|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:37 pm
Old Man Johnson's Mansion
Old Man Johnson's Mansion is a giant mansion that looms over a small portion of Aquarian City. Though he is not a Zora, he lives in the beautiful place because he was able to afford it with his vast sum of money that he has stowed away within his abode.
Old Man Johnson is a greedy and a cowardly fellow, and despite the fact that he cannot last long in a battle on his own, he has many tricks up his sleeve. He has purchased a mountain of tomes that he uses and practices to defend his Rupees and mountains of treasure, he hired a small private army to patrol his home daily. The private army is a group of weak mercenaries, however, they can surround and capture you if you underestimate their numbers.
Johnson has a plethora of traps in his home, as well, to keep any unwanted visitors out. There are rooms that have monsters in it to attack and devour anyone who enters - though it is possible to defeat them. There are also rooms that flood up to the ceiling, drowning all unfortunate enough to wander in. It truly is a terrible, terrible place.
However, in the cellar, there are mountains of Rupees for you to plunder. Why not take a look around, and try to ignore the dangers? Or stay far away, and hope fate does not bind you to this deadly household? The choice is yours.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:52 pm
Max approached the large gates to Johnson's Mansion. Soldiers were moving up and down behind the gate to keep watch for intruders. However, Max had stealth, so he could make it in. Hopefully, the Priest, Rednal, would have the same.
Max climbed the gates slowly and carefully, making sure the metal sheath of his Longsword didn't bang against the iron gate to make noise. He did a backflip over the sharp tips at the top of the fence, and landed softly on the grass.
Hedges were everywhere. It was a maze out of hedges. And Johnson's Private Army was patrolling. It would be hard, but Max was confident that he could make it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:55 pm
As Rednal approached the gates from the shadows, he stopped, put his hands together, and shut his eyes. "Bless me in this task, Lady of Wisdom, and guide me to my goal." he said quietly. After a few moments, he stepped back, then ran towards the gate. In a practiced manuver he had learned during his training, the boy stuck the tip of his weapon into the ground and vaulted into the air, pulling his weapon up behind him. All but noiseless, he landed softly on the ground a few feet from Max. "Well, it worked that well..." he muttered. "Nayru must approve."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:00 pm
"Good. I thought you wouldn't come." Max whispered. Then, Max started to tiptoe through the hedge maze. Max and Rednal still haven't come to see a Guard yet. Which was a good thing.
"Rednal, stay close. Stealth is one thing I'm good at. Keep your weapons sheathed." Max said quickly and nearly silently. "It's rumored that he keeps his riches in the cellar of the mansion. But the entrance is unknown." Max shook his head. "Let's split up. Meet me at the entrance in 5 minutes. Find a guard, knock him out and throw him in a hedge, and find a map. Got it?"
Max disappeared into the hedges. Looking around, Max was walking rather fast to find a Guard. He was actually getting impatient. Where could they all be?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:03 pm
Rednal looked at his wrapped-up spear. What sheath? And stay close, then split up? he thought mildly. Shrugging, he chose a path because the wind was blowing down it and stepped forward, focusing calmly on the path ahead. More of a warrior-monk than a priest, Rednal knew how to tread softly, and did so. Eventually, he came to the top of an area, and found that it was overlooking a pavilion. Nearly a hundred men were standing rank-and-file there, listening to a man speak. Each had a greedy look on his or, more rarely, her face. The boy held back a low whistle and backtracked. It was time to go meet up with Max.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:13 pm
"There's nobody here... I swear, I've checked every area of the Courtyard. Nothing." Max cursed quietly to himself. Max listened for some footsteps, but heard none. Nobody was here, but it was best to be quiet.
Max followed a path he had traced in the Courtyard by placing sticks in the hedges earlier. He followed the markers and eventually stopped at the Mansion door, only to see Rednal.
"So, Priest, did you find anything?" Max whispered. "There's absolutely no guards here. I can't find a single on in the courtyard. Where could they all be? Usually, you could hear their heavy armor shaking from a mile away..." Max pondered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:15 pm
"They're having some sort of meeting." Rednal replied quietly. "Some old guy's talking to them. Looks like they want to start a raid or something... or maybe it's just payday. Perhaps the Goddesses saw this ahead in our paths and granted us this window of opportunity." Rednal always blamed good luck on the Goddesses. "Let's go inside while we have time. The more we can take, the more people I can help."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:22 pm
"Agreed. Let's go inside." Max whispered. Pushing the large doors open, he walked in the small opening that he made. When Rednal was in, too, he shut the door quietly. Small lanterns flooded light into the large Main Hall that was only a fraction of Johnson's mansion.
"Let's go." Max said quietly, entering the first door on his left. He opened the door to see a single soldier, standing their idlely. The Soldier spotted the duo, and put up his lance.
"You can take him, Priest. I'll search the area for anything needed. Just don't kill anybody here." Max reminded. "They are people too, you know." Max left Rednal's side and quickly scanned the room, running while doing so, and keeping an eye on Rednal and the Soldier, to make sure that Rednal didn't need any help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:28 pm
Rednal didn't kill people. Only if the Goddesses told him to would he ever take a sentient being's life. Before the guard could cry for help, Rednal dashed forward. A professional, the soldier shot his weapon towards Rednal, intending to impale the boy. The hallway was too narrow for Rednal to do more than dodge a little, but he did manage to force the man's weapon to the other side by blocking with his own. Spears were extremely useful in that, when controlled properly, they could be as helpful as a shield. Using momentum, Rednal slammed a foot into the man's face and drove him into the floor. A clonk on the side of the head with the blunt end of his weapon knocked the guard out cold. "Feh." Rednal said. "Stab attacks in a corridor like this? Idiot." Unlike swords, which could be swung every which way, spears had to be used right. This man hadn't practiced indoors, only outdoors, with plenty of room. The boy fished around the guard's body, and eventually produced a key. "Hmm... Basic one. Not a House Key, but enough to get into the less-important areas."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:39 pm
"Found something!" Max said, looking at a chest. The chest was small and was probably used by Soldiers frequently, as it seemed to have not a single bit of dust on it, like everything else did. Max slowly opened it to see a Compass.
"Look, Priest!" Max said, holding up his treasure. "It's useless without a map, but Hell. We'll have to live without it for a little while." Max sighed as he walked back over to Rednal. "Let's get out of here before somebody spots us."
Max walked out of the area to go back into the Main Hallway. There were Seven Doors, not including the one that Max and Rednal were just in, on the left and right.
"Alright, Priest, show me were to go. You try." Max said, hoping his "luck of the Godesses" would prevail. The Godesses didn't like Max as much as Rednal, most likely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:44 pm
Rednal quietly went along the doors, trying each handle, and each lock with the key. Two of the doors were unlocked, and four of them needed the House Key, or at least more than what Rednal had. "Nothing unlocked can be the right way this early..." Rednal muttered, opening the locked door with the Guard's key. The inside of the room revealed was some sort of hallway. Rednal narrowed his eyes, then grabbed a small object from the main room and threw it down the hall. As it reached the halfway point, it exploded. "Magical trap." Rednal explained. "This guy's paranoid, like you said. I can disarm it in about two minutes, or we can go another way. Your choice."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:48 pm
"If it isn't too much trouble, disarm it. Sounds like the safer choice." Max sighed. "Two minutes isn't too long, anyway." Max started to flick the hilt of his sheathed sword, making a small clanking noise. When he realized that he was making a lot of noise, he instantly stopped and shivered at the thought of Guards rushing in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:52 pm
Rednal let out a breath and focused. Holding his weapon out in front of him, he strode forward, stopping when a burst of energy incinerated the cloth on the tip of his weapon. The lance itself was unharmed. The boy traced up the edges of the energy field, focusing carefully. Set into the hallway were four emitters; those were what made the field. Expensive, effective, and totally useless if you knew how to beat them. The temple used the same items, set to stun, to protect the Bishops' studies. Working carefully, the Priest dug his weapon into the wall and tilted the upper-left emitter so that it was pointing away from all the others. The energy field vanished. "All four need to be lined up for it to work." Rednal said. "Let's go."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:00 pm
"Good job, Priest." Max whispered cheerfully. Max carelessly ran through the narrow hallway until he reached the end. On the end was a pedastle, with a soft, red pillow on it. And on top of the pillow was a book, or a tome, to be more precise.
"Look, Rednal... A tome! We could learn magic with this!!" Max exclaimed, flipping through the pages. Nothing made sense, however, as the tome was written in Ancient Hylian tounge. Only a few people were left who knew how to speak and read it. Max put it away for the moment.
"It's useless now, as it is written in Ancient Hylian." Max said, disappointed. "We can take it to my mother later. She knows a little bit about Ancient Hyrule." Max said happily.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:05 pm
Rednal merely smiled. "Let me see it." he replied. "I'm not a master, but all Priests know something of the language, because that's what the documents from Nayru are written in. It's considered blasphemy to write them in anything else." True enough. Rednal had learned a lot of things before leaving the church behind, and as he believed wholly in worshipping the Goddesses, he had done his best to learn their original language. "There might be something in it we can use, if I can puzzle it out."
He knew only fifty words or so. Most of his translation was done by filling in the blanks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
