Café de Nuit

HOLBIN ESTATE

The party encounters a peddler on the moonlit road. The man gives them no trouble, pushing his handcart past without a word, but his staring sets Damien on edge.

A few minutes later, Damien whispers aloud, "That guy seemed too interested in us. Maybe he's a scout for robbers?"

The cool night wind from the higher country to the north brings the smell of wild flowers. Insects drone, hidden by the darkness and the grass off the roadside.

The party walks on...

Small farms and villas dominate the landscape of this outlying district.
The Holbin Estate is easy to find; no other plot of land nearby is surrounded by a high stone fence. The lights of Holbin House can be seen from the road, glittering atop a high hill a mile beyond the masonry barrier.

Alfonse looks for an unobtrusive place he can wait and keep look-out.

Gertie's face is blackened, her gear completely black. She looks for the best place to sneak in.

THE PARTY discovers a mulberry tree that grows near the outer face of the estate fence at a spot about sixty yards north from the road. It's about man high, well short of the wall top.
The upper branches will surely not support anyone heavier than Fild. But the spread of the leafy boughs does offer partial concealment in the starry, moonlit night.

Alfonse can hide under or in the foliage.

Gem sniffs about the base of the mulberry. Then the dog pisses on it (possibly splashing Alfonse with a hot stream if the Mage doesn't shift in time).

Gertie can climb the barrier here as easily as anyplace else she has seen so far.

Alfonse pokes the dog with his Quarterstaff, shaking the liquid from his boots.

Adam wrote:Alfonse pokes the dog with his Quarterstaff, shaking the liquid from his boots.

Gem snorts, pulling away from the mage's staff.
The dog settles against the base of the stone wall. Soon, Gem begins snoring.

GERTIE OVER THE WALL...


GERTIE climbs over the wall and drops onto the other side.

Now she cannot see the others and they cannot see her.

She can see
A moment later, DAMIEN climbs over the wall and slides down to join GERTIE.

Fild whispers "So... I guess I'm keeping watch after all. Once everyone that is supposed to go in, is inside I'll go check for approaching guards."

Tom tries to climb the wall as well following Gertie and Damien, he uses his climb daggers to make the climbing easier.

OVER THE WALL


TOM joins GERTIE and DAMIEN in the vineyard .

Tom looks around and whispers:

"The moon provides enough light for me to see and there is no sign of guard, we have to make our move now before any patrol comes."

Turning to Damien asks:

"Do we know which one is Elissa's window?"

VAN wrote:Tom looks around and whispers:

"The moon provides enough light for me to see and there is no sign of guard, we have to make our move now before any patrol comes."

Turning to Damien asks:

"Do we know which one is Elissa's window?"

"I think Alfonse has the map of the house, and he's still back there."
Damien jerks his thumb at the stone wall that marks the edge of the estate.

A rock sails over the wall with a map tied to it.

DAMIEN picks up the rock and unties the string that holds paper to it.
He unfolds the sheet and shows it to his comrades.
He whispers,
"Map."


...

Crossing the vineyard, the three burglars come to a long stretch of lawn that slopes toward Holbin House and its near outbuildings and gardens.
The short grass (recently mowed or nibbled) provides the trio no concealment at all, but it at least softens the noise of their footfalls.
The thieves can't help but cross exposed areas that could be seen from the house upper windows, although they can make use of three hiding places on the way uphill: a tall limewood tree, a gazebo near a large pond, and an animal pen.

Gertie and Tom see goats snuggled down inside the pen, sleeping.


...

When the infiltrators reach the hilltop house from the southwest corner, they see that the Holbin House stands two stories high, with room for an attic not detailed on their map.
A porch runs around the ground floor, thirty feet wide, paved with stone, and lined with marble pillars that run up to the roof of the house.
The outer walls, windowsills, and doors of the house show artful technique in wood-and stone-carving, but not an excess of decoration. The outer shell appears principally made of well-joined, creamy colored masonry. The windows that the thieves can see are all framed with glass panels set in latticework or covered by carved and painted wooden shutters.

Gertie and Tom may take note of relative heights and climbing points.

A brick structure with a red tile roof, built right against the porch on the west side, rises to within ten feet of the roof of the house.
The roof of the house, above the two floors and what appears to be a half-floor attic, stands about twenty feet over the porch. It is also built with red tile, slanted downward to shed rain.

It might be possible to shimmy up one of the porch pillars.
A small light flickers in the window of the upper floor room the thieves were briefed belongs to Elissa Holbin.

Damien investigates the outbuildings a short walk west of the main house.
He returns a moment later and whispers to Tom and Gertie:
''Barn, stables, smithy. Seems shut up and still for the night."

ewancummins wrote:DAMIEN picks up the rock and unties the string that holds paper to it.
He unfolds the sheet and shows it to his comrades.
He whispers,
"Map."


...

Crossing the vineyard, the three burglars come to a long stretch of lawn that slopes toward Holbin House and its near outbuildings and gardens.
The short grass (recently mowed or nibbled) provides the trio no concealment at all, but it at least softens the noise of their footfalls.
The thieves can't help but cross exposed areas that could be seen from the house upper windows, although they can make use of three hiding places on the way uphill: a tall limewood tree, a gazebo near a large pond, and an animal pen.

Gertie and Tom see goats snuggled down inside the pen, sleeping.


...

When the infiltrators reach the hilltop house from the southwest corner, they see that the Holbin House stands two stories high, with room for an attic not detailed on their map.
A porch runs around the ground floor, thirty feet wide, paved with stone, and lined with marble pillars that run up to the roof of the house.
The outer walls, windowsills, and doors of the house show artful technique in wood-and stone-carving, but not an excess of decoration. The outer shell appears principally made of well-joined, creamy colored masonry. The windows that the thieves can see are all framed with glass panels set in latticework or covered by carved and painted wooden shutters.

Gertie and Tom may take note of relative heights and climbing points.

A brick structure with a red tile roof, built right against the porch on the west side, rises to within ten feet of the roof of the house.
The roof of the house, above the two floors and what appears to be a half-floor attic, stands about twenty feet over the porch. It is also built with red tile, slanted downward to shed rain.

It might be possible to shimmy up one of the porch pillars.
A small light flickers in the window of the upper floor room the thieves were briefed belongs to Elissa Holbin.

Damien investigates the outbuildings a short walk west of the main house.
He returns a moment later and whispers to Tom and Gertie:
''Barn, stables, smithy. Seems shut up and still for the night."

GERTIE


GERTIE climbs up the side building on the west face of the house, jumps from its roof to catch the lip of the house's out0jutting roof, and pulls herself onto the house roof.
She then slides down the red tiles, flips under the edge of the roof, and climbs along the upper portion of the outer wall of Holbin House. She creeps along the stonework, hanging on with fingers and toes, and at last steps onto the windowsill.
But as she sets her feet on the narrow sill, she bumps the glass panels of the window and rattles the frame.

She hears something moving behind the window. The glare of a candle fills the panes for a moment, and a vague shape like a hooded figure looms up before Gertie. Then the candlelight dies in an instant. The panels of the window rattle. It begins to open outward.
Gertie manages to creep left, gripping the top of the window frame with her fingers, and thus avoid being knocked loose from her perch.

The right panel arcs outward. The hooded lurker draws nearer, leaning out. A white hand goes up, the dark cloth falls back, and a young woman with long, light hair sticks her head out into the nightbreeze.
She speaks in a throaty whisper,
''Richard, my love."

She fixes her gaze on Gertie. ''Oh?"