Chapter 3: The Lonely Tower

Hilmar will move back (to E8). The rats will get an attack of opportunity on him. If he gets a chance he will then fire the Fire Bolt cantrip at the swarm.

As the party quickly dealt with two bandits, Euphoria did not pay much attention to her surroundings, she seemed to be very interested in who the prisoner is, but was distracted by a swarm of rats suddenly emerging from the sack.
The infernal dashes toward the struggling wizard, as Kaa smashes the swirling mess of rats with his greataxe and Alfrey seems to cast some sort of a spell, sending some light bouncing between dozens of rat bodies. SHWING!,- the tiefling takes the rapier out of its sheath, its thin blade gleaming in what little light the cave has to offer. Go to hell, you gross things!,- she screams, poking the weapon into the swarm of little, filled with madness, beasts.

Are you going to be alright, Hilmar? I think I saw a few of them get their teeth into you.

"Yes," he says in a low voice, holstering his wand and checking the bites. He nervously looks up the sloping tunnel, listening for any signs of more Night Blades coming to investigate the commotion. "At least I think so. I'm more worried about disease than the bites themselves," he says as he pours some water on to the cuts, cleans them and applies a bandage. "Save your spells for later. Erm, thanks." He looks around, embarassed and annoyed with himself at what his curiosity caused. "Sorry about that! But I didn't think someone'd be carrying around a sack full of rats!" he says glaring at the Night Blade prisoners, having heard what the prisoner just said. "We need to get him down as soon as possible," he says returning to the task in hand before he let the rats out of the bag, producing the key he found on one of the guards. "One of us had better keep a watch in the tunnel, while we're getting him down."
Hilmar looks across to see how the prisoner is secured to the wall and how high up, thinking how they are going to get him down. He places the key carefully in his pouch, fearing he might accidentally drop it in the mud. He starts to move towards the edge, trying to work out the best route to the prisoner.
"We're going to get you down. Anything we should know first, my friend?" he hisses towards the prisoner, wanting him to hear but not wanting to shout.

"I understand." Alfrey replies. "I would be worried about disease too. This isn’t the most sanitary of places." He watches the wizard clean and bandage his wounds and nods his approval once he sees that the job has been done properly. "That will do for now. Unfortunately there’s not much I can do about disease beyond ordinary medical care. There is a spell I can use for diagnosis, if that would put your mind at ease. However, I would need time to prepare it."

When Hilmar asks that someone keep watch, Alfrey automatically glances over his shoulder at the tunnel behind him. "I can do that." he volunteers. He readies his shield and spear then turns to face whatever might emerge from the hideout above.

The tiefling searches bandits' possessions for snacks. Do you have any apples?,- she gives the Night blades an impatient look. I really want some apples right now. Gold would do fine as well. Euphoria smiled devilishly, showing her sharp teeth. You would surely give me your apples if you had them, wouldn't you? The infernal's eyes twinkled, as she tried to make a friendly expression.

Naeris was still in the pool when the rats were dispersed and, when Hilmar mentions the prisoner, she moves towards him to help Hilmar get him down.

When he reveals that his name is Ralavaz, she looks to Hilmar and then asks Ralavaz 'You mean that you're the one they're looking for in town? Not his brother or something like that?'

As the last of the rats kick the bucket Kaa nods and grunts approvingly at the others for the strikes. He climbs out from the mud and shakes his legs to get most of it off, although not really careful to spare those nearby from the splatter.

He peeks into the tunnel Alfrey is watching and pats his shoulder roughly. Then he grins at the two night blades and takes the pipe up to continue smoking it himself (Unless Euphoria took it first, as she was the first one with her hands on their belongings, if so then just asks for a round of it). "Of course they don't have apples. Don't you know an apple a day keeps the bugbear away?"

He curiously watches as the wizard approaches the prisoner, and whistles when he drops that he is Ralavaz. He kicks one of the night blades in a so-so friendly manner. "Isn't he supposed to be your boss? What is up with that? Who is the masked fellow then?" he asks, riding the mood of the rogue's ... rapport with them.

The tiefling laughs at Kaa's joke, but then gets a bit more serious. And if you are the Ralavaz, where is your gold mask?

'Well, perhaps you can help us?' She looks to the others.

Hilmar with Naeris' help cuts the rope suspending Ralavaz from the wall and lowers him. However, he does not unlock the manacles - yet.
"I think we should all agree if we decide to free him," he says thinking of how opening the sack didn't end well. He moves over to the tunnel and calls Alfrey, quietly, so that he is aware of what all the others know, before heading back to Ralavaz.
"What would you have us do - apart from releasing your manacles?" he asks Ralavaz.

I think we should release the guy. He clearly isn't a threat to anyone now, besides, he could help us locate his mas... brother. His brother. The tiefling nodded to herself, the gold chains on her horns tinkling.

Having verified that the tunnel doesn't hold any immediate danger, Alfrey returns to the group with Hilmar.

"I agree with Euphoria. I don't believe Ralavaz here would have any reason to lie about what he was saying. Revealing his identity like that doesn't benefit him at all."

Once Ralavaz is down, Naeris helps Hilmar to bring him to dry ground and gets out of the mud. She glances at the tunnel and at the prisoners nervously, concerned that trouble might appear at any moment. She takes over from Alfrey watching the tunnel, ready to fire an arrow if necessary.

Seeing as we now have enough Night Blades cloaks for everyone... Euphoria put a hand on her chin, pondering. Two of us could actually go up there and talk to the other bandits. They would probably think they're talking to the two who were guarding the prisoner. We could talk to them and ask for any useful information without having to fight. Taking a pause to observe the party's reaction, she continues. We could do that while the rest of us are busy interrogating Ralavaz to save time. Besides, we'd at least learn how many of them there are. What do you guys think about it? Any volunteers?