There are several hundred gold pieces of coin on the table where the two were gambling.
The cupboards contain some meager food items, and quite a few bottles of cheap alcohol.
There is also a small packet of pesh on the table where the now dead man was sitting.
"The girl is a natural and has a real beef against the traitorous rat... an old painful beef..."she will do nicely Father..." she goes with us I say. Tolm is a chump and likely to rat at the first opportunity and frankly too much effort to be anything else but a meat sack at this point.", Sic grumbled in their guild tongue as he stood unmoving behind Tolm.
Ellenora cocks her head as Sic speaks, trying to understand the words, her brow furrowed, "What are you saying?"
Anthony sighed, a somewhat mournful smile on his face. "Sic thinks you have potential, and that we should take you along." He looked at Sic, then Tolm, then back again and nodded an affirmative. "Im inclined to agree, about that and the other thing." He closed his eyes and steeled himself for the sounds that were about to reach him.
"Those who are useful are rewarded, those that are not ... discarded. Im thinking you would prefer to work with us. Let's not dabble any more." said softly as he becomes visible.
Nodding to Vaek's logic, a low throaty chuckle rumbled from Sic as the confirmation he wanted came through. He stalked around Tolm and towards the girl drawing a dagger as he went. The half orc gave the lass one last appraising look and handed her the blade hilt first.
"Its all in your hands now Ellanora. Blood in, blood out as they say. Make your choice."
The scorpion still crouched on the deadbolt of the door clicks its claws lightly as it begins cleaning them while waiting.
The scorpion clicks a few more times before falling silent.
Alexia lingers in the shadows of the alleyway watching the beggars silently. Waiting in the hush for the Thieves of the Coran guild to complete their work and leave.
Hopefully the dead ones held nothing of value, not that I'd expect they would but filth can hold riches.
Ellenora takes the blade from Sic and advances on Tolm, who tries to scramble backwards, but the small room, crowded with people, doesn't leave him much room.
She lunges at him, a bit clumsily, taking him in the gut. Tolm lets out a scream and staggers towards the front door to try and escape.
Nul lazily fires an arrow at the fleeing man
Alexia moves to a different spot to be unobserved when the screaming starts watching to ensure none of the beggars become inquisitive enough to open the door.
Xabu clambers off the dead bolt as the shrinking spell finally loses its effects and a cat sized scorpion stands in the kitchen.
Surprise widened his eyes and Sic's twisted soul sang when the girl seemed to leap at the chance to kill Tolm...she's a rooky with the blade but an eager spirit none the less...and she's taken the first steps...
They couldn't let Tolm escape so Sic spat a spell to slow him down.
Nulmanen's arrow takes the man in the back and he stumbles to the ground then lies still with his face in the dirt.
Ellenora's hands are trembling as she returns the blade to Sic, which she hasn't bothered to clean. Her breathing is a little ragged.
In the back alley several beggars stir, looking towards the house, but none give any indication of wanting to get involved in whatever is going on.
Sic shot a Nulmanen a grin at his handy work and a raised eyebrow at he huge bug but waved off taking the blade from the girl.
He spoke softly to settle her nerves.
"Not bad. Not bad. First time huh? Always stab up and under the ribs. Stab. twist, pull; savvy? Now, make sure it's done luv. Many men have survived worse than that. Across the throat or into that soft spot between the skull and neck. Then wipe the blade clean on ole Tolm's shirt and keep the steel."
With non typical gentleness, Sic led Ellanora over to Tolm and pointed out the two kill spots.
"Vaek there can give you some real pointers to the body's weaknesses. Be sure to speak to him later when we have the time."
After the man is confirmed dead, "Best that we stash this body lest it lead back to her." Vaek will pull the body off to the side and hide it under some garbage.
Ellenora, following Sic's direction, drives the blade in at the base of the skull, then wipes the blade clean on his ragged clothing. She seems... pleased. "There are a couple people I know who deserve that."
"Now, what do you want to know about Firyin?"
"Where he is currently. We want to get to him before he finds out about what we just did." He got up, dusting off his knees out of habit. "You lead us to him and we will kill him." He paused a moment in thought. "You seem..." He paused again, looking for a word. "...eager. Would you like to help us get him? Apart from leading us to him I mean, help draw him into an ambush."
Ellenora takes on a thoughtful expression, "He'll be furious if he sees me there - I'm not supposed to know where he is. I... I don't know if that would be good or bad for laying an ambush. But I can take you there and show you where the sentries are, then decide from there?" she turns it into a question.
On seeing the events of draw to a close the now cat sized scorpion leaves the building and skitters off into the darkness.
Elated at the girl's poise and ability to take direction, Sic patted her on the shoulder as she talked to Tony. The half orc moved to the table and collected the coins, pesh and booze from the cabinets.
"Ready to go now. It will take some time to get to the Murdoch's.":
Ellenora leads you north towards one of the finer parts of town. After about 15 minutes she slows down then stops.
Pointing down a side street she says quietly, "The Murdoch's live down this street. There are always a couple of guards at the front door and two more at the back. All human, so they won't be much good in the dark."
"But there also three sentries posted. Either half-elves or half-orcs. One sits in a third story balcony at the back of this these apartments." she indicates a nearby building that that side street passes.
"There is a second on the roof of a toy shop around the back side of the home."
"The third is inside a building on the south. I was lucky to spot that one peeking out a curtain or I might have got caught."
She stops to think. "Unless they changed things up. That was two nights ago when I followed Delg here."
"The Murdoch's have a large home in the center of all that. Two story building, lots of windows."
Alexia had obtained an additional covering in the time everyone had convinced a young girl to murder a man she disliked. The cloth covered her further as she walked along whispering to her allies
"So shall I send Xabu forward to verify the girl's claims? I can do the same thing I did last time. Secondly, how do we want to proceed with this killing? If Xabu's scouting reveals our target asleep I can send him back with a entirely lethal dose of magic to instantaneously kill him with. If not I might suggest making the killing look like the Butcher's work. It will draw his attention and and give us a chance to send the tower hounds on a merry chase. If we can take out the butcher in the meantime they look like fools and given some timing can also get them in trouble with other establishments in the city."
Vaek nods in approval of Bishop's plan.
"I'm going to look for a spot to take out the sentries." With that, he pulls up his hood, and practically vanishes into the shadows. He then begins making his way towards their target, looking for an outcropping or ledge he can get to that will let him see and take out hopefully at least two of the sentries.
Anthony nodded in approval. "Good idea. Do it." He looked down at Ellenora. "Sic here seems to have become your tutor at this point, you stick with him."
Holding his ground, Anthony waited for the scorpion to do its work.
With another expression of arcane power from Alexia the scorpion again shrinks to inconspicuous size. After moving a single forelimb, testing the new size, it skitters forward with all the disconcerting speed an eight legged can muster.
Nulmanen takes some time exploring the nearby areas and finds a place to climb up on a rooftop 50' to the south, then carefully makes his way back to the Murdoch home.
Xabu scuttles around the perimeter of the house, noting the three guards out front, and the two at the back.
A window on the north casts light into the street, and a quick climb up to the seal Xabu looks in to see a spacious dining room. Four humans and two drow are speaking with one another. The humans bear a familial resemblance to one another. One is older, in his late 50's. The others, two male, and one female, are likely his children. Doors lead out of the dining room on all three walls.
Xabu then seeks a way in. Better constructed then the old house on the beggar's road it takes several minutes to find a suitable entrance in the stone foundation. Xabu squeezes through into a sitting room on the south side of the building. A short hallway to the east leads to the front door. An open archway on the north leads into a hallway that runs west to the far end of the house. Two doors on the south wall, and three on the north, a set of stairs leading up at the end. The hallway is well lit, and human and a half-elf stand guard outside the dining room hall doorway, dressed in breastplates and carrying bows and swords.
Xabu scuttles down the far end of the house maneuvering to examine the various rooms by scuttling under the doors, then moving up to the second floor. Doing his best to keep in mind a general grasp on the seven minute time limit he was under.
"Family of common two legs, two of the less common drow. Determining the drow's nesting point will likely make master pleased with me.
On completing the search of the first floor Xabu would attempt to skitter up to the second doing much of the same.
The first door on the north wall leads into a kitchen area. A single bored looking drow sits in the dark near a door leading to the dining room.
Scuttling back to the hall, it takes Xabu a minute to slip past the guards, waiting for a moment when both are looking away so as not to see him in the well lit hallway. Xabu skips the south doors for the moment and moves to the far western door on the north wall.
Beyond the door is a richly furnished study. A bookshelf covers the western wall, filled mostly with books, but also with several rolled up parchments, a couple of ink vials, and several stacks of papers. The room is empty of people.
Crossing then to the south doors Xabu finds a bedroom, empty of people, and a door leading back east in which is a washroom, that also connects back to the central hallway.
Upstairs finds another hallway running the length of the house. Four richly furnished bedrooms, empty save for the master suite on the northeast corner. The sounds of someone snoring come from the bed.
With time running out, Xabu is uncertain of whether to risk climbing the blankets to take a look or race back to Alexia (with sufficient time to be sure to slip past the hall guards).
The scorpion glances to the windows and chitters lightly. The small creature climbing up the bed to examine the sleeper before skittering over to the window's latches and undoing them. The armored creature wedging its body into the windows gap in an attempt to lift it.
The scorpion glances about in annoyance to the rooms sleeper before slipping back under the door in a chitinous whisper. looking for fallen keys or other objects of minor value common to lose under structures as a bed before leaving.
Alexia waits silently as the lights flicker in the house, He ought to be fine, few are paranoid enough to mistake a scorpion for anything else than dangerous vermin. Though if a normal guard attempts they will find this one frustrating to catch.
With a verminous equivalent of a polite cough Xabu appears near Alexia the tiefling lowering a hand for the scorpion to perch next to her ear.
With that the insect rubs a pincer over a mandible while looking toward the house.
Alexia nods before snapping a few arcance words and drawing a map of Xabu's movements in the dirt of the ground. The Tiefling asking various questions about room sizes and other things in order to put together a proper floor plan.
"Xabu says there are two more guards inside the building along with the ones outside. Human and a half-elf. It sounds like the father of the family his son and two daughters are talking with a pair of drow in the dining room. There is another Drow in the kitchen, likely the cook. The only other occupant is sleeping in the master bedroom."
Alexia gives a small hum of thought.
"A mostly useless gesture at this point but perhaps the Drow we seek has some form of identifying marks? Scars, Tattoos, missing fingers or such?"
Sic crouched in the shadows and kept a staying hand on Ellenora's shoulder as he spoke.
"Softly now, whispers carry farther than people think when it's quiet. Its the hissing I guess. Now, patience is key when working in the dark and when you're out for blood. Sometimes you have to sit still for hours or days til the mark shows a weakness. But when it's time to move; we move with purpose with no time for second guessing. Now we watch and most importantly we listen. Five gold if you can spot Nulmanen."
The half orc kept fell silent then and took his own advice.
Nul, perched atop the roof of the building, takes aim at the first guard, and fires off a trio of arrows
Ellenora peers around the dark side streets, looking for the ranger, her eyes face scrunches up as she continues searching.
Its a moot point, as I have Improved Precise Shot, thus negating their cover. That said, I had meant to go after one of the three guards in that little cut out corner. However, when I posted, it was from my phone, and I didn't see the two on the other side of the building.
Ellenora looks disappointed that she hasn't been able to spot the ranger, and she jumps slightly when a cry of pain is heard from the side streets.
Nulmanen's arrow strikes one of the guardsmen, the shaft protruding from the man's shoulder.
Xabu chitters as he clings to Alexia's cloak. The rag cloaked woman nods to the insect then turns to the group.
"Do you know if your companion is in position yet? I'm wondering if he has seen the sentries." With that she gestures to a wall and begins selectively dirtying portions to expand the map
"You new protoge said they were in these areas but knowing for certain would be for the best."
With her map updated she turns to the party.
"Much as I'd love to turn this entire thing into a trap for your city serial killer I doubt it will be possible with amount of time to plan I have. With the way your leader was speaking I assume that the quicker our target dies the better. So do we strike like ghosts or butchers?"
The cloth garbed mystic asks, obviously preferring the subtle option.
"Ideally we would leave nothing in our wake, but it would only take a single mistake for an alarm to be raised." Anthony mumbled to noone in particular. "We may need to, as you put it, strike like ghosts."
He fell silent for a moment. "How many more times can we go invisible?" He thought, getting as prompt and answer as ever. "One can produce such an effect thrice more before needing to replenish." He nodded. "Alright."
"I can make three of us invisible. I suggest we sneak in." Looking out into the night, he adressed Nulmanen through the message spell. "Nulmanen, we will need eyes on the sentries, and backup in case of a hasty exit. Do you feel confident in your current position to provide it?"
"I'm not sure if the guards and the sentries have some form of communication between themselves that would alert them on each others death or harm. We can enter the building by the second floor windows. Even counting in striking from ambush we will likely need something to prevent those we attack from shouting for help. I don't suppose any of you know the spell of silence?"
With that Alexia highlights the dining room and the kitchen, "I'm assuming that the man you are looking for is one of the two drow in the dining room. Though from your silence on the matter I take he has no easily identified marks. Just to cover our bases we can sneak into the dining room through the kitchen and deal with the cook as well. It looks as though the kitchen and the main doors are the only exit path from that room so we block it and deal with the drow. Then either kill the family or strike a deal with them regarding all this."