Curious Critters- A Tal'dorei Tale.

(Ah, it looks like I moved faster than the intention to rinse & repeat was interpreted by y’all’s. Dev wouldn’t have gone down first. But provided nothing terrible has happened, he will indeed retrace his steps up the ladder.)

Progo waits until the metal canine is standing beside him then turns the handle and opens the door.

Immediately within he almost immediately spots a dwarf armed with some sort of axe lying in wait behind an Illusory wall. ( 22 Perception), Maggie cues off his body language and goes on the defence though she can detect nothing at this point.

5

Quote from FireCat5 >>

It... should probably be fine if he allows the guard to run away, right? He hopes to be gone before he could call any kind of backup, if any waits down there.

But it's not long before Werhann's attention is drawn back to reality. A sound beyond the door. More guards, drawn by the commotion? He looks down to the body lying on the ground. It would be problematic if it were found by the guards, but even worse if he were seen instead. If he hides, maybe it will distract them for long enough that he could slip away?

Werhann presses against the wall by the door. Then, looking at the door, he notices the Silent Image of the Human still standing silently by the door. If he created it... or if whatever else did wanted to help him, could it be used to conceal him? After all, the guards will, surely, scour the room for the culprit. Merely thinking about it, and the illusion disappears. Now, instead, it covers Werhann and up to 15 feet from the door towards the nearest wall, looking like an extension of the wall, about a foot or two deeper into the room than it was before. As long as he keeps quiet, and if the guards don't remember the room layout perfectly, or immediately notice this side of the wall is about a foot wider than it should be... maybe he can hide from them?

Stealth: 14+2=16.

Werhann hears the door open but from his hiding spot when it opens outward he can see nothing behind it but a small vestibule with a ladder upwards......

Progo pats the metal mutt and the head awkwardly before opening the door. He wasn't sure how canine the beast really was outside of appearance and wanted the pup to know they were friends down here. Deep breath in and open the door as quickly and quietly as he could, peering into the room beyond. The room was better lit then Progo had expected, which any light was great full to be honest. First his eyes dart to the corpse on the floor. "Well Progo think we are following the right path of bodies." He notices a piece of the wall that doesn't seem to flow like the rest, peering at it more, he sees the outline of a dwarf wielding a weapon, ready to jump from behind it, clearly the bringer of fate to the bloody corpse. Based on the blood trail to the dwarf, Progo figures the old chap put up a bit of a resistance. Progo draws his bow and aims at the dwarf, realizing Maggie's not even looking directly at the ambushed, "Oh come on," he whispers. Looking around the room  hoping Dev's trick is working, he let's down his draw of the bow eyes still on the dwarf, he hold up one finger to those still above. Drawing again he announces into the room, "Progo is not fooled by your little tricks and can see you all hiding, throw down you weapons now and Progo will talk and perhaps we all walk away this. We are just here for... a for... hey what's the Dwarfs name we are looking for again?" That last bit Progo was talking up the opening. He shoots the arrow through the illusion, one to show Maggie the trick, and two to show the ambusher that Progo isn't lying. Progo isn't sure if there where any others hiding. "Warham or something like that. You tell us where he is and maybe my next shot isn't a shafts distance closer to the floor."

Lokilia doesn't quite see who Porgo is talking to from her vantage point, but at least nothing burst through the door when it was opened.  She remains wary and waits to see what happens. 

( Werhann can hear all of Progos words but sees nothing within the doorway except a way out.....)

( Can I also get Perception checks from those remaining above please.)

(Lokilia Perception: 21)

Quote from Culuril >>

(Lokilia Perception: 21)

Normont listens to Progo interact with somebody in the room, remaining alert and ready to jump down and help if needed.

"Werhann. We are looking for Werhann", he whispers to Progo in reply. "What do you see? How many are in there? Any more brain dogs?", he then asks quietly, believing from what Progo has said that there are more than one in the room.

Maggie stands still for the moment, not reacting to Progo's touch at all, but he can tell she on high alert. When the arrow goes through the illusory wall, her head jerk towards that direction as her eyes focus in the general direction of the dwarf.

Normont
Perception: 18+4=22

The door swings open. An empty room? No, but he clearly heard someone talking. Are they invisible? Perhaps another illusion? Werhann remains still. He imagines that if he swings his axe into that room, he'll either strike someone or not, and in truth, he wasn't sure what the better outcome was. Suddenly, a voice speaks, and before Wehann can decide how to respond, an arrow is shot from the direction of the open door. A miss, but given the shooter's speech, most likely an intentional one.

Werham? They must have gotten it wrong. Werhann, a voice from above corrects. More than one combatant, and the others are up the ladder, probably. In Werhann's condition, he cannot fight them. Should he? Are they enemies or unexpected allies? Or is this the squid's game, tricking him into trusting some comfortable assistance for some twisted reason, only to later stab him in the back?

In any case, his cover blown, Wehann has no reason to remain inside the illusion. "Hold your fire!" He calls. Normally, his voice is deep and strong, but as parched and weak as he is, it doesn't carry as much weight now. Werhann leaves the axe leaning on the wall, stepping out of the illusion unarmed. He could summon it again later, if needed. He raises his arms to about shoulder height to show he doesn't have any other weapons in his hands. "I am Werhann, Werhann Dike. Who are you, and why are you searching for me?" A logical explanation would be others from the Grey Hunt coming to his rescue, as they're the only ones who would know of his absence. But an arrow? Not unheard of, but most of the grey hunters would prefer their musket or a pistol over a bow.

Progo now sees the Dwarf standing in front of him. Standing at about 132 cm tall (~4'4", I believe), he is about average height for a Dwarf but much shorter than the taller races, and Progo in particular. Unlike some of the other shorter races, though, he is wide and solid, and so doesn't exactly look small, despite his height. His appearance shrank somewhat, however, due to recent malnutrition. The top of his head is completely bald, but his cheeks and chin are adorned by what is usually a majestic-looking beard composed of golden hairs, and although usually it is well-kempt, it hasn't been maintained well lately. Besides the greataxe he left by the wall and some clothes (whatever he was wearing while imprisoned), the Dwarf carries nothing with him.

Werhann studies the entrance, trying to see whether the speaker is hidden behind an illusion, not unlike his, or invisible, or something else entirely. Progo can see his amber eyes focusing and a crease on his forehead as the Dwarf finally sees through the illusion, and his eyes now shift to focus on Progo, and momentarily shift to Maggie before returning to rest on Progo. "Are you another guard? If you let me pass, you might not end up like the one behind me." It is nothing but bravado at this point, but it worked on at least one guard so far.

Investigation to see through Dev's illusion: 20!+1=21 (and a well-used crit).

Quote from VolcanoLair >>

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Normont
Perception: 18+4=22

(I’ll point out that Dev’s Spell Save DC is 13, and a successful INT roll hitting that mark sees through the illusion. Not to mention a crit!)

Dev, from the top of the ladder, feels his heart skip a beat and joy floods his features when he hears Werhann identify himself. Have they really found the captured Grey Huntsman?

(I am watching this meeting eagerly from the safety of my sofa, munching popcorn all the way… :)

Lokilia continues to watch and listen to Progo. She hears the other person say, 'I am Werhann,' and relaxes just a bit. However, she also seems to hear something from the outside. "Guys, I think I hear animals approaching through the woods. Light hooves. Maybe deer?" 

Progo, realizing that he may have ruined the illusion he's hiding behind by showing Maggie the one the dwarf was behind, puts the big away and draws his raiper and shield. Stepping through the illusion Progo eyes the dwarf "Progo thinks that you don't look like much of a prisoner.Well you look like one, but your circumstance doesn't seem very dwarf is distress like. How do we know you are the one we are looking for? Honestly Progo just recently found the group up top so the details of how they came to be looking for you are a little fuzzy to Progo. But no one will say Progo the greatest tradesmen turned his back on his fellows in need." He nods towards the guard, "He have anything worth selling on him? Well that's besides the point, there is a rope ladder behind me that leads out a trap door where a handful of others wait for brave Progo to clear the area of brain dogs and brain snatchers." Progo still holding his weapons at the ready but not actively aggressive, starts to circle around the room to let the dwarf go for the ladder to safety and let the other determine if he is in fact the right dwarf.

Also he will go loot the guard if Werhann indeed goes to leave. (Occupational hazard!)

Works for someone up top to clear the danger before they delve inside and always checks bodies for change. Sounds like a typical mercenary. Nothing wrong with mercenaries, though Werhann found the word 'tradesman' to be a little inaccurate. Then again, he had only seen this person a few seconds ago. "I don't know," he replies regarding the body. "But it's all yours." The only thing of worth to Werhann the guard might carry would have been his rifle, but given his choice of weapon earlier, he felt it was unlikely he would find it there. 

As the Half-Orc no longer seems interested in him, Werhann decides it's best to climb up and speak to... whoever it was who hired this mercenary. He walks towards the ladder and looks up, seeing nothing but the sky above. He places one leg on the lowest step before turning back to Progo. "I wouldn't stay there too long, though. I let the other guard escape, and I believe there is another farther down that hall. Not to mention the, ah, squids. You don't want to be here when they arrive." And the "brain dogs", as the Half-Orc had called them. Are they the quadrupeds he heard before?

Finally, unless someone asks him to stop, Werhann climbs the ladder. Only when he passes the opening does he suddenly see beyond Dev's second illusion. 'Another Illusion, I should have known by now,' he thinks.

(OOC: And I'll stop here because I imagine whatever Lokilia had heard might arrive by then?)

Werhann emerges onto the surface for the first time in quite a while and looks about at his rescuers(?), as he does so everyone in the clearing notes a number of stags, boar and a large badger emerge from the surrounding trees and regard them with interest.

( Progo finds nothing more than a crude cudgel and somewhat careworn leather jerkin and a pouch of chewing tobacco on the corpse.)

Normont's attention is split between what is happening down below, and the creatures approaching, which he also heard. He hears the voice from below identify themself as Werhann Dike, which puts his mind at ease a little, knowing that they hadn't mentioned the name Dike yet.

"Any idea what is going on, Lokilia?", he asks his Ashari companion, regarding the appearance of the woodland creatures.

As he speaks, he stands back to allow the newcomer to climb the rope ladder. When the dwarf appears at the top, one of the people they will see is a gnome with a somewhat over-sized rifle held in such a way as to cover the hatch entrance and the approaching creatures. This gnome stands 3’9” tall, has hazel eyes and spiky blond hair with a goatee, and wears a shiny breastplate over otherwise comfortable plain clothing. He will also notice a screwdriver dangling from his belt, a backpack on his back and a strange mechanical dragon clinging to his shoulder.

"Werhann Dike, or so you say. You look as though you have been through quite the ordeal, but you will have to excuse my skepticism. The kidnappers we are dealing with are adapt at disguising themselves as people they are not. Perhaps if you were to tell me the one thing you are eager to head back inside for?", he says once the dwarf has got to his feet, noticing his lack of equipment.

Whilst that is happening above, Maggie is following her previous instruction to protect Progo, and so is following him closely around the room.

As she notices the dwarf coming up the rope ladder, Lokilia steps back a bit to give him room. Once Werhann emerges, he can see she is a young elvish-looking woman, dressed in a loose-fitting blue tunic and cloak. She has wind-swept light blonde hair and amber eyes. At the moment she seems to have some rocks sitting on the palm of her hand as she watches. "Thank goodness we found you!" she says.

Her attention then is drawn to the animals that have entered the clearing. She tilts her head a bit, curious as to what they are doing.