MTL NOVEL Chapter 21: Durst Manor
The entryway was spotless, and lit by a pair of suspended oil lanterns. The Dursts seemed to be one of those old aristocratic families that lined their front hall with portraits of moderately irritated ancestors. It was quiet, and when Gil looked back outside he saw that the yard had been shrouded in fog. No child or jailbait in sight.
"Huh. Good thing I took care of the penalty mission before I got here. That's definitely thick enough for a random encounter." Gil mused, before promptly checking for anything he could nick. He was here to rob the place, after all. There was a reason that he'd come with an empty backpack. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything smaller than a picture frame in this specific room. A bit unwieldy to fit into his backpack.
Keeping alert, Gil checked the first floor. Through the door was a central parlor with wood paneling, lit by a crackling fireplace. It was really quite nice, actually. There was a black marble staircase leading to the second floor, and once again very little worth stealing. There were surfaces and drawers that looked like they should contain nick nacks, but they were all bare.
A longsword hung above the mantle at an angle, probably once part of a set, which he grabbed after tossing Strahd's letter into the fire. The blade was actually well maintained, and at a glance had a reasonably sharp looking edge that cut the wood paneling easily when tested. Having a weapon with a bit more reach was very appealing with a monster on the loose, even if longswords had never been his favored weapon.
"Pointy end goes in," he said ruefully, knowing that he'd be toast against any skilled swordsman.
He listened at each of the doors before he opened any of them, and heard only silence. Working clockwise, he found a jackpot immediately. The dining room was set for a dozen people, and when he left it was set for six. Six silver plates, knives, and forks were set aside and wrapped in a length of tablecloth. He only had three people on the skyblock at the moment, plus a wolf, but the number was likely to grow. He left the glassware. Too easily broken, unfortunately, and completely useless if it was.
He grabbed a top hat and a long black cloak from the coat closet, mostly because he could wear them without taking up space in his backpack. He looked very much like a thief, and was operating on the assumption that anything he might encounter here would probably try to kill him either way. He loaded up on cookware in the kitchen, thinking that Snow would appreciate a proper cutting board and rolling pin, but drew a line at the pantry. Eating things taken from a haunted house just sounded dangerously reckless, especially if one had other options.
His backpack was already starting to get full, just with practical goods, and from the den he was able to gather a couple sturdy wooden goblets and a deck of playing cards. The man of the house had clearly been a hunter, and Gil picked out a crossbow from a rack. There were three, but he didn't have space for them all. He filled the cooking pot with quarrels, though. He'd need ammo if he was going to practice.
Thus well laden, Gil crept up the stairs. He kept the sword ready, half expecting a guard or an animated corpse to rush him at any moment. He vaguely considered teleporting home to unload his backpack, but didn't want to risk it. Something wanted him here, and had used Rose and Thorn to lure him in. If it watched him come in twice, it might try a strategy more aggressive than "entice with slutty illusion and wait for him to try to white knight."
The second floor landing had a family portrait, where Rose and Thorn posed with what could only be their parents. Gil noted that Rose had quite a bored, irritated expression, very unlike the invitingly vapid face that had been presented to him. Thorn seemed about the same as he'd seen outside, but to be fair Gil hadn't been paying the kid much attention. Gil never really liked kids; it was a big part of why he'd paid to censor all underaged girls.
The landing had four suits of armor, armed with spears, posed in the corners. Gil stepped carefully past them, though he relaxed slightly upon identifying their welded together joints. If they were to be animated by some force, they'd have very stiff movements. Once again, he listened at each door, only opening the northern room after he confirmed that there were no overt signs of danger.
The library was only broadly of interest to Gil, though he stopped to slip a few randomly selected books into the backpack. Nothing too thick; it would serve as light reading or kindling. He froze upon hearing the scratching of a pen, and looked at the desk. There, a quill was writing in neat, efficient cursive.
Do not spend too long reading this.
Grab the key from top left drawer.
Open hidden door on 3rd floor landing.
Stay away from 3rd floor armor.
STAY AWAY FROM THE BABY.
Help us, we will help you.
The words faded quickly, the ink swallowed up by the paper almost as quickly as Gil could read. He looked away quickly. He either had an ally or a very crafty enemy on his hands, and his interest was piqued. It might still be a trap, of course, but cowards don't last long in the company. Dying because you fell for a plausible trap generally looked better than an entire test hiding in a bunker.
He ransacked the desk, purely to avoid arousing suspicion of course. His bag was already fairly full, so two bottles of ink, a few sheets of paper, and a quill vanished into his pockets along with a few coins and a silver signet ring.
Gil was intrigued. Most beings capable of invisibly writing a message would have other abilities. Even if the mysterious writer was only capable of writing things remotely, that was more magic than anyone else in his retinue could use. With that being said, Gil intended to secure his prize before risking anything else. He continued sweeping the second floor.
The guest quarters were largely bereft of interesting items, but he did find a black dress and white apron combo that he crammed into the last crack he could find in the backpack. It was a utilitarian outfit, but he suspected that Snow would like it. Besides, she needed a proper maid uniform other than her birthday suit. Ireena would likely object to a fully nude Snow puttering about the skyblock at all hours of the day.
He finally found the harp, a six foot tall ivory monstrosity of an instrument, in a small concert hall next to… a piano? Maybe a harpsichord? It didn't matter, as Gil certainly wouldn't be taking both instruments with him. He hefted the harp, and was relieved to find that he could lift it. It was around 80 pounds, which was quite a lot more than he typically liked to carry, but it was nothing compared to carrying Kolya across town.
Gil awkwardly walked up the stairs with the harp. He had gingerly stuck the sword into the backpack, likely piercing a few things as he did, and hoped above all else that he wouldn't fall and impale himself somehow. The harp wasn't fun to carry, but if he took it slow it wasn't difficult.
As he reached the third landing, he heard a baby fussing down the hallway. He suppressed a laugh at the idea that he needed to be warned to avoid a baby in some kind of haunted house. The armor, however, was probably a bit more valid to warn him about.
The heavy articulated plate armor was far more practical and less ornamental than its fellows on the second floor, and stood vigil in the hallway. He couldn't have explored this floor beyond the landing without passing very close to it. He'd have done so warily without the warning. With a warning, he intended to stay quite clear of it. Similarly, the hidden door would have been much harder to find if he hadn't arrived with the knowledge that it was there to be found. He pressed his hand against a panel, and the wall rotated to reveal a hidden staircase.
Still unmolested for now, Gil struggled up the steep, narrow staircase with the harp. The stairs grew progressively more worn and dusty as he climbed. By the time he reached the top floor of the house, there was a thick layer of grime on everything. Gil followed his procedure, listening at each door before opening any of them. He noted that one of the rooms was locked with a padlock; that one, he saved for last. He peeked into each room and found an equal number of spare bedrooms and storage rooms full of disused furniture. Nothing stood out as particularly useful or valuable, so he didn't linger long.
Once he was satisfied that he was alone, Gil took a deep breath, contemplated whether or not this was an insanely stupid decision, and removed the padlock. He took several steps back and placed a hand on the harp. Nothing happened for several seconds. Gil walked forward, pulled the door back, and repeated the process. Still nothing happened for several seconds.
"Are you coming in?" A young woman called from within the house. "I'd like to get a closer look at you."
Gil nervously crept up to the door and looked in. There, he saw Rose, but not as he'd seen her outside. This Rose was pale, with a bluish cast to her skin, and her hair was relatively messy. Her eyes and lips were dark, almost black. She still had a tasteful amount of cleavage and fairly fetching legs, but she looked far less human.
https://postimg.cc/sBJwhgV9
"So, which one convinced you to come in?" She asked sardonically. "You seem like the type who took one look at the copy of me and came running, at least judging by how you're checking me out."
Just inside the door, a skeleton lay curled up next to the door. Its fingers were blackened, as if charred. It was wearing a similar blue and red ensemble to the one worn by Rose.
"Well it seemed like an obvious trap, but I had things I needed to do in here." Gil answered conversationally, patting the harp. "So, what do you need? Ghosts always seem to need something."