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Post by Harpsdesire on Aug 13, 2011 22:40:38 GMT -5
Somewhat regretful of her brief burst of temper, Kendra remained quiet, allowing her mother to be the one to answer the questions. It was only proper, really. Although she would have very much liked to have the sense of worldliness and invincibility that most teens her age seemed to luxuriate in, it seemed that was not to be. She had come about in such a way, with such strange magic and dark doings on the very day of her impossible birth, that she could not help doubting what she thought she knew.
She took belated advantage of her mother's permission and helped herself to a large plate of pancakes with all the sweet trimmings while Chrissie and Iso spoke. Felix seemed to be heartily enjoying himself, and after a single bite she could see why. Her eyes widened slightly and she let out a small noise of enjoyment. She took her glass of milk happily enough, and was content to eat the large tasty breakfast without further comment, at least for a few minutes. She would devote her mouth to pancakes while her mind continued work on the current situation.
So there was a poisonous gas in the Capital and someone had carried them here in a cart without them knowing? And the 'Master' was interested in her mother's back-tendrils? They were in a mansion, sealed off from the outside world. It all seemed very curious-- far fetched if she hadn't been hearing it and experiencing it for herself.
Although her natural Corvie curiosity was beginning to rouse itself and wonder about such things as the possible chemical makeup of the supposed 'gas' and what kind of spell it took to seal what was probably quite a large house, Kendra couldn't seem to help but fret a little about her father and baby siblings. If they'd been gone for six hours, Aberforth was probably already going into utter spasms of worry... unless something worse had already happened to him! She tried valiantly not to allow her thoughts to go down this path.
Her curiosity was only barely whetted and her worry was only getting started on it's downward spiral when Chrissie excused herself. "Thank you for the pancakes!" Kendra called after the mouse as she headed out of the room.
Once the door had shut behind her (and Kendra heard, or imagined, the bolt being slid back into place), she continued in a softer tone, addressing her mother. "So we just... wait now?" The idea displeased her a little, but what else could they really do?
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Post by Callypso on Aug 14, 2011 0:05:16 GMT -5
Iso was not amused by this state of affairs – not at all. She leveled a carefully neutral look toward Felix then turned back to Chrissie, brows deeply furrowed and a frown upon her face. It mattered not that the woman was blind and could not view the displeasure splashed clearly across the ferret’s face.
She said nothing as the woman attempted to explain herself. Of course it made sense to her. The mouse was being paid by the fellow rescuing people from the supposed horrors of the city. Arguing further with someone whose information was so obviously biased was going to be unproductive.
As soon as possible, if you please.
It was not a request. Iso rarely had patience with those that were unnecessarily demanding and was usually proper, if not exactly cordial. This situation, however, was an unfortunately unusual event. Her skin was crawling with anxiety – literally. The ink roiled sickeningly along her back – she wanted more information about the purported mystery gas, present conditions in the Capital, and more importantly, whether the rest of her family was safe.
The doctor noted with some small satisfaction that the woman appeared to blanch as she shuffled backwards toward the door. Unfortunately, Iso had become overly preoccupied with puzzling out the night’s event before she thought to step forward to demand a key. She started and ran forward just as the deadbolt had clicked into place.
Oh, for the love of Spades!
She stood staring at the door for a few moments, collecting her thoughts, before turning around and heading back toward the cart laden with breakfast.
I suppose we don’t have much of a choice, she replied to Kendra as she grabbed a plate. Now, what kind, and how much gas, would need to be released to knock out the entirety of the Capital?, she queried aloud as she absentmindedly tapped her fork somewhat forcefully against the cart.
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Post by Lucca on Aug 15, 2011 8:07:50 GMT -5
Felix frowned as the poor Mouse was frightened by Iso and backed out of the room. He thought he saw her shaking slightly. He tried to give her a reassuring smile as she left, because after all she'd been very nice and she was just a servant! Even if there was evil intent behind their capture, it wasn't her fault! It was just like the Cards at work that would yell at him for the prices when he wasn't the one that controlled them at all. Of course, it was only after the door closed that the Porcupine realized in a rush that there was no way Chrissie had seen his smile.
With a small sigh, he backed up from the cart, looking to the two Ferrets. What were they going to do? He'd help them do it, of course, although he hoped it didn't involve breaking anything. This place was too nice for that. He tried for a small smile at Iso as she went to eat her pancakes, finally. That would cheer her up, right? Hopefully? "I dunno," he responded promptly to Iso's question, and then slowly turned his head to look around the room. "Weren't you looking for something? Where'd you guys not look yet?" He thought he'd better help. After all, -he- didn't want to be on the Corvie's bad side, after seeing how bristly she was to that poor Mouse.
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Post by Harpsdesire on Aug 15, 2011 9:33:16 GMT -5
Kendra also felt a little bad for the maid, who seemed a rather intimidated. Perhaps her anger, short-lived though it was, had upset Chrissie? She frowned guiltily. If only her research was going better... or she managed to find some good old fashioned self control! She ran a paw through her silky mane in agitation.
She swallowed another bite of pancake, slightly glum as she thought about the many ways in which this entire situation was not ideal. On the other hand, there were many ways it could be worse. At least it seemed they would be getting some sort of answers soon, and in the meantime she couldn't help but feel reasonably safe in the plush room eating a delicious breakfast.
She considered her mother's question carefully for a few moments, then responded thoughtfully, "Carbon monoxide? It would have to be a very large amount... huge. Unreasonably huge." Knowledge of such things fell outside Kendra's particular interest, but her mother encouraged broad scientific knowledge; One never knew when there would turn out to be an unexpected connection between seemingly unrelated branches of science.
"Maybe it wasn't really all of the capital, but just the one area, and the man who brought us here panicked and thought it was more widespread?" It was hard to imagine releasing enough of any gas into an open area to render the whole city senseless.
Felix's question was far easier to answer than her mother's, so Kendra's little rounded ears perked up and she answered him. "Well, it doesn't seem like there's much chance we'll find a key in here at this point, but we haven't looked..." She glanced around, "Under the beds, yet."
With sumptuous coverings reaching right to the floor, it seemed quite possible that something could be hidden under them, although Kendra didn't actually think it very likely to be anything useful in the current situation. Nevertheless, she was about finished her pancakes and had nothing really better to do, so she went to creep under the nearest bed, leaving Felix to examine the others if he wished.
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Post by Callypso on Aug 15, 2011 12:16:11 GMT -5
Once Iso finished eating breakfast, it occurred to her that she may have been overly gruff with the maidservant, Chrissie. It was unseemly to take her grievance on the poor girl – she was merely the messenger of unfortunate news and only performing as bid. The doctor had been very upset – still was. The sooner they had proper information, the better. Better yet, if they could manage to leave the room unnoticed and explore the mansion themselves… She had resumed her absent-minded tapping of her utensil against the serving cart while she considered the few known facts.
The Spade’s nose wrinkled as she considered her daughter’s guess. No… the reply was distant as she sank into her own thoughts, Gases and vapors are not my area of expertise, but I don’t believe carbon monoxide poisoning would render us unconscious for six hours. If so, we would have suffered other side effects – so far we are all sound of body and mind. Carbon Dioxide, however - but how could one dispense enough of it into the atmosphere for it to take immediate effect?
Iso’s paw stopped mid-tap as Felix’s words finally registered, her eyes clearing as her focus shifted to the present issue. She stared at the fork as though seeing it for the first time, her eyes brightening in what Kendra would recognize as her mother having An Idea. It was a pity they were all Spades…
Yes, I believe you have quite the right idea, Felix, she said brightly as she grabbed a butter knife from the table. Let us do one last sweep to see if there might be anything we missed, in the meantime, I need some leverage. Have either of you seen a paperweight or a doorstop?
The ferret padded back toward the door and began examining the brass handle. She’d never picked a lock before, and didn’t expect she’d be able to manage now. However, if she could jam the lock or make it pop open somehow... Better yet, if there were screws on this side of the door, she could simply use the knife to loosen them and remove the handle in its entirety!
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Post by Lucca on Aug 15, 2011 13:13:51 GMT -5
Well, Felix decided to ignore all the talk about some strange chemicals he'd never heard of in his life. Corvie stuff, he figured, and that was why he left them to it while he gave Kendra a sort of salute. "Right!" he said happily, and obediently got down on all fours and attempted to squeeze his horned head under the bed that he'd woken up on. It was easier said than done, as his quills, even lying flat, made him rather large, and that was in addition to his naturally bulky physique (typical of Selkies, or at least it had been when there'd been a lot of them) and the aforementioned horns.
With a lot of effort, he managed to get his head entirely under the bed, and blinked around at what was mostly a couple of dust bunnies and a mothball or two. While most of the room was remarkably clean, it seemed that the space under the beds wasn't quite as much a priority for cleaning. Just as he was wiggling to dislodge more of the bed covers that were still preventing a lot of light from getting to the space he was looking at, Felix heard Iso's voice, a bit muffled from his position.
"What?" he asked, trying to turn and knocking on horn against the bed frame. He winced, but that was when her words registered, and his tail wiggled happily as his quills tried to stand up. "I do? Oh, uh! Check the dresser? The big one!" He thought he'd seen something there...though he couldn't say what as that was a bit too close to the mirror for his comfort.
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Post by Nathalia on Aug 15, 2011 16:04:53 GMT -5
Trying the handle revealed that, not only was the handle itself locked, but that their fears of a deadbolt were confirmed.
Though Iso can and probably will succeed at getting the handle apart, the door itself will remain immovable due to the deadbolt being located on the outside of the door...though they do now have a peephole out into the hallway...
Hmmm, not too bad, is it?
Under her bed, Kendra managed to find:
Tarnished Photo: This old, framed photo seems to feature a Josiggy woman. She looks very well-bred; upper class and all, what with the clothes she's wearing. A Feline mix, she must be. Too bad the face is so blurred out.
It tingles a bit when touched and the SD who grabbed this item will suddenly find themselves able to cause a sudden rush of knowledge about a situation they concentrate on to hit them squarely in the brain, once a day. The knowledge might be a bit full of holes though, so don't assume too much...
Felix found a few old coppers (6 unassigned p), and a bunch of mothballs, like loose change and candy wrappers down the side of a couch, I suppose.
The rest of the room seems to contain little...though all involved should include rolling a 20 in their next post.
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Post by Harpsdesire on Aug 15, 2011 21:57:03 GMT -5
((Miss Kendra is cleaning up, wow!))
"Mmhm." Kendra shrugged. Gases weren't her interest either. In fact, the idea of prying the door open was rather more interesting than speculating on what sort of science or magic may or may not have knocked them out. She cast about for something heavy enough to be of use against the door, but nothing in particular came to mind.
"The big dresser?" She almost hit her head on the edge of the bed as she backed out, holding the picture frame. "Ohhh." She breathed softly as she felt some sort of magic worm it's way into her mind. "I found something." She held the photo up for Iso to see and blinked a few times before admitting, "Seems to be magic.", then set it down and went to investigate the dresser, even as her mother seemed to be trying to take the door handle itself apart.
She took a look into the mirror and smoothed her silky mane before she opened the dresser and started to poke around, looking for the heavy thing Felix thought he had seen.
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Post by Callypso on Aug 15, 2011 22:57:18 GMT -5
Iso’s mood was considerably better now that she was contemplating this puzzle. She was no mechanic, but having something real and tangible before her allowed her the illusion of control, if only for the brief period it would take for her to examine what appeared to be their only exit. To her satisfaction, there were indeed flathead screws on this side of the bedroom, and she happily set the knife to work.
The ferret was momentarily distracted by the appearance of her daughter, who was massaging her skull.
Are you well? She offered a matronly kiss to the girl’s cranium before bristling at the frame being waved beneath her muzzle. Magic. Of course. What else could make her day worse than if it involved the dreaded, unnatural phenomenon?
It doesn’t feel like a curse? Iso had been privy to horrible stories about curses – some unsuspecting Card touching an apparently harmless object to find that they suffered some horrible, ongoing malady. Disgusting. She shrugged lightly, conveying to Kendra that she wasn’t sure what to make of it, then returned to the task at hand.
It was rough going – the buttering implement was difficult to wield in this manner, but before long the last screw hit the carpet. She pulled the handle away with more enthusiasm than was necessary, almost smacking herself in the face as it came away, only to let out a groan of dismay.
They had indeed been locked in – handle and deadbolt – the door was as stationary as it had been. What a disappointment.
It appears Chrissie distrusted us even after we regained consciousness, though I suppose the fault is mine. She reengaged the deadbolt, though we should be able to see into the hallway…
Iso crouched down and peered through the new gap in the door.
((Iso rolled a 14!))
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Post by Lucca on Aug 16, 2011 9:22:47 GMT -5
"Yeah, I think there was...some sort of jewelry box on top of it? Ah--hold on!" Taking one last look beneath the bed, dextrous paws groping around a bit and managing to find a bit of loose change, which he pushed out so he could pick it up later, Felix then tried to get back out from under the bed. At first, his quills kept wanting to impeded his ability to bring his head the other way, and he winced as he felt them being pulled by the bed frame. After taking a deep breath and forcing himself to relax, pushing the quills flat, the Porcupine finally managed to slowly pull his head back out--OW. He banged the side of his horn against the wood and winced as pain shot through his head from that point.
Rubbing his head and frowning, Felix finally emerged from under there. Perhaps he should leave one of the much more flexible Ferrets to check the other bed. His ears pricked at Iso's groan, and, grabbing the coppers on the way, he waddled over towards her and the door. He'd apparently already forgotten about his intended plan to help Kendra look for the jewelry box. "Well, next time someone comes in, be a little nicer to them, Iso," he said solemnly, and pushed himself so that he could try to peer over Iso's shoulder and see out into the hall, too. He was betting it would look every bit as lovely as the room they were in, maybe with some fancy portraits or something lining the walls.
((14))
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