They
awaken around 7.00, feeling once more refreshed after another good
night's sleep. Yaz starts the day with more healing upon Winnacer and
Xavier, purposely ignoring Bennett as 'punishment' for his outburst
of the previous day. Once the healing has been made on top of the
natural healing of a day of complete rest, Winnacer is back to
perfect health, as is Xavier. Only Bennett out of the party is below
perfect health, and in his case, the remaining wounds are very
slight.
They breakfast in silence.
At the end of the meal, a runner comes up and whispers to
Boris.
'Excellent' Boris announces
after hearing the news. 'Follow me. Your "shopping" has
arrived.'
They walk down the ladders
and see four horses. Towering over the others is the sturdy form of
Winnacer's gray colored heavy warhorse. Next to it are the two medium
warhorses, one colored light brown, while the other is a golden
palomino color. Next to them, dwarfed by the others, is a small pack
mule, colored gray and looking like Winnacer's warhorse's kid
brother. Faewen'il announces to the others that she has decided to
call it 'Bennett'!
All of the horses are fully
equipped with tack, including large saddlebags for each. Close to the
horses are all of the other equipment that they ordered - a week's
rations for all, a heavy lance for Winnacer, four daggers and a bag
of bullets for Yaz, blank travelling books and writing supplies for
Faewen'il.
Boris comes up to Faewen'il
and speaks to her:
'They buried Barra yesterday
evenin' in the garden o' the Temple o' Laska. Sonya says that she'll
take care o' the grave when she goes there on 'er weekly
visits.'
Boris also gives Faewen'il
the change:
'Pavlichek's rings paid for
the lot o' the stuff, so we kept the gem intact to save on the
weight. Here's yer 181 gold pieces in change to go with it. Yer now
worth the grand sum of 681 gold pieces.'
Boris goes back to the main
room and they follow him after spending a little time with the
horses. Boris speaks to them all once again:
'So did you come to any
conclusion after yer bickerin' yesterday? I reckon yer needs to work
out where yers all goin', even if yer can't agree yet on what each of
yers gonna do when yer gets there.'
Yaz brings up the
possibility of trying to enlist the support of Daniela in order to
gain some support for the attack on the fur farm.
Boris just shrugs:
'Well, if yer can come up
with a decent soundin' plan, then it might be worth a try. 'Owever,
she's pretty tied up in tryin' to stop us takin' over The Fat Cock.
An' if my sources are correct, she's well an' truly pissed at the
moment. You scarred her pretty bad when yer slashed 'er face, an'
she's the vain type. 'Er face is the most valuable thing in the world
to 'er. If it weren't for the fact that she's fightin' to save the
Cock, I reckon that she'd 'ave 'alf the Diamonds out lookin' for Mr.
Liebermann.'
'So, are yer gonna stay 'ere
for another day? Yer welcome to, by all means. If not, then I reckons
that yer should start thinkin' of a plan for getting' out o' the
city. I'm afraid that there ain't no secret tunnels or sewers that
could allow you an easy exit. 'Owever, as I said, I can get my lads
to scout out the gates an' then let you know when yer've got the best
chance o' getting' out without a struggle. The best disguise in the
world ain't gonna be no use if they've got Witchfinders on the gate.
All yer stuff would light up their wands like a fireworks
display.'
Eventually, much to Boris'
relief, the inter-party bickering peters out and they turn their
thoughts to the more practical problems of concluding their stay in
Hradetz and leaving the city.
Yaz's idea of using Daniela
as part of their attempt to infiltrate the fur farm is rejected by
Winnacer, and none of the others seem to be in favor of trying to
include her in their attempts.
Faewen'il mentions that she
has recently learned a new spell that will render someone
invisible.
Jihan is the next to offer
his thoughts on the escape plans:
"I think that perhaps we
need another day to rest and cool down. It will do us no good to be
arguing all the way past the Witchfinders. I myself am pretty much
all ready to go, though I'm waiting on something Boris had
commissioned to be made for me..."
Looking at the others, he
continues:
"I cannot speak for the
rest, but I still intend to go to the fur farm and see how Darius is
faring. As to getting out of the city itself, I still hold with the
original suggestion of having our provisions and whatnot outside to
meet us, for the double reasons that it makes us more suspicious and
likely for inspection, and because, if we are discovered and have to
make a run for it, it won't do anything but slow us down, as all of
us are not mounted. I suggest that we try and leave the city in
between shifts, as it happened when we entered, so that we will
either get stuck with impatient inspectors wanting to be off and
about or with angry ones wishing to rush through the backlog. As I
believe myself the most experienced with such, if you wanted, I will
volunteer to undergo the invisibility spell and attempt to carry out
our magical items, though it'll be a good load with the armor, swords
and all. I'll have to go really slow until I get outside, then I can
put it down and keep an eye on the gate in case you need any covert
aid. If nothing else, perhaps I could cause a distraction while I
cannot be seen, assuming that this enchantment will hold if I only
bump or nudge things"
"Faewen'il, is there any way
to keep their wands from detecting our magicks?" asks Winnacer. "Then
we could leave with little worry of reprisal, once our disguises are
shed. We could try to use Xavier's Bounty Hunter papers to get at
least half of the party out with the horses, with the cover story of
our being commissioned to flush out the rebels and bring them to
swift and cruel justice. Those who leave that way could entrust their
items to the rest of the party, who could try to sneak out at a more
opportune time, perhaps using Yaz's newfound powers of
persuasion."
Faewen'il is still not in
the best frame of mind after the previous evening's session, but
responds to Winnacer's questions.
'I can be dealin with tha
Witchfinder's rods as I have taken tha liberty o relievin a few
scrolls that be drainin tha magic out o thins..... though it have tha
chance o backfirin and drainin tha magic out o me as well far it not
be a spell I know tha workins of. Not to mention tha OBVIOUS fact
that I have ta be fairly close to tha Witchfinder when I be castin
it."
Jihan gives his thoughts at
this point:
"I'd be willing to take
whatever help you and your crew can offer here to get out of Hradetz"
he says to Boris. "Perhaps here we could be smuggled out with a few
new Witchfinders from our magnificent powder to bully the guards,
saying that they are bringing a shipment of suspect items of
witchcraft out of the city to Mnyesto to be inspected or whatnot. Of
course, we would need papers and whatnot, and have enough false
information to intimidate any Witchfinders that suspect us into
silence, perhaps saying the orders come from Malek himself. The
routes through the sewers or other such would be especially hard to
navigate with these horses," he says, nodding apologetically towards
the animals he as mentions it.
"Anybody have any other
ideas?" he asks.
Winnacer suggests that those
Faewen'il can turn invisible might as well smuggle out their magical
goods and meet the others outside the gates. The rest may as well
wear simple disguises and try to pass for bounty hunters or Nyemetz
merchants with their orc guards and leave through the gates as normal
people do.
"For what it be worth to ye"
Faewen'il replies. "I can make ONE parson invisible to the eyes o men
and beast. Tha notes Granny made stated that tha spell be bendin tha
light around a parson's image, much tha same way as light be
refracted from a drop o water into a rainbow. Tha magic simply be
drawin on tha minds o tha viewers an be presentin to them what they
be wantin ta see. It be coverin that parson and his personal
belongins for an entire day unless they be castin spells or doin
violent actions."
"Thar be drawbacks to tha
magic in that it still donna cover tha sound ye make, yer footprints
nor tha smell of ye."
She purposefully looks at
Bennett with his last remark before continuing on.
"Thar also be other spells
that could cause distractions, though with tha normal traffic through
tha gates we should na have a problem gettin people through. Tha rods
canna be used all tha time an tha Witchfinders only be usin them
iffin they suspect magic is bein used.... which IF every one of ye be
careful, they will have na cause ta be thinkin such thins."
Again Faewen'il leveled a
hateful look towards Bennett.
"Tha beasts be another
problem altogether... one that parhaps Boris can be helpin out with
by gettin his men ta take tha beasts out o town for us separately so
as to not raise suspicion....far whether ye like it or not, we canna
be usin tha rest o Granny's powder just to get four horses and a
stubborn ass named Bennett out o tha town."
The last was the first hint
of humor to be heard in Faewen'il's voice in a long time.
Boris replies to Faewen'il's
question:
'I've said it before an'
I'll say it again, there ain't no problem in sendin' one o' me lad
ahead wiv yer 'orses an' provisions to meet up wiv yers once yer've
got out safely.'
Winnacer speaks up
again:
"While I think using the
cloak of invisibility to smuggle our magical items by the guards is
quite clever, it may take too long and place too many at risk if it
were to be our sole method of escape. We should have some of us don
sundry disguises and try to walk out without causing a fuss. But
perhaps Faewen'il can teach this invisibility spell to Corrow as
well, increasing the number of invisibles and decreasing the period
of vunerability."
Corrow, who has been
listening in on the conversation, speaks up at the mention of his
name, although his voice is soft and he looks a little
embarrassed:
'I'm afraid that the
invisibility spell is a little beyond my meager talents. I'm afraid
that I can't help you with that.'
He purposely avoids looking
at either Faewen'il or Sonya as he says it.
The suggestions start to dry
up a little, so Boris makes a suggestion:
'I'll tell yer what I can do
for yer, aparts from getting' yer baggage out o' the city so you
don't 'ave to worry about it. I'll send a couple o' me boys to watch
both the north west an' south west gates, as they are both on the
right side o' the river, an' it won't make a lot o' difference to yer
journey which one yer goes out of. The boys'll keep an eye on the
guards, checkin' out what they're up to. We knows most o' the gate
captains an' know that some o' them are more efficient than the
others. They'll also be checkin' for Witchfinders as well. By
tomorrow, there's a good chance, I 'ope, that they will 'ave given up
on their checkin', as it's a load of hassle for them to 'ave round
the clock checkin' on everyone.'
'When we've determined the
best gate an' time, then we'll start the next part o' the plan. I'll
send a bunch o' me boys round to the nearest tavern to the gate an'
get 'em to start a right royal punch up. Then, I'll get one o' the
girls from The Pink Pussy, chuck a bit o' pig's blood over 'er, an'
tell 'er to run towards the gate screamin' 'er 'ead off. 'Opefully
most, if not all the guards, should run towards the tavern in order
to break up the fight, at which point me boys leg it as fast as they
can.'
'While they's off, that's
when you makes your exit. I reckon that the plan to make Jihan
invisible an' 'ave 'im cart off all yer magickal items is a stroke o'
genius. As for the rest of yers, I reckon that we should get Dagmar
to give you a goin' over. What she don't know about disguisin' people
ain't worth knowin'. I reckon with a new set o' clothes an' a few
false beards an' moustaches 'ere an' there, then no one will be able
to spot yers unless they really suspect that yer up to somethin'. Of
course, you might want to think of some contingency plans in case
things get a bit 'airy, but I reckons that this plan'll reduce the
chances o' that to a minimum. So what does yer reckon?'
Before debate starts upon
Boris plan, Winnacer puts in some final requests for
purchases:
" Well, we probably do not
have the funds currently, but we should have adequate cash to
purchase some platemail. Perhaps you can take the measurements of
Bennett, Xavier, and myself and find or commission its construction.
We can afford to put some money down now and we could pick up the
armor when we return for the gnomes."
"Also, I have an unusual
request. Do you think you can get prices on the cost of a pure silver
longword? At some point I think we will have to tangle with the
living dead and such weapons may become imperative."
"Or even a silver dagger"
interjects Bennett. "As my non-magical weapons will be virtually
useless against any undead, since my weapons do not translate to
silver without a fairly hefty price tag. If given the raw silver and
some time, I could perhaps edge our weapons, though the edge would be
brittle and fragile. It would take some time, though. As for the
plate mail, I doubt we can afford to be suited up all three of us,
and I will yield that right to the two of you first, though I agree
that we should buy at least one suit if it is available and we can
afford it. Better-protected people live longer, after all."
Boris lets out a low whistle
at the mention of purchasing platemail for all three warriors:
'Bleedin' 'ell, that's gonna
cost yers. An' it's not only money as well, it's time that yers gotta
consider. Platemail ain't the same as getting' a new set o' robes
cut. Yer've gotta be there for the 'ole process. It ain't a case o'
takin' yer inside leg measurement then leavin' 'em to it for a couple
o' weeks. There ain't many armorers around no more what can make
proper sets o' plate. There ain't the demand for it no more, not now
a musket can punch an 'ole in 'em like they were made o' paper. I
dare say that I can find one, but the chances of 'em startin' work
before they get a minimum o' 50% down is low. After all, what good to
'em is it if yer don't pays the other 'alf? That's one thing. The
second thing is that yer jus' don't see folks wanderin' round in
platemail. Yer might as well 'ang a sign round yer neck sayin' "I'm
trouble - check me out very carefully"! An', of course, then there's
the obvious problem which is that yer not in yer proper bodies are
yer? By the time the plate was finished, yer'd 'ave changed
sizes!'
'As for a solid silver
longsword, bleedin' 'ell, that'd cost yer. I don't know 'ow much,
exactly, but I reckons yer'd be talkin' in the 'undreds. If yer that
interested, then I can get yer a quote. Silver platin', now that
would be a LOT cheaper. I reckon that yer'd only be talkin' in the
tens o' gold pieces for platin' a weapon, even a sword.'
Bennett and Winnacer discuss
the options regarding the difference between silver plated and solid
silver weapons and come to the conclusion that only solid silver
weapons would be of use against the undead that they fear they may
have to combat during their investigation of Boscobelous' Tower.
Boris sends one of his runners off in order to obtain a quotation for
them.
The others finish their
discussions regarding the various options that they have in order to
escape from Hradetz. Yaz suggests using one of his spells in order to
set the Witchfinders' rods glowing when they check out people in
front of them in the queue. However, Faewen'il tells him that the
rods can only be activated for very short periods of time and thus
they would only activate them if they saw anything suspicious.
She does, however make a
suggestion of her own. She tells the others that the invisibility
spell that she is able to cast lasts for a period of 24 hours.
Therefore, it would be possible for her to activate one spell at the
end of today, which would be running through practically the whole of
the following day, then activate the second closer to the time. In
addition, she tells the others that she has learned a spell that
allows her to change her appearance, which should prevent her from
being detected.
Boris starts smiling and
clapping his hands as Faewen'il finishes speaking:
'Nice one, gal. I reckon we
bleedin' got it. Very clever indeed. Yer could make Jihan invisible
tonight and then load 'im up with all yer magickal stuff nearer to
the time. That would take care o' Tharnald. Darry would turn into
someone else through your spell to change yer appearance. The only
other person that they're keeping a good eye out for is Reinburger.
If yer uses the second invisibility spell on 'im, then that's the
three "most wanted" all took care of. As fer the rest of yers, I
reckon just a simple bit o' disguisin's gonna throw 'em off the
scent. Yaz, I agree with yer in that no one bothers much with kids. I
reckon if we gets yer some new clothes, dyes yer 'air an' washes yer
face, then no one will be any the wiser. Bennett the Witchfinder, I
reckon that yer'll need a bit more work, but with a false beard,
change of 'air color an' a new set o' clothes, then there'll be no
reason for checkin' you out too closely. Finally, Xavier the orc, all
we needs to do for you is get rid of those Dvur colors on yer armor
an' replace 'em with Hradetz colors, then yer'll be fine as long as
we gives yer sargeant's stripes, as the lower ranks ain't allowed out
the city by themselves. I bleedin' reckon we's got it sorted!'
The afternoon passes slowly,
as there is still a lot of bad feeling in the air following the
arguing of the previous day. Faewen'il spends the time alone in her
room with the spellbooks, meticulously copying out spells from one
book to her new one. Jihan and the others wrap up all of the magickal
items carefully, so as to avoid any chance of them chinking and
giving the game away.
Boris' runner arrives later
in the afternoon and whispers to Boris. Boris produces a strange
arrangement of pouches and straps that he hands to Jihan:
'Ere's the webbin' that yer
asked for. The leather worker apologized, but said that it was a lot
more complicated than 'e originally anticipated, an' so 'ad to put
'is 'ole team on it. As a result, 'e's 'ad to charge 40 gold pieces
for it.'
Jihan asks Faewen'il for the
funds and she pays Boris back for the item.
'We also got a quote for a
silver longsword. The weaponsmith reckons that it will cost around
300 gold for one. 'E could knock yer one up in a couple of days. 'E
did tell me to warn yer, 'owever, that it would be useless in a
normal combat. A normal sword would jus' chop it in 'alf in a
melee.'
Boris goes on to give them
costings for platemail and all of its various combinations. Winnacer
asks Boris if he could commision the forging of a silver longsword
for him and a dagger for Bennett.
Jihan tries on the leather
contraption, and the rest of them look on in awe as he uses it to
hold a vast array of weapons, including 12 daggers and two
shortswords. The elf then has a trial run in seeing whether he can
manage to carry all of the party's magic items. With the assistance
of a couple of backpacks - one on his back and one on his front - he
manages to secrete all of the various magickal items on his person.
The arrangement is very bulky and heavy, but Jihan can manage to walk
without too much difficulty.
The afternoon turns to
evening and a final feast is prepared, as it is surely the last time
that they will be enjoying Boris' hospitality for a while. As more
food and drink is consumed, some of the bitterness caused the
previous evening starts to be forgotten - but not all.
Faewen'il gets tired and
tells the others that she is going to her room. As a result, she then
casts the spell of invisibility upon Jihan. All gape in amazement as
Jihan disappears, leaving no sign as to the fact that he is there at
all. Jihan is also quite tired at that point, but Boris and his merry
men find the fact that he is invisible to be such great fun that they
force him to entertain them for a while. They roll around laughing
hysterically as they tell him to eat something, killing themselves
laughing as it disappears into thin air. They then keep giving him
things to carry around, laughing as they see the objects seemingly
move around the room on their own. Finally, they ask to go down to
the warehouse where his men try and catch him as he moves around
invisible. After around an hour of this game, Jihan gets tired of it
and sneakily climbs up the ladder, leaving Boris and his men to
wander around the warehouse for another hour desperately trying to
find him until they realize what he has done.
By that time, the rest of
the party has gone to bed and Jihan finds an empty room and lies
down, having difficulty in trying to sleep in his seemingly
insubstantial form.
Boris knocks on
everyone's doors at 6.00 a.m., not looking in the best of shapes
after all the fun and games the previous evening, with some of the
party in a similar position.
'Sorry to wake yer all up so
early' Boris croaks 'But the gates 'ave now opened up, seein' as 'ow
curfew is over. I've already sent me boys round to both gates to
check out which set o' guards are on duty there. If they're tough
bastards, then we can wait until the next shift, or the one after
that if they're still the efficient ones, so we got six different
chances o' getting' out - three shifts at two gates. Surely one of
'em must be OK some time today.'
'This 'ere is Martin an'
Yiri' he adds, introducing them to two of his men. 'They's goin' to
go an' take yer 'orses an' provisions out now. Yer should meet them
in the barn of a deserted farm'ouse due west o' the city.'
They shake the two men by
the hand and tell them that they look forward to seeing them later in
the day. They then watch them depart out of the window, seeing them
lead the horses away.
'Right, an' this 'ere is
Dagmar. She's got some new clothes for Yaz an' Bennett an' some new
insignia for Xavier's armor, which she knocked up yesterday. Now
she'll start to disguise the three of yers.'
While Yaz, Bennett and
Xavier are getting their disguises fixed, the rest of them
breakfast.
After half an hour, a runner
comes in and whispers to Boris. He shakes his head at the
news:
'The North West gate, the
one that'd take yer straight to Dvur, is 'eavily guarded. They've got
a couple o' Witchfinders on there along with one o' the best o' the
gate captains an' they's checkin' everyone real carefully. I reckon
that they must reckon that this is the gate that Reinburger would
most likely take. We can forget about tryin' that gate on this
shift.'
After another hour, a second
runner arrives. Boris tosses his head back and forth as he considers
the news:
'The South West Gate ain't
as well protected. There's just the one Witchfinder there an' a not
so great guard captain. There'd still be some risk, 'owever. We've
got two more chances. Let's gamble on there bein' a better
opportunity later on.'
The morning seems to drag
on, as they start to get very impatient and desperate to leave the
city now. Just before midday, Boris sends the runners out again to
check out the new shift of guards. An hour later, the first runner
returns. Boris' face lights up at the news:
'Bingo! I don't know whether
they've given up on lookin' for Malek or whether they's jus' messed
up, but the lad tells me that Sargeant Dopad's on the gate now. There
ain't many o' the gate guards as stupid as 'im. I reckon it's time to
get ready, folks.'
Boris has ten of his men
downstairs, waiting to head for either The Pig & Whistle by the
North West Gate, or The Yew Tree by the South West Gate. He tells
them to got to the Pig & Whistle and do their stuff. Sonya goes
with them as the lure. She has a bladder of pig's blood to make it
look as if she has been injured. Corrow is frantic with worry, but
Sonya refuses to back down from the task.
They make their final
preparations. Faewen'il casts the invisibility spell upon Winnacer
and he turns as insubstantial as Jihan. Jihan piles all of the
magickal items into the backpacks and, as he straps the packs around
him, they disappear into nothingness.
It is then time for their
final farewells. They say goodbye to Robert, to Corrow, to Heimlin,
Granny and Bekkah and to the real Tharnald and Darry, telling them
that they'll be back for them in a few days. Finally, they shake
hands with Boris, thanking him profusely for all of his help during
their stay. Boris smiles a sad smile as he says goodbye:
'I must admit that I'm quite
sad to see yer off. Yer a great bunch an' it's been an 'onor to 'ave
worked with yer. I'm lookin' forwards to seein' yer when yer gets
back to pick up the dwarves an' gnomes. Look after yerselves.'
They make your way towards
the gate, with Faewen'il having to wear a cloak to hide Darry's
features, as she does not want to use her spell until she is closer
to the gate. They walk in a very loose group, mingling in with the
crowds when they get to a busier part of the city, closer to the
gates.
Eventually, they see the
gate before them. They can see the Witchfinder and the gate guards
stopping people entering and exiting the city, although some people
get only cursory glances before being waved through. They wait for
five minutes, and then they hear a shriek and see, in the distance,
the form of Sonya, the front of her dress covered in blood, stumbling
towards the gate. She collapses in front of the Witchfinder in floods
of tears, pointing in the direction of the tavern.
To the party's delight, they
see the Witchfinder assessing Sonya's assets. He then gives a little
grin, straightens his collar, brushes back his hair, takes Sonya by
the arm in order to pull her up and then shouts to the orc guards to
come with him. Every single one of the guards rushes after the
Witchfinder and Sonya, leaving the gate wide open. Some members of
the queues waiting to get in or out of the city simply shrug their
shoulders and walk in or out, meeting no other resistance.
Keeping to the original plan
so as not to take any chances, the invisible forms of Jihan and
Winnacer carefully creep forwards, keeping to the inside of the city
walls closely, so as to avoid hitting anyone trying to get through
the gate. They get through and fall behind the first bush that they
come across. Jihan takes Weitbeissen in hand, just in case there is
any problem with the others.
Bennett is next to go. He
mingles in with the crowd and gets through the gate safely. He too
heads for the bushes where he narrowly avoids walking into
Winnacer.
Faewen'il casts her magickal
spell and the dwarf turns into a plain looking well dressed woman in
her early thirties. She takes Yaz, who is now looking immaculate and
very different from the scruffy street urchin of old, by the hand and
the two of them walk through the gate hand in hand, looking to the
entire world as if they are mother and child.
Finally, Xavier brings up
the rear, as he sees Faewen'il and Yaz walking out of the city.
Putting on the arrogant air of an orcish sargeant, the other
pedestrians move aside to let him stride through purposefully. They
are all through the gate safely.