Three gold a night, and absolutely no hanky-panky: CYOA at the Evertree Inn

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Three gold a night, and absolutely no hanky-panky: CYOA at the Evertree Inn

«‹›16 »

MagusofStars: Mar 31, 2012

Knock on the door. This room is very clearly occupied and (unlike the dwarf) we don't know anything about the occupant, so let's be polite.

# ? Jan 28, 2021 17:35

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 28, 2024 17:06

Fat Samurai: Feb 16, 2011; To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.

MagusofStars posted:

Knock on the door. This room is very clearly occupied and (unlike the dwarf) we don't know anything about the occupant, so let's be polite.

Yeah.

# ? Jan 28, 2021 18:40

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Sure, let's have a chat.

Knock on the door.

Evertree posted:

You knock lightly on the door but nothing happens.

What would you like to do?

1. I'll knock louder.
2. Break into the room.
3. I'd rather explore somewhere else.

Hmm...

# ? Jan 28, 2021 18:53

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Knock louder.

# ? Jan 28, 2021 18:55

Slaan: Mar 16, 2009; ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH

1 I promise I'm not a land shark!

# ? Jan 28, 2021 18:59

Fat Samurai: Feb 16, 2011; To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.

1. Hello! I'm a nosy person

# ? Jan 28, 2021 19:00

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Perhaps they didn't hear us.

I'll knock louder.

Evertree posted:

You knock again but still you get no reply. If there is someone inside, they either can't hear you, or they don't want to.

What would you like to do?

1. I'll hammer on the door.
2. Break into the room.
3. I'd rather explore somewhere else.

Hmmmmmmmmm...

(We're collecting some fun hidden variables here, but I'll talk about them if and when they pay off.)

CottonWolf fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Jan 28, 2021

# ? Jan 28, 2021 19:02

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Too much is never enough. Hammer and see what happens.

# ? Jan 28, 2021 19:08

Marluxia: May 8, 2008

Let's break into an occupied room this is clearly a good idea

# ? Jan 28, 2021 20:47

Fat Samurai: Feb 16, 2011; To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.

3. ~~Just to be a dick and make a three way tie.~~ We're clearly not wanted here.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 11:18

MagusofStars: Mar 31, 2012

Explore somewhere else; there's gotta be more productive ways of using our limited time than trying to talk to someone who clearly has no interest in discussing stuff.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 13:45

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

The wiser option, probably.

Evertree posted:

Where would you like to go now?

[Note - You have 52 minutes left until dinner.]

1. Check out Room 3.
2. Check out Room 4.
3. Check out Room 5.
4. Check out Room 6.
5. Go and see if Mrs. Dupree is still in the lobby.
6. Go to the dining hall.
7. Head outside.
8. On second thought, I think I do need to have a bath.
9. I'm done with exploring. I'm just going to rest until dinner time.

Had you have tried to knock on the door one more time ~things~ would have happened. I'll show that scene at the end of LP.

CottonWolf fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jan 29, 2021

# ? Jan 29, 2021 17:16

MagusofStars: Mar 31, 2012

Let's do number 3 because we've successfully gotten into rooms 1 and 2 (ours, dwarf's), therefore, the sum of those rooms must also be a room we can successfully enter.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 17:56

OOrochi: Jan 19, 2017; On my honor as the Dawnspear.

MagusofStars posted:

Let's do number 3 because we've successfully gotten into rooms 1 and 2 (ours, dwarf's), therefore, the sum of those rooms must also be a room we can successfully enter.

Makes perfect sense to me. Let�s do it

# ? Jan 29, 2021 18:00

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

MagusofStars posted:

Let's do number 3 because we've successfully gotten into rooms 1 and 2 (ours, dwarf's), therefore, the sum of those rooms must also be a room we can successfully enter.

I buy it.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 18:11

Slaan: Mar 16, 2009; ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH

MagusofStars posted:

Let's do number 3 because we've successfully gotten into rooms 1 and 2 (ours, dwarf's), therefore, the sum of those rooms must also be a room we can successfully enter.

Math checks out

# ? Jan 29, 2021 18:23

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Can't argue with that logic.

Evertree posted:

You walk up to the door marked with a bronze 3. It's one of the smaller rooms and sits to the left of room 2, across the corridor from where you are staying.

What would you like to do?

Listen at the door.

Evertree posted:
You press your ears up against the wood and strain to hear anything happening on the other side, but you get nothing. The room sounds like it's empty.

What would you like to do?

1. Knock on the door.
2. Break into the room.
3. I'd rather explore somewhere else.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 20:19

Fat Samurai: Feb 16, 2011; To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.

1, then magic the door open if no one answers. Standard procedure

# ? Jan 29, 2021 20:29

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Fat Samurai posted:

1, then magic the door open if no one answers. Standard procedure

Sure why not?

# ? Jan 29, 2021 20:42

Slaan: Mar 16, 2009; ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH

Fat Samurai posted:

1, then magic the door open if no one answers. Standard procedure

Can't go wrong

# ? Jan 29, 2021 20:50

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

The classic manuever.

Knock on the door.

Evertree posted:

You knock lightly on the door, eliciting a pleasant sound of knuckle on wood but no response from within the room.

Break into the room (with magic). (5 Mana)

Evertree posted:

Unlocking doors is one of the easier things to do with magic. You look both ways down the corridor and then mutter a few choice words and gesture over the lock with your hands.

With a light click the door opens to reveal an apparently unoccupied room. Similar to your own, room 3 is furnished with a bed, a closet and a few other small items of furniture that all look untouched, at least for the past day or so. It's also considerably smaller than your own room with no adjoining bathing facilities.

The most noticeable difference however, is an old, woven tapestry that hangs against one of the walls, displaying an intricate and beautiful image.

No-one has heard you enter the room so you have a moment to explore if you would like to.

Where would you like to look?

1. Check under the bed.
2. Check the closet.
3. Check the tapestry.
4. Check the window.
5. Leave the room.

Magic %+2
Mana -5

There's no limit to the numbers of things we can check out in this room apart from the time cost.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 22:09

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Tapestry first.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 22:24

MagusofStars: Mar 31, 2012

ultrafilter posted:

Tapestry first.

I'm cool with this.

# ? Jan 29, 2021 23:04

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Okay. Let's have a gander at that tapestry.

Check the tapestry.

Evertree posted:

The tapestry is quite the work of art, depicting the same image as the Inn Sign hanging by the front door, a huge tree of green with branches spread wide accompanied by the words, "Evertree Inn." The tapestry looks old and faded and though impressive, there is nothing remarkable about it.

Glancing behind it, you see nothing of immediate interest there either. But then your eyes happen upon a small discoloration of the wood near the lower right corner. On closer inspection you can see that this stain is in the faded shape of a hand�and that it has been marked in blood!

It might be a good idea to find out who was the last guest to stay in this room.

Where would you like to look?

1. Check under the bed.
2. Check the closet.
3. Check the window.
4. Leave the room.

Now we're getting somewhere. As you might have expected, we only spotted the blood because we had a high enough perception score.

# ? Jan 30, 2021 14:57

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Leave. We found something of interest.

# ? Jan 30, 2021 16:36

OOrochi: Jan 19, 2017; On my honor as the Dawnspear.

Check the closet. The room's probably unused, but there might still be something interesting in there.

# ? Jan 30, 2021 16:50

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Once we get a tie-breaker, I�ll update.

# ? Jan 31, 2021 15:33

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

Closets are often full of secrets.

# ? Jan 31, 2021 15:51

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

They often do. Let's see about this one.

Check the closet.

Evertree posted:

The closet, just as in your room, has a key in the lock. You open it up and can see that obviously it has been emptied since it was last in use, although a closer inspection shows that it must have been done so hastily because you find a small gold cufflink to have been left in the corner. You can see how it might have been missed and as you pull it out for a closer look you notice that it bears an unusual crest.

Where would you like to look?

1. Check under the bed.
2. Check the window.
3. Leave the room.

Unlike the blood, spotting the cufflink doesn't require a perception check.

# ? Jan 31, 2021 17:03

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

Under the bed is also often full of secrets.

And check the window afterwards as well, this is obviously an important room and I don't know why we'd stop without looking at everything after finding blood.

# ? Jan 31, 2021 17:17

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Okay. What's under the bed?

Evertree posted:

You can tell at a glance that the room has been diligently cleaned but as you run your hands over the wooden floorboards, your fingertips catch on something that has fallen down in between.

A few careful attempts later, you have managed to extract from its hiding place, a small piece of card. Examining it carefully, you find it to be a luggage tag bearing the name of one Gregori Risenfaal, the man from the letter! It looks like this is most definitely the room where Mr. Risenfaal died and from the blood on the tapestry, you feel pretty confident that he was murdered. <Clue 1 updated!>

The tag also bears a crest perfectly matching the one on the cufflink you found, suggesting that both were his property.

Aha! Finding this is the hardest perception check in the room, requiring 50 perception, but we're a walking radar array, so it was no problem for us.

Stats posted:

Clues
1. A Luxican official named Gregori Risenfaal was murdered in room 3 a week ago.

And outside the window?

Evertree posted:

You walk to the window and can see that it looks out onto the sea of green that is the Firstwood. Standing tall beyond it, shrouded in mist, are the Serpentcoil Mountains that might as well be the edge of the World.

It is overwhelming to look at so huge and grandiose a sight for too long, but for a minute you are spellbound. There is a deeper and more ancient magic in the forest and the hills than any elf could ever know.

Where would you like to look?

1. Cast a divination spell to see what happened in this room.
2. Leave the room.

Because we're sufficiently magical and have realised that this is the room where the murder took place, we can now try and divine what happened. If we choose to try, we get this warning.

Evertree posted:

This is certainly one of the more complicated spells in your repertoire and you've only performed it a handful of times but if it works, it would be the fastest way to establish what happened to Mr. Risenfaal.

The only downside is that once you start the spell you will not be able to stop until the vision comes to an end, or it becomes too difficult to maintain. You also only have enough of the special herbs required for the spell to cast it once. There's unlikely to be a more suitable occasion than this, but you never know.

[Note - It could cost up to 20 mana and the success of the spell will depend on your Magic.]

Do we want to give it a go?

# ? Feb 1, 2021 15:21

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Do it.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 15:29

MagusofStars: Mar 31, 2012

Magic this.

Normally, I wouldn�t want to blow out one-shot spell this early, but it�s hard to imagine we�ll find a more suitable scenario than this.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 15:36

OOrochi: Jan 19, 2017; On my honor as the Dawnspear.

Absolutely do it.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 17:26

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

That seems like a consensus.

Evertree posted:

Checking that the door is firmly closed so as to avoid any interruptions, you take out the small pouch of herbs and sprinkle them in a circle in the centre of the room. Then you take a candle from the bedside table, and with a snap of your fingers, it lights up. Sitting cross-legged in the middle of your circle and focusing intently on the candle, you start to chant the magic words.

Of course, divination spells are always easier if you have an item of value connected to the person you are attempting to 'See', and so you hold the cufflink from the closet tightly in your fist as you focus.

As you chant over and over, you begin to enter a trance-like state and the room starts to shimmer. Images flash across your vision, shadows of people and objects that once existed in the room. It's an overwhelming feeling to be so bombarded with information from the past�

Mana -5
Magic %+4

Evertree posted:

�But you were expecting this. You breathe calmly, inhaling the soft aroma of the herbs around you, allowing the light from the candle to keep your mind from becoming distracted and focusing your attention on one particular moment in time. The image of a middle-aged human male appears in the room. He wears deceptively simple clothes, but you can tell that they are no less expensive than the fine gowns of the lords and ladies of Lux. His hair is slicked back with grease and he has a thin moustache adorning his upper lip. He appears to be in some kind of distress.

The image flickers�

Mana -5

Evertree posted:

�But you retain your focus and keep watching. The man is staggering around the room desperately. He clutches at his throat with one hand, blood soaking into the white cuffs of his shirt, while with the other he reaches for the open window. You are witnessing his death from less than a week ago in this very room.

The image grows more frantic and you struggle to maintain your focus�

Evertree posted:

�As the man falls short of the window, he careens sideways and knocks into an empty luggage case. You strain your eyes to see a name written on the luggage tag in swirling cursive, 'Gregori Risenfaal.' This is the man from Mrs. Dupree's letter, of this you can now be completely certain, but from the angle at which you are viewing the scene, you cannot see any sign of his assailant.

A sharp pain runs across your forehead as the images threaten to dissipate�

Mana -5

Evertree posted:

�But you hold on, determined to see how the scene ends. As the case falls over, the tag slips off and slides under the bed and out of sight. Mr. Risenfaal staggers wildly back and forth, gasping for air, unable to make more sound than a few rasping breaths. He trips on the bed, falling against the wall but catching himself just in time, leaving a bloody handprint behind the corner of the large tapestry.

Your head is almost ready to explode now as the candle erupts in a bright flash and goes out. The scene threatens to fade completely�

Evertree posted:

�But you hold on as hard as you can for the last few moments. Mr. Risenfaal drops to his knees and tries to crawl straight towards you and the door behind. He makes it only about halfway across the room before collapsing completely. He rolls onto his back and his hands fall to his sides as his body spasms, finally giving out his last breath. You squint against the pounding in your head and look at Mr. Risenfaal's neck. There's something lodged there. It looks like a wooden hair comb. <Clue 1 updated!>

Suddenly the room starts to whirl and you fall backwards, breaking the circle of herbs and convulsing violently. Divination spells are not without risks and you certainly held on longer than most could have. You have now seen the death of Mr. Risenfaal and even caught a glimpse of the murder weapon.

The question is, who killed him and why?

After taking a moment to recover, you have one final glance around the room and find nothing else to add to what you already know. You've learned all there is to learn from room number 3.

One thing you do have to consider is what to do with the deceased's cufflink.

1. I'm taking the cufflink with me!
2. I'll leave the cufflink where I found it.

Mana -5

Stats posted:

Clues
1 - Luxican official Gregori Risenfaal was murdered in room 3 a week ago with a wooden hair comb.

That was actually a complete success. We wouldn't have been good enough at magic to pass all the checks had we not found the cufflink, but using the cufflink as a focus makes the checks all 20 points easier, so that you only need 50 magic for a complete success rather than 70. Each of the quote breaks after the first correspond to a magic and mana check, corresponding to 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 magic and requiring that you have at least 5 mana left each check.

As well as deciding what do do with the cufflink, we also need to decide where to go next.

Evertree posted:

Where would you like to go now?

[Note - You have 41 minutes left until dinner.]

1. Check out Room 4.
2. Check out Room 5.
3. Check out Room 6.
4. Go and see if Mrs. Dupree is still in the lobby.
5. Go to the dining hall.
6. Head outside.
7. On second thought, I think I do need to have a bath.
8. I'm done with exploring. I'm just going to rest until dinner time.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 17:58

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Keep the cufflink and go outside.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 18:04

MagusofStars: Mar 31, 2012

Keep the cufflink - no real reason to get rid of it, plus it could potentially have value in future interrogations.

Room 5 - I'd still kind of like to meet one of our fellow residents before dinner; just randomly picked #5.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 19:02

OOrochi: Jan 19, 2017; On my honor as the Dawnspear.

Keep the cuff link and let�s check out room 5.

# ? Feb 1, 2021 23:12

CottonWolf: Jul 20, 2012; Good ideas generator

Okay. Let's do the old listen and knock combo.

Evertree posted:

You walk up to the door marked with a bronze 5. This room sits right next to number 6, although it is clearly much smaller. Otherwise there is nothing to mark the door as being distinctive from any other on the upper floor.

What would you like to do?

Listen at the door.

Evertree posted:
You carefully lean in close to the door and hear the splashing of water in a basin. This room obviously has a washroom like yours and it sounds like it is in use.

Knock on the door.

Evertree posted:

You knock lightly on the door and are pleased to get a response as a voice calls back, "Just a second!"

A few seconds more than 'just a second' later, the door handle turns with a squeak and opens to reveal an unexpected sight!

In front of you stands a half-elf with soaking wet hair and piercing blue eyes, wearing only a pearly white smile and a towel to cover her modesty.

The offspring of an elf and a human, half-elves are not uncommon across the empire, although this one is certainly a fine example. She is startlingly good-looking (as well as practically naked!) and you find yourself struggling for words. You can't help but follow the drops of water as they run from her jet-black hair down her long neck, to the small towel that tightly grips her hourglass figure and leaves bare her long, slender legs.

Her lips curl into a smile as she surveys your scarred physique appraisingly.

Eventually it's she who breaks the silence, with a voice as smooth as silk.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure?"

1. "I'm Glangwen, and the pleasure is all mine!"
2. "Glangwen Ogg, nice to meet you."
3. "My name is Glangwen. I'm staying in room 1, but I'm just exploring."
4. "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

Oh, hey. An actual person who's willing to talk to us!

# ? Feb 2, 2021 12:55

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 28, 2024 17:06

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

# ? Feb 2, 2021 15:19

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Three gold a night, and absolutely no hanky-panky: CYOA at the Evertree Inn

«‹›16 »