Chapter Eleven - The Heist Pt.2

With a plan in motion all they need to do now is wait for him to show up.  Arradel stays in the Donkey for several hours while the others hide.  Sure enough, Baltham shows up, but not alone.  He has a mean looking bodyguard with him.  After the wizard has taken his fill on drinks and food, he proceeds to leave the bar, and Arradel follows him.

The other three tail her, but keep their distance.  But just as Arradel passes a side street, three Knights of Alabaster walk out, and turn towards the three adventurers, and cut them off from their friend.  Arradel notices this but continues to follow the wizard, leaving a trail of arrows drawn on dusty windows in case they need to find her.

The guards happen to be the same three that Radamyr tried to charm on his first visit to the city, and just when things start to get a bit heated between them, there's a strange green glow that starts emanating from under Radamyr's cloak.  Radamyr tries to tell them it's nothing, but something has aroused the orb's magic, and soon a brilliant green flash occurs, and they are all knocked unconscious.

Arradel has kept a safe distance and manages to tail them all the way to the wizard's home, but when the bodyguard goes to do one final check of the streets, he spots what appears to be an old woman staring at them.  He approaches Arradel, wanting to politely ask what's wrong, but he is no fool, and sees right through her disguise.

When she tries to flee, he reaches out to grab her, but only grabs the costume she was wearing, and she barely makes it away.  Forsaking her costume she bolts, giving the fighter a full view of her armour before taking off out of sight. 

The other three wake up, with dirt and sand in their mouth and when they look around, they realize they are still standing in the street, but the three knights of alabaster, are not.  The orb has sent them away somewhere.  Once again, the orb has intervened with no explanation.  

When Arradel runs into her compatriots again they all have a story to share.  They tell the rogue about what happened with the knights, and Arradel informs them that their plan may be compromised.  Realizing their group may have just given their target a head's up that something is wrong, they decide to throw caution to the wind, and try something crazy. With the sun setting after a long day of information gathering, and waiting, they decide the best course of action is to simply walk up, and knock on the front door.

Arradel leads them down the winding path to the part of town with houses built with strange angles and alleys, until they walk up the front steps and reach the front door.  Radamyr and Liaathvain stand at the entrance, and begin to knock.

When the fighter answers the door, he is immediately suspicious and asks them what it is they want, noticing Arradel puts him on his guard.  They try to reason with him, but to no avail.  They aren't offering up any reason that he would believe, and he slams the door in their face.  After repeated attempts at negotiating fail, Arradel decides to sneak around the house to look for another way in.  At this point, Radamyr brandishes a spear he had purchased, and uses it to knock on the door.

When the knocking continues even after the fighter drives a sword through the door, in attempts to send them a message, the bodyguard decides he has had enough.  He bursts open the door with his weapon drawn, and the group finds themselves in a fight for their lives.  

They are severely outmatched by this man, but by sheer stroke of luck they manage to disarm him of his greatsword, a weapon capable of inflicting a lot of damage.  Bogor begins to rage and charges the fighter.  A big struggle ensues in the house, causing a lot of noise.

Meanwhile Arradel has found  a small basement window, with a lone candle lit, and she manages to shatter it and make her way inside, entering what she believes to be a secret basement.  She gathered this by the odd staircase leading up to the floor above.  She assumes there must be a trap door at the end of it.

The fighting continues inside, and Liaathvain manages to overhear a strange chanting come from around the corner, as she goes to look up she sees Baltham, preparing to cast a spell at the top of the stairs.  Not looking to kill him, she attempts to subdue him with non-lethal attacks.  She strikes him with the flat of her blade, but he is more sturdy that she realizes.  His eyes light up, and fire forms in his hands and he sends a Fireball flying at her, and she suffers more damage in one spell than any one source from their whole adventure.  They realize they are in a seriously dangerous situation, as the fighter is also not showing signs of slowing down.  

Just as the battle looks to be turning in favour of the wizard, he offers them a deal.  If the other three leave, he will spare Liaathvain's life.  Showing that he means buisness, he immediately begins to cast another fireball.  Liaathvain cries out for the group to listen. Being left to Baltham is a risk she is willing to take.

Realizing they have a very short amount of time before Liaathvain could be killed, Bogor makes a split second decision. While raging, he charges past the fighter, and runs up the stairs wielding his battle hammer. With no signs of holding back, he raises his weapon above his head for one powerful swing. He brings it down upon the wizard, and he crumples to the floor.  

The commotion of the battle has caused a few nearby citizens to panic, and they begin calling out for guards to investigate.  With their plan having gone completely awry, they now realize they have murdered their target.

What they haven't noticed yet, are the guards that are beginning to make their way up the road.

To Be Continued...

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