Neither door turns up any noise. As you proceed further through the building, you begin to see that the guard was likely telling the truth about how many remain stationed in the prison.
Morossa will attempt to open the northern door - which appears to be the storeroom.
Raymond takes his folded souvenir and carries it under his arm as he rejoins the rest of the group in the hallway.
"Find anything useful in the guards' room? And did you make sure they aren't gonna be botherin' us later?"
Lisbeth shakes her head, "We still haven't heard back from them, yet. I haven't heard any shouting, so I'm not too worried. They should be back soon. If not, we'll go looking for them."
The northern door is locked, and unlike the cheap locks on your cells, this one is of decent quality.
Zinbah glances around him a bit nervously. "Yes they should be fine. As for this lock...a good quality lock too. If we cannot pick it then the Sergeant should have the key with him."
Perhaps it is in his office.
Morossa looks to Amanda:
Can you open this? If not, lets search the office and officer's room. Perhaps the key is there.
|
Amanda says, "I will try and pick the lock to the storage room. Its a storage room door. It should not be too hard."
She takes out her lockpicks and gets to work.
She makes a 1st attempt but is not used to the tumblers of the lock. She continues to work at it after warming up on the lock's mechanism.
What you expected to be the storeroom was in fact the armory. Upon opening the door you find six sets of spare guard gear and 240 arrows lined along the main rack running through the room. On top of tables is an assortment of weaponry confiscated over the years. A woman's hair clip hides a knife inside (treated as a dagger with an additional +2 Sleight of Hand bonus to coneal it when hidden in the clip), a heavy mace, spear, quarterstaff, battle axe, rapier, great sword, trident, and glaive all sit on tables, untouched for a long time.
|
|
Amanda gives a grin and picks up the heavy mace "Dark blessings be upon the Mace for it is the crushing blow of the mighty Asmodeus."
She looks to the rest of the party, "I would suggest the rest of you at least put on those uniforms. In the darkness we could pass ourselves off as guards and thus avoid suspicion. If you cannot wear armor you can still wear the uniforms to keep up the ruse. Take whatever gear you think appropriate."
"Jackpot." Zinbah says with a sardonic tone. "Before we help ourselves here, best to be sure none of these bear any enchantments." He adds, even as he helps himself to one of the uniforms, along with the quarterstaff.
.
Zinbah detects no magic among the confiscated weapons.
Raymond looks over the uniforms in disgust. "Don't anybody here have any taste? These things are almost as bad as the rags they had us in earlier. What is this? Rag wool? Scratchy, heavy garbage not fit for wearin'. Then again, I guess they're goin' for durability here instead of comfort. But you ain't gonna catch me dead in this stuff. I gotta draw the line somewhere, so I ain't wearin' this crap."
"Then let them know."
Megirege's voice called out as she finally caught up to the others.
"I see no vestments, therefore, I will not change into this gear. As told to us earlier, female guards do not exist. So this disguise really only aids Raymond and Zinbah. Plus, I do not feel like subjecting myself to the uncomfortable shape and build of the armor."
She had the sack slung over her shoulder still, makeshift as it was. And she had no intention on letting other touch it.
|
|
Amanda says, "I do not expect the guards to be fooled in plain light. But in the darkness they won't be able to make out any serious features. Now if you are not going to wear a uniform, I would suggest wearing at least the common clothes from the veil. You might be able to fool the guards to think you are servants. I am sure your current rags are rather uncomfortable."
Lisbeth notices the new sack over Megirege's shoulder and raises an eyebrow an eyebrow at how she keeps moving it away from anyone else's touch.
I see she is not one to contribute to the benefit of the whole. We'll need to keep an eye on her, as she does not seem to be part of Asmodeus' plans after all but rather her own greed.
She then looks over the weapons with a gleam in her eye, and places the shield and longsword on a table. Picking up the greatsword and glaive, she says calmly, "These will suit me just fine." Continuing to run her hands over the equipment, she comes across the hairpin, and smiles slightly, "An interesting piece. I think I will take this, as well, so that I might have something for close quarters, or if we need to further disguise ourselves."
At Megirege's words, she looks at her, "The armor will conceal our "feminine" shapes well enough in the dark. If you insist on wearing nothing but the vestments of Mitra, then very well. We will lose another edge to our advantage unless we are able to find something better than those rags before we start moving in the open."
You have given us a second chance, my Lord, yet they still cling to their old ways, the same ones that got them here in the first place. Have you sent me here to try my Faith? Or is this just further punishment?
Morossa looks over the outfits.
I see little use in a disguise. I suppose that it might aid in getting closer to a guard on duty. However, we do not know what their routines are. How often they have patrols or if there are any code words. Once we are outside, we will see what we are facing, but I would be rather surprised if there were a whole bunch of servants running around the prison catering to the guards every need. We found the empty kitchen, but I have seen naught else that would indicate that there are any here other than the understaffed guards.
Morossa will change into one of the guard uniforms.
When Lisbeth takes the hairpin, she smiles:
I could use that as well, but I doubt we will meet much in this prison that my fists are not just as effective against.
Realizing she already has a dagger for close quarters combat, Lisbeth will hand the hairpin over to Morossa, "You'll likely find a better use for it than I, then."
Megirege was already wearing a Common outfit that the veil provided, and this was detailed long ago. Nonetheless, she smirked.
"Am I not already in the common attire? I cannot make effective use of the armor, so I will not even try.
I follow a Lord of Contracts, Pride, and Tyranny, and I'll stick to it, needing not an encumbering outfit to do so. I wore vestments because my station in the church demanded it, and my station has not changed, for I predicted my confinement here to my flock several months prior to the incident landing me here.
The congregation knows to keep their truth hidden until I return and carry it to utmost glory, thus securing Asmodeus' place among the Gods we follow in this town, free of the treacherous cur that is these followers of Mitra.
You'll understand why the vestments are what I require."
She quickly changed topics however. "Nonetheless, I looted a very fine bottle of wine from one of the guards taken care of back there, if one of you wishes to partake of it. I do not consume alcohol, but nothing prohibits it.
I share my finds with friends where applicable."
Once the members of the party have equipped in the storeroom, Morossa heads to the southern door on the western side of the hall and, having previously listened to it, carefully opens the door to see what is within.
Morossa finds herself in the office of Sergeant Tomas Blackerly. It's a simple room, with a single desk covered in messy paperwork. If the map is right, then the north door will likely lead to the storeroom, and the western door to his private quarters.
Both have an Average lock.
Morossa smiles:
We all, it looks like we found the office. Now, lets see what the bastard keeps here.
Morossa begins to search the papers and the desk for any incriminating evidence or anything else of value.
Morossa finds nothing amid the paperwork that would incriminate the sergeant in anything. Nothing of value turns up either.
Raymond sets about looking through the papers as well. "If we don't find nothin' here, I'd bet money he's got a second set of books hidden somewhere. Try lookin' for invoices, purchase orders, that sorta thing. There's gotta be some numbers that don't add up."
After looking through a stack of invoices, Raymond shakes his head.
"Nothin'. He's gotta have a second set of books in his room." he says as he goes to try the door. "Locked. You with the picks, you mind?"
Zinbah nods slowly, "As one who has some knowledge of business practices can attest, such incriminating evidence would not be kept out in the open. His office may have a hidden safe where those records are stored."
|
|
Amanda herself takes a look at the paperwork seeing if she finds anything useful.
Being so skilled spy, Amanda is able to shift through the paperwork getting to the actual records that show that Blackery has been up to some shady dealings.
"Ah, sweet, sweet blackmail. We have quite some leverage here on the sergeant here. Not that it will matter too much considering intend to bash that fat freaks skull in with a mace the next time I see him. He''ll pay for branding me, that is for sure. Still of this evidence gets out the prison will be further discredited. Anyhow, let me see if I can get those locks open."
She gets to picking the doors open, barring she does not find any keys in the desk.
After some work the north door unlocks.
She then goes to the west door and listens to see if there is anyone inside.
Barring any major sounds of a lot of occupation she proceeds to pick the lock.
West door unlocks
Amanda manages to spot some details that don't match up, numbers that come out wrong, and you realize the second set of documents is mixed in with the first and that Blackerly is an idiot.
Opening both doors takes some time; Blackerly has clearly decided his investment deserves more protection than the prisoners do.
Morossa listens at one door while Amanda works the locks on the other.
You hear nothing behind the doors.
"I knew that fat f!@+ would have some papers layin' around. Good eye." Raymond says as Amanda finds the papers he failed to.
When she opens he west door he immediately walks through, pushing his way past her and followed closely by Sammy.
"Wake up, fatty! It's time to see how much you really like to play with fire!"
Upon barging into the sargeant's bedroom, Raymond finds the room unoccupied. An empty bed lies messily unmade. It's a sparsely decorated room, though the bed and furniture seem of better make than the ones in the barracks. On top of the dresser is an open iron strong box, beside it an open coise purse. He likely took a fistful of gold out of it for the game you keep hearing about from the guards. There is however a hefty 2470 gold between the platinum and gold coins in the heavy sack, along with a dozen bottles of unlabelled alcohol in the box, and a small closed bag containing herbs.
Zinbah makes sure to gather up the incriminating paperwork and stores them in his bag. "Just think of the fun we could have with these!" He remarks.
|
|
Amanda looks at the items in the room and says, "It looks to me like we've got some finances for the future. Let us split the funds evenly between us and store them in some pouches. Last thing I want to drag around is a noisy, heavy strong box of money. As for the Alcohol, its up to you if you want it but I'm currently not in a drinking mood. We should purcure some sacks, pouches or backpacks so we can carry all this with us though."
Amanda goes to the north room from the office and opens the door checking inside to see if there is any useful supplies.
Upon hearing about the lockbox and the notes:
Which would be more fun? Killing the bastard, or fixing his books a little more and then setting him up as the one who set up the escape. We leave a note referring to a bribe he took to allow us all to go, and that we decided to take it with us. No honor among thieves style.
She beings to chuckle, which turns into a bit of a cough:
Then when the inquisitors come, all signs would point to him and the person who paid him to let us go. Perhaps some important wench from the capitol.
Morossa looks to Amanda and Lizbeth:
You seem to be worshippers of the First, what better way to honor him than through trickery designed to send these fools down the wrong path while simultaneously having the sergeant killed by those who wanted us dead, and likely as a Foresaken as well.
"Damnit. Looks like Tubs is off somewhere else. I was really hopin' to get that prick to beg." Raymond says dissapointingly. "Buuuut... Since he ain't here, we might as well help ourselves to his stuff. And while I'd prefer to keep everything' for myself, since we're workin' together here an even split seems fair."
Raymond heads back into the armory with Sammy in tow, quickly grabbing the spear and putting on one of the chain shirts before returning to the sergeant's office.
"Changed my mind on the armor. Figured I could use somethin' just in case things went south. I don't really like how empty this place is feelin' right now. Still not gonna put on the uniform though."
As he talks, Sammy walks over to the northern door in the office and opens it.
Megirege stuck with the group so far. She did pass on anything within the armory, and made no move to search the Sergeant's room. Her makeshift sack seemed like it was filled as much as it could be given it's quick but poor construction.
She only pocketed the money handed to her, and and kept a mental tab on everyone's current condition.
She did have an opinion though.
"I will side with Morossa. Trickery seems perfectly fine here. If it delays his execution for the favor of torture, then we benefit twofold, as he will be executed eventually.
No need to do it personally. We're not Orcs. We have some intelligence I'm sure. Well, maybe a couple of you might be more Orc than intelligent. Besides, with our Ogre friend in tow, we'll have more than enough chances to wreck a few souls in battle.
I just don't see violence as a first answer, when you can simply let the system work for your own ends. Do as you see fit. As long as it is in his service, than Asmodeus should honor it, and I can whisper prayers for it if needed."
The storeroom is, predictably, very sparsely supplied. There are an assortment of torches, ten lanterns, two 10-gallon kegs of lantern oil (bottles from the kitchen may be used to take oil), six spare guard uniforms, a dozen signal horns, twenty 50' lengths of hemp rope, and two barrels labeled 'emergency rations'.
Hanging on a special rack is several brands with the runic F symbol and a specially made brazier for heating them. You immediately recognie these as the brands you were marked with.
"Sammy tells me we've just hit another jackpot. Torches, rations, rope, lanterns and oil... Everything we need to make our way outta here without havin' to stop off for supplies. Plus, a bonus jackpot of the branding irons. So I just found me a second souvenir..."
Raymond walks into the supply room and begins digging through everything, starting with taking one of the brands.