Realms of Dread IC, Chapter One

[ewancummins]

-later that day....


Fishgut Rock

You [Rardi, Ino, and Blaise] have traveled by skiff to Fishgut Rock, one of the larger islands that make up the seaward portion of Marsember. After debarking at a rickety little quay and wending your way through the narrow lanes and past the shuttered hovels and shops of the neighborhood, you've arrived outside the home of the necromancer Delthrin. Delthrin's domicile is perched on the rocky promontory of the western end of the Rock [ the highest point on the island] positioned so that its front faces out onto the water. The stucco-and-stonework mansion rears up four stories high, its slate-topped roof towering above the lesser buildings in the area [squalid little wine-sinks, fishmongers' shops, and the like]. A broad verandah faces the sea, with a half-dozen ebony pillars supporting the awning which shields the space below from rain. All visible doors and windows are shut, with the windows' shutters closed. A tall wrought iron fence circles the landward side of Blackpillars, with the rear gate heavily chained and locked. A narrow footpath runs between the iron fence and the cliff's edge, ending at a small unlocked gate just wide enough to admit one person at a time. There is no railing to protect pedestrians from toppling over the bluff should they miss their footing or slip on a wet stone.

The overcast sky rumbles with thunder, and rain begins to fall.



meanwhile, in the Southeast Quarter

The Palace of Celestial Delight doesn't live up to its grandiose moniker, at least not from a streetside perspective. It's just another run-down two storey building, peeling plaster and a sagging roof that probably leaks when there is rain.

The Palace is the third place your little party [Archideus, Alain, Shana, and Ironheart] has tried; the first two yielded nothing. None of the girls working at those two brothels are missing and unaccounted for, if the workers there are to be believed.

As you approach the bawdy house, a drizzle picks up, and rapidly develops into a hard driving rain, the sort that can cut into your cloak and chill you even through half an inch of wool and linen. The doorman is a predictably big and ugly brute who regards you all with an ill-disguised look of suspicion.

''We paid for this month already. I don't know you lot. You 'ere for some girls, eh?''

He smiles, displaying a mouthful of rotten teeth. While waiting for a response, he leers at Shana in a most ungentlemanly fashion.

[VAN]

Inovidil looks at Dalthrin's house and the narrow path that heads to it.

"I couldn't wait anything less from a necromancer..."

Looking at the house one more time she says:

"I'll cast a spell so all of us can fly, but we will go there on foot, normally from the path. The spell is only to protect us from falling down the cliff if we slip. I bet Dalthrin can see who is walking down the path and we don't want to provoke him, so better respect his place and just walk there and knock on his door asking politely talk to him."

[steveflam]

"Fair enough, Inovidil. Once we get ta his door I'll cast me lie detectin spell. I say we walk over though, like ye say. If we fall then yeah we kin fly, but let's walk over to be polite ta the man."

[BigBadQDaddy]

''We paid for this month already. I don't know you lot. You 'ere for some girls, eh?''

He smiles, displaying a mouthful of rotten teeth. While waiting for a response, he leers at Shana in a most ungentlemanly fashion.

Alain looks at the man, obviously in disgust. "er...Oui, Monsieur. We are looking..." he looks to the other two, obviously in a slight state of panic and then back to the doorman."...for some girls. Can we come in?"

[Archedius]

Archedius puts on a wide grin, a rather ghastly sight as his teeth are nearly uniformly canine in appearance, and steps uncomfortably close to the doorman,

"The dandy and the wench are with me. Heh, I doubt I'd have any other options for companionship with this face, now would I?. Let an old soldier in for some fun."

Archedius presses a silver into the man's palm, "Get a drink on me later."

[kintire]

Shana smiles slightly at the doorman but stays quiet for the moment, taking a careful look at potential exits from the place

[Ken of Ghastria]

Blaise says to Ino and Rardi, "Fly? Oh yes, sounds exciting, but yes, let's be polite and walk. I'll keep my eyes open for anything out of the place ... well, on a normal scale, everything would look out of place in a necromancer's home -- it's not exactly a bakery -- but you know what I mean. I can sense magical auras and invisible objects around us, yet he doesn't need to know that."

OOC: On the walk up, Blaise will activate both otherworldly whispers and see the unseen. He'll also start using his at-will detect magic as they approach the front door.

[ewancummins]

The Palace of Celestial Delights

The brutish doorman shoves the silver piece into his pocket with his right hand and pushes the door open with his left.

''Right on in, then. 'Ave a good time.''

Down the short foyer is another guard. He takes weapons from guests and locks them away- but of course this doesn't apply to you all, being as you are the law in Marsember.

Beyond the entry hall, you pass a heavy wooden door to emerge into the parlor of the brothel. Girls of various descriptions lounge about on couches in the open room, or sit on wooden benches against the walls. Some are young, others getting on a bit in years, several are quite good looking. Most look as if they could be native Cormyreans, but some are more exotic: tall, mahogany-skinned Turmish whores; dusky Calishite temptresses; a pair of lovely almond-eyed Lantanna girls in yellow silk dresses: and an olive-complected, raven tressed Chessentan courtesan. There are also men here- guards with billets of wood tucked in their belts and clients perusing the selection of prostitutes.

A pair of short staircases lead up from the parlor to the second floor. Now and again, one of the girls will enter or leave one of the rooms up there, usually accompanied by a man.

The air within the building is warmer and drier than the wet and cold atmosphere without the building, and it is scented with incense from hanging braziers. Soft lighting is provided by oil lamps. The interior of the place looks clean and well kept, except for damp moldy splotches on the cracked plaster ceiling.

A plump woman dressed in a fashionable gown rises from one of the couches when she sees you all enter the room. She leans on a young man for support. There exists a certain similiarity in looks between the two of them. The woman, who looks to be over fifty years of age, waddles over with the help of her younger companion.

The heavyset woman addresses your party-

''Well met and welcome to the Palace of Celestial Delights. How may we be of service to the militia today?''

[ewancummins]

Blackpillars, on Fishgut Rock


After your small group has prepared its spells and invocations, you all traverse the footpath leading to the little gate. Once, an errant gust of wind threatens to send Ino over the cliff's edge- but she's saved from falling thanks to her flying enchantment. The little gate in the fence is unlocked. Indeed, is creaks open as you approach, perhaps blown by the same wind that pushed Ino. Passing through the gate, it's only a short walk up to the front door of the house.

Your knocking at the door is soon answered by an elderly serving-man clad in a suit of ancient black. His face is ruddy as an apple, and whisps of stark white hair cling to his balding scalp. He asks-

''You have business with the Master?''

All you can see of the house beyond the servant is a short hallway ending in another door. The light within comes from a torch set into one wall, which burns without emitting a trace of smoke.


[OOC -Anyone with a detect magic effect in place can tell that the torch is magical, and the hallway itself reeks of sorcery]

[Archedius]

"Thank you, Milady. My two companions and I are simply checking on the welfare of the various leisure establishments. Has anything unusual happened lately or has anyone caused any trouble?"

[ewancummins]

"Thank you, Milady. My two companions and I are simply checking on the welfare of the various leisure establishments. Has anything unusual happened lately or has anyone caused any trouble?"

The richly dressed madam answers-

''Yes, we've had some troubles lately- as has everyone in the town, no doubt. The fires burnt half the old place and we've had to move in here. Worse yet, one of my girls is missing- Nell Wynnet. No one's seen her for three days, and I'm worried about the poor child. She was always a willful strumpet, and I expect she's just run off with some lover of hers. Ah, but who knows, these days.....''
She frowns.

[Archedius]

"May we all go somewhere more private to discuss this further?"

[ewancummins]

"May we all go somewhere more private to discuss this further?"

''Certainly.''

The madam, assisted by her young helper, leads you all upstairs to one of the private rooms. This place is is no whore's crib, but a rather plainly appointed office. A big low couch and a couple of chairs provides room enough for all to sit.

[BigBadQDaddy]

Alain follows everyone up the stairs and into the office. Stumbling as he goes up the first step but maintaining enough grace to catch himself with the hand railing. Embarrassed, he continues up, catching a few snickers from the ladies below. His face visibly reddens.

[kintire]

Shana has been hanging back since we got in through the door, and paused at the second door to hand over her belt knife... seperating herself from the militia types, almost as if she got in by just following in their wake. She doesn't follow the group into the madam's office, but stays in the common room gossiping and circulating. It might be useful to get a different view of recent events to the Madam's...