You can't go home again...
*Thorn waits until he has two days in a row with no tutoring sessions to go visit the Trüble Mansion. He leaves just after breakfast, trying to maintain the illusion that all is relatively well. He only says he is going out for the day, and after slaving over his lessons the way he has been, one can hardly begrudge him a break. In fact, he has worked extra to put himself slightly ahead, just in case whatever comes of this forces him to play catch-up later.
Finding a gate to the mansion is relatively easy, but the sight that greets him is unfamiliar. The grounds he once maintained have grown wild and imposing, and the house casts an ominous air. When he takes his first few steps onto the lawn, he recieves an even nastier shock.
The place has become home to the remains of Anna's necromantic energies, giving rise to a populace of zombies and other spooks. These are not the personable sort that Thorn has met in the Nexus, but truly brainless, vicious creatures. Thorn is not without his own resources, and has come armed, but it is a fight to get to the front door and through it. The sight of the foyer is disheartening, and he is forced to choose between struggling on to look the house over or getting back off the grounds alive.
Thorn returns home close to dusk, scratched up and exhausted. He does actually join the rest of the household for dinner, and when questioned he tells them where he has been and that the place is in no fit state for visitors. He is reluctant to say any more than that, and his evident exhaustion dissuades questioning. Thorn is sullen and silent through dinner, and ever more ravenous than usual. He makes a polite excusal when he does leave the table, bidding them goodnight as he is off to have a wash and sleep. He goes to his room and locks the door, following through with his murmured words, and sleeping well through breakfast the next day.*
Finding a gate to the mansion is relatively easy, but the sight that greets him is unfamiliar. The grounds he once maintained have grown wild and imposing, and the house casts an ominous air. When he takes his first few steps onto the lawn, he recieves an even nastier shock.
The place has become home to the remains of Anna's necromantic energies, giving rise to a populace of zombies and other spooks. These are not the personable sort that Thorn has met in the Nexus, but truly brainless, vicious creatures. Thorn is not without his own resources, and has come armed, but it is a fight to get to the front door and through it. The sight of the foyer is disheartening, and he is forced to choose between struggling on to look the house over or getting back off the grounds alive.
Thorn returns home close to dusk, scratched up and exhausted. He does actually join the rest of the household for dinner, and when questioned he tells them where he has been and that the place is in no fit state for visitors. He is reluctant to say any more than that, and his evident exhaustion dissuades questioning. Thorn is sullen and silent through dinner, and ever more ravenous than usual. He makes a polite excusal when he does leave the table, bidding them goodnight as he is off to have a wash and sleep. He goes to his room and locks the door, following through with his murmured words, and sleeping well through breakfast the next day.*