Episode Two - The Plot Thickens..

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   Ohhh.. umm... how wide is this window? Will Roxy fit through?

[Priest]

Rachel, Nelly and Jonathan in the games room -
There are two doors with the cabinet placed between them. For our purposes we shall say they are in the north wall.

Listening at either door will reveal nothing, the panneled doors, thick for interior doors, serve to muffle any sound elsewhere in the house. However the lack of illumination around the frames would seem to indicate that whatever lies behind them is unoccupied.

OOC:   Yes Nelly the window is wide enough for even Lord Roxborough's manly girth. However due to lack of input by Papa G it might be best to leave him ouside on watch so to speak.

[carnage_lee]

"No sign of life behind these doors, we should try this one..." Nellie moves over to and reaches out to the handle of the door that's to the left of the cabinet. Holding her breath she slowly turns the handle.

OOC:   Would it be a good idea to see if the doors have keys (I presume they'd have locks) on the other side of each door (I would expect) - we can lock the doors to the games-room if Roxy gets inside, that way we should have a 'protected' exit?

[Mr. Handy]

"We may want to look in the cabinet before we leave the room as long as we're here," whispers Rachel.

[jaysun81]

Jonathan looks at the cabinets and says, "Excellent idea." He moves over to one of them to peek inside.

OOC:   I'm in the process of moving. My wife and I just bought a house. So I may be hit or miss for two weeks or so while I wait for the internet to be hooked up at my new place, I'll have sporadic internet access until then. So, if I'm silent I haven't quit... just temporarily net-less. My apologies for any issues this may cause.

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   So, while the others are looking in the cabinet Nellie will try to open the door (carefully, with a mind to any creaking hinges) and if it opens see if the coast is clear - if the door is locked then she'll try the other one.

[Priest]

Jonathan (4SP) searching the cabinet –

Investigating the cabinets reveals them to contain little more that gaming items, spare balls for the table, packs of playing cards, ivory poker chips etc.
The glass fronted top of the cabinet contains several bottles of spirit and glasses of different sizes.
A central drawer contains pads of paper and several pencils as well as two ornate keys which seem to be of the type that might fit the door locks of interior door such as those to either side of the cabinet.

Don’t panic Jonathan can keep a silent precense if anything happens and he needs to act we’ll deal with that then.

Nelly (6SP) at the left hand door –

The door opens easilly its hinges obviously kept well maintained. Beyond you can see another room dark except for a small line of light that comes from beneath another door on the wall to your left (West). Not enough to cause concern, but enough to reveal the precense of light somewhere beyond.

Shadowed shapes would suggest that this room is a dining room. You can make out a long table facing north and south with ten chairs placed around. Several other chairs are placed in various positions along the walls of the room for use if needed.

You can see several large pieces of furniture which you suppose are cabinets, sideboards, smaller tables etc.

There seems to be another door in the right hand wall (east) close to the corner with the north wall, no light can be seen around the frame. In the same corner you can see the shape of a large plant.

[Mr. Handy]

Rachel grins and takes the keys, then quietly closes the cabinet to leave no obvious sign that someone has been here. "These may be for the doors in this room," she whispers. "If so, we can lock them after we leave and secure our egress. We'll want to check the other door first, of course." She examines the keys to see if they are identical or if they open different locks than each other.

[Priest]

Rachel - Close examnation seems to show there is no discernable diferences between the keys.

[Mr. Handy]

"These keys appear to be identical," whispers Rachel, keeping one for herself and holding the other out for whoever wants it. "Maybe they work on all the doors in this house. They'll unlock them faster than I can without them if that's the case."

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   Which direction is the rear of the house in?

[Priest]

OOC:   Which direction is the rear of the house in?

OOC:   The house faces south, so the rear is north

[carnage_lee]

Nellie gently closes the door but leaves it ajar, seeing the key offered by Rachel she shrugs and inclines her head indicating that Jonthan should take it.

"Through there is the dining room.." she whispers and "ought to lead us back to the kitchen, which is where I would start to look for access to the cellar."

"Did you try the other door?" she asks.

[Priest]

(Posting on behalf of jaysun81)

In answer to Nellie's query, Jonathan nods, "Yes, it seems the other door leads to a passage heading north. It seems there is a door near the end in the west wall and one at the far end. As far as I could tell the first door (west) looks dark, displaying no light source, while the other (north) appears to show light beneath"

For a second he sucks thoughtfully on his pipe, "Can't be certain, but I think I heard dull sounds coming from behind it"

[Mr. Handy]

"Best we avoid it then," whispers Rachel, handing the spare key to Jonathan. "We should lock that door, then go to the dining room and lock the door behind us before we proceed to the kitchen."

[carnage_lee]

OOC:   While we're inside can Roxie go and look at the 'out-buildings'? I don't mind running him for a bit.

[carnage_lee]

"But if we lock the doors won't it just alert Choker or his conspirator's that someone is in the house? And they are sure to have keys too, they can simply unlock a door, I rather think we should just proceed with all due caution."

OOC:   Either way let's head towards the kitchen and start our rescue in earnest.

[Priest]

(Posting on behalf of jaysun81)

Jonathan nods at Nellies suggestion, "I concour and would add that whilst I heard noises from behind the far door, I do not think them threatening more the sound of pots and pans." He gently opens the door to the corridor once more, halting in mid action to whisper, "I do beleive that this way leads to the kitchen, ladies"

OOC:   While we're inside can Roxie go and look at the 'out-buildings'? I don't mind running him for a bit.

OOC:   I do not think PapaG is returning so yes you may run Roxborough if you choose while I advertise for another player. At the moment Roxborough is inside the games room at the window through which you entered. The outbuildings are to the east rear of the building. To access them he will have to carry on down the small path, squeeze beyond the pile of boxes etc to gain access to the buildings rear. For him to do so will need a Stealth check ((DF2). Roxborough currently has 6 SP.

[carnage_lee]

Roxburgh looks on as his fellow investigators enter deeper into the house. Feeling rather left out of things he mulls over the idea of joining them but decides to pursue another course and making sure the others are on their way turns and carefully steps down the small path pausing at the pile of detritus that partially blocks the access to the rear of Choker's house. In the gloom he can make out the outlines of the outbuildings, "Now those look worth investigating.." he thinks to himself and carefully picks his way through the crates and boxes that block the path.

OOC:   Roxy's Stealth is 5 so taking t he average is sufficient to navigate his way pas the rubbish?

[Priest]

Roxborough (6SP) outside the building -

As Roxborough pulls in his stomach and carfully negotiates the pile of boxes and other rubbish, it seems that he has stepped onto something wooden. Something that has a hollow sound as if covering a hole. With consumate care for such a large man, but displaying the skill for which he is famed as a hunter throughout the Empire, he bends to uncover a wooden trap door cover closed and bolted. It seems to him that the boxes have been piled here to cover said trapdoor,

Taking care to make as little noise as possible he slides back the bolt and lifts the trapdoor on suprisingly well oiled hinges to reveal a flight of stone teps descending into darkness...