Beyond Fort Horizon (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Ritmush looks from the marble man and back to the lizard man "Well bettah beh careful then, one sneeze ah tha' wrong time an' ya migh get snakes shootin' outa' yer head." The human cautions as he gazes at the strange beasts in the stable.

"It is rather dusty in here. I may be prone to a sneeze at any moment. I would not be able to control my ability to turn someone to stone. It would probably be whoever I looked at first when I opened my eyes." Unbolath fixes a stare at the lizard man.

"Ah sneezed like tha' once, buh all it did was make meh fart. Which smelled like rotten eggs and turned Tarjub green. Like, fer a month. He din't like tha'. Wondah' what'd happen if I turned this green guy blue."

Day 6, approximate time of day, 7:45 pm (turn, 73)Location – The Prison Complex

The strange looking “lizard-man” looks from Ritmush to Unbolath repeatedly moving his round head left then right, while his expression remains a blank stare of utter confusion

Owe, youd are stran foulk, dads ford certaint. Hehawhehaw, liking to knowk wha’s the compladment, otay. Ders dees dwarf, ri, he as named Dreespor. He as make dealink wat Corialni, da felclad whod bronk us herk to repark danis palace of lont adgo tib. We kept deem dat he brink here as whutum him callik preesonars. Anfnd in ehshang hisen bring her da findigs. Yous wad to breat oub a frieng, da? Is hadbeen befoor, just bas cardfalk. Sayed oud ud ta Demple. Preesonars ist ballow grund, tru flourd gate ink bulldink du dar reet, oud da dur, der. Ik yous runt indo da padrool, gust telk dem youk ard Dreespors mooks. If yous don’t starks eddy troobul, yous can gek ford da friends od yous and geb oud widout Dreespor as evan awagged.

"I see. That sounds reasonable."

Leaning over talking to Ritmush quietly "It appears we can just waltz around the place and if anyone challenges us we just act like we belong here. If we can find our way to Drespor, search his office or quarters, or arrest him, we will be doing well."

Replying to the lizard. "Where is Drespor typically located?"

"Yeh, on accounta' him bein' tha boss here I wan meh own shot at tha' guy. Buh I spose we can deal with tha' once we get em. Migh' be bettah ta go get tha' sky wizards an' kerfiminiah. They migh beh able to help in one way or anotha'." Ritmush responds. Glancing down the stables and out to the doors.

Quietly responding to Ritmush, "Well we did come all the way out here, I think we are capable enough on our own. The longer we leave Drespor in command of his nefarious activities the more people suffer. The more kobolds are skinned and worn as costumes. He has no value for the lives of those imprisoned here as long as it suits his needs. "

Ritmush shrugs "Alrigh'rocky guy ya wana go tha' way I guess we can. Thin tha' idea on meh sideah things was that tha'sky wizards an'tha' K person migh have somethin' learned bouh this place. Oh an they might have some tricksy powers ta help us wit'!"

Sling still in hand, bullet loaded, with a slightly perturbed bird on her shoulder, Portia takes a few moments to let everything sink in. Whoever this creature is, it has a thick accent.

Fair enough, make no trouble, get in and get out. Nothing is that easy, but cannot hurt to try, right fellas

"Agreed."

The tubby lizard-like man looks to Unbolath, tips his head, and then says

Er, he wots is to be found in the nort east tower. Dats his place.

"Good information. Let's pay a visit" Unbolath steps towards the exit.

" Hey smooth rocky guy yah kno if ah wanna skin this Deer-spore person an' mount him on a pike ta serve a warning jus as much as tha next person. Thing is tha' if this turns south I ain't stayin fer aneh las' hurrah kinda stuff righ? dyin's fer suckers. Ah'd lik ta help tha sky wizards an Kerfiniyah buh we go after this guy firs an tha whole place is gonna be after us soon as we show our colors. Yer sure ya can take tha' kinda figh?" The human asks in his usual butchered common, the short one obviously uncomfortable with the plan as it stands.

far as ritmush understands the plan is still 1"Find Drespor" 2"Arrest Drespor" 3"???" 4"Profit"

Unbolath pauses for a moment to consider, then quietly so that the lizard man can't hear. "Very well. It seems unlikely he going anywhere soon and stirring the hornet's nest will result in extra lives lost. Perhaps we can draw him out. He is interested in the artifacts, if we can arrange a ruse, perhaps with illusions and phantasms we can secure his capture in an alternate fashion. If we can convince him to meet us somewhere else, indicating we may have what he is looking for, he may take the bait. We can also use other tactics, offering slave prisoners or information. We need to use care. This stablehand is likely to talk, and we aren't your run of the mill people. We will have to use subterfuge."

" Buncha his pris'neers all walkin' off'd be a decent lure. Ah thin' ah could provide somethin teknikal tho' these ghost goggles tell meh all sortsa' stuff abou them sky wizard stuff. 'parrently tha' sphere everyone was gettin all guffed ovah is somethin fer them. a Germaritta core or somethin'. I thin is spose'ta give power ta somethin' else. Least tha's tha way tha beardy-smokey guy I used ta hang abou' wit used tha' word." The human says as he seems to have wheels turning in his head.
" Ah mean we coul' always pretend ta' get caught. Mebee have Cantilope take on a guards face from around here an' bring tha rest of us ta' Deer-spore in chains. Could say that ah have somethin' I'm usin ta identify this sky wizard stuff an' ah won't part wit' tha infermation without barterin' fer all our lives wit' it." Ritmush suggests as he glances to Calliope and back to the "Smooth rock guy" Unbolath.

"The plan has merit. What resources will we need to initiate it?"

Ritmush seems to be thinking again. That hamster in his head must be getting tired by now
" Uh, some lizard mook jail guy clothes fer' cantilope an' some prisoner stuff fer us? We wouldn't be able to take our biggah' weapons as a guard'd take tha kinda stuff. Have Cantillope say she caught us tryin' ta free our friends in tha' prison an' beat us up? She coul' carry our weapons an' meh goggles. I'll ask 'em if they can only look all blinky til ah say so an' cantillope can tell tha' Deer-spore guy tha' ah gots somethin' reel valuable."

"Not having access to our weapons at hand seems dangerous. Can we not pose as guards for you rather than prisoners."

Ritmush looks at the rock skinned humanoid with a quirked eyebrow. "So ya' think hes gonna be dumb enough ta' not question why there is a smooth rock guy guardin' lil ol me when he didn' hire any smooth rock guys? If tha' stablelizard's tellin tha' truth all tha' guards here'r gon be big an scaly as well. If ya can turn inta one of those though tha'd be great."

and now I'm imagining Unbolath with drawn on sharpie scale pattern and a post-it note on his chest saying "Totally a Lizard".

Don’t forget, my armor is a family heirloom, very special. I just need to get a look at a guard’s uniform, and well, a guard I suppose, to be able to look exactly like one of them. You know, I could change to look like this guy Calliope points at the stable master, and wearing your goggles, take a stroll out into whatever is beyond that door, get a good look at a guard, and viola, I'll have that problem solved. Of course, I'll need a big hat to hide the goggles, I can't change them, just my armor.

"A valuable skill. Can you mimic his speech, such as it is?"

Uh, um, probably not. I mean I can try, but that's harder to do than you think. My nature can make me sound like him, but his way of talking is something else. Let's just hope I don't have to talk to anyone. Why, did you have some other plan in mind?

"Well lets put the plan into action."

Day 6, approximate time of day, 7:45 pm (turn, 73)Location – The Prison Complex

Calliope stands still for a moment, and then slowly transforms into a thinner, handsomer version of the stable master. The new creature smiles, winks, and then leads the group through the door out of the stables and into what appears to be a central courtyard of this structure. It is dark, but torches, from the walls, and braziers placed throughout the courtyard, shed a dim yellow light all around.

To you right are two structures, the first a wooden building, low and long, running north and south, and it is setting up against a towering stone building that looms behind it (to the east). To the north, ah3ead of you, at what must be the north wall of the compound, is a small wooden building, and to the left of this, in the northwest corner of the courtyard, is a tall, possibly three story tall wooden building in the corner. To your left, there is only a long stone wall, and you can see the faint outline of soldiers walking along the top of the wall. In the center of this wall, to the west, there is a stone structure that is two stairs, one coming from the north and the other coming from the south. These stairs meet at a platform halfway up the wall, and the double back on themselves, this looks like the only access to the top of the wall from the courtyard.

You see all of this from the doorway, and Calliope raises a hand to halt the three of you

Unbolath
Portia
Ritmush

When she has watched the soldiers moved to the south, and to a place on the wall where they cannot see anyone coming out of the door immediately, She waves at you to follow, and she begins walking along the front of the stables going toward the west. You can tell that moving this way, you can reach the southwest corner of the compound without being seen by the patrol

You reach the corner, and she stops and says

Do we head up the stairs and try to reach the wooden tower from the top of the wall, or head straight there from here. The patrol should have their backs to us for a while.

"Straight there is my vote."

ritmush scratches his head as he looks up to the wooden tower.
" Weren't we gonna free tha' folks who that got's jailed firs'? Also if this goes bad were likely gon' have ta' run through treeshaker's stompin' grounds ta shake them from us. No one wit' half a brain'd follow us in there. Downsid'd be Treeshaker, who may violently murdah us. Les' hope it goes well." the human says, finishing with a depressed tone to his voice.

"It might make sense to free the jailed people so they can join any fights with us, or at least flee."

Alright, but, Calliope points across the dimly lit courtyard, he said the prisoners were being held below ground, and that we could get to them through that building over there. I'm, well, I'm sort of scared of going underground in a place like this. What if we get trapped down there. What if there's, like, a cadillion guards underground. I guess, we can give it a try, but let's wait a little while, when the patrol crosses over the top of us on their way back to Drespor's tower, we'll make a run for the far wall, and head for those doors there.

Calliope leans against the wall, always looking up and keeping quiet. Soon, you all hear the heavy foot falls of the patrol above you, and as soon as they pass to the north, Calliope, points, and mouth the word,

Go!

Moving quick, but not fast, she keeps her arms stiff at her side and tries to stay low

Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

do you all follow her as she runs toward the opposite wall of the compound?

Ritmush nods and does his level best not to crunch every crunchy looking thing as he moves along.
Sneak-Sneak: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Unbolath follows.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Portia does her best to be quiet.

stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

The group moves as quickly as they dare, trying to get all the way across the compound before the patrol can turn around, and might spot them

perception, -2 for poor conditions

Patrol Perception Check: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 2 = 4

tense moments pass, the sound of the patrol marching along the top of the wall grows fainter, and keeps moving to the north.

The four of them

Portia,
Ritmush
Unbolath,

and

Calliope

Reach a short flight of wooden stairs, that lead up to a pair of double doors on a small porch. The stairs have a solid side rail on both sides, and Calliope dashes behind the side of the stairs, and ducks down,

Alright, as far as I can tell they'll swing back around, go south on that wall, then go east on the south wall, and they just keep going back and forth that pattern. We wait here, until they pass over the top of the stable, and then we rush the doors. If we're lucky, we'll get through before they notice us. Their view from there will not be good. I'll go first and if the door is unlocked I'll open it, but if it's locked, I'll wave, like this, and that means everyone rush the door and throw your shoulder at it. We probably only have one short at this.

Calliope waits a few moments, and then darts up the five or six steps onto the porch. You hear the door open, and looking up over the rail, you see Calliope, in her lizard-man form, waving for the rest of you to follow.

Unbolath follows quickly dashing up the steps, to the open door.

Ritmush follows past pausing for a moment to look around on reaching the top of the stairs, then ducking into the room.
"Hrmm.. wonder if I could do that trick."
"Ah's gots an idea on ta how we can sneak all our friends out tha' same way we jus did without much fuss. Ah'll explain once we get ta' that point."

Day 6, approximate time of day, 7:45 pm (turn, 73)Location – The Prison Complex –Guard room

Ritmush, Unbolath, and Portia quickly follow through up the stairs and through the door into the room beyond.

Once they are inside, they are confronted by two Lizard men, who are surprised.

The Lizard men wear a sort of segmented metal plate armor riveted to a hard leather garment that is worn like a long coat, and they are armed with spears.

The lizard men guard a set of stairs going down. These stairs are about thirty feet away, and to your right, and there is a small oil lamp on a table by the stairs, giving the room a small amount of light.

I’ll get a map up tonight, you have surprise, and can take either a move or attack action – the closes guard will be 20 feet from you, while the other is 25 feet away

Lizard Man initiative: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Ritmush looks at the pair of guards, then shrugs.
" Kill'em quick." The human states before casting a spell.

Is the door we entered in now closed? If not ritmush will be closing it either by hand or with the spell mage hand.
If the door is closed then ritmush will slam the guards with a casting for grease. DC 17 thanks to them being surprised.

Surprise Action

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Unbolath charges the lizardmen guards, trying to strike one of them. (partial charge action)

charge, greatsword: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 vs flat footed AC
damage if hit: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 6) + 6 = 13

Round 1

My initiative is before them, I will attack again, or another one depending on the results of the first.

greatsword attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 vs flat footed AC
damage if hit: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 6) + 6 = 18

Portia slings a billet at the closest guard.

sling: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 121d4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Day 6, approximate time of day, 7:45 pm (turn, 73)Location – The Prison Complex –Guard room

Catching the guards by surprise, Calliope quickly shuts the door after the last of her friends hustles through

Unbolath charges straight at the guards, driving his great sword right through the guard on the left.

Meanwhile, Ritmush throws a spell. One hand weaves in the air while the other squeezes some butter between his fingers and the ground below the second guard is suddenly covered in slippery grease

Reflex Save, DC 17: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16

Portia, her sling ready and loaded at her side, launches a stone at the other guard, but misses.

Calliope quickly moves as fast as she can to the stairs, and checks to make sure no one is coming up.

Round 1…

Calliope Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Unbolath takes a quick look at the ground and tries to find a way to get into position to attack the prone guard, but the grease keeps him throws off his attack.

Eeek!, sorry Calliope squeals when she turns back and sees the blood and the dead lizardman guard on the floor.

get that other one, get him!

She runs back and tries to hit the prone lizard with her mace

melee Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Her mace strikes the guard square on the back

Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Forgot this.
Init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Ritmush, never one to pass an opportunity, surges forward to bash the prone lizardman in his vulnerable bits. The human surging up to take advantage of the lizard man having .. cantaloupe?.. behind him.
Bash!: 1d20 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 9
Morningstar bash: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
So BAB(1) Str(1) Either flank or charge(2) and lizard is prone(4)

EDIT: Or I could, yanno, not. That's alright I guess.

One hand weaves in the air while the other squeezes some butter between his fingers ..

Hahah, this disgusts me more than all the blood and gore.

The Prison Complex, North/Northeast of Fort Horizon
Day 6, approximate time of day, 7:45 pm (turn, 73)

Round 1…

Ritmush and Calliope rush at the prone guard, while Unbolath carefully steps away from the grease on the floor. Calliope hits the guard on the back, but Ritmush and Unbolath both miss

The guard lets out a muffled yells out in defiance

Balaka! Balaka! Narto Ni Gala Irinini

It is not a language any of you have ever been exposed to

And then tries to scurry back away from the party on all fours, trying to put an area of grease between him and his attackers.

as he tries to crawl away, he provokes AoO from Ritmush, Calliope, and Unbolath

The butter ooze. Bane of Unbolath'
"i'sah shame we gotta kill'm mebbe' he knows a secret fer' gettin shiny scales."
Ritmush does his level best to whack the greased lizard.
bash: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 231d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Unbolath swings his sword down hard on the foe.

Attack vs prone: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 4 = 27

Damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 6) + 6 = 14

Pretty sure that is a squished lizardman.

Ritmush nods in satisfaction as he takes in the battle, dispelling his grease and rapidly muttering a second word. the hallway rapidly losing anything indicating a battle occurred here.

Ritmush is spamming prestidigitation in order to remove the blood/blood stains in the hallway.
"Soh' weh probly aught tah go fin' a place fer these guys. Spose we could leave em' here an I could booby trap 'em fer whoever comes lookin'." The scrawny human suggests as he gives one of the recently dead lizard men a kick.