The Northern Pass [POST HERE FIRST]

As if on cue, the boisterous man re-enters the room, carrying a massive pot of stew in his arms. Along with him, the aroma of the stew enters. By the smell of it, it seems to be carrots, potatoes, some sort of meat, and lots of spices. Waddling his way over to the table, he drops the pot upon it, causing the table to bend and creak in protest. He then produces a stack of bowls and places one before each seat at the table. One would also note that there seems to be a ladle handle protruding from the top of the pot.

“Dinner, is served,” he announces with his best/worst Gaulish accent. With this, he offers a very elaborate bow and backs away a few steps.

“I will obtain linens,” he says. Then, he proceeds to excuse himself back through the door from which he came yet again.

The guard standing off to one side of the room remains skeptical about if Kiara will ever be able to get home, and about this "Way" that these monk fellas are on about, but keeps his mouth shut and leans back up against the wall, content to simply observe.

    Some time later, an adolescent boy arrived from the long road. While simple zori sandals and white socks were all that carried him through miles of dirt and trail, he seemed otherwise well prepared for travel, his form guarded generously from the elements by a thick cloak of straw with a blue hood and kerchief, the bulk of the straw literally blanketing his form from just inches above the ground.
    He had a deliberate but patient sort of walk, one that bespoke no anxiety or hidden desire to harm, and if allowed to pass, he'd continue.

The two disciples wolfed down their stew. Such delicious food was rarely had by the traveling priests. Both Paul and John refilled their bowls from the pot many times. William smiled at their youthful vigor, eating his stew much slower.  When he finished the old priest reached into his robe and pulled out a tarot deck. "If anyone would like their fortune told I would be happy to oblige."  He turned his head first to the guard, then Kiara.

"First you will have to give the deck a cut." William taped on the cards. After Kiara did so William flipped the first card.

" 'The Moon.' Very fitting. The shifting moon, ever lost in the sky, has no purpose in its wandering.  It is the embodiment of intuition. Eliminate uncertainties in order to see clearly through the darkness." The card was placed in front of Kiara.

After the guests have more or less finished their respective meals, the door to the rest of the tower opens yet again, and yet again it is the boisterous man. This time, he is loaded with armfuls of linens. Knitted blankets, some pillows, and other such items one could use for comfortable sleeping.

Upon noticing that there is some manner of conversation underway, he says not a word as he moves around the table to set the linens close to the fireplace. The idea therein being that once the guests are prepared to sleep, the linens would be warm. On his way back, he takes the stew pot and any bowls that the group is finished with. He finds it somewhat difficult to close the door quietly behind him, but he manages.

Meanwhile, the armored guard has decided to sit down in one of the chairs a short way away from the table. He begins to undo the straps on his gauntlets, presumably in preparation for removing his armor.

Brother William felt the guidance of some higher spirit alight upon the reading. The priest let go of his attachment to the world and allowed the ghost to guide his actions. The next two cards were flipped:


"Twin tens! Cup and the swords. Rejoice, for the path you walk will lead you to your goals. Your journey will bring great opportunity.  Find joy in the path you walk and you will learn from it. This card however," William frowned and tapped the ten of swords. But before he could continue a loud thumping could be heard, echoing off the steep slopes of the pass. William became distracted and the spirit was lost.  

"Go see what that is, John. Just don't get in the guards way."  The disciple nodded and went to investigate.

As the loud noise begins, and the earth starts to tremble, the guards around the tower who are awake stop. In mid-sentence, one pauses and raises his finger to listen. Seeing as how the noise steadily gets closer and louder, they find this cause for concern. The purpose of this outpost is to warn Isra of threats before they approach, and really, the guards can’t think of what this noise would be, if not a threat.

As the thing rounds the corner, the lookouts, stationed as they are at the foot and top of the tower, raise the alarm. From the top of the tower, this is in the form of a bell, which is rung repeatedly for the space of a few seconds before the guard ringing it retreats down the stairs about as quickly as he can. On the ground floor, the alarm is raised in the form of all of the guards who are outside rushing inside and shutting the door behind them. This brings the total of guards in the room with the guests up to eight, including our friend who has been lingering.

William would be able to exit either before these guards enter, or unlock the door and exit after they've come.

While some of these guards would have, under the circumstances, greeted the travelers, the concept is not on their minds at the moment. They proceed directly through, from the front door to the only other door in the room, through which the boisterous man has come and gone.

Our friend the lingering guard, though he hasn’t seen whatever it is outside that’s causing the noises, can hear the noises just as well as anyone else, and interprets his fellow guards retreating in that manner to be cause for significant alarm. He jumps to his feet, holding his gauntlets in one hand, and starts toward the door.

“Up-up-up-up-up-up, come on, come on, time to go to the basement!”

With his free hand, he gestures frantically to the travelers, imploring them to proceed through the door as quickly as they’re able.

Through the door, they would find a sort of hallway, with stairs leading both up and down not too far from where they are entering, and some other nondescript doors further down the hallway. One would be able to see other guards, in various states of (un)dress coming from upstairs, proceeding downstairs as quickly as they’re able. It is to these downward leading stairs and those retreating down them that our friend points to, suggesting that they, “Follow those guys!”

kiara was unaware of the rock unless it struck the fort, as well as Deep Blue being just outside. Inside the fort she just did as told, too scared to do anything else, and runs into the basement. All she knows is something might be attacking but unsure what it was.

The stairs leading down into the basement are perhaps surprisingly long, and rather narrow for how long they are. They lead downward into the mountain without turning the equivalent of two stories, placing the basement itself deep within the mountain. As one enters the basement, they might notice that the bricks that had been present lining the walls all the way down the stairs have stopped, leaving the basement as simply a large room carved out of the surrounding stone. The room is lit only by a handful of torches held by the guards, of which there are about thirty, milling about in various states of dress.

Near the door, a man wearing a relatively expensive sweater seems to be counting heads as they enter, and seems mildly surprised to see Kiara and Paul, but doesn’t stop them from entering. To his side, there is a contraption evidently intended to serve as the door. It seems to be a large circular stone, resting on a small ramp just to the side of the doorframe. It is held up by a metal bar, which, when removed, would cause the stone to roll down into a clearly designated groove, and cover the entrance. There is no obvious mechanism for removing the stone once it is in place.

Those guards with torches proceed about the room, lighting braziers. The light of these braziers reveals that a fair portion of the room is filled with crates and barrels, though none larger than the width of the staircase. Some are open and these seem to contain assorted foodstuffs and yet more linens. The boisterous man is visible, attempting to pry the lid off a crate.

From the door, the man in the expensive sweater - presumably the ranking officer - announces, “Everyone’s in, shut the door!”

Moving in response to this command, two of the heartier looking guards approach the bar holding the stone in place and begin to tug at it, with the intention of sealing the door shut, and with it, the lot of them inside.