[Open] Hilltop Manor

[Gar]

Gar was feeling good. He was attending a harvest festival as he usually did this time of year. He looked forward to it every year. Villagers lived such a different life than sailors. Gar smiled, he wasn't a farmer or anything but he still enjoyed the atmosphere. Children ran around with smiles. They kicked dirt up on the roads, running from person to person, asking for treats. Gar had a satchel of tropical fruit to give to the kids who asked. 

A group of kids approached him. One was dressed as a ghoul, the second wore a bear mask on his face and fur cloth on his shoulders. Gar himself was dressed as an octopus. His maroon shirt had extra limbs attached; cloth tentacles stuffed with wool. He knew he looked silly but it was all in good fun. "Trick or treat mister." The bear clutched a chicken egg in his small hand. The trick was obvious, so Gar had to give the kids a treat. Gar took a knee to meet the children on their eye level.

"Hahar. Nice costumes, how about some pieces of these fruits for a treat?" Gar procured a bowl of cut pineapple, strawberry and raspberries. He heard the kids mumble amongst themselves for a moment before they all reached for an egg to throw at the captain. Gar took a chance to interrupt. He took a small bag from his pocket.

"But wait. Try it with this." Gar sprinkled some brown sugar on the fruit. The first young on took a piece and bit into it. Gar smirked as he saw the kid's face wrinkle. 

"Its sour and sweet. Its really good." The children each took a piece then another before they thanked him and ran off. Gar continued with a smile. His eyes fell upon a sign. It read 'Attraction' and pointed down a dimly lit alley. Gar squinted his eyes suspiciously but turned down the alleyway regardless. After a few steps, two people hooked their arms under his and started walking quickly. Two more followed behind him. They led him further down the alley and turned to lead him up a path. They spoke to him, but too quickly for Gar to process what was being said.

"Welcome sir, welcome."

"Yes sir, welcome to your end." Gar raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, welcome to your amusement for the end of the night."

" That's right, your night cant end until you find amusement up this hill."

"Right up this hill sir "

Gar was led through a gate and up a hill. He stopped listening to the people leading his way and started to look around. A large manor lied upon the hill. The trees around the building were bare, out of season. It should've been another month before... Lightning cracked through the sky, breaking Gars concentration. There was something ominous about that manor.  He was enthralled with the curiosity of what could exist in this manor. He was fixated on it for some reason. It called to him.

Once Gar was at the front door, he realized his leads were still speaking and asking for money. Gar placed some coin in their hands and moved toward the manor door.

[Duma]

It was a while since Duma had participated in any sort of festival. He was fresh off his most recent escort job and was very happy to have arrived when he did. He had a decent pouch of coins which he intended to use on some rather important things like games and pastries. The family he escorted even helped him get into the holiday spirit. He was given a simple costume of grey wolf ears and a grey pelt that draped over his shoulders. He had a fake tail tied around his hip to further aid the illusion. His hair was braided up behind him and the tip just touched the base of the tail. His nose was painted black to further complete the wolf look. He looked really big and threatening since, he wore the pelt over his usual attire. In his hand he had a basket of honey sweetened short bread cookies. The cookies were in three shapes, a gourd, a cat, and a doggie. They were painted simply with a tiny bit of edible frosting. 

He loved looking around at all the people having so much fun. For a moment he felt relaxed. There were people celebrating something good. Something that didn't involve war, plague, or undead monsters. Well.. there were monsters. Little kids and teenagers were dressed up as spooky ghouls or something with out any idea, of the reality of what it was like outside the borders. He was walking down one of the streets and browsing through the stalls for something tasty to eat. He heard three voices shout behind him.

"HEY! Green wolf lady! Trick or treat!" He looked around. There was no green haired lady here. Then he felt a tug on his hair and turned around. The three kids looked up at Duma in shock and horror. The person they thought was a woman was really a man. A scary looking man with a big scar on his face and 1..2..3 swords around his waist. 

"Oh. You meant me?" Duma asked. 

"Er.. Uhm.. Sorry Sir." One of the kids had an egg in his hand and was hesitating weather or not to chuck it at this stranger. 

"Tr..trick or treat!" The other one spoke.

Duma blinked. He went to approach the kids, his basket of treats was caught under his big sleeves. The swordsman made a motion to try and dislodge it, but then the kids started to scream and run for their lives. The big scary wolf man was coming after them! He was going to slice them up with his swords!

"Wait I had.. treats!" He spoke as he held up the basket of goodies. But, it was no use, the kids were long gone. The other people who saw the whole thing unfold had a variety of expressions. Duma sighed. Then he felt another tug on his sleeve. This time a small girl who was wearing a crown of squash flowers. Duma crouched down to her level. 

"Yes little one?"

"Doggy give Treat?" She asked. Duma smiled and handed her a cookie. At this point a woman ran up and promptly grabbed the child.

"Oh I'm so sorry sir! She just got away from me."

Duma got up and dusted himself off.

"Mama, doggie treat!" She held up the cookie proudly, then immediately went ahead and chomped down on it.

"Oh. Oh you were.. I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright. Here, pick one for yourself." Duma showed the young woman the basked of cookies. The woman picked up a pumpkin shaped one and thanked the swordsman. She then picked up the little girl and walked away. The little girl waved bye bye and Duma waved back. He wasn't sure why the little little kids didn't run away in terror when they saw him. But, the slightly bigger kids and some adults did too. What this costume truly that convincing? He'd mull over that later. He kept wandering around the various stalls. He bought himself a candied apple on a stick and started to munch on it. He walked a bit further when he came up to a sign that said "Attraction."

"What the heck? Is the Alley the attraction?" He spoke out loud.

"Oh no sir!" A man who was near the alley entrance spoke.

"The attraction is at the end of the alley!" The man spoke. He appeared have some sort of pinstripe outfit on but decorated with what appeared to be skulls.

"Come one come all and see the "Haunted Manor! Prepare yourselves for a fright that will be sure to delight! You'll have a screaming good time with all the scary sights. Our staff are trained in delivering spooks and we promise they don't bite! Only five coins!" The pinstriped man started to chant. He did a trick with a cane and a bit of what Duma suspected to be magic. Or perhaps a trick with a sort of potion or trap. There were a few other people who were drawn in by the pinstriped man's charms. They gave him coin and went down the alley. Duma shrugged. He paid the man five coins and made his way down the alley and through a thicket of trees. There he came up upon the manor. And sure enough it was spooky looking. Complete with thunder and dark clouds that seemed to be fixed in the sky. 

"Wow. The Anima mage doing the lightning effects deserves a bonus." Duma spoke aloud to no one in particular. 

"Why thank you sir. We will be sure to let them know you sent them kind words." There were two men behind him. They were dressed in a similar style of clothes like the pin stripped man. 

"Is this a prop manor? Like in stage play?" Duma asked.

"The manor is real. We just rent out the space for the attraction. Come! Come!" And they ushered the swordsman forward. There was a small line of people ahead of him. The couple that went ahead of him. They were waiting their turn for the other gentleman in front of them to go on in.

[Gar]

Gar had been waiting in line for a moment or two. He was beginning to get impatient and started looking around. His eyes fell upon a familiar face. Gar's eyebrows furrowed. Quick. Swordsman. Calm. They had fought before but Gar had forgotten the result. I know him. Now wasn't the time to bring up the past. Now was the time to play and have fun. 

Gar waved the green haired man over to his place in line. "Trick or treat matey?" Gar shook his sewn on tentacles and laughed for a second. He was happy to meet a strong fighter. Gar placed his hand out to shake." Proper name's Gar..." Gar inhaled a breath of cold air. Something was amiss. Probably something to do with the spirits. Gar had to whisper his words. "Do ya feel the problem here...? Think we can handle this problem... together?" Gar didn't get a chance to see the green haired swordsman's reaction before he was ushered forward. 

He heard screams come from the building. Gar rolled his shoulders.

" Don't be scared."

"No no no, don't be scared." Gar began questioning the frequency of questions.

"You are, aren't you?" Gar leaned back.

"Of course im not... scared or anything like that." Gar swallowed his voice and pushed against the doors of the mansion.

Gar moved and took a step into the house. It was an immediate trap and Gar tumbled down a trapped staircase. "Arrrgh" He tumbled to the basement floor. He heard the mansion staff speak to the next patrons.

"Watch your step!"

[Duma]

Duma was munching on his sweet candied apple. The apple was fixed ontop of a stick to allow for easier eating with out making a mess. Or at least that's what was supposed to work in theory. Whatever candied glaze they put on the apple had a red dye to it and if Duma had to guess it may have been from some kind of cherry. Either way, the whole thing made him look like he had an obvious tint of red over his mouth, lips, and teeth. The person in front of him waved him over and introduced himself. 

Duma waved back. Then hastily chewed and swallowed the bit of apple he still had in his mouth.

"Nice to meet you Gar. I am Duma." Duma held up his basket of baked goodies.

"Treats."  He motioned for Gar to grab one. And Duma hoped Gar would share what ever goodies he had in his basket.

"I like your costume. Very creative." He smiled. Hopefully, his own relaxed demeanor would help put the fellow costumed man at ease. He titled his head a little at Gar's whispered words. Duma looked around. He hadn't picked up on anything really out of the ordinary. Yes this place was spooky and a bit out of the way but it makes sense. You can't exactly move a whole already built mansion closer to town. And Duma knew there were all sorts of illusions that could be created with the right amount of Magic. His trips and conversations with Donovan had exposed the swordsman to a thing called stage magic. And to some sort of special block of salt or mineral when exposed to a container of water would make a sort of white foggy smoke. Which he suspected was what made the current atmosphere much more spooky. 

"I.. Oh.." Duma's answer was cut off. A few of the workers had ushered Gar forward and out of Duma's earshot. Duma shook his head. These guys weren't doing anything wrong... yet. Sure. He had a feeling he might get mugged. But, that was something that could happen anywhere. He wasn't about to make a scene about that here. Not while there were two other innocent bystanders around him. Duma's ears perked up at Gar's scream, and then the voice of one of the workers, cautioning him about the first step.

Duma entered the manor after the two other bystanders. He heeded the warning and successfully avoided the large hole in the floor. And suddenly he found himself on the first floor of the manor. He found himself staring down a long dark hallway. A few torches were lit on either side but they provided very poor lighting. And then he came to a terrible realization! He didn't know what to do exactly. 

"What do I do exactly?" He asked out loud. And then he heard the muffled voice of one of the workers from somewhere.

"Explore while you find the exit. And Don't you dare stab our workers!" 

Duma shrugged. The two bystanders appeared to have taken the first floor for themselves. Duma didn't exactly want to be a third wheel in what appeared to be a couple's activity, he decided to go up the stairs.