"It's a three day ride to Alaka," a voice shouts down through the closed door (Celador can't tell if it's the Mayor or one of the guards). "So you can expect to be down there for at least a week."


Kevril drops his face into his hands at the prospect of being jailed for another week. "At least a week," he sighs. "Well, at least you took care of the hooded man. Otherwise Gwendelon might not have even made it to the bridge, let alone all the way to Alaka."

"A week?!?! You have got to be kidding me?! Let my friends I go so that we can catch the true killer! You are wasting valuable time! The trail is getting colder! And would you please bring some porridge, or a few biscuits?! We are famished!" Celador yells back.



23:13, Today: Celador Qiris rolled 8 using 1d20.  Persuasion.

guess I'm probably not getting biscuits...

OOC: posted by DM for Therarak.
Therarak doesn't speak a word, but shrugs his shoulders in a "why-not" sort of way.

Celador's argument is answered by silence from the office above. It is likely that porridge and biscuits are not coming any time soon.

"It'll be a while before they bother feeding us," Kevril predicts in a depressed tone. "I fear without Gwendelon here, it might be more time than usual between meals."

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 3):

I suspect either corruption, incompetence or ill-intent. Either way I want no part of this and regret my decision to surrender myself. We should leave and find the good sister.

Lead the way my friend, when it comes exfiltration I am in your hands.

In reply to Therarak Gemfinder (msg # 11):

Sensing that they will be left alone for some time, Thorfire opens the cell door and goes to Celador's door and quickly picks the lock.

22:24, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 18 using 1d20+5, rerolling ones.  Sleight of Hand (Picking the lock).

Whispering to Celador and Kevril he says, Therarak and I are going to try to escape through the chimney and meet up with Lazaret.  You big folk won't fit so we will have to figure out a way to spring you loose or find the proof to exonerate us.  Once we climb up the chimney, can you replace the grate in case we need to break out again?
 I don't want them to find out how we escaped.

Thorfire and Therarak make their way to the storage area.  Luckily there is a barrel handy to stand on while Thorfire uses his dagger to pry off the grate.

He whispers,Therarak while I pry this off, can you look in the supplies for some make shift weapons for us and our friends?

Therarak finds a couple of crowbars used to open the crates and hands one to Thorfire.

22:32, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 8 using 1d20+5.  Sleight of Hand (Opening the chimney grate - halfling luck).
22:32, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 6 using 1d20+5.  Sleight of Hand (Opening the chimney grate).


22:33, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Stealth. Climb up the chimney
This message was last edited by the player at 03:39, Sun 03 Sept 2017.

Thorfire deftly picks the lock on Celador's cell freeing the Elf and Kevril into the adjoining hallway.

The Halfling rolls the barrel from the doorway of the supply cell only a small distance to place it under the grate. Standing on the barrel, he can't quite reach the ceiling, but he finds another crate, stacks it onto the barrel and with that, can easily access it.

He jabs his dagger into the seam between grate and ceiling and is surprised at how easily the grate comes out. Almost no prying required.

With the grate removed, he stares up into the morning sky and readies himself for the short leap into the chimney. Before he does, however, his concentration is interrupted by a slow mocking applause from the third cell. There stands Malik.

"Well played, Halfling," he mocks. "You picked the locks and it looks like you have access to freedom. What a shame it would be for your plans if I were to raise an alert while the four of you are scurrying about outside your cells." A slow, smug smile creeps across his face.

OOC: Please see important clarifications in the OOC thread. Short summary: on the downside, you don't have crowbars, but on the upside, Kevril and Celador probably would fit in the chimney.

In reply to DM (msg # 13):

We might make some noise, which wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.  One word from you and the good sister will have to try me for murder because you aren't getting out of that cell alive.  As I seem to recall, I practically killed you once before with only one hit...Please scream or draw attention.  I would so love to kill you.  In fact, I might just kill you anyway, just for the fun of it.

If the hooded man makes too much noise, Thorfire picks the lock and knocks the asshole unconscious.

14:48, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 13 using 1d20+5, rerolling ones.  Sleight of Hand (picking lock).
14:49, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 12 using 1d20+5, rerolling ones.  Attack with dagger.
14:50, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 6 using 1d4+3.  Damage with dagger.
14:51, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 6 using 2d6. Sneak Attack, my allies are within 5 feet.

If not, he tries to climbs up the chimney, falls and ties again.
14:57, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 9 using 1d20+5, rerolling ones.  Acrobatics.
14:59, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 14 using 1d20+5, rerolling ones.  Acrobatics.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:00, Sun 03 Sept 2017.

"Thanks," Celador says to Thorfire in a hushed tone, then turning to the hooded man, "I think you are better off keeping your mouth shut and waiting for Sister Gwendelon to determine your fate than have me gag your mouth while the halfling slits your throat."

22:37, Today: Celador Qiris rolled 20 using 1d20+2 ((18)). Intimidation.


"Thorfire, let me help hoist you up to that chimney," he says as he moves over to the crates stacked up by the grate in the ceiling, "After you, we'll toss Therarak up there, then the boy, and hopefully by then Laz will have come back with a rope for me."

22:42, Today: Celador Qiris rolled 15 using 1d20+4 ((11)). Athletics. Helping Thorfire up through the grate in the ceiling.

As Celador steps onto the barrel and offers a hand to Thorfire, the hooded man interrupts. "You give me no choice but to sound the alarm. Put yourself in my shoes. If you depart and I say nothing, Sister Gwendelon will have me skinned alive for not alerting anyone when it happened. I'd be sacrificing my life for no benefit to myself. So how about an offer? You pick my lock, let me depart along with you, and I keep my mouth closed. Once we're up top, we go our separate ways. Otherwise I have no choice but to sound the alarm. And I'm certain Traitlin would make it down here before you could pick my lock and get in here to quiet me."

He smiles a crooked smile and shrugs his shoulders with palms upward. "The way I see it, you don't really have a choice. So do we have a deal?"

Celador pauses and looks at the hooded man, and then back at Thorfire.

"He has a point, you know." He says to the halfling. "We can't just run and leave him here. It will make us look like the guilty ones. And we can't help him escape, then how do we ever show our faces in Westbank again?"

Celador walks back into his cell and closes the door.

"I am confident that Sister Gwendelon will find that we are innocent of the charges against us and our names will be cleared." He gives Thorfire a wink in such a way that the hooded man cannot see this signal. "I am sure that Lazaret is working to find the real killer even as we sit here."

"A wise choice," Malik concedes. "The Good Sister will straighten this out when she returns. As for your cat friend, I think already knows who killed the merchant. It's either himself or you, Halfling. As far as I know, you're the only two who in Westbank who even know which end of a rapier is which."

In reply to Celador Qiris (msg # 17):

How can we free a man rightly imprisoned for his crimes?

In reply to Therarak Gemfinder (msg # 19):

Whispering, Thorfire says, We can't, I don't like this turn of events and don't trust the Mayor or the "good" sister.  I think we need to knock him uncounsciense and get the heck out of here.  What do you guys think, will you help me subdue him with as little noise as possible??

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 20):

Nods to Thorfire subtly to indicate his assent. I guess we should let him out. I don't like it either, but he is right in saying we have choice at all.

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 20):

Celador, what say you?

OOC: as a point of clarification, although there are walls between the cells, it is possible to converse from cell to cell.

Before Celador can answer, the heroes can make out muffled voices coming from the office upstairs. They recognize the mayor's voice conversing with someone female. It doesn't sound like Gwendelon, but it is somehow familiar.

OOC: Roll perception to recognize the other voice and possibly some of the conversation itself.

In reply to DM (msg # 24):

18:58, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 11 using 1d20+2, rerolling ones perception
This message was last edited by the player at 16:49, Sun 10 Sept 2017.

In reply to Thorfire Shortankard (msg # 25):

Thorfire also rifles through the crates and barrels looking for make shift weapons....and finds some crowbars which he uses to quietly break apart some crates for makeshift wooden clubs which he hands to his companions.  I think we might need to break out of here.  If they come down, go back into your cells.  I will hide and sneak attack them.  When you hear me strike, jump out of the cells and attack them.  He then proceeds to hide in the shadows his daggers at the ready.

10:45, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 22 using 1d20+2, rerolling ones.  Perception.
10:48, Today: Thorfire Shortankard rolled 11 using 1d20+5, rerolling ones.  Stealth (Hide in Plain Sight).
This message was last edited by the player at 15:53, Sun 10 Sept 2017.

In reply to DM (msg # 24):

Therarak resumes a non-chalant position in his cell as he hears voices approaching.

16:39, Today: Therarak Gemfinder rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Perception.

Therarak focusses on the conversation above and recognizes the female voice of Mattis Bumbleford, the barmaid from the Trollip and Troll. Not everything is clear, but much of it is.

"...that they couldn't have done it," she contends.

"But we don't know when the murder happened either, Miss Bumbleford," the Mayor explains. "That's the problem."

More muffled conversation back and forth.

"A lot of people didn't like Morlough Merris."

"I'll grant you that."

"...greedy, arrogant..."

"Can't argue."

Thorfire, meanwhile digs through the crates. He is unable to find a crowbar to help with their opening, but he is able to pry them open with his dagger. The contents are general supplies: food, rope, paper, some trail rations, and general tools (hammers, nails, a hand saw, and some wooden stakes).

"Maybe they can help you solve..."

"They're suspects!"

"Along with every man, woman, and child in Westbank."

A long pause...

Thorfire continues to rifle through the crates. One of the smaller ones opens easily. More easily than the others, like one of the top slats has been opened before. The crate contains
some clothing, but underneath that is an fairly large stash of jewelry. Five gem studded rings and a ruby-adorned necklace.

Celador listens carefully to the conversation upstairs

16:05, Today: Celador Qiris rolled 17 using 1d20+3.  perception.


He peeks his head out of the cell and silently gestures to Thorfire to climb the chimney.

In reply to DM (msg # 28):

In an audible whisper Therarak calls out to his comrades, Friends! The Mayor approaches. While I can't hear it all, it sounds like if we handle this properly we can talk our way out of these cells and into finding the true perpetrators. Let us show them we can aid them in their desire to see justice done. In short, Thorfire get back into your cell and behave!

In reply to DM (msg # 28):

While he is tempted, Thorfire replaces the jewels and carefully puts back everything the way he found it and goes back into his cell sliding the dagger back into his boot.