Several Other Tales from Castle Balderstone
Ryan Veeder
anthology castle combat Comedy cover art ECTOComp 2020 horror intense Le Grand Guignol multiple protagonists parser spiders vampire vampires
Third in a series of anthologies of unbelievable terror, edited by Ryan Veeder, again.
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Good evening, again. My name, as you well know, is Ryan Veeder. It is once again my great pleasure, in this festive and frightening season, to welcome you for a third time to Castle Balderstone: America's legendary hotbed of horror, a treasure trove of the morose, macabre, and monstrous. Its crooked pinnacles continue to slash blasphemously against ever-present clouds; its grim silhouette continues to be a stain of absolute blackness in the midst of a black sky.

This year, as they did last year???and the year before that, and so on???the greatest spookcrafters working in the English language have assembled in Castle Balderstone's drafty halls to test their latest material on the only audience possessed of hearts so inured to terror as to withstand the absolute scariest stories???each other.

Tonight, for the third time, you are my plus-one to this wedding of
the weird and the wicked.

As we ascend once more the winding stairs of Castle Balderstone, the wind outside howls in warning, and the temperature drops until your teeth chatter in the cold???or is it in recollection of the horrors you witnessed here one year ago? Or two years ago?

We trudge again through antique galleries, across musty hallways, and down forgotten corridors. The occasional window offers no view of a friendly outside world, but of walls, towers, and perilously pitched roofs, confirming what your aching legs and ragged breath have already predicted: that the labyrinthine architecture of Castle Balderstone is one you can never hope to escape. Nevertheless we continue on, through another creaking door...

...And into a warm sitting-room, where velvet couches sit in a circle near a roaring fire. The walls are lined with bookshelves, stacked
with titles you recognize as those you have never been brave enough to read. You recognize the occupants of the couches, as well: murder-mongers, evil-experts, ghost-gurus, monster-maestros, vampire-virtuosos, and dread-distributors. These are the infamous authors of Castle Balderstone, and you are their latest victim, again.

Apparently we are the last ones to arrive, AGAIN, so we take our seats in a conspicuous display of embarrassed hurriedness and loudly-whispered apologies. Eventually the chamber quietens itself,
and we realize we are about to enjoy the first tale of the evening.

It is Elmir Divkovic, who terrifies so many readers with his intricately-realized world of vampires. Worldbuilding gets a bad rap these days, but you know what you get when it's done right? You get an Elmir Divkovic story, that's what.

The stories are also very scary, too. That's the main thing.

"I am honored to return to Balderstone and present another of my vampire-tales," Divkovic begins. "With my vampire-tales I seek to
raise a mirror to human society: My central theme, that of vampire's invampiricism to vampire, must thrust to the center of the human reader's soul, and convince the reader to overcome those distasteful vampire-like traits lurking within the reader's dark heart. To do
this, to pierce the soul, my vampire-tales must be both utterly horrifying and utterly believable. Hence, all of my vampire-tales are enframed within a single carefully constructed world???'The world of vampire-tales,' I call it. And for this vampire-tale I have written a foreword of sorts, which will acclimate you to my little world before we all forget ourselves and inhabit that world for a few moments." He opens his notebook:

"The Marquis Semix has long been suspected of dabbling in
forbidden melliphytic research. He may believe, like so many members
of the nobility, that his position will his protect him from prosecution.

"But the Orthodoxy knows no rank: The Orthodoxy punishes the
highborn and the peasantry, vampire citizens and mortal helots alike. It is simply a matter, in dangerous cases like this, of procuring an Inquisitor who is equal to the task."

Elmir looks up and smiles. He lets it all sink in. And then he turns the page, and begins to read...

Grotesques in blackened calcite flank the threshold of the Ch??teau Semix. Though rain lashes in nearly horizontal torrents, the scarlet-flamed braziers go on burning imperturbably.

EXITS: EAST
About yourself
Publicly the Orthodoxy takes pains to assure its subjects that Inquisitors are not above the law. This is a pleasant fiction. Inquisitors are empowered to meld the law according to their needs, to invent edicts or forget them at will, so long as it serves the aims of the Orthodoxy. In the earliest decades of your career, you availed yourself of these privileges frequently, reveling in the arbitrary power of your position.

not resort to such inelegances. The true law, unadulterated by situational convenience, is just and complete. It is sufficient in all respects, so long as it is wielded with skill and patience. Thus it is said privately, and not repeated outside the halls of the Orthodoxy, that only the best Inquisitors are not above the law.

You are the Inquisitor Vultrine, ranked among the best.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying:
a silk cape (being worn)
a white dagger
You look at the cape
Your fine silk cape is the unofficial symbol of your position as Inquisitor. You take great pride in the accessory.
You look at the dagger
This well-trusted blade was a gift from your mentor, High Inquisitor Urimedonte. She warned you to use it judiciously???which is not to say she told you never to use it. Its attack power is 1.
You go east
Guests of the Marquis who fail to make a good first impression are flung into the pit that takes up most of this chamber.

The Marquis himself is seated in the balcony overhead. "I've been expecting you, Inquisitor!" he calls down at you. "Make yourself at home."

His laughter seems to echo through all the halls of the Ch??teau.

EXITS: UP EAST DOWN WEST

A scimitar lies abandoned at the edge of the pit.
You examine Marquis
The Marquis, who was so giddy with sadistic triumph at your entrance, now seems for the most part uninterested in your presence. Odd.
You examine the scimitar
A curved sword not unlike those you saw employed in the Algerian human uprising a century ago. Its attack power is 2.
You take it
Taken.
You talk to Marquis
The balcony is too high up to permit any interation with the Marquis.
Go east
Velvet spills over the grand stairway in a crimson flood. To the east is a massive wooden door.

High on the wall are displayed the arms of the Marquis Semix.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You examine arms
The device of Semix: Gules, a unicorn sable horned or. (Violations of the rule of tincture rest outside an Inquisitor's jurisdiction.)

Crossed beneath the escutcheon are the poleaxe Thembriaud and the longsword Harcheque.
You look at the poleaxe
This long-handled axe was wielded by a previous Marquis Semix in the Battle of Noyes. Its attack power is 5.
You take it
The weapons on the wall are too high to reach.
You look at the longsword
This silver-plated sword beheaded the werewolf Cornegule in 1207. Its attack power is 6.
You examine the door
The carven boiseries of the portal suggest copious fangs and tongues. The door itself is shut.
You open it
The huge door seems to be locked.
Go up
Numerous objets d'art and historical oddities are on display in this museum hall: A portrait of the Marquis, the statue of Gaspard Oindr??, a framed family tree, a Japanese warrior's equipment in an elaborate display case.

A pane of ghost-glass to the west offers a view of the balcony. The
oak door to the east is closed.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
You look at the portrait
The Marquis sat for this portrait in the hall at the bottom of the stairs; you see his coat of arms on the wall behind him. The xanthic luminosity of his eyes was probably exaggerated by the artist: You recognize the signature of Bartheno??de Aguenisse, an expert flatterer.
You take the sword
You already have that.
Inventory
You are carrying:
a scimitar
a silk cape (being worn)
a white dagger
You examine the case
The steel bars are worked in intricate designs, offering only tantalizing glimpses of the case's contents.

In the steel display case are a suit of samurai armor, a katana, and a wakizashi.
You examine the armor
The armor gleams like a insect's iridescent shell. Its polished plates bear no marks of battle; it was probably given as a gift rather than taken from a foe.
You examine the katana
A single-edged longsword of Japanese manufacture. It is flawless. Its attack power is 5.
You examine wakizashi
A Japanese sword with a blade about a foot long. Its attack power is
3.
You look at the statue
The stone Gaspard casts a defiant eye over his shoulder, as if daring his foe to attack from behind. The statue is not, strictly speaking, life-like; Oindre was petrified in 1709, and his remains have
been on display in the Ch??teau for perhaps thirty years.
You examine the tree
This vellum scroll purports to trace the ancestry of the Marquis back to the eleventh century and the legendary ur-vampiress ??streg, who sired Ixaron, who sired Nivemes... Undoubtedly the pedigree consists predominantly of fabrications, but this is de rigeuer among the
Marquis and his peers.
You examine the door
An imposing oaken door with a heavy lock.
You examine glass
The Marquis is standing on the balcony on the other side of the glass. Oddly, he is still leaning over the railing, as if waiting for you to reappear in the hall below.
Break glass
Ghost-glass like this is impossible to break with brute force???but it can be penetrated by more subtle means.
Open case
The steel display case seems to be locked.
Break case
You must specify the weapon with which you are attacking.
Go down
Velvet spills over the grand stairway in a crimson flood. To the east is a massive wooden door.

High on the wall are displayed the arms of the Marquis Semix.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You jump
You jump!
You go west
Guests of the Marquis who fail to make a good first impression are flung into the pit that takes up most of this chamber.

The Marquis leans over the balcony, following your movements with a bored sneer.

EXITS: UP EAST DOWN WEST
Go down
You leap down into the pit.

You land with a soft grunt. Some indeterminate number of unworthy guests rest at the bottom of this pit, their remains mingled by the depredations of scavengers.

EXITS: UP EAST

A shining mace has landed near the center of the pit.
You examine the mace
A steel club with a flanged head. Its attack power is 3.
You take the mace
Taken.
You examine battleaxe
A broad-bladed axe, its handle enwrapped by a skeletal hand. Its
attack power is 5. The surrounding air is thick with the vile perfume of mortal decay.
You look at the guests
Further inspection reveals nothing left to liberate from the Ch??teau's unluckiest guests.
You go to the east
A rough-hewn passage beneath the castle, visited only by the least welcome and most desperate guests of the Marquis. Certain flagstones
of the floor are carved with certain strange symbols.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST

A monstrous shape scuttles out of the darkness: A hissing stag-beetle the size of a tiger.
You examine the beetle
This beast must be the prime beneficiary of those morsels resting in the Ch??teau's pit. Unseemly if not illegal magic must have been employed for it to grow to such proportions; Inquisitory procedure would recommend if not require the creature's extermination.
You kill the beetle with the battleaxe
You wail in fury as you bring the battleaxe down on the giant beetle, dealing 5 damage. The axe is reduced to steel splinters.

The insect offers up one last eerie, crackling cry before exploding into moist dust. Only its horn remains, a spear-like length of deadly chitin.

Now, alone in the tunnel, you are able to inspect its dark corners properly. A pair of gloves rests on the floor, perhaps dragged from
the pit by that beetle as a bizarre trophy.
You kill the beetle with the dagger
You stab the dagger into the giant beetle and deal 1 damage. The blade shatters.

The beetle attempts to stab you with its chitinous horn, but only
pokes a small hole in your cape.
You kill the beetle with the mace
You slam the mace into the giant beetle. The mace bursts into a cloud of shrapnel, but not before dealing 3 damage.

The beetle attempts to stab you with its chitinous horn, but only
pokes a small hole in your cape.
You look at gloves
These gloves have been fitted with sharp, strong claws. The wearer could keep a firm grip on any number of surfaces.
You take the gloves
Taken.
You look around
A rough-hewn passage beneath the castle, visited only by the least welcome and most desperate guests of the Marquis. Certain flagstones
of the floor are carved with certain strange symbols.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST

That awful beetle's spear-like horn rests on the floor.
You examine the flagstones
A collection of flagstones near the midpoint of the tunnel are each engraved with the symbol ???.
You examine the horn
The horn of a giant stag beetle: As stiff and strong as iron, but as light as cork. Its attack power is 4.
Go east
A statue of ??ternitas looms over a magnificent ghost-glass casket. The high ceiling dances with the glow of candles in the chamber above.

The eastern archway is protected by a potent array of sigils.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You examine casket
Ostensibly the resting-place of the Marquis, this coffin is clearly intended primarily as decoration. The glasswork is flawless.

In the casket are a ruby lens and a gladius.
You examine the lens
Gentle reader: It was my earnest hope that by making Vultrine to
wear this ruby lens (a sort of jeweler's loupe or monocle, as I envisioned it), you would be able to see the HP or "health" of all the monsters in this story, to gauge your progress in defeating them and help you decide which of Vultrine's weapons you should use. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I could implement this helpful feature. I hope you will enjoy "The Inquisitor Vultrine" even without this extra convenience, and I hope you will allow Vultrine to wear the ruby lens, even though it has no purpose. If nothing else, the image
of a vampiric Inquisitor bearing so singular an accessory will surely add to your enjoyment of the story.

Sincerely,
Elmir Divkovic.
You look at the gladius
The Marquis wielded this sword in the early chapters of his career.
Its attack power is 4.
You examine the sigils
Sigils of forbiddance have been drawn across the threshold. Passing through the archway will require engraving the correct counter-formula with an appropriate instrument.
Go upward
You slip on your clawed gloves and begin climbing.

The walls of this chamber are hung with dark curtains, flickering in the light of tall candelabrae. An ostentatious couch runs the length
of the hall. To the west is a huge door.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST

On the long couch are a flail and a cinqueda.
You examine the flail
A heavy spiked ball on a chain. The spikes are blunted somewhat after repeated impacts on various battlefields. Its attack power is 3.
You examine the cinqueda
An Italian blade, broad at its base, pointed at its tip. Its attack power is 3.
You look at the couch
conversation related to the Ch??teau Semix. Viewed up close, it fails to match its reputation; you will grant, however, that it is the longest couch you have ever seen.
You examine the curtains
You look behind the curtains. There's nothing there.
Look around
The walls of this chamber are hung with dark curtains, flickering in the light of tall candelabrae. An ostentatious couch runs the length
of the hall. To the west is a huge door.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
You look at the candelabrae
The magics that maintain a low flame on each taper are entirely legal.
You unlock door
What do you want to unlock the huge door with?
You go east
There has been no feasting here for some time, and the long table is covered in dust. At the east end of the room, a grand window looks out on the Ch??teau gardens.

EXITS: EAST WEST

There is a human here, pacing at the far end of the table. He has not marked your arrival.

"Are you in the employ of the Marquis?" you call across the hall.

His surprise fades quickly. "I am," he says, "by my own will."

"That's what thralls are usually commanded to say," you mutter???but he hears you perfectly.

"I assure you I am no thrall, Inquisitor. I am Sectiert du Noyes, and my will is my own." He begins traversing the length of the hall to
meet you. "The Marquis has promised unimaginable rewards in return for my assistance in his research. He requires human test subjects, their minds unclouded by vampiric magic. Until his experiment is ready, I am free to roam the Ch??teau, to do as I please. He has advised me???"

Now he stands before you with an expression of despicable self-satisfaction. "???Advised me, not commanded???to prevent any interference by nosy Inquisitors."

He draws a cutlass from behind his back.
Go west
A rough-hewn passage beneath the castle, visited only by the least welcome and most desperate guests of the Marquis. Certain flagstones
of the floor are carved with certain strange symbols.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
Go upwards
You dig your claws into the wall and begin climbing.

The walls of this chamber are hung with dark curtains, flickering in the light of tall candelabrae. An ostentatious couch runs the length
of the hall. To the west is a huge door.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
You go to the east
There has been no feasting here for some time, and the long table is covered in dust. At the east end of the room, a grand window looks out on the Ch??teau gardens.

EXITS: EAST WEST

Sectier is still here, still ready with his cutlass.
You examine table
For whatever reason, this very long table never comes up when people are talking about the very long couch in the lounge. A rusty carving knife is nearby.
You take knife
(the white dagger)
You already have that.
You look at it
A rusty blade originally intended for dismembering roast turkeys, not one's enemies. Its attack power is 2.
You kill with the horn
You swing the horn around and thrust it into Sectiert, dealing 4 damage. The horn explodes into moist dust.

Sectiert swings his cutlass, but only manages to scratch the hem of your cape.
You kill with the mace
You slam the mace into Sectiert. The mace bursts into a cloud of shrapnel, but not before dealing 3 damage.

A curious expression falls over Sectiert's face. He seems shocked, though you cannot see by what. You wonder if he is about to vomit.

Then he melts, all at once. Then his liquid remains begin to bubble
and steam, and the so-called human evaporates completely.

Left behind on the floor are a cutlass and a key.
You kill with the carving knife
You stab with the carving knife. The blade snaps, but Sectiert takes 2 damage.

A curious expression falls over Sectiert's face. He seems shocked, though you cannot see by what. You wonder if he is about to vomit.

Then he melts, all at once. Then his liquid remains begin to bubble
and steam, and the so-called human evaporates completely.

Left behind on the floor are a cutlass and a key.
You kill with the dagger
You stab the dagger into Sectiert and deal 1 damage. The blade shatters.

Sectiert pushes back, hoping to bury his cutlass in your heart. But
you are too fast.
You take all
master's key: Taken.
cutlass: Taken.
You examine the key
A heavy iron key on a black ribbon.
You look at the cutlass
A crude weapon, eminently suitable for a human. Its attack power is 2.
About yourself
Publicly the Orthodoxy takes pains to assure its subjects that Inquisitors are not above the law. This is a pleasant fiction. Inquisitors are empowered to meld the law according to their needs, to invent edicts or forget them at will, so long as it serves the aims of the Orthodoxy. In the earliest decades of your career, you availed yourself of these privileges frequently, reveling in the arbitrary power of your position.

not resort to such inelegances. The true law, unadulterated by situational convenience, is just and complete. It is sufficient in all respects, so long as it is wielded with skill and patience. Thus it is said privately, and not repeated outside the halls of the Orthodoxy, that only the best Inquisitors are not above the law.

You are the Inquisitor Vultrine, ranked among the best.
Look around
There has been no feasting here for some time, and the long table is covered in dust. At the east end of the room, a grand window looks out on the Ch??teau gardens.

EXITS: EAST WEST
You cut the couch
Cutting it up would achieve little.
You unlock the door with the key
You unlock the huge door.
You go to the west
(first opening the huge door)

Velvet spills over the grand stairway in a crimson flood. The huge
door to the east stands open, and wind whistles down the length of the castle.

High on the wall are displayed the arms of the Marquis Semix.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You wear the gloves
You're already wearing those!
You take the longsword
You claw your way up the wall.

You reach out with one hand for Harcheque and grab it; however, in the same movement you knock Thembriaud loose. The poleaxe falls to the floor.

You hop back down with Harcheque safe in your hands.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
Thembriaud
Harcheque
a cutlass
the master's key
a cinqueda
a flail
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a mace
a scimitar
a torn cape (being worn)
a white dagger
Unlock case with key
You unlock the steel display case.
Open case
You open the steel display case.
You take all from the case
suit of samurai armor: You have no need for such protections.
katana: Taken.
wakizashi: Taken.
You go down
Velvet spills over the grand stairway in a crimson flood. The huge
door to the east stands open, and wind whistles down the length of the castle.

High on the wall are displayed the arms of the Marquis Semix.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You unlock the door with the key
You unlock the oak door.
You go to the east
(first opening the oak door)

The Marquis does not sleep here (or indeed at all). The great bed is unused, the fireplace is spotless.

A chill wind issues from the spiral staircase, and a tapestry hung on the easten wall ripples gently.

EXITS: UP WEST
You look at the bed
There is something of the funeral pall in the black velvet draped over the bed.
You look under the bed
Under the bed is a silver chamber pot and a machete.
You examine the pot
You contemplate the object disdainfully. Such things are below the pay grade of an Inquisitor.
You examine the machete
A long, chipped blade, utilitarian in design. Its attack power is 3.
You examine the fireplace
A merely decorative hearth, devoid of ashes. A silver poker stands nearby.
You look at the poker
A fireplace poker, forged from silver. Such extravagance, while not illegal, is certainly unforgivable. Its attack power is 5.
You examine the tapestry
The tapestry depicts the Battle of Noyes, albeit in highly
romanticized manner. The towers of the Ch??teau are visible above the trees, though in fact the forest of Noyes is miles away from the castle. Further, the forces of the (former) Marquis Semix and the bandit captain Elandrique as woven here are shown to be evenly
matched; in truth, Elandrique was hopelessly outnumbered, and some contemporaneous sources report that she offered surrender.

Currents of wind coil around your boots, flowing under the tapestry.
You search it
You pull the tapestry to the side and confirm your suspicions: A
narrow hallway is hidden behind, leading east.
You go east
Here the walls are bare wood, and dust covers the cold stone floor. It is doubtful that the Marquis has found a use for this concealed
redoubt in recent years.

A rusty lever is set in the far wall.

EXITS: WEST

A metallic rattle pierces the eerie silence, and a dark form emerges from the shadows. A figure in black armor???No, a suit of armor itself, acting on its own power, lumbers toward you. It raises an enormous greatsword.
You kill with the longsword
Which do you mean, the katana or Harcheque?
Harcheque
blow, dealing 6 damage. The legendary weapon crumbles to dust.

The armor swings its greatsword at you, and manages to slice off a bit of your cape.
You kill with katana
You plunge the katana into the suit of armor. It takes 5 damage. The blade itself crumbles to dust.

The armor stands still. The ??? on its helmet fades away.

It falls to the floor and crumbles into dust. Only its greatsword remains.

Floating above the dust are two motes of magic, which you recognize as a word of animation and a word of injunction: The spells that gave these plates of steel a semblance of life. You take possession of
them, predicting you'll find some use for them later.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a silver poker
a machete
a wakizashi
a katana
Thembriaud
a cutlass
the master's key
a cinqueda
a flail
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a mace
a scimitar
a badly torn cape (being worn)
a white dagger
You kill with the cinqueda
You drive the cinqueda into the suit of armor and deal 3 damage???but the blade is shattered.

The suit of armor slices back at you???You duck just in time.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a word of injunction
a word of animation
a silver poker
a machete
a wakizashi
Thembriaud
a cutlass
the master's key
a cinqueda
a flail
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a mace
a scimitar
a badly torn cape (being worn)
a white dagger
You look at the injunction
The word of injunction is a magic spell which you hold more in your mind than in your hand. Its attack power is 4.
You look at the animation
mind than in your hand. Based on your limited expertise in these matters, you believe it to be related to the ??? rune you saw etched into the walking armor's helmet.
You examine the greatsword
A huge two-handed sword with a very broad, asymmetrical blade. Its attack power is 5.
You take it
Taken.
You look at the lever
You can deduce that this lever is very rarely used.
Look around
Here the walls are bare wood, and dust covers the cold stone floor. It is doubtful that the Marquis has found a use for this concealed
redoubt in recent years.

A rusty lever is set in the far wall.

EXITS: WEST
You pull the lever
You pull back on the lever. It resists, and squeals in hideous
protest, but then it gives way???and the chamber rumbles violently. The floor shakes, and sections begin to plunge down as if an insidious
trap has been activated.

But when the noise and shaking stop, you see that the floor has reformed itself into a staircase leading to the room below.
Go downward
There has been no feasting here for some time, and the long table is covered in dust. At the east end of the room, a grand window looks out on the Ch??teau gardens.

There's a staircase sticking out of the ceiling.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You go upwards
Here the walls are bare wood, and dust covers the cold stone floor. It is doubtful that the Marquis has found a use for this concealed
redoubt in recent years.

A rusty lever is set in the far wall.

EXITS: DOWN WEST
You go west
The Marquis does not sleep here (or indeed at all). The great bed is unused, the fireplace is spotless.

A chill wind issues from the spiral staircase, and a tapestry hung on the easten wall ripples gently.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
Go upwards
Rain falls in sheets, and the narrow walkway is like a sluice. On one side is the tower wall, ascending into the storm; on the other,
statues of Nephreine and Alithedora look out over the countryside, serenely ignoring the precipitous drop to the castle grounds at their feet. Happily, a staircase nearby enables a safer descent.

EXITS: UP DOWN WEST
You examine Nephreine
Nephreine is one of the heroines in Yvenne d'Abelune's novel The Scarred Palm, expertly realized here in copper. The character is instantly recognizable from the combination of beauty and ruthlessness in her face, and the harp in her hands.
You examine the harp
A nonmusical harp made of copper, for a statue of Nephreine. Its
attack power is 4.
You look at Alithedora
Scarred Palm, that infamous novel of Yvenne d'Abelune. The
expression on this copper statue captures not only Alithedora's mischievousness, but the sadness she took such pains to keep hidden.
So in that sense, the statue is not entirely accurate.

Alithedora holds her walking stick loosely at her side.
You examine the stick
A long copper staff, sculpted to look like gnarled wood. Its attack power is 4.
You go to the west
You follow the walkway west, and eventually a tower becomes visible through the storm: A door, and windows alive with greenish light.

Then your nose stings???Then your eyes, the back of your throat. Now you
see a the vapor flowing from out of the windows and door, dissipated only slightly by the surrounding wind and rain: An unbearable mephitis radiates from this tower, a noxious atmosphere you cannot bring yourself to enter. You are forced to turn back, and wonder how you could overpower such an awful odor.
Go downward
The Marquis does not sleep here (or indeed at all). The great bed is unused, the fireplace is spotless.

A chill wind issues from the spiral staircase, and a tapestry hung on the easten wall ripples gently.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You say the animation
(to yourself)
You don't respond.
You say the animation to the flagstone
You can only do that to something animate.
Go down
You speak the word of animation, and the ??? glyphs glow as the flagstones themselves rise up out of the floor, revealing a passage into the deeper foundations of the Ch??teau Semix.

A crypt of antediluvian design, perhaps at first a natural cave, hewn by its original discoverers into a roughly circular shape. This
chamber must predate the Ch??teau above by some millennia. It made no appearance in any of your researches.

The sloped floor descends toward a basalt sarcophagus, surrounded by seven iron urns.

EXITS: UP
You examine the sarcophagus
The sarcophagus was not brought here: It was carved out of the living rock, like the walls and floor.
You examine the northern urn
The urns transcribe the points of a heptagon around the sarcophagus: Seven vessels of beaten iron, from an age when iron was valued more highly than gold. This one is closed.
You examine the quicksilver
A quantity of liquid hydrargyrum metal rests in the bottom of the urn.
You look at the clay tablet
Some sort of pre-linguistic figures are pressed into the dried clay.
You open the eastern urn
You open the eastern urn, revealing a milky gem.
You examine the gem
An unremarkable stone. You are at a loss as to the reason for its interment here.
You open the southeastern urn
You open the southeastern urn, revealing a shriveled brain.
You examine the brain
centuries ago.
You examine the needle
You can detect a primal magic about this needle, which may have been carved from the tusk of a woolly mammoth. Its attack power is 6.
You open the western
You open the western urn, revealing a wooden idol.
You examine the idol
A humanoid figure, expertly carved. A line painted around its neck may represent some sort of necklace.
You open northwestern
(the northwestern urn)
You open the northwestern urn, revealing a blackened thorn.
You look at the thorn
An inch-long thorn cut from a nameless vine or flower, now extinct. A dark, unidentifiable residue coats the tip.
Open sarcophagus
You begin to push the heavy lid aside. This requires some effort, even for a vampire of your considerable strength.

A hand reaches out of the casket to assist you.

You leap backward in shock, and look on speechlessly as the desiccated appendage completes the task of removing the basalt slab. Then the limb's owner rises from its sarcophagus: A humanoid shape, a full foot taller than you, though of emaciated aspect. Its body was once wrapped in linen bandages; most of these have disintegrated, revealing the time-blackened tissues beneath. An iron torc is fastened round its withered neck.

The mummy grips a blade of chipped stone and takes a step toward you.
You hit the mummy with the needle
You stick the mummy with the ivory needle, dealing 6 damage. The needle, having waited millennia to serve its purpose, melts and disappears.

The mummy lunges???how could it be so fast????and its blade tears silently
through your cape.
You hit the mummy with the greatsword
The greatsword smashes into the mummy and deals 5 damage. Then it explodes.

The mummy brings its dagger within an inch of your neck.
You hit mummy with poker
You plunge the poker into the mummy, though the holy metal stings your fingers even through your gloves. The weapon deals 5 damage and explodes.

The mummy's dagger plunges at your heart???but you push its stringy arm to the side.
You hit the mummy with the injunction
You speak the word of injunction: The body of the mummy is racked with intense force, taking 4 damage. But the spell fades away.

A weak groan issues from the mummy's mouth.

It slumps forward, about to fall to its knees???but in mid-fall it crumbles to dust. The only sound is of its stone blade clattering to the floor.

You step over the mummy's remains to look inside its sarcophagus. It has left behind another artifact: an athame carved from bone.
You look at it
The bone of some impossibly ancient beast, carved by the earliest practictioners of magic into a ritual instrument. The brittle point is useless as a weapon, but it would be profoundly effective in the engraving of certain sigils and glyphs.
You examine blade
The material used in the blade's manufacture is beyond the reach of your geologic acumen. Its deadly sharpness appears to have been enhanced by some unrecognizably primitive magic. Its attack power is
7.
Look around
A crypt of antediluvian design, perhaps at first a natural cave, hewn by its original discoverers into a roughly circular shape. This
chamber must predate the Ch??teau above by some millennia. It made no appearance in any of your researches.

The sloped floor descends toward a basalt sarcophagus, surrounded by seven iron urns.

EXITS: UP
You go west
this pit, their remains mingled by the depredations of scavengers.

EXITS: UP EAST
Go upwards
You dig your claws into the wall and begin climbing.

Guests of the Marquis who fail to make a good first impression are flung into the pit that takes up most of this chamber.

The Marquis leans over the balcony, following your movements with a bored sneer.

EXITS: UP EAST DOWN WEST
Go upwards
You dig your claws into the wall and begin climbing.

This lens-shaped platform is bounded by a low marble railing on one side and the eastern wall on the other. A ghost-glass window is set in the wall; a horned statue stands sentry nearby.

EXITS: EAST DOWN

The Marquis seems delighted that you've taken the initiative to meet him face-to-face, but he says nothing???He only chortles and swirls his scythe dramatically.
You kill with the blade
smoothness. You deal 7 damage???but the weapon shatters.

The Marquis swings his scythe???tearing your cape.
You kill with the harp
The harp is an awkward weapon, but you quickly judge how best to slam it into the Marquis. Your foe takes 4 damage, but the instrument does not survive the process.

The Marquis falls to his knees, leaning heavily on his scythe. His
form swirls and fades, like a drop of ink dissolving in a glass of water. Your suspicions were correct: This is not the Marquis himself, but a phantom, programmed to taunt and distract you.

With a rattling gasp, the specter dissipates into a milky fog, and his scythe clatters to the balcony floor. The gaseous ghost-form, obeying your implicit instructions, rises up into your nostrils and suffuses your body. After taking a moment to integrate the substance, you look down at your hands: With some small concentration, you cause them to fade away for a moment.
You kill with the machete
The machete connects with the Marquis and deals 3 damage before bursting into useless splinters.

The Marquis falls to his knees, leaning heavily on his scythe. His
form swirls and fades, like a drop of ink dissolving in a glass of water. Your suspicions were correct: This is not the Marquis himself, but a phantom, programmed to taunt and distract you.

With a rattling gasp, the specter dissipates into a milky fog, and his scythe clatters to the balcony floor. The gaseous ghost-form, obeying your implicit instructions, rises up into your nostrils and suffuses your body. After taking a moment to integrate the substance, you look down at your hands: With some small concentration, you cause them to fade away for a moment.
You kill with the cutlass
You slice into the Marquis with the cutlass and deal 2 damage. The flimsy weapon turns to dust immediately.

The Marquis falls to his knees, leaning heavily on his scythe. His
form swirls and fades, like a drop of ink dissolving in a glass of water. Your suspicions were correct: This is not the Marquis himself, but a phantom, programmed to taunt and distract you.

With a rattling gasp, the specter dissipates into a milky fog, and his scythe clatters to the balcony floor. The gaseous ghost-form, obeying your implicit instructions, rises up into your nostrils and suffuses your body. After taking a moment to integrate the substance, you look down at your hands: With some small concentration, you cause them to fade away for a moment.
You kill with the dagger
You stab the dagger into the Marquis and deal 1 damage. The blade shatters.

You duck beneath another swing of the glittering scythe.
You examine the scythe
A farming implement turned toward violence. Its attack power is 3.
You look at the balcony
On the other side of the ghost-glass is the museum gallery.
You look at the statue
The limestone form of some minor demon, its expression carved to
create the sense that this statue, resentful of its station, is nonetheless powerless to defy its master. It grips a little sickle in one hand.
You look at sickle
A moon-shaped blade with a short handle. Its attack power is 4.
Look around
This lens-shaped platform is bounded by a low marble railing on one side and the eastern wall on the other. A ghost-glass window is set in the wall; a horned statue stands sentry nearby.

EXITS: EAST DOWN
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a sickle
a scythe
the form of the ghost
an athame
a copper walking stick
a copper harp
a word of animation
a machete
a wakizashi
Thembriaud
the master's key
a cinqueda
a flail
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a mace
a scimitar
a tattered cape (being worn)
a white dagger
You look at the ghost
The form of the ghost resists any physical interaction. It is, in
fact, entirely insubstantial???and this is the basis of its utility.
You go east
Your body melts into bluish, incorporeal smoke, and you pass through the glass.

Numerous objets d'art and historical oddities are on display in this museum hall: A portrait of the Marquis, the statue of Gaspard Oindr??, a framed family tree, a Japanese warrior's equipment in an elaborate display case.

A pane of ghost-glass to the west offers a view of the balcony. The
oak door to the east is open.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST

You reconstitute your physical form.
You go down
Velvet spills over the grand stairway in a crimson flood. The huge
door to the east stands open, and wind whistles down the length of the castle.

High on the wall are displayed the arms of the Marquis Semix.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You take all from the casket
ruby lens: You discorporate your hand so as to reach through the
glass.

Taken.
gladius: You discorporate your hand so as to reach through the glass.

Taken.
Go upwards
You dig your claws into the wall and begin climbing.

The walls of this chamber are hung with dark curtains, flickering in the light of tall candelabrae. An ostentatious couch runs the length
of the hall. To the west is a huge door.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
You go to the east
There has been no feasting here for some time, and the long table is covered in dust. At the east end of the room, a grand window looks out on the Ch??teau gardens.

There's a staircase sticking out of the ceiling.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
You go to the east
Your body melts into bluish, incorporeal smoke, and you pass through the glass.

A labyrinth of sculpted greenery stretches before you: A frivolous distraction. You climb atop the hedge-wall, and find it solid enough
to traverse.

The rain is relentless.

EXITS: EAST WEST

You reconstitute your physical form.
You go east
Those who manage to navigate the hedge maze are rewarded with this nightmarish sight: Giant roses growing wild over what was once a tasteful garden, thorny tendrils spreading like a blight across the yellowed grass. The intense collective aroma of all these flowers, while not unpleasant, is almost enough to make you swoon.

EXITS: WEST

A woman is growing among the vines. She blinks at you languidly. You wave.

"Good evening, mademoiselle. I have come here seeking information concerning the Marquis."

"You have come to assassinate the Marquis," she hisses. "I have been apprised of your arrival, Inquisitor."

You bow stiffly. "An unnecessary and unbecoming deception. I beg your pardon, mademoiselle."

"My name is Mandragora," she says, as lightning illuminates her
emerald skin. "and I am bound by duty to destroy the enemies of the Marquis."

"I see. I, similarly, am bound by duty to destroy the accomplices of the Marquis, as well as his experiments."

"Your duty is of no interest to me, Inquisitor. Come and face me, or else leave my garden." Mandragora's tendrils ripple around her, and
the field of brambles lurches toward you as a single body.

You nod. "Very well. My name is Vultrine, by the way."
You examine the woman
It is not illegal to grow a living, thinking plant, but it does seem cruel: This woman will never see anything beyond the walls of this garden. She will never visit museums, or climb mountains, or walk
along a beach.

You cut your sympathies short: This individual is interfering with
your investigation. She must be dealt with.
You examine the flowers
The flowers are unnaturally robust, probably as a result of
melliphytic interference.
You hit with stick
You bring the walking stick down on Mandragora and deal 4 damage. The stick itself snaps in half and is destroyed.

Mandragora swipes at you with a thorny vine, cutting an ugly gash in your cape.
Hit with the sickle
You slice into Mandragora with the sickle, dealing 4 damage. The blade snaps off, and the weapon is destroyed.

Another lash from Mandragora's tendrils lands painfully on your cheek.
Hit with gladius
You plunge the gladius into your enemy, dealing 4 damage. The weapon
is disintegrated by the force of impact.

You duck to avoid one of her attacks???and are momentarily ensconced in a pit of brambles. But you pull yourself out.
You hit with the scythe
You swing the scythe in a deadly arc, dealing 3 damage. The scythe shatters.

She stops moving. She blinks.

And then she withers away, and her form is not that of a woman, but of a gnarled twig. Her brambles blacken and fall to pieces. Only the
roses remain.

And one length of vine, covered in thorns.
You look at the vine
A vine that Mandragora used in her attempt to kill you. The thicker
end is smooth enough to grip as a handle; the opposite end is covered in menacing thorns. Its attack power is 7.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You are carrying:
a thorn whip
a ruby lens
the form of the ghost
an athame
a copper harp
a word of animation
a machete
a wakizashi
Thembriaud
the master's key
a cinqueda
a flail
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a mace
a scimitar
a tattered cape (being worn)
a white dagger
You examine the cape
Long gouges have been torn out of your beloved cape. It remains to be seen whether Clarienne will be able to restore it.

You resolve not to let the question bother you. Clarienne is a miracle worker.
You look
A field of oversized roses, filling the air with unbearable sweetness. At their center is the stump that once was Mandragora.

EXITS: WEST
You look at the stump
A vaguely humanoid bit of plant matter is all that remains of Mandragora. It's not impossible that she'll manage to regrow herself???Perhaps in a few years.
You take the roses
You pick one rose and install it in your buttonhole. At once you feel yourself surrounded by an aura of its cloying perfume.
Go west
Standing atop the hedges, you can dash from one end of the maze to the other in a few moments.

The rain is relentless.

EXITS: EAST WEST
You go west
Your body melts into bluish, incorporeal smoke, and you pass through the glass.

There has been no feasting here for some time, and the long table is covered in dust. At the east end of the room, a grand window looks out on the Ch??teau gardens.

There's a staircase sticking out of the ceiling.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST

You reconstitute your physical form.
You go upwards
Here the walls are bare wood, and dust covers the cold stone floor. It is doubtful that the Marquis has found a use for this concealed
redoubt in recent years.

A rusty lever is set in the far wall.

EXITS: DOWN WEST
You go west
The Marquis does not sleep here (or indeed at all). The great bed is unused, the fireplace is spotless.

A chill wind issues from the spiral staircase, and a tapestry hung on the easten wall ripples gently.

EXITS: UP EAST WEST
Go upwards
Rain falls in sheets, and the narrow walkway is like a sluice. On one side is the tower wall, ascending into the storm; on the other,
statues of Nephreine and Alithedora look out over the countryside, serenely ignoring the precipitous drop to the castle grounds at their feet. Happily, a staircase nearby enables a safer descent.

EXITS: UP DOWN WEST
Go west
The rose's atmosphere surrounds you, forming a bubble of sweet air
with enough solidity to repel the toxic gas surrounding the western tower. You continue along the walkway and enter.

Here, if any further evidence were needed, is proof positive: The Marquis is not merely dabbling, but devoting considerable resources to his study of melliphysis. You recognize the banned materials on the bookshelves at a glance. Diagrams on the wall depict physical space being folded into unnatural shapes.

And most damning of all, in the far corner of the chamber is a
pinprick of darkness???a rent torn through the very air???through which a
viridescent miasma is slowly leaking into this dimension.

EXITS: EAST

A loose page lies on the workbench, with some sort of formula scrawled on it.
You take page
At the first step you take toward the workbench, something skitters
out from underneath it: A furry, many-legged creature you cannot immediately recognize.

It opens a toothy maw and growls breathily at you, standing between
you and the pitted desk. It dawns on you that this is a famulus, conjured by the Marquis. Besides interfering with your investigation, the monster itself is illegal.
You examine the famulus
A melliphytic famulus is sculpted with the limbs, sensory organs???even the specific intellectual faculties required by its summoner. Presumably when this one is not acting as a mere guard dog, it is able to assist the Marquis in his depraved studies.
Hit with the vine
You swipe at the famulus with the thorny whip, slicing deep and
dealing 7 damage. But then the whip withers away, like the rest of Mandragora's armament.

cape, tearing off a sizable strip of fabric.
You hit with the poleaxe
You bring down Thembriaud with a mighty swing and deal 5 damage. The legendary weapon is destroyed.

The famulus tries to bite down on your arm, but you smack it away.
You hit with the mace
You slam the mace into the famulus. The mace bursts into a cloud of shrapnel, but not before dealing 3 damage.

The famulus utters one last creaking whine???and then it disappears with
a hideous popping sound.

A magic particle rises into the air over the spot: A spell you recognize as a word of vexation. This must have been what imparted
such orneriness to the creature. You take possession of it.
You hit with the scimitar
With a practiced hand you slice into the famulus and deal 2 damage.
The force of your blow is enough to snap the blade into two pieces of useless steel.

The famulus whines pitifully???and then climbs up your shirt, to snap at
your neck. You shove it back to the floor.
You examine the vexation
The word of vexation is a magic spell which you hold more in your mind than in your hand. Its attack power is 7.
You look at the page
The formula on the scrap of paper is a glyph of interruption, specifically designed to suspend the effects of some other magic for a limited time. To inscribe the glyph would require a specialized ritual instrument.
You examine the pinprick
The perforation is so miniscule in size as to seemingly disappear when observed directly. You have dealt with such things before, however: Even the most diminutive of melliphytic phenomena can have disastrous effects.
You look at miasma
The gas flows steadily out of the air, filling the laboratory,
drifting out of the windows. It will go on flowing out of the Ch??teau, across the countryside, into farms and villages. You will have to procure a specialist to seal the perforation as soon as possible???as soon as you have executed your own duties.
Examine banned
Your instinct is to destroy the most heretical books at once, but they will need to be taken in as evidence after you've dealt with the Marquis.

A spherical vial of hythic acid is sitting atop one shelf.
You examine the vial
Though it has applications in any number of unseemly or unlawful endeavors, mere possession of hythic acid is perfectly legal. Its attack power is 6.
You look
Here, if any further evidence were needed, is proof positive: The Marquis is not merely dabbling, but devoting considerable resources to his study of melliphysis. You recognize the banned materials on the bookshelves at a glance. Diagrams on the wall depict physical space being folded into unnatural shapes.

And most damning of all, in the far corner of the chamber is a
pinprick of darkness???a rent torn through the very air???through which a
viridescent miasma is slowly leaking into this dimension.

EXITS: EAST
You go to the east
You lean down and carve the glyph of interruption with the athame, suspending the enchantment just long enough for you to pass through
the archway.

Slumped stalagmites surround a pool of greenish liquid, its depths obscured by unnatural mist.

EXITS: WEST
You look at the pool
You peer over the edge of the pool.

Something peers back up at you.

It swims up at you, undulating eerily, faster and faster until it emerges with a viscous splashing at the water's edge. You recognize
its shape: A Nemertean.

"Ah, a friend of the Marquis," it utters, the words muffled by its many-lobed mouth. "I was not apprised of your visitation. All the
same, I am happy to take on another pupil."

"Then it was you who instructed the Marquis in the art of
melliphysis?" you ask.

Its eye opens in a grim smirk. "I recognize the questioning of an Inquisitor," it spits back. "You may spare me any rehearsed remarks upon the necessity of my eradication???I have had it all from your predecessor, in the moments before he was devoured."

You nod. "Then I will proceed directly to the eradication."

"Attempt this if you must," it says, unsheathing a chitinous pincer, "but I have fed so recently???It is all the same to me if you choose to flee with your life."
Hit with the vexation
You speak the word of vexation: The Nemertean shrieks in unfathomable fury, taking 7 damage. But the spell fades away.

The Nemertean's membranes billow, and it flies up into the dark
heights of the cave.

It swoops down upon you???you leap out of the way???your cape is caught in
its pincer.

It yanks on the tattered garment, drawing you in. You pull in the
other direction until your cape is torn from your shoulders. You leap out of range and whirl around to see the monster shredding what remained of your cape to ribbons. Then it turns toward you.
You hit with the vial
The vial shatters, and hythic acid splashes all over the Nemertean.
The liquid then erupts in flames, dealing 6 damage.

The Nemertean thrusts in response, but you dodge the blow.
You check your inventory
You are carrying:
a glyph of interruption
a rose (being worn)
a ruby lens
the form of the ghost
an athame
a copper harp
a word of animation
a machete
a wakizashi
the master's key
a cinqueda
a flail
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a scimitar
a white dagger
You hit with the flail
You swing the flail around and around, building up speed???Then you swing it into the Nemertean, and it explodes, dealing 3 damage.

You duck behind a stalagmite to avoid another swipe of the creature's pincer.
You hit with the harp
The harp is an awkward weapon, but you quickly judge how best to slam it into the Nemertean. Your foe takes 4 damage, but the instrument
does not survive the process.

The bulbous creature stops in its tracks.

"Have it your own way, Inquisitor. Go and wreak your justice upon the Marquis. We Nemerteans love nothing more than to see vampire turn against vampire."

The noise it produces next might be a hollow laugh, or else a death-rattle: For the Nemertean collapses, its unearthly organs squelching and shriveling before your eyes.

You look over the remains: Its air-membrane, shrunken into a form not unlike your beloved silk cape, and its deadly pincer.
You examine pincer
One of the few rigid elements of Nemertean anatomy is the pincer. A grisly trophy to be sure, but its efficacy in combat far outweighs its distastefulness. Its attack power is 8.
You look at the membrane
The material is remarkably smooth and soft, considering its origin.
You have seen firsthand how its folds take in surrounding air and converts the pressure into a powerful upward force.
You describe your surroundings
Slumped stalagmites surround a pool of greenish liquid, its depths obscured by unnatural mist.

EXITS: WEST
You examine mist
An unaccountable quantity of vapor covers the water's surface,
creeping out over the stone, as if seeking to infiltrate the Ch??teau beyond.
You examine stone
Each mass of stone seems to ooze indolently over itself, creeping toward the dark pool.

A sword is sticking out of one of the stalagmites???It must have been thrust into the rock with considerable force.
You take the sword
(the white rapier)
You grab hold of the rapier's hilt and pull.

It doesn't budge.
You look at the sword
Which do you mean, the white rapier, the machete, the cinqueda, or the scimitar?
You pull the white rapier
You set your feet and pull harder at the rapier.

The blade seems to shift in the rock. A little.
Keep going
You heave once more, and the rapier slides out of the stalagmite with such ease that you stumble backward a bit.
You examine white rapier
This rapier was wielded by Udolphon, the first Inquisitor assigned to investigate the Marquis. While examining it closely, you perceive in yourself an unprofessional desire to ensure he is avenged. Its attack power is 8.
Go upwards
Numerous objets d'art and historical oddities are on display in this museum hall: A portrait of the Marquis, the statue of Gaspard Oindr??, a framed family tree, a Japanese warrior's equipment in an elaborate display case.

A pane of ghost-glass to the west offers a view of the balcony. The
oak door to the east is open.

EXITS: EAST DOWN WEST
You go up
You dig your claws into the wall and begin climbing.

A lesser Inquisitor might lose one's footing on this steeply pitched roof, in this torrential downpour, but fortunately the Orthodoxy gave this particular assignment to their most skilled agent.

A gap in the roof and a few loose bricks indicate that some section of the castle was forcibly removed from this spot. Looking up, you see what happened: The tower is floating in the clouds above the Ch??teau. That is most certainly illegal.

EXITS: UP DOWN
You look at the bricks
Bricks are littered across the roof. A nearby specimen possesses a particular imposing jaggedness.
You examine brick
A squarish piece of rock with a knifelike edge. Its attack power is 3.
You look at the gap
A roughly circular hole has been punched out of the roof. There
appears to be nothing of interest below.
You examine tower
Though the places where it formerly connected to the Ch??teau bear the impressions of remarkable violence, the better part of the tower is surprisingly intact. It is in the first place surprising (though much of the shock has now worn off) that such a massive structure could be made to levitate independently at all. The melliphytic energies required must be colossal. The Orthodoxy will be furious???unless you bring the Marquis to justice.

A glow from within indicates that the tower is currently occupied.
You go upwards
You raise your cape around you and catch a gust of wind???

???It bears you up into the tempest, up to the tower.

You land lightly on the rain-slick floor. Thunder shakes the tower,
and then a voice booms: "You're too late, Inquisitor."

A vortex of twisted space hangs over the tower, whipping the wind and clouds into a maelstrom. You can feel it pulling on you, as well.

EXITS: DOWN

"Too late for what?" you ask.

The Marquis glides toward you, unperturbed by the howling winds. "The Gate is open," he explains, "and shortly it will be under my control.
I have solved the equations. All that remains is the psychical component???of bending the Gate to my will."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," you tell him. "Marquis Semix, in the name of the Orthodoxy, I hereby arrest you on charges of research and experimentation in melliphysis, the knowledge or application of which is a capital crime, and on various related charges to be enumerated before a magistrate. You have the right to stand trial and speak or be spoken for in your defense. Do you choose to exercise this right?"

"I do not," he sneers. He stretches out his fingers to show you long, barbed claws.

"Very well. In that case, the Orthodoxy sentences you to death, and obliges me carry out your execution at my earliest convenience."
Inventory
You are carrying:
a jagged brick
a white rapier
a membranous cape (being worn)
a Nemertean pincer
a glyph of interruption
a rose (being worn)
a ruby lens
the form of the ghost
an athame
a word of animation
a machete
a wakizashi
the master's key
a cinqueda
some clawed gloves (being worn)
a scimitar
a white dagger
You hit with pincer
You bring the arms of the pincer around the Marquis Semix, crushing it and dealing 8 damage. The pincer itself splits under the force of impact.

The Marquis pounces on you and digs his nails into your arm???You shove him away.
You hit with the rapier
You thrust with the white rapier and deal 8 damage to the Marquis Semix. The blade erupts in silver flames, and you feel that Udolphon's memory has at last been laid to rest.

He flashes out of existence.

Then he reappears, his claws closing around your throat. You shake him off and leap backward.
Hit with the brick
You thump the brick over the Marquis Semix, dealing 3 damage. The
brick crumbles.

He shrieks a melliphytic spell, and lightning springs out of the vortex. You activate your membranous cape and propel yourself away before the bolt can connect with the spot where you were standing.
Hit with the machete
The machete connects with the Marquis Semix and deals 3 damage before bursting into useless splinters.

The Marquis falls to his knees. His lips move; his words are swallowed in the storm.

The vortex sputters. You sprint to the lip of the platform. You fall.

An indescribable cacophony shreds the air above you.

You land, and look up: The floating tower is gone. The vortex is gone. There is no sign of the Marquis. The storm continues to rage.

You cannot spare a moment's rest; there is evidence to collect, and paperwork to complete. You draw your new cape around your shoulders
and begin your descent of the Ch??teau Semix.

"

"Yeah, I have a question." I don't recognize the person asking. "How
do you call that a 'vampire-tale?'"

Elmir frowns. "I don't understand..."

"I mean, you say the characters are vampires, but they don't do any vampire stuff. They don't turn into bats. They don't drink blood. I don't think you even mentioned blood once."

Elmir starts flipping through his notebook. Someone else speaks up: "There were several vampire elements. There was hypnosis, and
caskets."

"There was some vampire-adjacent stuff, but if you never told me these characters were vampires, I never would have known they were vampires! They're just spooky guys! You should call them 'spooky-guy-tales,' is all I'm saying."

The moderator finally takes control: "Please, authors," he says, even though it's only one person causing the trouble. "This is Castle Balderstone. The occasion demands some decorum."

The person with the question sighs loudly. Awkwardness is thick in the air.

But Elmir closes his notebook and speaks up: "The querant has a point. I skimmed back through the story, and I don't see any blood. But of course, this is only one of my vampire-tales. The others contain many more of these classic vampire-elements. If you would like to peruse them, they're collected in a volume titled Elmir Divkovic's World
of Vampire-Tales. I have a few copies in my car..."

The moderator thanks Elmir and ushers him down from the dais.
You look at what you're carrying with you
I was carrying:
my citation pad
You look around
The entrance to the Belle Landing convenience store stood to the northeast. Right outside there was this filthy trash can, overflowing with garbage.

A vague sort of path led around the building to the northwest.

My car looked awful inviting, but I couldn't leave quite yet.
About yourself
My name is Chris Gill. I work for the Health Department. I remember that on the night in question, I hadn't shaved in a while. Health inspectors aren't supposed to have any stubble. But out on the road, I could get away with that sort of thing.
You examine the car
I remember that car. I remember when I started working for the health department, there was some sticker on there that my boss said wasn't appropriate for a vehicle I'd be driving around for my job, and he
made me tear it off. But it didn't come off all the way, so there was this scrap left stuck to the bumper, like an adhesive scar.
You examine the scrap
It was torn off enough that you couldn't read any of it. I don't
really remember what the sticker originally said. I don't think it was anything offensive, or even interesting. Just, too informal for government work.

When I ended up selling that car, that scrap was still stuck on the bumper.
Examine pad
We carried around these pads of citation paperwork that looked like they had been mimeographed in the seventies. It was carbonless copy paper, if you remember what that is. I was supposed to make a note of all the violations I saw, and depending on what I noted, I was empowered to issue a warning or, in extreme circumstances, a citation. A citation was a lot more paperwork.
You look at the can
A trash can in a high-traffic area like that has to be emptied a few times a day. This one hadn't been emptied that day. It hadn't been emptied the day before, either. There was a little mountain of trash forming around it.
You note can
I definitely wrote down something about the garbage can. I probably used the words "mountain of trash."
You examine the store
There were streaks on the glass door, that kind of residue that makes you think "oh sure, someone did try to clean this, at some point." It almost made the place look abandoned.
You note the streaks
I made a note of the dirty window: I wrote "Dirty Window!" or
something like that.
You open door
I opened the door and let go of the handle so it could close itself. I don't know what I was checking.
You go inside
The convenience store was set up so you'd have to walk through this gallery of snacks and tchochkes and stuff on your way in and out. Usually you want the counter to be closer to the door, but, I dunno, this is how this place was set up. The counter was over to the northeast.

But the first thing I noticed was this slimy stuff on the floor.
You eat the slime
That was plainly inedible.
Go northeast
The counter was at the center of the building, and there were wings
off to the northeast, southeast, and southwest. There was a door in
the northwest, next to a huge mirror.

The counter was unattended. Unless you count the giant spider that was sitting on it.
You note spider
I didn't have the presence of mind to write something at the time, but later on I did made a note: "There is a spider the size of my hand somewhere around your cash register. Get it out of there." Something along those lines.
You look at the mirror
The mirror took up as much of the wall as possible. I remember it was really clean, unlike everything else in that place.

I could see the spider's reflection in the mirror, and that scared me
a second time.
You get the spider
I didn't know what I was going to do about the spider. I wanted to shoot it, but they don't let health inspectors carry guns.

Luckily, while I was trying to formulate a plan to deal with the situation, the spider just crawled over the edge of the counter. To
the other side, where I couldn't see it.

Of course, the rest of the time I was in that building, I was looking out for that spider.
You look at the counter
I noticed some more of that slime on the edge of the counter, like something had just brushed against it while walking by. There was no one at the cash register, which struck me as a bad idea, but not exactly a health hazard.
You go to the north-east
The food court was disgusting. There were more drops of that slime on the floor, and smears of pizza sauce over the walls.

There was a kid slumped over one of the tables. He had one of those visors on, so I assumed he was an employee.

Nobody was on duty at the cash register, and of course the counter to the southwest was still unattended.
You note the sauce
I wrote down "wipe sauce off the walls!!!" with three exclamation points. To convey my distaste.
You note slime
I noted: "Slime in food court. Floors require cleaning." I didn't note exactly how vile this slime looked.
You examine kid
He was kind of draped over the table with his eyes closed. His skin
was pale, and his mouth was hanging open, and he was so skinny. He looked malnourished, maybe dehydrated. Really strung-out, to be
honest. But this was some teen! Kids aren't supposed to work fifteen hour shifts and then fall unconscious in the workplace.

There was a key sitting on the table next to him.
You wake kid
I poked the kid's arm. He didn't seem to notice. And his skin had this odd texture. Kind of like clay.
You look at the key
It was a steel key, with a round head.
Go southwest
The counter was at the center of the building, and there were wings
off to the northeast, southeast, and southwest. There was a door in
the northwest, next to a huge mirror.

The counter was unattended.
You go northwest
(first opening the door)
The door seemed to be locked.
You open door with the key
I unlocked the door.
You open door
I opened the door.
Go northwest
The office didn't match the rest of the place at all. It was nicer
than my boss's office: There was a wood desk, and a filing cabinet built into the wall. And two big windows: One in the northwest wall, with a view of the field out back, and one in the southwest, next to the door, with a view of the filthy convenience store.
You look at the desk
The top of the desk even had a blotter on it, like this was a CEO's office in the fifties. But there was nothing written on the blotter.
You examine the cabinet
The filing cabinet was basically one big drawer, built into the wall.
I don't know how swanky that sounds when I say it out loud, but it looked really swanky.
You open cabinet
I pulled the cabinet open, and imagine my surprise when I saw there were no files in there at all. There was a keychain in there, though.
You examine the keychain
There was just one key on the chain. I remember thinking it was either a very new key, or just a key that rarely got used, because the teeth on it were so sharp. It was attached to a plastic key fob thing that I think just had some business's phone number on it.
Northwest
Outside you could see the field, and the sky, and that windmill they'd built behind the store.
You look at the windmill
A big fake windmill, lit up by a spotlight. And behind that, the
stars.
You look out the southeast window
from in there, especially as regarded what the person behind the counter was doing. Obviously the office window was the other side of the mirror behind the counter. I had assumed it was a one-way mirror, just because it was so impractically large.
Go southwest
The convenience store was set up so you'd have to walk through this gallery of snacks and tchochkes and stuff on your way in and out. The counter was over to the northeast, and the way out was southwest.

And there was that trail of slime running along the floor.
You go to the south-east
This one corner of the store was completely devoted to cute little figurines. The shelves were stacked with them.

I could see the counter to the northwest. There was still nobody
there.
You examine the figurine
I guess "cute" is the wrong word. They were supposed to be graceful
and beautiful. Willowy mothers holding willowy daughters, angels in long flowing robes. None of the figurines had faces. Just blank heads, but you could infer they were supposed to have beatific expressions.

When I looked closely, I noticed there were dozens of tiny spiders skittering up and down the figurines.
You look at the spiders
They were the tiniest of spiders, just little dots. But the more I looked, the more of them I saw. The place was crawling with them.
You look at the gallery
Which do you mean, the snacks or the tchochkes?
Snacks
Bags of peanuts and chips. And candy. Normal convenience store stuff.
You get the chips
I never buy anything at the places I'm inspecting, though. Some inspectors, they do that to be polite. I have a weird sense of honor about it, I guess.
You look at the tchochkes
cute sayings on them. There was the typical "serenity to accept the things I cannot change" stuff, and then there was some really odd stuff. "All men are not created equal, only the finest become police." Or, "Thyme to turnip the beet." "I tried to retire, but now I work for my wife." So, not really a single unifying theme.
You go southwest
The entrance to the Belle Landing convenience store stood to the northeast. Right outside there was this filthy trash can, overflowing with garbage.

A vague sort of path led around the building to the northwest.

My car looked awful inviting, but I couldn't leave quite yet.
You go northwest
There was a big field of grass around the side of the store. The grass was wet, and it kind of glistened under the stars.

I try not to pay too much attention to the stars.

I came up to where there was a spotlight stuck in the ground, pointing at this big windmill to the northeast. The path back to the store entrance was southeast from there.

And there was a rabbit sitting there, twitching and blinking, trying
to figure out if I'd seen it yet.
You look at the rabbit
It was just a dark shape in the grass, but I could tell it was a rabbit.
You note the rabbit
As soon as I made any kind of move toward the rabbit, it skedaddled.
You examine the spotlight
A really bright light, bolted into a square of concrete in the middle of the field, to light up the windmill at night.
You examine the windmill
It was not a real windmill. There was a wind going, remember: Hog feces. I could still smell it. But the vanes of the windmill weren't moving. It was just for show.
Open windmill
I was too far away from the windmill to do much of anything with it.
You go northeast
Now I was standing at the foot of the windmill, out of the way of the spotlight. The whole thing was a lot bigger than it had looked from
far away.

To get back to the store entrance, I'd have to go around to the southwest.
You examine the windmill
I guess they built it to celebrate the Dutch heritage in the surrounding area. And to attract tourists. It didn't look like a classic windmill, though. It was stumpier, if that makes sense.

There was a sort of hatch built into the side. The dark side, that the spotlight wasn't pointed at.
You examine the hatch
It was somewhat smaller than your typical door, and kind of rounded at the corners, which is why I call it a "hatch" rather than a "door."
But there was a normal handle with a normal keyhole, which made it all that much weirder.
You check your inventory
I was carrying:
a keychain
a steel key
my citation pad
You open the hatch with the keychain
I unlocked the hatch.
You open hatch
I opened the hatch.
You go inside
The floor inside the windmill was just dirt, and the walls were bare plywood. Strands of sticky stuff were hanging from the walls.

A guy with eight legs was hanging from the ceiling.

I checked my notebook. "Are you the proprietor?" I asked. "Mister Luikx?"

"Yes, hello," he said. He didn't seem to mind that I'd barged in on him. "You're Mister Gill, from the Health Department, right?"

I told him I was, and I mentioned I had looked for him in his office, and he said he was sorry he was so hard to find.
You look at legs
Well, his arms, or legs, were covered in brownish bristles. He had
big, black, shiny eyes. And his hair was slicked back and shiny. I remember he had something stuck in his mandibles, a chunk of
something, and I kept looking at it. I felt like I was being rude. But he didn't seem to notice.
You examine chunk
I don't know what it was a chunk of. I didn't say anything about it.
You examine the walls
The windmill looked a little off from the outside, kind of stunted.
You know what I mean? Well, inside, it was the same thing, only inside out. You could see the other sides of all those weird angles.
You talk
What do you want to talk?
You talk to Luikx
I told him I had my report on his convenience store. "I noticed a few things that need to be addressed," I said, and I rattled off my list.
I told him about the giant spider at the front counter. He said "Oh, she shouldn't be running loose, I'll take care of her," and I nodded and told him to make sure he did that right away.

And I told him about the slime everywhere, and he got kind of
sheepish. He said his employees left something to be desired as far as attention to detail.

So I brought up the kid I saw in the food court. I said, "You wouldn't feed on your employees without a signed release, right?" and he said
of course not. He reached up into the rafters (I guess that's where he kept all his files) and pulled out a form with a parent's signature, and I said okay, just checking. But I put on my mean guy face, and I said it was still a lot of violations, and the whole operation was not up to the state's standards of health and safety.

He lowered himself down to my eye level, and he put a claw on my shoulder, and he said, "Mister Gill, you've caught me on a bad day.
I'm short-staffed, and I can't seem to whip these kids into shape. Do you really have to give me a citation?"
Yes
I told him I did, and he nodded, and he lifted his claw from my shoulder.

Something made me say, "Sorry, it's just..."

But he wasn't sulking. He said, "I know, you're just doing your job. We've all got our jobs to do."

I signed my citation pad, and tore off his copy, and I told him the full form would be coming in the mail. He put the paper between his mandibles to fold it crisply, and then he pulled himself up in the rafters to file it away. Up where it was too dark for me to see.

Then he lowered himself, and he said "Thank you," although I don't
know for what.
You talk to Luikx
We made some small talk. I wasn't in a hurry to be anywhere.
You leave
I said I needed to head on to the next stop, and I turned toward the exit. Luikx said, "So long! Have a nice drive!"

And, just as the hatch was closing behind me, I called back: "You
too!"

It was mortifying.

"Are there any questions?" the moderator asks. Someone stands up to ask: "The paperwork in your story, which allows an employer to 'feed on' an employee, reminds me of the story Johanna Quinn presented last year." Not a question, friend!

Karnack does a funny little shrug. "I only steal from the best," he says, and everyone laughs.

A voice from clear in the back of the room cuts through the good-natured chortling: It's Johanna C. Quinn herself! "Don't worry, Antonio!" she cries. "I only steal from the best, too!"

Everyone also laughs at this, although I'm not sure why.

Then we wait a little bit, for somebody to say a third witty thing.
But nobody can think of anything.

Antonio steps down from the dais.
Antonio steps down from the dais.Now it is time for the next author to step forward and share the next of the evening's delirious entertainments.

"We have a special treat for you tonight," the moderator explains. "Some students from Silas Elementary are here to present a story."

A whole herd of eight-year-olds rises from their chairs and floods the aisles, corralled from behind by their teacher. With some effort she wrangles them all onto the dais, and then she pulls out one student to address the audience.

I was expecting the little girl to draw a blank and start gawping at us, but she doesn't seem fazed at all. "We're Miss Shiroiwa's class, and we wrote this story together," she explains. "It's called The Banshee's Curse."

"We all worked on it!" another kid yells. Miss Shiroiwa shushes him, but the girl at center stage takes it in stride.

"Yeah, we all worked on it. But, Miss Shiroiwa also gave us..." She purses her lips and remembers the words: "editorial oversight."

The teacher rolls her eyes good-naturedly.

"My name is Daniella Florence, and I will be your narrator tonight," the girl says, as she opens her notebook and begins to read...



There were three best friends named Leana, Garrin, and Chloe. You play as Leana and Gavin. Chloe was an exchange student from Ireland. A banshee followed her from Ireland, and when she looked in its face,
she got the curse of the banshee. She needed a potion to undo the curse.

To the east of the school was the town graveyard. To the west of the school was the museum.

There was a magic chalice that they could make a potion to cure the curse if they had all the ingredients.

They found a map in the library that showed where all the ingredients were.
You examine the map
curse of the banshee were:

A Forever Fern, in the Garden of Doom
A coalflower, in the goblin coal mine
A pinch of mummy dust, from a mummy's sarcophagus
...and one more ingredient that was smudged. But they could see the path leading up to the smudge, and it had a special crow's stone on
one side. A stone in the shape of a crow.
You look at Chloe
Chloe had dark curly hair and she wore glasses. She couldn't talk, she was so sick from the curse.
Go east
The graveyard was full of these scraggly trees that looked like hands. And there were stars shining up above.

There was a ghost dog there, who kept digging up human bones.

To the east of the graveyard was the haunted house. To the west of the graveyard was the school.
You examine the dog
The ghost dog was nice. It didn't try to hurt them. It pointed its
nose at the haunted house, to say, "go there."
You examine trees
The trees had mouths, too. They could grab you and then swallow you.
You examine stars
The stars were all purple. No, they were red. They were giant lasers pointed at the earth, and they killed Leana and Garrin.

When they woke up, they were at the lake of the dead, where every dead person goes when they die.

There were some skeletons carrying a coffin across the water.

To the west of the lake of the dead was the goblin court, and there
was also a cave at the lake.
You examine the skeletons
The skeletons were actually walking on the water. And they had a
coffin that they were carrying.
You examine coffin
The coffin had a dead body in it that the skeletons were carrying to the other side of the lake of the dead.
You look at the lake
The lake was full of the faces of dead people.
You examine the cave
The cave went down underneath the lake of the dead.
Go downward
In the cave there was a giant dragonfly caught in a web. They could go up to get outside of the cave. The cave went further down, too.
You examine the dragonfly
The dragonfly was pure of heart, but an evil giant spider caught it in its web. It was going to eat the dragonfly when it got back. But
Garrin had his pocket knife
You cut the web
Garrin got out his pocket knife and cut all the strands of the spider web, and the dragonfly got free. Garrin told the dragonfly to fly away and be free, but the dragonfly said he owed his life to Garrin and he would follow him forever.
Go down
At the bottom of the cave was the Garden of Doom. Every poisonous deadly plant grew there.

They could go up to the rest of the cave.

Leana looked around and she saw the Forever Fern growing there.
You examine the plant
One of the deadly plants was deadly nightshade. There was also poison oak, and poison ivy, and poison sumac. And digitalis, which is foxglove.
You examine Fern
The Forever Fern is a fern that never dies. And its spiral at the end of the leaves keeps going around and around, forever.
You go upwards
In the cave there was a sliced-up web. They could go up to get outside of the cave. The cave went further down, too.
You go outside
They were at the lake of the dead, where every dead person goes when they die.

There were some skeletons carrying a coffin across the water.

To the west of the lake of the dead was the goblin court, and there
was also a cave at the lake.
Go west
The Goblin King sat on a huge throne and there were a hundred other goblins hanging around him. He said, "Little girl, and little boy, I can bring you back to life, but you have to answer my riddle."

To the east of the goblin court was the lake of the dead, and underneath the court was the goblins' coal mine.
Go down
As they walked around the coal mine there were all these flowers that sprang up.

The mine was about to explode, but they didn't know that.

court.

There was one coalflower right at Leana's feet.
You examine the coalflower
(the coalflower)
They had to be careful to touch only the stem, because if you touch
the petals, it can kill at a coalflower's touch.
Go upwards
The Goblin King sat on a huge throne and there were a hundred other goblins hanging around him. He said, "Little girl, and little boy, I can still bring you back to life, but you still have to answer my riddle."

To the east of the goblin court was the lake of the dead, and underneath the court was the goblins' coal mine.
You look at King
He was the biggest, fattest goblin, and all the other goblins swore loyalty to him.
You talk to King
The goblin king told them his riddle: "What is the longest word you
can write with the top row of a typewriter?"

And Garrin said, "That's easy! It's TYPEWRITER!"

And the Goblin King got really mad, and swore they cheated, but he had to honor his end of the deal, so he brought Leana and Garrin back to life. When they woke up, they were back at the school library with Chloe.

Their headquarters was the library in the top floor of the school. Chloe was lying in a bed they made out of cushions. She had to get the potion to under the banshee's curse, or she would die.

To the east of the school was the town graveyard. To the west of the school was the museum.

There was a magic chalice that they could make a potion to cure the curse if they had all the ingredients.
You examine it
The chalice was a fancy type of cup. It had an engraving on it of a selkie, which is an Irish mythological creature.

They had to put all the potion ingredients in there to create the potion.
Go west
At the town's museum there was an exhibit about Ancient Egypt. They
had a mummy in a sarcophagus, and it came to life. If it touched you, you would die. But Garrin and the dragonfly had a plan to distract the mummy.

To the east of the museum was their school.

Some of its dust was left inside its sarcophagus.
You take the dust
The dragonfly buzzed over to the mummy and started flying around its head to confuse it. While the mummy was distracted, Leana and Garrin took the dust out of its sarcophagus.
You put the dust in the chalice
They put the mummy's dust into the chalice.
You put the coalflower in the chalice
They put the coalflower into the chalice.
You put Fern in the chalice
They put the Forever Fern into the chalice.
You examine the map
curse of the banshee were:

A Forever Fern, in the Garden of Doom
A coalflower, in the goblin coal mine
A pinch of mummy dust, from a mummy's sarcophagus
...and one more ingredient that was smudged. But they could see the path leading up to the smudge, and it had a special crow's stone on
one side. A stone in the shape of a crow.
You go east
Their headquarters was the library in the top floor of the school. Chloe was lying in a bed they made out of cushions. She had to get the potion to under the banshee's curse, or she would die.

To the east of the school was the town graveyard. To the west of the school was the museum.
Go east
The graveyard was full of these scraggly trees that looked like hands. And there were stars shining up above.

There was a ghost dog there, who kept digging up human bones.

To the east of the graveyard was the haunted house. To the west of the graveyard was the school.
Go east
In the house there was a bedroom with chains and blood. In the front
of the house there was a carriage with a skeleton horse. In the back yard of the house there was a garden.
You examine the carriage
A long time ago there was a girl whose birthday was on Halloween. Her friends never came to her birthday party, even though she invited all of them, because they were out trick or treating. She went out to look for them, and she was never seen again.

She is seen on Halloween, in a carriage with a skeleton horse. If you go inside the carriage, you will be cursed to be at her party forever.
You examine stone
The stone was shaped like a crow. The crow's stone! That meant that
the last ingredient was behind the house, to the east!
You go to the east
They followed the path to a hill covered in cherry trees.

To the west of the cherry orchard was the haunted house.

There was one magic cherry hanging from a branch.
You look at the cherry
(the magic cherry)
Leana and Garrin looked at each other and said "This must be the last ingredient!"
You put it in the chalice
They put the magic cherry into the chalice.

Now they had all four ingredients! They mixed the potion and brought
it to Chloe. Chloe drank it, and her eyes lit up, and she said she
felt fine.

But the banshee knew that her curse was cured, and she swore that she would have revenge.

"

"Yes," someone says. "My question is for the teacher: Why are you
here? Why did you bring a bunch of little kids to a meeting of adult horror authors? In the middle of the night?"

Miss Shiroiwa glances across the room and catches my eye, and I can
see the exact moment when she decides to throw me under the bus: "It was Ryan's idea, actually," she says.

Someone mutters something.

But the moderator has my back, for once: "I'm sure it is indeed very much past these young authors' bedtimes," he says. "So I think we will bid them bon soir, after we've given them one more round of
applause."

Everyone can get behind this, and Miss Shiroiwa leads a beaming procession of students out into the hall while avoiding eye contact with me.
with me.Now it is time for the next author to step forward and share the next of the evening's hideous entertainments.

...Hold on. Somebody is looking at us. Giving us the hairy eyeball.
Who the heck is this guy and what the heck is his problem?

"Hello," I say, sounding very tough and cool. "Who are you, exactly?"

"I'm Thomas Ligotti. Who is that with you?" the guy asks. He's talking about you.

"This is my guest! The same guest I brought in 2018 and 2019!"

"I don't think we're allowed to bring guests," someone else adds unhelpfully.

"Well, it's never been a problem before, so let's just move on." I
wave at the moderator to let the next author start reading.

But the moderator shakes his head: "The convocation at Castle Balderstone is a place for the world's foremost authors of horror to share their work with each other. The charter does not allow
for visiting observers. Now, if your guest were prepared to present a horror story, that would be a different matter."

The other authors start murmuring in agreement. Looks like we're up against the wall on this one. Dang.

Okay, I've got an idea. "As a matter of fact, my guest is
prepared to present a horror story, actually! We just need to get psyched up first. So we'll just step out into the hallway for a
moment, if you don't mind."

Press any key to step out into the hallway with me.
Press any key to step out into the hallway with me.## Musty Hallway
A damp passageway lit only by the firelight from within the library
and occasional flashes of lightning.

Okay, don't panic. We just have to come up with some ideas. I mean,
you have to come up with some ideas. I've got a pretty good outline we can use, but you'll need to supply the specifics.

There's no rush on any of this. Take as long as you want. But I don't know if "UNDO" is going to work during this part, so, try and get everything right the first time.

First, give me a girl's name, like "Wendy."
Floyda
Sure. Now, I need an inanimate natural object, like "fallen log."
Tree trunk
Next, something that has wheels���but, not a car.
Turbogenerator
Okay, an adjective next. Something that you'd apply to something creepy.
Discman
Okay. How about: an adjective for something old.
Boomerish
That works fine. Next, give me a job title that's respectable, but not impressive.
Health inspector
Really? Okay.

Now, this one is important: A creepy location. A place where you feel uncomfortable.
Outside
Great. Okay. Now I need a small object that can pick a lock.
Paperclip
How about an adjective that means "nice," as in, "a nice person."
Occupied mousetrap
Cool. Next I need an adjective that you associate with boring people.
Normal
Next, a dangerous household object.
Axe
And a large-ish container, like a suitcase or a treasure chest.
Hamper
A cute dessert?
Eclair
Okay, here's a fun one: A substance or material that is typically dry.
Powdered tungsten
How about, what is the most boring US state? Or just name a boring location, I guess.
Creaky
An adjective that you find desirable in a person, like "artistic" or "rich."
Eccentric
A tiny cute animal, something that fits in your hand.
Hamster
A type of metal.
Sodium
A body part.
Hand
An upsetting color.
Puce
An adjective that you'd use to describe a fluid.
Vomitous
A smallish container, something that would fit in a drawer.
Iphone box
Okay, just a couple more details. What name should we credit you with, as the author of this story?
Club floyd
And finally, give me any four words from a nursery rhyme or a poem or something like that. (Don't overthink this. Trust me.)
Goblins will get you
Perfect. Awesome. We can work with this. Absolutely.

Press any key to head back into the library.
Library
The authors have started chatting with each other in our absence, but they get really quiet when they see us come in. They're all looking at you expectantly.

Don't worry, you're going to do great.

The moderator clears his throat. "Well, this wasn't on the schedule, but it appears that now we have a story from Club Floyd." Oh my gosh, he cannot deal with the fact that I called his bluff!

I mean, we called his bluff, obviously. Together. Now get up
there and knock 'em dead!



Floyda finds herself in an outside. There's an oddly creaky energy in the air. Somehow she has the feeling that she has been here before.

There is a hamper here, which isn't that strange.

The presence of a tree trunk is somewhat more unusual.
About you
Floyda is a normal person, a health inspector from New Brunswick.
She's swell, but she's not eccentric.
Inventory
She is carrying nothing.

A creaking noise reaches her ears from far away.
You examine the hamper
It's a perfectly normal hamper. Or, it looks perfectly normal.

The creaking noise is getting closer.
You open it
She opens the hamper, revealing a discman.

A turbogenerator rolls into view, its wheels creaking noisily.

"Hey there, eclair," the turbogenerator says. "You're looking good."

Floyda backs away slowly.
You look at the turbogenerator
It seems like a normal turbogenerator, until she notices there's a
hand sticking out of the side.

"What's wrong?" the turbogenerator asks in a creaking voice. It keeps coming closer. Floyda keeps backing away. "Why don't you like me anymore? What did I do?"
You examine the discman
"What would a discman be doing here?" she wonders. Something doesn't seem right.

"Don't be mean to me," the turbogenerator pleads. "I don't want you to be mean."

Floyda reaches behind herself. Her hand finds an axe.
You take the axe
She already has that.

"What are you doing with that axe?" asks the turbogenerator, still coming closer. Closer.
You hit the turbogenerator with the axe
Floyda swings the axe down on the turbogenerator. The thing splits
down the middle and bursts open: A flood of wet powdered tungsten
flows out of the crumpled husk.

She holds her breath, waiting for the turbogenerator and its horrible hand to start moving again. But it's gone. Now there's only powdered tungsten oozing everywhere.
You examine the tungsten
She kneels down to inspect the slimy powdered tungsten. Something in there is moving.

It pops out: A tiny hamster, covered in vomitous fluids.

The little hamster coughs miserably.
You take the hamster
Floyda picks up the poor wet hamster and strokes its back. The
creature is in distress. There's something caught in its throat.

The hamster coughs up a sodium key. Now it's feeling better.
You examine the key
A simple key made of sodium.
You take the discman
She picks up the discman, revealing an occupied mousetrap!
You examine the mousetrap
The occupied mousetrap twitches, and Floyda jerks back in revulsion.
Look around
Floyda is standing in an outside. There's an oddly creaky energy in
the air. Somehow she has the feeling that she has been here before.

There is a hamper here, which isn't that strange.

The presence of a tree trunk is somewhat more unusual.

She can also see a husk and a powdered tungsten here.
You look at the trunk
Floyda frowns as she inspects the tree trunk. It's odd enough to see a tree trunk in an outside, but this one has a keyhole in it.
You unlock trunk with the key
She unlocks the tree trunk.
You open trunk
She pries the tree trunk open. There's a dark space inside.

A spidery voice floats out from the darkness: "Come on, Floyda. It's time."

The dark space seems vast enough to swallow her completely.
You enter the trunk
She climbs into the tree trunk.

She is engulfed by darkness.

She wakes up.

She is in a room with puce walls. There is a bed here, and a bedside table. There is a door, and high on the wall is a boomerish intercom.

The intercom buzzes, and a man's normal voice fills the room: "Any changes?" it asks.

"No," she says. "It was the same dream again. Exactly the same."

The normal voice grunts, disappointed.
You look at the bed
An uncomfortable bed with puce sheets.

"Well, we'll try again in a few hours," says the normal voice. "In the meantime���"

But another voice comes on: "Is my wife in there? Is that my wife?"
You examine table
The bedside table has one drawer.

"We don't allow visitors," the normal voice says. But the other voice shrieks: "You have to let her out! Let her out now! Floyda, can you hear me? Get out of there! Get out!"

The intercom goes dead.
You examine intercom
The intercom is high up on the wall, too high to reach.

There's a noise outside the door. Somebody is trying to get in.

"Floyda, it's locked! Can you open it from in there? Come on, Floyda! We're going home!"
You open the door
The heavy door seems to be locked.

Whoever is outside is still trying to open the door, without success.
Inventory
She is carrying:
some  (being worn)
a discman
a sodium key
a hamster

The guards will be here soon.
You unlock the door with the key
That doesn't seem to fit the lock.

"Floyda!" the voice outside cries. "Please! Open the door!"
You examine the door
It's impossible to see through the frosted glass.

The guards will be here soon.
Break glass
Violence isn't the answer to this one.

Whoever is outside is still trying to open the door, without success.
You look under the door
She finds nothing of interest.

The guards will be here soon.
You look around
She is in a room with puce walls. There is a bed here, and a bedside table. There is a door, and high on the wall is a boomerish intercom.

Whoever is outside is still trying to open the door, without success.
You open the drawer
She opens the drawer, revealing an iphone box.

The guards will be here soon.
You open the box
She opens the iphone box, revealing a paperclip.

Whoever is outside is still trying to open the door, without success.
You take the paperclip
Taken.

"Floyda!" the voice outside cries. "Please! Open the door!"
You unlock the door with the paperclip
She presses the paperclip into the lock and wiggles it back and forth desperately. She has no idea what she's doing.

But the lock clicks.

Whoever is outside is still trying to open the door, without success.
You open the door
She opens the door. The room fills with light.

As she looks outside her throat tightens. She can't say anything. She can't scream.

Standing in the hallway is the turbogenerator, its vestigial hand twitching in excitement.

"Come on, eclair," it creaks. "Let's get out of here."

"

Nobody can get it together enough to say anything.

There is a long pause.

A very long pause.

You return to your seat, next to me.

You return to your seat, next to me.The moderator now stands alone on the dais. There's an odd energy in the room. People are chattering behind us.

I halfway get up in my seat and crane my neck to look around the room. Hold on: Where is Allison Chase? Is she not here this year?

Why the heck did we come all the way out here if Allison Chase isn't doing a story?

"Our revels are at an end," the moderator says. "I'd like to thank all of our presenting authors for their contributions. Of course, I thank all of you, presenters or not, for attending. Before we depart,
though, I have something of a personal note."

He clears his throat solemnly.

He clears his throat solemnly.Then there is a crash of thunder.

He clears his throat solemnly.Then there is a crash of thunder.The fireplace is snuffed out���

fireplace is snuffed out������And Castle Balderstone is plunged into darkness!
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