Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

[BlueSlime]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Elaina looked with a smile over at Jessara. "Well, if you love such work, then there's no reason for me to deprive you of it. Go ahead and enjoy the sun. And Danielle..."

Her head tilted and she looked at the red head with a sly grin. "I guess I'll help you prepare that meal after all. Since we really do need to have one of us maids learn her way around this new kitchen. It wouldn't do for none of us to be familiar, should you be called away for whatever reason."

She had the feeling that Danielle might not like having her around. The frosty tones already a dead giveaway that the woman did not think much of her qualities as a maid. That in itself was a fair assumption by Elaina's reckoning, she was a soldier and a princess after all, not a maid. But that didn't mean Danielle had to be all grumpy about it all the time. Elaina would get better with practice, it was a natural thing. Who knows, maybe she'd enjoy cooking?

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"I guess I'll do some dusting," Katrina volunteered, after the others had worked out what they were doing. Danielle gave a nod "Very well. I'll show you all to your various places then..." she said, leading them all down the stairs in the servants quarters to the basement level.

As she had explained previously, the laundry was down here, but there were also a few hallways leading off it. She gave a nod to Ellen, who could easily see a basket full of clothing and sheets near the washtubs and led the others down one of the hallways. The rest of the group came out into a storage room, somewhat cluttered and disorganised especially in comparison to the rest of the manor. Danielle looked through until she located some gardener's tools and offered them Jessara. She also retrieved a spare duster and handed it to Katrina. She then led the group up another staircase, coming up on the other side of the manor from where they had descended. Moving through a spacious and grand ballroom back into the main hall, Danielle excused Jessara towards the front door and Katrina to her dusting, while she led the remaining two upstairs.

Moving back to the north-east part of the manor, she showed Momoko to the rooms in question, which were indeed cluttered by all manner of things. "If you could see about shifting these down into that storage area, and perhaps beginning to organise it all, I would very much appreciate it," Danielle said. Finally, she and Elaina made their way back down to the kitchen.

"Now then, I suppose we should begin. Always begin food preparation by washing your hands thoroughly," Danielle began, moving over to the water basin. "As the doctor is visiting today, her ladyship will prefer a light and small meal, so we will prepare some crumbed chicken cutlets. I'll get you to start on making the crumbing whilst I prepare the chicken. So, what you need to do is..."

------------------------

Ellen, now alone in the laundry found it to be a simple enough process, nothing outside of what she was expecting. Perhaps dissapointingly, most of what required washing were simple white gowns designed to be worn to bed; frilly and well made, certainly, but only a small number of them appeared particularly fanciful. One of them, she was certain however, had some embroidery on it woven in gold thread.

As she worked, she noticed something in one of the breastpockets of something she was just about to dunk it into the tub. Some papers, which surely would have been destroyed, had she not noticed them.

-----------------------

Once outside, Jessara was armed with an assortment of tools, mostly various sizes of pruning sheers and rakes, although no gardener is compelte without a watering can. There was also a rather clever mechanical device that seemed to be designed to cut grass to a consistant length simply by being pushed over it. The main decision now, was where to begin. She could commence cutting the grass, begin tending to the hedges or look at maintaining the flower beds.

----------------------

There was no doubt about it, the room Momoko stood before was a cluttered mess and not something she'd complete in a day. One wondered where all this stuff had come from, why much of it was needed and what purpose most of it served. And given the distance between here and the storage facilities, it seemed likely this mess was a result of this room being used as a makeshift storage. Items ran the gambit from what appeared to be scientific aparatus to paintings and artwork, to old furniture and other odds and ends.

---------------------

Katrina now had the chocie of where to begin with her dusting. Danielle had not specified any rooms that required attention, so she had the run of the house. The decision of what to do now was hers alone.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Elaina rolled up her sleeves and got her hands wet, then scrubbed them thoroughly with the soap. When she was done she held up her squeaky clean hands for show, so that Danielle could see for herself that Elaina had not shirked this duty.

She then followed the head maid over to the station where she would prepare the crumbing. It consisted of creating very fine bits of bread crumbs, along with more flour and a few other odds and ends. The recipe itself was very simple, it was simply a matter of execution. Elaina set about her knife work, attempting to get the right amount of precision into it.

When Danielle was in the middle of cleaning out the chicken breasts, Elaina decided to strike up a conversation.

"So. This leech doctor you've got looking over my cousin... excuse me, the Lady Ashbourne. I assume he's got only the highest credentials? I have seen my share of legitimate and hack sawbones in my day, and when it comes to the care of our Mistress, I'd only be comfortable with having the best care looking after her. You've seen the man work perhaps? What is your opinion of him and the Lady's chances for improvement?"

Elaina's tone was conversational, but the concern was there. Now that she was on the scene, Elaina wanted to be abreast of the important information. If Danielle had any reservations about this doctor or his treatment of her cousin, then the Lord Whitefield's daughter would want to know.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

..."I would very much appreciate it."

Her back to the head maid and her assistant, Momoko heard the door click shut as she stared at the great pile of... stuff in front of her. It wasn't a pile of cleaning supplies or a pile of books - the room was filled just uncategorized stuff, stuff that appeared to consist of practically everything under the sun. A few landscapes were leaning against a wall, while few feet over, several blankets hung draped over a very fancy chair, upon which several cooking pans were piled. On some kind of drum set was an expensive looking china tea-set and a scuffed-looking violin. At her feet were several pipes, metal and ceramic, splayed out across the ground, fanning out from a tall box that had fallen over onto a document folder, the contents of which had spread out similarly. Several rolls of cloths dyed different colors leaned against another wall, a barely started embroidery and what looked to be another maid's outfit on a dresser's dummy nearby. Most unusual, though, was an odd device of metals and glass. Various lines and knobs decorated the surface, with the occasional other peculiar protuberance sticking out of the machine. Momo couldn't even begin to guess what it was. Besides all this, a great deal of unlabeled crates and boxes lay around, piled on top of each other.

Momoko scratched the back of her head, wondering what to do first. She'd imagined it much less... full, when Danielle had mentioned the place was "a bit cluttered", she'd pictured it like there'd been a bunch of letters and books and things laying around, maybe a teacup and a tossed chess piece or two, not a storage room's worth of crap piled up.

Shrugging, Momo tried to look through the room to divide the stuff into organized groups of things. Then, she would take them all at once to the same storage area, keeping them together and reducing the amount of trips she'd need to take. She soon realized she hardly had the space to sort, though, so she picked up a few boxes and took them to the downstairs storage room - she could sort that out later, right now she wanted a cleared room.

Spoiler

Skillcheck, I guess?

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Ellena had somewhat hoped for a chance to get her hands on some genuinely fanciful clothes that the noble types tended to possess, but came to realise as she sorted through the wash load that a frail mistress who rarely strayed beyond the manor or her bedroom obviously would seldom have need of such gowns. Though she pondered as she started work that there surely must be some such clothes hiding somewhere in the manor. Lady Ashbourne sure had a lot of nightgowns.

Glimpsing the papers in the breast pocket, Ellen only just catches herself in time to avoid dunking them. Putting the item of clothing aside and drying her hands a bit, she takes the death dodging papers from the pocket to set safely aside. Curiosity peeked and glancing back at the entry way, she doesn't take long to decide to have a peek at these papers that had been forgoten and left to the laundry, and whatever they contained.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Danielle raised an eyebrow at Elaina. "Naturally I have seen the physician at work. She was carefully chosen by myself and is not some leech doctor as you assume. Instead, she favours poultices and alchemical potions, she is one of the best in her field. As for the Lady's health... she has good days and bad days," Danielle answers while slicing the chicken into pieces suitable for crumbing.

"As I'm sure you're aware, she's always been a frail child. And with her inheriting the estate at the young age she did, the stress of work has only caused more problems. The worst of it is when she has to make a personal appearance, she pushes herself desipte the toll on her body to keep up appearances."

--------

((Actually, considering the kind of work it is, I would say athletics.))

As Momoko began to shift things about to prepare for a trip down to the basement, there was an audible clunk of something hitting onto the floor. On inspection, it had fallen through the bottom of the box it was in as she had picked it up; its weight exceeding what the box could handle. As for what it was, she couldn't tell by looking at it, it was around a foot long and maybe a few inches tall, wrapped loosely in white cloth. It certainly seemed odd for something so small to be so heavy...

--------

Ellena unfolded the papers and snuck a peak. The top one seemed to be a report about some 'smuggling and human trafficing organisation' that lady Ashbourne had got someone to track. It gave a locations for them, a warehouse in town as well as mentioning they specialised in females and seemed to take it upon themselves to break their wills before sale. It never went into detail about exactly what human trafficing meant nor the methods of breaking; it would depend on Ellena's own knowledge how much she understood of this. (Up to you)

The next one was a report on a man, a member of the city's council of rulers. His movements, sources of income and influence. He seemed to be connected to the organisation on the first page. The final page was simply a list of names, some with added notes alongside them, or lines drawn through them as if to cross them off; the name of the man on the previous sheet was on here, by appearance first circled and then crossed off, but she recognised no other names here.

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara does the first thing any gardener would do, mow the lawn. Shaking herself lose and knowing she wasn't the best at physical labor, she studies the push mower and gives it a test push or two before stopping and looking out across the lawn to decide the most effective route to minimize the effort of the task. She couldn't wait till she finished and could work on the flower beds, but for now she had to do the least pleasant activities first.

As she pushed the mower her mind wandered to the lady, she wondered if she would be nice, and what her business was. What could a woman who didn't leave her house and was constantly bedridden do with her time? It sounded like she had a job or something, but what job would someone want to do if they were so sick? She shook her head and cast the thoughts aside, she needed to focus on her work. But even as she made her way across the lawn she felt the thoughts and questions surface.

She was sure these questions would be answered in time.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

The lawn cutting device was stiff and awkward to push, but it did do a good job of leveling an area of grass to the same length; ultimately it was hard work but did save time and it's not like the job in question was particularly easy work to begin with. Given the size of the grounds, it occured to Jessara that the Estate more or less required a fulltime gardener, or at least someone, not nessesarily the same person, working on it on an almsot day to day basis.

Before much time had passed, she caught the glimpse of a shadow shifting between some of the manicured hedges out of the corner of her eye. She spun to look, but nothing was there, but she was certain that someone had just ducked past quickly.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Spoiler

Danielle raised an eyebrow at Elaina. "Naturally I have seen the physician at work. She was carefully chosen by myself and is not some leech doctor as you assume. Instead, she favours poultices and alchemical potions, she is one of the best in her field. As for the Lady's health... she has good days and bad days," Danielle answers while slicing the chicken into pieces suitable for crumbing.

"As I'm sure you're aware, she's always been a frail child. And with her inheriting the estate at the young age she did, the stress of work has only caused more problems. The worst of it is when she has to make a personal appearance, she pushes herself despite the toll on her body to keep up appearances."

Elaina continued to do her work absorbing the information thoughtfully. "This medicine woman. What his her name?" Elaina made no apologies for her assumptions, for they had been deliberate, and more to test Danielle than to ascertain the qualities of the doctor. She was satisfied, at the least, that this physician had the respect and defense of the head maid. It spoke volumes more than a simple report on a piece of paper.

"And yes, I am aware of the Lady Ashebourne's history, at least, as much as could be told to me by a disinterested bureaucrat in the half hour before I left the Lord Whitefield's fortress. I've never actually met her in person before, so I ask these questions from someone like you who has been close to her. It will make things easier on everyone's part. You see this too, naturally, otherwise you wouldn't bother answering." She shot Danielle a smile and a wink across the table, before handing her the first batch of prepared crumbing.

"Now this lunch is coming together nicely. I don't suppose the Lady has a favorite dessert or particular tasty biscuit she prefers for afternoon tea? It might be nice to put her in a good mood when she meets new faces. First impressions are lasting ones as they say, and anything to put a smile on her face would be best."

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara does a double check as she places the machine down. Stepping closer she leans a bit to check around the corner, "Is someone there?" She calls out softly, wondering if it was a pet, or stray or hopefully one of the other girls to help her. Maybe they came to trim the hedges for her.

She crept along looking, Remembering that she didn't know anything about the grounds, it could even very well be another staff member she didn't meet or something. Her mind raced at the thoughts of what t could be, a burglar or paparazzi or stalker. She needed to find out.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"Huh."

Momo eyed the thing that had fallen out of the box from her position hunched over it, the box she'd hefted up set back down to the side of it, to prevent more things from falling out the new hole it now sported in it's bottom.

She sighed. Were the rest of these boxes so flimsy? She hoped not.

Still holding onto the lips of the box, Momoko reached over with one hand to put the object back into the box... but when she tried to lift it, she found it was unusually heavy, far more than something of it's size would usually be. Obscured as it was in a wrapping cloth, she couldn't tell what it was...

Well, I was gonna go through all this stuff to sort it out anyway. Why not start with this?

Satisfied with her justification, Momo grabbed the item in both hands and lifted it up to her chest. She began peeling away the cloth that was wrapped around it, curious.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Ellena was a little surprised at the content of the serious document, taking a while to look over it and make sure she was reading it correctly. "Is this talking about... a slaving ring?" She muttered quietly to herself, switching to look at the next pages. Not quite fully grasping the implication of a female centric slaving ring or the mentioned breaking, but certainly not liking the sound of it regardless. "Aehhh, what does all this stuff mean." She continues talking quietly alone trying to make sense of the names, strike outs and notes dashed around the report. 'So this is like, a report from a spy or agent the Lady has sent out? A secret agent even... I had no idea she did stuff like this. I thought nobles just sipped tea and set taxes.' Ellen thinks to herself, eventually noticing time starting to slip away from her as she occupied herself with this discovery. "Oh snap, gotta keep on with this, the water will go cold..." putting the note down safely to one side and resuming her laundry duty, all the while glancing back to the note in thought. She should probably hand this in, though would they mind her having peeked or believe if she said she hadn't?

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

"Dr. Felicity Remey," Danielle answered, continuing to slice the meat. "I answer simply because Lady Ashbourne has little patience for pointless questioning, better to save us all the trouble. Now, let me have a look at this crumbing... mm.. not bad... the trick with this is to ensure when you slice the chicken that..."

Danielle went on to explain how to prepare the meal, as well as cooking instructions. It seemed the most important step was ensuring the chicken was cooked just the right amount at just the right heat; in this case, a slower, more drawn out cooking to allow the flavour to really absorb into the crumbing without burning the meat. Of course, once it was cooking, it only required occasional turning, leaving them with a bit of time. Danielle did not bring up the question of dessert or baked treats again, however.

((Cooking assistance roll of 6, for my own reference. Unless you want to bring something more up with Danielle, I've got you to the point where I'm waiting on others to complete their activities so I can progress time.))

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Jessara didn't get a response from her call and so shifted over to investigate. Moving over to the bushes, she peered around, catching another glimpse of movement just vanishing from view. Should she call once more, there would be no answer once again. Cautiously giving chase, she proceeded to shadow the individual, catching better and better glimpses of them; they were certainly an adult male, albeit a short one, in a brown coat with matching pants and serviceable boots. And they were not bad at stealth either, although Jessara managed to keep a tail on them without alerting them.

Eventually, the figure approached what appeared to be a cellar door, and leaned over it, pulling something from inside his coat and depositing it. If there was a time to act, it was now.

------------

As the cloth was removed, the object was revealed. By appearance, it was a carved wooden rod, an elaborate and ornate interweaving design decorating its sides. Clearly this was no ordinary object however, for no simple wooden rod, even a solid one, was dense enough to be this heavy. Each of its ends had a rounded ball, slightly larger than the main shaft of the rod, they themselves were smooth and clear of any decoration, the polished dark wood reflecting the light.

Still, it seemed a shame, somehow, for such a pretty object to be gathering dust up here, for some reason Momoko felt like this was an item of great importance. Probably the unusual weight.

------------

Putting aside the note, Ellena resumed her laundry with renewed effort, in part to make up for lost time. With her hands busy, her mind was free to ponder the notes she had discovered and their meaning...

((Laundry roll result of 6, for my own reference. I don't think there's anything more I can do with you for now, so waiting on the others so I can progress time.))

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara steps out into the open, a pit forming in her stomach as none of this seemed to add up. Thinking it better to confront the man than raise the alarm just yet, in case he had a legitimate reason to be there. Why does this have to happen to me today? she thought to herself.

"Excuse me! Who are you and what are you doing?" She calls out revealing herself behind the man, hoping to keep her distance and watching him for when he turns around. "People are not to be creeping around these estates." she bluffed, she had no idea if that was a real rule but assumed it would be. She prayed he wouldn't realize how out of her water she was.

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Momoko examined the object for a bit, turning it around and looking at it from different angles, in case it hid something that would reveal some purpose to it. But she didn't see anything - for all intents and purposes, it appeared to just be a really heavy stick. Quite pretty and quite unusual, but nonetheless just a stick.

She shrugged and wrapped the rod back up, and then put it back in the box it'd fallen out of carefully, so it didn't smash anything else that was in there. After pushing it to a side, Momo looked for a sturdier box and headed down for the storage room. She could probably find out more about the rod later - right now it would be fine if if something else went down to the basement instead.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

The man whirled as Jessara confronted him. "Who... oh, I see," he began, moving from a startled voice to one more relaxed. "My name is Pierre, although most simply know me as Mouse. I'm simply dropping something off, nothing to get worked up about. I suppose you're one of the new staff, and haven't been told about me yet," he expalined, approaching the girl slightly. As he moved away from the cellar door, there was no sign of anything that had been deposited.

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Momoko almost didn't want to wrap the rob back up, it seemed a real shame for such an object to be hidden away like that, but she had work to do and that was that. She discarded a brief notion that perhaps she should hold onto it, and placed it aside, somewhere she could easily find it again, and got to work lifting. She assembled a number of objects into whatever she could easily carry, and began making trips down to the basement storage area.

((And this puts you at your time-shift point as well. So now I just need to try and wrap up Skull's event.))

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Jessara relaxed a bit and looked for something the man had deposited. "What could you possibly be bringing? You should give it to me and I will ensure the Mistress sees to it." Something about this seemed so wrong, She wanted this man to be gone, he frightened her.

Looking him up and down she made a mental note of what he looked like.

((What does he look like?))

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Now that hew as facing her, she could make out more details about him. He was a scruffy man, his dark hair messy and unkept beneath a somewhat dirty looking brown beret. He appeared as though he should have shaved a few days ago, and his eyes were rather beady. All in all, he certainly didn't appear to be the kind of person who Lady Ashbourne would openly associate with.

"Worry not yourself about it, I've already delivered it, now I'll just be on my way," he said, taking a few more careful steps away from the cellar door. "I'm sure you've got more important things to do than harrass little old me."

 

[Skull_Man]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Not wanting to pick a fight with a man she just met, who very well may be an associate of the lady's (as unlikely as it seemed) she allows him to move away, keeping her eyes on him, Everything felt wrong and his eyes gave away his untrustworthiness

the moment he is out of sight Jessara runs as fast as her legs will carry her to the house, the moment she bursts through the doors calling at the top of her lungs for the head Maid "Danielle! Danielle!" she cries as she streaks through the hallways.

((If he doesn't leave ignore the last part about running to the house.))

 

[Incubus]

Re: Ashbourne Estates (game thread)

Surely enough, the man continues to make his way away from the house, glancing back voer his shoulder occassionally to watch the girl, but before long he's well and truely away.

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"Danielle! Danielle!" came a cry from the front of the house, audible to all as the sound bounced around the empty house. By this time, it was getting close to lunch time, the chicken had almost finished cooking, the laundry was washed and ready to be hung up to dry, and several trips of assorted odds and ends had made it down to the basement.

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From the kitchen, Danielle gave a sigh and turned down the stove, so that the meat would not burn in her absense, before marching off towards the entrance of the manor.

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"What on earth are you yelling about?" Danielle asked in a weary voice as she approached Jessara. "Such a cacophony is unseemly in this estate."