Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Four

[ewancummins]

Wat enters the house.

''You found the hemlock, I see. You plan to use this against the Witch, yes?''

He sits down.

''What are you going to do with it, exactly? ''

[Adam]

Bennedict idly polishes his glasses on a cloth before answering.

"She was killed by ingesting poisoned Hemlock, by her own hand. I don't know exactly how to replicate that, but it is likely we will need to prepare this into a similar poisonous form. Perhaps we can place it on the body? Or in some cases unquiet spirits can have certain things that repel them, I believe Van Richten called them "antigens" or something of the sort. Perhaps we can use it against her spirit. To be honest I haven't quite worked out the details yet."

"As to Van Deicks," Bennedict says, his countenance darkening, "My fear is that your spell will likely not work, Norzak. He was undeniably dead after Jon attacked him. I do not believe he was 'playing possum' to use the colloquial expression. So, in all likelihood if we are unfortunate enough to cross paths with him again, he is in all probability going to be in a form more akin to Pierre Renault, some new manner of undead horror."

[ewancummins]

While Benn is talking, Wat sits at the small table Benn has earlier used for study and looks over one of the books Benn and his friends had liberated from Wolutha's library.

''This object....I forget the old word for it...has pictures of animals, and of not-animals. I cannot make much sense of the marks. It seems very ancient- where did you find it?''

[JMaytr]

Jonathan snaps his head quickly in Benn's direction as he mentions the witch repellent word, antigen.

Hearing Benn intone his dark omen about Van Dieks makes the boy seem to collapse within himsef. Jonathan looks away from the aged scholar and stares at the floor. After a long while the boy speaks.

"How did she ingest the toxin? Food or drink? Perhaps if we replicate the condition, she will repeat the outcome."

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio tugs at his mustache in thought. He'd been doing that more and more lately since his supply of tobacco had nearly ran out. "Antigen, yes, I am remembering a student once telling me about that. Perhaps we should be preparing it as a drink, then? Still, I am thinking there may be something to that pot Cirdan found. Jon, when we found you and Silas in the woods, asleep from some spell, that is where we were finding the pot. Do you remember anything about what happened before you fell asleep? I am thinking it was some sort of trap, perhaps laid by Wolutha or one of her minions. Perhaps within that, there is some clue?"

On seeing Jon's concern, he moves to put a hand on the boys shoulder, but then stops, thinking that it seemed like Jon did not like to be touched. "If he is undead, we can make him dead again. We dispatched Renault, we can be dispatching another."

[Adam]

"There is some merit to the theory that it should be prepared into the same form which killed her in the first place, given what the Rider-in-Iron told us. Unfortunately, I do not know how she ingested it in the first place, merely what is recorded in the books, that she intended to take poison to kill herself rather than be taken by the Incabulites."

[ewancummins]

Wat looks up breifly when Benn mentions the hemlock, grunts, and goes back to examining the book in his lap.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"The book?" He asks Wat. "A. . . bestiary, I am thinking that is the word, in Mordentish at least. It is seeming very old indeed." He walks over to Wat, and takes a look down at the book.

[ewancummins]

"The book?" He asks Wat. "A. . . bestiary, I am thinking that is the word, in Mordentish at least. It is seeming very old indeed." He walks over to Wat, and takes a look down at the book.

''Boke? Hmmm... we call it libram, now I remember. This one was word-marks that I cannot understand- but we don't use the old marks like this nowadays. The pictures...I know some of these creatures, but many are strange to me.''

Wat displays the open book to Dorgio. The yellowed parchment pages are covered with difficult-to read text and illuminated illustrations with faded pigments. Some of the creatures are familiar to Dorgio, but if he peruses the tome, he finds many creatures he's never so much as dreamed of [for example; what would appear to be a living stalactite that kills men by dropping on them!]

[Adam]

Bennedict arches an eyebrow at the picture in the book. "Well, clearly some of those images are simply fictional. That sort of creature is too ridiculous to be believed."

[JMaytr]

"This book of yours doesn't tell how she took her poison? My guess is that, since she is a woman, she most likely drank it. Are there any tales of dinner parties or feasts that Woultha attended in your book? What about wines that she favored? Perhaps her keep has a wine cellar."

Jonathan shakes his head.

"There has to be a way to defeat her and rid ourselves of this place before Van Dieks has a chance to have his revenge on us. There just has to be."

[steveflam]

Norzak listens to everyone before intejecting with his own thoughts. He lays a comforting hand on Jon's shoulder. "I think it's like was said afore. Van Dieks is prolly an undead freak now. Less' wprry bout that witch bitch and get ta the keep as soon as we kin. Git 'er ta ingest tha weed some way an git er done good.

Once we git er, then we kin concentrate on gittin back 'ome. I's achin fer some nice dwarvish ale me favorite pub. I thinks we bin 'ere long enough as it is."

When Norzak has a look at Wats book, he comments on one beast that the others seem sceptible[sp] about. "I seen that there beastie afore, in the caves o our great clan back in Darkon. Them's look like stalagmites but they's drop down n kill ye dead, fer sure! We used ta have us some clerics ta take care o them pointy basturds. So, they may seem unlikely ta you, Benn, but in fact they does exist, bub."


OOC: ewan I am presuming that Norzak has run into these Stalagmites before back in Darkon, if not I can edit my post.

[ewancummins]

Wat laughs uproariously at Norzak's description of the 'pointy basturds'

''Haha! Norzak, you are funny!''

[Adam]

Norzak listens to everyone before intejecting with his own thoughts. He lays a comforting hand on Jon's shoulder. "I think it's like was said afore. Van Dieks is prolly an undead freak now. Less' wprry bout that witch bitch and get ta the keep as soon as we kin. Git 'er ta ingest tha weed some way an git er done good.

Once we git er, then we kin concentrate on gittin back 'ome. I's achin fer some nice dwarvish ale me favorite pub. I thinks we bin 'ere long enough as it is."

When Norzak has a look at Wats book, he comments on one beast that the others seem sceptible[sp] about. "I seen that there beastie afore, in the caves o our great clan back in Darkon. Them's look like stalagmites but they's drop down n kill ye dead, fer sure! We used ta have us some clerics ta take care o them pointy basturds. So, they may seem unlikely ta you, Benn, but in fact they does exist, bub."


OOC: ewan I am presuming that Norzak has run into these Stalagmites before back in Darkon, if not I can edit my post.

Bennedict gives Norzak a doubtful arch of the eyebrow. "I'm sure, Norzak."

In response to Alain's question, Benn goes and fetches one of the books rescued from the keep. "Not exactly," he says, flipping to the page in question. "You'll note here, where it describes her plan to kill herself, rather than allow the Incabulites to take her. I have no doubt that she intended to drink it, as hemlock leaf is likely incredibly unpalatable. However, I have my doubts that she was fed it in a glass of wine at a dinner."

"I've had another thought," Benn says, stroking his mustache thoughtfully. "Dorgio may be more familiar with the practice, but I know some forms of undead are particularly vulnerable to having liquid holy water splashed on them. Perhaps a similar method, using the hemlock, could be used against her?"

He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I really don't know. I need to get home, to a real bed. I can't think straight."

[ewancummins]

Wat puts in-


''Animals won't eat that leaf. It might taste bad, or maybe they just know that it is poisonous.''