Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Sara groans and turns over, awakening rather slowly. "Miri? Is that you?" She frowns as she wakes up, looking angry. "It's your fault I'm here. He didn't want me to read, and now he's locked me up. He'd have killed me if he hadn't found the potion I'd made. He told me so."

The door is locked, and it requires a physical key. Arron knows the dungeon quite well from when he was chased as exercise, and he's walking away. The armoured skeleton is going with him, but Vaemys is staying with Miri, flicking through the large book she's stolen. Miri might be able to figure out how to open the door; Sara knows where the key is, and the memory is quite close to the surface of her mind. Or Miri could try forcing it, zapping the lock or just lifting it off its hinges. It's not a very secure cell, since the hinges aren't blocked so the door could be lifted up and off, thus removing all need to actually unlock the door.

[Recaiden]

Uh-oh. Where is Arron going?

"It's me. Sorry."
"But if he didn't want you to read, he should have told me that, or just gotten rid of your memory, instead of throwing you in the dungeon."
"Benedict decided to get rid of us too. He already got replacements in Skyside. So...come away with us?"
Miri doesn't wait for an answer before trying to get the cell open. The way she tries to do it is 'materializing the key for this lock'. It's just like materializing the little ball that she showed Mildred, or threw at Benedict, except a more complicated shape.
As such it takes her several tries, and there'll be a small heap of slowly-dissolving malformed key-shapes on the ground. But it should work.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Arron is going to the guard chamber, subvert the skeletons that should be within.

"No. I'm staying here. I'm going to prove he can trust me and then Benedict will let me learn more. You've brought me nothing but trouble; Benedict's looked after me for seventeen years. Go away, Miri. Go away and don't come back." Sara sighs and lies back on her bed, rolling over so her back is to the door.

It's a reasonably simple lock and the key is quite crude. It might take several tries to get it right, but the key is quite blocky. The door opens soundlessly when it does work.

[Recaiden]

Miri is not good at this, huh?
"Sara, I've only tried to help you. Teach you things when Benedict neglected you, get you medical care when Benedict hurt you, break the curse Benedict exposed you to."
"I'm sorry that it backfired this time, but you've known Benedict all those years - can you honestly say he'll really trust you? He doesn't trust his own hand-enchanted minions! He's just going to exploit your skills more than he already has."
She takes the questionable step of entering the cell and approaching Sara, hoping that it could indicate sincerity.
And also with the cell unlocked she may not look terribly trustworthy anyway.
"If you get out of here, you can learn for your own benefit."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

"I've known him fourteen years. He'd never hurt me before. Or cursed me. It's your fault, Miri. He'll exploit me, yeah. But so would you. Or are you honestly telling me if I didn't know how to read, and use alchemy, you'd have come back for me? I'm useful to you, now." She stops and thinks a moment, not turning around. "I'll be learning for my own benefit here, too. Difference is, here I'd have Benedict's library. And maybe I'll make a potion for Benedict occasionally, but so what? If I went with you, you'd ask the same. No, Miri. I'm staying. Go away. I'm not leaving this cell." And if it's unlocked when Benedict returns, maybe he'll trust her more. After all, she has no way of opening it, and if she did she'd have run, wouldn't she?

[Recaiden]

"Of course I would. Look -"
Sparks crackle around Miri's antlers. She angrily pushes some memories at Sara: how worried she was that the cook might already be dead, how guilty they felt realizing in Skyside that she'd be in trouble too, Benedict casually talking about sacrificing her (yes, that memory is taken out of context).
"Fine. You want to stay here until Benedict decides you know too much, go ahead."
Then she turns to storm up out of the dungeon.

Talking to Vaemys now, she says "Let's meet up with Arron and maybe this won't have been such a waste."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Felix's Tower]

In this case, it would seem Felix is not in the study.

Instead, a particularly well trained and extra-good dog scampers over to him and leads him further up to a room that Krayger won't have been shown before - a rather expansive-looking laboratory, with all manner of glass and metal apparatus for the concocting of potions.

Fires burn, cauldrons bubble, copper pipes connect to glass tubing and various beakers, bottles, pans and vials.

Very little of it is actually in use at the moment, but the old mage is visibly hunched over one particularly large, old fashioned black cauldron.

Seems he's been expecting Krayger back soon. Not the first time Felix will have shown seemingly remarkable foresight. Indeed, Lucas, his skeletal groundskeeper, will likely have commented more than once to Krayger that Felix is rather fond in showing off his divinitive prowess in slightly-more-subtle ways like this.

[Deathkeeper]

[Felix's Tower]

Not in the lab. In the other lab. Got it.
Krayger tosses a tiny bit of jerky to the good doggo. Turkey. Between him and Sam's dietary restrictions, he has to go for slightly less common varieties.
"I'm back again, Felix. But you knew that." he says with a grin, laying the helmet and their feathers gently down on the lab counter.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Sara doesn't really want to know, and the memory of Benedict talking about sacrificing her is... Also talking about marrying her, which is not something she thinks Benedict will do.

She's more uncertain now, but still considers Miri a bit of a herald of bad things, so remains on her bed.

Vaemys follows, since she's not been here before. They walk past the cell with the crazy prisoner in it, and go to a larger guard chamber. Arron is leaning against a wall, and looking around. There's two skeletons here, both standing to attention and holding short swords. Arron's taken them over, and he's a little tired as a result.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Felix's Tower]

"Mmm, indeed you are, and indeed I did." Felix answers with an amused tone, turning away from the cauldron and wandering over to inspect the contents of the helmet. "And it looks like you were quite successful too. Very well done!" He picks out a set of tweezers from a draw and carefully plucks the feathers into a small container, sealing it tight. "Much more potent ingredients for alchemical concoctions when given willingly. Now then, tell me about your adventure. Regale an old man with a tale, wouldn't you?" He asks, turning to lift a kettle off another fire, pouring a spot of tea for the two of them.

[Deathkeeper]

[Felix's Tower]

Krayger nods, starting the process of unstrapping his armor while he talks. Felix has made it pretty clear what he thinks of formalities, so Krayger doesn't expect he'll mind his apprentice being shirtless. Besides, carrying those flaming feathers in full gear was hot. He might want to hit the showers after this.
"Well, after climbing the chains that anchored the floating tower to the wall I had to wrestle a golem to unhook it from its power supply. Then I had to get a key from a magic mirror with a doppelganger reflection. Then I had to navigate an invisible path over a portal to somewhere. And then I had a riddle and a puzzle to solve. The phoenix had a salamander butler to grant requests. They were actually very accommodating, except the first two floors being a bit unpleasant." The portal might have been unpleasant too, if he'd fallen in. You don't often want to be around glowing goo.

[Recaiden]

"Hey, you got more of the skeletons. Great work."
Miri arrive and quickly looks around the guard room.
"Sara refuses to leave, and we shouldn't stay here long. Unless you think you can convince her."

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

There's a few interesting things in the guard room that Miri might notice. A steel locker recessed into a wall, inadvertently camouflaged by disuse and rust making it similar in colour to the walls. A brass fire extinguisher resting on a small end table, with a faded old magazine underneath the extinguisher. A granite cube, numbers carved on each side.

"What can I offer you didn't? You know her better, since she's actually spoken to you more than twice." She didn't speak to him when he was a prisoner down here. "Yes, let's go. Come on, guys." He turns to leave, the skeletons following and mimicking his movement. They're walking in the same pattern, which is probably quite weird to see. Vaemys will leave with Miri. She feels more comfortable around the antlered woman than the budding necromancer.

[Recaiden]

Miri doesn't notice the cube either.
But she does notice the glint of magic from the cube, and reaches down to pick it up before following Arron.
Look at him and his skeleton twins. That's a little weird, huh?
But the important thing now is to get out of here.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Miri has a cube! She might be feeling a little luckier. Or not, because it's hard to feel luck. It's an enhancement of her luck, in both directions. Her good luck is amplified, but so is her bad luck.

Arron leads the group of skeletons, Vaemys and Miri to the balcony study where they all arrived, climbing onto one of the surviving skeletal horses. There's five horses left, so with the two skeletons they could go one each- but Arron doesn't really trust the skeletons not to fall off when he stops paying attention, so one sits behind him and holds on tight and he asks Miri to have the other do the same with her.

Benedict's carriage can vaguely be seen on the horizon, but it's on the other side of the house and they've got a while to get gone. Their horses are faster than it is, because it's heavier and the enchantments on the carriage are more general. Should also be noted that there's a skirmish going on in the grounds; the guard skeletons with spears and muskets are fighting a group of zombies and skeletons covered in seaweed and barnacles that are climbing up over the cliff from the sea. Benedict's own necromancy has basically no range; he has to animate each skeleton separately, in one of his ritual rooms. His are better than Arron's, because he has to put more effort in so he's given them more defences and smarts to protect the investment.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Tower]

Electra's smile turns from mischievous to amused.

"Sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the scenery, such as it is."

She takes the offered jacket and tries it on, then raps on her forehead with her fist.

"Titanium X skull. I'm good, but I appreciate the thought."

[Cass' Tower]

"Sounds convenient," says Cass, mirroring Electra's amusement. "The only thing I have in my head is the voices."

The offered jacket might be a little on the small side, what with Cass being as short and slender as she is, though given jackets tend to be larger garments, Electra might be able to fit into it, if a little uncomfortably. Cass shrugs on her own jacket and helmet, and kicks the stand on the motorcycle, rolling it outdoors.

"There's a big pond not too far from here, on the other side of the village. We can loop around and ride along the far shore."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Tower]

"You have more in your head than just voices, Cass," Electra says quietly, frowning just a bit as she follows Cass out with the bike. She doesn't seem the mind that the jacket's just a bit small. "A beautiful mind and a caring heart for starters."

She waits until Cass mounts the bike and has it stable before climbing on herself, taking gentle but firm hold of Cass's hips.

"A pond-side ride sounds interesting," she muses as her smile returns. "Think there'll be people out there?"

[Recaiden]

A cube that makes things more exceptional in their luck could be really hard to notice. Certainly Miri doesn't pick up on it yet.

"Sure, I'll watch a skeleton." Miri agrees. They could need them later.
So she climbs onto the back of a skeleton horse, sets a hand on its spine-
And then picks something that looks flammable in the room and sends a bolt of lightning at it.

She's amazed to glimpse the battle between the undead going on in the grounds. So many skeletons and such, how far away did Arron reach? There's a temptation to go down there and help in the battle, defeat Benedict's hand-raised skeletons...
But that would be foolish. They need to get out of here, activate the horseshoe runes and ride away in the other direction.
Let the undead serve as a great distraction.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

They have three skeletons, but Arron tells the one in the armour to wait inside the door and attack the first living person to enter. The animating armour is a liability if they can't figure out how to reset the command words, and there's always plenty more skeletons to find. Miri's lightning doesn't start a fire; many of the Beaulieus have warded the books, study, and house against fire. The bolt scorches the carpet and some of the books, but the heat and electricity don't cause any flames.

As they fly away, Arron bids half the remaining skeletons and zombies from the sea to leave, jumping off the cliff and if they survive to walk out to sea. He doesn't want Benedict to maybe recover the bones and make more or repair the ones he's destroying now.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cass' Tower]

"You have more in your head than just voices, Cass," Electra says quietly, frowning just a bit as she follows Cass out with the bike. She doesn't seem the mind that the jacket's just a bit small. "A beautiful mind and a caring heart for starters."

She waits until Cass mounts the bike and has it stable before climbing on herself, taking gentle but firm hold of Cass's hips.

"A pond-side ride sounds interesting," she muses as her smile returns. "Think there'll be people out there?"

[Cass' Tower]

"Maybe," says Cass, smirking a little. "It's a bit early in the day, but there's a little alcove on the shore away from town where some of the kids go to make out. And sometimes people will go fishing or just take a boat out for fun." If she heard Electra's comment about what's in her head, she doesn't acknowledge it.

Once Electra is safely mounted, Cass will start the bike and drive down the path away from her tower, turning onto a dirt road that arcs towards the town at a leisurely pace. Electra might note that thanks to the magical engine, the motorbike runs extremely silently, the only sound of their ride being the slight breeze whipping past them, and the sound of the tires on dirt. The scenery, as Cass mentioned, is not much to look at. Just alternating pastures and fields as Cass takes another turn, arcing away from the town and onto a road that seems to sweep gracefully around the large pond.

[Recaiden]

Yeah, Miri was pretty sure that the mansion would be largely fire-resistant. But she couldn't pass up a little act of spite.

Unaware of how Arron is commanding the undead (could he come back and collect them from the ocean floor later?), Miri focuses on finding the right way out of here. If she knows where it is relative to Skyside, and where Skyside is from here, they should ride...that way!
It's going to be another long ride.
And she keeps looking over her shoulder to keep track of Benedict's carriage.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Felix's Tower]

Krayger nods, starting the process of unstrapping his armor while he talks. Felix has made it pretty clear what he thinks of formalities, so Krayger doesn't expect he'll mind his apprentice being shirtless. Besides, carrying those flaming feathers in full gear was hot. He might want to hit the showers after this.
"Well, after climbing the chains that anchored the floating tower to the wall I had to wrestle a golem to unhook it from its power supply. Then I had to get a key from a magic mirror with a doppelganger reflection. Then I had to navigate an invisible path over a portal to somewhere. And then I had a riddle and a puzzle to solve. The phoenix had a salamander butler to grant requests. They were actually very accommodating, except the first two floors being a bit unpleasant." The portal might have been unpleasant too, if he'd fallen in. You don't often want to be around glowing goo.

[Felix's Tower]

Felix sits and listens, sipping his tea, and occasionally waving a hand to coax the cauldron's contents with a magical stir. "Well. Not the sort of adventure I was expecting you to face, by the sound of it, but these things seldom are. Can't say I'm familiar with any phoenixes with salamander butlers. How curious." Felix remarks with a faint chuckle.

"Humour me a little more if you don't mind. What would you say you've learned from this little adventure?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Felix's Tower]

Krayger thinks about it. The tower hadn't been that hostile. Even if he's rather annoyed at the mirror challenge for clearly trying to mess with his head somehow. The rest hadn't been easy per se, but they all had been straightforward. He feels accomplished but not a changed person or anything.
"I suppose I've learned that some people are willing to go to some extreme and surprisingly roundabout lengths to avoid company. And that I really should invest in some means of limited flight at some point. That climb was rather exhausting."
That's probably not the answer Felix was hoping for. But minotaurs aren't really known for their deep philosophical statements.

[Earl of Purple]

Benedict's Manse

Arron can get them back, if he finds them again. That might prove tricky, since he hasn't told them to stop. Some island somewhere might get a brief invasion of undead walking out the sea, interested only in reaching the other shore and marching back into the ocean.

Benedict isn't interested in catching Miri and companions as they flee; he's more interested in figuring out what damage they've done and what- if anything- they've stolen. He'll let them go, for now at least. And work on installing a remote-activated self-destruct method into his remaining herd of undead horses.

[Recaiden]

Perhaps someday a few of the undead will return to Benedict's manse, having circled the whole world?

Anyway, Miri is more concerned with getting some distance away from the manse.
The trip back to Benedict's home turned out to be a terrible failure.
But at least they're all still alive. And they got a cube, a book, and two skeletons. So maybe just a partial failure.

Miri will be leading them (with any necessary stops, such as to crudely bandage their cuts from the glass) off towards Riverside.
((But they're going to someone's home in Riverside, so I think staying in this thread may be justified))
She'll want to have dismounted, and be leading the skeletons through the Eastside streets.
They come to a house that, looking at, you would say is definitely haunted. It's run down, the windows are all blown out, there's a single light on in the attic, it's been basically untouched since the owner was killed by demons...
But Miri is delighted to see it. "Oh good. It's still here."

[Earl of Purple]

Not Benedict's Manse

Perhaps some day, but not any time soon. And not many of them, either- it's a long way around, and many things will get in the way.

Arron looks a little disconcerted at the sight of the house and how dilapidated it appears, though not as much as Vaemys does. He's from a post-apocalyptic world, where most of the buildings are damaged or rickety in some form or another, but Vaemys is not. Her world is medieval in period; houses like this are rare and expensive.

"So... This is your house, right? Did you remember it looking like... this?" He hopes so. Otherwise Miri might not remember the dodgy patches in the floor and so on.

[Recaiden]

"This is it, yeah. No, when I last stepped out it was much less...well it was nicer. I must've been gone a while."
Miri fiddles with the door a bit and it swings open. The electric lights in the entryway still come on.
Rats scurry away from the intrusion, but that's not Miri's fault. The whole city has had a rat infestation to deal with.

The place is a mess: the paintings of icy landscapes are strewn around the floor, the books have fallen from the bookshelves, the swimming pool is full of junk, the electronics have all been looted.
"Just needs to be cleaned up a bit. Here, lead the skeletons around to the right, I'll open the gate for them."

[Earl of Purple]

Miri's (Potentially) Haunted House

Arron heads in, followed by the skeletons. Including the horses, as Miri doesn't have a stable to keep them outside and Arron doesn't want them vandalised and/or stolen. It took quite a bit of effort to obtain these undead mounts, and he'd appreciate holding on to them.

Vaemys heads in last, interested in poking around so she can find somewhere to sit and read the book she's stolen. It feels warm to her touch, which is interesting, and she's hoping that's a good sign.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Cass' Tower]

Electra stays quiet for awhile, and watches the scenery, such as it is. She doesn't usually travel through much of it, just teleports in near Cass's tower when she comes to visit, so seeing some of the countryside around the tower is a nice change of pace. The hills and fields have a pastoral appeal; she can understand why Cass chose to live here. When they reach the pond road, she spends a lot of time looking at it, between the trees and whatever else might obstruct the view.

"This is really nice! I can understand why people around here like this area," she says, loud enough that Cass should be able to hear her through the helmet and over whatever wind noise there might be, though it's not nearly as loudly as she'd need to say it if the bike had a motor.

[Recaiden]

That's fair. A little awkward fitting a skeleton horse through the door, but better safe than sorry. The floorboards creak, but nothing collapses.

Miri heads down a hall, coming back a minute later saying "Medicine cabinet was okay, that's lucky." and passing out proper bandages and disinfectant to the others.

Vaemys can find a chair in the dining room off to the right that seems safe to sit on, or just sit on the dusty stairs, or hop on a table in that room with all the heat lamps.
Miri is too distracted to worry about the safety of reading a pilfered unidentified heated book.