Storn stares at the fort stonily, having not said anything of note for a very long time as he tries to have his Think while Kipa prepares to go out scouting again.
"Hrm. So there's an army here not doing anything. Armies hate that. Not only can we look at the area, but if you can pick up anything a patrol says we may learn something too. If you speak giant or uh, orc."
Storn stares at the fort stonily, having not said anything of note for a very long time as he tries to have his Think while Kipa prepares to go out scouting again.
"Hrm. So there's an army here not doing anything. Armies hate that. Not only can we look at the area, but if you can pick up anything a patrol says we may learn something too. If you speak giant or uh, orc."
"That sir I do. I will keep an ear out for that as well"
"Do we have any means of significantly damaging the structural integrity of the dam in a brief period of time? A stone shape spell or a delayed alchemist bomb? Flooding the fort might solve our problems in a single blow."
"Stone Shape is a bit above my pay grade, Dieter," Molly says. "And I doubt a bunch of spiders would have the same effect."
"Sander, any idea how much damage your bombs can cause to the dam?"
"Oh, I don't think much. They can do a lot against flesh" -- he sounds more disturbed than proud -- [b]"but not against tougher materials.
"Oh, but I do still have three of the orc bombs? Not sure if they might be more effective..."
With an inquisitive look on his face "Orc Bombs?"
"Yeah, I picked them up from when they attacked Trunau. They have a little more delay, but I don't think they're too much more powerful than my own bombs, unfortunately."
"I wonder how much they can do when combined with your own. If we target the weaker portions of the dam then we may be able to take it down quickly that way. How long of a delay are we talking? It may take a few moments to set & get the hell out of the way."
"Not long. I don't know if we'd have time to set them all and get out of there, but maybe we could set them up to explode with one of my bombs? But surely there has to be something better than blowing up the entire dam. That seems really risky."
"I'd like to agree with you. I just want to make sure we have every option thought out and planned out to the point of known failure to bets chance of success. We know a frontal charge is a known failure. This is a possibility. I am more then welcome to any other ideas to get us inside that wall and get us out side again w/ as little risk to ourselves as we can."
Storn grumbles.
"Frankly, another option is to find a huge distraction, and then head over the top if we can get a rope up and maybe an obscuring mist spell or two for cover. Anyone good at climbing feel like taking a peek over the other side? Maybe there's somewhere out of the way we can drop down."
"I am not much of a swimmer myself. I think we can all agree the best time to get in will be at night. Sander how many of those invisibility brews can you make and how long do they last? Need a way to get our...less stealthy friends here inside."
Working on two different ideas at one time, Kipa keeps jumping between blowing up the dam and just getting inside & killing orcs as they pass and trying to be stealthy about it.
"If we were to just blow the dam, I think we would want to set the charges at the point that will have the most pressure. That way we can use the pressure on the other side to help weaken the whole thing."
"I like the idea of just sneaking in. If we make Storn and Dieter invisible, maybe the rest of us can make it? Actually, if we can wait until tomorrow, I could make three of us invisible, as long as two of you don't mind, um ... sharing extracts."
"I might have something better than fog, depending on your point of view," Molly offers. "If we wait until tomorrow, I can cast Twilight Haze; it won't be touched by the wind at all, so no need to worry about an errant gust blowing away our cover."
"I think we can all agree we will have to wait till tomorrow to strike. Right now we are not ready and those of a magic nature need to restore their power. I like both ideas, could they be combined to help out some more? Invisible and fog cover? I think a late night raid will be best. Hopefully the night shift guards use less men. If we can get in and take out expecting small groups it will help us in the long run. If we can find a large amount of them sleeping, we can...ease the transition to the next plane for every one. Is there any way to quite the armor of Dieter?" As an idea pops in his head "Molly, Sander do either of you have a way to produce a zone of silence?"
Sander shakes his head, no.
[b]"I can help a few of us move faster, though.[/ooc]
"Quiet my armor? Hmm... perhaps we could stuff rags in the joints. It would slow me down and I wouldn't be very flexible, but it could do the job."
" so we agree that the best way in will be to move with cover of darkness and fog with a bit of help from Sanders brews right?
"I'm gonna sleep," Molly announces as she curls up in a snug corner. "I'll need my magic for tomorrow. 'Night."
Looking at the witch curling up to go to sleep "Guess we are going to camp here for the night. Ill take first watch then."
Looking over at the elf "We will not want to take too much time with this. The longer we wait, the more likely we are to be discovered."
Storn gets to the business of praying, removing his armour, and getting ready for the night.
"Part of our plan tomorrow will be to watch patrols and get a sense of the life of the place. Using that, find a weak point and strike."
Kipa starts to sharpen his blades "Sounds like a plan you large friend. We will need to keep a cold camp though. Any fire will lead them right to us. "
"There is nothing else for it, then. We will have to plan a direct assault, or whittle their numbers with guerilla tactics. I would prefer we do whatever is possible to avoid facing their full strength in a single battle." Dieter begins removing his armor as well.
"Guerrilla maybe. Direct Not so much. That would bring more then 4 orcs & a giant down on us and you barely got out of that one alive. We need to see what the guard rotation looks like. See if there is a time they are usually understaffed or if it is weaker at a change."
"Hey Quill, do you mind scouting the fort tonight some so we can get an idea of their schedule?"
"Wait, what? No! We're sneaking in!"
"For sure that should be plans A trough Y."
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"Hey Quill, do you mind scouting the fort tonight some so we can get an idea of their schedule?"
Quill shrugs, glancing at Sander.
"Sure. Maybe we'll spend the morrow scouting and planning and go in the day after," Quill answers and turns to Sander. "Sander, did you want make me invisible for a bit? I bet I can scan the entire outside and dam up close if I'm not seen."
"Sure. Um, I wasn't planning to have to turn a bunch of people invisible today, so drink this. Then drink this really quickly and spit it back in the vial, please."
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Quill sneaks away from the party and within far sight of Redlake Fort.
"Thank you, Sander," Quill whispers under his breath as he swills and backswills as commanded, which is totally not weird at all.
Quill then moves quickly to scout the fort from up close (meaning that he goes no more than 30' to the wall), but he does a good nice 5 minute scout of the outer walls, using his keen elven sight to find the backdoor or any other things of interest.
If he spots any patrols, even while invisible, he will move and sneak another direction.
With surprising patience, Storn recognizes his role in the fight is not at this point. He remains calm and mutters prayers to Gorum on occasion, and spends the rest of it obsessively working on his gear, muttering at some of the rust at the spikes on his half-plate. He also spends some time knotting his rope.
"I'm starting to think I may have to climb something. May as well get this sorted ahead of time."
The rain stopped shortly after nightfall, and a break in the clouds gave just enough moonlight to see. Quill's natural stealth, and the invisibility potion, allowed him to get in close to the fort, much closer than the earlier scouts had managed. Five minutes was not much, given the size of the fort, and the need to be quiet. Still, he managed to cover a good bit of the southern walls, and even get a look at the dam from not too far away.
To his eyes, the dam looked fragile. Almost as if it was intended to be destroyed. Likely to fill the area immediately behind the palisades with water, like a moat. The stone bridge leading into the fort from the outer palisade walls lent credence to that idea.
He also noticed that while there were guards at the gate, the walls did not appear to have any. At least, none evident from this side of the fence at night. There were a couple of patrols, but these were mostly orcs, and a few ogres, but no giants. Quill managed to shadow one of these for a moment to listen to their speech. He only caught a snatch of conversation, but it seemed to relate to a prisoner of some kind. He was sure one of the orcs said, "“Ha! Looks like Karrguk’s woman has something for our bear bait. Must be her human blood that makes her so kind to that dwarf. I say let the bears eat him. We can always put those stupid ogres in the bear pit instead.”
Other than that, Quill didn't see much else that Kipa hadn't already reported on. He wondered why the little halfling was so insistent that he, Quill, go scouting tonight. It wasn't as if the elf were a ranger, or rogue, or other scouty-type person. Nor soulc he see in the dark. It was only the break in the rain and cloud cover that let him see much of anything. Odd.
upon the elf's return "Welcome back Quill. Find anything helpful out there? Im sure you were able to get closer with Sander's drink."
Upon hearing about the prisoner and the woman with 'human blood'
"Well things just got a bit more complicated. The dam could have been blown easily, but do we just want to leave them to suffer with the orcs, ogres and giants? Our simple kill the bad guys plan may have become a kill the bad guys and save the hostages plan. If we can get the dwarf & woman out the blow the dam after we can secure them. "
Leaning back against a log, with his eyes scanning the woods. "Looks like the security of the fort is a bit lighter at night then during the day. So, hitting the place at night will be the best plan I think. The trick will still be getting Dieter in there with his loud armor. What do we have in the loot bag that could fit him? Maybe if he goes in there in a chain shirt or something a bit lighter then change back once we get into the fort it could be helpful."
"We need to follow the most effective plan. Saving their lives would be preferable, but we cannot let their safety deter us from completing the mission. If we fail, many more people will lose their lives than these two."
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"...so yeah, you can't trust a gnome with an apple." Quill says as he finishes his explanation of everything he saw around the fort.
"Sadly, I never saw the backdoor. Or any secret entrance." Quill muses on.
"I think tomorrow night Sander and uh, Kipa, should go blow the dam...either with fire or bombs, then run away, invisible. Let's see what happens affter that." Quill offers an alternate plan.
Still trying to zero in to the moral code of the group "Works for me. Sander, how many bombs do you have access to besides those orc bombs? Just want to figure out how many blasts we can count on and figure out where to place them to do the most damage."
When Quill is alone, Kipa walks over to him "Glade you were able to get out there and see for yourself what was there. Just wanted you to know that I do have faith in your abilities and that I would welcome you in scouting out there with me or on your own. Unless we plan other wise, feel free to scout with me in the future. If I didn't trust you or your ability to move in silence, I would not have let you go just now."