Whisper Inn is a simple, wayside inn with a stable for horses, and several attached bedrooms. The layout is basic in that there is a large common room with an kitchen/pantry area and the innkeepers' private office. The bedrooms are separate from the main room, accessed from a partial courtyard behind the inn. There is a well and an outhouse in the same area.
The inn sits on a ridge overlooking the town, with a crossroads in front of it. Behind the inn, the ridge falls gradually back into the scrub-covered hills and forest. Access by road is standard, but approach from the back is difficult and exposed.
The orcs have come from the mines in the mountains, and stayed concealed in the gullies behind the ridge during the day, waiting for nightfall and the chance to take action.
The gnomes have taken the two rooms closest to the main building. The innkeeper has offered you the large room at the end of the run. The innkeeper stays in his office/private rooms. Ironically, the inn is more easily approached secretly from the road due to the layout of the inn. From behind, a trip to the loo can spoil the best sneaking effort.
Basically, the orcs make their way toward the back courtyard. They can roll sneak checks against everyone's passive perception in order to decide if anyone notices something that startles them awake. If their roll is 5 or less, their efforts are foiled by someone sticking their head out and openly seeing them. Otherwise, failure is more suggestive of something being afoot, leading to them checking out the disturbance. Success means they approach without alerting anyone to their presence.
Once they reach the inn, they need to pick the locks on the gnomes' rooms. This takes a DC18 stealth check to open. If the roll is less than 10, they completely blow the attempt, and wake the gnomes. They will either subdue and take the gnomes, or they will (if discovered) violently attack them to grapple and drag them off. If the party is alerted to the orcs, the orcs will try to defeat them before grabbing the gnomes, although they will quit and run if they are obviously overmatched.
Running away, they will not take any measures to conceal their route. If they grab the gnomes, they will try to get away quickly across the exposed ridge to their hideout. Once there, they will pause to secure their prisoners, and mount their horses for a ride into the mountains along the road. Their goal is to reach a cave several miles away before dawn.
But what about the workers the gnomes were waiting to meet? What will happen in the morning when their boat arrives?
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