Pallius interjects: "It doesn't matter if she is a tiefling, a thiefling, or a leafthing! She guided us out here to save the Levington's, and do that we shall!" Putting a hand out to intercede between the two. "This is no time to squabble about who or what we are, we need to do!"
"If you are wanting to do some good, or just kill more goblins, then come with us Lhuar. We can use the assistance."
Noting the fallen priest, Pallius shakes his head "I can carry him with us... it might give others pause though.."
Tossing a glance at the unconscious Gregor, then back at Naeli, Jerod responds with a shake of his head. "I've seen a few tricks in my time, but I possess no magical aid for this man, if that's what you're asking. " Then, with a grin of confidence, he adds, "I believe he'll be okay with some rest. You can trust me, I've played a doctor on stage. "
Noticing her features in the rain, a look of concern would be quite obvious on his face, and it would be clear to her that he is struck with a bout of uncertainty regarding her heritage. Even so, he says nothing, or perhaps the look on his face said all that was needed, for now. He turns from her to nod to their newfound ally in the streets, a stroke of good fortune in their darkest hour.
"Well met, sir. These hobgoblins have attacked and injured others here in these very streets. Even now they torment the Levingtons in their own estate. Time is of the essence. Will you assist us in taking back the safety of this city?"
"I am more for the sole purpose of assisting the city. Things have been wrong here for far too long."
|
If Naeli wanted us dead her mission would have been easily accomplished mere moments ago. She was on the brink of death herself...yet she chose to stay and fight. That earns her my trust and respect..for whatever that may be worth.
With effort Gregor rises to his knees.
A Tiefling she may be; but I wouldn't hold her responsible for the actions of others of her race any more than I would want to be held accountable for those of mine.
With a grimace, Gregor rises to his feet.
I fear I will be unable to call upon Gorum again this night. If we are to continue we must be cautious.
Naeli nods a thanks at the cleric, before continuing. "If you wish me to go my own way after we help the Levingtons, very well. But I followed you men because you spoke of standing up for this city. Outcast though I may be, this city is my home, warts and all. You'll find I have a very personal stake in seeing that the dottari, and the rulers of this city, pay for their crimes. What I am doesn't matter....but what are you, dwarf? If you're a friend to Westcrown you will follow us this night...."
And with that, she drew her hood up again and turned away to face the dark....
"Then let us purge the evil from this city then. Lead the way and I shall follow."
Looking over the corpses, Pallius says: "Give me just a moment..." And will relieve the corpses of their weapons/ammunition/coinage.
Adding a pair of the weapons to his backpack, Pallius offers the others to the party. "They won't be needing it."
Turning to Pallius, Jerod lifts both hands, palms out, to refuse the offer with a shake of his head. "No, I won't be needing that. My wit can cut deeper than any blade, and should that fail in some unforeseen circumstances, I have my rapier, a true gentleman's weapon."
Turning to Naeli, and then looking back at the party, he continues, "Perhaps it would be best if our guide, Miss...Naeli, here, directed from a position other than the front? That initial volley was not our finest moment, and I think it in our best interest to avoid such difficulties in the future."
After a moment's time, he speaks up again. "...Or perhaps we could try sneaking up and in?" With that, he crosses his arms to his chest, throwing glances around into the darkness now and then, as though expectant.
"Lead on!" Pallius exclaims, having stowed away the extra armaments.
"Miss Naeli, you said you were familiar with the estate? Is there a way to get to the side entrances... not so open from the street?"
You make your way down the streets and continue toward the mansion in the cold rainy night. Eventually, without further incidents either from dottari or hobgoblins, you reach the walled estate. It appears once the Levington manor was one of some acclaim, as the estate occupies a whole city block, surrounded by a 10' stone wall. You see a covered wagon parked by the entrance but no goblins of any kind can be seen anywhere as the streets are deserted. As you pass by from across the street, you see there are gardens within the estate, as well as the manor, the house entrance a mere 25' from the front gate. No guards are posted outside either. The condition of the estate, however, does reflect the prosperity of its owners. The gardens have not been looked after in some time and weeds flourish; the walls surrounding the estate have ivy growing on them, and the manor's walls need a paint job in the worse way. As you look at the estate from across the street, you see no movement and all you hear are the steady raindrops.
The group comes to a halt across from the entry gate, the continued dreary weather and the trauma of the previous fight having done little to improve their spirits.
"Here it is, then. I remember little about the interior, but I do know the wall runs all the way around the estate. We might be able to climb the wall around the back, or someone could sneak a look through the front gate..."
Wiping the rain from his eyes, Pallius shifts his weight to send a pool of rain on his backpack cascading to the ground. "I'm for going around back, the wall is short enough. The last time someone went ahead, it didn't go so well."
"Front or back, make no difference to me."
"There's a spot around back that might be good. If I remember this style of manor, there's likely to be a rear or servants' entrance of some kind."
Taking 10 with the assist from the others to make the climb.
Waiting until the dwarf had reached the top, Pallius readies to make his ascent. "What do you see?!" He hisses above the rainfall.
The party secures holds, tie ropes, and throw grappling hooks before climbing up the wall. Then to climb down, you do much of the same to avoid hurting yourself. Lhuar looks around but the shutters to the back entrance are closed, blocking line of sight of his darkvision. He feels completely confident that no one has been alerted to your presence.
Having made his way over the wall, Jerod crouches low, keeping an eye out in the darkness. "What do you see?" he whispered to the dwarf. "Do you think anyone suspects what's coming?"
The actor then crept over to the tiefling, quiet as he dared. "Miss... Naeli, if things go awry, what is your contingency plan? What do you make of all this?" he asks, then comments quietly: [b]"..this reminds me of a rather interesting character I took part as in a story once..."
Then, he explains, "...you see, the would-be hero was sneaking into an estate in order to rescue his beloved from the despotic clutches of her father. Of course, the place was much bigger than this..." He adds in a lower voice, almost as an after-thought, stroking his chin as he does so, "...didn't really like how that one turned out though. They wrote my character out of the play in Act 2. As the protagonist I met my untimely death, but it did give me a new perspective on torture scenes."
The quiet inside the compound was haunting.
Turning to Jerod, she said "Well, sir....let us hope you don't have to draw on your previous experience. And....thank you for coming. And staying, after...my dark secret came out, as it were."
She smirked. "Contingency plan....we run? I'm afraid it was long ago when I was last a guest of the Levingtons, and at the time lost in my own problems. Regardless, we should be more cautious. That attack in the street seemed an ambush, and I'm not keen have to pull a second arrow from my chest.
Let us look for a servant's entrance, and ware the windows..."
"Anyone see that back entrance?" Pallius whispers in the darkness.
Perception:
Again, you all feel confident that your 2-3 minute climb over a 10' wall was unseen by anyone. The backdoor is 10' away from your current position, though you cannot see in, as the shutters have been closed. What you can tell is that it is dark, no light sources of any kind that you can see. The rain continues to fall and the occasional thunderclap shakes the sky.
"Psst.. Do you want me to make light? I can, if you wish... though it may alert everyone nearby," Jerod whispers to the others.
Seeing the back door, Pallius approaches: "I'll open the door, just be ready to do something if there are more hobgoblins."
Pallius tries the door but it appears to be locked.
Nodding to Pallius, Jerod reaches into a pouch on his backpack, rummaging for something. "I have a trinket that may be of use; worth a try," he says in hushed tones. After a short time, he produces a small key, generic enough in its design to fit most locks. "Never know when something like this will come in handy," he whispers again. Jerod hands the skeleton key over to Pallius, waiting for him to try it out. In the meantime, he hunches down a few paces from the man, dubiously peering around at the darkened windows and structure of the house.
Standing well back of the door, Naeli grasps her shortspear and whispers, "I'm ready."
Pallius looks at the key in his hands, "You rich guys get all the good toys.." Smirking as he tries the key in the door.
Source Adventurer's Armory
Many door locks have a similar design and thus can be unlocked by a similar key. A skeleton key may be tried on any standard door lock that uses a key, even if you don’t have the Disable Device skill. You use the key’s Disable Device bonus of +10 rather than your own total; you cannot take 10 when using a skeleton key. The key only gets one roll for any particular lock. If the roll fails, the key is unable to open or close that lock. Inferior skeleton keys may only have a +5 bonus.
Pallius inserts the skeleton key in the lock and it fits, unlocking the door. However, as he is about to turn the knob, suddenly the shutters open and the red eyes of a hobgoblin stare back at him, freaking him out! Jerod's Daze spell goes off, but the goblinoid creature resists!
Round 1:
After casting his short incantation, Jerod frowns upon seeing that his spell, unfortunately, was not super effective. Readying himself for combat, he draws his short bow, affording a longing, however brief, glance at the expensive skeleton key no longer in his personal possession.
Move action:draw bow.
Standard action:
Attack:
Damage:
Penalties to my attack roll have not been taken into account.
The hobgoblin thrust his long sword forward through the glass, breaking it, into Pallius' gut, cutting the human warrior significantly! He smiles and then blows the signal whistle dangling from his neck.
Grunting in pain , Pallius swings back with his own weapon!
Attack: -window penalty
Damage:
Move action: open door