The Seven Stars Inn (5 Spaces): Plot Thread

[Inkling]

The gruff proprietor, a badger by the looks of it, stands waiting at the door to welcome customers into this spacious inn. As soon as the doors are opened, the hum of conversation flows outside. In the back is a tavern, where weary travelers can order food and drink. Stools have been grouped together for easy conversation. If the scents emanating from the kitchen are any indication, the cook seems to know their business.

The primary colors here seem to be greens and golds, and it is warm inside. To the far left, a rickety set of stairs stretches upward--they should hold your weight. Probably. The ceilings are high and vaulted, and abovestairs there are plenty of rooms for those with money enough to procure a key to rest. A fire blazes cheerily in the grate, adding to the warm, cheerful atmosphere of the inn.

Feel free to use this thread for any smaller discussion taking place indoors and describe to suit your needs. 5 at a time, please, and be respectful of the time limits.

[Lil Princess]

He continues on and takes the goblin to his commanding officer.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/LilPrincessSunbeam/Narnia/208fz1y.jpgMarius enters the camp warily. Does everyone think him a coward for what happened in the Great Battle? For his retreat?

He speaks to the sentry outside who enters the tent, soon the faun ducks out and nods. Marius thanks him and enters dragging the struggling goblin with him.

"Sir, I found this." Marius says, throwing the goblin down. "I was scouting the North pass and this creature and two of it's kin attacked a grypon, it's young, and a Tigress. The grypon and two of the goblin were kill. The Tigress also informed me of Minotaurs guarding the south pass. She denied to follow myself here saying that she was on a mission from Aslan."

Pointing to the goblin with his sword tip, the Centaur continues. "I could get no word out of this thing, and thought it might be better to have him brought here,"

His commander nods and calls for the sentry outside. The faun comes in and the commanding officer asks for other soldiers to come take the goblin away. The faun leaves and hurries away. Marius looks to his commander for leave and the commander nods. Marius leaves the tent and makes his way to the edge of the camp. He looks to see if anyone was watching or had been following him. No one. He leaves for the place he told to tigress and gryphon to meet him at

[Copperfox]

OOC: And you can count on finding Ninecatcher and Retaw at the rendezvous point. While you were away, Retaw informed Ninecatcher that there are no intact human settlements remaining near where they are now.

[Lil Princess]

Okay! Thanks!

[faithfulpurelight]

The little silver Tabby led the filly down several complicated corridors and steps, taking her to the room that has been assigned to he and his brothers. Sterling has already left, or he’s leaving as they speak, so he shouldn’t have to worry about making too many excuses for him.

“Here we are,” he says, making his way inside. The room is the same sickly ice that is throughout the rest of the castle, with a slightly odd green glow coming from behind the walls. There is little in the way of furniture in the room, other than some pillows, which served as the beds for his brothers and himself. Two kittens, even smaller than Argent, were play fighting in the corner. He clears his throat, and they both freeze, looking at him.

“Silber stop picking on Klein, he’s smaller than you as it is.” He seems to slip into a very different role here, more like his old self. Although Aggie won’t know that. “We have a guest, the Queen asked if we would mind sharing our quarters a few days. Both of you be on your best behavior.” He turns to smile at the filly.

“This is Silber, and that’s Klein, my two youngest brothers. My other brother Sterling is doing something for our Queen. Silber, Klein, this is Aggie,” he gave them both a look that Aggie won’t understand, and both his younger brothers’ eyes widen in understanding.

“Hi Aggie! Are you new here? I’ve never had an sister before, I wouldn’t mind one. I’m Silber, like Argent said,” the kitten on the right says brightly.

[Inkling]

Agate pokes her head tentatively into the room, visibly relaxing at the sight of the two younger kittens; this is the first time she has done so since entering Jadis's castle.

She giggles at the sight of Silber and Klein playing, forgetting, for just a moment, where she is and how she got there. "'S okay. You should've seen some of the trouble I got into with the other foals." She draws in a sharp breath as another pang of homesickness threatens to overwhelm her.

Aggie dips her head. "Nice meeting you. I don't have any sisters either...just...just a brother. I'd do anything to protect him. That's why I'm here. He took care of me when Mum and Father disappeared, and how could I not do the same for him?"

She goes slightly pink in the ears, realizing that they are, for all intents and purposes, virtual strangers to her.

Next thing you know you'll be telling them everything you've ever done or thought...nice, Aggie. She goes quiet.

[faithfulpurelight]

Silber laughs and nudges Klein, who topples over. Argent gives him a dirty look, moving to Klein’s side to help him up. Klein is obviously the smallest in the room, and would be the smallest of the brothers, if Sterling wasn’t on a mission for the Queen. Klein stays between Argent and Silber, the shyest of the four by far.

“We understand that, we’d do anything to protect each other. But don’t worry, the Queen is really, really nice. She keeps us safe, and fed, and she lets us stay here even after Mama and Papa didn’t want us anymore. She’s probably the closest thing we have to a Mama now, besides Argent anyway.” Silber shoots Argent a mischievous glance, and Argent sticks his tongue out in response.

“Your welcome to be our sister, if you wouldn’t mind having more brothers,” Silber offers, smiling sweetly.

[Inkling]

Agate, being used to community, brightens at the offer. "I'd like that...and I'm really sorry to hear about your parents. Onyx says ours disappeared because of the Queen. How could someone so nice do that? She let you all live here too..."

She settles herself in a tight little unicorn ball on the floor, all the emotions of the day making her more than a little weary, and draws in a deep breath to keep herself from crying, which she'd dearly love to do at the moment.

[faithfulpurelight]

“Well that can’t be right,” Silber shrugs, moving to curl up near the unicorn in an offer of friendship, trust, and to share warmth. He smiles sweetly, purring in contentment. Argent nudges Klein forward, trying to move him towards the heat as well as get him to open up. The smaller kitten looks up shyly at the unicorn filly, his eyes wide.

“Don’t worry about our parents, we’re probably better off without them if they didn’t want us. And the Queen ... well She’s really nice. There are all these nasty rumors about Her though, which is sad. I mean, you met Her, and she’s so very nice, right? Your brother might have been given the wrong information,” Silber offers, and Argent smiles.

[Inkling]

Agate nods a little. "I s'ppose if she wasn't good she wouldn't have let Onyx go..." She frowns. "Can't picture her hurting anyone, now that I've met her." Of course, it doesn't occur to her that she's a virtual prisoner in the castle herself.

"I should think of some way to help her. If I'm gonna be staying here a while with you..." She rests her nose on a forehoof. "And the stories about her really aren't true?"

[Little Otter]

Jadis pauses just outside the doorway to listen. It is not often that she herself spies, having loyal servants to do the work for her, but in this instance she trusts no one else. She smiles slightly, pleased by what she hears, and steps into the doorway.

“Agate,” she speaks into the room. Her voice is soft, but nonetheless commands attention. “Will you walk with me?” She is careful to pitch her tone to form the words into a request, not an order.

[Inkling]

Agate shuts her eyes for a moment and allows herself the dangerous luxury of daydreaming. For a brief instant, she loses herself to memory, and her splintered family is once again whole. A beatific smile forms on the small filly's face.

She is pulled from her reverie by Jadis's voice, and she bounds to her hooves, her neck bending in an equine version of a curtsy. She will not forget her manners. Her long, slender tail swishes.

"Of course, ma'...um, Your Majesty. I'll go with you wherever you want. You're the queen, so everyone should do what you say, right? 'Sides which, I wanna thank you again." Whatever stirrings of fright Agate might have had are, for the moment, pushed aside. Even when her eyes fix once again on that strangely accurate statue of her mother and father, just visible in the corridor beyond where Jadis stands framed in the doorway, she only lets them linger briefly before they return to studying the floor.

Throughout, her attitude is respectful, though she is not yet old enough to be consciously subservient. Therefore, it must spring out of the true beginnings of what will eventually become trust.

[Little Otter]

Jadis smiles. “Thank you,” she says softly, meeting the filly's eyes. “Come.” She gestures toward the statue-littered courtyard some distance down the corridor and stands to one side so that Agate can walk beside her. “You have questions, I am sure,” she says, her voice low and hinting toward quiet, resigned grief. “I would be pleased to put them to rest.”

[Inkling]

Agate follows Jadis down the hallway, doing her best to keep up and make sure that her hooves aren't clattering on the hard floor of the castle. She briefly allows her gaze to rest on the statues representing her parents before returning her eyes to Jadis.

Looks juts like them...

She takes a deep breath, then says out loud, "'S really nice of you, but I don't wanna be a bother. I have lots of questions, but Mum and Father always told me it was rude to pester people. If you don't mind, though...er, what I mean is, please..." She gives a small shake of her mane, collecting her scattered words, "I was wondering why those statues look so much like them...and what they're doing /here/. Did you know my parents?"

She bites her lip nervously as she waits for Jadis to answer.

[Little Otter]

The Witch waits silently as Agate speaks, standing halfway between the filly and the stone figures of her parents. She does not answer immediately, but turns to approach the statues.

“I did,” she replies after a moment, her back to Agate. She strokes the solid, icy muzzle of the stallion lightly, the gesture almost reverent – but something contemptuous lifts her lip, and triumph glints in her eyes. “I must beg your forgiveness,” she says quietly, turning to face the filly. “Had I known, I would have ensured that you did not see their likenesses in such a manner. It can have only brought you needless pain; for that, I apologize.”

Jadis closes her eyes briefly, looking for the moment much less like a deadly queen and merely weary and grief-stricken. “The statues you see here... they are all remembrances of those who have died for my cause.” She pauses a moment to let that sink in, and glances all around the wide courtyard. “When one is in my position, to lose sight of what has been sacrificed is... unspeakable. I mean never to forget.”

[Inkling]

Agate's eyes, when she looks at the statues, are clear and reflect a purity and innocence that must surely be some form of protection for her. She nods soberly. "So...you had statues made to /honor/ them? That's really nice of you. It's not true what they say about you..."

She lets out a little, surprised whinny at what she's alluded to. "Oooops. I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said that." The filly nods soberly. "It's really important to remember. I hope I never forget them." To herself, she adds very quietly, "And I'm afraid I will..." A single tear trickles down her muzzle, which she keeps Jadis from seeing by allowing her mane to fall in front of her face.

"'M ready now, I think..." She deliberately turns, shutting out the view of the statues.

I haveta be strong and stay brave. 'S what they'd want me to do. I can't let Onyx down...

[Little Otter]

Jadis lets out a faintly scornful sound. “I know what they say about me,” she says darkly. “It is understandable, of course; in the proper lighting, such a memorial as this could look quite ghastly. I am glad,” she adds, some of the audible bitterness in her voice fading, “that /you/ understand, at least. I cannot very well go out to explain to those who have other... /ideas/ about this room – they flee at the very sight of my sledge! But you... they might listen to you.”

She pauses and cants her head slightly, looking almost hesitant. “I cannot ask you to tell all the inhabitants of the Waste, of course. But... if someone should ask, will you tell them what you know to be true?”

[Inkling]

Aggie listens, wide-eyed. She consciously pushes the niggling doubts caused by the memory of her brother's leavetaking, to the back of her mind and appears fully taken in by Jadis's explanation.

"'Course I will. Can at least tell them what I've seen, and then maybe they'll understand too...but I don't know that they'll listen to me either. All you can do is try your best to help others. Mum and Father used to say it doesn't matter what's thought of you as long as you know that you're doing the right thing..."

Onyx, I wonder what you're thinking about me now. If you even are.

She dips her head, not seeing much of anything as they move along.

[Josh]

Drainor entered the inn, in human form. He had gotten some clothes from a poor dead person that froze. He sat down at the bar, hoping to get something to drink.

[Narnia_Nut]

It emerges into the Inn, passing through the wall in a long thread of wisp. Before swirling back into a cloud, it observes what is going on, passing in and around everything in the room in a rather un-noticeable bit of mist. It swirls about the human-form Drainor, inspecting the creature out of curiosity and making note of his presence before wisping over to Mistress. Still not in full cloud form, for the filly's sake, It swirls around Mistress's neck, It's creepy way of delivering a hug? Hah.
Whispering into her thoughts, It gleefully deliver's news of Sennulf's failure.

He's let two children escape...You'd best come at once, my Mistress. Your throne is in danger because of this Wolf's actions.

[Copperfox]

~ ~ This remains unclear to me. If literal children are meant, there were FOUR children evacuated by the Winged Horse from Ninecatcher's ill-fated refugee party. If merely "humans" are meant, the premise of this RP already is that Jadis does not yet have all humans within Narnia exterminated, so she should not be shocked by two humans being alive within Narnia.

[Simetra]

OOC> A horse managed to carry four children? That seems unlikely. Ok, then, four it is. I'll go back and change it if everyone is ok with that.

[Copperfox]

1) Two of the four children were skinny girls, their combined weight less than the weight of most adult men.

2) The other two children were infants, being held by the girls.

3) The horse was supposed to carry the kids into Archenland, and surely Sennulf can't get into too much trouble for not being able to change the fact that there are numerous human beings in Archenland.

[Simetra]

ooc> For some reason I didn't get that from her pose. Ok. We'll say it's Goewyn and Libertas he's talking about. If he didn't know for sure about them from his own eyes, his bird or tree scouts would hve been able to inform him.

[Copperfox]

Post # 148 of Southern Marches:


"A winged horse! That is a creature of good!" exclaimed Headman Aeddan. He and the widow Goewyn hastily dragged the two little girls--the orphan Harmony, and Goewyn's daughter, the latter with her baby brother's carry-sling now hung over her shoulders, and the former clutching a baby girl who had been handed to her--to the beautiful pegasoid.

"For Aslan's sake, rescue these children!" sobbed Goewyn. "Take them to some refuge! Then we can die knowing not all were lost!" And in a trice, the children were mounted.

I grant you that Goewyn didn't SAY "Archenland;" but it was already clear to everyone that there WAS NO refuge for humans INSIDE Narnia. And the number of children is spelled out.

[Simetra]

OOC> Yeah, that's why I was thinking it was still Narnia, since she wasn't specific, and I figured they'd want to get to a refuge fast and then get to Archenland from there, rather than exposing themselves from being in the sky so long. As for the number.... there were about 15 posts I had to read through there because no one waited for me to pose, so I had to skim. :P Easily missed if skimming, though clearly there.
In any case, it doesn't matter; I said I'd change it and I will.

[Inkling]

All right...first of all, this isn't the place to be clarifying. Second, if the wolf is mistaken, isn't that so much the better for the 'good' side? Eph and I have tried /not/ to micromanage every detail so that we don't entirely stifle a natural response to what's going on. Sennulf/Spyros's report stands.

Copperfox, those are exactly the type of issues that should be handled in the OOC thread, and though as I've said we try to let you all make decisions where you can, we mods are willing to step in when needed. I guess this is one of those times. I hardly see this detail as significant enough to merit the stress it seems to be generating...

[Josh]

It emerges into the Inn, passing through the wall in a long thread of wisp. Before swirling back into a cloud, it observes what is going on, passing in and around everything in the room in a rather un-noticeable bit of mist. It swirls about the human-form Drainor, inspecting the creature out of curiosity and making note of his presence before wisping over to Mistress. Still not in full cloud form, for the filly's sake, It swirls around Mistress's neck, It's creepy way of delivering a hug? Hah.
Whispering into her thoughts, It gleefully deliver's news of Sennulf's failure.

He's let two children escape...You'd best come at once, my Mistress. Your throne is in danger because of this Wolf's actions.

ooc: Drainor didnt let anyone escape. He tried to gain info, but was interupted by the Witch's army.

[Inkling]

The black dwarf shuffles in to stand before his queen. He diips an obsequious, oily bow, his eyes narrowing as they rest on the unicorn filly.

"My lady," he hisses, "I have what you sent me for, and it is only wanting the last ingredient...I would have returned sooner if that wolf had not tried to detain me from doing your bidding."

He pats the satchel he's still carrying, a smug look settling over his features. It does not improve his looks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Agate shrinks back behind Jadis, her ears flattening. First the specter, making her shiver, and now she feels distinctly uneasy with the dwarf's eyes on her.

Onyx...what're they going to do to me?

The unicorn sniffles, though probably not loud enough to be heard.

[Simetra]

Jadis places a cold hand on the unicorn's neck, stroking her mane protectively. "What have I told you about interrupting me with my guests?" She addresses Grizzle in a firm queenly voice, that nonetheless wavers with empathy for the filly. "Very well, you may place it in the storeroom and return to me when you have done. Only speak with one of Sennulf's guards before you go interrupting me in my affairs again." She looks to the young Unicorn as she continues to stroke her mane. "Your presence does not seem to bear well on my Agate. I will not have you frightening her so."

OOC> I will be taking over Jadis for the time being and LO will be taking over Sennulf for me. Normally I wouldn't be a fan of switching characters around, but we both felt this would make roleplay easier for all of you. That in mind, I'm brand new at this character so please forgive some inconsistencies as I gain my footing here. I will do my best.

[Inkling]

The dwarf bows obsequiously. "As you say, milady. I will let you know when we are ready for you." He is still bowing as he makes his way from the chamber and heads towards one of the many secret rooms in Jadis's castle.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Agate smiles with relief when Jadis steps in, shrinking back against the queen. When the dwarf leaves, she relaxes.

"Thank you again. Don't know why you're being so nice to me, but I'll try and help you any way I can in return. Do you think that after I've been here a while, if I'm really good, I can see Onyx? Let him know that I'm all right and that he's wrong about you?"

Her upturned glace at Jadis's face is guileless.

[Simetra]

Jadis laughs, a tinkling sound, like ice crystals falling. "Do you think I have not spoken with your brother since last you saw him, my dear? No, all is mended. He and I have come to an understanding of each other." She brings her hands suddenly together. "But of course, you haven't heard!" She clucks her tongue, her tone taking on a pitying timbre. "He has gone away, to fight for me against some rebels on the southern border. They say he has--" She halts upon coming into her main chamber, the dead werewolf body lying before them. Her pale face grows even whiter.

Pose out to Witch's Castle' Thread.

[Inkling]

The filly is listening carefully, trying not to interrupt and to be as good as she can.

"Never said anything to me 'bout..."

She stops short, letting out a small, squeaking noise since she is too terrified even to whinny when she sees the body of the werewolf.

A single tear slides down her muzzle.

OOC: Also posing out to the Witch's Castle thread