Morg whispers, "I'm not going to pass for a longshanks monk. I could walk in the back when we approach, and if we're challenged pretend to be a captured prisoner with untied rope over my wrists."

Asano throws a robe over his normal traveling clothes, adjusting his overbelt with his wands to stay within easy reach. Settling one of the masks on top of his head, he appears ready to return to the monastery.

The gusts of wind intensify as the group breaks camp. A steady drizzle of rain begins, then turns alternately to hail and sleet as they make their way back through the narrow defile to the Sacred Stone Monastery.

As before, the edifice looks devoid of life or activity as they approach. A dusty footpath circles the building, as before.

---

Map updated.

Everything looks as you left it yesterday. No evidence of additional patrols, reinforcements, or fortifications.

Zora sees that there is a second set of smaller stairs to the right/east of the main entrance. There is also room to walk around perhaps the whole building, around either side & the back, as the hidden canyon's walls are far enough away from the exterior walls of the monastery to allow passage.

She also sees the exterior walls of the monastery have patches of crumbling masonry or poorly fitted fieldstone, and look relatively easy to climb. The roof looks to be about 25 feet up.

Exterior windows are set every few feet, and are narrow and tall, almost like arrow slits. The sill of each window is about 10 feet above the ground.

Mayon adjusts the cloak pulled on over him, fully conscious and uncomfortable with how it felt to wear a dead man's clothing.

"I can have my familiar scout ahead a bit if we'd like, to see what things look like on the inside." He offers softly.

Rona seems fine in the weather, paying little attention to it as he surveyed the monastery with the rest. "We could climb the walls easily enough it, clear it out from top to ground, use stairs as holdin' points if numbers prove too much. Most don't expect attacks from above either."

"Assuming we can get in from the roof. Still it beats coming in the front door."

She looked to Mayon, "Can your familiar scout out the roof?"

Mayon nods at Zora's question. "Yes, and I can look through their eyes...though, I won't be able to see or hear in this body while I do so. So just, slap me if something happens, I suppose." He says with a soft laugh, then closes his eyes as his invisible sprite goes to scout.



07:36, Today: Mayon Graycross rolled 7 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 4.  Sprite Perception.

She smiled and shrugged, saying, "If you say so. Only if something happens?"

"Does your saying something count as something happening?" Morg whispers to Zora, grinning.

"It would certainly be nice if there were a way to know how many we yet face," Asano sighs, watching Mayon's face as he projects through his fey familiar. "Why can't the bad guys keep a running roster of their minions, right?" He chuckles to himself at the thought.

Mayon's pupils fade to a milky white as his attention focuses beyond his immediate surroundings.

His invisible sprite flies toward the monastery. The familiar's master and companions huddle near the side of the rock cleft. Sleet falls steadily through the air, and a foggy mist hangs around the edifice like a stain.

As it reaches the roof, Mayon sees through the sprite's eyes down into the open-air courtyard leading into the shrine. No movement is visible there, though an icy sheen of moisture coats the gargoyle statues as they continue their motionless watch.

His avatar circumnavigating the perimeter, Mayon sees an additional set of stairs to a door leading in from the back of the keep, near the northwest corner. As he watches, a robed monk emerges onto the top of the steps, dumps a pile of potato peels onto the ground, then reenters through the door.

Around to the east the sprite looks down into a walled garden, sheltering beneath the northern wall of the monastery. The garden appears poorly kept, although some effort has been made to clear footpaths through the overgrowth. A garden gate to the northeast leads outside. Three doors open into the monastery at the southeast, south, and western side of the garden. The statues in the garden appear particularly lifelike.

---

Map updated!

In case it's not clear from the map, there are six doors visible into the monastery from the familiar's scouting:
- the main entrance directly ahead, which you've entered and left from before
- another door on the front, to the east
- a door near the back at the northwest corner
- a gate in the northeast corner that leads into the garden, and three doors from the garden that lead into the keep - one that presumably leads into the shrine, and two others facing south and east into portions of the monastery you haven't yet visited


This message was last edited by the GM at 03:14, Sat 10 Mar 2018.

"Well," Asano says, studying the rough sketch of the monastery they've made in the dirt. "There's clearly some inhabitants still alive inside. The question is, do we offer them the chance to surrender and keep their lives, or do we go in hard and quell any resistance? I am hesitant to just offer violence with no recourse, but those we faced yesterday seemed very recalcitrant."

"Some of the monks may not be evil, or even know about people being fed to the monster downstairs, tho it's unlikely."

"I have these 2 keys I found on Qarbo," Morg says holding them out, "but I'm not very good at sneaking or looking like these tall monks, so someone else want to take them and try on some of the doors?"

"Heh, I don't think stealth is a particularly forte of any present," Asano says, then suddenly looks around carefully. "Unless Dweeble is still tailing us. The southeastern door may be the best option for us, and maybe the use of non-lethal force from here on out would be a way to demonstrate our good will?"

"Good people do not club others over the head and throw them down stairs, to lie helpless at the feet of a tortured monstrosity they keep locked in the basement, guarding a door.", Rona says simply, keeping an eye out for movement from the monastery.

---

OOC: Rona'Aduur rolled 23 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 20.  Perception.

"I'd vote for the kitchen, personally. I mean the door on the NorthWest side, it has to be a kitchen. It's close to the dining hall we saw last night, and that guy coming out with potato peels, what else could it be? There are likely no guards there, just kitchen staff, and we have some idea what we're getting into. We can overpower them, tie them up and move through from there," she added grimly. "But if you all want the southeast door, I'll go along."

"I sneak about as well as Morg in this chain. I say slow and steady, but sneaky isn't our thing."

"Though I eschew the heavy armor, I am not practiced in the art of subterfuge," Asano grins. "While I agree that the kitchens are probably not well guarded, there is also little for us to learn there. Rona, I hear your experience with some of the members of this cult, but that does not indicate malicious intent for everyone involved. Some may merely be seeking succor beneath the aegis of a strong organization, others may disagree with the direction the leadership has gone. I think it wise to extend the benefit of the doubt to some of the inhabitants still inside." He smiles genuinely to the newcomer, a small amount of appeal to his gaze before continuing. "So, we have one vote for the southeast door, one vote for the northwest door. Opinions? Arguments?"

Mayon snaps out of his familiar's eyes, silently calling the sprite back before turning to the others.

"It may be best to avoid the gardens. I...I'm getting a bad feeling from those. There's a lot of statues there that feel...wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if Marlos is to blame." He shudders a bit. "Beyond that, either way we wish to go is fine by me."

"Marlos? I don't think I'm familiar with him. who is he? she was genuinely curious.

"If we want to avoid the gardens, seems like the kitchen is further away. We'll have to explore them sooner or later though, if we want to claim the monastery for ourselves."

Sloshing through the damp ground, the group makes their way around the structure to the northwest corner. Cloaks now damp, they approach the door.

---

Map updated!

Head on in, or do anything else before trying the door?

Also: I'm assuming Rona is also dressed in a recovered monk's cloak?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:03, Tue 13 Mar 2018.

Morg hands over the 2 keys to Rona, and looks the entrance over for any possible traps. He tightens his grip on his warhammer with one hand, reaches back towards a javelin with the other, and approaches the door.

---

Action: check for traps, investigate 11.
Move: 10' from N9 to P9.

Next round:
Action: ready attack on any hostiles.

14:15, Today: Morg Danforge rolled 11 using 1d20 with rolls of 11.  Investigate check for traps on steps.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:18, Wed 14 Mar 2018.

Zora stands behind Morg, ready to rush in when the door opens.

Asano waits patiently, his hands steady as they hold a wand each. Slight shifts in his stance are the only indication of any amount of anxious nerves on his part.

Morg finds no traps, though he does hear some sounds of peeling and chopping of vegetables from the nearby narrow window. The sleet outside seems to be lessening somewhat.

---

If you'd like to open the door I can post what happens next.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:52, Wed 14 Mar 2018.

"No time like the present. Let's do this. Morg, do you want to do the honors?"