Legacy of the hearthwoods part three - RPLOG
Participants
Date
27/7/477
Log
~Hearthkeep. Hearthkeep. Lily said she had cousins with that name. I remember now...~ Gorath's spectre rubs his wrists, wincing. ~A cousin, fellow by the name of Alucard. Met him once at one of the ballroom parties when I was courting her, said he was moving to Cliffside. Funny fellow with a sense of humour. A bit too soft-hearted for his own good, I remember thinking at the time. We had a young officer down from Northwarden Keep, and the foxy fellow played a prank on poor Luca~ He studies Selena's face again. ~I remember his likeness now. There's something of him in you. And of Lily.~ He groans, although the sound is less a beings than wind whistling through a speulcher. ~Could you please help me up?~
Selena tilts her head a little, swallowing slightly and falling silent again. The wolfess doesn't respond immediately, and it takes more than a few moments before she offers the spirit a hand tentatively, half way between disbelief - fairly clear the message hasn't quite sunk in.
The spirit reaches up with a hand, taking Selena's fingers into his own, making his perforated wrists clear for all to see. His touch is bitterly cold, but substential enough, and with gritted teeth hauls himself shakily to his feet, the bloostains on the aged bones rapidly drying to nothing, sucked up like water on a sponge. He looks at them distastefully for a moment, then shakes his head.
~Your other questions...I'm not sure if I can answer them. Love and blood, they both possess a mighty power, as my nursemaid used to tell me. Philosophers and wizards have long debated the whys and wherefores, but no one has ever arrived at any conclusions.
~If you have my diary, you know what happened here. I wish...I wish I hadn't hesistated so much. Tried to salvage my pride in refusing to abandon the house of my ancestors. Well, afterwards, the Pale Mistress and her slaves didn't kill me outright like they did the servants. I was taken to the study, and then...I don't remember. There was pain, and I...I don't recall anything save hoping Lily made it out alive. That, and pain. Pain, for so long, until you arrived. I...suppose this is awkward, but if you are indeed related to Lily, and none of the remaining clan have shown up to reclaim these lands...there is something about you, Selena. You and your companions. Has someone from the clan come at last to drive the Pale Mistress from these lands and reclaim the manor?~
Selena shivers somewhat as the spirit is pulled up to its feet. "... We didn't- We didn't actually know that there were any spirits involved in what was happening here until relatively recently." She replies, taking a deep breath. "... I have so many questions I want to ask about my father, now; why now..." She sighs quietly, shaking her head and moving back a little, covering her eyes with a hand for a moment. "I... I need a moment. Sorry."
Jera listens to the spirit, having been too scared out of his wits to respond until now. Even then, he's still been listening up closely. "Too bad we have an entire ruined city from the Mistress of Bones to tend to first. We won't have anyone to defend the manor from being retaken, either."
Cassidy closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she turns back to look at the spirit. "Mmhm. Until recently, we weren't aware that the shadows overtaking the town were the result of... Well, her. But in time, we will certainly do our best to clear out the town and manor properly. We will reclaim it in time, but right now, we are unable."
Natska quietly listens to the spirit, and her allies, her ears foloded back. She gives a Selena a small nod, and then nods again in response to her fellow Lightbringers. "In time," she echoes, but she waits for Selena to recover before she says anything else.
~It was not...her. She told me as much; I remember that dream as if it were yesterday. She merely used the situation. If what you say is true, that her kin have only revealed themselves, then they have been biding their time for a long while, since the moon was shattered.~ He looks about himself. ~How many years have passed since Mossy Stone has fallen? Although the Hearthwood clan was never nobility, we were still respected in that community.~
Selena nods back to the spirit somewhat, taking a long breath. "... If it happened around the shattering, about 27 years have passed now." She replies quietly, not adding any more to the spirit's commentary. "Do you know anything about Helen's family? My mother, I mean." She asks hopefully, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle.
"That's a lot of patience that I have to give her credit for." Jera breathes a long sigh, and then looks for a place to sit. He succeeds, deciding to rest while Selena had her conversation. Wishing he knew the details of his own family enough to ask the spirit questions.
Cassidy tilts her head to the side for a moment. "Not behind it? I am glad for that, then, at least. If the shadows were under influence of the Old Ones... Things would be a lot more difficult. So it was as we originally assumed, then, that she was just taking advantage of what had happened. But yes, as Selena has said, it's been a number of years. We have given a proper burial to your wife as best as we could. You may not have been nobility, no, but you'll be remembered all the same."
Natska folds her arms across her chest, carefully leaning back against one of the bookcasses as Selena and the spirit talk. The cat is quiet, contemplative, and patient, mulling over what they had picked up from the journal and the prior events here at Mossy Stone.
~Twenty-seven years. Has it been that long? In the darkness? In pain?~ Gorath's spectre rubs his writs again, and groans. ~I'm afraid I don't know much about 'Helen', save that Alucard married such a being. Lily would bring me letters he'd written back, sent via his brother, and we'd read them together...he seemed content, if not happy, but that is all I know.~
Another faint breeze blows through the study through the grated window, and the spirit's form flickers for a second. ~I don't belong here any more, Selena of the Hearthkeeps. My time...is running short. But you do. And those with you.~
Selena nods back to the spirit a little disappointedly. The wolfess sighs a little, affording a slight chuckle at the farewell she's given. "...of the Hearthkeeps." She repeats a little bleakly, sighing quietly. "... I hope you rest in peace."
Jera remembers the music box delicately nestled in his hands, winding it up again to listen to the offtune song chorus once more, humming the correct notes to go with it as the spirit takes his leave. "One of Mossy Stone's more popular folk songs. So many versions of it floating around...though I'm sure he would've have liked to be sent off with this."
Cassidy remains fairly silent for the most part before stepping over towards Selena, reaching out to try to pat her on the back while offering the journal over. "I am sure he will. We'll take this place back someday. But in the meantime, we're not exactly in the best of places to be going and getting sentimental. We still have work here, do we not?"
"We do," Natska answers quietly. "We have found things that the cultists did decades ago... and none of the ones that are here, now." She looks to Jera, and then Selena. "You said you felt them strongly. They have to be present."
Gorath sighs a little at the sight of the music box, even as Jera winds up the aged mechanism. ~I bought that for Lily and the children while she was carrying. It cost me so much to have the approriate runes inscribed to carry her voice...~
"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."
~Gorath.~
The cold breeze that blows in through the grated window grows stronger, sending old manuscripts rustling as the same wolfess the group saw before materialises in the aisle between the bookcases. There's no mistake about it - her gentle, melodious voice is the same as that which has been preserved in the music box. She's still carrying her twin pups in her arms, and stops just in front of her husband.
~Lily. I felt you.~
~They freed me.~
~I know.~ Gingerly, Gorath eases an arm about the wolfess in her trailing blue gown, pulling her close - a gesture she eagerly accepts. ~Let's go home.~
~I'd like that.~
Turning back towards the four, Gorath throws them a quick military-esque salute with his free hand before easing all of them forward. The temperature in the room drops for a moment, and then all the spirits fade into nothingness just as the music box finishes its tune and comes to a stop.
Selena watches as the pair move off, making no attempt to stop Cassidy's gesture either. "We still haven't been to the Mausoleum." She replies to Natska, sighing a little and looking around the room again and looking over the book she was passed before stowing it in her bag. "We should probably look there at the very least."
"D-Damn it." Jera watches the spirit leave their plane and then clenches his free hand enough that his armor rattles. "Was too late to ask them if they knew anything about my family." He frowns softly, though he nods in agreement to Selena. "As good a plan as any."
Cassidy tips her hat to the spirits as they take their leave. "Rest well," she murmurs softly before adjusting her bowtie. "Well then. Time is wasting, and this has been an emotionally charged trip. The sooner we have concluded, the better, I am thinking." She gives a nod to Natska and turns to make her way towards the door.
Natska flicks an ear, smiling as she watches the spirits face. It was a terrible thing, but at least now it was dealt with. After a moment, she nods. "Yes. And I would not be surprised if they were down there. Oh, Lord Jera? I think I saw copies of town records, while I was looking over the bookcases." She nods towards a shelf. "There may be some that have aged well."
"I..." Jera tilts his head to look at Natska for a moment, thoughts not registering so quickly. He picks himself up and then heads to the shelf, carefully leafing through to find undamaged documents and then nods to the rest. "I'll probably want to spend some time reading through these. Maybe you three should head to the mausoleum instead."
The trip down to the manor sepulchre is thankfully uneventful, although everyone is still on edge after recent events. Situated in the middle of the sickly garden, the stone entrance is plain and imposing, having been fashioned with expert mathemagic, and upon further examination, sealed up tight via some strange force.
There is but one inscription above the entrance: "Rest for those of the Hearthwood clan".
"Hmm. Don't think such a seal could stop this. I must warn the rest of you first, and I won't lie. Entering the Mausoleum will probably be the most dangerous thing we've ever done." His short bladestaff is taken out and he impales the door with it, opening it after.
Selena sighs a little as she moves through the garden, looking back over the door as Jera makes his pointed comment and opens the doors. "I wouldn't necessarily say that, but there's a good chance it will be high on that list for us. Just keep an eye ahead and behind us; depending on how the crypt is built it'll be worthwhile to watch our backs even if there aren't paths leading off to the sides."
Cassidy folds her hands behind her back and hums merrily as she makes her way through towards the sepulchre. "I think it will be just fine, yes. I'm not worried any." She eyes the structure over and dusts off her sleeve. "I was kind of expecting to have to fight my way through the manor in the first place. The cultists must be slacking, yes."
Natska tightens her grip for a moment on her glaive and gives the group a serious nod, keeping an eye on the courtyard behind them as Jera works on the door. "Yes. We will see. I am not worried, with you all at my side." Her ear flicks, and she glances towards the door. "Do you want me to go in first again?"
