Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 7, 2012 12:58:21 GMT -5
Baxter looked around the run-down armory, finding little of interest. There was a weapons rack that had come off the wall and several broken, empty supply crates. The only other item of interest was the supply log on the floor. Could the piece be hidden in there? It was a stretch. He couldn't imagine what supplies had to do with pawns or mages. Baxter decided to search elsewhere for now, returning to the main room.
The only door left was the one leading to the collapsed room, meaning it'd be extremely difficult to find anything in there. But still, it wouldn't be much good if he spent all his time searching elsewhere and it was in the collapsed room. The wolf crossed to the other doorway, carefully maneuvering his way into the room as best as he could.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 7, 2012 19:27:13 GMT -5
Baxter had to crawl through debris to get into the collapsed room, he had little to no space to maneuver in there, but now his gut feeling was back. He was in the correct area. This seemed to be an office of some sort, with maps, ledgers, patrol routes, journals, tables displaying shifts and times, many sheets of monsters and wanted criminals spread all over the place and mostly illegible and several file cabinets. Every movement Baxter made in this room had to be carefully calculated, one wrong movement could bring the roof collapsing or his head, move a beam that might fall unto his leg, or otherwise endanger him.
There was a desk in the room, smashed by a fallen beam and very hard to reach to, however it was positioned near a broken window. Baxter could attempt to try and crawl through the broken window, risking getting cut from glass shards, or he could try to approach it from the inside. The pawn could be anywhere in the room, in the cabinets, in the desk, beneath one of the fallen shelves. Baxter had to think carefully and plan his route.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 8, 2012 1:07:32 GMT -5
Baxter looked cautiously at his surroundings, examining the wrecked clutter that lay in front of him. The room looked like it could fall in on itself as any second, but now that feeling in his gut had returned. The pawn was definitely here, it was just a matter of finding it. He examined the various objects in the room carefully, trying to think where it would most likely be located. The filing cabinets? Unlikely. If it was going to be anywhere it would probably be under the fallen shelves or in the desk. Just getting to them without bringing the roof down would be a challenge in of itself.
Baxter decided he would check the shelves first, as the desk seemed more out of the way. He carefully planned out his footsteps before moving, looking carefully at any debris that was close to anything else. One wrong move could domino into a whole support structure coming loose. Taking a deep breath, the wolf slowly made his way towards some of the fallen shelves, stepping as lightly as he could and away from as much pieces of clutter as possible.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 8, 2012 1:32:50 GMT -5
On his way to the shelves, he scraped one of the wooden beams, causing a great amount of sawdust to fall right into his face. It took him a while, but he finally reached the shelves, muscles all the more sore for having to snake his way through. However he could already see as he arrived, there was nothing there, no pawn, no mage. Moving the shelves would reveal mostly random doo dads and torn ledgers, but no pawn or mage. From where it was, he was closer to the desk than the door. But the route to it was risky. He could try and go back through the door and through the window, or get to the desk from where he was.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 8, 2012 11:24:14 GMT -5
As Baxter was moving towards the shelves, he had nicked a wooden beam, shooting a puff of sawdust into his face. The wolf closed his eyes for a brief moment while the dust settled, then wiped the the flakes away from them before continuing. By the time he had reached the shelves, though, it was obvious the chess piece wasn't there. He tilted one of the shelves an inch or so, confirming that there was nothing interesting behind it before carefully setting it back in place.
If it wasn't with the shelves, than the piece had to be with the desk. Baxter looked over at his new destination, noting the condition of the path to it. It was now closer to him than the door but... also a lot more risky. The smallest mistake could end up burying him and any hope of finding the chess piece. Plus he would have to go both to the desk and back to the door, making it twice as likely the room could collapse. Unless he exited through the window, of course.
Or... he could just enter and leave through the window. The desk was literally right next to it, so all he'd need to do would be climb through the window, find the chess piece, and climb out. Easy. Plus it significantly decreased the risk of sending the roof down. The only deterrent was the shattered glass still hanging in the frame, making it very likely the wolf would cut himself climbing in and out. He could either take a great risk but possibly come out unscathed or greatly reduce his risk at the cost of some cuts and scratches.
Baxter eyed both the window and the path to the desk, glancing between them every few seconds. Eventually he'd made up his mind, deciding to climb in through the window instead of risking the direct route to the desk. Baxter carefully retraced his steps back out of the room, being extra cautious to avoid scraping by the same beam again. Soon enough he was back on the other side of the room, maneuvering his way back into the main room of the headquarters. The wolf relaxed his muscles upon reaching the junk-filled hub, glad that taking a step no longer needed to be a calculated effort. He still needed to get the chess piece, though, and after resting for a few seconds exited the building, walking around to the side of the collapsed room.
There was the window, and right within his sight was the desk. The glass shards in the frame had caught the focus of Baxter's attention. Maybe he could just dig the frame out. No, that was stupid. That would be the most likely thing to collapse the room. He was just going to have to deal with the window as it was. The archer dropped his quiver and bow on the ground beside him (the last thing he wanted was them getting caught mid-way through) and slowly crawled his way into the room through the window, avoiding the glass as best as he could.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 8, 2012 16:55:13 GMT -5
Baxter managed to climb through the window, though he got several nasty cuts on his claws, knees and elbows from the glass. However, he was now facing the desk he was trying to reach, and low and behold, one of the handles of the desk drawers seemed remarkably durable compared to the other ones, as well as a bright pearly white. A pawn piece masquerading as a drawer handle. Surprisingly enough, it did not seem to be glued to the drawer at all, almost as if it was just hiding there.
One last piece remained, the Mage piece, but where could he find that one? His gut currently did not tell him anything, but the chess pieces began to weigh heavily on him. He felt like he had to find the rest soon or he'd just collapse.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 9, 2012 0:00:35 GMT -5
Baxter was able to pull himself through the window frame, inevitably suffering several cuts from the glass shards. That wasn't what was important right now, though. What was important was the chess piece, and that Baxter could see it right in front of him. It looked like someone had been using the pawn as a drawer handle, an odd decision for such an invaluable object. Regardless, Baxter eagerly grabbed the pawn, detaching it from the drawer without any real effort. He then promptly returned to the window, climbing back out the way he had come in.
Baxter landed on the grass outside the window, relieved to no longer have to worry about the collapsed room, but, more importantly, excited to have found the third chess piece. Now he had three of them, with only one left to find: the mage. Once he found that last piece and the board, he would finally be able to find out what they were used for. The strangeness of this compulsion, searching for chess pieces in the middle of night (especially taking such lengths to secure them), never crossed Baxter's mind. All he could focus on now was completing the set.
The wolf picked up his bow and quiver as he took off back towards the center of the encampment. The stench covering him from digging through the garbage, the saw dust that was still caked on his face, and the stinging from his freshly formed cuts were all distant now. The only thing Baxter could think of was finding the last chess piece. But where was it? His gut wasn't helping any either, and the chess pieces were beginning to feel heavier again. He had to find that mage!
The wolf looked frantically around him as the pathways quickly turned into streets, looking for any building that might be more likely to house the mage than the others. As he neared the center of the encampment, one in particular caught his eye: the town hall. The mage may not have been there, but it would be a good place to start. The wolf altered his path, making a bee-line for the building. He entered through the doors as soon as he arrived, looking around for anywhere that might be a good place to start looking.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 9, 2012 0:55:23 GMT -5
The Town Hall, remarkably, was relatively unharmed, and access to it was easy. As he entered Baxter could tell he was in the right place again, however, the hall was completely pitch black, with no source of light but the one from the door. He could hear snoring from up ahead. He was in a completely dark building full of sleeping Diamond Dogs. He had to find the last piece though, the mage. The only question was, where was it, and how was he going to get it without waking up any of the other dogs?
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 9, 2012 17:48:37 GMT -5
Baxter was greeted with darkness as he stepped into the building. The only light came from the doorway, leaving the entire room in a thick shadow. It was impossible to make anything out by sight, though Baxter could easily hear snoring from within the room. It seemed several of the dogs were using the building as sleeping quarters, definitely not a good thing for Baxter. If he woke even one of them up, it could send the entire room into a panic. So he could neither see the chess piece he was looking for nor afford to wake up any of the dogs. Not a good situation.
But it wasn't like he had a choice. He couldn't bring a lantern in with him (that would be sure to wake one of them up), and he wasn't about to let them all know what he was doing. He was just going to have to be extremely careful... and lucky. Unable to see anything in front of him, Baxter slowly began taking small steps forward, straining his eyes to make out anything in front of him or on the floor.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 9, 2012 17:56:55 GMT -5
Baxter was lucky enough to not wake up any of the Diamond Dogs, moving through the large city hall assembly hall. His sensitive ears could make out the diamond dogs' snores and their sleep growls. He could more or less tell where they were, or at least, where their heads were. He had to be very careful not to trip on them. But where could he look in such a large building for a small chess piece?
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 9, 2012 20:40:56 GMT -5
Luckily for Baxter, the snoring and sounds of dogs stirring in their sleep helped give him in getting an approximation of where any nearby dogs were sleeping. Knowing which direction the dogs were laying and how they were oriented was another thing, and Baxter had to exercise extra caution in order to avoid stepping on any of them.
He eventually found himself part-way through the large room, what must have been the assembly hall. It was unlikely that the mage would be here, but Baxter needed to locate where another part of the building might be. The wolf had no idea what the layout of the building was, but based off the direction he had entered from, he did his best to move to the back-left of the room. Hopefully there would be some sort of room back there. Eventually Baxter made contact with a wall, which he followed for several more steps. He had to step around a sleeping dog once, but he soon found his fingers curling around a door frame. The wolf promptly entered the room, entering another subset of the pitch black darkness.
Baxter had no idea where he was now, but began slowly moving forward, feeling around and still listening for the sounds of any dogs. After a few seconds his hands hit what felt like a book shelf. Examining it by touch he found several envelopes, filled with papers. The whole shelf was filled with them! And the one above it, and the one below it. He was probably in the Hall of Records. Would the mage be here though? It was worth a shot. The wolf moved forward slowly, dragging his hands over the various envelopes and papers on the shelves, feeling for anything out of the ordinary.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 10, 2012 4:42:07 GMT -5
And there it was, used as a paper weight, the Mage piece was obvious to the touch, but as he claimed it the pieces became so heavy that he started having trouble moving. Yet at the same time, he could not bear to throw them out, now that he had the set. All he had to do was figure out where to put them, he knew that now.
All he had to do was find the right place, but where could it be? He'd have to leave the city hall first, and that was no easy task now that he was overly encumbered by the suddenly incredibly heavy chess pieces. What more, that he could sense far more powerful magic from each one when they were near each other, than there was when they were alone. Any Diamond Dog he'll meet or wake along the path could probably sense it too. They would try to take them from him. He couldn't afford that.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 10, 2012 12:19:36 GMT -5
To Baxter's surprise, he soon brushed up against the very chess piece he was looking for after walking a short distance down the shelves. It had to be the piece. He couldn't really see it, but he could feel it. It had the same texture and feel as the others, and the distinctive shape of the mage piece of a chess set. Not to mention the hum of magic Baxter could feel coming from it.
Something interesting happened as Baxter picked up the piece and put it away. All of a sudden the pieces felt much, much heavier. And he could feel that the magic emanating from them was much stronger than before. Not only would it be more work to carry them around, but it would also be much harder to exit the city hall than it had been to enter it. And if any of the dogs woke up, they would be sure to feel the magical energy the pieces were giving off. They might even try to take them from him. No. He couldn't let that happen.
The wolf returned to the assembly hall, looking in the direction of the door. It was still giving off a faint light from the outside, but everything else in the room was complete darkness. The wolf did his best to listen for the sleeping dogs, taking slow, cautious steps towards the door. The chess pieces continued to weight down on him, but he couldn't stop now. He was so close! He just needed to get out of here and find the chess board.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 10, 2012 23:36:38 GMT -5
Baxter was not so lucky this time, he tripped and stepped on a Diamond Dog foot, nearly toppling over. In his attempt to balance himself he ended up tripping over another. They woke up with a start, and the others began waking up too. If Baxter had any chance to get away from there, he would have to make a run for it. Once he got outside it'll be easier to hide.
The chess pieces in his possession began pulsating, almost like little hearts, they felt incredibly uncomfortable to hold. If any of the guards or gem tenders sensed it, they would definitely impound them. At this point, even Ice Fang was dangerous to encounter. Baxter would have to hide. Yet fortunately for him, he already seemed to know where to find the board. There was a shack at the outskirts of town he did not remember visiting, but yet knew that had a trap door. That was the place to be. However the outskirts were crawling with guards...
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 11, 2012 11:09:48 GMT -5
Baxter had begun inching his way towards the door when he had tripped over a diamond dog, stepping on its foot and on that of another as he tried to keep from falling. The wolf stumbled onto the ground before him, quickly pulling himself up and listening behind him. The dogs were waking up, as were others around him. Soon the entire room would be awake, and after the chess pieces. Surely they would be able to feel the energy they were giving off and would stop at nothing to take them from him. He had to get out of here, away from them, from anyone who might try to take the pieces.
Baxter made a dash for the door, climbing over any diamond dogs he came across. They would soon be awake and after him anyway, and getting out of their sight was currently his biggest priority. The wolf had soon reached the door and took no time in making a quarter turn to his right around the circular building. He then ducked into a nearby side street, running a short distance before turning into an alley, zig-zagging as much as possible to keep any following dogs off his trail.
He had to get to the outskirts. That's where the board was, in a shack. He knew it. He could see the little building in his mind, the trapdoor inside, the chess board was there. How he knew these things was unclear, but it had to have something to do with the chess pieces. They knew where they needed to be put, and Baxter would be happy to take them there. It was about time he found out what all this was about.
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