|
|
Post by The Jenn on Dec 2, 2007 9:15:11 GMT -5
Scratching down their names as given, the poodle looked up in surprise at their questions. "You mean no one told you on the way here?" he asked in surprise, flipping his pen to tap against the wood of the counter. "That's awfully unsafe of them, what with the disappearances on the lake and whatnot recently. I'd think they would at least let tourists like yourself in on the stories for gossip's sake if nothing else. Maybe they didn't want to scare you away."
He shrugged and settled his pen, leaning in close for a more conspiratorial half-whisper. Obviously he didn't want to be caught telling stories while he should have been working, but at the same time he wanted to share it if these people were brand new to the legends. It was so much fun introducing them to new visitors.
"Well, okay. So there have always been rumors of this lake having a sea monster, as long as I can remember. Nobody can really agree on what it looks like, but everybody seems to know somebody whose uncle saw it ten years back or something like that. They all agree it's sort of long and white and blue, but beyond that there's no confirmation. It's always been more a curiosity than anything else, but within the past two or three months we've been having... well, problems. People go out alone or in pairs to walk the lake shore, which has always been a beautiful spot, and they just never come back. Sometimes their clothes are found on the shore. Once... somebody even found an arm. Severed, as if it had been bitten off. Creepy stuff."
Shivering a little with fear and excitement, he leaned closer still. "So that's when the town's mayor put out a notice to anyone brave or stupid enough to try and hunt the thing, which he firmly believes is responsible for everything. Something is, at any rate. Arms don't just bite themselves off. So now the town's filled with hunters and mercenaries and the like, all out to collect the hefty bounty on this thing."
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Dec 2, 2007 11:03:02 GMT -5
Jenn, Bee, and Sera all receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe.
This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe.
Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!
|
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Dec 3, 2007 1:36:00 GMT -5
The stallion’s ears flipped back briefly in surprise; that was a great deal more than he had heard. He was certainly glad he had asked! It was interesting that the mayor was offering a bounty and certainly something the stallion wanted to check out further. The colour scheme of the unknown creature wasn’t in the least surprising; they –were- in Selkie Lakes after all. It would be strange, to him at least, for a creature originating from this region to not be the same sort of scheme as the other inhabitants.
”How long has it been since someone last disappeared?” the stallion asked curiously. The arm was a troubling fact, but the stallion wasn’t –that- worried about it. He had his Jack ability to help him if needed and he would simply take care to have it at the ready. It abruptly occurred to him that Mnem might have an interest in this sea monster as well. His brief immediate reaction was that she might be afraid, but then he recalled that it was –Mnem- beside him and not a normal woman and he put that concern from his mind. He just needed to be careful that she not try to collect the thing to bring home with her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Dec 3, 2007 2:00:52 GMT -5
The only way Mnem could have been more delighted by the poodle's response was if he had thrown in a mention of malicious dark magic or perhaps some kind of alien. The creature was already proving to be a fascination. Who could guess what it knew? Who could guess what it could do (other than apparently abduct people and forcibly part them from their limbs)? A healthy wariness for something so seemingly powerful would probably set in later, but for the moment she was too excited to care.
Hefty bounty caught her attention also. Funds were always useful. And if they could capture the thing, she could have money and a new pet. Minh would love that. She was not quite so certain as to how Monty would react to having something around to steal all the attention. For all that the little bander snarled and hissed and tried to eat their fingers, Monty had shrieking fits of envy and rage when Mnem and Minh did not give hir the attention s/he obviously felt entitled to.
"And what kind of people are usually taken?" Perhaps there was some kind of pattern to be found. Maybe the creature liked virgins, or blondes, or something. Might be useful for baiting and capturing purposes. Though where on earth would they find a virgin?
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Dec 8, 2007 9:00:12 GMT -5
"Somebody disappeared just last week," the canine said with a slightly worried tilt to his head. "We aren't sure if the monster got him or if he just up and left, since he was a mercenary and not a resident of the town, but his group seems quite agitated by it. Makes me guess they weren't expecting it. Creepy fellow, I must say. He stayed at the inn with the rest of their group. Didn't like him at all. Hisstors always give me the creeps, bones everywhere, 'specially with the company he was in. I mean, the Avington was okay, and even the Villa was fine except for the whole attitude thing, but a pair of Lowlanders mutts? Ugh. Not normally clientèle we'd want anywhere near here, as I'm sure you can appreciate. Nasty things." He gave Rai a meaningful look.
A moment later he drew back, eyes straying to someone approaching, but muttered, "Nobody in particular, just people who get too close to the lake. Hunters might know more."
Another canine walked up to the pair, sharing the poodle look and probably family, smiling in a friendly fashion. She seemed older, possibly an aunt or mother. "Hello there, sir, ma'am. I hope this young man hasn't chattered your heads off already. Is there anything I can help you with, since it looks like you're ready for a room? Or would you like to buy yourselves an evening meal before you settle in?"
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Dec 8, 2007 9:56:11 GMT -5
A week? That was no time at all. The poodle's description of the group sent the stallion's ears back briefly and not just because of the potential matching description of the woman and her friend who had been staring at him. No, Lowlander canines? That set off all sorts of red flags and bad memories he was trying very hard to keep firmly locked away deep in his past.
Still, he couldn't help his ears flattening fully for a brief moment before he could fight off his memories. It had taken therapy to get him used to other canines and El's influence had also helped ease the way, but he still absolutely ABHORRED Lowland dogs. All therapy had done was taught him to not immediately kick their heads off, but the need to do so was still strong.
Still, he was saved from any further delving into his terrible past by the approach of a new canine. He turned to the woman and inclined his head. "He's been most helpful," the horse put in easily. "A repast would be excellent." However, a glance around proved there may not be room for the pair at a table.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Dec 9, 2007 15:48:04 GMT -5
Hunters might know more. She was going to need to make it a point to speak to these hunters, then. Just last week was not an awful long time ago for someone to vanish. Shinrai didn't look too happy to hear about the group, though. Mnem remembered that he had a thing with Lowlanders, and likely would have been quite happy if the monster had just up and eaten all of them. No great loss there, really. Mnem had nothing against them in particular (other than that she had met one Lowlander, a rat, whom she had not really liked, but she didn't like a lot of people), but they didn't serve that great a purpose to her.
To the woman, she said, cheerfully, "Oh, no need to be worried; he's been nothing but pleasant and accomodating, as my friend here just noted." She would need to ask the poodle, later, where she could find a few of the better hunters to hit up for information; or perhaps she could get that information out of this woman. "And dinner is a lovely suggestion. I'm quite famished."
|
|
|
|
Post by The Jenn on Dec 20, 2007 12:00:31 GMT -5
Smiling and bobbing slightly in a polite gesture, she motioned for them to follow her to the back of the room where yet another canine was wiping a damp rag across a smaller table. Obviously someone had finished a meal there not long ago and it was being made ready for new guests. "If the two of you would care to take a seat, we'll bring out cutlery and mugs for you and then see about your food. It's not included in your tab, but we pride ourselves on reasonable prices for our meals."
Still smiling, she turned and went away, then came back with the mentioned items. After collecting their drink and meal orders, the dog who'd been cleaning came back to serve them the food. All the while, customers came and went regularly. It was obviously a popular place for some of the local crowd.
|
|
|
|
Post by seraaches on Dec 22, 2007 13:10:58 GMT -5
Shinrai moved thoughtfully to the table, letting curiousity about his surroundings tinge his gaze, but little else. He refused to be touched by the unknown; not yet, at least. There was still too much to learn and find out. His ears swivelled slightly, but he was getting better at controlling even that unconscious gestures and he kept them from moving a really noticeable amount even as he began to eavesdrop without shame. If he could just find something of interest to zero in on.
With all of the ins and outs, it was a bit difficult to follow a single conversation to its conclusion, but he was really hoping to catch any discussion between that Avington and her companion. He wanted to know why she'd seemed so interested in him, even as he still held about him the kingly aura he'd so recently acquired.
At least, came the one incongruous thought through his mind, he shouldn't need to worry about their food. The place was too popular for that to not be good as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bee on Dec 28, 2007 23:28:47 GMT -5
The food was good. Mnem was just pleased to not be cooking anything--at home, she either made the meals or stood in mute horror as Minh either burnt food to an unpalatable crisp or added a few extra ingredients to the biscuits to make them grow wings and attack lamps. The tea was quite good, also.
But in all honesty she wasn't paying much attention to the food. She was absent-mindedly putting it in her mouth as her attention focused on her equine companion. His ears twitched, and his gaze cast about occasionally. Things that would be unnoticed or dismissed by casual observers, who had neither Mnem's desire to control every situation by knowing everything about them nor her intense nosiness as far as the stallion was concerned. She wondered what he was searching for.
She searched the room herself, and the only thing she could spot was the Avington female and her friend whom Shinrai had been looking at earlier. Perhaps Rai knew something about this that she didn't?
Unpleasant thought. The only thing to do was sip her tea and bide her time, she supposed.
|
|
