outside
Lok approched the building after the others had entered. It seemed nrmal enough from the outside, but then, that wasn't his specialty. If ti didn't bleed, he wasn't versed in it's weakness. With a quirked eyebrow, the warrior sliced off a chip of the building. Who knows, maybe he would find something else that could be put out of its misery.
He watched the 'wound' for a second and then drifted inside, keeping to what shadows he could.
sarrin followed the professor up the stairs, one hand wandering unconciously upwards to take a loose hold of his pendant. his expression, normally calm or mischivious depending on mood, grew wistful, and his attention began to wander from the subject at hand.
Erte nodded at Nodrom's question. Keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword, he followed the rest of the group up the stairs.
As the group reaches the landing with the broken boards, Erte tries to see what caused the deadfall. As he looks, he fingers the hilts on his bandolier, finally drawing one with a silver blade.
Those nearest to him can hear him muttering under his breath, "Find him not here, seek him in the other place yourself. But indeed, if you find him not... you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby." Almost as an afterthought, he glances to Edward and Peter, and says "Bard of Avon."
(OOC -- Spot check (17) from the first landing, just to see what there is to see. )
as erte stops to glance back, Sarrin, lost in reverie walks right into him. quickly he falls back a step and half draws his sword before realising where he is. he glares at erte as would a noble at a peasant who just inturrupted the climax of some tragic play, and sheathes his sword, continuing forward.
Ehh... things basically boiled down to, "shit happens" this time.
----
When you go to walk up the stairs, you notice that a good number of the stairs at the top have been destroyed, there's almost a circular pattern as to how it was destroyed(how, you know not), and below the hole, it is very dark. You can probably guess that the basement is down there at the bottom.
From what you can tell, there seems as though there where 30 stairs but the top 12 have been have been eradicated as described above.
Beyond the top of the stairs and in the room beyond them, you can make out what you see something that resembles the lobby on the bottom floor but, much smaller and containing more furniture.
As for you Erte, with your spot check... you notice, towards the bottom of the hole, several smaller creatures crawling around. What, you can not quite tell. 17 just ain't good enough 
There is one particular thing you can notice however, it looks as though the stairs where chewed out.
Everyone else can roll the same spot check now... see if they notice more then Erte did.
And finally, about the grafitti... I'm dead tired and am abotu to pass out. Normally, I'd probably try and push myself to stay up and finish, but I have my normal game tommorow and I'd like to get this post out here. Will *try* and get it posted beforehand, if not... I'll do my best to have it in afterwards.
Taking note of the gnaw marks, but seeing nothing at the bottom of the pit, Sarrin closes his eyes and recites an arcane chant. Rising up into the air, he kicks off a rail and glides gracefully across the hole, and brings himself to a stop at the landing on the other side.
((9 on my spot roll, and a levitation spell))
Edit- come to think of it, to I even manage to notice the gnaw marks?
Peter too proceeds up the stairs, cautiously, wondering what'll happening next. Coming to the rather large hole in the stairs, he comments,
"Geez... I wonder how that happened."
Having caught his interest, he takes a closer look at and around the hole.
[ Spot result is 9, incl. bonuses. ]
OOC: Ok...um, I rolled a natural 20, +12 mod. 32 total.
IC:Nordom slowly walked up the stairs...when it saw the hole in the ground, it paused....
"Processing.....evidence suggests precipice created from teeth marks. Small. Mammalian. Processing....87.56% chance said mammals are cranium rats. Danger to prime directive increases 5%. Unacceptable. Nordom shall remain on full alert."
The rogue places OPTIX over its eye and scans the room....
"Warning! Warning! Danger! Several of said mammals have just egressed from Nordom's visual range! Suggest extreme caution!"
Nordom's two gear spirit crossbows ::click:: as Nordom loads each with a bolt...and places them, both cocked, in front of itself.
OOC:Nordom saw a whole bunch of the damn rats with that nat 20 of its.)
Lok held back just far enough to stay out of direct line of sight. This place made him feel that he should be closer, however. Twice since entering, he almost closed with the group. He wouldn't call it nerves. He wasn't scared, but there was a nagging feeling that getting seperated at this moment might be unfortunate. With a scowl, he peeked around the corner again and watched his party's inspection of ... something on the ground.
Erte cursed under his breath as Nordom articulated his suspicions. Trying hard to keep his composure, he put a steadying hand on Peter's shoulder, he spoke quietly.
"Let's get off these stairs, and figure out what to do next. Cause unless Sarrin has enough floating spells for everybody, we need to figure out a different way up."
Giving Peter a gentle but firm tug away from the opening, Erte let go and started back down the stairs, brooking no argument. With a chuckle for what is surely an inside joke, he says "So, anybody got some rope?"
(OOC: By the way, how much time do I have left on that Detect Magic I cast back at the fight? Duration should have been 10 minutes, and if it's passed, no big deal. If not, though, I'm think he's gonna have a closer look at that graffiti and the bums in the lobby.)
sarrin glances back and notices the rest. their presence seems to be somwhat of a revilation to him, but he soon regains his composure and kicks off a near wall, gliding over the hole again.
"actually I might. as long as someone can carry someone else..."
((listen check = 16 to hear lok following us))
Peter looked concerned as he backed down the stairs, thinking as he goes, "Cranium Rats? Blast it what were those again?"
Nordom glanced back and forth between Peter and the spot where it saw the retreating cranium rats....
"Cranium rats....mammal. Rodent. Infestation of Sigil. Native to Sigil....unknown....said mammals are of little threat when encountered singularly. Warning: Threat increases exponentially when said mammals are encountered within a group. Explanation: said mammals form a psionic link with each other- the intelligence of said 'hive mind' is directly proportional to the number of said mammals encountered....threat level is currently high. Suggestion: remain on full alert."
Sarrin gives Nordom an irritated look, and turns to peter "what our verbose companion means, is that a cranium rat is much like a normal rat, but with psionic abilities. individually, they are about as intellegent as normal rats, but when they group together, they form a psichic link that allows all their intelegences to link into one. for instance, if my mind were linked to yours in this manner, we wouldn't be 2 people, but instead one person, twice as smart as normal." looking toward the hole, sarrin speaks under his breath "and if I were linked to the gear box, I'd be half as smart...."
turning back sarrin regaurds the whole group. "so, can anyone here carry someone else?"
((did I hear lok btw?))
((OOC: Due to a combination of a flayed hard drive and a camping trip, I will be unable to post through Monday of next week. Sorry.))
((OOC: Where is everyone? Hope you weren't waiting for me. :oops: ))
Peter looked worried. "Not me, certainly. I'm not exactly the muscly type..."
"fair enough... although you won't get far on the planes without the ability to fight..." sarrin looked at the rest of them.
"alright, so who's it going to be? or are we going to sit around this blasted hole all day?"
"Half a second, spellsword." Erte's mind raced for a second as he glanced about the entryway.
"I'd wager Rrodek would agree with me on this." Erte continued talking, half directed at Peter and Edward, but mostly to keep his mind occupied. "Magic is a wondrous tool. But that is all it is. If you don't know the right spell, it is as much a weakness as a rotted stairwell."
It was becoming clear Erte was looking for something in particular, but with the varied objects that caught his eye, it was hard to say what that something was. "And even though magic can do wondrous things, it is still a limited resource, to be used wisely. And sometimes, the smartest way to use magic is to not use magic."
"Sarrin, check that room up there. See if you can find anything that can bridge this gap. At least a half a foot wide, about two men's height long. I'd prefer something half a hand thick, if possible. A railing, a frame, just something sturdy."
OOC: Eek! I have no clue where September went, and I'm sorry for not being around. Anyway, I'm here now, and will be for a while. Question time, bc Erte had an idea. 1) Do the stairs have a hand rail? And if so, 2) is it intact across the hole, and if so does it look sturdy enough to hold one of us?. If not, Spot check 19: Do I see something close to what I asked Sarrin?
"what you say is more truthful than you know." a ruefull smile crossed Sarrin's lips. "I'll see what I can do."
with that, he pushed off the wall and glided gently down the hall, looking around for anything matching erte's description.
*waves to everybody*
Pete, dude... don't worry about it. While everyone could've contributed something to help push things along, this was entirely my fault for letting things die down as they did.
Where did Septemeber go, Erte? Heck if I know, probably just breezed me by as quickly for me as it did you...
I'm sure you're all wondering where I've been and if I've just abandoned this. Well, I certainly never had forgotten... I did not intend on abandoning things despite my long absence. I do wish I had at least posted telling you that I'd be a while... wish I had posted furthering the story too, but I didn't. Meh, oh well, nothing I can do about it now 'cept apologize and well, I'm really sorry about all this. This update is definitely short but I can at least say I'll be watching over things *and* ready to post when needed.
Various different reasons kept me from posting, at first... there where certain personal problems which need not be repeated as they have been solved and are no longer an issue at the moment. After that... just... certain things just happened along the way. Enough rambling!
----
Answering Erte's questions...
1) Yes, the stairs have a hand rail.
2) It is intact across the hole, however... it doesn't look sturdy enough to support most any of you.
3) And for your final question... yes, you do notice something that would fit the description you gave Sarrin. On the right side of the hall leading off to the rooms on this floor, right at the beginning of the hall is a door that is laying on the ground where the entryway to a room is.
Erte, Edward... as for what the graffitti on the walls read as, there's something I have say. Total mind block. When I went to think of what was up there at first, kept hitting a brick wall as to what to say no matter how long I thought about it or regardless of how many times I came back to think about it later.
As for it's importance... not needed for the continuity of things, however, it would provide a couple little easter eggs and there are a few things you could look further into if you would so choose to do so.
Ha! Few things starting to come to mind now, though...
First things you notice are the various "so and so" has been here marks. From initially looking, no one that seems important.
Then there is also a few of the "love" posts. Ya know... those one where someone writes, "name#1" and "name#2" forever; "initial#" with a heart in between then "initial #2", and then of course "name#1" loves "name#2".
For those that have been in Sigil before, there is one that strikes a chord in your mind. You see, just a bit to the right and above the center of the wall, a heart painted in pink with an arrow going through it; the initials S and A on each side of the arrow.
Looking through the rest of the wall, you also notice a number of job offers. Basically, telling you to go to them if you're looking for "work". Most of it seems rather shady in nature, one, however... is asking for someone to look for "parts. Nothing more is said.
Also, there is one painted in a somewhat bright red and small text, just to the left of the bums, telling you to eat at the local see food restaurant off several blocks north of the asylum.
Finally, the last thing you notice that sicks out are several message warning of brain rats in the building. Nothing elaborate, kinda just like... "Beware 'da brain rats!" and perhaps a crudely drawn picture of one.
As of this point, Erte... you have one minute left. First off, the bums do not register as magical. When you look at the wall, a number of places on it register as such, a few being fairly powerful. Mostly just seem to be arcane marks, the most powerful of them a name written in deep green... "Boorak"
As for the post you made on the 3rd/6th, Sarrin, yes... you hear Lok coming up behind you guys.
((crap! I do?))
As sarrin drifted into the hall, somthing caught his attention, he darted back down the stairs flying over the heads of the rest of the party and drawing his sword as he flew. He landed behind them and began to speak in a casual tone to the newcomer who had followed them up the stairs.
"where's the war berk? The stairs are out, so I would suggest you find another route." he raised his sword into a defensive stance. "we want no trouble here"
((yeah, I know this is a generally stupid thing to do.))
((OOC: I bet that S♥A was a jab at Sigil's resident 'loths. Heh.))
Peter reached to calm Sarrin. "Chill. His name's Lok, and he's an ally. He was hanging back a while, so we could have some inconspicuous support."
"oh... sorry. my mistake. I'm still a bit jumpy from that illusion."Sarrin blushed slightly and returned to his task, flying up to the hole and helping to place the board over the hole.
At Lok's approach and Sarrin's reaction, Erte's ashen face grew a smirk. "I was wonderin' when Longinus' Spear would show himself" Erte's baritone drizzled irony and double meanings on the possibly obscure title, though he knew Lok's importance to the mission.
Erte glances at the glowing symbols on the wall, taking note of 'Boorak' but continuing his search for a suitable bridge.
As Sarrin wrestles with the door, Erte waits at the bottom of the hole tocatch and position the door. All the while, he mutters 'Boorak, a Brook, a orb ok, Bora ok, oak orb," siezing on the arcane mark and its anagrams as a way to occupy his thoughts.
(OOC: If all's well under the door, then Erte's gonna try to pick it up and carry it to the stairs. I guess, then Bardic Knowledge checks: 32 for a person or place named 'Boorak', 19 for any obscure magical orbs/spheres/balls made of oak. And Longinus' Spear was a god-slaying relic that gave its wielder the power to rule the world, though it was death if it was ever lost.) (edited per GD, and Sarrin's heretofore unseen post)
First off, Erte... you can't do that with the door. The door is in the room at the top of the stairs and thus, Sarrin will have to grab the door. Suppose I should've specified that, musta thought at the time that it would've been assumed from how I answered your questions.
Boorak, from what you've heard is a badly overweight Hezrou that dwells within the hive. He, unsurpringly, has a great interest in food... both makes food and eats at diners/restaurants and what not quite frequently. One thing he does tend to do every now and then is use random Sigilians in his recipes...
As for your second request... are you trying for something in particular? As in... a specific item? Or just something in general?
OOC: Aack! Sorry bout that. I should have read your description a little closer. As for the little wooden sphere, nothing specific. In my twisted little mind, Arcane Mark just screams to be used for hiding clues in plain sight -- and anagrams (like 'oak orb' in 'Boorak'). Just a chaotic mind at work, at work -- otherwise I would have gotten back on last night.
((OOC: Just remember, you can only make your OWN signature with Arcane Mark.))
What you can recall with your bardic knowledge check of 19 for an orb of oak is this-- there is magical item that allows the wearer to cast barkskin a certain number of times per day and grants them a greater ability to endure physical blows. Beyond this, all you know is that the item itself is pretty rare availability wise on the material plane. Hehe, a 20 woulda netted you enough more information to make the difference of one worth while.
---
Just waiting for a few more posts from certain people at this point, then we can finally move in the thread to the next stopping point.
((is there any roll I need to make to get the door? I think I'll forgo ripping it from it's moorings, since my str isn't that high... whatever the roll is, I'll take 10 on it. 20 if possible.))
Nah, no need to roll anything for this Sarrin, it's not heavy enough or secure in it's holdings(it's on the floor...) that you couldn't take a 20 on it.
And thus, you have no problem moving it. There's nothing under it or in the room it was formerly attached to that would warrant very much suspicion, even though the room has definitely been ransacked; as it doesn't seem to have been touched for quite some time.
The room--definitely nothing spectacular, a simple one with a bathroom on the immediate left then the room itself in front of the bathroom, a small 15 by 10 ft. rectangle. There's a matress on the left wall, a bit of a "kitchen" so to say, along the right wall(stove, microwave[yes, a microwave in Sigil], and a shelf to the right of the stove as for placing food and utensils[sp?] while cooking) and various items scattered about the room.
Sarrin took the board over to the hole and laid the door across it. "I'll be right back. Somthing caught my eye."
with that, sarrin went into the room that the door belonged to (taking care not to touch the floor when he entered) nad proceeded to search the room for anything of interest, or anything that might provide clues as to what the building was formerly used for or was currently being used for.
((search roll: 19))
((HOY! Howdy folks.))
Lok grunted in reply to the group. He eyed the hole and the makeshift bridge with grudging approval.
"Nice play fightin' you had goin' on. Very thee-at-ric-al," he smiled atoothy grin at both participants.
"I didn't see anyone follow you in. So unless they know I'm with you, they came in behind me. Lucky for you, I'm back here."
Lok leaned over a bit to get a better view of his appointed task, "Are you well Edward Davis?"
Nordom pretty much ignored the rest of the party for the moment- it fixed its gaze on the graffiti on the wall. It started talking to itself as it pondered each message.
"Processing....S+A.....processing.....there is approximately a 99.978% chance S refers to Shemeshka and A refers to A'kin....processing.....there is a 98.5% chance such a sight would cause me to violently regurgitate previously ingested sustenance against my will......processing......parts........Parts?.......mechanical? Negative. Surrounding area suggests biological. Unsatisfactory. Processing......beware brain rats?........processing.......99.9999% chance said message refers to cranium rats. Warning! Warning! All evidence suggests present heirarchy is in danger from cranium rats! Suggest extreme caution!"
With that, the rogue hurried along to join its comrades.
A PM has been sent to you Sarrin, check your folder. Wonder where Edward is... well, if we have to for now, we'll just assume he follows with you guys when you finally move past this point within the next several posts or so.
Sarrin returned after a little while. he was carrying some books and had a perplexed look on his face...
"I was trying to figure out what this building used to be used for... I think it was an apartment complex... does anyone know what a philidephia might be? because whatever they are, they seem to have their own publication..." Sarrin holds up one of the 3 books he was holding. It is a thin soft-bound book with the words "Philidelphia Enquirer" on the front. "I have this hunch that they might have been horse-like creatures." he says, displaying a small rectangular package with a horse like thing with a burning paper cyllinder in it's mouth.
Sarrin laughs and tosses the two items back inside the room. "No, but seriously... I actually did find somthing that might come in handy. it's a map of the building."
((so I'm keeping the pamphlet and the notebook.))
Peter snaps his head around quickly when hearing the word Philadelphia. "Could I see that Inquirer magazine for a moment? See, Philadelphia is a city on my plane and it's rather odd to find a publication like that around here."
[OOC: Just from Sarrin's description, I'd wager it was a pack of Camel cigarettes.]
Erte carefully crossed the makeshift bridge toward Sarrin.
"Good find, Sarrin" Erte said sincerely, before hearing's Peter revelation.
"Well, at least now we have a clue of why we're meant to see Handin. If he is from your home plane, as these artifacts suggest, it becomes doubly important to find him, and what he knows." Erte looks at the party and smiles charmingly.
"And even if he's not, he's the only lead we have right now. Sarrin, let's take a look at the map, and then we can try to find Twinkles."
Sarrin looks at peter blankly. "what, you mean this is actually usefull?" he shrugged and retrieved the magazene and box, and while he was hat it, he retrived some of the tabloids and the bag bearing the mysterious 'golden arches' sigil, and hands them to peter. "well, here you go I guess, although I can't think what you'd want with them."
Yes, it should be painfully obvious. But, I'll leave you to figure that out if you want, it wouldn't be too hard.
And Pete, the particular magizine he has is from 1990.
As for something to tell you guys this time... nothing I can really say at the moment. At this point, I'm gonna give things a couple days or so before I move things on to the next point. If you have anything you wanna do, any questions to ask about something you wanna do, now's the time to do so. Basically, are you going to move straight on up to the top of the building or search around for other things?
I'll vote we go straight to the next plot point.
what about the rest of you?
((Seconded))
Lok looked at the items with an arched, black eyebrow, but did not move any closer. Of course he didn't move farther away either.
OOC: Any time we want to get going, fine by me.
I'll probably be a bit scarce for a while, goings on at work are taking up a lot of my time and more space in my mind than I'd care to admit. The OIC (officer in charge) on our newest case has been wandering around like a zombie all day: shaken up doesn't begin to describe it, especially after the interview/confession.
Put it this way: it's stuff that would make even my bard call for the nearest Hardhead -- or a funerary guildsman. Worse is that I can't say a thrice-damned word about it till the SOB goes through court. And people wonder why I decided to change careers and go back to school... Anyway, I'll try to peek in as often as I can.
You're a police officer, Erte? Certainly would've never guessed. Then again, hehe... never really stopped to think about it. Best of luck with what you're doing, hope things turn out smoothly as they can... if that's really possible judging from what you've said.
Well, not *that* surprised it took me as long as it did to do this. Being a transsision post and all, stopped to give myself more time to do it, a few days or so... which turned into more. I should so know better by now. Should've made myself do it sooner but, as always; oh well.
Know what really sucks though? Think my real life game is finally falling apart--due to real life reasons. Ya know... the players have come to the point where they need to go off, concentrate on finding a job, getting their own place, college... all that. For some people, they can continue to game when going through this... just not my players. It's not yet official as to when exactly it'll happen, but it'll happen soon enough.
Sooner, the better, I suppose. At least in a way... I can take my mind completely off of that and concentrate on this where needed over my other game.
And if you ever think I'm gone too long and I've abandoned this, I haven't. Unless either I say we end this or you guys totally bail on me, I'm not ending things until this game comes to a sound conclusion.
Meh, had a small(ok, kinda big) rant going in the last part, but... was too long. Let's just say it involved something that was voted on and passed(NOT the presidents, I'm just glad all that's finally over). I'm sure Nordom will have no problem guessing what that rant was about.
*edit*-- Forgot to ask! What did you all end up doing for Halloween? Myself? I did very little. Took my dog on a walk around the neighborhood while everyone was trick or treating to look at the houses, but that was the extent of it, unfortunately.
---
Looking on the map as to where you need to go, you notice the stairs to move to the next floor aren't all in one place but rather, on opposite sides of each floor. Not that it ends up being much of a problem, just... tedious.
The halls themselves aren't all that worthy of mentioning. All of the halls on the trip up the building have the same architecture as the rest of the building and for each corner in the hallways that turn and lead to another, there is a small room like there was at the top of the steps you initially came to, connecting the two hallways.
After moving through all the twisting and turning hallways and up each various floor, you come to something upon reaching the fourth floor. At the top of the steps coming from the third floor to the fourth floor, is an open room. This room... is not one of the regular hotel rooms, it's more of a conference room. It has a deep green carpet on not only the floors, but also the walls, and a wooden table with enough chairs for each of you surrounding it on the far side. The room itself is about 15 by 40 ft and the door, well... there is no door; there's about a 10 foot wide space reaching up to the ceiling where a door would be.
To paint a more clear picture of how everything's set up.... I will say the following. You are all at the top of the stairs, 10 feet in front of you is the entrance to the room. To your immediate left is another one of those generick(sp?) corner rooms and branching off from that room to your north(and 15 ft. to the left of the room entrance) is the hallway leading off onto the rest of the floor.
Finally, leaning on the wall next to the door is a male cat person. He stands at about 6' 3", is fairly skinny and has silvery fur with dark, blue-green eyes. From what you see, he is wearing nothing but a tattered blue silk robe.
As you reach the top of the stairs, the cat person turns to you and bows slightly, smiling as he says, "Greetings. I assume you are the group here to see my master, are you not? He is not quite ready to see you just yet and wishes for you to wait in this room while he prepares himself if you don't mind.... it's where he wishes to speak to you at."
Erte looks up at the cat-person, and steps forward (putting himself between the blue-eyed newcomer and his traveling companions) before returning the salutatory bow. He waits a moment before speaking formally, "Greetings, gentle sir, and well met. If your master is not yet ready to receive us," he spares a glance over his shoulder. "Then we shall be more than happy to await him here."
Erte motioned palm-up to the doorway in a 'lead the way'/'after you' kind of gesture. An honest smile lights up his face as he says, "You serve your master quite well. He should be pleased with you... Twinkles, isn't it?" [Diplomacy Check, 35 (17+18 modifier)]
****
OOC: Police officer is real close, G.D., but no cigar. In real life, I'm an emergency dispatcher, which (in my small-town department) means I do what needs done: feed the prisoners, be secretary, do public relations; and that's in addition to what you'd probably associate with the job. The hours are long (12 hr shifts, 1/2 shifts on Wednesday), but the pay is fair; especially considering most of my days consist of little more than watching the jail cameras and surfing the net while waiting for something to happen.
Halloween was pretty cool, the little one got to go around the neighborhood as a 50's diner waitress. She bagged a sack full of goodies that should last her through Thanksgiving, if not Christmas.
Small-town... wouldn't be some place in Ohio known as Findlay, would it? Not that I live there now, had lived there before moving to where I am currently... was a town of 37 thousand people.
As for candy, my sole complaint about it is that I barely have any!! I already went through the bag of white chocolate reese cups that were *supposed* to go through to the trick or treaters, but didn't for obvious reasons. Had never seen 'em before the time we went out to get some last minute candy as we didn't have enough as it was. The only alternate kinda of Reese's I had seen before where the inside out ones.
----
As you motion for the cat to lead the way Erte, he shrugs and says, "My master always taught me that I should let others go before me so I could make sure they are safe. That, and just a thing of courtesy and such.
"As for my name, yes..." he shudders slightly before continuing, "it is as you say it is, Tinkles. It is what my master refers to me as."
Sarrin simply bowed and stood behind Erte, his mind going over the words to some spells that might be usefull...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lol, if she's anything like me (which I hope she isn't for both of your sakes... ) that sack will be gone in a week...
as to my halloween, not much. I sang at a concert with Chanticleer (a really famous male ensamble), and that was about the high point of my weekend.
**Sense Motive check for the next minute or so (result 27) to see if he seems trustworthy.**
Erte nods slowly at the cat. He also notes and suppresses a grimace at the deliberate choice of words "what my master refers to me as".
"Of course, of course," he continues, and looks over his shoulder to catch Nordom's and Sarrin's eyes, motioning for them to enter the room.
"Please, good sir, forgive our caution. As you might have seen, our group has been trageted by a scrying spell already today, sent from a source unknown to us. We would not want to bring misfortune or unwanted attention upon your (here Erte stumbles on his words, forcing the next out with poorly-concealed contempt) Master."
****OOC: @Gnoll Druid: Nope, not Findlay. My town (Kinsley, KS) isn't near that big. Population 1,700, give or take a couple dozen, Area: 1.25 square miles. 2 bars, 2 liquor stores, and a half dozen churches. Though, if for some gods-awful reason you're passing through the town on US Highways 50 (yes, the one that runs from Cali to Maryland) stop at the convenience store and ask for D. J., somebody there will most likely know how to find me, and that goes for anybody. When I say 'small town', I don't mess around. ****
That sense motive roll is certainly more then good enough to accomplish what you want. First, from what you can tell, he couldn't have lied his ass off more then he did. You can tell that he wants you to go in the room before him... by what you could sense in his voice, there's a particular reason--not of what he mentioned. Which, by the way... was also a horrible, horrible lie.
As for the cat, at your final statement... he just smiles and nods.
You woulda beat his bluff check regardless of what he rolled, but he rolled a total of 8! So, you can basically tell... he pretty much hasn't spoken a single word of truth.
----
Well Erte, I'll definitely remember that information if by some miniscule chance I happen to pass through your place of living, always nice to meet the friends you make online...
That is one small town, though. Damn. Are there many houses to hit when the trick or treating rolls around?
And the convience store, hehe... is that the only one there?
OOC:
Nordom- Ha ha! When did Nordom get shades? I have a feeling that Morte or Grace had something to do with it.
Gnoll Druid-
Edward does read some of the graffiti.
IC:
Edward paused briefly to read some of the graffiti on the walls. He always had a theory that you could learn a great deal about a culture by reading it's graffiti. However, he lost interest when Nordom asked to go upstairs. The old man shrugged and replied, "That sounds like a well enough idea." He glanced at the stairs and continued, "The feline was on the fifth floor, right?"
With that, the professor took one last look at the writing on the walls and slowly walked up the stairs to the fifth floor. His pepper-spray in hand... just in case...