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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[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!!! ]

[dominioned]

[ The devices are kind of bulky and nonsensical, but Erik does manage to snag a spool of copper wire as he makes his exit in the pitch black darkness. His vision clears as soon as he exits the door, but it reveals a probably unwelcome sight.

Leaned up against the wall is Rembrandt, his arms crossed. ]

My, my, I was not informed we were going to meet with two survivors today. [ His attention is on Erik, so he's not seen the bag with stashed goodies yet. And though Erik can see his surroundings just fine once again with the goggles, there's some lingering dark spots that fade in and out around the Lady's assistant. ]

[bawcock]

[ Heck yes, copper wire! And, man, he knew he should've made a break for the window!! ]

What can I say? I was in the area, and it'd be downright rude not to drop in and say "hello." [ Crossing his arms and holding out his hand to gesture. ] Speaking of, hi. How've you been?

[dominioned]

In that case, good afternoon. [ He won't motion with his hand but he doesn't seem particularly annoyed or put off compared to other times. ]

Not to terrible all things considered, even in the face of sub par tea. And yourself?

[bawcock]

[ Wow. There is no good reason why that should've worked. ]

If I had to put it in one word, I'd choose "soggy." Or maybe "wet." [ Shaking his head. ] Dunno if you've looked outside yet, but it's raining cats and dogs out there.

[dominioned]

[ And yet here we are. ]

Sodden? Waterlogged? [ He reaches up with a smile to push up his glasses. ]

I took a shortcut, so I was able to avoid all of that mess. Not much unlike your own to wind up here, perhaps.

[bawcock]

How about dank? [ Turning to his side (conveniently so the bag is at the hip furthest away from Rembrandt's gaze!!) and confidently leaning in! ]

Hard to believe you're actually comparing the two. Whatever your shortcut is, it has to be leagues better than mine. Care to share what, or where, yours is?

[dominioned]

Dank is quite fitting. [ Phew, he's not going to be thrown off by errant vocabulary today! And he won't spot the bag either. ]

Ah, but you won't be able to use it. But I suppose as a reward for your conviction, I can tell you. As fast as I am, teleportation is much more convenient in this weather.