The Secret of Wickwillow Manor

[+ZincAboutIt]

8 hours ago, Ookla the Headmuncher said:

Does this house actually trip any of Perses’ senses? If the house is alive but not detectable by lifesense, magical, but not detectable by bronzesense, moving, but not detectable by hearing, that would be insanely spooky. And my character would probably be insanely unnerved.

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It is definitely an unnerving house. The creatures within will be detectable with Lifesense, and possibly bronze depending on which ones and what they are doing. The house itself - not so much. It’s basically a portion of Alleys that have been manifesting inside this house, so you have Alley rules cut off from anything the DA might be doing to stabilize them or make them safe. A very eldritch, spooky haunted vibe indeed.

 

[+Sorana]

Satisfied by its contents Vivi closed the backpack again and slung it over her shoulders. She took a deep breath, repeated all she'd learned about the creatures in her head and then walked over towards the others. She positioned herself close to Willow, but not so close that it would be too obvious what she was doing. Leaning against a wall she tried to hide her nervousness behind a relaxed posture.

She could do this. She had trained with her rapier, she had her bag as well as a backpack. Don't look, don't be spooked, don't scream like a little girl she told herself. She was twelve, she was old enough to stand on her own feet.

Vivi pressed her lips together when she wished for her brother to be here. He would know what to do with such a house.  She shooed the feeling away. He hated her. Hater her, because she had inherited something he yearned. Vivi forced herself to relax her face. Copper. She had inherited copper. No usefull flashy skill, but copper. It had it's place, but most of the time she wasn't sure what to do with it. It wasn't as if she had a soothing parlor to hide from the authorities. Maybe it would help her inside, hide her from the monsters. Or it wouldn't.

Her fingers reached for her rapier. Better to rely on this. If she fought well enough, it might even ensure her survival. Maybe. She shifted her weight. All of this standing around got on her nerves. It was time to take a look and see what waited for them.  Her eyes moved over to the man who would go with them. Better to keep an eye on him, too. Who knew what his real orders were.

Her fingers found a piece a sparkling chewing gum in her pocket and she popped it into her mouth. She would ace this. And then nobody was allowed to ever look down on her again. And maybe, maybe they would be proud of her, too.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Sorana

[Voidus]

“Come,” the Sterward said, leading them all towards a staircase up. “Let us be about our business. The sooner we return, the sooner you all get paid, eh?”

It was with difficulty that Whisper avoided rolling her eyes. Thankfully she was not expecting too much experienced scrutiny here, she wasn't quite sure that she would have been able to convincingly fake the eager stare of an actual mercenary and thief. Perhaps if she thought of it in different terms though, not about the money and more about what it might represent.

She settled for a nod with fractionally more enthusiasm than normal, shouldering her pack easily and beginning to follow the others. They seemed to all naturally fall into position, Byron moving to the middle as he stated. A fact that annoyed Whisper even further as it meant she couldn't simply move outside of his bubble of influence. She kept half an eye on their surroundings as they ascended, taking note of anything that moved. Best to keep that wariness up over the next few days, just in case the Pulser tried to delay them all by more than just a few moments.

And then there's the girl. She considered, eyes flicking to her other side where Vivi had positioned herself. Coincidence? Or deliberate positioning? And if deliberate because she sees a potentially useful ally? Or an enemy to be wary of? Clever girl, either way.

The tiniest of amused smiles curled her lips upwards as she set foot on the staircase. One hand held her writing board, the other slid along the polished surface of the banister, remarkably still seeming free of dust in spite of the fact that the servants of the house would likely have greater concerns than cleanliness these days.

Finally pulling her hand free as they reached the landing, she scrawled something quickly on her board, tilting it to the young girl next to her.

Is that your only weapon? She accompanied the written words with a nod to Vivi's rapier. It is a fine blade, well sized, but it is wise to keep a smaller as backup as well.

Her free hand gave a slight flourish, nothing too elaborate, and spun one of the small daggers she had brought, simple steel for this one. She offered it hilt first, expressionless but for a small shrug as if to dismiss the possibility that she might feel actual concern.

@Sorana

[+Sorana]

Vivi smiled at the sight of the knife, a true honest smile that made her eyes shine in delight. It was a simple blade, but it was more than she could afford and a thousand times more important: it was a present. A keepsake for her first mission alone.And the coolest present she had ever been given.

"Thank you." She replied quietly and took it from Willow, weighed it in her hand. It would work well should the need arise. She paused, tried to come up with a good place to keep it and finally opened her bag. There was a small pocket at its side  one she could reach easily and quickly. Her eyes rested on Rainbowglow for a moment and she considered another place, one nobody would look, but then she couldn't bring herself to do it. Rainbowglow was too important a keepsake on its own.

Vivi tried to remember what she had learned about fighting with a knife, but the only thing that came to her mind was the part about the distance. She had to be close, preferably without her opponent even seeing the blade at all. Well, she would think of something should the need arise.

"I'll remember to bring one in the future." She told Willow with an earnest glance, deciding that she liked her. Willow was like that plant, the one with the beautiful blossoms and the tiny spikes all over its seed capsules. It was so beautiful as deadly. She remembered her mom getting rid of it, once she learned that the plant she cultivated in a pot could easily kill her children. Vivi had been sad, that the plant had to die, she'd liked it. The name eluded her, but she would have to look it up later, maybe find out Willow's adress and send her one. Leaning a little towards Willow she added quietly. "And I'll practice. I've got to be able to hit my target correctly." Her fingers touched her side, right over the liver and she gave a slight wink, then stepped back again. It was a good day.

@Voidus

[+ZincAboutIt]

The staircase wound upward, curving out of view toward the right and onward onto the second floor corridor. Here, as listed on the house blueprint, was what the Lady and Cobalt both had referred to as the “window line.” 

One side of the corridor was dominated by doors or the beginnings of new hallways, while the other was covered in windows that looked out onto the city. The sun hung low in the sky, to the west, golden light edging towards red as if to herald future grim tidings. Sunset was closing in.

”This is the Window Line,” Cobalt confirmed, pointing down the corridor. “It encircles the floor on all sides, and is the least changed. It will be our plan to always sleep near the Window Line, if possible. From here, we go inward, and towards the center of the House. We will stay here until the first Change at sunset, which is close now. With luck, we can make it to another point in the Window Line to sleep, or to one of the safer rooms.”

As if on cue, from somewhere far off in the house, the sound of a slamming door could be heard again. Cobalt scowled, though did not appear overly concerned.

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

Malsam set her chair down and unfolded it. Once done, she sat and began to store pewter. She had a feeling that she would need all that she could store before this quest was through.

[+ZincAboutIt]

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Thanks for everyone’s patience with me and this plot! Some unexpected early developments have caused a little hold up. But with luck I should post very regularly- if perhaps in smaller bits - now that baby is born and we can get into a routine.

 

[Koloss17]

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No worries! Babies are a lot, and this is just a small corner of the internet for over-addicted book nerds. Take as much time as ya need. I’m sure there’s other corners of the internet, and even the shard, that we can explore when you’re out. Take all the time that you need.

 

[Ashbringer]

Byron looked out a window opened his mouth to say something, then paused. The guard already seemed a little apprehensive of both the door-slamming house and of him, although he still wasn't good at seeing other things in people. People got apprehensive around Byron, both because of the slowed time and because he looked the part of a pickpocket. Which was fair, because he was, or at least had been. But still, bugging the person with a sword probably not the best idea. Especially if he was confident, which meant he thought he could take a group of Allomancers and other powered individuals, which meant his sword was probably aluminum, which meant he was either very confident or would find the metal's propensity to ignore time dilation just made it more dangerous for everyone else.

Unfortunately for Byron, even in slow time his mouth sometimes moved faster than his brain.

"Has... anyone ever broken a window? Or tried to get in or out through somewhere other than the front door?"

Okay, saying it made it sound less dumb. It would be good to know if that would work or not. But Byron had a feeling that would be 'breaking the rules', and places like this house tended to not like that sort of thing. Or at least retaliate with force.

"Also if we're just going to wait here until sunset, I can make that go by a bit faster. Unless there's something else we should be doing in the meantime."

Too much? He couldn't tell. But it was the one thing he was pretty good at.

[Voidus]

Whisper was beginning to wonder if some of the muscles in her cheeks were injured. She could not recall the last time a single individual had brought forth so many smiles from her in a single day. It was perhaps fortunate that Vivi had not mentioned holding an abiding appreciation for the gods of the Dark Alleys or Whisper may have found her so endearing that she allowed the girl to actually slide a blade into her organs.

She gave a short approving nod in response, using the motion to remove the expression from her appearance. Vivi's quick step back earned her a second, quicker nod, and a slight reposition of Whisper's own stance. Even if she liked the girl it was worth remembering that there was a chance she might need to ensure that nobody returned from this little quest alive. If they saw too much, or even just a little of the wrong sort, then it was the fastest way to contain the information. But perhaps if there was a grey area Whisper would take Vivi back to the Alleys instead and ask if she might simply be inducted to close the information gap that way.

Frowning at herself for thinking such things, Whisper payed extra attention to the Stewards next debriefing, nodding along to show her understanding though that seemed blessedly unneeded in this group. Her eyes drifted along the corridor, and then to the blueprint, eyes flickering back and forth for a moment as she mentally compared them both to the exterior of the house and arriving at the expected conclusion that the dimensions did not add up.

Would be more surprised if they did. She noted to herself. Some things try too hard to fit in to expectations, always dangerous.

"Also if we're just going to wait here until sunset, I can make that go by a bit faster. Unless there's something else we should be doing in the meantime." The Pulser said, breaking into her mental musings.

She gave a silent scowl at that, along with a hasty step away from him just in case he tried to do any such thing. If he wished to while away his own time pointlessly then let him do it alone, not drag others into it.

[+Sorana]

Willow smiled. It was only a short expression, one that was gone nearly as quickly as it had appeared but it made her float. She'd made someone smile with something her mother would have scolded her for, her brother would have rolled her eyes at her and maybe her father, maybe her father would have nodded, but he would have gotten it all wrong. Vivi swallowed at the thoughts, their reactions too painful to ponder any further and she pretended to straighten her backpack to cover the shadow crossing her face.

It was so easy to pretend, to be happy about a gift and to make a lighthearted, honest comment. But it would be foolish to believe that she would find anything more than some money here. Nobody would be willing to take in an orphan, she had to keep that in mind. Better to face the reality now than to live some dream. Her eyes darted over to Willow again and she couldn't help to wonder if she maybe could find something else. A friend maybe. Someone who understood. The thought was wonderful and she allowed herself to enjoy it for a while, before she forced her eyes away. She let them move over the others, wondered what they thought about her, if maybe they would be willing to look at her and see more than a child.

She followed the others, listened to suggestions, but stayed quiet. She had no idea how to deal with this house, and so she would observe and listen until she had some kind of idea how she could contribute to their cause. And even more important, how she could act without getting herself killed immediatly.

"We could use the time to prepare." She suggested and mimicked Willow's step away from Byron nonetheless. The idea to be trapped in a bubble while the house did things, while some monsters sneaked up from behind was scary. She prefered to keep an eye on her surroundings and stay in control of them.

[+ZincAboutIt]

Cobalt looked over his shoulder at the young man, the Pulser, and frowned slightly.

”If you wish to make time pass quicker for yourself, you may do so, and anyone who wishes may join you, but I would advise against it here. To give the House any advantage is…unwise. You may stave off boredom, but it is far too easy to miss something stalking you, or a change in the layout of the House, if you are not present in time.”

He looked around, peering down a narrow corridor, and cursed softly.

”The point is moot. It appears that the change has begun early today, anyway.”

Even as he spoke, the view down the corridor began to shift. It was subtle at first, a slight disorientation accompanying the minor shifts. Then, as though the corridor were a set of rolling tumblers in a lock, portions of the hallway began to rotate. Some twisted one way, some another, and things spun and collided as if in a kaleidoscope. Doorways appeared where there were none before. A set of stairs manifested at the end of the corridor, stretching far further than a simple city manor ought to be. For a moment, a singular shape flitted across the corridor - sinuous and tall, and impossible to catch in the fullness of one’s vision. Then, it was gone.

The process was utterly silent.

”It will go on for another few minutes,” Cobalt said, drawing a pocket watch and looking down at the crystal face. “Then, we will begin. Luck is on our side - I have seen this corridor before, or at least some of it. Remember, if you feel as though something is following you, do not look. Do not ask another to look. Or you endanger us all.”

[+Sorana]

Vivi took a step forward, and then another. The change was incredible. Like the pocket world she had owned to place her animals inside, the whole hallway twisted changed it's shape. Or maybe like the paper book she had made years ago. When you pulled on a part, all of it changed and you could read a new page. Open mouthed she stared as new doors appeared, other sections vanished completely.

Vivi was just watching a door appear next to another, when a shape appeared. It was tall, had long arms, or at least she thought that it were arms, although she wasn't able to get a good glance on it. Without thinking she drew her sword and shifted her weight, so that she could place her feet in a defensive stance. The monster vanished again and she relaxed partially, but kept her sword in her hand.

”It will go on for another few minutes,” Cobalt announced and she looked quickly over to him, saw that he checked a watch. Minutes. She had expected that the change was scary, that it was some weird thing, but this, this was amazing. With a grin she looked back at the hallway, but didn't let it catch her full attention anymore, the picture of the thing jumping her from behind too vivid in her head. But then - if they only attacked when you looked, then she should stop to worry about her back and worry more about what was in front of her. The idea disturbed her, it went against everything that had been drilled into her.

When the change continued for another while she relaxed a little more and finally put her rapier back into its sheath. Then she opened her bag and pulled out a brightly wrapped jelly. It was soft, easy to be chewed upon. She popped it into her mouth and started to bite down, the slight sour flavor welcome on her toungue. She grimaced slightly when she could feel the sharp taste of copper only shortly afterwards. Quickly she swallowed it, felt the familiar reserve appear inside of her. Who knew. Maybe her copper could be useful later.

[Koloss17]

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Before my character reacts, does bronze do anything here? He’s been keeping it on low, but his low is generally much more acute than the average bronze wielded. I’m mostly wondering if the house changing or the being gives off any sort of signal. I doubt it, but I’m just checking.

 

[+ZincAboutIt]

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You might get a very low level ambient shift from the house changing, if your character is very skilled with his bronze senses. The figure is not using any kind of Allomancy/Feruchemy or an obvious investiture. 

@Koloss17

[NerdyAarakocra]

Sei looked out at the house changing around her. It was incredible. She could understand how the house seemed alive. She did not want to see the house when it was trying to kill this group.

"Forgive me if someone has asked this already, but are there any patterns to the house's changes, other than the times when they occur?"

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt]

Cobalt shook his head, then paused.

”It is… hard to answer that. Portions of the Manor do repeat. Long hallways, key landmarks. But often the rooms are randomly placed. We have yet to see a full repetition of any hallway or room order.”

————

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A light discomfort begins to grow for you, the odd feeling of attention from behind you.

@NerdyAarakocra

Edited December 31, 2022 by ZincAboutIt

[Voidus]

Whisper gave an unsurprised nod, more agreement than acceptance, at the Stewards reply. An uncontrolled merging of the Alleys into a building would produce chaos, at least on first glance. There would be a pattern, but one that would be beyond most to even recognize. Whisper doubted even she herself would be able to pick it up in its entirety, not without years with which to study.

Keeping a wary eye out around her, and then very quickly focusing her attention only forwards as she felt unseen eyes watching from behind them. A disquieting sensation, even sensitive to such things as she was Whisper could not even tell how many were watching or if they even had eyes at all. She bent her focus on looking ahead, ignoring instincts and years of training that taught her to be wary of being attacked from behind.

Partially to distract herself, and partially because now there was something to add to it, Whisper peered further down the corridor, looking to each door in particular and quickly began adding to her earlier sketch. She made a few basic motions of drawing to dismiss the Lightweaving she'd made over the top, as if simply redrawing the same structure. But each stroke seemed to add more detail than it should, allowing her to quickly move on to the new hallway which she began annotating with doors.

Her feet shifted slightly, stepping forwards down the corridor, craning her neck, crouching down, and then standing frustrated on the tips of her toes to analyze each of the doors. It was not graceful, or mysterious, or in any way flattering. But it was cautious. And when exploring somewhere in the Alleys you had never been, caution should always be at the forefront of your mind, caution to temper the ever-burning curiosity, if only a little.

Absently she realized that a small part of her mind that had been steadily counting had reached its conclusion. A small sound of squeaking floorboards would be emerging from the staircase behind them now, too faint to be heard by any but a tineye but she payed careful attention to the sensation of being watched, of any awareness she had of the observer. Had there been a hesitation just now? A slight pause or redirecting of attention? It was frustratingly difficult to tell with such limited ability to perceive them.

[Koloss17]

The house moved. It spiraled, ever shifting, and almost in a conscious way. Rooms morphed, completely without sound. From tiny nooks to large, cavernous spaces, Perses felt the echoes of the others’ voices react according to the changes in size. It was all unfortunately distorted, as sound travels weirdly in time bubbles. Perses had interacted with pulsers and sliders a few times before, but never closely, and rarely while in the bubble. He was sure others could tell there was some distortion, but the extent of it was baffling. It wasn’t like a wall was put in front of the room he was hearing into, it was more like a maddening tapestry of holes and barricades all carefully woven into one, weird, jumble of sound. 
 

Yet still, there was information to be gathered. Perses had his senses about three times as high as he normally would, including his lifesense and bronzesense, which were dwindling more than he would like. It was a notch down from his initial entrance into the manor, before he knew who he had for company. But unlike in the waiting room, there was so much more going on in these walls. 
 

And through it all, Perses felt a presence. His lifesense was up quite high, but this felt like it could be detected by someone without a single breath. Beings, all connected, watching. These were what Cobalt and the lady of the manor warned the group about. They flew by in a blur, yet they lingered. They felt like they were all around him, yet he could rarely pinpoint an exact location. If only he knew more. If only he felt more.

”Byron, can you kill your cadmium for a second? It won’t be long.”

@Ashbringer, @ZincAboutIt

[Ashbringer]

Byron vaguely noted Willow and Vivi stepping away. His bubble was big enough at this moment that the gesture was just symbolic, but the intent was clear, and nobody said anything in favor. So he just nodded morosely and kept the time the same, wincing slightly as Cobalt cursed the early arrival of the change. He wasn't condensing time that much, so it was probably early, but he certainly wasn't helping.

But the change itself was a wonder. Byron watched for a few seconds, then turned towards the windows. The outside seemed mostly the same. And the changing halls brought up some bad memories. Memories of that adventure though an Alleyway, surviving the way he always had, by being small and burning cadmium and hoping nothing noticed he was still alive.

Something was watching him.

Byron resisted the urge to turn around. Speed wasn't on his side here, not with whatever-was-there having the jump. So just... let it pass. 

He hadn't asked about sensing these things without sight. Maybe Perses had and he hadn't noticed. But his sense was somewhat harder to predict. Byron half-closed his eyes, just looking at the floor below, and felt for pulses. He'd always been able to feel when something hit the edge of his bubble, know when to counteract it. But he could also feel the walls, the floor, slightly different from before but still there. And the empty space where that feeling was coming from. If it got too close, he'd know. And then it would be on their speed.

Unless it was like Sanax. In which case he could doom them all.

”Byron, can you kill your cadmium for a second? It won’t be long.”

Byron opened his eyes, looking at the wall again. That was Perses. Well, he would have a better way of sensing than he would. Byron checked the edges once more, then stopped burning cadmium.

It took longer than he remembered. A second or two. That was... forever. But the time dilation disappeared, the feeling of walls vanished, and the world became fast. Byron snapped his head to look at Perses, trying to focus on him and ignore the strain his neck and body was imposing on itself, working overtime to counteract a force that wasn't there anymore. He didn't dare move his legs. Not here, not now.

"Alright let me know when you're done," he said, then tensed.

@Koloss17

[Koloss17]

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Unironically, that’s really cool. I would never have thought of that. Dang, your character is just a slam dunk.

@Ashbringer

[Koloss17]

Alright. Here goes nothing.

“I’m going to probe the manor. Ideally, I would like everyone to be silent for five minutes.“

With that, Perses turned on everything.

 

Initially, this has been extremely hard for him. Yet, it was what he had become good at in the past three years. He was about two months out of practice, as it was unnecessary in most of the Alleycity. It was much too loud anyway.

Perses began his routine. He started his hearing loop, going from base power to full power over the course of about five seconds. The room continuously fluctuated from eerie silence to a thunderous roar. Slightly out of sync with that loop, Perses began the bronze loop. The room went from a roar of sound to a complex network of signals, with a bit of overlap between the two extremes. Finally, Perses activated lifesense. Sound, magic, life. Sound, magic, life. This loop reset every ten seconds or so, with a constant wave of inputs washing over Perses. 
 

From the chaos, Perses began selecting his focus. For now, he tuned out everything in his immediate vicinity. The pounding of heartbeats. The precise and intricate visages of the group. The network of magic emanating from multiple nearby people. For now, the only signals that mattered was from the manor itself.

to an outsider, it would look ridiculous, with Perses locked into place, and having only slight head twitches towards anything interesting . To Perses, the world unraveled its secrets in front of him.

 

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With this ebb and flow of information, what does Perses gather from the house? Categorizing them into what he hears, senses active investiture-wise, and what he senses life-wise would be helpful.

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt]

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The House is full of Investiture signatures, too many to easily decipher or pinpoint. One of the rooms you pass gives off a very strong pulse of Allomantic Steel. Somewhere down the hallway, you can sense something that is akin to Soulcasting - whether or not this power is known to you will affect your ability to name it. At first, the sounds of your companions’ heartbeats and breathing overwhelm you, being so near. As you filter out these sounds, you notice softer, quieter noises. Doors opening and shutting gently, soft footfalls from a long way off. And what sounds at first like wind. A low, constant sussurus filters into your mind, almost like whispering. It is a language you are certain you don’t know, and yet it carries with it a certain familiarity. Almost, you think, you have heard it on the leading edge of a dream, just as you slip into slumber. Perhaps if you listen harder, you might understand the words. Perhaps if you were to try and remember a phrase, speak it yourself, then you would know. Would grasp the endless litany and be able to unlock the secrets of this strange place. As you consider this, your lifesense begins to register a presence behind your group. Behind and…perhaps above? Not so near as to be right atop you, but close. Five, then ten, then enough to confuse your senses. The desire to look backwards increases with startling speed. Soon, you are sure, you will turn, will cry out to your companions to just look! Everything in your body demands it, every hair stands up on the back of your neck.

Look back. Look up. Listen. Speak. Drown in the whispers, in the secrets. 

@Koloss17

[EmulatonStromenkiin]

Malsam watches in awe as the house changes, carefully keeping her facial features the same. This was so far beyond what she had expected, and it reminded her of...something. This changing and warping, it was like how the Herdazian caravan had entered the Alleyverse. They had mentioned Alleys being the key, but she hadn't been able to make head or tails of the statement.

As Byron stoped burning Cadmium, she felt a slight shift, and she got the sense of someone watching her. She had long ago stoped ignoring those instincts, and it had saved her life several times on the trip through the Cognitive realm. She lessened her storing of pewter, and pulled her sword from the sheath on the back of her chair. As Perses told everyone to stay quiet, she examined as much as she could with minimal movement of her head. Something approached, and given what information she had about the house, it was probably and enemy. She sighed mentally. Too bad armor was practically useless for her.

[Koloss17]

Perses stopped burning everything. What in Harmony’s name was that.

 

“I don’t think the house liked me probing it.” Perses said in a surprisingly calm voice. “And it might have sent some goons to deal with us.”

 

Perses, blind as he was, still wanted to look. He didn’t need to actually face the direction of anything; generally having his ears pointed in the direction is best. Fighting the urge, he positioned his head to the ground, and felt for his gun.  It wasn’t anything special; a simple handgun. But he was good with it. He had no clue if it would actually do anything and these things, but he hoped it would.

turning on his senses again, he scanned his surroundings, awaiting the attack.