[tsukiko]

for now, i say let's travel to the garden.

[Illusion]

If there is a Silver Bird in the Garden can I shoot it for target practice? Yeah, I'm definitely going to shoot it.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Have you made your decision?

[Serra Britt]

After reading over the message, our group decides to head for the garden. Illusion also keeps his crossbow ready hoping to see a silver bird along the way to satisfy the other clue.

Action taken:
- Travel to the garden

[Rainbowfox Ari]

The Pumpkin Patch heads into the garden, and finds a HUGE, well-manicured place. Hedges grow in neat rows all up and down about an acre's worth of land. There is nobody near by - but there are several statues arranged high up on marble pillars. A phoenix, a winged horse, a lion with a man's head, a pretty lady with wings, two swans facing each other, and a deer-like creature with four horns and a long tail. All of the statues are done in gold [or gold-leaf], and surround a central square with a large fountain.

Nearby, in another part of the garden, they can glimpse a large, gnarled, withered old tree with what looks like a hint of silver in its branches. On the other side of the garden, there is a quiet area for contemplation, with a rather risque statue of two very naked men in a passionate embrace beside a pillar upon which rests a silver eagle.

YOUR ACTIONS:
- Explore the statues around the fountain
- Explore the statue of the lovers
- Explore the old, gnarled tree
- Go back into the mansion

[Serra Britt]

Two very naked men @_@

Oh my.

-cough-

Well, my instinct says to head for the gnarled tree, but.....statue XD

There's silver in both directions so let's vote.

[mdom]

The Belfry Bats stand in awe at first, in front of such a magnificent instrument. Mimi notices the worn out keys, but she can't play the piano. SparX remembers to have played a song or two back then and picks up the manila folder. Unfortunately, the difficulty is out of her reach, her piano playing days long gone, back when she didn't have a sidecut or worked with plants. Meanwhile, dragoness tries to get the note, but gets frustrated when she sees it's sealed. Secretly, she's trying to think of a way to open it. mdom likes shiny things, and is passing her fingers over the golden plaque. "To My Beautiful Rose" - would that be to Ari or from Ari? Or maybe completely unrelated? Did Ari live in this mansion all alone? This place seemed hella big. Maybe that wasn't a clue, but a diversion. Why did her mom never called her beautiful? She wouldn't be online so much hunting people in avatar forums!
-GUYS! Come see this!
Suddenly SparX called the attention of the team. She was inspecting the piano closely, and realized there was something scratched in one of its legs. The team gathered around and waited for her to read that out loud.

[tsukiko]

i opt for going to investigate the gnarled tree

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Ari has actually nothing to do with this mansion, so the plaque was probably referring to the people who actually lived here - would be be K and his contingent. Regardless, the scratches on the piano-leg were very definitely some sort of message. It appeared that the leg had been repainted several times to try and hide the damage, but the message had been re-scrawled each and every time. It was one word, and only one word: "Why".

Underneath the message, there was a crack in one of the legs, into which a small note was stuck, tightly rolled. Unrolling it showed a picture of a young man in a waistcoat, with long hair tied back into a ribbon, and a line around his throat. The paper was also home to the same question as the piano leg. "Why?".

Just as the Belfry Bats were gathered close together to examine the paper, the scratch, and the base of the piano... the air grew very quiet, very still. The sounds of the young man across the way drinking from his glass, the birds outside, the quiet swish of curtains blown by the wind - it all disappeared. The stage started to grow dark, like someone had turned out the lights.

If the Belfry Bats noticed these changes, and stood up to look around, they would notice a shape in the distance - toward where the young man at the bar had been. It was a vaguely human-ish shape, but it did not move, did not blink, did not shift weight around as it should. Ten, maybe twenty heartbeats passed - the darkness grew deeper.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the shape simultaneously started to scream a terrible, horrid, ear-piercing, nails-on-chalkboard type screech and fly at them with preternatural speed. Whichever Bat was at the front of the stage got a full eyeful, as the figure crossed the distance in the space of a breath, face stretched horrifically into a mask of anger, wide-open mouth like a portal to the abyss, eyes dark holes with no semblance of light. The hair stood out in wild spikes, as if blown by non-existent wind, the clothing ripped, torn, and the skin white as the pale moon. Around its neck was a black shape, a collar of rope. The figure screamed in a bitter, anguished voice - echoing throughout the silent room like a thunderclap or a gunshot.

WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!

Then vanished into smoke and nothingness as if it had never been. As it went, it took the darkness with it... and the scratch. Whichever of the team had the terrifying encounter was now the proud owner of a migraine that started behind the eyes, and penetrated the entire skull - an intense throbbing of pain. The Bats were left holding a shredded scrap of parchment where there had once been a drawing - and a silver key with the likeness of an eagle as the top.

YOU MAY
- Return to examining the piano
- Talk to the man at the bar
- Try to find something for the headache
- Go somewhere else [The Garden, The Kitchen, Upstairs, or the Living Room]

[Death by Mirrors]

Every town had that house.

It didn't really matter if you lived in a small suburb where people mowed their lawn every saturday and hung borders of flowers on their picket fence, or whether you rented an overpriced apartment among the hubbub and dazzling lights of a metropolis rumored to never sleep. You could even be dwelling in an abandoned gold rush place where the saloon had not been open in years, and there still would be that house. The one every kid knew to avoid on their trick or treat tour. Older teens would dare each other to knock on the front door and run. Nine-year-olds would whisper spooky tales by the dim light of their flash lamps during a sleepover. Legends of the one girl or boy who dared to ask the owner for a candy bar, only to never be seen again.

Nobody could actually remember how Kaddarius' mansion became that house. Grandma sometimes told stories of ball events in her youth, opulent enough to put the great Gatsby to shame. Whenever another retiree claimed even as a schoolboy he was already warned to approach the Kaddarius estate, the old lady would usually tug the sleeve of her wool cardigan over her wrist and mumble away to herself how gentle the young master of the mansion had treated her during that first dance on her debutante night, and what beautiful a gown she had worn for the Nox ball event.

Death by Mirrors didn't care much about dances or dresses, and frankly he planned to spend the vast majority of Nox playing online games with some friends while younger folks roamed the streets all night for fun-size chocolate bars. He had bought some sweets to distribute and was just about to brew a fresh cup of Earl Grey when a sudden "Ping!" notified him of a new message. As he read the text, his eyes widened and his fist clenched around the teabag. Within a second he knew he had to gather his comrades and save their mutual friend Rainbowfox Ari from a fate worse than death or slavery: sub-par wifi!

And so right before dawn Lee, Kaderin Triste, blackfoxette and Death find themselves sneaking up to the one house everyone advised them to avoid. Wind rushes over the hedges and through the gnarled trees. It carries the aroma of savoury chicken pies left to cool on a windowsill. Tempting to steal, but for all the friends know, they could be poisoned. People who seal others off from the internet have no scruples. Besides, no time to waste on feasts - Ari has to be rescued as soon as possible. With some silent gestures the team agrees to move on.

Benjamin the ghost donkey serves as their scout, since he's the only one who can move straight through the hedges. After all the Graveyard Ghosts don't want to end up in the same cage as Ari, so they need to watch their step. If only they knew in which part of the mansion the Rainbowfox is held captive...

Still lurking about the garden, Lee tries to reestablish connection to Ari, but so far to no avail. "We need to get in there", Kaderin whispers. The others nod in agreement. "Maybe we can find an open window", blackfoxette suggests. Alas there aren't any on this side of the house, and so they move on once more, careful not to alert Kaddarius or any of his servants. All of a sudden Kaderin holds them back and points to an upstairs window left ajar. "Maybe we can use this." Of course the Ghosts were secretly hoping for a ground floor entrance to spare themselves the climb, but what else can they do. Knock on the main door and politely ask old K to release his prisoner? Not a good idea. Or is it?

While blackfoxette still glances at the window sceptically, Death already gives Kaderin a leg-up. "Look where it leads to", he whispers. Even with help the window remains out of reach, but fortunately the rain gutter seems sturdy enough to be climbed upon. "Alright, we can do this, Derpy!" Kaderin takes a deep breath and continues her ascent to what - as far as she can see from here - appears to be a bathroom. Lee and Death follow shortly after. But they still haven't reached the window when all of a sudden with a creaking noise the front door swings open.

Startled the Ghosts turn their heads towards the entrance. Death is the first one to jump down again. He lands on all fours to cushion the impact, then brushes off soil crumbs. "Well, guys", he flippantly says, "I think we just got invited to the party."

[Graveyard Ghosts enter the mansion to start exploring the upstairs Master Bath]

[Illusion]

*fires the crossbow at naked men statues... Uh. Lower area*

PG13!!! PG13!!!!!

[Rainbowfox Ari]

The Ghosts find that the upstairs bathroom seems as though it has not been used in a very long time. Rust scrapes at the sides of the sink and tub, and the toilet's lid is rusted shut. Something in here smells like copper, and there's damp chilliness in the air that seems anything but comforting. On the inside, the door has been locked quite handily with the shaft of what looks like a pickaxe driven through both the door and wall, wedged firmly in both places. That door is painted white, with tidbits of rust and reddish mold creeping toward the handle.

Overall, the bathroom is dingy, dank, and dark - with only the light of the moon providing any sort of illumination. Even so, there is an ancient light-switch on the wall that, once flicked, provides twin cones of dim light around the toilet and sink. Once the place is lit up, it doesn't help matters any.

What first looked to be just rust-coating in the tub turns out to be a writhing, slimy mass of worms and maggots, crawling all over something that looks vaguely human-shaped that had been propped in the tub. Maybe it WAS a human once, but at the moment, it was dinner for some very hungry invertebrates. The walls team with insects too, disturbed from their various caverns by the light, and they swarm down toward the Bats, over their feet, hands, and clothes, and out the open window into the night. A few rats take umbrage to the disturbance, and scurry from the open tile floor to holes in the walls.

The entire bathroom is done up in a weird sort of pastel green that was common during the Victorian age for decorating. It screamed opulence, while the rest of the room screamed neglect. Whatever, or whoever, was in that tub had a clearly recognizable hand clutching the rim of the footed tub, once the worms and maggots had all moved to a more centralized area, away from the light. The skeletal remains of fingers wore various rings, but one stood out as a jet-black - albeit rusted - ring, edged by sapphires and diamonds.

Somewhere in that mass of writhing, roiling worms something silver glinted in the moonlight, and the overhead light caught it as well. In the sink was the golden gleam of a ring of keys - being guarded there by a rather large snake that had coiled itself around the faucet head, and was resting in the basin. There was also, inexplicably, an axe lodged in one side of the cabinets facing the door.

YOU MAY:
- Take the ring
- Fish out the key from the tub
- Brave the snake to grab the keyring
- Take the axe and break the shaft holding the door closed

[Serra Britt]

Illusion starts firing arrows at the lusty statues'....lower areas while Tsukiko and I go to inspect the gnarled tree, trying to find that glint of silver. While searching, I just keep hoping Illusion doesn't break anything because those statues, aside from being appealing, are likely expensive to fix.

Action taken:
- Explore the old, gnarled tree

[Rainbowfox Ari]

The Pumpkin Patch explores the old gnarled tree. Turns out that the tree, while gnarled, is not dead. It is simply old. A heart with two initials has been carved into the base of it, and in the branches sits a silver sparrow with a golden ring in its beak. From the ring hangs a key of sorts - it looks slightly strange, with pegs that are pulled into wavy shapes, and a pointed end. Honestly, it looks more like a weapon than a key. The silver sparrow is perched on the tallest branch, and leans out over the rest of the tree as though taunting that it might drop the key-ring in its beak. There is no chance of that happening, however, for the bird is made of metal, and not flesh and blood.

At the very base of the tree, there is a door that might fit a child or a very small adult. It is carved into the tree on the other side, and is locked. In front of the tree, on the ground, is a small plaque that has been lovingly cared for. Although the words are worn, there is no rust, and the bronze is as shiny as it would have been when the marker was new.

It reads:

My Secret, My Safety, My Sanctuary
[1414 - 1436]

This is a grave-site.

YOU MAY:
- Try and climb the tree to get the key
- Explore the grave a little more
- Go back and do something else in the garden

[tsukiko]

i suggest exploring the grave a bit more...

[XoGizmooX]

Originally Posted by tsukiko

i suggest exploring the grave a bit more...

Yep