Thoughts on our Prey

Plans, operations, and intentions

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Postby Imarë » Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:12 pm

I was positing that an abbey would probably be less fortified than a keep. This would make it more in the realm of attack. We, as a party, have invaded and seized a keep in Orbaal so it can be done. I was looking to get the rest of the information before settling on an idea. This just seems to have the greatest prospect.
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Postby Imarë » Fri Sep 23, 2005 11:13 am

Would Bevan care to share the details on the abbey near Heroth (if she knows them)? It might make our planning a little easier.

As I am thinking these are our steps so far

1) Gather as much information as possible on the area and abbey. Get any materials that we think we might need.

2) Take the Selata to a place near Avertu (or in)

3) Go to the local inn (if we could get the name ahead of time that would be great) and ask if (select a name ahead of time) has arrived. Let story that we are awaiting (named above) to take ship to the east (anybody have a specific destination or is "the east" enough?).

4) Scout location for specifics (location of targets, guards in abbey, availability of back up, avenues of retreat etc)

5) Make final plan to attack (current favorite is to attack either in their rooms or during some service).

6) Carry out plan & hope to succeed

7) Flee scene (leaving clues pointing to others?).

Anybody have anything to add to these?
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Postby Lord Ewen » Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:15 pm

I'm wondering if Sir Baris might help in furnishing enough detail about the putative destination down east; I seem to recall he was raised on the Melderyni mainland. Not to use the exact locale where he was raised, of course, but an area with which he has sufficient familiarity. Of course, we probably don't need much detail, as our cover story can certainly include the detail that we've never been to this location.

If we adopt the general plan Dave has outlined, I imagine much of the specific information will have to be gleaned upon arrival, unless someone can think of a good way to gather information about Avertu / Chendy from the resources in Golotha.

And while I'm heartened by the thought that you guys seized a keep up north, I seem to recall some small detail regarding seige equipment and an army dealing with the front end of the structure and only a half-dozen defenders within the entirety of the fortress itself. :? Assailing the abbey in a similar way, by storming it, will limit the options for who we can pin the crime on, as it does not quite seem the metier of Morgath, for instance. And, with only five of us, it may be challenging to ensure that the Serolans do not escape out the postern when the alarm is raised (although such behavior would admittedly seem inconsistent with the Laranian creed). A covert infiltration at night would be less flashy, but may increase the chance we can take out the two targets without having to kill everyone in the abbey.

Some resolution of the preferred method here would assist in making concrete plans for the trip, such as whether we go armed to the gills for an invasion scenario. If we know we're going covert, we may choose to travel light, which may assist in escape. But if we envision wading through a blood-spattered courtyard littered with the corpses of Laranian priests trying to reach the two Serolans, Sir Baris may opt to wear the plate. 8)

And we need to discuss here the tactics of disguise, in detail. I don't think we should cobble something together on game day.
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Postby Imarë » Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:05 pm

I have an idea on disguise. Please feel free to rend to your hearts content. First, one of us changes gender (for this plan, Ewen would make sense). He then plays invalid when we arrive. This would require a stretcher, perhaps one of those with a cover... If we have an invalid who needs to be carried, you need strecher bearers, enter Dascomb and Karl. She is traveling to the Wizzards isle in search of a treatment with her sisters (Bevan and Imare). We could be stopping to wait for a relative (brother, uncle, father, whatever) to join us before we are able to leave. This would enable us to have our wepons and armor hidden away (longer one's could go in the stretcher). Please let me know what is thought of this idea and if anyone thinks it could work.
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Postby Bevan » Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:01 pm

Imarë wrote:Would Bevan care to share the details on the abbey near Heroth (if she knows them)?

I am only familiar with the typical layout which is church, cloister, and out buildings. As to the manpower I can not say. That would depend on the Seralon's preference or needs.

As for a cover story I think it needs to remain as simple as possible (KISS works for me) Since Avertu is not where the abbey is then this makes even more sense. In fact I think we don't need a cover story at all, we just keep to ourselves. If anyone asks we give our best tough guy glare and if they ask twice we stick them. As for Chendy it is a small village where our presence could be questioned. I think this will need to be a purely reconnaissance mission. No mingling with the locals.
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Postby Lord Ewen » Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:02 pm

I agree with Cheryl's point about simplicity, although I remain interested in weighing the pros and cons about the disguise option further. Can we be certain that Palgren will stick to the confines of Chendy? And will his guard be down or up - I see no way of telling, although he seems a wily old veteran, albeit of the narcissistic variety. Is some use of disguise a needless precaution but probably harmless (in which case I vote for its use on the principle of prudence), or would disguise risk the game because we can't sustain it convincingly (in which case I'd say scrap it). One way to test this would be to briefly employ said disguise in Golotha (to, say, do some shopping) and see how it goes. Any disguise which yeilds anything but bland acceptance from folks is unsafe. Just an idea.

Dave's plan seems a fine plan to play around with, at the very least, although we should test it for shortcomings and perhaps modify it or ditch it accordingly. Ewen is, of course, more than happy to attempt such a role, as might be inferred from my above comments.

Regarding the invalid idea, though, Ewen would mislike any plan which keeps him perforce abed while the others are out having fun, but that is probably immaterial if the plan is otherwise approved. However, it would involve the most radically disguised member to be hidden from view much of the time, which seems to cross up the simple logic of the disguise necessity: the most visible members of the party will need the best disguised in order to reduce the overall chance of being exposed. And the plan perhaps makes the party a bit of an oddity and more likely to draw attention (consider: we have yet to encounter an invalid on a stretcher at any inn we have visited :wink: ). Following my logic, it would make more sense to have the better disguised persons be the ones moving about the town, and concoct a blander story (in town, waiting for ship, ho hum).

The potential uses of disguise might include if we decide to, say, attend a service at Chendy for some reason. And to guard against a plan-busting encounter with Palgren in Avertu, assuming he is not strictly cloistering himself at Chendy.

Finally, I am chary of any plan which includes all of us as a unit, for some obvious reasons. Should our cover be blown, it seems essential that no more than three of us are taken, leaving the two others to manage the resultant rescue - we'll be a long way from help down there. A good plan, perhaps, would have two groups with the capacity to keep tabs on each other, so that a blown cover for one group would be realized by the other group fairly quickly.

Alternative to all of this, we can take the risk of arriving in Avertu, quickly reconnoiter Chendy, and strike when we confirm both targets are there. This plan would eschew disguise for a rapid-strike option, as patient waiting would, to my mind, increasingly risk that encounter with Palgren. Such a plan would, I should think, involve a storming of the abbey, or a night time insertion and assassination scenario. Comments?
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Postby Bevan » Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:04 pm

Just curious, who are we disguising ourselves from? I suspect Palgren is the only person there who would recognize us. Given it would not make sense for the Laranian's to move him to an out of the way abbey along with the fanatic soldiers he maintained in Selvos which would only enable him to cause more trouble.

It seems a long shot that there would be someone from Selvos in Avertu who would recognize us. If by some strange coincidence there is, why would the person run to Chendy to alert Palgren? The misunderstanding and subsequent madness of Palgren is not known by many. I would agree the use of aliases would be best. Palliser seems to stick in people minds...:roll:

I like the idea of scouting than attacking. Perhaps a diversion would be useful as well? Like a fire in the church. (Bevan will never get to Tirithor now :cry:)
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Postby Lord Ewen » Fri Sep 30, 2005 3:52 am

Yes, my assumption would be that only Palgren would be likely to recognize us, although perhaps it seems feasible that he took a personal secretary or somebody with him when he was hustled south (the guy writing down the lurid tedium of our interrogations? :roll: ). I would not expect a large group of his Selvos underlings to have been relocated with him.

Having said that, I have a certain unease with the tidy notion that Palgren is an isolated wing-nut who got off the reservation and is now on house arrest down in Avertu, overseen by the virtuous. The primary refutation of that scenario is Sir Auram's assignment: take out Palgren and the local Serolan. And while Sir Auram did not exactly indicate that the second Serolan suffers from the same level of impolitic zealotry as Palgren, he clearly finds the relocation of Palgren to Chendy to be a less-than-ideal solution to the point of ordering the accompanying death of the lady Serolan. My conclusion is that Palgren and the second Serolan (does anybody recall her name? - I seem to have retained remarkably little of the details from Sir Auram's assignment :oops: ) are like-minded to some degree, and as such represent an inconvenient subset of Laranians whose beliefs or behaviors are problematic to the crown. (We know that Laranians still nursing residual allegiance to clan Kand also fit this description of inconvenience - I'm not sure if our two Serolans overlap with that group or not). And who relocated Palgren, anyway? Another Laranian, even higher up in the heirarchy, who maybe isn't properly consulting Sir Auram's playbook.

My point being, Palgren is not quite a lunatic rogue, save perhaps in his idee fixe regarding Morgathian conspiracies. If such were the case, Sir Auram wouldn't waste time worrying about him. It is more likely that Palgren is a problem because he is symptomatic of a larger difficulty: Laranians who flaunt royal decree or otherwise undermine the crown. And our second lady Serolan must also be a bird of a similar feather, hence the assassination order. And I suspect the Laranian superior who conveniently got Palgren out of the way by placing him with another problematic Serolan is also part of the problem, albeit not part of our assignment.

And furthermore, could part of the game of Sir Auram's assignment be that the assassinations will serve as a shot across the bow of the other trouble-making Laranians (particularly whoever moved Palgren, perhaps)? Why else insist on the crown's need for deniability? Because the nature of the two targets will naturally make the crown a lead suspect to Laranians in the know.

Therefore, taking these considerations into account, I would argue that Palgren and his host Serolan are likely to be aware of these political factors, at least to some degree, and will be on their guard for trouble from the crown in the wake of Palgren being relocated (which must be an indignity for the man and no trivial move, to be separated from his curacy and stuck in an out-of-the-way abbey). The host Serolan, inevitably, would have a clue that a political hot potato of some sort has been dumped in her lap, and furthermore might have some inkling that her own inclinations make her a choice on somebody's part to serve as Palgren's hideaway location.

Finally, we told Palgren that we worked for the crown, and for the Inquisitor General to boot. Is it fanciful to think that Palgren, in spite of his zealotry, might have paused during his unceremonious bundling off from Selvos, in the immediate wake of having his prisoners surprisingly snatched out from under his nose by none other than Sir Ellis Hawkwood, and thought: gee, maybe I f*cked up and these guys do work for Sir Auram? I mean crimminy, if it hasn't occurred to him yet, I suspect his lady host will have gently suggested it by now.

Is it too much to think that they may be watchful for us? That Palgren would have described us in detail to his host? After all, Sir Auram suggested (I think) waiting until winter in the hope of this expected level of vigilance to decrease a bit. Thus, I endorse disguise as an option.

A separate argument could be made regarding the tail end of things. In the wake of successfully slaughtering two Laranian high priests, I would anticipate some local, or broader, sensation to be expected. Avertu is a small place. Should someone put two and two together in the wake of the murders (such and such folks of such and such description arrived in Avertu a few days before the horrid crimes, hmmm...), I for one would rest easier if our appearances muddied the water a tad. And is disguise such an inconvenience when (it seems to me) there is little down-side to taking the trouble to disguise ourselves, and much to be lost in being too cavalier?

A final thought: Sir Auram has not, to my knowlege, placed quite this degree of emphasis on the need of the crown to deny a mission in past instances. Should not Bevan safeguard her future utility to Sir Auram in light of his warning by taking the precaution of disguise in this case?

Feel free to take issue with my assumptions above. In light of the fact that I seem sketchy about what exactly Sir Auram said during the interview with Bevan, I may not be the best guy to be connecting the dots :wink: And some of Ewen's own perspectives on the Laranians certainly creep in here; you may have noticed that he's not their biggest fan. In fact, by Ewen's lights Palgren is just a more extreme version of the typical Laranian prig: a sanctimonious zealot whose chivalrous, self-important posturing is a hypocrisy hiding his underlying unchivalrous ambitions. And they shafted the Soursis back in the day, by the way. Much better to hang with the Empress of Opulence. Caveat lector, I suppose. 8)
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Postby Matt » Fri Sep 30, 2005 8:11 am

Chendy Abbey is not in Avertu. It is some distance away and is its own village. Avertu just happens to be the nearest port to the Abbey. You could always go a day or two longer and stop at Aleath instead. I'm sure the fuss has died down by now ...

As to the Serolan of Chendy, she is a Milaka, a cousin of King Andasin IV on his (non-royal) father's side. (His claim to the throne came through his mother.)
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Postby Imarë » Fri Sep 30, 2005 8:32 am

I was going to point out the Andasin IV connection, which is why I assume that Sir Auram wishes her out of the way. The current monarchy seems to have gone out of its way to eliminate everybody who might be related to their former enemies.

I also am in favor of some disguise, not from being seen by the man himself but that he has left a description of us to whomever is guarding the place. I think he knew from the beginning who we worked for and did not care in the least. This is why I believe Sir Auram has given us the task of eliminating him. Remember, even if he did lie to the soldiers he brought in to capture us, they went along with violating the law in seizing us in the first place. This would be the proverbial 'shot accross the bow' of the Laranian ship.

As for being suspected in the killing, as long as Sir Auram cannot be directly tied to the act itself I do not believe there is any harm done. This is also why I think some sort of disguise is important. We are know quantities as I am sure that he made a report to his superiors about us. If a party made up of similar individuals comes in and kills the man it would raise suspicions. If the party were different, the assumption of source would be the same but proof would be lacking. I do not believe this is supposed to be kept quiet, it is an object lesson for some.

As for problems with disguise, please feel free to change or disregard anything I propose. I am trying to get the ball rolling on specifics. I thought the invalid was a good touch, allowing the transgendered one maximum protection. With our story of going east an obvious purpose would have been a plus. The one so typed would not have to stay in the room, simply slip the disguise and go out a window as somebody else. As I also wish to keep this as quick as possible (both for disguise purposes and to minimize the possibility of Palgren finding out we are there). I do keep the admonition to keep coincidental damage to a minimum in mind however (setting fire to the abbey and killing them all as they come out is not a good idea). I believe Sir Auram wants to be able to keep the Laranian church in general in support of the crown, just give them a bloody nose for getting out of line.
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Postby Lord Ewen » Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:31 pm

Matt wrote:Chendy Abbey is not in Avertu. It is some distance away and is its own village.


Believe it or not, I had grasped that upon the first correction.

As its clear I'm barking up the wrong tree, I shall shortly repair to another tree. At risk of proving tedious, however, allow me to respond to the imputation that my above post was premised upon an ongoing failure to grasp the geography.

There seem to me to be two broad sets of possibilities here.

(1) Palgren may have no real expectation that any trouble is coming his way, and thus is taking zero precautions that would be of any concern to us. And Palgren may remained buttoned up at Chendy abbey throughout the winter and never venture out beyond Chendy village. If both of these are patently obvious assumptions to make in preparation for the mission, then I grant you that my post above was a waste of time. However, I fail to see how we can conclude, based upon what we know, that both of these above sentences are inarguably true. They seem reasonable possibilities, but I fail to see why an alternative hypothesis should be dismissed out of hand. "By heaven, we were told Palgren's at Chendy, therefore he will invariably remain in Chendy, as if nailed to the spot, until the winter is over" seems a bit of jumping to a simplistic conclusion, and I can't help but suspect in some furture scenario such simplistic thinking may be liable to get us killed. But maybe it's perfect for today.

or (2) Palgren is looking over his shoulder, per the logic of my previous post. Or Palgren, used to the modest amenities of Selvos, gets a bit stir-crazy during the winter and bestirs himself to venture out toward, say, the nearest town within a couple hours ride. In either case, I would imagine Avertu would stand a high likelihood of being where he turns his gaze. If he expects trouble, it seems unlikely he would rank assassins trudging in over the heath from the west as the prime possibility. And if he wants a jaunt, Avertu seems at least a possibility. My point is, while other locales might beguile Palgren's fears or tempt his visit, Avertu is the only one we need to worry about, because that's where we'll be.

At any rate, perhaps I'm ranking as possibilities contingencies which are obviously absurd to those of more considered judgment. If so, I would be indebted to anyone who can point out my falacies, so long as they speak slowly and clearly. :? Or maybe I should refrain from typing posts at three in the morning. :roll: More to the point, however, my failure may just be in neglecting to take a hint. In which case I should probably withdraw my arguments and leave it to others to determine if any nugget of utility might be salvaged from them.
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Postby Matt » Fri Sep 30, 2005 8:18 pm

That's fine - message received. I had taken the focus on Avertu to mean that I had been insufficiently clear. Backing away from the keyboard ... 8)
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Postby Guest » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:35 pm

:) My bad for taking it as a rebuke, and for posting cantankerously in the wake of insomnia.

I gather that the consensus seems to be leaning in the direction a rapid strike and exit, in which case Cheryl's scenario of no disguise may be sufficiently risk-free. Here is a possible bare outline of such an operation:

We arrive in Avertu, check into an inn, and obtain directions to Chendy from someone. Early the next morning we set out for Chendy. Upon arrival later in the day, we scout the immediate environs of the abbey, looking for the best way in. After dark, we make our entrance, kill the two Serolans, and leave.

Fast enough to offer slight risk of recognition, perhaps. But the following details, at minimum, would need to be worked out:

- walk or ride (to and away) from Chendy?
- do we need to bother confirming that Serolans Milaka and Palgren are present at the abbey on the big day, or do we just proceed on that assumption? If the former, how do we ascertain this?
- do we need to determine where the two Serolans are located within the abbey (sleeping quarters, etc), or do we just wade through all of the abbey denizens until we find them? If the former, how do we ascertain this? (I'm assuming a compound with a wall of some sort here, but nothing too imposing. Never the less, I imagine strangers wandering about reconnoitering the abbey grounds in broad daylight will attract some attention, while from outside the wall certain key details will be unclear.)
- do we leave survivors at large in the abbey and depart in a state of extreme haste, or do we eliminate everyone and stroll back up the road?
- do we return to Avertu after the crime, or go elsewhere?

Perhaps much of this information can be obtained by ambushing a servant or something, working out the details on the fly, as it were, but here is the chance for us to generate some possible tactics.
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Postby Lord Ewen » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:43 pm

Weird, I wasn't logged in. Must have cleared my cookie cache. Well, that's me up there :roll:
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Postby Matt » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:58 pm

Even weirder, you should not have been able to post without being logged in. I better look into that ...

Update

It turns out that this - and only this - forum was accidentally set so that anyone could post. All fixed now.
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Postby Imarë » Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:00 am

I think the rapid strike is our best bet if it is feasable. The less time we spend hanging around, the less chance to be remembered clearly. At least at some level we should disguise ourselves, at least in name and perhaphs arriving in two groups (and keep them separate). I am going on the assumption that plausable deniability is an advantage here, both in our own cases and to Sir Auram also. Ewen's outline follows what Imare thinks should be our goal (although I am sure that our GM will throw a few monkey wrenches into the mix also). Not knowing the lay of the land or who will be present in the abbey makes definite planning impossible. Having a potential base near to but not at the same place as the abbey may make the more complicated disguises unneccesary. One of us may need to go into the abbey on a service day and scout, so at least one of us should have a good disguise that they can don if needed.

To answer your specific points:

I would propose not using horses. Mounted people always seem to be looked at more closely (the expense of buying and keeping) and having to worry about where to keep them while attacking the abbey etc. On the practical level, I would think that a horse track is much easier to follow especially in winter when there is not a lot of movement. Shod feet would be more common and much easier to hide in case of pursuit.

To the extent possible we should ascertain if the serolans are present. We could time the attack to be near a religious service that the head of the abbey would have to attend. This might also mean that there are more people in the village to attend the services. On the negative side, it could mean more occupants of the abbey. With Imare's eyesight she might be able to establish details of the abbey if she is able to get some height nearby (hill, tree). As with keeps, it is usually obvious where quality stays.

We have been told to keep incindental damage to a minimum so I think the slaughter of the entire population of the abbey would be out. If somebody gets in our way we can remove them but I would be loth to kill everybody who happened to be at the abbey.

I would say that when we leave Avertu to do this we not return. We head from there right away from the whole area and take pains to conceal our tracks. Having two hunters with tracking ability should give us some skill at covering up our own tracks.

As I said before, this would be the ideal way of carrying this out. We should also prepare to change our plans on the fly if needed.
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Postby Imarë » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:20 pm

Not being a Laranian, it would be helpful if Bevan could give the specifics of the abbey she knows. This would not be to plan an attack but just to give an idea of what an abbey consists of and how (at least one) is populated.
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Postby Matt » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:36 pm

I'll answer on Bevan's behalf.

The abbey in Heroth (look at the map if you have it, it's the small cluster of buildings on the left side) is unfortified and consists of a number of buildings apart from the temple itself. It's guarded typically by as much as a company of soldiers from the Order of the Checkered Shield, and will have the Serolan (HP), a number of other masters, and some number of priests and acolytes. There will also be servants and such. Priests and up will be fair warriors themselves - Larani is a warrior goddess after all. Most services have a martial component, reenactments of a sort, so arms and armor are commonly worn for services.
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Postby Imarë » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:53 pm

Thanks for the answer on what the Heroth abbey is like. Gives me more perspective.
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Postby Lord Ewen » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:58 pm

I presume, given the ubiquity of Laranianism in Western Harn, that we are generally familiar (or Bevan can tell us) that lay masses are held every ten days (on dates ending in a 5). Depending on our timing, waiting for a lay mass may entail some risky waiting. As well, given the fact that the regalia includes the priests being decked out in armor, a ceremony might be when we can most expect to be confronted with a "hard target". Therefore, in lieu of some compensating factor, I would opt for steering clear of a mass for the moment of truth.

Attending a mass might gain us info, but I'm not sure what. We need to know what our Milaka target looks like, I suppose, but there may be less hazardous ways of accomplishing this. Having said this, if one or more of us decide we need to run the chance of sitting in the pews with Palgren perhaps co-officiating up front, then I for one would suggest a fairly robust disguise.

The layout of the abbey in Heroth looks more open and, hence, reassuring than what I was imagining. Even if the abbey in Chendy has a small wall, which would be greater defence than the hedgerow around the Heroth abbey, it shouldn't prove much of an impediment. Am I right in assuming, though, that the Chendy abbey will likely be more centralized amidst its surrounding dwellings, given that it serves as a manor of sorts and is affiliated with no other keep or fortification?
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Postby Imarë » Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:23 pm

I was simply using the Laranian service as a guide as to when the head priest would probably be there. There sound like too many targets during a service so this should be avoided. I wonder how many of the priests will be female and how differently the serolon dresses from others (level of quality etc).
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Postby Lord Ewen » Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:42 pm

Just guessing, but I would think they're fairly status-conscious. 8)
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Postby Matt » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:23 pm

Generally speaking, Laranians wear predominantly white with red accents/trimmings. The more red, the higher the status.
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Postby Lord Ewen » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:49 pm

So we basically look for a woman wearing the same amount of red as Palgren.
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Postby Bevan » Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:46 pm

Some clarification on my previous post. When I mentioned fire in the church it was meant as a diversion not the actual means to accomplish our task. I was also thinking this would occur during the night so that we can use the dark to slip in and out of the abbey. Perhaps some well placed fiery arrows over the wall (if there is one) would do the trick. Depending on what the abbey is made of.

Going to a service is not a bad idea. We can get the lay out of the buildings, an idea of the number of habitants, and the identity of the Serolan. The Serolan will not be hard to identfy. I'm sure she will be the one giving the sermon or as Matt mentioned, in a lot of red. Here a disguise would be needed. Only one or two of us should attend and not necessarily together. I am still trying to get my mind around a kind of disguise. Perhaps less leather and more wool. Not sure what can be done with hair color. Being blonde I suppose there might be some sort of hair dye? :?

I concede I don't wish to be wondering around trying to figure out where their quarters might be. What do you think of the idea of bribes or light torture to get information? They have both served us well in other places. :twisted:

I am not so sure Palgren will be so bored that he will travel into Avertu during the winter. I don't see the reasoning of leaving a comfortable Laranian abbey for the accomodations a small seaport town can provide.
Especially if he is paranoid. If that is the case a day trip through the wilderness seems even more unlikely.
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Bevan
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