well lets hope for the best because right now we haven't had much luck.
When the party is taking a short break
here pass me the potion so that i can identify them
Merle growls and spits to the side at being outvoted again.
He begins cleaning his weapon on the clothing of one of the fallen guards.
"Wonderful idea". "I'm sure that they won't be missed...they probably just went out on patrol on their own without telling anyone". "So nobody will come looking for them and find us...or release them so that we have to defeat them again..."But why listen to the only soldier in the group, and the only who's ever been on this island". "If you'd listened to me the first time you wouldn't have to be dealing with this issue". "I never thought that I was adventuring with a bunch of panty waist paladins".
Merle stomps off a bit to take a drink of water and catch his breath. He removes the piece or armor around his crossbow wound, snaps off the head, and with a gasp pushes it thought the wound, bringing forth a fresh gush of healthy blood.
Wintry
After getting your bearings the your experience, you continue to march forward for another two hours where further along towards the fortress come across an overturned wagon which you can see had a Danoran insignia on it which has been painted over with the coat of arms of the Duchess. Swords and firearms have spilled out onto the road.
Arvangail will distribute a CLW potion to both Merle and Joseph
Here In case of Emergency, Break the cork and gulp down.
"Ambush? Anyone want to do scout it out?"
"Hmmmm. Caution is the best way to proceed here." Cretien says, pulling an odd saucer out of a pouch. He rolls it on the ground in front of him and the saucer splits apart vertically, the sides spreading to become wheels to carry the mass of articulated limbs hosted within. The item rolls forward, slowly, towards the wreck.
Johnathan watches, fascinated.
"How's it work?"
"It's animated with a little of my own life energy. It's useful if you have to be in two separate places at once, as long as they aren't too far apart."
Cretien sends his simulacrum towards the overturned wagon and it start checking out the contents of the wagon.
Trap attack on simulacrum of cold damage,
Chains of ice set forth to grab the simulacrum and destroys it.
"Merde."
"Better it than us.
"Indeed. I can fix it later at least. So, uh... you wanna go poke around over there now?"
We should since it is now "safe" ...
"Poor thing," Johnathan mumbles, scanning the surroundings, nervous.
Your group starts picking through the gear on the wagon and you are able to retrieve enough ammunition for 40 shots from a pistol, five longswords, 2 polearms and some rations.
lets grab what you need and lets continue shall we?
Cretien collects the pieces of his erstwhile companion in its pouch for later repair.
"No time like the present", Merle says, uncorking and quaffing the potion.
CLW
And, he smiles for the first time all day, as his wound knits shut. "Wow". "That's a good batch".
"Shall we uh, dress in the uniforms? Or... not yet?"
Johnathan seems to be getting more nervous the longer they stay near the wreckage.
After grabbing the supplies, you follow the main branch of the road as it curves around the hill to the left and then follows a coastal cliff towards Axis Fort. To your right the sea is choppy; to your left the densely green hills rise up. After about half an hour you see Axis Fort in the distance - a tall tower surrounded by a wall. You've made it in plenty of time.
Suddenly you hear a metallic grinding and the thump of heavy footsteps coming from the woods, headed vaguely in your direction. A second later, a huge iron golem comes lumbering out of the jungle. It is missing its head from what looks like a combination of magical rust and an explosion and leaks a weird black oil that glistens oddly in the sunlight. It charges down the road towards you, and you feel the impact of each of its heavy steps shaking the earth. Getting closer you see that the golem lacks a head and is leaking a black fluid.
Incoming !
Perception 15
"Certain, I believe this is your forte." Joseph steps out of the way.
do i think i could use my Repair special ability to "fix" it
and if so
do i think i could "reprogram" it to help us (or maybe just as a distraction) by doing so?
Chretien
"My expertise tells me to get the hell away from this thing. No way i can fix it without first subduing it and then getting it to a full workshop."
Works for me arvangail will get out of the way of the incoming construct
"Sounds like a plan. Let's get out of here."
Johnathan sticks close to the group, staring at the golem, entranced.
"Is it... Danoran?"
As the golem stumbles its way closer to the party, Mithas
Chretien
Onwards along the path you go until you reach Axis Fort, a good bit of time earlier than you needed to be here, so that at least has gone well.
Ahead the path continues along the side of the fortress wall, then enters at a big gate near the cliff. The outer walls of the fortress are star shaped, and although you are still far enough away to avoid detection, you can see a few sparse patrols along the top of the wall. They look very high and are very big – perhaps 500m (1/3 mile) across. Lya Jierre told you that the weak point in the magical defenses of the outer walls is in the south-south-west (and you are just east of the fort). Inside, you see a very tall central tower, some 60-feet high, topped by an astronomical observatory.
In order for the Risuri navy to attack, you must breach the fortress’s outer wall, reach the harbor, activate the sea gate control mechanism in the lighthouse, then signal the fleet and make sure the duchess’ forces cannot close the sea gate for ten minutes. You recall the Elite Infiltration Team’s plan for this but you might have a better way of achieving the same result – or perhaps even choose to do something quite different.
so any one thing we can put a good face and waltz inside?
"I'd say it would be a good idea to wear the uniforms but still try the back door. But if we're caught, we still have the uniforms on and can try to lie our way through."
"Exactly why I wanted the uniforms. Mind if I take the officers uniform, I believe I have more practice at fabricating facts than you do."
"certainly. The less talking I have to do, the better."
Mithas shakes his head to clear his noggin.
"I agree with Cretien. Let's try to stick to the original plan and try to bluff our way out only if we get caught."
works for me replied arvangail
You carefully sneak around the landward side of the fortress, staying out of sight. The thick stone walls - sloped and angled to reduce damage from cannons, star-patterned to give defenders wider firing arcs with muskets - apparently integrate magical defenses to thwart common fantasy siege tactics. You recall Lya mentioning that since Danor does not use magic much itself, most of these defenses were crafted by Drakran dwarves. Webs of iron bars etched with ritual inscriptions are set within the walls, which generate a slight outward force that weakens the impact of cannons and has the fringe benefit of making it exceedingly difficult to climb. Rings of gold thread weave together deep inside the walls, forming a barrier against teleportation and similar magic. Finally, intermittent pockets of the rare stone opaline acts as a magic sink, absorbing spell energy.
On a more mundane note, the walkways along the tops of the walls and roads near them on the inside are all covered in a patina of light gravel, which crackles underfoot, making it more difficult for people to move about invisibly. The fortress also had many watchdogs trained to attack creatures they could smell and hear but not see, but most of those are dead or in a kennel now.
You reach the weak point - you hope Lya was correct. Whoever casts the passwall ritual will need to succeed on a Spellcraft check to get you across the wall and inside the fort.
"Well then, who's got the scroll?" Cretien asks quietly, while function checking his crossbow.
I do says arvangail and when everyone is ready he will take out the scroll and read it
Wintry casts the ritual and the five of you are teleported to the other side of the wall – no mishaps! You appear behind an abandoned house, out of sight from everyone. You peer around the wall and take in the fortress interior.
You are in an outer part of the fortress, comprising loads of small buildings like houses, taverns and offices set in blocks divided by lanes. A high wall (similar to the one you just passed through) surrounds a large central keep and you can spot the keep-observatory at its center. On the seaward side a second wall defends the harbor area.
"Lead on, Mithas. Unless someone else knows the layout better." Cretien says to the huddled party.
I don't, but lets move fast whisper arvanvail following stealthy
"You guys move on ahead of me". "If I get caught, I'll try to provide enough distraction to give you the ability to complete the mission". "If I get caught, hopefully you'll be able to spring me loose somehow". "I'm not a quiet individual".
After the others have left.
Stealth
"Let us make are way my friends."