Whoa, wait! Don't be scared. I won't tell Lamm if you listen to me... Jarrin tries to distract the heavy just long enough to give his friends an advantage. He then gives his two companions a subtle bit of eye contact as if to say You guys got this, right?
Round 1
Cedric will make a Shh motion to those around him.
Akrem'dar grins, giving the thumbs up to Cedric with one hand, while the other wipes his forehead. Staying silent, he looks for the next order of the day.
Ellismus watches as the last guard is taken down while trying to escape. That could have gone better, but at least he wasn't able to call for assistance, he thinks, ready to continue their plan now that the guards were down.
As the sounds of the scuffle die down, Ashimar peers around the corner. Seeing the guards prone on the ground, she approaches quietly and whispers a silent prayer to Shelyn as she kneels beside them and feels for a pulse.
She senses the others watching her administer aid and looks up feeling the need to justify her actions. We need questions answered and I would rather not see anyone die needlessly... Um... A-and a couple of us should probably keep an eye on the doors in case someone else walks out... . We're too exposed here by the building... Should we move the guards where the can be questioned with no interruptions? Not my place to make that call though...
Who do you think i am? some sort of bloody valentine? They are just Ko'ed that is the whole point of using a sap or the blunt part of a lethal weapon.
Unfortunately we won't be able to ask questions it would take too much time to make them talk if they refuse. We have to separated into 2 groups for a simultaneous attack. Jarrin stay with me. the other take another exit. and go inside silently.
Jarrin use some of that prestidigitation of yours and cover my face in blood coming from my hair line. Like a bad fall. Waltz in with me hanging from your support and lie: just call for Giggle, distract all those you can.
Akrem'dar secure the second team progression. We meet in the middle, and give me back my sap please.
if someone can use that message spell now is a good time we will be able to hear each other.
Now go. get in position and ready. Break the door if you can't get it open. If you need Jarrin will talk loudly.
Yes, we should probably do something about... this. Jarrin says, waving to the two guards. Probably a bad idea to leave them laying about.
Looking at his companions, Ced, fine work with that sap, you've done this before I take it? Akrem, you may want to take up dance lessons. Might improve the footwork? Jarrin flashes a smile at the man before he take too much offense at his comment. I'm just kidding. I'm sure you do much better with that big mallet of yours. In fact, I'm counting on it.
He will do as Cedric asks and assume that we will go in by the door the guards were actually guarding. So, what exactly are you planning here? Do you mean to pose as Lamm's men as we enter the building? Jarrin will ask for his weapon back before the group splits up.
Tolenn had taken position near the corner with Ashimar, watching the take down of the guards proceed successfully.
Keeping a watch on the doors, she strides up to where Ashimar is tending the unconsious watchmen "Excellently done! Which doors are you going ot enter? We three should take the front doubles. I'm going to the far side to see if I can block the single door there." She hands Jarrin his rapier with a grin.
She then walks to the other side of the building where the single door lies . Once there she sees if its possible to wedge her crowbar into the door to jam it.
Jarrin kneels down to the eye level of the cleric and puts a soft hand on her shoulder. Look at me Ashimar, and listen to what I have to say. Blood is going to be spilled tonight. Not everyone we'll meet inside will be a drunk or an idiot, I won't be able to simply talk our way along until we get to Lamm. If you are not prepared for any of that, perhaps it would be best to leave the dirty business to the rest of us. However, I'm sure we'll need you as I fear that some of the blood that will be spilled could be ours. We need your help. We need you to be our moral compass. Do you trust us? Will you trust me?
Fayne will stay crouched with the cleric until he gets an answer. Once he does he will smile, pat her on the shoulder reassuringly, then stand up to face Tolenn. Upon seeing his weapon, Ah, yes. And thank you. It was nothing really, these brutes did the dirty work.
Jarrin will wait to see if Tolenn was successful with barring the door with the crowbar. He'll then wait for Cedric to answer his earlier question and wait to hear what the complete plan is going to be.
Yes jarrin, i my work involves dangerous creatures so i am indeed a pro when its comes to that. My game plan is very risky for both of us. We go in i look wounded you can say i was left in front of the door. Try to be loud and bring lots of people in toward us. They in the meantime will enter trough the back. Take out silently any guards or people.
you and i won't be able to hold that charade more than a minute i think.
I soon as i sense the situation turning against us i will spring into action, knocking out all those in front of me. Since we will only be 2 invaders they would be confident about taking us out. Therefore lamm will not think about running away until the second team is discovered.
But then i am hoping they will have done enough damage, or cover enough room that lam will not be able to use any of his exits.
We are both lightly armored and i will have no weapon except for the saps. Both of us will be in grave danger. and i see from the way you handle yourself and carry your weapons that you would be better off in a medium armor. Therefore this is putting you even more into grave danger. But i am counting on the fact that you are smart and can cure yourself and me when we will need it. Plus you are the one more suited to carry out that initial bluff. from what i could see of your initial performance.
Ah, I'm glad you already trust me enough to place me in such peril. So do we have any method of coordinating this endeavor? Magic messages or the like? I'd hate to start our ruse and our other half be stuck outside a locked door.
i am hopping that Ellismus does, and if not we will have to revert to the old count of 3 in our heads.. says cedric almost with a smile.
Tolenn had taken position near the corner with Ashimar, watching the take down of the guards proceed successfully.
Keeping a watch on the doors, she strides up to where Ashimar is tending the unconsious watchmen "Excellently done! Which doors are you going ot enter? We three should take the front doubles. I'm going to the far side to see if I can block the single door there." She hands Jarrin his rapier with a grin.
She then walks to the other side of the building where the single door lies . Once there she sees if its possible to wedge her crowbar into the door to jam it.
Tolenn moves quickly to the elevated walkway that extends from shore out over the water some 8 feet above it. A slippery Boardwalk clings to the side of the fishery, held together by barnacle-thick pylings that have been worn halfway through their thickness at the waterline.
Jarrin will look to Ellismus for the answer to that and it looks like we will also wait to see what fate Tolenn has also.
Ashimar's eyes flash angrily at Cedric's comments about the point of using a sap and his brashness before she lowers her gaze. I know what a bloody sap is varisian. Some of us have more patience and sense than to go barging in without knowing what we're getting ourselves into.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looks over facing Jarrin at eye-level and listens patiently. I have no qualms about blood being spilled Jarrin... nor do I expect us to be able to talk nicely to Lamm and his cronies and surrender to us.Do they really think of me as weak? Just because I choose not to be a savage about it and spill unnecessary blood?
She points at the house.In there are innocents... children. I would not see them hurt. I have already decided to aid this group in any way possible.You speak of morals Jarrin Fayne; and yet, I heard your desire to kill Lamm back at Zellara's. True morals serve the good of all sir, not just one. Does he deserve to die? Yes - but are we truly the ones to mete out that judgement? How many others has he wronged Jarrin? What about their desire to see him hang at the end of a rope? I understand the need for revenge... but before you set out to seek revenge, remember to dig two graves - one for your adversary and one for your soul, because it will be empty after you have your revenge.
She turns away from Jarrin assuming he has his answer and stands up over the guard. Speaking softly so only Jarrin (and Tolenn as she is apparently close enough to overhear while handing the rapier back) can hear Ashimar.
Nodding at Ashimar's suggestion, Tolenn motions the others to help move the unconscious guards to a more hidden location in the bushes.
The she says "Yes, these dog tracks....can anyone tell how recent they are? Louts such as these are easy to fool, but a guard dog will not. If a dog is present, we may want to avoid the front door" . Smiling, she nods and moves off to try to secure the other door with her crow bar.
Arriving at the walkway, Tolenn frowns then crouches to see if there's evidence that the walkway or door had been used recently; is there marks on the walkway from the door opening etc...
Perception
Jarrin sidesteps out of the way of anyone taking the guards off out of sight, he'll let the others do that type of work. Don't worry, Ash, I'm always trying to keep a Plan B working in my head should things go afoul. Hopefully the wizard over there has a couple of arcane tricks we could use.
Fayne stands still for a moment, as if in thought. Yes, the dogs are an issue and could be anywhere inside. Cedric's plan does have us coming into the place as if we belong there though, we are not attempting stealth. The dogs are likely only a small worry. I'm more concerned about coordinating our plan.
Akrem'dar nods, smiling and cracking his knuckles. His voice is low, and he asks quietly. "Do we want to go with lethal or non-lethal for the rest of folks? Outside of kids?"
The giant man stretches and prepares to head along. "I'm no strategy man. I'm the squish it dead sort."
When was the last time any place of business left their doors unlocked after-hours for people to 'waltz in'? Do you sleep with your doors unlocked Jarrin? Perhaps Tolenn will discover if the one she has gone to check is locked or not... If they are indeed locked, then wouldn't breaking them down only serve to awaken the entire building?
One of them indicating the unconscious guards might even have keys on him. Has anyone thought to search their persons? Questioned, they coluld give us the exact location of Lamm inside so we can pick the right entry and egress points...
There's no sign of activity right now. Lamm isnt going to move his operation in the span of an hour... Why rouse the entire enemy force if we dont need to?
Cedric will take a position by the front door in order to surprise anyone that would come out trough it to check or relieve the front guards.
The idea was to hit them quickly before Lamm could move. Bad guys generally do bad things at night and plenty of people stay out well past midnight. If this is a den of operations I can see people coming in and out at all hours. Still, you might have a point that hitting these guys later at night could prove useful. We could just watch the doors to be sure Lamm does not leave.
Jarrin will search the guards for anything useful as they are being moved.
Akrem'dar and Jarrin each search a guard at Ashimar's urgings and come up with 2 Gold, and 10 Silver on each . They do not find a key however.
Ellismus listens to the conversation on the plans and watches as the unconscious bodies are moved to the bushes. What have I gotten myself into? I may as well have walked into a trap for all the good their 'planning' will do us.
"I'm afraid I have not focused my magic on the transmission of messages," he says in response to Cedric's 'hopes' and Jarrin's unspoken question. "For the purposes of the planning... 'this wizard' may be able to deal with some of the youths, putting them to sleep with a spell and also can cloud the minds of single individuals for a moment to prevent them from acting. Other items may not be germane to the subject at hand."
"I'm not sure of the wisdom of splitting the group in twain. Particularly since the 'trick' requires some to pose as members of the crew. I'm afraid you may not necessarily look the part, and the clothes of the other two have now been further sullied by being dragged across the ground. I expect your 'ruse' will not last beyond a few seconds at best. And with two effectively summoning the might of the entire crew to them, the other group, entering a less well used door, may not be able to join until, I fear, it may be too late."
"I would reiterate the suggestion of blocking all doors... I would even hazard using our unconscious friends over there as doorstops... and entering through one of what may be the lesser used entryways, allowing us to systematically, and hopefully silently, deal with our opponents, unready and apart. But if you wish to risk bringing their entire might to bear, feel free... I'll be with the other group."
I don't see anyone with any items, tools to bars doors effectively, and its take me about 30 seconds to completely destroy a barred wooden door using my weapons, hence rendering that tactics useless. you would need reinforced steel doors to effectively prevent that,(It would take me about a good 2-5 minutes to destroy them) Using the guards as doorstop won't work as i am probably sure that lamm and his crew don't really care about preserving lives of others.
if you had listen carefully about what i said the one posing would be myself and jarrin not anyone else since as you rightfully pointed out the other don't really look the "part". And as i have said i don't really expect that ploy to last more then 30-45 seconds. But these seconds might be all you need to cover the ground that needs to be covered.
And we can't really wait for hours now that we have taken these two out as people from the inside might be looking for them soon, and that will in turn arouse awareness.
And yes we could bring them back to consciousness and ask them about the interior but what if they refuse to answer? who has a method for extracting information from someone who doesn't want to give it? I personally do not have that. I can try to convince them to talk but i can't force them to do so.
Like i said my plan is very risked and i did point out those part and explained how and what. But that just involves me. I'll follow any other plan the majority will want to do.
And yes we could bring them back to consciousness and ask them about the interior but what if they refuse to answer? who has a method for extracting information from someone who doesn't want to give it? I personally do not have that. I can try to convince them to talk but i can't force them to do so.
The idea was to hit them quickly before Lamm could move. Bad guys generally do bad things at night and plenty of people stay out well past midnight. If this is a den of operations I can see people coming in and out at all hours. Still, you might have a point that hitting these guys later at night could prove useful. We could just watch the doors to be sure Lamm does not leave.
Ellismus looks at Cedric incredulously. "The intent of blocking the doors is not to absolutely prevent an escape. It is to delay the escape. If it takes 30 seconds to destroy a door, that's 30 seconds closer we would be to the one trying to vacate the premesis. The bodies would not serve as a deterrent for those not wishing to kill, but as heavy weights against a door, thus slowing them down. Other methods of blocking a door surely exist without items purchased from a store. Someone who is capable with small technical devices could jam the lock. A simple wedge of wood could be slipped under the crack. A log or stout piece of wood could be tilted against the floor and door...," he says with a hand circling in the air.
"I dare say," he continues, "you and Jarrin don't necessarily 'look the part' either. Also, Lamm is not an idiot, nor are some of his lackeys, not to mention the possibility of dogs or other such creatures. If they are truly here, I don't expect your ploy to last more than a few seconds. Without knowing the layout or the numbers inside, you and Jarrin risk being overwhelmed before the rest of us arrive on the scene. And then we would arrive on said scene, two men down and facing an unknown number of armed and ready opponents. Effectivley their full might in one locale."
Sure i can try to disable the opening of the doors. I'll do my best. says cedric from the shadows.
Eyeing the rickety landing, Tolenn thinks to herself "If I slip and fall , any chance of us entering undetected is vanished. Plus it doesn't look like this entrance is used very often, if at all."
Casting her gaze about, her eye settle on the corner. Kneeling she takes her crowbar and wedges it into a crack between two slats, at shin level.
Standing she surveys her handiwork, hopefully anyone running out this door and manages to avoid sliding off into the water, will run right into this crowbar and trip.
With a nod, Tolenn walks quickly back to the others.
She finds them huddled , in intense conversation about what to do next. Joining them she says "The far door does not appear to be in much use, probably because it has a very dangerous walkway to navigate. I've set up my crowbar as a trip on the corner, hopefully anyone fleeing that way will hit it and fall."
Taking a breath she continues, "I heard a bit of your discussion as I came near. I believe that our original plan to split and enter two different doors is sound; i propose the two sets of double doors. We would avoid the bottle neck of a single door. The third door, down the stairs, should be blocked or disabled somehow. If we can glean some information from one of the guards...we should do so; if only to verify what lays in our immediate path.".
Pausing, she seems a bit nervous to have all of your attention at once , but she presses on "We may be fortunate; if this is the standard we can expect of Lamm's defenders."
Ashimar looks down at the unconscious guards in the bushes with a small smile playing on her face unnoticed by the group, happy to have convinced them to see things her way. Well now, this is a first. Who would have thought logic and rationality that is so commonplace in Longacre would have a place out in the real world as well.
She kneels beside one of the unconscious guards and carefully hands the weapons off to Akrem'dar. If you don't mind holding these sir. I'd rather he doesn't get belligerent when I rouse him. C-could you stand close and look menacing to make sure he's properly cowed?Not that you'd need to work hard at that.
Ensuring the guard is disarmed and that help is nearby should the situation go awry, Ashimar unpacks her healing kit and waves a pungent smelling vial under the guard's nose.
Ashimar puts the vial away as the guard's eyes flutter open. She leans forward doing her best not to wince visibly at the aroma of liquor and puts a smile on her face.
Welcome back friend. Shelyn be praised - I'm glad you weren't hurt too bad. Unlike some - Ashimar gestures meaningfully at Jarrin and Akrem'dar behind her - I mean you no harm. All I seek is information. What harm can mere words do? We know Gaedran Lamm has control of the fishery. He's the one we seek, not you. Help us friend, renounce this ugliness around you and help us bring Lamm to justice.
She pauses for effect and adds as an afterthought. My companions here, aren't as gentle as I and you likely wouldn't enjoy conversing with them as much... help us and we can wipe the slate clean and forget any misunderstandings...
I'd listen to her. She seems to be the only gentle soul here.
Akrem'dar grins widely, looking at the guard, flexing and lightly touching the halberd, then the earth breaker, and then the sap, seeming to be looking at them with the eyes of someone who definitely knows what best destroys a body. And Akrem'dar definitely fits the typical appearance of a Shoanti, tall, tattooed, foreboding, and quite possibly as dangerous as the stories say.
Tolenn step up softly behind Ashimar, her calm gaze upon the guard as imposing as the hulking Shoanti beside her.
A faint smile twitches her mouth at Jarrin's comment, the only movement to her impassive features; her eye intent upon the man, plumbing his soul for signs of darkness.
Cedric still in the shadows is paying lots of attention to any sign of trouble coming from the inside of the building.