By: Acrolo Posted on: October 31, 2012
As the constellation in the sky took the form of the serpent, a chill wind swept through the lands and Lord Twilight stole over the day by throwing a blanket of pitch black mystery over the whole of sapience.
Distant howling and screeching told that something animalistic and primal was nigh as bats took to the skies, silhouetted in the firmament by the haunting light of the full moon that is Lady Ourania.
A tall mhun man with greasy black hair puckered his lips as he strode purposefully past the guards of New Thera, before doffing his oddly skew fedora hat at them and muttering to himself all the same. He almost danced to some unknown melody as he casually made his way towards the city of Ashtan and through the darkness, the curious symbols on his alchemical robes glowed with the magic of the ether as they bobbed enchantingly back and forth with his rigged movements.
So enthralled in his own thoughts was he that as he passed them, he did not even pay attention to the many decorations that lined every street in the town in celebration of Mayaween. Jack-o-lanterns were alive with sadistic laughter as young rajamalans, grooks, dwarves and the like ran past them giggling and screaming excitedly, while wearing their scary or funny masks and outfits to celebrate the dance of the vault.
Suddenly the alchemist came to an abrupt halt as a strange light flickered over his eyes, grabbing his immediate attention. In the distance rose a two story building that was the spectacle of all haunted manors as it stood imposingly in the dark with but a single flash of light, signalling the presence of something or someone.
'Oi! Lombardo!' A voice called out at him from somewhere and he turned to see a rather enthusiastic looking troll lumbering towards him.
'Oh. H-hi there Oblax,' He replied absent-mindedly as he pointedly turned his attention back towards the manor which now had his curiosity completely piqued.
'So how did your hunting tr-' Oblax began to ask, before Lombardo interrupted him, waving his hand dismissively as an indication that whatever he had to say was not at all as important as what was on his mind at that current moment.
'Say old chum, I do not remember seeing that building there,' Lombardo said as he squinted as if to discern if it was inhabited or not before turning to his slightly affronted looking friend once more and asking, 'Do you know what it is?'
Oblax frowned slightly before considering the manor himself. 'I don't know. It looks like it could be a house or something in which people live, I am not very observant with such things you know.' He looked back at Lombardo as though trying to remember something, opened his mouth in an attempt to add something but then fell back into a silent, dumbstruck state once more.
'Well, wanna go in there with me?' Lombardo suggested rather spontaneously, apathetic towards the questioning look on Oblax's face.
'Uhhhhhhh, but what if...'
'Ah bother, I am going in there anyway,' he interrupted impatiently once more, before saying with a wink and a greedy grin, 'Lemme see what's potting, maybe I will make some rich friends eh? Sell my minerals to them and create a working relationship if you know what I mean.
'I don't know so much by the look of…' Oblax began to say, before deciding otherwise and shrugging helplessly. Reaching into his rift, he removed some inks and said, 'Let me at least give you some runes before you go, you never know what might be waiting behind the door for you with an axe.'
'Thank you my friend, I can always count on you to rune my life,' Lombardo said with a quirky sneer as Oblax took a pointed stick in his hand and began outlining the images of an oak, lion and elk on him that illuminated magically as the power within them took effect.
'Righto! There you go,' Oblax said as he mounted his giant golden moth and waved goodbye at his friend, before flying off into the distance to hunt and battle as runic knights do.
As Lombardo approached the manor, a flash of lightning erupted out of nowhere again and for the briefest moment he saw a little girl reaching out to him from one of the many stained-glass windows, before disappearing into the darkness as quickly as she had appeared.
'Curious,' he thought as he strode up the staircase leading to a large knocker-bearing door without the slightest hint of sensible intuition. He steadily pulled and released the knocker, causing a loud echo to reverberate from somewhere within and moments later the doors opened revealing a foyer in which he could only just make out vague outlines and shadows of random objects.
Call it bravery, or perhaps it was simply pure foolishness, but Lombardo entered the manor and as the doors swung shut behind him another flash of lightning revealed a sign upon the path, which most passers-by had noticed and stayed clear of for fear of what it read which was, "Griesly Manor."
Many days had passed and Oblax grew concerned over the prolonged silence of his friend. Although he was not the most compassionate of people, Lombardo had always stayed in contact with him, even in times where he travelled to islands such as Clockwork Isle and Prin, he was sure to send at least a letter by raven to tell, or rather boast of his many adventures. Had he stayed at the manor all this time? Perhaps he had made new accomplices that had more to offer a travelling merchant than that of a troll's company.
Dismounting from his giant moth, Oblax decided to take a walk through the streets of Thera in hopes of accidentally running into Lombardo by chance. Strolling in no particular direction, he examined a man handing a bag of gold to a vine-wreathed sylvan who gave him wooden vials in return.
An overwhelming feeling of familiarity overcame Oblax as he stopped in his tracks and peered up a dead-end path, vaguely remembering his previous encounter with Lombardo. It was in that exact spot which they had stood and he realized in his search that the daunting manor was no longer where it had been before.
Although it was night time when they first encountered the manor, he was certain that he had seen it there and to be absolutely sure, he travelled up the path where he found nothing but an open expanse of land.
'But how can this be?' He thought as he paced up and down, scratching his head in confusion. He considered his surroundings once more and recognised the structures and decorations that still occupied the area.
Was he just being a forgetful troll again, or did his friend really disappear along with a whole building? He had to make sense of all the madness, so he took a walk over to the home of the mayor of Thera where he hoped to find some answers.
'Greetings mayor Angela. I am sorry to bother you, but my friend went missing a fortnight ago and I have been looking for him everywhere.' Oblax said with a concerned look upon his face.
The mayor turned to him with a consoling smile before saying, 'Sorry to hear m'dear, I will try my best to help you find your friend. Let me speak to my guards and if you leave a description with Lara, keeper of the scrolls, we might be able to identify him for you.'
'Why thank you! I would very much appreciate that,' he replied gratefully, but he frowned grimly once more before saying, 'I don't understand it though. He entered this strange manor that, I know this might sound crazy but, appears to have vanished into thin air.'
The mayor's eyes widened in horror and her friendly, professional smile faded as her expression became sinister. It was as though she had just swallowed a vat of poison as she looked at him fearfully and said in a trembling voice, 'D-did you just say that he entered a m-manor?'
'Y-yes ma'am,’ he replied with a gulp, her reaction instilling a discomforting feeling in him.
'Not again! Not again!' she said, shaking her head and peering about frantically. 'I am afraid I cannot help you, there is no hope for your friend, I am sorry. Please leave and forget about finding the manor, just forget you ever saw it. It is best you leave!'
She grabbed Oblax and ushered him unceremoniously out of her home, before closing the door behind her and leaving him lost in a pool of utter bewilderment.
'What was that about?' He thought while dragging his shoes along the ground as he walked back to northern Thera where his treasured moth stood waiting for him in the setting sun.
He slumped down against a wall and sighed as a feeling of hopelessness enveloped him. He sat for a long while, watching the travellers go about their usual hustle and bustle and thoughts of the manor kept swirling through his mind, intoxicating any calamity left in him.
Before long, the night had stolen over the day once more and as Oblax prepared to fly home, he gasped as the gruelling Griesly Manor flashed before him. He blinked twice and wiped his eyes sceptically, before focusing them again and seeing that the manor was in fact real.
As foolhardy as Lombardo had been to tread into a mysterious, vanishing house, Oblax was not going to let his best friend remain inside forever. So he valiantly took up his rapiers, drew them from their scabbards and approached the manor cautiously, before pulling the knocker on the door which creaked and swung open as it did for his friend.
Chills crept up his spine like a thousand crawling pins as the door closed almost instantly behind him. All was black, but creaking floorboards, whispering voices and distant screams cut through the silence like an icy blade.
Just as he turned to retreat, a pair of skeletal hands shot up through the splintering floorboards and grabbed his ankles, pulling him down.
'What is this place?' He thought as he frantically struggled free from the hands which instead of persisting to pull him under retreated creepily back into the floor.
'Let me out of here!' Oblax shouted as he pounded at the door which was locked shut. 'Is this some kind of joke?' He asked as he rammed the door several times to no avail.
'Have you seen my glove? An ethereal feminine voice asked him from somewhere moments later and he spun around to see a translucent human woman wearing a ball gown hovering off the ground.
'Ghosts? Surely not?' He thought as he clutched his chest at the realization that he was trapped in what was undeniably a real haunted manor.
'I, I don't know where your glove is ma'am, I am simply looking for my friend Lombardo, have you seen him?' He said as he backed further away from the approaching ghost who drifted towards him slowly, her blank eyes staring at him without the slightest hint of expression in them.
'Have you seen my glove?' she repeated as she advanced towards him with an outstretched finger, gaining in speed.
'No! No! I have not seen your glove!' Oblax yelled as he fled the foyer into a blood-soaked hallway just beyond where more voices laughed sadistically at him and he looked up briefly to see that the laughing was coming from the paintings on the walls which were all alive with malicious intent.
'What is happening to me?' He thought as he stumbled into a dining hall where a ghoulish chef took notice of his presence and offered him something to eat.
'Have a bite lad!' The ghoul said as he approached him with a platter in hand.
'I am not hungry! I am looking for my friend Lombardo, have you seen him?' Oblax implored the chef who gave him the same blank stare that the lady in the ball gown had.
'Oh humble lad, the one you seek is besotted with greed, damned by his selfish needs. Would you care for a delicious morsel of meat?' His mouth turned into a wide grin, revealing his ugly, sharp black teeth.
A feeling of helpless desperation overcame Oblax and he ran through the manor as fast as his weighty form would allow, passing gruesome scenes of skeletons, man-eating plants, living statues and everything one could and could not imagine to see in a haunted manor.
'Lombardo! Lombardo!' He yelled as he ran through thick spider webs and piles of bones, before coming to a complete stop in a mirrored hallway where twisted reflections peered back at him from all angles.
He twirled around in his state of confusion as he searched between all the reflections for an exit and then paused in horror at the sight of one of them turning into a demon who glared and grinned at him sadistically.
Fearfully turning his head to avoid the demon’s deadly gaze, he closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them again, they fell upon one of the other mirrors and he gasped disbelievingly at the sight of his friend Lombardo who was calling to him desperately from the inside. He yelled helplessly while pounding and flailing in an attempt to be heard but all was quiet on the outside as he continued to rage against the panel that was holding him prisoner.
'Lombardo! I will find a way to get you out, hold on!' Oblax exclaimed as he advanced towards the mirror and swung one of his rapiers into it at full force, but it simply ricochet backwards and made a loud clang as it fell to the ground.
Looking back at the mirror, his heart sank as he saw his own reflection stare back at him once more. Lombardo was not to be seen anywhere and all that stood before him was his own, ordinary duplicate.
After a long while of sombre silence, he cringed suddenly as his duplicate took on a will of its own and stepped out of the mirror, his sense of being slipping away from him as he watched himself leave.
'Wh-What is going on?' He thought as a strange sensation overcame him.
Taking another step forward Oblax bumped into a solid barrier and he gasped in horror at the realization that he had been sucked into the mirror. Just as his friend Lombardo had been imprisoned in the evil mind of the living manor, so had he and he peered into the blackness before him, now just an echo of himself.