THREE HUNDRED FIFTY EIGHT
(I/C)
Kovid unrolled his map and motioned the party to gather around. "I think there are Hobs to the west by the Garden and a patrol near the stairs to the north east.” He looked up. “I say we cross the hall here and make for the Lab.”
“Ballsy,” Brendon nodded. “I like it.”
The dwarf grinned and continued, “Abraxas and Lyra go through first…without weapons drawn in case the Iron Golem is there. Hopefully the room is clear and Lyra can get it to stand down. We should all have our weapons down so the rest of us can pass through without too much noise or trouble.” He looked around the floor and picked up two ratty goblin blankets. “Maybe we can throw these blankets over the magic users so the Iron Man can't see them.”
Lannis frowned, "I'm not some incessant chirping parrot you can cover to make me fall asleep you know."
The Scout looked troubled, “Are we sure the golem won’t flip out if we try to tarp it? It might interpret that as aggression and attack, but otherwise I’m good with Li’l Man’s plan. I’m in.”
“Brendon, the blanket was to put over Lannis and Wyn, not the golem. We don’t want to engage with it.”
“Dis sounds like a good plan, Monsieur Dwarf,” Wyn agreed, taking out his shield and looping one of the blankets over his head for now. “Very much big-brain idea.”
Shrugging and taking the other blanket, Lannis sniffed it and scowled before taking off his hat and looping the blanket around his neck. "Makes sense to me, if someone IS in there though, I'd rather meet them head on than have them flank our rear. Rear...like butt, got it?
“Whatever,” Kovid continued, “We don't stop, open the north door in the lab, give a quick glance to the east to see how deep in shit we are, and we keep moving up the main hall north toward the Throne Room. That’s the plan.”
“If Salazar en de priestess be in de front, does dat mean you be bringing up de rear as we go into de lab?”
The dwarf nodded, “Yes Wyn, I can be the last through to watch our backs.”
“Excellente!”
Abraxas tapped his chin, “Si hay es no one in the Lab, should Señora Lyrcresta try to remove the Mana Gem?”
Lyra shook her head. “I think it’ll take some time. Looks like it was very difficult to remove last time based upon the gouges and chisel marks in the shield.”
Nodding, the Fighter then continued, “Pero es mas likely Mirabell-aire es en el Lab. So si Mirabellisimo es there, then we can usar el Golem a luchar en opuesto de Mirabellini. Y si Miramax es en el Lab, ella tienes ayuda. Maybe Pittales o las Harp-keys.”
“Abraxas, if we’re going on there first and there’s the golem, you should lower your weapon,” Lyra tapped the Scythe. “Last time it didn’t really appreciate us being armed.”
“No problema, Senorita. I’m not pullin it out unless there is someone in there to fight. En any case, necessitamos a estar listo.”
Brendon gave a thumbs up, “I always do, Doc. Will make it quick though, I assume the hall is NOT somewhere we want to be hanging out.”
The party all nodded and grunted in agreement. Comfortable, Abraxas concluded, “Si hay es no one there, then I agree con Señor Korgifs plan. Tambien, si Miraballs es en el Lab, Señora Lycheera should usas el scroll of Silencio en ella. That way Mirabellathorne no can cast spells."
Lyra felt around and made sure the Silence Spell Scroll was near the top. “I’ll take care of it, if we need to.”
Once all finished, we gathered at the north door and with slow care, Brendon opened it. The hall was clear, the faint smell of smoke could be detected. The barrel of sand had been pushed to the far corner of the hall and the hall was swept clear but still felt gritty beneath our feet (Sense party? >Black 13 – no). We crossed the hall and Brendon gave the door the fastest of listens (>Hear Noise, -10% quick, Red 53) before stepping aside.
Abraxas opened the door and Lyra and he entered first, the rest of the group following, Kovid quickly closing the door behind us.
Mirabellis was not in the room. Neither was anyone else. What was here was the Iron Statue, and it was in front of the alembic and alchemy set up, working the burners, turning the stoppers, and tapping the glass in places to make sure the slow mix and steady flow of brewing potion was proceeding apace. It turned when the party entered and Kovid and Brendon quickly pulled the blankets over Wyn and Lannis’ heads.
It scanned the party and then its visor twinged from white to purple on seeing Lyra. She gave a weak, “Hey” to it and added, “We’re just passing through, ok? No alarm or warning needed.” It seemed to stare at the group another 2 or three heartbeats and then turned back to its task. “Go. Go.” She whispered and Abraxas led the party to the other side of the chamber where Brendon quickly listened to the door (<Hear Noise, -10% quick, Red 03) and gave the group the ok sign. Kovid and he swapped places, the dwarf opening the door to look east and west down the hall.
The Cleric though walked closer to the Iron Statue, getting a number of ‘nos!!’ mouthed by Abraxas and Brendon that she waved off. She looked over what it was doing and even though she had no alchemy skill or knowledge, she could see the fine and careful processing that was going on. Looking over the Iron Statue, she whispered to it, “That’s your job right? You make potions in here. Probably did it for the Ispan too. But someone with a strong will needs to get you started and then once done, they leave you to it.”
The statue had said nothing, continuing its job without change. Kovid whispered back, “Hall to the east has the door open at the top of the stairs but no on up there. I can only barely make out faint hobgoblin voices to the west and south. Let’s go.”
“Okay, okay!” Lyra leaned closer to the Iron Statue and whispered at it, “I don’t know what you are making, but I want you to open these next two stoppers in the alchemy rig now, flood the mixture with whatever is in there, and then return to the normal speed of the potion making.” She smirked (<Cha Command, +4 link, White 8), “That should fuck up whatever these potions are going to be.”
“Now!” Kovid called back and stepped into the hall, Brendon right behind him.
“Senora, please!”
Lyra ran to the door, gave the statue a last look, smiling as she saw it was following her directions, and then joined the rest of the party back to the hall and on their way, the Fighter shutting the door behind them. “All ok?” he asked.
“Yeah, that’ll be a nice surprise for someone soon I hope.”
“My blanket smelled of pee,” Lannis complained, taking it off his head and replacing it with his hat. “You did that on purpose.”
“Shh,” Abraxas said. “Vamanos.”
The party moved to the “T” and then turned north, making their way down the dark hall quietly. (<Sense Party, Black 5)
However an inquisitive Hobgoblin all the way back by the Western Hall leading to the Gardens glanced down the hall on seeing the distant lantern light and yelled out, “HEY! HEY!! It’s THEM!!”
“Merde!”
Time now is Day 8, 2:06 PM
(OOC)
Called Kelly and she gave me what Lyra wanted to do in those 30 seconds or so. Good idea! As for being seen, it was only a matter of time. There is 50’ from the back of the party (Abraxas and Lyra) to the hall where “X” number of hobgoblins are going to come from and give chase. Let me know if the thought is turn and fight, or run now and make for the Bridge of Khazad Dum if swords are no more use here.
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