It is Teon who appears from a dark corner of the cellar.
I agree with the recruiting poster here. We should remove any ability that they have to send for help. Is the best means of attack through the tower however? I can take one of you with me up the side of the tower?
Teon unfurls the wings that had appeared to be a long black cloak.
"I will go with you. We can both rely on invisibility to mask our approach. Once there killing the birds will be a matter of moments."
"It will not be subtle though. The guards will move on the rookery and sound the alarm. That confusion would be an ideal time to attack one of the other targets."
"I recommend the rest of you secure the gate house. Teon and I can join you in short order once the ravens are dead. I have a plan for the burning of the barracks that will relieve us of the need to be present."
Cain looks back from the door, his voice quiet, "I won't argue… I've seen what you two can do."
He steps away from the door, "A couple of things. First, I say you guys should send up the bugbear signal from the top of the tower. It'll bring attention here, but I figure you can get airborne and get invisible to make yer way to the barracks…. or whatever your plan is for them." He gives a hike of a thumb in the general direction of the gatehouse. "It'll also eat up some of that hour we'd need to be holding the gates open. I figure our group'll disable their ability to secure the near side of the bridge, then go kill our way to the gatehouse controls. Hopefully we can do that in an hour's time... I figure that'll give the bugbears a straight run into the keep itself."
"What of the priest - and the magister? A priest could strengthen their counterattack most powerfully... but even more, the mage that Price warns of might turn the gatehouse into a charnel pit for us, if he wields the right magics."
Shulme offers a knowing smile.
"No... I have learned that the best way to fight a wizard is to take him unaware. The soldiers here cannot see in the dark. I think that men who were just sleeping, who have few leaders left, and who cannot see their way without light will take time to organize against the tower. We should use that time to slay the magister at least, and the priest too if we may. And only then on to the gatehouse."
An exelent idea. The attack on the raven tower will draw resistance there, allowing us to take their leaders from behind.
"I will go with you. We can both rely on invisibility to mask our approach. Once there killing the birds will be a matter of moments."
Price doesn't hesitate, "The birds aren't the only target; Mad Martin is likely up there as well. If you can manage to finish all of them - fine. But it needs to be quiet. The distractions we want are the Tannery fire and killing the garrison... otherwise the garrison could respond to the Rookery fiasco and escape the barracks before we can finish them. If there were an opportunity to kill the mage quietly, as Shulme suggests, that would be ideal - but I don't know if we can make it happen, particularly with the Tannery blaze forcing our timeline."
"I have a plan for the burning of the barracks that will relieve us of the need to be present."
Price's look is cool. "No. This mission has to succeed and I take nothing on faith. You can explain your plan so we can assess it's viability and integrate it into our strategy."
An exelent idea. The attack on the raven tower will draw resistance there, allowing us to take their leaders from behind.
"Our mission is to get that Gate open and the door into the Keep to facilitate the Bugbear attack. Going 'loud' in the rookery will alert both the leaders and the garrison. Some of us might come up behind the leaders but there is no guarantee... and we'll likely be pinched between those leaders and the garrison augmented by the low level clerics - with access to the Gatehouse cut-off behind a large number of now fully alert troops."
Cain impatiently heads back to the door, keeping an ear pressed to make sure no one surprises them.
"That fire's burnin' in town... we need a decision."
Xanos nods to Price. "An understandable precaution. The scroll Fargo and I retrieved is significantly more powerful than the magics I currently wield. With it, I can create rather... unique... undead from the corpses of the ravens. Much like this Slave in concept, but bound to fire, rather than water, and able to recover from otherwise fatal injuries in mere minutes. These are what I will send against the barracks while we take control of the gatehouse."
"A simple magic to lock the doors, coupled with the nails I created some weeks ago will trap the soldiers within while they burn."
With a faint click, Xanos uses his right hand to twist his left and separate it from his body, holding it out to Price.
"It would aid me greatly if you could place this near the front door to the barracks while Teon and I make our way to the tower."
"If you prefer to make an assassination attempt against the garrison leadership, Teon and I can stage ourself at the tower and wait for your signal. Should anything go wrong on your end, we can use our attack to draw attention from your endeavors."
Price nods at the explanation - having no issue with the plan - and takes the hand. With a moment's hesitation, she puts it into the pocket of her skirt. "If this thing gropes my ass, you'll get it back minus some fingers. I'm still not sanguine if we should attempt to kill the Magister. The more we roam around the keep, the more likely it is that we'll get caught out... and the Gate must be taken. If we fail in that, we lose everything. But I completely understand Shulme's concerns. So do we risk it or not?"
Teon seems almost to quiver with eagerness to begin
The more confusion we create the better. The Talinguarders will hold against the bugbears better with the gates thrown wide and ably led than they will with the gates intact and their masters dead.
I say we kill them all. I take it we plan on setting off the flair from the tower as soon as the raven master and his pets are dead.?
"Was the poisoning of the stew successful?" Xanos asks Price.
"If Price is right, it killed about seven and disabled more than double that."
"But I completely understand Shulme's concerns. So do we risk it or not?"
He looks back at the group, "Maybe he's still in his rooms. Then again, we just set the town on fire.. he may be out and about. So we'd need to locate him and then still get access to him... and I don't fancy doin' neither 'til we lock down the barracks. So I say the four of us go drop off his creepy-ass hand then make for the keep-side bridge gate. If we can figure out where the mage is, then we can see if it's likely to work to try and kill him."
"Good point. Let's hit our static targets - the birds, barracks, and gate. Everyone else is a target of opportunity."
Cain focuses for a bit, then his image shifts to recreate Alcott, the big, shy soldier Cain met on his first night in town.
"Then let's get going." He hesitates to make sure no one has any objections, then he holds the door for Price, Alaric, Shulme... giving a nod to Xanos and Teon before quietly exiting and shutting the door. "Price, you know this place better than us... let's go plan this hand and get back to the gate."
Xanos turns to his Slave. "Follow Cain. Obey him as though he were me until I say otherwise."
The soldier lazily follows, his blank, unblinking stare hidden by his helm.
Are you ready to fly Xanos? I have been cooped up for far to long.
"Indeed." Xanos nods, casting a quick incantation as the others leave, creating a whispered arcane link between them all.
"This will allow us to communicate as long as we remain in relatively open areas. Simply whisper to respond."
Placing his good hand on Teon's shoulder, the tall wizard burned through a short stack of scrolls and then vanished.
Any of that for me. Fargo handles the inconspicuous.
"For now, just this."
Xanos casts Spider Climb on Teon.
"And, you may find this useful for the time being." he siad, handing Teon what appeared to be a braided bracelet.
"When we are in position I will enchant us further."
Would you like to take the stairs or have me fly up the side of the tower? Teon dons the cords, shoving his cloak into his pack. Or maybe everybody should come. With these I should be able to fly the entire part. Does anyone have a knotted rope?
"I prize efficiency." Xanos says simply. "Why walk when we do not have to."
As his team moves down the darkened hallway, Cain pulls up short, looking at the four doors around them. "Hey, Price," he whispers, "didn't you say this hallway was for the captains quarters? What are the chances the only one alive is asleep in his bunk?" He shrugs "It's at least worth a look, aint it?"
As he waits for an answer, he un-shoulders the backpack and puts it on Xanos's minion. "Here. Look useful and unimportant."
Hold onTeon grabs Xanos under the arms and makes for the open window.
Just before Teon makes his way out of the arms room, Xanos renders him invisible.
Taking the lead, Alaric moves forward with grim determination. "If we find the captain, may be best to pay him a night visit."
Price directs the rest of the team into the corridor to the captains' barracks - it was go time.
Listening to the doorway, nothing is heard beyond in the hallway. Slowly making their way out, our villains move down the hall to Captain Barhold's chamber . Listening at his door, they hear the silent breathing of a man sleeping beyond.
Opening the doorway, you see a man sleeping in his bed.
Price makes an after you gesture to Alaric. It seemed the least she could do having not seen the towering man in some years.
With a nod, he pretends to argue for a moment silently before striding into the room.
Drawing his sword silently, the hulking man brings it up, turning it over so it hangs blade down over the Captain's chest. Suddenly, Alaric covers Barhold's mouth and slams the blade down into his body.
As Alaric's blade pierces deep into Captain Barhold's body, he turns to look up at the evil warrior, a look of hate in his eyes. As blood bubbles up out of his mouth and rolls down the side of his face, his eyes narrow as he stares, and he mouths the words, "I'll....kill....you...." before his head lumps to the side, dead.
Price gives Alaric a well done pat on the shoulder then quickly surveys the room for anything of use while Barhold bleeds out.
Cain doesn't even watch the killing; he's seen what Alaric is capable of. After the death-gurgles stop, he looks back over towards the group. "I'm guessin' he's gonna be in demand once the alarm goes up from the town fire or from the signal flare," he whispers, "can we hide the body and quickly hide the blood? We could just stick him in one a'the other captains' rooms... not likely they're gonna be lookin' in there given the week they've had."
Otherwise, the hunter stays by the door, watching for any activity in or beyond the hall.
Price's scan for magical auras reveals two. One of that of a Masterwork Greatsword, the other that of a neatly folded shirt on his wardrobe, the crest of the Barhold family sewn into it. In addition his armor rests on a dummy nearby, Masterwork Full plate, though it has no auras about it.
Price packs up the magical shirt. She hands the magical sword to Cain for storage. Aside from that, she pulls the nearly missed chain of keys and smiles. These were possibly more valuable than anything else.
After helping to hide the body, Price flips the bed's mattress and throws a fresh blanket over the top of it - hoping that masks obvious bloodstains.
Cain takes the captain's monstrous blade, "This is a big-ass steak knife." He slips it into his efficient quiver before helping hide the body.
"We ready?" Cain gets ready to take up his trailing position in the group.
"The last captain is dead." Xanos says quietly to Teon.
Crawling out from it's hiding place, Xanos' hand hops from Price's skirts, skitters across the floor and leaps up onto the chest of the dead captain.
The corpse's skin rippled and began to change until it looked nothing like it had a moment before.
Then it slowly absorbed the blood.
The entire process took no more than thirty seconds before it skittered back over to Price and waited patiently.
She looks at the hand, pockets it again, and chances a whisper. "That was creepy - even by my standards. Let's get going."
Cain just shakes his head as they leave the room, closing the door as he takes up his spot at the rear of the group.
Before heading into the hall, Price changes her appearance to look like one of the more forgettable and quiet guards she met during her duties.
Excellent. Onward and upward and death to our enemies Teon keeps flying.
Price will head through the door somewhat quietly while keeping a sharp eye out for anyone else roaming the halls.