Mists Over the Musarde, Chapter Three

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:21 pm

Buckman walks over to the window and opens the shutters to let in some daylight...and emits a startled yelp as he jerks away from the open window! No daylight enters through the open port, but instead the scene outside the tower presents an eerie moonlit nightscape. Clouds drift across the sky, hiding patches of stars and partly obscuring the fat yellow-orange moon. Thick grass dances in the nightwind all over the hillside which had been bare under the light of the mid-day sun, less than an hour ago when your party made the climb up to the castle. The only sounds outside are the whistling of the wind through the eaves of the forest, and the cry of an owl hunting its prey in the woods and meadows.

Buckman continues to back away from the window, only stopping when he bumps into a table.

''It aint natural! ''

steveflam · Post by **steveflam** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:31 pm

"Whut ain't natural? Ye feelin ok, bub?"

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:34 pm

From nearby-

''Aiiiieeeeeee!!!''

Jon shrieks like a man in agony. The boy's slender frame contorts wildly, as if seized with a violent paroxysm of fear. He lurches towards the window, and , before anyone can stop him, stumbles and pitches out the gap!

steveflam · Post by **steveflam** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:45 pm

Norzak rushes to the window and prepares to try something.

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:46 pm

Norzak moves quickly, hooking his grapnel to the stonework windowsill , then clambering up into the open window and leaping out it holding the attached rope.

Norzak swings out into the night air, the rope held tight in his hands. A split-second later, the dwarf impacts the stone wall of the tower with a painful smack, and finds himself dangling a few feet above the grassy hillside outside the castle bounds.

Looking down, Norzak sees Jon rolling down the moonlit hillside. The boy isn't screaming or shouting.

inside the tower, second floor-

The music and laughter from upstairs in no longer audible, nor is the conversation. What can be heard is footsteps descending the stairwell....

Buckman yanks his flintlock pistol free of his belt and runs for the stairs!

Brock Marsh Runoff · Post by **Brock Marsh Runoff** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:23 pm

Dorgio stifles a curse as Jon jumps out the window. He rushes to the window with Norzak to see what has become of the boy. "Light be guiding you," he tells the dwarf as Norzak makes his descent.

He then turns and heads towards the stairwell with Buckman. His spear is at the ready, but he wonders, could the footsteps truly be those of attackers? Surely the owners of those voices had seem then at work outside burying the children, had heard them move up the stairs even before Jon screamed. It strikes the priest as queer, but no queerer than anything else he's experienced today.

He takes up a position just off to the side of the doorway, hoping to position himself at the strangers' flank should they prove hostile.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:58 am

Bennedict turns back and forth from the window to the hall. He is wracked with indecision, not wanting to abandon Norzak but needing to stay.

"Cirdan," he says finally. "I'm not going to be able to climb down that rope after Norzak without falling and breaking my neck. Can you help him?"

Without turning to wait for an answer, Benn turns and runs out into the hall.

"Be cautious," he mutters to the other. "If Wolutha is here, we are clearly in her domain. She is the master here, master of space, and of time."

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:18 pm

Adam wrote:
"Cirdan," he says finally. "I'm not going to be able to climb down that rope after Norzak without falling and breaking my neck. Can you help him?''

Cirdan climbs up into the window, clanking in his armor. The knight grabs firm hold of the rope and goes out the window and down after Norzak.

When Benn moves into the short hall leading to the stairs, he sees Buckman rush up the steps- only to stagger back down a moment later. Buckman reels backward like a drunkard, grovelling on the floor and mumbling -

''..ahhh.....so beautiful...beautiful...'''

The footfalls on the stairs come closer and closer, and now Benn sees a shadow moving on the curved inner wall of the stairwell- the shadow of a woman descending towards Benn and his friends on the second level. Just yet, she remains hidden from Benn's perspective but any second now she'll be in view.

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:09 pm

Bennedict utters the words to the prayer of sanctuary, snapping his crossbow up into position.

"That is close enough. Stay right where you are. I warn you, I have a crossbow drawn and loaded."

Brock Marsh Runoff · Post by **Brock Marsh Runoff** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:02 pm

Dorgio keeps silent when Benn shouts his warning, and holds his spear steady. As he waits for the woman's response, his thoughts momentarily go to the sound of the music box they'd heard before entering the keep. What could it mean? Was it really his gift, stolen and kept for a baubel by this witch? Was she trying to lull him into some sort of stupor? Judging by Buckman, Dorgio considers the latter more likely.

While standing, he keeps an eye on Buckman, hoping to ensure that the bedazzled man doesn't fall to any further harm.

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:10 pm

inside the tower, second storey-

Adam wrote:Bennedict utters the words to the prayer of sanctuary, snapping his crossbow up into position.

"That is close enough. Stay right where you are. I warn you, I have a crossbow drawn and loaded."

Down the stairs comes a woman dressed in a long green gown of antique style and silver-laced slippers. She is taller than the average woman, but not over-tall, and she moves with unhurried grace. The modest dress cannot fully conceal the perfectly proportioned curves of her body. Her angelic face and slim hands show a complexion like alabaster, flawless and pale. She wears her long curling yellow-gold hair unbound over her shoulders, and her eyes are the deep purple-blue of mountain lakes. The woman smiles when she sees Benn, her cherry-red lips parting just slightly.

When she speaks, her lovely mouth forms words as cold and hard as iron.

''Lay down your weapon.''

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:31 pm

meanwhile, outside the castle walls...

Cirdan lowers himself down the rope until he's a few feet off the ground, then hops down clattering in his plate and mail. The knight stands up and looks about, scanning the night for Jon. Cirdan points to a mound of brush and a little creek that flows near the base of the hill; features not present by daylight.

steveflam · Post by **steveflam** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:13 pm

Norzak climbs down the remainder of the rope and waits for Cirdan. "Think we should go after 'im. 'E sure's bin actin out of sorts lately."

ewancummins · Post by **ewancummins** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:07 pm

outside the walls

tarlyn wrote:Norzak climbs down the remainder of the rope and waits for Cirdan. "Think we should go after 'im. 'E sure's bin actin out of sorts lately."

Cirdan is distracted for a moment, looking up at the window through which he and the dwarf both left the castle.

'''Sure.''

The knight begins striding down the hill. After going a little distance, he stops in his tracks and wheels around to face uphill. Cirdan is silently staring over the dwarf's head, now. He raises an armoured hand and points to the castle-

''Norzak, look.''

steveflam · Post by **steveflam** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:43 am

The dwarf is about to head in Jon's direction but instead looks up at the castle.

Café de Nuit

Welcome, friends, to our establishment.

Mists Over the Musarde, Chapter Three