Ghosts of Gauntcliff: Chapter Six

[ewancummins]

The biscuits are delicious.

[ewancummins]

The older woman reaches in to wipe some crumbs from Jürgen’s shirt, and then suddenly jerks back.
''Ahhhh!!!!"

She staggers backwards, bumping into the hot wood stove, and screams again.


The younger woman, Susanna (she might be about the age of the boy's mother) stares at Jürgen with a horrified look, before turning away to dry retch.

[steveflam]

The older woman reaches in to wipe some crumbs from Jürgen’s shirt, and then suddenly jerks back.
''Ahhhh!!!!"

She staggers backwards, bumping into the hot wood stove, and screams again.


The younger woman, Susanna (she might be about the age of the boy's mother) stares at Jürgen with a horrified look, before turning away to dry retch.

"What? What is wrong? Have I got something on my face? Tell me!"

He is very afraid to see it now, but asks Dark One in a whisper "Did you see something odd on me? Why are these women reacting so?"

[ewancummins]

The women flee the parlor.

Dark One whispers into Juergin's ear from his position on the boy's back. ''They are only foolish women. Who knows? You seem normal to me."

[steveflam]

Jürgen looks in the mirror.

[ewancummins]

Jürgen looks in the mirror.

VIEW CONTENT:

The face that looks back at him is his own face, unremarkable aside from aside from a red smear on his lower lip and chin. His throat feels raw and itchy. He coughs -- and freezes when he sees what has become of his mouth. White triangular teeth, rows of them, stick out of his bloody gums-- just like a shark's mouth.
Jürgen cannot think of anything unconnected with the horrific alteration. He feels an obsessive urge to get someone knowledgeable to look at this; perhaps a physician or a magical healer…

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio and the girl from the sea


“Thank you.” The voice, a little raw and weak, comes from behind him.

The priest turns and gives the girl a warm smile, a sincere expression despite Dorgio being caked with blood and salt from the sea. "Good to see you talking---I was worried. We nearly lost you out there. I am Dorgio, and you are...?"

There are many other questions he wants to ask her, like how the ship came to founder, whether there was anything significant about the ship's voyage. Whether she had a suitor...but such things could wait for now. Better to not wear down the poor woman with questions just yet.

[ewancummins]

"I'm Lorna. I work for the Wigot family. Are they...?"

She looks back over her shoulder.

"I thought I saw Mister Wigot and his wife sitting on the beach as we left. It's all pretty hazy. Their boy Ralf, is he okay? I know he can swim, thank goodness. Oh, I might be in trouble for leaving! Maybe I should go back! I--uuhh--guuunhhh"

The black-haired maiden* doubles over in the saddle, coughing.
He slim frame shakes as she gasps for air between spasmodic coughs.


(Is she a maiden yet? Dorgio might estimate her age at about fifteen. Quite a few women are married with a babe by then. )

[steveflam]

VIEW CONTENT:

Juergin rises from his seat by the fire. "We'll see if anyone is around, Dark One. These teeth are cool! I wonder if I can attack someone with them?"

He walks back to the floor he and his companions are on]

[ewancummins]

(double post, ignore and skip down- Mods please delete this one.)

[ewancummins]

PRIMEIRO , EUSTACE, JURGEN

The boy finds Primeiro and Eustace in the east wing, where they are poking about the rooms and the hall.

Primeiro and Eustace may be a bit surprised....

(go ahead and click on it)

VIEW CONTENT:

[quote="ewancummins"]


... by the change in their young friend's appearance.
His smiling mouth wasn’t filled with rows of shark’s teeth mounted in bloody raw gums when last they saw him.

[Ken of Ghastria]

IN THE EAST HALLWAY-

Primeiro knocks the broom out of the footman's hands.

The servant scampers away down the hall.

"What a pathetic little man," says Primeiro with an amused expression. "Oh well, his loss." He sheathes his sword and collects the gold piece from the floor. "Let's leave the hallway of lunatics, Eustace, yes? Let's see if we can find where the shadow creature has gone."

As they walk, he continues, "What I meant to say to you earlier is that Elliana went out alone last night. Perhaps she is the one who struck Melmoth and is helping the creature...? And she wasn't in her room when I arrived -- yes, yes, I know I said she was sleeping, a tiny lie so that her guard wouldn't be up -- but if she wasn't in her room, then what mischief could she have been getting.... into...?"

He stops and places an arm on Eustace. "The ship that has apparently crashed. Didn't Sancerre say he was going to light a warning beacon? Damnation! I've underestimated that woman! She must have put it out! We need to re-light that beacon and inform the others."

Just then, he sees Juergin coming from the other end of the hallway, looking thoroughly drenched. And something else seems... off....

As he gets a better look at the lad, Primeiro's face blanches and his rapier instantly leaps to his hand. "BY EZRA'S BONES! What horror is this?! Juergin!! Come no closer until you explain this!"

[Adam]

Bennedict nods, putting a companionable hand on Everline's shoulder. "Your courage is as usual unfaltering, but you will be little use to anyone exhausted and sick with cold. Go get warm and then come rejoin us. Perhaps you could find which rascal has chosen this terrible moment to make off with some of our mules?"

He turns with Sancerre back towards the beach. Presuming Everline is not there and he can speak with Denys privately, he confers in a low voice, "Have any of the sailors mentioned what happened? I was unaware that the passage to the island was so treacherous. Everline had mentioned that there was to be a light of some kind to warn the ship." He shakes his head gravely. "This makes for a rather troubling coincidence, as the journal we recovered mentioned specifically that a number of similar mishaps occurred whenever any ships arrived to try and transport the early visitors to Gauntcliff away."

[ewancummins]

BENN-

''A beacon? No, not during the day. They wouldn't know what it meant, anyway. No, I had men out this morning with flags, waiting down at the wharf. The Peryton never made it there. This sudden mist sprang up and it seems the vessel ran aground in the fog. We only learned what had happened because one of the sailors ran from here to the chateau. You realize that we are some distance from the wharf, yes? It's further south. Maybe the Mists have descended to confuse us all? We're near the northern tip of the island, Benn. I couldn't place men along the whole length of the shore."

[Adam]

"I couldn't say. I'm hardly a master of geography, and I wasn't bothering to look where we were going in my haste to get out here. I know only what they were telling me." He turns. "I'm curious why you're taking such a defensive tone with me. I'm your friend, Herr Sancerre, and I have no reason to suspect you. I think only that there was a threat here you were unaware of when we arrived, and you are as caught up in this as the rest of us. You've been nothing but a generous patron to me and my family. I want to see this threat dealt with once my wife and child are safe, and I'm just trying to gather information about what may have happened here and if we can expect more of the same when other ships are coming in."