Nadya returns some time later with a large sack.
"Rope, oil, spikes," she lists, removing the items as she names them. "Very bad prices, but enough."
Karmiz nods, and looks over the items. "Anything unusual in town?" the dwarf asks the Ulfen woman.
Nadya laughs--a short, sharp laugh, with no humor in it. "Dead guards have mysteriously disappeared. No one meets my eyes. They will try to claim they saw nothing of what happen. Cowards."
'No allies in town? or, conversely, no one we will need to silence tonight? Also, do we know if/when the guard changes at the Tower/" Kazmir asks, trying to pick the best hour to assault.
Nadya shakes her head. "No, all hate and fear the Witches. They will not help them, but they will not help us."
Hatch, who had disappeared shortly after Nadya left, suddenly shows up again. "Dawn and dusk and the dark of night they change guards!" he proclaims.
You share a quiet meal with Nadya and her family. Her sons are oddly quiet, picking up on the mood in the room. After the meal Nadya puts them to bed, then goes to bed herself, saying it will be good to get an early start.
She is, indeed, up at the first light of dawn, preparing a hearty breakfast with a curiously intense expression on her face when Kazmir awakens. Her sons remain asleep for the time being.
2 level: Flaming Sphere, Stone Call, Flare Burst[/ooc]
Karmiz communes in peace as the sun rises, with Bizzk at his side. The spells sing strong in him and he nods to himself. He was never one for battle, but this was a good cause.
He greets Nadya and asks, "Do you have anything final to say to your sons? The worst may happen." It is a dark note to start upon but it is best to get it out of the way early.
Nadya pauses in her preparations for a moment, then continues cooking, not meeting Kazmir's gaze. "When we leave," she says, quietly.
The dwarf nods, 'Very well. My plan is simple. We scale a far wall, out of sight. We attack and subdue the trolls and the guards. We force our way in and then head up. The downside is, it plays right into what they expect, but a Tower gives us little other option. Any thoughts?"
Nadya frowns a moment, then shakes her head. "No, nothing. Is best idea of bad options, yes?"
The dwarf nods and rubs Bizzk long beak, "That is a good way of putting it. We have a few hours. Is there a place to hide near the tower? it is better to get there early, if we can be safe doing so."
"There is forest," Nadya replies. "They do not cut trees back far."
"Nature helps me again.." Kazmir mutters then says louder, "You can lead us there safely? Then let us go. Better to be early then late."
The two of you set out, making good time in spite of the snow. You're soon in some sparse woods, evergreen trees struggling to survive in the eternal winter.
After a couple of hours, you're startled by a voice calling out, "My, you have some very shiny pretties with you, yes, very shiny! Perhaps I could tell you more about them, yes?"
Kazmir looks at Nadya, seeing if she knows anything.
"Um, hello?" Kazmir says, trying to keep his own voice down. "Who is it?"
"Oh, just me, just me," the voice replies mockingly. After a moment a large black crow flies into sight from where it was hidden among the branches overhead. It lands on a lower branch, in sight but still out of reach. "You do not know everything about the shinies in your pack, yes? Let me see, let me see and I will tell you!"
Nadya tenses at the appearance of the bird, one hand gripping the top of her axe tightly, but for now she does not speak.
Kazmir draws a few of the copper coins and shakes them in his palm, making them catch the sunlight.
'Shiny?'
Kazmir gets the feeling the crow knows more than it's letting on... or is planning more than it's saying.
It makes a rude noise at Kazmir's copper. "No! Shiny magic, silly dwarf! Shiny powerful!"
Kazmir eyes the crow. Anyone asking for powerful magic...then he recalls. Crows! The Tower had an aerie for crows.
The dwarf smiles and bows, 'You are mistaken. I have no powerful magic, only a few humble coins fit for a trader."
The crow laughs raucously. "Liar liar! I see it! I smell it!"
It takes to the air... and vanishes.
But Kazmir can still hear wingbeats getting closer...
An invisible raven?
'Bizzk, flap your wings, stir up the snow!" The swirling snow should reveal the outline of the bird...
"Now, strike!"
Unfortunately, by the time Bizzk got a clue of the raven's location, it was already past him.
Kazmir feels a sharp tug on his backpack, and Nadya shouts, "Is there!" She fires an arrow.
But her shot goes wide.
"Bizzk, fly after him!" As he says this, he pulls his sling and stone free.
Just what they needed while hiding. A full blown battle including a giant angry heron...
Kazmir's stone strikes the crow right in the head, and she shrieks and falters for a moment in her flight, but soon recovers. As Kazmir fights, however, he hears the sound of something hitting the snow...
"Your pack!" Nadya exclaims even as she lines up another shot. "Is ripped!"
The crow makes another dive for Kazmir's pack.
She cackles with glee as she flies away, the plague doctor's mask in her talons. Nadya fires on the crow as she flies away.
But again her shot goes wide.
Bizzk, get him!" With that Kazmir breaks into a run saying, 'Nadya, guard my pack and keep a watch on the Tower." The dwarf is fast and the snow doesn't bother him as he chases the fleeing bird.
The crow squawks in pain as first Kazmir's bullet and then Bizzk's beak strikes her. Reflexively she drops the mask, then cries out in alarm when she realizes she's lost her prize. But she's badly injured enough that she simply flies away, evading further strikes from the heron's beak, rather then doubling back to reclaim it.
Kazmir grabs the fallen mask and stuffs it in a pocket. He can't riskt he crow flying off tot he Tower (or anywhere else) so he tells Bizzk to finish it, even as he reloads his sling for another stone.
Kazmir's sling bullet strikes the crow, but as Bizzk closes in on her she vanishes again.
The dwarf debates blundering around in the forest after this crow or leaving her to possibly report to the Tower. In the end he decides to leave her go. If they kill her, that will go remarked as well.
"Come on Bizzk, let us go back. We have the mask. We are safe."
Nadya holds up Kazmir's pack as he returns, pointing to the large rent where raven talons slashed it. "What we will do about this?" she asks.
Kazmir looks at the ripped pack sadly. "You wouldn't happen to have a tailor in town, would you?"
Nadya thinks for a moment. "Tailor, no, but there is one who work leather. Is good enough, yes? But after Tower?"
The druid laughs quietly, "Yes, after. It does mean I'll have to leave some things behind. Hopefully we will have to to collect them before we leave."
While going over his gear he says, 'Anything happen at the Tower?"
Nadya looks around. The forest still blocks the Pale Tower from sight.
"I hear nothing. Is still some miles to Tower, though."
"That is good" Using a drift of leave and branches, the dwarf hides his valuables. 'We will have to carry the rope in our hands. Everything else, we can come back for, hopefully."
"Let's get closer to the Tower."
Nadya nods, and continues to lead the way.
After a couple of hours, you hear cawing in front and above you. Peeking through a break in the trees, you can see a swarm of ravens flying, though they seem fairly aimless at present.
Kazmir peers out, taking in the scene.
'Anything out of the ordinary, Nadya?"
Nadya frowns. "Is probably witch spies," she states. "Like on way back to town after you fought giant green insect."
Kazmir nods, "What do you think of our friend the invisible crow? Working with the Tower or just a local pest?"
He eyes the Tower, "They will make it hard to approach unseen." The druid squints at the sky estimating the time.
She thinks a moment. "I think that one is not with Tower. Otherwise these ones be looking for us, not just flying around."
Indeed, now that you've had a bit of time to watch them, it looks like these ravens are starting to move on... in something of a circle. A patrol route, perhaps?