Birthright 3: The Worm's Supper, Chapter 5
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 4:13 pm
FALCON'S ROOST
SAFANA
The pale servant bids her wait.
Safana has time to look about the cramped parlor. Books line the antique hardwood shelves, statuettes stand atop the low tables, and dim lamps shine from alcoves set about the masonry walls. The sorceress counts six chairs, all unoccupied and arranged in no particular order.
She spies two doors within the room, besides the one leading outside. There may be other, secret ways in and out. The two doors, one at the back and one to the left, both stand shut.
The air smells of old leather, dust, and tallow.
The servant touches one of the statutettes on the table nearest him, a bird figure of silver.
He then takes up a silent watch at the rear door of the room.
The guard and the page do not take seats.
The party waits for several minutes. During this time the waxy-faced servant remains wholly uncommunicative and stiff, standing in his corner near the far door (almost as if dead, although his eyes do track Safana's movements).
Then the door near the servant opens and a tall, lean man in dark robes and an ivory-hued ruff appears. He wears his hair long and his beard trimmed short. The shadows partly obscure his features , but cannot hide his bright green eyes. If he carries a weapon, it cannot be seen. The man gestures towards SAFANA.
"Welcome. You may come with me. The others remain here."
The guard from Caer HAES shifts his right hand a smidgen closer to his sword's hilt and glances at SAFANA, eyebrows lifted.
The page backs toward the front door.
THE USURER'S HOUSE
FILBERT AND TERMELAN
Having obtained what they believe to be a fair description of the interior from an informant, and made other preparations, the pair come to the moneylender's house at midnight.
Cold night winds whip across the squares and howl down the streets of Endier, drowning out their footfalls on the cobbles. They should be glad of their cloaks tonight. No falls, but thin pools ice water gleam in the streets where the cobbles have been torn up or have sunken low.
Few clouds hang overhead tonight and the fat moon obviates the need for a lantern.
TERMELAN throws the weighted end of the rope over the high fence around the house. He works his each entry upon Filbert. The Halfman vanishes from sight. A few seconds later, the rope shakes and pulls away from the wall. If TERMELAN looks very closely, he spots the faint impressi of footprints in the frost of the wall side, moving up...
LAIR OF THE MARQUIS OF KAL ANTHERAK
THE SEARCHERS
The party moves deeper into the lair of their slain enemy.
They encounter no guards.
The whole place seems inhabited only by shifting shadows, a great, grim tomb of black walled galleries and high vaults.
The girl, Anna, leads them as best she can. Several times she becomes lost, but each time she finds her way back into familiar areas.
At length, she points down a corridor at a huge double door of brass and petrified wood.
"I came out of that. But now it is closed and I do not know how to open it."
THE PIT
FOERDE
Foerde discovers a large pit, the near approach to which is partly hidden by dead brush.
Elfin markings on trees nearby suggest danger. But he cannot quite grasp the full meaning of these glyphs.
The pit itself spans fully twelve feet across and runs down out of sight, the hole narrowing as it drops into darkness.
He hears a faint rushing sound below.
The sides show patches of mud, frost, and dead vegetation.
SAFANA
The pale servant bids her wait.
Safana has time to look about the cramped parlor. Books line the antique hardwood shelves, statuettes stand atop the low tables, and dim lamps shine from alcoves set about the masonry walls. The sorceress counts six chairs, all unoccupied and arranged in no particular order.
She spies two doors within the room, besides the one leading outside. There may be other, secret ways in and out. The two doors, one at the back and one to the left, both stand shut.
The air smells of old leather, dust, and tallow.
The servant touches one of the statutettes on the table nearest him, a bird figure of silver.
He then takes up a silent watch at the rear door of the room.
The guard and the page do not take seats.
The party waits for several minutes. During this time the waxy-faced servant remains wholly uncommunicative and stiff, standing in his corner near the far door (almost as if dead, although his eyes do track Safana's movements).
Then the door near the servant opens and a tall, lean man in dark robes and an ivory-hued ruff appears. He wears his hair long and his beard trimmed short. The shadows partly obscure his features , but cannot hide his bright green eyes. If he carries a weapon, it cannot be seen. The man gestures towards SAFANA.
"Welcome. You may come with me. The others remain here."
The guard from Caer HAES shifts his right hand a smidgen closer to his sword's hilt and glances at SAFANA, eyebrows lifted.
The page backs toward the front door.
THE USURER'S HOUSE
FILBERT AND TERMELAN
Having obtained what they believe to be a fair description of the interior from an informant, and made other preparations, the pair come to the moneylender's house at midnight.
Cold night winds whip across the squares and howl down the streets of Endier, drowning out their footfalls on the cobbles. They should be glad of their cloaks tonight. No falls, but thin pools ice water gleam in the streets where the cobbles have been torn up or have sunken low.
Few clouds hang overhead tonight and the fat moon obviates the need for a lantern.
TERMELAN throws the weighted end of the rope over the high fence around the house. He works his each entry upon Filbert. The Halfman vanishes from sight. A few seconds later, the rope shakes and pulls away from the wall. If TERMELAN looks very closely, he spots the faint impressi of footprints in the frost of the wall side, moving up...
LAIR OF THE MARQUIS OF KAL ANTHERAK
THE SEARCHERS
The party moves deeper into the lair of their slain enemy.
They encounter no guards.
The whole place seems inhabited only by shifting shadows, a great, grim tomb of black walled galleries and high vaults.
The girl, Anna, leads them as best she can. Several times she becomes lost, but each time she finds her way back into familiar areas.
At length, she points down a corridor at a huge double door of brass and petrified wood.
"I came out of that. But now it is closed and I do not know how to open it."
THE PIT
FOERDE
Foerde discovers a large pit, the near approach to which is partly hidden by dead brush.
Elfin markings on trees nearby suggest danger. But he cannot quite grasp the full meaning of these glyphs.
The pit itself spans fully twelve feet across and runs down out of sight, the hole narrowing as it drops into darkness.
He hears a faint rushing sound below.
The sides show patches of mud, frost, and dead vegetation.