Chapter 19: Heist Almighty
Time seemed to be going by so quickly now activity was picking up. Harrian had all but lost track of what day it was and how long they'd been in the city on their search. He hoped that this was the end – or at least, the beginning of the end. However long all of this had lasted, it was long enough. He'd had enough of double-crossings, mysterious powers and hidden secrets.
There was no telling what this scroll Bodhi wanted and the Cowled Wizards had was. The only way to find out was to get it. Ridiculous. The only reason he wanted it was because his enemies – and yes, he was quick to put the vampire on an 'enemy' list – wanted it. If it could aid him on his quest and be detrimental to the undead, then he was more than happy to follow the trend.
Right then, he was lurking around the Government Building with Yoshimo and Haer'Dalis, scrutinising the scroll Tellis had given him. As bad luck would have it, it was pouring with rain, and his cloak was already soaked through. Still, he lifted it further up over him, protecting the piece of paper which was all they had to go by on this quest.
"Some might consider it an omen, my raven, that the heavens have decided to open upon us prior to our endeavour," Haer'Dalis murmured, peering over his shoulder to read the scroll. They were in an alleyway around the back of the building, Yoshimo out by the entranceway keeping an eye on the Council Building's doors.
Corias had decided only to take those two on him for this theft. He was planning to do this quietly, rather than storming the building rashly. Minsc was far too conspicuous, and not really suited to such subterfuge. Jaheira, whilst more level of head than anyone else in the party, was similarly unsuitable, without the required skills. Anomen had refused point blank to be directly involved in thieving from a governmental body.
So it was just him, Yoshimo and Haer'Dalis. The Bounty Hunter was clearly invaluable, more suited to subterfuge and sneaking around than Corias, but Harrian felt a pang as he looked at the tiefling. He had magical skills which could be of use inside a mage's stronghold, but Corias would have given anything to have Imoen in his place for this task.
The Kara-Turan looked around irritably. "Are we ready?" he asked, water streaming down his face as he grimaced. Why he had refused to take his cloak, Harrian had absolutely no idea. If he wanted to be wet, though, that wasn't the swashbuckler's problem.
Corias nodded grimly. "As we'll ever be. Let's get this done," he murmured, then he and Haer'Dalis stepped out towards the entranceway of the Council of Six building. Fortunately, the two guards outside had not noticed them.
Harrian nodded to the tiefling, who bowed his head, murmuring some arcane words under his breath. The bright blue light of an incantation rose from Haer'Dalis's fingers, then shot out and split into three forks, surrounding the trio.
"Invisibility," the blade declared with satisfaction as they faded, visible only to themselves and each other. Harrian really didn't understand the particulars of the spell – he was a thief, not a wizard, but he just went along with it.
"It won't last forever, however," Haer'Dalis continued as they hurried through the building's open doors. "We shall have enough time to get through the main entranceway and to the first level, if we are speedy."
They were speedy. Tolgerias seemed a little surprised as they stepped near him, and Harrian feared for a moment that they had been heard, but the Cowled Wizard merely shook his head, seemingly dismissing it.
Corias nodded towards the great staircase, leading up to the offices of the building, the grand chamber for the Council of Six, and, more importantly, the East Wing, the Cowled Wizards' section of the building. Tellis's report had told him where the Grandmaster's office was. As long as they had invisibility on, they should be alright, but as Haer'Dalis had pointed out, the magical change was only temporary. And he doubted the Cowled Wizards would allow someone to merely make themselves invisible, stroll into a room and steal something as valuable as this scroll seemed to be.
They were in the corridors of the east wing before the invisibility started to wear off, but thankfully, there was nobody in sight. The government building seemed to have the same motif all over – stone structure, the odd carpet on the ground and decoration on the wall – but the Cowled Wizards' part was clearly less adorned than the rest. What use did mages have for such adornment?
Harrian looked at the other two. "This shouldn't be too hard," he said, his voice low. "But the important thing is that we don't get identified. If the Cowled Wizards know we have the scroll, then it'll all be over. I don't think we can go directly against a force as legitimate power like them, not openly. Our defence will be in our secrecy."
Yoshimo's expression was emotionless. "Then we had best be careful, and move quickly." He looked over Corias' shoulder as the thief opened the scroll Tellis had given him. "For all we know, the Cowled Ones may already know of our presence."
Harrian resisted the urge to shiver at the bounty hunter's excessively morbid declaration, and the trio hurried down the corridor towards where Tellis had directed the scroll would be. Speed and time were of the essence, he was sure of it.
The swashbuckler kept his senses open to any traps, magical or otherwise, that could have been set up by the Cowled Wizards. This was starting to be far too easy… they had made it to the Grandmaster's office without a hitch, without running into anyone, and without traps.
Corias inspected the door suspiciously, his brow deeply furrowed. "Door's unlocked," he declared happily, and, before anyone could stop him, he pushed it open and stepped inside, into the officer.
A high-pitched alarm that had to be magically produced sounded in their ears, and several clicks could be heard that were recognised by the trained ears as a variety of traps setting in motion. The Cowled Wizards had not let them meander in… they seemed to have just given them a chance to meander out before they got themselves into too much trouble.