Kerim attempts to open the lock but fails, so 'Callum's Key' is bought into
play. The hollow booming of the beam against the door resounds around the
courtyard, but eventually the door gives way.
Inside you can see a
single large chamber, with three doorways leading off of it. This was clearly
the main hall of the building, the high ceiling reaching all the way to the
roof. Light streaming in through holes in the roof, and small windows set high
in the walls, allows you to see clearly. The furniture here is intact, although
clearly showing signs of age. Trestle tables surround a central fireplace and
there are benches set to them. A smaller table at the far end has 6 ordinary
chairs and one larger chair set at it. Old and faded tapestries adorn the walls.
There are three sets of stairs leading out of the main room.
Rolf wipes his brow and looks at the newly opened door to the three towered
building. Leading the way into the building, he notices the three other doorways
and the three stairs. "Callum, Kerim, Mandrake and Peter, why don't you three
search this level. Ravn and Elsbeth why don't you take those stairs [by the
kitchen], Madelyn and Zhiri can take those stairs [by the General office], and
Yuri and I will take these [stairs by the Lord's Office]. Edgar, I'd like you to
keep an eye on the approach. Any complaints?" He looks around to see if any wish
to dispute his plans. When at arms, such questioning could mean life or death.
But when things are calm, why not allow all to have their say?
OOC:
Sorry if I'm being pushy, I just figure this is the best way to get the building
searched without spending another three weeks (real time) at it.
OOC Just glad to move it forward :)
Lord's Office
A large
round chamber with a large desk and chair. It also features an armour and
weapons rack, containing a single short sword, and there are a couple of smaller
tables against the walls. There are another four chairs around the walls and
there are tapestries on the walls. There are few rolls of blank velum on one of
the tables. The drawers of the desk are empty. Everything in here is in quite
good condition as it has not been exposed to the elements. In one wall there is
a door leading to a flight of stairs down ...
Kitchen
It's a
fairly standard Kitchen. There are cooks tables a big open roasting fire, with
trivets, cooking utensils, knives and a collection of wooden plates bowls and
mugs. Again it appears that the less portable and more basic stuff has been left
behind, although Peter reckons this could well be a use-able Kitchen. Everything
in here is in quite good condition as it has not been exposed to the elements.
In one wall there is a door leading to a flight of stairs down ...
General Office
there are plain hangings on the walls in this
office. Three tables and a collection of about a dozen chairs make the bulk of
the furniture for this room. There are two armour racks and a large, but empty,
weapon rack. Everything in here is in quite good condition as it has not been
exposed to the elements. In one wall there is a locked door you think from its
position it could lead to a flight of stairs down ...
Lord's
Tower
The stairs lead to a large chamber featuring a large double bed.
There are a number of empty closets to the side of the room and a large locked
chest at the bottom of the bed. Again the walls are decorated with plain
hangings on the walls and there are a number of easy chairs around the walls.
Everything in here is in quite good condition as it has not been exposed to the
elements. In one wall there is a door leading to a flight of stairs up ...
At the top of the stairs is a smaller chamber containing three single beds
and three empty chest. There is a door out onto the rood walkway and holes in
the roof. The furniture here is white old and damaged from exposure to the
elements.
Office Tower
The stairs lead to a large chamber
featuring a double and two single beds. There are a number of empty closets to
the side of the room and a chest at the bottom of the double bed. Again the
walls are decorated with plain hangings on the walls. Everything in here is in
quite good condition as it has not been exposed to the elements. In one wall
there is a door leading to a flight of stairs up ...
At the top of the
stairs is a smaller chamber containing three single beds and three empty chest.
There is a door out onto the roof walkway and holes in the roof. The furniture
here is quite old and damaged from exposure to the elements.
Kitchen
Tower
The stairs lead to a large chamber featuring a double and two
single beds. There are a number of empty closets to the side of the room and a
chest at the bottom of the bed. Again the walls are decorated with plain
hangings on the walls. Everything in here is in quite good condition as it has
not been exposed to the elements. In one wall there is a door leading to a
flight of stairs up ...
At the top of the stairs is a smaller chamber
containing three single beds and three empty chest. There is a door out onto the
roof walkway and holes in the roof. The furniture here is quite old and damaged
from exposure to the elements.
OOC Rather than post so many maps into
the thread - you can get to all the maps from this page ....
http://www.romain.dircon.co.uk/RolePlay/GaliniaGame/Current.htm
Peter heads off with the others to explore the ground floor, although when he
sees the kitchen he turns his attention to searching that - leaving the offices
to the others in the group.
Again much of the more portable or valuable
stuff was gone. All that remained were the larger pots and cooking implements,
and the cheap table ware ....
Initially Peter is confused by the lack of
storage - Until he notices the stairs down to the cellar. "probably kept it
all down there ..." he mumbles to himself.
Callum puts down his 'key' and starts wandering around the ground floor -
he picks up the shortsword in the Lords' Office and tests it's heft before
putting it back in the rack, muttering something about "wee toy swords". He then
follows Peter into the Kitchen, mindful that he's not the best at defending
himself, and sees him regarding the cellar entrance. "Should we be takin' a wee
look down there, do you think?" he asks.
OOC: For more than twenty years I've had characters carrying bloody ten
foot poles around and I never once thought about beefing it up to a ram!
D'oh!
"Well its probably just the food cellar ..." Peter trails off
The short sword is just that. A fairly well balanced short sword shoing some
signs of wear. It should fetch close to a standard price for second hand
weaponry in the market place.
BTW did Callum notice the stairs down in
the Lord's room too (hint :)
Rolf spends several moments looking in closets and [unlocked] chests, under beds and behind wall hangings. Finding little of interest, Rolf returns to the stairs. Coming back down from the heights of the office tower, Rolf calls out, "We found a locked chest, anyone got a better key than Callum's?"
September 26, 2001, 2:03 am
Roll 1, 100 sided di(c)e 1 times.
Add 0 to the result. Drop the lowest 0 di(c)e.
81 = 81
Total = 81
Mandrake looks around the office area at the furniture, emitting a slight
sigh as he note that this is the room of one larger than a gnome (OOC: I
assume). His attention is immediately fixed though when he notices the stairs
leading down; *Ah, perhaps more than a cellar, perhaps an entrance between those
living above and those below* he thinks to himself.
He is just about to
make his way down when he hears Rolf’s call for assistance. With a look back
at the descending stairs he calls back “I’m coming, though Kerim I think has
greater skill in this area”.
Mandrake checks for traps as he awaits
the arrival of the trader “I can find no devices on it” he tells Kerim. (OOC:
81 rolled)
Discovering mostly only small holes in the roof, and gleaning precious little
from what can be seen through them, Edgar swoops back down to rejoin the party
and report his findings.
After Callum's lock-picking approach proves
more successful than Kerim's (if rather more difficult to conceal the attempt
both before and after the fact), he takes to a high beam in the Main Hall in
obedience to Rolf's command, and there he sits, watching and listening, ready to
alert one and all at the first sign of anything untoward.
Kerim smiles politely when he is given praise by Mandrake, though from
politeness as well as a knowledge of his own skills he declines to be held in
higher esteem than the little one.
Never the less Kerim leaves what he
is currently searching, being thoroughly bored with the lack of ordinary, and
saunters over to Rolf.
"No promise can I make that a better key yet were
are to find than that which Callum carries with him"
Laying out a set of
lockpicks he examines the lock and chooses one that he feels is appropriate to
the task.
Kerim carefully chooses a pick and inserts it into the faceplate of the lock.
As he feels for the locking mechanism, he hears a slight click.
However,
his initial thoughts of success are spoiled by a pain in his hand. Looking down
he realises that a small needle has been ejected from the lock plate and is now
embedded in his hand.
OOC:- Kerim 1 point of damage - chest is still
locked.
Elsbeth searches the kitchen tower, wondering to herself who lived here. She looks at Ravn. "I've no skills in opening chests," she admits. "I'd be supposing that we should let the others know. Or should be be trying to break it open with force?"
“Oh no!” Mandrake exclaims as Kerim starts at the needle “How can I
have missed it, here, let me help.
“It looks like it hasn’t caused
too much damage, which may be a little concerning. Is anyone knowledgeable in
dealing with poisons.” Then seeing the concern in Kerim’s eyes he adds “Just
a precaution my friend. Even had it been poisoned, I doubt that it would last so
long.”
Mandrake chastises himself “You do the searching, then you
should take the risks.”
As Elsbath nudges the chest with her foot, making the point about breaking it
open, the lid comes unstuck. After that the chest opens easily, to reveal - that
it is empty.
There is also one locked door. the one that
appears to lead down from the general Office. D'Oh.
Startled by the needle Kerim goes to suck at the sting, but quickly retracts
the action to instead constrict blood flow to the limb with his other hand.
Overcome with fear, for this has never happened to him yet, he casts a
look about for help. Mandrakes comments that such a trap would only be designed
to convey a poison to the inspector gives momentary force to his panic before he
hears Mandrakes second assumption.
He hastily agrees with Mandrake that
the poison, like the spice, will certainly have lost it's potency after such
time and exposure.
Still, Kerim continues to hold onto his hand, and
looks rather like a hunted beast expecting it's last moment.
Unaware of Kerim's predicament, Edgar remains at his perch in the rafters, alert.
Peter takes a quick peek around the door leading out of the Kitchens - there is a stair way leading down to darkeness. He turns and shrugs to Callum, totally unaware of Kerim's predicament.
Ravn shakes his head at Elsbeth's suggestion to advise the others of their
findings.
"What would we report? That we have found nothing but have yet
not searched it all? I say we follow Peter into the basement and see what is
kept there. I expect precious little but the unknown nature of the fate that
befell the ancient inhabitants beckons us to look in every corner, however
tedious the search may seem."
Then he returns downstairs and into the
basement with Peter.