Dragging your feet is either you waiting for something that's being slow, or... as part of your last assassination you (perhaps accidentally) cut the victim's feet off and now have to dispose of them separately, but they're too heavy to carry properly? Ah, this was deliberate, right, so that the victim's ghost can't walk, and has to stay fixed in one spot :)
Dragging your feet After what Samual thought of as debriefing Lord Derby was handed a cup of something hot and fruity and told to drink it all. "When you've done that," said Keith, smiling thinly, "we'll escort you to the Rose Library and you can research Carcosa. Although," he chuckled a little as though the joke wasn't really funny, "you might just be more of an expert of it now than any of the authors of the documents in there." "Elderberry," said Lord Derby after Keith had left and he'd sipped the drink. "With an odd, earthy undertone -- ah, olive. Hmm." "The Lords Martial are quite partial to Elderberry wine, milord," said Samual. "If this were wine it would be truly vile," said Ernest. "As it is, it's only passing vile and I think I might be able to stomach it." He sighed. "Something magical practitioners and doctors have in common is a firmly held belief that the more disgusting something tastes the better for you it must be."
The Rose Library was a small, windowless chamber with three walls occupied entirely by shelves. The shelves were carved with climbing roses, their flowers sometimes spilling over the shelf edge up to half the height of the shelf itself. The fourth wall held two doors, which fascinated Samual for several minutes since the outside of the library had only a single door. The left-wall held books, and the other two walls were mostly filled with documents: rolled up into neat cylinders tied with blue or green ribbons; stacked in yellowing, dusty piles, packed into narrow wooden boxes that had once held cigars by the smell, and stapled into booklets and stood, packed tightly together, on end. The floor was tiled and the room was chilly; not enough to raise goosebumps but enough to make Samual fasten the buttons of his jacket. "Carcosa," said Annette, who'd escorted them, "is mostly on these two shelves here." She indicated the right-hand side of the room where the documents were least well stacked: piles and cylinders made up the whole of the shelves. As she turned to leave she paused. "Actually," she said, "there's one book as well." She browsed along the left-hand wall, muttering imprecations under her breath. "Really," she said, "is it that hard to put things back where they belong?" Another minute passed, while Lord Derby started to inspect the documents, and then, "Aha! Here you are!" "Might I take these out of the library?" asked Lord Derby. "I would prefer to sit and study these." "Sort of," said Annette. She handed Samual the book, and twisted the door-handle of the second door. It seemed to resist her for a moment, then opened, revealing an equally small chamber with four comfortable chairs, several side-tables and a little silver bell. "Use the reading room; ring the bell when you're done." "Perfect," said Lord Derby with a smile. "Well, this is no time to be dragging my feet, I shall get on. Samual, are you needed elsewhere or will you be assisting me?" Samual considered his to-do list for the day. "Assisting you, milord," he said.
2 comments:
Dragging your feet is either you waiting for something that's being slow, or... as part of your last assassination you (perhaps accidentally) cut the victim's feet off and now have to dispose of them separately, but they're too heavy to carry properly? Ah, this was deliberate, right, so that the victim's ghost can't walk, and has to stay fixed in one spot :)
Dragging your feet
After what Samual thought of as debriefing Lord Derby was handed a cup of something hot and fruity and told to drink it all. "When you've done that," said Keith, smiling thinly, "we'll escort you to the Rose Library and you can research Carcosa. Although," he chuckled a little as though the joke wasn't really funny, "you might just be more of an expert of it now than any of the authors of the documents in there."
"Elderberry," said Lord Derby after Keith had left and he'd sipped the drink. "With an odd, earthy undertone -- ah, olive. Hmm."
"The Lords Martial are quite partial to Elderberry wine, milord," said Samual.
"If this were wine it would be truly vile," said Ernest. "As it is, it's only passing vile and I think I might be able to stomach it." He sighed. "Something magical practitioners and doctors have in common is a firmly held belief that the more disgusting something tastes the better for you it must be."
The Rose Library was a small, windowless chamber with three walls occupied entirely by shelves. The shelves were carved with climbing roses, their flowers sometimes spilling over the shelf edge up to half the height of the shelf itself. The fourth wall held two doors, which fascinated Samual for several minutes since the outside of the library had only a single door.
The left-wall held books, and the other two walls were mostly filled with documents: rolled up into neat cylinders tied with blue or green ribbons; stacked in yellowing, dusty piles, packed into narrow wooden boxes that had once held cigars by the smell, and stapled into booklets and stood, packed tightly together, on end. The floor was tiled and the room was chilly; not enough to raise goosebumps but enough to make Samual fasten the buttons of his jacket.
"Carcosa," said Annette, who'd escorted them, "is mostly on these two shelves here." She indicated the right-hand side of the room where the documents were least well stacked: piles and cylinders made up the whole of the shelves. As she turned to leave she paused. "Actually," she said, "there's one book as well." She browsed along the left-hand wall, muttering imprecations under her breath. "Really," she said, "is it that hard to put things back where they belong?" Another minute passed, while Lord Derby started to inspect the documents, and then, "Aha! Here you are!"
"Might I take these out of the library?" asked Lord Derby. "I would prefer to sit and study these."
"Sort of," said Annette. She handed Samual the book, and twisted the door-handle of the second door. It seemed to resist her for a moment, then opened, revealing an equally small chamber with four comfortable chairs, several side-tables and a little silver bell. "Use the reading room; ring the bell when you're done."
"Perfect," said Lord Derby with a smile. "Well, this is no time to be dragging my feet, I shall get on. Samual, are you needed elsewhere or will you be assisting me?"
Samual considered his to-do list for the day. "Assisting you, milord," he said.
Greg - your theories of what the prompts are inspired by are as enjoyable as your actual takes on said prompts :)
I like the setup of this library, the reading room in particular. And obviously I continue to enjoy this tale as it develops.
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