Thank you folks! The dice were equivocal on both the success of their ruse (9 out of 20) and the success of their search (12 out of 20), so: upon entering the Chantry, they won't entirely escape notice and will need to fend off some questions/skepticism from the healer on duty before they can continue onward unsupervised. Make an excuse, do some actual healing, have someone fake a sudden illness, or just wait for her to get distracted by something more pressing before moving on to search for the artifacts.
Since they don't have any in-character reason to ask after Chantry relics, they'll have to rely on good old-fashioned snooping around to locate the artifacts. Luckily, the Chantry is not huge; unluckily, there are a few guards around doing regular patrols, so the longer they take to search, the less time they will have to decide what to do with what they find.
Which is to say: they'll be in a bit of a rush when they finally find the door to the cellar and the relics below.
The most valuable and cherished of the relics themselves are of the finger bone and sword hilt variety--things that could be slipped out under a jacket unnoticed--but among them will be an active eluvian that responds to the passphrases used by Riftwatch agents. Those on-site clearly aren't aware of what it is or how excited their superiors will be to have it, and leaving it for them to keep isn't an option. Getting out with something so large and heavy and finding a way to move it safely past the troops, however--whether by road or by river--will require some creativity.
(Side note: the Chantry is flammable. A Chantry on fire might serve well as a distraction for escape and for drawing the attention of those enemy troops positioned nearby. It also might take out a not-insignificant number of the enemy soldiers on their sickbeds inside. It wouldn't really be a war crime because there is no standardized international law. Cheers!)
Alternatively: This plot was obviously written before the real world went to hell, so if you guys OOCly do not feel like writing not-technically-a-war-crime at the moment, we have a secondary option that you are free to use, ignore, or combine with the above:
In a comedy of fortunate coincidences like unto the Brothers Blues, Nikos, Derrica, and Lino may happen to find the eluvian at the same time as 1) someone left the garden-level back door unlocked, and 2) a local farmer has parked his horse and wagon full of hay just outside to argue with the guard about whether said guards are blocking too much of the not-muddy part of the road. If they hurry (and/or cause a small distraction in the other direction), they can shove their fancy mirror under the hay and make a daring wagon-based escape.
Assuming the team makes it out alive and with the eluvian intact, their orders will be not to bring it back, but to travel deeper into enemy territory to plant the eluvian in the wine cellar of a trusted contact, so it can be used to slip back into Nevarra's occupied territory without crossing the front lines in the future. Once it's situated, the team will have the choice of returning to the Gallows through the Crossroads (no enemies, but a strong likelihood of wrong turns) or the same way they came. Either way, you can assume they do make it back, +/- whatever appropriate complications sound fun to you guys to include.
Please reply here if you have any questions! Otherwise I'll look forward to this report. :)
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Since they don't have any in-character reason to ask after Chantry relics, they'll have to rely on good old-fashioned snooping around to locate the artifacts. Luckily, the Chantry is not huge; unluckily, there are a few guards around doing regular patrols, so the longer they take to search, the less time they will have to decide what to do with what they find.
Which is to say: they'll be in a bit of a rush when they finally find the door to the cellar and the relics below.
The most valuable and cherished of the relics themselves are of the finger bone and sword hilt variety--things that could be slipped out under a jacket unnoticed--but among them will be an active eluvian that responds to the passphrases used by Riftwatch agents. Those on-site clearly aren't aware of what it is or how excited their superiors will be to have it, and leaving it for them to keep isn't an option. Getting out with something so large and heavy and finding a way to move it safely past the troops, however--whether by road or by river--will require some creativity.
(Side note: the Chantry is flammable. A Chantry on fire might serve well as a distraction for escape and for drawing the attention of those enemy troops positioned nearby. It also might take out a not-insignificant number of the enemy soldiers on their sickbeds inside. It wouldn't really be a war crime because there is no standardized international law. Cheers!)
Alternatively: This plot was obviously written before the real world went to hell, so if you guys OOCly do not feel like writing not-technically-a-war-crime at the moment, we have a secondary option that you are free to use, ignore, or combine with the above:
In a comedy of fortunate coincidences like unto the Brothers Blues, Nikos, Derrica, and Lino may happen to find the eluvian at the same time as 1) someone left the garden-level back door unlocked, and 2) a local farmer has parked his horse and wagon full of hay just outside to argue with the guard about whether said guards are blocking too much of the not-muddy part of the road. If they hurry (and/or cause a small distraction in the other direction), they can shove their fancy mirror under the hay and make a daring wagon-based escape.
Assuming the team makes it out alive and with the eluvian intact, their orders will be not to bring it back, but to travel deeper into enemy territory to plant the eluvian in the wine cellar of a trusted contact, so it can be used to slip back into Nevarra's occupied territory without crossing the front lines in the future. Once it's situated, the team will have the choice of returning to the Gallows through the Crossroads (no enemies, but a strong likelihood of wrong turns) or the same way they came. Either way, you can assume they do make it back, +/- whatever appropriate complications sound fun to you guys to include.
Please reply here if you have any questions! Otherwise I'll look forward to this report. :)