Darkest Corners volume 2

Game Master Harakani

upstairs
Smoke chokes this room, pouring up from the staircase like a chimney. Around fifteen feet away from the woman sunlight struggles to penetrate the murky haze.

ground
The construct dances a merry dance with Mia, clicking away like knitting needles

downstairs
As the last of the fire extinguishes, the smoke starts to clear a little. Two ash-charred bodies lie on the floor in the wreckage.

Per: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Sir, seein' how badly these guard machines are burned seems like this was where the fire started... and I'm guessin' they were disabled before it did. Smells like arson for where I'm standin'. Let's get back upstairs.

"Good question! Tried to figure that out myself." Diene answers cheerfully, waving a bit to her ally.

Provoking Surprise? Grapple Check: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

Diene suddenly attempts to clamp her arms around the fellow half-elf woman, into a tight bear hug, pressing her cheek against the woman's if successful to monologue a bit. "But I see two situations. One, you're an innocent bystander who needs to be evacuated, two, you're not and you're up to something. If the latter, bet you don't want to be outside in front of a bunch of mages, as individually weak as they may be." If the grapple had been successful, at this point, Diene would steer both of their attentions to the window. With an exaggerated smile and eyebrow wiggle.

Init: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Grapple check to sustain and move half my movement... Through the window.: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21

Well, darn. At least I made the one that mattered. CMD currently 24. And I suppose I won't try to launch her through the window if she comes quietly.

Diene successfully grabs the woman, but when she starts to steer her towards the window she finds it significantly harder.

"This seem strange." Ophelia remarks helpfully as Diene starts to drag the woman, and she utters her first sentence. With the second, she moves up to assist Diene in securing the woman.

"Suicidal. Explains the self immolating tendencies. *Might* have a motive to start the fire? We should restrain her both for her own good and later questioning."

"*Ahem*"

Ophelia mimics the human throat-clearing noise with somewhat proficiency. She had noted its use in drawing attention and foreshadowing smaller speeches, and she was curious to try it out!

"Unidentified woman, you are currently being taken into protective custody; both for the outspoken desire to end your existence and to shield you from your alleged perpetrators. 'Constant', persistent, annoying or excessively cruel tormenting is restricted as detailed in the Imp guild/State of Nex agreement; this establishment holds no such licence to my knowledge and as such this accusation of unlawful use of tormenting will be investigated, pending the resolution of the current situation. Furthermore, you are being detained for further questioning regarding the current situation as you are an on-site witness. Please comply with officer Diene whom will escort you out."

Once again, the lack of respiratory organs proved to be an advantage.

"Buh... wuh...." Diene finds her attempts to move the apparent construct fruitless. And takes a moment to "catch" her breath, regardless of the smoke. Diene's face is a slight mixture of amazement and apprehension at Ophelia's spiel. " Um, yeah. What she said. Anyway yeah. We can totally help you out, and will regardless of whether you help us. But, mind coming with me to one of the non-firery parts of the building, at least, to talk it out?"

The woman wheels a fraction to face Ophelia - not slipping Diene's grip, but seemingly uncaring of pain and eerily strong.

"Ha! Your 'friend' should know just how far the law extends to constructs."

Meanwhile the other guards finish their cursory inspection of the alchemy lab and head upstairs.To ground floor so far

Head up, sir?

Ophelia blinks, then steps in closer to examine the woman. Interesting. Should have noticed earlier? Metaphorical (and actual) wheels turn for a moment inside her, then she cocks her head slightly to the side and speaks again.

"Very well. Unidentified construct, you are being sized as evidence on the scene of an ongoing potential crime; this widespread fire. You will be held as evidence until the investigation comes to a close. Additionally, you will be held as potential evidence in the upcoming investigation of the probable fire hazard compliance code violation of this establishment as well as some other minor investigations. Sadly such investigations are not prioritized and may drag on for some time*; the Guard does of course retain custody of all evidence until said investigations are deemed complete. Please comply with officer Diene whom will escort you out."

Nodding in satisfaction that all the right laws have been levelled at the right points, she points towards the stairs. The smoke didn't bother her so much just yet (just a lot of tiny little cogs and gears to polish later on), officer Diene might not appreciate it. And it would be quite poor if Ophelia had volunteered to back Diene up only to let her suffocate!

"Officer Diene, should I assist you in dragging the evidence to a less noxious locale?"

*Step one is putting some drooling illiterate zombie** to fix all the paperwork. When he/she/it is finally finished (during the next millennia or so), we'll simply note a simple error and send it all back for a rework and so on. Yey bureaucracy!

**Possible literally...

*still dancing with the manservant, still trying to find the off-button*

"cursory inspection"...of the whole lower level? they head back upstairs because the fires down there are all out and no other places left to go? "cursory" sounds like a term that may come back to bite us later. I did tell Castor that there's extensive use of demiplanes if that makes a difference-

As far as Isama is concerned, Fire's out, evidence of arson's found. Plenty of other places still on fire to deal with

"What she said... again... Also, as the only one who needs to breath, this smoke is kinda irritating to hold a conversation in.."

Gentle tugs towards stairs, eyes a little bit watery.

"Depends on if she assists.." Diene responds to Ophelia.

"I see." the woman nods "Very well. I agree that I am evidence and consent to being seized."

Those scouting ahead return down the stairs with construct, meeting with those coming up from the basement.

Thick smoke still filters up from below, but not so strongly as before.

"Let's head out. Get some air. Exchange notes." orders the Sergeant.
Short break to check for dissent. Would like to get the group back together.

Fire's out in the basement Isama lets the people coming from upstairs know.
No dissent here to keep the game moving :)

"Awesome." Diene keeps a hand on the construct, but lets her move at her own pace. Once they're mostly out of the smoke, Diene asks a question.

"Got any knowledge about anyone else who might be in there, or who started the fire?"

Are the manservants done flinging poor Mia outside all the time? Maybe we can use our evidence as a decoy and have those pesky guys drag that one out instead ...

"Smoke still present upstairs. Probable presence of fire on other levels still?" Ophelia nods and replies. "We have secured some evidence that may be examined at a later date, where time is of lesser concern"

Guard constructs down there had heads removed before fire started. I'd say that's enough to figure we're dealing with arson

Hey, I'm getting good at this. Playing tag with tireless partners is somewhat good training :) Guess I'll end up with some "Slippery" thematic trait that'll give a bonus against grabs/grapples/the like...

As they approach the front door the woman shimmers, and suddenly resembles the mechanical constructs - though dressed in the same clothes.
"I know the prime summoning circle was active. Has been for hours."

The air outside may not be completely clean, but it has never smelled sweeter.
everyone's suffocation threshold resets

"All right. Everyone grab a few breaths, then we head back in."
I believe the plan was to go up?

Yeah I think so. It would seem as if the circle would be good to check - and that the lower regions have been surveyed already : )

"*Hummmmmmmmmhummmmmmmmmmmmm*" Ophelia idly whistles as she mulls over the recent happenings in her mind.

When Diene and the others come down, Daria only manages to say:
"Oh, you found one that still speaks?"
before getting escorted out again by her dancing partner.

"Yeah, while you're being kept in custody, could you keep her in your custody? We've promised to seize her as evidence for our investigation."

If a positive answer was received..
"Let's head for the summoning circle. Seems fishy."

"Do you want me to distract them?" Asks the unburned manservant.

Yeah that's perfect. Keep yerself safe though. We'll need to question ya later. Up or summoning circle sir? Isama re-wets everyone's rags with Create Water and is ready to go back in.

Assuming Mia is okay with it - I don't want her stuck out here all game, clever as the solution is
The new manservant walks to Mia. She emits a grinding noise, and a second later Mia vanishes.
"Quick." states the skirted manservant to the others "She has run down the stairs. You guard the stairs. You go downstairs and search around until you find her. I will stand here and stop others entering."

The other two manservants dash off.

"I suggest the rest of you beat them to the stairs." offers the remaining manservant.

Naturally ok with it. Was getting somewhat repetitive. Though I would have loved to take a closer look on this one. I have to admit, though, this display of independent thought and trickery does not seem reassuring in regards to it staying where it is, and regarding it's innocence in this whole affair. But Mia won't think about that if Diene and Ophelia seem to be ok with it being alone at the entrance.

"Aright, let's do this. Time to punch whatever likely made of fire thing was summoned, as painful as that will be." Diene leads the way up the stairs to the summoning circle.

"Affirmative." But we shall try and refrain from 'punching'. Try. Ophelia noted and followed Diene, not paying that much attention to the evidence anymore.

Sergeant Valdemar leads the group up the stairs.
The smoke seems to have stopped coming up from the basement - but the upper floors are already choked with thick, dark smoke.
Finally the group reaches the top floor. Here the stairs terminate in a small landing - barely wide enough for the group - and two huge, ornate, golden doors. Each door is scribed with arcane symbols.
In front of the door is a tall, pristine Manservant dressed in Galtian knight armour and bearing a two handed sword.
He comes from attention to a striking pose as the Sergeant arises, sees the rings, and then returns to attention.

"The Circle is active. None may pass."

Can't see any fire right? Only smoke?

How thick are the walls? And what material?

@Isama: You cannot see fire. Visibility is poor, so it is possible there is fire on one of the floors you passed - but it is still a small fire, if so.
@Diene: They look like marble. Given the height of the building, and what you saw on the stairs, there's a good chance this is cheap conjure-stone with a marble veneer. How would you know how thick they are by sight?

Knowledge Engineering) Take 10: 10 + 11 = 21
Knowledge History: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

"Okay. I don't want to pass, actually. I just want to stand over there, near the door...

Mia casts Detect Magic and takes a look at the doors from where she stands, trying to identify schools. i would expect the doors ping? What kind of magic? Up to Level 6 spells I can identify the school of by taking 10 on Knowledge Arcana

Following that, she slowly moves towards the doors, carefully watching for a reaction from the construct, making sure the ring is visible at all times.

If she reaches the door without being obstructed or triggering a reaction, she'll try and look through the doors for a round via her Gloves.
Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

If the construct reacts before, she instead asks the construct:"Are you aware the building is on fire? Did they forget to add the exception rules in case of emergencies in your programming? Did you not see the others of your kind alter their behaiviour? These guys in maintainance really messed up. What ARE your orders?"
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Regardless of the answer, Daria will explain:"Your orders are faulty. These are not correct. Did you take fire damage? Or was it maintainance's fault? Did they cut out those Rules to save time again? You cannot base decisions on a wrong ruleset. You should inmediately head to maintainance and prepare for receiving necessary repairs!", all the while brandishing her Ring in front of it.
Bluff: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29

@Mia - that's a couple of rounds of actions. I'd like to give the others a chance as well, so going to hold off resolving all of them.

"Very well. I will not stop you standing by the door, but you should evacuate the building." the construct agrees as Mia starts moving

"My current order is Top Priority: 'No-one is to enter the summoning room under any circumstances.' This was a direct order, and has priority. My orders around fires are of lower priority. I was informed of the Fire by a gardener."

"I may be damaged, however only my owner or maker may countermand my current order. I will then head to maintenance."

pausing at Mia putting her gloves on

@GM, by looking at a doorway. Internal walls are usually uniform thickness, especially when on a high floor, unless you want to crush the lower floors. Basically, if the Break DC seems like it'd be 25 or lower, I'm gonna go around the bot and bust in through the opposite wall.

Presuming the walls aren't half a foot thick or more...

"I'm gonna try something. If you hear a loud crash, rather than a loud thud, follow."

1st Round- Move around and wolf it up!

2nd Round- DIENE SMASH!

Str Break Check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

And if our Stonelord isn't with us, he could probably help me out. :P

Internal walls are probably about 2 inches thick (and DC 24). External walls are probably about 6 inches thick (and DC 32)

In that case, Diene has busted through the rear wall of the summoning room, Kool-Aid style, on round 2.

"ROOM SERVICE!" Diene decides to yell, her wolf-like maw in a wide fanged smile as she feels the wall give way beneath her power, busting into the room in a spray of stone.

Know(Engineering): 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (19) + 7 + (3) = 29

Know(History): 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 7 + (2) = 29

"The door is an inaccurate replica of old Thassilon. Should their summoning circle have similar tendencies and faults, we should be exceptionally careful when proceedi-"*

Ophelia notes as Diene bursts trough the wall.

"-ng"

Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 OOOOh- so close!

*@Diene - note: Only for comic effect. OOC I totally approve of any and all dynamic entries : )

@GM - the map appears to be in 'view only' mode : )

Init: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Per: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Isama rushes in right on the heels of Diene.

Ahhh... Something's tryin' to come through I think. Out of my depth here.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 close but not enough
Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Arcana: 10 + 11 = 21 => I think that it would be bad if the wax breaches the circle, don't I?

Mia was busy trying to scout out the interior and trying to talk sense into the construct, so she's likely startled by Diene's breaching action.