Transdim Thieves: Celeste

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Celeste waited as the guards slowed down and the people in the streets disappeared away, leaving an a nearly silent town if not for the footsteps of the temple guards and a few calls of various night creatures. As they began to slow, she started to count how long her windows would be, leaving room either side so that any noises she did make wouldn't be so close as to cause suspicion.

Eventually, she was comfortable with her moment of opportunity, and moved into action. Silently she vaulted onto the thin wooden barricade that ringed the walkway the guards patrolled on. From there, she withdrew her grapple, covered in cloth to dampen the noise of it attaching and swung it a few times to build up speed before releasing. She only had time for one attempt with the hook, but her training failed her not, it attaching securely to the window. A moment's pause to check for noise, before she began to hoist herself up towards the window.

Once she pulled herself through, she hastily pulled up the rope and stashed it away once more. She was in. It seemed to be an internal hallway, similar to the one beneath the window, although this one had doors running along the interior wall opposite the large open windows. She could spot three doors along this wall with no markings to differentiate each other, plus the walkway turned around a corner either end moving around the building.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Coiling her rope up with practiced speed, Celeste turned her attention to the three doors. Padding over to the nearest of the three, she put her ear to it and listened through for any sign of conversation or movement. Her ears were sharp, and trained to hear subtleties that might escape a novice, differentiating an empty room from one occupied by a guard at rest. For whatever she could not sense, she relied on instinct.

If she hear no noise on the other side, she would carefully try the door. If it was locked, she would use her lockpicks. If it were barred, she had a thin piece of sturdy metal that could be shoved into a doorframe and levered up. Otherwise, she'd have to find another way into the inner sanctum of the temple.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

The door slid open without obstruction, revealing to the thief a simple sleeping quarters with little embellishment; currently occupied. Laying asleep on a a simple mattress at the back of the room was one of this world's natural inhabitants, who appeared to still be quite asleep. A quick glance around the room revealed nothing of overt value, just some clothing and a wooden carving of some kind of symbol.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Celeste recalled the briefing. Only religious officials of a certain rank were let in to the idol room.

She closed the portal behind her softly, so as to prevent the sudden draft of night air from waking the sleeping priest. Then she moved over to examine the wooden symbol, trying to recognize it's shape. Perhaps this was what the real idol would look like once she found it. She also examined the sleeper, trying to determine if there were any marks or symbols that would establish him as one of the upper echelon of the priesthood. She presumed that with a low magic barrier, she would need to find some sort of magical device on one of the high priests to bypass the lock. But was this sleeper a high priest?

The room seemed pretty spartan for a proper high pontiff, but then again, depending on the religion, priests could be rather humble in their chosen surroundings.

After determining all she could about this priest and the wooden symbol, she went back over to the door and let herself out. Once back into the hallway, Celeste snuck down to the end of one corridor and turned around the corner. She would clear this outer hallway completely before checking the doors again.

"There must be a way down somewhere," she thought to herself.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Try as she may, there seemed nothing significant about the room; if this was an important monk, he seemed to be quite the humble one.

As Celeste peeked around the corner, she discovered a few more doors on the inner wall, with the pathway disappearing around the corner again before long. The layout of the square tower leading off the base of the temple was becoming clear and obvious. Moving down the hall and checking around the other corner, she found the stairs taking the place of any doors on this side; heading both up and down along the interior wall, stacked upon one another.

The choice of whether to investigate the doors further or to head up or down a floor was hers; she had no information on where this ceremonial room was located within the temple unfortunately.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Now that she had located the stairs, Celeste decided that it was best to head upwards first. She doubted the most important chamber would be on a middle floor. She would see if it was at the top, then if it wasn't, she'd work her way down.

Celeste crept along silently, but did her best to not go too slowly while still being alert for roving guards. She did not know exactly what she was looking for, but she figured she'd know the room when she saw it.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Moving up the stairs, she found herself on another floor, similar looking to the one she was previously on, albeit with smaller windows. The stairs continued up, and with the midnset of starting from the top she followed them. There wasn't a sign of a guard on any of these floors, presumably they doubted that someone would get this far for it to be nessesary.

The next floor up from there seemed to be the top one and she took a quick search around it. There were three doors on the floor in total, each facing a different direction, each with a different gold marking on the door. None of them seemed to particularly stand out.

((For the purpose of choosing a specific door, the doors are facing north, east and south, with the stairs on the west wall. ))

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Celeste wandered past each door examining its mark, wondering if she had, in either her training or travels, come across such figures before. She wondered if any of these doors showed the tell-tale signs of magical warding as well. She didn't want to be setting off any alarms just yet.

If there were no obvious dangers, she would test the north door first, tentatively.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

The markings were entirely unfamiliar and likewise gave no indication of magic, traps or otherwise.

As Celeste slowly eases open the door a crack so she can glance inside, she hears a voice, male, middle aged or older. "Who's there?" it asks, a tone of authority albeit not an overly demanding one at this moment. She hadn't even had time to peek into the crack yet...

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Celeste swore a few choice oaths silently in her mind as she backed away, letting the door stay open only a crack. Swiftly her instincts pulled her eyes upwards. Did the doorway arch jut out a little from the wall? Good. Now came the acrobatics.

She needed to get above the doorway. She had a gifted talent for leaping, climbing and clinging to walls. She hoped it would serve her yet again. A few steps back, quickly now, and then a running leap onto the wall, kicking upwards as her first foot fell upon the wall and twisting in the air, her aim was to brace herself between ceiling and the top of the door frame on the wall, using the frame and her own arm strength to wedge herself above, so that when the priest came out to inspect, looking left or right, he would see nothing.

Nothing that was, until she leaped down upon him and struck him unconscious with a well placed blow. She hoped that she would not have to kill this man, but he would need to be silenced.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Although a difficult manoeuvre, Celeste pulled it off with skill and grace, bracing herself above the door. Surely enough, the door opened and what appeared to be a native man of his mid to later years, dressed in some kind of robe that likely held significance to this temple. Indeed, the symbol upon his door was also visible on the front of the robe.

Silently, she descended, her hands around the man's throat before he knew what hit him. Cutting off his air, he gasped for breath and struggled in vain until at last he fell unconscious, then she released him so that he could begin to breath. With the man down, the room was hers to explore, although it bore a similarity to the last one she had examined. He had a desk against one wall, where he seemed to have been before her interruption, going over some scripture by candlelight. A metal version of the wooden charm she had spied earlier lay there. There were also a few drawers on the desk.

There was also a mattress for sleeping, an ideal location for hiding her victim, but the room contained little else.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Celeste dragged the unconscious man inside and deposited him on the mattress, covering him with any quilt or blanket that might have been available. She searched his robes, looking for any pockets that might hold a key of some sort or other interesting device. She then moved to the drawers, opening and searching them for something of use. This was clearly one of their higher priests, he must be one of the ones allowed into the most holy chamber. She inspected the metal icon on his desk as well. Was there anything special about this one? She wondered if she should take it just in case, but it was bulky and possibly heavy. Tentatively she reached out to touch it. If it was safe, she would then lift it and weigh it in her hands. If it was heavy enough to interfere with her leaping and movement, she'd put it back. She was only after one target tonight.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

While a frisk of the man's robes revealed nothing, searching through the drawers gained Celeste a ring of keys, around 5 different keys, all bar one undecorated. The remaining one was almost certainly the key to the holy chamber she sought. Beyond the key, she also found papers, a few small books, but nothing of particular interest.

Warily touching and the lifting the charm, it wasn't overly big or bulky, she could certainly take it. It almost resembled a small candle-holder, from a central base a number of winding and snaking arms coiled out to each end with a small cup. Definitely odd. Still, it was hers if she wanted it.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Hmm, perhaps she could keep it as a personal souvenir. Deciding that it wasn't that problematic, and admiring the look of it, Celeste put the symbol into her pack. Now she had a key set, with a nice big fancy key for her to take advantage of.

She blew out the lights in the room and closed the door behind her as softly as she could, then she headed off towards the other doors on this floor, thinking that one of them might be the holy chamber. She looked at the other two, first the east door, then the south door, examining the symbols. She figured by the nature of symmetry that the south door might contain another priest with possibly a second key, while this east door might be the chamber she sought. That was only her hunch however, and she inspected the two doors carefully, seeing if there was a place for her newfound key.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Even a casual glance revealed that neither of the two remaining doors had anywhere for a key; further study only confirmed this fact. The room she sought did not appear to be on this floor.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Damn... that meant searching the floors below. Oh well.

Celeste headed down the stairs to the floor directly beneath this one, hoping that one key would be enough and that she need not return to knock out more priests.

On the next floor she listened for guards and wandering priests and searched for a room that could be the holy chamber.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

A quick reconnoiter revealed to her that this level also lacked any patroling guards, leaving her free to examine the doors. This floor had more doors than the one above, bearing resemblance to the one below save for a single door which contained a lock. By her guess, this was more sleeping quarters, and the locked door lacked the appearance of a holy room of ritualistic importance.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Deciding to stay true to her mission, Celeste passed on this level, not bothering to open the locked door, for it did not appear to be the one she sought. She headed down the stairs, bypassing the floor she had entered on and heading down the steps. Here she was more wary. Guards would be patrolling the bottom floors.

 

[Incubus]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

As she crept down to the second level, where the guards were patrolling, Celeste slowed her speed and listened to locate where they were in the route to avoid them. Of course, evading indifferent guards was childsplay for someone of her talents. She determined that she still had a few minutes before one of the guards would reach the corridor the stairs came down into.

As with the other floors, the stairs here continued down to the ground floor, but this was not her concern at the moment. On the wall opposite the stairs was a doorway that lead to the outside walkways the guards were patrolling. Peering around each of the corners, there were a number of doorways towards the stairs end of the halls, but a noticable lack of them down the far end implied a large room at the other end.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Transdim Thieves: Celeste

Celeste nodded to herself. That was the most likely place for the target room to be. Knowing that she had a couple minutes before the guard patrol stepped into her hallway, she headed towards the far end, towards where she suspected the large room to be.

She kept her eyes searching the walls, floor and ceiling ahead of her as she approached. If guards didn't tread near this room, it could be because traps or wards had been set. Celeste stayed in the shadows as she crept closer, finally reaching the end of the hallway and peering around to see if indeed there was a room there that could be the one she sought.