Later that day...

Fearing that the scent of his purloined items would wear off before he could put them to use, Urvan resolves to begin gathering some of the food items he had seen the boy from the Kennels requisition the other day.

Thankfully he does not need such vast quantities, just enough to further distract and confused the Kennels residents.

And if he can lay his hands on a bottle of alcohol while he is at it, a present for the soldiers he had met before, all the better.

Urvan again makes a habit of hanging around the kitchens later in the day, trying to get an eye on what sort of security measures they keep in place to prevent people from pilfering the pantry at all hours of the day and night.

Pages have an odd status.  Officially they are "workers" in the palace, but most of them are really members of the noble class, so members of the servant class would be afraid to stand up to them unnecessarily.  Therefore, they do get some special privileges in the kitchen, as long as it isn't abused.  Also, you could always say that you were sent by some noble, but there's a risk that the kitchen will just deliver it themselves.  (... which they might do, if they suspect you are lying.)

21:49, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 20 using 1d20.  Luck for an unwatched bottle of alcohol.
Well, damn!

Urvan heads into the kitchen, where dinner preparations are just getting started.  The same assistant cook who gave the boy a late night snack the previous evening is in charge.  He gives Urvan a look, and asks, "hungry again?"  To the boy's nod, the man tips his head towards the nook where the kitchen staff usually eat.  "There's some of yesterday's bread, and a few sausages left from breakfast.  Help yourself.  Don't use any mustard, though, I'm running low."  He fixes a stare to show he is serious.

Urvan arrives at the indicated table to find two partial loaves of bread, three big sausages, some fried potatoes, and probably four eggs worth of cold, scrambled eggs.  In addition, lined up against the wall behind them are a dozen or so half-drunk bottles of wine, obviously left from the party the night before.

A little after noon on Hermes Day (Wednesday)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Thu 14 Apr 2022.

Urvan, feeling quite fortunate in finding the bottles from yesterday, helps himself to the food. He eats a little himself, but the majority he plans to save, wrapping the whole in some cheese cloth and coming away with the bottle of wine which he tucks discreetly under the bundle as he retreats towards his room.

Now what the clothing and the food, he feels ready to enter the Kennels themselves that evening, and begins to prepare for his late night venture.

Knowing that he will probably be out quite late, Urvan decides to use the rest of the afternoon to get ahead on his chores, worrying that he will being a sorry state in the morning, with his lack of sleep coupled with his blackening bruises from the night before.

Plan is to hide the food and wine, to get ahead on his chores, and then if he has any free time before bed to check in with Gerro to see how the younger Page is doing.

Late in the evening/early morning, he will take the wine to the soldier's if they are around, and then proceed to the Kennel with Lady Stillwell's clothing and the food to decide on a means of entry

It's a slow day for the pages.  Many people are sleeping off the previous night's partying, and few are sending gifts or messages.  Urvan runs into Gerro, who is hanging around the knights' practice room, and the younger page excitedly tells Urvan about Father Gratham's loud complaints of vermin in his room.  Two of the cleaning women were in there, scrubbing it down, with Missus Whaite standing watch over them the entire time.  He said that the mood among the chambermaids was joyous, in spite of all the yelling and blame.

Later that evening, Urvan collects his things and heads out first to the barracks area where he met the soldiers the previous night.  As before, there are a group of them standing around a small fire and drinking.  The night is warm, so there is no need for a fire other than the light and the camaraderie.  As he approaches, a few of them call out, "Whoa!  Look out, it's the killer page."  Several hold their hands up like a man pretending to be afraid of a boy, but a few others are just quiet and nod a greeting.

When Urvan pulls out the bottle of wine, the tone changes.  "Oh!  Wha'd'ya bring us, boyo?" and "Now that's a fine gift, lad."  Urvan receives at least one of the spine-crunching friendly slaps on the back.  It occurs to him that most of these men wear armor, so a slap on the back is probably a lot less painful for them.

I'll pause here, in case you want to do anything special giving it out.  Both Caiaphas and the man who invited you to come drink are there.  The latter is not (yet) as drunk as he was last night because it is earlier than you were out previously.

Evening on Hermes Day (Wednesday)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Sun 17 Apr 2022.

Urvan rocks on his feet a little with the blow and manages to hide his pained wince, mostly.

He hands the bottle to Caiaphas directly, a bit of the strange comradery that can come over men after they had been in a fight, and knowing that the man is probably even more sore than Urvan.

"Just a little something that was lying around." He plays off the gift casually.

The boy tries to blend in, obviously out of place given his age and current position in the Palace, but easy enough to understand as young boys often try to find a sort of belonging in the presence of older men, especially men at work.

Eventually a question comes to his mind. "Is it hard to stay up all night?" He asks the group in general. "Are there any tricks to not falling asleep?"

Caiaphas thanks the lad, and takes a pull that drains a good third of the bottle.  It is passed around and many of the men thank Urvan for the bottle and comment on how good it is.  "Foine wine like the fancy men drink," says one, which starts up a round of them imitating a noble accent and effete mannerisms.  Everyone laughs, including Urvan, and the boy is starting to understand the fellowship of such rough men.

When Urvan asks about staying awake through a watch, two different men show the stripes on their backs.  "You get a couple of these and it's easier to remember to stay awake."  Lots of men offer advice: tricks like holding your arm out straight, pacing back and forth, singing quietly, counting animals that you see, etc.

After some time (how much?) Urvan moves on, planning to head to the kennels.

What's your path there?  http://zag.net/Pathfinder/Ellada/palace.png  Are you going around the outside of the stables or not?  You're currently at R -10.  The doors to the kennels (that you know of) are in the two north-facing walls, one inside the fenced area, one outside.

Urvan spends about thirty minutes or so chatting with the soldiers before taking his leave and making his way around, taking the long way to avoid moving directly in that direction from the guards then following the perimeter wall in towards the fence.

As he nears he gets his food and clothing ready, hoping that the doors themselves should be unlocked. Urvan wonders at the sort of person that would voluntarily break in to a building housing Apollo hounds, and realizes to his chagrin that he is about to do just that.

It seems remarkably dangerous, but he is not about to let Iwo down on his very first mission.

10:19, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 13 using 1d20+6.  passive stealth.

The moon is about half, providing a fair bit of light, but Urvan walks around the paddock in the shadow of the outer wall and is not challenged.  As he approaches the kennel he sees, near the closest corner of the building, a knee-high mound which turns out to be a pile of dog waste.  Stepping carefully around it, he notices a small door into the kennel just beyond it.  The door is clearly latched or locked from the inside because there is nothing but a fixed handle on this side.

Urvan continues around the kennel.  Along the back are four windows, but all have bars over them.  Because of the nice weather, the shutters are all open, and Urvan can smell the warm and friendly odor of dog wafting out.  Inside, the dogs are in separate cages; most are sleeping and a few are licking themselves or just looking around.  There are 8 dogs that he can see from the first window, and probably more that he can't see.  None of them seem to have noticed him, yet.

The bars look like they are more designed to prevent dogs escaping than to prevent intruders entering, but they serve the same purpose.  Maybe with a tool he could break them, but then he'd have no way to fix them, so he continues around the building.  On the east side of the kennel are two more windows, with the same bars on them.  Counting the dogs from all angles, he is pretty sure that there are a total of 14 dogs.  Finally reaching the door, the lad finds it locked, with a locking mechanism similar to the ones on the rooms inside.

The wall around the dog run is 8 feet high, made with upright poles spaced only 3 inches apart, all nailed on to horizontal poles, one close the ground, one near the top, and two others evenly spaced.  You'd have to pry out three of them to squeeze through, and you'd be able to replace it well enough.  Or you could climb over with a climbing roll against DC14.  If you fail you might alarm the dogs.  They've been quiet so far.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:48, Wed 20 Apr 2022.

Urvan couldn't pick locks, and he was not going to try to rip the bars off the windows, which left climbing.

Urvan was actually pretty decent at tree climbing, but he had never climbed a wall before. He manages to get a foot hold and to haul himself up a little, but about a foot short of the top he overreaches and comes back a little hard, stumbling a few steps back without falling entirely, his fingers smarting a bit.

He winces, wondering if it would be enough to rouse the hounds within.

17:11, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 13 using 1d20+7.  Climb, DC 14.

Since you only barely missed, I'll make it a pretty high roll for them to hear you.
20:11, Today: Zag rolled 7 using 1d20.  Dogs' perception v DC16.

Urvan lands as softly as he can, then freezes.  After holding his breath for 30 seconds, he realizes that the dogs are not going to start barking.  Nothing for it but to try again.

You learned a bit, so now it's only DC 13. 

Urvan waits, eyes clenched shut, waiting for the barking to start...

But doesn't come...

Perhaps spurred by how close he had just come to ruining his first attempt, the boy takes his time and deftly scales the fence, limbs reaching and pushing with raw strength to pull him up and over before he hauls himself half way down the other side and drops into the kennel interior.

Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 18 using 1d20+7.  Climbing, second attempt.

I actually rolled these a while ago, but then realized you needed more steps before you got here.

21:39, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 11,21 using d20+6,d20+1.  Perception, Handle Animal.
Oops
21:42, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 18,12 using d20,d20+1.  Luck, 2nd handle animal
if you can't be skilled, be lucky.

Urvan is relieved to find that the inner door is not locked, only latched.  He pulls the door gently open, slips in, and just as he is closing the door the barking begins.  Within seconds, all 14 dogs are barking.  He reasons, At least I got the door shut before it started, so if it makes anyone glance this way no one will see me and send investigators immediately.

The boy quickly walks through the building, around two big treatment tables and a huge sink which must be where they wash the animals, looking for an obviously pregnant female.  He holds the purloined clothes ahead of him, hoping that the familiar scent will calm the dogs.  It actually seems to work for a couple of them as they stop barking enough to come to the edges of their cages to sniff.

He approaches one large dog, thinking that she might be the one.  "Leila?" he calls out, but she doesn't stop in her barking and doesn't seem to react to the name.  "Shhhh.  Good girl, good girl," he says soothingly and she seems to calm a bit.  He holds out some of the greasy sausage and she stops barking to come sniff the tasty morsel.  She backs away again as he moves closer, but still seems quite interested.  Remembering advice from the book, he tosses her a small piece but keeps the larger piece in sight, talking all the while.  Finally she comes forward enough to snatch the piece and then retreats to the back of the cage to enjoy it.

Well, I think that was the right bitch, but I should be sure.  Moving towards the back of the kennel, checking every animal, he sees several that are larger than the one he gave food to, but they are all male.  The last one he checks, at the furthest corner from the door, is another large female who also seems to be carrying more weight than normal.  This one seems very nervous, and her barking intensifies as he approaches, getting the rest of the dogs all barking once again at maximum.  He does his best with the calm voice and the sausage, but he is not able even to bring this dog to the front of her cage for a sniff.

It's been a few minutes and the dogs are still barking.  Someone will come eventually, but it is hard to know how long it will be.  You can try again and/or do something else in here, and then tell me how you plan to leave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:21, Thu 21 Apr 2022.

With all the barking it's hard to concentrate, these are big dogs with big lungs and each bark echoes loudly, almost painfully in the enclosed space.

But Urvan does think back, remembering something about how mother's retreat to their dens when heavily pregnant and rely upon the male to hunt. That makes sense to Urvan, hard to chase down deer with a swollen belly and huge teats.

But he can't just leave the food and go, can he? Or maybe he can...chalk this visit up as a success and then try again another day?

He remembers that the other dogs barked when being fed normally. Perhaps this would simply take time.

Urvan takes the majority of his purloined food and sets it between the bars of the females cage, then pushes it forward and waits, for maybe fifteen seconds or so, knowing that she can smell him well even from this distance.

"Here you go girl, need to keep up your strength." He encourages her, then, he decides to take one good look around at the interior before he departs back the way he had come.

But oh, were it that easy...

20:28, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  Climbing: Exit Kennels.

20:28, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 10 using 1d20+7.  Climbing: Exit Kennels.

20:21, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 8 using 1d20+1.  Handle Animal, Interact w/ Dog, No Modifiers.

Urvan slips back out the door and starts to climb the fence.  He realizes that it is quite a bit easier from the inside, because the horizontal bars almost act as a ladder.  Of course, this makes him overconfident and he misses his grab at the top and tumbles back down with a thud.  To his horror, he is sitting on his butt looking through the slats of the fence at Lady Stilwell and her son Radgel, walking towards the kennel.  He can't make out what they are saying, but the boy is holding his hands out in front of himself in a gesture that indicates something that was about two feet wide, as if that would be huge for whatever he is talking about, and the lady looks at him and laughs.

The sight of Lady Stilwell was enough to spur the boy to a last desperate effort, the prospect of being caught within the kennels like one of the dogs themselves being too much to bear.

The boy got to his feat, wiped his dirty hands on his tunic, and then hurled himself at the wall. Through sheer strength and desperation, he fights through the pain to haul himself over before he lands, a little louder than he intended, and is off, his heart pounding as he moves off in the opposite direction to the woman and the boy that accompanies her.

22:03, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 9 using 1d20+6.  Stealth: Escape.

22:03, Today: Secret Roll: Urvan Kron rolled 20 using 1d20+7.  Climbing, third attempt.

07:17, Today: Zag, for the NPC Lady Stilwell, rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  perception
LOL.  I started to write up the below, but then decided I should roll her perception
07:22, Today: Zag, for the NPC Radgel, rolled 12 using 1d20+1.  perception

Urvan's sudden movement catches the attention of Lady Stilwell and she cries out, "Hey!  You there!  Stop!" but


Urvan leaps over the fence, almost in a bound, and runs away with a blazing speed.  He hears the boy say, "What was ...?" but then he trails off, or maybe the throbbing in Urvan's ears drowns it out.  In either case, there are few who could match his speed and the lad gets away cleanly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:53, Fri 22 Apr 2022.

Urvan returns to the pages' quarters, where Gerro is waiting for him.  "Have you heard the uproar that bastard Gratham has been making?  He claims that rats have infested the whole palace, and that he will bring the wrath of Hera down on the entire Lexagenol family, and that he speaks for Ceres and even Zeus, as well!  I guess one of them bit him on the bum or something."  He laughs with just a hint of hysteria.  "Anyway, I guess Zaan found him some nicer rooms -- way above his station, I'm sure.  Should we plant some more rats in that one, do you think?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:17, Sat 09 July 2022.

Urvan could not help to suppress the subtle glow of satisfaction at the news, but he shook his head. "No, no I don't think so." he left it at that, nodded to the other young man, and went to lay down for a short time.

The girl, the girls he was sure, were avenged in some small way for a time, Iwo would hopefully be pleased, but his goal of taming the pregnant Apolla hound was proceeding more slowly than he would have liked.

Still, there was time, and he had made good progress. If he was diligent and worked hard, he was hopefully he could befriend her and at least one of her pups before the aging Spymaster decided that his time would be better spent elsewhere.

He fell to thinking about his daily ebbs and flows of the people in the Castle, and when he might make his next attempt. It would have to be soon, even after his pyrrhic victory during his last excursion. The days were passing, and he would still need time even after she had come to tolerate his presence to consider the litter.

22:44, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 27 using 1d20+7.  Climb
22:48, Today: Zag, on behalf of Urvan Kron, rolled 19,10 using d20+1,d20+1.  Two Handle Animal rolls

That night Urvan returns to the kennel.  He uses the same technique to enter: climbing the fence and entering through the interior door.  He practically leaps over the fence with no trouble on this night, but he knows that this approach is bound to get him caught eventually.  He is just too obvious climbing, and he will need to find another approach.

His entry causes the same cacophony as the previous night, but he knows he'll have a few minutes before anyone comes to check.  He approaches the two dogs that he identified as the only candidates to be Leila, holding out the Handler's clothing in one hand and a sausage in the other.  The first greets him and takes the treat from his hand, but the second is still too skittish.  I wish I could be sure which is the right one, and I really hope its THAT one, he thinks.

Frustrated, Urvan wonders how the handlers themselves come to know the hounds so well that they do not need collars with their names, or placards over their cages.

All Urvan knows for certain is that Leila is the largest, but that's difficult to tell for certain in the dark.

On a hunch, Urvan hisses a whisper. "Leila!" And watches both of the animals, especially their ears, for a reaction.

The experiment is inconclusive.  The first hound was watching him the whole time, and maybe she does look a little more interested when he says the name, and maybe she's just hoping for another piece of sausage.  The other doesn't seem to react, particularly, just acting afraid of him the whole time.

Concious of the time bleeding away and the racket of the Hounds, Urvan once again cuts his losses l, gives the more amicable dog a scratch behind the ears and moves to leave the kennel, this time by way of the front door, and the young man looks it over as he goes for any means of an easy point of entry due jg his next visit.

Urvan looks at the points of egress available.  There are the windows, each with shutters that latch with a simple hook and eye holding them closed.  He tries to figure out if he could open one from outside, maybe by sliding a knife in somehow, but the shutters fit too snugly, with an overlap to prevent anything sliding in.  There is the back door, with just a simple latch that is manipulated from the inside.  That, also, he doesn't see how he could unlock from the outside.  Finally, the front door has a real lock, that is locked and unlocked with a key.  He puzzles over how he would be able to relock it once he is outside, but he figures out that if he closes the door with the lock halfway locked, then it will complete when he shuts it.

You can get away cleanly, tonight, and then we can just progress to tomorrow, but I'll pause here if you want to do anything else before you leave.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:57, Mon 11 July 2022.

Satisfied for now with the latch on the door, Urvan stole away back into the night before the handlers came back to investigate.

If there was some small consolation, all this back and forth and waking up in the middle of the night might be making the Kennel staff complacent. He could hope in any case.

For now, it was back to bed, and a well earned night's sleep.

I updated the above message to make it clear that the windows are just openings, but they have shutters over them which close and latch.  Glass windows do exist, but they are a luxury that wouldn't be wasted on a kennel.

The next morning Urvan is awakened by an excited Gerro.  There's going to be a cool demonstration today of the eagles from Zeus' aerie.  We want to get checked in and get a couple hours work on our records before lunch so that we can go watch them.  From the excited boy's chatter, Urvan learns that the temple is built on the last flat ground before the rise of Olympus and that the aerie is built into the side of the mountain just behind the temple.  It houses the huge birds that are the favorite of Zeus, and these special ones are trained by His priests.  They will be coming today at the request of the visitors from Crete to give a demonstration of the birds' prowess.

Thanks to Gerro's planning ... (How does the boy always know what's going on?) ... the two get in their required hours and are able to take time off to watch the eagles.  Urvan considers how very cool it would be to work with such beautiful, graceful, and deadly animals.  The demonstration includes several war-worthy skills.  First, they show the birds hunting for rabbits and bringing them back to their handler, which would enable a scout to focus on his duties and not have to worry about catching his own food.  The eagles then are shown intercepting some homing pigeons, which would cut the enemy's communication.  Finally, in a simulated battle, the birds fly at the enemies' faces, forcing the opposing soldiers to raise their shields or risk losing an eye.  The Olympian soldiers are then able to score easy hits under the shields, which would be deadly if this were a real battle.

That night, Urvan again goes to visit the dogs.  As he is approaching the kennel from behind, getting ready to climb the fence, he hears from above and behind him, "Oy! 'O is that, there?"  One of the guards on the wall is looking down at him.  It would have been especially awkward if the guard had caught him climbing, but fortunately his is still just walking around the perimeter.