"Is everyone okay with the fire idea, then?" Juno says, once Kheldor has left.
"We'll need to light it just as the caravan begins, once the chest has been filled. And if not, what should our distraction be instead?"
"We're still not addressing how we actually steal the cart. This isn't some small feat we can pull off with sleight of hand or subtle manipulation. We can talk ourselves into a position to strike, but they simply won't hand the chest off to us without some force applied. At the very least, we must be fully prepared for bloodshed just in case."
The festival is a few days away. You might want to scope things out a bit. See what's what.
"Like I said I am merely hoping that sufficient guards will be pulled away so that the opportunity to steal the chest will present itself. I leave the other details to you. This will be a team effort can't work without it. If we can poison the cart driver then we have the actual cart itself. However, with the fire, how do we stop the procession long enough that the guards will be ordered to help put out the fire, in order to clear the path of the panicking citizens as well as stopping the cart in order for someone to incapacitate him as well as take his place? "
I kinda tossed it out there without explaining much. I don't know who has maps or the city book, but the procession goes about a mile, then people hang out (with lots of gold) and make a show of tossing their money in a simple chest and praying for prosperity. The money presumably then goes to the very well-guarded temple in the Ivy district about another mile away some time afterwards.
A little recon and a good idea of the place would help, I think. I don't use any map tools, so I'll just have to describe things as best I can.
You may not have to burn anything. LOL! I'm enjoying your scheming little minds, though. Such scoundrels!
There are/were some other possibilities, too. If you have questions, just ask, and I'll try to be clear.
"Again, I must stress the point that these guards simply will not leave the chest unattended. Some of them may follow the signs of a fire, but a chest full of Abadar gold won't get just discarded to save a few apartment flats. After some guards get drawn away toward the fire, we need to draw even more away with another distraction or something."
"Here is an outline of the plan I see forming."
"1. The Distraction – Somebody sets the fire a street away, with easy access to a nearby alley. I then rush at the caravan from the alley, crying for help. Ideally, several guards should accompany me back around the corner to help with the fire. I'll give them the slip in the crowd and circle back to help out with the rest of the plan.
"2. This is the part we need to work on. We should research tomorrow, and figure out exactly how many guards will be accompanying it, what their route is going to be, what time they will be moving, and anything else there is to figure out. Driver's name, address, life story—that is one route we should be prepared to go. We should also consider hiring out a few brutes to provide a suitable secondary distraction, but making sure we aren't implicated in the crime if they get themselves caught and tortured should be of utmost concern.
"3. At this point, the cart should be moved into an alley and either already under our control or unsuspectfully waiting for our ambush to pounce. Quill mentioned the need to move the chest into a new container, but I think in the hustle and bustle of the festival's aftermath we could get by with just a disguise until we can get it into a more secure location where we can worry about transport later. We find that alley in the hours before and stash a big burlap tarp, some gardening tools, and buckets of muddy water and hay, and probably turn that cart and those camels into a pretty convinceable peasant's wagon. A disguise on the driver and a miserable-looking wife on the side — or maybe the miserable-looking wife is the driver! — and I think it'd work.
"I'll look into what the route of the procession will be, it may be wise to bring someone along with me as another set of eyes and ears."
"Once we have the information we need, I will scout out the route for likely places we can have our precious cargo stop so that we can put it to better use than the church of Abadar would."
"I know I was one of the primary supporters of hiring out for some of our distractions, but what if we were to let out a bit of information in the Puddles, whether it is true or not is of no consequence, about certain shops providing free goods while others are unlikely to be manned while the festival occurs. We may be able to get more folk from the Puddles up to cause guards to be paying more attention to these unfortunates. Hell knowing the folk of the Puddles some will likely cause enough of a distraction without us telling them to. With Kheldor no longer with us, who is our 'minister of misinformation'?"
"I like that. It incorporates everything into a neat little bundle. I say though we split up now do some information gathering on our own and meet back here tomorrow? Shop closing time?" Sidoze looks around for any objections and will wait till everyone agrees.
Grigori nods along to the other's words, scratching at his beard with one finger and then sighing deeply, looing over Sidoze's shoulder and contemplating the map layout with as much of an eye as he could manage. He taps the table with one broad finger and cocks his head to one side, his expression strained and as if lain with the knowledge that his idea was probably not a very good one, but he might as well say it, in case one of the others might be able to work with it further.
"Do not know about fire, or driver, or disguising cart very well. Would be almost easier to start riot somewhere close by to draw away guards, but in many case, riot only makes guards clump up more around chest. Harder to steal if they all looking out for trouble. Still, riot is what I can do."
He gives them all an eye however and says with much more confidence and a flatter tone, "Should also have lookouts in case other gangs making same plan for chest. Would not do to make good plan, have it go off, then chest is taken by someone else, no."
He steps back with a shrug then and recrosses his broad arms, looking to Quill for her ideas. He looks then at Andrezi and nods his head.
"Grigori will go with you for time while strategists continue perfecting plan. More use for our skills, Andrezi, yes?" he gives Sidoze a nod and then makes ready to set out on recon with the assassin.
"I'll look around for some knuckleheads to draw attention to themselves. While I like the idea of getting the Puddles Folk involved, it'll put the guards more on edge and, as Grigori mentioned, they might bunch up around the chest when they're more nervous. Best to appear completely innocent, but still frantic and terrified and desperately in need of assistance. I think I even know an illusion or two that could help convince the guards they need to help."
Quill nods her head and scratches absentmindedly at her beard while listening to the big man's words.
A riot...I like it. Perhaps give the people what they truly want. All we need is a big bag of coppers and some gold paint. An elderly merchant will ask a local lad to carry forward his sack of coin for the chest. As lad takes off, as we know he will, a pull chord opens the bottom of the bag and begins to spill gold-colored coins on the street. Add one part poverty and two parts greed, and we have an instant riot on our hands." Smiling, she takes another big bit of bread and leans back with her hands behind her head, chewing in satisfaction.
"Yes, it would be chaos. But would it draw the guards away from the chest? I think a bunch of people obviously on the lookout for free coins suddenly mobbing them would only make matters more complicated for us."
"The fake coins idea is a great getaway distraction... somebody across the street spills their bag of hundreds of 'gold' coins, and as the crowd goes crazy we disguise the cart and pull away. We need something for getting the remainder of the guards away from their duty for long enough to overthrow the driver and any last stubborn guards that accompany him."
"Also, I was doing some thinking, and in theory getting the driver to do my bidding -- as in, steer the cart and himself willfully into a death trap -- should be much easier after I pick up a few scrolls from the store. I've heard of a very convenient charming enchantment that will work perfectly."
You guys have more devious plans than a roomful of succubi.
If you've decided to do a little recon and adjourn for the evening, you can exit and go to separate locations, or stay at the Pilot House, which can give you fairly decent rooms for a silver weight, 2 to a room.
It's nicer than most sailor flophouses, frequented by ships' officers and tourists. It's about 1/2 a mile away. You can do some legwork in the morning.
Oathday is Wed, and the equinox procession doesn't happen 'til Wealday (Mon). You can scout the Coins, the Ascendant Court, and talk to people tomorrow.
"Well, if that's it for tonight..." Juno stands and prepares to move for the door. "Let's meet back here tomorrow evening, same time, with whatever information we can find between now and then about this festival." She gives them a broad and genuine smile, "I'm very much looking forward to working with each and every one of you," she says, and then slips out of the room and back into the tavern.
"Thanks so much, sweetie," she says to Dottie on her way out of the building, "We'll be back tomorrow evening, same time, if that's alright with you." And with that, she slips into the evening night and moves to return to her current temporary place of residence in Eastgate, where she'll go promptly to sleep in preparation for the busy day ahead of her.
Juno:
A group of men, wearing identical leather armor and clubs, gets up from their table and starts moving towards you. You can go outside, or head back to the room you were just in before they reach you. They don't appear to be well-intentioned. There are 8 of them.
Brig and the rest are busy, and pay you no mind. This sort of thing doesn't register with them, usually, given their clientele. They don't even look up.
Juno, relying on her usual strengths, quickly slips back into the meeting room where there was the safety of her friends. "Either I have a fan club tonight, or somebody already knows of our meetings and have come to break us up. There are eight armed men outside, and they moved against me when I tried to leave."
Grigori grunts at the news and looks towards the door, clenching his knuckles loudly and glancing over at Andrezi and Sidoze then walking towards the door and opening it a crack to peer outside then jerking back and beginning to arrange his clothes so that they would not get in the way if things came to blows between them and the apparent eight miscreants outside.
"Well Grigori, what's your pleasure, go to them or let them come to us? Personally I would just as soon let them funnel in through the door." Andrezi says as he pushes back his sleeves to reveal a pair of wrist sheaths containing daggers and reaches for the fine curved blades at his belt.
Grigori does the same with his over-long sleeves, revealing the gauntlets upon his hands, one of them covered with the same forwards-curving spikes as well as being of much higher quality than the other. He gives Andrezi's knives a nod of approval and then glances again at the door, his clothes now arranged and the bulk of his armor now more easily evident.
"Works for Grigori...try not to break too much here...won't say anything for their bones." He stretches his arms and then glances to Sidoze. "You want one for questions?" he asks then switches his gaze back to the door, gauntlets raised in a fighting stance.
"Boys, stay calm," Juno warns them. "We don't know what they want, and we don't want to provoke any trouble from an outside source by delivering the first blows. I say we talk to them, and see what they want and if they can be reasoned with. If they're here for trouble, though, we can give them trouble," she says mischievously. Then, she moves back to the door and opens it, looking to see if the men are indeed waiting outside.
Andrezi nods in acknowledgement in Juno's direction, while keeping his blades readied, "We'll play it your way...for now."
You see them filing out the front door, about 35' away. The last one looks back and grins at you, then walks out.
"Hmph...looks like unless we want to get jumped on the way out, we need to leave as group." the assassin says, re-sheathing his twin blades.
"Or we could just rent some rooms here, if we want to avoid them. Personally, I'm rather curious as to what they want... or if they're really just despicable enough to gang up on a defenseless woman for pleasure." She snickers meaningfully at the word "defenseless."
The building you're in has apartments upstairs, rented by the month.
At the news, Quill fits her wig back on. She then reaches into her bag and pulls out a sheathed slender short sword that she hooks to her belt.
"Seems if we wait them out, they either get bored and wander off or gather more to flush us out. The safe bet is to wait, but if it turns against us, they may gather more than we can handle. Facing those choices I would prefer to more now, maybe not to confront them but at least to confuse them. We should at least take a room upstairs that faces the front and get a look at our foes before making a move."
"I'll go have a word with the owner," Juno offers, and exits the meeting room once more, looking for Brig or Dottie to ask them a brief favor.
Out of ale so soon? asks the dwarf. That big one looked like he could put it away.
"Oh he certainly can," laughs Juno, then her face turns a more serious tone as he begins her plea, "Sir, I only ask this because of the kindness you've already extended us, but we have a bit of a situation on our hands. You see, I was stalked briefly by a gang of eight armed men earlier, here in your establishment. I imagine those sorts of things are regular occurrences, but I also imagine that you'd rather not any bloodshed go down in this location or even on your front steps." She pauses, letting the information sink in, then continues, "The men have since left, but my friends and I fear that they may be simply waiting outside for us to make our move - and we're inclined not to make it without a bit more information to act upon. Do you have an open room upstairs with a window looking over the front door, one that we could borrow for just a few minutes as we get a good look at the street before taking our leave?"
She stops, waiting for an answer, but then remembers some thing and quickly adds, "Also, do you have a backdoor here we could use when exiting, if necessary? It's not that we fear these men, it's that sometimes confrontations are often much simpler if avoided."
Diplomacy +1 if he's at all attracted to me
Aye, lass. There be a back exit to the alley through the kitchen. Ye'd have ta go out ta go up the stairs, but there be nae open rooms. They're all full up wi' workin' folk.
Go out to tha lef', an' a lef' again to tha street. They'll nae surprise ye if ye go that way, Brig tells you, with no discernible accent of any kind.
Juno hustles back to her partners, "There aren't any rooms upstairs with a good view of the street, but Brig told me of a back way out where they shouldn't be able to get the jump on us. We could sneak around back, and come up behind them in the street: confront them on our terms, catch them off guard. That is if we actually want to talk to them."
"Sounds good. Juno, go over those directions carefully with me...I'll take point as we leave. Grigori, if you wouldn't mind taking up a rear guard position so that our less...combative...friends don't get jumped that would be great. Once we see what the situation is with these guys, we can figure out what to do about them."
Andrezi looks around the room to his fellow Ravens, "Sound reasonable to everyone?"
Sidoze shrugs merely placing his hand down to draw his hand crossbow checking once more to make sure the bolt was still in place before grabbing the vial of poison left on the table.
"Just make sure to leave one alive at least. We shall need to know how they knew how to find us and who sent them."
"He said we go left out the back door to the alley, and then left at the street, and they wouldn't be able to surprise us. As far as getting behind them, I imagine we can manage that much ourselves."
Andrezi leads you out the back door. As Brig said, a left and a left, and you'll be on the main drag. From the back door, it's 10' to the corner and 45' to the front of the building.
The alley's dimly lit with light from the street and a few windows.
Andrezi slowly moves through the alley-way, making his way toward the street. As he reaches the street, he glances around the corner to see if any of the thug lay in wait for the Ravens.
Stealth:
Perception:
The 8 men are all standing around out front of the tavern, clubs in hand.
Knowledge local DC 15:
Knowledge (local):
I was going to make it DC 12, and now that I think about it, I should have. It's something you guys would know without much difficulty, so go ahead and read it.
Andrezi skulks back the rest of the group...
"Looks like our friends are nothing more than Club Club punks looking for their definition of a good time. We can take 'em down if you want, but I'm not entirely sure it's worth the hassle, but it's your call." he says looking at the others, Juno in particular since she was to be the thug's target.
"Thank you, Andrezi," Juno says as he slips away to spy on her stalkers.
Knowledge (local)
"Hmmm, the Club Club punks? I won't hold their good tastes against them," she says with a smug smile, "But if their reputation is to be believed, then they might be just the folks we're looking for in a distraction. Violent, pathetic, and easily-amused with bloodshed. I bet they wouldn't take much convincing, assuming they don't just try to kill us when we approach. What do you all think?" She asks, turning back to the group.
Know local
"If we let them into our any part of the plan theres a chance the heist could get out to every gang in Absalom. I prefer we let it be known our gang will not stand for any kind of interference. Kill them."
Violent, pathetic, and easily-amused with bloodshed.
Knowledge Local
Grigori grins crookedly and cracks his knuckles loudly, taking a position near the front of the group. He would not be denied his sport here if these men were here for violence and bloodshed, and Sidoze had just given him the go-ahead. He looks at Andrezi and nods at the man's daggers, then turning back to look at Juno with a sly wink that twists his scarred face even more than usual. "Have no style, no."
He then looks to Sidoze, ready at any second to round the corner and begin pounding in their faces and breaking bones. "You want one alive for questions, yes?"
"I, at least in part, agree with Sidoze. Those thugs could talk too much and we'd have a situation where we don't know all of variables in what is already going to be a tricky job."
"Where I do not particularly agree with you," he says to Sidoze "is the need to kill them. The Club Club is a large gang that covers most of Absalom, I just do not see what we gain by their deaths other than an enemy. Open city streets, five to eight odds...I have no doubt that we could kill any one of them, the problem lies in if one escapes that can identify us. Killing them and leaving a calling card of a faceless group is one thing, but a survivor that identify us personally is another."
"Regardless of what we choose to do, we need to do so soon and united...no second thoughts once we choose. If these dogs live or die means little to me, but we had better have a reason other than just for kicks."
Can you throw those daggers of yours? Sidoze asks quietly pointing to the man's numerous daggers.
If you can let me see one I shall apply a poison, if hit it should knock one unconscious and I shall fire one of my bolts and knock another out, leaving it 5 to 6 odds better?
"Certainly." the assassin responds to Sidoze's first question.
"Five on six odds...shouldn't be a problem. With any luck an attack such as that will draw them to us, and we won't have to have this fight out in front of everyone."
Sidoze gestures for the man to give him a dagger, if he does Sidoze quickly applies Blue Whinnis to the blade. "There now don't cut yourself. Can't have you falling asleep on us." A hint of a chuckle enters his voice before turning to the others.
"With the other two down feel free to devout your attention to killing the rest. The quicker the better less witnesses."
The Clubbies continue to mill about out in front of the tavern, laughing and horsing around.