Twisted Tavern Group 3

Costanza didn’t know what a caesar cipher was before today, but when she looked at the gibberish clue after drinking the potion, things were starting to add up. She could pick out patterns among the letters, substituting and eliminating things that didn’t make sense. The letter ‘T’ was written on its own, so it had to be an ‘A’. The string ‘max’ was repeated a few times and while many three letter words were an option for the decryption, ‘the’ was the one that started sentences most frequently.

With that in mind, it was easy to pick out the shift. And if Costanza wasn’t under the effects of a potion, she would need a pen and paper to decode it all. Instead, she felt the atoms in her brain moving at top speed as she read the finished clue out loud for Pyxis, though she was sure he could make out exactly what she did.


“A string of memories? Lutes have strings, don’t they?” She turned back to peer at the stage. The lute was still leaning at its center, strings visible even from their spot near the entrance. She looked at the clue again. “It could be the lute or that thing on the bar,” she told Pyxis, pointing at the gramophone which she didn’t know the name for. “But strings suggest lute, right?” It was more of rhetorical question to herself.

She pushed off the stool and headed over to the stage again, remembering the initial image she conjured in her mind of herself as a bard. She would indeed be playing it today, contrary to her former belief. Costanza took a seat on the edge of the stage and picked up the lute, settling it in her lap. She used what little she knew about music and string instruments to play a simple tune.

Interactions: @Costanza Jewelweed

Outfit

The potion took effect almost immediately as Pyxis leaned closer to Costanza and watched the nonsense clue take shape. It felt like he was looking at another language and he suddenly gained the ability to translate it. He couldn’t read the clue straight off the paper, but it did feel like he knew exactly what it was saying without having to write down the transcribed version. Are Wit-Sharpening Potions banned in exams? Because I could really use the help. He read the clue in his head as Costanza spoke it out loud and he immediately glanced over to the lute and the gramophone. It seemed that she felt strongly about the lute and he couldn’t argue with her logic, but he decided to get a closer look at the other option.

“I’ll see if there’s more to the gramophone then,” he piped up just before she started moving her hands across the strings of the lute. He walked over to the bar, first inspecting the items behind it before approaching the gramophone. String clearly points to the lute, but memories could suggest something not regularly used in present times. Pyxis had never seen a gramophone before coming to Hogwarts and they were definitely relics of the past, only used in the castle because magic messed with electronic things. Perhaps they were supposed to make music with the old machine. However, as far as Pyxis could see, there were no records to choose from. Maybe it’s enchanted in some way? He placed his hands on either side of the gramophone, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary before rotating the crank.

Action: Investigating the gramophone and rotating its hand crank.
STA: 10 | EVA: 5 | STR: 3 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 8 | ACC: 7
Prodigal DADA

Even with the lack of participation from the other players here Pyxis and Constanza are making quick work of the escape room. The pair split up to solve the third clue and indeed one of them found it. Unfortunately it would not be Constanza, despite the great tune and stellar performance the clue is found within the gramophone. As Pyxis Investigated and poke around the gramophone on the counter he would find a simple vinyl just poking out from under the turntable of it, the legs of the gramophone stopping it from getting crushed. It was a small one, smaller than the standard twelve inches and even the less common seven inch vinyl. This was a five inch vinyl record, and lucky the gramophone is already set to the speed needed for the unusually small vinyl. In the process of putting it on the gramophone Pyxis would find a note on the blank side of this vinyl, it said:

The next clue will not be in sight
Unless you charm it down by flight
On the ground it lays not
So look up and your attention will be caught

If at this time anyone of them were to look up they would see just the glimpse of something on the rafters, something too tall for them to reach. And what was the music on the vinyl? Well it wasn't music at all, instead it was a voice, the sound of someone saying a single word, "seven". Now this group would have three digits, only one more than they would have all that is needed to solve the escape room and leave the tavern. Good luck.

Group #3 players: @Costanza Jewelweed, @Pyxis Hellebore, @Adeline Spinks, @Mamori Anezaki, @Aurelia Valentine, and @Hikari Takahashi
Rolls:
N/A

Interactions: @Costanza Jewelweed

Outfit

A lovely but disjointed tune met Pyxis’ ears as he poked around the gramophone. He almost paused his investigation to turn back and send Costanza a thumbs up, but it was right at that moment that something under the music player caught his attention. He slipped the tiny vinyl out from under the turntable and did a mini dance in celebration. Turning it over in his hands, the young wizard found a clue attached to the underside of the circular object. He peeled the newest clue off and placed the record atop the turntable.

“Found another clue!” he beckoned Costanza over once she was finished with the lute. He passed the slip of paper to her without reading it at first, more interested in hearing what was on the vinyl record. After turning the hand crank, Pyxis was surprised to hear no music, only a voice saying ‘seven’. Another addition to the combination. Once he was done with that, the snake peered over Costanza’s shoulder to read the clue. The words indicated that something obtainable was above them, so he looked up. He could see something, just barely. Racking his brain for spells that could assist them, Pyxis came up empty.

“Do you know the Summoning Spell, by chance?” he asked Costanza, wondering if he should’ve been reading ahead in Charms rather than DADA. After a moment of thinking, Pyxis stepped away from Costanza and pulled his wand out of his sleeve, aiming it at the unknown object. “I’m going to try a thing,” he informed his partner, flicking his wand and speaking the incantation of the Knockback Jinx.

Action: Casting Flipendo at whatever is on the rafters, trying it knock down.
STA: 10 | EVA: 5 | STR: 3 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 8 | ACC: 7
Prodigal DADA

She was barely practiced with this sort of thing, but Costanza managed to produce something that didn’t make her want to rip her own ears off. Her fingers moved over the strings, attempting to mimic the movements of her father. It was more difficult than she had imagined and while the resulting tune was pleasant, it was still fragmented and scrappy. She was happy to give up once she looked around, noting that nothing in the room had changed.

Pyxis was showing his skill, she thought. Much more than he did the last time. Costanza placed the lute back into its leaning position and approached the gramophone slowly in an attempt to look nonchalant. That image was probably shattered the second she swiped the clue from Pyxis’ hands, eager to move onto the next stage of the escape room.

She read over the clue once, then shivered as she heard a voice emanate from the gramophone. With the emptiness of the setting, it was an eerie sound that echoed around her. At least there was a point to the vinyl that Pyxis found. Seven was their third number. Two on the cup, three from the decoded clue, and seven from the record.

When that was all sorted in her mind, she finally looked up. It was something she rarely found herself doing as there was never much to admire on ceilings anyways. But this time, something was stashed up there. Pyxis took the proactive approach and Costanza couldn’t find much wrong with casting the Knockback Jinx other than that it didn’t exactly align with the clue of ‘charming it down by flight’. Still, there was no spell in her repertoire that fit either.

“I don’t,” Costanza replied in reference to the Summoning Charm. She dragged a stool under where the object was located and stepped onto it, balancing precariously and trying to get a good look at what it was to see if that could inform their decision-making. And maybe the Wit-Sharpening Potion could help?

The knock back jinx was not quite what the note on the back of the small record was talking about. That object, the one Costanza is looking at, was too small to be hit easily with the knock back jinx. In fact from this distance Costanza can make out what is the object on the rafters, it was a small note, no different then all the rest they have been seeing all through out this escape room, it has to be the next clue right? Unfortunately for them it was just too hard to hit such a small note from this distance, the rafters are quite high up after all, heck even if it hit the force might have tore the paper and wrecked the next clue. Pyxis' knockback jinx instead hit one of the large Viking shield in on the wall, the round ones used for decorations. The green shield took the hit just fine, but it did not stay on the wall, quite the opposite in fact. It fell onto the stone floor underneath, making a large "thud" sound while doing so. Perhaps that would be enough to gain the attention of the other players? So far Costanza and Pyxis did make quick work of the escape room, they are so close to the end, just one more left, surely they got this in the bag.

Group #3 players: @Costanza Jewelweed, @Pyxis Hellebore, @Adeline Spinks, @Mamori Anezaki, @Aurelia Valentine, and @Hikari Takahashi
Rolls:

Reducio

Pyxis casting flipendo - WDC 9
[d20 : 10] + 9 = 19, success
accuracy
[d20 : 13] + 7 = 20, failure

Interactions: @Costanza Jewelweed

Outfit

Pyxis watched in horror as his Knockback Jinx missed the rafters entirely and slammed into a shield on the wall. The green thing fell straight to the ground, making a loud sound that he swore shook the room. The young wizard cleared his throat to break the resulting silence and quickly scurried over to where the shield had fallen, picking it up and leaning it against the wall of the tavern. He wasn’t much a fan of leaving other people’s places untidy, nor did he want to leave obvious evidence of his Flipendo misfire.

“Sorry!” he yelled out as if the gamemasters could hear him, and then returned his attention to the task at hand. “Okay, so the Knockback Jinx is a no go and we don’t know the Summoning Spell.” Pyxis tapped his wand against his lips, deep in thought. Is there a spell that we know that’s supposed to help us here? Am I not thinking outside the box enough? There was one spell that had popped into his mind, but its purpose wasn’t exactly to bring things towards the caster. “Surely it wouldn’t be the Levitation Charm, right? I mean… that's for levitating. How would we bring the thing down here with it?”

No moderated action yet.
STA: 10 | EVA: 5 | STR: 3 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 8 | ACC: 7
Prodigal DADA

There was a brief stretch of silence that spread between them after the shield fell to the ground, and Costanza didn't even try to stifle her laughter as she watched Pyxis pick up the Viking relic. She let it slip through her lips as she bent over, placing her arms on her knees for stability. It was a brief lapse and she righted herself soon after, letting a final giggle out as he apologized to the air.

"You must've felt really threatened by that shield, Hellebore." She wiped a single tear from her eye. The snake got down to business quickly though, so Costanza took a quick breath to dispel the goofs and looked up at the rafters again. "It's definitely our clue up there," she told Pyxis and then perked up at his mention of the Levitation Charm.

In truth, she had passed on trying to cast that spell for the same reason as Pyxis. It was a spell for keeping things up in the air, not bringing them down. She'd seen it being cast in duelling before and the only way the target ever returned to the ground was when the caster stopped concentrating on the spell. Could that work here?

"Watch and learn." Costanza drew her wand out again and aimed for the slip of paper, casting the spell and moving it over so that its fall wouldn't be broken by the rafter, and then she stopped the cast altogether.

Costanza did have the right idea it seems, if they cannot summon it might as well try to float the clue towards them, unfortunately, much like the knock back jinx, this one wouldn't have the best result either. Perhaps this just wasn't a good day for her, or perhaps there was some sort of distraction, either way she did not successfully get Pyxis to "watch and learn" since the spell didn't work at all. She pointed her wand at the note on the rafters, but as she said the words, nothing happened. The note didn't float, the rafters didn't move, it is as if nothing happened. Bad luck indeed, this duellist has pulled off much harder spells before, it's like something purposefully doesn't want to let them out, wants to make the pair spend more time here.

The quiet and stillness of the tavern seems to be only made louder by the failed spell, and the lack of action by the other players. The tavern was as bright as always but the atmosphere feels as if it were changed, something about being to close to freedom and yet failing not once but twice to continue is certainly an issue to deal with. But third time is the charm right?

Group #3 players: @Costanza Jewelweed, @Pyxis Hellebore, @Adeline Spinks, @Mamori Anezaki, @Aurelia Valentine, and @Hikari Takahashi
Rolls:

Reducio

Costanza casts wingardium leviosa - WDC 9
[d20 : 1] + 8=9 - crit fail

Interactions: @Costanza Jewelweed

Outfit

“I’m watching.” Pyxis was the one to laugh this time, letting out a good-natured snort after Costanza’s spell failed. He’d been on the receiving end of casts like that before. Some of them had even blown up in his face, causing aches and pains for days. Of course, the Hospital Wing was right there to patch him up if he needed, but he was a bit too embarrassed to see the nurse when he’d given himself a cold or started puking slugs. It looked like fate had gone easy on Costanza, though. With my luck, I’d have been stuck on the ceiling somehow.

“Hufflepuff’s prize duellist, everyone,” Pyxis addressed the empty room, flourishing his hands towards her. And before she bit his head off, he added, “Only joking.” At first, he wasn’t totally sure how she meant to accomplish bringing the clue down with the Levitation Charm but while recalling the use of the spell in duelling, he began to understand. Maybe thinking outside the box really was his weakness. Well, I’m not in Ravenclaw for a reason. “Imagine if don’t cast this right,” he chuckled, a bit nervous that he and Costanza would be stuck in this room for longer than they would need to be.

Action: Casting the Levitation Charm on the clue.
STA: 10 | EVA: 5 | STR: 3 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 8 | ACC: 7
Prodigal DADA