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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 5851227" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>"So, what exactly," Zayel inquired, much to be rid of Madam Velomina's constant talk about what he considered to be the most boring topics as to really find out, "does a summoner really do? I have learned it is a specialty of arcane magic, but a lot of people summon all sorts of things and are usually called conjurers."</p><p></p><p>Happy to be asked the question, partly because being bored with the exhibition caravan's beast master's gossip as well, the plump girl sitting with them on the first wagon, flashed a smile at the young wizard. "It's not quite the same. I'm able to call forth... or maybe force into existence, not so sure yet which... beings from other planes. They can take on any sort of shape, as it seems. Before I ran from the Summoner's Guild, I saw all kinds of weird creatures. They don't seem to follow a pattern. And you need to spend a lot of magical power to help the eidolon grow – that's what they are called, eidolons – so you never really get to learn as much in the ways of other spells like normal sorcerers do. And it seems, we are not real sorcerers anyway, as we are not normally associated with any bloodline."</p><p></p><p>Zayel nodded. "So those beings are under the summoner's control? All the time until the summoner dies? Isn't that much like slavery?"</p><p></p><p>The black haired girl shuddered. "Yes. Although the eidolons also vanish when they are killed here – they are not truly dead, you know, we can call upon them again, just like a normal summon. And usually, they also go away while we sleep. Usually, but some summoners can prevent that, and some eidolons are here for so long they do consider this plane their home and don't leave anymore at all.</p><p></p><p>The issue of enslaving another being is why I ran. You see, the guild needs more apprentices, so they keep buying kids and young adults from poor parents or slave markets. I was bought as a toddler, because I supposedly displayed great talent." She grimaced at that. </p><p></p><p>"How awful. I never understand why any intelligent being would want to own another. But didn't that free you, in the end?" </p><p></p><p>The canvas of the wagon moved a little, and Zayel could see the outline of Mook listening in. Mook was very reluctant to talk to anyone, as her stutter was back with the lack of magic to suppress it. At the moment, her excuse was that she had a cold and was hoarse, but eventually she would have to find a way to recharge the ring or talk in her old way again. Now that she had a while without the curses, she was acting even more shy than she had all her life. </p><p></p><p>Tiva, the summoner girl, shook her head. "Once you are stuck in a guild at such a young age, you are bound to a master, or several masters, and because they paid for you you are supposed to learn all you can and then work it off. I was made to summon an eidolon, even of that was the last thing I wanted to do."</p><p></p><p>"No one should ever be made to do anything," Madam Velomina offered, although it was clear that she didn't understand half of what they were talking about. </p><p></p><p>"So, you ran." Zayel nodded again. "I was told not to ask a woman her age, but you seem awfully young."</p><p></p><p>"Not much younger than you are, I suppose, although it is hard to say with you elves." She flashed him another grin. "I'm 13, and that's almost grown up unless you are a sheltered noble." </p><p></p><p>"Where's your eidolon, then? You said they forced you to call one." </p><p></p><p>"I didn't call it back the last time it vanished when I had to sleep. Seems wrong for me to keep it bound here." Tiva looked a little sad despite her words. </p><p></p><p>"I t-though," Mook fell in, coughing to mask her stutter, "that you s-summoners had a b-bond with the e-eidolons?"</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, we do." Tiva turned to Mook and frowned. "You should be resting."</p><p></p><p>"C-can't you f-feel it through the b-bond? D-don't you m-miss it?" Mook seemed exhausted from trying to mask her stutter but Madam Velomina obviously thought her too sick to be up and began to steer her back towards her cot with a lot of tut-tuts and head shaking. </p><p></p><p>"I do miss it... her." Tiva looked even more sad now. </p><p></p><p>""Then don't you think," Zayel picked up now that he got where Mook wanted to go with this, "that the eidolon misses you, too? After all, you created it, or at least gave it form. You are its master. Or even its god, in a way."</p><p></p><p>Tiva grimaced. "You are telling me I'm responsible," she sighed. "But I never asked to be, and I'm barely responsible for myself. And I don't want a slave, really."</p><p></p><p>Zayel didn't say anymore as they kept moving towards the rising sun. But he knew already, from his own experience and others,' that it was not so easy to rid yourself of responsibility, no matter your age. He had tried to ignore it, defy it even with the antics he and his friends had been up to until not so long ago. But here he was, not sure at all where his path would lead him. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"You can never be sure where your path will lead you," Bjön sighed and checked his equipment one last time. "I would have never thought I'd be sneaking into a stronghold to assassinate a devil worshiper. At least not under such circumstances. And I still have no idea what makes me do it."</p><p></p><p>"Probably your sense of duty as a paladin?" Teltz offered. "Or maybe you don't want us to get caught and die without your heroic aid?"</p><p></p><p>"It was a rhetorical question," the dwarf snorted, then he looked at the two of them. "I'm ready. Let's just try to avoid unneeded bloodshed." </p><p></p><p>All clad in black – even the armor had been darkened with soot – they made their way out of the old temple, clinging to the nearby palisades of the town's wall until they reached the intimidating estate of the wealthy Almir family, with its dragons and gargoyles decorating the windows and roof. From there, they rushed over the street to pause in the shadow of the dogyard's shabby building. A single bark sounded as one of the dogs had either heard or smelled them, but nothing else stirred. Lerrim had visited the owner of the kennels a bit earlier and managed to spike the evening meal of the dogs with dreamleaf. Bjön had considered asking why he had a stock of the herb but then had decided against it. After all, it was handy now. </p><p></p><p>"Where do we need to go?" Bjön mouthed. </p><p></p><p>Lerrim pointed to one of the kennels, then he opened the door to the shack. It gave off little noise; the snoring of the inhabitants of the humble dwelling was a lot louder. Lerrim had been forthcoming with dreamleaf regarding the owner's bottle of liquor as well. By what they had found out, the supposed imbecile, Bumbo, would be sleeping now as well, having been to the baron's place earlier that night, as Lerrim had observed. </p><p></p><p>The dogs were sleeping soundly, only one lifted a tired head and let out another bark, then fell back asleep. They reached the tunnel entrance in one of the bitches' kennel and just had to shove the snoring dog aside. Soon thereafter, the trio was on their way upwards in a tunnel wide enough for two to march in and not crouch too much. A small lantern they had taken from the dogyard was the only light, but it was more than enough to see the end of the tunnel in time to not bump into each other. Lerrim concentrated, and a moment later, he looked a lot like the spy usually using this tunnel, complete with a cloak too long and all the mismatched colors for the rest of the clothes.</p><p></p><p>As the thief pushed up the trapdoor to come out in an empty boy of the baron's stable – as he had assumed he would – two guards turned towards him, only slightly alarmed. They relaxed immediately when, in the dim light, they took the imperfect illusion for the real Bumbo. They looked back towards their dicing game, waiting for the dice to finish spinning. </p><p></p><p>They never knew the outcome, as two throwing daggers flew silently towards them, each of them embedding itself deep into one of the guard's throats. They died gargling in their own blood, not comprehending what was happening. "All clear," Lerrim announced. </p><p></p><p>The others came up behind him. Bjön frowned. "Didn't we agree no unneeded bloodshed?"</p><p></p><p>"This was very much needed," Lerrim replied drily. "We'll probably have to face more guards outside the stable."</p><p></p><p>The two more guards sleeping against the stable walls proved no problem, indeed. Teltz threw a sleep spell at them for extra measure, glancing at the thief to let him know he could have done that before. Then they glanced around.</p><p></p><p>To get to the keep from the stables, they had to go over open ground. Going as they were would cause too much attention to the bard cleaned them up with magic and then disguised himself like one of the guards. His illusion was a lot better than the one the gnome had come up with. Lerrim looked decidedly annoyed about that. Then Teltz went to disguise the dwarf as well. After that they hurried over the yard towards the entrance to the keep. No one seemed to be looking too closely as they arrived in front of the doors and knocked. </p><p></p><p>The guards inside peered out at them through a spyhole. "Password?" one of them asked rather bored. </p><p></p><p>Teltz and Bjön tried not to look at Lerrim at the question. They just hoped the gnome had not gotten the wrong information from the serving girl he had charmed earlier. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Majek had had a restless night. Not because he was worried too much about what was ahead of them – they had been to a fabled golden city and made it through some other perils after all – but because this was the first time he was away from Zaza in almost all his life, not counting the few times when he had been with Samin – Zayel, he corrected himself – and the girls had been off to do their thing. Fact was, they had always been close enough to each other to should out from a window and get an answer, even if that would have woken or otherwise annoyed half the town. He wondered if Zaza felt the same way, or if she was adapting to the new situation quicker than he was. She used to call him too sentimental, and maybe she was right. </p><p></p><p>"...badly injured," Edawon's words made it through to the maze of his thoughts</p><p></p><p>The half-orc stopped daydreaming and blinked. "What?" he asked. </p><p></p><p>"The fox." The ranger pointed to the edge of the forest. There, barely visible in the early morning dark, not far from the edge of a forest-shrouded lake they had noticed just a few minutes before, a fox with large ears and bright orange fur was lying bleeding, its hindquarters caught fully in the jaws of a crude iron trap. It was crying pitifully while trying to pull itself free. </p><p></p><p>"Stupid people using stupid traps," Majek harrumphed. Around his hometown, such traps were forbidden; the druids made an example out of everyone not heeding the rule. Obviously, other parts of the world cared a lot less about fair hunting methods. Maybe they lacked druids here. </p><p></p><p>The fox was on the grass covered shore of the lake, closer to the water than the forest. Edawon and Majek were walking on a small trail beyond the forest edge. The half-orc didn't want and noisily made his way through the bushes and low trees to reach the injured animal. The halfling quickly followed. </p><p></p><p>With a few quick moves, Majek sat the lantern he was carrying down and freed the poor creature from the trap, noticing that it would not be able to walk. He was about to inquire what they were supposed to do now, but before he could get a word out, a badly aimed arrow landed a few meters next to him. Then there was screeching in the air above him. When he looked up, the alchemist could see 2 large black birds, somewhat like crows just bigger. They were going to attack Edawon. </p><p></p><p>"Hobgoblin," the ranger shouted and pointed. Majek looked towards a patch of bushes directly at the river. Sure enough, a wildly painted hobgoblin stood there, firing another arrow that missed by not so much. </p><p></p><p>"Trap," Majek growled. "The fox was bait. I'll give him bait." He uncorked a flask from his belt – one of the last of his alchemist's fires – and aimed it at the bush. The foiiage wouldn't be dry this time of year, but alchemist's fire didn't care about that. His aim proved to be true and before the hobgoblin attacker could aim another arrow at one of them, the bushes with him still inside went up in flames. "Hobgoblin torch," the half-orc nodded, pleased with himself. He didn't even notice that, a few weeks ago, he would have been shocked at the pure idea to torch a living being like that. </p><p></p><p>The hobgoblin shrieked and did the only thing he could do. He jumped into the water. It did him little good, however, as a giant snake shot out from the icy lake and grabbed the trashing prey. The big ravens flew off once their master was gone. "Looks like we better keep some distance to that shore," Edawon said, checking out his cuts. Then he moved to the terrified fox. "Do we have any healing magic left?"</p><p></p><p>"Not that much. Sure you want to use it on the fox?" Majek was doubtful. As much as he loved animals, healing magic was hard to come by, now that Mook and Zayel were not with them. They had already invested quite some of the money gained in their earlier exploits into potions and would probably need to invest even more. </p><p></p><p>"I can patch her up, but I would have to carry her with us," Edawon explained. "And I am rather certain what we are about to do doesn't need an injured animal we would need to protect." </p><p></p><p>"Alright." Majek went through his backpack and handed Edawon one of the almost empty salves. Those were as effective as any potion, but of course you could only use them on the outside, so they were a bit less expensive.</p><p></p><p>The first hint of real sunbeams could be seen through the branches and over the lake now. Majek gathered the lantern he had put down when he had freed the fox and put it out. "Looks like this is going to be an interesting day. In the positive way." </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"Red crow, white crow," Lerrim said, trying to sound as bored by the procedure as the guard was. The spyhole closed, and a moment later the door swung open. As soon as they were inside, the door closed again, the guards not paying any more attention, looking ready to fall asleep. That was what they had hoped for and the reason for sneaking it at this time of day. They pretended not to care either and quickly looked around. Heavy pine doors fitted with brass moldings depicting ravens in flight gave way to a T-shaped entry hall. Marble plinths in each of the four corners supported claw-footed braziers holding cherry-red coals. Thick tapestries were hanging from the east and west walls, starting near the twenty-foot-high ceiling and reaching within inches of the gray flagstone floor. Each one depicted a murder of crows with sparkling black gemstones for eyes—one on a field of white, the other on a field of crimson.</p><p></p><p>They knew from the servant girl that the baron's sleeping room was on the second floor, so they kept moving to the end of the hall. After another quick look, they turned right to where the stairs where. "Left room next to the balcony," Lerrim whispered, although no one was close to hear them and even if so, his whispering would have probably been more suspicious than speaking normally. </p><p></p><p>A wide hallway ran the length of the keep’s second floor, ending in stairs at one end and doors out to a balcony at the other. Five other doors exited the hallway into adjacent chambers. Paintings, tapestries, and narrow pedestals supporting ivory busts decorated the walls of the hallway. To their dismay, 8 guards stood watch along the hallway. Lerrim hissed. The girl he had made to tell him the basics had never mentioned them. </p><p></p><p>"Run," Teltz whispered without moving his mouth. "Say you need to talk to the baron right now. We'll take care of the rest."</p><p></p><p>Confused by the situation and not knowing what else to do, the gnome nodded and started walking very fast rather than running towards the balcony, ignoring the guards next to the stairs. "Need to talk to the baron," he huffed, making it sound like he had come running all the way. The guards, holding out spears at the ready, didn't seem to know what to do. It seemed that the baron's spy coming here this time of day was not a normal occurrence. </p><p></p><p>All their eyes on the supposed spy, they ignore the supposed guards. Not wanting to waste too much magic if he could help it, Teltz drew his own knifes and proved he could hit a small target as well as the gnome. He had the 2 closest guards in the hall downed when Lerrim, pretending to be out of breath, bowed down to put his hands on his knees. He had no idea which of the doors to turn to now. </p><p></p><p>Bjön was following as quickly as he could but it took him longer to cut down the guards at the stairs than it took Teltz to move on to the next two guards. Their total surprise, both at the spy's appearance and at being attacked, stopped them from doing anything but dying, yet Bjön had the feeling his short dwarf legs would never make it to any other guard. They did not have to, either. Suddenly righting himself, Lerrim threw another dagger which sank into the heart of one of the guard, then jumped at the other with a much larger knife. Teltz made a weird gesture with his hand, much like tying a bowstring, and one of the remaining guards grasped for air while turning blue. The bard paid little attention as he as already avoiding the spear attack of the last guard while cutting his throat. No sound had occurred and the paladin realized one of them, probably Teltz, must have used a silence spell. Even his own footsteps were not audible anymore as he moved closer to them. </p><p></p><p>Lerrim, covered in blood although the illusion somewhat masked it, tore the door to the left room at the end of the hallway open and stormed in, Teltz right behind. Barely avoiding a curse, the dwarf followed suit. He almost bumped into the bard, who had stopped suddenly. The paladin poked his head around the tall man's hip and saw what had brought the others to a sudden stop. </p><p></p><p>A huge four-poster bed covered in thick blankets and feather pillows dominated the eastern half of this palatial sleeping chamber. A thick rug of crimson and gold with ravens in flight running along its tasseled edges covered the floor in the center of the room. A massive fireplace of gold-flecked black marble protruded from the northern wall, banked coals perfectly warming the chamber. Paintings depicting various members of the Vendikon family adorned the walls between narrow, wood-shuttered arrow-slits. A narrow table along the southeast wall held additional blankets and a hooded lantern.</p><p></p><p>The bed was well used, but the baron was not in it. "What now?" Teltz mouthed, the silence spell still being in effect. None of them had considered the fact that, despite the winter sun coming up late, the baron might be up at dawn already. Teltz quickly checked the bathroom and dresser. The bath had been recently used, which meant the accursed man was indeed already up.</p><p></p><p>Bjön took charge and pointed back to the door. If the baron was up, a servant might come up any time, and the last thing they needed was the alarm raised. The others nodded and followed him out. Not knowing where else to search, the paladin walked to the opposite door. He bashed it open, axe at the ready. There was still no sound as they entered. A large, U-shaped table filled most of the space of this carpeted room. Eight upholstered, high-backed chairs surrounded the table, while a ninth, which looked more like a throne, sat at the center of the southern end. Tall, narrow windows of stained glass were flanked by thick burgundy curtains with golden crows stitched into them. But the room was empty, not even a servant was stirring. </p><p></p><p>Lerrim shrugged and pointed to the hallway again, and the paladin nodded. But the next room down the hall proved to be another disappointment. A long preparation table dominated the center of this obviously private kitchen. Pots and pans and other cooking implements hung from a rack suspended over it. A hearth along the southern wall glowed with banked coals. A long shelf and cabinet combination full of food, seasoning, and crockery completely covered the west wall. Two female servants were about, cleaning up the floor and table. One of them looked up and tried to cry out an alarm, but the silence still centered on Teltz didn't allow her to cause a fuzz. A moment later, the two women fell down asleep. Bjön wondered how many more of those sleep spells the bard could produce as he tied them up. Once more, they turned to leave as he was done.</p><p></p><p>It looked like they would have to comb through the whole keep for the fiend friend, and there would likely be more bloodshed than they had even seen in the golden city. It was going to be an interesting day, and likely in the negative way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 5851227, member: 53286"] "So, what exactly," Zayel inquired, much to be rid of Madam Velomina's constant talk about what he considered to be the most boring topics as to really find out, "does a summoner really do? I have learned it is a specialty of arcane magic, but a lot of people summon all sorts of things and are usually called conjurers." Happy to be asked the question, partly because being bored with the exhibition caravan's beast master's gossip as well, the plump girl sitting with them on the first wagon, flashed a smile at the young wizard. "It's not quite the same. I'm able to call forth... or maybe force into existence, not so sure yet which... beings from other planes. They can take on any sort of shape, as it seems. Before I ran from the Summoner's Guild, I saw all kinds of weird creatures. They don't seem to follow a pattern. And you need to spend a lot of magical power to help the eidolon grow – that's what they are called, eidolons – so you never really get to learn as much in the ways of other spells like normal sorcerers do. And it seems, we are not real sorcerers anyway, as we are not normally associated with any bloodline." Zayel nodded. "So those beings are under the summoner's control? All the time until the summoner dies? Isn't that much like slavery?" The black haired girl shuddered. "Yes. Although the eidolons also vanish when they are killed here – they are not truly dead, you know, we can call upon them again, just like a normal summon. And usually, they also go away while we sleep. Usually, but some summoners can prevent that, and some eidolons are here for so long they do consider this plane their home and don't leave anymore at all. The issue of enslaving another being is why I ran. You see, the guild needs more apprentices, so they keep buying kids and young adults from poor parents or slave markets. I was bought as a toddler, because I supposedly displayed great talent." She grimaced at that. "How awful. I never understand why any intelligent being would want to own another. But didn't that free you, in the end?" The canvas of the wagon moved a little, and Zayel could see the outline of Mook listening in. Mook was very reluctant to talk to anyone, as her stutter was back with the lack of magic to suppress it. At the moment, her excuse was that she had a cold and was hoarse, but eventually she would have to find a way to recharge the ring or talk in her old way again. Now that she had a while without the curses, she was acting even more shy than she had all her life. Tiva, the summoner girl, shook her head. "Once you are stuck in a guild at such a young age, you are bound to a master, or several masters, and because they paid for you you are supposed to learn all you can and then work it off. I was made to summon an eidolon, even of that was the last thing I wanted to do." "No one should ever be made to do anything," Madam Velomina offered, although it was clear that she didn't understand half of what they were talking about. "So, you ran." Zayel nodded again. "I was told not to ask a woman her age, but you seem awfully young." "Not much younger than you are, I suppose, although it is hard to say with you elves." She flashed him another grin. "I'm 13, and that's almost grown up unless you are a sheltered noble." "Where's your eidolon, then? You said they forced you to call one." "I didn't call it back the last time it vanished when I had to sleep. Seems wrong for me to keep it bound here." Tiva looked a little sad despite her words. "I t-though," Mook fell in, coughing to mask her stutter, "that you s-summoners had a b-bond with the e-eidolons?" "Yeah, we do." Tiva turned to Mook and frowned. "You should be resting." "C-can't you f-feel it through the b-bond? D-don't you m-miss it?" Mook seemed exhausted from trying to mask her stutter but Madam Velomina obviously thought her too sick to be up and began to steer her back towards her cot with a lot of tut-tuts and head shaking. "I do miss it... her." Tiva looked even more sad now. ""Then don't you think," Zayel picked up now that he got where Mook wanted to go with this, "that the eidolon misses you, too? After all, you created it, or at least gave it form. You are its master. Or even its god, in a way." Tiva grimaced. "You are telling me I'm responsible," she sighed. "But I never asked to be, and I'm barely responsible for myself. And I don't want a slave, really." Zayel didn't say anymore as they kept moving towards the rising sun. But he knew already, from his own experience and others,' that it was not so easy to rid yourself of responsibility, no matter your age. He had tried to ignore it, defy it even with the antics he and his friends had been up to until not so long ago. But here he was, not sure at all where his path would lead him. "You can never be sure where your path will lead you," Bjön sighed and checked his equipment one last time. "I would have never thought I'd be sneaking into a stronghold to assassinate a devil worshiper. At least not under such circumstances. And I still have no idea what makes me do it." "Probably your sense of duty as a paladin?" Teltz offered. "Or maybe you don't want us to get caught and die without your heroic aid?" "It was a rhetorical question," the dwarf snorted, then he looked at the two of them. "I'm ready. Let's just try to avoid unneeded bloodshed." All clad in black – even the armor had been darkened with soot – they made their way out of the old temple, clinging to the nearby palisades of the town's wall until they reached the intimidating estate of the wealthy Almir family, with its dragons and gargoyles decorating the windows and roof. From there, they rushed over the street to pause in the shadow of the dogyard's shabby building. A single bark sounded as one of the dogs had either heard or smelled them, but nothing else stirred. Lerrim had visited the owner of the kennels a bit earlier and managed to spike the evening meal of the dogs with dreamleaf. Bjön had considered asking why he had a stock of the herb but then had decided against it. After all, it was handy now. "Where do we need to go?" Bjön mouthed. Lerrim pointed to one of the kennels, then he opened the door to the shack. It gave off little noise; the snoring of the inhabitants of the humble dwelling was a lot louder. Lerrim had been forthcoming with dreamleaf regarding the owner's bottle of liquor as well. By what they had found out, the supposed imbecile, Bumbo, would be sleeping now as well, having been to the baron's place earlier that night, as Lerrim had observed. The dogs were sleeping soundly, only one lifted a tired head and let out another bark, then fell back asleep. They reached the tunnel entrance in one of the bitches' kennel and just had to shove the snoring dog aside. Soon thereafter, the trio was on their way upwards in a tunnel wide enough for two to march in and not crouch too much. A small lantern they had taken from the dogyard was the only light, but it was more than enough to see the end of the tunnel in time to not bump into each other. Lerrim concentrated, and a moment later, he looked a lot like the spy usually using this tunnel, complete with a cloak too long and all the mismatched colors for the rest of the clothes. As the thief pushed up the trapdoor to come out in an empty boy of the baron's stable – as he had assumed he would – two guards turned towards him, only slightly alarmed. They relaxed immediately when, in the dim light, they took the imperfect illusion for the real Bumbo. They looked back towards their dicing game, waiting for the dice to finish spinning. They never knew the outcome, as two throwing daggers flew silently towards them, each of them embedding itself deep into one of the guard's throats. They died gargling in their own blood, not comprehending what was happening. "All clear," Lerrim announced. The others came up behind him. Bjön frowned. "Didn't we agree no unneeded bloodshed?" "This was very much needed," Lerrim replied drily. "We'll probably have to face more guards outside the stable." The two more guards sleeping against the stable walls proved no problem, indeed. Teltz threw a sleep spell at them for extra measure, glancing at the thief to let him know he could have done that before. Then they glanced around. To get to the keep from the stables, they had to go over open ground. Going as they were would cause too much attention to the bard cleaned them up with magic and then disguised himself like one of the guards. His illusion was a lot better than the one the gnome had come up with. Lerrim looked decidedly annoyed about that. Then Teltz went to disguise the dwarf as well. After that they hurried over the yard towards the entrance to the keep. No one seemed to be looking too closely as they arrived in front of the doors and knocked. The guards inside peered out at them through a spyhole. "Password?" one of them asked rather bored. Teltz and Bjön tried not to look at Lerrim at the question. They just hoped the gnome had not gotten the wrong information from the serving girl he had charmed earlier. Majek had had a restless night. Not because he was worried too much about what was ahead of them – they had been to a fabled golden city and made it through some other perils after all – but because this was the first time he was away from Zaza in almost all his life, not counting the few times when he had been with Samin – Zayel, he corrected himself – and the girls had been off to do their thing. Fact was, they had always been close enough to each other to should out from a window and get an answer, even if that would have woken or otherwise annoyed half the town. He wondered if Zaza felt the same way, or if she was adapting to the new situation quicker than he was. She used to call him too sentimental, and maybe she was right. "...badly injured," Edawon's words made it through to the maze of his thoughts The half-orc stopped daydreaming and blinked. "What?" he asked. "The fox." The ranger pointed to the edge of the forest. There, barely visible in the early morning dark, not far from the edge of a forest-shrouded lake they had noticed just a few minutes before, a fox with large ears and bright orange fur was lying bleeding, its hindquarters caught fully in the jaws of a crude iron trap. It was crying pitifully while trying to pull itself free. "Stupid people using stupid traps," Majek harrumphed. Around his hometown, such traps were forbidden; the druids made an example out of everyone not heeding the rule. Obviously, other parts of the world cared a lot less about fair hunting methods. Maybe they lacked druids here. The fox was on the grass covered shore of the lake, closer to the water than the forest. Edawon and Majek were walking on a small trail beyond the forest edge. The half-orc didn't want and noisily made his way through the bushes and low trees to reach the injured animal. The halfling quickly followed. With a few quick moves, Majek sat the lantern he was carrying down and freed the poor creature from the trap, noticing that it would not be able to walk. He was about to inquire what they were supposed to do now, but before he could get a word out, a badly aimed arrow landed a few meters next to him. Then there was screeching in the air above him. When he looked up, the alchemist could see 2 large black birds, somewhat like crows just bigger. They were going to attack Edawon. "Hobgoblin," the ranger shouted and pointed. Majek looked towards a patch of bushes directly at the river. Sure enough, a wildly painted hobgoblin stood there, firing another arrow that missed by not so much. "Trap," Majek growled. "The fox was bait. I'll give him bait." He uncorked a flask from his belt – one of the last of his alchemist's fires – and aimed it at the bush. The foiiage wouldn't be dry this time of year, but alchemist's fire didn't care about that. His aim proved to be true and before the hobgoblin attacker could aim another arrow at one of them, the bushes with him still inside went up in flames. "Hobgoblin torch," the half-orc nodded, pleased with himself. He didn't even notice that, a few weeks ago, he would have been shocked at the pure idea to torch a living being like that. The hobgoblin shrieked and did the only thing he could do. He jumped into the water. It did him little good, however, as a giant snake shot out from the icy lake and grabbed the trashing prey. The big ravens flew off once their master was gone. "Looks like we better keep some distance to that shore," Edawon said, checking out his cuts. Then he moved to the terrified fox. "Do we have any healing magic left?" "Not that much. Sure you want to use it on the fox?" Majek was doubtful. As much as he loved animals, healing magic was hard to come by, now that Mook and Zayel were not with them. They had already invested quite some of the money gained in their earlier exploits into potions and would probably need to invest even more. "I can patch her up, but I would have to carry her with us," Edawon explained. "And I am rather certain what we are about to do doesn't need an injured animal we would need to protect." "Alright." Majek went through his backpack and handed Edawon one of the almost empty salves. Those were as effective as any potion, but of course you could only use them on the outside, so they were a bit less expensive. The first hint of real sunbeams could be seen through the branches and over the lake now. Majek gathered the lantern he had put down when he had freed the fox and put it out. "Looks like this is going to be an interesting day. In the positive way." "Red crow, white crow," Lerrim said, trying to sound as bored by the procedure as the guard was. The spyhole closed, and a moment later the door swung open. As soon as they were inside, the door closed again, the guards not paying any more attention, looking ready to fall asleep. That was what they had hoped for and the reason for sneaking it at this time of day. They pretended not to care either and quickly looked around. Heavy pine doors fitted with brass moldings depicting ravens in flight gave way to a T-shaped entry hall. Marble plinths in each of the four corners supported claw-footed braziers holding cherry-red coals. Thick tapestries were hanging from the east and west walls, starting near the twenty-foot-high ceiling and reaching within inches of the gray flagstone floor. Each one depicted a murder of crows with sparkling black gemstones for eyes—one on a field of white, the other on a field of crimson. They knew from the servant girl that the baron's sleeping room was on the second floor, so they kept moving to the end of the hall. After another quick look, they turned right to where the stairs where. "Left room next to the balcony," Lerrim whispered, although no one was close to hear them and even if so, his whispering would have probably been more suspicious than speaking normally. A wide hallway ran the length of the keep’s second floor, ending in stairs at one end and doors out to a balcony at the other. Five other doors exited the hallway into adjacent chambers. Paintings, tapestries, and narrow pedestals supporting ivory busts decorated the walls of the hallway. To their dismay, 8 guards stood watch along the hallway. Lerrim hissed. The girl he had made to tell him the basics had never mentioned them. "Run," Teltz whispered without moving his mouth. "Say you need to talk to the baron right now. We'll take care of the rest." Confused by the situation and not knowing what else to do, the gnome nodded and started walking very fast rather than running towards the balcony, ignoring the guards next to the stairs. "Need to talk to the baron," he huffed, making it sound like he had come running all the way. The guards, holding out spears at the ready, didn't seem to know what to do. It seemed that the baron's spy coming here this time of day was not a normal occurrence. All their eyes on the supposed spy, they ignore the supposed guards. Not wanting to waste too much magic if he could help it, Teltz drew his own knifes and proved he could hit a small target as well as the gnome. He had the 2 closest guards in the hall downed when Lerrim, pretending to be out of breath, bowed down to put his hands on his knees. He had no idea which of the doors to turn to now. Bjön was following as quickly as he could but it took him longer to cut down the guards at the stairs than it took Teltz to move on to the next two guards. Their total surprise, both at the spy's appearance and at being attacked, stopped them from doing anything but dying, yet Bjön had the feeling his short dwarf legs would never make it to any other guard. They did not have to, either. Suddenly righting himself, Lerrim threw another dagger which sank into the heart of one of the guard, then jumped at the other with a much larger knife. Teltz made a weird gesture with his hand, much like tying a bowstring, and one of the remaining guards grasped for air while turning blue. The bard paid little attention as he as already avoiding the spear attack of the last guard while cutting his throat. No sound had occurred and the paladin realized one of them, probably Teltz, must have used a silence spell. Even his own footsteps were not audible anymore as he moved closer to them. Lerrim, covered in blood although the illusion somewhat masked it, tore the door to the left room at the end of the hallway open and stormed in, Teltz right behind. Barely avoiding a curse, the dwarf followed suit. He almost bumped into the bard, who had stopped suddenly. The paladin poked his head around the tall man's hip and saw what had brought the others to a sudden stop. A huge four-poster bed covered in thick blankets and feather pillows dominated the eastern half of this palatial sleeping chamber. A thick rug of crimson and gold with ravens in flight running along its tasseled edges covered the floor in the center of the room. A massive fireplace of gold-flecked black marble protruded from the northern wall, banked coals perfectly warming the chamber. Paintings depicting various members of the Vendikon family adorned the walls between narrow, wood-shuttered arrow-slits. A narrow table along the southeast wall held additional blankets and a hooded lantern. The bed was well used, but the baron was not in it. "What now?" Teltz mouthed, the silence spell still being in effect. None of them had considered the fact that, despite the winter sun coming up late, the baron might be up at dawn already. Teltz quickly checked the bathroom and dresser. The bath had been recently used, which meant the accursed man was indeed already up. Bjön took charge and pointed back to the door. If the baron was up, a servant might come up any time, and the last thing they needed was the alarm raised. The others nodded and followed him out. Not knowing where else to search, the paladin walked to the opposite door. He bashed it open, axe at the ready. There was still no sound as they entered. A large, U-shaped table filled most of the space of this carpeted room. Eight upholstered, high-backed chairs surrounded the table, while a ninth, which looked more like a throne, sat at the center of the southern end. Tall, narrow windows of stained glass were flanked by thick burgundy curtains with golden crows stitched into them. But the room was empty, not even a servant was stirring. Lerrim shrugged and pointed to the hallway again, and the paladin nodded. But the next room down the hall proved to be another disappointment. A long preparation table dominated the center of this obviously private kitchen. Pots and pans and other cooking implements hung from a rack suspended over it. A hearth along the southern wall glowed with banked coals. A long shelf and cabinet combination full of food, seasoning, and crockery completely covered the west wall. Two female servants were about, cleaning up the floor and table. One of them looked up and tried to cry out an alarm, but the silence still centered on Teltz didn't allow her to cause a fuzz. A moment later, the two women fell down asleep. Bjön wondered how many more of those sleep spells the bard could produce as he tied them up. Once more, they turned to leave as he was done. It looked like they would have to comb through the whole keep for the fiend friend, and there would likely be more bloodshed than they had even seen in the golden city. It was going to be an interesting day, and likely in the negative way. [/QUOTE]
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