Captain Amrothos of Dol Amroth (amrothos) wrote in untold_logs, @ 2008-05-10 14:01:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | shocked |
Entry tags: | amrothos, erchirion, essam |
Where would we stash a body if this was OUR house of horrors?
Who: Amrothos and Arato, namely, Essam, Erchirion, and Nandir, a guard and a girl
What: Amrothos and Arato "get lost on the way to the privy" and discover something grim and grisly and involve the other knights.
When: Just after Dinner and an arrival in eastern Belfalas.
Where: Somewhere in eastern Belfalas.
Notes: Part two of... eru knows. Probably 4 or 5.
Warnings: Snarky, spooky, features blood, a death, some disturbing ideas. Some language.
Amrothos had had better days than today. His legs were bitterly tired from long days in the saddle trying to keep up with his father's knights, and though his stomach was full of what had been a good dinner, but the cheer that had come over him was fast disappearing as he crept through the halls of what was turning into a hellishly backwater country manor with Arato. He paused at a door with a lock, bending to peer through the keyhole.
Arato glanced across at Amrothos from his own inspection of a bootprint that seemed...slightly suspicious in the light from the candles in wall sconces though he couldn't say why until he bent to sniff at it. Blood...but why...
Amrothos lifted his head, the room being too dark to see anything. "What is it?" He asked, peering over before... he felt his stomach churn a little. That didn't look like a mud print. "Is that blood?"
"Smells like." Arato straightend and then shook his head. "And even so...that would imply... If he's keeping prisoners somewhere...I don't like that this much blood would come out of a simple torture session. They usually want people alive don't they?"
Amrothos was carefully lifting a candle off the wall sconce as Arato talked, but not carefully enough. Hot wax dripped down his fingers and he cursed silently, before shining the light over the floor, looking for blood in other darker spots on the floor, hoping for some kind of trail. "The person may already be dead..." he muttered quietly. "But maybe not. When they cut my face open there was so much blood on the deck I thought I was dead."
"Where would we stash a body if this was OUR house of horrors?" Arato glanced around, following Amrothos's gaze. "...I don't think there IS a trail...which ought to imply some kind of entrance..."
Why was it so damn cold in this manor, Amrothos wondered. As he held the candle up in front of the gristley floor scene, the candle light fluttered. "Arato," he said, quickly, "come over here," he gestured to the wall.
Arato crossed over to the wall and pressed his hand against it. "I'm going to guess you've found something we can try?" he asked, trying to feel for some sort of break or handle or something else again.
"Let's give it a shove. If it moves even a little we'll know we're on the right track." Amrothos said, turning and pushing his shoulder against the wall. "If it wasn't so damn dark it'd be easier to see what we're dealing with."
"If it wasn't so damn dark, we'd be stopped before we'd gotten even this far." Arato added his own weight against the wall, timing his shove with Amrothos's after watching him a few seconds. "You don't suppose that some alert's been triggered elsewhere and we'll see irate guards soon do you?"
"I don't know," Amrothos admitted. He felt the section of wall seem to... well it was stupid to say stone rattled, wasn't it? But it moved a bit, like a door. "Let's push it sideways, he suggested, reaching up and putting the candle back in the empty sconce before more hot wax burned his hand. Oh, Erchirion would fuss at him over that one, grousing about the stupidity of sailors.
Maybe they should have gotten someone else to come with them or...at least Arato was still wearing SOME weapons even though he'd obviously ditched his sword at the table, not wanting to look distrustful of the situation. Erchirion would probably have words for him about that too, but then he was holding court over the rest of them now wasn't he, and probably loving every second too. "Right." he agreed, moving to attempt it. "On three?"
"On three," Amrothos agreed, placing both hands against the wall this time. "One... two..." He pushed inwards and to the left, and was surprised to find the wall was moving. It was on ...wheels.
"Thr...what the..." Arato's eyes widened as the wall pushed back, and no one seemed to be jumping out to attack them. "Let's take this," he suggested, grabbing the candle again. "We might want it."
Amrothos moved across the hall and grabbed a second one, nodding at Arato. "They built the wall on a wheel," he muttered, "and put the wheel in a track." He was staring at the ground now. "Why would you do that? It's a wall." With that knowledge in hand, it wasn't hard to wait for them both to be inside and roll it back to the position he'd found it in with one hand. They were in a dark, cold, narrow passage that curved steeply downwards.
"To keep out whatever he doesn't want seen." Arato answered, holding up the candle to try to get a decent look at the backside of the aparatus. "New I'd wager it. At least it doesn't seem that...we'd have known if it was common wouldn't we?" Somewhere along the way someone surely would have had to, that was how Dol Amroth's leadership worked.
"...he must have knocked the wall out," Amrothos concluded puzzedly. "Removed whole sections of it, replaced it with this thing. How do you do such intense labor without anyone talking about it?" It was incredible, really. How could no word of this reached Dol Amroth? Every day, informants poured into the rebuilt portions of the city, strapped of cash and full willing to sell local secrets for money.
"You kill everyone who built it when you're through." Arato mused, starting downwards a little. "Or you find a better price, the ones with children..." He'd seen things like it before though not on a level very much like this one. "It's easy to buy a man when you find the thing that he loves most."
"This is Belfalas, not Umbar," Amrothos said warily, but it was too easy to believe. The world was a changed place, as everyone kept saying. In a bad way. He carefully followed Arato down, ducking his head as the ceiling dropped lower and lower. The tunnel had been roughly dug and lined completely with stones. "This is unbelievable," he muttered, shaking his head. "What do you even think we'll find?"
It WAS Belfalas but sometimes... "People are ugly wherever you go." Arato said, by way of a response to that. "I think we're going to find proof of that. What form it takes...Eru only knows. At least no secret arrows have come out of anywhere yet."
Amrothos sighed. "If one of us DOES step into some kind of booby trap, the other should immediately run back and tell my father," he said. "This is... this is too big to leave concealed." Not that he thought his father would leave with anyone missing, but... but it could be days before they found the corpses.
"Agreed." Arato said with a nod. "And soon as we're out of...whatever this provided we both survive, we have to let him know as well." He didn't know the numbers they were up against here, but even so it wasn't the sort of thing.."the better we find cause to arrest him the better."
"Agreed," Amrothos said, his alarm growing as the stone-lined passage came abruptly to and end and rough-hewed wooden beams and clay bricks were heaped up on either side of the narrow passage, making an awkward squeeze. There was a badly hung door in a shoddy frame a little further on, and light inside, and Amrothos went quiet, ducking down and creeping nearer. "It looks," Amrothos whispered to Neal, "like somebody's funding ran out before the project was complete."
Arato managed, somehow, not to say a word for a few minutes as he glanced around. He knew that if he so much as opened his mouth right now, the rant that would come out would be absolutely spectacular, damning, full of suggestions for what they ought to do to the so called lord, vehmenent and...not much use to them in the moment. So he didn't exactly reply, just followed close behind Amrothos still holding the candle he'd taken from outside the passage. "Lets see what he did manage to fund." he finally got out through clenched teeth, fully expecting something terrible.
Amrothos carefully hid his light in a cluster of bricks, careful that nothing could catch on fire, then crept foreward and peered through the large crack between the door and the frame. There was.... a hollowed out room, like the tunnel had just abruptly come to a premature end, a table with a lantern on it, a man asleep in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, and... against the farthest wall was a row of heavy manacles, the kind Amrothos had seen in slaver ships, driven into heavy rocks on the ground. Almost all were empty, except for the small, frail form of a grimy person curled so small Amrothos thought for a moment it was a child. Careful not to make a sound, he moved away, making space for Arato to look through.
As luck would have it, there were a few smaller rocks amidst those containing the manacles and seeing that the sleeping man was obviously meant to be guarding the prisoner, Arato picked one of them up, moved quietly toward the chair, then cracked it over his head twice. The second for good measure, he told himself, and not for any sense of getting revenge. Maybe. "Insurance." he mouthed to Amrothos.
The man hit the table with a sick thud. This was obviously the location of the blood -- the place smelled of it, dank and bitter. The tiny curled form against the wall was a woman, who did not seem to respond at all to anything.
Amrothos crept through, resisting the urge to spit at the unconscious -- at least, for now -- man, focusing on the woman. "I'll look for keys," he told Arato in an undertone. It was obvious now at least the only way in and out of the tunnel was the one they'd come. "See if you can get her to talk."
Arato crouched beside the woman. "I'd try to pick the lock for you." he started, "But the key will probably be faster and we'll have you out of here." he told her, again, refraining from really launching into all the angry questions he might have. "Are you injured? I'm...not very good with treating people but I know a little if..."
The woman turned her head away from the wall to look at Arato. She was young, still a teenager, and stared at Arato with eyes so listless they appeared almost vacant. Her clothes were filthy and ripped, and she seemed to shrink further into herself. Long hair hung in her face, that had probably once been blonde, but was so dirty it looked nearly black. "He took the others," she said, her voice a rasping whisper. "I don't know where."
"How many?" Arato asked her, refusing to draw back as much as he wanted to. It was not her fault after all that this had happened. "We're going to help all of you, best we can." he said instead, meaning every word of that, because he was confident that it was true.
Keys, keys, where were the keys, there had to be keys somewhere, Amrothos told himself, searching the still body of the bleeding guard whose irregular breathing told him the man would die if left alone. There had to be keys somewhere, why wasn't there a big stupid keyring, like in all the stories?
"Five," the girl whispered, "I think... he killed some. He..." She lowered her eyes, staring into her lap. "...said there would be examples..."
"The gallows..." Arato sucked in a deep breath, then nodded. "It's going to end here, as soon as possible. There's enough of us upstairs to see it happen now and once they've seen down here. Do you think you can come up with us when we leave, if we help you?"
The girl's eyes widened in terror. "...but he'll be back," she whispered, "he takes me upstairs, he'll be back, he hasn't come yet..." it seemed like she was going to stop with that, but she burst out, the loudest thing she had said so far, "he'll kill my mother if I try to leave!"
"Bastard!" Amrothos said loudly. "He must have the keys with him, I can't find anything, we'll have to pick the lock if my luck doesn’t improve."
"No one's killing anyone now." Arato said, though this might not be strictly true. He sort of wished to be the one to drive a sword through Arantuar's heart and pin him with it to the ground and who knew if people might die mounting a fight to see him arrested but. "We're going to get all of you out of here and set up some proper order and none of this is going to happen again.." She hadn't said what happened upstairs but some things you didn't need to have explained when they were there before you in plain black and white. "Prince Imrahil himself is up there, Amrothos is looking for a key and there's lots of others with us too. "
The girl shuddered and lowered her head. "It will never work," she said miserably. "Tell Prince Imrahil to leave in the night before he finds out you know..."
Amrothos had rolled the guard onto the floor and was doing a full body search for the key. The man died while he was looking, which made Amrothos more than a little uncomfortable, to hear the last wheezy breath and then see and hear nothing, but at last he found a crudely made key, stuck in the man's boot. "Here," he said, passing the key to Arato. "Let's get her out of here. Where can we hide her? Do you want me to look and see where the knights are supposed to be sleeping? If I bring the lot of them we can pretend she's agreed to..... you know. Maybe if nobody gets a good look at her it will work."
"Good idea." Arato nodded, taking the key and setting to work on the girl's bonds. "That should be just enough I think to set it all in motion. " he said, then looked at the girl again, realizing he'd sort of...excluded her in all of this.
The girl was staring at her hands. "He'll kill you," she warned, looking up at him. "It's not safe..."
"Doing the right thing is never safe, but it still has to be done." Amrothos said, addressing her for the first time. He found her frightening. "You stay in the tunnel with her until I come back, Arato, I'll bring the knights." He stood up, stepping over the dead guard. He paused only to grab the candle he'd left outside the 'room' before he was walking quickly back the way they had come.
"No it isn't safe." Arato agreed, giving the girl what part of a smile he could manage down here. "But none of us are in this to be safe, you know. And things like this, people like you, who need our help...that's what we're all about."
The girl was quietly rubbing her wrists, which were badly chafed. "...no one really believes in brave knights anymore," she said, looking up at him, "not here."
Amrothos checked the hall from behind the sliding wall as best he could before he ventured back out, walking quickly towards the direction that he thought seemed most likely to have some large room where the knights could stay. "Hellloooo," he called down the halls, "knights of Dol Amroth, where are you?"
"I don't think we really believe it either half the time." Arato told her truthfully, "But times like now...well we need for there to be something to show off to people like yourself. I hope you find our act pleasing as well as beneficial. We'll do our best."
"Waiting until the armsmaster's asleep before we break our curfew!" Erchirion called from one of the rooms as he poked his head out and nodded at Amrothos. "Found something...special then?"
"I need as many knights as we can get together," Amrothos said breathlessly, "there's... we found a woman... we need to escort her somewhere safe... there's tunnels, they're building tunnels..." the words were almost incoherent as they tumbled out of his mouth.
"Well fuck." Erchirion swore softly, ducking back into the room. "Essam," he called to the knight commander, "We need someone to round the others up, there's been a situation. I can start out with a couple." he said, turning to Amrothos again. "It's probably better if a few of us play distraction actually. I don't know where the lord went after he dumped Imrahil and his..." ninja "helper..."
Nandir was one of the first on his feet, though he had no shoes. "I'll run interferance," he declared, "I'll start something in the kitchen going on about how we need more food. That should bring any scattered servants who might try to stop us."
"You'll suit beautifully there." Erchirion answered truthfully, giving him a nod and glanced toward the other knights who were now rising. "Take..." he found Essam behind him and pulled the knight commander into a quick conference because after all, he didn't know very many of them here that WELL yet.
"You and you...and you." Essam began, taking over smoothly, trying to mix the groups as much as possible.
"Someone should tell Father," Amrothos said as he watched Essam at work. "Does anyone even know where him and his" ninja security personnel secret service "bodyguard are?"
"No idea." Erchirion said truthfully. "The 'lord' escorted them somewhere after..." his eyes widened ever so slightly but... "No that would be insane." he said to himself. "...then again I think he's proven that he is insane but..." No, he had a ninja.
"...want me to find him after I make my distraction?" Nandir asked, as he tried hurriedly to shove both boots on his feet at the same time. "He wouldn't dare hurt the prince. It's impossible to hurt the prince, isn't it?"
"One would hope for that yes." Finished directing traffic with the knights who were present, Essam rejoined the conversation properly. "It would be beyond stupidity to do it when the group of us are here besides."
"So I'll run off to the kitchens and make a stir then find the prince, shall I?" Nandir asked, blowing his strawberry-blond hair out of his face impatiently, as if it would take too long to tie it back out of the way again. This place was getting worse by the minute.
"Please do." Essam agreed, "And I shall attempt to round up those who thought they may find you." he said, nodding towards Amrothos. "I do wonder what it is if anything that they have managed to find."
"I suppose we'll find out the hard way," Amrothos mused. "All right, everyone, follow me, and when we get where we're going, just surround the poor girl, don't let anyone see her." He set off with the group the direction he had come.
Nandir set off in the direction of the kitchen, single-handedly making more noise than all the other knights combined. Such were the virtues of being under the age of twenty.
Essam glanced out the small window, spying shadows that resembled a few of the knights at once, and immediately leaned out the window, attempting to catch their attention without speaking. Aiming a few pillows should do the trick, they were close enough after all.
"Well." Erchirion nodded to his little group and looked to Amrothos. "We follow you."
Amrothos nodded, and lead the way back towards the secret wall. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anyone in sight again. When he got to the place with the rolling wall, he knocked on it. "I should have thought of a damn signal," he muttered.
"THAT would have been an idea." Erchirion agreed, "But on the bright side I doubt he's gentil enough to knock." he managed to get out, before a knock was sounding back and the wall was vanishing before his... "I want one of these things." he announced to the knights at large. "Think how useful it would be keeping my siblings out of my clothes." That said, he immediately fell serious again as he reviewed the situation.
The girl stood shivering in the candlelight, as if the knights were wolves, about to devour her. Amrothos motioned for everyone to close in around her and Arato, then closed the wall again. "Get her out of sight as fast as possible," he said.
"Right." Erchirion said at once, following his brother's directions and motioning the knights forward. So far, so good. He hoped.
They encountered no one -- but heard a lot of noise from the kitchen -- before the girl settled in the farthest corner of one of the knight sleeping rooms, wrapping a blanket around herself and staring with blank nervousness at the knights. It left the awkward question of what to do now.
"And now..." Arato said, glancing at everyone in turn. "I'm going to assume we wait, and pose menacingly around her if anyone happens to come by. I suppose someone ought to try to find out where the people they're hanging tommorow are too but that seems a little harder to pinpoint. He can't have everything booby trapped like the wall can he?"
"I have no idea," Amrothos admitted. "I hope Nandir brings water back."
"I hope they trash it and his lordship spends the night having to clean the place himself." Erchirion knew he'd probably just find servants but still it was nice to imagine. "Or at least stands around down there to watch. He seems that type."
Sounds drifted over from the kitchen. "Worthless... you think knights of Dol Amroth eat that?" There was a loud clattering, like metal hitting the floor. "No, no, don't put that on the tray! I'll take that myself! Oh stop trying to help you only make it worse!" Nandir, it seemed, could take care of the distraction just fine.
At last, Nandir appeared in the door, carrying an enormous tray of... fruit, and nuts, and a lot of water. He seemed taken aback when he saw the woman huddled in the corner. "Well... uh... hmm."
"If anyone asks, we're...customers." Erchirion explained, crossing over to help him with the tray. "We're hoping no one does ask because that's going to be awkward."
"...this is already awkward," Nandir admitted, wondering how he was supposed to sleep with that horribly sad looking girl, who had to be his age, huddled in the corner with, well, his blanket. "What's her name?"
"Uh...." Amrothos glanced around, as if a name would suddenly just fall out of thin air.
"I've made it all the more awkward by not asking you that, now haven't I?" Arato asked the girl in an obviously self deprecating drawl. "As you can see, Imrahil's knights are always up to every standard on the books, except for me. Though I do beg your pardon, and would you mind sharing that?"
The girl drew her blanket closer around her, before muttering, "Morwen", refusing to look at anyone. It was hard to understand what was going on. If this was a rescue, it was... a strange one.
"Well... it's... it's nice to meet you, Morwen," Nandir said awkwardly, pouring her a glass of water. "You... look thirsty, do you want to drink some water? I don't think it's poisoned anyway. Do you want me to try it first?"
Morwen gave him a look like he was stupid and took the glass.
"...well okay then." Nandir said awkwardly. "...why don't I go find the prince." Girls had never been his strong point.
"Good idea." Erchirion tried not to snicker at Nandir, really he did, but it was close. Not that he knew many girls who weren't the sort to kill you if you so much as glanced somewhere away from their face, even if you were at a party and she was in a dress instead of uniform for once and you were trying to figure out how to get her to dance with you but...he digressed. A lot. "Won't Imrahil be most unsurprised to find out our suspicions are quite true."
"You all have fun getting to know each other," Nandir said, evacuating the scene as quickly as possible. On to find the prince then!