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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mleibrock" data-source="post: 6357047" data-attributes="member: 29548">"Let me think on this aloud a minute.  If we rescue Arael while the Hellknights are transporting him on the road outside of Westcrown; there shouldn't be any witnesses to see us attacking the Hellknights, nor any civilians around to get hurt, and there will be fewer guards than at the prison or the citadel. Even more importantly, by rescuing him beyond Westcrown’s walls, we aren’t technically breaking city laws. Many in Westcrown (including a significant portion of the nobility) bristle at the Hellknights and see them as little more than mercenaries, and won’t take issue if they lose a prisoner on the way to the citadel. Best of all, since Arael is now in Hellknight custody, Westcrown is no longer interested in his supposed crimes, and if he escapes, the city won’t be bound to turn him back over to the Hellknights unless enough government officials want to do the Order of the Rack a favor.  Such a favor is unlikely to be granted, especially since handing the prisoner over to the zealous Order of the Rack is already just such a favor—I'm fairly confident that if we can get Arael back to Westcrown alive (preferably without the death of any Hellknights), he’ll be safe.  But own untrained group can not do this alone.  It sounds like you are all in on this so I'll tell you about the area.Citadel Rivad lies northwest of the city of Westcrown—a fortress and training ground for the Order of the Rack, the oldest (and most zealous) of the Hellknight orders. It is essentially impregnable. The road to the citadel is an offshoot from the main road that winds off to the southwest—the land along the route to the citadel is mostly open plain, with a few scattered groves of trees (some of which are cut back every few years to make it harder for bandits to hide) and one stone bridge crossing a stream. With rare exceptions, the only people who use the road are Hellknights or those providing services for them (food, messages, and so on), and on a typical day only three or four groups travel the road in either direction. Because of the low traffic and the proximity to the Hellknights, banditry is unheard of on this minor road, and while the forces of Citadel Rivad aren’t careless about the possibility of being attacked in this area, they certainly won’t expect it. This all makes the road the best point to attempt a rescue of the him.Another factor that works to our advantage is the Order of the Rack’s arrogance. This Hellknight order is the oldest, and they’ve faced very few failures over their long history. As a result, the escort for Arael’s transport is relatively light. As the entire operation to capture Arael was, basically, a training exercise (Janiven bitterly comments on how the Children of Westcrown should receive a payment from the Order of the Rack in thanks for providing such a convenient opportunity), the honor of escorting Arael back to Citadel Rivad has been granted to the group of armigers most directly responsible for his capture. Word on the street is that the other armigers’ failure to catch any other supposed “rebels” has resulted in quite a bit of shame and mockery, and much of this current crop of trainees’ remaining pride rests solely on Arael’s imminent imprisonment in Citadel Rivad. According to various reports, Arael’s trip to the Citadel will be escorted by a total of 10 Hellknight armigers, led by their sponsor, a young and gifted (but low-ranking) Hellknight Signifier named Shanwen. Even given our successes in the sewers, this is probably too many foes to handle at once—particularly since we need to avoid any Hellknight fatalities if possible. The more Hellknight armigers who live, the less brutal the Children of Westcrown look and the more humiliation and shame they inflict on the Order of the Rack.So we need some type of plan to even the odds even further...maybe we could pull off an ambush of sorts...  what if while the you guys make the primary attack on the armored wagon transporting Arael and mount his rescue, I’ll lead several of the other Children of Westcrown in a feint-ambush against the Hellknights. Given the absence of bandit attacks on that road, the Hellknights are sure to interpret any attack as an attempt to rescue their prisoner, and the likely response to sighting a group of what appear to be bandits stepping into the road ahead will be to split their forces, sending their mounted troops forward to handle the supposed highwaymen while the prisoner and his guards hang back and perhaps begin toturn around to make a retreat back to Westcrown so they don’t lose their prize. This would give the main force— meaning you five—fewer opponents to fight and making it much easier to free Arael—especially if the mounted Hellknights fall for the plan and ride their horses into a section of the road the secondary group prepares with caltrops. The real question is where to stage the ambush of the transport."Janiven sketches a map of the road to the citadel, pointing out the small stone bridge that crosses the swift but relatively narrow stream called the Athua, which might make a good place for an ambush. She also indicates a few locations before and after the bridge where there’s much more tree cover to allow a hit-and-run attack and to complicate pursuit via horseback. "What are your thoughts?"</blockquote>

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