What you see: The Garden's gates are locked and chained and guarded by two gnolls. Humans leave through a smaller side door, looking very much like accountants. Different humans haul food and water to the slave pens, which look much reduced in number since so many were sold that day. Each slave gets some thin gruel and a ladle-full of water. Gnoll patrols of two gnolls and a human move around, keeping an eye on things, but not looking terribly alert. An obese gnoll covered in scars moves around for a while after closing, barking orders.
At midnight, the mood changes. The patrols suddenly get much more alert and after a quick sweep of the Garden, assemble at the dry cistern. There is a soft rumbling and the floor of the cistern seems to move away, revealing a tunnel disappearing into the ground. From this tunnel comes a party of gnolls and humans, leading chained and bound slaves behind them. These they take back into the pens and toss in.
After the slaves are penned, the obese gnoll and the newcomers exchange words and coin and the obese gnoll closes the cistern after the newcomers head back down the tunnel by twisting a decorative torch sconce. The gnoll patrols go back to being lazy after the obese gnoll heads inside his office and the lights go out.
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Mikail returns to the group and passes on what he saw. Once he finishes his tale, he concludes by saying "I don't know.. they are very heavily guarded. The guards seem kinda lazy and tired when the boss isn't around, but thats still a lot for us to take on at once. What do you think, Fera? Should we report back and see if we can get something to stick with the tax evasion, or should we keep up the investigations?"
Soran's clockwork friend comes back and replays the conversation.
Mikail waits until he's pretty sure the door is unguarded, timing the patrols carefully. Sneaking forward, he cracks the lock with a soft CLICK and pops open the door. Inside he can see the Garden and hear some gnoll speech from nearby, as well as the sobs of a slave in the pens on the second floor.
Mikail, who is now familiar with the gnoll patrols, reckons you have about a minute before the patrols are close enough to see you again. Do you want to head to the cistern or somewhere else?
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After looking about and getting a feel for the complex, Mikail heads back to his friends. He is barely able to stiffle a giggle as out of nowhere, he grabs Hoshiko's hand, reappearing from his invisibility right in front of the understandably startled woman. He carefully leads the others in towards the cistern, hoping to get them under cover before any of the guards stop by.
Mikail leads you invisibly to the cistern, where a quick twist of the torch sconce grants you access. You slip down into the tunnel, where another torch likewise closes the cistern, leaving you in darkness. In front of you stretch long dry water pipes. These 15-foot-wide passages have a central 5-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep channel, flanked on either side by 5-foot-wide ledges. Service channels rise 12 feet high from the base of the channel to the center of the ceiling arch.
Hoshiko hears one of the human voices interrupt the others. "Waitaminute. That tunnel there. Why is there light coming from it?"
The guttural voice growls. "Faint, yes, but light. He's correct. I'm not expecting any patrols, are you Ibrahim?"
You hear a few footsteps coming closer to you, but then it stops and heads back the other way, not sounding very hasty. You hear the human voice say "Nah, nothin' there. Must have been a trick or else them boys up top opened the cistern for somethin'. No matter. Now about that hand you was losin'!" There's a few more words back and forth, but they seem to have gone back to their game.
This room centers upon an open well shaft, over which a thick wooden crossbeam suspends a rope lift affixed to a sizable wooden cage. Filling half the shaft is a strange, badly rusted mechanism consisting of huge screw set inside a long vertical pipe.
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"Well, we need to get past them one way or another," Fera whispers, once the men are far enough away he won't be heard, "and it would be a trick indeed to get by without being spotted." Scratching his red-skinned chin a moment, he continues, "We were told not to get into a fight with these folk in public, but this is hardly a public spot. And if we kill them all, they can't really blow our cover, right? So I guess we get as close as we can, then fight them? Not sure that's the best plan, but it's what I've got. Maybe Mika could walk in and fast-talk them into believing we're supposed to be allowed in, but then we leave them behind us as we go further in, which might not be wise."
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Mikail listens closely as Ferabras lays out a first draft of a plan. "But if we kill them, won't they know that someone was here? Then when we go to the authorities, we will be the obvious suspects. I don't personally care about slavers but I do care about being hanged for killing them."
"Maybe I can talk our way past, but I don't know. I wish I would have thought of this when I was picking up scrolls.. something to put them to sleep would be nice." his voice trails off into thought. After a moment, his back stiffens and his eyes flash. "Wishes in one hand and turds in the other, right? If we are going to do this, then we have to go all the way. There may be a captured Pathfinder down here.. we have to do what is necessary. I would rather fight them then have them at our backs. It may make the rest of our searching more difficult, but I can't think of anything else we can do that would still be safe for us. What about the rest of you?" he finishes his statement looking at the rest of the group.
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"If we decide to attack them then we need to make quick work of them before they sound any alarm or make too much noise, then we need to hide the bodies. If they are posted guards then their shift will end and someone will come to replace them either finding their bodies or finding them missing. Alas this is a tough decision."
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"I can heal them before fatal wounds take their course."
Zolarus uses Life Link on the party while mulling their decision.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Mikail shakes his head mournfully. "I would not like to risk all of your lives on my ability to fast talk us through them. I think that if we are going to do this, we need to hit them hard like Hoshiko says. I can make all of us really fast with one of the scrolls, then we rush in and surprise them. Anyone not like this idea?"
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"I think we've learned we're not all very good at stealth, and I'd worry about Mika going in alone," Fera offers. "Let's all get close to the door - I'll lead the way and those that can't see in the dark can hold on in a line. We make it as far as we can without being noticed, hopefully all the way to the door, then we burst through and attack. I'll make my sword a weapon of flame to finish off foes more quickly. Let's do this before we're found chatting about it."
In quiet movements you close the 100' between you and the well room. Two humans and two gnolls are here, playing a game with a battered Harrow deck. You take them completely by surprise!
Round 1:
Mikail, Zolarus, Soran and Hoshiko
Foes
Ferabras
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Zolarus steps closer and casts Murderous Command (Will DC 15) twice on two different thugs.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Ferabras moves into the room along with Hoshiko while Zolarus casts a spell of murder on one of the human thugs! His eyes briefly glow red, but he shakes it off!
Hoshiko slashes one of the gnolls across the shoulder with her black blade. It staggers, but does not fall! Zolarus casts another murderous spell on the other human! This time the eyes stay red!
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Mikail creeps up the hallway, rapier in hand . The team stacks up on the door, then they rush in. Seeing Hoshiko breaking left, Mikail takes the right flank, moving quick and hard for his target. His sword strikes true, coming back bloody to the hilt!
With his magically enhances speed, Mikail's rapier strikes out again, poking another hole in his unsuspecting enemy.
Mikail moves in with supernatural speed as his spell takes hold. He guts the human, who dies with a groan.
Soran fires his arrows!
for plus damage!
for plus damage!
for plus damage!
for plus damage!
Two of the gnolls become feathered with arrows. One dies immediately, while the other yelps in pain and rage!
The human draws a club and lashes out at the gnoll with murderous impulse! for damage!
The gnoll, looking bloodied and angry, draws a dire flail and lashes out at Hoshiko! or damage!
And with that the huamn falls!
Between ZOlarus and Mikail's attacks, the man falls. In a matter of seconds, you took them down and now the well shaft is quiet. The well shaft is 20 feet deep and there's a counterweight device that will allow you to lower up to four people at a time.
On the humans you find 2 mwk leather armor, 2 club, 2 mwk whip, 2 everburning torch, 2 mwk manacles, 2 silk rope (50 ft.). On the gnolls you find 2 +1 studded leather, 2 mwk dire flail, 2 mwk manacles, 2 hemp rope (50 ft.) and a total of 4 cure light wound potions. One of the gnolls possesses a small metal plate with several slots cut around the edges.
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Mikail sighs as the last one falls, before turning to his friends. "Did you see that?!?!" he exclaims. "I held my own! I actually helped!!" His ears are perked straight up, and unconsciously, his bushy tails wag in excitement at helping to bring down these foes. He gleefully begins to sort through the gear on the fallen enemy, grabbing the potions to distribute among the group, then holding up the curious metal plate. "Anyone know what this may be?" he asks.
Once that is done, he moves over to the mechanism and examines it. "I think we can work this to take us down.. is anyone hurt? Anyone need anything before we see where this goes?"