The Quality of Gold
Part 14: Imprisoned!
Comments in Blue have been added after publishing.
Details
The party allowed themselves to be taken prisoner without fighting their way out, but here is a description of what would have happened:
Choice 1 – The Great Escape
If the party decides to make a break for it, they will enter a chase scenario with 8 Lastwall Knights in pursuit. They will get to act first in the initiative and will need to overcome 3 obstacles to elude capture.
Route 1 – Sprint down the road/in the open. This option has the least chance of success unless the party is faster than their pursuers (25). Anyone slower will be caught and detained.
Route 2 – Into the trees. The party sprints for a stand of trees and begins running through the trunks. 3 of 5 of the party need to make a DC19 Athletics check to gain this obstacle. If not, they are either caught or lose 1 obstacle.
Route 3 – Around some buildings. The party can attempt to elude their pursuers by ducking around some buildings. 3 of the 5 of the party need to make a DC19 Stealth check. If they are successful they gain credit for 2 obstacles, or if they lose, they lose 1 obstacle.
Route 4 – Jump in the river. If the group decides to jump in the river to avoid pursuit, all 5 will need to make a DC19 Swim (Athletics) check to get to the other bank ahead of the guards. They will get credit for 1 obstacle or lose 1 if they are not successful.
Route 5 – Get help – if the party enlists the help of someone who is on good terms (not complicit), 3 of 5 must roll a DC19 Diplomacy roll. If successful, they will gain 2 obstacles credit and lose 1 if they are not.
Route 6 – The crazy guy. If it looks like they are going to get caught, Traven Thorpe will ‘clumsily’ try to capture them, but will end up delaying their pursuers instead and give the party 1 obstacle credit.
Choice 2: Captured or Surrender
See Imprisoned! below
If the party for some reason is defeated and captured, they will become the newest guests in the Lower Citadel Dungeons, awaiting their unpleasant fates. The doors are locked with an Average Lock (4 Successful DC25 checks). At some point, they will meet Brunin who will be happy to help them if they seem sincere. (see dungeon section)
The party will end up in separate cells in the dungeons under Stonehaven Citadel. They will only be wearing tunics, but no clothing, armor, shoes, etc. A coarse sack with straw serves as a pallet bed and a single chamber pot sits next to the cell door. Sounds of other people can be heard coming from throughout the complex and from the sounds it appears to house dozens of other residents. See Imprisoned! below
The Traven Factor
At some time in the final encounters of the adventure, Traven Thorpe may make an appearance for ill or good. He has been following the party around discretely when they are in town and is ready to report their behavior to his aunt and uncle (or the knights) if he thinks it will get him in their good graces. He feels that the party treated him disrespectfully and wants them to be humiliated as well.
Or Traven may feel that the party was kind to not kill him or bring him directly to the authorities and he owes them a debt. He may show up in a time of need to swing an encounter in the favor of the party.
He may even be a prisoner in the dungeons who they find and who has some important information.
Where’s Brunin?
Brunin floats around between the prison and the refugees’ areas, so he can appear wherever and whenever the party may need him. He will make an appearance the next morning at the underground camps after the opening night play to make sure that the newest group of refugees know what to do and where to be. That afternoon, he will bring down 5 more refugees from the prison and queue them for the next night’s play.
Imprisoned!
If the party is taken prisoner, here is the timeline:
If the party does not surrender, the Knights have orders to try to take them alive if possible so they will use non-lethal force (-2 to attack) unless the party kills 2 of the knights in the combat. In that case they will not hold back and will threaten to kill them all if they do not surrender.
Once the party surrenders, the Knights will disarm them and take their obvious (carried) items such as backpacks, other weapons, sacks, bags, etc. They will be manacled and carted to the Citadel Terrace (if conscious) and then brought to the front of the Officers’ Quarters while Dougal is summoned. Jax and Alina will appear before Dougal:
Jax: “Well, I guess you just couldn’t hang on to your good fortune.”
Alina: “Had to stick your nose into places you shouldn’t have. Would have been nice to have some new friends up here…”
The two will not insult them or give anything away, but treat the party with pity and regret. Eventually, Dougal Wicker will come out and start commanding the guards:
“Sack them, then take them down to the lower cells. Make sure they are introduced to the customs of their new homes.”
8 Guards + Alina will take them to a secret door in the wall, where they will each have a sack placed over their heads, then marched down two levels of stairs to the guard post in the Citadel Lower Dungeon (LD3). Once at the guard post, they will be divested of everything and ordered to change into a tunic. Their gear will be stuffed into large sacks and tagged. Alina will help Tempest and tells here that she is here to make sure that the guards and other prisoners do not abuse female detainees. Anyone caught doing so, is moved to the top of the Necromancer’s list of test subjects.
The party is escorted to their cells, manacles and sacks removed and left to themselves.
The Dungeons of Stonehaven
Each cell has a lock, a barred window about 5’ off the ground and a small hole about 6” high and 8” wide in the floor to slide a bowl in and out with food. Sputtering torches line the walls every so often and 3 guard posts rotate patrols through the complex but since they are not well managed, the guards only respond to disturbances and bring food and water 2x a day, picking up the old bowls which must be slid out when they are empty. Chamber pots are emptied under guard by a troupe of 6 foul goblins once every 3-4 days. The goblins are not willing to assist at all under threat of a fate worse than death (they are fully aware of what is happening to these prisoners).
The party can use magic to escape, attack a guard or try to improvise a way to pick the lock, but all of these ideas will have to be innovative. Any spells that require material comps cannot be cast. If the party cannot escape, within the next day, they will get a visit from the resident friendly host, Brunin Greyforge. The DC to pick one of the cell door (simple) locks is 3xDC20
The party’s belongings are in one of the guard posts or have been ‘confiscated’ by the guards. Any magic or valuable items have been claimed and are randomly worn or kept by the guards.
LD1 – The freshly dug passage leads to the underside of a filthy sleeping pallet (it is kept smelly and vomit-encrusted to dissuade guards from touching it) in one of the larger cells. This is where Brunin dug the escape route leading into the Ancient Crypt. All of the fresh dirt has been painstakingly removed and placed into the Crypt.
LD2 – The prisoners in this section are all aware of what’s happening in their section of the prison and have the ability to easily remove their doors if/when the time comes to escape. Each of the refuges in this section have hidden weapons and knowledge of the escape route, but have volunteered to play along to keep the guards from finding out the secret. The nearest prisoners will warn the party if a patrol is due to pass by soon. (roll 1d6 and each pip is equal to 10 minutes from present until the next patrol)
LD3 – The guards in the Lower Dungeon are bored, but not slackers. This is also the level that has access to the labs and the Necromancer and Lady Rowena frequently pass through this area each day, so they are alert. Typically, one guard is more concerned about sound coming down the stairs (the bosses when they are outside) or at the door to the guard post (when they are in the labs) than the prisoners themselves. The prisoners are fed and watered 2x day (Morning and Night) and a hole in the floor of each cell serves as a toilet and refuge disposal.
