Perth (IC)

[Werewhale]

Alexander

"Good," says Alexander, exhaling quietly and relaxing his shoulders. He didn't quite know how these people worked yet. Spotting Beriadan's manacles, he gives him an approving nod before turning back to the tower, "Those walls look easy enough to climb. A few of us might be able to gain entry through a window or other opening while the rest knock on the front door. Would give us an edge if things come to blows if there are more of us than they think."

[Ajadea]

Vanalya shakes her head. "I suppose I have to take your word on that. I would rather not climb the tower myself. Climbing high enough that the ground itself disappears is rather unnerving, and I have never been very interested in that sort of activity."

[Cardea]

"Climbing? I'm decent at it. A little better than falling, too, so there's that." Sulet says, eying the building. He looks across it for loose stones or places he can use a foothold."If anyone makes it a hobby to scale buildings for fun and entertainment, tell me now, otherwise I'm all for the whole climb-up-and-knock-them-out plan. And I promise I'll just subdue, not kill."

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

"I can climb, but not quietly. And if they see me at the door... well, they'll probably guess what's going on. I'll go where you think I'd be best-placed."

[Arillius]

"I can climb pretty quietly, though I'm not good enough to guarantee reaching the top. If someone else can do it though, I have some rope that could assist any others to get up there."

[Strawberries]

Evin eyes the tower "I could climb, but I'm not particularly good at it" he says "But I do think my talents would be better used at the front door". He smiles to himself "They are not the only ones that can mess with people's mind. And I don't always need a spell to do so."

[Cardea]

"Alright then. I'll give it a shot. Or you know, fall to my death. Wouldn't that be terrible to have on your mind?" Sulet says, taking off enough clothing to take off his chain shirt. He takes his length of rope from his backpack, and slings it around his shoulder, and puts his armor in his backpack. "Before I go though, can any of you do anything to patch me up? Those dog things bit me real good."

[Ajadea]

"Oh! Of course I can." Vanalya says something that sounds mostly unintelligible and a bit like the tone she was using when she was scolding Evin at the temple. Her hand traces a sigil only she can see, and then she gently touches Sulet's shoulder.

Spoiler

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Sulet heals (1d8+2)[6] hit points.

[Cardea]

"With that in mind, I'll go give it a good shot." Sulet says, rubbing his hands together for heat. He starts to walk off, before turning around on his heel. "Can I grab someone's rope? I have some, but... I doubt it's not long enough to reach down all the way down from the top of the tower."

[Arillius]

Nicholas searches his backpack for a moment and brings out a coiled rope of silk. He offers it to Sulet. "Please be careful." Despite the mans outrageous actions form earlier, he was an member of the guild who wanted to help.

[Cardea]

"Thank ye kindly." Sulet says, taking the spool of rope in hand. He slings it across his shoulder, and then puts his own spool of rope on his other shoulder. He takes one end of each rope, and ties them together, and once making sure they're secure, he walks over to the Tower, moving around it until he's underneath a window. He takes a step so that he's slightly to the left of it, and begins his climb.

[SanguinePenguin]

Sulet begins to ascend the wall, the party watches anxiously as he moves up the face. His initial efforts go rather well, but once he is almost halfway, the rock surface he is standing on gives out. All of those of the ground gasp as he nearly falls with the bits of crumbled rock that drop around them (especially Vanalya who can only see his feet drop). Miraculously, his hands stay solid and, with heroic effort, heis able to continue his ascent. He tops out and disappears from the view of the party.

@Sulet

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The view is impressive, much better than he can see from the city's rooftops. Unfortunately, it is night, so the details of the surrounding lands are hard to discern. There is a rusted metal hatch to one side of the tower. The rock wall provides many locations to tie a stable knot for your allies to ascend. (Nicholas's rope is actually 100ft in length.)

[Werewhale]

Alexander

Alexander hisses nervously as Sulet almost drops, but seems more immediately concerned about the noise than Sulet's health and looks around hastily for any sign of detection. As Sulet recovers and disappears from sight however, he frowns. "Hrm, we really should have thought of some discreet way to communicate once he gets up," he mutters.

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Because Alexander is always on his guard, Perception Check to see if anything heard the disturbance: (1d20+7)[21]

[Cardea]

Sulet, once at the top, looks at the landscape. His heart skips a beat. Perth was his home and it was fine and all, but this... if he could see more things like this, more sights like this, he'd be an 'Adventurer' until the day he died a horrible, painful or humble, quiet death. He made a mental note to come back here later on, on his own time, in the day time. The view was spectacular as is, but... what would it be like during the day? He'd know later. Maybe they could buy this place out, if the people currently owning it are sent to prison. He goes through these thoughts as he secures the rope to the rock wall, and, once it is secure, throws it down to the ground. Keeping part of his attention on the rope, he slides over to the metal hatch, and tests it out, giving it a slight pull.

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Okay, so, taking ten on tying the rope if need be. Going to give a gander at the Metal Hatch. If it makes a 'THEEEEYYYYY CAAANNN HEEEEAAAARRR YOOOUUUU OPPPPEEENIIIINNG MEEEE' sound like most rusty metal contraptions do, he doesn't mess with it any further than tugging on it a little bit. If it doesn't, he's going to pull it open. If it's locked, he's going to try and pick it. Going to use my Skeleton Key, since I forgot to buy tools for Disable Device.

Disable Device to Pick Lock: (1d20+10)[20]

[Arillius]

Nicholas looks to the others before beginning his assent on the rope, trying to do so quietly. The climb reminds Nicholas of some of the training Oscar had put him through. Of course the training had lacked the urgency this task carried.

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Take 10 on climb
(1d20+7)[13]

[SanguinePenguin]

@Sulet

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The hatch moves freely, but it does make a faint squeak as it is moved. An instant later, he hears a noise through the hatch, that sounds like a voice, but it is hard to tell. He returns the hatch to where it was moments before, and hears no further obvious noise. Also, as he climbed, he noticed that there were several narrow windows about three feet down that were all boarded up. (I forgot to mention that before.)

@Alexander

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Alexander sees, and hears nothing to indicate that their presence is noted.

[Werewhale]

Alexander

"Very well then," says Alexander, watching Nicholas ascend, "Beriadan, grab hold of the rope once the last of us is up. We'll give it two sharp tugs to signal that you may go ahead to the front door." He pauses for a moment and frowns, "Simple does it, eh? If there are complications, one of us will just have to climb back down and say so," he adds with a slightly dull tone. The whole operation was too haphazard for his liking, and so many people working together just meant there were that many more people that could botch everything up. But it was the best he could come up with.

Having said that, Alexander grasps the rope and begins to climb himself...

[Ajadea]

Vanalya stiffens when Alexander mentions 'the last of us'. "Wait, we're not all climbing up, are we?"

[Werewhale]

Alexander

"Of course not," says Alexander, a hand on the rope, "You're going to the front door, along with..." he looks at the others for a moment. "Come to think of it, all of you are going for the front door. You too, Beriadan, just hide any holy symbols and markings and make yourself as dull as you can, they'll take you for the dumb muscle. Things get hairy, I want you with the less combative people," he adds, glancing at Vanalya and Elun.

"And Vanalya," he says, beginning to climb up with the aid of the rope, "Try to exercise a little more subtlety this time."

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Beriadan follows Alexander's suggestion, trying to look like a big dumb mud orc. He attempts to remember the mocking caricatures done by human and elf children when he was a child, but he can only remember getting scolded for fighting them. He ends up just hiding all obvious marks of his worship, putting his head down, and remaining in the back of the 'door' group.

[Arillius]

When Nicholas finally reaches the top he takes a look around. The view is incredible. Almost like the starry nights after a long hike in the mountains where the world seems to open up for a brief glimpse. And Perth was beautiful. The details were hard to see but the city was somehow still breathtaking. Nicholas couldn't help but wonder what it would look like in the day time.

Nicholas snaps out of his day dreaming and turns to assist Alexander to climb to the top. When he his up Nicholas asks in a low whispering voice, "Are we ready?"

[Werewhale]

Alexander

"Check the interior," Alexander tells Sulet in a low voice, only looking at the view long enough to establish that it was too dark to see anything that might endanger them, "We want to know if we can descend at all before I give the others the signal to engage the front door."

[Strawberries]

Evin looks up at the tower and the people climbing it, before turning back to those of the group still on the ground. "So" he says "Shall we get our stories straight, then?"

[Ajadea]

"I suppose we should. If we are to lie so drastically, making them overconfident is the logical first step. Beriadan might be able to pass as a bodyguard to the two of you, and they would not guess he is intelligent. People often assume idiots are deaf, and that could be a useful assumption for us. With your...unique personality and Elun's age, both of you seem like viable candidates for leadership of our motley little group. So, then, the question becomes how do you explain a small fifteen year old girl being here with everyone else?"

[Strawberries]

"Off the top of my head...as a squire, a maidservant or a message-dealer". Evin answers Or something quite less palatable, but I don't need to tell you that. He manages to keep his smile despite the thought. "Take your pick, my dear."

[Ajadea]

Vanalya considers the three options for a second. "Maidservant makes the most sense, I think. Servants, like bodyguards and those races who are considered 'monstrous' are sometimes treated as if they are invisible, deaf, and dumb. I am no warrior, and in any case, a squire who lacks even a shortsword might be viewed as odd. In any case, I suppose I shall have to leave the majority of the negotiations to you."

[Cardea]

"It sounds like something is down through the hatch." Sulet whispers. "But hey, nothing a few smacks to the leg can't fix, eh?" He opens the grate slowly, and moves past it, into the tower.

[Werewhale]

Alexander

"Indeed," mutters Alexander and gives the rope two sharp tugs to signal the others to proceed, then follows after Sulet.

[SanguinePenguin]

@Sulet, Alexander, Nicholas

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The hatch makes a soft "creeeeaaaaaaaak" as Sulet opens it slowly. Torchlight, a haze of smoke, a stench of decay and some ritual chanting pass through the nascent opening in the ceiling of the room below. Against the wall, there is also a ladder, which Sulet descends onto a hard wooden floor.

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Perception (1d20+2)[7]

There is a man standing in front of a table with a single corpse laid across it. He is not facing Sulet and apparently very focused on what he is doing. He is bald and, even in the dim light, he appears to look only a little healthier than the zombie standing about halfway between you. The room contains two beds, one immediately next to you and one in another corner of the room. The floor is filthy and rotting in places. In addition to the corpse on the table, there are two on the floor. One appears to be a frail-looking (obviously dead) woman and the other appears to be a young, dead halfling -still elegantly dressed.

[Strawberries]

"There is also another option" Evin adds, with a mischievous glance "You could be the demon-girl from prophecies, and we your humble slaves. You must admit, it would make for an interesting tale." He smiles, but gets serious again in a couple of seconds "So, Elun. Who's going to be the boss?"