Act 2: Upheaval II - Revelations and search

Amber gets up from her seat and follows the adventurers through the tavern with Florolf right behind her. She tenses up when she passes by the Noze men, but they make no move to stop the party from leaving. Once the group is finally outside, they notice four more armed men strategically positioned in the street. They too do nothing to prevent the mercenaries from leaving.

"...Where are we going?" Amber whispers to her companions.

"Away from here for now. We need to regroup. Come up with a plan. I don't like the idea of fighting without at least a little scouting first." Steve continues to walk out with the others, following whoever looks like they have an idea of where they should go next.

Mihai thinks for a moment... "Let's start by finding the place, and go from there."

The Noze thugs continue watching the adventurers, which makes Amber uncomfortable. "Yeah yeah, can we get out of here now?"

Florolf yelps approvingly.

"We can. Which way to the Neighborhood?"

"Follow me." Konrad will walk ahead to lead everyone to the district.

"Yeah, lead on Konrad."

It takes the party twenty minutes of walking through the city before they arrive to the edge of the Neighborhood, the district where the upper middle-class and the wealthy residents of Odwaz live. The streets here aren't as labyrinthine as the Market's or the Den's, but they are unmistakably Myrzen in nature; a street will suddenly curve for no apparent reason and tenements are placed seemingly at random.

There are only a couple of people walking in the street at this moment, and one Defender patrol.

"So we gotta find this guy's house, right?" Fluffle says from the inside of Amber's hood. "I don't suppose he has a mailbox with his name on it."

"He might. The name sounds Imperial or Free."

"Might as well just ask the locals." - Mihai proceeds to go ask the locals.

Gather Info 23

After fifteen minutes of searching for the Goodman estate and asking for directions, the party members finally find a nice lady who is more than happy to start a conversation. Unfortunately for them, she doesn't want to end it. She keeps talking about her dog and how hard it is to make him breed with that rare breed she just bought, and she ignores the adventurers' attempts to cut her off; that is, until Florolf decides to yelp angrily at her and chase her away.

"Good job, Florolf," Amber commends him.

The carbuncle yelps happily at the teenager and asks for a caress, which she gives without too much fuss.
____________

The adventurers arrive at the Goodman estate, a two-stories manor built with red bricks and surrounded by a spiked fence. The front yard is occupied by a lush garden, where each plants and flowers have been meticulously placed in a symmetrical fashion. When the party walks to the front gate, they see the Goodman name engraved on it.

"Oh," Fluffle exclaims in surprise. "People really do that."

"Yeah. The basement, then..." - Mihai procees to walk past the front entrance and towards the back, looking for an access.

"Rafal said the door is around the back. So I guess we enter here." Steve tries the gate to see if it's locked.

The party takes the small path on the right side of the estate, searching for the entrance Rafal spoke of.

Bushes have been placed next to the fence in the backyard, effectively blocking the view for any curious neighbor or onlooker. From where they stand however, they can see many trees surrounding the whole courtyard. They easily find a small gate fitted with a lock, but unlike the fence which allows them to see through, this gate is more like a door that was installed to assure the privacy of the resident(s) who live here.

When Steve touches the gate, an electrical current flows through the whole length of his arm, causing him to instinctively withdraw his hand.

"Steve!" Amber exclaims. "Are you okay!?"

Fluffle has already left the teenager's hood and is ready to heal him if necessary. Even Florolf seems concerned.

Steve:

"Ouch!" Steve grabs his hand. The feeling slowly returns as he needs it. "Could you heal it Fluffle?"

Konrad follows Steve in tow and reaches them just as Steve shocks his hand on the back gate.

"Must be a trap, let me look." Konrad opens third eye.

Spellcraft 24
detect magic

The fairy doesn't waste any time and gets to work. "Yes, of course," he says to Steve.

"What the hell was that?" Amber utters with a growl.

Konrad:

Once Steve is healed, Mihai takes the key from his pocket and looks between Fluffle and Konrad - "Can one of you TK this into the lock?"

"I certainly can." He waves his hand to unlatch and push open the gate with his mind power. "The gate and fences are woven to detect anything that comes in contact with them and fizzle magic to activate an electric current to zap intruders. I haven't detected the source - yet."

The elegant key floats in the air and slides effortlessly into the lock. As it rotates clockwise, the adventurers can hear the sound of gear clicking and turning, but it doesn't stop when the key stops moving. It takes a few more seconds before they finally hear a distinctive "click".

"...Okay then," Amber offhandedly says. "Not weird at all."

She pulls out her light crossbow and readies a bolt. Fluffle lands on her shoulder and stares at the door, mentally preparing himself for what they'll find on the other side.

Florolf licks his front paws and cleans his long ears with them.

"Thanks for the heal Fluffle." Steve already has his staff ready so he waits patiently for the others to get ready. When they are, he says to Mihai and Konrad, "After you."

Konrad steps through the gate, now wide open, and examines his immediate surroundings as he nears the door, keeping an eye out for changes in the flow of energy.

Spellcraft 17
Examining the door

Quote :

Mihai takes point and signals the others to stay back a few paces.

When Mihai signals, Konrad remains at the gate for now.

Mihai takes point and signals the others to stay back a few paces.

Stealth 16

Awareness 29