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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 2, 2018 21:16:18 GMT -8
Tilly's eyes widened at both the silk and the procured bread with mixed awe and delight; bread, at this time, was like a ray of sun between the clouds.
She happily traded the waterskin away, her heart swelled with a newfound appreciation for her Love.
"You're... really wonderful."
She tipped forward on her toes to lean in and plant a brief kiss on Lekalis's cheek, rolling up the handkerchief in her hand, with the bread held with the other. Watching his eyes a moment, she found herself smiling before she took a well-enjoyed bite out of the hunk of bread.
Her attention turned to the door, where Courcy had departed to, then back to Lekalis,
"That fellow that won't move-- a poison did that, from here. Beansprout told me."
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 2, 2018 22:12:58 GMT -8
/Lekalis/
If it weren't for the glow of the distant lantern, he could've been blushing as his stoic Lordly swagger wavered for a moment and he rolled his eyes with a foppish huff; he placed a hand on his hip and looked out over the waters just before she planted the sweetly kiss upon his cheek and he couldn't help but stiffle a small giggle in the moment.
"You're utterly wonderful too, my Love." He mused back, rolling an eye to look over at her from the side.
As she spoke the more dire news, he nodded, a tactical solemnity befalling his grace as he stroked the hairs of his chin and he leant back a touch... Though he also took a step closer to Tilly as he peered out over the waves then, in two quick glances, looked up and down the pier with a touch of paranoia. Thankfully, unfounded, as he hummed.
"Poison..? That would explain the man's stature. If that is the case, then they can't have been poisoned for very long--" A moment of realization came over his features and the tired demeanour burned away to this dawning light.
"-- I-if it is paralysis of some kind--" He seemed to waver, furrowing his brows,
"-- Or rigor mortis... Hmm..." He frowned and fussed with the bridge of his nose.
"... The deed claimed all stations abandoned some week or two before we'd arrived. Anyone who's so paralyzed for so long would surely be dead." For a moment, Lekalis looked over to Tilly expectantly, as if for answer, before he gave an apologetic smile yet again and turned to face the door nodding to it.
"We best check at the least."
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 3, 2018 0:16:03 GMT -8
illy's smile faded as a more serious topic arose, though she still felt residually warm from the bout of affection and Lekalis's thoughtfulness.
She munched on the bread as she listened, contentedly; it was inoffensive enough to settle her stomach, and she felt prepared well enough to brave the odor of the tower, even with such grim material at hand.
Her brows rose a little at the unfamiliar term, 'rigor mortis', but she withheld comment.
"Within reason, 'course." She added, popping the last bite of bread into her mouth. It saddened her to see it all gone so quickly.
"I'm more worried about... not ending up like them, myself. I can't imagine anything worse than getting stuck like them forever."
She eyed the door as though it had personally offended her, readying the silk cloth at her mouth and nose. She gave Beansprout atop her hat a small nudge, too, both to steady him in the band of her hat and to check if he had livened up since she'd last tended to him.
Tilly watched the door expectantly, bracing for it to be opened.
"...You ought to go first, I think."
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Post by black379 on Mar 3, 2018 11:25:20 GMT -8
"This one's dead, surely." Courcy hardly kept herself from retching as she eyed the frozen figure who had been disemboweled. The other's likely had perished too, from their injuries or from atrophy, but the signs were not so apparent.
She approached the figure in the middle of the room who bore what a probably lethal neck wound. Removing the soldier's ornate helmet, she would, regrettably, take a closer look.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 3, 2018 17:07:29 GMT -8
/The Limestone Tower/
The closer Courcy got to the men, the more the aroma, curiously, faded. In its place wasn't a rightly pleasant smell, but a relief from the gut-churning miasma spilling out of the tower.
The scent around the man was acrid, like smoke and cinders.
The helmet was heavy, and a maile coife slipped away from the man as Courcy removed the helm and held it in her hands. His face was one of divine determination; his tawny hued brows furrowed in fury, set closely to his almost amber hued eyes. She could almost see the fire the man must have so fervently believed, burning behind his eyes.
His mouth was curled into a vicious snarl, with a braided goatee just below it. Short, but braided all the same. His skin was tan, despite his clearly European descent, and he bore an orange star tattooed to his forehead.
The wound on his neck, however, seemed to be rather shallow and clotted. While no doctore, Courcy would be able to tell that it was definitely no death-stroke. Perhaps more telling of the man's stiffness were the tendrils of black and blue which snaked out from the wound and under the man's skin like roots to a tree.
They were many and they were thin... Try as Courcy might, no immediate knowledge came to mind. Though she may be able to discern something from the malign tendrils if she studied them closely for a while.
The miasmic smell of the tower was slowly subsiding, as the door was left open. It still smelled foul, though it wasn't so pungently thick anymore.
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/Lekalis/
With a small nod, and a warm smile, The Ex-Lord patted Tilly's shoulder one last time before turning off and approaching the door. He pulled the bind of his cloak tighter about himself until the collar rather closely hugged his nose and mouth, saving him from having to use both his hands for a single relief.
Once he entered, he immediately coughed and sighed, squinting his eyes against the dark and aromas before huffing; a hand went back to his sack and procured a torch. His eyes looking over the silhouette with a weary, tired look; his nature returning to him,
"Poor sods..." He mumbled to himself,
Though, he paused as he held off lighting the item.
He looked to Tilly and Courcy both, before motioning to the distant latch with his spear, he made a hushing noise;
"We might have company..." He spoke curtly, and began to cross over to the latch in the ceiling...
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 5, 2018 8:19:12 GMT -8
The scent alone floored Tilly, with hand and silk pressed up against her mouth and nose. The scent of blood on the silk made an uncomfortable cocktail with the vile miasma of the room.
She almost felt a touch dizzy from it all, and was silent as she stared into the dark, specifically, so as to let her eyes adjust to the lighting, and to scan for potential threats...
Overall, though, Tilly was more eager to follow after Lekalis to the match and get back into the open air. She could tend to the petrified men when the odor had cleared out.
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Post by black379 on Mar 5, 2018 13:13:09 GMT -8
Courcy was startled by the man's countenance. Not so much outwardly, but it gave her a chill to see the soldier paralyzed as he was. She only inspected the wound, and the blackened veins stretching from it, for a moment. Even though the injury didn't appear lethal it seemed probable, as Lekalis had said, that he couldn't have survived the poison that froze him in place.
"What kind of poison?" The redhead questioned Tilly with a look from the corner of her eye. She was skeptical that a leafy knife could really tell anything, but who else would know?
She set the pot helm at the figure's feet and re-armed herself, turning her eyes too to the hatch above. The hellion was on Blood's heels quick enough.
"Better be good hosts then..."
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 5, 2018 13:42:30 GMT -8
/The Limestone Tower/
Shifting from the ambient grey of the outside lighting to the familiar but no less comfortable dark of the Tower, Tilly's eyes would take some time to wholly adapt to the dim lighting. Her experience alone was what made it even possible to see into the almost sharp shadows not illuminated by the light from outside.
There didn't seem to be any immediate threats with them, besides the men poised in mid strike.
The party, so assembled underneath the hatch, would hear the gentle crackle and pop of a torch sconce through the woody planks and iron reinforcements. There were claw marks carved into the wood, and there were a few holes in the structure but it looked to be overall rather sound of state.
Tilly would notice, in the dim glow that spilled out from the light, claw marks similar to the ones outside the tower, on the corners of the wall nearest to the hatch.
There was a lack of a ladder leading up to the Hatch as well. Given the height of the room being maybe ten or twelve feet high, it would take a bit of dedication to reach up and poke it with one's hand.
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/Lekalis/
He hummed, looking up to the hatch and standing almost beneath it,
"Dunno..." He answered, looking back only to realize Courcy was talking to Tilly. Lekalis cleared his throat and looked to his spear, then the hatch, and reached out to try and jab at the hatch.
"... Guess we're going to find out?" He mused, more to himself than to remedy the brief miscommunication, as he braced the spear's point inbetween the boards and roughly in the center of the hatch, before giving a good shove to try and oust the hatch open, though it seemed not to budge.
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 5, 2018 14:20:13 GMT -8
Tilly watched him and, literally, held her breath as Lekalis prodded at the hatch, to no avail.
She sighed, and made to breathe out her mouth, which seemed to only succeed in helping her taste the scent of the room as well as smell it.
"It's... local. From the coast. S'not magical at all."
She glared up at the hatch impatiently and groaned, "I'm really going to be ill if we can't pop this sodding thing open."
She reached into her hat and withdrew Beansprout, and waggled his blade in the direction of the hatch.
"What's up there, li'l fellow? Can you tell?"
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 5, 2018 14:43:11 GMT -8
/Beansprout/
The Tendrils of Beansprout stretched out, the pommel writhing disdainfully in the bitter air before settling and stretching; a draining, curious sensation began at Tilly's fingertips, as though her veins were being filled with sap.
Try as she might, she couldn't perceive anything by using Beansprout as a conduit.
However, she did find it a bit easier to breathe, for better or worse. Tilly could almost taste the bitterness of the air on her skin, as little of it as was exposed.
With some sorrow and woe, Beansprout's tendrils curled in; it was a bit disoriented, it wasn't feeling right, there was something off about this area.
It was making excuses.
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Post by black379 on Mar 5, 2018 19:25:05 GMT -8
Courcy watched the hatch expectantly, unsure what exactly she should be ready for. Even if it did open, they couldn't simply get up. And what if there was something waiting on the other side of the board ceiling?
As the man failed to push the trap door open, the redhead shuffled up behind him, tempted to try with her own polearm. But she would rather not have it stuck, in case they were ambushed after all.
"Shall I lift you up?" She chuckled, lowering her eyes to Lekalis.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 5, 2018 19:39:41 GMT -8
/Limestone Tower/
Given some time, and some vehement thrusts and grunts from the Ex-Lord, shoving his spear as best he could up and into the closed opening, it did eventually give a little.
A small scattering of flakes fell down, thankfully, not onto anyone.
It seemed that the crusty slime covering the interior of the base of the tower had covered the hatch a bit too. Granted, it was now jostled away with Lekalis' pushes.
However, the hatch didn't open all the way. Instead, a small sliver of torchly light beamed down into the thick atmosphere of the first floor as it opened just an inch; there was a sudden yelp of a girl unseen past the hatch. A man shushed her, and there was some indistinct murmurs before a blade was drawn, the sound of chainmail jingling echoed for a moment.
There was the sound of sliding furniture as the hatch opened more and more, until it eventually opened up fully.
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/Lekalis/
In truth, the Ex-Lord's surprise came with the typical look of shock; his brows shot up and he looked about with some gusto as he managed to oust open the hatch.
"Ah-- Yes, perhaps." He whispered quickly as he heard the girlish yelp, his brows furrowing as he quickly pulled back his spear.
His features fell to a more stoic and focused look, glancing to his comrades again before raising a brow, licking his lips. Instantly regretting it for the foul odor of the lower flowers (as diminished as they were).
"Hello there..?" He called out presumptively, cocking his head to the side.
Despite his Lordly nature, he looked to his friends for some assistance in the matter.
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 5, 2018 19:53:45 GMT -8
"It's nothing to worry about, Beansprout. I didn't see anything, either..." Tilly whispered to the dagger, and gave it a comforting pat, before stowing away up in her hat. Just in time to watch, completely and utterly horrified, the fish-flakes fall from the ceiling.
She fought the urge to hurry outside for fresher air than this.
The sound of a blade being drawn made her all the more nervous.
"'Scuse me! We're friendlies! Didn't mean to scare you lot!" Tilly spoke quickly, cupping her hands around her mouth as she called into the hatch,
"We're scouts for the Heir of the Darkest Estate. We got hired to scout out places where he could stick some watchtowers, but it seems you'd beat us to the punch!" She nodded, clasping her hands anxiously together as if they could see her. She shifted from one foot to the other.
"Are any of you injured...? We just want to talk to you-- we can escort you back to the beach, if you'd like!"" She glanced around to her compatriots, but offered the good deed regardless of what they'd have had to say; she couldn't just leave them there alone.
Her stomach was in knots and she desperately wished to be somewhere else.
"D'you have a ladder? Can we come up, please?" Asked Tilly with a touch more urgency...
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Post by black379 on Mar 5, 2018 20:05:20 GMT -8
Skeptical as it was she didn't expect to find any living people. Or living and moving people anyways, if the figures poised around them might somehow not be dead - in some sort of poison induced comatose.
Looking between Tilly and Blood, Courcy shrugged. But her grip remained tight around her polearm, at least until a voice from above actually called back.
"No fish 'beasties' down here." She added, sounding unintentionally dismayed about that fact.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 5, 2018 20:12:19 GMT -8
/Limestone Tower/
There was silence, drawn out... No response.
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/Lekalis/
He nodded approvingly to each of the diplomatic messages, smirking at Courcy's remark as he found some brevity in the idea that there were more living souls surviving out here besides just his own cadre.
Though, the lack of reply was a touch worrying. Not unexpected at least, but worrying all the same.
In his own flavor, he cleared his throat and raised a hand as though to swear an oath.
"I am Lekalis Fanuschrat, first of his name and once Lord, now sellsword. My comrade here, Tilly--" He placed a shoulder on his dear and gave it a squeeze,
"-- and Courcy,"
Which he did the same, offering an awkward smile as his hand met the bare shoulder of the Hellion.
"We're all staunch defenders of this realm, we mean you no harm. Ah, if you wish I have... documents, a seal : proof?"
He offered, already moving his hands to fidget about his satchel to fish out the predescribed document...
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