This choice: To the House of the Lazy Duke. • Go Back...Chapter #4To the House of the Lazy Duke. by: Drakin   Westerfront was quite the large town as it turned out, with many streets branching out from a large curving bay. At the northern-most tip on a high cliff sat the castle. Really it was more of a large mansion, but it's three pointed roof topped towers gave the distinct impression of a castle. The whole thing looked faintly decrepit. Not 'falling apart' certainly, but a few missing roof tiles, vines growing on stone walls and at least one window was visibly broken.
"You can't be serious," Morgana was stating as they walked off the ship, "Searching the place is one thing, but buying it? It probably costs more than everything we own and then some."
"Actually the news I've heard is the place is being sold for a fraction of what it's worth," Darious replied, "A mere one thousand gold coins."
Morgana was shocked enough to stop in her tracks, but she shook her head and caught up a moment later, "Even so that's more money than we have on hand, And why do you want this place anyway?"
"Morgana, we can't just keep all our stuff on The Pirate's Fate," Darious explained, "If the ship sinks we've lost everything. We need a more stable base of operations. Something we can fortify or just hide our gear if need be. A haunted house seems like a good place because it's already got a local stigma attached to keep people away."
"Unless it really is haunted," Leeko muttered with some small fear. To which Morgana just scoffed.
"Yeah right. Don't tell me you believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus too."
Leeko didn't reply but Mila stepped up to make her voice heard as they walked, "I think it's a great idea. A base of operations could be very useful, especially if these coins are as powerful as Darious says. Best not to just leave them lying somewhere obvious where they could be stolen or lost if the ship was sunk."
Morgana just huffed as they walked.
It took a little searching, but Darious finally located the offices of Burgess and Books, the agency that handled all land purchases in or around the town.
After waking a somewhat grizzled old badger from a nap, Darious explained their intentions.
"What? You really want to buy that place?" the old badger, Mr.Books muttered as he adjusted his thin spectacles, "Crazy the lot of you."
"Nobody calls me crazy," Morgana muttered, "And I'll gut anyone who says otherwise." Darious shushed her with a wave of his hand.
"Just why is it crazy to want this place sir?" he asked.
"Because this place eats it's owners," the badger responded.
"Eats them!?" Leeko shivered.
"Maybe not physically, but who knows?" the badger shrugged, "Years ago, back when i was knee-high to my father, it was owned by a wealthy merchant who spent a lifetime sailing the globe collecting rare, wondrous, and often times magical items. Then about forty years back, he set sail and vanished over the seas for ten straight years. No one knew where he was or what he was doing.
"Then one night his ship pulled into the harbor under heavy cover of fog. No one saw him get off the boat, but there were lights on in the mansion all night. Old friends and neighbors knocked on the door but there was no answer. Days passed, weeks, months. No one saw or heard anything. Only rumors abound of the owner hold up in there doing who-knows what."
"Then one day the door was just found wide open. The lights were off and there was no sign of anyone home. The place lay like that for weeks. When it was determined that the owner was possibly no longer living, a team of investigators were sent to look into it.
"They vanished too. Never came out of the house."
"Are you serious?" Morgana looked skeptical but also a little spooked.
"Dead serious," Mr.Books thumped the desk, "After that no one went in alone. And always tried to be careful and watch their backs. That place... I only went inside once and I never strayed out of sight of the front door. The whole time I felt as if I was watched, followed, examined..."
"Now you're just trying to freak us out," Morgana sighed, but from the look on Leeko's face it was working.
"It doesn't always take someone," the badger continued as if he hadn't heard her, "Sometimes they find their way back out, claiming to have been lost in a maze of corridors and rooms for hours. Other times someone steps into the shadows and is just gone instantly."
"Since we can't examine the house to determine what in it can be sold, it's been for sale as is ever since. So far it's 'eaten' the appraisers, five owners, and a dozen explorers who've tried to map it in various ways. If you want it I won't stop you, but I'd sooner cut my wrists than go near that place again."
There was a long moment of silence before Morgana looked at Darious. "You're still thinking about buying that place aren't you?" she muttered in a deadpan tone.
==========
"I cannot believe you just bought this place!" Leeko whimpered as the group trudged their way up the long winding path to the huge building, "Didn't you hear him? We're all going to vanish forever!"
"Leeko stop panicking," Mila muttered, although she too was feeling nervous as they approached the large structure.
From below the building had looked impressive. Up close it loomed over them like some moss and fern covered giant. The blank and bare windows staring down at them like judgmental eyes.
"Mila's Right Leeko," Darious sighed, "We should be cautious but we can't let fear rule us. We should face this problem head on. If it is indeed haunted we'll deal with that, but did any of you catch what else Mr.Books said?" He turned to them expectantly and when no one answer he continued, "He said the owner was a collector of rare and magical artifacts. Hopefully that means some of the magic coins are here too. Possibly one or more of the Rune stones as well. If facing a few ghosts gets us a base and that much closer to our goals then we need to face it."
All the same everyone looked at the looming structure of the mansion with mixed feelings. Darious barely flinched as he walked up to the front door and gave the knob a twist. The rattle of metal followed by the creek of hinges was decidedly eerie.
But so far nothing dangerous had happened, so there was hope.
As the group poured in through the front door the Pirates found themselves in a very large foyer. Old tattered paintings hung on the walls, plants long dead sat as delicate piles of twigs in dusty pots. Overhead a large wrought iron chandelier rattled in the breeze from the door.
Ahead the mansion opened in all directions. There were doors to the left and right into additional rooms, two sweeping staircases that curved around a hallway that lead deeper into the mansion. And just visible the second floor balcony seemed to be at a T-junction leading left, right, and forwards.
Darious had just made to close the front door when abruptly it banged open. Standing in the doorway was a green gecko female dressed in cloth wrappings and looking a bit frazzled and out of breath, but otherwise fairly lovely.
“Wait,” she panted, “Wait... for me...”
“And just who the hell are you?” Morgana growled fingering her knife.
The gecko took a moment to compose herself, “Forgive me. My name is Tam-Tam. And when I saw you coming up to this mansion I realized you must be explorers. I wished to join you.”
“Technically we're the new owners of this place,” Morgana replied, “So you can get the hell out.”
“Oh even better,” Tam-Tam replied seemingly not hearing the 'get out' part, “Please, allow me to accompany you. I'm sure I can be of some assistance. This place is quite large after all. You'll need help exploring all of it.”
Darious rubbed his chin in consideration as Morgana slapped her forehead, “Darious you can't be serious. It's one impulsive decision to buy this place. It's something else entirely to let a stranger in.”
“Oh really?” Tam-Tam chided, “Well maybe I won't share my secret for navigating this place. I heard one of the few guys who got out alive explaining how they did it. But if that's no good for you...”
“Well...”
1.) Darious agrees to let her join. Tam-Tam explains that the survivors tied a rope to the door handle so they could find their way back.
2.) Darious refuses and Tam-Tam 'leaves' but sneaks back in after them a few minutes later.
3.) A loud noise down the hall distracts everyone.
4.) The door slams shut behind Tam-Tam. They're all locked in.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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