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| Dungeon Crawl Event - The Drifting Castle; Take Two... | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 10 2012, 11:21 PM (1,497 Views) | |
| Gordreg | Jul 2 2012, 07:04 PM Post #11 |
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Administrator
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As they made their way back down through the streets toward the dock she’d barely just left, Octavia began to wonder what the point of having the meeting in the library at all had been. Their group had been given no time to conduct research of their own into the histories of the castle, nor had they used any notable resources aside from a chart; which their vessel was bound to have one of anyway if it was even worth hiring, and lists that could have just as easily been passed out on ship or on dockside. But no doubt it had made the library officials feel important to have visitors waiting for them. She scowled, silently cursing the bureaucracy that had caused her to undertake this uneccesery journey when they could all have just met at a specified location upon the dockside, or even by the boat itself. Her luggage trundled along beside her, weighty beneath her hand despite the wheels that aided it in motion. When they arrived at the ship, Octavia was pleased to note the machine looked clean and well maintained, a far cry from the delapidated rustbucket she’d half-expected to have to endure. Octavia gave a curt nod to the old man as she hauled herself and her bag aboard, and trundled down the central isle before choosing a seat for herself on the left-hand side of the vessel toward the bow, far enough ahead of the other woman to conceal herself adeuately, and close to both a window and to many of the less-essential port-side electrical systems. Recalling the pilot’s command she stowed her wheeled luggage away, strapping it tightly in place beneath her seat then tying a second strap around for good measure. Looking toward the front and seeing the mage-uniformed man check his own belongings gave Octavia half a mind to undo the straps and start rooting through her own, but she easily resisted the impulse, having given her belongings a thorough check-over the last time she’d stepped off a ship, and in any case not wanting to cover half the deck with mechanical tools, old projects, folded blueprints and archeotch artifacts. When the ship kicked into life it sent a rumble through the deck plates, and Octavia felt the shudder reverberate all through her as mechanisms and electrical systems sprang into life in the wake of the main engine’s ignition, the sensation bringing back to mind many more pleasant moments before it dulled out into the regular whirring of active flight-rotors, and they were away into the overcast skies. _________________________________________ Octavia had listened to the first of Cambridge’s stories, but as the voyage had rumbled on she had found her attention drifting away as they had veered from the informative to the ‘amusing’, or at least she presumed the man had intended them for humerous effect, and had thusly opened up her bag to busy herself with a bit of theoretical planning and a Yafutoman numeral puzzle. The sandwiches had been nice, though; or at least what she had tasted of them had been, but she’d avoided the loqua conspicuously. Only when Cambridge had announced the sight of the castle had she folded away her paper sheets to look out the window again. After any anticipation the sight was actually mildy disapointing, seeming so veerhmantly ordinary as it sat there against the setting sun, the towers grey stone, the curtain wall blocky in ways that suggested mere oldness rather then the true acientness that might have suggested other tantilising secrets. It scarecely even seemed impressive enough to be the domain of the dreaded Bloody Baron, let alone the fabled seat of the mythological ‘Baron Light-thief’, and Octavia found herself pretty much ready to write off the chances of her personal curiosity being satiated there and then. The lilting-voiced mutterings about dying from the woman behind her interrupted at this point, and Octavia turned her head sharply, the blow glow of her artificial eye unyeilding as she closed her flesh-eye a moment, reopening with stern expression. “Giving up already?” she harumphed acidicly, not quite believing the woman had come all this distance just to give up on life before even entering the halls of the castle. Turning back, she started to unbuckle the straps securing her case to the deck as the ship came in to land amidst the courtyard. Closing her mechanical hand about the handle beneath the fold of her sleeve, she wheeled her case down toward the ramp, pausing before alighting to turn toward Cambridge. “I trust your ship is remaining here until our task is complete?” she queried, as if daring him to try a different answer. “If any of those towers have become inaccessable from the ground, your ship may be essential to getting us over the parapets and inside them… assuming we want to actually investigate, and not just stand around gawping at old stonework until we all plunge into the rift.” |
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| Jet Blackbeard | Jul 3 2012, 12:36 AM Post #12 |
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aka Bear
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“I trust your ship is remaining here until our task is complete?” Octavia asked. Cambridge nodded an affirmative. "Don't worry. I won't leave without you. But you'll understand if I keep the doors locked and the windows shut until you're return." With that Cambridge bid them all farewell and locked himself inside of his ship. The trio of Valuans stood before the castle, each left to their own thoughts, but the cloaked man scarcely gave it a second glance before making straight towards the double doors leading within. The cloaked man glanced back only once at his traveling companions before trying the door. He found it unlocked and pulled it open, peering cautiously within before stepping inside. The quiet creak of the door drifting further open seemed like an invitation, beckoning the others to follow. ~ Inside the robed man stood, seemingly in awe of his surroundings, inside the front foyer. To either side of him a half dozen doors opened up into hallways leading deeper into the castle. On the far wall were two more portals, these leading down stairways to lower floors. And branching out from the wall, like two arms reaching for him, were a pair of staircases that ascended to a balcony that ringed the foyer. Here could be found another six doors located precisely above their counterparts on the ground floor. Opening up just behind the stairs were twin archways. And beyond these were an expansive ballroom with its vast dance floor and tables arrayed neatly around it. At the far end of the room was a stage obviously built to support a musical ensemble. To either side of the stage were doors leading back into a kitchen and a dining hall, each on a different side. The robed man remained still, observing his surroundings and perhaps waiting for something to happen..... ~ Out on the boat Cambridge got up to pour himself a drink and settle in for a long wait. "Hmm? He left this behind." The old nobleman muttered to himself when he beheld a large satchel still lying on the rearmost seat. He recalled seeing it in the possession of the robed man from earlier. "Should I take it to him before he's too far gone?" Cambridge debated the issue. Deciding that it was the right thing to do he replaced his empty glass in the cupboard and reached out to lift the satchel. *TINGATINGATINGATINGA* The ringing of a bell, as if from an alarm clock, sounded from the satchel just as his hand closed over its carry strap. Cambridge started in surprise that quickly turned to horror as he realized what he was holding. "By the Mo~" A huge explosion rocked the courtyard as Cambridge's boat was engulfed in a huge ball of flames. The trio of Valuans rushed back out of the door to investigate and immediately realized that they would not be returning home the same way they'd arrived. The boat had been completely destroyed along with its jovial captain by the explosive device smuggled aboard by the robed stranger. Returning inside the three explorers would find that the robed man was no longer where he had been earlier. Nor had he left any sign as to which way he had gone. Only one thing was for certain. The robed man was not their ally. (OOC - At this point you are all free to proceed as you wish. A portion of the castle has been described to get you started but the rest of its interior is yours to create as you go. The robed man is no longer in your party and no one is allowed to encounter him unless he makes contact with your character first.) |
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| Daiohma | Jul 8 2012, 07:13 PM Post #13 |
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The Ice Fang
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Marisa stood looking up at the castle while the others made their way of the small ship. Spending her early years in lower Valua she had not had much of a chance to see such large looking buildings with it's pointed towers. She placed her right hand under her cloak again, touching her mechanical arm like it was her pet. ''Soon we have fun.'' She told herself while the group walked past her. She had a good feeling that they would not be alone inside the castle. ''Giving up already?'' The other woman asked her as she got of from the ship. Marisa had no idea why she was asking so she just raised her right hand and placed it in her mouth. She stared her in the eyes as she dug her teeth into the back of her own hand, causing blood to drip down her arm. Grinning at her she licked the back of her hand. As the woman turned away to check if the ship would be waiting for them Marisa turned her attention to the man in Valuan armor. With her hood still down she smiled across at him and gave a little wave of her hand. Just then the cloaked man walked past the group and pulled open the main doors which appeared to of been unlocked. As he entered Marisa found herself following him inside. The darkness of the castle and the creaking of the old door seemed like home to her. ~ As Marisa entered she came to a stop just behind the cloaked man who was standing in the center of the room, taking it all in. Marisa raised her head slightly as her nose twitched, sniffing the air. ''No fun for us in here...'' She told herself, dissapointed that the lack of the smell of fresh blood. She looked up and down at the many doors and passages, wondering which way to go. The cloaked man seemed to also be just standing around, probably thinking which way would be best to head. Just then a massive explosion caused the hall to shake as something was going on just outside. Like a moth to a flame Marisa rushed outside to investigate. She came to a stop the moment she saw Cambridge's boat engulfed in flames. Her eyes widdened as she found her own arms huging her body as a feeling of pleasure from seeing the mangaled boat rushed over her body. ''It's so beautiful!!'' She said as she watched the boat burn. Marisa turned to face the other two Valuans yet her eyes where still fixed on the burning boat. ''Marisa thinks someone here is playing with her.'' She finally took her eyes away from the boat and looked back towards the castle. As she entered with the other two of the group just behind she noticed the cloaked man was no longer around. ''Hehe, We think we know who is having fun.'' Marisa told herself, figuring that it must of been the cloaked man who destroyed the boat. ''Today is full of surprise.'' Marisa said to the two Valuans as she approached the stairway leading up to the second floor. ~ Marisa took a moment as she walked up and down the balcony, passing several doors while sniffing the air for blood. However it was no good as the smell of the burning boat from just outside was covering up any other smell. She finally stopped at one of the doors, it was the first one on the right hand side of the upper floor. ''Hello.'' She said as she tilted her head in a mocking fashion. Just on the other side of the door there seemed to be someone standing facing her. Marisa walked into the room which turned out to be a long corridor, and the man turned out to be a statue of a Valuan guard in full armor. ''Pretty..'' Marisa said as she looked down the corridor which was lined with a number of these statues, each one a different type of valuan guard. ''Hold this for us.'' Marisa asked the first statue as she took her half cloak off, placing onto the statue as if to be dressing it up. ''Marisa missed you, yes she did.'' The girl raised her left arm and rubbed her face against it like she would to a cute kitten. Her arm caught the light as the metal shone, even the numerous blood stains on the metal seemed to shine. The bright Yellow Moon Stone shone as she twitched her long claws back and forth, finally pointing her claws towards her own face she licked each one of them with a smile. ''We have a job to do.'' She whispered to her arm. Marisa seemed to skip down the corridor like a small child with a smile on her face. Stopping at the first statue, ''Hello there!'' She said in a cheerful voice as she slashed her claws at it's head, slicing it at the neck for a clean cut. The head fell to the ground and shattered. Marisa continued to skip along the corridor, this time a little slower as she eyed the next statue. ''Hello there...'' This time her greeting was not as cheerful and somewhat twisted. Without eye contact this time she slashed at the statue of the Valuan guard and took off not only it's head but the top half of it's chest too. Marisa then continued to walk down the corridor, her head down and her metal arm dragging across the floor leaving cuts in the red carpet. She stopped at the last statue, her head still down she raised her claws. ''Die...'' She muttered in a cold heartless voice as she slashed at the statue, shattering it so only it's legs where left standing. Looking up Marisa noticed that she was at the end of the corridor and another door now faced her. ''Take care of my cloak!'' She turned and cheerful waved at the very first statue which had her cloak on. Her cheerful friendly self only lasted for the split second as she quickly reverted back to her twisted side. She took the door down in one swipe of her arm, ''We must find worthy people...'' She told herself, ''And books, hehe, books...''' She held her normal hand against her head as she started to laugh which echoed down the corridor of smashed statues. |
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| Wizard of Glacia | Jul 14 2012, 12:53 AM Post #14 |
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Arcadian Cryptohistorian
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Isaac stood solidly and regarded the castle. Even for Upper Valua a castle was ritzy for normally families only got to have a large mansion at best. Only the truly rich, and insane, got to have their own castles out away from the main city. As he was preparing to enter the castle Marisa waved at him with a bloody hand, the waving motion causing blood to be flung on the ground. He grimaced and asked sideways at the woman with the mask, "Ugh what in the name of the Moons is her problem?" He kind of regretted asking one weirdo why another weirdo was being weird but as long as he didn't say that he was certain that he was in the clear. The hooded man from before rushed past them all and into the castle which was apparently unlocked. Marisa followed after which left Isaac and Octavia outside. Isaac made a small bow, "Ladies first." But just then an explosion shook the island as Cambridge's boat burst into flames and began to sink. Isaac stood aghast as he watched it. Marisa came out and began gushing about how beautiful the flames were which Isaac found annoying. "Show a little respect for the dead why don't you?" Isaac saluted the burning ship with a stern look and turned to enter the castle. "Now how are we going to get off of this rock before it collides with the Rift? I hope the Bloody Baron kept some spare lifeboats handy..." And with that he stepped inside. The entrance of the castle was marvelous with fine carvings and opulent furnishings. The hooded man however was not to be seen which was suspicious... undoubtedly he had played some part in the ships explosion but why? Cambridge had been innocent in the matter and it also brought up the point that the only boat they had was now halfway to Deep Sky by now. This only made Isaac more sure about there being some other sort of transport off of the castle. Marisa chose to go up the stairs and through a doorway into a hall. Although the ballroom was enticing, it was doubtful that any books would be found there. "Well here we go..." with a rustle of his cloak Isaac chose a door on the lower floor and entered the hallway beyond. In this hallways were six doors, three to each side, and at the end of the hallway was a large bust of an elegant man with an equally elegant mustache. Isaac opened the first door on the left, inside the room was a single green rocking chair and nothing more. "Well that's rather disappointing." He shut the door and moved to the opposite door. Inside it was a single blue rocking chair and nothing more. Isaac looked at it for a moment and furrowed his brow. "What the...?" He shut the door and moved down to the next door. Inside it was a modestly furnished bedroom which contained a bookshelf. "Ah! this is better." Much to his dismay, every book on the bookshelf was about making pies and none of them were on his list. With an annoyed grunt her left the room and shut the door. He crossed the hallway to the opposite door and opened it. Inside was a room identical to the one he had just been in only the entire room was upside down. The furniture and bedding clung to the ceiling as if gravity had no meaning. Without actually entering the room Isaac shut the door and felt a bit of sweat drip down his brow. "I heard that the Baron was eccentric but this is just weird..." Isaac moved to the second to last door and opened it. Inside was what appeared to sitting room complete with a small bar and a couple full bottles of blue loqua. On the wall was a very ornate tapestry depicting a Valuan knight in full armor valiantly slaying a large Dracolurg. While interesting, the room contained no books so Isaac left the room and went to the last one across the hallway. Inside was a near identical copy to the sitting room only the bottles of loqua were red and the tapestry depicted the Dracolurg eating the Valuan knight. "By the moons I hope the rest of the castle ins't like this." Isaac stepped back out into the hallway. The crashing sound of things breaking came from above and he looked up curiously. "What is everyone else doing? All this racket will only draw unwanted attention..." Then Isaac formally turned his attention to the bust next to him. The man appeared to be of middle age with noble looks. An elegant mustache sat upon his upper lip and a slightly condescending grin was on his lips. Upon looking it over Isaac frowned at the face of the bust. "Are you making fun of me? You think this is funny?" He frown angrily at the bust. "Lovely... now I'm arguing with statuary..." |
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| Gordreg | Jul 19 2012, 02:42 PM Post #15 |
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Administrator
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The other woman’s response to her remark was less then forthcoming, and Octavia gave a snort of annoyance as the woman merely chewed on her own hand instead of answering her concerns, a maddended grin in her eyes as she stared right back, blood dripping down her arm from where she had bitten herself. Without another word of her own Octavia turned her attention back to Cambridge, Octavia gave a frown as she heard his own answer, the sides of her lip drawing thin. “Not really.” She spoke “This castle is presumed uninhabited, after all; or at least all the evidence supported that conjecture – but I suppose as that is not actually a known, your caution does have some small merit.” She admitted, a little reluctantly, turning her head forward once more to step from the ramp down into the courtyard, and hearing the clicking as the locking mechanism closed behind her. Half of the party had already ventured inside, and that left Octavia and the man in mage’s armour standing in the courtyard, near to a few specks of blood staining the grown. Shed by the cloaked woman from her self-inflicted wound? “I can’t begin to fathom.” she tutted, folding her arms, as she recalled the strange words spoken earlier. “Perhaps she has some death-wish?” she theorised, stepping closer toward the door. “Or…” The explosion rocked the courtyard suddenly, wide gouts of flame bursting from the hull of the anchored ship, popping the thing like some child’s toy dirgible. Octavia’s flesh-eye went very wide as the roaring explosion rushed out, feeling the intense burst of warmth as the heat-wave from the explosion licked across her. She could see her clothes burning, feel the pop of her own sizzling flesh as it ignited, see the heat-seared gantries toppling and twisting as the whole burning screaming edifice lurched unsteadily, half-molten where the moonstone-strike had cooked off the primary magazine. Something or someone clutched at the sizzling meat of her leg, and she lashed out as best she could with her cooked limb, feeling her own useless flesh burning from her bones even as she kicked and kicked and kicked at the unknown figure trying to pull her from her partial shelter into the raging heart of the Grand fortress inferno, screaming and screaming and Screaming. She opened her eye again, and found herself on the ground, still in front of the courtyard door. Breathing fast, she could hear the slight wheeze as her augmated lung tried to keep up with its undamaged opposite, and she patted away the small secondary fires that had taken hold on her cloak, still shivering slightly as she looked quickly around at the two people there – the mage warden, and the morbid woman – and then back over to the smouldering wreckage of what had once been Cambridge and his ship. Octavia felt an uncommon lump in her throat as the morbid woman made a remark about the wreckage, the pistons of her mechanical limb grinding as it closed beneath the robe, now mostly burnt and useless itself. With a scowl, she disgarded the cloak, tossing it onto the ground before slowly raising herself back onto her feet, her mechanincal arm now clearly visable if anyone had actually cared to look. Regaining her grip upon her wheeled carry-bag, Octavia dragged it in through the castle entrance, and there took a seat for herself. Her flesh-arm was still shaking a little as she drew the Yafutoman numeric puzzle out her bag once again, and sat, pencil in hand, her attention flicking between the puzzle itself and rough plans of what areas of the castle to explore first as she calmed herself back down for the challenges ahead. But even there, Octavia found her attention wandering, three crude figures appearing in the margain of the page; two cloaked and one armoured. After a moment more thought her pencil turned about and the armoured figure vanished from the margain, leaving only the two in cloaks. But which of the pair had been the one responsible for the explosion, she began to wonder? Lifting herself up from the seat once more, she began walking across the room, headed toward the pair of stairwells on the far side that led deeper into the castle bowels.. |
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| Jet Blackbeard | Jul 19 2012, 11:06 PM Post #16 |
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aka Bear
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(OOC - Big props to Wizard for setting the mood in his last post. I felt like I had to work part of it into a puzzle that would do Resident Evil proud.) The robed man stood behind a doorway on the second floor. He'd left it ajar, allowing him to peer out through the crack and note the movements of his erstwhile traveling companions. He was pleased to note that Marisa had entered a door at ground level on the other side of the hallway, putting her as far away from his present location as possible. Much like the others he had taken note of her odd behavior and pegged her as a potential threat. That wasn't to say the other two wouldn't cause him trouble as well. The Mage Warden had entered the hallway directly beneath him while the researchers with the metal arm and face was tarrying in the foyer. The robed man pulled the door silently closed and turned to inspect the hall he was in now. Six doors, three to either side, awaited exploration. And at the very end of the hall, standing on a wooden pedestal was the stone bust of a matronly noblewoman. Choosing the nearest door on the lefthand side the robed man tried the knob and, finding it unlocked, entered. Oddly enough the room contained only a single piece of furniture; a bright red rocking chair. Arching his eyebrow in confusion the robed man left the room and tried the one directly across from it. It was identical to the one he'd just left though, save for the color of the chair. This one was yellow. The robed man tried the second door on the righthand side. This one appeared normal enough. It was a small bedroom. But a closer look at the floor revealed that the furniture inside was bolted to the floor with heavy metal braces. The robed man had no way of knowing that the chamber directly beneath this one was the upside-down room Isaac had discovered. The braces were likely holding the inverted furniture in place. The robed man stood still for a moment, allowing his trained eye to inspect the room for concealed dangers. Satisfied that it was relatively safe he shrugged his way out of the heavy gray robe and kicked it out of sight beneath the bed. Underneath he was wearing a brick red shirt and tan pants; the uniform of a Zivilyn Bane operative. "Whoa, finally. Thought I'd be wearing that stuffy thing all damn day." E'ban sighed as he mopped sweat from his brow. Then, noticing the books on the room's bookshelf, he stepped over to inspect them. A quick search revealed that the notebook his master, Neo Lord Bane, had sent him in search of was not present. But that was hardly a surprise. The intelligence E'ban had received on the subject stated that Baron Forsythe's private collection was located somewhere on the upper floors in a hidden study. That collection consisted of various research reports, historical accounts, scholarly theories and even well-known rumors concerning the existence of a seventh moon and the lost continent that once lied beneath it. Neo Lord Bane had taken a sudden interest in that subject after E'ban's recent return from Rolana. To his mind it all sounded like so much hogwash but E'ban would follow his master's orders and retrieve Baron Forsythe's material on the subject without fail. ~ After a brief search that had turned up nothing of interest in the room E'ban stepped across the hall to search the next one. He opened the door and peered inside. "Ooookay, this is new." He furrowed his brow in confusion once again. This entire room, from ceiling to floor, was carpeted in what appeared to be huskra fur. Various multi-colored pelts gave the room a patchwork appearance and E'ban was loathe to set foot inside the room. In the room's center was a dais that had been constructed from the bones and skulls of many animals, leaving no one to wonder whether or not the fur was authentic. "Guess the old man didn't care for huskras." E'ban shrugged. Standing upright atop the dais was a huge metal cleaver. Even from where he stood E'ban could see that its edge was stained with blood that looked a little too fresh for having been left unused in several years. He felt a shudder run up his spine when he realized that perhaps this castle wasn't quite as abandoned as they'd all been led to believe. ~ Quickly exiting the fur-draped room E'ban moved to the end of the hall and tried the righthand door. This one proved to be locked. He was about to give it a stiff kick to open the way but then thought better of it. The noise might alert the others to his presence. Fortunately E'ban was carrying a set of lockpicks with him. This method was more time-consuming but far quieter than forcing his way in. He crouched down in front of the door to begin fiddling with the lock only to realize that there wasn't one. "Huh? No keyhole? Then how do you open..." E'ban muttered in irritation. But he cut himself off when he noticed a small wire running up the length of the doorjamb. Standing up E'ban craned his neck to trace the course of the wire. It ran across the hallway and vanished into the wall on the opposite side. The final doorway was right beneath it. Without hesitation E'ban opened the lefthand door. Stepping inside he found himself in a small study. One end was dominated by a large hearth with a writing desk set in front of it. There was also a couch set against one wall with a coffee table in front of it. Another bookshelf stood across from it on the opposite side of the room. Once again E'ban inspected the books but could not find anything of interest. A quick search of the couch did reveal a gold coin between its cushions that E'ban was quick to pocket. He spent the next few moments rummaging around in the desk's drawers but found nothing of interest or value. Only yellowed documents containing mining reports and payroll accounts. There was an inkwell sitting atop the desk but its contents had dried out long ago, leaving its interior lacquered in thick black dust. There was also an ornamental letter opener that caught E'ban's eye. It was solid gold and richly engraved with the letter "F" at one end. "F for Forsythe I bet." E'ban guessed as he pocketed the item. He was a thief after all. ~ E'ban turned his attention to the hearth and was a little dismayed to note that some of the ashes it contained appeared to be fresh, much like the blood on the cleaver in the other room. Had someone been warming themselves here recently? E'ban stood up to inspect the mantle above the hearth. There was an oil painting depicting a Valuan ball held in the castle's ballroom. The painting itself was of no interest but the markings on the wall next to it were. E'ban's trained eye picked them out and he realized that the painting was a little lopsided. Without ceremony E'ban yanked the painting off the wall and laid it aside. Sure enough it had been concealing something. Set into the wall beneath it was a three-by-three grid of squares with four tiles located at each of the compass points upon its face. E'ban knew immediately that it was some sort of puzzle. He examined each tile carefully. One bore the letter "F" written in flowery Valuan cursive. It matched up perfectly with the symbol on the letter opener. Another tile was etched with a spidery character that E'ban recognized as Nasrean writing. It too depicted an "F". A third tile was marked with a series of slash marks that appeared to be Yafutoman. Although he couldn't read it E'ban was willing to bet that it too was an "F". The final tile held some kind of pictograph that could well have been a form of crude Ixa'takan writing. E'ban experimented with the tiles and found that he could slide them horizontally and vertically about the grid. He reckoned that aligning them on a certain pattern would trigger some hidden mechanism. But positioning them incorrectly might set off a deadly trap. He had to think about this carefully. Several minutes passed as E'ban considered the significance of the tiles. Each bore the same letter so the "F" wasn't relevant. Solving the puzzle had something to do with the four kingdoms the language on the tile depicted. He considered positioning them relative to their location on a map but wasn't certain. Perhaps the names held some significance. "Nasr, Yafutoma, Valua and Ixa'taka. N, Y, V and I. How do they relate to the F?" E'ban wondered. With a sigh E'ban turned to see if there was a chair in the room. He was probably going to be here for a while and it would be nice if he could sit down while he thought things through. "Wait....a chair?' Suddenly a thought struck him. The oddly colored chairs from before! He'd written them off as the eccentricities of a loony old man but perhaps there was some method to his madness. Could they have been some kind of clue? E'ban thought back to the chairs. "Red and yellow. Nasr and Valua maybe?" He wondered aloud. Choosing the tile with the Valuan character he slid it into the top right corner. He repeated the motion, placing the tile marked in Nasrean in the top left. "There must be two more chairs on the lower hall." E'ban realized. "But on which side is which?" He knew he had a fifty-fifty chance of choosing correctly. One choice might be rewarding while the other could prove fatal. E'ban gingerly slid the Ixa'takan tile into the lower left. Nothing happened. "One to go." He whispered as he moved the Yafutoman tile towards the lower right corner. He nudged it into place with the tip of his finger and then leapt aside, fully expecting an arrow to leap from the wall or the floor beneath him to fall away. The only response was a quiet click and then the four tiles began moving simultaneously of their own accord. In one swift motion they slid back into their starting positions, resetting the mechanism. "Huh. Did something happen?" E'ban wondered to himself. He had a clue as to what that something might be. Carefully replacing the painting on the wall E'ban exited the room and tried the locked door once again. This time it opened easily. "Hah, I knew it." The thief crowed quietly in satisfaction. Beyond the wooden portal stood a narrow set of stairs that spiraled up through the ceiling. "Now we're getting somewhere." E'ban smiled as he mounted the steps and began climbing. Behind him the door drifted closed. Another soft click indicated that it was locked once again. (OOC - My character has been revealed and the quest is finally getting underway. Just a quick reminder, interaction with E'ban is off limits unless he approaches your character first. Also, at this point I may start posting outside of my turn to throw some obstacles in your path. So be ready for anything.) |
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| Daiohma | Jul 20 2012, 09:44 PM Post #17 |
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The Ice Fang
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As her laughter stopped Marisa poked her head into the next room that was connected to the corridor of smashed statues. For a moment she stood in the door way, staring as what she saw was another long corridor not too unlike the one she was just in. ''Are we here?'' She asked herself as she turned back to look at the previous corridor. She looked back and forth for a moment before walking into the new area. Right at the other end of this corridor was yet another wooden door, almost the same as the one she had just smashed yet only differed in colour. This new door was a dark blue while the one that was not in pieces was a dark green. However it was not the colours of the doors that confused the girl, it was the fact that this room had another set of statues. They where the same as the ones she had smashed yet there where two differences what where hard to miss. These statues, although the same where standing on the opposite side of the room and they all had their arms missing. Marisa found herself walking right up to the first one that was a perfect but armless copy of the one she had trusted her cloak to in the first corridor. ''How are you?'' Marisa said as she reached out with her human hand in the way one would shake hands. She then burt out in laughter at her own joke, ''You have no hands!'' Marisa walked down the corridor, looking at each of the Valuan statues. She did not seem to bothered with the fact their arms where missing and so focused her attention on the dark blue door. With another swing of her claws she took no time at all in taking down the door. She did not realized it but the wood used in the doors was mush stronger than a normal valuan wooden door, thanks to her monstrous metal arm. ''Is someone playing Marisa's game....against Marisa?'' The twisted girl asked she she stared at what was on the other side of the door. Yet again a third corridor awaited her. This time the statues, that almost where perfect copies of the originals where on both sides of the room. However all of them where missing their heads. After taking in the fact that she was in a room with eight headless statues Marisa then took a look at the door on the other side of the corridor. ''Marisa getting annoyed!'' She shouted as she stormed down the corridor and took a swing at the new door. The moment her claws made contact there came a sound of clashing metal that rang out down all three corridors. Marisa found herself pulling her hand away from the door as her body shook. ''Metal?'' She asked as she looked at the wooden door. The door indeed looked to be made from metal and was coloured in a dark yellow. However when she placed her hand against it she could feel the cold metal that the door was made off. ''Why trick Marisa?'' The girl asked, almost sounding like a lost child looking for someone. Yet the sadness in her voice was just her way of messing with the statues that two her where just people. ''How will we go on?'' She thought about her question, realizing that this was no normal set of corridors and maybe that she would need to think about what she was doing. She looked at the eight statues without heads, noting that there where two of each but the same ones not opposite each other. The two that caught her attention where a pair at each end, valuan guards in mage armor with their arms stretched out and holding onto a book. ''What you reading?'' Marisa asked as she checked the closest one. She tried to take the book not realizing it was part of the statue and also made from stone. ''You can't read stone, haha.'' She mocked the statue. She looked at the cover of the stone book, ''Fhhhhh.'' She hissed at the letter on the cover. With nothing more of interest she walked over to the statues' twin and checked his book's cover. ''Stupid, you can't read upside down!'' Marisa shouted at the lifeless stone man. His book, the same as the other but was holding it upside down. For the next couple of minuets Marisa looked at the other six statues but nothing jumped out at her, not that if anything did would she understand much. She decided to go back and check the middle room but not before stopping in the door way to mock the stone men. ''How you all read with no heads?'' She laughed at them all. ''Heads?'' Marisa suddenly came to a stop as she put two and two together. She turned and looked at the statues without arms yet with heads. ''You need a head?'' She asked as she looked for the statue that mirrored the ones with the books. She walked half way down the second corridor as she looked at the four stone valuans. They all head heads but without arms she had no idea which head she would need. ''Think Marisa! You think now!'' She yelled at herself. The girl then looked down the corridor into the first area. ''They have head and arms!'' She said out loud. ''Who do? The ones in there?'' She replied to herself before grinning. She rushed into the first room where she had smashed up all the statues, down on all fours she looked around for the arms. She found a set but they where in the position of saluting, ''No good!'' She tossed them against the wall, smashing them even more. She sat herself up and looked on at the mess she had made, wondering if she was destined to advance this way or not. Her mind wondered as she thought about going back to the main hall to find one of the others to play with. ''Who will play with Marisa? Make her smile today.....'' She started to sing as her eyes stared out of the door and back into the main hall. Just then her attention was caught by her cloak, hanging on the very first statue. ''Are you waiting for me?'' Marisa said as she stood up and walked over to the Valuan. She took a hold of her cloak and tossed it to the ground. To her surprise the statue was the one she was looking for, his arms out to hold a book. ''Where is your book?'' Marisa asked, noting that this one was not holding such a thing. ''No matter....'' She smiled as she raised her metal arm. With a quick slash she dug her claws into the torso and with a twist shattered the stone, opening her metal hand just in time to catch the head. Keeping hold of the head she made her way back to the middle corridor. ''We know what to do!'' She said as she stared at the head, looking at the armless statues for a matching one. She stood in front of the statue's twin, checking that the head's matched. ''Raise your arms if you want to keep your head?'' She joked as she lashed out at the armless stone man. As it shattered she made her way to the last corridor with the two heads. ''One for you.... and one for you.'' Marisa placed the two heads on the two statues which where holding books. Marisa waited for something to happen but nothing seemed to of moved or made a sound. She placed her human hand against her waist, ''Marisa make better game than this!'' She yelled as she stared at the two statues with heads. ''Oh you silly girl.'' Marisa told herself. ''What we do wrong?'' Marisa walked over to the stone man who was holding his book upside down. Naturally one would of guessed that the book would of needed turning around somehow but lucky for Marisa her mind seemed a perfect fit for the game. She took the head and turned it upside down then placed it back onto the neck of the statue. The moment it made contact the room started to shake. All eight Valuan guards started to turn until they all had their backs to one another. Next came a loud clicking sound from the end of the corridor. Marisa stood and watched as the dark yellow door started to open. ''Game on...'' Marisa said as she raised her claws to her face. She stuck out her tounge and started to lick the tips of her claws as she wondered what was on the other side of the door. She took a moment to smash two of the Valuan guards and then walked into the new area. This new room was much larger than the corridors and was connected to seven different doors. In the center of the room there was a small table that was so low there was no need for chairs. Marisa noticed this table was on a multi coloured mat that looked like it was made from something soft. She did not know what but she did not care as she walked over and sat down, using her human hand to stroke the mat. She then took notice of the table, there where several blank sheets of paper but more interesting to her where the seven different coloured crayons. ''Marisa draw?'' She picked up the red crayon and stared at it for a moment before spotting that one of the doors in the room was also red. Edited by Daiohma, Jul 20 2012, 09:45 PM.
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| Wizard of Glacia | Jul 27 2012, 07:22 PM Post #18 |
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Arcadian Cryptohistorian
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Isaac glared at the bust in front of him while the bust merely kept its mug expression. Isaac wasn't a quitter and he hadn't come all this way just to find some upside down rooms and other such foolishness. "You know what? Lets see what you look like without your mustache!" With that he reached forward intending to break the mustache off however instead of putting up a fight the mustache popped off as if it was meant to. "Gah! What the... its double-sided!" Indeed when flipped around the mustache looked like a very extravagant, and ridiculous, bow tie. "Now where would this... a ha!" On the bust's neckline was an indentation for a tie and Isaac placed the piece in the slot. A low rumbling was heard within the walls and Isaac stood back unsure of what was going to happen. Part of the wall behind the bust opened up and revealed a staircase which spiraled upward. Controlling the desire to jump for joy, Isaac merely snickered and set foot on the dusty staircase. "Heh the Baron's genius is best suited for one such as myself, those simpletons with me haven't a chance..." The staircase led to a balcony which encircled the grand ballroom below. Isaac walked to the railing and peered down, from his vantage point he could see the whole floor as well as a pit for an orchestra and a throne at the end of the ballroom emblazoned with a large F meant for none other than the Baron. Isaac looked up and saw a breathtaking sight, the ceiling of the ballroom was painted to depict a flight of angels flying around the Yellow Moon which was also emblazoned with an elaborately scripted F. "I do wish to have a painting like that someday... but without the F of course..." Aside from the door he had just come from, the balcony had two other doors, one with glass panes and another which was solid. Isaac made for the glass door and opened it. The door opened onto a balcony overlooking the outside courtyard. In its time the view must have been amazing but now all Isaac could see was the gray clouds of lower sky and the courtyard which had debris and a scorch mark from Cambridge's ship explosion. The courtyard was otherwise empty and silent. "Hmm..." Isaac turned his attention the the balcony contained a single weathered chair and a small table meant for holding wine glasses or books. An the ground were shard of glass which had most likely came from a wine glass which had fallen and broken during the Rains of Destruction. Amid the glass shards were three gold coins which Isaac took gladly. "Just in case I don't get paid for this at least I will have these..." Isaac went back inside and walked to the last door. It was heavy and its hinges groaned but it still slid open. Beyond was a stone corridor with windows on each side. The corridor ended at another door. "Well at least this seems straight-forward enough." As he walked through he noticed that he was heading to one of the mansion's towers, upon reaching the door however Isaac frowned as the large door was locked. "Damn it all..." |
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| Gordreg | Aug 2 2012, 03:05 PM Post #19 |
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Administrator
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The wheels of her case clattered as they bumped down every step in turn, and Octavia began to wonder if she’d made the right choice by not leaving it in the entrance hall. Every step it clattered down would likely as not be one she would have to lug it right back up and over on her return journey; and that number was only increasing as the descending stairwell wound another corkscrew turn down through the belly of the castle. By now she was… two, perhaps three levels below the entrance? Octavia considered for a moment, deciding to err for the lesser number. The entrance hall had been a very grand, tall room and even this stairwell was quite wide and roomy; if all the castle’s floors were of a similar scale then likely as not she’d only gone two down at the most. And as Octavia was starting to wonder just how many floors below ground there might be or have been, the spiraling stairwell opened out into a corridor. Though nearly as tall as those on the upper floor, the corridor was a little narrower; but the real difference as far as Octavia could see was in the decoration. The walls were still painted but in darker colours to fit better in the darker locations below the surface level, and the lights that hung from the ceiling were a little more utilitarian. The walls had no plinths for statues, and only a few old pictures hung along the length between the branching doors, likely as not works the last master of the castle had held no care for. The two nearest to the stairwell were pictures of ships, old ones from the first days after the rediscovery of moonstone-flight; a wooden Valuan Gunbarque on the wall to her right; a Nasrean Dromon taking a place on the left. But after she passed the first set of doors, the paintings turned from old ships into sepia-toned pictures of Loopers. It was less a question as why the lords of the manner had removed these pictures from the upper levels and more a question why he had kept them on his walls anywhere, Octavia considered as she passed the third pair of sepia loopers by and paced onward. Here the corridor branched into three; another corridor crossing the one she’d emerged in, and Octavia stopped to look both of the other ways down it, seeing similar pictures stretching in all three directions; none of which gave any clues to what lay beyond the doors, opening out from them, nor what lay behind the doors at each end. Perhaps she should have started on the first room on her right, and made a methodical search of each room in turn, Octavia wondered as she hauled herself and her rolling bag off the branch leading to the left, down toward the door at the far end. But the shape of the corridor was as simple as it was repetative, she considered, as long as she could remember which turns, she’d taken she would know the directions to get back. It wasn’t as if the pictures were… Octavia frowned, and looked at the picture a little more closely. It was a sepia-toned looper, yes, but either some malicious child with exceeding artistic skills had paid a visit to the Forsythe Castle, or else that Looper had really been photographed sporting a moustache and a monocle. Bemused, she turned away again, and continued along the corridor to the end. Reaching it, she pushed the door open, and found another stairwell inside, leading even farther down. Or at least, once it had led farther down. Now, the masonry of the stairwell bore a large fault-line across it. On her side, the castle was there. On the other, it simply wasn’t. Empty air stretched out before her; and beyond it the faint distant sight of the lower clouds, drifting and white thousands of leagues down. Wherever this stairwell had once led, it was thousands of leagues away, likely as not still sitting in the remainder of the mountainside that Castle Forsythe had once squattted upon. In any case, it would be no use continuing in this direction. Taking a few careful steps backward, Octavia turned, and stepped back into the corridors... |
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| Jet Blackbeard | Aug 5 2012, 11:42 PM Post #20 |
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aka Bear
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The staircase let out one floor above the second story hallway in a small, cramped chamber. E'ban paused for a moment at the doorway leading out of it to draw his pistol. He slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack. Peering cautiously out into a new hallway he did not see anyone outside. But the moment E'ban stepped into the hallway his nose was assailed by a sickening scent of decay so strong that he nearly gagged. Ahead of him were a quartet of doors, two on each side of the hall, but he could not discern from which the smell was coming. With pistol in hand E'ban set out to check each one in turn. The first door on the left led to an unadorned room with a floor and walls of bare stone. The ceiling was much higher here than normal. Whatever the room's purpose in the past it now seemed to be some sort of laundry room. There were clothes lines stretching from wall to wall at various heights and directions. Hanging from each was an assortment of shirts, pants and other such apparel. And lying in the center of the room was a large pile of leather goods; belts and boots and suspenders. E'ban was growing used to the oddities found in the castle and didn't bother to question such a haphazard method of drying one's laundry. Instead he moved across the hallway to check the next room. But upon sight of what awaited him on the other side of the door he quickly dismissed the idea that the previous room was used to dry laundry. The right-hand room was nearly identical to the one on the left. It had the same high ceiling and bare walls. There were lines running between them at random intervals. But instead of clothing hung from them E'ban was horrified to see that they held cured skins of several human beings. Their arms and legs and even their faces could be easily made out and were impossible to mistake for animal skins. Each one had been expertly stripped from the body but had probably been cured by age rather than craft. Lying in the floor beneath the ghastly collection was a sizable pile of bones. E'ban didn't have to guess that they were human. Rib cages mingled with femurs and spinal chords but there didn't seem to be any skulls mixed in with them. With morbid curiosity E'ban wondered where they had been taken and why they'd been collected in the first place. Visions of inhuman torture and macabre rituals came to mind and he was suddenly reminded of his master for some reason. Suddenly feeling very exposed and endangered E'ban left the room and moved to the next door on the right. He noticed a trail of dried gore on the floor leading between it and the doorway next to it on the left. Twisting the knob E'ban opened the door and immediately realized that the stench of decay was coming from beyond. Another room, identical to the others awaited him. Its only feature was a circular opening in the floor that dropped down into the darkness below. The trail of dried blood led right up to its lip. Upon closer inspection E'ban could see scraps of flesh and entrails stuck to the walls of the pit. E'ban's stomach lurched from the smell and he quickly retreated from the room. He moved on, entering the final chamber. As expected it was constructed just the same as the others but its contents were very different and very telling. The center of this room was dominated by a heavy wooden table complete with rusted iron manacles bolted to either end. Its surface was deeply scarred and stained with blood. The walls of the chamber were hung with racks of various cutting instruments; carving knives, gut hooks, bone saws, and meat cleavers. E'ban moved over to the nearest rack and took down one of the knives. Its edge was stained with old blood but was still very sharp. Most of the other blades were in the same neglected state but one among them caught the master thief's eye. Hanging amongst the others was a straight razor with a square blade. It wasn't so terribly different from the others save for the fact that the gore that stained its edge seemed a bit fresher than should have been possible. "Somebody got cut by this recently." E'ban muttered to himself. "Maybe two or three days at the most. Just like that big blade downstairs." Following that train of thought to its bitter end E'ban was able to piece together what had been going on in this area of the castle. Someone had been bringing victims into this room to be skinned, possibly alive. Their guts were then tossed down the pit across the hall while their clothing was hung up next door. Finally their skins and bones were brought to the last room for display while the skulls were taken elsewhere. E'ban gathered that much but could not fathom the meaning behind such bloodthirsty actions. Nor did he care to dwell on it. "Well, enough of this. Time to get back to work." He said to himself, taking comfort in the sound of his own voice. But as he was exiting the room he couldn't help but look back at the bloodstained table and shudder at the thought of ending up on it himself. ~ There was another door at the opposite end of the hall but it wasn't your typical portal. The doorframe was much smaller here, forcing E'ban to step over its lower half while exiting. There was no knob either. Instead a simple catch held the door closed. With a flick of his finger E'ban triggered it and pushed the door open. Emerging on the opposite side E'ban was not surprised to see that the door was concealed behind a large painting. If he hadn't just come through it there was the slim possibility that he might have overlooked it later on. Closing the door E'ban surveyed his new surroundings. He was in a circular hallway that surrounded a central area whose floor was painted with a beautiful fresco of pure white doves cavorting around a shining sun. It was separated from the hallway by a waist-high wall of stone interspersed with columns of marble. There were other doors about the hallway and a suspicious looking statue on the far side, directly opposite of the painting E'ban was standing in front of. But for the moment all of that would have to wait. An even more suspicious sight demanded his attention first. Lying in the middle of the fresco was a bedroll complete with pillow. And on the floor next to it stood a drinking cup and a plate topped with silverware. It looked as if someone had spent the night here. E'ban stepped out onto the fresco and approached the strange campsite. As he grew near he peered down at the floor and realized that part of it was transparent. The sun painted on the floor was actually a thick circle of stained glass. E'ban crouched down next to it and realized that he was directly above the ballroom on the ground floor. He recalled seeing a similar fresco on its roof depicting angels and the Yellow Moon. That image and this sun surely overlapped one another. "Someone was keeping a lookout up here I guess." E'ban reckoned. He inspected the bedroll and crockery carefully. There were crumbs on the plate that were hard and stale with age but the bottom of the cup still held a few drops of whatever liquid it had last contained. "And they probably saw the lot of us come inside too. Whoever it was is still nearby I'll wager." As if on cue the quiet click of a door being closed reached E'ban's ears, bringing him to his feet immediately. He dashed off in the direction the sound had come from and soon located a door that was the most likely culprit. A stern kick from his jack-booted foot opened it and he stepped inside, brandishing his pistol menacingly. Beyond the door was a large parlor. A grand piano sat at one end of the room while a well-stocked bar dominated the wall just to his left. A trio of couches were arranged in front of a hearth to his right. Rich tapestries and colorful rugs covered the stone walls while colorful paintings and artful statuary gave the room a rich decorum. And concealed somewhere amongst all this opulence was one of the castle's denizens. "Alright, whoever you are. There's no use hiding." E'ban growled in a harsh voice that hid his anxiety well. " Come out where I can see you. I won't harm you, I promise." He lied, his finger tightening around the trigger of his pistol. |
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2:36 PM Jul 11