At the Isaki Manor

[Kairyuu]

With a loud crack, the ice covering the doors shatters into a million pieces that refracted the little light into a beautiful shower of rainbow flakes around the man holding the staff that created the noise upon contact with the door. Golden eyes watch the display with melancholy filling them, the bronzed face of the man a perfect mask of nothing. Soon those eyes follow as he reaches out and manipulates the latch in a certain way, leading to the massive doors to begin to open up. It was good to see that the blizzard hadn’t destroyed the door mechanism or they would be tunneling into the mansion and that would not be good.

Hoshikata stood with his small party at the front door of the Isaki Manor, the largest clan house in the village. So large that it completely took up two islands with its bulk, a three story, thousand room shell of what it once was. There was no army of servants tending to it now, and the floor inside had been covered with inches of ice, but even under that it was easy to see the place had been looted once the ice came. The tiles, formerly a beautiful display of golden and platinum, had been torn up by scavengers. Anything of any value was gone in the main room, even the drapes. The owner of the house motions to his allies and steps in.

Soon there was a fire cackling in one of the side rooms, one with no walls facing the outside. This was his home then, a gutted carcass of ice and death. And he could feel, hear, all but see the ghosts of his clan clamoring around them. They would not be seen here, for they could not come up here. But once they got into the basement library it would be a different story. He still had things to do, however, before that came. Hoshikata rises, pulling his robes about him and grabbing the large cold weather coat and tossing it on. Even he could feel this cold, it bit so hard that it defied reality.

”I shall return. If you wish to go out I can’t stop you, but be warned that there are spirits and other things that do not belong to this world out there.”

With that, he heads out of the room, out of his house. He had things to do.

 

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

The Isaki Manor, a great testament to what once was the empire of Hoshikata's greatness and his family line. The sheer size overwhelmed two islands. Even through the peril of the snow that has claimed the land, the manor remained upright. Although it was merely a hallow shell of what once was. She imagined in better days that the manor was bustling with activity. However, she could not picture that the manor was once cheerful or filled with interaction of its inhabitants. From what she had learned, the Isaki were only as cold as the ice that had consumed it. A fitting end for the castle and throne of this old clan.

She tread lightly over the floor, careful not to slip over its sleek surface. Crackling ice had ravaged the estate with reckless abandon. The halls and rooms they passed were barren. Gutted by the chaos of the storm and the vultures who had waited for this chance. She imagined not many of them had lived long enough to use their newfound wealth if they were so foolish as to return. The rustle of the former Isaki head's coat drew her attention back to him.

"Hurry back." She demanded somewhat distantly. Her dusky eyes drew back to the fire, lost in distant thought of what might come. Was she nervous? Her nerves had been steeled until now. Being buried in the halls of this house, she suddenly felt smaller and she understood the weight of burden Hoshikata must of bared all this time. She peeked up at the silent ANBU. "You may follow him if you wish. I will be alright here by myself."

[Topic Entered/Left if Shashu decides to follow Hoshikata]
[MFT.]