"Thank you Fergus, you have no idea how helpful you've been. Get yourself to safety, wherever that may be."
"I'll head home, Master Augustin," Fergus says, putting his hat back on and touching it deferentially. "I will pray for you, I will. And for your uncle and his family."
RL will cast around to find the scent of old Kellar and Alesia and see which direction they were taken. Perception check 23
Pretty much straight towards Harken Keep.
RL will woof at the party and point with his nose in the direction the trail is leading to before turning to look at the party over his shoulder while facing the scent trail as if to ask 'are we going?'
Grimbald finds something. It looks like there is a secret passage from the north tower to outside, but written in dwarvish in tiny script is a note explaining that it is always locked, no one can get in that way.
is it worth approaching this door and saying friend in Dwarvish? :)
"Old Kellar himself must have left this note for us, very thoughtful, unless he's being cryptic, but Im not too sure what cryptic looks like, I haven't learnt cryptic, but Im pretty sure its dwarvish, not cryptic. It says 'Eth eigur jr aat locd. Atur enth galjeva kjekje etta igur"
The party let Santo and Stervun know what is happening. They are happy to stay and look after the horses and the cart in the woods unless the party need them.
The heroes confer.
To recap the information they have:
Rennis the owner of Harken Trading Station is a snitch to the Iron Circle.
The keep is inhabited by a depleted army, the survivors of the Battle of Albridge, plus those soldiers who were looking after Harken while the battle was on.
The keep is ruled by a powerful priest of Asmodeus named Mola Ram. He was sent up from Sarthel when the Iron Circle realised things were not going well in Harkenwold, but too late to get into the battle.
A foul tempered, imperious old wizard named Malkos also lives in the keep, arriving with Mola Ram from Sarthel.
The Baron of Harkenwold - Augustin's uncle Jonn Stockmer - and his wife Amirah, and two sons Lennon and Ayaan, are being kept in the gaol. They must be kept safe.
It is now believed that Alesia Gravelstoke and Old Kellar the dwarf are now also in the gaol. Or dead, but no one wants to think about that.
The Gatehouse captain is a spiteful but diligent tiefling named Sturmik. He is unlikely to have all the keys to the keep.
The two wells are connected to the Mill Pond.
The secret door to the northern tower (shown on Old Kellar's map) is always triple barred. This means it can be opened from the inside without a key.
The postern gate is now permanently key locked. It could be opened with a prodigious amount of strength or magic spell that could open locks.
Options discussed:
Surrender to the Iron Circle, be put in prison inside the keep. Then somehow escape.
Hide in supply wagons taken into the keep.
Wear disguises and pretend to be Iron Circle troops returning back and get admitted into the keep. Maybe use charm magic on the tiefling gate captain.
Send Esa and/or RL into the keep in the middle of the night and get them to open the secret door from the inside, allowing the party in.
Use the blue balls supplied by Missy and Brooke (in the way they described) to swim in via the mill pond to the well, hoping to find the right way there (or could use a water breathing spell, but this will not give them swim speed and the magic might run out before they find the well).
Sneak over the wall in the middle of the night using rope and grappling hooks, and perhaps RL / Esa getting the grappling hook in position.
Augustin suggests they sneak in as quickly and quietly as possibly, free his family from the gaol and then start to rescue some of the civilian's floating around. He suggests that this could strike a moral blow to the keep. He doesn't feel like tangling with the priest and a wizard at this point in time. If we can knock off a few of the more....devoted guards, I think were going to make some more progress then a full fledged castle siege with 5 of us. Also, Augustin does not feel like a fireball for breakfast. It will give him an upset belly.
He suggests that the wells be used as an exit point rather than an entry and suddenly realises he should have asked Brooke about her knowledge of the water ways around there.
At this stage Augustin has the bag with the blue balls of water breathing/swimming. If he wants to hand them out to the others, now would be a good time. :)
Esa stretches out her wings, "It looks like RL and I will go in first."
"First, we will sneak in and locate the hostages. We will free them, and either hide them or lead them to an exit or safety. It all depends on how much trouble we find ourselves in on the way."
"Next, we will make our way to to the gates and unlock them to give you a way in. Once your entry point is ready, I'll cast Thunderclap as a signal. As long as we are within 100ft of each other, you should be able to hear it, so listen out for it."
"Once you get the signal, you can make your entrance. RL and I will get the hostages to safety or at least hide them away from the action."
She looks about to the others, waiting for any signs of objection.
"Sounds like a plan to me. If it all goes to shit and you need us over the wall sooner, what's the signal?" "Can you position some grappling hooks with rope as a plan B, I'll disguise myself as an Iron Circle Guard... or maybe Old Keller, just to confuse things. Pass me a blue ball....he he... blue balls" say Grimbald
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
RL The mastiff will take a blue ball in his mouth, make a head gesture to Esa and slowly start to make his way to the keep avoiding houses and crossing the road in the woods near the Silver Nail after checking for any people out and about. Perception check. 10. Stealth check. 19
If all clear he will follow the road up to the castle only as long as absolutely necessary before circling around the south side of the castle to the south east tower.
RL The mastiff will take a blue ball in his mouth, make a head gesture to Esa and slowly start to make his way to the keep avoiding houses and crossing the road in the woods near the Silver Nail after checking for any people out and about. Perception check. 26. Stealth check. 22
If all clear he will follow the road up to the castle only as long as absolutely necessary before circling around the south side of the castle to the south east tower.
If there's an extra blue ball for her, Esa will take one.
Esa will give Augustin a wink, before flying off alongside RL. Stealth Check: 4, Perception Check: 18
She will wait until they are close to the castle before casting Invisibility on herself.
"I'll head home, Master Augustin," Fergus says, putting his hat back on and touching it deferentially. "I will pray for you, I will. And for your uncle and his family."
He turns and strides back home.
DM's NOTE:
PARTY IS AT 6,500XP
Welcome to level 5
MARKER 6,500 XP page 132
RL will woof at the party and point with his nose in the direction the trail is leading to before turning to look at the party over his shoulder while facing the scent trail as if to ask 'are we going?'
Everyone looks annoyed at the mastiff.
"Just wait! We're all levelling up!!.... I mean.. reflecting on our experiences!"
Grimbald finds something. It looks like there is a secret passage from the north tower to outside, but written in dwarvish in tiny script is a note explaining that it is always locked, no one can get in that way.
is it worth approaching this door and saying friend in Dwarvish? :)
"Old Kellar himself must have left this note for us, very thoughtful, unless he's being cryptic, but Im not too sure what cryptic looks like, I haven't learnt cryptic, but Im pretty sure its dwarvish, not cryptic. It says 'Eth eigur jr aat locd. Atur enth galjeva kjekje etta igur"
sorry "The passage is always locked. No one can enter this way"
and here I was hoping it was a LOTR reference, alas.
The party let Santo and Stervun know what is happening. They are happy to stay and look after the horses and the cart in the woods unless the party need them.
The heroes confer.
To recap the information they have:
Options discussed:
Augustin suggests they sneak in as quickly and quietly as possibly, free his family from the gaol and then start to rescue some of the civilian's floating around. He suggests that this could strike a moral blow to the keep. He doesn't feel like tangling with the priest and a wizard at this point in time. If we can knock off a few of the more....devoted guards, I think were going to make some more progress then a full fledged castle siege with 5 of us. Also, Augustin does not feel like a fireball for breakfast. It will give him an upset belly.
He suggests that the wells be used as an exit point rather than an entry and suddenly realises he should have asked Brooke about her knowledge of the water ways around there.
At this stage Augustin has the bag with the blue balls of water breathing/swimming. If he wants to hand them out to the others, now would be a good time. :)
Esa stretches out her wings, "It looks like RL and I will go in first."
"First, we will sneak in and locate the hostages. We will free them, and either hide them or lead them to an exit or safety. It all depends on how much trouble we find ourselves in on the way."
"Next, we will make our way to to the gates and unlock them to give you a way in. Once your entry point is ready, I'll cast Thunderclap as a signal. As long as we are within 100ft of each other, you should be able to hear it, so listen out for it."
"Once you get the signal, you can make your entrance. RL and I will get the hostages to safety or at least hide them away from the action."
She looks about to the others, waiting for any signs of objection.
Perhaps open the gate first, so we can rush the signal if something goes pear shaped?
"Sounds like a plan to me. If it all goes to shit and you need us over the wall sooner, what's the signal?" "Can you position some grappling hooks with rope as a plan B, I'll disguise myself as an Iron Circle Guard... or maybe Old Keller, just to confuse things. Pass me a blue ball....he he... blue balls" say Grimbald
"That's fair. Unless the gate looks particularly noisy and troublesome, we'll try to do that first"
‘So be it”
Vakiel will take a blue ball and when the party moves out, will attempt to find a place to conceal himself near the secret gate.
RL The mastiff will take a blue ball in his mouth, make a head gesture to Esa and slowly start to make his way to the keep avoiding houses and crossing the road in the woods near the Silver Nail after checking for any people out and about. Perception check. 10. Stealth check. 19
If all clear he will follow the road up to the castle only as long as absolutely necessary before circling around the south side of the castle to the south east tower.
If there's an extra blue ball for her, Esa will take one.
Esa will give Augustin a wink, before flying off alongside RL. Stealth Check: 4, Perception Check: 18
She will wait until they are close to the castle before casting Invisibility on herself.