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Gima calms somewhat now that Kelris has mentioned that you plan on escaping in the future, though she looks curious as to how you will accomplish it.
Sabert starts to interject, but Kelris' obvious desire to bring the pain to himself rather than others stops him. He spits in distaste as the gnolls each smack him, but holds his tongue. However, as the gnolls continue their brutality, he decides to fake it a bit..
"Please.. No More!! We will behave and be good slaves.. you have shown us the error of our ways!!"
"Now is not the time!! We MUST wait until we get inside the stronghold or the whole thing will be bust!! Remember the words of the Venture Captain!!"
The gnolls snarl and posture some more but Fethril's spell casting makes them wave off the group as a whole. One says something to the other making them both break out in roaring laughter. They call the rest off early and begin leading again but not before making sure the leashes are even tighter.
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Relieved, Sabert settles back as the gnolls take their hyena with them as go back to what they were doing. As soon as he can, he returns to his mind message.
"Gemma, Please! Be patient. We have a plan to escape and to try and take the head off this organisation.. or as much of it as we can. When we do that, I promise that there will be as many slaves freed as we possibly can! Just think.. would you rather be out there right now, starving and alone, or would you rather actually do some good for a lot of the other slaves??"
On the morning of the third day of travel, a roc flies high overhead, casting its shadow across the group. The gnolls seem worried and order their prisoners to hustle for the remainder of the trip.
Sabert is also adversely affected by the forced march.
A wall of ochre bricks bristles at its base with sharp stakes, barring entrance to a deep round hollow in the red rocky cliff. The wall curves at a small watchtower with a leather tent roof. Beyond the wall, the cliff rises over a hundred feet, its lower reaches dotted with shallow caves.
On arriving at the gate, a gnoll in the watchtower, wielding a longbow, shouts down to the ones escorting you, exclaiming something in their bestial language. Even those who don’t speak Gnoll can tell that she’s in a good mood and catch her use of the Common word “wine.”
There are two hyenas in the courtyard that growl as you pass, but don't do anything more. Once inside, you have a moment to survey the gnolls’ defenses, including the iron portcullis over a cave entrance, some nearby kennels, and the slave pen. This also gives you a glimpse into gnoll culture as hyenas laze or lope around in the courtyard and several gnolls lounge inside the barracks playing a dice game.
The gnolls order you to leave the chest in the room just past the portcullis. A stone dais painted with a hyena-like face occupies the center of this round chamber. A wide, eight-foot-high ledge runs around the perimeter of the room with a crude ladder to the east connecting the floor and elevated area. To the south, an iron portcullis hangs over the entrance to the caves. Several shallow caves with wooden gates and floors covered in straw open into this room from the north. A door to the east and a door with a barred grille to the west lead to other parts of the stronghold. A shattered wooden box and several dozen scraps of sodden, torn paper lie scattered across the floor. Lying on the floor is what appears to be a mutated hyena.
The gnolls gesture to you to leave the chest on the floor before leading you to the west into the slave pens. The slave quarters consist of a single long room with several bunk beds against the back wall, a pair of buckets in the corner, and a heavy wood door that can be barred from outside. They gesture for Fethril and James to stay outside the pens and wait before stalking off to the east.
A Kelishite man wearing a pale linen scarf about his head and an excessively wide grin on his face, resides here with two other slaves. The Kelishite stalks toward all of the new arrivals before speaking, "Welcome! I am Korshad, overseer for our masters. Though I wear a collar, you’ll find it’s best to do as I say! Now, they lock us in at night when they go hunting, but mostly we have the run of the place, nearly as much liberty as the hyenas. You’ll be trained to be excellent house slaves, then taken back to the ships to be sold to nice noble families. It may seem harsh, but if you take to it, it’s probably a better life than you were used to before. Meanwhile you should get some rest and we can begin your lessons in the morning. As the proverb says, ‘When the day is hottest, even the busy must rest and wait.’"
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The mage looks toward his human companion as their allies are escorted away. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could use some food, wine and a good night's rest. Do you think the beasts will come back to show us our quarters, or do we have to take care of it ourselves?" Fethril tries to take a rough head count of defenders in and on the walls, both the two-legged and four-legged canines. Seriously, with all the salivating, fur, fleas, barking and yipping, it is difficult to tell gnolls and hyenas apart. Still, it has to be done. Why do I allow myself to take on all the difficult tasks? Aura, Sbert and Kelris owe me for this.
Korshad just nods when it seems no one is going to challenge him.
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Sabert pants and toils, the hard march rough on him. Finally, they reach the cool dark of their pen and he flops listlessly on a bunk as soon as the "overseer" turns away from them. As Kelris and Aura cluster around him, he wearily sits up and tries to come up with some ideas.
"Aura, you still have your picks?" he begins quietly. At her affirmation he nods. "We have no way of getting word to the others.. I think it would be best to wait until either they come for us or for the gnolls rest.. they will have the most advantages against us in the dark of night. But we will do what you think best here. I've had about enough of these smelly idiots tossing us around. But what do we do about Him??" he says, motioning towards Korshad.
Fethril and James are left to wallow in front of the slave pens as the sun continues to drop in the west. The gnolls that left them there show no inclination to do anything more than leave them there. The mutated hyena in the area with them growls on occasion but doesn't do much more than lay next to the chest of equipment. As dusk falls completely one gnoll comes back and locks the door to the slave quarters, laughing at Fethril and James before walking away again.
Fethril, watching the gnolls and their patterns and habits over time, has determined that the majority of the tribe is out at any given time. He estimates that any fight, from what he's seen, will involve 3 two-leggers, and 1 mutant hyena.
Aura slips out of her slave collar and picks the lock of the slave pens without issue, able to hide what she was doing behind James and Fethril. She then slips to her comrades and softly unlocks each of them from their collars as well as the other slaves sleep nearby.
As Fethril begins casting his spell the hyenadon reacts negatively, getting up and pacing forward while snarling. Additional eyelids open up along its back and flanks, each eye trained on a different part of the room.
It lunges forward but James gets his scythe's haft in the way of its jaws just as Fethril's spell goes off, dropping it to the ground in a heavy sleep. This leaves the trunk free and clear.
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"I'm sure they have food here. They need to keep the merchandise alive. I'll go start dealing with guards. You guys should give me a minute headstart and then go do what you need to do." says Aura as she finished donning her armor. "Figure I should have more than enough time while you guys get your armor on."
repositioning her daggers back to their normal spots, Aura wil then head out.
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Sabert gives his thanks as Aura releases him from the demeaning collar. He stands straight and stretches, limbering up his muscles for the coming activities!
Standing tall, you can see that his entire demeanor has changed. No longer is he the cowed slave, but his friends recognize the spark in his eye as trouble brewing for their enemies! He turns to look at the fellow captives and speaks clearly and decisively.
"Now is the time that we spoke of, Gemma. Here we will rise and fight, ending this misery and releasing as many of the slaves as possible."
He then turns to their other companion, where he sits along the back wall. "You there! Korshad! You have this one chance to remember the man that you once were and join us. Stand up for yourself and even if you don't make it out of here alive, you will have died a death worth remembering, instead of pretending to lord it over people weaker than you. No matter how much extra treatment you get, you are still a slave. Cast off your shackles and join us to fight for what you know in your heart is right!"
"What did I just say? Trying to escape will only anger the gnolls. If its a choice between having all of us killed because of it or having just some of us I'll take the latter option. Stop this, now, and I won't call for the guards."
The rest of the slaves stand back, watching the standoff, not yet convinced by either side.
Korshad begins spluttering, "Better men than us have tried to fight the gnolls! And failed! I thought after our initial discussion you wouldn't cause trouble, but I see you were just hiding your true intentions."
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Sabert turns to Aura as she reports back. "Wait.. we need to deal with this first!!"
Turning back to the other slaves Sabert tries to plead his case again, hoping for safety in numbers.
"We are Pathfinders, and have come to release as many of you as we can manage, but we can only do that with your help. Please! If any of you know of the Society, you know that we are true to our words, and will give our lives to help save you. I pledge that here and now to you. The help you have prayed forr has arrived.. will you allow cowardice to steal this blessing from beneath you? Stand and fight! Your prayers have been answered!"
The rest of the slaves nod along with Kelris, James, and Sabert, their confidence in you making Korshad back down. He quietly steps aside, as the rest of the slaves agree to help out with non-combat needs. Kelris, after hearing Fethril's admonishment, quickly strides over to the mutant hyena and silences it forever.
Your group rushes to the entrance leading deeper into the compound as Aura drops the portcullis leading outside. Some growls and confused snarls sound from outside as the gnolls begin to figure out something is wrong.
The décor in this section of the caves is an abrupt change from the dusty and unfinished slave quarters. This large room includes many of the trappings of a noble household: a table laid with fancy place settings, a vanity and wardrobe that would be at home in a lady’s boudoir, oversized oil paintings of stuffy nobles, a grand staircase and balcony, and even a chandelier suspended from the ceiling.
As you step into the room the sound of rattling comes from the portcullis as the gnolls begin attempting to lift it.