Ote misses the guard, and the man turns in surprise. Seeing that he's surrounded by enemies, this man also drops his weapon. Yield, yield!
The guard directly to the south of Ithariel turns to the door and attempts to exit.
The guard near the ant, confronted with...well, a giant ant, acts out of desperation. He drops his crossbow, and it clatters to the floor, appearing to break. Then he sweeps out his sword and slashes at the and!
Ithariel's spear snaps out at the fleeing guard,
scoring a hit on the fleeing man, and he redoubles his attack again, perhaps with less success....
The ant, having been stabbed, attacks the man with the longsword.
Crit: Vulnerable Spot
Normal damage and target takes 1d4 ability damage of your choice.
Stelmaria, seeing the man he was threatening give up, closes on the man at the door, snapping his jaws at him.
Ithariel stabs out at the man, jabbing him in the side with his spear. He attacks again, but misses! The man opens the door, preparing to escape, and allowing in a wall of cold blowing air.
Stel bites the man as well, sinking teeth into his haunches. The man cries out in pain and his knees nearly buckle...but somehow he still stands!
The other guard falls to the ant's onslaught, collapsing in a heap as he cries out. Yield, yield!
Worried about hitting a comrade, or just the amount of noise his pistol makes, with the door open and who know who out there in the street, Nox draws a dagger and flings it past Ithariel at the remaining man.
Ote smiles grimly, beakily. He drops his blade and produces a chained weapon, throwing it at the fleeing guard...
The guard seems to pause, stuck in place. Ote then swings out with his odd weapon. He wraps around the guards feet and yanks, toppling him to the ground. The man lay there, groaning and blinking his eyes in confusion as he tries to banish the fog.
In the silence after the trip, Nadya takes a quick step and shuts the door. She looks around the room, her eyes wide. What...what do we do now? These men...they were sent from the tower! My daughter...
Ithariel dismisses the worker ant with a wave of his hand, Clearly they are on to you and to us, we should move as quickly as we possibly can to secure your daughter and deal with the tower itself. The ones who surrendered, can you keep them somewhere where they won't be comfortable, but cannot escape? And can you wish us well in our endeavors, since clearly this town is under the thumbs of those who wish to rule it with an iron fist.
The druid looks around the room, This is not the way of the natural order, people must have choices to themselves. They should decide in their own governing is the governors choose to treat them as animals. What say you friends?
Nadya looks incredulous. You're going now! That's insane, you have no idea what, or who is there. I hope you have a plan!
Wordlessly, Hatch, in dog form moves down the stairs and sits right by the front door.
Nadya looks again at the guards, and grits her teeth. Very well. Help me get them tied up as you take their uniforms.
"Plan or not, what we definitely don't have is a choice. We have to do what we have to do."
Ote looks self-satisfied for a moment as his kama did the trick, then sharply comes
to the realisation that outside the freedom and lawlessness of combat a world with rules and consequences descends upon him.
”Which plan is that, Ques?” the wily avian asks Ques.
Nadya pauses, and then nods her head. Well, you'll need one...that is for certain. Many in Waldsby will not be happy you're here. If they saw this...well, they'd turn you in immediately. And, there are those who seem to have a way to...watch things that happen in the town.
She double checks the door to make sure it's locked and then fishes through a storage chest and comes out with some sturdy leather strapping - they look to be material for leashes and collars for her dogs. Here, use this, and please tie them up well. Remember, my children are here, and you've brought this upon us.
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Ques racks his brain and comes up with something.
"Oh, you know, trick the guards and slip into the building. Not much of a plan, I know, but she seems like she needs reassuring."
Ques argues with himself whether he should summon Grey yet, looks around, and decides that he would not be all that out of place with their current menagerie.]
"Give me a moment. I need to do some powerful shadow magic and summon a helper."
After the appropriate amount of time Grey appears, looking a little confused and Ques then casts a Mage Armor on him.
"I don't know if I'll ever get used to this."
Nadya looks at Grey in confusion, then winces. More witchcraft...wonderful. Are you leaving tonight then? In the dark?
Ithariel nods, We will go soon, we cannot place you in any more danger than we already have. It would be unkind of us to repay you by endangering you any further, and the fort must be dealt with. Ithariel looks around the room at his companions, So the prisoner ruse it is to be then? He holds his hand in front of him as if to bind them, Then let us proceed and see what the spirits have in store for us.
Ote’s eyes narrow slightly.
”Apologies Nadya. We want to aid you. But you tried to hide us in your sled. And then you brought us to your house. We have not brought any more trouble to you than already dwells in your locale. At the least, we are here to try to do something about it...”
Nadya sighs and her shoulders slump. Perhaps I've always seen this as the only way...we've tried to live on the yoke of the Pale Tower, but it's only a matter of time before we're killed off for some imagined slight, or perhaps only for the whim of the witches. I appreciate your help, Otakch; I just worry for my little ones.
Ithariel nods, Okay Tche, Ote, here we go. Nox, you speak the language best since you are a local, do you want to be out in front?
Nox nods. "Yes, I will probably have to."
With Nox leading, and three of you dressed as guards, you make your way out of Waldsby under the cover of night. Hatch comes with you, whether you want him to or not - he seems to be anxious to try and help out Nadya's daughter. The Pale Tower stands upon a flat, snow-covered plain northwest of Waldsby. In clear weather, its battlements would command a considerable view of the surrounding terrain.
Sharp winds whistle across the stark white plain, stinging the eyes. A great, dark shadow rises in the distance, lit at intervals with torchlight. A you approach, you can see more of this structure, which appears to be a great eruption of ice from the snowy ground itself. An unbroken circular wall of ice guards the tower's base with no means of entrance visible. High above, a large gash opens in the tower's bowl-like crown, ringed in icy spikes and split by a massive plane of ice resembling an inverted crescent moon. There are a few shadowed figures standing atop the wall on the side facing the trail.
Ithariel looks at the others, What way? Left or right? the druid shifts his feet nervously as he peers both directions.
Stelmaria will stick to the treeline, moving as quietly as a large tiger can...
Nox looks around at the others, says "Well, let's get this over with.", and approaches the tower.
You speak with Hatch a bit about the tower as you go, and find that there's no hidden or secret entrance - the front is the only way in. However, once inside, there are ice crystal teleporters that can take one from room to room within the tower itself. He can show you where they are and give you the command words to activate them.
You approach, heading up a trampled path of snow, heavily tracked by footprints and sled trails. It ends abruptly at an opaque wall of ice. Carvings and ancient glyphs depict only the semblance of a gateway on its surface. The outer wall here is about 25 feet high, and is quite sheer. As you approach, you can see three guards atop it. Seemingly interested but not really concerned, they gather together and one speaks up.
Ho there...who is that down there?
Ote looks up, not needing much in the way of dissembling to play a poor bedraggled tengu out of his element.
”I’m your mother’s new squeeze. Tell her I left a few feather’s behind in the sheets...”
The man looks confused, then peers closer. [b]That a bird? What's going on down there?[/ooc]
”Is that a bird? Yer mum told me you were stupid, but blind as well I see. Your fecking men are in grievous error having arrested me for being...in fact...a bird. That talks. And screws your mam.” Ote shouts back.
”Hit me. Hard. And call yerself Ogdalf or Ranhald or something.” Ote whispers to the “guards”.
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Ques gives him a good hard punch.
"Sorry 'bout that. Probably should gag him, but, well, how do you gag a bird? He'd just bite through the cloth from the looks of that beak of his. I wouldn't make much of it, though. According to him, he slept with all of our mothers. Not very imaginative. He'll be sorry once we get him to someone who knows bird anatomy better, if you know what I mean."
The guards atop the tower seem to lean over, trying to pierce through the veil of darkness. Frustrated, one of them calls out. We can't see ya' to identify ya'...come into the light.
The torchlight from the outside wall sconces shines a radius, but they can't seem to see much of you where you stand in the outside ring of it. You're going to have to get closer.
The two guards on the sides of the speaker level their crossbows down upon the group as you approach.