet life within him.

[OOC: I'll try to lay on hands, see if that brings him back...]

Nathan of the FoS wrote: OOC: Rafael, is that right?

[Yes. Update with a more detailed description following tomorrow... - I wonder if someone has already a clue were you are right now...]

Shana looks alarmed at the man, but seems uncertain what to do.

"I'm no healer... Erdwin, can I help somehow?"

I glance at George

"It seems no less real than anything else that's happened since I walked into that odd mist. I could still be dreaming in the woods above Voonlar for all I know."