Death House

[ewancummins]

"You don't build a 'team' by insulting them. I wouldn't expect you to understand that," he says, before turning to Van.

"But YOU, Van, I would expect you to understand that. You've had to lead people into a fight before. You know that, in dire situations like this, soldiers have to watch out for each other. If you want Kimber and I to work alongside you, then you can start leading by curbing your dogs."

Gnorric says,
"Why is this Royalist trying to lead us up the stairs? He seemed so ready to believe those kids about a monster in the cellar. Now he doesn't even want to finish looking for the cellar. That's a bit suspicious."
He laughs.
'And why does he offer to work alongside us? He forgets who he is and who we are, Van. If he wants our trust, he must earn it. I suggest he swears an oath of temporary service. Let him pledge to follow your orders as we explore this house and deal with whatever we find in it. And he must swear to defend the team if we are attacked by anything or anyone here. If he makes an oath like that--I will judge him by how well he holds to his word. If he won't swear, then he shows himself to still be our enemy."
The gnome flicks his eyes toward Kimber.
"Same for her. If she swears the oath, then I suggest we give her a fair chance.''

[VAN]

Van thinks for a moment what he has heard so far.

"I don't really care if the one who sent us here was the wizard or no but only a royalist could have sent us to this house maybe to test our capability to survive and hoping to have fun with our failure. Lets prove this puny royal wrong then. Lets get it over with and find a way to return back."

Turning to Kimber and Vorj he says:

"You know who I'm and what I stand for, same for the gnomes. I would give my life for them as they will for me. You on the other hand we don't really know where you stand, apart that you are loyal to a joke that you call a King...anyway, Gnorric's idea of an oath isn't a bad one. I take this oath first. I promise to do my best to aid and fight by your side for now, even if I will never join your bloody ranks. But we are here together and I plan to get out of here. So if you are good with that make the same oath."

Turning to Gnorric he says:

"We can do that yes, even if I don't believe for a second that there is a trapped family in here. I think it's more like an arena, we are here to be tested and maybe if we are proven worthy be able to leave."

Holding the musket at his hands tries the first door at the right.

[ewancummins]

"That's a good oath, Van. I swear to it. Everyone here is my witness."
GNORRIC holds up his right hand.
"Of course we should all agree to follow one leader. You, Van. Without a leader we are going to keep fighting each other, squabbling. Vorj, me, Kimber, my brother, even you. So it's got to be one leader. And that has to be you. "

[Ken of Ghastria]

Vorj smiles slightly and says, "By my god, Piris, I promise to do my best to aid and fight by your side for now, even if I will never join your bloody ranks." He looks at Gnorric. "There. Not so difficult."

He gives a nod of assent to Kimber before he turns back to Van and says, "Very well, let us search for this world-transporting 'puny royal' of yours." He takes a protective stance behind Van as the other man opens the door.

[steveflam]

Whoopsy cross post :


Bhunder says nothing. It is becoming apparent to Kimber and Vorj that he is in fact very uncomfortable in the presence of others.

[alhoon]

The door opens to the kitchen.
The kitchen is tidy, with dishware, cookware, and utensils neatly placed on shelves. A worktable has a cutting board and rolling pin atop it. A stone, domeshaped oven stands near the east wall, its bent iron stovepipe connecting to a hole in the ceiling. Behind the stove and to the left is a thin door leading to a wellstocked pantry, the food in which seems recent, unspoiled and could be the first sign they got that someone actually lives here.

Behind a small door in the southwest corner of the kitchen is a dumbwaiter—a 2-foot-wide stone shaft containing a wooden elevator box attached to a simple rope and-pulley mechanism that must be operated manually. Hanging on the wall next to the dumbwaiter is a tiny brass bell, which as the gnomes quickly realize, is attached by wires to elegant cords in different floors so the aristocrats could inform the servants that the dumbwaiter has been -or is to be- used.
A Small character can squeeze into the elevator box.

[VAN]

Van is really surprised by the food turning to Kimber he says:

"You may actually be right and someone lives here. What the odds! anyway, I still believe this is a trap so don't get our hopes up that the children were innocent and telling the truth."

Going by the small elevator Van looks at it better in order to realize if its going up or down.

[steveflam]

"Where are the children, by the way?"

[VAN]

"They said that they would wait outside by the big tree, but when I was among the mists I cound't see them, actually I couldn't really see anything...I believe they just wanted to lure us to this royalist trap and then they left maybe even laughing at us."

[Ken of Ghastria]

"You may actually be right and someone lives here. What the odds! anyway, I still believe this is a trap so don't get our hopes up that the children were innocent and telling the truth."

"It's possible for both things to be true, Van," says Vorj as he looks around. "I believe that, yes, this is a trap, but the children may not be to blame. They could've been threatened, or perhaps... they were possessed." He pauses. "That would be horrible. We have no way of knowing right now."

"Where are the children, by the way?"

"They never came in, which adds to the sense of this being a trap." He looks at the dumbwaiter and then up at the ceiling. "Directly above this would likely be either a servant's station in the hallway or the bedroom of the house's owner. Either way, someone is probably still in the house."

[kintire]

Kimber listens to the conversation and shrugs.

"I don't care about the king. I've never met him. I don't care much for your rebellion either. I don't even know what its all about: you all look the same to me. You burble on about cruel tyrants, but you use two year old children as shields. The royalists witter on about rebel atrocities, and then cannonade refugee trains. What's the difference? You keep fooling yourselves that one side is any better than the other, I don't mind. I certainly don't care about these two children's opinion of me, or about anything else. I care a bit about you, a bit more about the good dwarf here, and a bit more about Vorj. Not enough to swear any oaths, but I'll follow my commander's lead. I do care a good deal about getting out of this place alive, so I'll promise not to act against any of you unless you do first."

She then looks at the food thoughtfully. "This is fresh... which is good news as our supplies are limited... but where are the owners? They can't have been gone a day..."

[VAN]

Van looks at Kimber

"Good enough."

[ewancummins]

The door opens to the kitchen.
The kitchen is tidy, with dishware, cookware, and utensils neatly placed on shelves. A worktable has a cutting board and rolling pin atop it. A stone, domeshaped oven stands near the east wall, its bent iron stovepipe connecting to a hole in the ceiling. Behind the stove and to the left is a thin door leading to a wellstocked pantry, the food in which seems recent, unspoiled and could be the first sign they got that someone actually lives here.

Behind a small door in the southwest corner of the kitchen is a dumbwaiter—a 2-foot-wide stone shaft containing a wooden elevator box attached to a simple rope and-pulley mechanism that must be operated manually. Hanging on the wall next to the dumbwaiter is a tiny brass bell, which as the gnomes quickly realize, is attached by wires to elegant cords in different floors so the aristocrats could inform the servants that the dumbwaiter has been -or is to be- used.
A Small character can squeeze into the elevator box.

"Dumb waiters."
GNORRIC points out the bell and wire devices and explains their function. He does not actually trigger the bell.

[VAN]

Van looks at Vorj a bit puzzled and then the fresh food.

"Do you believe that someone actually still live here? Looking the house from outside I was betting to different but maybe you are on to something. If you guys are done here I suggest continue searching the ground floor, maybe we will find some more clues in the bedrooms of their identity."

[alhoon]

Van enters the dining room.
The centerpiece of this wood-paneled dining room is a carved mahogany table surrounded by eight highbacked chairs with sculpted armrests and cushioned seats. A crystal chandelier hangs above the table, which is covered with resplendent silverware and crystalware polished to a dazzling shine. Mounted above the marble fireplace is a mahogany-framed painting of an alpine vale.

The wall paneling is carved with elegant images of deer among the trees. Red silk drapes cover the windows, and a tapestry depicting hunting dogs and horse-mounted aristocrats chasing after a wolf hangs from an iron rod bolted to the south wall.

Once they enter, after a cursory inspection Van, Gnorric and Vorj notice that there are twisted faces carved into the tree trunks and wolves lurking amid the carved foliage of the paneling, hidden from casual view.