This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
((I to might not be able to post until Monday now! Escaping with friends away from the children! Huzzah!))
Darion looks at the temple "You know, I never realised it was a pyramid from the inside..." he muses.
Listening to Erro, Darion nods "Sneaking in the back way has it's attractions, but my question is to what end? What would be the goal? And how would we co-ordinate with the outside forces? Would we try and take whoever the leader is out? Sabotage traps? What happens if we alert the base and we have to deal with all of them?"
He pauses for a moment, then turns to the armies leaders "To warn you, they have a creature that can turn people to stone with just a look. I think you have to be close to it for the magic to work, but if you see such a creature," he describes it with some feeling, remembering his own brush with death "those closest must avert their eyes - if possible take it out at range."
While you discuss strategies Jaron slides up next to you and says, "We're going to start constructing the catapult. It will take us about 30 minutes to built quietly. Make sure you're quiet or else they may retreat to the inside." Tempest chimes in after Darion, "I can make us a bit more stealthy, and if given enough time I could scout the tunnels as a snake. They wouldn't mind me and I might even be worshipped." he says with a bit of a chuckle. Despite the jest, you can tell in his expression though that he is a bit worried about the assualt.
(Tempest can cast Pass without trace, wildshape to scout, assist in the attacks on the sentries, or stay behind with the main army. Y'alls choice.)
“I feel like seizing a catapult to fling their own vile poison back at them is quite the surprising card to play. I’d feel best if we did everything we could to keep it under wraps so that we can deploy it.”
Erro votes that he helps keep things quiet. Though we also need a plan for the sentries! According to the map I wonder if the tower on the left would have a sight line to the other two towers?
((away from the children for an escape that long?? Truly sounds lovely, I wish you the best. Enjoy, and I am sure you will! COVID foiled my own plans for kidlessness this long weekend, curses.))
((It was a great time! Stayed in a lovely English village with thatched roofs all around. Nice walks and and afternoon in the pub... so nice! Sorry Covid sabotaged your plans :( ))
Darion listens to the conversation "Whatever we decide, both sound like a degree of sneakiness might be helpful. I could turn 1 or 2 people invisible. I also have a spell I used before in the temple, and could disguise myself as one of the more human looking Yuan-ti as well."
((Sounds great! Celebrated here with a BBQ rib cookout and brewed a beer. One day I’ll make it over there and have a Fuller’s ESB from the cask. Been tossing around the thought of going over for our 10 year anniversary… we’ll see!))
”I remember the invisibility truck… not that I made much use of it last time…” he shakes his head in shame. “But surely it can’t go worse this time. I could climb one tower, Rawk could fly to the other tower. Perhaps Kurrk could deal with the other?”
Ellis was hearing everyone's ideas and thinking of how he can help. "If being sneaky is required, I can help with supporting you all or distracting the Yuan-ti from you. For taking out the sentries, I've got spells that could work in knocking them out long enough to tie them up or being silent so they can be taken out without others being alerted. But if luck works out like during the last battle and those sentries have long range weapons, I could try to make one attack another." he then said back to everyone.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Darion nods "So, we have ways of taking out the sentries, but then what is our goal? Batter down the entrance with the catapult? Try and sneak parts of the army into the base itself? I feel we should be careful, if our casualties are too high, then even we are victorious it would be hollow I think."
He surveys what he can see, looking, weak points, enemy sally points or anything else that stands out.
“Good question. We may need more recon. I suppose we can use the catapult to batter down the gate. If we can eliminate the sentries we could do it in peace and take a closer look around. I wonder if we could lob the poison right into the main area we could make this easy on ourselves.”
(Apologies all. Our office was struck by lightning on Wednesday and being in IT I've been quite busy. thankfully no one was injured. After over 20k in replacement equipment we are 95% done.)
Darion- you shift your focus into Robyn for a few minutes and glide through the air above the Temple. You see each sentry posted, some looking anxiously about while others are stoically staring out into the jungle. They notice you but quickly disregard your presence as they fear a much greater threat. You see off to the east the river and the familiar cliff face that you escaped from. It appears to be haphazardly barricaded by logs and stones. From what you can see there don't appear to be any weak points. However, if all the sentries were to go down without raising the alarm you would assume three excellent archer defensive stations from which you could assault the temple.
Everyone- During the 20 minutes that pass you notice only one guard that shifts stations. The lone guard has moved from the eastern structure to the northern structure. You aren't sure of the exact schedule but the sentry appears to take roughly a minute to traverse the underground tunnel between the structures. Judging by his gate, this seems unnaturally fast until you recall the teleportation network.
“If the back entrance is boarded up then they now know about it and would likely be watching it. Let’s take out the sentries. If we fail it won’t be long until we’d be hurling rocks their way anyway! Shall we do the ol invisibility tower toss again?”
Darion agrees with Erro, then says "I do have one idea - we have the poison we captured, and thinking how best to use it. We know they move around by teleportation, so if they see their sentries killed, they would rush reinforcements there through the teleporter I would imagine - before the position could get reinforced. Why not throw down the poison by the teleporter. I'm not sure how long it lasts for, but we could take a few out, before they know what is happening. If we are lucky, they might send several waves through, right into the trap. When it looks like we're done, our archers can take over the position..."
Ellis had heard Darion's suggestion, surprised and thinking about it. "That does sound like a clever idea since they wouldn't suspect that we know of that kind of poison yet." he said back, nodding.
(Do we have multiple catapults or just the one? If just one, Kurrk and I can carry a bundle of poison and drop it on the other buildings at the same time the catapult fires.)
(There is one catapult and 10 sacs of poison. The poison cloud would persist for up to 10 minutes but a decent gust of wind would cause it to dissipate in seconds.)
Darion scratches his head, "Its going to be a strange situation where we take out the sentries - but we need the Yuan-ti to know we are doing it, so they try and send reinforcements through. We then get in the mini-pyramids quickly, find the teleporter and lay our trap. Or we could take out the initial sentries as quickly as we can, allowing us to scout out what's inside first - we can always then create a fuss to raise the alarm? What do people think?"
"If we want to draw a crowd we can take out the sentries at the same time then have a disguised Darion shout to raise the alarm after a long enough delay. Focus the catapult on one, then split the other two between us. The army can back up whoever needs reinforcements. Each group can take a bag of poison to dump behind after we do a quick recon." Rawk says agreeing with Darion's idea.
((I to might not be able to post until Monday now! Escaping with friends away from the children! Huzzah!))
Darion looks at the temple "You know, I never realised it was a pyramid from the inside..." he muses.
Listening to Erro, Darion nods "Sneaking in the back way has it's attractions, but my question is to what end? What would be the goal? And how would we co-ordinate with the outside forces? Would we try and take whoever the leader is out? Sabotage traps? What happens if we alert the base and we have to deal with all of them?"
He pauses for a moment, then turns to the armies leaders "To warn you, they have a creature that can turn people to stone with just a look. I think you have to be close to it for the magic to work, but if you see such a creature," he describes it with some feeling, remembering his own brush with death "those closest must avert their eyes - if possible take it out at range."
Portent roll: 13, 7
Robyn perception: 18
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
While you discuss strategies Jaron slides up next to you and says, "We're going to start constructing the catapult. It will take us about 30 minutes to built quietly. Make sure you're quiet or else they may retreat to the inside." Tempest chimes in after Darion, "I can make us a bit more stealthy, and if given enough time I could scout the tunnels as a snake. They wouldn't mind me and I might even be worshipped." he says with a bit of a chuckle. Despite the jest, you can tell in his expression though that he is a bit worried about the assualt.
(Tempest can cast Pass without trace, wildshape to scout, assist in the attacks on the sentries, or stay behind with the main army. Y'alls choice.)
“I feel like seizing a catapult to fling their own vile poison back at them is quite the surprising card to play. I’d feel best if we did everything we could to keep it under wraps so that we can deploy it.”
Erro votes that he helps keep things quiet. Though we also need a plan for the sentries! According to the map I wonder if the tower on the left would have a sight line to the other two towers?
((away from the children for an escape that long?? Truly sounds lovely, I wish you the best. Enjoy, and I am sure you will! COVID foiled my own plans for kidlessness this long weekend, curses.))
((It was a great time! Stayed in a lovely English village with thatched roofs all around. Nice walks and and afternoon in the pub... so nice! Sorry Covid sabotaged your plans :( ))
Darion listens to the conversation "Whatever we decide, both sound like a degree of sneakiness might be helpful. I could turn 1 or 2 people invisible. I also have a spell I used before in the temple, and could disguise myself as one of the more human looking Yuan-ti as well."
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
((Sounds great! Celebrated here with a BBQ rib cookout and brewed a beer. One day I’ll make it over there and have a Fuller’s ESB from the cask. Been tossing around the thought of going over for our 10 year anniversary… we’ll see!))
”I remember the invisibility truck… not that I made much use of it last time…” he shakes his head in shame. “But surely it can’t go worse this time. I could climb one tower, Rawk could fly to the other tower. Perhaps Kurrk could deal with the other?”
Ellis was hearing everyone's ideas and thinking of how he can help. "If being sneaky is required, I can help with supporting you all or distracting the Yuan-ti from you. For taking out the sentries, I've got spells that could work in knocking them out long enough to tie them up or being silent so they can be taken out without others being alerted. But if luck works out like during the last battle and those sentries have long range weapons, I could try to make one attack another." he then said back to everyone.
Darion nods "So, we have ways of taking out the sentries, but then what is our goal? Batter down the entrance with the catapult? Try and sneak parts of the army into the base itself? I feel we should be careful, if our casualties are too high, then even we are victorious it would be hollow I think."
He surveys what he can see, looking, weak points, enemy sally points or anything else that stands out.
Investigation (I presume?): 9
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
“Good question. We may need more recon. I suppose we can use the catapult to batter down the gate. If we can eliminate the sentries we could do it in peace and take a closer look around. I wonder if we could lob the poison right into the main area we could make this easy on ourselves.”
(Apologies all. Our office was struck by lightning on Wednesday and being in IT I've been quite busy. thankfully no one was injured. After over 20k in replacement equipment we are 95% done.)
Darion- you shift your focus into Robyn for a few minutes and glide through the air above the Temple. You see each sentry posted, some looking anxiously about while others are stoically staring out into the jungle. They notice you but quickly disregard your presence as they fear a much greater threat. You see off to the east the river and the familiar cliff face that you escaped from. It appears to be haphazardly barricaded by logs and stones. From what you can see there don't appear to be any weak points. However, if all the sentries were to go down without raising the alarm you would assume three excellent archer defensive stations from which you could assault the temple.
Everyone- During the 20 minutes that pass you notice only one guard that shifts stations. The lone guard has moved from the eastern structure to the northern structure. You aren't sure of the exact schedule but the sentry appears to take roughly a minute to traverse the underground tunnel between the structures. Judging by his gate, this seems unnaturally fast until you recall the teleportation network.
“If the back entrance is boarded up then they now know about it and would likely be watching it. Let’s take out the sentries. If we fail it won’t be long until we’d be hurling rocks their way anyway! Shall we do the ol invisibility tower toss again?”
Darion agrees with Erro, then says "I do have one idea - we have the poison we captured, and thinking how best to use it. We know they move around by teleportation, so if they see their sentries killed, they would rush reinforcements there through the teleporter I would imagine - before the position could get reinforced. Why not throw down the poison by the teleporter. I'm not sure how long it lasts for, but we could take a few out, before they know what is happening. If we are lucky, they might send several waves through, right into the trap. When it looks like we're done, our archers can take over the position..."
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
“Ahhh, quite devious. I like this plan. Who knows if they even have the instinct to fear poison at all? We can lure them right to it.”
Ellis had heard Darion's suggestion, surprised and thinking about it. "That does sound like a clever idea since they wouldn't suspect that we know of that kind of poison yet." he said back, nodding.
(Do we have multiple catapults or just the one? If just one, Kurrk and I can carry a bundle of poison and drop it on the other buildings at the same time the catapult fires.)
Question to DM - do we know how long the poison persists for?
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
(There is one catapult and 10 sacs of poison. The poison cloud would persist for up to 10 minutes but a decent gust of wind would cause it to dissipate in seconds.)
Darion scratches his head, "Its going to be a strange situation where we take out the sentries - but we need the Yuan-ti to know we are doing it, so they try and send reinforcements through. We then get in the mini-pyramids quickly, find the teleporter and lay our trap. Or we could take out the initial sentries as quickly as we can, allowing us to scout out what's inside first - we can always then create a fuss to raise the alarm? What do people think?"
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
"If we want to draw a crowd we can take out the sentries at the same time then have a disguised Darion shout to raise the alarm after a long enough delay. Focus the catapult on one, then split the other two between us. The army can back up whoever needs reinforcements. Each group can take a bag of poison to dump behind after we do a quick recon." Rawk says agreeing with Darion's idea.
"Sounds like a plan! Everyone in?" Darion looks fired up now, the prospect of action near!
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
“Absolutely. Let’s do this.” Erro starts limbering up and stretching out his arms and legs.