The scent trail leads out the door into the ante-chamber as you would expect, but stops and blends in the middle of the room as if a group has just congregated there for some time. There is no other door, nor any other trail, in the ante-chamber.
The two doors at the back, where Cath'rinne and Betula went to bathe previously, are still there, and so is the side door that Edwin uses when food is brought to the table.
Unwilling to change back, out of worry and because it is helping him to resist his hedonistic urges, Benedict gets Betula's attention with a cold nose on bare skin. Then he takes her hand gently in his mouth, and pulls her to the center of the ante-chamber, where he smelled the paths converging. When she is standing in the center of the spot, he sits, and stares at her, closing one eye, then the other.
Betula, clearly tipsy, is led by the bear's mouth and pets the bear's head with her other hand. "Soft and furry and gentle... gentle bear, bearnedict," she giggles and scratches Benedict between his ears. When they arrive in the entrance way she sniffs while standing as a bear on hind legs then goes down to all fours growling lightly and looking around, still sniffing where Benedict was sniffing.
Betula copies Benedicts posture and starts examining the room as he did, sniffing the floor clearly finding the same trails as he did. Not stopping with the congregation in the middle of the room, she continues to work her way in circles, scrutinising, it seems, every inch of the floor and the walls. It almost looks as if she wriggles her ears too.
Reaching the wall, where the door used to be, she turns to Benedict with a funny look, and then bursts straight through the wall.
The wall does not seem to mind. It looks and feels completely solid, and Betula did not even leave a scratch, but gone she is.
---
Hamish has travelled for weeks or even months after losing his masters in the war. He failed to find the covenant that was rumoured to be at Hadrian's Wall and had to continue onwards to Sherwood Forest where there is supposed to be a covenant called Castellum Veridian.
The sun is setting when he passes the famous white horse statue marking the approach. Continuing the hundred paces or less, he finds the manor house unscathed by the war. A black cat is watching him suspiciously as he walks around to find the entrance. There are doors, but they are all closed and do not budge, and nobody seems to hear his knocking.
Stopping to review his options in front of what could have been the main door, if it did not look as if it was painted on the solid wal, his thoughts are suddenly interrupted as a woman in funny dress burst into his lap from the still closed door.
Are you still playing the bear, @dc444 ? Or will she act more humanly when she bumps into the turb captain?
Surprised and having really gotten into her role Betula sniffs the stranger then pulls back on all fours so she is no longer in his lap. She wags her head in a seemingly friendly gesture and produces a small grunt before seeming to remember herself and sits back on the ground and laughs. Clearly not in her right mind, though whether from drink or something else he can not tell, she does have a very slight odor of wine. She says with a smile, "My... You're quite a tree of a man! Welcome! We were just playing a game. You look hungry, come join us." as she stands and offers you her hand.
Hamish grunts as he finds yet another door resists his not inconsiderable strength. The frustration of his long, arduous, and lonely journey weighs heavy on his mind. His hair is a wild red mop and his unkempt beard has grown full, studded with bits of moss from last night's impromptu pillow. The Wall was a bust but maybe White Horse survives. But how to get in the door? Hamish sighs and sits down facing the door. A moment of rest might reveal a solution.
"What the f…?" exclaims the seven footer as a not unattractive woman is suddenly on all fours in his lap, sniffing at him (not recommended even in the ripest of malodorous middle ages) before she pushes back and greets him as she stands up.
Not unfamiliar with the doings of things arcane or the people who truck with such, Hamish stands up to his full height. He looks down at the lady's offered hand, knowing just enough of etiquette to recognize a gesture rarely used among the poor.
The giant of a man leans down to brush his lips deferentially against the back of the lady's hand.
"Milady. Uhm… Games?" Hamish's brow furrows as he continues to take in the woman's attire, scent, and smile and still unopened door.
"What the sardin' devils of Hell's midden pit is goin' on here?"
(ps. In English... unless Betula spoke Latin. Then he would respond in Latin.)
A minute after Betula's exit, Ruedi appear in the ante-chamber, wearing a colourful jester's suit with a three-tongued hat with jingly bells. «Are you alright, Betula?» he asks before he realises she not there. «Where is Betula?» he asks looking sternly at the bear.
[Yes, in English or whatever, Eastern Midlands dialect, from around here]
"Mi'lady?" she giggles then switches to a overblown Imperious voice, "I am the Tree Witch, Betula of Criamon," and cannot keep a straight face on the last word which devolves into more giggling. "Come!" And grabs your hand attempting to pull you through the closed door which she just walks into.
The bear has been staring at the wall where Betula disappeared, trying to keep track of the precise spot. As he is questioned for the first time, without moving his gaze, a paw slaps down onto the center of the room, next to where he sits, then motions forward, to the spot on the wall he is staring at.
“Lord Janus, where is the door to the outside? How can we sing your praises far and wide if we can’t leave your tower? Let us come and go as we wish and I will compose your story and tell it across every land I travel. Come tell me your tale and I will create your story epic” says Finn
Husssh. There is a time for everything. Now is time for the inside. Splendid ploy, breaking that fellow out of gaol. I bet that bastard Wulfric is pissed. He will come after you too, my dear.
He looks at Cath'rinne, speaking Latin.
What happened next?
Outside, Hamish is grabbed by the arm, as Betula tries to slam him into the solid wall. Admittedly, she uses no force, but the conviction is there. Depending on Hamish's respect for the maga's intent, he either breaks lose or slams into the solid wall, as she slips through the door without even bothering to open it.
Hamish finds himself pulled forward by the Criamon Tree Witch, vague recollections surfacing in his memory of his magus mentor warning him to steer clear of any Criamon he should encounter. "The lot of them are as daft as drunk donkeys."
When he slams into the solid wall, Hamish cracks his nose good but not broken. He steps back from the wall, wiping blood from a nostril onto the back of his hand.
"What in the…"
Wary of another lap-lander event, Hamish takes a few steps back to assess the wall and manor house.
"Well, finally found at least one of 'em, but damn…"
Apologies, I forgot Ruedi
In the ante-room, Ruedi leans towards the wall with both palms, looking for the door where the bear indicated. He looks puzzled, and even more puzzled when Betula bursts back through the wall and into his arms ...
Thomas is getting frustrated and stares at the walls "How do people keep bursting through walls while doors seem to move around? Madness!"
Betula coming through the wall is stopped by the length of her arm and nearly runs into the bear and Ruedi. A smiie on her face she excitedly exclaims, "There is a tree man... wait, no, he is a man but nearly as large as a tree. You must see him, Ruedi," she turns to go through the wall once more before thinking better of it, turns around and enters the dining hall. "Edwin, Janus, there is a visitor at the door but he can not come in. I am unsure why no one else seems able to pass these flimsy walls but perhaps... it is the way of it, his hand stopped as I tried to lead him through. Would one of you be so kind as to go open the door for him. He is terribly large and will likely need to duck just to get in the front door."
"After an interlude in the woods, the heroes arrived at a faerie mansion, where they decided to stop for the night to socialize and have a good time. They found themselves stuck in, and I had to remind my host it's unwise not to confuse being a good host and being a jailor." She smiled back at Edwin. "And a good host doesn't leave a guest at the door."
Ruedi starts to return the hug as Betula crashes into him, but quickly blushes and withdraws, looking confused.
«Ha, funny, Cath'rinne, was that really all?» Janus is good-humoured, but suddenly switches topic. «Euh, is there another one at the door?» He turns and shouts, «Edwin!», before he turns back to Cath'rinne. «Don't worry. Edwin takes care of that. Have you really just been wandering the woods since the gaolbreak?»
Edwin rushes out to the ante-room. «Don't try to open the door,» he says, turning to Thomas, «there is no door!» Then he rushes over to Betula, «is someone waiting?» he asks, reaching for the door that isn't there, and just as he pushes it open you can all see that it is a door. «Good evening, Treeman! Are you with Betula's group too?»
Hamish seems to have stemmed the trickle of blood from his nose when the wall that was not a wall becomes a door that is not a door… or is it?
Not unfamiliar with mysterious goings on, Hamish has prided himself on his ability to accept and handle the quirks, mystery, and strangeness of the Hermetics and the folks and creatures they run with, but this situation is taxing even his ability to adapt.
The giant of a man looks past Edwin toward Betula and then shrugs his broad shoulders.
"I am now, it seems."
Edwin steps aside and waves his arm showing you in.
Welcome then. Sorry to have you waiting; we had such a good time that we did not hear you at the door. Now, please come inside. There is food on the table; I'll get you a glass. Do you want the sweet or the dry wine?
Those who pay attention notice that the table has suddenly been set for one more person while you turned your back. Nobody saw who brought the new plate though. Hamish can find his seet between the two jesters and the wolf face and the bear face.
"Thank you." she smiles. "We've been spending some time with the group of druids who were grateful I organized the jailbreak for one of their own, yes. So we were in the woods, for the most part. We've just recently resumed our trip. We're traveling to see what's left of the Order in this Tribunal, so to speak. I don't suppose you have any news of the other covenants to share?"