Jonathan closes in on George.

"House?"

He wonders if there is any Idea to stay outdoors.

George nods. "House." He leads the way...

You approach the house, it's colonial grandeur faded and worn, the remains of the formal gardens overgrown with weeds, one wing reduced to broken windows and peeling paint. Light shows from the entrance hall, and several windows on the first floor. Aside from the front door there are several opens windows, plus whatever lies around the back of the mansion...

Using first floor in the English way here, in the US you'd say second floor.

George indicates the long wall of the mansion. "Make for the side or back, I think," he says quietly, leading the way.

The rear of the mansion is even more dilapidated, with an overgrown kitchen garden and several outhouses collapsing into the undergrowth. One room, presumably the kitchen, show a dim light. A worn path leads from the kitchen door through the riotous garden and into the jungle...

George holds his finger up to his mouth, indicating the need for quiet. He then sneaks up to the kitchen window and peeks in.

Kit stays back towards the back corner of the house, watching and waiting, gun in hand.

A single candle burns on the kitchen table, dimly illuminating the mess and squalor of the room itself. There is no sign on anyone.

George moves in, grabbing the candle and moving into the next room, gun in hand...

Jonathan watches before he also tries to climb into the window.

You enter the kitchen, which shows signs of infrequent use by a slovenly cook. There three doors, all closed and dark. You can hear footsteps and muffled voices from somewhere on the floor above...

George nods to the left and leads the little group through the door to the left...

The door leads to a musty dining room, clearly long disused. There is another exit, with a dim light showing underneath the door...

George waves the others into the room before he pushes the door open, gun in hand...

Sweating profusely, Kit moves up next to the door out of sight of the doorway before George opens it!

The door opens into the entrance hall, the height of the house with an ornate double staircase leading to a upper balcony running along three sides of the room. The voice, and a dim light, are coming from somewhere upstairs.

The hall itself is clearly in frequent use, a couple of threadbare persian carpets acting as a doormat. Everything is dusty and somehow squalid. There are half a dozen doors leading from the hall, but no light shines from any of them.

George is breathing heavily, but he moves very quietly to the stairs, waving the others with him. He slowly moves up the stairs, testing each to try to avoid squeaky boards or the like and watching out for booby-traps. His eyes are wide and sweat beads on his brow.

The expression on Kit's face is a bit more inscrutible--something between a poker face and the face of a man about to vomit. He waves his cousin and Percival in in front of him, watching on this floor with gun in hand for any trouble...

Jonathan follows.

Since there is someone talking, there must be at least 2 people where the group is heading. He prepares for whoever they will encounter. But if they move slow enough, we might be able to hear what being said, and by whom, so he keeps his eyes and his ears open.

The back of George's head prickles as he advances up the last few steps of the stairway, and he looks over his shoulder. There is a large black man dozing on a chair on the landing above and behind him, clearly a servant. But, servant or not, you notice he is armed with a pistol stuffed in his belt. The chair sits next to a half open door. The room inside is dimly lit, and looks like some kind of study. There are two people speaking inside, but you cannot see them without passing the guard, and their voices, though loud, are too muffled to hear clearly.

Just then, dimly but getting louder quickly, you can here shouting from somewhere outside...

Going to read up on the Stealth rules and post something in Meta tomorrow.

Moving quietly you climb the stairs and turn right on the landing above, away from the guard. There are two doors leading on to the gallery on this side of the entrance hall. Both are closed. You have scant seconds before the approaching party outside wakes the sleeping guard...

Since Patrick's player is having some health issues I took the liberty of rolling for his Stealth to keep things moving.

Before the rest of the "party" gets there, Kit moves in quickly and quietly and pulls the sleeping guard's gun away from him. He then waves the others back around the corner, where they resume hiding....

Jonathan is impressed by Kit's stealthy moves, and goes around the corner.

You head along the gallery and open the last door, which opens stiffly to reveal a dusty bedroom that smells strongly of mould. You all pile inside and Kit closes the door just as the front door opens with a bang. You hear muffled shouting and several set of footsteps running up the stairs.

Giving you the chance to respond, if you want to wait for further development just don't post :)

Kit gets behind the door, ready for whoever is coming, his gun at the ready.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:23, Tue 22 Aug 2017.