Dance with the Devil by the Pale Moons Light - Once Upon a Time in Talingarde

Game Master baron arem heshvaun

You have been convicted of a heinous crime and thrown into Branderscar prison, on a small island just offshore from the mainland of Talingarde.

You were brought here in a closed carriage, chained and hooded. You know that a stone causeway connects the island to the mainland and that your cell is on an upper floor. Otherwise, you have seen nothing.

Each of you received the same greeting when you arrived: you were held down by rough hands and branded upon the arm with a runic F. The mark signifies ‘forsaken’ and the painful scar is indelible proof that each of you has betrayed the great and eternal love of Mitra and his chosen mortal vassals.

Condemned, you face at best a life of shackles and servitude in the nearby salt mines. Others might await the ministrations of the inquisitors so that co-conspirators may be revealed and confessions extracted. Perhaps some of you will be spared this ordeal. Perhaps instead you have come to Branderscar to face the final judgment. In three days, the executioner arrives and the axe falls or the pyre will be lit. Through fire or steel, your crimes will be answered.

You have all been chained together in the same communal cell dressed in nothing but filthy, tattered rags. Manhandled and mistreated, any finery you once possessed is either ruined or long lost. No special treatment has been given any prisoner – male or female, commoner or noble – all of the forsaken are bound and imprisoned together.

Your feet are secured by iron cuffs tethered by one long chain. Your arms are secured to the wall above by manacles. A guard is posted
right outside the cell day and night.

Little thought is given to long term accommodations. At Branderscar, justice comes swift and sure.

The Prison of Branderscar

As they say in Tales of Olde ... It BEGINS!

Welcome to Branderscar Prison, everyone.

To start things off, everyone please roll a d10 +1.

1d10 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

1d10 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

1d10 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Now here at the start of things, you'll want to examine your surroundings, gather information, and -- above all -- interact with each other. Describe yourself, explain in character or in a thought bubble how you came to be here in this wretched situation, role play.

As I've said before, PvP is not encouraged. On the other hand, it won't be surprising if you have a range of interactions; Character A may like Character B, be neutral towards C, and find D disgusting and despicable. That's fine. Role play it out.

You're mostly helpless at the moment. Don't be too upset if you try things and they don't work at first. An opportunity may present itself.

The Prison of Branderscar

You were brought here in a closed carriage, chained and hooded. You know that a stone causeway connects the island to the mainland and that your cell is on an upper floor. Otherwise, you have seen nothing.

Each of you received the same greeting when you arrived: you were held down by rough hands and branded upon the arm with a runic F. The mark signifies ‘forsaken’ and the painful scar is indelible proof that each of you has betrayed the great and eternal love of Mitra and his chosen mortal vassals.

Little thought is given to long term accommodations. At Branderscar, justice comes swift and sure.

A question

When you got branded on the arm, how did you take it? Shouting howls of pain? Struggle? Stoic disregard? Sneer and spit in their eye?

Also anyone here with fire resistance?

1d10 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
I have fire resistance 5
I probably looked defiant as they approached with the brand, somewhat bored while they were trying to make that mark on my skin, and tried to appear pleased and proud of the mark. Internally, I was seething about their audacity to mar my perfect skin.

I fainted when i saw the brand.

My word, I have the vapors.

The first things you notice about Khara are the bright yellow eyes and sleek black tail, indicating that she is not exactly human. Her elongated fingernails (curling to razor sharp points) and her toothy grin probably make you squirm uncomfortably, the hairs on the back of your neck curl in that primordial fear from the things lurking in the night, preying on human flesh.
When you look beyond these unsettling features, you’d notice Khara is actually stunningly beautiful. The tattered prison rags cannot mask the sleek, lithe body, exquisite bone structure, perfect complexion and seductive curves.

If the chains provide some degree of mobility, Khara is pacing back and forth what little sway she has, moving with liquid grace, staring angrily around, the end of her tail nervously flicking from side to side.
Otherwise, Khara reclines against the wall, her agile body making this pose seem impossibly comfortable. Her tail is flicking as she’s casually examining her claws, glancing at the room from the corner of her eye.

While she stays somewhat quiet and impassive, her mind is racing as she frantically searches for weak spots or clues to get out of that situation.
Khara tries to assess her chains and manacles Knowledge engeneering: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12or is it disable device?: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
She scans the cell looking for anything useful Taking 20 on perception: 20 + 4 = 24
She tries to assess what level of a threat the guard is, and how keen he looks to be on the job Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14Sense Motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8
and tries to recall any relevant tale she heard about Brendenscar prison or its surroundingsKnowledge Local: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23or Geography/History/whatever: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
She obviously tries to assess the colorful characters chained to her feet, but I’ll leave that for the actual interaction

d10 roll: 1d10 ⇒ 5

Die Roll: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

The tattered rags serving as garments slip and hang in unflattering fashion upon a form which can only be described as gaunt. Next to his new companions, a half-elf standing just over 6 feet with eyes the hue of the open ocean stands straight with his shackled hands in front of his waist. A thousand-yard stare looks downward, as though the half-elf's mind is lost on some other plane. Every other moment, a half-smile spreads across his lips and he snickers to himself, lost in a comical moment from his past.

When the firebrand approached, the half-elf Hieronymus Greyfield stared directly into his tormentor's eyes, and pulled back from the burning pain when it surged through his body.

Spineless swineherd. Oooo to be home with you in my pit, to watch you waste away into nothing. Sadly, I may have to settle with collapsing his throat. Damn compromises

Perception Check on Surroundings: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

A great many things.

While I applaud Khara's enthusiasm and spontaneity, there are some cases where I will please ask you to wait to roll dice, especially when more then one roll is needed or when I need things rolled in order.

Please keep that in mind.

That being said, well done, the first Natural 20 in game!

One Notch to Khara

Anastasia was livid and screaming in pain after she was branded

As she crouches in the cell on the balls of her feet with her forearms resting on her knees she tilts her head to the right and begins to study her cellmates, as she looks at the thing that clearly isn't human she realizes that she will most likely be a cause of trouble just by her body language, she seems to Ana like a wild thing kept in chains, and being in a small cell with something like that usually turns disastrous.

As for the half-elf, her first thoughts were that there was something internally wrong with him as he just stood there and smiled, maybe he just didn't realize how bad Branderscar Prison truly is. She stares at him, her hetero-chromatic eyes catching his and states, in an accented voice, "Yer not exactly at home are ye? This ain't exactly the place to be smiling like someone who's touched now is it?"

She then turns her attention to the halfling who seemingly is still out from the pain due to his branding, she'd go and check on him but decides not to for two reasons, firstly, she's still chained and he's on the other side of the cell, and second and more importantly, she realizes she doesn't care.

The cell

You are in is approximately 30' long by by 15' wide. The north and west wall is made of solid stone while the south and east walls open up into part of a much larger stone bunker. Each of the cells is separated from each other by massive three inch thick steel bars that are spaced too narrow for even a halfling to slide through. Through the southern bars that separate your cell from the rest of the stone bunker you can make out four other currently unoccupied prison cells as well as one stone reinforced cell that is next to you. There is a single cell door on the southern end of your cell that opened up into a wide hallway that connects all of the other prison cells as well as a door on the south end of the stone bunker.

Each of your hands are chained to a set of manacles set into the wall, while a single chain runs the length of the 30' prison cell that connects to each set of the manacles that have been placed on your feet. The feet manacles allow you to slowly shift about, and if everyone worked together you could all stand. This would allow you limited use of your hands. Enough for eating, and perhaps passing an object like a food bowl from hand to hand.

The bleary eyed halfling lifts his dispondent head for the first time in days. He takes in the cells occupants and with seeming indifferance lowers his head to his knees in dispair.

The worm has truley turned Smoak can be heard muttering to himself

The cell

You are chained in a rough semi circle or '[' in this order, clockwise from the bottom going back up.

Anastasia Delphine by the south corner of the room, right by the door, then Enosh, Smoak in the center of the room with Khara Thrust, followed by an empty spot, then finally Greyfield on the north corner of the cell next to the door again.

She hears the halfling mutter despondently and she favors him with a slight smile, "Oh it could always be worse little one, remember that."

Rolls from the group please

In this order, roll for the skills you have ignore those you do not possess

Perception (to examine the cell)

Perception again
(to listen to the guards down the hall, or for other sounds outside your cell). Note that in order to do this, you must get your cellmates to agree to be quiet for a while. You can not take 20 with this.

Knowledge (Arch and Engineering)

Knowledge (History)

Khara

Perception - Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
"Everyone quiet" I hiss
Second Perception roll - Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

If the History roll is for things we know about Branderscar, as a Talinguarde native any chance I could use local? Not trying to game you just wondering

If the History roll is for things we know about Branderscar, as a Talinguarde native any chance I could use local? Not trying to game you just wondering

Yes, at a higher DC, because Branderscar is something the good folk of Talingarde do not openly talk about or readily admit to.

It's worth a shot Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Responding to Anastasia's question Hehehehe, not touched child, just thinking on better times.

Perception to Notice the Cell: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17

Greyfield concedes to his new comrades request and stays quiet and listens to the sounds of the prison:

Perception to Listen to Surroundings: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

I smile and look the half-elf up and down slowly, "I'm thinking I'm gonna be liking ye ears, you have an interesting sense of humor."

Stoic and noble is all you can make of Cudjet. His eyes once betrayed his thoughts; resolute, proud and unforgiving. What ever brought him here he does not regret his actions.

Perception check #1: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Perception check #2: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

He didn't react to his branding. If this is his sentence he will accept it. He's endured more physical pain than what these guards can perform. There is no doubt in Cudjet's mind that given a blade he would cut them down without any effort. However now that he doesn't have a blade he'll defer to breaking heads on the iron bars.

Standing at 6'2", weighting faintly 85lbs, Enosh looks hardly like a human. next to him, Greyfield looks positively plump. His ebony skin kept tight, highly defining his bones. His dark eyes and sunken face are masked behind long strands of ash-blonde hair, reaching down to the end of his gaunt shoulder-blades.

Finding an exposed area of skin to brand Enosh was a difficult task; His ebony skin is tattooed almost in its entirety with silhouettes of spiders. Enosh's pride was gravely hurt by the new mark on his deltoid, his lower lip was still blistered from biting it until blood, just so he wouldn't give his captors' the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

So far, Enosh has been silent as a corpse, his breathing hardly visible under the ridiculously over-sized rags. He's been in there for days longer than the rest of his cellmates, lost in a torturing daydream of self-disappointment. Only now that they began murmuring and whispering did he acknowledge their existence, making him slightly tilt up his head for better grasp of his surrounding.

Perception on cell: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (15) + 0 = 15
Perception on outside of the cell: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (5) + 0 = 5

Sorry if it seems like I'm singling you out Khara, and as an aside, while I'm not remotely human, I don't broadcast it and try my best to just pass as human.

Finally realizing the gaunt being next to her is awake, she glances at him and shudders, “By Mitra, I'm stuck in her with that,” she makes a motion towards the tiefling, “two walkin' skeletons, and a man who carries himself like a bleedin' noble, is this the punishment that I get for just whispering words to the right people?” she then sits back, leans her head against the wall of the cell, sighs, and closes her eyes.

Responding to his new "brothers and sisters", Greyfield thinks to himself thusly:

Regarding Khara Interesting. Touched by the planes it seems. Exquisite form; near perfect lines. A little plump for my tastes....yet still.

Regarding SmoakPoor sod. Seems to be in a heap of trouble he can't get out of. Grumble,grumble. Mutter, mutter. I'd have my head in my hands where I him as well.HehehAHAHahe

Regarding AnastasiaBright girl. Only one to talk thus far (other than the halfling's grumblings).Seems skilled. Watch closely, and follow.

Regarding CudjetStrong build. Well fed (possible chink to exploit). Yet do not mistake for weakness. A sellsword's arm, but eyes that show better character. Observe for possible future "research".

Regarding EnoshUnfathomable! He lives! This level of dedication to the art is astounding. Must be cheating....magic is at play, yes yes...but if not? Damn! What a specimen!

Khara quietly observes the inhabitants of the cell. The female is a fool- but a friendly fool. She might prove useful in combining efforts to get out of here.

Reluctantly, her eyes move past the attractive girl to the skeletal thing slumped beside her. This pitiful thing is surely on the verge of death. I wonder if it would survive the rigors of moving around. If we get to it, we'll probably need to snap off its legs so we won't have to drag it around attached to our ankles. Not that it would be so hard to drag it around, but might make a racket.

After that black, gaunt thing, the halfling looks lively and blooming. Khara is still concerned about his fragile demeanor, and wonders if he would pose a problem later on.

On the other side of the room, the half elf really intrigues her. His otherworldly appearance strikes the fancy of her twisted taste, and he is not without wit. Khara sees a spark of intelligence in his eyes, and keeps thinking Now THIS is a partner to break out of here with.

Khara thinks it through, then stretches leisurely in a manner that would display the best of her curves to the grey elf, shines a smile at him, and turns to Anastasia: "Whispering words? They must be running out of criminals if they are sending here people that are just whispering words. Are you sure you're in the right place?"

She opens and then rolls her eyes at the girl,
“Yer correct in what ye heard girlie, alls I did was whisper sweet nothings in the ears of certain people and they did all me dirty work for me. The reason they sent someone like me to a place like this was the number o bodies those words dropped. Now if yer not one for minding a suggestion and as I'm not one for being sent to tha salt mines how's about we put our heads together find a way out of this bloody cell and maybe play a game of 'Who's the alpha b~$+%?' later? Any o' you have any bright ideas? I'm sure the big guy over there, waves her hand absentmindedly at Cudjet, would be an absolute terror in a row and I for sure can slice the throats of any of the guards I can get me hands on, but all that is sodding useless with these manacles stuck on our wrists. So I put this forward to my ragtag cellmates, do any of ye have any ideas?”

Khara racks her brain thinking about the things she noticed/knows about this place, trying to think up a plan.
So, what did we notice/know?

Anastasia is somewhat lucky (lucky being a figurative term here at Bradnerscar of course) for she has been a guest of this prison for just three nights now.

Smoak and Greyfield arrived together on the same rusted prison wagon five days ago although if they have a shared common past that remains to be discovered.

The day before they arrived, Khara was unceremoniously thrown in to join

Enosh, who has been here sitting in his own filth for nearly eight full days and nights now. He may have itchy rash or four developing.

First the 'good news'

You all hit the sweet spot, no one has been here nine or more days, that would have caused Fatigue, although Enosh is a day away from that.

Further you each took, 1-2 HP damage from The Branding ('F'), Double that if your struggled, but despite your less than ideal conditions these wounds have healed in your three to eight nights as guests of Branderscar. You still have a rather gruesome and not picturesque scar forever marking you as one of the 'Forsaken.'

You also have some circumstance bonus to some of your Perception scores which I will adjudicate shortly.

Secondly the 'not so good news'

You each had terrible lawyers, barristers, 'friends in high places' and as a result, every single one of you are sitting with one rather motley crew of slavers, murders and worse.

You also tried playing the game of 'who of us smells the rankest' and its a FIVE WAY TIE. (Special mention goes to poor Enoch though, credit where credit is due).

Oh !

The worst news

You are all condemned to have your head cut off, burned at the stake, or a hard (brief) life in the salt mines (then die).

Modify you Perception rolls as follows to indicate the time you have spent staring at walls and counting the cracks.

This is for only your FIRST Perception roll

As it stands

Anastasia +2 for a total of 22

Smoak roll twice +3 for your first roll

Greyfield +3 for a total of 20

Khara you took 20, so your total stands at 24.

Roll another Perception for your second roll.

Enosh +4 for a total of 19

Honor system

You may look under each spoiler ONLY if you made the Prerequisite Perception roll. Look at any number you hit or it you rolled above the DC.

First Perception roll

Perception DC 10

Perception DC 12

Perception DC 21

Perception DC 24

Perception DC 30

Honor System

Knowledge (Arch and Engineering) DC 18

Knowledge History or Nobility DC 20 Or Knowledge Local DC 25

Profession Judge Magister DC 18

I have fire resistance 5

I probably looked defiant as they approached with the brand, somewhat bored while they were trying to make that mark on my skin, and tried to appear pleased and proud of the mark. Internally, I was seething about their audacity to mar my perfect skin.

Khara

The brand on your hand has healed to quite a nasty scar. Your Fire Resistance made the branding difficult.

After much discussion among the guards, they brought in the Warden, who seems to be some sort of spellcaster. He looked you over with vile contempt and utter disdain, although he did not bother to make eye contact with your lovely eyes.

Then he unceremoniously used a spell to create acid, which did the job sufficiently -- the "F" is rather ragged, but recognizable.

She then turns her attention to the halfling who seemingly is still out from the pain due to his branding, she'd go and check on him but decides not to for two reasons, firstly, she's still chained and he's on the other side of the cell, and second and more importantly, she realizes she doesn't care.

:)

Made the DM laugh, always a good thing.

Anastasia Delphine wrote:

She then turns her attention to the halfling who seemingly is still out from the pain due to his branding, she'd go and check on him but decides not to for two reasons, firstly, she's still chained and he's on the other side of the cell, and second and more importantly, she realizes she doesn't care.

:)

Made the DM laugh, always a good thing.

One does one's best m'lord

"So if any of ye happen to have a bit of magic that can free us I'd likely to be rewarding ye with a kiss at the very least."

If the chains provide some degree of mobility, Khara is pacing back and forth what little sway she has, moving with liquid grace, staring angrily around, the end of her tail nervously flicking from side to side.

See The cell

Questions

*Wood: Is there any furniture? would it be possible to scratch a small sliver of wood?

There is the single bread basket used for food, water, and ... well let's not dwell on that.

*wax: How is the cell illuminated? are there candles in sight?

torches from the outside. And the shine of your winning smiles.

*copper wire: Do I see any copper? maybe inlaid in the manacles, wall or anything?

This is a prison. Correction. This is THE Prison of Branderscar. Loyal Talingarde citizen tax money at work!

*Fleece: would a piece of our uniform work?

Scraps. To what end?

He didn't react to his branding. If this is his sentence he will accept it. He's endured more physical pain than what these guards can perform. There is no doubt in Cudjet's mind that given a blade he would cut them down without any effort. However now that he doesn't have a blade he'll defer to breaking heads on the iron bars.

The guards are just doing their duty.

As you were doing yours.

And in three days the headman's axe will do just the same.

Responding to his new "brothers and sisters", Greyfield thinks to himself thusly:

Regarding Khara Interesting. Touched by the planes it seems. Exquisite form; near perfect lines. A little plump for my tastes....yet still.

Regarding Sir Cudjet Strong build. Well fed (possible chink to exploit). Yet do not mistake for weakness. A sellsword's arm, but eyes that show better character. Observe for possible future "research".

Regarding Enosh Unfathomable! He lives! This level of dedication to the art is astounding. Must be cheating....magic is at play, yes yes...but if not? Damn! What a specimen!

Bravo!

Reluctantly, her eyes move past the attractive girl to the skeletal thing slumped beside her. This pitiful thing is surely on the verge of death. I wonder if it would survive the rigors of moving around. If we get to it, we'll probably need to snap off its legs so we won't have to drag it around attached to our ankles. Not that it would be so hard to drag it around, but might make a racket.

Hey there's an idea!

perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14

Perhaps we should wait until the middle of the night before we try anything.

Smoak looks the other prisoners over sighs and forces himself to smile