[Carrie] Chapter 4: Internal Strife

[Throndir]

Feel free to state any prep you might be doing the rest of the night, otherwise, we'll be moving to the next day!

Location: New World - Lamia Priestess Tunnels - Carrie's Room
Date: Day 3 - 5 AM

Being underground, meant there were no windows, so everything was dark and pitch black, save for some night lights which were glowing crystals. The crystals themselves seemed to be intune with the day, for as morning came, the light from these crystals grew slowly once morning came around. It was around 5 AM when you finally started to stir awake.

[Erynn]

As Carrie groggily blinks the sleep from her eyes, she finds herself irritated by another night full of unpleasant dreams, but oddly not the type she had expected. This time, it was a much less recent event that had come back to the forefront, an ambush that she and the rest of her squad had had to fight their way out of during her time overseas. Carrie distinctly hoped that the dream didn't turn out to be some sort of omen.

Unpleasant dreams or no, Carrie was now awake and needed to get ready for the day ahead. She started off, once again, by making her bed before moving on to the usual morning routine. Carrie changes things about, however, by adding back into her morning routine something that had fallen by the wayside in light of the sudden change in environment. Dropping straight from an upright position, catching herself with the palms of her hands against the floor, she begins the calisthenics that compose the daily physical training regimen of the US Marine Corps, starting with pushups. Once calisthenics are completed, Carrie sets out from her room and begins jogging through the tunnels, seeking to identify an essentially circular route suitable for use as a regular circuit. She keeps an eye out for anyone who might be engaged in a similar regimen of cardiovascular exercise, and if able to identify such an individual would join them in running whatever circuit they were presently taking advantage of. Once Carrie is satisfied that she has sufficiently exercised, she'll make her way to the dining area where food has been served previously for breakfast.

[Throndir]

As you went around jogging, you noticed that there actually wasn't a lot of others inside the complex itself. Through this, you were able to get a good layout of the tunnels themselves. There were sections where priestesses stayed in, the eating areas, the common rooms, places where they kept weaponry, the training hall, the bathhouse, the meeting rooms of various sizes, and an array of various bedrooms too, the storehouses and kitchens, each of them were just as finely maintained as yours was.

You had past by a few exits as well which had a pair of Lamia priestess guards at them, each of them bowing their head slightly in reverence to you.

"Hero Carrie." One of them said, one who apparently didn't get the memo of calling you by your name only. "If you are jogging... Might I suggest outside in the forest? It's a dark forest, but the mates of the Lamia Priestesses live in homes up there, rather than here in these tunnels, which is our temple dedicated to you and the goddess."

I'll let this count for training for the Run feat. Specify how long you run for. If only 1 hour I'll have it at double expedited training. If 2 hours, it'll be expedited training. If 4 hours, it'll be normal training.

[Erynn]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 19 + 9, total 28[/blockquote]

As Carrie jogged through the tunnels, the layout of the place became clearer to her. She is also able to note the locations of the points of entry and egress, too many for her liking, but at least now they were known to her. She stopped for a moment to respond to a guard who had suggested an alternate course.

"Normally, I'd agree with you, Carrie explained, "Unfortunately there are two things going against me if I were to do so. First, and most obvious of the two, this camouflage will stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of a forest, Second, not everybody I could come across will recognize me. Being easy to spot in a secretive place where not everyone yet knows me could easily lead to an awkward situation at the very least. Besides, jogging through the tunnels has given me a better idea where everything is. Thanks for the suggestion though, and try to remember to use just my name okay?"

Carrie then resumes jogging, headed in the direction of the dining facilities before too long.

[Throndir]

Training
Run: 1/8

The guard nodded and then saluted as you headed back towards the dining facilities.


Location: New World - Lamia Priestess Tunnels - Dining Room
Date: Day 3 - 6 AM

The dining rooms themselves were a short distance away from the kitchen. Altogether there were five separate dining rooms. Or at least rooms that could be designated as such as they contained large stone tables in them. Each one were sized differently. The first four ranged from a smaller ornate room that could seat 10, while the largest one contained multiple long rows of tables, and seemed a potential place to hold banquets in. The last dining room was reserved for the priestesses themselves which was much more simply decorated. There were other priestess guards posted at most of the rooms, and when you entered either the dining room or kitchens, they would have greeted you.

"Hero!" The guard saluted. Another one that didn't quite get the memo. Either Synithise had not told many other priestesses about the proper way of calling you, or the forgot, or chose not to. "We have food prepared already that we can bring straight to your quarters. Matriarch Synithise gets up around this time of day."

[Erynn]

As Carrie made her way toward the dining facilities for breakfast, she notices something that strikes her as being extremely unusual. A large number of the rooms that she passes are guarded. Rooms with tables in them. In Carrie's mind, two and two are somehow adding together to make five, and it becomes very clear to her very quickly that something isn't right with this picture. It also occurs to Carrie that this is now the second time that one of the guards has called her hero despite having told Synithise why that wasn't the best idea.

As the guard in question informs Carrie that food had already been prepared that could be brought straight to her quarters, Carrie immediately finds herself suspicious that the guard would suggest a less convenient course of action than simply joining the priestesses in the mess hall. As it had many times before on patrol, Carrie's gut began to react to the circumstances and the environment in which she found herself, and it was telling her that something was about to horribly, horribly sideways. The mention of Synithise sends the color fleeing from her face, and Carrie quickly responds.

"You know what?", She begins, a thought occurring to her as she goes to respond, "Go ahead and send it to the matriarch's quarters along with her meal. If she'll be up soon, I may as well join her."

Carrie then takes several steps backward in the direction she had come from before turning around and walking briskly away and out of sight before breaking into a run toward Synithise' room. Carrie then knocks on the door and waits for a response, the seconds that pass by seeming like an eternity to her.

[Throndir]

"Very well, hero." The guard saluted.



You eventually made it towards Synithise's room. You knocked on the door, but there was no response.

[Erynn]

As the seconds dragged on with no response, Carrie's degree of concern continues to increase. All of the worst-case scenarios had begun rapidly filing through Carrie's mind, resulting in a palpable dread at what Carrie might find behind the door. While it was possible that Synithise had already left the room, it troubled Carrie that while there had been guards posted outside empty dining facilities, there were none posted up outside the door to the matriarch's quarters. Carrie was now quite certain that something was wrong, but didn't quite know what.

It was then that Carrie recalled an earlier conversation with a guard at one of the entrances. The guard's own words now came back to haunt Carrie's mind, causing her to immediately go to full military alert. In the guard's own words, "If you are jogging... Might I suggest outside in the forest? It's a dark forest, but the mates of the Lamia Priestesses live in homes up there, rather than here in these tunnels, which is our temple dedicated to you and the goddess."

Carrie realized in a flash moment of clarity that the guard had referred to the lamia priestess' mates as exactly that, rather than our mates, as they had called the temple. Carrie felt the blood in her veins run ice cold upon realizing that the guard had spoken as if they didn't count themselves among the numbers of the lamia priestesses, and she drew her sidearm, preparing to breach into the room.

Carrie knocks on the door one more time, this time practically pounding on it. She announces her presence clearly, "Synithise, it's Carrie! If you're in there open up!"

Carrie then waits and listens for any kind of sound from within her friend's quarters, standing just off to one side. She now holds her weapon in a low ready position, preparing to breach and clear. If she receives no response, or if she hears noise from within without Synithise responding, Carrie will plant a sharp kick on the door's locking mechanism and force the door open, firing on the first individual she sees with a weapon in hand that isn't Synithise.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+13 : 14 + 13, total 27[/blockquote] Perception
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+5 : 4 + 5, total 9[/blockquote] Strength, if Carrie has to breach and clear.

[Throndir]

When you breached into the door, you were easily able to knock it down. You made a cursory glance around the area, but you didn't find anyone in the room at all. The bed looked to have been used, without it being tidied up. There were a couple of tables and drawers in the room. Like the rest of the rooms in the tunnels, there were no windows. The same glowing crystal-like objects were protruded at various points on the wall, illuminating the room. There looked to be a bowl of half-eaten grapes on one of the tables next to the bed. However, there was no sight of Synithise of anyone else for that matter.

Roll one of the following (in preferred order) for the room: Investigate, Perception, INT

Apart from the roll above, also Perception requested.

[Erynn]

As Carrie quickly cleared the room, she was at once both relieved not to find any resistance, yet further concerned that Synithise wasn't present. The presence of a half-eaten bowl of grapes in the room told Carrie that whoever had been in the room immediately prior had left in a hurry, having neither finished the food nor cleaned up after themselves. Carrie also distinctly recalled Synithise expressing a distaste for food not composed of animal matter. Though the Cuban sandwich the day before had made it clear that Synithise could eat plant-based foods, particularly when mixed with meat, it seemed very odd to Carrie that the only food left half eaten in Synithise' quarters was exactly that; plant-based. Just one more item in a growing list of strange that was quickly becoming a pattern.

"Shit!", came the inevitable profane expression of frustration at Synithise' absence, followed by asking herself the obvious question as she closed the door as best she could behind her, "Okay, what's the next move?"

Carrie took a few moments as she closely observed the room for further evidence of foul play at work to considere the big picture. She mentally lined up the various pieces of information she had acquired thus far and made note of a rather disturbing commonality that she saw between two items. Both the guard at the entrance and the guard at the mess hall had seemingly attempted to give Carrie a suggestion that would have taken her further away, and separated her from, the lamia priestesses. Now, with Synithise unaccounted for, it was possible that it might have happened a third time. If Synithise were to receive a seemingly reasonable suggestion like Carrie had while jogging, Carrie doubted Synithise would question it. The thought now occurred to Carrie that Synithise might not be the only possible target and that an enemy element may have somehow already discovered the existence of a hero in Darmona.

Carrie is now fully expecting the shit to hit the fan at any moment and finds herself distinctly interested in retrieving her combat gear from her own room. In fact, she decides to make it her next stop.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+13 : 14 + 13, total 27[/blockquote] Perception roll 1
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+13 : 5 + 13, total 18[/blockquote] Perception roll 2

[Throndir]

[info]Perception (the room's details): 27
There were a couple of things you noticed. A fragment of a piece of what looked to be pottery that glinted on the floor. On the opposite side of the bed away from the door, one of the pillows was on the ground that you didn't notice in your first glance of the room. There was a slight discoloration on the wall, a white streak on it, that looked as if something had scraped against it.

Perception (Outside the room): 18
You heard the tell-tale almost slithering sound of the lamia priestesses moving. The jingle of metal told you that it was the more heavily-armored ones, the guards that were stationed at various points in the complex. The sounds were approaching If you were to guess, they would be here in another couple more seconds.[/info]

Pausing your action to head to your room for equipment until this next scene.

[Erynn]

As Carrie looked around the room, she quickly found her gut reaction being proven completely correct. A piece of broken pottery lying on the floor all by its lonesome told Carrie that an object within the room had been broken. The white streak along the stone wall told her that an object had struck and abraded the wall. A pillow lying on the ground on the far side of the bed seemingly localized the struggle. There was one thing that gave Carrie hope, however. Despite signs of a struggle, there was no blood visible in the room.

Carrie then heard the telltale sounds of approaching guards and found herself hoping very much that these weren't the same guards she had just left near the mess hall. Whether they were or not, Carrie was going to come face to face with them upon exiting the room so the young hero decided to take a chance. She holsters her sidearm, but neither buckles it back in nor removes her hand from it, leaving it available for sudden use should the need arise. Carrie steps out into the hallway, turning in the direction of the sound of approaching guards and shouts, "There's evidence of a struggle in the matriarch's quarters! Lock down the temple! Nobody leaves until further notice! Search the temple from one end to the other until we either find the matriarch or confirm that she's missing!"

The manner in which the guards respond will tell Carrie very clearly whether or not she will be able to work with the approaching group, or if she'll have to alter her course of action. Her words would also tie the hands of any potential enemy agents should the group be a mix of both friend and foe, lest the enemy reveal themselves. Carrie then issues one more instruction.

"If we can't find the matriarch, the highest ranked individuals in the temple should convene back here."

Carrie then watches and waits, prepared to answer any questions, and to point out the evidence of foul play present in the room, as well as the odd lack of guards prior to the arrival of this group should they respond as one would expect.

[Throndir]

The two lamia that you saw stopped their movement when they had noticed you come out of the room. They glanced at each other for a brief moment and turned back towards you. You called out for instructions, but the two lamia didn't immediately start reacting at all. Eventually one of the guards bowed their heads.

"Hero, apart from you , I'll be getting the highest ranked individual in our temple here." The lamia said calmly. Bowing her head one more time, she turned to leave. The other guard stayed however, but continued to stand still at attention much like the rest of the lamia guards you had seen thus far. She stayed at a respectful distance away, but didn't move closer to you, or the now open door to Matriarch's room.

[Erynn]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+5 : 19 + 5, total 24[/blockquote] Sense motive to evalute the guard's behavior. (Stopping in their tracks when they see Carrie exit the room, the glance toward each other, the long pause before the one responds, and the general calm demeanor in the face of what would seem to be shocking news.)

[Throndir]

[info]Sense Motive: 24
You definitely had a hunch that something was up. First, they seemed to show some surprise when they saw you exit the room. Their glance towards each other was one that looked like the guards were worried. You got the feeling that their pause was more out of hesitance on what to say or do. But it was their calm demeanor that caught you the most. With their matriarch missing, guards who should have been protecting the matriarch should have been more alarmed. At the same time however, they kept a standoffish professionalism in their reactions thus far.[/info]