"What about this?" Alleycat suggested.

"I think it likely that I can get in among the prisoners undetected. Once I am there, I stay still and keep my head down whenever a patrol passes close by."

"But when the patrols are not paying attention, I will be working to cut the prisoners' bindings, both hands and feet."

"I will caution them to remain quiet and still until I give the signal -- which, hopefully, will not be until all have been cut loose and ready to leave."

"Once I give the signal, all should try to steal away quietly,  fleeing at their best speed if they are discovered. Those those of us who are armed with steel or magicks will stand ready to cover their escape, if need be."

"Whoever can escape into the woods should try to regroup with us later. Taria, you know the area. Is there a convenient rallying-point nearby where we can try to regroup with any who have had to flee for their lives?"

Sora grimaced at the plan of Alleycat. "these beasts and monsters are trying to get them somewhere fast, and i think for the sake of most, they won't hesitate to kill some of them. If we leave in a chaotic scramble, death's will occur that i want to avoid. No...we need to be creative in..."

She paused, frowning, then looked at Amorette and Taria. "Do any of you have the ability to change the look of your form - disguise who you are magically?"

Amorette nods. “I am able to disguise myself. I won’t be much help at changing the appearance of others though. Perhaps those of us who can disguise ourselves, or otherwise use stealth as Alleycat can, can go and see what we can learn about what is going on down there. If we see an opportunity to rescue prisoners we can take it, but at the very least we can learn more than we will standing up here.”

"HMMm You have paste and wigs like Antru?" He scratched his chin. "Be hard to make you look like a kobald with those."

The moon rises as yoou consider your next move. Those without darkvision can see the camp fairly well because it is out in the open. The shadows thrown by the trees shelter you in darkness but also make it difficult to see while under the trees. THe outer patrol passes your position. It will be about ten minutes before they pass again.

Sora looked on with a smile, and brought the group in. "The outside group comes close in complete darkness...if we can take them quietly, that will thin one group. If you..." looking at Amorette "..can turn into a kobold and take a prisoner in close, then we may get closer to the others before attacking."

Cat watches the patrol carefully,"Ten minutes before they pass by us again. Taking them out is easy enough, not sure about being quite, but Manfred here is quick, they'll not know what hit them."

Amorette eyes the patrol group nervously. “I can definitely disguise myself as a kobald, and I can speak Draconic, so that will come in handy. However, I don’t like our odds if we run into that patrol group. The small fry will not be hard to incapacitate, but those drakes are tough brutes. I don’t think there’s much chance of us defeating them before they sound some kind of alarm, especially in the dark. We’ll be at a disadvantage. I propose that I go down into the camp with anyone else who can magically disguise themselves. I’ll try to get close to the prisoners or find out some information about their plans. I don’t mean to direct you all, but I fear that our priority should be to avoid detection.Otherwise we may lose our chance to gather information, and will be in a position to fight great numbers with half our group blind…”

Sora chewed her lip and nodded. "We need to know the plan above all - thats our best advantage. If you can disguise yourself as one and try to get information, that will help us. Until then, we stay hidden."

Amorette nods. “I’ll see what I can find out. I should be back within the hour.” With that, she strums a discordant melody on her lute, quietly. Her face seems to erupt into scales, her limbs stretching thin, her fingertips shimmering into claws. She hides the lute under her cloak as best she can and surveys herself- a kobald, if not in the flesh, at least in appearance.

“If any of you would care to watch my back from a distance, I would be grateful. Hopefully I’ll be able to get in and out without much notice, so full backup won’t be needed.”

Sora nodded. "If you are discovered, make your way this way as quick as you can, but try remain reasonably subtle - we don't want all of them after you. A few of them we can deal with."

"Will do."

[And that's what Bross plans to do.]

The outer patrol has passed by. for the moment , their backs are toward the group. Amorette should be able to get close enough to the camp before they would spot her. THe inner patrol moves slowly and watches outward. A few other kobalds mill about without gathering any attention. The majority of them are sleeping around the fire. All of the prisoners are huddled together near the tent. Most appear to be sleeping.

Amorette gets by the outer patrol unnoticed.

[OOC: Is Amorette still within reasonable bow-range? If he has to, Bross (on foot) sneaks along an appropriate distance away, to keep her covered.]

Amorette keeps her movements casual but cautious to avoid undue attention. Now past the outer guard, she peers around, trying to get as close as she can to the prisoners or their guards.

Since Amorette had not requested that Alleycat accompany her in close-support range, the Waterdhavian decided to work with Bross to provide support from longer range.

He took up a position near to the larger man in a spot that provided some concealment and cover, cocked his crossbow, and placed a bolt in the groove.

Then he stood quiet and kept an eye on the little Gnome's progress . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 16:34, Sun 24 Apr 2022.

Amorette passes through the camp without incident. The kobalds look exhausted. Most are sleeping around the fire east of the tent. Half of the drakes are sleeping as well. Two of them have been posted near the prisoners who are huddled to the west of the tent, These do not seem to be very alert. The patrols attention is focused outward and away from the camp. None of the kobalds pay any attention to one of their number walking around or checking on the prisoners.

Amorette approaches the prisoners casually, as if she is just passing by and is ensuring everything is secure. Seeing that the drakes are inattentive, she peers a little closer at the group. She has a dagger she could use to cut the bonds at their wrists, or could give them so they could free themselves. She realizes though that she may not have the opportunity to free many prisoners before the drakes discover them. She assesses the individuals before her, considering who may be most useful if push came to shove.

As Amorette approaches the prisoners, she notices that one of them is watching her with a confused look on his face. He is lying on the ground at the edge of the group with his attention focused on the slightly odd position of her tail which does not seem to be moving in a natural manner as she walks. Amorette recognizes the man. He is another bard who had been at the festival. One with local reknown as an entertainer with some magical talent. Most of the other prisoners are sleeping. She can get close enough to whisper a message if she would like.

[Continuing to keep watch.]

Sora crouches in the darkness, watching the disguised gnome keenly as she moved around. She had to hand it to her, she was good at what she did, but with that many enemies around her, the stakes were high.

she watched intently, ready to act if needed

Amorette cocks her head, a reptilian habit she’d observed in the other kobalds. She noticed the man noticing her, and gave an internal cheer that here, at least, was someone useful.

She looks away and walks casually up to the group of prisoners. As though muttering to herself, she speaks just loud enough for him to hear. “Even a stone, though a dull instrument, in the hands of an artist, can work wonders.” She fingers her dagger under her cloak, then casts her illusion, making the sharp edges appear smooth and round- a simple rock.

As though continuing her patrol, she strolls past him, dropping the knife next to his feet. “Do not overlook it.”

With some time left to her disguise , she tries to gather any additional information she can about the kobalds’ plans without drawing too much attention to herself.

[Is Ned still with the party?]

In reply to Amorette Springspell (msg # 261):

The man shifted his position and grasped the dagger as best as he could with bound hands. As Amorette scanned the rest of the prisoners he was able to cut his bonds. With his hands free he shifted the gag enough to enable speech.

"Many thanks, If you give us some time we should be able to free ourselves before dawn." 

The drakes do not seem to notice anything. The remaining kobalds are sleeping. Just the 2 patrols of 5 are awake. They seem fatigued and struugling to remain alert.

Hearing the man’s whisper, Amorette gives a slight nod of her head. So by dawn then…

She squints at the sky, unsure how much time that would give her companions to prepare. Judging by the look of the kobalds, though, it seems that they may have better luck sooner rather than later. Best not to give them too much time to rest.

Lowly, she mutters. “If any among you can fight, be ready. I must go and alert my own.”

With that, she makes a winding path back towards the party’s encampment to share what she learned.

Amorette wanders out of the encampment without incident. The fatigued kobalds in the outer patrol will be approaching in a minute or two. You can see and hear them as they approach. The long day has eroded the discipline you've seen from them the last few days. They do not seem alert or careful about their task.