The Council of Game Masters
Despite their best efforts, the Loud Sisters were unable to free themselves from their captors' grips; as they dragged them into the large building. Upon entering, the girls were met with a surprising sight. Though the outside appeared old and near dilapidated; the inside however, was truly beautiful.
There were colorful flags hanging from the rafters, a medieval tapestry hanging on the back wall of the building, colorful banners were tied on the railings of the upper walkways and flowed across the air above their heads. Near the back of the building was a small stage, where a band of minstrels were seen performing. Behind this stage, the girls presumably spotted Flip (dressed as a medieval barkeep) serving drinks to everyone.
Small torches were screwed into the support beams but instead of fire, small candle flame-shaped light bulbs were fastened inside. Lastly, everyone looked at the back of the room and saw five empty thrones stationed there. In the Loud Sisters minds, they felt as though they've wandered into a medieval great hall.
But as surprising as the décor was, there were three specific things that truly got their attention. Firstly, everywhere they looked; they saw people dressed in all manner of odd outfits. There were Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Human-Elf hybrids, Human-Dragon hybrids and many other types of creatures.
Some of them were dressed in handmade/hand stitched outfits, others were dressed in...rather impressive armor pieces. But of course, there were those among all these people who were dressed in outfits made partially or completely out of cardboard pieces. The second odd sight they've noticed was that everyone wore either distinctly different hairstyles or facial hair styles.
Yet even while wearing these disguises, the girls couldn't help but think there was something...familiar about some of the people around them. Finally, the most astonishing thing they saw was the thing in the center of the room. At first looked like three large, rectangular tables with multiple chairs seated around them; nothing out of the ordinary.
But as Lynn got a closer look; she saw that these tables were topped with figurines, multi-sided die, pencils/pens, dry erase markers, charts and piles of books. The sight all these items filled Lynn with a sense of dread, which confused her sisters immensely. "Girls, I think I know where we are" she murmured in an uneasy tone, "we've got ourselves roped into..."
Before the wee jock could finish, the warrior holding her roughly shoved her head down into a bowing position. "Stifle thyself, wench" "he" growled firmly, "you have no right to trespass on the sacred grounds of Castle Greyhawk!" The girls couldn't help but stare aghast at the warrior, after hearing his words.
"Look, dude; we don't want any trouble" Luna murmured softly, "but this ain't no castle and you guys ain't no knights." Feeling understandably offended by the rocker's words, the knight was poised to discipline her accordingly. But then, whether by some blessing by Fate or a stroke of dumb luck, "his" hand halted inches away from "his" sword's hilt; when the musicians suddenly sounded off their trumpets with great fanfare.
Once this happened, the Loud Sisters watched as the people around them suddenly scattered about like startled hens. "What happened" murmured Leni confusedly, "did someone say the secret word?" As the other Loud Sisters prepared to mildly scold the blonde for her naivety, the knights holding them forced them onto their knees in a kneeling position.
"This is cruel punishment" shouted Lola, "I'll see to it that you all lose your shields for this!" But the knights remained undeterred, choosing only to remain silent, while bowing respectfully. "Okay, this is getting really weird...even for me" murmured Lucy, "just what exactly, are we bowing for?"
At first, one of the knights felt poised to snap at her. But upon remembering "his" code, "he" held "his" tongue and replied that the council was arriving soon. "It is they whom we look to within these walls for wisdom, guidance and justice" the second knight stated, "and it is they who shall decide your punishment, intruders."
This revealed caused the girls earlier bravado and defiant attitudes to slightly dampen. Whoever this council was; if they had such authority over this place, the girls felt they might be in trouble. Suddenly, the lights over the thrones switched on and five figures were seen coming through a door on the right side of them.
Each of these figures was dressed in beautiful robes. Yet each of them had a unique look (the first one being red, the second one was white with gold fabric on the hems, the third blue with stars etched into the fabric, the forth black with a white "V" shaped streak across the chest and the fifth one dressed in a black robe with long dragon designs stretching up the back.) Much to the girls' dismay; each of these figures' robes were hooded.
Thus, they were unable to see just who it was behind each of their hoods. Upon seeing the looks of these figures, Lucy became awestruck. She didn't know if these figures were sorcerers, wizards, warlocks or whatever; all that mattered was that she wanted to join them.
Leni was also in awe at these five strangers...but mainly because of the robes they were wearing. "OM GOSH, you guys" she cried, "those robes look super cool, do you think they have one in my size?" Alas, the only response she received was a stern growl from the knight holding her down.
"Be silent and keep your head down, wench" the one knight glowered, "you are not to speak until the Council allows it." Growing evermore frustrated by the warriors' attitudes, Lynn was mere seconds away from smashing her fist into his kneecap. When suddenly, up by the thrones; one of the council members suddenly slipped on the hem of their robe.
This caused the individual to fall forward, their hood cascading backwards while doing so. Once this happened, the Loud Sisters suddenly gasped with shock at the figure's true identity; Lynn Loud Sr. Just as he came close to slamming his head onto his throne, another council member quickly caught Lynn in their arms and dusted him off.
"Darn this robe of mine" he grumbled softly, "I knew I should've gotten this thing tailored properly, after the last session!" As the other three council members grumbled at how the slip up totally threw off the mood, the fourth helped clean up Lynn's robe. Meanwhile, the girls stared at the scene before them; appearing frozen with shock.
"What the...what's Dad doing here" Lori thought in her head, "and if he's part of this 'council,' then...who are the others?" Finally, Lynn's robe was all fixed up and each member of the council took their seats. Once they did, everyone in the hall slammed their fists upon their chests in salute and cried out "GLORY TO THE KINGDOM OF AVALONIS AND GLORY TO CASTLE GREYHAWK!"
The whole time this was happening, the girls looked at the crowd in bewilderment; wondering if they all lost their minds. Just then, the figure in the white and gold robe raised their hand and called for silence. The people in the hall followed suite and the room became so quiet, one could hear a moth's wings flapping.
Then; the figure suddenly burst out in a fit of uproarious laughter. Upon hearing it, Lori couldn't help but notice that the voice sounded almost...feminine. When the figure rose from her seat, she raised her arms high and smiled beneath her hood.
"Welcome, friends; welcome all" she cried with joy, "A HUNDRED THOUSAND WELCOMES!" The moment the figure said this, the crowd thanked her for her kind greeting and wished her the same. "I bid thee welcome, this night; noble champions" she said regally, "pray tell; have we any business to discuss, before we begin tonight's games?"
Five seconds after this was asked, what looked like an archer in a hooded robe raised his hand. "Ah, noble Alexi Long-Strider; the floor is yours" the hooded woman stated, "what business do you have to share?" Before answering, the individual known as Alexi rushed out the doors.
Upon his return, two minutes later; he wheeled in a large load of boxes atop a long platform hand truck. On this hand truck were boxes filled with soft drinks, snack foods, medical kits (in case "Flip" hurt himself while preparing food,) art kits and other supplies. "I have returned from the village of Great Lakes with supplies aplenty for our court" Alexi decreed, "behold; our stores be full, once again!"
The crowd cheered wildly for the archer's success and several "servants" began collecting the boxes from the hand truck. As the supplies were being put away properly, Alexi thanked the Council for letting him have the floor and took his place back amongst the crowd. "We thank you for this most generous bounty, Master Elf" the figure in black and white robe said gratefully, "have we anymore business to settle, before we may begin?"
The moment this question was asked, the girls suddenly found themselves being pushed out into the middle of the floor before the Council. "My Lords and Ladies, we found these maidens trespassing outside the castle walls" one of the armored warriors stated, "what do you wish to do with them?" Upon hearing this news, the Council Members growled softly under their breath and cast their gazes down at the Loud Sisters.
The girls in question found themselves feeling mixed emotions from their situation. On one hand, they feared for their lives and wondered if these strangers were planning to hurt them for trespassing. But on the other hand, some of them (like Lori, Luna or Lynn) believed this to be a dream...or some sort of elaborate prank.
In any case, they couldn't deny the twinge of fear that ran through them. The first to feel this was little Lily, who suddenly let out a mournful cry of distress. Afraid this would offend the group before them, Lori did her best to stifle the baby's cries.
But then; the figure in the white and gold robe suddenly shot up from her throne, rushed through the crowd and took the baby into her arms tenderly. "Shh! It's okay, honey; don't cry" the figure said sweetly, "Mommy's got you, Mommy's here." Lily sniffled slightly and, for a brief moment, her crying ceased.
Soon after, the figure drew back her hood; revealing the face of Rita Loud, the baby's mother. Upon seeing her face, Lily suddenly burst out in giggles; which helped put Rita's heart at ease. Meanwhile, the other nine Loud Sisters stared in utter disbelief at the scene; unsure of what to think or say.
Then, mere seconds after she had calmed Lily down; Rita cast a stern glance at the girls. This was a look that all the Loud Siblings were greatly familiar with. It was a stare that seemed to say "you're in deep doo-doo now, girls."
(Line Break)
After a while, Rita clapped her hands high above her head; which caused a young man (who turned out to be Grant dressed in a tunic) to come running to her side. "Chamberlain, might you spare a moment or two to help care for my child" Rita requested, "I must contemplate on what to do with the intruders." The "chamberlain" bowed his head obediently, gently took Lily into his arms and brought her off to the side; where he helped keep her entertained for a spell.
Meanwhile, each member of the Council rose from their thrones, approached the Loud Sisters and cast their collective gazes down upon them angrily. During their approach; the remaining figures pulled back their hoods to reveal the faces of Principal Wilbur T. Huggins, Agnes Johnson and their grandfather, Albert (whom the girls and Lincoln had affectionately dubbed "Pop-Pop.") With this reveal, the girls' felt their minds explode into bits of dust.
"Okay...this is literally too freaky for me to handle" Lori thought to herself, "what the heck are our parents, grandfather and two of my little brother's former teachers doing in this den of geeks?" The eldest Loud Sister had little time to contemplate on this matter further, unfortunately; as she suddenly heard her mother's voice faintly calling out her name. When her mind snapped back to reality, Lori came face-to-face with her mother's angry stare.
"Uh...heh-heh; hey, Mom" she chuckled sheepishly, "fancy seeing you and Dad here." The other sisters soon found themselves mimicking Lori's nervous chuckles and greetings, as they did their best to avoid their mother's angry gaze. Then, after what felt like an eternity of silence; Rita let out a calming breath and approached her eldest daughter.
"Lori, honey...sweetheart; it's nice sooo to see you" she murmured through slightly clenched teeth, "but with the greatest possible amounts of restraint I have, I need to ask you something...what are you all doing here?!" Though her voice wasn't quite that loud, the sharp tone she used shook the girls to their collective core. "Yep...We are literally in the deepest of trouble, right now" Lori thought nervously, "I wonder what Mom and Dad will do once we tell them about Lisa's tracker?"
(AN: AND SO, THE TRUTH IS REVEALED...for the most part. But if their parents and grandpa are three of the four council members and Lincoln's teachers are the remaining two, who else do you think could be in this place? At the same time, what will become of the girls now and what did Rita mean by "let the games begin?
Tune in next time, to find out"
(Second AN: The phrase Rita used "a hundred thousand welcomes" is from a quote from William Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Keep a bright lookout; as the story goes on, you may see other characters using Shakespearean/Olde English dialect)
(Final AN: This is the second fanfic of mine to reference the real world Castle Farms events facility in Charlevoix, Michigan; the first one being Ace Savvy and the Full House Gang: Checkmate)
