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Mr. Zachariah Rat
You creep to the man's feet. As you approach, you smell the chained man's unwashed ripeness--if he's been here a month or so, very little care has been given to keep him clean or comfortable.

As you scurry, the man leans over, and a large dollop of wax drops onto your tail. From what you first see of his head beneath the hood, his chin is pallid and narrow, his neck gangly and the color of raw chicken-flesh. The man winces at the strange behavior he hears from the guards, and raises his hands defensively.

"Ah! Take whatever you want and go!" he shouts through trembling lips.

The entire top of his head, from the crown and dribbling down to his hollow cheeks, is slathered in melted wax.

Zacharias Rat scampers back into the darkness and fastidiously scrapes the wax off his tail, trying to avoid touching with any other part of his body, as well. Because that's just gross.

Zaent Darkhand, elvish rogue:

Zaent knocked an arrow and looked at Mathias and Ballar Uh. If their assassination attempts failed, the elf could mop things up.

10:00 AM

The pair of guards stand at attention."We await the return of Captain Gilhorn, before we return to the Palace Massive. We have many thing to do today--" one says...

"--in the service of our Scarlet Empress," the other finishes.

Gul-Marach and Biblo
From whence the party arrived, you spellcasters hear the muffled wails of sounders and faint scratching of claws on wood.

The pair remains under Mathias' enchantment, for the moment. What is the group's next move?

Biblo Phyle, Mentalist

"Such noises don't bode well," says the illusionist to Gul-Marach. He glances at the doors. "Particularly with the others ahead of us."

Biblo reaches into his robe pockets for certain spell components, ready to start intoning mystic equations if the doors buckle.

Gul-Marach

The large priest continues to hunker in the darkness of the long passage, murmuring to Biblo. "From the scratches on the outside, those doors have been seeing this for a long, long time. I have faith in them, for now. We must trust the others to move first, and if all goes well, the inquisitors will retrieve this Horn for us."

Zacharias Rat explores the edges of the space, using his tiny size and keen sense of smell to check for anything that might be missed by human inspection: doors, traps, treasures, tasty morsels, etc.

Ballar Uh, fighter/assassin

"Let's get moving," Ballar Uh whispers to his companions. "We heard enough, think we can now get rid of those guards."

He raises his crossbow.

Standing at attention, the torchbearer suddenly blinks. "H-hey..." he mutters, shaking his head.

His companion remains still, but his eyes begin darting wildly. Suddenly, as if pulling himself from thick mire, he lurches forward, regaining control of his faculties!

Zaent Darkhand, elvish rogue:

Arrow nocked, bowstring pulled tight, arrow fletchings grazing his cheek, a bead of sweat crawling toward his eye, he glanced back and forth between the reluctant assassins that bookended him, as his mind wondered, What were they waiting for?

Mathias creeps forward toward the tunnel on the far side of the chamber, attempting to bypass the guards.

The recovering guard moves towards the party haltingly, staggering forward a few steps before pausing at intervals, then dragging himself forward again. He has a strained look on his face, struggling with his own body, caught half-way between enchantment and control. He mutters a prayer to the Lady of the White Way...

The torchbearer seems to be "waking up" as well, albeit slowly. "The Scarlet Regent told us the truth. The king...is dead, and gone with him...are the walls he built..."

"If we fail her majesty...all will die..."

Finally wrenching his arm back into his own control, he hurls his torch to the altar, which bursts into a great ball of flame. The torchbearer is thrown to the ground, and the hooded man, still chained to the pile, shrieks.

The shriek is answered by a keening throughout the caves. Footfalls begin to sound from the next chamber to the south--several bodies are moving quickly into the greater cavern...

Mathias
As you are nearest the southern tunnel, you are the first to hear the sound of men's voices, shouting something like "Fall back..."

Mister-Kent wrote:"The Scarlet Regent told us the truth. The king...is dead, and gone with him...are the walls he built..."

A pair of wharf rat ears perk up at that. Zacharias looks around, hoping to catch someone's eye in order to convey a "I told you so!" expression. Unfortunately, he's deep in the shadows, and can't be seen.

Hearing the noise, Zacharias Rat runs back to the rest of the party.

Biblo Phyle, illusionist-fighter

Watching the unfolding drama, the spellbinder readies his sling staff. He waits for the fighters to launch first attack.

Gul-Marach murmurs a prayer to Vorn, calling for aid and strength of iron to bless his companions.

Casting Bless on the forward team.

Gul Marach
Vorn's power flows through you…
What's it like for you, calling on your god for these favors? When was the last time you had to cast Bless?

Zaent, Mathias, Zachariah Tar
You feel a wave wash over you, like calming rain. As if the hand of Vorn Himself is guiding you now…
(+1 on attack and damage to you three! Thanks be to Vorn )

You spot Captain Gilhorn and his remaining man emerge from the southern tunnel, swords drawn and bloodied. The Captain's man is distracted by the blazing altar, but Gilhorn himself has his eyes locked on Mathias and Zaent. Notably, he has a large sack slung over his shoulder. He drops it and swings his blade at Mathias!

Throughout the cave, the deep keening continues, a dire wail of longing from the deeper cave…

The situation: The altar is burning. The chained man and torchbearer have been knocked down, the other guard is lunging--since Mathias and Zaent skirted the guards and proceeded to the tunnel, he's now behind them, chasing after them, turning his back to the Secret Crew. Captain Gilhorn and his buddy have left the tunnel and are at Mathias/Zaent as well.