Isla Muerte: The Art Commission

PART FIVE

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

Filadelfo stared at the portal’s panel while considering his options. He briefly considered leaving the portal alone and heading back into the hallway, but in the end he grabbed the ruby and moved it to the position labeled CumGuv Ku.

At first, nothing happened, and he thought he had misunderstood the purpose of the panel. Then he noticed the platform he was standing on was glowing with a swirling blue light. Within seconds, the swirling blue light rose up and surrounded Filadelfo. As the light faded away, the wizard blinked away the spots in his eyes. He looked down at the panel and saw the stone still sitting where he had placed it. Looking around, he appeared to still be in the bed room, but then noticed that the screen next to him displayed a mountain scene instead of the rolling hills he had seen before. Carefully, he looked around the edge of the screen and saw he was in another room. This one was L-shaped instead of the square room he had left. At the bend in the room, there was a bed and this one had two people in it. One of them was snoring. Loudly. He couldn’t tell if it was the man or the woman, but he desperately hoped it was the man. Sounds like he’s strangling a moose!

Filadelfo gave himself a mental headslap. Of course! CumGuv means bedroom! Well, technically, ‘Sleep’ room, as it’s the same root as for the spell… He caught himself as he realized he was about to lose himself in a scholarly introspection that he couldn’t afford to indulge in right now. Okay, okay, he thought to himself, second bedroom, so what does that mean? He quietly moved to the closest window and peered past the drapes. He was on the second floor of the same building, and looked to be directly above the wash room where he first entered the building. If I play my cards right, I may have just made this mission a lot  easier, he thought as he crouched down and moved to the room’s exit, which was in the southern end of the room.

Stealth Check:
Filadelfo rolls: 16
Sleepers roll: 12
Filadelfo 16 Vs Sleepers (12 – 2 (snoring) = 10)

The wizard slowly made his way to the door, which was closed. Passing the bed, he got a look at the man and confirmed it was David Wallace, just as the artist snorted and rolled over, momentarily freezing Filadelfo in his tracks. Finally reaching the door, he tested the knob, found it unlocked, and slowly opened it. It made a slight creaking noise, but did not disturb the sleeping couple.

He now found himself in a room that took up perhaps one-third of the entire second floor. He glanced at the sketched map given to him, and confirmed he was in the artist’s studio. Canvases, sculptures, supplies and the various detritus of creation littered the room. One spot was conspicuously clean, however. A small pedestal sat next to an easel with an unfinished painting of a dinner plate resting on it. Filadelfo stared at the painting for a moment. It showed what looked like two pieces of circular bread folded in half with shredded beef, cheese, and other items inside the folded bread. Some rice was also on the plate, which sat on a red and white checkered cloth. How odd, mused Filadelfo. I have no idea what kind of food that is supposed to be, but I find it strangely desirable.

The wizard believed that the empty pedestal normally held the bust he was looking for, so it was probably locked up for the night, or early morning as it was. Besides the door leading back to the bedroom, there were two other exits from the studio. The door in the southeast corner led to an area that his map marked as “storage” and also led to the stairway and an unknown room. The door in the northern wall also led to an unknown room. Unlike the other doors Filadelfo had seen so far, which were normal wooden ones, the door in the northern wall was a reinforced wooden door with steel bands.

The wizard considered his options.

Filadelfo the Frosty
Ice Wizard — 50/50 Health
+4 to Ranged Attacks (Magic)
+2 Versus Fire Creatures (Ice Magic)