DAY 025

[allthekeys]

|| THREAT DOWN

|| DAY 025: GENERAL The day breaks clear and cold, with drifted snow piling in places as the wind picks up. The sun shines brightly, but the day remains bitterly cold, the wind just strong and cold enough to sting. The main gate set in the outer wall opens briefly at daybreak; the guards that had previously left return, looking battered and somewhat the worse for wear, while another group heads out to take their place before the gate is closed and locked again. Walter will wake to find a pile of fresh fruits and vegetables of types that grow within the gardens nearby; on top of the pile is a small, carved wooden charm of a simple flower surrounded by leaves on a leather cord. The charm is always faintly warm to the touch. || TOWN In the Town, the townsfolk are packing up from the festival; during the early part of the day, there is a table and cauldron out, with the remainder of the food and drink from the festivities, free for any passing by. The candles and pennants are being gathered up and brought to the inn. The villagers avoid the burned out row, although there is movement within the area, and a faint smell of rot on the wind. At first glance, the hulking figure at work looks like one of the bullmen, carving into the cold ground to pry up blocks of sod, but its movements are stiff and it does not respond to voices. On closer approach, there are gaps in the hide, blood dried black matted in fur, and no faint clouds of breath as it toils. The monks continue their faint singing as the day carries on until the last of the festival is cleared. When that finally comes to pass, they as one raise their voices in one magnificent chord and file back into the monastery. With that, anyone outside the castle proper will feel an invisible pressure vanish with a snap, as if some kind of presence in their inner ear has died away. After a brief moment of imbalance and potential nausea, life will return to normal in the village. || CASTLE With the Merry Gentleman’s revel ended, the Grey Maids and any servants assigned to the first floor have their work cut out for them; the Great Hall is still lined with long tables filled with half-eaten food, most of which is starting to turn, some of it inexplicably already rotting and infested. The floor is covered in scuffs and dirt, with dried bloodstains here and there. The Kitchen is also dealing with some of a cleanup job as well as its usual routine of cooking, although the leavings and mess are in far better condition; those on kitchen duty are merely faced with stacks of pans, pots, and utensils to clean. A small table to the side holds scraps; while some of the bread and baked goods are slightly stale, the food left out here is in good condition, left out for anyone passing to take. || GARDENS AND YARD The Gardens are snowed in; those entering will have to contend with, or work on clearing, snowdrifts that cover the paths, although the snow is thinner under the canopy, so long as the trees it’s collected in aren’t jostled. The trees still have not lost leaves, thriving in spite of the cold, and here and there the top tips of leaves, ferns, and flowers peek out of the snow covering the ground. The Green Man seems to have gone dormant, covered in snow and rooted into the ground by the Shed deep in the gardens. The crow that often accompanies him can often be found taking shelter in one of the nearby trees, puffed out for warmth. Inside the shed, there is a stockpile of hardy vegetables of the sorts available in the gardens that seem to stay fresh no matter how long they stay within the tiny building; once taken out, this protection ends, but they have a normal lifespan. Various herbs and other useful plants hang around the walls inside, drying. The animals in the Stables are unusually ill-tempered today. It’s not clear what might be agitating them, but whatever the reason, they are liable to take any opportunity they can find to nip and kick at the servants who are tending to them. The Guards keep a scrutinous watch over anyone who is doing chores--or anything else--in the vicinity of the animals’ enclosures. Errors, it seems, will be quickly reprimanded. The chores for the day have been assigned: Dorm 18: Third Floor Dorm 19: First Floor Dorm 20: Third Floor Dorm 21: Groundskeeping - Garden Dorm 22: Groundskeeping - Garden Dorm 23: Basement Dorm 24: First Floor Dorm 25: Second Floor Dorm 26: Kitchen Dorm 27: Groundskeeping - Road/Yard, Stables