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.))

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.

"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.

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?"

"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. ))

"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.

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..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?"

((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.

"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..."

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."

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

"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.

"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?"

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

((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."

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."

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.

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 )

(Yay! Ryuga is finally here! )

Sven slowly opened his eyes, he had no idea what happened, but he knew it couldn't of been good.
"Ugh, where am i..?" He said as he noticed he was chained up on a wall, this must be the castles dungeon, at least that's he figured.

he hear's a door opening, and the sound of footsteps on the cold, hard, stone floor. "Edward?" He prayed as the figure walked around the corner, the figure was in a black robe, Sven is unable to tell if it's male or female. "Edward? Is that another one of you're companions?" the voice was for sure male. "Who the hell are you?! Why am i in here?!" Sven demanded an answer, the robed man removed his hood which showed his face, short white hair with bright yellow eyes. "You're the one that will answer my questions..." he said as he stared at Sven, Sven only got more angry. "I'm not going to answer you're damn questions!" Sven said, the yellow eye'd man wasn't very pleased, he quickly
spun around and unsheathed his spear which was hidden in the back of his robe, and pointed it at Sven's throat as he came to a full circle. "I think you will answer my "Damn" questions..." he said in a darker tone than he had been speaking in, just then another person walked around the corner, a Tall muscular man with short brown hair, he looked like he could punch a hole through one of the stone walls.

"Ah, Barthello..." the yellow eye'd man said as he lowered his spear,
"Master has told us not to hurt prisoner, you disobey Master's orders?" Barthello said, as he walked forward, it seems he served a higher purpose that the yellow eye'd man, "O-Of course not, Barthello. I was only scaring him..."
"Good, i'd hate to have to see you at the chopping block, now then.." Barthello said as he turned his attention to Sven, "We have much to talk about.."
(Conversation will continue in next post.)

As the group dispersed, Julian continued to spin the dice around in the palm of his hand. Finally, his hand fell limp, and the dice careened over his hand and plummeted towards the ground. They hit the stone with a two fine taps, synchronized in purpose, and eventually came to a halt. Two dots stared back at him.
"Snake eyes." The Madman murmured. He looked about the room at those that remained. Snake eyes meant one thing, but no one in the room would suffice. He took out his crossbow, smiled to his new companions, and set off through the broken door. "Excuse me everybody, I have somebody to kill" He never picked up his dice.
He started into as sprint as soon as he left the room, forcing himself through the first door he came to - which opened with ease. He then closed it. The room he had entered was empty, little more than a closet with nothing in it. With a mixture of disappointment and anticipation, Julian opened the door once more.
Immediately a thin layer of liquid crept into the closet: blood. It was all over the corridor he had now been brought to. Over to his left he could see a series of small steps, devoid of any blood, but for a few footprints left on their surfaces. He followed the footsteps, constantly checking around him, crossbow ready to fire.

Westley just gave up. No one's sticking together and almost everyone set off on their own. Lets hope none of us end up like Ivan.

He walked towards the door Siegfried and Lillian walked through and opened it. It opened to a corridor with torches on the side. The hardwood floor was covered, in the middle, by a red carpet though some spots were darker then the others. On the side of the corridor he could see more doors leading to who knows where.

While keeping the door open, Westley looks back towards Janus. "Want to stick with me or go off on your own? I rather-ed you come with me. Don't like the feeling of this place and I would like have someone with me but it's up to you of course." He moves to the side leaving a space for Janus to walk through the doorway.

Siegfried and Lilian were looking around their new location, there were lots of spider webs around, that was for sure, one spider as big as a hand crawled over Siegfried's feet and he promptly punted it away. "I hate those things...Too many eyes, you know." He'd comment, trying to awkwardly make conversation with his elven companion. That was pointless however, as the wall right next to them came down with a loud crash.

Siegfried staggered backwards a bit once the wall was blasted open, he kept a tight grip on his halberd as he waited for the smoke to settle down after the wall had fallen. Once the Lanzenreiter realized it was a human, however, and mostly important, it was speaking and didn't have a melted face. Siegfried loosened up the grip on his weapon a bit, letting the blade fall to the ground while he held it only with one hand, the other one simply waved towards the newcomer. "Hold it there!" Siegfried spoke in his deep voice, which echoed slightly because of his helmet. "We're not your enemies, we're lost here, just like you." He'd say, hoping the man would leave it at that, if he didn't...Well, he was hoping Lilian could do something...But for now, his eyes were focused on the guy who had apparently just brought down a wall.

Janus gave a courteous nod to Westley as she strode through the doorway. She didn’t particularly want to get stuck talking to herself or worse...Ivan. Stepping into the corridor she made sure to walk off the side of the carpet, preferring the click clack of the hard wood under her boots. It made her feel like she was getting somewhere.

The smoke from the torches seemed to disappear into the darkness of the high ceiling. As for the corridor itself, it seemed to go on endlessly, all the doors were evenly spaced and none of them seemed particularly interesting. In fact, the entire corridor was a bit of a bore if she did say so herself.

Sighing, she walked over to the first door and tried to pull it open, only to fall back in a heap as the handle easily pulled out of its socket. She glanced up at Westley to check if he was laughing before deciding to get up and try the next door.

Westley turns to Ivan while Janus walks through. "Can you keep this door open? Maybe I can cheat this castle into keeping rooms static." He turns around just to see Janus pull on a door knob and fall down on her bottom. Westley raises a brow at Janus and lets out a small chuckles.

He catches up to Janus and walks beside her. "Having troubles?" Westley opens the next door when they reach it. "Let me try this time." He opens the door to reveal a room with a fireplace, already lit, one raggedy couch and two undeads standing in the middle of the room. They're wearing torn up bloody shirts and a plate mail leggings, though rusty and in poor shape.

The pair of zombies notices Westley and they charge at him. He closes the door before they arrive and turn to Janus. "Uhmm...No we-" *BANG BANG BANG* "Oh the one time I need the rooms to change." He holds the door knob with his left while he pulls out his broadsword with the other. "We'll have to deal with them. Can you handle fight at all?"

"Oh..." replied the man. "Sorry about that. But, can you blame me? I mean you're wearing armor," the man pointed both his arms at Seigfried, before swinging them to his right to point at the other humanoid, "He's got some bulky armor... you know what? Forget about it."
Without warning, the humanoid charged forward, but was quickly flipped over on its back from a shoulder throw.
"You know, big guy? That big *** weapon of yours is exactly what I could use right now. I mean, I can tooooootally handle this guy on my own but..."
The man aimed a roundhouse kick at the aggressor's head as it got back up, knocking the helmet off. Once the helmet was off everyone could see clearly, that there was no one inside.
"Yeah..."

"Of all of us, why the hell did you take me?! I don't know anything you'd want to know!" Sven said with a very angry tone, Barthello ignored Sven. "What do you want with the castle?" Barthello asked in a calm voice. "I wish to bring great fortune back to my family in Woodwalk."
Sven answered, still angry but starting to calm down, maybe they'd let him go after this. "I see." Barthello said, he knew Sven was telling the truth, he could see it in his eyes. "Tell me of this, family of you'res." Barthello asked, he told them of how his mother Martha was a drunk and he had to steal food to feed his younger sister Cisna, Barthello signed as he had to tell Sven the news. "I'm sorry, but you cannot leave this place." Sven temper flaired, he must get it from his mother. "Yes, i can! They said we had 24 hours!!-" "No, i meant You cannot leave, you must join us." Barthello replied, "Or what?" Sven replied back, "Or i shove this spear into your throat." The yellow eye'd man commented.

"Joining us and death are you're only options, but i will make you a promise." Barthello continued, "If you join us, i will send money back to your family in Woodwalk, through trusted followers." Sven knew his options, he had only one question. "You will? Truly?"
"Yes." Barthello replied, as he unlocked Sven's chains, Sven stood up and looked at Barthello, "Okay, i will join you.."
Barthello smiled, "Welcome, Brother." he said. The yellow eye'd man sheathed his spear, "Yes....Welcome, Brother.."
Barthello began walking away, Sven followed, the yellow eye'd man behind him.

Janus nodded somewhat reluctantly. She was somewhat wishing Sigel Fred was here, or at least his halberd arm. “Why are the bad prizes always behind door number two?” She muttered as she noticed the rhythmic banging on the door. It sounded like only one was banging on the door...

With a crash the door splintered as the other zombie completed its charge and broke into the corridor, only instead of the second door, it came out of the first, handle-less one. The brief sense of relief at the fact that the zombie had masked Janus’ small act of vandalism was quickly replaced by apprehension. She backed up to Westley’s side as both zombies slinked into the corridor, apparently unconcerned by their paradoxical entrance.

The zombie that had been banging seemed to be much like the creature that they had already encountered, blindly swinging its arms around wildly. The other one was more focused, though. It could definitely see them and it didn’t look all that happy. Although, when it turned to see that it had blocked its prey’s only route back to Ivan’s room she could have sworn she saw its face brighten, though that may have just been her own thoughts beating that fact into her.

OOC: hoping that when monsters open doors, the rooms can change too right?

((@ Knot : Yeah, the room changing mechanics work the same for everyone. Except the owner of the castle maybe...
Also, almost every room will feature a second door.

@Trinsdel : Go ahead and create danger for your character, danger is fun. ))

The cold night was drawing near, Edward and the others had only been in the castle for a short time.
Edward grabbed one of the slowly burning out torches, holding it infront of him to see through the dark path
ahead of him.
The whispers were slowly growing louder and louder.
"Edward....Tr..s...ser...D...roy" He could hear them say, his name being the thing he heard most clearly.
Most of the other words were inaudible.
He slowly walked towards a door looking behind him as he did so.
He stepped into the next room, appearing in what seems to be a kitchen.
The whipsers he had previously heard had alomst instantly stopped as soon as the door gently closed.

He lit a torch fixed onto the wall with the one he took from the ruined library.
Looking around, the room seemed recently used.
"Has Ivan been here?" he could smell freshly cooked food, specifically meat based.
"Whats *snort!* that!?" Edward heard someone snort.
The voice came from a large closet nearby.
"Who's....there? Heh heh...Hold on, let me... take a look... at you!" The person wheezed a sickly cough.
Edward remained silent, knowing this was not a good place to be, he stepped into the shadows and backed away quietly.
"I know you're there..." A large, bulging figure stepped out of the closet, the shadow covering most of his body, only a blood covered butcher knife and apron visible.
"Crap... Some kind of Demon Butcher, where does this guy even get the food from!? I hope that meat isnt what I hope it is."
Edward gripped his sword tightly, the Demon Butcher scanned the room, not seeming to notice him step out of the shadows.
Edward stepped closer to the Demon Butcher, his sword raised, prepared to slash at the demon.
As he got closer, the demon spun around and swung with his butcher knife, Edward was able to quickly parry the attack, just about.
"That was close. Too close! I almost let the sword out of my hand."
Edward took a few steps back, raising his sword and swinging at every chance, only to have every attack blocked.
"What the hell are you!? One of the creatures of this bloody castle I bet!?" Edward shouted in between swings.
"Might as well be. Wouldnt fit in out there anymore, at least the residents in hear seem to love me." The Demon responded.
Its pig like face came into view, if this demon was ever human, the remaining facial features were almost gone and now completly demon.
Edward stopped swinging his sword and leapt back, this time he attacked with his Barrier, hitting the enemy in the face.
While stunned, Edward slashed the Demons knife hand completely off.
With a squeal, the Demon dropped to his knees holding his wrist.
"You wretched fool! Cheating like that! ARGH!"
"Tell me what you know about this hell hole? What other residents are there?" Edward demanded.
"How could I possibly know? ... Theres undead constantly walking the halls, I live in this room now, I don't need to leave it." The demon replied between wails.
"How can you possibly live in this filth? Don't lie to me."
"Heh, theres a lot you dont know, have you met Ivan? He's helpful sometimes." The Demon almost laughed at Edwards lack of information.
A sudden tapping on the door Edward came from forced Edward to back away from the wounded enemy.
"There's always a couple of kids wandering through these halls, little girls and boys lost on their way home. All sorts of adults too, soldier types, trader types. Always end up dead... or worse!"
The tapping on the door got louder and evolved into a scratching , Edward ran to the second door and opened it, running through immediatly.
It slammed shut behind him.


((Other residents? Things just get worse and worse!))