”Fort Gorthoklek is no Citadel Rivad. It’s where the Chelish navy trains new recruits and where people go to enlist in the navy. There are always new faces around the place. Most of the buildings inside are supply warehouses and barracks, with an officers’ barracks and a command post.”
”What could she be thinking? Unleashing a brutalis in a city, whip up the commoners to fight your battle for you? The death toll of this could be a quarter of the city, if not higher. Admiral Grinceen has resented the lawlessness of Hinji for awhile now but I never thought she’d resort to sterilizing then city to protect her little base!”
Callix nods, "That's exactly what she's thinking. Let all the losses be amongst the rabble, better still if it's the troublemakers -- to protect those in power." She barely refrains from adding, ...as is almost always the case in Cheliax.
Freeing children from being sacrificed -- and in so doing, saving a town -- why, that's a most excellent tale I'm anxious to tell...
Some things are easier said than done, Nomad. That said, I don't think we could live with ourselves if we don't try.
With my aid, you're sure to ---
Success is *never* assured, friend. Thinking it could be is the best way to end up dead... So why don't you just take notes while the rest of us plan?
She pauses, then says, "I don't like the idea of being outnumbered, but a disorgainzed training post for sailors seems much more.... accessible.... than a locked down Hellknight fortress. Still, we probably don't have a lot of time to plan, so I think this might be one of the times we improvise spectacularly."
She pauses, then says, "If it's as disorganized as you say, Traeve, do you think we're better off 'delivering supplies' or should we, uh, acquire... trainee uniforms?"
Traeve shrugs. ”We could always enlist, though either of those ideas should work.”
"Let's be clear about what our goal is. If we rescue the children -- which we should do -- they'll just take five more. We probably need to stab someone important.
"Enlisting could work. We wouldn't need to worry about obtaining disguises. But we have no idea how long it will take before we're not watched. Or noticed if we slip away."
Stroking his chin in thought, Edward comes to a simple conclusion. "I will do whatever we must. Whichever plan we decide upon, I am game. Whatever it takes. I guess my next question would be: When do we get started?"
Morgana nods at Ty's statement, "I don't disagree... though, I suspect one advantage is that the 'raid' and attack would likely be blamed on the Masoumites... though I wish I knew whether that lot were corrupted, or just misguided. I have no issues fanning the flames of conflict if it's the first, but if it's the latter..."
She sighs, "I think, Edward, we should probably get started now. I'd imagine by going to a bar frequented by naval trainees to convince them to part with their uniforms."
”Not a bar. An ice tears den. They’ll be easier to ‘convince’.”
”Ice tears. The narcotic of choice in Hinji. Hallucinogenic and makes you feel very warm, so that folks who are high tend to remove their clothing. Therefore they need a place to sleep off their high, hence the dens.”
Heading out into the nighttime streets of Hinji used to be a precarious exercise, but not any more, or at least, the dangers are more obvious and less stealthy. Instead of footpads in every second alley, patrols of Masoumite peasants maintain a presence on every major street and intersection. What they lack in skill and training they make up for in sheer numbers, and it is quite a challenge to avoid them, but you do succeed for now.
Traeve leads you to a run-down building he believes is a major ice tears den, and Ty, through his knowledge of pesh dens back in Absalom, agrees that it fits the profile. Slipping in the ground floor, you find it seemingly deserted, though signs abound that it was frequented quite a bit in recent weeks. Masoumi flames have been crudely painted on every wall and door. Hinji’s rampant drug economy seems in sudden and rapid decline. While that would normally be an amazing improvement, it does make things much more difficult for you in your pursuit of naval recruit uniforms.
Morgana whistles, "The.... fervor... of the followers is impressive. Well, frightening, really. Still, I don't imagine that addiction stops just because someone paints a flame on the door -- I imagine it's just moved where the light can't find it."
Ty quietly opens one of the doors with a flame painted on it to confirm that it is indeed empty.
Ty opens the door and sees no sign of life. However, it appears that the Masoumites weren’t too quick to clean out the trash: the remains of a pair of sailors lie on the floor in one corner, covered in trash, and still wearing their uniforms.
Ty lets out a big sigh and then gets to work retrieving the uniforms.
"Check some of the other rooms," he says dully.
Hard to tell. As Ty gets close, the bodies suddenly lurch to their feet!! Ty feels the air around the zombies chill—he can even see his breath. Strangely enough, he can see the zombies’ breath, too.
You’re all up first. The zombies had a surprise round where they stood, if you have some surprise round ability.
I have no map, but the zombies and Ty are in a 10 foot square room, which means only room for 4 fighters, including the two zombies. There’s a bigger 25 by 10 rectangle room where everybody else is.
"S@+%!" Ty leaps to the side to avoid being surrounded and so he's not blocking the door, drawing his daggers as he does so. He slashes at one of the zombies, hoping that the ensuing battle won't ruin the uniforms.
Morgana calls out, "They're zombies... but strange ones. Might be an interaction with the magical drugs -- maybe an effect of overdose."
She quickly traces an arcane pattern, dropping a rolling ball of flame on one of the zombies, then smiling a little apologetically at Traeve afterward.
Ty cuts a zombie deeply, leaving a rime of frost on the blade when he pulls it out. Morgana then drops a flaming sphere on it. The zombie bursts as it’s body flash freezes. While it looks like the bubble of frost will expand out and catch you all, the presence of the magical fire absorbs the cold. It extinguished Morgana’s spell prematurely, but also doesn’t shower you in painful magical cold.
Traeve casts a spell and a flash of yellow energy streaks out at the undead, but he misses high.
Richard and Edward to go.
Richard casts Protection from Evil on Ty.
Edward draws his shield and straps it on before moving toward the zombies and drawing his sword at the same time.
The zombie lumbers forwards and swings at Edward.
Being adjacent to the zombie, Edward needs to make a Fort save DC 15 or take Dex damage from the numbing cold.
Ty slashes again, this time at the zombie attacking Edward.
Ty’s daggers both sink in and rip several feet of frozen entrails from the zombie. The entrails fall to the floor and shatter.
Morgana, Edward, and Richard. Traeve seems to be waiting for Morgana to act.
Morgana points a finger as she traces a pattern with the other hand, directing a pair of darts of force to slam into the wounded zombie.
Richard you can save the spell. Morgana’s spell detonates the second zombie, but with no magical fire around, the cloud of cold balloons out, catching Ty and Edward, inflicting another 1 point of Dex damage (Fort DC 15 negates).
That makes 2 Fort saves I need from Edward.
The uniforms, despite battle damage, are both salvageable with a few mending spells.
Pleasantly surprised at how quickly the zombies were dispatched, "Well... that was well done." Edward then sheathes his sword but keeps his shield.
Morgana nods, "A bit of well-placed magic -- and a few deep cuts -- can solve a remarkable number of problems."
As he rubs his arms and tries to get his chattering teeth under control, Ty assesses. "Th-th-that's two uniforms. Richard and I have the m-m-magic to disguise our armor. So we n-n-need to find one more, right?"
Traeve shakes his head. "I have no naval academy uniforms to offer. I'm sure with a bit more looking, however, we'll be able to find another, hopefully without the peculiar undead already wearing them."
Putting his daggers away and drawing his shortbow, Ty asks Edward to open the doors to other rooms that they want to search for him. If he sees anyone wearing the uniform they need, he'll put an arrow in every body in the room before going in to retrieve the uniform.
The next two doors open into empty rooms, while the last room contains no bodies but a pile of old clothing, including two uniforms.
Concerning the thoughts about waiting until morning, Traeve voices one concern: ”Do we dare wait? We know they already have the halfling children in the fort. They might be intending to offer the sacrifice tonight.”
"I would have to concur with Sir Traeve. I do believe time is not our ally at this point."
Weary, Ty concedes the point and agrees to go that night.
Morgana nods, "Sadly, I think you're right. We can't wait. I can make myself look like I'm wearing the same uniform magically, though, so that makes life a little easier."
She pauses, then says, "And, given that... Traeve, any chance there's a healer nearby who could cast a Lesser Restoration? Or a place to buy a potion or scroll of the same?"
”Depends: how ballsy do you want to be? The base will have a healer at the clinic.”
Morgana laughs, "Oh, I like that... Though it'd be up to the silver-tongued as to whether they want to risk that particular bluff... Realistically, I'd imagine the story we tell wouldn't even really be false -- we went looking for guardsmen in the remains of the dens and were attacked by undead."
"If it's convenient to fool a healer, sure. But if we feel that we're under a time crunch, let's just do what we have to do."
Morgana takes a moment to study the uniforms, then closes her eyes and conjures herself a similar disguise.