Akyan thinks for a moment, when he heard 'strike' he had automatically thought eliminate. Was that what Spar meant?
"I'm not sure, but I can still ask Spar, as long as he is still in range."
If Spar is still within a mile of Akyan, Akyan will ask him for clarification. "Do you want us to eliminate the targets, capture them, or just gather information on them?"
You receive the response, "Your team has a different focus than ours, i.e. subtlety and information-gathering, so I will not tell you how to accomplish your missions. The over-arching goal is to lessen evil influence in the city, and we have chosen to focus on the slave trade, but until you receive your orders from headquarters, the targets and methods are up to you. In my opinion, your focus should not be on taking out hordes of henchmen, but in making precision strikes on key targets that will cause the entire structure to collapse. These delivery sites would seem like key targets to me, but perhaps when you arrive you will find them to be only gateways to better intelligence and better targets. Will you destroy the hands that beat the slaves, or will you follow the trail back to the brain that directs the hands? If you do not feel comfortable making these decisions for yourselves, then it may be best to return to the safe house and wait for Aldara's summons to the new Farm.
"I will say this: Our team does not take prisoners. There are no detainment facilities in the safe house. If you acquire an asset that must be kept alive, it is up to you to arrange that, without compromising the DCL. Good luck!"
(By the way, I use spoilers to post info that is not immediately available to all characters. Players are welcome to read these to follow the narrative, but unless the character to whom they are addressed chooses to share, the other characters would not know the info contained.)
(Moving the story along...)
Tamryn manages to convince Fatima of his sincere intentions to return her and her friends home to her mother. The girl, in turn, makes no objections to the other women being evacuated to a place of refuge. (A monastery had previously been mentioned by Annika, but not the specific one, and Fatima does not seem to care enough to ask for specifics). Once the other wagons have left, Tamryn asks Fatima to remain in the back for the journey into the city, but she refuses, demanding to sit beside him in the driver's seat. Hearing this, Annika quietly goes to the rest of the team and asks them to hide in the trees, and follow along after the wagon as it returns to the city.
Tamryn drives the wagon back to the Sparandar gate, Fatima beside him, the maids and Annika in the back of the wagon. The rest of the team follows at a distance under the cover of darkness. As the wagon approaches the gate, the guards stop and challenge them. Before the rogue has a chance to answer, Fatima speaks up, "I am Fatima of House Dannihyr, and I demand you open up the gate at once and let us pass!" The guard looks quite startled, peering closer. Despite her disheveled appearance, he seems to recognize her and says, "Of course, my apologies, Lady Dannihyr," and then hisses to his companions, "open the gate now! quick!"
The large gate slowly creaks open, and the wagon passes through, all eyes on Fatima, which she pretends not to notice. The remainder of Team Two slips through after the wagon before the guards resume their vigilance.
You are all now back in the city. The Slaver's Market and the delivery addresses are to your west. The Safe house is to your north, and the Dannihyr estate is quite a bit north, across the river. It is presently about 5:30 AM, the sun has not yet come up.
Akyan turns to Mina after hearing what Spar as to say, "Spar recommends targeting the heads of whatever organizations these are. But It's really up to us what we are going to do. Honestly, I was going to suggest doing this anyway. Unless there is an alternative, I say we slip in take the eliminate the leaders and slip out."
Once they are in the city, Akyan will turn to the group, and wait to see what they want to do.
Tamryn drives the wagon in the direction of House Dannihyr, not hurrying nor delaying. "If you don't mind my asking, Lady Fatima, how did a lady, such as yourself, happen to be caught in the woods by low-grade thugs like the ones Annika and I bested? Surely you had men protecting you; why were they so incompetent? And you, I've seen you hold my blade, how many did you kill before they laid you low?"
(We'll assume Spar or Annika gave Tamryn directions on how to get to the Dannihyr estate.)
Fatima blushes at the compliment. "Annika? Is that your dwarf servant? The two of you bested all those horrible slavers? My friends and I were headed out to one of the family's country estates to meet up with some of my cousins. Yes, we had ten of my mother's guards, whom I thought to be valiant warriors, with us but when those filthy curs caught us unawares, two were killed and the rest fled. I'll have their heads on pikes if we ever find them!
"May I ask your name? My mother will be most grateful for rescuing me and returning us. Tell me, how did you know where to find me?"
Kyrsa nods to Akyan, "I agree, that would be our best option. We don't want to get in a head on battle when we don't know how many people we are going up against. Though, I am not against taking out a few of the lessers if we have a chance. From my experience, cutting off one head lets another grow in its place. It may result in disorder for a while, but if these targets have any sort of organization to them, they likely have a second in command who will rise to the occasion after their leader has been taken out." She looks to the rest of the group, "What do you think? I'm not saying we should go searching for individuals who might take up the leadership position, I'm just saying we should take them out if we have the chance. These groups will get no pity from me."
As she speaks, her blue tones shift to reds and oranges as she takes on her summer season. Her words seem angrier after the shift is complete.
Tamryn says, "Of course! We haven't been formally introduced. My name is Gorondarel. I hail from the Yuirwood, far to the northeast. My partner is Gretchen and you are unwise to dismiss her as a servant. She is quiet but quite clever. She has gotten me out of more than one scrape. She and I, well, let's just say we have reasons to hate slavers. We've made it our mission to make their business unprofitable. We have to keep moving about, of course; some people can't appreciate the value of the liberty we seek to provide. But we make do."
"A contact here in the city told us the time and the route of the caravan. We laid our trap and, honestly, I was as surprised to find you in that wagon as you were to find yourself in it. What a lovely thing is fate, no? Then, learning that you were from quality, well, things began to fall into place. I knew that we must immediately return you home."
"So, does your mother make a habit of sending you out so ill-guarded? That would surprise me. I'm sure that sending such cowards to protect you must have been an oversight on the part of one of her attaches."
Team Two sans Tamryn travels through the streets to the area of the Slave Market in South Athkatla. Duncan gave you some general directions and a hastily hand-drawn map before you parted ways. The eastern sky is beginning to lighten, and already merchants are starting to head to their shops to begin another day of buying, selling, haggling and worrying whether they will have enough to pay the bills by the time the sun sets.
Your party sticks to the shadows and avoids close contact with any of these early risers, and soon arrives at the closest of the three addresses. It is a warehouse two or three blocks off the main thoroughfare, and there are no nearby sources of light. The large warehouse doors as well as a smaller humanoid-sized door are shut and barred from within. There is a closed sliding peephole at eye level. Faint light seeps out under the door.
Fatima seems momentarily confused. "Gretchen is your dwarf companion? Then who is 'Annika' that helped you defeat the slavers? Well, no matter, I'm ever so grateful that you found us in time. Sir Gorondarel, I thank you, and once you return me to my family, we will be in your debt. And that is no light thing. Although, since you are not from Athkatla, I must warn you. My mother is a powerful woman, and I would advise you not to say things to her that might be misinterpreted. It was not her fault that the guards fled like cowardly dogs. And even if it were, do not say such a thing, it might have... fatal consequences."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tamryn feigns a look of confusion. "Annika? Did I say Annika? It's been so long since...never mind. That's all in the past. In any case, you and your kin don't need to feel indebted to me. I do this for the honor of the fight and the joy of bringing liberty to the entrapped. Now if you or your mother would like to provide support to the cause, that is your choice and I would not turn it away. The fight is hard and costly, in both lives and coin. But you should not feel an obligation. Returning you safely home is all the payment I need."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kyrsa nods to Jhaarteal, "Indeed, that would be wise." She looks to Akyan, "Whichever is closest I suppose. Though if we get there and it seems to well defended for us to safely carry out the mission, we should move on to another target."
When they reach their first mark, Kyrsa scans the area, searching for any potential weak spots or unguarded entrances. She would like to avoid the front door if possible...her best plan for getting through with deception was not one she'd really like to risk.
Perception: 12
As she looks for potential entrances, she turns to Akyan, "What do you think? One of us could try to scout out the perimeter, but I have a feeling there won't be many unguarded openings. This place seems pretty tightly locked up...unless we can find somewhere to spy through, we won't know how many enemies are inside there. I would like to avoid trying to lie our way through the front door...though if it comes to that..." She hesitates, clearly disgusted, "What races are the women listed to arrive at this warehouse? If it comes to it, Mina and I could pose as the cargo and you three can pose as the slavers. We would have to come up with an excuse for the lower number of...merchandise." She looks to Mina, knowing that the other woman was still reeling from her experience with Donegall, "Unless you have objections, which would be completely warranted."
She looks to Lydanaran and Jhaarteal, searching for their input as well. It is clear that she does not want to try the option she'd put forward, it just seems the most obvious ploy to her.
Mina listens to Kyrsa's idea and looks up to the other elf, "If there is no other way, I can handle that. Though even if it would get us in, I worry it would gather a lot of attention? That is not something we need. We should maybe start by checking out the perimeter?"
Circling around the building, there is one other humanoid-sized door, this one closed with a chain and sturdy-looking padlock. No light comes from this threshold. There are also a few windows high above the ground, making you think there might be a second story inside. The walls of the structure are covered with rough wooden siding.
Akyan seems slightly confused when Kyrsa starts asking him questions. He isn't used to being in the position of leadership. "Normally I would have been given at least a little bit of information about the place. But yes, scouting the perimeter would be the best option to begin with."
As they circle the perimeter, he takes in the surroundings and the structure of the building. "Currently, I see three options. One, we try to scale the walls and get in through a window. Two, We go to the front and try to bluff our way in. I doubt we could pass you off as merchandise. I'm pretty sure they were going to receive one entire wagon. But, we could be bringing bad news. I suppose you two could be what's left of the merchandise... Or, three, two of us try to scale the walls, while the other two try to bluff their way in."
Lyndaran had to be updated about the Guild Leader daughter for he was making sure that all the slavers were dead and helping team two to dispose of the corpses but he only nodded in agreement with Annika's plan and also was ready to go to the delivery points.
Once their initial scouting is done he replies to Akyan
" I do think that smooth talk will not make it this time. We should climb and go in, kill anyone who discover us as quietly as possible and try to find the leader of this operation. Probably is a leutenient or something like that but maybe we can squeeze the name of the leader before we dispose of them. "
Lyndaran seems to be tto inclined to take extreme measures with the slavers when he has shown restraint in other circumstances back in their training at the Farm.
Sorry guys I do really hope that things are going back to normal... at last!
"I agree," Kyrsa says. "Still, we cannot rule out 'smooth talk' just yet. As much as I would like to eliminate every last worm in that building, we have to consider that we might not have enough manpower to do so. Additionally, the likelihood of keeping a fight quiet is pretty slim unless the target is alone and we can get a clear shot at him without causing a racket. Our mission is to get in as quietly as possible, eliminate the leader and potentially the second in command, and get out before anyone has time to react."
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Akyan thinks for a moment, when he heard 'strike' he had automatically thought eliminate. Was that what Spar meant?
"I'm not sure, but I can still ask Spar, as long as he is still in range."
If Spar is still within a mile of Akyan, Akyan will ask him for clarification. "Do you want us to eliminate the targets, capture them, or just gather information on them?"
Akyan:
You receive the response, "Your team has a different focus than ours, i.e. subtlety and information-gathering, so I will not tell you how to accomplish your missions. The over-arching goal is to lessen evil influence in the city, and we have chosen to focus on the slave trade, but until you receive your orders from headquarters, the targets and methods are up to you. In my opinion, your focus should not be on taking out hordes of henchmen, but in making precision strikes on key targets that will cause the entire structure to collapse. These delivery sites would seem like key targets to me, but perhaps when you arrive you will find them to be only gateways to better intelligence and better targets. Will you destroy the hands that beat the slaves, or will you follow the trail back to the brain that directs the hands? If you do not feel comfortable making these decisions for yourselves, then it may be best to return to the safe house and wait for Aldara's summons to the new Farm.
"I will say this: Our team does not take prisoners. There are no detainment facilities in the safe house. If you acquire an asset that must be kept alive, it is up to you to arrange that, without compromising the DCL. Good luck!"
(By the way, I use spoilers to post info that is not immediately available to all characters. Players are welcome to read these to follow the narrative, but unless the character to whom they are addressed chooses to share, the other characters would not know the info contained.)
(Moving the story along...)
Tamryn manages to convince Fatima of his sincere intentions to return her and her friends home to her mother. The girl, in turn, makes no objections to the other women being evacuated to a place of refuge. (A monastery had previously been mentioned by Annika, but not the specific one, and Fatima does not seem to care enough to ask for specifics). Once the other wagons have left, Tamryn asks Fatima to remain in the back for the journey into the city, but she refuses, demanding to sit beside him in the driver's seat. Hearing this, Annika quietly goes to the rest of the team and asks them to hide in the trees, and follow along after the wagon as it returns to the city.
Tamryn drives the wagon back to the Sparandar gate, Fatima beside him, the maids and Annika in the back of the wagon. The rest of the team follows at a distance under the cover of darkness. As the wagon approaches the gate, the guards stop and challenge them. Before the rogue has a chance to answer, Fatima speaks up, "I am Fatima of House Dannihyr, and I demand you open up the gate at once and let us pass!" The guard looks quite startled, peering closer. Despite her disheveled appearance, he seems to recognize her and says, "Of course, my apologies, Lady Dannihyr," and then hisses to his companions, "open the gate now! quick!"
The large gate slowly creaks open, and the wagon passes through, all eyes on Fatima, which she pretends not to notice. The remainder of Team Two slips through after the wagon before the guards resume their vigilance.
You are all now back in the city. The Slaver's Market and the delivery addresses are to your west. The Safe house is to your north, and the Dannihyr estate is quite a bit north, across the river. It is presently about 5:30 AM, the sun has not yet come up.
Akyan turns to Mina after hearing what Spar as to say, "Spar recommends targeting the heads of whatever organizations these are. But It's really up to us what we are going to do. Honestly, I was going to suggest doing this anyway. Unless there is an alternative, I say we slip in take the eliminate the leaders and slip out."
Once they are in the city, Akyan will turn to the group, and wait to see what they want to do.
Tamryn drives the wagon in the direction of House Dannihyr, not hurrying nor delaying. "If you don't mind my asking, Lady Fatima, how did a lady, such as yourself, happen to be caught in the woods by low-grade thugs like the ones Annika and I bested? Surely you had men protecting you; why were they so incompetent? And you, I've seen you hold my blade, how many did you kill before they laid you low?"
Tamryn - lvl 4 Wood Elf Rogue - Circle of Light Campaign || Drusilla - lvl 1 Half-Elf Ranger - Sleeping Gods || Grrzark - lvl 1 Goblin Barbarian - Danger at Darkshelf Quarry || DM - LTG - Curse of Strahd
(We'll assume Spar or Annika gave Tamryn directions on how to get to the Dannihyr estate.)
Fatima blushes at the compliment. "Annika? Is that your dwarf servant? The two of you bested all those horrible slavers? My friends and I were headed out to one of the family's country estates to meet up with some of my cousins. Yes, we had ten of my mother's guards, whom I thought to be valiant warriors, with us but when those filthy curs caught us unawares, two were killed and the rest fled. I'll have their heads on pikes if we ever find them!
"May I ask your name? My mother will be most grateful for rescuing me and returning us. Tell me, how did you know where to find me?"
Kyrsa nods to Akyan, "I agree, that would be our best option. We don't want to get in a head on battle when we don't know how many people we are going up against. Though, I am not against taking out a few of the lessers if we have a chance. From my experience, cutting off one head lets another grow in its place. It may result in disorder for a while, but if these targets have any sort of organization to them, they likely have a second in command who will rise to the occasion after their leader has been taken out." She looks to the rest of the group, "What do you think? I'm not saying we should go searching for individuals who might take up the leadership position, I'm just saying we should take them out if we have the chance. These groups will get no pity from me."
As she speaks, her blue tones shift to reds and oranges as she takes on her summer season. Her words seem angrier after the shift is complete.
Jhaartael nods to Krysa's appraisal, "A little surveillance before heading in, may also be wise."
Eryndor - Red Dead Annihilation | GM - Volo's Trade Franchise - PF2e Adventures set in the Forgotten Realms
Tamryn says, "Of course! We haven't been formally introduced. My name is Gorondarel. I hail from the Yuirwood, far to the northeast. My partner is Gretchen and you are unwise to dismiss her as a servant. She is quiet but quite clever. She has gotten me out of more than one scrape. She and I, well, let's just say we have reasons to hate slavers. We've made it our mission to make their business unprofitable. We have to keep moving about, of course; some people can't appreciate the value of the liberty we seek to provide. But we make do."
"A contact here in the city told us the time and the route of the caravan. We laid our trap and, honestly, I was as surprised to find you in that wagon as you were to find yourself in it. What a lovely thing is fate, no? Then, learning that you were from quality, well, things began to fall into place. I knew that we must immediately return you home."
"So, does your mother make a habit of sending you out so ill-guarded? That would surprise me. I'm sure that sending such cowards to protect you must have been an oversight on the part of one of her attaches."
Tamryn - lvl 4 Wood Elf Rogue - Circle of Light Campaign || Drusilla - lvl 1 Half-Elf Ranger - Sleeping Gods || Grrzark - lvl 1 Goblin Barbarian - Danger at Darkshelf Quarry || DM - LTG - Curse of Strahd
"I agree," Akyan says to Kyrsa. After a moment of silence he says, "Shall we go then?" He holds up the papers, "Which do we want to hit first?"
Team Two sans Tamryn travels through the streets to the area of the Slave Market in South Athkatla. Duncan gave you some general directions and a hastily hand-drawn map before you parted ways. The eastern sky is beginning to lighten, and already merchants are starting to head to their shops to begin another day of buying, selling, haggling and worrying whether they will have enough to pay the bills by the time the sun sets.
Your party sticks to the shadows and avoids close contact with any of these early risers, and soon arrives at the closest of the three addresses. It is a warehouse two or three blocks off the main thoroughfare, and there are no nearby sources of light. The large warehouse doors as well as a smaller humanoid-sized door are shut and barred from within. There is a closed sliding peephole at eye level. Faint light seeps out under the door.
Fatima seems momentarily confused. "Gretchen is your dwarf companion? Then who is 'Annika' that helped you defeat the slavers? Well, no matter, I'm ever so grateful that you found us in time. Sir Gorondarel, I thank you, and once you return me to my family, we will be in your debt. And that is no light thing. Although, since you are not from Athkatla, I must warn you. My mother is a powerful woman, and I would advise you not to say things to her that might be misinterpreted. It was not her fault that the guards fled like cowardly dogs. And even if it were, do not say such a thing, it might have... fatal consequences."
Tamryn feigns a look of confusion. "Annika? Did I say Annika? It's been so long since...never mind. That's all in the past. In any case, you and your kin don't need to feel indebted to me. I do this for the honor of the fight and the joy of bringing liberty to the entrapped. Now if you or your mother would like to provide support to the cause, that is your choice and I would not turn it away. The fight is hard and costly, in both lives and coin. But you should not feel an obligation. Returning you safely home is all the payment I need."
(Deception roll: 20)
Tamryn - lvl 4 Wood Elf Rogue - Circle of Light Campaign || Drusilla - lvl 1 Half-Elf Ranger - Sleeping Gods || Grrzark - lvl 1 Goblin Barbarian - Danger at Darkshelf Quarry || DM - LTG - Curse of Strahd
Kyrsa nods to Jhaarteal, "Indeed, that would be wise." She looks to Akyan, "Whichever is closest I suppose. Though if we get there and it seems to well defended for us to safely carry out the mission, we should move on to another target."
When they reach their first mark, Kyrsa scans the area, searching for any potential weak spots or unguarded entrances. She would like to avoid the front door if possible...her best plan for getting through with deception was not one she'd really like to risk.
Perception: 12
As she looks for potential entrances, she turns to Akyan, "What do you think? One of us could try to scout out the perimeter, but I have a feeling there won't be many unguarded openings. This place seems pretty tightly locked up...unless we can find somewhere to spy through, we won't know how many enemies are inside there. I would like to avoid trying to lie our way through the front door...though if it comes to that..." She hesitates, clearly disgusted, "What races are the women listed to arrive at this warehouse? If it comes to it, Mina and I could pose as the cargo and you three can pose as the slavers. We would have to come up with an excuse for the lower number of...merchandise." She looks to Mina, knowing that the other woman was still reeling from her experience with Donegall, "Unless you have objections, which would be completely warranted."
She looks to Lydanaran and Jhaarteal, searching for their input as well. It is clear that she does not want to try the option she'd put forward, it just seems the most obvious ploy to her.
Mina listens to Kyrsa's idea and looks up to the other elf, "If there is no other way, I can handle that. Though even if it would get us in, I worry it would gather a lot of attention? That is not something we need. We should maybe start by checking out the perimeter?"
"Yes, I was putting it forward as a last resort," Kyrsa nods. "Checking the perimeter for other potential entrances would be best."
Circling around the building, there is one other humanoid-sized door, this one closed with a chain and sturdy-looking padlock. No light comes from this threshold. There are also a few windows high above the ground, making you think there might be a second story inside. The walls of the structure are covered with rough wooden siding.
Akyan seems slightly confused when Kyrsa starts asking him questions. He isn't used to being in the position of leadership. "Normally I would have been given at least a little bit of information about the place. But yes, scouting the perimeter would be the best option to begin with."
As they circle the perimeter, he takes in the surroundings and the structure of the building. "Currently, I see three options. One, we try to scale the walls and get in through a window. Two, We go to the front and try to bluff our way in. I doubt we could pass you off as merchandise. I'm pretty sure they were going to receive one entire wagon. But, we could be bringing bad news. I suppose you two could be what's left of the merchandise... Or, three, two of us try to scale the walls, while the other two try to bluff their way in."
Lyndaran had to be updated about the Guild Leader daughter for he was making sure that all the slavers were dead and helping team two to dispose of the corpses but he only nodded in agreement with Annika's plan and also was ready to go to the delivery points.
Once their initial scouting is done he replies to Akyan
" I do think that smooth talk will not make it this time. We should climb and go in, kill anyone who discover us as quietly as possible and try to find the leader of this operation. Probably is a leutenient or something like that but maybe we can squeeze the name of the leader before we dispose of them. "
Lyndaran seems to be tto inclined to take extreme measures with the slavers when he has shown restraint in other circumstances back in their training at the Farm.
Sorry guys I do really hope that things are going back to normal... at last!
PbP Character: A few ;)
"I agree," Kyrsa says. "Still, we cannot rule out 'smooth talk' just yet. As much as I would like to eliminate every last worm in that building, we have to consider that we might not have enough manpower to do so. Additionally, the likelihood of keeping a fight quiet is pretty slim unless the target is alone and we can get a clear shot at him without causing a racket. Our mission is to get in as quietly as possible, eliminate the leader and potentially the second in command, and get out before anyone has time to react."