Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Brand will move slowly as possible, pausing to cough occasionally. If they tell him to go faster he will say this is as far as he can go in the darkness -- though he still has darkvision -- and it's faster than them dragging him .

I'm hoping to hear sounds from the seeker.

[[Make a Perception check at disadvantage, if you are going to try talking with the guards as I see you plan to do in later comments.]]

Are either of the guards affected by smoke?

[[Yes. They are both coughing a bit. The smell is quite bad: burning rat flesh and hair.]]

If he wants to get stone into glove, could he do it unobserved, eg by bowing his head, and having a coughing fit? 

[[The guard behind him would have little chance of seeing him do anything with his bandolier because of Brand's cloak and backpack. The guy in front might because he is actively keeping an eye on Brand. However, he is also walking backwards at a crouch and so is somewhat disadvantaged at the moment.]]

It's possible he will do something before end of tunnel, so let me know exact details and distances before then... And how they might be varying as he goes, eg if the one facing him is coughing, or varies their distance, or if their available light varies etc]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Where is their light coming fron, btw? Also, Brand tries to remember face of man in front of him, Will(?), and any others he sees ]]

[[At the moment, seeing faces is not really possible because everyone is bent down looking at the ground as they move along.]]

[[Brand doesn't quite know where the available light is coming from in the beginning, but whatever is providing the light leaves when they are about halfway to the entrance of the tunnel. At this point, Will curses and stops.]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

 [[There is no response from the Seeker and Halam just grunts when his name is mentioned.]]

[[ Brand would have glanced back to speak; still also speaking loudly, perhaps shouting over the sounds of weter; was the seeker still visible in the tunnel behind? ]]

[[Brand cannot see past Halam because of the smoke and the confined space in the tunnel, and Halam tells him to shut up and keep walking.]]

[[ Do the rats hear him ? ]]

[[Brand can't possibly know this.]]

[[All the previous responses were done during lunch, but that's it for now.]]

[[Make a Perception check at disadvantage, if you are going to try talking with the guards as I see you plan to do in later comments.]]

[[ The way I see it, he has several rounds (if we were in melee). Not all will be talking, so, around the time he talks, I get that he has disadvantage, but at other times? Not sure why. Also, I'm hoping the Seeker is engaged in some way, and making sounds each 'round' as well. Do I get a roll for each period of time? Or each separate instance he makes a new sound?

Also, this is passive stuff (I'm not trying to hear what spell he is casting, or what he is saying), I'm hoping to hear if there are more or less squeaks, the sound of fighting, or more or less screams...ie. just gathering information from his innate senses.

[[One leftover question:]]

Are the guards wearing Donnae guard attire?

[[This is what I wrote before I saw your comment where Halam told him to "shut up" (I was still writing when you were, I think):]]

When he gets no reply from the Seeker, Brand starts moving forward slowly again and pauses to cough, then speaks to the guard ahead of him, "Will, is it? The Seeker seems quite a capable man; Donnae is fortunate to have such good servants. Have you worked with him long?"

[[ Shall I just assume the "shut up" came when he started to speak again? or just after he addressed the seeker...either way, he shuts up.  Let me know when to do a perception roll, and how many, and if it/they are at disadvantage (see below for when it goes dark: that seems a good time). If there will be one-check-to-rule them-all, then I will wait until there has been more time for the Seeker to act, or the rats to move before taking the roll; let me know; getting the best info when he nears the end of the tunnel is the most useful time to roll; though I am still just after details of what he sees ahead (not much, I assume) and hears from back in the tunnel.]]

Also, Brand tries to remember face of man in front of him, Will(?), and any others he sees.

[[At the moment, seeing faces is not really possible because everyone is bent down looking at the ground as they move along.]]

[[Brand doesn't quite know where the available light is coming from in the beginning, but whatever is providing the light leaves when they are about halfway to the entrance of the tunnel. At this point, Will curses and stops.]]

[[ And that's when he puts the levitation stone in his glove again, covering any noise with a cough, and hunching himself over. ]]

[[ Is now a good time for a perception check? And separately to see what what Will is doing? Brand is mainly interested in sounds from behind. ]]

[[ I'm tempted to say "I've got a bad feeling about this", but I don't want to wreck my perception check, or be tooo hackneyed ;-) ]]

[[ And one more question: How big are the rats? ROUS or just RONS? I assume since you are talking swarming behaviour, then we just have a bunch of nasty normal rats. ]]

[[ Do the rats hear him ? ]]

[[Brand can't possibly know this.]]

Yeah. Should I stop giving not-so-subtle prompts? ;-)

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

As he moves slowly forward, between coughing fits, Brand speaks to the guard ahead of him, "Will, is it? The Seeker seems quite a capable man; Donnae is fortunate to have such good servants. Have you worked with him long?"

[[ Are the guards wearing Donnae guard attire? ]]

[[With the lighting and situation as it is, Brand finds it hard to tell, even with his Darkvision. Basically, they are wearing black studded leather with similarly dark helmets, which is the right colour scheme for Donai, but as Aiedan guards wear similar uniforms in dark blue; they could also be from that temple to that temple. However, the man Halam, when Brand saw him the first time, was wearing black, so he at least is from the Donai Temple.]]

"No talking, you," says Will between coughing fits of his own. "Now come on, my back is starting to give me jip from being bent over like this for so long and I want to get out of this smoke."

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[Make a Perception check at disadvantage, if you are going to try talking with the guards as I see you plan to do in later comments.]]

[[ The way I see it, he has several rounds (if we were in melee). Not all will be talking, so, around the time he talks, I get that he has disadvantage, but at other times? Not sure why. Also, I'm hoping the Seeker is engaged in some way, and making sounds each 'round' as well. Do I get a roll for each period of time? Or each separate instance he makes a new sound?

Also, this is passive stuff (I'm not trying to hear what spell he is casting, or what he is saying), I'm hoping to hear if there are more or less squeaks, the sound of fighting, or more or less screams...ie. just gathering information from his innate senses.

[[One leftover question:]]

Are the guards wearing Donnae guard attire?

[[This is what I wrote before I saw your comment where Halam told him to "shut up" (I was still writing when you were, I think):]]

When he gets no reply from the Seeker, Brand starts moving forward slowly again and pauses to cough, then speaks to the guard ahead of him, "Will, is it? The Seeker seems quite a capable man; Donnae is fortunate to have such good servants. Have you worked with him long?"

[[ Shall I just assume the "shut up" came when he started to speak again? or just after he addressed the seeker...either way, he shuts up.  Let me know when to do a perception roll, and how many, and if it/they are at disadvantage (see below for when it goes dark: that seems a good time). If there will be one-check-to-rule them-all, then I will wait until there has been more time for the Seeker to act, or the rats to move before taking the roll; let me know; getting the best info when he nears the end of the tunnel is the most useful time to roll; though I am still just after details of what he sees ahead (not much, I assume) and hears from back in the tunnel.]]

I'm hoping to hear sounds from the seeker.

[[Make a Perception check at disadvantage, if you are going to try talking with the guards as I see you plan to do in later comments.]]

 

[[The call for the Perception check was based on the above, and was going to be at disadvantage if Brand was going to try speaking to the guards at the same time. However, the call for a check at disadvantage was then superseded by other events; this was because I fell behind. From what I understand of your intent, the Perception check should not be made at disadvantage, but the DC will be higher because there is more distance involved and time has progressed.]]

Also, Brand tries to remember face of man in front of him, Will(?), and any others he sees.

[[At the moment, seeing faces is not really possible because everyone is bent down looking at the ground as they move along.]]

[[Brand doesn't quite know where the available light is coming from in the beginning, but whatever is providing the light leaves when they are about halfway to the entrance of the tunnel. At this point, Will curses and stops.]]

[[ And that's when he puts the levitation stone in his glove again, covering any noise with a cough, and hunching himself over. ]]

[[Make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to do this.]]

[[ Is now a good time for a perception check? And separately to see what what Will is doing? Brand is mainly interested in sounds from behind. ]]

[[I would say, either before or after would be better. At the moment, Brand is concentrating on his action not being seen. However, see above about the check no longer being at disadvantage.]]

[[ I'm tempted to say "I've got a bad feeling about this", but I don't want to wreck my perception check, or be tooo hackneyed ;-) ]]

[[ And one more question: How big are the rats? ROUS or just RONS? I assume since you are talking swarming behaviour, then we just have a bunch of nasty normal rats. ]]

[[Correct. The bodies that Brand has seen are those of normal rats, not ROUS.]]

Sleight of Hand: 22

[[I would say, either before or after would be better. At the moment, Brand is concentrating on his action not being seen. However, see above about the check no longer being at disadvantage.]]

[[ From my PoV, the critical timing is doing stone when it is dark, especially given that he can pause (everyone stopped when it was dark); getting that done as smoothly as possible is the most important. He has no control on the timing, it's just an opportunity he seized as soon as it happened (in my mind he was waiting for a "good time" to do this -- I expected it might be everyone getting distracted by sounds from behind, but darkness is even better).

The next step will be perception...and this I agree is him specifically trying to work out what is happening or just happened. That said, has there been any change on the ongoing situation before the lights went out?]]

Perception: 17

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

Sleight of Hand: 22

[[I would say, either before or after would be better. At the moment, Brand is concentrating on his action not being seen. However, see above about the check no longer being at disadvantage.]]

[[ From my PoV, the critical timing is doing stone when it is dark, especially given that he can pause (everyone stopped when it was dark); getting that done as smoothly as possible is the most important. He has no control on the timing, it's just an opportunity he seized as soon as it happened (in my mind he was waiting for a "good time" to do this -- I expected it might be everyone getting distracted by sounds from behind, but darkness is even better).

[[Brand has successfully transferred the Stone of Uplifting back into his glove without being seen.]]

The next step will be perception...and this I agree is him specifically trying to work out what is happening or just happened. That said, has there been any change on the ongoing situation before the lights went out?]]

Perception: 12

[[Brand is unable to hear anything happening behind him as he is being escorted out of the tunnel. Make a roll for experience.]]

Make a roll for experience.]

Perception XP: 10

[[ At least report, they were stationary, in the dark, and Will had cursed...he is in no hurry]]

[[ Brand remains stationary, continues listening, and looks at Will, and glances behind at Halam ]]

[[ Just checking; he's about half way out (so 20' from where he was). Originally he could hear rats, and a man begging to get the off him. Over that 20' movement has all that sound dropped to nothing? Was it originally very faint? Or has the 20' made that much difference? ]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

Make a roll for experience.]

Perception XP: 13

[[No experience, I'm afraid. The DC was 15.]]

[[ At least report, they were stationary, in the dark, and Will had cursed...he is in no hurry]]

[[ Brand remains stationary, continues listening, and looks at Will, and glances behind at Halam ]]

"Move along you," says Halam, giving Brand a shove. "And no funny business, or I'll shove this dagger where the sun don't shine."

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[ Just checking; he's about half way out (so 20' from where he was). Originally he could hear rats, and a man begging to get the off him. Over that 20' movement has all that sound dropped to nothing? Was it originally very faint? Or has the 20' made that much difference? ]]

[[The man was screaming, but the sound wasn't close. The screaming has stopped now, as has the sound of the rats.]]

"Move along you," says Halam, giving Brand a shove. "And no funny business, or I'll shove this dagger where the sun don't shine."

[[ Am I correct in saying there's no light in the tunnel? ]]

Brand starts moving again, this time as fast as the leader can manage, but when he gets near entrance, some description of what he sees would be very useful.

[[ Can Brand activate both stones when he wants to, now that they are both in his hands? ]]

 [[ Back to this map:

- How far from the tunnel entrance to the water?

- how wide is the path.

- how wide was ice?

- was path icy, or just water?

- Based on Seeker being 30' away when Brand was at tunnel, I assume stairs are roughly 35' away, is that right?

- in terms of initiative and combat, if Brand takes an action that possibly necesitates the initiation of combat (eg. turning invisible, or trying to run), how does initiative and action work?

- was it so cold in the cistern as to lead one to expect some ice? ]]

 [[ Reality check: by my estimate:

- Time since brand entered the sewers from the river is probably no more than 5 minutes, probably nearer 3...though I have no idea how long the tunnels were...something I would like to know.

- Time since Brand first appeared in cistern room is probably about 1 minute: 1-2 rounds to cross area, combat started.. He woke at round 5; I said maybe 5 rounds to get out of tunnel (which you neither agreed to nor disagreed with)...total 11-12 rounds.

Does that sound right?]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

"Move along you," says Halam, giving Brand a shove. "And no funny business, or I'll shove this dagger where the sun don't shine."

[[ Am I correct in saying there's no light in the tunnel? ]]

[[The closest light that Brand can see is the flickering of the ever-burning torches on the cistern room. This is coming in through the entrance of the tunnel but it is being blocked by Will.]]

Brand starts moving again, this time as fast as the leader can manage, but when he gets near entrance, some description of what he sees would be very useful.

[[He can't see much of anything because Will is in the way (see below though).]]

[[ Can Brand activate both stones when he wants to, now that they are both in his hands? ]]

[[Each stone takes an action to activate in a combat situation. We are currently not in combat though.]]

Seemingly in response to Halam's threat, Brand starts moving as fast as Will's progress will allow, which is not very fast.

As the light from the cistern room gets brighter, Brand hears a woman's voice call out, saying, "They're coming back out. Arse first... Is everything okay, Will?"

"Got us a prisoner," replies Will.

 [[Each stone takes an action to activate in a combat situation. We are currently not in combat though.]]

[[ OK...so Brand can activate the levitate one now, and just keep moving down the tunnel...as normal.]]

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

 [[ Back to this map:

- How far from the tunnel entrance to the water?

[[Less than five feet.]]

- how wide is the path.

[[The distance between the rim of the pool and the back wall of the cistern is a lot smaller than the map indicates, maybe two-and-a-half feet wide.]]

- how wide was ice?

[[The rim of ice is about five feet wide and it appears to be stuck to the side of the pool.]]

 

- was path icy, or just water?

[[There is no sign of ice outside the pool, but it is wrong to call it a path, as it is very narrow and not meant for the general public to use.]]

- Based on Seeker being 30' away when Brand was at tunnel, I assume stairs are roughly 35' away, is that right?

[[The bottom of the stairs are about 30' from the entrance to the tunnel.]]

- in terms of initiative and combat, if Brand takes an action that possibly necesitates the initiation of combat (eg. turning invisible, or trying to run), how does initiative and action work?

[[It depends on whether the action causes a round of surprise. If that happens, Initiative is rolled for all combatants, but only those who aren't surprised get to move in the surprise round.]]

- was it so cold in the cistern as to lead one to expect some ice? ]]

[[No. The ice is unnatural.]]