Mercy reached out and grabbed the javelin, moving it away from "Bruldenthar." She turned her head slightly and growled out a response. "Under orders from the Abbess. This one lives. You can play with the next one." 

Deception: 12

Strife feels rage welling up inside, to complement her fear.

"As far as I'm concerned, you can do whatever you want - but LATER. We were told to bring 'em back alive if possible, and once he's been questioned properly, then like I said, he will understand just how little hope there is left."

Strife knows the way down must be ahead and to the right, and resumes leading the group with an air of annoyance.

Deception (+10, with Advantage): 23 (1st), 25 (2nd)

The guard does not let you pass. A moment passes as they look at each other. 

"Told.." He asks, "By WHOM..?"

"By that THING that will have us turned to dust if we look at him crosswise. I'm here for a purpose and will give my life willingly, but not for your stupidity."

Deception (+10): 17

"Oh, for HELLS sake, Harold, just let them GO!" One of the female guards says, exasperated. "They at least found ONE of the prisoners, and have one more." 

Harold looks you all over, "Yeah, but they're missi-" 

"****s sake." Says the other guard, waving the other guard to shut up. "Do they look like non-cultists to you?! I'll take them to the cells. Get back outside, you idiot, and you all!"

The female guard leads you to the cells, past the sleeping ogres - taking you downstairs. Map incoming.

The female guard leads you all to the prisoner cages, which are all empty (obviously cuz Mercy/Batwen) and pushes the dwarf and Trini inside, locking the cage. (The north one)

"Return to your quarters. It's past bedtime." And she walks away and back up the stairs to the first level.

Mercy whispered a quick prayer and touched Carrhae's arm, granting her the Trickster's Blessing as she herself stepped into the shadows.

Stealth: 10

She crouched in front of the North cell and started to pick the lock.

Sleight of Hand (Thieves' Tools): 10

After a minute, she grumbled and looked over her shoulder. "Could one of you Help me? I need a little more leverage."

Noting how the locks almost seemed more appropriate for Ogre hands, Strife stepped next to Mercy to help hold a few tools steady while Mercy pried with greater leverage.

Sleight of Hands (Theives' Tools, with Help this time!): 18 +Guidance 3

(OOC: Thanks for the reminder!)

As Carrhae feels Mask's divine power flow through her, she can't help but feel happy that her friend has made a connection with a higher power. "Thank you, Mercy." She then removes her mask and looks Brulwen in the eyes. "Again, I'm very sorry that we had to put you in this situation. But once we've accomplished what we came down here to do, you can repay that guard tenfold for what he did to you." And then Carrhae sticks her hand through the bar and spends one point of Lay on Hands to heal the mark on Daewen's neck.

Opening the cell door, Mercy went to Daewen and untied her hands, then did the same for Trini.

Zephyr was ready to pounce on the guard that dared to hurt Daewen, but luckily Strife had diffused the situation before it could escalate further. He gathered his composure while the girls attempted to unlock to cell door.

”Sorry,” Zephyr says quietly, patting the girls on the shoulder and re-casting Guidance on Strife. “Nice work back there, Strife.”

While they continued to fiddle with the lock, Zephyr keeps watch, listening for any noise and looks for any movement.

Perception: 7 + Guidance 3

((not sure if mercy had used her guidance but if that we’re the case he recasts it on her as well))

With a soft click, the prison door is unlocked and opened. You can literally hear the ogres snoring from here. You all know there is at least 5 guards upstairs.

As Daewen silently sobbed in Carrhae's arms, she took the girl in her arms and gently puts a hand on the top of her head as she spoke in a soft voice, attempting to comfort her. "It's all over. You don't have to do that ever again. We're not going to let anyone hurt you." When Daewen finishes, Carrhae wipes the tears from her eyes and gives Daewen a little kiss on the forehead before she goes off to scout ahead. Then she turns to the rest of the group. "I think that we should start exploring the passage to the west. If one of you could provide me with some kind of light source, I could go in after Daewen."

“Deawen, into the shadows ahead of her. Remember the formation we discussed.”

Stealth: 16

Mercy pulled out her crossbow, laying one end of it across the back of her left wrist, holding one of her daggers in that hand, the tip of the blade pointed toward the center of Dark Magic. Pointing the weapons to the side and slightly downward, she was Ready to defend the group against a flanking enemy as she moved silently behind them.

A wave of relief spreads over Daewen's body, which has been shaking like a leaf for the last few minutes.  She begins to pace back and forth in the cell, unsuccessfully attempting to calm her nerves as she impatiently waits for her friends to spring her out of the prison cell.  Having the disguise work its magic, she felt there was no more need to keep it up, so she cancelled the spell and turned back into her normal, dark visage.  Carrhae, having witnessed her transformation as well as the large stream of blood coming out of her neck and soaking her cloak, tenderly touched her and instantly healed her wound.  She couldn't hold the tears back any longer, and chose to let them freely flow.  After Mercy popped the lock, Daewen rushed out of the cell and into the arms of Carrhae, sobbing violently.

After a long minute of flowing tears, they finally subsided enough that she broke the embrace with Carrhae and straightened her cloak.  Nodding to each and every one of her new family a silent comment of thanks, she inhaled a deep lasting breath, and disappeared into the shadows of the room (Stealth: 26).

OOC: .♫♫..Cause you had a BatDae, You're taking one down, You sing a sad song just to turn it around....♫♫

OOC: Daewen will scout on ahead of the group, invisible, down the west tunnel.

After Daewen discarded her disguise and resumed her natural form, Strife observed both the ranger's wound and more importantly, her distress at having helplessly suffered at the hands of sadists. The expressions of gratitude and congratulations from Strife's companions did little to cool the Tiefling's molten core, the place within her heart where her need to exact retribution was burning through not just her fear, but her restraint. Visions of cultists suffering, screaming in agony, and dying from grotesque wounds swam through Strife's mind.

As their team redeployed and headed off west down the passage, Strife cast Enhance Ability to boost the agility of Zephyr and Trini. Relying upon others to be their eyes and ears as they marched, Strife focused her efforts on sustaining her spell, moving quietly, and trying to note anything peculiar or unexpected about the environs they travelled through.

Stealth (+4): 10
Investigation (+2): 9

Carrhae wasn't too terribly familiar with Mask, but if Mercy was willing to devote herself to him, Carrhae could trust him to help her succeed tonight, as she tried to march stealthily through the western passage and keep an eye out for anything interesting.

Stealth:20 

Perception:18

And she walks head first into a wall. She's seeing stars, but at least she wasn't too noisy. 

Mercy flinched as their footsteps echoed ever so softly through the hall. She turned to the door where the ogres were snoring a moment ago, lifting her weapons to aim into the open doorway, senses focusing for any sign of danger.

Perception: 17

Bardic Inspiration (for Stealth):5

Completely disregard this.