As Raveneau moves in to strike, Kriger moves opposite him to surround and in hopes to cut off any form of retreat before going into his own attack mode.
Surprise round:
Round 1
As Merten shifts angle, the three others come into view. They were just not visible from where you stood.
Merten suddenly reappears, contemporaneous with a cloud of golden motes that silently materializes among the guards.
In a flash, the watchmen are suddenly surrounded and most of them blinded or cut down. Crying in frustrating silence for help, they are cut down an instant later.
The dust settles on the narrow hallway, with four bodies lying in blood at your feet, their faces in the dirt.
Taking a moment to go to bended knee Raveneau wipes his blade on the watchmen's clothes with care before sheathing it. Pockets are quickly plumbed for sign of coin or parchment...
Hearing Kalsgrim's words, Raveneau murmurs in sussurant tones and his hand gestures begin to crudely remove the worst of the stains of blood and gore.
I dismiss my spell and stand watch while the dead are dealt with.
After a minute, the worst is cleaned up, leaving only the four bodies.
A quick search reveals only a few coins and some watchmen equipment.
Merten looks up and projects his thoughts to Luca.
Keep watch for us my friend, and let us know if anyone approaches. We will probably move sooner rather than later.
Luca will let us know if anyone is approaching, Merten says in a low voice, designed not to carry.
For his part, Merten magically assists with the clean-up before restoring his expended spells with pearls of power.
There is no grate, and no sewer. One body you could fit in a crag, but four...
They all wear some kind of uniform: a red shirt and a brown cape, all looking very similar, and an ugly red-feathered brown cap worn sideways.
Strip them, Merten urges. Wearing their uniforms may confuse other guardsmen and help us to avoid further battle as we make our approach.
Raveneau's face twists into some degree of distaste at the suggestion that they might soil themselves with the clothes of the dead, and his mind begins to spin at thoughts of escape before an idea strikes. Very explicitly counting first them and following the fallen guardsmen "One, two three, four, five... One, two, three, four." sighing mock disappointment "A pity that there is not enough for us all to share. I will be the one to do the honorable thing and dispense with the need for disguise... you can bind my wrists lightly perhaps to appear a prisoner from a distance."
I look around at our magical axes, bows, armour, headwear and more and wonder how effective a disguise will come from flopping a filthy tabard over it all.
Or not, Merten shrugs. The cloaks and tabards might help us avoid unwanted attention from a distance, especially if we clean them up using Master Raveneau's arcane method, but they certainly won't stand up to any close scrutiny. In any event, he nods to Kalsgrim, I stand ready to assist in any manner I can, although we should draw closer to the fortress before I veil our company from mortal sight.
"Yeah we might buy ourselves some time from a distance, but they'll know we're no ordinary guards close up. Let's pile 'em off to the side somewhere and get movin'; we're losing too much time here. If we're gonna attempt to fool these fools, grab what you need and let's go. Hopefully by the time they're found, it won't matter."
"If 'twere to be asked I'd put more faith in speed and assertion than deception and folly..."
Looking to the magus as he speaks, Kriger nods in agreement. "I gotta agree. The more time we mess with these bums, the more time we lose and the greater chance of being discovered. I say we take our chances and move out now."
In the distance, you can see the tall stone walls of Drelev Keep, with its wide tower looming above the town.
Lead by clever Luca, you get within a long bowshot from the keep proper.
It relates the results of its previous investigation, allowing you to build a mental image of the keep. The great circular tower has four floors, with a large balcony on the third level. Beside it, a square tower rises three floors up.
"You got it, Chief." Kriger will hoist a body within each arm and dump them in the alley with the others and then proceed to take point. As they approach the Keep, he holds up a hand to halt the others, taking a look to make sure the coast is clear.
On the battlement facing you, you see ten guards. Most look out, some look in.
Relying more upon the eagle eyed perception of Kriger than his own limited sight, Raveneau ponders the presence of guards verbally "Well we know that the rank and file are nothing to be feared. Four fell within but the barest fragment of our attention... but they have a giant at least and likely worse beside."
"I would wager any a one of us could lead them a merry chase or draw attention to one side so as to leave the other uncovered... but that would both weaken our force as well as be perhaps too reliant upon them being drilled to a standard less than ideal. Unless you have skill at drawing creatures from stilled air?" looking to Merten and Malaswyn to see if they have spells of conjuration prepared... and smiling when they confirm it
"Conjured beasts in one direction and us another? - as their eyes are drawn to one side we walk through air and out of sight by the other... a simple trick but would serve no?"
Kriger nods emphatically. "Good idea. Yeah, Mal, conjure another creature like you and Servayn did when we nearly drowned within that tower. That's a great distraction. Especially since I count about ten guards on duty. They fall easy but they can scream even easier. The less we have to deal with, the better."
The ten are on the wall you see. There may be at least the same number on the other wall. Then there is the towers, and the courtyard.
By the way, each tower has some kind of siege weapon looking like a giant crossbow.
I nod in agreement with Ravenau's ruse but look to Kalsgrim for confirmation before sending forth my summons.
At Kalsgrim's word I move out of sight of the castle walls and call upon an agent of the goddess, a silvanshee agathion .
Once it appears, I bow respectfully and outline our plan, suggesting that the noble creature uses its smoke-like form to avoid harm.
If your Goddess' creature will be kind enough, I will veil us just prior to the summoning. Everyone stay close, no more than ten feet from me once the spell is cast, otherwise, you will be visible to mortal sight once more. I would suggest holding on to each other, so that an errant gust of wind does not undo our well laid plans. Also, if any one of you attacks, you will become visible, but the rest of us will remain hidden for the duration.
Once the agathion is summoned and Malaswyn has cast air walk on the party, Merten casts invisibility sphere. Luca gathers in close as well to receive the benefit.
The summoned Agathion takes off as you start climbing in altitude, the five of you invisible.
Presently, it is spotted and a ring's clamour rises from the tower. From the different towers, men armed with bows gradually trickle out. Different emotions can be seen on the faces of the bowmen, but their sergeants' bark bring them back to order.
With imposed resolution, they raise their bows and let fly at the summoned creature, but without success.
Suddenly, from the courtyard fly six rocks of great size. Hurled with precision, they disrupt the misty creature, but do little else, which elicits loud curses from the six hill giants you can now see from your higher vantage point.
Taking direction from Kalsgrim, I set off at a run: leading my companions through their first, strange experience of air walking.
I chuckle slightly as walking hand in hand reminds me of childhood trips.
Feeling a slight pang of desire to descend and dance with the giants to see who could prove their mettle... Raveneau does not succumb to the thought, instead following along and adding "We should seek confinement and dance within if we can. To prevent those giants from the fray would do us a service."
From this height, you can see the striking difference between the extent to which the baron went to protect his own, with great stone walls and an imposing fortified tower, compared to the dismal wood palisade surrounding the town.
There is no obvious access through the roof, made with what looks like copper tiles of great size (and weight, one would guess).The windows of the tower are all covered with wooden shutters, which would seem odd, if you didn't know the baron has had a rough patch.
A double door in the courtyard is the obvious access to the tower. But you spot two doors on each side linking the battlements to the tower. Each has a guard very near, obviously tasked with the guarding of it.
The great balcony on the third floor sports two sets of double doors.
Beginning to point before realising the folly of the action, Raveneau describes "Where the battlements link to the tower. A single guard, ended swiftly then breach the door. Through incantation I could blow the man clear from the wall and into the wild?"
That balcony has a likely look to it. I imagine a door with a guard quite possibly has a lock as well. The door that one assumes needs no guard may be easier to breach. Either way, we could inspect it first, then decide what to do. A screaming guard, plummeting to his death might draw attention...
But a sleeping guard, well, guards fall asleep all the time...
Luca grins a toothy grin at Raveneau. If he manages to fight off my spell, knock him off the battlements, yes?
"Personally, I'd love to see him fly off into the wild." He grins at the thought. "Buuut, if you could make it to where you can take him out without him screaming like a banshee and alerting everyone, I guess that'd work too -- it's not nearly as fun to watch though." He winks, grinning again.
Luca attempts to open the balcony door using mage hand.
The doors don't budge.
Looks like time for Luca's sleep magic, with some shoving in reserve.
The guard slumbers as you arrive by the door, Malaswyn appearing suddenly to catch him.
On him you easily find the key and the door can be opened.
I put the guard down gently and whisper, "Well done."
Then I turn the key in the lock and open it but do not lead in. Instead, I stand with bow in hand, scanning the courtyard.
"Nice work, people. One of you drag him inside and see if we can find a closet or something to stuff him into. Just don't wake him. Let me make sure the coast is clear first before we move in." Kriger peers within, looking and listening for any form of movement.
Luckily the invisibility hides the slight pout that Raveneau bears and the wistful look towards the wall and where the man might have flown to. With a shrug he puts it behind him and makes ready to move in queue into the castle. "Could always leave him where he is... we lock the door behind us they might just think he fell asleep on the watch... but likely best to stow him within."