Group 22

[Raneth]

Following Elysian's shenanigans and a prudent smoke grenade, V damn near flew into the room, fleeting through the fog like an armored ghost. In the hazy firelight she could make out two guards stumbling back, still clueless save for the simple knowledge that they were being intruded upon. The layout of the room, however, had her significantly more worried. Too wide for a mere cellar, Vryala figured it might actually be a defensive position. Which meant there could well be crossbowmen stationed atop the wall in front of them, and she and her friends would have been standing in a killing field if it weren't for the smoke. Bail!, she hissed with urgency, before legging it to the stairwell on the right.

V makes to ascend, readying her steel mace to meet the unexpected!

[Layne]

The door flew inwards, followed by a smoke bomb. K ran in first, with Fiat at her side. The wall of the space beyond was not far ahead, and there were two coughing and spluttering guards backing up against it. The smoke was already beginning to clear - towards the right, K noticed.

She hadn't prepared a rag at all. She heard the sound of a sword zinging out of its' scabbard, then another. She didn't want to try and knock out two armed and ready guards with a wooden sword - the line between disabling and killing was too fine for comfort - so she dd the first thing that entered her head - she threw a whole vial at the wall they were standing against. She put out an arm to her left to stop Fiat from charging into the venom cloud, and felt the rush of V passing on the other side - the right.

Wait! she hissed as loud as she dared - and reached out to try to grab v's hand or shield or something to stop her.

[Drainial]

The door was thankfully free of traps be they magical of otherwise, a weak point in the defences that Elysian would be sure to bring up with Sevro later, and the lock though good was no great challenge for his well practiced magical lock picking, it had been one of the very first skills he had been taught. The rest of the mercenaries continued to prove their efficiency with a smoke bomb giving them a further edge, as he followed the others in Elysian was about to attack to incapacitate the guards when he saw K grab Vryala to hold her back. Knowing the ladies it wasn't out of concern for her chances in a melee so something was up. Elysian decided to hang back for a moment and see if whatever plan the crazy Khainite had worked but he was ready to go for the exit as quickly as possible, this place did not have a healthy feel to it. Besides everything else the smoke bomb was hardly kind on his lungs.

[Dauricha]

They were through the door as quick as they could. Once again it seemed that indecision had gripped the group. Without the ability to kill, they were unsure of themselves, Phalx more so then most. He let go of Deathspitter, and took up his short sword in a reversed grip. The round pommel was more likely to stun and shock, then kill.

Phalx will wait and see what the others intend for their next move.

OOC: Just a quick note guys, i'll be away on holiday from the 17th till the 24th, with no ability to post sadly.

[Kefka]

Fiat prepared to rush in, but Karonath threw something and stopped him from moving. Though he was still a few feet away from the could, he still grabbed his sea dragon cloak and pulled it over his mouth.

He waited, somewhat impatiently, as the cloud did its work...

[Kinslayer]

OOC - Sorry guys, things have suddenly got busy here. I will have to keep this quick today too.

IC -

The group moved into the smoke, but just as the two guards seemed to recover Karonath hurled a vial of the sleeping venom at them, while Vryala tried to get the group to move off to the stairs to their left. The glass vial hit the wall above the guards and a shower of clear liquid sprayed over them, just as Fiat got his mouth guard up and Elysian and Phalx held back. Vryala was alone in her move to the stairs, but as she moved to the thinner smoke quickly realised just how the room was laid out. From the door they had entered by, the room went right another thirty paces to a dead end, just a flat wall, or left as she had gone to the stairs. The stairs however did not lead out of the room, but up onto a stone walkway which overlooked the room and ran its entire length, leading to another doorway at the far end, to the right of the room.

Up there on the wall were another half dozen guards, crossbows pointed out over the shallow battlements in front of helmed heads.

The first two guards dropped unconcious as the smoke began to fade, leaving the group alone in the killing ground below.

Karonath, -1 venom vial

[Layne]

OOC : I are puzzle?

[Drainial]

Two were guards down due to Karoneth’s quick thinking but as the smoke began to clear Vryala alerted them to a much larger problem. A row of crossbowmen aiming at them like a firing squad would have been problematic enough at the best of times but when they could not be killed they presented quite an obstacle. Racing up towards the stairs Elysian did the only thing he could think of and reached out to the cloying darkness, it is difficult to shoot what you cannot see though the guards might still fire blind.

"Vryala, Fiat, get your shields up and charge when I say, the rest of us will follow. I am going to try and blind them but they still might fire and if they do you two are most likely to get through unharmed. Get through the doorway as quickly as possible."

Assuming the others agree to his plan Elysian will wait for people to get into position and then pull shadows over the eyes of all six guards hopefully blinding them for long enough that we can get through the door they are guarding and seal it shut behind us.

[Raneth]

V was surprised at K's restraint, but it all became clear as the two guards in front of them succumbed to the toxic slumber cloud the Khainite had created. Vryala's own fears were proven to be true, but Elysian seemed to play into it rather efficiently; haste was of the essence. Amidst the smoke and confusion she was glad to be presented with a plan. Roger that, mage.

V follows Elysian's lead.

[Kefka]

Fiat had a sudden realization that the others were far more well prepared for this then he was. Kefka had not gotten any toxins, blunted weapons or smoke... all he had was a grappling hook that probably wouldn't help much down here... and to top it off he just had his wepons sharpened!

that wouldn't stop him though, he prepared, following elysians lead.

Fiat takes his sword but leaves in in the sheath to keep it blunt and not kill anyone, he also grabs his shield.

[Layne]

The vial smashed on the wall just above and between the two struggling guards. They jumped forward, both together, and then both together took a shuddering second step, grabbed at their throats, and fell to the ground. K looked up and around. The wall in front of her did not stop at the ceiling - no, it stopped at a row of battlements, and there above the battlements were the helmets and crossbows of maybe half a dozen guards. She would never get up there or anywhere worthwhile before the smoke cleared enough for them to shoot, so once again K did what came naturally.

K will throw another vial up and over the battlements, and run for the stairs.

[Kinslayer]

OOC - Sorry everyone this week turned out even more hectic than I thought it would, with my usual workload and building a website, helping my girlfriends family move house, working on my car etc. Hopefully we can now contiue at the usual pace.

IC -

No sooner had the group overcome the first two of Blackthorns' guards than they realised there were four more, these ones crouched behind the stone battlements of the overhead walkway. Sevro had not instructed his guards on the possibility of a training mission this time, meaning the crossbows that were now pointed their way were probably loaded and ready to fire. Thinking instinctively, the group began running to their left towards the stairs onto the upper level. As they moved, Elysian turned his mind to the shadows of the dark room and pulled them down to block the guards sight, just as Karonath threw a second vial of sleeping toxin up at them. The Mages' spell successfully distracted them, and they didn't see the vial coming until it smashed on the battlements between two of them.

As before, the two guards closest to the spray of intoxicating venom fell unconcious in seconds, and the other two stumbled out of the way and tried to block the groups way across to the door. Fiat fell upon the first, his sword still in its sheath, and smashed the guards crossbow aside before delivering an incapacitating blow to the side of the head. The last one, Vryala charged and disarmed with a heavy blow from her shield, sending his crossbow tumbling over the edge of the battlements into the smokey room below. As the last guard went down, Vryala stabbed one of her darts into the side of his neck, watching as he fell into a deep slumber like the rest of the guards in the chamber.

From their new vantage point upon the walkway, and now that the smoke they had let off was starting to clear, the group could see that this room was were Sevros' men no doubt ate and spent their free time, which no doubt meant it was located underneath the guards' sleeping chambers in the Guard House. It clearly served a second purpose as well, defending the estate from attack from below, just as the walls and towers defended it from above. The group found a set of keys on the nearest guard and used them to open the locked door at the end of the walkway, which led them straight onto another staircase. This one led them up into the back end of the Guard House.

They emerged into a room filled with bunks and chests, and could see another door at the distant end of the room. Several guards were sleeping in a few of the beds, no doubt resting after their shifts the night before. Two more were standing near the door at the far end with their backs turned, one bending over a chest and passing equipment up to the first. It looked as though the two were just gearing up ready to visit the Training Hall and spar. The voices of other guards echoed through the doorway from the next room as well, making the groups' task of infiltrating all the way to the house without being seen all the more challenging.

Karonath, -1 venom vial

[Raneth]

Between Karonath and Elysian, the group was well prepared for the goons standing up top. V allowed herself a hearty smile as she rammed a sleeping dart into the jugular of one of the remainder and watched Fiat render his opponent unconscious in a rather more brutal fashion.

Next stop: the barracks. Staying quiet was of the utmost importance; causing a commotion would leave the group trapped like rats. At the far end of the room, near the door, two unwitting guards prepared themselves for a sparring session. V silently commended such dedication, a pang of sympathy crossing her mind as she imagined the punishment Sevro would visit upon them for failing in their duties tonight.

V readies her blowpipe (sorry lads).

[Drainial]

Between his magic, Karoneth’s quick thinking and the action of the others the crossbowmen were swiftly dealt with but they soon faced another challenge. Yet more guards but mostly sleeping. Vryala seemed about to use her blowpipe on the two who were not and Elysian had nothing that would help her there, not that he could think of anyway. Hoping that the warrior proved up to the challenge using a weapon she was unused to Elysian turned his attention to the other guards. There were quite allot of them, more than Elysian was willing to leave alone since they did not know when the next watch started, they did not want the bell sounding.

Karoneth’s sleep potion had already done good work in vial form and this looked like a chance to try out the cloth method, unable to speak without alerting the guards Elysian tried to mime this suggestion to the Khainite suggesting that if possible she and perhaps some of the others could make sure the guard's sleep was a little deeper, if not quite so deep as warrior female usually preferred.

Silently suggest the use of the chloroform on the sleeping guards once the awake ones are dealt with.

[Layne]

K kept running as she threw, hearing a delightful tinkle overhead plus a bit of coughing and spluttering. She followed the others up the stairs. Fiat and V, first to get there, nutted two slightly sleepy guards. K looked back and saw the other two had disappeared down behind the battlements ; so all well, unless they were complete cowards.

There was another unlocked door in front of them at the other end of the battlement. As they made their way towards it, the only way further on, and the smoke cleared, K realised that she knew this room. This was the guards common room that they had, which came off their barracks, which were at the top of a staircase, that was just on the other side of that door. They borrowed keys from one of the guards and went through.

And there as K had guessed was the staircase. The looks on the faces ahead of her showed that everyone knew it. They were not sure what time they might expect a change of guard, nor for that matter what time it might be, and still less how many wide awake and armed guards might be waiting in the room at the top of the stairs. But she, and they, did all know of but one way to find out.

As they made their way up it crossed K's mind that it was miraculous that the noise of the smoke bomb and two glass vials smashing on stone hadn't seemingly alerted anyone up here. So although she was moved to consider the wisdom of putting the barracks above this parapet above the sewer door, it did cross her mind that the inability to hear what went on below from the barracks above was a proven exploitable weakness in the house defences. She couldn't imagine a solution by herself but she could certainly perceive the need of one. She would mention it to Sevro if she didn't get herself killed breaking into her own home.

Things in the common room were pretty good from the standpoint of the game ; rows of sleeping guards who could be neutralised, and a couple of awake ones who weren't looking. Elysian waved for her attention as V prepared her darts. K watched with amusement as he did a little dance of pouring things out of bottles. She nodded. She got ready her last bottle and her rags. She stopped to think a moment ; she only had one bottle left.

She had about half a dozen guards to work on. A half dose might give them half as long sleep and it might give them a same length half sleep which would probably just make them really scratchy for a few minutes first ; there again they were already asleep. So, she figured, maybe she could just spread a little on each rag and that would be enough for these guys who were already tired. Sure. Then they would have got through the door and neutralised all the guards. She pictured it.

The door to the sewer would be open and all the guards would be neutralised for about an hour. She pictured it again. The door to the sewer would be open and all the guards above would be neutralised. She pictured rats looking through the open door. She motioned for Elysian to come away so she could speak her mind.

I think we can put a little bit on each rag and knock all these guys out, but first I want to go down and shut the sewer door. OK?

[Kefka]

One obstacle was completed, but even more layed before them. If they managed to disable the guards before them, it would make much of the mission easier. They all prepared to halt the guards in their own way.

Then Karonath had a suggestion that seemed to have skipped all of their minds.
Shutting the back door...

I'll go join Karonath. We don't want any of those rats coming in here.

[Drainial]

Karonath seemed happy to use her dwindling supply of potions to ensure the guards stayed knocked out but then she voiced a concern of her own. She had a point, they were penetrating the tower as an exercise but that was no reason to leave it overly vulnerable to a real attack, Blackthorn had real enemies aplenty. Nodding his assent the thief slipped back out of the room heading back downstairs. Unless there was already an opportunistic attack underway there shouldn't be any trouble in sealing the doors in the same way he had opened them.

Elysian will go back downstairs and lock the doors, with magic if necessary but in the normal way if he can see it. Barring unforeseen circumstances he will then come back upstairs.

[Raneth]

Her friends were in motion; closing the heavy door behind them wasn't without risk. Time to take the shot. Kurnous, guide my hand!

Take down the crouching one first, then reload with all haste to drop the standing guy before he overcomes his confusion! Then, if there is time to close the distance, V will try to rush in and catch this guard to prevent the sound of his armored form falling from waking the others.

[Dauricha]

His fingers itched to use Deathspitter, but such a weapon could not be trusted on the guards. Its name as death, and kills is what it reaped. So his sword and dagger were gripped in hand. The pommels would serve at keeping the guards down, and a round of drinks for the men would sooth any sour heads and grudges. Things were going somewhat well so far, though he felt on a bit of a loss end. So he kept back, and kept his eyes open.

Phalx will keep his senses keen and alert for any changes that can effect the group.

[Kinslayer]

OOC - Sorry guys I've been really busy again this week and will be over the weekend too, and I have no time to post properly now. I've got quite a lot going on IRL at the moment which is eating up all my roleplaying time. To be fair I think this is the first time I've got too busy since we started this in 3 years, not bad! Was bound to happen eventually. I'll get a post in as soon as I can.

[Kefka]

OOC - np man, I understand. I have had to quit the group, twice, because of RL stuff. It's getting heavy on my end as well, a small break works well.

[Kinslayer]

Karonath had the smart idea of shutting the sewer entrance behind them, and together with Fiat and Elysian slipped back into the shadowy doorway behind them and retreated back across to the stairs, and down into the now empty room below. The guards were still knocked out, and the smoke had cleared and their eyes adjusted to the dim and flickering brazier light, allowing them to see the tables and barrels in more detail. They quickly checked beyond the outer doorway, looking left and right down the sewer passage but finding it as silent as the chamber, and then shut and locked the door.

By the time they made it back upstairs, Vryala had readied her blowpipe and poisoned darts. A moment before the standing guard turned to look in their direction, perhaps alerted by the sound of the door closing or the group returning, or perhaps just by chance, his crouching companion slumped onto the floor. The standing guard was startled and looked down as the other rolled off the chest of equipment and onto his back, his mouth lolling open and his eyes fluttering shut. In the time it took the standing guard to notice the black tipped dart that had hit his comrade in the neck, he had been hit by one as well. Vryala lowered her blowpipe as the second guard joined the first, unconcious on the ground.

The sound of them falling caused several of the sleeping guards to stir, even as others remained asleep in their bunks, no doubt exhausted after being drilled during the night shift. The rest of the group sprang into action, moving from one bed to the next and clasping a toxin laced cloth over the mouth of each guard as he awoke, and then returning to ensure those who stayed asleep would remain to do so. The only sound that gave them away was not the shout of a startled guard waking up, but their own frantic movements to ensure they were not seen. Another guard from the adjacent room beyond appeared in the doorway, but not for long enough for any of them to react and stop him.

The guard retreated in the face of the silent assault, and the group sprang after him like a pack of hunting wolves. Thehe next part of the Guard House was a smaller space with a doorway leading out into the courtyard, filled with a couple of tables and equipment racks. There were four guards in the room, including the one that had just seen them and jumped back from the doorway. The stern looking guard, one they recognised almost straight away as one of Sevros' veterans, looked at the group in dismay for a moment, as if he wasn't sure if the attack was real or staged. Clearly he hadn't been warned about it, but his harsh training kicked in a moment later.

The guard launched one of the nearby tables into the doorway to stall them, before shoving his fastest runner in the direction of the courtyard and running to cover him with his shield, shouting for the other two youths to draw arms and defend themselves.

[Drainial]

Runner, not good, Elysian thought as the young guard was pushed into motion. Quickly he scrolled through a list of spells that might help, hoping that they could incapacitate these guards quickly he selected one and cast.

Try to lock the armour around the runner's knees solid so that he can't run.

OOC: Sorry it's a bit rubish, time constraints. On that subject I will be absent between the 2nd and the 5th. In absentia Elysian will follow Vyrala's orders.

[Raneth]

V's blowpipe was certainly living up to expectations; the two guards dropped almost instantly and her friends were quick to ensure those sleeping around stayed that way. Now the door behind them was closed, the group could advance without the fear of having to deal with an infestation later on.

Four more guards, one of them a familiar face. A wily one, he was, not too impressive a fighter on his own but a great opportunist when among his peers. He ran off, shielding his chosen messenger, sacrificing the remaining two to be a speed bump for the group. Can't let them escape! Shield first, V tried to bust her way through these brave goons, then go for the takedown on Mr Veteran and jam a dart through the neck for his insolence. She rated her chances of catching the young one pretty low, armored as she was, but luckily the group wasn't without runners of their own.

With me! she hissed at Phalx, hoping his senses were clear enough today to understand her intent.

Assuming she manages to evade the two guards before them, Vryala will rush down Mr Veteran and try to put him to sleep. If Phalx does not follow her, she hopes Elysian will hinder the runner long enough for her to tackle both.

[Dauricha]

More guards fell as they had their way further into the manor. In the next room they came across an old timer, one who had been with Servo for a long time, and a few of the new bloods. He leapt back as a table was kicked their way. The veteran knew their skill, and thought better of it then to try and engage them head on. Vryala hiss at him to join her going after the guard. Well of course what else would he do? He leapt over the table and unslung Deathspitter again.

He will fire on the veterans shield, hoping to knock him off balance. He is not aiming to injure, just knock him over or slow him don in his run.