Zayid frowns, wishing he had some way to silently communicate with Freia, Ariana, or even Aboki. Reaching quickly into his belt-pouch, he pulls out a piece of chalk and scratches a symbol on the stone at his feet, before gingerly replacing the chalk and inching closer to the conversation.
Zayid - You suddenly remember that spell ariana cast...
As you approach you are able to get within earshot by crouching behind a partial wall.
...just make sure it looks good. You must be beyond reproach. a mysterious voice says. The figure is shrouded in the dark of the stair well. Casper has his back to you.
You then spot Aboki. He's 20 feet up on a scaffold and crouched low, ready to pounce.
Freia and Ariana - You quickly loose Zayid, but you later spot Aboki. He is focused on something below him.
Zayid motions quickly to Aboki, hoping against hope that the big cat decides to listen. C'mon, Aboki, don't attack now... just back away... down, boy...
Halsanna/Noro - Not long after the others set out your supervisor comes along looking for Casper. What do you do?
What is he doing here? She frowns, looking at the cat. Pausing her climb, she tried to figure out what he was looking at.
Freia - With a little effort you spot what Zayid is listening to, and what Aboki is ready to pounce on. Luckily, the great cat has decided to listen to it's druid... though it doers seem a little confused as to why it's not pouncing the stuffing out of the little halfling.
Huh. She points out Casper and his friend to Ariana with a gentle nudge. With a mental curse she wished she had her sketchbook with her - and that she could get a better look at his friend. Perhaps if I get closer or higher?
Zayid - Of course. I will do it tonight, after lights out. Casper whispers. Then the figure disappears.
Sneak group - Casper starts off back toward the work site, do you apprehend?
Halsanna/Noro - Noro confirms and the supervisor doesn't call your bluff at first. A few minutes later, however, he comes tromping back in a much fouler mood and demands, Everyone insists he was last here, where is that little rat!
The wizard points to Freia and then to Zayid. "Zayid, where are you? Do you see Casper? Should we take him?"
Zayid shakes his head, then catches himself and replies quietly, "No, let him go... but we should hurry back."
As soon as the figure disappears, Ariana will cast See Invisibility.
Ariana- You see nothing. Know:Arcana check please.
"Well, we have a time at the very least ..." Freia whispers quietly to Ariana ()
Ariana - Two options immediately spring to mind. One, a illusory messenger of some kind. two, short range teleportation. Both were depressingly effective at eluding pursuers.
This is derived from the fact that the figure used no arcane gestures our phrases to accomplish the disappearance.
Freia hurriedly scampers back towards the worksite, careful to dodge both Casper and their overseer. Hmm, so we need to get our room open -and find out where Casper 'sleeps'. Hanging upside down in the crypt probably ...
Returning with Freia, Ariana whispers to her two companions (Zayid, Freia) "Whoever met with Casper is peculiar. I saw him make no gestures to cast a spell..possibly an illusionary messenger or a teleportation spell cast with metamagic."
You make it back just as Halsanna is diverting your supervisor away. From his look alone you know that break time is over.
They day takes it out of all of you, especially those of you not used to manual labor. Dinner is served late for you and your free time is restricted to just about two hours before lights out.
When they returned back to the work, Freia waited a few minutes then waved Halsanna and Noro over. With a cautions glance around her, she started to retell what they had seen. Which wasn't that much, really...
"He met with someone and they were discussing some nefarious plan. He is supposed to carry it out tonight after the light's are out - but we didn't hear what or where..."
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Freia felt exhausted after the long day of work. She was no stranger to heavy lifting, but not for so many hours! When she worked with her father, they only did the exhausting stuff a few hours at dawn and dusk - the rest was mainly rigging and fine-tuning. So just sitting down and still while eating dinner was welcome, it felt like heaven. With a sigh she nibbled down her last piece of bread - there was yet things to do, even if her body didn't agree with her.
"Uh... If this keeps up, I'm not sure if I will be able to think about anything but sleep after work ..." she commented to her companions at the table.
Seeing as the doors where locked with magic - and she had no desire to look for Casper - she focused on that. While there was probably more things to learn in the library, the coming night felt more urgent. And being able to slip out can be useful too! She swung by the quartermaster and requisitioned a bit of oil, complaining about the squeaky hinges of her door. Some sort of cover at least! Then she went to work.
Work was no mystery to Ariana. It had to be done. However, simple chores at the Rosencruz manor had not prepared her for hard labor. If the elf was usually surly, she was downright hostile after the day. She returns exhausted, but forces herself to clean up and eat.
"We need to find out what Casper is up to. If he is one of the spies or is up to problems then we must present evidence to Absentia. First, we must solve the issue of the door.."
Ariana usually paces while thinking but she just lays flat on the bed, her voice growling. "Step t a o is sending someone stealthy to investigate. I'm tired. I refuse to leave this room tonight."
After a pause, she rolls over and looks at the door. "But....it is an interesting conundrum."
She gets up slowly and moves to where Freia fiddles with the door. "Let us all a it. Do not get in the way."
arcana.
It is a conundrum indeed, and your exhausted states take a toll on you ability to decipher the shifting lock. It's nearly lights out before you piece it together and discover the rotating series of command words that operate the lock.
Ariana opens the door when told to, glares at the group, and turns to go to the bed. She'll sigh and slump her shoulders, turning back. "..I can't leave a mystery unresolved."
With more focus then she thought she had left, Freia managed to pull her part in learning the secrets of the door. But, it didn't fill her with more energy so when the time came to move out she felt more like sleeping. Ach, but duty calls! She slipped on her light armour and retrieved her sap - even thought Casper was scum, they could hardly kill him on Tear grounds could they?
"Ariana - did you find out how to move memories with your spells? Then we just need to see Casper in the act and then transfer that memory to Absentia..."
"No. I can read surface thoughts and that is all..something like that would require creating a new spell, I believe."
"Oh... We have to catch him in the act then?"
"Should one of us stay here to keep an eye on the others?" asks Zayid quietly, as the group is getting ready to go.
"If they make more then a superficial check we are screwed anyhow ..."
"I was talking about Casper. Suppose he comes here while we're off elsewhere..."
You all sneak out into the dark of the halls after lights out. They aren't completely pitch black, but the light is dim enough to turn normal vision black and white. There are Sorrows in the halls, but you don't come too near one as you sneak around the halls thanks to Aboki's keen senses.
Aboki, naturally, is the first to catch a sign, or rather a scent, of the halfling. He leads you around a winding, evasive route until you arrive at the kitchens. A light is on and beams through the cracked door like a spotlight, instantly ruining whatever night vision the humans have built up.
Aboki crouches low on his haunches and stalks toward the door.
"Wait, Aboki," whispers the young man. Moving quietly up to the door, Zayid keeps his ears open and then peers through the opening, careful not to touch the door as he does so.
Zayid, you hear nothing like talking, but you do hear someone moving around behind the breading cabinets where everything from hard tack cakes to specially purchased pastries are produced. If you are extremely quiet and careful, you could sneak around either side of the long island of utensils and ingredients, trapping whoever it was making the noise.
Zayid motions the others forward, then creeps forward to peek around the shelves at the kitchen intruder.
Ariana will keep Message up on everyone and will hang back.