Marikel clanks along in his armour as fast as possible but still unable to outrun the slower team members.
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Alicia gets tired of waiting for Mr. Medium Armor to get his butt in gear Marikel, who is encumbered by his armor, and runs on ahead toward the main gate.
Vhailor and Kaleb find, somewhat to their surprise, that they have little trouble keeping up with the unwieldy priest in his metal casing, but Alicia quickly outdistances the other three, heading past the Ramblehouse toward the main gates to question the guards on duty.
Vhailor doesn't slow from his pace as Kaleb moves away - seeking to keep Alicia at least in partial view.
With a quick word of explanation to the priest and gnome, Kaleb splits off from them at the Ramblehouse seeking quickly to retrieve his dog.
In response to Alicia's breathless questioning, the Patrolmen at the gate nod. "Aye, a couple of half-orcs left not too long ago. No, we didn't ask where they were going; it's not our job to poke into people's business. They weren't geared up for a long trip, though. No, they didn't turn toward the Barterstones; I think they headed east."
Marikel and Vhailor come puffing up behind Alicia as the guard nods toward the huge boulder extending from the palisade east of the main gate, a massive rock nearly as large as the Longhouse which blocks the line of sight to the eastern horizon.
Alicia glances at Marikel and Vhailor and says, "They went off toward the east," she says. "I'm betting they're holing up in the Plague House."
Marikel nods to Alicia and takes a deep breath.
"They know we're looking for them but they don't know we're chasing them. Maybe we can catch up before they get there. We don't want them taking cover or gathering reinforcements. Let's keep going."
Before rushing off again he turns to the Patrolmen.
"If a halfing comes by on a dog, please let him know where we've gone. Many thanks."
He rushes off again.
Alicia, Marikel, and Vhailor leave a message at the gate for Kaleb and set out quickly toward the east. Once they have rounded the edge of the huge boulder that knifes out from the palisade into the plain and turn toward the south, the gate and its guards are no longer visible to them, only the sharpened stakes of the palisade occasionally interrupted with large stones on their right side, the scarp of Bloodmarch Hill rising up from the plane ahead of them, and the flat scrub and scattered stone of the badlands everywhere else. A large bird of some sort wheels at a distance, a dark spot in the bright sky.
The trio round the point beneath Ivory Hall and near the lone boulder in the lee of which the burned church is sheltered. As they come around the edge of the huge rock, they see a pair of Patrol members standing guard outside the crumbling building.
Alicia scowls and glances at Marikel. "Why do I get the feeling those two are working for Sawyer?" she mutters darkly, indicating the two Patrollers outside.
Alicia scowls and glances at Marikel. "Why do I get the feeling those two are working for Sawyer?" she mutters darkly, indicating the two Patrollers outside.
Marikel stops at the edge of the huge rock, somewhat surprised.
"Maybe the half-orcs went another way..." Marikel says unconvincingly."Can you find their tracks? Did they approach the patrol?" he asks Kaleb and Alicia.
"If they did then we'll be wary. Maybe they lied their way past the patrol. We'll know soon enough."
Alicia shrugs. "I can try to slip past them, but I'm no tracker."
Musing, Vhailor pushes up the frame of his lenseless glasses and purses his lips "If you want to make past them I could easily give you enough distraction. Make it seem like a commotion's coming from the opposite side you want to lurk by from?"
Alicia looks to Team Dad Marikel, then back to Vhailor. "How are the rest of you getting in, then?"
As the three hesitate at the edge of the large boulder, Kaleb rounds the edge of the hill riding his dog to join them.
"They could just be regular patrol," Marikel growls.
"We should speak to them. I just wanted to know first if the fugitives had also addressed them or..." he glares at Alicia, "snuck around."
"Kaleb, can you help?" Marikel points meaningfully at the ground.
Alicia nods. "Then you should do so. I'll try to sneak into position in case they prove to be foes," she says to Marikel.
From her previous visit to the burned church, Ali is aware that, besides the front door, other ways into the ruin are the front corner of the building where the walls have fallen away and around the staircase in the back where the steeple collapsed and opened a hole down to the basement. The front corner is visible from the Patrolmen's position, but she can't tell from her present position if there is also a guard set at the back.
Alicia waits until Marikel engages in conversation with the Patrolmen, then attempts to stealthily work her way over toward the front corner of the building. I wonder if that giant spider is still here....
"Hmm? Oh, this mutt is not much of a tracker. Just A to B for us short-legged folk. I'll dismount and accompany you, Marikel."
"Curses," Marikel mutters.
"Fine, let's see if they've seen anything?"
With a sharply whispered, "Be careful!" to Alicia's retreating form, Marikel strides forward towards the guards with Kaleb and Variel.
He calls out just loudly enough for the guards to hear as he approaches, "Ho there. Have you seen two half-orcs come this way?"
He doesn't slow his approach as he talks.
The Patrolmen draw themselves to an officious posture of attention at Marikel's approach. "Not this way, Padre. You here in an official capacity? To keep an eye on things?"
You wait just long enough to hear Marikel hail the guards before slipping quickly around the back of the great stone and peering around the other side. You are presently at the back corner of the building, where the steeple crashed through the roof and took most of the outer wall with it, and the interior hall where you all fought the spider is gloomily visible through the remains of the stairs that once led up to the belfry. In the midst of a pile of rotting wood and fallen stone is the pit that must open into the basement.
You can just see where the front corner of the building is also collapsed, up a short section of wall which somehow remained standing between the two gaping holes in the building.
"I'm working on behalf of Miss Blackblade," Marikel affirms.
"Did you see them? Which way did they go?"
He continues to approach.
"Haven't seen anyone other than the folks inside," the man replies. "You can go on in and have a look around. Be careful, though; it's dangerous in there."
As if to underscore the Patrolman's words, a loud clatter sounds from somewhere inside the building.
"Haven't seen anyone other than the folks inside," the man replies.
"You haven't seen any half-orcs recently?"
Marikel frowns and glances up at the cliffs apprehensively."Who's inside? What are they doing?"
"They're clearing the Pla... er, the old church of anything that might pose a danger to the community. Taking an inventory and removing anything of value for safekeeping. I thought that's why you were here: to supervise as a representative of the church." The Patrolmen regard the trio with a newly-suspicious frown.
"Well, lets take a look, as you say. Much obliged, gentlemen."
The second Patrolman glances down to the collapsed corner of the building. "Uh, excuse me, Padre, but is she with you?" Alicia can be seen waving in your direction and jerking her head toward the rear.
Marikel waves back and forces a smile.
"Of course. My apologies no one told you we were coming. We weren't told you'd be here either, so I guess that makes us even. My thanks."
Marikel gives a friendly nod to the guards and strides forth.
Marikel takes his leave of the two guards and goes to meet Alicia at the collapsed corner of the building.
Alicia cringes when she notices the guards spotted her before Marikel did. This is immediately followed by a facepalm as the cleric comes toward her instead of meeting her around back like she had been trying to indicate.
"I think they snuck around the same way I did, and climbed into the basement through an open pit back here," she says as the Iomedean nears her position.
As the others join Alicia, they can see into the interior of the building where the walls have fallen in. The floor is covered with charred beams, broken bricks, and crumbled stonework, and a pair of men on a loft halfway up the intact interior wall are adding to the rubble by tossing debris off the raised platform.
Marikel peers into the interior, then looks to Alicia and the others.
"With those guys throwing stuff around, there's little chance our fugitives were heard. Is it an easy climb down? If not we should go inside and down the steps. Otherwise, lead on Alica and I'll cover you."
Marikel's sword sings a soft sweet note as he draws it from its sheath.
"Aye, it's just a steep slope, really--we saw it when we were in the basement earlier," Alicia says, leading the way toward the basement.
Ali leads the group back to the hole in the building that the giant spider escaped through yesterday. From the outside, it is clear that the collapsed northern wall has exposed not only the ruined hall but the basement. The staircase that once led to the fallen belfry has crumbled, and the floor underneath has sunk entirely, leaving a gaping pit behind a heap of rubble.
If the group had not seen the hole from the inside yesterday and known that it leads to a relatively safe room beneath the building, the dark pit would be more daunting; as it is, the main concern is whether anyone is already waiting in the darkness below....
A softly muttered prayer from Marikel and his sword glows like a torch with the holy light of Iomedae.
"Best you go last in all that armour. One false step and this could get very ugly."
Alicia nods with Kaleb's assessment. "Not that I necessarily want to be in front of the landslide when you fall, either," she says, retrieving another torch from her pack and lighting it. Without another word, she nimbly works her way down the slope.
The divine light from Marikel's blade is unnoticeable at ground level, but when extended over the pile of rubble that divides the group from the pit, it illuminates a flagstone floor some ten feet below ... and a figure that casts a humanoid shadow in the faint light! There is no hint of motion from below, however, and Alicia, Marikel, and Vhailor remember the ring of statues that lined the room when they first saw it yesterday; this is clearly one of those.
Alicia lights her torch and climbs over the pile of debris, setting her feet carefully so as not to dislodge any of the bricks or chunks of masonry. Once past the rubble, she half-walks, half-slides down the tilted wall of the exposed basement room and lands next to a stone figure of a soldier, his features defaced with a unibrow and crossed eyes drawn on in charcoal.
There are two doors to the room, the one to her right leading back into the hall between the troll's tub room and the room with the mosaic floor, the one in the opposite wall presumably leading toward the hallway leading out of the mosaic room which appeared to be trapped.
"I won't fall," Marikel indignantly asserts to the others as they go down before him.
Marikel follows the others down muttering quietly.
Kaleb follows Alicia into the underground room, tripping lightly over the pile of debris and down into the basement, where he looks around the flagstone-paved room for the first time. Statues set around its edges depict knights and soldiers, but their dignity is impaired by moustaches, goatees, monocles, freckles, and the like scrawled on in charcoal. In the middle of the room are the scattered remains of an old campfire, charred bits of wood in a sooty stain across the floor. A few moth-eaten bedrolls further demonstrate that someone was once camping here; shovels, picks, and other digging equipment lie strewn about.
Up top, when Marikel looks questioningly at Vhailor, the gnome suggests, "Perhaps I should stay up here and keep an eye out? Carb and me, I mean. In case the fellow we're looking for isn't down there?"
Marikel begins to scale the pile and has just enough time to grow irrationally confident before a lump of masonry flips under the sole of his boot, opening a vacuum behind it where loose rock and bricks begin to slide, threatening to carry him down into the basement on a wave of bruising debris...
"Perhaps I should stay up here and keep an eye out? Carb and me, I mean. In case the fellow we're looking for isn't down there?"
Marikel frowns and nods.
"Very well. But be careful. And if there's any trouble, call out. Those guards nearby will help."Not expecting a difficult climb, Marikel follows the others down muttering a short prayer to Iomedae.
Marikel arrives in the basement as part of a hail of stones and broken brickwork. Fortunately for them, Alicia and Kaleb were forward-thinking and skeptical enough to clear the area immediately below the hole and avoid injury themselves.
When the rumble of the miniature avalanche clears, the momentary silence is broken by a shout from somewhere else in the basement. "Who's there?! Show yourselves!"
Alicia motions for quiet, then strains her hearing, attempting to discern where in the basement the voice came from.
Marikel lies unmoving on the ground, seething quietly so Alicia and Kaleb can listen for the voices.