Way of the Wicked [IC Thread]

[Frosty]

Kayle also follows. "I think we were led upstairs to our cells, so we probably need to head down to escape."

[Cyclopean]

The staircase only leads down. You don't see any way of going up.

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Arksen and Harrison each had an iron key. Neither one matches each other or any of the keys on the ring (of which there are only three).

I'm going to say that there is a leather thong around the signal horn, so Kles can wear it around his neck.

[darklink_shadow]

Acheron nods, That sounds right, Kayle. Kles, mind taking point? You're sneakier than any of the rest of us, I'm sure. I'd like to get out without any blood loss for our side.

Acheron then turned to Alice. Quit fretting, I'm not going to bite you. We can have a civilized discussion about whatever it is that bothers you about me later. Don't make that face, you are clearly disturbed by me. That's fine, you should be. I'm half of what your country is trying to destroy. Savage, godless rituals and all that. Except each of our rituals have meaning, and our prayer to our Gods, we are just different. But like I said, we'll discussion your issues with me later, for now just don't fear me. Until we escape at least, we're allies. Sure that his explanation would not satisfy her, but also unwilling to go into the debate that was likely to get heated about his religious practices, he would add one more thing, before turning to follow a short ways behind Kles: In my culture, we eat what is worthy of eating, and nothing else. His corpse and his soul are not connected any longer, so his body is meaningless to him. To eat it is to honor him as worthy. The second man was not worthy. He was a great fool.

[JonRG]

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Ya, but there could be up stairs elsewhere, or we could be on the ground floor and the stairs lead down into Blackerly's rumpus room. There is method to my madness believe it or not.

"Yeah, sure." The tiefling creeps down the stairs and scans the darkness for any sign of guards ahead.

[Felyndiira]

The girl found herself at a loss for words. Her lips moved slightly, as if she had wanted to say something in reply but quickly decided against the idea before a single sound could leave her mouth. The half-orc, she was more wary of than anyone else in the group; Grumblejack, while he may have eaten a human in front of her, was at least predictable. She had no idea what Acheron's religion would require of him - whether he would turn on her the moment she showed weakness or something else. She had seen a number of grotesque things when she was still a countess trying to earn admission into the paladin order, raiding the cells of Asmodeus's cultists - human eating was not what she was afraid of. The uncertainty of a savage religion, more than anything else, was frightening more than the act of eating a human itself.

As the half-orc reproached her, Alice tried to recall all of the religious and history texts that she had read in the past. "Gruumsh..." As her mind raced to find an answer, she swallowed deeply - and audibly - before walking before the orc, hoping that he would honor his words when her back was turned to him.

"It's...it's not that." The girl sounded much more nervous than before. The half-orc's admonition had intimidated her much more than before, and she struggled a bit before finally adding with a shaky voice. "You...you're right. We're allies. We're allies. I'm sorry...perhaps we could have a discussion at a later time. We're allies. We need to get out of here together."

She repeated those words a number of times in a silent whisper, as if to convince herself.

[Frosty]

(Did we wear any guard uniforms? I remember one was kinda tattered from the fight. What about the other?)

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We are current next to room 20 right? What's that thing in the room we are in currently? The thing on the lower right corner of the room we are in? A Chimney?

[JonRG]

(Alice has it, but I can't see her passing as a guard for more than half a second.)

[Cyclopean]

Though their armor and boots were not significantly damaged, their uniforms are bloody and badly torn. As a general rule, cutting someone to pieces will ruin someone's outfit as well as their day.

Harrison's outfit has been destroyed by combat and Grumblejack's desecration of the body. Arksen's shirt is intact, but it soaked up a lot of his blood. I believe Alice said she took it, and perhaps the pants as well? Anyway, Bloody Rags will certainly cover you more than your Prison Rags, but I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say they're better.

You are indeed in the room west of room 20. The thing in the southeast corner is an unlit fireplace. Presumably there is a chimney in the back of it.

[Frosty]

(So this is not a chimney that leads *down*? Aww....I was hoping someone could do an acrobatics check and surprise someone

Although, perhaps we can scout if someone climbs UP? Gain roof access and we can get a general sense of the prison)

[JonRG]

(I highly doubt the prison builders would have been foolish enough to build more chimney than they needed, enough such that a grown adult would be able to fit inside it.

Cy, any chance of learning the mystery of what's down these stairs? Do I need to make my skill checks, or will you roll them so's they're a surprise? )

[Frosty]

(we'll see how big the chimneys are. There are squeezing rules after all)

Kayle goes to investigate the fireplace and chimney, exploring to see whether it is a viable way to go down a level and get the jump on someone.

[Cyclopean]

OOC:

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If you want more information about something, you typically need to RP your character checking it out. I'll assume that's what's happening here; you can edit such RP into your previous posts if you desire.

The fireplace is oversize almost to the point of absurdity. As Kayle approaches to investigate, she notices warmth seems to emanate from it despite the lack of a fire. Peering through the old ashes and the soot-encrusted grate that supports them, Kayle can see a fire glimmering somewhere below.

The chimney is lined with rough stone and is not much smaller than the fireplace. It looks as though it one could climb up it (or down, if not for the grate in the way).

More OOC:

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Ah, sorry. I was waiting for the post saying Kles was going downstairs, not realizing you had already made it . I'll be making stealth rolls for Kles, but feel free to call it out whenever you want one so I don't forget. In general, I'll interpret language like "sneaking" or "cautiously" as using Stealth.

Kles soon reaches the bottom of the stairwell. A torch ensconced in the wall provides ample light--not that the tiefling needs it. A few feet ahead of him is a door. Aside from the stairs, torch, and door, the room seems empty.

Map:

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...Eh. It'll do for now.

[Frosty]

(I highly doubt the prison builders would have been foolish enough to build more chimney than they needed, enough such that a grown adult would be able to fit inside it

The fireplace is oversize almost to the point of absurdity.

"Hey hey...Kles is resistant to fire right? There might be a kitchen down below here. What if he climbs down to scout around if he can remove the grate? If he finds some helpless maid, amybe he can even intimidate her for information? Or, if we really want to, we can use the window we have..."

She goes to look back into the interrogation room (assuming that is possible). "Hey WAIT a minute...I've got a good idea. There's furniture in that room. What if we use the furniture to BLOCK the chimney? Smoke will accumulate below, and they'll probably send the servants up to investigate. Or maybe a lone guard. We can kill or capture people one by one this way!"

[Cyclopean]

Even if you could block the grate with the meager amount of furniture in the room, the amount of smoke passing through the grate is negligible. The accumulation of smoke down below would take hours to become noticeable, if it ever did.

However, the grate does seem to be loose, and not too heavy. Likely it was designed to be removable to allow for cleaning--not that such cleaning appears to have happened any time soon.

Does Kles respond to Kayle, or go for the door?

[Frosty]

Kayle scraps that idea as they don't have a tarp to really cover everything, but the idea of removing the grate or using the window could still work!

[JonRG]

(I don't feel like it's unreasonable to assume that a world-class prison has some basic security measures. I'll stop now, as I'm clearly only setting myself up for disappointment.

Kles'll move for the door and listen for any sound. I suppose that'd be a secret perception check, Cy.)

[Cyclopean]

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Branderscar certainly has the reputation of a world-class prison, but you've noticed some pretty serious lapses in security.

Pressing his ear to the door, Kles hears what seem to be irregular footsteps pacing over a small area. It seems there's someone (or more than one someone) on the other side of the door.

If he gave the door a little pull, he could risk a quick peek.

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Cracking the door open to make a quick look would be stealth vs. perception. The more you beat the perception roll by, the more time you're able to spend looking in.

[JonRG]

Kles cups a hand over the torch. Some locations had magical torches that never extinguished, but they weren't cheap like Blackerly. He wonders briefly about the scared girl and the pirate. Weak human eyes were so helpless in the dark. There's the lantern patch if they had mind to complain. Not that... Alice... would dare.

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If it's actual fire, he takes 1 pt of fire damage, which is fully resisted.

Once the area's bathed in darkness, Kles slowly opens the door. If he's noticed, it will be easier to pass himself off as a guard in the dark.

Stealth:(1d20+11)[31]

[Frosty]

The aasimar goes to Grumblejack. "You alright? Something wrong wit' da sword?" At least the ogre isn't very likely to hurt himself, with Kayle have armored him and herself up magically.

[Cyclopean]

Stairwell:

From his haunt in the darkness, Kles is able to view the hallway before him with impunity. There is a door to the east, and two to the west. The doors that dominate the hall, are the great double doors at the end of the hallway.

Two torches, each in a sconce halfway down the hall, are the only sources of light. The corners are left dim. Though the guard's pacing is unpredictable, he tends to stay near the torches. As far as Kles can see, there is only the one guard, and a telltale hiccup confirms his drunkenness. He does have a signal horn, though.

Map:

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Guardroom:
The ogre lowers the blade and grunts. "Making fun of Grumblejack? Humph." What follows for the next few seconds is what Kayle can only presume to be a string of insults and obscenities in Giant. With that out of his system, he continues in common. "Grumblejack not used to little sword, is all. Not heavy enough. Great club better, but bows wrong shape, too bendy." He shrugs, and his expression seems to say but such is life. "Grumblejack find better weapon later. But little 'uns keep playing with doors and chimbleys."

[Frosty]

"We are waiting for Kles the tiefling to come back from scouting. Basically, we want to see if we can kill all the guards one by one or maybe by twos without them making too much noise. Say, if the sword is too light, would just usin' your fists be better?"

[Geckus]

Verrin collects one of the keys from the fallen guards, figuring it would come in useful at some point. (I believe only one has already been taken at this point?)

Once Kayle is done with her investigation of the fireplace, Verrin pokes his head in to take a look for himself, curious as to how difficult it would be to scale the flue. With the addition of Grumblejack to our merry band of escapee's, I doubt it will prove a viable option, but it might serve as a backup plan if things go horribly wrong.

If he finds it too dark to make a decent assessment, or after he completes his inspection if it is not, he address the rest of the group still in the guardroom. "What exactly is left on that veil? I never did get a close look at it before passing it along."

[darklink_shadow]

Acheron glares at Kayle. Grumblejack, some of the more inattentive people among us may not recall that you struggle with common far less than they struggle with giant. Your imperfections on the language might come off as a little silly to some of us, but just remember that when you teach me your tongue, I will struggle just as much. In this way, at least, you'll know enough compassion to not taunt others when they struggle to speak an unnative tongue. But you've taunted her back, let's leave it. As soon as we find a better weapon, you'll have it but for now make do with the little sword.

Acheron pauses then laughs. Harrison might make a good club though. Fool. If he had been smart, we would have all been caught by now. Perhaps since he wanted us to escape so badly, he should continue to help us, eh, Grumblejack? Acheron laughed again. Oh, well, then again, maybe that actually is a good idea. Being smacked by 200lbs of flesh wouldn't hurt as much as 200lbs of wood, but it'd still hurt quite a lot.

[Frosty]

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It's one of Kayle's wierd mannerisms. She tends to adopt little bits of the mode of speak of those she speaks to. It's mostly subconscious, and she probably does it to try to make them feel more at ease

"Eh, a human body is unwieldly though. Hard to hit with it."

[Felyndiira]

"Wouldn't the bones break upon impact, though?" Alice was not used to such humor, but she disguised her voice as well as she could to try to fit in with the other. She seemed a bit calmer now - though her stomach is still tied in a tight knot, and her breath is still a bit heavy if one were to closely listen. Mentally, she noted to herself that she must speak with the half-orc when all of this is over. Even with her diligent studies, there are many things she still didn't know about Gruumsh, the orc god. He is frightening when so much about him is unknown...and thus, perhaps the only way is to enlighten herself. To bring the darkness into the light so that she would no longer have to doubt.

She turned to Verrin and added,

"I had forgotten about the veil. I have a few magicks that may help us identify what the other items mean...when Kles returns, that is. It may be best if we did not take off the patches at once - I can't imagine us carrying around a window, for instance."

[darklink_shadow]

Acheron frowned and nodded. The bones might break, you're right. That would make it loose all stiffness, rendering it useless. Hmm. Acheron rubbed his jaw, one finger arching up to rest on his scarred upper lip.

Well, when Kles get's back, maybe he'll say he found a big bench we could break into a club. Or some more bags. With a growl he moved to look down the stairs, but walked back. Recon is important, but I am eager to go. I'm sure Grumblejack feels the same. I want to touch the earth, see the sky. I can't wait for night, to see the stars, and stare into the campfire.

[Geckus]

Verrin chuckles. "No I imagine not. I can't fathom the reasoning behind putting a window in that thing..."

"Well, when Kles get's back, maybe he'll say he found a big bench we could break into a club....

"Hold that thought Acheron. There's a table in the next room," Verrin points to the closed door beside the entrance to the cell block. "Perhaps a suitable club could be fashioned from that?"

[Frosty]

"The only problem is how much noise would we make...erm....fashioning...a club from that?"

[darklink_shadow]

From a table? Probably not too much if Grumblejack does good work. Snapping off a few legs. But tables are awkwardly shaped. I couldn't swing a table sized down for me. Acheron says after musing a bit.

[Geckus]

"Noise could be a problem. Wait for Kles to let us know if the coast is clear down below first?"