Eberron Inquiries: Prologue

[Reptar]

Fayn and Zakusa:
You've done your best to scout out the out the freight yard, but due to the tall walls surrounding it you're not entirely sure what to expect once inside. You've found a good hiding spot between two of the many warehouse like buildings that cluster along the periphery of the yard. The wall is whitewashed with minimal traces of graffiti and has lampposts rising from it at intervals of thirty feet. It's just over seven feet tall in your ally and the buildings on either side of you don't currently seem to be in use.

Din, Lillian, Spade and Vorche:
You are in a boxcar that has recently rocked to a halt. Your trip hasn't lasted nearly long enough for you to be in Sharn but the interior of the boxcar is dark and corn is not the most comfortable thing to sit on for long periods of time. Also some of you might suspect this shipment to be infested with weevils though it could just be your imagination.

All:
The yard has a prevalent smell of manure and ozone. The crackle of hundreds of conductor stones have combined into a buzzing roar.

[Nanoblack]

Din

Din has been sitting quietly, deeply focused on picking off the kernels, one by one, from this particular ear of corn. When the car comes to a halt, he looks up at everyone else. "Is this a scheduled stop, or do you think they're on to us?" He stands up and attempts to peek through any gaps to the outside in an attempt to both find out where they are and why they've stopped.

[RufusCorvus]

Fayn

Fayn's lip curls at the odors coming from all around him. He looks down in disgust as his white shirt and slaps at the sleeves, rebuking it for daring to attract dust and soot. He looks down at the little goblin by his side, shouting at her to be heard over the crackles and discharges coming from the conductor stones. "Well, Zakusa, what's the next step in this brilliant plan of yours? Perhaps next we'll be trudging through sewers, or maybe camp out in a tannery?"

[Ajadea]

Lillian

Lillian shrugs, shaking her head. Kernels of corn fly out of her hair, hitting the walls and making sounds like raindrops on the roof. "Not sure." she says. "See anything?"

[Parlity]

Vorche

Vorche rolls off an open-topped bin of corn, clutching his bottom. "Oof." He staggers to the other side of the boxcar and peers outside.

Spot [roll0]

[LeoMidori]

Spade had been actually enjoying the ride in the traincar, having little problem with the corn as he could stand instead of sit, and having smelled much worse things while being in the Mournland, dim as his sense of smell was. The sudden stop was somewhat distressing though. "...We can't be in Sharn yet. I just hope they aren't unloading the cargo from this car." he said in his stoic and taciturn voice, trying to keep quiet enough so only the three he was travelling with could hear him. He walked behind Vorche to get a glimpse outside, hand on his trusty kukri: if experience taught him anything, it was that danger often followed the unusual, or traveled hand and hand with it.

Spot [roll0]
Listen [roll1]

[Reptar]

Din, Lillian, Spade and Vorche:
Even the small sliver of light that comes into the boxcar as Spade and Vorche lift a corner of the car's canvas cover is nearly blinding. As your eyes adjust you notice you are all covered in gossamer strands of corn silk, none more so than Din. By moving crates from the middle to the edges you have created a hollow deep enough to stand in, and on raised edge of it sits the warlock. He has make a real mess, he's surrounded by the detritus that comes from absentmindedly shucking and de-kerneling corn. A number of empty cogs lie at his feet but the leaves, silk, and kernels have spread everywhere, including the halfling's ponytail.
Once the eyes of Vorche and the warforge adjust they peer out and, though still well hidden. can see a good portion of the rail yard. In the distance there seems to be a large stables, mostly filled with oxen. and clusters of warehouses and loading bays dot the perimeter. Three men are slowly approaching your car from the tail end, you can't look forward without fully exposing your heads. However the men are taking their time, they inspect each car before moving on to the next. Each is armed with a truncheon but two have tool belts and the last a clipboard. The ones with tools walk on opposite sides of the train and take a detailed glance at every part of the cars. The other seems to be comparing the sheets of paper on the side of each carriage to those on his clipboard, he occasionally marks the side of a car with chalk.

(That's all you see with a quick glance, you have a while before they get to you though.)

[LeoMidori]

"Oh shoot... they're coming this way. We should hide!" the cloaked warforged said, backing away, frantically looking about the railcar for a proper place to hide himself: being six feet tall and somewhat wide could be a real hassle sometimes.

Search check. Looking around the room for a place large enough to hide inside, or behind. [roll0]
Are there any large crates I could move around? Empty corn sacks?

[Nanoblack]

Din

He takes a moment to brush the debris from his hair before attempting to remove some of the largest evidence of his corn-picking from plain sight. Once he's convinced that they wont notice his leftovers, he creeps over to the opposite side of the train car and pulls some of the containers to cover him while still leaving a large enough gap for him to squeeze through in a hurry. "What do we do if they spot us?"

[Ajadea]

The halfling shrugs. "Run, I suppose. Very quickly. I don't plan to let you lot be spotted though." she says, beginning to coat them with corn before diving in to the corn and nearly disappearing.

Take 10 three times to aid another and give everyone else +2 to their Hide checks. And then my turn to Hide: [roll0]+12=30

[Nanoblack]

Din

He frowns at being covered in corn yet again, but accepts the help nonetheless. He leaves his head exposed long enough to smirk upon Spade being coated as well, then disappears back into his self-made alcove.

Hide: [roll0]

EDIT: ^ First roll of the game is always awful...

[LeoMidori]

"Ugh... great. I'm going to be cleaning this stuff out of myself for hours..." the warforged grumbled, pulling off his cloak and bundling it into his lap, trying to make himself as small as possible.
Hide 1d20+3+2

[Parlity]

"We've got time, they're checking each boxcar. Thanks, how does this look?" he asks Lillian from inside a corn container.

Taking 20 to hide, for Hide 22.

[RufusCorvus]

Fayn

Irritated at the lack of response, Fayn to the wall. The gravel crunching beneath his boots is nearly inaudible over the conductor stones and general noise of the freight yard. Fayn grasps onto the lip of the wall and hoists himself up far enough to peer into the yard.

Spot:[roll0]

[Ajadea]

Lillians grins unnoticably. "Not bad!" she whispers to Vorche.

[Reptar]

Fayn:
As Fayn reaches up he finds the wall to be far thinner than he expected, only a few centimeters. As he tries to lift himself up it bends under his weight, the plaster cracks and many pieces fall into the tall weeds at your feet. The wall seems to be of a flimsy wattle and daub construction the loosely woven branches brake through as you bend it further in-order to peer over.
A train is waiting in the yard, just as Zakusa promised, Teams of oxen are pulling cars to and from it's tail end, their hooves kick up dust and the cars spit sparks and the smell of dung is much stronger on the far side of the fence. This place could use a good rain.

Din, Lillian, Spade and Vorche:
During the significant amount of time before the three reach your car, you all manage to successfully hide your presence, Through careful placement of the two foot crates you each can completely hide yourselves. You do so thoroughly enough that, when the large doors on each side are thrown open, you remain undetected. However your entrance and spy hole is not so lucky, one of the men with tool belts discovers the lose corner of the tarpaulin and refastens it from the outside. The doors rattle on their tracks as they are slammed shut and once again you are embraced in silent darkness.
Listen Check (DC 10):
You hear the clasps on the doors lock in place
Same Check (DC 15):
You hear the scratching of chalk on the door.
Same Check (DC 20):
"The house needs to post sentries or something, that's the fifth carriage with shifted goods already. The damage is getting worse, some one's going to get hurt soon."

[Kajhera]

"Next step's to lift me over. If it's clear. Look clear?" The small goblin fidgets impatiently, stretching on her toes to try and peer through the fence.

[Reptar]

Zakusa:
The cracks in the busted plaster spider-webbing out from the bend have caused a number of spy holes in the fence. Unfortunately all the ones at your level appear to be blocked by what seems to be piles of broken planking on the far side of the fence and below the limit of Fayn's sight-line.

[RufusCorvus]

Fayn

Fayn snorts at the goblin's request to lift her. Instead, he brandishes his morningstar and pushes her out of the way. He takes a deep breath and strikes at the flimsy fence.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] x2 = 14

[Reptar]

Fayn and Zakusa:
BANG! A cloud of plaster dust rises around you as bits of wall fly everywhere, a large portion of the woven wood lays exposed, but only a few of the struts broke. Instead most bent under the impact and Fayn created a usable hole only about the size of Zakusa's head.
DM:
[roll0][roll1][roll2]

[Ajadea]

Listen: [roll0]

Lillian pokes her head out of the corn. "I don't think we're the only ones who like ridin' in the corn carriage. They marked ours. That doesn't seem like a particularly good thing."

[Parlity]

Listen [roll0]

[Parlity]

"Yeah. It sounded like chalk." Vorche says in a low voice.

[LeoMidori]

Spade had a strange feeling... he didn't like this. He was glad he wasn't caught but somehow something didn't at all feel right to him.
Listen [roll0]

[Ajadea]

Lillian wriggled around into a more comfortable position under the masses of corn. "They said that this is the fifth carriage that has been messed around with. Do you think they mean the fifth in this train? Don't forget, we're locked in."

[Nanoblack]

Din

As he claws his way from his cramped hiding spot, a thought occurs to him. "Maybe we're not the only ones hiding on the train?" He scratches his head and smiles, obviously thinking of how silly that statement was. With a sigh of resignation, he returns to his old seat and begins preening the corn from his hair.

[RufusCorvus]

Fayn grunts with disappointment at such a small hole. He grits his teeth and bashes the petulant wall again.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] x2 = 8

[Reptar]

Fayn and Zakusa:
Fayn's last blow exposed much of the woodend webbing under the plaster and with another loud smach of his morning star he splinters one of the upright supports. The entire fence shakes under the blow and the plaster where it meet the buildings has begun to crack. The portion in front of you is sagging under it's own weight, but it is still fairly intact. Fayn can now peer over it with hardly any effort.
DM:
[roll0][roll1][roll2]

[Parlity]

"Maybe, yeah." Vorche lapses into silence. He makes rustling noises inside the bin of corn.

[Ajadea]

Lillian shrugs, bringing a shower of corn down. She pushes it away, shaking her head. "While not comfortable, I can imagine many people traveling this way. Not everyone can afford to sit comfy in the standard traveler's quarters.

[LeoMidori]

"Well, do you think we should leave? I'm uncertain if we're in Sharn yet, but Stilletto might be hiding in a completely different car, or could've gotten off. I don't want to lose track of her!" Spade stated determinedly, only poking his head out of the heaps of corn he was sitting inside. "Besides, we're locked in here, we should probably find a way out before the train starts moving anyway."

[Nanoblack]

Din

"I can make us a quick exit, but I don't know how subtle it's gonna be." He smirks and gestures a circle in the air towards the wall.

[Kajhera]

Zakusa watches the blows, and decides that he's being loud enough - she might as well assist. She points her fingertip at the plaster wall, a low bass hum shivering through their surroundings and shaking the plaster, accompanied by a bell-like sound resonating with the wood beneath, though that sound quickly falls off past the point it is targeted.


Manifesting Energy Ray (Sonic) for one power point. Auditory display, choosing the sort that can only be heard within 15 feet by a dc 10 listen check, though the sonic damage itself may be a touch louder - your call.

[roll0]

[Ajadea]

"Wait, now. Lemme see if we can get out without destroying the walls." Lillian says hurriedly, wriggling out of the corn and checking the doors.


Are the hinges on the inside or outside? Search, if needed: [roll0]

[Parlity]

Vorche struggles out of the bin of corn. He emerges holding onto a partially eaten cob. "Munch, munch."

OOC
Who is Stilletto?

[LeoMidori]

"You're right, we should be quiet about getting out of here. There's got to be a way out of here..." Spade spoke, looking upwards at the cieling and drawing out his shovel, poking carefully at various parts of it to see if he could knock anything loose.
Search check, specifically the cieling. [roll0]

Also, to anyone who doesn't know, Stilletto is a cleric of The Lord of Blades, who is heading to Sharn in order to gain more converts for the Lord's cause, heading into The Cogs due to the rather oppressed warforged population there.

[Reptar]

Fayn and Zakusa:
The wall shakes and quivers as the hum resonates through it plaster cracks and patches fall to the ground across it's entirety. The sharp splintering of supports can be heard as it sags even lower. Bent almost double the fence is now at chest level for Fyan, who can now see that the far side is full of busted crates.
DM rolls.
[roll0][roll1][roll2]

Din, Lillian, Spade and Vorche:
Lillian:
You find that the doors that rattled durring your journey are attatched to rails on the out side. Despike peeking through the small gap between them you can't tell if they are locked or latched, nothing seems to be holding them together.
Vorche:
THe cold starchy kernals pop in your mouth quenching your thirst and abating some hunger. It's not high quality corn, nor is it particularly sweet but it's all that's in this carriage.
Spade:
Searching above you find that the waxy opaque canvas is supported by rounded iron struts, each end slotted into a socket. The canvas is, as you found out when you sneaked in, tied down to cleats on the exterior of the wagon. Despite your efforts you can't slip your hand through to reach the knots. It's too tight, the canvas in inflexible.
Din, Lillian, Spade and Vorche:[/B]
You hear the scraping of metal first at the rear and then at the front. Each time it is followed by a metallic "Thud" that reverberates through the car.
Listen Check (DC 10):
You hear a rattling of chains before each thud.
Same Check (DC 15):
You hear a muffled cursing of a technician, "Bloody couplings are never oiled. Damn rust."
Same Check (DC 20):
You can hear footsteps walking away.

[Ajadea]

Listen check: [roll0]

Lillian freezes for a moment, then goes back to her examination of the door. "It's nothing." she says, as much for herself as anyone else. Sitting for hour upon hour in a corn carriage was not the way she would prefer to spend her time.

[RufusCorvus]

Fayn nods with a grin of smug satisfaction. He lifts Zakusa up and over the fence and then climbs over it himself.


I guess Aid Another on a Climb check, and then a Climb check for himself?

[roll0]

[Parlity]

Listen [roll0]

[Parlity]

Vorche jumps up. He puts the cob and several more unhusked corn into his backpack. He scrambles around to feel the canvas. "Maybe we can cut this? Anyone got something sharp?"

[Reptar]

Fayn and Zakusa:
The wall bends away from Fayn and his arms are not long enough to lower Zakusa to the other side. However as he rests her weight on what used to be the side of the fence it bends further under her weight. Popping and cracking can be heard from the fence as it bends until coming to rest on top a pile of broken crates. Crawling over the web of plaster bits and splintered splints Zakusa makes it to the edge. Her weight is holding down the fence and it is buckled at the hole made earlier. The hole is at the level of Fayn's waist.
I'd let Fayn crawl out as well but that could be hindered by Kajhera's actions. :smallamused: Normaly I'd assume cooperation but you've manhandled her twice in the last few minutes. We'll see what happens. Sorry to make you wait.

[Ajadea]

Lillian unsheathes a dagger and grins. "Course I do." She glances up at the ceiling. "One of you tallsies give me a boost, will you?" she says, judging the distance. "Unless you think I should just throw daggers at the ceiling until I get a lucky shot, of course."

[Nanoblack]

Din

He playfully flicks his wrist in a magical manner toward the spot everybody was prodding. "I could give it a shot."

He hasn't cast anything yet, but before he does, I need to know: Does his normal eldritch blast make any noise when it goes off? Same question for baleful utterance. The reason I ask is because in the description, you mutter a word then your target falls apart, but its based off of shatter... so I wanted your opinion before I did anything stupid :smalltongue:

[Kajhera]

This being her plan in the first place, Zakusa crawls over the fence, letting Fayn through.

[LeoMidori]

Spade put his shovel back onto the strap on his backpack, keeping it in place in it's horizontal space. "I think Lilian has the right idea, Din. Besides, I think it's best we don't attract attention... and we'll need to leave through the cieling anyway." the warforged stated, kneeling down so the girl could climb onto his shoulders. "Ready when you are, miss. Be sure to bring some rope with you?"

[Ajadea]

"Don't worry big guy, I've got plenty of rope." Lillian says, getting her balance on the warforged's backpack. "Ready."

[LeoMidori]

Spade slowly rose up from the corn covered floor, eventually standing fully and acting as an effective stepladder.
Strength check, just in case I need it. [roll0]

[Ajadea]

Lillian reaches up and stabs into the ceiling, slicing into it easily. Soon there is a small hole, and she wriggles out, getting her balance on the less-than-stable canvas.


Full-round action to line up the blow, and keeping the dagger in the cloth rather than pulling it out. Cloth has no hardness, and no real hit points, unless it's layered, so I figure I don't need to roll, since everyone's willing to wait.

Climb check to get out: [roll0]

[RufusCorvus]

Fayn gets up from climbing over the broken down fence and brushes debris from his clothes. He rubs at the hem of his left sleeve. "Damn thing's torn my shirt." He glares at the fence before looking at Zakusa. "So, now that we've broken into this wondrous freight-yard, what do you intend we do?"

[Reptar]

Lillian:
Rising through the hole Lillian can see four teams of oxen, two approaching from each side of the car. Each team is driven by a bullocky with a whip and his apprentice, who leads the team carrying a pair of large chains with hooks.
The closest team is forty five feet away and approaching at a ponderous but steady pace.
Only do to your small size do you remain hidden.

[Nanoblack]

Din

"So what's our plan? It's starting to get claustrophobic in here!" He climbs up Spades back as well so that his head is sticking up beside Lillians. "Think we should wait to see if they're gonna start moving again? Or should we make the first move?"

Taking 10 on climbe check for a total of 9 :smalleek:

[RufusCorvus]

After hearing no reply from the goblin, Fayn scoffs and begins walking to the nearest car, looking to see which train is headed to Sharn.

[Ajadea]

Lillian tries to push Din down. "There are people coming!" she hisses at the warlock. Whether by accident or on purpose, her boot by now is only a few inches away from Din's nose. Her hands move swiftly, knotting the silk rope so that it would be easier for the others to climb up



Use Rope: Take 10 for a result of 16.
Hide: Take 10 for a result of 22.

[Parlity]

Vorche crowds close to Spade. Looking up he asks, "What are they doing? Should we hide or climb out?"

[Ajadea]

Lillian sticks her head back through the hole, pushing the warlock out of the way. "Get down, you oversized dolts, and hide!" she snaps, her patience and nerves wearing thin. "Humans are coming, and there's no chance you'll be able to get out without being seen!"


I'm not angry, but Lillian's not in a very good mood, so sorry about the whole temper thing.

[Parlity]

Vorche scrambles into the corn bin.

hide [roll0]