Kwen gives a smile and nods " Alright, I'll take the food stuffs in, provided that the guards have already placed their order." Kwen says. The Iksar part of his mind is disgusted by this whole situation but the transformed half-elf tells this feeling to shut up.
After the guards have placed their order Kwen loads up the, knowing that this could be problematic to say the least the rogue, adopts the broodling mindset and walks towards the entrance where the food stuffs are being taken into the guild.
Markus comes to, not that he wanted to, but staying awake was going to be better, at least he would be aware of what was going to happen. With a snort of disgust the cleric feels the pain of new wounds, his ribs protesting the abuse of more beatings.
Digging deep into his resolve the cleric decides that tonight he would summon a small healing spell on his ribs using his talents and training to make it as quiet as possible.
Looking around he mutters to himself " Well at least I can see my stuff." Glad that he still alive, the embers of hope started to stir in his chest, he thinks that if he had enough time and the guards didn't come running he might be able to augment one of his two cell mates muscles with a quick spell. Markus does nothing at the moment, trying to figure out a plan.
Food stuffs are delivered, kloks are scritched, and just as quickly the group finds themselves back together. Revery and Sajeek have gleaned the best places to satisfy an iksar, and Kwen has discerned the location of the jail cells, and overheard enough to be confident where the princess' approximate location is.
There is a few cells devoted to those that imbibe too deeply in their cups in the same hall as the princess.
What's interesting is that none of the looks look incredibly difficult to pick (DC 30), which likely stems from the fact that no rogues are found within the iksar people.
A slight glow can be seen from the cell of Markus, Velkuriss and Kspress, which they deduce comes from the little automaton. They tossed him in with the gear.
Kwen says to the others " we will need to purchase wine, or some spirits as and bring them to the guards." Kwen whispers to the others, he goes back to the klok who had given them information.
" Perhaps you could point us in the direction of one that sells potent spirits and wine." the rogue says with a bit of a grin the plan starting to come to him, one that had worked before in the past, many years ago. The locks wouldn't prove to be that difficult for the rogue, in fact it seems that the ridged training and thoughts had stagnated the Iksar as a whole. Yes they were very frightening to say the least, but only allowing for the Iksar in general to only be a certain type as a people could also be their downfall.
Pushing these thoughts aside was easy, as the more important things had to be completed as the rogue starts to gather more information.
Markus almost lets out a cry of relief, being able to see something was nice change, keeping quiet wasn't difficult as the human flicks his chin in the direction of the cell that was holding all three of their gear.
Kwen whispers to the other's " Some of the guards are fond of the drink, the ones that are in the cells, I might have a plan." Kwen's body is completely still on the outside, internally he feels his heartbeat start to beat just a bit faster, as the thrill of planning for a caper starts to charge his mind.
Sajeek grins back at Kwen, glad that he had a glimmer of a plan. The transformed vah shir was at a loss for how to sneak in. Let alone free the elven princess. The way out was covered with the magic teleporting stone. It was the getting in part that was going to the harder part of their little adventure in the iksar capital. He was suddenly glad that they didn't have to worry about a disguise.
He goes back over to the female klok, after Kwen asks about a cart and some where they could by some find some strong wine or spirits. He was sure the devious female had a few ideas as too what she could charge them in payment.
Half dousing, Vekuriss was roused from his nap by a soft light. It took the shadowking a minute or two to realize where the light was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the room that their gear was located in. He briefly wonders what might be given off the the soft light. It didn't dance light fire light does. After puzzling it over, he remembers one of the guards tossing the metal doll that Kspres had tried to hide.
Velkuriss wonders how Firiona had managed to keep the metal glowing thing hiding so long. Even covered in filth, he doubted that the muck would have covered up that glow of light. He reasons that it might be some sort of magical item. Something that she might have been able to control.
'It was quite the thing to trust us with it,' Velkuriss thinks to himself, gingerly shifting how he lays on the floor. 'Not that it did much good.' He shifts once more, looking towards the sealed room that held his gear. He puzzles over how they might be able to get in there. Short of stealing the keys from one of the guards. Which was going to be easier in plan then in practice. 'Killing one or two sounds like it would almost be the easier way of getting a key,' Velkuriss thinks to himself. 'But we would all need to work together.'
The shadowknight notices that Marcus was certainly happy to be able to see once more. He could see the humans eyes move as he is actually able to his surroundings. Rather then stare at the darkness with wide open sightless eyes. If anything, Velkuriss was amazed at how resilient the human was. He would have expected that the softskin would have succumbed to his injuries by now. It's not the guards where taking it easy on the human because he didn't have scales.
"I have a bit of a plan," Velkuriss whispers to the other two. He spoke in common so that Marcus could understand him. "If we are to try for the keys, we will have to work together. Kspress would be our lead. He is the deadliest without weapons. We'll only slightly hamper his movements."
Pausing for minute or two, he listens intently for any sound of the guards patrolling. One beating with barbed chains in a day was more then enough.
"But, if we try when there is only on guard keeping an eye on us, we'll have the advantage," Velkuriss pauses once more. "We would have to kill the guard silently, and more importantly, quickly."
" I can improve someone's strength for several minute's with but a word" Markus whispers to the other two. " Even chained I still have mana, not much so I will need some time to regain more."
Strong liquor is purchase from the klok that the group had previously serviced, though nothing the group, or Kwen for that matter, had suggested that the guards were drinkers, especially on duty. Kwen had seen a place where drunkards could be taken, but they appeared to be peopled by the Cabilis populace, rather than the troopers proper.
It is but a wisp of a flame's flicker, that comes in through the never-used food slot, but to Markus it gives him a visual reference point, something he eager needs. Considering how the light source flits about the room, you realize that the tiny automaton is moving about. A moment later the light source goes out.
Revery nods at Kwen in appreciation. His skills in particular are useful in this kind of situation.
"Perhaps you could let us in on your plan, Kwen," he whispers. "We may be able to help in ways you are unaware of."
He wracks his brain trying to figure out ways in. Invisibility could certainly help, but that magic's uncertainty puts extra risk into its use. Others possible: Gate, Memory Blur, Minor Illusion, Lull. Any or all of them might be useful, but it will depend on the plan.
"Let me just say, we should not rush this," he adds.
Kspress feels badly for the elf woman, and suspects the doll is not just a doll. So he is sorry when it is seen and taken, he having done a bad job of hiding it. The wounds heal soon, and again he feels sorry - this time for the human, whose injuries last much longer. But this one said he could heal himself, so perhaps he would be useful if they were to escape.
"I am not trained in such tactics as stealing," he responds in a whisper to Velkuriss' first remark. With the next ones, he is more comfortable. "We need two means of egress at least - one for our chains and one for our door, and ideally, one for the door over there." He points to the room where their equipment is stored. "Once our door is opened, that number drops by one. Did you happen to see or know which keys the guard holds?"
Soon, he notices the automaton moving and then go dark. He wonders if it is magical, possibly enhanced with a semblance of thought or emotion. He looks at the human, and says, very quietly, "Do you think that ... doll ... is something more? Magical?"
Markus spends a few moments pondering what the gnome statue was, more of his training had been spent on healing wounds and combat then the knowledge's of magics.
mysticism
" Alright so my first plan was to go get the guards drunk, but thinking harder about it, I don't think that many of the guards drown their sorrows. We need a way to get into the guild, I have a good idea of where the target is at in the cells and the locks won't pose any problems for me."
" My first plan was to get a cart load it up with spirits and have someone else pull the cart and I would hide underneath the cart, where the axles are next to me, then slip out while the cart is being unloaded. That won't work, so my next plan would be to create a distraction using the potent spirits, a building, and some fire."
" I am not thrilled at that plan at all, too much could go wrong with that plan. We need someway of getting in avoiding getting spotted by the door guards and I should be able to get us down to the cells without too much problems." Kwen says in a low voice, pausing for a moment as another idea comes to his mind
" Or I do have a poison that is meant to go into food and drink, it won't put them to sleep, but it does cause damage to one's muscles and their health at the same time. If I can find some Tare's Lichen, and some snowfall algae, I can make something that will make someone forget a few hours of what they learned and saw." Kwen whispers.
" Or if I can find some powdered Asmag weed I can make a damaging smoke cloud, set off some lethargic bliss as well. creating a massive amounts of confusion as well as stoned guards." Kwen finishes quietly
Searching his Iksar memories Kwen tries to remember if there is a sewer system, as it would have to connect to important places.
One guard walks the prisoners about, but there are many around, not including the hundreds of iksar troopers that occupy this guild house.
There is confidence that the tiny automaton is gnomish made, if only for the fact that it's strange, non-natural, unknown, and makes no sense, which is the calling card for gnomish-made inventions.
Markus prods the corners of his memory, but finds nothing in the realms of mysticism that would give any further information about the metallic construct.
Kwen is confident that the sewer system is the what they swam in initially, not that it is strange for iksar to use the waters to as a means of locomotion. Like the swamp beyond one simply does their business where they stand, or swim, and moves on.
You highly doubt that there would be a sewer system further below the deep water line, but it's possible.
"Or I can make you invisible and you can get in. It will be getting out with our target that will be the hard part," says Revery in a whisper.
Kwen asks the Klok vendor " I'm looking for some ingredients, eye humors, purple hepatica petals, giant wasps royal jelly, and larent suspension, or some Blood thorn petals and Thurium. Perhaps you could point us in the direction of a vendor who might sell some."
+ diplomacy skill if needed
" Might be magical in nature, knowing the gnomes, it's something... but I can't lock down anything specific in nature about it." Markus whispers, his eyes narrowing frustrated that he couldn't remember anything useful.
" That might work, I can take you along if you would transform yourself into a dagger." Kwen whispers " We could go along with the cart idea and food, I can make a few enhancements to the food and drink and we have an possible in." Kwen finishes absently itching a scale on his face.
"Yes, so how about this... I turn the two of us invisible, then I change into a dagger. You take me, sneak in, find our target, and a safe place to appear. I become me again. Well, an Iksar, actually. I turn the three of us invisible, and me into a dagger again, then you two sneak out. Elves can sneak, right?" Revery thinks hard, trying to come up with places where the plan could fail. Like finding a safe place.
"Some sort of magic, that would be a safe bet," Velkuriss whispers back when the light fades away. The shadowknight's dark blue eyes had followed the movement of the light as best as he could. "I wonder if our new ally is able to control it somehow." He muses out loud.
Listening and looking for signs the roaming guard, he continues when it's clear.
"Other point of concern is the amount of guards. I'm not sure where we are exactly, but there are a good number of guards roaming around," Velkuriss says. "I think most of the guards have keys. At least for the doors. As far as the chains, perhaps only certain guards have those." The shadowknight's muzzle twists as he frowns. "I kept having to avert my eyes, which annoyed me more then anything. So I didn't get a good look."
Listing to the two go back and forth, Sajeek frowns slightly. He thinks for a few moments about what Kwen had said about drunk iksar. The beastlord had a glimmer of a plan.
"What about playing drunk and get thrown in jail?" He quietly asks the other two as he scratches Bast chin. The big reptile closes his eyes contently. He was glad that they had moved a bit away, outside of the kloks earshot. "To get further information about the inside, and find exactly where what we need is sitting." Sajeek looks over at Kwen. "Unless you already found it, and I completely missed you saying so." The Beastlord grins slightly.
"You could still turn into a dagger," Sajeek looks over at Rev, and nods. The beastlord glances around once more. "Having been thrown on jail a few times, I know that your stuff gets taken away and put somewhere. You could turn back after a while and then sneak around."
" Yeah that could work as well, I would have to swallow a few of my tools, the problem with that, I didn't see many others of us, except for Kloks. That and the fact I think I would be beaten first then thrown in a cell." Kwen says his mind reaching back into what little he had seen of the area, trying to remember how many Iksar were in the cell for drunkness.
Kwen strikes out in regards to ingredients to make poisons. Such nefarious tinctures, and the ingredients to make them, are found solely in areas with thieve's guilds, or black markets, both of which the iksar are devoid of.
The rogue remembers a few cells devoted to those that had sought the limits, and beyond, of their tolerance to the fermented berry, and processed grain. Some tails had taken up temporary residence in those cells, but it was nothing more than a sweep of the eyes that drew in even that much information.
"Hmm, well I think having you two go in, one drunk, the other shifted to a pointy object is pretty safe," Sajeek says after considering the plans that they had come up with. "After all, it's just for sneaking in and giving the insides a proper look see." The beastlord adds with a shrug.
"We've got some time after all. I'd rather us have a really solid idea of what we are getting ourselves into," Sajeek adds with a grin. Looking over at Bast, he knuckle rubs his warders's scaled muzzle. "I really doubt that one would be spending weeks unending in there. Maybe a few days."
"I'll remain behind, for the scouting about, I mean," Sajeek says as he scratches his scaled chin. "Mostly because of this goofball." The beastlord points at the big scaled wolf sitting by his side. Bast looks at Sajeek with his mismatched gold and green eyes and makes a grumbling noise.
"Of course, I could actually go in as well," Sajeek glances at Bast. "Which might be the best idea. We can go back to where we first hid, and he could guard whatever gear we have to leave." The beastlord pauses for a few moments, thinking things out. "This might be our best shot in. It's simple, doesn't involve trying to trick a whole bunch of train warriors, and shouldn't be to rough. We've handled worse," he adds with a shrug.
"Kwen and I might get a bit of a beating," Sajeek nods at the rogue. Looking over at Rev, he grins. "You should be good as a knife. I plan on being fairly drunk and just kinda walking close to the guard house and throwing up. Generally, being an annoying drunk and appear to pass out in plain sight of the guards." The beastlord grins at his friends.
Velkuriss begins to doze off, letting his back heal. They would be dealing with the filth in the cell soon enough. That was assuming that they were still going to be doing the cleaning. The shadowknight sighs, mentally going over the guards routines in his head.
The iksar knew he had to find some gap that he could exploit. The shadowknight had to get out of this prison. Velkuriss knew that if escape was truly impossible (which he didn't believe), he would begin killing as many guards as possible. He wasn't about to rot in the cells until he was to weak to fight back.
Both he and Kspress had survived more then iksar twice their ages had. Velkuriss wasn't about to give up the thought of escape. It was just going to be very, very difficult.
Revery says, "Whatever we do, I will first have to review the right spells. I need invisibility, plus spells to make guards forget, or go into a daze or whatever. But that will only take a minute. If you want to come too, that would be okay, although the fewer who enter the less chance of getting caught, I think. I agree we should leave some of our equipment out, but if we all get caught, our best chance will exist if we have our powerful magic items. If we are imprisoned, they will do us no good."
Kspress keeps an eye on the equipment/doll room, just in case the doll starts shedding light again, or moving. If it is magical it might contains something that could help them escape. Thinking about the human, he wonders how much he can be trusted. He seemed strong, mentally, and so they would be stronger with him than without, in all likelihood.
He decides to go out on a limb, and whispers to him, "Human, I am Kspress. You have offered help, and I do appreciate that. Let me tell you this. If we escape the prison, we will still be in the prison of Cabilis. In either prison, if you help us escape we will help you too. I will not turn you in to benefit myself. I give you my word if you will do the same. My word, and Velkuriss' word, are worth more than those of the Iksar traitors who put us in here."
Markus spends a heartbeat or two then whispers " Call me Markus, getting out of this cell is only one step. I will not turn anyone in if we manage to escape. I can restore our health with a few words and improve your strength as well if we can over power the guard that opens our cell we might have a chance of finding the keys to our chains."
" Sounds like a plan, it would be best if we had someone who could guard our stuff, we might have a lot of people after us, I can provide some distractions to our escape. I can secure some of my tools on me, as I am sure we will lose some of our gear in the search, but they should be nearby. Perhaps Revery can hold on to some of our gear, in the sense that as a dagger he can pass some of our stuff to us when I get out of the cell. I am thinking that starting a riot while in there might work as well." Kwen says pondering many possibilities.
Revery is afforded an opportunity to review his spells, as is Bast provided with a momentary place of refuge to keep his head down, among the ruins across the city. A one-flippered froglok might walk across the warder's path, but that will only result in a meal for the transformed kejek tiger.
The enchanter becomes a dagger.
(please include a list of what items you are leaving behind, and who is carrying what)
(Kwen: please include a DEX roll in your next post to cover the sleight of hand of carrying lock picks on your person, unless you're planning on sending long shards of metal into your digestive system, and hoping that works out)
Words are exchanged in scattered whispers, over hours, for to risk full sentences would earn a severe beating. Considering that all remain injured, it is very important to not give their jailers an opportunity to lose control and murder one of your number. A positive comes of the attention to speech, for it gives you a great deal of confidence, as to the guard's routines and movements.
Those within the prison get a wash of light casting down below. It is meagre, nothing more than a blaze for warmth seeping through the crack in a door above, but to Markus it is nigh-orgasmic, since he can see everything down below. Finally he can see, which gives him the sight line to heal, though unless someone starts coughing, or making some other noise, it is likely that he is going to get his skull caved in for the noise.
Those keeping watch, through the door slit, see little tiny feet erratically wandering about in the storeroom. Though it's feet are metallic, it doesn't weigh enough to make much in the way of noise, but those listening closely can hear the little automaton wandering about.
Sajeek spends most of the time piling up the gear he wasn't going to take. He was stuffing his back pack full, and trying to hide it a little bit under some rubble. It's not like the ruins were short of it.
Kneeling down, he scratches Bast's neck, half grinning at the transformed tiger. The beastlord had gotten his intent across to his spirit brother. Bast would keep out of sight and guard their stuff. Sajeek wasn't to worried about his warder. Bast could take care of himself. 'Up until the potion wears off,' Sajeek thinks with a slight frown. 'Guess we'd better not screw this up.'
"Rev, will you be able to carry my pouch of spell components, dagger and ulak?" Sajeek asks the enchanter. "There not that heavy."
In between the bits of conversation, Velkuriss dozed a bit, waking at the sound of the approaching guard. He had their routine pretty much down. Maybe not perfectly, but the dark knight was confident of what he had deduced.
Velkuriss had peaked out to watch the the movements of the gnomish metal doll. If was an unknown factor, one which he was eager to turn into something that would give them an edge.
Kwen starts hiding his tools, getting ready for the most difficult part of the day.
Revery prepares for the jailbreak. He prepares and casts Serpent Sight on himself and Sajeek (10 mana, dur: 10 h, provides infravision). Then he binds a hidden spot in a nearby ruined vendor as his Bind Affinity location (20 Mana) and tells the others where it is. He puts Sajeek's special gear in his backpack, plus an extra set of picks if Kwen has one. He keeps all his own gear.
Then he prepares his spells Silent: Lull, Minor Illusion, Invisibility, Bind Sight, Cancel Magic, Enduring Breath, Illusion - Dark Elf, Levitate, Shielding; and Quickened Gate.
Next he casts Invisibility on Kwen and Sajeek (16 mana). He tells the others that his time as a dagger will be no more than eight hours, but that he can observe nearby occurrences, and dispel it if need be. And finally, if everyone is ready, he casts Minor Illusion upon himself, turning into a standard dagger (3 mana).
HP: 70/70, Mana: 93/142
Infravision (10h remain)
Minor Illusion (8h remain)
Kspress sits cross-legged and meditates, moving his consciousness into a state where he is peaceful, relaxed, and aware of his surroundings.
He listens for the little feet of the automaton, and for the big feet of the guards. He tries to note which guard is clumsiest, which is least observant, and which appears weakest. All the guards are thus categorized.
Markus spends time regaining his mana, having had the hope of of getting out of here by himself, he waits for the other two to let him know when they were ready to make their attempt.
meditation
Since most of what Kwen has is mostly magical gear and kits that are useful for the jail break, the rogue had Revery hold onto a grenade. Along with his basic lock picking kit, that way he would have some ace in the hole. Kwen hopes that he would have most of his gear, intact.
Each of you emaciated, as the edible creatures that have entered your sphere of influence has been far from sufficient to provide for adult nutritional needs. The little bits you have pressed down into your gullet have come back up as you are being slowly poisoned by the fetid water you are forced to choke down. Those with iron constitutions will attempt to slurp up their vomitus, and give it another chance at digestion.
Guards are categorized. Iksar as a rule are wise, strong and agile, simply because the progeny that are not have their skulls crushed by their fellow hatchlings. Of the guards you find the one that shows some weakness, a twisted ankle, and know when she will be coming around again.
Markus finds his reserves of magical energy brimming (full mana, no need to roll meditation as it is a passive skill).
Those watching through the slot see little round orbs staring out under the door that holds their supplies. A very small clicking noise is followed by the whirling of spinning gears. It is adorably inquisitive.
As the transformed group goes through their belongings they realize that using the teleportation stone will result in leaving Bast behind as the warder guards their gear.
Kwen finds a few locations for his lockpicks, though the scrutiny he is used to will not be used (circumstance bonus) since the iksar are not used to looking for such things.
Guard Search (vs. DC 20): (fail)
Revery casts serpent sight on himself, and then seeing that it does nothing, since he is an iksar already and has infravision, gathers back that mana, and finds no need to cast it on his brethren.
Rogue and beastlord stand invisible, ready for adventure, carrying their enchanter companion in dagger form.
Invisibility Duration (Kwen):
Invisibility Duration (Sajeek):
While Kwen remains invisible long after Sajeek turns visible, it provides an opportunity for the duo to get far from the ruins without being seen as far as they know.
Velkuriss happens to be looking out the food slit in the door when he catches sight of the gnomish metal doll. He blinks a few times as he realizes that it is looking back. It made some kind of clicking noise. The shadowknight cocks his head to the right as he stares back at the mechanical thing.
"Fironia's metal doll is staring at us through the hole," Velkuriss whispers to the others. He looks back through the slit in the door.
"Don't suppose you had a key to the door on you? Didn't think so." The shadowknight whispers, half to himself, half to the gnomish metal doll. He tried to ignore his grumbling stomach. It was still in knots, a gift of the nasty water that leaked from above. He was certain that it had made him ill.
Picking out the half digested bits and eating them after throwing up from being sick was certainly not ideal. But it was that, or rip a limb off of the human and eat that. And since the human said he could use magic, he was worth more then a meal or two.
Once Kwen had appeared and caught up with Sajeek, he goes over what he was thinking a little more.
"Okay, to once we get closer to the guard house, we'll get ready," the beastlord says quietly. "I plan on taken a few drinks, as I hate to waste liquor." Sajeek says with a grin. "Then, pour the rest more over ourselves. And I'm guessing that there's gonna be a beating, something I'm not really looking forward to. Guards always seem to want to beat up on people having a good time." Sajeek says with a chuckle.
"My goal for this little adventure was just to figure out where she is being held, if it looks like we might be able to sneak out with her. Things of that nature." He pauses for a moment as they walk. "I don't want to have to hike back into the city to get my gear and Bast. I'm not about to leave him here."
Markus nodded, then whispered " Let me know when we have a plan of attack for the guard, the weak one. If the device is looking at you, whisper to see if has a name, it couldn't hurt, I guess." With a groan, Markus wishes he had something that would hold water, he wanted to summon clean water, but had no bucket that he would trust the water to be held in.
The toll of having no clean water, and the lack of food, had weakened the human, he knew that, he was the weakest link in this chain. His other two cell mates, hadn't killed him, so that was the only good news. The bad news was that fact that all three of them were prisoners, all though there was a sense of urgency for a change, instead of despair.
" If we manage get her out of there, I will mostly likely open up other cells, we can use the confusion to our advantage and hopefully slip out in with her possibly invisible. If needed I have some more tricks up my sleeve, I think from what little I saw, an idea of where she might be." Kwen whispers.
Revery tries to relax, but it tense. There's nothing he can do at the moment, but he's worried that that time will come all too soon. He listens and watches.
Kspress remains quiet, except for his stomach. Despite his self-control, his stomach protests its treatment and excommunicates its sinful membership.
Kspress tries to focus and keep his strength, but it has its limits. No food means no energy, and so he tries to remove the need for energy in his body. Before going further, he tells Markus with a whisper, "If I am cold, it is not because I am dead. You may tell the guards I am, though. Attack after they remove my shackles." Velkuriss already knows about this ability.
Kspress feigns death, lowering his body temperature and breathing to imperceptible levels.