Way of the Wicked - the Fall of Andoran (Inactive)

Game Master increddibelly

Okay, my level 5 build. Apparently I misread, and lesser Animate Dead isn't as powerful as I'd thought or hoped. Sadly, I learned it only allows me to raise one skeleton or zombie up to 18 HD, as opposed to the level 5 version which raise multiple so long as it doesn't exceed 18HD.

In any event, I went with skeletal summoning and augment summoning as a result, which allows for instantaneous undead. Plus, even with just one... I can still, oh I don't know... do something malicious like raise Mott and have him fight his own men? That'd be fun.

5th Level:
Anti-paladin

Hit Points: 1d10 ⇒ 4

Fiendish Boon:
Fiendish Servant

Skills:
+1 Perception
+1 Disguise

Feat:
Furious Focus

DMI, can we get confirmation about when Sakkarot will be ready to strike against Balentyne? He said two weeks, but I'm not sure how long we were on the ship.

And yes, Aerent was the one that investigated the arsenic.

Also, I noticed a little throwaway item when I was reading about our timeline... Sakkarot said something bout Cardinal Thorn once being a Cardinal of Sarenrae. And we have just happened to find a family bible of Lord Havelyn with the name of a Cardinal of Sarenrae intentionally blotted out. Um... coincidence?

Whoooo,

Reading comprehension ftw! :)

I was starting to get worried about moving too fast. Maybe we should just let everything settle down for a week or so, then blitz them again.

Here are my suggestions, but I'm certainly open to other ideas:
1. Kill Varning and his men sometime around the 11th or 12th.
2. Use the time during mass on the 12th to sabotage other parts of the keep.* Hopefully avoiding any more killing.
3. Kill or kidnap Lord Havelyn** late on the 12th.
4. Poison the troops on the 13th.
5. Signal the attack on the 13th.

*Also can sneak in at night if desired for recon and more sabotage.

**One of us can impersonate Havelyn long enough to tell the guards that he is feeling unwell and not to disturb him on the morning of the 13th.

Other thoughts:
For kicks, we can also kill Ye Merrie Men and disguise ourselves as members of their troop when committing some of the deeds. Also, Aerent hates thespians.

We should consider killing the dwarves and everyone else in the Inn the evening of the 12th. The dwarves will likely be drunk/hungover so should be easy to kill. I'm worried that if they are alive they might be able to fix some of our sabotage.

I figure Sindran really wants to kill the Captain that he had an issue with. Killing the Priest might be a good thing too.

-----

That's about all I have at the moment. I'll read back through and see if anything else jumps out at me.

It was indeed Aerent with the arsenic!

And nice catch, Aerent. :D Information is always nice. But is there anything Aerent doesn't hate?

Help with killing the captain is always appreciated. I'm not sure yet when I'll kill him--I don't want to raise suspicions too much and killing him soon will raise alarm when he'll be expected back. We've also killed a bunch of the folks already. Ideally I would like to do it on the 14th--he leaves so he's not expected back for a few days and so nobody will start looking for him when we put the final plan into action.

So I do agree on taking it slow for a while--maybe meet up with the new person I've been killing to meet!

Sabotage on 12th sounds good with the mass.

When the play starts is an ideal time to signal the attack. If we can stop an alarm from being raised, then they might not even be alerted until the last moment.

The Havelyn plan is good--that he's taken the day off to prepare to watch the play later or something is a good excuse. Getting rid of the dwarves the night before as well--Oret can provide some sort of excuse for them not showing up on the 13th, perhaps being too hung-over.

Or perhaps that Lord Havelyn has declared the 13th as a day off for everyone! No need to bolster the defenses or for the dwarves to come in, it's time to relax and prepare to watch the play later.

The 13th is a good time if we want to focus on food poisoning taking out most of the defenses. But perhaps we can save some of that famous beef stew and have "Lord Havelyn" order some made for the 16th, to be served before/during the play?

So I'd actually like to do most of everything on the day of the play--if it goes well we can expect most of the town in one place, the wall having little to no defenses (with maybe just a skeleton crew for a guard).

I'm fine with Aerent's timeline as well. It's just whether we want to focus on the Food Poisoning gambit or the Merry Men Play gambit.

Also yes, Sindran would like to burninate Captain Barhold but he's a popular figure and seems to know his guards individually. Not sure yet how to get rid of him--possibly leaving it to the day of the play, because revenge is best served cold. Actually, that doesn't work well with Sindran because he likes it hot. Sindran wants to kill Barhold face-to-face. Maybe if I can find a way to rig up some explosions/fire in the play itself, set to detonate with the attack signal for maximum drama.

And someone get rid of the rookery guy? We don't want a message to be sent out. He doesn't get out much so we can just get rid of him after the mass, since no one's expecting to see him other than that time from what I know.

Also, Aerent hates thespians.

I lolled.

My notes also tell me there's still a plan to dress up as a servant again, and investigate the lower chambers in more detail. I'm just putting it out here so none of us forgets there are still a few rooms we haven't seen yet.

For the rest, all I can say is that your suggestions are quite reasonable. Let us hope nothing or no one interrupts your carefully laid plans.

Great catch Aerent... I didn't even look at the spoiler that contained the information with the bible until just now!

P.S. Make sure you update the black blade, actually gets quite a few things at level 5. The link to the page should be in Talon's profile

good thing you mentioned that - I'll get to work on this.

Ooh, is this the new player? How exciting!

Yes it is :)

Wasn't expecting that.

That's goooood... Mwahahaahaaa

*Stares at DM for very long time, then slooowly asks* "Is...is it a human?" with a suspicious glance

If you look up 'smug' in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of a small skull with a smoking purple brain.

Now, onwards! We have a government to overthrow, starting with a certain invicible fortress. Although I suggest you have a chat with Letho first - I'm sure you'll have some questions.

I actually do remember that... I made a mental note of it, and then subsequently forgot about it!

Bah. Forums ate my post. Really hate it when that happens.

@Caladwhen No, he doesn't actually have any use for the Arcane spellbook (aside from being as a reasoning for the Glorious Heat feat maybe), but he'd be interested in the treatise. Now, Arcane Magic Devices like that Wand of Fireball on the other hand. . . .

Regarding Letho, I think Aerent and Caladwhen are going to do most of the talking for now. However, Sindran would be more than happy to interact later. Maybe even work on some explosives together.

We might need to move the schedule up. It's the opportune time to strike with most of the soldiers incapacitated, a lot of manpower dedicated to recovering, and the town grieving. We can go back with Letho to his laboratory on Monday to discuss things further and to hatch out a plot.

Tuesday (where we are now), Captain Varning is expected back. I think I'll go out to meet him. If anyone is interested in joining me, that would be grand. And perhaps it would be a good time to do a sort of 'test' for Letho. See his dedication. We'd also net Caladwhen a nice corpse, eh?

Let's find out if Sakkarot is ready by Wednesday. During the Memorial Service would be a great time to signal.

By the way, did we ever find out what Arryn's note said? Can't recall reading about it.

Letho understands that it will not take long untill poison is suspected. Eventually the guards will also knock on his door. As a result he is quite eager to be out of town/move forward.

He realy wants to prove himself to the group. In his idea this is a group of people that will make a difference. He helps the group in any way he is capable of.

I tend to copy my post RIGHT before submitting. It's happened to me too often. such a pain to lose creative work.

However. Going out to meet the captain seems a very good idea. efficient.
The longer you wait, the closer to town he'll be; and the less time you'll have to setup a proper welcome. What sort of terrain and area would be ideal for your ambush?

using the cover of the memorial service also seems oddly appropriate for a villain. Nice...

I wonder if Arryn fully understands the ramifications of going against an infernal contract she signed in her own blood; but I am quite sure she will eventually find out, at a time when it suits Dessiter (your Cardinal's preferred contract devil, you may recall) or the Prince himself.

I think it's more exciting for the game if you'd be able to continue with the strike as of wednesday or thursday.
However, there could be all sorts of challenges in having to control the situation for a while longer; but I also think that would work best on a tabletop game. For our game, that might only cause frustration.
I haven't decided yet. I'll decide tomorrow.

I'm all for killing Varning as soon as possible. If we accomplish that, we'll have 3 of the 4 captains dead as well as almost 50 soldiers (not including the dying ones).

Thinking of plans for either way DMI goes. Will post more tomorrow.

Oret is all for getting his hands bloody again. The soldiers in the tower weren't exactly difficult to handle, and, as his main purpose in the group is to bash skulls, he's feeling a bit like a fish out of water.

*ooc*
I'm really excited to have Letho in the group, I think his skill set will work well with what we want without wasting walnuts working without wet willows

ya i started a legitimate sentence then just laughed at all the w's. ok, on to business

*ooc*
I like what Letho's character can do, we really did need somebody like him in our group

*ic*
Great. Another human.

I hear you Oret. With my tabletop games I usually have to work hard to nudge the story away from combat. With this game, I find myself in a new situation, it's quite the reverse :)
Once you signal for the bugbears though, we'll be up for a violent streak to make up for 'lost time'.
I'm preparing a battlemap of Aldencross and its environs for this moment.

Aerent is kind of itching for more combat as well.

DMI - I have reconsidered my Fiendish Boon choice, and I'd like to go with the weapon instead of the servant. Would that be acceptable? After thinking about it, I decided that Aerent is really in love with his trident that was "blessed" when the Brandescar symbol was burned off. It would be more in character for him to want to focus on the weapon than to start summoning fiendish allies.

Hmm...I may have gone a little overboard with Dessiter, but I hope that now at least the contract really means something.

Anyway - a toast to our new alchemist, may he brew us the best beer ever.

what sort of terrain would be ideal for your ambush? Would you prefer dense forest / narrow straight path / dry river bed / open field / cliffside?
I've looked at the map, and the last day of the patrol's travels have all of the above. Their route takes them to Balentyne from the north along the Watch Wall. If you look at the map link (top) that could give you a general idea of where to go and how far things are from Aldencross.

And Sakkarot FireAxe just reported that he's ready when you are.
However, side from the patrol, there's still a few dozen men, a priest, an ice golem, the lantern archons, the ravens, and the fortress portals and defenses that you could deal with. Even though you've accomplished much already, that is still quite a lot of stuff to deal with at once when you call for the siege to start...

I'm thinking narrow straight passage. Keep them contained, use some area effect spells to trap them, hurt them, and prevent their escape. Once they're contained, beat them down.

Biggest challenges will be preventing escape, avoiding mounted charges, and any ranged attacks they might have (bows or crossbows). To the degree that we can mitigate those challenges, this might be a relatively easy ambush.

I agree, the straight and narrow path (to Hell).

And don't forget Captain Barhold and Lord Varning! I don't think we know about the lantern archons--just that the Church has something severely annoying in it. Perhaps if I tell Caladwhen about it, she can figure it out? (I don't think she's rolled a knowledge check for it.)

Caladwhen, may I have the Wand of Fireball?

Some suggestions:

Despite it being Sindran's idea, perhaps he should work on the other things. I'd like to nominate Talon, Oret, Aerent, and Letho to deal with Captain Varning. You should be enough, especially if you take them by surprise. Oret wanted a challenge anyway, eh? And if Caladwhen wants the Captain's body, perhaps you should bring it along home.

Caladwhen, I'd like you and me find out what happened to the ice golem and try to set another command for it. If that doesn't work, figure out if it'll activate to defend the castle or not. If it does, I'll have to melt it to slush, otherwise we may be able to find some use for it in the future.

Then we work on getting rid of either Marvin and the Ravens (that sounds like a band) or Father Donnagin.

I'm voting for Father Donnagin so Sindran can impersonate the good Father for the mourning on wednesday. Though try to take him alive--breaking the guy in will be a good warm-up for Sindran before he kills him and it'll help him impersonate the good Father for the mourning on Wednesday.

If we succeed, that'll leave us with Lord Havelyn, Captain Barhold, Marvin, and the archons. Sounds intimidating, but they need to be alive for the mourning on Wednesday otherwise we'll set off an alarm early--and at least we know where they'll be then.

Sindran has a taste for theatrics. (Speaking of theatrics, does that play The Fall of Amberlyn have any actual lines that I can lift off of? Or can I just make my own things up? I don't want to waste the whole day I spent memorizing the thing for nothing, and if that bonus I get from memorizing it helps me keep the attention of the masses, I'd love that.) Letho, would you be so kind to provide me with combustibles and oil? Alchemist's Fire or Lamp Oil would do fine if you have that in stock. I've got a nice idea already.

On Wednesday, while I'm busy serenading the town, you all get to work on dismantling the defenses and preparing for Sakkarot. When you're all ready, do the signal and I'll provide sufficient distraction to give Sakkarot and you guys a headstart. I'm trusting you guys to pull it off, because I'll be alone with most of the town, the remaining soldiers and probably high-level enemies. Insane? Yes. Fun? Definitely!

The day of the siege, we get rid of all the defenses. The drawbridge should be down, the portcullis open, the heated sand gone and guards missing. Siege engines are sabotaged.

There's probably an easier or safer way to do it or something, but what's life without risk?

There's a dried up creek, (think this but more like this and with more of this on either side) where years ago, water from lake Tarik eroded a trench over the ages, but it has since found an easier path down the hills.
The patrol would have to go in single file, at a slow trot, and they'd be unable to charge. Sound good?

Sindran, I assume you mean Lord Havelyn? Varning is the scout captain we're going to ambush.

I don't think we should conduct the ambush without our two main casters. We need to kill them and prevent their escape, not go looking for trouble by splitting into groups and diluting our strength. I'm pretty sure you'll still have time to interrogate and kill the priest after we take care of the scouts. I'm fine with the location though, I think that would work well.

Other than that, I like the rest of your suggestions.

For those of us who won't be entertaining the grieving masses...

Things to do in the tower:
1. Make sure the drawbridge is down
2. Make sure the portcullis is up

According to DMI, we have to do both of these to fulfill our obligations to Cardinal Thorn.

Other things to do:
3. Put out the fires under the kettles of sand (in the gatehouse)
4. Kill the birds in the rookery
5. Kill as many soldiers as possible

Additional objectives of opportunity:
6. Kill Lord Havelyn
7. Kill Father Donnegan (Sindran's on this)
8. Kill the dwarves (so they don't fix Oret's sabotage)

-----

Also, I don't think we've divided up the loot we got from the captains. Are we keeping a loot sheet? I'd be happy to do it if we need it.

Eddarly:
+1 composite longbow (Str +2),
+1 chain shirt,
longsword, dagger, 20 arrows,
key

Mott
masterwork longsword,
composite longbow (+4 Str),
masterwork full plate,
dagger, 20 arrows,
key

Sounds fine to me. Oret will volunteer to be front and center.

Err. Yes. What you said that I meant! Definitely. Location looks gooood.

I suppose Caladwhen would be enough to melt the golem with her Wand of Fireball if she wants, but that means having her alone. *ponders* Well, I suppose if she has her draugrs with her then she's not really alone. If we can get them into some guard clothes or disguise them somehow, then they can look like guardsmen or newly dead corpses from afar which would give enough time for them to surprise and kill anyone who approaches or for Caladwhen to escape.

It's up to you, though, Caladwhen, if you want to do the sneaky stuff or go with the others for Captain Varning--you'll net yourself an immediate corpse that way. Just have your draugrs near me in case of an emergency if you choose to do so. While I'm confident that I can survive, I'm not so confident that I won't raise an alarm. Fire is not subtle. At all.

Though it's a good plan with me joining the assault team in the morning. Of course, this is dependent on Captain Varning being on time. If he isn't, then there might not be anything but ashes for you to raise, Caladwhen. *cough*

I think as far as the Golem goes, deactivating it might be the best course of action. Melting it would draw undue attention to the Magister's lab as you have mentioned, no matter who does it.

Cala also has the invisibility spell, so my thought is that Cala can go into the Magister's lab unnoticed and solo, and shut it down.

While there, I could ensure us an open gate perhaps by charming one of the gatesmen, and have him open it for us? Just a thought.

As far as raising the dead, who do you think is the toughest? Varning, Eddardly or Mott? Generally speaking, the tougher they were in life, the better a zombie they'll make in death (adding the zombie template to their base stats).

I wonder if when the bugbears invaded we could come out in force to create a fight inside. Not sure of the combat prowess of our new member, but between Aerent, Oret, and I we can kill a huge number of soldiers without risking our spellcasters in close combat. Then we can leave some emergencies or big opponents to them

That's more or less what I was hoping for, Talon. I was assuming that we would get the portcullis open and the drawbridge down, then make sure they stay that way by guarding the gatehouse from anyone foolish enough to try to get past.

Since nobody else seemed interested, Aerent is going to grab the +1 composite longbow (+2) and all the arrows.

-----

Cala, if you're okay going in alone, I say do it. Although activating the golem to start a rampage inside Balentyne would be great, I agree with you that simply deactivating it would probably be for the best. While you're doing that, the rest of us can be ambushing Varning and his men.

Not sure about charming somebody, I figured we would wait until Wednesday morning and use the secret tunnel. We could head straight up the tower and kill the ravens, then go across the bridge to the gatehouse (using the upper level bridge - #24). Just disguise ourselves as soldiers using our circlets while out in the open and it might be enough to get into the gatehouse before the other soldiers know what's happening.

Open to other ideas too, just throwing out some suggestions.

Could use poison again to kill the ravens. Much easier than poisoning soldiers

That is a great idea, Talon. Caladwhen can stop by with some poisoned feed--or perhaps T'llaryo can fly in and scatter the feed himself.

The cardinal was clearly wise in trusting you to deal with this. So many good ideas...

That is a good idea Talon, props. Cala will just have to get some poison then, something that will go unnoticed in the bird feed.

Letho, I'm sure you could fix up some poison? or at least, something lethal to ravens when ingested. They're only birds, and like Talon said, the poison doesn't have to be strong enough to kill a humanoid.

Setting expectations: I'm AFK from june 14th till june 30th for catching some of Sarenrae's delightful rays of sunlight in southern France.

My intention is to be done with Balentyne and setup a teaser for the next phase of The Plan; but the only thing you can count on, is that I will leave you with a cliffhanger - And, if you've come that far, you're welcome to join me until level 20; which is as far as the game goes.

niiicee, looking forward to it. have fun in france!

Awesome! I hope you'll have a great time there.

Good thing we're moving the plan up then. And Sindran will follow the Way all the way to the end. :D

I'll get back to you later tonight :)

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ptge?Hell-Devils-Archdevils-Whore-Queens-and-t he

great stuff from Lord Schneider.

Ooh. Very great stuff! Awesome stuff.

Ooo. Love it. I too was a big Planescape junky. To be honest, I agree with Wes. In my game, the Baatezu (lawful devils) were more terrifying than the Ta'nari (chaotic demons) mainly because they were organized and followed had a more structured and rational society. They were, however, vastly outnumbered by the demons which made it an even pitch battle in the eternal blood war.

Good stuff.

Sorry for the delay by the way... June is end of term, so my posting might be a bit erratic for the next week or two. After that, clear sailing.

Two commands huh? Any suggestions guys. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone... have the golem kill Havelyn, or somebody else of our choosing.

Speaking of commands IB, could the second command be something along the lines of "destroy yourself after completing the first command?"

"At midnight, rise and wander this fortress killing any humans you encounter until sunrise." Something like that might take out some NPCs and end up with it being destroyed. I'm guessing without their wizard, the soldiers are going to have a tough time dealing with the golem, but they can probably defeat it after it takes out a dozen or so soldiers.

And if the soldiers don't destroy it, Cala could always command it to destroy itself later.

That's what I was thinking - have it wreak havoc for as long as it can, then, at some predetermined time, have it shut down/kill itself/whatever.

The question is, do we have it do this now, or when we signal the invasion, as an additional distraction?

could the second command be something along the lines of "destroy yourself after completing the first command?"

Hm.

I'm now going to kick my wife off the PC now so I can photoshop some cute horsies in the map. Don't kill em all at once or I'll sleep on the couch for no good reason ;)

Those are good suggestions, but I also just had a thought... we have numerous objectives, so theoretically, we could set the Golem to complete one before shutting itself down one way or another.

My thought is we could have it do one of the following:

1) Get the drawbridge and portcullis open at the predesignated time. Doubtful that the guards would be able to stop it from achieving this relatively easy to understand task.

2) Kill Havelyn? I'm not sure what our plan was for poor old Lord Havelyn. Sindran had something in mind, but he's concentrating on Donnegan no? My original thought was to lure him by posing as his beloved dead wife in the play. It would be crafty, but a less complicated plan might be simply order the Golem to pull a "hulk smash" on Havelyn.

3) Kill soldiers as suggested.

Personally, I think #1 has the least chance of backfiring. Thoughts?