Celestra chimes in, "I know you think of this as suicide, Loriel, but when you've been hanging out with these boys like I have, you'll start to see that they actually make a lot of sense. I would draw your blade and give them a chance."
Well, since we all seem to think this is not a bad idea, here goes nothing. Just remember Harry, they will not be able to see you, but they can still hear you and if you get in front of one of their clubs, hit you. Go in and observe, if you attack one of them, it will dispel the magic and pop, you will be visible.
You have seven minutes, make them count.
Unless someone strenuously objects, I will cast Invisibility on Harry and send him on his way.
"We have two options, either go in there, or set fire to the place and kill them as they leave. Preferences?"
Scout first. Then set fire. The more damage they take before we get in, the better. Remember, if they have any captives, we probably do not want to set the place ablaze.
"More to the point we don't want to have to deal with all of them at once. If at all possible I'd like to take them on one or two at a time. So keep that in mind."
"Hmm, so no burning then I suppose, the Ranger could be alouve in there"
Harry sets about his recon.
"No, Harry. Although Perdy would not agree with me, let's not burn the place. We've got to cling to hope that the cat's master is still alive."
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Harry's stealth summary:
Harry continues to move in an anti-clockwise direction through the treeline, with his first recon being the barn. His preference is to check at the rear of the barn, just in case there are guard dogs, so that he can withdraw easily. He plans to then continue along the north edge of the farm and do a circuit of the Graul homestead.
As he moves about he is specifically looking for any obvious traps.
This place is just like Riddleport, only less good looking.
Harry avoids any direct contact, but may 'dabble' with any basic traps.
Perception (looking about)
Perception (looking about)
Survival ("Now where would I put a trap for men?")
Celestra will stay close to Alana as she waits in anticipation for the return of Harry.
"I'm curious what kind of report we are going to get back from Handsome. He always thinks these things through very carefully. Either way, I am sure we are going to see some action very soon."
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After moving to the opposite treeline, Harry is able to get a glimpse of the interior of the barn which houses several mounds of molding hay, grain stores and even a large but crude still. Two catwalks rise up along the walls, leading to door near the ceiling in the east wall. Lower, a pair of massive doors, boarded over with thick timbers, allows ground access to the room beyond. Several dingy kennels are built into the walls under the catwalk.
Celestra remains hidden in the bushes and keeps a vigilant watch for any evidence of Harry's return or any activity whatsoever. However, with Handsome being invisible, she understands that she is not likely to see him much.
Harry returns and tells the others what he saw.
"So.. a frontal assault? or should we lure them? I'm reckoning if I can get into position near the front door of the main house, they will bring their Shaman up last and at keep it atthe rear without flank protection... I can pop up from the stairwell and ambush 'em while they have their attention on the main force."
"This sounds fine with me," Celestra speaks softly, looking around for any sign of where Harry is standing. "Have you actually seen any of the ogres? Shall I begin casting my Blessing of Fervor on all of you?"
"I'd say they are probably more bent towards lazing around in bed through the day, and being more active at night... if we had longer I'd study their patterns, but heres hoping we can hit them fast enough that they don't get too organised. Sir Karlan, do you want to call them out? Or would you rather we went in and simply went to work inside?"
Karlan thinks on this for a moment. "I don't think we know enough. How many ogres are in the house? We know bobby joe was out hunting. How do we know the rest of his brothers aren't? What about their mammy? I don't want to call them out only to have us ripped apart by a horde of zombies or worse. I think we need to know about what's in that house for better or worse. What do the rest of you think?"
"The front door is the only real entry, I can go through first, hopefully spot any traps, or maybe just be quick enough to avoid em..."
I can make you invisible again if you want to scout some more. You can probably walk right in through the front door.
Personally, I would like to know exactly what we are fighting. Hold your blessing until we are about to engage Celestra. I can also cast a spell to speed everyone up which should really benefit us.
"I'll take one more invisibility. If something happens to me, humper will be the first to know..."
"Just be careful, Harry! Just because you are invisible doesn't mean that their traps won't work! We will be waiting here for your return."
As you set foot on the porch, the smell of urine, sweat and decay that wafts out of the house over to you nearly makes you gag.
A shovel-head-sized moth sits on the door of the house and even though you are invisible you have the feeling that thing stares at you with alien eyes...
Perception
Harry carefully maintains his breath, trying not to gag on the smell...
Before you set your foot on the next plank, you look down and spot several rusty, but still sharp-looking blades. Now that you have spotted the trap, you are sure that you can evade it by stepping only on certain boards.
"Not nice" Harry thinks to himself. He moves around the trap and continues in...
Perception
Used to the heady stench of urine, decay, and rotting refuse he grew up with in the alleys of Riddleport, Harry manages to keep his wits sharp.
Marek turns to the others, whispering.
I feel rather nervous awaiting around for Harry to return. High on my list of worries is if he walks into some sort of magical trap. Does he have means to locate and disable such perils?
"If he didn't I doubt very much he would still be alive. Don't worry about Harry. Sometimes the best thing to do is jsut step out of the way and let people work."
"This is true. You should have seen how he dealt with the traps at the Misgivings. We are lucky to alive, thanks to that man!"
Before you touch the fist-sized dorr-knob, you check for wires and indeed, you spot one running to the roof of the porch - a guillotine hangs just above your head, ready to cut you in half if you don't secure the wire while you turn the knob.
Harry sets to work quickly with his tools...
Disable Device
If possible Harry reworks the trap quickly, so that touching the wore 'to secure it' is now the trap.
Disable Device
"Taste of your own medicine. Now where are they?"
Cautiously you open the door - the stench inside the house is mind-numbing and you have to force yourself to stay and not stagger back. A mangy bearskin rug lies before a tremendous hearth set into the wall, its painted visage still snarling at whatever cruel hunter took its life. A huge couach haphazardly upholstered in animal hide and human flesh, replete with a collection of talons, monstrous hairy spider legs, fox heads, and human hands and feet, sits to the west.
Harry checks the door for any traps before opening it...
Perceptiion
You push the door open - a long corridor lies before you and to your left. A stairwell leads up and several doors lead into to other rooms...
Harry listens at each door, trying to hear any creatures within the rooms, he's aware this is probably taking a while and doesn't want to get too deep in a trap...
[ooc]Checking in an anti-clockwise fashion.
Door F11 Perception
Door E10 Perception
Door H9 Perception
Door J5 Perception
Behind the door to the left J5, you can hear some sounds...you can't really make out what it is, maybe someone is eating noisily?!
You are lucky, there's a crack in the door and you are able to peek through it:
The cloying stink of this room is nearly overwhelming - even through the crack. Buckets of filth are stacked against the walls, fat ravneous flies lazily circling their rims. The room itself is dominated by an immense bed its ratty sheets stained beyond hope. A huge easel sits next to the bed with a palette of various shades of red and brown paint. The sources of these pigments - several crushed organs and ragged stumps of flesh - sit in receptacles next to the easel. A set of brushed made with human hair jut from a broken skull by the easel, while a comb made from a human mandible sits on a small oak bedside table nearby, its teeth clotted with thick strands of greasy black hair. The bodies of three naked, horrible dfeformed men dressed in ragged finery are propped up in huge open coffins against the far wall, their mouths sewn shut with lengths of hair. Upon the bed, the obscenely obese mother of the Grauls sits, Mammy.
Her body is only partially covered by a red curtain and the bed creaks in anguish whenever she moves.
Celestra waits patiently and gives Alana a wink on occasion.
Seeing Marek waiting anxiously, Celestra quietly assures him that everything will work out. "Marek, my friend, try to relax. Harry is the best scout I have ever known. He will be back soon. The fact that it is still quiet is a good sign. Just wait, you'll see that this all works out in the end. I don't always know how, but it does. I just trust that Cayden Cailean is keeping an eye on us when he can spare it."
Upon the bed, the obscenely obese mother of the Grauls sits, Mammy.
Her body is only partially covered by a red curtain and the bed creaks in anguish whenever she moves.
Harry sucks down his disgust, and although he feels he could simply rush the woman and kill her with one rapid assault, Harry instead pulls back to quickly check the other rooms before making his way out towards the party.
Alana waits in silence, her quiet fury turned to a simmer beneath her calm exterior. She does her best to offer Celestra reassuring gestures in return, but she finds it quite hard to focus on her lover at the moment, instead thinking again and again about what was being done to that poor creature.