The Closed Eye (DM: Halford, Judge: garyh)

[nerdytenor]

" Please elaborate on the dead woman whom you speak of? I was under the impression that this was a simple task, not a murder case "

"Not much in life is simple," Tander says a touch sanctimoniously. "Our case appears to be no exception.. We found the dead woman along with a dead Warforged and our trapped halfling friend."

Tander briefly recounts what they learned from the halfling.

"The woman remains something of a mystery to us."

 

[covaithe]

"I'm already eating, thanks," Neera holds up a wad of sticky pastry. "Besides, I don't think I'd like cucumbers very much."

"Please elaborate on the dead woman whom you speak of? I was under the impression that this was a simple task, not a murder case "

Doddoddod smiles magnanimously. "You see, Marco? A most twisted and confounding conundrum. It's no wonder that Lady Glasston, one of Daunton's finest and most respectable dames, came to me for assistance. But come now, the hour is late and I must meditate on what is to be done for you, my friend." He ushers Marco out of the room, snagging the plate of sandwiches from Atreus on the way by.

[sblock=ooc]I apologize for the inconsistency in color choices for NPC speech; it's just that there are at least 3 npcs in this adventure who have used orange text at one point. Still sorting myself out, here...

As for Marco's plans to flee the city... well, he seems to have changed his mind for some reason.

Right; does anyone have any further plans for the evening besides Palindrome? If not I'll fast forward.
[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

Atreus watches Doddoddod take the sandwich and shrugs. He turns to Tander. " Thanks sharing your information with me Tander. It seems that this will be alot more interesting than suspected. I am hitting the sack for tonight " and he leaves for his quarters

[sblock=To DM Only] I will try to keep an eye out for Palindrome, since it is my job he doesn't do anything stupid. If I get the impression that he will behave tonight, Il hit the sack, otherwise I will leave the room and stay hidden and follow him when he leaves the room. Just in case, this is an Insight check Roll Lookup and this is a stealth check Roll Lookup[/sblock]

 

[Dunamin]

While Tander explains their discoveries to Atreus, Woe drinks profusely from the bottle throughout the evening.

“So, in schummary: It was a dim chick that led us to the dead chick, but we only discovered her after finding a short chick in a bag. She’ll take us to the snake chick.”

Woe takes a sip and tries for a moment to focus his thoughts (failing). “Couldn’t tell whether the previous owners of the bag were chicks, though – they were all blurry-like. Couldn’t tell whether the warforged was a chick, either – it was sort of artifischial-like. *hic* The hag that sent the dim chick definitely doesn’t qualify as a chick herself, though.” Feeling that his explanation was adequate enough, he leans back with a satisfied grin on his face.

"I am hitting the sack for tonight " and he leaves to room to his quarters.

“I’ll be hitting more than that tonight; meeting some new tasty elf girl that started serving at Myrod’s Taphouse. See ya’ll in the morning. Or noon.”

Woe heads off, taking the vodka bottle with him.

 

[KenHood]

Out of Character

...snagging the plate of sandwiches from Atreus on the way by.

Hee-hee!

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=Palindrome]Necklace on, Palindrome begins the task of attempting to locate which chamber Doddoddod is sleeping in tonight. He is somewhat surprised that the old fool hasn't called for him already to help in his nighttime ablutions.

The reason for the lack of a call is soon evident, as a volley of shrieks, groans, and wails echoes through the upper halls. Moving closer to investigate, Palindrome is hit by an almost tangible wave of stench. It seems that Doddoddod has eaten something that disagrees with him. From experience, Palindrome knows that the old wizard is in for a very long night, and will be exceedingly short tempered.[/sblock]

[sblock=Atreus]Palindrome does not seem to be attempting to hide the fact that he is about some further business before bed. After all, this is his home; why should he hide his movements? He pause at one point, however, and put on a necklace. At that point, it becomes difficult to follow him. It's not that you can't see him, it's that you keep forgetting what it is that you're doing, and having to chase after him and catch up when you remember. Fortunately, the thick padded carpeting that Doddoddod favors muffles your footsteps effectively, and Palindrome does not seem to notice your presence.

ooc: go ahead and read the sblock for Palindrome above. Atreus will be aware of the basic facts of the situation, such as the moans and the stench, but not of Palindrome's thoughts or experiences, obviously.[/sblock]

 

[nerdytenor]

Tander observes the others leaving, nodding to them each in turn but saying nothing. After nibbling absentmindedly for a few minutes on some slightly stale bits of spare sandwich, he leaves for his quarters.

The activity of the night is nearly invisible to him as he strolls by, brooding. He reaches his home a after a few minutes.

[sblock=In Tander's Quarters]
Tander attempts to lose himself in study, flipping from page to page in various tomes both magical and religious. But he quickly realizes that he is not really reading. His eyes have passed over dozens of pages, but he has absorbed nothing. Sighing, he prepares for a bit of meditation, and then goes to sleep. At least something interesting is likely to happen with the Glasston case.

His dreams are most dark indeed - visions of a beautiful young girl dominate his mind, but she looks fearful. A horrible grunting-chant can be heard, and at the climax of the dream, the girl looks directly into Tander's eyes and screams. Tander awakens with a start, heart pounding, but it is still night. It takes the better part of an hour to fall asleep again, but his sleep is not disturbed again until morning.
[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

[sblock=DM Only]Atreus awaits what Palindrome will do. He also writes a note to himself that there is something odd with Palindromes necklace and that it is possible that the necklace is magical. He also writes what he observed that night and notes the date, to make sure that he remembers it. If Palindrome doesn't go to his room he will follow him with stealth for an hour or so, and if nothing interesting happens he goes to bed [/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

DM Only

[sblock=Not for stupid thief-boys!]Since Doddoddod is incapacitated, Palindrome will walk inside the big wizard's quarters, take the piece of glass, and perform the blood switcheroo.

The logic behind this: One typically leaves one's heavy robes outside the toilet area when engaged in severe gastric distress.

(The necklace should keep Dod*3 from perceiving Palindrome.)

If Doddoddod does see Palindrome...
"Master! I heard your cries and came as soon as I could. Why did that horrible Atreus attempt to poison you?!"

If Doddoddod freaks out because of the blurry effect on Palindrome...
"Oh, master! The horror of it! The foul poisons of Atreus have affected your wits!"

And so forth.

If Dod*3 has befouled his robes, well... all the more reason to take them.

Then, I'll head back and finish up my tasks for the evening.[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=Palindrome]As you approach one of Doddoddod's many oversized garderobes, the old wizard's hoarse voice calls out.

"Palindrome? Is that you? Here, take these and burn them. Dispose of the ashes with care, as I have taught you. Empty the pockets first, of course." A spectral hand drags a heavy robe out from behind the curtain, leaving a glistening trail.

The robe does indeed prove to contain the bloodied glass, and Doddoddod's supply of demon blood is well stocked at the moment. A quick protective ward and a tense moment with the cold iron tongs later, and the blood is transferred. The glass smokes slightly for a moment, and the air fills with the pungent smell of demon blood, reminiscent of sulfur and ozone.

ooc: Feel free to insert more actions here if you like; I'm moving forward to try to speed things up.


Back at your room, you sew the bag of holding into your clothes, taking care that the opening is facing firmly away from your body. It wouldn't do to have any portions of your anatomy inadvertently wandering into an extradimensional space, after all. Your attention then turns to the floating quill. A quick glance through Metoran's Index of Arcane Paraphernalia indicates that a phoenix catchment should indeed be able to take dictation in a fine, golden ink. A quick experiment with your quill proves that it does indeed take dictation, after a fashion. It writes in a dense, angular script with reddish black ink, and about every two or three sentences, it... editorializes. In a particularly vulgar and insulting fashion.

[sblock=insight DC 12]A real Phoenix Catchment might well be worth 500 or even 1000 gold in the right market, but there's a reason that Marco would be just as happy to get 100 gold in recompense for losing this one.[/sblock]
[/sblock]

[sblock=Atreus]Doddoddod gives Palindrome his soiled robes, with instructions to empty the pockets and burn them. Palindrome empties the pockets, and then proceeds to a laboratory filled with arcane tools and reagents. He does something with a pair of large tongs, but you aren't able to get close enough to see exactly what without alerting him. There is a pungent smell for a moment, which then dissipates. Palindrome then returns to his room and closes the door behind him. Cackling and muttering ensue, but you cannot make out anything intelligible.

You realize after he returns to his room that whatever effect it was that made him difficult to follow at first is fading, and is almost unnoticeable now.[/sblock]