The Ruins

[allthekeys]

1. General Store:

The inside of the store is well stocked with fresh produce and canned goods, though it may take the shopkeeper and her current patrons some time to gather themselves enough to serve anyone. The two women and the child appear dazed, sitting on the floor and staring into space.

Ginger beer can be purchased here, as well as many fine wines and other oddities.


2. The Mill:

The building looks to have been at some point a very nice one, with neat stacks of lumber and a well built exterior. Parts of it are still in good condition, a few of the stacks of lumber are even well seasoned and useful.

But the upper story seems to have partially collapsed, and the inside of the mill seems to change from step to step. The old stairs are complete ruin, and rotted floor sacks sit right next to perfectly preserved sacks.

With no rhyme or reason, it is hard to tell what to trust.

There is a door leading to a wide stone staircase in the basement.


3. The Trading Company:

A storefront with half-broken glass and some of the displays knocked over faces the street. The shop itself has shelves with intricate woodcarvings, jars of spices, silks and embroidery not matching much of what can be found in the area, teas, and various other small trinkets; bits of glasswork, puzzle boxes, porcelain, and incenses.

The back door away from the counter leads to a small hallway with a staircase down to a storage room and cellar; much of it is taken up with wooden crates and more of the shop’s wares, although there are some half-surviving food stores and a cot and bedding carefully tucked into a corner. A nondescript door is set into the wall that almost blends into the laid stone; it opens onto a wide, packed-dirt tunnel, neatly kept, that goes on for some distance, eventually coming up in the middle of the Maze.

The other door in the small hallway leads to a small living area with a common-room and table as well as a kitchen. A phantom figure paces by the table, walking a few feet, stopping, hand-wringing, and turning. Setting on the table is a piece of paper with writing in crayon in loose, childish handwriting - “IT’S OKAY TO MOVE ON”. On the other side of the kitchen is a staircase that leads upstairs. Two of the three rooms are accessible - a study with faded, worm-eaten and tattered books, and a small, neatly kept bedroom. The third room is still filled with roiling fog; anyone walking into it will find themselves walking back out of it, anywhere from a few seconds later to a few hours later, without any impression of time having passed.


4. Silversmith’s Shop:

The main part of this shop, before it fell into ruin, had been set up to display a stunning assortment of silver artifacts, ranging from elegant plates and goblets to small ornamental sculptures. Although they were without a doubt intricately crafted with skill of the highest caliber, their value is now heavily depleted. Nearly all of the pieces are badly tarnished; most are dented, broken, and warped. Shelves and display tables are collapsed, leaving their contents in cluttered heaps on the floor. In one corner of the room, a large pile of what was once perhaps very fine jewelry has melted together in an unrecognizable heap.

A door in the back of the shop opens to a narrow staircase, run down and missing several steps but passable with fairly minimal hazard. The room it leads to is filled with sets of worn-out tools and uncut sheets of metal. A furnace stands against one of the walls, filled with debris and crumbled brick and stone.

A large, heavy trunk has been set in one corner. It’s tightly sealed off with six different locks; all of the keyholes are filled with globs of hardened molten metal.


5. Typesetter's:

This shop is remarkably well-preserved, if you ignore the fact that all the people within seem to have been reduced to bone and dust. A fallen composing stick rests on the ground, words and letters seemingly nonsensical in organization to most readers. The large press at the center of the room still holds type as well, equally unreadable. There are piles of identical books, uniquely bound books, pamphlets, and other products, none readable. A few dies containing pictures are organized on a table, where it seems some form of papers depicting human faces were being printed.

There is a safe in the corner, its lock rusted in place. It seems to be bolted to the floor. There is also a spot on the floor that echoes oddly, but no visible means of lifting the floor, nor gaps that could hide a switch nearby. The door to the building has been destroyed, but not by age, instead by battering.


The Crafters’ Wing:

The contents of this building, well-constructed and likewise rather out of place among the ruins, are notably familiar to anyone who had spent time in the castle’s Basement Hallway prior to Night 22.


6. The Pottery Room:

A wall of iron grating forms a barrier, making a small entryway; a prison-like ledge and flap that opens from the outside forms the only unlocked access, while the grating has a gate, locked from the outside.

At the center of this room is a large kiln that basks the room in unnatural warmth. Though much like the other bedrooms in the hall, no heat seems to make its way past the threshold. Next to this is a large pottery wheel, still turning pointlessly in place. What may once have been a clay pot remains on the wheel, splattering the remnants on anyone who passes as it spins.

The floor itself is covered in plastic sheeting, though this is mostly obscured by the clay and mud that coats the floor and sticks to the feet of anyone who steps across it. Stacked neatly against the wall are plastic bins, full of wet clay. On shelves near the kiln are jars of pigment and glaze, obviously meant for use before firing the finished piece.

Broken pieces of finished pottery lie near several of the walls, as if the creator has thrown them in a fit of rage.

Next to a large industrial sink, a filthy curtain hangs, cutting a small portion of the room off. Behind the dirty curtain is a simple cot, covered in a well-worn and patched blanket. Three battered crates stacked together as makeshift shelving are full of what little personal effects it seemed the potter possessed. An old, battered book stained and streaked with clay to the point that nothing can be told of its original cover is resting nearest to the bed. It is filled with mathematical notations and chemical formulas, though they seem out of place in this room. It seems almost like a textbook. Stuffed in the back of the book and secured with a clip is a picture of a boy and a girl standing on a bridge, their hands intertwined. They are both smiling, the girl’s hands are streaked with clay and the boy is dressed in what looks like a uniform. The picture, unlike much of the room, is untainted by the surrounding filth.


7. Tapestry Bedroom:

The door has a heavy bar on the outside, with a large lock.

At first glance, this room looks more like a storage room than a bedroom. The walls are covered in shelves, all filled with carefully folded tapestries and exquisite hand sewn quilts, each made of millions of tiny, perfect stitches. Other shelves, further back, hold spools of thread and skeins of yarn, as well as dyes and baskets full of raw wool and cotton. Some of the threads are clearly expensive, made of silk or of gold, while others are plain and rather ordinary. Further back, mended clothing and blankets, as well as woven goods, can be found. Hats, scarves, even blankets carefully knit of the softest yarn, each a perfect work of art.

Behind a few of the over stuffed shelves, someone has set up a full sized loom, and the tapestry on it appears half finished. Those who remain in the room near nightfall will see a small, gnarled creature slip from a crack in the stone walls and begin to undo the design, seemingly with little care for the maker. During the day, the design moves ever forward, loom clacking, though no one ever seems to sit at the chair.

A cot is tucked away in the darkest corner, covered by ratty, thread bare blankets that have nonetheless been carefully mended to provide the occupant with warmth. A rickety wood table holds a candle and many unfinished projects, and a spinning wheel takes up most of the rest of the space.

A small gap between the table and the bed holds a small hammock, lined with soft scraps and covered with a small quilt. There is nothing in the hammock.

Beneath the bed, seemingly hidden, is a small jar filled with copper pennies. Half of a note is tucked within the jar.

“Spindle weave and scissors snip,
By thread we are bound and all things –“


8. Glassmaker’s Room:

The door opens into an area that is barred off from the rest of the room; a grate in the bars opens up, giving access to a small shelf that’s placed slightly low. To the side is a shallow pit filled with broken shards of different glassworks.

The rest of the room is bare stone, with scattered candles for light. Most of it is dominated by a kiln, worktables, storage drawers for tools, and shelves of tinctures and colored sands; curiously, the work spaces are all a little over two feet off the ground. A small, straw-piled wooden bedframe is nestled in one corner, next to a small dumbwaiter door; an alcove carved into the wall, barely over four feet high, holds a small shower fixture and latrine. A thin set of drawers under the bed provides the only small space for anything that might resemble personal belongings.


9. Porcelain Bedroom:

The door opens onto an inner wall of metal bars between the main room and it, with enough space to walk; a locked door forms a prison-like enclosure.

A fine white dust hangs in the air of this room, irritating the lungs of those who step inside. At first it might be easy to assume that it is smoke, but the fine particles cling to the clothing and to every surface of the room.

The shelves are full of powders and glazes, and a large kiln stands in the corner of the room. Though the kiln is well insulated, it cannot keep the heat from creeping into the room and the room is always incredibly warm. Worktables are covered with unfired blanks, plaster molds, and unpainted but finished products, all white, while other shelves hold delicate teapots, cups, vases and flowers. The work is all elegantly done and of very high quality, painted figures dancing on the finished products, elegant scenes that seem far away from the dreary, dusty room.

There is a strange wear pattern to the floor beneath the table, too wide to be feet against the stone.

A bed has been tucked into the corner furthest from the kiln, and is, like all other surfaces completely covered in the fine, white dust. There are several notebooks beneath the ,bed, all filed with beautiful pictures of flowers and garden scenes, perhaps examples of what the person might paint on the vases. Though there seems to be a slight change in quality from time to time, and a few pages filled with letters where another hand has matched the first.


10. The Carpenter's Room:

The smell of burned wood and varnish lingers in the air, wafting out into the hall the moment the door is opened. The door is a heavy one, made of wood and held together with strips of metal that latches from the outside. Tracks dot the saw dust nearest to it, making a worn down path from one end of the doorway to the other. Someone has left a puppet with a half painted face hanging off a hook, the fingers meticulously articulated, nearly matching the range of motion a child’s hand might have.

This room is filled with saw dust and curls of wood, unfinished projects litter every surface and clamps and glue share space with seasoned wood, and the work bench is chaotic with everything that the carpenter has left undone.

Behind a heavy, dusty curtain someone has managed to leave a rather comfortable living space, nearly free of the dust that permeates the rest of the room. There is a double bed against the wall, the frame of it clearly the product of the carver, and it is quite lovely. The blanket covering it is handmade and very soft, obviously well cared for. The pattern of the quilt seems oddly familiar, looping stitches forming pictures between the colorful squares.

The room has a small fireplace in the corner, and a ready supply of wood by the grate to keep anyone occupying this room warm. An old fashioned tea kettle rests just above the fireplace, and a small cupboard holds cans and dry mixes for soup, as well as a supply of hot cocoa and tea. Whoever lived here clearly rarely left, though if that were by choice or by design it is impossible to tell.


11. The Bell Tower:

A tower wedged in between other buildings. On the ground floor is a small shrine with a mural of seven figures, some of them mixing human and other features, fighting some kind of vast, shifting darkness; seven candles rest on the table below it.

A winding stone staircase goes up to a heavy bronze bell hanging in an open tower that overlooks much of the city, taller than any nearby building.


12. Game Room:

In the midst of the rubble and ruins, a sturdy single-story brick building seems to have been haphazardly planted over whatever had once stood there before. Stepping inside will reveal a large room that has been clearly designed to allow for play of all sorts. Th floor is covered in soft, springy mats for dancing, gymnastics, or even roughhousing, and a large table dominates the back end of the room—it can be easily modified to suit anything from ping pong, to air hockey, to billiards, to foosball, to card tournaments, all thanks to helpful accessories and additions found in the rows of cabinets that take up the entire wall of one side of the room. The contents of these cabinets seem all but endless and change every time you look inside them—whether you want to find board games, roller blades, basketballs, balancing beams, or tabletop gaming manuals, you can find just about anything to help structure or facilitate play. The opposite wall is filled with shelves holding a bewildering array of toys and stuffed animals, things that encourage more imaginative freeform. A battered, overstuffed, but wonderfully comfortable couch is pushed against the back wall, and chairs are scattered here and there. All furniture is on wheels to help even youngsters easily arrange it to make more room for themselves.



13. The River:

At the far side of the ruined town lies a wide river that curves alongside long rows of crumbled buildings. It extends far into the distance, eventually vanishing into the fog and the forest beyond.

The river’s banks are steep and rocky, and its churning waters are perilously fast, treacherous and inhospitable even on the calmest of days. A bridge seems to have been once constructed to provide access to the other side, but it has collapsed at the center, and the far half has sunken into the river, rendering crossing all but impossible. Occasionally, one can see flashes of quick movement beneath the water’s surface—seemingly of fishes and other small creatures that reside within.

During the night, the river and the rocks surrounding it teem with large numbers of active Hunters. Although the sharklike reptilian beasts seldom make themselves visible by day, it would be expected that they remain somewhere in the depths below.



14. Carnival:

This fenced-off area near the edge of the fog seems like it belongs to another world entirely. A Ferris wheel stands at the far end of the fence. It doesn’t work and stands dark and looming over the entire area, but it allows for quite the view. The area is a maze of intertwined stall and carnival exhibits, including a rather ratty-looking fun house. At the very center of the dirty carnival grounds stands a carousel. It must have been beautiful once; the figures are obviously hand carved and well made. But time and disuse and lack of care have left their mark, leaving what must have once been the gem on this carnival’s hat looking creepy and unnerving. At times the horses seem to move, but when you turn to look they’re only wooden memories of fallen grandeur. The sounds of faint music can still be heard in the distance, and a fortune telling machine stands just by the gate, promising your future for a coin. But that’s just a toy, right?


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