The first Stockmer son to be reduced and be greased up by the servants is Ayaan Stockmer, the younger of the two. He does what is asked. He winces as he slides through the narrow opening but makes it through and down to the ground safely. He flattens himself against the wall.
Esa waits until he's down before gesturing for the other son. She casts the spell on him before ushering him to follow suit. She will do them one at a time, with Kellar being last.
In the end all four Stockmers, Alesia, and Old Kellar are reduced, greased, and squeezed through the narrow window. Baron Jonn Stockmer is in no condition to climb, so Leth fashions a chair from the rope and he is lowered down to his sons and wife.
"Bosun's chair," explains Leth. "I spent a lot of time on ships when I was younger. We used it to lower someone over the side for any reason."
In the end all four Stockmers, Alesia, and Old Kellar are reduced, greased, and squeezed through the narrow window. Baron Jonn Stockmer is in no condition to climb, so Leth fashions a chair from the rope and he is lowered down to his sons and wife.
"Bosun's chair," explains Leth. "I spent a lot of time on ships when I was younger. We used it to lower someone over the side for any reason."
Esa watches, impressed. "I give praise where it's due. Good thinking. Now stay with RL, I'm going to escort them to the treeline for safety, then I'll be back."
She wipes the sweat from her brow, knowing her magic is severely depleted now.
She flies down to 6 waiting below and points to the treeline ahead. "Move quickly. Run for the trees and hide in the bushes. I'm right behind you." To herself, she prays the rest of the party will have someone on lookout and see the group fleeing.
Sentry perception check (rolled on separate app): 10
In the rain and dark clouds covering the full moon the six make a slow escape as the two sons carry their father between them. They all make it to the tree line without detection.
Esa instructs everyone to remain in the tree line and not to come out unless she or the other Delvers come get them. "If we can't find you, wait until you hear the words 'Harken Barken' as a codeword to reveal yourselves.
She makes her way to where she suspects the rest of the party is hiding to give them an update before she heads back.
Esa knows where the other party members are and can fly to them and talk to them. She's got a sense of the patrolling sentries routine now and can time her movements with it.
They tell her about the predator they've heard in the woods, which is concerning. There isn't a significant amount of distance between where the Stockmers and Alesia are and the sound of the large predator.
Esa is unnerved by the idea of the predator. She tells the party about Old Kellar and the others hiding in the treeline. "RL and I are going to try to get the gate open. If you believe there's something prowling in the trees, maybe we should move them to somewhere else. I'll leave you all to make a choice, just call out Harken Barken to find them if you want them to come out of hiding. In the meantime, I'm going back to RL, I've already been away too long."
She will give as much detail as possible to the party regarding patrols, the layout inside and the people they've already encountered. She will also tell them to be careful of civilians that may try to flee through the gates once they are open, though they are hoping to avoid this so no one is hurt in crossfire.
Then she will leave them and make her way back to RL.
Grimbald's magic protects everyone from being detected, the three move into the woods, crouching behind a bush as a huge wolf, as big as a horse, trots past, part of a creature in its jaws. It moves on through the woods slowly, away from the trio and thankfully away from the escapees.
Grimbald, Vakiel, and Augustin move quietly to the area where Esa said she had left the escapees and call out the password. There is a brief discussion whether it is "Harken Barken" or "Barken Harken" but they try both.
The Stockmers emerge from behind bushes and trees, accompanied by a limping Alesia Gravelstoke and Old Kellar. Augustin raises his visor so they can see who it is and the family all come to hug him. Alesia goes to hug Vakiel. "I think I need a hug," she says. "It's been a bit of an ordeal." Old Kellar is happy just to nod to his rescuers.
RL once he has completed his short rest will ask the kitchen staff and Lith 'how many other staff are there in the keep that might want to escape? If we can get the drawbridge open would you be able to get to the other staff and get to them to come quietly and quickly to the north tower?'
'Lith, how does the mechanism for the drawbridge on the level above work? can a single person operate it easily? is there an exposed mechanism that could be sabotaged from the inside to keep it open once its open? do you know about the triple barred door in the north tower?'
The plan depending on the answers above would be RL goes as a spider up a level and scopes it out and either takes out the guard or starts to open the drawbridge, once either happens Lith and the kitchen staff come up the stairs and out through the drawbridge to warn the rest of the staff and Lith to open the triple barred door in the north tower, RL and Esa play defence keeping the guards contained until the staff can get clear, Esa can hopefully escape out a window and RL plan on shape changing into a fish and going out through the well if nothing else presents itself.
Grimbald's magic protects everyone from being detected, the three move into the woods, crouching behind a bush as a huge wolf, as big as a horse, trots past, part of a creature in its jaws. It moves on through the woods slowly, away from the trio and thankfully away from the escapees.
Grimbald, Vakiel, and Augustin move quietly to the area where Esa said she had left the escapees and call out the password. There is a brief discussion whether it is "Harken Barken" or "Barken Harken" but they try both.
The Stockmers emerge from behind bushes and trees, accompanied by a limping Alesia Gravelstoke and Old Kellar. Augustin raises his visor so they can see who it is and the family all come to hug him. Alesia goes to hug Vakiel. "I think I need a hug," she says. "It's been a bit of an ordeal." Old Kellar is happy just to nod to his rescuers.
Vakiel will tense watching Alesia approach, but lift her into his arms so she doesn’t have to walk.
”What now? We can’t leave them here & Stavros is waiting back at Old Kellers place. Do we 3 take them, split or send them unescorted?”
Leth tells you the drawbridge is a windlass system, operated by a hand crank, so one person can easily open or close the drawbridge. It is noisy, however. He considers maybe if it was done very slowly it might be less noisy. But taking time - up to half an hour - might increase chances of discovery as well. He's not sure how it could be sabotagued to stay down, it's not something he has considered so hasn't looked carefully at the mechanism. He grins ruefully. "We should have asked Old Kellar before he left."
Leth doesn't know anything about any secret triple-barred entrance to the north tower, he's never heard anyone talk about it.
Thanis Puddifoot, head of the servants of the Great Tower, tells you that the chief cook is an old dwarf named Kergud and 11 other staff who are prisoners of the Iron Circle. They all bunk in area 13.
Ground floor. The drawbridge and mechanism to open is on the first floor of the Great Tower so not shown here. The drawbridge drops to the stairs at 18 and the party will then have to head to the north tower, after retrieving the other dozen staff from 13 (can go in via kitchen door at 15). But there are sentry guards in the towers who look out every now and then - hopefully out beyond the castle not in the courtyard - and there are devils who do not sleep in the desecrated chapel at 16 who sometimes come out to patrol.
Grimbald's magic protects everyone from being detected, the three move into the woods, crouching behind a bush as a huge wolf, as big as a horse, trots past, part of a creature in its jaws. It moves on through the woods slowly, away from the trio and thankfully away from the escapees.
Grimbald, Vakiel, and Augustin move quietly to the area where Esa said she had left the escapees and call out the password. There is a brief discussion whether it is "Harken Barken" or "Barken Harken" but they try both.
The Stockmers emerge from behind bushes and trees, accompanied by a limping Alesia Gravelstoke and Old Kellar. Augustin raises his visor so they can see who it is and the family all come to hug him. Alesia goes to hug Vakiel. "I think I need a hug," she says. "It's been a bit of an ordeal." Old Kellar is happy just to nod to his rescuers.
Vakiel will tense watching Alesia approach, but lift her into his arms so she doesn’t have to walk.
”What now? We can’t leave them here & Stavros is waiting back at Old Kellers place. Do we 3 take them, split or send them unescorted?”
'thank you all for your information, forgive my manners, could you please all give me your names so I can refer to you properly? RL will ask Lith and the kitchen staff, have any of you been in the north tower? on the ground floor? There should be some sort of secret door on the east side of the room
The first Stockmer son to be reduced and be greased up by the servants is Ayaan Stockmer, the younger of the two. He does what is asked. He winces as he slides through the narrow opening but makes it through and down to the ground safely. He flattens himself against the wall.
Esa waits until he's down before gesturing for the other son. She casts the spell on him before ushering him to follow suit. She will do them one at a time, with Kellar being last.
In the end all four Stockmers, Alesia, and Old Kellar are reduced, greased, and squeezed through the narrow window. Baron Jonn Stockmer is in no condition to climb, so Leth fashions a chair from the rope and he is lowered down to his sons and wife.
"Bosun's chair," explains Leth. "I spent a lot of time on ships when I was younger. We used it to lower someone over the side for any reason."
Esa watches, impressed. "I give praise where it's due. Good thinking. Now stay with RL, I'm going to escort them to the treeline for safety, then I'll be back."
She wipes the sweat from her brow, knowing her magic is severely depleted now.
She flies down to 6 waiting below and points to the treeline ahead. "Move quickly. Run for the trees and hide in the bushes. I'm right behind you." To herself, she prays the rest of the party will have someone on lookout and see the group fleeing.
RL will go into a store room in the barracks or kitchen and have a short rest behind what ever cover he can find while he waits for Esa to return.
Sentry perception check (rolled on separate app): 10
In the rain and dark clouds covering the full moon the six make a slow escape as the two sons carry their father between them. They all make it to the tree line without detection.
Leth puts Igron's body in a cell and locks the guard room door, then closes the door to the bunkroom. He speaks quietly, explaining his actions.
"Just in case Balasar comes down again, although it might be someone else on guard up there now."
The six staff huddle quietly, whispering among themselves.
Esa instructs everyone to remain in the tree line and not to come out unless she or the other Delvers come get them. "If we can't find you, wait until you hear the words 'Harken Barken' as a codeword to reveal yourselves.
She makes her way to where she suspects the rest of the party is hiding to give them an update before she heads back.
Esa knows where the other party members are and can fly to them and talk to them. She's got a sense of the patrolling sentries routine now and can time her movements with it.
They tell her about the predator they've heard in the woods, which is concerning. There isn't a significant amount of distance between where the Stockmers and Alesia are and the sound of the large predator.
Where I imagine everyone is:
G,V,A = heroes waiting
Esa is unnerved by the idea of the predator. She tells the party about Old Kellar and the others hiding in the treeline. "RL and I are going to try to get the gate open. If you believe there's something prowling in the trees, maybe we should move them to somewhere else. I'll leave you all to make a choice, just call out Harken Barken to find them if you want them to come out of hiding. In the meantime, I'm going back to RL, I've already been away too long."
She will give as much detail as possible to the party regarding patrols, the layout inside and the people they've already encountered. She will also tell them to be careful of civilians that may try to flee through the gates once they are open, though they are hoping to avoid this so no one is hurt in crossfire.
Then she will leave them and make her way back to RL.
Grimbald casts Pass Without Trace (each add plus 10 to Stealth roll) 21 to then skirt around the keep, wary of the nearby predator.
Grimbald's magic protects everyone from being detected, the three move into the woods, crouching behind a bush as a huge wolf, as big as a horse, trots past, part of a creature in its jaws. It moves on through the woods slowly, away from the trio and thankfully away from the escapees.
Grimbald, Vakiel, and Augustin move quietly to the area where Esa said she had left the escapees and call out the password. There is a brief discussion whether it is "Harken Barken" or "Barken Harken" but they try both.
The Stockmers emerge from behind bushes and trees, accompanied by a limping Alesia Gravelstoke and Old Kellar. Augustin raises his visor so they can see who it is and the family all come to hug him. Alesia goes to hug Vakiel. "I think I need a hug," she says. "It's been a bit of an ordeal." Old Kellar is happy just to nod to his rescuers.
RL once he has completed his short rest will ask the kitchen staff and Lith 'how many other staff are there in the keep that might want to escape? If we can get the drawbridge open would you be able to get to the other staff and get to them to come quietly and quickly to the north tower?'
'Lith, how does the mechanism for the drawbridge on the level above work? can a single person operate it easily? is there an exposed mechanism that could be sabotaged from the inside to keep it open once its open? do you know about the triple barred door in the north tower?'
The plan depending on the answers above would be RL goes as a spider up a level and scopes it out and either takes out the guard or starts to open the drawbridge, once either happens Lith and the kitchen staff come up the stairs and out through the drawbridge to warn the rest of the staff and Lith to open the triple barred door in the north tower, RL and Esa play defence keeping the guards contained until the staff can get clear, Esa can hopefully escape out a window and RL plan on shape changing into a fish and going out through the well if nothing else presents itself.
Vakiel will tense watching Alesia approach, but lift her into his arms so she doesn’t have to walk.
”What now? We can’t leave them here & Stavros is waiting back at Old Kellers place. Do we 3 take them, split or send them unescorted?”
Leth tells you the drawbridge is a windlass system, operated by a hand crank, so one person can easily open or close the drawbridge. It is noisy, however. He considers maybe if it was done very slowly it might be less noisy. But taking time - up to half an hour - might increase chances of discovery as well. He's not sure how it could be sabotagued to stay down, it's not something he has considered so hasn't looked carefully at the mechanism. He grins ruefully. "We should have asked Old Kellar before he left."
Leth doesn't know anything about any secret triple-barred entrance to the north tower, he's never heard anyone talk about it.
Thanis Puddifoot, head of the servants of the Great Tower, tells you that the chief cook is an old dwarf named Kergud and 11 other staff who are prisoners of the Iron Circle. They all bunk in area 13.
Ground floor. The drawbridge and mechanism to open is on the first floor of the Great Tower so not shown here. The drawbridge drops to the stairs at 18 and the party will then have to head to the north tower, after retrieving the other dozen staff from 13 (can go in via kitchen door at 15). But there are sentry guards in the towers who look out every now and then - hopefully out beyond the castle not in the courtyard - and there are devils who do not sleep in the desecrated chapel at 16 who sometimes come out to patrol.
'thank you all for your information, forgive my manners, could you please all give me your names so I can refer to you properly? RL will ask Lith and the kitchen staff, have any of you been in the north tower? on the ground floor? There should be some sort of secret door on the east side of the room
First Floor (even though it says 2nd floor, the mapmaker doesn't seem to know how flooring nomenclature works)
The drawbridge and activating mechanism for the Great Tower are at 23.
The staff give a little bow or curtsy as they introduce themselves:
All show some signs of physical abuse.
They all look confused with the talk about a secret door. Looks like no one knew anything about it. Perhaps just how the Baron wanted it. :)