Ralf nodded. "Am not liking 'assuming we prevail' also."
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"The only other way to get close enough would be to try to bluff our way in. We have two Danarians who could pose as locals, perhaps escorting prisoners to the tower for questioning. Either of you two feel up to that?" Shane asked Aziel and Tarvak.
Jaelynn shook her head.
"That would be suicide," she said, very softly. "These are the Duchess's troops. Loyal to her first, and Risur second. They're definitely not Danorans, and would most likely attack us on sight if they saw these two. We're here because she has technically started a war against Danor, remember?"
She looked up - way up - at the lighthouse, then glanced at the guards again.
"It makes the most sense to have as little interaction with these people as possible. If we can get me up there, I can probably remove the guard up there quickly and quietly. Once that's done, I could lower a rope, and the rest of you could climb up silently - except maybe for Anthony, unless he takes off his armor, which we could haul up after, I suppose - the corner should keep you out of sight of the other guards. If we get inside, and barricade the doors, then by the time they realize we're here, it'll be after we set off the signal rockets, and we'll be in defensible positions." She clearly thought her whispered plan to be the logical choice.
Looking back and forth between Jae and Shane, listening to them discuss the pros and cons to death , finally Tarvak spoke in an urgent whisper "We can't spend all night debating! Have the two of you reached an agreement? Can you please tell the rest of us what the final plan is???" You notice one of his legs is bouncing up and down, as if he can hardly contain himself from action, any kind of action.
Jae gave Shane a quizzical look, then nodded, indicating that she was ready if he was.
Then she turned and explained the plan to the others. Quietly.
"Everyone clear?" Jae whispered, once the plan was explained.
Jaelynn thought about it for a second, then shook her head. "Not if it's a limited ability. If we do this right, we won't be fighting, and you'll have wasted something we may need later. If we screw it up, the bottom team is going to have to fight their way to us, and they'll need all the toughness they can get."
Shane nodded his agreement with Jae's plan and her reply to Ralf's suggestion. He mentally communicated with the air elemental to be ready to carry Jaelynn up to the shadows near the guard at the top. Presumably, Jaelynn was doing the same to the other two helpers. He took a moment to plan his route, noting where the shadows were so he could get up to the top quickly and without being noticed.
"Let me expose my position first and I can use the magic of my elixir to help me go unnoticed. I'll direct the elemental to deliver Jaelynn at the opportune place and moment. Probably should keep Anthony out of sight until we have cleared the area. You guys just look sharp and be ready for anything."
Ralf nodded in acknowledgment.
Watching Jae, Shane, and Ralf ride up the side of the wall on elementals was somewhat surreal for Tarvak, and he wondered how things would go once they got up there.
He felt kind of useless, not being able to get up there until the elementals came back, and silently wished his comrades well.
I'm using a different computer today and don't have access to my maps. I'll have a post for you guys tomorrow.
After Jae suggested that it might be better for the earth elemental to carry Ralf up the wall to leave the better fighter, Anthony, below in case the lower group has to fight their way to the top, Shane agreed. He looked to Aziel, Ralf, Tarvak, and Anthony for assent.
"Bibaxt," Ralf muttered under his breath. Then he nodded at Shane. "Aiwa. Is good," he declared, though his tone of voice hinted otherwise.
Aziel nodded, and winked at Ralf. "Bon chance."
Shane briefly breaks the bonds of earth, soaring through the air like a bird before landing softly on top of the wall high above. The earth elemental trails up the wall, easily depositing Ralf above, next to Jae as the air elemental sets her down near her shadow.
The guard whirls at the sudden commotion, but luckily had been looking the wrong way and wasn't immediately ready to sound the alarm.
Shane alighted on the wall, feeling almost giddy from the unusual sensation of flying. He sensed that Jaelynne might not get her spell off in time to silence guard, so he ordered the air elemental to fly around to a flanking position but to hold its slam attack until he had made his own strikes. Then he stepped forward and tried to give the guard two quick punches to cast his version of the sleep spell.
When an opponent makes a melee attack against the kata master, she can spend 1 panache point and expend a use of an attack of opportunity to attempt to parry that attack. The kata master makes an attack roll as if she were making an attack of opportunity. If her result is greater than the attacking creature's result, the creature's attack automatically misses. The kata master must declare the use of this ability after the creature's attack is announced, but before its attack roll is made. Upon performing a successful parry and if she has at least 1 panache point, the kata master can as an immediate action make an attack against the creature whose attack she parried, provided that creature is within her reach.
Add +2 if he gets the flanking bonus on this.
Add +2 if he gets the flanking bonus on this.
Shane's furious assault dropped the guard to the stone like a sack of potatoes. In the space of a few breaths, as Jaelynn and Ralf got their feet under them, the constables were alone in front of the lighthouse door.
Jaelynn gave Shane a nod that seemed to say, "well done," without being overly dramatic. Then she twisted her sleeves, and stepped into the position the guard had been standing in, bold as brass, while looking around, like a guard on duty should be doing.
Of course, with the twist of her sleeves, Jaelynn was suddenly dressed exactly like the fallen guard, and her ponytail, which had been tucked under her knit cap, was now tucked up under headgear identical to that of the fallen guard's.
She motioned for the others to take cover behind the wall, while she tried to determine the lay of the land, and whether anyone had noticed the switch.
Ralf slapped Shane on the back in approval, blinked in surprise at Jaelyn's sudden shift in appearance, and quickly dropped out of sight behind the wall.
"Am missing Kostya still," he says quietly to himself, "but is good team."
Good enough, in fact, that he once again feels outclassed.
As soon as the guard fell, Shane pointed toward the area between the stairs up to the lighthouse door and the wall , indicating they should make for the cover it provided. He crept stealthily to a position next to where the walkway turned south, in preparation for anyone who might come that way . Then he waited and listened as Jaelynne craftily began to resemble the fallen guard.
Once in position, he ordered the air elemental to drag the body of the fallen guard to where Ralf was taking cover, where he expected Ralf would search the body for anything useful, such as a key to the lighthouse door.
Jaelynn was a few inches shorter than the guard and her fabric disguise could only approximate the leather and steel of the man's helmet, but she made a decent enough decoy from a distance and in the dim light of the overhead lanterns.
The nearby door was locked and the wood banded with iron, clearly designed to keep out riff-raff like the constables. Locks weren't her specialty, so she couldn't tell how difficult it might be to finesse, but she could see a keyhole just waiting for a key or a lockpick.
Looking over at the top of the ramp, she realized the barrels waiting to be rolled down the inclined ramp to a waiting ship could be repurposed into barreling down on assaulting soldiers.
Looking down over the guard rail at the length of the ramp she saw a sailor smoking a pipe, alternately glancing at the ship- where there wasn't much to be seen on deck- and looking out over the water. She could only see the top of his head and the glow of his pipe, but Jae didn't think the man would be particularly alert at this time of day.
Shane crept like a shadow toward the nearest guard, taking up position in case the man decided to come their way. Once given the order, the air elemental dragged the unfortunate and now unconscious guard to Ralf.
Luckily for the team, the other guard didn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Ralf found the expected weapons- longsword and shield, musket and a pouch of cartridges- and armor- a chain shirt- but no key. The man had been carrying a large hand bell, though, presumably to quickly sound the alarm if he was attacked.
Ralf gingerly extracted the bell and placed it far to the side where it wouldn't be accidentally kicked. He looked at his compatriots and gave an exaggerated shake of his head while widely mouthing, "No key!"
Pocketing the cartridges, he confiscated the musket and checked to see if it was loaded and ready to fire.
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Jae was not by nature someone who hid her impatience well. She frowned.
Then she sent the earth elemental down to get Tarvak, and indicated to Shane to do likewise with the air elemental and Aziel.
Maybe Tarvak can get the door open, she thought, and even if not, taking out the other guards would be easier with the others up here.
She could, she knew, take out the other guards with sleep spells, but all of the guards missing might alert whoever did carry the keys, and she didn't want to risk that just yet.
Then again, if they all carried muskets, that could help them with holding off any attempt to close the sea gate, once they opened it and signaled the fleet.
With that in mind, she indicated to Shane (probably needlessly) that he should be ready to take out the closest guard at a moment's notice, if necessary.
Shane sent the air elemental as soon as he saw the earth elemental heading down.
As he waited in potential ambush position, he kept an eye up toward the higher windows and top level of the lighthouse. He thought about possible attack vectors. Perhaps sending the elementals in at the top of the lighthouse and see if Anthony could pick the lower lock and get us in before alerting the lower level guards. The air elemental might be able to fly down to the door before anyone could waylay it and open the door from the inside.
Trying to open the door :
Doubt that's good enough.
"Sorry, this must be some kind of lock the government uses, I'm only used to shopkeeper's locks. I'll have to practice up when we get back to the office."
Anthony took a look after Tarvak made his attempt. The technologist had better luck than the street urchin and door clicked open. He gestured at Jae and backed away from the door.
Shane looks to Jaelynn for a signal that everyone is ready to try to enter the side door. When he gets the word, he'll make a stealthy move through the shadows to the door.
Shane creeps through the darkness, quiet as a mouse. Anthony moves out of his way as Shane and the elementals form up near the door.
Aziel crouched behind the wall, looking at the guard Shane had downed. "Is there any reason to disguise just one of us as a guard, or shall we just charge for the door when it is opened?" she whispered. She reached out to take the man's musket and ammunition. Waste not, want not.
"Even if we dealt with all the guards up here, those below would be sure to notice their lack soon."
"How about : Shane then Aziel and I (either order), so that if there's light Shane can sneak, and if it's dark then Aziel and I take lead?"
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The constables arrayed themselves by the door and Shane quietly opened the door. A moment later he was inside, flanked by his friendly air elemental and Jaelynn's shadow and with the the earth elemental looming behind him. There were two guards inside- one at the foot of another set of stairs leading up to the lighthouse and the other near a pair of doors leading east, presumably onto the seawall.
Watching the closest guard, Jae could tell the man hadn't noticed anything yet as he continued to watch the sea.
Shane sends the air elemental to slam #5 as he steps 5 feet next to #4. He delivers a flurry of punches to do non-lethal damage.
Aziel slipped in after Shane, prepared to put her rapier to use rather than risk the noise of the musket in her off hand.
Taking a quick peek around the corner of the door, Tarvak decided it would be better to stay outside for the moment and keep lookout for any sudden guards...
Shane rushed up to the closest guard and nearly smacked the man's helmet off, sending him reeling but not knocking him out. Aziel slipped up next to Shane and finished the guard with a neat stab before the guard could raise a hand to defend himself.
The air elemental, meanwhile, whooshed over to the corner to blast him with a fist of air. But this guard wasn't taken so completely by surprise, and he dodged out of the way.
From her "post" as the now-missing guard, Jaelynn couldn't do much about what was going on inside of the door. What she could do was keep her magic at the ready, and her eyes on the guards further away.
Both guards were well drilled at what to do when attacked. Both men reached for the hand bells at their belts as well as their swords. In a moment the silent night was broken by pealing bells and the guards yelling "Intruders!"
Shane nimbly dodged out of the way of his guard's attack and the other guard's sword passed clean through the air elemental's nebulous body.
Outside, Jae's guard didn't seem to hear the noise from inside the gate control room but clearly someone up in the lighthouse did. A larger bell started ringing, which was quickly followed by bells all over the fort to rouse the rest of the garrison.
Jaelynn didn't hesitate. The second the big bell started, she triggered her spell of sleep, and then took cover, looking to get into the lighthouse as soon as possible.
She sent a quick mental command to the elementals under her control, as well. Take out the guards, now! She did not specify non-lethal methods as a requirement.
Shane continues his attacks, trying to overpower the guard's defenses with his furious assault, still going for the knock-out rather than a kill. As he fights, he yells, "Everybody inside!"
Aziel hurried up the steps to the lighthouse door, pulling it open before it could be locked or blocked.