Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

"Attacking livestock in the surrounding areas might be enough to draw away a group of the soldiers, leaving the keep more weakly defended. After all, who would the people turn to when monsters prey on their livelihood? Alternatively, rampant and violent brigand attacks on the roads could have a similar effect."

Celestine relaxed slightly as the others talked - though she was still in favor of keeping the plan as simple as possible. After all, fewer components meant fewer things could go wrong.

"How large of a creature can you shift into?"

"My draconic form is about the maximum I can reach. So not really much bigger than a horse, for now at least."

"Well then another option is for Marv to begin causing destruction outside the city walls in his forms to assist int he chaos. Maybe even lure some patrols outside the town just before the goblinoid army attacks to make town resistance weaker and by default, castle resistance weaker. A horse is an adequate size, same as a bear I assume. Too bad you weren't bigger, i am sure you have heard that before." apologies, i could not resist the jab

"You know, size doesn't matter as much as you'd think, when you can reshape your body to best suit the task at hand," the ashen bearded man replied with a wink.

I'm back in the saddle, so now I'm just waiting for someone to move the gameplay forward. You seem to have settled on poisoning the garrison the day before the horde attacks. Do you plan on doing anything else?

If no one opposes it, I'll start some nocturnal attacks on livestock in dragon form to rile up the farmers in the countryside. Leaving charred remains, torn up/chewed up bodies of animals/killing more for sport than for food sort of thing.

Well, as long as you're careful to stay out of sight. XD We could probably join in by talking to some townspeople who know the guards, and might be able to convince them to send out a decent number to comb the woods and try to find the "monster".

That's the idea :D

"I will go with you Marvin and make sure anyone you may come up against is unlucky..."

As the smarter ones in the group work their efforts with the poison and slaughtering of the live-stock Erick spends each day moving throughout the town riling up the people as he talks more and more of the guards not able to protect them from the fearsome dragon. If the livestock continue to get slaughtered the people will soon get sick and not be able to survive. He will continue to spread vile rumors and ill-content to try and get the folks angry to turn against the guards when the time is right.

Erick's efforts to stir up the townsfolk fall on deaf ears. A town this closely tied to the Watchtower has faith in the soldiers that's almost impossible to shake - especially when the troops are highly professional and skilled. It only takes two dragon attacks before a patrol is sent. Captain Varning and his six-man squad are experienced archers and trackers, and their horses are combat-trained and unlikely to spook easily.

How do you wish to proceed?

Day Six complete

"A decent squad of men sent out on patrol. If something were to happen to them... it's likely a bigger group would be sent out next time. I'd need help from the rest of you for that of course. What do you all think?"

"I don't mind the idea of getting rid of guards, but it's an added risk we don't really need." Celestine answered with a slight frown. "Simply having them out of the way until it's too late to do anything is good enough."

Also, we want to poison the fort when the monsters are actually ready to mobilize, yes? I feel like we may have been leading the guards out a bit early... XD;

"We should take them out. If this Varning is removed then an experienced soldier is out of the way before the attack commences. Plus it can be blamed on the 'dragon' which will give the locals pause to venture outside the walls and allow the invaders time to move in undetected. All of us should be able to defeat a simple patrol after what we have fought already."

Ah yea sorry, I assumed we were skipping a few days to move forward with the pan.

"I can help take out a few of the soldiers if needed." Erick had been growing antsy as of late. All of this cooped up planning had his nerves on edge as he paces the room.

"They won't be able to replenish their guards faster than we take them out."

I need solid information regarding what you're wanting to do and when you're going to do it.

If our arsenic stew is lethal, I'd like to deliver it a few days before the attack - long enough to ensure it worked, and not long enough to let them genuinely recover from losing a lot of people. XD Since we have a good-sized group, I'm leaving my plans at that.

That's what I figured. XD Does anyone else want to do anything, or should I jump two weeks forward in time?

Erick will continue to work dissent among the local populace along with helping ambush any guards that leave to investigate the draconic activities. Using his disguise he will make himself look like the local war-mage as Marvin is terrorizing the area. As guards draw near he will quickly swap places with Marvin to look like the War-Mage is terrorizing and killing livestock and local farmers, leaving a couple of survivors to return and tell the tale. he will continue this until it is time to set in the effects of the poison.

@Erick: you have no idea what the warmage looks like, as he rarely leaves the Watchtower.

Ah ok. No problem.

"While Marvin is messing around with the animals the rest of us should use the secret passage he found into the tower and kill as many as we can over the next several days. Try and make our way to this warmage and the Lord of the Keep. Cut the dragon's head off and the rest will surely fall and succumb to the poison."

we should wait for information regarding the patrol ging out and then ambush them. If they are waiting for signs of the creature then we should have the creature being seen a few times and then ambush them outside and away from town. As far as the poisoned food. Can we not slip the poison into the food from the kitchen of the preparer before delivery? Or better yet, impersonate the deliverer, way lay the actual deliverer and deliver the different food?

Still waiting for a definite decision from the party. It doesn't need to be anything huge or time-consuming (unless you want it to be). For example, Group Two spend several days gathering information about various things (similar to what you've done) and are now pursuing several of the possible hooks in greater detail. You can also split up if desired (Marvin's solo dragon raids are a good example).

Celestine will mostly focus on gathering information and trying to find things that the garrison would definitely want to respond to. The more broken up they are during the attack, the better. XD

Setting a large fire in town the night before the attack is probably a good idea. Hopefully draw the soldiers out to help fight the fire so they're both exposed away from the castle and exhausted from having worked through the night. Based on their response, it might leave the castle lightly defended and we could potentially slip in to deal with their commanders quietly.

that sounds like a good distraction as well.

These are the last of the available rumors.
Gossip
- "Lord Havelyn is a good soul but so grim and gloomy. For so great a lord to be unhappy, he must be guilty about something."

- "Balentyne's magister, that creepy Tacitus, has been spending a lot of time working on something in his tower! I don't know what it is, but it's said that something unnatural was recovered from the north."

- "They say the bugbears are massing up north. I wonder what they're up to? Well, it doesn't matter! We'll be ready for 'em! You'd think the shaggy walking carpets would have learned by now that the Watch Wall is unbreakable!"

As it turns out, Erick's becoming popular among the crotchety old-timers - although this sentiment isn't echoed by anyone else.
- "Soldiers today! A worthless, shiftless lot! Balentyne is in total disarray. Soldiers today are too lazy - not like in my day."

- "I've heard that Father Donnagin was sent here after the church demoted him from bishop. He got into some sort of trouble - serious trouble, I wager, to be banished to the Watch Wall."

- "Have you seen Kaitlyn Mott? She's the most beautiful woman in town! How did an ugly lump of a man like Captain Franz Mott bag a looker like her? And how does he keep her, that's what I want to know!"

- "I hear something's been attacking farms, and Captain Varning's patrol found dragon tracks! I bet they King's dragon hunters come. How do you get a job like that?"
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There's great excitement in Aldencross. William Marcus Marlow and his famous Merrie Men have come to town! The Bard of Barrington and his troupe will be performing "The Fall of Amberlyn" in two days time.

By your best estimate, Sakkarot and his horde are just arriving in the woods. You have at most two weeks to accomplish your mission before the bugbears get restless and wander off.

"Can anyone sing?" Zyxtyvia asks the others once the rumors are discussed amongst the team.

"I wouldn't call it singing, per se, but I know how to work a crowd." Celestine noted. "I don't want to set them off myself, but I could probably get people in the right mood to be affected by emotional turmoil."

Perform: Oratory. XD When Taking 10, she has a total of 19, which ought to be enough to at least influence the crowd. If some nefarious person wanted to take advantage of that...

"Singing? I don't think anyone other than my wife ever cared for my singing."

Erick grimaces. "I don't sing..... particularly in front of large groups. Though, I could check out this Kaitlyn Mott. She sounds like she would be fun to influence and manipulate."

"This troupe could also provide us with a way into the castle if they get invited in."

"Or they could be a good scapegoat. If they are invited to the castle, an assassination at the same time could be good."

"Need anyone to carry any of your equipment and keep an eye out for you Celest?"Erick asks. Maybe we can find a way into the castle and I can relieve some of this boredom on something worthwhile while you sing to the masses...."

Celestine eyed Erick for a few moments. How to put this delicately... "Erick, dear, I have no doubt that you will be excellent at squeezing the life out of people who bother us, but I don't think subtlety is your strong suit. The best thing we can do now is avoid actually calling attention to ourselves - at least until it's too late for them to do anything. I imagine the Cardinal would be most disappointed if excitableness gave us away."

"So I just sit in this blasted room all day? This is pointless." Erick storms out of the room as he gets a thought, slamming the door behind him he enters the cellar with the secret door that Marvin mentioned multiple times already.

"They are all fools. All of them. Bah!" He uses his hat of disguise and changes into one of the many guards he has seen coming and going all throughout town.

Opening the Secret Door he sees where it goes.

"By the spirits I do believe this man will get into trouble all on his own" Zyxtyvia says as Erick has his spat and storms off. Looking at the others she asks "Do we follow? Do we stop him? Do we let him go?"

@Erick: The secret door leads to a long passageway ending in a large stone vault filled with enough emergency rations and water barrels to keep several hundred men alive for at least six months. You're clearly inside Watchtower Balentyne. The only other item of note in this storeroom is a trapdoor in the ceiling. Presumably, it leads elsewhere in the castle.

"We have a reason to help each other." Celestine said, the contract they'd signed quite vivid in her mind. "That said, I see no reason to permit one... overly eager... fellow to ignore good sense and disrupt everything every time he can't immediately squeeze someone's neck. I don't care if he gets himself into trouble, but I do care if he brings it down on the rest of us."

Erick moves a few of the barrels and stacks them on to of each other. Looking at his small tower he smiles. This should do her." He begins to climb and cracks the trap door open seeing what is within. if noone is nearby in the room Erick climbs through the trapdoor and straightens his uniform.

Rolling her eyes the witch lets out a long "Fiiiiinnnneeee... I will go see what he is up to and pull his fat out of the fire if need be." and with that Zyxtyvia moves to follow Erick trying to catch the man before he goes too far on his own. She ensures she adjusts her image to that of a different peasant girl that she usually imitates.

if possible Zyx will try to catch up to the brawler

@Erick: You find yourself in the castle armory/smithy. Along with a fully functional forge, there are halberds, longswords, breastplates, and heavy steel shields (20 of each) hanging on wall racks. A door in the west wall leads into the rest of the Watchtower.

Zyxtyvia can catch up at any time. If you continue exploring, I'll add a map.

Taking a few moments Erick grabs each of the weapons and tosses the two to three at a time down into the secret tunnel.

Can't sell 'em but they can't use 'em either.

Once all of the weapons and armor are tossed down into the hatch he closes it once again with a dull thud of wood creaking.

Clapping his hands together he calmly heads through the door to the west to see what else was in this tower. "Time to investigate."

...Actually, I sort of want to see the results of this. XD *Gets popcorn out*

Giving Zyxtyvia until tomorrow to decide if she's met up with Erick. If I haven't heard anything, I'll put up a Balentyne map and update after work.

Zyxtyvia moves as silent as she can to catch up with the impatient Erick. Travelling through the secret tunnel she is almost hit by flying weapons and armor that seem to be tossed from above and make rattling noises echoing through the tunnel...'So much for stealth...' she thinks to herself. She catches up to Erick who just started walking to the west....

"what is your plan here?" she asks the man still disguised as a peasant girl. She also begins looking around for a basket or some linen to carry.

Erick leaps into the air.His hand grabbing at his chest. S*~!! I'm caught already!?

Spinning around he relaxes somewhat at the small peasant girl before him. He doesn't immediately recognize her and quickly moves to silence the poor woman. That is until she speaks and realizes that it is actually Zyxtyvia.

"Plan? No plan just want to check the place out. Disrupt whatever I can without drawing too much attention to myself. Maybe even scout out the commanders and take a couple out. Dunno?" He smiles and spins around moving through the door into the hallway. He peeks his head back around the corner. "Coming? Grab a tray on the way. Maybe wehave some food to deliver his high lord of the keep!"

A map of the fortress has been added to the campaign header.

There are several doors along the hallway: two each on the east and west walls, and a fifth at the end of the hall. The doors along the walls are locked (Disable Device DC 25), while the end door opens easily.