Eric inwardly sighed. That was the fourth or fifth time that the exact same point was made to dissuade Vedika from suicidally rushing in, given they *knew* just how risky it was. He could admire her devotion to her sister, and she was definitely pretty, but it was just a *really* bad idea. But trying to console her didn't seem to work, and he now wasn't sure what to do about it.
"If only the queen had stuck around slightly longer, so we could have pleaded for aid directly," he says, feeling rather tired as well. "Still, that sounds like a good idea. Sabine asked for us to bring him alive so I'd suggest we get a bunch of saps to knock them out rather than cut them up. If we're really lucky, he might even be open to reason."
Yeah, and the moon was green. Oh well. One could always hope.
"Nethen's right. The sooner we get some rest, and take the deserters down, the sooner we can get your sister back, and take care of the Petmaker's operation." Ariadne agrees. "And yes, anyone who doesn't have a weapon or some other means of dealing with an opponent, that isn't lethal might want to get a hold of one before we head out. Though if the need is there, it's us first. Don't be afraid to do what needs to be done if necessary."
"Let's just get some sleep and then get on with it."
"Sounds like a plan!" Ghil seems happy to have the plan settled. To Cressida, he adds, [b]"I think we just need to know the way to the barracks, now, so we can get settled in. We'll start out investigation in the morning.
"Agreed. We should call it a night."
"How are we going to approach this place? The same as we did with Drakson - block up the exits and go in hard, or do we want to try and sneak around and see what's what first?" Nethen asks the others.
"Given how well things went with Drakson's thugs, maybe we try something more subtle this time?" he suggests. "Go early in the morning while most people are asleep, catch them with their pants down."
The rioting seems to have settled, but the city still feels on edge to Nethen as the group makes it's way towards the butcher's. Nethen keeps his eyes open for trouble and his hand on the handle of his whip.
"I'm thinking subterfuge is the way to go. The Field Marshall wants to know the why of it as well; we might learn that best if we go in as recruits or something, and gain Vancaskerkin's trust first."
Enjoying the relief of a comfortable night's sleep in relative safety, Ariadne awakens in the morning, studying her spellbook and preparing her mind and body for the coming mission, readying a few of her less lethal, but still debilitating, combat spells.
"I could probably pull of playing one of the guards won over to the other side, but I doubt most of this group would be very convincing of such. Besides which I'm a terrible liar." Ariadne replies.
"Going in early to catch them offguard makes sense, though we can have a story prepared if confronted in a situation we would rather not fight our way out of."
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"We can get the why once we've got them captured and ready for questioning, we don't have to rely on pretending to be on their side," Nethen replies to Ghil. "And Ariadne's right - she might be able to pass off as an unhappy guard but I doubt the rest of us would, they'd see through us pretty quickly. I think we should try to get in undetected then hit them hard and fast."
"I can definitely pass for anybody," Ghil points out, and then backs that up by quickly shifting his appearance from facsimiles of Vedika to Eric to Nethen to Ariadne and finally returning to his own (true?) form.
The disguises range from very good to nearly perfect; it's easy to see him being able to pass off as a guard. "But it's certainly not a good plan to only send Ariadne and me in; I'm okay with the sneaking too."
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"You should probably make a point of memorizing the faces of any guards we have to take out quietly. It could be very useful." Ariadne says, clearly impressed by Ghil's unusual ability, and a little unnerved looking at such a perfect replication of her own scarred visage.
"That's...yeah, that's something," Nethen mumbles, surprised and slightly confused by Ghil's ability to shift his form so uncannily into that of the rest of the group. "Why don't we start by taking a look at where we're going and how we might get in?" he suggests, his confidence returning after Ghil's display.
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"Hey, I know that spell too!" says Vedika. "So we have some options."
Should You ask around on the street about Verik and his boys, with a successful DC 10 Diplomacy check to gather information, you learn that the five have taken to calling themselves the Cow Hammer Boys, and that their program of free meat during the time of unrest is keeping many families from going hungry.
Furthermore, You also hear that the Cow Hammer Boys hire out as mercenaries—if one wishes to hire them in this manner, one must simply ask about “the night’s special cuts.”
What you find out from snooping around in disguise:
Traffic in and out of the building is heavy for the first hours of the day, as locals arrive in large numbers for free meat. Stragglers wander by now and then throughout the rest of the day, but the free meat goes fast and most of those who arrive after noon leave empty-handed.
The butcher’s shop is staffed by four self important ex-guards who are more impressed with Verik’s rebellious nature than the concept of feeding hungry locals. They’ve taken to calling themselves the Cow Hammer Boys, and they enjoy the power of deciding which families eat at night.
They’ve been talking among themselves about methods to use their
newfound power to get rich, though they haven’t quite decided yet if they’re going to let Verik in on their plan. During the day, one guard stands at the entrance to the building, one staffs the shop front and hands out meat, and the other two handle the actual preparation of the
meat in area B4 or tend to whatever animals they’ve got in the pen.
Livestock (usually skittish-looking cattle or pigs) is brought into the pen (area B6) every morning just before the shop opens.
The animals are butchered after dark and the meat is stored in area B3.
Based on the number of animals that pass through the pen, Your check confirms that there is an unexpectedly large amount of meat coming back out?
What now?
.
"Sounds like these scrotes are calling themselves the Cow Hammer Boys. They're handing out meat as a power play, but they're also selling themselves out as muscle for hire. I don't think Verik's doing this out of the goodness of his heart, he just likes being important," Nethen summarises, based on a few brief chats and some overheard conversations.
"We can either pretend we want to hire them and use their code word - we have to ask about the night's special cuts - or try and break in through the back," Nethen suggests.
"Theoretically we could do both. Two of us go in the front, probably Ghil disguised as some fop needing to hire protection, I could likely pass as his bodyguard, and you two go in the back." Arani replies. "If things go south we meet in the middle, 3 against 4."
"Yeah, I could do that. I could look really ridiculous trying to hire a bunch of help, even though the trouble is over and my existing bodyguard is standing right next to me; I love it!" He chuckles to himself as he begins running lines internally.
"Of course, to what end? Am I distracting them so the others can get in the back--in other words, giving them as much time as possible? Is there a point where Ariadne and I should spring a surprise attack on them?"
"Play it by ear?"
"Play it by ear with the general idea of giving Nethen and Vedika as much time as possible." Ariadne replies.
Nethen uncoils his whip as he and Vedika attempt to sneak into the back of the butcher's while Ghil and Ariadne distract the guards at the front. "Let's go through the courtyard rather than the pen," he mutters to Vedika, "we don't want to get stuck knee deep in s~** if things go wrong."
Iorghil joins the line of supplicants with Ariadne, and puts on a timid, nervous air. When he gets to the front, he asks for their share of the meat being offered. He then looks at Ariadne--as if for confidence--and with a crack in his voice asks "and could I get, ahhh, the night's, ahhh, special cuts?"
Standing silently behind Ghil, Arani plays the past of the uncomfortable bodyguard, simply there to provide protection.
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Iorghil & Ariadne Two guards stand at attention here: Baldrago (a tall man with bushy eyebrows that merge into one just above his large, flat nose) and Malder (a wheezy man whose chainmail doesn’t quite fit his ample frame).
As you're not disguised as down-on-your-luck locals, both guards have little interest in handing out meat to you and gruffly suggest you “kick off.”
Mentioning “the night’s special cuts” brings an immediate end to their hostility, and Malder nods to Baldrago, who closes the front door
to allow a little privacy. The Cow Hammer Boys hire themselves out for petty thuggery—they ask no questions of those who hire them, only demanding a payment of 50gp per person to be beaten.
What are you doing now?
Vedika & Nethen slip into the back of the building almost unnoticed, one cow in the pen glances at you curiously as you pass.
You both can hear the sounds of people working through the double doors ahead of you though. B4.
What now?
.
Ghil has to think on his feet here; the story he'd prepared didn't quite line up with what services they were offering. "Well, I really kinda wanted to hire you as bodyguards. My current one isn't quite up to the current task...." he says with the obliviousness of a master casually insulting their servants in their presence.
"See, I've got this neighbor, and we've been fighting for ages. They wrecked my front gate in the riots. They say it must have been common looters, but I know that's just a tale they're spinning to get out of the responsibility. But hiring you as bodyguards... that's not going to work, is it? Not really your thing?" He waits for confirmation.
"So, I'm going to have to think of something different. I have your attention now, and I have to admit you were right--I don't belong in that line, and I don't want to go through it again. So let's think of something now, something else that might work...."
.
Vedika moves softly to the double doors to the east and gestures for Nethen to follow, then very gently presses on them to see if they're locked or stuck.
Nethen follows Vedika to the doors, his whip coiled loosely in his hand. He watches and listens for anyone or anything that might give their position away.
The door is unlocked and opens slightly to Vedika's touch.
The two men in here are busily cutting up a side of beef. Of more concern is the bundle of sacking awaiting its turn on the butchers block. It looks more like a human body than an animal. One of the men working in the room is giving it uneasy looks as he prepares the beef cuts for boiling.
From the looks the two men in the front office are giving the doors it seems they don't want the conversation being overheard. By passers by or by anyone else in the building?
What now?
Ariadne simply looks around the shop as the conversation continues, not piking up on much.
Nethen peeks in through the open door and sees two men inside, cutting up what appears to be both animal and human parts for meat. He feels bile rise inside his throat as he signals to Vedika that there are two people inside.
Ghil continues. "So, I don't know... I guess maybe I'm thinking retaliation? Like maybe you could wreck his gate for me, or set a fire or something? How does that sound?"
"Sounds like an easy job. Who and where?" The man answers Iorghil.
What is everyone else doing?
"Let's get in quietly and take them by surprise while Ghil and Ariadne are still distracting the ones up front," Nethen whispers, his mouth close to Vedika's ear to prevent him from being overheard. He readies his whip and, as quietly as possible, moves through the open door into the charnel house beyond.
Nethen brushes against a loose board on the wall making a sound. Green manages to hear him despite the amount of noise in the area and whirls to face him with a surprised look on his face.
Opening his mouth to yell while Yellow is still working at boiling meat.
Vedika is still unseen. What are you doing?
.
A young human woman hesitates briefly before taking her place in line outside the butcher shop. She appears pretty if not pampered, with shortish, occasionally combed, dirty blonde hair (‘dirty’ in this case having the twin meaning of both its color and cleanliness). Her clothing is equally messed, the off-white tabard and leather breeches stained here and there with mud, sweat, and old bloodstains. She gives a neighborly smile to the man ahead of her in line, her facial features displaying the kind spirit that dwells within…along with betraying a certain amount of naivety.
Yet anyone eying her as a potential mark or victim has to also take into account the craftsmanship and well-maintained nature of the quality breastplate and buckler she wears as protection, as well as the unusual weapon hanging from her belt: a morningstar whose head is shaped like a blooming rose with thornlike spikes piercing out through the petals. The strange weapon hearkens to the unusual symbol she wears as an amulet from a chain around her neck: a single rose growing out of a crack between cobblestones. The rest of the young lady doesn’t look as soft as her eyes and smile: she’s of middling height and weight but appears fit enough, with a decent amount of muscle showing in her toned arms. Perhaps the old bloodstains on her clothing came not from tending the wounds of others but from dealing wounds herself.
I know I should stick to the main roads, but if the rumors are true and I can get free or discounted meat for the old priests here, I can’t pass it up….
As one of the guards gawks at Nethen, Vedika vanishes briefly and then darts over to the crates on the south side of the room, crouching down so that they'll give her cover when she reappears so that she can circle around and strike from behind as the goons go after Nethen.
Kayleigh can see that the door to the butchery is shut, even though people are still queued outside?
.
Seeing that one of the goons has noticed him Nethen steps into the room, his whip uncoiling to the ground. Moving carefully around the greasy detritus on the floor he cracks his whip out at the aware goon, who's mouth is open to shout an alarm. The whip flicks around the man's legs in an attempt to bring him crashing to the bloody floor.
"Sounds like an easy job. Who and where?" The man answers Iorghil.
Ghil puts a confused look on his face. "I could only mean the Verbitigin Estate, obviously," making up the name on the spot. He leans in a bit, and speaks with incredulity. "Don't you recognize me?" He looks at Ariadne, affronted, and gives her a shrug that screams this guy, amirite?!?
Ariadne lets out a sigh, shrugging as she keeps her eyes on the hoodlums for hire.
Green yelps in shock as he hits the messy floor with a soggy thud.
Vedika hides. Yellow turns with a look of total shock on his face.
Nethen & Vedika may act. Iorghil & Ariadne are blathering away harmlessly in the front for now.
"Stay down unless you want to end up under your own knives," Nethen growls at the prone man before cracking his whip around to take the legs out from underneath the other former guard.