Ferrence and Vren

Okay, Sonya will say, when only the party can hear her:
"Okay, if we make a deal with Vren, no killing them afterward unless they clearly provoke us, right Quinn? Also, I think Thia has a good point, if Vren wants Ferrence dead so bad, there might be a big advantage to defeat him without killing him, so if we do go after him, we just beat him into submission. I vote that we do go after Ferrence rather than the Ettin. We know that Ferrance has some treasure on him for sure, the Ettin might just beat us up some more. I'll lead the way to Ferrance's area if you'll follow..."

Just so you know, we might be able to negotiate with Ferrance without fighting at all. It is a novel idea but it just might work.

What's the party going to do?

It looks like
Miri want to go after the Ettin.
Thia and Sonya want to investigate Ferrance.
Quinn want to kill stuff.
Not sure about Candelos or Kaddim.

Anyone want to make the decision for the party?

I say we go get Ferrance.

Ferrance.
He has 2 items we can aquire and it builds an alliance.

This is a trap and as such you never know what anything is. I might not be the most intelligent in the party but we know how do get out of this trap and it is defeating the people who put us in three times. With that statement logically it means we have no idea who is who and so why not kill everyone? As far as I know killing someone is known as a deafet so let the gods sort out the rest. Besides that point me in the direction of a fight and I will fight, you all decide the rest.

I cannot guarantee someone might not die that you have allied with but Vren is a known prison break killer.

I'll throw this out there as a straw horse:

The party will wait until Miri is done making and distributing all three items that are in her backlog. The party will have completed an extended rest by then.

We will then move out in the direction of Ferrence. The Swordmage and Paladin in front, Warlord and Wizard second, the Fighter and Ranger guarding the rear.

When we get to the door, Thia, with an assist by the Warlord, will check for traps. We'll spend some time listening for any information (at least 2 minutes). Then Thia (again with an assist) will try to unlock it if locked, otherwise Quinn (with an assist by the Swordmage), will try to break the door down.

Depending on what happens next will determine if Sonya attempts to negotiate, or we just end up fighting.

I'm open for input on this plan...

Sounds good. Miri will take the appropriate gold from the 3 items, convert it into residuum, and craft their items during the extended rest. She will also swap out 'Stinking Cloud' for 'Bigby's Icy Grasp' from her spellbook.
Miri: "It costs me residuum and energy <35gp & healing surge>, but I can try to magically open the door as well."

...I'll leave it up to you (Miri) regarding if you want to use the knock spell or not, could give us an advantage of surprise (at least not sound the alarm by breaking in the door)...

Let me know when you guys make a decission...

Lets go with the mundane attempt first.

Sorry, pretty busy at work this week trying to release a new product. I'll try to post some in the evenings.

Teramotos wrote:...I'll leave it up to you (Miri) regarding if you want to use the knock spell or not...

Umm... I threw it out to the group because if Miri casts it, it'll be with pooled party gold to do so.
Component cost: 35gp + healing surge. If Miri casts it, someone has to give her 30 gps (6 from each of you) & she'll kick in 5gp + her healing surge.

Krystoff wrote:Lets go with the mundane attempt first.

That would negate the "Knock" spell's potential for surprise, but I'm fine either way. If we're going to attempt to negotiate with Ferrence first, it might be worth the gold for the chance of a peaceful start. Miri suggests someone give her 30gps & that she cast the spell. Better likelihood to talk first & verify Vren's story.

Sonya will kick in 25 GP since she's the likely one to negotiate anyway.

Is the party going to try and extended rest first?
Which door are you guys talking about using Knock on?

Yes, extended rest first so Brad can make the items.

Ferrance's door so that he will be surprised by the entrance of us.

Yes, we'll try for an extended rest. Yes, we intend to try the knock on Ferrence's door.

Blood, Death, Vengeance

Teramotos wrote:Sonya will kick in 25 GP since she's the likely one to negotiate anyway.

Alright, Miri's kicking in 5gp + a healing surge, Sonya's kicking in 25gp, we need someone else to kick in 5gp if we want to cast 'knock'.
Miri to party: "If we can open the door & storm in on the same (ambush) round, we can hopefully start off putting him in a position where he's willing to hear what we have to say. I'm not sure yet if Vren or Ferrence is the good guy/best ally for us, so it'd be nice to talk with Ferrence before we move into 'aggresive negotiations' with anybody. At least long enough to verify the "gone mad" part of Vren's story anyway & find out what Ferrence can offer us.
Remember, if we ally with Vren, he's going to want "his share" of the treasure in that room... What does everyone else think about our choices?"

I will kick in the extra 5 gold.

Krystoff wrote:I will kick in the extra 5 gold.

So, just the 3 girls are chipping in? None of the boys?... so much for chivalry! :-/
Let's go get Ferrence! What's our plan for when I cast the knock?

...we have to wait to see what the situation is before we act, after the knock spell...

The party is not interrupted while resting.

When the party is ready, Nathan tells the party to meet him at the door north of the lizardman room.
The party enters a large hall with five stone pillars. Nathan tells you that his room is to the NW. Another group of men stay directly north of him, and Vren stays in the north room next to Ferrence.
Nathan (an archer) and two footmen will "assist" the party if that's agreeable, otherwise they'll rejoin their group who are performing other tasks.

What does the party do once they enter the room?
You notice that there are two very large crates in front of Ferrence's room. Nathan tells you that they were needed to keep Ferrence from breaking down the door (the door looks very strong and Quinn thinks he'd have a difficult time breaking it down).


I'm not sure where everyone wants to be, but he's a picture of the room you're in.

Actually we would prefer to work alone, thanks for the offer though!

Yep, we'll tell the 3 soldier their help is not need and to return to Vren.
We should try and move the crates quitely.
I'll take the position in front of the door where the right side crate was. Hands on sheathed sword and dagger.

just my opinion:
Sonya next to me where the left crate was. To open the door and quickly start negotiations.
Next Quinn and Kaddim
Next Thia and Miri

Sonya will say quietly "Hold on a minute, we could always use an extra sword or two. The enemy of my enemy is my friend so they say." She's keeping her voice down so that Ferrence won't hear her. "Everyone keep your voices low if you must speak."

We'll need to move the boxes. A few of the party and one of the humans will stand guard while the others move the boxes quietly away from the door. Moving the boxes one square to the south should be good so that if we really need to we can move the boxes back. The boxes can also be used for cover by Nathan and Thia if they must exchange fire with anyone in the room.

After the boxes have been moved, we'll listen for a while (like indicated earlier) and depending on what we do or don't hear, Miri will do the knock spell. How's that for a plan?

Tell Sonya quietly "How do we know Nathan and the other two haven't been sent to insure negotiations don't take place." We have no control over them.

To the Paladin quietly in elven "...we don't know. Hey, if they just attack Ferrence, then Quinn will get his wish." If the Paladin doesn't speak elven, then in common.

The crates are very heavy and will take two people to lift (or one person to slide, but sliding will make more noise).

Does the party want the extra help from Nathan and the footmen? I saw a couple of no's and a yes...

Who will be lifting the crates? The crates are currently right up against the door so who ever is moving them and will need to make stealth checks at a small minus (or a larger minus for sliding).

I say nope, and usher them out. We can take care of this.

Thanks!

...okay, to keep things moving along, Sonya will allow the "help" to be excused.
...Sonya and the Paladin will move the crates....(one at a time, carefully).

Sonya assists the Paladin in moving the crates. As they move the crates, Thia looks over at them and tells them to quiet down (Candelos rolls 15 for a stealth check plus 2 from Sonya helping). The doors are pretty think so you can't be sure if Ferrence heard the noise.

Moving the second crate was a bit quieter (Candelos rolls 22 with another plus two from Sonya). Thia believes it's unlikely Ferrence could have heard that crate.

Miri easily unlocks the door using the Knock ritual (which takes 10 minutes to cast). When the door unlocks, the party hears the lock "unlock" and you're pretty sure Ferrence would have heard it too.

To keep the order straight... I've rolled initiative.

Quinn follows Miri. He doesn't hear anything from the other side of the door. What will Quinn do?

Sonya, as a free action will say softly to Quinn "Open the door, don't bust open the door and don't scream when you do it please."

Kaddim says, why don't we just wait for 20 minutes before we go in, and have someone listen at the door to see if they hear movement from inside.

I'm whispering that of course.

Sonya will whisper "Kaddim has a good idea, let's just wait awhile."

Teramotos wrote:Sonya will whisper "Kaddim has a good idea, let's just wait awhile."

Miri: "Yes, if he's been trapped in that room for a while, & he killed 6 before being trapped in there, most likely even someone who's gone mad will eventually want to venture outside the door, at least to look around."
"Miri: "I suggest we reposition though... How about: Thia 10' straight S of where she is, hiding at the end of that hallway, Miri around the corner W of her, Quinn in the NE most corner hiding behind the crate, Kaddim & Candelos hiding behind the crate due W of them, and Sonya, since she's hopefully going to be our point on negotiations, out in the open waiting for Ferrence against the wall due S of the doors.

Quinn, Kaddim, & Candelos can be completely out of view of Ferrance, but completely in view of Sonya. Sonya will need to work out a couple nonverbal signals for when the boys should come out, come out & grab him, or just come out swinging. Thia would be able to see Candelos & Kaddim, so she'll know when to come out, and I'll wait fully hidden until I hear sounds of battle or someone call me. "
Note: He probably has the terrain in his room set up perfectly for him to defend against an assault, so I suggest the first thing one of our boys do is run to the doors, close them, and stand in front. Cut him off to favorable terrain as we surround him.

bradly wrote:

Teramotos wrote:Sonya will whisper "Kaddim has a good idea, let's just wait awhile."

Miri: "Yes, if he's been trapped in that room for a while, & he killed 6 before being trapped in there, most likely even someone who's gone mad will eventually want to venture outside the door, at least to look around."
"Miri: "I suggest we reposition though... How about: Thia 10' straight S of where she is, hiding at the end of that hallway, Miri around the corner W of her, Quinn in the NE most corner hiding behind the crate, Kaddim & Candelos hiding behind the crate due W of them, and Sonya, since she's hopefully going to be our point on negotiations, out in the open waiting for Ferrence against the wall due S of the doors.

Quinn, Kaddim, & Candelos can be completely out of view of Ferrance, but completely in view of Sonya. Sonya will need to work out a couple nonverbal signals for when the boys should come out, come out & grab him, or just come out swinging. Thia would be able to see Candelos & Kaddim, so she'll know when to come out, and I'll wait fully hidden until I hear sounds of battle or someone call me. "
Note: He probably has the terrain in his room set up perfectly for him to defend against an assault, so I suggest the first thing one of our boys do is run to the doors, close them, and stand in front. Cut him off to favorable terrain as we surround him.

I think it's a bit too late for that. The door has already been unlocked...

A PC can take their normal actions (standard, move, minor) on their turns. Currently I'm waiting on Quinn.

Well unless he opens the door I think we can get into those positions and just wait him out.

Waiting for Quinn...

I am a little confused on whats going on. Are we going North or South from your last picture? Am I right next to the door? Being I am not that quiet (heavy armor will do that) I will redy an action to possibly attack if someone shows himself. It depends on how threatened he he to bring, if someone talks him out thats not worth attacking but if he just comes out himself screaming and such then heck yes I will attack.

Yes, the room is to the north.
Candelos feels something on the other side of the door slam into it. From the other side of the door: Vren is that you? I'm gonna rip you a new one if I get my hands on you...

Bull Rush attempt 14 vs Fort. Candelos stands his ground and the door does not open.

Initiative order is now:
Quinn, Sonya, Kaddim, Thia, Candelos, Miri

Quinn readies an attack if something threatens.
Sonya, you're next... Then Kaddim.

Can Thai see anything down that hallway south of her? What about Miri? Anything to the west of her?


If no one else is around to hear her, Thia will say
Free Action: We are being played for fools, that door was barricaded from the outside to keep Ferrance in, not barricaded from the inside to keep people out.

Krystoff wrote:Can Thai see anything down that hallway south of her? What about Miri? Anything to the west of her?

Nathan and the footmen left through the door to the south (they closed the door behind them). The PCs are the only ones currently in the room.

...Free Action - "No, it's not Vren. Open the door and stand back, we just want to talk to you." says Sonya.
...Standard - Ready Action - If they open the door and attack, give an ally (Quinn most likely) a free basic attack with Commander's Strike.
Move Action - stand my ground.
Done...

The double doors of this room open out into the hall. Ferrence already used his turn trying to get out of the room.

Is the party going to wait for him to open the door? Is Candelos going to move out of the way?

Krystoff wrote:Free Action: We are being played for fools, that door was barricaded from the outside to keep Ferrance in, not barricaded from the inside to keep people out.

Miri: standard action cast 'ghost sound' whispering so only Thia can hear, "That fits Vren's story though... Vren needs us to kill him because he and his men can't. Vren said Ferrence killed 6 before they trapped him when he was going for their treasure room. I've only seen about that many men here now, so this guy could have taken out 1/2 Vren's clan when they baracaded him in there. Ferrence isn't afraid of Vren, but vice versa."

Candelos' turn...

It sounds like the party is going to wait for Ferrence to open the door, but since they swing out and he's trying the door on Candelos' side (random roll) I want to see what Candelos is going to do before moving on.

Candelos step south 10'