Revision as of 01:10, 5 August 2015

Participants

• Burton
• Cassidy
• Natska
• Rokarion
• Thelergramor
• Zuri

Date

4/8/478

Log

Supposing that the beings have followed the directions correctly they would zig zag there way through the warehouses and craftsmen guilds of the outer city of Cliffside until they reach one of the smaller warehouses. There they will see a familiar young sparrow being standing in front of the cargo door with a cart and some beings who are taking out some crates and loading it on the cart.

Zuri walks confidently towards the destination, the salamander getting ever more comfortable with the city's layout on account of how much time he has spent here lately. He speeds up as he recognizes the sparrow being waiting for them. "Mervyn!" He calls out as he approaches the cart, smiling brightly.

Thelergramor still hates flying on airships! The wolf (Currently all reptilian and basilisk) navigates through Cliffside easily, the directions provided keeping it simple enough, getting sidetracked with the occasional pass at another being as he makes his way to the warehouse. He's wearing a shirt of chainmail, but otherwise is clothed as he tends to be, armed quite clearly with a rapier while concealing a few other weapons on his person. He heads on up to the warehouse, looking over the cart. Smiles over at Zuri, then pockets his hands and glances around. "This the place, yeah?"

"Wait up, little dude!" Burton calls out, jogging along after Zuri, obviously worried about getting lost in the unfamiliar area. He slows to a swagger when the warehouse comes into view. "Whew!" he puffs, "Good run! Hey, Feathers!" The Beefalo looks with interest at the cart and its contents while waiting for further instructions. He wears a loose, hooded coat over his skin-tight leather armor and a pair of short pants that only barely manage to be decent.

Having traded out her more colourful tailcoat for a black one, Cassidy makes her way along with the others, humming softly. "A defense job! That's exciting," she chimes, nodding. "Haven't done something like this in... Oooh, a while."

"Mmhm," Natska agrees, keeping pace. She gives Thel a small nod and a smile, then looks back to Cassidy. "There's been so much business here lately. Maybe we should just take a working vacation here."

Mervyn motions for the beings to continue loading the crates as he turns around to look at the arrivals, "Hmmm, I see that the Freeswords have a really low selection." he says with a grin on his beak, peering down at Zuri, "Double dipping, eh?" the sparrow quips with a snicker. "Well then, I assume that you know what you are doing here. Inside is the warehouse warden. I will be returning here in a couple of days to check on things." he says as he motions towards a side door into the warehouse, "Go through that door, Mister Copperfield will give you the details." And with that Mervyn goes to check on the cart.

Zuri peers back, and smiles brightly as he spots Burton. He waits for the broffalo to catch up, then walks alongside him towards the sparrow being. He giggles at the sparrow's mention of 'double dipping'. "What can I say, plenty of jobs to go around, and I'm not a fussy 'mander!" He walks inside when bidden, nose wiggling as he observes the warehouse.

Thelergramor smiles at Cassidy and Natska, happy to see them apparently, nods in greeting to them and Burton, and turns back to Mervyn. "Don't need much of a selection if you consistently get good Freeswords." The basilisk moves off towards the door, heading inside quietly and peering about for the warden.

Burton stomps alongside Zuri, ducking into the warehouse. "It's just cheaper to stick around, Dude," the Broffalo says, then lowers his voice to whisper to Zuri, "And I get wicked sick on those airship things, Brah."

"It's a bit far for most of the Freeswords in Sweetwater," Cassidy says, nodding. "Most prefer to stay local. But yes, as long as we have time to prepare, all should be well," she says, rubbing her chin. "I can think of some things to... Set up before any trouble might come looking."

Natska nods at the sparrow, then heads for the warehouse. "We'll need to see the entire structure, of course, any extra doors or entry points."

The group who enter through are greeted by a small office room with another door leading into the warehouse. Inside, sitting in his desk, is a middle-aged leopard wearing some brown robes and showing off the symbol of the adaptable clan on his chest. "Ah, hello, hello." he says with a nervous voice as he motions for the mercenaries in. "You can call me, Copperfield. I am the warden here. You are here for the job? of course you are, excuse the silly question." the leopard lets a soft anxious laugh before coughing and looking into a paper in front of him before looking back at the group, "Ah, yes. So anyway. Your job will start in a couple of hours. You will stay here until late dawn. You will guard the warehouse and make sure to apprehend any would be trouble-makers or thieves...there are also a couple of rules." Copperfield quickly looks down on the piece of paper in front of him and then back at the group, "First of all, there are a lot of fragile equipment inside so if you are forced to fight in here be extremely careful. Also you are not allowed to use any area maths or any kind of maths that might hurt the wares. Damaging the goods might force Mister Ridgewell to reduce your payment. He is a reasonable man, but if the damage too great he might instead make you pay for the broken wares." the leopard says with a nervous cough, looks like he had never dealt with foreign mercenaries before. "Any questions?"

As he asks that Mervyn enters the room, "All done Copperfield, everything ready here?"

Zuri smiles at Copperfield, wiggling his nose. "Hmm... I maaaaay use some Divine Math to protect our group in case of attack, and I can even use it to protect the wares maybe, but I won't be using any destructive stuff." He smiles. "No questions here sir! Seems pretty straightforward." He peers around the warehouse, and with a moment of concentration he slowly shifts form to that of a pegasus, albiet one that still bears a few vestigial traits that indicates it is really him. He snorts cutely. "All the better to scout with!"

Thelergramor straightens his posture, standing a bit more professionally but not as much as he does for militia commanders. "Seems simple enough. Should anyone break in, you want them subdued or should we hold back a bit less? Just asking, didn't bring my blackjack with me, don't like to take chances with my life but if you don't want them hurt too bad... Just need to ask." The basilisk glances over at Cassidy. "Might be able to help you with that. Not a bad plan." Referring to her allusion to traps, if he understood correctly.

Burton listens intently, then screws up his face in thought. Some of that stuff was sounding kind of familiar. What was it that Su-Su had told him about fragile things? He can't exactly remember, but something something UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES something something seemed about right. He shrugs it off and moves on. There was guarding to do, after all! "No problem, Brah!" he says to the leopard with an easy grin, "Don't do any of that magic-y stuff anyway!" The big meathead looks around for a likely spot to guard. And maybe something heavy to lift repetetively while they wait.

Cassidy taps the chin of her mask, giving a nod. "No question. For you at least," she says, before looking to her companions. "I'm going to camp out on the roof. If my fire won't be much use here, I'm going to see about some... Alternative equipment I've got packed away. And I'm going to set up a string and bell through one of the windows. If I see trouble either on the roof, or -from- the roof, I'll ring the bell and you can be prepared," she says, glancing up towards one of the windows. "Assuming they open, anyway. Try to use noise making traps rather than anything too... Harmful. Bear traps, maybe, but you know. Things to slow and delay attacks."

Natska nods at Cassidy after her initial sweep is done. "Would you like me to keep you company up there, Cass, or keep an eye on..." she pauses, glancing at the others, "things in here?"

Mervyn crosses his arms as he shrugs, "Sure, you can use the roof. Just go up the ladder to the catwalks up there. The winds can be opened, you can use one of them to climb up there, but better do it late at night. You will be kinda obvious there." the sparrow says as he looks around, "Also don't forget to patrol outside, we will give you two copies of the keys to the side door, the cargo door will remain locked at all times. Anything else, Copperfield?"

The leopard shakes his head at the sparrow and takes out the two pairs of keys, setting them on the table, "Not at all, I am ready to start locking up the place now if everyone is ready."

Zuri dashes over towards Cassidy, wings fluttering as he comes to a stop next to her. "If you're going to patrol outside, I'm coming with!" He smiles brightly. "We can check out the windows and surroundings for any possible weaknesses or points of entry." He turns to the leopard and nods. "I'm ready!"

Thelergramor rubs at his basilisk crest, covered by his hood as he realizes: They didn't comment on his question of keeping non lethal. Shrugs, takes his hand back and grabs one of the keys. "I'll remember to patrol. Hope it rains..." Not sarcasm, the absililsk smirking as he looks over the others. "I can be wherever you think you'll need me, though."

"I'll just chill here," Burton drawls, having found a likely crate that he is rhythmically lifting and setting back down, "You just shout if you need me! Don't worry, I'll be ready!"

Cassidy flashes a little smile to Zuri. "If you want! I won't be doing much patrol work, though. I'm just going to get my bell set up, get my weapons," she says, patting her bag. "Maybe swap my soul gem, and wait for nightfall before I set up on the roof." She reaches into her pocket to swap around her gems for a moment while she still has the time.

Natska gives Cass a nod, then looks over at Thel. "I like pacing, so you and I can trade off walking the ground patrol then. Since we have some time, I am going to relax and focus." The jaguar moves to the center of the warehouse and takes a seat on the floor, then closes her eyes.

The leopard stands up and goes to close the cargo door, "Also dead men tell no tales. So keep them alive will you, the only one who will get the bad rep for killing our assailants here are foreign mercenaries." the sparrow says before taking one of the spare keys, "In retrospect, just one key is enough, and keep it inside."

It does not take more than a couple of minutes for the leopard to finish sealing the ware house and locking his desk, the two departing and letting the freeswords on their own to plan this evening.

Zuri nods at Cassidy. "I just figure I could use a quick stretch of my wings. Can't fly without a bit of exercise first!" He smiles at the leopard. "Yes sir!" He waves the leopard off, then turns towards the rest of the group, ready to help them prepare.

"I'll refrain from hitting any intruders in the throat, then." The basilisk nods, hand falling to his rapier. "Someone take this key, I'll patrol around for a bit. Switch off with Nats later." Thel nods, turning to go pace about outside teh warehouse for a while, watching for anyone who reminds him of himself circa last year...

People who look like thieves, basically. Doubts anyone will be that obvious...

Burton seems more than content to continue his exercises. He has stopped lifting the box and has started doing sit ups. "Here Bro!" he grunts at Thelergramor, waving for the basilisk to toss him the key before going back to counting his repetitions.

Cassidy nods at Zuri, setting off outside. "Get one of the windows open, please? That will be the window I hang the bell from," she says, setting her bag down to unpack the rest of her weaponry, stringing her bow and sliding a few more throwing knives onto her person before plucking up the bag again and making for the roof.

Natska watches Cass go, then looks around the interior of the warehouse. After a moment she gets up, stretches, then starts slowly pacing the interior while she waits. [Oh. Should have asked. Does anyone hear me?]

Zuri nods at Cassidy. "Will do!" The jovial pegasus smiles brightly, then picks up a short flight up towards one of the large windows near the top, the one across from the side entrance. He unlatches the window and creaks it open about half-way, enough that a being might think he could squeeze through.

A couple of hours pass, the traffic in the district slowly dieing down as the night watchman calls the eights hour of the night.

The people inside the warehouse obviously notice nothing of note. Thelergramor sees nothing out of the ordinary just the occasional night watchman passing near the area and checking the mathemagical lamps on the street opposite to the warehouse. Zuri and Cassidy are treated to the sight of the dark streets with the shining lamps almost looking like night sky on the ground. Cassidy however could notice a group of beings coming through one of the streets moving towards the warehouse, a group of five beings.

Thelergramor is used to guarding things for hours! Once stood in front of a door for 16 hours overnight, so this is nothing to him. He checks his weapons, keeping his wrist mounted crossbow loaded, unaware of any approaching beings for now...

"98. . . 99. . . 100!" Burton grunts, getting to his feet after a marathon of pushups, sit ups, and another smattering of ups and stretches his arms. "Dude!" he exclaims, wiping sweat from his brow, "I should get guard duty more often! This is great!" He pumps his arms, showing of melon sized biceps. The warehouse has also acquired the charming scent of sweaty Broffalo. Can't win them all.

Cassidy squints at the ones coming down the street, having gone back up to the roof once night had fallen. She doesn't ring the bell yet, seeing no need to sound the alarm, but she does pass notice down to Natska. [Five beings approach the warehouse. Be alert, get into position, and be ready if I ring the belly.] She goes prone on the roof, turning her focus towards listening, instead.

Natska perks at the notice, glancing over at Burton. "We have a group wandering this way. Keep an eye on the window?" she asks. She takes her tome from her side and runs her fingers over the back cover, refreshing some of her calculations in her mind, then waits to see what happens.

The group Cassidy was spying disappear down a side street as they continue moving. A couple of hours pass and nothing else happens, except the occasional being passing through.

Thelergramor continues his patrol until a being in a cloak shambles towards the basilisk, it is hard to notice his features under the hood even with the light from the city streets, "Alms for the poor." the being says in a weak voice as he moves closer, but Thelergramor could luckily notice the glint of something metallic near his waist, and even catch a glimpse of the silhouette of two other beings hiding in a side alleyway.

Cassidy herself finally caught a glimpse of the group that she spotted earlier, she can't say if their number has changed, but they are just one turn away from the warehouse. Zuri as well caught notice of another group of beings coming from his direction, again they seemed like they are heading towards the warehouse.

Zuri perks up as he notices the group of beings, the pegasus' wings flitting eagerly. He slides over to the corner of the building closest to them, trying to keep them in sight until they walk past - or do something suspicious.

Thelergramor is a perceptive basilisk. Sometimes. Grinning as he notices this metallic object, and the silhouette of two others, he says: "Sure, alms." He fidgets with his belt, bluffing, instead laying a hand on the hilt of his hidden dagger, ready to draw it. He acts like he finds nothing. "...Damn, well, uh, I've got some coin lying on a table in the warehouse, here.. No key, though." He steps over to the side, bangs on the door three times to get people's attention. "Should be open shortly." The basilisk smirks, subtly getting into a more... prepared stance.

Burton perks up at the sound of Thelergramor's knocking and swaggers over to the door. "What's up?" he asks, not opening the door, "You getting tired out there, dude?" He wipes the sweat from his brow, feeling pretty good about his workout in all this downtime.

Cassidy tightens her lips. There were too many beings sitting around, it seemed. The one Thel was talking to out front, the group she just saw... [Something is definitely not right.] She takes the bell's string gently in hand, but doesn't ring it yet. The other takes up her bow.

Natska frowns, turning towards the door to watch Burton. As she does she calls up her maths, wrapping a shroud of darkness and shadows about herself and gathering power, just in case.

The being nods his head profusely and follows Thelergramor, "Thank you for your generosity good sir!" the would be beggar says.

Cassidy sees her group continue walking through...and not turning around, instead continuing their path away from the warehouse, looks like it was just a distraction...except that she glimpse a couple of people split away from the group and head down towards the Thelergramor.

Zuri's group keep on walking as they are, however the pegamander still can't put down an exact number on them.

Zuri wiggles his nose at the distant group of beings. He stays perched where he is, trying to observe them carefully. He hears the banging on the door and peers through a window into the warehouse, trying to see what's going on.

Thelergramor bangs on the door again, smiling innocently at the beggar. Cant' be too sure what he has, but, is not about to take chances. "So... Nice night. Keep back when the door opens, few of the guards are a bit... overzealous, might crack you upside the head with a club for getting to close, get me?" He shrugs. "I'll spell it out for you: Back up."

Burton notices the ringing bell, and remembers that it was some kind of warning, but not what he was supposed to do if it rang. "Uh," he thinks, "What's the password?" That is the kind of thing guards at doors say, right? The Broffalo is really just stalling for time until someone reminds him what that stupid bell means.

Hadn't rung the bell just yet. Well, she is -now-! A little jingle before she lets the string go, drawing an arrow instead as she inches towards the edge of the roof, ready to support Thel should it be needed. [Yeah, something is about to go down.] She settles the arrow against the string, not yet drawing.

Natska considers for a moment. As tempting as it would be to keep the door locked, she didn't want Thel picked off, and if another group meant trouble it'd be best to deal with this one first. "Open the door, Burton, I want to step out for a moment. Just don't let anyone in when you do." She smiles, and gets ready to slip out.

Thelergramor's word play seems to successfully pass as the beggar does nothing but nod his head, "Of course, of course. Thank you, good sir. May the Creator Saints bless you!" he says.

Zuri finally manages to spot them properly as they pass near one of the lamps, two hooded beings walking side by side, almost reaching a turn that will lead them to the cargo door of the warehouse. However, the salamander also manages to spot a couple of night watchmen walking down the same road in the opposite direction, perhaps he could somehow get them to also take the same turn as the assailants.

Zuri wiggles his nose as he considers his options. Chances are those two beings aren't any trouble, but they are getting awful close to the cargo door. If he can just delay them for a bit longer until the nightwatchmen can walk into them. He grins, flapping his wings and taking flight as he arcs up into the night.

He reaches into his satchel and flies down to meet them, pulling out his notebook just as he lands. "Hi!" He adresses the two beings, rather loudly and obviously. "Sorry to bother, either of you know where the.. uh.." He pretends to read from his notepad. ".. Crowell Bakery is? I've been *all over* this quarter of town but I simply cannot find it anywhere?" He smiles brightly at them.

Thelergramor continues to smile at the false beggar, despite him not backing up as he recommended. "...Can you just try to stab me already? We both know where this is going. And if not you, them behind you... It's been a while since I've killed someone." His smile slowly shifts to a toothy grin, but otherwise the basilisk doesn't move. "In the off chance you -are- just a beggar with some kind of prosthetic hand..." He drops a small pouch. "No need to wait any longer."

Burton nods at Natska. "Sure thing, Ladybr-" he hesitates, remembering long, painful lectures from his cousin Surabhi, "Yes, Ma'am." The musclebound buffalo unlocks the door with a soft click and swings it open, moving himself behind the jaguar to swing it closed directly after her.

Cassidy glances over the edge, peering at Natska before ducking back again. She doesn't want to play her hand til it's just the right time. [Careful. They've got quite a few, it seems.]

Natska slips through the door to stand just behind Thelergramor, looming over the basilisk and the group by the door. "What is the trouble?"

The two beings suddenly stop as a small pegasus appear in front of them. The two hooded beings look at each other and scratch their head before looking back at the salamander, "Errr, we don't know. Now if you will excuse us we are busy..." they say as they look around before trying to move past the salamander. However just in time a voice comes from behind the three, "What's all this then?" says the heavy clan gorilla as he eyes the three beings, "What are you three doing here at half till midnight?" he says in a questioning manner as his partner, a female gecko gives the pegamander and the hooded figure a suspecting squint.

The beggar remains silent as Thelergramor begins his tirade just as Burton opens the door, and Natska steps outside. "Now!" the being screams as he moves sideways and attempts to stab Thelergramor, the basilisk managing to dodge it. However, unluckily for him he fails to dodge the two crossbow bolts that whiz directly towards him from the side alleyway, but as if by a miracle, one of the bolts only produces a glancing hit while the other one gets lodged into the chain mail itself, both failing to harm Thelergramor.

Zuri smiles brightly at the heavy clan guard. "I was just asking these two gentlebeings if they knew where the Cromwell Bakery is. See, we're running security for that warehouse back there, and they were loitering around like they know the area so I figured they'd know where it is. I guess us nightguards will just have to wait till morning to get a meal. Thank you!"

He picks up flight and glides back towards the warehouse, stopping to hover as he hears the commotion. "Uhoh.. more trouble." He flies back down, getting a sense for what's happening before he acts.

Thelergramor remains lucky, only a glancing shot leaving a barely a mark on his shoulder, the other lodged in his chain. Grunting, the basilisk pulls his dagger from it's concealed position, twisting to avoid the beggar's blade. He tries to wrap an arm around the beggar's at an awkward angle, then lever it in a jerking motion to pop it from his shoulder, not actually using his blade yet, no words from the basilisk as he's somewhat annoyed that he didn't strike first...

Burton slams the door to, locking it and stowing the key. Then he finds himself in a bit of a quandary. The bad guys seem to be outside. Everyone else is also outside. Should he be outside too? But if he were outside, then EVERYONE would be outside, and that was not right either, right? Making beer was so much more straight forward.

Cassidy moves into a kneeling position, drawing back the arrow on the air magic enhanced longbow. Sights on the alley where one of the shots came from, she lets the arrow fly in return, not much caring if it's a lethal hit or not. Just as long as it's a hit.

With a small grunt of not-surprise, Natska turns her attention towards the alleyway where the crossbow shots had come from. [Guard your eyes,] she thinks towards Cass, and then she raises a hand, readies her elements, then drops a bolt of lightning from the sky. Or rather, she makes it -look- like a flash of lightning; a blinding flash and loud crack of noise to try and startle and scare their assailants, but without the force to blacken and melt cobbles.

The two watchmen look at Zuri and then back at the nervous hooded figures, "Hmmm, let us check that story shall we...hey." the gorilla bellows as Zuri flies away and back towards the group leaving the four beings.

Thelergramor manages to successfully latch onto his target, the sickening popping sound and the scream assuring the basilisk that he managed to successfully pop the shoulder of the beggar.

Natska's 'attack' is also a success the bright flash illuminating the block for a mere moment, blinding both assailants and revealing them to the Freeswords, even if the flash of light might have strained their eyes a bit.

Zuri sees Thel engaged with the 'beggar', and Natska's flash of light illuminates two rather suspicious looking beings off to the side. The pegasus remains hovering a few meters above the ground as he begins concentrating on a phrase of Divine Math, his focus firmly on Thel and Natska. He channels a protective enchantment towards them, seeking to shield them from any retaliation and patch up any injuries they may have suffered.

Thelergramor has wounded his target, and knows it's difficult to fight with one arm. Also, pain... That works too. "Stay down." He barks, dropping the beggar and diving over to the side, in case more bolts were to be fired in his direction. Reaches for the one in his mail, tearing it out quickly, clearing spots from his eyes due to Natska's flash.

Burton paces uneasily inside the warehouse as he hears the sounds of conflict outside. It's sort of rough being a beefcake pseudopacifist. On the one hand, he would love to go out there and help in the fight. On the other hand, he might hurt somebody! On the other hand, the little dude was out there fighting. The Broffalo's pacing has brought him back to the door and he looks at it hard. But then, what if someone managed to get in the big loading door somehow?

Cassidy lifts her arm to shield herself from the flash. She missed the two, but she knew the alleyway, and that was all she needed. She kicks off the roof in a series of long, air magic-assisted leaps to help get her around towards the same alley, intent on dropping in on them from behind. She wasn't worried about any sounds giving her away, when her footfalls made none at all.

Pausing to squint towards the alleyway, Natska calls out. "Drop your weapons and surrender. I don't want to have to come after you!" she calls out. Thel seems to have the first one in hand (ha ha), leaving her free to focus on the others.

Zuri's focus pays off as layers of stone from the gravel stone climb on Natska and Thelergramor covering them in a sturdy looking stoneskin, in fact really sturdy looking.

Cassidy's acrobatics do not go unnoticed as the fennec barely reaches her target without slipping. The two previous beings who broke off from the group had managed to get the drop on the Freeswords and fire their crossbows at Cassidy; however, the fennec luckily manages to avoid both bolts.

Zuri huffs as the mathemagical phrase seems to have worked. Exhaustingly well! The pegasus flutters in mid-air as he doubles down on his use of the Divine Math, and starts reciting and tracing in the air a different set of mathemagical symbols, a stout phrase of churning earth and rock. With his magic and his will he seeks to shape the battleground to provide cover for his friends, temporary walls of gravel that might distract and impair the attackers and force them to come in piecemeal.

Thelergramor is now covered in stone. This... He decides this is a good thing, more armor! The basilisk grins again, raising his left hand and flicking his wrist to ready the crossbow; leaning out past any cover Zuri made for him. The basilisk aims low towards one of the blind beings and fires a bolt at him or her, working some dark math into it to make it a bit more affective and draining. Specifically trying to avoid any major organs... And at least it's not an arrow if it hits the knee!