Castle Planner’s Journal: The Wailing Room

     A late summer storm was dumping a lot of rain on the windows of the Great Hall. Despite the fierce weather outside, those pets who were inside were having a joyful time. The sun had set on the day, and everyone was enjoying a meal together. Gaius, an orange Bori who worked in the castle as the Castle Planner, had just arrived from repairing a door frame that had been broken by a particularly rowdy sparring session between squires.

      He grabbed a simple ceramic plate from the stack and went over to the buffet that the cooks had prepared for everyone. Gaius grabbed his fair share and looked across the hall to see where everyone else was sitting. He walked along the long tables towards his friend Maple, the Head Pastry Chef, sitting in her usual spot. The purple Ogrin waved him over as she spotted him looking around. Gaius nodded in acknowledgement and started making his way over.

      Along the way, Gaius’s eye caught a familiar blue. He spotted Jeran enjoying a few rounds of freshly brewed root beers with his fellow knights. He also noticed Lisha by his side, who in turn noticed the orange Bori passing by. She gave a small wave.

      “Good evening Lisha. I haven't seen you around the library in a while. Hope all is well.” Gaius called to her. The roar of laughter in the Great Hall made it a little hard to hear.

      “That’s because you’ve not been at your desk in over a week! You’ve been out trying to fix the walls from the cheese incident. I take it the walls are almost finished being repaired?” Lisha asked.

      “Oh yeah. The scaffolding comes down tomorrow. It would have been sooner, but the shipment of stone was the wrong shade the first time. Skarl would have had a fit.” He joked.

      The conversation between the two was enough to catch the attention of Sir Borodere. “Ah, did I hear you say the scaffolds are due to come down? I can't wait, people will start feeling safer with the walls back to normal. Thanks for all the hard work.” Jeran raised his glass, and the other knights instinctively also cheered.

      “Aww thanks. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about your story of the secret passage. I’ve just been too busy to help find that.” Gaius lamented.

     “Same! See you around!” Jeran and Lisha both bid him farewell as he continued on his journey to eat with Maple.

     As Gaius placed his food on the table and got settled into place on the bench, Maple leaned in. “What was that about?” She wanted to gossip about what had just happened.

     “Oh, just saying ‘hi’ to them.” Gaius explained, embarrassed.

     “Just hi? Gaius, you just had the Champion talking to you like a friend.” Maple pried further.

     “Ah, that’s probably because I work around his sister a lot. We... know each other I guess?” Gaius wanted to downplay it.

     “Gaius, I know how much of a fan of the champion you are. I cannot believe you are not freaking out right now.” Maple teased.

     “Oh I am. I'm just trying to keep it cool.” Gaius stuffed a drumstick in his mouth to keep himself from spilling any more secrets. He knew it was hard for him to keep secrets around Maple, who had a way of collecting them from him.

     As they ate, the storm outside picked up, and large drops began pelting the windows of the hall. The lights of the sconces flickered off the drops as they ran down the uneven panes of glass, making tapping noises as the wind blew rain straight against the windows.

     For a while, everyone in the hall seemed to be enraptured with the story that Sir Salford was retelling.

     “T’was a night much like this one.” The old knight squinted his eyes and looked menacingly around the room. “I was much younger back in those days, but even to this day, I have never seen anything like it. I had just pitched my tent for the night, but then a big [b]snap[/b] of a twig woke me up!”

     The storytelling Chia was interrupted by the sound of a great big [b]crack[/b] and thud outside. A tree limb had fallen from the storm’s wind. Gaius winced at the sound of the tree hitting the castle walls. He’d have to pop out for a quick inspection. As he excused himself, the rest of the pets in the hall were enraptured by the older knight’s ghost story.

     “I grabbed my sword and shield, but the beast was unfazed by either!” Gaius could hear the story continue as he stepped out into the foyer, and donned an oiled-canvas coat to stave off the pelting rain. He stepped out into the storm and was greeted with a frenzied rush of wind and wet. He fought his way around to the closest tree.

     Inspecting the old branches of the mighty old growth tree, he could not account for any missing, so he fought onwards to the next tree around the corner, near the end of the Great Hall. He didn't even need to get all the way to the tree to see that a large limb had been twisted off, and the freshly splintered wood was exposed. Between flashes of lightning, Gaius looked around for the branch. It took him a minute to confirm that the branch was nowhere near the tree.

     “It must have been blown away, into the building.” Gaius wondered. To answer his curiosity, he got closer to the castle, to look for any damage done by the wayward branch, but as he tried his best to see in the dark and rain, he couldn’t find any sign of the branch or any damage. He was just glad that it didn't hit the window mullions. He shrugged and knew that he wouldn’t get much more out of being in the cold, dark, and wet, so he ventured back to the door to the castle. As he was hanging the heavy coat back up, he could hear Sir Salford still telling his story.

     “To this day, its ghost haunts me. Every so often it will come back to seek revenge against me, but I’m always ready.” the Chia boasted. But as he held a brave pose for all to see, the fireplace suddenly made a dreadful sharp noise, and billowed out a cloud of hot embers. As everyone in the hall suddenly snapped from mirth to fear, the sounds in the hall came to complete silence. Even Gaius looked around from the entryway to the room, frozen.

     Before anyone could speak up to break the tension, the air in the Great Hall began to fill with haunting wails. The spooky sounds of a pet moaning in pain were punctuated by a sudden flash and crack of lightning that was right near the building.

     “It’s coming to get us all!” A voice from the crowd cried out in panic. Suddenly the whole hall was awash in chaos as everyone tried clamouring to get out. Gaius had to dive out of the way to avoid the glut of people evacuating the room. Even Maple didn't notice him as she rushed to leave.

     Eventually the hall was cleared out, and Gaius was able to get back in. “What’s going on?” Gaius asked a couple of remaining knights. Jeran and Rohane had stuck around. Jeran has sprung up out of duty, but Rohane seemed completely unphased by the idea of ghosts, he had faced plenty before. Neither had come to dinner prepared for battle, so Jeran brandished a dinner knife as his next best option.

     “What was going on in that story? What was that noise?” Gaius didn’t have the same context as everyone else.

     “They suspect that Sir Salford’s old foe is back again for revenge.” Rohane said, looking around the room to see if any more supernatural disturbances were happening.

     “Everyone’s spooked. I should go calm everyone down. Rohane, you okay on your own?” Jeran asked the white Blumaroo.

     “You don't even need to ask.” he responded without breaking his gaze at the windows being pelted with rain.

     Jeran gave Gaius a nod goodbye and went to calm down the crowd out in the hallway. Gaius joined Rohane in looking around.

     “What are we looking for?” Gaius asked.

     “No clue. But better to be prepared than ghost meat.” Rohane explained.

     Gaius was about to consider the implication of ghost meat but was interrupted by the ghostly wails returning. Their deep bass-y tone seemed to almost shake the now-empty hall, as it reverberated around the stone room. Rohane and Gaius turned to the fireplace where the sound seemed to be loudest. Gaius stood behind the braver Rohane, as they got closer to investigate.

     “Is something coming down the chimney?” Gaius asked.

     “It better not. There’s a fire waiting for them at the bottom.” Rohane assured the Bori.

     “But if it’s a ghost... “ Gaius wondered if ghosts could even be harmed by fire.

     “Still, it doesn't sound like it’s getting any closer.“ Rohane said, and right on cue, the sound of moans started to fade. Now the only sound they could hear was the gentle rumble of thunder, and heavy rain.

     “It’s gone. Whatever it is. Let’s get this place cleaned up, and we can seal it off for the night. Just in case.” Rohane recommended as they both backed off, to return to see how Jeran was progressing.

     After everyone was escorted and coaxed back inside to gather their plates of food, the fire was doused, and the doors were locked. Jeran decided to post an extra pair of guards at the entrance just to help people feel safe. He had given Sir Salford orders to keep his ghost stories under wraps for a while. He didn't need rumours flying about that the Great Hall was haunted. Not until there was proof at least.

     Gaius and the rest went to their various beds to try and fall asleep after all the excitement. Gaius made his way over to the Directors Wing where his small room was. This cluster of rooms, with a very functional shared office, had the private quarters of the pets who helped manage the day-to-day happenings of the castle. Gaius used a small key on his door and went in to try and fall asleep. The sound of rain and thunder hitting his ceiling lulled him to sleep.

     The next morning was in stark contrast to the night before. The sky was free of clouds, so the morning sun was able to come in the thin window, and wake Gaius up bright and early. He barely finished dressing before he raced out the door to find out if any news about the Great Hall had broken during the night.

     He saw that the doors had been opened slightly, and a few knights were standing about. Jeran was among them and saw Gaius approach. “Wondering about the ghost?” the Lupe asked.

     “Yeah. Any more activity?” Gaius slipped past the guards and through the doorway to look around but he didn't see anything out of place.

     “Nothing much. The guards said they didn't see or hear anything on their shift, and since this morning, nothing at all either.” Jeran assured him. “Just have to wait and see if this takes hold in the castle’s collective superstition.” Jeran sighed. “Unless we can prove what caused it! Then perhaps people won't be as afraid of the unknown.”

     Gaius started to think about ways to explain the events. “Let’s see. What was the first thing that happened?”

     “There was that cracking noise?” Jeran thought.

     “Ah! Right, I went outside to investigate. There was a big branch that snapped in the storm! That’s one part...” Gaius concluded.

     “Then, the embers exploded from the fireplace.” Jeran remembered, as they both turned and made their way to the now cool fireplace.

      “Let’s see.” Gaius knelt and started poking the fire with the iron tending tools. He pushed the logs around and cleared the ashes until he found something peculiar: A red piece of broken terracotta. He carefully reached his hands in the ash to pull out the strange piece. “Oh!” He exclaimed.

      “What is that? Someone threw a plate in the fire?” Jeran asked as Gaius blew the dust off.

      “No, I think this… Is a piece of the chimney cap.” Gaius started rooting around with his bare claws through the pile of ash. Sure enough, he found another piece, and then another. All told, he was holding onto a sizable chunk of the chimney top. “Yep! See this?” Gaius pointed to a small maker's mark on one of the pieces. “This means that a chunk of our chimney fell into the fire last night and shattered. That would definitely have kicked up the embers!” Gaius gave Jeran a big smile. “I’m beginning to think that we might not have a ghost after all!.” Gaius paused for a moment to stick his head into the fireplace and look up the chimney. “ Let’s head up to the roof.”

      It took a bit more setup than they both wanted, but eventually, Gaius had a ladder secured to the side of the Great Hall, and started making his way up. Being extra careful to not slip on the steep roof, he reached the top of the gabled roof, and gave Sir Borodere a sign that he was steady, and on his way to the chimney. Borodere decided to stay firmly on the ground, no need for him to be on the roof as well.

      Creeping his way closer to the chimney, Gaius didn't need to get very far to see what was wrong. Caught up on the chimney was the missing tree limb!

      “Looks like that mighty wind blew that broken branch up here! I was wondering where it had gone off to.” Gaius called down his findings to the small gathering of people watching him.

      Gaius got a bit closer, and pulled the branch loose. It immediately started to slide down the shingles and onto the ground with a leafy [b]PALUMPH[/b]. The onlookers were quick to move out of the way. Sure enough, with the chimney now uncovered, Gaius found broken ceramic. Gaius very carefully examined the damage. A large piece had broken, but not quite fallen in. He very carefully tried to lift it up, but his thick claws were not good at getting a grip, and it slipped through his fingers and fell all the way into the chimney with a gentle whistling noise on the way down, before shattering in the firewood. Gaius winced as he heard the breaking noise.

      “Oops. Well, at least it was already broken.” He said to himself. Turning to his tool belt, pulling out a measuring stick and some paper, he started recording what size the clay replacement would need to be.

      “You figure it out?” Jeran asked the Bori as he climbed cautiously down the ladder.

      “Not really sure. But my best guess is that the moaning was just the wind.” Gaius explained as he finally reached the firm Earth.

      “Good enough for me.” Jeran crossed his arms, “I will take anything plausible to explain this ghost away. I’ll let the others know. Thanks again Gaius!” Jeran gave Gaius a hearty pat on the back, which would have knocked him over if he hadn't braced for it.

      “Thanks for the help. I will see you around the castle then, hopefully sooner than later!” Jeran said as he began to walk away.

      “Oh! Right, we still need to meet up and find that secret passage together!” Gaius made sure that that promise didn't get forgotten.

      Jeran paused for a moment. “Oh right! If I can get away from training the squires early one day, I will look for you! You are usually in the library, right?” He asked.

      “You got it!” Gaius confirmed as Jeran had to shuffle off to his next responsibility. Gaius was beaming. He really was finally becoming friends with his hero.

      That evening, Gaius returned to his desk in the library, making sure to let Lisha know about the day's discovery and excitement.

      “Of course it wasn't ghosts!” She said as if she had already known, but Gaius decided not to mention that she had run away like everyone else.

      Over the week, he wrote in his journal. “The ghost has not returned, but I don’t know for sure if it was the wind. The broken piece laying on the chimney opening reminded me of a bard’s flute, but without the wind blowing that day, I could not test it. Since the piece was broken by a fall, I cannot test that either. Maybe another time, but for now I think I will talk to our gardeners to make sure that no more stray branches are blown off. We wouldn't want one coming through our stained-glass windows! But I will take that over a real ghost trying to haunt the castle any day.”