World Tree MUSH

    To those not in the know, Evershade Valley is a real spooky place. The sky seems perpetually stuck in a cycle of eternal night; most of the trees seem to be bare of leaves in that creepy way that makes their shadows look like the reaching fingers of a monster; all of the animals, from the rats in the underbrush to the birds in the trees, seems to glare at passersby as if they're considering the possibility of making a meal of them.

    So it shouldn't be surprising to find a creepy mansion near whre the Vine spits one out. It looks like a two-story mansion with an attic, and three eaves at the front of the house. there appear to be two chimneys, one on either side of the house's roof, and a small tower-like protrusion on the roof between the two chimneys. It's surrounded by a goodly amount of ground, ringed by a wall of stone with black, wrought iron spikes atop it.

    There's a gate at the front, also made of wrought iron, and a pathway leads up to the gate. A broken wagon lays to the right of the path outside the wall (as one faces the house). Eerily, all the windows are dark... except the two above the door. It makes the house appear to loom over one, almost with a face that leers down...

>> SUMMARY[Luigi] >> BGM: https://youtu.be/r7YKE_DGIWs

 
 Wellp, looks like Muradin had gone and got lost again. As it so happens, the dwarven warrior is not someone on the know about this place, he had just gotten done talking to that Evie lady who had kindly given him a map of the area-- but he must have taken another wrong turn as it seemed this place would be quite out of place in the lovely wilderness he was in just moments ago. 
      Nevertheless, Muradin is nothing if not stubborn, and rather than turn around as any other sensible person would do, he simply pressed on into the spooky wilderness that was most certainly haunted. It doesn't take a ranger to know there's something wrong in the area where there are no animals around, not even vermin to speak of! And yet, maybe such a thing was normal around here? Who knows! Muradin took another good gulp of his canteen ale for some liquid courage, and continued to drunkenly moved deeper and deeper into the dark forest. 
 
 Aaall the way in.. until he was at the gates a most spooky looking mansion. "Eh? Wot the sod is this?" The dwarf paused at the gates and slowly started to look up at the tall, tall mansion. A dark presence seemed to have hang heavily in the air, and indeed, from a certain angle it seemed like the house itself was leering down at the dwarf.. 
 
 "Wot are ye lookin' at!?" Err.. is Muradin talking to the house? "Ye got a problem with me!?" Yes, in his drunken haze it appears that Muradin actually thinks the house is glaring at him, and he responds in proper dwarven fashion by having an argument with it. 
 
 "RAAAH! YER GETTING A CLUBBERING, MATE!!!" As is typical of drunken dwarves, Muradin then proceeds to try and pick a fight with the house itself. He jumps clear over the gate, doing a full frontal flip in mid air as the force of his jump carries him twenty or so feet and into the front door. He then smashes face first into it, half headbutting the door, half actually just doing a terrible job at landing. "Oof!!" He doesn't know if the force of a 250+ pounds dwarf colliding into the door will be enough to break it through, but if there's anyone around here they'll definitely be alerted of his presence due to all the ruckus he's doing. 

    BAM!

    That's the sound of Muradin's face hitting the door! It's a pretty solid door, in fact, and if Muradin hadn't been so drunk, it probably would have hurt to have collided face-first into the door. But, on the bright side, at the force of a drunken dwarf slamming into it, the door...

    ...Creeeeeeeeeeeaks open slowly.

    And there is silence.

 
 "Ugh!" Muradin falls face forward as the door creaks open. He pushes himself up to his knees and shakes his head looking no worse for wear and stands up, seemingly not that hurt after smashing face first into a solid door-- Muradin, in fact, must do things like that quite frequently. At this point, Muradin's helmet is more designed to prevent self harm due to headbutts than it is designed to stop orc axes from hitting his head, but that's besides the point right now. 
 
 The blow seemed to have knock at least some sense into Muradin, for he gets back to his feet and realizes that he is now inside what appears to be an abandoned mansion. He focuses his eyes into the darkness, and his dwarven darkvision comes in handy as he peers into the shadows of the unlit room. He realizes suddenly that he just entered a building unnanounced, and however unlikely it is that someone still lives here, it is possible he's tresspassing. 
 
 "Uh.. hello?" The dwarf advances cautiously, deciding against bringing his weapons out to bear on the improbable chance there's someone living here. He doesn't want to look like he's breaking and entering, and walking around with an axe would definitely mark him as an intruder. "Yer house was glaring at me so I accidentally headbutt it!" He yells out his sorry excuse for barrelling into someone's possible property. 

    The foyer of the house seems pretty normal, even if dark and far mistier than it should be. Or is that dust? And Muradin's breath might be warm enough to cause steam to emit from his mouth or nose whenever he breathes.

    There's a large set of double-doors that face the front door, and a staircase on either side of the room. Both lead up to the same landing, though. The landing has a clock above the door, and then a short walkway that continues to the second floor proper.

    For a long moment, there's silence. May be long enough for Muradin to consider leaving. But just before that, there's a sound. It sounds like a distant sigh, a breath, but the sound echoes far more than it should. An echoing sigh, a breath...

    And a bark.

    Now, this sound too echoes far more than it should. The sound seems to be simultaneously coming from far away, but yet very near. In fact, just above him, on the landing, there's a white glow. And a curious face there.

    It's clearly not a human face, though. It has a bit of a muzzle, and a long tongue hangs out, wagging with panting breaths. It's much like a dog, between that and how its head is tilted to the side. But its eyes are empty and lifeless, pure white voids.

 
 Oh, Muradin wasn't at all planning on leaving. In the event that there was no response, he'd simply continue exploring the house and see if there was any good loot around here. If it's abandoned then it's not getting used after all! And it would hurt his dwarven senses to leave perfectly good tools in disrepair around here. 
 
 But, as it so happens, there is a response, an inhuman one at that. Yep, this place is definitely haunted, and the echoing sigh is enough for Muradin to bring his weapons out. In a flash of arcane lightining, mighty Mithrios and Troggbane appear in the dwarf's hands, the war hammer and battleaxe crackling with electricity. It is not the first time Muradin has been to a haunted place, and he's had plenty of dealings with the undead and apparitions. He can read the signs, and he braces himself for a fight against undead horrors. 
 
 But the bark though... that's different. "Huh??" Muradin looks up and spots it. Yep, sure enough, up in the rails is what seems to be ghost of a puppy dog. 
 
 Thanks to the Forsaken, Muradin has acquired a healthy dislike for ghosts and any type of undead, he would never hesitate to banish an spectre of any kind, and with his magical weapons he doesn't have to worry about his foes being incorporeal. Mithrios and Troggbane will cleave through a ghost's spirit as easily as they would cleave an orc in half. 
 
 And yet.. this ghost.. it doesn't looke like any Forsaken or Scourge abomination. It almost looks... friendly? Kind of adorable even, despite it's undead nature. 
 
 The dog's visage is different enough from the other ghosts he has seen to make him hesitate. Instead of attacking immediatly as Muradin would have otherwise done, he instead takes a fighting stance waiting to see what the dog does. His eyes are up towards it, his axe forward on the defense and his hammer cranked back ready to strike. 
 
 "Donna think I won't bash yer face in just cause yer a cute mutt!" The dwarf says in warning. 

    The lightning causes an instant response! Though it's not an aggressive one. The pup visibly cowers, hiding its eyes with its front paws. Given its almost cartoonish proportions, this is a tall order. But it manages. And there's a distinct, if ghostly, puppy-like whine.

    It's... scared?

    That whine gets a reaction from somewhere else in the house, though.

    Light but quick footsteps. And a high-pitched call of, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!"

    Soon a figure comes into view. It's a man -- short, but still within human range, though proportioned a little bit like a Gnome, with a large nose, hands, and feet. He's dressed in a green shirt, blue overalls, and a green 'poor boy' hat on his head, white gloves, and brown workman's shoes. And he does have a mustache that a Gnome would be proud to have!

    The man in green runs onto the landing -- so fast his feet skid, in fact! -- and then reaches down to collect the ghostly puppy. And immediately it begins to lick his face. Turning his head, the man notes, "Gaaah... Obaken, I can't-a see, hold on...!"

 
 "Wot the.." 
 
 Alright, now Muradin is just plain ol' confused. In all his years of bloody battle against everything, including the forces of the undead, he had never seen a ghost that was scared. Because that is what is happening right now! He's too much of a hardened warrior to not realize when someone, or something, is genuingly scared of him. 
 
 As Muradin flashes his legendary weapons at the ghost puppy, and it reacts by wimpering and covering its eyes with its paws, the dorf arches an eyebrow and relaxes his shoulders, shifting out of his fighting stance. A rare sight indeed, Muradin being so confused that he's not sure if he should fight. Because usually for him there's no Fight or Flight option, it's just Fight. 
 
 Things start to get even weirder when he hears a yell. The dwarven warrior tenses and looks up in the direction of the yell, and he sees.. the tallest gnome he'd ever done seen in his life. "Huh... that's one tall gnome.." He mutters to himself. Or maybe he shrank? There is just no telling what this mansion is going to throw at him next it seems. 
 
 "Uh... oi mate!" The dwarf speaks up to the man in green and he puts his weapons away, not wanting to scare the ghost pupper any further. "Ye.. uh.. live here?" Maybe he was just the repairman? He is wearing worker's clothes after all. 

    As much trouble as the Polterpup is causing in helping the 'tall Gnome' see, it's also distracting him from his own fear. Muradin cuts a really impressive profile with his weapons out and ready to bash some skulls in! So in that, it's good. But the man in green also notes that the slightly-shorter man on the first floor has put away his weapons, so he breathes a sigh of relief.

    He pauses to place the ghost puppy on the floor again. The puppy seems to jump/float off the landing and down to the foyer floor where Muradin is. "Oh! Obaken, be careful!" he cautions. Apparently the ghostly thing can understand him, as it doesn't directly approach Muradin. It stays out of immediate reach, sniffing cautiously at him.

    The man in workers' clothes nods to the inquiry, remaining on the landing for the time being. "Y-yeah. This is-a my house. Sorry if it's a little... scary."

    Yes. For all intents and purposes, Muradin broke in... and it's the man in green that's apologizing.

 
 Muradin takes note of the ghost pupper approaching him. He's alert of its presence, and blue eyes glance over at the canine apparation though only with curiosity rather than ill intent. Muradin is confident enough on his reflexes that he knows he could either dodge or bash Obaken if it made a sudden lunge at him. However, more likely is the fact that this ghost puppy is just not hostile, or it might even be harmless from the way it has acted thus far. Muradin is still suspicious, but at least for the moment he has stopped considering Obaken a threat and doesn't try to kick him away or anything. 
 
 Instead he puts his focus on the man in green and frowns profusedly when he has the gall of apologzing. "Why are ye sorry fer?? I'm the one that broke in!" He yells up at the green clad man. "Me apologies on that, I didne know someone was living here.." Muradin looks around as the mustachoid man notes that is indeed scary looking. "I'll say it's in quite a bit of disrepair, ye should get 'round giving it a good fix, mate." As a dwarf, Muradin obviously wants every structure to be in tip top excellent shape, and this rickety shoddy house offends all of his dwarven senses of craftmanship! 
 
 But he's not senseles enough to start scolding people about their houses right away, particularly when something about this particular man intrigues him. "Say!" Muradin asks as he rubs his beard thoughtfully. "Are ye a gnome? Ye look like one! A very tall gnome!" Well, might as well address the elephant in the room, he thinks. 

    No, Obaken stays there like a good little puppy and observes Muradin curiously. So not to worry, Mr. Dwarf, the Polterpup is staying put!

    Hilariously, the yell up about his apology gets the green-clad man to cower a bit, and he emits a quiet, "Waa!" Though he straightens up once Muradin stops being 'RAAAR!'. Bit of a pattern here!

    Though the mention of the house being in disrepair gets a bit of a wince. "Well, uh... I do try to keep it livable. But too much shuffling around and the ghosts get upset."

    And then... Gnome? "...A what? No, I'm a human... from the Mushroom Kingdom." He's noticed humans are a bit different elsewhere...

 
 Unfortunately for Luigi, there is a very small chance of Muradin ever not being on 'RAAAAR' mode. The dwarf is incredibly boisterous and even withouth his weapons out in his hands, there is a certain swagger about him of one that is utterly brazen in his actions. He might have apologized for breaking in, but Luigi can rest assured that now that he's inside his house, Muradin is going to make himself comfortable. 
 
 "Ghosts!? Ye got a problem with ghosts, mate??" Case in point, Luigi gets all of Muradin's attention as he mentions his house being well and truly haunted, just as Muradin initially suspected. However, instead of walking up the stairs like normal people, Muradin vaults upwards and clears the distance from the ground floor all the way to the second floor in one jump. He's pretty nimble for such a short stocky guy, in fact, he kind of move similarly to a certain red clad sibling of Luigi. The stout dwarf lands feet first in front of Luigi with a fierce grin on his face, now that he has been told there are possibly hostile undead about. "If ye got problems with ghosts I can help ye with that, mate! Me hamma' can bash spirits as well as it can bash orc skulls!" Boasts Muradin, and brings back his hammer to light just to show off his power. 
 
 Said hammer is rested on his shoulder soon after though, as Luigi explains that he is in fact a human and not a gnome. "Really? A human ye say?" He looks at Luigi up and down whilst stroking his beard. "Nevah seen a human as fey looking as yeh." Luigi is welcome to take that as a compliment though. 

Luigi is (of course) startled by the sudden leap up to the second floor landing, and he jumps back a bit, falling over onto his rear. He's quick to get back up, though, particularly because there seems to be a misunderstanding, and he seems to have caused it! He shakes his head, also shaking his hands before him, in a negative gesture. "Oh no! No, there's not a problem with them. Not anymore," he tries to explain. "They're friendly now. They live here too; it's their house just as much as mine."

He tilts his head a little at the mention of 'fey-looking'. He isn' sure what that means, but it doesn't SEEM to be an insult. Then again, it's hard to tell with this one. Still, he notes, "Well, ah... thank you?" Though he does further explain, "Humans from my world look... a little different from other worlds' humans. I'm not sure why."

Suddenly the temperature starts to drop a little -- not enough to make it unpleasant, though. And Obaken starts to wag its tail and bark happily at one of the doors. Without bothering to open it, a ghost comes through -- it looks like an old man with a bit of a widow's peak, dressed in a dark purple coat with tails, a light purple vest, and a pink bowtie. He holds a candle in hand. "Ah, Master Luigi, you have a guest? Shall I prepare tea?"

 
 Sharing a house with undead? What ludicrous idea! There is that ghost pupper, Muradin guesses, but it does seem to be pretty mindless and people in Azeroth used to take all manners of animal companions, so that in on itself doesn't seem like a very outlandish idea to the Mountain King. But to willingly share a house with ghosts? 
 
 All the signs are pointing to Necromancer. 
 
 Now, Muradin is not one to jump to conclusions like that and try to start attacking Luigi immediatly. After all, he is a veteran commander, and impulsive behaivor like that can get himself and innocent people killed. Besides, Luigi has been nothing but friendly, and this is a new world after all, not following the rules of Azeroth. 
 
 But as the temperature in the room seems to drop, Muradin can recognize the signs pretty well that a powerful undead is approaching. He readies his warhammer Mithrios and looks over to the door as he grasps his weapon in two hands. Indeed, there is another ghost that enters, an intelligent one at that! But he seems to be.. the butler? 
 
 Muradin shoots Luigi a furrowed eyebrow look. "Did that bloke just call you Master?" All of the red flags are being triggered right now for the dwarf as he tries to make sense of things. "Mate, if yer a Warlock or somethin' ye can just say it. I won't judge." Openly, Muradin mentally adds. 

Luigi gives a sheepish look as the ghost of what is clearly a butler enters the room. Though as Muradin asks his question, Luigi blinks. "War... lock?" He might not have heard this word before. He just tries to explain, "No, the ghosts were all here when I came here. We didn't all get along at first, but once they weren't under King Boo's control, it was okay. You see, the ghosts in Evershade Valley are usually pretty friendly! Though they're mischievous."

And then he remembers the butler! "Ah! Oh, that's okay, Shivers, I can..." Pause. "W-well, if the, uh... guest wants tea?" He looks at Muradin and asks, "Would you like some tea?" Quietly, he adds, "It gives Shivers something to do, and he likes being a butler."

 
 Things are moving a wee bit fast for Muradin here. He doesn't like undead, or ghosts in the best of situations, not only because he finds them unnerving, but also because they bring back very painful memories of his Northrend expedition and the ultimate demise, and corruption, of his apprentince. However, as a warrior, he is always in full control of his emotions and he would be remiss to try and lash out on Luigi because of his PTSD. He is the one that broke in after all, if things escalate its his fault, not Luigi's, and the shame of dishonoring the dwarves of Khaz Modan by making a fool of himself is in big part what makes him reign in. 
 
 Instead, he tries to focus on what he has seen thus far. This bloke has been friendly, and he assures that the ghosts around here are friendly. Thus far there has been no reason for Muradin to doubt him. 
 
 The dwarf straightens up, no longer in an aggressive stance, and he once again dismisses his hammer, dissapearing from his hands in a flash of light. "Aye.. sure, I could go for some tea." He says rubbing his beard again. Fortunately, though Muradin is also quite accostumed to doing things himself, he also happens to be royalty and no stranger to having servants. He'll let the butler ghost do his job if it makes him feel better. 
 
 "Donna think I introduced meself, by the way." Says Muradin, realizing he still doesn't even know the identity of his host. "I'm Muradin Bronzebeard, and I'm new in this world." The dwarf offers a hand to shake. 

Friendly, yes. But he also seems to be a little scared of Muradin, to be honest. Then again Luigi kind of has that air to him, that he's just nervously waiting for the fecal matter to impact with a ventilation fan in his location. The anxiety when a toaster takes too long to pop up, but all the time, it seems.

Though as Muradin agrees to the tea, and offers his name and a handshake, Luigi seems to relax. He accepts the handshake, with... oddly a surprisingly firm one. Kind of. It feels a little like someone who's unsure he should clasp the other person's hand any more tightly. But Muradin's likely stronger grip doesn't seem to bother Luigi in the slightest. "Good to meet you!" he offers cheerily.

Looking to Shivers, he notes, "Tea will be good! Thank you, Shivers!"

Shivers bows -- which is a trick when you have no legs and you're floating in the air. "Very good sir. Will you require the tea room?"

Luigi blinks, in realization. "Oh... that's right." Looking to Muradin, he notes sheepishly, "Well, er... the tea room is on the second floor, but there are a lot more ghosts in the house. It's probably a little... weird. So, do you want to sit in the foyer instead? that way they won't jump out and startle you?"

 
 A good strong grip is a great way to find out what sort of mettle a bloke has. Or at least, lacking any way of truly discerning aligment, its the best way Muradin can tell if Luigi is genuine in his welcoming, or if he's trying to lead him to some kind of trap. We've all heard that story, a random traveler tries to take shelter in what looks like an abandoned mansion, only to be taken in by a vampire host and be turned into a thrall. 
 
 Yeah.. but for some reason, Luigi doesn't strike Muradin as Vampire Lord material. Muradin has seen and /killed/ Vampire Lords, and the way Luigi just keeps shaking in his boots and seems to cringe every time Muradin gets close-- like he's scared he's about to get punched in the face. Well, let's just say Luigi resembles more a bullied kid than a Noble of the Night as they call them. Though he has a good grip for sure, there is more to this fellow than meets the eye, but Muradin is pretty certain he's not a vampire. 
 
 "Oh no! Put me right in the thick of it, mate!" Muradin scoffs at the idea of being startled by ghosts. Unlike Luigi, he looks awfully brave about everything, almost to the point like he's trying to compensate for something. "I'm no stranger ta ghosts, but somethin' tells me I've ne'er seen yer kind of phantoms ya got 'ere! I wanna see some weird stuff tonight! Let's go!" 
 
 Tea room it is, it seems. 

If it helps, Luigi has no discernable fangs. His teeth are all pretty even and human-like. And there is that whole 'constant skittishness', too. It's difficult to think this guy would have anything bad planned. However, with Muradin's answer, Luigi nods, and looks to Shivers. "We'll go into the tea room and wait. Thank you, Shivers!"

Shivers answers, "Of course, sir." And then he vanishes back through the door, again without opening it.

Luigi looks a little worried. "...I hope he remembers to open the door when he's carrying the tray..." he sighs. Though of course! It's time to lead Muradin up to the tea room! "The tea room's this way," Luigi notes, and heads up to the second floor proper. Fortunately it's not a long way.

Though as he turns right off of the second floor landing, Muradin may be able to tell that the doorway there looks newer than the rest of the architecture. And mainly to fill the silence so it's not too awkward, Luigi explains, "I asked them if it was okay to make this doorway here into the east side of the mansion's second floor. Otherwise we'd have to go back down to the first floor and find a different staircase up to the second floor. It was a really roundabout route."

Also yeah. There's gonna be little green, red, and purple ghosts that will jump out and try to startle Muradin. Whether it works on the dwarf or not? It very definitely works on Luigi! And that 'more to this fellow than meets the eye' feeling might rear its ugly head again, because... well, when he jumps, he freaking JUMPS! He jumps really high, almost high enough to hit his head on the ceiling! But there will be little more from him than a startle, and he'll seem to have no hard feelings, chuckling a bit nervously with the ghosts.

 
 That's a good point about incorporeal ghosts trying carry around material things. Muradin never thought about that, though its safe to say the only time ghosts are in his mind is to curse them, or when he happens to be fighting them. Either way, Muradin follows Luigi along and he does in fact the newly made doorway, hard to miss it with how different it looks with the rest of the house. "Ah! So they do let ye improve things 'round 'ere! Huh..." Muradin's jaw clenches a little as he thinks of something. "So if that Shivers bloke calls ye Master, are ye not the owner of the house? Why ask the ghosts for anything when it's clear yer in charge?" More than making small talk as they head into the tea room, Muradin is genuingly curious about this whole mortal/undead partnership. Sure, the Forsaken of his world are undead creatures that actively associate with living things.. but those living beings happen to be Horde monsters so he always piled them in the same category. A so called human and ghosts living together on the other hand... 
 
 As they travel along and are suddenly assailed by ghosts.. Muradin looks more upset at the ghosts trying to startle him than actually being scared. However, what really seems to surprise him is the way Luigi reacts. Why, the guy just screams and jumps a few feet up in the air. Now there's real athletic proweress there! But more importantly... "Mate! Why are ye so scared of these sods?? I thought ye lived with 'em??" Muradin has never met someone quite so...... craven. 

Luigi blinks at the question from Muradin about him being 'in charge'. "Shivers just wants someone to act as master of the house. He wants to be someone's butler," he notes. "The rest of the ghosts, they were here first. They lived and died here. It'd be mean of me to kick them out. I mean... even if I did have to fight them all once, but that was because of King Boo. So with the rest of them, it's less me as 'master' and more as a roommate that happens to not be a ghost."

As for being scared of them? "W-well... I'm not, really," he insists. "Just when they jump out like that, it startles me." Meekly, he admits, "I've always startled easily. But I know they don't mean any harm. It's just the jumping out like tha -- AAH!"

Yeah. Another ghost, a skinny blue one, pops out of a doorway and makes a weird face. And as Luigi yelps, it starts to laugh. It's not a malicious 'MUAHAHA', no. It's more like the giggling of... well, a mischievous kid, like Luigi said.

And Luigi will join in the laughing in moment, once the start passes. Though it's a bit quieter, to note. So no, he's probably not really SCARED of them, since he doesn't really seem to react apart from the initial jumpscare.

Soon they'll be at the tea room. It's a well-lit room, the light from the chandelier giving the room a gold-colored glow. There's a large table with chairs, and another smaller one off to the left of the room; this second table is against the wall and has no chairs. It's probably for setting food on before it's served.

 
 "Hmm.. I see.." That does seem like a more plausible situation. If the ghosts just happened to die here and are bound to the place then its less likely that anyone is controlling them and they're more just hanging out with Luigi. A curious situation, and certainly not something that would be common in his home of Azeroth, but Muradin can certainly see how something like that could happen. Ghosts though don't usually stick around the material plane for long, unless they are forcefully bound to a place or they haven't fulfilled something they should have in life. There oughta be something that keeps me beholden to this house, but Muradin is certainly not going to ask, he's no necromancer, or even a priest for that matter, right now he's just focused on getting some tea-- and maybe something to eat! 
 
 "Ahuh.." As for Luigi not actually being scared? Well, sure, Luigi -says- he's not scared, but they way he's acting is down right silly. Muradin is kind of a legendary warrior in his world, and he can't help but think poorly of someone who looks about ready to bolt or downright faint in the face of danger, bad enough knowing that there's no actual danger here but the ghosts are essentially just pulling pranks on him. The dwarf is starting to think there might be something of an abusive relationship here between Luigi and the ghosts- at least some of them anyhow. "If ye say so!" The dwarf tries hard not to roll his eyes. This Luigi fellow is so silly, but it's not really his place to judge. After all, he's a human sized gnome, there is bound to be some quirkiness here, even if Luigi claims he's fully human. Anyway, at least both parties are laughing! It's just not Muradin's idea of fun, if it were him in Luigi's face he would have slapped a ghost or two around to establish dominance. But then again, that's probably why the ghosts let Luigi hang around with them. 
 
 Once they reach the tea room, Muradin goes to make himself comfortable in a chair-- although he checks if there might be a ghost hiding under the table or something before sitting. "Hey lad, can ye ask yer butler if he can bring anything else besides tea? I'm soddin' starving 'ere!" Of course, what kind of host doesn't feed his guests right? And Muradin, well, dwarves are known for being voracious eaters. 

Whatever the situation with the ghosts, Luigi seems pretty fine with them being around. And aside from the pranks, they seem fine with him being around. Also yes, as he sits down on one of the chairs, some ghostly white arms rise up from the ice bucket on the table against the wall. But this time Luigi doesn't jump that high; he just kind of starts in his chair, and draws his arms close to himself for a moment, with a quiet startled sound.

Though he does have it in him to concentrate on what Muradin's got to say! "Oh don't worry," Luigi assures, on the subject of food. "Shivers always makes what he calls a 'proper' tea. So he'll bring food. It'll be 'afternoon' foods, like little sandwiches and scones, but they're good." Pause. "Oh, it's not ghost food, though. It's living people food. So no need to worry about that either."

 
 "Hah! It better be, lad! I canna eat anything that's incorporeal if ye know wot I mean!" Muradin, at least, is still capable of having a sense of humor, unlike the stereotypical gruff and surly dwarves. He cackles at the idea of trying to eat ghost food -- it just sounds funny to him -- and once the chairs and the table check out free of ghosts on his side, he goes to sit down. Hey! He's getting the hang of this stuff! It's almost like being in a dungeon, gotta check for traps and hidden enemies all the time, except instead of dying horribly for not noticing something the ghosts just reach out and tickle you or something. 
 
 Anyway! The whole situation is still pretty weird to Muradin, if a little humorous. 
 
 "So! Do ye blokes get any fightin' 'round 'ere?? I've been in this world for two whole days and I haven't bashed any skulls in! I'm startin' ta get a little antsy! Aye??" All these undead and nothing to kill-- very strange! 

Fortunately the ghosts seem to be leaving Muradin alone for the most part. They've seen his reaction when they jumped out in the hallways -- he didn't startle. Though there are a few that seem to be circling him a little, as if they're looking at him. It's a lot like... like curious fish, honestly. Curious children/fish that are around a person they don't know. Though he may need to bat one away from his beard, since it seems like the one ghost wants to zip underneath it.

Something to fight? Luigi rubs his chin in thought. "There's a fair amount of things that need fighting if you follow the Vines," he notes. "Sometimes it seems like they're putting travelers who can fix problems in places where the problems are, so those problems can be fixed. It's a little weird, really. But I don't mind, I like knowing that I've helped someone else."

Yeah, it seems like this... Gnome-blooded human (or human-blooded Gnome, maybe?) is an adventurer of some kind. Against all odds, possibly. But yeah, he talks like he's done this 'follow the Vines' thing before.

 
 Muradin can appreciate the ghosts' determination to scare him somehow, but Muradin is simply too much of a hardened warrior to be concerned by these cartoony looking ghosts. He's certainly someone that has been greatly desynthesized to terror. In fact, that may be way he seems so eager to fight and eat, because those are one of the few emotions that he can truly feel anymore and he's latching on to them as hard as he can. That being said, Muradin makes a point to not being a stick in the mud and if the ghosts still want to play-- he's going to play! 
 
 As one tries to zip under his beard, he makes a grab for it. If Muradin manages to put his mitts on the ghost he'll start stretching the ghost's cheeks, kind of how a grown up would treat an unrully kid. 
 
 Whether he manages to put the ghost in his place or not, Muradin fixates on Luigi telling him that there is, in fact, stuff that he can fight around here. "Really!? Ye think ye can guide me to any of those places? That is if yer not scared, of course." Muradin is still not sure about this guy. He wants to think that Luigi is a capable adventurer since he has somehow managed to 'tame' these ghosts. But all that squeamish attitude still makes him doubt Luigi's adventuring capability. 

The ghost emits a startled squawk -- indeed, Muradin does manage to grab the ghost. It had been physically manifested in order to push the beard out of the way to zip under it. So, since it was very much a physical presence at that point, it's grabbed! It looks at Muradin with an obviously confused look on its face... in the instant before Muradin starts pulling! This doesn't seem to hurt the ghost, but it does definitely surprise it! It flails its gangly arms around a little, making a confused ghostly noise!

Luigi can't help snicker, and raises a hand up to cover his mouth to stifle it a little. "I'm sorry," he finally says. "I keep trying to tell them that not everyone is going to react like I do." As for taking him to find somewhere to fight? Luigi looks a bit less certain of that. But after a moment, he does nod. "I can try. It's never a sure thing with the Vines, but it's not terribly unlikely. I mean... I do try to talk my way out of a fight... I don't want to hurt anybody. But sometimes it's things instead of people, and sometimes those things need destroying."