The Mansion II [on hiatus]

[GeneralHankerchief]

We already have a (blueprint) map of the basement.

GH can help.

Yeah, that sounds reasonable enough and certainly more productive than opening up a fresh corpse.

I'm also going to grab a quick bite to eat since we have food again.

[Golden1Knight]

I'm going down into the basement. Since we will only explore the first room, a few more people will do. Volunteers?

[Myrddraal]

Happy to come with you, but examining corpses first. Might be better for someone else to volunteer to head straight down.

[Winston Hughes]

I'll join the scout party.

[El Barto]

I'll support you -morally for sure.

[Choxorn]

Happy to come with you, but examining corpses first. Might be better for someone else to volunteer to head straight down.

I'll help you with this and stay on the lookout for any surprises that would be difficult for just one of us to handle.

[Montmorency]

Basement: Golden, Winston, Choxorn
Bodies, Basement: Myrd
Bodies, Sunroom: GH

The rest - Monty, Bart, Iron, Jarema, Beskar - should be doing first-floor search and front entrance reinforcement.

[Myrddraal]

What about the door to the garden in the mud room? I suggest somebody takes a peek out the door, to get an idea of what lies beyond, then bolts it / locks it / barricades it.

If there's a shed out there, I strongly suggest we have a look. I'm thinking gardening implements and power tools will make good weapons.

[Montmorency]

We don't want to stretch ourselves thin. To restate:

Basement: Golden, Winston, Choxorn
Bodies, Basement: Myrd
Bodies, Sunroom: GH

Let's hold off on barricading the main doors, then. While doing the search of the first floor, we should specifically note all large pieces of non-fixed furniture for reference, but avoid moving them for now. Documents, weapons, and special items are more important.

Team First: Monty, Bart, Iron, Jarema, Beskar

Here's what we will do on the first floor, then:

0. Focus on careful search of the right side of the house. Specifically note all large pieces of non-fixed furniture for reference, but avoid moving them for now.
1. Start with the dining room.
2. Avoiding the mud room, search the bedrooms and their closets, looking especially for documents and unique items. Any useful new clothes would be a good thing to collect as well.
3. Next, search the sitting room and the bathroom. In the bathroom, check for any chemicals or pharmaceuticals.
4. Up to now, the activities should have taken 2 hours. For the remaining 2 hours, give all attention to the conservatory and the mud room.
4.a. In the conservatory, take samples of the dead plants and soil to bring back to the base.
4.b. What's in the mud room? Once we've got that figured, prepare to open the door to the backyard. First, ask GH in the sunroom for a recon report on the state of the backyard. If there isn't considerable hostile presence evident, or sign of much other danger, then we open the door and peek out. Fanning out slowly and carefully, the initial idea is to search for any small structures on the grounds (e.g. shack, cellar door, gazebo) without attracting attention. If there are outdoor buildings, then they should be searched for significant items. Any monsters confronted should be taken out quickly if it is possible to do so stealthily, otherwise retreat to the mud room door and take care of it around there.


P.S. Hankerchief, when you finish with the bodies and go upstairs to spy from the Sunroom, could you bring down Greyblades' body from the master bedroom and drag it to the sunroom?

[El Barto]

Just a thought: we should check for trapdoors (especially under rugs). And also for bookcases and other such objects that might reveal doors. If this is a mad scientist's house then there might just be a secret lab around. And, possibly, a secret exit, or a bunker.

[Montmorency]

Just a thought: we should check for trapdoors (especially under rugs). And also for bookcases and other such objects that might reveal doors. If this is a mad scientist's house then there might just be a secret lab around. And, possibly, a secret exit, or a bunker.

Whether or not this is the case would be fairly-obvious from the ground level.

We would expect such things in the basement.

[Zain]

Just a reminder gents that all orders are due by the deadline, which is 9:00am CST, Saturday (tomorrow) morning. May want to google it for local time or check the countdown in the last write-up post.

[Choxorn]

As a member of Team Basement, what should I be doing down there?

[GeneralHankerchief]

Orders sent. I plan to observe the crap out of the outside world from the comfort of that sunroom. Godspeed, Team Basement!

[El Barto]

@Choxorn: It seems that slow and careful, only going into the very first room, should be enough. Remember to tur on the lights!

My personal recommendation is that you use a chair or small table as a sort of shield, to ward off anything. Look out for boobytraps, e.g. tripwires.

And, just like the Order of the Stick, be ready to employ that most trusted of tactics: Expeditious Retreat. We'll be ready to assist you if at all possible, so holler if you need to.

[Myrddraal]

Orders submitted:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I will start by examing the bodies in the lobby. I will ask GH to help me before he heads up to the sun room.

I will first check all the bodies to identify if any of them are grey men, and if any show any signs of life.

I'll check corpses for red needle marks. I'll also check for ID, and particularly I'll check if any are armed.

If they do show signs of life, but are not threatening, I will NOT kill then. I will instead try to tie them up (with GHs help) and will stand guard over them and only kill them if they do anything threatening.

If all this goes well, I will slowly and cautiously go joing the basement team and support them (bringing with me any handy portable weapons I might find).

[El Barto]

Erm, you were supposed to PM that. :)

[Zain]

Apologies for the delay gentlemen, working extra today so I can be off tomorrow for the Super Bowl. Will get the write-up out soon.

Thanks

[Zain]

Phase 8

The ten remaining survivors of the Hell Mansion chose to continue exploring the mysteries, assigning Faith Faulkner (GeneralHankerchief) as their lookout in the Sunroom before heading out the back door. Though beforehand, Lola Richards (Myrrdraal) chose to inspect the bodies and requested Faith's assistance. Further, Bradley Palmer (El Barto) in his paranoia began to barricade the front door with whatever he could find.

"They haven't come in, and we've been here for a while. And we haven't exactly been quiet..." Jake Kelly (Montmorency) said.

"Yes, but I'd rather not run that risk. That okay with you?" Bradley asked sarcastically as he frantically moved small pieces of furniture to the front door.

A rather large group, six in total, including Lola herself, Jack Foster (Jarema), Charlie Wallace (Golden1Knight), Callum Simmons (Choxorn), Hollie Daniels (Winston Hughes), and Leo Webb (Beskar), intended on investigating the basement. Though Lola would be come in behind them after investigating the bodies.

The remaining, Jake, Bradley, and Kyle Bevan (Ironside) would search the first floor for anything interesting and possibly the back yard.

They dispersed...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lola and Faith, two of the three remaining women in the mansion, approached what they counted were eleven corpses. "Are they monsters?" Lola asked.

"No. They appear to have died as regular humans." Faith answered, crouching down to check a body. "It's safe, let's search them."

Lola and Faith checked the bodies for identification, "Look, this one has a government ID. Tobias Summerland, Secret Service."

"Why would the Secret Service be here? Isn't their job to protect the President?"

"Yes... among other things. Let's keep looking."

They found that two of the corpses had Secret Service ID's on them, as well as carried single .9 mm pistols with empty magazines. The other bodies seemed to be regular people, all except one...

"Look!" Lola said as she pulled a key out of one of the corpse's pocket. She ran over, "Not to the front door, and it doesn't look like it goes to a vehicle."

"Keep it then, it probably goes to a door or something here." They returned to the corpse.

"What's that?" Faith asked, pointing to something underneath it. Lola tilted her head slightly, a brief pause, "Laptop case!"

They both hopped down and timidly pushed the body off the case. They grabbed it, feeling lighter than it should, they opened it up. "Empty... No notes or anything in the pockets either."

"I bet it's here somewhere though, could have some answers."

Disappointed they continued searching but found nothing of true note, just the knowledge that the Secret Service had been there, two empty .9 mm pistols, a mysterious key that was held by the civilian as well as the empty laptop case.

"Think that one is the owner of the house?" Lola asked.

Faith stood, looking, "No, looks too Urban. Whoever owned this house was old, perhaps crazy."

"Wish we would've found the keys to those humvees..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Faith made her way up the stairs, around the corner, into the Study, and further into the Sunroom. She gazed out the window, careful not to bring attention to herself, and saw that the smoke from a distance had dissipated. She looked into the backyard, which was largely blocked by the roof, and saw that same gray man from before. "Only one..." She said to herself. She looked for anything else of note, but to no avail.

Upon request she placed Kieran's corpse inside, thinking it a bad idea to place a rotting corpse in direct sunlight, but the group "knows best".

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jake, Bradley, and Kyle investigated the first floor of the mansion, beginning with the Dining Room and making their way around, taking note of any large furniture, looking for anything interesting, and just as before, found nothing. They did, however, take some soil and plant samples from the Conservatory for further study.

It was Faith's report that she had only seen one gray man outside that made them feel that much more optimistic. Though she warned them that she could not see the entire back yard, they insisted on at least taking a peak outside.

The Mud Room was traditionally for keeping shoes, hats, and coats when one came inside from their work in the garden. Therefore the room was mostly bare, only a chair by the door, hat rack, dead plant in a pot in the corner. A pair of keys hung off a hook by the door, "These should be useful." Jake said as he pocketed them.

"Are they the same key?" Kyle asked him.

He investigated them, "Yes, two copies."

"Give me one, in case something happens to you." Bradley said quickly, thinking on the same page as Kyle.

Jake did so, and then, they began to turn the knob...

...

What they saw was another bright light, the pleasing smell of fresh air, green grass and blue sky, and dead bodies in the yard. At least half a dozen.

They looked around for any signs of life, and to their right they saw one small gray man facing away from them. They stepped forward quietly and glanced around to their left where the Sunroom had no vantage point, a small garden shed next to an overgrown and wild garden lay in their midst, only twenty yards away. The back yard was fenced in by a privacy fence covered in vines. The tall fence appeared sturdy, and not even Faith could see directly over it, though she did spot the occasional hostile outside.

"We can take that one, that's all I see." Kyle said quickly.

They wielded clubs, and thought that by the element of surprise they could take it out.

Creeping slowly across the grass, hoping their quiet footsteps would not draw any attention, Faith looked on as the three men wielding chair legs as clubs snuck up on the small, pale, gray man.

Jake stepped on a small twig, cracking it, and the tiny noise was enough to catch the gray man's attention. It turned it's head, eyebrow wrinkling, but it was too late. Jake, Kyle, and Bradley were on it and with a few powerful strikes, took it down.

They smiled, looked around cautiously, and silently high-fived each other. "That was too easy! Catch them before they transform and it's like taking candy from a baby!" Bradley said.

"That's just cruel..." Jake said sarcastically with a grin. They crept their way toward the garden shed and Jake used the key to unlock the padlock on the door, avoiding the corpse that lay next to the front door, a machete lay next to it. It popped open and inside lay another corpse, one of a gray man. His head was bashed in, a bloody shovel next to it. They kept their eyes on the corpse, but scoped the small building.

All items of note, in which they happily brought outside the door, included the shovel, a hoe, rake, and metal garden scoop along with the machete.

They each carried something, Jake the machete and rake, Bradley the shovel, and Kyle the hoe and garden scoop, and made their way inside after a final glance at the back yard. There seemed to be no apparent gate to the outside... If they wanted to leave, they would have to climb the fence, which appeared to be 8 feet tall, into the blind area below. That, or the front door. Either way, the men were satisfied with their find.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The larger portion of the group had chosen to head downstairs into the basement, having no real idea what to expect down there, Leo led the way with his club fashioned from a chair leg, Callum and Charlie close behind. Jack walked behind with Hollie, and Lola held up the rear. They crept down the steps, hearing the pops and cracks associated with an old staircase.

They reached the bottom, the door was cracked open, and Leo and the group stood quietly and listened.

Silence. Surprisingly.

He pushed the door open timidly and waited once again, startled by the creak the hinges gave off. Still nothing, he reached around the corner and felt the lightswitch, and flipped it. The light shined on a relatively empty room with four doors, just some empty boxes and tattered books lie on the wall opposite of them. No signs of hostiles or death, a welcome sign. The six made their way down, noticing it was a bit cooler and the ceiling was considerably shorter. Charlie reached up and palmed it, "I feel like a giant."

"Me too." Callum said, reaching up.

"Okay, let's check the other rooms, be careful, any sign of life and we haul butt upstairs." Leo commanded, beginning by opening a door and flipping a switch.

They quickly discovered that two of the doors led to an encircling storage room which scaled the entire basement. It was directly beneath the Great Room, and held what looked like hundreds of boxes, crates, and random stuff. It would take hours upon hours to search it, but at first glance looked mostly like junk.

The Furnace was interesting, lying directly below the Kitchen. Charlie, their architect, concluded it was used to help heat their appliances or perhaps the heat was channeled to help heat the bedrooms on the other side of the house.

It was the door on the right, that remained a mystery to them.

"It's locked." Hollie said, trying the knob. It turned, but the deadbolt above prevented access. The group, feeling relatively safe but still leaving Jack behind to watch their backs, attempted to open the door.

Lola remembered the key, "Guys! Let me try this!"

She pulled the key out of her pocket and slid it into the lock, turning it and hearing that satisfying metallic thud. The door crept open, and inside lie a corpse...

He sat on the floor, a laptop lay sideways next to him, a gun in his cold stiff hands and blood smearing the wall.

"Suicide..." one of them said.

There was food in there with him, lots of it, some eaten. Other survival supplies like a first aid kit and blankets, lined the wall next to the food. Surprisingly no weapons. Further, one corner of the room was obviously his bathroom, and the smell of death and sewage was unbearable. They quickly searched him, found another copy of the key which had opened the door, and his ID. They took the laptop, feeling confident that they could come back for the food and supplies if they needed it and quickly left, heading upstairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The groups met back up in the Billiard Room, Jake and his crew showing off their "weapons" they had found outside, and Lola carrying the laptop.

"Battery's dead, and I couldn't find the charger. Anybody know how to rig it?"

"I may. I was a marine equipment mechanic. Rigging electronics is what we did." Hollie answered her.

"Great!"

Jake spoke up, "Who was he, that guy down there?"

"Looked like he was holed up for the Apocalypse. Tons of food and more supplies down there." Leo answered him.

"That charger may be in one of the humvees. The keys too." Jack said.

"Well, let's get to work. What should we do?" Faith asked.

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

Items added:
Shovel
Rake
Hoe
Garden Scoop
Machete
Dead Laptop
First Aid Kit
Blankets
2x .9 mm Pistols

Discussion & Order Phase 9 has begun! Orders due on Saturday, February 13th at 3:00GMT



Stats will be updated in Stats & Storyline thread.

GM Comments:
Long write-up, 'nuff said. Have fun guys

Good luck everybody

[Zain]

Further, I am removing the eat/sleep mechanics in the game. I have provided plenty of food through the Pantry and the mystery room downstairs, and I believe at this point your characters are all running off of adrenaline fairly strongly.

This is no longer a game of the Sims but a game of puzzles and survival.

[Montmorency]

Dibs on machete.

We should also have the empty 9mm pistols, right?

I would suggest incinerating the corpses, but I suppose we would lack the fuel to get it going even if the furnace were of sufficient (industrial) grade.

1. Search basement storage and bunker.
2. Search backyard bodies (GH).
3. Do something with plant samples and secret documents.
4. Work on the laptop (Winston). If the power works in the house... @Zain: Was there a charger in the locked room in the basement?

The other bodies seemed to be regular people, all except one...

5. Examine that body (GH).

[Zain]

We should also have the empty 9mm pistols, right?

Yes, you do have the pistols, allow me to edit the posts.

If the power works in the house...

Light switches and light bulbs shining light is generally from electricity

Was there a charger in the locked room in the basement?

No.

[Myrddraal]

What happened to the gun the man shot himself with? Presumably it had ammo, if he used it?

[El Barto]

It seems as though the gun has been left behind.

Talking points:
-Computer, computer… how do we get that thing running? There might be something in it… I was/am good with cameras and other electronics so perhaps I could be of help.

-Someone take that body right out of the sun. Anyone, as soon as possible. And let's make sure the corpses won't get up -decapitate them, stake them, burn them, something.

-The gray men appear to have quite a sense of hearing, don't they?

I have the feeling that moving the stacked crates downstairs in the basement might reveal something.

[Choxorn]

At the very least, taking a good long look at the crates downstairs will be worth it, there doesn't appear to be any more of those things down there.

[Myrddraal]

It does seem like the mansion is now reasonably secure... I'm 95% confident we've dealt with all the hostiles on the ground and upper floor. We should probably be a bit more careful in the basement. Otherwise, with the threat of imminent death by violence or starvation seemingly dealt with, what next?

Laptops are generally 12V DC aren't they? In any case it should be marked on the casing.

I will check the laptop bag in the lobby (there might be a side pocket with a charger). I'll also check to see if there are any halogen spot lights or stand lamps around, as I think they use DC and should therefore have transformers attached.

Otherwise, it's quite possible that the laptop charger is in the humvees...

I'm inclined to say we should spend one more phase doing the following:
- Search the basement thoroughly
- Try to power the laptop with what we have in the mansion
- Scout the garden fence (see if we can peek over, to assess our options)

Before heading out (either via the fence or the front door).

[Zain]

I will check the laptop bag in the lobby (there might be a side pocket with a charger).

"What's that?" Faith asked, pointing to something underneath it. Lola tilted her head slightly, a brief pause, "Laptop case!"

They both hopped down and timidly pushed the body off the case. They grabbed it, feeling lighter than it should, they opened it up. "Empty... No notes or anything in the pockets either."

Here you go.

[Jarema]

I think I would like to go outside and scan a little

[El Barto]

We should take all the corpses out and see if that helps climb the back wall.

At the very least, taking a good long look at the crates downstairs will be worth it, there doesn't appear to be any more of those things down there.

We should always explore the possibility that, in spite of our best efforts, the monsters outside might break in, sneak in or be allowed in. So we should leave some posibility of fleeing back upstairs or down to the bunker. (btw I was right about there being a place to hole up in downstairs, wasn't I?)

[Myrddraal]

(btw I was right about there being a place to hole up in downstairs, wasn't I?)

Yes, although the facilities left something to be desired