[Play-by-Post] Tales from Fourtower Bridge

[Catacombs]

"Do they also set ye to cleaning out latrines? But that is fine, yer a good, honorable lad, ready to take one for them boys in the prison," Kilur said. "They would do for ye the same, eh? I bet Thalen would even shed a bitter tear for ye."

The man scowled at Kilur. "What are you goin on about, you twat. Who is Thalen?" he said, wrestling with his bindings. "Let me go, you cunts!" he screamed. "B-b-before you know what's good for you."

Kilur's trolling seemed to rattle the man. The Colonel then crouched in front, studying his face.

"If he's dead set on saying nothing, we may as well grant him this one wish and make certain he will never open that mouth ever again," he said.

The man stared his back. At he heard "ever again," he started breathing heavier and faster. The Colonel could see small beads of sweat start to form near the top of the man's ratted hair, despite the chill on the mountain.

"Y-y-you all don't seem like people who'd kill someone a man in cold blood," the man said with a pathetic attempt at a soothing voice. "I-I-I don't think I have much to worry about."

The Colonel deduced that the man is just about to break.

 

[Kalarion]

"Don't know Thalen? A pity, that was going to be my main argument for keeping you alive. I really would have liked to take you to face justice in town. But that's not happening, with us all the way out here in the cold. Well," a pat on the shoulder as Thomas squatted with a pained grimace in the snow beside the thug, "I promise to argue for giving you a swift, clean death. Although I'll probably be distinctly in the minority, considering you and yours," now Thomas's eyes hardened and his voice showed steel, "didn't seem too keen on good relations when you thought you had the upper hand."

"No, given the company the good sir dwarf and I keep right now, I suspect I shall have to live with your screaming," Thomas moved his face a little closer, "miserable," almost nose to nose, "inventive," his hand started glowing softly orange as he began drawing the next words out in a soft voice, "long and agonizing death upon my conscience."

"Still!" Thomas' face brightened and he stood up with another spasm of pain, "you'll have done your duty as a man and stayed silent! We won't know anything we need to know, and as my companion said, your boys back home will appreciate you for it. I'm sure they shall raise a toast to you if they ever find out the circumstances of your squalid, worthless death! Cheers to disposable thug two hundred and thirty-eight, they'll say! He died screaming for us, even though we didn't give two shits about him and wouldn't think twice about ratting him out were we in his position! And I'm sure the gods will smile on you for having placed a single lily of honor on the rancid lake of your life as you go tormented to the afterlife as well!"

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

Ha, bunch of amateurs stealing the spotlight from a celebrated bard! Lemme at him!

 

[vazha]

"Come over" - Mumbles beckoned to the prisoner. "Sit yo ass down".
He did. (I suppose?)
"You know, I am something of an expert on this, myself. What we've got here is a little game of show and tell. You think you told me nuthin', but you showed me everyfing I needed knowin'. Now talk. Afore I do some damage you wont walk away from."

Spoiler

Intimidashun: 18. Chaps and chapesses, grab you sheet of paper & pens. Prepare your questions. Time to collect... data.

 

[Nortar]

Kilur had a few questions prepared for the moment when the bandit would be ready to talk.

Spoiler

1. What happened with the Brotherhood expeditions. Are any of them still alive?

2. How many people there are in the prison?

3. Who is their contact/informer in the Brookhaven?

4. Were they (this night-attack band) expecting us specifically or they are just a usual guard/watch post at the traveller's campsite. If it's the former, who gave the order; if it's the latter, when is the next guard change?

5. Robbing nearby settlements would attract too much attention, so how do they replenish their food supplies - do they sent out hunters or trade in the town? Maybe something else? This info could be used to either thin down their numbers before the "frontal assault" or for something more creative.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Kilur had a few questions prepared for the moment when the bandit would be ready to talk.

Spoiler

1. What happened with the Brotherhood expeditions. Are any of them still alive?

2. How many people there are in the prison?

3. Who is their contact/informer in the Brookhaven?

4. Were they (this night-attack band) expecting us specifically or they are just a usual guard/watch post at the traveller's campsite. If it's the former, who gave the order; if it's the latter, when is the next guard change?

5. Robbing nearby settlements would attract too much attention, so how do they replenish their food supplies - do they sent out hunters or trade in the town? Maybe something else? This info could be used to either thin down their numbers before the "frontal assault" or for something more creative.

Also who is Y.

 

[vazha]

Accepting the parchment with scribbled down questions from Killur, Mumbles briefly studied it. Then, with a look that conveyed pain both physical and spiritual, he offered an expletive-riden critique of the dwarfs handwriting for full five minutes. The bard school took the subject of calligraphy rather seriously, and Mumbles was all too eager to dish out the verbal maiming he himself had to go through once.

Then he promptly proceeded with questioning the captive.

Spoiler

anybody else has questions? hand them over, and the handwritting better be neat!

 

[Catacombs]

The man became more and more disheartened during Thomas' speech. The thought that he might actually die on the mountain started to sink in.

"Come over," Mumbles beckoned to the prisoner. "Sit yo ass down."

Thomas stepped aside as the man struggled to get up. There was no point in running. He was badly hurt and wouldn't make it out in the wilderness without his weapons and hands free.

The man trudged through the snow and fell on his behind near Mumbles.

"You know, I am something of an expert on this, myself," Mumbles said, with a wide, Willem-like grin. "What we've got here is a little game of show and tell. You think you told me nuthin', but you showed me everyfing I needed knowin'. Now talk. Afore I do some damage you wont walk away from."

Fear coursed through the man's body. He felt cold, despite the thick leather clothes he took with him on this jaunt. He looked up at the half-orc and knew, deep down, that his life was in this group's hands. "Fuck," he whispered to himself.

Kilur was prepared and handed Mumbles a list of questions. After a few minutes of the half-orc berating Kilur on his handwriting, Brytter whispered into Mumbles' ear.

Mumbles crouched in front of the man, who squirmed on the ground. The group, including Jess, surrounded the man, keeping an eye on the surrounding area.

"What happened with the Brotherhood expeditions? Are any of them still alive?"

The man sat there, deep in thought.

"Those monks? I first saw them in chains, being marched through the halls, down to the underground, to work for us. I haven't seen them since. I swear."

"How many people are there in the prison?"

"I can't truly say. Maybe 30... 40? Not including those monks"

"Who is your contact in Brookhaven?"

"His name starts with a T. Tyrell? Toren? I can't say for sure. He's our representative in town, the guy who helps us with nailing scores, food, and supplies coming up and down the mountain."

"Were they expecting us specifically, or they are just a usual guard/watch post at the traveler's campsite. If it's the former, who gave the order; if it's the latter, when is the next guard change?"

"Me, Turig, Anslem, and our four dogs were out on our usual patrol. We specialize in navigating through the mountain and snow, making sure no outsiders find their way to the prison. Many of us know the maze of roads and back roads up and down this rock. We saw the smoke from your fire and decided to investigate. That was a mistake."

He paused.

"We're expected back in the morning..." (DM: It's around midnight right now) "... and they will know we are missing. Then they'll send more people to find us."

"Robbing nearby settlements would attract too much attention, so how do they replenish their food supplies?"

The man smirked.

"I only follow orders, but, from what I seen, we don't rob often. But, when we do, we make it count. I've seen crews come back with chests of gold, supplies, you name it. That lasts us a good amount of time, thanks to T's resourcefulness. To get supplies up this mountain, I've heard of crews masquerading as traders. Coming into to town to use the stolen money to pay for goods. Then, they bring back up here. In a way, the town of Brookhaven is paying for us to be up here. And we have no intention of letting that stop."

"Who is Y."

"That's Yolanda. She is a T, so to speak, in Fourtower Bridge. We have Ts all over the place."

***

Inspiration

One point goes to Kalarion for the great soliloquy.

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

We've got extensive intel, anybody's been keeping an eye on the story and can do a small brief on what we've learned? and then let's act on that? Also, what do we do with this pathetic excuse of a man? anybody's feeling particularly stabby today?

 

[Nortar]

Spoiler

We've got extensive intel, anybody's been keeping an eye on the story and can do a small brief on what we've learned? and then let's act on that? Also, what do we do with this pathetic excuse of a man? anybody's feeling particularly stabby today?

OOC

Kilur's lawful, so the following even though it's out of character, is from his perspective.

I believe our job here is done.

We were hired to find out what happened with the Brotherhood expedition, and we have learned enough to report back to Dethmond.

Monks (at least some of them) are still alive, they were captured and forced to work for a large gang of bandits.

An assault on a mountain fortress with 40 armed ex-cons was never a part of the deal, and it would cost way more then 10 gp.

Even though I would like to dig further and find out what they are looking for, I think it would be a suicide to go there as we are.
We need better gear and more importantly - a better plan.

What we know:

1. Leader of the gang is Thalen. He hides his face behind a mask, so we can't be sure how he looks.
2. I suspect Thalen is a druid, as he uses a dog as a messenger.
3. The gang has 2 contacts - Y (Yolanda) in Fourtowers and T (Tyrell/Torel) in Brookhaven.


What I propose:

1. Pack all the corpses (so the ex-cons won't find them) and return to the town.
Keep as low profile as possible, the later T. learn about this, the better.

2. Inform Brookhaven guards (Lawful, baby!) about the situation in the mountain.
Hand over the prisoner and propose to work with them to root out T. and deal with the bandits as hired agents.

3. Get in touch with Dethmond and Reinhold, tell them the job is done, demand payment and propose to get their Monks out for much better pay and some gear/supplies in advance.

4. Dig in the library some more to get lits of prisoners (preferably - more info on Thalen) and floor-plans for the prison.

5. Find the ex-guards, we know some of them are still alive, maybe they know something interesting.

6. Start looking for T. and Y. Maybe Jess knows something, maybe Dethmold and Reindhold could provide some hints.
If anything we can start investigating who organized semi-regular supplies deliveries around here.

7. Perhaps, to play it safe, we should start with Y. in Fourtower, but I think we have a better chance in Brookhaven, being closer to the action.
We've stirred their nest. They can't just ignore their missing patrol, so some shit's about to happen, we just need to be alert.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

We've got extensive intel, anybody's been keeping an eye on the story and can do a small brief on what we've learned? and then let's act on that? Also, what do we do with this pathetic excuse of a man? anybody's feeling particularly stabby today?

OOC

Kilur's lawful, so the following even though it's out of character, is from his perspective.

I believe our job here is done.

We were hired to find out what happened with the Brotherhood expedition, and we have learned enough to report back to Dethmond.

Monks (at least some of them) are still alive, they were captured and forced to work for a large gang of bandits.

An assault on a mountain fortress with 40 armed ex-cons was never a part of the deal, and it would cost way more then 10 gp.

Even though I would like to dig further and find out what they are looking for, I think it would be a suicide to go there as we are.
We need better gear and more importantly - a better plan.

What we know:

1. Leader of the gang is Thalen. He hides his face behind a mask, so we can't be sure how he looks.
2. I suspect Thalen is a druid, as he uses a dog as a messenger.
3. The gang has 2 contacts - Y (Yolanda) in Fourtowers and T (Tyrell/Torel) in Brookhaven.


What I propose:

1. Pack all the corpses (so the ex-cons won't find them) and return to the town.
Keep as low profile as possible, the later T. learn about this, the better.

2. Inform Brookhaven guards (Lawful, baby!) about the situation in the mountain.
Hand over the prisoner and propose to work with them to root out T. and deal with the bandits as hired agents.

3. Get in touch with Dethmond and Reinhold, tell them the job is done, demand payment and propose to get their Monks out for much better pay and some gear/supplies in advance.

4. Dig in the library some more to get lits of prisoners (preferably - more info on Thalen) and floor-plans for the prison.

5. Find the ex-guards, we know some of them are still alive, maybe they know something interesting.

6. Start looking for T. and Y. Maybe Jess knows something, maybe Dethmold and Reindhold could provide some hints.
If anything we can start investigating who organized semi-regular supplies deliveries around here.

7. Perhaps, to play it safe, we should start with Y. in Fourtower, but I think we have a better chance in Brookhaven, being closer to the action.
We've stirred their nest. They can't just ignore their missing patrol, so some shit's about to happen, we just need to be alert.

Spoiler

My first and immediate concern is to stop this dude's people from figuring out that their scouting and patrol team is missing.
While they are still in the dark, I think we should first fix the location of this base so we can get word around of it later. Though if we could make it look like animals got them, well...


We could also willingly let us ourselves get imprisoned and then keep the bandits busy(by being a general pain in the neck) while Yessenia brings the cavalry on them. Then we could negotiate a good reward on actually having done something to help the monks out.

If we are to do so, we would tone down a lot of suspicion by continuing on our course, while letting Yessenia head back.

As for the captive, we cannot leave him and allow an opportunity for him to head back to his base. So I suggest we break an arm and leg and cart him back to civilization, just so he doesn't run away until he's far away from mountain camp. If we're letting Yessenia return to the town she should not have too much trouble handling an injured dude in a cart.

 

[Nortar]

Though if we could make it look like animals got them, well...

It takes a very special kind of animals to set an armed man on fire.

Seriously though, this is why I propose to take all the corpses and our captive back to the town guard.
Let them deal with it. Maybe they'll even pay us like for Blackfur.

And for the ex-cons it would looks like a place of battle with no bodies, so they'll have to connect it with us fist.
Even if they do it (we're kind of a suspicious group of newcomers in the town) they won't be able to get us in Brookheaven as easily as in the wilderness. And all the busywork of learning about and locating us could expose their contact T.

As for surrendering, it's a dangerous game, how can we be sure they won't just execute us on the spot?
I can't think of any leverage we can use to stay alive.

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

What we could actually probably pull off is to stage this as a goblin ambush, considering we fought them in these parts? Would probably require a group effort skill check though - I've got you covered for performance, someone should do survival and let's see how effective we can be. Those who cant contribute can act as a jury and if they think its shit, well, then we just leave I guess, if we dont think of anything else

 

[NJClaw]

The Colonel's face quickly turned from excited to disappointed.

"I didn't expect him to break so easily..." he murmured to himself, "The burnt one would have put up more of a fight."

He raised his voice to be heard by the prisoner.

"Are there any other patrols out here in the wild? Or were you the only ones?"

He waited for the answer and then kept asking more.

"Has anyone ever deserted your cute little gang?"

Spoiler

Maybe, if we can catch a second group, we can stage a fight between the two? I think it would be beneficial to turn their attention away from anything outside their fortress. Or we could just stage a mutiny.

In both cases, we can spread the word around hoping their "Ts" will catch it and report back to them.

1. Leader of the gang is Thalen. He hides his face behind a mask, so we can't be sure how he looks.
2. I suspect Thalen is a druid, as he uses a dog as a messenger.
3. The gang has 2 contacts - Y (Yolanda) in Fourtowers and T (Tyrell/Torel) in Brookhaven.

I was convincing myself there's no single "Thalen", just a web of spies and informants ("Ts") hiding behind that name. But now that I say write it out loud it sounds like a bit of a stretch.

We smoke the smoke from your fire and decided to investigate.

We should hurry, this guy is showing strong signs of a concussion!

 

[Catacombs]

ERYFKRAD: What are you implying with the parrot reaction?

 

[vazha]

ERYFKRAD: What are you implying with the parrot reaction?

Spoiler

It's not dead, it's resting. The parrot, that is.

 

[Catacombs]

ERYFKRAD: What are you implying with the parrot reaction?

Spoiler

It's not dead, it's resting. The parrot, that is.

Never understood that reaction.

NJClaw: I meant to write *saw* the smoke. Not "smoke the smoke."

 

[NJClaw]

NJClaw: I meant to write *saw* the smoke. Not "smoke the smoke."

I'm sorry, it's too late to rectify. It's now canon that this guy is an uber-stoner.

 

[Catacombs]

NJClaw: I meant to write *saw* the smoke. Not "smoke the smoke."

I'm sorry, it's too late to rectify. It's now canon that this guy is an uber-stoner.

I can work with that

 

[ERYFKRAD]

ERYFKRAD: What are you implying with the parrot reaction?

Cogitation in progress

 

[Nortar]

ERYFKRAD: What are you implying with the parrot reaction?

Spoiler

It's not dead, it's resting. The parrot, that is.

Never understood that reaction.

I had no idea myself, until I found Zed's explanation:

= emphasis, indeed, interesting, hmm..., tongue-in-cheek, mischievous

By the way, how will we pick the course of action, the party leader (Mumbles?) decides for us all, we vote, or you want me use

Spoiler

to show that staging a goblin attack is not a good idea, and my proposition is the "bestest evah"!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

ERYFKRAD: What are you implying with the parrot reaction?

Cogitation in progress

Spoiler

But ignore the last one, that was a mis-click, actually.

to show that staging a goblin attack is not a good idea, and my proposition is the "bestest evah

You're technically correct. We have fulfilled our contract to the letter. Well you have, I am bound to no compact. But I suspect we're gonna find a reason or two to come back here and I do not want to walk in blind then.

 

[Catacombs]

So it seems like we have a couple of options on what to do next.

By the way, how will we pick the course of action, the party leader (Mumbles?) decides for us all, we vote, or you want me use

I support a majority vote from all party members on next steps. You're free to elect a party leader who, when everyone is in a room, can do the talking/haggling or take point on movement.

Here are the options, from reading the responses thus far (Please correct me if I misinterpreted anything):

1. Get captured and sabotage from within. Let Yessenia take the man back to Brookhaven.

2. Everyone heads back to Brookhaven, notify the guards and The Brotherhood about the missing monks and figure out a plan to get those monks out. (I will say that you don't exactly know how far away the prison is yet.)

3. Stage an ambush in the current location.

 

[Kalarion]

My Proposal

I don't think an ambush is the best idea. How long until the next patrol? And the thug might not be in any shape to run, but he may be able to fuck with us in the event of a fight.

I propose we rest up tonight, and then go on a scouting mission with Jess to the outskirts of the Monastery. The thug can be secured once we get closer to their encampment, and I can set an Alarm around him while we work. We have all the tools to do it undetected: Speak w/Animals, Charm Person, Detect Magic, a familiar, Fog Cloud, Message, a competent Rogue.

After scouting, head back to Brookhaven as with option 2.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

My Proposal

I don't think an ambush is the best idea. How long until the next patrol? And the thug might not be in any shape to run, but he may be able to fuck with us in the event of a fight.

I propose we rest up tonight, and then go on a scouting mission with Jess to the outskirts of the Monastery. The thug can be secured once we get closer to their encampment, and I can set an Alarm around him while we work. We have all the tools to do it undetected: Speak w/Animals, Charm Person, Detect Magic, a familiar, Fog Cloud, Message, a competent Rogue.

After scouting, head back to Brookhaven as with option 2.

Spoiler

porque no los dos indeed.