"Ah, Linda isn't bound to my will or anything like that, she's her own person. She's just very excited about everything, so I'm exploring the ship with her."
He notices Linda's gestures and smiles. "I'm still going to find a way to give you a voice, but you're doing a pretty good job without it."
Lift Linda up near the keyhole of the door, I assume that's what she's trying to get across. If she says something else, try to follow her directions as best as I can.
((Shame to see Leif go, he was a good character. And probably just about to run into Thomas too. Ah well.))
You lift Linda up to the keyhole, and she happily wiggles for a moment before leaning in toward the lock.
She raps at the lock a few times and brings her nearly featureless face up to it. The lock vibrates gently at her for a few moments. She draws closer. The door creaks invitingly as its frame bends slightly. Linda puts her head tight up to the cabin's door handle.
[The Silver Key: 1]
The handle then proceeds to smack her across the top of her head, which seems to not so much cause damage as it does completely crush the poor manikin's morale. Linda looks heartbroken at the cruel trick the door seems to have chosen to play on her before resuming its normal station as, near as you can tell, a perfectly normal and inanimate door.
You notice the doctor having raised his eyebrow. Alphonse appears to have skittered off while you weren't looking, which you figure is just typical of the old man.
To Hrmhrmr: "Nothing valuable enough I can afford to lose, I'm afraid. Is there anything in particular you wanted to come in here for? I'm tempted to have a look around, anyway." General: "So what is this place, anyway?
((A shame about that.))
You get the sense, partly from the man himself and partly from the obscenely large tab, that Hrmhrmr has been hanging out here a long time and that not doing so is in some vague sense intolerable to him. The woman is being cruel, he says. Tab isn't that large. He'll pay up. Later. When he gets a quest. And an advance to go with it as well. Always need to ask for an advance when getting great quests.
The madame, for her part, doesn't seem very able to articulate the answer to your question in full, but does eventually manage to creak out some manner of explanation.
Gooo riiight iiin. Yoour monnney haaas paaaid foooor... onnne rouuund.Must be one of those observation posts. Thomas waved at the statue.
"Ah, yes, hello. I come... representing the Rabbit Clan here as they seek entry. I also seek entry for my own purposes. Can we come in now please?"
Ask nicely.
[Caught Watching: 6]
The statue pretends not to have heard you for a moment, but when it notices that the jig is up, suddenly relaxes (not something you commonly see on statues, to be sure). As do all the other ones on the stairs as they start milling about and checking each other over for dust and bird shit. This you recognize as a further delaying tactic, so you decide to ask again.
The statues do respond this time, although none of them say a word of any kind. In fact, they respond by pantomiming some kind of deep thought as they collectively sit down or adopt other exaggerated thinking poses, start scratching their heads and stare out into the distance. Occasionally one of them raises a finger, but then lowers it.
[Elizabeth's Welcome: 4]
This goes on for a good two minutes as they mime contemplation. The Shrikes and Treefrogs stop a slight distance away, mildly deterred by the sight of this sudden outbreak of mimes in the area as far as you can tell.
Then the statues all shrug and gather around you, pointing at each of your retinue and seemingly conferring with one another in no language you can readily understand. Nobody is especially harassed by the statues, patted up and down, shoved back and forth a little bit and even gets a tweak on the nose from a stone finger, nearly breaking it. However, at last they shrug and motion together at the gates, which slowly open just the slightest bit - enough to permit you entry.
You are ushered in by the statues, leading in the front and following at the back in a broad encirclement to make sure you and your buddies don't go anywhere, along the streets of Elizabeth, shining spotless in the sun, beautiful buildings of stone and marble of all sorts formed up in regular, well-proportioned streets with nary a sign of dilapidation.
Everything here, near as you can tell, is made of stone of one kind or another, the style of the buildings putting in your mind a Greek acropolis. Or maybe a necropolis - architecturally impressive though the buildings are, they are almost completely still and silent apart from the occasional shuffling of a statue as it attends to some pressing business in a methodical manner.
The deeper you go in, however, the clearer it becomes that there are other clansmen here - Tabernacle notes the gleaming scales of a fully armed Dragon clansman skulking on a rooftop, looking down on you as some manner of shiny, winged Australian dinosaur skulks up right next to him. The glare of the dinosaur is unmistakably one of complete and utter scorn - you don't think you've ever seen its like. A gaggle of richly dressed individuals are dubbed Monkeys by Lily, and you catch a glimpse of a man covered in bizarre boils before he disappears down an alleyway in the company of another statue - that there's a Gallfly, the treefisher elder nods.
You appear to come close to the center of the local population of tourists, which looks to be a cul-de-sac at the end of one of the main streets where a large number of clansmen gather even now, but you are led off to the side before you get there, and into an out-of-the-way residence right beneath the local aqueduct. As the heavy stone door slides out of the way at your approach you find that it's quite dark inside, but completely dust-free, and with ample room for as many as several dozen residents. Everything is still made of stone, mind you, including the beds, albeit those appear to be sculpted exceptionally well for what they are. Suppose they assumed you'd bring your own sleeping bags or something.
The statues who were guiding you here seemed to peel away along the way, but at the doorstep of your appointed residence the very last of them decide to part ways with you. Of course, there are also many statues inside, shaped vaguely like servants and blending in perfectly with the rest of the place to the point where you'd be forgiven for having a heart attack when one of them steps out of seemingly nowhere and looks to you to see if you'd perhaps like anything.
Weird feckin' place, Evey shakes her head as she stands by you, the rest of your followers having chosen to get a feel for the accommodations for now with a more than reasonable amount of suspicion, possibly verging on paranoia as some of them walk around poking at walls and testing the floors, afraid of them perhaps coming alive suddenly.
Just when you think things can't get creepier. And it didn't even flinch at my zinger. I'll have to think of a better one by the time I kill this thing.
I swing my scimitar at the ghoul, aiming for the head.
[Have At Thee:
1, 5 vs. 1]
You and Oggie both charge at the ghoul - you swing from the front while she winds up a great swing with her board and slams at the minder from behind - the resulting effect is rather like a pair of scissors, the ghoul's strange protective abilities lapsing for a moment as you manage to shear its head right off, the boneless balloon of a cranium flying loose in a sudden conflagration of levitating powers carrying it upward.
The bundle of nerves and veins making up its body falls to the ground limply and wetly in a small pile - the head continues to fly, and obviously make a hell of a noise as it circles above, shrieking down with all of its might.
[Mistress of Her Own Soul: 1]
Oggie begins to swing her board wildly as the sudden impulse seems to simultaneously blind and enrage her - the first swing narrowly misses your head as she seems to try and get at anything within reach just to make the screaming stop.
Rindle Fischgartner:The smell of pineapple hits your nostrils strongly as you draw in breath, waking up after what feels like a very long time. You don't recall when you fell asleep, or where, but you are fairly certain it wasn't under the circumstances you are presently in.
You find yourself naked in the cot of an attractive young dark-skinned woman in a strange dress who stands over you in breathless wonder. The cabin seems poorly ventilated at first, but then you notice several vents installed around the various parts of the room, they just appear to have been overwhelmed by the chemistry equipment arranged all around.
[This Is Not My Beautiful House: 2]
Blinking slowly, you notice the woman's expression slide into a grin as she leans to be right above you.
Her first questions are simple enough: how are you feeling? Any aches or pains, or a strange tingling or tension? Do you remember anything at all?
Eileen Minett, Vinyl Collector
- Distilled alcohol (in flask)
- Spirits of salt (in clay jar)
- Soaps of elk, bear, bat and snake
- 4 flasks of lamp oil
- Oil lamp (lit)
- Linen stoat shirt (worn, plasma-scorched)
- Stoat trousers (worn)
- Comfy slippers (worn)
- Never-made scimitar (blackened, slightly dull)
- Tooth-handled hunting knife
- Black leather boots
- An assemblage of amber and amethysts
- Silver thread-necklace
- Onyx spiral earrings
- 2 oaken rings
- Rusty, bloodstained knife
- A Word: HUNGER
- A Word: SYNTHESIS
- A Weapon: Explosive Cysts
- Grenade Jumping: A Solid Technique
- The Good Doctor: Secret Histories
- Sword of the Sand People: Cleaning Supplies
- Sword of the Sand People: The Services of a Minder
- Higher Tonight: There And Back Again
- The Old Mistress: Like A House On Fire
- Our Old Bridge Is Falling Down: A Monster Hunter
- She Who Fights Monsters: The Ghoul's Enmity
Jack Daniels, Karate Man
- Linda the peg-legged manikin (lively, disappointed)
- Red and gold vest and breeches combo (worn)
- Leather boots (worn)
- Rubber mattress (filled with water)
- 14031 gp (in sack)
- Poor Unfortunate Soul: Forever Captive
- The Queen's Guard: Actual Asset
- Powers of the Beyond: Gardener of Thoughts
- Garden of Thoughts: the Stoat-Magistrate
- Dusty Wooden Speaking-Trumpet
- Crossbow Bolt (in throat)
- A Word: REND
- A Word: SILENCE
- A Word: EXECRABLE
- A Weapon: Murder-Thought
- Uncoupled: Strength
- Wooden Door
- Induced Lucidity: The Silent Garden
- Elongated Affairs: Enemy of the New State
- 2 rats, crushed
- 1 rat, strangled
- 1 rat, live
- Doomstones: So High Up But Such A Bitter View
- The Majordomo: A Great Divide Between Us Now
- The Voracious Dark: Decreasing Demand
- The Voracious Dark: More Specific Requests
- The Vault of Heavens: Special Treatment
- Scars of Time: Meticulously Analyzed
- Process of Elimination: Pounds of Flesh
- The Night Sky: How Very, Very Quaint
- Fires, Pines & Day, Minions At Law: Dan Duty
- Body Count: 3
Thomas Minstep, Insurance Agent
- A Word: ABSENCE
- A Word: GOODBYE
- A Word: WORM
- A Weapon: The Sword They Fear
- Insurance contracts, signed in triplicate: 12
- Nobody Cares
- Helen Clampitt
- Lily
- Undine and Prosper Eke
- Silver
- Tabernacle, treefisher scout
- Treefisher elder
- 4 treefishers
- Make A Man Out Of You: Battle-Tested
- The Grip of Tharn: Insurance Against The Storm
- Ranging fork
- 2 feet of sinew-thread
- Tooth-needle
- A Bowl, Black and Knobby
- Tight Leather Pants (worn)
- Incredibly Tight Blue Dress (worn, mutilated, mildly provocative)
- The Queen's Guard: A Reward Well Earned
- The New Queen: Lasting Gratitude
- The Box: Absolutely Delightful
- The Voracious Dark: The Place of Lost Souls
- The Voracious Dark: Testing Run
- Proof of Concept: An Interesting Student
- Clans of the Northern Wilderness: A Distraction
- The Living City: A Guest In Elizabeth
- Body Count: 12
Oscar Wilde, Chemistry Teacher
- Wounds: 2
- A Word: REVELATION
- A Word: THANKS
- The Wicked King's Missive On Economic Reform (in massive silver scroll case)
- Traces of Mischief: Glowing Facial Rift
- The Serpent's Egg: Dissemination
- Body Count: 4
- Cornerstone Helm (worn, out of light, collecting)
- Bottle of aspirin
- Time-ender's measure (wrapped, processing? stopping?)
- 10 m of rope
- Half a candle
- 1 rat, skinless and smoked
- 4 gp
- Lock of Hair (unidentified)
- Iron nail, unused
- An Inauspicious Key
- Moth-Eaten Hat (worn)
- Old Brown Waistcoat (worn)
- A Wealth of Burlap Ribbons
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: The Less Dangerous Friend
- The King's Court: The Greatest Gift of All
- The King's Court: The North Wind's Gift
- The King's Court: Makala's Old Glory
- The King's Court: The South Wind's Gift
- The King's Court: The West Wind's Gift
- The King's Court: A Gift For The Wicked King
- Wizzards Bargins: Copper Springs from Old Bobbleparts
- Wizzards Bargins: A Roll of Your Finest Sticky Tape
- Wizzards Bargins: Styli of Ancient Plumbago
- In High Spirits: But Not Very Useful In The Lab
- Traces of Mischief: Missing Finger
- Wall-Breaker: A Generous Tab
Rindle Fischgartner, Evolutionary Biologist
- Naked
- The New Flesh: The Best Kind of Accident