The Halls of Medeia - Chapter 1

[Ail]

"Yes, we should get over the wall. And here is as good a place as any. I wouldn't have come into the trees if I hadn't heard your whimpers. Does the ankle hurt? Can you stand?
Are you sure you want to go on with whatever you came here to do?"

[A G Thing]

Looking a little offended at his remark, Christine's voice is a little harsh as she speaks next. "I wasn't whimpering!"

But she quickly smiles at him, putting more resolve on her face and a slightly more humble bit of embarrassment returns as she recants. "Not exactly... But there is no point in turning back now. Especially now that your here. I need to do this. I can't just let all this be for nothing while all our lives are in danger!"

She stands in front of him and while it does hurt she refuses to let it show. She would just have to push through it. "I can deal with it for now! So don't turn back on my account."

[Alastor]

In the common room, Niles greets the other students politely, joining one of the groups which seem less absorbed in study.

Since knowledge of Basil's untimely death has just reached most of the student body, Niles relies on the others to bring up the subject themselves before asking questions.

Gather Information Check:

VIEW CONTENT:

[dice]1[/dice] + 9 + 2 = ?

[Ail]

Niles skilfully manages the conversation to bring it to the topic of Basil's death but, more importantly, personality. Some of the other kids new him, but none knew him well enough, certainly not intimately.

From what Niles can gather, he was very shy and unassuming, the kind of boy who does not stand out ever. There seemed to be not a fibre of courage in him, and he was constantly bullied since the beginning of the year. He didn't have any friends, except one girl who seemed sometimes to take his side. From the description they gave of her, Niles thinks it might be Francis.
There was a rather prevalent opinion that he was a good or very good student.

But things changed.

No one is certain when, but some of the students seemed to remember it was after the circus was visiting the college. Gradually, the boy began to be less shy and more assertive. He still took the bullying but now he seemed to resent it until in one occasion, last week, he reacted aggressively when one of the usual bullies tried to have fun at his expense. He shook his attacker and yelled something like
"Back off. I have strong friends, now!"


OOC:

I forgot to add two important things. While Niles was preparing the body, he had access to the medallion the boy had. It was a representation of earth's globe with a superimposed candle. The candle seems to be silver, while the globe is some dark base metal. He also noticed a slash mark in his left forearm, about 10cm long. The mark appears faded. He can try a First Aid check (DC 20) to understand its age. No one of the students mentioned this mark, nor the medallion.

[Ail]

"Fair enough", Oliver smiles.

"Come, I'll help you up first. I won't let you fall, but you must tell me what you are doing here. What drives you away from college after dark, risking a punishment for disobeying the schedules?"

Christine can answer after or before she climbs the wall. Oliver throws a rope with hook and fixes it over the top. The wall is about 10ft tall, and is made of bricks. With Oliver's help, it should be an easy climb. However, because Christine can not firmly set of one of her feet against the wall, the DC is 10 and not 5.

[A G Thing]

"Thanks for the help Oliver. And I'll tell you as soon as we're over!"

Christine turns off her lantern and puts it in her bag as she grasps the rope. She manages to climb the rope and wall with some difficulty but pulling herself to the top she straddles the wall and waits for Oliver to follow.

"Come on Oliver." Her eyes look around trying to watch around below. She wants to be ready to warn Oliver if the creature returns, as she sits above him on the wall.

For the DM

VIEW CONTENT:

Christine's Climb Check
1D20-2 => 15 Yay!

Of note is that Invisible Castle Dice Roller Site is gone it seems so I have had to switch to this site.

https://rolz.org/

It does not provide the feedback for the DM to authenticate like my old site so I'm sorry. I guess you will just have to trust me for the time being. But if you can suggest a site you would prefer to replace it.

[Ail]

"Thanks for the help Oliver. And I'll tell you as soon as we're over!"

Christine turns off her lantern and puts it in her bag as she grasps the rope. She manages to climb the rope and wall with some difficulty but pulling herself to the top she straddles the wall and waits for Oliver to follow.

"Come on Oliver." Her eyes look around trying to watch around below. She wants to be ready to warn Oliver if the creature returns, as she sits above him on the wall.

For the DM

VIEW CONTENT:

Christine's Climb Check
1D20-2 => 15 Yay!

Of note is that Invisible Castle Dice Roller Site is gone it seems so I have had to switch to this site.

https://rolz.org/

It does not provide the feedback for the DM to authenticate like my old site so I'm sorry. I guess you will just have to trust me for the time being. But if you can suggest a site you would prefer to replace it.

Oliver is happy to see Christine scramble adroitly over the wall, despite her ankle and he follows next. One minute later, they are on the other side, the black night in front of them, the forest extending to their right. They are still within the trees, but under Oliver's light, they can see their end is not far off.

"Let's get out of the trees, then you can tell me your story."

OOC: It's ok, AG. You can always use the [dice] tags in this forum.

[A G Thing]

Christine smiles a bit as she takes her lantern out and makes sure it is set back to a comfortable illumination. As they begin walking she looks around until they clear the tree line and stays not far from Oliver as they go. "Well I was out here trying to go to the Gypsy camp nearby. I was hoping they could shed some light on what has happened at the school recently. I didn't want to go it alone really. But I didn't want to be accused of leading students to rebel again. I got in enough fights the last time for stepping out of line. But with someone dying and the disappearances I had to try. Perhaps they know something!"

[Ail]

"Oh, that's it then! Then we're headed the same way. See, I have observed something funny: today is full moon, the third and the last night of this cycle. Yesterday was a full moon too. I've noticed once, by accident, that there seemed to be no gypsies guarding the school on full moon nights. And I very much suspect that was the case last night, above all. That is the same today. I just want to go to their camp and see what is going on there, why is it that they leave us on these nights. I don't know if anyone has noticed this before, usually we retire early enough that we don't see who's doing the patrols outside. But I want to test this theory."

[Alastor]

After hearing the stories surrounding Basil, Niles stays a while longer to socialize with the other students and to see whether he can assist anyone who needs either counsel or assistance with their studies.

When he finally takes his leave of the others, at nearly half past six, Niles hurries to his quarters to prepare for the evening meal. He intends to seek out Francis and George over dinner. If Francis was a friend of Basil's, she will need a sympathetic ear today, and Niles has been attempting to check in with George regularly in order to send positive reports back to the Headmistress.

[Ail]

At seven, according to the strict schedule of college, the chimes ring for dinner. Niles arrives early, and looks about trying to locate George and Frances. George arrives alone, visibly bored, and Niles spots him immediately. Frances arrives with 2 other girls. They are talking about something, but it is impossible to say what. None of them is particularly excited.

Niles has gained no particular knowledge about the slash in the arm. It looks a bit old, more than a week certainly but he can't tell more than that.

[A G Thing]

Christine nods with a somewhat surprised look on her face in understanding. She adjusts her slipping glasses with her free hand as she hobbles along next to him. "So from what your saying, it sounds like you think it might be a werewolf? Sacrebleu! I hope not. It was bad enough when I was just hoping it was a regular wolf or something... And whatever that was it hissed at me! I don't think wolves hiss do they?"

She begins to look around them into the dark night as she remembers all she can about the creature. If it was a werewolf or such she is certain her kin will know something of it.

Of course that means that when the moon wasn't full it probably as she remembered from the campfire stories of long ago hid in human form. Possibly in the collage. She glances at Oliver for half a second with a rather quizzical look on her face then lets out a small laugh and shakes her head with a smile.

[Ail]

"I never said that, Christine. Let's not jump to conclusions", he smiles faintly.
"I just want to know of the gypsies on full moon nights. Where do they go?"


He goes silent for a while and then speaks in a softer tone, as they walk along.


"The thought of a werewolf has... well, passed my mind. It's high tales, you know. At least, I'd like to stay firm in that belief, but to be honest... I'm not so sure. I don't believe in them, but...".

After a long pause,

"Well, I don't know, science cautions us to keep an open mind, after all."


You speak as you go along. Within some more minutes, you reach a place where you could oversee the gypsy camp. All is so quiet! Not a single light can be seen.

[steveflam]

At seven, according to the strict schedule of college, the chimes ring for dinner. Niles arrives early, and looks about trying to locate George and Frances. George arrives alone, visibly bored, and Niles spots him immediately. Frances arrives with 2 other girls. They are talking about something, but it is impossible to say what. None of them is particularly excited.

Niles has gained no particular knowledge about the slash in the arm. It looks a bit old, more than a week certainly but he can't tell more than that.

George has a notebook, school book and a pencil with him. It is already known he doesn't care too much about the rules and he doesn't bother anyone at any rate after he is done eating. This way he can still read and study,not having to leave the hall to do so.

[Ail]

No one disturbs George now. The other pupils have learned to not initiate conversations with him, because they don't seem to last long. For his part, George also does not seem interested in anyone else either.