[DINE] The Den of Deception

[Reverie]

Edwam's plan did, at least, sound better than picking any old room and failing to find clues.

She follows him to the room across the hall.

[Bad Player]

The group enters the new room. A small rectangular white rug is place on top of the dark hardwood floors. On each side of the rug is a black sofa with some pillows, along with a matching armchair. There’s also a small table with a lamp and a potted plant. The center section of the east wall seems to be made of stone, with shelves set into the wall on each side. On the shelves are some decorative items like plates and empty vases. The stone wall has a fireplace on the lower part, elevated above the ground. A plaque is set above the fireplace. A suit of armor holding a large axe stands in the southwest corner. In about the center of the room is another statue, of a majestic horse with a single horn protruding from its forehead. On the west wall is a painting of a buxom woman looming out the dark background, nonchalantly holding a short, blunt sword in her right hand. A grotesque servant woman crouches to the left of the image. Along the bottom of the painting seems to be someone laying in a bed, but you can’t see their head.

Rachel is sitting on the sofa, reading a book.

[Reverie]

Haru made a beeline towards the fireplace, examining the plauqe set above it.

[kwando1313]

It seemed like a weirdly large amount of time had passed since she had done anything, even though she just, well, entered the room. Oh well.

Seeing that Rachel was in the room, Mizuki approached her.

"Hi Rachel~ I was wondering, well... Have you seen anything weird in here, I guess, since we last saw each other?"

[DWaM]

"That's odd..." I whispered to myself, scratching my chin. I could swear I felt some hair had grown on it since the last time I'd done so. How odd. I'd shaved beforehand, as well...

"...Hm."

I walked over to the wall made of stone. "This is a bit of a weird decor choice, isn't it? I mean, having a part of the wall made of stone..." I thought out loud, examining the bookshelves.

[Bad Player]

The plaque is about a medium size, although maybe a bit on the larger size. Which is surprising, considering only a few words are inscribed. The plaque is a rectangular piece of dark wood, with a slightly smaller plate of stainless steel screwed onto the wood in each corner. The words "Audentis Fortuna iuvat" are etched onto the steel.

"Hello again," Rachel said, looking up from her book. "N-No, there hasn't been anything in here."

There are no books on the shelves. There's two shelves on each side of the fireplace of plaque, filled with decorative item. The same level on each shelf has either a copy of the same item, or one half of an obvious pair. Also, looking a bit closer at the wall, it seems more likely that it's a thin sheet of stone set against the wall to make it look as if it's made of stone, rather than actually being made of stone.

[kwando1313]

"Hmm.... I see. Well, if you think you have anything that's interesting, let us know, okay?"

Mizuki then turned to look at the fake stone wall.

[DWaM]

"Say, Rachel, what's up with this wall?" I said, turning to the woman. "It looks, uh... A bit out of place. Like, no offense -- my decor isn't exactly the best -- but why go through the trouble of giving the appearance of a stone wall here?"

I stopped, and thought for a moment.

"Also, can I try pushing it, maybe? I mean, you'd agree that if there was a treasure in this mansion, it would need to be in a secret room or something, no? And what better way than a good ol' fashioned rotating stone wall?"

[Reverie]

Having read the plaque, Haru posed a new question to Rachel.

"What's with all the paintings, anyway?" There'd been at least a pair of them in each of the rooms they'd visited so far, and they'd caught her eye each time.

"Was somebody collecting them, or are they really just for show? They're all very... unique." She threw a compliment in there too. Rachel probably needed that.

[Bad Player]

"Of course," Rachel said to Mizuki before addressing Edwam. "Um, Danny is the one who decorated, and this is his house, so I don't really know. It was probably to give this room a slightly different atmosphere, maybe? And sure, push away. You can check whatever you want in your investigation. Just check with us before you do anything that might cause damage... I think pushing the stones should be safe.

"Those are Goya's Black Paintings," Rachel told Haru. "Well, not the originals, obviously. They're a set of recreations Danny had commissioned. Honestly, I think they're mostly dreadful, but Danny liked them, so..."

The veneer was composed of pieces of granite in pale shades of red, yellow, and pink in random shapes and sizes, held together with brown grout.

[kwando1313]

Mizuki pushes the stones and sees what happens.

[Bad Player]

Nothing. None of them even budge.

[kwando1313]

...

"I... Guess it was just a really eclectic design...?"

Mizuki seemed... A bit disappointed with that, actually.

"Oh well, guess that wasn't it, after all...?"

Mizuki examines the fireplace.

[Reverie]

"Do you know what drew him to these? They're all over the place." Haru continued asking about the paintings. She nudged Rachel towards giving her more detail.

"They—or at least, the artist—must have held some special meaning to him, right? Was he aiming for a full set of recreations, or...?"

[Bad Player]

On closer inspection, it appears the fireplace is electric. There are a few pieces of fake wood in the alcove.

"Danny always had a streak that was attracted to the dark and eerie," Rachel remarked wistfully. "I don't know if there was anything more to the paintings, or if he just liked them... He had the full set recreated, and got them as close to the originals as he could, except for the two in the foyer."