Alyssa shakes her head. "No, Dearie - that will make us more enemies. We need to find a different enemy for people to unite against. If we get them at each others' throats then they're much easier for us to rule."
She looks thoughtfully at the towering spire of the church of Iomedae. "I think we have a target. Nobody likes being told what to do by high minded busybodies. We just need to foster that resentment and fan it into flames. Then we can burn the place to ashes."
"Ah, I like this plan," Jordanna grins. "I've not yet been able to perfect my shapechanging magic, but I think I'm fairly close. Perhaps once I make that breakthrough, I can disguise myself as their priestess and work to sully her reputation."
Jordanna idly rubs the soft fur on the back of her arms. "Let's head back to the jail, then. I'm sure it won't be long before another unruly citizen does something foolish."
Betha stares thoughtfully at the closed door for a moment before turning to her sisters.
"Yes, let us return to our prisoners. We wouldn't want them feeling neglected, or hungry, or ... anything like that."
Alyssa shrugs. "It's as good a plan as any, while we wait for things to liven up a bit."
After a pleasant evening of tormenting prisoners and enjoying the reading material the former sheriff left behind the coven sleeps soundly. The next day or so pass without incident. They receive dirty looks on the street, but no-one appears willing to actually stand up to the town's new law-keeper, at least not openly.
Kells and Agatha both seem resigned to their fate and so it is something of a surprise when the Coven returns to the jail almost a week after their appointment and find the doors to both cells hanging open like the remaining teeth in Alyssa's mouth. Something very strong has clearly tried to tear both doors off, and more or less succeeded.
More importantly, the prisoners have escaped!
Jordanna snarls angrily when she sees the doors wrenched open and the prisoners missing. "Damnation! We should have slaughtered them when we had the chance!"
She squats awkwardly as she sniffs at the floor, searching for tracks or any clues as to what might have perpetrated this crime.
Alyssa looks expressionless at the wreckage of the prison, although she tuts slightly. "Dearie, dearie me. Looks as though we have lawless elements in town, sisters. I can't be having with that sort of thing."
She joins Jordanna in looking for clues.
Betha's eyes narrow when she sees the damage done and the missing prisoners. After a moment, she smiles. "But sister dear, now we have a legitimate excuse to end their lives. We won't need to hold back when we find them."
She moves through the area containing the cells.
"Ecstasy? Would you kindly assist us in determining who is responsible for this?"
The large spider scuttles out from her backpack and begins crawling around the ruins of the bars.
The coven sets themselves to clue hunting and between them a picture emerges. Riley's cell is largely undisturbed but there seems to have been some sort of huge disturbance in Agatha's cell. Ecstasy and Bertha locate an odd marking near the door, it appears to be a hoof...
The tracks, as best the coven can follow them, lead to the edge of town. More and more hoofprints can be found until, at the edge of town, the hoofprints heads towards a nearby copse and the 'normal' footprints head up the road and away from town.
Jordanna casts a spell, surrounding herself with mage armor. "We follow them," she snarls.
Betha slides her sword from its scabbard on her back and grins.
"But of course."
Alyssa sighs. "You can't outrun a horse, dearie. People, on the other hand..."
Jordanna nods. "Let's move, sisters."
Pursuing the tracks down the road and away from Longacre it soon becomes apparent that however it is that fled Longacre this way has too much of a head start. While the tracks are still there, barely, it's clear that the trail is cold.
Turning back towards town a light rain begins to fall.
"Well, as much as I'd love to continue traipsing around in the cold and rain, we should probably head back to town," Betha says wiping the rain from her face.
Once the trio returns to town, Betha wishes to take a side-trip to check out the tavern that the woman and her husband owned. She'd like to see if anyone has taken it over or if it's still closed.
Jordanna is unable to learn more about the tracks. She defers to her sister and accompanies her to the tavern to investigate further.
Alyssa is annoyed - her old bones really aren't built for tramping over the countryside. "Alright, sisters. Let's go and burn something down."
On their return to the jail, the coven finds they have a visitor. Razelago is hovering above the table, his irritating drone filling the room. When the women enter he nods and gestures with his chubby little arms to the three bags on the table.
"You fee. The Archbaron is a prompt and lawful employer, as we all should be." His nasal voice grows a little sharper. "Now I need a report for him. What's happened here? You seem to have had some disturbances..."
"Our prisoners escaped," Jordanna growls. "Somebody broke them out of their cells, and we were unable to catch up to them."
"Oh, we'll find them," Betha says with confidence. "One of them is a musician - he's not going to be able to go too long without making some noise."
She looks at her sisters meaningfully.
"We already have ears listening for them. No need to worry."
"Oh I won't worry." Razelago replies, nastily. "It is you that should worry. If you can't do the job the Archbaron has set for you then you may find his favour disappearing very quickly. It would be... vexing if I had to send a bad report."
He flutters in a circle for a few moments before speaking again. "I will delay the report for two days. In the meantime you need to find the prisoners, or otherwise do something to prove your value, else you might wish you had!"
With that he vanishes in a puff of brimstone and sulphur.
The bags he has left behind contain 150 gold pieces each, the agreed fee for the coven's 'good works'. However Razelago's threat hangs ominously in the air...
"Such a pleasant fellow," Betha purrs after Razelago vanishes. "We should get him a fruit basket." She drops her bag of coins into her backpack.
"I'm going to see if Ingoe has any information on who might have sprung our little jailbirds and where they might be."
"I'll talk to the little brat to see if she has anything useful to offer," Jordanna says.
"Ah, the wages of sin." It's unclear from Alyssa's tone whether she's being ironic as she counts her share of the gold.
"I'm not the only one thinking that the nasty little thing can't send any reports to anyone if it's dead, am I?"
Jordanna's ears twitch and she smiles at the thought. "It would be a pleasure to slaughter the pest. But Fex could likely just summon another one."
Alyssa frowns, grudgingly acknowledging the point. "I suppose. But I do dislike running other people's errands. It's usually much easier to skin someone until the survivors do what you tell them."
Betha finds Ingoe where she expects, at the docks, where a number of his men are unloading a ship. A large number of other people are forming something of a crowd around the ship although they all seem to be keeping a fair distance.
The reason for their reticence stands on the prow of the ship, a gray-skinned, muscular hobgoblin glowering over the river and pointedly ignoring the townsfolk. Ingoe sees Betha, raises a hand in greeting and strides over, before bowing to kiss her hand.
"My Lady, what a pleasure. I am delighted to see you, as ever, but even more so since we were about to send for you. That... gentleman." He gestures to the hobgoblin. "Wants to enter town, but lacks a pass, in accordance with the Archbaron's decree. Unfortunately the captain wants him off the ship, the townsfolk, as you can see don't want him here, and he seems cross enough to do something drastic. As the law, might you intervene? I'd be very grateful." He adds with a wink.
--------------------------
Jordanna finds Pheobe engaged in a game of goblinhop in the square outside the Iomedean church. The game looks entirely innocent, until the witch notices that on the church wall is scrawled an asmodean pentagram in the same chalk as the goblinhop grid. Someone seems to delight in pushing boundaries.
Pheobe sees the pregnant changeling and leaves her friends, to scamper across the square. She looks Jordanna fearlessly in the eye. "So? What do you want?"
Jordanna glowers down at Phoebe. "Somebody broke our prisoners out of their jail cells. What do you know about it?"
Pheobe looks mildly impressed. "Wow... Sheriff Ronda never let that happen." She hums for a moment. "Sorry. I don't know. My dad wasn't involved, at least I don't think he was. You should check out Bo and Dent, the gatekeepers. Everyone says they're old and harmless but I know they used to be in the army!"
She nods, seemingly proud of herself for that piece of advice and stares at the older woman, expectantly.
"Great. I hate old people," Jordanna growls. She glares at Phoebe for a few moments before reluctantly fishing a gold piece from her pouch and handing it to her. Then she makes her way to the gatehouse in search of Bo and Dent.
The gatehouse is on the quiet eastern side of town and consists of a tower (three stories but showing its age) with a large gate set in it. The gate is currently open although there is no sign of traffic, recent or otherwise.
There is a small house built into the town wall and outside said house are two rocking chairs filled by a white haired woman and a grey-haired man. Both are wrinkled but rise easily from their chairs as Jordanna approaches.
"What do you want?" The woman asks, sharply.
Jordanna narrows her eyes as she approaches. "Did you see any criminals fleeing this way last night? One was on a horse."
"We're old lady." The man speaks up. "Bo and I sleep soundly at night. Takes a lot to wake us. So no, we didn't hear no horses, or people for that matter."
The woman spits, close to Jordanna's foot and mutters something.
Jordanna isn't good at picking up social cues, but her hearing is sharp, and she snarls at the old woman. "You want to say that to my face?"
Her belly twitches as the thing inside her womb begins to get angry.
"Great. I hate old people," Jordanna growls.
Alyssa purses her lips at Jordanna's words. "Careful dearie; you say 'old', I say rich in experience and years. For example, and I mention this only in passin', I can think of at least three ways to cut that infant of yours out of you - and two of 'em, you wouldn't even wake up til it was too late." She smiles. "Let's be polite, shall we, dearie? We're all the family we have left, after all."
At the gatehouse, she lets Jordanna do the talking, but watches from the back.
Alert to what has been said, and the lack of eye contact, she weighs in. "Be best for you to say what you know, dearie. You'll talk in the end. Everyone always does. This is best for you. And your husband." Her hand goes to the collection of knives at her belt. Some gleam, sharp and cruel. Some are jagged and blunt. None of them looks friendly.
As Alyssa goes for her knives Dent reaches behind the rocking chair and pulls out a loaded crossbow which he levels, with slightly shaking hands, at the witch. Bo doesn't see this, focused as she is on Jordanna.
"I said I wouldn't tell you anyway cursling!" She growls. "Your kind don't scare me, and I don't care what the Baron says. You can use that gate, leave and never come back!"
The situation is poised on a knife edge. Violence is barely a heartbeat away...
Jordanna eyes Alyssa and grunts. "Present company excluded, of course."
Jordanna flexes her claws menacingly. She looks to Alyssa for permission to attack.
Alyssa stands as tall as she can, her eyes flashing as she glares at the crossbowman. "You don't want to shoot that at me, dearie. How long have you been married? All those arguments, those things you said to each other... isn't it time just to end it all?"
As Alyssa casts her spell, Jordanna quaffs her extract of shield.
"I... don't... think... I... will!" Dent grunts, as his hands steady and he fires at Alyssa. Bo pulls a shortsword from her belt and leaps at Jordanna, slashing at the changeling's bulging belly and drawing copious blood.
"I'll cut the hellspawn from your body witch!"
"Dearie, dearie, me. What times we live in that pregnant women are being attacked in the street by lawless elements. Lawks a mercy!"
Alyssa draws her sword, moving in to attack Bo from her blind side.
Enraged by the attack, Jordanna taps into her feral nature. With a snarl of "Lamashtu!", her teeth transform into jagged fangs as she claws and bites at Bo!
The two witches converge on Bo and shred her in a flurry of claws and negative energy! The old woman falls to the ground stone cold dead and Dent screams.
"You killed her! You killed her! I'll kill you for that!" Unfortunately for him his bolt flies easily over Jordanna's head.
Ducking the crossbow bolt, Jordanna casts a spell. She moves closer and thrusts her hand out, blasting Dent with a color spray! His wife's hot blood drips from her fingers and dribbles down her chin.
Seeing his wife felled has strengthened the old soldier's resolve and he resists Jordanna's spell!
Alyssa attacks the crossbow-wielding man. "Surrender, dearie. You won't be spared, of course, but you'll die easier. Maybe."
She feels Gyronna's approval with every hurt she causes, every life she takes. Truly, her hatred makes her strong.
Alyssa closes with Dent and deals him a strong blow with her crackling shortsword. The old soldier groans, backpedals a bit and fires his crossbow at near point blank range! Even the magic of Gyronna can't protect her chosen against that!