Escape from Castle Amber - IC

[GimliFett]

Oberon

The faetouched smiles warmly. "Sorry to disturb you cousin. We're looking for an empty room in which to place our inebriated friend," the words come easily to the warlock's lips. "I'd not have expected to find one of the fey here, though I suppose I should not be surprised, non?" he inquires.

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Spot: (1d20)[20]

[Toliudar]

The stocky man gestures back to the bed with a sweeping gesture. At Oberon's reference, he switches briefly to the Sylvan tongue.

I was going to be up and about myself shortly. I'd be happy to let him rest here.

Seeing a few other blank faces, he adds in Common:

If your little friend is too drunk, he is welcome to sleep here.

[GimliFett]

Oberon

Hiding his smile with a nearly imperceptable shake of his head, Oberon replies. "Tyz is better off accompanying us. We have another friend who is far worse off than this one." The warlock looks back at Tyz and Duran. "Care to bring Erelith here to rest?" he asks.

[North]

Tyz

Too drunksh? Hah thish ish nothing compard to the oldsh daysh. Tyz looks back down the hall. Yeash Ill grabsh the lightweightsh. the barbarian goes back to retrieve their passed out companion.

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Spot (1d20-1=8)

[Proven_Paradox]

"Aye..." Duran releases the grip on his warhammer upon the door being opened and not being attacked. In response to Oberon's words, he nods and says, "We'll be right back..."

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Spot: (1d20+3=22)

[Toliudar]

Oberon and Duran:

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As the man turns to offer his bed, you notice a strange bulge at the base of his spine. When he turns back and smiles, you notice that several of the back teeth are considerably longer than you would expect. And pointier.

As Tyz and Duran head out, the man nods and folds his arms across his chest. He speaks further with Oberon.

So, what brings you to our fair, if somewhat out of the way, home?

[GimliFett]

Oberon

"To be honest, we don't know. We just seemed to arrive without really knowing how, or why for that matter," Oberon adds as he looks at the man. "Perhaps you could shed some light on the situation for me? It's not like we slept in a fairy circle or anything," the faetouched chuckles.

[Diarmuid]

Jonah

Feeling somewhat foolish at having bared steel when this man clearly just rose from sleeping, Jonah replaces his sword in it's sheathe.

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Spot - (1d20)[11]

"Well, none that we were aware of. Well met good sir, I am Jonah, and this is Oberon. Are you also part of the d'Amberville family? We have met Jean-Louis thus far and his interesting boxing ring."

Letting his eyes scan the room, he again sees the strange fog through the window and hopes to glean some information about it from this large man,

"We've come to notice that you have some strange weather in these parts. Where we are from, the climate is much clearer this time of year."

[Toliudar]

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Jonah has not noticed the bump or the fangs.

The man relaxes, and smiles tightly.

I am not so much a member of the family as a guest. Has Jean-Louis gotten that mechanical boxing man working any better now?

As for the weather this time of year...well, to be honest, I have no idea what season it is for you. Haven't seen anything but this fog for...well, a long time.

[Proven_Paradox]

As Duran walks with Tyz, he ponders the implications of what he'd noticed. After a moment, he decided informing the rather violent halfling of this would probably be unwise and simply sees to their unconscious comrade silently.

[GimliFett]

Oberon

The faetouched raises a puzzled eyebrow. "How long have you been here?" he inquires.

"As far as the boxing man goes, yes, it seemed to work, though it lost a match to Tyz a short time ago. On a technicality, I think. Jean-Louis was non-plussed," Oberon adds with a chuckle. "Would you mind showing us around once our friends return?"

[Toliudar]

Tyz and Duran trot off to retrieve Erelith.

The stout man shrugs at Oberon's first question.

I know that I occasionally hunger, and occasionally grow weary. The family gets crazier and crazier. There is no sun, no season to measure more. Dinner is served when you sit at the table - sometimes. Other times, not at all.

Tyz is...the small drunkard? Well, good on him for giving Jean Louis a taste of humility. He could use it.

He seems to become a bit fearful at the request to show the newcomers around, and glances briefly towards the wardrobe.

I can take you as far as the garden, I suppose. I'm not sure that I'm entirely welcome there, or beyond. Do you have a destination in mind?

Duran and Tyz manage to bring the still-slumped form of Erelith back to the chamber. The stout man steps confidently forward, and takes the wizard's form into his arms with surprising gentleness. He lays the body out on the bed, and turns back to the four men. He extends a hand, pointing behind them.

Where would you like to go?

[Proven_Paradox]

Duran seems momentarily confused by the man's query, and says, "Home would be nice, actually. Other than that, we've no idea what is where and which is which."

[Toliudar]

The man ushers you out of the room, closing the door gently behind. He smiles, and now all four men see that his teeth form sharp fangs.

Well, further along and off to the right, is the cats' study. Off to the left, there's Janet's room, the kitchen, and Richard's chamber. I'm sure Janet would welcome your company, but Richard can be a bit more standoffish. And at the far end of the hall, is the garden entrance. Simple, yes?

[North]

Tyz

Wait... How doesh a cat sthudy? Tyz's brow furls in puzzlement.

[Toliudar]

The man replies with a smile.

Ordinarily, I'd suggest that they'd do it only on their own time, in patches of sunlight. These ones, though...never struck me as the studious type at all. It's been some time since I went in there, and I'm not eager to repeat the experience. They are...playful.

[North]

Tyz

The halfling shrugs and sits down. Sho were do you guysh wants to go? Tyz ponders for another moment. Wait, theresh no roomsh with free treshure ish there?

[Toliudar]

The stocky man smiles even more broadly.

Not as far as I know, but I'm sure that there are many places in this castle I haven't gone.

Tyz is starting to feel the effects of dinner subside.

Tyz:

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For the next little while, consider it a mild inebriation - a couple drinks in quick sequence for most people. Mechanically, equivalent to Shaken.

All:

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Foobar, an excellent player I'm playing alongside in another game, has expressed interest in joining. He's tentatively crafted a character I could introduce along the way - there's a few options coming up. Any concerns? I figured we could use a fifth.

[Diarmuid]

Jonah

The bard hides any reaction at noticing the large man's teeth. He is a bit reluctant to leave the wizard, but this man has been much more welcoming that Jean-Louis to this point and he decides this may be the lesser of two evils.

After brief consideration, he offers a course of action,

"I wouldnt mind seeing the gardens, and then it might be good to at least meet the other members of the family. Janet sounded like a good starting place. Now that I think on it....for that matter, we have not been properly introduced as of yet. You have our names, but in that you have us at the disadvantage."

He offers a coy smile, while talking,

"As you are not a member of the family, I cannot simply call you Master d'Amberville, how would you prefer to be called?"

Diplomacy - (3d6+17)[28]

As he talks, he gestures for the large man to lead on and follows close behind him.

[Proven_Paradox]

As Jonah speaks, Duran simply listens, and at the end of explaining his plan, the dwarf simply nods and says, "'Tis good enough for me, I suppose..." He still looks rather worried.

[Toliudar]

Taking the smooth-talking Jonah as the leader of the group, the man smiles and almost instinctively begins leading the group down the long, long hallway.

My name? It's been so long. Fado. Fado Kreutz. But you can call me Fado.

As the group passes the first door to the left, it's not difficult to make out a voice speaking - perhaps in common, the words aren't clear. A low, booming voice. Fado ignores it and keeps walking. There is no noise at the second door.

The passage extends under the place where the ceiling dips down - for about a 20' stretch, after which the ceiling jumps back up again. Ahead, perhaps a hundred feet beyond the dip in the ceiling, there are ornate and obvious single doors on either side of the corridor. In the middle of the wall at the far end of the corridor, the red carpeting ends in a massive single door, with no obvious lock.

Fado points to the door on his left.

Never saw anyone go out of or come into that room. Heard some nasty noises upon a time or two, though.

He gestures to the door on his right.

That's the cats' study.

And directs the others' attentions to the central door.

And that leads out into the garden.

He smiles again, and bows slightly.

Again, welcome, and I hope that I shall see you again. I suppose I should go clean up for my own dinner. If you'll excuse me.

Fado begins walking back down the long, long hallway.

[North]

Tyz

Ach my heads hurting. I think I shouldsh go find more beer to fix it. The halfling starts staring in the direction of the dining room.

[Proven_Paradox]

Duran nods as Fado leaves and says, "Our thanks for your guidance." As the man leaves, he looks to Tyz as he walks away and says, "We've already been to the dining halls... Perhaps we should look to the garden first?"

[North]

Tyz

Ehh whatever.... You call it. I have a headache. Tyz shakes his head. I just want to beat this headache out on somethin....

[Toliudar]

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Ho-kay, folks. If the pace or nature of the adventure isn't working for you, here's a good chance to say something. Things DO start to make sense, I promise! Well, as much as they did in AD&D. And I do have a fifth ready to join in, to help share in the storytelling. Are we good to continue? Is there something I could be doing differently to make this more fun?

[GimliFett]

Oberon

The faetouched nods at the dwarf's suggestion. "I think the garden would be a nice spot to start, yes."

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Sorry. Lost track... Toli, mind doin' a Sense Motive for me against the tour guide? I wanna make sure he's not gonna go snack on Erelith.

[Proven_Paradox]

Duran nods at the other two and approaches the door Fado had indicated as leading to the door, grasps the knob, and slowly opens the door.

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It's always slow as the DM opens the game up to the players after being more guided for a while; we always have to decide what to do. I wouldn't be discouraged at a slow pace right now.

[North]

Tyz

Tyz grumbles following suit. What kind of treasure are we gonna find in garden? A gilded gnome maybe.

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Re: The new player. If possible Id like to just say he's already known to us and filled in on whats happening. So we can skip the whole "getting to know each other, etc" phase.

[Toliudar]

Oberon definitely feels like Fado is hiding something, and has a dark side.

Duran manages to haul the heavy door open, and is greeted with a puff of air that is remarkably fresh and redolent of life.

Beyond is a pale twilight, what seems like a massive octagonal courtyard, with a series of thick and not entirely transparent glass domes overhead. Above the domes is a muted sunlight and blue sky.

Inside the courtyard, easily 200' feet on each side, is a dense forest. Some show signs of careful planting in rows, and signs of cultivation, while others have just as clearly grown up wild amongst the others. The oldest and straightest of the trees spring up more than 80', and still fall well short of the glass domes.

Within the trees, lush grasses, flowers, vines and bushes intermingle, creating a dense carpet and thickets. The section of forest to the men's right slopes upwards to a hillock. Ahead, glinting through the trees to the right, a stream can be both heard and glimpsed.

A broad and well-cared-for path winds its way from the doorway Duran stands in, into the forest. The path goes fairly straight for a while before darting off to the left, and out of view.

[Diarmuid]

Jonah

The bard's melancholy seems to drain away a bit as he sees the bright blue sky overhead.

"Oh man, that's a sight for sore eyes!!"

Relief and excitement are evident as he speaks. Walking into the garden, he extends his hands, lifts his face to the sky, and takes in the fresh air greedily.

"Ok, now we just have to figure out how to get up to the dome and get to the outside to figure out where the heck we are"

Walking along the wall they have just come in through, he tries to make his way to the glass edge to get a better idea on this greenhouse.