Lament of the Bard (9-6-2011) [open for all]

Keoki listened along to the tune but went to keep looking around the theater until Hazel started speaking. She couldn't hide a quick grin. The first sentence was normal enough, but the second was too... well-worded. Her grin faded fast, and she returned to looking around. As for hiding the truth, that's exactly what she'd been doing for a few years now, but she didn't question Hazel at all. That would push her luck. So instead, she replied, "That goes for far more than the supernatural."
Tales of grandeur, and outright lies, there was plenty that people said on a daily basis just to keep things 'out of the spotlight'. She didn't want to bother with that too much, and with another glance around, she started to get a little bored with the theater. It was certainly empty of people, but it was also extremely empty of props and objects, aside from tightly packed seats that angled up, two things that meant trying any tricks with them would just be more difficult than it was worth. Looking back to Hazel, she asked, "You been around much of the rest of the campus yet?"

"Very true," Hazel agreed when Keoki said that keeping the truth out of the spotlight wasn't just something for the supernatural. The tune ended and she looked at Keoki as she explored the theater, wondering if she was actually looking for something or just looking around. She was just about to ask about it when Keoki asked if she had been around the rest of the campus.
"Not really," she answered, "haven't had the time for it. Why? Do you feel like exploring?"

She hopped off of the stage as Hazel answered, "Yeah, I haven't really looked around yet either. But considering I have a few long break, I wanna get a better look around. See if there's a nice practice spot," she said, getting a little quiet at the end because that was more to herself than Hazel. The theater didn't look like it'd prove much use, after all. "Want to tag along?" she asked, waving a hand towards the exit, but not walking any farther until she knew if Hazel was coming along or not.

Putting the lid back over the piano keys Hazel nodded at Keoki's question. It wasn't like sticking around in the theater alone was going to do her any good, in fact it could very well get her down again. She missed her father a great deal though she barely showed it, she could use some distraction.
"Sure I'll tag along, I've got some time to kill before classes as well," she said jumping off the stage and leaving the theater with Keoki, "any specifyk place you wish to explore?"

She thought for a minute about what spots might be nice to visit. There had to be a gym, but that would probably just bore Hazel. It was mostly just classrooms on the inside, surrounded by some sidewalk and streets with a game court, but she didn't recall any small grassy spots. "I don't know. I haven't heard about much for recreation here," she admitted. There had to be a library. Maybe some kind of food court of lounge. "You been anywhere interesting yet? Other than sneaking into the theater," she asked, the last part being a joke, and she was no better anyway.

Looking at their surroundings while waiting for Keoki's answer Hazel couldn't help but be surprised by how much but at the same time how little Penorse had changed since her last visit. Sure there where new houses, old ones had been taken down, the same had happened to a lot of the shops and there was the new university. But despite alll that it was still a, somewhat weird, small town in the middle of a dangerous forest.
She looked back at Keoki when she asked her question, her thought instantily returned to the forest, but should she say that? Well Keoki had seen a part and heard the rest of the attack during the party that had taken place on the meinior mansion grounds.
"The most interesting place within this village, more or less, that I been is the forest," she said with a serious expression looking at Keoki, her eyes possibly giving away a hint that she wasn't as young as she seemed to be, "but you should never enter it or be in it after sunset. Don't get me wrong it is still a dangerous place, that should be avoided, while the sun is up, but as soon as the sun sets you should get out right away. It gets pitch black real fast and with that you get lost real fast. But other then that I haven't been anywhere really interesting within Penrose yet."

She immediately got interested on the subject of the forest, wondering if Hazel could tell her anything new about it, but she tried to hide that and just nodded, saying, "Yeah, seems like a lot of people have warning about the forest. I've also heard some pretty interesting tales about the place, like it's supposed to be haunted or something." She played it off like she hadn't seen a thing at the mansion grounds yet, which wasn't too hard since she'd already had similar experiences and always hid those as well. But she did ask, "Do you know any stories about it? I'd love to hear them. Might give me an idea for a film."

"It is haunted," Hazel stated rather calmly, "but that just something you need to take in mind if you venture into the forest. And do be foolish as to try and trick the creatures out of the forest cause they are with much more then you might think, some more dangerous then others."
Walking over to a nearby low wall that the sun was shining on she took a seat on it, gesturing for Keoki to join her. Once she would have done so Hazel's eyes turned towards the forest for a long moment before looking back to Keoki.
"I could fill a book with the tales that I know about the forest," she answered, "though most are about lost lovers, foolish travellers and stupid teenagers. But I also know the story that people here have either forgotten or are doing their very best to make sure it will be forgotten. The story of how the forest turned from normal to haunted."

Keoki was a little surprised to hear Hazel admit it was haunted so easily. Maybe she was just superstitious, or perhaps she'd seen something herself. "Really now? You seem to know it pretty well," she said, but she avoided questioning her on it. She already had plans to check the forest out, and more tales of its danger weren't going to make her rethink it. Following along with her, Keo pulled herself up onto the wall, pulling her cap off and leaving it on her lap for now.
"You're one of those kinda folks who loves collecting stories, huh?" she asked as Hazel listed a few kinds of tales and said she knew enough to fill a book. That also explained why she would believe in the forest like she did. But hearing her say she know the story behind the forest's change made her quite interested, and she probably sounded like it as she asked, "Can I hear that one? How it became haunted."

"I wouldn't be a very good bard if I didn't collect tales, songs, legends and myths from every place that I visit, now would I?" Hazel bit her tongue after saying that, it had just sort of spilled out without her really thinking it through and now she had to think of a way to explain why she was a bard in the 21e century. Or not. Deciding that the story of the forest might be enough to sidetrack Keoki's thought from her just stating that she was a bard she quickly started telling the tale.
"It started shortly after Penrose was founded," she said, "the forest was normal back then, but the towns elder thought differently about that. Why? Because of it's tragerous swamps, the speed of which it became dark under the trees and the ease you could get yourself lost. But the towns elder thought that that was all because there was an angry spirit in the heart of the forest and that they needed to please it. And how to better please an angry forestspirit then giving it anual sacrifices? Human sacrifices, that years fairest maiden of the town to be exact.
Back then it was considered a great honour to be choosen to protect the town and it's inhabitants for a year. The young girls would be accompanied by the towns elder and ceremonial priests into the forest to be abandoned there. Thinking that the spirit would take her as company and not take the lives of others visiting the forest. But there was no angry forest spirit and all those young girls either starved, drowned or got killed by the forest predators.
And that how it all started. There had never been an angry forestspirit until the sacrifices. Most of the souls of the sacrifised maidens linger in the forest, angry at the men that left them to there to die, for nothing. That anger was turned onto the villagers, the souls tried to entrap every visitor as a revenge and to become stronger. And through out the centuries it has become what it is now. There are now so many souls trapped within the forest that it has been capable of creating creatures to help entrap everyone that ventures into it."
Hazel became silent then, looking at Keoki curious to her reaction to her storytelling skills and what she how she though about the forest now that she knew it's history.

Keo did catch that 'bard' part, raising an eyebrow but before she asked about it, Hazel began the story. She listened intently, making sure to remember this for later. Lugh and Anna would probably love to hear this, and it actually did make sense. Death was a powerful thing, especially if it was mixed with anger, spirits and sadistic tradition. So it was sacrifices that tainted the forest... She remained quiet for a moment, looking back to the forest and leaning back a bit. If there was a particular place where these ceremonies took place, that could likely have formed the heart of the phenomena surrounding the forest.
"I see," was all she said at first. Then she turned to Hazel with a grin, "Penrose is certainly an interesting place, isn't it? A living myth, by the sounds of it." She probably didn't seem very taken aback by the story, but she wasn't very good at pretending to be unnerved by something, or hiding it when she was excited. Though she didn't say anything about her plans for that forest.

Though Hazel was a little dissappointed that Keoki didn't seemed to be impressed with the story or her way of telling it she didn't show it. And she didn't linger on it, her father had always been a much better storyteller then her, but because of that thought her mood got dampened, a sad look on her face.
"A living history more like it," she answered, her expression not clearing up, "but the people here have done everything they can to turn that history into legend, that legend into myth and myth into forgotten knowledge," she then smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes, as she added, "but while I'm here I'm going to make sure that this town's bloody past won't be forgotten."

((Maybe I didn't word it right, but Keo did like the story. She's more interested in the forest, and will probably pass the story onto Lugh and Anna. She wasn't 'taken aback', which means she wasn't surprised or startled by the information. Instead, she was excited, because she's not good at hiding it when she's excited, grinning once she thought it over for a moment so she made sure she had the details straight.))

"Is that so? But how do you know it's not a myth?" she asked, wondering just how Hazel could be so confident in her tale, "There have been plenty of tales of murdered ghosts in haunted houses or towns, only for it to be found that there was no historical record of it to begin with, and no, legitimate, paranormal investigators find anything." She was a little picky when it came to investigators and mediums, since it was very easy for the enthusiastic and over-emotional to take things as evidence when they were easily disproved. Yeah, even as an inhuman, she had a skeptical side, but only because she was more interested in finding the truth than chasing myths. And besides that, the forest had already proven that something was wrong with it.

((Ah XD well Hazel is used to people having more of a taken back reaction to her of her father's story telling, yes she is terrible when it comes down to these sort of things XD ))

"My father has quite a collection of ancient books," Hazel answered with a shrug, "and some of the books are diaries of the priests that where helped with the sacrifices. And before you ask it really is from the time period it says it is. And I have my own personal experiences with the forest to know a bit about it."
The bookpart wasn't a full lie, her father really did have an impressive collection of books from through out the centuries and there where diaries of the priests. But it was more the fact that her father had been in Penrose during the time of the sacrifices and the forest going evil.

"Oh? Well that sounds interesting," she remarked, thinking over what other kind of books her father might have if he had such ancient things as priests' diaries. But Keo knew well enough that trying to get that kind of information right now wouldn't do any good. If they were that old, there'd be no reason for Hazel to trust some girl she just met to take a look at them.
"Must be pretty morbid of them to write down about the sacrifices, unless they avoided as much detail as they could," she instead pointed out. Rather than delving much more into the subject, she turned it back to the current times and asked, "Just out of curiosity, have you gone into the forest before?"

Hazel shrugged when Keoki said that it was pretty morbid to write about the sacrifices and shook her head at the lack of detail comment. "No, they are quite detailed," she answered, her tone of voice betraying that she wasn't bothered by it, "they wrote it down in more of an instructical manner, so that future generations could continue in the 'correct' way of preforming the sacrifices."
She shrugged once again at the question if she had been in the forest, despite the warning she had given Keoki she wasn't scared of the forest. "I have multipule times," she answered a small smile on her face, "though I tend to avoid it after twilight. As should you."