"I favor keeping the devil away from the personalities of the fortress. Our task will only become more complicated should the Holy Inquisition of Mitra be called in to deal with a devil sighting."
"For my own edification can you once more go over our objectives prior to the attack from your goblinoid allies? It would be a great pity to leave something unfulfilled that could be completed with ease by our oh so eager to please ally from hell." Fet said with a calm glance around the sacrificial site.
Mmmh... Johan considered Fet's words. He was right that they could not afford to attract undue attention, and the very presence of this devil 'servant' had sent them dithering in all sorts of directions that were getting farther and farther from their goals here in Aldencross.
Thorn was very specific about our mission here. Kill the garrison commander. Lower the gates. Signal the horde. Sakkarot, the bugbear leader of the horde, has set the time table. He needs two weeks to move into position, then can hold the army together for two weeks after that. All the rest - the wizard, the chaplain, the cheating guard captains, poisoning the soldiers and whatever else - is all secondary.
Indeed, I have not met your bugbear friend Agrippa turns to the Devil and says Повеќето жедните Kokb'ael, ќе вчитајте на Mitran артефакт за нас денес? Јас разбирам дека е погребан на дното на тоа таму Езеро во потонатиот брод. he indicates the nearby body of water.
Fet chimed in. He had not wanted to reveal he was versed in the infernal tongue, but he thought it necessary to goad the devil on the proper course.
"Kokb'ael сте да се потсетите на сите потонати богатство на разденување Триумфална и да ја доведе тука до нас. Нашата темна господар Asmodeus сака да биде направено." The words felt weird on his tongue. He had never felt very comfortable speaking the damned language aloud.
”It shall be done.” says the devil and then he disappears.
There was no need to hide the body, since it burst in flames, but now you do not have a way to make as if it was a random death. Tep is missing, or so it will be known in the next few days.
Agrippa with Johan’s help remove all evidences of the ritual, you disguise as something else and return to the Inn, in the night, each separated from the other.
Eldred, now 'Elroy', re-enters the city as a young sailor coming to try his hand at farming instead of the dangers of the sea. Thanks to his recent experiences he is pretty convincing and tells how he barely escaped triggering a wolf attack.
He turns the talking, where ever possible to asking about dangerous animals in the area and what a man new to the land as a career be wary of.
Agrippa, disguising himself as a pedantic nobleman named Cornelius begins investigating the library to see the extent of the city's magical defenses.
Since Johan had not been with Eldred and Fet at the inn the night before he maintains his Pious John alias. He spends part of the day checking out the local markets, trading away all of their unmarked loot, and keeping his eye out for any magical gear or trinkets that might benefit the knot. Unless his companions enlist his aid elsewhere, he spends the rest of the day observing the comings and goings from the fortress - servants and craftsmen, guard changes, patrols.
Fet will take the guise of Ormandus the Merry a traveling potion and poultice maker originally from the capital. He will appear to be a tall man with a curled mustache, slicked black hair and a high temple. He will look about the town and determine whether the soldiers and citizenry would be in need of any wares he might be able to produce. He will in particular highlight that he is capable of producing droughts that will make individuals stronger or quicker. He'll also advertise bachelors snuff and its female equivilent to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
You went back into the down during the night, but best was to wait the morning to enter again the city.
Pious John went to the marked place, sell his possessions and see what is available to buy in this town.
Adamantine Dagger
Cold Iron Masterwork Longsword
+1 Flaming Longsword
Elven Chain
Rhino hide
Masterwork fullplate
+1 Breastplate
+1 Heavy Mace
Spined shield
Mithral heavy shield
+1 Longbow
+1 Chain mail
Aldencross is a fine place to buy supplies. There is an alchemist in town who sells all manner of potions. There is a scribe with a fine selection of scrolls (1 st and 2 nd level core rulebook only).
The fortress is not so close from the town, you need some 20 minutes walking to get there, even then, and you see a lot of common people, servants going to the fortress. A troupe of dwarfs, ten of them, and a lot of soldiers. During the day you also see provisions being sent to the fortress, mostly from the merchants in the market.
At the end of the day, you see they returning, some with a tired look, others more happy. The pack o dwarfs again, not talking with anyone but themselves in their native tongue.
Eldred spend the day talking to others and trying to figure out information’s about the region.
You notice this is a pacific place, mostly because of the watchtower. Every week Captain Ryan Varning rides out Balentyne and for four or five days patrols the surrounding hills, shores, roads and byways. He leads a unit of six hand- picked guards selected for their skill with horse and bow. They used the send more, the locals says, but some time ago, the Cap killed the bandit lord in this region.
Fet trees to pry information out of the merchants but there’s not much to be learn from then.
The alchemist in the town sells Arsenic poison, mostly to be used in pest control (rats).
You then hear one of the locals talking ”Have you had any of Mama Guisseppe’s beef stew? Delicious! I hear she goes up to the Watch-tower and cooks a big batch of it for the men every Monday! What a nice old lady. “ they chat a little more and then they began to talk about the inn ”Do you know how the Lord’s Dalliance got its name? It was once a brothel! I hear there used to be a secret passage to the basement that allowed the Lord of the Watchtower to sneak in here and have a good time. Of course it must have been sealed up years ago.” the other says ”an do ye believe in such rumors? Silly boy” they both laugh.
Agrippa spend the day into the library but he is not able to find anything about the fortress magical defense. The only thing he learns is that the tower wizard is the most feared man in this town.
... Johan heads back to the inn for a nap before dinner.
A man must sleep, where are your down filled beds innkeep!
Believing that sleep is a luxury he can not afford at this time Fet continues to move about the town in his disguise. Upon learning that their is another alchemist in town, he goes to visit the shop and appraise the quality of his counterparts goods as well as the equipment the man has. After his trip to the Alchemist shop Ormandus the Merry travels to Mama Guisseppe’s and inquiries into her operations.
All smiles and a few jests, Fet attempts to win over Mama Guisseppe and any information that she has. He buys a bowl of her famous stew and then chats about the quantity she makes, how she is able to make all of them (trying to get a tour of the facilities), how many soldiers she estimates she feeds a week and how she is able to carry all the stew the long distance to the fortress.
It is not hard to find the ‘Mama’ house. She is an old matron but a good person, as you talk she tells you that this tradition began several years ago, when her children worked in the garrison, and since it’s food is no good, she went there to make food for her boy. Now, every Monday she does her stew. She proudly says that about almost seventy guard eat her food. Everyone love it, she says. She don’t know much of the fortress, she only has permission to use the kitchen and it’s really close to the entrance.
==//==
Agrippa go to the Lords and the innkeeper provide him one room for sleep.
Eldred spends time carefully raising the rumour if how one of the officers is screwing another's wife. If challenged he'll add 'that's what I heard'.
Fort
He feigns drunkeness and goes to bed early - getting the cheapest single room he can.
After a short nap, Johan heads down to the tavern during its busiest time for a couple of hours. He takes dinner and keeps his ear to the ground. In particular he is looking for people he noted moving in and out of the fort that are also staying here at the inn, and to put faces to some of the names he has heard bandied around in the last two days. Then its back up to his room to sleep the sleep of the damned.
The second day passes in a hurry. You gather bits of information, and head to the inn earlier because you were tired.
You sleep the entire night, but as you awake in the morning, first you notice a different smell, it makes you remember of blood, but a different kind of blood. You sit in the bed, and your feet touch something that is not the ground, you take a look, and besides you bed it’s the Kokb'ael body. One thing for sure, he is dead.
During the night, you awaken to see Tiadora sitting beside your bed, her hand slowly caressing your hair.
”You did well, Dearest. Stopping those two. They think too much, but all of little value. But you? You like it simple and keep it simple. I’m pleased.” she says ”Pious John is being a good boy, should we reward him?” she asks in naughty way.
Agrippa does his best to assess cause of death, and thinks about what he knows of extraplanar corpses and their ability to appear out of nowhere.
Examining the body, you can see sword cuts, a half arrow and what appears to be a bite from a large mouth. You know he died from damage of those wounds.
Not much about their corpse you can think of. If he was a summoned creature, he would have just disappeared when injured enough to be killed, but this one was conjured and his death is final.
Looking at the body, you move it a bit and you notice that near his hand, a message in blood was written down: Place found, death was waiting. Curse you and yours.
Seeing the note from the now dead Devil Agrippa curses himself Wasted, you allowed those fools to waste such a resource! No time for that now. What to do about the body... Agrippa then goes downstairs and asks the barkeep. Good sir! I desire to do a bit of watercolor, do you have an old sheet which I might lie down against the ground to keep said pigments from sullying your floor. I also require four empty bottles with stoppers.
”That is a sure thing sir!” says one of the bar maids, the owner nowhere to be seem. ”Watercolor may be a bit difficult to find here, I would need to ask someone to go into the marked and buy it. The expenses will be added to your rent, with no additions. The other stuff, I’ll ask a servant to take to your quarter’s good sir.”
Uh, yes, too much thinking can cause problems. Who did I stop from what now? he stammered, trying to force his racing mind away from the icy softness of Tiadora and focus on her words. At her next suggestion Johan reflexively flinches from her carress, rolling out of the bed and fumbling for his trousers. Ah yes, er, no. That might um, jeopordize the "pious" part of my disguise you see, and I'm trying hard to stay in character. He coughed nervously, looking at the walls. So, ahem, what do I own this visit to?
Ah, no. That will not work. I would not want to disturb the art taking place in my room. I'll bring it myself. to the servant Agrippa, used to giving commands says Bring me the items, and make haste my muse grows more faint by the minute.
Assuming the servant does as told Agrippa will cover the body with the sheet and take some of the Devil's blood and put it in the bottles.
Now, to find Master Hale and alert him to our problem.
Agrippa will lock the room and give orders that it is not to be disturbed, then he will go out to find Johan and Eldred.
”I see, I must have read you wrong, I was so sure from the way you looked at me…” and now the is the complete expression of a sad and rejected woman ”I’m here just to inform you, Dearest, that I’ll be departing today again. I’ve recruited two gentleman to escort me on my way home. A proper lady should not walk this parts alone, don’t you agree?”
Johan and Eldred are easy to find, as it still earlier, they are or in their room or in eating in the inn.
Oh, I agree, certainly must have a proper escort, he mumbles, moving towards the door. Its a shame you can't stay longer, I'm told this place serves a very pleasant breakfast. Well, we'll have to catch later I suppose. Safe travels! Give my best to our benefactor! He stands half dressed, one hand holding open the door, the other holding up his trousers. With a blatantly forced grin cracking his stoney face, he hastily casts his glance into the hallway, desperately hoping to catch one of his comrades to provide him an escape
And around the corner hustles Agrippa, not his usual laconic self.
Master H..John, a word please. He stops abruptly as he notices the seductress at the entryway. Interesting...
”I hope we meet again later, John.” she smiles to you in a caring way ”It has been to long since anyone was able to please as you did last night…” she finishes in a coy way ”But now I must depart my love. Don’t take too long in visiting me… ” she steps closer to Johan and kiss him as if that was the last thing she would do in the world. Then she leaves, without looking back.
Johan turns deep scarlet as Tiadora sweeps down the hall.
John? ...Oh balls! He dashes back into the room and affixes the iron circlet to his brow. He returns to the hallway, smoothing down his illusionary bear. Cornelius, umm, hello. Breakfast?
Once inside the room Agrippa regains a measure of his former composure It seems we have more pressing issues than breaking our fast Master Hale. Our mutual friend from down south turned up this morning in my room, he is in no condition to move, expended as he is from his travails . Agrippa shows Johan a piece of stained cloth with blood.
Its a good time for us to have a room meeting, says Eldred in a generic working man disguise.
Agrippa fills in Johan on the details of his morning discovery. Damn. So he was unsuccessful in his mission, but at least we know it is real - and well guarded - not a total waste. But now there is a dead devil under your bed. That could be a problem. Understatement seemed to be the name of the game this morning.
I've heard tell of spells that undertakers use to preserve or decompose a body. You wouldn't happen to... Johan trails off as Agrippa gives him an arched "why would I waste my towering intellect learning something so banal and common" look . . Right. Well, I was planning to do some scroll shopping today, maybe we could find what we need there. We'll just need someone to sit on our inert friend until then to make sure room service doesn't find him. Lets get the others and get this over with.
Johan heads downstairs, hoping the others are already in the common room.
Wait friend... still more.
I think we need to capitialise on our findings some as well. The Inn here used to be a brothel with a secret passage into the keep if rumours are to be believed. We need to charm the innkeeper to get that and all the information we can. We also need to start planning for the execution of our plan so we can have everything happen on one night 2 weeks from now, making it the day before the Captain rides out. So we'll need potions of invisibility as well - we can sneak in a week before and kill one Commander, framing the other and maybe the wife too for additional 'Hang the bastard' value and get out. Then the day off we wax the Captain and the Wizard both. The priest will be in the church so Pious John can get that job done as well with some help too.
He speaks in a great rush of hushed words.
Agrippa eyes Johan skeptically As you wish Master Hale....
Gathered now in Agrippa's room, the other members of the knot listened as Eldred laid out their options. Johan nudges a scaly clawed limb back under the bed sheet as Eldred wraps up, wondering to himself how Ko'kbael got stuck with arrows while exploring underwater He collects the fletching from one of the arrows for later inspection, remembering how the Talingarde military likes to mark all of their equipment.
Right, he agrees with Eldred. We've got lots of leads - now we need to prioritize, organize and execute. He begins laying out what they know, point by point, weaving together the ideas the others had already suggested:
The Nessian Knot's Nefarious Scheme (1st draft)
So far we have Identified Lord Comander Thomas Havelyn as the overall commander of Balentyne. He is served by at least three captains - Mott, Eddarly, Varning - a wizard, and a cleric by the name of Father Donnagin. The Lord Commander must die before the invasion, but as many of these secondary leaders we can remove from play before hand the better.
-Eddarly is having an affair with Motts wife. We cold murder one and frame the other for it, But I think its safer and less work to arrange for them to walk in on each other and let men be men...
-Varning is known to take patrols into the hills that last 4-5 days. It would be fairly easy to ambush this patrol and kill them all. It would give us a few days before the patrol was noticed missing, and with luck, they would send more troops out to look for them, weakening the garrison even further. Alternately, we could try to time the Bugbear assault for when the patrol is out, so they are too far away to lend aid.
-Father Donnagin: We know he will come out of the fort to tend to sick children. We stage an ambush at Tep's farm (grieving widow, relapsed sick child, he won't be able to resist!). There will not be much time before the Father is missed, so this will have to happen very close to final execution of the plan.
-Mamma Guisepe's stew. Fet gets onto Mamma's cooking crew and laces the stew with arsenic (or other poison seasoned to taste) the night before we launch our final attack, to incapacitate as many of the guards as we can.
-Mad Martin and the Rookery: We're going to have to deal with this so that the fort can't send for help as soon as the bugbears crest the hill ( or ask for aid investigating a string of suspicious murders). We can either sneak into the fort before we start any of our other plans and arrange an accident for Martin, or storm the rookery after we drop the drawbridge.
1. Week 1 -Start with Mott and Eddarly. Find out where the lovers meet or intercept some letters and leak the info to Mott. We do this one first because we can pull it off without raise any suspicion that is was anything other than a domestic dispute gone bad. Which is why I'm uncomfortable with the murder one idea. It creates more questions.
2. Week 1 - Next, sneak into the Rookery and arrange an accident for Mad Martin. This can be combined with our first info gathering foray into the fort itself.
3. Week 2 - Ambush Varning's patrol
4. Week 2- Before the patrol is declared missing, draw out and ambush Father Donnagin.
5. Week 2- That night, before Donnagin is found, execute operation "poison stew." Killing the cleric before poisoning the stew removes their best chance of IDing and curing it
6. Week 2-Final push - everyone infiltrates fort, kill Lord commander in his bed, drop drawbridge, signal bugbears, carnage ensues
*Note that as we are executing this we should continue to gather and follow up other leads as well - like those dwarves Johan saw entering and leaving the fort.
Just what magics can you call upon? Can you summon up some beasties to eat the devil body? Or bear it back to their home plane in chunks?
He looks to Johan.
If Charm and magic won't work - we need to fall back on bull-s!**. I think we need Pious John to become a secret inquisitor. Find out what the Innkeep knew of young Timeon of Balentyne, if he ever met him. IF he did? Why my support of you as a secret inquisitor makes an even better lie. Between you being a scary bastard and my being a lying bastard we should be able to rattle any information on passages out of him. We do need to keep him under our thumbs long enough for Master Aggripa here to learn the necessary magics so he doesn't run off out of fear and talk to the head priest here.
Okay, Here's what we'll do then. Fet, Today you will start chasing down the love triangle. Find the people involved. Do they all live at the fort or have houses here in town? Where do the lovers meet? How do they keep their secret? Also, feel out this town alchemist for more information on the arsenic. How much does he carry? How much will we need to poison 70 men? How much can we buy without arousing suspicion? What's his security like if we have to break in and steal it? Also, could you cook up something more effective on your own?
Eldred and I will start working on the owner of this inn. We need a plausible mission for this secret inquisition. I'd suggest we pretend to be investigating the fort's wizard. Folks around here already seem suspicious of him so it won't be a big stretch. We could say that we know the Lord Havelyn trusts him so we want to keep it a secret to avoid embarrassing the devout and goodly commander. But you're better at this sort of thing Eldred, so I'll follow your lead on this. This will put us at the inn for most of the day so we will also pay attention to who else is coming and going, who else is staying here that may be of interest.
Agrippa, you'll need to dispose of our diabolical friend here. Take some funds from our mission stash to get what you need, and pick up scrolls of invisibility and charm as well.
Johan pauses to look at each member of the knot in turn and nods once. Now, I'm hungry, lets have breakfast.
Agrippa looks slightly panicked I...have to...go buy things. Of course you dolt, you have no sla..servants here. Ok. We will proceed to the...market.
Agrippa leaves at once to begin his preparations
At the market....
Agrippa, uncomfortable with purchasing things himself used the disguise he had grown most accustomed with, that of a itinerant noble scholar and artist named Cornelius.
Excuse me shopkeep. I require two scrolls of the Spell: Charm Person and two of the Spell:Invisibility. Please make haste man, my conquest of several young women requires these items. The spells are of course for the husbands and not the women, a man of my blood does not require such help . But I would rather that the husbands not draw attention to themselves, I would hate for them to be awkwardly defeated by me in a gentlemanly duel.
Fet listened to the plan and much of it he liked, but he could not help but adding his own imput to the conversation at hand. His considerable talents and abilities were not being properly used in the plan as it was put forward, especially when they had him researching love triangles when he could be cooking up the necessary ingrediants for the master plan.
"The plan, in its utmost length is good and while it does place risk and fortune on the table, I do not disagree with it in general. That being said, it would be unbecoming of me to allow certain details to stand uncorrected, as well as not allow for talents and skills to be redistributed toward a more successful course." Fet said as he picked at his teeth with a thin sliver of wood.
"You do understand of course that with the proper ingrediants, the funds to acquire them, and time I can create several potions that will make those who drink it invisible. Obtaining a scroll and alerting the locals potentially of our less than honest intentions seems foolish all things considered." Fet shrugged his shoulders, an odd gesture given the tall, spindly form he current wore.
"We could with relative ease slip into the Tep farm house in the night and pour a drink that will sicken the child upon her lips. That would draw the wretched Mitran priest, we could even strike at him after he has cured the child so the little one need not suffer further."
"As for our fallen ally - we must know more of how he perished. What forces were formidable enough to defeat the devil? But as to disposing of the body, creating a powerful enough acid to dissolve the remains should be easily within my abilities." Fet said with an almost annoyed grimace. He could accept that they did not know his capabilities, but wasn't it prudent to inquire at the very least.
Johan arched an inquisitive eyebrow as Fet spoke. He hadn't interacted much with the man yet since his arrival. Fet had been quiet around Johan so far and he was surprised. I hadn't realized he was so.. wordy. Or so ...wizardy. I'll have to be more observant; can't take this one for granted, he chastised himself.
You can do all that?Johan asked, impressed despite himself, as Fet wrapped up. He looked over at Agrippa, about to ask, "can you do that? but thought better of it. Instead, Ok, then you can be responsible for this. He nudges the devils's body again with his foot Find out what you can from it, get rid of it, then start doing whatever it is you need to do for the stew. Eldred and I should have time to handle the lover's triangle as well as the innkeeper.
His stomach rumbled audibly and he looked longingly towards the kitchen, but paused to address Fet once more.I like the idea of making Tep's child actually sick. Less loose ends. Though with regards to suffering - she's likely to suffer far more spitted and roasting over a bugbear cookfire than at our hands. Don't delude yourself about what we do here and the consequences it will have.