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karohemdPreviously
In which we raid the National Library of France. Will we be successful and not be caught?
So, the plan was set. Prof. Carter would stay behind, try and get an Orient Express ticket for Nicholas and get our luggage and things ready for the train in the morning. Alex would remain near the library, providing backup if necessary. Nicholas, Robert, Thomas, Silas and I would enter the library during opening hours, spend some time there, hide before the doors closed and remain hidden until the early morning before leaving our hiding places to look for the secret book. That was the plan, anyway.
So part one worked fine. We spread out at the library, reading, "doing research" and so forth and when the bell rang and closing time was announced, we found our hiding places. Robert and Thomas in a corner behind two tall bookshelves, the rest in a janitor's cupboard. Nobody saw us and after closing we had the guard making his rounds but he didn't spot us. Later in the night, a group of people arrived and there were odd noises for an hour or so but nothing really scary. A bit disappointing, really.
We waited for another hour and then left our hideouts, much earlier than originally planned but we were getting restless. The first locked door was unlocked by one of Nicholas' copied keys and we were in the map room. Just as he was about to unlock the next door, I spotted the shape of a person behind the stained glass panel in the door. I quickly put my hand on Nicholas' shoulder to stop him. I looked through the keyhole and saw another guard (the one who had been wandering around was sleeping at his desk in the lobby). Damn. After some discussion it was decided to just open the door and surprise him. That we did and with some fast talking and passing of banknotes, Robert persuaded the guard to leave! Excellent. Still, phew. The way was free and we were in a corridor with a variety of rooms, all full of books. Nicholas pointed out the right one and we tried to find our target. Robert finally did, or rather the spot where it should have been. There was just a gap. Foiled again! Still, there was another door to be opened at the end of the corridor. We didn't have a key that fit, though. However, the guard at the front might. So Robert and I snuck up to the poor man who was still in Morpheus' arms. I was ready to gag him should Robert fail getting the keys but that wasn't necessary and he managed to grab the keys without the guard noticing!
The last remaining door was unlocked and we were in a dark stone room. My electric torch brought a stairwell to light, winding its way down so down we went. Surprisingly, we went down quite far, quite possibly at least two floors although it was hard to judge as there were no landings or doors, at least none that could be opened as about half way down there was a bricked up doorway. At the base of the stairs was a huge wooden door with an iron ring and a piece of paper attached to it. I had a closer look and it turned out to be some sort of symbol but unlike any we'd seen before, written in a red, thickish ooze. Was it blood? Who knows. I didn't really want to think about it. Wasting no time, I pushed open the door into a huge, stone room.
There were odd writings in chalk (or possibly white powder) on the floor. A quick test with my cane, no traps so in I went. My torch light revealed further markings on the floor in a large circle which had some sort of stone pedestal in the centre. I stepped into the circle and the lights came on in the room, revealing tall, towering shelves, bending with ancient books on either side of the room. The pedestal in the centre was made of individual pieces of stone making a vague shape of ... something.
On the top was a round, flat stone on which rested a large, leather bound book. Next to it lay an ornate knife, its blade still dripping with congealing ... blood? Silas had come with me and we looked around for a while. The book was opened on a page with odd writing and an illustration of the circle in which we stood as well as of wrists being cut with a knife looking uncanningly like the one next to the book. I turned a few pages towards the front and felt an odd sensation, I seemed to hear things (bells ringing? it was hard to tell) that weren't there and a shiver ran down my spine. Then something else odd happened. I looked up and saw Thomas and Robert from the outside of the circle waving, moving their lips and clapping their hands but I couldn't hear anything and neither could Silas but we could hear each other. Must have been the circle... It was all getting a bit much so I closed the book and then it really started.
There was a cacophony of sounds and the whole room started to shake and it felt like ... something was coming. I'd had enough of big gribbly things so I turned towards the door. Silas grabbed knife and book and started to run, I quickly overtook him and Robert and Thomas ran as well, Robert being the first through the door, then Thomas and I basically abreast, followed by Nicholas and finally Silas bringin up the rear. Up the stairs we ran, along the corridor, behind the final door was the guard from the front desk, probably ran over by Robert. I didn't care and continued to the front door. Nicholas fiddled with the keys and we heard a banging from the other side and Alex shouting. The door opened and we made our way out. The guard was here, too but he ran past us into the night. We didn't linger because more crashes and sounds were coming from deep in the library and we smelled smoke, too.
Fortunately, there were two carriages which took us back to our hotel. On our way there, there were two fire engines going the other way. That was rather alarming. Let's hope we didn't unleash anything really bad. Oh my, all those books, going up in flames...
Robert and I ran in to fetch Jeremy and our luggage and off we went to the station where our things were transferred to the Orient Express office. On a suggestion by Silas we entered the station hotel, where we found the barman still awake fixing nightcaps for guests. A few notes convinced him to stay up for us so we sat and calmed our nerves with a few fine drops.
Prof. Carter had some good and also some less good but interesting news. He had managed to secure another ticket for Nicholas but he would have to share his compartment with ... no other than Blue Eyed Jim. Yes, our mysterious friend(?) had found us. That would be interesting.
With the discussion of this news, the rest of the night passed quickly and it was soon time to board the Orient Express. What a splendid affair, like a luxury hotel on wheels.
We gathered at the four person compartment and discussed what had happened. Tickets were shuffled so that Silas would share the compartment with Jim and Prof. Carter told us what he had managed to translate from Parsons' book. Things were getting clearer but also more mysterious. It (and Parsons' annotations) talked about six objects with different powers that, brought together, would ... do something. Give the owner power? Parsons certainly thought so. We didn't know, yet. One of the objects was our nightmare ball, called the key. Another could be the knife we recovered. And the African mountain, which was our current target, played an important role, too.
Now, to relax and enjoy a week of luxury on the Orient Express.
As usual, input from the other players as to things I've missed (except bits Rupert didn't actually witness or was told about) or got wrong appreciated.
In which we raid the National Library of France. Will we be successful and not be caught?
So, the plan was set. Prof. Carter would stay behind, try and get an Orient Express ticket for Nicholas and get our luggage and things ready for the train in the morning. Alex would remain near the library, providing backup if necessary. Nicholas, Robert, Thomas, Silas and I would enter the library during opening hours, spend some time there, hide before the doors closed and remain hidden until the early morning before leaving our hiding places to look for the secret book. That was the plan, anyway.
So part one worked fine. We spread out at the library, reading, "doing research" and so forth and when the bell rang and closing time was announced, we found our hiding places. Robert and Thomas in a corner behind two tall bookshelves, the rest in a janitor's cupboard. Nobody saw us and after closing we had the guard making his rounds but he didn't spot us. Later in the night, a group of people arrived and there were odd noises for an hour or so but nothing really scary. A bit disappointing, really.
We waited for another hour and then left our hideouts, much earlier than originally planned but we were getting restless. The first locked door was unlocked by one of Nicholas' copied keys and we were in the map room. Just as he was about to unlock the next door, I spotted the shape of a person behind the stained glass panel in the door. I quickly put my hand on Nicholas' shoulder to stop him. I looked through the keyhole and saw another guard (the one who had been wandering around was sleeping at his desk in the lobby). Damn. After some discussion it was decided to just open the door and surprise him. That we did and with some fast talking and passing of banknotes, Robert persuaded the guard to leave! Excellent. Still, phew. The way was free and we were in a corridor with a variety of rooms, all full of books. Nicholas pointed out the right one and we tried to find our target. Robert finally did, or rather the spot where it should have been. There was just a gap. Foiled again! Still, there was another door to be opened at the end of the corridor. We didn't have a key that fit, though. However, the guard at the front might. So Robert and I snuck up to the poor man who was still in Morpheus' arms. I was ready to gag him should Robert fail getting the keys but that wasn't necessary and he managed to grab the keys without the guard noticing!
The last remaining door was unlocked and we were in a dark stone room. My electric torch brought a stairwell to light, winding its way down so down we went. Surprisingly, we went down quite far, quite possibly at least two floors although it was hard to judge as there were no landings or doors, at least none that could be opened as about half way down there was a bricked up doorway. At the base of the stairs was a huge wooden door with an iron ring and a piece of paper attached to it. I had a closer look and it turned out to be some sort of symbol but unlike any we'd seen before, written in a red, thickish ooze. Was it blood? Who knows. I didn't really want to think about it. Wasting no time, I pushed open the door into a huge, stone room.
There were odd writings in chalk (or possibly white powder) on the floor. A quick test with my cane, no traps so in I went. My torch light revealed further markings on the floor in a large circle which had some sort of stone pedestal in the centre. I stepped into the circle and the lights came on in the room, revealing tall, towering shelves, bending with ancient books on either side of the room. The pedestal in the centre was made of individual pieces of stone making a vague shape of ... something.
On the top was a round, flat stone on which rested a large, leather bound book. Next to it lay an ornate knife, its blade still dripping with congealing ... blood? Silas had come with me and we looked around for a while. The book was opened on a page with odd writing and an illustration of the circle in which we stood as well as of wrists being cut with a knife looking uncanningly like the one next to the book. I turned a few pages towards the front and felt an odd sensation, I seemed to hear things (bells ringing? it was hard to tell) that weren't there and a shiver ran down my spine. Then something else odd happened. I looked up and saw Thomas and Robert from the outside of the circle waving, moving their lips and clapping their hands but I couldn't hear anything and neither could Silas but we could hear each other. Must have been the circle... It was all getting a bit much so I closed the book and then it really started.
There was a cacophony of sounds and the whole room started to shake and it felt like ... something was coming. I'd had enough of big gribbly things so I turned towards the door. Silas grabbed knife and book and started to run, I quickly overtook him and Robert and Thomas ran as well, Robert being the first through the door, then Thomas and I basically abreast, followed by Nicholas and finally Silas bringin up the rear. Up the stairs we ran, along the corridor, behind the final door was the guard from the front desk, probably ran over by Robert. I didn't care and continued to the front door. Nicholas fiddled with the keys and we heard a banging from the other side and Alex shouting. The door opened and we made our way out. The guard was here, too but he ran past us into the night. We didn't linger because more crashes and sounds were coming from deep in the library and we smelled smoke, too.
Fortunately, there were two carriages which took us back to our hotel. On our way there, there were two fire engines going the other way. That was rather alarming. Let's hope we didn't unleash anything really bad. Oh my, all those books, going up in flames...
Robert and I ran in to fetch Jeremy and our luggage and off we went to the station where our things were transferred to the Orient Express office. On a suggestion by Silas we entered the station hotel, where we found the barman still awake fixing nightcaps for guests. A few notes convinced him to stay up for us so we sat and calmed our nerves with a few fine drops.
Prof. Carter had some good and also some less good but interesting news. He had managed to secure another ticket for Nicholas but he would have to share his compartment with ... no other than Blue Eyed Jim. Yes, our mysterious friend(?) had found us. That would be interesting.
With the discussion of this news, the rest of the night passed quickly and it was soon time to board the Orient Express. What a splendid affair, like a luxury hotel on wheels.
We gathered at the four person compartment and discussed what had happened. Tickets were shuffled so that Silas would share the compartment with Jim and Prof. Carter told us what he had managed to translate from Parsons' book. Things were getting clearer but also more mysterious. It (and Parsons' annotations) talked about six objects with different powers that, brought together, would ... do something. Give the owner power? Parsons certainly thought so. We didn't know, yet. One of the objects was our nightmare ball, called the key. Another could be the knife we recovered. And the African mountain, which was our current target, played an important role, too.
Now, to relax and enjoy a week of luxury on the Orient Express.
As usual, input from the other players as to things I've missed (except bits Rupert didn't actually witness or was told about) or got wrong appreciated.
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no subject
Date: 6/1/09 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 6/1/09 10:53 am (UTC)Oh, and how do you spell Nic(h)olas? No matter, really, as Rupert doesn't know, either, as he hasn't seen his name written down (I think).
no subject
Date: 6/1/09 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 6/1/09 10:51 am (UTC)I'm reminded somewhat of Foucault's Pendulum!
no subject
Date: 6/1/09 11:19 am (UTC)I'm sure this sort of thing happens a lot in this genre. To my shame I must admit that I haven't actually read Foucault's Pendulum. I should really do that.
no subject
Date: 6/1/09 11:12 am (UTC)Hm
Date: 6/1/09 11:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 6/1/09 11:22 am (UTC)Another point to add actually; the completion of the professors translation of another page and his conclusions!
no subject
Date: 6/1/09 11:24 am (UTC)And cheers for the name.
no subject
Date: 6/1/09 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 6/1/09 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 6/1/09 04:42 pm (UTC)