Wow, this is late! No images today, either... Sorry about that ^.^;;
The cauldron room is the easiest to find of the places that were mentioned to you in the interviews--the bubbling sound gives its location away long before you can even see the open doorway.
You look inside as sneakily as you can--you don’t really want to explain what you’re doing to any curious bystanders. You have a job to do, and random dragons underfoot would be distracting at best and actively detrimental at worst.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone inside, so you sneak your way in as sneakily as possible, hoping to not make any noise. Your fox trots in happily, leaving a trail of inky pawprints so that you can’t get lost.
That fox is such a forward thinker; you’re so proud of it. You pause to get a little choked up about how much you love your familiar and how smart it is, and then start investigating.
A few things seem interesting--there are some alchemical reagents on the lab bench under a small window, two sconces are on either side of the door you just came through, and a cauldron is bubbling happily in the middle of the room. It’s a much larger cauldron than you’ve ever seen before, although if the cauldron is for gaolers, that would make sense.
Although perhaps gaolers are more dexterous than you assume. Just because they’re big and furry doesn’t mean their paws are as clumsy as they look.
You shake your head and go to look around. You’re not a master alchemist yourself, but you do know a thing or two about alcheming. Alchemying? You’re not sure what the proper word is, but you can figure that out before your detective book goes to print, so it’s probably fine.
The bubbling mixture in the cauldron looks the same shade of green as all other bubbling mixtures you’ve ever seen, so you assume that’s fine, and the cauldron itself looks sturdy. The flames under it seem well-tended, and there’s...
You squint, then pull something out of the ashes under the cauldron. It’s a piece of parchment, and when you unfold it, it looks like a note--almost identical to the one Ehr showed you, except there’s a different name in the header.
You put the note in your satchel and resolve to ask Lakshmi about it when you get the chance. You’re assuming the runes with the feather marks are hers.
With one last suspicious glance at the cauldron that reveals nothing, you head to the sconces. The two are posed directly next to the door, and there’s nothing you can see immediately that’s suspicious.
You squint at them a bit more, before a thought occurs to you. You head over to the head of the stairwell and sniff the ground there, and yep.
It smells like lamp oil.
Looking around in your best detectively manner, even though no one’s there to see it, you think through how the lamp oil could have gotten there.
Most likely, the thief had put it there to create a distraction, and then used Eirlys falling down the stairs to mask their escape! But if that was the case, then why was the paper in the cauldron room?
With more questions than you had before, you return to the cauldron room and keep looking, sniffing around the sconces for any weird scents (nothing jumps out at you, unfortunately) before giving that up and moving to the lab bench.
The lab bench looks very... Well, “busy” is the nicest way to put it, although you could see how the word “messy” might apply. You grimace--how are you supposed to find clues in this? It looks like a maelstrom hit it.
You’re interrupted from your grouching by a short, high-pitched bark. You look up, because you know your fox doesn't sound like that. You manage to whip your head around fast enough to see a small, brown dog run through a crack in the wall, and your fox follow it.
Widening your eyes, you head over to the crack, peering through. Where did this passageway end up? You could hardly make it through, but your fox might be able to...
The fox would come back--it always does. Secure in that knowledge, you go back to the bench, looking for any more clues that it might contain.
There are no cobwebs on the desk, you notice, although it doesn’t look like it’s from thorough cleaning, but more like it was recently moved slightly. There are blast marks on the wall around it, so it can’t have moved far, but it is definitely a few handspans to the left of where it had been.
Your fox yips behind you, and you go to scritch its ears. What a good fox, coming back to you like that. Scritching its ears, you look at the inky pawprints it’s still leaving all over the Fortress, and follow this particular set to wherever the passage lets out.
Daily lore pings below! If you want to be added to the pinglist, fill out this form (to be removed, pm jbapple).
@Tafficat, @MerlinMausi, @sockmonkeygerald, @Katsuokai, @LadyCora, @Spinoride, @Brighteningskies, @Prester, @Sciencer, @crowvidae, @retrace, @Finlandia, @Welgan, @DriftingClouds, @venusambassador, @ScaretavaJad, @TheAwesoMew, @qwigoqwaga, @RisenWolf, @minervamaga, @betty, @ghostlyplants, @Watercolour, @WanderingTurtle, @shoujo, @Starwindrider, @harmonywish, @NlCKname, @Sidegrinder, @Scryzze, @mrgbmommy, @Aradan, @Sinjin, @Amezrou, @tigressRising, @MandragoraAutumn, @SensitivePigeon, @Corvvuscorax, @BunnySox, @Bumblebeeflower, @Asphoxia, @Lundlaeva, @HelianthusNox, @LemonySnaket, @Yawmi, @Pensacola, @Undermom, @Gravebloom, @AithneOnik, @WolfprintsSC, @Solstices, @dd2900, @Eme, @alyblaith
@BunnySox: you're lovely & i love you too?? ty for reading <3
@retrace: yes, the fox who literally rolls around in ink for the entire story is secretly a mastermind thief a la perry the platypus. drat, the ending's spoiled now, guess i can stop writing :p
@Spinoride: they're a good fam :')
@Welgan: they're very good notes. not remotely legible, because, of course, he is a fox and therefore does not know how to write, but the subject matter is extremely thorough. also, wrt the narrator, if you can figure out what they are/look like, kudos to you, because i have no idea. sometimes my characters are contrary like that.
@Starwindrider: thank you! i hope that as i venture away from my comfort zone of "interview conversations" and get into the actual clue-hunting it remains interesting and doesn't get bogged down with unnecessary details.
DAY 9
The cauldron room is the easiest to find of the places that were mentioned to you in the interviews--the bubbling sound gives its location away long before you can even see the open doorway.
You look inside as sneakily as you can--you don’t really want to explain what you’re doing to any curious bystanders. You have a job to do, and random dragons underfoot would be distracting at best and actively detrimental at worst.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone inside, so you sneak your way in as sneakily as possible, hoping to not make any noise. Your fox trots in happily, leaving a trail of inky pawprints so that you can’t get lost.
That fox is such a forward thinker; you’re so proud of it. You pause to get a little choked up about how much you love your familiar and how smart it is, and then start investigating.
A few things seem interesting--there are some alchemical reagents on the lab bench under a small window, two sconces are on either side of the door you just came through, and a cauldron is bubbling happily in the middle of the room. It’s a much larger cauldron than you’ve ever seen before, although if the cauldron is for gaolers, that would make sense.
Although perhaps gaolers are more dexterous than you assume. Just because they’re big and furry doesn’t mean their paws are as clumsy as they look.
You shake your head and go to look around. You’re not a master alchemist yourself, but you do know a thing or two about alcheming. Alchemying? You’re not sure what the proper word is, but you can figure that out before your detective book goes to print, so it’s probably fine.
The bubbling mixture in the cauldron looks the same shade of green as all other bubbling mixtures you’ve ever seen, so you assume that’s fine, and the cauldron itself looks sturdy. The flames under it seem well-tended, and there’s...
You squint, then pull something out of the ashes under the cauldron. It’s a piece of parchment, and when you unfold it, it looks like a note--almost identical to the one Ehr showed you, except there’s a different name in the header.
You put the note in your satchel and resolve to ask Lakshmi about it when you get the chance. You’re assuming the runes with the feather marks are hers.
With one last suspicious glance at the cauldron that reveals nothing, you head to the sconces. The two are posed directly next to the door, and there’s nothing you can see immediately that’s suspicious.
You squint at them a bit more, before a thought occurs to you. You head over to the head of the stairwell and sniff the ground there, and yep.
It smells like lamp oil.
Looking around in your best detectively manner, even though no one’s there to see it, you think through how the lamp oil could have gotten there.
Most likely, the thief had put it there to create a distraction, and then used Eirlys falling down the stairs to mask their escape! But if that was the case, then why was the paper in the cauldron room?
With more questions than you had before, you return to the cauldron room and keep looking, sniffing around the sconces for any weird scents (nothing jumps out at you, unfortunately) before giving that up and moving to the lab bench.
The lab bench looks very... Well, “busy” is the nicest way to put it, although you could see how the word “messy” might apply. You grimace--how are you supposed to find clues in this? It looks like a maelstrom hit it.
You’re interrupted from your grouching by a short, high-pitched bark. You look up, because you know your fox doesn't sound like that. You manage to whip your head around fast enough to see a small, brown dog run through a crack in the wall, and your fox follow it.
Widening your eyes, you head over to the crack, peering through. Where did this passageway end up? You could hardly make it through, but your fox might be able to...
The fox would come back--it always does. Secure in that knowledge, you go back to the bench, looking for any more clues that it might contain.
There are no cobwebs on the desk, you notice, although it doesn’t look like it’s from thorough cleaning, but more like it was recently moved slightly. There are blast marks on the wall around it, so it can’t have moved far, but it is definitely a few handspans to the left of where it had been.
Your fox yips behind you, and you go to scritch its ears. What a good fox, coming back to you like that. Scritching its ears, you look at the inky pawprints it’s still leaving all over the Fortress, and follow this particular set to wherever the passage lets out.
Daily lore pings below! If you want to be added to the pinglist, fill out this form (to be removed, pm jbapple).
@Tafficat, @MerlinMausi, @sockmonkeygerald, @Katsuokai, @LadyCora, @Spinoride, @Brighteningskies, @Prester, @Sciencer, @crowvidae, @retrace, @Finlandia, @Welgan, @DriftingClouds, @venusambassador, @ScaretavaJad, @TheAwesoMew, @qwigoqwaga, @RisenWolf, @minervamaga, @betty, @ghostlyplants, @Watercolour, @WanderingTurtle, @shoujo, @Starwindrider, @harmonywish, @NlCKname, @Sidegrinder, @Scryzze, @mrgbmommy, @Aradan, @Sinjin, @Amezrou, @tigressRising, @MandragoraAutumn, @SensitivePigeon, @Corvvuscorax, @BunnySox, @Bumblebeeflower, @Asphoxia, @Lundlaeva, @HelianthusNox, @LemonySnaket, @Yawmi, @Pensacola, @Undermom, @Gravebloom, @AithneOnik, @WolfprintsSC, @Solstices, @dd2900, @Eme, @alyblaith
@BunnySox: you're lovely & i love you too?? ty for reading <3
@retrace: yes, the fox who literally rolls around in ink for the entire story is secretly a mastermind thief a la perry the platypus. drat, the ending's spoiled now, guess i can stop writing :p
@Spinoride: they're a good fam :')
@Welgan: they're very good notes. not remotely legible, because, of course, he is a fox and therefore does not know how to write, but the subject matter is extremely thorough. also, wrt the narrator, if you can figure out what they are/look like, kudos to you, because i have no idea. sometimes my characters are contrary like that.
@Starwindrider: thank you! i hope that as i venture away from my comfort zone of "interview conversations" and get into the actual clue-hunting it remains interesting and doesn't get bogged down with unnecessary details.
