The village of Arlake was a quaint little place. A small little collection of huts and other small buildings on the grassy plains, most of which were built with farming and the tending of livestock in mind. Although it was not the greatest, nor the more prosperous village in Promont, it did often receive passersby as they traveled from place to place. That was what Arlake was: a simple place to pass through and maybe rest your head for the night if it happened to grow dark when you arrived. It was simple, and it peaceful, and - frankly - it was dull. The sort of place the average player would skip up in a heartbeat, without giving the simple village a second thought. But to those that lived there: that was okay. No adventures to complete, no giant beasts to threaten anyone’s lives, and no great rewards to tempt men into greed or even insanity. It was the way they liked it. All of this was plain to see, even at a glance, which is all that Celestine was about to give this village as she wandered through on foot. The street was bland, the buildings were more generic than she’d even thought possible, and the people pretty much matched the houses they lived. Tunics, suspenders, straw hats, pitchforks and other simple things. She gave it all one big glance and kept walking. No wonder she’d never heard of Arlake before: there was nothing to hear of. Just as she reached the end of the village - which had taken her about 2 minutes from the other side of it - her fluffy, triangular ears twitched a bit as they picked up a conversation between two of the villagers. “I’m tellin’ ya Abe! A big ol’ mansion just poppin’ up outta nowhere? That ain’t natural!” The voice had come from a lanky looking farmer, twirling a piece of wheat in his mouth. He pretty much fit every stereotype she’d come to think about farmers. The other man he was talking to - presumably Abe - was similar, though he looked to be far more muscular as he grabbed a bay of hale to toss in the cart. “Come on now,” Abe shrugged, “we been hearing of way stranger things up north. It’s probably just one of them magic users showing off again.” “Then how’d ya explain all them rumors ‘bout the wailing ’n’ stuff. The thing’s haunted, Abe! It’s haunted. So how ‘bout ya just--” he was immediately cut off while Abe held his hand up. “We’re not going all the way around just so we can avoid the house,” he stated, adamantly. “It’d take another two hours at least, and nothing happened the last couple times.” Slamming the last hay bale down, he took a moment’s rest to lean on the soft, dried grass. “Now I’ll admit it’s pretty spooky, but the house isn’t gonna suddenly up and swallow us whole. Just close your ears while we pass by.” “A house of the hauntings,” Celestine murmured to herself, pondering it? That was pretty darn ominous, and more importantly, pretty darn interesting. The exact sort of thing a protagonist would get herself wrapped up in. Besides, how scary could it be in broad daylight anyway? “Please do the excuse of me, but where is this house of the hauntings,” she asked, calling to the two who had been discussing it earlier? “Think she was talkin’ ta you,” the lanky farmer said, nudging Abe in the side. “Well if you believe what this crazy’s saying,” he started, looking back at his friend, “it’s a few miles just down this road here. Take a left at the first fork in the road and keep going. You should find it on your right, assuming it’s still there.” Abe shrugged, trying to fight the twinkle in her eye, “Don’t expect any crazy quest from it or anything. It is what it is.” “Thank you,” she replied awkwardly, feeling very uncomfortable around his ‘no-nonsense’ attitude. Without any further prompting, she took off down the road, following the given directions. She hadn’t traveled long when the ornate building came into view. She picked up the pace, rushing up to get a better view. The structure was definitely very well built. Marble pillars held up an immaculate, arched entrance, and the ornate windows seemed to gleam in the sun, though they were too thick to make anything out through them. For all intents and purposes, the mansion looked totally normal, aside from a few details. First of all, it was placed in the middle of an otherwise empty field, unlike the grand cities where most mansions were found. Secondly, its door was wide open, seemingly inviting any passerby inside. To finish it all off, Celestine could swear there was a quiet screaming sound coming from the door. It could have just been the wind, but it sounded different. Less random. Celestine stood there, gazing at the mansion with a classic case of cold feet. It was still broad daylight, so that helped, but through the door, she could easily tell that the inside was just nearly as dark as nighttime. She took a step towards it… then a step back, clearly unsure about the idea of stepping foot inside. @Ilya
