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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8035313" data-attributes="member: 7015827">Shanni and Dermot, as the two stealthiest of the party, headed to the manor to reconnoiter it, while Aerikoth went to Kablin’s Inn to rest. Rahnee and Darrow finished their conversation, then made their way to the old Hallton manor house grounds. The two met up with Shanni and Dermot at the foot of the manor hill and compared notes on what they had seen. Shanni offered a half-apology for offending Rahnee, saying that she had not known the full details of what had happened there. Rahnee in response furnished the gory details of how her husband Brok-Tul and their companion, the monk Veran, had been killed and their bodies mutilated during a previous assault on the manor, when it was occupied by the self-styled “Duke” Hallton. Rahnee made clear her determination not to have the same thing happen again, due to being overconfident and unprepared. The four then completed their survey of the manor grounds, noting the locations of the main building, other outbuildings scattered around the area, and a barricade in front of the manor.Returning to Talwell, the scouting party fetched up in Kablin’s Inn to join Aerikoth. The wizard was the only one dry and comfortable, having spent the intervening time reading a book in front of the fireplace. Darrow pointed out the value of underground living – no rain – while Shanni and Dermot swapped references to the bitter cold common along the Sword Coast. The inn’s serving girl brought out some hot broth and hard-looking bread and cheese for them, which was all that was available. As they filled their stomachs as best they could, the adventurers discussed possible ways into the manor house. Among other options, Aerikoth offered up the possibility of teleporting the group, in two waves, into one of the manor’s bedrooms.Rahnee and Shanni took turns describing the manor house exterior. All of the (now-uninhabited) outbuildings in the fields had been burned, and there was a “big and nasty” roadblock, as Shanni put it, leading up to the manor’s fortified gates. Rahnee brought up the idea of fireballing the barricades, but Shanni thought that would just expose the casting mage to arrow fire. Dermot observed that around the back of the manor the rockface might be climbable, but in the current wet weather conditions, someone like Darrow might have a tough time. Shanni expressed her impatience at all of the objections to action, saying they might as well just wait in the village for an attack or head back to Westgate. She nevertheless forcefully objected to the idea, mentioned by both Aerikoth and Darrow during the discussion, of teleporting into the manor bedroom for a sneak attack.All agreed, at least, that the manor would be difficult to attack. Rahnee had observed that the guards were disciplined and responded to the call of a horn to close the main gate at nighttime. Dermot offered a compromise plan, with he and Shanni scouting the main path up at night, Rahnee close at hand for martial backup, and then calling for Aerikoth to magic himself and Darrow to the top of the hill behind the manor. They would then link up and hopefully being able to enter the building quickly as a group. After some discussion about signals and such, the party agreed to the plan, Aerikoth stating he had no objection to it.As they were talking about preparations to head for the manor at once, in order to be there and attack before dawn, it became apparent that they would be lacking in protective spells, as the mage had used them all up earlier in the day. This gave Rahnee and Darrow pause, as Aerikoth explained it would take a full eight hours for him to be able to rest and re-memorize his spells. After some further arguing, however, the group voted to strike as early as possible, to avoid having their presence in the area come to the attention of the bandits.It took two hours in the dark, wet and cold for them to travel to the old Hallton manor grounds. Shanni and Dermot sneaked forward and spotted four guards, laying some traps of their own on the path upwards in preparation for battle. Meanwhile, Aerikoth cast invisibility spells on himself and Darrow.After careful scouting by Shanni, Dermot and Rahnee – who grimly noted a body impaled on a spike outside the manor – the company gathered at the base of the hill to go over the situation; Dermot separately kept watch on the path from the shadows, to avoid them being surprised. Of the guards who were visible, two had bows and held the high ground, with barricades and traps in between. Shanni disliked the idea of going straight up the slope and Rahnee agreed that was not the way to go. It was decided that they would attempt instead to scale the cliffside behind the manor. Darrow would remove his armor for the ascent, with the plan being for Shanni and Dermot to go up first and secure a rope for the others.Just as they had reached the back side of the manor, which they were glad to see did not have a fence or barrier other than the cliffside, Dermot called a halt, sniffing the air. Shortly afterwards a large, collared brown bear appeared at the top of the cliff, growling softly. While the others froze, Dermot attempted to calm the bear with his animal empathy skill, but this only seemed to make the bear angrier, as it let out a roar. It was quickly decided to abandon the attempt to climb, and Darrow hurriedly put his armor back on as they retreated, as Dermot distracted the bear away from the others. (Had the ranger succeeded in calming the guard bear, thereby allowing the company to ascend the back way, this would have avoided much future angst regarding the company's assault on the manor. --R)</blockquote>

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