Hmm, indeed. Lina could try to create a distraction off to one side, putting on the ring Brental enspelled for her? Spooooky mysterious bright lights in the woods? ;)
Of course, that might invite some potshots from the watchtowers, but I think she might brave it if she can stay behind the treeline.
Or can we think of a suitable cuddly animal that Morof could whip up an illusion of that might have caused the disturbance?
Are we even close enough to notice this?
Not unless things get louder~
Brental was really lucky there.
Yep! Sure was.
@Lina: What were those herbal or alchemical things Lina gave Signy?
Bloody mandrake. The short version is, adding a dose to spellcasting (a free action) gives +1 caster level to spells that remove afflictions/conditions or provide a morale bonus.
The latter bit should go nicely with bless, I think. ;)
Sorry for the slow posting the last few days. Aside from the holiday my car was totaled in an accident last week (no injuries) and I'm having to deal with all the life clutter that causes.
Oh my gods! What is with cars and hitting the members of this campaign!? I'm soooo sorry to hear about the car trouble Signy and am just glad you're alright.
I know how much dealing with all that can be a pain though so feel free to take some time off if you need it.
Thanks Rackal, I'm alright. It's less the loss of the old car, which was kinda junky anyway, than finding a new one in short order that's the problem. Given how inflated used car prices are at present, I might be kissing a lot of toads before I'm done.
Maybe one will turn out to be a prince/princess/other royalty!
Ya'll can hear the alarm bell ringing from your camp by the way~
Well, crap.
Cute! Ferret?
Ferret will unfortunately have to wait until level 6!
Being fair, we've only heard the bell, not the shouting and don't actually know how bad/good things are.
Yikes! I missed that you had been in an accident until I saw it on the other thread we're in. Please take care, take your time, and be as well as can be now.
Lina does have a point.
Also, if any of us attack Brental, it's because we know they have a druid, and you have just attacked us. :P
Morof's horse and Vod are restrained~
Oh I know it's a risk! It's what I figure Brental would think as the best course of action.
Lina does have a point.
Credit where due, Signy's the one that actually put it out there, as opposed to wringing her hands and hoping someone else would. :)
You guys had better luck with the first bandit camp, I gather, even with complications?
I'm pretty sure Lina's not liking getting caught on the business end of "first as tragedy, then as farce," though I suppose the latter is immeasurably preferable, if much less dignified.
Well, it was worth a shot. I wonder if Meneas will double down or be willing to retreat. Given that this is basically our only mission left, we'll need to figure out something if we don't attack now...
Maybe try to come at the fort from behind? Build a boat? Dunno.
Do the bandits have torches or something? Can Meneas see the one who noticed the illusion? Is Meneas even in normal light?
So many questions!
They do! But further to the point you notice the man who called you out appears to be a half-elf.
Oh, good. Well then this is an easy choice.
Well, it was worth a shot. I wonder if Meneas will double down or be willing to retreat. Given that this is basically our only mission left, we'll need to figure out something if we don't attack now...
Maybe try to come at the fort from behind? Build a boat? Dunno.
I may be misremembering things, but I don't think the fort's that close to the water's edge? It would probably exacerbate the higher-ground issue, though.
I'm fine with whatever, so if folks think trying to press the attack now is too reckless... Getting back under more careful watch and probably a hail of fire is tricky, but we probably have some options.
Whenever we decide we're ready, maybe the likeliest thing would be to levitate / spider climb one or two of the toughest of us over the gate to open it for the others, since they might best be able to hold off the bandits in the interval?
Right, so I was thinking of taking the water around the back, since they probably don't know we know they've got their escape route there.
But yeah, same here. Meneas isn't likely to press the attack alone now that they've got everyone's attention, but the higher alert will make things more complicated.
I do think levitation/spider climb is probably the best bet. Even easier if one/both are invisible, though that might strain Morof's spell capacity.
EDIT: I suppose I could also have tried to bluff them to let them think Meneas is some sort of undead or other cursed creature... hm. Oh well.
Hmm. A dawn assault from that direction (the east?) might work? So they'll have the sun in their eyes, and we can surprise them if they try any funny business with their tunnel?
Lina's loadout probably doesn't have all that much wiggle room to play to her strengths at the moment, but I am tempted to swap something out for shield if we're going to be riding in under fire.
And in the meantime I'm terribly tempted to travesty the whole finding Leia in the Death Star bit, but I'll confine myself to, "We brought Ben Kenobi Morof Tarci, we're here to rescue you!"
... I regret nothing. ;)
The fort is about a hundred feet from the lake to the south by the way~
The fort is about a hundred feet from the lake to the south by the way~
Thanks for your patience with our shenanigans, incidentally, as we scheme and scheme away, and prod for details.
Let me know if I should tone it down: candidly, I'm probably throwing myself into this right now because with *gestures displeasedly* stuff happening in real life, even though I'm bad with numbers, games offer an illusion of my being to figure odds.
So what I'm reading from the discussion is that we wait in the area near the Fort for a few days, laying low but staying observant and attacking any bandits who come looking for us or who we spot returning from other directions. We might try some additional stabs at the Fort itself, but that won't be the first thing we do. Does that sound like our consensus? We basically don't wait to charge the front gates right now.
That does seem to be the agreement.
Yep! Waiting to see who blinks first to give the other side an advantage. Either way, I'm pretty sure it will be kind of messy by the end.
Like a very slow game of chicken, or maybe taking a cold war and putting it over a low fire.
Problem with elementals: Does anyone speak any elemental languages? Or is somehow able to communicate with them? Otherwise, you can't actually command them to do anything. They'll attack enemies attacking you, but you don't get a telepathic connection to command them in complex maneuvers.
I speak Aquan, and can cast Elemental Speech.
Oh, fair enough then.
I think Morof’s right about timing and going for the head of the snake.
What I was thinking of was something like this:
1) An invisible Brental summons an annoying elemental (and maybe something else, especially if we go with aether) to test the defences.
1a.) Morof puts a copy each of levitate and/or spider climb on a scroll, so he can cast those and still retain his full complement tomorrow, with more obviously combat-y stuff?
2) We hold tight against any sally from the fort.
3) Barring any nasty surprise from our summoning gambit, do the same thing again, only:
a) Targeting the most isolated watchtower,
b) Possibly with a tougher / more aggressive elemental,
c) The rest of us charging in while said elemental attacks,
d) With a couple of us boosted by Morof’s magic to make it easier to get over the walls?
I think I'm out of the hole now. Just a matter up catching up on posts everywhere at this point...
Oh, just levitate / spider climb, ideally by scroll, and then maybe an invisibility from prepared spells, so that you can also have fun with most of your normal spells for the day when we make our move. :)
Whoever goes over the top first could carry a grapple and knotted rope too, I guess?
I think we have a couple of decent climbers, just, as Signy says, that's a very inviting target for archers.
Though with a bit of help and luck, Lina could also pick up obscuring mist today, and that would let us share the burden of spell prep out. Or maybe Brental could handle it, if it's not too much of an imposition.
I think the main obstacle is getting to the wall in relative safety, as I mull things over. With an obscuring mist to provide cover, we might even be able to just do things the hard way, with Climb checks?
Welcome back Signy! Glad things are working out a bit better.
Brental could certainly prepare obscuring mist. The only limitation of it is that it is stationary, so it's a cast-at-the-wall spell rather than a cover-our-approach spell.
I like spreading our assault over the course of a day or two. Like Morof said, we're only Level 3. I could two Level 2 spells per day, and I would ideally like to have Barkskin in there to make myself harder to hit. Elemental Speech and a Summon would take out both upper slots, which would be what is needed for the Earth Elemental. I could communicate with Aether normally in Aquan and still prepare Barkskin for the assault, which would be my preference.
I do want to emphasize with the summons: we only get three rounds from them. Earth will hit like a truck, dealing 10.5 avg damage at a +5 to hit (power attack), while Aether will do 7.5 avg damage at a +6 to hit (point-blank shot). (A Water Elemental would be great, 9.5 damage at +4, but its Water Mastery is actually a detriment in this environment.)
A summoned stirge is also a viable use of a lower spell slot. Entangle probably won't be of much use within the Fort, assuming that most plant life has been trimmed from within. So I'll prep a use of shillelagh for when we need to do a lot of damage, obscuring mist, and an emergency cure light wounds.
Brental's current plan, on this day (if possible), is to get some Invisibility, run to the Fort, summon an Elemental to do some damage (probably Earth), and then run back before Invisibility expires. Then we deal with the fallout. The next day we do it again, but with the intent of going in.
To be fair, obscuring mist on the wall would mean that they can't see us if they're on the wall themselves - or at least, they can't see us as well, because they'd be in the mist, and thus have the miss chance against everyone. At least, if I understand the spell correctly.
I agree that we should do a bit of wanton destruction today and invade properly tomorrow, though.
Random thought: Can Veil get spider climb on her? It'd be hilarious if Meneas had to hold onto her as she climbs up the walls.
Presumably yes! The target is "creature touched". The spell description says that the affected creature must have its hands free to climb. Veil probably doesn't have hands per se, but I think the purpose of that line is that you can't be armed while you're climbing (which is reasonable).
When we're ready to go for it, I just need an official casting of Invisibility. Then I will make my Invisible Stealth checks as I run from the tree line to the wall and summon. I'll use Elemental Speech and get an Earth Elemental out to cause havoc for 3 rounds, then run around and get a stirge or two out at the other Towers. (Will Speak with Animals work with Stirges? They're magical beasts, but there is no speak with magical beasts spell.)
I do want to emphasize with the summons: we only get three rounds from them.
Sorry, I'm an old crone brought up on the old CRPGs (Baldur’s Gate, especially), so I keep forgetting how short the duration on summoning spells actually is.
For the stirges, could they just be pointed at the nearest visible guard and urged on?
I admit, I’m probably playing fast and loose here, but I don’t much care for summoning, personally. Probably obviously. :p
And now I’m trying to imagine what a spider-climbing horse would look like. Bonus points if it’s some Sleipnir sort of thing. :)
Just so I'm clear, this is the harassment and demoralization phase, not the big one right?
Right. We're discussing options for the actual attack - with the spider climb and stuff.
But the earth elemental and stirges are one day, and the attack is the next?
Sounds about right, with the precise allocation of resources to the big one depending on if we're left in enough peace that Morof can scribe a couple of more scrolls, and Lina maybe crib a spell for her spellbook.
Figures that the one time I roll up a magus without obscuring mist from the get-go, it would be really handy.