[Game Thread] Fate's Pawn - Part 5, The Many Faces of Corruption

[Rahn Dahle]

Rahn remained calm and relaxed during Carlyle's expedition into the orc camp. The brief small talk with Gragham was comforting and helped to pass the time, but Jozan was definitely a source of anxiety. While the aid of the cleric was much needed, the almar hoped that he would soon come to feel more comfortable with the group and build up a small amount of trust. Of course, this may have been a pipe dream.

At the cleric's questioning, Rahn rightfully let Gragham speak first, since he obviously held the most sway over Jozan, but the beguiler was quick to support the dwarf's words.

"Master Gragham speaks wisely. I have full confidence in the current state of affairs...and...more importantly...I have full confidence in Carlyle. And as for his background...his background with me has been impeccable. I fully expect to be able to say the same about you too Master Jozan....for your aid has been invaluable. We here are a team, and while we have our differences, we all work together seamlessly. Thus, I vote to allow Carlyle a bit more time before we start enacting any contingency plans. Does this not sound wise to you?"

At his verbal completion, Rahn turned back to Gragham and gave him a nod of confidence.

"I trust your lead my friend."

While all he spoke was truth, the beguiler still had to take another look towards the camp for any sign of trouble.

(ooc: Spot check:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+3:	(1) + 3	Total = 4

Listen Check:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+3:	(6) + 3	Total = 9

)

[Sombrero]

[BraveSirRobin]

Jozan raises an eyebrow at the vigorous defense of Carlyle by Rahn and Gragham. That's fine. I just assumed we should have a plan in place in case it does come to that. He shrugs and lets the matter go although there does seem to be some lingering skeptism.

Luckily Jozan's contingency plans were proven unecessary, as his friends predicted, when Carlyle suddenly appeared nearby.

ooc: Now this is normally where I would normally provide you with a map of the scouted area. And believe me, I have had one prepared for several days now. A breathtakingly spectacular map in it's depth and detail. I gasped at its perfection when I had finished it and couldn't wait to show it to you all. Unfortunately you all may never see it since it was brought to my attention that Map Magical is gone from the internet once again. So, back to the drawing board for me. In the mean time we need to make due with what we have which is words. Luckily this isn't two complex at this point in the encounter. The scene that Carlyle will describe to you is thus: The orc camp is about 1,000 feet from your current position and consists of three large tents along with three nearby bonfires nearby. Carlyle confirmed the count of 17 orcs in and around the camp, although it was hard to obtain a definite count of those inside the tents. The camp itself it about ten feet away from the large cave opening which is about 15 feet wide. The camp is surrounded by trees to the north and south of the camp and is mostly clear to the west. The party is currently far west of the camp in tree cover.

[Sombrero]

Carlyle describes the camp in detail first before he relates what he had heard from the orcs in the camp.

“Didn’t hear much talk about who was in tha cave, just the normal complaining about their bosses, and it don’t look like they’re much afraid of being attacked. They only got two keepin’ watch, and tha cave itself didn’t have any sentry either…I got right up to it, and could have gone in simple enough, but some of tha orc in tha camp had also talked about some of them bein’ what translates to “Dark Touched” meanin’ that they have arcane powers, so I thought better of it…didn’t want ta get caught and let on that they we’re here.” Pretty much finished with his report he take out his waterskin and take a long draught, and then waits for any questions that may follow.

[BraveSirRobin]

[BraveSirRobin]

Finally, here is a map of the area.

[Vintar]

When the rogue finally returned, Gragham gave a little sigh in relief: yes, he had the utmost confidence in Carlyle’s abilities, but he had been always astonished about the number of things that could go wrong in an endeavour like this one… Usually it was something extremely trivial, like a loose bootstrap, or a piece of dried jerky gone bad.

He listened to Carlyle’s account and furrowed his brow. ”So, we still nay know if we be at dem rendez-vous point, least nay fer sure… Dem ‘dark touched’ bloke be eh promisin’ clue though… If dey be speakin o’ him, den it be safe ter assume dat dey nay left Asylum wid him… b’sides, eh mage prob’ly be able ter tell if dat rod be fake. Chances be dat he be identifyin’ dem magical properties o’ dat rod as we speak.”

Gragham turned back towards the tiny campfires and scowled. ”Well, if we take em head-on, den we be givin’ dat mage plenty o’ time ter let dem Hells rain down on us… I dunno if he be able ter call lightnin’ from dem skies like Ellesaria, but it be bound ter be nasty. So, me tinks it be best ter sneak inter dat dere cave, capture or kill dem magic users, dem see what us chances be ehgainst dem orcs outside… hope dem cave grants usselves eh defensible position.” He fell silent and looked around expectantly, waiting for responses from the others.

[BraveSirRobin]

Jozan, for one, seems concerned by Gragham's senario. How do you know the Dark Touched are in the cave? If were wrong about that we could be in dire straits caught between. He shakes his head. I will of course follow your command your Excellency, however, I think I should also present you with another option. I have a scroll that can produce a solid wall of stone we can use to block the cave entrance and prevent those inside from assisting. We can then suprise the orcs and crush them against like a tidal waves against rock. The cleric pumps his fist obvious fire and determination in his voice.

ooc Just to remind you, Jozan's plan isn't the DM trying to pass along any hints. Evaluate his proposition on his own merits.

[Vintar]

Gragham nodded thoughtfully. "Aye, dat be eh good option... We could also sneak usselves in an' seal dem entrance wid dat scroll o' yers b'hind us... let dat tidal wave o' orcs wash out on rock while we deal wid dem important folk in dem cave... If dey be in dem cave, o' course."

[Sombrero]

Damn it!
Even though he didn’t like it, Jozan had a point, and Gragham’s miscue was largly impart to Carlyle’s lack of clarity when he gave his report of the orc camp.

“Jozan’s right, Grag. I didn’t make it clear enough, but tha orc that I heard, didn’t say nothin’ about who was in tha cave. They seemed ta me ta be talkin’ about those in their ranks that were Dark Touched. I tried but I couldn’t tell tha difference between any that I could see…” He says giving the dwarf an apologetic look.

“But as far as which way ta go, I kind o’ like tha idea of goin’ after tha one’s in tha cave too. Although we’d be sealing ourselves in as well as tha orcs out…”

“…can ya get rid of tha wall any time ya want?” he says directing the last question to Jozan.

[BraveSirRobin]

Jozan shakes his head. The wall is permanent. And I worry if given enough time they would be able to break through it anyway. Its one thing if we are trying to buy a few minutes, but we have no idea how long we need to have to inspect the cave. If we are going to deal with the cave first, I say we sneak in as you first suggested. That way we can save the spell for later in case we need to divide their foces at another time. He then pauses as he thinks of another issue. I assume Rahn can make us all invisible then? Rahn admits as much but also confesses that it would be taxing on him to do so for the entire party. I can make it work however.

[Vintar]

”Ah. Hm.” The dwarf was a bit taken aback by the sudden change in information. It didn’t make things any easier. He cleared his throat. ”Erm, so we agree dat we outta sneak past em, aye? Rahn be able ter make us invisible, like last time, an’ he be able ter cast eh silence spell on dat ball o’ him. Which leaves usselves wid just ‘un problem: we still nay know if dis be dem rendez-vous point.” Gragham scratched behind his ear, wondering where to go from here. ”I was kinda rootin’ fer dat ‘Dark Touched’ fella ter be dem contact, ye see… now we nay know if we be blowin’ us cover fer nuttin’…”

He went on another of his circles, stomping on the frozen ground to keep himself warm and agile –for as far as that was possible. ”Well, I hate standin’ ehround doin’ nuttin’ in dem ‘ere cold, so waddaya folk wanner do? Go in now or set up camp somewhere nay too far from ‘ere?”

ooc Okay, two choices… Or more, I dunno. If things remain undecided I’m for checking out that cave.

[Sombrero]

“Yeah, tha silence spell on tha ball…Good thinkin’…and if we get into tha cave and find out that it’s not tha meetin’ place then we can just sneek right back out, or if it is, then we can use it to keep them from callin’ out to them orcs or castin’ spells.”

Carlyle’s enthusiasm begins to show as a workable plan is finally taking form, only awaiting the final touches and agreements from the others. Even at the dwarf's subtle suggestion, idea of just waiting it out to see who emerges from the cave and what happens afterward, never even crosses the mind of the wiley rogue.

OOC: Checking out the cave is my vote

[BraveSirRobin]

Jozan shakes his head at the notion of waiting for the party to come out. And what if they do come out and decide to break camp? Do we attack a now combined force? Best we try to confront them while their forces are divided then combined.

With the plan decided, Rahn smiles and draws everyone close to him to begin preperations. The horses are tied loosely to trees a safe distance from the orcs, alowing them to break away if a threat comes to near to them. Rahn begins, Well now, I will begin by casting a spell that will envelope us all in an illusionary field. I do give pause, however, to the casting of the silence spell. In our previous endeavors there was an abudance of space to function in. In this case I fear we will not have adequate room between the cave enterance and the Orc camp and could possibly capture them in the silence of the spell, at least temporarily. They might not possibly notice but they then again might. Given the noise of the camp, I think its probably best that we take the chance of not using it. Now then.. Rahn begins his casting and in no time the entire group seemingly disappears from existance. They are now ready to begin their orderly approach.

OOC: Basically, with my modifiers the Orcs would be most likely to notice you with the silence spell then without. Its a noisy camp and as such the absence of noise is more unusual then an unfamilar noise or smell. So lets see what happens.

The group proceeds straight down the middle of the clearing so as to not have to maneuver around trees and rocks. They move slowly making sure to stay in the the field of Rahn's spell. When they near the Orc camp, the group shuffles to the southern side of the clearing to maneuver around them. They now move even more slowly so as to not make a sound and stay clear of any moving orcs. One or two of the orcs look up when the group approach but almost immediately dismiss anything that they might have heard as normal. As such, the group reaches the cave enterancs without a hitch.

Inside the cave it is fairly dark, cold and damp. The passage leading slightly downwards seems equal in diamater as the opening and at the present moment nothing can be heard below. At this point, after checking to make sure they are far enough away from the cave enterance to not be overheard, Jozan speaks up and states snidely. I can't see anything down there. How are we going to do this? Rahn looks back at Jozan with a raised eyebrow. I can see fairly well as long as we don't proceed to far down from the enterance and I would imagine Gragham would have no problems at all leading us. I guess if you feel that strongly about it we could light a torch but then we will become visible ourselves. Jozan grudgingly agrees to this but promises to have a light source at the ready just in case.

The need for light becomes moot, however, as the party continues down the cave and after approximately 100ft and a bend in the passage, see the edge of light from something down further. Jozan smiles, although Carlyle doesn't see it. Well I think we have our answer.. He whispers. ...Orcs certainly don't need light.

[Sombrero]

Carlyle peers down the tunnel at the dim edges of the light for a few seconds more contemplating their options. “How ‘bout that silence spell now Rahn? So they don’t hear us come clankin’ down tha tunnel.” he says tapping everso lightly on Graghams breast plate.

The rogue slips his sword out of its scabbard as quietly as he can and waits for the others to give the go ahead to move on.