[Game #1] Hempel's and Stanilus' Thread

[PyroArrow]

Upon seeing the gob of mucus narrowly landing upon his person, & almost wanting to harf out his stomach upon seeing the spitoon then hearing the apparent farmer, Stanilus, momentarily hesitates & debates going over towards the shopkeepers instead.

Stanilus then thinks, "Oh, what the heck" & comes up to the fellow & says,

"Good Evening Sir, I do hope you're evening has been an Enjoyable one after toiling with the soil today."
[Said in a humorous good natured bit of sarcastic tone (due to the farmer having fun trying to land one on him)]

[Landifarne]

[OOC: Perfectly fine, Pulpatoon. I was hoping that you'd get back quickly. Pyro: I'm going to gloss some of Stanilus' investigation in my next post, but I'm tired at the moment. Until tomorrow.]

[Landifarne]

Stanilus doesn't have much success with the locals, as they are an insular people and their speech makes it obvious who is an outsider. If anything, he came to see that the peasants look with disdain upon anyone wearing richly tailored clothing and missing dirt beneath his fingernails.

Eventually finding himself sitting with a barge captain named Horli, whom he had heard others refer to as "th' Swain", Stanilus buys the fellow a beer ("None o' that Fordian swill," Kiergen remarked when offered the drink, and thanked Stanilus when it came) and plies the riverman with a few, circumspect questions- amongst which is one that references Lord Sanblic, who left just moments before ('round midnight).

[1d20] = 15x2 Rumor Rolls

[1d20] = 10 Rumor Roll

[OOC: Ignore the "15x2" in the roll above, I was attempting to see if it would just roll twice. It didn't, I had to roll it again for the second one]

"Th' locals say tha' there be an ol', haunt'd inn 'twixt 'ere an' Highwol'," Kiergen mentions absentmindedly, once the two had begun to talk. He also tells Stanilus (who was wise to not share his real name with the man) that one should stay out of the Drowned Rat, it being full of dangerous characters. "Why, e'en one o' me own men was killt ther' two day back! I' ye know an' slip'ry character lookin' fer a night work, lem'me know. I nee' t' r'trieve me man' poss'bles fro' tha' hole."

Eventually, after Sanblic's departure precipitated an excuse to speak about the man, Kiergen alluded to that lord as being in the habit of taking drink in the Hoof's taproom several nights a week. "I 'spect e'll be 'ere o' th' morrow. R'minds me I nee' t' ge' some shu'eye, meself," Kiergen commented before heading to his room upstairs. The barge captain had been drinking heavily all evening, and his speech was starting to sound more like that of the Fordians.

[PyroArrow]

[OOC/DM's EDIT: The following was taken by PyroArrow from Pulpatoon's previous (slightly out of sequence) post for the benefit of any readers:]

DAY 0: The Centaur's Hoof Inn

Returning to the Centaur’s Hoof for breakfast, Hempel waits for an opportune moment to join Stanilus and says, “The map we were provided is true enough, from what I could see. There are servants and guards—enough to cause trouble, but not so many as to invite despair. I think I could find my way in and out, but it would do well to have a strong arm at my back, in case of trouble. Would you be willing to serve in that capacity?” Hempel looks Stanilus directly in the eye.

“I suggest we approach from the same direction I scouted from earlier,” Hempel says, pointing to the spot on the map near the retreat. “There are trees to provide some cover, and it is a short dash to the small house, which seems little used and may actually contain the tunnel Bargut claimed. Even if it doesn’t, it should provide some cover for a longer sprint to the Manor.”

“I’d like to approach Loryn about doing some light service for us. We could lay a ladder or somesuch against the wall to make our way in, and he could remove it and hide behind a tree. When we signal him, he could throw a rope over for our exit.”

“There is a guard with a dog on an hourly patrol. If we can get in and out in less than an hour, we may be able to avoid that dog catching our scent.”

“My fondest hope is that you have learned of some time when Stanblic and his bully boys will be away from home. Do they drink here every night?”

[PyroArrow]

Stanilus listens first to what Mr. Tailor, had learned from scouting the area of Lord Sanblic's dwelling, as Stanilus munches on a breakfast of ham & eggs & buttered muffin.

Ok, yes & yes, Loryn, could be of help!

I have spoken with a barge captain, known as 'The Swain', Horli Kiergan, who told me that Lord Sanblic frequents the Hoof, often
& should be here tonight.

Lord Sanblic & his men left the Centuar's Hoof, shortly before midnight, as such, we should aim to finish the task before Lord Sanblic leaves the Hoof tonight.

Perhaps during suppertime when anyone left at Lord Sanblic's residence, could be gathered in a single place to eat, would be best!

Captain Horli also mentioned to stay away from the Drowned Rat, as one of his own men was killed there just 3 days back now!

Captain Horli mentions of an old haunted inn that lies between here & Highwol & is looking for someone to do a night's work for him, something about
retrieving his, i think, many possessions from a hole.

The work i was looking for when i arrived in town, i was hoping to see Eorl Hroxim & offer my services but alas he is away to the south on business.

One more thing, Mr. Tailor, before we go on this little en-devour tonight, it may be wise for you to wash up body & clothing as, you smell of the stables & could alert dog or house occupants that a cow or horse may have gotten into Lord Sanblic's house!

[Pulpatoon]

Hempel listens with great interest as Stanilus describes the drinking habits of Sanblic and his men. His attention visibly wavers at the mention of haunted houses and men in holes. When Stanilus mentions bathing, however, Hempel blushes a brilliant scarlet and sputters out several attempts at words before finally collecting himself enough to say, "I... I'll go negotiate with innkeeper for a tub and some hot water, and see if I can't get a word in with Loryn."

After his bath, Hempel retrieves some gear he had stashed in the rafters of the stables. He makes sure that his lock picks are nicely oiled and in proper arrangement, and gives his leather armor a thorough tailor's inspection and performs any maintenance and repairs before the night's work.

When he has a moment to speak with Loryn, Hempel sounds out his interest in the evening's endeavors. If Loryn seems amenable, Hempel asks him to gather rope, the thickest horse blankets he can borrow from the stables, and inquires after the possibility of borrowing a horse or two. Hempel explains "Once we're over the wall, pull away the ladder. Your job then will be to stay out of sight. When you hear our signal, throw the horse blankets along the top of the wall, and throw the rope over the wall. Then we all scamper."

"Hmm. It would be good if you could signal us in the event of Sanblic's early return. Or, even better, cause a distraction. I'll discuss the possibilities with Stanilus. He seems like a dab hand at martial strategy."

"Well, my likely lad, what do you say? Up for a bit of quick silver?"

[Landifarne]

Speaking with the conspirators in the barn, where they could be away from prying eyes, Loryn listened attentively to Hempel's suggestion, but couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Sor, Mess'r Hemp, bu' I can'nae leaf me duty 'ere a' th' 'oof," the lad lamented, truly wishing that he could join in the escapade. "Me duty run 'til aft' mi'nigh', an' I be miss'd by Er'mil."

...But then Loryn brightened a bit after giving the matter a bit more consideration.

"I ca' ge' ye wha' ye nee'," Loryn promised earnestly. "Bu' I can'nae help ye 'til me duty be done. I' Lor' Sanbli' leaf' th' 'oof afore mi'nigh', I'll haf' me frien' Pursic warn ye. I' Sanbli' leaf' affer me, I'm yer man- an'ill d'strac 'im sum'ow!" the slight lad boasted. "Lem'me go t' th' Herb'lis shop an' fin' Pursic..."

[OOC: Loryn simply is not available to help with the initial parts of your plan. Perhaps Pursic will be. I'll need a VERY detailed list of what items your characters will be taking...]

[Pulpatoon]

Hempel thanks Loryn and promises to reward him for the help, and for his discretion.

Hempel reports all of this to Stanilus. "I don't feel inclined towards tracking down the boy's friend. We could end up sharing our plans with half the gutter urchins in town. But it will be good to have someone keeping an eye on Sanblic for us.

"This leaves us with three possibilities, as I see it, for making our departure. First, we leave a rope hanging over the wall. It's easy for a rope to pass notice, being small, but if it is noticed, we're cooked. Second, pull the ladder over with us, and stash it somewhere out of sight. Third, we exit through the gate. Probably at a dead run.

"But, of course, I'm a simple tradesmen with no particular head for such matters. What think you?"

Hempel plans on having the following items on his person: Leather armor, dagger, clothes including cloak and floppy hat (they're good for blending into shadows and obscuring identifying features), and his tailor/thieving supplies (needles, lockpicks, thread, shears—Hempel uses them all interchangeably for either professional mode) in his otherwise empty backpack. Additionally, he plans to collect enough thick blankets to make it unscathed over the wall, and some means of boosting himself and Stanilus over (He keeps saying "Ladder," but he's actually picturing the stick he used last time. Hempel's a pretty capable climber, so he considers even the stick to be a luxury, but realizes that Stanilus will be less nimble in this regard).

[Landifarne]

[OOC: Please welcome Ythgar to the thread...and to the game!

His character is starting out in Rifford, and should begin to show up very soon. Pulp, Pyro: Ythgar is a minor and his posts are subject to admin approval before they can go up. This may be a bit awkward for a bit, as that means he will not be running at the same posting frequency as you two have been going at. That's fine, and don't let that slow you down right now, as his character is on a tangential arc to your current activities. Once the whole (most of the) party shows up...or once November is over, we will be slowing down the game to 1-2 posts per week. Cheers!

Ythgar: Please don't post until I place your (spoilered) history here.

Pyro, Pulp: Please cotinue as before.]

[PyroArrow]

Stanilus ponders over what The Tailor, has told him, then says,

Roughly how high is the fencing around the estate?

A ladder would be to cumbersome to bring along, especially to make a fast getaway.

Short ropes with grappling hooks ought to be enough for getting over the fence each way.

Is the top of the fence pointy or spiked? Is this why you suggest the blankets?

I had been pondering over the use of a distraction as well.

It would need to be something at the front gate that the guard or guards would have to intervene with, otherwise, i'm sure they will ignore it & just
immediately circle the estate a few times, instead! Either way however will invoke the guards to look around the estate for sure anyways. So hurry we must, yet stealthy we should be.

Also, instead of going to the Drowned Rat, after retrieving the papers, i suggest giving them to Loryn & have him place the papers into Ba'rutt's, bargut's or whatever he calls himself, boots, He He!

We could fabricate facsimiles of the document ourselves perhaps. But then again it may give it away right away that the documents are missing rather than misplaced.

If we were to get horses that may help, as the familiar sound of hooves from the direction of the barn, may not arouse the dog's curiousity.

Right now, i'm going to go bathe myself & get into fresh clothing.

Stanilus will be be wearing his clothing & leather armor & cloak & have just his dagger. If we acquire a rope with grappling hook, i will wear my backpack, & put that & a blanket, into it.

[Pulpatoon]

Welcome, Ythgar! I look forward to you joining the game. Let's hope there's lots of treasure and glory in our futures!

Hempel says, "Right, the wall. She's about ten feet tall, smooth and well-mortared, crowned with all manner of pointed unpleasantness."

Hempel smacks his forehead, "A grappling hook! A perfect solution!"

"What manner of distraction would be sufficient? How would we engineer such a thing without confederates?"

"While you tend to your ablutions, I'll go collect a grapple and see if Loryn has turned up rope and blankets. I wouldn't put much hope in his liberating a few horses for us, but one never knows."

[PyroArrow]

We'll go on foot then, as it's easier to hide anyways.

Maybe forgo the distraction angle.

Looks like we want to come down to the right of the tree straight down from the shack we are to enter & locate the secret passage.

We will perhaps emerge in the closet next to the kitchen.

Yes, go talk to Loryn, & when you return i will be ready.

[Pulpatoon]

Hempel goes about his business, as he described it to Stanilus.

While in the market and streets, he keeps an eye out for inspiration, looking for things that might make a good distraction: a band of actors, or a pushy traveling merchant, or some wandering cultists, or anyone to whom he might be able to point out the Sanblic Manor as a good place to ply their trade come evening.

In the silver-based economy, is a grappling hook 8 cp?

[Landifarne]

Loryn left the Hoof a few times that day, intent on acquiring the items that Stanilus and Hemp had specified. Scrounging around the village, the lad gave each of his co-conspirators an exaggerated wink when he managed to successfully "borrow" a few boatsman's hooks from the docks. They weren't grappling hooks, but the men indicated that the curved prods would serve the desired purpose after being tied together.

After pulling the requested rope and blankets from storage chests (the inn's barn was the lad's private baileywick), Loryn asked the men offhandedly if they needed lamps, candles or oil- giving the gentlemen the distinct impression that the boy knew a bit more about illicit dealings than was quite proper.

"If'n Lor' Sanbli' leaf afore mi'nigh', me frien' Pursic'll run ol' Korl's mas'iff pass th' gayte," Loryn assured the two. "Gnash'r ha' a way wi' th' lady, i' ye kno' wha' I mea'..." Loryn said in all seriousness and certitude.

"I can'nae ge' ye horse, 'less ye wan' Sanblis' mouts?" the boy asked them mischievously before filing out the barn's double doors.

[Pulpatoon]

"If the lamps are shuttered, then they will serve admirably, thank you, Loryn. And that's clever, with the dog and the gate. Please extend my regards to Korl.

"I think we'll leave Sanblic's horses alone; I'd like to be out by the manor before he leaves. But perhaps you could be bring an excess of diligence to your stabling duties? Secure them so well that it will delay Sanblic removing them at the end of his evening? Especially if he is headed homeward earlier than expected."

Pyro, think we're ready to head out to the compound?

[PyroArrow]

With left hand on his chin & right arm under left elbow, Stanilus, thinks for a moment & says,

Yes, i think we are ready.

[Landifarne]

Once darkness fell, the prospective burglars hefted their odd assortment of equipment: blankets, rope, ad-hoc grappling hook, hooded lamp and flask of oil. Setting out, they avoided people moving along the Highwold track, and paralleled that road. Observing Sanblic's party on its way to the Centaur's Hoof, the skulkers arrived at the lord's estate ten minutes later. The time was just past the seventh bell.

Hempel informed his companion that everything appeared as before, and the two made a circuit of the grounds, making mental notes of the guards on duty near the gate and hearing them call their dog, "Honey".

[Landifarne]

Arkthren's spoiler-
Arkthren wondered what his cousin was up to. Pursic had always been something of a wild child, but the boy had left the herbalist's shop earlier in the evening without voicing where he was going. Inexcusable, as he was Arkthren's direct responsibility. Master Holcomb's head was so lost in his weeds and mushrooms that he probably didn't even realize that his youngest apprentice had gone out.

Judging it likely Pursic was spending time with Loryn, that rascal stable hand, Arkthren excused himself after his own duties had been completed and sauntered over to the Hoof 'round the eighth bell. Jingling a few drabs in his coinpurse, the apprentice figured he could pass a few pleasant hours in the inn's taproom while he discovered exactly what his cousin was up to...it was always fun to hear what the simple folk had to say, even if some of their notions were beyond ludicrous.

Crossing the village square, Arkthren touched the foreleg and hoof that was nailed outside the inn's door. The locals thought the gesture brought luck, and who was Arkthren to doubt the veracity of the idea. Entering the establishment, the apprentice ordered a pint from Eremil and nodded to a few shopkeepers and apprentices that he knew. Moving to the back of the room, near the fire, the apprentice sat down with his drink and ruminated upon his life-

Since becoming obsessed with druidism two years ago, Master Holcomb hadn't taught Arkthren anything new. Reynard had chaffed at their master's intransigence so much that the former apprentice eventually left Holcomb's service altogether. And, even though Reynard had always been a rotten bastard, Arkthren had to admit that he had also been thinking of doing the same. It was becoming increasingly clear to the now-senior apprentice that little was to be gained by staying on.

Pursic had certainly picked up some druidic arts, but Arkthren had no talent, or interest in lynsic flows. Better to leave, Arkthren thought to himself. Pursic can take care of the master's needs, and I have been an apprentice to Holcomb for far too long.

[Pulpatoon]

Hempel thwacks himself on the head. "Drugged meat. Should've brought dinner for the dog." He shrugs, "not that we have the silver for it."

When the timing seems right, Hempel throws up the grapple, wraps his hands in blanket and throws the others over his shoulder. He climbs up the wall, checks for movement, lays the other blankets along the top of the wall, and checks that the hook is secure before motioning for Stanilus to follow.

If all goes well, Hempel will then drop down the other side, and run at full speed to the booger building.

[PyroArrow]

And just how did you intend to feed the dog the drugged meat, Hempel?!

After Hemple makes it to the top of the wall, Stanilus follows, struggling a bit at first to pull himself up.

Once there Stanilus scans for any nearby movement along with Hemple before retrieving the rope & checking to see if the blankets would be readily visible
from the inside or not.

Stanilus then drops down after Hemple & follows him to the booger building.