Quest: Slight Navigational Error [Ended]

[Dark]

As soon as the busboy had closed the door, Minh sprawled face-first onto the bed. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and block out the world for the next fortnight at least, but with a heavy sigh she rolled herself over to contemplate the ceiling and her rather precarious plans. The inn was busy, much busier than she would have thought for such a late hour, and she was beginning to wonder if anyone ever slept. Given a day or more, she might have had the opportunity to discover those patterns, but she only had until morning.

She groaned, tugging at her hair in frustration. The door to the cellar was there in plain site, just out of reach; there was no way she’d be able to sneak down without someone seeing. Briefly she toyed with the idea of cutting in the bartender—she was doing this for the adventure, not the treasure (though there was a certain thrill in thinking about it), and it would be no great lost to split whatever was found at the end—but regardless of how pleasant he was, he did run a bar in a rather dangerous port, and that would require a certain degree of ruthlessness to be successful. There was no way to tell that he wouldn’t dispose of her and take the map himself, if he even believed her.

Regardless, if she was going to have any opportunity at all to get down into that cellar it wouldn’t happen in her room. Using the basin to splash her face and wash off the worst of the grim, she changed into a cleaner set of clothes. Going in her human form wasn’t the best way to blend in with the crowd, but she’d have no chance at all to remain unnoticed if she went in biped. Her mutations were just a little too eye-drawing.

She counted out some coins, and slipped them into the pouch hidden inside her jacket. While she waited, maybe she would gamble a bit. To fit in with the local crowd, of course. She locked the door carefully behind her, and headed back down the stairs; she was running out of time.

[Kiki]

Dark and Jenn receive 2 tokens each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[The Jenn]

During the time spent in her room, some members of the crowd in the inn had gone and others had come to take their place. It seemed to be one of the larger social centers in town, especially in the evening, and nearly half a dozen of the tables were engaged in some sort of game of chance. Most of them involved cards and there were various stakes being played. Some looked to be much more tense than others. It just depended on how drunk a crowd she wanted to deal with.

The bartender had gone off-shift apparently, or taken a break, or gone to the bathroom, because there was someone else tending the patrons behind the bar. He was a Midori canine built small and lean with dark green hair tied back in short tail.

She got a few looks in her human form, some admiring and some clearly envious, one or two unfriendly. It was hard to tell whether that was due to her form or her region, as neither were common sights in these parts.

[Dark]

Minh had thought of half a dozen plans for getting into the cellar and each one seemed headed towards the exact same end: failure. There were too many people to slip down unnoticed, and the barkeep was right there besides. Too much relied on chance. Which is why she had decided to check the foundation of the building before she tried anything too extreme. There was a good chance there might be a window or some kind of vent or maybe even a back door that led down into the cellar, and before she tried anything else it wouldn't hurt to try.

Scratching behind her ear absently, she started her way across the room, using her natural flexibility several times in order to avoid a collision. She patted her satchel to make sure it and the contents were still there, and stepped outside.

The night air was crisp, and woke her up nicely. Under the pretense of a nice long stretch she made sure no one was looking and slipped around the back of the building. Time to see if luck was on her side.

[The Jenn]

The crisp night air smelled strongly of salt, humid but cool. There were torches burning here and there along the path up to the inn, but they left the sides and back against the cliff in shadow. A few people walked up the path, but none of them were paying much attention to the shadowy areas besides keeping half an eye out for potential muggers.

Against the side of the building, there was indeed a small window for ventilation to a lower level during the summer months. It was barred with heavy iron about three inches apart and only about two feet tall. Her human form could probably squeeze in, were she able to remove or get through the bars somehow, but the tentacles would make it difficult for any of her other forms to get in. Without light, it would be impossible to tell what was downstairs or which room it gave potential access to.

[Dark]

Minh eyed the small window with burgeoning satisfaction; the window was small, but not small enough that it would hamper her in any serious way—being double-jointed and bendy had certain advantages. She hunkered down to rummage in the depths of her pack.

When she had been packing for this little expedition she hadn’t known exactly where her travels would take her, and had packed a little bit of everything just in case of the worst. Paranoia had never paid off so well. She pulled out the wood case that contained the glass vials and chemicals all good little chemists might need in a pinch, set it aside, and kept digging. Next out of the bag was the rolled leather kit that contained her files and lock set; she undid the strap, and rolled it opened with a flourish.

It was slow work filing through the bars and Minh, feeling rather tense, paused every few seconds to make sure no one had noticed the noise, though it was doubtful anyone actually <i>could</i> hear it over the boisterous noise coming from the bar; her back was tense and she was covered in a cold sweat by the time she laid aside the last bar.

Eyeing the dark opening, she rolled up the kit, packing it safely back in her bag before she reached for the chemistry set. Luminol, hydrogen peroxide, and some iron combined to create a rather striking blue chemiluminescence reaction. Instant glow stick.

She put the glowing vial quickly into her pocket, before placing the set back into the bag and stashing it all under a nearby bush where it wasn’t likely to be overlooked. Taking a steady breath, she lowered herself feet first through the window.

[The Jenn]

The general noise level coming from the bar served as an excellent backdrop to conceal Minh's activities. The sound of a cautious file-job compared to drunken, rowdy sailors just couldn't compete. After what probably seemed like an agonizingly long time, she managed to file through the bars and earn herself a means of entry. There were one or two close calls, one with a drunkard stopping by one of the bushes near her to take a leak and another when someone fell out of a window about ten feet away from her. Thankfully, the shadows and minimal greenery around her masked her presence.

When she entered, the air in the cellar felt a degree or two cooler than that of the air outside. It seemed the perfect place to store beverages. In the dim glow of her insta-glowstick, that's exactly what she saw. There were boxes, barrels, crates, and along one wall an extensive shelving unit filled with wines that receded off into the shadowy corner of the large cellar. The door to the main bar area had been closed, but a crack of light peeked through the bottom gap, proving that the two were directly connected via a long flight of stairs.

[Dark]

Minh took note of the door and the stairs leading up to it, moving her body so the glowstick was better shielded by her bulk. The telltale glow would give her away regardless, but the position might just give her enough time to stash the vial and slip into darkness before anyone was the wiser.

Keeping a wary eye on the door, Minh walked further into the cellar, ears twitching as she followed the din filtering down from upstairs. Every second of warning she had would be the difference between failure and success.

She had read the clues enough that she could repeat them by rote, the words circling endlessly in her head:

'neath the inn in cellars bare
Break the cask marked 'Devil's Fare'

For the cask to have survived this long unnoticed--it was a big cellar, so it might be possible--it would have to be stashed somewhere out of the way, in some dark corner where it would have gathered dust. She briefly considered the likelihood of someone already having found and opened it, but her mind skittered away from the idea before she could look too closely. Failure was unacceptable.

[The Jenn]

The noises and commotion from upstairs continued unabated, but no one had yet opened the door to the cellar and risked the woman's plan. If they did, some of the casks were large enough that she might be afforded enough protection to remain unnoticed... provided that they didn't need to be where she hid.

As she moved away from the area of the stairs, Minh would notice a slow progression of dust. Obviously they followed the practice of leaving their more recent and popular beverages nearest to the cellar door for easy access. Dust lay thicker on barrels and casks further away, with some barely visible exceptions where old dust had been stirred by customers requesting specific beverages.

Moving further away, the casks became smaller. In one corner, the furthest from the door, there stood a stack from floor to ceiling of miniature barrels. They were covered in a thick layer of dust and obviously hadn't been disturbed for quite some time. Getting to them would require a bit of fancy maneuvering. There were also a few larger casks next to and partially obscuring the smaller set, looking more recently disturbed but still quite old.

[Dark]

Minh's observed the small barrels in the false light of her glowstick, heart speeding up as some six sense told her she had discovered what she was looking for. The dust was thick, undisturbed. She considered the larger barrels blocking her way, and after a moment's contemplation shrugged herself into her bipedal form. In this form she could handle more weight, and her tentacles would help speed along the process. She set down the glowstick carefully on a nearby shelf and got to work.

It took longer than she would have liked to stack the barrels in their new location, overly careful to avoid mishap and make as little noise as possible, but eventually the job was done. With growing anticipation, she reverted back to her human form. The dexterity of her fingers might come in handy.

Was 'Devil's Fare' a brand? If so, it could be in any one of these barrels. She choose one of the casks off the top, feeling the slosh of wine. Trying not to feel perturbed, she set the container aside and considered her options. Absently, she drummed a meaningless tune on the side of the barrel. It sounded dull, full.

Minh froze, mind awhirl. Pinkbeard wouldn't have put the key in a full barrel, would he? The corrosive nature of wine would eventually ruin the metal. She began tapping the barrels systematically, ears twitching to catch the sound of hollow.