Hellholt

[The Stranger]

"Brandon... just... be... quiet. God, the only time your quiet is when your eating or being fucked. Otherwise its questions and questions..." She looked at him crossly. "You're worse than a woman."

[Lord Howland Royce]

Brandon rolls his eyes, and streches on the pillows.

[Lord Howland Royce]

After a while of lazying about, Brandon dresses. "I'll take a walk in the keep, Demezla" he says as he walks out the door, looking for more interesting places.

[The Stranger]

She waves, clearly uninterested, but as he leaves, two guards walk with him, right on his heels.

[Lord Howland Royce]

Brandon walk idly around in the keep trying to find some hallways he hasn't walked in before.

[The Stranger]

Hellholt is not a large castle, but its hallways are heavily interwined and elaborate. It is not long before Brandon and his two escorts are in a hallway he's never been in before. Statutes of mythical beasts such as basilisks and cockatrices line the hallway, each one labeled with the name of the beast. at the end of the hallway is a single statue of what seems to be a regular person, naked, and holding a fruit in his hand. The placard is hard to read without closer examination.

[Lord Howland Royce]

Brandon walks closer to read the placard.

[The Stranger]

The little brass plaque has not been polished in some time, but with a little bit of scrapping, Brandon can read it.

A Man with Good Intentions- It is said that this mythical beast could destroy anything it lays its hands on.

[Lord Howland Royce]

Brandon chuckles and examines the statue more.

[Lord Howland Royce]

Two Lyseni merchant ships enters the harbour of Hellholt. The bigger one named Apology and the other Dumb Stone. The cargo is sold and half of the money is kept at Apology. A messenger is sent to Aorta, as the crew of Apology joins the crew of Dumbstone, barring guards for the ship.

[The Stranger]

The Summer Islander takes command of the ship in a huff, and after a few short days, has sailed away.

[The Stranger]

The statute appears to be a naked man, of perhaps twenty years of age. His idolized marble form shows muscles and proportion as though the sculptor were a master as concerned with anatomy as art. In the statute's hand is a little apple, which appears to be made of gold. A single tap demonstrates that it is solid, not goldleaf.

[Lord Howland Royce]

Brandon raises his eyebrows at that, tells himself to remember how he got there and walks to find another place.

[The Stranger]

The rest of Brandon's walk is largely uneventful, although he begins to find that he is cordoned off from some wings of the castle, through locked doors and blocked hallways. All the while the guard with him follow with bore expressions on their faces.

[Lord Howland Royce]

Brandon sigh and turn to the guards. "Say, if I manage to get away from you I'll spend some time reading in the library, however if I don't manage I'll be in the yard where you guys can talk to some of the other guards. What do you say?"