Chapter 13 - Azurpenia's Prison

[Zhym]

"Ain't it kind of weird that there's only pieces of one color?" asks Angus. "Sure, 'ain't it weird?' might be the mission statement of this here place, but why just one set of pieces? And why is the chess board one one side of the room yonder, leaving so much room on the other side? Damn weird, is what I'm saying."

He approaches the chessboard and inspects the tiles, looking for signs that some might have been used more than others, or that pieces may have been moved. Then he moves to the other side of the room, where another board might be if the room had the sense to be symmetrical, and looks for any signs of activity there.

[enn.in.me]

Yenny, to Chet -- "What do you reckon we should do here? Are we playing chess, or trying to bypass the game?"

[AleBelly]

"Ain't it kind of weird that there's only pieces of one color?" asks Angus. "Sure, 'ain't it weird?' might be the mission statement of this here place, but why just one set of pieces? And why is the chess board one one side of the room yonder, leaving so much room on the other side? Damn weird, is what I'm saying."

He approaches the chessboard and inspects the tiles, looking for signs that some might have been used more than others, or that pieces may have been moved. Then he moves to the other side of the room, where another board might be if the room had the sense to be symmetrical, and looks for any signs of activity there.

Feel free to make a tracking roll, Zhym

[Zhym]

Tracking (lower=better?): [1d100] = 42

[CAI4]

Chet starts talking...to the chess pieces! "Well, hello! How have you been doing? Long time no see. Tempus is training at the temple to get stronger. He will be back next time we return, I'm almost certain. In the meantime, I was just showing this prison to all my friends to see what it will be like."

He turns to his party. "They helped me defeat Azurpenia's son" he says, referring to the pieces. "Angus, they tell me that Azurpenia's son ate the other color of them."

He looks at Yenny. "I think we should go a little bit farther and check a couple of other things out. Let's go in the stripe room" the monk continues, "running across it as fast as we can. I don't know what's on the other side."

[enn.in.me]

"Speed's not really my thing, but I'm willing to give it a shot...". Yenny takes a few deep breaths and does some quick deep knee bends. She smiles somewhat self-consciously at the chess pieces, "I guess you guys must get kind of bored waiting on the board for a game. Are you allowed to step out?"

[Nuke66]

Galan agrees, he follows the lead.....

[AleBelly]

Chet steps onto the line. It quickly assumes the shape of a goblin as Chet begins to cross. Does Galan wait until Chet crosses, or does he step onto the goblin line?

[Nuke66]

Galan follows close, he's light enough.

[Zhym]

Did Angus find anything?

[AleBelly]

I'll give that in the update all at once. It'll take him a little time to investigate everything. In the meantime, Chet and Galan simply walked over to the other room. Other PCs can certainly take other actions at this point.

[ybn1197]

Watts will follow Chet and Galan.

[tkrexx]

Hah?? Hyde clearly is having extreme difficulty absorbing the happenings here, but follows Watts, his sword in hand.

[onlyme]

Dandelion is following along, trident ready to skewer. She would normally comment on the chess pieces' fashion sense, but thinks better of it given the situation.

[Keehnelf]

Sagthistle will stay close to Angus to keep him under guard while he investigates, then move on when he does.

[AleBelly]

With Sagthistle standing guard, Angus carefully inspects the area around the chessboard. He studies the vacant squares first, and finds thin, faint circles occupy the right two rows. It appears the chess pieces were telling the truth. As Angus moves towards the pieces, they begin to titter in his brain, nervous of his intentions. But nowhere can he see any signs that the pieces were moved.

The others walk towards the right arch in the north wall. A pristine white room, interrupted by a black stripe, half a foot wide, leading from the archway to a door set in an arch in the other end of the room. Chet steps on it, and the line quickly, noiselessly transforms into the shape of a menacing goblin. It is just a trace - the ends of the stripe remain anchored at the doorways.

Carefully and slowly, Chet walks a circuitous path, staying on the black line.

There is now a chance for others to follow. Or they can observe.

Actions?

Date: 16 Culling, Year 42
Time: 18:17
Conditions: 54F, calm, room dark and damp
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: Angus' lantern, illuminating 80' path 10' wide until 22:10; lamps in rooms
Intended Direction of Travel:
Injury Status: None

[enn.in.me]

Assuming Yenny gets no response from the chess pieces (and probably even if she does), Yenny follows Chet's lead (probably several of the quicker PCs with slower typists follow first).

[Zhym]

"Skittish little critters, ain't you?" Angus mutters when the pieces titter. "Now, y'all don't need to worry. I ain't hungry and wouldn't be looking to dine on roast chess pieces if I was. Guess you could say I'm not that much of a chess nut." He looks around to see if anyone caught his atrocious pun. Fortunately, everyone seems to be focused on Chet in the other room. He shrugs and joins them, keeping watch out behind.

[Keehnelf]

Sagthistle continues along with Angus.

[Zorroroaster]

Arnulf tags along behind Chet, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Perhaps we need to follow along and stay on the line, lest this place conjure real goblins for us to deal with!"

Apologies, apologies.