castleinthemist | [Open] 02 - in which a castle is explored, and strawberries are grown.

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[Open] 02 - in which a castle is explored, and strawberries are grown.

[Action/Prose both ok!]

I. EXPLORATION:

The massive, labyrinthine castle was just waiting for exploration, and on this day, Cordelia had decided to go a little further, leading her to this particular room.

Though calling it a 'room' didn't do it justice. In any other place, it'd be called a courtyard. Several fallen columns littered the floor of the massive room, shattered into massive blocks, overgrown with moss, but the main feature was a huge spiral staircase, right in the middle of the room.

Unfortunately, it had clearly been neglected for years, if not centuries. Entire sections were missing, which one would have to cross by jumping or other means, like the ivy growing in patches on the inner pillar the staircase spiraled around. But the most important part that had crumbled away was the bottom part - the beginning of the stairs was fourteen feet over the floor, as if a giant had just grabbed the masonry and spirited it away, requiring additional effort to even reach the stairs.

Of course, anyone who would reach the top would face a final challenge - from the ground, one could spot what appeared to be a drawbridge, which would lead from the platform in the middle of the room, on top of the staircase, to the only other exit from the room.

Unfortunately, the drawbridge wasn't lowered.

Far down on the floor, one could spot a woman (her dress had gotten a bit more practical, but it still looked a bit fancy, as she had completely failed to get something else, despite originally wanting to), looking around and, well, trying to figure out how to best get past this particular situation. Of course, doing so alone was a rather troublesome endeavour, but maybe there were others exploring, too...?

[OOC: I think this sets the scene up suitably for a few characters exploring the room? I'm happy to edit stuff if not.
Feel free to add to it, if it helps your character have fun. Maybe there are levers somewhere, or a shadow portal on top of the stairs? I'm absolutely open for stuff like that. Obviously, if the log goes somewhere, there could be other rooms for exploration? ]

II: Otherwise!
At another time, one could run into Cordelia in the main court yard near the commons. More precisely, behind a fallen column that shielded a particular section from view somewhat. It had recently collapsed - a couple days ago at most.

She was currently busy attending to...a few strawberry bushes? Those hadn't been here before, despite them clearly being fully grown. Come to think of it, there were a LOT of flowers behind the column - dozens of different flowers, including a few rather odd ones (had that small green one just caught a fly?)

She was currently busy with the work she was doing, which was examining the ground near the strawberry bush, and on occasion ripping out a flower, which went to a rather large compost heap, containing what looked like more strawberry bushes. Weird.

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One of those others was Tsuruhime, now equipped with bow and new determination. She'd managed to pick her way through the castle thus far, and her only reaction to encountering Cordelia was relief. She was terrible at puzzles and mental mapmaking - it was most likely luck that had got her even this far.

"Oh, this castle is such a mess," she mourned, jumping down to join the other girl. "It certainly makes moving about difficult!"

Cordelia nodded, actually relieved to have some company. "I really agree. Whoever owns it looks to have neglected it for centuries."

...

"Uhm, nice to meet you again." The princess said, giving Tsuruhime a faint smile. "Are you exploring as well? I've not gotten very far on my own, I'm afraid to say."

"How irresponsible of them!"

Yes. Anyway, blaming the queen for her bad housekeeping aside... Tsuruhime returned the smile. "I am! I saw that we would be travelling into the unknown today."

"Oh, you saw...?" An odd expression, Cordelia thought, but then it might be common in Tsuruhime's world.

"Well, this might be a good start for traveling into the unknown, then. I could really use your help, I think."

Cordelia really wasn't fond of doing things on her own unless she had to, after all, so asking the nice-seeming Tsuruhime seemed perfectly appropriate.

"I think we have to get up there, and find some way to lower that bridge over there, but I really haven't found some way to do the later."

He had been here, maybe a few days. Still, nothing made sense to him at all, asides from the fact that he was stuck here, and others here were strangers. Still, the sheer size of the place inspired curiosity from him, and so he had to explore. Somehow, someway he had made it to this such room. There were familiar things in the design, but it was difficult to get farther than he already was at this point without talking to someone.

A pause at the sound of footsteps, and he jumped over a missing section, onto the top of a column that had fallen away. Looking down, he kept quiet and watched.

Cordelia looked around. She hadn't heard the assassin move, and was no expert at spotting hidden people, so to her, she was alone. Again.

She sighed, and looked around. This place really felt lonely, in her opinion. There was so much of it, seemingly without any purpose at all. There had to be more to it.

Which was precisely why she had considered that exploring more of it was a good idea.

Again, she looked around, making sure that nobody would see her. She could explore on her own but...if so, she prefered to make sure that nobody saw her while doing so. After all, her methods had the tendency to raise questions.

After her final scan of the area (which, predictably, missed the assassin) she began to explore her own way.

In this case, this meant walking up the central column. At its side, as if Gravity had no meaning whatsoever to her. It'd sure look quite odd to Altair, that's for sure - she did not seem to use any tools, and looking at her moving up a vertical surface really had an unsettling aspect. It didn't quite look right, as if her movements were warped somewhat.

[OOC: A secret assassin stealthily watching without spotting anything hidden seemed a crime to me, so...]

That? Now that had been something he had not been wanting to see.

He had been somewhat used to the strange happenings around here (the strange dark voids he had seen at certain parts of the castle, the... monstrous figures that stalked about, but not.. not this. It was more witchcraft from what he could tell, and it took all his restraint not to make a sound or jump at the woman.

He restrained himself, waited for her to get to the top before he would do anything. The tension in his frame tightening even more, he clenched his fists, stood up straight as she drew closer but kept himself scarce.

This place was getting stranger the longer he was here, and he wished out of it.

[ooc| .. I love it.]

[OOC: Whew!]

Finally, Cordelia reached the top, almost snapping into a position more compatible with natural laws when changing from sideways to a normal standing position again.

For a moment, she stretched, while looking around to take in her new surroundings and get a better look of the large room.

This new position indeed gave herself a better view of the area. Consequently, she froze when this new vantage point allowed her to spot that she hadn't been alone. This was bad...!

How is someone supposed to react in this situation? The look on her face made it appear that she wanted to keep it a secret but the one he held was caught between horror and confusion, obvious that he had seen it. Brows furrowed, he made an attempt to compose himself, taking in a breath all the while.

"... Do you-- where is this place?"

"Uhm..." Cordelia began, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek, shaking her head. "I...think...I know where to go to the common area from here...?"

"I was just climbing this to see if there's another way up there, I don't know where it would lead, and..."

She shook her head. "Uhm, maybe I can help you find your way back if you're lost?"

No, she really wasn't good at this.

A hand rose in protest of her words. A shake of the head as he began to correct her in turn, hands lifting with the confusion. "No-- the entire area. Why are we are here?" Her explanation made sense, but the means of which she did... did not.

"And what was that you did, witchcraft?" His voice is low, trying to keep level.

"Uhm, maybe you just saw wrong? I'm a really quick climber so... it's really nothing of concern!"

Her dress didn't really fit a climber that well, though.
Well, she really was not too good at this, and she fully realized this could get her into pretty deep trouble (well, not REALLY, not here, but she believed otherwise), so she at least made an attempt to distract from the issue by his other question.

"Uhm, you mean, in the castle? Uhm, we're thinking someone abducted us here, but nobody really know why. I'm trying to find someone to talk to so maybe we can find something out but, ah, that's just an attempt, I don't really know if it could work..."

He shook his head once more. "I already saw you commit the act. You cannot cover up something like that." Even at that, she was doing a poor job at it, from what he could tell.

Still, she moved to speak about other things and of course, he listened. Abduction? He grew angry at the idea, with himself and whoever managed to pull that off. Straightening up, he found that better. At least it was straightforward.

For now, he will drop the other subject. "It is better than nothing. Where were you headed?"

"But I really..." She began, but thankfully he moved to the other subject.

"Well, I'm not sure, this place is much bigger than the castles where I am originally from, but there is a drawbridge there..."

She pointed at a wall. "which, if lowered, would connect to the platform I'm on, so I thought that if I could lower it somehow, this might lead somewhere..."

She sighed. "It's not as if there are any clues telling us where we should go. Just more corridors heading off. I just thought trying to head somewhat upward made sense...

Following her gesture to what was mentioned, he took it in, tried to figure out what was the best way of reaching the goal. Get to that, and it was possible to lower the drawbridge, based on the layout of the room. A nod.

"Did you have an idea for to reach it?" He wanted to figure out where she stood in those terms before he added anything that was going on in his head. "Up would be a good idea. Perhaps if the highest point is reached, a better view of the area would go with it." He paused, a breath in before he shifted, taking a step back and judging the difference in distance from his location to another platform, closer.

"What room did you arrive from over there, was it familiar?" He made a motion to where she had been earlier.

"I'm...not sure. I thought of trying to do something to cut the chains or ropes holding the drawbridge up, but I can't really get a good view of them. And I don't have a bow."

She pondered for a moment. "But yes, a good vantage point for the whole castle would be useful. That way we could maybe see just how large it really is."

"You mean the room I arrived in in the castle? I've never seen it before, and I was stuck into one of those dreadful coffins. I don't know how I even got in there."

That was probably was he had been refering to, she thought, but she was still somewhat troubled by...him seeing stuff he shouldn't, so it was entirely possible for her to misunderstand.

For now he accepted it, because he had been meaning to ask about that as well. If she had been in the same situation, then it was safe to say that others had as well here. A nod and he reached for the belt at his waist, pulled out a small knife. "Would this suffice?"

Sheathing it again, he ran across the distance he had been standing, jumped and made way onto a platform nearby. Here, he still had a view of the woman. "If I can get close enough, I can likely hit the rope. If they are chains, we will see." A breath in and he shook his head.

".. How long have you been here?"

Cordelia nodded. "It might. You must be good at throwing."

She wondered about him having such weapons, but then he probably was an adventurer of some kind. Quite an agile one, in fact, judging by his jumps.
Maybe he really could solve the current problem.

"I've been here less than two weeks." She admitted. "But I've not met many who have been here that much longer."

"Mm, something like that." He refused to give a straight answer to the comment, only nodded with it then moved to look towards the wall that seemed to connect with the drawbridge.

He stopped for a moment, looked down. Two weeks? That enough was concerning, but the mentioning of those who had been here longer caught his attention. He looked over to her, nodded. "How much longer, do you know?"

"Another week or two, from what I heard. I haven't spoken to someone who has been herefor longer, but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist."

She shrugged at him helplessly, watching him move. She was somewhat worried still. Her experience with people knowing about her abilities - even "Just" the ones he had seen - had been pretty bad. Would he do something later? She hoped not. Maybe he was just a quiet one...

A nod this time.

No further words as he tried to figure out how to handle the situation. Lower the drawbridge at least, then they could cover some ground. Perhaps she would be willing to speak the further they went in, maybe not.

Either way, that was not the end of his questions. For now, he focused on the task at hand and jumped again, even closer this time. A glance over his shoulder to her and he took in a breath, unsheathing one of the knives upon his person. "Why keep what you... performed, a secret? Would it not benefit the others here for exploration?" Taking aim, he spotted the rope, threw the knife and heard the snapping of the tie.

The drawbridge shook, lowered some distance but not completely.

That took her off guard, how he casually talked about something else while, seemingly equally casual, he just hit the rope like that.

"Uhm, well..." She stammered. "I think people would mind, wouldn't they?"

...Well, that was not quite what she was worried about. She worried more about people considering her an abomination and trying to murder her. Which was why she didn't say it, because if he didn't know, telling him might give him dangerous ideas.

He understood what she meant - he himself was resisting using the excuse of it being witchcraft, he tried to keep an open mind. With things such as the apple in his world, how could he not? He had no part in it (yet), but this situation could have been... similar.

"There are things far worse in the world." A pause. "It depends on intention. Whatever means you come upon, use it." The words were rough, he pulled out another knight, searched around.

"Do you see another rope?"

She slumped a bit. What he said didn't feel wrong...Well he already knew, but still...

Thankfully, contemplation couldn't work when you were asked a direct question like that, and she tried to have a better look from her position, now that the bridge was lowered somewhat.

"Yes, I can spot one, on the other side, it's looking somewhat damaged, I think, like it'd snap quite soon..."

She wondered for a moment what the point of this setup was. Just preventing people from getting further, it seemed. While thinking, she spotted something. Something she could use: Ivy growing near the damaged part of the rope.

"I...wait a moment, I think I can do this from here. It might take a moment..."

The plants were somewhat away, but if she focused...all she needed to do was make them grow around the weak part, thenadd weight, until it'd snap.

A minute of intense concentration later, a strand of ivy had wrapped around that part, and was growing into a thick, thorny blob, straining the rope further and further untilll.....SNAP

His eyes did not leave her when she spoke. He had seen what was around the bridge but from here, his view was obscured from the second set of ties. Nearly jerking back at the sound, he moved to look just in time to see the drawbridge fall. It settled with a large thud and with confusion, he turned back to her.

"Ah. More of your... abilities?" He kept himself composed, trying not to show the discomfort held with it. Shifting, he motioned towards it for her to go first.

"It's uhm...nothing of concern, it's just something with plants...surely flowers aren't a problem?"

She could understand the discomfort though. That had been a mistake. It was somewhat natural to her nowadays, so sometimes, she just didn't think about this hard enough (and it was tempting to use the abilities, too...). She really should try to be more careful...yet at the same time avoid being useless.

Carefully, she stepped on the bridge, which creaked, but seemed stable otherwise.

"I think it's safe." She said out loud, while walking across. She wondered what was up ahead.

The way the castle was set up, probably pressure plates.

The explanation was poor but he let it slide for now, only nodded and focused on moving onward. Following after her, he kept his footsteps light and his guard up just in case it decided to give out from underneath him.

"It should be." A pause as he walked nearby her, eyes constantly moving. "How much have you explore of this area?"

"Of the place up here, nothing, I admit. I did a somewhat thorough investigation of the area leading up to this point, as thorough as one could on their own."

She looked ahead and spotted something that had gotten her trouble before. "I couldn't get past those things usually, though."

She pointed at the statue-doors that required two people to get past.

"Alone, one really can't open them at all."

[OOC: Hope it's fine. Feel free to make up area stuff too!]

He followed nearby, making sure she was not going to pull anything else out of the tricks she had already performed. Strange, unsettling. Still, he cooperated for the sake of progress, ready for what he could only imagine, what he had not seen yet.

A glance around the room; there were holes in the floor, the walls--the ground was unstable but still those statues stood.

Examining, he took a step closer. For a moment, he thought that the ground was shaking. It was only weak. Looking back to her, he made a motion with his hands. "Tread lightly. It appears there is more than just that to open the doors."

Markings on the wall--illegible, but they pointed towards the statues. Above the statues, a large plank of wood hovered. Make a wrong move, and that way would be blocked off.

[ooc| don't worry about it! I'll try!]

Cordelia started to move very carefully the moment he mentioned it. He clearly was more experienced than she, and she wasn't one to ignore advice that made perfect sense.

The room did seem worrying to her, what with the holes. The structure of this place really was bad, Cordelia thought. Who was running it (was anyone? Sometimes she wondered if the entire mess was some sort of magical accident, with no culprit and no purpose - but she hoped to be wrong there, if not for her own sake, but for that of many of the others)

"Do you think that will fall then?" she asked, glancing at the wood. She wasn't sure, but you would never be too careful with this place. At least there hadn't been any shadows that had attacked them. "Hm. Maybe there's something with the statues, judging from the wall markings. Some sort of trigger mechanism...?"

She made a hesitating step towards the statues, careful to avoid a misstep.

[ooc:Mostly thanks for sticking with me and my bad timezone tagging extravaganza!]

"It is possible," he said with a nod, eyes narrowing as he gave another look across the room.

If she was looking at him, she might have noticed the flash of gold across his pupils. It was there, but it was brief and already gone. There nothing he could see with those eyes.

Lifting his foot, he tapped at the floor listened. It seemed fragile with the holes in the wall. If that block of wood collapsed from where it hung, would it break the floor and take them with it? Considering her words, there was a breath in as he thought on it.

"A closer look at the statues, then. Watch where you step, if that is the case." He moved forward.

^{[ooc| It's all good! Backtags are my specialty, to be honest and I don't mind the timezone bit.]}

Actually, Cordelia had noticed the eyes, but she wasn't sure if she had really seen it. It had been brief, after all, and she didn't want to ask. After all, that'd just give him opportunity to ask her more, which she did not want to!

She moved closer as well, watching the ground even more carefully than before. The man she was with was likely concerned about this for a reason.

"I don't really see any way to assure it won't fall if it collapses." She offered after taking a closer look. "Not feasibly, that is."

That probably implied they had to prevent it at any means necessary. Maybe the statues would give an answer. Rather heavy statues too.

"The ground sure seems fine carrying those." She mused. Were they connected to the wall? How DID that work? She wasn't exactly a mason, after all.

She held a point, and for it his steps grew a bit faster, he worked to get to the other side more quickly, even if his worries were minor, insignificant. Once they made it towards the statues, he motions for the other to come closer. He motioned to the ground, the markings at the bases of the statues.

"Perhaps if we stand here? It sounds too simple," he mused aloud, brows furrowing. He sighed, shook his head before giving a glance back to the markings on the wall. "What does it all mean?"

Well, considering this seemed to be one of the doors...

...Cordelia standing there with him should indeed work.

"That was simple." she said with surprise in her voice as the statues began to move on their own. Curious, she watched, mostly wondering about the mechanism and how it worked.

She didn't look up, however, and as such might easily miss that the piece of wood might be getting unbalanced by the movement of the statue. Not so simple after all.

[Think that's fine? XD; I can write another tomorrow if you like, it just seemed appropriate the way your tag went!]

^{[ooc| asdkla thank you for that! I hope you have / had a nice day too! And take your time, things here are crazy. And I like the way this tag went, let's go with it!]}

The statues had moved and for it he relaxes, accepted the simplicity of the mechanism. A glance up however and he stepped back quickly, reaching for the other to take her weight off of the platform. The statues stopped, moved back to their original position.

Above them, however, the block of wood stayed where it was, loosened. ".. Not so simple," he breathed out with a sound of disappointment. Shaking his head, he moved to the second statue across from it, examined it. "Do we need more people, is that it?"

"Huh?" Cordelia gasped in surprise, and quickly moved back. It was then that she spotted that the wood had moved.

"It's a trap?" She asked, glancing at Altair. Had someone tried to make sure that even if you opened the "door", you'd just fall to the floor crashing, or something along these lines? The person owning the castle was sounding more and more troublesome...

"I'm not sure. Maybe we can find a way to stabilize the wood in some manner?"

She briefly wondered if you could move something below the wooden chunk...

"Possibly," he answered back.

Stepping back, he ran up against the wall, moved to climb. Glancing over his shoulder to her, he made a motion. "You can climb, can you not?" He had seen her ability already; hiding it from him would only hurt their cause, he figured.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open] 02 - in which a castle is explored, and strawberries are grown.

I. aww yeah.

Yay, taaggggggggggggggggggg

\o/

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I. let's hope I'm doing this right.

I hope the same, I have no idea how to best handle this!

Let's just wing it, sounds good!

Indeed!

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Making a mess out of it ICly!

Sounds good!

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So he doesn't feel like he's doing all the work.

Teamwork between this unlikely duo, yes!

Hihi. Sadly I need to go to bed. Sorry for stupid european timezones...

Not a problem, sleep well! I'll likely be here later anyway. o/

Splendid, splendid!

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Phew~

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And have a nice day, sob. I need to make sure to tag earlier tomorrow >=/

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Taking time is fine ^_^

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