Dragons of Autumn-DL III-Pax Tharkas

[wxdruid]

After the excitement of everything, Maritta gets everyone calmed down and and organized. She explains to Pearl that they are tending a severely wounded man down here. She also explains that they are escorted by two of the lizard men each night to care for the children and another group feeds the men in the mines.

The children are guarded by an ancient red dragon and she won't be a problem unless the children scream or carry on. The men are fed by a group of 12 women and they wear heavy clothing because of the chill. Otherwise the lizard men don't bother them much, coming down only 1-2 times a day.

----------------------------------------------

How far does Gneiss go? All the way back to the store room? Or further? Make spot and listen checks.

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Twelve women...

The beginnings of a plan taking shape in her mind, Pearl asks the women:

"Well, it sounds like the children couldn't be safer, for the moment. About the men. Who here has taken them food? I need to know how far it is to these mines, and how soon you'll likely be called upon to take food again. Where do you go to pick up the food, and can we see these warm clothes that you put on to do this?"

[wxdruid]

Maritta bows her head a moment, First, though, is there possibly something you could do for him? She points into a darkened corner, and the women around the prone person part a little, from where Pearl is, it looks like the person is in dire straits. Maritta feels that he is important and they've been caring for him for a while now.

[Toliudar]

Pearl

Pearl's eyes dart to the fallen figure, and glanced over at Bryce with a questioning eyebrow.

"We'll do what we can. Please, Maritta, my questions. Time is of the essence."

[wxdruid]

Bryce nods and steps forward. He goes to kneel by the prone man and he bows his head. He prays to Mishakal and his hands briefly glow with healing power as he heals Elistan.

Elistan's eyes widen as well as the women's around him. They are all surprised and amazed with Bryce and ply him with thanks for saving him.

Maritta smiles and turns back to Pearl. All of us have gone up there at some point or another. Those staying down here give up a little bit of clothing and we all wear shawls, and layers of clothing. Two of the lizard men come and get us and escort us to the kitchen and then leave us to do our job of feeding the men. The guards usually ignore us and after we're done, the lizard men lock us back up down here.

[Toliudar]

Pearl goggles briefly as she notices Elistan, then recomposes herself. Time for catching up later. The young woman glances around at her companions before turning around and speaking again with Maritta.

"I'm thinking that the safest way for us to move around this complex to free the men and children will be...as you."

She looks as her colleagues, not relishing the prospect of having to explain cross-dressing to Lagri.

[wxdruid]

Maritta ruefully smiles back, Probably, but one or two of us will have to go with you, so you'll know where to go and when.

[Philistine]

Originally Posted by wxdruid

How far does Gneiss go? All the way back to the store room? Or further? Make spot and listen checks.

Spoiler

Well, the plan was to go the opposite direction, further down the hall. If the hallway ends after that third door, though, then yes: all the way back to the store room with the as-yet unexplored stairs.

Spot: (1d20+9)[27]
Listen: (1d20+9)[20]

[wxdruid]

Gneiss goes all the way to the dead end in the hallway where the women's prisons are. He passes everyone on the way back and makes his way through the storage room (now in shambles) and suddenly stops before he makes it to the door. He can hear the sound of steel on steel and it sounds like a fight out in the larger room where the stairs go up.

Almost everyone else is now in the back room where the women have been held prisoner.

[Philistine]

Gneiss creeps forward and opens the door as quietly as he can, hoping to see whatever is making the ruckus before he's seen in turn.

Spoiler

Hide: (1d20+8)[17]
Move Silently: (1d20+8)[23]
Spot: (1d20+9)[11]
Listen: (1d20+9)[18]

[wxdruid]

Gneiss eases the door gently open and spots Gilthanas and the other few party members that were left behind to guard the stairs involved in a battle with two dragon men. So far the fight looks evenly matched and Gilthanas invokes a spell that turns one into stone. Several members of the group are wounded.

[Philistine]

Gneiss throws the door wide and rushes toward the remaining draconian. He attempts to hit the creature from its blind side while it remains focused on the others, driving his sword forward with a vicious thrust.

Spoiler

Initiative: (1d20+3)[10]
Attack: (1d20+7)[20] (+2 more if he can reach a flanking position)
Damage: (1d6+3)[4] plus (3d6)[5] Sneak Attack if applicable

[wxdruid]

Gneiss attacks the remaining draconian with the others attacking from the front. The draconian has a surprised look on his face as he turns to stone. Gneiss yanks his sword free just in time and Eben doesn't quite make it. He swears and curses and waits for the thing to turn to dust so he can get his weapon back.

Gilthanas turns to Gneiss. Thank you for the assistance. He wipes his forehead and turns to the others to start treating the bruises and cuts from the fight.

((was trying to wait for a Pearl post...get both sides of this to continue onwards))

[Philistine]

"Yeah," Gneiss grunts as he sheaths his weapons. "Everybody okay? And, these came down the stairs? Just the two of them?"

Without pausing, he turns back toward the hallway to the female prisoners' cells. "Pearl! The clock is ticking, we need to be moving!" he shouts, then turns back to Gilthanas to await the elf's answers.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler

Sorry. I'm really having trouble envisioning the physical setup right now, and had somehow assumed that I wasn't close enough to know what was going on with Gneiss.

"Coming!"

"All right, then. Can I have two volunteers to help guide us to the children and men, and then can the rest of you get a move on down that hallway? And take Elistan with you."

As soon as the women stop dragging their heels and get safely to the escape tunnel, Pearl marshalls whoever is still with her, and jogs off to respond to Gneiss' summons.

[SilentNight]

Kalrin moves ahead of Pearl with Tigerlilly in an effort to speed things up.

[wxdruid]

Gneiss will have to go back through the messy storage room to call back down the hallway. The women look at Pearl, but they file down the hallway, through the messy storage room and come out with everyone after the two dragon men have turned to stone. Maritta walks close to Pearl and asks if she has any ideas for rescuing the children and the men. Tygerlilly rushes ahead to lead the way. Gilthanas and the others that were left behind are busy with first aid.

[Toliudar]

Pearl nods at Maritta's question as she finishes shepherding the women into the tunnel.

"The beginnings of a plan, anyway. If we dress these louts up in the cloaks you use to go outside, we might be able to fool the draconian guards. At least, long enough to get the children out and past the dragon, and then reach the men. Once we're there, maybe we can figure out a way to get the men back through to here...or, failing that, we arrange for them to meet up with you at a city to the west."

She glances around at her long-silent colleagues, hoping for other suggestions to add to the mix.

[Philistine]

Gneiss moves over to the foot of the stairs, leaning forward and craning his neck to see as far up as possible. Pausing, he calls back to Gilthanas, "I'm going up a little way to keep an eye out. You lot hold on here for now." Suiting actions to words, he advances slowly and cautiously up until he passes out of sight.

Spoiler

Spot: (1d20+9)[14]
Listen: (1d20+9)[15]
Hide: (1d20+9)[21]
Move Silently: (1d20+9)[16]

Gneiss is looking for a niche or alcove where he can wait in ambush for any draconians heading down. If he doesn't find anything suitable by the time he reaches the next floor, he'll try hang back on the stairs out of sight of people passing by - even if the best he can do is stop a few steps short of the landing so that his head is below floor level.

[wxdruid]

Gneiss creeps slowly up the stairs. Near the top he realizes it opens into a larger area with no easy spots to hide. From what he can see, it looks like this level has carpeting and some sort of furnishings. Listening intently, Gneiss can hear some quiet talking in an unknown language, but it sounds like complaining. It's difficult to see very much since the stairs open up to the next level up and appears from the top as a hole descending down to where Gneiss is.

[Philistine]

Gneiss retreats until his head is below the level of the floor, then settles in to wait quietly - for Pearl and the others coming up from below, or for enemies coming down from above, either one.

Spoiler

Spot: (1d20+9)[29]
Listen: (1d20+9)[29]

[wxdruid]

While Gneiss waits on the stairs, Tygerlilly is going around pulling on people exclaiming that she's sure she can help conquer the dragon and defeat the castle. Since if the castle has dragons then there must be enemies here and she is so sure that she can help out.

[Toliudar]

Pearl sincerely wished that she shared Tygerlily's enthusiasm. She handed the women's cloaks out to Kalrin, Hector, Bryce, Lagri, Tygerlily, Gilthanas, Eben, Maritta and two other sensible-looking women. Sensible meaning, in this case, scared witless but working hard to deal with it. She slid the last one on herself, adjusting her bow so that it didn't poke out so much at the back.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to try this. Remember - if the guards think that there's a rescue attempt in the offing, they have hostages in the men. We have to keep an alarm from being raised, at least until we have the men in hand and can try to lead them back here. So, if you're going to attack, aim to shut them up quickly.

"Stick together. Maritta and I will lead the way, since we didn't have to shave this morning. Lagri, Hector, I want you close. Bryce, you're on rearguard with [name of one of the women to whom she has handed a cloak].

"Tygerlily, I know how steady you are on your feet. You're going to get a chance to prove it. They know that there aren't any kender among the women, so we'll have to try to have you pass for a human woman. Yes, I know. You'll need to balance on Gneiss' shoulders."

She didn't relish Gneiss' reaction once he heard this particular part of the plan. But a bad plan was better than none at all.

"Maritta, lead us to the children. If we can get them out past the dragon, we'll send them with two of you and an escort back to the rest of the women. Then we'll head on to rescue the men. Any questions? Good. Let's move out."

With more resolution in her voice than she really felt, Pearl lead the group forward to Gneiss' watch-post.

"Tygerlily has your cloak. Let's go rescue some kids."

[Philistine]

Gneiss listens to Pearl's plan in silence, then continues to stare blankly at her for a long, uncomfortable moment after she concludes.

"I. Hate. This plan," he says through clenched teeth. "This is a terrible plan, and I hate it. I have as much chance of passing for one of these dragon-men-" he cuts himself off with a grimace. "But we don't have time. Come on, Tygerlilly, hop up. Guess you're riding the rest of the way." Gneiss drops to one knee so that the kender can more easily climb to his shoulders.

[SilentNight]

"But certainly better than rushing out blindly," Kalrin says in response, "It should give us some time to scout out the area too." With that he pulls his robe up above the line of the cloak and begins to peak out the door.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly vaults up on Gneiss' shoulders. She is so excited about all of this and she simply cant stop talking. This is going to be so fun!!! She tells Gneiss that she promises that she's light and he won't have any problems at all. Which of course probably means the opposite to him. She turns her hoopak around and uses it like a crutch. She pulls up the hood and does her best to look old... This will be exciting.

The other members of the small group do as Pearl instructs, pulling on their layers of clothing. Those staying behind give up ragged cloaks and prepare to go into the other storage room to wait with the two guarding the back door.

Maritta pulls up her own hood and after looking everyone else over, she's ready to go. She's nervous about this, but it's their one chance.

[Toliudar]

After looking everyone over, and pulling the cloak further over Hector's enormous feet, Pearl gestures for Maritta to join her as they lead the way towards the kitchens.

[Philistine]

Gneiss shuffles along behind Pearl and Maritta, silently mouthing a plea to Reorx that any guards who might chance to see the group should be struck stupid and/or blind.

[wxdruid]

Maritta shuffles up the stairs, her head down, her arms at her side. The women behind her do the same. They take on that cowed, skittish look as they near the top of the stairs. They don't pause and shuffle steadily towards their destination, not looking up and keeping their eyes on their feet and the immediate path ahead.

The others behind them notice that this hallway is furnished with great care, creating an atmosphere of comfort and luxury. A plush purple carpet blankets the floor, and many tapestries of rich red and golden colors decorate the walls. Each of the several doors is made of dark-grained vallenwood and has golden rivets, hinges and latches.

Upon closer examination, however, the luxury begins to wear thin. Great, dark stains blot the carpet in many places and a wide muddy trail mars the center of the floor. Some of the tapestries, depicting pastoral woodland scenes, have been defaced - charcoal has been used to add a beard and mustache to an elven princess, and long slashes ruin a scene of elves and dwarves in council.

For Tygerlilly it's a true test of her ability to remain right where she is, riding on Gneiss' shoulders, she shifts her feet, anxiously looking around as Gneiss climbs the stairs. She longs to flip her hood back, to stare, to run rampant across the floor, to inspect those hinges, the tapestries. Oh, how much she wants to go, this is her private version of abyss, she didn't know what she was getting into. ARGH!

They turn the corner and away from 3 other doorways, Maritta ignores the two hobgoblin guards and opens a door, she beckons for the others to enter ahead of her. She's surreptitiously watching the two guards for a reaction, but all they do is stare at the group and spit on the ground. They're not the slaves here...

((Sorry I haven't posted before now, I haven't been feeling well and am finally on the mend and feeling motivation to do more than sit on the couch.))

[Toliudar]

Pearl forces herself NOT to reach reassuringly for Tally, and instead plunges ahead through the doorway. She glances back just long enough to confirm that the others are following, and that Tygerlily hasn't jumped off of Gneiss.

Spoiler

Welcome back! Sorry for the delay in responding.