Mama Guiseppe's - Aldencross -
As Momma is looking at Alice's wound she turns to see Moaran pouring some of the delay draught into one of the pots, "Dearie, whatever is that you have?"
The Lord's Private Chambers - Watchtower of Balentyne -
The Magister sneers, "You Inquisitors and your shadows. I already stated that we would go, you can discontinue with unfounded accusations. Father Donnigan, perhaps in the morning you can pray for a spell to speak with the soul of... this soldier. That should allow us to narrow down the potential conspirators". It is clear that the Magister has no idea what the dead soldiers name was.
Father Donnigan nods in agreement.
The Lord Commander stands, "I have much to do this day with all that has taken place. Father if you would be so kind as to inform the Troupe that te play must come to and end. Magster, please begin to gather the men you would bring to the Black Ice Inn on the 'morrow. Sir Jack, Sister Lydia, and Brother Laurence, would you give me a few more minutes of your time this day?"
Both men head out of the room to perform their assigned tasks. Once the door closes, the Lord Commander stares at the dead soldier making a mess of his chambers, "We'll need t get rid of this body. Any suggestions for how to do it that does not involve me?"
"Obviously, can't have them communing with this poor sod and have him blow our whole plan. I heard of some business with these... captains, yes? Some sort of feud? I may have an idea. If one of them was to be freed from their cell, with the intent to cause chaos, is it so unbelievable the same people who released the good captains might have reason to abscond with the body of this poor soldier? We've already described the fictional garb that the men I supposedly saw wore. If some people similarly dressed were to cause havoc, it could hardly be traced back to us. With Father Donnigan preparing to speak with his soul to name his co-conspirators, it seems likely they would want to prevent such a thing, yes? We have a man on the inside who may be able to aid us in this, I think." She looks at Jack and Lothryin, a bemused look on her face.
"Of course, I'm open to suggestions. Do either of you have ideas on how to proceed? We could have dear Raaven move amongst our fellows and communicate with them if need be."
"I can do it." Jack shrugged. "You're not gonna want to watch though."
You can't be serious...
Alice freezes, unsure what to do. Her education into a wizard did not involve scamming old ladies.
Turning around and looking a little sheepish. Offering Mama Guiseppe a half hearted grin, "It was just water, cause I forgot that there was water in there. I know the soup is for the soldiers but I have a friend that has been heckling me to get to try your lovely soup. She has been on this for the last few days so I was going to fill this up and give it to her. She said just a little bit."
Biting her lip, "I should have just asked."
The Great Hall of the Watchtower of Balentyne -
The other guard smacks him in the back of the head, "Idiot, of course it happened, you ever see Eddarly look at Mott's wife? I just figured he wanted her, not that he actually had her. As far as them fighting, not up to them, up to the Lord Commander".
Nate grimaces. "Can you imagine your wife being fuc...had by a guy like Eddarly and than having it hand it over instead of just getting a shot at the guy? Man I'd be pissed, I'd want to at least get a good punch in on the guy, at the very least."
The Lord's Private Chambers - Watchtower of Balentyne -
Lydia, Sir Jack, Raaven, and Laurence
The Lord Commander grimaces, "It is risky but necessary. A new guardsman named Nate and his insubordinate friend whose name I can never remember are watching Captain Eddarly. Tonight I will have the remaining two guards watchig over Mott dismissed leaving just those two watching the Captains. By then they will be weary and easy prey, slay them and leave the door to Mott's room ajar.
I am sure the fighting between the two Captain's will draw the attention of the rest of the nightwatchmen away leaving one of you to scale this tower and abscond with the body. Perhaps drop a key from the Black Ice Inn behind to further incriminate our patsies?
Leave the Magister and Father Donnigan alone this night, within these walls they are most formidable and have defenses that they will not be able to call upon when battling the Cultists of the Black Ice Inn..."
Mama Guiseppe's - Aldencross -
Mama laughs, "Dearie, I'll make you a separate bowl, there is enough for everyone!"
She goes back to tending Alice's cut as you pour the final deadly ingredients into the pots...
Captain's Quarters -
That comment certainly gets both men thinking and an awkward silence ensues...
Alice is incredibly relieved that Morana has managed to talk her way out of it.
Smiling widely at Mama Guiseppe, "But the look on her face when all she sees is this little amount would be hilarious."
Moving back to her task at hand and tending to the soup. You madam are an idiot. You keep sweet talking me like that and you will never get to talk to anyone else. I know I taught you manners. Manners are for the living. I have superseded your mortal requirements for niceties. Grinning while stirring the pot. And the need for social interactions as well. Morannnnaaaa!
"Nate and his pal are with us." Jack shrugged. "They're probably already planning the captain's jail break."
The Lord's Private Chambers - Watchtower of Balentyne -
The Lord Commander chuckles, "Then so much the better. His papers would have been arriving mid-next week, lucky for him now it won't matter. Very well then, I will address those two personally as I change the guard. You will need to leave and sneak back into the tower somehow to steal the body back. If you are caught... well, don't get caught. I have much to do and believe it is time for you all to take your leave".
Mama Guiseppe's - Aldencross -
The rest of the meal prep goes on without incident.
Captain's Quarters -
Within the hour the Lord Commander himself arrives and relieves the guards next to Nate and Aurex. Leaving just the three of you and the two Captain's, still in their rooms, under house arrest left in this small area.
He then approaches Aurex whispering, "You are a disgrace to the uniform we have issued to you. I now understand why, you are a spy..."
He turns to Nate still whispering, "And you, you have no papers do you? Within the week I'll be locking you up, won't I?" His hand is on the hilt of his blade, knuckle white.
Aurex stiffens but Nate looks confused. "Uhh, sir? I thought we had discussed the incident of losing our papers?"
Aurex growls. "Titles won't protect you from having your throat torn out. Back off."
Captain's Quarters - Week 3 - Day 20
The Lord Commander grins, "The liar and the thug. It is surprising, the thug is usually the better soldier but not here". The Lord Commander places a hand on Nate's shoulder and leans in to his ear, "Soren has told me that you are part of her group. It seems that the Dark Lord has called me as he has called all of you.
Your allies will be breaking into the tower tonight, I will be taking a host of men across the water tonight to search for the 'missing' Ranger party. You and your friend will open the door of Mott's room, leaving it slightly ajar and abandon your posts. Never return to this Keep as if you do, I'll have to arrest you. Soon, your plans will come to fruition..."
"Oh."
Aurex looks shocked for a moment, then relaxes and starts chuckling.
"Well. Sir yes sir than I suppose." Nate says with a blank face. Just what the hell is going on?
Captain's Quarters - Week 3 - Day 20
The Lord Commander pats you on the arm, "Good lad". And takes his leave, you hear him down the hall barking out orders as you and Aurex are left alive.
"Why do we gotta steal the body?" Jack asked Soren after the captain had left.
"We don't, just be quick about it." Soren just shrugs, waiting for Grumble Jack to get down to business and eat the corpse. "Whatever you can't eat, we'll have to smuggle out somehow. That is, if there's anything there you can't eat."
The Lord's Private Chambers - Watchtower of Balentyne -
Grumble eyes the body hungrily and begins to systematically break it down, much like a chef breaks down a chicken, or would if he was going to eat it raw. If salmonella is not a dressing, nobody told Grumble... does eating bad human give you salmonella or would it give you some other type of disease, mad human perhaps? These are the thoughts that Soren and Lothryin grapple with as Grumble "disposes" of the evidence.
The grisly disposal is all to much for Lothyrin, he turns his gaze away hoping to put it out of sight and out of mind, it worked for all of 5 seconds before the scent hit him. The stench of the fallen mans innards rolled outwards in waves assaulting his senses. It overcomes him quickly as bile rises up in his throat, he holds it back briefly grabbing a bag as he hurls whats left over from lunch inside. As he continues to look away he plugs his nose, "Please hurry, that stench is sickening," he whispers as he a holds back what little is left in his stomach.
The Lord's Private Chambers - Watchtower of Balentyne -
Grumble eats a LOT of that poor bastard as Laurence loses his lunch. Still, even with the bones cracked and some marrow pulled out, at least 2/3rds of the soldiers skeleton remains as does a bit of a blood stain on the floor.
Grumble had a strange metabolism. The combination of ogre and demon gave him a completely inhuman, unearthly appetite. It was probably better to measure him alongside creatures like bears and great cats than anything humanoid. Every once in a while he needed to gorge himself.
He had eaten at the inn as Sir Jack, but those were just snacks to tide him over. The last time he'd really eaten was back in Sakkarot's camp when he'd eaten most of Kargeld.
It felt good to eat. Once he was full he sighed contentedly. "Guess we stuff the rest in a sack. It don't weigh much. Unless you two want the rest."
"We can split it between us." Soren frowns as Jack mentions eating it. "As in, split it between us to carry it. Perhaps just the two of us," she says, looking at Lothryin as he finishes vomiting. "We can make it out between the two of us, especially once Nate and Aurex cause a distraction. We'll be fine."
The Black Ice Inn -
The Adherents of Wickedness assemble once more together in "Sir Jack's" room. Each set of members has quite the story to tell...
Jack handed a slightly bloody sack to the innkeeper as he walked into the inn, then stomped up the stairs.
Back in the big room, Jack sat on the bed and leaned back against the wall.
"What a clusterf**%," he grumbled.
Alice is busy feeding Jasmus pieces of chicken when Jack stomps in.
"Clusterf&~&? What in the name of the nine hells happened? You went off to watch a play."
Nate comes in, pale and stressed looking while Aurex chuckles behind him.
"Soren found out the Lord Commander's an Asmodean. She cut a deal with him. At the same time, Captain Mott interrupted the show and challenged Eddarly to a duel 'cause Ed was f&+!ing his wife. Now they're both in jail, and if Nate did his part, are probably killing each other right now."
"Nice work, whoever set that up."
"The... Lord commander... What?
Alice looks baffled.
"An Asmodean may be stretching the truth a bit, but he's not the knight in shining armor his men believe him to be. I—" Soren stammers for a moment, and shakes her head. "His wife was murdered for her tiefling heritage, and for worshiping Asmodeus alongside other deities. From that seed of resentment, his heart has been corrupted. For the promise of returning his love to life, he has forsaken his men and will aid us in taking the tower. How easy it will be to bring his wife back, I cannot say. I will need to speak to the Cardinal about that... and a few other things I've learned from him that are troubling me."
"However, for the time being, we're in the clear. Father Donnigan and that insufferable magister will be here to investigate the Black Ice Inn tomorrow, and the Lord Commander has sent a party to search for the corpses of Captain Varning and his men. When the stew is delivered tomorrow we can set off the flares to alert Fire-Axe that we're ready for him to attack."
"Won't we wanna make sure the gatehouse is ours and that wizard is dead before we call the horde? Oh, and there's still the catapults to deal with too."
"It'll take them time to get here. We should be able to deal with some of the problems before they arrive, don't you think? With any luck that wizard will be killed here tomorrow, but if not we'll deal with him ourselves. After that, the catapults are the next priority. The Lord Commander can likely help with that, if the operators aren't too busy mutating into horrid monsters by that point. After that, they should be free to approach and we can take the gatehouse to allow them inside to mop up those who resist before marching through into the heart of Talingarde."
"Wait. Run that by me again Soren. Father Donnigan is going to investigate the inn? How does that factor into our alliance with the cult?"
"Lamashtans are... unpredictable, much like the demon goddess they worship. Meanwhile, I know perfectly well how to control the Lord Commander. He is a more reliable ally, and I believed we would be better served to have him work alongside us than the cultists. Havelyn, despite his prior disgrace, is still a powerful warrior and a man with a reputation. Using that reputation is far more useful than some backwater cultists. A group will be coming here to investigate the inn, yes. My hope is that the lot of them will all exterminate each other, but if not those that remain can be dealt with handily afterward."
"We won't have attacked them, not until they start to fight back against the Mitrans. At that point, it's easy to say that allying ourselves with them is no longer in our best interest, as per the terms of our contract. There's nothing saying we won't uphold the other end of the bargain at some point in the future, either."
Alice runs both hands trough her hair. "Our Lord works in mysterious ways. I...
She signs. "Pfff, its a lot to take in. This changes a lot. The Commander is most certainly a formidable ally. But I cant help by wonder now that he has finally given himself over to revenge, if it wont consume him. And us in the process."
"I believe I have the means to keep him from being consumed by his lust for revenge. I will take responsibility for him, as I did for our former companion. When she was no longer useful, I took responsibility for my decision. I will do the same with Havelyn, if it's necessary."
Quietly listening to Soren and Grumbles exchange. Seems like they had more fun than us. Yeah, I am fine with that dear. That is because you are a coward. I am ignoring you now.
"So the plan is to contact the hoard after everyone eats then tend to the wizard you mentioned if he is still around?"
Aurex chuckles. "You two-legs are practically asking to be torn down. Our intervention is probably only slightly pushing along the process."