Mysteries of Hanging Knoll Inn (open)

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The smell of Minetown Shanty was nostalgic.

Castel Virga the fox skidded to the sudden stop in the dusty gray pebbled street, sending a small cloud of airborne particles puffing into the air. The temperature was stagnant, and the weather humid. The streets of Minetown were deserted, but this was expected so early in the morning. The Shanty lived by the clamor and racket of midnight and full-night bar brawls that sometimes lasted to near-dawn. The noise and revelry of thieves and assassins, lurking through the night shadows and making their under-the-table deals, others gambling under the moonlight; it is natural to understand that the moment intense rays of sunlight strike the streets, the underworld society collapses. Animals collapse and others pass out under the influence of heavy narcotics dealt by the crimelords of the area.

Morning rises and the city snores.

The regulars of the area knew that the safest time to strike Minetown Shanty is in the early morning, when the roughest troublemakers are inclined to be asleep. Castel was one such regular, and although he did not doubt his ability to hold his own in the unpredictable rowdiness of Minetown at midnight hour, it was much better to hit the Shanty apart from the night hours if one had no intention to attract a street fight (which were liable to suddenly break out without warning or provocation in Minetown in the evening). True, there were merits in strength and courage for those who braved the Minetown at night, but for even seasoned locals, there was a certain extent when bravery became nothing but excess foolhardiness. Travelling the Shanty at night was one of those follies.

Regardless, Castel took a few minutes to look to his left and right, trying to recall his memory of the Minetown streets. It had been several moons since Castel had been here last, and shanties like Minetown were susceptible to sudden and abrupt changes overnight, thanks to the actions of street gangs lighting fires to buildings and barriers suddenly erecting themselves. Castel had a quick message to deliver, on behalf of VICTUS (the organization whom Castel took a job from), and the recipient lived somewhere down near Hanging Knoll’s Inn. If he recalled correctly, it was this avenue to his left… and another quick wheel to the right…

Or was it?

Castel Virga stopped in his tracks for the moment and scratched his ears with his hind legs, reaching an itch. Something didn’t make any sense, and it should have been obvious. But what was it?

ooc;; by the way, Cloud will be gone for three weeks starting the 20th, so if you decide to join cloud here, be aware you won't be receiving any replies... for a little while. But thank you for your patience!

[<<WHISper>>]

[bg=E3A869][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=border,0,true] regular, speech, thoughts, other(s) //How cruel! How could she not see what her actions did to me! What have I done wrong? What did he do that was so right?// Thoughts like these and more plagued the little maiden’s beautiful head, biting at her heels like little pests, causing just enough pain to make a tear or two cascade from her silvery eyes. Her big beige ears were lowered in sadness, almost dragging in the dirt as she slinked silently onwards, dainty head held low and tears blurring her vision. Her soft furry paws made next to no sound, probably thanks to her exceptionally small size. Her long bushy tail, tipped in ebonite, dragged on after her, an obvious sign of the sadness that lurked within her heart. Being a Fennec Fox made her the smallest of her species, in fact she was the smallest in her family. Right now her dainty features didn’t seem to match the area she had stumbled into. Having run blindly for more than an hour brought her to Minetown Shanty, not the best place to be for a young fox like her. The smell was the first thing to alert her and instantly her dainty head bobbed up, causing her fur to bob with the movement. She blinked tears away and opened her eyes, frightened to find the shadows of Minetown Shanty looming over her like a predator ready to pounce. Her sensitive ears picked up no sound and she breathed a breath of relief. //I should probably be heading back. Mother will start to worry if I don’t.// Her whiskers flicked forward then backwards as she turned to leave, exposing her backside towards the ghost of a town. She was just lucky enough that city became silent as a graveyard the moment sunrays hit the buildings and streets. Suddenly she could hear pebbles being disrupted and her large ears perked at the sound, swiveling to pinpoint it while a cold shiver crept slowly down her spine, almost causing the hair in the nape of her neck to rise. //What’s that?// Suddenly the Fennec Fox maiden fell to her belly, pinning her ears flat to the nape of her neck. Fear seemed to sail into her heart like a snake, hissing all the way until it constricted her heart. The sound had come from the other side of the small town, just behind a large broken down building and down the main road. For a long moment her heart and her mind was in battle. Her adventurous heart stirred her to get up and explore the sound while her sane mind denied her the opportunity. Silence came to her hyper sensitive ears and she soon went to work, convincing her mind that the threat had passed, //Whatever made the sound must be gone by now anyways. If I go to search it out I might just determine if it is so or not. If I don’t go the stranger could ambush me on my way back home.// Finally her mind relented. Her argument had made enough sense and slowly she stood up and slinked down the street, staying close to the wall of the grey building to her left. She neared the corner and slowed, peaking her eyes(and one large ear) around the corner. There, not too far from her sat another fox, scratching an itch. Suspicion filled her. What was he doing here in the city of criminals? //He looks harmless enough.// Kamii finally emerged from the corner, large ears coming into view first and foremost before her dainty body followed. She proceeded to the middle of the street and sat down, mirroring the other fox except she didn’t start to scratch herself. Instead hse cocked her head to the side, only slightly so, indicating her curiosity… OOC: LOOOOOOOOOVE the new Posting Templates!! It is genius!

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Castel became aware of the female fox when raw instinct told him that someone was watching. Unusual, because most foxes had highly acute senses, and it was very rare for an individual to have so soft footsteps that Castel could not hear them before they came in visual range. But given the size and mass (and whatever magical quicks characters were liable to have), Castel had long gotten over being surprised when the unsuspected occurred. Years on the caravan trails of the less-than-friendly rogue country taught him than appearances were frequently deceiving.

The young arctic fox didn’t make any particular motions that indicated he noticed the female, nonetheless, and continued scratching himself and muttering inaudible segments about street directions. Pretending ignorance was often a powerful means of determining what strangers truly had in mind, even though it mind appear rude to some. Impatience? Demanding anger? What reaction would they have? Castel wasn’t precisely too desperate to find companions, especially in the middle of Minetown Shanty, so he found it worthwhile to test an unknown stranger’s patience before he started making judgments.

When it became clear that the female was not moving and was evidently intent on him, Castel sighed and turned to face the fox maiden straight on.

“It’s not particularly safe to wander the streets of the city, even if in the morning. You never know if those you meet are in fact dangerous criminals or not.”

Castel said this ambiguously, lazily tossed to the side in a mildy menacing accent Minetown-natives had when they spoke to each other, as if implying he might be one such native. Of course, this actually wasn’t his real accent—the Salom traders were much more cultivated than the predominant Cruori rogues who roamed these parts—but Castel grown up around enough Minetown Cruori to be able to mimic the dialect with sufficient tone.

He looked at the female more carefully now (but never directly, as you never look directly at others in Minetown—wanted criminals and assassins tend to take offence), and noticed she was in fact older than Castel had at first presumed, probably even around his age. This misassumption was due to the fact that she was unusually small for a fox, as all Fennec foxes were. Quite pretty, soft-footed, and probably not excessively familiar with Minetown given the way she moved. If he had to guess, Castel would assume she was a nomad Salommite (not so much different than himself), and probably one who had followed a more traditional Salommite career-path than the adrenaline-heavy occupation Castel had picked for himself. But then again, those found in Minetown often turn out to be much more lethal than they first appear to be.

“Can I help you?” He added nonetheless.

The female was pretty, Castel would probably admit, but that was all the more reason to be cautious.

[<<WHISper>>]

[bg=E3A869][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=border,0,true] regular, speech, thoughts, other(s) It took more than a few moment for the male fox to realize that there was another staring at him. Kamii was slightly confused and her ears twitched in just such a position that they betrayed her confusion. //Wasn’t he a fox? Weren’t we the most observant of all the species? Nothing slipped our senses. Why did he take so long?// Her little dainty brow furrowed and her little head dipped to the side, ears following. Something was off here and Kamii picked up on it. //Had he been ignoring me for a while on purpose?// Already a small hint of suspicion filled her. After all she was within the reaches of Minetown Shanty. All the worst creatures called this place their home. Even the Vikare frequented this place. Her muscles seemed to tense for a long moment and finally the male fox made a physical note of her presence, stopping his scratching to stare right back at her. //Oh of all the…!! Didn’t he know staring was impolite?// She suddenly stood upright, holding her little head high and flicking her tail from side to side in a little irritated manner, making her feelings regarding his stare known. She soon quieted down though and walked over to him, walking in an unintentional sultry manner. He finally turned his full attention to her and spoke, “It’s not particularly safe to wander the streets of the city, even if in the morning. You never know if those you meet are in fact dangerous criminals or not.” His accent was enough to immediately stop her in her tracks and the hairs upon her nape seemed to rise with distrust. She wasn’t familiar with such an accent but danger was hidden in every syllable and she knew now without a doubt that this wasn’t a creature she wanted to know. Unfortunately she was boxed in, two buildings to both her sides and she had no choice but to start backpedaling. She didn’t allow fear to cloud her expression or thoughts for that matter and kept reversing, ears flattening. He had the perfected accent of some of the Rogues she had the misfortune of running into and she didn’t plan to go through something like that again. If this same encounter had taken place on any land closer to home, Kamii would have bit his ears off, but being at such a disposition made her really antsy. For all she knew it could even be a trap and now the fear flowed to her face, creating an anxious expression. “Can I help you?” Seemingly that was all it took and with a sudden whirl the little Fennec fox spun on her heels and took off at full flight, running in the direction she had come from, heart pumping, ears flattened as she breathed in gasps… OOC: PLEASE feel free to run after her *^_^*

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Oh dear, there she went.

Those were the first few thoughts that flicked through Castel’s mind as the poor little Fennec turned tail and bolted off. It was more than clear now that she was a tourist—perhaps an adventurous one at heart. Apparently however, his Minetown accent must have scared her off.

Castel watched sufficiently without comment as the fox maiden drove dust into the air as she run. It was a shame, because she was quite attractive—but he had unfinished work to attend to. Castel left little more than one glance at the Fennec as she disappeared in a plume cloud of murky air, before he turned back to face himself towards the complicated streets of Minetown Shanty. The arctic fox was about to continue on his own way before the thought occurred to him:

Wasn’t she headed towards Sculldrop’s Gully?

That wasn’t a particularly safest outskirt of town, and it was infamous for the number of Sculldrop Rattlesnakes that lurked about after morning. Their feeding time would be… soon, if not right now. A single scratch from a sculldrop’s fang stored enough poison to kill most light-weighted beasts, foxes included. As a matter of fact, the entire outskirt was originally called a gully because of the numerous unsuspecting neurotoxin-paralyzed victims who were tossed into open-pitted gullies. The locals generally avoided the entire area.

It took a flicker of Castel’s conscience before it he decided it would be very unfortunate if the rangers found her body out in the gullies. After a short pause of contemplation, the arctic fox too became a flash and a blur as he broke off into full dash, his lungs bursting as air whipped past him.

The she-fox had a head start, but Castel had longer legs and an elemental affinity for wind that could improve his speed. A little concentration (though difficult to maintain while panting in full flight) could part the air enough to reduce air resistance—all so very much helpful when sprinting like the sky was falling.

“Wait!” He called out. “You don’t want to go that way!”

[<<WHISper>>]

[bg=E3A869][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=border,0,true] regular, speech, thoughts, other(s) Not many thoughts occupied the dainty Fennec fox’s mind as she ran headlong down the main road of the shabby mine town, large ears tucked backwards, heart beating like a butterfly. That fox had seemed so innocent, like he could even have been one of her own sort, but that gruff voice coupled with that all too familiar accent brought back memories the little lady preferred to leave un-remembered. Too much pain were hidden in those pivotal memories and even now the essence of these gripped her mind with icy claws until all she could think about was escaping. Dust flew up from her heels as she made haste towards… well towards whichever direction would get her away from him as soon as possible.//I never should have come here! What was I thinking?!// Kamii gazed over her shoulder as she ran, eyes burning from the excess wind and with a start she realized he wasn’t following.//Is it a trap of some sort? Others must be waiting for me just around the turn!// Nonetheless the little fox kept her pace, lowered her head and took off in full flight when she realized this fact. Tears were starting to form in the corners of her mind as her brain made the whole situation seem worse inside her head than it was in reality. So many things were bound to go wrong, she just knew it. The sudden vibration of another being running vibrated into her ears and she knew he was following her. //Oh no!!// His voice, now somewhat different came softly to her ears, “Wait! You don’t want to go that way!” A sudden chane in scenery almost through her off course, but Kamii kept going. She lasted a few more strides before large holes in the ground opened up before her. Skidding to a quick stop she found herself gazing into the eyes of a snake and she backpedalled a few strides before letting out a yelp. The snake rose high and gazed directly at her and Kamii froze as instinct took over. //Oh no, I’m in so much trouble now…//

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Castel leaped forward the knocked the snake away with a swift strike with his paws, himself skidding and sliding to a stop due to his abrupt change in momentum. That was an unbearably close call. If he had arrived instants later, the snake would have made at least one strike, and who knew what could have happened then?

“There are snakes everywh—” Castel hissed, only to be interrupted by the appearance of at least a dozen more slithering creatures in the dust.

This brought a shiver down even Castel’s spine. He had heard the stories—but who knew that there could be so many in one place?! To be told in word that there were seas of snakes in the Gully was terrifying in itself; but to actually see snakes, snakes, and more snakes slither out from rocks and gradually forming this nest of hundreds of poisonous serpentines was mind-rattling.

Castel swallowed.

“Back off slowly,” he whispered to the Fennec. “Any sudden movements, and these poisonous sculldrops will start leaping and snapping at us.”

The male looked around his shoulder and saw that the snakes were quickly surrounding them both. There wasn’t very much time, and they would need to think of something soon. Castel had some magic that could maybe clear a path for an instant, but they’d only have one chance. He wasn’t even sure it’d work.

The fox gulped a breath and began gathering air pressure around his feet.

[<<WHISper>>]

[bg=E3A869][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=border,0,true] regular, speech, thoughts, other(s) Frost seemed to creep over the little Fennec’s body, rendering her unable to move a she gazed deep into the snake’s eyes, fear creeping like forming ice into her heart. She couldn’t control her breathing though and her sides heaved, enough movement to cause the snake to lift higher, making his head seem bigger. It was poised to strike and Kamii was prepared to die. There was no way she was getting out of this one alive and her life flashed before her eyes. Life slowed down and the snake came for her, fangs exposed, deadly intent in its eyes and Kamii cowered, closing her eyes and bidding her life farewell… But the bite never came. Instead she heard a struggle and a sudden thump and she slowly opened her eyes. The male fox stood before her and the snake was skidding far away, “There are snakes everywh—” As if answering his question at least a dozen more slithering creatures encircled them, coming closer and closer. Kamii shivered and huddled closer to this other fox who had undoubtedly saved her life, but now both of them were in trouble, “Back off slowly,” His voice was a whisper and Kamii’s ears pricked at the lyrics, for some reason his words unfroze her and she made a point of staying close to him, “Any sudden movements, and these poisonous Sculldrops will start leaping and snapping at us.” Suddenly Kamii went into survival mode and she stopped cowering behind the brave male fox. She lifted her head high and concentration leaked into the corners of her mind, building a replica of herself as a strong illusion, “Be ready to run when they are distracted.” She whispered and the illusion burst forth from her mind, a perfect replica of herself that bolted forwards towards the snakes, jumping over them and gaining all of their attention as it ran. The snakes reacted immediately, all snapping at the illusion and Kamii screamed, “RUN!!” As she turned she saw all the snakes gathering towards the illusion and the moment she made the conscious decision to run it vanished and she ran for all she was worth in the opposite direction.

[cloud]

Castel was caught off-guard when his companion took things into her own hands and began casting illusions. He heard her whisper her forewarning that it’d be time to run, but it all happened too fast for Castel to protest he was in the middle of casting one himself. The multiple Fennec fox copies set the snakes into frenzy, snapping and attacking everything that moved. Castel yelped when one made a strike for his forepaw, and it just barely missed out of luck when the arctic fox’s instinct urged him to twitch. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the fox maiden dash off.

Oh, but his spell wasn’t ready.

Creatrix curse that feisty maiden! Castel scrapped his plan and released the incomplete air pressure at his feet, pressured to keep up with the female and harassed by the now aggressive and soon-to-be deadly snakes. A tidal wind of air pressure burst out like an explosion, weakly, but sufficient enough to knock some dozen snakes back and send lots of dust into the air. The path was now cleared for Castel, but the slithering serpents were recovering fast and quickly re-swarming over the empty space Castel’s spell had blown away.

The arctic fox wasted no time and began sprinting.

He struggled to catch up with the Fennec, but in the back of his mind, Castel knew running was useless. Foxes could run fast, but Sculldrop’s Gully was vast and within minutes the entire ground would be covered in a sea of snapping snakes. Their best chance at survival was scrambling to high ground, someplace high enough where no slithering beast could reach them. They would only have to wait until the sun rose high enough and the daytime heat drove the nocturnal snakes back into their crevices and holes.

Castel skidded and dodged as snakes snapped and sprang, veering directions as increasingly more and more sculldrops slithered out of their nests, seemingly from everywhere.

“Up there!” Castel gasped, referring to a lonesome snag-like outcrop of rock that looked high enough. He nudged the side of the Fennec as they ran, encouraging her to scramble up the precariously steep sides of the boulder. He would follow suite once the female made her way up.