Murder Mystery in a Timely Manor - Session 18-19

<sophos_> The red light blinks a steady rhythm, glaring a warning in every shard of glass on the bathroom floor. A bell tolls overhead and shakes dust free from the ceiling; nine more follow it.
* Mistress_D wobbles as blood trickles down her leg "Guh, I wonder how much of this mansion is watched."
<Bandolier> "Probably the whole thing?" Bandolier answered. "You don't think they'd invite us to something like this without being able to keep track of us do you?"
* Mistress_D sighs as she walks back to the sink to wash her legs "I certainly wouldn't want to miss a good show."
<Bandolier> "I'm still impressed they found me. No address," he shrugged.
<Bandolier> "Where to now anyhow?"
<Mistress_D> "Well, I didn't exactly have an address either. Through the invitation wasn't exactly for me so I guess I can't be surprized." turns off the water " and Honestly I don't know we need to get pass the maze, through we should looks for other doors." fluffs her mane "...I look terrible."
<sophos_> Bensonmum hovers over the glass and his vacuum attachment hums to life as he begins sucking up the shards. "I do hope you haven't made a similar mess in the courtyard. All that lightning and rain doesn't agree with me."
* Mistress_D sighs and looks to the robot "Hey Bensonmum, which door leads to the tower."
<sophos_> "What tower? Do you mean the spiral staircase?" The robot rumbles as a large shard tinks up his vacuum arm. " I can't speak for the other floors, but the staircase empties into the gallery on the first floor."
* Mistress_D nods to the robot "Ace said he saw someone in the tower we can at least check there for clues."
<Stellar_Ascent> "Who do you think could be in that tower?"
<Mistress_D> "I'm expecting no one."
<Mistress_D> "Hoping for the one.'
* Mistress_D finishes freshing herself up a second time and makes for the gallery
* Bandolier shrugs and follows towards the gallery
* Mistress_D once in the gallery would scan the area looking for the stairs waiting for the others before heading up.
* Stellar_Ascent follows suit, already fearing what kind of trap might await them next.
<Mistress_D> "Alright be on your toes,  last thing we need is more gargoyles."
<sophos_> The gallery still stinks of char, and the air is thick with soot. The back half of a luxury motorwagon sits slump against the gate, a sorry patch in the blackened wall. Circles upon circles of burnt tire stain the marble floor above the short, stone steps flanked with proud statues of lions. On the other end of the room, a door is open to complete darkness.
* Mistress_D exhales out of her nose and precedes to the darkness
<sophos_> Stone steps ascend on the left and descend on the right; lanternlight flickers over the steps, originating just around the bend behind the center pillar.
* Mistress_D begins her ascent and trots carefully up the steps
* Stellar_Ascent gives his best to ignore the crashsite and followed Mistress
<sophos_> Hoofsteps echo through the staircase. The stone wall grow closer and closer together with each step. At the top, a foal-sized door is buried behind large pieces of collapsed stone.
<Stellar_Ascent> "Urg... not adult-friendly."
* Mistress_D eye twitches at the size
* Mistress_D looks to Bandolier "Can you get through?'
* Bandolier peers at the door for a moment and crouches down, eyeing the door.
<Bandolier> "I might be able to manage. Benefit to being on the smaller side."
<Mistress_D> "Then if you please."
* Bandolier stretches his body to limber up and begins to prowl towards the entrance to squeeze through.
<sophos_> Bandolier finds the large pieces of stone bar any way through the door.
* Mistress_D tries to moves the stone for him.
<sophos_> The largest stones are beyond Mistress_D's reach.
<Bandolier> "I guess we best start from the outside if we want through this door."
<Mistress_D> "Assuming we don't get hit with lighting."
<Mistress_D> "But whatever lets retreat down."
<Bandolier> "alright, where to next then?"
<Mistress_D> "...."
<Mistress_D> "I'm gonna go out front.'
<Mistress_D> "Fly into the tower."
<Mistress_D> "There was a door behind the wrecked car."
<Mistress_D> "See if you can open it.....mind the bodies."
<Mistress_D> "Well not a door more of a hole that was fixed with ....some type of machine fuckery, see if you can get it open."
* Mistress_D says on the way down stairs.
* Stellar_Ascent follows the Mistress down the stairs.
* Bandolier hovers down after the bunch.
<sophos> Bensonmum greets the party with a loud pop as they shuffle onto the gallery floor. "Excuse me, esteemed guests, but I seem to have a slight malfunction" says the robot as it wavers in the air. "Large shards of glass don't seem to agree with me. Could I trouble you to take me downstairs to the servant's quarters? I'm long due for maintenance."
* Mistress_D throws her hoofs up in the air "SURE! we can, it's not like we are on a timer." looks to  the others "Right."
<Bandolier> "Of course. Wherever we go we should go together."
* Bandolier shuffles in place impatiently, eager to find some treasure soon.
* Mistress_D slides a hoof down her face "I'm at a lost, so sure, lets go bot."
<sophos> Bensonmum buzzes through the staircase door and into stone pillar. It wobbles as it descends the steps and says, "I should remind you I will be practically blind down there."
<sophos> The time is 22:08

*************

<sophos> The basement is cold, dark, and musty. A lantern is mounted on the wall next to the door. It casts long shadows of the nearby stacks of barrels that stretch into the complete darkness. Somewhere in the distance is a sound akin to squeaking.
* Bandolier 's eyes light up and focus on the stacks upon stacks of storage before him. He immediately begins his systematic search starting with the barrels nearest him and progressing down the wall.
* Mistress_D waves her hoof in front of her muzzle as if to bat away the smell to no avail "Horrid, truly."
<Bandolier> "You know what storage rooms in mansions have?"
<Bandolier> "Especially old musty ones like this?"
<Mistress_D> "Yes, Storage." she says flatly
* Bandolier looked over his wing at 'D' with a bit of a huff.
<Bandolier> "Maybe to those without the curiousness" Bandolier said as he resumed his rifling.
<Mistress_D> "Maybe another day I would have been more .....joyful about...loot."
* Bandolier began to drift too far away from the light, still excited about rifling through old boxes. By the time he realized it he was squinting like an bald eagle trying to peer through the low lighting.
<Bandolier> "Do you have any cloth on you?"
* Mistress_D looks to the wall and tries to unhook the lantern. "Cloth, no why do you need some?'
<Bandolier> "Figured I could wrap some around my screwdriver and make a second torch."
<Bandolier> "Cotton with a bit of oil should last a decent amount of time. Can't imagine the room is too big."
<Mistress_D> "It's a basement in a mansion." she says dryly as she fiddles trying to unhook the lantern.
<sophos_> Mistress_D finds the lantern is fixed to the wall. It wont budge.
* Mistress_D sucks her teeth at the lantern stubbornness and looks through her bags
<Bandolier> "Any luck with that lantern?"
<Mistress_D> "It's stuck tight, I have a lighter anyway."
<sophos_> Bandolier spots a yellowed piece of paper sticking out from under a barrel.
* Bandolier crouches to find said yellowed sheet of paper.
* Bandolier picks up aforementioned paper to examine it.
<sophos_> It reads: So now we have a situation where I ended up upstairs after leaving the downstairs bathroom and I don't remember flushing myself through the pipes. And if that wasn't queer enough, I saw someone Equine-shaped– as far as I could tell– and covered in rags dashing down the hall. I took a potshot at them before I rounded the corner but all I found was a dead end with a locked door. I didn't give them enough time to open and close a door on me, so I'm thinking they must've poofed into thin air. Didn't even see that flash the Unicorns give off when they teleport, and I wasn't blinking neither. I would've checked for a blood trail if the carpet wasn't fresh blood red.
<sophos_> Oh, and I found some kind of glorified wristwatch. I saw whoever I saw drop it. Looks like it goes onto to one of those PipBucks Stable-Tec's been slinging to anyone and everyone, with bits to their name that is.
<Bandolier> "Hey, I found a note," Bandolier says before clearing his throat and continuing. "So now we have a situation~"
* Bandolier reads whole note aloud.
* Stellar_Ascent , turning on his headlamp light to make everything more visible, listens closely to the reading.
* Mistress_D listens putter her lighter back as it wasn't needed
<Stellar_Ascent> "Somepony completely ragged... like a mummy or something. Aaaand... a Pip-Buck. Perhaps... one of those, if we can find one, contains more clues?"
<Mistress_D> "If pipbucks are involved the pony in rags might have been using a stealth buck." grimaces as she remembers the gargoyles "Keep alert down here."
<Bandolier> "Well I still intend to rummage through here for the time being. I'm sure there's lots more to find."
<Mistress_D> "Well, the bot still needs maintenance so I'll look for that while you....rummage~"
<sophos_> "Excuse me," a robotic voice calls out from somewhere. "I seem to be lost." A faint buzzing reverberates throughout the abyss.
* Bandolier hovers out into the stairwell to claim the lantern off the wall."
* Mistress_D stops in her tracks and looks to the robot "...Excuse me?'
<sophos_> "You're excused. Now come find me. My memory files of this floor are significantly corrupted."
<Mistress_D> "......" looks to Stellar_Ascent " Care to help me? maybe we can dismantle the bot when we find it."
<Stellar_Ascent> "Yeah, sure."
* Stellar_Ascent nods, eager to follow the mistress.
* Bandolier works at removing this lantern from the wall.
* Mistress_D looks around lost herself.
* Stellar_Ascent , after briefly turning his head in every direction, looks at a northwestern part of the basement. "Must be somewhere there."
* Mistress_D trots beside Stellar "Glad you have a lead, I can't make heads or tails down here."
<Bandolier> "Before you two peel off, mind lending me a light? Or something to light?"
<Bandolier> "If not I might be burning some barrels and it could get a bit stuffy.
<sophos_> After snaking through a couple turns, Mistress_D and Stellar_Ascent see a light. Another wall fixture illuminates a small area where Bensonmum hovers pathetically over a tattered rug and broken barrels. Behind him is a short shelf, and nearby is a wheelbarrow with a couple picks laying in it.
<Stellar_Ascent> "No worries, mistress." He assures her that everybody had their contributions. "Sorry, only got my helmet."
<Stellar_Ascent> "Wait... Bensomum?"
<Mistress_D> "That is perfectly fine, I appreciate your aid, and have no problems getting close."
* Mistress_D looks to the bot then to the surround around that she can see "Had a bit of a tumble Benny?"
* Bandolier tests the nearest barrel's weight, contents, and gives it a few whiffs.
<sophos_> "It's Bens-- nevermind. You wont remember anyway. I told you I'm effectively blind down here. I know the servant's quarters are... not over here." It lets out a sound like crackling firewood. "It is tucked away in a corner, though. I remember that much."
* Mistress_D walks behind Benny and hugs the wall "Alright then, like see how big this room is." she starts walking guided by wall
* Mistress_D her right side is dominant so she starts walking that direction.
<sophos_> Mistress_D's hoof catches on a stray crate, but she rights herself with ease.
* Mistress_D lets out an Oof but quickly corrects herself and continues walks adjusting for obstacles as she comes by them
* Bandolier is still inspecting the barrel to see if it's safe to burn.
* Stellar_Ascent follows the mistress D ever loyally.
<sophos_> Bandolier realizes it has to be safe to burn. It's-- like-- really old.
<Mistress_D> "200 years worth of junk,....anycase," makes her way back to where she started, "yes, it's actually smaller then I thought." sighs "which means something needs to be moved."
<Stellar_Ascent> "But what?" He thought out loud. Perhaps there was more hidden stuff to find.
* Bandolier decides that it is in fact a good idea to break apart this barrel so he pushes it from the top of the stack onto the floor and stomps down with his claws.
<Mistress_D> "We start with the corners as Benjamin said it's tucked away in one."
<sophos_> The wood is brittle and breaks easily.
* Mistress_D winces at the sound "Bandolier what are you doing!"
* Bandolier answers without turning to her voice, "Making a few torches!"
* Bandolier takes ones of the longer pieces of the side and holds one end to the lantern to light it.
<Stellar_Ascent> "Uuh okay." He answered to both, calmly inspecting the corners.
* Mistress_D shakes end and looks to the corners with stellar.
<sophos_> Bandolier finds the lantern is encased in glass, and not the slidey kind.
* Bandolier finds a bit of grim irony at the subtle joke there. Birds can't see clean glass... "Heh."
<Mistress_D> "Tables, boxes, and chairs, o my!"
* Bandolier takes his very, very sharp iron-like talons and taps the glass moderately hard to break it.
* Mistress_D sighs and who's try to start moving objects to the middle of the room
<sophos_> The glass shatters.
* Mistress_D jumps looking around to see if she cause the shatter "What?'
<Bandolier> "Dun worry. Just some glass around the lantern.
* Bandolier now lights the long piece of wood.
* Mistress_D shakes her head to try and clear it "Snap out of it, everything is fine."
* Bandolier takes his makeshift torch and starts moving along the northern wall examining things as he goes.
<sophos_> The wood catches flame and dark smoke pours out f the lantern to the ceiling.
<sophos_> The northern wall is lined with barrels and a single, broken shelf.
<Bandolier> "Hey, heads up! There's a ladder over in the northwest corner!
<Bandolier> "Make note, I'm gonna keep poking through things."
<Stellar_Ascent> "A ladder? Downward or upwards?"
<Bandolier> "Upwards."
* Bandolier begins poking through some of the pile in the middle from the west side.
* Mistress_D  looks around and instead of deadlifting she does the smart thing and pushes the objects using the aid of her wings starting with a southern wheel barrel pulling it towards Bandolier up north before flying over it and moving a wheelbarrel need the entrance west
<Stellar_Ascent> "Where does it lead to I wonder..."
* Mistress_D groans as she pushes "Hopefully a way out." finishes pushing and heads down to move another
<sophos_> Mistress_D is confronted by two, ridiculously tall shelves. As she tries to slide one aside, she finds out they're ridiculously heavy too. It's certain she'll need help to push them, and they're probably not going to slide sideways.
* Stellar_Ascent gets behind the mistress and wishes to help. "Not very strong, but... perhaps together."
<Stellar_Ascent> Though he realizes he can barely move between all that furniture. "Or... not."
* Bandolier is disappointed in his luck with finding anything so far. He coasts around the pile and around the backside of the bookshelves trying to get at the last corner in the room.
* Bandolier starts to poke through the junk in the southeast corner as well as he began to crawl over it.
<sophos> A chorus of altos rises from beneath the center pile of junk. Countless pairs of tiny, red eyes spark to life within every crack like hot coals in a pyre.
<sophos> The time is 22:22