Noah tells it plainly
The King rose unsteadily to his feet with an expectant look on his face as they trudged through the door.
Beside him, the priest Father Harndall stood, his shoulders slumped, arms curved protectively around himself. From where he stood Noah could see the sheen of sweat clinging to the pallid man’s skeletal face. The clear blue eyes nestled in the dark hollows of his sockets, were wide and frightened. His jaw hung slackly, his face drooping like the folds of the burlap robe that hung limply from his angular shoulders.
“Well… how did it go… did you… ?” the King’s inquiry died on his lips as he gazed around at the horrified faces of the men standing before him.
“Lochan… “, he turned to the Duke standing beside him and Noah noticed the shadow of doubt that passed over his face when he saw his cousin.
The duke stood, his head bowed, eyes fixed on the floor shuffling from one foot to the other. His firm golden chestplate gleamed in the candlelight, the burgundy cloth of his sleeves spilling from the interlocking rings of chainmail like blood gouting from an open wound.
“Oh yes… why don’t yew ask Lochan how it went” Osras sneered, “or perhaps better yet, you should be asking my brother bleeding and spewing in the other room his face ruined by that bitch’s claws!”
Osras’ hands were straining into fists beside his body as he beat them against his side. Noah noticed small beads of blood forming on the tightly stretched skin of his knuckles, the rusty mail links tearing angry cuts, threatening to expose the hard white bone that rippled just beneath.
The Duke’s head snapped up and he fixed the man before him with a piercing glare, his lips turning down in a sneer to mirror Osras’. Noah did not think he was a man who would take kindly to the disrespectful tone of Osras’ anger and held his breath as he waited for the response.
“Or better yet… perhaps yew should be asking the little lass, wee Igrayne how it went”, he snarled, “If she hasn’t already died that is!”
Lochan stepped back as if Osras’ clenched fist had collided with his stomach, the air draining from him in a gasp.
“Now then man, steady on”, the King wavered, “I’m sure it’s not as bad as all that and perhaps you er… should be showing a bit more respect to his Lordship”.
Noah noticed a flutter of movement at the King’s waist and to his dismay realised Eallair’s hands were shaking as he rhythmically tugged the buttons of his tunic. Noah found it difficult to look away, momentarily fixated by those fingers, the fingers of a King. They were picking nervously at a loose thread which protruded from the hole of a button, the fibers poking through like a worm uncoiling from the juicy confines of the first bite of a ripe plum.
“Begging yer pardon Yer Highness but I won’t steady on!”, Osras roared as the King stepped back, his shoulders slumping, hands planted flat against his thighs for support, “Yew just ask him yerself what he done! Led us trailing behind him into the very mouth of the devil he did”
Father Harndall cringed behind the King with a moan, his face crumpling like old parchment. He clutched desperately at the folds of material, running his wasted fingers over the scratchy fabric as though trying to remind himself that this, at least was real. His hands found one another hidden there and furtively clasped, his fingers clinging together, lovers in one final embrace.
The King turned with a pleading look to the Duke, but the man was bent over, staring in horror at the rusty stain of blood on his hands, etched into the callouses, drying beneath his nails in dirty red crescents.
“Oh Your Highness… her blood, all through her pretty blonde hair. And then there was none… none even though I carved his very arm with my blade… and the black dog howling… oh God!”, he muttered incoherently, running his hands along the hard metal of his plate mail as though trying to gain strength from the hard contours of beaten metal.
“Yew see!”, Osras crowed triumphantly bringing up his fist again to pound against his hip, mashing his knuckles against the ragged edges of the rows of metal plates.
Noah waited long moments for the King to respond, for any of three of the men whom he admired most in this world to reply to such insolence. But not a word was said. The King gazed down at the floor, his cheeks red with embarrassment, the thread wound so tightly around one finger that all the blood had drained out and the pounded of his racing heartbeat was visible at the tip.
Noah carefully rested one steady hand on Osras’ shoulder, the weight of it and the slight pressure of his broad fingertips stilling the other man’s rage. Osras shook him off but he unclenched his fists and crossed his arms with a scowl.
“Yew should be still Osras and yew best be making yer apologies fer bein’ disrespectful to His majesty and His Lordship”.
Osras snorted with anger but conceded and asked for their pardon.
“Goodman Ulcar, if you would please be so kind as to explain to me what has taken place this dreadful night”, the King gazed at him and Noah suddenly felt the weight of responsibility to a King and his Kingdom pressing him down.
He took a deep breath, “Yer Majesty. Let me tell it plainly for I am bein’ but a plain man”.
“This night, as was bein’ planned, we three and also Kelgar Shildfrith and Arran Barran went to lay a trap fer the foul beast what has been attackin’ our good folk”.
“As was planned we hid ourselves, while the little lass waited bravely. We also were waitin’ a waitin’ fer her signal, waitin’ fer a scream but it did not come till much too late”.
He bit his lip and fought back the bile that was rising unbidden in his throat.
“When she did, we of course were runnin’ out as fast as we could. An there was not just the one, no, he had Sister Mella with him. But she was wrong Yer Majesty, I can’t say it no better but she weren’t bein’ herself”.
He heard the groans of the priest as he wrung his hands clasping at the robe between them, but Noah continued on.
“The lass Yer Majesty, Igrayne, she was bein’ hurt pretty bad though still alive. We thought she was fer dead, but the Barran lad stayed by her side and she was wakin’ again though she’s in a real bad state”.
He felt Osras bristling at his side, “An Osras’ brother, Kelgar, he went to her aid but Mella done somethin’ to him an’ he’s bein real ill now too… both of em’… real ill”.
“Good Lord”, the King exclaimed, “Why would Sister Mella throw in her lot with such a man, why is she doing such things?”
Harndall gave a strangled sob behind him, burying his face in his hands as he muttered a prayer under his breath.
Noah took another breath and another, trying to still his thumping heart.
“Yer Majesty… when I said there’s somethin’ wrong with her I should have perraps explained meself better. I’m thinkin’… well I know it’s bein’ blasphemous to even say such a thing…”
He dropped his voice to a low whisper, “I think she’s been possessed by a demon of some sort”.
He couldn’t keep the waver from his voice, “Perraps even the devil hisself”.
“The Devil! Good Lord man! What brings you to say such things. Lochan what is he talking about!?”.
But the duke did not move, only rubbed his bloody hands over the contours of his gauntlets and shivered.
“Wait Yer Majesty, there’s bein’ more I haven’ said yet”, Noah continued, “The man… if you can even be callin’ him such, he changed somehow, into a monstrous beast, a huge black dog with glowin’ red eyes. An’ Sister Mella… she… she changed into a foul, mangy bat. They did Yer Majesty, I swear with me heart on everythin’ I hold dear in this Godforsaken world”,
“Right before our very eyes”, Osras whispered, crossing himself with superstitious fear.
“Right before your very eyes!”, the King almost shouted his hands flying up to mimic Noah’s, “A big black dog! A bat! What kind of pagan mythology are you spouting!”.
He turned to the Duke, “What the hell is this about Lochan. Now my men come here to mock me with fairytales and you just stand there snivelling! What the hell is going on!”.
The Duke’s hand flew up to cover his horrified mouth, “It’s true Your Majesty, every word he says. We all saw it. And he would not die… he could not die”.
“What is he talking about Goodman Ulcar?!”, the King turned back to him his face twisted into a horrible grimace, “What the devil is he saying?!”
Noah shuddered involuntarily at the King’s oath but spoke calmly, “Kelgar, Yer Majesty, he ran the man right through with his sword, we were seein’ it pokin’ right through t’other side. But he did not die. There was not even bein’ any blood in sight, only ash”.
The King groaned in horror, looking from side to side unsure what to believe until his eyes fell on Noah’s firm unwavering stare.
“What should we do?”, he asked in a panic stricken voice.
Noah did not point out that it was strange that he, the King of Branwhuld, whose veins ran with the blood of countless noble rulers would ask such a question of he, Noah the carpenter.
He simply answered as best he knew how, “We were followin’ them as far as the old ruined church Yer Majesty, an’ there we lost em in the gloom. I think we should be sendin’ out a larger party of men to be searchin’ the area more carefully”.
He thought for a moment, “Perraps during the day would be wise, they seem to be preferin’ the night after all. Perraps we can catch em’ when they don’t be expectin’ it. An’ were goin’ to need the good Father there. Whatever they are bein’ it ain’t Godly creatures is fer sure”.
Harndall shuddered and looked as though he would be ill.
“We can’t just be lettin’ such things run about and kill our people Yer Majesty, we must be bein’ brave. We must all be bein’ brave”.
“I believe you are right Goodman Ulcar”, the King muttered and stood a little taller, his hands laying still at his sides.
Eallair is so out of his league with this.
That poor guy, picking at his button like a little kid. Lochan wasn’t much help. Harndall is a wreck. Only Noah can save them now!
But there are two good things that will come out of this meeting: first, since both Lochan and Noah agreed about the supernatural aspects, I am sure everyone is going to realize that they’re not just dealing with a serial killer, and they will take more appropriate measures than using innocent (or not-so-innocent) girls as bait. Second, they suspect a demon, and finally, FINALLY Harndall is going to have to get involved. I have been waiting for this day for so long! Bust out the crucifix and the holy water, Father!
But both Harndall and Eallair are going to have to step up and at least ACT like they are in control. Noah can’t prop up everyone’s confidence for long.
I just wanted to shake almost everyone in this chapter — except for Noah, because Noah as always is awesome — but I guess if I think about it… we’re used to reading stories with fantasy and magic in them, but this is real life to these characters. So I don’t think I would necessarily believe either, if someone tried to tell me a story like this, even if I grew up in a setting where superstition took the place of science. What a nightmare. The pressure is so going to be on Harndall now.
And I am still wondering what this “illness” means for everyone who has been bitten. *wonder wonder*
I hate to be a bother, but do you remember where you got Osras’s beard? I am always looking for good beards and stubble. (Both inside and outside of the game.
) Harndall’s isn’t too shabby either.
It seems sometimes like Noah and Hepsie are holding the whole place together. Well actually Lochan a lot too, has pretty much been running the show (come on Eallair! get your act together) but this wasn’t his best night.
I know… it seems a bit silly how they are so not ready to believe these things despite what they see. But if it were me I would also not be that quick to believe, and while the world I have set them is a made up fantasy world, there still aren’t supposed to be things like this in it. It is similar to the real world. But there are things…
I think the whole seeing them turn into horrible creatures and not die will make them finally realise. And the fact that there were technically five witnesses (although Kelgar didn’t see that much… he had blood in his eyes).
Hmmm… Osras’ beard. I am not sure but I seem to remember getting a whole lot of beards from the link you sent me with Young Sigefrith’s beard… could it have been a newer one there. I can’t find the site again now (do you remember which one it was) and I can’t find the comment. Otherwise maybe MTS2 but the site is down at the moment. I will have a check when it comes back up otherwise I will check what it is called next time I open up the game and maybe that will give some clues.
Okay… to get back to beards, I found the one that Osras has… it is by necrodog at Modthesims2. He has also got some other good beards but I think you have some of them already. Haven’t managed to track down Harndall’s yet but I will keep looking.
Thanks for looking that up for me! I am really surprised I didn’t have that one, but I do now! I will try it out next time I start up my game. (Which I am going to try to avoid doing this weekend since I have pictures for about 10 chapters already and meanwhile my posting rate has gone way down…)
I don’t know, is there something a little off about the hair on the cheek? My husband hasn’t grown a long enough beard in so many years, but it seems to me that a man’s beard grows sort of downward in the sideburn area? This beard is looking a bit windswept in that regard. Maybe that is why I didn’t download it on first view.
It is a little bit windswept looking I think, though even if it isn’t super-realistic I kind of like the effect. It looks like a proper hairy beard as compared to the maxi clip on lego ones
I checked where Harndall’s came from when I loaded up the game today and it is one of Helaene’s though where it came from I really don’t know. I checked her site and I couldn’t find the beard anywhere. checked her stuff that’s up on ModTheSims2 but I couldn’t find it there either. Does anyone have any idea where it might be? Maybe she has another of store of downloads somewhere that I can’t find any more.
Helaene used to have a big page up with all her old stuff on it, but it’s gone. Also gone are her eyes that I downloaded long long ago and am currently using on Egelric, Sigefrith, Brinstan, etc. So if I ever lose all my CC some Sims will never be the same. *sniffle* *knock on wood*
So true about the Lego snap-on beard.
I would love to put a nice full beard on certain men — the type you can grab in a nice fuzzy handful — but all of the 3D Maxis beard are so plastic-looking. I am using the super long Santa beard on Father Brandt and Old Aed, but even that is rather fake-looking compared to the other CC I’m using lately. Oh, and that little pointy goatee on Ris is rather sexy, but it takes a Ris to pull it off…
(I am dying to fire up my game, if you can’t tell.
I promised myself no Simming, only writing this weekend, but it’s haaaard!)
That little pointy goatee is rather nice, but it takes a certain size of chin to pull it off too
I’m sure Radomir would be fine. Those kind of beard tend to float weirdly below the chin on some sims though.
I really wanted to take pics today too… I was just starting on a cool idea I had (luckily just starting otherwise I would be seriously annoyed) and the power supply went in a big crash and bang. It was on it’s way out though with the fan making stupid noises. But we have ordered a shiny new computer today and I am so excited to see how well the sims runs on it. It is our Christmas present to each other (though rather late). I can’t wait though… although I am really not looking forward to reinstalling the sims… AGAIN! But it will totally be worth it. But there goes my sims Sunday anyway. I don’t have anything I can write now and I can’t take any pics
*whispers* Ris’s beard doesn’t actually fit his face 100% but I shoot around it. Don’t tell!
I ended up starting up my game last night after all.
I decided I would need a certain young Scot sooner than I had anticipated, which was a flimsy excuse since I won’t take his picture for weeks, but I’m weak that way. I took advantage of the opportunity to spiffy up Tashnu and his kids in prep for their big scenes at the end of the month, and I tried out Vash’s new hair on him. Everything’s fine — he can still look emo even with both eyes exposed. Can’t wait!
Grrr… I envy you your new computer (though not the Simless Sunday), mine is getting unusable even for day-to-day work. I have the money for a new one, but I just know that if I buy one, two days later our application for permanent residency will be denied, and I will be stuck with an expensive computer that I can’t move to Hawaii or New Zealand or wherever we go next.
Assuming you’re not talking about a laptop, I hope you’re not going to abandon your old computer on account of a bad power supply. (Though that one does seem to be cursed with hard drive failure and whatall.) Just put a new power supply in there, and get a KVM switch so you can share monitor and keyboard, and then you can do like me and browse mts2 on the old one while the new one is spending 25 minutes starting up your game! (Or maybe you just get up and chat with your bf or other nearby human beings… never tried that, myself…)
Does this cool idea involve Chinman, by any chance?
Or Harndall, ooooh!
I am so bad like you! I really love making new characters just because, but then I get attached to them and want to use them when I have enough at the moment and am planning a rather large influx to occur at some stage (but not for quite a while… things have to happen first).
Good news… power supply while still bork (fan making stupid noises) is not completely broken. It was actually just a very short power outage in my building so I can do some simming (though I have been out for the last few hours). We aren’t going to get rid of this compy… it is perfectly good still… we just need to get a new power supply. Then my boyf and I can both play computer games at the same time because we will have a really good gaming computer and one that is fairly decent too (it is 4 years old but still works fine). Oh yeah, because we are getting a new screen in the package with the new comp. And then if we want to we can play multiplayers games sometimes together. I am so excited.
It must be annoying having to wait like that. How long do the applications usually take for residency. It always takes such a long time for me to get my visa here and it is a complete pain in the arse in general. Hawaii or New Zealand… sigh… either would be awesome places to live, though I hear Vancouver is very nice too. Actually do you live in Vancouver or on Vancouver Island? I can’t remember what you said. My supervisor says Vancouver Island is one of the most beautiful places she has ever been.
I also do the doing other stuff while waiting for loading because I have the wonderful addition of a work laptop which does get used for a whole lot of non-work related sims activities (such as writing or reading blogs when boyf wants to use the desktop). It also has ubuntu where I do my stunted programming attempts (said boyf helped me make a pregnancy rolling script with the stats you sent me so that is on the linux partition).
The idea actually involves Sigurd who we never get to see and I have already put my plans into fruition now that power supply is not as broken as I thought.