Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The hobgoblins look at Vaeri quizzically, but it's as respectful a "quizzically" as they can manage. "So, just to be sure, Eminence," Taluk asks as his arms are unbound, "you want us to march back up to the Keep, staying in the open so they have plenty of time to see us, then...wait there for you to appear? What should we tell the heretic Koth when he asks us what happened?"

[Fireheart]

She frowns, "I don't intend for you to speak to Koth at all."

She sighs. "But if for some reason he is outside when you arrive...you may tell him that you encountered a scouting party that killed your companions, and while you were able to kill the scouts so word would not return of your presence right away, you thought it prudent to return and report. I trust you can make up the rest on your own?"


She glances at Auran and Faien, "Perhaps some battle wounds would make your story more believable?"


"Roni, a word." She turned her back on the hobgoblins and walked a few feet away. Trusting that either Auran and Faien would do as she asked, or the hobs would be quick to suggest another option.

As her brother approached, she drew his head close to hers and whispered softly.

For Roni

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"The sooner, we get through this the better. While Aasterinian's blessing is useful, I do not like this role. How in the Abyss am I supposed to convince Koth to hand over the keep to me? Even if we do end up in battle, we'll have to start with diplomacy...and I haven't a clue where to start."

[TekHed]

Auran frowned.

"Mistress. I cannot cause harm to them if they are not a threat to us. It would be against my vows, and would render me of little use to you."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Of course, of course, Eminence!" Taluk responds to Vaeri's rhetorical question, "How about...we took so long to return because we weren't sure if there were any other scouts, so we looked around for them all night, but didn't find any, so that's why we are just returning now? Yes, that should work."

Dosh shrugs at Auran's refusal to harm them. "Okay. We can do it, if you want," he says, then promptly punches Taluk in the face. Taluk stares at him, nonplussed, and Dosh throws another punch.

"What in Khyber are you doing?"
"Adding battle wounds."
"But--"
"What's the matter? I've hit you harder accidentally."
"You just want an excuse to attack me."
"...and?"
"Don't tempt me."
"Go ahead. It is the Goddess's will."

Taluk nods at the invitation, draws the sword that has been returned to him, and jabs Dosh hard in the nose with the pommel. He very well might have broken his fellow hobgoblin's nose, but you can't really be sure since, well, they're hobgoblins, and goblinoids are generally ugly enough that even their fairest maidens look like they've walked face-first into a few door frames.

When they decide they've beaten each other up enough, the very nicely bruised and battered scouts bow together to Her Eminence Vaeri and begin their trek back to the keep, quickly vanishing from sight in the dense forest.

[Sallera]

One corner of Faien's mouth turns up - barely - at the hobgoblins' willingness to add 'battle wounds,' but he leaves them to it, strapping on his armour. "Alright. It will take them a little while to get into position, but the same can be said for us, so let us be off," he says once they are gone. "I will take point, and we will use the monoliths for cover as far as we can. If we are spotted, do not change your pace, but walk forward without hesitation. Allow time for confusion to grant us distance, but blind them and run for the wall if we are attacked. Arrows are unlikely to touch me this morning, but the same cannot be said for the rest of you, and once the deception is suspected, speed will be our best option."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

For Roni

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"The sooner, we get through this the better. While Aasterinian's blessing is useful, I do not like this role. How in the Abyss am I supposed to convince Koth to hand over the keep to me? Even if we do end up in battle, we'll have to start with diplomacy...and I haven't a clue where to start."

@ Vaeri:

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Roni responds to his sister in their mother tongue of Draconic. "I will be there to assist, sis...but I must say, you've done just fine thus far. At it's core, conning is as simple as making a promise you've got no intention of keeping. Find out what he wants, and dangle it on a string in front of him, just out of reach. To get it, all he needs to do is take a step in trusting you. When he takes that first step, he's off balance just enough to be toppled. If that's too hard, there's always another option," he says grimly, patting the sword at his side. "However, I think we should keep that as a last resort, savvy?"

Roni focuses his energies on casting a spell, and his scales recede into his skin. His pointed ears remain, but he takes on the elven features of an Avariel, including the beautiful feathery wings. He stretches his shoulders and opens his wings to full span, flapping a few feet into the air. "Okay," he calls to the others, "are we a go on Operation Play For Keeps?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri nodded. "Blazes, I wish I could do that." Taking a deep breath, she flapped out her wings once, making a sharp sound in the wind but then folded them back about her. She take her place behind Faein as the party readies themselves to head out.

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OOC: Just felt like something should be said to keep me on track.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

It takes you all fifteen minutes or so to creep through the edge of the forest around to the side of the keep nearest the Dragon's Crown. You keep an eye on your former captives as long as you have line of sight to them, and they seem to be following "Her Eminence's" instructions: they're ambling towards the Keep's front entrance, taking their time, making sure they can be seen from a long way off, and making no sign that they're thinking of betraying her.

You pause to say your farewells when you reach the appropriate point. "Luck to you," Soranna says as she and Bors shake hands with everyone. "To you, especially," she adds to Vaeri. "Good acting, but don't expect to fool Koth that easily. We'll be here to cover your retreat if you need us." With that, the four of you begin your trek to the Keep.

You make your way through the long, dry grass in the field with your heads down and your ears on alert for the slightest sounds of alarm. For most of your stealthy approach you're shielded from the sight of the Keep by the bulk of Dragon's Crown itself, but there's a critical space of a few dozen yards after cresting the top in which you could be spotted, so you take it slowly and carefully.

Peeping over the ridge of Dragon's Crown, you wait until the guards aren't looking your direction and sprint to the nearest monoliths. Vaeri is the last to take cover behind one and one of the guards almost turns back in time to see her, but she gets out of sight just in time. You can see Taluk and Dosh just reaching the front of the Keep from your current vantage point, and they're talking animatedly with a few goblinoids who rushed out to meet them.

No time to focus on your decoys now. Scurrying from monolith to monolith to monolith to monolith to monolith, you make your way around the Crown. There are only a few hundred feet between the Keep wall and the nearest monolith, and the goblinoids on watch seem distracted by the commotion up front, so you easily make it to the walls without being seen. Several indistinct voices carry to your position, two of them the wheedling voices of your decoys, a few others the chittering voices of the smaller goblins, and one loud and angry one that most likely belongs to Koth.

Faien grabs hold of Auran, focuses his mind, and the two of them disappear.

Faien and Auran

You appear inside the tower, at the foot of a large spiral staircase. Early morning light peeks in from a few holes in the ceiling to illuminate a large and comfortable-looking bed, a sturdy desk, a large chair off to the side, and many papers covering a portion of the wall. Some scaffolding remaining under the staircase implies that the holes in the ceiling are due to incomplete construction rather than wear and tear. Other than the small amount of light from above there is no other illumination, and the room is otherwise empty, Koth having left his quarters to berate your decoys.

[Sallera]

"Acceptable," Faien murmurs. "We need not step to the second floor, it seems, and time is briefly on our side. Climb up and ensure we are alone; I will bring Vaeri here instead." With that, he takes a step backward in a shimmer of faint blue light and rematerializes outside.

"The ground floor is empty, and it appears that Koth keeps his documents there," he relays, keeping his voice low. "We can move in directly and await his return. " After a few seconds for the magic in his shaping to recover, he takes Vaeri's hand and steps forward again to the same location.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Faien, Auran, and Vaeri

Vaeri sees the same luxurious surroundings as the rest of you, and even with all three of you packed into the room it's not cramped at all; this Koth obviously enjoys his creature comforts even in the field.

Muffled voices and what sounds like the clatter of dice and slap-slap-slap of cards being placed on a hard surface can be heard through the door, though it doesn't sound like they're close enough to notice your presence as long as you stay quiet.

[TekHed]

Auran waited until Faein had returned with Vaeri, holding the space. He then silently nodded to Faien and crept as quietly as he could up the stairs, making sure that their perimeter was indeed secure...

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Untrained Stealth (and unlike my untrained Bluff I don't even have a bonus to Dex on this one...) (1d20)[6]

[Fireheart]

Vaeri smiles tentatively and lets out her breath.

"Ok, Good. Let's take a look and see what we can find. I'd like to be sitting in his chair when he gets back." She speaks softly.

Vaeri quickly steps behind the desk and begins to quietly look through any papers there.

"Faien, can you check out the wall?" She whispers. "I suspect your knowledge will be more complete than mine there."

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If I need a perception check?

(1d20+4)[6]

[Sallera]

"I do not speak the goblin tongue," Faien murmurs, "but I will do what I can."

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Oh, did the holes in the ceiling look like they were big enough to let Roni in? If not, Faien will pop back out and bring him inside as well, since we can spare the few seconds to do so.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Auran

You climb the somewhat rickety stairs, creeping up as quietly as you can. The stairs creak slightly as you go, but not loudly enough for the sound to escape the room. You reach the holes in the roof, poke your head through one of them (which is easily large enough to admit the avariel-formerly-known-as-Roni), and peer around. The view across to the front guard towers is unobstructed, so you can easily see that no one appears to be looking in your direction and there aren't any closer guards to worry about.

The view of the Keep from this vantage point is much better than that from below. You can sort of see down into the main central area where plenty of building materials are haphazardly organized against the walls, though it's covered by several flaps of canvas to keep out the sun, so you can't get a very good view. You can also see that there are several areas, including a large gap in the southern wall and parts of the front guard towers, that haven't been completely finished yet; grayish mortar glistens in the sunlight where it hasn't quite dried, and large granite blocks have just been left where whoever was working on the wall decided to put them down.

Vaeri

Whatever else he may be, Koth is certainly not messy. Two precisely aligned stacks of parchment lie next to each other, with a small wooden box of rolled-up and tied parchment tubes off to the side. Peering into the rolled parchments and riffling through the stacked parchments, you determine that everything is written very neatly and carefully in the Goblin alphabet. From the generally structured appearance of the writings and the signature at the bottom of each page, you guess they are military reports or forms of some sort, probably one pile for incoming and one pile for outgoing and one stack of tubes for...something else, you guess.

Faien

The papers on the wall are somewhat disorganized. You get the impression that they are arranged in clusters and not just scattered randomly, but it's hard to tell if there's an overarching structure without being able to read the Goblin alphabet. The papers are quite varied in their contents: some are sketches of landscapes (obviously of the area nearby, but you haven't seen enough of the area to identify more than a few features), some are lists of miscellaneous gobbledegook--"gobbledegook" being a pejorative Common term for the Goblin tongue, incidentally, so it's fairly accurate in this case--and some are abstract diagrams with plenty of arrows and X's and geometric shapes all over the place, most likely rough battle plans.

[Sallera]

"Undeniably useful," Faien murmurs, "but we need our linguist." Peering upward, he listens for a moment, hearing nothing but the faint creak of the stairs. "Nothing is keeping him, I hope. Koth does seem the type to take his time about his work, but it would still serve us well to be finished here before he realizes the deception."

[TekHed]

Auran returned down the stairs as he had left.

"No one seems to be aware of our arrival just yet. It is fortunate we discovered this fortress now, while it is yet unfinished and easy to sabotage."

Auran went over to the desk and began shuffling through the papers.

"If he has found the Key he will likely keep it on his person, but there may be other evidence here...a drawing perhaps or a scroll in draconic..."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni

Above the party's heads, there is a soft fluttering sound. A winged elf descends through one of the holes in the roof, and only by the slight red scales down his neck can any of them tell it's still Roni.

"So, he wasn't in here?" the elder spellscale deduces. "That's good, I guess." His face makes it clear that he was hoping for the thrill of crashing the Keep while Koth was incapacitated. Instead, they'd simply found a backdoor. Still, surprise was surprise. Roni turns his attention to the volumes of Goblin scrawled on the walls and carefully rolled scrolls. "Nothing like a chance to read the old stuff," he muses while he furrows his brow and attempts to read the lettering.

Linguistics - (1d20+5)[19]

Unable to make out everything clearer by the force of wit alone, Roni mutters a quick little spell. "Tell me I'm cheating by using magic at a bardic college of all places," he scoffs to nobody in particular. "Just because I dropped a little divination on an Ancient Languages exam. The nerve of some people..." He shakes his head and laughs ever-so-softly, keenly aware that they were behind enemy lines.

OOC: Roni casts Comprehend Languages to read the Goblin if his Linguistics check alone isn't enough.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri steps up to her brother.

Any luck? Do you see anything that can help us figure out what they are doing? She says quietly.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Roni

The papers on the wall are fairly easy for you to decipher without magical assistance, as most of the writing consists of short Goblin phrases like a notation of "just southeast of the lake to the north" on one of the maps or a label of "worgs sweep in from the left flank" on one of the tactical diagrams. After reading through all of the papers, you get the sense that the tactical diagrams and sketches of nearby landscape are plans for attacking Drellin's Ferry and defending the Keep if necessary, while the lists of stuff and sketches of farther-away landscapes are a search plan of some sort.

Moving over to the desk, you quickly determine that most of the writing on the parchments is the same format, as you'd expect from a formalized document like a status report or military orders: one of the piles consists of orders to Koth and the other of weekly reports back to a superior, both of which go back several months. The first line of every parchment in the report pile is "Greetings and blessings from this most devoted servant of the Fivefold Goddess" and most of the rest of the text is similarly formulaic. There are actually two copies of the most recent report, dated two days ago, with one of the copies having a fancy wax seal at the top and other embellishments, so presumably the other parchments are Koth's personal copies of reports he has already sent to his superiors.

There's not much information of interest to be found--they basically mention what progress was made on constructing the Keep and the area that his troops patrolled that week--but one particular report stands out. Instead of detailing a week-long patrol, it mentions that the patrol turned back after only one day (though it doesn't mention why), and no reports dated after this one mention any patrols, as if they'd found whatever they were looking for. The location of the short patrol was the area between Starilaskur and the Lurching Tower.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

The spellscale is dumbfounded as he pores over the various reports. "Sheesh, by-the-book middle management," he chides. As his eyes scan the many documents, he realized that there was no good way to get them out of the Keep intact. If they tried collecting them now, they'd lose the element of surprise. If they tried to come back for them later and this Koth fellow was smart, he'd have a way to destroy them as a last-ditch effort to keep them out of the hands of enemy combatants. He didn't think a hob could think of it, but judging by the reporting in place this one seemed particularly efficient.

Instead, Roni strains his mind to recall that time a visiting professor of psionics was guest lecturer in his Psychology of Oral Tradition class back at Snoozefest University. The brainiac had taught them a rough series of mnemonic devices that were supposed to aid them in harnessing their inner focus to visualize through their third eye (or some other New Age nonsense about crystals). Roni didn't kick himself for not paying attention to something that would be a longshot of a bet that such knowledge would ever pay off in real life, but his "third eye" could picture the elderly psion smirking and smugly saying "Told you so." He shakes the image out of his head and desperately tries to memorize the content of the various maps, plans, and reports. Roni remembers a rhyming scheme that clicks, and he starts singing himself a silent song composed of the crucial details. This allows him to slap that smug imaginary psion in the face and puff out his chest a bit that he had, in fact, applied at least some of his expensive education in real life.

Autohypnosis - (1d20+4)[20] boosted with Cunning Knowledge
Autohypnosis - (1d20+1)[21] (should be a further +3) boosted with Cunning Knowledge
Autohypnosis - (1d20+1)[20]
Autohypnosis - (1d20+1)[18]
Autohypnosis - (1d20+1)[19]

Result: all 5 checks are successful (DC 15), meaning Roni can memorize up to 5 pages or 4,000 words. This requires no action as per XPH, so let me know if there's more to memorize.

As Roni scans the last of the documents, he relays the gist to his compatriots. "They found something between Starilaskur and the Lurching Tower. Everything else is basically a battle plan for engaging with Drellin's. What say we cut the bastard off now so he never gets the chance?" With a smirk of his own, Roni draws his sword and stalks quietly toward the door.

Stealth - (1d20+4)[10]

[Sallera]

"Our missing relic," Faien murmurs. "Unfortunately, Koth has no doubt shipped it off to his superiors by now."

He waves a hand a Roni, a sharp downward cut through the air. "No. Put that away and wait here. We should at least give Vaeri a chance to play this out when he returns. These documents, do they give any indication of the location of the larger force?"

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Fortunately, thanks to the similarity of the reports Roni only needs to memorize the standard verbiage once, leaving him easily able to memorize the important details of all the papers and parchments.

Unfortunately, none of the information to be memorized includes a hint on the larger force's location.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

Roni looks irked at Faien's denial, much like a child who's just been told he can't have the last cookie in the jar. "Fine," he whispers as he sheathes his blade and crosses his arms in a huff, "I can dig stealth. Vaeri in a back corner of the room so Koth's clueless until entering, Auran against the wall to block the door back to the courtyard, Faien and I on the stairs up to prevent egress that way?" He makes a motion somewhat, but not entirely unlike, a crab's claw opening and closing. "Pincer attack?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri Quickwing

Vaeri shakes her head. "I hate to disagree dear brother, but I think I have a slightly better position. I trust that you can protect me."

She quietly walks behind the desk, sits in the chair and puts her feet on the desk. She picks up the most recent report and holds it loosely in her hands.

"I suspect he'd be quite surprised to find a Priestess sitting in his chair. Particularly since he has no idea we're here yet. Though I really wish I could do that image changing thing...I'd love to have a priestess's garb at the moment."

[TekHed]

Auran sighed. "You are most likely correct Magistrate. Let us be sure to question Koth on the whereabouts of the Relic."

He nodded at the twin's plan, and settled himself against a wall near and behind the door, where he would not be seen until the room had been entered and the door closed. It was good to see them maturing, and stepping up as leaders. They would need to be strong to face what was coming.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

Roni smiles and shakes his head at his sister's plan. "You shoulda been the one in bardic college--very dramatic. But remember when we used to catch bunnies in the yard? You've gotta put the carrot under the box. If Koth opens the door and sees you, he could run. Get somewhere he won't see you until he's already in the room." The bed looks tucked out of the way, but he can't bring himself to suggest that Vaeri do anything sensual (even if it's part of a ruse). After all, she was his kid sister.

[Sallera]

Faien frowns, thinking, then his expression suddenly shifts into a slight smile. "I might be able to oblige. The targeting would need to be precise, but..." Carefully counting off ten feet from the chair to a point out of sight from the door, he beckons Vaeri over. "If he turns to close the door, we can step to the desk at that moment. You will be sitting there and I standing guard as he turns around. At least as impressive, I think. If he does not look away, well, we still have the more mundane plan."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri nods. "That could work." She stands up from the chair to move next to Faien.

"While I'm at it..."Let's prestidigitation up the blue again.""

She casts the minor spell to again emphasize the blue of her skin and eyes.

"I wonder how much more time we have? I'd love to change."

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OOC: In her description, I write that she dresses in blues and whites with black while being sneaky. I am assuming she's currently in the black.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Auran, in his position behind the door, doesn't hear any signs of Koth returning to his office in the next few minutes--in fact, he hears some angry shouts and some high-pitched whines from several rooms away--so it would seem Vaeri has enough time to don clothes that will more convincingly pass for clerical vestments.

That done, you settle in to wait. Only another minute or two passes before the clomp of heavy boots on stone and some indistinct but angry-sounding Goblin ranting signals the approach of someone whom you presume to be Koth. Some sounds are heard just outside the door as the gambling goblins scramble to attention, then the heavy door swings open and the most massive hobgoblin you've ever seen strides through the door.

Koth is easily eight feet tall and three feet wide at the shoulder. He wears deep blue robes inscribed with violet Draconic runes over his heavily-muscled body, a silver skullcap on his head, and a silver holy symbol of Tiamat around his neck, small sapphires inset into the five visible eyes. In one hand he holds a long iron-banded staff topped with another large sapphire; the other hand is empty, and he is currently using it to gesticulate angrily at the two hobgoblin soldiers following him.

The two soldiers bow meekly and stop outside the door as he enters, neither of them noticing anyone inside the room past Koth's bulk. He half-turns to slam the door behind him, grumbling to himself all the while: "Al shük'akec togük khaal rhec akuul sharar...." As his attention is diverted Vaeri, Roni, and Faien slip into position and Koth turns around to find a scaled priestess seated smugly in his chair, two bodyguards at attention on either side of her, and another scaled figure near him. He stops in surprise mid-rant and demands in Draconic, "Jlatak Tiamat, ith-svabol, kla ith-qlentiv vux-tirir!?"

Goblin

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Koth's initial grumblings translate to "If those thrice-damned incompetents cause any more delays...."

Draconic

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Koth asks, "In Tiamat's holy Name, who are you people, and how did you get in here!?"

[Fireheart]

"Holy Crap." Vaeri thinks.

She leans back in chair and crosses her arms.

She raises an elegant eyebrow, and glances at her guards.

"Did you just use The Dark Queen's name in vain, Koth? I would think you should greet her priestess with a little more respect than that."