Jezabel smiles at the guard and then licks some more blood off of his chest as he speaks.
Hearing what was going on inside, his ears twitch as he peeked in
"No no, man tell lie lie. Word is fake fake. Wants us in trap, yes yes. Will help make him talk talk, know how, yes yes, i do do"
He then glances at the stuck window
"Stuck good good. Need strong strong magic."
At FireSkorn's pronouncement:
"Lies?" Jezabel giggles. "Not so clever..." she whispers to the guard.
Jezabel bites him on the chest--not hard enough to do damage, but enough for him to feel it.
"The next will take a chunk off..." She warns. She eyes him with a smiles then whispers, "And I'll bite lower."
"Please don't let the crazy one eat me."
"Who's the crazy one...the cannibal, or the person who lies to her face? Don't imagine you can fool us--if you were any good at bluffing, you'd be at the card game. And no one can spot a lie better than the acolytes of Asmodeus."
Geborah lets out a tiny scream of laughter at his reaction when Jezabel bites him.
"Now. What. Is. The. Password?"
The guard screams as Jezabel bites him, and responds to Geborah, ”Hesterfield! Hesterfield! The password is Hesterfield! I’m not lying this time, I promise! It’s the Warden’s hometown!”
He’s been traumatized enough you can tell it’s the truth.
Jezabel smiles.
"Any other questions?" she asks her 'comrades.'
"Yes yes! They took my lab lab, want it back back! Where i find stuff stuff?"
"A question for you, yes." Geborah leans back in her chair and squints at Jezabel. "These voices you hear whispering--have they ever given any names? Like Calcabrina? Ardad Lili? Belial, Eiseth, Malacoda, Circiatto? Alichino?" She pauses. "Or just 'Mother'?"
Jezabel smiles as she lounges atop the blubbering guard. "There are many voices, from many planes. They don't bother with names. They just like to speak and teach and influence. Though, the boring ones don't speak to me much, anymore, except to cry." She laughs at that, like it's funny to make holy beings cry.
Cause it is.
"When I got to know the voices, I could tell what kind of being they were." Suddenly she reverts to singing, "Cacodaemon, lacridaemon, sangudaemon, doooo, cambion, incubus, hezrouuuuuu, hamatula, bdellavritra, barbazuuuuuu, vulpinal, cassissian, lillend, toooooo." She smiles wickedly. "I picked up singing from them." she laughs some more, a cruel, mad cackle. Then she reverts back to humming to the babbling guard.
Looking at the little ratfolk, the guard says, ”I don’t know anything about a lab - like I told the other one, none of you were brought in with anything! The Warden got a delivery of some sort of supply for experiments, but that’s all I know!”
Balam keeps his eyes and ears peeled anyone ascending the stakes.
"That's better," says Geborah, filling the cup with water and lifting it to the guard's lips. "Good slaves get nice things."
She stands. "The masters need to talk. Don't go anywhere," she taunts him.
Geborah gestures for the others to join her in the guard room with Balam, and closes the door so the restrained guard can't hear.
"That was fast. We should have the better part of an hour before a patrol comes to check on them, and probably an hour or two more." She recites what they learned from the guard for Balam's benefit.
"Now, what next? I want to hear ideas from everyone. But you should know that there's more at stake here than our lives."
"I don't want to just run away like fleeing rats...ah, no offense, Skorn. I want to leave a scar that won't heal. Partly because these filth deserve it--how dare they judge us?--but also because I want to impress our new friends. They've laid a simple test for us: escape. But I say we show them how capable and ambitious we are."
"I think we should find this warden, this wizard. If he sleeps alone in his tower, he is vulnerable. Removing him would be wise; otherwise, he will lead and guide any search party sent after us. Without him, the prison will be in disarray. Also, we may be able to loot his chambers for a lab Skorn can use, and other resources that will aid our escape. But forget those practical matters. We should find him, and do something memorable with him, to teach people once more to fear the servants of Asmodeus."
"Wizard means spells for me to learn and use, and I for one wish I had the resources to make this a place of the dead." Turning to Geborah
"Are we leaving one witness with this plan of yours since you seemed to swear us all to your lord in letting him live?"
With a grin though Wraith seems to look down the stairs with thoughts towards this dark night ahead of him.
"After that I bet we all want a piece of Blackerly, personally I claim his skull, I think i might give it sentience later so I can torture his soul more."
"The guard has shared at least another point of useful news, an ogre could help us get out of here, so should we try to use him?"
Geborah shrugs. "It seems crueler to let him live--imagine the nightmares he'll have!--so I would prefer it. Also, he shall spread word of our maleficence, and that we kept a promise. It's useful for people to hear that we keep our promises."
Then she grins. "Besides, I thought of something funny to do with him. Oh, he'll live."
"I don't know anything about ogres. Tiadora--the spy--seemed to think there were no prisoners but us, so we can take or leave him, I suppose. I'm trying to think if I know anything about the warden..."
Geborah gives Wraith an appraising look. "You're a necromancer? That's something I haven't achieved...yet. My power has grown in these last weeks, though--mayhap I will grasp it soon. What would you need to animate the dead in our wake?"
"Leaving things alive is what gets people caaaaaaaaught." Jezabel points out in a singsong voice.
"Yes yes, agree with pretty lady, no speak speak, no get caught caught" he nods
Jezabel smiles at FireSkorns compliments. "I like you."
Geborah snorts derisively. "Are you telling me you got caught because you left someone alive? Not in my case. We got caught because we were alone--no one to watch our backs. If we are too afraid to leave this fool behind to tell the absolutely nothing he knows about us or our plans, then what about each other? Do we kill each other out of fear that the crazy lady or the walking skeleton or the rat thing will get us caught? Bah. They are the ones that should be afraid, not us. And they'll be more afraid if they hear his story.
"If you left none alive, there would have been no one to arrest you," Jezabel laughs. "Therefore the problem is... you left some alive."
She smirks and tells Geborah. "You are a vain child. You worry over fear and reputation." She laughs as if to do so is absurd.
"These things mean nothing to me." she says seriously. Then she begins to sing, "I care not what my dinner tells my dinner. I care not.... I care not...."
"Multiple onyx gems of various sizes. After that a night's rest and then I can make several a day." Giving Geborah an appraising look, "What's your interest in the art?"
"As for leaving witnesses it's hit or miss, I had a similar problem with bribes. The grave keeper I bribed to keep quiet about my activities thought he could make more money by turning me in." With a happy grin spreading he continues.
"I had the last laugh as the Mitrians don't distinguish between those who do the act and those profiting from the act. He got sentenced right along side me."
Jezabel laughs, clearly enjoying Wraith's tale.
"If only my dinner guests were treated thus!"
Geborah flashes a pleased smile. "Why, thank you, what flattery! But I am sure you could be just as vain as me if you tried..." She wrinkles her nose. "Wait...do you think vanity is a weakness?" She laughs with full-throated delight. "How very Mitran of you...disappointing, really. I would be as vain as the Dark Prince; I want those beneath me to know their place. After all, 'The wolf's greatest weapon is that the sheep fear her.' "
"My interest in necromancy? It's an article of faith. 'Better to have a slave than a dead enemy,' sayeth Asmodeus. And with necromancy, you can have both at once."
Jezabel laughs in turn. "You desire to be equal with the Prince of Darkness!" she laughs louder now, deep belly laughs at the absurdity of it!
"You think you can defy the order of Hell and just become as Him?!" she laughs some more.
"You'll just skip the line, will you? As if a mortal could ever become as the Lord of Devils!"
She giggles manically.
Wiping a tear from her eye she remarks, "You have a long way to go before comparing yourself to your god, child. Blessings, or otherwise."
She then goes on to giggle to herself, clearly still amused at your absurdity.
"I agree with Jezabel, leaving someone alive to tell the tale is how we get caught. Statements are great, and I am not a coward, but we are of no good, to anyone, if we we are dead or caught. If we can leave here, fast, before anyone really knows what happened, we buy ourselves time. Guile and craft got us this far. They can get us farther, if we're careful."
Balam listens to the others for a time, always keeping an ear out down the stairs. "Fear and reputation can be powerful tools. We already have reputations. Which is why we have the veil, and the offer for employment. However, a wizard on our trail could be a problem. Perhaps we could use the ogre to create a diversion while we access the warden, and dispose of him? As for vanity, Asmodeus rules over the souls of the vain and foolish, I sent one such soul to the God of this World when I took my holy orders. It is not vanity to seize power and rule with an iron fist. It IS vanity to seize power when one is not strong enough to keep it."
Tatienne grunts, and nods in agreement. "Wise words, Balam. However, in this case, there is nothing for the guard to tell. The crown knows everything that man knows about us, and more. Furthermore, that guard gave his own brothers up. His actions will lead to their deaths. He's tainted, and will get no reprieve from his crown. I say we bring him to our mysterious friend. Perhaps he can be turned. Perhaps he's not worth the trouble. But, I'm sure, regardless, our friend will appreciate the gesture."
"As for the ogre, it could be a powerful distraction - or a powerful ally. Let's meet it."
Geborah does not appear offended by Jezabel's mockery. "'I am mad with ambition, and my ambition is to be mad,' sayeth Alichino. Many people have no ambition beyond their next meal; to them, any vision of greatness seems like folly. But the wise see that all is folly, and choose greatness for its own sake. Is it absurd to compare myself to Great Asmodeus? Yes, and more than that, it is hubris--overweening pride, which is the Dark One's dearest sin."
She turns to Balam and opens her eyes wide. "I am but a young, foolish, and vain girl, and I know nothing of the mighty art of war...but it seems to me that releasing the ogre as a diversion would cause an alarm, waking the wizard and allowing him to prepare for battle before we reach him. Is this guile and craft?"
She drops the innocent facade and grins. "Only teasing. It might be a worthy idea. Certainly we should speak the this ogre and see if it is a mere brute or can carry out complicated instructions. We should also take a look at the prison before we do anything--no windows here save the one we made, but mayhap one or more of us could scramble up the chimney and look around."
"If Wraith is what I think he is, his eyes need no light; nor do mine. The roof should be dark. From there, we could see a route to the wizard's tower, without a guard patrol seeing us. We might need a climber to scurry up the chimney and let down the rope, first. For haste's sake, we could do that while others see to this ogre."
"Turn the guard? An intriguing risk." Geborah turns her gaze to Tatienne.
"I know a little of Cheliax, though not your house. There were marriages between House Thrune and House Stoker more than a century ago, before Thrune won their throne and Stoker lost their spirit. My fathers--"she spits on the ground"--were so terribly wracked with shame by the connection. I should like to hear from you what their nation has become, when we have more time. It it what we could have been, and perhaps might still become."
"I no mind big big friend. Help help not get eaten by other big big things, oh yes yes. Go open door now now" with that and tools in hand he goes over to the where they were informed an ogre was being held
After Tatienne's suggestion, Jezabel replies in song: "He'll waaaaaaaarn theeeeeeeeem." Switching back to words, Jezabel point out: "Alone in a cell he gave up his friends, but if we bring him along, you can bet he'll call out to warn the others, whether death awaits him or not. It's a chance to feel like he's redeemed himself, after all, and men like him enjoy that before the end. Let me eat him, let Wraith drain his soul, even let him stay alive for Geborah's foolishness, but he'll not come with us. I won't let him."
Jezabel then laughs in glee at the idea freeing the ogre to 'help us', and claps her hands.
Hmm...Ratfolk would be considered highly uncommon in Talingarde, so I'm gonna say you can't know about them with the DC 10 check (the most you can get off an untrained knowledge check).
While you don't know anything specific about Mathias Richter, you do know that House Richter is a minor noble house whose ancestral seat is in Matharyn. Hesterfield is actually the name of their estate, which is part of the area of the city known as the Golden Bow.
While the group discusses the fate of their bound captive, they decide to meet the ogre within the maximum security cell. Taking the keys, FireSkorn goes to the door with the others behind him, still discussing the fate of the guard. Unlocking the door, he opens a dark cell, his eyes having no problem seeing the chained Ogre. He looks somewhat bruised, as though he's been repeatedly beaten, and he's rather filthy. Upon your opening of the door, he looks over at you, grunts, and says in the Common tongue, "More little 'uns. Think you're gonna beat me, too?"
Wraith has just watched the banter as three of them seem to be Asmodeian worshipers while he himself has faith in his magic. At the mention of a place called Celia, he is thrown for a complete loop as he's never hear of the place growing up on the island.
At meeting the ogre Wraith is surprised to see it speaks common if pretty badly, and st the mention of beating it, he understands what it been through, but personally doesn't care.
"No beating but if we can come to an arrangement, we might be able to help each other with an escape."
Tatienne smiles, thrilled with Geborah's interest - and mutual connection to her homeland. "Of course! It is a long history, and complicated. When we're free, I'll fill you in on what your family has missed."
"As for my House, we are important, but have largely stayed out of Chelish politics. We're teachers and scholars, by and large. We move behind the throne, and facilitate our nation's greatness."
"I'd like to hear of your house as well, Geborah. Perhaps the greatest chapter of House Stoker is still to be written?"
================
Frowning, Taty's brow furrows. "Perhaps the guard will try to warn them, Jezebel, but I'll wager you he knows his fate is sealed with his former mates. If I'm wrong, you can have his wagging tongue."
================
Nodding in assent with Wraith, the relic hunter steps forward, and gives the ogre a quick bow. "Beat you? We're here to free you, friend!"
"If we bring him, the tongue is the least of what I'll take."
Geborah gives Tatienne a sharp look. "It's not my House. Well, except for the literal house; that's mine now. The best part of it survived my fire."
"This argument has gotten boring. Let's get our rope back and move on to the ogre." Geborah strides back into the interrogation room and stands over the guard. "We're leaving soon. Now I swore by my master Asmodeus that if you answered all our questions fully and honestly, we'd leave you locked alive and safe when we left, with our thanks, remember?"
"So, a final question...what's my mother's name?"
The guard can see in her eyes she doesn't expect him to have an answer to her question. She can see in his that he has none.
With a vicious laugh, she strikes his throat with her clawed nails, releasing his lifeblood into the furrows she dug in the table. They fill to form profane runes as she intones words completing the sacrificial rite.
"If you want his spirit, best catch it before it flees, Wraith--he'll die soon."
When the guard is unmistakably dead, Geborah unties the rope, coils it and puts it near the chimney. "I will watch the stair while you treat with the ogre."
Jezabel wanders into the interrogation room to take a few bites off the dying guard and slake her thirst on his blood.
Looking towards the dying guard, Wraith thinks it over before replying.
"Slay him, or eat him, his soul is scum to me now that he's a lair and would sell out his companions." With a disgruntled look he continues.
"I may be an evil bastard, wield some of the darkest magic known to all races, but once my word is given I don't break it easy."
Turning back to the ogre in the room, "So while i may have done it in the past and it wont stop me from continuing to do so in the future calling you creature, what do we call you creature?
Waiting for a response he give the room a once over, before inspecting the creature itself. Finally trying to recall what he knew about these creatures.
Which seems to be nothing!
Grunting, the ogre eyes those talking to him before saying, "Name Grumblejack. Other little 'uns force Grumblejack to drink tea. Makes Grumblejack weaker than normal - try to keep Grumblejack compliant. You let Grumblejack free to beat other little 'uns, Grumblejack not beat you. That agreement?"
You don't know anything about Ogres, apart from stories you've heard - they kidnap and eat children, are vicious, superstitious creatures with little loyalty, and are rarely found south of the Watch Wall. How one got this far south must be quite the story. They are also supposed to be quite stupid and uncommunicative - although this one certainly doesn't seem to be particularly stupid, and has a decent grasp of the Common tongue.
Looking over the Ogre, you can tell that while your treatment at the guards' hands has been rough, his has been rougher. The tea is likely some sort of poison, and they seem to have beaten him regularly. Healing would likely go a long way towards guaranteeing his cooperation - and might ensure he doesn't consider betraying you.
"Grumblejack was it? I can work with that arrangement." With a nod to Grumblejack he gives h a nod before grabbing the keys to unlock any shackles he's attached too.
Before preceding though he turns to Jeza, "I think our new muscle could use your particular brand of healing if you and the rest agree, I'll pay any blood cost for it at a later time if you would agree." Wraith thinks back to when she healed Tatienne.
"So what brought one of your kind so far from the Watch Wall Grumblejack?"
While standing watch, Geborah takes a minute to investigate the chimney.
Tatienne shrugs, nonplussed by the child's displeasure. "Suit yourself, dear. It matters not to me."
Thinking back to her history lessons, Tatienne tries to recall any mention of a House Stoker marrying into House Thrune, a task made more difficult, no doubt, by constant revisions to the official Chelish histories.
===========
Idly, Taty wonders if this Grumblejack would eat them, if given the chance. Or was that trolls that had a penchant for doing so? Well, they'd go under that bridge when it came to it.
Jezabel wanders into the cell with a wide smile.
"You look deliiiiiiciouuuuuuuus." she tells him in a sing-song voice. "Has anyone told you that before?" she asks, clearly meaning this as a compliment.
"Would you like to be friends? Friends are not for eating. You don't eat me, and I won't eat you." she asks as she examines his wounds.
"Hold stiiiiiiill," she tells the ogre in a sing-song voice.
Jezabel thrusts her arms out to the sides, hands open. She mutters under her breath and her body tenses. A green energy seems to manifest in the air around Jezabel, and flow into her open hands. Her eyes glow bright green along with her hands. Jezabel begins to sing gibberish softly. The green energy in her hands changes colour, to a warm yellow glow. Jezabel reaches out to touch Grumblejack's leg and a sudden wave of calming, comforting warmth flows from her hands into the ogre's shoulder.
She runs a finger along Grumblejack's smaller wound.
"Are you hungry?" she asks the ogre. "There's a delicious guard dying in the other room. I've only taken a few bites."
Grumblejack looks at Jezabel with a certain amount of confusion as she enters the cell. Once she heals him, his eyes widen. "Little 'uns have magic! Grumblejack work with little 'uns."
Looking at Jezabel, Grumblejack says, "You got good taste."
FireSkorn unlocks Grumblejack's chains, and the ogre stands to his full height, towering over the others, to say nothing of the little ratfolk. Allowed to exit his cell, he walks over to the now-dead guard Jezabel started snacking on first before ripping a leg off taking a big bite of it. "Kinda tough - needed tenderizin'."
Looking at you, the ogre says, "We go find little 'uns to smash?"
Jezabel smiles widely at her new pal, Grumblejack. "We do, indeed," she tells him.
Seeing Geborah with her head in the chimney, Jezabel sings, "We won't all fiiiiiiiiiit..."
The chimney is roughly seven feet wide, so it could not be climbed by bracing. It is rough stone, not smooth, so it could be climbed that way. You can tell there is a fire burning in the fireplace on the first floor - not a particularly large one, however. Grumblejack would have to squeeze, but he would be able to climb it. It would probably be easiest if someone climbed up it and fixed a rope to the top of the chimney, if you plan on going out that way. If you were thinking of going down - well, there is that fire there.
Geborah sizes up Grumblejack, then ducks under the hearth to inspect the chimney again. "This is an enormous flue. It would be a tight fit, but our new friend could make it up. With a little squeezing, we might even be able to get your hips through, Jezabel."
The girl ducks back inside, absently wiping soot off her hands. "What about it, big fellow? I bet you could climb a mountain, with those arms. Think you could climb up there and throw down a rope for the rest of us? We could get up above the guards, come at them from a direction they don't expect."
She turns back to the fireplace, her eyes focused far away. "I trust my instincts. They tell me this is our best way out. Give it a try."
"The food's been lacking." Jezabel replies to Geborah's jibe.
She soon breaks out into eery, gibberish songs, seemingly unconcerned with her surroundings or their plan.
"Before we plan our escape route based on convince, maybe some one who can climb and can go see what our exit options from the roof are?" With his head shaking from the ladies bickering, he decides to add another comment to the pile.
"While I can climb a ladder, a chimney might be a bit much for me. Plus meat bag over there," points to the carcass of the interrogated guard. "He did say something about an armory that was holding Grumblejack's weapon and armor as well as some options to Balam to switch to a more preferred set of equipment."
"Hmmm...don't think any little 'uns up on the roof to smash. You sure go that way?" Grumblejack asks around a mouthful of guard. "Still, Grumblejack best climber. Show you little 'uns how it's done." Grumblejack tosses the leg aside holds out his hand for the rope.