Legacy of the Hearthwoods part two - RPLOG
Participants
Date
26/7/477
Log
Having been watching quietly, she finally decided it was best to make her presence known. Before the group can make their way into any of those rooms that'd make her surprise difficult, Cassidy drops from a rafter and steps in with them, adjusting her hat and acting as if she'd always been there. "Did you enjoy your meal?" She asks simply.
Jera's attempt to enter the nursery is met with a little resistance, which is quickly revealed to be the remnants of an old barricade as he pushes through. A wardrobe, a chest of drawers, even a crib - the shattered remnants of the furniture lie behind the broken-in door, having stood no chance against whatever had been trying to break in that fateful day all those years ago. The rotting remains of decades-old toys lie strewn haphazardly about the floor, most of them ripped or broken - stuffed dolls, wooden toys, and even an old music box.
Left to mould away in a corner in the aged, brittle skeleton of what might have been a female wolf, clearly cowering in her last moments, two tiny skeletons held close to her breast. Just beside the sombre scene of death, someone's left a note stuck to the wall, noticeably newer than everything else in the room...
Selena makes her way into the room quietly behind the others, swallowing noticeably as her gaze lingers over the furniture, the torn dolls and wooden toys, then to the skeletons. The wolfess shakes her head a little at first, slowly pacing over to the note on the wall.
It takes a few moments for the wolfess to react at all, shaking slightly and taking a quiet breath, before removing the note from the wall and offering it over a shoulder to the rest of the group. "I don't care what the monsters here are doing. These three deserve a burial, not to be left here and spat on." The wolfess pauses briefly, eyes narrowing slightly. "If they were going to attack, they'd have done so. It's clear that they're just skeletons and I somehow doubt that they aren't being used somehow after being to the crypts in Mossy Stone."
Natska considers the door of the study for a long moment, then nods her head as the group begins to move towards the other rooms instead. She takes a few steps after Jera, but quickly turns as a new person drops on scene - pivoting on one paw, the other planting itself behind her in a guard position. She relaxes though, ear flicking, as she sees who it is. "Cass," the jaguar greets, a hint of a smile creeping into her voice despite the setting. "I am glad you caught up to us." She catches up to Jera and Selena then, peeking into the room; she gestures. "A note. It looks newer. What does it say, Jera?"
"I'm afraid you'll have to ask Selena. Can't quite read it from where I'm standing." Jera gives Cassidy a glare in response, though just a light one. "Was missing the lady at the table. You'd have done a much better job."
Cassidy tips her hat to Natska and Jera as she steps into the nursery behind the others. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to finish my tea. It wouldn't be proper to go snooping around the manor without having had my proper tea. I thought you did well enough with the ghosts, though, had I been there I'd have been happy to play the part of lady Hearthwood." She chuckles softly, not seeming too mussed by the grim situation. "Such a sad sight, what happened here."
Selena shakes her head slightly. "What's sad is that the beings here are choosing to profit from their demise. Even for an old one that presides over death, that's sickening." She growls as she moves over to the room's boarded-up window.
Taking out the odd half-spear weapon Kenrac's supplicants recieve, she begins to pry the rotting wood away - as obvious as her intent is to remove them expediently, it's also clear she's still not intending to make too much noise if she can avoid it.
Natska watches Selena at work, nodding slightly, but remains at the door of the room; the armored jaguar turns to look back out over the second floor and the solarium below, keeping an eye out for anyone else that might drop in while the caller works inside.
Cassidy scoots up towards the skeletal remains, her curiosity getting the better of her. She doesn't make a sound, watching Selena quietly up until she decides to reach out with a gloved hand to try to poke the skeleton. She did enjoy tempting fate.
Jera crosses his arms, looking displeased at Selena. "Have you no respect for the- That might just have been one of my teachers or friends, or...or..." He huffs.
Selena looks back over her shoulder, the wolfess prying the last plank loose to punctuate Jera's statement. "Calm down, Jera. If we're going to give this woman and her children a proper burial, we're going to be handling the bones a bit more." She replies, tone half way between angered at the entire situation though somewhat sympathetic to the Kit's comments.
The wolfess takes a few moments to survey the area before she drops down to the garden, beginning to carefully excavate a section of the soil for the three with some measure of solemnity.
Natska glances back over her shoulder, then hisses sharply as she sees Selena drop out the window. Her ears go flat, and she stalks across the room to lean on the ledge, looking down at Selena. She starts to say something, reconsiders it, and begins to say something else. Then she pauses, reconsiders that, and shakes her head. "There is a perfectly servicable crypt behind you, is there not?" she asks - refraining from shouting but, hopefully, projecting enough for the wolf to hear her.
Jera realizes that he's letting the place...and his own history get to him, starting to take deep breaths and squeezing his hands and then thinking of happier places. And then he lowers his head, mumbling a soft prayer and hoping that helps at least.
Cassidy frowns softly at Jera and nods. "Yes, my apologies." She reaches up to unclasp her cloak, setting it out on the ground. "If we need something to carry them in, the small ones at least... Feel free to make use of my cape. We are lacking in a proper casket." She just hoped they wouldn't bury /it/ as well. "I am hestitant to put them in the manor crypt, but if you all feel that is best, then that is what we will do."
Selena responds with a flat tone; "Did you forget where we are, Natska? And for that matter, given the room you're standing in, don't try to tell me you think the crypt isn't being used either."
The wolfess turns back to her work for a little longer until she's satisfied with the job done. "For that matter, whoever the Hearthwoods were, they're dead now. And this forsaken place isn't the kind where dead rest easy in crypts at all." The wolfess notes, 'jumping' back to the window with obvious use of air magic.
Noting Cassidy's gesture, the wolfess nods back to the fox. "We don't need a proper casket to bury them in. Just something to move the bones with. Thank you." She replies softly, beginning to move bones to the grave until none are left, and the skeletons laid out similarly to how a cadaver would be left in their coffin - then, the soil she had moved is piled back over the skeletons. "... If anyone has anything to say, now would be the time." She notes simply. "If I knew the woman, I'd probably have some of my own beyond 'rest in peace'."
The last clod of earth is moved over the three corpses, and the moment it falls in place, a chill gust of wind tears its way into the nursery through the recently-boarded window, a howl that rapidly fades into a keening sigh. The remnants of the broken barricade groan in protest, half-rotted cloth and cotton stuffing is thrown against the wall, and the old music box falls from its place on the chest of drawers, its lid thrown open as it hits the ground. Its workings are decayed with age, and the tune that plays discordant, but still recognisable, especially the chorus:
"In the dark, one shining light. Light the way, four lanterns bright. Through Heaven's trees, a rest in sight. Bring us to our final respite."
The music box continues playing for a little while longer before the mechanism finally winds down, and the air is still once more - if noticeably colder.
Cassidy collects her cloak as Selena returns and fastens it back around her shoulders, patting it off. "I did not know them myself, but may they find peace at last." She removes her hat for a moment and dips into a bow before replacing it on her head. When that music box turns and begins playing, she narrows her eyes. "Well, well. I figured we'd not have gone unnoticed for that." She adjusts her gloves and snaps her fingers a few times. "What shall we do, friends?"
Selena pulls herself through the broken window proper as the gust of wind comes, raising an eyebrow slightly. "We can't expect any direct response from a spirit anyway." She replies tersely, looking back over to the fennec. "We should check the other rooms, either way. The Mausoleum warrants a look, but I think there's still some rooms here we haven't checked yet." She replies, dusting her sleeves off idly as she makes her way across the room to the door - though it's still clear she's quite tense...
"Hm," Natska comments, ears still flat from the surprise wind gust. She waits for Selena to get back all the way into the room, then moves back across the room and to the door again, stepping out and taking up her guard stance once more as she looks over the upper floor.
Jera listens to the song and his eyes go wide a little bit. "I remember Mom singing that song to me. The last time I heard it was when that night..." He shakes his head and then carefully picks up the broken music box, deciding that he would keep this and get it repaired. "Let's finish the other rooms first...and see if we can't find a key to the study." His voice sounds...parched, almost.
As everyone leaves the nursery, they're greeted by a curious sight on the second floor landing. Just steps away from the nursery's entrance is the shade of a wolfess, but steps away as if she'd just exited the nursery. It's easy to see why the other ghosts would have mistaken Selena for her - the likeness in both build, muzzle and chin is strikingly similar.
Dressed in a flowing gown of blue and white, sporting long, elegant gloves, the shade daintily crosses the landing to the study door, taking but a moment to transfer one of her sleeping pups, supporting both of them with one arm while pulling at the knob with her free hand. Despite the door being originally locked, there's a loud click, and it swings ajar. It's only then that she seems to notice those still living - taking a moment to rebalance herself and her children, the wolfess' ghost gives the four a brief nod each, then looks straight at Selena before she fades away with an eerily familiar sigh...
Cassidy tilts her head. "Locked door?" She follows after Selena, looking towards the study door. "Perhaps I can try my luck? I like to fancy myself pretty good with locks." Of course, she finds that she doesn't need to worry about that when the shade opens it for them. My, my. "Well. Thank you, then. Rest well," she comments before looking towards her companions. "Shall we, then?"
Selena looks back at the shade somewhat perplexedly - clearly having not expected the dead to reappear again; though with Mossy stone and its surroundings being as they were...
The similarity between herself and the woman doesn't go unnoticed either, and the stare straight at her seems to take her aback a little. "What is it with this place?" she mutters to nobody in particular, cringing a little and falling uncharacteristically silent in consideration, snapping back to reality as Cassidy gestures to the study. "O-of course."
Natska watches the spirit, a little shaken herself. She stands there and stares after it, although her ear twitches and she turns her head as the others speak. She gives Selena a curious glance, then a nod, and leads the way towards the study. "Perhaps the thick corruption here has... worn things thin?" she muses.
Jera notices the resemblance and then remembers the picture from before. "Don't think they're doing this on purpose, Selena. I think you might just be a distant descendant. Hearthkeep, Hearthwood...this manor must've been abandoned for so long already." He draws the resemblance.
As everyone enters, it readily appears the study used to be a generously spacious room, but the accumulation of bookshelves, displays and other curios over time have reduced the available floor space to the bare minimum required to get around easily. A single window with a heavy iron grille set over it is the only opening to the outside world, and a single crystal lamp that was once powered by fire mathemagic rests on a hook by the doorframe.
On the far end of the room, directly beside the window, is a heavy desk and a cushioned chair, both made for comfort when reading or writing. A small portrait hangs from a nearby section of wall, dust gathering on the frame and glass.
The portrait is of two silver wolves holding each other, standing in a mountain meadow dotted with red and golden wildflowers. The male is dressed in fine cavalry regalia, his lengthy silver beard and mane only adding to his regal stance, dark eyes, and pointed ears. He is wrapping his left arm about the female, his right just above the cavalry sabre at his belt. She, in turn, has donned a long, flowing dress of glittering blue and silver alongside the arm-length gloves so favoured of some mountain folk, and her long, waist-length hair flows in the wind as she embraces him in a hug.
A small inscription at the bottom of the frame reads "Gorath and Lily Hearthwood, 449 SA."
Cassidy eases her way into the study, folding her hands behind her back and setting her eyes on the portrait. She stares for an uncomfortably long time before heaving a gentle sigh and turning to look over the bookshelves, eyes darting around behind her mask as she looks over the works that haven't succumbed to age. "What a terrible waste," she murmurs to no one in particular. She tugs a single book from the shelf, some sort of diary by the looks, and flips the cover open gently, perusing the pages within.
Selena meanders through to the center of the room, shaking her head. "I don't know, Jera. Luca didn't talk about any relatives much, and I grew up in Cliffside. I don't know if there's any relation; between the wars and distance I don't think this is quite what he meant by 'far away'." She replies, running a hand through her hair as she remains by the desk, looking over the desk and the contents of its drawers to occupy herself moreso than anything else; her search turning up nothing of interest.
Natska holds up a hand at the edge of the doorway, crouching for a moment. Then she nods and steps into the room, giving it a cursory look over as she moves towards the window. "This room has been unused for a very long time," she comments, quietly. "I do not think the cultists make use of it. Do you think... the spirits may have chased them out?" she asks, although her tone is doubtful. She peeks out the window, then turns and begins looking at the books on the shelves.
Jera says, "Is that why nobody was touching the bones, too? The spirits were protecting them. Now for one of them to give you inheritance..." Jera tries his best to jest. All this and yet still no sign of the old ones. "
Cassidy closes her eyes and presses the book shut, the white gloves tightening around it. "You know, up until now I had always assumed them to be two different enteties. Unrelated. I thought P... I thought she just took advantage of what the shadows already did. Now I'm not so sure. This notes that the lord encountered her before the shadows befell the town. What's the connection?" She straightens up and rolls her shoulders, expression hidden behind that perpetually smiling porcelain. "She has much to answer for."
Selena shakes her head, wrapping her arms around her waist as she stands. "I doubt both of those things. We haven't been into the Mausoleum yet." She replies simply, looking back to Cassidy for a moment. "What did it say, exactly? Maybe there are some clues." She notes. "And I still haven't had the opportunity to ask Kendrac about the 'people that came before us' either."
Jera's latter comment about inheritances goes completely ignored, the wolfess more intent on continuing to thumb through the papers on the desk - which at this point is clearly just a distraction for her rather than a search.
Natska looks back at Selena, ear flicking. "Mmmph, right." She lets her attention drift back to the bookshelf. "I would very much like to hear those answers as well, should you be inclined to share them." She finishes her examination, then looks back to the others, waiting patiently for them.
Jera heads out of the room and nods sternly at Selena. "Ancestors, perhaps?"
~Lily.~
The whisper passes through the study, and to all who seek it out, the source is clear: a skeleton hanging from one of the taller bookshelves. Stakes of what look like ivory have been hammered through his wrists, leaving the wolf to bleed out whilst suffocating under his own weight, bound to the wall as he was.
~Lily...~
The ropes are gone, although some frayed fibres remain, and the aged remains are held in place with fine wire, but the stakes are still there and very real. In an act of cruel mockery, they'd allowed him to keep his sabre at his side, although blade and hilt alike are rusted into uselessness.
~Lily, I can feel you. Where are you?~
It seems that the lord of the manor's fate, when the Mistress' minions finally caught up with him, was not a pleasant one. Perhaps it is not so much that the cultists do not wish to make use of the room that they keep the door locked, but that they do not want this disturbed.
~Please, Lily.~
~It hurts.~
Cassidy tightens her grip as she looks up at the skeleton and its soft whispers. "We should get him down. As for what it said... He was experiencing dreams in which she revealed herself to him. In the days leading up to the shadow assault. And as, or before it happened I am not sure, she showed him, in a dream, the fall of Mossy Stone. Then no sooner had the bodies fallen had she raised them. I am lead to believe that she may have brought on the shadow attack herself."
Selena swallows slightly as she moves over to the skeleton, nodding back to Cassidy. "The same thing as the mother. I- we should give him a proper burial as well. And Natska, remember the note that was in the nursery. If this place wasn't being used then there'd be no need for a reminder." She notes, shivering a little. "If I could have that book when you're done with it, Cassidy, I'd like to see it for myself as well."
The woman then moves over to the remains tentatively, perhaps with a little less confidence than the first set, beginning to look at the wires and try to loosen one. "Could I borrow your cloak again?"
Loosening the wires is harder than it looks. The entire setup was not meant to be moved, and even with the wires relatively newer as they are, the bones are old and yellowed with age. One wrong move and - yes, the entire edifice comes tumbling down on Selena, dry bones rattling as they rain down on the rotted carpet, a few sharp fragments cutting Selena's arm and drawing a little blood as she raises an arm to shield herself from the deathly rain. The last thing to go are the ivory stakes, finally pulled out from the old bookcase by the weight of the falling skeleton. Eventually, though, the clatter ceases in a pile of bones, a few drops of blood spattered across the mess.
And from the bones, a spectre coleasces into being, the very image of Gorath Hearthwood as seen in the portrait. The lord of the manor groans as he attempts to rise from his kneeling position, and fails. Seems like his crushed, pierced wrists trouble him in death as much as they did in his final moments, and after another attempt, he shakes his head slowly and looks up at Selena.
~You. You have my thanks...~ The spectre hesitates. ~Your blood is Lily's, and yet you are not her...what is your name?~
Natska frowns at the nearby skeleton, her ear twitching. At the suggestion to take it down she nods and starts helping Selena, although between her proper protective equipment and her position to the side she keeps clear of the mess. "Selena? Are you-?" she starts to ask, when the spirit coalesces. Her eyes widen and she backs away a step, falling silent.
Selena cries out in surprise as the skeleton comes tumbling, aparrently far more brittle than the wolfess had anticipated. The woman cringes back a little as though half expecting the rest of the cupboard to collapse in on her, though in the wake of the bone splinters, she collects herself without noticing the specter at all at first. "... It can't have been that long since this happened..." She notes - perhaps exemplifying a lack of knowledge about the subject of decay.
'Gorath's' sudden response prompts her to jolt back a little, and it's clear that she has no idea how to respond at first. "... I'm Selena?" She replies a little tentatively. "Selena Hearthkeep?" THe wolfess holds the cut on her arm closed carefully, peering at it a little concernedly. "...I'll need to treat that." She grumbles, looking back to the spirit. "You're... Dead. Why are you able to react to us so differently to the other spirits at Mossy stone - what's going on here?"
Cassidy startles as the bones fall, and she starts to rush to Selena's side, but halts when she sees that she is alright. "Are you well?" She lets her eyes drift towards Gorath for a moment. Unusual, but given everything else in this place, not startling. "I would like to know as well. Anything you can tell us... If we are to hope to cleanse this place someday, all the help we can get would be appreciated." She holds onto the journal for now, til Selena is less occupied, and crosses towards the barred window to peer out of it.
