The introduction is actually a PDF file that I hope you will be able to access from the Link Here
If this works, then this should give you everything you need to get prepared. When your character is ready, and we actually start the adventure, we will post our "in game" discussion in this thread.
Lord Kent’s keep stands poised atop a jutting island of sheer stone, towering high above the forested road that seems to be the only route to this place. The road winds up to an adjacent cliff, and there a stone bridge crosses the chasm to the keep’s front entrance: a set of large double-doors. The doors are closed, and two guards, each wearing chainmail and helmets with lowered visors, cross their halberds before the doors as you approach. “Who goes there?” One of the guards asks in a gruff voice.
Kat smiles prettily at the guards, doing a quick curtsy (despite not actually wearing a skirt). "Good day, kind sirs. I'm here for the Gambler's Tourney? This is Lord Kent's keep, is it not?" She pulls out the parchment with the invitation on it, resisting the urge to play up the dumb bimbo angle even more. After all, she didn't want to lay it on too thick before at least getting a read on the guards.
Besides, while it never hurt to have people underestimate you, she doubted these would be the ones she'd be playing against. Or that they would know anything about the recent attack on the town. Guards on watch duty at the gate aren't important enough to know things like that.
Kat giggles, sidling up to the guard posing the question. "I'm Kat. What's your name?" She uses one finger to twirl a locke of her dark brown hair as she looks up at the guard through her lashes.
The guard on the left grunts and pulls his Halberd back toward his body. The other drops his Halberd and goes to push open the large gates. “Through here,” he says in an accented voice. Through the open gate, you see a large, open courtyard. A woman of slight stature and long black hair moves to greet you. She walks with her shoulders hunched and moves warily, as if she expected you to attack her. “Welcome to Castle Blackstone, Lord Kent’s home! I am Kara, Lord Kent’s servant, and contest moderator. The tournament begins shortly. Follow me and I will show you to your room.” She turns and walks through the courtyard, beckoning you to follow.
Walking through the open gate you take in your surroundings. Looming beside the keep’s main gates and dominating the courtyard is a large clock tower. It towers high above the castle’s walls and is capped by a pointed tiled roof. Also towering above the castle’s walls are the north and southwest wings. Elaborate stained glass windows decorate the upper level of the southwest wing, while those in the north wing are more subdued in design. The ground of the courtyard is laid with colored bricks, set to portray spiraling, knotted designs. The courtyard also contains a stone well near the gate, and many doors. Two armored sentries bearing halberds guard the now closed gate from the inside.
Kat smiles widely at the lady. "Nice to meet you Kara!" She offers a hand to shake, moving slowly enough so as not to startle her. Hmmm, either other contestants have hit her or her master does. Either way, it reflects poorly on Lord Kent, though he may not care.
Kara turns and walks back toward Kat, slowly reaching out her hand. ”Hello,” she states simply. ”Would you like to follow me, now? I am busy and need to get back to my duties. If you wish to dawdle around the courtyard, there will be plenty of time for that in the coming days.
Turning on her heel, Kara resumes her walk toward the far end of the courtyard.
Kara leads you to a large oaken door which groans as she pushes it open. Beyond is a dim hallway lined with ornate tapestries depicting strange creatures and ancient battles. Kara removes a torch from its sconce and beckons you to follow her into the depths of the keep. The hallway turns eastward and continues past several doors before coming to a spiraling stone stairway. “You are expected to compete twice a day, once at noon and again at eight in the grand hall, which lies east of the courtyard.” She says, looking back as she leads you up the stairs. “The clocktower in the courtyard chimes on each hour, and can be heard throughout the entire keep, so you should have no trouble keeping track of time. If you are not at the tournament at the scheduled time, I shall fetch you. But please don’t make me…” The stairwell opens to another tapestry-lined hallway, and Kara leads you past several more doors before stopping at one. She opens the door and hands you the key. “This shall be your chamber during your stay at the castle. You are free to wander the grounds, although there are some areas that are off limits. Such areas are locked, and if you have any questions as to where you are allowed, feel free to ask the guards. I don’t need to tell you that you are expected to be on your best behavior during your stay at the castle. Lord Kent is not generally a patient man, and it is rare and quite generous of him to open his home to strangers.” Kara curtsies and turns to take her leave.
Before she leaves, Kat asks a clarifying question, "Noon and 8 at night was it? Or 8 in the morning?" As they walk, Kara tries to take careful note of their path from the gate to her quarters.
That being answered, she lets the woman take her leave. Well, first better get an idea of where they've put me. With one hand ready to draw the rapier by her side, she unlocks the door, letting it swing open to give her a look inside before entering. As long as it appears empty, she'll enter, lock the door, draw her weapon, and more carefully search the room.
After examining her room, Kat decides to explore what she can in the time she has before her first game. She makes sure no one is around before plucking one hair off her head and carefully wedging it at knee height in the door frame as she closes the door, an old trick she had picked up some years ago to tell if someone had entered your room. She then locks the door and looks around the hallway.
Kara holds the door open a crack as she goes to leave. "I said Noon and Eight. I suspect you can figure out which is first, yes? As for the time, you will hear the clock chime at the next hour. That should be any minute from now. The door closes quietly and you hear her footsteps receding back down the hallway.
A large four-poster bed draped with red silk curtains dominates your chamber. Besides the bed, the room boasts a fireplace, an armoire, and a small oaken table, atop which is a tray of food and carafe of wine. Beside the fireplace in the south wall is a window that looks out upon the courtyard, decorated with red curtains. A cool draft from the window adds to the chill of the stone room.
Well, she's certainly a confusing character. Afraid of getting hit, but with an attitude problem? Before leaving to look around, Kat makes sure to check around her room, looking under the bed, poking at the curtains, opening the armoire, even sticking her head in the fireplace.
If she doesn't find anything, she'll continue on her previous mentioned course of action to go out into the hallway.
You stand outside your door in the tapestry lined hallway from where you entered. As you close and lock the door to your room, the hallway is filled with the sound of the clock tower bell. It rings eleven times.
To your left and across the hall, there is another door, just like your own. To your right, the hallway turns at 90 degrees to the left.
UPDATED ROOM: There is enough wood stacked beside the fireplace for you to keep a comfortable fire going for much of the tournament. The armoire is empty save for an old blue traveler’s cloak.
Additionally, there is a silver poker near the fireplace.
Kat goes over to the other door and places her ear against it, seeing if she can hear anybody inside.
She then checks if it's locked. Most likely just another room for another guest. It's somewhat doubtful there will be much useful information inside.
Other than the crackling of a fire, you hear nothing beyond the locked door.
About what I expected. With that Kat casually saunters down the hallway to see what else there is to explore.
Ahead on your left, you see another door directly prior to the dead end of the hallway which then turns to the right. Around the corner, the hallway narrows and you see two more doors on the right side. About twenty feet from the turn in the hall, an archway opens into a downward spiral staircase. More tapestries cover the walls on the left side and torches sputter on the right, sending dancing shadows and light along the length.
These are probably more bedrooms for guests. I'll check them out later if I have time. More to test her theory than anything, she checks to see if all of the three doors are locked. As she walks down the hallway, she lightly runs her fingers over the tapestries, making sure they're not hiding any obvious, people-sized alcoves before heading down the stairs.
The first door you pass (on the left side before the far wall) is not locked. The two doors on the right side on your way to the stairs are both locked.
You arrive at the bottom of a spiral, stone staircase and look out into another tapestry lined hallway that runs parallel to the hallway above. You can see five doorways here. Two on the right, two on the left, and one at the end where the hallway dead ends and turns to the left.
Kat checks to see if any of these doors are unlocked before glancing down the hallway. These are still pretty likely to be more living quarters, but they may not be. Perhaps one of them is a kitchen? Might be nice to grab a snack before I head off to play games.
All doors on the left side and the right side are locked. The door at the end of the hallway, where it turns to the left, is unlocked. When you reach the unlocked door and turn to the left, you see yet another doorway straight ahead in the middle of a torch-lined hallway.
Kat opens the door and looks inside the room at the end of the hallway. By my calculation, this is right under the room above with the unlocked door. They could be equivalent.
You see another hallway through the door, slanting down and to the left. A door is on the left wall, and there is one on the end, at the turn of the hallway. The stone walls are adorned with sputtering torches, but other than that, there is noting of interest.
Hmm, a hallway. A tad unexpected. Kat goes to the first door and attempts to open it, peering in. If that door is locked, she goes to the second door and attempt to peer in.
All three doors are locked. You have a close listen at each door as you quietly check their locks, but you do not hear anything from inside.
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Hmm, interesting. I wonder what's in that hallway. Surely not more bedrooms since that would have no need of an extra door? She then returns to the one remaining unchecked door on this level and attempts to open it, peering inside.
You open the unlocked door and find yourself staring out into the mid-day sunshine. After only a few seconds, your eyes adjust to the sudden light and you recognize the courtyard where you arrived less than an hour ago.
Dominating the courtyard is the large clock tower, soaring high above the castle’s walls and capped by a pointed tiled roof. You note the height of the north and southwest wings compared to the lower outer walls of the courtyard. Elaborate stained glass windows decorate the upper level of the southwest wing, while those in the north wing are more subdued in design. The ground of the courtyard is laid with colored bricks, set to portray spiraling, knotted designs. The courtyard also contains a stone well near the gate, and many doors.
Facing south, there are two doors in the wall to your right, three doors in the wall to your left, and the massive double gate where two armored sentries bearing halberds stand guard.
Seeing that she is no longer alone (and therefore quite likely watched), Kat casually strolls to the nearest East door, admiring the architecture and stained glass. She continues to look up as she subtly tries to see if the door is locked. While this is all perfectly innocent (for now at least), no point bringing undue attention to myself.
The door opens and you walk into the Grand Hall. Tapestries depicting Lord Kent’s coat of arms, a rearing black dragon atop a blue backdrop, line the walls. Several tables, no doubt usually reserved for banquets, now serve as areas for dicing. Other than the servants scurrying about and preparing tables of delicious looking foods, the room is currently empty. There are two more doors in this room. One is on the same wall where you came in, and the other is across the room on the southerly most wall.
What is it with nobles and their fancy animals? And why of all things would Kent go for a black dragon? Kat smiles politely at the servants and makes sure to stay out of their way. It was always best to stay on the help's good side; they tended to be ignored and as such often overheard useful pieces of info. But not was not the time for idle chit-chat.
Still at a relaxed pace, Kat makes her way over to the far door to check if it's unlocked.
You walk toward the door at the southern end of the room. As you get closer, you start to smell the fine scents of home cooking. After opening the door, you step through and find yourself in the Kitchen.
Set in the walls of this chamber are two massive hearths, in the center of which are proportionately sized cauldrons. Pots, pans and earthenware hang from hooks and rest on shelves, and a large washbasin rests in the corner, filled with a pile of dirty dishes. Barrels and sacks line the walls, no doubt storing food.
Standing near one of the cauldrons with her back to you is the recognizable form of Kara, the lady who escorted you to your room. Focused on her efforts, she seems not to notice your arrival.
Oooo, the kitchen. A very important find!
Kat makes sure once again not to get in the way of any of the cooks. She also tries not to be noticed by Kara. She found the woman's social skills to be...wanting.
Kara doesn't notice you as you slip out the door on the west wall of the Kitchen. You find yourself back in the Courtyard. The Guards, stoic and tall, still stand guard at the large gate through which you arrived.
Hmm, looks like I'm starting to run out of places to explore. Or at least, places I'm "allowed" to explore. Although I may wish to leave my, ahem, other explorations for after the first round of this gambling match. With that, Kat heads back upstairs towards her room and checks the one remaining unlocked door that she hadn't opened.
The door opens and you step into an irregularly shaped room. A single black tulip rests on the table of this bedroom. Other than that, there is no sign that this room, which is much like your own, has recently been occupied.
Hmm, unsurprisingly, this looks like another guest room. Unoccupied I guess. Probably because it's a bit on the small side. Kat spends a little bit of time to look under the bed and in any armoire in the room before clicking her tongue against her teeth. I guess I've now covered all the areas I'm supposed to have access to. Now the question is, is it time to start the more interesting search or to look more carefully at the designated areas.
She pauses, considering. Well, I have less than an hour before I'm supposed to be at the first round of this tournament. That hardly seems like enough time to go sneaking about and rushing never has good results. I should at least have enough time to thoroughly search my room, which I'd want to do anyway before sleeping tonight. Wouldn't exactly do to have some secret entrance allowing some hidden assassin to come kill me in the middle of the night after all. And while a hidden passage from a guest's quarters isn't likely to head any place too useful, it may at least give easy access to somewhere interesting.
Before she goes too far down that train of thought, she shakes her head. Don't get ahead of yourself Kat; no use contemplating where secret passages may go when there may not be a secret passage. With a sigh, Kat heads to her room, making sure to check that her hair was still in place. It hasn't been long since I left, so it's probably still there. But you can never be too careful.
Once inside she locks the door behind her and begins giving her room a proper look over.
You find a backpack hidden under the bed.
Kat blinks and then looks around. Interesting. Well, it's my backpack now, I guess. She casually takes it back to her room before looking inside.
The hair is still in place.
Your search reveals a long forgotten panel in the stone above the fireplace. Additionally, there is a silver poker near the fireplace,
which could be used as a weapon.
Hmm, interesting. That will probably be my first exploration. After the first round of gaming has been won, that is. I'll leave some of the other locked doors for night perhaps.
Kat carefully replaces the panel, leaving it as though it had never been disturbed. She then opens the backpack she found and starts sifting through it.
You here an audible click as you begin to open the mouth of the backpack. A small dart heads toward you.