"Very well." Novennia's lips shift to a small smile. "Where would you like to meet?"
As you bid your goodbyes to the stable owner and prepare to return to the hideout, Janiven arrives – slightly out of breath. ”Glad I caught up with you all. Arael has a mission that he’d like you to undertake and it sounded urgent. Thought you might spend all day shopping if I didn’t catch you early enough.”
As she catches her breath she catches sight of Novennia. ”Oh, did you decide to join us after all?”
Janiven approached you a few days ago to meet up with some like-minded individuals as she had a proposition. Her talk was so treasonous, you suspected a trap and therefore declined. Could it be the group you see before you are those like-minded people?
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Yix leads Novennia to the nicer parts of town where he opens the door to a swanky restaurant. He takes point, acting the old-fashioned chivalrous gentlemen, and informs them of the reservation he made. After a brief walk they sit at their table. He strikes up friendly conversation, keeping the mood light and being pleasant company for the first portion of the night.
As the dessert comes out Yix waits for the waiter to leave, then carefully folds his hands. "I must now admit that I brought you here under false pretenses. When I heard of your faith and your views I thought that perhaps you might want to be amongst like-minded people." He watches her carefully. Novennia can't fail to notice the atmosphere; It's a public place with many witnesses, but spread out enough that they won't be overheard. "How does that idea entertain you?"
Novennia blinks at Janiven, before gesturing to the group before her. "So, these are the like-minded people you were talking about?" She slaps her forehead and chuckle, shaking her head. "Well, here I was thinking it was a trap. I mean, would anybody really be that bold and that treasonous in public?" The fact that she has the symbol of a diametrically-opposed god stitched into her cloak seems to have slipped her mind for the moment.
Crossing her arms, she grins at Janiven and the group. "Well, I guess I'll join your cause. But, um... dinner might not be out of the question yet." She winks at the young man.
I wonder if she knows about his disguise? I do hope she doesn't have allergies for both their sakes
When you return to the safe house, Arael and Janiven sit you all down to talk with you alone.
Arael explains that in the past few weeks, a group of thieves calling themselves the Bastards of Erebus have committed a spree of robberies
near the old city, with at least one incident resulting in a double murder.
The Bastards are reputed to be a gang of tieflings living in the ruined part of the city; their name implies a connection to Hell, though he doesn’t know if the bandits are using it just to evoke fear, if their tiefling heritage actually stems from a fiend of Erebus, or if they have some greater connection.
Regardless, they always leave behind a wooden token showing a devil’s head in profile, and have become more brazen about their nighttime crimes. For whatever reason (Arael suspects corruption and Janiven suspects incompetence), the city guards have as of yet done little about the Bastards — which is probably why the mayor turned to the Hellknights for help.
He continues that the people of the city are growing worried; it’s bad enough that they can’t go out at night except for a few key streets, but at least they were safe in their homes during the dark hours. Now even that safety seems to be vanishing. However, Arael believes he has accurate information from a vagrant living in the ruined part of town (a man who comes to the active city to beg for copper coins, but sleeps in an abandoned house across the wall) as to the location and nature of the tieflings’ lair. In fact, it was after returning from a visit to this contact that Arael was captured by the dottari under suspicion of rebellion.
"Simply put, we need your help. It is the stated aim of this group to increase the quality of life of the people of Westcrown and eventually inspire Cheliax to rid itself of House Thrune and its evil taint. By eliminating the Bastards of Erebus we will show Westcrown that there are people who care about justice and protecting the innocent — and if someone other than the Hellknights does this, it shows the people that there is strength that has nothing to do with Hell.
What do you say?"
Looking somewhat displeased.
I was onboard for setting fires, burglary, maybe some bad graffiti. Murder, that is a bit more than I signed on for, except for the guy that killed Gus, that guy needs to be murdered, but murdering a lot of thieves that had a bad run and killed two people, I bet by mistake, is a little much. Do they really deserve death?
I am not bragging when I say burglary is my day job, and I too have had bad runs on the job.
So I guess what I am saying is that their burglary may of had a bad event, do they deserve death? Is there another way around this problem?
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Yix scratches his fur. "Eliminate the group, not the individual members. Some fighting will occur and some will probably die, but we may be able to dissolve them in other ways. Either way, this is not some little club that's main goal is to make a living illegally. We have a purpose, and that oft means sacrifice."
Arael considers both responses before speaking. "There is merit in what you both have to say. I did not stipulate death to anyone, merely an end to the issue. If that is by non-physical means then I am all for it."
The Bastards should not be destroyed if possible, if we can perhaps slay their leadership and browbeat them into submission they could become useful tools. The fact of the matter is if we can gain an advantage to use against the enemy then we take it, no revolution is bloodless and this one will be probably one of the bloodier ones...
An eager flame burns in the young woman's eyes. "Well, whatever we do, what are we waiting for? We need to get there first, don't we?" She stands, slapping the table enthusiastically. "We take the fight to the Bastards, and make the city streets safe again! Now, who's actually fought tieflings before? I don't quite know what to expect of devil-spawn, but we can cross that obstacle once we reach it!"
As you discus your options, Arael continues. "Of course, I didn't have a chance to verify the beggar’s story because I was captured by the Hellknights."
"I'm going to ask Janiven to sneak out and investigate the location the Bastards are supposedly using as a headquarters. What she finds may help in your decision-making process."
May I have an address please? I said it before, 'this is kinda what I do'. Give me the day and the night to scope it out. The rest of you guys are good with plotting and details, let me bring them to you.
Janiven returns a few hours later. She confirms she visited the old temple of Erastil in the ruined part of the city and itt must be their hideout - as there are an awful lot of tieflings in the area.
Janiven continues, "What I've found out is that the bandits always attack at night. They never attack two nights in a row, and most attacks are anywhere from three to seven days apart. The last attack was the same night that the we went into the sewers!"
"Eight attacks have taken place in the past three weeks — mostly places with small, portable valuables such as a gemcutter, but one was a moneylender and another a crafter of fine weapons. It was the weaponsmith who was killed, presumably because he heard noises downstairs and went to investigate; the tieflings killed him, then
went upstairs and killed his wife, probably so there would be no witnesses."
"They always leave a wooden token or coin with their mark in the shop they’ve robbed and on the bodies of those they’ve killed, and twice they’ve scrawled their name on the building’s front door with a sharp object. Obviously they’re skilled at picking locks, for none of the robberies resulted in broken doors or windows, and they even relock the door after leaving. Given the small size of the shops, the number of tieflings involved in a single break-in is probably very few — more than about four and they wouldn’t have much room to move around inside the place they were robbing. However, it seems it’s more than just a group of four tieflings involved - although I have no evidence for this."
"Most importantly, the Bastards keep a lookout in the old church’s bell tower, but I didn’t spot any patrols during the few hours I spent watching the location, although a new tiefling eventually replaced the one in the bell tower."
"Near the temple are a bunch of two-story buildings, probably a shop of some kind on the bottom with a small residence above. I didn’t risk
getting close enough to see what was in any of them, but I did see that the one with windows on the ground level had them boarded up. Other buildings farther out (on the order of 200 feet or more) were either ransacked or had sturdy, locked doors to thwart looters. I also noticed a barn-like structure nearby, little more than a hitching post with a roof, which had a lot of loose rock piled within it, but I couldn’t figure out what the point of that was."
"I can sketch out a map of the area and point out a path by which even clumsy people can approach unseen to within about 50 feet of the church; any closer and you risk being spotted by the bell tower lookout."
Krokod has remained silent for the most part. He's less concerned about protecting these tieflings than others, but he can see the group's point.
For now, he continues to listen.
"Alright. Alright." Novennia paces restlessly, fiddling with the clasp of her cloak. "Maybe we should approach at night, or on the verge of it. It sounds like they're not bothering with much security if they aren't making patrols. We might be able to surprise them." She looks around at the others. "Is anyone a good shot with a bow? Maybe we can take out the lookout, then infiltrate from there."
"Aleight. Alright." Novennia paces restlessly, fiddling with the clasp of her cloak. "Maybe we should approach at night, or on the verge of it. It sounds like they're not bothering with much security if they aren't making patrols. We might be able to surprise them." She looks around at the others. "Is anyone a good shot with a bow? Maybe we can take out the lookout, then infiltrate from there."
Areal quickly jumps in. "These are tieflings - and so they have excellent low-light vision. I'd say you would be at a disadvantage at night."
"Oh." The girl's eager expression wanes a little. "Well, what do we say to a daylight approach? Wouldn't that put them on guard?"
Tieflings don't grow on trees, so there is a limited number of them. Why don't we follow them to the next break in, and on their way out from the looting we kill them there. We then can disguise ourselves as them and approach the compound from the front door. And have some extra loot from whatever they steal.
Del has a look of confidence about his plan.
"Daylight approach seems as good as any. I Just hope whatever blood makes them tieflings doesn't make them too resistant to flame. Some of us rely on such magics perhaps over much." Krokod muses aloud, then asks Delgata "Do we know WHEN they will strike next? If we don't, we could be watching them for days."
"And what if they kill whoever they rob next, like they did the weaponsmith? Are more innocent people to suffer at our inaction?"
Unfortunately Krokod all bets say that they are resistant to fire and a few other elements, as any of us scholars of the planes will tell you the offspring of outsiders inherit many things from the supernatural or elemental sides of the family... While I claim to be no expert in matters regarding the Lower Planes since the elemental planes are more my area of expertise I believe we can safely assume that these tieflings won't easily be brought down by most elemental attacks of the magical variety...
"Ah well, better to know and be saddened than not know until it is too late." Krokod sighs as the Summoner answers his question
"As long as they aren't resistant to steel. Don't worry, I'll look out for you." Novennia nudges Krokod in the ribs with a wink.
So the plan? Looks like our friend here did my scouting part. What is our next move, watch them until they move? Batter down the door? I still like the sound of getting a small force of them while they are in the act.
"As long as they aren't resistant to steel. Don't worry, I'll look out for you." Novennia nudges Krokod in the ribs with a wink.
Krokod flashes a charming smile at that, "I can think of worse guardians to have than a lovely warrioress."
Then Delgata brings them back to the practical, "Well, I'm still not sure about any plan, but unfortunately I don't have any better coming to mind."
Perhaps we should plant a rumor in the streets that one of us possesses great valuables and lure the tieflings into a trap... Why should we be the poor suckers walking into theirs?
Novennia blushes slightly at Krokod's response, turning away enough that he won't see (she hopes). The light flush stands out perhaps a little too much on her pale cheeks, but when she speaks again, her tone is businesslike.
"If we go with your trap plan, where will we lure them? It sounds like they hit houses and places of business under cover of darkness, but I'd suggest not here. And how would we go about planting such rumors? I don't particularly want any innocents being involved in this, in case they get hurt - or their loyalty can be bought."
Matter of factly.
Or we attract the wrong scoundrels. We will need to bring the fight to them one way or another. Maybe the cat man can look like one and walk in the front door.
Brand sat in the back of the room listening to his new found comrades discussing the strategy at hand. He evaluates the plans as they're mentioned and examines each for its strengths and weaknesses. He speaks up to voice his opinion.
"I have to agree with Novennia about luring them out, even if we had a proper method of getting their attention, there's no surety that theirs would be the only attention we obtain. Attacking them on their return seems a more viable course of action, but the randomness of their acts makes this task currently out of our grasp."
He looks to Yix, "Infiltration of course has its own risks, most especially in a small group. I would warrant that this group is a tight knit group, especially to work so well together. That route, would seem problematic as well."
He nods to Novennia, "I'll have to agree with the straightforward approach. Probably in the morning, when there's a chance to catch them sleeping. A small group of thieves shouldn't be too difficult a target, especially if we manage to get the drop on them. Perhaps, a potion of invisibility to take out the sentry? Or a diversion? A fire on the roof or maybe a guard alerted to a nearby ring of cutpurses? Then the rest move in and subdue them to leave for the authorities."
What is with this group and fire? It seems to be the go to problem solver. I like the invisibility idea if we could get one. Or just having the guard look the other way. If the guard is not looking in the direction we approach from we could approach without issue. Maybe a diversion on the street to get all eyes on that. Domestic disputes are the best I think. Nobody wants to get into the middle of a couple yelling at each other, but at the same time they cannot stop watching them. Maybe we get two of the others in the hideout that are not going to enter with us to have a domestic dispute in front of their hideout as we approach from the rear? Could work.
Krokod doesn't seem to notice Noveinna's blush, or if he does, he's polite enough to pretend not to,"Well, it's your risk, Yix. I'm in a more straight forward mood, but whatever the group decides."
No my friend knowledge is not power, knowledge is money. I dislike the idea of a straight on approach though, we need to correctly ascertain what they are capable of...if for instance they have a talented wizard among their ranks...
"I still say we approach up-front. In the morning sounds good, while they might be sleeping," she nods to Brand. "Whoever's the best shot with a bow takes out the sentry, or we try to sneak in under his gaze. He won't be able to see everything, after all. A domestic dispute would be a fine diversion, but I'd really prefer not to involve more people than we absolutely have to."
I concede, but withdraw immediately if they possess a spellcaster of some description, a fireball in an enclosed space does wonders for the health I hear...
Shouted out loud trying to get the attention of the guy in the other room.Hey person supplying us with this map
Describe the bell tower, can it be climbed?
"What can't be climbed? It's not smooth so should be relatively straightforward to someone with a little skill."
"If someones of 'Little Skill' are required, we are perfect for this mission," Krokod grins
Well rooster nuts, I can climb in from the top. Maybe someone can take a shot at the red little bastard and I can finish him off.
Arael listens to your debating. "If you fought as well as you planned, I'd still be in HellKnight custody." It was a good-natured jibe but the truth hits home.
"One of you needs to take by the scruff of the neck and mobilise your efforts."
"Alright, folks!" Novennia slaps the table with one open hand, then winces as she hits harder than she'd like. "Whoever's a good shot with a bow, raise your hand. I'm not the best, but I've got a steady aim." She raises her hand accordingly. "We go in tomorrow morning, just after dawn. Delgata climbs the belltower as quickly and quietly as possible, while we make enough of a presence on the street that the sentry will be sure to watch us, rather than look for him. He jumps up, finishes him off, and if he still stands afterwards, we hit him with any bows we have. Sentry's down, we go in."
She paces, thinking, brow furrowed, chewing her lower lip, eventually throwing up her hands. "Well, we can deal with what comes next when we get there. There you go, Arael; one scruff-grabbing, done." She grins at the elf, a young firebrand full of will and eagerness.