Checking in, map
Subject Check in
Mark, I am back, though slammed at work. I will not add anything else at this point, other than Harp will give his impressions of the guard detachment at the mayors house.
From: Mark
Subject Check in
Is everyone back and ready? If eveyone could check in I will start on the next turn.
I want to make sure we are all on the same page. It is early evening of the partys third day in town. They are at a new inn, the Screeching Eel, it is early evening and people have been filling each other in on what they found. Players may want to restate what they have found/deduced etc.just so that every one is up to date.
From: Karl
Subject check in
"I agree" Salix says.
(OOC -- we are talking about the residence in town, right? Not the estate.)
From: Karl
Subject Check in
"I think we need to get down to the prison area in the cellar. If any of my people are still alive, it's very likely they are being held there."
From: Mark
Subject Check in
This should be correct. The Mockers have only been talked to and talked about the Mayors house.
For future clarification, the Mayor's house is the house in town. The Mayor's Estate is the large place outside of town that Salix and Kal and Ragnar went to scope out.
From: Derek
Subject Check in
OOC: Check.
IC: So will getting back out and getting to safety be a problem? As long as we can get outside I can turn invisible and fly away, but getting everyone else out, including possibly some prisoners, could be a real problem. What if we released everyone from the prison at once? Would that be a sufficient distraction?
From: Jason
Subject Check in
Checking in
From: Randy
Subject Check in
"Should we plan to make our move while Hack and I are in the Mayor's grounds? We were invited to come back and do some training tomorow and that might give us a chance to hamstring their defenses if trouble starts or the two of us could go inside once the distraction gets the guards moving out. Based on the skill of the troops that we saw we should have no trouble physically. What do you guys think?"
Ranthir pushes his hair out of his eyes and looks to Salix, waiting for the plan to take shape so that he could prepare for what was needed of him.
From: Karl
Subject Check in
"That might be a good idea. From what you saw of the Mayor's grounds, how would you suggest the rest of us get inside with the least notice?"
From: Derek
Subject Check in
"I could probably go with you guys at the same time. I'm fairly certain that they want me to work as a scribe there, and once I'm inside I could either incapacitate the scribe or the butler and run off, turn myself invisible, create a distraction, or any other number of things."
From: Mark
Subject Map
The Mockers did give Surin and Mund a map of the basic layout of the house. It does give basic descriptions of the rooms in the house. However there are two things to remember. The map is at least two years old and it shows nothing of the basement/cellars other than where the stairs for them were three years ago.
I will get a map sent out tonight.
From: Ashley
Subject Check in
I thought we didn't want to go to the house, but the estate? Unless there's a secret passage or something connecting the two.
From: Mark
Subject Check in
You, meaning the party, may want to investigate both. ;)
From: Karl
Subject Check in
Salix has been concentrating on the house ever since learning the cellar was converted into a prison. So far, he sees no reason to go to the Estate. That may change when he finds out about the house. His first priority is to find the missing druids and try to get them to safety, and to inform the Druid council of the status of the town and probable cause of the trouble.
Everyone else's only priority at this point should be to find the Stormfather, as it is he who know where to find the next gemstone. Salix will explain all this explicitly if necessary.
From: Josh
Subject Check in
I'm ready.
From: Kevin
Subject Check in
OOC: I know Salix is anxious to get going, but we have only been here 3 days or so. If we can get Hack, Ran and Allistair inside the house, 2 of them on "guard duty" and Ally actually inside snooping around, it may bode well for our plan. In fact, how long does Allistairs Invisibility spell last? He could cast it on Surin as they head into the house, Surin could look around while invisible, and Ally would not raise any suspicions.
Just food for thought.
From: Mark
Subject map
Ok it seems like my Open Office program has disappeared off of my PC. However, I think I have gotten something useful using MS Office.
I have attached a map of the 1st floor of the Mayor's house. A couple of comments. The large green area is a courtyard/garden. The inside of the U shape of the house has lots of windows that were not obvious from the first visit. The outside of the U is stone with large glass windows. According to the Upright Man the Windows are for light only and can not be opened.
Something I was not able to draw is in the Foyer. There is a large Grand Staircase that heads to the second floor. This is in addition to the other two smaller staircases.
The doors that take up 10 feet spaces are the front door, the doors into and out of the Ballroom and the doors into the Formal Dinning room. The rooms that are not marked, the Mockers are not sure what they are.
I will be working on the Second floor tonight. Ally was tested on the second floor. Ran, Harp and Ally were taken in the door near the kitchen, they had the small encounter with the maid there and then Ally was led up the stair across from the Kitchen to the Second floor.
One small retcon. In the story I have already written , the three waited in a laundry room. It was actually the kitchen.
Other than that it should be ok.
Let me know if you have any questions.
The Mayor's house, at the Eel
Subject The second floor
Ok here is the second floor map. Let me know if you have any questions.
The third floor is attic space and where the live in help lives. The Mockers feel that it is very unlikely that the party will need to go to the third floor.
The two stairs near the back of the building on either side also go down to the basements.
Please let me know if there are any questions. And let me know what plan the party is going to come up with.
I will write more this afternoon.
From: Randy
Subject The Mayor's house
So when Ranthir, Harp, and Ally approached the house where did they approach? I assume the Main Entrance. If I understand right they were then led around the house to the rear entrance near the kitchen. Is this correct?
Also, is the courtyard just completely open access to the street or is there a wall protecting it? When Ranthir and Harp were asked to return the next day were they to report directly to the courtyard or were they to report to the house first?
From: Mark
Subject The Mayor's house
There is a fence around all of the grounds of the Mayors house. The front of the house, which is the wide portion with the large doors, faces the main gate. There is a driveway of sorts that creates a large loop right in front of the main door. There are also paths that head towards the back. Ran et al were taken in the door on the back left hand side, where the kitchen is. They were then led upstairs.
The courtyard is at the back of the house. It was not visible from the street. It is open to the grounds behind it. There are other buildings on the grounds such as a stable, barn, smokehouse, blacksmith, etc. Think of a typical English estate from the early 1800's or so. You know those houses you see on PBS or the BBC when they do Great Performances?
From: Kevin
Subject The Mayor's house
OOC: Do Harp, Ran, or Allistair notice if what they saw of the layout is substantially different from what they see on the Mockers map?
From: Kevin
Subject Stairs
OOC: Mark, also, were the stairs that were used set up the way we are familiar with - i.e. a stair down on the other side of the stair up?
From: Mark
Subject Stairs
No. Harp and Ran have only seen the kitchen, the one hallway, the stairs, the upstairs hallway and the Butlers office. Ally was in one of the other offices close to the butlers office. However nothing they have seen looks any different than the map.
From: Mark
Subject At the Eel
The party sits around a large table in a private room. They had spent some gold to get the privacy, but felt it was well worth it. The Screeching Eel was sure step up from the last two places they had stayed, but the overall sense of corruption still prevailed. The whores were a bit cleaner and the drugs were used in private rooms, but every thing was still for sale. Surin had reported on his meeting with the Mocker's and had shown the others the map of the Mayor's house. Ally and Harp and Ran confirmed that the map was accurate, at least for the little bit of the house they had seen. "We need to get into the cellars "Salix says "and soon. I feel that if any of the druids are still alive, that is where they are being kept."
Harp talks quietly. "Salix, my friend, I know you wish this to be done and sooner rather than later, but I think we still need more time to gather more information. We have done well for only being in town for a few days. I understand that there is risk in waiting too long, but there is also risk in moving too quickly. Let Allistair and Ran and me go back tomorrow and see if they hire us. That will give us a chance to do some up close inspections and see if these maps are still accurate. Give us one or two more days." Salix sighs, knowing in his mind that Harp is right but feeling in his heart that they need to move soon.
"Surin" Salix continues "tomorrow, go find your contact and agree to the fee for the distraction. See if you can find out how large it will be and where it will be. Also see if they have any suggestions as to where we should enter the house? Front door, back doors, etc? I would hope they might just tell us this but if they ask for payment, do it unless it is really out of line." The druid turns to Harp and Ran and Ally. "Tomorrow, you three go back and see if they have accepted you for work. If so, you know what to do. If not, come back here and we will figure something out. Mund, Ragnar and Kal you three spend the day wondering around the town, especially around the streets and ally around the Mayor's house. I want all of you to be as familiar with those streets as if you were born here. When we go in we may be moving fast on the way out and I don't want us running into any dead ends."
He looks around the table. "Any thing else before we turn in for the night?"
OODM: Here is the time to make any other suggestions.
From: Porter
Subject At the Eel
Mund pipes up. "The Upright Man said said we'd be needin' more muscle to go into the Mayor's house. If we go in there, I think we ought to do it together. Ain't no use trying to do everything at once if we get ourselfs killed."
From: Mark
Subject At the Eel
OK. Let me make sure I'm on the right page.
We have a map for the Mayor's *house* in town, which is where Allistair, Hack, and Ran went.
Salix and his companions went to the Mayor's *estate* out in the country, where we're guessing they're building an army.
Right?
From: Porter
Subject At the Eel
Mund looks sideways to the elf Kal, and opens his mouth as though to speak, but then changes his mind.
When he opens his mouth again, he just says "I wish there were something more we could *do* in the meantime besides walking around, but it could help out. Sure thing."
From: Kevin
Subject At the Eel
Harp speaks up. "You know, one of the guards was saying that the seargant does not really like half orcs like me. He may offer a job to Ren and not me, but Ran could try and make it a package deal. We could offer to take a night shift when we both would be able to see better than a normal human. It would also allow us a better chance to look around without getting people suspicious. There are probably less folks in there at night any way. We might be able to help sneak Surin in so he can look around. It might be even easier if Allistair turned him invisible."
T-1 down
Subject At the Eel
"I'm willing to give it a try. I can make someone invisible for up to 7 minutes with a spell, so I could probably get Surin inside, at least. Once he's inside he'd be on his own, though."
OOC: Did Kal or Surin end up buying any pearls for ID spells?
From: Ashley
Subject At the Eel
"I wouldn't mind scouting a bit first with the help of Ally's invisibility spell, then bringing in the muscle when we know better what we might be dealing with. D'you think the mayor might have set up any defenses against somebody like me sneaking in undetected?"
From: Kevin
Subject At the Eel
Harp responds " I don't know. Maybe when we go back tomorrow, if Allistair gets offered a job, he can see if he can sense any magic in and around the place. That might give us an idea of what we are up against."
From: Jason
Subject At the Eel
Ragnar agrees with Salix. While he would love to strike a blow against the clerics of the death-god, our purpose here is to find Stormfather Acer (and hopefully the others) and bring them to safety.
From: Karl
Subject At the Eel
Salix defers to Harp, er Hack's cooler head and will try to be patient for one more day while the rest of the group does more reconnaissance. He will go with one of the others to scout the streets.
From: Derek
Subject At the Eel
"I know some of you guys are itching to do something more than just wandering the streets around the mayor's house all day. Why don't you try and get a job as a laborer for one of these groups that is shipping all the goods to the mayor's estate outside of town? You might be able to get a ride on one of the wagons into the estate and help unload it, and get to see inside the walls of the estate."
From: Mark
Subject T-1 down
Sorry for no replies today. Our T-1 line at work got disconected and we were with out internet access most of the day.
I will try and get something out tonight or tomorrow.
On with the plan
Subject On with the plan
"That's a good idea," Salix replies reluctantly. He takes a deep breath and continues, "What do you think, guys? Wanna unload some wagons?"
From: Kevin
Subject On with the plan
"Allistair, when you go back tomorrow, why don't you ask them about these "passes" we were given. Maybe you can find out if they can track us or if we can get rid on them if we have a job."
From: Karl
Subject On with the plan
"About that," Salix says, "Weren't we told they are good for three days? How long have we been here so far?"
From: Derek
Subject On with the plan
"Did Surin or Kal end up buying any of those pearls? If you have one, I could find out right now. These passes have been bugging me for the past couple of days, and I'd like to find out without arousing suspicion. It could be disasterous if these passes can be used to track people, or worse, to listen in on conversations. If the druids we're looking for are still alive, then the mayor at least has the magical capabilities of masking or shielding any attempts to contact them. And if he can do that, spying on people with the passes would be relatively simple."
From: Karl
Subject On with the plan
(OOC- I'm just guessing, but I think passes such as these are probably a standard thing for towns trying to control entry. It seems to me that it's likely the magic is just so the guard can detect forgeries, or perhaps they change color when they expire or something else. Mark, are such things common in this world? Are these passes unusual in any way that we know of?
I'm just concerned that we're making too much of them. A pearl is a lot to waste if there's nothing special to them. If we don't have a logical reason to be overly paranoid about them, I'm not sure the group would be willing to toss away a pearl to test them. (speaking as a player and not a character, of course. /OOC.)
From: Mark
Subject On with the plan
Ally and Kal have heard of places in the world who use things like these passes. While they can be used to spy on people that usually takes special preperations. The most common type are used as Salix suggests, to show when they expire and to show that the holder has paid their fee. There are other uses but they tend to be used on a case by case basis.
Starting work at the Mayor's House
Subject Turn
I will get a turn out tonight.
I have one of my RL games tomorrow so tonight is D&D prep night, both for this game and the one tomorrow.
From: Mark
Subject Working at the Mayor's house
After a few hours of discussion Salix leans back, stretching. "Ok we are decided. Tomorrow, Surin will visit with the Mockers again and work out the details on the diversion. We will pick the date and time but you" he points to Surin " get to work out the details." The halfling nods in agreement. The druid turns to Ally, Harp and Ran. "You three get to go to the Mayor's house and take whatever job they have for you. Ally, find out about the passes and verify what you can of the layout we have. See if you can find out anything else about how the inside of the house is laid out, the basement in particular." He turns to the other three. "We four are going to try and find work with a company hauling stuff for the Mayor. Let's see what we can find out about the estate. Now since we all have to be going early tomorrow, let's get to sleep now." He looks around and only sees Mund start to protest. Come on Mund, you have had fun the last two nights and I think the earlier we get in line the better chance we have of getting taken on. Mund agrees grudgingly and they all head off to bed.
Salix wakes them all early the next morning. They are the first ones in the dinning room and are headed out the door of the inn just as the first light of morning climbs over the horizon. Surin, knowing that he would have several hours to wait until he could meet with the Mockers spends the morning learning the streets around the Mayors house. This is made a bit more difficult by the fact the the whole section of town where the Mayor lives is surrounded by an iron fence. There are several gates that he can tell would be very easy to bypass and the guards only seem to be on station during the night. He would have to ask the Mockers about that. By noon he has a fairly good sense of the streets and alleys in the area surrounding the Mayor's house.
When Harp and Ran and Ally report to the front gate of the Mayor's house a corporal is on duty. Ally steps forward taking charge. "I am Allistair. Ullen told me to report to work this morning. Sergeant Kline was also supposed to have positions for my two associates here, Ran and Hack. The Corporal goes into the guard house and checks a sheet of paper. He comes back nodding "Yes we got word late last night. You are to go to the servants entrance and report to the Ullen. He will give you the rules of the house. You two" he says, pointing at Harp and Ran "come with me." Ally heads off as told and the two fighters follow the Corporal around the back of the house to the barracks. There Ran is presented to another Sergeant, Sergeant Helborg. "OK elf" he says "your with me. You" he says pointing to Harp, "report to the teamsters in the back. We are short of loaders today and Kline said that you were to help load and unload the wagons." Harp starts to act offended when Helborg gets in his face.
"Do you want a job? Well if you don't like this one we can always use you as target practice." There is an evil grin in his face as he says this, and Harp quickly backs down, actually glad that he will be someplace new." Harp is led to a staging area in the back of the compound and is instructed to get into a wagon. The wagon is full of men, rough and foul looking, and they head out from the estate.
Ran is spends much of the morning learning how the household guard is organized and just how low he is on the shit list. He spends a good portion of the day running messages and doing crap jobs around the grounds. If the Sergeant or Corporal want a drink, Ran is the one they order to go get it. If someone needs anything, Ran is the gopher. He does learn somethings though and he is eager to report back.
OODM: I will get more written tomorrow night.
The third night
Subject Information
Ok I have sent everyone some information about the previous day in Bodentown. I am going to write up a small bit about them meeting back at the Eel and then everyone can fill in the others with what they found out.
If anyone has any questoins about what they saw or found out please let me know.
From: Mark
Subject The third night
Dusk is falling when the 8 show back up at the Eel. Several of them make use of the inn's bath house, washing the grime of a hard days work away as well trying to wash away the dirt they feel on their souls. Surin has ordered a large meal from the kitchen and by the time everyone shows up clean, the meal is ready. The food is good and the ale is plentiful. Several members have much to tell.
From: Porter
Subject The third night
"That was a really good idea for us to get a job as day laborers." Mund says "Not that they paid much," he adds with a grumble.
On our third trip out to the Mayor's estate, I saw something. It was a ways off, but I swear I saw a northern tribesman there. Well, at least he was *dressed* like somebody from back home. I tried to go check it out, but the overseer laid a beat down on me, so I didn't get a chance."
"Y'all would be proud of me, too. Despite the fact that he desperately needs a beating, I didn't even raise a finger against him."
From: Kevin
Subject The third night
"I know what you mean, Mund. I saw almost a half a dozen men whipped just short of death and left were they fell. If you can't make it, you die. There is no fogiveness or compassion.
Other than that, I didn't learn much, except that they gave us some new passes. Allistair, can you tell if these new ones are enchanted in any way?"
From: Derek
Subject The third night
"Sure, just give me a second." Allistair casts detect magic to see if the new passes are magical or not. "Hack, Ran and myself got new passes since we work for the mayor's estate now, but they all look a little different."
"I was able to look around a little bit while at work today. It turns out that the west wing and the east wing have separate basements. The west wing basement doesn't have anything unusual: food storage, laundry, a boiler, etc. As to the east wing below the family side of the house, I have no idea. If we want to check out the basement though, that is the side to look into."
"Also in looking through the documents, I found out, partly at least, how the mayor has been financing his build-up of arms and men. His men have been pillaging caravans and villages in the region for supplies and slaves. Some of these are as far as several weeks out so as not to arouse too much suspicion, would be my guess."
"As to the tribesman you may have seen, Mund, I don't think it was coincidence. I found a short reference to some item that had to be obtained in order to satisfy the head of the tribe. This looks suspicious to me. I don't know what it's all about, but we're not exactly next door the wildlands here. I think it bears more looking into."
Ragnar's day
Subject Ragnar's day
When Salix arrives early the next morning, he finds Ragnar recently awoken and ready to go. They eat a hasty breakfast and head out. Ragnar had spent the morning toying with the edges of a plan, but couldn't quite make it work in his mind. Still, he wasn't sure that he was really ready to act out Salix's plan either. He labored for Heironeous, but not for pay and certainly not for this Mayor. He had long since passed the time when he was forced to labor for mortals. But he couldn't just go off on his own either. He should really have talked to Salix earlier, but he wouldn't have agreed anyways. Even in his own head, his plan sounds stupid.
As they reach the place where teams come to hire laborers, his anxiety finally surfaces and he steps up next to Salix. Standing in line where a burly guard checks to make sure those that enter have a valid pass and pay an "admittance fee", he whispers to Salix, "I'm not sure I'll be much use here... I was thinking it might be better if I spent the day around town. Even though there are no temples to Heironeous here, there must be at least some churches dedicated to good or neutral deities. They might know something about these priests of Nerull. We need to know what role they're playing in all this."
Salix stares at him, aghast. "You want to change the plan *now*, and go off by yourself in this town? We can talk about it tonight, but..."
They are interrupted by the guard, as they've neared the head of the line. "Hey you!" he shouts at Ragnar. "Run on back to your cave, rat, we don't need your kind here." Rather than angry at the insult, Ragnar actually looks relieved. Salix starts to protest, but the guard says "If you don't like it, you can join him on the street!"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll be back at the inn long before dark." With that Ragnar heads back the way he came, ignoring a few jeers from laborers still waiting in the line. Salix wouldn't be happy, but Ragnar could only feel relief that he'd avoided the days activity. OK, he thinks to himself, now that I'm free to wander around, how do I make this stupid plan of mine into something workable? He'd gotten the idea from Surin's meeting with the Mockers. The Mayor hadn't been here long, and surely he couldn't have obliterated all traces of organized worship. The problem would be finding it.
He spends most of the morning wandering around, getting more discouraged as the sun gets higher and higher without any hint of where to look. In the temple district at Gorn, religion came up frequently even in the streets. Bodentown was a completely different place, and the only time a god's name was mentioned was as part of a curse. He finally stumbles upon some luck when he finds an odd intersection where 7 roads come together.
Immediately across from the road on which he entered was a large, slightly imposing building that had clearly been abandoned for some time. As he comes closer, he feels drawn to it. The front door was locked at one point, but had been forced open long since. Entering in, he immediately recognizes a shrine to Fharlanghn, the God of Roads. Protector of bards, travelling merchants and other wanderers, his altar would usually hold several small trinkets donated by those seeking his favor before a journey. Ragnar can find where the altar once stood, but the altar itself is nowhere to be found. The building shows clear signs of having housed numerous squatters fairly recently, though none are in evidence now. A quick search of the rest of the building reveals nothing is left; furniture, paperwork, and ornamentations are all gone. Feeling discouraged, Ragnar heads back outside.
He spends the rest of the day searching, fearing that to ask a direct question of any of the residents would arouse suspicions. He does have another bit of luck in the afternoon; walking slowly down another street in a different part of town, a sudden feeling of revulsion makes him shudder. Glancing around, he quickly determines its source, and, finding the building once again abandoned, steps inside. The visit leaves him with more questions than answers, however. There is no sign of what deity was once worshiped here, yet he can clearly tell it was once the church of some evil deity. But why would the temples of evil be shut down? It made no sense.
Immediately accross from that building was another, this one with no doors or shutters at all, and looking inside he sees that it was once dedicated to Olidammara, the God of Thieves. This one seems as abandoned as the others. Its frustrating, knowing that with two churches right next to each other there must be more nearby, but the days are short this far north and he realizes he needs to get back to the inn or risk being out after dark. Completely oblivious to the fact that three sets of eyes follow him out of Olidammara's abandoned shrine, he heads back to the Eel.
*****
Ragnar reports "I wasn't able to find much, in truth. I was able to find abandoned shrines of Olidammara, God of Thieves, as well as Fharlanghn, God of Roads. There was another that I'm certain was once dedicated to some evil deity as well, but I couldn't determine who. None of them had been used for months."
OOC: Karl, my apologies for taking a few liberties with Salix... hopefully it was fairly in character.
From: Karl
Subject Ragnar's day
No problem. Salix would act exactly like that in this situation.
Any one else? Ran's day
Subject Any one else?
Josh, Randy, Kevin, Ashley? Anything else to add.
From: Josh
Subject Any one else
Kal speaks up "I didn't see much. Just a lot of cargo from someplace not near here. I would guess they stole it, but I really don't know."
From: Ashley
Subject Any one else
"The Mockers don't know anything about the estate, but our best bet seems to be the house at this point anyway. They also said we can name the time and day for the diversion they offered. D'you think we'll need it?"
From: Derek
Subject Any one else
"I don't know if we will or not. If we can have Hack and Ran on guard at night and myself working late, we'd already have three of us there. If Hack and Ran are in a place to let the others sneak in, maybe we could get in on our own. A loud diversion might make it more difficult to sneak in and out. However if we are discovered and the alarm is raised, a distraction would be invaluable in letting us escape."
OOC: Does Allistair think it's possible for him to stay working late on a certain night, even if it's as a punishment from his lazy boss?
From: Kevin
Subject Any one else
"Allistair, would it be possible for you to turn invisible and take a quick look at the basement on the other side of the house"
From: Randy
Subject Any one else
I'll try to get something out this afternoon. I've been swamped the past few days.
From: Randy
Subject Ran's day
"Well, I don't think they will be putting Hack on guard duty anytime soon. Kline hates orcs and from the rumours I heard today, plans to put him to work at the nastiest jobs until he dies or quits."
Ranthir clears his throat before continuing.
"I, however, will be on night duty starting tomorrow. I will be given basic passwords and I am allowed to live in the barracks. I may be able to gather some more info there but I doubt it. The general members of the guard don't seem to really get inside the house at all. I also was told that the basement of the servants side of the house is about what you would expect. Laundry, storage, cold room. Nobody knew anything about the basement on the family side. I didn't get any of this info from the Seargents though. They probably know more than they let on. They also have key rings with keys to the house on them."
He stops here and looks to the group.
"I could probably spend some time and work my way up in the ranks and hope to gain access to the house but I don't think we have time for that. I also don't know if I could resist stepping in and stopping some of the crap I have seen the guards do to the maids of the house."
His eyes darken at this thought. These people were sick and had no regard for the dignity of life.
"I think we need to make a move soon. If there are any prisoners I have no doubt that they are being tortured at the very least. I can defeat either of the seargents in combat and get us keys to the house but I don't think I can do it without getting one of them alone. A distraction might help with this but it will still be risky. I wonder if Surin could get in and steal the keys without being noticed. I haven't seen signs of magic users among the guard so he might be able to go in invisibly to do this. Once we have the keys is the time I think we could use the distraction so that more of us could get into the house and to the family basement."
Ran stops here, waiting to see what the others think of his plan so far.
From: Kevin
Subject Ran's day
Harp thinks for a second, and then asks Alllistair "Do you think your viper could find a hole into the basement (like where a rat or some such thing got in) and look around? Maybe Ran could take him and drop him off on the outside of the building and let him try to find a way in and take a look around?"
FMLA and working late
Subject E-mail
Guys,
Please remove kjenning@visa.com from any game related mailing lists until further notice. I'm going to be out on FMLA and I don't want my work mailbox to flood.
I should still be able to access emails from home: Karljennings@usa.net, so I'll still be playing.
From: Porter
Subject FMLA
FLMA -- is that the training for work you were talking about earlier?
From: Karl
Subject FMLA
No, it's family emergency leave. (I don't know exactly what the acronym stands for). I'm going to be taking care of my mom for a few weeks after she has surgery.
From: Mark
Subject FMLA
It stands for the Family Medical Leave Act.
From: Karl
Subject FMLA
Yeah, it probably helps if I get the acronym right.
From: Mark
Subject Turn
I am planning on writing something up tonight, but I need to know what the party is wanting to do.
From: Mark
Subject Working late
I forgot to answer Derek's question.
It is a bit early to tell but from the conversations he heard none of the low level scribes work late. If you do bad work you are beaten and/or fired with the word put out not to hire you. Scribes have starved to death because of the black ball treatment.
From: Derek
Subject Working late
Allistair thinks for a moment. "I could probably leave for a few minutes for a break or meal, and during that time turn invisible and scout around a bit. But I don't think I could stay late for work or anything like that. If you are too slow or sloppy, they just fire you."
"If I had couple of minutes preparation without being seen, I could even cast Rope Trick, climb inside, and then pull up the rope and close the window. I could stay inside there and be invisible for several hours. I could use that as a method to 'sneak' into the house at night without ever leaving."
OOC: Does Allistair work in a room with several other scribes, or a room by himself? How often and for how long can he get up and leave for meals, breaks, getting documents, etc.?
Also, would Surin fit inside Allistair's bag of holding? If so, would he suffocate or something?
From: Kevin
Subject Working late
Derek, do you know the answer to Harp's question about your familiar's ability to slither in and look around in the basement?
From: Ashley
Subject Working late
The rule is ten minutes or so, isn't it?
From: Mark
Subject Working late
The offices are large open areas with many, many desks. Other than going to the bathroom, Ally has almost no time to himself. Surin might fit but he would be unable to breath.
From: Derek
Subject Working late
OOC: Sorry, I forgot about that question.
IC: "I think I could just have Sysyphys slither down my leg and into the grass while I'm walking around the the back entrance. He could almost certainly make his way unseen to the wall on the east wing and see if there is some crack or vent down to the basement that he could climb down. I would just have to make sure he could meet up with me after I am done with work."
OOC: Is suffocation really a problem in a bag of holding? It isn't like the the flap/drawstring on the opening is air-tight.
From: Mark
Subject Working late
Bags of holding are not really bags, they are containers for extra dimensional space. As such air does not really go in.
I will check the books but I am fairly sure that this is covered.
From: Josh
Subject Working late
Couldn't he run a tube from the outside of the bag to the inside and breathe through it?
Bag of holding and familiars
Subject Familiar
I mean, at this level can't Allistair talk to the littl guy, tell him what he is looking for, and understand what he says when he comes back?
If a small snake can't get into that basement, we are going to have a tough time. Unless some one wants to polymorph into a mouse or rat or some such thing.
From: Mark
Subject Bag of holding
I am going to go by the rules as written.
If the bag is overloaded, or if sharp objects pierce it (from inside or outside), the bag ruptures and is ruined. All contents are lost forever. If a bag of holding is turned inside out, its contents spill out, unharmed, but the bag must be put right before it can be used again. If living creatures are placed within the bag, they can survive for up to 10 minutes, after which time they suffocate. Retrieving a specific item from a bag of holding is a move action--unless the bag contains more than an ordinary backpack would hold, in which case retrieving a specific item is a full-round action.
Unless you have way for a person to not need air/heat for more than 10 minutes, then Surin would not be able to stay in the bag.
From: Mark
Subject Familiar
His snake has a 9 INT score. He can also talk to the snake and has an empathic link that goes upto 1 mile.
He also has a +15 on hide checks, so that means if he takes 10 with his hide, the snake is +25 to hide. His AC is 21.. His biggest draw back is that he only has 1 HP.
He is about 1-1/2 to 2 feet long, the size of a small garter snake.
From: Kevin
Subject Familiar
I sent Mark a PM about the HP of Allistair's viper. Lets wait to see what he says.
From: Mark
Subject Familiar
Kevin is not right (he is never right) but he may have a point.
Here is the SRD rules for familiars
Familiar Basics: Use the basic statistics for a creature of the familiar's kind, but make the following changes:
Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master's character level or the familiar's normal HD total, whichever is higher.
Hit Points: The familiar has one-half the master's total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.
Attacks: Use the master's base attack bonus, as calculated from all his classes. Use the familiar's Dexterity or Strength modifier, whichever is greater, to get the familiar's melee attack bonus with natural weapons.
Damage equals that of a normal creature of the familiar's kind.
Saving Throws: For each saving throw, use either the familiar's base save bonus (Fortitude +2, Reflex +2, Will +0) or the master's (as calculated from all his classes), whichever is better. The familiar uses its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn't share any of the other bonuses that the master might have on saves.
Skills: For each skill in which either the master or the familiar has ranks, use either the normal skill ranks for an animal of that type or the master's skill ranks, whichever are better. In either case, the familiar uses its own ability modifiers. Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use.
So the snake has AC21, 24 HP and moves 15'. There are some skills it can not use due to the fact it has no hands, so slight of hand is out of the question. :)
From: Derek
Subject Familiar
Allistair has his familiar climb out onto his sleeve, where he brings it up to his ear and hisses a few times, talking with it.
"I think Sysyphys has as good of a chance as anyone getting in and out of the basement unobserved. I'm thinking I can leave him there on the grounds overnight and let him try and find a way to the basement. He might find a vent or crack on the outside, and he can always crawl under doors to get inside if need be. What do you guys think?"
From: Derek
Subject Bag of holding
OOC: What if I filled the bag of holding with water and then cast Water Breathing on Surin and had him jump inside? Would you still limit him to 10 minutes, or would he be limited to the duration of the spell?
From: Porter
Subject Bag of holding
You cheeky monkey!
From: Porter
Subject Familiar
"That's a right smart snake you've got there, brudder. I say that if he's willing to, let's let him sneak about. Who knows -- maybe he'll find a lady snake during his overnight adventure."
From: Mark
Subject Breathing water
I hate to rain bad news on you but I would rather do it now becuase I figure that Ally would have heard about all the things people have tried and failed with in the past.
The water breathing spell assumes, at least to me it does, that the breather has access to much water. If a person breathes water for a period of time, the O2 level in the water will decline, eventually suffocating the breather.
I hope that was clear. You would need a way to reoxenginate the water for Surin to survive any period of time.
Do you even have that spell? I know Ragnar or Salix could do it easily.
From: Porter
Subject Bag of holding
Doesn't Hack have a ring which makes it so he doesn't need food, water, sleep, etc. as much? Does it affect how much air he needs?
From: Kevin
Subject Bag of holding
He does have a ring of sustenance, but it only affect sleep and food, not air. It also takes a week or so for the effects to be noticed.
I think the snake looking around would make the most sense while the rest of us get ready to break in/sneak in and rescue the Stormfather.
From: Kevin
Subject Bag of holding
I believe the term would be "Cheese Monkey" when trying to cheese the rules like that.
From: Porter
Subject Bag of holding
Hey, I thought it was really clever, and, IIRC, by going with the strict description of the spell, would work.
Not that I think it's wrong for Mark to disallow it. I would probably disallow it myself.
But still, I thought it was an awesome idea.
From: Kevin
Subject Bag of holding
Oh, I agree it was a creative idea, the problem is my brother usually only likes creative ideas when HE thinks of them.
It is funny that he is relying on basic physics (O2 level dropping as you breath) but doing it while you are supposed to be surrounded by water (that you can beath) and enclosed in an extra dimensional space. Right.
We may still need to get Surin in there, just not stuck in a bag.
From: Ashley
Subject Bag of holding
This appears to be a common cloth sack about 2 feet by 4 feet in size. The bag of holding opens into a nondimensional space: Its inside is larger than its outside dimensions. Regardless of what is put into the bag, it weighs a fixed amount. This weight, and the limits in weight and volume of the bag's contents, depend on the bag's type, as shown on the table below...If the bag is overloaded, or if sharp objects pierce it (from inside or outside), the bag ruptures and is ruined. All contents are lost forever. If a bag of holding is turned inside out, its contents spill out, unharmed, but the bag must be put right before it can be used again. If living creatures are placed within the bag, they can survive for up to 10 minutes, after which time they suffocate. Retrieving a specific item from a bag of holding is a move action--unless the bag contains more than an ordinary backpack would hold, in which case retrieving a specific item is a full-round action.
If a bag of holding is placed within a portable hole a rift to the Astral Plane is torn in the space: Bag and hole alike are sucked into the void and forever lost. If a portable hole is placed within a bag of holding, it opens a gate to the Astral Plane: The hole, the bag, and any creatures within a 10-foot radius are drawn there, destroying the portable hole and bag of holding in the process."
I was right about the ten minutes thing, but it would probably be cutting it too close for comfort.
From: Jason
Subject Fences
Sorry, I only sent this to Ashley the first time.
Mark, if I remember correctly there is a stone wall around the mayor's house and yard, right? How thick/tall was that wall?
Harp/Ran/Allistair, in your time in the house and grounds and working for the guard detail, what have you picked up about their security? Specifically, can the guards at the gate see the whole yard, or is it big enough that it needs to be patrolled? Is it patrolled? Is it lit at night?
I ask this because really, a stone wall is not much of a barrier to a cleric that can cast stone shape like 4 times a day. Whenever we decide to go in, we might be able to sneak in through the wall.
From: Mark
Subject Fences
The wall is about 6 feet high with another 10 feet of spiked iron fence on top. It is about 5 feet thick at the base. The guards at the front are not able to see the whole yard, mainly becuase of the house. There are three other entrances but those are used by those who have business with the house. If you do not have an appointment you are sent to the front gate. Patrols do roam the grounds, even at night.
Ran will get that info when he goes on duty.
From: Mark
Subject Fences
Ragnar mentions to Ran, "If you ever have the chance to wander the grounds, keep an eye open to see if there's some place that's particularly difficult to see, some out of the way corner or something. Its possible that I could bring us in through the wall, if you can find such a place (and see where it is outside as well.)" Of course if you think that won't work, we'll think of something else."
From: Josh
Subject Bag of holding
Can't the bag hold a metric assload of water along with Surin?
From: Mark
Subject Bag of holding
It has both a volume limit and a weight limit. His Type II bag has a 500 lb limit and a volume of 70 CF. 500 lbs of water would be 62.5 gallons. I am not sure how much space that would take, but then you would have to take out the volume of the halfling and the weight.
My view of the water breathing spell is that it, being a transmutation spell, transmutes the lungs into something akin to gills, or at least something that functions like gills, and allows the person to remove oxygen suspended in the water, just as a fish does. Eventually the oxygen is all gone.
From: Porter
Subject Bag of holding
Think of a typical 50-gallon tank. I could easily, but not comfortably, fit inside one. A halfling would have no problem.
You could also say that it is transmuting the water in the lungs to pure oxygen. I think you may be extrapolating reasons for the magic that aren't supported by the rulebooks.
From: Mark
Subject Bag of holding
First, the halfling will fit easily. I have no problem with that.
Second, since the spell is cast on the person and not the water, than I think I am well with in my rights as DM to say that it changes the person, and not the water.
There are other ways for this to work but the party probably does not have the equipment.
For example there is an Ioun stone that makes it so you do not have to breath. IN that case this would work. And this might work if you only wanted to keep Surin in for a small time. However, it looks like you are looking for hours of storage time.
The actual volume of water is low versus what the bag can hold. The bag has a volume of a space 2 feet x 5 feet x 7 feet high.
The SRD makes no distinction between how long a person can stay in any of the bags, even though the largest has enough space for a 5 x 5 x 10 area.
There may be other limitations on the Magic that keep people from staying in the bag for long periods of time.
From: Porter
Subject Bag of holding
That is an excellent point. I think I'm convinced.
Not that I need to be -- I'd happily go with your call even if I disagreed with it. :)
From: Derek
Subject Bag of holding
I just thought the water breathing was a cool idea, I didn't mean to open a can of worms. (Ally does have that spell, BTW) Also while we're on the subject, are there any restrictions on bringing the bag of holding into a rope trick space? I don't think it's come up yet, but it would be good to know.
From: Mark
Subject Bag of holding
I will have to check. They do mention specific combinations that cause rifts in space/time etc.