(060) A Burglar About?

[waysoftheearth]

| The sacks weigh about 10lb each, so they're two nearly-full small sacks. 20lb total for the pair of them, and they require a hand each to carry--unless you put them in something or tie them to something.

A backpack can carry about 30lb, but it might be plausible to lash things to the outside of a pack to create a "superpack"... |

[ehiker133]

Using another one of his fishing lines, Desmond ties the two sacks together. Then he carefully slips it over his left shoulder, with one bag in front and one in back. He picks up the cage with his left hand, then opens the door a bit to peek out into the courtyard and make sure the coast is clear before he heads out and makes his way into the chapel.

[waysoftheearth]

This done, all appears quiet in the courtyard, so Desmond/Mondes crosses the open ground at a scurry, and reaches the makeshift-bridge over the hissing chapel moat without incident. The great double door there stands stoutly shut.

[ehiker133]

Desmond skirts the wall, making his way to the rubble to gain entrance into the chapel. Once he is there and feeling more secure that nobody can sneak up on him, he tucks away in the rubble and spends a few moments looking over the book in the black leather to see if he can tell anything about it - is it a holy book? a journal? a tome of spell caster incantations? something else?

[waysoftheearth]

Perched upon the pile of rubble that was once an altar, Desmond/Mondes has a better look at the leather bound book. Untying the dusty strap that binds it, he opens the first page... and sees a bunch of neat lettered writing spanning the leaves. It isn't a script he knows, but he's pretty sure it's the type of writing Josiane's church-folk use. As he skims the pages, a long, long scroll anchored in the rear cover of the book unfurls and rolls out all the way down to the floor. It's covered in green and gold and silver illumination, and the script is something different... Des reckons he might make something of it... hmm...

d6=6! Desmond successfully identifies the scroll as a Ward Against Undead

...it's some kind of prayer offering protection against the living dead!

[ehiker133]

"Excellent!" Desmond thinks to himself, "Should come in handy if we ever find ourselves going up against anything that ain't alive no more!"

He carefully rolls the scroll back up and tucks it back inside the book. Maybe this will pacify Josiane's ire when he gets back!

He tucks the book back into his bag, slings the coin bags back over one shoulder, and checks to make sure the coast is clear inside the chapel before entering. If it is clear, he enters.

[waysoftheearth]

The way is clear... (in fact, the remains of the altar are already inside the chapel).

What lies ahead is the great crater in the chapel floor, wherein a circling stone stair leads down into the Basal...

[ehiker133]

| Ah, sorry, thought he was still on the rubble; didn't note that he'd slipped in and hidden behind the altar. |

"Let's be cautious, Mondes," Desmond whispers.

They approach the stairs and descend, slipping into the shadows as they do so as to not be detected, if at all possible. Who knows what is down here...