Collectively, you're able to put together the following assessment of the tannery. It is surrounded by a 10 foot wooden palisade. The work yard is largely empty, but there are lanterns lit, both at the gate and outside the office. A pair of large dogs doze near the office's door, and there is a horrid smell about the place. The gate has a simple mechanism, designed to swing open to admit delivery carts. It's constructed for convenience, not defense, and can be opened with the pull of a lever, but it won't be quiet.
There is a night crew that works at the tannery. Louslik handles the business's accounting well into the evening, and Shaul and Pippa Umbre, a pair of elderly gong farmers, come and go throughout the night, bringing loads of night soil from Longacre.
Finally, a portion of the palisade has been damaged by repeated impacts from work carts. This has opened a narrow gap in the palisade near the beamhouse (indicated by red arrow on map).
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"but why would we do an explosion as we walk away? Then we don't get to watch the people burn... that's the tasty bit."
Eris looks at the tannery with hunger in her eyes.
"You have much to learn, my sweet-ling. Have you not heard the tale:
'Cool guys don't look at explosions
They blow things up and then walk away
Who's got time to watch an explosion?
There's cool guy errands that they have to walk to.'
Studying the palisade for the briefest of moments, she says "Let's make some noise--I vote for pulling the main gate lever, though if you are feeling boring, we could try that little damaged section and give them a surprise party."
Vivia drops down from the tree. "With this group of janglers I don't think we're getting in anywhere quietly. How about we wait until we see the shit haulers leaving and then go give the whole place a good run through?"
"Get in through that gap and then go 'round causing a mess until Louslik catches on, then give him a good country greeting to finish the job."
"We could wait around for that but I'm not sure how pleasant an experience that would be. Some of us seem to be chomping at the bit already. I think we should just get to it." drawls Karik as he inspects his fingernails.
"If we waited for the cart to leave we could intercept those workers on the road before moving on to the rest of the compound. They might be pathetic but even peasants can be trouble in numbers."
As Vivia outlines her plan, Brogol nods, his lips pursed in thought. "Agreed. Perhaps we should go for Louslik first, though? Rough up the tax-dodging bugger, tie him up, and then we've got until the shit brigade returns to turn the place over? At any rate, we likely don't get by the dogs before they raise a ruckus, so, we may meet Louslik before we even get in the door."
Raising an eyebrow at Karik's suggestion, Brogol frowns. "Our patron is, as Cimri puts it, 'by the letter.' He didn't say night soil about terrorizing peasants, who for all we know are fine tax-paying citizens. I'd prefer not to risk the boss' ire. That said, if the gong farmers are gonna be here all night..."
Brogol's frown gets deeper as he works his way through the gong farmer issue. Since priority #1 was to trash the tannery, they may have no choice but to address the peasants in a more direct manner.
”After we have seen to their boss they may be open to a polite request to leave. Since this job is definitely not a ‘no witnesses’ situation’ that shouldn’t be an issue.” Counters Karik
Hopefully I can get a drink from the tax dodger himself.
"Well how do you do Raziya. You cut a fine figure this evening."
"A dreadful insult to my gown, Karik. How unlike you," Raziya teased.
"If there's enough times between the runs , then dealing with the Umbres merely requires timing. Otherwise, I'd suggest that the next time they leave, some of us have a gentle word with them; it's easy to escalate from a gentle word."
"Better we don't have too many witnesses. Louslik might stay quiet to avoid more trouble, but the shit haulers might have looser lips." Vivia mulls it over. "The whole place stinks enough that we might be able to sneak up on the dogs if we send the quietest of us in. Kill them off while they're still snoozing and they can't raise a racket." She looks to Brogol.
Your collective familiarity with the comings and goings in town and the Umbres in particular is not enough to give you any insight into their schedule. But, based on what you can see, it doesn't look like they're currently within the tannery's yard.
”Right. Let’s move in. Longer we stick around the more likely we will be seen.”
She walked over to Vivia. ”Do’ya accept the Prince’s Blessing and promise to use it to further his glory?” She asked, her hand held out.
Brogol shrugs. He knew he'd have to prove himself - he just hoped the others would have proved themselves first.
"Sure, I'll take point. Kill the pups if I can get close enough. And if they wake, I look forward to seeing who the most fearsome of you all is."
Wetting his finger, Brogol tries to divine where the wind is blowing, if any, and then flipping his cloakhood up slips through the break in the palisade, and tries to approach the dogs from upwind. He unwinds his bladed scarf as he moves, gripping it tightly as the dogs get nearer.
Cimri takes out a sap from her belt and crouches low, watching as Brogol moves quietly towards the palisade and slips through the gap in the wooden structure.
Vivia approaches but waits outside near the breach in the palisade wall until either Brogol gives a signal or the sound of barking dogs gives the whole operation away. She doesn't disguise herself. If all goes well, word of this operation won't be going anywhere. And if it doesn't go well... well, it won't be the first time she's moved on to a new town.
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Brogol slips into the tannery yard. If the stench was bad outside the palisade, inside it is positively vomitous. How anyone could -- or would -- work in such a place is difficult to imagine. Fortunately, the stink works to Brogol's advantage; it hardly matters whether he is upwind, downwind or broke wind. It's nigh impossible to smell anything in this place.
Beneath a lantern hanging from the side of the building on the north wall are a pair of large dogs, sleeping soundly before the door into the building. The leg of one twitches in a happy dream, chasing a rabbit or squirrel. The man quietly sneaks up on the dogs and efficiently slits each of their throats without so much as a whimper.
The deed done, Brogol wipes the blood from his scarf blade onto the hide of the last once-living dog, and slips back towards the hole in the palisade. Spying Vivia, he waves his arm, beckoning towards the gap, and then steps back into the shadows to let the others come through.
The driver spends those few moments composing himself - Brogol was quite fond of the dogs of his former employer, and dogs in general - and looks for signs of Louslik.
As Raziya draws near to the breach in the wall, she holds out her hand to Brogol for assistance in climbing through. "Thank you Brogol, that could have easily gone far messier."
Vivia grunts "Yeah, nice and clean." as she steps through the breach in the wall and sweeps her gaze around the courtyard for any loose ends the group may have missed learning about. She takes a deep breath and breathes out sharply "Horrid isn't it. Imagine being the sop that has to work here day in day out."
She stabs a thumb at the building the dogs were lounging in front of, adding "Time to give Louslik his wake up call?"
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Eris, though clad in scale armor, does her best to skip toward the gap in the wall, and does a fair job of it. Her gaudy cloak billows behind her.
As she enters and sees the two dead dogs, she whispers "That's exactly what happened to Frosty and Mister Nuggles, right father?!"
Sizing up the area, she says "Welp--time for the fun to start! I'm pretty sure the party started already, but no one is dancing! Let's go!"
She walks toward the out-building, not taking precautions to be quiet. She reaches for the door and opens it.
With a glance to Karik for approval Vaelor unwinds one of the chains wrapped around her lithe form. When Karik gives a small nod she moves up alongside Eris wielding the chain's spiked length in two hands before whispering into her ear.
"Remember, keep the fun slow and gentle at first. Makes it last longer and less mess. Oh and Master really needs a drink."
To the other Karik remarks "If things turn ugly in there please remember not to subject me to positive energy. It really doesn't agree with me."
"Come on Blood-drinker, we're going in to set a tanner straight, what are you expecting? That the man's going to be a trained soldier?" Vivia snorts at Karik's wariness and follows after Eris before the girl goes and asks Louslik to dance.
”Yes.” Ingrid said. ”I do. How much gold is being sent to hire all of us? I could scare a regular man with a firm handshake. All of us were hired. Logically that means all of us are needed. I expect our mark to have something here to give us trouble.”
Raziya gives 'the muscle' a newly appraising look as she readies her crossbow for entry. "Well said, Ingrid. I would almost be disappointed if the fee was mainly to cover our olfactory distress."
Brogol removes his shirt and wraps it around his face, covering it from below the eyes down, like a bandit's mask. His father's scarf is too distinctive, so he leaves it stashed behind a nearby barrel and draws a worn dagger from his boot. Flipping his cloakhood back up, the driver enters the tannery behind the others, intending to stay to the back, and to let the more intimidating ones do the talking. He'd keep an eye out for threats, and of course for anything too valuable to be smashed.
Nodding to Cimri as he enters the doorway, he whispers. "Cover your face too. We've got to live with these people, yeah?"
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Ingrid pulled her hood up. Her ruddy-red skin, claws, sharp teeth, and tail, were still a dead give away.
Eris, cleverly “disguised” with her reversed cape, followed by Vaelor and the others storm into the northern office. Ingrid brings up the rear... with her hood pulled up (and slightly askew). Inside, sitting at a desk and going over a large ledger, as a human male perhaps in his early thirties. He jumps up slightly at the unexpected entrance, ”What in the...” he bellows more in surprise than rage or fear. He turns around in his chair and sees the lot of you barging in.
”Who are you!? What’s the meaning of this!? Where’s Annie and Jax? And...” He stares agape at the kyton-esque eidolon... ”What in the Nine Hells is -that-!?”
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Eris smiles broadly. "What kind of reception is that? We're here to win friends and influence people, and you keep trying to pick a fight."
She curtsies theatrically. "Let me introduce to you, the one and only Al Bino," she says, gesturing grandly at Karik," and his merry band of tax collectors!"
She kneels before the desk. "Ahhhh ha ha. Now--we are here to put on a show. I'm sure you'll like it. I expect you to do your part. Lots of applause, and audience participation."
Her voice lowers to a whisper. "The dogs--they were already like that when I got here. Ah ha haaaah! I promise!"
As Eris begins to wax poetic on the reason for why the team is here, Vivia decides to give it to the sucker straight. "Well dear, you f$#%ed up, didn't pay your debts, and now the collectors are coming ringing. If you stay nice and quiet and help us get what we're here for, we'll leave you with a bruise or two and your debts cleared. Struggle, and one way or another you won't have much more of a future around here."
Karik softly chuckles at Eris antics before turning his gaze to their mark. He stares coldly and grins in a way calculated to show this pitiful human the pointed fangs Karik longs to put to use.
Louslik's eyes narrow to slits as a red flush comes to his cheeks. He presses his hands down on his desk and pushes himself up, cords of muscles in his arms bulging slightly, built from years of hard work. "Ah... Egorian justice. Nothing more than a bunch of thugs with cheap tricks."
Cimri squeezes her way into the office, behind those already in, and sighs, "Jabral, just pay up. We mean business."
The tanner doesn't look too shocked to see the thief. "Cimri, your aunt is going to be sorely disappointed in you. Even I didn't think you'd throw your lot in with this sort." He rolls up his sleeves and says, "I'd suggest you all leave, but it looks like you're spoiling for a fight. So, come on. Stop your yammering so I can pound those teeth out of your mouths."
Ingrid pushed her way forward, and the mention of punching teeth in. She grinned, showing her sharp hers were. ”Asmodeus! By your law!” She said, causing the mark on her hand to darken into the deepest of black.
"Eight on one? And I thought WE were the only ones who needed to give the Hospice a visit." Vivia draws her scythe, holding it to strike with the butt rather than the blade. "Hold nice and still and it'll all be over soon dear."
Luoslik glares at Vivia. While he's a bit rattled at being outnumbered so heavily, he's too proud to give in.
He tosses a thunderstone into the middle of you where it explodes with a loud bang.
He then steps to the corner and raises his fists.
Louslik: Shaken
Cimri: Deafened
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Ingrid moved in quickly. Even as the stone was launched she was moving, pursuing the man as he retreated into the corner. She grinned, sensing his fear. It felt so much better when others felt fear instead of revulsion when they looked at. She put her blessings to good use, slashing a claw across his chest.
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Eris laughs at the explosion of the thunderstone, though she can no longer hear anything. With all chaos breaking out around her, she draws her sickle. Rather than attacking the man, she instead carves a long line down the middle of his desk with the tip of the weapon, carving wood, papers, and anything else in its wake.
Vivia clicks her tongue in disapproval, pushes past the chain lady and rolls over the table to end up next to Louslik. She spins the butt of her scythe to attempt a blow to his solar plexus.
Despite the ringing in her ears Vaelor lashes out with her spiked chain over the head of the short bitey one.
Karik simply watches, waiting for the dust to settle.
Brogol lets a quiet curse go as the thunderstone goes off, its loud bang signifying that things had gone bad in the office. Stupid old man just signed his trip to the Boneyard.
Confident his companions needing any help fighting a tanner, Brogol gave the two still in the courtyard a nod. "Help or hide!"
Crouching, the driver crept towards the tanning vats, hiding himself between both the gate and the doors to the main building, hoping to spy anyone coming through either entrance - gong farmers or workers on a late shift or working late.