From: JBrandt@AAA.UOregon.EDU (Jay Brandt (Jason))
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: More Haunted Mansion fun
Date: 13 Nov 92 16:01:45 GMT
Followup-To: alt.callahans
Organization: University of Oregon, Architecture
NNTP-Posting-Host: aaa.uoregon.edu

The fun and games in the haunted mansion continue, as we start to tie all
the threads together. Kitten appears in this post by her permission. The
rest of you are described as in your earlier posts. -- Jason

-----------------------------------------------------

Jason, Pegasus and Phoenix retrace their route back to the kitchen, and
proceed to tell Liralen and the others what they found in the basement.
Then they start to really examine the kitchen. They soon discover that the
dumbwaiter in the kitchen goes down to the storeroom as well as up to the
upstairs bedroom wing. They use it to bring up more fresh vegetables,
smoked meats, a cask of wine and other foodstuffs, and start to make dinner
preparations. Pegasus, Jason and Phoenix direct the volunteers that walk in
to do various tasks, and soon the air is filled with delightful aromas.
Alfvaen and Nicole come in, assist for a while, and then ask for directions
to the bathroom. Jason tells them how to find the latrine down in the
storeroom, and Alfvaen and Nicole leave in search of relief. No one
realizes that they take a different stairway than the one Jason directed
them to.

Then the Callahanners in the kitchen hear a loud clumping sound outside. A
slow, heavy tread ascends the outer stairs to the kitchen door. The
floorboards outside on the landing creak, as if with a heavy weight.
Pegasus is crouched near the fire, hunkered over a spider, frying sausages.
She looks over her shoulder at Phoenix. "Who's coming now? Frankenstein's
Monster?" She chuckles and goes back to her cooking. Suddenly the heavy
iron handle is twisted from outside, and the door opens. A huge shambling
figure draped in slime, mud, weeds and other muck fills the doorway, then
staggers through the opening, dripping wetly on the kitchen floor. It has a
huge, spherical head with no facial features, aside from a single, round
eye. Someone screams, and yells of terror erupt at the sight. Pegasus
swiftly draws her sword, 'Lassie', and stands between the ghastly
apparition and the others. Phoenix reaches over to Jason's belt and borrows
his sword, 'Brightsong'. She wields the long, straight, single-edged
English hangar like it was a Japanese katana, and swiftly moves to Pegasus'
left side. Jason picks up his axe, 'Bearclaw' and steps to the right of the
two swordswomen, holding the axe with both hands, raised over one shoulder
in a decidedly menacing manner. Between them they block any chance of the
beast entering the room, without having to deal with them first. Liralen
grabs a red-hot brand from the blazing fire and holds it out in the
monster's direction as well. The other folks in the room are in an
assortment of defensive positions, or backing off rapidly. 

The monster twists around to look behind him, as if confused, then looks
down at himself. Reaching for his bloated head, he does something to his
neck and pulls his head straight up, off his shoulders! The crowd in the
kitchen gasps, then looks confused, and then is relieved as they see the
tousled, sweaty head of Splash revealed. "Oops, sorry guys! Ummm ... can
you put down your weapons now? Please? By the way, is supper ready yet?"

Everyone laughs and the weapons are set aside. Pegasus chuckles "Say
Splash, I didn't expect you to come dressed as the Creature from the Black
Lagoon! But maybe I should have, since you're a diver. There's plenty here
to eat, even on a vegetarian diet. We have rutabagas, turnips, carrots and
potatoes. We also have some day-old breads. And there's some hot broth by
the fire, if your preferred diet will allow that. Some of my vegetarian
friends will still eat beef or chicken broths, so long as there are no
chunks of meat in them. Take what you like, we were just getting ready to
get everyone together for dinner."

Thyra and Danger Mouse hear the terrified screams from the kitchen, and
start running there to help. As they approach the kitchen the screams seem
to have subsided into laughter and conversation. Confused, they slow down,
only to see a very strange sight in the hallway. A pool of liquid metal,
shimmering like quicksilver, is flowing down the hall ahead of them. It
pauses outside the kitchen door, then flows upwards, filling in the shape
of a large feline as if the liquid were being poured into a completely
transparent mold. The transformation complete, its surface shimmers,
becoming normal looking fur, and as a huge moor cat it pads quietly into
the kitchen. Thyra is about to call out a warning, when a telepathic voice
rings in her ears, <<Don't worry. Its just me, in a slightly new format>>.
Thyra's ears perk up "DM, did you hear that?" DM chuckles "I think we -all-
heard that, and unless I miss my guess, that was Thunderchild. You're not
the only shape-shifter here Thyra, you just do it a lot more often than the
others. Lets go in and see what's up."

There's a knock on the kitchen door, which opens to reveal Alfvaen and
Nicole. They silently go back to peeling and slicing vegetables, but they
look like they had seen a ghost. When asked, they just mumble something
about "one-way doors and strange parties in the basement" and refuse to
talk about it more until everyone gets together for dinner. Alfvaen seems
particularly interested in the potato he is peeling, like it somehow was a
comforting sight.

Several others arrive, and soon everyone starts carrying food from the
kitchen to the dining hall. The tables are brimming with goodies, and
before long everyone from Callahans is accounted for and gathered around
the tables to eat. There's a wide variety of foods available. Some of the
food items are unusual for those who have never been to an SCA feast, but
all are delicious. As we eat, Emter shares her theories with the rest of
us, about the mystery we have been drawn into. Manx and Rowan, who had
talked to Emter earlier, tell what they saw in the ballroom. Rowan's little
girl ghost refuses to materialize in front of this many human and non-human
witnesses, so we can't get anything from her. Splash tells of the sea
monster in the flooded section of the basement. Then Thunderchild tells of
his strange encounter with Aliens. Nicarra's tale of the stranger with the
magickal gem is especially troubling. Eventually each group relates what
they have seen. 

After dinner, everyone wants to keep on exploring. A few volunteer to
carefully go towards town, in hopes of finding out if the girl who wrote
the diary is there. It is feared she might be in the hands of the townsfolk
as a suspected witch. Jason thinks we would have heard the townsfolk
bragging about it if they had captured a witch they knew, so he doesn't
think the girl has been captured by townsfolk. Most agree, and decide that
the house is likely to be a richer, and safer, source of clues to the
mystery.

Pegasus grabs Kitten by the arm. "Kitten, my friend, I think it's time for
'conan the librarian' and I to start digging in the library. There -has- to
be a family history there that can clue us in. Anybody else want to help
with the research?" She smiles sweetly at the crowd, all of whom suddenly
find other things they plan to do. "Oh well, typical reaction to a library
assignment, I guess. Come on Kitten, lets hit the books!" 

Jason heads back to the kitchen, where he retrieves his axe and the large
book that was part of his costume. Then he goes to the spice rack and
locates the hidden stairway that Pegasus and Phoenix had descended earlier.
Prying the door open, he climbs upstairs to the servant's passage. As the
door closes behind him, the stairway and passage gets -very- dark. He tucks
the handle of his axe into the back of his belt, where he can get at it if
he needs to, and fishes a small flashlight out of his pouch, identical to
the one Pegasus had. He chuckles to himself "One thing I learned from years
of SCA tourneys. Always carry a small flashlight. You never know when you
might need it." He flicks on the little light, only to be rewarded with a
very feeble, dim yellow glow. "Damn! I remembered the light, but it looks
like I forgot to put in fresh batteries." A quick check of the hallway by
the rapidly failing light reveals that there are no candles left on the few
candle-stands that he can see. The light flickers, dims even further, and
goes out completely.

Pegasus and Kitten head down the main entry hall in search of the library.
Pegasus says to Kitten "I flew us here while it was still somewhat light
out, and I got a good look at the outside of this place. I think I know
right where that library Rowan mentioned should be. There's only a few
places that can match the description of the room she was in. Rowan said
she thought it was the main entry hall, and that the library was at the end
of the hall and had a carved door." Kitten tugs on her sleeve and says,
"Then that must be it!" She points to the end of the hallway at a large
door carved with beautiful flowers and bounces happily towards it. They
walk in and stand perfectly still for a moment. There are hundreds of books
here, all in perfect condition. Kitten breaks the silence. "Is this all?
Somehow I expected a lot more." Pegasus says in an awed whisper, "Do you
have any idea how much it would have cost to collect even -this- many
books? Remember, they don't have printing presses here yet. So these are
all either hand-copied, or have been shipped here from Europe." 

Jason stands in the servants passage in pitch darkness. Before he can do
anything about it, he sees a faint glow approaching from the other end. It
is a young girl, with a blue-gray scarf wrapped tightly around her
shoulders. He calls out to her in a Scottish accent. "Hello? Come hither
young mistress. I'll cause ye nae harm, lassie." She seems startled. "Ye .
. . ye are not afrighted by my semblance? What manner of man are ye? Canst
thou see nothing amiss?" Jason just smiles. "Lass, I perceive your nature,
true enough. Ye be not the first spirit I have met, and ye'll nae be the
last. I've had the sight for many a year. Tis common among those of us
trained in the bardic arts. Tell me, be ye the same spirit who came to my
friend Rowan, the Gypsy? It would seem that the scarf ye wear is one of
hers." "Indeed I am." says the little girl sadly, "Sorry I am that I could
not warn ye and the others of the peril of this place. Most of ye could not
see me. A few who did ran in terror. The gypsy woman and you are the only
ones of your time that have spoken clearly to me." "Well lass," says Jason,
as he sits down on the top of the servants stairway, "I can hear ye
clearly, and see ye as well as meself, though I do perceive a glowing light
about ye. Canst thou tell me anything of the strangeness that seems to
abide here? My friends and I, we want to help set things to rights. And I
dare say we must do so if we are to return to our own time. How long have
ye been here? And how long have the living folk of this area noticed
strange goings on hereabouts?" She pauses a moment, as if to decide where
to begin. "Well, I hae been here nigh on twenty years. Yet until recently
none of the folk here could see or hear me. Then one night, on All Hallows
Eve five years ago, the eldest son of the family returned from England. He
had a book with him, which he had brought for his father, who collects fine
books. They went directly to the library, and the son broke open the seals,
not noticing or understanding the meaning of the warning on the cover of
the book. Twas then that strange things began to occur. All manner of
spirits began to converge on this place, and before cocks crow the eldest
son was raving mad. He climbed to the top of the roof and cast himself down
to his death. After that they had no problems for a year. Then on All
Hallows Eve, the terror struck again. This time it was worse than before,
as all manner of strange apparitions appeared. There were huge silver birds
with rigid wings that roared at us as they passed overhead. Witchlight
filled the skies over the hills with a soft glow, far greater than any
bonfire could create. There were thousands of small lights glowing from
every hill. And the dirt of the road in front of the house turned to stone,
as fearsome monsters rushed headlong through the night, faster than any
horse. Twere I not already a spirit, I would have died of fright meself.
After that, the family that lives here swore to leave each year for the
week before and after All Hallows, to escape the madness. So far as I know,
they are all safe in a cottage near Boston harbor." Jason pondered this
news. "Well lass, it sound as if the very fabric of time has stretched
here. That second year sounds like the time my friends and I came from. In
fact, I came to this coast on one of those silver birds. It is a kind of
ship, which sails in the air." She steps back away from Jason. "Then are ye
sorcerers? What deviltry could make such things?" Jason smiles. "Nae lass,
we are as mortal as the folk who live here. Most of us, anyway. Ye need not
fear us. Now tell me, what is the year when this house is where it belongs?
The house does not appear to belong in this time either." "I think it is in
the year eighteen hundred seventy two." says the ghost "Each year, the
shift gets worse, and seems to start and end a day or two earlier. Meseems
that the minds of those in the house are changed with the time, as for a
week or more before the shift they act as if they belong in the time they
arrive in. That's why the diary your friends found had dates in it from
this time. I read the diary as the girl penned it last week, so I knew what
time we were heading for. Once everything calms down, the mansion returns
to whence it belongs. I would guess we have a few more nights of this
madness before we are through, but we can nae be sure. But if anyone is
outside at sunrise the day the manor returns to its proper time, they
remain when they were. They lost their cook that way last year. You must
caution your friends all to come inside each night before sunrise!" and
with that, she vanishes, leaving Jason once again in darkness.

Pegasus and Kitten start taking books off the shelf at random. Each one is
hand-illuminated, with intricately designed floral gold-leaf decorations,
and colorful, detailed miniature illustrations in the margins and
decorating the capital letters. Apparently the owner of this library was a
collector of fine books. Pegasus sighs "Oh! I wish Jason could see this! He
and I both do calligraphy and illumination. We both know how long it takes
to do even a page of work like this. I'd love to take a few of these home
with me. We don't have anything in our collection that even begins to
compare with the beautiful works in these books." Kitten laughs. "Well, if
we don't get to work, none of us may ever -get- back home. I'll start
looking for a family history book. You check out that book on the pedestal
that Rowan said she saw." Pegasus walks over and looks at the book. "Well,
it's very old, even for this time period. Some of it is in Old English, but
most of it appears to be in Latin. I've had a few classes in Latin, but it
will take me a while to figure out what it says. Rowan was right though. I
recognize a lot of the symbols and diagrams in here. It's definitely a book
of spells of some kind." Pegasus carefully closes the book and looks at the
front cover. "The front is covered with some almost illegible writing, and
there are the remains of seven wax seals that someone removed when they
opened the book. I'm going to try to figure out what this says."

Thyra and Phoenix are all alone in the dining hall. Thyra, who has resumed
her shape as an all-black kitten, rubs up against Phoenix. She purrs
"Phoenix, dear, would you like me for your familiar?" Phoenix laughs and
picks Thyra up, placing her on her lap and stroking Thyra quietly. "I'd be
delighted Thyra. I always did want to be able to chat with my cats. But my
cats Asgar and Sweetie aren't much on conversation." With Thyra purring
warmly on her lap, Phoenix reaches into her pouch and extracts a pack of
tarot cards. She shuffles them thoroughly, while concentrating on asking
about the possible fate of the girl who wrote the diary and her family.
Then she lays them out on the table in a carefully arranged pattern. She
slowly examines the position of each card in relationship to the others.
Something is wrong. There is no indication in the layout of a girl in
trouble. Instead, there are signs relating to people going on a journey,
and of danger left behind. "Hmmm, maybe Jason was right about the girl not
being in town." She picks up the cards again, and reshuffles them,
concentrating this time on determining the nature of the danger, and it's
location. The cards now indicate a powerful evil, something close to her,
and a future aspect of sudden change for the better. But the cards also
indicate a great difficulty in reaching the desired goals. Another shuffle
and layout, this time asking who is most likely to find the source of this
problem. The Page of Swords comes up. That is the card that Phoenix
normally associates with her friend, Pegasus! "Pegasus! Oh Goddess! I've
got to warn her!" She jumps up, dumping Thyra off her lap and sending her
sprawling under the table. Leaving the tarot cards where they lay, she runs
as fast as she can down the hallway, seeking her friend to warn her. Thyra
shakes her hear and runs after the Scotswoman, saying "She's my friend too!
Wait for me!".

to be continued . . .
.