Argennian wrote:Yosef stands at the ready and in constant vigilance as he anxiously awaits Till's return. He keeps his bow and an arrow to hand at all times whilst he waits. "At least the song of the birds is perhaps a good indication that nothing approaches..." states the elf to none in particular. He carefully studies the city and surrounding areas...
Jeloon nods in agreement. "Though, those birds probably be tastier than snake!" she offers with an almost comical grin before becoming serious once again. She casts a glance at Eyman and Van Deim to verify her two hires remain on alert as well.
"What take Till so long?" she wonders aloud. "Hope he not find trouble."
Argennian wrote:Yosef stands at the ready and in constant vigilance as he anxiously awaits Till's return. He keeps his bow and an arrow to hand at all times whilst he waits. "At least the song of the birds is perhaps a good indication that nothing approaches..." states the elf to none in particular. He carefully studies the city and surrounding areas...
Jeloon nods in agreement. "Though, those birds probably be tastier than snake!" she offers with an almost comical grin before becoming serious once again. She casts a glance at Eyman and Van Deim to verify her two hires remain on alert as well.
"What take Till so long?" she wonders aloud. "Hope he not find trouble."
Yosef nods his head in the affirmative at Jeloon's proffered statement. He subconsciously fingers the Wand of Fire in his belt line with his free hand. "Indeed..."
tkrexx as Emm the Avenging Druid wrote:I shall burn you, and I shall sink your petty warship with fire and lightning, and the ocean shall swallow it and all aboard, and no one will remember any of you!
It's dark, and you far away. But there are definitely lights, and campfires. It seems some parts of the city are more lit up than others.
This is a game about killing things and taking their stuff so you can become more powerful in order to kill bigger things and take even better stuff.
Alethan: I'm good with NOT pressing our luck this time. mjulius: That's how I know I'm home. Pulpatoon: The whole point of PbP is to take the scheduling pressure off the game. We're just chatty because we're so eager! Scott308: ...everyone should be reminded of just how wonderful the people they play games with here can be in real life. Leitz: Quality and quantity wise, I think US is the best I've seen. Paladin: I can promise terror, glory, and riches...or a quick and brutal death. Inferno: Come on! That's was Vicar's Head, a completely different doomed village! Rex: I can move to the wait list to let someone else into the game.
(Sorry for the delay, all... had a long weekend and none of it was spent in front of a computer.)
Till returns to the group some time around 10 PM after a few hours of scouting around.
He provides everyone with a general overview of what he saw...
"The city is octagonal in shape, the outer wall comprised of eight long straight sections. From what I can tell, it appears the area inside the wall might be divided up into eight pie-shaped sections, maybe with one additional section in the middle, surrounding a central tower, which is about 200' tall. Each intersection of the outer wall has a tower. Additionally, there is a tower OUTSIDE each walled area. These outter towers are about 60' tall or so and sit about 150' from the middle of each long wall. They each have a heavy stone door at its base and a stone walkway connecting the top of the tower to the outter wall. Most of them look like they might also have a window about 20' up from the ground, as well. Don't know if that would prove useful for entrance into the city or not."
"Speaking of entering the city... There is a gate into the city on the eastern wall. It appears to be active even at night, as I observed a party of humanoids being allowed entrance into the city after dark. The towers and outer walls appear to be in good condition, for the most part; however, some of the towers look worse off and less inhabited than others. "
"There are trees dotted throughout the city, especially in the northern-most section. In fact, the outer tower on the northern most side appears to have the least humanoid activity, though it does have a very heavy avian presence. I saw birds coming and going from that section the entire time I observed it, even at night, which seems strange. They would fly out and execute a flight path to a certain area of the city, either inside or outside the walls, and then return to the northern section. If you ask me, this area of the city is probably under the control of a druid who is using the birds to gather information about everything else going on in the city and its surrounds. I don't think it is just a powerful magic-user or cleric, because of the presence of so many trees. There is even a tree in that section which is much larger than any other tree in the city - almost as tall as the central tower (which is, again, 200' tall). "
"We'll have to be careful of that one. Let's be especially cautious about harming any natural wildlife or fauna in the area. I get the idea it is a powerful druid, if my assessment is accurate. I know druids are neutral by nature, but some can take the protection of wildlife to an extreme and that can come off as being hostile. Perhaps this druid knows of the grove in the pass we came across? Maybe it is their old grove, even? We could always use that information (even share with them some of our smoked snake!) as a way of opening up communication with them."
"Again, though, this is all just speculation."
"I also observed that one of the towers outside the wall that was adjacent to the (let's call it) Druid's section was run down and maybe not well-manned. That might be another way in, as well."
"It appeared there was plenty of activity in and out of the city and even within the city late at night. We might want to consider making our way in during the pre-dawn hours. Those who are nocturnal will be settling down for the evening and those who are active in the daylight will still be asleep."
Yosef listens careful to Till as he debriefs his reconnoiter with the party. "Well done, Till. In regards to those humanoids you observed entering the main gate, did you see what kind they were, in addition to their numbers? Were there any humanoids or guards manning the outer towers or the main gates, that you could see?"
"An interesting and probably not too far-fetched supposition regarding a druid master of that place, however. Being as most druids are usually neutral in their alignments, that could explain their willingness to deal with humanoid races. A more curious situation than I had originally considered. And this poses a question that has also been nagging me. Should we risk simply approaching the installation as barterers or traders? I do not relish the thought of walking into a trap but the city's towers, if manned, and the height of the walls would certainly make an alternate penetration attempt difficult at best. Perhaps we could consider a plan of relocating our party closer to the forested area to the east, so that we may be close by when those coming and going do so. I would really like to utilize my charm person spell on any that have been in there and could confirm our suspicions..."
tkrexx as Emm the Avenging Druid wrote:I shall burn you, and I shall sink your petty warship with fire and lightning, and the ocean shall swallow it and all aboard, and no one will remember any of you!
Jeloon considers all she's heard and is anxious to get moving. It feels like it has been too long since they've made any progress. She accepts that it is just her impatience shining through and keeps any dischord to herself. "Whatever you think best." she says. "Though, if we do try to pass through front door, me like that they seem to accept humanoids."
After listening to Till's description of the town, as well as the responses from others in the party, Bruard speaks: I agree that approaching in the early dawn is probably best. I like Yosef's idea about using a charm spell to help gain entrance, either on a guard or maybe on the leader of a caravan entering the town, allowing us to pass with him as if we were his hired hands, or some such ruse. But, since it seems that no human's were seen, much less elves, per Till's description, we may be unwanted... he trails off in his own thoughts for a moment, then continues
If we approach the tower adjacent to the druid tower, we may find that we can gain entrance with little resistance. Yet I still fear what may happen once we are in the town. We could use disguise, but I don't know if Yosef or I can make ourselves look something other than what we are: a regal elf and a quite tall human. We could use the helm to search the outer walls for secret doors or anything else that may help.
I fear, my good friends, that I have no other ideas at the moment.
"Sir, our research shows that the bird is equal to or greater than the word."
ToniXX wrote:After listening to Till's description of the town, as well as the responses from others in the party, Bruard speaks: I agree that approaching in the early dawn is probably best. I like Yosef's idea about using a charm spell to help gain entrance, either on a guard or maybe on the leader of a caravan entering the town, allowing us to pass with him as if we were his hired hands, or some such ruse. But, since it seems that no human's were seen, much less elves, per Till's description, we may be unwanted... he trails off in his own thoughts for a moment, then continues
If we approach the tower adjacent to the druid tower, we may find that we can gain entrance with little resistance. Yet I still fear what may happen once we are in the town. We could use disguise, but I don't know if Yosef or I can make ourselves look something other than what we are: a regal elf and a quite tall human. We could use the helm to search the outer walls for secret doors or anything else that may help.
I fear, my good friends, that I have no other ideas at the moment.
Yosef considers their next course of action as he listens to the cleric's retort. He nods his head in the affirmative as looks towards the city in the distance. "All valid points, friend Bruard. In addition to my considerations of employing some of our newly-found magics, I was also thinking of your ability to speak with animals and think that might prove extremely useful to us as well. Granted we could even find an animal to do so outside the city, that is. Mayhap the forested area to the east will provide us with just such an opportunity? We already know that some kind of road or trail must exist over there, as that is the direction from which the caravan came. I am very curious where such a road would lead to…"
Yosef then looks back to the others. "I would think it best we backtrack the way we came, staying close to the foot of the mountain and make our way to a position on the east side where we could both remain concealed and continue our surveillance. If another caravan or group approaches, we would be in a much better position to attempt contact. What say you, friends?”
tkrexx as Emm the Avenging Druid wrote:I shall burn you, and I shall sink your petty warship with fire and lightning, and the ocean shall swallow it and all aboard, and no one will remember any of you!
Till grumbles at the thought of a full day spent changing positions and offers, "The closer we are to traffic to and from the city, the more chances we have of being discovered. Something to keep in mind." He shrugs, "but its fine with me if everyone else wants to move. It isn't like we're going to approach the city in the middle of the day, anyway..."
"As long as we're ready to approach one of the towers in the early hours of the morning, it doesn't matter much to me what we do during the day today."
ToniXX wrote:I agree that approaching in the early dawn is probably best. I like Yosef's idea about using a charm spell to help gain entrance, either on a guard or maybe on the leader of a caravan entering the town, allowing us to pass with him as if we were his hired hands, or some such ruse.
"Do we look to sneak in city, or pass through front gate?" Jeloon wonders aloud.
ToniXX wrote:Yet I still fear what may happen once we are in the town.
Nods.
ToniXX wrote:We could use the helm to search the outer walls for secret doors or anything else that may help.
"Is good idea, me think. How long to get view of all sides of wall?"
Alethan wrote:Till grumbles at the thought of a full day spent changing positions and offers, "The closer we are to traffic to and from the city, the more chances we have of being discovered. Something to keep in mind." He shrugs, "but its fine with me if everyone else wants to move. It isn't like we're going to approach the city in the middle of the day, anyway..."
"As long as we're ready to approach one of the towers in the early hours of the morning, it doesn't matter much to me what we do during the day today."
Yosef smiles knowingly at his restless halfling companion, feeling the same need for action. "Patience is always a hard virtue to embody my fearless friend. Even for some of us elves," he offers with a wink towards Till.
"Let us gather our gear and backtrack to find a hopefully concealed position relative this one to the east. Then we can prepare to satiate our curiosities forthwith!”
OOC: Ron: what was the TOD currently? Can we estimate to have enough daylight left to make the journey and arrive before dark?
tkrexx as Emm the Avenging Druid wrote:I shall burn you, and I shall sink your petty warship with fire and lightning, and the ocean shall swallow it and all aboard, and no one will remember any of you!
It's between 10:30 and 11pm. That trek would take a day, if you were going without trying to be noticed. Also there'd be sections where you'd be exposed. It can off course be done in parts as well.
This is a game about killing things and taking their stuff so you can become more powerful in order to kill bigger things and take even better stuff.
Alethan: I'm good with NOT pressing our luck this time. mjulius: That's how I know I'm home. Pulpatoon: The whole point of PbP is to take the scheduling pressure off the game. We're just chatty because we're so eager! Scott308: ...everyone should be reminded of just how wonderful the people they play games with here can be in real life. Leitz: Quality and quantity wise, I think US is the best I've seen. Paladin: I can promise terror, glory, and riches...or a quick and brutal death. Inferno: Come on! That's was Vicar's Head, a completely different doomed village! Rex: I can move to the wait list to let someone else into the game.
rredmond wrote:It's between 10:30 and 11pm. That trek would take a day, if you were going without trying to be noticed. Also there'd be sections where you'd be exposed. It can off course be done in parts as well.
OOC: Yosef would vote for taking our time, and being extra careful to avoid any chances that the party could be seen. But, of course, he's an elf and his player is uber-OCD paranoid!
tkrexx as Emm the Avenging Druid wrote:I shall burn you, and I shall sink your petty warship with fire and lightning, and the ocean shall swallow it and all aboard, and no one will remember any of you!
Argennian wrote:ooc: Yosef would vote for taking our time, and being extra careful to avoid any chances that the party could be seen. But, of course, he's an elf and his player is uber-OCD paranoid!
What do the rest of you guys think?
Jeloon would probably vote for the exact opposite... but she will be fine to follow whichever direction the party decides to go.
Bruard is also getting fidgety and wants to get there asap. He feels strong with the might of Shinare at his side... he can take on most anything right about now!
"Sir, our research shows that the bird is equal to or greater than the word."
Just checking, is it 2 to stay, 1 to move camp, and the cleric just wants to beat someone up?
This is a game about killing things and taking their stuff so you can become more powerful in order to kill bigger things and take even better stuff.
Alethan: I'm good with NOT pressing our luck this time. mjulius: That's how I know I'm home. Pulpatoon: The whole point of PbP is to take the scheduling pressure off the game. We're just chatty because we're so eager! Scott308: ...everyone should be reminded of just how wonderful the people they play games with here can be in real life. Leitz: Quality and quantity wise, I think US is the best I've seen. Paladin: I can promise terror, glory, and riches...or a quick and brutal death. Inferno: Come on! That's was Vicar's Head, a completely different doomed village! Rex: I can move to the wait list to let someone else into the game.
