You ask Timz to take you to the Courtyard. Chirping cheerfully
the Jeranis heads out of a side door and into a large empty room. You figure that
the court Yard would be a fairly safe place to go. Hopefully the fresh air would
rid you of the chill that you got from the spooky banquet hall. You walk across the
huge room, following directly behind Timz. With a high pitched chirp he opens a door
in the back of the room and disappears through it. You open it and head out through
one of the open archways that leads into the sun lit court yard.
Looking around the courtyard your eyes rest on the tall greenery that is planted
in front of you. The giant courtyard seems to be a giant hedge maze. You're standing
in a small open area, a break in the hedge is in front of you. Near the entrance
is a pedestal. Something is carved into the top, but you can't read it due to the
vines, weeds, and dirt that cover it. A small fountain filled with water is off to
one side. It isn't working and stale rainwater fills the basin. A broken and vine
covered statue rests on the other. It doesn't look like anyone has been here in a
very long time.
You
turn down to look at Timz, wishing that he could speak and explain why this area
of the castle is so worn down and old looking. A high, lilting voice comes from the
direction of the fountain. A small pink equine trots into sigh and over to you.
The equine smiles," Hello Timz. I see you brought me a Wanderer." Timz
chirps at her and nudges your leg with his snout. The mare smiles,"My name is
Waela, I am a A'savin and the mistress of this maze. Welcome."
You say hello then start asking questions,"What's with this place? It looks
so old and worn down. Nothing else in the Castle looks like it hasn't been taken
care of in a century or two.."
Waela smiles,"The parts of the
castle that you have seen so far have been cleaned up a bit. Most of it looks somewhat
like this garden hedge maze. Not quite as bad though. Most of the rooms inside the
castle had a spell on them that prevented time from destroy the furnishings and such.
However, the spell doesn't work on living things such as plants. They just kept growing
and growing. You can see that they've gotten a little out of control. The castle
staff have been in here recently to do a bit of gardening, but they haven't done
much. It's going to be a long time before this place is back to it's former glory."
A small
red figure flashes past your face as Waela is explaining. You try and follow it with
your eyes, but it's too fast. When Waela finishes speaking she notices you trying
to follow the thing. She smiles and makes a high piping noise. Three more flashes
of color fly past your head to hover near the fountain. All four finally stop long
enough for you to see what they are.
The small
brightly colored creatures wing into the air as soon as you get a quick look at them.
The only things you could see where small fairly like wings and fury manes. You also
noticed that these creatures don't seem to have any legs. You ask Waela what they
are.
"They are Glims. They're fairly shy. Small and fairy like, they don't like keeping
still for too long. They're the first of the new creatures that Zerah is bringing
into to inhabit the maze."
You watch the flits of color. "Is the maze open?"
Waela shakes her head. "Nope. The last Wanderer that went in there got completely
lost. We're not letting anyone in there until someone can get in there and clean
it up a bit."
"Ah." You're disappointed, the maze would have been fun. Sensing that it
is time to go Timz chirps and heads back through the door. After a quick good-bye
to Waela you follow.
You could head back to the Banquet
Hall...
Or you could just check out the entrance
to the hedge maze....