Marvin let out a bestial growl and began tearing at the guard before him with claw and fang.
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Sholano, still bruised and woozy from the blows he'd taken, stared at the embroidery on the veil with a frustrated look, hesitating.
You'd think some more specific instructions wouldn't be hard to come across.
Finally making a decision, he tugged at the patch depicting the vial of liquid, he popped the cork almost before it fully materialized in his hands, slugging the contents down.
Erick slays the wounded guard, and then Marvin steps up and brutally eviscerates the closest dog. Realizing they're overmatched, the remaining two guards flee, leaving the remaining dog asleep on the ground.
"They will alert more guards. Hurry, grab what you can and let us make haste. Also I will need to borrow a dagger for a second, you will get it right back."
Zyxtivia holds out her hand for a dagger...
Celestine promptly passed the dagger over, then ripped open a portal while Zyxtyvia worked and tossed the weapons of the guards inside. If nothing else, they could probably sell the things later.
Once she was done with that, Celestine cautiously stepped out of the cell and looked around.
"Gladly," Marvin said before sinking his razor-sharp teeth into the neck of the sleeping hound.
After he finished with the dog, Marvin snatched up a signal horn and quickly searched the fallen guards for anything else easy to take, especially looking for keys.
Zyxtivia takes the dagger, walks over to the closest fallen guards and uses the dagger to take the mans teeth...she then hands the dagger back to whoever needs it.
Sholano's bruises faded and the ringing in his ears subsided somewhat as the potion's magic took effect. Tossing the vial in a corner of the cell, he took a quick impassive look around at the fallen guards and selected one with relatively little blood or ash on its clothes.
"I'll just need a moment here," he said, kneeling down and beginning to strip the guard of his armor and uniform. "With a little luck and the appropriate finesse, we might find our way out of here with a minimum of fuss."
He snapped his fingers as he remembered something. Straightening and pulling another patch from the veil, a decent-sized sack appeared in in his hands, and he promptly turned it upside down and shook, tumbling the contents to the ground. "In fact, as long as we have a breather, let's see what we have here..."
"Well we control this room but there are more guards bound to come for us. What is our next step? How do we proceed?" Zyxtivia asks the others after pocketing the teeth.
Additional Loot
Chain Shirt x2
Heavy Steel Shield x2 (emblazoned with the Mitran sun)
Longsword x2
Leather Club x2
Longbow x2
Quiver with 20 arrows x2
Additionally, each guard has a small key that doesn't fit any of the locks in this cellblock. Counting the two you killed earlier, you have a total of four of these keys. Lastly, the key to your cell is still in the lock. It looks like it'll fit each of the locks on your cellblock.
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All the immediately-accessible rooms appear to be empty cells - with one exception. The door to the west is locked. Judging by the smell, there's something inside. There's also a wooden door to the south - likely where the two surviving guards fled. If Sholano remembers correctly, there's a staircase and a few rooms beyond - including the one where he met his lady friend.
"Take what you need to make yourself useful." Zyxtyvia says taking a longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows.
Celestine wrinkled her nose slightly at the smell and moved south instead. Probably just some other prisoner, and she wasn't a charity - she had enough fools to deal with as it was (and whether that meant the guards or the other prisoners wasn't immediately obvious). Best to just get moving - although she did stop to pick up some of the leftovers on the way.
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Erick grabs one of he longbows and quiver of arrows as he slings them across his back.
"Someone is in this one." Erick says pointing his thumb behind him at the cell. "We let em out maybe they will cause a distraction fer us."
If nobody stops stops him Erick will put one of the keys in the lock and open the cell door.
"Do we want to take a peek first to see if it wont eat us instead?"
Bloody claws and scales gave way to gore-slicked fingers as Marvin calmed down. Looking down, the older man removed his bloody rags and used them to wipe away the blood from his face and neck before discarding them on the ground. "Guard uniforms... at least it's a step up from the rags they had us in," he said as he stripped the nearest guard and quickly put on his uniform and armor. Once he had the armor on well enough, he picked up a longsword, strapped a shield to his back and snatched up one of the small keys. "How do I look?" he said with a thin smile.
Sholano stomped his feet, settling the stolen boots which were just slightly too large for him. The sack had emptied out a pile of clothes, some of which seemed almost up to his usual standards - but the situation called for something a little different. He pulled on the chain shirt, grimacing at the unfamiliar weight, and hopped up and down a few times to get a feel for it. Hanging the longsword and club from his belt, he eyed the shield warily, but seemed to think better of it.
Verisimilitude be damned, those things are heavy.
He spread his hands wide, taking a look at the uniform. "Not bad, not bad. Could do with a few minutes to clean the thing up a bit," he said, running a distracted hand over a blood stain mostly hidden by the armor, "But some allowances must be made, I suppose." He leaned down to snatch up a small pouch from the ground, tossing it to Zyxtyvia. "Not sure what exactly is in there, but it smells like magic if anything does."
The cell door to the west opens to reveal a gigantic beastial creature that you recognize as an Ogre. Although not the brightest of creatures, they possess enormous strength. Due to the immense danger they pose to the common folk, King Darius has been hunting them down for years. Your cellmate is likely one of the only Ogres left in the entire nation.
He looks weak and sick but gives you a snaggle-toothed grin when he sees you. "You not look like squishy guards. Grumblejack think this means he can play. We bustin' out?" He hammers his palm with a fist the size of Celestine's head to punctuate his words.
Linus grabs a uniform and a chain shirt and walks up by Eric smiles at the large beast as he slips on a guard uniform. "If you aid us you are." He looks at the party. "We could use another person in this escape and this fella looks strong." She puts her hand out. "The names Linus, Grumblejack. Do you know what a rapier is? And if you do have you seen any?"
"More guards are bound to be on their way...what is the plan for our immediate future?"
"Nice to meet you Grumblejack. Ready to have some fun with the squishy guards. They're sure to try to stop us on our way out, so you should come along," said Marvin, leading the way back to the direction in which the guards had fled.
Celestine kept a wary eye on the ogre... and magical energy crackled around one hand. "Just don't think of betraying us." she added flatly, having little trust in general for such creatures. She preferred intelligent minions, not brainless brutes.
"Rapier is tiny pokey sword, right? Grumblejack not pay attention to that. Grumblejack prefer smashing things. More mess means more fun."
Celestine was more than happy to let the meat sacks run out first and attract any attention that might have been waiting for them. That was, after all, what they were for. She followed along at the rear, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
Linus sighed sadly. "There has to be a rapier somewhere in this prison. I intend to find it. Im sure there are valuables, too. We should search for better weapons and such." Linus followed Erick.
"Probably best to make do with what you've got and make our way out as quickly as possible. There will be plenty of time to go shopping after we seize our freedom."
Sholano's eyes tracked the others as they made their way down the hall.
Interesting bunch...perhaps with a little molding...
He strode after, straightening up some and moving with purpose. His eyes went alert, his chin just barely leading and lifting his shoulders back ever so slightly. All in all, subtle changes to his bearing, but with them, the slight half-elf somehow managed to convey an attitude of solidity very different from his unassuming and quietly charming posture this far, reminiscent of the best sort of guardsman.
Let the gung-ho ones take the lead for now, no need to stand in the front just yet - especially with the ogre around. That thing will be a trick to explain away. At least until it's dead, let them do the hard part, then play cleanup, one way or another.
"Before you all go spreading out to the four winds, what is the plan here... to escape?.. to extract revenge?...to steal anything we can get our hands on?...is everyone armed and protected in case there is immediate danger? What is the plan if we get confronted? Are we sneaking out? Are we fighting out? Are we bluffing our way out?" asks the others unsure of their immediate concerns and motivations...
"Staying in a prison is usually a bad idea." Celestine said dryly. "Personally, I'm going to be quite content with showing how pathetic their security is." the first step to undermining Mitra was, after all, showing that her followers were closer to failures than paragons. A prison run by Lord Asmodeus' followers wouldn't be NEARLY so easy to break free from.
Grumblejack chuckles at Erick's remark. "Hands is good, but Grumblejack like his club better. Is more messy."
The southernmost door leads to a small guardroom and the landing for stairs leading down to the first floor. It's lit by a sconce holding a torch. There's a door on the east wall that leads to an interrogation room containing a table and chairs . Next to the staircase, there's an incredibly massive stone fireplace. It's almost 10ft wide and has a chimney leading down that appears to connect to the kitchens (based on the sound of pots and pans coming from below you).
"The quicker we put some distance between us and this prison the better. We do what we must to ensure our escape, and once we have secured our freedom we can think about vengeance. Proper revenge needs planning, or you just end up lashing out like a child throwing a tantrum."
"OK then, may I suggest one of you dressed almost like a guard be the first down. i doubt the disguise will pass inspection but it may create enough of a confusion where the rest of us can overwhelm the spotter." Zyxtyvia says and tries to get in the middle of the group.
Looking a bit defeated, Linus sighed. "Fine. but if anyone sees a rapier..."
Celestine remained at the back as they moved, although she was quite content to be ready to call up some sort of effect at any time - one never knew when more guards were going to arrive, after all.
Heading downstairs, you find yourself in a room with a single door - that's ajar. It leads to a long hallway, with several doors on the east and west walls. There's also a set of double doors to the north, flanked by a pair of alert guards. Of much greater importance, however, is the pair of guards rushing out of the closest door. They're wielding swords, and you can hear more men coming behind them.
"Grumblejack, there are bad men between us and the door to freedom. Can you help us get them out of the way?"
Celestine wasted no time at all in focusing and calling up an aura of Serendipity to aid the others. Among other things, it would help all of them move a little bit faster...
Grumblejack is clearly game for a fight but appears uncertain about taking on multiple guards by himself. If it's clear that he won't be fighting alone, though, he'll most likely relish the chance to engage in some "merry mayhem."
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Erick claps the Ogre on the back. Ye scared? Don't worry i'll go wit ya. he says with a haughty laugh as he charges at the southern group of guards. You take the ones further back Grumble. Keep em away from us!
Erick charges at the southern guard in the lower group. His shoulder heaves up into the guards chest as he attempts to pin him to the wall.
Celestine remained where she was, maintaining the aura that would bless and help her allies. (Bless... heh. Maybe that wasn't the right word, but the concept was close enough.)
Seeing that Erick will be assisting, Grumblejack begins to lumber toward the guards.
With everyone ramping up for a fight, Marvin let the beast within take hold again, and the changes rippled through his body. "I'm with you Grumblejack..." he snarled.
Zyxtyvia will focus on the closest guard for her Evil Eye Hex... when it is her turn of course.