Night of Blood

[Colonel Blood]

Elsie

Turning round Elsie scans the yard for movement. Before venturing out once more into the rain to scan the roof and the sides of the stables, crossbow in hand poised to strike. Not wanting to be separated from the others once accomplished she moves back into the stables. "I can't be sure there is anything else out there and I suggest if we are to look in the other out houses that we do so as a group." Walking over to the blood splatter "Hey are these swords serviceable?"

[Colonel Blood]

Elie's sojourn into the yard reveals no further causes of concern. At the moment.

Rain comes in a waves through the open stable door and the open hatch in the ceiling.

Elsie bends to inspect the swords whuile her companions dump the mutated corpse.

One is destroyed - snapped in two by the charge of the horse. The other is in bad shape but only because its owner had neglected any maintenance in recent months.

Beneath the rust spots is writing etched on the heavy blade but without cleaning it it would be impossible to make out.

[Colonel Blood]

Who hate us? What did he do to invoke hatred from his fellow man? 'Who do mean when you say 'they'? Surely not the staff here?'

As Hugo grabs Alycorn's jacket and entreats him to explain, the Elf's eyes roll back in their sockets and he too crumples to the bed, lying over his erstwhile enemy.

Hugo is left alone with his suspicions and a banging headache.

[Colonel Blood]

Karl

"Where there's one beast there may yet be more..." Karl says to himself.

He begins looking around for a portable source of light while doing his best to ignore the bloody weapons laying on the ground.

a torch or somesuch would do nicely

"No telling how many more of these things are around here.... ready to jump out and murder us at any time... Damned foul creatures! Morr knows they're probably nesting in the attic."

[Colonel Blood]

Hugo

Hugo paced the room muttering under his breath. 'They're all asleep. Why? Was it the Beer? Was it the food? He said that he hated us. Who did he mean? He couldn't mean the staff? Could he?' Finally Hugo stopped in front of the window and looked out to se if Elsie was still in sight. If she was he calls out to her asking her what has been going on. If not he goes over to the door and starts looking for a weak spot.

[Colonel Blood]

Faldit

Faldit sighs, "I suppose you'll be wanting to go up there? Oh well." He looks up at his red-haired captor, "Do you think I might have my weapons back, please? I promise not to shoot at you."

[Colonel Blood]

Elsie

Taking some loose straw Elsie rubs a fair portion of the blood away from the broad sword. Still unable to make any of the writing out and with the blade still sticky she gets ups and uses a muddy puddle just outside the stable to clean off the remaining vial elements. Once the writing is legible she makes her way back inside the stables. She grins at Faldit. "How about we come to an arrangement. I'm guessing that you're educated enough to know how to dress a wound and read write. So if you would be so kind as to fix my shoulder up and read what’s written on this sword then you may have your weapons back. Sound fair?"

[Colonel Blood]

In the common room Hugo does his best to ignore the sleeping Elf and Dwarf as he tries to signal Elsie who keeps popping in and out of the stables. Unfortunately for him he can barely get his mouth to the window crack, let alone stick his head out. Besides, up near the gables as he is, the howling wind seems to be sucking his words away before they can reach the red-haired bounty hunter.

He turns his attention to the door. Running his hands over it in a search for weak points reveals nothing although Hugo's knowledge of wood tells him the door itself is by no means a strong one.

 

As he begins to check the hinges and locking mechanism he becomes aware that someone is walking down the corridor outside the common room, someone trying to be stealthy and failing.

The person stands outside the door for several minutes, apparently doing nothing. Hugo barely breathes for all that time and is eventually rewarded by the sound of steps walking away.

Hugo has never stolen anything in his life and his thieving skills are none existent. Living in the forest, neither has he had much truck with doors, but returning to his work he decides the lock is a fairly simple one.