From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed Mar 9 10:06:10 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7084 Path: netcom.com!csus.edu!wupost!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: chm173s@nic.smsu.edu (Robotech_Master) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [HouseStorming] The Fine Art of HouseBreaking Date: 5 Mar 1994 15:31:53 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Lines: 376 Sender: daemon@cs.utexas.edu Message-ID: Reply-To: Robotech_Master NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu Thanks to EVERYBODY in the HouseStorming author group who collaborated on this; my part in it is actually rather small. I hope we can move this thread along now that we're finally getting started... --Chris ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is everybody confused? (NO!) I'm making no sense at all You want a room with a view You need ideas for walls --Men Without Hats "Service entrance is in the rear," the butler sneered, his nostrils flaring -- an especially distasteful sight considering that he was holding his head so that he could look down his nose. "Just take the letter, Jeeves," the young man snarled. The butler noticed the envelope, sealed and with a cantrip that made his fingers itch. "Don't open it, it's not for you," the youth said, and whirled, sprinting down the path to the gate. The butler frowned. Similar young men were visible from his high vantage point, performing similar visitations upon the next three houses down the street. "Ricardi, who was that?" The Master was standing in his morning robe at the foot of the stair. The butler sighed quietly to himself, making certain that it wasn't detectable by the Master. "A runner, sir, bringing a sealed letter. It carries a privacy cantrip." "Well, put it on the decurser and then bring it here," the Master said, patiently as if talking to one of the downstairs servants. "Immediately, sir." The butler placed the envelope in the truelead box on the desk by the door, and spun the prayerwheel on the top. He removed it and carried it into the sitting room where the Master was serving himself breakfast from the cold table. "The letter, sir." "Thank you, Ricardi." The Master tapped the privacy cantrip with his silver knife handle, and it sparked. The letter folded open. He scanned it and shrugged. "Nothing special," he said. "The cursed mansion at the end of the road was sold again. The new owner has hired some specialists to de-trap the place, starting ... hmm, about midmorning today ... ah, and she wants us not to worry about them. Better than the last two who had the place, eh, Ricardi?" "I expect so, sir." The butler frowned. "Should I advise the gardener to beware of flying bodies dropping from the sky?" "Certainly, Ricardi. Grenvener is a very good worker, I'd hate to see him go the way of old Thedrick." ---- Andrea was packing her knapsack for the foray into the old house. All those concerned would be meeting very shortly, just outside the lighthouse, for the walk across town to the house. For this job, Andrea _definitely_ wanted to be sure she had _everything_. "I don't understand," Jay said. "I'm supposed to be your apprentice. Why can't I come, too?" "It's too dangerous," Andrea said. "We've been over this before." "YOU'RE going," Jay accused. "But I know a lot more about this than you do. Besides, Sheryl's going to stay with you." Sheryl blinked and looked at Andrea querulously. She whinnied something that translated roughly to, "What the HELL?!" "I'm not going to risk either of my closest friends on what could turn into a very risky venture," Andrea said. "You're staying here, and that's final." Jay sighed. "Whatever you say." Andrea paused in what she was doing and knelt down, to be on the same level as Jay. "I know it seems unfair, Jay, but one of the first things you've got to learn in this business is that you don't tackle a job that's beyond your abilities. You're just not trained for this kind of work yet. If we had more time before this, I'd teach you more of what you need to know, but we don't -- it'll just have to wait until after we get settled in." Jay didn't meet her gaze. He KNEW that what she was saying was true, but he just didn't want to ACCEPT it. "All right," he said. "I understand." Sheryl still looked a bit put-out, and Andrea turned to her. "Look, Sheryl, I need you to stay here too. Keep Jay company, and stay out of mischief. I'll be back soon, I promise." Sheryl looked briefly rebellious, but finally nickered her acquiescence. "Good. I've got to go now, but I WILL be back, I promise you that." Andrea stuffed the last items into her bag and stepped toward the door. Jay and Sheryl looked after her as she left. They met just outside the lighthouse gates as planned, the morning sunlight casting long shadows over everything. Lance, Blaze, Palandun, Eowyn, Selna, Miro -- ar'Elya was there in the persons of Errol and Leah. Andrea looked them over, mentally counting noses. They were all there, those who were going--except Kadrys. "Hey, ar'Elya, where's Kadrys?" She looked up and shook her head. "He'll join us at the house," Miro said. "He had some things he needed to get." Andrea shrugged. "Whatever. Hope he makes it soon, though." She continued to wonder exactly what it was about him that was so odd, and resolved to scrutinize him more closely when next she saw him. "Ready to move out?" "Ready!" echoed the cry. "Then let's get this show on the road!" Andrea stood at the gate and looked forward at the house. It sat there, looking oddly dark and foreboding. The front door swung slightly ajar, looking almost inviting. "Well," said Andrea. "Here it is. What do you think?" "Looks nice," Palandun said, looking at the clipboard in his hands which held pen-and-ink reproductions of the design sketches Andrea had displayed. He looked from the plans to the house, comparing one to the other. As the one with the most academic bent in the party, he had been designated the mapper, and he'd worked out a notational system the day before while talking to Jameson Walker at the lighthouse. "Should be quite a place, once you've got it fixed up." "It's brae huge," Miro said dubiously. "Errol, d'ye think e'll be up t' it?" "Ah, my dear, the things you ask of me," Errol replied. The small, slight man cast a dubious eye over the assorted would-be housebreakers and sighed mournfully. Stifling a giggle, Andrea asked, "Shall we begin?" "I'm ready if you are," Eowyn said. "I, also," nodded Leah, stroking the dragonet on her shoulder. "Sure, let's go," Palandun said, starting forward. Andrea stopped him. "Hold on a minute. I want to check for the trigger for that dart trap..." Andrea knelt before the sidewalk, feeling around some of the inset stones. "Oh, you might want to get back in case I trigger this by accident..." She felt around some more, pulled out a dagger and pried under one of the rocks. "Ah! As I thought." There was a "click," and one of the stones in the walk came away. "Ah...the trigger mechanism is pressure-sensitive, so that when someone steps on it, the device is triggered," Palandun observed, making a notation on the map clipboard. "Clever." "Yes, and I suspect it's only the first of many such devices. Okay. Let's go. Everyone watch out for that trigger, I wouldn't want you to activate it by mistake when I'm right in the line of fire." "Right," Miro said. "Be cautious, friends," Leah cautioned. "Don't worry," Andrea replied. "My career is based on moving carefully." -Help me, N'graytha...- -I am with you,- N'graytha responded reassuringly. Together they felt their way up the path, using unicorn senses and surefootedness to choose the safe way through. Andrea reached to her backpack and drew out a short rod that snapped out into a ten-foot pole. "Let's do this." Andrea hefted the pole, gestured at the door with it. She looked back at the others who had followed in her footsteps and now stood behind her, waiting for her next move. "What do you think?" From a hundred feet or so back, two small figures watched the grown-ups' progress. Jay and Sheryl had considered their options and decided that staying back in the lighthouse was just not the one they wanted to exercise. With Sheryl's magic combined with Jay's special talents, sneaking out had been easy. Now here they were, watching the others preparing to break in. It was exciting, and a little bit scary too. "What do you think?" Jay whispered to Sheryl. Sheryl nickered. "Hmm," Jay said. "Wish I could understand you like Andrea can. Well, if we don't want to miss out, I think we'd better move in a little closer." Sheryl nodded her agreement, and together the twosome snuck closer, creeping from shadow to shadow in the gathering dusk. By the time they reached the gateposts, it was getting slightly hard to see. However, the twosome could easily tell where the pressure trigger was, and Jay knew that stepping on it would definitely not be a Good Thing. He and Sheryl carefully avoided it, moving forward, then Jay grabbed onto Sheryl's mane. "Hey, stop," he whispered. Sheryl blinked. Jay explained. "Step in the others' tracks. That way we can be sure we won't trigger something." Sheryl nodded, and they began to creep forward, together. "Right on time," came a mellifluous voice from behind them. Jay whirled. Leah was standing behind them, a blue dragonet peeking out from under her golden hair. "No, don't run," she said. "I won't turn you in, but you'd better wait here while they deal with the front door." "Indeed," Kadrys said, and Sheryl jumped. She hadn't even smelled his approach, much less heard it. "I had thought," he continued, "that you two were going to wait at the lighthouse." "Why do I hafta?" Jay said rebelliously. "Do you want Andrea to keep teaching you?" Kadrys said very quietly. Jay frowned as he digested the implication. "Yeah, I guess so. Geez, it's not fair. I can pick locks as well as anyone else." "Perhaps you should prove that," Kadrys said, pulling a complicated object from inside his heavy black leather cloak. He handed it to Jay, along with what looked like a dental probe. "If you can open that, and Leah will be making sure you do it properly, then I'll say a word to Andrea on your behalf. You do know, Jay, that she didn't want you along because of the danger to your life. The traps in this place are not going to respect your youth and inexperience." "I know that. That's why I've got Sheryl to help me." Sheryl neighed a vigorous assent. Leah laughed. "Do well on that little puzzle and it will be easy to convince Andrea that you should be here. But they're handling the most deadly traps first, and that is _not_ a matter for negotiation, understand?" Jay didn't answer -- he was methodically attacking the puzzle. Leah pointed out the safe paving-stones to Kadrys. "They're just at the door. I wouldn't advise going too close yet. The trap they're disarming sprays a charming mix of holy water and acid, and it's old and rather touchy." ==== "I mistrust this door," Lance remarked. "It seems too ... convenient." "I do, too," Andrea said. "I also distrust the doormat." She pointed to the frayed, decaying remains of a mat that must originally have said "Welcome" on it. Palandun nodded, and made a note. "What do you think?" Errol sidled up to the door, cast his limpid eyes towards Andrea and murmured, "Prepared to observe, my dear?" At her nod, he glanced at the mat, then at the step the mat was on. Examining the edge of the mat, he held his fingers over the crack around the step. "There's cool air coming from underneath," he said, then giggled. "I believe it's connected to a trap door. How delightful. Perhaps it goes to a nice dark pit." "I'd say you're probably right," Andrea said, impressed. "What do you think about the door?" Errol gave the doorframe a quick glance. "The door is a jar..." he remarked mechanically, "which means that any trap attached to the knob is probably already sprung. Too bad, so sad. Let us examine these hinges..." He peered at them balefully. "Ah, there's something lovely there. Look at this." With a surprisingly graceful hand, the small man pointed to a small discolored spot on the paint by the hinge. "Have you ever seen one of these before?" Andrea thought about it, then shook her head. "No...I don't think so." "Shall we see if we can undo it, then?" Errol suggested with a disarming smile. Andrea rolled up her sleeves, removed her gloves, and brought out the leather wallet containing her thieves' toolkit. "I'm ready if you are." "So charming," he breathed. I'll do the top and you take the bottom. Now watch closely..." He took a long pin from inside his trenchcoat, and a peculiar clamp from the outside pocket. The clamp went onto the hinge, the pin went into the discolored spot, and a blob of glue went around the end of the pin. After a moment for it to set, during which Errol whistled tunelessly, he took a small metal disk covered on one side with cork, and held it just in front of the hinge. A hard rap on the door and a sharp yank on the glue-covered pin and there was a "TINK" as a thin needle shot into the cork. A section of the door had come out, about an inch square, and was attached to a flexible bladder. The pin plugged a nozzle on one end of the bladder. A thin slice of veneer had been held in place by paint -- the whole arrangement set up to spray whatever the bladder held onto the head of anyone standing on the far side of the door while it opened. Of course anyone seeing the trap door would be standing there in alleged safety, to open the door. Just like the teachers back in the 'Guild, Andrea thought, duplicating the process on the lower hinge. Far from being irritated, Andrea was quite pleased to be receiving aid and instruction from a master thief. Indeed, thought Andrea, recalling when they had met briefly during the voyage back to Generica, they DID have a lot to talk about. "Lovely trap, just lovely," Errol smiled. "There's probably an alarm on the inside, but we can't get at it from here. Would you care to go in first, my dear?" "But of course." Andrea reached out with the pole, then stopped. "Nearly forgot." She reached into a pocket and pulled out a flask of oil. "If anyone's in there, and there _isn't_ an alarm, we needn't tell them we're coming." She handed it to Errol, who smiled damply before oiling the hinges so they wouldn't squeak. He was testing me! Andrea realized. She returned his grin, albeit less damply. "Just one more thing," Errol pointed to a discoloration on the front of the doorsill, barely visible. "Trigger here, but I believe I can disable it with ..." He pulled out a small hand-drill from his coat pocket, and carefully ground it through the sill, then inserted a long, lever-operated probe into the hole. It clicked with a satisfying solidity, and Errol moved away from the door. With this done, Andrea once more reached out with the pole and pushed the door open. It swung freely inward on the hinges...and nothing happened. Most of the party let out the breaths they had been unconsciously holding. "Good. The stopper held. I wasn't quite sure that it would," Errol said, untensing. "Ah, now don't be so modest," Kadrys grinned at Errol as he strolled toward the group. "Sorry about the delay, Andrea, I had to shop around a bit," he said, smiling at her and twirling a sliver of spring steel for a moment round his finger. As Andrea nodded and turned to face the group, Kadrys eyed Errol up and down, an eyebrow arching. "That's one sharp coat you have there..." Kadrys muttered. His lip twitched as if he was stifling a grin. "What, you mean this old thing? " Errol looked up at Kadrys and blinked innocently. He then shrugged the coat up around his shoulders and inhaled deeply. "Smell that, my dear boy? The odor of those old leather chairs at the embassy, the mysteries of the Cote d'Azure..." They traded sly smiles, an obscure shared amusement glinting for a moment in their eyes. Looking around at the group, Andrea asked "Shall we begin?" "I'm ready if you are," Eowyn said. The door stood open before them. The only thing that remained was for them to go inside. -- Chris Meadows | Robotech_Master's First Law of Superguy: CHM173S@NIC.SMSU.EDU | Continuity is Overrated. CMEADOWS@NYX.CS.DU.EDU | Robotech_Master's Corollary: ...but sometimes CMEADOWS@NOX.CS.DU.EDU | necessary all the same.