Post by Professor Ikiaka Peace on Jul 20, 2015 22:40:31 GMT -6
When he'd seen the raven he'd nearly broken his neck as he tried to get to the window to open it. Tripping over every possible piece of furniture between him and the window, he'd come away with several bruises and a long scrape on his leg. The raven didn't stay long, but that was fine because Ikiaka was all too happy to have the message in his hands. He hadn't dreamed that she would contact him so soon. The new term had just started after all and he figured he'd have to clean up after these brats for at least a month or two before hearing from her. The message was short and to the point.
There was no signature, the note didn't need one. If the script wasn't in her own hand, it didn't matter. He knew it was her words. There'd been a crude map drawn on the back and he'd followed that as best he could. It had led him through a huge part of the woods outside of Snowy Turn which had wasted his time because he ended up stumbling upon a road he could have taken instead. That simply meant that it'd been quite a while since anyone had been out to this... ruin. Calling it a mansion was too nice. More walls had fallen then not. "What damn bell am I supposed to find in this mess?" The closer to the ruin he got the more substantial it seemed to get, which was odd. He slowed his steps down, one step. That fallen wall flickered into place. No longer empty space. Ikiaka takes a step back, eyes concentrating on the wall and as if, well magically, it simply wavers out of sight. He grinned, taking another step back. This had to be a variation of the spell that Aurora and Snowy Vale had upon them. The image of the ruins was solid enough, but would curiosity simply reveal the mansion to the curious? Or was Ikiaka seeing the mansion because he'd been led to it?
With each step the ruined mansion took on new dimension and new walls, windows, and doors. The skeleton of the house gave way to muscle and meat and then finally paint and finish. The front door was ornately carved, but there was no pattern to recognize. It looked as if an artist had been given artistic liberty to create whatever. There was no theme, just tons and tons of little details. Flowers here, stars there, and in the top right corner... a bell. A carved bell. "How curious..." He reached up and traced the outlines of the bell, feeling to see if there was something special about it. Nothing he could discern but then he was not an artist. He ran his hand down the frame of the door, searching for a doorbell, but found none. He leaned back to look up the wall of the mansion, Ikiaka wondered if there was another entrance with an actual bell somewhere. Then it hit him. An actual bell. You have to ring a real bell. He touched the carved bell again, to make sure it was the same material as the rest of the door seemed to be. Was it simple Transfiguration then? Or was there something more to it? He shrugged, the time was running by and soon others would start arriving. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the bell. "retro ad reale." There's a pop sound, but other than that, he can't tell if anything happened. He reached up, fingers tracing the lines. "Nope, still just a carving. Hmm..." He searched his memories, that spell was a basic one really, something anyone would think to do. He'd dropped his hands back to his sides, thinking. He felt he needed to try a different tactic, what if the bell was real as it was, but it still needed to ring three times... "Ahhh, clever. Ter tinniant" Three lovely peels of sound reverberated through the clearing and then the door screeched open horrendously. "Yes, it's definitely been too long since this place had seen anyone."
He stepped over the threshold and the candelabras flared to life with true flames. A musty, stale smell emanated from the interior of the place. Several doorways remained dark as he approached them. He tried stepping through a doorway of a darkened room and could not. An invisible barrier kept him in the lighted hallway and so he continued to follow it. A set of stairs appeared on his left, but again the light remained in just the hallway. At the end of the hallway, a left turn took him onto another hallway. More darkened doorways and a few closed doors back here, but the lights stayed in the hallway. This hallway ended at a window that seemed to over look the side of the mansion and what he assumed used to be a labyrinth of gardens. The moonlight revealed wild brambles and grown up walkways. The lighted candelabras continued to his right and so Ikiaka followed. This was the shortest hallway that ended at a door. "It's always the basement..." He chimed just as the door opened to reveal steps leading downward. Wand out and at the ready, having now put it away since ringing the bell on the front door, he followed the ghostly lit passage down the creepy and creaking steps. Suddenly the whole space roars into light as a huge parlor type room is revealed. Everything is covered in dust and there are hundreds of spiderwebs around, but it seemed as if he'd reached his destination. "Now to see who shows up."
Ring the bell three times.
Sympathizers in the town will come.
Wednesday, Midnight.
There was no signature, the note didn't need one. If the script wasn't in her own hand, it didn't matter. He knew it was her words. There'd been a crude map drawn on the back and he'd followed that as best he could. It had led him through a huge part of the woods outside of Snowy Turn which had wasted his time because he ended up stumbling upon a road he could have taken instead. That simply meant that it'd been quite a while since anyone had been out to this... ruin. Calling it a mansion was too nice. More walls had fallen then not. "What damn bell am I supposed to find in this mess?" The closer to the ruin he got the more substantial it seemed to get, which was odd. He slowed his steps down, one step. That fallen wall flickered into place. No longer empty space. Ikiaka takes a step back, eyes concentrating on the wall and as if, well magically, it simply wavers out of sight. He grinned, taking another step back. This had to be a variation of the spell that Aurora and Snowy Vale had upon them. The image of the ruins was solid enough, but would curiosity simply reveal the mansion to the curious? Or was Ikiaka seeing the mansion because he'd been led to it?
With each step the ruined mansion took on new dimension and new walls, windows, and doors. The skeleton of the house gave way to muscle and meat and then finally paint and finish. The front door was ornately carved, but there was no pattern to recognize. It looked as if an artist had been given artistic liberty to create whatever. There was no theme, just tons and tons of little details. Flowers here, stars there, and in the top right corner... a bell. A carved bell. "How curious..." He reached up and traced the outlines of the bell, feeling to see if there was something special about it. Nothing he could discern but then he was not an artist. He ran his hand down the frame of the door, searching for a doorbell, but found none. He leaned back to look up the wall of the mansion, Ikiaka wondered if there was another entrance with an actual bell somewhere. Then it hit him. An actual bell. You have to ring a real bell. He touched the carved bell again, to make sure it was the same material as the rest of the door seemed to be. Was it simple Transfiguration then? Or was there something more to it? He shrugged, the time was running by and soon others would start arriving. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the bell. "retro ad reale." There's a pop sound, but other than that, he can't tell if anything happened. He reached up, fingers tracing the lines. "Nope, still just a carving. Hmm..." He searched his memories, that spell was a basic one really, something anyone would think to do. He'd dropped his hands back to his sides, thinking. He felt he needed to try a different tactic, what if the bell was real as it was, but it still needed to ring three times... "Ahhh, clever. Ter tinniant" Three lovely peels of sound reverberated through the clearing and then the door screeched open horrendously. "Yes, it's definitely been too long since this place had seen anyone."
He stepped over the threshold and the candelabras flared to life with true flames. A musty, stale smell emanated from the interior of the place. Several doorways remained dark as he approached them. He tried stepping through a doorway of a darkened room and could not. An invisible barrier kept him in the lighted hallway and so he continued to follow it. A set of stairs appeared on his left, but again the light remained in just the hallway. At the end of the hallway, a left turn took him onto another hallway. More darkened doorways and a few closed doors back here, but the lights stayed in the hallway. This hallway ended at a window that seemed to over look the side of the mansion and what he assumed used to be a labyrinth of gardens. The moonlight revealed wild brambles and grown up walkways. The lighted candelabras continued to his right and so Ikiaka followed. This was the shortest hallway that ended at a door. "It's always the basement..." He chimed just as the door opened to reveal steps leading downward. Wand out and at the ready, having now put it away since ringing the bell on the front door, he followed the ghostly lit passage down the creepy and creaking steps. Suddenly the whole space roars into light as a huge parlor type room is revealed. Everything is covered in dust and there are hundreds of spiderwebs around, but it seemed as if he'd reached his destination. "Now to see who shows up."
