"Aye, 'tis a good plan - I am ready!
Hierodotus' head follows the flow of conversation and listens to the questions. "I do not think it possible to rescue all of the prisoners today. My concern is with the entire Hold of Belkzen, not just those few prisoners - I must focus on Erwin. He will not have need of your horses."
"Fair enough. Just tell us what Erwin looks like. I'd hate to rescue the wrong person."
Stealth:
Perception:
Aid Another on both :
Stealth:
Perception:
Caln prepares his crossbow and the follows the rest of the group as they move to the south and then towards the ruins. Knowing that stealth and he go together as well as orcs and dwarves he will not approach the cages unless his healing is necessary to complete the mission. He will instead actively observe what's happening behind and besides the group in case an enemy stumbles across the group.
Caln find his senses dulled by the after effects of the 'vision' he had the night before.
Caln find his senses dulled by the after effects of the 'vision' he had the night before.
Suny tries to give Hierodotus one last reassuring hug before he (?) goes about his business.
She scampers down through the rocks to join every one else in preparations for their actions.
Caln find his senses dulled by the after effects of the 'vision' he had the night before.
You all creep down the side of the hill, through the underbrush. All goes well and a few moments pass before you encounter your first orc. He's leaning on a crude rifle, staring sleepily and hatefully at the rising sun. It's clear that the night has been long for this particular orc, as he yawns right through Suny's inadvertent disturbing of a songbird's nest in a cactus. Rather than hearing Suny's muffled curse when she accidentally hit the plant and disturbed the birds, getting herself stuck with some cactus barbs in the process, the orc instead heard the birds themselves as they scattered into the early morning air. He stares sleepily at them as they climb away into the sky, and you all make it past his guard post without further incident.
Marco and Jethro see Hierodotus wheeling above, waiting for the signal. When they lower their eyes, they see a cunningly hidden orc sniper with a crossbow, hidden among some rocks some 20 feet away. Thankfully, that orc is looking elsewhere and appears not to have noticed you either.
You move closer to the ruins, through a small forest of mostly-ruined statues. They appear to be of men, and they are universally grim, as far as you can tell from their worn features. Many of the statues have suffered from graffiti at the hands of the local residents, painting slurs in orcish or crude phallic symbols all over the statues.
Your party reconvenes stealthily in the underbrush behind an enormous statue of an ogre with its club raised high. On the other side of the statue, you see two available paths. One leads directly to the cages, as you can clearly see - but the path goes between two stone buildings of the ruins that appear to be serving as barracks for the orcs. You see passed-out orcs snoring all over, though none are directly in the path.
The other trail leads back through some crumbling archways, past a creepy-looking hut that has light shining from within, past the grubby strips of leather that serve as window shades. At least you hope they're leather.
You have three choices - take the direct path, take the indirect path, or signal Hierodotus now. There are no orcs dangerously close by that you can see, and you think you can chance a whispered conversation.
"I think we've pushed our luck far enough. I vote to signal the eagle now."
"Agreed, we kinnae expect our group ta'e sneak further without notice."
Signal the bird and let Gryndar and I continue while the rest wait here.
Suny nods in agreement, even as sh pretty much tries to curl up into a ball of embarrassment at her clumsy actions.
Whispered "Luck!" and watching the sniper like an owl.
Suny stays where she is, trying to not even breath heavily after her last gaff....
Caln, seeing that the others are in agreement with his plan, quickly lights a torch. You judge that the light would be difficult to make out in the growing sunlight, but it's a clear signal to those waiting above.
Hierodotus dives low in a stoop, finally extending his pinions again with a whoosh as he flaps off into the sunrise, torch held in his talons. He climbs higher and higher, you presume to avoid attracting too much attention too early.
The torchlight he's carrying makes Hierodotus an easy beacon to follow in the sky if you know where to look. He coasts on a thermal of warm air for a few moments, circling above the ruins. Then you see him dive suddenly again, the torchlight descending quickly. The torch falls from his talons into the crudely-shaped arms of one of the totems, and it quickly catches fire.
A few moments go by, and the fire grows. You don't see Hierodotus anymore. Distantly, from the other side of the ruins, you hear rough voices raised in surprise, shouting "Fire!" in Orcish. Soon the entire camp is roused, apart from a few layabouts who are sleeping off their liquor near the barracks. A few moments go by where you can see from your vantage point orcs streaming over to that side of the camp from all over. With that many confused orcs in one place, the sounds of battle come very quickly, and you hear snarling and the snapping of steel coming from the far side of the camp.
"The cages be a ripe plum for the pluckin', Marco." Gryndar whispers before he takes to the shadows, sneaking past the two stone buildings leading straight to the cages. His right hand firmly carrying his crossbow.
Right behind ya.
Perception:
Stealth:
Disable Device:
Caln waits impatiently for the two sneaky, sneaks to return with the prisoner from his vision. I'm almost positive it was a vision no matter what Jethro says.
Caln continues to scan the area for possible threats.
Perception roll if needed:
Gryndar and Marco move silently, creeping down the central path between the barracks. You see tribal orcs, similar to the kind that regularly harass Freedom Town residents, snoring loudly in or near their bunks, though a few of them are sprawled out in the pathway between the two buildings. A short distance away, on the other end of the ruins, the commotion and noise of battle is increasing steadily as bloodlust spreads through the sleepy camp like wildfire.
Up ahead you see six large cages arranged in two rows of three - all occupied. You can only see the first row of cages and the first cage of the second row, but from what you can tell the second row contains what Erwin called Rhuk-Orcs. In the row nearest to you are huddled a group of miserable-looking prisoners, mostly asleep. A young half-elf woman, looking wan and tired, clutches the bars and stares blankly out into space. There are 5 prisoners in the cages in total. In the farthest cage from you in the first row, you spot a man sitting calmly, alone and crosslegged on the dirty floor - he matches Hierodotus' description of Erwin, the druid. He has clearly been roughly treated at the hands of his captors, but appears serene in rest.
Gryndar is as silent as the wraiths that are said to haunt such places, concealing his hatred for the greenskins as he creeps past them on tiptoes.
As you move closer, however, Marco's stomach rumbles. The sound itself is small, but it distracts the rogue for a moment, and instead of stepping down on one of the flagstones dotted around the path, Marco slips, and only catches his footing again when he steps on a sleeping orc's face.
Marco. You look down at your boot, and see to your horror that you have woken the orc up. It looks to be still partially inebriated, and it's blinking sleepily up at you. "Uhhh...waaa?" he starts to say.
Gryndar notices Marco's bellyaching and turns around - the sight meeting him sends shivers down his spine. The stout dwarf acts quickly, raising his crossbow as the sleeping Orc is trying to wake. He takes no chances, and as the bolt releases - his crossbow growls a soft 'thunk'.
Whenever you cast a spell in an area of dim light or darkness, your effective caster level is increased by 1.
Marco brings down his Long Sword in an attempt to silence the Orc.
LS ATT:
LS DAM:
Gryndar's shot is more reflexive than timed, against a prone opponent - it's a difficult shot. Part of Marco's leggings are now sliced from the crossbow bolt that nearly missed him. The bolt sinks into the dirt by Marco's other foot, unharmed.
Marco's blow connects, and his longsword, winking in the morning sunlight, sinks into the orc's throat, silencing him before he can make a sound. Those of you by the ogre statue see Marco stoop suddenly, drawing his blade and murdering the orc in less time than it takes to blink. He draws the longsword out of the orc's neck slowly, so the burbling sound of the gushing blood from the orc's jugular vein doesn't make too much noise. The orc bleeds out, and dies.
Marco and Gryndar, still tense, glance quickly about themselves, but the other orcs don't stir. The way is clear to the cages. They are crudely locked, and both of you are completely unimpressed by the quality of the cages. Neither of you have any trouble popping them open in seconds.
"So, which way are we gettin' tha' prisoners out?" She whispers looking to those still huddled around herself.
Suny begins to peruse the area for an idea of how to move the people out under cover of the sleeping Orcs
"Maybe there's a ditch...or somat..." She mumbles....
Arwen was eying in every direction. Ready for whatever the orc would trow at the party. Passing trough he took the time to try and make a guess estimate at to the orc's fighting numbers.
Marco nods to Gryndar, as they set the 5 prisoners on the bottom row free, including Erwin, of course. Marco will aid (i.e. carry or support) those that need it back to the others hidden behind the stone ogre.
Happy to see that Marco would rather free all the prisoners, rather than just Erwin - he assists his companion as the two bring the prisoners back towards the others.
Upon reaching their destination, Gryndar crouches down and whispers: "Perhaps I kinnae say well snuck Marco, but well struck! The orcs wake this morn none the wiser, but more the poorer - prisoner wise!"
Pointing towards the path leading back up towards their camp, Gryndar does not seem to want to tarry too long in this location.
Suny helps people move along as best she can. Offering a willowy Elven arm to support those who are struggling.
When you swing open the cage doors, you can see through to the other cage rows. It's...an unpleasant sight. Rhuk Orcs are in the cages - awake, not making a single sound, just clutching the cage bars and staring at you both as you usher the prisoners out. You can see them breathing heavily and their mouths hang open, with a black, putrescent drool occasionally dripping to the cage floor. You can see underneath their jaws heavy steel collars, with spikes that appear to be facing inward, pinching the Rhuks' throats shut.
The prisoners, for their part, look haunted and exhausted, and you can't exactly blame them - having to spend so much time mere inches from those monstrosities. Erwin nods to you all with a smile and stands easily. You can see now that he has been cut and bruised all over, and some of them look quite severe - but as he stands, he closes his eyes and touches his own chest, and a brief green glow suffuses him with light and heals most of his wounds. "The more injured I looked, the more bored they became, and they gave up beating me sooner," he quietly murmurs as he casts. "Come, let's be off, quickly." Indeed, you feel a strong sense of urgency due to the ever-increasing volume of the sounds of battle nearby.
The sounds are loud enough to reach the eerie-looking tent that sat next to the alternate path around the ruins nearby. Those of you near the ogre statue see what appears to be an orc witch doctor or ritualist of some kind step out of the hut, heavily laden with spellcasting supplies. The orc stares up at the sky, which is now far brighter now from both the sun rising and the fire across the ruins, and begins stomping angrily toward the orc barracks. He begins to screech angrily the moment he sees orcs still passed out when there's battle happening and begins to stomp his feet in apoplectic rage, waving his wand around.
He's currently standing next to one of the barracks buildings. He doesn't appear to have noticed the group hiding behind the ogre statue, and the rogues are around the corner from him, not visible yet. The sleeping orcs are obediently being roused, and as one of them yawns, exposing ragged and sharp-looking fangs, one of the prisoners, the half-elf woman, loses her nerve and wails in fear.
Surprise round: All PCs can act, but combat's about to erupt. Initiative order begins when you all have taken your action for the surprise round.