Game 19 - Group B

[arsgoetia]

You are in a small, square room—no more than five or six paces across in either direction. The décor is cramped, black, and gothic a darkened library jammed so full of books and antiquated furniture that you have to be careful moving around to avoid everything.

There is a single window on one wall—covered with heavy red curtains for ambiance, but you can see that it's boarded over on the other side.

The second wall has two large bookcases full of nicely bound books. Between them is an unlit fireplace with a lintel that has several figurines and candlesticks on it, and above that, an absurdly large portrait of a very unfamiliar and gothic-looking noblewoman. Displayed prominently on the fireplace is also an antique gun. For some reason, the painting and the gun have garishly orange pieces of tape stuck to them.

The third wall has a lamp, a liquor cabinet, and a music box on a stand. There is a small stairwell here that goes straight up to the ceiling and then abruptly stops. The outlet for the lamp also has tape on it.

The final wall has a door, which is heavily padlocked, a grandfather clock.

The center of the room has a squat, round coffee table with a ouija board on it. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling, some sort of twisted monstrosity made from animal skulls.

Comments

EXPLORE

[arsgoetia]

Re: EXPLORE

[conatus]

[he's exploring that liquor cabinet if you get my drift]

Re: EXPLORE

[arsgoetia]

The liquor cabinet is . . . disorganized, to say the least. There are plenty of extra spaces on the shelves, and they don't seem to be in a coherent order.

It's also locked.

Re: EXPLORE

[conatus]

[can he just break the handle off or is that no go]

Re: EXPLORE

[innerdemon]

[is there a planchette with the ouija board]

Re: EXPLORE

[arsgoetia]

The planchette seems to be missing.

Re: EXPLORE

[innerdemon]

[dead end there so far, then. Are the stairs open or enclosed, ie, can I go creeper and examine the undersides of them]

Re: EXPLORE

[wrongstory]

[taking a look at some of the books]

Re: EXPLORE

[arsgoetia]

Most of the books are dark and leather-bound—though a few stand out here and there, starkly bright colors: a red-bound book, one green, one gold, one blue, one silver.

Re: EXPLORE

[wrongstory]

[opening the silver one hesitantly]

Re: EXPLORE

[hardatwork]

[the orange tape on a painting is odd. how close to the painting can I get?]

Re: EXPLORE

[arsgoetia]

You can get quite close to it—it seems to just be suggesting don't touch.

Re: EXPLORE

[hardatwork]

[hm, better not touch. oils from fingerprints can affect a painting.]

[goes to check this locked door]

Re: EXPLORE

[rootless]

[yeah let's let the guy with no fucking clue what an ouija board is check that out]

Re: EXPLORE

[arsgoetia]

Maybe you're supposed to . . . lick it?

Re: EXPLORE

[rootless]

[he's maybe learned not to lick random things in his age is there ghostly bullshit connected to it?]

Re: EXPLORE

[hardatwork]

[addressing everyone]

Okay... we're in a puzzle! So we have to search everything. I think we need a hands to the clock, but there's probably a lot more that's missing.

Re: EXPLORE

[innerdemon]

I found a chess piece, a white bishop. There's also a missing music box key.

Re: EXPLORE

[hardatwork]

A white bishop... maybe there's a chess board here somewhere? And let's open books, check under the table, ah, behind the curtains maybe. Also the stairs might be hiding something?

Re: EXPLORE

[conatus]

The liquor cabinet's locked, and there are books missing from above the fireplace.

Re: EXPLORE

[hardatwork]

If it's locked I bet something's inside! Ah, and books on the fireplace is a good idea.

Re: EXPLORE

[wrongstory]

I don't know if this will help at all, but— the books seem to read like riddles, or at least this silver one. It could be nothing, still...

[offering the text of the silver book]

If we placed the books above the fireplace...?

Re: EXPLORE

[innerdemon]

That looks like a poem but, er...

[I... I didn't go to high school]

Re: EXPLORE

[hardatwork]

[reads it]

I'm not much good with riddles, but it sounds like it's talking about the ghosts our observer mentioned.

But let's try the books!

Re: EXPLORE

[conatus]

Mm, Eliot. This is only part of the poem, though.