In Amber Castle
[GM]
When Raven casts her spell, the lens over her left eye glows bright red, the air darkens, and there is a sound of flapping wings. When these effects die out, the spell takes effect, and we're all in the library.
*POOF*
The lot of you appear inside the Amber Library, which is deserted at the moment. Everything seems to be in order here. There are 20 decks of Trumps in the cabinet, and all seem to be virgin decks. You really must ask how Dworkin duplicates those...
[Kal]
Kal orients himself quickly, and excuses himself from the general group. [Assuming nothing untoward happens while he's gone] He will return wearing simple, but well-made clothes; a light dark blue shirt and brown pants with soft leather boots. A mace hangs from a small loop in his belt and he seems eminently more comfortable. He takes a set of Trumps from the cabinet, and looks to the others to catch up on anything he might have missed while he got dressed.
[Raven]
Raven goes to the cabinet, takes a Trump deck, quickly checks to see which cards are there, then pockets the deck. She takes a Trump out of a different pocket and hands it to Fiona. "I won't be needing this anymore."
"So, I suppose the first thing to do is try to Trump Dworkin. It probably won't work, but we might as well give it a try. Urda, you would probably be most likely to get through; do you want to try?"
[Garat]
Garat walks over and examines a deck and puts it into one of his pockets.
"Well," Garat starts, "Thalion, Laurel, Rosenkrantz, it seems we have to go find my father. If any of you have any ideas on where to find him I would be glad to hear them. If not I suggest we try first the hall of mirrors here in the castle, and if he is not there we should go to the Mirror Realm and look there." Garat awaits a reply.
[Urda] Urda holds up two fingers, a Trump between them. He flips it with a quick movement of his wrist and the card slides down into his hand. Face held carefully neutral, jaw clenched, he stares down at his Trump of Dworkin. His face shifts slightly and relaxes, his eyes unfocus.
[Thalion of Rebma] "I'd say our best bet at finding Grandfather would be the Hall of Mirrors. Then maybe the mirror realm or the mirrors of Lir. Though, I must point out that I personally have no clue how to get to any of these places."
He walks over and pulls out a set of trumps and tucks it into his boot.
[Laurel]
"I can probably get us to the Hall of Mirrors" says Laurel. "Provided we can find a full-size mirror somewhere. There used to be one in my room, but I can't be certain. It depends on how well the Castle's been restored, and to what time period".
She also walks over and pulls out a set of trumps, and tucks it into her... "Oh dear" she says, as she realises that the gown Deirdre had conjured for her is pocket-less. "I'm not really dressed for an expedition at the moment. Let me check whether my rooms have been restored, so that I can get a change of clothes. And also I can check the room for a mirror. While I'm doing that, perhaps the rest of you could be looking elsewhere for mirrors, in case my room has not been restored?"
She pauses for breath, then adds "Unless anyone has any other ideas for getting to the Hall of Mirrors?".
[Raven]
While Urda is trying to contact Dworkin, Raven turns to Kal, Laurel, and Garat, and introduces herself.
"Sorry. Didn't have a chance earlier. Things were a little hectic." She smiles wryly. "I'm Raven. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Raven is a tall woman (approx. 6'), with a slender, athletic physique. She is quite attractive, and moves very gracefully. She has shoulder- length, night-black, silky hair, held back from her forehead by a thin golden circlet. A single lens of red crystal is attached to the circlet, and can be flipped down to cover her left eye. She flipped it down before casting the spell. She now reaches to flip it up again. She has a pale complexion, green eyes, and wears snug grey clothing embroidered in green, and supple black boots. There is a rapier belted at her side.
After introducing herself, she collapses into a chair at one of the tables in the library. She looks like the action of the past few hours has suddenly caught up with her, as she reclines, exhausted, in the chair. Nevertheless, she keeps a close eye on Urda as he tries to communicate with Dworkin.
PS: Tony, was the castle restored with guards, servants, et al., or are we alone in here?
[GM]
You think you're alone.
[Urda]
Urda suddenly stiffens and goes much paler. Something you wouldn't think an albino could do. He slides Dworkin's card back into his deck and turns back to the group. His face is twitching, his fists are clenched, his body stiff, his voice flat. "Come home with me. Someone. PLEASE!" His face twists and he visibly fights to regain control of himself. "He's going to dismantle me." Urda pulls another card out of his deck. It shows him crouched at the edge of the primal pattern, a small building off to 1 side.
[Raven]
Raven gets up and moves to stand beside Urda, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I'll come with you, Urda. And if I can stop him 'dismantling' you, I will. If you don't want to, you don't have to come. I can go on my own, or with Kal, or my mother. Whoever wants to come. But let us go now; we don't know how much time Deirdre and Clarissa have ..." Raven is looking with some interest at the Trump in Urda's hand.
[Garat]
"Nice to meet you Raven," Garat says bowing.
Physically Garat is about 5'10" tall and weighs around 180lbs. He has medium brown, mid back length hair which is tied into a pony tail. He has dark brown, almost black eyes. He is wearing black and silver court clothes and has a silver rapier hanging at his side.
[Laurel]
"Hectic" muses Laurel. "Yes, I guess that's a fair assessment".
"I am Laurel MacLir, Deirdre and Kireyas' daughter". Laurel is a touch under 6' tall, slender, with platinum-blond waist length hair, which is currently hanging loose. Her eyes are a deep sky- blue, the shade you get on a cloudless summer's day in late afternoon, flecked with flashes of sparkling silver. She is wearing a court gown of purest night-black velvet.
[Thalion]
Thalion shakes his head, "I can't think of a better way. I'll run up to my room as well and get some better attire. I'll be back in just a bit." Thalion heads out of the Library.
[Laurel]
Laurel leaves the library, and goes to where her room used to be. If it is still there, she will change into more appropriate attire, pick out a couple of rings and a pair of earrings, fasten her brooch to her fresh blouse, apply a little make-up, pack a few essentials, and her trump deck, into a shoulder bag, and return to the library, feeling a lot more comfortable than she has for some time.
[GM]
Still there, and intact. You can bring whatever equipment back to the library.
[Laurel]
On further reflection, Laurel picks out a basic outfit of chain mail, in white with blue trim, and adds her favourite rapier and main-gauche. She then checks that her full length mirror is intact, then returns to the library.
[Thalion]
Thalion returns a few minutes later dressed in light leather armour with a lot of small pockets. His armour is dyed black, dark blue, and royal purple. He is wearing a matched Rapier & mein gauche - they are both silver, with amethysts set into the hilt. He is carrying a knapsack over his shoulder.
The dark colour of his outfits accents his pale complexion.
"It's kind of creepy. The castle is deserted. No servants, no guards, nobody. Well, are we ready?" He looks around at the others, eyebrow raised.
[Laurel]
Laurel also returns to the library. She is wearing light chain mail, in white with light blue trim. She also wears rapier and main-gauche. Looking around, she mutters "Hmmm. Rapiers all round, eh. A pity, but there's no helping it. Let's hope it doesn't become a liability".
[Garat]
"I don't see why it should be", replies Garat.
[Laurel]
"Oh, I was just thinking that heavier weapons do have their uses, at times" says Laurel.
[Thalion]
Thalion looks around at everyone then at Laurel. "I believe we are ready to leave. What do we need to do?"
[Laurel]
"Well" says Laurel, "my thought was to enter the Mirror Realm from the mirror in my room, and make our way from there to the Hall of Mirrors. I think it will be quicker that way, than trying to locate it physically".
[Garat]
"Sounds like as good of a plan as any. Between the two of us," Garat says looking at Laurel, "we shouldn't have a problem getting to the Hall."
[Laurel]
"Then, if we're all ready, let's go". Laurel will lead the group to her room.
While leading Garat, Thalion and Rosenkrantz to her room, Laurel says "So Lir is your father, Garat? I guess that sort of makes you my uncle? And Thalion would be a cousin. How about Rosenkrantz? Are you part of Lir's family, too?"
[Garat]
"Yes, I suppose it would. Who may I ask are your mother and father. As for Rosenkrantz, I am not sure."
[Laurel]
"Deirdre is my mother, Kireyas my father" replies Laurel. Her mind seems to be on other matters.
[Thalion]
Thalion grins at Rosenkrantz, "Well, by his looks I would have to say a distant relative." He looks around at the other two then back at Rosenkrantz' red hair.
[GM]
Rosenkrantz looks surprised. "Uh, me? Do I LOOK like I belong in Lir's family? Or Dworkin's?"
[Laurel]
"No, not really" says Laurel.
Suddenly her face drops, and she murmurs "Family? Oh my, I never had the chance to ask Mom about Meredith". To the group, she says "Please excuse for a moment", as she pulls her trump deck from bag, and searches for a certain card.
After a quick shuffle through her trump deck, Laurel sighs, and says "No, Meredith never was part of the standard deck. It was just an outside possibility. And I can hardly disturb Mom at the moment".
[Thalion]
Thalion waits patiently.
While waiting for Laurel to finish her trump call, Thalion starts to hum a song, then eventually he sings a segment:
"The Black Queen chants a funeral march,
The cracked brass bells will ring
To summon back the Fire Witch
To court the Crimson King.
That last image of Deirdre keeping Clarissa alive keeps playing over and over in my head and this verse keeps popping into my mind. Weird." He smiles and looks around at the others, "Sorry, I just get into weird moods sometimes and I get a little morbid."
[Laurel]
Laurel sings in reply
"Call her moonchild
Dancing in the shallows of a river
Lonely moonchild
Dreaming in the shadow of the willow"
[GM]
Approaching the mirror in Laurel's room, you find it cracked. No, wait... it's some strange sticky webbing, stretching between the frames of the mirror. The floor in front of the mirror seems to be scorched by some sort of foul acid.
[Laurel]
Laurel continues her song...
"Talking to the trees of the cobweb strange
Sleeping on the steps of a fountain"
Stepping forward, she looks around warily, trying to determine the source of the webbing, and the acid, which seem to have appeared since she was here a few minutes ago.
[Thalion]
Thalion looks at the state of the mirror, then down at his light armour. "Maybe you were right Laurel. My rooms just down the hall. Do I have time to change into full plate?"
OOC: Are we about to meet some ALIENS?
[Laurel]
"Yes, certainly" replies Laurel.
[Thalion]
After his previous statement, Thalion pulls out a trump card. "Give me just a second." Any one who looks will see it is Jacob's trump. Before Thalion can make his trump call, he gets a far away look on his face which is quickly tempered by concern. "Urda? Are you OK? You seem...... placid. How did things go with Dworkin? What are you doing at the grove? What are you finishing?"
"Umm, give me a sec to tell the others." Thalion focuses a LITTLE bit more on you guys. "Urda says that Clarissa needs to re-curse and die. He says we have to do it *now*. He wants us to come through. The problem is, he is acting kind of weird. I don't know. Just..... ***way*** too mellow for a guy who was just blaming himself for our possible destruction and who just ran off to try and keep himself from being disassembled. What do you think? We need to decide quick."
[GM]
Guisel spittle. Ugh. All three of you have heard of the guisels... ten feet long, eyeless, killing machines. They eat magic and excrete refrigeration. Very dangerous... entire families of Shroudlings have been exterminated by them. If the thing that lurked here was a Guisel... too late. It's already gone into the curves of the mirror realm. There. In the reflection, but not in the room... a doll, Meredith's favourite: the Mad Hatter. She would never leave it so recklessly there. (How old is she exactly?) No sign of Meredith.
[Laurel]
"Nooooo" moans Laurel, as she catches sight of the doll.
[Thalion]
"Shit! I can't believe I didn't notice it before! This (pointing at acid) Is Guisel spittle. That (pointing at webbing) Is used to capture people. Look at the scuffs on the floor/in the carpet. Now look at the way that table and chair have been bumped around, look at the doll in the reflection. The Guisels have Meredith. Captured and probably cocooned or something. But they haven't killed her. No blood. Also, chances are the Shroudlings haven't hunted any Guisel in 1,000 years. That could mean huge amounts of Guisels. So, What do we do? Go to Urda, or Go for Meredith? I, at least, will be going to find Meredith."
[Laurel]
"Thalion, I thank you. I have to find Meredith, of course. Your help is most welcome" Laurel says.
To Garat and Rosenkrantz, she says " I have no hold on you, and I will understand if you prefer to go to Urda. But if you can, I would be grateful for your help also".
She shivers, at the thought of what her daughter might be suffering.
[Thalion]
Thalion nods and looks back at the contact, "I'm sorry Urda, but I can't come through right now."
[Garat]
"Family always comes first, my niece." says Garat placing a comforting hand on Laurel's shoulder. "I will go with you to find your daughter." Garat get an odd look in his eyes, "Family. For years I had none, and now I find myself surrounded by them..." he is heard muttering to no one in particular.
[Laurel]
Her smile of gratitude overshadowed by her concern for Meredith, Laurel says "Thank you, Uncle". She gives him a quizzical look, but does not ask. If he wants to clarify, he will do so, in his own good time.
[Thalion]
"A moment if you would." Thalion hurries out of the room, shedding his armour as he goes. He returns a few minutes later dressed in light plate armour. The metal is dyed dark blue and purple. He is carrying a back pack in his left (with his sword and dagger strapped to it) and a large silver axe in his right. "I'm ready."
[GM]
Rosenkrantz replies, "I better stay behind and check out the castle, and recruit whoever I can find."
[GM]
The three of you enter the mirror, with Laurel leading the way, and Thalion taking the rear. Rosenkrantz waves on the other side, smiling. His words do not penetrate into the Reflection.