Homecomings

[Hades' Watchdog]

Aldamir:

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Aldamir neither sees nor hears anything more.

[Daryk]

Aldamir

Wary of what could have been a deliberate distraction, Aldamir swept the perimeter of the camp.

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Aldamir takes 10 on his Spot and Listen checks while conducting a full 360-degree sweep.

[CGCL_Andy]

Tom

At the time, Tom is setting up his tent so he is a little distracted. But if he does here the first sound (the stick snapping) he will listen as carefully as he can.

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Listen:(1d20+12)[27]

[Hades' Watchdog]

Tom hears nothing more other than his companions.

[Shademan]

kabrakhan is allready asleep and sleep so heavy that he wont awake unless his tent in disturbed or the sound of battle reaches his ears.

[Hades' Watchdog]

Salos reloads his crossbow and peers around, but doesn't appear to see anything. Kagiso picks up his discarded longsword and edges towards Salos, as Istasa quickly moves between them for protection. Grant unconcernedly glances around and, apparently seeing nothing, returns to setting up his tent.

[Daryk]

Aldamir

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If Aldamir finds nothing on his initial sweep, he'll spiral out to where the he heard the stick snap.

[thevorpalbunny]

Fashai
Unaware of anything the sentries have heard, Fashai rouses himself and begins his meditative exercises to prepare his maneuvers.

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After 5 minutes, these will be his Readied Maneuvers:

Fire Riposte: Desert Wind counter: touch attack for 4d6 fire damage
Bonecrusher: Stone Dragon strike: +4d6 damage, if it hits traget must make a DC 15 Fort save or suffer structural damage, causing all opponents to get +10 to confirm crit rolls
Cloak of Deception: Shadow Hand boost: greater invisibility until the end of his turn (opponents will be flat-footed, but Fashai will not receive miss chance)
Drain Vitality: Shadow Hand strike: deal +2 Con damage with melee attack
Shadow Garrote: Shadow Hand strike: ranged touch attack for 5d6 damage
Wolf Fang Strike: Tiger Claw strike: attack with 2 weapons with a -2 penalty to the roll as a standard action

Stances:
Child of Shadow: He gains concealment if he moves at least 10 ft in a round
Island of Blades: He and any of his allies flank all enemies which are adjacent to them both
Assassin's Stance: active: He gains Sneak Attack +2d6

[CGCL_Andy]

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Are we waiting for something?

[Seffbasilisk]

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I'm assuming this is during the short duration of Bram's sleep...so I haven't posted much.

Bram

Leaned up against Jacob, the older halfling rumbles away in a surprisingly deep snore as he dreams of happier times.

Listen - (1d20-2)[4] (Included the -10 from being asleep.)

[Hades' Watchdog]

The night passes with no more incidents. In the morning, the travelers pack up and continue on along the road, and the day also passes uneventfully until shortly past noon when a city becomes distinguishable a few miles ahead. It appears to be slightly larger than Vasar, perhaps five square miles, and quickly becomes visible that it is meant to withstand an attack, with tall walls and towers.

"Ah, that would be our first stop." Salos slips his crossbow, which had been resting beside him since they set out, into his backpack. "Gestagran's primarily a military base, and quite competently run. We shouldn't need to spend more than a day there, thankfully, but getting in will be a hassle. I don't know any of the guards, and they're not likely to take bribes and are likely to search our luggage. We'll probably have to sneak in." He glances around for the dark spot of Jacob in the sky, and when Bram is fairly close, calls out, "Hey, Bram! Come on down!"

[Seffbasilisk]

Bram Leafgarbed

Hearing the call, Bram leans back and squeezes Jacob with his knees, guiding him into a dive. Before they crash, he eases back, and steers him into a sharp banking circle to kill momentum before landing.

"What's up? City's up ahead."

[Hades' Watchdog]

"We're having a planning session," Salos states. "How do you all think we should get into the city? It's well-guarded. I was thinking of having you fly us in and hiding the wagon, but I want to know if any of you have better ideas."

[CGCL_Andy]

Tom

"That mainly depends on why we need to go inside. If it's just to resupply, we can send one or two people in to get what we need and the rest of the party can move around the city and join up with the supply group.

But getting the material on the cart into the city will be different. Some of us carry bags of holding and handy haversacs, we might be able to empty them into the cart and fill them with your goods. The cart can go in the city while some of us sneakier types go in with the goods." Tom offers his thoughts.

[Daryk]

Aldamir

"Tom is right. If the reason for entering the city isn't very pressing, then no more than absolutely necessary should go. If it's not our final destination, I don't see much reason to go in at all," added Aldamir.

[Hades' Watchdog]

"Well, we need to deliver some things and see if anybody there needs more T'nalv goods. That'll probably take a day, to arrange meetings in places without magical eavesdropping." Salos shrugs. "I was thinking 'safety in numbers,' but assuming we don't get caught, just one or two of us should do the trick.

[Shademan]

"we'll just fight our way out if the guards make any fuzz." kabrakhan growls.

[thevorpalbunny]

"Kabrakhan, that would be . . . unwise. Guards tend to object to being killed, and any recurring customers might not be happy if we never deliver their goods."

[CGCL_Andy]

Tom

Tom thinks about Salos's description of what needs to be done in town for a while and replies. It seems to me what you are describing is best achieved by a small group capable of going in to the town unnoticed. Let me suggest taking Nas, Bram, Aldamir and myself in. Hopefully either yourself or one of your men is good a sneaking as well since none of us knows who your contacts in this town are. The rest of the group can take the cart around the town and wait for us to come back.

[Daryk]

Aldamir

Aldamir listened as the others had their say, and added, "I think five may be a bit much if we're trying to maintain a low profile, especially such a... diverse group. Salos and one or two bodyguards should suffice, especially if we're talking about going over the wall rather than through the gate."

[Hades' Watchdog]

"If necessary, I could guard the wagon," Grant volunteers. "Perhaps I'll need to come inside, to keep our meetings clean of lies, though."

Salos shrugs. "It'd be fairly dangerous. You'd be nice to have along, but it's risky. I'll leave the decision up to the people who will get us in." He looks inquiringly at his other employees.

[Seffbasilisk]

Bram Leafgarbed

Bram glances back and forth as people speak, before simply saying "I can match Tom for stealth with my current prepared, but if we wait for dawn I can prepare a set of more...situational spells."

[CGCL_Andy]

Tom

Tom gets Aldamir's point quickly and feels rather stupid for not realizing it himself. "Salos and two of us, but who should go. I am the default for hidden missions, while Aldamir, Nas and Bram are all very good at staying out of sight as well. On the other hand, it will be fairly hard for me to get away quickly if something goes wrong ... and then there is the Grant issue, is he any good for a mission like this? or will his presence jeopardize everyone? ... " He thinks to himself almost frozen on the spot with a frown. Then he says "You are right Aldamir, 3 is already crowded for a mission like this." Facing Salos he continues "I think our best option is to wait for night fall, then Aldamir and I will accompany you into the city while Bram can use the cover of darkness to fly jacob above town un-noticed."

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My idea is to use Bram and Jacob as a quick reinforcement type. In case something goes wrong. It might even be possible to add Nas to the aerial group (If he's not too heavy to fly with Bram on Jacob, alternatively since Nas is good at sneaking as well he can go with Aldamir and Salos and Bram and Tom will be in the Air in case something goes wrong. The reason I suggested it this way, is to account for the possibility that they need tom to break into places, get around locked doors and such.)

[Daryk]

Aldamir

Nodding as Tom spoke, Aldamir waited until he finished, then turned to Salos and asked, "Would it be easier for you to talk a few of us past the gate, or to sneak over the wall after dark? If the gate, then Grant could accompany us with little trouble, and Bram and Tom could fly over the wall if needed. Roac would be able to tell them if we need help."

[Hades' Watchdog]

"It would definitely be easier to go over the wall. As I said, I don't know any guards there, and their security's fairly good." Salos turns to Bram. "Is Jacob strong enough to carry another passenger, or will we have to climb?"

[thevorpalbunny]

"I've had a thought. That ring Kabrakhan found would allow someone to disguise himself, yes? Perhaps we could have one person enter through the gates in disguise. Unless they'd need documents or such; I'm sure you know their standard procedure, Salos."

[Hades' Watchdog]

Salos shrugs. "No, no documents. They just search and question extremely thoroughly, both physically and magically. So, I guess we could go through the gates, but we'd have to make up convincing reasons, and it's moot anyway since we couldn't get any goods through."

[Daryk]

Aldamir

After Salos' last comment, Aldamir added, "Sounds like the wall, then. Is there any particular approach better for that purpose?"

[Seffbasilisk]

Bram Leafgarbed

Patting Jacob, Bram states "Jacob can carry a bit over thirteen and a half stone besides me and our gear and still fly. In a pinch I can boost his lifting about five stone more for a few minutes."

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One 'Stone' is 14lbs. He can carry about 189 pounds more, and boosted can carry 226 lbs more.

[Hades' Watchdog]

"Marvelous. So he can shuttle us across the wall one at a time if nobody can think of a better way. Who will come with me into the city?" Salos inquires.