Resonance of twilight Chapter One: Meetings

[Strahdsbuddy]

Mortimer grinned modestly and nodded. "I am on retainer with the Weathermays, of a fashion. Writing a book about their patriarch's life and many deeds. You don't get as old as Jules Weathermay without knowing your way out of trouble in this realm!"

He turned to Florian. "A Mordentman is indeed one of strong will and refinement. Though i am probably a terrible example of one; the Balinoks run through my veins, making me something of a 'savage' in this town, isn't that right, my lady?" He snorted one quick laugh at himself, feeling at once subtly clever and darn near underappreciated.

"I daresay we've waited int he morning fog long enough. I'm certain our future employer will have a pot of tea waiting for us inside. Shall we?" He reached confidently for the doorknob.

[WolfKook]

That was most interesting, Melissa thought. Perhaps a person such as this Wachter would be of interest to her. The story of the mordentish noblehouses had been deeply intertwined for centuries, anyway, and the Weathermays were still the only one of the old noble houses remaining.

She smiled uncomfortably at his remark, though. A couple of months ago, she would have thought of him as nothing more than an useless savage, indeed, and her previous reaction towards him had obviously reflected that. She reminded herself of the reasons that had led her there, and strived to keep polite, even as deep inside she found his sudden laugh totally obnoxious.

She still waited for him to open the door and let her go first. "Indeed", she replied, leading the way in.

[BigBadQDaddy]

"So how came you to Mordentshire?" he asks Seridon

Sheridon shifts a bit, apparently uncomfortable at the prospect of someone taking interst in his life. Even if just to pass idle conversation.
"I wash raished on a farm. Not far from here." Upon hearing some muffled voices coming from outside, the big man looks toward the door.
"Perhapsh here come shom curioush people now."
In preparation, he tips the brim of his tri-corn hat forward, to further conceal his hideous features.

[Desertrising]

Kevic smiled in understanding at the Caliban as he attempted to hide his features under his hat. Then with a slight turn of his head he watched as the door opened. With a look of amusement on his face Kevic watched as a women of obvious high birth and self importance entered first followed by two men.

Grasping his oak staff Kevic stood up fighting the grimace of pain that threatened to mar is already misshaped features. Once all three had entered his small and cluttered laboratory Kevic made a slight bow.

"Welcome to Ethereal Investigations, may I 'elp you?" he said just as the tea kettle began to whistle.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Holding the door for Melissa and Florian, Mortimer adjusted his spectacles as he entered the poorly lit room inside. He removed his tricorn hat and bowed to Kevic's greeting. "Good day, sir. I am Mortimer Wachter, of the Glenwich Wachters." He grinned slightly, doubting his family had ever been introduced as 'the Glenwich Wachters.' "May I present Lady Melissa Crawford and Florian Reinhardt. We have come to answer your inquiry, though I am sure we would like a bit of information from you regarding this little job."

He allowed his gaze to rise, noticing a cobweb near the ceiling toward the back of the room. He kept his half-smile, but politely reached for his handkerchief just in case.

[Desertrising]

Kevic nodded with a smile at the newcomers. "I told ya others would be coming." He said to Sheridon while walking over to the now whistling kettle.

While pouring tea with shaking hands Kevic continued to speak. "Aye, I have a bit of an investigation I have an interest in pursuing. It's interesting that the lady there would show up as well considering."

Then slowly and carefully he places each cup of tea on a tray and limps back over to the table that Sheridon was currently sitting. He placed each cup in front of a chair with care and then took a seat himself. Once settled in he took a deep breath and bade the new comers to sit.

"I am a bit of a historian in the more..." Kevic paused in his speaking as he thought about the correct way to continue "Unusual aspects of our fair land. Recently I have been collecting information about an old manor house located deep in the moors. Through this investigation I have found that it was one owned by a branch of the Crawford family. I have also been informed that their is a library there and would like very much to have a chance to peruse its treasure."

He paused for a moment and then a series of coughs racked his fail frame. For several moments his pain filled coughing was the only thing that could be hear. Finally his ruined hands grasped the edge of the table and the coughing fit subsided.

"I do apologize, I was born a frail and sickly child and have only grown worse these last few years." He said quietly.

After taking several steadying breaths he continued "What I would like is for you all to escort me to the manor house and help me investigate its secrets. You will be compensated for your time in currency, however I assure you that coin is not the only thing some of you may find of value there." He says his pale eyes suddenly gaining a strange hue as his attention focused on Melissa...

[WolfKook]

Melissa asked herself what was she doing there when she took her first step into that disgusting place. She could not contain a grin of disgust as she looked into the dusty office, and was visibly trying too hard to recover her normal face as she slowly approached those freaks that awaited them there. And then the tallest one, the one who had greeted them, made that comment...

At first, she felt that it was out of place, perhaps that sick man had mistaken her for someone else. She preferred not to correct him, and accepted the tea he was offering with no intention whatsoever to sip it. She sat down grudgingly, and started to listen with no interest at all... Until he mentioned her family name, and she cursed herself for her lack of attention: A library? Where? What did it have to do with her family?

She was about to ask, when the man started to cough, and she silenced her now obviously stupid questions with a good sip of the bitter drink, while she waited for the coughs to stop, and the man to start talking again.

This time around, she was all ears. She allowed the man to finish his speech, and noticed his eyes set upon her. Well, it was her time to talk, and she did so, in her usual, calmed and merciless way, which contrasted completely with the playful and courteous manners she had used before, making her appear more as the cold and calculating girl she really was:

"Well, sir... As heir to the Crawford name and interests, I have what I believe to be unlimited access to my family's records on holdings and properties, and let me assure you that I have never found nothing about an old manor in... The moors, you said? I have to tell you, nevertheless, that you have gotten my full attention, that I'm officially interested in the matter, and that I'm more than eager to join you in this quest, if it really leads to discovering something about my ancient heritage. However -and I'll beg you to excuse me on this -, as I have never met you before, and I have any records of such a property, I have no reason to believe your claims, so I'll have to ask you if you've got any proof of this place's connection with my family, and -if there really is such a connection -what would be your interest in this place once we get there".

[Desertrising]

Kevic smiled at the young woman's words and nodded appreciatively "I have always thought of the Crawford family to be quite perceptive. I myself did not believe the information when I first heard it from my source. However, after much study I have discovered the following."

He paused in his speaking for a moment as he took a sip of tea, then with a grimace of distaste he continued "I apologize for the taste of the tea. I am afraid that the herbs I use to ease my breathing are rather bitter."

"Now as I was saying, I too was skeptical. However I have always trusted this particular source. He is after all a man of... Shall we say great initiative, and when he insisted the facts were correct I engaged in my own research."

Again another pause as he sipped his tea. "You see, quite a few years back I came into possession of the diary of one of your more... Infamous relatives Tobias Crawford. I can tell by the look on your face you have heard the same rumors about his bizzare tastes. Well, you can imagine that I had little desire to actually read the book given its author. However, I thought about it and finally decided to open its covers and give it a thorough reading"

For a moment Kevic seems to loose his focus in the room as though lost in another time. then the light comes back into his eyes "As you can imagine, most of the book was not something I would suggest a woman of your breeding or status ever read, but it did yield some interesting information."

He reached over to a nearby table slowly and grabbed an ancient leather bound tomb placing it on the table before him. With a practiced motion, he opened to book to a marked page. "You see, while his only officially listed wife was a woman of fine breeding by the name of Maria Somersby. In his diary he mentions a marriage he was forced to abandon by his father because of his chosen wife's low birth."

Kevic then turned the book around and slid it toward Melissa so that she could verify the information for herself. As she looked toward the book Kevic continued his narrative. "As you can see he impregnated this young lady name Rebeca Smith and then arranged not only the buying of the house but the education of his child. As with many of the Crawford family, Tobias died unusually early, so while we know the child was born and received a good education, there is little other information."

The crippled man then fixed his gaze once again on Melissa "I know that right now your mind wants to reject this information. I can understand, no one wants to know that their family has a dark side. However, I can garuntee that I speak the truth in this matter."

Then taking the others in with his gaze Kevic smiled pleasantly "I myself am interested in knowledge, of piecing together the entire puzzle. How about your fine gentlemen? You don't want it to be said you allowed such a fine woman to go traipsing off into the moors with a crazed mystic do you?"

[Strahdsbuddy]

Mortimer shifted his eyes to Lady Crawford. She was defiant in the face of the truth of her lineage, the same way he had bristled at the Dilisnya lout he'd met at the University. The one who had told him that Mortimer's family had committed a great evil against his, centuries ago. Skeletons in the closet were always difficult to swallow.

But he knew what Kevic said was plausible. The decline of Mordentish nobility that started in the 570s had been the topic of a thesis he had written. It had been a tough one to research. Some of the names were known, like Weathermay and lackburn-Bruce. But there were more. Houses that had lost power long ago, like the Mistmoors, the Seabergs... the Crawfords. The Land had taken them all, but it had left their shells. They were out there, somewhere in the marsh. One only had to be brave enough to go looking for them.

He attempted to remember his research. THe book was far away in Port-a-Lucine, and even if he had the time to get it, he knew he didnt have the courage. He would go along on this soujour into Mordent's past. And he would take very careful notes.

For now, he would hear what Kevic had to say, and secretly hope there weren't anymore cobwebs close by.

[HuManBing]

"You don't want it to be said you allowed such a fine woman to go traipsing off into the moors with a crazed mystic do you?"

"...asked the crazed mystic, with remarkably mundane clarity," finished Florian with a slight smile. "I cannot speak for the rest, but I can say this Lamordian will happily traipse with the fine woman. And then they'll say the others let this woman go off with only a Lamordian for her chaperone... will they ever live it down?"

He tweaked an eyebrow discreetly at Melissa as he said this.

"Being more serious, though, what other motivation could there be apart from the gold?" he asked.

Then, rethinking the sentence, he bit his lip.

"Please allow me to rephrase," he said hurriedly. "What else apart from the payment do you expect us to stumble across in the library and the house? And what assumption of ownership will you assert over what we find?"

[Desertrising]

Kevic tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment too the wisdom of Florian's question. Then sitting up slightly and taking another sip of the bitter tea he spoke "A good question. Of course the house and all of its contents would belong to the good Lady Crawford. After all she is the last of her line, or close enough that there would be no legal question. I only hope that she might allow me to peruse what books may be kept within the manor."

He then pauses and fixes a steady gaze on Florian "Of course, I am sure that she would also give you some form of reward if that is your only interest."

[Strahdsbuddy]

"Oh there is no question we shall all be taking this traipse together. Will your doorman be accompanying us?" Mortimer offered his hand to the large quiet man that had been in the shop when they'd arrived.

[BigBadQDaddy]

"Oh there is no question we shall all be taking this traipse together. Will your doorman be accompanying us?" Mortimer offered his hand to the large quiet man that had been in the shop when they'd arrived.

Sheridon shifts uncomfortable at the assumption made about his station, but quickly overcomes any offense. After all, is a coachman any better than a doorman in the eyes of the nobility?
Keeping his gaze directed at the cup of tea [growing cold] before him, he clears his throat and in his deep slur, replies: "Aye, I will be going along with you all. I asshume a coach will be necesshary?"
Keeping his features concealed, below the brim of his tri-corn hat, two tiny, beady slate gray eyes dart about in their gaze, from one face to the other of those present, nervously, awaiting a poor reception to his offer. Idly, his massive fingers, calloused from years of work, and dirty under the nails, wring together, warming themselves from some unperceived coldness.

[WolfKook]

Tobias Crawford. If the strange man had caught her interest with the mention of her family, he had convinced her to embark on his quest with the mere mention of his name. Most things she had heard about this distant relative had been rumours and legends, and the text in her library did little to clarify them. It was almost as if this shadowy figure had been erased from the family tree on purpose, and now a diary of this most infamous gentleman had appeared? Melissa wanted to see that book, no matter what this disfigured man told her.

So, when he opened the book, she became immediately enthralled by it. She had been raised to look at this man as a black sheep, an evil man who tainted everything he touched with his poison. Thus, she didn't expect something as deep or touching as he was reading on those pages: The beauty of his words, the sheer elegance of his writing, the tender love and deep passion he portrayed captivated her, making her heart beat wildly in a strange combination of empathy and just a tiny bit of arousal.

He told her that her mind wanted to reject that information, and in her immersion she heard him as if she was a mile away. For all his sharpness, he clearly didn't understand the heart of a woman. That her family had a dark side? She already knew that. She turned the page and continued reading, as the conversation continued elsewhere in that room, that suddenly seemed huge. She could not help but bite her lips as she read, paying little attention to the small talk having place around her, treating her as she wasn't there.

And she wasn't. Normally, she would have made a witty comment as they joked about her, or would have expressed more interest as they talked about what appeared to be her property, but now she was in another time, in another place, being seduced by the words of her distant uncle. She was breathing heavily, and started feeling a strange sense of dread as it became gradually evident that she was loosing control of herself. It was a hand on her shoulder which took her off of that trance, she exhaled forcibly, and turned to look at the man at her back.

[Strahdsbuddy]

Mortimer kept his hand extended for an uncomfortable ammount of time. When it seemed obvious that Sheridon would not be shaking it, he finally withdrew and gave a genuinely polite smile. "It shall be a pleasure, sir, to not have to walk this entire distance."

He drifted back to the other end of the table, casually trying to catch a glimpse of the book Melissa was reading like a madwoman. He figured he would have his chance to peruse it soon enough. THe look on her face, however, told him it was very interesting indeed,