PRE-DAWN 005

[allthekeys]

|| Night 005: GENERAL As the hour that would normally herald dawn approaches, there is a faint lightening of the sky outside, as though it may be possible that daylight will banish the gloom. It begins, and then stops. Throughout the castle halls, the sound of a clock chime echoes - a sound that has not been heard within its walls, but that a few may find familiar. As it sounds, there is a pause as much of what roams the halls goes still, the castle and its environs holding their breath; the wind outside even seems to lull to hear it. The first chime sounds normally. The second chime seems slightly distorted, stretched out a little longer. The third echoes back and forth for several minutes. The fourth chime does not seem to stop, only muffle until it is a vague impression of a vibration that continues for the rest of the unnatural night. It can be ignored, but those who try to focus on it will find themselves going still and losing track of their surroundings, only startled out of it when their body remembers to breathe. Once the chime has muffled, the wind outside returns with a vengeance, shrieking against the walls with occasionally audible clatters of ice; the flooding continues to be an issue, with rivulets of water still flowing through the first floor, while the water in the basement has grown deeper. The Shadows within the castle seem to take it as a signal; their occasional pranks on the guests turn to passing interest with little harassment. Instead, their attention seems focused on other things. The creatures can often be found defacing the gryphon emblems wherever they are found within the castle, and the banners with the standard around the great hall spend the rest of the night slowly healing as the Shadows attempt to shred them; small objects are rearranged, flowerpots pushed off of their stands to shatter and reform. The creatures retreat before the Guards, but only so long as one of them is present. The smaller Gargoyles, however, seem to be hunting them, darting through the halls like cats chasing rats; the Shadows return the baiting and harassment, and seem to have made a game of seeing if they can lure the stone beasts into damaging furniture and decorations. The Grey Maids and their Siren escorts are left alone in this, although the maids make efforts to pick up after this as well as the flooding; occasionally a stray tendril or claw from the shadows will nudge one of their tools closer or hand them a piece of something broken to replace. Female characters will find the Sirens inclined to watch out for them, pulling them away from hazards and staying between them and threats, although the creatures remain hostile to male characters approaching. The Merry Gentlemen continue their ghoulish tea party, and seem to have grown more comfortable in the parlors, if anything; while they do not enter the halls, they will take note of anyone within sight, beckoning with bladed fingers to join them. The locked doors on the second floor also redouble their clamour with the muffling of the chime, although the Silver Bedroom door remains silent and normal. Those passing by one of the other bedroom doors without hurrying will feel phantom hands, as those someone had reached out of the doorframe to tug at their clothing seeking their attention. Around the Barren Room's door, the carpet seems to have pulled away around it, the normal hall decorations vanishing close to it. The Head Bedroom is completely obscured by shadows swarming over it, as though that part of the wall has been replaced by a black void. The paintings from the Mural room have spread around the cracks of the doorframe onto the hallway around it, heraldic beasts and distorted figures near visibly moving on the walls. One of the Locked doors that has yet to open is scorched, with smoke trickling out of an upper corner; occasionally a waft of flame seeps around it, accompanied by the roars of some sort of large beast. The Gem bedroom is sprouting stones as though they were growths across it, along with twisting bits of metal will try to grab and catch unwary hands. The Jungle bedroom seems to be filled with the screams and howls of birds and animals as much as human voices; curls of plant tendrils struggle to reach around the crack of the doorframe. The Crystal bedroom door has turned to a solid mirror; a tapping can be heard from it as though someone on the other side seeks attention. Those looking at it will find their reflection accompanied by the figure of a man with no visible face in a suit far too modern for the Castle, leaning on a cane; while there is nothing visible in the hallway, the feeling of someone leaning in over their shoulder and the brush of suit fabric against their own clothes is impossible to mistake. Those who linger will find consequences. The Gold door has turned to solid metal; the effect has spread to part of the wall around it, the edges wavering about as if trying to spread further and being blocked. The sound of the music box that makes up part of the Music Box Room hangs in the hallway around the noise from within; the music is entrancing, and makes it easy to forget that a few stray salamanders are still in the halls. Rei is ignored by any of these new hazards, and will find a few shadows actively keeping the Salamanders away from her or tugging on her ankles and skirt to lead away from what they cannot block, with occasional assistance from the Sirens. The Glass Creatures seem to have accepted this state of affairs, making movements to help guide through danger as well where they can, although they are still keeping close to her and carefully avoiding the possible view of the guards and gargoyles. For those who manage to get a look out a window or open door, there is an odd darkness to some of the blasts of heated wind, as though bits of the shadow over the castle are being drug along with the wind. The Guards have quit the battlements entirely, although a few still linger around the town gate and stables. The larger Gargoyles outside and those capable of flight seem particularly offended by this development, and actively pursue the stray patches of shadow that encroach closer; the darkness, in return, baits and pulls away, attempting to lure the aerial ones outside the walls proper. The stone beasts are entirely heedless of anyone willing to brave the weather, and trampling or being struck in frustration is added to the risks outside. A distinctly canine howling can be heard echoing from outside the walls, from creatures far larger than the glass dogs.