Avarice gives an imperceptible nod to Aubreen. "By all means."
The wizard watches Marlede and Aubreen for as long as they remain within view, her hand carefully remaining on the staff. As you are back together with Perrin and Sirius, nothing stops you from returning the same way you came.
Marlede remains silent. Nothing would make her more happy right now that to put an arrow between Avarice's head, but her allies seem to be inclined towards leaving her alone. As Aubreen turns to leave, Marlede looks back at Avarice and clicks her tongue in annoyance.
"Guess I'll be killing you later, then."
And with that promise, Marlede turns to leave with the others. She doesn't hide her disdain towards Avarice, nor does she mask her murderous intent.
In response to Marlede, Avarice remains still, simply glowering at her. There is a twitch in her eye. You're not sure what goes on in the tieflings head, but judging by the circumstances, she is holding back a similarly biting comment. Or worse.
It has been around 20 minutes since you entered the caer.
Once we're back with the unconscious guards, Marlede will address the party.
"So, are we going through the main entrance or are we going to take care of the other guards first? I'm still of the opinion we should cull down their numbers, just in case our audience goes wrong. But it's your choice, really. And these three are going to wake up sooner or later, depending on how potent Perrin's poison is."
Aubreen checks on the unconscious guards, ensuring their bonds are secure. "They are moving ay time soon. I am certainly conflicted here. I would feel more comfortable, safer really if we took out more of the gurds. We can tie them up down here before we visit Hethyl." He ponders the situation
"If we get caught however it could be worse for the attempt. But if we don't and they prove hostile then we are in trouble from too many of them." Pacing back and forth his mind in turmoil over the possibilities.
"All right lets take out more guards. If they are not hostile we can apologize and let the guards go, if they are hostile we don't have them coming from behind." He looks to his companions. "Hope we have enough rope" he jokes nervously.
Sirius nods approvingly to Aubreens suggestion. ”Let’s move fast, before the other guards notice anyone missing. Let’s wait for the patrol to pass this tower and thr next, then go take out the ones sleeping there. For dealing with the patrol, I suggest we set up an ambush in the furthest tower from the gate so they’ll be less likely to hear the fighting.”
Perrin finds himself agreeing, though he still wasn’t a fan of being stuck in a fort that was occupied by a cult. Taking out the rest of the guards seemed like the best course of action. After all, he didn’t want to get cornered by angry cultists while they were talking to the head honchos.
For a moment, Marlede looks at Aubreen confused. But then she makes a face that suggests she remembered whatever it was that she'd forgotten.
"Oh, right. The rope is to restrain them so the higher ups don't immediately attack us when we get that 'audience'. Honestly? let's just leave them unconscious and throw away their weapons. Even if they do wake up, they'll waste time looking for them."
Marlede begins to move out next to Perrin. Her goal is to locate any guards on the wall that are by themselves so she can snipe them from the shadows.
[With Mask of the Wilde, she can roll stealth as a reaction so long as the conditions are met. So she can shoot and immediately stealth.]
By the time you're back in the top floor of the northwestern tower (pos 1), the guard patrol is on its way in your direction. There is only this one pair that is actively moving around. You can't be quite sure how many are in the gatehouse, but from your initial approach of the caer, you don't think it can be more than 3.
The two guards that are heading in your direction have just exited the southwestern tower (pos 3). Marlede is well hidden and has a good shot from inside of the northwestern tower. The others are currently out of sight, hidden by virtue of being away from the door, but would be spotted once the guards get to the door.
In order to ambush this pair of guards, please roll a stealth check (Marlede has already rolled). If everyone rolls above a 10, you manage to surprise the guards. If you would rather stay in the lower part of the tower to avoid a stealth check at the cost of being farther away from a possible fight, that is fine too.
Marlede will wait until the others are ready so she can shoot at the unsuspecting 'guards' using her new Composite Bow.
[If we're in area 1, I'm assuming we'll wait until they're in area two to shoot. Just in case the other guards are in area 4 and they can hear the bodies fall limp.]
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Aubreen has already done everything he can to dampen the sound and glitter of his armor. A feeble attempt but he tightens his coat and secures his bags and backpack. Ducking down, just a couple steps back from the door he waits. Knowing the lethality of the Ranger, he hopes there are no casualties, but he will not let his companions suffer at the hands of Devil worshippers either.
He can feel his body tense, the stress of sneaking around has begun to wear at his mind and body. The Caer is full of Devil worshippers. These guards aren't innocents. None of these folk just fell into Devil worship. They chose. They decided to revere, to pledge, to hold sacred a Devil.
Once again Aubreen feels betrayed, let down. But this time, it was...by himself. He could not blame any others, it was his desires that informed his decisions. He wants, no, he wanted everybody to be Good, but that's impossible. His anger rises like bile in his throat.
He hides, ready to take the first guard through the door.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Perrin lurks just inside the entrance of the tower, ready to pounce the moment the guards passed the doorframe. To be honest, he was a bit unnerved with the encounter with Avarice below. Well, he was a bit unnerved about the whole situation at the keep, but Avarice especially had put him on edge. Infiltrating cults wasn't Perrin's strong suit, and he could only hope the others were feeling more comfortable than he.
Sirius hides right by the door, ready to pounce on the incoming guards. Seeing Marlede securing her aim on the guards already, Sirius holds up a hand in a fist trying to communicate that she should wait. No reason to have the fight exposed on the wall instead of hidden in the tower.
Everything goes well.... up until a point. When the two guards are halfway across the battlement walkway, one of them suddenly tenses up. Maybe it was a sudden shadow thrown by the arm of Sirius. The second guard looks questioningly at the first, unaware of the imminent danger.
Initiative Sirius, Aubreen, Marlede < YOUR TURN Guard 1 [surprised], Guard 2 [about to shout] Perrin
The two guards are about 15 feet away from the door that you were hiding behind. Guard 2, who spotted your movement, is gasping for air, fumbling for his shortsword. Both of them are clad in heavy winter clothing, but don't seem to wear any sturdy armor.
Aubreen hangs back in the shadows, sure that he was well hideen. The guard reacts and Aubreen knows the gig is up, they have been spotted. He was hoping to get them closer to the towers interior but there is nothing to do about it now. Nothing except rush forward and silence them as quickly as possible.
Leaping from the shadows, he dashes forward, great strides to close the distance. The long sword snapping from its place at his belt it swings, no hesitation, no question of its intent. He needs to keep these two from sounding the alarm.
Long Sword attack against Guard 2: Attack: 18 Damage: 8
His long sword slashes across, horizontal to the plane of the parapet, leveled at neck level to finish this fight before it began.
Bonus action Long sword attack: Attack: 17 Damage: 8
The second attack will be against Guard 2 if he is still standing, otherwise he sweeps it across to attack Guard 1.
As he senses the imminent danger, Sirius jumps into action, attacking the guard about to shout (or the other one, if he's already dead), still holding back on the power, trying to keep the guards alive.
To hit: 9 (9 if adv.), damage: 7piercing To hit: 16 (20 if adv.), damage: 7 bludgeoning
Marledes arrow hits the guard about to shout, almost dead on. But the arrow was slightly askew, leaving him wounded.
Aubreen rushes up and the strike to the neck separates the mans head from his body, a shower of blood. The scarlet drops freeze before they hit the ground. The warrior continues on to the second guard, driving him back. Sirius follows this with a charge, slapping his spear against the temple of the man hard. The guard crumples to the floor.
We're out of initiative
The gate house and the keep don't give any indication of having noticed the skirmish. One man lies dead, head separated from body. The second is unconscious, breathing shallowly. This all happened halfway across the walkway (2).
Time: It's been around 25 minutes since you entered the caer. Note that pass without trace has expired.
Marlede will swiftly pick up the guard's weapons and throws them onto a snowbank on the outside of the wall. She will then sneak up to area 3 and stands at the entrance (between 2 and 3) to observe if any guards move from area 4 to area 3.
"Whatever you're planning to do, do it quickly. We don't know if they heard us or not." She whispers at the group.
Avarice gives an imperceptible nod to Aubreen. "By all means."
The wizard watches Marlede and Aubreen for as long as they remain within view, her hand carefully remaining on the staff. As you are back together with Perrin and Sirius, nothing stops you from returning the same way you came.
Marlede remains silent. Nothing would make her more happy right now that to put an arrow between Avarice's head, but her allies seem to be inclined towards leaving her alone. As Aubreen turns to leave, Marlede looks back at Avarice and clicks her tongue in annoyance.
"Guess I'll be killing you later, then."
And with that promise, Marlede turns to leave with the others. She doesn't hide her disdain towards Avarice, nor does she mask her murderous intent.
Currently DMing:
In response to Marlede, Avarice remains still, simply glowering at her. There is a twitch in her eye. You're not sure what goes on in the tieflings head, but judging by the circumstances, she is holding back a similarly biting comment. Or worse.
It has been around 20 minutes since you entered the caer.
Once we're back with the unconscious guards, Marlede will address the party.
"So, are we going through the main entrance or are we going to take care of the other guards first? I'm still of the opinion we should cull down their numbers, just in case our audience goes wrong. But it's your choice, really. And these three are going to wake up sooner or later, depending on how potent Perrin's poison is."
Currently DMing:
Aubreen checks on the unconscious guards, ensuring their bonds are secure. "They are moving ay time soon. I am certainly conflicted here. I would feel more comfortable, safer really if we took out more of the gurds. We can tie them up down here before we visit Hethyl." He ponders the situation
"If we get caught however it could be worse for the attempt. But if we don't and they prove hostile then we are in trouble from too many of them." Pacing back and forth his mind in turmoil over the possibilities.
"All right lets take out more guards. If they are not hostile we can apologize and let the guards go, if they are hostile we don't have them coming from behind." He looks to his companions. "Hope we have enough rope" he jokes nervously.
Sirius nods approvingly to Aubreens suggestion. ”Let’s move fast, before the other guards notice anyone missing. Let’s wait for the patrol to pass this tower and thr next, then go take out the ones sleeping there. For dealing with the patrol, I suggest we set up an ambush in the furthest tower from the gate so they’ll be less likely to hear the fighting.”
Perrin finds himself agreeing, though he still wasn’t a fan of being stuck in a fort that was occupied by a cult. Taking out the rest of the guards seemed like the best course of action. After all, he didn’t want to get cornered by angry cultists while they were talking to the head honchos.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
For a moment, Marlede looks at Aubreen confused. But then she makes a face that suggests she remembered whatever it was that she'd forgotten.
"Oh, right. The rope is to restrain them so the higher ups don't immediately attack us when we get that 'audience'. Honestly? let's just leave them unconscious and throw away their weapons. Even if they do wake up, they'll waste time looking for them."
Marlede begins to move out next to Perrin. Her goal is to locate any guards on the wall that are by themselves so she can snipe them from the shadows.
[With Mask of the Wilde, she can roll stealth as a reaction so long as the conditions are met. So she can shoot and immediately stealth.]
Stealth 24
Perception 22
Currently DMing:
By the time you're back in the top floor of the northwestern tower (pos 1), the guard patrol is on its way in your direction. There is only this one pair that is actively moving around. You can't be quite sure how many are in the gatehouse, but from your initial approach of the caer, you don't think it can be more than 3.
The two guards that are heading in your direction have just exited the southwestern tower (pos 3). Marlede is well hidden and has a good shot from inside of the northwestern tower. The others are currently out of sight, hidden by virtue of being away from the door, but would be spotted once the guards get to the door.
In order to ambush this pair of guards, please roll a stealth check (Marlede has already rolled). If everyone rolls above a 10, you manage to surprise the guards. If you would rather stay in the lower part of the tower to avoid a stealth check at the cost of being farther away from a possible fight, that is fine too.
Marlede will wait until the others are ready so she can shoot at the unsuspecting 'guards' using her new Composite Bow.
[If we're in area 1, I'm assuming we'll wait until they're in area two to shoot. Just in case the other guards are in area 4 and they can hear the bodies fall limp.]
Currently DMing:
Aubreen has already done everything he can to dampen the sound and glitter of his armor. A feeble attempt but he tightens his coat and secures his bags and backpack. Ducking down, just a couple steps back from the door he waits. Knowing the lethality of the Ranger, he hopes there are no casualties, but he will not let his companions suffer at the hands of Devil worshippers either.
He can feel his body tense, the stress of sneaking around has begun to wear at his mind and body. The Caer is full of Devil worshippers. These guards aren't innocents. None of these folk just fell into Devil worship. They chose. They decided to revere, to pledge, to hold sacred a Devil.
Once again Aubreen feels betrayed, let down. But this time, it was...by himself. He could not blame any others, it was his desires that informed his decisions. He wants, no, he wanted everybody to be Good, but that's impossible. His anger rises like bile in his throat.
He hides, ready to take the first guard through the door.
Stealth: 9
Perrin lurks just inside the entrance of the tower, ready to pounce the moment the guards passed the doorframe. To be honest, he was a bit unnerved with the encounter with Avarice below. Well, he was a bit unnerved about the whole situation at the keep, but Avarice especially had put him on edge. Infiltrating cults wasn't Perrin's strong suit, and he could only hope the others were feeling more comfortable than he.
Stealth: 27
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Sirius hides right by the door, ready to pounce on the incoming guards. Seeing Marlede securing her aim on the guards already, Sirius holds up a hand in a fist trying to communicate that she should wait. No reason to have the fight exposed on the wall instead of hidden in the tower.
Stealth: 10
Everything goes well.... up until a point. When the two guards are halfway across the battlement walkway, one of them suddenly tenses up. Maybe it was a sudden shadow thrown by the arm of Sirius. The second guard looks questioningly at the first, unaware of the imminent danger.
Initiative
Sirius, Aubreen, Marlede < YOUR TURN
Guard 1 [surprised], Guard 2 [about to shout]
Perrin
The two guards are about 15 feet away from the door that you were hiding behind. Guard 2, who spotted your movement, is gasping for air, fumbling for his shortsword. Both of them are clad in heavy winter clothing, but don't seem to wear any sturdy armor.
Marlede notices the second guard is about to shout and she shoots an arrow at their throat. She's not going to hold back against these villains.
Bonus action Slayer's Prey: 1 damage.
Action: Composite Bow to hit is a 20 with 8 damage dealt.
Reaction: Mask of the Wild to camouflage herself after shooting. Hopefully they didn't notice her. [ Stealth roll is 33 ]
[ I rolled the adv because I assumed they weren't able to see her yet. ]
Currently DMing:
Aubreen hangs back in the shadows, sure that he was well hideen. The guard reacts and Aubreen knows the gig is up, they have been spotted. He was hoping to get them closer to the towers interior but there is nothing to do about it now. Nothing except rush forward and silence them as quickly as possible.
Leaping from the shadows, he dashes forward, great strides to close the distance. The long sword snapping from its place at his belt it swings, no hesitation, no question of its intent. He needs to keep these two from sounding the alarm.
Long Sword attack against Guard 2: Attack: 18 Damage: 8
His long sword slashes across, horizontal to the plane of the parapet, leveled at neck level to finish this fight before it began.
Bonus action Long sword attack: Attack: 17 Damage: 8
The second attack will be against Guard 2 if he is still standing, otherwise he sweeps it across to attack Guard 1.
As he senses the imminent danger, Sirius jumps into action, attacking the guard about to shout (or the other one, if he's already dead), still holding back on the power, trying to keep the guards alive.
To hit: 9 (9 if adv.), damage: 7 piercing
To hit: 16 (20 if adv.), damage: 7 bludgeoning
Marledes arrow hits the guard about to shout, almost dead on. But the arrow was slightly askew, leaving him wounded.
Aubreen rushes up and the strike to the neck separates the mans head from his body, a shower of blood. The scarlet drops freeze before they hit the ground. The warrior continues on to the second guard, driving him back. Sirius follows this with a charge, slapping his spear against the temple of the man hard. The guard crumples to the floor.
We're out of initiative
The gate house and the keep don't give any indication of having noticed the skirmish. One man lies dead, head separated from body. The second is unconscious, breathing shallowly. This all happened halfway across the walkway (2).
Time: It's been around 25 minutes since you entered the caer. Note that pass without trace has expired.
[ OOC: I thought it lasted 1 hour. ]
Marlede will swiftly pick up the guard's weapons and throws them onto a snowbank on the outside of the wall. She will then sneak up to area 3 and stands at the entrance (between 2 and 3) to observe if any guards move from area 4 to area 3.
"Whatever you're planning to do, do it quickly. We don't know if they heard us or not." She whispers at the group.
26
Currently DMing:
[Oh my bad, must've been tired! Pwt is still going in that case.]
Marlede doesn't spot any movement from the guards into or out of the tower (3). Whoever is in the gatehouse (4) is not patrolling.