Wenlan's Escape

She hesitates, but answers in a hurry as she's not sure how much longer they'll be able to talk. "Not drugged, but they threw me in kind of a cell for a bit. There was no windows, I just know it was a while. They keep us in the flat building across the settlement with a dark roof." She leans in and speaks extra quietly, "Stay for this meeting, say you want to come back, and when you do sneak me something I can use to pick a lock. You in?"

The man and Mara come back to the circle, and she announces "Everyone, Wenlan is new here so ensure she feels welcome. I need to run some errands, but will be back in a bit dear. Malkus here will teach you a bit more about our community."

She walks away and the man sits down among the group. He is middle-aged with a short beard, has dark hair overall with some grey throughout if you look close enough. Malkus seems charming and warm, but everything in Wenlan's bones tells her that they're trying to sell her on some form of con.

The meeting is structured with everyone taking turns describing a recent moment they were "tempted by the agents of chaos". If they prevailed, the group would praise the sharer. If they failed to "maintain order", Malkus solicits advice from the group about how it could be handled better next time. It usually ended with him tying the advise to some quote from a book he called The Teachings of Karkross.

The events described included someone wanting to smash something out of anger but didn't (this is Tanya), someone who encountered a beggar in the woods and correctly reported him to the authorities, and someone who let curiosity get the better of him and explored some of the woods without being authorized to do so.

Malkus turns to Wenlan, and asks her to share a story.

There is a moment of silence, and Malkus encourages everyone to applaud. "Thank you Wenlan. I believe the spirits guided you to us, and you'll find more meaning here."

The rest of the meeting was taken up with Malkus telling some fables about the importance of discipline and order, a theme that persists through almost everything he says.

As the meeting wraps up, Mara returns and tells her that it will be time for chores when they return to the house. It wasn't so much asked, as it was ordered, and Wenlan notices a more stern and direct manner from Mara. When you both get back to the house, Mara urges Wenlan to change back into her other clothes so she can help tend to the garden.

If you intend on helping Tanya, where does Wenlan plan to look for something that can be used as a lockpick? Does she ask Mara any more questions? Is there anything specific she'd keep an eye out for or try to figure out more regarding?

The garden has the sorts of tools you'd expect to find, wheelbarrow, shovel, rake, etc. Among them are a set of smaller hand tools, that Wenlan thinks would work quite nicely as a lockpick substitute.

Mara is eager to tell more about The Order, but remains vague on specifics. She explains that there's a council of four leaders who set the rules, all in an effort to maintain order amid "the wilds" as she refers to it. She says that people "always end up agreeing in the end", but doesn't explain how that consensus is reached and Wenlan suspects coercion is involved.

In terms of how it works, Mara explains that Order members in robes patrol during the day and disperse communities of violent bandits who roam the wood. At night, they stand guard protecting Valleyview on all sides.

The night is uneventful, another similar meal. In the morning, Mara encourages Wenlan to put the dress back on and head down to the church for another meeting. She says that she has more to discuss with Malkus.

The makeshift ties work perfectly, while not the most comfortable the tools stay hidden from Mara as Wenlan and her make their way to the church once again. Malkus greets Mara, and they have a conversation off to the side giving you a few moments to talk to Tanya. The others are zoned out or muttering proverbs, either way uninterested in whatever is happening with you two.

"Hey, did you find something? How's she treating you?"

Tanya grabs the tools from Wenlan, and whispers "Perfect, they lock my door because I kept sneaking out. If I bail tonight, you in?"

Roll a DEX save, if you succeed Wenlan slips Tanya the tools silently and Mara continues her conversation with Malkus for a few more moments. If you fail, some of the tools clink together and make noise causing them to end their conversation sooner (meaning you'd only be able to get one more sentence/question out without being heard)

Wenlan gets the tools over to Tanya, but they clank together in the process getting Mara's attention. She doesn't see what you're up to, but looks like she's wrapping up her conversation.

Wenlan has time to answer Tanya's question, and ask/say one more thing.

Tanya whispers "Sneak out tonight, around midnight. Meet me by the northeast wall." and then sits up normally in her seat as well.

Malkus joins the group again, and Mara announces that she's going to do quick errands today and tells Wenlan to head back after the meeting on her own.

The meeting itself goes very similar to the one yesterday, everyone seems to fall into a rote pattern saying similar things in slightly different ways. Tanya doesn't engage with Wenlan in any way, even eye contact, for the rest of the meeting and when it wraps up the other participants and her all head in a different direction than Mara's house.

Wenlan is left alone at this point, for the first time in a while. Is there anything she'd check out on the way back? How does she intend to sneal out?

Roll a DEX save and a WIL save, this will determine what you're able to see/find out without attracting attention.

Wenlan's room has a window with wooden shutters, which make quite a loud noise when opened or closed. She is confident she'd be able to fit though, but unsure how quickly.

Ooops XD

Looking over the locations, Wenlan sees guards around but can't determine where any station may be. She is also unable to determine anything notable about the house Tanya is being held in. The northeast wall has a opening that a small creature or person could slip though. Wenlan is confident that she can get herself and her pack through, but not all at once. Two of the guards kept looking in her direction, so she didn't stay in that area particularly long.

Once Wenlan gets back to Mara's house, she is told to tend to the garden once again while Mara prepares for an evening of baking. It seems that every few days, she makes large quantities of bread and delivers them to the guards in the morning. Mara hints strongly that Wenlan will be expected to aid in those deliveries.

Assuming you are still planning on escaping, let me know what your plan is suggesting a few checks (at least 2) based on what seems appropriate. I'll let you know what the stakes are if those saves are unsuccessful, and then you can either proceed or adjust accordingly. This isn't just a "now" thing, but generally how I kind of intend on doing these sorts of complicated actions so let me know if that's unclear at all.