Finley nods and hmms. He makes sure to step away from the prison area, motioning for the others to follow, so that he can work his magic on a coin quickly, "Here ye go, perhaps change inta an animal so ye can determine the reaction the prisoner gives to th' image perhaps?"

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Finley nods and hmms. He makes sure to step away from the prison area, motioning for the others to follow, so that he can work his magic on a coin quickly, "Here ye go, perhaps change inta an animal so ye can determine the reaction the prisoner gives to th' image perhaps?"

Valrieth explains that when she summons a wild spirit companion like that, the spirit is linked with her.  She can influence what it does and even use its eyes and ears as long as it's not too far away.  The druids call that "beast sense."  So, if the bird can get into the prisoner's cell, Val would know how the prisoner reacted.  But Finley or Gan-Re would need to protect her while she's doing that since Val would be blind and deaf to her surroundings while she's using beast sense like that.

The advantage of Val turning into an animal herself would be that she could change back into her own form once she's in the hut.  Then she could talk to the prisoner.  If Val had the key, she would be able to release the prisoner.  But, of course, Val cannot whisper, so it would be difficult to do any of that while the guard is right outside the hut.

What do the others think?  Val is more inclined to use the wild companion just to deliver a message and receive the prisoner's initial response.  She would need someone to protect her while she's using "beast sense," and they may need someone else to distract the guard so that he doesn't try to block or kill the companion before it reaches the prisoner.

"Do that then, I believe that is th' best course o' action at th' moment.  Ah can keep a hand on yer shoulder, Gan-Re will definitely play guard, aye?" Finley looks over to Gan-Re.

"Well, I'm a bit rested now. It sounds like a good plan Val. Or I could try to steal the key if someone created a distraction. However if we are caught it means a fight"

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"Do that then, I believe that is th' best course o' action at th' moment.  Ah can keep a hand on yer shoulder, Gan-Re will definitely play guard, aye?" Finley looks over to Gan-Re.

Valrieth takes the enchanted coin and presses it to see that it projects Sir Talavar's image.  Then she releases it and smiles brightly at Finley, saying, "Good!  Since the guard hasn't met Gan-Re, yet, we should probably have him go talk to the guard.  That way, if the guard is blocking the door, Gan-Re can hopefully distract him enough for my wild companion to make it into the hut.  Finley, you can stay here with me to make sure that I'm safe when I'm using beast sense.  If things start to go very badly, and I need to come back to my own senses, just shout 'Pickles' as loudly as you can.  If I hear that while I'm in the bird's mind, I'll know that I need to come back to my own senses."

Quote from KudosWyvernspur >>

"Well, I'm a bit rested now. It sounds like a good plan Val. Or I could try to steal the key if someone created a distraction. However if we are caught it means a fight"

Valrieth cocks her head to the side, thinking for a moment, and then says, "No, I think that we should contact the prisoner first before we try to steal they key and break them out.  But, of course, if you see a great opportunity to get the key, you could try to take it.  If things go badly, this could quickly turn into a jail break anyway, so everyone should be ready!"

Val tears a little slip of paper from her notebook and writes

Press the coin. Three friends are coming to help.  Be ready!

Then she wraps the slip of paper once around the coin and ties it together with a piece of string.

She sits down with Finley at the west end of the boardwalk that leads to D8, putting them maybe 25' from the door. While Gan-Re walks up to the hut, Val summons a wild companion in the form of an owl, which swoops down from above, landing quietly near Val.  Val looks intently at the owl, communicating wordlessly with it.  She carefully offers the paper-wrapped coin, and the owl clutches it in one of its claws before flying up and away in an arc that takes it first out over the water before flying back in a counterclockwise arc toward D8.

Val tells Finley, "Remember: 'Pickles.'"  Then she takes a deep breath and half closes her big eyes, sending her senses to her wild companion and advising it to wait until there's enough room for it to swoop through the door and into the cell on the left with the prisoner.

The owls is there and Val sees through its eyes. The owl waits and then swoops into the Holding cells at your direction. It gently places the coin in the cell. The figure in rags quickly takes the coin and turns its back to the mangrove bars so the guard would not see the message. The prisoner reads the message and looks around hopeful as she holds onto the coin.

The guard then shoos the owl away. "Get out you bloomin pest, there is no food for your here"

As the owl flies back out of the hut, Valrieth snaps out of her trance.  She tells Finley, "That worked!  The prisoner got our message, and she's waiting for our help.  We need to get the key from the guard or give you and Gan-Re enough time to pick the lock on the cell.  I just hope that we don't have to kill the guard."

Val will let the owl fly up into the branches that stick out of the north side of the roof of D11.  She does not dismiss the wild companion, yet: she hopes to use the owl to scout out their next destination after they're done at the Holding Cells.

Val gets up and says, "Come on!  I have an idea for something that might distract the guard so that Gan-Re can take the key or maybe even get him to open the prisoner's cell.  Just be ready to draw the guard's attention to the 'water weird'."   She walks with Finley toward D8 to join Gan-Re at the door there.

(OOC: I now realize that the squares on the Downfall map are 10' squares, not 5' squares, so when she was at the end of the boardwalk, Val and Finley were nearly 50' from D8.  Not really important, but it's good to keep in mind in case we have to run for it.)

"Yes picking the lock may be easier. A key might be missed and is hard to explain if we are caught using it. However we may be able to bluff being near a door. Best to keep our options open I guess"  Gan-Re follows Val to see what happens 

Finley cracks his knuckles and follows the others, "Good job Val! Ah'll back ye up all that ah can."

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"Yes picking the lock may be easier. A key might be missed and is hard to explain if we are caught using it. However we may be able to bluff being near a door. Best to keep our options open I guess"  Gan-Re follows Val to see what happens 

Before they get close to the hut or any other bullywugs, Valrieth says, "OK.  Well, I noticed that the adjoining cell was covered in water.  I was going Shape Water into a form that would hopefully get the guard's attention or at least give us a good excuse to get into the hut with the guard so that we're not in plain view of the Proving Grounds.  From there, we'd have to improvise.  The goal is to free the prisoner however we can.  If we can get the key, we'd be able to free her quickly, maybe before the guard even notices.  If not, then we'll need to distract or disable the guard long enough to break the prisoner out without anyone in the Proving Grounds noticing."

Then Val comes to an abrupt stop on the boardwalk as she suddenly says, "Oh!"  

Val's energy and excitement fades as she explains the next puzzle: "I just realized...what are we going to do once we free her?  The boardwalk to the east dead-ends into the shop with the storm cloud.  To the south is the king's palace and the proving grounds: we'd surely be caught if we go that way.  And if we head back the way we came, we'll run into the king himself.  Assuming that we can open her cell, how are we going to get the prisoner out of here so that we can talk to her without getting caught or having to fight through all of these bullywugs?"

"Can we just put them in the hole? I could fly them out of town and be back in a jiffy."

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"Can we just put them in the hole? I could fly them out of town and be back in a jiffy."

"Oh!  What a great idea, Gan-Re!  I forgot all about the hole." 

Valrieth glances up to the branches that reach through the palace building (D11), and the owl takes flight again.  This time, it flies in a loop around the roof of the holding cells (D8) and then flies into the fog to the south.  She has mentally asked the owl to fly south, find solid ground, enough for Gan-Re to lie down and spread his wings, and then return to the tree.

"I've sent the owl to check whether there's solid land nearby on the other side of the palace.  We don't want to trap anyone in the hole for too long, and you'll need solid ground for opening the hole again!  And I'm not sure whether you need to come back.  If we free the prisoner, the king's knights will soon be looking for all of us.  So, you may need to fly all of us out of the town...or at least across the water so that we can stay ahead of any pursuers."

(OOC: since an owl can dash 120 ft. / round flying, it should just take Val's wild companion 3 or 4 rounds to fly across the water, find the shore on the other side, and then return to the branches on the north side of the palace (D11) again.  Once the owl returns, Val can confirm that there's a channel of water somewhat wider than the one where they arrived (D1) earlier.  But on the other side of that water, there's solid land and more boardwalks like the other ones they've been using in Downfall.)

"How much air do they 'ave while being in that space? Enough for us ta make a clean getaway from any prying eyes? We need to make sure th' guard don't see th' prisoner is gone while we're around at th' very least. Also ah don't know if it'd be wise for us to come back this way if we do free her.." Finley tugs at his beard, "We do have this quest we've undertaken for th' king, is it wise to burn this bridge 'afore we even disembark?"

"Good point Finley, we either need to be sneaky or have a way to talk ourselves out of trouble. I must admit when I talk it often causes trouble rather than starts it. Ohh, maybe we need a alibi or a Disguise. So no one knows it was us"

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"How much air do they 'ave while being in that space? Enough for us ta make a clean getaway from any prying eyes? We need to make sure th' guard don't see th' prisoner is gone while we're around at th' very least. Also ah don't know if it'd be wise for us to come back this way if we do free her.." Finley tugs at his beard, "We do have this quest we've undertaken for th' king, is it wise to burn this bridge 'afore we even disembark?"

"It's scary being in the closed-up 'portable cave', but it's quite large.  I guess that you, the prisoner, and I could all survive for at least a minute in there, probably longer.  As long as Gan-Re doesn't get captured or get into a big fight, he should be able to reach land south of the channel in time to open the hole and let us out."

"Yes, we accepted a mission from the king, but I don't like the king.  Remember that the king has the heads of his enemies on spikes!  The prisoner apparently helped to free Sir Talavar from Bavlorna, and she's scheduled to be executed for it!  Sir Talavar seemed honorable, and I would free her just for the aide that she provided to him.  But she's also the only bullywug we've seen who may be willing and able to give us more information about Bavlorna's hut."

"To get out of Hither, we need Clapperclaw.  And to get Clapperclaw's help, we need to find his head.  Based on his story, it seems likely that his head is in Bavlorna's hut."

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"Good point Finley, we either need to be sneaky or have a way to talk ourselves out of trouble. I must admit when I talk it often causes trouble rather than starts it. Ohh, maybe we need a alibi or a Disguise. So no one knows it was us"

"Finley already tried to talk our way past the guard to 'question the prisoner.'  That didn't work.  Maybe with Gan-Re at our back, Finley could try again?  It would be ideal if the guard would just let us in!   If that's not working, we could always fall back to my idea with shape water. It's all risky, but once they come to take her to her execution, I don't think we'll get a better chance to free the prisoner than we have now when there's only one guard."

"Once we're in the hut with access to the prisoner, we just need to get the guard outside for a few moments.  That way, we could get the prisoner into the hole while the guard isn't looking.  We could claim that the prisoner simply 'vanished', and we don't know where she went.  Gan-Re could immediately fly south of the channel or even farther outside of Downfall to release the prisoner before coming back to report that he couldn't find her..."

"But, is that better?  If we say that the prisoner just vanished, and we don't know where she went, the king might decide to arrest us anyway.  If Finley and I also jump in the hole to escape, then it's clear that we helped the prisoner, but we'll also have a head start in getting away from the king's knights.  If Gan-Re flies south of the channel and lets us out there, that should give us a bit of a head start.  I guess it'll take some time for word of the escape to spread among the bullywugs, and they'll have to get into their boats and then row across the channel."

"Or...once we free the prisoner, I guess we could also try going directly to Bavlorna's hut.  It doesn't sound like the bullywugs would search for us there.  I was hoping not to face Bavlorna until tomorrow since I now have the right components to prepare other spells.  But I guess we could try to go and simply return the book, hoping that Bavlorna won't attack us if we're polite."

"I'm happy to try any scheme, but I think that we should try to prevent the prisoner's execution, if we can."

"It's never good to be associated with a crime. Some nobles will just pick up the closest people who look different" You see Gan-Re shudder at this, you can assume this has happened to him in the past "In the stories the criminals always pretend to be someone else when the crime is happening. Could we pretend to be somewhere else and have your animal companion distract the guard while we break them out?"

Quote from KudosWyvernspur >>

"It's never good to be associated with a crime. Some nobles will just pick up the closest people who look different" You see Gan-Re shudder at this, you can assume this has happened to him in the past "In the stories the criminals always pretend to be someone else when the crime is happening. Could we pretend to be somewhere else and have your animal companion distract the guard while we break them out?"

Valrieth sounds unsure: "Well, we'd need the guard to move far enough away from the hut for one of us to get in undetected, right?  How would an owl do that?  Maybe the owl could somehow get the guard's key, but...how would the owl do that?"

"Maybe...what if there were some sort of emergency nearby?  Do you think that the guard would leave his post to help?  Like, what if the palace caught fire?  Could we do that without getting caught?  Finley and I could be at the palace when Gan-Re 'notices' the fire from a distance while talking to the guard.  Finley and I could help fight the fire, so we're clearly not near the Holding Cells.  If the guard leaves his post to help with the fire, Gan-Re could quickly sneak into the Holding Cells and get the prisoner into the hole.  Once he lets her out, he could return to help with the fire, too."

"But...it'll all be for nothing if the guard remains at the Holding Cells despite the fire!"

"It could be worth a shot as long as it's believable enough, but two fires in th' same day and us bein' around fer both o' them and then a prisoner perhaps goin' missing around th' same time could be too much." Finley thinks some more, "Ye think it's important enough ta get them outta th' cell? Help us get to Zybilna? If so then ah'm willin' to give it a try."

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"It could be worth a shot as long as it's believable enough, but two fires in th' same day and us bein' around fer both o' them and then a prisoner perhaps goin' missing around th' same time could be too much." Finley thinks some more, "Ye think it's important enough ta get them outta th' cell? Help us get to Zybilna? If so then ah'm willin' to give it a try."

Valrieth's voice is gentle but firm with conviction: "Yes, I think so.  You know -- when I left my hermitage, I just wanted to make new friends and travel while I looked for the Path that the Fates had laid for me.  I never planned to be a great Hero on a Quest.  But if my Path leads me to be a Hero, I want to be one who fights for Good."

Val's voice becomes a bit dreamier as she continues, almost as though she's talking to herself, "Sir Talavar was captured by Bavlorna, and this prisoner defied the hag to free him.  She sounds selfless and noble, and I think she's more deserving of our help than any of these other bullywugs we've met.  Isn't that the kind of Hero you want to be?"

You're not sure whether that last question was for you or for herself.  Val suddenly blinks and looks a bit embarrassed.  "Besides!", she says more briskly, "The Stars seem to be leading us to a confrontation with Bavlorna.  This prisoner seems like the only one who has defied the hag and been inside her home.  Freeing her seems like our best opportunity to get more information before we have to face Bavlorna ourselves!"

"The right way is not always the easy way. We have important work to do and children to save. But I do not want to look in the mirror tomorrow and see a bird we flew by when someone needed help."