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

Game Master increddibelly

Talon gets next to the door, prepared to ambush the guards when they come in

it's posted in gameplay, so it just happened. However, I have no idea which of the plans your action is related to and I'm pretty sure there wasn't any consensus yet. Nonetheless, I'll roll with it.

The 2 guards on the south side of the great hall nod to the guys standing at the north side of the great hall, who -seemingly bored to death- nod back. The 2 guards enter (16) and spend about 10 seconds to climb up the stairs to (17)

All should roll initiative. AFAIK You're all clustered in the path outside cell 18c. Thanks to Aerent's warning, you have one round to position yourself, either moving your speed + stating a ready action or moving your speed twice. Talon has already taken his move action and I'll assume he stabs the first one who spots him in the face, or the last one to enter in the back. Whichever happens.

Cala, now would be an outstanding time to start up maptools using the previously posted cell block as a map :)

the five of you against two guards expecting to see an ogre dance? this shouldn't take long.

initiative Guard5: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 would you look at that, finally a guard who's paying attention.
initiative Guard6: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

guard5 seems pretty high, though I'll need to see your positioning first. Maybe Cala will post a maptools thingy, or else have a look at the prison level map posted on page 1, and state your goals.

Initiative 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Lolled at guard who's paying maximum attention and guard who's paying no attention at all. Now, here's a question. Do I hear Aerent say that Grumblejack is doing a dance?

No, here's what he's actually doing:

Sindran ushers Grumblejack to move back and goes to hide around the corner above 18d and tries to hide, staying in the shadows.

Stealth 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

Talon is inside the door at the angle where it would be harder to see him, crouched low and nonmoving. Yes, if one see's him he will stab or he'll wait until he can get one in the back

Init1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

As Aerent warns us, I position myself on the opposite side of the door to Talon, ready to also ambush the guards, with my dagger out.

Initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

With a smile, I pull my dagger back, ready to push it into the back of their necks, or better yet, the front.

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Aerent walks down the hall and heads toward Grumblejack's cell.

Caladwhen takes position in the rear, painfully aware of her proximity to the rather obnoxious smelling Grumblejack.

Fighting was never my strong suit...

For now, Cala will just sit tight. I don't have any weapons, and too few spells to waste at this juncture. If an opportunity arises, I'll use a Grave Touch or perhaps a Touch of Fatigue.

Initiative: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Round 1 Map

Oh yeah, let me know if I misinterpreted anyone's intended position.

lol, hadn't noticed the min/max initiative. Stupid guards.
I think arryn and aerten are inside 20 so they can sneakity-creep up on the guards from the rear.
1d100 ⇒ 26

The two guards leave their post at the south end of (8), and come up the stairs. As they pass the visitor's room(20) to enter the cell block,
Talon and Arryn nod briefly to eachother, picking their targets.
The quick guard shouts "What's this jibber-jabber about a dance? Didn't think the giant had it in him. so, let's see it!" And he moves into 18 - his sword still on his belt. The other guard takes another quick sip from his hip flask, and seems to be enjoying some kind of inner joke, as he trots after his co-worker.

not suspecting anything, they take 10 on their perception check for a miserable: 10 + 2 = 12.

the map is a 10" scale. For now, when exact positioning matters, I'm going to label the 5ft squares inside a 10ft square as NW, NE, SW and SE.
As the quick guard enters J13NW, Arryn strikes at the drunk guard in J13 SE. However, at the last second, he hiccups, and her dagger goes past its intended target, and they nearly bump into eachother.
The drunk guard turns around in stupefied silence, not quite yet understanding what just nearly happened.

Neither guard has noticed you yet, so they are flat-footed and unarmed. You however, are not; let's see how you deal with them!

Delay action: after everyone in my team has had a go.

Sindran moves into the sight of the two guards. H14 SW

The half-orc snarls, baring his teeth. "Give up now and you might live."

Intimidate (Demoralize guard at J13NW) 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Stealth1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Attack1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Talon lunges forward with the knife, swinging at the other guard

Damage1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Talon's knife slides off a weak link in the badly maintained armor, and pierces the unsuspecting guard's kidney. He tightens up, gasping for breath.

Seeing a death row prisoner outside his cell with such confidence as Sindran is displaying, his knees buckle and he cries for mercy.

-2nd Turn-

I lunge for the guard closest to me, the one Talon did not hit, and go for a stab.

I assume that they are still flat-footed, and will add my sneak attack.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 6

EDIT: MAX DAMAGE AND DEFINITE HIT!!!

The surprise round is now over.

As the drunk guard turns to face Arryn, Talon steps in behind him and stabs him in the back (you forgot the +2 from flanking). He cringes and fumbles for his sword.
At the same time, Arryn's blade strikes from the front, and all three of you experience a very odd sensation as the blades meet somewhere in the middle. The drunk guard is now also a dead guard, and he hiccups up some blood.

Drunk guard's uniform is now pretty much ruined. Besides, it stank, so you didn't want to wear it anyway.

Arryn and Talon have acted in the current round, Caladwhen, Aerent and Sindran are still free to go.

Talon stares at the body a moment, then rolls it over with his foot. He turns to the other guard "Not exactly dignified, but I do like the begging" His eyes flick up to Sindran "I think you can handle the talking. Perhaps he can give us a little info about the place, such as any exits besides the main?" As he finishes, he casually walks past the living guard and wipes the blood of his knife on him

@Arryn ouch nice rolls, you'd have to be a barbarian with a decent con score to stand up to that one

@Talon Thanks you, luck of the roll :D

"I've got a question. Right now, how many people are in the dining hall, and how many people in the kitchen?"

After he answers, Aerent looks around to the others...

"I say we get moving. Blackerly is going to realize he forgot his key at any time. Let's knock this fool out and chain him up. By the time they find him, we'll be long gone."

Bluff: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Aerent looks around to find the mug used for Grumblejack's medicine.

Deciding to move to where the action is taking place, Cala heads east from her current position to come up beside Sindran.

Move H9SE to H14SE

Leaning against the wall with her arms casually crossed, Cala looks passively at the body of the unsuspecting guard. Casually drawing her eyes from the body towards the living guard, Cala gives him a sweet but mocking half smile, and murmurs "You had best answer these men, they can be... dangerous."

Just going to aid in Sindran's intimidation efforts for now.

Aid intimidate: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

blackerly never forgets his keys! Besides, sarge will end the game at 1:00 and go to sleep
Then, realizing he just helped you out greatly,
guaaaaaards the prisoners are esc-gurgle
Assuming someone will reward his desperate but poor choice of action with a hole somewhere, the guard stops yelling.

Quickly silencing the man with a hand, Talon smiles "Thank you, you will no longer be needed" and finishes him with a stab in the back

perception for other guards in (8): 1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 2 - 4 = 5
Oh, look at that. Thank goodness they're not guarding anything important, or the land would've been in real trouble.

So he didn't answer Aerent's question?

Sorry, missed the first half of your post. Allow me to fix that.
at this time of night, everyone is in bed, save for the guys getting drunk or broke in the gambling hall and the guys on duty.

"Tch." Sindran folds his arms.

"We still have an hour until Blackerly gets back. We should spend that time to prepare."

He kneels and makes sure the guards are dead before searching their corpses for equipment.

A leather cudgel, longsword. Each has a numbered key, all numbered keys are unique so far, and a chainshirt. One of the uguard's uniforms is still usable.

The hip flask belonging to the drunk guard (drunkard?) Contains some of the foulest stuff you ever smelled. It's probably only useful as a disinfectant, fuel, or poison.

Sindran leaves the weapons alone but takes the chainshirt and removes his shirt, wears his chainshirt, then puts his shirt back on again.

He takes a sniff of the hip flask and grimaces, but holds onto it. The key he hands to someone else.

"Arryn, put on a uniform. The guards always work in twos; you and Aerent should scout ahead."

He frowns at the corpses. "And someone hide these with the others."

Grats on your new AC.
No one likes fighting the same enemies over and over; we're not going to keep fighting guards in detail.
Well spotted about working in pairs. You'll be assumed to have legitimate business around the keep as long as you go as a pair. Just don't do anything suspicious.
So, where would you like to scout?

Talon puts the bodies with the others, then returns to the group. "We should get moving, eventually some compentant guards are bound to show up. Some of you pretending to be guards could escort us 'prisoners' around. Then there's a chance we could just walk freely, as long as we lie well enough"

I reluctantly pull on a chain shirt, and try my best to make myself look like a real guard. Grabbing a longsword and putting it to my side. If the guards have helmets I'll take one, and hide my hair in.

Disguise: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Happy with my new uniform, I look to Aerent and Sindran.
"Where should we go and scout? I can't imagine we have gotten much time until Blackerly comes back"

@DM is the chain shirt an essential part of the uniform? Don't they have a guard shirt over it I might be able to get away with wearing, without the chain shirt? Also I heard you mention a bonus to the disguise check if you were human, and Hafl-Elves can be both elves, or humans, so where would I fall in that?

Reroll Disguise: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

The guards aren't suspicious, so they take 10 on perception, for a 12.
Uniform (sorry, yes, chain shirt) gives +8 on your roll.
You're a girl, so -2 on your roll.
You're working as a pair, so another big bonus on your roll.
You're enough of a human to ignore penalties.
all in all, You'll do fine.

Talon runs an eye over Arryn "Not bad at all. So, lead on guards" Talon makes a makeshift knot to hold his knife under his rags, doing his best to conceal it. Then he waits for the others to be ready

"Check the hall and rooms for the guards. Find some way to get us down safely. Don't take too long, we still have to get Blackerly and I want to see what else they have."

The half-orc laces his hands at his back.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Aerent looks at Arryn, "Looks fine to me."

He goes over to look down the fireplace. Does it seem like a person could climb down? It looks huge on the map.

He looks at the rest of the group, "Arryn and I will head down and into the dining room. If that guard was right, we shouldn't find anybody. If that's the case, we'll look around quickly and head into the kitchen."

Looking over at Arryn, "We might also be able to find some more of that belladonna. It would be nice to have another mug of that if we encounter any guards"

Seeing Talon hiding the dagger, Aerent puts up his hand, "I don't think we should escort anybody right now. When Blackerly came to get Sindran he had a whole group of guards, not just two. It's going to be very obvious that something is wrong, even for these idiots. Just wait by the fireplace for us to signal you. And watch for other guards to come up after we've left - they may switch watches on us while we're down there."

Aerent finds the mug that carried Grumblejack's medicine. Assuming Arryn agrees, he wants to go down and head directly into the dining room. If it's vacant, they will then go to the kitchen and examine the fireplace (if it's even an option - it looks huge on the map so I'm assuming it's worth exploring).

If any guards challenge them, Aerent will say something like "The other two said we could take a quick break to get more of Grumbie's medicine - he's dancing up a storm!". Bluff check below in case it's required.

Bluff: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Before we leave I look over to Talon "Good point Aerent, I hardly thought about how we it might look strange, sorry Talon, looks like it'll just be us."

"Yeah more Belladonna, agreed. We also need to find a good way to get down and out." I reply to the suggestions of Aerent.

I follow Aerent around, and will aid him in any bluff checks.

Aid Bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Also, when we around looking around and such Arryn will look for a small journal. Not sure if we'll even go into any places where there might be one, but Arryn wants to start a journal, keep track of her new life and such.

Talon shrugs "I know I stick out, was more worried about you guys needing some more muscle, but if you're confident in your lying all the better"

Nodding agreeably to the plan, Caladwhen moves over to the fireplace and sits down, getting comfortable leaning against the wall.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll wait up here for your signal." Looking at her right hand, Caladwhen adds "Speaking of guards, if more come, it might be helpful if I had a weapon. Is there an extra knife? I can't use swords to save my life."

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ooh yeah, the forums ate my post. It sucked somewhat having to redo the largest post yet of the entire game (below)

I am assuming Arryn and Aerent are making their way downstairs alone, pretending to be guards. Talon - it's near midnight, escorting a prisoner *now* would raise questions. May I humbly suggest that you save this otherwise very useful idea for daylight hours, if you're still here come morning?

The empty stairwell gives our scouts some time to get used to their new itchy outfits. At the door downstairs, it's show time; there will be guards on the other side of it, no matter the time. Holding their breath, they open the door in (16).

At the north side of (8), a good 100ft away, the other two guards look up only briefly, yawn, and nod. Arryn and Aerent can't help but notice the signal horn on the left guard's hip.

The Great Hall is lit by two sconces holding torches; light is dim and they find it's rather easy to hide one's face in the shadows. There's a notice board on the western wall, about halfway up, with a few pieces of paper stuck to it. One of the papers clearly reads "Roster" and you guess the others contain other official information such as the week's prisoner manifest and maybe the passwords.

Then, you try your ruse regarding the belladonna. The guards with the horn replies :"well, you've had your fun, might as well pay for it by feeding the monster its medicine."

Aerent and Arryn enter (10) the mess hall. This room has a few wooden tables and benches. On the east wall hangs a large banner with the Branderscar emblem on it. No one here, fortunately.

South is the kitchen, and as no sound is coming from it, you enter. Indeed, no-one is here. You look around and see a well-stocked kitchen and pantry; cupboards indeed contain the stuff their labels say they do, so finding belladonna in the herbs section is easy.

The fireplace here is a relic of the old castle Branderscar. It is almost comically large and the chimney could be comfortably climbed up or down to (17). The fire at the bottom would suck though, for anyone coming down.

Arryn and Aerent (our very own A-Team) have succesfully replaced the guards who were killed upstairs only moments ago.

Anyone upstairs who'd happen to be in (17) while the A-team is below could hear their activity downstairs through the chimney/fireplace.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

An idea sparks in my head.
"Aerent, I could use the leaves and make a poison, and we could poison the food. As easy as making tea. That could be a very good distraction if we leave during lunch or so tomorrow."

I look him in the eye, I know I can do this. "Used the same poison when I was breaking into a Temple of Sarenrae, helps get rid of guards."

I pause for a moment. "I also think Cala would appreciate a knife if we brought her one, she was talking about needing one."

Upstairs, Sindran has dragged a chair from the visitation room to (17) and sits there, front facing the back of the chair and arms resting on its top rail. He keeps an ear out for the chimney and checks where Grumblejack is and makes sure he's not causing any trouble. Adjusting himself on the chair, he thinks of something, and calls Grumblejack over. "Grumblejack, could you come over here?"

"Talon, Caladwhen, you are spellcasters, correct? I'm wondering if it would be worth it to get the spellbooks back." Sindran says. "It would mean a trip to the warden's tower, however. In the mean time, would both of you mind giving me a summary of what spells you can cast?"

You can just look at my profile, it should list them all. Assume I told you this in character

Int check: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3
Int check: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

"Good idea, but make some extra so I can fill this mug as well. And don't poison everything - leave the iron rations intact and we'll take those when we leave."

Aerent moves to the fireplace and begins pushing the logs and coals aside to try and reduce the fire as much as possible. After the smoke thins, he reaches in with the poker and taps the inside of the chimney a few times.

"Those guards think we're making his medicine, so we should have a few minutes. I've let the group upstairs know we're here."

"After you finish, I'd really enjoy taking a look inside the sleeping quarters to the north. if luck holds, we might be able to catch some of the guards unaware."

DM, what is the approximate time?

Caladwhen sighs, and stares off blankly when Sindran suggests looking for her spellbook. "Nothing would make me happier than to retrieve my spellbook Sindran, but sadly the Inquisitor burned all my possessions after the trial." Tapping her forehead with her index finger twice, Caladwhen continues "All that I know is up here."

Hearing the rapping from the chimney hearth below, Cala reports "Well, it appears that Arryn and Aereth made it safely to the kitchen. I suppose they have succeeded in deceiving the other guards." Shaking her head, Cala gives a short terse laugh "Of course, that couldn't have been too difficult with the fools running this institution."

You haven't yet heard the church clock in nearby Veryston strike 12 yet - but it can't be long now.

Sindran nods his agreement before resting his head on his arms.

Grumblejack works his bulk through the door. As he stands next to Sindran, he sniffs. "Food. Dere," pointing to the chimney, "yes?", seemingly eager to go fetch some using the most direct route available.