Chapter Fourteen

At breakfast the next morning the party sat quietly in the dining hall as they ate. It was their first meal without their former hosts, Bilben and his snarky apprentice Nyx. Samash and Kuku had done their best to prepare breakfast for everyone, cooking ham, eggs, and potatoes. The party poked and prodded at the overcooked breakfast, Tamar turning her soft pink nose up at it. Even Onika seemed uninterested in eating any of the food prepared. Cotton was first to break the silence.

"Why don't I see if I can whip us up some porridge before some of you set out for the morning?" the gnome said as he hopped down from his seat and moved to the kitchen. Samash and Kuku could only look at one another and shrug, Kuku finally letting out a cackle of a laugh.

"Sorry guys," Samash said. "We tried. Guess cooking never was my strong suit, even by orcish standards." Kuku slapped him on the back as he laughed, Samash grimacing in reaction, standing from his seat and collecting up the plates from everyone around him. He glanced down to Onika who turned her own nose away from the plates he was now carrying.

"I'll be fine, actually," said Bran as he stood from the table. "I'll just grab something on the way. There's a very small window that I can meet up with my guy so I'd best be off." Stepping away from the table Bran moved to the entranceway of the dining hall and looked back to the party. "Good luck on your parts, Tamar, Crom, and Ari. I'll see the rest of you soon enough." He sauntered out the room, grabbing his brown leather tri-corner hat from the coat rack as he went.

"Wha him mean good luck Ari?" the druid asked in confusion as she reached for a piece of fruit. She looked about the room and searched for an answer. She was back in her green robes and boots, looking every part an adventurer with all of her trinkets and pouches hanging off of her. In her hair golden jewelry and clasps decorating her dreadlocks. Thin golden strands of woven silk laced their way through some of her individual locks.

Kuku leaned back to address her from his seat on the bench. "We'd talked last night about you going with Tamar and Crom while they spy on and infiltrate the cultists, gathering more valuable information." Ari looked shocked, her mouth hanging open.

"Why would mi go ona mission like dat? Mi a druid, nah a tief," exclaimed Ari in a thick patois accent. "Dat's nah mi skill set." She leaned back to look at Kuku awaiting his response.

Riri laughed. "Yeah, don't send a druid ta do a rogues work. Gwon, tell us why ya tink she'd be good at dis? What cyan she do?"

"Actually we were referring to your wild shapes, Ari," remarked Tamar from beside her. "You can blend in better than anyone else as a cat, a bird, or even a fly. You can get places that most of us can't go undetected."

"Okay," Ari finally said after thinking it over for a moment. "Dat makes more sense. Mi cyan do dat nah problem." She smiled feeling a new kind of useful as Cotton came out with bowls of porridge for everyone. The steam rolled off the top of the bowls as he passed them around. Coming up to Onika Cotton dropped a platter of raw meats for the tiger before going back to passing out the bowls. Onika quickly began to tear into the meat with an unsatiable hunger. Riri looked down and smiled as she watched Onkia eat, pleased that Cotton had remembered the big cat as she turned towards her hot bowl of porridge.

"When do we leave?" asked Ari with a mouthful of porridge. She repeatedly flung her dreadlocks over her shoulder as she ate, trying to keep them out of her breakfast.

"We'll set out just as soon as breakfast is finished and I've had a pipe," said Crom from across the table. He was once more in his primary form, that of a thin half-elf with silvery long straight hair. He'd already donned his black leathers for the day and at his feet had his backpack where he kept various disguises. It had taken a long time for Crom to divulge to the party that he was in fact a changeling, only recently in their adventures together allowing them to discover his secret. Shortly afterwards he had disappeared after drawing a card from his deck of many things. It had only felt like he'd been gone a few days and was surprised to find out he'd disappeared for months. He was relieved when the party showed up to save him and found he was more relaxed around them now than he ever was.

Kuku quickly swallowed down his hot porridge much to everyone's surprise and stood from the table gathering up his bowl. Looking over to Ari he said, "I for one am glad to see you back in your robes," he chuckled. "I can do without seeing so much of you."

Ari looked up confused once more, spoon in hand. "Wha ya gwon about? Do witout seein so much ah mi?" Riri laughed aloud. She knew exactly what Kuku was getting at, and by the looks on everyone else's face so did they.

"Ya dress, girl! Dat white sheer ting ya been wearin de last couple ah days," Riri called out. Ari still looked confused as she stared at Riri. "Ya showin ya business ta everybody around when ya wear dat. Do ya not know it's see through?" Ari looked stunned as she began to blush. She quickly looked down, letting her dreadlocks fall to cover her face, her elven ears poking out through.

"Nah," she said quietly. "Mi didn't know. Just liked de way it felt against mi skin." She pulled her arms in and placed her hands in her lap. Tamar leaned over and gave her a squeeze, leaning down so Ari could see her soft smile.

"Don't sweat it, kid," she said with sisterly tones. "We all get embarrassed sometimes. Best it happens around family instead of a crowd of strangers."

"At least de strangas dun know mi," Ari quietly retorted, still hiding her face behind her hair. Crom stood up from his bowl as Kuku headed out of the dining hall chuckling.

"I'm done here. I'll be smoking my pipe out on the balcony, we'll leave shortly after," Crom announced. "And Ari, I thought your dress was very pleasant." He smirked. "Nice figure by the way." Ari's eyes popped open wide as she turned red in the face.

"Crom!" shouted Tamar and Riri in unison as the assassin gathered up his bowl and spoon and swiftly headed out of the dining hall for the balcony.

Bran walked the streets of Market Ward with a saunter, meandering from stall to stall looking casually over the different wares of each merchant as he went. Picking a large red apple up from a vendor he tossed them some copper and bit into the crisp side of the apple. Juices ran down his short moustache which he wiped away with the sleeve of his linen shirt. He'd made sure to strap both his swords to his belt and a bandoleer that went across his black vest held his waterskin and flask. Bran tipped his tri-corner hat at some pretty young maidens that he offered a charming smile to.

Sliding away from the merchant stands Bran made his way over to the docks that resided in the northernmost part of the ward. Once there he slid onto a small boat and walked swiftly to the cabin on deck. He knocked twice then paused before knocking three more time in short succession. He heard a low grumble from inside as something began to stir about. A curtain moved in the window before he could get a glance at what peered out as the door swung open. "Whatta you want?" came a raspy voice from the door.

Sitting at the edge of a makeshift bed with her muscular body only half covered in blankets was Xasia, a half-orc fighter who'd been down on her luck for some years. She'd fallen in with thieves and ruffians as muscle to make ends meet and had made a home for herself on this ramshackle boat she managed to buy with her meager earnings. Her dark long mohawk was a mess and she squinted into the morning light to see Bran. Lying next to her above the sheets was a naked man of slender build and matted curly hair. Xasia moved the blanket to cover her breast as she regarded Bran. "Why are you here?" she asked impatiently.

Bran leaned against the door frame with a crooked smile, careful not to knock off any of the wood as he removed his hat and said, "My dearest Xasia. I have need of one of your contacts this morning. I'm willing to make it worth your while," he smiled as he lowered his hat in his hands.

"Put that stupid hat back on your head," Xasia said gruffly. "You know I don't trust your fast hands. Keep them empty and where I can see them." She looked over at the man in her bed who was either sleeping or passed out. She shrugged and shoved him off her bed with a thud. "Get going, Mav. I got business here."

Mav woke with a start as his naked body hit the soggy wooden floor. His eyes shot open and his body shuttered as he came to. Looking around he saw the half-orc on the bed and the silhouette of a pirate in the door. Frantically he gathered his clothes and boots and squeezed past Bran in the doorway, only recognizing who he was as he passed, staring at him in wonderment. "You're…"

"Yup. Bran Blackheart, that's me," Bran said as he turned to face the man, glancing down low on the man and bringing his gaze back up with a surprised look. Bran fished around in his coin purse and presented the man with five gold pieces. "For your trouble, good man. Don't spouge – I mean, don't spend it all in one place." The man nodded gratefully and quickly accepted the coin, running off naked down the dock. Bran turned back to Xasia and let out a heavy breath.

Xasia was already up and getting dressed, pulling on a linen shirt exposing her breasts to him and then her black leather breeches that she struggled to get over her backside. She mussed her hair to get it to fall in place and looked up to Bran, folding her muscular arms over her chest. "Alright then, Blackheart, let's make this worth my while."

Bran nodded and stepped into the cabin. Pulling a separate coin pouch from his vest pocket he tossed it towards Xasia. She caught it without moving and weighed it in her hand. Opening the pouch she poured the contents into her large hand and counted. "Twenty gold pieces? Do you take me for a common thief?" she said irritatingly. She quirked a fine dark brow as she looked back to the pirate. Bran had to admit that she was pretty for a half-orc, despite her muscular form, or maybe because of it as he did have a thing for admiring the athletic form of adventuring women. He smiled and reached into his other vest pocket.

"Of course not my dear friend. Here, this is the other half," he said as he tossed another coin purse to Xasia. This one she unfolded her arms to catch, smirking at the additional weight. "It's eighty gold coins," he told her, "So that's a hundred gold total. Am I worth your time now?"

"I'm not your friend, Blackheart, but yes, this will do. Sit down," she said as she pulled a rickety old chair from the corner of the room, "tell me what you need." Xasia sat at the corner of her bed, legs open, looking intimidating as always. Bran swallowed.

"I need drawings of the interior of a building, and I need them as soon as possible. I have a group of people waiting on me before we can start our mission," Bran rattled off quickly, easing back gently into the old chair.

"What's this mission and why do you need architectural drawings," Xasia asked suspiciously. She had no trust for the pirate. He had left her high and dry before. She'd swore she'd kill him if she ever saw him again, but he did have a habit of paying good coin when he came around. Bran shifted in his chair nervously under her harsh gaze.

"Without telling you too much, there's a dangerous cult after my friends and I and if we don't dispatch them they'll eventually kill us. The drawings are so we can ambush them in their own hideout and cut them out at the source." Bran let out another breath as he finished, looking back up to Xasia to see if what he'd said satisfied her.

She smiled wide, her one remaining tusk peeking out from behind her lower lip. Gods she is cute when she smiles, he thought to himself. "It's nice to hear you have friends, though I doubt they would describe you the same way," she teased. "Tell you what, you let me in on the ambush and I'll help you out," she said as she stood up from the bed, towering over the pirate. Bran balked in response. He shook his head in disbelief and looked back to her with scrutiny.

"You want to help us ambush a cult here in the city? You do realize that this could go horribly wrong and we could all end up dead," Bran asked as he watched her.

Xasia waved her hands around her. "Because I have so much to live for here in this deathtrap. I miss adventuring and I really miss a good fight. This sounds like both of them." She paused as she thought for a moment. "The hundred gold plus I get to tag along and if you pull one of your famous disappearing tricks when things go south, I want in on the escape. Don't leave me to die. Again…" Her brow furrowed as she brought up the fateful day that led to so much distrust towards Bran Blackheart. He squirmed uncomfortably in his chair a bit as he thought over her proposition.

"Any way we can just do the hundred gold? Maybe an additional fifty gold and no accompanying me?" he asked squeamishly.

"No deal," Xasia glowered. "Those are my terms. Take it or don't, but I'm keeping the gold as an apology for you chasing off my toy."

"The man or his – er, never mind," Bran stammered. "Okay fine, you've got a deal, but let's get those drawings quickly so we can get back to the tower and start forming a plan of action," Bran said as he stood from the chair. "They'll be waiting for our return."

"There's a tower, too!?" Xasia asked with wide eyed excitement and a big grin.

"Brother Francis!," exclaimed the fat man from his office in the rear of the building. "So nice to see you again. How can we help you today."

Crom furrowed his brow at the man, doing his best impression of Brother Francis that he'd picked up on from the rude man in the tavern. "This contract is not going the way I'd intended it," he said in frustrated tones as the cultist. "I'm here to pull the contract. We've found other means to dispose of this party of foolhardy would-be heroes."

"I'm afraid we can't just pull the contract," the fat man responded to Brother Francis. "This is a very popular contract among my patrons. In fact we have three more assassins out right now looking for the Oakdell Circle. Word is they're in the city right now." Brother Francis recoiled with a sneer.

"In the city? Right this very moment?" Crom spat in Brother Francis' snide tone. "That is hardly a success in the context of this contract. You are simply not delivering results. Already we've had six assassins fail at different attempts." He crossed his arms indignantly across his chest and scowled at the fat man behind his desk. "We'll be taking matters into our own hands. Drop the contract," he said with emphasis.

"You seem pretty certain of this. So be it," said the man behind the desk. "Know that we keep the retainer fee you paid up front and any contracts out currently remain in place. We don't call contracts back, Brother." He shuffled some papers on his desk and pulled out Brother Francis' original contract with the man from the bottom of a stack, handing it across his desk to him. "If any of the current assassins make good on the contracts that are out now you'll be expected to pay the reward."

"Can you at least give me the names of the assassins that are out hunting right now or at least some information about them so I know who to expect?" asked Brother Francis in an uncharacteristically submissive tone.

The fat man behind the desk quirked an eyebrow at him. He looked over Francis skeptically for a moment before sighing and pulling out three more parchments. "These are the assassins out hunting your quarry at this moment. Some of the best we've got," he said as he handed the sheets over to Crom. The disguised assassin made mental notes of all the information on the papers before handing them back. Two professional assassins he'd heard of before and one new face. Crom knew he could best the two professionals but the newcomer was a total mystery.

"Fine then," Brother Francis spat out. "Thank you for your time. I hope that we do not have to meet like this again," he continued as he headed for the door to the tiny building. Phase one was complete. Now to link up with Tamar and Ari and move onto phase two of the plan.

Ari sat on the rooftop with Tamar, Kevin, and Adora. Ari played around with her druidcraft on some of the naturally growing plants atop the roof out of sight of the street while Tamar laid flat to remain unseen while she observed the coming and going of the cultists hideout. She'd made sure to check for any guards or sentries on or in any adjacent buildings and she'd draped her cloak over her to avoid detection. Kevin and Adora were once again invisible and perched at the edge of the roof looking down onto the hideout. Tamar watched as various dark robed cultists came and went, counting fifteen different cultists so far. Some hung around the front exterior of the building while others came and went. Still more entered the building and never came out. Tamar guessed them all to be casters since they didn't wear any armor or carry any weapons. It made sense since they'd heard this was a cult primarily consisting of wizards and warlocks. Judging their skill level was difficult, though, so it would be up to Crom to see if he could figure out how strong they were once inside.

"I can't tell if Crom's gone in yet," Tamar said to Ari behind her. "For all I know he could be one of the people I'm staring at right now."

"Did him say would stop by ta see us first or nah?" asked Ari while she increased the size of a nearby flower bloom with her magic. It comforted her to find the natural beauty tucked away in the busy port city.

"He didn't, and I'm wondering if we should go ahead and send you in or not. What are you feeling?" Tamar asked Ari. She looked back to see Ari crawling on her belly to get up alongside Tamar. Ari came up under Tamar's cloak and looked around at the front of the building, trying to see what kind of critters were already there. She saw a couple of cats, a few squirrels and birds, and a horse tied out front. She watched as one of the cats entered through a small cat door cut into the front door of the building.

"Mi tink mi see ah way in," she smiled as she pointed out the cat door to Tamar. Looking back she said, "But like you, Mi nah sure if it be good ta go witout Crom. Would like ta know what him looks like before going in."

"Well look no further," said Crom from behind them. "I've managed to cancel the contract but we still have three active assassins after us from before," he stated as he crawled up along Tamar's other side. He had already donned his robes to match those of the cultists and had his pack with him which he pushed down towards their feet. "You ladies ready?" he asked.

"Ready," said Tamar keeping an eye on the door.

"Ready," echoed Ari. "Whatcha gonna look like?" Ari asked Crom. He looked over to her with his piercing silver eyes and smirked.

"If they had any ladies in their cult I'd go in there looking like you with that fine body," he taunted. Ari blushed again and recoiled at his comment. Looking back at him Ari saw his face was already morphing into that of an older human, short black hair and a full black beard. He took on a heavier body type and even shrunk down a few inches. "See you inside, kitty cat." Ari smirked as she popped into a brown and white tabby cat. Crom inched away from the edge before standing up out of sight. He picked up Ari and climbed down the ladder on the building to the ground below. Setting Ari down Crom walked melded in with the foot traffic to the hideout and into the small crowd of cultists as he made his way inside, Ari not far behind, he tail swaying back and forth as she went.