"Let's do that," Rogram says, looking at Yevele and Thia. He begins unstrapping his shield and sword.

"I don't think that is a good idea. We got away with it once, but, can we do it a second time? I doubt I look like many of the raiders. I don't wear armor and I use a quarter staff rather than the swords that most of the humans seem to use. Perhaps we could sneak over to the tower over there . . " Yevele says pointing at the tower on the opposite side of the canyon. "Take out whoever is there after dark and then sneak down to the camp via the ladder."

OOC Having the character with the lowest charisma try to brazenly infiltrate an enemy camp doesn't seem like the best option to me.

"Yevele,  you can carry Rogram's sword and shield, with your staff strapped across your back.  You'll fit right in.  We can get right in there like this.   I appreciate you might not feel all that comfortable, but I'm sure we can carry this off.  We're pretty good at it," she smiles encouragingly.

OOC:  Three bards - as a party, we should be excellent at this sort of thing...  

Scanning for a path downward, Yevele notices a large number of handholds and footholds that line the cliffs. Given ample time, climbing up or down the cliff should be a simple task. There are no other obvious paths into the camp except for the trail that leads to the entrance of the hollow.

Rogram stops disarming himself when Yevele expresses her reservations. He looks back at the cliff as Thia speaks, and his mind is uncharacteristically reserved. "Help me, mother," he whispers. He turns and looks at the others. "Perhaps it might be wise to watch the army to learn its schedule. If we spend the rest of the day observing and tracking their movements, and then attack the tower after dark as Yevele suggests, we might have a better chance under the cover of darkness. Also, I can get us down the cliff quickly and easily using a spell my mother taught me. We would just have to figure out how to get back up."

Smoke looks a bit saddened Perhaps you are right, its to dangerous. Let us wait for cover and track their movements. We should keep an eye on when they change guards. 

He looks around on the ridge. Do we have rope that we can tie onto something here? It could help move the prisoners up the cliff faster. 

Rogram has a 50 foot rope.

OOC: It sounds like the plan is to watch and wait until nightfall, but I'd like to get some confirmation from Thia and Yevele before resolving a long period of time, as well as get an idea of where the party is situated (i.e., is everyone remaining in the same location, would anybody like to do something different while the others are watching the camp, etc.).

Thia is happy to stay put with the others.

Rogram wants the group to stay together.

Yevele will also stay close to the group, but, will move about 20 feet away, just to be a little less obvious to anyone looking in their direction. She will mainly watch the lookout tower, but, occasionally glancing down into the canyon.

Rogram will pay close attention to everything going on with the prisoners: schedule, where they go when they're not working, how they're treated, and how many guards are assigned to them. He's also curious about the one "unfortunate individual" staked at the back of the camp, so he'll pay attention to them as well, but his main focus is the prisoners.

Smoke would try to stay near everyone and get an idea of when the guards switch or if they switch prisoners to on and off work duty. 

And if possible he would try to see if there are multiple places where they would be able to climb up the cliff so they can get multiple possible escape routes. 

OOC: Thank you for the extra details. Sorry it took a while to resolve the day, there was a lot to type up and this has been a rough week on me.

The hours tick by as daylight fades while you each watch the activity throughout the camp. The breeze rippling occasionally through the thick brush on the plateau above seems to do well to disguise your location and any movement, as you see no outward sign that the army is aware of your presence.

Though the camp is not very uniform - the kobolds keep mainly to their side of the camp, spending their time clustered together in groups while the other humanoid raiders seem more separated on the upper level. The humans' activity is equally uninteresting. Some spend time sharpening swords and spears, and others spend time in groups of their own, sometimes moving between tents or into and out of the large cavern on the east end of the hollow.

Eyeing the upper guard tower, Yevele notes that the platform at its peak, around 20 feet above its base, is large enough for a few lookouts. Warriors man the post at all hours, and rotate out infrequently. After several hours, the lookouts descend the guard tower and a rope below it to the floor of the hollow once their replacements arrive.

Rogram watches the prisoners carefully as they toil beneath the humid sun throughout the evening. Four raiders, wearing their masks that look like a dragon's claw, watch the prisoners constantly, occasionally shouting when work gets slow or sloppy. At one point in the evening, an older man collapses from seeming exhaustion, whereupon he is dragged by a guard across the upper level of the camp, into the large cave mouth. The other prisoner, tied to the stake in the midst of the camp, looks practically lifeless. Their head is stooped low, and their shoulder-length black hair shrouds their face. Curiously, most of the raiders leave the area alone throughout the day.

Smoke scans the surrounding cliffs, finding more than a few possible areas where a controlled climb seems rather simple. The cliffs are rough, and covered in natural foot- and handholds, with shallow-looking caves located throughout the sides of the cliffs as well.

As night falls, the prisoners are finally taken from their work into the tents beneath the party's location, at the southwest end of the upper level of the hollow. After a few minutes inside of the tents, their four guards depart toward the large cave opening. One breaks off along the way to make a stop at the largest tent in the camp before continuing on.

As the sun sets, Yevele looks around for a place that a rope can be tied off to. Turning to the rest of the group, she whispers "I think are best strategy might be to head straight down the cliff face to where the prisoners are, and set them free. If we can't find anything to tie the ropes to, do any of you have a spell that would secure the ropes up here?"

"Do you think those prisoners have the strength to climb the ropes themselves?" Thia asks Yevele.  "I am all for rescuing them, I'm just not sure what we plan to do exactly?  Do we help them up here and then what?  Lead them home?"

Smoke looks to Yevele and whispers back I have no such spells, but I saw the cliffs have plenty of places to hold on to so a rope might not be needed. 

And yes, we must lead them home after that. Thats what Alysanne would have done. 

He looks to the camp. As much as id like to snoop around. The safety of the people is more important. We will have to be quiet, some will need to lead them up. I will go up last. I am a good climber. 

Without external tools, Yevele does not see any places atop the cliff to attach a rope - the top of the plateau is flat grassland. She is able to confirm the handholds and footholds that Smoke mentions, which do look to be a simple climb for most able bodies, as long as they are able to take their time.

"Perhaps, one or two people could stay up here to hold the ropes, while the remainder went down there to get the prisoners out of the canyon."

"I have four javelins which might could be used as anchors for ropes," Rogram says. "But if only a couple of us are going down, I want to be one of them."