Cricket tries to find a book that’s been more recently disturbed than others, but they all look equally old and unmoved.
Cricket examines the fireplace. Ash and soot. Old logs. He kicks around in there. Just looks like there was only fire.
We light the fireplace and here the chittering of the - the beacons of Brazier’s are lit! Tatta’s calls for aid!
The stairway continues up to more levels.
Cricket chooses a book and thankfully it does not fall apart. B takes the book and reads (it’s written in the runes that we’re familiar with)
…in the coming of autumn with its scattered coins
Of leaves, and between the spring and the ripe wheat,
What the greatest love, as inside a falling
Glove, hands over to us like endless moonlight. Storr burns a book. Cricket takes another book successfully. B reads. It is like this in death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone. Cricket tries it again and the book falls apart. He hands it to Storr. HE tries once more, again it falls apart.
Silas tries as well and it falls. Storr now has plenty of kindling.
We head upstairs to the third floor. There is bedding, a wardrobe, and desk. The bedding is unmade. The room ius generally a mess, the wardrobe is open and the contents is scattered.
There are scratch marks on one wall (which one?)
On the south east stone wall, is carved into the wall is the poem we were sent a few days ago. Below the poem is a blank space, where there are charcoal rubbings.
Ryan’s translation;
One and one are eldest //won and one? 46 and 2
Seeing all that was or is
They found two mysteries
within the snow
Again (?) they are well hid
—--------------
Three made twins both unalike
And so five ancient
powers
To them went eight then
thirteen bees (?) *[←we’ve seen these before, yes]* [yes, precious]
We watch within our towers
—---------
But she (?) will come who sees
the way
{ Of deeps she’ll take the
sounding } *[← confirmed by Hopps]*
Known by nameless
family name
Await the coming of
THE FOUNDLING - Written in runic in charcoal!
Storr examines the contents of the dresser that were thrown around. This room looks like it wasn’t left in pristine condition.
Storr examines the scratches on the walls. He suspects they aren’t just a bear scratching at the wall, they are deep, and in stone. The way things look, a bear could have been here and messed the place up. Though, it does look like the disturbance happened a long time ago.
B takes a rubbing of the space below the writing, and does get some texture but no writing. Cricket/B thinks, it seems strange that the staircase stops here, but we definitely saw four levels to this tower. We look out the window and see that there is in fact a remaining story.
Cricket sends Koweth. There’s a huge capstone at the top, 30 to 40 feet across, solid rock. The ceiling has stone arches with stone slabs laid across. Nothing seems like an obvious way through. Cricket bangs around to try and hear an echo to determine hollow spaces. He hears echos, but nothing obvious of a passageway.
Storr moves the wardrobe and sees only stone wall. Storr flips the bed, no boogeyman.
The desk is a big table, covered in dust, a couple of books, sheafs of paper. Cricket blows off the dust. He sees two places where hands would be. The paper has writing on it.,
B reads.
We create a torch to apply heat to the wall; the stone doesn’t seem upset, though we are making markings of charcoal. We try to write “the bear”, but nothing happens.
We write “The Foundling” (which rhymes with sounding) in runes, and the stone wall drips away and forms into a ladder.
Storr goes up. She finds herself inside an enclosed stone room. A little light comes up from the ladder, but its hard to see whats going on. Something made of stone in the middle. We bring up the torch.
There’s a well of water in the middle, reminds us of the well we saw in the grove a few days ago.
Any inscriptions? There’s writing around the edge of the well. The well itself is ornate, well made, a single piece of stone. There is water in the well. The surface is reflecting black back at us. We can’t tell if its black water.
Storr put is katana in the water, and a hand materializes and takes the katana. A figure emerges, and we obviously have to fight it.
On the “shadow’s” turn, he goes for Silas, screams, we all become frightened, and Silas AGES 30 YEARS. He’s now like, 48.
On its next turn, it seems to flow into Silas, and doesn’t seem to know who he is. On the shadow’s next turn, he (Silas) attacks Storr with the bronze katana.
On Storr’s turn, he drags the Silas Shadow into the well and holds his head underwater. 12 seconds go by with Silas’ head underwater. Cricket screams “THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU”, twice. 18 seconds. He escapes, but Storr grapples him again and dunks him. 12 seconds.
Cricket puts on his cloak, and nails the d8 roll. He sees in the space of Silas a pale figure being buffetted and swirled around in this darkness. He doesn’t necessarily look thrilled to be where he is. The shdaow is possessing him. Silas, a shadow, and a man, all layered over him. Silas is on the outside, the shadow, and then the man on the inside. Storr continues to hold Silas under. 18 seconds.
Storr ages 30 years.
Cricket attempts to reach out to the man under the shadow. The shadow leaps off of Silas. Silas is aware of himself again and that he is being held underwater by Storr. The shadow moves next to Cricket; no one else can see it. He tells Koweth to attack the space next to him. Cricket sees Koweth’s beak lodge into the shadow INTENSELY (like 3 crits in a row intensely) and the shadow dissipates.
Storr emerges from the grapple and says “THAT SUCKED.” Failing to make his return consciousness clear, Silas gets punched in the face cause by Storr because she doesn’t believe that he’s returned. Cricket says “Stop hitting Silas!” and tries to talk to the figure at the well (which Storr and Silas cannot see.)
The man tells Cricket: “I was a watcher under the towers and I left long ago but part of me was wrapped in this shadow, but the burden has been lifted.” And he evaporates.
Silas and Storr are still aged “for now.” Storr tries again to grapple Silas for some reason, but fails.