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'Razor' awakens much more quickly than smelling salts would seem to indicate, and offers no commentary when the man in black gives the disturbing declaration.
Can't wait for a few moments to get us patched up, and it's pretty clear they're all rotten here. So much for a bright future and all of that, and it explains a lot of things. Now how do we shut them down without getting killed? Perhaps that idiot's rage can be turned against him?
All of your belongings except holy symbols appear to be there.
Neither of the priests object to you healing yourselves or putting your equipment on now. If any of your looks like you are about to remove your mask, you see Grey Robe shake his head no.
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Acolyte 'Razor' will inspect all of their equipment before putting it back on, to ensure that it is in as good as condition as they remember it being in last -- no itching powders on the inside, no nasty gunk, etc, etc.
They will then help (without removing mask in either process) anyone else that needs help getting geared up.
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"It's okay, I never have been much good in a fight - even when I was little," Fran responds as she gets to her feet and begins pulling her gear back on, surreptitiously making sure that everything is still there.
"Um, I can help patch people up too..." she offers, pulling out her wand once she realizes that several of them actually took a beating - some worse than others.
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Other than your injuries from the battle, the rest of the day goes much like previous ones.
It does seem like Fat in Black keeps more of an eye on Razor, Kriklishik and Shayna than he had before.
Once you get in the barracks, things are a little different though. A couple of the other acolytes want nothing to do with any of you -- especially Kriklishik and Razor. You hear muttered comments of "Suicidal!" or "Reckless!" and get a general feeling that some feel your actions have somehow made the others afraid for their own safety.
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The masks and robes make it somewhat difficult to get an exact count of how many are in the temple. At this point, your best guess is about a dozen white robed acolytes, around 6-8 of the grey robed priests, and at least three different black robed priests including Fat in Black. The best opportunities you've had to count them were during the Evening Prayers.
You know that the Grey Robed priests lead any excursions outside the temple. There has been at least one group who has recently left and not yet returned in the time you've been there.
It is evident that Fat in Black is watching some members more closely now than others. Although it would make it harder for those members to sneak away, you think it would also be easier for them to act as distractions if one is required.
A few of you are approached about swapping tasks. The task of copying scripts is particularly hated by many of the Acolytes and they are willing to take over some of the morning chores if their evening copying is taken over.
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Acolyte Razor, for the most part, is going to be as close as they can manage to Obese Black, eagerly absorbing all of their lessons (and hopefully none of the blows) and doing their level best to have gotten the message loud and clear.
They will work to provide as much of a distraction as possible for other aspiring party members to do stealthy things WITHOUT violating instructions or being mouthy or the like.
The calm ocean belies a turbulent storm approaching...
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That night, when everybody gets back to the barracks, Kriklishik will debrief with the others.
"So, I think I've learned that Black-robe's buttons can be pretty easily pushed. That he's volatile, and that he's quick with his hands. I think he's got some brawling training. He doesn't read as a monk to me. Too hotheaded."
He looks at Ray. "That was a nice touch, making him wet himself. If I hadn't already been on the ground, I might've fallen over!
"I also learned that the guards wear armor. I guess it makes sense, now that I think of it; we got our stuff back. Ooh, speaking of..."
He rummages around, pulls out his hat of disguise, and puts it on. His features turn into a facsimile of the black-robed man's.
"How do I look?"(Disguise +13-2)
After whatever reaction he gets from the others, he doffs the cap and puts it back on, this time changing little but the length of his hair, and having the hat disguise itself as a hair tie. (Disguise +18)
Temple Locations is a file I just created with the areas that you have been allowed to go.
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"I'm down to go upstairs. Or down, for that matter. I'm ready to get this stay over with. Pushing his buttons today was fun and all,"
Kriklishik pauses, running his tongue over the newly repaired tooth,
"But I don't really want to enter into another fight without my fire. I think we should, any time we go out at night (and I think it should be at night), be prepared for it to be our last night here - that we plan on being prepared to remove the man in black, deal with the guards, and get what information we came for. Pack your bags and carry them with you. Be ready for a leap off the wall if it comes to it.
"Maybe we get caught, maybe not - and we certainly try for 'not.' The more we can learn, the better. But I don't want to get caught with my pants down, as it were."
Kriklishik is easily able to imitate the black robes and girth of Fat in Black. He even seems to have captured his general stance and movements. The keys at the belt are a nice touch. None of you can see any flaws in the physical disguise. Thomas even checks the eye color and skin tone faintly visible through the eye slits of the mask.
You think it would be very difficult for someone just looking at him to be able to tell the difference.
Since none of you have ever seen him without the mask, you have no idea what his face actually looks like.
While on the way to the courtyard for the morning labor, Acolyte Razor distracts Fat in Black so some of you can lag behind a little bit.
In the meeting room, Mr. Sunshine seems to be playing with something under the table. Kriklishik looks and finds a sheet of parchment under the rug there. Reading through it, he realizes it is the guard schedule for the patrols around the temple. Some of the entries are circled.
Shayna listens at the northern door in the vestibule and hears someone moving around in there. She can hear a faint humming, the sort someone might do while partaking in a boring activity.
Shayna is loitering near the door.
Acolyte Razor keeps the attention of Fat in Black, it doesn’t appear that he has noticed yet that a few members are lagging behind.
There are two acolytes always stationed at the doorway between the Vestibule and the Worship Hall. There has been two acolytes here every time you have come through.
They do not seem to care that some of you are loitering there.
A pair of weapon racks sits in the center of this chamber, each bearing a variety of arms, most of which look new. Mounted to the walls is a host of steel shields as well, each one painted with the symbol of Razmir.
There is a single Acolyte in there polishing the weapons. Looking over towards Vlazis, he gruffly demands “What do you want?”
“Oi! Ain’t no such thing! They would of told me if there were!” they say as they take a step back and draw their rapier. Although they say it with bravado, they don't really sound sure of themselves. “You lot are trying to trick me!”
You think it is one of the half-orc acolytes that is currently stationed here based on their voice and general mannerisms.
“Make any sort of mess and I’ll cut you, then sound the alarm! I ain’t taking no beating because one of you left a smudge or stray hair on one of the shields or something! Not after I just got them polished up!”
You see a lot of weapons in here, locked in racks held closed by an iron bar. There are a lot of spears and daggers, several swords, and some longbows. There are also some wooden practice weapons along the back of the eastern wall.
Right now, it is just Acolyte Razor who has followed Fat in Black into the courtyard. It is going to be very difficult to hold the ruse when most of the group is lagging that much behind.
You didn't get an exact count, but there are easily enough melee weapons to arm everyone in the Temple. It seemed to be split between short swords and longswords, with one whole rack of daggers.
This chamber contains 20 spears, 8 longswords, 10 short swords, 20 daggers, 6 longbows, and 8 quivers of 20 arrows each. While the daggers and arrows can be easily removed from the racks, an iron bar secured with a lock keeps the other weapons in place.
Those are the weapons in this room. It does not include any weapons that the various people are currently carrying.
Just as Fat in Black is about to go find out where everyone is, they come wandering into the courtyard.
The group of you get a load of verbal abuse for lagging behind -- including Acolyte Razor who followed direction behind him. Unfortunately, you have been given the strong impression that punishment is inconsistent and being innocent is no protection from punishment.
Once Fat in Black is done berating you, he finally gets to the training.
Today Fat in Black goes over the procedure you are expected to follow if the temple alarm goes off.
As always, you are to follow the instructions of the priests in grey or black robes. Any failure to immediately do so will mark you as an enemy and you will be killed.
If you are currently in the Worship Hall, stay there and wait for a higher ranking priest. Once the alarm has sounded, no one is to enter or leave the Worship Hall unless commanded by one of the senior priests.
If you are not assigned a position, you are to go to the barracks. That way the senior priests will know where to find you if more people are needed. Do not tarry in the halls or any other area.
If you are assigned to the gatehouse, drop the gate if open and attack any intruders. The courtyard should clear itself, if any acolytes are slow to do so you may fire on them.
If you are assigned to the armory, evict anyone there except a senior priest. One warning only. This is one of the few times where an Acolyte would have the right to tell a grey robed priest what to do. This order is from the head of the Temple and none can countermand it.
If you are currently stationed in the Vestibule at the doors to the Worship Hall, prevent anyone from leaving who are not accompanied by a black robe. Close the doors and stand guard.
It is clear he is only covering the parts of the defensive plan that an Acolyte is supposed to follow.
After he has explained this, he does some more drilling on how to work in a crowd in order to collect donations.
The rest of the day follows the normal routine.
Something is amiss with the murals. Although the murals portray Razmir as a powerful but merciful deity, the artist that rendered them was apparently not so sure. Some of the murals show ordinary villagers looking upon Razmir with fear and terror. The murals are signed by an artist named Othallan.
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"Sorry," Fran whispers to Vlazis as they hurry out to the courtyard to meet with the rest of the group. "I never have been that good of a liar. I don't like to lie, not really. But I'll do better next time, I promise!"
Once they've all made it to the courtyard Fran does her best to seem contrite after the dressing-down that the Fat Man gives them all and does her best to remember the instructions for what should happen if the alarm is sounded.
This could be really important later, especially if we have to deliberately trigger the alarm at some point.
She's a bit disgusted but not surprised that the archers in the gatehouses are allowed to fire on acolytes that are slow to clear out of the courtyard.
How awful! I bet this group attracts a lot of sadists.
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Assuming that the rest of the day proceeds in a relatively uneventful manner, Fran does her best to catch some of the other acolytes that had been interested in swapping chores - finding copying texts much more preferable to the hard and disgusting work of washing dishes and cleaning the floors.
Fat Man never did say that we *couldn't* swap chores. Hopefully it won't matter.
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Understood, brother. Shayna acknowledges the orders from the rotund priest. She looks around, memorizing the layout in case of emergency. During her lessons in scripture, she asks if she can get some supplies to practice during her downtime
Brother, might I have a few pieces of parchment and a pen...I can better my writing with a bit of practice after everything else is done. Can't hurt, right?
Given her previous difficulties with copying the priest gives Shayna a sheath of paper, a few quills, and a full ink bottle. "Practice on your own time!"
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With everyone wearing masks it proved pretty hard to determine just who had been complaining about the scribing but after a bit of inquiry and some careful listening, Fran finally manages to track a couple of them down.
"Hello, fellow travelers! Um...word has it that there was some interest in maybe swapping chore duties and I wanted to talk a little more about that...if you're still interested?" she asks, a bit hesitantly. With as much as the Fat Man and some of the higher-ranking priests seemed to enjoy doling out punishment, she wouldn't put it past some of the other acolytes willing to snitch on little things to curry favor.
After she's determined that they seem amiable to her words, she smiles behind her mask. "Oh good! I was hoping you would be. I try my best, I really do, but I have such a hard time with the cleaning in the mornings and so I thought it would make more sense to take on some extra writing duties instead - at least those I'm pretty good at!"
Deciding to risk pressing her luck, she lowers her voice slightly. "You'd think that they would hand out chores based on each acolyte's strengths and weaknesses, wouldn't you? It seems like it would be more efficient and I'm sure that the Living God is all about efficiency! Maybe some of the higher-ups are slacking a bit on that..."
The other acolyte is delighted to get out of copying scripture and gladly trades chores with you. “They don’t care so much who does something, as long as it gets done.”
You can tell she is somewhat uncomfortable with the direction that Fran takes the conversation. “I’ve found it works best when the higher ups don’t feel a need to assign any duties. Things settle down once the initial training period ends. We just have to make sure to stay out of the way and that everything gets done.”
You can tell they have no idea who you are talking about, and they feel a need to be elsewhere.