Search Posts
Rendylyn cackles as the guards slump to the floor. That should make things simpler! Pity it won't last long. She spits out an incantation in a loud and commanding voice that fades as the Silence takes effect. The straining cords of her neck bulge as she seems to scream out the last few whisper-quiet syllables.
Rendylyn focuses the mage's incantation. As Asmodeus is a god of magic, she has learned some of the rudiments of arcane casting, though not the practice. She hopes it is enough that she can forewarn the rest of the Knot.
"That spell, Rendylyn... I felt the Dark Lord in it. We are on the path." Rendylyn grins. "Yes, the Dark Prince's touch is ever only as far from us as the nearest flame." When Vormog signals prepare for violence, Rendylyn is a little surprised, but trusts that the infiltrators know something she doesn't about the mage's guards. She steps to where she has a clear field of fire and waits.
"Best to kill every raven. There's a chance someone in the village knows how to handle such animals, or has enough magic to speak with them." She surveys the carnage, smirking at the smoking birds. To burn them was such a savage delight, but..."I don't think the Mitrans will believe this a suicide," she says, waving her hand at the smoldering carcasses. "But perhaps we can convince them the mage did it, before succumbing to wounds from the ravens. It's worth trying. Whatever we do next, we've just taken a major step towards victory. Balentyne now cannot possibly send for reinforcements in time." "Let us now make haste to the mage's quarters. We have time before the play ends."
Rendylyn's voice rises to a shriek as she lifts her hands above her head, directing more gouts of flame at the whirling birds.
Their beaks and talons tear at her, but each cut is short and shallow.
"Just slash them from the air as best you can, Rayse! How many could there be?"
As a storm of talons and beaks tears at her, Rendylyn stands tall, and her shadow grows taller still, horned and menacing. Dark Prince protect me!
RR
14
14
Heat shimmers between Rendylyn's palms as she spits a diabolical incantation. A cone of flames erupts from her palms, setting dozens of birds ablaze!
Rendylyn can cast Burning Hands for 5d4 damage 3 times. Ravens are tiny, so if they form a swarm, they'll still take (half) weapon damage. But let's focus on killing the raven keeper--without him, the ravens might not be a threat.
sadly crosses 'have absent PC walk down possibly trapped hallways' off to-do list
Rendylyn grasps her shield and ducks behind it to block flapping birds. She steps back and heaves the bundle at the raven keeper to distract him."Now, Now!" she cries.
"Careful! I will set it down on the desktop!" Rendylyn turns her shoulder and back to the raven keeper as she shoves past him into the rookery. He won't risk hurting the bird by wrestling with me. She walks quickly to the desk, trusting him to follow close behind, and the others to follow him.
Rendylyn has no words for the guards--they're the moles' responsibility. Using one of the covert signs the knot has worked out, she signals 'keep moving'--the play won't last forever. As the group climbs the final stairs to the rookery, she pulls some clothes from her bag and wraps them into a bundle that fits in her arm. "Knock, and tell the raven keeper we're bringing him a badly injured raven that was found on the ground outside. He'll surely open his doors to help. We'll push our way in and finish him before he knows what is happening."
"A mage on the wall would be deadlier against the bugbear horde than ten commanders, and he might have magic to call for help when the raven keeper is dead. We can't risk letting him live." And of course there is this wand of his.... "It seems we've set our course. We know our targets, know our way in. There's little more we can do to prepare--we'll have to adjust our plans as we go. Rest well."
Right around when the show should start, Tehs, Rendylyn, and (if she's available) Treesa disguise themselves as potential new recruits and report to the gates. Vormog and Rayse grant them entry. From there we plan to go to the rookery. We'll try to talk our way in to see the raven keeper, but if that doesn't work, we'll use lockpicks or violence. Vormog and Rayse planned to have their suborned guards (Donaldson et al) on duty during the show. Preferably the two guards in #11 are some we can trust to look the other way for a pocketful of gold. If not, let us know and we'll make other plans.
"I've no objection to poisoning the mage, so long as we make the attempt after the raven keeper is dealt with. Whether the poison succeeds or fails, the attempt will alert the fortress that they have enemies amongst them. We must be sure they cannot call for help in time." "That would mean taking the mage his supper after visiting the raven tower. Keep in mind what Treesa said: If we poison him, we might not have enough poison for a truly deadly stew later."
As she considers Rayse's question, Rendylyn stares at the candle on the table, its dancing flame reflected in her mismatched eyes. "Finding men in the fortress you could suborn into looking the other way for a few coins was likely. Finding men who would help us unleash a horde of bugbears to pillage and kill everyone they've known for years is much less likely. I will weigh the darkness in their hearts when I meet them, but I think the wisest route is to keep our plans from them until Fireaxe is inside their walls. Then they can join us or die." She shrugs. "I see no need to warn them about the poison. The ones strong enough to survive it are more likely to be of use to us, after all." "But there's no need to decide immediately. We won't poison the pot until Fireaxe is in position, or nearly so. That will give the soldiers less time to recover their health."
We had our day seven post-massacre evening meeting. Feel free to add any discussion you know should have taken place. We're now on day eight, preparing and taking any actions we want before the night's performance in the fortress, during which we plan to kill the raven keeper and mage.
Before leaving the inn, Rendylyn steals a minute by the fire to admire the glittering onyx. "Like tiny flames," She murmurs. "Black fire." Hellfire. She stores them away with the discs from her family's mines, an echo of her ancestors' wealth. Their wealth was a kind of power, but for her the stones were the key to unlocking the darkest power.
I'm avoiding doing any of the planning for the alchemy heist because a) Rendylyn can't contribute to its success and b) I'm trying to give everyone else a break from her ordering them around. If it's too much of a pain to work out, I'm fine with skipping it and going straight to our assassination run. Just let me know.
Rendylyn rises late the next morning. She has been staying up later and later, spending the evening hours in prayer and contemplation. I could stay up all night and sleep by day, if I didn't have to work inside these humans' schedules, she thinks. Some night I'll have the power to make them live in darkness. After preparing her spells for the evening's raid, she descends to the common room and waits for the dwarf Barnabus to arrive with her cut gems. Assuming all is as agreed, she buys him his first round in gratitude, then passes all the gems he's cut to Treesa to appraise. "Take your time--I need accuracy more than speed." If she has time, she wanders the market stalls that have been set up to see what more than produce and farm tools are available. Horses, perhaps? When the sun dips low enough that she's sure the traveling players will soon start their performance, she rejoins Tehs and Treesa, shifts her appearance to that of a strapping young man who might have what it takes to replenish the ranks of Balentyne's guards as a new recruit, and heads for the fortress's front gates.
Here's my OOC summary of our current plan as I understand it. Step 0: Characters ready themselves for the raid, preparing spells and so on. Moles may take troops to loot the alchemist's, under the pretense of securing dangerous materials and evidence, hoping to find poison. Step 1: Right around when the show should start, Tehs, Rendylyn, and (if she's available) Treesa disguise themselves as potential new recruits and report to the gates. Vormog and Rayse grant them entry. Step 2: While the fortress is distracted by the play, the Knot goes to the rookery and kills the raven master. They attempt to stage his death as a suicide. Step 3: The knot goes to the mage's quarters and kills him. One of the knot impersonates him and takes his place, if possible. Step 4: Some or all of the knot evacuate through the secret tunnel to the inn, depending on how successful their ruses seem to be.
"We haven't had much luck securing poisons. Perhaps the two of you could take a detachment to the alchemist's labs tomorrow with the excuse of seizing any dangerous materials. Loot everything valuable, and see if you can find any poison. If so, we can try poisoning his food. If not, we can go to his quarters at night and claim to have found something magical there that he needs to look at. Once we are in his quarters, I can Silence the area before he can cast spells."
"I like the way you think, Vormog. But we've used a lure once already; I would expect the mage to be wary. Is there any reason we can't just kill him at night, in his bed, after attending to the raven keeper?" Rendylyn speaks softly in the candlelight, just to be sure no one outside their room can hear their plotting. She's unrolled their floorplan of the fortress on the table, and traces various routes to and from the raven tower and the mage's room. "Tomorrow night, the normal function of the fortress will be disrupted by a performance by traveling players. There will be few stragglers in the halls, and if Vormog and Rayse can arrange it, some guards will be suborned to let us pass and forget what they saw. I propose we disguise ourselves as potential recruits to bypass the gate and join them inside. Our other option, the tunnel from the inn, will not be easy to access that early in the evening." "Killing the keeper must be our first priority. We can't risk the commander calling for more reinforcements. I have no objection to trying to stage it as a suicide, and will be ready to access the appropriate magic. Next we'll assassinate the mage, during the performance if there's time. Otherwise we can wait in the raven tower until most of the fortress is asleep. We've discussed replacing him with one of us to avoid suspicion; let us see if that is practical. Anyone who must leave will sneak out using the tunnel, waiting inside it until we're sure the inn is closed for the night." She narrows her eyes at the map. "If we don't successfully stage a suicide and impersonate the mage, I'm sure the leaders of the fortress will understand they're under coordinated attack. I certainly would. We should plan to get everyone out if either gambit fails."
Thanks! Next time Rendylyn has a 2nd level spell slot at the end of the day, I'll remember to have her make Vormog's halberd a masterwork weapon.
'Lyn' smiles as she collects the two cut gems. "You do beautiful work, rockbrother. I'll relent and allow you an ale or three, but don't abuse my charity by spending the night carousing here!" Rendylyn suspects that a real Mitran nun might add a homily on the evils of strong drink, but can't be bothered to work one up. Her disguise only needs to last another few days, after all.
I'd like to have Tehs and Rendylyn get the inside scoop from Rayse and Vormog, and yeah, we should plan. Vormog, should we dice for the magic breastplate? Rendylyn has only half Vormog's hit points, so I'd appreciate the extra protection, but I don't want to be greedy.
Rendylyn hides her amusement as the locals rush towards the smoke. "How I wish I could see the looks on their faces, Tehs! Perhaps we should have some drinks in the common room tonight, to hear their stories of horror. Our next strike will be tomorrow evening, assassinating the raven-keeper and mage during the play. Plenty of time to rest and recover!" "There may not be much for you and I to do until then. If the alchemist is arrested today, you might have the opportunity to ransack his store more thoroughly in search of poisons, but if the investigation needs steering, I imagine it will be our moles who do it." She proceeds to the inn, still intent on getting the cut onyx from the dwarf.
Rendylyn gives the men an hour's head start before setting the farmhouse on fire and taking a long route back to the inn, bringing Tehs with her if he has no other plans. She disguises herself as a stranger until she is close to town and unobserved, then switches back to her Lyn disguise. By now the column of smoke should be clearly visible. If the people in the inn aren't already buzzing over it, she goes to the innkeep and asks him what it could be. If any of the dwarves are there drinking, she checks to see if the gemcutting is complete. (Their boss has had the stones three days.) She then goes to her room to compose herself for a raid on the fortress the next day.
Rendylyn nods approvingly. "Rayce's tactical reasoning is solid. The alchemist will likely be arrested when the golem is traced to him. We can steer the investigation from inside and out, if it proves necessary. While that plays out, we can recover from our battle." She frowns. "Are your wounds completely healed, Rayse? There's no need to tough them out--we have plenty of healing magic to draw on." "Once I have new spells from Asmodeus, we should be ready to spring surprises on the fortress during the play's performance, or the dead of night. With the only guards on duty being those Rayse has suborned, we should be able to assassinate the ravenkeeper and the mage in rapid succession." "Vormog, if you think laying the false trail will take too long, the rest of us can handle it while you go with Rayse now. Or Rayse can cover for you being a little late. Your choice."
If he is correct.... you might be able to just ignore them? I guess Rendylyn could pass up the opportunity to murder nine servants of her god's enemy.
I hope I haven't committed wall-o'-text. It feels like we're building momentum, and I'd like to keep that going. I play Rendylyn as domineering and controlling, but as a player I'm fine with supporting other players' plans. Let's push forward together with our next steps!
"If that were truly all you had learned of your celestial allies in all the years you've served at Balentyne, you'd be even more of an incurious dullard than you appear. But I believe you have more to share." Rendylyn interrogates the Mitran priest about the lantern archons at some length, including questions about where precisely in the chapel they congregate and when they are most likely to make music. When she is satisfied she has wrung him dry, she smiles wickedly. "There. You have told me exactly what I'll need to destroy your heavenly pests, Father. Contemplate that in your final despair." She raises her voice. "Tehs, you may come back inside if you wish." The young priestess stands over her bound enemy and gloats. "Such a brave face you wear as the moment of sacrifice draws near! But the sacred rites of Hell are not yours to mock. How will you die? In pitiful silence." Rendylyn casts Silence on the area around the priest, then strides outside it and casts her mismatched gaze downward to the Pit. Raising her head to stare the doomed man in the eyes, she recites the Rite of Gratitude from the Damned, savoring the Infernal words he cannot hear. When she is done, she steps forward and slashes his throat with her nails. Still the sacrifice is not complete. With the dead man's blood, she draws an archstar on the floor for each member of the Knot, and bids them kneel while she leads them in the Paean to the Glory of Hell. She exults in the moment, all her plans bearing such lovely fruit. "Excellent. And now, with the blessing of Hell, we move to the next steps." With the solemnities over, she loots their victims' bodies, using Detect Magic to see if they have anything particularly valuable. Then she casts Dress Corpse on the bodyguard, making him look like he was mauled by powerful fists rather than pierced with bolts and blade, and does the same to Donnigan's corpse, making it seem as if he was decapitated and dismembered by the same huge hands. "Take the bodies I've altered outside," she says, indicating the bodyguard and the three farmers from the night before. "The rest will burn with the house. Vormog, I think you should be the one to lay a trail to the golem's lair. Go in disguise, as similar to the golem as you can manage. Take some of the priest's bloody rags with you, and strew them along the path. Drag the gory stump of his severed leg behind you a while too--we don't want to be subtle. When you get to the cellar, toss his head inside and hasten away invisibly. The rest of us will proceed to the inn or the fort, as appropriate." Just before they all depart, Rendylyn sets the farmhouse ablaze with repeated spells and firebolts, trusting the flames and fallen timbers will prevent anyone from guessing what really happened here this day.
"Not whatever I ask, Father. All you know, their numbers, their purpose, their past deeds, and beyond. Swear that to Mitra, and this vermin goes free." Assuming Father Donnagin so swears, she drags disguised Tehs out of his seat to the door, thrusts him roughly outside, and slams it behind him. "There. If he can't find his way to a neighboring farm, he doesn't deserve to live. Now speak."
"In the next life, the Prince of Hell will grant us what He knows we have earned," Rendylyn says with a smirk, "Not what some dead Mitran thinks we deserve. Let us therefore earn His favor through sacrifice. One of you make sure the bodyguard is dead; the rest, help me with the priest." Rendylyn sees to it that the unconscious Father Donnagin is tied securely to a chair in the farmhouse, his mouth gagged. She has bloody corpses of the farm family arranged like a mute audience around the room. The late Captain Barhold is laid in a heap at his feet. "Tehs, I'd like you to assume the form of the smallest farm child, that boy whose body we left in the other room. You may use my circlet if you need it. Sit here, and let me bind your hands. The priest will know he cannot save his own life, so we will break him with threats to an innocent. Speak not, since the disguise will not grant you the child's voice." Satisfied with the tableau she has created, Rendylyn clasps her hands and prays silently to Asmodeus for a time, preparing her remaining spells. Then she draws close to the bound priest and casts Infernal Healing, hoping that he will sense the diabolical taint of the magic reviving him. "Welcome to Hell, Father Donnagin. You may pray that your stay here is brief." She waves her hand at the different bodies in the room, drawing his attention to the gore that marks their suffering. "All these have passed Hell's gates already. And why? Because of you, Father Donnagin. Because you are part of the Mitran iconoclasty that has denied the Archfiend his proper worship in Talingarde. They suffered and died so that you might be brought to justice." She pauses a long while, watching his face for delicious indications of pain. "No doubt you are eager to go to the bosom of Mitra, to offer your apologies to him and them for failing them so completely. But before that, I have some questions. Have I not introduced myself? I am Rendylyn, called the Red Waif, priestess of great Asmodeus. These companions of mine are high in His service. Perhaps they will grant you the honor of their names, undeserving though you are."
"I suspect you would be reluctant to satisfy my curiosity. Perhaps you would even relish the opportunity to prove how brave and resilient you are before meeting your god face to face. So I will offer you a fair exchange." Slowly, menacingly, she moves to where Tehs sits, disguised and tethered, and places her taloned fingers on his jugular. "I have not killed this little vermin, Father. Would you like him to live? I swear by the Throne of Hell that we will release him alive, unharmed, and free to serve the gods as he chooses for the rest of his days, IF you answer a question of mine as completely and honestly as you are able. You hate me, and my God, but you are a theologian, Father, and you know I would not dare break such a vow. You also know what torments I am willing to inflict in my God's name." "So if you would save an innocent with your last act on Golarion, tell me all you know about the lantern archons in Balentyne." She steps back to the priest and tears the gag from his face with her claws.
No, Rayse is currently at full hit points. The previous attack from the captain that we thought hit the antipaladin was actually directed at Father D.
Underestimating the Mitrans would be a mistake. Shocked, perhaps, at the damage he'd done to the priest, the bodyguard had thrown off her second command, and the priest had somehow wreathed the two of them in a defensive shroud of smoke without speaking a prayer. Still, the men had taken him down quickly enough, and the bodyguard would soon follow. Rendylyn had her duty to Asmodeus to fulfill; the knot would sacrifice in His name and prosper. She draws near to him, her fingers tracing hell-runes in the smoky air. "Until the moment of sacrifice, let no blood be spilled!"
Rendylyn doesn't recognize the priest's bodyguard, but she feels she has his measure. Strong arm, keen eye, weak will. If I separate them, the men can focus on subduing the priest. She calls to him from the doorway, her voice resonant with infernal authority. "Come and face me, pawn of Mitra! Come and face hell itself!" She retreats into the house's dim interior, her eyes locked on his.
The pause in Barhold's conversation alerts Rendylyn, and when she hears Donnagin begin to cast, she knows she must act quickly. She throws the door open and shrieks the words to an infernal spell, then moves out of Vormog's way.
Rendylyn watches out a farmhouse window for the priest's arrival. While they wait, she consults with Vormog and Tehs about their plan of attack, not willing to leave anything to chance. "We'll let him enter the house before we attack, since it will hamper any attempts to flee. You plan to be invisible, Vormog, and I will be disguised once again as the ragamuffin daughter. Tehs, would you prefer to be invisible or disguised? I believe Vormog could cast his glamour on you as well. "If he does not come alone, I propose we disable the priest first, since his protectors cannot revive him. Remember he is to be taken alive, to question and sacrifice! A few wounds to help subdue him are fine, but there must be no killing blow. When they are nearly here, I will cast Silence on one of you. That person must get close to the priest quickly, to prevent his spellcasting. He's more powerful than I am, but as I will stay out of the Silence, only my spells will be potent." When she sees Rayce returning with the Mitrans, she permits herself a self-congratulatory smile before gesturing the others to their places. "For the glory of Asmodeus's throne, let it be done." She casts Silence on her volunteer just before she judges they will enter, and waits for her doughty companions to strike the first blow.
Oh yeah, it was excellent roleplay--with our sorta irregular posting, I figured there was some confusion. Lord knows I've been confused at times! If it had been a deliberate roleplaying choice--the player deciding Rayce was changing the plan--I'd have been fine with going along with it. I feel it would have been pretty rough on our characters, since I don't think they'd be ready to face whatever force the fortress would throw at such a threat, but villains aren't guaranteed a happy ending!
Whew, my move is complete! I will be back to posting regularly. Thanks for your patience! |
