Shale's Guest room

[Hot Champion_of_justice]

((you can decorate it later))

Haeo

Lareth lead Shale upstairs to the second floor to the right at the top of the staircase and third door down. He knew these rooms to have recently been cleaned and he opened up the ornate wooden door.

Inside was a widely spaced room, complete with bed, desk, walk in closet, and chest at the foot of his bed for weapons.

"Here is your room. Public restroom and Baths are at the end of the hallway and should have all the toiletries you may need. Please be advised that you are welcome to come and go as you please except to the left side of the staircase. That area is my area.

Since we will be having guests beginning tomorrow, you will hear a chime throughout the castle to let you know when breakfast, lunch, and dinner is being served.

Until then, you may eat anytime you want. Just go down stairs and head behind the staircase. That way leads you to the massive dining hall and kitchen, where the cook and his apprentices, will make you a meal. "

Lareth walked back out the door and into the hallway with Ost.

"Should you need anything, please feel free to find a servant on the first floor. Anyone can help you. Enjoy your room and some rest."

Lareth left the new baron there as he walked with Ost asking the man about what he knew about special barriers.  

[Haeo]

Hot Champion_of_justice

Shale followed his king and paid close attention to the specifics of the castle's operations and layout. Above all things, he did not wish to appear half as lost as he felt. This was by far the largest building he had ever seen. It was also internally complex and likely held a variety of places that, while technically allowed, could cause trouble if he entered them without a specific invitation.

"Thank you, sire." Shale said, managing this one sentence smoothly and confidently. He did wonder if he was permitted to house his golem in his room but there was time for that question later.

Then he was alone. With the inevitable danger of his chosen path behind him, Shale released the clasp of his cloak. The red garment fell heavily to the floor with a pronounced 'whumph'. Then Shale closed his eyes and tipped his head back, taking a ragged breath as his hands started to shake.
His knees wobbled and he sank unceremoniously to his knees on the floor. This was the closest he had ever been to such a futile death as the one that King Lareth could have inflicted on him.

The king had said that he could get a meal in the kitchen. He wasn't hungry. The life he knew was gone, destroyed, and good riddance. But, he was in service to a king he did not know in a castle he had only just seen and facing the prospect of duties and responsibilities that he knew little enough of how to handle. Here, in private, he let himself shake with relief and trepidation. More than three hundred years of his life had gone into making this day possible. Not one day had truly gone into preparing for what he would have to do now. The shadow of his name was gone, but the echoes of his teachers' words would likely never truly vanish from his mind. For the first time in centuries he truly felt fragile. Was he really equal to the task ahead of him? Time would tell. And, if his life was any indication, so would tragedy.

--------------------

Ost simply followed. He was grateful to see that the guest room was one of the ones on an exterior wall. If things changed he would be able to reach it quickly and with force. He made special note of its location but had no reason to take other actions, except for one. Before the door shut between them, the guardian bowed shallowly in acknowledgement of Shale's elevation in rank. A baron was of higher rank than Ost after all. Then, with the door safely shut, he followed his King.

((Exit Ost))  

[Haeo]

Shale eventually regained his composure and calm. He could sense through his master's link that his golem was still waiting outside the castle. There had been no attacks and everything was about as calm as could be expected. He stood up. There was no point resting now. He had gone for far longer without rest during his life and had no immediate need for it. Tragedy, if it struck, would find him prepared by experience.

Though, he found himself thinking about the guardian who had met him at the entrance. That man had been ready to kill without a moment's hesitation. Yet, he hadn't seemed like he would enjoy fighting. Cold and efficient. That seemed to be the best words to describe this castle's guardian. Also, unique. The ward web that saturated the castle was amazing. It was strong, intricate, and highly refined. It also contained reactive redundancies that seemed like they could independantly react to damage or disruption. It was a masterwork of spellcraft. It also was clearly the work of the guardian. Cold and efficient, methodical and meticulous. There were no apparent weakpoints in the ward net at all. Shale walked to the room's only window and looked out at the castle grounds below, forcing himself to think rapidly. He had to find a way to secure his new position and the best way to do that would be to prove himself as valuable as possible, as quickly as possible.

With a network of defenses like this against magical attack the only clear weakpoints in the castle's defenses were simple and obvious; numbers and power. It didn't seem to have a garrison of sufficient numbers or strength to properly defend it. The prospect of attacking such a castle would be daunting unless the attacker was either very strong or possessed innumerable minions to swarm the defenders. Clearly, the guardian was using his powers to give both himself and the King an information advantage and eliminate the possibility of surprise attacks which would help to coordinate what garrison the castle had, maximizing its effective power. However, the guardian, Ost, seemed to lack the ability to counter an omnidirectional assault. Perhaps the King would consider a force of golems to be a worthy addition to the castle's defenses. Besides, no matter what happens, a golem cannot turn traitor.

He turned his back to the window and looked at the bed. Then he decided something before he even knew that he was debating the issue. He took a couple steps and crouched against the bed, putting his shoulder against its frame and slowly pushing it into a corner out of the way.

He did not sleep on beds, not since his first one got soaked in his own blood as a child. He pulled the mattress and bedding off the bedframe and then moved, picking up his staff from the floor, so that his shadow in the light from the window fell on the bare frame. He began to work a spell, his head bowed and his eerily thin features fixed in concentration. The shadow slowly, over the course of many minutes, began to spread until it covered the bedframe completely in an inky black layer. Then, it lifted off the frame, keeping its shape and moving to land where the bed had been originally. This was the first part of the spell and the shadow changed shape, contracting and solidifying until what remained was a black metallic wireframe of the bedframe's outline.

The next part would require blood and he would not undertake that before he knew the truth of what he was trying to create. A part of him was instinctively trying to make something and he needed to know what. So, he sat. And he thought.  

[Haeo]

Shale's meditation was interrupted by a subtle tightening of the wards and then the warping of them to center on another focal point. The guardian must have left the castle and set the wards to answer to another. But, if the guardian was sent away, that must mean that there was a known threat to the castle close by but outside the wards. The dispatching of a guardian meant that it was a serious matter. Likely enough, the castle was not properly prepared. King Lareth would need every able hand to assist.

Taking his staff into his hand, Shale rose to his feet and put his cloak back on. It and his body suit were magic crafted to serve as both physical and magical armor. He hoped that he would not need them.

As he shut his room door behind him and began to head toward the courtyard and his golem he began the process of a spell to create a large number of very weak golems from shadow and dust. They would only be the size of a small bird individually but when the spell was complete they would be able to either reinforce the wards with their bodies or spit needles at any enemy. Also, there would be a lot of them, if he had an hour there would be a dozen. Two hours would mean three dozen. Three hours would allow him to craft nearly a hundred so long as he shaped a golem forge circle first. That would normally take too much time itself. But, he had a powerful golem already. That golem would serve as a mighty catalyst and later, perhaps an additional line of defense for the King.

((Exit))