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Post by The Jenn on Nov 25, 2010 13:38:29 GMT -5
((Moving the plot along. I have a feeling it's what Nako would vote for. <3))
After a predictable period of waiting, socializing, and glancing at timepieces, the coachmen from the Selkie finished loading all of the luggage and indicated their readiness to the group at large. For protection from roadway complications, if for no other reason, it would make sense for them to travel in a train of sorts.
Donnie indicated that the girls should travel with Mikael and his attendant. She could only imagine the conversation to ensue - or lack thereof. She and her attendant took another carriage after she bid a polite farewell to McDuck. The guard from her Court boarded with the coachman, and then they were off.
The ride was long and exceptionally uneventful for the Queen. She made light conversation and then fell into a comfortable silence with her traveling companion, the steady rocking of the coach lulling her into something only slightly removed from a doze. She had intended to read paperwork during the trip, but found herself covering the same material four or five times and still failing to absorb their meaning. She gave it up as a lost cause.
Early afternoon fell closer to early evening by the time they arrived at their stop in the Lakelands. A sign above the door proclaimed it to be the Wing's Rise inn, which she remembered from the letter. It looked like a very upscale sort of place, which she would expect for the Mayor to house his foreign dignitaries, but when they left the attendants to handle their luggage and actually entered the building? Well...
"What an odd smell," Donnie murmured, glancing around at the seemingly abandoned lobby. After a moment, someone apparently heard their entry and appeared at the front desk to confirm their registration.
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Post by Nathalia on Nov 25, 2010 23:14:22 GMT -5
((Strange, something seems to have been left in the bottom of the carriage.
Dusty Eyeglasses: This bent and dusty old pair of glasses seem
ordinary as all get out...until a brief touch gives you a tingle
running down your arm. Once touched, they gift a bit of an ability to
the new owner.
Once a week, this SD will now be able to shoot small blue lights from
their eyes with intense concentration. These lights burn white
hot and can cut through non magical weapons and metal with very little
trouble for up to 30 seconds.
These lights, once used, cause the caster to become completely
exhausted. Though unable to fall asleep for another hour, they will
not be able to hold themselves up correctly...and if trying to flee
will be forced to crawl.
Was it left there by a previous rider in the carriage? The driver doesn't recognize or care about it. Huh, who wants them, I guess?))
~Nathalia
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 26, 2010 2:56:57 GMT -5
"I am, too," Sophie said quietly with regards to her own happiness. This trip was going to be much more entertaining with someone her age to talk to from time to time. In fact, her happiness had been enough that she had hardly noticed how alone they really were, and she slowly glanced around.
It was a small movement, but a very telling one. The hair along the back of her spine started to raise, her feathery crest lifting as well. "It is a little quiet." she said, then moved to lightly bump her bulky form against the smaller canine, trying to be somewhat reassuring.
There was no surprise that they were going to be riding with her Uncle. As they traveled, Sophie spoke in quiet tones, giving her new friend all the important details she would need to know for this trip. Mostly, she spoke about family. She asked for Mikael's input for the places her own memory went blank (information about her paternal grandfather, for instance), trying to invite him into the conversation as well. Talking this much was a challenge for the girl, though it was certainly refreshing to finally be free from the shadow of her much more energetic sister.
Partway there, sleepiness overtook the girl, and she snuggled up against Lyr's side. After all, they'd be more warm like this, right? Certainly more comfortable...
It wasn't until they had arrived that Sophie woke up again, stretching out and yawning and giving her travel companions a sleepy-confused stare. It wasn't much longer afterwards that she was hurried off the carriage, loaded up with luggage (mostly Mikael's things, after all, she was supposed to be helping him), and standing inside the lobby beside her mother. Still half-asleep, she only blinked in response. Would they be getting proper beds, soon?
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Post by Lucca on Nov 26, 2010 9:14:49 GMT -5
Graeme bid the Queen and the Jack and the children a good day before departing for his own carriage, alone. The solitude didn't seem to bother him, as he could have brought along a servant if he'd wanted. But he'd guessed that he shouldn't need it with the staff of the hotel they would be staying at...besides, then he would have had to give whoever he brought along a pay raise. Waste of money. He settled down for the long ride with a few newspapers and spent his time reading the business sections. He napped briefly, as well, eyes closed and hands across his chest.
By the time they reached their destination, Graeme was perfectly glad to get out of there, stretching stiff muscles and fluffing his wing feathers a bit. The first surprise was when no one met him at the door to take his bags. Since he hadn't brought a lot, this failed to bother Graeme, and so he took them himself. But as he approached the hotel (along with the Queen's party, who arrived practically at the same time) he noticed an odd smell in the air, but mostly ignored it. However, it didn't slip past his notice that the hotel was oddly...quiet. The Duck frowned around the empty lobby. "Well, this is certainly poor service," he muttered, as one lone worker finally shambled over to the desk. Of course, he let the Queen and her party go first.
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Post by Nako on Nov 26, 2010 21:15:29 GMT -5
It really was all too strange. Nobody was there to help them with the luggage, so he'd elicited the help of his niece to help carry his (though really, the girl seemed more than happy to help. What a darling!) But when a pair of glasses were found in the bottom of the carriage. Well.. he wasn't sure what to do with them.
"I'll hold onto them for now.. I suppose." Mikael shrugged, placing it amongst his things. He wasn't really sure if he should keep them; perhaps one of the girls would get it as a reward... assuming Donnie thought it was safe enough to do so. He'd have to bring this item up to her when they had a chance.
"It's a little dead here." Mikael commented as he stepped up next to the queen, but refrained from saying much else when someone finally came to the counter. At least -some- of the staff was here.
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Post by Bee on Nov 26, 2010 21:34:36 GMT -5
The ride had been pleasant with a constant companion to talk to--two, even, when Mikael had joined in. She had even offered a couple memories of her own mothers. She had eaten a snack precisely at three, as well, which had made her feel better. It wasn't her full tea, but it was on time and it would do. She had cuddled up easily to the other girl, drifting off shortly after she did. To get a pillow and be used as a pillow in return seemed like--seemed like a pretty fair exchange.
Most of the comfort of the ride dissolved upon their arrival, however. She grabbed her suitcase--ignoring the persistent worry that she had forgotten something in the carriage, or trying her best to ignore it anyway--and helped Sophie carry a few things and headed to the lobby. The Queen and Mikael had hit on the two major points: it smelled funny, and it was entirely too depleted of people, especially for such an apparently important time. Like in the capital, it wasn't the normal kind of emptiness. It was emptiness with a bad aura.
But at least they had a group and at least they were together. "Maybe we'll get to share a room," she whispered to Sophie, brightly. Perhaps with the Queen, too. She didn't like the idea of staying the night in a room with a boy, though Mikael certainly seemed nice, and she was mostly prepared to do as instructed without complaint.
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Post by Nathalia on Nov 27, 2010 18:50:44 GMT -5
((The inn seems to be oddly empty, though they will be waited on by an Avington mix who seems very similar to one who works in a pub and inn called the Fallen Wing in the Capital...not that anyone in this party would know that off-offhandedly, though one or two might.
Though comfortable, the rooms are very eerie, almost overlarge and with very little furniture. Some snooping around might be a good idea, as might sending a letter out to the Mayor to let him know you've arrived.
See if there's anything in this creepy inn you can locate.
It's higher-class than its companion in name and it's "bar" is more of a restaurant than anything else; it has three stories, lovely rooms, a bathing floor with multiple baths, and oddly enough...an attic...
See what you can find seeing as you'll all be a little too weirded out for sleep.
Good luck.))
~Nathalia
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 28, 2010 23:38:12 GMT -5
Donnie's reached down to absently stroke at her daughter's mane as the girl stood by her side, a habit she'd developed with both of her daughters when they were close at hand. While the attendant made his way towards the front of the desk, she glanced over to the Highland mix once before stepping forward for the man's attention.
"Queen Donalda and accompanying party to check in," she said smoothly, regarding the Avington mix with a combination of mild curiosity and mild annoyance. "We will require four rooms - one for myself, one for His Excellence Mikael, one for my daughter and her companion, and one for our attending staff." She had initially worried that asking for additional rooms would be a burden on the facility, but she somehow felt that it wouldn't be a problem now. Not by how oddly quiet everything seemed on the eve of a grand ceremony, at any rate.
She interacted with the man as briefly as possible, accepting and distributing the room keys. To Sophie, she gave a long, hard look before looping the key around the girl's neck. "You are representing Spades here," she reminded her quietly, "and I trust that you and your friend will keep that in mind. I'm giving you the room next to mine. If anything happens, come and find me. If you can't, find your uncle or one of our people. Dinner should be included in this invitation, but I won't require you to meet me for your meal if you'd rather eat later. Expect to wake up early tomorrow."
With that responsibility out of the way, she indicated her room number to her attendant and then went to find the hotel's concierge. There she procured parchment and pen, and set about writing a short missive to the Lakeland Mayor informing him of her arrival.
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Post by Lucca on Nov 29, 2010 9:56:01 GMT -5
Graeme gave the Queen a slight shrug when she glanced at him, not entirely sure what she was trying to communicate. He looked around the lobby a bit while waiting for his turn with what appeared to be the sole Card in the entire place who hadn't just arrived (and he certainly felt his annoyance rise at that fact), finding the decor was, at least, up to expectations. He leaned on his cane, suitcase in the other hand and overnight bag on his shoulder, and half watched the Queen interact out of the corner of his eye. Mainly, he was trying to get a read on the mix who was working here.
He seemed a bit tired and distant, but that would be perfectly understandable for someone who was forced to man a hotel entirely by himself. Never being a frequenter of any sort of pub (at least, not since his younger, more foolish days) the Duck didn't recognize the man at all. When the Queen and her party left for their rooms, Graeme gave her a bow as she passed and then strode purposefully up to the desk.
The temptation to lose his temper at the man and take out his frustrations on him was strong, but Graeme managed to reign it in. After all, it could very well not be this man's fault that his coworkers were absent. Since the man himself did nothing to incite Graeme's ire, he took his key and walked to his room without any displays of the famous McDuck temper. Unlocking and pushing open the door, Graeme looked around. His first impression of his room was that it was nice, if a bit spartan compared to other places like this.
There was a desk and chair, a bed, and a nightstand, and each piece of furniture seemed placed to make the room seem bigger instead of smaller, as they rightly should. The longer he stood in the doorway looking, the more it began to bother him for some reason that the room was so empty. He itched to look around, for some reason, but forced himself into calmly closing the door and going into the washroom to freshen up.
Upon getting out, the room was no less eerie, but he stubbornly ignored the feeling and sat down to write a message for the Mayor. A brief search of the desk uncovered ink and parchment, and he wrote the letter quickly and concisely. He also poked around the desk a bit more, looking inside the drawers, although he wouldn't be surprised to find them otherwise completely empty.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 29, 2010 16:27:19 GMT -5
The bulky girl turned to glance at her newfound companion, a small smile twitching on her lips. Slowly, she nodded. "That would be good," she said, agreeing wholeheartedly. As much as she liked Mikael, she wondered how the presence of a male, no matter how tolerable he might have been, would affect the girl's freedom of speech. Sophie was old enough to understand the regional prejudices very well, especially when the region was at least partially her own.
She went quiet, then, letting her mother speak and listening closely to what she was saying. She had to be on her best behavior, if this trip was going to be at all worthwhile... For a while, the girl had managed to completely forget her goal, but now that they were in the creepy hotel it was coming back to her, slowly but surely.
Then her attention was completely removed from her thoughts by the Queen. Sophie regarded the woman with a placid, calm expression, then leaned in to lightly bump her nose against her mother's. It didn't work as well with Donnie in human form, but it got the point across. "I understand. Thank you, Mother." She allowed another smallish smile, then stood and turned to face Lyr.
That little smile broadened, slightly. Not only would they be sharing a room (a proper sleepover!!), but her mother had just given them leave to explore the building freely. "Do you want to look around before we go to the room?"
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