Shadow of the Crimson Sun II

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe says, "So... They're just cats? Maybe that won't be so bad then."

He backs off 30 feet, takes off his Gauntlets, and changes his Ring of Enduring Arcana for his Ring of Animal Friendship. Then he puts his Gauntlets back on.

Then he approaches the guards again and says, "Okay, open the doors so my friend and I," he gestures for Oughlyee of the Slime to come forward, "can deliver our message."

Alton smiles hopefully and wonders if the Zastillo guards will really be so stupid as to open the doors.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move 30 feet away then change rings: Enduring Arcana to Animal Friendship.

[Darth Ultron]

Guards "Not so fast. We will need you to strip down to nothing, put all your stuff in the box there by the wall, and then we got some nice chains to put on you. Then you can come inside and tell your message.

Or you can just tell me the message and go."

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe pretends to think it over. "All right. Here's the message."

"Vawn Zastillo is a ridiculous PARVENU who deserves to grow hair down to his butt and beard down to his ankles, but probably can't grow a beard at all, since he has no balls."

"Think you can remember all that, or should I repeat the message?"

And Alton reaches for his vicious battleaxe.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Initiative: (1d20+7)[13]

Spoiler: OOC

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Just to be sure: All the estate guards Alton has seen so far are freemen, right, with short or no hair?

Also: I keep having to restrain myself from using Anglicisms like okay. What do you feel about okay in your non-Earth-based fantasy game?

[Darth Ultron]

Some guards are bald, but it does seem like the common guard style is a very close cut 'buzz-like' cut. You have not see any long haired obvious slave guards, and this is true in the arena too.

Guard "I can remember that"



Oughlyee of the Slime "Wait, stop." in a low, but firm voice.

Spoiler: occ

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Well, kinda everything in the game is based on Earth, so...

But French? Zoot Alors!

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe is not exactly inclined to obey Oughlyee of the Slime, but he figures the Slime might know something he does not.

So he does stop and look back over his shoulder. "What?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Huh, I didn't know parvenu came from French. I only knew it as English.

But in a society as status-conscious as Thay, there has to be a word that means jumped-up peasant.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "Lets us go walk in the park."

Oughlyee of the Slime leads you away from the houses, guards and anyone else.

Oughlyee of the Slime "Now as much as I'd love a fight. Two slaves attacking a house, will be noticed. There are watches all around. And there are slave hunting groups. They don't see much action, you see how most slaves are...so they jump at any chance to act. A slave knocks on a door too hard, and they pounce.

And don't think of it as your glory and combat, and a good fight. They are the worst of the worst...well, kinda like me, I guess, and use all sorts of things that end a fight quick.

But still they are fools. They think weapons, items, and junk make a person powerful. They think if they take everything from us, and put us in chains we will be helpless. I'm not so weak as to need junk, every part of my body is deadly. How well can you do without your junk?

Are you enough of a fighter that you can fight with no junk? Then we can just be chained up and wait for him to get home...and then have fun."

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe seems real suspicious, but he listens. And eventually his expression turns sour and unhappy.

"I didn't know all that. But why did Irella Kymeri send me here if not to kick butt and burn down their estate?"

"Because I talked to her about setting the place on fire and killing Zastillo, and she didn't blink. She said even that fire is very popular in Thay."

"My plan was combat. But you're saying combat won't work. So now I'm kind of unsure what to do."

"Do you have any ideas?"

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "Guess that is why they asked me to come along.

People are...different. Even Irella is....soft. They live a soft, easy life and attack ones weaker then they are. Maybe she meant something like she thought you might burn his house down with him in it...all soft and poetic like in the stuff they watch.

Combat is hard, and they don't think hard. They think easy and soft.

And I told you my plan....let them strip us and chain us up. Again, it's weak and soft....and they have no idea who they are dealing with. When he gets home, we break free and kill him. Maybe burn the house down."

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe looks at Oughlyee in amazement. "Are you freaking serious?"

Despite his astonishment, he thinks it over. "I can maybe break chains even without my gear. But that's a big if. It's not like I've ever experimented."

But his suspicion is increasing. "I have a counter-proposal. You say you don't need junk, and every part of your body is deadly. Fine."

"But why not you be the one to be chained up, and when he comes home, you slip free, go to the door, open it, and let me in? And then we can have fun without me going through all the risky wait?"

Alton wonders if this is all Oughlyee's obscure revenge on him. He doesn't trust the Slime even as far as he can throw him, and that's pretty far, given Alton worships Strength.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "Maybe I should just do everything? Any your afraid of taking a risk? Coward. I figured you'd be too weak. Maybe you should just run back to the arena and hide. Not a good enough fighter without all your junk...very typical, and weak.

Well, do you have any sneak coward magic, like to make us invisible? Maybe something to charm the guards? You know, weak and soft stuff? "

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe bristles. "I worship the god of battle. And every day he proves to me he finds me worthy. So I can't be a coward."

"I just think both of us getting stripped of our belongings is stupid, tactically unwise. And I refuse to die, or worse, lose, just because I'm stupid. I'd get laughed at in the afterlife."

He leans back and says, "I do have a couple potions of invisibility. But they don't last very long."

"Do you want a potion? Can you get me inside if I'm invisible?"

Spoiler: OOC

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I decide that Alton is too high-wisdom to be mocked into doing something unwise.

Also, his faith in his god is self-reinforcing. Because he has faith, he is a cleric and can cast spells. And because he can cast spells, he knows his god approves of him, which means he's not a coward.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "If you can make us invisible we can just walk right in."


Aluendale Maendellyn "Watch out for the cats. They are guards, not pets. Trained to react to unknown sounds and smells. I doubt this guy is rich enough for anything like an invisibility purge ward, but if he did have a small one it would be on the main door area or his bedroom.

"

Spoiler: ooc

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True.

The Slime is a bit of a jerk too :)

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe nods to both the visible Oughlyee and the invisible Aluendale. "But how do we get through the wall? Climb over it?"

"The cats might be a problem. They'll smell us. I can deal with the cats easily, but charming them will dispel the invisibility."

"Can you distract the cats? Maybe summon a slime thing to deal with them?" he asks Oughlyee.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "Can you not climb the wall?

Distract the cats? Or kill them? I can summon a ooze no problem."

Aluendale Maendellyn "I guess you have never done any sneaky stuff before.

If you attack the cats, you might as well just charge it....it will have the same effect. Any attack will set off the alarms and summon the guards.

Did you have a plan? Some reason to even go inside the estate? If not, just stay out here...invisible, till your target gets home. When they open the gate for him to get in...you follow him in. And this is important...you kill him on his property. Not out here in public.

Once your target is down, you have a choice....someone, likely the wife but could be anyone, will set off an alarm. So you will only have a minute or two before that happens....you might try and take them all out, or just drop your target and leave. "

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe growls, "I dunno, I've never climbed a wall in my life. And all this armor doesn't exactly help."

He thinks: No, I never did any sneaky stuff before. Unless you count stealing from the gladiators and servants when I was a kid.

Aloud, he proposes, "Simple is best. Let's just wait out here for the owner Zastillo to come home. We drink potions to become invisible, then when they open the door, we run in the door, take down Zastillo and then probably leave."

Sardonically, he says, "But we have to do it on his estate, not out here in public."

He awaits Oughlyee's response.


Telepathically, he projects: Aluendale, I still don't understand why we have to do it on Zastillo's property. But I'll take your and Oughlyee's word for it that it's a bad idea.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "It's really amazing how you go from really dumb to smart. It's crazy, and I should know as everyone says I'm crazy. Your plan is fine, a bit boring, but I can't expect miracles now can I?"

Aluendale Maendellyn "It's just the spin on Thay's evil. It's a lawful evil society. So they care about the society, in general, but not so much about individuals. In fact, an individual is allowed to do much of anything. As long as it's not too openly destructive.

A person can do whatever they want on their own property. And there is no government help for that. The only help that might come, is any deal you might have made with someone to help you. And even that is risky. They keep close watch on the streets and public places and things like shops...but ignore homes.

But that is all for citizens, of course. Any slave taking really any action can and will be dealt with much like weeding a garden. "

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe doesn't know how to respond to the bizarre backhanded compliment from the Slime. "Uh... Thanks?"

He asks, "Maybe one of us should wait near the front entrance, the other near the back? Or do rich Thayan freemen always come in the front?"

He thinks at Aluendale: Oh. That makes more sense. I think.

Do you think there are any magic shops around here? We have a number of hours to waste.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime "It's his house, of course, he will use the front door."


Aluendale Maendellyn "Not a good idea. He really could be home at any time.

But worse, you don't really want to go shopping. The best thing that could happen, if your lucky, is you will get cheated and get nothing and loose all your money. As a slave...as property...anyone can really do whatever they want to you. In the legal sense.

Few merchants would even deal with a slave anyway.

And on top of all that public magic shops only have fluff items. You won't find any combative stuff for sale. They don't sell combative magic items to people, and that is more true for slaves. "

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe says, "We'll wait somewhere we can watch the front door then."

He looks for a place where he and Oughlyee can see the front door while remaining relatively unobtrusive, and plops himself down to wait.


He thinks to Aluendale: Thank you. I'm beginning to get the picture of how Thay operates.

I was thinking more in terms of ordering myself a Bag of Holding or some similar item. But I didn't know that shops outside the arena wouldn't cater to slaves.

Is there a temple to Tempus somewhere in the city, by any chance? I'd like to visit, maybe, before we return to the arena.

Alton thinks as if they are certain to succeed. It does not even occur to him that they would fail.

[Darth Ultron]

It is easy enough to simply walk over to the park and hang out there, as there are plenty of trees and bushes. You could even wait in the lookout tower and watch (Hummm...).

Aluendale Maendellyn "You are better off buying at the arena store. Or any slave, though most of the domestic slaves are poor and a lot like you have seen. There is an underground trade, of course.

There is a Temple of Tempus here, The Red BattleCastle. Thay is a violent, warlike culture, so Tempus finds plenty of followers here...no wizards or such, but lots of others. Your not too far from it now, but it's a bit more south, more on the edge of the city. It's a massive redstone fortress on a hill surrounded by whirling blades of all types. It's impressive. "

[Frivolous]

Alton tries to estimate how long it would take to get to the front entrance from the top of the tower, and also from the park in which the tower stands.

He thinks at Aluendale: I tried to get a dimensional hold-all at the arena store, but they have a long waiting list for such.

I'll try to visit the Red BattleCastle then. It's great that it's so close.

Spoiler: OOC

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How many rounds would it take to get from the top of the tower to the front entrance? What about from just the park?

Asking because not entirely sure how many rounds the whole procedure of carriage approaching gate/recognize carriage, opening gate/carriage entering and then closing gate takes.

[Darth Ultron]

Aluendale Maendellyn "Dimensional hold-all? Like dimensional anchor? "

Spoiler: ooc

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Depends on your movement. But at least a couple minutes.

Though you do have the advantage of as a residential street there is not much traffic, on foot or otherwise. So you can spot a wagon coming at least a minute before it gets to the house.

The general open the gate, move the wagon through, then close the gate is very slow....at least five minutes.

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe tells Oughlyee of the Slime, "I'll ascend the tower and keep a watch out. You can stay down here if you like."

"It'll take a few minutes for the guards to open the gate, let the carriage in, and close it again. Plenty of time to drink potion and scoot in."

He climbs the tower stairs, thinking to Aluendale: Naw, Bag of Holding. Or even better, Backpack of Holding.

I have so many potions and oils now that it's a real hassle carrying them all, much less sorting through them in an emergency. Though not as many as I used to. Drank a lot in the past couple of days.

At the top of the tower, he waits and watches.

Spoiler: OOC

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Thanks.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime stays on the ground, and passes the time catching flies with his hands and eating them.

It's a bit of a boring wait. Every twenty minutes of so someone or a carriage comes down the road, but not to the targets house.

Until late in the afternoon when a fancy carriage comes down the street...and heads right for the target house.

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe rushes down the stairs of the tower and reaches the bottom, murmuring to Oughlyee. "I think that's him. We'll see if the gate opens."

He takes out the vial of antitoxin and also the 2 vials of potion of Invisibility. He hands one vial of Invisibility potion to Oughlyee.

Spoiler: Actions

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As per above, take out antitoxin and 2 Invisibility potions. Hand one to Oughlyee.

Spoiler: OOC

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How many hours since Alton interrogated that living zombie slave?

If it's less than 8 hours, Darksight and Magic Vestment are still working.

[Darth Ultron]

The carriage rolls down the street...right to the target house. One guard stays alert as the other guard and the carriage driver both open the door in the front wall, then the driver gets back up in his seat and slowly moves the carriage into the yard, while both guard remain by the street. The whole process takes several minutes.

Oughlyee of the Slime takes the potion and waits.

Spoiler: Time

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It's been about five hours....so it's still the middle of the afternoon.

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe breathes, "Great, it really is him."

Grinning with excitement, he glances at Oughlyee and says, "Let's go. Since once we drink the Invisibility potions we won't see each other, let's do our best to keep the door open until we both are in. Then we close the gate, so Zastillo can't escape into the street. All right?"

Having said that, Alton drinks his antitoxin. He drinks a potion of Haste, then the potion of Invisibility.

He casts Shield of Faith, Bull's Strength, and Aid on himself, then begins running at the door.

Spoiler: Actions

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As per above. In order: antitoxin, potion of Haste, potion of Invis, SoF, Bull's Strength, and Aid. Then run at the door.

Aid temporary HP: (1d8+8)[14]

As per your earlier OOC note, it would take a couple of minutes for Alton to reach the door. He took an extra 6 rounds to buff himself up, but he's in Haste for the next 5 minutes, so the amount of time to reach the door is halved.

[Darth Ultron]

Oughlyee of the Slime nods, drinks his potion and fades from sight.

Alton has no problem moving quickly over and down the road and to the open gate, and through the open gate into the inner yard.

It takes several minutes to get the carriage inside. The two guards close the doorway, and resume their posts outside. The driver unhooks the two horses.

Vawn Zastillo calls to two big cats over and pets each one of them and they purr.

[Frivolous]

Alton the Axe looks for some obvious and easy way to jam the door, prevent it from being opened from the outside.

[Darth Ultron]

The large swinging door in the wall does not look to have a lock or other way to keep it closed (or open) other then small wooden pegs in the wall. The yard is mostly clear of an large items. The only easily mobile thing you see that might block the door is the carriage itself. The hinges might be a good target to jam with something like glue.