Chilling Adventures in the North

(Here's a roof to the fortress, and it is 250 feet tall.)

Qinfaren tries the doors but finds that they are locked.

"Well, it wouldn't be much of a fortress if we could just walk in," Bjorn remarks.

Qinfaren smiles and shrugs. 

"Better to try then go through a lot of dangerous work to only find out the door was unlocked all along." Qinfaren says. 

He looks around a little then smiles again.

"Same as last time?" he asks. "I can become my little spider friend and sneak in and open the door from the other side."

Qinfaren looks around the locked doors to see if there are any cracks or space under the doorway for a spider to slip through.

Perception if needed: 23  

"The front gate just... Goes against my better judgement. Bound to get manacled or dead going in that way. But can't turn around, neither." 

"Alright. Do your thing, Qin, you got this." Ricky lets out a long breath. 

How close to the front gate can we sneakily get?  If needed, Owl could carry the spider to the gates…  They are unlikely to use them as a snack on the way.  

((They're right at the front gate - Qinfaren tried the doors and they were locked))

Assuming there's a crack around or under the door, Qinfaren steps up as close to the door as he can get and then suddenly his body and gear shrink down, leaving a tiny shaggy furred spider in his place.

Qinfaren-spider then quickly creeps through the crack (preferably beside or at the top of the door), keeping to shadows where possible, and takes in the situation on the other side of the main doors, looking for both guards and any special mechanism to open the door, besides just lifting a beam out of the way.

Stealth if needed while in wild shape - 24 

(Sorry, busy last couple of days.)

Qinfaren spots a crack just big enough for a spider to crawl through. He then transforms himself into a spider before crawling through. On the other side of the double doors, Qinfaren finds a lowered iron portcullis. However, he sees no sign of any guards, nor a way to open either the double doors or the portcullis.

Spider-Qinfaren sighs and decides to scramble further into the fortress, looking for somewhere the door could be opened from. If it's not on the other side of the portcullis, he'll try and make his way through the passages in the direction of where the arrow slit was.

Qinfaren continues on but finds no method of opening either the door or the portcullis.

(Which arrow slit?)

(I think there was mention of one near the front doors?)

Deciding that heading further into the fortress would not reveal the mechanism to opening the door, Qinfaren heads back out of the fortress to the rest of the group. He passes through back through both the portcullis and the doors. Just when he reaches the rest of the group, the two stone doors open and the portcullis begins to rise.

For the moment, Qinfaren stays in spider form. This opening of the gates and portcullis seems a bit unusual for a heavily secured fortress. 

He slips up onto Ricky's shoulder and hitches a ride when the group goes inside.

The group enters the fortress passing through the stone doors and under the porcullis. Once inside, the group finds an empty room with a narrow opening at the far end and an arrow slit in the western wall.

Qinfaren-spider slips down off Ricky and runs along the wall to where the arrow-slit is. He circles around it and comes to the slit from the top (roof side) and takes a look inside.

Stealth if needed: 28  

     "I think we're being invited in?" Bàn asks/suggests with a little shrug of his shoulders.  He sends Owl into the opening doors first then starts cautiously looking away to see just what kind of trap they're about to walk into...

Qinfaren stealthily approaches the arrow slit and peers through. He notices He notices a duergar woman inside the room just before she begins raising an alarm. Her attention is drawn towards Bàn, Owl and the rest of the group as she shouts out in a language that no one in the group speaks.

(Roll for initiative.
Bjorn: 16 )

Ricky initiative 15 

Bàn initiative: Nat 1+2 for 3

Qinfaren Initiative:  8  

(Bjorn, Ricky, Qinfaren, Bàn)

Hearing the shout of alarm, and the noise coming from behind the wall, Bjorn summons Blue to his side.