⋅⋅⊱༻༺⊰⋅⋅

The stable isn’t very big, enough for about five horses. The construction is well sealed from the cold, the breath and body heat from the animals are enough to warm it up to an extent.

The horse that's uneasy doesn't seem scared of Cyrus, or of anything in particular, while the other horse, the homeowner's, is completely calm, and even extends its neck to smell at him, curious if he'd brought it a treat. He doesn't notice anything unusual.

"That's strange... Hmm..."

While he should look around for possible danger, he also just wants his bag to be safe. So he prioritizes that instead. He looks around for his bag in hopes of finding it in okay shape.

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Cyrus roll to find bag ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 4 ”

The horse that just escaped must’ve been the one with the bag on its back, as he can't find it anywhere.

He snaps his head back to the wide open door as his frown grows deeper.

"Tch curses!!"

He clicks his tongue and stomps to the exit, keeping a sharp eye for noises and sudden movements. He doesn’t forget to close the stable door gently behind him.

While listening in to any odd movement, he hears the horse still huffing distressedly a good distance away.

He turns to the source of the sound, and does his best to approach without making too much noise, mindful of the shuffle of his clothes and the clinking of his sword.

Despite his best efforts, he unknowingly steps on a twig in the dark just as he was sneaking closer, alerting the horse that startles and trots farther downhill…

After a while of following, the horse had eventually calmed down and came to a stop, and Cyrus no longer needed to be stealthy as the horse wasn’t scared of him. He gets a hold of its reigns, then looks around to better locate himself.

That’s when he sees a gaping black hole in the cliff face to his right, and as his eyes travel higher up, he finds himself looking at the house he was in just a few minutes ago, perched over the edge. Fireplace and candle light seep out the windows, illuminating the tree tops down where Cyrus is, the sight akin to a lighthouse in the dark of the night.

"....What is this place...?"

He halts and just stares at the cave, his hands slowly sliding down the horse.

"Why did you run off so hurriedly….. What scared you?"

He turns to the horse and sighs, wishing he could understand it to some level, but unfortunately he doesn't have that kind of connection with the animal... He pats its back before detaching his bag from it, throwing it over his shoulder and turning his back to the horse, it doesn't seem like it'll be running away any time soon.

He steps closer to the cave, wary of the unknown in the dark. The moonlight and the orange lights from the house were his only comfort…

"This cave was right below us..." He mumbles to himself as he walks in.

Caves are natural happenings most of the time, but they never fail to carry ominous uncertainty with them... Especially at an isolated place like this.

The cave gets wider inside and goes deeper, he can barely see when he reaches the end of it, where he finds a door sized hole carved into the rock.

".….I feel my suspicions being validated..."

He enters through the hole without a second thought, now gripping the handle of his sword.

He stumbles a bit as he unknowingly walks into a set of steps.

‘Stairs…?’

He climbs up the unlit flight of stairs, going up what should be the equivalent of two stories when he bumps his head against wood.

"Ack-"

He brings his hand to his forehead and rubs it a little, feeling the wood around with his other hand.

"This...."

He knocks on the wood.

"Empty on the other side."

He feels around for a handle.

‘…I'll just break in if I don’t find one—’

Thankfully, he does find it, and as he pushes up it gives in rather easily.

As Cyrus steps up, he finds himself in a confined space, dim light bleeding from under and over what must be a door. It’s better lighting than the cave, and he can sort of make out the various objects on the shelves… its a storage room from the looks of it. He can hear dish clattering far to his right, and to his far left, quiet noises of idle chatter and a fireplace.

".…"

He takes a moment to think as his hand subconsciously comes to rest on his chin.

"This has got to be the cartographer’s house... And that must be where I last left them... And that would be the kitchen..."

He keeps mumbling as he eyes the various objects around him.

"But why would the house need to be connected to the cave? Did the map maker want different entrances and escape routes? Perhaps he gets trouble often in this secluded area... However, it’s quite a waste to go through the trouble to connect them, yet not use the space down there for anything... But I suppose the house is spacious enough as it is so he doesn't really need the extra room…”

Cyrus is a rambler, but only to himself, afterall, his own company is his favorite.

He searches around the storage room for another door, just exploring around with no point. He already figured this was weird but not exactly malicious or THAT ominous. But finding things out like this was fun.

He can make out what must be a broom, more cleaning items, dried vegetables hanging from the low ceiling —he has to bend down slightly— some big sacks and multiple chopped up logs and twigs gathered neatly in a big pile to the corner, likely for the furnace. Next to it however, on the side wall, is a sliding door, a sack of potatoes is leaning against it.

“Hm.”

He pushes the sack of potatoes to the side with his foot. Its heavy but he pushes it off like that anyway.

He then examines the door with his hand, pressing on it.

When that doesn’t work, he tries to slide it.

It slides open without a sound, revealing another set of stairs going up, they are narrow and the steps are high, as if careful not to take too much space in the house's architecture.

“So inefficient and tight… though, I suppose I'd like one of these paths back at the dukedom.”

Assassins aren't very common, but they are always a possibility, given the status and importance of the figures living in and serving the Redwood. So escape plans would be a good idea.

He climbs up the stairs, finding the space a bit too tight for his liking.

This time the stairs lead him to a small door, also unlocked, and as he bows down to get through, he walks right into a wall of thick fabric.

He steps back, confusion written all over his face.

He feels around the fabric and tries to raise it, pushing it above so he can pass under. But under the layer of fabric… is another layer of fabric? they all seem to be attached at the top- They are coats. Right. Of course. He's in a wardrobe.

“This is… uncomfortable…” It suddenly dawns on him that he's inside someone's ROOM. He had fun finding that cave and exploring the storage but this now feels a bit too invasive… He continues forward anyway.

There's a dim warm light coming from the creeks around the wardrobe doors, he can hear the small crackle of a dying fire. He also notes a faint smell of lavender sticking to the clothes.

"The smell is nice at least."

He opens the wardrobe doors slightly, the warm orange light seeping into the dark enclosed space. He peeks out, and steps out only after making sure nobody else was in the room.

"And this... Must be the bedroom... I believe this is far beyond breaking a boundary."

The room is medium sized, which only serves to further exagerate the proportions of the bed in the middle. Disproportionate is an understatement, its huge, taking up much of the room's space. Despite that, it is well made and tidy, as is the rest of the room. There are two small bedside tables with a couple items on them, a small library to the side wall, and a cabinet on the wall opposite the bed. The fireplace is on the same wall as the wardrobe he was in, the flame is almost out.

"How cozy."

. . .

"I should head back now."

He turns around and gets inside the wardrobe again, heading back to the cave entrance.

.

.

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Cyrus steps into the cave at last, going down the stairs in the dark was surprisingly more difficult than climbing them, especially the ones with the high steps. His bag is waiting for him where he left it next to the rocky doorway, he throws it over his shoulder and makes his way to the entrance of the cave, letting out a tired yet satisfied sigh.

⋅⋅⊱༻ • Cyrus roll for weather ༺⊰⋅⋅

Roll Request: [d20]

Dice results: “ 1 ”

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⋅⋅⊱༻To be continued༺⊰⋅⋅