So y'all don't think we can get the guards to eat something they find on the floor even if it has a nice flirty note attached to it???

That's fair, I suppose. It was a pretty crappy idea.

I like the force-feeding thing, though. My charisma mod is a +1 if needed, but I think the poison effect ought to make it so a charisma roll isn't necessary for what we want them to do.

I have three doses of the poison. It may be possible to get the first guard to feed the poison to a second guard. It would be tricky to make sure the second guard saw one of us first, but worst case, I think, if they saw the guard we had already poisoned before they saw us we would still have a significant indirect influence.

Regular guards, absolutely.  But these are the best of the best - and are likely to be suspicious of anything unusual.  (You didn't use a dose with the frogs or did you replenish somehow?)

Having guard 2 feed guard 1 is possible, but it would be tricky.  Guard 1 would have to be given the right motivation to convince guard #2 - e.g. the powder breaks the enchantment that's been blinding everyone to the conspiracy?  Also, she'd have to have something guard #2 would actually want to consume - and would want to consume right away.  My leaning is we'd be better off chancing casting the spell a second time if we really want the second guard.

No charisma roll would certainly be best.

Once we've taken the first guard, I'd have to roll again to become a rat.  I'd rather not chance that if avoidable.  Perhaps we could have the first guard open the door and be peering in having heard something 'strange' when guard #2 appears.  We can hide around the corner and when guard 2 stops to help supervise, I can peer around the corner and cast the spell and guard #1 can keep him from falling to the floor.  Then we can focus on the rest of the instructions - like give us anything helpful, try to ensure no-one sees or hears us, etc.

I think it might be safest if Eryn stays in the closet with the hirelings unless we mentally summon for help.  Chance is skilled at moving quietly.  Eryn in her chainmail and the hirelings -especially Westley, not so much...

If things somehow get into a 'fight' situation, make for the entrance and do your best to keep anyone from running for help.  I think Chance and I can probably manage two of them.  You can maybe have the lady double the power of your mirror image.  That and some illusionary full plate will hopefully be enough to keep them distracted (and you alive) until we get there to help...

Or not... :)

Can I hear the voices from my room?  If not, I'll need someone to mention via my mental link if I'm going to help.  If you succeed in hiding - even briefly, I might be able to cause a distraction that will cause your guard to come running before he starts searching much - giving the party time to go back down the hole (though there may be issues with disturbed dust).  Alternatively, I can open the door and take on my guard, starting a second front, which will hopefully keep everyone from ganging up on your position.

Ilura can definitely hear the words spoken. She doesn't necessarily know Vance is starting at the most inconvenient door though.

Sounds like the stealthy approach is out the window. I'm not sure if I can hide effectively; I'm not exactly silent and my weapon pokes out, but I can hopefully be quite effective in other ways if I get the first move.

We may just have to bull rush grapple Vance here. Forcefully seize his arm and cover his mouth, strike to the back of the knee to get him down, apply gag or Chance's poison immediately.

I won't risk a spell right now since it's not really my main ability and I have an ongoing penalty to casting due to Telepathy.

Consumables used while in the gnome's mind weren't actually consumed because they weren't really there. I suppose they were effective because we believed that they were. Regardless of how the physics (or metaphysics?) work, though, I still have three doses of the poison.

It may be a non-issue now, unless we can subdue the guard and force-feed it to him.

Feel free to try.

I plan on waiting to answer Ilura's Revelation until after Eryn and Chance make their moves, since it would all be happening simultaneously.

Even if you can hide behind the door, crouch behind boxes, it'll be easier (and quieter) to attack and subdue him if he's in the room and you can close the door.  Though if he spots any of you before you jump him, you've lost the element of surprise.  Your call...  (And good luck!)

This seemed like an appropriate time to play up Chance's chaotic nature. I wish all of us the best of luck!

I'll wait another day or so to see if Eryn wanted to try and Aid Chance or perform some other action, then I will move the action forward some more.

The weekend ironically left me drained, but my head is back on now! Post is up.

Ilura, I'm not even going to require a roll for what you are doing. Ilura is specifically not defying the danger she would normally be rolling to avoid.

Excellent.  Then I shall not take an XP :)

Chance guilt-tripping his new friend the guard: Love it.

Thanks. Let's hope it works!

If you kill him, Ilura's not going to be happy with you... :)

If you do decide to take him down, it'd be best to do it behind a closed door to reduce the likelihood of the guards at the top of the stairs hearing you.  I suspect that full plate crashing into stone hallways would propagate quite some distance...

I'm not going to kill the man (I hope)! That's why I'm asking if it's possible to grapple him in the first place. Full armor unfortunately means that unless Chance has any sleep-inducing poison on him I don't have the right tools to do it swiftly and silently.

Behind a door - in the well room itself, perhaps? - does sound like the best option to minimize noise; unless we cover his mouth and then wrap him in a blanket or bedroll, to muffle the clattering of the armor as he drops. Hm.

Don't forget, the group's Adventuring Gear can provide simple tools too. Not sleeping-poison, but a thick blanket is certainly an option. Or any number of other simple tools you may need. I believe Eryn has some, and Ilura's are currently in the well-room. Your hirelings may be able to help in some way too.

"You look a little chilly.  Here, let me wrap you in this nice warm blanket I found..." :D

The well room is probably your best bet.  I expect it would be hard to get him to leave his post, but he might be convinced to help you deal with a threat in the room.  You'd have to worry about the traps though.

Possibility B is to wait until I get back and I could try firing a blunted arrow at his head to stun him, though that cuts into the time we have available.

@GM: I was already considering adventuring gear (I currently have 3 uses left), but thank you for the reminder. :)

@Ilura: I have a whip with 'stun' damage; never used since I purchased it. I therefore have a non-lethal weapon myself I could wrap him up in, but I'm fairly certain I'd need more than one swing even with my prowess as a melee fighter.

I'll play it by ear.

Why are we taking Vance?

Carrying a 200+ lb armored night as you climb a rope over top of a squid that wants to eat you doesn't seem like a great idea.

He doesn't know anything of use to us and he'll likely try to sabotage whatever we do.  We'll also be obligated to keep him safe.

The approaching guards will already be able to figure out pretty easily where we went.  Yes, he'll likely be punished for being defeated/tricked - as will all of the guards who were on duty, but we're not trying to rescue the other ones.  It's safer for both him and us to leave him unconscious beside the well.  If anything, an unconscious guard might provide the extra 2 seconds of distraction you need to get down to the bottom of the zip line before someone starts climbing after you...

Fair enough, we'll leave him. It was more a question in case Silas can actually handle it without much fuzz.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:32, Wed 15 July 2020.

Musings for later: Once we get down on the landing/the stairs, I was thinking I should cast Alarm to warn us of any pursuers.

Not a bad idea.  If you cover as much of the bridge and the beach around the doorway as you can, that should give us pretty good detection.