Price gets a feel for the odd weight of the mace and brings it around more decisively, aiming for the guard's ribs.
Price manages to give the guard a decent strike, enough to make what would've been a deep bellow into his signal horn a weak siren. Unfortunately it was not enough to completely silence the horn. Who knows what forces may now be gathering to meet our villains?
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Whether it is from her less than skillful use of the mace or the evidence of her ears, Price's look is sour and her tone is rife with sarcasm. "Dogs? Wonderful. Get those biscuits ready for after we put down these dogs."
Cain rushes the remaining guard, driving the longsword down in a vicious vertical strike even as his ears strain at the doors to his back.
"Someone take a peek and see if those dogs are connected to more guards."
Cain comes up behind the guard doubled over, the gurd desparately trying to blow the horn, and brings his sword down piercing through armor straight through the man's heart. He is most indeed dead.
Cain rips the sword from the dead man as he disengages from the fight, blood now spattering lightly across the chest of his guard's disguise. He trades grim looks with Price, "Well, that's that. And now we gotta move." He looks over at Gwyn, "Crack that door and see if those dogs are bringing more guards! If not, then maybe that dog food will quiet 'em."
Not waiting to see if she'll comply, he rifles through the clothes of the dead man at his feet, ignoring the thick blood pooling.
He quietly finishes his thoughts aloud without looking up, "On the off chance that on one's comin', you think that was enough noise to wake Blackerly… ya know, if he's actually in there?"
A search of the body reveals the same typical equipment all guards wear.
"You look the most like them. Pick up a shield and open the door. Motion a false alarm to the wall guards." Xanos says to Cain while waving his hand over the gruesome scene. Blood began to quickly dry and crack, peeling from the floor and dissolving to brownish dust that scattered itself across the already dirty floor.
Cain gives Xanos a flat look with a grunt, then heads for the door, taking a quick peek out before doing anything.
Looking outside, Cain sees a small fenced area with two guard dogs inside it, barking loudly. As he watches, a voice calls out, "Shut up, ya mangy mutts! I don't have time to be dealing with you!" The voice came from the east, though you could not see the source from your vantage.
Grabbing each corpse by the ankle, Xanos stoically drags them into another room, magically cleaning the smears of blood he leaves behind.
Shutting the door gently behind him after hiding the bodies, he waits.
Price offers an opinion. "I'd like to hit the office and Blackerly's bedroom quickly... but maybe we should leave someone to watch the front door in case more guards decide to wander through."
Still peeking out the door, Cain motions for Gwyn to join him, "You think it worth giving a few of those treats to the dogs?"
After the young woman's response, Cain heads back inside, closing the doors behind himself . As Cain passes Xanos again, he grunts again, "Lookin' like a prisoner played to our favor here, pal. That's not gonna keep bein' the case if we make it outta here. Even high-water guard's clothes will be better than Branderscar prison rags."
Cain nods to Price's opinion, "Sounds good to me." He looks around at the group, then shrugs, "Much as I'm wantin' to personally take some of Blackerly's skin, I'm probably the best lookout. Gwyn is our best scout in that servant's get-up. Xanos looks like… well.. Xanos. Plus, he hasn't really shown to have any scouting skills. And seein' as I ain't actually seen a woman guard in here, you and Jakes might raise some suspicion. Plus, far as I can tell you have the only healin' skills and Jakes seems more than handy with those blades." He smiles as he picks up the glaive and leans against the wall, letting Wendell's bottle hang loosely in his off-hand. All in all, he looks like a guard letting a late-night drink affect his duties, "I seem to be uniquely suited to sit this one out. I'll try not to let it hurt my feelings."
"Don't fret. He's probably not even here. This place is too quiet for a card game." Price looks to Gwyn, "You ready to play Lost Mousy Maid?" Her eyes slide to the office door - Gwyn's next stop if she is ready.
"Maybe, but I always tried to avoid them, so I can't say for sure."
Gwyn ruffles her hair to make her look a little harried by her work and gives a grin of excitement to Price
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Gwyn makes her way door and calmly opens it. Trying her best to act the part of a quiet unassuming maid.
If anyone's in there, she'll give a quiet, "Sorry, sir I was jus' lookin' fer places that needed a good cleanin'."
The room beyond the doory is Blackerly's office, as stated by Irena earlier. It's decorated quite simply, a desk with papers strewn across it and two chairs nearby.
A piece of paper appears to be a scheculde for the guards with where they are stationed. A simple examination shows the prison currently stations 23 guards (besides Blackerly and the Warden), with 6 any given day stationed off of the prison itself. The guard posts and routes are all clearly marked on the map as follows:
- Two outside Cells
- two at doorway to cell block
- Two outside keep entrance
- Two patrol the walls
- Three at gatehouse
- Three at bridge gatehouse
- Three off duty
The prison is quite obviously severly understaffed.
There's ample proof that Blackerly has been skimming from the prison payroll, and for quite some time.
As Gwyndolin made her way toward Blackerly's office, Xanos moved near Cain and raised his eyebrow, then adjusted the mask he still wore and set his bracers against the girdle around his waist where they had been attached. Bowing his head and slumping his shoulders he looked very much like a cowed prisoner being escorted by a guard.
"You were saying?"
Cain looks up to regard the tall man for a few long, silent moments. His strangely golden eyes focus intensely on the man's face, but especially his eyes. You're unsure if he finds what it is he's searching for. Finally, he goes back to simply leaning casually on the wall, the bottle -- held loosely by the neck between the finger and thumb of his right hand -- begins tapping quietly in a steady rhythm against the stone of the wall. The sound is just loud enough to travel through immediate open doors; a simple, old signal between he and Price to let her know 'all is well' in the hall (the lack of tapping being the actual signal of possible trouble).
He speaks without looking up, "I get the feeling you don't mind much what other people say. So you just go head on and do what you're gonna do, pal."
As he speaks, he strains with all of his senses for any indications of incoming guards, paying special attention to the sounds surrounding the dogs outside.
"Precisely." Xanos said with no hint of humor or self gratification. "To do otherwise is to shackle yourself to the desires of others."
Gwyn sneaks out of the office to find the others.
"It seems we might catch Blackerly with his pants around his ankles, literally!" She says with a giggle.
Price gets a gleam in her eye, "Let's do it! Kalina - guard the door to the yard. Gwyn, Cain - lead us in. Xanos, you in? I intend to follow our scouts. Grumblejack - please come in once we've jumped Blackerly."
Gwyn clumsily makes her way up to the door to see what Blackely is up to. She puts her ear up to the door and listens.
Xanos shakes his head. "I will make my entrance once there is no longer a need for stealth."
Price hisses a whisper at Gwyn and Cain, "Get in there! This is an assault!"
The door is opened to what is obviously Blackerly's chamber, both from what you were told by Irena, and the fact Blackerly is indeed in this room. He currently stands, in his civilian clothes, pants around his ankles, using the chamber pot. "What's going on here?" he exclaims, turning to meet the newcomers, giving them a rather unpleasant view. He currently stands unarmored, unarmed though his sword is nearby next to the bed, and still slightly inebriated.
Price
Xanos
Gwyndolin
Cain
Kalina
Blackerly
Grumblejack
"Oops."
Gwyn looks a little embarrassed by stumbling into the door and knocking it open. She lets a wicked grin spread across her face at noticing he was not in any way protected.
"Well, at least I get another chance to slash your throat out, eh Blackerly?"
She then rushes in and takes a swipe at the drunk sergeant.
Hearing voices within, Xanos steps into the doorway and whispers, pointing toward the prison sergeant, sending out a wave of arcane energy.
Blackerly becomes Dazed by Xanos's spell, unable to act during the first round. "Wha...,what's going, huh?"
Price sprints across the room towards the hapless Sergeant, unable to reach him in those first seconds.
Price checks her desire to barrel into Blackerly and instead slides to the corner opposite the rogue, flanking their mutual enemy. She brings the mace around in a two-handed swing, hoping to crush the sergeant's ribs.
Catching Blackerly with his pants literally around his ankles is possibly the best reveal of the evening. With a vicious grin, Cain crosses the floor, not even deigning to draw a weapon. Cain crosses the intervening space with long steps, shaking his head at the stunned sergeant. Then, without preamble or flourish, drives his right boot-tip up between Blackerly's legs.
"Evenin' Blackerly... how they hangin'?"
Blackerly turns to stare at whomever intrudes upon his chambers. At first seeing Gwyn, a slight smile crosses his slightly drunken face until he realizes not only is she not Irena, she's actually one of the prisoners supposedly upstairs, and the rest are in tow. Momentarily stunned from the alcohol, he watches as Price, Gwyn and Cain come up to surround him. Thinking to either grab his sword or at least pull up his pants, his mind suddenly becomes clouded, Xanos's spell taking effect. Gwyn and Price connect against him from either side, Price's mace shattering one arm while Gwyn slices the other, rendering both useless. But to top off the shame, Cain delivers the blow to knock him down, injuring his pride most severely.
Efficiently as possible, Cain cuts three long strips of the sargent's sheets, using them to bind him at ankles and wrist -- neglecting to actually pull his pants up. Once done, he immediately begins looking around Blackerly's quarters and office for the brand that was used to mark the prisoners.
Between Blackerly's office and bedroom you are unable to find the brands. There is the door to the north of Blackerly's office that is still shut (and locked).
Underneath Blackerly's bed is a large trunk, also locked. Hefting it you can tell it's quite hefty as well.
Inside Blackerly's wardrobe are a couple spare seargent's outfits, a set of traveling clothes, and a few odds and ends. There is also a bottle of liquor stashed inside.
On Blackerly himself, and lying next to his bed, you find the uniform he was wearing, a suit of chainmail, a MW Longsword, a magical potion, 30gp, and a keyring with numerous keys on it.