Morossa stays at the bottom of the steps listening for anyone coming into the hallway.
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Amanda looks at Hessel and gives a smirk and says, "Smooth"
She then looks to the others and says, "We should find the sergeant's quarters. If he's been skimming off the top he's likely got some money we can procure. We may need it if we are to make some purchases on the outside. Some evidence of his undoings also could be useful to discredit this prison even further if the evidence can be delivered to the right hands. Beyond that I would be interested in visiting that storeroom to stock up on supplies, the Warden's tower for his goods and then dropping in on Sergeant Blackerly and give him a world of hurt."
Megirege clasped her hands again, and closer her eyes, her face becoming neutral. "Spare him. He'll keep his word. I served Mitra for a time, and when he's displeased with a follower, he'll forsake them accordingly. Assuming the guards worship him, we have nothing to fear. Besides, branding him will not further anyone's ends, and I'm certain none of us are so reckless and lusting for destruction that it is a viable option.
There is a time and place for everything, but not now."
Megirege spoke with as best an air of authority as she could.
Zinbah's eyes light up when he hears the guard mention the rare books. Those books could be priceless! He nods in silent agreement with Amanda's plan of attack.
As the guard pleads for his life, he hesitates for a second. I do not know whether this one lives or dies. While he may yet prove useful, I do not trust his words here. A man who is willing to swear loyalty at the drop of a hat does not understand what TRUE loyalty is!
He clucks his tongue in response, "Tsk, tsk. I am sure you may at least know of something else that slipped your mind, no? Please do not make us regret our mercy here!"
He shuts his eyes tightly, trying to wrack his brain to think of something. "I-I... Oh! The bridge. At the other end of the bridge is the guard house, and the only way to get them to open the door is to give them the password. It's "Hesterfield".
Raymond stands back up and says, "Well, I guess it's your lucky day. My friend here doesn't want you to die just yet. So instead, I'm lockin' you up just like you did me. I can't have you goin' back on your word and runnin' off as soon as we walk out of the room, after all."
"Sammy, pick our friend up out of the chair and let's show him to his new accommodations."
Raymond follows Sammy back to the cell block, picking up the nasty, ragged skivvies that he was forced to wear as he goes. When he finishes shackling the guard to the wall he says, "Now, to keep you from yellin' for help..." and stuffs the rag deep into the guard's mouth.
Lisbeth nods in agreement, "Very well, then. Which way is the storeroom. I'd rather be properly armed than with these... tools, if at all possible. Who has the map?" She looks around for the map, hoping to have a look at it before Raymond gets back and they depart.
Zinbah pats his belt where he has the map stored. "I figured since I cannot use weapons, I should carry something right?" He unfurls the map and studies it for a moment. "I believe the storeroom is here..." He stabs at a point on the map, "right in the middle there. Should be easy enough to get there." He comments.
The guard mutters rapid thank yous as he's locked up in the cell instead of killed; someone will come for him eventually, and he's managed to escape with his life.
"Okay, so that puts us here," she taps the room marked 16.
"And the best way is to enter the hall these gentlemen were guarding," she taps the corpse of the dead guard with her boot, "and take the southwestern door to this... office? Bedroom? I can't make heads or tails of this thing. We'll move when Raymond gets back here. Morossa, can you see if that hall is clear, and if you can determine if there are anymore surprises for us at any of those doors in there?"
With that, she'll drag the guard's corpse into the shadowy corner of the stairwell and deposit it there like a bag of garbage.
Megirege merely fingered the keys inside her pocket, the ones taken from the guards' bodies. Her smirk was prevalent.
"Perhaps next time, I give them a sermon while we're at it, since you insist on bullying them. Surely they'll bring forth an attempt at confession.
I'd hope you lot would do the same too if it came to it. Otherwise, we'll have problems.
For now, the storeroom seems like a good place to start."
Morossa nods and then looks at the map.
It appears as though there are two rooms that might be sleeping chambers. We should check them first as that is where guards are most likely to be found.
She pauses to think for a moment:
I could care less whether these guards are left alive or dead. Although I agree that the sadistic Sergeant should no live past this night. So, if we find guards asleep, do we disable them? Or eliminate them?
Once she has an answer:
Let me see if there is anyone else to be found. I agree that the rooms to the west are more likely where the storeroom would be, but I think we should check to the east first to assure that that are is clear. From what the guard said, the Sergeant is most likely still gambling, so his area should be clear once we have eliminated any other guards.
She licks her lips before continuing:
I doubt the doors would be trapped, but if the Sergeant is corrupt, who knows.
Morossa then heads out into the hallway and listens at all the doors while checking them for traps.
Perception:
"Good. As far as alive or dead, I care not as long as they don't get in my way. I leave that to your discretion as you will. We'll wait here until you return or call for us." Lisbeth then starts examining the map more closely as she waits, looking for any weak spots, "I don't like the look of that bridge, nor that gatehouse, but I'll be thrice damned if I'm swimming from here. We'll need some way to disable the guards quietly and effectively here and here," she says, pointing to the gatehouse and the shack at the end of the bridge.
She ponders while perusing the map, I wonder if the walls can be navigated from the top of the Warden's Tower... that would give us a good avenue into the gatehouse, and take them unawares.
Raymond returns from locking away the guard with a smile spread across his face.
"I gave him a nice flavor to suck on while keepin' him quiet. He shouldn't be causin' us no more problems for a while. Now, let's get goin'. Where're we headin' next?"
Morossa finds nothing in the hallway, save more torches and stone.
Zinbah looks over Lisbeth's shoulder and adds softly, "I share your concerns Lisbeth. If there is any other way to escape that was hidden from the rest of the guards, the Warden's tower would hold that secret. That must be our final destination!"
"As long as we find the chests these keys belong to, any way works for me."
Megirege had control of the keys, and would likely make sure she kept them.
"Hmmm...I suppose we could see about checking the barracks out. I would be sensible to ensure the guards could not organize a large search party to track us down, once they learn of our escape." Zinbah suggests.
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"So now we are clearing out the barracks first with only the measly gear we got from a few guards? So much for the stealthy approach. But no matter if killing more guards will help your peace of mind, then we can proceed. Wether we sneak out of here or leave a blood bath, either way is an efficient method to teach these Mitran bastards a lesson."
"I don't really need no weapons or armor so long as I got Sammy with me. And I figure that Zinbah don't need none either. Between the four guards we already dropped, you girls should be mostly outfitted. So we take care of any guards who're takin' a nap and then we ain't gotta worry about them comin' after us later. It should make cleanin' this place out a lot easier."
Lets avoid killing them if possible. I don't mind blood, but see no reason to kill them if we can simply knock them unconscious.
Morossa will proceed through the door as stealthily as possible.
For the first time, you find a room that isn't just torches. Well, there are still torches, but there are also empty tables and benches. You've found yourself in the mess hall, which seems a bit large given the number of guards you were told would be there. It's not kept in very good condition; perhaps both the number of guards and servants kept to tend to the prison are victims of the sargeants embezzlement. There is also a massive banner on the wall emblazoned with the emblem of Branderscar prison.
Morossa moves to the north of the two doors and once more listens for any sounds behind since it appears to be a bunk room of some sort.
If she hears nothing, she will proceed to carefully open the door (stealth check) and move into the room.
Morossa hears only snoring as she puts her ear to the door. Upon opening it, she finds the barracks, three of the four beds occupied by sleeping guards. One snores quite loudly, a convenient cover for the sound of footsteps or doors creaking. For them to be able to sleep with his racket, they must have learned to sleep through a fair amount of noise.
Raymond sees the banner hanging on the wall and immediately heads over to it and begins to take it down.
"Score one souvenir. I bet they're gonna be pissed to find out that not only did we escape, but I took this thing with me as proof." he says as he begins to fold the banner.
Morossa puts her hand to her lips and whispers to Amanda.
Whisper: I can try to knock them unconscious one at a time. KO them and then bind an gag them.
Barring a complete objection:
CDG-non-lethal Guard 1:
CDG-non-lethal Guard 2:
CDG-non-lethal Guard 3(snoring):
Waiting in the hallway for the stealthier ones to report back, Lisbeth smiles slightly at Raymond, "A trophy to begin your new collection. I am sure we will be able to secure you many more souvenirs in the future, as well. After we leave this place, we can certainly use a man with your talents."
Morossa's punches bring swift, long slumbers to the guards, who go limp in their beds. Also in the room, now that the threat is handled, are the myriad of small, locked chests holding the belongings of the guards stationed in Branderscar.
Morossa begins to bind and gag the guards so that even when they do awake, they will have a long time following the party.
She will use bedsheets, rope, or whatever else is available. If there are manacles, she will use these as well. I assume that there are manacles somewhere in here, after all, we are in a prison.
Morossa looks to the others.
Back upstairs to lock these guys up? Or leave em bound here?
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Before Morossa knocks out the 3rd guard, Amanda smashes his skull in with a club doing non-lethal damage with a coup-de-grasse
"I don't know why you're looking to preserve the lives of these bastards. We are already condemned criminals. A few more murders are not going to worsen our sentences. I say kill them so someone does not stumble in on them and get the truth from their lips. Mercy is for the weak, thus says the Lord of Hell."
Zinbah shakes his head. "No, leave them here. It will take too long to move the bodies, plus we may be spotted in the meantime."
Lisbeth taps her longsword against her thigh in the hallway impatiently, keeping an eye on the front door, "What is taking our scouts so long? They should have reported back by now."
Morossa looks at Amanda:
Think of the public reaction. Condemned criminals escaped and managed to leave the majority of the guards unharmed. It will be much harder for the Inquisitors to spin that into us being a menace to society. They will try, but this makes it much harder.
She takes a breath and once more licks her lips before continuing.
Mind you, I like blood as much as any of you. But, correct me if I am wrong, you deity is not the god of murderers. He is the god of slaves and tyranny and deception. Consider this to be part of a grand deception - the "bad" guys do good.
With that, she heads south toward the other door and once more listens carefully before entering.
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Amanda Malburne follows Morossa out and across to the other door leaving the guards unconscious in the room. She did not fully agree to Morossa's way of thinking considering that these fools are Mitran bastards who deserved no mercy she was not going to waste the effort on slitting their throats if there was other threats around. These people aren't even worthy as slaves as far as she is concerned.
Megirege didn't follow the others when they left the room with the myriad of chests. Instead, Megirege moves over to the first one, and begins putting the keys she's collected to good use, searching each chest for anything useful.
The south door comes up silent. Inside, she finds the kitchen, stocked like everything else a little less well than it ought to be. Nothing was put away by the servants before they left for the night. Multiple large knives sit out, including a long meat cleaver (which can be wielded as a Short Sword). In addition to plates and bowls, there are also enough iron rations to feed six people for two weeks.
Inside the seven chests you have access to, you find the following things of possible value:
-A botle of fine whiskey without a label
-A silver holy symbol of Mitra and a Mitran holy book
-Two decks of cards, one of which is marked
-A surprisingly florid love letter ending it a proposal of marriage to someone named Michelle and a sapphire engagement ring worth 100 gp
-A masterwork lute
-A finely made pipe and a pound of high quality shag tobacco
-A small bottle full of liquid with a hand-written note, "In case of trouble -Love, Mom!"
-A total sum of 12 gp, 23 sp, 4 cp
Morossa begins to grab the food and put it into any available sacks.
We are going to need to eat. I doubt we will make it across the swamp in one day. Anything of use in the chests? Or just things of value for us to spend later.
Does anyone have any thoughts? Otherwise we can move to the other side and search those rooms. The northern door is most likely the storeroom. The others appear to be the officer's room and office.
Megirege smirked and unwrapped one bedsheet and rope from around an unconscious guard. She went over all the items in the chests again, and carefully folded the bedsheets into small sacks. With some careful application of ropes looted off of the tied up guard, she made a neat sack.
This sack then had everything from each chest placed into it, neatly arranged to fit. She then slung it over her shoulder and took it with her. The money, papers, and pipe went directly into her pockets, as did the silver holy symbol.
"They won't need these anymore."
She then made sure to catch up to the others, leaving the room before any guard awakens.