((STORY TIME. EVERYTHING IS SERIOUS))
The Meeting:It took most of the day to get all the dwarfs Wilberforce had called for into one room, but with some heavy (and literal) prodding from Balnash, they managed it. The doctor Croaker followed along, looking curious.
“Light the candles, Remalle. We’re going to have a seance.”
Remalle sighed, and stood up. He already had the candle lighter in hand.
“Really? That’s why you brought us all here? I could be training right now!”
“Calm down, Di-2. This involves you.” Wilberforce cleared his throat and looked around. “Everyone seated? Good! I called us all here because I wish to contact a ghost.”
Di-2 pointed. “There’s a ghost right there! See? Old Deler.”
Deler howled.
Wilberforce waved his hand vaguely at the ghost. “Yes, I can see him. There’s not a day goes past that I can’t see him, or hear him. I have a specific ghost in mind, the ghost of my old friend Neo. Perform the ceremony, Remalle.”
Remalle still wasn’t sure if there was a ceremony, but chanting had worked before. He gave it his best, proposing in a vague way that Rakust, God of Death, might find the time to help them out.
For a while, again, nothing happened. Then the candles flickered out, one by one.
What happened next was alarming, not least for Neo, who not only saw, but felt it happen. Wilberforce later described it “as if Neo’s very soul was lifted out of his body, like a bird into the sky. Except the bird was shaped exactly like Neo, and it just sort of bobbed on the ceiling, awkwardly.”
Neo didn’t try to describe what happened.
One of the newest cooks, a dwarf with the unfortunate name Slime, was passing through on his way to the kitchen. He recovered, eventually.
Remalle stopped chanting, alarmed, and the apparition faded. Neo jerked in his chair, then fell to the floor, barely conscious.
In the stunned silence that followed, Remalle shook himself off and went to relight the candles.
Wilberforce managed to speak first. “That was... unexpected. Nevertheless...” His voice was shaky. “I believe that has confirmed what I believe to be true.” He turned to Neo. “You didn’t just choose that name, did you. You are Neo, who died several years ago.”
Neo got to his feet. “I... Sort of, I think you could say.”
“No doubt your spirit was freed to wander bodiless, until it came into the possession of another one.”
“I-“
“I do not want an answer, please.” He turned to the others. “I note that a number of you may be in similar situations. The dead, running around possessing the living!” He shrugged.
“I don’t want to talk about it here, and obviously no-one is going to be punished for this, as if it’s a crime, it’s one that no punishment exists for. “ He shook his head. “Ghosts and possessions and I don’t know what else. There’s something wrong here, something seriously wrong. But we’re going to figure it out, if my name isn’t Wilberforce Ambrose Ropenourished!”
“And is that your name?” asked Croaker, who was taking notes in a small notepad.
“Indeed it is. And the Ropenourisheds are not known for ignoring problems. If any of you want to speak to me in private, I shall be in my office.”
"Ya mean that little dugout next to the main hall?" Balnash asked
"Yes, that."
Meanwhile:G, Ishar, Kogut, and the rest of the militia had been training hard for weeks. It was time to test that training out. Mr. Anderson had gathered a few of them in the arena.
“Are you ready, G?”
“Hell yes, I’m ready! Drunk as I can get, and ready to kill, boss!”
“Are you ready, Ishar?”
Ishar nudged her daughter, Kogut III in the direction of the door, then pushed the other one into her backpack. “Yes, I am.”
“Then pull the lever!”
There wasn’t as much of an audience this time, which was a shame, as things went exactly as intended.
A Ferric Elf bowman, half-starved from its time in the cage, charged at Ishar in a blind rage, and was rewarded with a mace to the skull.
Kogut III applauded from the side door.
G watched with disappointment as one of the other, lower rank axe-dwarfs killed the dark strangler that had been released.
He had to content himself with chopping a giant rat in half.
Their training had paid off. Not one soldier was injured, and six caged enemies were killed.
..........................
How will the Dwarfs of Oceanbridge deal with the news that the dead are posessing the living? Should it really have taken that long for Wilberforce to realize it, considering they all gave themselves the same name? What's the connection between the bridge and the ghosts and everything else? Will everyone die in a goblin siege before we find out the answers to any of these questions? Find out Next Time!
((Notes: Roy was assigned the tiger some time back, which I forgot to mention, I suppose. Also, does everyone love sieges?
Because I think that you had better love sieges.))
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Topic: Oceanbridge - A Fortress Defense Community Fort: Reclaimed, Again! (And Again) (Read 180428 times)