Sir Tainly's Irish Bar

[Skydracgrrl]

The group charged into the bottom level of the tower, only to be greeted with silence. "Erm... is this part of the plan, paladin?" Lyulfe asked dryly as he glanced around, hackles raised (if you can imagine a dragon with raised hackles). "Is there some puzzle or something we have to solve? I can't seem to find the stairs..."

ooc- i know how that is Tancred.. 2 weeks ago i was at a crew camp in north carolina, last week i was in new york city with my church, and this thursday im going up to Lake Huron for an early bday celebration with my grandparents. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Legolas]

"How quaint. It seem like, well, like nobody's home. Good... good. Well then, I, uhm, I suppose we had best go outside and.. and try to climb the tower, perhaps."

Joram's right foot straightend, shooting forward, and the armoured warrior slowly pivoted sideways. For a moment it seemed as though the man would turn smoothly on the ball of his foot, but then he lost his balance and landed heavily on the stone floor. The shock of meeting the ground sent his armour rattling, a high-pitched tone echoing down into the depths of Joram's mind.
Which, admittedly, was not all that deep.

"Ehr..." he said, staring up at a smooth, solid wall. "Shouldn't there be a door here?"

[Link]

With a dizzy head the renowned, in his own way that is, bard d'Artagnan wakes up in the wet grass, his head pounding heavily.
"Must be because of a rough night with gorgeous maidens, and a lot of drinks!" the bard mumbles, and nodds approvingly. Uneasy d'Artagnan stands up but almost immediately falls down to the ground again, looking sheepishly out of his blank eyes.
"Humphrey! To me my steed!" From nearby the chubby pony comes closer and looks at its master in a compassionate way, although an outsider would immediately realise that the horse feels somewhat ashamed for its clumsy owner. With great effort the bard gets up once more, leaning heavily on his pony.
"Well! Where are the others? I have a feeling I missed a lot!"

[Skydracgrrl]

Luckily for the bard, his faithful "steed" pointed out the tracks of his missing companions, easily distinguished my Lyulfe's dragon tail marks, and followed. He finally reached the outside a tower, which seemed to be one of those "Rupunzel" types- missing a door.
---

"Well, this is good," Lyulfe commented dryly, eyeing the exit-less walls enclosing them. "What now, Paladin? I'm sure you have tons of experience with this type of situation..."

ooc- the bar is dying... *sniffle* what a sad fate... *thinks back to the past*

[Link]

OOC: No way! The Bar can't die!

With a feeling of uneasiness d'Artagnan approached the tower, and started searching for the door immediately, but to no avail. There was nothing to see, not even a secret notch or scratch that would indicate the presence of some secret trap door or entrance.
"Well here we are again, Humphrey! Stranded once more!" the bard exclamated, and he sat down in the grass, starting to think out loud.
"The tracks lead here. But they're not here. So they're... somewhere else! Yes yes, that's a start. But where could they be then?" The bard grabbed a small twig and started chewing on it, still thinking about what could have happened to his companions.
"They must be inside! There's no other way!" With a smile on his face d'Artagnan jumped up and beckoned for his black steed. "We are going to rescue those noble people, Humphrey! That is our fate, and our mission! Follow me, my silent companion, for there are great deeds in the not so distant future for us!"

The pony followed the bard wordlessly (it was a pony after all) and together the two of them once more circumvented the tower in search for the entrance. Once more, however, they failed to find it and the bard began to feel a bit uneasy about the whole situation.
He leaned over against the tower, but instead of feeling the hard stone he felt nothing and with a yelp he felt himself falling through the walls. Moments later he was gone, leaving a dumbstruck pony behind.

[Legolas]

At the sound of the yelp, Joram looked up just in time to see a dark shape land on top of him. In places where his woollen undershirt was worn thin enough, the impact drove rings of chainmail into his flesh and the warrior yelled a soundless 'ouch!' as he lay gasping for breath.

Sir Snowdale the younger lifted himself at last and caught a glimpse of his assailant.
"Ah, Dart," he said to the bard before sagging back to the ground. "So glad you could join us."

OOC: We can always rename the place 'ye olde dying bar'

[Link]

d'Artagnan shamefully turned his head, and muttered something about 'not wanting them to fall into the clutches of evil'. He knew that he could have saved the day if only he had been more careful. Now he was stuck here, with the others, and... Humphrey!! His fateful steed was still outside!! The bard suddenly felt very sad for his pony that, he thought, probably was searching for an exit for his master.

On the outside though, Humphrey had settled in the grass, enjoying his rest in the warm sunshine. Finally releaved from its slightly clumsy master, the pony felt as if a weight had been lifted from its shoulders.
Although the horse could hear the faint yellings from the inside, it could not understand any word of them, and remained there, lying in the grass.

"Where are we, by the way?" d'Artagnan asked.
"Some tower, dunno where exactly," the answer came from the dark nearby.
"And how do we get out?" the bard went on.
"Well.. our hope was you, but since you got trapped as well, we're done for."
"Good riddance!" A new sarcastic voice contributed to the conversation.
"Shut up!"
"Yeah! Shut up!"

[ 09-02-2003, 08:14 AM: Message edited by: Link ]

[Skydracgrrl]

ooc- *lmao at Link* i like your post, it amuses me ^^

ic- Lyulfe gave the newcomer a wry look. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be the same without a bard in our midst," he commented. Still looking at the bard, the songdragon noticed something he hadn't noticed before, and his eyes narrowed. "There seems to be something etched into the floor here... if the bard would care to remove himself from the floor, perhaps we can figure it out."

[Tancred]

Somewhat glum at being denied the chance to hack and slash once again, Tancred stares for a long time at the etching upon the floor as D'art rolls to one side.
"Some kind of symbol?" he ventures at last.
"By jove, Holmes," scoffs Karnas, "I think you've got it! Yes, some kind of symbol. Well, *that* narrows it down. Stand back, everyone. I'm going to try something." Karnas clears his metaphorical throat, and declares in as dramatic and deep and impressive a voice as possible, "I SENSE STRONG MAGIC AT WORK HERE!"

***

"Exactly how strong?" someone asks after a tense few minutes' silence.
"Er... well, there's no strong magic at all, really," answers the sword, lamely. "But if there HAD been, I'd have looked so cool. It looks like some kind of puzzle has been placed here..."
Tancred shakes his head. "Drat."
"They're certainly hitting us at our weakest point, aren't they?"

OOC: I apologise for... well, not being here. Between university (that I have started once again), contributing to the BG1 NPC project (I got Yeslick) and finally starting work on my long-in-planning writing project (the Tancred and Karnas trilogy - I kid thee not) the poor old Bar often gets overlooked.

[ 10-12-2003, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: Tancred ]

[Tancred]

Meanwhile... at Evil Woman HQ...

***

"Well, that was dull as ever," complained Ursula, as she struggled out of her banquet-robes and into something more comfortable (though it could well be argued that rusted mail lined with dog hair would be more comfortable than the brocaded whalebone ruffles of Ursula's robe). "The day they stop stuffing their faces and start fighting will be the day I'll stop hating the rest of the world."
"Milady's various pledged favours are waiting outside, if you wish to see them," wheezed her liveried old manservant. "Milady was very much the centre of attention tonight."
"I'm always the centre of attention, man. I may not like it, but I still insist upon it. It proves my point - there are no warriors here. Just bragging bravos thumping their chests."
"Milady's spies would point out that there was one man there who gave Milady uncharacteristic attention. Would milady recall him? Tall, thin, balding slightly, dressed in periwinkle blue?"
Ursula thought for a minute. "Yes... who was that thin streak of misery? I didn't like the way he looked at me. That man looked like he was actually *thinking*, and if there's one thing I can't stand -"
Both Ursula and Clarksonne snap their heads around at what they think was a voice... but as they scan the corners of Ursula's pavilion, all they find is Ursula's glowing sword. Clarksonne collects himself.
"We looked his heraldry up in the books, milady. That would be sir Rupert de Courcy... one of the knights taking part on the joust."
"Rupert de Courcy..." Ursula mulls over the name. "THE Sir Rupert? 'Cocktail Dress' de Courcy? One of the old crowd? Wasn't he one of... HIS friends?"
"Um... he may well have been, milady... sir Rupert and sir Tancred certainly jousted at some of the same events..."
"That's enough for me. I want him dead. No loose ends, Clarksonne."
The manservant - Clarksonne - sighs. "As milady wishes."
Ursula brightens up, with the determined air of one who has decided it's high time she brightened up. "And now... How's my little plan coming along?"
"Well enough, milady. According to our sources, your target has entered the nurse's Tower of Frustration... everything seems to be on schedule."
"Good, good..." Ursula rubs her hands. "That moron couldn't think his way out of a paper bag, let alone a Tower of Frustration. Ellie The Nurse has done her work well. Remind me to send her a complimentary bottle of wine or something... once this tournament is mine."
"Yes, milady. Will that be all?"
"Yes, I think I'll retire - no, wait a minute," Urusla beckons her manservant back. "I think a little insurance isn't out of the question... not to mention a little extra income..."
Ursula takes a seat.
"Take a letter, Clarksonne."
The manservant fetches quill, ink and parchment, poised on his lady's words. Ursula dictates, as only she can.
"To my gracious lord Guillaume Barbenoire de Foesmyte - I have news of the wherabouts of your missing son..."

***

The symbol resembled a squiggly pentagram superimposed over a parabola drawn over a cross placed inside an ellipse. Inside a rectangle. That seemed to have five sides if you looked at it upside-down. If that WAS upside-down. So far, no-one was getting anywhere with it.
"It looks like some kind of magical symbol..." mused Karnas.
"It has the distinct look of a compass to me," Tancred stated. "Or possibly a map... look at the squiggle just there, it could be a river..."
The party lean over the strange diagram, puzzling over its' possible meanings. A clue? A warning? A marking to a secret door?
"Well, *this* is frustrating," muttered Tancred.