Karnakiid: Valley of Mist and Flame (Campaign Thread)

kozeph · Post by **kozeph** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:52 pm

Akumo reaches out and pats Dennis in the back once he accepts the offer to go for a pint or two.

Upon going up to the surface and up the trap door, with Dennis comment Akumo's heart sinks "Damn those sharp senses"

"Right I'll take a look around" Akumo shows the Signal whistle he carries around.

"One, means we got company, two means there's nothing, three means we got a lot of company and I wont stick around for much, got it? can't go blowing the secretness of the trapdoor" The dwarf makes a desive nod to the others and winks at the loyalist.

Once outside, Akumo tries to blend into the shadows, for as long as he considered that he is visible from the trapdoor.

Move silently 17+7=24
Hide 12+7= 19

Once out of visual range, Akumo resumes a normal walk with both hands up, should he encounter any guard he will simply whisper.

"Got info, take me to yar boss"

Annette · Post by **Annette** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:01 pm

Elliah

Morvahn reappears in seconds. "Report," he instantly demands, all friendliness gone from his voice. He hear the men inside the fortress scrambling for weapons, expecting the worst.

Akumo

Hide+Move Silently-Success!- You easily clear the burnt building without drawing suspicion from you "allies." Once outside, you notice (spot-success! the sun being oddly reflected behind a few of the buildings. Upon further investigation, you practically walk into a shockingly large force of guards!

A few of them nod when they hear your words. "He's back here," the whisper in response. One of them guides to to the back of what must be several hundred men, all armed to the teeth and looking eager for battle.

When you reach the leader, he addresses you with a tilt of his head and says, "Yes, Master Dwarf? Do you require something?"
Knowledge (local)- You instantly recognize the man as Captain Varrynn himself, captain of the Karnakan guard... and the very man the loyalists strive to kill.

MistSonata · Post by **MistSonata** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 6:12 pm

"Dannis ordered me to come and inform you that we might be in danger." Elliah said, catching her wind. "He's not certain, but he noticed that there was no crowd noise outside when he emerged topside. He's ordered Akumo to scout the area for possible danger."

Her eyes wander to any soldiers she could see gathering their weapons, then back to Captain Morvahn. "Your orders, Captain?"

malinzaro · Post by **malinzaro** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:10 am

After Akumo and Elliah departed, Westan approached Dannis,

I presume you already prepared escape routes for the unlikely case you are being discovered. Maybe it's time to use them and avoid blowing off our disguise?

Sense motive: 1d20+0=12

OOC: I edited the post, since apparently I missed something. Thanks Ellie!

MistSonata · Post by **MistSonata** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:26 am

malinzaro wrote:Westan one step behind Elliah looks prepared for the worst with his hand on the hilt of the sword,

Captain, I presume you already prepared escape routes for the unlikely case you are being discovered. Maybe it's time to use them and avoid blowing off our disguise?

OOC: Didn't Dannis tell you to stay with him?

kozeph · Post by **kozeph** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:18 pm

Akumo makes a quick and supply salute.

"Aye sire, much to tell I have"

"The entry to the base is in the burnt house, they got a trap door that goes down deep below the earth, some ancient ruins or somethin. They are nicely fortefied and I wouldn't be surprised if they had two or more escaped routes"

Akumo stops to catch his breath and continues "As for numbers I did't see much, but from the sounds I can tell they got fair number... They are being lead by sum captain named Morvahn"

"They are also expecting trouble, my lads and I were about to leave but one of the guards began to smell sumtin fishy, he got all railed up and they sent me to scout around, I got three options for my report... one whissle means enemy spotted, two the coast is clear and three they are in to very deep dug"

"Our friends are still inside, armed but inside... the dream dwarf laddy and the long legs one"

"Whacha gonna do Cap'n Varrynn?"

Akumo licks his lips in anticipation

Annette · Post by **Annette** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 11:24 am

Westan

"Don't think I'm not considering it," Dannis's brow furrows, "but I think we'll give it a bit more time. I don't really want to show you the secret entrances unless I have to. I'm sure you understand." He glances around. "In the meantime, maybe we should come up with a trap in case we are in danger after all. Come with me, I have an idea." He turns and begins a confident stride through one of the side hallways.

Akumo, Shar'ra and Ehren

Varrynn breaks out into a grin. "Fantastic! Shar'ra, Ehren, come here! Your friends' surveillance mission was successful after all!"

He quickly fills Shar'ra and Ehren in on what Akumo told him. Afterward, he says, "We need to devise a plan. My initial reaction is to have Akumo here give the double whistle, but I have to doubt whether or not they'll trust that. Any suggestions?"

Elliah

"We'll assume the worst. While you three are most certainly not out of suspicion, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt as long as you fight by us now. But first, get that fool Dannis down here, or he's liable to do something stupid again." With that, he returns through the double doors, and you hear someone bolt them from behind.

malinzaro · Post by **malinzaro** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:14 pm

Annette wrote: "Don't think I'm not considering it," Dannis's brow furrows, "but I think we'll give it a bit more time. I don't really want to show you the secret entrances unless I have to. I'm sure you understand." He glances around. "In the meantime, maybe we should come up with a trap in case we are in danger after all. Come with me, I have an idea." He turns and begins a confident stride through one of the side hallways.

Westan raises his shoulders slightly amused, but follows Dannis through the hallway anyway,

All this secrecy is good up to a point. Is like someone comes and offers to plow your land, but you ask him to use his bare hands for this. It doesn't make sense. I hope you know how to handle traps, because you might just have confused me for Akumo.

Annette · Post by **Annette** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:00 pm

Westan

Dannis chuckles a bit at that as he continues leading you through ever more labyrinth-esque hallways. "And would you trust a complete stranger not to make off with some of your crops after all is said and done? And yes, I can handle the traps. You just keep guard while I work at them. Speaking of Akumo," his good humor vanishes, "he's certainly taking his time. I hope nothing's happened."

malinzaro · Post by **malinzaro** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:05 pm

Annette wrote: Dannis chuckles a bit at that as he continues leading you through ever more labyrinth-esque hallways. "And would you trust a complete stranger not to make off with some of your crops after all is said and done? And yes, I can handle the traps. You just keep guard while I work at them. Speaking of Akumo," his good humor vanishes, "he's certainly taking his time. I hope nothing's happened."

Westan follows Dannis while trying to remember the way they were taking all this time,

Oh, but from plowing to actually collect the crop there is such a long way. I was only talking about the first step, which important as it is, should be made with open mind and heart to avoid a relationship which starts with the left foot first. Don't you agree on this one? Either way, where do you intend to put that trap? I thought you were going to use the door trap for setting it up. And don't worry about Akumo ... if there is any trouble he will certainly melt in the shadow. Do you actually worry about him anyway?

Annette · Post by **Annette** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:56 pm

Westan

"The first step was last night, Westan. Open civil war in this city is a bit further along the line than plowing the fields, wouldn't you say?"

He suddenly stops, and you are surprised to see a ladder leading up into the collapsed second floor. "Mind your step up here," he cations you, testing the ladder's stability. "There's just a narrow walkway that's still intact. I plan to throw down a few messages at the oncoming army. They've been enchanted with explosive runes, so any soldiers who pick them up and read them will be in for an unpleasant surprise. One of the others can deal with the door. And Akumo? Yes, I worry about him, but not for his safety. He's a sly one, and as amused as the good Captain is by his antics, I don't trust him. If any of you is a traitor, it'd be him."

(Explosive Runes spell: Explosive Runes :: d20srd.org)

Siberys · Post by **Siberys** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:11 pm

Shar'ra to Akumo and Captain Varryn-

"Akumo, I am assuming that to have gained the information you have, and be trusted enough to be a scout, you would have to have developed a rapport with them, in which case they have developed one with you.

If my assumptions are correct, they know who you are, what you do and what you are capable of, and unfortunately, because of what you are actually good at is now a liability, a thief in anyone's eyes is synonymous with backstabber, including mine.

If I don't trust you to be completely honorable, and Captain Varryn here doesn't trust you to be completely honorable, then it is save to assume that this "Morvahn" or "Dannis" won't trust you either.

In which case, the two whistle idea is a dead giveaway to treachery. A one whistle approach is better IF you can fool them into underestimating the quantity of guards here, or the capabilities of Captain Varryn.

Convince Dannis or Morvahn that there are only 20 guards or so instead of 200, or convince him that Captain Varryn was blind enough to entrust this task to regular guards who have a good chance of being loyalists themselves. Definitely don't make it directly about Captain Varryn, his reputation will negate any lie you fabricate.

Ignorance and incompetence are two separate forms of intelligence. Convince the two loyalists that Captain Varryn is simply ignorant of the situation as opposed to incompetent as a guard or warrior.

What say you Captain?"

Moogleman · Post by **Moogleman** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:18 pm

Akumo, Shar'ra and Ehren

Varrynn breaks out into a grin. "Fantastic! Shar'ra, Ehren, come here! Your friends' surveillance mission was successful after all!"

He quickly fills Shar'ra and Ehren in on what Akumo told him. Afterward, he says, "We need to devise a plan. My initial reaction is to have Akumo here give the double whistle, but I have to doubt whether or not they'll trust that. Any suggestions?"

"I doubt Akumo will have been the only person they sent to investigate, and keeping several hundred men hidden outside your enemies front door is no easy feat. We have to assume they know we are out here and inforce, so I say attack before this captain Morvahn and the other loyalists escape. Their strength so far has stemmed from their ability to remain hidden, always one step ahead of capture, and now you know the location of their stronghold, and that their captain is literally minutes away from justice. I admit I am no tactician so I'll leave the logistics to sharper minds."

Annette · Post by **Annette** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:39 pm

Ehren, Shar'ra, and Akumo

"Ehren, that still leaves us against what sounds like a nearly in-penetrable castle to break into, though you bring up an excellent point. Even if we do have to retreat now, we know where their base of operations is. I think Shar'ra's plan is a fine beginning, but it too leaves out the actual battle plan, assuming we do decide to attack now. Since they're underground, my initial thought is to smoke them out, but that will give them a chance to use any escape routes they have ready. Any suggestions?"

Siberys · Post by **Siberys** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:14 pm

Shar'ra ponders for a moment, mumbling to herself....

"Lets see, we met the guards outside the gate, Elliah was the one to find out they were both loyalists right then and there.

According to her information, the loyalists encompass most of the guard, most could go anywhere from 75 to 95% of all the guards. But how do you tell who's a loyalist and who's not..."

A thought occurs to her, and then she speaks.

"The gates! The gate is a common denominator. Two loyalist guards standing watch at the gates to this city pretending to be real guards, if they were caught, they could just run away into the desert. They probably have a secondary hideout outside of the city for backup purposes.

This would likely mean that any undercover operation would have escape routes directly near gates for easy access, and if all the loyalists are watching all of the gates, there'd be no interference to stop those guards from leaving.

I doubt the tunneling system is extremely complex, the escape route would likely have one or two directions leading to another house or two, right near a gate.

Are there any rundown houses like this one, or even just unused ones, near any gates to this city? If not, do any guards -own- a house near the city gates?"

kozeph · Post by **kozeph** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:21 pm

"heh, hard to take offence when you put it like that lanky one" Akumo grims and smiles at Shar'ra.

"right then, So I'll whissled once and return to them´s base... I know this city like the palm of my hand, I coould warm them that there is a large group of guardsmen around, have them retreat and leave with them... mark their next hide out and from them we can trace what kind of places they use for safehouses when things get to hot?"

"Once we retreat, I can sneak out or carry on the mission they gave us.. they want us to be keeping an eye on ye Cap'tn, they suggested breaking into your home... I could leave a note there or some sort of map with the general layeout of their network, whacha think?"

MistSonata · Post by **MistSonata** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:48 pm

Elliah sighed quietly as the gates closed shut in front of her. It would be advantageous to stay and try to figure out what they were doing, but peeking into the murder holes to see what they were doing would be a bad way to blow her cover. Her specialty wasn't reconnaissance, after all. That sort of dangerous venture was for Akumo.

She turned and began to make her way back up to the surface through the trap door. "Dannis?" She said, walking back to where he stood before when he told her to go inform the captain. "Dannis! I have orders from Captain Morvahn!" She shouts, peeking behind corners and looking down passageways, trying to find where he and Westan had gone to. Her hand slowly moved to rest on the handle of one of her darts. She wasn't sure what was going on, and wasn't sure what to expect.

malinzaro · Post by **malinzaro** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:02 am

Annette wrote: "The first step was last night, Westan. Open civil war in this city is a bit further along the line than plowing the fields, wouldn't you say?"

He suddenly stops, and you are surprised to see a ladder leading up into the collapsed second floor. "Mind your step up here," he cations you, testing the ladder's stability. "There's just a narrow walkway that's still intact. I plan to throw down a few messages at the oncoming army. They've been enchanted with explosive runes, so any soldiers who pick them up and read them will be in for an unpleasant surprise. One of the others can deal with the door. And Akumo? Yes, I worry about him, but not for his safety. He's a sly one, and as amused as the good Captain is by his antics, I don't trust him. If any of you is a traitor, it'd be him."

Westan nods seeing the defensive system employed by Dannis,

That is quite a clever way to catch someone by surprise. Still, I hope you have more tricks on your sleeve. By the way, maybe I should get a bit outside and check where is Akumo?

Moogleman · Post by **Moogleman** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:09 am

"You have just reminded me of something Shar'ra, it slipped my mind with the turn events have taken. I was able to discern the address of one of loyalists leiutenants homes, a man by the name of Jerruk. I can't tell you whether it's near any gates since I have'nt been able to check it out yet. As far as I know this is the mans home so I suspect we would encounter little resistance there, meaning a small group would be most effective at remaining undetected whilst observing, yet still have the man power if things should turn ugly."

Annette · Post by **Annette** » Sat Jun 18, 2011 9:13 am

Ehren, Akumo, and Shar'ra

"Dammit, Jerruk's with them too?" Varrynn winces as though physically struck. "I hadn't realized they had men so high up. His manor is near the western gate, come to think of it, so I suppose that could be a place to start."

"This seems like a good enough plan, though I won't hide my annoyance at not getting the chance to personally execute that bastard Morvahn. If there are no complaints, then AKumo can get going. In the mean time, I would greatly appreciate it if the rest of you went to Jerruk's house to investigate, though I understand if you'd rather wash your hands of this. Shar'ra, you've proven to me that your words are true. If you desire, I can get you the meeting with Her Majesty you requested."

Elliah

(Do you stay put or go hunting for Dannis and Westan?)

Westan

"I suppose. As much as I dislike the thought of two of you together unsupervised, I'll be busy up here. Can you find your way out?"

(Roll an Intelligence check.)