Yeah, that knucklehead will never give up. Lol. Anyways, it's Monday morning, and it's overcast outside. I'm going to try to see if I can finish this chapter up properly.
Sun's Dusk 2, 3E433 6:20 am
Play time: 85:46:33
Days Passed: 68
Days Jailed: 17
The final door into the Count's chambers has the cheapest lock, Kahreem thinks as he picks it with one try. He is lucky. He's managed to make it this far with only 5 lockpicks. He found a sixth lockpick in a rotted old chest, and this is the only one he's broken so far.
"Funny how they use 1 and 2-tumblers to protect one of the most important people in Cyrodiil. Cheapskates," he whispers. Kahreem gazes into the room before him, which reeks of pleasant scents up top, and a lower, heavier sort of odor underneath. The odor of food which is spoiling, perhaps. He had found the Countess's "torture chamber" about an hour previously, the place was deserted, though.
"Well. Here goes nothing. Wish me luck."
After picking this final door, he closes it, and then remains motionless for about an hour. Waiting for folks to wake up and get on with their daily duties in life. He listens carefully for shoes walking nearby, but there is apparently nobody here.
7:27 am"The elves and the magic-users make do with all their fancy spells and incantations. I get by using my wits entirely."
He is so nervous, he can hear his heartbeat punctuating in his breath ...
huh huh huh .... and this is when he finally decides to have a better look into the next room, as pleasant music is piped in from somewhere unseen.*
It's a medium-sized chamber, nicely decorated with well-polished furnishings and red-colored tapestry. There's a door on the far end, and a set of dark stairs to his left. The Redguard looks carefully, and thinks he sees a man standing guard up those stairs.
"Dammit! Fokke! How'm I gonna be able to get by him?!"
Even if he sneaks into the room, he'll be way too broad and easy to notice. "Dammit."
10:25 amHe finally makes a move, after discerning that the guard has left. As he creeps into the chamber, he notices a second set of stairs on his right, and ducks up these after hearing the sound of a door opening somewhere far away. As he gets a better look, he sees there's now a door beside him.
"Ha! A one-tumbler! What the fokke is wrong with these people?"
The door leads into a hallway though, and Kahreem can see at least three
other doorways in the nearby vicinity. The Redguard is lucky nobody else is standing close by.
11:47 am"Well what do you think, Hildara, about these shades?" Countess Caro asks in the privacy of her room.
"Did you hear something?" asks her personal servant.
After a false lead into a pair of rooms, which turn out to be a dead-end, Kahreem sneaks back into the initial chamber with the nice furniture, and has a closer peek up the stairs.
"Yes! The guard is gone! That's it buddy, you're too busy now, sucking up to Miss Caro or her decrepit husband
ha ha ha."
The Weet Bandit chances up the stairs, grateful that the carpet which lies upon them only quiets his shuffly foot-falls more than usual. He reaches the door and picks its simpleton lock.
"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN HERE!"
He hasn't even got a chance before he is caught! ... by Countess Caro and her trusty 'handmaiden' Hildara.
"Whoops! Ahhh....gotta go!"
Kahreem is chased by the pair of ladies for what seems to be an hour or so. He makes his way back down the stairs, past a second secret door, and (finally) into the torture room. "Dammit!" He knows if he goes too far, there will only be guards at the other end. "Crappe!" So he comes up with a quick plan. After a moment when the ladies show up, he circles the torture-rack (if that's indeed what it is) and allows Hildara to place a single blow on him...
"
Arrrgh!" PLUNK!
...then Kahreem rushes back the way he came. Through the first door, and past the secret one. As he passes through, he quickly ignites his torch, finds the lever half-hidden in an open-topped barrel, and closes the door!
"A A HAA HA HA!!" he laughs maniacally! The ladies are trapped inside!
"We won't hesitate to KILL you!" Hildara screams.
"Ha! You'll have to catch me first!"
Already knowing time is going to be tight, he now runs back upstairs once more, and into the room which the ladies had been locked inside. He searches and loots frantically, but cannot find the ring! ... The room is well-stocked with strawberries and apples, though. After calming down and eating some of these, he realizes they're not coming for him. ** Kahreem is safe. He decides to wait it out.
"Perhaps the Countess sleeps here, and I can take that damn ring from her very pocket," he says aloud. Nobody is here, and chances he'll have the place to himself until at least bed-time.
*
**
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
6:47 pmTotally bored, Kahreem starts creeping around the room he is in, practicing his chosen profession while snacking on grapes and strawberries, when the door suddenly opens! .. At the exact moment, Kahreem had been standing in a darker area, so the guard who opens the door (in a frenzy) does not see the Weet Bandit.
"Phewww."
7:09 pmThe guard seems to calm down, yet cannot stop his prying. He checks the room twice more, but finds no sign of the Redguard scum who reportedly "accosted" his boss. When the door opens a third time, it's not the guard who enters, it's the Count himself. He walks right in, and stands just two yards from Kahreem! ... A guard accompanies the Count, and the two of them stand literally right in front of the trespasser who's been hiding in their chambers for hours. Neither says anything, and after a few moments, both decide to leave.
11:28 pmKahreem is feeling sleepy, the joints in his legs getting creaky, when the door opens a fourth time. The guard does his usual step in/step out routine, leaving the Redguard wondering if anybody's ever going to fokkinge
sleep in this fokkinge room. He doesn't have to wait much longer.
"The legions patrol the roads..." it's a woman's voice! "...and the Empire supports them in their task. I can't imagine we'll ever be at war with the provinces. Not in my lifetime."
Karheem breaks into a sweat, as the mundane conversation drolls on. He can
hear these voices, but cannot see who speaks them.
"The Fighter's Guild is recruiting again. Not a bad way to makes some money, if you've got the stones for it," the woman informs.
I've heard others say the same," a male voice responds.
"What's the news from the other parts of Tamriel?"
"I understand daedra worship has become increasingly prevalent, in the Summerset Isles."
"It seems Summerset Isle has become a much more dangerous place!" the male responds.
"Indeed."
"Safe travels," the male says, even though the lady is simply about to "travel" to the nearest bed.
12:14 amKahreem assumes the lady is Countess Caro, and that she speaks to the guard posted outside her room, but as she walks in, Kahreem is dismayed to find there's
another male with her: The Count of Leyawiin. Both of them walk in the room, and climb into bed.*
"Finally!"
Kahreem sneaks slowly towards the Countess as she sleeps.
*
This post has been edited by Renee: Dec 6 2022, 07:53 PM