Live in Infamy
- Thread starter Maugan Ra
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Location
- Diamond City
-[X] How is the garrison disposed, who's cruel, who's handsy, who's lazy, which squads haze the others, and so on?
-[X] How does the warden organize things and the fortress operate, who gets access to the outside and who gets the worst shifts and grunt work?
-[X] How does the warden organize things and the fortress operate, who gets access to the outside and who gets the worst shifts and grunt work?
Half Moon
In the end, there is no end.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
-[X] How is the garrison disposed, who's cruel, who's handsy, who's lazy, which squads haze the others, and so on?
-[X] How does the warden organize things and the fortress operate, who gets access to the outside and who gets the worst shifts and grunt work?
-[X] How does the warden organize things and the fortress operate, who gets access to the outside and who gets the worst shifts and grunt work?
- Location
- London, England
OK that was in retrospect a poor choice of vote, so I'm just going to press on.
II - Friends on the Other Side
- Location
- London, England
The rest of the afternoon is spent discussing the situation with your neighbour, who turns out to be named Lisara, an elven woman from the capital city of Mathryn. She is more than happy to talk, seemingly for the simple pleasure of conversation, but oddly enough none of the other prisoners join in. The orc and the ogre you might assume ignorant of the common tongue of the land, but the human opposite seems intent on ignoring you in favour of his own meditations. Well, his loss.
From what Lisara tells you, the garrison at Branderscar no longer lives up to its fearsome reputation. What ought to be regular shifts of twenty or thirty guards each now musters half that number at best, and more than a few of those spend at least a portion of their shift drinking and gambling than actually doing their rounds. Those out of favour with the sergeant end up taking the most unpleasant of shifts - standing watch on the gatehouse roof, or taking the night shift looking over the prison block.
(Lisara doesn't say it, but you know the signs - someone in a position of authority here is embezzling massively, probably using some portion of the stolen funds to buy the loyalty and silence of the rest. You expect if you checked the books you'd find the budget is still fit for a full strength garrison, with wages going to men who don't exist and repairs that aren't being made.)
The Warden, it seems, has gotten into the habit of delegating most of his authority. He takes his meals privately and arranges the schedules so he can have an uninterrupted night's sleep without exception, trusting his subordinates to handle things. He is also a wizard, at least by reputation, but Lisara does not know enough of the arcane arts to judge his competency at them.
You sleep poorly that night. The cell is cold and you have no bed, nor indeed the room in your chains to do more than lay down flat against the hard stone wall. When at last you begin to drift off, the door at the end of the hall scrapes open and the guards make a patrol circuit, a pair of them chattering idly to each other as they walk. You listen in silence, slumber's haze lingering heavily.
"You going to the gatehouse later?" one says, keeping his voice low but clear.
"Nah. Trying to save up," the other replies, lifting his torch to cast light over your cell. You squint and then roll over, but the guard hardly seems to care. "Besides, you know he cheats."
"Yeah, but the beer is pretty good," the first man chuckles, reaching the end of the corridor and turning around again, the pretence of due diligence completed. Together, the two of them head back up to their post near the stairwell.
"Hah, true. God save us if Captain Callidan…" Whatever the second man intends to say is cut off as he closes the thick wooden door behind him, leaving you and the other prisoners in darkness once again.
You consider what you have heard, then nod and allow yourself to fall asleep, nurturing the small ember of hope in your heart.
-/-
Breakfast the next day comes in the form of a bowl of stew laid at your feet by a guard who keeps one hand on his club at all times. They're not so lax as to unshackle you, forcing you to lift the bowl to your mouth and sloppily devour it like an animal, and an hour later another guard comes around to collect the empty bowl and the bucket that serves as a crude latrine. The lack of privacy is humiliating, but you know better than to complain. They're already planning to kill you, after all.
You spend most of the morning sitting quietly in your cell, eyes closed, running through what you know and what you might be able to do with it. Currently the biggest obstacle to escape remains the most obvious - you are unable to move more than a half dozen paces from the wall that you are shackled to, nor escape into the corridor. You lack anything that can be used as a lock pick, which leaves you with only the keys. Your magic is mostly lost to you here, but you are reasonably certain you could work enough to project your own grasp through the air, allowing you to lift the keys from the guard's belt when they go past… but you'll get only one try at that, and you need it to be a good one. After all, even if they don't summarily break your fingers, all they'd need to do would be to leave the keys in their post when they run their patrols.
So concerned are you with these thoughts that you almost miss the scrape of the door opening again, and by the time you look up there are half a dozen guards in front of your cell. For a moment your heart threatens to seize in your chest - it can't be now, it hasn't even been a day - but then you notice the disgruntled look on Sergeant Blackerly's face.
"Today's your lucky day, scum," he growls, and you distantly note the contrast with the smarmy charm he displayed when branding you, "Seems you've got a visitor. Step lively and don't cause any trouble, and you and her can have a nice little goodbye."
You blink, utterly confused, but make no protest as one of the guards unlocks the door and then detaches your chains from the wall. You've no notion of who could possibly have pulled such strings as to visit you in Branderscar of all places, but nor are you so foolish as to object.
One guard on either flank, you are swiftly frog-marched down the corridor and all but thrown through the door into a small room next to the guard post. One glance at the old brown stains around the drain on the floor tells you what use this room is normally put to, but today it has been set up for a private meeting, with a pair of crude wooden chairs set out in the middle. Your visitor sits in one of them, hands folded demurely in her lap - a pale human woman with vivid green eyes and hair so blonde it might almost be white, dressed in a silken veil and a long dress of mourning black.
You have never seen her before in your life.
"Oh, dearest! I'm so glad you're still alive!" The strange woman proclaims in a voice of absolute heartbreak, rising to her feet and stepping forwards. She looks over your head and fixes Sergeant Blackerly with a look of purest misery. "Could we have a moment alone, Sergeant? For mercy's sake?"
"Aye, lady," the Sergeant says, a touch unsteadily, "For you, 'tis no trouble."
Your head snaps around as if yanked on a chain as you stare up at Blackerly in shock. That ready compliance, the half-dreamy quality in his voice - he's been enchanted! This woman has put him under a spell!
"Ah, that's better," the blonde woman says with a satisfied tone, all grief and distress dropping away from her voice as Blackerly backs out of the room and closes the door behind him, "Take a seat, dearest. We've some important business to discuss, and not much time to do it in."
"You enchanted him!" you hiss the words, grabbing the back of the chair so hard you think you can feel the wood splintering under your hands, "Who are you?"
"Why, I'm Tiadora, dearest - don't you recognise me?" The blonde woman says with a wicked little smile, "I'm pleased to see you picked up on my little trick. After all our mutual friend had to say about you, I was afraid you might not measure up."
Your mind races, trawling back through the years in search of anyone who could be responsible for this. You dealt with your fair share of shady and well connected individuals in pursuit of your ambitions - arcane magic is as tightly regulated as any other source of power in Talingarde - but who among them would send an agent capable of strolling into the most infamous prison in the country? Who even could?
"Our friend is rather keen to meet you, dearest, but I'm afraid your present accommodations are far too shabby. You'll simply have to escape, first," Tiadora continues after a moment, her smile growing wider at the expression on your face. "Oh, don't be so dour. Nobody has ever succeeded before, but we have every confidence in you."
"I see," you say through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to smack the smirk off the strange woman's face, "Do you, perhaps, have anything besides confidence to offer?"
"As it happens, I do!" Tiadora says with a laugh, reaching up and unhooking the veil from her face. She folds it carefully into a small square and then tucks it into the palm of your hand, her grip as hard as iron. "Our friend bid me give you this - all the tools you could need to chart your own path. Victory, as ever, rests on what you do with the gifts that life has bestowed upon you."
Your skin tingles at the magic in that small scrap of fabric, and with a jolt you recognise the craftsmanship. This is a smuggler's tool, similar to the sort employed by some of your less than legal contacts - cargo that a road warden might raise an eyebrow at is transformed by magic into a simple swatch of fabric, sewn into an existing item of clothing and returning to its original form at need.
The Veil contains the following items, each of which can be 'drawn' and if necessary equipped with one action. Note that once an item is drawn, it cannot be returned to the Veil, so be cautious about using it where guards might see.
- 2 daggers
• Bullseye lantern (full, lit and shuttered)
• Hempen rope (50-foot coil)
• Sack full of common clothes in various sizes
• Infiltrator Toolkit - Grants a +1 item bonus on attempts to pick locks and disable devices.
• Window (2 ft. by 4 ft., up to 2 ft. deep)
• Minor Elixir of Life (restores hit points and gives bonuses against poison and disease)
• 100 gold pieces
Note that the window patch will create a window (and therefore a hole) in a nearby wall. If there are no nearby walls, it simply turns into a common wooden window frame. It cannot be placed on a living creature, nor can it be removed once placed.
"Assuming you can make it out of here without being caught - or killed - you'll want to steer clear of Varyston," Tiadora continues, all business now, "Instead, cross the moor outside of town. On the old road, you will find a manor house with a single lantern burning in the second story window. Our friend will meet you there."
"Do I get to know who this friend is?" You ask, running your fingers across the silken veil and feeling the faint thrill of hope, "Or why I ought to trust you?"
"Mm… no, the less you know, the better, I think," Tiadora shakes her head, platinum-blonde hair whispering softly as she moves, "As for trust, why, who do you imagine is asking for such a thing? A simple meeting seems a paltry price for such a boon, wouldn't you agree?"
You're not fool enough to take that at face value - if you go to this meeting, you will be placing yourself in Tiadora's power, either directly or through her nameless friend. Yet you cannot deny that this boon is a significant one… something to consider carefully, either way.
Moments later, the door creaks open once more, and Sergeant Blackerly sticks his head in. "Apologies, miss, but you'll have to wrap it up. The warden will be making his rounds soon, and it's best you not be seen."
"Of course, sergeant, and thank you," Tiadora says tearfully, rising to her feet and making her way over to him, "It was… I will not say it was a pleasure, but a great relief to see my dearest one last time. There will be no need to search her."
There is weight behind those last words, power enough to make Blackerly blink dully, and he nods mechanically in response. Tiadora says nothing more, leaving you alone in the room without a backwards glance, and you in turn hold your peace as the guards escort you back to your cell and lock you back in place.
You have a plan to make…
From what Lisara tells you, the garrison at Branderscar no longer lives up to its fearsome reputation. What ought to be regular shifts of twenty or thirty guards each now musters half that number at best, and more than a few of those spend at least a portion of their shift drinking and gambling than actually doing their rounds. Those out of favour with the sergeant end up taking the most unpleasant of shifts - standing watch on the gatehouse roof, or taking the night shift looking over the prison block.
(Lisara doesn't say it, but you know the signs - someone in a position of authority here is embezzling massively, probably using some portion of the stolen funds to buy the loyalty and silence of the rest. You expect if you checked the books you'd find the budget is still fit for a full strength garrison, with wages going to men who don't exist and repairs that aren't being made.)
The Warden, it seems, has gotten into the habit of delegating most of his authority. He takes his meals privately and arranges the schedules so he can have an uninterrupted night's sleep without exception, trusting his subordinates to handle things. He is also a wizard, at least by reputation, but Lisara does not know enough of the arcane arts to judge his competency at them.
You sleep poorly that night. The cell is cold and you have no bed, nor indeed the room in your chains to do more than lay down flat against the hard stone wall. When at last you begin to drift off, the door at the end of the hall scrapes open and the guards make a patrol circuit, a pair of them chattering idly to each other as they walk. You listen in silence, slumber's haze lingering heavily.
"You going to the gatehouse later?" one says, keeping his voice low but clear.
"Nah. Trying to save up," the other replies, lifting his torch to cast light over your cell. You squint and then roll over, but the guard hardly seems to care. "Besides, you know he cheats."
"Yeah, but the beer is pretty good," the first man chuckles, reaching the end of the corridor and turning around again, the pretence of due diligence completed. Together, the two of them head back up to their post near the stairwell.
"Hah, true. God save us if Captain Callidan…" Whatever the second man intends to say is cut off as he closes the thick wooden door behind him, leaving you and the other prisoners in darkness once again.
You consider what you have heard, then nod and allow yourself to fall asleep, nurturing the small ember of hope in your heart.
-/-
Breakfast the next day comes in the form of a bowl of stew laid at your feet by a guard who keeps one hand on his club at all times. They're not so lax as to unshackle you, forcing you to lift the bowl to your mouth and sloppily devour it like an animal, and an hour later another guard comes around to collect the empty bowl and the bucket that serves as a crude latrine. The lack of privacy is humiliating, but you know better than to complain. They're already planning to kill you, after all.
You spend most of the morning sitting quietly in your cell, eyes closed, running through what you know and what you might be able to do with it. Currently the biggest obstacle to escape remains the most obvious - you are unable to move more than a half dozen paces from the wall that you are shackled to, nor escape into the corridor. You lack anything that can be used as a lock pick, which leaves you with only the keys. Your magic is mostly lost to you here, but you are reasonably certain you could work enough to project your own grasp through the air, allowing you to lift the keys from the guard's belt when they go past… but you'll get only one try at that, and you need it to be a good one. After all, even if they don't summarily break your fingers, all they'd need to do would be to leave the keys in their post when they run their patrols.
So concerned are you with these thoughts that you almost miss the scrape of the door opening again, and by the time you look up there are half a dozen guards in front of your cell. For a moment your heart threatens to seize in your chest - it can't be now, it hasn't even been a day - but then you notice the disgruntled look on Sergeant Blackerly's face.
"Today's your lucky day, scum," he growls, and you distantly note the contrast with the smarmy charm he displayed when branding you, "Seems you've got a visitor. Step lively and don't cause any trouble, and you and her can have a nice little goodbye."
You blink, utterly confused, but make no protest as one of the guards unlocks the door and then detaches your chains from the wall. You've no notion of who could possibly have pulled such strings as to visit you in Branderscar of all places, but nor are you so foolish as to object.
One guard on either flank, you are swiftly frog-marched down the corridor and all but thrown through the door into a small room next to the guard post. One glance at the old brown stains around the drain on the floor tells you what use this room is normally put to, but today it has been set up for a private meeting, with a pair of crude wooden chairs set out in the middle. Your visitor sits in one of them, hands folded demurely in her lap - a pale human woman with vivid green eyes and hair so blonde it might almost be white, dressed in a silken veil and a long dress of mourning black.
You have never seen her before in your life.
"Oh, dearest! I'm so glad you're still alive!" The strange woman proclaims in a voice of absolute heartbreak, rising to her feet and stepping forwards. She looks over your head and fixes Sergeant Blackerly with a look of purest misery. "Could we have a moment alone, Sergeant? For mercy's sake?"
"Aye, lady," the Sergeant says, a touch unsteadily, "For you, 'tis no trouble."
Article: Perception test! D20+5 = 20! Pass!
Your head snaps around as if yanked on a chain as you stare up at Blackerly in shock. That ready compliance, the half-dreamy quality in his voice - he's been enchanted! This woman has put him under a spell!
"Ah, that's better," the blonde woman says with a satisfied tone, all grief and distress dropping away from her voice as Blackerly backs out of the room and closes the door behind him, "Take a seat, dearest. We've some important business to discuss, and not much time to do it in."
"You enchanted him!" you hiss the words, grabbing the back of the chair so hard you think you can feel the wood splintering under your hands, "Who are you?"
"Why, I'm Tiadora, dearest - don't you recognise me?" The blonde woman says with a wicked little smile, "I'm pleased to see you picked up on my little trick. After all our mutual friend had to say about you, I was afraid you might not measure up."
Your mind races, trawling back through the years in search of anyone who could be responsible for this. You dealt with your fair share of shady and well connected individuals in pursuit of your ambitions - arcane magic is as tightly regulated as any other source of power in Talingarde - but who among them would send an agent capable of strolling into the most infamous prison in the country? Who even could?
"Our friend is rather keen to meet you, dearest, but I'm afraid your present accommodations are far too shabby. You'll simply have to escape, first," Tiadora continues after a moment, her smile growing wider at the expression on your face. "Oh, don't be so dour. Nobody has ever succeeded before, but we have every confidence in you."
"I see," you say through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to smack the smirk off the strange woman's face, "Do you, perhaps, have anything besides confidence to offer?"
"As it happens, I do!" Tiadora says with a laugh, reaching up and unhooking the veil from her face. She folds it carefully into a small square and then tucks it into the palm of your hand, her grip as hard as iron. "Our friend bid me give you this - all the tools you could need to chart your own path. Victory, as ever, rests on what you do with the gifts that life has bestowed upon you."
Your skin tingles at the magic in that small scrap of fabric, and with a jolt you recognise the craftsmanship. This is a smuggler's tool, similar to the sort employed by some of your less than legal contacts - cargo that a road warden might raise an eyebrow at is transformed by magic into a simple swatch of fabric, sewn into an existing item of clothing and returning to its original form at need.
The Veil contains the following items, each of which can be 'drawn' and if necessary equipped with one action. Note that once an item is drawn, it cannot be returned to the Veil, so be cautious about using it where guards might see.
- 2 daggers
• Bullseye lantern (full, lit and shuttered)
• Hempen rope (50-foot coil)
• Sack full of common clothes in various sizes
• Infiltrator Toolkit - Grants a +1 item bonus on attempts to pick locks and disable devices.
• Window (2 ft. by 4 ft., up to 2 ft. deep)
• Minor Elixir of Life (restores hit points and gives bonuses against poison and disease)
• 100 gold pieces
Note that the window patch will create a window (and therefore a hole) in a nearby wall. If there are no nearby walls, it simply turns into a common wooden window frame. It cannot be placed on a living creature, nor can it be removed once placed.
"Assuming you can make it out of here without being caught - or killed - you'll want to steer clear of Varyston," Tiadora continues, all business now, "Instead, cross the moor outside of town. On the old road, you will find a manor house with a single lantern burning in the second story window. Our friend will meet you there."
"Do I get to know who this friend is?" You ask, running your fingers across the silken veil and feeling the faint thrill of hope, "Or why I ought to trust you?"
"Mm… no, the less you know, the better, I think," Tiadora shakes her head, platinum-blonde hair whispering softly as she moves, "As for trust, why, who do you imagine is asking for such a thing? A simple meeting seems a paltry price for such a boon, wouldn't you agree?"
You're not fool enough to take that at face value - if you go to this meeting, you will be placing yourself in Tiadora's power, either directly or through her nameless friend. Yet you cannot deny that this boon is a significant one… something to consider carefully, either way.
Moments later, the door creaks open once more, and Sergeant Blackerly sticks his head in. "Apologies, miss, but you'll have to wrap it up. The warden will be making his rounds soon, and it's best you not be seen."
"Of course, sergeant, and thank you," Tiadora says tearfully, rising to her feet and making her way over to him, "It was… I will not say it was a pleasure, but a great relief to see my dearest one last time. There will be no need to search her."
There is weight behind those last words, power enough to make Blackerly blink dully, and he nods mechanically in response. Tiadora says nothing more, leaving you alone in the room without a backwards glance, and you in turn hold your peace as the guards escort you back to your cell and lock you back in place.
You have a plan to make…
Article: You have all the tools necessary to attempt a breakout of Branderscar Prison. However, you are likely to only get one shot at this - if you fail, then security will be tightened and you will lose what few advantages you have.
Consequently, you will need to enlist the help of your fellow prisoners - violent criminals, one and all. How will you present this to them?
[ ] Fait accompli. This is not a discussion. You have the tools, you have the plan, you have the allies outside the prison. They will recognise reality and fall in line, or they will be left behind.
[ ] Eminence Grise. You will use Message to covertly communicate with Lisara, and arrange for her to take the lead, enacting a plan that you suggest. She's far more charismatic than you, and as a noble knows how to command others.
[ ] Common Cause. You will take the time to establish a form of consensus with the other prisoners, where everyone knows what must be done and has a good idea of how.
-/-
Rather than insist on a full vote for how you plan to escape, I will invite people to discuss their options and goals here. I will respond to questions and use the discussion and any consensus as a guide to running Valka's intended plan.
The escape attempt will take the form of multiple short updates in succession, giving you a chance to react as complications arise or new developments unfold.
There will be a follow-up post where I lay out everything you currently know that could be of use in planning the escape.
- Location
- London, England
Known Information
The following prisoners are on this floor, and appear to be the only beings imprisoned within Branderscar right now:
You know the following about the opposition you are likely to face.
You know the following about Branderscar's physical construction:
The following prisoners are on this floor, and appear to be the only beings imprisoned within Branderscar right now:
- You
- Lisara, an elven noble and skilled duellist.
- An orc, some kind of bandit.
- A human, formerly a militant member of Mitra's church..
- An ogre. Monstrously strong, but also currently drugged and thus rather groggy and confused.
You know the following about the opposition you are likely to face.
- Matthias Richter, the warden, is an elderly nobleman and a wizard of unknown skill. He delegates virtually all authority, takes his meals privately, and does not leave his tower after dark unless absolutely necessary.
- Tomas Blackerly, the sergeant, is the highest authority aside from the Warden present on any given day. He is a sadist.
- One of these two is massively corrupt and embezzling heavily from the prison budget.
- The prison is guarded by local soldiers drawn from the nearby town of Varyston. There are three shifts in a day, and perhaps a dozen men or so on any shift, the bare minimum for a facility of this size.
- Shift changes happen at 12 noon, 8pm and 4am.
- Should there be trouble, an effectively limitless supply of replacements can be summoned from Varyston by signal lantern, and will arrive within the hour.
- All guards carry signal horns, which can be blown to sound the alert. It is unclear how the garrison will respond to any given alert.
- There are at least two guard dogs. Their kennel is in the main courtyard.
- The guards appear to congregate in the main gatehouse for drinking and gambling. It seems to happen at night.
You know the following about Branderscar's physical construction:
- The walls are perhaps thirty feet high, and the water below them is filled with sharp rocks. Jumping is not recommended.
- There is a single central keep. The prison is on the upper level, and the guard barracks and other facilities are on the ground level.
- The keep is made of thick stone, and the interior doors are heavy wood. Most sounds will not travel far.
- There is one route to the mainland - you must leave via the gatehouse, cross a long and narrow bridge, and pass through a second gatehouse on the shore. Alternately, you can find somewhere convenient and jump into the sea.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
... Would drugs count as "Poisons and Diseases?"
That aside, this is nasty, the Alert cannot be sounded until we've gotten past the second gatehouse. Because that bridge looks far enough that reinforcements will already be there before we get to the end.
That aside, this is nasty, the Alert cannot be sounded until we've gotten past the second gatehouse. Because that bridge looks far enough that reinforcements will already be there before we get to the end.
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- Location
- London, England
Drugs would indeed count.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
That Elixir looks really useful at helping get the Ogre clear-headed again then.
Broadly though, we should absolutely cooperate, the situation is too messy to count on being able to just sneak out. The existence of a giant fucking bottleneck at the end all but guarantees we'll eventually need to use main force to get out, and that requires more than just Valka.
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- Location
- France
[X] Eminence Grise.
mynameisyouQQQ
Miss Brightside
- Location
- A Hell of my own making
- Pronouns
- They/She/He
[X] Eminence Grise.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Eminence Grise.
Alectai is correct that we need buy-in, but our shitty Charisma means that we should delegate the persuasion to someone else.
Alectai is correct that we need buy-in, but our shitty Charisma means that we should delegate the persuasion to someone else.
- Location
- Diamond City
[X] Eminence Grise.
- Location
- Canada
It's a shame Tiadora couldn't fit a boat in that veil of hers.
1. There are basically three obstacles in the way: our cell door, the first island gatehouse, and the shore gatehouse.
2. Sneaking past the guards at a gatehouse seems very hard (unless the prison is even more badly run than we realize, and the gates are unmanned in the middle of the night).
3. We can bypass any single gate with our magic window, but the ogre won't fit through.
4. Fighting our way out means fighting "limitless" reinforcements on the bridge.
Much depends on how many guards are actually at their post in the middle of the night. Leaving the ogre behind seems like a good idea, unless we think we'll have to fight a lot of guards no matter what.
A basic plan:
1. Pick the lock to our cell at like two in the morning.
2. Walk out of the prison in the dark. (How good is dwarvish night vision?)
3. Put the window in the first gate.
4. Jump off the bridge and swim to shore rather going through the second gate.
This would be easier alone TBH, especially if dwarves can see in the dark.
[X] Fait accompli. This is not a discussion. You have the tools, you have the plan, you have the allies outside the prison. They will recognise reality and fall in line, or they will be left behind.
An addendum: prices in PF2e are quite deflated compared to other D&Ds, so 100 gp may actually be a whole lot of money. This makes bribing a guard a live possibility. We probably want Lisara with us if this is part of the plan.
1. There are basically three obstacles in the way: our cell door, the first island gatehouse, and the shore gatehouse.
2. Sneaking past the guards at a gatehouse seems very hard (unless the prison is even more badly run than we realize, and the gates are unmanned in the middle of the night).
3. We can bypass any single gate with our magic window, but the ogre won't fit through.
4. Fighting our way out means fighting "limitless" reinforcements on the bridge.
Much depends on how many guards are actually at their post in the middle of the night. Leaving the ogre behind seems like a good idea, unless we think we'll have to fight a lot of guards no matter what.
A basic plan:
1. Pick the lock to our cell at like two in the morning.
2. Walk out of the prison in the dark. (How good is dwarvish night vision?)
3. Put the window in the first gate.
4. Jump off the bridge and swim to shore rather going through the second gate.
This would be easier alone TBH, especially if dwarves can see in the dark.
[X] Fait accompli. This is not a discussion. You have the tools, you have the plan, you have the allies outside the prison. They will recognise reality and fall in line, or they will be left behind.
An addendum: prices in PF2e are quite deflated compared to other D&Ds, so 100 gp may actually be a whole lot of money. This makes bribing a guard a live possibility. We probably want Lisara with us if this is part of the plan.
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[X] Eminence Grise
1337Procrast
Fire Emblem Enjoyer
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Eminence Grise.
Vizier time
Vizier time
bookwyrm
Doom of Public Libraries
- Location
- Wichita, Kansas
So thinking about the escape as a whole, there's definitely not going to be much chance of classic disguising someone as a guard shenaniganry, not with such a small garrison, and not with almost all the guards together in small patrols or gathering at the gatehouse. The only lonely visible guards would be the poor bastards forced to keep actual watch over the walls and what not and would probably be the first to catch us if we were just bolting across the courtyard or over the narrow bridge.
Though actually there's a huge security flaw here if our escape party is prepared to do something really stupid as part of it- namely that with all eyes looking outward, when not diverted by gaming and drinking, no one's gonna expect an attack inward. This is a wave-tossed rock kept alive by Waystation, death's row for the kingdom's special enemies, nothing about that screams real training or experience in what a normal goaler would do to prevent and deal with the threats of prison riots and the like. What if we don't initially bust out, but seize the Warden's tower late at night and surprise him? The tower would be an excellent base to go about a proper escape, and an excellent move for delaying the guards and forcing them to ram open its heavy door, if they ever notice and sound the alarm.
Though actually there's a huge security flaw here if our escape party is prepared to do something really stupid as part of it- namely that with all eyes looking outward, when not diverted by gaming and drinking, no one's gonna expect an attack inward. This is a wave-tossed rock kept alive by Waystation, death's row for the kingdom's special enemies, nothing about that screams real training or experience in what a normal goaler would do to prevent and deal with the threats of prison riots and the like. What if we don't initially bust out, but seize the Warden's tower late at night and surprise him? The tower would be an excellent base to go about a proper escape, and an excellent move for delaying the guards and forcing them to ram open its heavy door, if they ever notice and sound the alarm.
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[X] Fait accompli. This is not a discussion. You have the tools, you have the plan, you have the allies outside the prison. They will recognise reality and fall in line, or they will be left behind.
Look, we gotta acquire evil minions somehow. Once we get our hands on some properly faceless mooks they can be promoted to Evil Lieutenant.
Look, we gotta acquire evil minions somehow. Once we get our hands on some properly faceless mooks they can be promoted to Evil Lieutenant.
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- Pronouns
- It/Its
[X] Common Cause. You will take the time to establish a form of consensus with the other prisoners, where everyone knows what must be done and has a good idea of how.
Lexica
Persevere
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Eminence Grise.
Very much agree that we probably want Lisara to get everyone on board with her high charisma.
I actually really, really like the idea of, after busting out of our cells, going after the warden and looting the place. If he is a wizard, being able to loot his spellbook is an enormous bonus for us, plus there's like to be lots of useful information in his tower. We probably also want to keep an eye out for an armory to get everyone some weapons.
I'm thinking after we loot the tower, we use that rope we've got in the veil to bypass the gatehouse entirely by climbing down from the ramparts using that rope and getting onto the bridge from the outside of the castle. If I make use of some image editing here....
We can go down following that red arrow and be pretty much out of sight the whole way until we're already way down the bridge, and even then we'll only get spotted if the guards are actually doing their jobs instead of being busy gambling and drinking.
As for the beginning of the plan... We pick our own cuffs with the infiltrator toolkit- Our thievery skill is actually pretty decent, so this seems doable. Then we just get the other cells, arming our duelist friend with one of the daggers and probably passing the other to the orc. We can do cantrips in a fight so we don't really need one. Then we pass the elixir to the ogre, and get going.
Go time for the plan is probably like, a half hour after the guards make what appears to be their one and only nightly round. These are just my initial thoughts though.
Very much agree that we probably want Lisara to get everyone on board with her high charisma.
I actually really, really like the idea of, after busting out of our cells, going after the warden and looting the place. If he is a wizard, being able to loot his spellbook is an enormous bonus for us, plus there's like to be lots of useful information in his tower. We probably also want to keep an eye out for an armory to get everyone some weapons.
I'm thinking after we loot the tower, we use that rope we've got in the veil to bypass the gatehouse entirely by climbing down from the ramparts using that rope and getting onto the bridge from the outside of the castle. If I make use of some image editing here....
We can go down following that red arrow and be pretty much out of sight the whole way until we're already way down the bridge, and even then we'll only get spotted if the guards are actually doing their jobs instead of being busy gambling and drinking.
As for the beginning of the plan... We pick our own cuffs with the infiltrator toolkit- Our thievery skill is actually pretty decent, so this seems doable. Then we just get the other cells, arming our duelist friend with one of the daggers and probably passing the other to the orc. We can do cantrips in a fight so we don't really need one. Then we pass the elixir to the ogre, and get going.
Go time for the plan is probably like, a half hour after the guards make what appears to be their one and only nightly round. These are just my initial thoughts though.
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- Location
- New Zealand
I agree, getting to the wizard and his spellbook should only benefit out character.
[X] Eminence Grise.
[X] Eminence Grise.
- Location
- Australia
We definitely will want to raid the prison for supplies. Even after we escape from the prison we need to navigate our way across a moor and it can be quite easy to get lost in them and then die from exposure.
I do not know if going after the warden is a good idea though. If he is a wizard he will most likely have some sort of magical alarm/defense which we are not really equipped to handle at the moment. I think it would be better to raid the armory and kitchens for supplies.
[X] Eminence Grise.
I do not know if going after the warden is a good idea though. If he is a wizard he will most likely have some sort of magical alarm/defense which we are not really equipped to handle at the moment. I think it would be better to raid the armory and kitchens for supplies.
[X] Eminence Grise.