Leaving the axebeaks behind at the tavern, the group reapproaches the castle in the pitch black of the Icewind Dale afternoon. Even if the guards had paid close attention to their surroundings, the torchlight of the posts only prenetrates so far.
With snow leisurely falling from the sky and the eerie quiet of the tiny town, the castle makes all the appearance of a save haven, a place of peaceful respite. Only the sure knowledge of fiendish presence within spoils the illusion.
Marlede knows from Aubreen that the patrol just passed the gatehouse towards the eastern side of the caer, so can direct Perrin to the western wall. With his archachnid form, the druid has little trouble overcoming the all too human defenses. With the grappling hook anchored firmly in place by hand, Aubreen and Sirius have little trouble pulling themselves up along the rope, able to use the rough stone wall to take some weight off your arms.
You have entered the castle at location 2.
All this happens in the magically induced silence of Perrins spell. You are now atop the castle walls, able to see inside. First thing you notice is that the ground is raised significantly within the keep, so that there are only ten feet distance down from the walls instead of the 20 from outside. Footprints in the snow lead to various doors along this courtyard’s perimeter, including a tall double door to the keep, with its unwelcoming row of arrow slits and barred windows on the upper floor. To the east of the double door is a small, single-story building with a slanted, snow-covered roof. West of the double door are two unused merchant stalls with torn canopies. Tucked under some icy stairs in the northwest corner is a slender wooden hut with a crescent moon carved into its flimsy door.
As you have ensured that the western towers are free of guards, you can spy inside. The upper floors are empty, safe for two torches along the walls and wooden stairs going downward, each covered with a sheet of wood to keep the cold out from the rooms below. The ground floors each include six wooden cots with furs and matching footlockers and a copper brazier full of hot coals. Three of the cots in each room are occupied by sleeping guards. They are unlikely to notice you, on account of Perrins spell still muffling all of your movements. A copper brazier full of hot coals is situated in the middle of each room.
In the nothernmost tower (1), you spy a metal grate set in the ground floor, next to one of the beds with a sleeping guard, seemingly leading further down.
The guards on patrol have moved to the southeast tower (5). The gatehouse (4) is still being manned as well. No sign of movement from the keep.
After Marlede and Perrin help Aubreen and Sirius get up, she will whisper "How do you guys feel about incapacitating the guards up here? Less guards to take care off if none of the ones patrolling outside can get in. Or should we try to sneak inside directly?"
[ Do we see an entrance to the building big enough for Spider Perrin? ]
A solemn expression settles on Sirius’ face on Marlede’s words. ”You took the words right out of my mouth. I honestly hate the idea of incapacitating guards that are just doing their job, but if the alternative is that all the guards can swarm, overwhelm and kill us, it’s not really an option to let them sleep peacefully.”
Moving to tower 1, Sirius takes out his spear, ready to incapacitate the guards. ”I suggest we take their weapons from the footlockers and throw them in the brazier or over the wall. If they wake up, that’s another hurdle for them to overcome.”
While getting ready for the less than honorable action, Sirius spots the grate and looks at it with curiosity. ”Should we investigate that before or after we incapacitate the guards?”
[Assuming Perrins spider has the size category large, he cam squeeze through all the entrances I mentioned, even the stairs. The grid of the map above is in 10 foot increments.]
Marlede nods at Sirius and begins to move in closer. She begrudgingly pulls out the shortswords and holds them in a way that suggests she's going to be using the blunt end of the weapons. She only wishes to knock them unconscious, not wound them mortally. She will whisper:
"We better make sure he doesn't wake up for a while. We don't have a lot of rope to tie them all up. Toss the weapons if it can be done quietly. Otherwise, leave them be. Do you feel any more fiendish energy close to the building?"
Sirius opens his divine sense up again specifically concentrating on the main building. Getting ready to knock out the guards, Sirius looks to the remaining members of the party for approval.
Perrin watches the sleeping guards within the gloom of his enchantment, his many eyes ever so faintly gleaming in the weak light from the smoldering coals. As the others murmur quietly about what to do with the guards, Perrin too thinks about what he could do to help, his pedipalps fidgeting with his fangs anxiously. There was something obvious he could do to help, but he wasn't a huge fan of the idea. After a few moments, he makes up his mind.
"Hey Marlede," he hisses quietly to her, though it sounded more like muffled clicks and chittering to the others. "If I need to, I could bite all of them. My poison paralyzes things, and I could easily take them out since they're sleeping." He turns to face the woman, his many eyes betraying a sense of guilt. "I'm not a fan of the idea, but if I'm careful, they won't die."
Aubreen tries to judge just how many guards they were dealing with. If there are 3 sleeping guards in each tower plus the 4 on duty, patrol and the gate house, that made 16 in total. Too many.
"Let Perrin take the sleeping guards downstairs, we ambush the patrolling guards when they come through the door" he looks to his companions, his Long sword leaving its scabbard and readied to bash over the head of, not the first, but the second guard to enter. Looking about for someplace to take cover from sight for better surprise.
"We need to do this quick, any disturbance and we will be over run" He glances at Sirius to gauge his reaction. "I would rather they live, but more importantly I would rather we live, so if necessary I will fight for your lives" He looks to the grate that has caught the attention of Sirius, "Oh does it open, perhaps we can infiltrate the keep with out a fight? Check quickly" When Marlede pulls his swords out rather than the bow, "You are better with a bow, If Sirius and I fail at knocking them out, we will need you to silence them quickly, let none run off to alert the others"
When Aubreen suggests that Perrin should go off by himself to take care of the guards below, he waives his front legs wildly. "Wait! Somebody needs to be with me to cover their mouths when I bite! My poison is quick, but it isn't instant. They'll scream before it sets in." He looks to Marlede desperately, hoping she'll convey his message to the others like she did before. To the others, he was simply waiving his legs around and chittering in a rather excited manner. The last thing they needed to happen was the guards waking up because one of them didn't get paralyzed fast enough.
"If we take out the patrol, we won't have long time before the guards from the gatehouse notice. We'll have to paralyze the guards from the next tower too and then attack the gatehouse." Sirius quietly opens the grate and sees what he finds below. If there's a hole that's wide enough for him and seems to lead somewhere, he lowers himself in there and starts quietly advancing.
[ Y'all can assume Marlede translates for Perrin. That's why she cast the spell. ]
Marlede puts away her Swords at Aubreen's suggestion. Though she knows she's more lethan with her Longbow, which could mortally wound them. She will try to show restraint, as to not pierce their skulls like with the giant skeleton.
She conveys Perrin's plan to the others, and agrees that paralyzing them with his spider form's poison is a much simpler plan. If for some reason the poison doesn't get them, the pain will.
She's ready to attack with her bow and arrows any which way the group decides to go. Should any guard try to ring an alarm or run away to warn the others, they would be shot (non-lethal if possible).
"Perrin can paralyze that sleeping guard, first. If it doesn't work, then you two should be able to knock them out. I'll keep a lookout and support with my bow. Time is of the essence."
And it really is. Only 9 minutes remain of her spell.
The triad guides Sirius' senses towards the sleeping guards. Each of them, even when sleeping, wears the same desecrated amulet as the guard in the gatehouse. The magic leaks from the jewelry like inky tendrils. Fixing his attention to the main building, the paladin doesn't sense anything out of the ordinary. However, the strong fiendish taint has a clear source: the metal hatch you saw in the lower floor of the northern tower (1). It curls out between the metal and stone.
Aubreen feels pretty secure in his calculations, although he hasn't seen the inside of the other two towers and whatever the keep had in store. Could mean more, could mean less.
You can flank the door from both sides along the rounded wall with a fairly reliable angle from which to ambush anyone that enters.
Sirius is able to approach the metal hatch, passing by the sleeping guards. When he lifts the grate, he beholds a ladder that descends about ten feet to a mortared underground passage. The fiendish stink is strongest here, billowing out from the darkness.
[Sketch of the situation since I'm not quite sure the position of the metal hatch was conveyed correctly. I'm currently assuming that Sirius has not yet entered the hatch.]
Seeing that the others agreed with his suggestion, Perrins carefully slinks towards the sleeping guards, his many legs barely making a whisper as they brush against the stone of the keep. The doorways were a bit tight, but he fit through easily enough, and he soon finds himself poised over one of the sleeping guards. He looks down at the man beneath him, and a part of him thinks wryly about what the man would think when he awoke to find himself paralyzed by a giant spider wreathed in shadows. He'd have quite the story to tell his friends and family back at home. Hoping that the guard wasn't tougher than he looked, Perrin creeps closer and closer until his fangs are poised just inches above the man's neck. Then, as quick as a whip, he lunges forward and sinks his fangs into the man, pumping him full of venom. He doesn't stop forcing venom into the man until he stops shaking just to be safe before grimly moving on to the other two guards.
((If I remember correctly, I think attacking sleeping things is an auto-crit, but I could be wrong. If it is, the bite should do enough damage to knock him out, but let me know if I need to roll.))
Aubreen follows Perrin Spider down towards the sleeping men, he looks to Marlede, "Close the wooden cover, we may not need to ambush fter all. Lets get these men hog tied then follow Sirius. Seems his nose is leading him somewhere." He will hover over each of the victims, ready to bash them in the head the moment they yell or scream. If the venom takes hold he simply follows Perrin to the next.
I am going backcountry for a few days. I will try to post Sunday but may not bea ble to until Monday. Feel free to use Aubreen as you need.
Marlede will do as Aubreen says. She will also bring with her the grappling hook/rope, in case the guards decide to come our way earlier and notice it.
[ I'm assuming we're all going down the wooden stairs to start incapacitating the sleeping guards. ]
Marlede readies her bow in case anyone comes from above the stairs, or one of the sleeping guards makes a run for it.
She doesn't feel confident that these guards are evil, but she also can't ignore that Sirius felt a fiendish presence among them. Whatever is going on, she'll do anything to find out.
Watching Perrin sink their fangs into the guards makes her wince. She's glad to be on his side.
Perrin finds the guards an easy target. The spell on him and the unusal positioning of his spider body along the wall give him all of the advantages he could have asked for. The bodies twitch, convulse, then lay still.
All three guards are now motionless, distinguishable from corpses only by the barely audible, shallow, labored breathing.
The entrances to the tower are closed, the wooden doors separating you from the rest of the castle. Barely any time has passed since you entered the caer, at most five minutes.
Aubreen tries to split his attention between Perrin's activity and Sirius climbing below. With the Three guards unconscious he climbs down the ladder to give Sirius the back up he needs. Sword drawn and creeping along behind.
Sirius starts exploring down the hatch. ”Let’s not do anything to the weapons just yet in case the patrol will come down here to look. They’ll be paralyzed for an hour so we have plenty of time.”
Feeling the darkness around him, Sirius realizes he’d need a torch to see properly. ’Perhaps sneaking around with a torch isn’t the best idea.’ Sirius gestures for Aubreen to move past him. ”You see better in the dark, why don’t you lead us.”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Aubreen looks back to see that his companions are following, he does not relish the idea of venturing into a dark passage with a fiendish presence as their destination. "Keep close" he whispers to Siruis. Long sword held out and before him he will slowly make his way down the tunnel, watching for any thing that may present as a trap or hazard. "Torm keep watch, give me guidance" he prays quietly. Perception (With Guidance): 10 + 4
A wooden ladder clings to the west wall, held in place with iron brackets. The ladder descends ten feet to a hall (1) made of mortared stone lit and heated by four sputtering torches. Extending from the east end of the hall is a water-filled cistern. Stone steps descend into the icy water that partially floods this twenty-foot-wide, arched tunnel, which continues eastward into darkness. The roof arches twelve feet above the water, which is eight feet deep. The rowboat (3) tethered at the water’s edge looks safe to use. Along the walls, ice has begun to form, but it doesn't seem to be particularly thick.
A 5-foot-wide passage in the north wall leads to a side room (2) filled with a faintly putrid stench. This room is empty except for four sheet-wrapped bodies lying side by side on the floor. Due to the freezing cold, the bodies are as stiff as logs.
Looking down the flooded hall to the east, Aubreen can make out passages going north and south (4 & 5), branching away. No movement is to be heard or seen and the only potential danger is the cold water.
Important for scale: the grid is in 10 feet instead of the usual 5
Leaving the axebeaks behind at the tavern, the group reapproaches the castle in the pitch black of the Icewind Dale afternoon. Even if the guards had paid close attention to their surroundings, the torchlight of the posts only prenetrates so far.
With snow leisurely falling from the sky and the eerie quiet of the tiny town, the castle makes all the appearance of a save haven, a place of peaceful respite. Only the sure knowledge of fiendish presence within spoils the illusion.
Marlede knows from Aubreen that the patrol just passed the gatehouse towards the eastern side of the caer, so can direct Perrin to the western wall. With his archachnid form, the druid has little trouble overcoming the all too human defenses. With the grappling hook anchored firmly in place by hand, Aubreen and Sirius have little trouble pulling themselves up along the rope, able to use the rough stone wall to take some weight off your arms.
You have entered the castle at location 2.
All this happens in the magically induced silence of Perrins spell. You are now atop the castle walls, able to see inside. First thing you notice is that the ground is raised significantly within the keep, so that there are only ten feet distance down from the walls instead of the 20 from outside. Footprints in the snow lead to various doors along this courtyard’s perimeter, including a tall double door to the keep, with its unwelcoming row of arrow slits and barred windows on the upper floor. To the east of the double door is a small, single-story building with a slanted, snow-covered roof. West of the double door are two unused merchant stalls with torn canopies. Tucked under some icy stairs in the northwest corner is a slender wooden hut with a crescent moon carved into its flimsy door.
As you have ensured that the western towers are free of guards, you can spy inside. The upper floors are empty, safe for two torches along the walls and wooden stairs going downward, each covered with a sheet of wood to keep the cold out from the rooms below.
The ground floors each include six wooden cots with furs and matching footlockers and a copper brazier full of hot coals. Three of the cots in each room are occupied by sleeping guards. They are unlikely to notice you, on account of Perrins spell still muffling all of your movements. A copper brazier full of hot coals is situated in the middle of each room.
In the nothernmost tower (1), you spy a metal grate set in the ground floor, next to one of the beds with a sleeping guard, seemingly leading further down.
The guards on patrol have moved to the southeast tower (5). The gatehouse (4) is still being manned as well. No sign of movement from the keep.
After Marlede and Perrin help Aubreen and Sirius get up, she will whisper "How do you guys feel about incapacitating the guards up here? Less guards to take care off if none of the ones patrolling outside can get in. Or should we try to sneak inside directly?"
[ Do we see an entrance to the building big enough for Spider Perrin? ]
Currently DMing:
A solemn expression settles on Sirius’ face on Marlede’s words. ”You took the words right out of my mouth. I honestly hate the idea of incapacitating guards that are just doing their job, but if the alternative is that all the guards can swarm, overwhelm and kill us, it’s not really an option to let them sleep peacefully.”
Moving to tower 1, Sirius takes out his spear, ready to incapacitate the guards. ”I suggest we take their weapons from the footlockers and throw them in the brazier or over the wall. If they wake up, that’s another hurdle for them to overcome.”
While getting ready for the less than honorable action, Sirius spots the grate and looks at it with curiosity. ”Should we investigate that before or after we incapacitate the guards?”
[Assuming Perrins spider has the size category large, he cam squeeze through all the entrances I mentioned, even the stairs. The grid of the map above is in 10 foot increments.]
Marlede nods at Sirius and begins to move in closer. She begrudgingly pulls out the shortswords and holds them in a way that suggests she's going to be using the blunt end of the weapons. She only wishes to knock them unconscious, not wound them mortally. She will whisper:
"We better make sure he doesn't wake up for a while. We don't have a lot of rope to tie them all up. Toss the weapons if it can be done quietly. Otherwise, leave them be. Do you feel any more fiendish energy close to the building?"
Currently DMing:
Sirius opens his divine sense up again specifically concentrating on the main building. Getting ready to knock out the guards, Sirius looks to the remaining members of the party for approval.
Perrin watches the sleeping guards within the gloom of his enchantment, his many eyes ever so faintly gleaming in the weak light from the smoldering coals. As the others murmur quietly about what to do with the guards, Perrin too thinks about what he could do to help, his pedipalps fidgeting with his fangs anxiously. There was something obvious he could do to help, but he wasn't a huge fan of the idea. After a few moments, he makes up his mind.
"Hey Marlede," he hisses quietly to her, though it sounded more like muffled clicks and chittering to the others. "If I need to, I could bite all of them. My poison paralyzes things, and I could easily take them out since they're sleeping." He turns to face the woman, his many eyes betraying a sense of guilt. "I'm not a fan of the idea, but if I'm careful, they won't die."
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Aubreen tries to judge just how many guards they were dealing with. If there are 3 sleeping guards in each tower plus the 4 on duty, patrol and the gate house, that made 16 in total. Too many.
"Let Perrin take the sleeping guards downstairs, we ambush the patrolling guards when they come through the door" he looks to his companions, his Long sword leaving its scabbard and readied to bash over the head of, not the first, but the second guard to enter. Looking about for someplace to take cover from sight for better surprise.
"We need to do this quick, any disturbance and we will be over run" He glances at Sirius to gauge his reaction. "I would rather they live, but more importantly I would rather we live, so if necessary I will fight for your lives" He looks to the grate that has caught the attention of Sirius, "Oh does it open, perhaps we can infiltrate the keep with out a fight? Check quickly" When Marlede pulls his swords out rather than the bow, "You are better with a bow, If Sirius and I fail at knocking them out, we will need you to silence them quickly, let none run off to alert the others"
When Aubreen suggests that Perrin should go off by himself to take care of the guards below, he waives his front legs wildly. "Wait! Somebody needs to be with me to cover their mouths when I bite! My poison is quick, but it isn't instant. They'll scream before it sets in." He looks to Marlede desperately, hoping she'll convey his message to the others like she did before. To the others, he was simply waiving his legs around and chittering in a rather excited manner. The last thing they needed to happen was the guards waking up because one of them didn't get paralyzed fast enough.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"If we take out the patrol, we won't have long time before the guards from the gatehouse notice. We'll have to paralyze the guards from the next tower too and then attack the gatehouse." Sirius quietly opens the grate and sees what he finds below. If there's a hole that's wide enough for him and seems to lead somewhere, he lowers himself in there and starts quietly advancing.
[ Y'all can assume Marlede translates for Perrin. That's why she cast the spell. ]
Marlede puts away her Swords at Aubreen's suggestion. Though she knows she's more lethan with her Longbow, which could mortally wound them. She will try to show restraint, as to not pierce their skulls like with the giant skeleton.
She conveys Perrin's plan to the others, and agrees that paralyzing them with his spider form's poison is a much simpler plan. If for some reason the poison doesn't get them, the pain will.
She's ready to attack with her bow and arrows any which way the group decides to go. Should any guard try to ring an alarm or run away to warn the others, they would be shot (non-lethal if possible).
"Perrin can paralyze that sleeping guard, first. If it doesn't work, then you two should be able to knock them out. I'll keep a lookout and support with my bow. Time is of the essence."
And it really is. Only 9 minutes remain of her spell.
Currently DMing:
The triad guides Sirius' senses towards the sleeping guards. Each of them, even when sleeping, wears the same desecrated amulet as the guard in the gatehouse. The magic leaks from the jewelry like inky tendrils. Fixing his attention to the main building, the paladin doesn't sense anything out of the ordinary. However, the strong fiendish taint has a clear source: the metal hatch you saw in the lower floor of the northern tower (1). It curls out between the metal and stone.
Aubreen feels pretty secure in his calculations, although he hasn't seen the inside of the other two towers and whatever the keep had in store. Could mean more, could mean less.
You can flank the door from both sides along the rounded wall with a fairly reliable angle from which to ambush anyone that enters.
Sirius is able to approach the metal hatch, passing by the sleeping guards. When he lifts the grate, he beholds a ladder that descends about ten feet to a mortared underground passage. The fiendish stink is strongest here, billowing out from the darkness.
[Sketch of the situation since I'm not quite sure the position of the metal hatch was conveyed correctly. I'm currently assuming that Sirius has not yet entered the hatch.]
Seeing that the others agreed with his suggestion, Perrins carefully slinks towards the sleeping guards, his many legs barely making a whisper as they brush against the stone of the keep. The doorways were a bit tight, but he fit through easily enough, and he soon finds himself poised over one of the sleeping guards. He looks down at the man beneath him, and a part of him thinks wryly about what the man would think when he awoke to find himself paralyzed by a giant spider wreathed in shadows. He'd have quite the story to tell his friends and family back at home. Hoping that the guard wasn't tougher than he looked, Perrin creeps closer and closer until his fangs are poised just inches above the man's neck. Then, as quick as a whip, he lunges forward and sinks his fangs into the man, pumping him full of venom. He doesn't stop forcing venom into the man until he stops shaking just to be safe before grimly moving on to the other two guards.
((If I remember correctly, I think attacking sleeping things is an auto-crit, but I could be wrong. If it is, the bite should do enough damage to knock him out, but let me know if I need to roll.))
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Aubreen follows Perrin Spider down towards the sleeping men, he looks to Marlede, "Close the wooden cover, we may not need to ambush fter all. Lets get these men hog tied then follow Sirius. Seems his nose is leading him somewhere." He will hover over each of the victims, ready to bash them in the head the moment they yell or scream. If the venom takes hold he simply follows Perrin to the next.
I am going backcountry for a few days. I will try to post Sunday but may not bea ble to until Monday. Feel free to use Aubreen as you need.
Marlede will do as Aubreen says. She will also bring with her the grappling hook/rope, in case the guards decide to come our way earlier and notice it.
[ I'm assuming we're all going down the wooden stairs to start incapacitating the sleeping guards. ]
Marlede readies her bow in case anyone comes from above the stairs, or one of the sleeping guards makes a run for it.
She doesn't feel confident that these guards are evil, but she also can't ignore that Sirius felt a fiendish presence among them. Whatever is going on, she'll do anything to find out.
Watching Perrin sink their fangs into the guards makes her wince. She's glad to be on his side.
Currently DMing:
Perrin finds the guards an easy target. The spell on him and the unusal positioning of his spider body along the wall give him all of the advantages he could have asked for. The bodies twitch, convulse, then lay still.
All three guards are now motionless, distinguishable from corpses only by the barely audible, shallow, labored breathing.
The entrances to the tower are closed, the wooden doors separating you from the rest of the castle. Barely any time has passed since you entered the caer, at most five minutes.
Aubreen tries to split his attention between Perrin's activity and Sirius climbing below. With the Three guards unconscious he climbs down the ladder to give Sirius the back up he needs. Sword drawn and creeping along behind.
Sirius starts exploring down the hatch. ”Let’s not do anything to the weapons just yet in case the patrol will come down here to look. They’ll be paralyzed for an hour so we have plenty of time.”
Feeling the darkness around him, Sirius realizes he’d need a torch to see properly. ’Perhaps sneaking around with a torch isn’t the best idea.’ Sirius gestures for Aubreen to move past him. ”You see better in the dark, why don’t you lead us.”
Aubreen looks back to see that his companions are following, he does not relish the idea of venturing into a dark passage with a fiendish presence as their destination. "Keep close" he whispers to Siruis. Long sword held out and before him he will slowly make his way down the tunnel, watching for any thing that may present as a trap or hazard. "Torm keep watch, give me guidance" he prays quietly. Perception (With Guidance): 10 + 4
A wooden ladder clings to the west wall, held in place with iron brackets. The ladder descends ten feet to a hall (1) made of mortared stone lit and heated by four sputtering torches. Extending from the east end of the hall is a water-filled cistern. Stone steps descend into the icy water that partially floods this twenty-foot-wide, arched tunnel, which continues eastward into darkness. The roof arches twelve feet above the water, which is eight feet deep. The rowboat (3) tethered at the water’s edge looks safe to use. Along the walls, ice has begun to form, but it doesn't seem to be particularly thick.
A 5-foot-wide passage in the north wall leads to a side room (2) filled with a faintly putrid stench. This room is empty except for four sheet-wrapped bodies lying side by side on the floor. Due to the freezing cold, the bodies are as stiff as logs.
Looking down the flooded hall to the east, Aubreen can make out passages going north and south (4 & 5), branching away. No movement is to be heard or seen and the only potential danger is the cold water.
Important for scale: the grid is in 10 feet instead of the usual 5