Tour

[[Roll: 15]]

Fortunately for Runa, her next target was the opposite of her last one in one key regard. While Jacobs had a secret basement where he performed illegal alchemy experiments that Runa hadn't known about when planning the job, Count Hines was kind enough to provide tours of his mansion to the public.

Once a week, from morning til dusk, Count Hines held free guided tours of his gallery. This would give Runa quite a bit to work with when it came to planning ahead.

Twenty people were allowed on a tour at a time, led by a guide, with a new tour beginning every twenty minutes. It was a popular activity, so even though Runa had arrived early it still took over an hour for her turn to roll around.

The tour entered the grounds through a side entrance and walked through a garden. The shrubs and bushes on display were recreations of some of the art pieces located inside the gallery, although there didn't seem to be anything noteworthy about them. One thing to consider, though, was that the number of plants along this route may provide cover if Runa chose to infiltrate along this path.

After a short stroll through the garden, the tour group arrived at the gallery, a pair of massive glass doors left open so the guests could enter. As she passed, Runa noted that there was no mechanism to open them from the outside.

The tour guide explained as she gestured to some of the nearby statues, "These are statues by famous living sculptors, ones who are funded by Count Hines in the hopes of grooming a living legend." She went on to explain who had created each of the statues, most of them depictions of Count Hines himself.

The next section had older statues. "The newest among these is over a century old. All of these statues are of significant historical value, and Count Hines goes to great lengths to preserve them. Over there is a statue that is over two millenia old brought from a foreign nation." This statue was carved from pure gold, depicting a godking from a foreign land.

The section after that was... interesting to say the least. "Now, this section is one skipped over for tours that include children. Here we have works created by Count Hines himself!" These statues were all of naked women, with lifelike detail to them. "We have 'Dear Sister' which is a tribute to his late sister, who disappeared shortly after he came of age, causing him to become the next in line for the role of Count. There is also 'Arrogant Knight' which he made out of respect for a beautiful knight who refused to serve him as well as 'Unsoiled Nun' dedicated to a woman of the cloth who chose her faith over his offer of marriage. Between his funding of sculptors and the lifelike statues he himself as created, Count Hines has pushed the field of sculpture forward in his decade as Count."

Next up was the main centerpiece of the gallery. "Here we have the famous Golden Gavel, a relic of great importance in our nation's history. It often goes years without use, and is used to officiate only the most important cases for our country. The treason trial for our two princesses is the most famous in recent years. Count Hines has been entrusted with caring for it by the Queen herself given his role as Minister of Justice."

Runa made note of every little detail about the exhibit. The gavel itself was kept in a glass case, set atop a pedestal and surrounded by a cage. There was a lock on the cage, but was she confident she could pick it?

Besides the security around the Gavel in its display, Runa noted that the display could be seen from the glass doors they'd entered through, from a second story observation point that had a guard standing at it, as well as as a hallway further in that led to the rest of the mansion. Even if she was confident she could pick the lock, could she do so while it was under constant observation?

The tour continued, showing off a few taxidermied animals, as well as a stretch of the tour that went along the inner wall of the gallery to show off the many paintings the Count had on display.

That led to them having circled the gallery, and the guide took them back out through the doors they'd entered through, leaving through the garden.

With that, the visitors who had accompanied Runa all took their leave and a new tour began. Runa herself chose to circle the property a few times. She had to wonder, would it be better to enter through that same path when she infiltrated? Or was there a better area to do so from?