Hour 1 (II)

[Roosje Greenfields]

While Rookie's calling her name did nothing to get her out of her panic, it was that same note of panic that she felt and now heard in the brownbark's voice that snapped Roosje out of it. Imagining things in her panic-driven mind was one thing, but letting one of her friends - well, the closest thing she had to a friend in this place full of strangers - undergo the same fate that she had been imagining was too much. At least, that was what she thought was happening, and when she quickly scrambled to the side of the bed she saw that she was not far off.

Completely forgetting that there were two animals in the room who could easily lift the Brownie in their claws, Roosje whistled to Inuya and quickly climbed up on her back. The animal jumped down from the bed. Being quite a bit bigger than the bugs crowding the floor, the red fox hissed and snapped, with Roosje on her back shuddering from being so close to the horrid little beasts. She had to fight to keep the panic at bay, but there was something more important at hand right now. The cockroaches scuttered away, just out of reach of the shir. Behind them, the bugs closed ranks again, almost as if on purpose. When fox and Birchbark reached the place where Rookie was, Roosje wondered for a moment why she had gone so far, instead of staying on the bed. That reminded her, there was a more or less safe bed waiting for them - human sized, so hopefully too high for the bugs to climb.

She reached out her hand and called 'Climb up, quick!' Before Rookie had climbed halfway, Roosje grabbed her elbow and practically hauled her the rest of the way up. Without giving her the time to settle down, the white Brownie gave her fox the signal, and with two or three bounds the animal was leaping up on the bed again, with Roosje holding Rookie so that the brownbark wouldn't fall. When they were safely on the bed, the two of them slid down onto the blankets. Roosje was still fighting off the panic, but now that she was more or less safe - and snapped out of the gulf of panic from earlier - it subsided just a little. She just had to make sure not to imagine too much. She visibly shuddered, goosebumps rising on her white flesh. "I absolutely, with all my heart, 100 percent DESPISE those critters! Uhgg!" She felt some bile rising in her throat, so she quickly swallowed it. No need to dirty the only place where they were still free from the horrid little beasts.

[Mannix]

Mannix heard a murmur behind the door as he waited, but wasn’t able to make out what was said. He glanced to the left and then his right, paranoia now filling his mind. No one was there. But then he heard a sound and jumped. He looked back at the door but saw instead a golden haired woman. Menora was looking back at him, slightly surprised, and spoke. Still shocked from the noise, which he now realised was the doorhandle, Mannix missed most of what she said. He managed to hear the last few words, with the mention of a ghost.

“A ghost? No, it was much worse. Much more real.” Mannix was clearly agitated as he spoke faster and faster until he started stammering just trying to get all the words out. “There’s a dead man, at least I think it’s a man. There was blood everywhere, I didn’t know. And the smell, there was this awful smell. So I looked in the wardrobe, because Fenyx was gone, and there was this corpse, all mutilated. And there was so much blood. It’s in my room, in the wardrobe.”

Mannix closed his mouth rather abruptly, realising that not a word of he had said made any real sense. It was just this whole place; it gave him the creeps. And all those stories, and that barkeep. Taking a deep breath, he tried desperately to calm himself and achieve a semblance of a somewhat more peaceful state of mind. “There is a corpse in my room, all covered in blood. We need to do something. I need your help.” Talking calmed Mannix and he realised that he was overreacting, and rather badly as well. He had seen plenty of dead creatures; in fact he had killed many himself. So why should a person be any different, they’re just like animals. It was in pretty bad shape though. Mannix closed his eyes, trying to piece together his distraught mind. A picture rose in his head and he was unable to ignore it or see anything else. The barkeep, Haz, covered in blood. Mannix wrenched his eyes open and looked at Menora, but still he faintly saw the image, hiding in his eyes.

[Eric Kattaisson]

In any other place of lodging, Mannix’s words would have been a shocking revelation.  But when Menora heard his description of the body, she only felt a slight rush of excitement, perhaps even joy.  Here was something, after all!

She hurried over to the still open door of room nine, noticing the unmistakeable stench of death as she entered.  Covering her nose and mouth with a handkerchief, Menora approached the body in the wardrobe.

Yes, this was exactly as she had expected.  The victim was an almost unrecognisable mess, just like the others.  Terrible gashes covered the whole corpse, and the skin had started to blister.  Thankfully, the coldness of the room had prevented the flies from multiplying too rapidly, but they were there, none-the-less.

The smell was getting too much, causing Menora to retch.  With a determined stride, she marched back out of the room, and approached Mannix.

   “Right, we need to make sure everyone else is safe.  I’ll check on our little friends, you go and get Seh’nara!”

The safety of the other unexpected guests was paramount.  Once she knew that everybody was okay, Menora would be able to think more clearly.  She took a deep breath, tried to ignore the unusual scratch marks that she’d noticed earlier, and knocked loudly on the open door to room thirteen, before entering.

A sickening, crunching noise made Menora look at the floor.  Much to her disgust, it was covered in hideous cockroaches, now scurrying for cover in the dark corners of the room.  Instinctively she stamped out at a few of the closer ones, but before long they had almost all retreated into their dingy dens.

Looking back up, Menora saw something that made her stomach turn even more than the swarm of noisome little creatures; Rookie and Roosje were on the bed!  Having no desire to go near the dirty thing, Menora hovered in the doorway.

   "I hope you'll excuse me for disturbing you, but I had to make sure that everything was alright."  She paused briefly as she considered how to procede.  "Have any of you noticed anything, erm, unusual about your room?"  Menora's eyes shot a glance over at the wardrobe.  She couldn't smell anything too sinister, but the door was firmly closed.  She wondered, with a morbid curiosity, just what the cockroaches had been feeding on.  As she waited for an answer to her enquiry, she slowly approached the wardrobe's door...

[Mannix]

Mannix followed Menora back to his room and back to the ghastly sight. He was reluctant to, but neither did he want to be alone. His fear had grown far past rationality and not matter how many times he tried to calm himself, the effects were only temporary. Whenever he achieved even the slightest bit of serenity, a creak or a shuffle would set him on edge again. Mannix stood just outside door, not willing to enter the room but still keeping Menora in sights. She had a quick look at the body and then returned to him. She took control and told Mannix to check on Seh’nara. Make sure everyone is safe, somehow that seemed impossible.

Menora turned from the elf and, without a word, so too did he, to walk down to the next door; number seven. He raised his hand to knock, but stopped. He couldn’t speak to his fellow elf in the mess he was in now. Hand still raised in a fist, he closed his eye yet again to calm himself. Hopefully it would be longer lasting this time. Mannix though back over the events, trying to fight his fear rather than hide it as he had before. He saw the body again. It was a mess, but surely there were worse things, scarier things. And then he remembered the forest. There were things in the Thaelon much worse than this, things not even vaguely humanoid. No, this wasn’t that bad, he was just overreacting.

Mannix opened his eyes and suddenly felt much better. He felt strong, he could get through this. There had been worse things in his life. With his still raised hand, Mannix knocked on the door, loud enough to wake the elfess inside, or at least her wolf, but not as erratic as before. The elf breathed in deeply and stood in front of the number seven door.

[Seh'nara Celebrindal]

“Hello, darling.” The bloated corpses in front of her whispered in unison, the deathly tone making Seh’nara shudder. The horribly mutilated face of her mother smiled warmly. Her arms outstretched towards the elfess, she shambled forwards a few steps. “Won’t you give Mother a hug?” she said, her cheery tone making the picture a whole lot more frightening. Seh’nara squeezed her eyes shut and shoved her fingers into her ears. She wouldn’t listen; she wouldn’t see. See no evil, hear no evil, she thought desperately. Seconds later, a cold hand wrenched her fingers away. Seh’nara looked up fearfully to see her father’s swollen face leering towards her. “Not listening to your mother? Well, you must be punished, then.” The elfess screamed in fear, scrambling back a couple of paces. In the background, loud drumbeats started up, each beat heralding her impending doom. “No, no, NO!” Seh’nara screamed, flinging her arms up as her parents lunged at her.

Seh’nara’s eyes flew open, the dream still fresh in her mind’s eye. Tears born of fear and guilt started to pool in her hazel orbs, overflowing in seconds. The sorrow that she felt was suffocating, though some of it escaped through her tears. Silver, worried for his mistress, started to whine. Seh’nara reached out and pulled him into a warm embrace. Burying her face into Silver’s fur, she took comfort in the familiar smell of her wolf.

Occupied as she was with dealing with her inner demons, she didn’t pay much attention to the banging on her room door. The dream addled elfess had thought that it was the remnants of the funeral drums of her dreams.  It wasn’t until Silver shifted and gave a small bark at the door, then Seh realised that the drums was actually someone knocking on her door.

Taking a deep breath, Seh sat up straight. Whoever that was outside her door wanted her attention. Common sense told her that it was someone friendly – anything evil wouldn’t knock so politely. She threw her legs over the edge of her bed, her bare feet landing soundlessly on the wooden floor. Seh paused for a moment, gazing at her hands, curled into fists. It wasn’t her fault, and she knew it. Though it’s hard to believe it, she admitted to herself quietly.

A nudge from Silver brought her back to reality. The knockings had stopped, though from the way Silver was staring at the door, whoever it was hadn’t left yet. Seh stood up quickly, realising that she had kept the visitor for far too long. As she moved to the door, she wiped the remaining tears away. Though she knew that her eyes would be awful red, and her trembling hands would be an immediate giveaway for her, it couldn’t be helped. She opened the door a little, first peeking over the side to see who it was.

The rather handsome elf with the curious eyes stood outside; although right now, he was looking a tad panicky. Before his first word, Seh could already sense that something was amiss. “Mannix? What happened?”Seh asked, an undercurrent of worry colouring her tone.

[Mannix]

The door opened to reveal the copper-haired elfess, looking rather tired. Barely hearing her question Mannix answered with his own. “Are you alright?” Mannix glanced over her shoulder into her room. Behind her stood the wolf, coloured like a greyscale rainbow. Mannix caught his breath for a blink before remembering that the wolf belonged to Seh’nara. Looking back at the elfess, Mannix explained, “There is something wrong here. Something terribly wrong. I found a body in my wardrobe. It was in an awful state. We need to do something.”

From Mannix’s shoulder, Fenyx started whimpering. Mannix brushed Fenyx’s tail out of his face and lifted the ferret from his shoulders. Wrapping his arms tightly around the ferret, Mannix continued. “Menora as gone to check on the Brownies. Only the innkeeper doesn’t know. Should we wake her? I don’t think she would be very happy though.” Fenyx continued to whimper in Mannix’s arms. Something really wasn’t right about this place. The state of it, its odd barkeeper and the corpse. And this was all hers, the innkeep's. Maybe they should let her sleep until they all know what is going on.

"Maybe we should check on Menora and the Brownies first. Just see what is happening. And she seems to know more than the rest of us anyway."

[Roosje Greenfields]

Roosje looked over at the open door when she heard footsteps approaching. To her great relief, the nice woman who had carried their key up for the three brownies scared away the cockroaches. Of course, they weren't *really* gone, they were just biding their time until all grew dark again... Roosje shuddered at the thought.

Menora asked them about anything unusual. The white brownie grinned ruefully and answered: "You mean apart from the cockroaches? Not really. But then, we're not really big enough to notice anything behind closed doors." She added that because she saw the woman approaching the gigantic wardrobe, so she assumed whatever 'unusual' was supposed to have been noticed had something to do with that. "We're not even big enough to use the blankets on this bed decently." Roosje grinned. She was absolutely positive that the woman could not hear her. She wasn't about to yell her lungs out of her tiny body just so a big person could hear her, so she was talking in her normal tone of voice. Rookie and Derrik probably understood her just fine, but quite likely all that Menora heard were some high-pitched noises coming from behind her. Ah well, if she wanted to understand she'd just have to come a bit closer.

For a moment Roosje wondered what was behind the closet, that the woman should be so intent on it. Then she shrugged it off as something she probably didn't want to know anyway. Instead she turned to her companions, speaking in Browniin and suddenly sounding a lot less self-assured than before while talking to the woman. She even reached out a hand to Rookie, who was still sitting nearby after their little misadventure in the midst of the critters, and started plucking her sleeve in supplication. "So, uhm... let's eh, let's get ready to go with Menora if she leaves? Maybe? Eh, I don't... don't really want to stay here when those.... those things come back with a vengeance." The plucking of Rookie's sleeve increased in anxiety. "Please can we go with her?"

She stopped just barely short of starting to squeeze Rookie's hand, or begging to go with Menora. Knowing herself, if either of the other Brownies showed even the slightest inclination to stay after the woman was gone, she'd go to pieces and do both - quite hard. She didn't want to leave her newfound companions behind in the critter room, but she really, really didn't want to have to endure another moment in the company of the vermin. With some difficulty, she stopped the plucking, leaving Rookie's sleeve alone (for now), and repeated: "Please?" in a tiny little voice that betrayed just how scared she was of the crawling inhabitants of room number 13.

[Derrik Duskrider]

     The little Greybark sat on the nightstand, his right arm, still sitting in its swing, throbbed painfully. He leaned back against Jeroth, closing his eyes for a time. Between the throbbing in his arm, the dragon's heartbeat, and its heavy breathing, Derrik could hear almost nothing. He completely missed the slight tap as the tiny legs of each cockroach moved across the floor, oblivious to both the state of the panicked and the munching Brownies in the room.

     However, the faint sound of his name being called reached through the blanket of noise that had fallen over him. He opened one eye and then the other, looking around for a moment, though only seeing things at his current height. The Brownie nearly closed his eyes once more, believing that he had just been hearing things, but the sight of Roosje climbing onto the back of her fox and the lack of Rookie in sight caused him to climb to his feet. Looking in the direction that the red fox and white Brownie were going, Derrik's grey eyes picked out Rookie among a mass of what appeared to be a moving floor, but with a second glance turned into cockroaches.

     Even as he hurriedly swung onto Jeroth's back, with the aid of the dragon, he wondered how so many of the little beasties had gathered in one place. He has seen them before, though only one or two from time to time in his parent's home or in the inns he has stayed in, but he had never seen so many.

     By the time he got into the air, Roosje was more than halfway to the Brownbark. So he turned the dragon, shifting in his seat and using the reigns to get the steel blue beast to glide in slow circles overhead, ready to aid the brownies. However, there was little trouble as Roosje soon made it over to Rookie and helped her onto the back of the fox before returning to the bed. Derrik circled one more, about to have Jeroth land on the edge of the bed when the door opened. He looked curiously at Menora. While she spoke he relaxed a bit, bringing the dragon to a rather graceful landing on the edge of the bed, far enough away from the others that the beast's weight on the bed and the beating of his wings as he touched down wouldn't upset them.

     He listened to Roosje's words and watched the human woman curiously with one raised eyebrow as she moved toward the wardrobe. Deciding that they would probably be leaving this room soon, and wanting to avoid another ungraceful landing while sliding off the animal's back like last time, he remained where he was, urging Jeroth to move a little bit closer to the others so that he could speak with them in normal tones should they feel the need to address him.

[Rookie Brownbark]

Roosje could hardly have come at a more opportune moment - her fox scattered the clicking mass before they could swarm too close to Rookie.  She greatfully took hold of the hand offered to her and swung herself up onto the sleek auburn back with the other Brownie's help.  Then she realised why foxes weren't an everyday occurrence as a mount.  Unlike her own falcon, and the ferrets she had ridden before, the fox's back was absolutely huge - far far too wide for her legs to gain any purchase at all.  Rookie grabbed two handfuls of fur and hung on for dear life as the beast leapt up onto the bed, sliding off awkwardly when they reached the relatively soft sheets.  She hoped she hadn't pulled out any fur, although it was hard to tell in the dark.

Rookie noticed Derrik astride his fascinatly beast and wondered where her cantankerous mount had got to.  The bird had decided to perch on top of the wardrobe instead of coming to her mistresses' aid, probably in revenge for the horrible flight they had had.  Rookie heard the unmistakable crunch of beak on cockroach.  Suddenly the door swung open, lightening the room a fraction.  The lady who had helped them with the door quickly moved through it and began stomping on some of the still-swarming critters.  She said something about checking on them, and moved towards the cupboard.  Rookie didn't add to Roosje's words, just watched to see what would happen.  Did the woman know something about the cupboard?  Were there stories about this place that included the places big folk kept clothes?  It didn't really seem something that would inspire fear, but then maybe she should leave that thought until the doors opened....

She nodded enthusiastically in reply to Roosje's question, her eyes never leaving the big woman, transfixed by what might be behind those doors.  "We should rest in company tonight I think".

[Seh'nara Celebrindal]

Seh’nara listened quietly to Mannix’s tense explanation, a cold ball of fear slowly forming in her gut. She had imagined that the place held some sort of deep dark secret, but never something as gory as a mutilated corpse. Torture apparatus somewhere in the basement, yes. Cauldrons and witches work was fine with her too. But corpses? Now that was a whole new different level, and she wasn’t sure that she particularly enjoyed it.

“I’m fine. You’re right, let’s go and find the rest. Then we’ll have to sit down and see what our next step can be. As far as the innkeeper is concerned, I don’t even want to go near ten peds of her, let alone wake her. Let’s just bide our time.” Seh replied slowly, formulating an immediate plan out loud. “Give me a moment. I’ll get my things, and then we can go.”

The elfess turned, heading for her clothes and items. The lass sat down on her bad and started pulling her socks and boots on. What could they do now? Of course, they needed to stay together. That was a given. Maybe they could examine the body? Though she didn’t know if the others wanted to. It could be a particularly distressing thing to see.

A cold nose poked into Seh’s palm, making her jump. Silver flinched at the sudden movement; his golden eyes gazing at her quizzically. A small whine came from his throat. It was obvious that he was worried for her. Seh’nara gave him a weak smile and fondled his ears, trying to assure him. She didn’t want him to worry.

Standing up, Seh’nara took her weapons from her bedside table and strapped them onto herself, throwing her cloak on along the way. In seconds, she was back at the door and ready to leave. With a nod from Mannix, the two elves made their way to the Brownie’s room, reaching it in barely a minute.

[Eric Kattaisson]

   Menora didn’t really pay much attention to what the spooky brownie was saying.  Her attention was completely focussed on the oaken door of the wardrobe, and what might lie hidden behind it.  As her hand alighted onto the cold, brass handle, she paused.  Would it be best to open it quickly, and dramatically?  Or would a slow, cautious approach be better?
   Deciding that a combination of both would be best, she slowly turned the knob, and then let the door open just a crack.  She sniffed slightly, but instead of the suffocating stench of death that she expected, she only breathed in a musty, unused wardrobe smell.  Deciding that it was safe to do so, she then wrenched the door open fully, every muscle in her body tensed, ready to get her out of danger if the need arose.  But it didn’t.
  Instead of a furious wolf-man, or a hideous corpse, only several, forlorn moths emerged from the murky interior.  Somewhat relieved, though also curiously disappointed, Menora let out the breath that she had unconsciously been holding, and closed the door again.  Then she turned back to the hushed room.
   The three brownies were still, (unwisely), on the bed, whilst Mannix and Seh’nara lingered in the doorway.
   “I suppose Mannix has told you about our problem?”  Menora said, turning to Seh’nara.  “I wonder, what should we do now?  My own inclination is to find the owner, or her bartender, and confront them with our grisly find!  What say you?”

[Seh'nara Celebrindal]

Seh’nara tensed visibly as Menora opened the closet, Mannix’s gory tale ringing in her ears. As the wooden closet door creaked open, the elfess half expected a zombie or at least a dismembered head to roll out. Fortunately, nothing had taken residence in the wardrobe – save for a few moths.

Menora, obviously relieved, turned to her and asked her what was their next step. Seh’nara became thoughtful, their many possible choices running through her head. They should inform the owners, yes. It was a dead body, for goodness’ sake. The owners should rightfully be informed. But then… something was fishy about all of this. A dead body? Here? And the owners didn’t know a thing? Yeah, they’re completely innocent. Coincidently, did you know rainbows fly out of my ears on a regular basis? Seh’nara’s harsher side commented sarcastically.

Seh’s mind flashed back to the bartender… Hurk or something or other. Slowly, the image of the hulking fellow sharpened in his mind, and the thing that Seh’nara dreaded came into focus. The apron that Hurk was wearing had multiple bloodstains and the man was limping. Suddenly, the prospect of finding the owners didn’t sound as reassuring after all.

“Well. Informing the owners should definitely be among the things on our list,” Seh’nara said slowly. “But to be honest, I’m not sure that it would be the best idea.” Seh’nara looked around at the collective group. “Think about it. The corpse was in an ‘awful state’. Remember the barkeep? His apron. It was stained with blood. We might be going into further danger if we even try to find them.”

Seh’nara uttered the last sentence with a hint of doom in her tone, gazing at each one in turn. As the elfess waited for the general response to her statement, she ran her hands up and down her arms, feeling the goosebumps. Whatever the group chose, all she knew was that there was no way she was sleeping alone. This night was turning out to be an even worse nightmare than she’d expected.

[Mannix]

Mannix was on edge as he walked beside Seh’nara to the other room. The poor light played tricks on his mind, aided by his constant glances around the corridor with each step he took. He tried desperately to check each shadow for nonexistent danger, but the poor light made his attempts in vain. As the two elves came up to the door of the Brownie’s room, they stopped. Mannix also stopped his glancing for now, though he hated turning his back on the corridor, and instead he turned his gaze to the room, filled by the three Brownies, perched on the bed, and Menora, standing by the cupboard. Seeing the whaler standing there, with her hand on the handle, Mannix tense. His back straightened, and his fists clenched by his sides.

Each moment Menora spent turning the knob of the wardrobe seemed to lengthen extraordinarily for Mannix. The few blinks it took seemed to take stacked up into  numerous minutes, suspending a discovery Mannix dreaded. Finally, the suspense was broken, as Menora flung the door open, revealing nothing worse than some moths. Mannix let out an audible breath. That was a relief.

With the wardrobe checked, Menora turned and saw the elves. In reply to her question of their next step, an answer came from beside Mannix. Seh’nara reminded Mannix what was lurking in the back of his mind. The barkeep, with the blood stains. Mannix had a little feeling that he wasn’t too trustworthy.

Weighing up their options in his mind, Mannix debated with himself on his suspicions. He had originally thought that Menora was a bit suspicious, but she seemed in the same predicament as the rest of them. So maybe the owners could be trusted. Perhaps he was jumping to conclusions. Mannix managed to slightly convince himself that the owners couldn’t have anything to do with the corpse. Maybe someone staying in the room had left it there. But a body isn’t a very easy thing to smuggle into your room with no one noticing. Mannix’s suspicion swayed as he thought over the subject. Unsure, he decided to voice his thoughts.

Starting off rather quiet, he said, “But surely the owners aren’t responsible. I mean, the couldn’t be, could they? There must be another explanation for all of this. Maybe they don’t even know the body is there; the rooms aren’t cleaned very often. Maybe we should tell them.” Taking a breath, he continued. “That barkeep didn’t seem very talkative though, he didn’t say two words to me. But maybe we should tell the owner?”

Mannix drifted off after that question, taking a brief break. As it had many times before during this night, Menora’s story filled Mannix’s mind. That didn’t make the owner out as a very good person either. Opening his mouth again, Mannix continued “Or… maybe you’re right. Maybe we shouldn’t tell them just yet.” Raising a hand to rub his eyes, Mannix paused. “Oh, I don’t know what to do. What else can we do if we don’t tell them?”

Mannix took a quick look around the group, followed by a glance over his shoulder. The sooner they did something the better, in his opinion. Just standing here made him feel unsafe. Even more unsafe than if they were doing something. The elf hoped someone would think of some course of action soon. Very soon.

[Eric Kattaisson]

   Seh’nara looked scared, and that was a bad thing.  Menora knew only too well how fear could grow and consume a person’s mind, infecting their entire being with its loathsome tendrils.  And even worse, fear was contagious.  Infact, the mysterious Mannix looked jumpy, too.  His furtive glance over his shoulder was just as telling as Seh’nara’s arm rubbing.  They were both beginning to lose it.  Of course, she could understand why they were feeling nervous.  It was Mannix, afterall, who had just found a mutilated corpse in his wardrobe.  He was probably still confused and in shock.
   “Okay, look,” Menora began, trying to sound as comforting as she could, “If the owners’ did know about that corpse, then I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t have allocated the room to anyone.  So, I think we can assume that it’s got nothing to do with them.”
   Actually, Menora was pretty sure that it had everything to do with them!  Well, the bartender at least.  He’d probably torn one of their previous guests into pieces whilst he was a wolf-man, and then stuffed the gruesome remains into the nearest hiding place.  Of course, he wouldn’t remember having done it the next day, when he had lost his feral ferocity.  Still, the main thing now was to keep everyone calm.
   “So I think we should all go together and find them.  It’s best if we stick together, we’ll feel safer that way.”  Menora glanced over at the three little people, hoping that they could understand everything that she was saying.  Then, as an afterthought, she added, “And even if the owners’ are responsible for it, I’d much rather know where they are!  The sooner we find them, the better.  But I think we should prepare ourselves for trouble, you never know how they’ll respond.”  To illustrate her point, Menora reached to her belt and slid a dagger from its sheath.  The whale-boned handle felt coldly comforting in her hand.  At least now she could more easily defend herself if someone, or something, did decide to attack...

[Rookie Brownbark]

The woman's hand rested on the cupboard handle for just a brief, tense moment before the dread portal was pulled open.  Nothing.  Well, a couple of dusty half-starved moths.  What had they been expecting again?  Two other bigfolk had entered and seemed equally relieved about the emptiness of the wardrobe.  Weird people.  She racked her brain for human stories featuring wardrobe monsters of some sort, but could think of nothing in particular.  As they began to discuss what they should do about the unknown threat, the Brownie's eyes wandered downwards to the floor, looking for the reappearance of her scuttling attackers.  Maybe they weren't used to the tread of human feet, because the noise was keeping the little animals in hiding.

The word "corpse" brought her attention back to the conversation.  That was...something to do with dead bodies right?  What dead body?  Had someone found a dead body?  Or...well, she didn't know these people very well, had they made a dead body?  Where were their two hosts and why had they not come running at the sounds the group were making upstairs?  She felt the comforting weight of the hunting knife in her hand, Rookie whistled for her bird, a long, high-pitched whistle.  Nothing.  Bloody animal.  She whistled again, longer this time, and the falcon swooped down from it's perch on top of the wardrobe, skimming the bigfolk's heads by the skin of its teeth before swooping down to rest by the Brownies.

Once her getaway was there, Rookie felt far more secure.  She quickly whispered her fears to the two behind her in Browniin, "They've killed someone!  There's a body and they're talking about how to get rid of it.  What should we do?"  Moving back so that they were grouped more closely, Rookie kept her eyes on the gathering of bigfolk, glaring up at them with mistrust.  When the woman who had opened the door drew a long, white-handled knife, she couldn't keep the words inside any longer, and the Tharian burst out

"Wha' goin' on?  Who dead and who kill dem?"

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