Into the Malevolent Castle, Trapped within Options

[Darkblade]

"Uh, thanks." Edward took the grape and ate it, swallowing it almost immediately without chewing.
"Didn't you eat anything on the way up here?" He asked.

The end of the hall was almost in sight and the painted red door was clearly in view.
The faint sound of music could be heard, although talentless, the music sounded more like an emotional
vent than a rehearsed piece.

[Bill Nye]

"Well, this was pretty much all the food i could get my hands on.." he said as his smile started to turn to a frown, "So...No, no i have not."
Sven started to notice the music, he found it kind of eerie, i mean, Who would be playing music in this place? He feared another battle was within reach. "Where is that music coming from?"

[Knot]

Madman, huh? She considered the atypical appellation for a moment. She was pretty sure all madmen had boxes but she'd give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Deciding not to get her towel dirty sifting through the mangled corpse, she left whatever shinies it had behind and caught up with the group.

She cocked her head as she began to notice the music as well. "Ah. Someone plays my theme tune with muddled fingers." It was somewhere between a question, a statement, wishful thinking and plane disgust at the flawed rendition. She made her way to the door and pressed her ear up against it, getting more frazzled and gritting her teeth with each sour note. She was beginning to be thankful she didn't have big pointy ears. "Well, let's crack this walnut open and put an end to this torture tune."

This post has been edited by Knot: Jan 5 2012, 09:20 PM

[Nicsp]

Siegfried would have moved forward this time, since he was, apparently, the most well armored person in the group, it was obvious that he would end up taking the role as the tank. After hearing the tune, he'd stop for a moment, listening to it as he slowly made his way towards the door. He'd follow the others to the source of the music, once there, he'd signal Janus, who still was close to the door, to move away so he could get some space. Given his size, opening the door slowly and hoping to get a jump on whatever was on the side was pointless so he simply kicked the door open with all he had, most likely ripping it off it's hinges, holding his Halberd in hand and already preparing to charge at whatever was on the other side.

[Darkblade]

Inside the room was a long haired man sitting at the piano, the lower half of his body blocked from view, not bothered by the crash of the door against the floor. He probably done it before himself.
The room was filled with books on shelves and fine paintings hanging on spaces between the shelves.
"Ah, I had a feeling there would be more fools here to harvest the treasures in this... so called castle."
He introduced himself without looking at the group of adventurers.
"You've made a great mistake. But then again, you are all Nethallians aren't you? We all make mistakes from time to time."
The sound of music came to a halt as the man looked over to the group.
His face was partially covered by long black hair, but an eye patch was just about visible over his left eye.
"Call me Ivan, I entered this forge of hell just like you lot, some years ago." He finished.

[AngelicFairy]

Lilian jumped when he broke the door down. She knew it was coming but still didn't expect it to be as loud as it was. When she saw the man sitting at the piano. She relaxed some, the sound of music had always relaxed her. She followed the group into the room and noticed all of the books and paintings. She pulled an arrow out and held it very discretely. She walked around the room looking at the various paintings. They're beautiful.. When the music stopped she came to a quick halt.The arrow slid down her arm to a point, leaving the wooden end in her hand. Her soft lips turned to a slight scowl when she saw 'Ivan'.She was ready to do what they needed to.Whatever that may be.

This post has been edited by AngelicFairy: Jan 7 2012, 07:51 PM

[Sparrowsmith]

Julian felt a certain disappointment that the music had ceased. While the music itself did very little for Julian, he was very much enjoying its effect on the other members of the group. As the man, Ivan, introduced himself, The Madman couldn't resist being overly optimistic.
"So you're our tour guide then? Terrific" he beamed, clasping his hands together and twirling on his heels, "I'd love to point out a small flaw in your philosophy, though." his eyes lit up as his smile further engulfed his face, "It's not a mistake if you thoroughly enjoy doing it."
He reached into his pocket, and produced a pair of clear red dice with black dots along the exterior. He began playing with them, rotating them in his hand. His guard was entirely lowered, pre-decided that this man was not a threat.

[Darkblade]

"Tour Guide? Nuts to that! Getting through this cas-" Ivan stopped mid sentence.
"This so called castle is more cursed than your realise aside from showing up every couple of years, the rooms seem to change every so often too. The huge entrance door vanishes when everyone leaves the entrance hall! How could I be so damn stupid." He punched the piano keys in anger.
Ivan paused for a moment, he took a peice of folded paper from his pocket which he threw onto the top of the piano.
"Hopefully one of you will find that familiar." He said before playing a few more notes on the piano, probably checking he didnt break it.

Edward stepped forward and took a look, unfolding the paper.
"Its the symbols from the door, Ivan scribbled them down." He said to the rest of the group.
"Are you saying these mean something?" Edward asked.

Ivan nodded.
"I've been around Nethalla a hell of a lot, I've never seen that script in all my travels, I've seen crap I wish I hadnt. Never seen that Script before outside of here. They mean something, I don't know what, probably won't find out either."
Ivan sighed.

[Sparrowsmith]

Julian span back around, drawing his crossbow from off his back and pointing it towards Ivan. He held it non-threateningly;loosely, as if emphasizing a point.
"Yeah but," he paused, smiling all the while, "You've been here a while. You know this place, better than us anyway, so you're our guide." he tensed his arm, his finger hovering over the trigger, "Or if you don't wanna be our guide, I can accidentally pull the trigger when no one's looking. Or when they are, I literally just met these bastards anyway." He stood defiant for a few moments, a thin smile encompassing his face. Then he bent over laughing, cackling maniacally. "I'm just screwing with you, Ivan, You can stay here and lose all hope of ever escaping if you like. Makes no difference to me." Julian placed his weapon back on his back and whistled his haunting piece while examining the paper.
"Yeah it's definitely gibberish." he whispered to himself.

[Trinsdel]

As the group enters the room Westley begins to look around the room. He pulls down his hood and and looks between Edward, Ivan, and Julian as they have their conversation.

Oh my, Julian's flipping nuts. Great. Great. Probably wouldn't mind shooting us in the back 'cause , ya'know, we literally just met.

"Oh how wonderful. I thought we were going to go through this castle blindly but this is good. Are you willing to join us or is there a reason you can't? Anyone who's familiar with this place, even if it's a little, is a great help" While talking he takes a few steps to the side to try and put distance between him and the group.

This post has been edited by Trinsdel: Jan 8 2012, 04:12 PM

[Darkblade]

Ivan smirked at Julians 'offer' for a castle guide.
"Listen, I came in here with 5 others, all dead now, I've survived by scavenging food from the kitchens for the last 3 years. I've narrowly survived encounters with the Undead and the Shadows at night. I'll tell you what to expect, but I'm not stepping out of this room unless I need to. You go on your own."
Ivan stood up and stepped away from the piano.
Glancing at paintings depicting scenes of historical events.
He was done talking to them.

The shelves filled with collections of books seemed to be missing some entries, although a quick glance around the room would prove that they've been studied. The paintings haven't gathered dust either, they've likely been wiped over to take a better look at them.
Ivan had made his new life here. Somehow.

[Trinsdel]

A feeling of regret and guilt washes over Westley. He makes no attempt to hide the feelings on his face. Westley takes a step towards the man and stops. "I'm sorry for asking, sir. I'll try to find a way to get out and hopefully get you out as well." He smiles though it looks forced.

He loosk around to see if there was another door here or if this was a dead end.

[Bill Nye]

Sven took the chance while everyone was in the room to go back and check the body of the undead guard they fought earlier, "Ehh...Not exactly what i was expecting to dig through..." He sighed a he saw something under the body, it looked like it must of fell off the body during the fight, he rolled the half of the body over and found a key, "What have we here..." Sven didn't want to wait for the group, he walked into the room where he found the beast to begin with, it must of been a nice room before, he begins to look around for what the key could of possibly gone to.

[Darkblade]

Ivan's room featured two doors, excluding the one the group entered through.
One was locked, requiring a key, the other didnt.

"A word of warning, make sure to follow the light. Don't wander into darkness." Ivan commented, noting Westly's curiosity.

Edward kept an eye on Sven as he left the room and headed back to the entrance.
Heading halfway down the hallway to the Entrance Hall himself, he noticed the door that the Undead Guard broke through was almost off its hinges. Could that mean that the pathway back here was sealed? That the rooms wouldnt change anymore.

[Knot]

Janus rolled her eyes at Ivan; she really hated warnings hidden behind cryptic messages. It was like birds flying away from incoming danger. They could just *tell* you what’s going on but no, instead they yammer on in avian tongue, letting you find out for yourself.
“Darkness? What...’scared we’re going to trip over an elephant’ dark or is that more of an ‘ominous, existential clouding of morality’ dark?”
She always found blubbering on to be a great way to vent. She figured that’s what makes whales so happy. That and having a blow hole.

Quizzically, she watched Sven and Edward leave the room, wondering what they were up to. She shrugged and turned to Madman Max and the big guy, instead. “So, Maxie, wanna roll those dice and pick us a door? Or maybe the big guy should just knock again, that seems to be going well.”

[Bill Nye]

Sven continued to look around the room, not finding any kind of locked chest or doorways, he takes a look at a painting on the wall, it's a Man, a Woman, and a young girl. He figured the man was the undead soldier they fought, perhaps he was protecting them from something..
Sven heard what sounded like creaking floorboards behind him, he swiftly pulled out one of his daggers and threw it against the wall behind him, there was nothing there. "I must be hearing things.." he walked over to pull his dagger out of the wall, and what seemed to be a bigger than average sized man came up from behind and smacked him in the back of the head with a club, knocking him out cold, Sven fell to the ground making a loud "Thud", the man picks up Sven and jumps out the window, making a loud crashing sound as he went through the glass.

[Nicsp]

((Joined up post time!))

Siegfried simply stared at Ivan, his halberd now sheathed behind his back. He paid close attention to what the man said and, at the same time, to the room where he found himself in. "Some years ago...?" Questioned the knight as he put his hand to his chin, in thought. He then turned to Janus. "The big guy here has a name, Siegfried, and I am not going to be this team's battering ram." Lilian looked at Siegfried. "I won't even comment to that..." She still had her arrow in her hand. Ivan seemed...Scared. "What's there to be so scared of here eh?It ain't this giant is it?" she said tapping her arrow on his armor.

Siegfried rolled his eyes, though his helmet hid it. "I am not scary." He stated nonchalantly as he tried to slap Lilian's arrow away from himself. "And I suggest you keep the sharp comments to yourself, i'm here to look for my tutor, not argue with some savage." She was knocked back when he slapped her arrow away.She grunted as she got up."How am I the savage?I'm not the one that wanted change for more sophisticated military strategy!Ugh, you're so...Frusterating.You guys have always been frusterating. There's no winning with you. Or your people.I can tell that right now."

He sighed heavily, this was exactly what he was trying to avoid, though it would appear some things are bound to happen, some conflicts are bound to always pop back up. Though he didn't meant to drop her like that, he stretched out his hand, offering help for her to get up. "Listen, we can stab each other once we're out of here, all right? For now, I just want to keep focused on the objective." She smacked his hand away and got up on her own." Look, I can get up without your help. We are independent and we'd n ever need your help. Im not asking anything from you. Im just staying the truth. You are the savages. We are the peace."

Siegfried sighed once more, getting up from the kneeled position he had taken for helping the elf stand. "Women, both elven and Lanzen, always so unreasonable." He'd state as he dropped his head a bit. "Also, you're hardly independent, you rely too much on nature, it's not stable enough to be trustworthy." He'd comment, then realizing he was being baited into arguing, he shook his head. "Anywa-!" She held up her hand, stopping him from talking after hearing the thud. "What was that...?" She pulled an arrow out and loaded it in to her bow in front of him. "Come on, follow me." She ran to the room the sound came from.Nothing except shards of glass. "....I blame you for distracting me."

Had drawn his halberd and followed after Lilian, he looked around as well. "Oh yes, of course, blame the guy who was actually trying to keep focused on the task at hand." He commented with a loud grunt. "At any rate! Let's get going, there's something I wanted to ask to that Ivan person." He'd state, then opening the door back to the room where the others were, only to find out that, as Ivan had explained, the rooms changed themselves while people weren't paying attention. Siegfried opened the door and, on the other side, found that it did not take them back to that library any longer. Siegfried sighed, holding the door open and staring at the new room as he seemed to be in thought.

Lilian shoved him to the side and stepped into the room. Empty.Nothing but dust and a few spiders. "What the..." The lanzenreiter facepalmed lightly. "Great, now we've lost ourselves from the main group." He stated as he walked ahead of Lilian, he took one more look around the room, annoyed, as he tried to find another exit. "Come on...Let's get moving, we need to find a way out of here. And that Sven character, if we're lucky." She nodded and followed him. "Keep your eyes open and your weapons ready..." Siegfried rested his halberd on his shoulder. "Yes yes, whatever you say."

[Trinsdel]

Westley spins around to see Edwrad walk out of the room. "Kee-. . . Well he's off." He walks around the room scanning the book's binding before noticing the Lazenreiter's argument with the elf. As they run off to a door he runs after them. "Wait don't close the-" The door shuts behind them. Westley opens the door to find a room but no Siegfried or Lillian. He slams the door and slowly claps his hand. "Real good, kids. Way to stay alert."

He turns to the rest of the group. "We have a problem. Siegfried and Lillian is obviously missing and probably messing around. Someone go get Sven and Edward as we think of the best way to find the two idiots."

[Ryuga]

OOC: Here comes a new challenger!

IC:A creaking sound filled the room Siegfried and Lilian prepared to leave. The noise quickly changed into a mixture of faint grunting, banging, and shattering noises. The room was empty, but there was definetly something happening nearby.
The muffled noises stopped to give advent to a loud cracking noise, before finally errupting into a chorus of snapping sounds as the wall to the right shattered into splinters. A lone man rolled out of the debris before staring down an armored humanoid who emerged from the freshly made hole in the wall.
"I'm starting to think visiting this place was a bad idea," mumbled the man as he got to his feet and assumed a fighting stance. "But, you know? I'm having the most fun I've had in ages.

This post has been edited by Ryuga: Jan 12 2012, 09:31 PM

[Darkblade]

Before he knew it, Sven had been picked up by some large creature and snatched before he could do anything.
"Sven! SVEN!!" Edward shouted.
"Crap! What the heck was that!?" He said to himself.
He was already alone, he'd heard the familiar voices of the others as he'd made his way back to the entrace hall to keep an eye on the suddenly lost companion, but now he too, Edward, was alone.
Looking around the entrance hall, Edward noticed the undead guards body had been moved, Sven must have been studying it before he was snatched away.
The huge entrance door was just a wall now, it matched perfectly with the surrounding walls as though it was never there in the first place.
"I can't even feel the air from outside, the air coming from the window just feels the same as the inside." Edward began to walk back to the library to report on the capture of Sven. "Sven could be dead by now. Just like that, in the blink of an eye."

Making it back to the library, he noticed the door was shut.
He'd been potentially separated from the others.
With great reluctance, he pushed the wooden door open.
Inside, a room similar to the library filled with books thrown haphazardly where ever the criminal pleased, no piano or paintings and much dustier.
He drew his sword and held it steadily infront of him, the books that had been thrown about the room replaced the floor's stone cold but reliable surface.
Edwards footing was compromised, it was like stepping on large stones.
In the distance, he could hear rthymic dripping, a handful of drops every couple of seconds.
Each step further towards the source, the dripping slowed down.
Eventually, he made it to a series of smashed bookcases, each with sharp huge spikes of wood pointed outwards, if someone fell on top of those, it would almost certainly be fatal.
Infact it was, a body was laid in the center, not quite reaching the floor, just held in the air by the spikes.
Looking up, a large hole was in the ceiling, not to a room above, but to the outside of the castle, , edward could see one of the towers, usually visible from the outside, the tower was too far in the distance to justify the man falling here.
The dripping of blood proved that this body wasn't old, but perhaps not so recent either.
It wasn't Sven's, some other poor soul, possibly like Ivan or another group like Edwards who entered moments before.
The hole itself was too high up to climb out of, not that he wanted to risk falling from the roof of the castle anway.

Edward left the body alone, looking around for another door to go through.
There was nothing in this room he could see that would be useful.
The light of the torches scattered around the room were dimming.
"I have enough books to burn up, so thats something."
Faint whispers could be heard around the room, Edwards name was one of the words being whispered.
He couldn't fully hear it, he wasn't even making an effort to listen.
But he knew.


(Now that the group is seperated, think about finding something weird, but make sure to head on back to the entrace hall at some point.
And finally Ryuga joins the party )