March 4: The Casework of Llewellyn DeNonce, Assassin-at-Law

[Zhym]

"Thank you," says Llewellyn, taking the map. "I will bring this to my office for further study. Would you please tell Mr. Dire, when he returns, that I have two additional questions? First: what is our timetable for this project? I need to engage in reconnaissance if time permits. Second: are there any restrictions or expectations regarding 'side effects?'" Lewellyn knows that Mr. Dire understands the common euphemism for deaths on a project. Both the firm and the guild usually prefer to avoid pro bono assassinations, but ancillary casualties are sometimes necessary.

As he returns to his office he considers his options. Getting into the front door of the asylum should be easy with the unfortunate Ms. Kier to check in. Getting to Lord Darkday's cell is something else, and getting him out would be yet another matter entirely. If Mr. Dire wants it done without killing anyone in the process...well, it's possible, and probably cleaner. But he needs to know more.

[Mister-Kent]

Woundsday, March 4th
3:00 PM

Andromeda blinks at you as the blackness fades from her eyes. "Yes, of course--I'll consult Mr. Dire, and bring word to your office later today." She then sees you out of the Chamber of Discovery.

The Drudge takes Kier gently by the arm and follows your lead to your office. "Sir...please forgive my ignorance, but have you ever undertaken a case this involved? It seems the Alienists have their asylum like a fortress, no?" The slave clams up, biting his fishy lip as if hed spoken out of turn.

[Zhym]

Llewellyn gives the Drudge a kindly look. "Please feel free to speak up and ask questions!" he says, a little condescendingly. "Every bit of input and feedback helps!"

"It is rather like a fortress, but it's more of a prison. A prison for the troubled souls who are held there, including the Lord Darkday. Unlike fortresses, the trouble with prisons isn't getting in. That's easily enough done, although the task of reaching a particular cell among many is somewhat more difficult. It's getting out once inside that's the real challenge."

"Ms. Kier is our ticket into the door," continues Mr. DeNonce. He finds that talking through his plans, even with a Drudge, often helps him work out the details and implications. "The doctors would classify her as a delusional and put her in a cell in Dr. Chasm's wing. That would put us in the same wing as Lord Darkday, but still needing to reach the proper floor."

He scribbles something on a sheet of parchment. "Questions," he says aloud as he writes. "One: does the asylum have windows? I suspect not. That would be too easy. Two: does the asylum have protections against arcane trickery? Three: what is the asylum's schedule? Sub-questions: When do the doctors sleep? Do they remain on premises, or go to their homes, leaving the asylum to underlings? Four: do inmates remain in their cells, or are they brought to common rooms at times? Five: of what race are the doctors? Some are resistant to charms or poison." Llewellyn, an elf, smirks at this last comment. "Six: are inmates allowed visitors?"

"Observations," he says, still writing. "One: there is a 'therapy room' on the third floor, implying that inmates are taken from their cells at times. Two: the doctor's offices are at the ends each hall, likely providing a vie of all that goes on. Three: the structure does not lack for stairs, though most of them are behind doors that are no doubt kept locked."

"Assets," continues the oral inventory. "Invisibility. Charm. Suggestion. ESP. A slightly better than one in three chance of unlocking a locked door in a given attempt, with a one-in-four chance of not being able to open a lock at all." Llewllyn clucks sadly. "Note to self: I simply must find a spell or device to assist with this. Back to the assets. Ms. Kier. Disguise. Such resources of Crowley, Waddell, & Wolfe as are made available to me. Perhaps an answer to the lock-pick problem might be among them? Best not to rely on it."

Llewellyn pauses and stares at the sheet a few moments, then resumes writing. "Options. A partial list.

"One: take Ms. Kier directly to Limehurst, attempt to charm Vogel and Chasm in order to gain greater access to the asylum, then suggest that Wulf open Darkday's cell. Risky, and I would know too little going in.

"Two: as the previous plan, but instead of charming the attendants, return at a later date as a visitor, gain access to Darkday's cell, make him invisible, and sneak out. Better, perhaps.

"Three: start with a reconnaissance visit without Ms. Kier. Tell them I am considering committing someone, but that I want to see their facilities first. Perhaps I could get a tour.

"Four: fake a mental illness. Risky. But if I could get myself committed as an unrepentant maniac, then I would only need to get out. They would take me to the same wing as Darkday. It would be tricky, however. One or two of my weapons my be inconspicuous enough to bring in with me. Sneaking my tools in with me would be more difficult. Probably not the best approach."

He stops and stares at the paper. "Not the usual lawyering job, is it?" he says with a sigh. "The usual writ of habeas corpus would be so much simpler. But we'll just have to habeas the corpus ourselves, won't we?"

[Mister-Kent]

Woundsday, March 4th
3:15 PM

The Drudge sits Ms. Kier in the corner, and then goes over to stand at your side as you pore over the paper. He concurs with your assessments, offering few original thoughts, but looks as if he would like to contribute somehow.

6:00 PM

You spend some time going over your options, and after some time there is a knock on the door. It is Andromeda, lips still slightly stained black with ink.

"Mr. Dire has informed me that he'd like to have Lord Darkday within our custody by next Mournday, but understands if this might not be possible. At the very latest, he must have him by Fearday the 13th. This gives you some time to plan your infiltration of Limehurst."

"As far as 'side effects'…well." The secretary smiles gently. "Any byproduct of your mission is an acceptable outcome, in this case."

She looks at your spread of the maps. "Have you decided on your approach? The Alienists are generally a pretty canny bunch--they might be wary of you. On the other hand, a case like Ms. Kier's might be too irresistible of a problem for them to solve."

[Zhym]

"Four days, at least," Llewellyn muses, mostly to himself. "That gives me some time. I think I will reconnoiter, starting immediately."

He assumes a simple disguise and heads out to find a spot from which he can observe any comings and goings from the asylum without himself being seen. In an abundance of caution, he makes himself invisible somewhere he won't be seen doing so.

FYI, I'll be out of town through Monday. I may or may not be able to post during that time.

[Mister-Kent]

You make your way to the Forty-fifth Ward, where dwell the Alienists in their great asylum, the Limehurst Sanitorium. The streets travel at maddening angles here, as if this ward was laid out like a maze to entrap any possible escapees.

Across the street sits a row of shops, but there's an apparent lull in business. An old shopkeeper stands outside her shop, sweeping the front stoop, pausing periodically to peer up the street for possible customers. She casts a wary glance towards the asylum, the returns to tidying up.

[Zhym]

Llewellyn looks for a spot where he can get a better view of the asylum itself.

[Mister-Kent]

Woundsday, March 4th
7:15 PM

Betwixt the old shopkeeper's millinery and the butcher shop next door sits a deep alleyway cluttered with many barrels of salt. You easily slip into the shaded alley and observe the comings and goings of the asylum. The alley does bear an unpleasant aroma, however--a pungent blend of bloody raw meat and hat-makers' glue.

You see through the black wrought-iron gates that the grounds are regularly patrolled by men and women in very clean and pressed white clothes with light green vests. Each guard carries a single saber dangling at their side.

There are occasional howls from within the large building--sharp yelps alternating with deep echoing wails. There is also the high-pitched chime of a bell. After the bell sounds at least half of the screams cease.

Evening approaches, and the guards light their torches to continue their patrols through the night.

[Zhym]

Llewellyn continues to watch the asylum for a while, trying to absorb every detail. Are there windows in the building? If so, are they barred? What can he tell of the roof? Is it flat, or pitched, and if the latter, how steep? Has he seen anyone enter or leave the building other than the guards? How many guards can he count? Do the guards remain within sight of others at all times, or would there be an opportunity to catch one alone?

Even as he cases the joint, Llewellyn still isn't sure what he's going to do with the information.

[Mister-Kent]

I have a little map for this I shall post today!

[Mister-Kent]

A bit later than promised, but here's some pertinent and possibly helpful information for Llewellyn!

[Zhym]

So we've got six guards, two stationary and four on the move. What about the other things Llewllyn has been looking for? Do the doctors seem to leave the asylum, or stay inside it? Are there any other comings and goings from the asylum? How often do guard shifts change? Does "clockwise every half hour" mean it takes half an hour for the guards to make a full circuit, or that they rotate positions once every half hour? Is the roof of the asylum flat or vaulted? If the latter, how steep is the roof? What's the "...and?" for the courtyard there? Are there windows in the asylum? If so, are they barred? How tall is the outer fence?

I know, lots of questions.

[Mister-Kent]

No problem, certainly! Questions are your wont, as legal investigator extraordinaire.

Thirstday, March 5th
Sometime Past Midnight
Scouting the Sanitarium

- The Guards: Six outside at once. Four of these guards stand at attention for half an hour, then simultaneously move clockwise while the two front guards stay put. The walk from post to post takes about five minutes.
- After a few hours of observation, you notice that every four hours the guards have circled the building twice. After four hours, the roving guards are replaced by new guards. The two standing guards are relieved every two hours.
- There are very few comings and goings from the asylum. Most of the visitors you see appear to be mail couriers. You see a few moderately dressed citizens, visitors most likely, perhaps family members of patients. They approach the front doors, enter the front vestibule, but are quickly turned away. You see no one who would fit the description of the Association of Alienists, no one in medical garb or of a professional mien.
- Several gardeners mill about the grounds tending to immense flowering bushes lined against the front wall. The sides of the asylum are dotted with short shady trees, three on each side.
- The fence is all closely spaced iron bars reaching a dozen feet tall, the top decorated in leaf-shaped iron spades, quite sharp. The windows of the asylum are also fenced in a similar style.
- The roof is steeply vaulted and possesses six small steeples, the very tops decorated with those same leafy iron spades. There are a few small windows within the slope of the roof--attic space perhaps? This was unaccounted for on Andromeda's map.
- The "and?" represents the mystery of this central asylum space. Having only viewed the building from the front and sides and upon the scrawled oracular map, it's really hard to tell what this courtyard is like.

[Zhym]

Sorry about the lack of action on this. I'm a little stuck on how to get into this fortress of an asylum. The most straightforward plan seems to be for Llewellyn to use Ms. Kier to get in, then try to charm his way to somewhere he can go invisible, then attempt to lockpick his way to Lord Darkday's cell. But there are too many ways that could go wrong (attempt to charm fails, can't pick a lock). Just getting over the fence seems to be a bit of a challenge. Does the city have sewers? If so, could Llewllyn find out if they serve the asylum?

Anyway, I'm still trying to figure out what Llewellyn's plan is.

[Mister-Kent]

No worries! Indeed, there are sewers beneath Vornheim, established a thousand years ago or so. These connect to the Dwarven Pipeline, which was built for the maintenance of the city's under-systems. The sewers very well may travel beneath this site. You'd need to attend the palace to purchase official maps, or find a way to draw up the maps otherwise.

[Zhym]

Thanks. Is that something the law firm might be able to reproduce?

[Mister-Kent]

Andromeda is a close as they have to a maps department--they do have records on legal and historical matters, so if the sewers ever featured in a case you could find out that way.

[Zhym]

Sorry about the delay. A solo adventure isn't always the easiest for nudging me along, unfortunately.

Llewllyn decides he's seen as much as he can see for one night. He returns home to the office (for an attorney at his firm, there is little difference between "home" and work") to see if he can dig up any sewer maps.