Face//Off
Log Info
- Title: Face//Off
- Emitter: Jinks
- Characters: Dolan, Ravenstongue, Shilde, Telamon
- Place: Noble District
- Time: Wednesday, July 28, 2022, 5:30 PM
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= At a glance around PrP Room: Four =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dolan 3s 5'10" 174 Lb Human Male Brown-haired human with scars down his face. Ravenstongue 0s 5'0" 99 Lb Half-Elf Female Short half-elf girl with violet eyes and black hair. Shilde 28s 4'4" 160 Lb Khazad-Aul Female Tall for a dwarf, long blonde hair in a thick braid, big blue eyes. Telamon 1m 5'6" 140 Lb Half-Elf Male A platinum-blond half-sil man with dancing dark eyes -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As the GM -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Jinks 3'4" 39 Lb Gnome Male A gnomish fellow in fancy garb and jewelry. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Just over two weeks. Seventeen days, in fact, of searching for the abomination that fled its vile deed, feasting on refugees at the market camp. One had been cornered, caught, and destroyed-- but not before it was given opportunity to display its penchant for cunning and trickery. The beast had but on the face of a slain gobber and played the wounded victim. Shilde had seen through the act.
Tracking down shapeshifters was very rarely easy. In a city like Alexandria-- infested with new faces and packed to bursting-- it's been borderline-impossible.
Paranoia runs high and has proven to be a double-edged sword; finding witnesses and leads has been no problem but sifting through the chaff to pluck out useful nuggets of information took effort and time. Neither Cor'lana nor Shilde were willing to forget the task and their reinforcements were just as eager to weed out the villain.
The sorcerers would gladhand, the inquisitor inquire, and druid track. It wasn't a task without interruption-- Cor'lana and Shilde were pulled into the mountains on a mission for the Circle-- but it's been seen to the end!
You stand now before the gates of Glintrock Grounds, the Alexandrian home of a gnomish prospector most often found in the Happy Valley. Unterirdischereichtuemer Glintrock is currently in Alexandria-- only he is not? He's been spotted at soirees but seems to disappear well before his wanton, bon vivant engagement in revelries can be witnessed. He's been seen in the streets but hasn't made time for tea or to call on his friends and neighbors. His business partners don't have any updates on his going concerns.
This, they say, is concerning.
There was a grudging confession from a neighbor unfond of gossip; they'd witnessed Unti stumbling in late with a low-class, refugee-looking woman. Then you'd tracked down his butler to find a distraught lucht who'd been dismissed rather cruelly (and violently!) after decades of service. He'd found work for a Bludguni goblin baron... but how he missed the Glintrock children! And the lovely misses! The butler (Luuk Buttlebest) was also incensed that he seems to've been the only member of staff dismissed so! At least, he hasn't been able to find any of the rest in the city at large.
GAME: Telamon casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 9 DC: 17 GAME: Ravenstongue casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 9 DC: 17
The sun is high, leaving the city hot and bleached of color. The streets are all but abandoned to both avoid the weather and prepare and enjoy the midday meal.
The Glintrock Grounds aren't especially overlarge for the noble's district but still grand when compared to almost anything west of the river. A high wrought iron fence surrounds a tall hedgerow on all four sides of the estate, with a round-topped gate at its southeast corner.
The gate is easily looked through to see a cobblestoned driveway and courtyard, a wooden carriage house and shed, and the front of the two-storey stone manse itself. The ground floor has a massive set of double doors doubtlessly leading into the foyer and a pair of stained glass windows: one depicts a figure in a blue-and-white motif, the other orange and green. Behind the house-- between it and the back hedgerow-- is a steel archway wrapped in blooming vines over a path.
Cor'lana arrives in tow with Telamon dressed in her adventuring attire, not the finery she would normally wear into the noble district--maybe she passes for a servant of Telamon's rather than his wife-to-be. She looks utterly serious as she murmurs a protective incantation, armoring magic forming over her body. Violet eyes look through the gate.
And so does Pothy's blue eyes. The bird is on her shoulder, and he looks a little nervous.
"Should I have Pothy do some sort of scouting?" Cor'lana asks quietly. "Granted, everything about this place just reeks of suspicion."
Telamon studies the domicile with a slightly sour expression. "I really, really hope this thing hasn't had time to create any new undead." He's wearing his deceptively 'noble' garb -- the white blouse, the leather trousers, the boots, and a sash drawn around his waist. But the haversack is slung on his hip, and the circlet on his brow. This is business.
His own magical armor fading back into translucence (but not out of existence), Tel stares in. "That might be a good idea. Have Pothy do an aerial sweep." He looks at the chain wrapped around the inner bars of the gate, not seeing a lock on it. "That seems oddly... insecure," he says, pointing it out.
Knowing that he was going to the nobles' area, Dolan had taken the time to dress up just a little bit, a sash of white and gold velvet criss-crossing over the harness that holds the greatsword, and that over a carefully shined and well-made breastplate. All of this is under the white and gold mantle over his shoulders that proclaims him a servant of Daeus. His hair is carefully trimmed and tamed, not hiding at all the yellow gemstone set into a steel and bronze ring that replaces his ruined eye in the middle of the ruined side of his face. "Probably smart, yeah," he agrees. "Let's see who's around. Could be a trap."
"Pheh. Standin'round outside waitin' fer yer birdie to tell us what's what is goin' t'be jus' as suspicious as walkin' right in," Shilde protests, stepping right up to the gate.. but not yet grabbing the chain. Rocky, her companion, shuffles close and looms over her, though his expression is more akin to oblivious glee than the dwarf's sour disposition. Of course, the suspicion she talks about might have been allayed had she prettied herself up so she fit in better with the others, but some things are just asking a bit much of the rough hewn dwarf woman.
The druid does give the gate a little shake. "I'm figurin' we just' walk right in. Pretty confident 'bout our information an' got a trick what might give us our answer right away."
Cor'lana looks at Shilde and... Well, that's a good argument. She nods. "You're right," she says. "We're in the Noble District, after all, and even with Dolan here looking very official and obviously in service to the Morning Lord, we might get a nail-biting noble calling the guard on us."
She looks to the chain that's not so hot on the security front when Telamon points it out. "So. Who wants to break the chain? Do the honors? I would, but... Well, look at me." Cor'lana vaguely gestures over herself to emphasize that she's not exactly muscularly endowed.
Telamon stares carefully at the chained gate, brow furrowed, before shaking his head. "Not picking up any kind of magical traces. If there's a trap, it's amazingly well hidden." He inclines his head to Shilde. "I think you may be right, though. Let's go pay the gentleman... if he's still alive... a visit. See if we can interest him in some chit-chat."
He points to the chain. "It's not locked. Just unwrap the chain from around it. Like Lana says, we don't exactly fit in and I hate having to explain things to the watch."
The gate rattles and the chain's links clatter but it's wrapped securely enough that one length doesn't come free and the whole thing spools down towards the ground. It would be a simple enough task to unloop the chain and push the gate open.
"Andie would keel over laughing if she saw me looking official, as you put it." Dolan's cheeky grin suddenly lights up the mobile side of his face, and tugs at the scarred side. He folds his arms across his chest, but when the chain rattles and doesn't come free immediately, he steps forward as if to help.
Druid and Inquisitor; one loosening the loops of the chain, freeing the links from self binding while the other pulls it free. Teamwork makes the dreamwork! In short order the chain comes free, leaving the gates unfettered. A thick fingered dwarven hand then takes hold of one of the bars of the gates again, and this time gives it a hearty shove... even as she does so, she gets shouldered aside a little bit as Rocky wedges himself past her and into the courtyard, sniffing around furiously.
Telamon watches the chain come free, letting out a breath as nothing happens, other than Rocky shouldering his way in and sniffing around. "Yeah, now would be a good time to learn someone fell down a well instead of getting eaten by a crazy undead abomination," he muses.
He flexes his fingers, eyes darting, as he follows in the wake of the burly hound, his expression nervous.
GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (9)+6: 15
Rocky keeps his nose right to the ground, seeming several times to catch something.. then follow it to nothing, returning to near the gates. There's a low rumble of a growl which Shilde explains as "'e's found somethin' 'e don't like. Figurin' chances are its what we're lookin' for." Unfortunately, try as he might, the shaggy dog can't seem to pick a direction, and the growl gets replaced by a frustrated whine and a forlorn gaze cast back at Shilde and the others.
Cor'lana keeps close to Telamon all the while. The two sorcerers are like two peas in a pod.
Three, if one were to consider Pothy. He watches Rocky do his work with curiosity, and when the shaggy dog comes up with something, both Cor'lana and Pothy nod in understanding. "I guess we'd better just... break in the door, if that's confirmation, and that seems like it's confirmation enough," Cor'lana says.
A fine carriage in black lacquer and silver trim sits idle in the garage straight ahead next to an empty stall and vacant post for a horse's tether. A small, low-roofed shed is attached.
To your left are the stained glass windows with vaguely gnomish-shaped figures and heavy, carved double doors of the ground floor. The upper level has a massive extended-halfround window with diamond-shaped iron latticework over the entrance and additional, smaller archtop windows run around the building.
The garden path behind the house to the north is cloaked in dappled shadow.
Dolan's lips twist into a frown as he watches Rocky, and he follows the others further inside towards the house. At lenth, he reaches for the symbol of the dragon at his neck, and murmurs a prayer to it. "Holy Knight, does evil lurk in this place?" He looks up, distracted, but his gaze keen.
"Nothing so far," he adds after a few breaths' worth of looking around. I'll keep looking."
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Perception+2: (3)+4+2: 9 GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (1)+12: 13 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Dolan rolls perception: (9)+11: 20
Telamon comments, looking around the carriage house. "I find it kind of curious there's not so much as a pony here. Unless this fellow is quite the conjurer, his carriage isn't going to move very fast without something pulling it." He glances at Cor'lana. "Find anything interesting in the shed, love?"
"Not really," Cor'lana exhales as she opens up the shed and takes a look. "Nothing out of place here. Gardening tools, carriage repair tools, household tools--just tools. It's clean, too--augh, I could have done without the smell of the manure, though."
She draws away from the shed and tries to shoo away the smell of manure, frantically fanning it away from her. Pothy tries to help by beating his wings a couple of times. "Thanks Pothy," Cor'lana murmurs.
While the others check out the smaller buildings, Shilde stands with her dog, blue eyes sweeping around low... then high. She spends a few moments studying the windows while Telamon inspects the carriage house and Ravenstongue reports on the gardening essentials. As Dolan continues his sweep for evil, she makes a decision and makes for the main doors of the manor, one hand in the fur of her companion. "Time fer the main rumble, 'm thinkin'," she says as she stands before the door, putting a hand on the knob and making to open it.
"Wait," Dolan calls suddenly, from where he's been checking out the shed. He shakes his head and drops to one knee near the edge of the tarp, peering beneath its edge. "There's something under here. Looks like a hatch."
The foyer of the home is a grand and open affair meant to be both impressive and welcoming. Generous light spills in from the massive window above the doors to give the browns and beiges of the walls some warmth. Dozens of potraits run up the walls to the south while display cases of curios, gewgaws, and precious things are on display on the inside of the stairwell to the north. An artfully carved bannister runs up with the stairs to the second floor where the landing meets a wall hosting a tall mirror.
The floor is polished woodwork covered in fine, patterned rugs. Double-doors lead to the south and west and a single door sits behind the stairwell.
Telamon frowns, looking back and forth. "Do we check the hatch, or go inside the house? I don't think we should split up." He peers over at where Dolan has uncovered the hatch. "Dolan, does that thing look new, or has it been here a while? Wine cellars are one thing, but most nobles don't put them in the gardening shed."
Dolan's information reaches Cor'lana's pointed ears. "A hatch?" Cor'lana blinks, and she walks over to where he is. "Oh, shoot, I didn't even notice. Wow. Good looking there, Dolan--Telamon's right, though. Why would there be a hatch here...?"
Pothy looks concerned on Cor'lana's shoulder and croaks as he looks in Shilde and Rocky's direction. "You see anything in there, Shilde?" Cor'lana calls over, seeming to feel Pothy's concern on her shoulder as he tippy-taps danger footsteps on her dress.
GAME: Shilde rolls perception: (14)+14: 28 GAME: Shilde rolls 1d20+6: (20)+6: 26
Shilde doesn't delve too far inside, though she doesn't seem to like what she sees. Rocky, impulsive, pushes inside to resume his sniffing around.. and this time he finds a trail. He stops, looking straight ahead with his fangs bared and his throat rumbling an almost subsonic growl.
"Aye. Might be sayin' that. Blood. Stuff askew. Place ain't right." A pause, and then... "Forward, or down?"
While the others are torn, and looking inside, Dolan swiftly and without fuss picks up the sack of manure and sets it outside the entrance to the gardening shed, out of sight of the main gate if possible. He then goes back inside and picks up the canvas tarp and moves it aside to reveal the hatch beneath. A glance and a flash of a cheeky grin at Cor'lana. "Let's find out."
"Probably will be dark down there," Cor'lana says. Then it seems that Dolan's cheeky grin is infectious, because she gets one too as she looks over at Telamon. "Starborn prince, could you come over and shed your light into the dark as we descend?" <Sylvan>
Pothy just looks blankly into the hatch, like he welcomes the call of the void after Cor'lana decides to playfully flirt with Telamon right now, of all places.
Shilde gives a small shrug, then puts thick fingers to her lips to issue a brief but sharp whistle. Rocky turns.. though in an attempt, perhaps, to change her mind he whines again,then turns and looks back into the manor. Pointing with his nose. The dwarf, however, shakes her head. "Later, Rocky. We'n stick t'gether with the skinnies and the big'un." She slaps her thigh, and finally the dog turns dutifully back towards her and follows her as she leads the way to the others. On her way, she pulls out a dull grey stone... a brief orison and it flares to light as a torch. "One've ye want this? Jes' floats by yer head."
GAME: Shilde casts Light. Caster Level: 7 DC: 14
Telamon furrows his brow, staring down at the now opened hatch. But he nods to Cor'lana. "Light it is. Lumos!" A shimmering ball of odd, bluish light balances on his ring, pushing back the shadows and the gloom. Glancing at Shilde, he nods. "The more light the better. I don't think we want to try and fight this thing -- or anything else -- in the dark."
He smirks faintly at Pothy's rather dour expression. "Look on the bright side. Pretty sure nobody's expecting us to come through this direction..."
The hatch, too, opens without complaint on freshly-oiled hinges. The walls of the descent appear to be hewn stone of the mountain the high district is built upon well steel rungs. Opposite the rungs at the top of the well hangs looped rope and a pulley. Looking directly up there's a lantern hook anchored in the shed's cieling that could be employed to hang the axle.
At the bottom of the well, a stone floor sits in the dim light of the magic spell.
GAME: Shilde casts Reduce Animal. Caster Level: 7 DC: 16 (tar: Rocky)
Dolan is about to reach for his own holy symbol, when people all around him start producing light. "Good enough," he chuckles, and readily enough prepares to drop down into the well. He does take a moment to examine the hole, to see if it provides a ready means of return.
Cor'lana goes in after Dolan, although she sticks close to Telamon. "I just hope this wasn't a trap," she murmurs. "Or a distraction."
Pothy maintains his vigil on her shoulder. Cor'lana may be distracted by climbing down, but Pothy has the distinct position of being the eyes on the back of her head, so to speak.
Telamon is right behind Cor'lana, unwilling to let her go without him. Hey, that's just how he is. "Sometimes the question isn't 'is it a trap?'. The question is, 'do you know it's a trap?'. Or to quote a Tarienite I once knew, it's twice the pleasure to deceive a deceiver."
Still, his fingers grip the rungs, knuckles whitening, and he mutters, "Hell of a time to find out I don't like closed in places..."
The space at the base of the well is clear but the subterranean room is far from empty. Two crates and a mixed array of sacks are piled in a cascading stack in the southwest corner of the room. The walls are painted with a brightly-colored mural of bacchanal delights. There is a bed, a heavy chest, an empty tin tub, basin, a rack, and assorted accoutrements for hobbies of a specific and acquired tastes. A myriad of half-melted candles are arrayed unlit in a pair of shallow-bowl braziers.
It would also appear that the room has recently been re-purposed as a butcher's shop; blood splatters the wall, stains the sheets, and soaks through the mattress of the messy bed. Seeped-in smells of incest and candles competes with the sickly-sweet of mold and rot.
There's no immediate sign of the butcher or butchered, however.
And then the dog comes crashing down with a yip and a *slam*. He whirls on the pair, staring at them. "What..."
Cor'lana has to put a hand on her mouth as she looks around at the place at last in the light. She trembles in place for a moment before Pothy nuzzles against her cheek. The sorceress blinks a tear away, her hand dropping from her face as she finally takes in a breath. "Evil," she murmurs. "We need to find that /thing/ before it can bring anyone else down here, too."
Telamon winces at Shilde and Rocky kind of ... land rough. "Shit. Maybe when we go back up I can work something out to bring him up?" Then he turns to look at the tableau and... stops. He makes a gagging sound, pulling out a handkerchief and covering his mouth and nose with it. A mumbled profanity falls from his lips, and his eyes are wide.
After a moment, he coughs. "I think... I think some of it's of more recent vintage, Dolan. But yeah, looks like Little Lord Fauntleroy was into interesting stuff."
Shilde staggers back to her feet, then stares a few daggers at Rocky before her ire melts at his expression. "Aw, c'mere," she tells him, softer than is her want, and when he comes close she gives him some rough scritches. Only then does she look back at the room.. shrugging a sort-of-apology that is soon abandoned when she sees the interior. Then she has an expression much like the others. "Time t'find'n end this creature."
GAME: Shilde rolls perception: (15)+14: 29
Rocky's senses are under assault this room; his sensitive nose suffering double for every assault the two-legged folk endure. While the floor is well-worked and smooth stone the walls are more roughly hewn and painted. Still, Khazadi eyes prove more than equal to the task as Shilde locates not one but two passages hidden amongst the debauched acts depicted around the room.
Best not to consider the art too closely or where you have to probe with a finger to release the catch holding the disguised doors closed.
Orienting ones self would suggest that the western exit would lead beneath the garden path while the southern would open beneath the courtyard driveway.