Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Aku Warashi

Well Hound wasn't getting any better advice. Nahlia wanted to loot, Seren wanted to delay signaling the army, Mysty was silent and Rose wanted to signal.

You have a point

@All

No pointing fingers.
No one wanted to decide, Hound took action.

It's not so easy to see it's a muderhole just by looking at the map.

Course,we are all no doubt a perfect example of supervillainy; lots of arguing and plotting for the sudden and inevitable betrayal. MUAHAHHAHAHAHA!

I'm not placing blame. I'm just lamenting not checking the map. I knew where I wanted to go, I just didn't know the number and didn't cross check when hound said 18. I was busy at the time. Oh well. This certainly makes for a more exciting story.

I'm not sure where this concept of me wanting to loot came from. All I said was to grab the wand, which was so that the mage wouldn't be able to come back and get it.

Also, working on my part. Work has royally sucked to the point where I threatened to quit. : /

I wasn't blaming anyone, really. I hope no one got that impression. It was just that hound, the character not the player, never struck mysty as a deep thinker, and yet she didn't blink when he said "go here".

A more important question...what are we going to do for four days waiting for the bugbears?

That's why I was suggesting securing the fortress instead of breaking it open right now. If we keep it closed we can keep other people out (and maybe get a second shot at the mage) while we wait for Sakkarot to be ready.

I know it seems kind of silly, holding a whole fortress with 5 people, but it is kind of silly the think that 5 people managed to kill and entire fortress by themselves too.

Besides, imagine the myths and legends about the '5 fiends and the curse of Ballentyne' that would be spread. : )

Hound is the silent type, correct. He is like an attack dog that gets the chain unhooked and tears apart people but the tactics are usually left to others.

We don't have to hold the fortress with five people. There's still a bunch of soldiers we haven't killed.

Hound and I can pretend to be the soldiers willing to step up and sort out the mess when this is over. You and Seren can pretend to be healers volunteering to help out. With a little kindness we can probably earn their trust pretty quickly. I doubt any of the remaining soldiers will have the force or personality, or the sense motive necessary to organize a coup in four days.

How's this for a rough plan/cover-

We dress up a few corpses as "Invaders" (We can put one of them in Rose's old armor, and use Sculpt Corpse to change their appearances). We make it seem like the invaders were killed before they could enact their plan.

Rose, in disguise, tries to organize the soldiers who are left. Hound, also in disguise, goes and gets Nahia and Seren from the Inn because Hound "heard they were healers who might be willing to help." We organize and care for the remaining soldiers. (cover for rose, mysty and hound is that they left during the attack and are no longer in the city)

We spread a rumor that the creepy magister was the inside man who let the invaders into Ballentyne. We can forge some communications and have Mysty plant them in the magister's room.

We cast Gentle Repose/Restore Corpse/Whatever on the Lord's corpse and make it seem like he's grievously wounded and in a coma but still alive. That will give the soldiers reason to band together and be patient. "Hold on for Lord Tom" becomes a mantra.

Four days later we fire the rocket, open the gates and stand back.

That's... actually a really good plan. I like it. This means it will never work, but still... : )

@Nahia

Got it.

Read it.

Loved it.

I'll mesh some of your writing with Mysty and I think it'll be really cool.

@Rose

I liked then plan.

Feel free to write it down, the description of your days until the horde is signaled and post it here in the discussion thread, to see if the others will agree with it.

Awesome post. Double popcorn for everyone!

Awesome. Hound will have to get exotic weapon proficiency, door.
:)

Doors are one of my favorite weapons. No joke. One of my favorite characters ever was a half-ogre barbarian with Quick At Hand who once wielded a torn off door as a weapon for an entire dungeon.

I just wrote this up for the gameplay thread, but was worried about jumping the gun. I'll post it here for feedback.

===============

Rose bowed her head in silent reverence as Seren's prayer howled into the night. She'd been saved and protected by divine grace so many times tonight she'd lost count. She was truly blessed. They all were. She took a deep breath and pulled off her helm letting her fiery hair tumble down. Somehow she still managed to look perfect. Better than usual, even. She soot smeared across her face with rivulets of sweat that had drawn lines through it, looking a bit like savage war paint. Somehow she'd managed to get a smear of blood across her jaw. Something about her inhume heritage made that seem like the way she was supposed to be. Her hair, not surprisingly, was flawless. She smiled brightly at her companions.

"Good work everyone. We're almost done. Just a few details left to work out. Mysty, figure out how the gate mechanisms work, and how to break them. We want to make it so they'll still open the gates, but not close them."

"Someone, give me a hand getting out of this armor. We're going to dress a corpse in it. Seren, do you have any tricks for making a corpse look different, or for making them look like they're still alive? I want to make these guys look the way the Mitrans tell their kids Asmodeans should look. I also want to try to convince the survivors that the lord is alive but badly injured."

As she talked she was quickly pulling at buckles.

"Hound, you get to be the hero tonight. When the rest of the defenders show up they're going to find you, as the last surviving guard amid the corpses of the 'invaders.' Mysty, you're going to be the brave page who saw him kill the invader's leader and kept him from bleeding out while they waited for help."

"The rest of us are getting out of here. I'm going to use the tail end of that flight spell to get Seren and Nahia back to the inn, and hopefully make it back here before the spell runs out. I'm going to pretend I'm trying to save Lord Thomas and pull rank on some soldiers to send them to get the healers who are staying at the inn. You're going to come patch up the wounded survivors and pronounce Lord Thomas alive, but only barely. At that point Hound and I should be able to rally the troops and take on roles as leaders, at least for long enough to get the mission done."

"Mysty, I'm going to whip up some fake correspondence between the magister and the invaders and get it to you as soon as I can get a break. Just get it into the magister's quarters. It'll come out in the wake of all this and give them an explanation to latch onto. If the magister comes back, he'll have what's left of the garrison wanting to kill him."

"If everything actually goes well for once, we should be able to wait out the next four days right here in the keep."

I saw it.

I read before you deleted.

You are not jumping the gun, since all you said was tell the others what you plan to do.

--//--

Anyway, as Mysty and Nahia did the combat, it's up to you describe what you guys will do in those four days until you signal the army. What means:

I've agreed with your plan, and it'll happen as you say so.

Just post it in discussion first, so the others can give their opnion about what they would have done in those four days.

super busy today, Fiancee is jumping between doctors atm for gall stones and mine decided that I need to come in to discuss the blood work I had done a couple of days ago, yay fun day incoming. Will have to catch up on this tomorrow likely. I'll try to get it done today but no guarantees.

I would imagine the four days would be best served pillaging the watchtower for anything of value (specifically magical) and ensuring there aren't any other nasty suprises in store for the army as it marches through the watchtower.

Sorry about my absence.

University stuff stacked. But it ends tomorrow.

And then I'll be back again.

DM is gone, post ponies.

Hound, you promised you wouldn't. That's how you killed our last game. We talked about this.

I'm confused, what should I have done differently? Did you want a montage?

It looks a little unclear what happened. Who is the Unstoppable hero? I believe a dummy body was in Rose's armor and hot sand dumped on it so it would seem the main instigator of the attack was dead.

Unless you are talking about Hound being the hero.

Yep, Hound, you are the hero.

I'm playing as you guys decided.

Rose, Seren and Nahia goes back in the inn, and wait until someone from the tower comes to fetch them. It would be strange, they simply coming into the tower as healers, when no message was send to get them.
Remember, there are soldiers at the watchtower entrance all the time, and they would have know something was afoot, when someone got there, a soldier most likely without him ever leaving to fetch anyone from the tower.

So, this is what is currently happening:

Rose, Nahia and Seren went to the Inn to await being summoned into the watchtower, by the hero (Hound). The hero (Hound) would use the lord being in comatose state to summon help from outside. (meaning, get the ladies into the watchtower)

They are still in the Inn waiting, however, Hound found a big issue:
The lord is still in the infernal armor meant for rose. His shinning one replaced by a demonic one.

So, I want to know, what Hound and Mysty, will do in this situation, since they are the ones at the tower at this moment.

I'm confused, what should I have done differently? Did you want a montage?

Don't worry about it. I asked if you wanted, as Mysty and Nahia did before, write about what happened in those four days, make a sum up, as per say.

I'm not sure why I stayed at the Inn. My plan was to arrive as a wounded soldier to "retrieve the healers."

You stayed at the inn for the reasons mentioned in the post above.

So I think I understand, we never changed the Lord out of his armor which changed into devil themed stuff, correct?

Plus there isn't time to change armors?

Gunna need Mysty's help here for bluffs.

Yep.

I am following your plan: Get the lord body, then send for healers in the town, which would be Seren, Nahia, and a soldier they meet in the Inn (Rose).

However, you guys forgot about the lord armor, so, Hound the hero and Mysty, have to deal with a change of plans. How to claim the lord is alive, when he is using a Asmodean Armor?

Just remember one more thing:

Mostly I give bonus on your bluff based on your role play.
Mysty can help, but you are the one pulling strings here.

Since the fly spell ended, I figured that I could be the "soldier sent to find the healers"

No reason to just sit on our butts.

I'll ask it once more.

Please, don't use the gameplay thread to write ooc only comments and question only.

Discussion exist for that purpose.

==//==

Since the fly spell ended, I figured that I could be the "soldier sent to find the healers"

No reason to just sit on our butts.

Don't wait for me, just post your action.

Okay there is my attempt. I probably should have at least taken Intimidate, LOL, Hopefully Mysty can help me out as the Master part of my Blaster.

Don't worry that much Hound.

There's no one of real experience and importance at the watchtower right now.

I'm really hoping Mending or Make Whole can fix that armor.

@Rose

I laughed at you gameplay post. Sorry >.<

Glad you caught the not-so-subtle gist. :)

Just re-read it and cringed a bit. Sorry for all the typos and the lack of flow to the language. It was a rush job. Guess it reflects the fact that Rose is pretty strung out at this point. Yeah. That's it.

Can't say nothing about it.

My english makes me want to run away and never come back here. really.

/shame

Sometimes English is not our Friend
:(

In my actions I am hoping that the guards are to disorganized to stop mysty from her intentions. Nor she is not opening anything in the mage's room if she can help it. Don't want to trigger any traps or alarms.

Rose, don't worry Seren does have Craft Magic Arms and Armor as well... So it can absolutely be repaired.

I forgot about that! Thank you. :)

Aku, just a reminder, mysty wants to id the wand, using detect magic and spellcraft. A wand of fireballs will be handy come the end game.

Caster-ladies, have either of you considered taking Scribe Scroll?

It occured to me that everyone in the party except Hound can use Scrolls of Animate Dead (it's on all our spell lists).

I don't want to steal Seren's shtick or deal eith the book-keeping of us all having our own horde. I was thinking that the other three of us could just command our undead to "obey her as if she were me" when they are created.

I was thinking that we could fluff-explain it as a sort of communal ritual where Seren draws on the strength of the Knot to amplify the number of undead she can command.

Seems like a fairly cheap and thematic way of effectively quadrupling the size of Seren's horde.

Thoughts?

Intersesting idea, but my character is a bit feat starved. But we really only need one person to have it.

I have scribe scroll, but Animate Dead is not on my list.

It's the same spell, but it's not the same for everyone.

I mean.

Nahia and Mysty would need the arcane version of it.
While Rose and Seren would use the divine version of it.

I know it is a bother, but a arcane caster cannot use divine scrolls and vice-versa.

==//==

@Mysty, I did not forgot that, please, go ahead and create a post in game play and roll your spellcraft.

There are some things I need to pass to you before sakkarot arrives, such as some magic items (From both captains), and what is to be found in the magister room, and the locked chest in the room outside the lord's room.

Anyway, I'll do it a bit later.

Nahia and I have Use Magic Device. That's a start. I guess we'd need to buy the scrolls, or Seren would have to take Scribe Scroll.

Tripling the number of undead she can effectively control for a feat is still a pretty good trade.

@Mysty

The wand has 6 charges.

@Annara, the real trick in this game is to control singular, powerful undead. Unfortunately, keeping an undead horde just doesn't work out well, as I found with previous necromancers.

That said, I have plans for bodies after level 12 (though that is clearly quite a while away).

I think you got the wrong thread :D