Avon Calling

[Zinta]

Pocket warmers and potty. Pocket warmers and potty.

It was my mantra for the evening as I packed my gear. I could probably improvise forgetting everything but those two things. Ropes, carabiners, prusiks, glass cutter, fence stapler, climbing spurs... Just stop. I'm not using the spurs unless absolutely necessary. I've got a throw bag, there's no nead to go all arborist on me.

So one potty break and two broken hand warmer sacks later, I found myself picking my way through the shadows of the trees skirting Karabas' property.

I could bounce the fence, and probably get up the house without much fuss. But that wasn't the tricky part; the tricky part was getting back out again. I had picked three trees on the edges of the property that formed an 'L' around the house. Shouldering my pack, I tightened all the straps on it, my jacket, everything; then strapped black duct tape over anything and everything that could snag on branches.

Climbing trees in the dark, in the cold, like a ninja is so much less exciting than it sounds. It's mostly an excercise in not yelling curse words when a branch pops you in the face or jabs you in the ribs. Now multiply that by three.

Eventually, I had what I wanted: a line stretched between trees that passed over Karabas' house. Five feet apart, in the center, I had two prusiks loaded in case things went really south.

Finally, I kicked off the tree, riding the carabiner along the line, then lowering myself onto the roof after setting my drop line between the two prusiks.

Rolls Requested by ST

2011-02-01 23:39:37
[02] Z rolls 9 to Onto roof Str 2 + Ath 4 + equp 2 + spec (10 Again)
4, 4, 9, 4, 9, 6, 6, 9, 5
3 successes

2011-02-01 23:39:37
[01] Z rolls 9 to Onto roof Str 2 + Ath 4 + equp 2 + spec (10 Again)
2, 5, 8, 5, 2, 3, 1, 1, 9
2 successes

2011-02-01 23:38:35
[02] Z rolls 6 to Tree #3 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
3, 9, 5, 10, 6, 8, 3, 10, 10, 6, 1, 8, 8
7 successes

2011-02-01 23:38:35
[01] Z rolls 6 to Tree #3 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
1, 8, 10, 3, 6, 9, 3, 5, 4, 7, 6, 4
3 successes

2011-02-01 23:38:08
[03] Z rolls 6 to Tree #2 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
3, 1, 5, 8, 7, 4, 5, 10, 9, 2, 7, 4, 1
3 successes

2011-02-01 23:38:08
[02] Z rolls 6 to Tree #2 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
1, 7, 2, 4, 1, 6, 8, 3, 4, 7, 5
1 success

2011-02-01 23:38:08
[01] Z rolls 6 to Tree #2 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
5, 8, 7, 6, 10, 6, 3, 2, 6, 8, 6, 6
3 successes

2011-02-01 23:37:42
[02] Z rolls 6 to Tree #1 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
8, 5, 3, 1, 7, 10, 3, 1, 4, 10, 10, 2, 7, 10, 3
5 successes

2011-02-01 23:37:42
[01] Z rolls 6 to Tree #1 Str 2 Ath 4 (freeclimbing) (10 Again, Rote)
2, 1, 6, 5, 2, 9, 4, 7, 10, 9, 8
4 successes

[Jmiland1]

With practiced care Z lowers herself onto the roof, and we have touchdown. The roof is solid; as she settles onto it there's no creaking or settling beneath her. Rough shingles provide enough traction that, with her skillset, she could easily climb about the house for hours without worrying about falling.

Not that she will. There are other things to do tonight.

The house's gables have wide, inviting windows, but no doubt there's security measures on them that aren't so forgiving of guests. That skylight, though--Zinta can't make out the details of the room below but can guess the floor is at least twelve feet down, based on what the light lets through. Security might be a bit laxer here if they figured the drop was enough of a deterrent.

There's actually a lock on the skylight--looks like it gets opened for ventilation purposes, sometimes, but its not likely to open enough for anyone with a frame more durable than Gumby to slither in. More importantly she can see the telltale contact leads of an alarm on it; pop the skylight open and it would be less than a minute before security was sending someone out.

Roll info

This is for expediency's sake; if you've got other tactics, feel free.
*If she wants to check for security on the skylight, it's a Wits+Larceny roll for detection.
*Dex+Larceny can be used to cut through the glass. Glass cutter mentioned above gives a +2; -1 for the thickness of the window. Extended roll needing five successes, each roll = 1 turn.
*A climbing roll is needed to reach the floor. Str+Athletics, and she's eligible for the equip/Spec bonuses used previously. Considering the short distance and ropes involved, this is an Instant action as opposed to Extended.
*Please roll Dex+Stealth once she's on the floor. Bonus of +2.

[Zinta]

Moving over to the skylight, I almost miss the wire. I know there should be one, but sometimes people cheap out. I was close to deciding Karabas had when I caught it, and spent the next few moments chewing on my inner cheek. Part nerves, part self-punishment, part raising my alertness level through pain. The drop onto the house had gone smoothly enough that maybe I'd relaxed a bit.

Flexing my hands, I pulled the Dyneema gloves tight before starting slow, patient circles with the glass cutter. The third rotation sliced the glass like paper, and i pulled it up and removed it from the suction cup, setting it aside. Once again I gave myself a once-over for loose straps or fastenings, then lowered myself through the hole.

Unfastening the carabiners, I settle onto the floor, sinking to my hands and knees. Don't get excited -- my ass is nothing like Catherine Zeta Jones', and I do it to change my field of view and decrease my profile and footprint.

Roll 'em up

2011-02-05 19:41:27
Z rolls 7 to Wits 4 + Lar 3 (10 Again)
2, 6, 6, 4, 10, 6, 4, 7
1 success

2011-02-05 19:42:14
[01] Z rolls 8 to Dex 4 + Lar 3 + 2 Equip -1 Glass (10 Again)
9, 5, 8, 3, 3, 1, 4, 5
2 successes

2011-02-05 19:42:14
[02] Z rolls 8 to Dex 4 + Lar 3 + 2 Equip -1 Glass (10 Again)
8, 3, 1, 6, 4, 6, 1, 8
2 successes

2011-02-05 19:42:14
[03] Z rolls 8 to Dex 4 + Lar 3 + 2 Equip -1 Glass (10 Again)
8, 7, 2, 10, 8, 2, 9, 10, 7, 9
6 successes

2011-02-05 19:43:26
Z rolls 9 to Str 2 + Ath 4 + equp 2 + spec (10 Again)
2, 2, 7, 6, 2, 4, 4, 9, 2
1 success

2011-02-05 19:43:54
Z rolls 6 to Dex 4 + Stealth 2 (10 Again)
10, 10, 5, 8, 4, 10, 2, 1, 7
4 successes

[Jmiland1]

So far, so good; it's been a textbook entry so far--not that Houghton Mifflin makes many textbooks for this sort of thing. Zinta blends into the dark of the room, the black electrical tape not only keeping all her odds and ends wrapped up in black but stifling the noise as well.

Elsewhere, music plays, softly. Vivaldi's Winter. Fitting, given the chill in the air.

She's landed in some sort of sitting room, it looks like; parquet floor beneath her hands, walls bare except for several framed items--too dark to make out now. A stuffed wingback chair is in one corner next to a full bookcase and a small table with a volume left lying upon it. Within her arm's reach is a banister, a staircase, going down to the first floor; three doors in this room stand open, no glow of light in any of the rooms beyond. The music may be, is probably but not surely, coming from up here somewhere. At least two rooms away, perhaps a closed door in between..?

Exploration

Please roll Dex+Stealth once more once she leaves the room. Bonus of +3, reduced to +2 if any sort of flashlight/etc is used.

[Zinta]

Slowly, I do a few mountain climbers, gently easing into the deep knee bends. Satisfied, I begin moving, heading for the first room.

3 suxx

2011-02-08 18:43:11
Z rolls 9 to Dex 4 + Stealth 2 + 3 (10 Again)
2, 10, 4, 2, 5, 2, 6, 8, 3, 9
3 successes

[Jmiland1]

Light steps on the wood help to quiet the sound of movement as she slips from the room into what turns out to be a short hall, shadows deepening at the end where she can see it Ts off to the left and right. Creeping up to the intersection, she can peek around the corner.

To the left is a closed door. The music is louder here, escaping from the crack at the bottom along with the soft, shifting glow of light from a fireplace.

The door on the right is open, a window opposite the door letting in some of the moonlight.

[Zinta]

Decisions, decisions, and I had no idea where Karabas was. This is why so much crime is done during the day. That, and I was missing 'V'. Nothing quite like getting caught staring at a door, so I take the easy one first, the open door on the right.

First, though, I look at each door, to see if it locks, and if they're standard indoor locks or something different.

[Jmiland1]

Both doors do have locks on them, but nothing more complex than the pin-and-tumblers you can buy at any hardware store. With a house this size it was unlikely the locks took different keys--unless the owner liked carrying a thick ring of 'em so he could pretend he was a 1930's prison screw.

The thin light through the window was enough, now, for Zinta to have some idea of what she was looking at in here. The room was devoid of furniture; instead a large staircase started in one corner and spiraled over her head to some upper level. Dozens of pictures covered the walls, sprouting like some strange lichen. Most of them were small--the size of a hardcover book, perhaps--but a few were larger, and one was the size of a tabletop. It's too dark, though, to make out any details.

[Zinta]

You always hear about stupid thieves who get caught taking pearl earrings when there's a Monet on the wall a foot away. The truth? We're just like anyone else. If you're not an art thief, you have no idea what you're looking at. Just like I had no idea what these pictures were -- other than possibly covering a wall safe. Super cliche, I know, and highly unlikely.

Still, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Carefully, looking for pressure plates or breakbeams or whatnot, I stand to begin looking behind each.

[Jmiland1]

A cursory examination doesn't reveal any sort of security measures on the pictures--perhaps the high fences assuage his paranoia. Or maybe there's just nothing to steal, because as Zinta moves the frames to look all she can see is the wall's blank wooden planking behind each.

Security check

2011-02-17 20:16:34 Z rolls 7 to Wits + Larceny (10 Again) 7, 2, 2, 7, 6, 10, 3, 7 1 success