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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdweller00" data-source="post: 9538845" data-attributes="member: 6778479">If anyone cares: I ultimately decided against using the amnesia (/drugging) sequence.  Instead, I placed an outpost of the stronghold (essentially a satellite garrison set to guard the path to the main faction stronghold) inside a cave system that the PCs were exploring.  They were able to discover a cultivated shrieker patch, a tripwire hidden in a murky pool of water, and some evidence that a missing person that they were looking for had passed through the area.  One of the party members was able to find a well-hidden doorway disguised as solid rock (which was sealed tightly and lacked any apparent means of being opened from the side facing the party).  As well as a hidden peephole through which they were being watched by someone.  As the party started to make a fuss, they were told by a gruff voice to go away.  They eventually managed to negotiate (speaking through the peephole to a person they couldn't make out clearly) the release of a captive in exchange for doing so.  The captive had been kept blindfolded and was only dimly aware of who their captors might have been. She had been attacked and subdued by armored and cowled warriors; she had been able to see their equipment and the glint of their eyes but nothing else. The party had precious little evidence as to even what species they may have been.  A couple party members were able to hear discussions in a gutteral language from the other side of the wall that none of them understood; but the players were able to correctly deduce what it was. At least one party member was able to piece together exactly who the faction was based upon the weapons they had been seen using (completely on their own).Overall, I'm pretty satisfied at the amount of information gained.  The party doesn't understand the scale of threat that they face yet; but they at least have a general sense of who the faction is and where they are.  I'm honestly a bit proud of (/impressed by) their ability to make sense of the clues.  One party member considered casting a fireball through the peephole, which might have gone poorly; but ultimately decided against it.  They did engage in some mild vandalism in response to the rough treatment the captive they freed had been subjected and the general rudeness of the faction.</blockquote>

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