The Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master spinningdice

Listening intently, Jericho moves alongside Elijah removing the armor from one of the guards, and then donning it himself. After he is done, he continues with questioning:

"What are these keys used for? What can you tell us about ogre - is he prone to raging suddenly? What else is there on this floor, in the other cells/rooms? Who is Thomas? Is there anyone else in the interrogation room? You said your shift comes at 4 O'clock, what time is now?"

Turning to Angelica: "If you believe we can control ogre (up to a point), then let us have him with us. But if he's to go on a crazy rampage the moment we set him free, than we do not need him. Your call."

"Now, my idea would be the following - move to the guard room, and wait for next shift there. Ambush them, maybe with ogre's help, if he can be quiet enough. That means two more guards less, maybe three if shift commander is with them. Then change into guards clothes and return back, hoping the ruse would work. Anyway, they will be expecting two guards back from previous shift, so nothing suspicios in there. What say you?"

Jericho would put one of chain shirts on him, but needs no weapons at this point. Better if each of you guys/girls have at least one usable weapon

Correct me if I am wrong, but 2 guards = 2 chain shirts. One shirt claimed by the bard Zed. Leaves 1 left, so you or me Jericho? You take the shirt, I take the shield? Some AC boost for both of us? Your thoughts??

EDIT: never mind, Zed took the clothes bit the actual armor, the way I read the text description. So we can each have an armor, but I didn't see anything bout shields, so I need to fix my sheet. Otherwise good to go.

Sounds a good a plan to me. Make them think everything is okay, then ambush them again in interrogation room

These two guards didn't have shields, though most of the guards you saw on your way in did - maybe they didn't see the need to bring them from the guardroom?

The guard seems to have given up any show of resistance over your questions,
"It's lunchtime, maybe 3 hours before the shift change. The Ogre is drugged, I don't know what it is, Tomas - Sergeant Blackerley takes care of that. The interrogation room is empty - there's no one else on this floor. The cell keys unlock the cells and manacles, the other keys are for our chests in the barracks."

The Ogre bent some of the bars, though not far enough to escape, once the combat ended he gave up and is watching you.

Just so we don't accidentally duplicate any gear:
Current Gear List (and who has it)
Veil: Angelica?
Dagger:
Dagger:
Longsword: Zed
Longsword: Elijah
Club: Angelica
Club:
Chain Shirt: Elijah
Chain Shirt: Jericho
Uniform: Zed
Uniform:
Signal Horn:
Cell Keys:
Small Keys:

EDIT: Zed never claimed a suit of armor-- he just told the guard to take it off. I thought I read that we recovered small steel shields as well; I also thought that it said they were wearing chainmail. I should maybe read more carefully ;-) Jericho and Elijah should have the armor. Zed will be avioding melee combat for as long as he can.

Zed also picks up the signal horn. "This might come in handy at some point. Rei, why don't you take the keys and one of the daggers. Lukasz, you should take the other dagger. Jericho, you seem rather well-versed in boxing... It's a cliche, but maybe we should let Grumblejack have the club for now."

To Jericho and Angelica, speaking softly so that the ogre can't hear him, "Actually, if Grumblejack does go on a berserk rampage, it might distract the guards long enough for us to slip out of here..."

Knowledge (local) to know about ogres: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"...plus, ogres tend to be unpredictiable and prone to unnecessary acts of violence and destruction. I'm not sure how useful he'll be as an ally beyond getting out of here."

I'm assuming standard Pathfinder ogres, as per the Bestiary and Hook Mountain Massacre. If ogres in Talingarde are different, please correct my assessment.

Other question: Do the manacles come off the walls, or are they bolted in?

Before Jericho gets into formulating next steps, Lukasz puts his hand on the man's shoulder, attempting to stop him from talking long enough to convey the message that the guard should be knocked out before any plans are discussed. Then, turning to the guard, Lukasz says, "Thank you my friend. I know the difficulty in helping us as you have, and despite what is advertised, I am a man of my word. You will live, but in order to hide you hand in helping us, we will lock you in this cell." Motioning to Jericho, Lukasz takes the keys and moves over to the Ogre's cell.

Peering through the bars, Lukasz states, "We plan to escape this place and our best chance to succeed is by working together. If you can not manage that, then you will be left here. But if you can, then you have a place among our ranks. What say you?"

If Grumblejack agrees to cooperate, then Lukasz will find the key that unlocks the door and open it.

Once the guard is dealt with, Lukasz will listen to any plans that people come up with and add "If a ruse is what you would like, then those wearing the armor should also be wearing a guard's uniform and one should be wearing a horn. I can use some magic to mend and clean up the uniforms to better sell the bluff. Let us use the time we have to take a look at the next room and get a better lay of the land.

Lukasz will take a spare dagger.

EDITED to take Lukasz' post into consideration.

Taking Lukasz' advice about not discussing plans in front of the guard to heart, Zed motions to Jericho.

Shall we assume that Jericho can knock the guard out without killing him?

After listening to Jericho's plan, Zed nods, and says, "That might work! My main concern is waiting around for too long. Also, our friend here tells us that there are only, what, 15 guards, including the sergeant, plus the warden? And that the warden is a wizard. It also sounds like they all know each other by name. I'm a little less confident that we'll be able to sneak out in disguise. The main thing will be not letting them raise the alarm, so that we can catch each group of guards unaware."

Responding to Lukasz, "Good idea about cleaning up the blood with magic! I was about to do the same thing. You're right about needing to match the armor and uniforms-- I was assuming that we'd complete the set after we overpower more guards." He leans in a little closer and whispers, "I can tell by your bearing that you aren't used to wearing burlap rags either. I just couldn't stand it any more." He gestures at the uniform, "Not that this is a big improvement."

Dagger and Lockpicks here. Out of curiosity, do any of us know what the waters outside the prison are like? Rough or Placid? Dangerously Cold?

Rei concurs with Zed's assessment of the situation. "It's true that it will be difficult to pass as guards with so few here. Lukasz, could you take a look at the veil Angelica received and identify the remaining patches? I'm particularly curious about the use of window-shaped patch, but I'd prefer not to remove it to find out. At the very least we have rope available, which means we might be able to lower ourselves down to the water from the upper walks."

Angelica holds out the veil. "The remaining patches seem to be a lantern, a rope, a sack, a window, a potion of some sort, and a pile of coins."

"I also have a small glamour at my disposal. I can take the guise of one of these guards and scout the rest of Branderscar, however I cannot make myself sound like him. It would be risky."

Zed casts prestidigitation, attempting to clean the bloodstains out of the dead guard's uniform.

Zed: Ogres are in general violent and chaotic, whether it's the effects of captivity, the drugs they're using on him or a natural trait, Grumblejack seems remarkably calm and composed thus far.

Grumblejack replies to Lukasz, "I agree, Little one, we help each other out.", upon being let out he stretches out and waits for something to do.

You can't see the waters from here, but from crossing the bridge the walls are roughly 60' tall (the towers a little taller) and drop down onto rough sea.

The manacles can be removed the walls.

"With the guard knocked out and locked into Grumblejack's cell, I'd suggest that we also gag him and chain him up with these manacles. I don't want him to wake up after we've left and start screaming for help."

Just so we don't accidentally duplicate any gear:

I think the current gear assignment is:

Current Gear List (and who has it)

Veil: Angelica
Dagger: Rei
Dagger: Lukasz
Longsword: Zed
Longsword: Elijah
Club: Angelica
Club: Grumblejack
Chain Shirt: Elijah
Chain Shirt: Jericho
Uniform: Zed
Uniform: Elijah (?)
Signal Horn: Zed
Cell Keys: Rei
Small Keys: Rei

Zed also has a length of chain. Should we grab a few sets of manacles?

Elijah, will put on the guards uniform, along with the armor. He was once a guard himself. As much as it pains him to wear it in the present, it serves a higher purpose to escape The Rock, and deliver Asmodeus' Will to all.

He looks around the cell blocks, and wonders if anything else could be of use in their escape. He goes back into his cell, and grabs a length of chain, just in case his longsword gets damaged or removed from him. He looks at the manacles, and things they could be useful to bind others.

So, anything else that could be useful. The chains to bind or trip people. The manacles could bind if we need to. Did I miss anything? Cause once we leave this area, I don't plan on coming back he chuckles a bit, while wearing the uniform and armor.

"We still have the adjoining rooms to search as well." Lukasz commented as he looked over everyone's preparations. "Going forward, it might be best if those clothed as guards take the lead so we can at least feign the image of guards from a distance. I will take a place somewhere in the middle and I recommend that someone capable of fighting in close combat protect our backs when we are in any open area."

"Okay, let's get out of the cell block." Dressed as a guard, Zed moves to the door leading to the guard room. He presses his ear to the door.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Lukasz, can you identify what the window patch does? If it's truly a portable window of some sort, that'd be immensely useful to us. I honestly can't imagine what else it might be. Rei asked earlier, but I think it got lost in the item possession discussion.

"You should definitely be ready to assume the form of one of the guards Angelica. Even if you can't speak, it may buy us enough time to keep one of the guards from calling out. Also, perhaps we should check and see if that patch in the form of the sack contains anything useful."

Rei waits just inside the door out of the cell block, ready to duck out of sight if need be.

Please let them have thought to pack us a change of clothes. I really need to get out of this prison gown.

"Yep Zed, let's go" - Jericho follows the bard towards the guards and interrogattion room. Once inside (if they find it empty) he will remain alert there along anyone else, while Rei searches rest of the cellls.

Zed hears nothing at the door, so pressing in, the Guardroom is fairly sparse, a table and a pair of chairs sit in one corner, stew bowls still on it. The guards shields (heavy steel shields) and longbows (and quivers of 20 arrows) are leaned against the wall.

There is a couple of hooks on the wall, maybe to hold the signal horn and cell keys? The only other feature of note is the massive fireplace, oversized for such a small room, the smell of food wafts up from the fireplace. And of course the stairs down to the lower level.

The interrogation room is empty apart from table and chairs, this is the room Angelica met the mysterious stranger. Now that you're less preoccupied you note bloodstains on the floor.

Are you retrieving the sack?

"More weapons. I'm not much of an archer, but I wouldn't mind taking a shield. I'd guess that this room is directly below or adjoins kitchen, and this chimney also connects to the kitchen fireplace. If we can smell food and not smoke, the kitchen fireplace must not be lit."

"I could use a shield as well."

Angelica peels the sack patch off to see if contains anything useful.

The sack contains a half-dozen common outfits, peasant or servant clothing to be sure, but a good deal more comfortable than the scratchy sack-cloth rags your wearing, along with fairly thick travelling cloaks.

It also contains a spell component pouch.

Elijah stares in at the interrogation room, reminding him about his own experiences when he used to be a member of the guard.

He looks at the longbows and wonders how good of a shot his might be. He only ever worked with crossbows, but the same can hold true. Keep ones eyes on the target, and pull back the arrow than fire.

Quickly changing out of the prison rags and into a change of the clothes, he breathes a sight of relief as at least now his feet were covered, if not fully protected from the elements. Whispering a few arcane syllables, magic seems to flow over his body, removing the grime, dirt and sweat from his body and hair. His cantrip complete, he said with a whisper, "So wait here to ambush the next shift or forge ahead?"

Angelica retreats back into the cells briefly to change. Prison breakout or not, a certain level of modesty simply had to be maintained.

"I say we press on. Asmodeus teaches that fortune favors the bold."

Zed also takes a change of clothing. He rolls the clothes and shoes up, wrapping them in the cloak. "Won't want to be dressed as a guard once we're out of here," he mutters optimistically.

To Lukasz, "Big improvement! The plan was to stay here, but I'm inclined to keep moving. What do the rest of you think?"

Rei gathers a set of clothing and changes quickly in the corner.

"A significant improvement, no doubt. I'll need to see about getting some proper clothes with hidden pockets once we get out of here though." she remarks, half talking to herself.

Once she's outfitted, she turns to the others. "I too would prefer to keep moving. It might, however, be best attempt to leave the prison under cover of darkness, and we still have quite a bit of time before then. Ambushing the next set of guards would buy us time, and we could try to get a feel for the layout in the meantime."

Is the consensus to get moving or wait in ambush, if you're moving out any particular plan of action?

Given time spent searching, getting changed etc you've probably got a couple of hours before shift change, with no real way to tell the passage of time though you might want to be ready in plenty of time to lay an ambush.

I vote lay an ambush but that's me. We take out another set of guards = less resistance

Zed is inclined to press on, but he's willing to set an ambush if that's what most everyone else wants to do.

Unless someone can come up with a good way to get across the bridge unnoticed, Rei's definitely in the ambush category

If we want to lay an ambush, that's fine. It seems like that would be the smarter thing to do.

Seeing that most seemed to want to wait in ambush, Lukasz nods his head as he says, "Ok. Then, we wait to ambush the next group that comes through. After that though, we should push forward, only so many times we can ambush guard rotations before people start to notice." Looking around the guard room once more, Lukasz continues with, "I am no tactician, but I think this room would be the best to ambush from, two ways of getting in for us with only one way in for them. Grumblejack, you can wait just on the other side of the door that goes to the prison cells. Others can either wait with Grumblejack or in the interrogation room. The question is, how best to draw the guards into the room so we can cut off any attempts to escape?"

The light in the room isn't good, chances are that if the guards might not be able to distinguish faces clearly enough until actually in the room, especially if they're not expecting trouble.

"Hmmm... Well, if we're going to lay an ambush, how about this... First, Jericho, why don't you take this uniform after all to go with your armor. I'll change into these other clothes. With the dim light, the two of you should stay visible in this room. If you keep your faces shrouded in shadow, you should pass as the other guards for long enough. We could move the torches such that you two are backlit from the perspective of the door. The rest of us will hide in the cell block and interrogation rooms. We'll then spring into the guard room to subdue two more guards. If we rush them, we should be able to cut off their retreat!"

The cubby on the south-most wall is the fireplace/chimney yes? It's not currently lit is it? Is the one below (in the kitchen I assume) lit? Also, the stairs come up into the room correct? How visible is the area just overlooking the bottom of the stairs from the stairs themselves (i.e. up against the wall, just west of the fireplace)?

Rei thinks for a moment, observing the room, then looking back into the cell block.

"That sounds like a good start Zed. We may also consider having you or Lukasz in the interrogation room with the door cracked open to allow casting the moment the signal is given."

She pulls out her dagger and twirls it around in her hand a few times as she runs through the ambush in her head looking for any obvious flaws.

"We'll need to keep a sharp eye out in case one of them also has a horn. Obviously if one does we'll need to disable him first. I may be able to hide near the stairs and drop in behind them as they reach the top to make sure they can't run."

Yes that's a chimney, while some warm air comes up through the chimney you don't think it's lit below. Examining it closely you think it's actually large enough for a human sized person to climb down. The stairs come up into the room, actually entering the room in the SW corner. So you couldn't hide anyone there.
You could probably hide two people in the fireplace, if you squash in a little.[/ooc]

Sorry I haven't been posting! My work load has been really heavy right before the holidays!

While the plans are being made to prepare the ambush, Angelica moves to Grumblejack. Noticing that the ogre is injured, she casts Cure Light Wounds.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

"Does that feel better?" she asked.

Rei inspects the fireplace and looks down the flue into the kitchen area.

"Hmm, I think I'll hide in here when we wait for the guard change, but first I want to take a peek down into the kitchen. Angelica, can you get out the rope from the veil? If couple of you hold on to it I should be able to safely scout out the kitchens."

Tying the rope around her waist, she climbs down into the fireplace opening and lowers herself until she's close to the opening of the fireplace.

Climb: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Once lowered down, she waits for a few minutes, listening quietly from the chimney to hear if anyone's in the kitchen.

Elijah will hope the rope and lower Rei down into the kitchen area.

strength check?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

You can climb down the chimney fairly easily. holding yourself just out of sight you can hear voices.
The fire isn't lit, but there are still hot embers in there (if you have guard boots you'll be fine otherwise a DC10 Acrobatics check to swing out avoiding it).

"I wish they'd at least let us feed the prisoners better, they've only got three days, at least we could feed them right." - a female voice
"Do you have any idea what they've done Myrtle, you don't get sent to Brandescar for picking someone's pocket. It's for murderers, and worse." - a male voice

Sorry, kids (and parents) seem to be catching one breed of cold or flu after another. probably scattered posting until the new year now

Looking about as the others scouted and prepared for the ambush on the next set of guards, Lukasz thought As a barrister, my skills are not much use here. Fortunately, I have the magic in my blood to assist. I will escape from this place and I will have my revenge on the damned Balin Karfeld and the thrice-cursed House Darius. Moving over to the interrogation room, Lukasz walks the interior, seeing everything that the group had available to it. "Yes, a good spot for me to stand in the upcoming ambush", He said to himself as he peeked out through the partially open door to see how much of the room he could see.

Stepping back out to the main room and with time to spare, Lukasz says, "A suitable plan I think. What is the possibility of using the chimney as a means of escape should our ambush turn against us?"

Rei's slender form has no issues climbing down. Any standard build human or similar should be able to fit down - no way you'd get Grumblejack down though (unless you cut him into small pieces first)

"Hmmm... Well, if we're going to lay an ambush, how about this... First, Jericho, why don't you take this uniform after all to go with your armor. I'll change into these other clothes. With the dim light, the two of you should stay visible in this room. If you keep your faces shrouded in shadow, you should pass as the other guards for long enough. We could move the torches such that you two are backlit from the perspective of the door. The rest of us will hide in the cell block and interrogation rooms. We'll then spring into the guard room to subdue two more guards. If we rush them, we should be able to cut off their retreat!"

"Good plan Zed, I like it. Let us do so!" - Jericho waits patiently for Rei to return from her "scouting" mission, to see if there are any more important information to share. If none are forthcoming, he puts on a guard uniform across his armor, and proceeds to rearrange (or simply quench) the torches in such a way that his and the "other guards" faces are not immediately recognizable. He stretches a bit more and makes a few practice swings and strikes, making sure he is prepared for the upcoming fight.

As stated, Jericho clearly wants to ambush the next set of guards here.

Any further actions, or shall I fast-forward to your ambush? Obviously Christmas (Merry Christmas, btw) will doubtlessly stint some posting

Elijah will position himself in the interrogation room, to hide his face from the other guards that will soon die at his blade.

all set, ready for the ambush muhahahahaha

With Jericho's agreement, Zed quickly strips out of the uniform and puts on the travelers clothes. Opening the door to the cell block he says, "I'm going to wait in here. Who's with me?" Hearing no takers, he enters, leaving the door open just a crack.

So... We have Jericho and Elijah posing as guards waiting in the guard room, Grumblejack, Angelica, and Lukasz waiting in the interrogation room, Rei in the chimney, and Zed in the cell block. I think we're ready for the ambush!

Rei climbs back up after eavesdropping on the kitchen for a bit. Back in the room she joins the others in preparation for the ambush.

All ready here

You climb back up and spend some time preparing yourself for combat in just as your starting to think that no relief guards are coming you hear voices coming up the stairs.
"I hate night shift, nothing to do and no sleeping - course Blackerley probably wouldn't notice anyway."
"Well I ain't staying awake while your snoring away, I've got cards and dice, we'll while it away - of course I bet it ain't as interesting as the game Blackerley's setup."

The guards round the top of the stairs, into your waiting ambush....

I've put everyone where I think they are, if I've made any mistakes then please let me know and I'll adjust your position, if you're attacking straight away then there's no need for any checks, if your waiting for them to get any closer I'll need disguise checks for the two of you in the room, and a sneak check from Rei.

Since we are all before the guards, I'll post now, since I will not be able to post for the next 15-20 hours (travelling)

As always, waiting was the hardest part. Jericho had no issues in going against the odds, he almost felt a grim kind of satisfaction when he was charging that frigate. He was a man of action, and when things started happening, he did not think about them too much. But waiting, that was hard. It gave him time to think of his fallen comrades. To wonder why they left him alive. To wonder whether he will be alive soon, or was this just some cruel game of fate. To wonder if powers much larger than him, were stacking the odds here. To wonder...and then he heard them. They were coming.

Finally - he nodded lightly to Elijah, winked in the general direction where Rei was hiding, and streched his muscles once more. Several moments later, the guards were inside. The moment second guard stepped into the room, Jericho snapped into action. He stepped towards them, his head kept low to remain in the shadows, and the moment he had the second guard in reach, he struck with all his power.

Free action- 5' step towards both guards

Unarmed attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Potential dmg: 1d3 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Crit. Confirmation: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Potential dmg: 1d3 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Once Jericho moves in and swings at the guards, Rei moves stealthily out of the fireplace to attack the nearest guard.

Move Action: 5' step to beside nearest guard
Attack: (Hit/Damage): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 51d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

She mutters a quiet curse as the dagger clips the side of the mantle as she strikes out, throwing her off balance.