The Dark Lord [Chapter 4] The War

[GMTrojan]

Grog Ironshield

Grog glares at Egan and the rest of the party and thinks "I can not believe that all of you want to trust this thieving piece of *&^$. You all better know what you are doing. You know that these creatures can't be trusted..."

Grog then looks at the little goblin and menacingly pulls out his mace.

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can I try to intimidate w/o the skill, if so then:
(d20)[19]

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

Without batting an eye -- believing he understands his old mentor's rage -- 'Of course we shan't trust its words. But e'en within the lies shall we find knowledge of some sort. It will be up to our wisdom and our honor to pare away the fictions, the twisted lies, and therein find General Kilmer.'

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This goblin shares a goal with us, survival. A small amount of mercy shown here may help us greatly today. He must believe that we will let him go or help him, and we need be ready to do so. They are as self motivated a beast as any.

[GMTrojan]

Grog Ironshield

Grog thinks "Ok, Master Brahe, but I will not touch the creature save to crush it's skull. If it leads us asunder, be sure I will bash it's skull in with my mace as my last, dying action!

Grog then backs up just out of swinging range of his mace and says aloud in common then Goblin "Speak up, or the next time my friends might not be able to calm me down"

[crimson77]

The towering warrior puts a hand on the hilt of his sword. "And what of the rest of these towers? Know you of prisoners held within? I speak of men, not monstrosities."

The goblin stays quiet as if not wanting to reveal anything else...

Grog glares at Egan and the rest of the party and...then looks at the little goblin and menacingly pulls out his mace.

The small creatures backs up a bit as Grog starts to tower over him. He opens his mouth and then shuts it as Egan interrupts the small creature.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This goblin shares a goal with us, survival. A small amount of mercy shown here may help us greatly today. He must believe that we will let him go or help him, and we need be ready to do so. They are as self motivated a beast as any.

The goblin nods along with Egan as he speaks realizing that this man maybe the key to his survival.

Grog then backs up just out of swinging range of his mace and says aloud in common then Goblin "Speak up, or the next time my friends might not be able to calm me down"

Finally, the goblin realizing that he is over powered and outnumbered speaks, "I know that men are kept in the dungeon on the bottom level. Some are feed to the beasts as punishment, their limbs gnawed off and their wounds cauterized. Still others remain. I know little of these men but they are kept in stalled areas in the northern part of the center tower. That is all I know about the prisoners."

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

Throshkar continues the thought discussion: 'Now we know where the dungeon is. We need not trust that the prisoners are kept in that particular area: it may be they have been moved, or the goblin guides us to a trap. Ne'ertheless, this was the area we expected the dungeon to be, as I recall.'

[The_JJ]

Adrian stop fidgeting with his crossbow and speaks up. Can't let Throshkar say all the smart things. He'll coming along nicely.

Look, the most important part of any hei- er, job is the plan. The recon. Everyone remembers the scaled walls, fooled noblemen, and bypassed guards, but never the month of recon marking out the right route up the wall, the time spent learning every quirk and habit of the mark's nature, or careful study of patrol times. Aha, so... this stage is actually very difficult to disrupt when attempting to stop a theif. The... best plan is deterence, to make your defenses seems so impregnable that the theives choose easier prey.

Anyway, it'd be nice to have an informant along, but bad information is more dangerous than none at all. We can bring him along, but don't need to trust everything he says.

[crimson77]

The goblin snorts, "I will come along and help with the following conditions." He then points at the dwarf and says, "As long as that bumbling drunkard does not touch me ever again and you help me get out of the city after we get what you need and leave the tower."

[The_JJ]

Adrian raises his crossbow. Yeeeeeah. You don't set conditions here. We'll do our best to keep you alive, but remember that the first task in that long list is not shooting you ourselves. We get out, you're free to go.

Remember, if he thinks he's dead anyway, he's got no reason not to lead us into a trap. Adrian adds to his friends with his thoughts. And Grog, well, do try to stay a little bit back.

[crimson77]

The goblin looks wearing at you as you exchange glances and waits for your orders.

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

It has all been too much. All that control Throshkar had shown, all that careful thought and strategy, flies from him at last.

With a swift step, he is upon the goblin before the creature can blink. One huge hand envelopes the frail neck; the other snags the ragged shirt front. It takes little exertion to bring the creature high enough so that they are face to face.

"You may have your bargain, little scum, and your freedom at the end of service duly rendered. Now hear my terms. From this moment onward, the dwarf is Master Ironshield to you. You insult him with any other name, any other false description again, and it will be with your last breath. You shall inhale, no doubt, but your screams will die in your throat, with neither mouth nor face to 'scape to."

Slowly, Throshkar lowers his prisoner back to the floor, then straightens the goblin's rumpled shirt, his fingers almost gentle, his motions refined. "If you be true, and respectful, you shall find us equally true, and courteous." At this last, he glances quickly over at Grog, and then back to the goblin, waiting his response.

"I am Throshkar delaBlanche. May I ask your name, sir goblin?"

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Grapple, step one - AoO. Goblin doesn't look like he could damage and therefore stop me.

Step two - Touch attack (guaranteed, barring a 1?):
(d20+16)[26]

Step three - Opposed Grapple check:
(d20+16)[18]

Step four - Damage - I'd prefer to choose to deal no damage, but if I can't, here's the non-lethal dmg:
(1d3)[3]

[crimson77]

The goblin is surprised at the speed of the large knight who sweeps him off his feet and holds him by his neck. As Throshkar lets him it takes all of his strength to keep him from falling to the floor. Swelling starts to form where the knight grabbed him. He nods along with Throshkar's words and then says, "Aye, I understand master, I will do as you say. I am Oog, Oog stone thrower. I want nothing more than to live to see the moon rise in my village."

[OOC]

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Throshkar, since you choose not to deal damage you will not. You just got your point across.

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan pulls a wand from his robes. "You will need to walk, to take us further." He murmurs a command word and almost touches the goblin on the head. His wounds heal substantially. He then returns the wand. "We must be moving."

Pushing his thoughts forward he indicates, We move down one level using the stairs behind these doors.

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Cure Light Wounds (1d8+5)[8]

[The_JJ]

Alright, downstairs. Oog, you were down there, what can we expect?

[crimson77]

[MAP]

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New life seems to fill the creature as the healing power of Egan's wand fills him. "Oye, I do not know what is on the next level. I have only seen the stair well, it is not scary." With the hope of his freedom on the line the creature scrambles down the stairs. You quickly follow and reach the next level. On the next level down, the stairs briefly stop in a small room. The room smells like decay which starts to turn your stomach. The stairs continue down and there is one door to the north. Oog turns to the party and asks, "Now where, down again?"

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

The moment of decisions and loyalties has now come upon this wizard. This was a decision that he hoped would have been made for him before reaching this far. During those times when the deepest conflicts around arise the deepest conflicts of an individual, is the sacrifices that one is willing to make in the hope of a greater good, or the promises that you will not compromise upon the principle of loyalty that make a man? He hopes that his conflict is not played out upon his countenance as he struggles with his own will. The secrets of this tower were not intended for common knowledge, but by all appearances, this tower may not stand for long. In fact, it would likely need be destroyed to banish these evils. Does this excuse him?

Making a decision, Egan lets loose a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding and opens his eyes from his personal thoughts. He points at the door on the northern side of the landing. "Adrian, can you hear anything beyond that door? To find these prisoners, we would be prudent to use our most discrete path. It is a longer route, but it may reach us there safely."

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Is the stink coming up the stairwell or from this level? Or is it possible to tell?

[crimson77]

The tower continues to creak and shake now more violently as you stop for a moment to ponder the next step. You cannot tell where the smell of decay is coming from, you think it is from below. However, you do notice that as your eyes adjust to the lack of windows in this small room, you notice that the stairs are covered in old blood. The goblin become more and more nervous as the shaking continues. Finally, after a few moments the tower stops shaking violently and you are left wondering where to go now.

[Adrian]

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You only hear the sound of your own heart pounding in your chest as you put your ear to the door.

[The_JJ]

Shh now, all of you. Adrian hands his sunrod to Egan and gestures up the stairs, so that he'll be able to open the door without silhouetting himself for anything that might be waiting behind it. Then, Adrian slips off his shoe, sticks it firmly to the knob, and weaves some rope into the laces, and uses this contraption to open the door while standing several feet away, on the stairway.

[crimson77]

The door creaks open and a large stench fills the room. From the illumination of the sunrod you can make out large piles of dead bodies. The tattered robes of wizards, tower guards, and goblins tower before you. You are unsure how many dead are contained in this room but you know that it would be very hard to even navigate through the room without stepping upon the bodies of the dead.

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan moves up the stairway as Adrian commands, but wretches as he sees the bodies of so many piled to stagnate in the adjoining room. Not being able to talk, he uses the mental link. There is a door just to the left of this one. Can it be opened? If so, that is our path. If not, then we face whatever foul beast guards the bottom of these stairs. We must move quickly. This tower is decaying.

[crimson77]

The door can be opened but you will have to move a few bodies

[GMTrojan]

Grog Ironshield

Grog peers into the room, hoping beyond all hope that there isn't anyone in there that he recognizes (Kilmer, nobles, knights, dwarves). He makes sure not to touch Oog

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spot:
(d20+4)[8]
knowledge:nobility
(d20+2)[6]
knowledge: local
(d20+2)[7]

[crimson77]

No one recognizes anyone of the bodies. However, this might be due to the level of decomposition.

[The_JJ]

Adrian puts his shoe back on slightly uncomfortable with the... disrespectful? well, insufficiently solemn nature of his trap avoidence system.

I'd like to... I don't know. Seperate the bodies... do something. Adrian hesitates, remembering a different battleground, one that had left him no corpses to mourn over, just dust. A prayer at least, Grog. But his thoughts turn over to wreck buildings and magic, and a thought distubs his mind.

Egan... the tower's collapsing, do you think it's involved in the supposed growth in the Dark Lord's magical powers? Like he's... using it's power? Because in that case... Adrian choses his words carefully can we take from him that power source?

[Nomad5]

Egan Brahe

Egan... the tower's collapsing, do you think it's involved in the supposed growth in the Dark Lord's magical powers? Like he's... using it's power? Because in that case... Adrian choses his words carefully can we take from him that power source?

Egan shakes his head, even though it is likely that Adrian can't see him. I do not know. Many things are possible, and like you suggest, dark things as well, when you choose to manipulate magics in dark ways. But I do not think it to be so. The tower is weakened by its corruption and use. This is likely more of a symptom rather than the cause.

"We should move those bodies to get through that next door, and quickly."

[Cyranojoe]

Throshkar delaBlanche

Throshkar waits for Grog to offer a prayer for the souls of the dead, then sets to work making a path through the bodies in grim silence. He has been moving quietly as it is, allowing Adrian and Egan to take the lead in this strange and upsetting place, but at the sight of so many dead -- lives taken not on the field of battle, but clearly in some kind of murderous sacrifice -- the cavalier seems to disappear into himself, moving almost without volition.

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RL conditions are forcing me to stand down from D&D for a couple weeks. I'll post a little more about it in OOC.

[crimson77]

[MAP]

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As the bodies are piled away from the door it slowly creaks open without you touching it. Your torch illuminates the next room, it contains scrapes of clothing, tools, weapons, armor, and other assorted things that you would suspect to find on a person. It is piled up without a logical order. There is another door to the south that is closed.

[If you look at the stuff]

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You find many mundane items but little wealth.

[GMTrojan]

Grog Ironshield

Grog stifles back an involuntary release of his breakfast, then gets down to business. Genuflecting, he starts praying, "May the Lord of the Underground carry these poor souls into the afterlife, as only you see fit...Amen Done with his prayer he thinks to the group Sorry, I can't do more for them now. Given enough time, I would personally oversee the burial of these honorable gentlemen and master wizards.

When the next door is opened, Grog will allow the goblin to pick up any weapon or armor that it can put on quickly/use. Then he will say, "Remember my promise to you goblin, do not lead us astray or you will be the next creature I kill and tossed in there with the rest."

[crimson77]

The goblin puts on some leather armor and takes a short spear, a short sword, and a bow with a few arrows. He looks to you to see where to go now.

[The_JJ]

SImply wanting out, Adrian checks the door quickly.

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(1d20+5)[22]