Into the Malevolent Castle, Trapped within Options

[Darkblade]

Every time The Castle appears, there’s always a feeling in the wind, followed by a storm that sounds more like the cackle of the unspeakable creatures rather than heavy rain and lightning.
Tonight, there was a tell tale storm and it didn’t sound like heavy rain or lightning.

The village of Bluethorn had recently begun harvesting crops for the nearing winter, piles of firewood had been stored in the warehouse for heating. The tavern was filled with the sound of good cheer and drunken laughter.
The villagers had grown accustomed to The Castle, enough to live with the noise it brought along with it at least, but not enough to call it Bluethorn Castle.
“The Castle’s back again, we’ll probably have some trouble with bandits of all kinds in the forests in the morning, best to leave a warning sign for those passing through.” One of the village soldiers commented to another.




Up in the hills nearby, a young man, Thomas Windcall was guiding a group to the castle.
“Not far now, half an hour at most if we don’t stop.” Thomas himself had been to the entrance of The Castle several times now, each time, he had seen a small group walk to their doom.
Whatever is in there, monster, Nethallian or demon, he didn’t care to meet anytime soon.

Shortly, two lights appeared on the horizon, torches had been left in front of the huge door, as if to welcome you.
“Those are always there, the torches, the group last year left them, I’ve never even peeked inside, too scared of getting my eyes gouged out by something behind the door, but I reckon there’s candles and torches on the inside.”

The distance was closed and the group had made it to The Castle, the torches burned strong despite the heavy rain. The smell of the air had changed, not by the burning torches, but by something from inside. It didn’t seem to have a familiar scent, not even of death.
The huge door stood closed in all of its mysterious glory, no one had pushed through past the carved wooden doors into whatever hell lay in waiting.

“Well, here we are. I’d wish you good luck, but I think it would be a cruel to give you all false hope. Don’t forget, you’ve only under 24 hours to do whatever pleases you in there before it vanishes. Farewell, Adventurers!” Thomas parted from the group, headed back home to Bluethorn to be out of The Castles eerie gaze.


Edward Wittherrain, looked over the door’s carvings, he’d never seen anything like that in Bluethorn or the city he visited during his time out exploring. The carvings were not depictions of anything in specific, just random shapes, many recurring throughout.
“Well, let’s not waste any time, call me Edward.” He introduced himself “If we die tonight or tomorrow, we die taking the bastards down!” he cheered before pushing on the door, although his physical strength didn't move it too much.

((OOC: Well, lets get started!
Wish I made an image for this, oh well.))

[Bill Nye]

Sven helped Edward push open the door while he introduced himself, "Pleasure to meet you, Edward. Name's Sven, i think we will make a fine team." he said with a smile on his face, Sven had never seen a castle before, there wasn't anything big in Woodwalk, "You think there's anything of value inside?" he said hoping he would get a positive reply.

[Darkblade]

"Thanks, There had better be, I wouldn't want to come here for nothing." Edward replied.
"If there's nothing of value, I'm sure some king somewhere would pay handsomely for a sturdy door like this." He half joked.


The entrance hall is dimly lit by a peppering of torches hanging on the walls, banners of a false king and kingdom are poorly designed and hung, some lay on the cold floor violently torn and burnt. The crudely stitched emblem of a red sword seems like a simple enough design to use, but the craftsmanship is so poor it seems like a simple afterthought.


"... I've never seen the banners before in Bluethorn, anyone recognise it?" Edward asked curiously.

[Trinsdel]

As Westley walks towards the castle, he looks at his 'comrades' for this adventure. Mixed bunch aren't we. He smiles and pulls his hood down, to shield him from the rain.

Westley remains silent as their guide explained the torches and the time limit. He frowns showing a hint of doubt. 24 hours. One long yet short day. Can this grou- Can we do it?

He walks through the gateway after Sven and Edward opened the door. Westley looks down hallway. "So what do we do now? Split up or what?"

This post has been edited by Trinsdel: Jan 3 2012, 08:04 PM

[Bill Nye]

"Never." Replied Sven as he walked down the hall a bit, muttering to himself; "Best keep my eyes open, something tells me i can't trust half of these people....Edward seems decent enough, i suppose i'll stick with him." Sven suddenly stops in the hall and look's to his right at a closed door, "Hmm, wonder what's in here..." He begins to open the door when he hears a strange Screech from behind the door, he shuts it quickly and backs away, the screeching get's louder as whatever is behind the door starts trying to break it down. "Edward!" He yelled down the hall trying to get Edward's attention, "There's....Something behind this door! It sound's really angry!" Sven decides to try to keep the door shut, hoping that Edward heard him.
((EDIT: OOC: "Never" was a reply to edward, not westly. you just posted too fast on me. ))

This post has been edited by Bill Nye: Jan 3 2012, 08:15 PM

[Darkblade]

"Probably a good idea to stay together unless its to look for more valuable or you have something to specifically look for, for now just stay with the group I'd say." Edward replies to Westly.

Edward rushes over and helps push against the door.
"I don't think we can hold this thing off!" He grips the hilt of his sword with his free hand while pushing against the door with his shoulder.
"If it doesn't back off... we'll have to kill it!" The banging against the door gets louder and stronger with each passing slam.

[Bill Nye]

Sven takes out one of his daggers, "On the count of three, we let it through!" "One...." "Two...." He prepares to get out of the way..

[Nicsp]

Siegfried Helge, Knight Errant, trying to make his way into The Silver Blade order. He headed towards Bluethorn, spending days on ships, carriages and what not as he made his way towards the rumored city. For the sake of being able to report things properly, and also due to his slight obssesion with organization, he kept a diary for this whole adventure.

Day one - First off...

Today I set out to Bluethorn, I shall be taking passage in a commercial freighter that goes by the name of Meerherrin, The Sea Mistress in Old Lanzen. My room is in the ship's storage, alongside with the horses, in fact, i'm afraid that my room IS the same as the horses. Only time will tell. For the moment, I shall focus my mind and body in the task at hand, reach Bluethorn and investigate the rumored castle, once it appears.

Day one - Entry two

My room is indeed, the same as the horses. My bed consists of bunch of hay gathered up in one of the corners. The swaying of the ship is seriously starting to make me sick...I should have predicted something of the sort. Also, one of the horses keeps trying to lick my face while i'm lying down, it's seriously starting to get annoying.

Day two - I hate horses. And the sea.

After having to go outside to throw up for the third time and for the second time having to clear horse salliva out of my face and hair. Night falls and I find myself writing one more page in this diary. On the bright side, however, according to the captain, the ship shall be arriving at the continent of Marose by tommorow morning. Once there, I shall find a carriage to Bluethorn. Now I just need to focus and don't let the swaying...Or that horse...Bother me.

Day Three - Port Hafen

Finally, land again. Port Hafen is located inside a small merchant town, I shall restock here on supplies and then find myself a carriage that can escort me to Bluethorn. Also, most important of all, I find myself with the extreme desire of eating a well prepared meal, probably due to being stuck two days in a ship only eating biscuits. I found a wonderful restaurant in the center of the town, I shall dine there tonight.

Day Four - Financial difficulties

I write here to remind myself that from now on I should check the prices of the food on the menu before I actually walk into a restaurant. As that last establishment I went to took away most of my money and left me without anything to pay for a decent carriage. Luckily, I happened upon a travelling merchant and his caravan that are travelling to Bluethorn as well, I shall travel with then, for now at least. Not as fast as I planned, but it'll do. I was greeted by a not so pleasant surprise when I saw his caravan, however. Apparently, he had stopped on Hafen to buy himself a new horse, this new horse of his happens to be my acquaintance made in the ship.

Day Five - Phat lewt

The caravan was attacked by a small group of bandits, probably figured it would be easy to rob a defenseless caravan, of course I guess I kind of ruined their plans. After having them dealt with and sending them running, I found myself a pleasant surprise, they dropped some of their things as they ran. No big deal, a few coins and some jewelry, obviously stolen too...But finders keepers.

Day six - Bluethorn at last!

Upon arriving at Bluethorn, I gave the merchant some of the things I had gotten from the bandits, to thank for the help. Once that was out of the way we each went our separate ways. I went now to the local Inn and have bought myself a room in here, I have settled down and shall stay here until the rumored castle appears, hopefully it won't take long. I have found out i'm not the only one intending to go into the castle, a man named Thomas will supposedly escort me and whoever else wants to go the Castle once it shows up.

Day Seven - Well, that was fast...

The Castle is here. I would've expected it to show up soon but I guess I must've gotten lucky, if I had arrived a single day late I might've missed this. No matter. Thomas is escorting me and the others to the castle once now...Among these others, the huge majority is human, there is one elf though, I just hope she doesn't get in the way. I should probably close this diary for now, i'll keep it here in the Inn and will write on it once i'm back...If I come back, that is.

Now...

Siegfried looked up towards the castle, letting out a loud whistle in surprise before he put his helmet on. Looking around a bit awkwardly at everyone else, who all seemed so short to him, considering he was 6'5'' feet tall, an average height for a Lanzenreiter but...He sighed and then spoke up. "All right then, let's get this over with." He drew his halberd and was about to help the others push the door open, but it ended up not being necessary. He shrugged and then followed the others inside. As he was questioned regarding the banners, he examined them for a second before announcing. "Nothing I've ever seen before, definetly not of Lanzenreiter origin, that much I can tell...Maybe...?" Before he could finish the sentence, however, he was surprised with the loud banging coming from one of the doors. He was about to go and help again but he was beaten to it again...Damnit, staying out of real action for so long must've ruined his reflexes. He figured he'd simply hold his halberd in a battle position and prepare until the count of three where they would unleash whatever was behind that door.

[Knot]

As the group made their way to the castle, Janus couldn’t help but stare at the hulking man stride before her. An impressive sight to be sure, she pondered how much a set of armour like that cost. She quickly reached into her pouch to check what she had. She was about to open her to mouth to ask if she could buy it from him for a couple of cookies and a nicely coloured rock she’d found on their promenade when she suddenly realised that not only had they reached the castle, but the others had already opened the doors.

Dropping the rocking angrily, she quietly berated herself for losing track, and made a pointed effort to spend no more than a few moments enthralled by the cloud-like designs etched into the doors. At least she’d manage to get two names; that was a start. Following behind her soon-to-be new set of armour, she was just in time to hear Sven shouting about an angry door. That perked her up. It sounded like things were about to get interesting.

A smile on her face, she drew her blades with a flourish, being sure to stand slightly behind the big guy. No sense in taking too much "interesting" head on.

[Darkblade]

Edward jumped back as the door swung open.
A humanoid creature covered in simple armour shambled through into the entrance hall.
Its chest and arms, covered in blood, dripping onto the floor as it blindly walked around, swinging its arms in more
of a defensive way rather than attacking any single person.

"The hell is this thing?" Edward held his sword, waiting for an opening, not risking getting hit by the creature.

[AngelicFairy]

Lillian had heard the gossip before about a castle that appears every couple of years for only 24 hours. She hadn't thought anything of it until one day her brother went in and never came out.That's when she decided the next time it shows up,she was going in there.

It's the night before the castle shows up and Lillian gathers her things to leave.

I should probably gather my supplies..Where are my herbs?...
"Ugh dad I've told you a million times not to use my vials as glasses for drink!" she yelled
I swear hes going to drive me insane...er.

She put her vials,leather and her herbs into her satchel and grabs her bow and arrows.
"Time to go.."she said softly

Before she knew it she was at the castle by morning time. Staring at it from the dusk of the trees with her pale blond hair along with her skin and her crystal green eyes. She stood about 5'7'', the typical height for an elf.

((OOC: Slight time skip)

She observed the group quietly. "My name is Lillian Saelia Norreundlin. You can call me Lil if you'd like." Her voice was velvet smooth.
She noticed the Lanzenreiter. Oh joy...This should be loads of fun.She pulled her bow out for precaution and had an arrow ready to fire encase needed. She followed the group into the castle where a fellow named Sven seemed to already get himself in some trouble. Everyone raised there weapons, as did she. She pulled her arrow back on the string and aimed at the door. As they opened the door the...Human? Came out and she fired right away,hitting it in the neck,but not killing it.

This post has been edited by AngelicFairy: Jan 4 2012, 12:16 PM

[Sparrowsmith]

Julian could hear the commotion as he approached under the dark blanket of the night. Always a fool at keeping time, he whistled chirpily, crossbow in hand, after the group that had just entered. The castle really was a thing of beauty, fascinating and decrepit, like a sculpture made of dark intentions and rotten desires. He admired the elf girl's shot.
"Not bad, mind if I finish?" without waiting he raised his crossbow and pulled the trigger. A crude thunk rang out as the arrow rocketed its way through the creatures helmet and into it's skull. He turned his back on the group and began reloading his weapon. "The name's Julian Veers" He explained light heartedly, like entertaining guests. As he turned back he saw the creature still standing, motionless, the arrow protruding from its head. "Heavens! Is that thing still standing?"

[Bill Nye]

((OOC: So many people in one RP....Holy crap.))

Sven stayed back and waited for an opening, the beast's wild tantrum wasn't exactly asking for someone to try close combat, noticing that Lillian put an arrow right in it's neck, "Personally, i say we let our beautiful archer Companion take care of this, don't you agree, Edward?"" Sven started praying Lillian would not put a arrow in his throat next.

((EDIT OOC: Dammit Sparrowsmith, posting before me. lol.

This post has been edited by Bill Nye: Jan 4 2012, 01:45 PM

[AngelicFairy]

"Well i can sure try of you want cutie." She said raising her bow. Before pulling back the string she stuck a small mushroom on the end of her arrow. This bit of poison should help some... "I'd back up,this is dangerous" with that she pulled her arrow back on the bow and you herd a loud groan when it entered the ribs of the human." It's a mushroom that temporarily paralyzes him...Just saying." She pulled back on the bow with yet another arrow straight into the eye socket of the human's helmet. ''I think that should do it..."

[Nicsp]

Watched the scene, everyone managing to get a shot before he did, he sighed in disappointment to that. If he was going to prove himself worthy in this, he couldn't keep getting left behind like this. Just for the sake of saying he did something, he made his way past the group and slammed his halberd against the corpse, most likely splitting it in half. "...Well then...Since everyone is introducing themselves...My name is Siegfried Helge, Knight Errant for The Silver Blade order." He commented, bowing slightly. He was quiet for a moment, thinking of what to say, he then let out a short 'uhm' before he simply announced. "Yeah, that's it."

[Knot]

Janus glanced over at the shooters, impressed by the meticulous shots. Must be those pointy ears! I wish I had a set. I bet they’d look even better upside down. I wonder if they’re detachable?
She also couldn’t help but be impressed by the newcomer. She always believed that you should trust a man with flare, it means he knows how to live.

Quite confident that their opponent had no fight left in him, Janus meticulously began to run her blades across her forearms, drawing a line of blood as she took her turn to introduce herself. “Well, my name’s Janus.” A thin line of crimson could be seen along the edges of both blades by now; she had promised them blood the moment she'd drawn them and now she had to make good on it. “Although, you can call me whatever you’d like because I’m probably going to forget yours”. As she finished she cleaned her blades and rushed them back into their sheaths. With that done, she gave a wide grinned smile to the group. Smiles always make for good first impressions, she thought.

[Trinsdel]

As people run past him to deal with the assailant, Westley looks at the people who've took part in dealing with the monster.

Edward, didn't attack. Afraid or cautious?
Sven, approached the door quite quickly. Probably brave or an idiot.
Siegfried, a man in a large hulking armor. Lanzenreiter armor. Pretty, sturdy stuff.
Lillian, uses a bow and poisonous mushroom. Maybe more dangerous plants?
Julian, likes attention? Well he's a good shot with a crossbow.

Turns his head to face Janus.

Janus, a sociopath or just plain loony. Either way she'll probably become a liability.

All in all, I think we might stand a chance, albeit a small one. Though it took them, excluding the lanzenreiter, that long time to kill the first obstacle.

He moves to the side so he can see past the group and down the hall way. "We have a long way to go and time is a factor in this. If it took you guys that amount of time to deal with the first obstacle then we might not make it out in twenty four hours. There's probably much more dangerous things in here and there's, most likely, no where safe in this castle. Don't get excited now" Westley looks between Julian and Janus. "we've barely made it past the door. Come now time's a wasting" He walks forward and pass each of his compatriots.

[Sparrowsmith]

Julian looked at Janus as she spoke"If it helps you remember my name, Miss Smiles, I have been called Madman on several occasions." he grinned a wolfish grin and began walking behind Westley. Tauntingly, he tapped him on the back, "Wouldn't you agree, oh mighty keeper of time, that it is better we survived unharmed than that we died quickly? Perhaps though, if you prefer, we could jog into the next battle, yes?" He strode on ahead at an impressive pace, whistling his merry tune.

[Darkblade]

"Doesn't seem like the bolt and arrows did much against that thing, The Silver Blade pretty much cleaved it almost in two.. "
Edward sheathed his sword and stepped past the remains of the creature.
"Nice shooting and cutting." He commented, as he walked on with the group.
"In future, lets maybe go in two's when opening a door. Just in case there's another armoured guy behind it."

[Bill Nye]

Sven sheathed his dagger and decided it'd be better to follow rather than go in front, he walked along-side Edward, "Well, i will make sure to follow that advice, Edward." he said with a smile, he reached into his bag and pulled two grapes off one of the 3 vines, he eat's one and offered one to Edward."Grape?" He asked as he put out his hand with the grape in it.