T - Harps, Lucca, Callypso, Lauryn

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Bristol frowned and looked at the silver trowel laying in one of the drawers. What on earth was a gardening item doing up in what he assumed were guest quarters? Puzzling this out in his head, he nearly dropped the item when he felt it tingling slightly in his grip. Magic! He turned to show Kendra what he had found.

"It seems like just a gilded trowel, but it tingles to the touch. I think I shall hold onto this until we know anything further," he explained, not wanting the young woman to think he was a regular thief, just taking what he pleased. And not immediately following that thought, he pursed his lips for a few moments in contemplation before snagging the old fountain pen as well. One might never know when they needed to write down important information!

He listened to her explain what she could remember, though like him... it wasn't much at all. "Papery noise?" he repeated. "Like a sort of rustling?" Had someone maybe been hunting the three of them? It seemed a ridiculous notion, but then again look where they all had found themselves today.

Bristol followed Kendra out of the mostly empty room, showing Dr. Price the enchanted Trowel he had found. "It doesn't seem like much, but it is definitely out of place."

He frowned at the mention of someone he was unfamiliar with. "Who is Chrissie? And what is this about a sealing spell?" Were there more abducted Cards about, and if so... where were they?

Bristol moved towards the staircase, his head turned back to listen to whoever spoke first but feeling as though they should be pressing on.

[Callypso]

To her disappointment and confirmation of her assumption, the others had not found much of anything.

A trowel? She looked over the object warily, struggling to ignore the mild paranoia that came with magic and magical objects. It is suspect, and if it is causing you foreign sensations it might be best to take it with us. Though I’m sore sure what a gardening implement has to do with all of this. How could they suppose anything, really? Her initial response to dismiss the silver utensil was overridden by her Corvie need to be extra-thorough. They couldn’t take chances – anything that might be of potential aid, regardless of how seemingly misplaced, ought to be considered.

She stifled another impatient sigh as Felix noted the obvious. Yes. We are unable to determine whether we are where Chrissie says we are. According to her, we’ve been here for six hours. By my estimation, it’s either evening or close to twilight, but it is difficult to determine with lack of said windows. Come to think of it... she hadn't seen so much as a clock on this floor. Peculiar. There should have been at least one decorating the many mantles in the luxurious rooms. Iso turned toward Bristol as he asked of whom they spoke.

Chrissie is the serving maid who locked us in our room. She claims to be under the employment of one Mr. Rankin Mellowthorpe, and supposedly we are on the Upper East end of the Capital. Furthermore, she purports that we were knocked out by some sort of gas, and another serving person brought us here to “safety” and used some kind of sealing spell to prevent the gas from entering. The ferret snorted, indicating to the others exactly how she felt about Chrissie’s story.

I’m doubtful that the other rooms will unveil anything useful. I suspect that we are in the guests’ quarters, and anything of real value will be on another floor or another wing of the house. Still, we shouldn’t leave anything unturned. Perhaps some of the help negligently left something of interest. Kendra and I will look over this room, if you gentleman would be so kind as to check the last. See if you can't find a timepiece of some sort... Then I propose we tackle those stairs. Have you gentleman a preference for which direction we should take?

[Nathalia]

Iso's curt words at least seem to have a strong backing to them, though...strange, she seems to feel as though she's being watched, it's even causing the ink along her back to wriggle with discomfort.
Iso did manage to locate one oddity in her search.
Silk Ivy Vine: Second in a set of 8, this pretty little trinket tingles a bit to the touch. It seems to be emitting the odor of something similar to rotting vegetation...fortunately it's not too strong.
These flowers can either be collected in groups of four (evens and odds, with two people getting the payoff, one holding all evens, the other holding all odds. Evens and odds do not have to be used in conjunction), collected as a solid group of 8, or used separately to diminished effect.

Felix located a little something on his search as well!
The strong smell of cinnamon wafted heavily out of the room he checked, and upon closer inspection, the bed itself looks mussed and the room pre-searched!
Cinnamon Pills: Taped to the underside of a bed, it certainly looks as though whoever owns these was trying very hard to hide them. The bottle looks as though it has already been found, opened, and messed with, one of the capsules exploded all over the carpet by whoever was in here before.
Still...they smell great and who knows who you might be able to barter with for things like this? Helps that they tingle a bit too...

Kendra only managed to locate a few coppers (15 unassigned p), but at least it's better than nothing.
Bristol found nothing special, save for a broken glass in the last room he checked (hmm, was someone in here? Nothing else looks touched.) and was able to head back out after Kendra.
When they make it to the stairs, they will notice that from downstairs, they can hear a very, very faint sound of clattering.
From upstairs, they can hear nothing, but an odd smell, almost of outside air, is filtering down to them, perhaps there's a window open up there?

[Lucca]

It took Felix a few minutes to realize that he was -still- smelling cinnamon, even though Kendra was all the way across the hall. Curious, he abandoned be careful search of the dresser (there had only been toiletries and make up and other useless things there, anyway, and the drawers in the thing were half open and empty) and followed his nose. Underneath the bed it was a strongest, so much so that he sneezed, sending some curious looking powder flying all over. He reached out a paw to fumble until he found...a bottle? He gave it a curious yank and it came free of the tape that had held it to the underside of the bed.

The seal was broken already, and presumably the mess of powder on the floor used to be one of the pills inside. What sort of medicine smelled like cinnamon? Maybe it was a new sort of drug? Curiously, Felix sniffed at them some more, and licked his lips, debating...well, that was probably a bad idea, actually. At easy right now. He walked back out of the room, pills in paw. "I only found someone's meds," he said, fully aware that the strange pills were probably far more recreational in use. Or perhaps something even darker. But they smelled so nice!

He nodded to Kendra, eyes going a bit wide. "Ohhhh yeah, the sealing spell! Must be pretty powerful magic to remove all the windows." With a cheery smile to Bristol and a nod to Iso, Felix ambled to check the last remaining room in the company of the guy with the eyes. Haha, that rhymed. Of course, it was as empty as the other one, and Felix didn't even have much time to start up a conversation with Bristol that went beyond, "Hey there! So you got trapped here too, huh? I think we should probably just--GAH!" This last after the Porcupine managed to nearly trip over Bristol's long tail when the Chameleon mix stopped to check something.

And for some reason, still no clock, though Felix did look. He walked back out and shook his head to Iso. Nothing.

[Harpsdesire]

Kendra searched the next room with her mother, and found it even less interesting than the last. She pursed her lips as the group reconvened in the hall, discussing the (almost nonexistent) clues they had uncovered.

She looked from one end of the hall to the other. In one direction was a soft sound, quite likely the blind maid Chrissie moving around. From the other, she thought she felt, and smelled, the faintest waft of fresh outdoor air. It felt nice, and although the proper direction for an actual escape attempt would logically be down towards the ground floor, she was more interested in getting some idea of what was going on and how bad things were than in making a break for it.

"Maybe not all the windows are gone... I think one's open up there." Kendra pointed a paw up the steps. If Iaso and the others seemed inclined to follow her, she would scamper up the staircase to the floor above. If not... she'd follow her mother over her curiosity.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

((The broken glass was in the LAST room Bristol checked, with Kendra. XD))

Bristol frowned, gripping tightly to the magical trowel. The servant Chrissie had locked them in the room. The only room with a deadbolt lock on it. He wanted to give the owner of the house the benefit of the doubt. They were all strangers here so locking up unexpected guests did seem a reasonable thing to do.... but at the same time, it was all very suspect.

Nodding to Dr. Price, he followed Felix into one of the last rooms to be searched. His thought went immediately to the obvious lack of windows, and what kind of power it would take to complete a spell so powerful. This display of wealth, that amount of ability, Bristol found himself hoping that this Mr. Mellowthrope really was a friend and ally.

Even though he didn't believe anything of imporance was to be found in these rooms, he also shared Dr. Price's need to be thoughrough. After Felix showed them what he had found and where, the strange Mix first checked underneath the bed. Next, he ran his limbs in between all the sheets, the pillow casing and between the mattress and box spring just in case anything had been stashed away.

Again he pulled open and parused every drawer. There was a single nighstand on the opposite side of the bed. A plain-looking lamp stood atop with a few lovely knicknacks for decoration. There was a small drawer there and he checked that too.

He stood silent for a moment, hoping to hear the familiar tick, tick, ticking of a clock, but no such luck.

Seemingly satisfied, he joined the other three back out in the hallway once more. Now that Kendra had mentioned it, Bristol could smell the unmistakable scent of fresh air. It gave him misgivings though. With the entire house sealed off because of a mysterious gas outside, ... what if what they were about to go towards led them once again to being knocked unconcious, or worse.

Then again, the only other choice was to go the direction the noises were coming from. Master of the House or hired help, it mattered little because once they were discovered all of their efforts will have been for nothing.

"Towards the air, I say. But do not take deep breaths. In fact,"he paused, running back inside the second room he had just searched. Grabbing hold of the bedsheet in one clawed paw, he ripped up four large pieces and brought them back out to the group. "Use these as masks. If there really is a dangerous gas out there, I don't want us all passing out again. Who knows where we would wake up this time."

Bristol tied his piece of cloth around his muzzle and back behind his antlers, securing it in place. True, now the lot of them appeared as theives about to rob the house, but it was better safe than sorry he thought. The makeshift mask wouldn't prevent them from breathing in all the gas, if there was any, but perhaps it would give them just enough time to retreat if there was a problem.

[Callypso]

There was some comfort in knowing there was a plan. It was rudimentary at best, but still, better to have one’s paws engaged than remaining idle in a dire situation. Though – something buzzed around her subconscious – intangible gnats of thoughts… something wasn’t right. Her body seemed to react before her brain could fully form the idea; her ink began an uneasy gyration. Iso turned around, scrutinizing each end of the hall in turn. Nothing.

The sooner we finish our search, the better, I should think. She wasn’t quite ready to voice the thought that prickled uneasily in her mind. It was though the walls had eyes, and what was worse was she was actually entertaining that sordid thought! She didn’t like it. Not. One. Bit.

Eager to move on, the Corvie padded into her self-assigned room with her daughter, and performed the same routines from earlier. She was just finishing up with one last closet, running her paw along a shelf, when it began to tingle. Iso jerked her paw back, then, against every instinct in her body, reached in to grab ahold of whatever had caused that most unpleasant sensation. It appeared to be silk formed in the likeness of some sort of plant – a vine. Odd.

Following her daughter, she rejoined the others in the hallway.

I’ve only found this. I fear that it is magical in some way, the ferret held out her discovery for the others to see. Medication? May I see it? She wondered briefly if Felix’s “meds” might be somehow related to the gas, or perhaps why they had been unconscious so long? Iso delicately handled the bottle – it was clear it had already been tampered with. The seal was broken and there was the remnants of what appeared to be… cinnamon?... powdering the stopper. Hmm… She shook her head and handed the bottle back to Felix- it wasn't anything she was familiar with.

What about the broken glass? Was there anything unusual or out of place in that room?

All that could be done now was to leave this particular floor. She didn’t much like the sounds that were coming from downstairs. Supposedly “well-intentioned” or not, Iso was determined not to be found until she was through investigating the manor. After all, she did intend to confront this Mellowthorpe – after they’d exhausted all means of collecting data, of course.

I agree, she conceded while wrapping her makeshift mask around her muzzle. Any chance that they might be able to determine their location and the status of the Capital was worth the small risk. These masks won’t filter much, though. The minute any of you feel out of sorts, let us know immediately. Kendra, I’d like you to follow last. The tone suggested that there wouldn't be any argument. Her daughter probably wouldn’t appreciate her over-protectiveness, but she would be damned if she would put her daughter in harm's way over a mere speculation.

Shall we then?

[Lucca]

(really? Well, sorry about that. I fixed it now.)

Felix handed over the bottle to Iso when asked, curious to see if she would perhaps recognize it when he did not. No such luck, which made him even more curious about the origins of the mysterious pills. He took them back again and then turned his mind and nose to other things. Over the pervasive smell of cinnamon, he could indeed smell something fresh (well, as fresh as the air in Capital City ever got), and he didn't at all mind the inclination to travel in that direction. "Well, then we could see what was going on!" he agreed, and then blinked curiously at the piece of cloth Bristol handed him.

Watching the other two, he tied the cloth around his muzzle, securing it around his horns and trying not to get it caught in his quills. There was a reason he didn't get to wear clothes much, even though he would like to. He briefly lamented his lack of ability to wear a hat, and then started up the stairs. "Let's go!" He started rather eagerly, bounding up the steps in the way that came naturally to his species. Of course, it was hard work, climbing, and he was soon panting a bit and greatly slowed down, so it wasn't very likely he'd stay in front of the group for long.

[Harpsdesire]

Kendra took the ripped bit of sheet dubiously. Really? A single layer of cotton, even tightly woven and high quality, would do almost nothing to stop something with a particle size as small as an airborne gas. Besides, wearing it would make her look foolish, and she didn't fancy looking silly in front of Felix and Bristol. She looked toward her mother, and saw that Iso was tying the sheet on, bandanna style. Well, if mom thought there was some use in it... She placed the cloth over her own nose and mouth, frowning to herself behind the makeshift mask, and knotted it behind her head. At least they were all looking ridiculous together.

Her progress up the first few steps was arrested by her mom's no-nonsense tones behind her. She opened her mouth to protest, "Mom..!" But Kendra was a bright girl, and she had learned quickly that there were times when arguing with the doctor got you nowhere fast (that was the case most times, actually). From the look on her mother's face, this was one of those occasions. She slumped a bit and barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes in classic teenage disapproval as she retreated back down the steps to take a position behind the others. "Okay, mom", she said, by which she really meant, 'Gee, thanks for treating me like a kid in front of strangers, one of whom is hot.'

Now could they go at least? Felix seemed to be almost as motivated as she was to get up the stairs, and even at the back of the group she was soon reaching the top step.

[Nathalia]

The stairs led up to a thin landing, fancifully decorated, that opened onto a roomy expanse of hallway, still lined with the fancies from the floor below but...older somehow.
As though this floor was not used as often.
There are no doors, and no widows, but the center of the room has what appears to be a glass tube, stretching the ten feet from floor to ceiling.
Inside of it, are a mass multitude of swirling, ghostly-looking, windows and even a few doors!
There are also two doors on this floor, a rather ornate one that is quite locked, and a thinner one, a bit like the ones downstairs, although...it feels...off inside of the room, as though something smelled...weird, though everything does, in fact, smell normal.
The glass tube with the window-ghosts in it doesn't seem to be able to be broken by physical means, should you try.