Lost Mines Gr-A

Larkbrand looks back and forth between Salazar and Alynoa. "I will go rouse the guards. I hope this works." The last bit was said much quieter and more to himself. 

Lark passes through the hidden door on the southern west wall, leaving it open behind him (if able). Moving quickly and with purpose, he moves back into the chamber with the crevasse. Turning he heads north to the place where he last remembered seeing a guard.  

If the guard is still posted there: Lark approaches feigning near panic. "Treachery! Betrayal! The prisoners are gone!" he stops talking, breathing heavily.  "The guards were slain, the bugbears and that damned Droop have turned on us, the cowards. Glasstaff demands you join him in the cistern. We must find them. Oh and do be careful, I have never seen Glasstaff this angry."

If the guard is no longer there: Larkbrand will continue north along the eastern wall, looking for someone. 

(Dang it Lark. That wasn't quite the plan! XD Now we I gotta hide the body of the guy whose face you stole. XD)

(I post as soon as I get back)

Salazar had said nothing of Lark's actions at first, having still been a little side-tracked making sure Alynoa was okay. But at the mention of 'I will go rouse the guards', he snaps back around to him, fully take in the new guard appearance for the first time, and tries to sputter out a, "What? Whoa! That was--hold on just a sec!" If at that point Lark does at least pause long enough to stop, for Salazar did not trust any attempt of his to physically stop the disguised goblin, he takes close to half a minute trying to find the words. Eventually he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.

"I realize now I may have... misheard and mispoke." He looks up and clasps his hands together. "And its too late to walk back the clock. So, slight edification. We go to the crevice. We had the guy we saw near the bridge lead us to the others. Either you or La--Iarno can tell them one of the guard has been killed by the bugbears, and its the final straw for Iarno. Nothing extra. Okay?" He looks between the two of them. And seeing agreement from the two, sees about hiding the head in one of the barrels, if not out of sight behind them before drinking his last potion and following after the two to the crevise.

If NOT able to stop Larkbrand in time...

Salazar, being a bit too invested in follow-up care for Alynoa, doesn't fully registers Larkbrand's words until its too late. Sputtering and looking back and forth between the bodies and Alynoa before taking a breathe, finding his calm once more. "No rest for the wary. We should -- need to get after him in case any the guard call into question the warning." At that, he offers her a hand up again, if she hadn't already gotten up, and following making sure no blood had somehow coated his shoes during the interim, drinks his final invisiblity potion and heads after lark.

(Either way, gonna need some DM adjudication to see which comes about.)

The guard who had been resting near the Crevasse was indeed still there. He was carving something from wood with his dagger. And seemed quite intent on it as Lark rushes over with a new face. When Lark finally begins speaking, the man looks up, clearly a bit annoyed having been disturbed from his pastime. It took a moment for the two words and a statement to stick. And after a moment, he threw down his project and sheathed his dagger Th' bloody prisoners are gone?! And Who betrayed us!? How could they have gotten across the crevasse without anyone noticing... Why would they.. they are the entire reason we captured the *****es...3 Suddenly a little suspicious, he would ask The buggies are our allies... why would they betray us out of the blue... we're workin' for them.... or atleast their boss yeah... 62 Ah bloody the questions, if they betrayed us... the redbrands ae gonna 'ave to show them we don't take shit lyin down.. And thanks for the warnin 'bout the boss....  The thug takes off towards the Cistern at a rapid jog, so the cold air wouldn't sting his lungs, and after about 20 seconds, finds himself there

(now normally mehmen... because you didnt state the head in a barrel in one.... i wouldnt apply it... but... i'll be nice this time)

As the man makes it through the open secret door, seeing Alarno standing, visibly frustrated, seemingly at empty space, with the headless corpse of a redbrand on the ground, the blood by now frozen to the floor, while his head was tucked away safely somewhere else... Why those ****in' little SHITES

Quote from Mehmen >>

(Dang it Lark. That wasn't quite the plan! XD Now we I gotta hide the body of the guy whose face you stole. XD)

(I post as soon as I get back)

 (OOC: It is Lark's flaw. "If there's a plan, I'll forget it. If I don't forget, I'll ignore it." XD ) 

Alynoa sits up with a groan, holding her head, "If I figure out who hit me, I'm going to kill them."

(To Ian: Gods darn it... That is such good excuse/use of the flaw! I both love and hate it. XD)

(To Rai: I didn't so much as imply it for the second option, because of timing being unclear to how much he could do in a hurry. The... mercy was appreciated.)

Salazar winces, having caught the words on his way out. But before he could stop and speak a word of warning, he suddenly has to step off to the side, back pressed against a wall as the brand goes running into the cistern. Salazar didn't dare move, or so much as breathe. But once brand and 'Iarno' were deep enough in conversation, he slowly readies his axe for a good chopping should things go south. 'Oh Ohgma give me strength, least this humble scholar be forced to forsake all semblance of one of your seekers.' He thought.

Alynoa looks to the thugs that approached. "You there, get over here."

(To Rai: I didn't noticed you posted already, so editted my previous one to make more sense.)

Lark watches the man run off towards the cistern. He counts ten heartbeats and then sets off over the wooden bridge to the south, heading for the stairs he saw earlier. At the bottom of the stairs Lark's head swivels between the door and the hallway to the right.  If there are torches or lanterns present Lark will snuff them out, relying on his darkvision. He creeps (13) forward and places his ear next to the door to the south, listening for any indicators as to what is beyond. 2

Lark ears are ringing with the pressure of this undertaking apparently. 

A splinter pokes Lark directly in the drum, piercing it with the absolute edge of the tip causing him to temporarily get tinnitus for the next 2 actions he takes.  He had snuffed out several torches along the way making the dark area darker. As he crossed the bridge earlier, he felt the familiar presence brush across his mind... it felt curious... suspicious, but it did nothing beyond that. Despite his Horrid attempts to hear though, within .. if only due to how loud it was. What sounded like three bugbears were laughing and taunting someone telling them to lick the floor, or kiss a dead rats balls and other things that sounded like a stereotypical 'school hazing.' followed by the timid cries of what sounded like a goblin. WHile it didnt seem he was in danger.. it DID sound like he was being bullied.

At Alynoarno's command the Redbrand snaps to a thugs equivalent of attention. Yeah sir?! I heard the buggiboos have turned on us.... for some reason...  killed some of our guys.. is that true? And what are we gonna do?

(does tinnitus function as deafening or poisoning mechanically?) 

(OOC: I might not get around to doing a full post until tomorrow, it's my partners birthday today so I will be occupied with party stuff)

(Neither, just annoying ringing)

((Allright, sorry for all the delays lark, will be handling the situation soon ~.~))

(All-right, I will be botting Alynoa for the rest of this dungeon and then replacing. Sorry Alynoa... While I understand that life gets busy and in the way, I also have asked you to keep us informed. I've had to drop campaigns myself due to life gettign in the way in some shape or form, but I at-least had enough respect for my fellow players/DM to, every couple days I was gone, update them, and make sure they knew I was away and at-least generally, why, ask to be botted if I knew I wasn't going to be available for 2-3 + days straight and so forth. SO; sorry but I'm removing you from this campaign and will be using your character until the completion of this dungeon myself, and then seeking a replacement for you. I wish you luck in the future, and have a good day.))

Iarnoa looks at the single rebrand who had shown up thus far, and said Quickly you fool, this isn't the time for questions! Gather the men you can as discretely as possible..... have them gather in the crypts. The Bugbears and their ilk have betrayed us.... For what reason i do not know, but they have killed this guard... and likely others... we must gather, and strike before it is too late. For even with my power.... I could not stand against 3 bugbears alone. We will need everyone you can gather. The other one is gathering any on the west half of the base.. so gather those on the east. We meet within the hour.

Larkbrand, wincing and jerking his head away from the offending wooden door, shakes his head. He sticks his smallest finger into his ear, wiggling it around to no avail. He removes his finger from his ear, and briefly glancing around, licks it and wipes it in on his breeches. He utters a small prayer in his head and knocks on the door. 

"Excuse me vile creatures, can I interrupt your malicious bullying for just a moment. I have dire news that will definitely you and your master."  Lark will gesture towards the goblin, and will openly laugh at whatever unfortunate situation his kinfolk is suffering.  "I have heard the men talking, they resent working with monst...you fine folk. I bring this up because I am faithful." In goblin speech, "Glory to Maglubiyet!" switching back to common, "They are seeking to kill you, I have heard Glasstaff speaking to that wretched creature in the ravine. IT knows your secrets, it knows all of our secrets. We have little time to lose, they will be coming soon. Arm yourselves. I will rejoin them, lest they get suspicious, but I will sow chaos among their ranks and help you win the day for glorious Maglubiyet."  

Deception: 15

Oh boy, yep Im using my inspiration on that one. 17

(it's got nothing to do with that it's mostly just  dndbeyond not updating me on this one campaign for some reason. Like, all my other ones i get updates for)

(Yet somehow out of the blue you happen to see this one of the 5-6 that have happened between. Sorry if I'm sounding harsh, but if you know that it continually doesn't 'show up' manually checking is also an option. My decision remains unchanged. I'm sorry.)

Everyone in the room stops, looking confused as you technically burst through the door and begin to speak. You notice once of the bugbears has a gem encrusted eyepatch, as everyone in that room looks to you, sharing glances as you continue to speak. They admittedly seem a bit more confused with how 'fancy' your words are but they get the gist of what you're trying to say and look at each-other with rage in their eyes the goblin looking at you with pleadingly help me eyes. From the situation, you can probably guess his life isn't in any danger but his pride is fatally wounded, if nothing else.

The bugbears at-least seem to be shuffling around the room, seeking their weapons.

Larkbrand will make eye contact with the pleading goblin. "I will take the little maggot there. It will be no help to you in a fight, it is too small to be a shield. I shall take him as a "Prisoner" until such time that we can rejoin forces and kill them all." 

Lark will snap his fingers and point at the ground in front of him. "Come here, goblin. You are Droop? Listen. We are allies. Secret, so keep your mouth shut and pretend to hate me." He will push the goblin out the door and into the hall.  Gesturing with his crossbow, Lark waves it at the goblin. "You lead. Over the bridge. Stay to the right."

When they are out of earshot of the room, Lark will switch to goblin. "Do you swear allegiance to Maglubiyet or to your bullies? Would you like to see them bloodied and broken under your foot? Or are you content with the taste of dead rat balls?"

Lark follows the goblin back towards the cistern, calling out the word "potato" before walking through the door.  "'Oy, I got the little bugger. The big ones are armed and ready to fight. Glasstaff, that bug with the eye patch is aiming for you, Sir." 

(These poor bastards are so gonna get merked... Curse you Laaaarrrrrk! But, nice follow up for where's credit's due... But still! Curse you!)

There are several moments in which Salazar is tempted to interject now that things had kicked off. However, knowing how tenuous the situation was, he kept his mouth shut. And until Salazar saw that the redbrand was buying, he stayed at the ready to strike from a distance. But, once he left with all due haste, he waits until certain of being out of earshot of the man before speaking up. "Well done, Iarnoa. With this, we should have some time... Though, I may need to acquire a brand uniform of my own to blend in at this point." He chuckles, but his faint smile soon turns into a small frown as he turned to look back the way Lark had run off to.

"... It's worrying, isn't it? Should he have been back now?" He asks, not really expecting an answer, but pausing long enough all the same for one. "Or maybe -- No. This isn't a time for second guessing. I'll keep an eye out closer to from within the cavern. But you should try to get some rest, and maybe even start checking out the new staff of yours. I do not know if it will do much good in this fight, but it cannot hurt." Once he had a word of agreement, he offers her one last consoling pat on the shoulder before making his way at least part way down the tunnel for a better view of the cavern. If anything worrying -- such as a fight kicking off ahead of time, or Lark visibly being in danger -- he runs back to get Alynoa for an impromptu fight.

Salazar's placement:

(Sized the triangle wrong, but he'd be the red one. I blocked off areas we haven't directly seen yet. Though, you did give us the whole map with the understanding of no 'assuming' things anyhow.)