Prologue (2)

[saalaria]

Gandrel creeps out of his pit and sneaks out to where Cole is, keeping low.

[dmw71]

Karl moves from member to member slowly and cautiously awakening them.

"Wha..." a groggy Castien utters between yawns. I clearly need more than six hours of sleep, he thinks to himself before detecting the serious look on Karl's face and realizing his rest may not have been six hours after all.

Castien does his best to wake himself from his somnolence as he rises to his feet, picking up his quarterstaff in the process.

"What's going on?" he whispers.

[Alethan]

Quoros silently opens his eyes at Karl's touch of his shoulder. His hand grips his mace and he slowly sits up to apprise the situation.

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

As Gandrel moves up to join Cole, he takes position opposite the fighter inside the doorway. Peering out, he can see numerous humans dressed in leather armor with a variety of different weapons, milling about the courtyard cautiously as if looking for something. They are strewn out in different spots in the yard and all have weapons at the ready and appear a bit paranoid. A very gruff looking individual holds a torch near the middle of the wall to the north.

Cole's eyes meet Gandrel's and he frowns in annoyance and shrugs his shoulders.

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1

[Nuke66]

OOC: Thanks for keeping me in the loop, was out of it for a while, and took a quick impromptu camping trip for the holiday

Castien does his best to wake himself from his somnolence as he rises to his feet, picking up his quarterstaff in the process.

"What's going on?" he whispers.


"Ready yourself, we have visitors."
he whispers.

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

"Well rogue," Cole whispers to Gandrel, "What do you think?"

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1

[dmw71]

Castien quietly approaches Cole and Gandrel; not close enough to interfere with their actions, but close enough to get a glimpse into the courtyard and see the group of armed humans.

"Adventurers?" he asks in a voice so quiet he's not even sure his words are heard. Heard or not, he doesn't repeat his question, not daring to risk announcing their presence.

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

"Hardly," Cole whispers back to Castien. "Looks as if a few bandits have made this moathouse their home."

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1

[dmw71]

"Hardly," Cole whispers back to Castien. "Looks as if a few bandits have made this moathouse their home."

His grip on his quarterstaff tightens. This is not good, he thinks to himself.

ooc: Are we able to tell how many there are?

[saalaria]

(whispers to Cole)"I think there are too many to take by main force for our band. Better to pick them off gradually which of course is impossible right now. So I think we have to wait for now for a better moment. Of course if they appear to be about to discover us then we would have to act first."

Gandrel shrugs his shoulders trying to reinforce his lets make the best of a bad situation message.

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

"Chances are they probably heard the commotion from our few skirmishes and are hoping we either turned tail or met a worse fate," Cole whispers back to Gandrel.

"I'm not sure how much longer we have so we need to form some sort of plan....or plans...," his voice trails off.

Cole suddenly yet quietly takes his glove off and snaps his fingers at Karl who is seated by the sleeping party members. The emerald warrior makes a silent gesture with a flat hand over his head moving back and forth. He then holds up five fingers and points toward the courtyard then to his sword sheath. Finally he points to the sleeping individuals and puts a thumb up and moves his hand up and down. Donning his glove once again he turns his attention back to the courtyard as he presses his body tight against the inner tower stone. Silently he loosens the strap holding his sword in place.

Does that answer it, Castien?

A new map is now up.

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1

[Xaxyx]

Taking long, slow breaths, Ausus attempts to shake off the fatigue of his long slumber and recent injuries. Probing his wound carefully, he finds himself relatively whole.

Rising only to his knees, he reaches for the scabbard of his two-handed sword with one hand, grasping the hilt of the blade with the other. He then meets the gazes of the others, and nods, indicating that he is ready for whatever comes next.

[saalaria]

(Whispers) "How many have you seen in total?"
"A very quick and admittedly not great plan but I think options are limited: We can ascertain our missile capability - see how many we think we can get on an initial volley. We could wait until they bunch up and then Castien casts his sleep spell to deal with a good number, hit others with missile fire and then you and the fighters can run out to engage the rest in melee and I can continue to shoot any remaining."

Gandrel strains to count without revealing himself.

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

Gandrel can see 5 as indicated on the posted map.

"That's one way to look at it," Cole concedes. "Save the fact that the magi hasn't studied yet. Unless he is more powerful then I have thought and has more magic up his sleeve."

"Our other options are...," he continues, "Diplomacy with scoundrels, a slinking and secret rogue, lure them to us, wait it out and hope they go away, or of course make them go away."

"I even don't have a problem with Castien delving into that book of his if it won't take him long to find what he needs," the warrior whispers as he nods towards the mage.

"Whatever we decide we need to make it quick and get it going...the one with the torch is getting impatient with the search..."

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1

[Nuke66]

"I'd say draw them in and hit 'em with the magic"

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

"So what will it be?," Cole whispers. "One of them is heading this way..."

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1

[saalaria]

OOC - which is approaching? Do we think the others can see into the tower from where they are?
From what point on the map do we estimate everyone in the tower is visible is it only once someone is in the doorway? Is a bandit grabable from behind at this point or would they be able to get away - looking for a backstab/ grab them without the others seeing it ideally.

[dmw71]

"Our other options are...," he continues, "Diplomacy with scoundrels, a slinking and secret rogue, lure them to us, wait it out and hope they go away, or of course make them go away."

"I'm not sure I'm fit for crawling through cracks in the wall." Castien whispers. "I propose we try to intimidate them. If that fails, we can always attempt to negotiate... fighting our way out only if absolutely necessary." He cranes his neck and gets a better look at the group. "Relatively speaking, they don't look like they're too powerful. Perhaps the sight of a mage, backed by a hardy group of armored companions, will be enough to turn them away? Or at least willing to accept an offer to abandon their plans here in the moathouse."

He quickly opens the belt pouch containing his coins. "I have a fair share we can use, and there are also the loose coins we discovered here in the spiders lair we could tempt them with."

***

Just in case it will be needed, Castien begins to mentally prepare himself for the task of playing the role of a powerful mage. He begins rehearsing what he could say over and over in his head until he either runs out of time and has to act, or he comes across a bold statement he believes he could pull off and still be believable.

[Alethan]

"Careful, lad," Quoros replies in a whisper, "a mage makes for a good first target if they have bows..."

[Omega1143]

Prologue 1.2 (Adventuring)
579 CY, Goodmonth 11 (5:00am)
54h/44l, 10mph

OOC - which is approaching? Do we think the others can see into the tower from where they are?
From what point on the map do we estimate everyone in the tower is visible is it only once someone is in the doorway? Is a bandit grabable from behind at this point or would they be able to get away - looking for a backstab/ grab them without the others seeing it ideally.

The pink one is approaching moving south as the tower entrance has appeared to pique his interest. He hasn't appeared to communicate his movement intentions with the others in the group and is walking toward the entryway. Everyone else is pretty much preoccupied with their areas as indicated on the map. The only exception is the light grey which is moving toward the area where the pink previously occupied.

Based on your experience it is black looking into the tower. Again, that's based on your experience but not necessarily true. It is a different time of day and they are human's etc. As it appears no one in the brigand group is acting abnormally from when you first sighted them.

Backstab/Grab is possible if you can find a way to get in the rear of one of them without being seen or heard (MS/HS %). The pink is facing the tower walking towards it.

HP: Castian - 2/2 ; Ausus - 3/3 ; Quoros - 3/4 ; Karalquint - 1/3 ; Gandrel - 4/4
WIH: Castian – Quarterstaff/Free ; Ausus – TH. Sword/TH. Sword ; Quoros – Mace/M. Shield ; Karalquint – L. Sword/M. Shield ; Gandrel – Bow/Bow
MO: Co,G,Q,A,C,K 5'
Consumables:
Spells: Castian - 1: 0/1 Sleepx1 ; Quoros - 1: 0/3 CLWx3 ; Gandrel - 1: 1/1 Color Sprayx1