After a very strange night sleeping in
their new bodies, they awake at 6.00. While Boris, Winnacer, Xavier
and Bennett discuss the final plans for taking the message to
Pavlichek, Jihan, Faewen'il and Robert have the more challenging task
of trying to prepare breakfast for the early patrons of the
tavern.
Luckily, there is just a
handful of patrons to attend to, which is a good job. Faewen'il is
not the master master chef that Darry was, and it takes all of her
skills to come up with a few meals that are at least edible. Not that
a great deal of her food gets eaten, however, as Robert turns out to
be even more useless at waiting on tables than he is at opening
locks.
A great proportion of the
meals that he tries to deliver end up in the diners' laps and drinks
are spilled all over the floor. Luckily, Jihan is playing the role of
Tharnald very well and covers up Robert the barmaid's inadequacies
with a stream of hilarious double-entendres so that the clientele
does not get too upset. By 10.00, all of the customers have
breakfasted and the tavern is empty again.
'Right, I reckon that it's
now or never,' says Boris to Bennett and Xavier. 'Yer'd better make
yer way to the Diamonds buildin' and deliver the message. We'll all
be waitin' back 'ere for yer. If yer not back in a couple of 'ours,
then we'll 'ave to try an' look for yers. Good luck.'
Bennett and Xavier thank
Boris and make their way towards the Black Diamonds' HQ. They arrive
in the crowded Big Square and observe the imposing building, as Yaz
and Jihan did the day before.
'It's now or never, let's do
it' says Bennett to Xavier, trying to cover the fact that he is
petrified by the mission.
The Witchfinder walks up to
the heavy front door of the building with his orc bodyguard looking
over his shoulder menacingly. He takes the heavy iron knocker of the
door and raps it hard.
The door is opened
immediately by a burly guard in chainmail. He lets the two of them in
without commenting. The two of them find themselves in a small entry
chamber. In front of them is another door, guarded by two more guards
in mail. To the characters' right is a large wooden desk. Sat behind
the desk casually, with his feet on the desk, is a bored looking
character dressed in leather armor.
'What d'ya want?' says the
rogue abruptly.
Bennett stares at the
character with a look of incredible irritation on his face. He takes
the wooden staff that he has carved and uses it to knock the rogue's
feet off the table with one blow.
'You can start by giving me
a little more respect' says Bennett angrily.
The three guards bring their
hands down to their weapons, in case there is trouble brewing. Xavier
matches their actions, fixing them with a cold hard stare.
The rogue doorman is not as
bored as he was. He is much more polite now.
'Certainly' he replies to
Bennett. 'Now how can I help you?'
'That's much better' Bennett
replies. 'I am here to meet with Pavlichek'
The rogue looks at a large
ledger that is open on the desk in front of him.
'And may I have your name,
please?' the rogue asks.
'Marek Svoboda' Bennett
replies. 'I am here on behalf of the honorable Pavel Reinburger,
Witchfinder General of Dvur Karlovye.'
'Errm…I don't see your name
on the list' says the rogue, getting a little worried.
'It won't be' says Bennett,
confidently. 'He's not expecting me.'
The rogue shakes his head
nervously:
'W-well, Mr. Pavlichek never
sees anyone without any appointment,' the rogue stumbles.
'Anyone? ANYONE?' Bennett
starts shouting. 'DO YOU THINK THAT THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL OF DVUR
KRALOVYE IS ANYONE?'
Bennett reaches into his
pouch and brings out a pinch of sawdust.
'I should turn you into an
insect or something. That would put an end to your insolence once and
for all.'
The rogue is starting to
have a major panic attack.
'S-sorry Sir. I didn't mean
no offence, nor nothing. These are just the rules that I've been
given. Let me see, errm, perhaps one of the other bosses could see
you?'
Bennett slams his staff down
loudly on the desk.
'Are you deaf or just an
imbecile?' replies Bennett. 'Did I not say that I was here to see Mr.
Pavlichek -MR. PAVLICHEK? Not Mr. Tom, Mr. Dick or Mr. Harry - Mr.
Pavlichek. Watch my lips closely - M-R P-A-V-L-I-C-H-E-K. Now go and
get him, cretin, before I start getting impatient.'
The rogue realizes that he
is in a no win situation now.
'O-O OK' stammers the rogue.
'Please wait here. I'll go and ask him.'
The rogue scuttles off
through the door. Bennett and Xavier stare silently at the guards who
are staring silently back at them.
After five minutes, the
rogue, drenched in sweat, returns through the doors with a very
relieved look upon his face.
'OK, Sir. Mr. Pavlichek has
agreed to see you. Please follow me.'
Bennett and Xavier follow
him through the door into a wide corridor. They pass a few doors
before the rogue opens another door and invites them inside. They
step into a large, very expensively furnished room that contains
nothing but for a massive long table, around which are 30
leather-bound chairs.
The rogue asks them to be
seated. A couple of minutes later, a serving girl emerges and offers
them drinks. Bennett and Xavier decline, nervous as to whether any
drink would be drugged. The serving girl departs and the two of them
wait. And wait and wait.
It is almost nearly half an
hour before the door opens and two burly characters wearing mail walk
through the door. Immediately behind them is a middle-aged man
wearing expensive robes. Bennett and Xavier both recognize him from
the picture as being Pavlichek. Another two guards follow him.
They close the door behind
him and Pavlichek sits at the far end of the table, with two guards
flanking him on either side.
Bennett and Xavier had risen
from their seats in order to shake hands with the Guildmaster. They
seat themselves when it becomes obvious that Pavlichek is not going
to do so.
Pavlichek is sat, with his
face emotionless, observing them.
'Mr. Pavlichek' Bennett
starts 'Thank you for….'
'So what does the "mighty"
Witchfinder General of Dvur Kralovye want with the Black Diamonds?'
Pavlichek interrupts with a hint of sarcasm. It is obvious that he is
a man of business who has no time for pleasantries.
'You may have heard of an
accident that has recently befallen the Witchfinders of Dvur' starts
Bennett.
'Of course I have' replies
Pavlichek arrogantly. 'I know EVERYTHING that goes on in these parts.
You're referring to the "accident" that destroyed your
building.'
'You are obviously a wise
man…' starts Bennett.
'Obviously' interrupts
Pavlichek, without even a touch of humor.
'… and you realize that the
"accident" was not quite what we led the churls of Dvur to believe.
No, the destruction of our building was the result of actions
committed by a large and powerful terrorist organization. We were
able to take out a large number of their men and badly injured their
leaders, but they struck while many of our staff were out of town. As
a result, the leaders escaped and, despite our efforts, they have
still managed to evade capture. As they were so badly injured, we
think that they have gone to ground in a large city. Because of the
proximity of Hradetz to Dvur, this is the logical place for them to
hide.'
Pavlichek is silent as he
listens to Bennett's tale. As Bennett finishes, he speaks:
'So why are you telling me
this, whoever you are? I speak to the organ grinder, not to the
monkey' Pavlichek says.
Bennett bites his lip, not
knowing how to react to this insolence.
'Where is Reinburger? Why
isn't he here?' continues the Guildmaster.
'Reinburger is in Hradetz,
but obviously is here in secret, as it would cause problems with the
Nyemetz in both Dvur and Hradetz, not to mention the Hradetz
Witchfinders, if they knew that he had violated their
territory.'
'Where in Hradetz?' asks
Pavlichek.
'He is staying in a hotel
called The Queen's Head' replies Bennett.
'I know of it' replies
Pavlichek. 'Tell him to meet me here.'
Bennett starts shaking his
head:
'That's simply not possible.
As you know, there are many people interested in knowing who comes
and goes from your building, such is your power. Reinberger will not
risk the chance that he is seen to be meeting with you.'
'Very well' says Pavlichek.
'I shall meet him at The Queen's Head at dusk.'
'The Witchfinder General
told me to tell you to ensure that your visit is discreet. He asked
me to tell you that The Queen's Head has been swept for magick and
that it is totally safe, therefore he would prefer if you only
brought a couple of bodyguards with you so as to keep a low
profile.'
Pavlichek is a little
annoyed at this:
'Well you can tell your
"Witchfinder General" that he can look after his security and I shall
look after mine. I never leave this building with less than four
bodyguards and never will do. I shall, however, ensure that we are
discrete in our visit. You can tell Reinberger that he has my word
that no one will know of it.'
Bennett nods his head in
agreement.
Pavlichek rises from his
seat:
'The Queen's Head at 7.00'
is all he says before walking out of the room with his bodyguards
following him, leaving Bennett and Xavier sat in the empty
room.
A few seconds later, the
rogue from the door comes to guide them out of the building and they
find themselves standing outside the building a minute later. They
make their way back to The Queen's Head, looking over their shoulders
constantly to check whether they are being followed. It appears that
they are not.
They arrive back at the
tavern and the others all gather into Boris' suite to hear from
Bennett and Xavier as to how it went.
'Good' says Boris. 'Looks
like 'e's fallen for it. As soon as Winnacer came up with the plan, I
reckoned 'e would. Jus' too temptin' for 'im it is. It's a shame
about the extra two bodyguards that 'e's bringin', but with the
element of surprise an' yer magick, I'm sure you can 'andle them. As
I promised yer, Jihan, I'll arrange to 'ave archers on the roofs
around 'ere an' will sweep the area to check that there are no
Diamonds lurkin' around.'
'I'm gonna leave yer now to
sort out the final details an' so as no one connects me to the job. I
reckons that, after yer've finished 'im, then yers should come back
to the ware'ouse and 'ole up there for the night, as yer'll need to
pick up the gnomes an' Corrow, by which time it'll be curfew an' the
gates will all be shut. Better to go out tomorrow when there's a lot
of activity goin' on that yer can hide amongst. I 'ope that I don't
'ave to tell yer to be especially careful that yer ain't followed
back to the ware'ouse after the job is done, as it would blow
everythin' if someone was to see yers comin' to your place.'
'So that's it then, good
luck'
Boris shakes them all by the
hand and then walks out of The Queen's Head leaving them in the
place. It is now 11.30 and time to re-open the tavern for the
lunchtime shift.
Bennett tries to give the
others as much information concerning what he discovered about
Pavlichek and his bodyguards during the brief meeting:
'Pavlichek was armed with a
shortsword that he keeps in a very ornate scabbard by his side. I
couldn't tell whether he was wearing any armor underneath his heavy
robes, but it couldn't be anything metallic, as I would have heard it
chinking. He wears a few rings on his fingers. Whether they are
purely for decoration or any of them are magickal, I have no
idea.'
'His bodyguards looked very
professional to me. I've seen some battle-hardened mercenaries in my
time before, and these looked the same. They are going to be no
pushover, I can tell you. They were all wearing mail, but carry no
shields. They were armed with a variety of weapons, two had
broadswords, one a shortsword and the last a morning star.'
He looks towards Darry and
the kid:
'We're going to be needing
all the assistance you can provide. Without it I could see that the
fight could be very much in their favor.'
Reinburger looks concerned
but is not panicking:
'I can see that this is not
going to be easy, but we have both surprise and magick on our side to
even the odds. All we can do is wait.'
It is soon 11.30 and time
for the tavern to be re-opened. Tharnald, Darry and Barra go back to
their serving routines, finding it a little easier to get into their
roles after their practice session in the morning. Luckily there are
few customers in the tavern to serve, or else they could have found
themselves in real difficulties. Amongst serving drinks and chatting
amongst the customers, trying to drop as many double-entendres into
the conversation as possible, Tharnald keeps an eye out trying to
ascertain as to whether any of them could be Diamonds trying to check
the place out. However, he does not see anyone suspicious in the
place. Most of the customers know him very well and those that don't
seem to be well-dressed merchants traveling through.
Reinburger, orc bodyguard
and Witchfinder keep away from the tavern area, not wanting to arouse
any suspicion. They keep to the upstairs room, peering out of the
windows in all directions at regular intervals, on the look out for
any Diamonds that may be getting into position. However, all outside
seems to be as one would expect. When not checking outside, the three
of them spend time sharpening their weapons and trying to find ways
of concealing them within their clothes and drawing them
quickly.
Yaz, in his disguise as the
kid, is the only one that can move around outside without attracting
any attention. He wanders around the area, sucking his thumb and
running around getting in people's way. He is able to confirm what
the others have determined in that there appear to be no Diamonds
skulking around.
Lunchtime comes and goes
with only a few minor accidents from Barra's terrible service and
Darry's worse cooking, but Tharnald is still very relieved when he
closes the doors again at 3.00 after the lunchtime shift has
finished.
There is little to do for
the next few hours, so everyone just sits around upstairs getting
bored and nervous in equal quantities. Jihan gives everyone tips in
concealing weapons and manages to hide an incredible amount of knives
and daggers upon his person. He carefully coats several of them with
the sleep poison that he was able to obtain from Boris.
Eventually the afternoon
passes and it is time to re-open the tavern for the long evening
shift. Tharnald re-opens the doors, Darry goes back to the kitchen
and Barra picks up her tray for the next shift.
Tharnald looks at Yaz in
alarm:
'For Prirodna's sake, put
that joint out now or you'll give the game away!'
'Shit! Sorry' shouts the
toddler, as he exhales a puff of smoke and stubs the butt out with
his shoe. 'I forgot all about it!'
The bar is slow to fill up
at first, much to everyone's relief. It meant that the Diamonds were
not attempting to smuggle in a number of their ranks for one thing,
and it gave the three pretend staff less to do, as they are more than
preoccupied with thinking about the upcoming battle.
An hour later, it's 6.00,
and the bar is starting to fill up now, being over a third full. None
of the customers look as if they are going to be trouble. There are
quite a few couples in the place, one of them comprising a pregnant
wife and her husband and there are a few groups of men talking
business deals. A couple of guys are looking at Barra lecherously,
besotted with the young woman's impressive chest. Barra tries to keep
her distance from her.
At 6.30, Reinburger, his
bodyguard and the Witchfinder come down from the suites upstairs and
enter the tavern. They select the table in the corner, thinking that
they should hardly bring attention to themselves. The bar is now
half-full. They realize that there is a grave danger of 'collateral
damage' if a major fight breaks out.
At 7.00 on the dot,
kiddie-Yaz starts banging his stick on the ground and shouting
childish nonsense, the signal that Pavlichek is on his way.
Everyone gets into position.
Tharnald checks the array of weaponry under the bar and calls for
Darry to come out. Darry comes out, but is worried, as she should be
cooking a number of meals at the moment, but cannot afford to be away
when the action starts. Barra is still busy at serving the customers,
but keeps an eye on the others. Reinburger, bodyguard and Witchfinder
all try to look calm and relaxed.
As Pavlichek nears the
Queen's Head, Winnacer gives the group a "stay sharp" look as he
readies himself for the role of his life. He quickly mouths a prayer
to Spravedelna, asking for Her aid in bringing such an all-around
scoundrel to justice.