Ghosts of Gauntcliff, Chapter Seven

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"You speak Balok, Sancerre?" Everline asks. "Or Darkonese?"

[Adam]

Bennedict stands, throwing the strap of his crossbow over his shoulder. His armor is strapped to his body, despite knowing that it won't do any good against Dodds. He and Charlotte had had a terse discussion on the topic the night before, but ultimately she won out with the reasoning that Dodds can take over people's minds, and Juergin and his cyclopean cronies were still possibly somewhere loose on the island.

Jonas steps up to him, handing him his bowler hat. Benn smiles as he throws it onto his head, tousling the boys' hair. "Be a good lad and listen to your mother," Bennedict says before turning and giving Charlotte a kiss. "I'll be back by nightfall," he says, before turning to join Everline on the way to the chapel.

[ewancummins]

"You speak Balok, Sancerre?" Everline asks. "Or Darkonese?"

''Passing Balok, and a few words of Darkonese. We don't do much direct trade witth Darkon, It is a cursed country."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I'm guessin' it'd seem a bit silly ta you, Benn," Everline says in a conversational tone as the group heads for the chapel. "If'n what I hear about Lamordians is true, anyway. Me, though, I figure we can use all the help we can get, an' nothin' ventured, nothin' gained."

When she hears Sancerre's words, Everline nods. "I knows some things ta say ta the Lady in Darkonese," she says. "Cursed they may be, but they got one'a the four big Sects comin' from there. D'ye mind?"

[ewancummins]

''I don't tend to concern myself with sectarian issues. Feel free to make what devotions you will. The Lady hears us all; I'm sure. "
He lights some incense.

"Whom she favors is another matter."

[Adam]

Bennedict drolly arches an eyebrow but nods in acquiescance, finding a corner to lean against in the room and wait. He reaches into his coat pocket reflexively to pull out his pipe, only to discover the bowl and stem have snapped from each other. With an angry mutter he shoves it back into his pocket and drums his fingers against the butt of his crossbow.

[steveflam]

VIEW CONTENT:

Jürgen, Dark One and cyclopeans early afternoon



Bright sunbeams angled through the cave mouth wake you. The harsh light stings your eyes. Your instincts tell you to pull further back into the cave, out of the glare.

Dark One whispers ‘’The cave faces a little to the west, so it must be afternoon now. “

"Okay dark one. We must have slept a long time." Jürgen stretches and stands, yawning. He thinks a minute. "Well, should we help the party or get out of here? Do you think, given it is the day, we might have a better chance to get away?"

The light hurts Jürgen’s eyes.

Jürgen blinks.

He feels something funny in his eyes.

The boy touches his eyelids , in effect closing his eyes to feel better
what the funny feeling is in his eyes.

Dark One asks ''What is it?"

Jürgen replies "My eyes feel funny, the light bothers them for some reason. This has never happened before."

''Maybe the light is too bright? I like the back of the cave better."

"Maybe, but my eyes feel funny. Have a look, maybe you will see something."

Dark One slides around to face Jürgin. ''Your eyes look normal. Your face...."

The boy frowns.... "My face? Sorry, I was mistaken, the light hurts me eyes."
Jürgen squints at the light, moving back a bit.

Gruz speaks from behind you ''Light is bright."

"Yes it is Gruz."

Moving back, you feel better. The deeper shadows here suit you. Your eyes don't hurt so much.

"This is better. Dark One, what about my face.?"

"You grew whiskers, like a man...sort of..."

"What??...... Whiskers? That is........" Jürgen touches his face now, wondering....

Jürgen feels long whispy tendrils attached to his cheeks, lips and chin.
Like hair, but thicker and... squirming

Jürgen frowns, perplexed then excited! "Hey, this hair feels like it is alive, man! And wow, I have hair on my face! That is so nice to go with my awesomest shark teeth ever! This is so much fun! So, now what? I mean I got a moustache and a beard. I am twelve years old. This rocks! So we do what now, Dark One?”

''You are growing, your body is changing. You become stronger. Soon you will want to mate."

"Uh, mate? Don't only parents um do that? Dark One, what should we do today? I mean do we try to leave and just get disappointed by coming back? If Dodds controls the fog, then how do we get out of here? Kill Dodds?”

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Got that right," Everline says. "Well, then. I'ma gonna say me some'a that Darkonese prayer I mentioned."

She approaches the altar and lights a stick of incense, then places it on the altar and takes a candle. She lights the candle, but rather than place it upon the altar as well, she holds it while she speaks in the strictly-regulated, slightly sinister tongue known as Darkonese:

Darkonese: "We have not had much use for each other, Lady. I recall the last time I begged you for favours, my Mum had gone and I blubbed about it at your altar. You never did bring her back, but in hindsight that's probably best. She probably needed to be elsewhere. Now I said some things to you that were improper at the time, but I don't think you have any great claim on me for that, seeing as the priestess who heard me gave me the hidin' of my young life and made me scrub your altar and the Church floor till I could see my face in 'em before she let me go."

Everline raises the candle in a salute and smiles a bit. It is an unpleasant expression.
Darkonese: "I'm dying down here. I'm dying in pieces. Every mortal must die in time, but I ain't ready ta die like this. Not an' become part of that abomination. You are the Guardian in the Mists, and even if we don't have too much use for each other on a normal day, Lady, I think we can make use of each other here and now. It sickens me to my gut that any creature would do such a thing as that Dodds bastard has done -- not only to me, but to young Maggie and who knows how many others.

Ezra, I need an edge. You need able hands to bring death to this Dodds filth. We, these worthy people and I, need an edge. If you are a true Guardian to the innocent, then I request you lend a hand. If you are righteous, you'll overlook the whole thing where most of us aren't in your faith. The goal to make the world a better place should transcend such considerations, in my opinion. And even if it does not, consider: we are the tools at hand, and your faithful will soon start dying here."

Everline finally puts the candle on the altar, winks at the statue and says: "Any clues on where to find yon Abbot's sceptre wouldn't go amiss either, yer Nibs."

[Ail]

After coming down from the library, and before the others wake up, Eustace looks for Penda. If he finds the halfling, he tells him this:

"Penda, I've heard you take care of a garden here. Perhaps you know of medicinal herbs and infusions. I have some experience with that too, not too great but I did some of that work at the monastery.

I was wondering if you know of any herb or poultice, or whatever, that can make a man or woman sleep such a heavy sleep that all dreams are blocked from their mind during the night. I'm sure you may have heard of something, it is not unusual that people plagued by nightmares seek some sort of respite from bad dreams and nightly terrors. Would there be any such herb here in your garden? Or in Gauntcliff, at least?"

Later in the afternoon (I hope not TOO late. Sancerre's comment that we are well into the afternoon has got me worried for sure. We might not have much time to go to the village and back):

Eustace follows Everline into the chapel. He doesn't feel much uncomfortable being there, and he does enter the chapel. Out of respect, he does the usual ritual signs he devotes to Belenus, figuring Ezra might not entirely approve of them but he, consciously, can not bring himself to follow rituals of other gods.
Still, Ezra is a good-hearted goddess, aligned with Light and Hope, and in some sense an ally of Belenus... if the stories that tell she was a mortal woman and a powerful witch at that are not true. He loses himself in thoughts about divine disputes and heresies until he notices Everline is finishing whatever she said to her. He wakes back to the normal world.

[ewancummins]

Denys kneels and silently performs his own devotions.

When he rises, the looks a little less tired, a little less gloomy.


''I will make certain Melmoth knows you plan to visit the ruined settlement."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Primeiro, feeling much better after a few additional hours of rest, gets up and determines the group's consensus regarding their plan of defense and attack. He heads toward the chapel.

Once there, he says, "So... what is the plan here? Another consecration ritual?"

[ewancummins]

With the plan formulated, the party moves out, headed for the abandoned settlement…

…

Hiking across Gauntcliff's wild landscape in the cooling afternoon air, the heroes might be tempted to forget the recent terrible happenings at the chateau. Wildflowers and berry bushes grow along green streambeds tucked away in the folded earth. Wheat-colored grass clings to the crests and backs of dunes in long tufts, holding back the advance of the sands. Dwarf oaks stand watch over the hills, deep-rooted, bent by the wind into fantastic shapes. Golden sunshine falls in bright spears through the wispy clouds-- but out to sea the thick mists remain unmoved by the stiff autumn winds.

With Melmoth’s help as guide, the party soon reaches the remains of a little village partially covered by the dunes. Dry-rotted walls sag under the pressure of the piled sand on the windward side; some have collapsed. If thatch once covered the roofs, it has long since been carried away by wind or birds; only bare roof timbers, bleached as driftwood, remain. The village does not appear to have been large, but who knows what might be concealed beneath the sand?

[Ken of Ghastria]

Primeiro looks at the settlement's remains sadly. "So this is what remains of the Ghastrians who tried to settle this cursed place...?" He steps forward. "I suggest we check the structures nearest the center," he says to the others. "That's likely where they would've set up some administrative or leadership post. But mind your steps. And those of you best equipped to fight the undead, don't be the first to venture into any area. We can't afford for you to get ... lost." His hand stays close to his rapier.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio nods. "Yes, the center, good thinking." He uses his spear as a walking staff as he picks his way through what remains of the village. He keeps an eye out for anything that looks like it could have once been a temple or shrine.

[ewancummins]

Dorgio walks into the middle of the ruins. Looking about, he sees no sign of a temple or command post, just bare rafters, sagging walls, and sand.