Megan's Kingmaker PbP

Game Master Megan Robertson

Sorry, Barnabus.... forgot your horse gossiping....

Barnabus, the horses are generally content but say that they'd appreciate a good rub-down and to be allowed to have a bit of a frolic!

Calinder, given your roll I think you can recall what you mentioned.

Lothar opens the trapdoor, finding that it is difficult to do quietly, as the ancient stone hinge grinds rather a lot. Pausing and listening, however, neither of you can hear any response...

Once the door is opened, a 10-foot-deep shaft is revealed, leading down to a 5-foot-wide tunnel supported by ancient timbers that leads in the direction of the fort.

"Older than the fort, I think. They may not even know it's here."

"Reminds me tha horses needs a good free frolick in some fields later on."

"Older than the fort, I think. They may not even know it's here."

Lothar nodded his agreement with Rhasa's assessment. This was truly a most fortuitous find. We must see where it leads us, to better understand how it may be used to the Wardens' gain.

He looked down into the shaft, then back over to the ranger. Let's go.

Acrobatics check to drop in safely: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Waiting for the magicion to move aside, she drops in behind him.

Acrobatics 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Lothar and Rhasadilara drop down the trapdoor and find themselves in a rough-hewn tunnel leading north. It looks like nobody has been down here in a looooong time. Decades. Maybe more. It's dark down here, barely enough light filtering down from the open trap for even Rhasadilara's elven sight...

Drawing the masterwork handaxe, she whispers, "Have you light?"

With a smile, the magician produced a 1-foot-long, gold-tipped, iron rod that he struck against the wall of the tunnel.

Using sunrod to light tunnel. Lasts six hours.

Calinder continues to respond to Akiros' question after a pause for thought, "... If I remember my training correctly, the lesser undead such as skeletons and zombies which are the animated remains of those who have died, usually have no capability for independent thought and are given very limited commands to follow. As soon as they are unsure how to implement those commands in a certain situation, they are unsure how to react and usually just give up and return to their initial state."

The tunnel leads directly north for about 50 feet then ends abruptly. Looking up, you can see another trapdoor, this one stone, above your heads. Dead reckoning suggests that you are within the pallisade.

"Aye tis even so, tha wisps o tha swamps err much different looking as torches an lurin tha livin intah fear an death feedin upon fear as a person has a slow death."

Unnecessarily signalling for silence, the elf motions that Lothar should cover the light. As her eyes adjust to the darkness, she slows her breathing and listens for whatever might be on the other side of the door.

1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

Go ninja go... and your partner too. At this rate, you'll have the keep cleared while Gorguk is still cleaning Durok's hooves.

Durok appreciates having his hooves cleaned, and nuzzles your neck, Gorguk.

Meanwhile, underground Rhasa' strains those pointy ears but cannot hear anything...

The elf whispers, "Nothing."

Does it appear that the trapdoor can be opened from this side?

Whispering, "You know, if this is unknown, it might be under several inches of soil. If we get it open tonight, it would be impossible to assume that it was still unknown tomorrow."

Just being eternally pessimistic...

The trapdoor does not appear to be fastened down, at least not from this side. It would open upwards.

How high is it from the floor of the tunnel?

About 10 feet.

No sign of climbing rungs or other ladder-like mechanism?

To Rhasa: If we can get this open, attacking the fort becomes that much easier.

To Akiros: We've gone fifty feet north from the palisade thanks to a hidden trapdoor. Where would that put us if we were up top?

Whispering, "Yes..."

To Rhasa: It's not my intent to state the obvious, but we need to get up there. The magician took a knee and looked up, his hands raised and moving as though he were in physical contact with the door.

casting sift to examine trapdoor above us - Perception check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18; -5 penalty from spell reduces +6 to +1

Absent-mindedly, "Mmm-hmm."

Rhasa studies the trapdoor and the immediate area looking for any sign of how someone would have climbed to it previously.

Perception 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Akiros starts drawing diagrams in the dirt.

"I think," he says looking up, "That you'd come out under the ladder up to the walkway on the south side of the compound. But we didn't know about a trapdoor there... must be something the previous inhabitants left behind, maybe an escape route or something."

Lothar's spell and Rhasadilara's sharp eyes both reveal that the trapdoor opens upwards, it is merely resting on a stone rim. There are no rungs or anything like that leading up to the trapdoor, but there are indentations where you are standing/kneeling that suggest that people leaped down from above - perhaps it was a means of egress rather than entry to the fort above. The walls are heavy clay, you could probably carve yourself footholds if you wanted to.

Whispering, "Perhaps one of us can act as a ladder for the other. Would it be better for the stronger one to lift the door or be the ladder?"

To Rhasa: I'll boost you up. Once you get the door open, pull yourself up and find a spot to hide. You've got better eyes than me, so you'll whisper back what you see and I'll confer with Akiros. We'll figure this out one step at a time. Does that sound like a plan?

"It does. We'll need to douse the light before I open the door, but I'll need it until then."

I'm thinking that Lothar will brace against the wall with his hands, squatting a bit so she can use a thigh as a 'rung', then step up to a shoulder. That should give her ample reach, I think, so the question is whether her strength is up to the task.

Strength check 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Don't need the wall, but everything else is correct. When she clears the trapdoor, Lothar will extinguish the sunrod and wait for her report before following after. Acrobatics check to jump up when the time comes (thank goodness for ki): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

That sounds like a plan, indeed :)

With a boost from Lothar, Rhasadilara can reach the trapdoor and finds that it pivots easily enough... but with a rasping SCREECH from the stone hinges that suggests it's a long time since it was touched.

Somewhere inside a voice says, "What are those frickin' zombies up to now?"

Those watching from the base of the hill see several lights flare up in the fort...

Rhasa's plan was a slightly open the trapdoor and pause for a moment. If she did not detect anything or anyone in the immediate vicinity, she was going to push the door open in a rush and climb out. I'm assuming that the screech of the hinges would be from her shoving the door open.

The ranger cringes at the racket made as the door opens, but she's committed to the plan. Shoving the door completely open, she climbs up and through the hole as quietly as possible and seeks a hiding place from which she can observe the immediate area. Once she's taken its measure and feels the area is clear, she will signal the magician to follow with a whisper.

Asking a lot of favors of the roller here...

Climb (to get up through the hole) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Stealth (to hide once she's up and through) 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Perception 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

"Tha fort stirs."

The magician cringed at the ruckus raised from the opening of the trapdoor, but it couldn't be helped. The only thing they could do now was move quickly.

Waiting for the DM to post a response to Rhasa's Perception....

Calinder lost in thought as they await word from Lothar and Rhasa, is suddenly brought back to attention by Barnabus' comment. As he looks up at the fort, he see that several lights have been lit.

"Oh no! Akiros, has Lothar said anything about what is happening?"

"They must have gotten close err inside fer tha fort tah be all a flutter."

Hoping to send a quick word through the message spell. Dont know if Gorguk can instigate a message or just respond to one given to him.

What's going on? The place is lighting up like someone lit a bonfire in there. Report Lothar.

Regardless gorguk will mount up on Durok readying shield and lance.

When she clears the trapdoor, Lothar will extinguish the sunrod and wait for her report before following after. Acrobatics check to jump up when the time comes (thank goodness for ki): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Lothar will follow after as described above.

Once they both were situated underneath the flight of wooden stairs, the magician began talking with Akiros again, to let Gorguk know that he and Rhasa were safe. Once that detail was handled, Lothar's next conversation with the former paladin consisted of trying to get a better idea of the fort's layout based on the pair's current location.

In a slight panic, Calinder says, "Shouldn't we be getting down there to help Lothar and Rhasadilara."

I don't think Akiros is close enough to tell Gorguk anything. Gorguk is 200ft away from the fort while Akiros is further back I thought.

I believe Akiros and the others are all back further, yes. I believe Lothar has a link directly to Gorguk, so he would update the paladin directly. Or so I assume.

"Patience friend."

Lothar only has two message connections going: Rhasa and Akiros. There was going to be three, but he didn't do the third one. So he can't tell Gorguk anything directly. The paladin will have to be told by someone else (Akiros, Barnabus, or Calinder).

He's nowhere near the other three. I didn't realize we had a Message running between the two of us.

OK:

Rhasa' and Lothar in the fort.

Gorguk (and Durok) in the bushes at the bottom of the hill.

Everyone else back at camp?

That was essentially my understanding. The others might not be at camp, but I didn't believe they had come over with the other three of us.

The message connection between Lothar and Rhasa is there in the event two get separated. The connection between the magician and Akiros is to get location information either as it is encountered or before. Would it have been wise to link Gorguk in as well? Yes... but given that I've played up Lothar's intelligence, this is but one more consequence of the magician's below average wisdom.

That puts Gorguk in a quandary. I thought you included him in at least 1 casting of Message. Since that didn't happen does Gorguk nkow you didn't cast it or not. That answer will determine Gorguk's next actions.

IMHO, Gorguk would be aware of a casting, but he might not have thought of the significance of a lack of casting at the time. Is Gorguk going to make things exciting here in a moment?

I thought we were in two groups,Rhasa and Lothar as one group and then me Calindar and Gorguk waiting as back-up in case something goes terribly wrong. This leaves Dyfrig at "camp"...which I thought was nearby.

Let's just say that if Megan states that Gorguk's not aware that the spell being cast was not also targeting him, he is gong to take Lothar's silence to mean that he is in trouble. Charge Durok!!!

Should grant you a great diversion however since your already in the fort. Megan will post actions and you decide accordingly what is to happen.

If Gorguk is unaware, he will have Durok run 200ft towards the fort looking for his companions. perception 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

If Gorguk is aware, then he will withdraw quickly to get Barnabus and Cal so he can be informed what is going on.