[Game 14] (but would come back to haunt you)

[arsgoetia]

The pathway from the catacombs ends in a solid stone door aimed straight up; it takes a bit of shoving, but it pops up and opens outward on a hinge.

As you pile out you find yourself in the graveyard on the plateau near the house; you can see lights flickering nearby from the house and it's otherwise a bright, clear night—

No, that's not true at all. The castle is dark and hard to see through the fog—

—no, it's bright and clear and —

Information hits you like a wall, thoughts and scenes and unspoken details all at once . . .

James and Anne Ramsay had, in fact, developed powers; James had known from the start it was tied to the land, as his powers decreased and he no longer had the ability to affect life around them when he went into town or to visit other lords or anything similar. Anne, too, picked up the knack when she married him, and he'd explained to her the situation, quietly and discreet, for he had no interest in keeping anything from her, nor alarming her with any ability she may develop and demonstrate along the way.

They did not use their powers overmuch, to be honest, not deliberately. It was the little things; if they felt themselves getting sick, it was easy to improve their lot by wishing it. Women in the household had easy childbirths. Luck was with them, so long as they were at home. The food was good and plentiful and work seemed easier in that household than any other. A servant who worked hard, too, and had the lord or lady of the household wish them well would find a period of good fortune.

They certainly didn't engage in anything they would consider dark arts, consorted with no demons.

That mattered little when the witch hunts came.

Neither of them knew who may have told the authorities about the strange fortunes around the household, but they came and took Anne. James waited in his cell in his own castle in agony, and while luck was with him and keys were dropped quite close, the guard did not let up and he could not manipulate his fortune to change the acts of others. Two days later, she was returned to him broken and sobbing and injured and they were taunted with having gained a full confession from her — of their consorting with the devil, of the pact they'd both made, of maleficia they had never cast. He swore up and down that no such thing had occurred, that she'd said such only because of the torture, but the judges had heard what they wanted to hear.

James and Anne Ramsay were hanged outside their own home, in the family graveyard, the easier to bury and forget them. Anne was hanged first, in what they claimed was a mercy given the state they'd put her in, but James believed not; if she'd been allowed to live, she'd recover. He took it all on himself, begged them to spare her, pretended he'd duped her — all for nothing.

It was this house's fault, this land's fault, their fault. As they tightened the noose around his neck, right next to her, he reached out to take her hand, their wedding rings clinging together as they had so many times under better circumstances, and cursed this land for giving them powers at all, cursed it loud and clear and with intent.

He thought he felt something twist inside him, twist underneath him, the power flaring , and he thought good at it, viciously, as the stool was kicked out from under him and he felt nothing at all any longer.

Comments

[The Graveyard]

[arsgoetia]

As you snap out of it in the foggy, muggy night, you hear a roar that comes from no voice but is like wind through bone, a LOT of wind through a lot of bone.

The passage behind you closes with a fatalistic clang, and the bone dragon descends on you.

Re: [The Graveyard]

[arsgoetia]

"Maon!" Sitara, at least, is unfastening herself from Maon's back and rolling behind a tombstone.

Re: [The Graveyard]

[eyespied]

Ah... I'm guessing you don't want to talk, huh?

Re: [The Graveyard]

[troublebrewing]

[oh god that was the worst ping. bone dragons can wait after i've finished sobbing]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[rollwillpowercheck]

... oh...

[m... manages to shake it off enough to duck behind a tombstone, yes.]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[reachforthesky]

*reeling from the memory, but dragon -- cries out to it, in a strange, harsh language no one else in the party will understand but which it might, sitting up on her hind legs and spreading her wings out*

Wait! Please stop! We want to help!

Re: [The Graveyard]

[gavehimhead]

[oh well that was not a nice memory]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[digitalemperor]

[Oh. That. That's overwhelming information.]

[Clenches his teeth so hard he sees spots. Not in the best place to dodge dragons.]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[seto]

[stumbles back and ducks: What is that?!]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[bestest]

[--taking a moment to process reality

AND THEN SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER WOW]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[sharksong]

[The what. Excuse you dragon I wanted a second to cry.]

No—!

Re: [The Graveyard]

[intheblueblazes]

[ho-lee fuck

he shocks back to awareness, stunned, and moves to push Breeze out of the way]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[fadefromsight]

[it takes her a few seconds to snap out from that memory and focus on the BONE DRAGON OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD.

f-frozen in place, completely terrified]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[yourpeacock]

[looking around for weapons, still not entirely out of it]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[ninthlevelhound]

[that is cruel and terrible, and it sure helps piss him off]

[drawing his short sword and attaching it to the spear shaft, feeling the Old Magic and anger inside him flair with it, but he's so ready for a fight and taking a swipe if that dragon gets too close]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[caffeinatedwisdom]

*fortunately he's pretty used to overwhelming infodumps. shaking it off to stand straight, one hand raised; the temperature around him plummets, and the air feels charged, staticky.*

Re: [The Graveyard]

[telepathetically]

[infodumps are in kazuki's skillset not mine R-REELING FOR A SEC]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[loveispower]

[oh my god oh my god no]

He—th-they—[sitting a little BSOD for a moment]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[fraternalorders]

[trying to reorient himself after the memory so he can focus on the bone dragon]

Re: [The Graveyard]

[arsgoetia]

In between Shuri screaming, Bastien gets out, "Oh! The Bone Dragon! I forgot about that."

Re: [The Graveyard]

[wildnight]

[less distracted by the memories and more focused on the descending dragon, her aura spiraling around her defensively]

THE DRAGON PART 2

[arsgoetia]

...Bastien breaks the spell with a snap of his fingers. The bones collapse and dissolve into nothingness, with a sense of peace from its remains as it does so. Lark may hear a gentle Ah as it goes.

"...Well, then!" Bastien says cheerily, apparently eager for people to forget that just happened. "We're in the graveyard -- what now?"

Re: THE DRAGON PART 2

[eyespied]

. . . that was anti-climatic!

[The Willow Tree]

[arsgoetia]

[There are two gravestones side-by-side under the tree. The fog is especially thick around here, almost nauseating.]

ANNE CATHERINE RAMSAY (NEE SCOTT)
JAMES JONATHAN RAMSAY
. . . there are no birth or death dates.]

Re: [The Willow Tree]

[digitalemperor]

[This is just depressing. Claps his hands together and bows his head for a moment to respect the dead.]

[The Fog Lifts]

[arsgoetia]

As the rings are returned beneath the tree and everyone pays their quiet respects, the pervasive fog seems to lift, and there is a low sigh . . .

Yayoi and Yuki might hear a quiet "Thank you.

—and the tree, the rings, and both gravestones disappear entirely. The moon is out, bright, and the house stands on the hill, empty.

Re: [The Fog Lifts]

[troublebrewing]

Ah...!