Reaching into his bags, Leon retrieves his tabbard.
I wonder if our benefactor got this particular detail right...
Turning it inside out, he laughed.
"I have had to pretend to be the man I once was on more than one occasion. My disguise is still on the reverse of my tabbard."
Armoring as he rode, the cloak and belts and various details of his armor all seemed to reverse in one way or another. By the time he finished he was a magnificent symbol in white and gold. There was even a pennant to attach to his lance.
Touching his hand to his mount, it rippled and went from the color of dying embers to pure white.
"So you are the Cavalier then, Sir ... ?"
"Well, yes. In fact I am."
"My family name, before my first death, was Whitemane. That will do while I wear these colors."
"Perhaps I should make myself less obvious in case that guards friends weren't too drunk to remember what I looked like?"
Opal will put on the clothing she took over top her own, smear some dirt on her exposed skin and hair to dull it and tie a ragged scarf over her head. "Hopefully no one will notice one more more dirty little beggar following after the nice people with their bread."
Disguise:
Sounds good.
With your disguises firmly in place you ride back to the city. Unlike before everyone is stopped outside and searched. By the time you get to the gate you can tell that the guards attention to detail has begun to suffer, much to your advantage, and they only give you a cursory look despite the fresh wanted poster of Opal hung less than ten feet away.
Just confirming you're all going together?
Taking advantage of his human appearance, Mordecai stashes his armour in his backpack, purchases some scholar's robes, rubs some dirt into them and attempts to pass himself off as a scribe or an author. He follows the discussed tactics for questioning as he searches for information, also asking about how great priests and leaders travel through the city- in big caravans? In huge processions? In a discreet cart?
Once inside the market, Ezra bows to Sir Whitemane, "With your permission, we shall begin gathering the objects of your generosity, Sir Whitemane."
Dressed to fit in however you are you spend the rest of your day mingling with the downtrodden and the forgotten, sharing a meal and a bottle for some. Most of what you learn bears little to no consequence but you do catch several snippets that could be of use.
The priests of Abaddar are entertaining a foreign priest from the south garbed in fancy silks that made him look like he was wearing a dress.
The temple of Torag has closed its doors for the first time in years.
The city guard have been patrolling in great force in the holy district and pushing local vagrants and homeless out.
An emissary from Katapesh has arrived this morning bringing dozens of strange guards.
The priests of Cayden Cailien have been unusually subdued lately even during their religious reveleries.
There is a killer loose in the holy district and the guards can't stop him.
The church of Irori is looking for adventurers to undertake a dangerous journey.
"Perhaps we should see what the church of Irori is up to, they may be looking to hire an escort for the very relic we seek, very fortuitous if true. Catching the killer in the holy district may gain us an in with the guards, and make it simpler for us to get more information. Toreg is the most likely location of the Idol at the moment, however. I suggest we begin by inquiring at the temple of Irori, then debating from there.
"Unless Irori has drastically changed their beliefs, I doubt they'd be funding a group to go rob another temple in the city. We can send someone to inquire, but I believe we should move on the temple of Torag as soon as possible so we can retrieve the person and items and get out of here quickly," Krovax replies via the spell, turning to "examine" the stock in the cart to help obscure his lips.
"I fear you misunderstood. The temple of Irori may be looking for someone to help move the idol we seek. Perhaps we should see if they would be willing to hire us, if they are looking for someone to move or guard the Idol. I am certain we are the perfect persons for that job." Ezra whispers into the side of her hood, covering her face entirely, feigning a cough.
"Furthermore we should not be so certain that we ourselves are not the 'killer' whom the guards cannot stop. I consider that a likely distortion of the truth. I am not certain how to interpret these rumours- I will leave that up to you. All I can say is that we should be on our guard. We do not know how much our enemies know about us; for all we know, all guards are on alert for strangers offering to 'help' or similar such endeavours"
"Why would the church of Irori be looking for adventurers to move the idol? Haven't the city guards been doing that just fine so far? I'd be worried that could be a trap or an unrelated occurrence. I'd be more interested in keeping an eye on the temple or Torag."
Thinking back to his dream, Krovax listens to the others then whispers, "I do not intend to fail on my first objective with this new life. Mordecai, you find out exactly what the Irorians have in mind. Ezra, Opal, you two stand out too much, so you both maintain your disguises and continue investigating amongst the common folk and stay out of sight. Leon and I will try to get a feel for what is happening at the Temple of Torag."
"Perhaps, myself and Opal should wait outside of town. I can head back to my horse and meet you there once you know more. "
The doors to the great temple are closed tight and several guards line the entrance. An acolyte stands at the top of the stairs and when approached begins a well rehearsed and frequently spoken response."I am sorry but the temple will not be allowing any parishioners for the time being. Thank you for your considerations and I promise you that we are all praying in your stead. Any questions about why are blamed on construction issues but even without sense motive rolls you can tell he is lying about something and also hiding more.
Mordecai, dressed like a travelling scholar makes it quite easy for you to get into the temple and inquire about the potential job. The local master is busy but one of the resident priests meets with you. The church is looking for a group of people, which you don't fit, to guard one of their priests to a far away and quite remote monastery while he returns one of their faith's relics to it.
After spending another hour or two moving amongst the the downtrodden you begin to notice someone else moving amongst the homeless like you. They almost fit in if not for the fact that their skin is too clean, like Opal's, and their clothes are far to well made and maintained to be slept in. After catching you looking at him he quickly moves through the crowd and fades out of sight. He looked extremely familiar.
"Opal, did you see that guy? We need to keep an eye on him."
Ezra attempts to recall who the man is while moving through the crown towards him.
Int. check for
Mordecai returns to the area. "The Irori temple was useless. Nothing for our mission. As you say the Torag temple looks more promising. I suggest we purchase a scroll to allow eavesdropping upon the guards' or acolytes' thought- what? do you see someone?"
Mordecai scans the crowd, looking for the person spotted.
He is long gone by the time you arrive Mordecai. Sorry.
.
Edited: Removed Stealth Check, I am not supposed to know how well I do on stealth. Added Fly check, because I said I would fly, and I get to know how I did on that. My bad!
Ezra has +12 stealth
"I think I have him. To me now please!
Having lost sight of the man, Opal continues to wander about searching for him.
"To you? Where are you? I can't see you anywhere."
Everyone gets Ezra's excited message through her spell to get back to her.
"He just entered the Temple of Torag, through a service entrance. He is wearing a red doublet. Something is not right with this... Those of you at the temple, wander down the alley and collect his disguise, perhaps we can find a means to scry on him. Having some of his personal effects will make it easier on us. Opal, he was actively running away from us. You had better head out of town. If he identified you it is only a matter of time before the guards are stopping every female beggar who vaguely matches your description. Meet us at my horse.
Ezra lands on the roof of a building not too far away, and attempts to conceal herself well before the invisibility spell fails. ()
Something is definitely wrong here. Why is a target of this value wandering the streets, unguarded. I bet he snuck out or something.. no way the temple would allow him to just walk out like that if he has anywhere near the value we suspect...
Ezra maintains focus on the door as she ruminates.
"Right, I'm useless so I may as well just wait outside town."
"To be clear, I did not call you useless. I merely pointed out that it definitely appears as though we have been spotted. Since my contact with the city has been minimal at best to date, and since yours is the face plastered on wanted posters, if I were a betting woman I would bet that he recognized you not me."
Opal leaves the town.
You would be arriving shortly after. You were probably four or five blocks away when she called out.
As you head towards the city gates you become away of the fact that you are being followed. Several different people are following you, each seeming to move with you for a street or tow then turning off and someone else taking over for another block. By your guess there are at least four or five unsavory men following you although your gut tells you that these are the ones that whoever is really following you wants you to catch. You're about halfway to the gates now and over a dozen blocks away from Ezra and Mordecai.
Via message: "Several people are following me right now and I'm not even halfway to the gate. I suppose at least this draws away some attention from where the rest of you are at."
As soon as Opal turns a sharp corner, she will hurry up and cast Invisibility upon herself and then run towards a gate.
"Let me see what I can do about that... I am sure now that you have been made."
Once I have her located, I will move around the corner, a block and a half away or so, and cast 'Summon Monster III' summoning a dretch into an alley. I will just let it do its thing. No attempt to direct the demon.
Returning to Opal, I will observe those following her. As soon as they are distracted by the demon now in the city, I will fly down to Opal, cast invisibility on her... and we will build from there...
"I am going to try to help Opal, the rest of you can either move out of the city, or we can launch an assault. Up to you."
"Well, there is little doubt about that now isn't there. I'm going invisible now and trying to make for a gate. I will let you all know if I make it or not.
you only used one minute so far Ezra. I'm gonna give the others a chance to post before I continue.
Krovax looks to Leon to make sure he has been receiving these messages, then says in a whisper, "This definately has the makings of a trap all over it. I had understood our benefactor that this man we were after was perhaps a prisoner, I had not anticipated that he was roaming free. However, it is highly unlikely he knows who or what to expect to be facing, aside from Opal's appearance."
He then nods towards the side of the Temple Ezra mentioned, and at first moves away from the area to a secluded alleyway before using his magic to make himself invisible as well, before he approaches to take a look at the protection surrounding that door.
Opal ducking out of sight and quickly casting invisibility to throw them off works. You see several of the men move towards the alley looking for you and panic when you're not there. Ezra you see a total of seven men gather and quickly discuss something then move out individually to continue their search much more frantically. Krovax and Leon move to watch the entrance indicated by Ezra and settle in to wait. There is very little in the way of protection. It is merely a heavy wooden door with a viewslit.
I count. . . seven guards. Seven after Opal. If we are going to move on the temple, now may be the time. A decent number of guards are distracted at the moment. Pick your moment soon, before Opal gets to the gate. Attack the Monestary, or Run. Which shall it be?
Do we have an exit strategy for an attack?
"I think we reasonably need the following for an assault on a temple, guarded by a minimum of seven, and almost certainly more, some of whom are very likely to be paladins. First, some form of Protection from Good. Second, some form of Invisibility for all, so we can hopefully avoid at least some of the threats. Third, some form of escape magic, teleportation or the like. Unfortunately, it would be foolish to assume they are unprepared...
Then we are unprepared. Tactically, we should withdraw.
"They are also unprepared at this moment. They will likely be prepared soon. So the question becomes, "Do we have the means to meet the identified deficiencies?" If the answer is no, then there is no tactical advantage to waiting."
"Opal currently has seven men opposing us distracted. We see a relative,y unguarded door. I can make several of us invisible for the escape, and we have the opportunity to catch them short handed. I have to disagree, Sir Blackmane, I think now is the time to strike."
Well now, that changes things. Where are you, Ezra? There is a keyring on my belt. Take it. Try the keys on the lock.