By all means, kind Sir... never been my thing.
Zyrel carefully lays out a series of tools, and takes his time checking for traps, before setting to work on the door.
It takes a bit of work, but Zyrel's able to finagle open the lock!
The room beyond is a simple one, containing a few devotional urns painted with blasphemous scenes of the cyclical consumption, reproduction, and birth that Lamashtu's cult venerates. At the far end though is a ladder made from carved stone leading upwards, likely to the top of the mesa.
Excellent, it seems we have a way up
Elsa moves over to the ladder, careful to avoid any objects in the room, and to check for traps. She will also recast detect magic and look for auras.
Lanatir looks on with admiration as Zyrel completes his task. Truly, his fellow elf has mastered many skills.
He then waits for Elsa's investigation to be complete.
"Were we not forced into being quiet, I would smash these urns." Zyrel complains in a quiet voice.
Elsa doesn't notice anything magical in the urns, but given the pattern of grave goods in similar containers, it's likely they have valuables inside.
The top of the mesa is a few hundred feet up, and the twisting passage upwards will likely dampen any sounds short of outrageous yelling or powerful magic.
There is likely loot in those urns. I think the dead here don't need it. Elsa looks at the urns with anticipation
"Desdemona, could you use this on me?" Lanatir asks as he holds out a slender elm wand.
He turns to the others. "Aakif handed it to me before he left."
He listens to Elsa. "It's not whether they need it or not. It's a mark of respect to bury someone with grave goods. In general, by taking grave goods we disrespect both the deceased and their loved ones who interred them with those goods. But in this case, as they were Lamashtu followers, I know that I do not respect them and so I have no issue with taking the goods."
Comes in handy... smiling, Desdemona offers the wand back.
"Indeed. I also support taking the goods, however given the attitudes of Lamashtu's cult it is likely they may have taken other precautions against theft beyond social pressure. We should go carefully, and check for traps, poisons, and curses as best we can." Zyrel looks thoughtful "Given the age, it is quite possible any precautions may have expired, of course."
Okay dokay
Elsa will carefully search the room for valuables
Taking a look around...
Most of the urns are full of desiccated offerings of food, but one of them contains a large pile of gold baubles, probably worth about 500 GP.
Elsa goes up the ladder
Lanatir will ascend after Elsa.
Zyrel will also ascend.
Likewise, Des brings up the rear.
The party begins the ascent. It's treacherous going at first, with the time-worn stone ladder having crumbled in a few places. Making it to the top of the ladder, the party finds a winding carved pathway within the mesa, every inch of it's walls inscribed with similar nightmarish frescoes of endless birth and consumption.
After about half an hour of twisting upwards, the party sees faint light at the end of the tunnel, reaching a well concealed stone door right inside of the army's camp, a small slot in the door allowing for vision outside. Tents are arrayed in neat ranks, and the party can make out a much larger tent fairly close to the stone door. If the supposed pretender is anywhere, it's probably there.
Elsa has a long, quiet look, gesturing for silence
take 20 result 32
She will then gesture for the others to move back so they can have an undetected chat
Des moves back as indicated.
Zyrel nods, gestures to Lanatir in sign, then backs off.
Elsa is able to slide the door open inch by inch over a few minutes, stopping as patrols pass by. This seems to be a high security area of the camp, so any attempts to get to the command tent will need to be fast and quiet.
"Desdemona, you expressed an interest in negotiation here. How do you suggest we proceed?"
If we negotiate, we lose the opportunity to strike and fade. We lose surprise. We should quietly attack
Elsa puts forward a plan
We stealth to the command tent, and take down any guards. Quietly if possible. Then we kill or capture the target. We retreat back here. If we do it right, they will not know what happened or where we went. But at worse we can fighting retreat effectively here. And if we capture the target, we can negotiate with him then. Assuming he's not dead, of course
Which of you planned on having your legacy be... the ending of a legitimate royal bloodline? Is it really... just a job?
Elsa looks at Desdemona for a second. She shakes her head.
It is a little late to start having second thoughts. If you didn't want the job, you should have refused it. But to answer your question, I do the job, I get paid for the job. And I sleeps well after Her voice starts slipping into a strong Absalom accent
The halfling shrugs as she looks up at the taller woman. her eyes were cool.
We is dealing with aristos. None of em is saints. If 'e was in charge instead of the t'other guy, 'e would be as bad. An' 'e would slice our throats as quick as a quickling if 'e could. So no, I 'as no problems ending a royal line.
She stops, and sighs, shaking her head. In a more normal voice she Elsa says
Okay, decide. We do this, or we leave and find another way to get the information we need. But decide now. And live with it.
Elsa sighs. On reflection, it is possible she is a bit bitter towards the so-called better-off.
Then she has a thought
We will need to capture this guy, then. Or search for information in his belongings. If we can open the door quietly, I can at least recon the situation. I can go invisible for a short time. I can scout that big tent and be right back
"Do you know this Badashba is the real one? The Margrave was convinced it was not. Further, I believe the bloodline continues through the current Margrave." The elf tilts his head "That said, I dislike even the risk of being used as an assassin, and I have seen enough politics to know that if we kill someone who claims to be Badashba that the Margrave may choose to prosecute us to tie up loose ends. On balance I believe we should look for a plan to disperse this group rather than kill. Capturing this Badashba candidate sounds optimal, but is likely to be quite difficult. I accept that if we attack these people who have been identified as enemy combatants by a duly recognised head of the local government there is a good chance some will die. I do not believe that this Badashba's life - real or fake - is more important that any other human. I believe that covers the ethical considerations"
"In terms of tactics; we should not rush. We have time to do proper scouting and surveillance. Elsa is correct that our major asset is surprise, and that can be squandered in a second. I am concerned that a simple tripwire may foil invisibility, but I accept Elsa is best positioned to take that into account."
"I should note I also possess - but have not prepared - a spell to aid in stealth. Mine lasts perhaps half an hour, but merely provides camouflage instead of true invisibility. Excellent if I am to slowly move to a hidden position, but not sufficient to allow me to walk past armed guards."
"I believe we should ensure we are rested before we begin, and I would also recommend we set some simple traps in case we need to withdraw back to this point. I could prepare the spell and attempt to head out at night, climb something, and spend a day doing surveillance, then return tomorrow night. At that point Elsa may have the information she needs to know when best to enter the tent."
Getting to the target without or with minimal bloodshed should be out goal. We'll need proof that they are or are not the rightful heir.
I believe their... reaction will advise out next step. And yes, we should be rested and say full strength.
Giving things some thought, I could summon a small creature as a distraction, but that could put them in high alert.
"Alright... if we are going to take the command tent on, then we will need a number of combatants. Ideally all of us. That means we would need to stealth everyone over. I sincerely doubt our ability to all head over unseen, let alone drag back a captive for interrogation. Frankly, I think we need more information. I mean - if the target walked past the door would anyone even recognise him?"
"That said... if Elsa's invisibility extends to others, then I have a scroll of.. ah... 'Expeditious Retreat' I think it translates as. Anyone using the two should be able to get to the tent fairly quickly, take a look around, and report back. With only my stealth gear on, I guess I could do it in about..." he considers "6 seconds there. 6 seconds back. Maybe 30 seconds to look around... a minute?"
"Alternatively, the tent is only about fifty feet away? that's hearing distance. If we can make a cut in the correct part of the tent we can probably just look inside from here. Given that costs us nothing, that is my preference. Elsa, Desdemona, do wither of you happen to have a quiet, discrete spell that can put a rip - or a hole - perhaps an inch across in the side of the tent?"
"Finally, if anyone happens to have disguise spells it may be possible to simply walk around the camp and collect gossip."
It's probably best to conserve resources. Elsa and I can probably risk getting up close to the tent, to gather information. She looks over to the halfling.
Thinking out loud, Perhaps we agree on a cover story. I can use it in my speaking if we are discovered.
I'm sorry, I can't make everyone invisible. As for a cover story...only as a last resort. It would be perilous.
Elsa thinks.
We are all going, attacking quickly, which is our best bet. If Desdemona and I sneak over, see if he is there, and signal the rest of you, we could hit the guards while you join us. Then we subdue him, then retreat.
She pauses
Or Desdemona can go over and talk to him.
Zyrel thinks for a moment. "Alright. I do think we should wait for dark though. I can lend you my gear, Desdemona, if you do not have some of your own." He pauses "I think it'll fit."
"I like Desdemona's plan of sneaking over to eavesdrop. I would ask that you then come back and tell us what you have learned.
I detest the way in which we keep being asked to be assassins. I would much rather find better solutions. I do not care how well the Margrave runs Tan Serik. If he killed this young man's parents to seize the throne, I will not assist him in finishing the job.
I thought I made that clear earlier.
Our job is to find wild magic specialists to fix the factory. The Margrave's price is that we become assassins. But he is not our only option.
As I said, we can investigate and then decide what to do.
If the pretender is legitimate, then we may end up working to install him as the Margrave, and he can in turn send us the wild magic specialists we need.
Or, we can fake his death and lie to the Margrave in order to claim our reward - not getting involved any more than we need to.
Or, we can see if this neighboring nation has adequate wild magic specialists, and cut a deal with them without even needing to install the pretender in Tan Serik.
If the rest of you are set on violence, then I will disarm and trip the guards - nothing more. I loathe the Margrave's mission for us, and if we can complete the Tetrad's mission - our true mission - in any other way, then that is what I will do."
We'll report back, unless we're... detained. Violence is our last resort.
Elsa smiles of course—no violence except as a last resort. But let us not make assumptions. This pretender is likely as bad as the other. Aristos tend to be nasty coves
She waits for the door to be open then casts vanish on herself and moves to the tent. She will look to see if there is a place there to hide normally, and listen for discussion
So much for saving resources... Des moves out, trying to avoid being noticed.
Zyrel does his best to press his strange cloak thing, made up in greens and greys, on Desdemona. He then stands behind the door, peering out past the crack, bow in hand.
Elsa quietly moves up to the tent, looking for a place to hide when the spell runs out
While Elsa is able to sneak across unnoticed, Des is not so lucky. She finds herself caught in the open as a patrol rounds the corner. There are three warriors, two with pikes and the other with a rifle, who have clearly noticed her.
The rifle bearer raises her weapon and calls out, "State your name and rank, now!"
damn it
Elsa looks back and sees the speakers. This could get messy. She moves to cover the three guards with a potential spell cast. It looks like Desdemona will get a chance to talk to them. Or she could run. Choices, choices.
Slowly raising her empty hands, palms forward.
Mona. No rank. Just a concerned citizen and curious.
Is it really... Him?
Many feared he did not survive the attack. There are more that would rally behind him if they were certain.
I'm here to help.