the west wing [thread two!][p]

[Sifr]

[attr="class","infosmall"]Tsan'lo, Eric, ryth, Ariel, Dao

[attr="class","info"]The group that went with Lord Barst and Lord Castor were soon only with one of the brothers. Lord Castor upon them entering excused himself, muttering that the plan that Lady Shiida had come up with was ridiculous and he was going to go take the other path to the second floor via the kitchens and corner the assailant from there. Lord Barst seemed to just shrug it off and continue going, while he lead the party through what could only be described as a bedchamber wing of the mansion.

The corridors were narrow and were kept lit by candlesticks on the walls. The rooms were an assortment of things; most were bedrooms, some were private offices, some seemed to even be private dressing rooms. Lord Barst was leading them to the very end of the corridor.

“The secret passage is at the far end. It's mostly been used in the case of enemy attacks to smuggle the women and children of the home to safety. It is a labyrinth down there however, to ward off pursuers, so all of you will have to stay by me.” The six of them finally reached the wall, and he went to pull on a candlestick when he paused, his hand in the air. He turned around and frowned.

“Did you hear that?”

It was eerily quiet, save for the occasional burst of wind from outside and the breath of all those who were in the hall, but then Ariel and only Ariel would be able to hear it save for Barst.

The shuffle of footsteps, and many of them.

Barst tried to poke his head over the crowd of adventurers. “Castor? Is that you?”

And that was when a huge gust of wind snuffed all of the candles out, plunging the five of them into complete darkness.

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[Eric]

I design not in word or talk
but in deed and truth

The hallway seemed emptier than he remembered.  Though there was the sound of dull footsteps, such only served to amplify the tension.  At least, for a good while this was the case.  Lord Castor's voice broke the silence as he voiced his contrary opinion about the Lady Shiida's plan, opting to go a different path-- whatever the difference that would make.  "There is a murderer still roaming about, it would be safer to stick with the group."  Eric had spoken quietly.  He knew his words would hold little sway but the warning would serve to keep the Lord wary of his surroundings.  Though they had a better chance of finding the murderer by splitting up, it also made them easier to pick off one by one-- and who was to say the Lord Wrys was the assassin's only target?  There was hardly enough information to go on to start drawing any form of conclusion.

With Lord Castor gone, it seemed even more quiet than usual.  Lord Barst seemed to sense this and spoke, explaining its history.  Eric listened, but only halfheartedly.  The only way the murderer would use this route was if they knew of it extensively.  Someone who worked here or someone who had lived here their whole life for example.  Anything less would find escape or entry implausible.  Eric couldn't help but agree with Castor, that it seemed like a waste of time-- but should they find anything unusual it would perhaps serve to narrow down their list of suspects considerably.  Even should they not find anything, it would only serve to solidify what he already expected, an uneventful trip.  He cast a glance over to Tsan'lo.  Well, perhaps not all that uneventful.  Should she still be in a sour mood from earlier he was certain to hear about it.  At the very least, he made it his goal to not aggravate her any further than he already had.  He sighed, walking slightly behind their guide-- he could almost imagine the glare she was probably giving him at this very moment.

At long last they reached their destination.  The wall Lord Barst stood before seemed rather ordinary, rightfully so-- wouldn't be much of a secret passage if everyone knew about it.  The Lord went to pull a candlestick when he hesitated unexpectedly and asked if anyone had heard something.  Eric couldn't help but give him a strange look.  What, was he trying to put them more on edge than they already had been?  A hand fingered the sword that hung at his side.  The young lord was certainly unnerving to say the least.   The only thing out of the ordinary Eric could feel was a slight breeze, however he attributed said current to the hidden passage.  It wasn't a moment later that the passage plummeted into darkness.  The suddenness of it was enough to make Eric tense, his hair fluttering in the wind.

"Is everyone alright?"

Tags: old post
Comments: updating for aesthetic purposes

[Tsan'lo]

Eh, she wasn't actually really glaring at him. More or so she had completely forgot about him, focusing in her own thoughts by now. Her rational side was going trough all the possible candidates for the murder in order of the most likely to those who she just wanted to see hanged from murder. Maybe one of the lord's sons? One of them was bound to inherit and perhaps they just wanted some of their fortune early. Or maybe it was his wife, the... Lovely, young lady who was tired of being a wife to such an old man.

Her thoughts also went to some of the guests, but nothing generally came out of that as she saw that not one of them was a potential candidate, considering the masked man was with her the whole time the murder happened. Maybe the maid tried to kill her? Maybe one of the lord's sons had hired her to murder the man. Now that she thought about it she had not been told how the man had been killed. She should try and find out somehow, but she did not want to ask the others. That would be foolish, foolish indeed.

So she simply stuck there at the back with her swords out, keeping guard and making sure nobody tried to sneak up on her and by extension the rest of the group.

@everyone

[Ariel]

"Your lot in life means damned little when you get right down to it. Who you are doesn't matter, but who you act like does. If you're the one taking charge of a job meant for the queen, you'll have plenty of loyal souls willing to die for you, royal or not." --Ariel's father, on Chains of Command An eighteen-year old girl should not have experience with assassins. By in large they're too young, too innocent, and too sheltered to have pissed anyone off to the point that someone's gunning for them. That said...when you're the appointed mouthpiece of a God whose public image isn't exactly that cuddly, you tend to get more death threats than average. So when the already suspect candlelight vanished, the Grimleal Valkyrie knew what to do by second nature more than anything else. In a heartbeat, the girl's back was against the wall and she was pouring magical energy into her staff. While under normal circumstances the light emitted by using her staff was minimal at best, anything at this junction would be useful. In the darkness, anything sneaking up on you could be a deadly threat, one you don't see coming until it's far too late. Which is why Ariel was quick to bark out orders - death wasn't something her healing magic would be able to fix. "Everyone, backs to the wall, NOW! Don't swing at anything either!" The chance certainly existed for her plan to go awry, but it also had the lowest chance of someone stabbing one of their own in a fit of panic. That'd be even worse than the murderer coming at them.

TAGS

 

[Dao]

Because being stuck inside a murder case with two other people that would definitely prefer that they have your head is definitely the best thing to have ever happened. The young feroxi swordsman refrained from audibly sighing out his displeasure at the turn of events. Caught up in a storm of whatever the hell had happened, the only thing Dao had properly understood was that if he did this, then surely there was a reward for it in the end. That in itself was a good enough reason to join in on this gigantic waste of time. Skulking through the underground, and supposedly secret from the information being provided to them, passageway, the young man certainly didn't feel all that excited.

Maybe it was the fact that the place just felt out of place, or maybe it was because the area was too cramped for his tastes. Regardless of his preferences however, his sword hands continued to itch. His arms and hands melding into the shadows of his own cloak as the fingers wrapped themselves around the hilt of his weapons, Dao placed against them just the slightest bit of pressure to keep them steadied. He was more interested, really, to making sure that there wouldn't be any chances of him getting blind sided by anything rather than listen to their tour guide explain the history of this hall way.

Nonetheless, he felt his attention drawn to a few words here and there which more or less gave him the over all idea of what this thing was meant to be used for. Hidden underneath the hood of his cloak and behind the porcelain mask on his face, Dao had already partially hindered his senses. It all became useless in the end when following a gust of wind, the lights of their path had been snuffed away like the candles they were. Shrouded in the darkness, the world seemingly echo all around him, the Feroxi male resisted the urge to quickly draw his swords and instead followed the female's suggestion.

Sliding his body to the wall, flattening himself against it as memories and experience began to take reign on his actions, the bandit quieted himself to further immerse into the silence around them. Because even if he was capable of defending himself in areas of minimal light, complete darkness was certainly a different obstacle in and of itself.

---

Tags: Eric, Tsan'lo, Ariel, ryth, Sifr

[♠ Kuroya]

[attr="class","infosmall"]Tsan'lo, Eric, ryth, Ariel, Dao

[attr="class","info"]It was a bone-chilling sound that echoed through the hallway that had a shudder running down everyone's back, and Lord Barst's eyes widened. "Intrudersin the castle," he breathed, trembling slightly and obviously struggling not to wet himself - understanding given the trying night that he'd had so far. Running a hand through his hair and obviously trying - and failing - to keep his composure, he swallowed hard.

"Castor's bedroom is nearby. I'm sure he would not mind too terribly if we ducked in there and barred the door to prepare." Some people might have taken that as an offer to be cowards, but then, on the other hand, it had been quite the challenging night. Perhaps it would be best to duck into the room and prepare. After all, there was no telling what type of enemy, or how many, seemed to be marching towards the small band.

But of course... on the other hand... there still was the candlestick gleaming softly in what little light was being provided by the glow of the staff, almost as if it were tempting them to ignore Lord Barst and explore the laberynth he had spoken of...

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[Eric]

I design not in word or talk
but in deed and truth

"Et tu, Lord Barst?"  Eric sighed, bringing his hand up to face palm for a moment.  He'd taken the man to be a little more courageous than to squeak as he had done so readily.  He'd been a little spooked, sure, but this was ridiculous-- everyone was acting as though they'd run into ghosts or something.  There was a line between being cautious and just flat out paranoia.  It was then he heard the bone-chilling moan echoing from beyond the wall from the labyrinth.  Eric's eyes widened and he felt as though his heart would leap through his throat.  His face had gone pale, but thanks to the bad lighting no one could see it.  Yes, though it echoed in the hall he was sure where it had come from being as he was standing next to the hidden passageway.  From the glow that illuminated what little he could see, most everyone else had their backs to one wall or another in an attempt to create a defensively safe position.  Either Tsan'lo hadn't thought of it, she knew as he did whatever foe they were facing would make sound in their approach, or she simply didn't care.  Of the three, Eric presumed the last to be most true.

Eric let out a slow breath.  There was no time for fear, no time to allow himself to hide.  He could already tell by the sound that what they were dealing with would be some form of undead.  He'd encountered his fair share of such in his patrols within the duchy.  The real question was, why were they here?  He was fairly sure there would be a group of them waiting beyond the wall-- by the sound of it at least one.  Depending on the type of undead, however, it could be a dangerous encounter they may well not be prepared for as of yet.  For now, they should expect anything and decide upon seeing their enemy whether it was safe to engage or not.

"We cannot let fear dictate our moves.  As we are now, we hold a key advantage-- we have light, albeit not a lot of it, and we know in what direction our foe will be approaching."  He reasoned, putting in his two cents first, in his eyes being the voice of reason amid paranoia and fear that had looked to have taken the rest of the group.  "Our only disadvantage I can see is that we know not what form our enemy takes or how many.  For now, we should take a defensive position here first.  It will bottleneck whatever foe is beyond this wall waiting for us.  Lord Castor's room will be our fallback.  If a wave we cannot handle emerges we should retreat there."  He didn't foresee a need to retreat, but having the option to regroup and prepare with more information on their enemy was key.

"Our mission, as I see it, is to eliminate the enemy and protect Lord Barst.  Anyone who does not wish to fight may retreat to Lord Castor's room now."

Tags: @everyone
Comments: ---

[Tsan'lo]

"I would find it smarter to go to the Lord's room." She shook her head once, having not bothered to go against the wall as she stared to Lord Barst. "Now out of cowardice, no. Heavens no. Tactical advantage." She stroked her chin for a moment. "We do not know how many there are, but they don't know that there's a group of us here, yes? Perhaps it would be best to enter the room... But not bar it. Leave the doors open, perhaps with someone as a sort of bait. Perhaps our Lord here would wish to do such? After all, the bait does not have to fight too much, and only run."

She cocked a small, mocking grin that was barely see-able for the people around her due to the dim lighting. "Better let the chickens rush into your pot rather than trying to chase them, hm?" She tilted her head for a moment as she waited for the reaction of the others. The strategy sounded smart in her head, considering the enemy was most probably going to charge after one of their targets without thinking too much.

"Perhaps set it up with me, the black haired lordling and mask face there to either side of the room to wait for the poor bastards as they run after Lord Barst, with... Brown hair perhaps at the back ready to heal Lord Barst if they happen to have archers and also happen to hit him while running." She offered a slight shrug.

Eric Ariel Dao

[Dao]

Dao felt his back sink against the wall when he pushed against it harder. The targetable areas he had presented became smaller and in turn would have allowed him a bigger avenue of escape. Because in this dim lighting, with the echoing sounds not belonging to those of anything anyone would remotely consider friendly, the young feroxi male didn't want to give whatever was out there a chance to take him down just because he felt like nothing could take him down. It was better, after all, to be safe as opposed to dead or dying. In that line of thought, the bandit also began to unsheathe one of his weapons as quietly as he could. It acted more to the thought of not adding more tension to the situation as opposed to hiding it from the knowledge of whatever hostiles were out there.

In the span of time that it took him to unsheathe his blade, Dao had also expected the group of people he had found himself with to at least begin moving forward now that there was an increase in pressure due to the presence of an unseen factor. As it were however, the team decided that debating now in the open would be the smartest choice. Waving around the source of light they still had was like waving a death flag all around them; telling whatever was out there that they were there and they certainly wouldn't mind having the life in their eyes snuffed much like the candles that once illuminated their path. Dao listened in, somewhat, to the plans being exchanged and all he heard initially were two things.

The first was impatience, and the sole want to get it over with. The second was simply doing it to spite the first, or to at least prove herself the better tactician. The Feroxi male raised an eyebrow behind his mask and let out a slightly exasperated sigh. They were really doing this. In the middle of the pathway where they could easily be ambushed due to all of the inane talking that was going on. He shook his head and decided to keep out of it. They had access to the candle anyway, and if bearer died then it was just a simple matter of taking it from him. Whether they continued onwards or decided to be petty about staying here, Dao could care less.

Making a new light shouldn't be impossible if it came down to it anyway.

---

Tags: Eric, Tsan'lo, Ariel, ryth, Sifr
Notes: Just wanted to remind everyone that we gotta tag Sifr in all of our posts. Or at least, that's what I understood of it. If I'm wrong, feel free to ignore this blurb.

[Eric]

I design not in word or talk
but in deed and truth

There didn't seem to be any disagreement. Alright, who was he kidding? Immediately there was a rebuttal from Tsan'lo. Eric felt irritation rise within him and he was glad it was dark to hide his eyes that turned to daggers. "You seem to be mistaken." Eric cast a look in Tsan'lo's direction since he couldn't actually see her. "It's not a suggestion. If you don't wish to cooperate you may fall back to Lord Caster's room. Otherwise, scowl and bear it. There's no time to waste arguing." He made it short and sweet.  That, hopefully, would be the end of that and they could turn their attention back to what really mattered, the completion of the mission.  Even if she did argue back he wouldn't carry on with the pointless squabble.  If she couldn't understand there was a time and a place to be contrary with everything he said and the battlefield wasn't it, she was perhaps more dense than he gave her credit for.  With lives on the line it wasn't about anything that happened in the past, it wasn't if he favored any one person over another, it was simply business as per usual.  With a smooth hiss, Eric drew his own sword anticipating the start of the battle.

Tags: Tsan'lo
Comments: Sorry guys, I know it's out of order but I'm just throwing it out there now to get this resolved before we actually have to start worrying about risen or whatever.  If it absolutely messes with how things progress I can take it down upon request.

[Ariel]

"Who died and made you Lord and Master of all this?" It was hardly the most apt thing to say, someone *had* died after all, but all the same Ariel didn't appreciate being bossed around by anyone - especially an Ylissian dog. There was a level of composure in her voice as the Grimleal Priestess spoke, but the others could easily hear how loosely her temper was being chained. She didn't like this not one bit. "Our mission is to locate the murderer, and nothing else. A feat much easier accomplished when we're not going getting stabbed by any number of things. A retreat to somewhere with more light and clearly defined entrances makes sense." There's a pause as the brunette lets that sink in, before continuing. "Then again, your kind always have been too stuck in your ways when you come up with some 'master plan' and one of these days it'll be your undoing. But since you'll not be convinced...do try not to die, yes?" On second thought, let the kid rush to his death. He'd serve as a clear example as to why these sorts of things have no good answer, and one less bull-headed fool in her retinue would still be an acceptable outcome.

TAGS

 

[ryth]

Shocked at the announcement of the lord’s murder, Ryth looked at the maid in surprise. Leaving his plate of food behind, he followed lord Barst and three others. Not bothering to reply to the other lord leaving he waited for the lord to open the wall to the labrynth of tunnels. When the groan resounded through the tunnels Ryth took pause like everyone else. Knowing a little of the foes that it sounded like he still had never faced one and wanted to face them on as good a ground as possible. Agreeing with the lord he waited to see the others responses and was disappointed with the first allies response. Knowing that retreating could be seen as cowardice he tried to reassure him of the danger but was stopped as one of the other allies argued with him and stated another point which he slightly agreed upon. Trying to contribute he was countered by others as they started to argue. “Look! Most of us probably haven’t faced an enemy like this and I don’t want to attack an enemy while I don’t know their capibilities as well as being ambushed from behind. There is a difference between bravery and stupidity… eric is it? We shoud retreat to the bedroom and wait to strike our enemies by surprise and use the door as a bottleneck. But as for the bait ides, I don’t want lord barst to die from a stray arrow.”

[Eric]

I design not in word or talk
but in deed and truth

Great.  Now another pipped up second guessing him.  The young lord could have guessed Tsan'lo was saying such out of spite to simply disagree, but this boy seemed to honestly believe his plan to be smarter.  Very well, he'd play along.  "So, you're saying we should retreat into a room with only one escape, the same entrance the supposed enemy we have no idea of their combat abilities is going to be taking.  As our unknown enemy is falling through said only entrance, what should we do should they overpower us?  Escape the same direction they are entering from?  And who's to say they would take any such bait leading them to the room in the first place and not simply wander about the manor killing anything in its path? No, such would be a massacre ending in complete loss of life by taking too much into assumption. We are already in a bottleneck position as we are facing the secret passage's entrance where the enemy has to pass through us to reach the rest of the mansion.  If we must we can use the bedroom to fallback if needed-- if we stay to fight at all.  I've accounted for an escape route should we need it and it would be prudent to take such into account in the future."  He was slightly irritated he had to explain... However, now that he exposed the flaws of using the room it would be apparent that that trapping themselves as the Lord Barst was suggesting wouldn't be tactically sound in the least.  "Unless there are any questions still lingering, I would hope we could turn our attention to the mission at hand."

Tags: ryth
Comments: Sorry guys, again, I feel the need to post to get things settled because there is still argument.