Chapter Fifteen
Back at the tower Bran introduced Xasia to the party. "Everybody, this is Xasia, an old friend of mine," Xasia nudged him hard, "I mean, an old compatriot of mine. She is a renowned fighter and a good person to know if you're ever in a pickle." The pirate waved his hand before the group. "Here is the Oakdell Circle, old and new, starting with Cotton, our leader of sorts in this soiree. Next to him is Samash, the previous leader and former charge of Cotton. Then there's Kuku who I freed and taught to speak," Xasia glared at Bran skeptically. He shrugged and went on. "That's Chaucer the weird little magic frog man, and then Riri and her tiger Onika. Goilon the hunter next to her. Tamar, Crom and Ari are out on another mission right now, so you'll meet them later. That's everyone," he said placing a hand on the back of his neck. "Seems we've amassed a small army here."
Cotton cheered. "Here here!," he cried out. "Welcome to the team Xasia. You'll fit right in." Xasia smiled softly, her gaze going over to Samash who she caught looking away from her at the last second. Xasia smiled softly.
"Did you get the drawings," asked Kuku as he stepped forward towards Bran. The pirate smuggler pulled a rolled-up parchment from his belt and unraveled it on the table. On the corners he placed paperweights to keep the drawing from rolling up. Waving a hand over it he stepped back as Cotton stepped up to it.
"Perfect. This tells us everything we need about the place, even secret doors and rooms," said Cotton as he looked over the drawing in detail. "Right here is a secret entrance or exit at the side of the building. And here there's a secret room just inside that door. This could be where we hole up waiting for the attack." Cotton grew excited as he looked over the plans, Samash coming forward to stand next to Cotton at the table. As if on cue Kuku, Riri, Chaucer, Goilon, and Xasia made their way around the table.
"This big room here would be a good place to draw them in for a fight," said Kuku pointing to the center of the building. "While it gives us more room to fight, it also gives them more room as well, though."
"Using de monk in de hallways witout his sword might work to our advantage as well," added Riri. "I imagine ya excel at close quarters fightin an it would leave dem ata disadvantage." Kuku thought for a moment and nodded.
"I think Riri is on to something!" said Kuku. "Do we have anyone else that can fight in close quarters? Maybe with smaller weapons or the like?"
Bran raised his hand. "I can fight in close quarters. I'm used to fighting on ships and in buildings. I think Crom can probably do the same with daggers."
"If we're figuring out who goes where we need to consider everyone's fighting style. I use a greatsword, for example, so I'd need to fight in the big room, not in hallways." She glanced over to Samash holding his halberd. "Looks like it's the same for you, Samash." Samash nodded.
"Onika can go either way, hallway or big room. Put her wit de hallway fighters an she'll be fine. I go wit her, dough," said Riri looking over the drawing.
"A package deal," said Xasia. "Nice."
"Cotton can rush the hallways with his shields," commented Samash. "We can use him to force cultists to where we want them. Maybe use him at the front entrance to push those cultists into the big room where me and Xasia will be waiting."
"I should be in the big room with you two," chimed in Chaucer. "My spells are more area of effect and work better in big spaces. Besides that it's illusions and eldritch blast."
"Okay, where's Tamar during all of this?" asked Cotton to the group. "She's stealthy but she's primarily ranged when she fights."
"Ave her an me behind Cotton as he rushes tha cultists in tha hallways," said Goilon. "Our bullets and bolts will see to it that tha cultists keep moving forward."
"It looks like if we take these two hallways," Cotton observed as he went over the map, "we can force them into the big room where Samash, Xasia, and Chaucer will be waiting."
"And Ari," added Chaucer. "Maybe she can be in bear form. That'll sure surprise the cultists," Chaucer laughed. "A giant tiger and a bear in their hideout!"
"Okay. So Bran, Crom, Riri, and Onika in one hallway while Me, Tamar, and Goilon come down the other hallway and we force them towards Samash, Xasia, Chaucer, and Ari," Cotton rattled off. "Is that everybody?"
"That's everyone," spouted off Kuku. "So it looks like we'll go through the side door for hallway one, the front entrance for hallway two, and the secret door for the big room." Cotton and Samash nodded. "Let's practice."
Outside Tamar watched as Crom and Ari slipped into the hideout. She remained under her cloak and continued to count cultists as they came and went. In all so far, she'd counted twenty-four cultists, all male, all human. She wondered how Bran and the rest of the party was doing with their mission, if they'd started planning yet. She looked up to the sun and noted it was close to noon. The sun beat down on her as she lay on the rooftop.
Inside Crom mingled with the other cultists, picking up on secret hand gestures and greetings. He watched carefully as they interacted with one another, memorizing their mannerisms and behaviors. Soon he was approached by Brother Osiris. "Ah, a new member or visiting from another sect?" the cultist asked him.
"Visiting from the Waterdeep sect, actually," responded Crom. "We heard about Acererak's defeat and I'm here to lend a hand in bringing down the group that defeated him."
"All hail the Devourer," said Brother Osiris. In unison all the other cultists nearby repeated these words, Crom included once he realized what was happening.
"Will you be joining us for morning devotion, brother?" asked Osiris. "It's just ahead in the large meeting room. I'll save you a seat." Crom nodded and offered his thanks as he followed the crowd into the large meeting room.
Down the hall Ari padded about in tabby cat form, sniffing around and jumping up onto counters. She received a few gentle pets from a few passersby and even found a bowl of dried cat food on one of the counters. Hopping down she went about exploring the building interior uninterrupted. First she found the treasurer, slipping in as someone was leaving. Next she came across some living quarters, beds and chests lining the walls. Shapeshifting out of her wild shape she quickly locked the door behind her and began rummaging through the unlocked chests. Digging into the fist trunk she found some robes, under garments, stacks of blank parchment, and a spellbook. She smiled. This is what she was after. She gently tucked the tome into her robe and moved on to the next trunk.
Back in the common room morning devotion carried on, the cultists chanting dark and ominously to the Great Devourer. Crom was careful to mimic their movements and words as he stood among them. He looked for indicators of magic users, spell focus' and spell components. As he looked around at the waistbands of the cultists, he began to see what he was looking for. Hanging from strings and chains he saw elaborate spell focus' and embroidered belt pouches. Being able to discern who was a wizard and who was a warlock was something he found difficult so he decided instead to focus on numbers. He began counting in his head all the cultists he saw. Fifty in all that he could see and count. Seeing everyone sitting down Crom followed suit. Looking towards the front he saw Brother Francis taking the podium. He smirked inside.
"Brothers! Welcome. I implore you listen to my words and take heed. Our beloved Devourer grows more powerful by the day and will soon retake his true form. We have not been beaten, only wounded. And that wound is the direct result of the foolhardy Oakdell Circle, a doomed adventuring company. Even now we have assassins after them, all of them, old and new. We will see them hunted down and murdered like the scum they are. Rejoice!" Brother Francis threw his arms up in victory to the loud cheers from the crowd. In the commotion Crom slipped to the back of the room near one of the exits. Stealthing into the shadows he brought up his hand crossbow and took aim. Moments later a small bolt appeared in between Brother Francis' eyes and he fell to the ground as cheers turned to gasps, cultists looking all around for the culprit but finding none.
"Ari," Crom called out as he tore off his robes and ran down the empty hallway. "Time to go girl!" As he rounded the corner he came across a brown and white tabby cat and scooped it up. "I sure hope you're her," he said as he burst out of the door waving down Tamar. "Time to boogie," he shouted up to Tamar who quickly disappeared from the rooftop to join him in the streets.
"What did you do?" she asked as she huffed down the street, knocking over pedestrians and merchants as she went. She saw that he was carrying a cat, presumably Ari.
"I might have killed someone," he said. "But I didn't blow our cover so there's that," he smirked evilly.
"Great. You took the first shot which means we lost the element of surprise," Tamar chastised him. "Way to go genius.'"
"You stole their spellbooks?!" exclaimed Chaucer. "That's brilliant! Now the wizards will be at a disadvantage."
"Well seeing as how Crom has already killed one of them I'd say they know we're coming," huffed Tamar. "Good thing she had the presence of mind to do something useful unlike some people." Crom snickered to himself and shrugged.
"Sometimes I just can't help myself," said the assassin. "There I go killin again." Kuku managed to suppress his laughter while Xasia let out a hearty laugh. She was going to enjoy this, she could tell already. With so many different personalities she felt like she had finally found a place where she fit in. She glanced over and caught Samash smiling at her and she offered a soft smile in return, batting her long eyelashes a bit.
Cotton shook his head in mild frustration. "Well there goes what we had been working on all day. Now that they'll be expecting us it'll be harder to get in and get through," he said with a bit of agitation in his voice. "While it's good that Ari stole those spellbooks, they'll still have time to come up with an alternative to fight us back."
Xasia stepped forward. "I think we can still stick to the plan," she said with confidence. "We just have to tweak it a little bit." Cotton and Bran both looked at her with quirked eyebrows. She went on. "Rather than rely on stealth to get us in the secret entrance why don't we just bust down the doors and go in swinging. We can still keep close quarters combat in the hallway and push them where we want them. I propose we lead off with Ari charging through the secret entrance as a large beast and stampeding whoever is in the way before letting loose a fireball or something."
"Synaptic static," added Chaucer. Xasia looked at him confused. "The spell. Instead of fireball I used synaptic static. It has a smaller radius but has a much more devastating effect." He smiled as he looked around at this party members who he was counting on to recall his casting the spell.
"Okay," continued Xasia. "Symantec Slap."
"Synaptic Static," correct Chaucer. Xasia frowned.
Bran stepped forward next to Cotton. "I think Xasia is correct, I think we can still stick to the plan the way we laid it out. I'd only add that we need to do this fast and soon while we still have a slight advantage." Everyone in the room nodded in agreeance. "Good. Then let's go gear up and get ready. We leave in an hour. Cotton go over the plan with Tamar, Crom, and Ari. Ari, I'm thinking Rhino for this one." Ari smiled mischievously and nodded in agreement. Bran smiled and walked off towards his quarters.
Riri hung back with Cotton and Ari while the old gnome went over the tactics of their ambush. Riri smiled as Cotton went over Onika's role as if she was just another party member rather than Riri's animal companion. She remembered how well the group had always received Onika, wondering if they liked the big cat more than her. She chuckled inside and reached over to scratch Onika behind the ear. The big cat purred as it closed its eyes and enjoyed the scratches.
"Brother Francis is dead!" shouted Osiris to the group as he leaned over the fallen brother. The meeting room was absolute chaos. Men ran this way and that falling over one another, unsure of what to do, not confident that another attack wouldn't burst forth from somewhere. Some cultists dashed out of the room and into the main building to search for a culprit. Others began weaving protective spells while a small group went for their weapons and spellbooks. Brother Franklin soon joined Osiris at the podium, looking down mournfully at Brother Francis. "We must find the killers, brother, and take the fight to them," Brother Franklin said harshly. "This cannot stand!"
"You think I don't know that Brother Franklin?" hissed Brother Osiris. "This must be the work of the Oakdell Circle. I don't know how, but I can't think of anyone else this brazen and this skilled."
"You think they're in the city? After us?" gasped Franklin as Brother Geoffrey approached from the side, looking down inquisitively at the dead Francis.
"Who's in the city," he asked the two that preceded him. Reaching down he ran a finger over the fletching of the bolt that was embedded in Francis' head. He looked at it thoughtfully for a moment. "Why would someone target Brother Francis? He was always so kind and gentle."
Just then Brother Bartleby burst into the meeting room from the hallway. "Our spellbooks are gone!" he cried out about the mass of confusion. "Someone's made off with our spellbooks!" Gasps could be heard throughout the room as robed figures dashed out to inspect their living quarters. Others openly wept for their loss while a few let out screams of rage.
"A lifetime of work, stolen right from under their noses," hissed Osiris. "Wizards and their books and tomes. I'd bet that the spells they have prepared at the moment aren't even combat spells. This is preposterous!" he exclaimed as he stood from the dead cultist. "Looks like it'll be up to the warlocks to defend against this unseen enemy. Brother Franklin," he snapped, "gather our brethren back here in half an hour. We're going on the defensive." With that Brother Osiris stormed out of the room and into the hallway.
Ari stood in the alley with her teammates, focusing on seeing the world through Poe's eyes as the raven flew around the cultist's hideout to survey the surroundings. As an unassuming bird Poe found he was able to fly right up to the posted cultist guards without notice. So far he had surveyed the surrounding buildings and found cultists perched on all of the adjacent buildings, crossbows at the ready. The ones that didn't have a crossbow in hand clutched tightly to a spell focus. Warlocks most likely. At the front of the building five cultists stood at the ready, three with crossbows and two with quarterstaffs and spell focuses.
Ari reported what she was seeing to the group as she saw it through her raven's eyes. To her left knelt Cotton and Bran with the building drawing adjusting their tactics as new information came in. Xasia stood over the gnome and the smuggling pirate watching them make tick marks and notes on the drawing. She was lit up with excitement and ready for battle.
Chaucer played with a bubble of water off to the side while Goilon readied his blunderbuss for battle. Riri was sharpening Onika's claws while Crom dipped a few crossbow bolts in poison. Tamar stood at the opening to the alley keeping watch, looking for any more cultists that might be lurking about.
After several minutes Ari called Poe back to her, turning to her friends and regarding the drawing that Bran and Cotton huddled around. "First we need to take out these guards overlooking the building, quickly and quietly," Bran said to the group. "That'll be Crom, Tamar, and Goilon. Chaucer cast a silence spell on Big Medicine. We'll take the guard at the highest vantage point first so Goilon can hit any of the other guards from where he is." Chaucer swept away the bubble of water and nodded to Bran. "Once the guards on the other building are downed, Me, Xasia, Cotton and Kuku will take on the 5 guards at the front. We'll need a distraction though in order to get close to them without them seeing. Maybe even a disguise."
Xasia smirked. "You always did want to see me all gussied up, Blackheart," she said teasingly. "Guess today will be that day." She let out a light laugh at her poor joke.
"Actually, I was thinking something with bulky robes like a monk or a parishioner," he said to her. "Something that conceals who we are and what we're carrying, something we can rip off and be ready to fight," he took a breath and continued on. "While we're fighting at the front entrance Riri, Onika, and Tamar will take the side entrance while Rhino Ari, Samash, Crom, and Chaucer take the secret entrance. Be careful though because there may be cultists ready to pour out into the streets once the fighting starts."
"Is this even going ta be much of a fight, lad?" asked Goilon confidently as he hefted his blunderbuss over his shoulder. "They're seriously outmatched against us."
"Never underestimate a caster," Chaucer remarked. "Even the wizards we stole from still have prepared spells they can use. Even if those spells are utility or protection, they can still pose a danger," he added. "Don't worry though, I have counterspell ready to go." He smiled proudly.
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