Chapter 8.7: The Plan

[zebsen]

The Miser reiterates, "Some items will burn readily. At least two shipments of art, some wine, and textiles are missing. If those catch fire, they will burn. Conversely, some items will survive a blaze. Most coins, most armor, metal items. As I said before, the goal here is to kill the enemy. If it all goes up in smoke, so be it. There will still be some residual profit, and our enemies will be dead. I'm simply laying out a scenario where the more we recover, the more you get paid. I can't pay you top tier coin, if everything we wish to recover is gone."

He adds, "As long as the whole fort doesn't go up in smoke, I was going to staff and run it as a travelers rest of sorts. If this happens, I would be more than happy to find some kind of agreement where we can mutually profit from it. I am only mentioning this though to give you full insight to my thought process and not withhold information from you."

[Luopo]

"I expect that they're not going to come out to play, especially since they're smart enough or resourceful enough to spot and kill an invisible scout," Vort says in response with sarcastic sneer in return. "I think you guys have too much hubris based on our previous successes and near deaths." Looking to Rian, "Our buddy, Predzar, is still alive and well and after Sending to him, well, those other guys that ended up in his area didn't die from traveling there--He killed them. We should be dead too, but he probably didn't have the time, that and he wanted me to find his lost love." Looking back at the others, "So before you think we have done really fucking well, we just got lucky. We should be dead, so maybe we try not so hard to get ourselves killed over what might be in an Ogre fort--gods know what we would do with even more gold and nowhere to spend it." Vort couldn't believe he had just said that about gold of all things, and he would have to chastise and maybe slap himself in private over the notion.

[xcylla]

Rian tried to sort out Vort's various reasons for not trying to restore the road between Alliance and Xanthar. The paladin focuses his attention to the problem in front of him. He can't worry about Predzar, the lost love of Predzar, or the luck of the Sentinels. "If the ogres follow the pattern established by the scouts, the ogres with a support group move outside the fort. That is where we strike. We concentrate magical fire on a single group of ogres and bugbears. We follow up the magical fire with ranged weapon attacks and a second wave of magical fire. We follow that up with melee and ranged attacks. We then make a decision about retreat, laying siege, or pressing the offensive."

[Spellblade]

Kalthanar nods and gives his support, "This is not an insurmountable task. With the assistance of the Golden Gauntlet we should be able to overcome the odds."

[Scymon]

"So we are 7, the Golden Gauntlets are offering 15.... how many will the Tower add to those numbers and what of the temples here. Can we expect any assistance there? Make no mistake, Vort is right. We need numbers to take this thing down. You should be asking anyone who has lost trade or loved ones to this fort to rise up and help remove it. I myself care not for the value of the items inside.... or coin. I care about material things that will aid us in our quest, items such as those in a certain vault."

"It is a shame we are not in Mistmoor. I could've rallied close to 20-30 warriors of Bear Clan alone, who would be willing to tear that place down piece by piece.... just for the sheer joy of it. It is a shame that it takes the motivation of money to do the same here".

[Spellblade]

Kalthanar asks, "Why kind of missile weapons did you see? Bows, crossbows and the like?"

[xcylla]

Rian nodded his head Hrogthgar's analysis. The paladin, like the Mistmoor warrior, did not need the motivation of money. "We are in the formation of a plan. It is obvious we'll need more than Sentinels and the Golden Gauntlets. I think contributions from the Tower and clerics from the various temples are needed for any plan to work."

[Hideous]

“I can talk to Kyricus,” offers Brandon. “Perhaps he can give us some insight into any aid we might receive from the Tower.”

[zebsen]

Clas says, "The tower guards we saw all had long bows. No crossbows. The longbows on the bugbear tower guards looked pretty wicked."

Galmund says, "Of my 15, I would definitely bring at least a tower wizard. Clerics are going to be harder to get. Mishakal got hit pretty hard volunteering for the first two failed assaults. Most of what they have left aren't battle tested." The group recalled the elderly priestess that greeted them at the Tower, Winona. She had to be over 70 years old and likely wouldn't be the first choice for front line combat despite her favor with Mishakal.

Galmund pauses and says, "Look, we all want this to succeed, but the Golden Gauntlet has already lost as lot. The tower and temples have as well, to a lesser extent. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I have my fifteen best left ready to raise hell. Truth is that of my fifteen best from 2 months ago, about ten of them are dead now. I'll be leading those I can convince to aid us. If you want more experience and/or more bodies, the Golden Gauntlet would need a larger cut of the proposed profits to attract them. This isn't greed. This is trying to convince people to risk their lives when two other ventures have already failed. Many of them have already lost friends. The rumors floating around town about the lot of you guys will attract some, but it's not enough to seal the deal."

[Luopo]

"Better bring a shitload of healing potions," Vort says to Galmund. "I think I'll be knee deep in Sentinels that will require healing, and I look to my own first." Resigned to the fact that more studious types had determined we were going to win if we were smart about it, Vort sighed and looked for something else good to drink. If he was going to die, it would not be from hunger.