Chapter 6: Day Three

[HoneyDog]

Squatting in front of the fireplace, Harry tries manipulating the andiron. He twists one of the bars, and to his surprise it starts to turn, and a small section of the floor against the wall to his right lifts slowly up with an agonizing creak.



“Thanks awfully for feeding my ferret!” says George in a whisper.

He leans closer to Isolde, looking around for prying eyes as he does so.

“I say, would you like to see another secret?”

[Philulhu]

Vic gave a low whistle then quickly looked around to make sure they weren’t being watched. ”Good work, Mr Brown!” she smiled. “Shall we have a look and see where it leads?”

[Mephistophilis]

Harry blushes, feeling rather pleased with himself for performing in front of a lady. He kneels by the section of floor and takes a look underneath.

[HoneyDog]

Examining the opening, it’s quickly apparent that it doesn’t seem to lead anywhere. It’s a space of about 5 feet in height and almost 2 feet across, about enough room for a small man.

OOC,All present, including Alexander who must have reached you by now, can roll Idea about the opening.

[Mephistophilis]

Harry Idea 40%,[dice]0[/dice]

OOC:   Priest hole?

[aine]

“Perhaps.” Whispers Isolde to George,”Maybe in return for a little something from the village? I’m hoping to go to the post office shortly.”

[Philulhu]

Vic knelt down to have a closer look. Inwardly she was disappointed that it didn’t seem to lead to a secret warren of passages in the walls.

Vic - Idea Roll (85%),[dice]0[/dice]

[Mephistophilis]

Harry starts to tap on the sides of the hole. 'I wonder what this was used for?'

[HoneyDog]

George cocks his head, confused at Isolde’s words.

“You don’t want to see?” he asks, disappointed.

OOC,Vic rolled successfully so she realizes the function of the space – it is indeed a priest hole! Built during the Elizabethan era when clergy were persecuted, and had to go into hiding.

[aine]

“Well, yes of course, lead the way!” Replies Isolde.

[Philulhu]

”I believe it is a priest’s hole,” replied Vic. “A hiding place for Catholics - and Jacobites - when being of either persuasion could lose you your life...”

She sat on the edge and dangled her feet in the hole. Holding up her hands, she said, “Can you help me down? I want to take a closer look.”

OOC,Vic will, once again, try to coerce her rather under-powered Spot Hidden skill (25%) into giving up some clues... [dice]0[/dice] Edit: Pffft! :?

[HoneyDog]

“Great!” exclaims George enthusiastically, and then checks himself to make sure he wasn’t heard.

Beckoning to Isolde, he leads the way upstairs and to his bedroom. The enter and George heads to a sconce located on the wall at the back of the room. He pushes it down, and a small section of the wall slides open.

He turns around with a triumphant smile.

“It’s a secret passage!” he whispers. “Do you want to come in?”

OOC,There’s no need for Spot Hidden. It’s a small space containing only one thing.

Harry helps Vic into the hole, a claustrophobic space almost unbearable in this heat. Wedged into a crack in the wood is a small pile of what looks like folio papers, clipped and bundled together.

[Mr. Handy]

"Aye, so it is," says Alexander. "My family has never had need for such things. We're Presbyterians, and we Campbells have always been Loyalists." He notes her find. "Ah, that must be the next clue in the trail to find the treasure. Of course the treasure itself wouldn't be that easy to find."

OOC,My post with my Idea roll disappeared when the site went down. I think I failed, but it didn't matter.

[Philulhu]

Vic wiped her hands on her trousers to make sure they dry, then carefully eased the papers out from the crack and passed them up to Harry, before holding up her hands to be helped out of the hole.

Once back at floor level, she took back the papers, spread them out on the library desk and began to read...

[HoneyDog]

Vic recognizes the handwriting as Nicholas Forby’s – these must be the missing pages from the last folios. However the writing is much harder to decipher than the previous entries – it is jagged and disjointed , the words seeming to flow into each other. It will take some serious analysis to make headway of this find.

OOC,All reading need to make English rolls to make sense of the pages.

[aine]

Isolde is impressed,”Gosh! What a find; you are clever, George. Yes, lead the way. But go quietly!” She whispers. “Do we need a light?”

[HoneyDog]

George shakes his head. Although it is dim, enough light enters through various cracks and holes to light the passage.

It appears to run parallel between the bedrooms on one side, and the library on the other. George raises his finger to his lips, and points to a wooden foot pedal attached to weight and pulley, which must be used to open the doors from the inside.

The floor is very dusty, and Isolde can make out a set of small boot prints which look recent, and a set of three thin parallel wheel tracks, which must have been made earlier.

George opens a slit on the wall, and peering in, Isolde can see Harry, Vic and Alexander in the library, talking excitedly and poring over some papers.

“Every room has these peepholes” whispers George. “You can see and hear everything.”

[Mr. Handy]

Though the text is confusing, Alexander has sufficient mastery of the English language that he can understand it.

OOC,Own Language: English (90% base skill) reading the pages: [dice]0[/dice]

[HoneyDog]

Alexander can make out the writing, and begins to read for the others.

It is obviously detailing the work on the statue “Icarus”, and there are many sketches. All except the last few show the traditional winged man from mythology, but the notes are incoherent. What is plain though is Nicholas is so sick that he thinks he will die. He asks Christopher to visit in order to help him finish the mold, and asks his friend to finish the work if he were unable to;

“For I care neither for Heaven or Hell” he writes, “only that my masterwork outlive me.”

OOC,More successful English rolls please!

[Philulhu]

Vic dusted herself down and pulled a cobweb from her hair with a shudder. She flicked it away into the fireplace and stepped over to join Alexander at the table. As he begins to read, she starts to follow the words written on the page.

English (75%),[dice]0[/dice]