"So we give you back the book, and no longer seek retribution against you for your earlier attack, and you will help us infiltrate The Crown? I am curious, why do you seek it's downfall?"
"Not care of Crown rise or fall. Care of loose end and preference for expedient resolution. Your ire manageable, but not preferred. Blank ledger favorable, yes?"
"Surely the Crown has wronged him as they have our Master. Tell me what they have done, so I may more properly revel in their demise."
Grigore licks his lips and steps to Vesta, whispering quietly, though it matters not who hears him.
"Do tell, would you be willing to part with the necklace? I have a personal favorite use for such things."
I toss the book to the creature. "Very well, here is your book. Consider the trade, at least, a deal. The rest is up to the others."
I have no objection to going along with it.
The hooded skeletal figure catches it's book "Obliged much. You will be moving on yes?" as a violet portal begins to weep into being adjacent to you.
I suppose this will be fine. Ignac waits for the others to go through before he does, himself.
"Fine, This bores me." Vesta say's in an alof tone.
The portal grows in power swallowing you whole and spitting you back out into the material plane. You are delivered unto a spartan stone walled chamber with a wooden roof and floor that is devoid of any decoration save a white stone similar to that which you have seen before set into a tiny alcove on one side of the room. There is a solid wooden door that sits in one wall of the square room.
The skiff that delivered you disappears back into the portal that delivered you and leaves you alone with your companions in the room. There is no light, though that does not trouble you.
Is this the room we came from?
Vesta says in an annoyed voice, "Where the bloody hell are we now?"
I imagine we have been deposited in the demi-lich's stronghold... You did agree to it, Gabriel remarks dryly.
I imagine we have been deposited in the demi-lich's stronghold... You did agree to it, Gabriel remarks dryly.
"Right, " Vesta says giving a little point at the hand. "I got bored and wasnt paying attention when the demon was talking. "
"Well I suppose that we should preform some reconnaissance, No?" I Look at Gabriel and Vesta.
"Well I suppose that we should preform some reconnaissance, No?" I Look at Gabriel and Vesta.
"Of course. Gabriel, Ride along or divide and conquer?"
The door does block your arcane sight from seeing beyond.
Vesta attempts to invisibly pass through the wall next to the door and see what's on the other side.
Stealth
Percep
Gabriel moves over to the door, and goes over it carefully...
There appears to be a relatively simple alarm connected with the door. I could simply sever the connection, or muffle it long enough to allow us through the door. I would prefer the second option; it would not do to remove wards that someone might check on periodically...
Vesta passes through the wall and finds herself within earth.
Pulling her head back through vesta says, "Either the corridor is only the size of the door, or it's nothing but dirt on the other side."
Vesta steps through the wall and takes a U shaped path to the opposite side of the door. Is she in dirt or a hallway?
"The second option seems fine to me."
Done.
Gabriel sets about bypassing, but not removing, the alarm.
Done.
Gabriel sets about bypassing, but not removing, the alarm.
Vesta goes around the door (though the wall) to see what's on the other side.
Ignac waits patiently for a route to be found and chosen.
Vesta finds that the other side of the door also leads to earth.
The portal is opened and you can see that the chamber you were within is near to the surface, just sunken into the earth. Outside the door is a small ramp leading up to the surface. Peering about you find the location is within a graveyard, and the chamber you just exited was a small mausoleum. Beyond the iron fence is a wall-ringed compound that you are within.
Ahead lies a stately manor house of several stories tall, while at your back is the wall that rings the compound. To the left are the manor's gardens, both verdant and decaying in equal measure. To the right are what appear to be servants quarters, as the smaller buildings are far less stately.
::"Interesting. Gabriel, are we still scouting?"::
Vesta says telepathically while invisible and looking around.
::Where to first?::
Rolling my eyes at the lack of progress made by the others I will use my ring of invisibility to turn invisible and stride out of the bypassed portal. Heading toward the servants quarters to see if they are populated or if they could be used as a starting base better then the room we are currently occupying.
stealth
Seeing what Daemon is doing, Vesta casts see invisibility and follows him. She is currently invisible also.
Stealth
From the outside the quarters seem typical of the large manor houses one might see in the more genteel cities of the living, though in a gradually increasing state of disrepair. Doors are closed and windows covered by flaps. As you draw closer you cannot sense or hear anything within the quarters.
Gathroc follows his two more stealthy companions, doing what he can to stay unseen
::"Vesta, would you mind flying up and seeing where we are exactly? I loathe going in to a potential battle blind, and right now, I feel like we're bats, not an elite team of undead badasses."::
I cast detect magic on myself to see if there are any more magical alarms visible on the doors of the servants quarters like there were on the crypt.
Gathroc follows his two more stealthy companions, doing what he can to stay unseen
::"Vesta, would you mind flying up and seeing where we are exactly? I loathe going in to a potential battle blind, and right now, I feel like we're bats, not an elite team of undead badasses."::
::[Of course, dear.[/i]:: Vesta says/thinks in a sultry innner voice as she invisibly floats up until she has a good lay of the land. When she feels confident she can sufficiently describe the surrounding area she returns and reports.
Detect magic shows no overt signs on the servants quarters or the portals that would allow access to it.
Floating high Vesta is unable to discern too much beyond the manor house due to the darkness of night. There are no real lights to be seen apart from what might be torches far to the South and West. The manor house itself is expansive, with extensive gardens on your left. Opposite the house from where you are seems to be a stable and a kennel. Behind the manor are a few more minor outbuildings and the rear wall of the complex.
Detect magic shows no overt signs on the servants quarters or the portals that would allow access to it.
Floating high Vesta is unable to discern too much beyond the manor house due to the darkness of night. There are no real lights to be seen apart from what might be torches far to the South and West. The manor house itself is expansive, with extensive gardens on your left. Opposite the house from where you are seems to be a stable and a kennel. Behind the manor are a few more minor outbuildings and the rear wall of the complex.
Vesta reports all that telepathicallyonce she comes down.
"Thank you my dear" Gathroc says politely as the ghost takes to the air. When she returns he contemplates their next move "I think investigating the servants quarters first would be a good move. We can slaughter whoever is inside and raise them to serve us."
Delighted by those wonderful words 'slaughter' and 'serve', Grigore whispers to Gathroc and puts his hands on his shoulders. "As marvelous as that sounds, we should learn a tad bit more before going on the rampage that we all deserve. I will let you make the decision, but Miss Vesta and myself should scout around in the air and count the heads. After all, we must ensure that we all get a fair share of this."
He licks his lips hungrily, eyes shifting color from his natural hazel to the glowing gold of the beasts he is so akin to.
Just do not rely overmuch on magic to hide yourselves from prying eyes; I find it highly unlikely that a Demilich would not have wards up to dispel such effects... We have found a way to perform a surgical strike, but we should not become over-confident.
Moving towards the servants quarters you see a sturdy yet unremarkable door nearby to give you access to the interior. A quick review by Gabriel shows that there are no overt signs of trapping and it does not appear to be locked.
An ear placed to the door yields no sound of inhabitance within.
Moving towards the servants quarters you see a sturdy yet unremarkable door nearby to give you access to the interior. A quick review by Gabriel shows that there are no overt signs of trapping and it does not appear to be locked.
An ear placed to the door yields no sound of inhabitance within.
"This looks like a good enough place to establish our 'base camp' for now, all of his servants are probably undead leaving little use for the servants quarters."
I think Grigore was suggesting a more detailed fly in and around the grounds type approach.
Assuming it is alright that he does, Grigore will scout about in Gaseous Form if there is no significant wind, and bat form if there is. Fly checks for bat form available on request.
If the above is against the plan, then he would be more than happy to Gaseous Form into the building through a keyhole, crack in the doorframe, or any other small opening.
vests flies and scouts the building.
Pecep
Stealth