Mattiverse Next - Session 29

The Heist Begins

• The boys drop in with a similar technique to before. The sedate revelry of the festival makes getting around the city easy, and they don't have much problem finding a good location to start their flight.

• They encounter their first new obstacle almost immediately: an alarm spell on the external door, a new lock on the office, much more sophisticated than the last one...
  • ...but still not too sophisticated for Bobwhite. He gets to work exchanging the books while the rest scout.

• There are patrols, which is odd. The guards agree--when they speak, it's mostly to complain about how they're stuck guarding nothing for no reason while everyone else is out partying.

GM: The gruff voices reverberate off the cold stone walls, their words laced with bitterness and confusion. "Can't believe we're stuck here during the Festival of Summer Supplication," one guard grumbles, his voice echoing through the dimly lit corridor. The other guard scoffs, a note of irritation clear in his voice. "All this extra security for what? As if anyone would dare cause trouble during such a sacred event!" he retorts. Their complaints fill the air like stale bread, leaving an unsavory aftertaste that deepens the halflings' sense of unease. The tension in their small bodies is palpable as they listen on, wondering why indeed security has been increased for such a joyous occasion.

• The book is switched out. They've been told the entrance to the vault is in the Library, so they do a complicated dance around the patrols to get there.

The scent of aged parchment and the faint echo of whispered conversations greet you as you step into the grand library. Your gaze is drawn upwards, caught by towering shelves filled to bursting with ancient tomes, their leather-bound spines inscribed with gold leaf. The second story is a balcony that wraps around the room, a wrought-iron railing adorned with intricate scrollwork separating it from the precipitous drop below. Above all this, an elevated ceiling vaults skywards, painted in hues of midnight blue and scattered with golden stars; an eternal night sky captured in plaster and pigment. The south wall is has a large stained-glass windows that, uduring the day, refract sunlight into a thousand different colors, casting a kaleidoscope of warmth across the stone floor. The windows depict scenes from ancient lore and legend; great heroes vanquishing fearsome beasts, wise scholars unraveling mysteries of the cosmos. As you look around this vast repository of knowledge, you can't help but feel both humbled and exhilarated by the sheer volume of wisdom contained within these walls.

• • Another pair of even more bored guards sits in the Library, engaged in Dragonchess. They clearly have no idea why they're in there, but their presence is a concern--why is everything being guarded even this amount?
  • The Boys scout carefully around. Looking for the entrance to the vault, they even open a door straight into a waiting patrol! Pass without trace and dash of dumb Halfling luck save the day.

• Bobwhite does a mental calculation, and carefully lowers himself down into the stacks by the staircase. After a careful search, he finds a keyhole.
  • With some effort, he works it open.

GM: You fail to pick the lock. GM: Because...... GM: There is a second locking mechanism.

}

• • On a hunch, he checks the other side of the staircase, and finds an identical keyhole. Session ends here.