City of Eyes

Cecilia’s Room

This room is sparsely decorated with hangings and aesthetically pleasing furniture. The window has been left wide open, and the wind ripples the curtains periodically. It is chilly in the room, and the rain has been clearly been falling in here for some time, leaving a sodden mess of most of the papers on an imposing desk laid out under the windowsill.

Whitegaze will go looking for a shovel or a gardner who can find him one.

Calm Emotions Al-Ashari threw as the Duchess without even thinking - simple reflex, an old habit of dealing with difficult clients. But if it worked, she would at first just ask to tell about Cecilia all the Duchess could - what she was like, what were her habits, likes, dislikes - any mother would be happy to talk about such thing for hours. And it was ought to calm her down for real. When/if Duchess did calm down, Al-Ashari would ask one more thing: "Do you happen to have a portrait of your dear Cecilia?"

Kale waits until the butler retreats.  "Let's case the joint," he says without preamble to Thursday - no audience, no nonsense.  He begins to search for any clues about Cecila and what might have led to her disappearance in the room.

Investigation: 32

(edit: boom shaka laka, natural 20!)

Thursday nods, and then just kind of lets Kale do the heavy lifting. She has seen him work enough to trust his skills and she meanders about waiting to see what he turns up with.

Cecilia’s Room... 

You find a scrap of parchment in one of the upper drawers of the desk. It has a riddle scrawled onto it.

The last in her and place it first;
the last in first and place it last;
in between it’s always even;
calling forth a face from the past

A particularly high result on an Investigation check reveals that the drawer has a false bottom, concealing a tiny compartment in which there resides a small portrait of a beautiful young woman. The duchess can confirm this is Cecilia.

Underneath the bed there is a large chest, wooden and banded in iron.

Quote from BlueBayou >>

Calm Emotions Al-Ashari threw as the Duchess without even thinking - simple reflex, an old habit of dealing with difficult clients. But if it worked, she would at first just ask to tell about Cecilia all the Duchess could - what she was like, what were her habits, likes, dislikes - any mother would be happy to talk about such thing for hours. And it was ought to calm her down for real. When/if Duchess did calm down, Al-Ashari would ask one more thing: "Do you happen to have a portrait of your dear Cecilia?"

 The dutches calms down, and looks out the window again, appearing to be looking for something again. She then turns back to you.  "Yes, my dear, there is a painting somewhere, but I am not sure where it has gotten off to." She shrugs.  "Feel free to look around and see if you can find it."

Kale reads the riddle, frowning.  "Can you make anything of this, Thursday?" he asks her, handing the scrap of paper over.  "I wonder if it's some sort of morbid joke about the Duchess and those graves outside." 

After finding the portrait, he studies it intently.  "She's a head-turner," Kale observes, frowning.  "Still, would that be enough to catch the attention of any of the local residents here, though?  They all seem quite mad, not really the types to notice physical beauty at all, if you ask me..."  Setting the portrait on top of the dresser in plain sight, he pokes the raven on his shoulder.  "Hey, go get your master and Al-Ashari.  They're likely better and unravelling these word games than we are.  Plus, we've got a picture of the missing girl now."

He continues to search the room.  When he finds the wooden chest, he drags it out from underneath the bed.  Gesturing at the chest, he asks Thursday, "You want to check it for traps and pop it, or shall I?"

Quote from Ismenow >>

Whitegaze will go looking for a shovel or a gardner who can find him one.

 There does not appear to be a shovel outside.  You do see a vegetable garden though.  Do you want to stay outside or go inside looking?  You also see a lot of lilies and rosemary around.

"I got it." Thursday unravels her thieves tools and begins to check for traps on the box. She changes tools regularly and uses a gentle touch. Never forcing anything, making sure to use the proper tools.

Investigation: 16
Disarm trap if needed: 21
Lockpicking: 29

Lucky roll for investigation: 10

Kale did not have to send anyone after Al-Ashari. She made just one more attempt to get through with the Duchess: "Why are you sure Cecilia was kidnapped? Could she run away on her own? Is there any place she liked to go?" and after (most likely) being ignored, went upstairs to the others.

"It looks indeed as if she knows nothing, yet, she can not even explain how did she come to the idea about kidnapping." "Oh, is this Cecilia? The Duchess said she does not know where her picture is."

"Thursday and I are good at finding things," Kale tells Al-Ashari.  "What do you think about this riddle?" he asks her, showing her the slip of paper.  "Maybe referring to a palindrome of some type?"  He grimaces.  "I hate these riddles.  I always had people available to solve these sorts of irritations for me."

Al-Ashari took the paper from Kale's hand and read it. "I am afraid, I am more of a mind reader, not the puzzle guesser - and most of the people here do not have any mind to read, unfortunately. Which reminds me - we asked the Duchess, but did not talk to the butler. Servants often know more than masters."  "I'll keep the note and think about it, but now better go to ask that man, if you do not need me here".

OOC: Btw, who is there? Whitegaze is outside, Soveliss studies the books, where is Lunastra?

"Good idea," Kale says to Al-Ashari, deciding to wait with Thursday in the room as she works on the chest, just in case anything surprising pops out of it.  "We'll catch up with you when we're done here."

Whitegaze will head inside and with a similar line of thought to Al-Ashari, go looking for the butler or servants quarters.

Ok, let's deal with this first...

When Kale goes to pull the trunk out he finds that it is not actually a trunk.  A pseudo pod detaches and strikes at him.

Roll initiative...

Mimic...   4

1... 15

2... 3

3... 0

4... 3

Quote from Ismenow >>

Whitegaze will head inside and with a similar line of thought to Al-Ashari, go looking for the butler or servants quarters.

When you go to find the butler you head downstairs...

A spiral staircase leads down into a dank, foul
smelling stone basement. An iron stove and sideboard
has been stashed down here, and the floor is
covered in offal.

"May i help you?" Asks the butler as you come into his abode.

(ooc: stupid mimic. lol)

Thursday Init: 10

On Thursday's turn she will pull out her luck blade and thrust it at the mimic.

Attack: 23 Damage: 12 Sneak Attack: 29

Bonus Action: Disengage and move back as far as the room lets me.

A bit confused here: Al-Ashari came while Thursday was working on the mimik's locks, so, should I roll too?

Also, no offence, but how Whitegaze even know about batler's existence if he spent all this time in the garden outside?

I am lost on the timeline.

I don't mind if Al Ashari wants to be caught up in the mimicry ;-)

Kale initiative: 9

Kale's Choker: 11