Rogram blinks slowly, his eyes lowering to the ground between their four feet. He takes a deep breath and nods. "Of course. I'm sure he's fine. And my duty is here." He looks back at Escobert's face. "Whatever Governor Nighthill needs." He shifts his gaze to the center of the keep and then up at the sky. "Do you think I could get a little shuteye? I feel like I've been awake for a tenday."

Well, this place sure is interesting.  I wonder what it does for an encore.  Thia will head back to her previous location in the courtyard and hunker down in the shadows.  Knowing it is just a couple of hours till dawn is somehow both reassuring and worrying.  What will the new day bring?  A fresh assault on the keep?  What are these raiders after, exactly?  And will they ever leave?

An uneasy silence has once again fallen over the courtyard of Greenest's keep. Escobert nods to Rogram, but over his shoulder sees that Governor Nighthill has emerged from the tower, and chuckles, "May want to see what he's about, first, afore we can get any winks."

The governor, still looking alert despite the crusted bandages wrapped around his head wound and a visible lack of sleep, approaches Rogram, Thrax, and Smoke, but also attempts to find the eyes of Thia and Yevele. "The guards have spotted a new threat. Where are the others?"

While Thia and Yevele are awoken and gathered, Nighthill says to Smoke, "It seems you were correct to be suspicious. The attack on the sally port may have been intended to distract us. I don't think they expected us to deal with the threat so quickly."

Once everyone has been brought together, he continues.

"The raiders are trying to set fire to the town's mill. If it burns, we'll lose our stockpile of flour and we won't be able to grind more for months. I'm trying to assemble enough defenders from here in the keep to defend it through the rest of the night, but that will take time, and frankly you stand a much better chance of getting there quietly as a strike force. You'd do us a great service if you could get to the mill quickly and try to drive away the raiders before they can fully set it aflame. You'd only need defend it until our force arrives to take over. They are changing arms and armor and equipping themselves for stealth, but if you were to leave now they would be at most fifteen minutes behind you."

"Yes, of course," Rogram says eagerly. He looks around at the others. "The mill is on the other side of the river, primarily west of here. We should leave through the hidden gate, head southwest to cross the river, and march south and west on the road." It's the best of both worlds. He can do as the governor asks and also perhaps lay eyes on a member of his family along the way. Rogram suddenly feels full of excited energy.

Smoke sighs, Its as i feared. quickly drawing him out of his thoughts of a statue. 

We will help, we cannot stop now. We must stop the raiders. 

His voice a bit weary, clearly all the fighting has and stress has taken its toll. What kind of a force should we expect? he asks before moving out towards the mill. 

Yevele will step up and say "I'll help out. We'll save the flour mill. Rogram can lead the way there." As she beings moving toward the hidden gate, the young monk thinks to herself 'Are they trying to wear us down? Sending small groups at us at irregular intervals, while the bulk of their army gets rest?' 

ooc Did Yevele get enough rest to restore the one ki point she used?

Thrax takes the news stoically, but he was becoming increasingly worried about their tactical situation. The enemy seemed to be preparing for a prolonged assault through the night, and possibly well beyond. Yet he bold stepped forward when Nighthill called upon them. “My armor isn’t well suit for stealth either, but I’ll stay a few paces back and follow your lead.” He says nodding to Rogram.

"It was too difficult to tell their number from our distance. We could see at least a half dozen torches, but nothing more. For all we know, it could be an illusion. Some of the raiders have shown the ability to spellcast, after all...you should take the utmost caution," Nighthill answers Smoke.

The cellar is not as easy to squeeze through as the first time, now that Rogram has impeded the entrance with as many crates and barrels as could be mustered, but the feral rats have not returned. The grate is still closed at the exit of the tunnel, and beyond it lies the stream that winds lazily through Greenest.

OOC: If I'm not looking at the right building, let me know, but it looks like the mill would be the building furthest southwest and sitting on the southern side of the river.

Rogram will make sure no scouts are nearby before leading the party out of the grate and south-southeast to take the shortest path to the river. Then, after crossing the river, he'll lead them on the southern side of the river to the road heading east-west on the southern side of the river. They can then stealthily take the road all the way to the mill. Does that make sense?

Thia hefts her gear onto her back, checks all her weapons are ready and accounted for, gives out a big yawn and trudges after the rest of the gang, taking a big bite out of a shiny red apple she has apparently conjured out of nowhere.  I'm not even getting paid for this.  What am I doing?   Getting to the tunnel she slinks along in the deep shadows with the rest, looking out for raiders and following the team into the night once again.

Smoke responds to Mayor Nighthill Yes caution is needed, hopefully the guards wont be long after we reach the mill. 

That said Smoke quickly follows Rogram as he leads the way. If needed Smoke will scout ahead with Rogram trying to remain unseen and making sure nobody is fully alone. The chaos and fatigue cause a great risk in Smoke's mind. 

OOC: Unfortunately the time between the attack and Nighthill's information was only about 5-10 minutes, not enough time for a short rest to be completed.

DM Screen:

Rogram Stealth (Advantage-Cover, Disadvantage-Armor): 5
Smoke Stealth (Advantage-Cover): 27
Thia Stealth (Advantage-Cover): 16
Thrax Stealth (Advantage-Cover, Disadvantage-Armor): 20
Yevele Stealth (Advantage-Cover): 21
DM Roll: 3

By a direct line the town's mill is only five hundred feet or so away from the keep, but using the winding stream bed doubles the distance. The darkness of night, the peaceful water of the stream, and the conversation of the besieging force allows you to walk quietly past their line and to the outer edge of the mill yard.

The mill is a simple rectangular barn, about forty feet long and twenty feet wide, with an attached, exterior office. There are no doors or windows on the long side of the barn facing the stream.

Four raiders wield torches outside of the barn: Three armored men wearing chain shirts with spears and shields, and a woman without armor or weapons. At the moment, they have not noticed you on the stream bank.

Does the unarmed woman look like a villager who is taken captive or is she with the raiders? Possibly a command position?

Have any fires at the Mill been lit yet, or just the torches carried by the raiders so far? 

How far away are we from them? If we are more than 30 feet, is there a way to get closer while remaining hidden? Rogram is cursing himself for not asking to borrow someone's bow.

OOC: The woman looks like she fits right in with the others, and does not appear to be in a captive situation. You are positioned around fifty feet away from them. Getting any closer would mean leaving the cover of the stream.

"I could drop a sleep spell right in their midst," the half-elf suggests, quietly munching on the last bits of her red apple and throwing the core into the stream bed.  "It probably won't get them all but they are nicely clumped for the moment.  Shall I?" she looks around seeking agreement from the party.  She nervously feeds the lose strands of her hair back behind her ears, revealing the long upswept lobes of her fey heritage.

OOC: I neglected to answer the question that the mill is not currently burning, and that the raiders are not actively burning it, but are looking toward it with torches in hand at the moment.

“Letsss wait until the last possible moment” whispers Thrax “ Remember that we are stalling for time until the reinforcements arrive, but once they move to light the mill let’s put as many to sleep as we can and then charge in to clean up the rest.”

Smoke nods to Thia We will have to face them sooner or later it seems. Perhaps we can split them up that way. 

That said Smoke will try to sneak a bit closer, circling a bit to try and get at least a part of the mill between himself and the raiders, watching from a small distance what the rest will do.

Yevele gives Thia the thumbs up in regards to her plan, before whispering "If I take off while you cast your spell, I think I can get there in time to attack any survivors. I'll target the woman. She is probably a magic-user and the strongest of the lot. If any of you can attack from a distance, target her after Thia casts her spell."

OOC Is the woman the one wearing blue that Yevele was watching from the top of the tower immediately after reaching the keep?