I need to break out of prison

CrastersBabies

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Okay, not me, but my character.

This is ye olde medieval type castle. My character is not exactly IN a prison cell, but locked away in a VERY guarded room. He is innocent and being sentenced to die.

One of the king's children (an adult male) knows this person is innocent and wants to help. He's not the most assertive prince, but he's super smart and clever.

For some reason, I'm blanking. I keep thinking, "Wow, this is going to suck writing because how would I know how to get a man out of a guarded room?"

So, the basics:


  • Warrior guy locked away in castle room (typical structure, stone walls, etc). No windows, no other entry points
  • 2 guards outside his door that are probably hand-picked super loyal dudes
  • 4 guards guarding all areas where there are stairs leading up and down
  • 2 roaming guards
The prince has:

  • His smarts
  • His wits
  • He has access to a lot of coin
  • He has the help of a mage (that is an elemental "wood" mage with considerable power)
  • The weapons-master is also helping

A few ideas:

The prince can bribe some of the guards. But, can he? This prisoner is important. The guards might be super loyal.

The prince drugs the guards with an offering of bread/wine.

The wood mage works some magic spell where wood is concerned. (No idea there)

Fight their way in (not plausible at he's the prince and he won't go so far as to do something THAT obvious)

I don't know. I haven't read a lot of escape scenes. Anyone have any ideas to make it interesting? The drugging thing seemed simple, but so easy.
 

RikWriter

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Can the mage cast illusions? Maybe make it look like the prisoner has already escaped so they stop guarding the room?
 

Parametric

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I admit this is not a subtle suggestion, but can the wood mage grow something like ivy up the outer wall and rip a big chunk out of the wall so the prisoner can escape down it?
 

ssbittner

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If it's a normal castle room, the door may well be made of wood. That would give your wood mage an advantage. What kind of spells can he do? Can he turn the door into vines/ropes that wrap around and imprison the guards?
 

Marlys

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Okay, first go check out a bunch of castle plans. That room does not sound typical--one door, doesn't lead into another room, absolutely no window, ventilation, drainage, fireplace, chimney? What would such a room be used for? Looking at a bunch of real castle rooms might give you some ideas.

But given the room you've described, there are still some possibilities. Is this at the top of the keep or tower? There could be a wooden roof, which the mage could magic or prince cut down into from above. Or wooden floorboards that the mage could hide him under, between floor beams, and make it look like he's escaped. The guards think he's gone and run off to find him, and then the mage waves him back up. Best if the mage can do this magically without actually pulling up the floorboards, so they are demonstrably undisturbed.

Or the guards could be lured away if there is danger to someone even more important--wood mage could maybe start a fire that imperils the queen/king/high priest in another part of the castle, or the wood mage and weapons master could build some sort of contraption that makes it appear a group of raiders is attacking. If they think the guy is securely locked up, the guards might run to help the other situation--or leave just one or two guys behind who could be bribed/overcome/enchanted in some way.

Interesting problem--best of luck solving it!
 

rwm4768

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You couldn't have made him a stone mage? ;)

Maybe you could have the prince and the mage create some kind of distraction.
 

Buffysquirrel

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Why can't the prince just tell the guards to leave? After all, he's a prince.
 

robjvargas

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Hmm... heavily reinforced door? Previous escape attempt damaged the door? Wood mage is "ordered by the prince" to replace a damaged beam. Once replaced the "damaged beam" is, in fact, the prisoner?
 

rwm4768

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Hmm... heavily reinforced door? Previous escape attempt damaged the door? Wood mage is "ordered by the prince" to replace a damaged beam. Once replaced the "damaged beam" is, in fact, the prisoner?

There might be something to this. Is the door made of wood or stone? If it's wood, there's an excuse for the wood mage to go in there. Perhaps he could "reinforce" the wood, which requires him to enter the room.
 

CrastersBabies

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Can the mage cast illusions? Maybe make it look like the prisoner has already escaped so they stop guarding the room?

No illusions, unless it's perhaps into an item made of wood. Hmmmm....

I admit this is not a subtle suggestion, but can the wood mage grow something like ivy up the outer wall and rip a big chunk out of the wall so the prisoner can escape down it?

I love this thinking, but there are no windows or such in the room. I am noting this for further sections, though!

If it's a normal castle room, the door may well be made of wood. That would give your wood mage an advantage. What kind of spells can he do? Can he turn the door into vines/ropes that wrap around and imprison the guards?

Sky's the limit on what elemental magi can do. More "powerful" things will require more energy. So, she could turn the door into vines/ropes to wrap around the guards, yes, she could!

Okay, first go check out a bunch of castle plans. That room does not sound typical--one door, doesn't lead into another room, absolutely no window, ventilation, drainage, fireplace, chimney? What would such a room be used for? Looking at a bunch of real castle rooms might give you some ideas.

This is a tower room with pretty much a bed. A privy in the next room. But will consider expanding it. No fireplace. It will get cold. Definitely have my castle plan out.

But given the room you've described, there are still some possibilities. Is this at the top of the keep or tower? There could be a wooden roof, which the mage could magic or prince cut down into from above. Or wooden floorboards that the mage could hide him under, between floor beams, and make it look like he's escaped. The guards think he's gone and run off to find him, and then the mage waves him back up. Best if the mage can do this magically without actually pulling up the floorboards, so they are demonstrably undisturbed.

This is one very good possibility. He's not in the very top. The wood mage could easily get in from the upper floor. I wasn't sure what was BETWEEN castle floors, though. Just wooden beams?

Or the guards could be lured away if there is danger to someone even more important--wood mage could maybe start a fire that imperils the queen/king/high priest in another part of the castle, or the wood mage and weapons master could build some sort of contraption that makes it appear a group of raiders is attacking. If they think the guy is securely locked up, the guards might run to help the other situation--or leave just one or two guys behind who could be bribed/overcome/enchanted in some way.

Interesting problem--best of luck solving it!

This is good as well! A Diversion! Thank you!

You couldn't have made him a stone mage? ;)

Maybe you could have the prince and the mage create some kind of distraction.

That would nice! Haha, unfortunately, I couldn't! Boooo.

Why can't the prince just tell the guards to leave? After all, he's a prince.

The king has all say on this one. The prince, as important as he is, might be able to convince one guard, but not many.

Thanks everyone so far for suggestions. From what I have alone, I think I might be onto something, but would love to hear any responses or inspirations that come from my reply. Or anything new. This is making me so much less grumpy.
 

ssbittner

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CrastersBabies

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There might be something to this. Is the door made of wood or stone? If it's wood, there's an excuse for the wood mage to go in there. Perhaps he could "reinforce" the wood, which requires him to enter the room.

Yeah, the door is definitely made of wood. Maybe reinforced by metal around the outside, but still mostly wood.
 

CrastersBabies

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I did some googling, and it sounds like some castles had stone floors between levels, while others had wood. It would depend on whether there was a big fire risk and what you want the interior rooms to look like. Also, if there are wood-mages in this world, perhaps the architects wouldn't have wanted to use wood.

Some Sources:
http://www.castlesontheweb.com/quest/Forum5/HTML/000018.html

http://www.castlesontheweb.com/quest/Forum9/HTML/000122.html

Thanks for the links! I'm not thinking that the architects were too concerned about wood mages. (Magic is pretty dang rare and this is the king's aunt, so she's trusted--muhaha!) But, I might poke around the links to try and figure out how often a castle would use wood in between or not. This is kind of a tower jutting out from the main castle building, and the rooms are small and minimal in terms of what's inside.

Thinking thinking....
 

ClareGreen

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A room in a tower jutting out is more likely to have a wooden floor than a stone one. Mass starts to become important when structures jut out, and a stone floor is much more difficult to build than a wooden one, given that you need to have a good load-bearing structure beneath to take all that weight. It doesn't take many storeys above before your great hall has great pillars in it.

(Wooden beams supporting upper floors remained a fairly standard feature, suggesting that a lot of upper floors were wood all along. A lot of crumbling old castles have sockets in the walls where the upper floors were supported.)
 

waylander

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I second wooden floors in castle towers.

Is the prisoner going to be allowed to make their peace with the god of their choice? That could get them out of the guarded room to the chapel/sacred grove/wherever.
 

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The whole turning a door into plants by magic was done in a Pratchett book, iirc.

Okay, so the wood mage makes an excuse to see the prisoner--maybe she wants to question him about something, she says--turns the wooden privy floor into a replica of him and he escapes thro the moat/sewers/why. Meanwhile, the replica sits there being guarded.
 

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What do you want the situation to be after the break-out?

Do you want warrior-guy, prince, and wood-mage to all end up on the run from the castle? In that case I'd have the wood-mage do something flashy that overpowers the guards and then everyone makes a break for it.

Or do you want the prisoner to be hours away before anyone even knows he's gone, and for no one to know that the prince and wood-mage had anything to do with it? That sounds like a more difficult task for the prince to use his wits/smarts on. If the wood-mage did anything it would have to be very subtle, like weakening the door in such a way that it looked like it was poorly made, or everyone would know it was him.
 

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My first priority would be to get out of that room. Could he trick the guards into moving him to another cell? Maybe fake an injury so he can get taken to what passes for an infirmary? Once he's out of the cell he has a lot more room to maneuver, even if he's still technically in captivity.

Billy the Kid escaped from captivity once with the help of a gun that was stashed away in an outhouse. Having an accomplice plant some weapon or useful object somewhere nearby might be something to consider.
 
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jjdebenedictis

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How about the roof? If he's on the top floor, the roof might be thinner slate tiles over wood beams. Magic the roof beams alive and have them push a tile up to make a trapdoor into the room.

Or, if the stone is too heavy for the reanimated wood to push up, but light enough for a warrior guy to lever out of his way if he could put his shoulder against it, then have the roof beams send down a branch to act as the prisoner's ladder up to the roof. Once he has climbed up, he can stand on the beams and shove the roof tile up and out of the way himself, then escape across the roof.
 

CrastersBabies

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I second wooden floors in castle towers.

Is the prisoner going to be allowed to make their peace with the god of their choice? That could get them out of the guarded room to the chapel/sacred grove/wherever.

Naw, he's not afforded such luxury. But, what's interesting is that I have a scene in the 2nd book which this would work for splendidly! (rubbings hands together)

The whole turning a door into plants by magic was done in a Pratchett book, iirc.

Okay, so the wood mage makes an excuse to see the prisoner--maybe she wants to question him about something, she says--turns the wooden privy floor into a replica of him and he escapes thro the moat/sewers/why. Meanwhile, the replica sits there being guarded.

This is clever and gross at the same time. Which is good.

What do you want the situation to be after the break-out?

Do you want warrior-guy, prince, and wood-mage to all end up on the run from the castle? In that case I'd have the wood-mage do something flashy that overpowers the guards and then everyone makes a break for it.

Good question. The prince will not be implicated, but the wood mage will later. (Part of a sacrifice.)

Or do you want the prisoner to be hours away before anyone even knows he's gone, and for no one to know that the prince and wood-mage had anything to do with it? That sounds like a more difficult task for the prince to use his wits/smarts on. If the wood-mage did anything it would have to be very subtle, like weakening the door in such a way that it looked like it was poorly made, or everyone would know it was him.

He should be on a boat by the time anyone finds out. (It's a harbor city.) The prince will have his hands clean, but the wood mage not so much. So, a more subtle approach is more desired at this point. Sneaky. For example, the wood mage might be able to transform into a wooden chest or trunk. Trunk is brought in by the prince and left in the room. Then the wood mage turns into a person and escape plan ensues. (At this point, I'm leaning toward going through the roof or the floor as I'm thinking those will be wood given answers above.)

My first priority would be to get out of that room. Could he trick the guards into moving him to another cell? Maybe fake an injury so he can get taken to what passes for an infirmary? Once he's out of the cell he has a lot more room to maneuver, even if he's still technically in captivity.

Billy the Kid escaped from captivity once with the help of a gun that was stashed away in an outhouse. Having an accomplice plant some weapon or useful object somewhere nearby might be something to consider.

I remember this about Billy the kid! I'm definitely entertaining options with him getting out of the room, though that will beef up security around him. (The king's not a dummy, he'll have given very specific instructions not to move the prisoner w/o his okay, or, w/o severe reinforcements.)

How about the roof? If he's on the top floor, the roof might be thinner slate tiles over wood beams. Magic the roof beams alive and have them push a tile up to make a trapdoor into the room.

Or, if the stone is too heavy for the reanimated wood to push up, but light enough for a warrior guy to lever out of his way if he could put his shoulder against it, then have the roof beams send down a branch to act as the prisoner's ladder up to the roof. Once he has climbed up, he can stand on the beams and shove the roof tile up and out of the way himself, then escape across the roof.

I like this... I'm mulling it over--especially if I'm going up and not down.

Mucho thanks again all! I am formulating a pretty solid plan now.
 
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Tanydwr

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A quick additional note re flooring. The upper floors could be lime ash - I'm not sure how old it is as a flooring, but it was certainly in use by the Tudor period (found out about it at Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire!) and, despite looking a lot like concrete, was actually lighter than wood and was less of a fire hazard. While this might not help you in the long term (unless the contents of the mixture - including egg white and possibly ox blood, though I could be getting mixed up - sounds useful), it could make a good little world-building fact (i.e. someone cursing that the floor *isn't* wooden, or noticing that it's cold or cracked or fresh).

Is there anything against the prince recruiting a useful maid to scream somewhere nearby? If you want another option for imprisoning, you could always go for an oubliette - they only had one entrance. In the ceiling. Then your wood mage could always get tree roots involved for cracking stone or, if not properly walled, just the soil itself.
 

Once!

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I suspect that in the real world most people don't get out of locked prison cells. They are stuck in there until someone lets them out - whether friend or foe.

But getting out of a locked cell by some clever means has become such a cliché that I roll my eyes (not literally) whenever I come across it. It's a bit like the James Bond baddie never shooting Bond in the head when he captures him. Instead he always puts him where he can escape without being noticed. Yeah, right.

Random ideas:

Harry Houdini allegedly used hidden lockpicks or keys.
Tunneling is always a cool option.
Bribe the guards (or someone else).
Friends come to the rescue.
Have some hidden ability to grow uber powerful and smash the door down.
Attack the guards when the door is open - say for an exercise break or a doctor's visit or food.
A visitor brings a device to help you escape.

Or you could go the Skyfall/ Avengers route and have it so the hero/ villain really wanted to be captured so that they could ... oh, I don't know, do something whilst in captivity. I never could follow that bit in either film.
 

cmhbob

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Every royal is going to have a bodyguard of some sort, and many royals had several soldiers who were deathly loyal to them. Maybe one of the prince's loyalists is a sergeant of the guard, who can relieve the door guards with loyalists.

Remember that to keep a single post covered for 24 hours requires about 2-3 people per post. One on guard, one on rest, and one ready to relieve.
 

Unimportant

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Can the mage make your dude look dead? Guards drag corpse out of room, corpse comes to life, kid and weapons master waiting to help, kill guards and run.
 

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Locks of this period tend to be warded (the pin lock came into common use I think only in the late 18th to early 19th century), so a single bit of strong and bent piece of metal would work as a lockpick. (Two lockpicks are used on pinned locks... I like my fantasy, theify full of subterfuge.) When you pick them (for recreational use only) they make an audible kinda thunk. It's literally like using the pick to push a switch over, of varying levels of resistance. Skeleton keys are another thought.