Something Wicked This Way Comes (Inactive)

Game Master Fanguar

Haruk looks to Ember 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (8) + 15 = 23 Bluff and signs 'Should we not handle the guards first?'

She auto understands as I beat the DC 20 check to pass a complex message

Vank moves to the side of the door and readies to cast silence as the door opens.

As Haruk and Amber share a look and some complex signal betwixt each other, the brutish wretch wearing-guardsman-skin halts and waits.

He clenches and unclenches his paw upon the hilt of his weapon, clearly keen to usher the living to their enviable fate.

Kaynen's Disable is only +5, not sure if we have anything better.

Bending down, Kaynen examines the lock, before standing and pushing back his hair again.

"Beyond my skill, really. Perhaps if I studied more, but studying was always so dull."

Kaynen takes a look down the stairwell.

"Perhaps we can go, acquire the key from the good fellows below?"

So door is locked and no one can open it at the moment. What now?

Waiting on Ember's response first

Vank moves away from the door "Three options, we come back tomorrow with speciality magics or after we get someone who has a key. Or will kill the guards downstairs in the hope they have keys. Or I cast silence and we have 24 seconds to bash down the door."

Was sick, sorry for the delay.
Ember isn't versed enough to pass messages thru hand signals or symbols, so she just whispers back "Yes, that's good. Let's get rid of them and see if they have any keys." she says backing away from the door.

For a moment, she thought about asking Xanos if he had any magic that could open the door, but he was demoted from ally to a good for nothing bragger and charlatan in Ember’s mind, so she doesn’t ask for anything, and would be surprised if the man could do anything at all.

Once they are far enough: "Use your spell to cover any sound the guards might make, if we are lucky enough, they'll have keys for this door. But don't kill both of them; we need some Intel about this place."

Kaynen adds, "Well, don't kill one of them right away... we also don't want any witnesses."

The bard-alchemist begins humming to himself, searching for appropriate funerary rights for the men before stopping.

"Or, I suppose we could try the Branderscar "guard trick" all over again. Let me see if I can apply my charms to one of the men."

If possible could we call one of the men over to the stairwell for a question, and give Charm Person a try? DC13.

Albrέkt eyes the door, hungry to destroy it until discussion turns to murder most foul;

"Heh. Herr Catesby... I also hav majickz... Minn Murderus Kommand jah?"

Albrέkt can also cast Murderous Command on one of the guards... we can wager on the winner... :)

Things that go bump...

"Albrekt I'll cast the silence on you, when I finishes casting you, get down the stair and at them as quickly as possible. I'll be right behind you. Everyone else if you want to cast spells stray more than 20ft behind Albrekt."

Moving to the stair immediately above the two guards he counts down with one hand as he casts silence on Albrekt.

Albrέkt grins, then slowly lumbers back toward the two guardsmen...

Sorry I totally thought I posted a hint. I must have hit preview and forgotten to hit submit. That's completely on me, sorry about that.

From behind the door you can heat a muffled voice,

"Easy, easy. No need to crowd, you'll all get your dinner..........Well aren't you a clever one.........Oh don't you go nipping me you little blighter..."

That's the locked door we're about to cast silence upon and hack open? Maybe we should just knock?

"Knock or let's move down. But do something!" Ember whispers angrily pushing other to take action.
I'm up for hunting the guards down there or trying to have the door open.

Bank will knock on the door then step back weapon ready.

Albrέkt sticks to his side of the plan and continues to lumber down the stairs.

When he reaches the guards the lanky skin he wears smiles disarmingly and nods back toward the stairs;

"Ach! Shot mein bolt too qvikly! Go hav fun I vill kover here..."

Bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 ...Scheisse...

Upstairs:

At you knock, the cries of the birds rises to a cacophony. "Ah shut yer beaks."

There is the sound of a heave beam being slid out of the way and the rattle of a key in the lock. Eventually the door opens a crack and a disheveled, bearded face pokes out. The man gives you a squint eyed glare and holds out his hand. "Well, gimme the message. Where's it headed?"

Downstairs:

The pair of guards give Albrekt a hard look, "We're good where we are, thanks. You don't look familiar, who's you Captain?"

Albrέkt smiles, any second now the hobgoblin's guttural magicks would wash over them, stealing from him the opportunity to be heard, or his ears to hear the guards screams. He would be quick then;

"Mein Kaptain? Yes I serve..."

The lanky guard allows the answer to hover for a second...

... before his disguise fades like a mist, revealing the brutal wretch beneath. Grinning with cracked teeth, Albrέkt finishes his words, before he begins the killing:

"... Der Blassen Prinzessin... "The Pallid Princess"... Death..."

GM-Fang: Initiative? Surprise Round?

Just so Albrέkt doesn't get wiped alone while the others deal with the rookery, I’ll have Ember follow him downstairs.
Giving up on the indecisive bunch, Ember follows Albrέkt downstairs to whatever plan the man wants to put in motion. She’d been repressing her urges to violence and destruction, and today is a good day as any to set things on fire.

Once Albrέkt revels himself, Ember laughs ”You could have died in pleasure. Now, only pain will be your future!”

Wiped out... by paltry guardsmen!? Pah! Ye of little faith lol

NB: Albrέkt is not impulsively going off piste. This is Vank's plan... my vampanzer is merely the blunt instrument :)

Kaynen smiles at the disheveled face, like a long-lost sibling returned after years of silence.

"This one's of the utmost importance, it's heading..."

Kaynen sticks his foot in the door to ensure it doesn't close prematurely.

"... wait, is that a corvus albicollis? I've never seen one so..."

He turns, his long hair hiding his smile, expecting his words to be cut short by silence at any moment...

Sorry in trying to get things moving one way there seemed to be indecision again so I thought that plan had been abandoned so tried to get things moving the other way. Now I've created chaos.

Vank casts silence on Kaynen then rushes down the stairs after albrekt

Chaos izt good ja.

@Vank: Recall the guards are 2 floors below you, by the time you get there, the fight will be over one way or the other. I will allow that Ember followed along behind Albrekt, but as you silence is needed for the raven encounter, you should stay there.

Initiative
Upstairs
19 Kaynen
14 Enemy
10 Xanos
8 Vank
8 Haruk

Downstairs
16 Albrekt
15 Ember
14 Soldiers

We will start in the surprise round. So everyone can act. Vank's surprise round action is casting silence, I assume. If you beat the enemies initiate, you may also post your round 1 action as well.

Surprise Round

Albrέkt continues to grin as he shifts forward, bringing his fell scythe to bear on the first guard in a wide brutal swing:

Standard Action+5ft Step = Attack!

Melee - Power Attack: MW Scythe: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
PA Damage: 2d4 + 13 ⇒ (2, 3) + 13 = 18

Critical Threat?: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
Crit Damage?: 6d4 + 39 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4) + 39 = 61

Round 1

Before gleefully hacking at the remaining armsman:

Melee - Power Attack: MW Scythe: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
PA Damage: 2d4 + 13 ⇒ (2, 4) + 13 = 19

@Vank: Recall the guards are 2 floors below you, by the time you get there, the fight will be over one way or the other. I will allow that Ember followed along behind Albrekt, but as you silence is needed for the raven encounter, you should stay there.

We will start in the surprise round. So everyone can act. Vank's surprise round action is casting silence, I assume. If you beat the enemies initiate, you may also post your round 1 action as well.

No problem and yes Vank cast silence in the surprise round.

Surprise Round:
Ember nods approvingly at the display of brutality and uses her bow to make sure no one escapes alive.
Atk | Deadly Aim | Point blank shot: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 1 = 27
Dmg: 1d8 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 2 + 1 = 6

Round one:
Once she fires the first arrow, a maddening smile creep her lips; the smell of blood, the terror and death. Things she missed for so long, it was finally hers again. And with that feeling of pleasure over the others suffering, she attacks once more.

Atk | Deadly Aim | Point blank shot: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 1 = 25
Dmg: 1d8 + 1 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 2 + 1 = 6

Round 1
HP: 27/27; AC: 16 (T12/FF14)
F: +5*, R: +7, W: +5*
Spells Left Today: 1st - 2/2
Cognatogen Left: 1/1
Bardic Perform Left (rds): 6/6
Bombs Left Today (1d6+3 DC14 each): 4/5
Location: Back Row
SA: Throw bomb

Surprise Round

Knowing he has just a sliver of a second before Vank's spell takes hold, Kaynen works to buy time against the room's guard.

Cast Daze, DC 12 Will

Round 1

With the silence effect now preventing him from whistling, humming or performing anything really, Kaynen's hand strays to his side, quickly finding a flask and mixing its contents before lobbing it silently at the man before him.

Bomb (ranged touch): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 for 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Haruk fires off a crossbow bolt, not wanting to waste his spells on one person, even without the silence. 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 for 1d8 ⇒ 8

The birds

The birds were the mission. They all had to die.

Xanos stood back from the edge of the Silence effect and threw a handful of pebbles in the air.

The unnaturally quiet room filled with a storm of boulders.

Casting Stone Call. Everyone and everything in the room takes 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9 damage. No save.

The whole room is difficult terrain for 4 rounds.

With fiendish glee, Albrekt and Ember cut down the two guards. Both fall in sprays of blood, with almost identical looks of confusion on their faces. Albrekt's nose flares as the coppery scent of hot blood floods the room.

Upstairs, a silent, but no less deadly, affair is underway. Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17 Shaking of Kaynen's spell, the rookery keepers staggers back as Haruk's bolt pierces his side and the room explodes into flying shrapnel. The man can do little more than watch in horror as his beloved birds are crushed into feathery masses of pulp. In his bloodlust, Kaynen drops his alchemical bomb at his own feet and flames lick his own legs Miss aimed bombs are a bit of a problem with a mapless set up, but you did roll a 1

The keeper pulls free a small horn from his side and puts it to his lips, but no sound can be heard. He has little time to puzzle it out before Varn charges in to cut him down. Sorry for handwaving the end, but without the ravens, the fight is pretty much over. Nicely done with the stone call.

Combat is over

So far, so good. Anything else you want to accomplish? It's as good a time to snoop as you'll ever get.

Ember walks over to the hulking warrior and, happy and feeling good about how things went.
Upstairs, she hoped things went well, but secretly hoped as well that they had embarrassed themselves. Oh how she would love to gloat.

She walks closer to Albrέkt, to close one might say, and all while looking towards the bloody mess in the ground, intentionally exposing her pale skin and her neck.
”That went well, didn’t?” she says as she closes the door, and searches for anything that could be used to bar it.

Haruk will slowly scan the two rooms, looking for any traces of magic. Taking 10 on Perception for a 16, but also casting Detect Magic

Albrέkt stands breathing in the tang of blood and death.

As Ember brushes past him the wretched warrior snaps from his trance, eyes hungrily taking in first the visceral wreckage of the two guards, then the Asmodean's delicate neck and pale inviting skin.

"Ja Fräulein... Most... Palatable..."

He continues to watch Ember as she flits around the room, looking the bar the door.

Mein Gott. I schall tazte zat vun.

If the guards were armed with spears or polearms we could use them?

Vank notices Haruk searching and gives him a hand.
Percetio: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
"Grab a few personal items too. We can be seen by villages disguised as dwarves burying a bunch of his stuff. And if anyone can do a decent illusion of a dwarf climbing down a wall and fleeing that help keep the secret tunnel secret."

Xanos was silent. The job was done and he was not one for gloating or grandstanding. He surveyed the room looking for signs of magical auras. He handed the broken end of the file to Kaynen.

"This goes into the lock. Make sure it jams the mechanism so that it cannot be opened without removing the piece from the lock or battering down the door. It should look like it was used to try to quietly file through the lock pins, but the file was broken in the process."

Kaynen, can you take 20 on a disable device check and plant this in the lock please?

Detect Magic.

Kaynen effects a dramatic bow and accepts the file.

"Absolutely, my dear Xanos."

With a smile, he kneels next to the lock, sweeping back his long hair and allowing his agile fingers to work their magic - whistling as he works.

After completing the task, he stands and surveys the room.

"Ah illusions. Now I wish I had studied more, conjuring a greedy dwarf is such an excellent suggestion, Herr Stormfist."

Kaynen winks at Albrέkt as he addresses his fellow conspirator.

Albrέkt stands a fine spray of guard blood having covered most of his body. The wretch flashes a broken toothed grin at Kaynen's japing;

"Indeed. Der Zwerge vill be our sündenbock... "patziez" Jah?"

@Albrekt: Guards all have longswords. I'm sure you can jam it shut with something at hand, if you really want to.

@all: While I do appreciate the creativity, framing the dwarves will cause little more than some short term confusion. Pretty much just one casting of zone of truth would exonerate them. Assuming it even got that far, as speak with dead will reveal that dwarves were not involved. I just wanted to put that out there, as I don't want to come across as railroading you all, but these kinds of subterfuges become difficult with access to higher level magic. (Of course, if there were no clerics around to cast those spells...)

Are there clerics around with enough levels to cast those kinds of spells? We should probably assassinate them.

"That went well." he looked to Ember pointedly. "That was not very taxing. Should we continue? The guards seem fairly easily deceived. We may be able to add a few more of their leaders to our body count before the night is over."

Ember narrow her eyes dangerously trying to glean any occult agenda from the wizard, but is quickly to abandon the effort, the man was bound by contract, which he couldn’t escape.

"Albrέkt make sure no one will be able to come through this door." she says pointing to the door they were planning to bar and then taking the lead, she moves towards the other door at the base of the tower.
From room 2 to that corridors which gives access to rooms 3,4,5 and 6.

She takes out the copy of the dwarf map. Looking at the it, the rooms in the corridor seemed to be sleep quarters, big sleep quarters.
”Try to not make too much noise.” she whispers back testing if the door is open.
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

@Xanos: You know that the keep has a church overlooked by a Father Donnagin and there are several acolytes under him. What his "level" is, your characters wouldn't be able to know, but Albrekt's detect good ability would have shown a strong aura around him.

Rooms 3-6: all the doors are locked (DC25)

Nothing on the pair of Detect Magics used in this room?

"Xanos, Haruk have you got prestidigitation ready? If you do could you go down and clean up the blood and mess of the guards down stairs. No reason to alert people as to what has happened, and without evidence it might look like they deserted rather than got killed. And if anyone is good at copying handwriting? Here is a sample of the ravenmaster's hand write a message along the line of 'Busy, leave me alone. Slide any messages to be sent under the door'. That should delay anyone trying to get in for a while, I would say for at least a day if they have no reason to suspect it as suspicious."

"After that I think we should go back and wait until tomorrow after the poisoned stew has been eaten and given an hour of two to work and then come back and kill everyone. It would be nice to take out the priest but I have no idea where he is, the place the dwarves marked 27 looks like it might be a church but it'll be very dangerous to get there."

Xanos nodded and went downstairs, hauled the bodies up into the rookery, then magically cleaned up the mess.

A few samples of handwriting later and the wizard had forged a scrawled note and tacked it to the door.

Linguistics (forgery): 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30

"I recommend we add the priest, Father Donnagin to tonight's endeavors. Clerical divinations will undo our misdirection quickly."

"It would be good, he'll be harder to get to. If we can clean things up then divinations might not be a high priority. Either way will be a risk."