Quote from ArtymisMoon >>

Harmony follows Kane back upstairs, glancing back a final time to make sure the kids will be okay together. For once, she listens carefully as Petmailer describes the plan. "I'll go," she offers once he's finished speaking. "If we're just trying to trick them and get out of there without a fight, I think I'd be most helpful." She takes the cultist robe and pulls it on.

 “Okay,” Kane says. “If you go with Petmailer, I’ll stay here with Gunra, Nurm, and the villagers and try to figure out how to evacuate safely.”

Gunra listens to the plan and shakes his head.

"I think it's a fool's errand, my friend, to go out there.  We almost died getting here and we have no guarantee that this person is. . . you know."  He lets the sentence finish itself.

"I would feel better if you went with them, Mentha.  I have heard how capable you are.  Me, I'm a slow rolling boulder.  I'll help hold the keep it it gets worse here."

The halfling nods. "Alright. Keep watch in case the cultists return while we are gone, or if anything starts giving trouble" Then she turns to Nighthill. "We'll be back here very soon, I promise."

As you are leaving, Ignar shouts. "I hope you have a very good lie planned!"

Once outside of the Keep, Mentha guides you to the Temple through the tall grass, avoiding any encounters with the cultists. Though, more than Mentha, its her little beast companion guiding the way by walking ahead of you and keeping watch with its keen senses.

When you arrive at the Temple, the first thing you notice its this crushing aura of destruction: The air is filled with smoke and ashes, the beautiful gardens you saw yesterday have been set ablaze, and any surviving rose outside of the flowerbeds has been trampled by the cultist mob. The attackers tried setting fire to the stout structure but have had little success. Now they’ve deployed an improvised battering ram. It’s only a matter of time, possibly minutes, before the temple’s main doors crumple under the assault, leaving the people inside helpless. 

The force of cultists outside the temple is split into three groups. One (A) is battering at the front doors, another (B) is circling the temple in a screeching mob, and the third (C) is heaping burning straw against a rear door. 

Group A consists of three cultists, and six kobolds. The cultists are handling the ram while the kobolds seem to be standing guard in case the town militia mounts a counterattack. One of the cultists is wearing a cloak, and seems to be the one in charge.

Group B consists of three cultists, ten kobolds, and two ambush drakes.

Group C consists of four cultists and four kobolds clustered tightly around the temple’s back door. Their meager fire produces little flame, much to their obvious frustration.

"...Ok, what is the plan?" Mentha whispers. "Would you like me to create a distraction?"

As we sit in the tall grass and quickly make our plans, Petmailer gets ready in his Pride Silk armor and mask, cultist robes.  He disguises himself the best he can as a cultist.  The shield is covered in a robe and strapped to his backpack.  He turns to Mentha and says "Can you create a diversion at the back of the temple, perhaps from a hidden spot put a few crossbow bolts into those cultists?  I will warn the leader and send him around to the back with the majority of their crew, saying that they are victims of a counter attack.  I will send a message to Eadyan to open the front door and come out and we will rendezvous back here in the tall grass and make our way back to the keep.  Do you think that you can evade them and distract them long enough?"

Before I leave the keep, I send a message to Ignar saying "Thank you for your help.  Hopefully we will both get through this alive and can tell our children about it one day.  Is there anything I should say as an opening, a salute, or any way that the Dragon cultists would greet each other?  Please help me if you can."  (This might need to be sent in multiple messages).

Petmailer, you hear Ignar answering to the message:  

Smiling with fierce overconfidence, Mentha answers to your question. "...Just watch"

She walks away, but not before turning to you and Harmony. "Any signal we can use in case things go sour? I was thinking of sending Shyr to find you if I get caught..." She points to her badger.

At the Keep:

Nighthill and Escobert don't pay any further attention to Ignar as they turn to talk to the remaining party, walking away from him. "...You and your companions managed that situation quite well, I'm impressed." The Governor says to Kane, glancing at the crowd who are now minding their own business. 

"The problem still remains, though" Escobert glances at the chained half-orc before continuing. "Before you arrived, Mentha and I were trying to talk Governor here into... abandoning the prisioners here rather than taking them with us. Obviously, we didn't had all the context at the time, but the idea of travelling with a cultist, even a turncoat one, makes me uneasy."

"We are not leaving anyone behind" Nighthill declares, glaring at the dwarf. "We'll evacuate with him, and when we arrive to our destination, we'll leave his fate to the authorities. We are not judges nor executioners, Red."

"And then there's the issue with your little friend..." Escobert continues. "Mentha is a ranger, and she's been hunting gnolls for years. She's the 'expert' here... and her opinion was that the only good gnoll is a dead gnoll. She seemed to be willing to listen to you and tolerate the situation for now as long as Leyding here behaves, but that's still something to keep in mind." He fiddles with his beard. "If we are really doing this, we'll need to keep her hidden. People will shoot first and ask questions later if they see her..."

Petmailer points his finger at Mentha underneath his robe and sends a message, "We can communicate like this, I will send you a message periodically and you let me know if things are getting hairy.  Send Shyr if you need to."

Petmailer turns to Harmony and relays the info from Ignar about the cultist greeting and then says “Thank you for being here, thank you for helping me.  I think that Eadyan and Leosin have a bigger part to play in this and we need to save them, if we can.  Hopefully we can rescue them without fighting, but in case it is needed, I have a healing potion.  I am going to be a cultist from Helviraena and you are going to be my new associate, think of a story that might work.  Do you have any thoughts about our plan?”  He turns and looks at Harmony, then Mentha, and gives a nod.

Harmony listens and nods along as she is told the plan. "I think they'll realize quickly that there's no attack and circle right back to us. Maybe we could try and send them further away? Tell them that there's a group holed up in the windmill or something, and that we're taking over here?" 

The booming blows of the battering ram can be heard from your location.

Mentha turns to Harmony. "Yes, they might. But if you can keep the farse until Eadyan and the rest are far enough from them to run to safety, I'd say that's good enough."

"In any case, I'll see if I can get them to follow me. Even if they don't, this should keep distracted at least some of them. Don't worry about me..." Having said that, she disappears into the wilderness.

At the temple, Group C keeps trying to lit the fire... When the smoke suddenly turns into a prodigious cloud. The cloud keeps growing till its a sphere of fog that heavily obscures the back of the temple (  Fog Cloud ). You see a panicked kobold run from the fog and almost getting struck by a crossbow bolt coming from the opposite direction of where you currently are, which makes them panic further. Alerted by it, Group B runs in that direction to investigate. 

Group C walks as further away from the fog cloud as they can. Group A interrupts their work for a moment before continuing.

Gunra sits on his haunches as Escobert and Nighthill review the situation. He listens intently, glancing especially towards Kane to gauge his reaction.

"Well, regarding the gnoll. . . I believe we cannot judge a creature that is successfully defying its foul nature. If she loses control and kills an innocent, I will support putting her to the axe. But, pragmatically speaking, my allies are quite fond of her. If you want their assistance, you will have to tolerate her."

He draws a small rag from a pouch on his back, and begins to wrap it over a wound on his arm as he talks.

"As for Ingvar, I too support keeping him alive. The others already killed two of this people after they had been made harmless. He has utterly surrendered and has been helpful. He deserves lawful justice. But I must ask - Governor Nighthill, if nobody here is speaker of the law, who is?"

Petmailer waits a few minutes until Mentha gets in place but before she starts her mayhem, then starts to walk to the front door of the temple with Harmony.  He sends a message to Mentha saying, "We are walking to the front door, get ready to begin your distraction."  He says in a low voice to Harmony, "Get ready, let's see if we can get them to leave, I'm going to send a message to Eadyan.  I need you to help me give them the biggest line of bullshit that we can think of.  Let's try to send them to the mill."  Rapier, dagger in hilt, hands open we walk toward the crew at the front door, casual as we can be before the mayhem starts.  Left hand under cloak points at the temple and sends a message to Eadyan says "Petmailer here, we are rescuing you.  Nighthill at keep, Mentha helping us.  You and Leosin come to the front door."

As Harmony and I approach, walking casually, I hold up my right hand, fingers outsplayed and wiggling the tips.  "Greetings brother, Praise Tiamat and glory to her!  Greetings from Helviraena, my name is Petmailer and we have been sent here to join you, this is my associate Harmony.  I was told to find Vonskeltuehk here in Greenest, to make contact.  I bring word from Charvrae Teken'ghym and our sect in Helviraena, we are here to see your progress and to bring word of our support.  We are here to see how we can help, to complete our task and bring Her glory into our world!  Who are the bastards hiding in here?  Hopefully they will be burned up with her glorious flames!"  He waits here and with his left hand when the leader is distracted sends a quick message to Mentha "Begin!  Lead them toward the mill, and good luck!"

After the fog cloud, crossbow shots, shouting and mayhem begins, Petmailer moves to the west side of the temple and looks hard, behind the temple and also to the west, points toward the mill and says "They are mounting a counter attack! We came into the city from the south and thought that we saw movement from that direction, a stout dwarf with bright red hair leading some of the villager scum to attack us.  Go!  You are almost through this door, we will finish up here.  You know the lay of the land in this town better than we do, hurry, we will finish your task here and crack this door open like a nut.  We can handle this simple task for you."

After this Petmailer walks over and picks up the battering ram, starting to swing it back and forth.  He starts to speak to the kobolds, starting in Undercommon, then shaking his head switches to Common, saying "Follow, follow your leader, Tiamat be praised!  We have this..."  He turns to Harmony, "Help me with this ram, we will destroy their place of worship and their false god."

((As a note, Harmony would have left her lute at the Keep so she wouldn't look as suspicious. She likely would have entrusted it to Linan or somebody else she knew.))

As Harmony approaches next to Petmailer, her demeanor similarly calm, she imitates his salute. "Praise be to Tiamat," she greets, then lets Petmailer begin his explanation.

While he messages Mentha, she continues along the lines of his spiel, hoping to keep the cultists distracted. "Foolish scum, worshipping their false idol. Those who do not bow to Her glory deserve to burn in Her name. As soon as we are inside, these bastards shall face justice for their heresy."

When Petmailer points out the "attack" on the mill, she stares intently as if trying to find something, "sees" it, and gives a scornful glare in that direction. "I told you we should have gone for the dwarf when we had the chance," she tells him, grabbing the other side of the battering ram, then turns back to the cultists. "Go. Your strength is needed elsewhere."

((Petmailer didn't make a deception check, so I will: 13 Second roll in case I get advantage for having help: 23))

At the Temple:

Petmailer, you hear Mentha's answer: "Got it!"

When you approach, the cultists give another hit at the door with the battering ram before they notice you. The kobolds are on guard at first, but they relax when they see the cultist robes you are wearing. The one who seems to be taking a leadership role greets you.

"Praised be our Queen!" He salutes you back with a smile. When Petmailer mentions Helviraena, his eyebrows furrow, but as soon as Vonskeltuehk and Charvrae's names are mentioned, joyous realization seems to dawn on him. "Glad to hear that Drow b*tch finally made the right choice..." He blurts before continuing. "Inside there's this town's leading religious figure. We need to gutter him like the pig he is, so that everyone around here can see how his sorry excuse of a goddess failed to protect him. We need to make an example out of the heretics, wouldn't you agree?"

Whatever your answer would have been, its interrupted as Mentha's mayhem reaches your ears. You tell him about the supposed attack, and he buys it. "I know of the dwarf, that could be a problem..." He hisses, and nods to you. "I'll deal with them while you deal with the heretics here. I must warn you: The elf there and his friend are acolytes, and they could give quite a fight. Be careful."

As he turns to leave, he winks at Harmony. 

He and Group A hand over the battering ram to you and turn to leave, following after Group B. As they leave, you see him order Group C to keep guard while they are gone, but said group is paying you no attention for now as they stand guard somewhere up the tall grass at the back for an attack that is not coming.

The doors have cracks large enough to see through. You hear and catch glimpses of the panicked villagers inside, and you hear Eadyan's voice as he tries to calm them.

At the Keep:

"On a normal situation, that would be me." Nighthill explains with a sigh. "Normally, I would order him jailed, or have Eadyan contact the Order over what to do. We solve crimes that way, and Mentha is in charge of hunting and killing those criminals who are not what you'd call people, if you understand what I'm talking about. But now that we are in the middle of evacuating to another city, things are a little more complicated."

He glances at Ignar. "When we get to Iriaebor, it will be the law speakers there who get to decide, not me."

Petmailer sends a quick message to Mentha if she is in range, a quick warning "They are coming, be careful!"  Periodically we swing the ram against the front door just to make noise and keep up the ruse.  In between one of the hits I move forward and peek through the gap and send the message to Eadyan again "Come to front door to speak to me, Petmailer here, we need to get you out, hurry!"

When he comes to the front door I pull down the mask so that he can see my face and tell him the plan quickly, then pull it back up.  We need to escape out the front and run fast to the keep, sticking to the high grass as much as possible, we will need his help if any fighting must be done (hopefully not).  Petmailer turns to Harmony, "Do you agree?  I think that's the best way..."

Periodically we pick up the ram and bang the front door to keep the sound going..

That's a noble of you governor, following the law even in the times of trouble. While we wait for the others return, we might want to go over the plans of the evacuation. How do you plan to leave the town, while the cultists are still there?

Kane puts in his two cents. “I wasn’t there when Ignar was captured, nor did I interrogate him, therefor, I am unable to speak of he possible redemption. However, Leyding, is a different story. I know people are afraid of gnolls and usually they are right. But she is different...she has resisted the call of the flesh, as I have seen with my own eyes. Please, promise me you will try to keep her safe from...others.”

At the Temple:

At Petmailer's message, you hear Eadyan answer "...I'm coming."

He and Leosin move to the door, peeking through the cracks. Eadyan's attitude is suprisingly level-headed. "I'll be outside in a bit, I need to gather everyone..."

Leosin is more impatient to leave, or at least to get everyone moving. "We need to move, the cultists could be back any second now" 

As the priest goes back to gather the villagers, Leosin takes a look to the battering ram. "When we get out, you two and Eadyan can lead the way. I'll keep the battering sounds to keep the act and gain us some time. I'll join with you all later."

At the Keep:

Escobert gives Kane an inquisitive look. "You speak as if you were her father. But whatever, as long as nothing happens she can come along. Things might get ugly if the Shield of Iriaebor see that we are trying to get a gnoll into the city with us, though..."

"We'll cross that river when we get there." Nighthill decides. He turns to Nurm. "Besides those of us who are outside right now, the cultists believe that we are taking refuge inside this Keep. Let's keep it that way. The gate to the tunnel is right here, and as long as they don't notice the existence of that tunnel or where we are going, we should be fine..."

Petmailer says urgently to Eadyan and Harmony, "Let's go!  Have your people follow us as fast as they can.  Eadyan do you have any weapon with you in case we run into trouble?  Leosin will keep up the ruse until we have left and then hopefully he will move fast.  Let's head to the keep!"

We move as fast as we can and Petmailer pulls out his long bow and knocks an arrow just in case.  When we get close to the keep I will plan to message Escobert to cover us from the battlements and open the gate.  

Harmony nods her agreement to the plan, moving to cover the opposite side of the group that Petmailer is on. She can't help but wonder if Leosin had some ulterior motive or plan, but it was a bit too late now. As they move quietly towards the cover of the tall grass, she tries to scope out the villagers for anyone particularly injured or slow, or any children. She also periodically glances back at the temple while it's still in sight to check what's happening there.

((About how many villagers are there? Perception check if it's needed for anything: 13 Did Leosin seem like he was being honest with us? Insight: 15))

As we are going Petmailer updates Eadyan quickly on events and status of things at the keep, Leyding, Ignar, etc.  He also tells him “Harmony and I are both injured, is there any word of healing or way that you have to heal our wounds? We can’t really stop but I am fearful if we run into a group of cultists.  Have you suffered any injuries?”

To Harmony:

Eadyan and Leosin exit through the door, followed by twenty five people. Some of them are elderly and need to helped the rest to get out faster.

As Leosin stays behind, Eadyan follows your lead, the people close behind him. At any sound that could mean that the cultist group guarding the area could be marching close, Eadyan signals everyone to be quiet and hide before continuing.

After he's been told what has happened, Eadyan asks. "Hurt, you say? Let me see..."

He then tries to heal Harmony with a quick prayer before the group has to run again. "I'll tend to your wounds shortly, as well" Eadyan assures to Petmailer. "As for me, do not worry. I'm fine."

Petmailer and Harmony, make a Stealth check.

Casting Healing Word on Harmony: