Varor ducks into a nearby alley way.
Bashiel shifts position slightly to keep Pel in his line of sight, and strains his ears to catch any sign of Kalem's meeting with the Urgathoans.
Pel looks over at Bashiel as the paladin tries to see if the meeting has begun. The arcanist does likewise, trying to move as little as possible as he does.
0 Level: Detect Magic, Read Magic, Dancing Lights, Daze, Mage Hand
1st Level: Magic Missile, Grease, Color Spray
Kalem stood there, and thought to himself Alright, this is it. You can do it. Don’t think of them as cultists. It’s just another deal. Nothing to it. He took a deep breath and waited.
Bashiel: Hiding 200' away, Stealth 43
Quin: Pending arrangement with Ilsa, maybe Hiding 20~60' away
Zamanda: 30' away, Stealth 25
Ilsa: 30' away, Stealth 32
Pel: 200' away, Stealth 32
Varor: close; stealth 18
After Kalem has waited for perhaps ten minutes, a cloaked figure can be seen approaching from the west in the shadow of the Pillar Wall, a hook drawn over their head. Varor and Zamanda see the same, while Ilsa sees another has taken a position about 30' to the south behind some tombstones.
The first figure pauses about ten feet from Kalem, seeming to watch him for a moment, before saying, "Your friend can come out from the shadows... and then you can tell me what you want." The voice is raspy and thin but likely belongs to a man.
Ok, here we go.
Giving the man a smile, which he hoped look like he was at lease, Kalem held his hands out wide in a way that showed that he was unarmed. He tried to look around, to get an idea of how many there were. The last thing he wanted was to find himself surrounded by unseen assailants.
"If you are who I think you are, then what I want is something mutually beneficial. My master has bid me come to you with a gift, in the hope that we can help each other. He has...problems...that need to be painfully erased. You are in need of...gold? I am reaching into my pack for it now." He slowly, and deliberately, pulled out the pouch of gold. "My master offers this as a token of his esteem, and proof that he deals honestly. Payment only for friendship. Much more to come when he has need to call on his new friends."
The cultist stands there, as impassive and unreadable as the stone wall the two stand beneath. "Bring out your friend, then we can talk."
Kalem looked at the cultist, and thought to himself Damn. This was bound to happen, wasn't it? Too many moving parts. Alright. Play it cool...
"Alright, alright. But can you blame me? I'd be a fool to come here without someone to watch my back. How else can I be certain that this gold doesn't leave my hands covered in my blood? But you want this to be built on trust? That's fine by me. Call your friends out, and I'll bring mine. Then we can chat like civil businessmen."
Well, time to improvise thinks Zamanda, hoping they can still salvage the situation somehow.
Zamanda uses her Sleeves of Many Garments to change into her normal mundane clothing, and detaches herself from where she has been hiding. She walks over to join Kalem (very purposefully not acting like she is frightened or that this is a big deal), and says
Varor, they spotted us. Might as well come out and join the party.
She doesn't touch her weapons, and she doesn't look toward any of her still-hidden companions.
Pel strains to see what's going on, but isn't sure what he can tell about the situation, if anything. He keeps one of his scrolls in his hand should he need to use it.
Looking over at Bashiel, he tries to make eye contact with the man to see if he notices anything Pel has been unable to see.
Bashiel suddenly realizes that he's way too far from the action and might not end up hearing anything at all. That and the group had never agreed upon some kind of signal for when Kalem and the cultists start moving.
We're hardly a trained team of experts, but it feels like this is falling apart before its even started.
He glances over at Pel and shrugs in response.
Quinlan watches from his location, moving only if and when Kalem moves with the cultists... he listens carefully to pick up anything he can hear.
As Kalem tries to smooth things out with the robed man, the branches of an old tree rub against themselves creating an scratching sound like claws on bone. The cultist lets the silence carry for a moment then raises a hand with his index finger extended and wags it as if summoning someone forward. Thirty feet to the south, another robed figure steps out from behind a large gravestone and stands there, hands hidden within the folds of his cloak.
The raspy voice replies, ”Enough games. Your friend steps where I can see him better or gold and blood will be the least of your worries.”
Kalem resisted a smile. Him. The cultist said him. So they saw one of the guys. He figured that Bashiel and Pel were too far away to be easily seen, so that left Quin and Varor.
”Alright, Alright. Q! V! Come on out. If they can see you two then they’re worth the money.” Once the two come out, Kalem says ”There now. Let’s dispense with the threats and talk some business.”
Quinlan steps out of the shadows where he was hiding about 40-50' away. He strides forward boldly once he's in the open, moving to stand to Kalem's side, and slightly behind him, obviously in the position of being a bodyguard or follower, rather than an equal. At least for now.
Zamanda just watches, silent and still, hoping they can handle it. She can't go out now, or she would just make things worse.
Varor walks out and joins the others. "Business for us anyway."
After Quinlan and Varor have stepped out from the shadows, the cultist says, "Fine. But I'm not sure why you've contacted us. We are not murderers for hire. Who told you this?"
Quinlan has a moment of self-satisfaction... They're not as observant as they thought, they can miscalculate, they're fallible... good to know. He struggles to maintain a placid expression, rather than the smirk he feels inclined to express.
”Of course you aren’t.” Kalem smiled, though behind it there was the nagging doubt that the cultists had seen the others. He pushed the thought away. ”My Master has enough of those. We are a silver for a dozen, you know. My Master has his ways, and wishes to remain anonymous. What is important though, is two facts. First. That his faith is sympathetic to yours.” Kalem’s eyes flashed, and hellfire surrounded his hand. He let it linger for a few seconds, before it died away. ”Second. That there are people whom my Master wants to die more than a painful death. He wants their souls to suffer. Not as a warning to others, but as punishment for their perfidity. And he is willing to pay very well. Enough, that he offers you a small token of his esteem. A gift of friendship. All for the promise that when the time comes you will discreetly offer a soul or two to your goddess when called for.”
"A very generous gift, in actuality. One you'd be wise to consider."
Varor draws and loads his hand crossbow in a deliberately slow manner.
As his dread builds at the lack of any sounds from the meeting spot, Bashiel begins to recite prayers under his breath.
How long do we give him? Surely Ilsa or Zamanda would come to get us so that Pel can begin tracking? I can only hope they are handling things so far... We'd hear them if fighting broke out, right?
He continues trying to hear any sign of the meeting from his hiding place.
The cultist stands silently as he listens to Kalem's words. They seem to hang in the air for a moment until the cultist's raspy voice says, "Don't be a fool. Put the crossbow away. We're either coming to an arrangement or we're not. Preparing for both so... openly leads to only one."
After a brief pause, he says, "We may have no need of your gold nor sacrifices, not on your schedule. But, bring those you want dealt with to us within the next few days, and your master's wishes shall be carried out with exquisite detail, I promise you."
Kalem smiled. ”It is always a pleasure to deal with reasonable people.” He tossed the bag of gold over. ”I follow my orders as I’m told. My Master is a firm believer in consideration. Nothing for free. For that is how he builds trust. Tell me how, when and where so that I can report back.”
Pel remains seated, waiting for a sign from Bashiel or one of the others that he needed to use on of the scrolls. Being so far from the action, Pel can only hope that, should he need to use a scroll, he'll be able to cast it before the coin purse gets out of range of the spell.
The cultist takes the bag and slips it into his robes. "Same way you contacted us this time. Be quick about it, though." His cowl shifts as if he is glancing at Varor again, before he takes a few steps back, pivots on his heel, and walks off towards the southwest, joined by the other.
Kalem waits until the cultists are gone, before motioning for his companions that it is time to leave.
Once they are certain that they aren't being watched, and the party had regrouped...
"Well, that seemed to go fairly smooth. Not sure that I ever want to do that again."
As soon as they are out of sight, Zamanda sprints to Pel and says They left headed Southwest.
Finally, Pel thinks as Zamanda runs over.
He immediately casts the spell and starts heading in the direction of the coin purse.
He gestures at the others to follow and says, "Someone who wasn't seen by the cultists needs to be ready to follow them where they can be seen. Unless the Urgathoans are based very close to here, these scrolls won't last long enough to track them all the way to their base."
Bashiel follows after Pel, asking Zamanda as he walks "They took it then? Kalem's alright?" He throws his gaze around the graveyard, knowing that their hurrying might be attracting any remaining watchers.
When Pel offers his advice, Bashiel nods in hurried agreement, then looks around to find Ilsa. Once he spots her he whispers in her direction "Think you can tail them? You just need to keep them in earshot, sight might be too dangerous. We won't be too far behind."
He follows Zamanda's further directions as Pel activates their tracking spell. As an aside to Pel he murmurs "If the scrolls won't last long, maybe hold off on that second one for when our tracker loses sight of the 'contacts'"
Yeah, everyone is okay so far, and we can set up another meeting if needed. I just don't want to lose them and have to wait again, or buy more scrolls. Those are expensive. I thought Ilsa was supposed to follow, but they just walked off and I wasn't sure if the plan was still on, or if I maybe misunderstood it, so I came to get Pel.
Oh, and they've seen Quin and Varor, so we can't use them to track, or on an approach if we find out where they are holed up.
Pel nods at Bashiel and says, "Good idea. If you think Ilsa can track them, then maybe we won't have to use the second one at all."
To everyone, he says, "It's probably best for everyone to keep an eye out. If they suspected we might follow them or had others around besides those you saw, we might be compromised even without being in eyesight of the ones you met with."
Pel looks around as he speaks to see if he notices anything awry in the immediate vicinity.
Varor lets out of breath as he puts away his hand crossbow. "All in all I say that went well."