The Father of Waters

Game Master Fighting Chicken

Back in safety for the first time in what feels like hours Oios kneels for a moment in the mud and says a prayer of thanks to the gods for their fortune in fending off the Frozen... at least for now. Marinette is higher on the list of the gods than she usually is.

Then he looks around, Domnhall, Imix, come help me with this.. container. It is unnaturally full of things that are wondrous. It would be good to identify them so we know what their elites carry. Drazan, could you hand me the weapons and armor of the leader of the sappers as well?

Oios then finds a safe place to sit down. Trying to repeat the trick he thinks of different kinds of alchemy he can think of and opens the satchel to remove what is on top. He starts with by thinking healing items and continues making a larger and larger pile around him.

Drazan drops the armor and spear at Oios's side, saying in between breaths, "When the breath returns, the mountain men should be scouted. Shadeholme was caught unaware once, but not again."

Then Drazan sets to looking for Rigel and the nameless mountain man to begin forming up as a scouting team.

Istiel slowly walks the walls similar to a cat creeping across a farmstead. Fully visible, but alert and ready to pounce on any prey.

She felt the tension and excitement of the battle still pulling at her mind and body, and she only wanted more. If only she could convince them to fight her one-on-one...

Hazel eyes spy the dead gaurdsmen and their captain Antuk. The monk nods back to him, looking at the damage d palisade. "They make war in strange but effective ways. Still, it is not enough. Our thanks for stopping them." She recalls the magical sack and fine equipment the one frozen was carrying. "Did you kill the one that threw boom-gourds? They are dangerous and carry valuable goods."

Turning to the direction Antuk is pointing, the monk stares into the distance, rain pattering off her mask. When the site of the conflagration hits her, she gasps and begins to tremble. Fingernails dig into the palms of her hands, and Anton may hear the cracking of her jaw as her teeth clench together.

Wordlessly, Istiel suddenly takes off in a sprint. Mud and water splash all around her feet as she races to find Domhnall and Suuha.

============
Oios
============

Beginning with thinking of healing, the Shadow of Damballah slowly pulls objects from the bag, putting them aside into things divined and not divined. Eventually, he's joined by Domhnall, who sits beside the priest and between the two, in a few hours time everything in the bag is identified.

===========
Drazan
===========

The Rheumy smiles as Drazan approaches, giving the Man From Fire Peaks a forceful hug. "How many did you send into the final fire, master?"

As Drazan looks to start a scouting party, Telowo coughs politely behind the warrior. "Ahem. There is something I should show you. The defeated one will have to stay here, however."

Taking Drazan into the High Hall, Telowo leads him into the basement, and down two long halls, eventually opening a small storeroom stocked with supplies - torches, parchment, and other mundane things. Pulling aside a pine shelf, the wall comes with it, and a finely made stone passage snakes down into the darkness. "Not many know of this, so keep it quiet, and the defeated can't be trusted with this information. I hope you understand. This tunnel winds below the canal into the woods to the south, into a copse of thorny mulberry trees. Take care entering and exiting, but if you and your scouts do so, you should be able to come and go unseen."

==========
Istiel
==========

Antuk spits, his face grim. "Nai. She got away."

---
--
-

Sprinting across Eel Mound, Istiel finds Domhnall sitting with Oios, pulling items from the magical pack. The master monk pauses from turning a tightly wrapped and slightly oily mass of vines in his hands to look up to Istiel, who can see fatigue lining the old man's eyes. "Yes, young warrior monk?"

Ashen-faced, muddied, bloodied and in shock, Rigel wanders numbly around what is left of her town. She can't focus on anything beyond finding her immediate family: Issy and Gilders. Right now, this instant, anything and everything else can go - has gone - to hell.

Dazed, she wanders in circles, barely aware of what she is doing.

========
Rigel
========

Of Gilders, there is no sign. A few villagers report seeing him enter the palisade's gates and head north, but then there's not further record of his passage. Of course, Eel Mound is big. But it isn't that big. After a couple of hours of searching, Rigel is pretty sure that the Lord Mayor is not around, or at least indisposed and well-hidden. Which is worse, it is hard to say.

Issy and All Feather, however, are found easily enough. Helgya has set up a triage at the Copper Coywolf, the common room on the first level now beset with the wounded and grief-stricken. For the center of a medical emergency, things are strangely quiet. Those needing attention sit stunned or beyond caring, surrounded by equally stunned relatives. Amid the needy, the wise woman works the room, and with her, raven perched on the girl's shoulder, is Issy, walking behind Helgya with a bag stuffed with poultices and supplies, the bag nearly half the size of the girl.

Issy hobbles towards Rigel, covered in blood, most of it after a cursory check - thankfully - not hers. Issy throws her arms around her surrogate sister and lets out a ragged sob. "It was horrible!" Turning her face up to Rigel, the apprentice smiles through the gore and the mud, though no joy shows in her eyes. "You were a hero though, Rigel! I saw it all!"

Her mind races as fast as her feet, mud splashing up onto her black robes and leg wraps. There must be something we can do to stop the flames! Some magic or something in that bag!

She briefly considers the sapper that Anton said escaped, and wondered if this was her doing. Her? Women are brood mares to the Frozen. Letting one fight is strange. Perhaps she is not one of them? It does not matter, I will end her as we ended the other one.

Istiel slows as she recognizes Domhnall's familiar oaken mask, jogging up to him and Oios. She stops, panting slightly. "Master, they're burning the monastery! I saw the flames. We must do something! Our home... I will go myself if I must!" The monk is getting uncharacteristically emotional, voice tinged with a mixture of distress and anger.

"If you are wounded, report to the Triage. I will be there in a few minutes!"

Imix, his face still a mess of blood, comes to Oios' call. As they go through the bag together he pauses to look at the old priest.
Uncharacteristically he reaches out a hand to the older man's shoulder.
"Have you ever been the answer to a prayer, Oios? You were today." he looks away "I was so sure we were going to lose today I almost considered claiming this my Purpose. I questioned why the Gods had put me here, now, if this were not my Purpose. I was praying for them to unleash me at the same time you found this pack."
He laughs, a little, but there is no humour in it. "In my arrogance I thought that my moment, Oios. I was wrong. It was yours."
"This pack saved us. More, it has shown us that whatever we are facing is not some pack of primitive savages - this is Alchemy of a quantity and quality even I would have trouble matching."

in the Triage
Imix stumbles in, straightening a second later.
"Well done Helgya. Show me where I should stand when I channel. I will only be able to spare one, or possibly two more today. Prioritise those who need stabilization, then unconcious, then warriors."
Imix accepts Helgya's recommendation, once more calling on the power of the Gods.

Shortly after the attack
"Chukix? How are the apprentices? Did they all make it? I had to pull Mauri out of the water. Are they coping? Check to see if any are newly orphaned, if you can." While the words might suggest compassion, the tone - and the fact he doesn't worry about who is around - suggest logic, rather than emotion, is behind the request."[/b]

The next comment is made with a slightly different intonation "How is Texikuk?"

Rigel envelops Issy in a fierce hug, wrapping both arms around her. She gives a shaky smile at the girl's words. "We were, weren't we? We defended our town!" She buries her face in Issy's hair so the girl can't see her expression - or the tears running down her cheeks.

She therefore doesn't see Imix come in and jumps like a startled cat when he speaks to her. Blinking rapidly, she looks at the Suriname. "Well what do you expect? We're not warriors, our town's been invaded and we've lost friends, family, homes! We didn't deserve this - we just wanted to live peacefully!"

Her voice chokes up as she weeps, racking sobs which shake her whole body.

Drazan nods at the Telowo, "This will do quite nicely, but the prisoner must be able to earn his name back. Ensure that he will not be killed before our return. Do you give your word?"

After meeting with Telowo Drazan heads back up and out to find Rigel, his breath returning but and but first comes across the monk Istiel. "Istiel, eyes must stay on the war-band until it is far and away, lend yours to a scouting party?"

=================
Oios, Istiel, Dom
=================

Domhnall looks up to Istiel, his voice at first tinged with exasperation. "What would you have us do, Istiel? Should we march through the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of enemies out there? We may never make it Monk's Mound!"

The old monk breathes in slowly, and speaks again, this time his voice calmer, more sedate. "There is time to be a hammer, or a bolt of lightning, young warrior-monk, and at that time, you must punch through your enemies quickly and without reflection. But there are other times when it is best to be a chisel or a stream, and work within the channels given, slowly chipping away to change your surroundings."

A long sigh comes from the other side of the master's mask. "Our home is lost, for now. It will be lost forever if we act as hammers. Now, help Oios and I go through this pack. Much good could be done with these tools of war."

=================
Oios, Istiel, Dom, Imix
=================

Domhnall's head snaps towards Imix, slowly nodding in agreement. "Yes, you are correct. Not savages. They are a force that has long trained - and long been equipped - for war."

=================
Rigel, Issy
=================

"You were!" Issy says, her voice tinged with - jealousy? Self-loathing? "I just hobbled away."

All Feather flaps his wings twice and caws into the girls ear. "Well, I did help here, setting wounds and whatnot. That was something."

=================
Imix, Helgya, Rigel, Issy
=================

The wise woman stares at the Suriname for a moment before clearing her throat and gesturing towards the west of the room. "The worst are over there. Lost three since we set the triage up. Getting them stable would be a great service, Suriname."

After Imix's healing light washes over the wounded, those closest to death even can move, though they find themselves staring off into nothing in moments, haunted looks on their faces. It seems the Suriname's observation about wounds unseen was most astute.

===============
Imix, Chukix
===============

Imix finds Chukix near the Copper Coywolf, instructing the remaining children to place buckets along the streetline to catch rainwater. The older man looks to Imix with concern, fear gripping his eyes. "I've not seen Mauni, nor have I seen Mossy!"

His voice decidedly cooler, Chukix answers Imix's second question. "Nor Texikuk, for that matter."

===============
Drazan, Telowo
===============

Telowo shrugs. "It is not my decision - it is the Magistrate's. But I'll point out that we can use every ghandasa-arm we can muster, and the Nameless One hasn't shown any inclination to betray us."

Oios, returns Imix's touch with a grasp of his own Your words are kind but a bit too much so. By the grace of Damballah we were able to pull through for now but it took all of us. If any one of us had faltered then we would have been overwhelmed. But we did not. I do not know what it will be like for you when you find your Purpose but the miracles you are performing without it makes me glad that you are here.

When the distraught monk comes in and speaks Oios turns to her You could see flames from Monk's Mound? That far through this rain? then falls silent as Domhnall appeals to Istiel's reason and turns back to the task at hand.

Afterwards he looks up, fighting off fatigue. It would be good to scout, cautiously, see where the enemy are massed, maybe find out their plans. he says before suddenly slapping his palm to his forehead in exasparation The sapper whose satchel this is. He was lying near death outside. I wanted him brought in for interrogation before the bridge was assaulted and I forgot.

with Oios
"Thank you Oios. It is true others have also been instrumental. Without Lady Bellet's soldiers, the mound would have been overrun before we reached it."
"Someone needs to take charge Oios. The Mayor is nowhere to be seen. The Lady Bellet is used to command - perhaps it should be her. Utzi is a warrior. I cannot lead without divine mandate. The civilian authority has failed. I see it is her - as a noble - or the priesthood."

with Chukix
"What? I healed that girl twice - even pulled her out of the water and dropped her with you." the Suriname grimaced "We need to know who we have lost, and fast. Have someone work out how to do a census." he hesitates as he looks at the children "And look after the children until we have one. Familiar faces might help keep the orphans sane until then, and I do not trust these people not to abuse or simply ignore newly orphaned children."

At the triage
"There is not time to be in shock. Recovery times for this sort of trauma stretch into years. If the Shadeholme populace sink into this state, they will be destroyed."
"I cannot stay long." The Suriname staggers off.

Oios, Dom, Drazen

Istiel begins to tremble as Domnhall speaks, replying with frustration and passion. "I cannot stand by while my home burns to the ground! While the people I swore to protect are slaughtered outside the walls! This is war, master. I am a warrior. This is my duty, what else can I do but fight?"

She clenches her fists, refusing his wisdom. "If they are not savage of mind then they are savage of heart. No civilized man wants this chaos and destruction. Their tricks and false gods will not protect them from Damballah's order."

Her head swivels to Oios. "The Capital noble's guard captain saw it first. He was inspecting the damage another boom-gourd thrower did to our north wall. It barely stands."

Drazen is a welcome approach, and she is clearly rearing to go when he arrives. "Yes. I am with you. "

Her weeping fit slowly subsiding, Rigel looks at Issy. "You did the right thing, honey. Got inside and found where you can do the most good. Speaking of which..."

She holds out her muddy arms and gestures wordlessly, helplessly, at her bloodied, torn clothing, her dishevelled hair and her dirty, tear-stained face. "Can you tidy me up, please, honey?" She wiggles her fingers, mimicking the magical gestures that Issy uses. Rigel has no idea, really, what Issy's magic can do - the girl keeps a lot of it to herself - but the ability to do minor stuff (what Issy refers to as 'cantrips' whatever that means) is one she's had for many years now.

That done, she looks at Imix. "I can't find Gilders, or Lady Bellet. Someone needs to be in charge. Can you come with me? We need to track them down." Even the people who wouldn't necessarily give her the time of day would think twice before lying to a Suriname. She hopes.

Giving Issy another, lingering, hug, she moves away. "Don't get discouraged, honey, you're doing great work here. And please don't wander off, OK?" Reluctantly separating herself from her near-sister, she heads off.

Imix stops "Assassins? Here?" he pauses, stunned for a second, and speaks more quietly "It makes sense - take out our leaders now and the poor morale could have us opening our gates for them in a week." the stunned look turns to resignation "In which case..." he trails off for a moment as he weighs options "Yes. We need to move. Your skills make you the right choice. Very well - take charge, and I will follow you. My presence should lend you enough weight to be taken seriously. We will need to start setting up lines of succession, as well."

===============
Imix and Chukix
===============

Chukix stares at Imix, his voice wavering, his eyes wide. "They were with me! I lost them in the chaos!"

================
Oios, Drazan, Istiel
================

Domhnall stands to his full height, shorter than Istiel, but still imposing. He puts his hand on Istiel's wrist, holding her in place. "A warrior that is nothing more is doomed to die a fool's death. Be a snake and slither through the underbrush, be a creek and pass by unnoticed, be anything but just a warrior." The master sighs, letting go of Istiel's wrist, and turns back to the haversack.

---
--
-

The three scouts wend their way deeper into the earth, crossing a low point in the tunnel that drips water, pooling on the ground around your feet, before you begin to climb again, eventually looking at a ladder that allows for a short climb up to a circular stone door. Swinging the door open, you pull yourselves out into the forest. Around you stands the mulberry thicket, dense and thorny, enclosing a space large enough to fit maybe five persons. The ground muddy, your boots leaving a sucking sound with each step, the rain still falling all around.

===================
Imix, Rigel
===================

Issy nods, her mouth drawn into a tight, flat line, and leans down to farmer Laughton, checking the man's magically healed arm. She opens her mouth to speak, when the sound of clomping boots comes down from the private rooms above. Descending the staircase is Lady Bellet, with five guards. She looks across the room, her gaze unfocused, as if she can't comprehend what she's seeing. A quick order given to her men, they head for the door, passing you without so much as a glance of recognition.

Istiel stops as Domhnall grabs her arm, silently and cooly regarding him during the lecture. "Then I will be the cottonmouth and the flash flood, master." She slips away with Drazen and Oios, bristling with renewed purpose.

-----

The monk climbs from the trap door, immediately sinking into the mud. Recognizing the mulberry grove she looks to the north, frustrated. " Monk's mound is to the north. But so is the Frozen warband. We would have to cross through their camps."

She points west, through the rain. "Let us hustle to the western watchtower and work our way north-east through the farms to monks mound."

We've lost one source of information. If we could get another it would be good. Isitel, you are the one that is most likely to not get caught. You move in front of us and Drazan and I will follow behind slowly. You know the lay of the land as well so your plan looks good. We should never have been caught by surprise by this large of a force

==========
Scouts
==========

Istiel moves through the forest thirty feet in front of Oios and Drazan, her form barely visible through the rain, circling south and west to avoid the horde. The less stealthy members have trouble picking her form out of the downpour, and the woods seem to play tricks on everyone's hearing - from time to time the sounds of drums seem to approach from the north or the west, or voices, intelligible and garbled in the storm, float by your ears, their speakers seemingly close by. Yet you see no one as you move through the forest, feet clomping through the mud, until you turn towards the north again and make your way through the woods in the direction of the far end of town.

Ahead, Istiel spies a few forms in the woods. The monk presses herself against a tree and holds her arm back to stay the others while one of the men shifts and looks towards the group, peering into the rain. Then, a voice from the south of you calls out, and the man turns and calls back in turn"

To your southwest, twelve men move through the forest towards the others...

-------------
Scouts
-------------

Istiel slowly lowers her arm back to her side, hands sliding behind the folds of her robes to conceal the sun-kissed flesh. She briefly considers charging them, but the recent words of her master echo in the warrior monk's mind. She briefly feels ashamed at her earlier outburst. She concedes- a fool's death is not glorious.

Entire body frozen, she listens intently and barely breathes. The snake in the grass...the squirrel against the tree... The damp bark presses against her back, and she swears she can hear the air's moisture beading against the mouth-hole of her mask. Checkpoints? They are strangely well organized. He Who Speaks In Pain? Who...

Rigel swiftly steps in, before Imix can do too much social damage. Her curtsy is flawless. "Indeed, Lady Bellet, your soldiers have won the day for us. Shadeholme - and I - shall ever be grateful."

Her quick eyes assess, scan, consider, even as she conducts pleasantries.

Scouting

Different tribes, working together in this way... unnatural Oios mutters, waiting on Isitel to make a decision on how they should move.

===============
Detectivmats
===============

---
--
-

The Lady Mariet-Amballa Bellet stands ramrod straight; and the rooms seems to shrink in her presence, almost falling away at the edges of your vision.

Annoyance crosses her face - briefly - and then in an instance it is gone, turned aside like a buzzing gnat. Her blue eyes, quite a brilliant azure color, stare down at you both, and her irises seem, for just a second, to pulse, if that were possible. A slight smile turns up the left side of her mouth.

"Dears, I'm thrilled that my guardsmen were able to keep us all from being burned and eaten, probably in that order. Of course, should we all live, there will be time to repay that debt. As for how I am doing? I'm furious. This is not how I had intended spending my sojurn to Shadeholme."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, the cries of the damaged are... distracting. I plan to locate my guards' captain and relocate to your Chief Engineer's home - Matla was her name? She'll not be needing it, unless my eyes were lying."

=============
Scouts
=============

The twelve men move forward, you spotting they wear stout leather packs and carry large objects as they move, sometimes two men carrying one thing. The man that calls himself Karsk puts his hand on the arm of the other group's leader as they move past, momentarily staying the speaker.

Karsk lets go and the men make their way to the north, while the Gnashers go back to standing watch, staring into the downpour.

Istiel only allows herself to move her eyes as the mountain men speak to each other. Saws. Do they mean to fell our walls? Our mulberry trees?

When Delt's raiders have passed the monk signals to Oios and Drazen to continue moving. They must get past this checkpoint so she can share what she saw and decide the next course of action.

The monk begins to creep through the forest brush once more on their intended course, attempting to pick a path that will ease her companion's movements. In reality, Istiel anticipates Gnash and his men will see Drazen and Oios. When the watchmen move to investigate or attack, she plans to surprise them from behind.

Rigel nods. "Will you permit us to accompany you? We are on our way from here anyway; we are looking for Mayor Gilders - did you happen to see him, by any chance?"

===========
Scouts
===========

Istiel's aid proves useful as Oios and Drazan move through the forest like phantoms gliding on the wind, past the sentries and towards the Cheya Canal. The monk's keen ears pick up a ruckus in the forest ahead, and so Istiel circles west and wide, the group breaking the treeline about 100 feet further than had originally been anticipated.

In the distance to the east, the scouts see a crowd of people moving in the rain. Skirting the treeline, Istiel, Drazan, and Oios draw closer and spy a makeshift camp, much smaller in size than the horde, perhaps a hundred or so Frozen, hard at work. Most are at work anyways. A dozen or so sentries ring the camp, looking out into the rain. The camp is a handful of tents although more perhaps lie beyond the treeline in the forest, the sounds of trees being felled can be heard within. At the waterline float eight roughly built rafts, meant to be poled across the canal, and stretching across the canal is the skeleton of a wooden rope bridge not yet completed. Slowly, a raft makes its way across the canal, ten or so men huddled on it, cloaks drawn to protect their faces from the rain...

===============
Detectivmats
===============

---
--
-

The Lady Bellet nods, just ever so slightly. "Of course you may accompany me, if you'd like. I'd be honored to have a Suriname in my company."

One of the guards opens a large parasol over the Lady's head, and then she's out the door, walking the main street that circles Eel Mound. To the north, she finds her captain, Antuk. The guard-captain takes his Lady's hand and kneels, touching his forehead to her fingers, a sign of deep respect. Standing again, he points to the wall, and then farther afield. "There, they tried to blow the palisade. And there - a great fire burns."

The Lady sighs. "I was going to have you and the men accompany me to our new home, Antuk, but I'm afraid I must ask you to get a proper census on how many fighting men and women we have. Ask for the chief engineer's home - I'll be there. As for the rest of you, take Antuk's horn. If there's another attack, blow it long and loud. And try to not catch a sniffle out here in the rain. Or a javelin, come to think of it."

Taking her parasol, the Lady looks to you, her eyebrow arched. "Anything else?"

As the three scouts meet together, Istiel looks to Oios and Drazen. "The group passing through the checkpoint were carrying saws. We should follow them." She looks out across the treeline into the camp further down, spotting the sentries in the rain. Eyes train to the canal, and the floating rafts. The monk bristles as the floating forms of the raiders can be seen. "There. On the rafts. We are going to swim the canal. Follow me; keep low."

If we can take their weapons and plant them somewhere incriminating then perhaps we can get the tribes to fight each other as should be. But we cannot stay for too long Isitel. We are but three. We cannot fight an entire army

"We'd be delighted to accompany you to your new residence while your man is busy." Imix announces, after a quick sidelong glance at Rigel. "Your presence is crucial in this time of strife." almost as an afterthought he adds to Antuk "I have suggested to Utzi that he arrange a roster of guards, and my man Chukix is also taking a census. Perhaps it might be worth coordinating with them."

We go with your plan for now Isitel, but only for a little while. Adventuring outside is now what we are to do. We are to report what we find and help bolster Shadeholme's defense.

==============
Scouts
==============

Following Istiel's lead, Drazan and Oios slip into the canal and the three make their way slowly across the water, trading time for silence - they emerge on the other side of the Cheya teeth chattering, but unnoticed by the encampment, the men they were following disappearing into the storm.

Eight of the ten men have departed the raft, and make their way north into the farmlands, while the remaining two row the skiff back across the canal to the encampment. Following the eight, you pass a few farmsteads splashed with green dye across the entryways. Eventually, you come to a farmstead that Drazan knows to belong to Nalia and Timor, a young couple that work their fields from spring to fall and fell trees in the wintertime. They also keep a few chickens in a coop, the door of which the men tie a bright yellow rope. Next they walk the fields, the largest man removing his overstuffed pack and the rest drawing from it a fine black substance, which they sprinkle over the freshly sprouted land. Next, seven of the men enter the farmstead while one stands watch on the porch, looking out into the rain.

Soaked to the bone and chilled even deeper, hidden behind a hedgerow about fifty feet away, you can just make out the sounds of the cabin being overturned as the men go through it, your minds painting the picture clearly enough: tables tipped over, cabinets emptied, pottery smashed.

=============
Detectives
=============

Antuk casts a quick glance to the Lady, who nods back. "It would be wise. Meet with this Chukix, and this Utzi to see what aid you can lend. Now, Ms. Quicklingfay, where did this Chief Engineer spend her nights?"

Rigel knows the building well, though she's never been inside, Tolita being a woman that was, speaking charitably, not interesting, absent-minded, and never found in the company of the youth of the village. Her home is a fine structure as befitting a chief engineer's home. Four-storied, slender, built of perfectly fitted stone, with a thatched roof, and windows, currently shuttered against the rain, that look out on the town. Finding the door locked, Lady Bellet stares at the door for a second before trying it again, and this time the door swings open.

The dwelling is modestly appointed, which the Lady gives a cursory go-over, a slight frown playing across her face, before making her way up the stairs, where she stands at the rear window, looking out over the woods across the canal. Or what can be seen of them in the rainstorm at any rate. If the day were clear, she could see for miles, the building being taller than most on Eel Mound, save the Copper Coywolf and the High Hall, which stands interrupting the view of the woods to the south of the Lady's new home, even more imposing in the rainstorm.

"Send me some laborers," the Lady says absently, staring out into the rain. "I'll need some of my things brought from the Coywolf and the warehouses."

Rigel nods. "I will see who I can find, Lady Bellett."

Once the Lady's needs are attended to, she will go back to searching for Gilders.

Oios touches Isitel and Drazen in turn murmuring a prayer to Loco to watch over them as they do Marinette's work.

This is our chance, we take them with surprise and we may be able to subdue this one soundlessly. Then we may be able to take the entire band if we have luck and the gods on our side.

"Our chance for what?" Drazan shrugs Oios's hand away. "There is nothing to gain by attacking these men, we only risk losing our cover. More than twenty men have already died by this axe today. There aren't many more within its power."

Knowledge on what is in that black powder. The chance of a live prisoner that can be interrogated to learn more of what the enemies plans are. Weapons that can be planted on another tribe to incite division within their ranks Oios replies.

Istiel's teeth are firmly clenched together to prevent them from clattering together. She wonders of the Frozen sowing the fields are Delt's raiders or not, and what they are covering the ground with. What are they doing to our farms? They raid and pillage, this gain has barely sprouted.

The warrior-monk nods to Oios. "We think alike, priest. I will approach from the far north of the house. You and Drazen from the south wall. Make a noise to distract the sentry and I will take him from behind when he turns."

While Oios and Drazen debate, Istiel is already slipping off to make her way around the far side of the house to flank the sentry. She waits for her moment to strike.

Oios gives Drazen the boon the warrior had refused earlier and, when Isitel is in position, moves to where she indicated on the south wall. Moving as he saw the raiders move earlier Oios deliberately steps on a twig.

===========
Scouts
===========

Istiel moves along the north of the farmland, circling south through the rainstorm as Oios and Drazan move up the hedgerow from south to north. Things look promising when a bit of Kalfu's Joy mucks things up; one of Oios' sleeves snag on a hedgerow branch, tearing loud enough to snap the guard's head up before Istiel is in position. Quickly, the man backs through the cottage door and in just a second the noises inside cease, the only sound the drumming of rain on earth.

===============
Detectives
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The Mayor lives atop the High Hall, the largest building in the city at five floors tall, the fifth floor of which is Gilders' residence. Below him, his personal guard lives, and then below them are the offices of the bureaucrats, religious figures, and the rest of the folk that make Shadeholme run; a warren of little rooms filled with desks and ledgers. Underground as well - as the scouts recently discovered - is a basement, and even a tunnel that leads out of the building and into the surrounding countryside.

But today, right now, Rigel is interested in the Mayor's penthouse. Entering the Hall, Rigel and Imix are immediately struck by just how quiet everything is. Normally, during the day the first few floors would be abuzz with activity; clerks and petty bureaucrats running to and fro on errands, small religious services held by Telowo and his men, accounting of the excise, and meetings would be taking place, clatter and chatter filling the High Hall with the sounds of life in Shadeholme. Today, the offices are empty, the only noise being rain beating against the closed wooden shutters covering the building's windows.

Up the stairs you go, to find more of the same on the next two floors - silence, work forgotten or perhaps lost to injury or death. The wall sconces are largely unlit or burned down by now, the hallways dark, the air oppressively humid.

Up again, and the guards residences are also quiet. You enter the check-in room; the doorway into the guardroom beyond it locked. Through the barred interior window, the room in which a couple of guards will sit while awaiting visitors, there is nothing but a mostly bare table and two chairs - one tipped over. The remnants of a half-eaten lunch - eggs over rice, sit atop the table. The door into the hallway beyond the guardroom hangs ajar.

Trying to continue the ruse Oios calls out when he sees the man backing away