The party is safe back at the Filthy Unicorn.  You can assume all damage has been healed so you are at full hit points.  Luck points are back up to 5 and everyone gets a hero point.

Time to make your next plan.  Oswald is still out there.  He presumably does not know who you are, but he is aware of you (particularly Anthony!).  Do you want to try to ambush him again?  Perhaps spy on the Pain Temple some more to try to get more intel?  Maybe you want to raid the Pain Temple and confront the child abduction directly?  Or do you want to return to the hunting lodge now that some of you have leveled up?  Or possibly something else altogether?

Personallu, Dreya will not be able to walk away from this child slavery problem.

Lifting a hand absently to fiddle with the scarf around her neck, she looks around the table at her adventuring friends. It seems so short a time ago they were all sitting in these very chairs coming up with their first plan.

Quietly, she says, "I wish to see this Oswald...thing...to the end. In mean, stop him. So let us come up with a plan. What about sneaking into the Temple of Pain? Perhaps there is another door? I mean, way in? Though it may not be a 'door' in the sense of the word..." Dreya trails off as she realizes that she is once again rambling on in her awkward way of speaking. Silly Common language!

There is definitely another door to the Temple of Pain.  Oswald has been using a back door accessible using an alley.  There is a main entrance on the other side of the Temple.  The Temple itself is still under construction.  The first floor has been completed.  There are several first floor windows.

As a member of the Gambini Family, Seline has access to the Family's library of blueprints to buildings in Rotter.  It's possible the Family has the blueprints for the Temple of Pain.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:18, Thu 30 Mar 2017.

Anthony nods his assent to Seline's idea. "A capital idea. I also propose that we acquire extra help if we are to attack Oswald directly again. We need to wear him down with numbers, as it is clear he is resilient."

"Maybe we can coordinate with some spells that would reduce his rather impressive effectiveness"  Elwood responds to Anthony's suggestion.  He then meditates on the latest prayers that he has recently learned, determining which ones may be best applied either to help boost the abilities of his friends or used against Oswald.

This reflection brings about a puzzled look on his face.  "What sort of name is 'Oswald' for an ogre?  Usually I've heard them called something monosyllabic, like 'Gurt' or 'Blumf'."

Anthony turns to Elwood. "Indeed? An interesting idea. I doubt he would be susceptible to a sleep charm, which is very effective. What did you have in mind?".
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 18:05, Sun 02 Apr 2017.

"Im not sure about attacking him on his own turf inside the temple of pain. Of course, we could scout out the temple more and see how many other people are coming and going. If he's the only one there after hours it wouldn't be bad, but I'd rather not fight though a decent sized group of painites."

"We could try another ambush, with a few adjustments to the plan based on what we learned. For one thing, we'd need a more foolproof way to keep him from running away."

"Anthony makes a valid point," Cole states, turning his attention to the group. "We had the drop on Oswald and his friend previously and only managed to kill his minion without barely damaging the Ogre, it seems. He proved quite resilient. Perhaps finding allies on this endeavor may not be such a bad idea. I am also not certain a full-frontal assault on the temple of pain is wise, especially now that Oswald knows what we look like and may be expecting us. It also appears the beast is weak to magic, or so it seems. I also suggest some careful forethought and preparation before facing the Ogre again."

Anthony nods. "Agreed. And I would like to build my capabilities as well. I do not wish to be a coward, but Oswald's threats against me are real. I would not last long should he turn his attentions to me. We need to move deliberately."

Seline stands up "I'll go ahead and see if I can find some information in regards to the temple of pain blue prints. I am having a thought a bit out of my normal tactics but what would happen if we just blew the temple into rubble. If I'm able to secure some blue prints I can find the support pillars and we can sneak in, or rather I can sneak in and have you guys waiting outside to rescue me if it goes south, and set up oil flasks or something else explosive and run fuses to the outside, where we can light them and run. Just a thought"

Seline drops by the Gambini Family compound and meets with the archivist, Werstram, an elderly gnome who talks a little too loudly.

"Blue prints for the Temple of Pain, you say?  That there's new construction.  We don't have plans for buildings that aren't built yet!  But I might have something useful."  Werstram shuffles back into the stacks and returns a few minutes later with a large roll of parchment.  "Here we go!  That temple of yours is being built on the site of the old armory and manor house of the Knights of Kobold.  About, oh, 30 odd years ago, Slim Slicker, one of the finest halfling thieves to ever haunt Rotter, raided the Knights' treasury.  A damn fine haul, that was.  Of course, the Knights caught up to him three years later and dismembered him, but that's a thief's life for you.  The little bastard should have retired to parts unknown after that job, but you can't tell nothing to a halfling.  Their brains're too small, you see.  They know what they know and you can't cram nothing else in there.  Where was I?  Oh, right!  The Knights of Kobold.  Slim did a lot of prep work for that job and he found a secret tunnel the Knights built to let them come and go with a little privacy."

Werstram unrolls the parchment to show a partial map of the basement level of the Knights' manor house.  He points to a couple of dashed lines.  "You see, here?  That's the tunnel.  It led right into the Knights' interrogation room.  It might be these Pain fellars you're dealing with kept the tunnel intact when they started their rebuild.  It's a long tunnel.  If memory serves, the other end is in the Greenbridge Cemetery a good quarter mile to the northeast.  Let's see here...  Yep.  Damn, I'm smart.  It's right there in the crypt of Sir Anjus Unglin, first Lord Commander of the Knights of Kobold.  Pop the lock on the crypt, go all the way to the back, and you can't miss the tunnel entrance.  Good luck, young feller."

"Thank you master Werstram this indeed proves quite useful, I appreciate your help immensely" Seline takes a few pieces of paper from her pack and begins copying the map of the basement and noting the tunnels on it to keep on her person. Seline makes sure to write all of the notes in thieve's cant instead of common making it harder for someone to read. Once she finished copying over as much of the map of the basement she rolls up the family's copy and returns it to the archives and heads back to meet up with the group.

Cole ponders Seline's last statement before she left, and upon her return states to all, "I would have concern with just blowing the temple to bits, mainly for the innocent lives that may be in there.  Are we certain none of the young children Oswald has been stealing are in the temple?  I don't know about you, but I couldn't live with their blood on my hands if they are kept there."

Dreya fidgets in her seat, wringing her hands. "Maybe the temple is like a hat? Uh...I mean...it...covers something?" She sighs almost dejectedly. "I don't know if that even makes sense."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:47, Wed 05 Apr 2017.

"I agree with Cole, collapsing the temple without knowing what or who is inside may end up destroying the lives we intend to save.  Besides, I remember a time when my father and uncles tried to bring down an old barn. It...didn't go as planned.  We were lucky it only killed half our pigs and chickens.  However, that secret entrance you've mentioned is a good stroke of luck.  I vote for sneaking in and finding out what we can."

Anthony listens to all these ideas with a growing frown, but then perks up at Elwood's suggestion. "Seconded. That seems the most sensible to me," he affirms seriously, though now looking much less glum.

"Sneaking in sounds good. The element of surprise can't hurt. Now that big ogre, he can hurt. We need to come up with a better way to deal with him. Do we have any other spells that might be more effective? I'm at a loss right now for any other tactics that might help in melee combat, and if we're fighting him inside I doubt we'll be able to get him from a distance."

For what it's worth, the party did hurt Oswald.  You managed to run him off.  Unfortunately, pursuing him resulted in the party being split and the odds shifted in his favor significantly at that point.

[OOC: As acting rotary leader still, that is what the group will do, once fully rested up. Find another entrance that is not well known, and sneak in. Let's hope I don't kill us all!]

Elwood replies to Jack "My recent adventures have triggered a better understanding of accessing my deity's divine powers, which in turn has allowed myself a more thorough comprehension of some more complex incantations.  I believe I now understand the nuances of a certain incantation that can Hold a Person absolutely still for a brief period of time.  This could be helpful when we next meet Osborne."

You'll have to run that by Jack, the current temporary party leader.  Way to cling to power!  ;-)

I didn't see the power change notice! Oops, my bad. In that case, disregard my last post! I swear I am not THAT power hungry.

Okay, maybe a little.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:46, Wed 05 Apr 2017.

"Unless there are any objections, I say we try the tunnel. Once we're all rested and geared up, we should head out. I'd suggest making the attempt after dark, hopefully to avoid unwanted attention."

OOC: Oops, missed the temporary leader part myself. Okay, our best plan seems to be sneaking in through the tunnel and we will plan on doing that.

Any special preparations before you brave the tunnel?  Special equipment/gear to pick up?

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 24):

Cole is still pretty poor, so will reserve his gold in hopes of it growing like bunnies produce baby rabbits some day in the future.

In reply to Cole Hiller (msg # 25):

Cole could invest his gold in the lucrative business of loan sharking.  Make silvers a day from your own home!!!

As they leave to the cemetery, Elwood hands Anthony a flask of holy water.  "If we come across any undead, this will probably do a bit more damage than flinging darts at them."

Anthony accepts the holy water and gulps. "I shall perhaps acquire another couple of these--and one more thing..."

He heads to a temple to buy another flask of Holy Water to go with Elwood's, and then heads to his favorite supply store to pick up a nice, sanded 10' wooden pole....

Purchase one more vial of Holy Water and a 10' pole.

Please complete any shopping or other town business by Sunday morning.  You can assume any standard non-magical item is available in Rotter at book price (no banned weapons, expert weapons/armor).

Can Dreya purchase a pouchfull of berries, cast goodberries on them, and then purchase a second pouch to carry regular berries she can use for casting. Support chatacter is gearing up to support!

In reply to Dreya (msg # 30):

You may.  The goodberries will lose their efficacy after 24 hours.  Please let me know how many you enchant.

Dreya will first enchant them right before they all go into the underground part of this journey then.

I used the dice roller...looks like she starts the journey with 5 goodberries.

Dreya rolled 5 using 2d4

In reply to Dreya (msg # 32):

It would make more sense to cast goodberry early in the day, then rest before going on the night mission.  This would allow you to regain your spells while having potent goodberries for a few hours into the mission.

Alternatively, it would make more sense to just bring the ordinary berries with you and cast goodberry if you end up needing them.

Let me know your preference.  If you decide to case the spell before adventuring, let me know how many times you cast it and roll for how many berries you enchant.

Good point. Dreya will just make sure to purchase a pouchful of berries to carry on her person. Can a pouch carry like 24 blueberries or something?

In reply to Dreya (msg # 35):

Not a problem.  You are now the proud owner of a 24 blueberry capacity specialty pouch complete with 24 blueberries.