At the ruined square of Emlocke...
Darren has an idea. A helpful one, too!
"Let's see. I can sort of ghost my way in, then look around."
The whip man doesn't seem to mind, being busy placing his fingers on his temples and looking intently at the dog, and the dog nods along with what Darren says.
"Reasonably appropriate. Do it."
Darren, figuring he needs no other confirmation, ghosts on in, floating over the pit and to the front door of the house. Immediately he feels something try to worm its way into his mind, something almost unbearably strange. Huh.
At the Bargain of Ages...
Scott, upon hearing of the mansion man, feels rather joyful. He turns to the Artiste.
"Master, I beg a quick leave of absence."
"Oh, sure. Go right ahead."
Scott turns to Sigmund once more.
"Who is the owner, what does he look like?"
"Well, he is an old person and wears fine clothing. His name is Irwin Gimble, and his butler's name was Thomas, I think. He is a really nice man once you get to know him."
Scott nods, then grabs Sigmund, giving him a hug so thoroughly heartfelt, it borders on brutally violent. Then he leaves without a word, rushing over to the mansion. He reaches it within 20 minutes. It's still looking snazzy, he finds.
Back at the ship, Sigmund just looks uncomfortable. As do the others. Better quickly fix that. He strikes up a conversation with Erin.
"Is your magic capable of repairing things? Because I broke my knife, and, well, after seeing what I could do with it, and don't want it to become useless..."
"Oh, sure. Not a prob, buddy."
Sigmund hands Erin his broken knife, and she quickly examines it.
"Looks pretty sharp. Fragile, though."
[Erin magic roll: 1]
The knife glows for a moment, then suddenly seems to twist about, its broken tip wiggling about. Erin looks at it curiously for a moment.
Then the knife violently stabs itself through her hand, making a motion Sigmund wouldn't have thought possible with any normal knife!
"Oh, gods-dammit! That really, really hurts!"
The knife then pulls itself out of her hand, bends itself strangely, resting the tip on the ground, then springs away on its blade, leaving a trail of blood behind it.
"Well, that certainly just happened."
"How helpful of ya to notice!"
At the captain's quarters of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Morton is curious about the whole starvation business, and asks appropriate questions.
"D-died of starvation? Good heavens, what happened? Did you not make it to port in time?"
"YES! The cargo hold had ALL THE FOOD. WE were in the middle of a LONG VOYAGE ALONG THE SEA WHEN THE CLAMS ESCAPED! As I have ELABORATED, WE DID NOT KNOW they could MELT METAL. OUR NAVIGATOR, brave soul that HE UNDOUBTEDLY WAS, was the FIRST TO MAKE THIS DISCOVERY. Then he was PROMPTLY KILLED."
The captain shakes his head sadly.
"CUT DOWN IN HIS PRIME. One of many VICTIMS OF THE PRICELESS DELICACY TRADE. AND the only one who REALLY KNEW HOW TO USE ALL THOSE HANDY NAVIGATIONAL TOOLS as well. WE GOT LOST. THEN WE STARVED. Well, at LEAST we didn't TRY TO EAT EACH OTHER. Then for some reason ALL OF US BECAME GHOSTS, UNRESOLVED BUSINESS OR INCREDIBLE AGONY, or both would be my guesses. Some have WANED OVER TIME, like the CABIN BOY, particularly in the time WE'VE BEEN MOORED HERE, and I AM THE STRONGEST REMNANT. It took ABOUT TEN YEARS, but WE ALSO FOUND the ACTUAL COAST."
"So what shall you do now, my good captain? The beasts are dead, your duty done, and you no longer have erroneous limbs. Adventurer out into the sea? Hang around town?"
"I suppose I'll WANDER AROUND TOWN FOR A WHILE. LOAF around here at first. ENJOY THE SIGHTS AND WHATNOT. After that, WHO KNOWS?"
"The butler is right. Why not come with us and become associates of the Best Chef?"
"IT WOULDN'T BE RIGHT LEAVING THE SHIP. I've got LOTS OF FRIENDS HERE. They'd GET LONELY. And CRAZY. I can KEEP THEM IN LINE."
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 565204 times)