A Dragon's Dream - RPLOG
Participants
Date
20/9/478
Log
The enterprising adventurers are led by the otter being outside Firmament and into the ever-present Eastbank forest. It was a warm, sunny day in Sweetwater which at the very least meant that it was pleasantly warm in shade of the trees as the group trudged along the narrow roads and passages in the green maze. The group would spend hours of marching until they finally got on a what must have been a well-trodden dirt-path at some point but whoever used this road is long gone if nature's efforts to reclaim it is any indication.
Twenty minutes more spent on the once-road before the group finally neared a large clearing, the sight of an old mansion clear in their view, waiting for them in a small camp at the edge of the mansion's clearing are four other beings and a fifth waving at them, this one is a bullfinch in fancy clothing, obviously the employer. "Ah, welcome, welcome, brave adventurers." the bird says in a distinctly exotic accent, those who heard it before knowing it as clearly Andrussian, while those who never knew about it could mistake it for some odd Cliffside accent, "I am really glad for your help, you see this mansion seems to be trapped." he says with a shake of his head before he looks at the group again, giving them time to catch their breath and adjust, "You can have some refreshments before we discuss business if you wish." he says as he points at a small table with fruits and water.
Zuri steps up to look at the mansio in a challenging manner. The small salamander's packed for this job, having brought all of his tools for dealing with locks and other mechanisms, making him look more like an apprentice clockmaker than an adventurer. "Traps huh? That sounds fun!" He turns to the otter and smiles. "And refreshments? This is already the best adventure ever!" He plods over to the table, selecting several of the fruits and nibbling on a peach as he waits.
Bazalt Mumbles and Groans As he walks, Still covered in banadges, and looking sore. "I'm REgretting this already." he mumbles, rubbing his arm. He nods to the bullfinch and Head for the refreshments. "Nrrhhh.....I'm going to end up hurting more.." He sighs, Grabbing a Drink and A Fruit to munch on.
Reginald makes his way along the once-road, no stranger to the wilderness, yet still rather unsettled by the path's return to nature. Upon meeting the Bullfinch, he offers a nod in greeting. Quickly retrieving a cup of water, the lynx finds a nice place to lean against as he waits for their briefing, offering a further nod to Zuri and a nuzzle to Bazalt.
The bullfinch nods his head, "You see, my grandfather was an adventurer and a scholar of sorts." the bullfinch begins as he stands up for story time, "He traveled fair and wide, he was also a dragon dedicant." he says with a shrug, "So for some reason he really got into this ancient Creator stuff about knights and dragons and what not, but that is besides the point. He built this mansion and decided to live in it for the rest of his life, which if what he said in his letters was true was the last five years of his life." he says as he points at the mansion.
The building must have been really impressive, for a medium sized mansion in the middle of a forest. The mansion seems to be built mostly of woof but with a stone wall surrounding it, and a, currently opened, creaky metal gate leading to a stone staircase leading upwards towards a small courtyard and finally the entrance. The mansion in general is in dangerous disrepair with moss growing around each possible crevice and vines infiltrating the structure, one would give nature another sixty years to completely claim this structure. "You see he died about fifteen years ago. I had discovered his letters which he gave to my father to 'claim his inheritance' a couple of months ago. And now here I am trying to see what my grandfather left for my father. But there is one problem, the door is locked and it seems he made the place based on puzzles!" he says as he begins climbing the stairs, "You can ask your questions while you begin to work."
Zuri listens to the story as he chews down on his peach, finishing it quickly so he can get to work on the pear he's holding on his other hand. He nods in between munchies to say. "Inheritance, huh? And he was a dragon dedicant? I can see where this is going..." He looks back at Reginald and Bazalt. "Might be just like in the shrine. Or perhaps even more devious." He walks up to the door and starts inspecting the lock, before reaching for the appropriate tools to try and crack it open.
Bazalt nods and Sighs. "Greaat.. there better not be water Traps here too.." He mumbles as he walks up the Steps-smiling to Reginald. "and I'm still damn sore too.." he sighs. "walking didnt help..wh Build a house all the way out here? What was he hiding?" He asks, rubbing the back of his head as Zuri gets to Work.
Reginald walks alongside the group, nodding in acknowledgement of Zuri's and Bazalt's thoughts - the lynx too hoped there'd be much less water here. Although a thought did spring to the feline's mind. "If the owner was a dragon dedicant, are we certain this place is meant to be accessed from the ground, and not the air ... just a thought?" Upon seeing the pain the shadow was currently in, the lynx moves to his side and places an arm around the wolf, offering him something to lean against.
The bullfinch shakes his head, "Of course we are sure. There is a perfectly normal gate, and dragons anyway are not designed for long term flight." the being says as Zuri rushes past and begins inspecting the locked door.
The group are standing in the small courtyard in front of the door, with Zuri himself looking at the door. Right in front of this door is a small square with four stone statues obviously not put in place. The statues are in a rather interesting fashion designed to look like dragons in full knight gear and regalia. A small slab of stone in the middle of the square declares, "The knight struggles against the dragon. The knight is no more on Promise. The dragon takes the mantle of the knight. Where does the dragon knight's duty lie?" On each side of the square are three spots which looks like they are designed for a statue to be put there.
"See? This is what I meant about this chivalry nonsense. It is a puzzle of sorts, but I don't really know a lot about those stories and those statues are heavy as well!" he says as he lets the group piece the puzzle together.
Zuri tests the lock with a few of his tools, most curiously one that looks like a tiny hook at the end of a very thin and long handle. He frowns slightly as he clicks the tool inside the lock. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is this lock is easy to crack. The bad news is there's a lot of stuff here that doesn't normally go in a lock. There's a latch on the left hand side that seems to connect to a different mechanism, and there's a small pressure disk at the far end of the lock's cylinder."
He pulls the tool back out of the lock. "My guess is, the lock is trapped in a couple different ways. Even if you crack it you won't be able to do it without triggering one or more of the mechanisms." He looks towards the puzzle. "The latch seems to indicate the lock could be opened by solving that puzzle there, maybe.. would make sense." He looks back up at the threshold of the door. "This little courtyard could be laden with traps if we don't do this right.
Bazalt Sighs and Rolls his eyes. "Of course.."he trails off and sighs again. "Hrrmm.. soo.. Four Statues? six spaces?" He Frowns and sighs. "Hrrmmm.." The Wolf Just sighs and mumbles. "and Traps? Just ast long as there are no bug or Water.. i'll be happy..."
The lynx is by no means fluent with creator stories of dragons and knights, though, drawing on the various pieces of experience from his travels, something about the puzzle seemed to make a little sense. "It seems to be asking us where this dragon knight's duties lie, and .. maybe .. it wants us to choose four of the six choices ..." The lynx ponders the problem, not too well versed in the duties of knights, but trying to contribute none the less ...
The mute Nurse Shark steps in, careful to follow the footsteps of the rest of the group to not set anything off. She headtilts as she sees the statues, reading the inscription <Sorry for my lateness.> She signs to Bazalt. <Had some bodily functions to work out.>
The employer nods his head as Cirra arrives, "Yes that is what I guessed as well, but I don't really know what to do so go ahead and solve it, that is what I hired you for." the Andrussian says as he looks peers at the door when Zuri finishes talking, "Are you sure they are deadly traps? Maybe we can afford setting one or two of them..." he says before shaking his head quickly, "But I am not responsible for any injury that might cause, that would be your fault."
Zuri steps back to look at the inscriptions, then at the quote. "Hmm.. where does a knight's duty lie." He looks between each of the six illustrations, going clockwise. "Female being in a fancy dress, that probably represents the Nobles. No idea what that represents. Being with a crown, clearly the Royals. Being asking for alms, the Poor. Group of beings talking... hm... I guess that might just represent 'the people'. The next one is clearly the Knightly Order as a whole, right? And finally the family of the slain knight."
He huffs. "So what are the four things a Knight owes duty to? Specifically, this knight in this situation. The family of the slain knight is one of them. The others.. I can see arguments for all of them."
Bazalt Nods "hrrmm.. Yeah. Family... Maybe? Royals.. Probally nobles... perhaps?..." He nods to the shark. "It's ok-heh.." He sighs. "there is the posiblilty the statues are trapped to?" HE Frowns. "Hrrmmm... Any clues from the letters?" he asks, looking to the finch.
Reginald continues to be deep in thought, as he listens astutely to the conversations going on around him. Cuddling Baz a little tighter, the lynx offers up his thoughts. "... knights are supposed to be noble warriors, always loyal to the king or queen of the time ... protecting the poor ...... I haven't really paid too much attention to the stories, but, aren't they supposed to rescue damsels, as well .... and don't they very rarely die, or engage in gossip or intrigue ..... but are loyal to there order ..." The feline returns to his silence ...
Cirra nods a bit. <I do not recall, though a knight's duties typically were to the crown first, to his order, and to nobles. If I were optimistic, I'd actually say his fourth duty was to the poor, but I would need a bit more information, but am more versed in Shralestan history. Maybe something in history? Give me a moment, I need to check something.> She moves to a corner to fiddle with her collar.
Reginald tilts his head from one side to the other, before speaking up once again. "... Or was that barbarians? In which case, aren't knights supposed to be blood-lust stricken warriors, who charge head first into combat, with no thought given for their own safety ... in which case the only place that makes any sense would be the 'female being with her child weeping over a coffin' ... I not too sure, really ... though, for some reason, I get the feeling that kings are important here ...... yeah, I'm pretty sure kings and knights are linked quite closely ... If no one objects, we could try putting one of those statues in the spot that has 'the picture of a being with a crown sitting on a throne' ?"
Cirra nods to Reignald, signing to Bazalt her intentions. <I know with confidence that two of them are to the crown, and to his fellow knights and his order.> She moves to help Reginald move one of the statues into the slot matching the being with the crown.
Zuri nods. "Those two make sense. I still dare say he has a duty to the family of the being whose life he took, which I think is represented by the child weeping over a coffin. In any case.." He shifts one statue over that one, hoping that he got this one right."
Bazalt nods slowly. "HRrnnn they. seem.. right...Or is it a Trick question and he has Duties to all?" He muses as he looks around the courtyard. "Hrrnnnnn Dont suppose it's that easy though..." he just shrugs, watching for now.
Zuri pushes the statue, quickly getting assisted by some of the employer's men to the intended spot. For a moment there is nothing before suddenly the statue begins sinking down again. As it sinks down, a slab of stone right in front of the statue that was put in place rises up, 'His duty to the weeping widows and oppressed orphans.' Three more to go.
The other statue that was pushed towards the picture of the king sinks as well as the slab in front of it rises, "His duty to his king, ever faithful in word and deed." Two more to go.
Zuri huffs after pushing that statue into place, smiling thankfully at the being that helped him with the task. "So.. hm.. those were the obvious ones. Now it gets tricky. I still say he has a duty to the Knightly order itself. But you could argue any of the others. The poor, all beings in general, and the nobles."
Cirra nods a bit. <Knightly order and his fellow knights should also be correct.> She starts sliding that statue into place. <However, I am at a loss to what the last is. Since all three can be correct.>
