---
tags: notes
start-time: 2022-04-30 17:30 CEST
end-time: 2022-04-30 23:00 CEST
---

# Session 03 (2022-04-30)

[TOC]

## Current status
[The previous session](/E8z3N_ZJQ_-H4OfxU0DCRg) ended with us staking out [the Baron's](/UvPXvufNRAmwjWQ7DQYqnw) house, hoping to catch someone leaving at night, but it seems everyone has gone to bed, except for the guards, so we decided to sneak in and search for evidence of poison in the house.

## Changing of the guard around midnight
Around midnight, the guard in front of the house is relieved and he goes inside, presumably to bed. No light is being lit inside the house.
The guards are human soldiers in their 30s with armor and swords.

## The grand plan
[Zov](/cfjMmRWhRx2a5saKtmMwaQ) will put on her armor, grab a bottle of wine and a torch and simply walk down the road clinking and clanking like she does, chatting to herself and try to strike up a drunken conversation with the guard.
While this is happening, we will sneak up to the basement door and quietly break in.

## Breaking into the basement
Zov got the guards attention and [Aelen](/8uCZ8WhjQeyghi-_mxgOFg) and I tried to break into the basement, but we realised we didn't have any means of opening the door. **We are idiots!**
So we quietly walked away, [Stan](/TWrGl85nSwq_ZukcwAQoFQ) got Zov's attention and we met up to discuss just to what degree we sucked.
We then proceded to walk home, but take a detour around the granary to check that everything was fine, which it was. About seven guards were posted there and they were very bored.
Zov mentioned she had noticed movement behind the curtains of the basement. I'm assuming this is where the other guard went to sleep.

## Morning porridge
Delicious.

## Aelen talks to the captain of the guard
In an attempt at getting the chest back from the guards, Aelen goes to have a chat with [Captain Andrevel](/23pliLpqRnqlmmkD8gPpaw).
The captain will send a message [Captain Toller](/0cikWpTmRU2Y4CTWCqp6ig) from the army, requesting him to meet us at the [Duqueslin Inn](LfoRx_GvTSeEkH4qYqM_Vw#24---Duqueslin-Inn) for lunch.
The captain also lent us some lockpicks.

## Lunch at Duqueslin Inn with Captain Toller
Zov and I sat at a separate table, getting a lunch of bread, cheese and sausages.
Stan and Aelen met with the captain.
The captain told us that two clerics (or possibly mages) had tried to open the chest, but failed. One got his robe burned off and the other pissed his pants.
Toller called the city guard "bumbling idiots", though he respects their captain.
He doesn't believe anyone could get poison into the city water supply, as it is guarded by the army.
Toller told us that they have sent emisaries to the armies in the North and are awaiting their return. Afterwich the embassador will likely be summoned to the castle.
We can reach Toller by asking for him at the army guards stationed outside the castle.

## Looking out for the return of the emissary
I went up on the battlements and walked to the beach, keeping a lookup for the emissaries that were sent to parley with the besieging army.
When they returned, it turned out to be [Lieutenant Dinald Loe](/czeI4SF5Tg2rWorACFxtPg), whom we had met on our way to [Imyr](/LfoRx_GvTSeEkH4qYqM_Vw).
I ran ahead to the Inn ahead of them to tell Aelen and Zov it was time to go and we walked out on the street where we could observe the Baron's house. Stan was already there.

## Let's try this again
The Baron was summoned to the castle and he brought his two guards.
Stan tried to pick the lock with his Mage Hand, while the rest of us tried to block the view from passerbys, but the lockpick broke.
I tried my luck, but it just wasn't meant to be, so we decided to go try the backdoor facing the battlements.

## On the battlements
We didn't have any more luck with the back door, so we turned our attention to the French doors on the floor above us and a simple magical gust of wind opened up one of them.
Stan tied a rope to the railing and I climbed up.

## Finally inside
I entered the dining room, which concists of a long table with 10 seatings around it. On the side of the room are large book cases.
At the opposite end is a small reading corner with comfy chairs and next to that are stairs going up and down.
I snug through the room and peeked upstairs. There's a room behind a closed door there, with some-one inside, though I don't know who.

## End of session
There was some confusion about the layout of the building, so Gripe will try to resolve that before the next session.

After the session we had discussions about lockpicking rules and other small stuff.
To my understandng we ended up concluding that the following applies:
:::info
If a lock is particularly hard or requires specialist knowledge, the DM may make it impossible for players without proficiency regardless of roll.
:::

For regular locks:

1. You **DO have Thieves' Tools (lock picks)** and **expertise** with them.
==DEX + 2 x Proficiency bonus==

2. You **DO have Thieves' Tools (lock picks)** and **proficiency** with them.
==DEX + Proficiency bonus==

3. You **DO have Thieves' Tools (lock picks)**, but **NO proficiency** with them.
==Straight DEX roll==

4. You have **NO lock picks** and **NO Thieves' Tools proficiency**, so you improvise a tool and use them **WITHOUT proficiency**.
The DM may assign an additional penalty depending on the suitability of the improvised tool.
==DEX roll with disadvantage==

5. You have **NO lock picks**, but you **DO have proficiency with Thieves' Tools**, so you improvise a tool and use them **WITH proficiency/expertise**.
The DM may assign an additional penalty depending on the suitability of the improvised tool.
==DEX roll with disadvantage, but you add your modifiers like normal==

[Next session](/ZE6JO9MSS_ixayX8yjHSqQ) is planned for 2022-05-07