Haggered Appearances, part 2
Log Info
- Title: Haggered Apperances, part 2
- Emitter: Whirlpool
- Characters: Baz da Ork, MAC-B1G, Braelnoir, Cryosanthia
- Place: A mysterious mansion in the Felwood
- Time: Thursday, October 22, 2020, 9:30 PM
- Summary: The party has discovered a dilapidated mansion in the Felwood. Cryo suggest alternate entrance points should be considered, MAC-B1G and Baz da Ork stroll right in. Inside, the mansion has been stripped. Only a few things, like portraits remain fixed -very firmly- to the walls. There is no useful dust for determining tracks. The adventures stomp around, shouting for Zaya. Braelnoir and Cryo examine the portraits, which show seminal events in Alexandria's history. Sadly, the sith and merc are foreignors and the pictures provide no context for them. MAC-B1G declares some familiarity with the house, but has no record of it. It's memory banks were badly damaged during deployment. Baz heads into the kitchen, nothing usefu is there. Downstairs is chosen, all enter, Braelnoir with a torch. As they reach the basement, the whole house vibrates. Everyone freezes in place.
EVENTS: Haggered Apperances Part 2 is scheduled to start RIGHT NOW! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Baz da Ork 7'0" 320 Lb Orc Male 7' 320 pounds of metal, muscle and stupid. WAAAGH! MAC-B1G 6'6" 303 Lb War Golem Neuter Drab gray primarily metal humanoid with cyan-lit optical receptors. Braelnoir 5'11" 146 Lb Human Female A tall, pale Acanian woman, branded in silver. Cryosanthia 6'9" 291 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As the GM -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Whirlpool Lb Otyugh I am stinky! -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
The manor house awaits! There's not much else to it, right? Just gotta head on in there and find the missing girl, at least according to the creepy hag that you spoke to.
The big Ork devolves into his waiting slouch. His entire body seeming to run into a pillar of metal, muscle and fat. There's a low grunt/gurmble from him as he gets comfortable. It's a kind of standing ooze that lets him rest and yet be ready to resume the march at a moment's notice. A sniff from his right nostil, and then the search of his hands over his torso are the only real movements. At least until he finds one of his wineskins and brings it up to his lips. The strong smell liquor within filling the air with acrid flammability as it runs down his chin. Wiping his chin on the back of a spike armored forearm he grunts. "So, wot now? we gots dis house right?" Baz asks.
MAC-B1G did not parse the cultural or vernacular references denoting the significance of the location. The location remains significant, however, due to the alleged presence of the missing unit. Thus the construct rotates in the appropriate direction and moves in its direction.
"That's... a really creepy looking house." The whitescale sith'makar says, giving the structure a long and careful inspection. From a distance. Although she starts wondering if it's structurally sound. Still, it's unsettling, and she's used to crumbling ruins half sunk in a swamp. Technically, this might qualify as that. "We don't have to go through the front door. There might be a back door and I can get up to the second story. Anyone get any better ideas about those names the witch spoke of?"
Then the golem is heading off. "Wait! Mac Bee One Gee! We're determining an attack vector. Don't start yet."
"Wouldn't seem right, otherwise." Brae quips with a wry grin. She does give the place a lookover after a glance down to make sure nothing spooky happened to the bolt she has waiting in the track of her crossbow. She looks between the members of her crew and, "We probly don't wanna blindly charge inta a bunh o' pitfalls and tripwires." Hmmm, "Any magic around here?" she wonders of Cryo, whom she knows has a nose for that sort of thing.
MAC-B1G halts after a heavy step. It's faceplate rotates one-hundred eighty degrees to regard the halter. "Acknowledged. Provide desired approach vector."
"Ere, not letting da metal man leave me behind." Baz rumbles out, heading out after Mac. Heedless of danger or common sense, which a force that finds his skull impervious. When Mac stops, Baz continues on by until he gets to the steps. Then he starts inside. The only measure to caution he gives is the swift sure draw of his scimitar. The massive curved blade with it's wicked teeth and cleaver like edge glinting in the dimness. "Oy I 'ope deres not ghosts in here. I want a new skull, something dats gonna make me pretty so I can get some ladies back in town. Dey all love it when I show up wit the newest jewelry."
GAME: Cryosanthia rolls knowledge/engineering: (6)+2: 8 <OOC> Cryosanthia says, "IT LOOKS FINE!" <OOC> Whirlpool says, "EVERYTHING IS GREAT"
"It looks structurally sound." Cryo says, sounding very certain about that statement. She calls to MAC-B1G, "Um, working on it. Let me check for magic first."
The white lizard inhales, exhales, loops her left hand through a graceful gesture. A cascade of sparkling lights trace along her scales, from shoulder to fingertip, then her eye-scales glow. She stares carefully.
"Uh, just follow Baz, Mac Bee One Gee." She makes a clicking noise in her mouth.
GAME: Cryosanthia casts Detect Magic. Caster Level: 8 DC: 14 GAME: Cryosanthia rolls perception: (18)+5: 23 GAME: Braelnoir rolls knowledge/military theory: (13)+10: 23
It looks completely abandoned and quiet at the moment. Very dilapidated.
Braelnoir brings her crossbow up and sights down the track, sweeping the decaying structure along the quarrel, searching the hot spots, "No spotters'r snipers near's I can tell. C'mon." With that, the Korite starts to move along after, still scanning the building between quick looks at the ground for any patches that seem... untoward.
"Right, ah, yes!" Cryo checks that her buckler is strapped on right, and ready. Her grey icicle is drawn. Baz is almost inside, MAC-B1G is about to be too. She stumbles to catch up with her scale-sister, calling for the group. "You know we could enter literally any way, even the top windows? I can get up there."
To Braelnoir, "I'm not seeing anything magic. It looks completely abandonned and quiet at the moment. And very dilapidated considering how structurally sound it is."
"Ere, your door needs work." Baz says simply as he pulls one of the hanging doors off it's hinge and sets it aside in the interior hall. His massive form moving in, looking around, searching for anything intresting. HIs scimitar in his right hand as he lets his eye sight acclimate to the interior lighting. Then there is a snort and a glance back towards Cryosanthia. "Yea, you climb up to a window by yourself. Where we can't get tae help ya right away. I thought you wizards was smart?" He grins at her with his long tusks and chuckles. "You stay close, Kor values eagerness, but he also wants ya tae win."
MAC-B1G remains close, insofar as it continues moving forward. The removal of the door by Baz means that it doesn't impact it.
"Why does everyone think this one is Shaman-caste lately? This one is Speaker-Caste. I talk." A lot. She nudges the remaining door with her dagger, pushing it so it swings. It creaks open, creaks back. "I'm not a wizard, I just lived with one for a long time. And it's more dashing, climbing into the bedrooms. Very Scarymouchy. People write stories about it all the time. We're looking for someone chasing dreams into a nightmare. Upstairs makes sense."
Stepping throuh the entrance behind Braelnoir, she looks around, seeking features and concentrating on stairs. Anything hanging from the ceiling. "So, was this the home of the False One, or the False Queen? Anyone know if it makes a difference? Do you see the girls tracks?" Much louder she calls out, "Girl from the Village of ... um... We're here to rescue you! Your parents love you. Everything can be sorted out. Make some noise!" More quietly just to the group, "Did anyone catch her name, her village name? Girl from Village, doesn't seem like she'll answer to."
The doors being open unfortunately prevents there from being an immediate trail in the dust to follow. Sure, there's still dust, but it's had the wind through it. Makes it kind of useless for tracking.
The estate was certainly once a grand place. Now, it's in complete disrepair and pillaged of anything of value some time ago, at least in this initiqal area. Who knows about deeper in, right? The foyter open into the grand hall, with a set of stairs that lead up to the second floor across the way from you. There's a set of doors that open to hallways leading into the other wings of the manor house, no doubt, though from here you don't have a clear indicaqtion of where to go, and thus, you could be here a while if you have to search all of them.
MAC-B1G is just scanning for the one that appears lost. Seeking: Zaya. Tall. Dark hair and Skin. Female.
Braelnoir slips inside with the crossbow, though, as it seems a little cramped, she hooks it back on her belt and draws her sword and warhammer, instead. She looks to Cryo on her question, "Zaya'f I remember right." The silver haired Korite calls, "ZAYA! You here?"
Without much more comentary Baz sets off, looking around attentively. He seems to mainly search for stairs, either going up or down. To try and get a grasp on the size of the building and what kind of area they're going to search. He's also looking for something to eat, or kill, or kill and then eat. Of course as always he's on the look out for shoe stealing pervert gnomes.
GAME: Baz da Ork rolls perception: (20)+11: 31 GAME: MAC-B1G rolls perception: (15)+13: 28 GAME: Braelnoir rolls perception: (5)+8: 13 GAME: Cryosanthia rolls perception: (12)+5: 17
"Are we sticking together or splitting up? Sticking together is better. I think we should start upstairs, in the bedrooms. If you're looking for the kitchens, Baz, in this kind of manor house they're usually in the basement underneath the dining hall so the food can be sent up through dumb waiters to the dumb waiters." Cryo explains, looking around with glowing eyes for anything interesting. She takes out some chalk and makes a mark for Darius indicating where they've gone, in case he returns from scouting.
"Declare and identify, unit designate Zaya," MAC echoes as its cyan receptors scan the surrounding interior.
Braelnoir continues to creep along, head cocked slightly as she listens for a response that apparantly doesn't reach her ears as she calls again, "ZAYA!" Her response is, "Probably best we keep in sight of each other fer the most part, but space a bit. Some of us are kinda heavy an' this's an old floor t'ain't been kept up on."
The foyer and great hall remain abandoned. There are portraits on the walls, covered in dust. Given the relatively sparse remaining furnishings, it is perhaps interesting thaqt these have been left alone. Most of them are scenes from Alexandrian's historical past, seminal moments in its history. The crowning of its first King, for exampple, from so many centuries ago, its rise from the ashes of the Sundering in the mists of the past.
They're largely symbolic.
Still, exploring within the immediate first floor interior doesn't reveal Zaya's presence, and she doesn't answer the calls and make things easy for you which is probably not a great sign. Moreover, the wings are at least revealed to you: the servant's wing, the kitchens and dinging wing and some sort of recreational and sitting area is another. West, north, and east.
"Negative response. No unit detected," MAC announces the obvious lack. "Recommended action: commence additional search grids."
"Right, we stay together." Baz says simply. "Lets go to da kitchen first. Always check da food." Baz says looking between each person, as if waiting for their opinions. However that moment passes quickly and the walking armored wall makes his way down the hall towards the dining/kitchen wing. "Ya hear me? We going tae da kitchen! If ya want a fight, come to da kitchen. I don't feel like hunting all over this house tae deal with ya."
Braelnoir frowns a little in thought as she regards the paintings gathering dust. She takes a deep breath and moves closer to one, the coronation in particular, and tries to blow the dust away. MAC's recommendation is met with a crisp, "Acknowledged." then as Baz makes his own contributions to the plan, she shrugs, "Well, that's one way ta do it. If notih' else, if someone's keeping a breather here, someone's gonna be working with the food."
"Yes. Stick together. Okay, kitchens are on the main floor. Wasn't expecting that." Cryo talks aloud. She's keeping her Detect Magic up as she walks, making her look a little strange with glowing gem eyes. Her white light reflects over the paintings, nameplates as she examines them. Names she doesn't recognize, from a history she was never taught.
Baz and MAC-B1G are louder than she is, so she lets them do the calling. Her icicle dagger remains gripped, occasionally she pokes things with it, taps a wall, more idle actions than active searching. Still, never know when a tapestry is suddenly going to get smothery. "Fae Rules might apply, best not to eat anything we find."
MAC-B1G continues to scan the interior for further details; the missing unit is not apparent, but there may be signs of its passing or recent presence. The decorations are noted along with the floorplan, though neither gives any conspicuous indication. During the course of the third sweep of its faceplate, it pauses abruptly and reverses the rotation. Another pause and original pan resumes, only to pause again.
"Pattern recognition: twenty-five point three six percent. Significant probability that this unit occupied this location previously. Error: This unit contains no data record of prior occupation."
GAME: Cryosanthia rolls knowledge/history: (4)+2: 6 GAME: Braelnoir rolls 1d20+2+1: (7)+2+1: 10
The paintings, at least, appear relatively fixed to the walls. That could be one of the reasons they've not been looted.
Hard to pry off without attracting too much attention, right?
In any event, the interior remains ... silent.
Cryosanthia looks at MAC-B1G. She blinks, "Your memory was erased? Did you suffer data storage damage at some point? Could you be patern matching on a similar construction? A palace or another structure you've been in. Architects sometimes repeat their creations."
Her gaze passes over the pictures, "I don't recognize any of these people. This place. This one has never been here before."
Louder, "Baz, how is it going in the kitchen? Find any food? Any Zaya?"
MAC-B1G's faceplate pans to Cryosanthia. "This unit sustained significant damage in initial deployment. Data storage and motive functions restored. Data loss factor unknown. Correlation to similar structure possible. Insufficient data to confirm."
There was talk of sticking together, so the party did. They explored the great hall, checked the doors, noticed something about the stairs then ignored that. Next, a wing must be chosen.
"IF ya done looking at the ugly woman." Baz motions towards the image of the first king. "Den we can move on, right? Lets go. You follows me! I go first inta the fight!" The big scimitar sweeps up and down as Baz brushes away a cobweb and heads his way towards the dinning/kitchen wing.
Braelnoir hmmm's, "I'm sure there's something more to this." she remarks, but shrugs, "Anyway, back t'the gig." She looks to MAC on his recall and frowns a bit. That might be something to think on, later. The words of Baz bring her up a bit, and she starts after, weapons at the ready, "YooOOOOooooHooooooOOOOOoo, ZAaAAAAaaaaaYAAAaaaaa!"
"Lead on Baz." Cryosanthia says. Some things are not worth fighting. One does not command the tide to stay out, nor seasons to not change. Even Endless Winter struggled with that, and she was godlike. Turning Baz from his course of choice would be as easy a lifting him, which impossible.
"I'll see if I can help out, MAC-B1G, but that's for back at Alexandria." The white lizard continues her magic staring, so far nothing of interest, nothing glowing.
"Acknowledged." The construct moves to follow unit designate Baz, on point, into the biological unit consumption zone.
Into the dining room of the manor, then, that sits in the Felwood.
You know, the good news is that there's no demons so faqr. You haven't found one! The bad news is you still have yet to locate Zaya.
The dining area and adjacent kitchens look *heavily* abandoned. before long, you've discovered that there are not one, but two dining areas. One great dining room and a reclining area near to it by a large, empty fireplace. Another, smaller dining area for more intimate occasions on the other side of the hallway to it, towards the end of the hallway, there's a large kitchen area that it opens up into, which also has doors to both dining areas within it. A set of stairs leading down sitin the kitchen, the door to them slightly ajar. No doubt that's where supplioes are stored.
The big Ork stomps into the rooms, looks around them, smells them, and then makes his way over to the stairs down and promptly tears the doors over the stairs off and piles them off to the side. Then he peers down into the darkness, his natural dark vision attempting to see if there is any reason to go down there. "Oy, dis is a big place. Got two dining rooms! Why would anyone abandon a big place like this ya? Some kinda title be attached ta a place like dis. Lord Frumpypants of da dank woods or something. You think not only would Lord Frumypants and his kids fight for the spot, but all his family and stuff too. Once dey killed him, try ta move in themselves."
The Merc shakes her head as she moves on with the others through the house, "We're close ta th'wood now, luv. Could be some spooky shit kept crawling through the windows come bedtime." Brae glances about the room, guaging space, as she may need to use her sole magic weapon in a clinch and it takes room to use properly.
"The witch talked like there was a lot of history. Probably a reason that didn't happen. You're right though, you would expect this to be popular with a demon summoning cult if the family wasn't in to that sort of thing." Cryosanthia rambles, watching the door removal. She opens a few drawers at random, seeing if there are knives, kitchen utensils and tools. Plates should be somewhere. A rich house like this would have a coat of arms, for their best set of plates at least. "Unless it's like a ghost ship, only appears once a year and if you stay too long you end up trapped inside. With no food."
"Suggested course of action: clear lowest level, progress upwards." MAC offers its tactical analyses before approaching the stairwell opening after its Baz-o-matic Dedoorant treament.
"Yeah, de metal man is right. We should go down, clear first. This thing under here." Baz motions to the cellar. "Looks pretty big, I can see some of it wit me eyes. Might be worth sliding down there and making sure nothing is hiding in dere." The big Ork takes a tentative step to try his weight against a downward going board. After all if it can handle Baz, it can likely handle any one else in the party.
"Ok. I don't have a lot of spells or ranged. I have a breath weapon but it's hard to aim. If there is a fight I'll want to get close or behind." Cryosanthia says, briefly summarizing her skills. She rotates her right hand, moving the tip of her iron icicle in a parrying motion.
Braelnoir nods, "I'll need a light ta see." she grumbles, standing her warhammer head-down on the floor to dig out her everburning torch. A sigh as she triggers it, and sticks it in the hammer frogs on her belt before taking up the weapon, "I'll be a target like this, I shold go first and ya'll can rush whatever jumps me."
There is a chortle from Baz. "Ya, dats it, you outline yerself wit that light and head in. Kor be pleased." The big Ork chortles and grins, wincing only slightly as his dark vision is burned away with the torch, casting his perception into mroe mundane means.
Down into the cellar you go. Given the size and dimensions of this place, you have to imagine that you are not, in fact, in the only cellar of the estate. This is just one area the servants have access to, or would have, at one time. Still, the stairs creak and groan as you make your way down them, bringing your light with you as its declared free of immediate threat.
The cellar is actually fairly empty. Oh, sure, there's some old crates here and there, askew and rotten with dampness and time.
And that's when it happens. A brief, disorienting feeling of all around *vertigo*, a thrumming futher beneath your feet as if *something* was making the whole house briefly vibrate...
"That's... not a feel better thrumming." Cryo says, feeling sympathetic vibrations in her throat. Not pleasant when someone else moves your vocal chords for you. She whips her head around, listens, "Scales! Did we plane shift?"
Her eyes are still glowing, she's still looking for something magical to worry about. She stares at the ground. "Well, everyone get ready. That you Zaya?"
Braelnoir does an odd little two-step as she feels the ground vibrate under her feet and her equilibrium briefly flutters. A quick shake of her head to get everything sloshing in the same direstion, then, "Th'fuck was that?"
"Warning. Significant probability of geological instability," the construct warns, primarily for those who may not have noticed.
OOC Outtakes
<OOC> Baz da Ork says, "We are the weirdest carolers ever. "WE WISH YOU A MERRY BREAK AND ENTRY, WE WISH YOU A MERRY BREAK AND ENTRY A CODE Sixteen dash seven dash oooooooneeeeee!"
<OOC> Baz da Ork says, "Sorry, it's just nice to see someone else have those dice issues. :-) Baz rolls intimidation: 2+4 = 6. "OY IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHOT I WANT I'LL GO OVER HERE AND LEAVE YOU ALONE!""
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "This is like, consistent for Brael and I"
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "d6s all the time"
<OOC> Braelnoir says, "In like a year and a half, I've rolled 1 crit with brae"
<OOC> Braelnoir says, "most skill rolls among my characters come un under a d6 roll"
<OOC> Braelnoir says, "and i hold an average fumble chance of 20 percent"
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "Graboids!"
<OOC> Baz da Ork says, "OY IT'S A GNOME I BET! PERVERT! YE NOT GETT'N ME BOOTS AGAIN!"
<OOC> Braelnoir says, "where's my .50?"
Poses after Whirlpool closed the scene
Whirlpool has reconnected.
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "afk a bit! will return you all when I get bacK."
"Are the vibrations still happening, very slightly?" Cryosanthia asks. She squeezes the ground with her toes. They're bare and tell her lots of things, but not that. Her clawtips dig into the floor. She looks around for something to throw, make a noise 'over there', in case that matters. "I hope it's not one of the purple worms that came through the plane cracks."
Braelnoir frowns a little and glances about furtively, "Now yer just tryin' ta cheer me up!" she snarks. She looks to MAC, "See any targets, MAC?"
"We should make that our game. Guess what's going to pop out. Like wishful thinking. I wish for a whole mining team of kobolds, on an artifice digger." Cryo says anxiously, getting bouncy in place.
Edinaz is bringing up the rear, careful. His lips press together. "I don't think this is... like the house moved entire." He doesn't bite. Mostly because a mining team of kobolds is /terrifying/.