Tuesday, October 14th, 2014
Turn 1
hmm, I want to stay out as long as I can, else the flashcards...
I know what I'll do!
Self-objective: The PLAN!
Step 1) Grab anything I'll want later from inside now, before Mom gets flashcard-itchy. That weird book for starters, and a notepad and something to write with to map the hedge-maze.
Step 2a) Go to the observatory and check it out! see if there's anything interesting!
Step 2b) Go to the hedge maze and map it! be the only person who can't get lost inside!
Step 3a) Hide from Mom! Noooooooooo flashcards! Nonononono!
Step 3b) Read book while hiding! It wont require me to make noise to read it, so it won't break my cover, and it seemed really neat last night!
Dash back inside, pick up the book out of the library and pocket it, then run on over to the study and grab a notepad and a pencil or pen. Don't bother being sneaky, Mom isn't out to get me.... yet!
...Maryn's breath steams in the cold. Her mind churns furiously, planning an adventure of epic scope, a grand outdoor Odyssey away from the tiresome world of flashcards and
math. Who needs multiplication when you have the whole world to explore? Nobody else is spending a lot of time outside; Maryn could make her own private forts and hideouts anywhere! Everywhere! Yes,
yes!
Maryn Objective Set!First thing's first, though; supplies! Maryn darts back inside, followed closely by Harpo, who barks playfully. Not bothering to shed her coat or boots, Maryn pounds upstairs, then ducks into the library. The weird book is right where she left it, on a shelf in the back. Harpo growls uneasily behind Maryn, to her chagrin; Mom hadn't
precisely forbidden Harpo from being upstairs, but Maryn knew from past experience that playing with the dog inside while Mom tries to clean is a recipe for disaster. Clutching the book against her coat with her left arm, she slides out of the hall and into the Study.
The Study is full of all kinds of neat things, but it's also dangerously close to Maryn's duster-wielding flashcard-threatening mother, and so is not an ideal place to play today. It should, however, have a pencil and paper to properly map the Hedge Maze with. Running over to the desk, Maryn opens the drawer; sure enough, half a dozen pencils rest inside. Grabbing one, Maryn looks deeper for a notepad.
Unfortunately, she doesn't see one. No notepads, no sheets of paper, no scraps or receipts or page-a-day calendars, not even a book to deface! What kind of writing desk doesn't have paper?
Harpo nuzzles her hand, looking for a treat.
Harpo knew that, of the two, the one most likely to be judged as a tasty, undefended treat by the raccoons as well as the one most likely to find any raccoons in the first place was the Maryn one. And since the Mary-Anne woman was not there to guard her litter, the task fell to Harpo!
Follow Maryn! Closely!
...Harpo knows that the Floyd man can handle himself; Maryn girl is the one who needs to be protected! Harpo trots over to Maryn girl and barks a friendly greeting, which Maryn girl largely ignores as Maryn girl darts back inside. Harpo stays close to Maryn girl, following Maryn girl upstairs. The upstairs makes Harpo uneasy; it smells still and stale up here.
Harpo follows the Maryn girl into the Library, a room even staler and mustier than the rest of the second floor. Not sure what the Maryn girl is up to, Harpo sticks close behind Maryn as Maryn darts between the bookcases. Reaching a shelf near the back of the room, the Maryn girl picks up a book.
Harpo does not like the book.
At first wiff, the book mostly smells old and dry, like bones bleached in the sun. Underscoring that smell is the sharp, bitter stink of dried ink, faint with age and nearly subsumed by the weight of the leathery smell Harpo associates with the Floyd man's coat. Beneath all that is an incredibly faint... something. A scent of contradiction, of solid shadows, of pain and joy, mud and soot. It is an odor that does not behave like the smell of a thing, but the smell of a beast; it pulses, waxes, wanes. On the whole, it seems to be getting stronger.
Harpo does not like the book.
Maryn girl shushes Harpo, then runs into the hallway. Harpo follows Maryn girl into the Study, another room with a complex scent characteristic, but Harpo can still pick the wrongness of the book out of the air. Harpo does not like this. Maryn is clearly planning to go back outside, since Maryn still wears the extra fur layers the family uses. Moreover, Maryn smells focused and eager, a combination of scents that always seems to result in mischief.
"Alright, thanks!" This might go very smoothly. With that floormap, Garen thought, he should be able to maneuver his way with ease to what he wants and get it. Awesome.
Garen goes to go retrieve the manila envelope.
...Garen is excited. Yesterday wasn't so great, but if everything goes well Garen will at least have a room with a view. Dad seems confident that everything will work out, and Garen has a lot of faith that Dad can do whatever he sets his mind to. All Garen has to do is find those windowpanes and get them to his room!
Garen trots inside; the door is ajar, and the pounding of Maryn's boots inside suggest the reason why. Closing the door behind him, Garen heads upstairs, cutting through the bathroom and into his parents' room. Sure enough, the folder is right where Dad said it would be. Garen flips through it, searching for information that can help him.
As luck would have it, one of the first pages he finds is a construction report. Apparently the Mansion had some major renovations over the summer; cleaning, reflooring, significant maintenance on the ductwork and insulation... and the installation of a new window! The report finishes with a note that not all of the work was completed due to construction delays, with some materials being stored on-site until the job can be finished next spring. Carpet, nails, boards... yes! Windowpanes! Everything is up in the attic, it seems.
Score!
Floyd eyed the Gardener's Shed. It was either go in there, or stay out here in the cold. And he had to go in there, since that's where the tools were. He couldn't explain why he felt uneasy about going in, though. After a moment he sighed and pushed open the door. Uneasy feeling or not, you gotta get it done. And the sooner it's done the sooner you can get to work. So work, Floyd.
Floyd enters the Gardener's Shed and looks for the tools. He also makes a point to check on the snow blower.
...Floyd pushes open the Gardener's Shed door. He stands outside for a moment, though, uneasy about the darkness. The sunlight shining through the open door illuminates a chaotic clutter of tools. A riding lawnmower takes up most of the space. Rakes, hoes, hedge clippers, and shovels of every description lean drunkenly against the lawnmower and the various boxes of fertilizers and weedkillers. Only a few tools remain on the wall pegs where they belong.
Sighing, Floyd steps inside the cramped space, easily quashing irrational feelings of confinement. Whoever last used this shed was a slob; Floyd would definitely have to organize in here. Towards the back of the shed, Floyd can see the snowblower, as well as a small electric jigsaw and several attachments for all the mechanical things.
Mary-Anne had never much liked spiders. She didn't know exactly when the dislike had taken root, but after the dream... It was clear that her dislike of the eight legged freaks was flowering. Which, considering the state of the house, was really no surprise. Mary-Anne had never been immensely influenced by popular psychology, but it seemed reasonable that the reason she was having nightmares of spiders was due to the presence of very real spiders and and other crawlers in the house.
Well, it was time to evict them.
Begin dusting the house and removing cobwebs. Start in the bathrooms and work widdershins around the house (bathrooms -> ballroom -> foyer -> conservatory -> etc). Bring along a blowtorch a flyswatter to goosh bugs with.
...Shaking her head as Maryn runs downstairs, Mary-Anne turns her attention to the task at hand; dusting! Heading over to the attic hatch, she pulls the stairs down and walks up, clicking on the light. There's cleaning supplies up here somewhere...
The old vacuum cleaner is easy to spot, and nearby Mary-Anne finds a box with dustcloths, rags, and a big white featherduster. Unfortunately, the box doesn't seem to have a flyswatter in it, or any sort of insecticide. Stubbornly, Mary-Anne opens another box. She's not going on a bug hunt armed with nothing but feathers. She opens another box, sorting through Christmas ornaments. She opens another box. Another.
Some time later, Mary-Anne slams the lid of a box shut in frustration. It seems she has to admit defeat; if there's a flyswatter up here, she can't find it. She's wasted enough time.
Rooms cleaned: 0/9((note, you're cleaning the UPstairs rooms))
Floyd the FatherObjective:
Check tools in Gardener's ShedAP:
3/3XP:
3/10Status: Normal
Inventory: Manilla Folder (last seen in Master Bedroom)
Traits:
Gearhead,
Claustrophobia Mary-Anne the MotherObjective:
Clean UpstairsAP:
2/3XP:
3/10Status: Normal
Inventory: None
Traits:
Mama's Healing Kisses,
Too Many Legs Garen the TeenagerObjective:
Find the windowpanes!AP: 3/3XP: 0/5Status: Normal
Inventory: Nintendo DSi
Traits: Diverse Interests (Geography) Maryn the Little KidObjective:
THE PLANAP: 3/3XP: 4/10Status: Normal
Inventory: Grimoire de Aretstikapha, Pencil, Little Elephant Statue (last seen in room)
Traits: Curious Little Monkey,
Properly Paranoid Harpo the Family Dog.Objectives:
PROTECT EVERYONEAP: 1/3XP: 2/10Status: Normal
Inventory: None
Trait: Loyal Companion 
Author
Topic: Winter on the Mountain: Round 2 (Read 11943 times)