[Completed] - Kennit/Bounties - May 20, 1 VC

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit whispers to his companions, "What do you think, rush for the door?"

[Rusty Tincanne]

Though it wasn't posted in this thread, we did get a PM about Rhodri's thoughts. Perthrin is fine with Rhodri's plan(s) or just going up to the door and knocking/barging in and casting sleep on whatever emerges.

Perthrin has read enough of history to know that storming a dwarven hold should probably involve several thousand assailants rather than three. He shrugs and shuffles his feet.

[Spartakos]

Earlier:

In answer to Perthrin's questions, Rhodri gives fairly curt replies. "I'm a guildsman now, so no worries on that score. As for how the tower will help...don't know that it will, for certain. But I've been wanting to see if there was anything valuable in there since I first laid eyes on the place, and this seems a likely time. And if it's abandoned...might not be bad to have a nice secure place, to serve as a base away from Vaul to roam from."

The Present:

Rhodri gives a brief shake of his head. "Only an invited guest or a fool goes for the front door, and I'm neither." He fishes his grappling hook and coil of rope out of his pack. "I'm headed up the backside of this tower; be ready to launch a spell or arrow at anybody that pokes a head up. When I give a birdcall, follow me up."

Rhodri starts to circle as quietly as possible to the west side of the tower.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Perthrin follows along as quietly as he can, stopping and ducking behind any cover he can find where he can still see the top edge of the tower. Within infravision and spell range, but hopefully out of sight.

[Keehnelf]

May 23, 1 VC - 10:00pm

Rhodri circles the tower to the west before approaching as stealthily as he can, his companions remaining hidden to the best of their ability at long range should anyone appear unexpectedly and need to be spellified. After a couple of clattering tries, Rhodri gets the grappling hook in place and scales the side of the structure, disappearing from view over the low crenelated wall and reappearing briefly to give a quick positive signal before disappearing below.

Within a few minutes, he has appeared at the front door, waving the others over.

The tower is currently empty, but there are clear signs that it is being inhabited. Five sets of bedding have been laid out on the ground floor around a small shallow cooking pit set into the stone floor, with a small array of functional iron cookware set out next to it. The lock on the front door has clearly been forced, though the door can be closed and latched despite the damage. Two smaller, square-built packs lie on the floor near two of the bedrolls, and one larger, shabby-looking hide bag hangs from a metal hook on the wall near a third.

The door to the cellar is ajar, and a quick inspection uncovers about two weeks of preserved food stores in crates and barrels that have been cracked and partially ransacked.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Perthrin
Grinning, Perthrin shuffles through the doorway and inspects the small hold. Typically dwarf. Solid construction but lacking character. But even dwarves would have a covered barrack. He inspects the packs and sleeping mats for signs of what race they belong to. He looks for signs of barracks and other rooms within the keep.

[Keehnelf]

May 23, 1 VC - 10:10pm

The tower is a single room on the main level, a semi-exposed upper level, and an enclosed basement, with nothing else. It seems that the dwarves who built it prized a simple, utilitarian design and likely didn't intend to house more than two or three individuals here at any given time.

The bedding is rough but very sturdily built, lacking any ornament or even small features that might improve its comfort. From a close examination of those, and the tools they find in the square packs, they believe that it must be a hobgoblin camp. The rough pack hanging from the wall is foul-smelling and musky. Rooting around inside, they find soft, damp bundles of fur that might once have been small animals, and slimy shards of bone collecting in the bottom of the bag.

The only thing they find of value in the bags is an assortment of coins amounting to 38 gold pieces and 6 silver.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Perthrin
If they are hobgoblins, I can attempt to magically charm one on the morrow. Perthrin lights a candle and heads to the cellar. Once there, he looks and taps at the stonework, hoping to locate a trigger for a hidden door. He uses the candle to detect for drafts, as well.

[Spartakos]

"Hrmm..." Rhodri grunts, upon discovering the likely identity of the current squatters, as well as their meager stock of coin. "Looks like they'll probably be coming back...main question is probably, alone or with friends?" He considers for a bit, then answers his own question. "I'd expect alone; they left their gear, so they probably haven't gone far."

Turning to his comrades, he says, "I'm inclined to lay in wait for them. At the least, they're probably goblinfolk who need their throats slit. If Lady Luck decides not to piss in our face as she has so oft before, maybe one of them will have a bounty on his head."

Rhodri will take a minute to refresh his rations from the stores downstairs (5 days rations added). Then he will head back upstairs and try to keep a lookout for anyone returning; he will keep his head low to try to avoid silhouetting himself, and will use infravision.

Whaddya think, guys? If we hide ourselves, wait for them to come inside, ambush 'em with sleep spells. If Perthrin wants we can keep one a prisoner to Charm and/or interrogate.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit likes the idea. "Was thinking the same thing myself. Likely, these are deserters from Viscarg's army, and that makes 'me worth killing either way. If they happen to be one o' the ones we're looking for that would be a bonus."

If we knew when they would be back we could plan a proper trap, but I'd say we stay close and wait for them. I think we should be on the upper level though. If we kill one and the others run, we would want the opportunity to shoot or spell them.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Sounds good. Perthrin will wait to search the cellar. We can take all our belongings up to the top level and use infravision to lie in wait for them to return. If we can charm one of them, we might be able to get valuable information about something with a bounty on its head.

Perthrin nods his head at the others and moves to put the main floor back the way they found it - minus the coins, which they can pack up equally.

[Keehnelf]

Give me an INT check for Perthrin (d20 less than or equal to his INT to succeed).

[Rusty Tincanne]

Perthrin screws up his face, scratches his noggin and then feels smart: vs INT 17 [1d20] = 6

[Keehnelf]

May 24, 1 VC - 4:40am

Perthrin analyzes the bedding situation carefully before beginning to reorganize and rearrange the bedrolls and other features to as close to their original condition as he can recall. He remembers, especially, that the corners of the top layers of bedding for four of the five bedrolls were turned back at a very precise and uniform angle, and he takes care to attend to that detail as well before the group heads upstairs to plot their ambush.

Long hours of darkness pass with no sign of anything but, just as the first faint lights of dawn are beginning to tinge the sky to the east, Rhodri spies five figures moving steadily across the rolling landscape from the west--four smaller in a neat angled line and a fifth larger one trailing behind some distance.

The dour elf estimates that the group are headed directly for the tower, and will arrive in approximately 15 minutes.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Perthrin stays low to avoid being seen. I will cast sleep when they re-enter. he whispers. He slides to the stairs, mentally practices words and gestures so he will not mess up when the time comes.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit unslings his bow and waits for the assault.

[Spartakos]

Rhodri nods at his companions, and fits an arrow to the string of his own bow.

How are the stairs in this joint arranged? Are we able to set up in a fashion to give us clear fire down into the room, preferably without being too exposed ourselves?

[Keehnelf]

You can really only fire one at a time down the stairs. It's a trapdoor in the floor leading down on to stairs curving along the inner wall of the tower. After firing a prepared shot, it would be easy enough to retreat up to the level above and easily evade any missile attacks that come through.

[Rusty Tincanne]

so only one of us can use a bow in the first round if we are all on the upper level? Can Perthrin cast through the hole while one character fire a shot?

[Spartakos]

I'd rather go offense than defense; maybe arrange ourselves at the very top of the stairs, so we can all open up as soon as they come inside. I doubt they're expecting to find anyone in here.
Either that, or wait up top until we hear them come in and shut the door, and Perthrin hits 'em with the sleep spell. Then Rhodri and Kennit bust out onto the stairs, and loose arrows (or a second sleep, if needed).