Chapter 2 - The Fortress

[passing note to Crolwell]

Ramas has been listening mostly in silence, only interjecting and asking questions here and there, he mostly keeps his eye looking out through the boards in this shed. He tends to the freed captives every once in awhile, but mostly just keeps watch to make sure no one surprises the group.

Crolwell is thinking to himself... Where could my Caravan be?.

"And where are you from, Ramas? You can't have spent your life with the daggers, now. Surely you came from somewhere interesting?"

"Hmmmm, does anyone have charcoal on them? I need a good deal of it to try something I've been working on. It could help pass the time as we wait."

OOC: Trying to cast Find Familiar. Do I actually need to buy 10gp worth of charcoal, or just have it on hand?

"Can't say that I have..." Ütés answers Xadira "...not sure what I would use it for."

OOC: You would think 10GP would buy an awful lot of charcoal. Do you need to lug around 80 pounds of the stuff for this spell? :-)

"No, I don't know what I could ever use that much charcoal for," Aelar responds to Xadira.

It's 10 gp of charcoal, herbs, and incense consumed in a brass brazier

[passing note to Crolwell]

Ramas looks back to Xadira. No, I have not always been a member of the Daggers. I was once a soldier of the royal guard in Neverwinter actually. I loved my job but quickly became disillusioned with the lives of the rich and royal that I guarded. I suspect Utes knows the feeling well, he nods toward Utes as he strides towards the back of the stables you are in. The daggers recruited me for my ability to fight and be resourceful, and it feels good to fight for something that matters, instead of shaking down shop keeps who can't pay the taxes of the kingdom, as he says this you hear him dragging something out from under a pile of sacks. It's a brass brazier with charcoal still piled in it from a previous fire.

Do you think this will be enough, Xadira?, he smiles wryly as he dusts some of the coal off of himself.

"Oh! I see." As soon as I see the brazier and charcoal, my eyes light up excitedly. "Yes, I do believe this will be enough! Hmm, now, what else will I need..." I dig through my component pouch, spilling its contents out in front of me, including an even larger amount of charcoal. "Well, this is embarrassing. I've had this the whole time! Where has my mind gone! Thinking about too many things, I'm afraid!"

I chuckle to myself before I immediately shift focus, throwing little bits of this and that into the brazier while chanting in Sylvan. My eyes bore deeply into the flames, glowing briefly as the incantation takes hold. When I am done, a hawk appears next to me. And just as quickly, my trance is broken. "Fascinating! It appears to have worked!" I tilt my head at her quizzically and mentally send her an image of the wagon's roof, directing her to circle around from above. "Fly, little bird. Spread your wings and show me what you can see."

My eyes go wide and blank for a long moment. Then, a huge smile crosses my face as I wave my arms around giddily, poorly mimicking the hawk's movements. "I'm flying! This is, well this is just- oh!" I lean side to side like one might do if one were listening to a lovely tune. Then I am back to my usual self and the hawk returns to my side. "Most excellent! There appear to be prisoners kept in cages by a workshop in one of the towers. And goblins, yes. I also saw some black powder that looked very interesting. I must collect some samples and study it- perhaps it could be used for some purpose, although I'm not sure what. Maybe it could be... turned into a paste and used as a dye? Hmmmm.

Ramas' expression changes on the words 'black powder'.

Did you just say black powder? Like, was it in barrels? A fine black powder?, he asks with increasing interest.

"What's so interesting about black powder?" Aelar asks.

"Oh yes, several barrels! Seemed fine enough from my vantage point. Did you wish to take a closer look as well?"

I dare not get too much closer to that stuff. That powder is something explosive. We had one of our gnome tinkers trying to work with it to create new weaponry when I was back in the royal guard. Blew his entire workshop, and himself, to bits. He only had one barrel of the stuff. It's incredibly tricky to work with. It's also rare, Ramas says, going back to the wood slats to try and peek through and see the barrels.

By the gods, they have maybe 10 - 15 barrels of the stuff. How did they even manage to create that much?, he adds as he walks back to the group. If we could set fire to those barrels we could create a distraction large enough to draw out most of this base. It may also destroy a good portion of them in the process. We just need a way to trigger it.

Aelar peeks out to see if the barrels are reinforced by metal bands. If they are he gets a grin on his face, "May I could heat the metal of the bands enough to cause the barrel to catch on fire. Or maybe our resident sorceress has a couple of fiery tricks up her sleeves?"

That sounds like it just might work, Ramas says, the grin growing on his face as well.

But we should have a plan for when those things blow. It's going to be loud, and bright. There will be lots of chaos, so we need to use that wisely.

"But what if Crolwell is nearby? He could get caught in that explosion as well!" I'm already thinking of creative ways I could set the barrels on fire.