A Knot of Thorns - Prison Break

After being marked and condemned to death, a group of prisoners band together in an attempt to break out of the most secure prison in all of Talingarde.  Three humans, Harlocke, Shivers, Vicky, and a Half-Orc named Lumond are chained to a prison cell wall awaiting their sentencing to be carried out when Shivers receives word he has an unexpected visitor. Chaos ensues as the guards fumble around attempting to unshackle Shivers with the guards attacking each other, seemingly randomly, to the displeasure of Sargent Tomas Blackerly.

Once Shivers is secured in the interrogation room, he receives a visit from a woman named Tiadora.

"Oh, dearest,” proclaims the unfamiliar woman. “I’m so relieved you’re alive!” She quickly turns to Tomas. “Could we please have a moment alone, good sir? For pity’s sake?”

Tomas goes blank for a bit and then quickly agrees. “Of course, my lady. For you,’ tis no problem.”

As soon as the guards leave, Tiadora’s demeanor immediately changes. She drops all pretense of grief or concern. She is immediately all business.

Tiadora

"Have you forgotten me, dearest?” the unexpected visitor says with a smirk, dropping her pretense of grief. “Call me Tiadora. We possess a mutual friend who would like to meet you and your fellow cell-mates. Unfortunately, our friend is unwilling to visit you in your present rather shabby accommodations so it seems you must escape. Don’t be so dour. Just because it’s never been done before is no reason you can’t be the first."

“If you manage that, cross the moors on the outskirts of town. On the old Moor Road you’ll see a manor house with a single lantern burning in the second story. There our mutual friend waits. That is all I know. He did want me to give you this.”

She takes off her silken veil and wipes away a few fake tears with it.

“Something to remember me by, dearest.”

Her message delivered, she rises and the guards return. Immediately, her demeanor once more changes and she is again a perfect picture of grief. “No, I can’t bear to leave you!” She gives the Shivers a kiss on the cheek. The kiss is ice-cold and feels somehow alien and inhuman.

Tomas shakes his head. “I’m afraid it’s time, miss.”

She looks deep in Tomas’ eyes and says, “Thank you for letting me say good-bye. There’s no need to search my dearest. You are such a good friend for letting me see my dearest one more time.”

“Such a good friend,” Tomas repeats his voice almost mechanical. Then the watch sergeant seems to snap out of it and bows politely. “A pleasure, madam,” She leaves unveiled. Her eyes meet Shivers' one last time and she briefly gives them a wicked smile.

When Shivers returns to the group, again with some odd inter-guard conflict, he and Lumond quickly figure out the mysteries of the veil with some help from Vicky's arcane abilities. They find a set of thieves' tools hidden in the fabrics Harlocke uses to begin freeing them from their bonds. The group also stumbles upon a magic window to which they deploy on the cell wall exposing their paths to Grumblejack the ogre.

Grumblejack

Managing to befriend Grumblejack, the newly formed party begins planning their escape from the cellblock. First, they deal with the 2 guards just outside the cell block by imploring the ogre to smash down the door, squishing one of the guards, causing the second to faint from fear. Lumond makes quick work of the helpless guard and the party then proceeds to loot the corpses. With one corpse in a useful state, Lumond raises him to zombie status and the party begins to proceed down the steps to the main hall.

Once in the main hall, our band takes a detour to the kitchen where they meet 2 prison servants alongside a horde of delicious food. Vicky determines the usefulness of the servants and dispatches them just as a hungry guard from the barracks discovers a naked guard wandering the dining hall. Unknown to the poor guard, this former guard turned zombie attempts to take a bite out of him while the rest of the party takes up arms and alerts Grumblejack to the presence of his hated enemy.

Grumblejack charges the guards' barracks, pinning 2 of them to the wall as a third guard, off to the side, blows the horn alerting the rest of the prison...

GM Thoughts

The players, as a group, weren't convinced they were at a disadvantage intellectually. They used brute force mostly with some players utilizing the environment, and their skills. Vicky seems to be a bit of a unknown, and Shivers a loose cannon while Lumond, and Harlocke, prefer a more tactical approach.