Head of the class (stonegod judging)[Concluded]

[IcyCool]

At Raven's words, several of the men in the room can be heard whispering excitedly and Mad Dog's eye lights up. "Split any treasure you say? Hmmm..." He motions one of his men over and says, "Fetch the maps." The man steps out of the room, and returns a short while later with a bundle of parchment. He spreads them out on the table in front of the party, weighting them at the corners with candlesticks, cups, and plates. Raven notices that they appear to be crude maps of the abandoned bakery, Casino, and abandoned brewery, as well as some of their surrounding area. Mad Dog stands, and while belting on his sword he asks, "What did you have in mind?"

OOC: I'll go ahead and mention it again, as it might be relevant to negotiations. Did you want to keep the gear from the cultists who attacked you at the lab? You gave William (the red robed cultist) back his sickle, and the Watch wanted only to keep one sickle and one cult symbol, but the rest was yours if you wanted it. I'm assuming the answer is yes, because who doesn't want loot?

 

[Patlin]

ooc:
*Sits up straight and raises hand!*

I want loot!

Anvuss wasn't there when the loot would have been collected, though...

 

[Someone]

ooc: Of course we keep the loot. That goes without question. Unless it's cursed. Then not.

"Actially we were thinking on attacking tomorrow" comments Seat. "That'll give us time to prepare some magic that'll no doubt be useful. Also we had a companion out there gathering data about one of our suspects."

 

[Manzanita]

Raven moves forward to examine the maps, no longer fearing being attacked. "Nothing like a good fight to get the heart beating, eh?" she asks, smiling. Inside, though, she is getting nervous. She didn't trust these men, and splitting the treasure could be problematic. In fact, even if they win, if her side is weakened after the battle, the bedlam boys could well turn on them in order to seize all the treasure. Still, it seems a gamble worth taking.

"We would prefer to sneak in. We dont' want our hostage being killed during a frontal assault. Do you know which building their leader is likely to occupy? If we can take him out, the rest shouldn't cause you any long-term trouble." She looks at the maps. The main doors would probably be guarded &/or trapped, though who really knew with insane cultists. Raven would prefer to try a secret approach first. Perhaps climbing through a second story window.

"You know this area better than we do. If we do have a pitched battle, how long do we have until the watch show up? When would be the best time of day to attack? Perhaps we could hit them while a number of their warriors are out."

She turns to the spellcasters. "What spells do you have that could help?"

 

[IcyCool]

ooc: Of course we keep the loot. That goes without question. Unless it's cursed. Then not.

"Actially we were thinking on attacking tomorrow" comments Seat. "That'll give us time to prepare some magic that'll no doubt be useful. Also we had a companion out there gathering data about one of our suspects."

Mad Dog nods, "We can meet back here tomorrow, if you like." He glances around the dining room, "If you need to, I suppose you could sleep in here. It won't be comfortable. I'll send Aver to fetch your companion." he says, motioning at the Bedlam Boy that led you here.

 

[IcyCool]

"We would prefer to sneak in. We dont' want our hostage being killed during a frontal assault. Do you know which building their leader is likely to occupy? If we can take him out, the rest shouldn't cause you any long-term trouble."

"We figure that he's probably holed up in that abandoned brewery" Mad Dog says, pointing at one of the maps, "That's where that fancy carriage goes to and from. We've only ever got a look at a fellow that calls himself Shiv, and some unsettling women dressed in black. You can't see their faces under those big hats and veils they wear, and they don't move right. But there's always at least two in that carriage. The carriage driver is one of the cultists. It looks like most of the cultists live in that abandoned bakery. I doubt their leader is at the Casino. I've been in there a couple of times, and not much happens their besides gambling. I think some of the cultists work in there, but I don't think they tell the management about their hobbies."

"You know this area better than we do. If we do have a pitched battle, how long do we have until the watch show up? When would be the best time of day to attack? Perhaps we could hit them while a number of their warriors are out."

"If you hit the old brewery, I doubt anything would get the Watch down there. It's mostly broken down old buildings and squatters. I suppose if you lit fire to the whole damn place, and the fire got to the point that it might threaten the home of someone who matters, you might eventually get some Watchmen down there to form a fire brigade." A slightly bitter expression briefly flits accross his face. "As for time of day, there doesn't seem to be a schedule for the carriage, and the boys we sent in went in at night."

From the maps, Raven notes that the brewery is three stories, with plenty of windows on each floor (the words, "boarded up" or "blocked" are written on the map with arrows pointing to the windows). There is a large main door, a side and rear door, and a large door permitting entry for carriages and wagons into a loading area. She also notes that there is a sewer entrance marked on the street nearby with the words "barred grate" scribbled next to it.

The bakery is a smaller, one story building, with a main entrance and a rear entrance. The windows on the map are marked similarly to the ones on the brewery map.

The casino is the most detailed of the three maps, showing a two story building with a front and rear entrance. Most of the first floor has a floorplan written down (whereas the bakery and brewery were just an outline of the building with no internal floorplan), and it is taken up by a couple of casino rooms, some privies, and a section labeled "back rooms?". The windows on the casino that are marked don't have anything written down indicated that they are boarded up or barred.

The casino and bakery maps generally mesh with what little Raven saw of the buildings earlier.

 

[IcyCool]

About an hour into Tali's vigil, movement catches his eye. He sits up and notices a black carriage looming out of the darkness of the distant street. Two lanterns, lit with an eerie green flame, hang on either side of the carriage, casting twisting shadows along the street and passing buildings. A figure in a hooded gray cloak drives the carriage, pulled along by two average looking dark-colored horses. As he watches, the carriage pulls up in front of the casino, and the armored man from the university gets out, the carriage between him and Tali. He heads inside the casino. Before the carriage begins moving back the way it came, Tali gets a glimpse of two figures sitting inside the carriage. They are draped in fine black dresses and silks, with heavy veils covering any facial features. The shape of their chests suggests a hint of femininity. Their heads seem larger than would be normal under the veils, though it is possible they are wearing hats under the veils. The one thing that really stands out about the veiled figures to Tali as he watches is that their arms, swathed as they are in fabric and covered with long, elbow length gloves, are strangely thin. When they move, which is rare, they have an odd, jerky motion to them.

 

[drothgery]

Tali tries to get a closer look at the strange figures, hoping he can deduce something about what they are, or at least describe them to the others.

 

[Manzanita]

Raven takes her time examining the maps.

"By the leader, you mean Shiv, an amored human?" Raven asks. "I think the actual leader is someone named Bryllys. Perhaps that's someone in the carrage."

Raven would prefer to wait and follow the carrage, to strike the organization at its heart. But that might be going over her head. Their real goal is to rescue Loris and obtain the codex. Loris might well be in the abandoned brewery, but the codex would not. The codex was far to small and complex to warrent leaving with a bunch of insane thugs in an abandoned building. But perhaps she was not good at second guessing an insane mind.

"How often does that carrage come? Have you ever tried to follow it?"

Also, "How well do you know the architecture around here? Do you think these buildings have basements? Also, if we were to move in force, which door could we use best? If your gang were to move down the main street you'd probably be noticed. But what if we came in from the back. Is that an alley that way?"

To her friends. "I may be able to open one of the doors quietly. Do any of you have useful spells or skills that would get us in any of the routes?"

 

[IcyCool]

Tali tries to get a closer look at the strange figures, hoping he can deduce something about what they are, or at least describe them to the others.

Tali edges in a little closer and watches the carriage carefully. When he gets close, he gets a brief, close-up look at a hand of one of the women in black. The glove at the tip of the index finger is worn away, and Tali catches a glimpse of something that he thinks might have been bone.

[sblock=Knowledge(Religion) DC 10]If that was bone, Tali would suspect that these were animated skeletons. He would be certain of it, if it weren't for their heads. Of course, Tali has heard that skeletons can continue functioning just fine without their heads...[/sblock]

Also at this distance, Tali sees that the veils of the women around the neckline and up along the sides of the head undulate and move in a disturbing manner, like several fingers are gently pushing at the fabric.

Edit - You can attempt Knowledge checks with a DC of 10 or less untrained