Travis flattens himself against the wall, so he can't be seen until the person inside commits himself to actually coming out, rather than just cracking the door and peeking out. He makes a motion to the others to be silent by putting a finger over his mouth. Then he readies an action to attack when the person comes out or sticks his head out at least.
A guard emerges from the stairway to the west, and is thoroughly unprepared for the attack. Badly wounded, he turns screams loudly, preparing to run back to wherever he came from.
Ulrich
Kyras
Rose
Quomaugh
Sholano
Travis
Guards
Group A:
Travis
Quomaugh
Sholano
Ulrich
Guards
Group B:
Rose
Kyras
Travis unleashes a flurry of blows on the retreating guard, trying to silence him as quickly as possible.
He stands aside leaving the doorway open for the others to move through the door if they so choose... or at least to look through to see if more guards are coming.
Sholano, for the umpteenth time today, muttered a curse, slipping forward with knife at the ready to help Travis silence the guard. In the tight conditions, he tried to maneuver around to the other side and catch the man between them.
Badly wounded, the guard falls down, dead. However, he was not the only one up there. Other people are coming, and quite quickly at that.
Travis lets the body of the dead guard lie where it fell... he stands to the side of the door, opposite Sholano, so they can flank whoever comes through the doorway first, and hoping that Rose will face off with the fellow so that the doorway is blocked, preventing more than one coming through at a time. He will detail this plan to the others quickly before the guards arrive.
Sholano nods to Travis, acknowledging his part in the plan, and whispers to the others, "If nothing else, this should be exciting, hm?"
Rose purses her lips and nods stepping into place. "Grumblejack, be a dear and stand right there, out of site behind Travis. Once the guards get close, swing away."
She closes her eyes a moment and her features seem to flow and reshape themselves, becoming a passable copy of the kitchenmaid that the Doctor had blown up.
"Help! Oh, Gods help!" She calls down the hallway with convincing terror in her voice.
As the other guards come down, they do in fact first notice Rose disguised as the serving girl. "What's- what's happened?" yells one of them as he rushes through the door, not noticing anyone standing by it.
OF course he falls into the trap, as does the man behind him. It doesn't help that these two seem somewhat intoxicated.
Travis makes a flurry of blows attack on the second guard to come through the doorway,
Sholano slips forward into the gap Travis provided in the guard's defenses, dagger darting in directly at the second man's kidneys.
"Oh no! An ambush!" Rose said, not breaking character even for a moment as she brought her truncheon around into the first guard's face and then dropping to a knee to let Grumblejack swing easily over the top of her head.
The second guard is easily slain, and the first guard barely misses a blow that would have killed him instantly otherwise. He's simply confused, wondering what precisely is going on, and why the kitchen maid is siding with the likes of criminal scum.
Grumblejack targets the first guard, trying to punch him to death. The guard is just about to slash out at the Ogre when the full force of the blow knocks up unconscious.
Critical Confirmation?
It doesn't seem like there are any other guards here. You can most likely leave and get onto the bridge now.
"Rose, I know you want to clear this place out, but there appear to be no more guards here now... we can probably leave in relative safety. Sho, Rose? What is our next move?"
"This place is empty. Ridiculous." Shaking her head in disbelief, she gestures for the men to lead on.
Travis heads out the door to the bridge and moving cautiously and looking back up to the wall above to make sure they aren't spotted by archers, he heads toward freedom.
Sholano follows, perhaps fifteen feet behind, eyes sharp for any movement.
At least he'll draw fire first.
The way to the bridge is down a long hill, though the bridge itself is not as long. As you approach, it seems you are unnoticed, but you can see the guardhouse at the end of it. You won't be able to get past it in the traditional way, not without causing a lot of alarm. You could try to, or you could just jump off the bridge, into the stormy sea. It seems a decent enough place to jump, after all...
Sholano shakes his head. Time for a change of tactics. Turning around slowly, he heads back to the site where the group encountered the last guards, gesturing to the others to hold for a moment. Upon arrival, he estimates the guard closer to his own size, and starts stripping the man of his uniform and armor.
"If we have to jump, I probably won't survive with so much damage already. Rose, may I drink the heal potion before we attempt the bridge? I know it's the only one we have, but I've been wounded and uncomplaining since we were in the cell... now would be a good time for its use, I think."
"Yes. Let's have you not on the brink of collapse for the last stretch, shall we?"
Suiting up, Sholano stamps his newly acquired boots a few times. The fit isn't quite right, but he figures it should pass at least cursory inspection. Adjusting the belt, he stands up to his full height, inflates his chest, and generally takes on the most authoritative stance he can muster, as he gets into character.
After a few minutes, two guards emerge from the guardhouse at the end of the bridge, looking out across to the three others. "Hey! Is there some sort of trouble in there!? Should we come over?!" they yell, hoping that the others will hear. One has his hands on his sword and the other on his signal horn, ready to blow at the first sign of actual danger.
Travis stays silent and leaves it to Sholano to answer, as he is the one with the silver tongue and impersonating a guard.
"Just bringing some dinner out. Clumsy here dropped his tankard." Rose says with a wave and a smile, still wearing the face of the dead kitchen maid. "Yours is coming up next."
His voice lower than usual, Sholano chuckles and salutes the others with his right hand, giving them an outrageous gesture towards Rose.
Pausing for the laughter he hopes will come, he yells back, "If one of you slackers has got a minute, you can help us carry all this."
"Hah! Well, we'll send George over, I've got to stay here in case anyone comes."
"Come on, why do I have to come?"
"I went last time. Take James with you."
"Alright, fine."
A guard eventually emerges from the guardhouse, with a large Mastiff on a leash. The dog seems somewhat confused by the 'guards' on the other side, and begins barking. George tugs on its leash. "Come on, James, don't bark at them." But this dog still seems unsure.
Looking at the dog for a moment, and then back at the ogre behind them, Rose whispers "'Jack, get as far back in the corner as you can. I think that dog can smell you."
Travis, looking like neither guard nor servant girl, hangs back slightly behind Sholano and Rose.
Grumblejack moves as softly as he can in reply. The dog and guard are finally closer now. "Hey, who's that guy? You taking him out for some reason?" He's still not clear as to what's going on, but the dog is still barking like mad. "J-" He pauses, wondering if the dog knows something he doesn't.
"He's just new kitchen staff. We're showing him around." Rose said then pouted at the dog. "He's never liked me, not even when I bring out the dinner scraps. He tried to jump at me last week. I don't know what I did."
"How about if I keep back and you go ahead and grab the tray off the table in there. I'm worried if I try to bring it he might try to bite me or something."
"Oh, and Sergeant Blackerly said that they'd probably still be going if you wanted to join the game after your shift. Well, he actually said something about making sure you knew they would be playing late so he could take all your money too."
She could practically hear her mother's voice in her head. Keep talking and make them think of more than one thing at a time. The more they have to focus on, the less likely they'll catch the discrepancies.
Sholano gave the guard an easy smile, not reacting in the slightest to the dog's barking. Snatching a scrap of something off the table, he held out the tidbit, saying, "Easy, James."
Shut the hell up, you stupid mutt, or you're going over the damn wall.
The man nods and enters the guardhouse with the dog to retrieve the trays. The screaming starts shortly after.
Inside, it seems like Grumblejack has followed instructions to stay in the corner, but decided to try and sneak up on and kill the guard and dog. Though perhaps that's what you wanted. The dog whimpers and runs out, trying to get to back to the guardhouse, badly wounded.
Guard:
Grumblejack:
Dog:
Grumblejack
Ulrich
Kyras
Rose
Quomaugh
Sholano
Travis
Guards
Group A:
Kyras
Quomaugh
Guards
Group B:
Sholano
Travis
Rose
Ulrich
Grumblejack
I suppose that since the guard just went we're on group B now.
Travis has no missile weapons, but goes after the dog to try to shut it up, if there's a chance of getting to the dog in one round (charge maybe?)
Rose had let the guard walk past her and was still next to the doorway for this exact reason. She lashed out as the dog tried to pass her.
With the dog's escape, Sholano gave up the ruse for a lost cause. He'd toyed ever so briefly with an idea of running after the dog, wailing about an ambush, but the damned animal would only give the game away again. As he plotted, he slipped back inside the guardhouse to aid 'Jack, knife raised.
The dog is easily killed, allowing everyone else to direct their attentions on killing the guard. Grumblejack is clearly very badly injured, close to unconciousness, but seems like he might manage to stay alive. It doesn't seem like the guard down at the end of the bridge has noticed anything. Yet.
Travis turns and attacks the guard...
... but is clearly distracted and misses wildly
Rose steps in and brings her truncheon down on the guard's head.