(052) Reckoning the Abbey

[waysoftheearth]

Josiane stows the tome in her back reverently, none the less, while Gustave empties pastry crumbs from his.

Desmond/Mondes stare, mesmorised, by the water in the silver basin as if on the verge of plunging their faces into it...

Ulric, meanwhile assays the staff. To his eyes -- versed in the practicing of ensorcelling of artifacts -- it seems a modest thing. A tall, straight staff, somewhat tapered so that the foot is an inch thing while the head is two. The whole of its length is spiralled with glittering white and green cord, the foot shod in a steel clasp, and the head surmounted with a fist-sized silver dome upon which stands a double-fist sized Enigma of Thuul. It would appear to be a religious rather than sorcerous thing.

The statue the supports it appears to be an aged nun whose bent back leans upon the staff. It seems that should he remove the staff, the old nun would fall prostrate upon the floor. But of course, she is entirely of stone and would not fall.

[Tonneau]

Gustave watches the pastry flakes drift to the floor, lamenting their loss and the fact that they remind him of how long it has been since he had a decent feed.

His stomach grumbles (somewhat harmoniously) in accord.

"We should grab these other trinkets and get out of here", he says as Josiane gently inserts the tome into her pack, "if you have no objections to a few pastry crumbs on your bowl I'll stash that in here", he adds, indicating his now (largely) vacant pack.

"Then, let us go forwth and see if there is anything in this place we can eat - I havent been this hungry since Duke Pugnee's chef - who cultivated a personal odour of fermented basilisk - fell into the oven at young Felicitiy's wedding, making the boar positively inedible ..."

He casts an eye at Desmond/Mondes, who's twin heads appear to be salivating over the water bowl, "So...are you going to drink that or empty it out, my doubly-endowed comrade?", he says with raised brow.

[mushgnome]

"Don't drink the water! It's probably poison!" mutters Invisible Highbough.

[danhem]

Ulric sighs as he concludes his study of the staff. Not quite what he was looking for.

Ulric then commences to search the nave of the staff looking for any signs of hidden compartments at the base of the statue or along the walls. He also tries to discern the source of the mysterious glowing.

"Where are Armando and Guntram?" Ulric asks. "Let's not assume that just because this place is hidden that it does not also contain hidden places."

[ehiker133]

Desmond looks up and replies quite audibly, trying to disguise a faint clinking noise, "Mondes and I searched the walls and didn't find anything. But... we didn't yet look at the statues themselves."

[coffee]

Desmond looks up and replies quite audibly, trying to disguise a faint clinking noise, "Mondes and I searched the walls and didn't find anything. But... we didn't yet look at the statues themselves."

"Well, then," Dieter says, "look at the statues."

But his eyes never leave their roving patrol of the room.

[ehiker133]

Desmond looks up and replies quite audibly, trying to disguise a faint clinking noise, "Mondes and I searched the walls and didn't find anything. But... we didn't yet look at the statues themselves."

"Well, then," Dieter says, "look at the statues."

But his eyes never leave their roving patrol of the room.

Desmond nods his heads as he/they move over to the statues and examine them more closely for hidden compartments or levers or...

[doctorx]

Once Desmond/Mondes is satisfied the statue is clear of traps, Josiane will move to remove the staff from its hands with all appropriate reverence.

[waysoftheearth]

Josiane removes the staff without incident while Ulric examines the arch and back of the nave, to identify the light source. It's a near-magical thing; as though the air itself were glowing. Ulric suspects the use of an enchantment not dissimilar to a kind he himself knows for illumination. Meanwhile, Josiane notes that the Enigma atop the staff bears a slight... ding in one side.

Suddenly there is a splash, and all turn their necks swiftly to see the dual-noggined Hobbit quenching his thirst in the silver bowl.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" the pair of them gasp contentedly as they draw back, then look about to see everyone staring at them.


"What?" The Hobbit(s) seem unaffect, if perhaps somewhat wet... the water was cool, clear, and crisp as a mountain spring.

[waysoftheearth]

d6