I can wait as well. I have the two Way of the Wicked games I’m running to tie me over.
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I'm still here.
Same here.
Condolences. Take your time.
I was thinking something that could be spread just by shaking hands. Go visit the Commander and take a tour of Balentyne, shaking as many hands as possible. Food poisoning should work, though. I could sacrifice an undetectable alignment for a lesser resto to help with the anemia, so he wouldn't be that anemic.
Plague Bringer (Ex) At 3rd level, the powers of darkness make an antipaladin a beacon of corruption and disease. An antipaladin does not take any damage or take any penalty from diseases. He can still contract diseases and spread them to others, but he is otherwise immune to their effects. I mean, if we want to spread disease, I think the Lady Rose would be uniquely qualified to do so. Could go roll around in the inn's outhouse one night to try and contract a disease, then spread it to the soldiers. But yes, also we need to stop the alchemist from supplying the alchemical supplement to the military. Perhaps we should tail him as well?
We could combine the two ideas. We buy, say, 6 quivers, cut the arrow heads off, then place those in the arrow store and take 6 quivers of arrows from there. We do the same each night. They never notice the number of quivers changing, and we can just keep the final 6. We'll need to set someone tailing Eddarly to find out when he meets Kaitlyn Mott. Then we can anonymously tip off Franz Mott so he can catch them in the act.
It would be a slow process, but we could absolutely cut off all the arrow heads. We wouldn't have to worry about any guards walking in on us, since it appears to be unguarded. Based on the information we have, here's a list of things I think we need to do: 1. Sabotage the rookery. Make it look like a lantern fell over and accidentally lit the whole thing on fire, killing all the ravens. If we cut off their means of quickly requesting aid, we'll isolate them from reinforcements.
So long as we have that passage, we can come and go like ghosts in the night - if we can keep them from realizing there are saboteurs here. If they realize there are saboteurs, they'll likely up the guard, and make it harder for us to move about.
Kelvar prays to his deity before turning in for the night. He briefly awakens as the Doctor jolts awake, grabbing his axe, before seeing nothing is wrong and laying back down. Please let that passage lead straight to Balentyne. A hidden way in and out will make our task so much easier.
Kelvar nods. "We'll move out when the inn is asleep." Once everyone in the inn has gone to sleep and all is silent, Kelvar will once again cast his spell to hide himself from sight and leave with Rose and Talia, unarmored.
Andrel will continue drinking with the guards until he sees Nicholas excuse himself, then he will wait another couple of minutes before heading up himself.
"Well, I can't fault them for wanting to relax after a long shift. Do they guard Balentyne as well? I've heard Dwarven warriors are as immovable as stone - surely they are of great benefit to repelling any monstrous attacks from the north." At the suggestion, Andrel says, "Joining them is not a bad idea - although I don't know that I'm capable of matching them drink for drink. Seems my boss has already chosen to do so."
Andrel takes a sip of his tankard, then asks, "Why not? I find them gruff and standoffish, but I've never had an issue with one, but I also don't know much about them. Is there something particular about this group that's off putting?"
"At night. We'll want this to be entirely stealth-based, avoiding any combat whatsoever. The fewer who are awake to see, the better. If it does lead to the keep, and it is unguarded, we don't want to tip them off and have them place guards on it." "As for today, I will spend it learning more about the town, the keep, and the people. Information is far more important right now than weapons." Before they do so, Kelvar will cast undetectable alignment on both himself and Rose, to ensure their connection to Asmodeus could not be detected.
Kelvar will spend the day schmoozing with the townsfolk and off-duty soldiers, buying drinks and trying to see what information he can pick up.
Once the Doctor returned to the room, Kelvar smirked and very quietly said, "I heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate. Imagine my surprise when I found our innkeeper attempting to sneak around in his own inn. He was in the cellar and trying to quietly move a shelf out of the way of a section of wall, which had a secret passage behind it - a secret passage going straight towards Balentyne. I don't know how far it goes - the innkeeper began sneaking down it himself and I didn't want to risk him noticing me, but if it goes all the way to the fortress itself, it will prove very useful in our task. I was thinking I'd investigate tomorrow night - my invisibility lasts for only a short time, so I was hoping you had something that could help with that."
Kelvar awakens before the sun so he can make his prayers to his Lord. Afterwards, he did some exercises to help maintain his strength. Once Timeon knocked on the door with their breakfast, he ate and then, once he was finished, went and knocked on the door to Rose and Talia's room.
GM:
A predatory smile crosses Kelvar's face. His spell of invisibility was limited, so he wouldn't try to explore the passage tonight - especially while the barkeep was in it. However, tomorrow night, perhaps with something from the Doctor to augment his sneaking...how far, he wondered, would the passage go? All the way to Balentyne, perhaps? A way in and out of the fortress unseen, avoiding the guards, was exactly what they needed. With that, Balentyne would fall. The passage discovered, Kelvar crept from the basement back to his room.
Returning to the room he shared with the Doctor, Kelvar slipped back in and then dismissed his invisibility. Finding that he wasn't there, he put his axe down, sat on his bed and waited for him to get back.
Kelvar: Kelvar quietly descends the stairs to the basement to see what may be going on down there.
GM: Kelvar awakens to the sound of someone sneaking around. Choosing not to don his armor, he casts a spell to cloak himself from the sight of others, then grabbed his axe and crept from his room to investigate.
"The nature of that contract is something to discover. Perhaps you will overhear something tomorrow - if not, we can always try other means of investigation. Did either of you learn anything valuable?"
Kelvar nods. "I believe that to be wise, Nicholas." Kelvar will sit and drink with the locals, buying them rounds and seeing what he can hear.
He learns nothing, however.
"Nothing for me. Thank you for your time." Kelvar will leave with "Nicholas"once they are done, heading for the inn. They needed to discuss the alchemist's apparent connection to the Warden - without giving away their true identities.
Good choices. I'm preparing both invisibility and undetectable aligment each day as well, so between us we should be able to hide everyone's true nature. Right now Rose and I are the only two who would need undetectable alignment, but once you and Talia hit level 5, you guys will need it, too.
Thanks. Gave me a chance to fill in a bit of the escape from Branderscar.
Kelvar studies the alchemist, suddenly wary of the man's mention of Mathias Richter. Richter had been a warden - the warden of Branderscar. Now he was nothing but a corpse. Kelvar remembered his stolen longsword digging deep into the man's side as the Warden tried to cast a spell to stop him. "Sitting around, monitoring prisoners? Sounds boring. I'll take the road any day of the week," Kelvar responds. "Least that way you get to see something of Talingarde."
"Is the commander of the keep so open-minded as that? I met a watch sergeant in Daveryn who would poke his nose into and search every apothecary in the city, looking for signs of 'black magic' as he called it," Kelvar asked, curious. He remembered Sergeant Ardos Vane - being assigned to his patrol circuit for the day inevitably meant traipsing all over the district, searching apothecary shops where the owner was just trying to earn a living, and confiscating 'illicit substances', which always seemed to be an alcoholic beverage that went home with the Sergeant. That he'd been the one to end up in Branderscar and not that man was one of the many injustices in the world.
Kelvar maintains the stoic, slightly bored look of a merchant’s guard. With the bills of exchange, he looks about for an apothecary as well.
Focusing on selling ivory and seal pelts. Did we remember to grab Kargeld's seal pelts and ivory as well? Do we want to sell the narwhal horn, or hold on to it? When Marvin was with us, I'd have said hold onto it, but now I'm not so sure it's worth it. Glad you're back GM. Sorry to hear the year hasn't started off well for you.
I think the main thing that made them put it at that high a level is that if scrying or other divinations are unable to find the regular target, due to death or magical protections, then the spell automatically finds the impostor using Any Guise. Plus, due to our lack of a full arcane caster, we don't have access to Polymorph. I don't think it's a Cleric spell.
Any Guise might be something to grab at level 17. I think we could engage in shenanigans with that.
No worries, GM, it happens. I'm traveling this weekend, so my posting will be slow as well. While I wouldn't mind Hound joining us, if the GM isn't planning on recruiting, then the GM isn't planning on recruiting. If we were to add another PC, I'd also admit that I'd have a bit of bias towards someone with some arcane punch - we're a bit lacking in that area. Incidentally, Rose, have you considered going the Many Guises route with your Social Talents? Could prove useful down the line.
"Doctor, why don't you and I see about selling the wares - you as the merchant, I as the guard. We'll move the ivory first, and then the pelts if we have time. Otherwise, we'll move the pelts tomorrow, and we can see about purchasing some other supplies then as well."
"Timeon said he was in Balentyne once. Perhaps he can tell us where it is?"
"Don't worry about that. Our Lord has granted me a means to avoid detection."
Once they are together, Kelvar says, "I agree. We should sell the ivory and seal pelts at the very least - in addition to maintaining our cover, it gives us more disposable cash to use if needed. As to gathering intelligence, I think we'll be able to learn quite a bit here at the Inn. It seems that soldiers come here to drink when they are off-duty, and soldiers always talk over drinks. It would also be helpful if Rose's guise as a Knight of the Alerion got her an invitation into Balentyne - that will allow her to get an idea of the layout of the place." "I've already managed to learn that the rookery is Balentyne's key to communicating with the rest of the Watch Wall. Eliminating it will hamper their communications. We also know about Captain Eddarly's affair with Captain Mott's wife. I'm sure that if word was gotten to him so that he could catch them in the act, it would, at the very least, result in the two hating each other, if not more. That could cause division within the ranks, and hamper their effectiveness."
Kelvar continues chatting with the guards and buying them drinks.
But he learns nothing new.
I kept it in case I needed it for a disguise. Seemed a good idea at the time.
Valid points. If you're going to do that, then perhaps you should carry Sir Balin's longsword, as well as having the silver and sapphire holy symbol, both of which I'm carrying. It would lend an extra layer to the deception. Assuming the Knights of the Alerion allow women, that is.
Good call, Talia. I'll do that. Rose, I thought our plan called for us to disguise ourselves as merchants?
Kelvar set about making his appearance that of the veteran merchant's guard. He aged himself a few years to look around 30, and added a scar to the left side of his face. He made his complexion more ruddy, and gave the appearance of stubble on his face. He changed his eyes to a greyish-blue, and his hair he adjusted to a brown so dark it was almost black, cut short - long hair was something a foe could grab in battle, and no guard would wear his hair long. His armor was already a well-made yet dull metal, appropriate to a merchant guard, so he mostly left it as is. His weapons did not bear any sign of his deity either, so he had no worries there. His clothing he made take on the appearance of plain wool pants and a simple linen shirt, with a thick wool coat over top - all of it plain and unadorned. He made sure his holy symbol was tucked away, and by the end of his transformation, he was yet another bland merchant's guard whose most memorable features would be a gruff, somewhat crass manner and the scar on his face. "A most fitting look, Nicholas," Kelvar said, with more of a growl in his voice than normal. "I shall be called Andrel." =================================================== Upon arrival at the Lord's Dalliance Inn, he lets Rose and the Doctor handle negotiating the hiring of rooms for them while he looks about the clientele in the room. Once they have rooms, he will place his belongings in them - keeping any incriminating items with him, of course. He will then return to the common room to enjoy a meal and have a drink or two, as well as buying drinks for others as well.
"Perhaps, Timeon, it's best if you don't see them just yet. I'm sure that, soon, it will be alright for you to do so. In the meantime, perhaps we should temporarily hide you?" Kelvar takes out Marvin's iron circlet. "This will allow you to change your appearance. Perhaps you should adjust yourself to have an appearance closer to that of Lady Rose - we can say you are her nephew, and this will allow us to keep you safe. What do you say?"
Kelvar gives Rose another tap of the wand to heal her up. For entering the town, Kelvar decides that being disguised as merchants is the best overall cover. He himself takes the guise of a merchant’s guard, thinking the cover better for him than himself being the lead merchant. The Doctor or Rose would make for a better face. ”Indeed. You will be able to see your family soon.”
Kelvar pulls out the wand to heal those wounded up. He will include Timeon in that.
”Don’t forget the ivory and Kargeld’s seal pelts.” Kelvar walks over to Marvin, planning to heal him. Once he gets over there, he stops, finding that Marvin’s wounds have proved fatal. ”It appears Kargeld and his men will not be going alone into death.” Kelvar removes the iron circlet from Marvin, as well as the Asmodean unholy symbol. ”Best not to leave these behind to wash up on shore and be found by a random traveler.” He then sets about off-loading what they were taking with them. ”Would leaving the bodies help sell your deception, Kiliketz?”
Kelvar again speaks a word of Infernal, sending his axe flying forward to again strike at the sailor. He then advanced forward to the ladder to climb up.
Kelvar moves closer to the front of the deck, then speaks a word of Infernal and lets his axe fly through the air to strike the sailor before returning to his hand.
Kelvar swings his axe to finish off the one he had previously struck.
Having finished him off, Kelvar turns to move towards the front of the ship to deal with the two there as Morvan falls.
I will be traveling this weekend to visit family, and will only be on mobile. Please bot me if necessary - I will try to post.
This was a good move by Kiliketz, since the contract included a clause about being invalidated should he cause any member of the Ninth Knot harm through direct action - I'd say hitting us with his breath weapon counts.
Kelvar grunts as Kargeld deals him a vicious blow, then grins in triumph as Talia slays him. Stepping forward, he says to a sailor, "Lay down your weapons, and this will be quick." He then studies and strikes the sailor.
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