Having made the way over to another of the hills of Almas, Hester and Caleb manage to find the Goose's Wing Inn. It's a nice place, as such things go, not spectacular but clean and tidy. When Hester asks after her grandmother, the proprietor directs her to one of the rooms upstairs, not seeming to find anything odd about the question.

When the two go up to room number eleven, they find the door locked. After knocking, however, it clicks open, and Carien looks at them from within.

She looks the same as Hester remembers. Not similar, but identical, as though the years since they last spoke haven't touched her. Her face is wearing the same smile, her eyes are the same colors, even her clothing - simple, practical wear - is very similar. She looks at Hester and recognition finds its way onto her features almost immediately.

"Oh, oh my, child. Is that you? Of course it is. Well, do come in, please, and who's your friend? Can I get you some tea, perhaps?" Her voice is easy, but with just a hint of veiled wariness as she steps out of the doorway to allow entry. The room beyond is a simple inn room, fireplace and bed and chair and table. There's no sign of personality on the space; it feels simply, perfectly, unlived-in.

Caleb stood off to the side, allowing Hester to take the lead. He had kept his arms, though his armor was hidden beneath normal clothing and his crossbow had no bolt readied to fire. He waited for Hester to enter first before following, bowing his head respectfully to the elderly woman. "My name is Caleb ma'am, nice to meet you. Tea would be nice, thank you."

He noted the sterility of the room as he looked around, and broke the silence with a question. "Have you been here for very long?"

Hester smiles and hugs her grandmother, her unnaturally long arms moving easily around her.  "You haven't changed grandmother, not in five years.  Not in ten.  You recognised me though even though I had red hair and green eyes when I left Falcon's Hollow.  I'm so proud of you Nana."

She turned to Caleb.  "Oh sorry, I almost forgot.  Nana, this is Caleb.  Caleb, this is Carien, my grandmother."

She hoped this meant that she was not going to change either but she wouldn't lay any money on it.

"What, am I not to recognize my own granddaughter?" Carien sounds almost affronted by the idea. "You've not changed that much, dear. Caleb, thank you, a respectful young man is such a rare gift. Please, make yourselves at home."

The old woman bustles around the room for a few minutes, locking the door and making tea. Once the tea has brewed, she sets three cups out, making no first move towards any of them. She looks at Caleb and arches a brow. "I've been here a time, I forget how long - a few weeks, I think. The days blur together at my age, I find."

At the invitation to make himself at home, Caleb moved to take a seat. "I may not be a saint, but I at least remember what my parents taught me about manners," he said, pulling one of the cups to him and taking a sip of the tea.

"I wouldn't have guessed it from how neat this place is. Still, that's neither here nor there. Hester, you want me to step away so you can talk with your grandmother in private now we've found her?" He asked, already on the edge of his seat, ready to make a quick exit if it was asked of him.

Hester sat once Caleb had sat and she took her grandmother's hand.  "How long since you were in Falcon's Hollow, Gran?  I've just been there and it's a bit umm, well it's in sme disarray."

To Caleb she said, "No, stay, you might think of questions I forget."

"Oh, I left some time ago," Carien says. "First time I heard someone say they were seeing things in their dreams. I remember the old wives' tales, you know. And not all of them are as much a superstition as people nowadays like to think." She nods calmly. "I don't want any part of such things, no indeed. Better to be elsewhere. You're fortunate you arrived when you did; my ship to Absalom departs in two days, you know."

Caleb froze briefly at the mention of dreams, his grip tightening on the glass he held as he forced himself to take a second, longer drink of the tea before answering. "Trust me ma'am, I think we know very well that it's not just superstition out there.That's actually part of why we're here, we were hoping you might be able to shed some light on this whole thing."

"I don't remember the old wives tales." said Hester, "Can you remind me of the wording please?  Why did they sacrifice a young girl and how do we bring the Whisperer to her rest?"

Then she stopped and asked, "Absolom?  What's in Absolom?"  Alarm spread across her face before she added.  "I went back to Falcon's Hollow because I hoped to see you and now there is so much to see.  I have begun changing like you but now my arms are growing.  I hoped you would be able to give me clues about what to expect."

"I can see that you're changing, dear. I still have eyes." Carien laughs softly to herself - not a particularly mean laugh, just amused. "I don't know what happened to bring Whisper back around. Don't know a'tall. Just know enough to know I want no part of it."

She sips her tea and sighs. "My gran told me, back in the day, that her gran told her that if she ever saw a red-haired woman in her dreams that didn't belong there, she should run far away from Darkmoon Vale and never come back. Whisper's bad news, girl, and old as dirt. I don't know quite what she is, nor how she's still around. Story my gran told me was that they'd tried to kill her back in olden times and it didn't take. She ain't dead, but she ain't alive either, and she wants to be, more than anything. Gran told me you could find her on the doorway, in the space-between. Make of that what you will. I'll be making for Absalom; I'm too old for fighting things like her."

Hester nodded.  "She told me the same thing, that she wants more than anything to be alive... oh my... do you think she was murdered the same way as Annabelle Ravan in sacrifice to something unspeakable?"

Then she is quiet for a long moment before asking.  "Could she be an ancestor of ours?"

"I don't know who tried to end her. This was ages ago, nobody remembers I expect aside from her and them." Carien smiles a little, sips more tea. "As for the other...our family been in Darkmoon Vale a long, long time, dear. All the way back, longer than anyone knows now. They were there when she was alive, aye, and maybe she was one of them. You'd have to ask her to be sure, I suppose."

She looks at Caleb, her eyes amused. "You're being awful quiet, boy. I suppose you've been seeing her too? You've the look of it. You can tell, with a little practice. Not always, nor ever for sure, but there's something about your eyes, once you've had her visit."

Caleb had remained quiet with his tea as Hester spoke with her grandmother about things that mostly went over his head, content to let the two of them have their reunion with minimal input on his part. When Carien addressed him directly however, his grip visibly tightened on the cup as his features hardened.

"Yes ma'am, twice now. First time she watched me beaten and dragged into the dark. Second time, she tried to play all friendly and I told her to get out. She didn't, so I shot her. Didn't phase her, but it felt good."

Hester kissed Carien on the cheek and said, "I wish you safe passage, Grandmother.  perhaps I'll come join you when we're done with the Whisper. Do you think she could be laid to rest if we could find her body?"

"I'm not sure she even has a body, anymore," Carien says, accepting the kiss. "Watch yourself, girl. Ain't nobody you can trust, if Whisper's in them. Nobody a'tall." She finishes her tea, and gives Hester a tight hug.

"Let's go Caleb", said Hester and turned to walk out of the room.  She would cry later but for now, best find the others wherever they may be.  But even before that, she needed to get away.

Seeing that the reunion had come to an end, Caleb quickly downed the rest of his tea and returned the glass to the table. He pushed his chair back into place as he rose, and spoke before making for the door after Hester. "Thank you for the tea ma'am, safe travels."

Once they had left the inn, Caleb caught up with Hester, allowing the silence to hang in the air for a few moments before finally breaking it. "Your grandmother's a nice lady. Where did you want to go now?"

Hester blew her nose and said, "She is.  Let's find the others.  If Whisper has no body then laying her to rest won't work  if she does, then it will, but we have to find out who she was.  Don't trust anyone with the Whisper inside them, even your grandmother."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:33, Tue 13 Oct 2020.

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck as he walked, unsure of what to say. "I'm sure she's just looking out for you. Judging by what we've seen, Whisper seems like exactly the kind of vindictive viper to hurt you by any means she can, including puppeting your family. It's why I set up mine to get the hell out of the Vale as soon as possible. Anyway, back on task. What do you say we go and see what Bristle and that Sebastian stiff have dug up at the library?"

Hester nodded. "Yeah, lets.  If my grandmother's right and I've interpreted what she said properly, I think I want a sharp word or six with Whisper when they find her."

At the library, a quick check confirms that the Bristle and Sebastian left to go talk to a librarian who is on leave. You are able to get the name and address: Roselyn Pilov, on Lady's Grace Lane.

Please continue in the Tracking a Murmured Voice thread.