suitsahero | Halloween

((OOC: Since a few people mentioned this, I thought I'd write one starter and whoever wants can tag in. This is one of my favorite sorts of set-ups so I don't think I'll get tired of playing it over and over if that's how this shakes out. I've tried to leave a variety of actual starting states or reasons to be there open as well.))

Getting up to the castle on purpose is difficult.

It's difficult to get to the bustling town at the base of the mountain. Transport is spotty at the best of times, mountain passes obscured by snow and ice most of the time. It's doable in the spring and summer, but the town is almost completely isolated in the fall and winter. Plenty of people make the journey, though, to enjoy the vistas, the peace and quiet through the winters, or just the ability to eke out a simple living, far from other stresses. The town is something of a tourist destination, both for those reasons and to climb a separate peak from the one with the castle on it. People go missing in the snows most years, but it's not considered dangerous beyond that, and everyone is warned extensively not to go wandering outside of the known routes or without a guide.

Nature is beautiful, but also deadly. It is nothing to be overly concerned about, beyond making sure people know how to be safe.

The people who actually live in the town are a bit superstitious, though, as only people living in relative isolation and in tension with a hostile environment can be. Which provides the next obstacle to getting up the mountain to the castle: no one is willing to take you. Stories vary on what lives up in the castle depending on who you talk to. A monster, a magician, an evil spirit, or just a strange artist who wants to be left alone. No one seems to agree on what is up in the tower, but everyone agrees that you don't go up there, you don't bother whoever, or whatever, it is. People don't come back or maybe people do come back but they're different, strange, don't remember things, or maybe no one has ever been up there at all.

And then, if you happen to still be painfully curious, particularly when you can clearly see lights moving through the castle in the evenings, the way up to the castle is also treacherous, requires skill and luck just to follow the unkept trail through the snow and rocks and trees, the way turned steep and winding through disuse. And the villagers also say there are wolves, though you've never seen any.

On the other hand, it is remarkably easy to find the castle on accident.

Nothing about it is magically easier, but if you throw safety to the wind, if your tent is ripped open by falling snows or you lose a trail you're supposed to be on, suddenly difficult and dangerous obstacles become your means of survival and climbing up to the castle doesn't seem like a journey to be embarked upon with caution but a last, desperate act of someone who doesn't want to freeze to death in the snows. Surely whatever is waiting there is better than that. Surely.

And what of those who fail? Who go out into the wilds only to succumb to the elements?

Well, no eyes and ears can be everywhere, but some few who do have their journeys set to end in the most final way possible might find themselves waking in a warm bed, instead, fire blazing merrily in a hearth. Are you lucky to have survived or not? Only time will tell...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

darlingdatura

Mikh'tan wasn't sure where things had gone so very wrong. He hadn't been meaning to be up on the mountain so long, the trail towards the caves he was looking for should have only taken an hour or two of hiking to get to at the most. He'd even started off bright and early so he would have plenty of daylight to find his way safely back to the town in.

And yet here he was, shivering and somehow utterly lost as darkness blanketed the mountain almost as surely as the blasts of snow. The storm the townsfolk had warned him of rolling in, no doubt. As small as he was, floundering through drifts was exhausting, the chill sapping warmth even with his many layers. Which meant that any concern about avoiding the castle fled his mind utterly when he realized how close it looked. Surely the rumors were exaggerated. Surely whoever made the place their home wouldn't begrudge the desperate Miqo'te intruding in such a worrisome situation.

Getting there was still a trial, Mikh'tan shuddering visibly as he finally managed his way towards what he could only assume was a commonly-used door by the small light set near it. Slumping against the frame as he knocked, huddling against the stone to try and shield himself from the wind while he hoped and prayed for an answer.

From:

suitsahero

It seems to take forever before the door is thrown open and maybe Mikh'tan would rather it hadn't, aside from the warmer air that comes out. There's a gaunt man on the other side, sallow faced and sour looking, as near to a walking corpse as Mikh'tan has ever seen, who looks at the young man as though he were a piece of lint to be picked off a garment,

"The master is busy. Go away," he intones and he's halfway to closing the door on him before there's another voice,

"Oh, let him in, Hodges, he'll freeze to death, else. Have you not seen the weather?"

"As you wish, sir," there's no difference in tone, the man might as well be an automaton, but he (Hodges?) stands aside so that Mikh'tan can come in. "The parlor is that way. Don't wander," he points and then works to close and bar the door.

From:

darlingdatura

Mikka is too cold, reflexes dulled too much to react in time to retort promptly, an exhausted little sob of protest slipping from him at the same time the other spoke. Stalling the doorman from shutting him out to die in the cold, the small Keeper wastes no time in accepting that small favor and ducking inside. Even if he edges a bit away from Hodges, slightly unsettled by the strange man.

The directions get a small nod from him, and he stomps what snow he can from boots and coat, both to get the blood flowing a bit better, as well as to try and avoid tracking it all over his savior's home before trudging towards the parlor.

From:

suitsahero

"Fetch him something warm to drink," the voice floats through again, getting louder as Mikka gets closer to the parlor, "He's probably half-icicle."

"Yes, sir," comes from somewhere behind, the sound of the older man moving off deeper into the castle.

It might be somewhat surprising to discover the parlor seems cozy, a fire merrily in the hearth, considering the assertion that guests were unwelcome here. It might be more surprising to discover that the "monster" in the castle, the "creature" everyone down in the village seems so afraid of, is a tall, attractive man with an equally surprising smile. He's a bit pale, like someone suffering from a prolonged illness, but he seem sprightly enough at the moment, standing near the fire as though to pick up some of it's warmth, himself.

"Come in, welcome! You can set your coat by the fire to dry. Oh, but you're soaked to the skin, you poor thing. Here, take off whatever you're comfortable with and come sit by the fire. You'll feel better in no time." It's such a difference from the man at the door (and so different from the picture painted by the villagers) that it's likely almost surreal.

From:

darlingdatura

It was such a drastic difference, between the tall, pale man, and the way he was described that Mikka could only assume that the townsfolk had run into his apparent manservant. That man, odd and intimidating as he was, he could believe being turned into the 'monster in the castle' by overactive imaginations. But this man, ill though he might be seemed too friendly for such a thing.

Muddled by cold as he still was, the logic of this made sense, the shivering Miqo'te gave a shaky nod, not yet trusting himself to be able to speak past chattering teeth, and did as he was bid, peeling out of the heavy coat and layers that had likely ensured he'd survive to make it to this unlikely haven. Down to a thin woolen shirt and pants, he sank into one of the chairs near the fire, ears finally lifting from their pin against his hair slightly as he held hands out towards the radiant warmth of the flames, glancing at his savior once he felt a bit more like himself.

"T-thank you sir," Voice still a bit raw from the cold, but at least words were possible. "I don't know how I wound up so miserably off-trail, but there's n-no way I would have lasted much longer out there-"

From:

suitsahero

"Here, this will help," there's a soft blanket wound around Mikka's shoulders a moment later, the man tucking it around him with deft hands, "The mountains are dangerous alone. It's a wonder you didn't freeze to death before you got here, to say nothing of the wolves. But we'll get you nice and warm again in no time, don't worry."

As though on cue, Hodges comes back in with a cup of something steaming that Mikka would soon learn was hot chocolate, thick and rich. The man takes it from Hodges and hands it to Mikka personally,

"Here you go, a good first step to bringing some color back in your cheeks. Hodges, would you see about preparing a room for our guest? He certainly can't go back down the mountain tonight."

"If you are sure that is wise, sir."

From:

darlingdatura

"Y-yes, I think I can count myself lucky that I didn't run into any of the local wildlife..." A soft murmured thanks for the blanket offered, Mikka aware of the quiver of exhaustion that was stealing over his limbs as adrenaline was starting to ebb. The cocoa was accepted gratefully, the little Miqo'te glad for the warmth of the mug between his hands

"You really are too kind though," He commented with a thin little smile, pausing only to take a sip of the drink, only just avoiding purring at the heat of the rich cocoa. Hodges seemed odd but... his companion was kind. Maybe he was just wary of strangers, given the apparent illness. "Does my savior have a name?"

From:

suitsahero

"Not at all. It's my pleasure," there's something about the word pleasure, not quite lecherous but definitely overly warm, "It's the least I could do for someone lost in the cold. The village is so far, after all. I'd be remiss to not offer whatever hospitality is within my ability to offer."

"Haurchefant," he says, after a moment, definitely an older name in this area, one that hadn't been in favor for a long time, "And who might my delightful guest be?"

From:

darlingdatura

Mikka was never really one to realize flirting. But that warmth to Haurchefant's tone was noticed, and he hoped the flush to pale cheeks would be attributed to the warmth of the blankets and cocoa more than anything. A shy smile won still though, tail twitching faintly.

"I'll have to think of some way to repay you even still," The other's name was indeed odd. Old-fashioned to say the least. Maybe a family name- with a castle like this, such traditions wouldn't be surprising. "It is nice to meet you though. I'm Mikh'tan, though m-my friends call me Mikka. If you'd like, I mean."

From:

suitsahero

"Nonsense, no payment is necessary," even he isn't quite so crass as to take that opening... at least not right away. Perhaps after this unexpected guest was a bit more comfortable... But while he wouldn't quite walk through that door, there were others he would gladly do so,

"Mikka, then," he looks and sounds just delighted, "Or at least, I should hope we might be friendly enough I could call you so. You should stay at least a day or two, regardless, until my servants can see what to make of the path after the blizzard. And I do hope we'd become friends in that time."

From:

darlingdatura

Mikka of course was ignorant to the potential for anything in his commentary to be fair. Tired smile brightening a bit at Haurchefant's kind response, nodding at the idea that he should stay. It certainly made sense to him, with how nasty the weather had turned.

"I certainly can't argue with such a sensible and generous offer." He hummed, snuggling down into the blanket a bit as the warmth was seeping into him, feeling much better for being out of the cold and with such a surprisingly genial host. "I'm sure in the meanwhile we'll be fast friends."

From:

suitsahero

"I hope so. I so rarely get visitors," everything about him sounds so sincere, but then why was Hodges so adamant that he didn't want to be disturbed? It's probably a little hard to think about when he's so warm and comfortable and Haurchefant is being so nice. "Perhaps you could even stay a little longer?"

There's something so longing about the last, like he's lonely beyond words.

From:

darlingdatura

Mikka wasn't generally a suspicious person. Tended to take people at their word, and so he saw nothing especially strange here. As muddled as he was at the moment, distracted by his kindly host, it was so very easy just to excuse it as Hodges being overprotective. Haurchefant looked like so pale it was likely he fell ill quite easily, and so far up the mountain it wasn't like help was easy to get to.

And he's entirely susceptible to that tone of longing. Remembered his own youth, how lonely he'd been, how lonely he still so often was and his smile gentled, something sweet and reassuring to it. "Well I can't say I have anywhere pressing to be. If you've a want to put up with a guest who am I to deny you that wish?"

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