PBEM - Episode 366. Orc Barracks, Level, Jails.

THREE HUNDRED SIXTY SIX

(I/C)

Taking out his polishing paste, Kovid picked up his hammer first, gave it a critical look, and began working the tarnish off the weapon. “Senor, may i?” Abraxas asked, pointing to his Scythe

“Sure, give it a shot if you want.”

The two men began working to clean the weapons while the rest of the group lowered their belongings and opened packs. Cloaks were dropped, armor unbuckled, and boots removed. “Going to run out of oil soonish,” Kovid mentioned. “So I’m going to turn down the lantern and one of you is going to need a candle or two.

“Hold dat towt,” Wyn said, looking around for and then finding a small stone. “I ‘ave been feelin’ a bit smarter like an I tink I have a work around.” Concentration on the stone he mutterd some arcanic words over it and then intoned, “FAIT ETERNUS LUX!” – and the rock blossomed to light.

“Nice,” Lannis shrugged. “How long will that get you? An hour.”

Turning the lantern down and then waiting for the glass to cool, Wyn returned the self-same non-committal shrug. “A bit longer, mon ami. Troix, or Quatre Hundred years.” He grinned. “Eeets continual.”

“Really?” The Magic User sat up and nodded. “Ok, that is nice.”

“Oui, lets check over de uniform I am wearing again and see if de scarf is magical.” He snapped his fingers, “Oh! I almost forgot. Dibs.”

“What?” The Magic User looked surprised. “Whoa, whoa! That’s not…”

“Dibs!” Abraxas called out, “Am I doing este, correcto?”

“What!? Guys, that is NOT cool. You know I was interested…”

Brendon had been looking the scarf over and nodding. “I wouldn’t bother with it, Big Brain. It’s easy enough for you to get it snagged on something and choke yourself.” He lowered his voice and turned aside, but Lannis was able to hear the Scout mutter something about, “…remind you of your mommy choking you during one of your ‘special’ mommy and me parties.”

“Brendon! What the hell is wrong with you?!” His face was red with anger. “This whole thing with my mom may have been a funny joke so far, but don't talk about her again.” He snatched the scarf out of Brendon’s hand and added, “As far the scarf, you can't call dibs on it until we KNOW if it's magic or not, ya dick weeds."

That’s not true and you’ve called dibs on non magical items, remember the horse carving?”

Lyra smacked Lannis on the back of the head and pointed her finger right under his nose. “Stop it,” she scolded him. “If horse jokes are fair game, so is your inappropriate relationship with your mother.”

“It’s NOT…” he began but she interrupted him with another cuff on the head.

“I said stop it. Now, how is everyone on health? If no one is in need of the bandages I’ll use them on myself.”

The group spoke about their hurts and aches, Wyn and Abraxas seemed to be in the best of health for some reason and didn’t need any bandages. It was decided that Lyra, Kovid, and Lannis would get the best use out of the Sclepian bandages so the Cleric had everyone take off their shirts and tended to their worst and most obvious wounds.

"Amigos, should we clean the Ban-dah-jes when we wake up?” Abraxas asked, working a stubborn bit of tarnish off. “O vamonos back upstairs sin cleaning them? Y como vamonos arriba? Los stairs o el chimney?”

“We’ll have to see how many of the castle’s inhabitants wander around,” the Scout guessed. “The stairs are closer but the watchtower is up there. I guess if there is a lot of activity, we might have to risk it, because I’m not sure we’ll make it all the way back to the Dining Room without running into trouble.” Meanwhile Brendon had split up the last of the arrows taking 4 for himself (total arrows 19) and leaving the rest aside for now as Wyn’s quiver was full. 

The group was also eating, Abraxas had chosen one of the Brown elven rations from the Ispan’s Vault, and was munching on the onion and dried meat loaf with enthusiasm. “We should learn where to get mas rations similar este cuando vamonos home.”

The group nodded in response, most of them happy with that thought. “Monsieur,” Wyn tapped Lannis on the shoulder, “I would like to re-examine de uniform I am wearing as well as dat scarf for magic and deux eyes is better dan un, non?”

“I’m with you, Elrond. Work your sparkles.”

“TEGERE ARCANUS!” the elf intoned, and a spray of orange sparks flowed out, touching everything the party had that was magical.

Seeing the spell in action, Abraxas leaned over to Kovid and whispered, “I will watch segundo so otros can rest and get spells back.”

“Good idea,” the dwarf agreed. He looked over his Hammer and smiled, the metal gleaming once again. He then picked up the Lolthian flail and began working on that weapon next. As for the Scythe (D6, 3 – yes!), Abraxas had done a decent job and the weapon was shining once again, it’s magic restored to full. 

He picked up Lannis’ Rod and started working on that one. “Let's eat, drink, and after this, get some sleep. We will be done with este Bastille muy soon.”

The scarf had no magical enchantments on it, so the two magic users turned their attention to the Ispan Uniform (<Int Orange 5…<Int -4 2nd attempt Pink 13). After seeing it in action 4 times and having a better feel for the magic and how it might apply, the two of them conferred quietly for some time before coming to a consensus. “If the door has a lock and is unlocked and the wearer wants it locked OR if the door has no lock on it and the wearer wants to lock it OR unlock it, one will appear and in either case, the door will lock or unlock as expected. However, if the door has a lock it and it’s locked, the wearer of the uniform can BYPASS the lock as if they had a key. As soon as the door is closed, the door locks again.  – but here’s the kicker – it doesn’t use up one of the 4 times/day uses of the uniform.”

“So de Ispan’s Palace Guards would be able to get into any room even if someone had locked it and didn’t want dem to come in.” Wyn smiled looking the uniform over. “A vera neat ting to have here.” He pointed to a run on the collar. “And it seems dat dis will reset after trios in de morning every day.”

“Fantastico,” Abraxas smiled, still working the Ishtari Rod. “That’s bring up manana. Asi, quien do we go after primero? Grimacetoon? Minorballoons y Paddles? Smellpecks? Corpseflag? Los Guardianos? Que piensamos? Que Creemos?"

Lannis frowned and blew out a blubbering breath. "What? Sorry, I meant....what? Did anyone catch any of that?”

"Tu madre 'caught it.'"

"My mom caught what now?"

The Fighter chuckled softly, "¿Este tu comprendes? Ay caramba, dios mio."

Tapping one foot impatiently, a scowl on his face, Lannis said, enunciating slowly,"I understand you said my mom caught something, yeah."

Eating some of his rations and unspooling a yard of the yarn, Brendon began to knit slowly, eyes focused on the task, commenting, “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was funding this expedition just to get the bed to herself.”

“Let it rest,” Kovid said still working. “I’m going to seriously beat someone before this night is through.”

“But it’s my mom!” Lannis said. Seeing no one was going to take the bait, he sighed and took out his own food. “Fine. I was done talking anyway.”

“I highly doubt that,” Lyra said.

As we worked, we kept an ear out for anyone coming by, but with the lantern in one of the cells and far enough away from the entrance, we felt pretty good we wouldn’t be noticed. The afternoon turned to evening and by that time (D6, 2 – yes!) all 4 weapons had been restored. Abraxas and Brendon had each taken out their wine bottles and drank some, sharing it as well (reduce both from 4 to 2). We had also finished dinner (everyone remove 1 day water and 1 day standard rations), Abraxas literally lying on his back, stomach distended, a smile on his face. “I am at full health, and my belly is full. Life is bueno, amigos.”

“I’ll take first watch so I can finish my magic scarf,” Brendon offered, still knitting.

“I have Dos,” Abraxas reminded the party.

“I’ll take de last one,” Wyn offered.

Brushing some of the rocks out of the way, Kovid hunched down on the ground and draped his helmet over the lantern, muting the light. “Get some rest folks. We’re going to need it.”

One by one, the party rested. (WMC: 2, 6, 4, 5) Brendon could hear movement in the castle, the stones made strange groans, or there was an echo carried towards him now and again. But no one came closer and after many hours, he awoke Abraxas, reported what he had heard and not heard, and got himself some shut eye.

The Fighter looked around, spied the colorful scarf, and wrapped it around his neck. “Smooth,” he muttered, feeling the quality. “My life is gonna change when this is finito,” he said to himself contently. He kept the scarf on for a half hour, marveling at the feel and realizing that before this instant, he had never even touched a piece of cloth or textile so obviously rich, upper class, and well made. (WMC: 1, 1, 3, 2)

A few times he heard movement out there (What D12? 3…#? 3d6: 3,1,6). One time he could hear goblin voices getting closer, the smell of rotting bananas filling the hall. They rattled the door, muttered to themselves in their own language, and then moved on disinterested. Another time (What D12? 5…Hahahah!) he heard something heavy grunting and moving its way into the hall. “Hrrrrrr….Hrrrrrroooo?” came the hoot from the other side of the door, and then something heavy hit the portal once. Another slightly different rumbling voice said, “Rrrrrruuggghhhh…” and the first grunted in displeasure, both of them trundling away slowly.

It was getting late when he awoke Wyn next, the elf taking over the watch as the rest of the party awoke slowly one at a time, and Abraxas caught up on much needed sleep. (WMC: 6, 2, 1, 3) It was while he and Lannis were studying spells that Kovid motioned the group to be silent (What D12? 9…#? 1d4: 2) as something heavy stomped its way towards the “T” intersection. It waited there for some time (Sense +4 bonus, Black 18 – no) before what sounded like 2 sets of slow heavy footsteps walked away.

By this time the party had finished their breakfast, Abraxas had woken up, Lyra took care of the bandages and everyone who needed to prayed and studied their spells for the day. It was time. Time to move on and take the fight back towards Corfard’s minions and eventually the Blessed Corfard himself.

Time now is Day 9, 7:00 AM

(OOC)

Everyone is fully healed except Brendon with 1 hp dam (13/14) and Kovid with 11 dam (26/37). Crystal ball is available for use, uniform is available for use, and we’re all good! Will do the sheets for Day 9 and send them off in a few minutes. What’s the plan guys?