Escape from Branderscar

Have you ever heard the tale of how the legendary Captain Dread escaped from Branderscar Prison? He was the first to escape you know? Until he escaped it was thought to be impossible.

Come a little closer and make yourself comfortable its quite a tale.

It starts with Captain Dread chained to the wall of a cell, his flesh cooling from his arm being freshly branded with a letter F. He was not alone in the cell as there was a couple of other prisoners chained to the wall with him. To pass the time they began talking to each other. First to introduce himself was Philippe, an Alchemist arrested for blowing a bridge up. Next a Sorcerer by the name of Santiago who was arrested for Sedition, there was also a birdman by the name of Chaka the Crow who was probably arrested for being so hideous to look upon and of course Captain Dread who needed no introduction as his legend proceeded him and the others already knew who he was.

After a couple of hours, a guard came into the cells and took Santiago away. A while later Santiago was brought back in and chained back to the wall. Once the guards had left Santiago turned to Dread, I have just had a visitor who says we need to escape tonight. Though I have heard that Brandascar is impossible to escape from, Captain does a man of your legendary talents have any ideas?

Captain Dread wriggled his wrist a little and a small lock pick fell into his hand. Well I was hoping to gather more information about this place before I escaped, but if we need to escape tonight then what I already know will have to do.

Within the blink of an eye Captain Dread was free of his chains and he thought about leaving the others, but they seemed like a canny bunch of fellows who would fit in well with his crew. Dread freed the other prisoners and while they thanked him, he proceeded to unlock the cell door.

Once out the cells Dread told Santiago to check the reinforced cell door to see what was in the last cell. I will see what the guards are up to. Chaka you and Philippe see if you can find anything that could be used as a weapon.

Dread peeked through the keyhole and could see the two guards playing cards. Perfect he thought I should be able to deal with them no problem. Dread then turned his attention to Santiago, what's in the cell?

There is a big guy who looks drugged. Dread thought to himself we could do with the mussel and replied see if he will join the escape. Santiago whispered to the big guy the legendary Captain Dread is leading us on an escape if you want to join him. The big guy agreed and introduced himself rather loudly as Grumble Jack.

Dread unlocked the reinforced door and said I will have us out of here in no time. At this point Chaka brought a couple of makeshift daggers. Dread took one and said you keep the other Chaka I have a job for you. Santiago, Phillipe see what you can do to help Grumble Jack recover from the drugs in his system.

Dread unlocked the door to the cells and told Chaka you take the one on the left and make sure you deal with him quick and quiet.

Dread and Chaka snuck up on the guards and Dread snapped the neck of one of the guards. Chaka was not quite as adept, but luckily Dread had his wits and threw his makeshift dagger with a well-aimed shot killing the guard instantly. Be more careful next time Chaka we can't afford to let them sound the alarm. Take the gear off that guard while I disguise myself using this guards gear.

Once Dread looked almost identically to the guard that he killed he signalled for the others to catch up. Giving a dagger to Phillipe he gestured for Chaka to give his to Santiago as Chaka now had a sword and a bow that he looked more than proficient with.

I will go down stairs, as the guards down there won't see through this disguise. Chaka you follow me down in case there are any guards where that bow may come in handy.

Dread snuck down the stairs ahead of Chaka to a small room and peeped through the keyhole of the door to the room. He could see a corridor with two guards. One guard was right near the door and the other at the far end of the corridor.

Dread instructed Chaka to take the far guard out as he dealt with the near one. Dread opened the door and causally walked out. The guard nearest half looked his way and said evening Jim. Dread thought to himself excellent, you can't beat a good disguise. He smiled as put one hand on the guard's horn and slit his throat. A well-aimed arrow went passed and hit the guard at the far end of the corridor, the guard survived the hit and in the moment of confusion it took him to realise what was going on Dread moved up and finished him off.

As time was of the essence Dread signalled for the others to catch up, he peeped through the keyhole of a locked room to what a appeared to be an armoury. The next room him was a small office, the perfect place for guard duties and postings to be found, that would help know more about what was going on. Dread signalled Phillipe to look quietly through the paper work while he looked quickly at the other rooms to make sure they were safe.

Just as Dread left the office to check the last door in the corridor where he had killed the guards one of the other doors to the office opened and in walked the Sergeant of the prison. Once he realised what was going on, he shouted an alert for the guards. Dread moved up to take care of the Sergeant knowing he would greatly enjoy ending his miserable life for branding his arm. While Dread duelled with the Sergeant, Phillipe continued looking through the paperwork and the rest fought off the half-dressed guards who had been awoken from the Sergeants shouts.

The Sergeant was no match for a master of the sword like Captain Dread and was soon lying dead on the floor. Dread quickly looked around and other than Santiago the others were on top of things, Dread though about going to the aid of the Sorcerer but Grumble Jack beat him to it and the big Ogre apart from being far superior a fighter to the guard, blocked Dreads way so even if he wasn't Dread couldn't do much about it.

This seemed like the perfect time to see what the Sergeant had on him, so Dread stripped him of all his valuables including a nice sword made to the highest standards. Dread then moved into the Sergeants room and quickly searched around. He found a locked box under the bed and had just relived the Sergeants dead body of the key to open it.

Just as Dread opened the box Santiago walked into the room, Dread looked in the box picked up one of the bottles it contained and turned and said looks like we will be able to celebrate our escape in style and there's enough money in there for us all to reequip. At this point Phillipe had found the plans for the guard's duties and where they were posted all around the prison.

Knowing that where they were was reasonably safe for the time being, they searched the rest of the rooms and gathered a few supplies and weapons to aid their escape.

Once outside Dread took the lead and along with Chaka snuck across the courtyard to the tower and the gate to their escape. There was due to be two guards on the roof but none inside the tower, so it was easy enough to get to the roof. Once on the roof Dread found the guards sleeping on duty, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth Dread instructed Chaka to watch his back while he slit their throats.

Once the tower was cleared all that remained was to cross the bridge and take care of the guards at the other side and they would be free. With the expert leadership of Captain Dread, they got the jump on the guards and easily dispatched them as well as the dogs with them before heading off into marsh lands surrounding the prison. Later that night they all thanked Captain Dread for breaking them free and then celebrated with a bottle of the foulest tasting whiskey knowing to man, that though bitter had the sweet taste of once belonging to the now deceased Sergeant.