poland ♔ you keep a lot of secrets and i keep none

[reallywicked]

WHO || Faye, Taradiddle, Aedan, Cora, Kenzi [closed]
WHAT || the knights hope to assist a village with a witch problem
WHERE || Aurasburg, Poland
WHEN || Feb 4th, 2015 [backdated]
HOW || actionspam

The Knights arrive in Aursaburg to help the villagers with a problem they've been having with a local witch. The little village seems fairly quiet, but the team would be able to hear some rather heated words spoken a bit down the road from them. It escalates to shouting in a hurry, with the most noticeable word of the bunch being 'witch.' Faye glances at the others, realizing that oh shit- I'm in charge. Squaring her shoulders, she gestures for the group to follow her down the road.

"Sounds like our cue." Whatever is going on in this town seems to be happening thatta way.

Comments

[godblessyou]

[Taradiddle shrugs and follows her in.] How sure are we "inside" doesn't mean tied to the roof or something?

[reallywicked]

[Faye has already dragged Kenzi in by the time they make it back. As soon as the others cross into the home, lightning flashes across the sky and a heavy rain begins to pour. The old man looks... irritated at best, but he's not especially hostile towards them.

The dusty, stuffed, and mounted remains of a dozen types of birds and fish, mixed in with an assortment of crocodiles, varmints, predators, and more cram the inside of this one-room shack. The smaller displays covering every table and shelf also contain overturned spent wine bottles. Some of these latter items are as grimy as the glass eyed animals that they sit beside. the walls are a mad tangle of cobwebbed antlers. Larger pieces, such as the silent, vicious boar and a roaring black bear, stand on the floor.

Faye looks like she's trying really hard not to look disgusted. She's also trying really hard not to... touch anything.]

[impetere]

[Cora's also not feeling the decor, but since the guy doesn't seem hostile and they don't want to be out in the rain, she won't bring it up and piss him off. So long as he doesn't try and stuff her cat friend, at any rate.]

Thank you for helping us.

[godblessyou]

Hey, neat directions! Ever think about adding some of these to hats or helmets or something? [Taradiddle pokes at one of the antlers.]

[morethanasidekick]

[Kenzi lets out a low whistle before fixing the dude with a too bright smile.]

Love what you've done with the place. Very... Camp Crystal Lake chic. [(PCK: 24)

One day she's going to have something important to say. Today is not that day.]

[reallywicked]

[He makes a small gruff noise. "I could sell you some if you'd like. Or take care of that cat for you. Fair price." Glancing over his shoulder, he mutters quietly. "Trying to work here. Leave me be."]

/idiot

[ex_noble101]

[Well this was going to be a fun next few hours--or however long this storm lasted. Especially now that their host appeared to be talking to himself.

Whatever, gramps seemed to respond well to the d so he takes it upon himself to bring up the sudden bright pink elephant in the room (you know, besides all the crazy shit in here.).]

What is it you're working on? If you don't mind my asking.

[impetere]

[While Aedan does that, Cora, on the other hand, is just going to look mildly horrified at the idea of someone stuffing her kitty friend, and reach down to scoop up Malphaset and keep him close.

Anyone tries to take him from her for the purposes of stuffing, and she'll bite them. But that's about all the helpful she'll be in this tag, save from her usual sniffing around (wisdom 21, spot 23, listen 18).]

[reallywicked]

[Cora would notice a strange unease, like she's being watched, even while the man's attention is focused on Aedan.

"What?" He says, his gaze snapping back to Aedan suddenly. "Just asked if you want me to take care of your pet. Could make it real nice. Preserved forever." He continues to mutter to himself while he rumages through some old wine bottles to find one that still has some liquid in it.

"So, do you want to do business or not?" Irritation seems to change his tone, little by little.]

[ex_noble101]

[Whaaaaat just happened here. Aedan glances around at the others like he must have missed something, before looking back toward gramps.]

We're going to have to decline at this time, I'm afraid.

[Don't worry, Cora. Aedan was all for animal rights. Plus wasn't that tyoe of thing supposed to go down after the animal was already dead?

In the interest of keeping things from spiraling into complete batshit--]

Thank you again for seeing us through the storm. I'm not sure what we would have done had we not crossed paths out here.

[impetere]

[Thank you, Aedan. Let's not kill her cat please. (Yes, it's hers. At least for right now.)

She keeps Malphaset close, and that funny feeling that they're being watched gets under her skin. She moves closer to Faye and leans in, keeping her voice low as she speaks, so as not to draw the old man's attention.]

We're being watched.

[reallywicked]

[Faye's eyebrows raise slightly, as if to silently ask what the fucking hell Cora means by that.

The old man makes a small grunting noise at Aedan's words. "Would've been soaked to the bone. Might have died. Seems the least you could do to buy a few of my pieces." He finally finds a bottle with some liquor still in it, so he'll help himself to it.

"Still haven't told me what you're doing out this far." He adds after taking a hearty drink.]

We're looking for our friend. [Faye offers.] Autumn?

[The old man's eyes shift a bit, clearing his throat and going back to his bottle. "Haven't seen her."]

[impetere]

[She doesn't know exactly. It's just one of those weird werewolf feelings. But she will glance back to the old man to try and figure out if he's lying, focusing her hearing on his heart beat for the time being (sense motive 26).]

Because you don't get a lot of people out here or because you actually know who she is?

[godblessyou]

[Taradiddle eyes him up to see if he's telling the truth as well but lol she probably can't tell anything (sense motive 12). She will, however, try and palm one of the smaller pieces when he's not looking at her. Keyword, tries. She's pretty clumsy about it (sleight of hand 11).]

[reallywicked]

[Cora gets the distinct impression that there's more he's not saying, especially when he chooses not to answer her question at all. Thankfully, Taradiddle gives him plenty of reason to switch gears.

"Y'planning on paying for that? "]

[impetere]

[Yeah, and she's pretty tired of being yanked around. Her patience is wearing thin, and she lets her eyes narrow for a moment before she takes a step forward.]

How about you tell us what's actually going on and what you know about Autumn, and we'll think about it.

[She actually manages to be scary this time, because she doesn't feel like being diplomatic (intimidate 20 total). And by think about it she means not a shot in hell because this crap is gross.]

[reallywicked]

[The old man takes a step back from Cora, a slight twitch jolts his whole body for a moment. The way he moves is less stiff now, his body no longer swaying from the wine he's been nursing for god knows how long before they arrived. Instead, an intense gaze fixes on Cora.

"You're just like her!" The man's voice pitches upward, slightly shrill. "Just like my older sister, only asking about Autumn. Sweet little Autumn. No one asks about me, do they? No one asks about the way the mob came for me and sister left me to burn on the riverboat." The man lets out a dramatic wail.

Faye looks over at Cora like ... wat and backs over to the far left side of the room, just so they can be a little more spread out if this gets weirder and they need to take care of business.]

[impetere]

[Cora's eyebrows go up in response like "really, I'm in the wrong here?" It's not that she's unsympathetic to what happened, but how the hell is she supposed to know that?]

We did ask you about a boat. You didn't say anything. How the hell are we supposed to know you were on it?

[godblessyou]

[Does this distraction mean Taradiddle gets away with petty theft? She's hoping this distraction means she gets away with petty theft.]

We're very anti-mobs burning anyone!

[morethanasidekick]

Or just mobs in general. You know like Beliebers.

[reallywicked]

["Just like her! No one cares about the poor girls she leaves behind! No one cared about me!" The old man continues to wail, tossing his empty wine bottle towards an spot on the wall. He's not especially violent about it, but the bottle shatters anyway.

Faye jumps a little and looks like she's really close to just laying this guy out, fingers twitching to cast a spell.

"I was her favorite you know. Before that little brat! Sister said she loved me, told me I was special. But she let me burn. She let me die." In a crazed fit, the old man launches towards the nearest person which is probably Cora. Which means we need to roll init...once I am home to make a new private plurk for it.]

[godblessyou]

[Welp, that's a thing that's happening. Which Taradiddle is pretty sure means she totally has gotten away with taking the thing she stole. Oh right, and that she should... do something. She puts up her hands and casts command (will save 14 negates).] HALT!

[reallywicked]

[From out of the old man’s chest rises a wisp of white smoke that congeals slowly into the shape of a woman draped in soaked rags that are covered in scorch marks. She snaps her hair back, revealing a horrible ruin of a face that may have been sculpted by an amateur artisan and then cast into the kiln while still only half finished. While the old man does indeed appear to be frozen in place by Taradiddle's spell, the spirit does not seem at all bothered. The mere sight of her is so horrific that they must each make a fort save of 15 or higher to avoid taking 10 strength damage.

Faye... fails that fort save, unfortunately, causing her to stumble as she's weakened. She attempts to throw a fireball, but misses which... isn't great when you're in a tiny shack full of your teammates... SO FAR THIS IS GOING VERY WELL.]

[ex_noble101]

[Aedan makes the save easily (he's used to ugly bitches I guess) and watches as Faye's fireball sets the place ablaze??

Whatever he is going for it. Because coming at a spirit with a set of blades is totally the thing to do. They are enchanted if that helps?

Attack 15 with his sword, damage 7 + 3 cold damage if it hits, attack 20 with his dagger, 9 piercing + 3 cold if it hits.]

[impetere]

[Cora makes her fort save easily as well (fort save 30). She also makes her will save to not run screaming from the tiny cabin as it goes up in flames (will save 21). She really, really wants to but these are her teammates and she's not going to abandon them.

However, unfortunately for Cora, there's not much she can do against a spirit. She's got claws and claws will probably just go right through her. But she will try and look around to see if there's something she can put out the fire with. Being a victim of arson herself, she doesn't think that spirit lady's going to take it too well when she's caught in another fire (spot 20 total).]