Post by Daethem Zendoryn on Oct 17, 2008 16:51:13 GMT -5
The night was cold and slightly fogged in Cambridge as Professor Zendoryn traveled through the many streets, completely hidden by his invisibility cloak and a wealth of spells. He had spent months looking for it...months; Only to find that it was right on his doorstep. It was imperative that he find it, and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't alone on this quest.
He continued on through the city's back streets toward his objective, staff in hand; He would need it to open the door. The ancient seals protected the device, to be sure, but he would break them; He had to break them.
He turned into a back alley and rushed forward toward the opposing end of the path with haste. He continued to weave through the hind streets until he was on the very outskirts of town where a very old and apparently abandoned building stood. He had known the man who had owned this place; A muggle who died a few years ago and left many such ancient structures to the care of trusted friends. If he was right, then he would have a second artifact by the time the night was out, and be closer than ever to solving the riddle.
The house was tall, broad, and fine, resembling a manor more than a house. Ivy grew up it's front, and the many dark windows were detailed with fine moldings as frames. The tall roof sloped up and away from him three stories above, just to slope down once more on the far side. A fine chimney rose on either side of the house, neither of which had belched smoke in three hundred years, and the fine front doors with their surprisingly well polished brass knocker stood proudly at the house's front.
Professor Zendoryn slipped through the gates into the manor's grounds and made through the front garden, however, instead of making for the front door, he made for the path along the house's side that would take him back into the rear garden. As he had suspected, the rear garden wasn't so much a garden as it was a large square patch of lawn with bushes and other shrubs set around the brick wall enclosing the space, and a small gravel path running around the inside of that. Considering the era in which this house had been built, it was a highly irregular feature to have such a simplistic hind garden for a house which was otherwise spectacular.
He stepped onto the square of grass and peered around for a brief moment before turning the staff on it's head and hitting the ground once with it. Immediately, as if the lawn was bleeding, a pool of some gray liquid began to form in the very center of the grassy area. It continued to grow until it was perfectly round and almost a dozen feet wide before it began rise upward. It was almost as if some bizarre invisible mold was being filled from underneath as an archway formed and solidified. The archway quickly took on the many qualities of stone, and, as he moved before it to examine it more closely, two wooden doors swung inward out of nothing to complete the doorway.
Professor Zendoryn did not move for a moment, but examined the archway closely. It looked as though it had been brought there from some ancient castle long forgotten by man-kind. The key-stone of the arch had a curious coat of arms emblazoned on it, though time had worn it down; A shield bearing a snake coiled around a chalice, and a raven carrying a sword were clearly visible, however, all other details had been worn away.
He approached the doorway after several more minutes' consideration, and pushed the doors inward. Though one would have expected to step through onto the grass on the archway's far side, he stepped right into a tall, circular, domed room. At the very top of the dome was an open hole through which sunlight was shining down onto a cushion bearing plinth in the sunken center of the room to spite the fact that it was past midnight. Without hesitation, he made for the plinth; It's there, it has to be!, he thought.
As he drew level with the plinth, however, he found that the cushion was quite bare. The Verumclipean was nowhere to be seen, his heart sank with disappointment. After what seemed a long time, he turned from the plinth and made for the door once more.
As the archway sank back into nothingness behind him, a voice rang out through the garden which made his heart stop. He had forgotten to put the cloak back on after having taken it off before opening the arch.
(Closed; Tag Verum)
He continued on through the city's back streets toward his objective, staff in hand; He would need it to open the door. The ancient seals protected the device, to be sure, but he would break them; He had to break them.
He turned into a back alley and rushed forward toward the opposing end of the path with haste. He continued to weave through the hind streets until he was on the very outskirts of town where a very old and apparently abandoned building stood. He had known the man who had owned this place; A muggle who died a few years ago and left many such ancient structures to the care of trusted friends. If he was right, then he would have a second artifact by the time the night was out, and be closer than ever to solving the riddle.
The house was tall, broad, and fine, resembling a manor more than a house. Ivy grew up it's front, and the many dark windows were detailed with fine moldings as frames. The tall roof sloped up and away from him three stories above, just to slope down once more on the far side. A fine chimney rose on either side of the house, neither of which had belched smoke in three hundred years, and the fine front doors with their surprisingly well polished brass knocker stood proudly at the house's front.
Professor Zendoryn slipped through the gates into the manor's grounds and made through the front garden, however, instead of making for the front door, he made for the path along the house's side that would take him back into the rear garden. As he had suspected, the rear garden wasn't so much a garden as it was a large square patch of lawn with bushes and other shrubs set around the brick wall enclosing the space, and a small gravel path running around the inside of that. Considering the era in which this house had been built, it was a highly irregular feature to have such a simplistic hind garden for a house which was otherwise spectacular.
He stepped onto the square of grass and peered around for a brief moment before turning the staff on it's head and hitting the ground once with it. Immediately, as if the lawn was bleeding, a pool of some gray liquid began to form in the very center of the grassy area. It continued to grow until it was perfectly round and almost a dozen feet wide before it began rise upward. It was almost as if some bizarre invisible mold was being filled from underneath as an archway formed and solidified. The archway quickly took on the many qualities of stone, and, as he moved before it to examine it more closely, two wooden doors swung inward out of nothing to complete the doorway.
Professor Zendoryn did not move for a moment, but examined the archway closely. It looked as though it had been brought there from some ancient castle long forgotten by man-kind. The key-stone of the arch had a curious coat of arms emblazoned on it, though time had worn it down; A shield bearing a snake coiled around a chalice, and a raven carrying a sword were clearly visible, however, all other details had been worn away.
He approached the doorway after several more minutes' consideration, and pushed the doors inward. Though one would have expected to step through onto the grass on the archway's far side, he stepped right into a tall, circular, domed room. At the very top of the dome was an open hole through which sunlight was shining down onto a cushion bearing plinth in the sunken center of the room to spite the fact that it was past midnight. Without hesitation, he made for the plinth; It's there, it has to be!, he thought.
As he drew level with the plinth, however, he found that the cushion was quite bare. The Verumclipean was nowhere to be seen, his heart sank with disappointment. After what seemed a long time, he turned from the plinth and made for the door once more.
As the archway sank back into nothingness behind him, a voice rang out through the garden which made his heart stop. He had forgotten to put the cloak back on after having taken it off before opening the arch.
(Closed; Tag Verum)
