"Agreed," Joanna admits dismally.
"Will thirty feet or so be far enough?"
"I'm not sure that shooting first and then asking questions is the best way to approach this. Also, I would be afraid of setting the building on fire-- fires in cities tend to spread. And despite what I may have led some to believe, I cannot in reality whistle up a cloudburst to douse the flames."
Whilst you debate the merits of scouting, waiting or simply burning the place to the ground, the moon disappears behind a bank of cloud...the harbour side becomes noticeably darker...and it is then that you notice the faintest of lights twinkling within the building...the soft yellow glow is almost imperceptible through the grime on the windows...but it is definitely there.
"I will not throw any bombs unless someone asks for them," Teldon reassures the group, "or the situation seems so dire I see no other option" (he adds less assuringly).
"I'll do my best to stay right behind Nalathi or Joanna and do what I can with my longspear. I do not have any tonics or elixirs which will aid us in this, so I am ready as soon as someone leads the way."
"Nalathi, be careful while you're looking. If you get into a fight, try to get out and make as much noise as you can and we'll come help you. Once you see what's going on, come back to us and we'll move in once we know what's going on inside. Is that clear to everyone?"
Joanna looks to everyone else, her grey eyes boring into theirs.
Seeing Joanna's warning as permission, she nods. Without another word, she heads out onto the walkway over the water toward the nearest set of doors. She freezes when she reaches them, listening for any sounds of movement.
If nothing is to be heard, she tests one of the doors and, if it's open, quietly slips inside.
As Nalathi slinks off into the shadows, Teldon makes some effort to ensure he is not easily visible from any windows and does his best to see or hear anything of note.
Silently creeping into the building, Nalathi’s darkvision helps her to take in the situation…the building comprises a very large (just over 60 feet wide) bar area with table and chairs standing where they were left on the last day that the tavern was used…around the perimeter of the building are a number of doors (in varying states of disrepair) leading to what may once have been private rooms. To her right, a large window looks out across the harbour…the light of the moon is starting to glint off of the night-time sea once more…whilst directly ahead lies a long since abandoned bar. The sound of the waves and the smell of salt in the air is quite pronounced; whilst, to an extent, this is due to the cracks in the floor…and the sea below…it is also due to a large opening in the floor within the centre of the tavern (an opening which, at one time, may have been protected by railings….but is no longer). Discarded bottles and other assorted detritus litter the floor...an echo of happier times for the Tavern.
The lights that you were able to see from outside of the building are coming from the bar area…small motes of lights dancing and glinting around dulled tapware…
…from your position, you don’t detect any sign of movement within the building…
Ziomarra flattens herself against the side of the building, trying to avoid windows. She also concentrates to try to hear anything within the derelict tavern.
Over the rhythmic sound of the rolling waves, those of you who are still outside can hear the splashing of oars and low voices...some hundred yards out from the shore, picked out by the moonlight, you can just about make out a rowing boat....
Hmmm. If this were a trap, the lights would be the bait-- and the hook close by. Keeping along the wall, she heads in the other direction.
Joanna tries not to make a sound as she straps on her shield and draws her sword. While the sword whispers out of its well kept scabbard, the links and plates of her armor clink and clank.
While still trying to hide, Ziomarra tries to make out any details about the approaching rowboat.
"If anyone is planning to use any beneficial magic before combat, I think you're quickly running out time..." Teldon whispers softly. When the silhouette of the boat comes into view he adds, just as quietly, "It should be safe to use bombs against that, right?"
"Not until we know who is in it. Besides, I can only grant Iomedae's blessing for a minute or so. any more than that is beyond me. I should have enough time before they spot us to grant that to us." whispers back, fixing the alchemist with a steely stare.
As Nalathi walks around the perimeter of the room, she stays immersed in darkness...far away from the twinkling lights at the bar, she remains hidden... With a better angle of the bar, she can see two doors leading to the bar area...one a set of double doors and one quite small (probably leading to nothing more than a utility cupboard)...both doors are slightly ajar.
Meanwhile, outside the building, everyone else remains tucked up against a wall...watching and listening as the rowing boat draws near...listening carefully you can hear snatches of conversation from the boat...
"They'll be there on time, yeah?"
"That's what I was told...who am I to argue?...we row in, we collect the merchandise, we row back out..."
"...yeah, yeah...and we don't damage the goods neither..."
The boat is about thirty yards offshore now...
Seeing nothing but an empty room with doors leading out of it, she walks quietly around the perimeter before circling back to the corner of the bar.
Ever curious, despite her initial caution, she hops up onto the bar as quiet and nimble as any cat, looking to find the source of the light.
"Did you hear that? There are some in the boat and others either inside or on their way..." Teldon whispers, "it would be easier to fight them separately than together..."
"Shhh. Keep listening."
Next time, I'm gagging him. Joanna thinks before going over the prayer that she'd learn when she'd first begun training as a cleric. Her ears strain to hear anything else that might be going on.
I can't believe they are really going to sit here until we have no choice but to fight them at their full strength... Perhaps we should send them a missive with our numbers in case they would like to call for further reinforcements before we begin...
Teldon looks nervously at his new comrades, feeling more aware than ever of their collective inexperience, then turns his anxious attention back to looking and listening for enemy activity.
"That's true," he whispers back to Briana, "but we could likely deal with whoever is inside before the boat arrives if we moved quickly and tried for a little discretion..."
Are the people on the boat the rumored slavers, or are they just run of the mill smugglers? We can't risk attacking people that don't have anything to do with the disappearances... And has Nalathi found anything?
Inheritor, help me stay calm, and help my friends be safe, and if it's not asking too much, help them shut up without giving us away. Please?
Creeping around the perimeter, Nalathi is as silent as the void...when she finds little of interest on the 'shore side' of the abandoned tavern, she makes her way back towards the lights twinkling on the bar. Jumping, catlike, onto the bar itself she causes the wooden surface to creak slightly...she pauses, holding her breath...nothing appears to have heard the noise...
The lights at the bar are curious...they come from no flame that you can see, flit around like fireflies (although they don't appear to be creatures) and emit no heat...
Closer now to the ajar doors behind the bar, she can't see anything behind them...the door to the side certainly leads to a small store cupboard (she can see the back wall of the cupboard) whilst the double doors lead to a room behind the bar...she can't detect noises or movement behind either of the doors.
Meanwhile outside the building, the boat definitely appears to be headed towards the pier that you are stood upon...as it gets closer, the voices and the oar splashes quieten...there are two people within the boat, both cloaked in black...
...and then, with a crack of wood upon wood, it collides with one of the pier stanchions just to the north of your position...
A voice spits, "Idiot!!! ne va scufunda amândoi ... arunca coarda, vom acosta aici"
Oh, perfect, they can come on us from both sides... exactly as any tactician would suggest, for them... The 'plan' can't really be to sit here until we have no other option then fight these sailors until the ambush is sprung on us from behind?!? We would have been better off charging in like a bunch of drunken ruffians, at least then we could have sprang the ambush before reinforcements arrived... Perhaps, if we survive this, they will at least learn something of tactics from the experience.
Teldon keeps his eyes and ears as open as he's able but begins to hope that the ambushers were only expecting 1 or 2 of them...
Even from this tactically unsound position we might still prevail if we have sufficient advantage in numbers... of course, then they certainly won't learn anything...
Zee raises her hand to caution against action... yet.
Varisians involved in the slave trade? I don't think so... slavery is the worst thing imaginable... even the Sczarni value freedom! The boat must be smugglers... probably pesh coming in or flayleaf going out... Still... watch and wait for now.
She also brings the words and gestures for the daze spell to mind.
Well, Brother Titus always said no plan survives contact with the real world.
Joanna's mind whirs as she tries to figure out the best course of action. She taps Teldon's shoulder and motions for him to move to Brianna's side before sliding back against the wall next to Ziomarra herself, hoping that the ruckus the men would cover any noise she made. She cringes internally as the plates and links of her armor scrape and clink.
Relieved to finally be doing something, Teldon moves as quietly as he can next to Briana and readies his longspear.
Glancing over his shoulder at the doors which are now quite close, he notes whether they open in to the bar or out on to the dock.
Below you, you can hear the boat slapping against the pier as it is tied...hushed voices whisper to each other....as you strain to hear their discussion, someone's armour clinks...the voices fall immediately quiet...half a minute goes by until a voice whispers up in your direction...
"Marius, tu ești? Sunteți devreme ? Ai livrarea ?"
...then silence, awaiting a response....
Hearing nothing and seeing no one else, she continues investigating the lights. Magic? She creeps across the bartop and hops down to get a closer look.
The look on Joanna's face says volumes about what the young girl is thinking, most of it probably colorful epithets she'd overheard from her mentor. An ambush was one thing, lying was something else, and she wasn't about to ask her friends to try and fool the men, but that was assuming the men had heard her. She looks to Ziomarra, her entire body tense as the confrontation loomed.
"Marius a trebuit să aibă grijă de ceva mai presante . El a trimis doi dintre noi să facă livrări sale . Care dintre voi sunt aici pentru ?" Teldon says in a hushed tone intended to be just loud enough for the boatmen to hear.
As he speaks he looks to Zee and motions for her to move closer to the boat with him and take over the talking...
As Nalathi moves along the bartop, fascinated by the lights, she stops...her eye caught by the smallest of noises just behind the double doors...the telltale creak of a floorboard and quiet breathing. Whoever is behind the doors is trying their hardest to remain hidden...and does not appear to have noticed the Wayang sneaking around the ruined bar area.
Meanwhile outside...
"Cine esti tu ? De unde stii marius ? Ne-am gândit a lucrat singur"
...there is a note of anxiety in the voice coming from the boat...
Nalathi grins. Gotcha. She slides her trident out of its sheath. Keeping it pointed in front of her with one hand, she reaches out with the other and slowly opens the door. As she does so she holds her breath, calling on the darkness of the room to envelop her and conceal her for the next few seconds.
With one hand on her starknife, Zee steps out from the shadows.
"Marius a fugit în unele probleme cu garda oraș, și ne-a trimis în schimb. Avem unele dintre marfa, dar nu toate. Cât de mult te-ai aștepta pentru acest transport?"
Teldon follows Zee forward (but tries to remain where the shadows will obscure his face) and quickly says to her in a 'hushed' voice that is loud enough for the sailor's to hear, "Așteaptă . El a spus să nu spun un cuvânt până când au spus care sunt livrate au fost aici pentru . În cazul în care nu sa unul din cei doi ne-a dat noi nu ar trebui să spună un cuvânt ."
Joanna stands still, daring to barely breath as her heart thunders in her chest. The blood rushing in her ears makes the unintelligible conversation sound even more like gibberish to her.
...Don't let me screw this up! Don't let me screw this up! Don't let me screw this up...
Pushing the door open, a shadowy apparition of Nathali peeks through the door. Hiding in the room beyond the door, a room that was clearly a back room for the bar staff during the tavern's hey day, she sees a single person. A bedraggled old man, with eyes that betray a lack of sleep and wearing tattered robes, is hiding behind the door looking out into the bar through a peep hole in the wall... So far, he appears completely oblivious to Nalathi.
Meanwhile outside, there is a flurry of hushed discussion in the boat below you...tense moments go past until the voice rings up again.
"Sora Ne pare rău , noi suntem doar simpli marinari vin la țărm , după o călătorie lungă . Cunoștință nostru comun Marius este prietenul nostru că ne-am gândit pentru a satisface ... dar , dacă el nu e aici , eu cred că vom fi pe drumul cel bun"
Not a very good trap, she thinks to herself. Ah, well. If he's trying to capture me, does that mean I can kill him? She thinks the others would say so. She releases her breath, becoming visible to the old man. "Hi." She stabs forward with her trident.
As Nalathi's form coalesces back into solidity, she plunges forward with her trident...stabbing deep into the thigh of the hiding man...through gritted teeth, the man exclaims in surprise, "Who the hell are you?"
Outside, over the splashing of the waves, you are able to hear the muffled sound of someone shouting within the building.
"Ai îndrăzni să încerce să ne ambuscadă ?" Teldon almost shouts as he steps forward and hurls a bomb at the smuggler in the front of the boat.
Dropping her terrible attempt at a ruse, she steps forward, fixing her gaze on the man at the stern of the rowboat. She points her hand and hisses, "Te-ai blestemat, de sclavi!"