DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games LMP: Lost Mines of Phandelver 3.2 Cragmaw Castle

Kriv

"Our scouts have not seen any patrols, no."

<Bern>

"And do we have any idea about the layout that we will be 'charging into'? Do they have fortifications? Are they manned? How many foes are there in there ... these are all pretty important things to know if we would like to =succeed= in our quest ... rather than accomplishing nothing beyond dying horribly."

Kriv

His expression grew cold.

"Jaliera, I fear you may have to repeat the information you just gave. It seems you may well be advised to speak slowly and use short words this time."

Chandan

Jaliera's question forces him to think more about his idea. He hadn't put a lot of thought into it previously, either at Wyvern Tor or now, beyond his being amused by the conceit of duping their enemies and making life even worse for Iarno's gang.

Still, the fundaments are there.

"We put on Redbrand cloaks, pretend to be Redbrands. Iarno was allies with Spider. Maybe it could work? We get in, find Gundren, then bust him out." He says.

Ryssa


The cleric of Lathander's head moved as if on a swivel, transiting from one speaker to another, wondering at the acerbic nature of the newly met dragonborn's comments.

It seemed that everyone was making sense, but a decision needed to be made, one to which they all could agree.

For the moment though, she held her tongue.

Davroar

He shifts back to his human form as he wants to say, "The Spider is at the center of this large web. Redbrands, bugbears, goblins, orcs all seem to be his bugs, and I bet not all of his bugs knows the others not to well. The big bugs will get noticed more than small ones. If we do disguise ourselves we should break up into smaller groups of two, then once we're inside we find a safe place to meet up."

Davroar has no idea how large this place is and he reaches into his pack for some chalk and says, "Best two go first, then we can do small marks along the way to indicate where you've gone. If the marks stop then we know something bad has happened."

<Bern>

He sighed. Clearly they all had a death wish.

He considered ... did he stay out here so that he could report the demise of the group and recruit a new team ... or did he go and possibly die because they couldn't 'keep it in their pants' long enough to get some decent intel?

It was not an easy question to answer.

Kriv

"The thing about the Redbrands: They were all human, and if I recall correctly, all male. We do have a handful who meet those criteria, and the plan might work for them. I am wary that the Redbrands seemed unaware of Iarno's correspondence with the Spider, given the lengths to which we had to go to learn of it ourselves, thus this would be a risky endeavour which may just stir up the hornets nest."

He looked across at their selection of human men, paused and considered,

"That said, it is probably worth an attempt. Chandan, perhaps you could take Bern with you and see if it works."

Jaliera

Kriv is becoming sarcastic again but he is right in that he thinks Bern might be too tentative. However it is his latest suggestion that Bern and Chandan go in first that gains him a look of disapproval.

"We don't have Redbrand cloaks anymore as far as I am aware. And I don't see a way of gaining knowledge of the layout inside without actually going in. The suggestion of taking out a patrol has some merit.. and we might learn more if we can take one captive for questioning. I am all for trying to reduce risk but there are limits in how long we take to do that as Gundren could be suffering. Plus we increase our chance of being discovered the longer we wait. However, we could withdraw and see if a patrol ventures out today and then time our assault for the early hours of the morning, probably the best time for us to gain surprise."

She looks around at the others.

Ryssa


There were merits and problems in each person's ideas, she thought and, though she normally kept quiet when tactical or strategic plans were being made, she spoke up.

"I, too, would not want to late overlong when Gundren might be suffering. Perhaps a couple or maybe three of us could cause some sort of distraction to one side or the rear of the castle and then, once the inhabitants are distracted, the others charge in. Do you think that might work?"

Chandan

He unpacks the Redbrand cloaks so everyone can see what he's talking about.

Chandan's original idea had been to use them on the orcs at Wyvern Tor, but as it turned out, those orcs had less of an idea about the goings on in these parts than the party.

This castle is the hideout of the Black Spider, however....

"Iarno say he in business with Black Spider, dangerous elf. Mosk the Bugbear say he keep eye on Iarno, sent by Black Spider." Chandan explains as he unpacks.

"King Grol rule this castle, but he also serve Black Spider it seems. So everyone in there should know Redbrands."

Once the cloaks are laid out, he considers Kriv's suggestion.

"I will go. Don cloak, speak to guards, no problem."

Jaliera

"Splitting our group weakens us. I think we all need to go in together. Now or a bit later is the decision."

Davroar

He listens to the others and realizes that now that they are here after days of travel, another few hours of observation is probably not going to matter now. Since he has already used up one of his shape changes his decision is easy.

"I say wait then. An opportunity might come up to get inside. A rest and I'll regain my shape changing. Perhaps the dragon finds us. That should be a good distraction..."

Kriv

The idea of having Chandan go off alone, dressed in the uniform that the only two individuals in the Redbrand hideout which knew of the Spider had not worn, was sorely tempting, but Jaliera's warning glance served as a timely reminder that they were, after all, all sworn to the same task. Expendable asset or no, better that one get expended doing something actually useful that contributed to Gundren's rescue.

"I find myself concurring with Jaliera. The risks of a divided approach outweigh the benefits, we've had individuals run off and do their own thing before, which led to such humiliations as them getting captured by mere goblins for no tangible gain.

Likewise, we have thoroughly reconnoitred the outside of the keep: The large swathes of clear terrain around it suggest they do not send out patrols - no beaten paths for patrol routes, no concealed ways in out of their sightlines - so waiting for one just gives Gundren extra time to suffer. If we are keeping our group together, better to go sooner rather than later."

<Bern>

"How many of those cloaks do we have? We could play 'captives and guards' ... at least to get started. That would keep the group together ... and we =might= get those inside to lead us to where Gundren is located ... one set of prisoners to guard, as it were. Does anyone know how to talk with them better than Chandan?"

[Nice nice nice MikeD, the Old Wookiee Trick! I'm up for that!

But yeah, whatever we do should involve a 'short rest' first.]

[[ well we =are= doing a lot of standing around and talking <weg> ]]

Kriv

He looked between the two of them, then swept an arm to indicate everyone else.

"Not credible."

<Bern>

"Not credible how? And so then what is your idea?"

Kriv

"We do not have the kind of shackles it would require to make that look even vaguely convincing. Whilst Chandan has..."

He begrudgingly ceded,

"hidden depths as a useful and dangerous combatant, at first glance all that is perceived is the 'scrawny drunkard' side to him. Perhaps as a couple of errant Redbrands by themselves that might be overlooked, plenty of humans are overly fond of the bottle and there are plenty of measly specimens, but the incongruity of it next to a couple of obviously combat-capable Dragonborn, and two or three, depending if Davroar uses his abilities to more effectively disguise his presence, very capable looking younger humans, it is going to draw the eye and invite more questions, and once suspicion rises, the rest also falls apart.

On top of that, weapons. I can call mine to hand with a thought, but none of the others have that luxury, meaning to make it look convincing you two will need to be weighed down with everyone elses' gear. Not to mention the last time we saw someone captured by those affiliated to the Spider, he was stripped as naked as a suckling babe. Recreate that and we'd be at our most vulnerable when the alarm is raised, stuck for several minutes re-equipping as our enemy endeavours to repel intruders.

We also return to the Redbrand disguise being a long shot in any case: Those who wore it did not know of this place, those who knew of this place did not wear it, the chances of it being recognised are slim. Maybe those dragon cultist robes would have been better for a ruse like this, but they were all burned with their wearers.

A brief pause to answer the second question,

"Jaliera's suggested approach. We stay together, dressed in our armours and wielding our arms, concentrate our forces and work our way in en masse via one of the points of ingress which she and Davroar diligently scouted. I leave to her the precise details of this approach."

He looked at her expectantly.

Chandan

The old monk is glad to see such enthusiastic debate, and even a little surprised at himself, being able to contribute, given his inexperience with assaulting castles.

Ever since the day he left his mountain it has struck him as marvellous, and still does, just how true the phrase 'stuck in your ways' is.

Most people assume this to mean, a person can't change, especially an old, grey-bearded one. But actually, all it takes to change anyone's ways is an alteration in course, and no-one would ever claim that you have total control of the twists and turns that life throws you.

So 'stuck in your ways' is simply luxuriating in a period of stability.

Chandan now has to assault a castle, and so here he is, suggesting how that might be achieved. Fortunately others with more expertise in such matters are on hand to contribute too.

"Good," he says to the party, "Yes, goood!"

It seems to him like their ideas, thrown into a melting pot, have created a plan. He passes one of the Redbrand cloaks to Bern and dons one himself, stuffing his saffron scarf down the front of his robes.

"So we set watch on gates and those who need rest, rest. If we can ambush patrol, we will. If not, we attack together, straight down the throat.

"And me and Bern, we wear Redbrand cloak while we do it. Who knows, maybe they see us and spread word, 'That Iarno, he a real bastard!'"

<Bern>

He accepted the cloak with a sigh. So much for planing, he thought.

(OOC: For reference, Zeim mentioned the 'odd looking cloaks and masks' in the transition thread on this post which also includes a handy illustration.)

[[ can't point you to the post, but,FWIW, I remember a post about the cultists and their 'garb' <g> ]]