The Colony - Turn 4 - Night Watch

The party has split up for the night, and those staying at the White Tulip plan on patrolling the place all night to see if they can figure out who or what is causing problems for the hostel's owner. They suspect something is either climbing out of the well or sneaking through the bars leading into the Old City beneath New Kavlin.


OOC: everyone not in the White Tulip has found some form of lodging, except Zenobe, who's spending the night in prayer at the temple.

Before settling in for the night, the party makes a few preparations. They ensure the hostel's doors and windows are secure (doors have heavy bars and windows have wooden shutters). They also ask Mosk for some flour, which they spread on the floor in front of the cellar grate and around the well.

Preparations made, most party members retire for the night, leaving two people on watch, patrolling the common areas and paying special attention to the wellroom in the cellar. Outside the hostel, the night is quiet. Only the passage of the occasional street patrol breaks the silence. The embers in the common room and kitchen fireplaces pop or crackle from time to time and someone is snoring upstairs, but otherwise the interior spaces are quiet. In the wellroom, a sporatic *drip drip* sounds from the depths, the volume magnified by the well opening. A faint whistling, the wind through a distant opening, perhaps, can be heard by a careful listener.

In the wee hours of the morning, Brigg and Rennard are on duty (Javiera being in no condition to stand watch). They are in the cellar, when Brigg hears something other than dripping water or wind. Faint scuffling from the storeroom/workshop with the grate. Brigg gestures for Rennard to stay put (his armor makes enough noise to wake the dead) and moves into the room, stepping softly to avoid detection.

A pair of candles lights the room and casts long shadows across the floor, but Brigg can see into the alcove. Something small is moving in there, a low and long shape that creeps forward. It sticks to the shadows and stops moving when it reaches the grate. A second form slides along the alcove wall and edges forward to join the first. The candle's light picks out tiny eyes, peering between the bars, but Brigg can't really see what the creatures are. They seem to be unaware of his presence, so far. Brigg waves to Rennard and points to the grate, trying to communicate the presence of the.. whatever they are. The paladin seems to get the message. And mouths "Light?"

Elsewhere...

Adrienne and Jinx find lodgings a block over from the White Tulip in two adjacent hostels. Mendel, Smoke, Xon, Sim, Maarek, Kessel, and Shade stray a bit further afield, and end up in various locations further up the hill. Zenobe, granted access to the main sanctuary hall by a reluctant acolyte, discovers that the pews and kneelers in the Blessed Sanctuary of Sarva in High Point are cold and hard. He spends an uncomfortable night in the silent temple.

Followup

OOC: Just to clarify the basement layout, the well room and workroom with the grate are two separate areas. The basement has three main rooms, the third being a food storeroom, all joined by a central hall.

After activating his amulet, Brigg has a somewhat clearer view of the creatures; they're rats. They sit at the entry for a few minutes, and he can hear the faint squeaks of rat conversation. One edges forward, easily passing between the bars, stops and snuffles the floor. Abruptly, it raises its head and looks to the doorway, detecting, perhaps, some stray sound. It squeals and darts back between the bars. Both creatures scurry for the depths of the alcove.

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