Katlan's eyes burn with an intense fire. I understand, she says in a chilly voice, how I might seem like nothing. But I have studied long and hard to gain access to the terrible magics that I have. I am a wizard, and, she stops, looking at the sallow skin of those surrounding her, I am particularly skilled in magic concerning death and undeath. She raises her eyebrows, letting the implication hang unspoken. Then she smiles, I'm sure however that I'll be allowed to focus that power against the Mitrans, just as you do yours. She pats Mordesel on the cheek condescendingly, then steps away from him.
So then, do we have a plan for weakening Balentyne thus?
"We had quite a night in the castle last evening. We killed a half dozen of them or so, and poisoned their rookery, so hopefully there won't be any messages being sent from there. I dropped some arsenic in their stewpot, but I'm not sure if that will be effective or not, as we were seen in the kitchen. Hopefully they were so excited, they didn't think things through that carefully. We didn't get to the siege engines...that would have been nice to disable them.".
A fairly tall, well built, yet somewhat thin man stands before you. Possessing hair as black as night with eyes to match, they stand out when paired with his pale complexion. Looking at them all each in turn, when he finally speaks, confidence is obvious in his tone and demeanor. "I am Morthos. Cardinal Thorn has mentioned you would fill me in on the details of what you've all accomplished so far," he says as he paces. "And if your mission involves striking a mighty blow upon the pathetic king and those who follow him, hopefully the end nears for these fools."
"Yet another new recruit...the Careinal is a clever man, no doubt. He must have foreseen trouble. Asmodeous grants great blessings as well as great insight! Welcome to the squad....trust me, you will have your chance to strike all the blows you deem necessary soon enough."
"Indeed, welcome Morthos. With Dane and Scion," Anton says before looking at Grumblejack "and Grumblejack, performing interference and distraction out here, we'll need some extra bodies for our tasks at bringing down the keep."
Anton fills Morthos in with the information previously given to Katlan before continuing.
"There is an underground 'secret' path between the inn and the castle. That path may be compromised, depending on if the innkeeper discovered our use of it or not. And at least by certain 'personas' may be lost due to the curfew and their presence in the inn. As I have been staying with someone else, my guise should still be intact."
"I would like to return to the town soon, and we should enter separately or in small groups. We can meet at the inn for lunch or dinner. We may need to let some things die down before we make our next move, however, but we'll find out more once we're back in town."
Mordesel smiles at Katlan, It seems you have a fire in you as well. Welcome aboard. He turns slowly to the other newcomer, And I'm Mordesel. He eyes this man up and down as well, but simply nods at what he finds. He turns with Anton towards the city. He takes on the guise of a young man, travel worn but with bright eager eyes. He removes any traces of scarring from his face and arms, then sets out. I intend to get into that inn unseen today. I rather enjoy the guise I've had.
Katlan finally smiles. As I thought. Maybe I could join you, she says as she grabs Mordesel's arm, changing her own disguise to counterpoint his. She is a young woman, keeping her red hair, she looks like she could be the lover of Mordesel's own young man.
Mordesel pulls away at first, but then settles in, moving toward the city with Katlan comfortably at his side.
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Heading back into town, people can see that something is going on. There's a wagon with a large rack on it in the distance, and people are gathering.
BTW - Aldencross
Durova shifts form again, this time into the most nondescript person he could imagine. Brown short hair, plain face, middle aged, average build, beige clothes, perfect for blending into any crowd. He made sure the others saw his change, so that he could be recognized again by the group.
He moves toward the racket, interested to see what sort of ruckus was going on.
Perception
"Idiots," Durova whispers under his breath. I knew the damned Demon was too rash for his own good. And he brought poor Sion down with him, it seems. Durvoa approaches the rack, wanting to confirm that they were indeed finished. The Ardinal would want to know one way or the other.
Mordesel approaches, the crowd, straining to see and gawking like an inexperienced youth. He then moves through the crowd trying to find out more, Who's this demon they speak of? Oh my, was he working by himself? What have they done to him? Etc.
"Hm. Interesting. Now, with these guises you take, do you also take on a separate alias as well? If that is the case, I will need to know the name by which each of you use. Also, are you all simply weary travelers that just walked into town or have you all come as something a bit more... intricate than that? In either case, I shall be called Terrick Malthazar - a 'guard' if you will. If trouble arises and we are labeled as its source, I would rather not 'Morthos' be attached to it. I am saving that for a greater day." A sly, wicked grin slowly forms at the thought.
The disguised Morthos furrows his brow, curious at the display. Lowering his voice to the others, "What is the relevance of this scene? Are these beings key in any way to what we are trying to accomplish?"
"These two were with us until they got a wild hair and decided that wanted to make even more trouble. Didn't work out for them," Durova whispers to Morthos. The cleric knew the mission took precedent over the fates of those two fools. If he can confirm their fate, he heads off, not needing to linger longer than necessary.
His job today was to listen for rumors, and he intended to do just that.
Perception
"Hm." Morthos looks back upon the scene with interest. "Who is this 'Mott' they speak of? If he is truly this hero the people claim him to be, he may prove to be an obstacle that needs removing."
Anton shifts into the form known to certain people in town and moves off in a different direction than the rest of the group, not wanting to be seen with them as yet. "I'm sure we'll be introduced later," he calls back.
He immediately goes to visit the dancer Yalana. With all the commotion about, he wanted to be sure she was well. During his travel, he hears the hubbub of the crowd proclaiming that the demon was discovered and captured, by Mott of all people. Hmm, one hopes that the two were slain... He stays away from them, not wanting to be recognized if they do happen to remain alive. If they live we may need to get word to the ogre to move camps... and some of our disguises may be compromised, although, at least in my case, the association with Dane was already revealed and I played the part of the surprised and horrified companion. I'd rather not have another similar connection made with Sion.
Katlan watches the crowd, listening closely to Mordesel's conversations. So a dangerous man has been caught. Well, I'd definitely like to find out more at a later time. For now, we "travel weary lovers" should find a place to stay. With that, she begins asking around about nearby inns.
"Morthos, Mott is a leader in the citadel. When we escaped last night, it was with him at our heels. It doesn't shock me he went hunting for some of us. He seems quite the bulldog."
Mordesel holds tight to Katlan's arm. You are right, but I know of a place. Follow me. He leads her to the inn where they've been staying, then approaches the innkeeper, We'll take a room please sir.
"Morthos, Mott is a leader in the citadel. When we escaped last night, it was with him at our heels. It doesn't shock me he went hunting for some of us. He seems quite the bulldog."
Terrick looks to Durova curiously. "You escaped? From where? And you are saying he knows what you all truly look like?"
"We were making some mischief in the citadel last night. We killed a few, burned the rookery, and poisoned a couple pots. We used our headbands to take a different appearance, so he does not know our true appearance."
Mordesel walks upstairs with Katlan, then hands the key to her. I've already got rooms, he says quietly. He then approaches his room and listens at the door for a moment. If everything is quiet, he enters, changes his disguise and returns to the main room.
Katlan raises am eyebrow at Mordesel. As they walk up the stairs she mutters, Mighty presumptuous of you. When he hands her the key, she smiles and nods, I see. We ought to all meet together and plan our next move, can that be arranged?
Durova tells the others what he heard, once they meet up at the arranged meeting point. "How can we use this to our favor?".
Mordesel smiles deeply. It's a good thing the demon has been caught then. That would be a bad night for mischief to occur.
After spending some quality time with his lady, Yalana, Anton wanders through the seemingly happier town of Aldencross, the news of the demon's capture seeiming to raise everyone's spirits. After his information gathering, he joins the others at the appointed time.
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She's discussing terms for a party. Some of the soldiers want to celebrate.
Darling! Bear with me a moment. I may need some music to dance to, tonight!
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Anton finds himself providing music as Yalana slinks like a cat, dressed minimally, tempting the soldiers. Oddly, they're the ones that do the pawing. It's not a huge payoff, but there is a handful of gold coins by the time it's all said and done. Anton gets little sleep, but has an interesting night - unless you leave early, the party lasts until the wee hours of morning.
"Ok, when do we want to try another trip into the castle? I'd assume we will only get one or two more shots before they become wise to our tunnel entrance. If we go back soon, what do we wish to hope to accomplish? What should our next target be? I'd still like to dismantle those siege engines, if we could manage it somehow."
"Tunnel entrance? That leads within the castle? Perfect. Who are 'they' that you fear will become aware of this tunnel?"
"They means the entire garrison of soldiers in the keep. We have a secret way in, but before long, I'm afraid they will specifically go looking for it. I'm guessing one or two trips tops before they lay a trap for us."
Once the party is complete, he helps Yalana clean up and joins her for a long much-needed 'sleep'.
Katlan joins the group sitting quietly for a time. When she finally speaks up, her code is quiet, It seems there is a lot Morthos and I are unaware of. It may do well to recount more of your story. She sits and listens as they do.
[B]I see. I think it would be best to lie low for a few days. This may increase our the length in which we can use this secret tunnel. [B]
Indeed. In fact I think we ought to wait until the play. Then we can go in while most of the leaders are distracted and, under cover, accomplish much more.
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They suck it up. You double the take, easily - not that the soldiers have enough to make it all that exceptional, but they spend what they have. Before it's all done, quite a few soldiers have been entertained, and you walk away with an extra 80 gold jingling in your purse.
They don't have a lot of info, but you easily get watch schedules, and any basic protocols they know.
Katlan thinks about it for a few moments, then she turns to the others and asks, How long do we have to accomplish this task?
"We originally had 30 days to being down the defenses, but we have spent quite a few already."