(060) A Burglar About?

Waysoftheearth's Hinterlands PBP

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Post by ehiker133 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:38 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

Desmond stops at the door and listens at it. He also examines the hinges and handle to see if the door has seen use recently, if possible.

If all seems safe, he will open the door to see what is inside.
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

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Post by ehiker133 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:18 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

| Ah, my mistake. Desmond HAS been to this door before. This is the infirmary, where the body was found on the table and the nice vials of acid, of which Desmond has the most potent, were procured. Then, within a room inside this room is where the weird contraption with the skin or organs stretched in a large frame was as well as the trap door where Desmond "found" (ahem) the first trap door down to the shadows' lair.

Oh, wait a second.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The party KNEW of the treasure down in the shadows' lair before now, didn't they? DIDN'T THEY??? When Dorgan used the marrowstone in the lowest level of the library and it pointed to a lode (load?) of silver some yards north by northwest of that location. That would maybe be just about where the shadows' lair is! Ha ha!! AH HA!!!

Ahhhh... it all comes together.

Er, hmmmm... Excepting the part where a) one trap door is tied to a section of the abbey near the crypt that is only opened by the Enigma in the staff of Thuul (and, thus, is presumably associated with the abbey) and then there is b) a trap door that is tied to a statue of a wolfmanthing that predates the abbey (and, thus, is presumably NOT associated with the abbey), leading to the SAME PIT! Unless the wolfman cult is somehow tied to the abbey early in its inception and this information is hidden (or lost) from most of the current members. But maybe not from the Mother Superior, eh? Next time Desmond sees her, he's gonna look real closely into her eyes. And check her feet. But she might be innocent of it all. Might be...

Either way, it's all pretty f'ing brilliant and entertaining and I love it. I bloody love it. Ah, cheers, Simon. Good stuff here.

So, to modify my earlier post... |


"Ah," Desmond whispers as he views the door and recalls the infirmary. "This door IS familiar to us, Mondes. Leads to the infirmary with the..." He shudders, "dissected body and the stairs to the crypt. So no need to explore them again except to make sure our friend isn't shut away inside."

Desmond is going to check these rooms real quick to make sure The Gustave hasn't been shut in for safe keeping.

| And while checking out the trap door (and making a grand entrance to the others by coming down the other trap door chute) is highly tempting, that is all meta-knowledge he doesn't have, so he'll just close the door behind him and check further on down the hall. |
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

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Post by waysoftheearth » Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:07 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

| You seem to have pieced some of it together correctly, although perhaps not quite all of it...

From the lobby (the crossbow trap/front door room), the "northerly" passage leads directly to an intersection which continues "northerly" and also forks "westerly".

The "westerly" route leads to the both the library (on the left) and the infirmary (on the right)--heading from the lobby toward the chapel.

The "northerly" route runs instead around the back of infirmary and hasn't been taken yet as far as I can recall.

The shadows pit is an ancient site associated with the original structure. The abbey is a newer layer built over the original structure; the new engineers needed to build in a protection for the reliquary, and took advantage of the fact that there was already an existing cavity beneath the reliquary. They didn't much "need" to know the hows and whys of it, and their employers (the Sisters) didn't want them poking around too much either--they wanted the reliquary to remain secret, and its protections even more so.

So... the upshot of all that is: the door to Desmond's left is not a door he has used previously. |
[f=32]Golgildir the Elf Medium (MV 12", AC 9, HD 1, hp 1/1, AL N) great cloak, lantern; spells: color spray; scrolls: sleep, sleep, charm person
Hirelings: Georges; torch[/f]

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Post by ehiker133 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:34 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

| Then I guess I'm confused as to the location of the infirmary. It isn't on any of the mud maps. So where should it be on the mud map showing the lobby? Is it after the stairs on the right? |

Desmond resumes with examining the door and examining it for use.
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

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Post by waysoftheearth » Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:59 am

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

| |
ehiker133 wrote:| Then I guess I'm confused as to the location of the infirmary. It isn't on any of the mud maps. So where should it be on the mud map showing the lobby? Is it after the stairs on the right? |
|
I just went back and re-read thread 52; you were correct. You have tried this door before, and it does indeed lead to the infirmary and the secret trap door that goes down to the reliquary (my apologies for any confusion).
You have not yet progressed farther along the passageway itself however.
Nor has anyone gone down the stair that is the "westerly" passage (before the door to the library--from your side). |

ehiker133 wrote:Desmond resumes with examining the door and examining it for use.
The door opens without fuss... inside is the ruinous infirmary where the battle with the giant ooze laid waste to much of the furnishings, including the cold slab. It appears that someone has picked through the wreckage since then, and at least cleared a path through the room. A faint tang of smoke can still be detected.
[f=32]Golgildir the Elf Medium (MV 12", AC 9, HD 1, hp 1/1, AL N) great cloak, lantern; spells: color spray; scrolls: sleep, sleep, charm person
Hirelings: Georges; torch[/f]

Posts: 2128
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:33 pm
Location: Just west of St. Louis

Post by ehiker133 » Thu Aug 28, 2014 1:18 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

| No worries, WOTE. Sorry, I should have mentioned that I'd been reading through (52) for a while before I came to my conclusion. In any case, onward... |

Desmond notes the path to the next room and a pang of panic washes over him as he wonders if the morbid contraption with the internal organs might be set up once more. Lacking a body in the first room of the infirmary, though, he is emboldened enough to quickly check it out. He does not spend more than a minute swiftly moving through the first room to peek into the second room, to make sure The Gustave is not secured there, possibly as a new subject for the abhorrent device they previously destroyed. Knowing time is of the essence, if he does not see anything notable with a quick scan of the second room, he quickly returns to the hallway and moves further north to explore uncharted territory.
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

Posts: 2128
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:33 pm
Location: Just west of St. Louis

Post by ehiker133 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:01 am

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

"Wait a tick..." Desmond murmurs quietly to himself. He brings the torch down lower to the floor of the first room of the infirmary to examine it more closely. Yeah, he can see it now...

"Mondes, look! It's the insides, er... the residue of... I mean, the remains of that ooze what ate Dorgan's boots! Remember? We were blind when we left last time, 'cause of that stupid warded secret door, so we never got a proper look at it! I've always wondered what the insides of an ooze looked like..."

He scrapes at bits of residue with the tip of his dagger, then quickly draws it back as he recalls what the others said about the ooze eating Dorgan's axe. He looks at the tip of his dagger and lets out a sigh of relief. Apparently, that only happens when the creature is alive. Then he remembers another tidbit of info the others mentioned. "Hey, those things dissolve metals, but not stone, right? Well... gems is stones, ain't they? I wonder if..."

Mondes grunts in understanding. Never mind the missing dainty, this is his kind of hunt.

Four eyes suddenly scan the floor in the torchlight, looking over the areas covered in ooze residue to see if anything stands out as unusual or solid where there should not be anything. Desmond's nose has an itch...
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

Posts: 16902
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:15 am
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Post by waysoftheearth » Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:54 am

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

It has been a good while since the ooze battle; weeks. The remains of the ooze itself have gone hard, shriveled, and leathery. Someone has made a cursory effort to "clean up" most of the mess here--or at least get it out of the most direct route across the room to the opposite door.

d6

Desmond/Mondes put their collective eyes to the task of sifting the mess for anything worthwhile... but after a minute of poking about they come up empty.

| What now? |
[f=32]Golgildir the Elf Medium (MV 12", AC 9, HD 1, hp 1/1, AL N) great cloak, lantern; spells: color spray; scrolls: sleep, sleep, charm person
Hirelings: Georges; torch[/f]

Posts: 2128
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:33 pm
Location: Just west of St. Louis

Post by ehiker133 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:15 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

Shrugging, they put an ear to the north door, the one to the second infirmary room, to see if they can hear anything. If not, they open the door and peek in.

If nothing seems "unusual", like the contraption working again or The Gustave tied up on the floor, then they quietly leave the infirmary rooms and continue down the hallway headed north by northeast.
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

Posts: 16902
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:15 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by waysoftheearth » Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:29 pm

Re: (060) A Burglar About?

As Desmond/Mondes approaches the inner door, he notes that it hangs slightly ajar.

...listening near to the door 1d6 he thinks he might, maybe, be hearing a very quiet breathing sound...
[f=32]Golgildir the Elf Medium (MV 12", AC 9, HD 1, hp 1/1, AL N) great cloak, lantern; spells: color spray; scrolls: sleep, sleep, charm person
Hirelings: Georges; torch[/f]

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