In her sepulchre there by the sea

[hellonspectacles]

Who: Palamedes Sextus and his cavalier, Camilla Hect, the rest of the House Heirs, a gaggle of spooky monks, some skeletons, a murderer, and you!
What: Memshare adventures! All memories are open to all.
When: Anytime in March
Where: Canaan House, Earth!
Warnings: Canon-typical blood, violence, and mild body horror
Notes: Below the cut you will find some scene-setting and descriptions/notes for each of the prompts. Prompts themselves are in the comments!

In general, characters will assume that you arrived with the other visitors to Canaan House a few weeks before any of the events described below, but they will have no idea who you are and why you’re there, and will be extremely suspicious of your presence.



Canaan House rises out of the sea like a castle, a tower, a crumbling mausoleum. Outside the small island on which it stands, the ocean stretches as far as the eye can see, sparkling under the bright rays of Dominicus. The building itself is clearly old, crumbling in places, windows cracked and bricks pitted; even on a thanergenic planet, where life must fight for its existence, nature is slowly overtaking one of the last symbols of humanity on the planet all people once called home.

Inside, the sense of grand decay continues. If you squint, you might notice the way it resembles a university building, some wings made up with wood floors and elaborate bannisters, fading paintings and rotting tapestries on the walls, while others are full of large, light-filled spaces, all glass, and steel, and concrete. There is a large courtyard with a dry fountain, broken elevators and flights of stairs that end halfway up, and dozens of doors with numbers above the threshold, each with its own unique lock, each requiring a key to open. Listen closely and you might hear an ambient hum of electricity, or the quiet clatter of bone from the dozens of otherwise-silent skeleton constructs that clean, and cook, and gather food for the planet’s first guests in nearly ten thousand years.

Welcome to the First House. Don’t stay any longer than you have to.

The Wind Came Out of the Cloud By Night
Investigate a murder scene! This is the best chance of meeting lots of other characters or exploring Canaan House more broadly.

The Demons Down Under the Sea
Solve a puzzle, fight a skeleton monster, hang out with Palamedes and Camilla

We Loved With a Love That Was More than Love
Experience Palamedes death! Please note that unless previously discussed, characters will not be able to interact with this memory, only observe.

Comments

[not_the_last]

"I'm happy to be of assistance, but ... I'd like to know what 'this' is, before I offer. If it's anything to do with necromancy, I'm not sure how much help I can be."

She glances past him at Cam, trying to gauge how she feels about this possible arrangement.

[hellonspectacles]

“Now that is a relevant question. What is this, anyway?” Palamedes eyes twinkle. “This is where things get interesting.”

Camilla seems less enthused about the entire situation, but she offers Cassandra a one-shouldered shrug that one could almost call a gesture of solidarity. “We’re looking for keys,” she says, voice clipped and businesslike. “Presumably, to open one of the many locked doors in the floors above. The door,” he gestures at the door in the window, “doesn’t open by any obvious mechanism.”

“So presumably we have to find a way in there to get the key,” Palamedes adds.

[not_the_last]

Oh, she has to answer that look from Cam; a wry half-smile, as she might commiserate silently with someone about dealing with Percy in a similar wave of enthusiasm. (This is where things get interesting; it's so very much something he might say.)

"Keys," she says then, focusing on the matter at hand. "And one of them is likely to be here. May I have a look at the door here, Master -- is Warden the appropriate way to address you?"

[hellonspectacles]

If Cassandra looks closely, she might notice Camilla relax by an infinitesimal amount. She still doesn’t look very happy about the situation, and she certainly doesn’t smile, but the cool look in her eyes shifts from I will run you through at the slightest provocation to we’re in this together, but if you take a wrong step, I will still run you through, don’t you forget it.

“Hmm? Oh, yes, Master Warden is fine,” Palamedes answers, already drawn back to the door himself. “Please, by all means. I’d be interested to know what you think.”

[not_the_last]

"Thank you," she says, making her way toward the door, "it's only that we seem to have skipped introductions ... what is this made of?"

Her tone's carefully offhand at first, as though she's more interested in the door than in getting names. Which she is, a little bit, but she also doesn't want to risk accidentally saying aloud a name she hasn't heard yet.

[hellonspectacles]

“Ah, we did, didn’t we?” Palamedes gestures towards Cam, who is searching one of the rotting, rusted desks. “Camilla Hect, Warden’s Hand, Cavalier Primary, and the best wielder of the sword the Sixth has ever seen. And when I’m not standing on ceremony, I’m called Palamedes Sextus.” He places his fingertips lightly on the translucent wall to the chamber and frowns. “Glass. About four inches thick, probably. Remarkable.”

[not_the_last]

She nods to each of them as their names are given, and then focuses back on the glass wall. It's hard not to think about one particular wall made of translucent residuum, lowered and raised by magical means.

"Are you certain it's just one part that opens, and not the entire wall?"

[hellonspectacles]

"Not at all," Palamedes says. "Cam?"

"I haven't found any buttons or levers," she answers without him having to ask the question. "But there might be something in here." She tries another door, this one on the wall to the right of the glass chamber. It opens easily.

[not_the_last]

Cassandra catches her breath, half expecting a trap to be triggered.

When nothing appears to happen, she cautiously steps forward to try to look through the door.

[hellonspectacles]

Camilla draws her sword as she steps through the doorway, but the room on the other side is so filled with machines that there’s barely room for three people, let alone three people and a trap. Most of the machines are aged, rusting, and covered with dust. But at the center stands a tall metal pedestal topped by a flat panel of reflective glass. In the dim light, surrounded by so much grey decay, the glass almost seems to glow.

Cam keeps her sword out, but Palamedes approaches the pedestal seemingly without concern. He circles it, pursing his lips. “Well, this is interesting.”

[not_the_last]

Cassandra doesn't draw her own sword yet, for fear of misunderstandings, but advances to a spot behind and to one side of Palamedes.

"What does that look like to you?"

[hellonspectacles]

“It looks like a clue.”

Palamedes makes another circle around the pedestal, and then slowly, carefully lowers his hand to it. Immediately, a cage closes around his hand, and Camilla takes a sharp step forward, raising her sword.

But Pal holds up his hand. With a firm tug he pulls his hand back, and the cage retracts.

“Interesting.”

[not_the_last]

Cassandra inhales in a sharp hiss when the cage closes around his hand, but heeds his silent signal and waits.

"If it's a trap," she says uncertainly, "it's broken. If it's meant to let one draw back like that after closing ... then I admit I don't see the purpose."

A beat.

"Let me try something."

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes looks at Cassandra with renewed interest and makes a conciliatory gesture.

"By all means."

[not_the_last]

She draws one of her daggers, reverses it to hold it gingerly by the blade, and lays it down where Palamedes rested his hand.

If the cage doesn't close around the inanimate object, she's going to try with her own hand next.

[hellonspectacles]

The pedestal hums faintly, and then closes around the dagger.

"So it responds to weight, not biometrics," Palamedes observes, taking a walk around the pedestal. "But what's it meant to do? There doesn't seem to be an additional affect, and I have a hard time believing that it's a glorified mousetrap."

While Cassandra and Palamedes experiment with the pedestal, Camilla has been doing a more thorough examination of the room itself. "Warden, this door's locked." She peers through the door's tiny window into the first room. "And the other one's opened."

"I stand corrected."

[not_the_last]

"It opens the other door, but to keep it open one has to stay here ..." A pause. "Two people. It's designed to make it impossible for anyone to get in without at least one other person's assistance. There might be a way to circumvent it, but that has to be the intent."

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes and Camilla share a look. “Of course, of course,” says Pal. “It wasn’t merely a formality to invite both house heir and cavalier primary, but an integral aspect of the trials. Masterful.” He looks at Cassandra. “Miss de Rollo, please lift your sword. I want both of you to go out there and tell me what happens when I put my hand on the panel.”

[not_the_last]

"Very well." She nods, retrieves her dagger, and makes for the door; she's fairly sure by this time that Camilla will already be following the implied order.

Once out of the smaller room, she glances at Camilla, trying to gauge the weather in her expression.

[hellonspectacles]

Camilla leads the way back to the first room, where she pauses in front of the glass chamber’s locked door, and looks back at Cassandra. As always, her expression is terribly hard to read, but she appears calm and faintly curious.

As expected, the door slides open after a few moments as, presumably, Palamedes places his hand on the pedestal. “I’m going in,” Camilla calls, and then cocks her head at Cassandra. “What sort of weaponry do you have on you, aside from the dagger? And do you know how to use it?”

[not_the_last]

"A few more daggers," she says. "A rapier. Some items that aren't weapons but have potential applications in combat." A beat. "And yes. Do you think there's any point in one of us attempting to hold the door open?"

[hellonspectacles]

Camilla nods. She doesn’t think the woman has any reason to lie, but if she is, for some reason, they will find out soon enough.

She draws her sword and steps lightly into the chamber, then looks back at her companion. “Probably not.” But because she isn’t Palamedes Sextus’ Hand for nothing, she takes a small. sharp knife out of her pocket and places it across the auto door’s threshold. Then she cocks her head to the side, as though to say to Cassandra, Coming?

[not_the_last]

Cassandra draws her own rapier, and nods to Camilla in a silent Yes, coming, and follows.

If they hear anything suggesting Palamedes is in danger, alone ... she tries to tell herself that surely he must have come through this successfully the first time, but it still feels a touch like turning her back on him.

[hellonspectacles]

Camilla rocks onto the balls of her feet in anticipation as the autodoor begins to close, behind them. When it reaches the knife, it opens again, and for a moment, it seems like nothing will happen. Then, suddenly, it closes with a force that shatters the blade.

"Damn," says Camilla.

As soon as the door slams shut, a strange, soupy mist fills the chamber. It swirls around the pair inside for a few moments, and then, just as it begins to dissipate, a skeletal monstrosity emerges from the darkness. With eyes that glow, it charges towards them, its scythe-like arms swinging.

25 and 13 to hit, whatever that means in this context

[not_the_last]

Cassandra is at Camilla's left shoulder; she slaps together the heels of her boots, and hurls two daggers at those glowing eyes.

Without waiting to see if they hit, she dodges left, hoping Camilla will dodge right. If she can get the creature between herself and Camilla, she'll have better odds of doing some serious damage.