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Thinking to himself I guess that one way of opening a door for the uneducated and Ya'Bo gives a sigh.
Ya'Bo smiles when Theo puts up the illusion. Reaching into a pocket Ya'Bo pulls out his pet mouse and starts to talk to it. "Squeek, Squeek, Squeek." and puts the mouse on the ground where it waits for a bit a cheese that Ya'Bo hands the mouse. The mouse scampers just out of the illusion to stand guard.
Turning around seeing his party staring at him. "What?, We can not see through the illusion our selves so I told whiskers to let me know if someone or something is coming."
"Go ahead," Ore says from the center of the room where he's already torn off a piece of meat and has gotten to working at it.
With everyone inside, Theo dispells his layered illusion in favor of maintaining a single mirage in the shape of an unassaulted door.
I think I'm going to rest my bones, Neil says, taking a seat by the Illusary door. I'll be here for someone to trip over if they try to come in.
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This seems to be a good place for a brief rest, if necessary. A thorough search of the room reveals three functional shields, 17 serviceable spears, two battleaxes in excellent condition, and in one small crate in the northeast corner, a long-forgotten heavy crossbow with a broken drawstring and 60 bolts.
Theo allows the more martially-minded among the party to have the first pick from the shields on display. Should all of them be taken, Theo can make do with a hand-me-down. The spears and axes are of little interest to him.
After a moment, Theo begins humming a familiar tune to himself. The melody helps him to keep time for short intervals. Each return to the chorus signaling Theo to refresh his illusion.
Realizing that the party is settling in for a quick respite, Theo decides it best not to leave clear evidence of their presence in the halls.
Theo peers past his illusion, looking and listening for any signs of trouble.
Convinced the path is safe, Theo moves down the hall as swiftly and quietly as he can. He stacks the corpses of the two fallen Orcs atop one another and drags them to the safety of the storeroom.
.
.
.
Mentally focused again, Ore talked to the hallway carefully, peering around the corner and listening for any signs of orcs.
"Hmm. Orchish shares a script with Dwarven."
Theo attempts to sound out the characters; listening for any Dwarven root-words, Common phrases written in Orcish, or loan-words from other tongues.
Theo is able to piece together that the sign reads something along the lines of "Do not disturb!"
When the gist of the sign's meaning finally becomes clear to Theo, he chuckles to himself a bit.
"Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but it seems our friends aren't keen on entertaining visitors today." Theo rolls his eyes at himself for overcomplicating the obvious.
"It is interesting that the sign is a warning in Orcish, as opposed to a blatant death threat in Common. This sign likely isn't for intruders. This could very well be a threshold into the second Orc clan's territory."
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"Shall we find out?" Ore asks. "Perhaps Stealth is in order?"
"Shall we find out?" Ore asks. "Perhaps Stealth is in order?"
"Quite. I think a dash of subterfuge would go a long way as well.
We have the element of surprise, and so much as touching this door could sacrifice that advantage. Of course, we aren't going any further with the door closed. Fortunately, doors generally open both ways." Theo pauses for a moment, glancing around the room, and apparently taking mental measurements.
"My friends, I think we should set a trap."
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"My experience with orcs is that a superior tactical position is always better than any ploy.
For instance, to put Ore in such a disadvantaged position would almost certainly doom him to death.
I would simply get us in a phalanx, and then create enough cacophony to bring them to us.
But I would also council doing this after a night's sleep, so you are free to make plans as you would."
Ya'Bo intrigued with Theo idea, "What do you have in mind Theo? How about we have Ore under a bear rug making a bunch of noise to draw them out."
Giving a smile to Ore.
"Even in glibness, your intellect still astounds, Ya'Bo."
"I may, in fact, have a use for our agile friend. Tragically, I'm not sure the bear pelt will be required." Theo says with a disheartened sigh and a deviant glance at Ore and Ya'Bo.
"If this is a port into new territory, it's quite possible that the majority of the caves lie beyond the door. We may not be able to lure them out if they are far enough in. If we can't, we may need...live bait. Or, if he's lucky, Ore'll simply end-up on the scouting trip he alluded to a bit ago."
Theo glances around the room again.
"Hiding the ambush should be simple enough. There's room for stalactite illusions to hide in, and the tight corridor lends its-self to the camouflage we used early-on to the escape the Goblins."
"I would simply get us in a phalanx, and then create enough cacophony to bring them to us..
"Exactly."
"That said, if we want every possible advantage, then we need them coming into that cacophony as uninformed as possible. The best formations are the ones your enemies don't know you are in."
Just Tell me and Ya'Bo where you want the Orcs to go, and we can make sure that's where the Orcs think they want to be too.
This all sounds fine to me! Nail says, ready to follow the lead of his smarter companions.
There's room for stalactite illusions to hide in
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"Well if you insist on getting yourselves killed, then we best be about it.
You can create these small illusions at will, yes? If so, then why create something that they would never believe? No doubt the orcs know their own halls, and they would never think that stalagtites would have formed overnight.
But if instead you make a low wall, something that could've been built in an hour, they would be more like to buy the ruse.
If such, then right here is as fine a place as any. You could make your wall, and have all of us crouch behind it. Then Ore could stalk forward, scouting for the enemy. When he finds them, he could call them an ettercap, or some such, then run back here, leaping over the wall to sell the deception.
As they advance and halt at the wall, we would be in a fine place to simply burst upon them."
"Well if you insist on getting yourselves killed, then we best be about it.
You can create these small illusions at will, yes? If so, then why create something that they would never believe? No doubt the orcs know their own halls, and they would never think that stalagtites would have formed overnight.
But if instead you make a low wall, something that could've been built in an hour, they would be more like to buy the ruse.
If such, then right here is as fine a place as any. You could make your wall, and have all of us crouch behind it. Then Ore could stalk forward, scouting for the enemy. When he finds them, he could call them an ettercap, or some such, then run back here, leaping over the wall to sell the deception.
As they advance and halt at the wall, we would be in a fine place to simply burst upon them."
"You would be surprised what the less astute will believe. Change-blindness is a phenomenon abused too extremes by illusionists and con-men of all colors and shapes."
That said, in deference to your willingness to work against your own better judgment: if a wall feels better to you, then a wall we shall have. You say it should look hastily constructed? Wooden planks or stacked stone?" Theo gives a vague gesture with his staff, conjuring two potential walls for Attero's consideration.
You pansies about ready? Neil asks, poorly joking. Coulda killed these beasts already.
Ore's gone serious now that the fight is approaching, though it rarely lasts for long.
"I am, let's do this," he says, pressing the palms of his hands together and stretching his fingers.
Theo works with Ya'Bo to erect the illusory barrier to Attero's specifications. He was glad for the help; limitations on the spell's scope mean that several castings are needed to construct a wall large enough to hide the whole party. Theo uses an extra casting to loop a tune in his head that tells him when the pair need to refresh their spell.
As Ore readies himself for the coming conflict, Theo approaches and gives a quick gesture beckoning his Hafling friend into a private conference.
Theo begins to absentmindedly jingle his change as he addresses Ore."Attero isn't wrong. We are, by our very presence, picking a fight. I believe the core of our cause to be righteous, we just need to start executing it with a little more empathy."
"Parlay or profanity, the Orcs aren't likely to react any differently to your presence. So, from a certain point-of-view, there's no real harm in starting with the former, no?" Theo gives Ore a sly smirk as he finally pulls his hand from his pouch.
A faint glow escapes from in-between Theo's fingers. He holds his fist out, palm-down, gesturing for Ore to do the inverse.
"Of course..."Theo continues. "Your safety comes first." Theo presses his palm into Ore's and closes the Halfling's fist around a stack of copper and silver.
"Light from the enchanted copper should play well with the polished silver to create a dazzling effect -- especially for light-sensitive cave dwellers. Probably not the worst bait either, if you need a different kind of distraction."
@Ya'Bo @Attero @GM
Keeping his voice low, Theo confers with his friends. "I think, mayhaps, checking the door should have come first."
He addresses the War Cleric directly. "Cloth Brother, this door surely opens onto a metaphorical plane of your Domain. What is the safest way to make this transition?
"Thark sent me, I'm to be your dinner, I think?" Ore says, shrugging back at the others and knocking on the door.
"Hello?!"
"Not sure what you said, but if you're not going to be eating me, I suppose I'll be leaving now. Too bad, I've always thought I'd be a very tasty halfling."
Ore looks back at the others and shrugs, unsure if they'll buy his lie, and hoping whatever he missed in orcish wasn't too important...
When Ore looks back, Theo gestures for his friend to knock thrice more.
Using the first couple of knocks to synch with Ore's rhythm, and drawing inspiration from Attero's confrontation with the storage room's door, Theo lets loose a mighty crash alongside Ore's final strike.
Neil waits patiently. He resists the urge to ask what the orcs are saying, knowing it won't do a damn bit of good.
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The door comes open, revealing a huge orc dressed only in his smallclothes, but carrying a large black mace. Behind him is a 20 foot-by-20 foot chamber covered with a mangy carpet. Several dirty and stained tapestries hang on the far walls, and a battered table and assortment of mismatched chairs occupy the room. At the opposite end is a sturdy cot and pillows are scattered all over the floor. Two female orcs lounge on the pillows in various states of undress. They look surprised to see you, where the leader only looks angry.
"ਗ੍ਰੇਕ ਕਹੋ ਕੋਈ ਪ੍ਰੇਸ਼ਾਨ ਗ੍ਰੇਕਕ ਮਤਲਬ ਨਹੀਂ" The chief stops suddenly when he sees Ore.
INITIATIVE
Leader
Party
Females
The leader takes a swipe at Ore with his mace, connecting hard with the halfling's shoulder!