T - Kari, Jenn, Lucca, Greenie

[Lucca]

Mirriam watched as Morgan tested out its flying ability...at least, she assumed that's what it was doing. But perhaps it was some sort of ill-timed attempt to see what was going on? Not that the Bat could see how it would help, considering they were indoors in an enclosed hallway. Not as close as it felt, she oddly had to remind herself again, glancing around. When Morgan landed, trembling slightly, Mirriam moved towards it and landed next to it, putting her wing around it in a calculated gesture of comfort. No feelings prompted the action; instead it was merely an attempt to prevent her sibling from succumbing to fear.

It was this same logic that prompted her to answer the questions that were suddenly presented to her. "It's not safe not because of those things...but because of whatever is causing them," she explained. "Whoever is making those things happen may be powerful and plotting against the Court." Mirriam's ears flicked a bit, also hearing the brief chime of the bells. "I do not know what it means, but yes, that's a bell. I have no idea who is ringing it or who else is here other than the usual servants and nobles of the Court, so it must be one of them."

The Bat tilted her head thoughtfully, and then listened as Ez explained that there was no longer a bell tower in the Court. Well...that was strange. "All right, Your Highness," she said promptly. "Perhaps the bell was some sort of spell, then, and not an actual bell at all?" Certainly, spells could produce many strange effects.

After making sure that everyone who had been in the bathroom was still with them (it had been a careless oversight to allow the Yarrow to get lost, last time, and Mirriam did not intend for it to happen again) the Bat would be ready to follow Ez. She kept her wing around Morgan, protecting him.

[The Jenn]

The comforting wing brought Morgan some measure of peace from its intense claustrophobic panic and it huddled in on itself, tucking up against its sister until the worst of its trembling subsided. When it could breathe again without panting, it tried to pay attention to what the others were saying.

An unsafe influence. A magic bell. All of this was so far above its head as to be ridiculous. The younger child seemed to be experiencing the same sort of problem.

Going to a Queen's chambers sounded like a good idea if only because Queens were powerful. It knew that, as surely as it knew it could catch sick from the chill in the air, and so it kept close to Mirriam for comfort and for warmth. Walking seemed to be more awkward for her, but it appreciated her effort and would have been far less at its ease if she had taken to the air again.

"Thank you for answering my questions," it whispered to her as they began to walk, following after the King who had taken charge of the situation. The 'titled noble'.

[Nathalia]

((Queen Sadie's chambers are absolutely beautiful!
Yarrow flowers adorn every surface and the marble is a pink rose color marbled with white.
The Queen's chambers don't seem as cold...and the claustrophobic sensation dies away a bit in here...

The Queen herself, in her Human form, is lying in her bed in the back...and something in the room smells...odd.
Odd like a burning plant...incense?
Search everywhere you can imagine...you ought to FIND this thing, maybe removing it will help the Queen? Or maybe it will just give you a clue...be careful...it smells so strange...))


~Nathalia

[Kari Muffin]

The sparrow breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at Sadie's chambers. The feeling seemed to fade away when the stepped into the room. Though he was assaulted by a rather unusual smell. Last time he checked the woman didn't burn incense, but she could have been expecting someone and the servants had forgotten to put the thing out.

At least that's what Ez was hoping for. The woman was still asleep with no changes. Maybe the smell had something to do with that? Considering the fact that bells were ringing when shouldn't exist, people were exploding, the idea of incense causing someone to sleep weren't that outlandish.

"Where the... heck is that coming from," he corrected himself. Children. He wasn't about to be the one to teach them cursing. His feathers fluffed a bit. "Could you all help me look around for it?"

He walked over to the dresser and fished around. It was the most obvious place for something like that, but it couldn't hurt to look in plain sight. It could easily be hiding in the perfumes or flowers.

The giraffe made her way in the room with mild panic. She looked around, frantically for a few moments before she took in the room. A gasp escaped her at the sight of how pretty and amazing things were. So bright and colorful and... she didn't know beyond that really.

With a new found curiosity she pranced over to what seemed to be a closet. She looked back at the Queen who was laying on the bred, her head tilting. Why was she sleeping so soundly? Was it the funny smell that seemed to be competing with the flowers? She sniffed one of the closet flowers, sneezing a bit.

Her ears perked at the sound of the sparrow's voice. Oh, so they were supposed to find the smell? Okay then! "I'll take this place!" She pulled on the double doors, stumbling a bit when they came open. She poked her head into the closet, curiously looking at the various clothing.

[Lucca]

Mirriam merely nodded to Morgan in response, her mind already focused on other things. The bells had reminded her of the chiming of a clock, and she wondered how much longer she had left before her logical barrier shattered and all those unfortunate and mind-clouding feelings came rushing back. She'd only used the spell once before, and she knew it had lasted for several hours, but it had been a bit hard to keep track of time while babysitting and bathing her adult sibling. She kept her wing about it as they walked, half lost in her musings and half paying close attention to what was around them. Her ears twitched, and as soon as they got to the Queen's chambers she paused at the door to look around.

It was a room that, had she seen it on a normal day, Mirriam would have absolutely adored. All the flowers and greenery and bright colors would have delighted her to no end. At the moment, though, the little Bat merely took note of them, in case she should have reason to use one of her plant-related abilities. Her nose twitched, identifying the perfume of several types of flowers and...something else. Incense?

"Yes, your Highness," Mirriam told the Sparrow, and pulled Morgan with her into the room. "Look around, but be careful," she told him once there. Then she let go of him to flutter up and check the higher places of the room, as she was probably the most agile flier of the four. She sniffed along the top of bookshelves and in the window sill, pushing aside the lacy curtains and several species of flowers in pots that seemed to be flourishing. Mirriam was level-headed enough to not let her skin touch the plants, as she knew that Yarrow flowers could cause nasty rashes and other things in non-Yarrows. In fact, she knew this partially from first-hand experience.

[The Jenn]

Walking up to the Queen's chamber, Morgan's eyes were initially for its sister. That way it could avoid looking at the walls, the ceiling, everything closing in all around it. When she told it what to do, it nodded, murmured "Yes, Mirriam," and began to look around.

And then its eyes widened and it froze, trying to take in the depth of color and decoration all throughout the room. Like nothing it had ever seen before! Obviously. And it seemed a lot more spacious than the hallways. The room calmed it down a little and it took a deep breath, only to feel slightly dizzy in the aftermath. How... how fragrant. And warm. Much cozier than the bathroom or the room where it was born.

It stepped forward hesitantly, eyes trying to take in everything all at once and failing. Out of a mildly fearful sense of curiosity, it approached the bed with the sleeping human. Was that the Queen? The Queen of Diamonds? Because they were all... all Diamonds... except for the cat, who was the same colors as the Queen. How complicated. But humans, now that it had finally seen one, it realized how strange they looked. It was mildly fascinated and at the same time unnerved. Lightly sniffing at her hand only confirmed the smell of flowers, which seemed to be everywhere.

Curiosity had it searching around her bed, poking its nose beneath the hanging skirt to squint beneath, and snuffling around in the dust. A sneeze brought it out.

[Nathalia]

((Seems the little group found a few...oddities...))

Kitten China: This beautifully hand-painted bone china is incredibly old Villa handiwork. It tingles a little to the touch after being in an attic for so very, very long and the person who has handled it will realize that they have just been cursed soon afterward.
They now suffer the constant presence of a small pile of gamboling, overly adorable, white, tan, and golden kittens. Like the Cats of mythology, these kittens could fit easily into the palm of a Human hand and have large, almost over-bright eyes. They hover in the peripheral vision of the victim all the time moving in and out of their direct line of sight and no one but the victim is capable of seeing of sensing them.
The kittens will age as the victim does, eventually becoming frightening hag-cats with overlong teeth and claws, eyes rheumy with age and feral anger.
Though adorable, the kittens bring with them a constant sense of unease and foreboding. The victim will have to learn to live with the distraction...or go mad.


Thick Bonds: These old, discarded Torque bindings look like
heavy, iron bracelets, each weighing ten pounds.
When touched, they clamp immediately onto the four limbs of the
victim and seal themselves, there is no crack in the metal and no hole
for a key.
The bonds cause a sense of extreme depression once a week for half an
hour, wherein the victim is assaulted by the thoughts of everything
bad, embarrassing, and cruel, they have ever done and an overwhelming
sense of guilt for it...even if they are not the type to normally care
about guilt, it will affect them.
Once a week, they are able to project this feeling of depression
(though this does not rid them of it), and have it consume another
person along with them for a full 3 hours.


Straight Jacket: This plain old jacket didn't look like
it was going to be an issue, until someone got within 5 feet of it!
Once they were within range, the jacket slammed itself forcefully
forward and encased the victim tightly in it. The jacket then changes
color and design until it makes itself quite fashionable to the
wearer, though not loosing its hold on them. It acts a bit like a
Torque binding and nothing usual or current is able to cut through its
magic. It holds their arms tightly at bay and will only release them
twice a day for up to 2 hours at a time, keeping them otherwise bound
away out of sight.
Once a month, this SD is now able to whisper the word "Marrow",
and cause up to two opponents to suffer painfully twisted and broken
limbs (1 each). With the exception of the skull and spine, this spell
can apply to any one bone of the casters choosing per person. The bone
remains horribly fractured until the victim can go and get it fixed.


((Along with these strange things, the group located a few suspicious things:
Morgan seems to have found a small, empty vial that smells strongly of petrol and Yarrow flowers.
Mirriam has found a tiny key made of silver that fits no lock in the room.
Ez has noticed that there is a small box hanging from the ceiling that seems to be emitting puffs of that strong scent in the room.
And Gigi has found two more of those empty, strong-smelling vials...
The rest of the room is quiet and there doesn't appear to be anything else hiding there...though that bell is going off again...
The bell...it sounds closer, almost as though it's ringing right above the room.
What's that?!
The Queen is stirring...muttering under her breath and her face creases as though in a bit of pain...
There seems to be blood leaking from the corners of her mouth and her chest is rising and falling feebly.
This looks bad.

You all feel that you can only split up into two groups at the absolute most, no one should be alone, or you should all stay together...but, that bell needs to be found. It shouldn't be here and it's starting to make everyone nervous, also, these vials and that box should be inspected...maybe some of your basic spells could help? (Be creative!)))



~Nathalia

[Kari Muffin]

(( >_> may I ask for the Kitten China? I want to run away and marry it. ))

Ezekiel looked idly for the source of the smell, only to find it when he was cracking his neck in mild frustration. The ceiling huh? How utterly fascinating. Perhaps he could take it off of the ceiling though... that might not get the job done. He had a sinking feeling it was more complicated that perfume or incense and trying to pull it off the ceiling wasn't going to do much. It was probably enchanted.

Suits. If only Zane was here. He would have the answer in five seconds flat.

Gigi came out of the closet triumphantly prancing with what she had found. "Look! I found something," she said half slurred, her tongue holding on to the two vials. She put them in the sparrow's hand when he held it out for her. She watched him cringe a bit from the slobber.

Then the Queen moved. The giraffe made a small squeak as she edged towards the sparrow her eyes watched as she watched the woman. And there was blood. That was terrifying! She hid her face in the sparrows corset the sound the bell sending a chill up her spine.

Ez was starting to feel the pressure. Or was it something else entirely? His nerves were tying themselves in knots. They needed a battle plan. "Ladies and anyone else, we need a battle plan. And I think we need to split up. Someone needs to look for the bell and someone needs to try to pry that off the ceiling," he pointed upwards, Gigi made a point of burying her face deeper into his back. "Does anyone have any spells good for searching for sounds or prying things off the ceiling and so forth?"

[The Jenn]

((I have no problems with that, Kari! May I request the Thick Bonds for Morgan? I don't think a straight jacket would work well for a quadruped... also, since Mirriam technically isn't here on a ticket, she can't receive dropped items. That leaves either Gigi or Elodie for the jacket.))

Trying to clear dust from its snout, Morgan wriggled free from the bedding and more carefully removed its antlers from a slight snag of cloth. What a dreadful pain, to have its head catch on things. It needed to be more careful. In its slight struggle, however, it jostled something from the bedding pooled nearby and a small object rolled against its paws.

With a slightly watery stare from sneezing, it nudged at the object, which didn't seem to do anything untoward. A gentle sniff proved to be the wrong decision, however, as fumes replaced dust in its nosed and it sneezed four or five times in rapid succession. Ugh! Backing up in surprise from the sensation, it jostled a night table, which in turn sent four objects clattering down around it.

And then onto it.

Only the abject horror of suddenly having things on its legs kept it motionless. It would have far rather skittered across the room and back to its sister. That delayed reaction kicked into motion after several seconds, but it felt like it was moving with more difficulty. The things on its legs... they weren't coming off. It whimpered in horror.

That horror only compounded when it looked back up to see the previously motionless figure on the bed shifting in... pain? Discomfort? Whatever it was, she bled. From her mouth. It knew enough to know that was not alright.

And Ez was speaking. The King. The one with authority. Its head raised and it stared at him mutely, its eyes wide and partially filmed by helpless, frightened tears that leaked through its fur. It was new. Was this normal? This was not normal. Mirriam had said so. "I... I don't..."

But then something occurred to it and it hesitated. Not something it wanted to say, no. But... but if the thing on the... what? It glanced up and its eyes widened. Some of the tears were blinked away distractedly. What was that thing... doing?

"I might... be able to scrape it off with these?" it offered hesitantly, shaking its head to indicate what it meant. But perhaps that wasn't clear. "M- m- my antlers. They. They could scrape. And I can... fly? Up there?" Something in the back of its mind told it that it could.

[Greenie]

((Sorry I haven't posted in like 5 pages guys - I'm a little lost right now. XD))