Of Dreams And Nightmares

[*StarSight]

As the parchment is in her hands, again the squiggles bend and blur into a face. The voice and face is different this time, perhaps because the writer is different?

I'm the only servant left in the house.  The cleaning staff have left mister Kidemeller's service, claiming there is some curse over the house or his family.  I'll admit some recent events have been odd, but there is no call for such hysteria.

The crows visiting the house are odd, though.  They often seem to be watching through the windows.  For what, I don't know.  Some of them seem or are friendly enough, I think for a while the cook had been giving them the scraps and tossed out foodstuffs, but others...

I'll admit some of them scare me.

Looking at the paper, it does seem odd for a few moments, idly flipping it over Levria finds that is because there is more on the opposite side, though the crumpling it is hard to tell which came first...until she looks at it further. The squiggles are not so crisp, so uniform, and they seep into the paper such that she saw these from the other side...again they bend, into the same face as the other side...the voice is the same, but its tone is different. It is panicked, desperate, the wail of someone who seeks to at least spare others her fate.

STAY OUT OF THE DARKNESS!

As that chilling screech echoes in Levria's head, cawing can be heard from the balcony outside.

[*Powderhorn]

Levria shudders, and drops the paper from shaking hands. It floats down silently, but a cold sweat breaks out. Still keeping her eyes averted from the body, she slowly picks up the letter again, and keeps it with the other. Finally, she hurries out of the room and down the stairs to try one of the other doors at random.

[*StarSight]

As Levria bolts from the room, she finds the gloom seems to have gotten a little bit bigger, or is that her imagination?

Regardless, it is by no means enough of an increase to cut her off from the stairs, and down the stairs she goes back to the entrance. Choosing one of the doors at random she ends up in a lounge or sitting room.

The furniture is nice, fancy, comfortable. There is one other door to her right. There is a strange...object by the wall, and a large window showing a nice view of the grounds outside...and Levria's blood runs cold as she looks out of it. For she can see the sun through the window, the light the only illumination in the room.

She has been warned to stay out of the darkness...but she just realizes the only source of light she's seen so far in the house has been from the windows, the light from the sun.

The setting sun...

[*Powderhorn]

Irrationally, perhaps, Levria, though desperately wanting to examine the strange object closer, bolts through the next doorway in search of light.

[*StarSight]

Levria enters a kitchen with a small dining table. She barely registers the room in her search for light...her eyes spot a set of matches, but nothing to light with them, and setting the house ablaze does not feel like a solution. Two more doors present themselves, one closed to her left, one open to the right.

[*Powderhorn]

Levria, opting for the road less traveled, opens and goes through the closed door.

[*StarSight]

Levria finds that the painting hangs oddly because there is a necklace hidden behind it, one covered in blue runes...it reminds her of the necklace Verdant gave her otherwise.

Entering the room, Levria's heart sinks momentarily. The room is only lit by another window, this one more directly facing the setting sun, so it is better lit than the hallway.

It appears to be some servant's quarters, a simple bed, a simple table, a few leftover accents but the room is mostly bare.

Except, on the table sits an unlit lantern.

[*Powderhorn]

Levria darts back to grab the necklace, and looks to find the matches. Without something to strike them on, she wasn't sure if there would be a way to light the lamp, but... she had to try.

[*StarSight]

Levria takes the lantern, and finds a small letter that apparently was hidden underneath.
Again the words form a face, this one different, and the voice is also different, the tone best described as "gossipy". The voice starts and ends midsentence, as if the page is from some larger bit of writing.

getting stranger and stranger.  First those crows, and more and more of them seem to be possessed.  Mister Kidemeller says it's nothing, but then he goes and places those runes on the front door, so he must know something is wrong.  I think it's time to leave, get a job elsewhere

A quick check of the lantern reveals it is stocked with a plentiful amount of oil. Levria has no trouble obtaining the necklace on her way back to the kitchen, where she is able to use the matches to light the lantern with only a little difficulty.

The light from the lantern is bright, soothing. Levria can feel the darkness being driven back by the lantern's light.

[*Powderhorn]

Phew she thinks to herself, already taking comfort in her light. I guess now I can go and look at that strange object. What a strange dream to have, she mulls over as she goes to examine said strange object.