Zova will move in 30 feet to block the exit downstairs, holding out her dagger with a sadistic grin.
Tenoch moves forward, preparing to attack the guard neatest the horn. Grumblejack moves right behind him, threatening the other guard. Coral steps through the door, and focuses her spell on the man to the right. She is able to aim it and only hit him.
He fights for a moment as a spray of colors hits his face, but falls back, unconscious. Nera walks through the door behind the others.
Zova eyes fill with the rage of a wild beast as she slashes her dagger out at the still surprised guard.
Add two if I end up flanking. Subtract two if this is the one that is not unconscious (my drawback). I have NOT added the penalties from being unconscious since I am not sure if when you said 'rigth' you meant right on the map or the character's right.
The guard dodges Zova's attack, looking around, he realizes his face goes wide with horror, he stands, moving to the horn and picks it up.
Tenoch strikes out with his dagger, cutting deep into the man's arm as he passes.
Grumblejack as well tries to punch the man, but only swings at the air.
tch, I don't think so, sweetling
she attempts a disarm maneuver against the guard with the horn, provoking an AoO and with a -4 if he's drawn his weapon
This is Zova's AOO
(After variable mods in this instance, 7 is the flat bonus) It's a 1! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Zova strikes at the man as he rushes by, but misses. He grabs the horn, but Ardra easily pulls it from his grasp. He is left holding nothing, his weapon's still sheathed, surrounded. His eyes widen. Please don't hurt me!
Tenoch looks at the hapless guard, his knife held ready. He then looks down at the guard's fallen companion before looking back at the man. "You may be in luck. I'd say we only need one of you alive for information," he says before crouching down and slashing the guard's throat, taking care to keep the blood from splashing onto the armor or uniform.
As Tenoch does this, Zova will start searching the dead guard's body and stripping off his armor. "I'll take his weapon (what is it?) while one of you could take the dagger. Anyone want the armor, or should I have it?"
takes the offered dagger and begins looking and sniffing around. starting in (17)
then (20):
then the stairs:
tell me sweetling, where do these stairs lead?
The guard dies quickly, his blood spilling across the floor. The other man lets out a strangled noise and begins to retch. Zova relieves the dead man of his belongings, finding several useful items:
•chain shirt
•heavy steel shield
•longsword
•leather club
•longbow with 20 arrows
•a key
Ardra searches her way around the prison.
Once the guard finished retching, he looks at Ardra, They go down. To the first level. The great hall.
Tenoch looks at the surviving guard, his mouth tentacles playing over the bloody dagger as he 'licks' it clean. "I expect you will not be needing your finery," he says. "Best remove them on your own, or else she may have to do it for you," he finishes pointing at Zova who was now looting the corpse of the man's colleague. "While you're at that, tell us about the manpower in the prison. Leadership, shifts, patrols, numbers, locations..."
"As you and I are likely to meet our opponents up close and personal," he replies to Zova, "we may each want to take a set of armor... and a sword, although I would prefer something with a little more heft."
also, how far below us are the kitchens, and what bloody time is it?
she snatches the key ring from the peg, belts her dagger, and examines the dead man's club
The guard begins to strip off his gear, shaking as he hands it over to Tenoch. It must be standard issue because it is identical to the dead man's things.
I-it-it's midnight. He thinks for a moment then says, Must be 20 feet down. The-the leadership, Sergeant Blackerly and the warden. Uh there are two guards below, two on the wall, two on the gatehouse and two at the end of the bridge. Shift just started, so . . . he trails off, unsure what to say.
Zova looks at the guard, whilst pulling on the set of the dead man's armor. Curious to lern more of her captors, she asks, "Tell me, what is your name and what god do you pray to at night? Answer honestly, or I fear I will have to cut out your tongue. That is the penalty for lying to a representative of the Hell Knights."
I want to know if he's stupid enough to lie to me...
Tenoch takes and dons the gear as he receives it, listening to the man's fearful chatter. He looks aside at Zova with her question on religion, but concentrates on making sure the equipment fits him well enough to fight in.
"Do you go home off-shift, or remain in some barracks somewhere?" the beast says before adding: "Perhaps you could draw a rough map."
her eyes harden at mention of the sergeant. without waiting for him to answer the others she grabs him by the throat and and slams him against a wall, pinning him. easing her grip slightly she asks with forced calm, where is Blackerly now?
Coral keeps herself away from the rough parts of the interrogation,looking at the stairs.
"Ask him where they keep the prison paperwork. "
The guard trembles, his face pale and sweaty. My name . . . I'm Dale. And I pray to Mitra. Dale looks down at his feet. N-n-No. There's a barracks downstairs. Near the dining hall. I guess I could draw a map. Do you have anything to write with? He laughs bitterly already knowing the answer.
His face turns sour as he thinks on where Blackerly is, He's at his nightly card game, in the gatehouse. The prison paperwork is likely in Blackerly’s office, or the Warden's. Probably both.
Zova sneers at the mere mention of Mitra and points the sword at the now naked and unarmed man. "Once my allies are done with you, you have a bit of a choice I think. Lie down and allow me to knock you unconscious, or stand still and let me run you through. Never say that I am an unfair officer of the law."
nice to meet you, Dale. you've got plenty of ink and drawing space on the floor by your friend, now draw Tenoch her map she lets go of him and looks to Coral raising an eyebrow, what documents could possibly be worth raiding the warden's office?
Tenoch raises... what could potentially pass for an eyebrow at the guard's revelation of Blackerly. "A nightly card game? How many people are involved in such a game? Those who have just left shift, or those who should be on-duty?"
The beast then nods at Ardra's response to his question on writing. "Indeed. A nice red map should do. Your finger will work perfectly as we won't need the fine details. Alternatively you could carve it into your colleague's chest, but I figure that may not be so palatable to you."
The guard trembles, looking incredulously from one to the other. Finally he begins to draw a crude map. You see that you are in a keep, sitting at the center of a set of walls. There is a gatehouse directly north of you and a tower--where the warden stays--south west. There seems to be about 20 to 30 feet of open space on all sides of the keep you are in.
As he finished the map, the guard jabs a finger at the gatehouse, The card game is happening here. I don't know how many people will be there, it changes every night, but it is possible some of them should've been on duty.
you're being incredibly helpful, my sweetling, just a few more questions. You said there are two guards downstairs, can you tell us where they most likely are? also, I smell broth coming up that chimney, and I imagine there's a cooking staff; how many are they, and is there anyone else in the complex?
It seems that Branderscar is no longer living up to its reputation with card games and the like occurring here. Lax leadership may make things a bit easier for us, though. Tenoch examines the map and listens to the guard's fearful replies, having nothing further to add.
The guard swallows. At the ends of the hallway, by the front entrance. He shakes his head, but it doesn't seem to be for you, In the kitchen, there are two servants. No one else. Finally the man lays down quietly shaking.
thank you, Dale. You've been enormously helpful. Sweet dreams.
Alright, I've been thinking. I'm guessing Nera could use some armor and, honestly, if things go badly, I wouldn't mind having some myself. There are barracks in the building, according to Dale, so we can probably equip ourselves there.
Here's the issue, down the stairs is the hall, and it sounds like we might be in full view of the guards at the front door if we go straight down.
On the other hand, down the fire place is the kitchen and two servants. We still have a rope in the veil which we can use to climb down. Smells like there's something cooking so there's probably a fire lit. A cooking fire is practically nothing to me so I volunteer, but there are two servants and there should be two of us to keep them from crying out or otherwise getting out of hand. Anyway, two of us go down the chimney and deal with the servants, put out the fire and the rest of you can then climb down.
With luck, we can find some more equipment before facing the next set of guards. One way or another, I'm hoping the kitchen is far enough removed from the hall that we can surprise those guards as effectively as we did these.
Grumblejack, I'm sorry, but at least for now you'll have to stay up here so we can avoid alerting the whole complex, unless, of course, you think you can fit down the chimney with the rest of us. Otherwise we can get you once the new guards are dealt with.
Now, does everyone understand, and does anyone have any problem with this?
Nera had been listening to the man speak the whole time, seeing her 'comrades' were dealing just fine. When the man laid down in fear she nodded, "At ease soldier, you did your job." She'd make sure he wasn't killed, the man did not deserve that.
When Ardra started talking about climbing down she nodded, "That sounds like a plan. It should also get us some food, something I could use as well. I dislike fighting on an empty stomach." Hopefully there would be something decent there as well. While the grub the soldiers get would do she hoped that the increased decadency among the leadership meant there was something tastier there as well.
"The cooking fire would not pose much of an obstacle to me, either. My skin is naturally hardened against it. Still, the two servants could easily run off to warn the guards before we have completed our descent. We would need to be quick and silent...," the beast says before slinging his shield across his back. "
Seeing as Nera had yet to take any of the weapons, he offers her the dagger he recently had used. [b]"Here. Perhaps we'll find a better weapon for you soon. Consider taking a bow to strike at our foes from afar."
Tenoch hefts the man and carries him back to the cells, finding manacles of the appropriate size, he shackles the man into them, leaving him as he had been, not that long before.
Nera accepts the dagger before picking a bow and arrows up from the ground, "I'd be searching for a whip, but I'd be surprised if I'd find one in here. Maybe the stables." Sadly going into the stables wouldn't be a good idea as horses tended to be easy to scare. Besides, chances were they only had riding crops anyway.
very good
Ardra relieves the rope from the veil and secures one end to the flue before lifting the grate out of the way. gripping the dagger with her tail she uses the rope as well as the chimney walls to climb down as carefully and quietly as she can, going first and so choosing stealth over speed
The guard is knocked unconscious and dragged into a cell. Ardra quickly ties off the rope and begins to descend. Before long it starts to get hot as she gets nearer the fire.
If she can, she'll peak out into the room to get a feel for who and what's where. If only one servant is present she'll rush out and surprise him/her, attempting to grapple. If both are present she'll wait until Tenoch is in a good position to follow her before bolting toward the door (praying there's only one) to block it. She brandishes her dagger and says in a low voice, keep quiet and we might not kill you
Tenoch's form seems to shift slightly as he moves, spiderlike to the rope and down it after Ardra. He prepared to move rapidly to confront any present in these kitchens.
There are two servants in the kitchen. One stands over the counter, with a knife in hand. He seems to be cutting shallots and carrots. The other man busies himself with a rag, wiping down one of the other kitchen surfaces. At first, neither man seems to notice when Ardra drops down into the fire. As Tenoch drops beside her however, the logs crack and catch their attention. Ardra quickly moves to block an exit and Tenoch steps out, his longsword beside him. The servants quickly still themselves and look around. Horror shows on their face as they stare at Tenoch. They both press up to the side of their respective counters. One man starts to speak, Take what you need and go. Please don't hurt us.
Hearing the speech, Zova is going also propel down the chimney as fast as possible as to avoid the fire, stepping out of the chimney and beside her... allies with her sword drawn. "Fear not. We have no quarrel with you."
addresses Zova, slightly impressed that she would brave the fire with no protection at all. spill the broth, won't you sweetling, so no one else gets singed coming down
She turns her attention back to the servants who are understandably preoccupied with Tenoch's horrific visage
what we need is to get out of here. You'd like that, wouldn't you? The scary squid-face, the horned she-devil and the hulking orc gone, yes? Help us or we'll rape you to death, eat your flesh and sew your skins into clothing, and not necessarily in that order. she pauses long enough to see that they understand now, my precious dears, what can you tell me about branderscar prison, no detail's too small? I'll give you, oh..., three minutes to give us information that could save you. she points at one of them at random you first
Tenoch sighs inwardly at the human's reaction to his appearance. Although it must have been particularly terrifying to them with my stepping from the fire... The beast moves around the two humans glowering at them, allowing his presence to back Ardra's words.
Zova falls into the fire burning herself before rolling out of the fireplace.
The servant blanches, I. I. The password. The password to get across the bridge is Hesterfield. It won't change for a week. The man stammers some more before finally bursting, I don't know! I don't know how a criminal can get out of here. You're not supposed to be able to. What do you want? The man seems nearly in tears and he falls to his knees with a loud crack. He doesn't even seem to notice the pain as he looks up in horror at the faves around him.
there, you see? that was useful information, very good. now take your clotbes off and lie face down on the floor.
The servants comply, stripping and laying down.
Zova talks to them in a hushed tone, getting on the side of the servants of Yenoch goes to the other servant. "You're going to go to sleep now. We can't have you talking, but you'd done nothing to deserve death. Understand?"
Tenoch moves up to the other servant, his sword placed into it's sheath. "Worry not. The half-orc is correct. You have given us sufficient assistance to pay for your lives. You will sleep now, and perhaps awaken with a headache when we are long gone and all is safe."
He then smashes his fist to the side of the man's head to knock him out.
Zova will do the same, except with a punt to the head.
Ardra walks over to the fireplace and dumps the simmering broth over the grate, dousing the fire and coals. she calls up the chimney, fire's out, come down she surveys the kitchen and, seeing that the stove is still burning decides, why not, it'll take less than ten minutes, even if I take my time
she oils one pan, scrapes another and adds a little flour and water, making a utilitarian meal of fritters, the results of which she doles out, now eat up, by the end of the night we'll be dead or free, I'd like to improve our chances of the latter as much as I can