Chapter 4: A Darkened Mirror

[Jeremy]

Goran nods at Kal's plan, and takes out his bow...but specifically does not nock an arrow...yet. He motions for them to go.

"I'll stay behind until the door is open."

[Josh]

Grafth shrugs and waits while the others check the door.

"Goran, do you still have that scrap that was with the book? If it's actually still in the book, we can't risk taking it out, I suppose.

"I remember most of it, but memories are never perfect."

[Jeff]

Worm smiles at Charis's touch, then continues his westward walk.

Charis moves forward to get a closer look at the doors, checking them for any trigger mechanisms, etc.

While everyone else tenses or stands guard, Charis moves in and sets to work. At first she merely studies without touching: the overlarge doorknobs, the fine woodwork, the engraves dragonhawk crest, the cracks between door and wall that she can reach. Sensing nothing, she delicately prods each separate section.

After a couple of minutes, she can't help but conclude that there are no traps on these doors—unless there is magic there beyond her ability to detect. In fact, she can see simply peering through the tumblers that the doors aren't even locked.

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Charis's Search check = a secret roll

[mike]

Torhak stares curiously at Kalarian while the Deneith noble gives his orders ... and says nothing at all.

He follows Goran's lead, and waits beside the half-elf.

[Ken]

Belarin walks up to the door with Kalarian and Charis. "No magical auras that I can sense," he says softly. "What's on the other side of this door, though, I cannot say. Again, I suspect getting out will be harder than getting in."

Still concentrating on the door and worrying that some magic may flare up, he watches Charis out of the corner of his eye as she goes to work. "Alas, my lady," he says, still staring ahead, "my nefarious activities took a different path. Perhaps we can share knowledge at a calmer time....

"As for now ... do we knock? I say no!"

[Marcy]

Charis turns from her examination of the doors.

"If these doors are trapped in any way, it's beyond my skill to detect. Somehow I don't think they are -- they're not even locked. I'm sure Belarin is right -- the manor's inhabitants are likely more concerned with keeping people in than keeping them out."

She draws her rapier. "Shall we proceed?"

[Darren]

Kalarian adjusts his grip on his sharrash. "I'll go first," he says. "If anything is going to kill one of us as we go through the door, I'm not going to let it be one of you." There is no hint of irony or boastfulness in his voice.

Kal moves slowly and cautiously towards the door, his senses alert at each step. He pauses briefly in front of it, then places one hand against the wood and pushes slowly, peering as far inside as he can while he does so, and trying to shield his body from view by staying behind the door while he opens it. Once he has it open enough to see inside, he pokes the top half of his head through, seeing what, if anything, is on the other side.

[Jeff]

Although the double doors appear to be, as Charis observed, unlocked, they do require a few tugs to free their bases from the mud of the trail. Heavy and unwieldy, the doors move slowly, but at last Kal wrenches them apart and peers through the crack.The creaking sound the doors make sets the crows stirring all around. The rustling of their feathers sounds like muted whispers.

Within: a courtyard every bit as overgrown as the exterior. The only trees in here are grown in a cluster near the back side of the estate, encircling a stone well, but their branches are overlong and haven't been trimmed in years. The groundskeeper, if there was one, has been negligent...or is dead. The muddy road that led you to Shadowcrest Manor is all but obliterated here, swallowed up by tall grass and weeds. However, the grass has been tramped and rolled over by feet and wheels in recency. Due to the rain, it's all but impossible to make out any details of the tracks.

Kal pulls the doors open a little bit more so that the rest of the party can look within. If you were to venture in further, the right-hand wall would give way to a better view of the manor itself. However, looking up you can see that the upper floors of the house—there seems to be a ground floor and two floors above it—are either shuttered tight or blocked by what appear to be black curtains.

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I intend to kick into [houseruled] 4E rules soon, though of course loosely. Still trying to catch up on all that. So just bear with me and assume 3E rules for now.

[Darren]

Kalarian leaves the door open only enough for everyone to slip through single file. He motions everyone forward, waving towards the right, indicating that everyone should move against the southern wall when they get through the doors. Once everyone is through, he pushes the doors closed again, as quietly as possible. In a low whisper he says, "Look," pointing to the top windows. "We may be lucky. Their desire to not be seen means we may have gotten in undetected." His head swivels around to take in his surroundings. "Don't count on it, though. Everyone on high alert. Let's find a way inside the building." Kal begins to examine his surroundings, making note of doors and windows in particular. He stays close to walls of the manor, avoiding moving too far away from the building where someone might have a good view of him from a window.

[Ken]

Belarin moves along the southern wall, uncharacteristically quiet. He simply maintains a look of grim concentration as he follows Kal.

OOC: Belarin is still concentrating on his detect magic ability.

[mike]

Torhak keeps a wary eye upward as he moves slowly forward.

"I trust not these crows," mutters the dwarf.

[Marcy]

Charis moves along the southern wall, scanning the grounds and the sky for movement.

[Josh]

"If memory serves me," Grafth says, "there was a room marked on our map of this place, almost diagonal from where we are now." He points to the southeast corner, beyond the courtyard's inner wall. "Though we have no idea what floor that map was referring to."

[Joe]

Streko follows along quietly, holding his holy symbol in one hand and his sickle in the other. The entire place is like a weight against his heart. "What terrors are we apt to find in this place?" he mutters softly. He focuses his attention on the trees and the object directly ahead of him, allowing the others to watch above.

[Jeremy]

Goran comes in behind the rest of the party, his hand on the ready to snatch an arrow if necessary.

He mutters to Grafth.

"I'd rather not be leafing through that thing right now, and I think it best if, while we're in here, we don't mention it or show it."

[Joe]

"I think there's room for it in my Haversack, if you wish to put it out of sight until it's needed," Streko offers.

[Jeremy]

Actually I had kind of assumed that Goran had immediately stashed the book back in his pack, as per his usual practice. If not, my mistake. He will stash it now.

[Jeff]

Although his intent is to move close to the walls of the manor itself, when Kal reaches the end of the wall on his right, he stops short when he sees what dominates the center of the courtyard:

Although the grass and weeds occupy neary every inch of the courtyard, a large circle has scorched away the vegetation. Even from here, Kal can see that a line of small black rocks have been laid within that circle.

Although there's nothing overtly dangerous about the circle, it simply looks suggestive of ritual magic and it gives you an uneasy feeling. Belarin can only just make out the edge of the circle from his position within the group at the moment, but he can already feel a radiation of power emanating from the small stones.

If one were to go closer, one might be able to better examine it.

Beyond the circle, you can see the rest of the manor itself. There are multiple entrances to the house. A stagnant pond lies to one side.

[Darren]

"If I didn't know any better," Kal says quietly, "I'd say that something very large and powerful was summoned right here." Kalarian stands and continues to study the burnt circle, frustration falling upon him like a shadow. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Matheu were here." He turns his head to see Belarin as he says, "I think you and I need to get closer, see if we can figure out what that is." Peering his head around the edge of the wall, he motions Grafth forward. "I would suggest going either there," he says, pointing to the area just on the other side of the wall they're leaning against (The area between the wall and the stairs on the map), "or possibly making a quick dash across to the trees by the well, over there," he says, again pointing. "Either way," he says as he turns to face everyone, "keep an eye on the windows. If anyone is watching us, we should try to know as soon as possible." Finally, Kalarian looks to the dagger at Goran's belt. "Ranger, see if Skyfang detects the presence of any Outsiders here."

[Marcy]

Charis peeks over Kal's shoulder to get an idea of the layout of the manor's entrances.

"The room on the map was in the southeast corner. We can't be sure the building with the stairs actually connects to the building with the patio, which would be the one that contains the room we're interested in. And I don't think we want to go in those double doors if we can help it, as they're the most likely to be guarded. Maybe the door directly to the south of us?"

[Ken]

Belarin brushes a straggly strand of hair out of his eyes to get a better look at the blasted circle. "Matheu?" he says softly to Kal, shrugging. "Oh, he's very knowledgeable, no doubt, but I have just as little doubt that you and I together can determine its nature, my Lord Hornet." After scanning the windows of the manor for any signs of movement, he crouches and advances toward the blackened area, muttering, "Well, yes, I agree with him that it's a summoning circle, but... Oh really? Hmmm."

OOC: I modified this to make it clearer that Belarin is positioning himself where necessary to make a good Knowledge (arcana) check.

[Josh]

The shifter moves silently toward the pool, making note of any movement in the windows, as well as attempting to spot any traps that may lie in his path.

[Jeremy]

Goran nods, not breaking his shifting gaze from the area around them. He draws the blade from its sheath, holding it for anyone to see. He looks at the clearing and nods again.

"I'd say you're right about the circle, Denieth." Goran approaches it and carefully inspects the earth* around it and inside it.

"I suggest Grafth and I lead the party for a bit, with some muscle right behind us. Torhak?"

The half-elf slowly draws an arrow and nocks it to the bowstring, replacing the dagger in its sheath beforehand.

---

Jeff: does the ground show any clues as to how long ago the flames or summoning or whatever might have happened? That is, you know how a campfire looks fresh or like it's been rained on twenty times or whatever.

[Jeff]

Belarin makes he way cautiously forward, allowing his second sight to search for anything that might warn him of any magical danger. Grafth moves past him, passing lightly across the grass and keeping closer to the western side of the estate, senses alert..

Belarin stops when he is only a few few away from the first piece of scorched earth. Within the ash and dead grass, he sees the small black stones laid out carefully one next to another, three rows thick. While his eyes tell him the circle clearly maintains a magical presence, and that it is conjuration magic, it isn't obvious what sort of magic it is. Then he notices*, just barely, what appears to be an incorporeal gray vapor rising up from the center of the circle, fully enclosed. It rises up about five feet before dissipating altogether.

Grafth reaches the midway point on his trek. Looking to the doors along the right-hand side, he can see that the door in the corner is going to lead up into the circular tower above it, for the building is sloped to accomodate an enclased staircase.

When Goran unsheathes Skyfang and holds it out....nothing happens. It maintains its perpetual soft glow, no brighter than usual. Sheathing it again, the Eldeen ranger nocks his arrow and studies the ground like Belarin but looking for very different information. It's difficult to gauge, but though the scorched grass looks fairly old, the cinders are wet but not pulped by the rain. It almost seems as if the elements have been unable to overtake the circle. So Goran's assessment is that the circle was drawn some time ago—a week or more ago—but it visibly appears more recent.

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Goran's Knowledge (nature) check = 16

*Potentially more information for Belarin coming soon in his private thread.

[mike]

"I suggest Grafth and I lead the party for a bit, with some muscle right behind us. Torhak?"

Torhak nods, and follows closely behind the half-elf.

He looks at the circle while the others examine it.

"Let us leave this witchcraft," he says quietly, "and let us find the witch who made it instead."

[Darren]

Kal was going with Belarin. Did he get a Knowledge check, also?

[Jeff]

Jul 8, 2008 10:58:53 GMT -4 Darren said:

Kal was going with Belarin. Did he get a Knowledge check, also?

That's fine, Darren. But you need to explicitely state it, that's all. You'd said:

He turns his head to see Belarin as he says, "I think you and I need to get closer, see if we can figure out what that is."

It's one thing to make a suggestion to someone, but until you actually move Kal's words to Belarin won't suffice. If I had Kal move forward and he fell into a spiked pit, you'd be able point back to your post and say, "That's not fair. I told Belarin we should go forward, but I didn't go forward yet. You moved me." And you'd be right. Follow?

[Ken]

Belarin sniffs at the air. "Yes, yes, it does smell like varnish, doesn't it?" he says absentmindedly. Turning to Kal, he adds, "Our first guess was right, m'lord, but the whole truth is more troubling. The more powerful magicks were used to bind whatever it was that was summoned, and the imprisoning magic was strong indeed."

He looks around nervously. "All right, I'm done with crouching in the middle of an open courtyard. I'd like to start killing enemies now ... before they summon something to eat me."

[mike]

"You do speak dwarven, good Belarin," Torhak says with a wry grin. "I concur."

"Let us make haste, and enter the manor."

[Jeremy]

Goran grins a bit at the dwarf.

"And you, my friend, speak elvish. I agree, let's get inside. Whatever awaits us, the longer we tarry the longer it can prepare."

He glances around again, taking in as much information as possible before they might enter. He looks for any movement in windows, doors cracked open, bent grass, etc.*

"...let's just not kick the door down just yet. Our presence, methinks, is known."