Zinbah nods briefly in thanks as he is freed from the chains. "Hmmm...swimming for it sounds like a last option to me. I think there must be another way off this rock, but where it is I have no clue. The warden may know..." He glances back at the room where the drunken guards are carousing. "I like the idea of the ogre helping us here. By the time the guards deal with him, we can be long gone. Or..." He gets an evil grin, "I have some magic which should keep the guards...occupied whilst you free the ogre."
"Gimme a minute. I got somethin' I gotta do first. I think you'll all like it."
Raymond sets about scratching a circle into the floor and drawing a few arcane symbols within it. When he finishes he settles himself beside the circle and begins a quiet chant. After a minute of chanting has passed, he places his hands within the circle and it opens into a portal on the floor. From within the portal a translucent white arm reaches out, followed by another. Both hands grip the side of the portal and pull forth a creature with the general appearance of a faceless, genderless, mannequin. Its only defining feature is a symbol that glows on its forehead.
Raymond turns back to the rest of the group, revealing that the same symbol now glows on his forehead as well.
"Meet Sammy, my faithful bodyguard. Guy's got eyes like a predator and the claws to match."
As the creature rises up from the circle, the ogre gasps and shivers, trying not to make too much noise even as the magic frightens him. He's unsure whether or not he can trust you, whether his own freedom is a possibility, so he remains still.
When the strange man calls forth the creature from somewhere else, Morossa also shivers. She has seen strange things in her life, but is still not comfortable around such magic. Despite hating all things Mitra, her long hours of training and schooling in the ways of the sun god still invoke a visceral reaction.
Morossa continues to stretch her thin stringy muscles trying to work out the knots caused by several days in chains. When she sees the ogre shiver, she moves over to that side of the cage and puts her hands to her lips in the universal sign to be quiet. She then whispers:
Wait.
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Amanda looks at the summoned monster and looks amused. She thinks to herself that this Devil-kin man would be very useful with his power to summon minions to their aid.
Amanda nods to Raymond and says to him, "Impressive. This shall be most useful for our purposes."
She then heads off towards the beast's cell being as stealthy as possible.
Within the cage and peers inside seeing what she observes of him at a closer distance and observes him carefully.
She then says quietly. "My friend. Do not fear us. We shall be your liberation from this prison. I shall free you from your chains but in exchange you shall aid us in leaving this place and you shall owe your life to us and serve our will. Surely you do not wish to die here within these walls."
Lisbeth, once unshackled, gives Amanda a nod of thanks and awaits the unlocking of the door. Once unlocked, she fixes the ogre with a look, and moves over to him.
Motioning for him to be quiet, she watches him curiously, "I can see you do not belong here, and can tell as well that you would be better off free. Join us. We can use your strength. But you must pledge your loyalty to me. That will be your contract to live outside of these prison walls."
The hint of a smile dances around the corners of her lips as she watches him, awaiting a response.
Zinbah's eyes widen as he sees the summoning ritual take place. "A Summoner!" He breaths in surprise. He stares intently at the summoned being, trying to determine more of the being.
Megirege has so far been following the group closely but quietly. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be concentrating on something; perhaps a fact in her mind.
"Ogres are not the brightest of souls. If you can convince it to listen to you though, it may well be the best asset we have."
She seemed to not be too fazed by the summoned being.
"Magic," he says lowly, and you can hear something weak in his voice. It's not mere starvation or apathy keeping him docile. "You use magic! You're stronger than the little 'uns, the idiots who poison Grumblejack and don't kill 'im. If you let Grumblejack out I'll help you kill 'em. It's all Grumblejack wants." His eyes turn to the cleric and he snarls. "You aren't very good at making allies, are you? Don't insult my kind." It's clear that this ogre is not normal. He may not be the brightest, but he is certainly miles ahead of the average ogre. In the dim light, you can make out two horns peeking through his greasy, unkempt black hair.
Morossa smiles at the ogre:
We are all on edge. I am sure you know none have ever escaped from this prison. We intend to be the first and would welcome you joining us.
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Amanda examines the ogre carefully to see if he's lying to them.
Sensing this might be the truth from the Ogre, Amanda responds
"You will have your chance for vengeance Grumblejack. But when we escape this prison what will you do then? You are in a land where most of the little ones hate and revile you. Without our help you will end up slain or worse back in the chains that now bind you. With our help we can take you somewhere safe, somewhere you can belong, somewhere you can make a difference. Is that not something you would want Grumblejack?"
Diplomacy
"I shall now free you from your chains as promised."
Amanda skillfully unlocks the cell door.
She then works on the chains
"If you give Grumblejack his freedom he will be loyal to you. It's better life than being toy for little 'uns amusement. They say they kill Grumblejack for special occasion, but it not come." Amanda's voice sways the ogre, who stretches out his massive limbs. "Little 'uns poison Grumblejack and keep him weak, but he still mightier than puny jailers."
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After unchaining Grumblejack she says to him, "Well then Grumblejack, it is time to crack some jailer's skulls. But we need to do it quickly before they can signal for other guards. I need you to be as quiet as you can and follow me to the door. We'll then make some noise to make the guards come and investigate. Once the guards open the door we will break then like the weak fools that they are."
She gives a sadistic smirk to that looking forward to some real violence on those bastard guards.
Zinbah holds up a hand to get Amanda's attention. "It would seem to me a good time to use my magic here, to ensure no alarm is raised."
"Tell me, what did they poison you with? We might be able to find an antitoxin to aid you," she asks as she examines the ogre, looking for obvious signs of poisoning.
While she's looking him over, she looks up into his eyes, "Do not forget your pledge to me, either, Grumblejack. Once we are free from here, you will no longer be a slave. You will be the slaver. The one with the power. But do not betray. Our Lord does not encourage betrayal."
She agrees with Amanda, "A sound plan. Come, Grumblejack, let us see what our captor's have to say to their play-toys when they are free from their shackles." As she finishes, she moves up to one side of the doorway. Hearing Zinbah speak, she nods, "If you believe your magics will be of better use now than later, then yes. I am no expert in magics."
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Amanda goes near Zinbah and says, "I am looking to avoid getting any alarms raised. But we will need to kill at least these guards so we can get their equipment. We are severely under-geared at the moment and until we find a storage room we will have take what we can get. I doubt you have the power to magic every guard we meet and have them just allow us to walk out the prison."
(Darn 3 20's in a row! What a record!)
Zinbah replies to Amanda, his voice calm but with an edge to it, "I understand these guards must die. The magic will entrance them long enough for our good friend here..." he indicates Grumblejack with a hand gesture, "to take care of them, he he." He gaze grows intense, almost challenging. "This spell will be useless once the guards are alerted to our escape!" He smiles unpleasantly "Do not concern yourself about my magic, I will not be a hindrance to you."
Morossa looks at Zinbah:
What magic do you have that would aid us? If you could provide any protection, I would appreciate it. I have some skill wearing armor, but find that I am much more effective when not weighed down with the bulk of armor. Magic armor on the other hand could make me very difficult to hit.
She then looks to the others:
Perhaps we should create a commotion to draw the guards here into Grumblejack's cell. Once there, he attacks and we circle behind. We do not know what is in the main guardroom. They might have some method of alerting the rest of the guards and I do not believe we are quite prepared to take on the whole fort. With or without slightly better arms and armor.
Raymond smirks as a few of his fellow prisoners act surprised.
"Yea, I use magic. And yea, I'm a summoner. Nothin' comes in more handy than bein' able to pull more friends outta nothin' when you need 'em. Now, since we got the big guy over there freed up, are we gonna get outta here or are we gonna just sit around on our thumbs and do nothin' all night?"
As everyone discussed their plans, Raymond stands quietly next to his stoic bodyguard. When he gets an opening he says, "You folks are overthinkin' this, I think. All we gotta do is bash some skulls in here. No need for a grand master plan or nothin'. Get the guards back to the cells, and they'll go down like bricks. Even without proper equipment there's no way they can take all of us, especially with that Palooka over there."
Concealed in the shadows and still looking at Zinbah, Lisbeth asks, "Should we bring them out, then, or just open the door so you can have a peek inside?"
Lisbeth isn't able to determine the sort of poison the ogre has been given.
The ogre lifts up his large set of manacles, which for the time being will make for a decent improvised club. "Grumblejack not forgot promises. If you offer Grumblejack revenge and power he fight for you. Better life. Not betray anyone."
The guards hear nothing as they drunkenly laugh and joke, in high spirits as they talk about the poker game they just got back from before their shift on the cell block began.
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Also concealed in darkenss, Amanda whispers "I would suggest having them come to us. We don't know how they are positioned in the room and they could be watching the door. If they come to us we can be sure that they will be closer to the door rather than spread out around the room. When we spring our ambush we want to be close enough to strike. It is better to strike them near the cell block exit rather than in the cell. Once again distance is important for our plan to go off."
"If you insist. Although I fear distance is not as critical as we make it out to be. We merely need a method of limiting their responses. If this spell that is being suggested works, then we've already solved half the problems."
Megirege stayed towards the rear end of the group. While she could offer some aid, she'd need either a fight or a social setting with people to manipulate. The stealthy business was her weaker point, especially lacking an ornate torch or her books.
As far as their ogre companion, "Perhaps I should apologize to you. I was raised in an environment that described your kind as something to avoid with utmost prejudice."
She'd make sure to perform a sort of rite nonetheless, muttering (with a hushed, whispered tone) words in Celestial that actually spoke of Asmodeus, and not Mitra. If none of the others knew Celestial, she was effectively speaking gibberish, as if in a complete moment of divine power. The words were accompanied by a laying on of hands, as magic flowed into each of her (temporary) allies.
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"If we got to do something we need to do it now. The guards will see us if we open that door. If the Wizard thinks he can charm them before they call out an alarm so be it. Otherwise if we wait back in the cells and the guards catch on we'll have to run across an entire room to get to them. So do we send the wizard in the door or bring them in here. That is our choices."
"If you don't decide quick, I'm just gonna send my pal Sammy in there with a couple of my other pets. So make up your minds, or I'll make the choice for ya."
Zinbah looks at Amanda with a sharp look in his eye. "I do not question your competence, do I?" Without waiting for a response he moves as quickly as he can toward the door, summoning his magical energies (and his courage).
That one...infuriates me for some reason....
Once he reaches the door, he pulls it open swiftly and immediately starts casting his spell...
May the Dark Lord favor me with his blessings...
Zinbah's magic manages to fascinate one of the guards, who sits completely entranced by what's happening. The other guard cries out in surprise and tries to get up, but ends up falling instead. He fumbles about, reaching for his signal horn to call for the rest of the guards.
Okay so that's everyone but Megirege and Morossa who can move before the Guard.
Grumblejack doesn't wait for permission when he sees the guard falling over. He barrels past everyone, his footsteps loud as his fury and thirst for vengeance drive him to harm the guardsman at any cost; the unfascinated guard is the same one who prodded him earlier in the evening. He brings his massive, rigid manacles down on the man pitched on all fours and drunklenly try to react.
In his blind fury he fails to actually hit the man, the metal slamming loudly down against the floor instead.
Raymond shakes his head as the spell fails to do what was promised.
He looks at Sammy, and without a word the faceless creature nods and moves to engage the guard. The creature's arms stretch away from his body as he lashes out from a distance with his clawed hands.
The drunk man on all fours shrugs and shoves Amanda away, providing enough chaotic shrugging about to keep her from grabbing the horn from his side.
Lisbeth enters the room, taking a quick glance around for reinforcements before growling at the man on all fours and plunging her newly given dagger down at the prone man.
She scowls at the dagger as it only seems to provide small entry wounds.
I need something with more weight behind it!
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Between the summoned creature's claw attacks and Lisbeth's dagger, the squirming guard is soon no longer moving, lying limp on the floor instead as blood slowly trickles out.
You turn your attention onto the other guard, still entranced by Zinbah's spell and kept docile.
With both guards downed, you've successfully made your first step toward freedom. For your troubles, you're able to loot two sets of the following equipment off the guards: Chain Shirt, Heavy Steel Shield, Longsword, Longbow, 20 Arrows, Leather Club, key to a personal chest with a small number carved into it.
You also find a map of the prison on the wall that can be easily rolled up and carried with you for the purpose of navigation. It has a note scribbled onto the corner that reads, "Bigger map in warden's office".
Morossa looks at the two guards bleeding out on the ground while shaking her head.
I don't suppose we should have bound one of them and questioned him. There might be passwords or other ways of communicating with other guards.
Looking at the assembled equipment.
I can use the armor and most of the weapons, but really believe that I am just as effective without any armor and just using my fists.
However, she does look around for anything that could be thrown in someone's eyes - sand, salt, dirt, dust, ashes, etc.
If/once she finds what she is looking for, she will begin to lead the group down the staircase, carefully listening and looking at each step to assure that some alarm is not built into them.
Perception:
Zinbah glances down at the corpse before giving the dead guard a smirk, "Hope you enjoyed the show."
While the rest of the party gears up, he takes the time to discard his rags and change into the nondescript clothes provided by their mysterious benefactor. After changing, he pores over the map for a moment before stowing it away. "I say we make our way to the warden's office. If there is any hidden way out, that map inside there will show it."
Megirege could probably use a Chain Shirt, but she made no move to grab it, as she had no part in combat what with how quickly it ended. Besides, the two who spent more time in the middle of things needed them more.
She obtained the keys at the very least, intending on keeping them for the time being. It was her best chance at finding halfway decent equipment for herself.
She then proceeded to change into the common clothes, caring little seemly of the others being present. As she dropped the tattered rags to the floor, her scarring was now fully evident. The entirety of her right side was scarred from burns that were probably just beyond the third degree. It didn't look survivable. Her hands and arms additionally were like charcoal in appearance.
She had quite a figure though nonetheless. Something that probably helped her more than harmed. As she made sure she got the common clothes on, she seemed dissatisfied.
"I need my vestments very soon. These clothes are not cutting it."
Now, for a weapon...
Megirege politely refused the offered items.
"Make sure the rest of you are equipped properly. I have no use of a generic shield or club."
She needed a Torch and some Clerical Vestments. Preferably another copy of The Asmodean Disciplines too.
"If you can fetch me a Torch, then I may accept a weapon."
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"Very well. By the way since we will be working together I think it is about time we introduce one another. I am Amanda Malburne, formerly a Templar of the Church of Mitra. I have since then found my true faith as an Inquisitor to the Arch Fiend Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells. Now that I can no longer hide among the ranks of the Mitran Church doing the will of the Archfiend, my task now is to bring vengeance and bloody justice upon his enemies. Most especially those foolish worshipers of the celestial Sun God."
(She stores the shield and club with her gear)
Lisbeth dons the chain shirt, a shield, and takes one of the longswords, "Still not proper, but will do the job."
Morossa looks to Amanda:
I call myself Morossa. I have no past or family worth mentioning. As far as the sun god is considered, I spent far too much time in convents and monasteries dedicated to that worthless god. Any deity that professes to claim the light, yet allows unchecked corruption, as is apparent by these two alcoholic guards. Morossa points at the two on the ground. Is not any god worth paying allegiance to.
"Very well; I am Megirege Ahiorebi. Head Priestess and Lead Pastor of the Church of Mitra's Lesser Known Teachings, mortal representative of Asmodeus, and driving force in the underground market. I seek only the complete purification of Talingarde with fire, to behold a glorious return to the rightful worship of Asmodeus."
Megirege gave a grin. Malicious? Maybe. But she grinned as she fingered the keys she kept in her clothes' pocket. She'd need to see what loot she could obtain for herself once they found the chests.
There is an ash tray located on the table that could work for Morossa's needs if she stuffed them into her pocket. On the walls are torchesin very plain view; it's late, and the only way the windowless area can be lit.
Morossa pockets some ashes, making sure that they are mostly cooled. She will get a few handfuls of dirt if/when they get outside.
She then begins to quietly proceed down the steps to see what lies on the lower level.
Stealth:
EDIT - and apparently nobody anywhere can see or here her, which most likely means that there was nobody there to hear here anyway
Lisbeth nods impatiently as everyone introduces themselves, "And I am Lisbeth Steelsong, once one of Mitra's own Paladins. Now I serve a much higher cause and seek to save the city from itself. The current monarchy will destroy this city, but I can save it with Asmodeus' Might and Will."
She waits for anyone else to introduce themselves, then cuts back in afterwards, "Now that introductions are over, let us be rid of this place and put some words to actions. Come, I believe Morossa went down the stairs this way."