"The mobility would give us a significant chance if the keys were dropped. But, if you all prefer, we can prioritize you and learn how many sets of manacles this amount of acid will dissolve by trial," Moriarti responds. "If we're going to do that, my vote is for someone with magical charms to be freed first. Then the gruff one, perhaps... in case things go sour."
Maena says, "Would it be more efficient to use the acid not on the chains but on the locks instead?"
Maena says, "Assuming it's possible to drip it into the locks, I'd say start with whomever is the most formidable physically and, therefore, likely to overpower a guard.. Follow up with someone with magic, especially if they can cast those spells without material components."
She pauses, "At that point, there'll be two of you without magic... to go with the two blades. And if there's still acid left at that point, I'd free anyone who may have any sort of natural weapons."
...of course, none of those are me, which is far less than ideal...
She pauses, "We need whomever can strike quickly... to kill quickly... If the guard manages to raise an alarm before we get the key, we're all lost."
Alicia leans forward eagerly, blue eyes eager as her muscles knot. "Free me and you shall not regret it! Any of you." She adds this second with a glance to Maena, wishing to reinforce that she was in this as a team player.
"If there's only one guard, they're fools. If there are two and they both approach us, they're fools. If they're not fools, a physical altercation with one will immediately result in the other sounding an alarm. Considering this is Branderscar, we'd be better off assuming they're not fools regardless of what we've seen and heard while we've been here," Moriarti comments. Then, with a shrug, he adds, "My reasoning for freeing someone with more subtle methods first. That and, of course, the impediment to fighting that still having your feet bound provides. Do what you like with the information," and slides the acid over to Alicia. "You and the other man next to you are our prime candidates. Figure it out. There's a decent chance you can both get free."
She takes the vial almost reverently, turning to Lukasz. "Hold out your hands." Assuming he complies, she pours a measure of the acid into his lock, hoping disabling the device and freeing the man's arms. She will then pour another bit into her own manacles, freeing her arms, as well.
The acid destroys Lukasz's lock with a small hiss and puff of gas. With a bit of force, he should be able to pull them apart. Alicia's lock dissolves with similar ease. Unfortunately, the hissing seems to have garnered some attention.
The heavy iron-banded door swings open, flooding the cells with bright, yellow light. One of the guards stands in the frame, a brutal iron cudgel in his hand. Another voice calls from the room. "Aww, leave off it, Esmond. You probably just heard a rat. Those scum aren't going anywhere."
The guard with the club scowls. You recognize him as the one that threatened you earlier. "I heard what I heard and it weren't no rat. Get your horn and get over here." With that, Esmond begins stomping down the hall towards you. You have mere moments to hide the acid or convince him nothing is amiss.
"Aw, leave off it and give me some dignity. I had to stand here and piss myself, at least leave me alone about it, will ya?" She places the vial behind her leg/foot, hoping the guards will find humor in her statement and go back to the room. She fervently mentally exerts upon them to do so in her best Scanners impression.
Moriarti removes the other dagger and, setting it between himself and Alicia, does his best to hide the veil. He then prepares to retrieve the dagger he's hidden on his person.
Ivy turns to the guard.
"Hmph. Humans. All alike, even in here. All curious about the sounds in the darkness. All afraid of what they find in it. Best leave the dark shadows alone, boy. Even bound snakes have fangs."
Here she smiles her dhamphir fangs to him.
"Be thankful. If wasn't bound would show you just how unprepared you are for exploring the dark with such a small stick."
Maena watches carefully, ready to use her Belial-given gift to command one of the guards to at least delay an alarm.
Hearing the guard approach, Lukasz didn't test the lock, Instead using his weak legs to support his weight a bit as he gazed at the guard, thinking of a way to distract him so that he wouldn't notice the weakened lock. An idea coming to mind, he played along with a ruse of his own. His voice gravelly from his parched throat, he added"Apologies, for the noise, seems the fairer sex has difficulty in controlling their bladder. Shame for us locked in here with her. The smell is rather ripe over here."
The guard in front glares at Ivy's threats, his eyes dark with fury. Before he takes another step, however, the words of Lukasz and Alicia reach him. His face screws up in disgust. He looks back to the guard standing by the door with the horn. "One of the b##&!es pissed 'erself. What should we do?"
The other guard shrugs with a laugh. "Let her rot in it. She's not much longer for this world anyways."
Esmond nods and walks back towards the door. You're right. By Mitra, these people are disgusting."
With that, they shut the iron-banded door and, once again, the cells are shrouded in darkness.
After the guards retreat, Alicia takes the vial and hands it to Ivy. "You make three. And then what? We're still shackled by the legs, unless our barrister here can do something about that?"
With a few muttered words and a wave of his hand, acid splashes onto the pitted iron chain. After several agonizing seconds of smoking and hissing, the chain snaps and falls the floor. There are no signs of th guards hearing.
Alicia quickly leans down and grabs the dagger, looking at it almost reverently, caressing the hilt, before remembering her situation and that of her fellow prisoners. "What now, comrades? Station ourselves by the entrance, and jump them when they open the door?"
"I would suggest, now that our barrister is free enough to cast spells, that we entice them back in here and have Lukasz charm the one that stays by the door with the horn while we subdue the other, but, not knowing the extent or limitations of his abilities, I'll let Lukasz say whether or not that plan sounds adequate," Moriarti comments.
His hands and legs now free, Lukasz stretched a moment and frowns at the sorry state of his wardrobe. This will need to be remedied, He thought for a moment before turning back to the task at hand. Looking to the door, he attempted to gauge the distance from their cell to the main door into the room. He had come into his power less than a year ago, but he had become familiar with the limits of the specific spell he would use and wanted to make sure that it could work at the proper range.
Frowning for a moment as he thought, Lukasz said, "We will need to get the guard with the horn within this cell or close to our cell door for my spell to affect him. Mayhaps we can do something to give the guards a false sense of security so they will lower their guard."
Alicia listens to the plan. Alicia hates complicated plans. "This relies on someone talking them into coming close enough while dropping their guard. Why is that better than clustering up by the guard door and doing the same thing, only with the element of surprise?" The warrior woman would rather be proactive than reactive. Sometimes it actually worked out.
Maena rolls her eyes, "Well, there's the matter of needing to get through the cell door, which I would imagine is likley more secure than these chains... and, of course, not knowing how many are in there and will be able to react immediately."
Her hands freed, Maena reaches for the veil, drawing what she assumes is an Asmodean pentagram from it, Hopefully, Belial will hear me through this object... ot the Prince of Hell will not mind relaying my prayers to one of his Archdukes...
Alicia scowls as Maena's logic pounds through her thick head. She had always acted before thinking...it was one of the reasons she was here to begin with. Sulking, she shuts her mouth before a nasty, pointless retort can escape. She had to work with these people, and the woman truly hadn't done anything wrong except point out the obvious, glaring hole in her plan.
She remains quiet, waiting to hear what the others thought of. She keeps her hands near the manacles, just in case one of the guards comes.
Moriarti closes his eyes again, retreating within himself to organize his thoughts. After playing out several scenarios in his head, he opens his eyes again and speaks.
"Alright. Since we've already given the impression that one of the females has soiled herself, we should use that to get a guard in here. If we complain about it enough one will come to silence us if nothing else. Once the cell door is unlocked, if Mr. Pavo could charm the guard as discretely as possible, then he should be able to convince him to help get the other guard in the cell. Even if not, he should be able to leave us access to the next door from which Lukasz should be able to charm the next guard. Of course, we ought to have someone ready to delay the other guard sounding the alarm as long as possible regardless of what happens. Maena, could you compel the other guard to drop the horn or, even better, throw it from here?
"Also, while we're back on the subject of the limitations of magic, will the guard regard all of us as friends or only you, Lukasz?"
Moriarti seemed to be a thinker, much like himself, Lukasz saw them getting along just fine, or attempting to out scheme one another. "Truth be told, each time I have used this specific spell, I was the one doing the talking, so I could not say for sure. Though once one of them is ensorcelled, I may be able to convince him that one or two of you can be trusted," Lukasz whispered as he looked around once more in the dim light. "Though the jig will be up once they see any of us without our shackles." Thinking for a moment, the former barrister continued, "If we are to do this plan, we need them to be overconfidenet, think that they have us at their mercy. That way, they are likely to approach together."
Maena says, "I would imagine that some of us could use our more mundane charms to attract... and distract... a guard, if need be."
"I can get on board that plan." A malicious smile crosses Alicia's face. She'd faced humiliation at the hands of these guards...and it was almost time for payback.
"Well if you can get both of them in here, then perhaps we needn't bother with charm spells. Delaying an alarm might give us enough time to deal with the guards and if we can do so quietly enough, maybe we can escape without further confrontation."
Maena nods, "If we can save our magic, were better to do so. I imagine these aren't the only two between us and the door. And what's more, if rather leave a big enough mess here that it can't be covered up... Something to scar the reputation of Brandiscar, and, by extension, the current order."
Maena offers, "I'm thinking the best approach might be to fake a panic attack and then offer the guards anything... With a heavy emphasis on everything ... to get out when they come in here to shut us up."
She sighs and looks up at Alicia, "Can you scream like a frightened schoolgirl? Or should we try to get them in here another way in order to make our offer?"
Alicia gives Maena a flat look, mulling it over. She HAD just pretended to wet herself, so it really shouldn't be a problem, but the woman had her dignity to consider. Practicality wins out in the end, as her dignity would be short-lived if they didn't escape.
In her husky voice, she replies, "I can sound panicked, for sure. I left schoolgirl behind long ago."
The iron-banded door at the end of the hall bangs open noisily and the cells flood with light. One guard, Esmond, stalks towards your cell, hefting an iron cudgel. The other guard stands by the door, fidgeting with his signal horn.
Esmond gets to the door of your cell and gestures towards the you with his club. "Okay now. Which one of you lot let out the scream?"
The blonde woman does her best to seem panicked (not too hard, considering her imminent execution). Her chest heaves, and her eyes widen as they dart back and forth. She looks to the guard as he approaches, "I can't breathe! Just let me out for a few minutes, ok? You can keep me manacled, I don't care...it's just suffocating in there with those wretches! I'll make it worth your while, I promise!" She makes sure to inhale at the end of her begging, inflating her already ample chest.
Esmond chuckles. "You can rot in there for all I care. Just keep it down and I won't have to break a few ribs." He turns to leave.
Maena looks at the man carefully, feeling for the darkness within him with her gifts, then turns to face him. "Come now, surely you can appreciate what she's offering... I mean, just think of the heady, frantic energy of her fear and your control over her.... and, the clarity of purpise that comes from it being her last night alive... I can't imagine you'll ever get a chance like this again, where you could do whatever you wanted to her -- to both of us, really -- when we're so totally under your power and just so grateful for even a moment where we're not thinking about dying.... And, Hells, if you go too far, you know that nobody's going to be able to say a damned thing. Who's going to believe the Forsaken, anyway? And what's more who are we to tell? Our executionners?"
"Oh gods, please don't. At least take it somewhere else if you do. I'd really prefer not to bear witness to your intimate affairs," Moriarti complains.
We shouldn't all seem so eager...
Esmond grins menacingly. "I'll give you pox-ridden whores something to be grateful for." The large guard produces a key and unlocks the cell.
"Esmond, don't." The other guard calls from the door. "We're not supposed to go into the cell without the others."
Esmond turns back to the other guard as he opens the cell door. "Oh, grow a pair, wontcha? They're locked up tight as a priestess's chastity belt. They're harmless. Aren't you, you traitorous scum?" He flashes that brutish smile again.
Alicia nods meekly, her heart racing as adrenaline starts to flow. She doesn't trust herself to speak, merely stands silently, eyes down, keeping her muscles relaxed. Esmond only had seconds left to live, as far as she was concerned, but he needed to come a bit further in the cell.
Maena looks away to hide her wicked smile, If only the other one was as subject to his base desires..., she thinks wistfully, keeping a careful eye on the door, ...at least if he's disgusted, he won't be watching... and will also be expecting some grunts and the like...
Esmond walks over to Alicia and reaches down to grab her chin. "Aww, you're not going to hurt anybody, are you?" His voice is full of false pity.
Go on, a+%&+@*, nothing to see here! Alicia wills the other guard to go back through the door.
Alicia shakes her head slightly as Esmond grabs her chin. She hopes her voice is suitably meek as she replies, "No, sir! Please don't hurt me...we can have such a good time together..."
Alicia waits another couple of seconds to see if the other guard will retreat or her companions act.
Maena watches the scene unfold, They just can't resist their petty power trips.., then shakes herself, trying to see if the other guard truly is more noble and has left in disgust, or if he just mouths the platitudes and ways to watch the show... Likely to join in later.
Esmond's smile changes into a smirk, cruel mirth in his eyes. He brings his hand across Alicia's face in a vicious back-handed slap. "I'm not going to f$#! you, b~#+&! You've probably had half the sailors in Matharyn. My cock is like to rot off. Now shut your Mitra-damned mouth, or the next time I come back, I'll bring a gag." He stands up and turns around, ready to walk out of the cell. The guard in the door visibly relaxes.
Her head whips to the side as the stinging slap resounds across the cell. She presses her lips together, but can not help herself. With a low growl, she bares her teeth, picking up the dagger by her foot and lunging at the man.
Initiative -
Block 1: Lukasz, Maena, Moriarti
Block 2: Guards
Block 3: Alicia
Round 1
Predetermined Actions -
Active Effects -
Map (Round 1) -
Current Damage -
Alicia - 2 non-lethal
Esmond - 7
Notes -
Esmond gasps as the digger slides into his back. Blood, dark crimson blossoms under the chainmail, but the guard doesn't fall. Before he can react, the rest of the Forsaken leap into action.
Moriarti retrieves the dagger he'd hidden on himself and inserts it between Esmond's ribs.