"Lalien is a lovely name! I am Jedine by the way, and this is my falcon Talia. I am a new minion here, are you going to be joining the castle? I hope you are I don't want to be the only person getting lost all the time, oh! and I think your staff is really cool! Do you think we'll be trapped here forever?" She said all this very fast without taking any breaths. Then she turned back to the front of the room. "Oh! Look!" Mountie had just poked the little wax like man in the door in the arm. She screamed when the man vanished. "Where did he go?" Jedine asked. "What happened to him?" She scuttled to the middle of the group hoping someone else would lead the way forward.

Lalien blinked rapidly, trying to catch up with the clever Jedine's rapid train of thought, and failing hoplessly.
"I... Uh, thank you for your kind welcome, Mistress Minion Jedine. I'm afraid I do get lost quite often. And I like your Falcon. I think." She started when the little man vanished and the group screamed, unaware of what had transpired. "What? Was it something I said?" Lalien brandished her staff in a random direction.

"No, Lalien, a short little man vanished, like smoke, that's all." Jedine said poking her nose out from the relative safety of the large group.

Talia screeched. "Mistress Lalien, I sense that my Mistress holds you in high esteem, though she has yet to realize it, I hope that you shall be a good friend to her."

Jedine blushed. She had come to respect this stately, regal, mysterious, yet kind looking woman who reminded her of her sister. She had been keeping that to herself, and, for the first time since she had met Lalien she was glad that she was blind.

[OOC]

Attention! Attention! War in the Fountain! Be there or be a regular quadrilateral!

A deer ran into the portico of the Castle, shaking as much of the icky stuff off its fur as possible, then grabbed the panic rope with its teeth and jerked as hard as it possibly could.

Doors all across the castle flew open and little lighting indicators along the floor and on the sides of the furniture indicated for the occupants the nearest route out. Please be aware that your nearest exit might be located behind you, and leave all unnecessary baggage stowed as you make your exit.

Mountie was one of the first to see the flashing lights. The panic rope must have been pulled. Jerking her head up, she instinctively reached for her sword.

"Everybody, we're being invaded! Prepare for battle." She glanced around. "I repeat, prepare for battle."

With that, she forged her way towards the exit, her cloak flying behind her. She hoped the others would follow.

The Overlady rose from her writing desk as she heard the emergency bell ring. She moved over to her window, one hand resting lightly on the sill. Peering out, she could see many of the woodland animals running into the castle for shelter. The rain pelted against the windows, coming down fast. Why had someone run the alarm? She couldn't see anything...unless...She opened the window and grabbed the rain measurer, then ran into her secret lab. A few seconds later, she emerged and grabbed her little PA.

"Attention all--the Castle is under attack. Arm yourselves and meet in the Fountain."

Lalien heard the alarms ring out as she sat meditating in a quiet corner of the castle.

Even with the noise, there is a heavy stillness in the air, she thought. She used her staff to help her to her feet and began feeling her way towards the door when Lady A's voice stopped her.

"Attention all--the Castle is under attack. Arm yourselves and meet in the Fountain."

Ah, the blind girl thought to herself as she began walking to the designated meeting place. So, the Lady has enemies. Well, these people have been kind to me and their enemies are mine. Let them come, then.

She walked as fast as she dared down the hall, tapping her staff against the floors. The sound reverberated against the walls like a drumbeat, like a call to war.

Evul Doctor Joe Weirdsworth the III popped out of his cryogenic sleep like a ninja leaping from a well-laid trap, except, not nearly as gracefully. Nevertheless, he gathered himself up and upon hearing the warning bells, prepared for battle. Going to his Closet of Doom, he armed himself with his favorite weapon of old.

The Silly String Slinger, the deadly sidearm. Many a tales hath been told of its great prowess, few additional weapons have ever been worthy to serve alongside of it. But now, the Evul Doctor in all his mucho impresionante hath created an equal partner. The SSSSSSrSS. A wondrous creation.

To complete this conglomerate of deadly devices, he strapped the Plastiek Swaard to his back. Finally, he placed the Fedora of Coolness onto his brow and he was ready to go. Joe hopped onto his blue Yamaha 125 and began to race out of the building.

He arrived at the exit just after Mountie and slid to a stop, his rear tire kicking out and throwing a puddle of acid into the air. Away from the friendlies, of course.

"Is the dastardly Overlord of Doom up to his devious deceptions again?" I asked, kicking the kickstand down.

Mountie dodged a spray of acid as Joe flew by her and pulled to a stop. Ah, good. The evil doctor was here. He'd be a great help.

"Is the dastardly Overlord of Doom up to his devious deceptions again?" Joe asked, kicking the kickstand down with notable flair.

"He is." Mountie nodded grimly, confirming Joe's assumptions. "Mind giving me a ride to the battlefield in a moment? I just need to grab my sword."

With a sudden clap, like the air charging in to fill the void left by lightning, Lalien appeared in the courtyard near the others. The chemicals raining down burned her skin and she screamed in pain, a long ranting scream that seemed to be made of words that ran into each other. A moment later, a large dome of silvery water appeared over her head and floated there, blocking the dangerous rain like an umbrella.

"Whomever the Lady's enemies are, they must have some knowledge of alchemy," Lalien hissed, licking her wounds... In the sense that when she rubbed her hands over her burns, they suddenly vanished. "I'm going to try a divination spell; see if I can find the source of this rain."

"Sure Mountie! Whenever you are ready!" I shifted my gear around to make room and pulled on my leather gloves to protect against the nasty acid rain. Troublesome stuff, that acid.

"Thanks!" Mountie pulled up her cloak hood to block out the acid rain, then ran back inside the Castle. She opened the door of her room, swooped up her sword that was leaning against the chair, and buckled the belt around her waist, urgency coloring every movement. She rushed back out to the courtyard where Joe's Yamaha 125 was parked and then hopped onto the back of it. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

"Hold on!"

Joe revved up the engine before dropping it into gear and speeding off, acid rain and mud flying all over the place. Due to the Pocket-Universe nature of the court-yard, it took a rather long time to reach the outer gate. But when they did, Joe stopped. Gently this time and waited for Mountie to hop off.