[3.5] The Uprise (Alpha Team)

[Blinkbear]

For nearly your whole life, you have lived as a slave, a servant without power or right over his own life. Many are born into slavery, but in your case it was most likely different, and you were captured from your homelands when you were a child. After all, you are not normal, but a freak -- and freaks do not breed well in captivity. For the most of your life, you have stayed in the huge premises of your master, which are surrounded by high, dense hedges: The magnificient mansion with the big, cultivated front yard, the back yard, the store houses, the baracks, and the training halls. Maybe you once caught a glimpse of the world outside, but most likely you know of it only from stories, or the bad smell of the city which rises when the sun comes out again after a summer rain.

You are not happy to be a slave, and you most likely also experienced some kind of abuse during your childhood. Now you are in your late teens or early twenties, and you have adapted to your surroundings. You have made friends with other slaves, have learned who of the guards to trust. You have never had the honor to actually meet your master, but those who did do not speak well of him. You may have encountered some of the rest of the family; but most of them prefer not to actually deal with freaks like you. Instead, you were indirectly ruled through a hierarchy of guards, the lower being also slaves, the higher being actually payed employees.

Maybe you had already given up on ever finding a way out of this life, maybe you were still clinging to this last piece of hope, those last memories from your childhood which fade more and more every day. But then, amidst the night, just a few minutes ago, this crackling sound, louder than everything you ever heard, followed by the slight shaking of the earth, that poured small pieces of chalk and stone from the ceiling of the barracks. You immediately knew that something was going on outside, though the sound was likely coming from off-premises. You heard noises of running and screaming people, shouting loud words in the masters' language, that you were never taught. Soon, you also heard noises of battle happening outside the barracks.

Each of you is contained in a single cell, with three stone walls and closed by a door consisting mainly of metal bars. Two of you are on each side of a dim-lit hallway. As you all eventually get up and glance through the bars, you can exchange surprised glances with each other. Then between the noise of fighting, you all hear it, the clicking sound you were so familiar with: The locks of your sleeping cells just opened -- with no one in sight.

Each of you is currently restrained as described in the boxes below.

Spoiler: Krempla

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As usual when sent into your cell, you are restrained as follows: Your hands are in tight leather mittens, forced into a fist, so you can not cut them with your claws; a complex arrangement of leather straps prevents you from opening your mouth.

Spoiler: Arashk

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You wear a pair of manacles around your hands which are affixed to a heavy metal ball which you can barely lift.

Spoiler: Bix

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Your wings are tightly fixed with straps against the rest of your body in a way that you cannot reach the buckles on your back, your hands are tight up strictly with rope. For whatever reason you could never cast or use your spell-like abilities while restrained like this.

Spoiler: Ker'anson

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Your hands are in metal manacles, and you are gagged with leather straps with buckles you cannot reach.

Please describe your actions, and use the opportunity to introduce your character in a few sentences. Your characters know each other, as you have spent a lot of time in the same cell block. Although you may not agree on everything, you have started to develop more than just friendly feelings for each other, indeed you feel more like brothers than friends. Usually they are more of you living in this cell block, but some of you had left a few days ago without returning. From the four of you, Bix was brought here first, later Krempla was brought here together with his now deceased siblings. Ker'anson and Arrashk arrived last, just half a year ago after having each served a different lord and then sold.

[Aldurin]

Bix hates his current state. His hands restricted and his wings bound to his back as if they weren't even there. The hands were to be expected, but the wings were always painful to keep in this state. Fragile fey wings don't get feather cushioning or a tough surface of leather and scales, and every time it feels like they're on the edge of tearing from pressure of the straps. He could never convince the guards to loosen up the straps, and no trick he could think of would make the situation more comfortable. The only thing he can do is wait in the cell and try to make conversation with the only other slave whose mouth isn't restricted.

Then the sound of fighting happens and the cell door opens on its own. Chaos has begun to impose itself on Bix's world of absolute order, and some unseen force is inviting him to partake in it. It's surprise and opportunity enough that Bix forgets to keep up the act of breathing, his intent to hide one of his few advantages taking a bench in favor of the current situation. He immediately stands up, only rising a few inches in stature with his size, and mouths over to the others. This is our chance. Let's get our restraints off and get out of here while we can. He reaches the cell door and attempts to slide it open in hopes it won't be too heavy for his small size.

[Sontali]

At 3'2", Arashk is a rather average looking Poison Dusk Lizardfolk, a humanoid reptilian with a wiry build, a crest that runs along the top of his head that rises when agitated. He also has scars on his wrists, ankles and neck from various restraints.

Arashk was staring at the ball intended to weigh him in hatred when it went down, he had devised many plans for that ball in the months he had been here. Though he was probably going to go with melt it down into slag, and bury the remains somewhere where no one would ever find it. But to make that a reality he would need to get out, which didn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon, he had explored most of the grounds in the brief moments he had slipped out of their notice, and while Arashk reasoned that he might be able to get out stealthily, the others certainly wouldn’t be able to. Then, as if on que the cracking sounds and the screaming and fighting had started, and Arashk moved to the door, dragging his hated companion with him.

This is our chance. Let's get our restraints off and get out of here while we can.

The response that Bix got was a prolonged guttural hissing which rose and fell in volume, a sound that the other slaves recognised as the noise Arashk’s laughter. “Arashk think cruel mean guard Pig Nose on watch guard this night.” Breaking into laughter again as the small lizard struggled to lift his metal friend and push open his gate with it.

[stanleyindraven]

Krempla struggled to try and open his jaw to snatch threads on his 'gloves' as he did most nights. He watched the cells opposite him as usual. The sound outside stopped his futile struggle. He stood and stared across the narrow hall. When the click came, he rushed to push the door open. The cell flung wide open as he barreled into it.

Looking down he remembered he was no closer to getting loose than he was before. Quickly he thought and darted over to open Arashk's cell. After some careful manuvering, he opened the door and knelt before Arashk, profering his bound hands with a look of panic in his eyes.

[Sontali]

Arashk saw the gesture and let loose another hissing laugh, waddling over to Krempla restraint in arms. “Arashk think mean cruel guards make mistake.” Giving a toothy grin before placing down his metal ball and using both his teeth and restricted claws severed through Krempla’s mittens. Then looking down at his own manacled hands. "Krempla can rip break Arashk's steel rope?"

[Asmodean_]

Slowly but surely, Ker'anson moved towards the exit of the chamber, stopping only to shake free a strand of his long, off-white hair that had gotten trapped between the chains of his manacles. Trying to make as little noise as possible to contribute as little to the commotion Arashk was making, he poked his head around the entrance to see if anyone was there, hiding in the darkness - presumably to punish any who had failed the test. His previous master had done this once before - pretended there was freedom and punishing those who tried to take it.

[stanleyindraven]

Krempla pulled at the manacles, though he was strong, it just wasn't working for him. As he glanced up at the torch on the wall, it dawned on him. He tore at the muzzle, snapping the buckles off and opened his mouth. He aimed for the link that held the manacles together and to the ball and spit out a line of fire.

Spoiler: Damage

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(6d8)[25]

[Blinkbear]

He reaches the cell door and attempts to slide it open in hopes it won't be too heavy for his small size.

Bix, you lean your body against the cold door, and it opens, squeaking. In this moment you feel as free as you did not feel for a long time. You are still restrained, but can walk.

...he poked his head around the entrance to see if anyone was there, hiding in the darkness - presumably to punish any who had failed the test. His previous master had done this once before - pretended there was freedom and punishing those who tried to take it.

Ker'anson, as it seems, you are in luck this time, and it does not seem to be a trap. At least you can see no one in the cell block, and you can still here people outside, rushing around speaking in the forbidden language of the master's, and the orders that are shouted outside do not seem familiar to you.

Arashk sinks his claws and teeth into the thick leather gloves that restraint Krempla. You can pull of a few strings, but not free him completely. However, together you manage to loosen the straps preventing him to open his mouth, and Krempla shows what the crowd loves most about him in the pits. A ray of fire leaves his mouth, putting the whole cellblock into ghostly light for a moment. The fire severes the ball from Arashk's manacles, and even cuts the manacles in two, so that Arashk can move them again independently from each other. At the same time, the fire burns the remainder of Krempla's right glove, freeing his hand.

Arashk, Krempla and Bix are on the hallway between the cells, Arashk can move freely but feels his dexterity still a bit restrained by the remaining parts of the manacles, Bix you are still mostly restrained but if the others help you it is just a matter of moments.

((Ker'anson have you still been inside the cell or already have come out of it? In the latter case, you may make a reflex save in order to also got your manacles cut in two; it's up to you.))

[stanleyindraven]

Krempla frees himself fully of his restraints and picks up the iron ball by the end of the length of chain. "This shall make a decent weapon for now," he grumbles out. "Let us be free."

[Asmodean_]

((Ker'anson was still in the cell))
"Well not yet," he attempted to say, before realising he could not, in fact, say, due to the gag around his mouth. He looked expectantly at the others.

[Aldurin]

"We need to get everyone's restraints off first." Bix says as he moves towards the others to have his restraints removed and help with the other's restraints. When the wing straps come off, he no longer appears as a pale blue air gnome with unusual lavender pigmentation in his eyes, but some sort of duct-taped mismatch between a pixie and a gnome. The wings do manage to look somewhat natural by using both the pale blue and lavender coloration in its pattern, but against the stature of a gnome it gives the impression of some sort of oversized butterfly larvae that grew its wings too early.

[Sontali]

Arashk looks thankfully at Krempla. And using his greater range of movement attempts to prise his wrists out of the separated manacles.

[Blinkbear]

Together, you remove Bix' restraints and Ker'anson's gag, but his hands are still in manacles held together by a short chain. Krempla tries to break these chains (rolls below), while Arashk struggles to get his hands out of them. However, even the improved mobility does not let him achieve his goal (see also rules below), they are simply too tight.

From the outside you hear as stout shout in slave language: "Freedom! Freedom! Kill theeem! Kill them a-" The shout turns into a scream of pain and then ebbs away. Obviously, there is combat going on outside the cell block in the court. The exit of the cell block is a door mainly consisting of metal bars, and is usually locked.


Bix, when they untied you, you felt that something dropped to the floor and touched your leg while doing so, it felt like a palm sized package wrapped in cloth.

Spoiler: Breaking the Chain

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I simply assume that Krempla tries it, and thus make a few rolls. Should neither of them meet the DC 24 (I assume that someone successfully helps you), you can decide to take 20, but it will take you two minutes then.
(1d20+7)[14](14)
(1d20+7)[4](4)
(1d20+7)[17](17)
(1d20+7)[8](8)

Spoiler: Separated Manacles Rules

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If you have the remains of metal manacles around your arms, you have a -1 penalty on all skill checks as if it were an armor check penalty. However, you can attack normally, the hands count as free regarding spell casting, and the mobility is sufficient to make gestures for somatic components. You can try to remove them with a DC 30 Escape Artist check (each) by wriggling your hands out of them, if you come up with helping circumstances, you gain bonuses as usual. You can also get a +5 bonus on the check, if you accept to hurt yourself while doing it, each try deals 1d4 of damage. You can also remove them by dealing damage; however piercing damage is mostly ineffective, and bludgeoning damage deals half the damage as subdual damage to the owner of the hand. The best way to remove them is to have some fine tools; the built in locking mechanism does not require a specific key.

Edit:
Krempla succeeds at breaking the chain.

You can all now move freely inside the cell block; Ker'anson and Arashk still have the disadvantage due to the remainders of the manacles (see spoiler above).

[stanleyindraven]

Krempla moved up to the door to see what he could catch going on outside and motioned the others to join him. His copper scales glinted in the torchlight as his bulk blocked most of the doorway.

[Blinkbear]

Krempla moves to the door, undisturbed, and takes a look through the bars.

Krempla, it takes a moment for you to adjust to the surroundings: The court is shrouded into the darkness of night, but there are also several sources of illumination such as torches and lanterns. You make use of your supernatural darkvision, and can see that there are guards fighting slaves from other cell blocks, that one of the cell blocks is on fire, and that a group of guards is rushing into the direction of the back entrance of the mansion. Most of the shouts in the master's language must come from the other side of the mansion. You can see a faint red glow from the other side of the high walls surrounding the premises, which must come from the city.

[Sontali]

Arashk, in his haste to be free of the manacles almost tries to open the lock by trying to stick a claw in it. But decides against it at the last moment and starts looking for anything lying around that he might be able to use to jimmy open the locks, like a loose nail or such. "What does Krempla look see?"

Spoiler: Roll

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Search: (1d20+1)[16]

[stanleyindraven]

"Battle," Krempla says plainly as he casts his eyes upon the others. "Brothers, now is the time to escape."

[Asmodean_]

"I agree," Ker'anson agreed, his voice breaking slightly in excitement - he might be free if they manage to give the guards the slip. "We need to get out of here as soon as physically possible; we can worry about everything else later."

[Aldurin]

Bix nods in agreement and floats behind the group, glad to stretch his wings. He casts a defensive spell then unwraps the cloth package to examine its contents.

Spoiler

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Casting Mage Armor at CL 2 on himself, +4 Armor to AC for 2 hours.

[Blinkbear]

Ker'anson sees roughly the same as Krempla, but something about the guard's tactics of rushing into the mansion instead of focusing on the slaves strikes him as odd. But soon something else picks his attention: Someone casts spells in the vicinity, not here in the backyard, probably on the other side of the mansion.

The moment Bix picks up the small package, he feels the same slight nausea that he felt when bound. Unwrapping the package shows a nigh palm-sized metal item, roughly the shape of a spearhead. The item emits a very faint greenish glow, feels cold to the touch, and seems to suppress the carrier to cast spells.

Spoiler: Item Rules

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While the item is in the same square (or cube) as you are, you cannot cast spells or use spell-like abilities.

You all approach the barred door to exit the cell block, and find it unlocked just as your cell doors.

The majority of guards seems to have vanished inside the mansion, several of them still guarding the entry door, and shouting orders to those who still involve with the slaves in the backyard. Just now, one of the guards stands over an unarmored slave, his spear sunk into his victim's stomach. The guard doesn't seem to care about his comrades' shouts and instead twists the spear in the slave's twitching body. You can see another who seems to enjoy threatening slaves who try to flee the burning cell block with a large chunk of wood, hitting those over the head who try it anyway.

The following is a copy of the locations as listed in the recruitment thread.

Spoiler: On-Premise Locations

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The Cell Blocks. The game starts in one of those. There are more than one cell block on the premises of your master. If you have counted the buildings, you know there are four of them. Your cell block contains one dozen of single cells, but most of them are empty for almost all the time. The inhabitants of your cell blocks have always been more "exotic". Currently, the four of you are the only inhabitants. You are locked in those cells every night, and sometimes also for days. The accommodation is very simple, basically sufficient to provide shelter from bad weather; your bed consists of some straw, and the remainder of the furniture is a bucket for the obvious purpose. You are not allowed to bring anything other than basic clothing into the cell block, and are only provided water during your stay there. Only rarely, you also get food served into your cells, but this only happens if you have to stay in your cell for longer periods. As expected, the cell block reeks of excretions and bodily odors. You do not know about the inside or the capacity of the other cell blocks. If you talked to their inhabitants, you may have found out that the other three cell blocks are mostly assigned to slaves by their occupation. You have heard rumors that one cell block is more luxurious than the others, but that it is preserved for slaves expecting progeny. You have no overview over the number of slaves living on premise, but it must be at least fifty but likely more. The number is so hard to estimate, because there is a rather high fluctuation, and additionally, all those "normals" look the same to most of you anyway.

The Cantina. This is the place where you receive food. The quality of the dishes differs from day to day, but actually the diet is not too bad. At least it is efficient, in the sense that you are rarely hungry, and that most of your nutrient requirements are fully satisfied. The taste cannot always live up to those standards, and often enough it gets even worse, if some sadistic guard finds it funny to pollute the meals with whatever amuses him. You are always under strong observation while eating, and are required (and checked) to return all cutlery before you leave the cantina again. As for the cell blocks, you are not allowed to bring any objects other than basic clothing in here.

The Training Halls. There are a handful of buildings serving different training purposes. You have most likely only seen the one you were trained in. There is at least a sports hall with an attached stash for training weapons and armor, and different workshops for craft training.

The Sink. This is a big building that is known to stretch out into the underground, and is the place where you do not want to stay for longer than necessary. Indeed, it is the place where all the buckets are emptied into. Strangely enough, the smell seems to be mostly contained into the building, which doesn't help when one has latrine fatigue. There are stories that slaves tried to escape through the sink, hinting that there actually may be a drain in the sink leading deep into the underground. But this is mostly known as a legend, and everyone assumes that the people did not escape but drown in there.

The inventory. This building is under constant heavy guarding, and contains a lot of equipment for the daily routines of the slaves, and their training. Most goods are not accessible to you, and even if you allowed access to some piece of equipment, it is logged, and usually strongly limited. Of course, even if your granted some access, it all still belongs to the master. You have no property, you are property. The inventory also functions as the armory.

The Mansion. Depending on your training and purpose, you may have seen the outer layers of the master's mansion. It is a high privilege to be permitted to enter the house, and before you can actually enter it, you have to go through a specific entry, where you are cleansed and appropriately clothed.

[stanleyindraven]

"Our only hope to survive and be free is to head to the main gate. Have to get past the house. Do you think this to be a problem," Krempla addresses his companions. It is obvious, even through his brutish features, that he is concerned with the chaos.

[Aldurin]

Bix hands the stone over to Arashk. "If we encounter any guards like me, try to stab them with this." He begins to weigh his options. The main risk of the Sink is negated for Bix, being unable to drown, but it'd be more indoor spaces with an unknown destination. He could simply fly over the walls, but any sharpshooter on either side of the battle could spot him and make short work of him before he gets enough altitude. He wanted to be out of this compound now, but the only safe option was to support the other prisoners in their escape. "I can provide distractions and some healing to help overwhelm the guards we encounter. But I'm concerned about taking the main gate. If whoever is fighting on the other side doesn't care who we are, we may be treated just like the guards. For now we need to secure our way out of the cell blocks. If we rush and pin down each guard, we can kill them with minimal injuries."

[Sontali]

Arashk takes the spearhead and flips it over a few times, largely unfamiliar with glowing metals, before slipping it under his harness. "Arashk think chaos will be useful. Inventory still be under guard lock, but learn train halls probably be forgotten. Grab useful things?"

[Asmodean_]

"I guess we should get some supplies before leaving," Ker'anson conceded, "but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do. I could distract him with a Ghost Sound, or knock him down with a Sleep spell. What do you think?"

[Blinkbear]

As you talk about getting some equipment from the inventory, you try your best to see whether there is still a guard outside the inventory. It's not easy to assess from this angle, but you can't see any of the guards in front of it anymore. It seems that most of the guards have run into back entrance of the mansion, and only a handful are still outside harassing and fighting slaves. You recognize those on the outside as some of the most sadistic ones. The one twisting the spear in his victim was just about to be attacked by an unarmed slave, but the slave got shot midway, likely by a crossbow from one of the guards at the mansion.

The mansion shields the backyard from an enormous flash of light that must have erupted in the front yard, and must have been of magical nature.

To keep it simple, we can conceive the whole site as a rectangle; the longer side going from east to west.
In the north you have the front yard with the nice garden, taking about one sixth of the distance from north to south.
Next to it to the south: the mansion, taking about one third of the distance from north to south. Not using the full width, on the west there is the supply road, on the east there is just some empty space between the mansion and the border.
Finally, the remaining space in the south is the back yard with the barracks, cell blocks, training halls, the sink, the inventory.
The premises are surrounded by high hedges and walls. The only entrance/exit you know of is the gate in the front yard.

So, there are essentially three ways to go from the back yard to the front yard:
1) Through the mansion.
2) On one of the sides of the mansion, there is a way that connects front yard and back yard, being wide enough for a big cart to pass; let's call this the supply road, because this is were many deliveries were brought through. Actually this is also the way that you left when you were driven to the pits in the closed couches.
3) Theoretically one can also pass the mansion on the other side, because the house is not actually connected with the hedges/walls. Normally, guards patrol this side of the yard to make sure no one passes.

[Sontali]

A moment of a cross between distaste and glee crossed Arashk's reptilian face. "Rest sleep seems better. No need to distract when we can take down. Leave spare nice guards."

[stanleyindraven]

"Then we push to inventory," Krempla declared as he pushed through the gate and began working his way to the building in the distance. He walked with a determination, dodging any errant blows that came near but were not meant for him. The ball swung back and forth as he strided.

[Sontali]

Arashk follows behind Krempla, but tries to move unseen under the cover of night, as to surprise any guards that see the others and make the mistake of forgetting about their sneaky friend.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Hide: (1d20+17)[27]
Move Silently: (1d20+10)[29]

[Aldurin]

"Ok, if any guards come at us in close range and aren't the psychotic bunch make sure you don't fight back immediately. It's easier for me to charm them before they start taking hits." Bix floats behind the group, trying his best not to stand out in the confusion.

Spoiler

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Hide check (1d20+8)[16]

[Asmodean_]

Ker'anson follows silently, ready to cast a spell at the first sight of any assailants.

Spoiler

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Spot: WIS (+1), Racial Bonus (+2): (1d20+3)[12](12)