Baldwin the Merciful's - CoT Campaign
Game Master baldwin the merciful

Shinon frowns at the dwarf, raising an eyebrow. "Right. And how do you propose I was to get inside? I could have either climbed through the windows or opened the door. I listened very carefully at the door and didn't hear a sound. I don't know how they hid their presences from my ears, maybe they put their guards in an area of magical silence in order to lull would-be thieves and then can dismiss it at will or something. But either way, I assessed the situation and had every reason to believe that the room behind that door was empty. I could not do the same for any room behind a closed window that was high in the air."

Standing up and wiping some of the blood from his now-boxed ears away, Shinon towers over the dwarf and looks down, right into Duncan's eyes. "Go ahead, Duncan. Tell me what you would have done differently, since you are clearly an expert in scouting."

"We only have one hundred in gold. I'll give you all of it in exchange for passage for the six of us."

Diplomacy to barter (can I do that?): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Andrea, having brought up a very traumatic spot of her life, has moved away from the two arguing about scouting and is hunched in a corner, her back to them.

Rats, rats, squeaking all around me. Laughing in my head, telling me I will look like her. Clean white bones from waist down, just like her. Why did you leave me? Help, help...

"We only have one hundred in gold. I'll give you all of it in exchange for passage for the six of us."

[dice=Diplomacy to barter (can I do that?)]1d20+9

"You can choose which four. I have my standing order."

You can do a sense motive check.

Shinon blinks and notices Andrea has sat down. Sighing and giving one final glare to Duncan, he whispers, "If you think you can do a better job, go ahead and try it next time," before kneeling down next to Andrea and resting a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Andrea? Andrea, I'm really sorry. You're right, what I did was reckless, but I honestly thought there was no one behind that door. Listen, even though they've likely relocated or beefed up security by this point, no one was hurt. And if they did rush out, they probably didn't have time to take everything with them. If we're lucky, they also didn't wait to torch it, which means we might be able to sack the place and learn a thing or two about our enemies and their motives anyway, which would make this scouting mission a success! So stand up, and let's go examine the temple again from a safe distance. If we can tell that it's deserted, we can go check it out."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

"Standing orders, eh?"

Andrea draws in a deep breath and seems to give a soft sob, before nodding and standing up. Wiping her face on her sleeve. Yes, let us try checking it out again, or wait for the rest of our group. Andrea waits for Shinon and Duncan to sort out their differences before following along.

"The naitives must be restless the old bell is ringing." One of the guards mentions outloud.

"Someone is in trouble." A second chuckles.

Bluff check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

You sense its an order but not strictly adhered too.

"I'll let five go through for 100 gold, that big discount. hope that bell is not a signal of danger."

Shinon crosses his arms and glances up at the sky, trying to gauge how much time has passed. "Hmmm, now that you mention it, the others might be along any second now. No point in heading back over there without them. If the group decided to hunker down instead of running away, we could use the extra muscle."

Shinon leans against the wall and rubs his sore, boxed ears while he waits.

"Thank you," says Orsin, discretely slipping the man two pouches, each containing 50 gold. "We'll be on our way then."

"Thank you," says Orsin, discretely slipping the man two pouches, each containing 50 gold. "We'll be on our way then."

"Not so fast, which one of your group stays behind. There are six but you paid for 5."

Damn, couldn't pull the wool over his eyes...

"I, uh..." Orsin's eyes scan the group behind him.

Wait, who the hell is Larko?

He is one of the brotherhood, sort of ranger type but Shinon had minimal interest in him early on in the game, so he drifted to the backstory...basically back up right now.

Wait, who the hell is Larko?

He's an NPC who Baldwin intended for Shinon to bond with in a manner similar to how Duncan has bonded with Ermolos and Andrea has bonded with Fiosa. However, Shinon's stubbornly independent attitude led him to very rarely visit the temple where the young recruits were staying, which meant that Shinon and Larko never really got much of a chance to talk. Enraged by my avoidance of his carefully written character through perfectly legitimate character flaws, Baldwin created a new character named Chelsi and forcibly relocated Shinon to Chelsi's house so I would have no way to avoid developing a bond with her.

He sounds like the perfect candidate to be left behind.

Orsin moves forward to Larko and whispers in his ear. "'Larko' was it? You are to remain here and if we do not return by curfew, return to the safehouse and tell Arael that we are still on mission. Will you do this?"

Orsin looks the boy squarely in the eyes, attempting to instill the young man with a sense of great purpose.

EDIT: Yeah, forgot about curfew. Changed up Orsin's orders.

Shinon blinks and notices Andrea has sat down. Sighing and giving one final glare to Duncan, he whispers, "If you think you can do a better job, go ahead and try it next time,

So far, I have. I ain't the one who took an Axe to the leg RIGHT after demandin I be in front. And I ain't the one who put the building we gonna assault later on High Alert. I ain't sayin I be sneakier than ye kid. I'm TELLING ye yer making calls which not only put yeaself at risk but ALL of us. How much harder is it gonna be t'take the place now? Bah' if ye ain't willing t'listent sound advice yer ears and head are fullo lead.

Shinon glances back at him. "I'm listening! I'm listening! Oh, please, Duncan, tell me, how would you have gotten inside that building? Hm? If my approach was soooo wrong, tell me what option I obviously missed when the windows were all shut and open from the inside, and there is only one door!"

There were no back doors?

The temple itself is 45 feet long and 25 feet wide, you can see only one door. There is, also, a 10 by 10 foot bell tower attached to the bottom sturcture and it rises three stories into the air.

Shinon's scouting the area confirms there is only one door.

"No back doors. There was one way in, and one way only. I approached it as delicately and carefully as I could, but it's not exactly a simple task to get into a temple that has a single entrance with an armed guard stationed there," Shinon replies crossly.

Precisely Girl. Did ye even look Shinon? I don'texpect ye t'return with a complete inside layout. Ye only had 3 minutes! Scout OUTSIDE. Answer questions like: How many street level exits are there? None obvious? What about hidden? Where are their outside sentries? When is the shift change? Do they have mobile patrols out? Regular supply runs? Do they communicate with hand signals or whistles? If so what are they? Is there a route to any entry point that cannot be seen by sentries? What are their likely escape routes? Ye want me ta keep going? Alla this could of been discovered by WATCHING. So ye go ahead lad and tell the others just how much ye learned doin it your way.

Andrea sighs. Well if there is only one way in, I guess we would end up breaking down the doorway in any event, but approaching quietly and perhaps catching them unarmed would have given us a big advantage.

Yep, well there ain't nothin fer it now. I'd say call it off till they abandon the place or they relax their guard again. Worse tactical decision is fighting a warned and prepared enemy on his own ground with no surprise or advantage. Hell, if I weren't worried about innocent lives I'd.set fire to the place and kill em as they run out. See what the others think.

I'm here, reading and watching a fasinating interaction between Duncan, Shinon an Andrea.

Larkolooks at Orsin, "I guess that's ok...I will stay behind the wall. He gulps big, somewaht disappointed.

"Well, other than through infiltration, the only way I could have watched was by, I dunno...attaching myself to the wall and peering in a window, I suppose. Do I look like a spider to you? Again, the windows were closed. I don't know how you expect me to hear any details from listening at a closed window. At least a closed door has cracks along the bottom and sides. As for looking in, well, there were windows on the first floor, but when I peered at them, the grime and mold obscured my vision to a degree that I felt it would probably not be a good use of my time trying to see through."

Frowning and crossing his arms, Shinon goes on. "And once again, let me be perfectly clear here. The only reason I opened that door was because they were making absolutely no sounds. I had every reason to believe that room was empty. With that information, peering into the window on the first floor would have proved useless, now wouldn't it? 3 minutes is not a lot of time, Duncan. I made a decision based on the information I perceived. Somehow, I was deceived. That doesn't make it my fault. Or I suppose you'd like to say that if you thought the room was empty, you wouldn't have opened the door to try and figure out where the guards were?"

Looking over at Andrea, Shinon laughs. "Actually, I have something a little better than that. Look at this." Shinon opens his cloak and shows her the small burn on his chest. "When I opened the door, there was a blast of flames. Since it wouldn't make any sense for them to trap their own door (it would take too long to disable it between visits), then I assume that what happened was that there was either a spellcaster behind the door guarding it, or that the noise I heard came from a strange dog that is somehow able to breathe fire. Either way, the blast of flames was pretty weak. Look at this wound, I'm sure you can tell it's barely worse than if I waved my hand over a candle."

"I may not have gotten much information, but I did get some. There's definitely a growling creature in that first floor, some kind of animal. And either that animal has some kind of weak fire attack, or there is also a pathetic apprentice wizard guarding the door. So there, Duncan. That is my report."

Set fire, just like the Kurasawa/Eastwood film!

Well we would be wasting a lot more money as well in order to get back through the gate. I don't have enough for all of us. So unless we can find an inn or tavern here where we can hole up we mayvery well have to go in due to flat purses.

Shinon shakes his head. "I have some coin I can spare if necessary. It's not much, but it should be enough to get us back through the gate."

Actually, you did not check for traps and you triggered a burning hand trap on the door handle, along with the alarm. although your character may believe it was an animal with fire.

Yeah, couple o hours scouting around the outside from nearby windows could a told ya the rest. Watches need relief don't they? So ye could waited under cover from a nearby building before even accepting Una's spell and learn't a heck of a lot more. They could have archers watching the approaches from other rooftops. How do they get into and out of the building? Didn't realise ye had so little experience scouting lad, but ye gotta widen her vision.

Orsin pats the young man on the shoulder, "Don't worry, unless the gods smile on us, we're sure to see more action. Your time will come." He gives Larko one last nod before saying to the others, "Alright, let's go."

Orsin, the newly unofficially appointed party face leads the remainder of the party through the North Gate, before it closes shut behind them with an eerie groan.

So there might be a magical trap on the door.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23 For perhaps understanding what might be there and the nature of magical traps.

PLus some of beast that might be a guard dog. This is some information at least.

"Forgive me for rushing things with the imminent arrival of a horde of monstrous beings that almost slaughtered Kenji in the five minutes he was outside lingering in the back of my mind," Shinon replies sarcastically. "Obviously, I should have spent hours watching from a distance through windows that were, as I stated, too grimy for me to make much detail through. Hell, I could have stayed there and watched them all the way until dark, when the guards abandon their post and suddenly there's no one left to open that gate for us! Good talk, Duncan, I've really learned something about scouting today." He rolls his eyes and starts walking back to the temple.

Andrea the description provided by Shinon could indicate some sort of spell, probably not arcane in nature, or an animal with a breath weapon.

Edit; it oud read: "probably not divine in nature..."

I am not an expert yet on magical traps, but it sounds like it might be arcane in nature. So they might have a wizard with them to secure the temple.

Perhaps we should wait just a little more for the others. if they thought they were under attack, they might spend magic on protecting themselves that will expire.

Editing

I only not an expert yet on magical traps, but it sounds like it might be divine in nature. So they might have a cleric with them to secure the temple.

Perhaps we should wait just a little more for the others. if they thought they were under attack, they might spend magic on protecting themselves that will expire.

Sorry, I had a typo...it should been probably not divine in nature.

Are Andrea, Shinon, and Duncan close to the North Gate entrance?

Hopefully. Of course it would be excellent coincidence!

As Orsin, Janiven, Ermolos, Fiosa, and John walk through the ajar gate, they can see there is a road heading towards the sound wwhere the bell sound came from.

You can make a perception check

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

*sigh* A string of good skill check rolls almost always means bad attack rolls later. :/

"Forgive me for rushing things with the imminent arrival of a horde of monstrous beings that almost slaughtered Kenji in the five minutes he was outside lingering in the back of my mind," Shinon replies sarcastically. "Obviously, I should have spent hours watching from a distance through windows that were, as I stated, too grimy for me to make much detail through. Hell, I could have stayed there and watched them all the way until dark, when the guards abandon their post and suddenly there's no one left to open that gate for us! Good talk, Duncan, I've really learned something about scouting today." He rolls his eyes and starts walking back to the temple.

No one said we had to attack today lad. Nothing wrong with pulling out of a stupid attack if it stops ye going in blind. Yer welcome fer the lesson and apology accepted.

Duncan grins and winks. He did think Shinon had no patience but he liked the kids fire. He might make a greatwarrior if he lived that long.

Andrea is confused again and really wants a tankard of ale to quaff after this is all over.

Hold on Shinon, let us at least wait a little. We can wait a bit before finding an inn at least to hole up at if we don't attack today.

You recognize a stumpy dwarf talking to someone in the shadows, the spittle flying form his mouth. He is a couple blocks down at an alley.

Orsin fastens the kerchief along the bridge of his nose once the gates close behind them and moves forward at a reserved, quiet pace. The others, presumably, are in tow.

Shinon chuckles to himself. "Oh, this is the perfect outlet for my anger. Take it from one dwarf and zero it in on another." Shinon waves to Andrea and calls, "I'll be right back! And don't worry, this isn't me running off or anything!"

He strolls up to the dwarf and leans against the alley wall, keeping a good 30 feet between him and the dwarf before calling out. "I remember you. Having trouble finding some 'men' for your expedition, are you?"

Perception, Who is he Talking To?: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19, +2 if the target is human, half-elf or half-orc.

Shinon chuckles to himself. "Oh, this is the perfect outlet for my anger. Take it from one dwarf and zero it in on another." Shinon waves to Andrea and calls, "I'll be right back! And don't worry, this isn't me running off or anything!"

He strolls up to the dwarf and leans against the alley wall, keeping a good 30 feet between him and the dwarf before calling out. "I remember you. Having trouble finding some 'men' for your expedition, are you?"

[dice=Perception, Who is he Talking To?]1d20+11, +2 if the target is human, half-elf or half-orc.

That was Orsin's perception not yours. He sees Duncan lecturing someone.

Orsin, the stumpy dwarf you see is Duncan and he is speaking to someone in the shadows of an alley. As you approach you can see Andrea standing to the side behind Duncan and Shinon, who is eyeballing the redfaced dwarf.

That was Orsin perception not yours. He sees Duncan lecturing someone.

Ooooh. Then never mind. Shinon will just sit around and rub his Andrea wounds.

I should have been more clear on which character that was directed to.

Orsin reunites his immediate group with the rest of the party in this alley. "The temple bells are ringing like mad. I take it things didn't go as planned?"

Shinon waves lightly at the human and gives him a small nod of acknowledgment. "Unfortunately, I was incorrect in my initial assessment of the situation. I listened carefully at the only entrance, deduced that there was no one behind the door, and attempted to open it in an effort to quickly and silently infiltrate the enemy base. However, it seems that my senses were fooled. I was greeted with the sound of guards assembling, and an animal of some kind growling at me. Also, there was fire. Oh, don't worry, these bruises are actually from her, not the guards." He nods to Andrea.