You frown as you run through the message. “It sounds like dig at the fireplace, bottom of the stairs?” you say, confused. “I told them we couldn’t get down safely. And does this tower even have a fireplace?” “Oh! I think I know,” Anthony exclaims. “It’s not ‘fireplace’, it’s ‘chimney’. Which this tower doesn’t really have either, but it has something close to it. Follow me.” You follow him through the door, then climb a…
“Well, greblings have very good hearing. They can probably already hear our conversation,” you realize. You stand up and shout. “If someone can hear me, knock on the wall loudly!” You promptly hear knocking. “We’re just outside the door,” you continue. “We can’t move further down safely. Is there somewhere else you want us to be? Knock once for yes, twice for no.” One knock. “Well, now how are we supposed to ask them where…
It’s kind of a cracking sound, but it doesn’t sound like wood. Or thunder, for that matter. You try to figure out what it is and then hear it again. And it sounds much closer. That’s when you realize that the tower really is in bad shape. The stone beneath your feet has given way. Worse, it’s given way just as you were standing on it, and now your leg is stuck in the hole.…
You think about strengthening the illusion of the storm, but the more you think about it, the worse you feel. You don’t exactly like Anthony. It’s hard to like someone who’s caused you so much trouble, and he’s certainly not doing a better job than usual tonight. But he was one of you, even if he isn’t now. Just like Minnie. You really owe him better than this. You start climbing up the tower until…
“What does the wine flow through?” you muse. “That’s got to be hollow, but also sturdy enough it doesn’t leak. Probably would work well.” “I ain’t a brewer, don’t ask me these things,” Carter grumbles. “But if there is something like that, well, that pile over there seems to be stuff that was damaged in the brewing process.” You look through the pile and find a length of metal with a hole going through it.…
“I hear wood breaking,” Carter says. “There were some crates up there, he might be trying to make a barricade out of them. It doesn’t sound like he’s trying to hurt himself, at least.” A moment later, the cup falls down. “Guess he’s done with talking,” you mutter. “So I think we really need to get this storm going now, because I’m honestly out of other ideas.” “Might be able to do thunder, but I…
You take the cup off the string and turn to Carter. “I heard,” they reply. Of course – that grebling hearing again. “So I’m guessing you want us to fake a storm. I bet you know plenty of theater tricks for that, but doesn’t he know them too?” “We don’t usually go for that level of realism in shows,” you reply. “So he probably hasn’t thought about how to tweak them to be more convincing.…
There’s one time you saw Anthony even more frightened than this. It was at an outdoor venue, when there were stormclouds during a performance. It was close enough to the end that everyone played the last scene out, but Anthony was on edge the entire time and rushed inside as soon as he could. “You really ought to get down from there, Anthony. They’re expecting a storm tonight, and that tower isn’t very well-maintained.” “You’re…
“You can’t stay up there. If you don’t come down soon, there are some greblings who are going to make their way up one way or another,” you explain calmly. “So either you learn to deal with this fear of yours, or you come down now and I can tell them to stay out of your way.” “I, I can’t,” Anthony replies. “Look, it’s not as if I want to be afraid. I just can’t…
“There’s a little trick we use sometimes where you tie two cups to the ends of a string, talk into one, and the sound comes out the other,” you explain. “This is a brewery, so I imagine we can find some cups easily enough. Hells, empty bottles will probably do in a pinch. If you toss one cup to him, then I can talk to him more directly.” Carter looks at you, sighs deeply, and…