So, what's the plan for crushing the Temple of Pain?

Kick down the front door and kill everything?

Sneak back in through the cemetery tunnel?

Run off with your cool new magical loot and stick it Flyspamon?

Go rogue and offer to help the Temple of Pain take on Flyspamon?

Back to the hunting lodge to see if you are tough enough to survive this time?

Run down to the gambling district and gamble for XPs?  Barlax's Life Force Casino reportedly has the loosest slots in town.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 1):

Dreya thinks we should go back the way we came, or find yet another entrance other than the front door.  Maybe the cabin in the woods is another entrance, so we can try that again too, but that takes travel time when there are other entrances much closer.  Or perhaps we can try a two fold attack...some go through the tunnel entrance while others go through the front.

[OOC - I know the general rule is to never split the party, but perhaps this time it would be prudent to do so?] 

Anthony was thinking pretty much the same thing as Dreya, except for the splitting the party part. We sneak in another back entrance this time, I say. The same door might be risky, but it might be the only "side door."

Splitting the party seems unwise, but Cole would be amenable to resuming the search from the secret tunnel entrance with all party members.

[OOC: Seeing the majority of votes are to resume the charge through the tunnels as appointed party leader we will start with that.]

Seline leads the group back to the tomb and into the tunnels hoping to use all the knowledge from the entrance and exit from the tomb to get them back in with no issues.

Of course, it can't be as simple as just going back to the cemetery.  It never is...

As the party marches through the streets of Rotter, Anthony hears something from above.  Looking up, he can see what can best be described as a rift in the air maybe 10 feet above him.  He can see Oswald and a remarkably ugly orc shaman looking down at him through the rift.  The orc's eyes are rolled up back into its head as it chants and moves its arms rhythmically.  The shaman is pretty clearly performing a ritual to create and maintain the rift.

Oswald laughs deeply and cruelly.  "I'm coming for you wizard.  I'm coming for you now.  And there's not a damn thing you can do to save yourself."

The shaman slashes a hand in front of him and the rift abruptly vanishes, revealing ordinary sky.

Are you heading to the cemetery at night again or are you trying a daylight assault this time?

Dreya whips her head around, crazy mane of hair flying, as she trains her gaze towards the wizard. "What did you do to him, Only Anthony? How much did I...I mean did I miss alot when that frog guy had me?"

At the sight of Oswald, Anthony is initially filled with terror. He can feel a bead of sweat roll down the nape of his neck. But, as Oswald is finishing his sentence, Anthony has enough presence of mine to make an extraordinarily and atypically rude gesture with his finger at Oswald and his scrying partner before they vanish.

Anthony straightens up. "That was fairly crude scrying magic, friends. Nothing to be alarming. What it does tell us, though, is that the enemy is aware of our coming, so we need to plan accordingly. I say we enter during the day." His face betrays some fear, but one could hardly blame him.

When Dreya asks her question, he waves his hand. "I wounded him successfully multiple times with my 'Bolt of Inevitable Force' spell. He was quite resilient, as he survived the spell repeatedly. It is the danger of being a wizards--others may hurt him more, but he will remember the magical bolt and its source every time." He tries, with only moderate success, to stand assured as a more seasoned wizard would.

Cole shakes his head as the disappearing rift. Could they never catch a break? "No matter what time of day we go, they know we are coming, but day is probably safest." Cole agrees before sidling up beside Dreya, his hand on the hilt of Vera.

"Don't worry Anthony, we'll make sure Oswald has much more grevious concerns other than his petty revenge on you."

With a smile Seline says trying to lift the mood and hopefully strengthen the resolve of Anthony "Well we do seem to have attracted some attention and are making a name for ourselves. After all of this business with ugly mug is over we should come up with a catchy name for ourselves."
Seline's face taking on a more serious composure, "If we are going through the cemetery and the tunnels I'm not so sure if it will make a difference what time of day in relation to the sun being or not being in the sky. Do we know about what time of day that Oswald goes out scavenging for children, we could try to go in and clear the temple while Oswald's out. Or otherwise we could just set up a stake out and harry him at every attempt to steal children throwing bolts of arcane power at the ugly mug."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Wed 30 Aug 2017.

As far as you know, Oswald has only snatched children at night.

Anthony shakes his head. "Unless we want to sneak in while he's out and destroy his lieutenants first, we need to in during the day."

Dreya shakes her head. "But...if you give beavers time, what do they do?" Eagerly, her gaze flits to each one of her friends. When five pairs of eyes blink back at her in confusion, she forges onward with her thought, bouncing in excitement on the balls of her feet. "They build their dam stronger before the next flood can come. Waiting even till morning seems... I don't know." Dreya shrugs a fur covered shoulder, one hand absently toying with the fox scarf about her neck. "Bad. Seems bad. To me, anyway. Why give beavers more time if we want the river to flow free?"

With a grumble, her gaze flits away to her still miss-matched boots. Ugg, she always fumbles words! She didn't have too much trouble when trading words with that frog...man...thing. Toeing the edge of a raised rock in the dusty street, she glances up at everyone. "Come on! Beavers!"

"I'm not too sure it makes any difference when we go,  so we might as well go now.  Since it's night,  Oswald might be out, making our job clearing the temple a little easier.  Maybe going in at night will keep Oswald from going out and nabbing more children. And, as Dreya so aptly said, Beavers!"

Jack is just as taken aback by the mysterious appearance from above. It's not entirely comforting knowing that Oswald is watching us this closely. "...well, we had to know they were expecting us and making preparations. At least now that's confirmed." Jack says, half thinking to himself and half speaking out loud.

Thinking further about what was said, he looks over at Anthony. Moving closer, he gives him a rough pat on the back. "Don't worry wizard, you won't have to do a thing to save yourself, we'll do the saving for you! That's what friends are for." Satisfied with his pep-talk, Jack continues the march, mentally preparing himself to cleave some bad guys.

Hearing Dreya's words causes Jack to perk up again. "Beavers! Yes, Beavers!" he agrees loudly and then is becomes quiet for a little to long a time before adding, mostly under his breath "I hate beavers." Addressing the Druid directly, he adds firmly, "Dreya, I think you have the right of it, the less time we give them to prepare, the better." Turning back to the rest of the group, Jack continues. C'mon everyone, no time to waste. There's evil that needs smiting. Beavers!!

"As long as we don't venture separate paths, I don't care when we go."

Anthony shrugs. "Fine. I'll go when we all agree to go."

Dreya nods enthusiastically. "And beavers have been building while we rested up already!"