Katrin catches the blade and hands Taemon hers. "Thanks. Thought the plan was if there were two kill them, if there were more than two talk?" She pauses for a second. "My only mistake was not killing him right away. He couldn't have shouted then. I won't make that error again."
To Katrin, "I was going to lure them out one at a time, so we could ambush them and not have to risk them getting off a whistle before we finished them. That's what all that pantomiming was supposed to be about. Spose I can't blame anyone for not understanding that part though; yes that was our plan. However, in the future, if I can and the alarm is not raised everywhere, I'll try to lure one or two out to 'help' me with something, so you can jump them at close quarters."
Taemondow will move to the door and listen. If there is a window he will look out.
"Remember, even if there is an alarm, they won't know we're dressed as guards; that may still give us an edge. Of course, they might suspect it too."
"YOU!" Taemon'dow levels his blade at the prisoner's neck, "Do the guards use any kind of code or phrase to identify themselves? Tell us the password, and tell it true, or we'll hang you here from your own entrails."
There's no indication of any sort of alarm, though outside the dogs do seem quite angry. "Hesterfield is the password for this week. There's a new one every week. There's- there's about twenty-five guards in total, about eight asleep right now. And the armory is through that door-" He points to the northmost door on the west wall. "Only I have the keys, though."
The Sergeant smiles slightly. "If they saw you with me? IF they thought you were guards, they would let you go. If not, they would probably fire arrows right into you. And summon the Warden. He's the mage I mentioned- He hates it here, I don't even know why he took the job."
Darsis nods,
"I say we kill them all. Go for the sleepers first then the mage. I would rather fight them on our own terms on the offensive and with the advantage of surprise than be pursued."
"Killing them all would mean that it would be longer before our absence is discovered, however, it also means there would be more opportunities for something to go wrong. At present, we only have one person capable of providing any healing, and I'm not sure how much more he can provide. The other option would be to try to exit directly and as soon as possible. Our absence would be noticed sooner, but we'd be healthier, and outside this place. Either plan has its risks."
"Guard, give us the key to the armoury. Someone check the door, and be careful in case it's really the door to the dormitory. If we can get some better weapons and heavier armour, it may improve our chances substantially."
The Sergeant very carefully sets the key down, making sure not to upset the prisoners.
"Here."
Inside this stone room, there is a large collection of assorted arms and armor. Six sets of chain shirts, heavy steel shields, longswords and longbows sit neatly together on a shelf, with a dozen leather-wrapped clubs nearby. 240 arrows, arranged into 12 quivers, are displayed on another shelf.
A jumble of assorted weapons lies in a great box. A shiv made from a woman's comb, both a heavy and a light mace, a spear, a quarterstaff, battleaxe, rapier, greatsword, glaive, and trident are all inside.
The room is dark, and there are no other doors.
"Hmm, nothing heavier than the armour than the armour we've got on... anyone who wants some of the common gear or armour should don it, quickly. As I said before, I like a two-hander, so I'd like the greatsword; any objections?"
He hefts the greatsword, tests the edge with his thumb, and gives it a few swings. Afterwards, he'll make sure he's armed with a longsword on his hip, a shield and the greatsword across his back, a longbow with arrows, and a dagger. He'll try to find one with a sheath, but if not, he'll just use the one he got from the veil, stuffed through the back of his belt.
Darsis moves forward and examines the door carefully.
Mavro dons a chain shirt and ties the light mace to his hip. He decides that further armaments are needed as well and sheaths the rapier and picks up the club for added security.
These should do nicely enough.
Finished, Mavro looks scronfully down at the sergeant. Though we are not finished with this whelp. He is a sick fool... and a detriment as well. I have a hunch. I don't think you were being entirely truthful, even when it was in your best interest to be so. You believe the guards wont attack us on sight with you with us? I think not. I think you'll attempt to flee at the first chance you get, coward that you are. You think also we are fools enough to lied to.
Lysander moves into the armory after the others, grabbing a chain shirt and pulling it on, then slipping a longbow and quiver around his shoulders. Finally, and after hesitation, he picks up one of the leather clubs and straps it to his belt. "Best to look the part," he says with a small smile, "even if I won't be using it."
Katrin moves into the armory, and takes the time to actually don her chain shirt. She straps the mastercrafted longsword onto her back along with a shield and a longbow. She attaches a quiver of arrows horizontally to the back of her belt and picks up the glaive. "I also prefer a two handed weapon. Do you want that longsword back Taemon? I could take one of these others as backup. Or perhaps you would like to use it Darsis?"
"I prefer a greatsword to, but I can use a longsword as well so I shall take that fat fool's blade if you are content with the greatsword Taemon? I doubt these useless fools have any proper combat scabbards, they would like as not cut themselves, but if we find one my fighting style makes use of such."
Darsis moves over to the clubs and cuts free some of the leather before rolling all the remaining chainshirts into a crude bundle and tying more leather about it to make a crude but servicable backpack,
"We should take the more valuable items, if we are to be on the run we will need coin. I suggest everyone takes as much as they can carry without it slowing them down, we should take the bows to, bows cost good coin."
"I can use a shield as well, so if you'd rather give me back the finer blade, I can put it to good use in that manner. You have a good point about the gear, and the bows and the chain shirts in particular will fetch good money."
Taemon'dow moves to add another of each to his pack. He'll take more if it appears extra might be left behind.
Katrin gives Taemon the nice sword, and takes one of the mundane longswords instead. "Give the big blade to Darsis." She suggests.
Darsis nods, taking the greatsword and giving it an experimental swing, all told if nobody else claims them he takes three of the chainshirts, the rapier, and a second longbow,
"Good, are we all ready to move then? What are we doing with Sergeant Pig here? I say we should at least gag him and bind his hands, we can always undo either if we need to."
Testing the weight of his new gear, Lysander frowns and removes the club from his belt. "I'm not used to wearing armor; that club throws off my balance too much with all this weight."
An odd uncertainty came across Gunter as he looked back at the unconscious Grumblejack. It felt a bit wrong to have him stay there, but there was a better chance at finding something useful, even if just to keep himself safe, if he tagged along with the others. Although Gunter has very little training in combat, he decides some arms are better than none. He takes a chain shirt, as well as a light mace for protection. After which, he looks around after he's equipped for anything that might be able to heal the poor ogre, or anything that he could use more specific to his abilities.
As you examine the armor and weapons, you notice that a small mark of Talingarde adorns each (except for the chain shirts and arrows). While you can certainly grind it off later, or simply find a less reputable buyer, it may be challenging to sell these.
There is nothing that can help the Ogre here, unless one uses a very twisted definition of "help".
Exiting the armory, Lysander glances around, noticing the unconscious ogre. "We just leave him like this? Knocked out? To be imprisoned once again..." The soulknife shakes his head. "He's served Asmodeus, whether he knows it or not, and deserves some compensation--even if it be just release from this world."
"Unless we have a way to revive him, I see few options. However, no need to end it for him yet. The prison might have a supply of medical equipment, or even potions if they have questioners here; we might yet find a way to save him. I'd say, leave him be for now."
"As for this one..." gesturing at the guard and walking around him a circle. "He is a coward, but if he's been honest with us there is no reason to kill him."
Taemon'dow runs his sword through the man's back so the liar can watch it come out his chest.
He leans down to whisper in his ear, "If."
He shoves the dead man off his blade with a booted foot and then cleans it on the man's tunic.
"Let's go."
Katrin nods, "Ready." She's got the glaive at the ready. "I'll stand behind you Taemon. I can fight over your shield with this."
Darsis smiles giving Taemon an approving nod before heading to the nearest unexplored door taking his time to listen against it, and if he ehars nothing alarming jerking it open and moving stealthily forward.
You open the door to what must have been Sergeant Blackerly's office. Papers are piled here and there without any regard to order, and the office itself is quite cluttered. Other than the desk, there's only a few chairs, two torches, and two doors- one to the north, one to the west.
Darsis snatches up the papers and places them somewhere in the room he thinks likely to be fireproof before applying one of the torches,
"Anything to confuse the animals."
He then moves over to the northern door, taking his time to listen before opening it if there is nothing of alarming sounding on the other side.
Taemon'dow moves in behind Darsis, his shield held at the ready.
"If we encounter the resistance, I will move to the fore. I'll occupy them as best I can, making myself the target while you strike at them from behind me."
The northern door opens into a supply room. While there are many things in it, it also seems relatively sparce for a prison of this size.
In one corner, there are 200 torches, 10 lanterns, 2 ten gallon kegs of oil for them, 6 spare guard uniforms in various sizes, a dozen signal horns, and twenty 50' lengths of rope.
In another corner, there are two foul-smelling barrels labeled "Emergency Rations".
Hanging on a special rack on another side of the room are runic brands, shaped like the letter F, and the brazier to heat them. Everyone can recognize these brands, as they were the ones used to brand them...
Taemon'dow doffs his bloodied tabard in exchange for a clean one, and then grabs another spare, and length of rope to add to his kit.
Darsis shakes his head,
"Let me in first, I can move quietly and hit hard and fast. With a little luck I can down them before they are a danger. In most cases we should be able to fight side by side with Katrin at our back."
Darsis glances about and dismisses the room moving over to the western door listening again, and if he hears nothing alarming jerking it open.
"If we have the element of surprise, great. If not, or we get outnumbered, we find a choke point like a doorway and I'll stand there and take the blows. Everyone else can fight from behind."
The western room is quite large, the messy bedroom of the Sergeant. Mostly there's a bed, a small table, and a wardrobe. Underneath the bed, you can see a metal box of some sort. Other than that, there's not much of worth in this slovenly room.
Darsis moves over to the metal box and examines it closely before touching it, moving the bed aside if necessary.
The large, metal box doesn't look trapped at all. It's iron, and looks like a strongbox. The lock is extremely well-made, but of course the Sergeant would have the key on the keyring you now possess.
Darsis gets hold of the keys and selects a number that might fit trying them in turn.
In the storage room, Lysander also grabs a fresh guard tabard and dons it over his mail shirt. Moving into the bedroom, he crouches by Darsis, waiting for the man to unlock the chest.
Katrin will collect a signal horn, and some rope from the storage room, as well as four torches. She will wrap the items in one of the larger guard uniforms and use the rope to make an improvised backpack, strapping it to her shoulders.
As you open the box with the longest key, you see the savings inside. In addition to a case of whiskey, there is 1235 gp. How did the Sergeant acquire such a ludicrous amount of money? This clearly isn't a standard seargant's salary. He must have acquired it through illegal means of some sort.
"How telling the fiend sergeant was a criminal. My oh my, we seem to be coming upon evidence of a corrupt, decadent police system every minute."
Mavro takes the time to grab a pile of rope from the storage room. He also takes the healing potion for safekeeping. "Unless our resident chirugeon would like to have this, I think it's best if I'm the one to keep this on standby. I usually rely on my god's avatar for combat anyway and it leaves one other person to cast spells or heal if it seems necessary."
Darsis nods making equal piles of the coin for each escapee and then carefully storing his own share in his improvised backpack.
Lysander shakes his head and snorts at the savings. "Money--a corrupter and destroyer. And more proof that this 'paradise' of a land is rotten through the core." More reason to bring it all crashing down, boy. Ensure your new companions know this.
"We should probably stay inside for now. Less exposure and we don't really know the way out."
Darsis nods and moves for the eastern door in the hall way, moving up stealthily and listening carefully against it again. If nothing alarming can be heard from the other side he yanks it open...
Past the eastern door is what must be the mess hall of the prison. The room's only furniture are tables, chairs, and a large banner displaying the emblem of Branderscar prison. The banner seems to be a bit falling apart, but it is still hung up where most of those dining there can see it.
The Emblem
There are doors to the north and south. You can clearly smell something cooking in the room to the south.
Darsis stalks over to the southern door, stilly trying to move quietly and again listens carefully against it.
You can hear the sounds of people chopping things, or moving back and forth around this room. A woman is singing very quietly, although you can't make out the words. They don't seem to have heard any of the commotion that was going on.
"Well? What is it?" Lysander also rests his head against the door. "Hm..." Chopping, quiet singing--what would it be, boy? You know this. "...Probably a work room for less dangerous prisoners. Free them, or leave them to their fate?"
Darsis draws a finger across his throat and points to Gunter then the door and mimes sneaking over and opening it, shooting Lysander a furious look as the man attempts to give their position away with his chatter,
Darsis charges into the room as the door opens hacking at the nearest person with his greatsword if he can get to them without obstruction.
Lysander frowns at Darsis, then rolls his eyes as the man bursts into the room, sword swinging. I take back my earlier statement, boy--that one is too eager for blood, too uncontrolled. Without restraint he'll only get himself--and anyone with him--killed.