Stanislav nods in both approval and encouragement then adds And we will let you kill all the guards you like.
"No need...I speak the little'uns tongue good enough" says the ogre. "Let me loose and I'll crush skulls and smash doors for you. I'm gonna make them regret ever taking me alive when they had the chance to kill me"
Seeing Slid moving to the guards station to the east, she walks slowly to the western door where the undead being came from.
Good enough for me friend. Lets get you out of those chains.
For the moment the guard room seems empty.
Cori listens to the tone of the ogre’s response, trying to gauge if it is hiding anything.
|
Slid enters the guards room and looks for his belongings. After finding it, he looks for similar possessions which might belong to the others as well. He is ready to use the masterwork tools in case he needs to unlock any containment.
Afterwards, as the others discuss arts and politics with the ogre, he looks for anything which might deserve attention in the guards room, such as documents or key to important doors.
@Vinnick So in this situation you have all your spell slots but no spells prepared. Now that you have the required components to prepare the spells you can spent 1 minute to prepare a spell up to your daily limit.
Slid does see some manacles (8 of them) hanging on a wall as well as the key ring with the keys for the cell doors.
A few extra saps are here as well.
Your equipment is not stored here however.
Arielle will take the offered key ring from Slid. "Thank you Slid. Hopefully we may yet find our things on our way out of this place, but I have little desire to take any side trips in this place to search for them. The sooner we are out of here, the better in my opinion."
First opening the cell door, Arielle then enters to unlock the chains on the ogre. I hope he remembers just whose skulls he is supposed to be crushing. Though I suppose trusting an ogre isn't any crazier than trusting a random group of criminals I was going to be executed with. In for a penny, in for a pound,right?
You try different keys and manage to unlock the locks keeping the chains in place and ogre rises up nearly.
He rises up to his impressive 9 feet nearly hitting his head on the ceiling and flexes cracking his bones. He is bruised and wounded all over (He has 12 hp out of 48)
"You have my thanks little'uns, I only killed four guards since they brought me here now I'm really gonna make em pay." he immediately start walking towards the door clearly intent to go looking for a fight.
Seeing Slid moving to the guards station to the east, she walks slowly to the western door where the undead being came from.
Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Easy, easy big guy. I'm all for it, but lets do it in a way that we can surprise as many of the ignorant fools possible. That way, its more of you killing, and less of them hitting you. And us.
@I thought I posted a reply to that but guess I forgot to click submit post.
The west passage leads to circular room a stone tile was lifted up and tossed against the wall which leads to a staircase that goes down into a previously hidden basement. A staircase leads up to locked door.
Returning to the group, There is stairs leading up to a locked door. Yet, the floor at the bottom has been pushed up to reveal stairs going down to some hidden area.
She rubs her chin, Hidden area below. Could be some interesting items in there.
Approaching the ogre Stalislav says [b]Drink this my new friend. and hands him the potion of Cure Serious wounds. After he drinks it Stanislav continues I intend that you come out of this place in one piece. I really do want to be your friend. I am Stanislav. He offers the ogre his relatively small hand to shake.
The ogre stops and considers the small vial and then seems to decided what the hell.
He takes the potions and drinks it and blinks in surprise as his wounds heal.
He kneels down to be face level with Stanislav. He point to himself and says "Grumblejack"...He looks around and grumbles "Fine...Lead I follow but when there be fighting to be done don't get in my way"
Vinnick just gives the ogre a grin and says. Wouldn't think of it, I'd much rather enjoy the show from the back if I can anyway. Though, I ask, if we come across the Sargent, please leave him for us, or, at least, leave him in one piece for me. I have a plan for him.
Well at least it's a little better lol
Arielle point to herself, then Stansilav. "Arielle, Stanislav and don't worry. If we come across any guards, they are all yours."
When the little Kobold returns to tell them what she's found, Arielle thinks about what it could mean.
"It could be an emergency exit for the guards in case of, well, in case what just happened."
Do we go up first or down? I am thinking down.
"You go right ahead, we'll keep them off your flanks," Cori says to the ogre, holding up the halberd for emphasis.
"We should check'em both," she says, regarding the stairs and door. "I really want to live, but I also really want my possessions back. If there's a chance they're nearby, I wanna grab'em."
|
|
Slid listens to everyone and says "I can check both ways. I'm good at hiding and have good eyes in the dark." Turning to the kobold, he says "Did you try to listen to the door to see if anyone's there?"
Looking at the ogre, he thinks that hidden passageways might turn out to be too tight for him, but keeps to himself. Then, he goes west and up the stairs and puts his ear to the locked door, attempting to listen to the other side.
You don't hear any noise coming from around.
"At this time of night most of the guards go to a secret place, When they come back they smell of alcohol and complain about coins. There wont be many around until sunrise." says Grumblejack.
It's currently around 1 am that give you around 6 hours.
She walks with Slid back to the stairs, while he goes up to listen at the door she, takes a few steps down the stairs to see what she can see below, listening for any movement below.
Stanislav peers down the stairs before moving in that direction.
Going down the stairs you get the feeling that nobody has been down here in a very long time.
At the bottom is a massive vault door covered in runes and along the walls are dozens of warning in different languages saying that this door should never ever be opened under any circumstance. Inside is contained the "devil of blood" the "ancestor of vampire kind"
The door is still closed but there is a massive crack in it and the runes on the door seem faded and it looks like the magic in them has worn off over time.
So it seems this is where our undead guest came from. Was entombed here.
As she looks at the faded ruins.
Must be a very powerful vampire if they could not destroy it, but only imprison it.
Pointing at the door, Slid, I will let you have the honours of opening it.
Stanislav says nothing but those near him that are perceptive note a slight sheen of sweat breaking out on the man's face. This seems a dead end now. We go up.
The door is broken even if you could unlock it and Slid if pretty certain he cant (dc 30) it likely wouldn't open without a lot of effort.
Your options are up to the lock door up the stairs or out trough the guard room.
I think we should try the locked door at the top of the stairs first. We can't get through then we go the guard room.
The doors opens and you see a room dedicated to the history of the Castle Branding and the subsequent history that led the castle to become Branderscar Prison. It consists of a series of mostly uninteresting plaques that tell of nobles and deeds hardly anyone remembers anymore. There are a number of banners and flags. One of the wall hangings is an old brocade tapestry that depicts Castle Branding being turned into a prison with the motto "Judgment Cometh and that Right Soon". The tapestry is worth 150 gp. It is however very heavy (50 lb.) and awkward (-2 to any Acrobatics, Climb, Jump, or Swim skill checks while carried). There is a spiral stairway leading up to the floor above, a door exits to balcony that overlooks the courtyard were the execution platform was being built and there is a path that leads to the castle outer wall (even at night there will be patrols on the wall). There are also windows that look out to the lake, below the windows is a sheer cliff that leads to the water.
The water forty feet below. The sea here is plagued with riptides and wave breaks – still a good climber and a strong swimmer could climb down and make it shore.
It's worth nothing that the stairway and door leading up here is too small for the ogre and he must remain below, the only way he can leave is out trough the guard room were Slid found the manacles and keys.
That e is nice. Might be worth a hundred gold coins or more. Looks heavy but we can drop it if needed. Stanislav will check it for traps before rolling it up and putting it on a shoulder.
Arielle looks about the room, noting all the banners and flags. "What do you all think of setting fire to this room right before we go over the balcony? It might give the guards another thing to focus on instead of just escaped prisoners."
Looking down at the water, Arielle asks, "Were there boat and rope patches on that robe? If so, that ogre is going to have to make his own way out of here."
I'd not leave before paying my respects top a certain guard captain. Stanislav says flatly.
”A fire might draw too much attention our way,” Cori says. ”We need to hit the guards while they’re still in small patrol groups and haven’t formed up.”
Seeing the hall, she speaks to herself in draconic, Oh this will burn well. Just need a way to set it alight.
Looking out the window to the water below, No hassle to get down, but it is going to be a long swim.
Seeing he stairs leading up, Perhaps the captain is up there. Keeping our stuff with him.
We should certainly check up there before we head back down. Stanislav agrees. I was thinking it was likely only a balcony but we should be sure.
As others point out the waters, Vinnick speaks up. boats no, but if I can get access to my book, wherever it is they put it, I could spend some time to prepare magic that would allow us to swim as easily as a fish. Well, some of us. He adds to the end looking around and counting their total tally.
As for burning, I'd rather we didn't history is history, and wanton destruction of knowledge is not something I oblige. Aside from that, if what our friend says is true about many guards being gone, that would likely only call them back. And as far as taking a tour of this place goes, as I said, I'd very much prefer to reacquire my belongings. I can but hope that one item still remains alongside my spellbook...
Going up then?
You decided to make your way up and find another floor this time it looks like a study. Many bookshelves line the walls filled with tomes and scrolls and an alchemy bench has many alchemical ingredients and tomes on alchemy. This room is windowless but lit with several torches with continual flame cast on them.
Yet another staircase leads to another door to the floor above. You hear the shuffling of slow footsteps going back and forth above you.
|
|
Before going up, Slid says "I'm not a fan of burning for the sake of burning, and it would attract the attention of guards. However, it may not be necessarily unwanted attention. We may want to keep as a backup plan to burn this room in the future if we want the guards to be here and not.... wherever."
As Vinnick explains the span of his magic, Slid says "I'm a terrible swimmer, by the way." and offers a smile. As they come to the library, Slid motions all to stay silent. He tries to count how many people are walking in the floor above.
He motions to the alchemical items and whispers "Could this be of use? I don't know much about alchemy."
While Slid is trying to count the footsteps in the room above them, Arielle chooses to cast Detect Magic as she looks over the tomes, scrolls and alchemy bench.