Inside the locked and shuttered house the heat is oppressive, and the investigators turn fitfully in their sleep, their dreams filled with their own personal horrors or fantasies.
Vic & Harry,Vic and Harry both come awake suddenly, sweating in the heat. Yes, there it is again - it sounds like something scraped the kitchen window below their rooms. Something is moving around outside the house!
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:40 am
by Philulhu
Vic sat up suddenly, momentarily distracted by her unfamiliar location. She blinked rapidly and sat quietly, listening out for the noise that had disturbed her.
The noise came again and Vic carefully climbed out of bed and padded across to the window, where she carefully looked down to see if she could see the cause.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:53 am
by HoneyDog
Vic,Vic can’t see anything in the darkness. Perhaps whatever it is is too close to the house.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:53 am
by Mephistophilis
Harry wakes suddenly. He slides out of bed, his shirt, wet with sweat, sticks uncomfortably to his back. He cocks his head and hears a strange scraping noise that seems to be coming from downstairs. He pulls on his coat and shoes and quietly unlatches the door. He starts to walk slowly down to the stairs moving as silently as he can but managing to blunder into a side table on his way. 'Damnation' he curses.
Harry Sneak: 70,[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:01 am
by HoneyDog
Mephistophilis,Sorry, the post may be confusing, but the noise is outside the house. I will make it clearer. You can adjust your actions accordingly.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:08 am
by Mephistophilis
Honeydog,Harry is heading downstairs to have a look out the window, he was just trying to be quiet
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 10:05 am
by Mephistophilis
Gingerly Harry knocks on Vic's door, 'Miss Miller, are you awake? he hisses. 'I am going downstairs to investigate, I suggest you stay here'.
Harry then heads down to the kitchen, his hand gripping the cosh in his coat pocket.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:37 pm
by HoneyDog
Mephistophilis,I got you!
OOC,Just a reminder – the rooms are shared, so owing to the noise of the side table blundering and door knocking I think all the characters can wake up now. Don't miss out on the excitement!
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 4:09 pm
by Philulhu
Mephistophilis wrote:Gingerly Harry knocks on Vic's door, 'Miss Miller, are you awake? he hisses. 'I am going downstairs to investigate, I suggest you stay here'.
Harry then heads down to the kitchen, his hand gripping the cosh in his coat pocket.
”Not likely!” whispered Vic as she pulled open the door. She had heard Harry’s door and him blundering into the table and she was already crossing the room before he knocked. Lifting her dressing gown from the hook on the back of the door, she stepped lightly after Harry.
“Did you hear a noise too?” she asked quietly, as they made their way downstairs.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:47 pm
by aine
Isolde has set her alarum clock for 1 o'clock. She tosses and turns, sleeping fitfully.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:58 pm
by Mephistophilis
'Yes, like a scraping, it seems to be coming from outside whispers Harry. 'While it might be Master George's ghost it seems rather more likely to be an intruder so please stay behind me'.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:45 am
by Philulhu
Vic rolled her eyes as she followed Harry towards the kitchen. ”I’m not completely helpless,” she whispered, tartly. “We don’t all scream when we see a mouse or faint at the sight of blood!”
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:17 am
by Mephistophilis
'I am hoping there isn't going to be any blood!' spits Harry.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:46 am
by Mr. Handy
Alexander emerges from his bedroom with a yawn, his argyle socks sticking out from under his robes and a lit candle on a dish in one hand. He follows Vic and Harry down. "Did you hear that bump too?" he asks quietly.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:59 am
by Philulhu
”We heard something. We’re not sure what caused it,” whispered Vic in reply.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 7:41 pm
by aine
Isolde is woken by the frantic whispering on the landing. She quickly pulls a damask dressing gown on, grabs her paranormal activity kit and tiptoes out of the room. She sees the others at the top of the stairs.
"What's happening?" She asks, looking in her bag and pulling out some crystals that glint in the moonlight.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 10:15 pm
by Mephistophilis
Harry rolls his eyes at the rabble assembling behind him. He pulls his coat around his nightshirt and starts down the stairs. 'No point in trying to be stealthy now' he says. 'We've heard someone outside, let's be quick and take a look before they get away'.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:46 am
by HoneyDog
As the companions move to the back door, they can hear movement in the servants’ quarters – someone must have woken up there.
The door is bolted only, and so is easy to unlock.
OOC,All can roll Natural History.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:55 pm
by Mephistophilis
Harry Natural History: 10%,[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:13 pm
by Philulhu
Vic- Natural History,10% - [dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:31 pm
by aine
Isolde brings up the rear, she's trying to get a sense of the energy pathways through the house.
Natural History,[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:31 pm
by Mr. Handy
Alexander follows Vic and Harry to the back door.
OOC,Natural History roll (10% base skill) looking outside:
[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:48 am
by HoneyDog
The door is unlocked and the investigators step quietly out, straining to make anything out in the darkness.
Suddenly there is a bark, and the form of Peter the bull-mastiff rushes towards the companions.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:34 am
by Mr. Handy
Alexander moves aside to get out of the dog's way. "Hello, Peter," he calls, hoping the dog will again like hearing his name.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:30 am
by HoneyDog
Peter stops, letting out another bark, but he seems mollified. Mike the setter also appears, panting and wagging his tail.
OOC,Everyone can roll Spot Hidden.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:00 am
by Mephistophilis
Harry tickles Mike behind his ear, 'good boy, what have you been up to'.
Harry Spot Hidden: 60%,[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:41 am
by Philulhu
”Who let the dogs out?” asked Vic, quietly.
Vic - Spot Hidden,(25%) - [dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:04 pm
by Mr. Handy
"My guess is Fred did," whispers Alexander. He peers out into the darkness, but he can see nothing.
OOC,Spot Hidden roll (67% skill) looking outside:
[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:23 pm
by aine
"Maybe they roam free at night. They are obviously alert; did anyone hear them bark earlier? If not, then whoever or whatever it was didn't upset the dogs... for some reason." Isolde arches an eyebrow but it's too dark for anyone to see it.
Spot hidden,32[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:36 am
by HoneyDog
Isolde,In the darkness, Isolde can see an outline of a figure moving away from the kitchen window, and disappearing behind the corner of the house. It is too dark to see anything clearly, and she cannot make out any distinct features.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2020 7:34 pm
by aine
"Anyway, whatever it was has gone so we should all go back to bed." Isolde says in a loud voice whilst, at the same time, holding a finger to her lips and dramatically rolling her eyes towards the kitchen window.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2020 7:49 pm
by Mr. Handy
Alexander nods and winks.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 12:07 am
by Philulhu
Vic looks puzzled for a moment, then glances towards the kitchen window.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:21 am
by HoneyDog
aine,Are you sure you read the post correctly? :o
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:06 pm
by Mephistophilis
Harry sees Isolde's signal and looks towards the window where she is gesturing to try and see what she has noticed. He also puts his finger to his lip to signal silence and that he has understood.
OOC,Isolde is trying to let us know she has spotted something without alerting the target
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:40 pm
by aine
Isolde points round the dark corner of the house by the window, "Someone was by the window and has just crept round that corner; take the dogs!" She whispers to Harry and Alexander. "I'm going back to bed; I'll see you all at breakfast." She says loudly and moves back to the door, "Come on, Viv, we can check inside the kitchen for clues." She whispers.
ooc,Thanks, Harry, spot on!
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:52 pm
by Mr. Handy
"Come along, Peter and Mike," whispers Alexander. "Softly, softly, lads." He brings the dogs outside, trying to be quiet, but they're probably a lot stealthier than he is.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:57 pm
by Mephistophilis
Mr Handy,Harry?
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:12 pm
by Mr. Handy
OOC,Gah, I got mixed up. :oops: That's my character's name in a different game. I'll edit.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:18 pm
by Mephistophilis
Harry hesitates for a moment, looking towards the front door and contemplating flanking their quarry. 'Probably locked' he thinks to himself and turns to follow Alexander as quietly as he can.
OOC,So are we out in the courtyard near the carriage house?
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:49 pm
by Philulhu
Vic rolled her eyes in exasperation but it wasn’t the time for a likely-to-get-heated discussion as to why she would be just as good, if not better, then the men at following whoever it was had been lurking outside. Sighing, she followed Isolde into the kitchen and looked around.
”Any signs that anyone got in?” she asked, moving across to the window to take a closer look.
OOC,Spot Hidden (25%): [dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:35 am
by HoneyDog
Vic cannot see anything at the window. At that moment, Bates enters and inquires as to what is happening.
OOC,Just to be clear, the companions were outside when they met the dogs and Isolde saw the figure.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 2:36 pm
by Philulhu
Resisting the urge to reply with a flippant comment, Vic said quietly, “We heard a noise. There was someone outside. We’re checking that they didn’t manage to get inside while the men take a look outside,”
OOC,Vic’s just going with the flow...
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 5:50 pm
by Mr. Handy
"Perhaps you'd best take the dogs and lead the way," whispers Alexander to Harry. "I'm about as stealthy as a bull in a china shop."
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:40 pm
by Mephistophilis
Harry nods to Alexander trying to move as silently as he can and stick to the shadows.
Harry Sneak: 70%,[dice]0[/dice] ETA that's a hard success
Harry Hide: 50%,[dice]1[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 7:31 pm
by aine
Isolde says, "we should quickly check the other ground floor windows for ingress. Mr Bates, are any of them open because of the heat?"
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:50 pm
by HoneyDog
The dogs are sniffing around and wagging their tails, showing no particular interest in following Harry or Alexander.
Harry,[b]Harry[/b] manages to sneak silently to the wall. Glancing around the corner of the house, his heart thumping, he sees only the gardens, silent apart from the noise of nocturnal insects.
Isolde & Vic,[color=#804000]“[b]Mr. Forby [/b]orders everything to be locked up, and locked it is”[/color] says [b]Bates[/b], looking worried. [color=#804000]“I’d better go out”.[/color]
He leaves the kitchen and exits trough the back door.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2020 4:55 pm
by Mephistophilis
Disappointed Harry looks at the empty garden and signals to Alexander to join him. He strides out into the garden to look further around.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2020 8:09 pm
by Mr. Handy
Alexander follows Harry and helps him look for tracks or other clues.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 12:58 am
by Philulhu
”You keep an eye on things here,” said Vic to Isolde.“I’ll just nip out with Mr. Bates and see how the men are getting on!”
She didn’t wait for an answer, just running quickly after the butler towards the front door.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:40 pm
by HoneyDog
Vic reaches the entrance hall, but is interrupted by Gertrude, clutching a lantern and looking worried.
“What’s all of this disturbance?” she asks. “Has something happened?”
Meanwhile, Harry and Alexander peer around the garden, but cannot see anything in the shadows. Presently they are joined by Bates and soon after by Old Fred, with the dogs at his heels. Both men are excited and concerned, wanting information.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:48 pm
by Mephistophilis
Harry quickly fills in Bates and Fred. 'We heard a noise and when we arrived downstairs the back door was unlocked, Miss Beauchant noticed someone outside the kitchen window heading around the corner of the house. Curiously the dogs did not seem alarmed. There is no sign of the intruder now but we should search the grounds to be sure. A bit more light on the situation would be helpful'.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:51 pm
by HoneyDog
“I’ll get some lanterns” says Bates, and goes back inside the house.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:25 pm
by aine
Isolde runs noiselessly up the stairs to look out the games room window to see if anything was moving on the lawns below.
Spot hidden,32[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:38 pm
by Mr. Handy
"Aye, perhaps with the light and the dogs' help, we can find the intruder's tracks," says Alexander.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 1:30 am
by HoneyDog
Fred snorts dismissively.
”Ground's dry as a bone. We tried that before. Better to wait for daylight, we’d ‘ave more chance then.”
Nonetheless, Bates returns with some lanterns and the companions begin their search. The dogs do not seem to be picking up anything, they simply run around playfully.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 2:02 am
by Mr. Handy
"Well, at least it was good exercise," says Alexander. "Shall we turn in?"
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:00 am
by Philulhu
Vic looks around the kitchen window, carefully examining the ground in the way that Conan Doyle’s literary detective, Sherlock Holmes, would do.
Spot Hidden (25%),[dice]0[/dice]
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 2:30 am
by HoneyDog
Despite her best efforts, Vic is unable to spot anything.
OOC,Do you all want to move on, or are there any other actions you want to perform?
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:47 pm
by Mephistophilis
'Time to turn in I think, we can search some more in the morning' says Harry. 'Bates, is there any chance you didn't lock the back door? Can it be unlocked from the outside? I think we had better check whether the Forby's are all well if there is a chance someone could have entered the house'.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:15 pm
by Philulhu
OOC,If everyone else is turning in, then [b]Vic[/b] will reluctantly head back to head. She will double-check the back door is locked before heading upstairs, though.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 4:09 pm
by HoneyDog
Bates bristles at the implication but keeps his composure.
"I'm sure you would have noticed whether the door was locked when you exited, sir" he says coolly. "Every door and window is locked. I bid you goodnight."
OOC,Word of advice - read previous posts! I'll begin a new thread tomorrow.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 4:18 pm
by Mephistophilis
OOC,The door was said to be unlocked earlier, when we went out, but I see earlier than that it was said to have a bolt only. Oops.
Re: Chapter 3: Night One
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 7:15 pm
by aine
Isolde sees nothing from the games room windows. She watches for 20 minutes and then hen turns and pads back to her room, silently climbing into her bed so not to wake Viv.
