Ghosts of Gauntcliff Chapter Four

[Adam]

BENN

Bennedict's expression falls, but he turns with no more protest, opening the door and stepping inside.

The door swings open with a faint squeal of rusted hinges at the slightest pressure from Benn's fingers. Within, the front room of the house is murky, lit only by a small light that flits through the air like some glowing insect. Benn cannot make out the exact dimensions of the shadowy chamber, but he'd swear it's somehow wide than the front of the house would have allowed.

As his eyes adjust to the poor light, a gray hand falls on his right shoulder. The creature at his back says,
"Follow the guide. Succeed, and you will be rewarded. Fail and you will find your own punishment."

"Fantastic," Benn mutters, stepping into the building and looking around the too-wide-room. "Is anyone here?" he says, perhaps quietly hoping to get no response.

[steveflam]

"I prefer the little one first, Jonas. And then Benn, the one you call the fat one. Can you get us all out of here safely? We pay you coins if you do. I have access to coins. Tell your Dodds we escaped or are dead."

[ewancummins]

BENN-

"Fantastic," Benn mutters, stepping into the building and looking around the too-wide-room. "Is anyone here?" he says, perhaps quietly hoping to get no response.

The little light dances closer to Benn. For a second, he takes it for a firefly, but a closer look reveals that it is a softly glowing moth. Not only its abdomen shines, but its whole delicate body from feet to antennae, wings and all.

The insect circles Benn’s head three times, and then flutters to a narrow door in the back of the room, past jumbled furniture shrouded by sheets of black lace. It hovers by the gap of the open portal.
The light is too weak for Benn to make out whatever lies beyond the inner door.

[ewancummins]

JUERGIN-

"I prefer the little one first, Jonas. And then Benn, the one you call the fat one. Can you get us all out of here safely? We pay you coins if you do. I have access to coins. Tell your Dodds we escaped or are dead."

Gruz's voice takes on a plaintive, whining tone,
''The Dodds gets us if we let you go. Him real bad, real mean. We nice! You like us."

[steveflam]

"How about this, Gruz? Do you have a mother and father? And when you were really young, if you got separated from your parents, wouldn't you want to be with your parents. If you are nice, then maybe you can find it in your heart to at least let Jonas go back to his mother."

[ewancummins]

"How about this, Gruz? Do you have a mother and father? And when you were really young, if you got separated from your parents, wouldn't you want to be with your parents. If you are nice, then maybe you can find it in your heart to at least let Jonas go back to his mother."

''Huh? Me help. Gruz your friend. You trust."

The creature stops walking.

"'Here. Smezel in front of you."

Juergin hears a scuttling noise from in front-- and other noises from his flanks!

[Adam]

Again cursing his lack of foresight in not preparing a light spell, he follows the guide moth into the darkness.

"At least I don't have to worry about you talking my ear off," he mutters.

[steveflam]

"How about this, Gruz? Do you have a mother and father? And when you were really young, if you got separated from your parents, wouldn't you want to be with your parents. If you are nice, then maybe you can find it in your heart to at least let Jonas go back to his mother."

''Huh? Me help. Gruz your friend. You trust."

The creature stops walking.

"'Here. Smezel in front of you."

Juergin hears a scuttling noise from in front-- and other noises from his flanks!

"Gruz. This had better not be a trick." Juergin really wants to kill the beast but holds back, unsure if the scuttling feet mean they will attack him or that there are more than a few of these things.

He now places the stone back and takes the fishhook into his hand and presses it against Gruz' throat.


"Smezel, I am Juergin. Gruz tells me you can get me out of here for a price. I want the young boy Jonas to go back in my place. I can get you many coins if you let the fat one, myself and Jonas the little one go back to our home where you took us from."

[ewancummins]

BENN

Again cursing his lack of foresight in not preparing a light spell, he follows the guide moth into the darkness.

"At least I don't have to worry about you talking my ear off," he mutters.

Benn follows his luminescent guide through the inner door hung with soft velvet curtains, and into a small room crowded with leprous pale houseplants. An eerie blue glow seeps through the cracks in the wooden shutters of the windows on the wall to Benn's left. Unwholesome chattering sounds issue from nooks and chinks in the gray plaster of the other three walls. Across the room, half-hidden by the ugly plants, a door hangs ajar. Beyond the threshold, green vapors swirl and a child's shadow leaps back and forth in time with Benn's heartbeat.

[ewancummins]

"How about this, Gruz? Do you have a mother and father? And when you were really young, if you got separated from your parents, wouldn't you want to be with your parents. If you are nice, then maybe you can find it in your heart to at least let Jonas go back to his mother."

''Huh? Me help. Gruz your friend. You trust."

The creature stops walking.

"'Here. Smezel in front of you."

Juergin hears a scuttling noise from in front-- and other noises from his flanks!

"Gruz. This had better not be a trick." Juergin really wants to kill the beast but holds back, unsure if the scuttling feet mean they will attack him or that there are more than a few of these things.

He now places the stone back and takes the fishhook into his hand and presses it against Gruz' throat.


"Smezel, I am Juergin. Gruz tells me you can get me out of here for a price. I want the young boy Jonas to go back in my place. I can get you many coins if you let the fat one, myself and Jonas the little one go back to our home where you took us from."

A wheezy voice answers from the darkness ahead of Juergin, ''Big human gone, boy. We sold him. You want him, you buy him back from Sleepless Ones."

[steveflam]

Juergin thinks a minute. "Can you get the little one and myself back for coins? I have some coins on me and can get you more if you keep the door open so I can come back with friends and then buy back my fat human friend back. Do we have a deal?"

[ewancummins]

Juergin thinks a minute. "Can you get the little one and myself back for coins? I have some coins on me and can get you more if you keep the door open so I can come back with friends and then buy back my fat human friend back. Do we have a deal?"

Juergin thinks a minute. "Can you get the little one and myself back for coins? I have some coins on me and can get you more if you keep the door open so I can come back with friends and then buy back my fat human friend back. Do we have a deal?"

The wheezy voice says, "We let you go and the Master will hurt us. No deal. "

Another voice speaks, this one from someplace to Juergin's right side. "But boy got treasure! Want that!"

[Adam]

Benn looks around the room for an indication of his guide, anything silver in the room, or any indication of what he was supposed to do here.

[ewancummins]

Benn looks around the room for an indication of his guide, anything silver in the room, or any indication of what he was supposed to do here.

Benn hears a skittering like dozens of small feet brushing the floorboards.

Something moves in the sickly ferns at Benn's right side. A small whiskered snout shoves out from cover. Another snout appears a little distance away, nosing through the plants. Benn's guide flies round in a frantic circle before the far door, where the green smoke swirls and the shadow leaps.

[Adam]

"Alright, I get the hint," Benn says before hustling across the room and through the indicated door.