Clyde's eyes widen and he holds his breath as Ragnar walks up to the door. He lets out a sigh of relief as the Goliath takes a step back.
"Thank you, Ragnar. We should scout the area to get a general layout of the inside. Possible guards or exits in case of an-" Clyde gulps in his dry throat, "emergency..."
Do we expect something to go wrong? Sati asks, confused. We're just here to talk to a prisoner and head out. I suppose it can't hurt, but let's try not to do anything that would make these jailers suspicious of us.
Do we expect something to go wrong?
"Well, you never know." Ragnar says with a light chuckle.
"Stealth and subtlety aren't my strong suits. I'll hang back and keep an eye out."
There's a wall surrounding the jail, and it's very easy to climb (DC 5 Strength [Athletics]; if you have a +4 or higher, you auto succeed).
While on the wall, you have to beat a DC 10 Dexterity (Stealth) check to avoid being noticed by the two men keeping guard in the outer compound. There are no patrols on the wall itself.
The two men in the compound seem to care little for their surroundings and are mostly preoccupied with talking to each other or playing a game of dice.
The old half-elf grumbles in the back of the group often throughout the trip. Something about "cutting into research time".
Clyde breathes deep to settle his nerves and stop his left arm from quivering. "I've been murdered at a school where they trained noble children to be monks. I was revived by the Harpers. This is my first job since then... You'll have to forgive me for being cautious."
Clyde looks around to see how far the wall stretches. "I'll go around the right and just get a feel for the area. Meet you back here in a few minutes."
-Well...- Shoo seems to think for a bit. -I think we should go straight. Talk to the guy, ask him about questioning a prisoner. If he wouldn't let us, ask him about buying the prisoner. If he wouldn't let us, then we can think of anything else.- Then he adds -Well, just my opinion, but no sense in trying to solve a problem which isn't yet there, don't you think?
As Clyde scouts around the tower, everyone else waits in the drizzling rain and fog, their clothes still soaked despite any meager protection.
The tower itself looks to be about four stories high, and there are obvious holes in the sides of part of the tower. There is no light coming from inside, but you can hear the occasional bout of laughter from a guard or two, or the yells of a prisoner trying to make some noise (there are no sounds of anyone being tortured or otherwise hurt). Any other sounds are drowned out by the rain.
The ground floor of the tower is surrounded by a wall that's easy to climb; looking in, there are two guards in the courtyard inside. There are four doors attached to the courtyard. The southern most door leads to the area outside beyond the wall to where you are now. The northern most door leads to the tower itself. And the other two, one to the east and one to the west of the tower's entrance door, each lead to some small room that's outcropped from the tower proper.
The entire eastern side of the tower is on the cliffs edge, and is impossible to walk around.
The courtyard looks to be approximately 100 ft wide and about 50 ft from the outer wall to the tower. The tower itself looks to have a diameter of around 70 ft.
Rath does his best to maintain his calm exterior while the others scout around a place they were destined to walk into without stealth. When they return, he asks calmly, You lot ready to walk in and talk to the jailer now? This one here motioning to Shoo, Had the right idea 20 minutes ago.
Sati nods at Rath. Let's get inside so we can at least be out of this awful rain.
Clyde returns from his scouting mission, recounting the hazards and escape routes in his head. As everyone is eager to get inside, he'll head in with them.
Clyde keeps pace with Ragnar and without looking away from the path, he leans in and speaks. "There's a cliff drop at the rear and possible arrow slits all throughout the tower. If something goes wrong we'll be pinned down. I'll let you know if I spot anything else."
"There's a cliff drop at the rear and possible arrow slits all throughout the tower. If something goes wrong we'll be pinned down. I'll let you know if I spot anything else."
With a lowered voice, Ragnar replies, "Good looking out."
He raises his voice. "Lets try to get in and out as quick as possible."
You walk up to the door and knock on it.
Muffled footsteps are heard, drawing closer. They pause outside the door, and you hear somebody climbing a creaking foot ladder. The peephole snaps open, and a pair of glaring eyes confront you.
“What do you want?”
Ragnar shifts uncomfortably, waiting for someone with a better way of words to speak up.
Clyde uncharacteristically pipes up, " Greetings sir! We've been sent here from Phlan. The Black Hands seem to be having some trouble with a bothersome gray patriot. We've been sent to speak with one of the scoundrel's companions you have in your fine prison here."
Clyde smiles brightly, rain pouring buckets over his face, matting his long hair to his forehead.
Here to see Rathene, huh? It's 100 gold for her release. 10 gold to talk to her for a half hour.
"Ten gold!? That would buy a week and a half stay in the finest room in the city! Or a single meal at the Wicked Tart!"
Alright alright alright. 5 gold. Come on in.
The door opens to reveal a halfling, filthy and bedraggled. You're lead through the overgrown courtyard and into the tower itself, where another halfling striking a similar appearance to the first sits smoking a pipe. As you are led in, a guard follows with a crossbow trained on you the entire time.
A cramped spiral staircase punches through the heart of the prison tower. Archways open onto each floor, offering eerie glimpses of dank stone corridors, barred cell doors, and scurrying river rats. Halfway up, you pass a cell door reinforced with iron bars and
lengths of chain.
Seeing you looking, the halfling simply mutters pirate.
The bandit’s cell is at the very top of the tower, near a small guardroom. The halfling unlocks the cell door and hands you his lantern.
“Half a bell,” he snaps. A half-orc clad in filthy rags is held in the cell, lashed to the wall by her wrists and fettered with heavy chains.
She winces at you through wet, plastered hair. “You’re no jailers,” she croaks. “Why are you here?”
When the jailer makes comment on the reinforced door, Ragnar speaks up.
"What kind of pirate needs to be so heavily contained?"
Once in front of the cell of Rathene, Ragnar takes the lantern, takes a knee (the man still comes up to the height of an average man), then holds the lantern up, to get a better look at the captive.
Shoo enters the jail, trying not to breath too deep. He usually let others speak, and this is no different occasion. He just hopes the rest can get whatever this half-orc knows quickly and they can leave.
While they talk, he keeps an eye on everything just in case anyone tries to cause some trouble.
We are here for information. Rath states bluntly, If you assist, things may be able to be done about your current state of affairs. Tell us about your Grey Pilgrims, and the rival kobold gangs.
To Ragnar, the halfling says, The kind of pirate that's a Minotaur.
At the jail cell with Rathene...
The halfling jailor is standing there next to you to ensure no shenanigans ensue.
To Rath, she says, Uh uh. No way. I'll tell you what you want, but first I want my freedom. Or at least a better room. One with a view of the sky. You make my stay here better. I'll answer one question. You get me free, I'll tell you everything I know about Sahnd and even the kobolds.
Here's how this works:
For each thing you do to make her stay better, she'll answer one question. Give her a room with sky, add a blanket, let her be imprisoned without being chained to the wall, get her better food, etc.
Each amenity will cost between 10-20 gold. Each PC may make one request. Roll 1d10+10 for the cost; a successful DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check will reduce the price by half.
Anyone with a background feature involving trade and haggling (such as the Guild Artisan background feature) gets advantage - I'll leave it up to you to decide if it counts.
To free her, it costs 100 gold. No haggling. The halflings are absolutely stuck on that price.
Or you can sneak/fight for her freedom. To pick her locks, it's a DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves Tools) check, and you must have a set of thieves tools or the equivalent on your character. An improvised lock pick imposes disadvantage.
Since the jailor is with you, haggling is easy, but if you want to free her by force or sneak her out, you'll have to have some sort of distraction to make the jailor go away. Or come up with another idea.
"Guardperson, if I vere to buy zis prisoner freedom. How vould I do zat?"
Ragnar considers the deal a moment, then grabs his coin purse, counts out 100 gold, and hands it to the halfling.
"We'll need a room to talk for a bit. I'll pay you for that and to bring us all some ale."
Both the halfling and the half-orc look surprised, but the halfling quickly gains his composure. 10 gold for the room and ale and they're yours.
Assuming someone pays, he takes you to an empty prison cell that can no longer be locked on the second floor.
Here you go. Have at it. I don't care what you do to her now.
Alone, in a room with five men, a woman, and a dragonborn, she sits quiet and fearful. What are you going to do to me?
The bearded old half-elf kneels down and swings his pack over his shoulder and onto the floor. He then reaches into his pack and pulls out blank pieces of parchment, a ink, and a quill. Leaning in toward the female half-orc, says quietly, "Everysing you know about Sahnd and kobolds." The half-elf dips the quill in the ink methodically and holds it just above a blank parchment. "Go."
Ragnar counts out 10 more coins and hands them to the halfling. Once at the new cell, he stands outside and quietly sips the ale provided.
Shadoo just stays quiet, standing up near his companions. He didn't like the whole negotiation, but he was much more about the ends at this point than the means. He wouldn't, however, stay quiet if someone tried something aggressive towards the half-orc.
Well, that depends on how cooperative you are going to be. States Rath, quelling his surprise that Ragnar would so easily hand over far more gold than the job is earning them so easily. We are interested in both the Grey Pilgrims, and the kobold band that is encroaching on them. You have information on at least one of these bands, size, location, armament, and can likely direct us to were the others can be found. I would strongly consider your words and your position before you think about lying to us as well, because as far as I'm concerned, the massive man who just paid for your release now owns you, and a tool is only needed as long as it is useful.
Pausing a moment to let that thought sink in, he then adds, Now, about that information...
Ragnar speaks up from just outside the cell, in the grating language some of the group may recognize as Orcish, even if they don't speak it themselves.
Sati's eyes widen when Ragnar immediately offers up the considerable amount of money that the jailers had requested. Generous... I wonder what he's trying to do.
Sati stays quiet, letting the others take the lead in interrogating, but she gives the prisoner a smile that she hopes is reassuring, in contrast to Rath's more aggressive approach.
Rathene is in an emotional torrent, as she's happy about being freed while fearful that shes now "owned" by a giant.
But nonetheless, the words pour out of her mouth. She tells you the story of Sahnd Krulek:
He used to be good. He used to be kind. He was a member of the Black Fist, sworn to protect Phlan. And what happened to him wasn't right. He was framed for a bad political move.
What happened was he arrested some noble, and it was bad, politically. They needed him to disappear. So they framed him with a fake assassination attempt. He was imprisoned right here in this jail. A bunch of his colleagues in the Black Fist busted him out and they all abandoned their posts in protest.
After that, they started robbing merchants who worked for the nobles. At first, they had a policy of never killing anyone. But then something changed. I don't know what, but they're pretty ruthless now. They have no qualms about killing anyone and they rob everyone - not just nobles. I actually used to be a wagon guard, but they killed my boss and my crew; gave me the option to join or die. So I joined.
She pauses for a moment, and then relief falls over her. You know what this means? I means I'm free of them. I can get away from those a&%++%+s and this prison. So you want to know about them? Sure. Let's talk specifics.
Specifically, I know where they're going to be. Their headquarters usually moves about pretty often, but in a few days there's a planned meeting with the kobolds to form a truce and work together. It's supposed to take place at the King's Pyre, an old ruined stature that they've used as a hideout before. They're planning on arriving in their longboat by way of a sea cave.
Now, I don't know much about the kobolds or their bat-s#!% insane dragonborn leader - no offense - but the Grey Patriots have sixteen members.
Krulek has two lieutenants: a Talashan berserker called Ruse, and a giant Calishite called Little Erik. Ruse is blind in her left eye*, and Erik believes he is cursed*: a hag once told him that the hoot of a screech owl would foreshadow his death. Krulek also runs with a moon elf archer, Kai Tyran Uviel, who wields a magic bow. All of Krulek’s outlaws wear gray hooded cloaks.
As for the kobolds, well I don't know much, but I do know a little: Their leader is named Jarella. She believes herself to be the Chosen of Tiamat, and has dubbed her gang the Claws of Tiamat. For some reason, all her kobold followers are wierd looking - like they've been warped by some wild magic. They are known for taking captives from their raids, whom they sacrifice to their dark goddess.
They've got at least 30 kobold members. Sharrak, a winged kobold, is the second in command. He has two heads, so he's pretty easy to identify.
Recently, Sahnd Krulek received intelligence that Jeralla has some terrible monster in her employ. She is also known to keep a magic book in her wagon, which can dictate messages on command.
Rathene imparts the following information:
• The gangs are meeting soon to discuss a truce at King’s Pyre, a ruined statue that the Gray Patriots use as a hideout. The outlaws plan to sail there on their longship, entering by way of a sea cave.
• Krulek was once a Knight of the Black Fist but was framed after he arrested an influential noble. Other Knights broke him out of Valjevo Castle, and together they turned to banditry to strike back against the merchants.
• There are fourteen outlaws in the gang. Krulek has two lieutenants: a Talashan berserker called Ruse, and a giant Calishite called Little Erik. Ruse is blind in her left eye, and Erik believes he is cursed: a hag once told him that the hoot of a screech owl would foreshadow his death. Krulek also runs with a moon elf archer, Kai Tyran Uviel, who wields a magic bow. All of Krulek’s outlaws wear gray hooded cloaks.
• The dragonborn is called Jeralla. She believes herself to be the Chosen of Tiamat, and has dubbed her gang the Claws of Tiamat. Jeralla’s wild magic has warped her minions, making them strange to behold. They are known for taking captives from their raids, whom they sacrifice to their dark goddess.
• There are at least thirty kobolds in the gang. A winged kobold called Sharrak appears to be Jeralla’s second-in-command; he has two heads, so he’s easy to identify. Recently, Sahnd Krulek received intelligence that Jeralla has some terrible monster in her employ. She is also known to keep a magic book in her wagon, which can dictate messages on command.
Huddled over the parchments, the half-elf's quill goes wild with scratches, with short breaks occasionally for dips of ink.
-Interesting information, really.
Shoo thinks a bit about the possibilities. -If we were to appear at the negotiations, we would have to fight too many of them at a time. We should come up with a plan before that happens, I think. Maybe if there's a way to make Krulek come back to reason, the truce won't happen.
Ragnar finishes off his ale while Rathene tells her tale, and once she finishes, he speaks.
"Do you know what caused them to change? Anyone talk about it, or any shady lookin' folks about?"
Rath nods as Sashah's quill works its note taking magic, and he does his best to quell his interest in the words magic bow. You can try to use reason on a zealot, but it never works.
I don't know what caused him to change. Power went to his head? Abandoned his ideals and now he can let loose?
You know, I've met people who have said that if it was for fear of punishment, they'd do horrible things. One guy said if he didn't believe the gods were watching over him, he'd stab his own friends in the back.
Or maybe it's blind hatred for Phlan. Maybe he's pissed at the commoners for not joining his side and rebelling against the nobles.
I don't really know. He didn't really talk to me much.
Hearing Shoo, she suggests, You know, any truce between them will be shaky at best. If you could find a way to make one side think the other side is betraying them, they'll probably try to kill each other. They are not friendly towards each other.
A bit of backtracking: On the way to Level 2, where you're now at talking to Rathene, the halfling says, Watch your step right there. The floor is a little weak.
Shadoo didn't mind when he heard about Jeralla - he knew many of his kind were spread throughout several shades of good, evil, sane and mad. Especially for someone under the dark influence of Tiamat's roar, he imagined, this was supposed to happen. The paladin signs to call his companions closeby.
Careful there. - he point out the floor, before going back to speak - With all we've heard so far, we probably should think in a plan better than just appearing at the meeting, like Shoo said. His point on Krulek is golden, and I'd love to seek his redemption - even if sometimes the whispers of evil already took the person too far.
Clyde nods, "The strings are being pulled from the shadows. I sense a higher power in play here. I agree with Shadoo. If we can save the man, we should try, but Rath is right. It's highly unlikely that someone would step back over that line. I'm prepared to do what must be done."
Clyde addresses Rathene directly, "Don't be worried about the stoney one's comment. The big guy isn't the type to take slaves. "
Taking in a large breath, Clyde turns to the motley crew. "Sounds to me like we need to get hold of a screech owl and sabotage this little meeting. Any ideas?"
Between a group of mutated kobolds led by a mad sorcerer, and a group of bandits who used to have some sense of honor, I'd say the latter are more likely to be reasoned with, Sati says, then shrugs. But I still wouldn't bet on it.
Taking in a large breath, Clyde turns to the motley crew. "Sounds to me like we need to get hold of a screech owl and sabotage this little meeting. Any ideas?"
Too bad none of us are mages who can summon an owl or something. You wanna go owl hunting? She laughs, then chews her lip, thinking about the possibilities. Maybe we could disguise ourselves? Sneak in wearing cloaks, make the kobolds think the Gray Patriots are attacking them?
She turns to Rathene. Have you ever been to this King's Pyre place? What's it like? You said they're getting there by boat - can it be reached over land?
The half-elf finished scribing the notes and thinks a moment while the others brainstorm, absently scratching and smoothing his beard. After a couple moments he speaks up, "Yes, yes..Or ve could vork less hard. During meeting have Shadoo mock attack one of you dressed as Grey Patriot. Start fight among zhem let du groups kill each other, zhen finish off ooever left. All bandits gone, everyone happy. Zhen we research!"
I am more inclined to ambush the Kobolds while we wear gray hoods. Then as Sashah said, let them fight it out at the "peace" meeting, then we pick off the stragglers. Any of us skilled at mimicry? responds Rath.
After some more conversation, you learn that the King's Pyre is located about 40 miles west of Phlan down the Iron Route. About half way between Phlan and the Ruins of Zhentil Keep on the map Braden gave you.
During the course of conversation, you see flashes of light from the outside, followed by rolling thunder across the skies.
Travelling by land will take you approximately 2 days. You can get there by sea in 14 hours departing from Phlan, but you'll have to charter a boat.
After one of the thunderous crashes, you hear a voice call out in the tower, PRISON BREAK! GUARDS, TO FLOOR THREE!
