Free Ferelden (BoL Hack) - Game Thread

[MinotaurWarblad]

Glancing back at Abe once he makes it over to the large doors, James says, "Shall we explore or use the main causeway?"

[whiteflash]

"Are we near the part of the map marked 'unknown?' I'd think that was the spot most likely to have what we're looking for. I didn't think the others looked like good candidates..."

[Mr Stereo1]

"As you say, Jacques." Abe agrees with the Bard. A large spot on the map marked 'unknown' tickled his fancy as much as the next treasure hunter's. "The 'unknown' might be reached by the Kitchens or Entrance Hall. I'm afraid the map doesn't show doorways. The Entrance Hall remains more exposed however so through the Kitchens we go. At worst we find a dead end."

[MinotaurWarblad]

James nods and moves along to the kitchen door.

[whiteflash]

James follows, still keeping half an eye out behind them.

[MinotaurWarblad]

Spoiler

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James follows, still keeping half an eye out behind them.

You mean Jacques?

[whiteflash]

Spoiler

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You mean Jacques?

Jacques follows, still keeping half an eye out behind them.

[Tibbius]

The kitchen has a large hearth on the left hand wall and twowide windows opposite the hearth. Even the damp breeze through the windows and the sunlight are not enough to cancel out the acrid reek of the room, which is fouled with darkspawn waste. From the scattered bones around the hearth, it appears the twisted creatures made this their den. ... Next to the hearth there is an opening in the floor. The top of a ladder protrudes through the opening.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"If you'll light a torch and follow behind me, lethallen, I'll climb down. Otherwise, we should bar it."

[whiteflash]

"Maybe we should bar it, for now? At least until we've made sure what we want isn't on this floor."

[MinotaurWarblad]

James nods his head and tries to find something sturdy enough for the task, and works with Jacques to make a quick barricade.

Spoiler: OoC

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(1d20+1)[8] mind+artificer.

[Mr Stereo1]

"Perhaps we can find some furniture to cover the hole and weigh it down?" Abe offers, helping the others as best he can. He casts his eyes around the room for a suitably sized table or wardrobe to cover the gap, and something heavy and covered in as little Darkspawn filth as possible to hold it down.

Spoiler: OOC

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Artificer Roll to block up the hole with the ladder.

(1d20+6)[13] (Mind 4, Artificer 2)

[Tibbius]

Abe quickly finds a chef's table, covered in dried filth but not slimy. With James' brawn and Jacques' guiding hands they flip the heavy table over top of the dank opening in the floor. It slips from their hands to land with a solid and resounding thump that echoes from the room below and from the hearth next to the ladder. It would take real muscle and luck to lift that from below, while standing on a rickety ladder.

[whiteflash]

Jacques winces at the loud thump and tries to listen to see if anything heard it.

[Mr Stereo1]

"There doesn't appear to be as many of the beasts as I'd feared at first, or perhaps there are others out hunting or raiding." Abe notes at Jacques' nervous wince. "We did see a town razed on the way in, did we not? I have no proof of that but it does raise the question of the length of our stay."

"This place clearly wasn't evacuated of it's contents when it fell." Abe turns a condescendingly acquisitive eye over the Darkspawn filth covered kitchens, still hosting valuable furniture the servants would have taken away in any defunct stately home. "We might hope to find all sorts of mysteries or valuables here with a good search and a careful cleaning. We might also hope to storm the armory, offices and treasury and stow away anything interesting into our packs and be away before more trouble comes."

"For myself I'd be ready to try and claim this place as our own for a time." Abe sighs wistfully, tapping his staff lightly on the cobble stone floors. "The walls are intact enough that the remaining furniture could make a solid defense once we have our bearings, and between magic and bow we could wreak havoc on any attackers. If we clear the place top to bottom and seal off the entrances a few days of searching for valuables could earn us a far greater reward for our troubles than a simple theft, and we could always bury what we couldn't carry nearby and return for it some other day."

With that Abe waits for his companions' thoughts and urges the group to continue searching for Darkspawn, tip toeing his way behind them through the passages into the training room and entry hall.

Spoiler: OOC

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Abe's not the man to lead a stealthy scouting but for the record he's trying to not make much noise and to keep an ear out.

Stealth Agility Roll (1d20-1)[8]

Mind Listening Roll (1d20+4)[12]

[whiteflash]

"Hm. I see the appeal of looting the place more thoroughly, but... is it safe to stay here? The darkspawn have been living here... the longer we stay where they've stayed, the more chance the dirt they've left behind will poison us. Right?"

[Mr Stereo1]

"In theory certainly, but it depends on how careful we are and how well we wash up." Abe argues, but trails off as he examines his peasant companions. They were loyal sorts but they weren't trained in service and he hadn't thought to bring a staff along on his 'slumming' adventures. This could be a problem.

[Tibbius]

The three men stood in the kitchen discussing their plans. Outside the barred windows, clouds passed over the sun and the world dimmed gray and wet. A damp cool breeze blew fitfully into the room. Jacques noticed the open shutters, neatly folded back against the wall, wooden panes pierced by outlines of fruits and vegetables. More decorative than functional.

Something bumped against the table that rested over the hole in the floor.

[Mr Stereo1]

"It occurs that killing something climbing up a ladder should be quite easy." Abe offers, with an arm towards the upturned table covering the manhole.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I am inclined to agree."
James holds his sword point towards the table, using one hand to grasp under the edge, and motions Jacques towards it.
"If something tries to harm your hands or feet, drop it."

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods and moves to lift the table.

(1d20)[2]

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe leaves his more physical comrades to their more physical task, and aims his staff at the soon to be revealed hole in case a quick spell is called for.

[Tibbius]

Jacques heaves at the table leg but fails to heft it.

The thump is not repeated.

Do they wait a few minutes, or do something else?

[whiteflash]

Jacques sighs. "Sorry, let me try that again." And he does.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James motions him to stop. "They might have another access point. Let's move fast, or they may ambush their ambushers."

[Mr Stereo1]

"James likely has a point." Abe muses. "Leave it there for now, I say. If they have no more holes in the ground, their only way up to this level is through the staircase we came up through. We can mount a counter ambush as they come up into the dining room, though they'll have found their dead comrades before then but nothing to be done about that." Abe shrugs unhappily but sees no good coming from fighting Darkspawn hand to hand in cramped corridors. "We can at least prepare the ground this way."

If the others agree Abe grabs more table cloths, rushes over to the Lesser Staircase and lays out one of his sheets on the staircase slightly above the steps off into the Dining Room, in case the enemy try to rush upstairs to alert more of their comrades. He lays another spread out on the floor at all entrances to the Dining Room, where attacking Darkspawn might step.

As he hurries about his work he casts an eye to the state of the door from the Dining Room into the Passageway and any small pieces of furniture in the room suitable for use as cover or barricade, directing James and Jacques towards it.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll roll Mind + Noble/Artificer again for this.

(1d20+6)[18]

If we can block off the door into the passageway with a nearby wardrobe or table that'd be nice. If there's a table or two we can quickly flip over to shoot and cast from behind that'd be nice too. A chandelier might be important to Abe too.

[Tibbius]

After about ten minutes spent arranging sheets and noisily moving furniture, nothing has happened. No Darkspawn in the stairwell, no Darkspawn at the door from the entrance hall (now blocked by furniture). By blocking the ladder in the kitchen floor and the entrance hall door, they have reduced the dining room and kitchen to a dead end with one way in or out - the lesser stairs.

They wait.

[Tibbius]

Time passes. After a while the clearing outside the dining room windows brightens again as the clouds thin. But the light is not so clear as before. It is beginning to show a mid-afternoon coloration.

After some quiet discussion, the three men decide to assault the upper floor. Cautiously, weapons in hand, they proceed out the door of the dining room into the lesser stairs. Nothing happens. Descending carefully, stepping around and over deliquescing chunks of darkspawn, they retrieve their packs without incident and deposit those back in the fortified dining room. Then they turn their attention upward.

The ascent of fifteen feet around the stairwell, on the very shallow treads of the old rotting staircase, gives each man a frisson. What awaits behind the closed door at the top?

Reaching the door, James in the lead, they find it not only closed but firmly closed. It does not yield to pulls on the handle or pushes against the board. Footing on the landing before the doorway is treacherous and narrow - only about four feet of space between the doorframe and the rail-less plummet thirty feet down the well. It seems ill-advised to put one's weight into yanking on the door handle.

[Mr Stereo1]

Clutching his sheet-weapons underarm Abe tries to remember any weaknesses Darkspawn might have been mentioned to have in any Dwarvern text he'd read in his youth. His mind returns to the immediate crisis when he sees James stop at the head of the stairs and the shut door in front of him resisting the Elf's efforts to open it.

"Let me have a go. Stand back, please." Abe whispers to the men in front, pressing his staff forward gently and slowly, ever mindful of the long fall beneath them should they stumble. "I'll try to get this open quietly, but there's no accounting for what's on the other side. So be ready." He cautions before beginning his spell.

It would be a waste to let the door be damaged so he's careful with his spell, feeling out the lock, the latch and hinges. Once ready he tries for the perfect 'click' while taking a weak grasp on the air around the hinges, holding it still and preventing any creaking alerting the Darkspawn to their presence. His staff makes a quiet 'poof' of air as he mutters a spell.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll roll for Scholar, Mind, with the Learned bonus to know IC about the Darkspawn's weakness to fire. (2d20+6)[25]

Then I'll roll Artificer for knowledge of doors that might help with the spell. (1d20+6)[13]

Then I'll roll for a Cantrip to open the door silently. (1d20+4)[19]

At 1 AP to cast I'm down to 8/15 AP now.

If needed I'll spend a Hero Point to make sure the door is only locked and not barred or barricaded. I have 2/2.

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: Hella rolls

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can't argue with those.

The door swings silently open, revealing a passage that runs about thirty feet from a barred window at the right end to a balcony at the left end. Directly across the passage is another door. About halfway down toward the left end of the passage two doors stand across from each other. So three doors total. All the doors are ajar. The passage currently is well-lit by sunlight through the window at the right end and by more sunlight from a big open area beyond the balcony at the left end.

There is no sound of occupancy in or around the passage.