K'Don will hurl the appropriate insults at the guards as well as posture as the alpha male orc going as far as to challenge the "leader" of the orcs for his position.
5-2=3
When not being worked by the orcs, Connor mostly sits huddled on the floor in a corner, despondent. Awakening without WindDancer -- without even being able to sense her -- was an emotional blow from which he still hasn't recovered. Uncle Alex has been unable to do much to console the boy; in fact he's barely been able to get the lad to eat and keep up his strength.
Connor can't tell if WindDancer is just too distant, or if the strange fuzziness in his head is getting in the way. He hopes it's one or the other... and he tries not to think about the obvious explanation for why he can't sense his friend.
Marko continues exercising with K'Don, mostly due to a lack of anything else to do.
"Do you think you can convince Gerba that you need me as your assistant?," he asked Arabella. "It might not work, but perhaps we can get my spellbook."
He also asks Arabella to teach him what she knows about the crystals, to pull off the con.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Some of this is "reminder" as well as new stuff, since it's been so long...
I know it's a lot, but please read everything, carefully! If anything is unclear or not filled in enough, please don't hesitate to ask!
Day in the life
Since moving "upstairs", everyone stays in the new "deluxe" prison cell all the time except Arabella, who's escorted out in the morning by 2 Orcs (who insist that everyone line up against the back wall before they open the door).
When asked if you can go outside to exercise, Gerta's answer is "absolutely not - your friends *stay* in that cell until you (Arabella) complete your work".
Arabella's day is : work in that lab I described, constantly watched by the same 2 Orcs every day, and with visits from Gerta. *Very* nice lunch with Gerta (as described before). Work in the lab. Back to the cell.
This has been going on for 2 weeks now, after 2 weeks in the mines.
The exercise and mock fighting is a good idea, but while you won't get any bonuses from it, at least you won't gain any penalties from being couch potatoes the entire time.
Your living quarters
The beds are crudely made from heavy wood, with some straw thrown on top. Those and the water bucket (made from a half-hollowed tree trunk, no metal bands) are the only objects in there. Food is as before, no utensils.
There is a barred window in the room. The window itself is too small for an adult human to fit thru, and the bars are heavy, and solidly embedded in the walls. All you can see thru it is deep, heavy woods on a steep, large hill (or small mountain, if you prefer).
K'Don, looking out over a long period of time, you notice the occasional Orc walking around, probably on guard duty. It's more like a light patrol than many guards saturating the perimeter, if that makes sense.
The door is made of solid, heavy wood, with another massive lock on it.
There are never any Orcs guarding the outside of the room.
Interacting with the guards
Arabella manages to "charm" the two guards who are constantly with her. They don't manhandle her (orchandle?) roughly, and stand a few feet farther away than they used to (until they hear Gerta coming, then they move back in close quickly). They also let you go to the bathroom by yourself, unless they think Gerta is nearby. Arabella, you get a +1 to do something they'd understand (like palming an object, as opposed to doing something "sciency" with your gadget that isn't really part of the gadget). Anything else you'd like to try with this advantage?
= 5
K'Don, it's understood by both sides that these intimidations are "good natured", sort of like two extreme sports fans talking smack-down about the other guy's team. Unfortunately you fail to really impress them, but they're still willing to talk to you occasionally. None of them you talk to know about K'il Moto.
Between the two of you, you learn that these Orcs have been "assigned" to Gerta (that's all the explanation you can get), and that they are scared to death of her. You learn that she is a ruthless tyrant who kills anyone who tries to escape, and even punishes the Orcs severely for the smallest mistakes. They don't dare revolt because of the power she wields with her strange machines, which can sometimes kill with a single shot. One Orc says she "controls the lightning of the gods themselves".
There does seem to be one Orc who is the "captain" that takes orders from Gerta and enforces them.
You don't learn anything about how far from any kind of "towns" you are.
Arabella's day
The lab you're working in is a scientist's (and weird scientist's) dream to drool for. There are Leyden jars, some small amount of gunpowder in a safe (if you request that, Gerta will ask in detail what for, and watch you as you use it), many chemicals (including acids, etc.) and lab-appropriate small mechanical tools. If you really want to get into it, almost anything 1850-ish Earth science knows about is there (check with me if you want to get fancy).
When Gerta isn't present, you could try to make a smoke-bomb, sleeping gas, etc. off of your Weird Science skill (penalties appropriate to the effect), with 2 warnings : if you roll a one on the WS die, Gerta walks in in the middle of your work. And on a critical failure (which you can't re-roll), whatever it is you're doing *goes off* right there in the lab, which Gerta would then obviously find out about.
Intel
Arabella has spotted most of the group's gear thrown in a pile in a corner of the lab. The Orcs won't let her go thru it, but with their "attitude adjustment", she has been able to set up experiments near it, and get quick glances at it. It appears that all your gear (armor, weapons, etc.), Marko's spellbook, and Arabella's new "gun" are there. No sign of coin pouches.
Over the two weeks, Arabella has learned much of the layout of the building (but not all of it). She knows where your cell, the Orcs' sleeping quarters, the lab, and Gerta's office are with respect to each other.
It's hard to tell, but by comparing notes you'd guess that there's maybe 15 (give-or-take) Orcs *living* in the building (that includes ones doing shifts in the mines, ones on outdoor guard, etc.). The Orcs are constantly on the move, so the chances of running into an Orc in any given hallway at any given time are moderately good.
Once so far in the last 2 weeks, Arabella has seen some kind of boxes filled with food and other consumables being moved in a hallway from one place to another.
Altho you've never seen Katana use what you would recognize as "magic" (or any Arcane Background), when K'Don brings up the food and water, she admits that she too has not been able to use her..."abilities", and has also been suspecting the food and water. But she points out that while we could avoid the food for a while, we would quickly weaken ( = fatigue penalties!) and die without water after even just a few days.
Arabella, for the time being you get 3 Bennies *a week* to do whatever you want with. Should fighting break out, you'd have your current number of Bennies to use in the fight. You've spent 1 so far for this second week, charming your guards.
Arabella explains that she is recreating a device she developed back on the old continent to enhance the crystals she found. The machine will not create the crystals Gerta wants, but it is a preliminary step to developing the crystals through a kind of mental/spiritual communing process which atunes them to be especially sensitive to the mental state of the closest person. Arabella hasn't spelled all this out to Gerta yet and she's been working on the device slowly while she evaluates what else she might do in the lab.
The other thing that's taking extra time is that she is adding extra Leyden Jars to the machine. A certain number are needed to provide some spark for the crystal alignment, but she's adding extras hoping to build up enough charge to give Gerta a severe shock. The plan would be to use the surprise of that to get to her blast gun and try to get Gerta and the orc guards to listen to "reason." If that works, she'll have just a little time to grab Marko's magical gear, and perhaps some weapons and the cell door keys, dash back to release the rest of the group.
A secondary plan is to try to smuggle a lockpick tool (makeshift) so that chains can be unlocked and re-attached with twine or wire to make it look like they are still on but so they can be snapped quickly when we are read to escape. If she can make anything else with the chemicals, she'll try to do that and squirrel them away in the lab for grabbing when we make our escape.
There are lot's of potential fails for this plan, so everyone should be ready for whatever might be the blowback from Gerta for failure. Any alternative ideas and/or enhancements to her plan will be welcome.
Arabella, when you have a moment I'll need a Weird Science roll just to confirm that you don't roll a 1 on the WS die or snake-eyes for installing the *extra* Leyden jars.
Oh, and please check your PM's ASAP.
Result = 1
Well, so much for planning. Do your worst, since I can't use a bennie to re-roll.
Prior to the end of the week (and hopefully before the above roll blows everything to hell), if allowed, she would try the following: prepare a wire of suitable stiffness to work as a lockpick on the cuffs. This will be on the work table, like it's part of her work for the day. Then she will get some chemicals and try to mix up something that will thicken into a sticky goo. She'll also spill some dry powder that will dull the stickiness of the goo. Near the time to leave for the day, after Gerta has checked on her progress, she'll work the lock-pick into the goo, drop the goo on the powder, and a short time later, step on the goo, so it sticks to the bottom of her shoe, trapping the lockpick with it. She'll stand in the powder until the goo sticks to her shoe but not to the floor. Then she'll submit to searching as usual, hoping the orcs won't notice the stuff on her shoe.
Not sure what rolls are needed for that. I'll do a conventional science skill roll to know how to make the goo.
Result = 3
Bennie to re-roll this:
Result = 8 + 1 = 9
In you want a stealth roll, I'm hoping her elaborate ruse will be worth a bonus of some sort:
(She gets a +1 bonus for the orcs improved attitude toward her)
Result = 3 + 1 = 4
Spend a bennie to re-roll this as well:
Result = 5 + 1 = 6 + bonus for goo?
If the lockpick gets successfully smuggled to the room, then we can detail what it can be used for to try to open the manacles but then use some thread from our clothes to tie the manacles in place. If worse comes to worse (likely with the snake-eyes roll above), Katana and K'Don can try to rush the guards and overpower them before they can alert anyone else.
This is going to take me some time to process...not from the complexity of what you're doing, but I have to stop laughing before I can type (and see the screen for the tears in my eyes)...
There's one possible out : since the device needs Leyden jars anyway, Arabella might be able to fast-talk her way around Gerta, so give me a Persuasion roll (it will be opposed by her Science skill, and you can spend a Bennie - I'd suggest you get as high a number as possible).
When the group is all together one evening, beginning of the second week...
"I don't think we can just escape this place, we're gonna have to take it down. 1st problem is getting out of this cell."
To Arebella "Is there anything in that lab that can disolve the lock quickly? If not the lock than the mortar holding the bars in place? Or something to cut the bars with or the walls?"
"Second we will need a diversion. So we can get our equipment. I think if we can dispose of the dwarf, the orcs may not mind too much."
"Let's face it, the dwarf is not gonna let us go once Arabella completes her task. We are just here as leverage, once she gets what she wants from Arabella, were gonners and I don't plan to go out that way. I'm also going stir crazy just sitting here."
Talking with the orc guards, try to find out if there putting something in the food or water to prevent spell casting. Not sure who has the best chance to coax the info out of the guards, probably Alex he is the smooth talker in the group. Since Alex is not a magic user. Have to get them to slip up and spill the beans on how they are preventing spell casting.
To Marko, "If we can break the fuzzy head, do you have any spells ready to be cast?"
Normal bonus: +4
Result = 6+5+4=15
"I know it seems like a lot of charge, but the extra jars wired in this way makes sure the ergobiologic quotient remains sufficiently high to ensure the build-up can be regulated by the mind that is attuning to the crystals. I tried fewer and lost one of my most promising crystals. I cried for a week when it cracked and went dark."
To Arabella "Is there anything in that lab that can dissolve the lock quickly? If not the lock than the mortar holding the bars in place? Or something to cut the bars with or the walls?"
There are plenty of things in the lab that could spring us. Unfortunately, getting anything back here is difficult because the guards always search me and try to make sure I'm not smuggling so much as a bevel pin. I'm working on a plan that might get a lock-pick wire that we could use to get the manacles unlocked. My plan is to unlock them but then tie them back in place with twine so the guards will think they are secured and you and Katana can rush the guards when they have the door open while bringing me back or taking me to the lab. I'm having a problem with the trap I'm trying to build into the device, however, that needs my full attention.
Are we sure her name isn't Arabella Stormworth-MacGyver? Pure genius with the goo.
Events during "week 2" (upstairs)
vs. Toughness 6 is a Success and Raise
You take 2 Wounds from the jars. Gerta has the guards carry you into her office, where she opens a locked cabinet and removes a vial. You can see several other vials, papers, and a "strongbox" in there as well. She urges you to drink it, and it removes one Wound. She says you're on your own for the rest. You'll have to make a sequence of Natural Healing rolls to see how many days it takes to heal up.
= 5
Good save on the fast-talk, that was great! (Even tho your looks don't really affect Gerta.)
In the middle of the week, perhaps as a consolation for your injuries, Gerta takes you down another hall, thru a door, and you find yourself on a "landing pad" cut into the edge of the hill/mountain (hope everyone can visualize that). Sitting there is a large...floor, I guess, 10x12 feet or so of wooden planking, with 7 seats bolted to it (the odd one is front-and-center, with levers and foot pedals in front of it). There are clusters of crystals on the bottom of the floor at all 4 corners, and a cluster of crystals on the top, mounted at the back pointing backwards.
"See what you can do with these crystals, my dear? This 'hovercart' as I like to call it can *fly* me anywhere I want to go, faster than a horse. I hope you and I will go far together."
It takes most of the week to get the goo right, but when you do it works great. +2 to your Stealth roll for it being in such an obscure place, so a total of 8.
= 5
So you successfully get the wire out at the end of the week.
Also at the end of the week, Gerta checks your progress :
= 4 vs. your 7
Means you succeed in fooling her, but she's still suspicious. However, she writes that off as damage from the electrical shock.
Also, one day near the end of the week, WindDancer alights on the window, and chirrps for joy at seeing Connor! (WD, check your regular email when you can, please.)
So, now you have a lockpick and WindDancer. Any other ideas for escaping?
No one is friendly enough with the guards to get them to talk about the food and water.
Katana says "I like K'Don's idea of a diversion, but we'd need a *big* one. And even if something's in the food or water, what can we do to get our powers back?"
Arabella is genuinely pleased to see WindDancer, both for WindDancer's sake (knowing she is okay) and for the positive effect she knows it will have on Connor.
We now have a lock-pick so we should be able to get the shackles off. That leaves Gerta, whom Arabella may be able to take out with her booby trap, the guards, whom she may be able to take out next with her Blast gun, Marko's magic gear, which she may be able to get next. That is a lot of ifs so not the best plan yet.
That leaves the food situation. Arabella suggest that Connor try to find out if WindDancer can get food from the forest, like fruit (not sure what season it is). If not, then we might need to see if we can slip out of the cell at night and get to the kitchen to get uncontaminated food. Of course, if we can do that, we might be able to escape.
We might also want to delay long enough to see if Gerta will teach Arabella how to fly the platform. She might be able to figure it out "on the fly" (as it were) without instructions.
"So it sounds like the diversion we need will be provided by Arabella's booby trap. Looks like we can get out of the hand-cuffs."
"Oh, look lunch just landed on the window sill" K'Don grins at WD.
We will need Marko with his magic if possible (I had forgotten about Katana since I haven't heard her do anything in a long time) but her magic too. How about WD can he/she still do his/her thing? That would rule out an area spell and put it on the food or water or both."
WindDancer experiments inside the cell, and can do her thing.
Yes, everyone is kept shackled even in the cell. Arabella's hand shackles are removed only when she's in the lab.
Katana's still not satisfied : "It would be better if we had a distraction that could occupy a majority of the guards. Otherwise we will be fighting every step of the way out of here. Which I am not opposed to, but it would lower our chances."
"Arabella, will your booby trap provide a big enough diversion, or can you make it big enough to occupy the guards?"
Sitting dejectedly in the corner as he has been for so long, the skittering of claws on stone and light "thump" escape his notice. But the excited chittering can't be missed, and his head snaps up just in time to see WindDancer launch herself from the barred window straight at him. Had he not been sitting with his back against the wall, the lizard slamming into his chest would have bowled him over.
A rash of rapid, excited chirps and chitters are punctuated by exited exclamations and questions from Connor as the flying lizard grips his shirt with all four paws, legs splayed wide, as if hanging on for dear life. Not that she could have gotten away, what with the boy hugging her so tightly.
As the "conversation" slowly calms down, Connor looks up at the others with watery eyes. "She couldn't find us! She got knocked out too and when she woke up we were gone and too far away for her to sense us!"
He looks down at WindDancer proudly. "She figured out which direction they took us from cart tracks and what was left of our scent trail. She flew as fast as she could in that direction and finally started sensing me, but she says it was very... 'fuzzy' and she could only get the general direction. She's been circling and weaving ever since, making slow progress in our direction until she finally spotted this building!"
Connor falls silent and again hugs the ost tightly.
Alarmed by the flash of movement, Alexander relaxed when he saw that it was WindDancer, and that Connor was unharmed. "She's certainly a very clever girl!"
Kneeling by Connor, he tried to get the boy's attention. "Connor, can you tell her to fly out and look around for us? Tell us which side of the building the exits are, maybe spy on Gerta when she starts her floating cart? Is she... ahem. Can she tell us anything so complicated?"
"If we keep her out of sight, she may be able to get us the tools Arabella needs to escape!"
As Alex kneels and begins speaking to Connor, WindDancer looks over at him and then climbs up Connor's shirt to take her customary place on his shoulder. Where she can better keep an eye on Alex.
"Can she tell us anything so complicated?"
Connor almost looks offended at Alex's question. He draws himself up very straight in his seated position and declares, "WindDancer's very smart! You said so yourself, Unka Alex! She found us, didn't she?!"
He turns his head to look at his friend, now perched on his shoulder, and goes silent for a good while.
She cocks her head and stares at Con-nor's big, trying to understand. Then she turns her attention to her little-big, becoming unmoving and silent.
Except that, at one point, she looks the kneeling big up and down and then sticks her tongue out at him.
After a brief additional bit of silence, she gives her little-big a nod. Turning to Con-nor's big she chitters, "Wnnndnnnzr sssmrt, Nnnkllyllyx!" immediately before launching from her perch and flying out the window.
"Normally it takes me an hour to imprint the arcane sigils into my mind. But, if I focus on a single spell then I can be ready in as little as ten minutes."
He thinks for a minute and then walks up to Wind Dancer.
"Hello, Wind Dancer. Do you remember my book. It was about this big. And this tall. Do you think you could find something similar?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
I don't know if I posted it in specifics, but Arabella's been filling you in on everything she sees and hears. She knows where Marko's magic stuff is: in the lab. It's not possible to smuggle it out, so either Arabella will grab it after subduing Gerta and the guards or if we escape the room, we'll have to get to the lab to try to get it that way. Perhaps WindDancer can get it, but see my next paragraph.
As for a distraction, Arabella will suggest that we keep WindDancer safe by not involving her in any initial work inside the complex. Finding out our location and possible exits is good. Getting food from the wild would perhaps help, assuming the anti-arcane juju is in the food. If it's in the water, that might be more difficult to deal with. She'd need a water skin or canteen and then it would mean a lot of trips. Perhaps we can concentrate on getting clean food and water just to Alex, since Marco needs his books to cast magic and it's not going to easy to get those in advance of the great escape. Katana's magic would be good, but she's effective enough as a fighter that getting her magic is a lower priority.
If there is any fruit that is fairly juicy that WD could get in sufficient quantities, people could try to live on that and avoid drinking the water. At least Marko, Connor, and Katana. We'll probably need a few days of such a diet to cleanse the system of the negative effects. Sounds like Arabella has more time to work with, although she doesn't think she can frustrate Gerta much longer.
When other pieces are in place, I suspect WindDancer will be able to manage to get to the kitchen, for example, or wherever they keep the gunpowder and try to create a fire. Kitchen might be easier, since it will likely already have fire. Guards rushing to put out a fire in the kitchen will surely keep things hopping.
GM: What would Arabella know about the logistics of how a fire in the kitchen or Gerta's office or any other place Arabella has seen would affect our ability to get from the cell to the lab or vice versa? I'm looking to avoid a distraction that would conentrate the guards where we need to go.
Regarding the Leyden Jar fiasco, Arabella comes back from the lab one day and she's nursing some serious burns on her arms and chest where the electricity jumped from a loose connection on the jars to her body when she was running a test on seeing how much charge they could hold.
She is pretty discouraged and upset with herself, not only for the injury but the suspicion Gerta doubtless feels around the Leyden Jars.
"I did get treated by Gerta with some arcane potion similar to the one the cleric gave us at the village we helped defend. There's a safe but I'm not sure what all is in it. Probably a few more potions and cash."
I thought I'd concentrate my healing rolls here.
Penalty: -1, wound
Result = 6 + 1 - 1 = 6
Success, so I think that means that after five days, Araella is healed back to normal.
Follow-up on Marko's lockpick roll, assuming it is successful.
First, Arabella will tease Marko, "You dawg! Where did you learn such a skill? I hope the answer is something more interesting then you wanted to get into the restricted section of your teacher's library."
Arabella will look at the result and tinker with the manacles to see if there is a way to make them look as if they are secure but still unlocked. She'll try teasing out some threads from a blanket or cloak and braid it into a strong enough strand to tie they lock in place. If we can do that, we can unlock everybody and keep mostly sedentary when the guards come with the food, hiding the handiwork as much as possible. Maybe we can wrap rags around the metal, as if to protect ourselves from chaffing, but let the rags hold the manacles in place and hide the fact that they are not locked.
Then we can each (Arabella and Marco) work at unlocking the manacles a few at a time over the next week until we are all unlocked and avoid having to spend more bennies. Depends on how many tries we get with each roll or if we can just keep working at it until we succeed (like taking 20 in a d20 game).
In case a roll will help figuring out how to hide state of the manacles, I'll try repair:
Result = 4 (or 3 if before her wounds have healed).
Not the best, but there's not much to work with.
"When I was a teenager, I was smitten with a girl who earned a not particularly honest living. She taught me quite a few things actually. But probably best we don't speak of that now. There are children present after all."
-Posted with Wayfinder
I had one other idea relating to our water supply. Since we have an open window, if it rains, we should work on getting rain water to drink, so we don't have to drink the possibly tainted water. Maybe we can soak clothes in water and wring the water out to drink it.
Ketchup time!
Alex, if you're referring to K'Don's suggestion that you smooth-talk the guards into finding out about the food and water, I did mention somewhere that didn't work (it was one line out of a page-length post, not a problem).
From WD, thru Connor : the building appears to be basically a rectangle shoved into a cliff on a mountain, with just one side barely peeking out, hope that makes sense (at least, WD can only see the end of the rectangle, you really don't know the internal structure completely). There's a barely-worn cart/horse/foot path leading down the mountain.
Marko, you've used up your Bennies for the week.
Arabella, my Natural Healing rolls are daily, so you're good-to-go after one day. Not that the wounds magically disappear completely, but they are no longer affecting your performance.
-Posted with Wayfinder
So after another week : we can assume the manacles are all unlocked, that WD has been bringing food and water-rich food (berries) for Connor, and at least a little bit of rainwater has been supplementing that as well.
Katana requests the same, assuring everyone that as good a fighter as she is, she will be *much* more effective if she too has her abilities back.
And, miracle of miracles, it works! Connor and Katana both start to feel less "fuzzy" after a few days, and by the end of the week they feel "normal". Katana proves it by hurling a shuriken that appears out of "nowhere" into one of the beds, which then proceeds to "evaporate" (the shuriken, not the bed).
However, due to the restricted diet and liquids, they are both at a -1 fatigue penalty.
Gerta tries to further impress/entice Arabella (to "come over to the dark side...") by taking her on a very short flight around the area on the "hovercart", giving Arabella a chance to see how the controls work.
Are there any specific scouting results anyone would like from WindDancer?
Arabella, do you try to palm anything else (Stealth roll), or booby-trap the machine (Weird Science roll) this week?
And Arabella needs to make another Smarts roll to fool Gerta with her delaying tactics.
Regarding routing the Orcs where we need them to be, Katana asks, "Is there any way we could get most of them into the mine? Then they'd be completely out of our way. But how are we going to get thru THAT?", pointing at the door to the cell. "I doubt that tiny wire is going to turn that heavy lock."
WindDancer reports that there's usually 2 Orcs outside at all times, usually just wandering around the area.
She locates the "door to the outside", which gives you some idea which direction in the building to go to get there.
"Looks like we have a plan. Now it is just timing it."
"Arebella, do you know what the dwarf is up to?"
"How soon can you be ready to move?"
"I thing it would be best to time it in the middle of the night. Have we decided about a diversion?"
Now that there is a plan K'Don is anxious to crack some skulls. Exact a little revenge on the dwarf. He feels that the Orcs are being subjugated by force so will try not to outright kill any of them if he can just incapacitate them. That doesn't mean he won't kill them.
K'Don - I'm taking "incapacitation" to mean non-lethal damage? In SW that works like this : everything's the same except when they go to Incapacitated, they are just unconscious instead of dying.
But unless you have a blunt weapon (staff, sap, etc.), you are at -1 to hit for using your regular weapon in a non-lethal way.
Just FYI.
Fox said "K'Don - I'm taking "incapacitation" to mean non-lethal damage?"
Not really, He will fight like normal but may not continue to attack an opponent what they are down. No Killing Blow. In other words, he will inflict damage until the final blow which will be a blow to knock unconscious.
Before I roll for the booby trap attempt, will it be just one roll, which if successful will do damage to her as the damage that Arabella took when she was shocked? Or is this to see if she can create the trap, which then can be triggered when Arabella chooses to spring it on Gerta? I don't want to spring it on her until we are ready with other parts of the plan such as distracting the guards and getting the cell door open.
Also, Arabella will tell Gerta that she can work faster if she (Arabella) has access to her goggles, so she can boost herself at key moments when she needs it to improve her design. She'll also claim it will be easier to nurture the crystals with the goggles. Her goal will be to have an excuse to be wearing the goggles when she tries to shock Gerta. She'll also begin to try to arrange her work area in the lab so she is between where the orcs usually stand/sit while she works and her blast gun (reason). If not between, then can she be where she can move to the blast gun without having to get past the orcs?
I also want to work on an idea to smuggle a larger item that could be used to pick the door lock. Is there something suitable that could be swallowed and (ahem) retrieved later? Hopefully something without sharp points or edges. What would be the risks of being spotted swallowing it and also of sustaining internal damage?
As an alternate plan, Arabella will have some kind of cloth wrapped around where her hand was shocked. Even though the wound has healed, she will keep the bandage on the next day when she works in the lab. Would it grant her any bonus to her stealh roll to conceal a larger lock-pick item under the bandage, assuming the orcs aren't going to touch her wrist or notice a slight bulge there?
Arabella still thinks the best option for a distraction is for WindDancer to try to infiltrate the building or the mine and trigger some kind of fire or explosion. I'm not sure what magical optons she has that might allow her to get into the complex other than through our window. Also, are there other open windows that would grant her access to the halls of the building or down into the mine, assuming the building is connected to the mines?
@K'Don: "The Duh-warf is surely up to no good. She has visions of great power through the crystals. I'm not sure if she has in mind world conquest, maybe by creating superior weapons that could make an army hard to beat or if she just wants to make money."
Re: Timeing. "If I can smuggle something to unlock the door to our cell, we can try to make our move at night, sneak to the lab, get Marko's stuff and my devices, K'Don's weapons and so on. Then we could perhaps get to the hovercraft and I might be able to control it well enough to make a get-away. Otherwise, plan B is to shock Gerta, use Reason to take out the orcs and Gerta, if she is not incapacitated by the shock. Then grab the stuff we need from the lab and get to the room. That has to be done during the day when I am working. If we want a distraction, however, that will also be time-dependent, so we need to get these things worked out before we are ready to make our move."
"One other decision we need to make: What do we do with Gerta? Assuming my booby trap can incapacitate her, do we tie her up and take her with us, leave her for the orcs to deal with, or just get away and leave the world to deal with her from this point forward?"
Arabella will talk to Connor once he's feeling capable of doing his psionic effects. "Well, Connor, you wanted adventures. This is what they are like. We are going to be trying to break out of here soon. What are you prepared to do to help? We know you can sometimes heal people and you have your shout which can affect enemies. Do you know anything you could do to damage the door to this cell or help with any of our other plans?"
At some point, she will also ask Connor if there is any other special things WindDancer can do that could help us with our plans?
She will also generally try to treat him like an adult whenever we are having strategy sessions, asking for his ideas on how we might best get free.
Connor, now sitting on a bunk rather than dejectedly in a corner, looks at Arabella with doubt in his eyes. "I wanna help. But I don't even know how I do what I do. It just happens when I'm scared and stuff. Like when Unka Alex got hurt in that big fight, I had to go help him. But I don't know how I did."
He looks to the window. "Sometimes... sometimes when people are really angry or upset it's like... I almost know what they're thinking. Like how WindDancer talks to me, only different. And just a whisper that fades in and out."
After a chance to consult with WindDancer on her next check-in, he goes over to Arabella. "She says she can do stuff with earth to stay safe. She learned when she was stuck on the ground and lost. Dirt, sand, mud, little rocks sometimes. That's all."
He looks hopeful. "Does that help?"
"Yes. Thank you. Listen, just focus on being master of your own emotions. Don't let fear drive you. You drive your fear, manage it as best you can. And when these strange things happen, remember that you can do these things and keep a part of yourself watching yourself as you do them. Then, when we get through this--and we will get through this--you can think back and remember what you did and maybe then you can do it again when you're not scared."
Connor nods doubtfully. "I'll try."
During our strategy session, K'Don speaks
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not leaving here until that DWARF is no longer breathing the same air as I am."
"It's time to get out of here, it's time for ALL of us to get out of here. She has enslaved my brothers. I have to free them. I'm seriously gonna bring this place down on the dwarfs head."
Later, after the meeting, K'Don will walk over to the Boy, ignoring the evil hisss coming from WD.
"We're in a pretty pickle here arn't we Boy? For our plan to succed we are gonna need your help, and yes, your little friend too."
"I know your afraid, to be honest, I'm a little afraid myself. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing what you must even if you are afraid."
"This escape attempt will be your "Coming of Age Ceremony". This WILL BE your ascention test. Do your best and try to stay focused, concentrate on the task at hand, and please do what you are told to do and everything is gonna work out just fine." (His nose just grew an inch in length)
"Do we have a deal?"
K'Don stretches out his hand in a gesture of friendship and encouragement. (Being weary of WD's snap at his fingers).