WEEK 4

[umbralant]

WEEK 4

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Last week could probably only be summed up as a mess. Three people died, one was turned to currency and the hotel pool remains in a general state of unusability unless swimming in pulpy mush is someone’s idea of a good time. And that’s not even counting the haunted morse code T-Rex. At least the greenhouse is as relaxing as ever, even if someone seems to have made off with a number of succulents and cacti.

But with the new week comes a new set of locations to explore as the fog retreats to reveal another portion of the city. The half moon wanes to a new moon this week, leaving streets even dimmer this week -- hopefully you have some other portable sources of light available if you plan on straying too far beyond the reach of the lampposts in the new areas.

[[Welcome to Week 4! Note that new areas have been added, and can be found under the Week 4 tab on our Locations page. Once again, feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. You can also privately contact The Lady or Rembrandt.]]

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[bawcock]

[ This is about on par with Rembrandt's everything, tbh, so he almost doesn't bat an eye at it. Almost. After he blinks out his surprise, he grins at Zangetsu. ]

You really do worry about the people here, don't you? Some of them, anyway. [ Like, it showed with Pizza too but he's surprised. A beat! ] Okay, if you're cheering me on, then I guess I've got no choice!

[ Giving him a thumbs up with his left hand!! And then starting to sprint off, bye Zanghostsu! ] I'll be back before you know it!

[moonfang]

Tch... I don't worry about people. It'd just be sad to lose people who are interesting!

[TSUN. But he offers a wave.

He's going to find a place to get out of the rain though, if possible, thanx]

INVESTIGATION!

[bawcock]

[ Have fun with that!! Now that he's branched off into a solo series, Erik takes stock of the area around him!

What's the area around here like? For reference, they probably picked a place that was as far from the entrance as possible while also being easy to reach. He's mostly looking for trees that might be near windows, windows that are open, or doors. A cellar will also work if there is one. ]

[moonfang]

Oi! Wait!

[before he gets too far, Zangetsu hands off the night-vision goggles]

Now you really have to come back in one piece, cause I want these back!

[back to hiding from the rain he goes]

[bawcock]

[ huh what

oh shit his bro came back to tsun some more ] Get a look at those! No idea what these are for, but if you're offering then I'm taking!

[ yoink!! he'll try to give them back no matter what, it's a promise!! also, with zangetsu gone again: see above, same place, same time, same window snoopin'! ]

[umbralant]

[Welcome to the edge of Wawel Castle's territory! This is truly a landmark of Krakow, and it would be great to visit if it wasn't because you're trapped in the city and told to kill each other. Niiiice.

On top of a hill there are several buildings around a plaza, but only one of them shows signs of having been habitated recently. Conveniently, it's the one closest to Erik.

Also, good thinking! You'll see all the windows and doors seem to be tightly closed...but to a side there's a tree rather close to a window on the second floor. That seems promising! Good luck, Erik. Thank goodness you have night vision goggles, you'll see tripwires all over the hill and courtyard. Tripping them can't be good, so you better be careful when making your way over there!]

[bawcock]

What the—? There better not be any hidden mines around here! That'd just be overkill! [ Rembrandt, what have you been up to!! Surely no one could have passed that impassable wall so there was absolutely no need to set any traps!! Luckily Erik has the required skills to overcome this trial!

Please don't mind him as he cautiously steps around and over the traps until he makes it to his destination—the tree. Climbing trees in the rain seems iffy but, know what, he's up for trying!

Assuming he can make it up the tree by using branches or tenaciously clawing at it, what will he see when he peers into the window? ]

[umbralant]

[You're an ace, Erik. Well done.

Going up the tree is difficult but doable, the rain is the only obstacle. Once he reaches the window, he can look inside and see...!

This is a hallway! It's completely dark, but the goggles will allow him to see quite the elegant interior, decorated tastefully and showing the beauty of Wawel Castle. There are a couple doors, but they look like they're locked. The hallway curves to the left.

The window is locked, though. You willing to forgo subtlety to get in?]

[bawcock]

[ And what a lovely hallway it is! These night-vision goggles are coming in much handier than he could have ever expected. Granted, he didn't know what they were until like two tags ago.

But, hm. No he's not willing to just break right in just yet. Nevermind that even when he does get in, he's going to drench the place in water (which isn't subtle).

What kind of lock is he looking at? Is it the type you could, say, jam a knife into and jimmy open? ]

[umbralant]

[That does seem to indeed be the kind of lock this is. Apparently the people who installed this lock failed to take into account the tree right outside this window, giving any invaders a place to rest in while they take their time jimmying knives into the window.

Are you able to deal with that, Erik?]

[bawcock]

[ Nice! Suck on a lemon, Rembrandt!! Your traps (still assuming they're his) are rendered meaningless before his expertise!! Which... thus far only consists of climbing a tree and shoving a knife into a window.

...

Ahem. Yeah, he can deal with that! As long as there's room either on the ledge or in the branch, he'll work at the window until it comes open! Once the lock has been successfully subdued, he's—not going to open it! Before pushes/pulls this thing, time for a trap check! Are there any wires around or behind it? How about on the ground? under it?

Adding one more question—hard floors or carpet? ]

[umbralant]

[excuse you erik the lady is perfectly capable of building defense systems give her some evil credit goddamnit

Well, whether she's capable of that or not, it doesn't seem like she or Rembrandt did anything here on this hallway. No tripwires, no sensors, no guillotines waiting to chop someone's head off, nothing.

Between you and me, the lack of electricity makes it real difficult to set her kind of traps, haha]

[bawcock]

[ umm wow maybe but dont leave rebrand without a job, lady??? hes the janitor its fine to leave the dirty work to him

And, whew!! A true stroke of luck! Don't mind him as he cautiously nudges the window open (while making sure to firmly hold the frames, lest the wind magically break them) and steps in!! Then closes the window. And drips on the floor. All of this is being done with the utmost care, of course.

Can you tell what's coming next? Bet you can. #1, looking for signs of blue-eyes, #2 shoving himself against a wall because that's how you stealth! ]

[umbralant]

[Wawel Castle is deathly silent. Every move Erik makes feels like it's making noise that echoes all over the place. It's a good thing, though: the echoing makes clear nobody else is in the vicinity, or else he'd hear him move. No sign of blue-eyed creatures, thank goodness.

Still, although everything is nice and clean, it all feels like...like it's abandoned. Looks like this area of the castle doesn't get much use. You'd have to go deeper into the castle, it seems!]

[bawcock]

[ Dammit, Lady!! But hey that explains the lack of traps. To save time, probably safe to assume that Erik's approach is always going to be cautious. Hugging walls, putting his ear to a door before opening it, that sort of fun stuff!

Dripping all the while, he moves forward!! His current plan is to like, find a towel tbqh. Besides that, he figures he should try to find a way down. Basements usually hold prisons, treasuries, and other fascinating things!! ]

[umbralant]

[Well there are a few tapestries along the way. If you don't mind ruining historical artistic artifacts feel free to use any of them, pal, hah!

The hallway curves to the left, where more doors are closed. These seem to hold exhibitions, but everything is locked. No sign of the key, either. This castle is so large finding the keys would take ages.

Still, at some point Erik comes across a stairway, leading to the ground floor. There's something attached to the lowest step -- but it doesn't seem to be active. Looks like something round and made of metal, no doubt the Lady is responsible for that. Signs of mastermind territory!

That thing is aiming at a door that's very close to the stairway]

[bawcock]

[ He minds!! If only because they could be valuable and also wet floors are exactly as subtle as ruined tapestries.

It's a shame to pass up on all these locked doors but, well, what can you do? He's a man on a mission! A mission that's taking him right into a pseudo-Killing Machine's lair (actual DQ monster, btw), apparently. He gives it a wary look before creeping toward the door!

If it seems safe after taking all the aforementioned precautions, he'll try opening it and peeking in! ]

[umbralant]

[The door opens with ease. It even doesn't creak, like someone has oiled the door. Must have been everybody's favorite assistant.

The inside is...well it certainly confirms this is mastermind territory -- more concretely the Lady's. It's a sitting room, but it has been repurposed into some sort of junkyard. The window has been covered with wood, most likely to prevent anyone from looking inside from the outside of the castle.

There's a lot of stuff strewn around randomly without a care, as well as bits and pieces of devices and machines. There even is a tire in a corner. Wow. There also is a table aside, with a few papers on it. All in all, it seems like a decent place to take a look around]

[bawcock]

[ Huh. And here he thought she'd be living up in a tower somewhere. What is with important people choosing rooms in such weird places? The King of Heliodor's was right in front of his throne room! This is almost as bad as that!

Welp, whatever. The stuff in the room is more questionable than its location anyway. ]

Jeez, I don't think I've ever seen so much junk in my life. [ Shaking his head in judgment!! With that done, time to get to work!! He'll start by trying to read the papers. He's be tempted to grab some of the devices but, eh, she might notice they're missing. Sry anyone who wants them. ]

[umbralant]

[Time to take a look!

On one side there's a pile of little notes. They seem to be addressed to Rembrandt, each one on a different note.

'I'll be at the office, bring me tea'
'Bring me these machine parts, you can extract them from--'
'If I fall asleep anywhere drag me to my room'

Well then. But it's a confirmation she's not writing this stuff encrypted, possibly because Rembrandt doesn't know how to read her codes.

Hm? On the other side of the table there's what seem to be drafts for letters!]

[bawcock]

[ Good news is, he doesn't have to take these with him! Bad news is, they're not useful. He does have to wonder why they're here though. Like, does Rembrandt just bring these notes back to her?? Does she keep a stockpile of pre-written messages to Rembrandt and throws them at him when she wants something???

Or maybe these are her latest messages to Rembrandt and she leaves them here because... he comes in here? For some reason? Not to clean, clearly. Since these questions are starting to feel better left unasked, onwards!!!

What new and disturbing letters will greet Erik's eyes this time? ]

[umbralant]

[Well looks like there's not much to be disturbed about! The majority of the letters clearly are drafts, things she once wrote and threw aside for one reason or another. They're unreadable, scribbled over messily and with ink stains all over them. The few words Erik can read tell nothing.

There's one letter that's easier to read than others, though. Let's take a look--!

...

...you'll want to take a look at this, Erik]

[bawcock]

[ Umm, excuse?? There are clearly some disturbing things in this letter!! What were you reading, meta!!

There's a lot of things that are pretty yikes about the Lady's room but this might take the cake. For a hot minute, he debates simply copying the letter. That would be the sneakiest way but, meh, there's water in here now anyway! Yoink!!! Are there any books in here? He is specifically looking for whatever indecipherable book Cumore mentioned but, eh, any book at all will do. ]

[umbralant]

[There's a couple books, indeed. 'Precision Machining Technology', and 'Mechanical and Electrical Systems for Construction Managers'. Judging by the way those were just...left here, she didn't find much use for them. Maybe they weren't up to her expectations.

...hm? The room seems to be getting darker, Erik, much, much darker. It's noticeable even though you have those night vision goggles]

[bawcock]

[ Plucking up one of the books and tossing the drafts between its pages!! And now the book goes into his bag. Hopefully it shall now be safe from the rain. Safer.

And uh, hm, ok, that's not good? Looks like it is time to away! Making a break for the door—and if he can nab any small devices or materials or anything pocket-sized along the way, he is! 'cause now that he's already taking stuff, everything is free game!!! ]