Veldygar eyed the monk's body, then Eternal's blades, opened his mouth as if to say something, as if to voice his concern over the Abyssal's obvious pleasure in the taking of a life.

But he did not. I blundered here. Perhaps if I had done things more smoothly, or abstained from action, this wouldn't have happened. This was my fault.

But he would not dwell on this. They had a goal: finding the Earth District's Gatekeeper. It was now urgent to find a way out.

"Let us get out of here... Quietly. As quietly as possible..." he said softly, draping himself in Essence that made his existence an overlooked fact, causing all those who would notice his presence to feel that he was merely part of the background - one of the brave soldiers searching for the vile Anathema.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:20, Tue 07 July 2009.

There are indeed two bodies inside Room 201: Harue's kill, already drained and cooling, and the Water Aspect so handily slain by the unseen specter that is Broken Eternal. There are two more, though -- the two younger monks. One of which Eternal has yet to finish off. Very likely whatever 'business' Eternal may have to deal with would have something to do with the consumption he spoke of with such relish.

No other monks appear to be coming. However, it would still be a good idea to move away from this region shortly, and maintain stealth or otherwise shield their identity. Harue can easily grab what she needs for an Immaculate disguise.[Private to Midou Harue: You still need to roll Int+Larceny to determine how good your disguise is, though you'll get reduced difficulties due to being a DB yourself, and having a proper costume.] Veldygar can get a last look at the unknown Water Aspect's equipment before Eternal does whatever he is planning on doing. The woman has... or had, a set of black jade lamellar and black jade dragon claws.

Once the group moves out there are a few choices to make. Immediately down the hall past the rows of rooms is an evacuated, but still brightly lit reception area. They may try to quickly glean some information from the front desk or terminals, perhaps to find a better place to rest. If they deem it too risky to dally there, they can proceed to the next T intersection and choose to head further north, or further west.

There is also a side door from the reception area that Harue knows leads back outside the hospital. IF for whatever reason the group would prefer to wait things out a bit.

[Private to Veldygar Arhandor: Both of your demons are back now, dematerialized and lurking beneath ground level. Gugoona informs you that a large amount of monks have moved west from the entrance hall. It has also heard that a larger scale attack has been reported at a different site connecting to the Inner Temple: the Western Shrine Outpost. This is a location clear on the other side of Floor B25 so it's a few miles away. No doubt this has further confused and thinned out the monks in the area.

The other attack was also apparently made by an army of giant crimson bugs, which strikes you as odd. You can roll some Int+Lore or Occult if you want to think about that some.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:34, Tue 07 July 2009.

Listening distractedly to the whispers of his immaterial servants, Veldygar knelt to examine the Water Aspect's possessions.

[Private to GM: [OOC: I think I'll take at least the claws. If I can wrap the armor in my package and it is not too cumbersome (I don't think that with a Strength+Athletics total of 6, it will be too heavy per se), I'll take it too.
21:11, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 3,7,1,4,8. Int+Lore.
21:11, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 1 success using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 4,6,6,5,8,3. Int+Occult.]]

Veldygar decides that taking the jade claws should be easy enough even without attuning, but the lamellar would be awkward to carry for long distances. [Private to Veldygar Arhandor: I tend to think of feats of strength as not... sustained, but more one-time or short-duration. So while you could carry the lamellar, it would not at all be easy to lug around. I'd give you an external penalty equal to the armor's mobility penalty for doing that (in this case a -1 success to all rolls).

As for information gleaned. You have heard before of large, uncommonly intelligent ant-like insects being used as laborers in Earth District. Your thought is that something or someone must have angered them to revolt. In terms of these giant bugs' nature, they may either be elementals, or genetic construct (you've certainly seen your share of this summoning demons for weird Wood District experiments).]

His two companions would leave the room quickly, but if they did not they would surely see something they would rather have not.  Or rather, Veldy might well, though Harue would probably approve of the fate that awaited the unconscious monk, it was still not very pleasant.  Not at all.

Her body seemed to raise on its own accord as his unnatural strength made it child play to position her properly.  Then without warning or whispers there were two tremendous gashes on her neck...and then she began to die.  Her eyes opened in horror and her mouth opened to scream, but the soul only known as Chime [Private to Gatekeeper: Beautiful name, by the way! :P]could not manage any sound as she felt her very essence being pulled from her body.  Her skin grew pale and began to lose the luster of life, while the eyes began to grow dull and dead, until eventually the orbs were solid black--the windows of the soul had been shattered.

She was then thrown to the side of the room, so much like a heap of waste as she was thrown behind one of the many cabinets they had hidden behind moments before.  Then the other two bodies were moved as well, one inside one of the larger cabinets, and the other behind some shelves and such.  Watching them suddenly take to the air and be manipulated was horrific unless one knew it was Eternal doing the work, as they seemed possessed by the most uncaring of spirits.  The work was done quickly, however, and the bodies concealed...though there was still small bits of blood on the floor to suggest a battle, once the room was dark and the door was closed, the dead husks of the Dragon Blood would buy time with their hiding places, if only a few seconds.  And for a stealth operation, seconds counted dearly.

He stepped out of the room then, closing the door behind them, and even the door itself made no sound in the hands of Broken Eternal.

 [Private to Gatekeeper; Veldygar Arhandor: Those actions, of course, are to happen after Veldy is done getting whater he wants off of the monks.  Eternal isn't about to take them while he using them.  Well, I mean, ETERNAL would, but I'm certainly not that rude.  XD]

As he left Broken Eternal to do as he wished with the bodies, Veldygar walked towards the reception room, still wreathed with the very Essence of inconspicuousness masquerading him as one of the soldiers searching the hospital in the subconscious of most observers, watching for symbols indicating an exit.

Strange, it seems like we are not the only ones wreaking havoc on the Terrestrials, he thought. It was his nature to seek alliance with those who faced his own enemies. But weighing his chances of contacting others who would be fleeing from Dragon-Blooded scrutiny against the risk of being found and having to fight once more, he decided to search first for a way into the Temple, and to the Gatekeeper of Earth... If this proved impossible, then he would have other alternatives.

[OOC: I don't know if we are supposed to meet other PCs by investigating the troubles, but IMHO in Veldygar's situation it is only reasonable to take advantage of the distractions, and try to reach the Gatekeeper as soon as possible]

Eternal finishes with his grisly meal, and the setup of the room. Still no monks coming around, and the halls are all abandoned.

Veldygar looks around in the reception room. He sees the most obvious exit, the eastern door leading to the outside. However he remembers that Harue had mentioned the Inner Temple should be through a secret entrance inside the hospital, and it would be further to the west. The ideal route would be to head up to the next intersection and take the western corridor, and start searching along the way.

Unfortunately the Gatekeeper of Water had given little idea of how the secret entrance would be hidden. Only that it would not be obvious, and would likely be guarded... or locked against intruders. [Private to Veldygar Arhandor: Garnet Cog pretty much informs you similarly.]

---

OOC: It doesn't really matter who gets to the Gatekeeper first, of course! But even if you do make it INTO the temple, you still have to proceed 4 more floors upward after that, to get to the Gatekeeper of Earth. The likelihood you'll never be seen at all may start to drop the further you go into the danger zone.

Certainly it wouldn't hurt get a head start though. I won't force you to consciously go meet the others but you may run into them on the way. Though, if you want, I could also arrange for up to 3 hours full rest before you proceed.

Veldygar started to look for clues leading to the passage, in the approximate direction of the Temple. Any room label that seemed inconstitent with the neighboring rooms, or fortified doors that were not supposed to protect anything of real value. His investigation would strengthen his illusory disguise and should help him search the hospital undisturbed for a while.

[Private to GM: [OOC: 02:03, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,2,1,1,7. Per+Investigation.]]

OOC: Apologies, busy week, and likely next will be as well. So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, if I don't answer feel free to NPC or fade to background. Larceny Roll:You rolled 5 successes using 7d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((6,9,3,6,7,10,9)).

   Harue quickly dons the robes and apron of a hospital worker. While, it is not meant to be perfect, she aims for looking like she belongs in the area and a look will not reveal her as an intruder. She adopts as an air of belonging in the area as she steps out into the hallway.

    She indicates to Veldy that it may be safer o detour north for a bit. And then go west as far as you can go, searching for unusual doors or rooms (and probably trying to avoid notice too).

Listening to Harue's suggestion, Veldygar made a small detour.

Now that everyone has more or less come up with a suitable disguise or other way to remain unseen, the search can begin. Most outsiders would see a single guard (Veldy) and a doctor (Harue) searching the corridors together. Eternal, being invisible, can only be heard, not seen... an ominous presence that nonetheless eludes the senses, leaving the paranoid feeling vaguely threatened, yet unable to pinpoint the cause.

Veldygar starts at the first intersection, concentrating on searching the doors and halls north, then westward. He does not find much of note during his first sweep: an unmarked room that turns out to be a linen closet, several doors leading to what appear to be individual patient rooms and operating rooms, a lounge for off-duty doctors and nurses. Some of the bedrooms are actually still occupied, the patients generally too ill or injured to be moved, or fast asleep from a draught of blessed respite.

The lounge is empty, but looks like it normally sees a lot of use. There is a small kitchen (and plates of food from hastily abandoned lunches), stands with journals and news publications, a Gateway board, several comfortable chairs. Immaculate hymns play back from an unknown source, likely as not pre-recorded. Adjacent to the lounge is the main desk, where patients are admitted or dismissed, located in a central hospital location. The terminals here are even more complex, as they are used for storing patient data along with other hospital information, while the reception mostly deals with scheduled appointments.

Well past the main desk, lounge and offices, is another major intersection. Southward leads toward the emergency and trauma facilities (this is where Anya and Kiros were taken). One can also go further north (likely to more bedrooms and operating rooms) or even further west.

No one seems to disturb the Exalts. They pass a janitor that seems to have missed the call to evacuate, a rather frightened looking nurse attempting to help evacuate patients left behind, an elderly couple that appears to be lost. The only potentially dangerous encounter was with a receptionist speaking with a trio of armored monks, but it seems they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice anyone... yet.

[Private to Veldygar Arhandor; Midou Harue; Broken Eternal: Veldy started with an Perception+Investigation roll, but more is going to be needed. You could each roll separately, and search a specific area or type of room, or roll using teamwork (person with highest Investigation rolls, adding +1 die per additional team member) and search a wider area. Every set of rolls the PCs make will = 15 minutes of time spent searching, and the longer you search, the more likely you are to be caught.

The more specific you are about what you're searching, and where, the easier the difficulty will be, and you may get stunt dice! It's also possible you may need to accrue a large number of successes over many rolls. (Note that separate people rolling won't necessarily pool successes, it depends on how much redundant info they find.)

If you're more interested in looking at the terminals in the main desk or reception area you can roll Int+Lore instead.

You may also prefer to try to coerce or convince some of the people remaining in the hospital to help you, or eavesdrop on them. The former will be some form of social attribute/ability roll, the latter would be Perc+Awareness.

This should give you plenty of options to work with here.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:25, Mon 13 July 2009.

   Harue indicates she couldn't find a secret door if it were marked with a big S and so offers to play backup to Veldy's searching. When he is not searching she attempts to casually listen in on conversations.

   (OOC: Can't use die roller on work computer. Please roll for me. I will try to answer again before Wednesday.)

Approaching one of the terminals, in a deserted local if possible, Veldygar tried to access the hospitals plans. He would make the most of any information he could remember or write down to coordinate research and increase their chances of finding the entrance.

[Private to GM: [OOC: 17:42, Today: Veldygar Arhandor rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 2,5,7,1,5. Int+Lore]]

Veldygar at least succeeds at operating the terminal he accesses. Bringing up the map is an easy task, copying what he sees a more tedious one. [Private to Veldygar Arhandor: Ok... I'd like to know how long you decide to sit and copy the map. We're doing intervals of 15 minutes here. Each interval will give you +1 to future rolls made to find the secret entrance (Investigation, Lore, Larceny, Awareness). But you'll have a max of +3. So you could take anywhere from 15-45 minutes for some sort of additional bonus. However taking longer means potentially getting caught standing in one place.]

Meanwhile Harue catches snatches of conversation. The receptionist speaking with the monks happens to glimpse her at the corner of her eye, but does not seem disturbed by her presence. At least that reassures the Wood Aspect that her disguise is working. The monks speaking with the receptionist are more worrying, but Harue remains just out of their sight, relying on her keen hearing to pick up words of importance...

[Private to Midou Harue: The monks are questioning the receptionist. They ask her whether she has seen anything unusual, but it seems she entirely missed Room 201 with the bodies. The woman says that she remained because she is concerned about the patients being left behind. She and another woman (Elie, she calls her) remained to try to help them.

The monks reiterate to her that she should evacuate into the Inner Temple while she can, accompanied by one of the monks. Normal senses cannot easily see the entrance, they say. It is not a mundane hidden door, rather finding it involves penetrating some sort of powerful illusion, a trick of the senses. One has to find where to look and what to look for, otherwise one could pass the very same area over and over and never find anything except a feeling of deja vu. And when found, the entrance is locked and either guarded or trapped.

The receptionist looks hesitant to go. She pleads for some time to gather as many people as she can. This might be Harue's cue to get scarce since it looks like she may try to speak with the 'doctor' she sees nearby (i.e. Harue's disguise), though if you trust your ability to BS you may be able to get even more info ;) otherwise it could be dangerous.

What you heard will give you a bonus to (Investigation, Lore, Larceny or Awareness) rolls used to find the secret entrance from now on. I'll roll the bonus.]

Veldygar concentrated on noting the places he had not yet visited, but unless he could get his hands on some sort of recording or printing device in the office he was searching, there was not much he could do - he was not an artist. He would also try to bring up a map of the District if he could, and locate the section of the hospital closest to the Temple.

[Private to GM: [OOC: Did it take me the whole of 15 minutes to bring up the map?]]

Now that the edge of his depleting reserves had been satiated, Eternal considered the current situation.  Those who thought he was simply a mindless killing machine would be sadly mistaken, as his mind was nearly as keen as his blade.  He had not forgotten the 'orders' given to him by the Keeper, and while Eternal was no lapdog or lackey, he did want to kill every Dragon Blooded parasite he could get his hand on, and he knew for a fact that the more of a threat he became, the more they would come after him--and with the help of the 'others' the Keeper had mention, the death toll would reach higher number than the Abyssal could claim on his own--and in the end, that was all cared about.  Whether or not it was his blades that brought an end to their existence wasn't important--the end itself, that was the important part.  However, finding where these 'allies' were suppose to be proved an interesting problem, and just as Eternal was preparing to go skulking on his own to find out what he could, he heard the barest of whispers cross his ears.

His head turned, though no one could see him as he walked toward the terminal that Veldy had ignored in favor for the other.  Perhaps he had heard the whispers as well, perhaps subconsciously, and had gone to the other.  There was nothing wrong with the terminal, per se, but its fate was tied to Eternal, and that alone might have well put off a strange vibe.  Eternal knew next to nothing about computers or technology, but he knew the answers he sought were encased within this machine, and he was going to learn what those secrets were.

Eternal opened his mind to the Neverborn, the dead-yet-alive Primordial beings who had birth creation from their imaginations--they now rotted somewhere in the underworld, stuck between life and death--craving only Oblivion.  Their knowledge was infinite, and though Eternal had never seem them, or their Shadow Lords who ruled over the Abyssals, he could feel their whispers in his ears like tendrils of poison, and when he slept, their venomous words pried at his sanity, filling him with visions of death and destruction, of misery and of the End of Times that he would bring upon Creation.  He opened himself to their madness in hopes of gaining insight, knowledge, anything that would help him destroy those who he hated--and it was perhaps that sentiment alone that drew their attention to their dark child, whom they hated only marginally less than the rest of Creation, and they gifted him with their blessing.

Eternal was suddenly wracked with a great spasm, and the dark energy flickered for a moment, but he was not revealed.  The two of them, Harue and Veldy, would be spared the sight of the Neverborn's influence over the Abyssal, but that did not stop the events from happening.  Eternal gasped as the sickness of Oblivion coursed through his veins--dark ichor began to pour from his eyes like tears of tar, flooding his red eyes and turning them a soul-less shade of black as well.  Tendrils of the same color and substance erupted from his back, looking like cursed wings as they slithered between the cracks of the console, gliding between keys and circuits as the darkness fed into the machine, running through the files hidden cache's like a psychotic killer rummaged through the innards of his latest victim, searching for the choice pieces.  Given himself entirely to the Damned Ones, Eternal's arm jerked unnaturally to the right, tapping what seemed to be random keys, as the other gave a quick spasm to the left, turning a knob and typing certain commands.

It spanned what felt like days to Eternal, but almost as soon as it had happened, the black ichor slipped back into his body, the 'wings' all but gone, the 'tears' dried and evaporated, leaving him leaning against the console with alien code pulsing in his mind--and the ill-gotten knowledge of what those symbols meant, and what was going on within the facility.

Raising his head from his research for a quick survey of his surroundings, Veldygar was surprised to see the deathknight leaning over the other terminal. "Have you found something?" he whispered.

Lacking the patience or perhaps the tools to copy down the map, Veldygar studies it for about 15 minutes. [Private to Veldygar Arhandor: I'll still give you a +1 to subsequent Investigation/Lore/Awareness/Larceny rolls to find the entrance if you study the map for that long.]

The insight the Whispers gives Eternal is alien, jarring and vaguely nauseous to absorb all at once, but it is incredibly effective as well. The Neverborn were once peers of Autochthon, after all, and beyond the mechanical aspect, navigation and interpretation of the terminal and its glyphs is just a matter of language and syntax. Somehow, circuitously, the multiple threads of dark knowledge wound themselves in Eternal's brain into some semblance of understanding.

[Private to Broken Eternal: You find out that the Inner Temple is under an 'Orichalcum Breach' Alert, meaning there are Anathema loose inside the premises, or trying to invade them, in any case. Two other areas leading to the Inner Temple are under attack. First, the Western Shrine Outpost, which is a small shrine in the western quadrant of Floor B25. This shrine, much like the Eastern Hospital, has a secret entrance into the Inner Temple. It is currently under attack by what is reported as an army of giant insects, about 150 total, termed 'builder bugs' and more specifically 'of the Ruby (Warrior) Caste'.

The other area under attack is the Northern Garrison, a stronghold of Immaculate warrior monks. It seems the Western Shrine attack may well have been a diversion to give the attack at the Garrison a chance to succeed. There are a smaller number of attackers there (the reports seem to indicate two distinct groups attacking there: a pair of rebels with 5 stolen Hulking Armor Sentinels (a type of automaton sentry common in Earth District), and more alarmingly -- for the monks at least -- a Solar and Lunar pair currently attacking the Garrison's inner compound.

The next point of interest to Eternal would of course be *getting* to one of these two spots. From what he can glean, the easiest way to reach either the Western Shrine or the Northern Garrison would likely be through the Inner Temple itself. He could alternately exit the hospital altogether, and go around the outside to get to the Northern Garrison, but this is undesired for multiple reasons: 1) it would take at least double the time, 2) would have to contend with sneaking past machine sentinels and other guards on the outside, 3) may be harder to meet up with the group already *inside* the garrison.

Finding the secret door into the Inner Temple, is not something Eternal finds out about from the terminal. The only thing he can be certain of is that it'd have to be somewhere toward the west of the hospital. That at least narrows his search down somewhat, he just has to go and actually DO the searching (the roll will likely be Perception+Investigation first, then depending on what you find from there, another roll. I could also possibly see Perc+Awareness being used but Investigation I think is more detail oriented, while Awareness is more looking around for something immediately unusual.)]

---

OOC: I've been giving people their info through PMs. I really would like you guys to show some teamwork and pool some knowledge, if you're incapable of doing that this may take a *lot* longer than it should.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:21, Thu 16 July 2009.

"The Temple is being attacked two-fold."  Eternal said, turning to face Veldy.  The dark energy began to surge across him, quickly obscuring him from the peering eye of creation as he spoke.  Channeling the whisper had broken the nightmare of his invisibility, but now that the Neverborn were no longer invited into his mind, the dark essence that flowed through him began its (un)natural course.

"An Undying Sun and a Chosen of Luna are attacking the North Garrison.  The other battle is simply a diversion for the main assault.  They are aware of Anathema, but there was no mention of us specifically.  The wretched monks have us outnumbered--as much as I want to bath in their blood on drop at a time, we don't have the luxury of time.  We need to join them." Says the voice dubious voice of reason.  Yes, it made perfect sense to meet with them, as that had been the Gatekeeper's plan, and there was certainly safety in numbers.  "...I could not discern the hidden entrance, but I -do- know it is located towards the west of this hospital.  We should go quickly."

Veldygar made sure he had written down everything he could about the West section.

"Let us go, then," he said. "I suggest we start our search by all outermost walls and rooms on this level, in the west section. The most logical assumption, for now, is that any secret exit leads out of the hospital while staying on the same level. If this assumption is proven incorrect, we shall broaden the scope of our search."

Assuming none of the others object, Veldygar made way towards the west compound.

[OOC: I don't know if I was clear in my intention, English is not my native language and I'm kind of tired at the moment. Still, the west compound has IIRC not been described yet, so I'll wait for some info before writing a more detailed for stuntage dice ;)]

The westward side of the hospital takes the group past the emergency/trauma center and most of the examination rooms and offices.

Most of this area appears to be specialty medicine, or specific to recovery from invasive procedures, crippling injuries or diseases. Northwestward is what could be termed the intensive care unit, where patients are taken after particularly invasive procedures and monitored carefully for any unforeseen consequences before they are deemed safe enough to send further east. Toward the southwest limits there are rooms labeled for physical therapy and even meditation. There are still more miscellaneous offices and storage rooms as well, similar to the rooms between the entrance and reception halls.

Between these two western wings is another, smaller lounge that serves this end of the hospital. In this area is a door specifically leading to an Immaculate shrine, and another leading to a library of medical books.

There are no further halls leading westward. No lifts or staircases either. One thing the group notices right away is that there are no doors on the far western walls. None at all.

Veldygar, Eternal and Harue (who quickly moves on before the receptionist who noticed her has a chance to address her) have some time to search this area while the remaining hospital personnel and monks continue their own search / rescue of patients further north and east. [Private to Midou Harue: This time I just gave it to you and let you leave with no incident. Next time I will not do so though. No that does not mean you will immediately have to fight; you're a dragonblood apparently in a doctor's uniform. Does mean the receptionist that saw you may end up wanting to ask you questions / confer with you, and you'll have to rely on your social skill to not arouse suspicion.]

[Private to Broken Eternal; Midou Harue; Veldygar Arhandor: For the big search: everyone incurred some bonus based on information gathering from before.

+1 Veldygar (for memorizing the map)
+1 Eternal (note, he got info about other groups in the temple, but not much on the actual secret door; the terminals would not give away the secret after all)
+2 Harue (who happened to get the most useful info from eavesdropping)

If you'll pool effort, designate one person as the 'lead investigator'. That person can roll Perception+Investigation+1 per helper. Then add bonuses above (max is +3, though; Veldygar and Eternal's data is redundant). That's all before stunt.

If you'd rather roll separately, each of you roll Perception+Investigation+your bonus. Again, that's before stunt. Doing this may mean you cover multiple areas of interest.

If you don't feel your first roll is enough, you can keep rolling, the successes are cumulative but each roll is 15 minutes of time. I'm also willing to let you substitute Awareness if your Investigation is low.]

   Harue almost breathes as a sigh of relief when Veldy took the initiative to leave. They were almost sunk and she was about to suggest a hasty retreat into darkened corridors when Veldy moved. "I will back up your efforts to find the door. Tell me what you want me to do."


_{OOC: Apologies for the delay. It just seems to be one thing after another this summer. My team got our project done and over to the administration for approval (the delay through Wednesday that still took us to Thursday morning) only to come home to a sudden storm (Thursday) that knocked out all power and cable until Saturday. I'll have time everyday for the foreseeable future.}

Veldygar nodded, and made way towards the southwestern corner. He would start by searching the meditation rooms, and the physical therapy sections, starting by the outermost ones - for now, he was proceeding on the assumption that the secret exit led directly out of the compound.

[Private to GM: [OOC: Base Perception + Investigation pool, 5 dice. Please roll with all appropriate bonuses.]]

It seemed that searching separately would yield faster results--after all, the more ground they covered, the better odds they had of finding the secret entrance/exit--and that would lead to the Solar and the Lunar.  It was a round about reason to search for it, but Eternal knew patience...and according to the terminal, the two of them had been surrounded by Monks.  Dragon-Blooded Monks.  It was a banquet of blood waiting to be unleashed, and he did not want to miss it.

Eternal went along with the other two, taking whatever rooms and wings they did not, stalking through the corridors and doorways like the invisible patron of destruction that he was.

The initial search takes the group about thirty minutes. The first fifteen is spent just going around checking doors, and more doors, and finding nothing of note. Some time is unfortunately wasted as the group finds themselves overlapping their efforts, looking through the same doors more than once. At times, they search through corridors that look strangely familiar, yet when they check the doors the rooms within have different content, or the numbers are labeled differently, or a door they could have sworn ought to be wide open is locked when they check it again.

The next fifteen minutes or so has the Exalts starting to realize something rather strange. There is a certain part of the west end of the hospital that seems to defy the expected dimensions of the facility. This also happens to be where the confusing occurrences (corridors seemingly looping back on themselves, unexpected doors and rearranged rooms, and so on) occur with the most frequency. Veldygar and Harue can pinpoint this region to be in the hallways containing rooms 362 and onward. In fact the map Veldygar previously looked up shows there are supposedly no rooms numbered past 360.

Eternal, starting to wander in this area, finds his mind and senses are a touch sharper than his companions. He discovers that certain doors or passages remain 'static' or while others seem to change position constantly. The 'static' ones are marked with some small flaw or inconsistency. The first one he finds is the easiest one: a door with the knob on the opposite side compared to the others in the row.

Unfortunately there's also another more unpleasant discovery. After a half an hour it seems the remaining staff have arranged things to evacuate who they can and they are also starting toward the 'strange region' of the hospital. They are approaching, many voices, many footsteps, but it's difficult to figure where they're coming from due to the strange logistics of this area.

---

OOC: Int+Lore to navigate the 'maze' of confusing doors and passages. Eternal gets a +1 to this roll. Everyone else rolls standard. Again you could work together if you want (a single roll with teamwork, +Eternal's bonus) or you can all roll separately (so that the highest roll among you will count). The difficulty is 5 successes.

You could also cheat and try to wait and follow the people coming. Just remember, there will be DBs among them who may have high awareness, be consistently alert, and/or have charms to give them a supernatural edge. But your stealth charms may also give *you* an edge.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:32, Tue 21 July 2009.