Sneaking and hiding

We waited until dark and then waited a few hours more. We decided it was best to wait until everyone was good and drunk before trying to sneak inside. Even Audry was on board for this one. Yeah, paladins don't always like to "sneak." They prefer to barge in and announce their presence in the name of insert-deity-name-and-portfolio-here. However, as much as Audry likes that, she also likes results more. Being a sneak is going to get better results this time around.

"This is kinda like stealing, you know," Anna said.

"We are doing reconnaissance," Audry said. "There's a difference."

"And these are slavers," Saul added. "I have no compunction about taking anything from them."

"And giving it to those in need, of course," Audry said.

"Uh, yeah, that's the plan," Anna said. "John, you got the hole?"

I patted my shirt pocket. We still had our portable hole we got from the Elemental Temple. It's basically a piece of black cloth (slightly dirty--don't blame me) about six feet across. You lay it flat and it opens up into what Marc calls an extra-dimensional space on the astral plane. In short, it's a 10 foot cubed room we can fill with whatever we want. Comes in very handy. We still wear pouches and sometimes packs if we want to access stuff quickly, but we keep most stuff in the hole.

We hid in an alley near what might have been an old warehouse. From there we could see the Broken Rudder Inn. Looked like the hotest spot in town to me. We could hear the noise from here. That was a good thing, as it would cover our break in.

"Anything?" Saul asked.

Marc stood there with his eyes closed. Though his eyes were closed, he could still "see" via a spell. Out there near the inn was an invisible eye that floated all around the structure. Wizard eye, I believe was the spell name.

"Yes," Marc said. "There is a basement window near the back. However I can see people on the other side."

"Anything else?" Anna asked.

"No...ah, hold on." Marc paused. I could see his eyes moving under his eyelids in the dim lamp light. "There is a window on the second floor. It is on the south side. It appears to be open slightly." He opened his eyes and looked at us. "Unfortunately, we would have to climb to reach it."

"We'll take that one," Anna said. "It's the way they will least expect."

"Let's hope so," Saul said.

I opened the portable hole in the alley and pulled out a coil of rope. I draped the coil, some thirty feet of it, over my shoulder, and then off we went. We went down the street, keeping in the shadows for the most part. Back home, we got spoiled with lit streets. Here, lamps along major streets is a luxury. Most of the side streets are dark, and I mean fricking dark. You can't see your hand in front of your face. Along with mp3s, internet, TV, and regularly available books, I miss lit streets at night.

But not this night.

We crossed the street a good block away, far enough away to avoid anyone with infravision (that would be the heat sensing sight elves use, among others). We thought of using one of those mass invisiblity spells Marc was famous for, but decided to save the magic. Rule number one of magic: never use it if conventional means will work. You might need the spell later. And at that point, the dark streets worked just fine.

We angled down another back alley. We stepped over a couple of drunks. We double checked to make sure they were in fact drunks and not hidden sentries. They didn't seem to do anything as Anna rumaged through their clothes looking for weapons, of which they had none (and they had to be pretty drunk to not stir when a beautiful girl is looking under their shirt).

"They stink, bad," Anna said, "but they're just drunken sailors."

"Too easy," Saul said. "No guards, no sentries.... Back in Greyhawk we had spies disguised as the less fortunate all over the city."

"Back in Greyhawk we knew what we were doing," Anna said.

"I doubt these Slavelords are used to dealing with anyone in these parts other than vagabonds," Audry said. "They are not prepared."

"Well, they know we're here," I said. "And they probably know who we are and that we work for Veluna, especially if they have a spy in the Safeton government. We practically announced ourselves to every official in town after the manor burned down."

"Exactly," Saul said. "That is why I'm nervous."

"They may well be prepared," Marc said, "but so are we."

I could see no one in the dark alley behind the Broken Rudder. Anna stopped us about twenty feet short of the alley.

"Guards," she said in a low voice. She didn't whisper. Whispers carry farther. "Two of them."

"What are they doing?" Audry asked.

I couldn't see her very clearly, but I could tell by her tone she was disgusted. "Relieving themselves."

"This may be our best chance," Saul said.

We followed them as closely as we could. I walked tried not to step on trash or anything that would attract attention. If I did, we would likely have to incapacitate the guards, maybe even kill them. I didn't relish the idea. They might just be working stiffs trying to earn a buck to buy their kids a rotten doll for their birthday. Or they could be rapists. No way to know, even after you kill them.

They talked to one another as we went by. We got within fifteen feet of them, but they didn't notice. They had one lamp, but they didn't try to peer out into the dark. They seemed to use it just so they could see where they took a leak. I wrinkled my nose. I could smell it from here. When they were done they went back inside.

"Not guards," Marc said. "This is unusually easy."

"You were saying," I said. We had reached the window in question. From where I stood I could see a little light streaming out of it. The window had been opened slightly. If it opened a little, it could probably open a lot. I could hear the inn's guests in the common room. They partied like it was 1999. They wouldn't hear us if we broke a window.

"Anna, if you please," Saul said.

Anna scampered up the side of the building like spider-girl. She was good, no question of it. She peered inside the window, and then pushed it open. She crawled inside.

A few minutes passed, but it seemed like hours. I hate the waiting.

"What's keeping her?" I asked.

On que, the rope lowered. She didn't drop it, as that might make too much noise. With the racket going on inside, it probably wasn't much of a problem, but better safe than sorry.

Saul went first. He crawled up almost as fast as Anna did. I went next. I hadn't done anything like this since our days of training in Verbobonc militia (the good ol' days). I scooted up the side of the wall with aid of the rope with ease. Before coming to this world, I would have been huffing and puffing halfway. Now it was like I had a rocket pack on. Audry came up after me just as easily. Marc had a little more trouble, but we managed to get him up (wizard's don't rely much on brute strength, they don't have to).

I could barely see anything. The room was on a corner of the building, with a second window facing the street. Light from a nearby street lamp allowed me to see some basic shapes. It looked like a combination office and bedroom. Anna had tied the rope to the frame of the bed. A desk faced the door, like this guy was a CEO or something. A few pictures hung on the wall, but it was too dark for me to make them out.

Anna went to the desk. "I could use a little light."

I closed the curtains to the main window, careful to make sure there was no one watching in the street. Saul did the same with the window that gave us ingress. That done, Marc pulled out one of a number of pebbles he carried with him. He kept it cupped in his hand, but I could see the streams of light coming from between his fingers. He held over the desk where Anna was kneeling, palming so the continual light spell cast upon the pebble would direct downward and not toward the windows.

Anna examined the desk. "Looks clear." She tugged at the drawers. "Locked, but not for long."

Anna went to work while Saul checked the hall. I stood next to him. "What do you see?"

"Hall's clear," he said. "There's a door across from us and another one down the hall. Then there are some stairs."

I could hear the ruckus easily. It was loud enough to cover any movement we made. "We should check it," I said. "Anna?"

"Done," she said. The girl was a miracle worker with locks.

"This door was locked," Saul said. "That means the others probably are as well. Can you handle it?"

She had already come over to the door with us. "Can I handle it? Please." She stepped out into the hall. It was lit with a single lamp that looked to be low on oil. That was good in the sense that it provided cover of darkness. It was bad in the sense that someone might develop some kind of work ethic in these parts and decide to fill that sucker before the boss notices.

Anna stepped into the hall. She moved like a cat, quick and graceful. She went the some ten feet or so down the hall quickly. Saul followed her, keeping an eye on the stairwell. If all went well, we could be out of here without anyone knowing. If we had to crack some skulls, we'd have everyone and their mother chasing us all over town.

Anna popped open the lock quickly. She left the door open and went back down the hall toward me. "I'll check this one," she said. "Maybe you better help Saul."

"If you think he needs it," I said.

"Never can tell." She winked at me as the lock clicked. She took a quick look inside and then faced me. She grabbed my wrist. "Give me the hole."

"Huh?"

"The portable hole." She pointed at my pocket. "Trust me."

I handed it to her and she disappeared inside the room, shutting the door behind her. I filled Audry and Marc in on everyone's locale as they rifled through the desk. Marc gave me a quick nod in the meager light as he started to work on book shelves. "You might want this," he said. He handed me one of his continual light pebbles. I covered the pebble with my hand. It was cold to the touch.

I joined Saul down the hall. "It's me," I said as I entered. Saul was already going through some papers on top of a desk. This room was virtually identical to the other. He stuffed papers inside a sack he found nearby. The desk was locked. I thought of going to Anna and having her crack it open, but Saul shook his head. He grabbed the desk drawer and yanked hard. The wood splintered, making a loud crack followed by the sound of metal hitting the floor as the remains of the lock fell apart.

"Who needs her?" he said, smiling.

I went to the door and checked the hall. From where I was I could see part of the stairs. A shadow went by, scaring the living daylights out of me. Whoever it was, he didn't come upstairs. "At least she's quieter," I said. Saul shrugged.

At this point, it was your basic grab without the smash. The plan was to go through things but without tossing stuff around. We didn't want people knowing we were here, at least not right away. We hurried, grabbing whatever we thought might look important. At one point, Saul checked the floor. One part of the floor seemed more hollow than another. He reached down and popped open a small part of the floor. He pulled out what looked like a log book or a journal. He put the piece of floor back in its place.

We left the room just and headed back down the hall just as Anna appeared. I gestured to the door behind us. "Think you can lock that back?"

She nodded, kneeling next to the door she just exited. "As soon as I lock this one. Join you guys in a bit."

Saul went inside the room. I fished the portable hole away from Anna and passed it on to him. He opened it and dropped our findings in it. Marc and Audry did the same. I kept an eye on Anna as she finished locking that door and went down the hall.

"What has that girl done?" Audy said.

I looked inside the room. "What?"

"It seems we need to educate the girl on the purpose of information gathering," Marc said. "I doubt jewels and coins count."

"Can't hurt, though," Saul said.

"They'll help on the mission," I said. "The Slavelords will cover our expenses while we investigate them. I like the irony."

I glanced back into the hall. Anna had blown out the lamp. I could see her form coming back down the hall. "We got trouble."

"What--" I started, and then I saw. Two people came up the stairs.

"Great," I muttered as Anna squeezed into the room. She grabbed the edge of the portable hole and folded it up as she went to the window. I shut the door and locked it as quietly as I could. "Company," I said. "All hands abandon ship."

Anna was already out the window, followed by Saul. Audry gestured toward me. "Go. I'll go last."

"No, I will," Marc said. Audry started to say something. "No arguments, I have to untie the rope. Hurry!"

I heard a set of keys jingling just outside the door. We were out of time.

I scurried down the rope and Audry followed. Marc had already gone over to untie it. I hoped he could get out in time before he was caught. And without breaking something.

Audry had just reached the bottom when the rope went slack. It fell to a pile at our feet. I looked up, wondering how Marc was going to get out. I had my answer immediately.

Marc dove out the window like an Olympic diver. Panic overcame me. There was no pool down here and I didn't know if I could catch him, and if I could I didn't think that would break his fall (it probably break me). He fell about halfway, and then it happened. His momentum stopped, or seemed to. It was like a John Woo film where the action scene slows down to a crawl. Marc righted himself in mid air as he floated to the ground. It was like watching a giant...feather?

"Feather fall," I said. "Very cool."

Marc simply smiled. "Down is always easier than up."

-------------------

We gathered the rope and headed down the alley just as a light flickered in the room we just left. We didn't want to be anywhere nearby when they figured out they got robbed.

We disappeared down several alleys and made our way to the far side of town. We had thought of finding another inn, but we decided that would be pushing our luck. No doubt every innkeeper in town would report us rather than face the wrath of the Slavelords. Instead, we found an abandoned building of some sort. It looked like it might have been a warehouse. There was a large hole in the side of the building. We crept inside and scouted the area. We found no one else holing up for the night. We climbed to an upper level and set up camp. Marc cast some sort of spell that would warn us if anyone approached, and we slept until dawn.

The next morning we had a better look around. It rained all morning, and from the looks of it nearly every part of the old warehouse leaked. We managed to find a relatively dry spot where we could examine our what we found.

Audry sighed when we opened the portable hole. "Anna," she said. "That was hardly the time."

"What?" she said. "We're adventurers, right? We take gold from the bad guys and give to the needy, right?"

"Oh, so that was your intention," Marc said. "Not to buy some new clothes or new boots by chance?"

"Well, if there's any left over," Anna said. "Well, look, that's not all I found." She held up a book. "This was in a small section of wall. Somebody did their best to hide this thing."

We went through everything. Yeah, we found the mother lode all right. We spent the whole day going through it, stopping to munch on some iron rations every now and then. We wanted to actually go get real food, but we were leery of any tavern at this point. Most of what we found was incomprehensible, consisting of ledgers written in some kind of short hand. Occasionally, we found a gem or two.

"Listen to this," Marc said. "'Ms. from Bloodwort. Captain Joinville'...eh, 'riding in safe area. Voy good. Profit expected. Losses light.' I believe that would be voyage good, actually."

"These guys love their abbreviations," I said.

Marc went on. "'Woman, 40, of station and breeding, quite ransomable.' Oh dear."

"Breeding," Anna said. "Dear Gods."

"Indeed," Audry said. "However, in this case I believe they are using the term to indicate she is of nobility."

"There is more," Marc said. "'Three boys, fit to stand on block; husband and wife, trained servants, suitable for special needs.'"

"Special needs?" Saul said. "I don't want to know."

"You certainly do not," Marc said. He continued. "'Trained artisan, giving good treatment, suggest arranging patron.'"

"That would be Mitgan, I imagine," Saul said. "Any more?"

Marc nodded. "'Scholar and Alchemist, special auctions required.'"

"Hammish and Kerr," I said. "Oh man."

"Here's one," Saul said. He held up a piece of linen paper edged with some sort of red decoration. "'Ragnar of Clan Hargirt, Greetings to Your Illustrious Self.'"

"Clan?" I said.

"A dwarf, probably," Anna said.

"'Much warmed is my heart to harken to thy recent successes,'" Saul went on. "'So much do the virtues of your spirit shine, my heart yearns to call thee to my side.' Thou art the source of my courage and the headwater of my desire to pursue the course which lies ahead of us.'"

"Dwarves like to praise each other a lot," Anna said.

"Yeah, back home we called it brown nosing," I said.

Saul smiled, being the only one who understood the reference. "There's more. 'Patience is the counsel I give to thee. Our stars must be arranged before we can act. Alas, that the token I send can only dimly reflect the love that I feel.'"

"Love?" I said. "A woman, maybe?"

"Likely," Marc said. "This is all a bit flowery. It appears that this Ragnar is a dwarf, but I wonder as to the breed of the author."

"'I write to advise thee caution, my love,'" Saul continued. "'Send the aid that you must for us to succeed by the most circumspect route, for old Klim grows nervous. I must watch him carefully.' For thyself, remember the traps of the others on the Council are many and convoluted. If thou art discovered now, then thy life is lost.' She signed it. It appears to say, 'Edralve.'"

"Doesn't sound like a dwarvish name to me," Anna said. "Well, I think thou Ragnar has been discovered."

"He will be if we can get these documents back to Mitrik," Audry said.

"Why not Safeton?" I asked, and then I remembered. "The spy. I forgot. Man, the temple was easier."

"If you say so," Saul said.

"I have a journal here," Audry said. "It appears to belong to someone named 'Hazzard.'"

"Interesting name," I said. "Looks like the guy liked to write a lot."

"Look who's talking," Anna said. "What's he have to say?"

"Most of this is pretty mundane," Audry said. "I could spend days going through. He has made several references to 'our man in Safeton.'"

"That confirms the spy idea," I said.

"There's an entry here that makes mention of someone called 'the servant of the earth dragon,'" Audry said. "He works for this man. Apparently, Hazzard is spying on Ragnar."

"Does he say why?" Saul asked.

"Not that I see," Audry said, "however I am only skimming through this. There is a mention of Hazzard having sworn to his employer, or whatever, that he will not reveal their relationship from anyone associated with the Slavelords."

"Maybe they suspect something of this Ragnar," Anna said.

"All criminal organizations turn on themselves given time," Audry said.

"All?" Saul said.

Audry smiled. "Those who do not repent."

"Who's repented?" Anna said. "Oh wait. My turn." She held up a piece of parchment. "I think this is written by this Ragnar fellow to this Hazzard guy? These guys have rotten handwriting." She cleared her throat. "'Ship not stopping, continuing down coast instead. Cancel unloading plans. Let out that masters are displeased with support here and considering diverting traffic. May require friendlier attitude from the locals to keep our trade. Make them nervous.'"

"Glad to know Elredd is throwing a wrench in the works," I said.

"Wrench?" Anna asked. "Or wench? Never mind, listen. 'Highport may become port of choice.'"

"Highport," Marc said. "That is south of here."

"If they continued south with the slaves," Saul said, "then they went to Highport, right?"

"Likely so," Audry said. "So it seems we have a new destination."

"Highport it is," I said. "We going by land or by boat."

"Ship is quicker," Saul said. "We'll have to make the arrangements tomorrow."

"It shall be rather expensive if we wish to purchase the ship's silence," Marc said.

"Good thing Anna gathered all of that treasure from the inn," Audry said. "Fortuitous of you."

"Yeah," Anna said. She frowned. "Glad I thought of it."

"We must also get these papers to Mitrik," Marc said. "They can parse through this information more efficiently. For now, We have three names...Ragnar, a dwarf. Kilm, who's identity is unknown. And Edralve, a woman but of unknown race."

"That's better information than we had," Saul said. "But now we have to figure out how to get the information to Mitrik."

We wrangled with that for a little while. The problem was that we didn't know anyone in these parts we could trust. We could find a way to return the documents to Safeton, but without knowing who their spy was, it was likely the documents would be intercepted. Mitrik was too far to walk or take a ship. Our main priority was finding Dame Gold, her servants, and her guests.

"And her brother," Anna said. "Don't forget about that."

"Gods," I said. "Where the hell could he be?"

"She seemed to believe he was in Elredd," Marc said, "because that's where she believed ."

"Yeah, well this just seems like some kind of outpost," I said. "Highport seems to be where they are located. Think her brother's there?"

Marc shrugged. "There is little more here. We could wander over the entire town and never find him. And we don't have much time left."

"He was spying on some of the movers and shakers in this invasion army," I said. "I'd bet real gold that the Slavelords are in on this, or they know people who are involved."

"Then we head south," Saul said. "That or we spend our time wandering around this town."

"If he is a lycanthrope," Audry said, "then he would not stay in town. If he is in the wilds, we may never find him." She sighed. "The task seems impossible."

"A needle in a haystack," I said. "We only have one lead--Highport. We have to check it out."

Everyone nodded. I hoped that Dame's brother would be there. It was then that it occurred to me just how impossible it would probably be to find this guy. I hated to admit it, but he was probably doomed. And we still had a mission to conduct. If we could find out more about this invading army, that took precedence over one man.

Damn, the temple of elemental evil was a heckuva lot easier.

When it got dark we planned on splitting town altogether. Based on what we found, there was no point in staying in Elredd any longer.

----------------------------

We boarded a boat a couple of days ago. We spent a portion of gold, and then promised to give them a lot more when we arrived in Highport. Hopefully, this will keep our Captain honest. I wish we could contact Captain Wolffe again. He had a quirky sense of humor, but I liked the guy. And I trusted him. I don't know about this boat. So far, the crew has avoided us.

It's late, and I can't wait until we get to Highport. I hope we can find Dame Gold in time, and I hope that by some bloody miracle we actually find her brother before the position goes bad. If I understand everything correctly, we have another couple of weeks.

I'm not holding out a lot of hope, to be honest.