Act 3: The Ball - Preparations of War

Steve finds four barrels of Purpura wine, one of which has been opened but is still full. They're placed alongside the wall on this side of the building, next to the water barrels, and are in clear view of the people sleeping. In fact, some of the men are still awake and guarding the entrances right now. They're either playing card or reading a book with their backs turned to the kitchen. The nearest ones are thirty feet away from the adventurers.

Mihai shifts back into the real world and begins to spike the wine barrel with magnesium. Fluffle looks on with bathed breath, but then turns his gaze towards the bay door at the other end of the warehouse. Then Konrad and Steve hear it: the very distant, but distinct scraping of a footstep. And it is coming from outside the building.

Fluffle immediately kills the light.

For the first time, Konrad doesn't whisper to the others. He just tries to locate the sound of the scraping in relation to the building, with his hearing.

Awareness 23
How far away is that noise? Is it coming straight for us, or is it off center?

Steve turns towards the sound, mentally regulating his breathing as he readies to cast a spell if the creature starts tearing its way through the wall.

Ready Action:

The scraping continues, as whatever is outside right now continues to walk down the street. Konrad is pretty sure it's on the other side of the bay door, which he estimates must be 200 feet away from them, and that it's only passing by, not looking for them. Then Mihai pops back into the Shroud, having successfully spiked the barrel.

Mihai returns to his companions' side, but notices that it's now completely dark. Before he can ask why, all four party members hear the creature shriek outside and tear through the bay door, slashing through it with its claws. Immediately, Fluffle lights up the room once more and flies towards the nearest entrance.

It'll take only a second or two before the Shrieker makes its way into the warehouse.

Steve yells "Run!" at Mihai and Konrad and begins hauling ass after Fluffle.

"We've pushed our luck," Konrad says. "It found us. Come on!"

He rushes away to the exit Fluffle flew toward and tries to brute force the door by slamming into it with his shoulder. He could bust the hinge, if not the lock.

Charge 10

Luckily for the adventurers, Fluffle has already used his cantrip to turn the knob and open the door for them. They're halfway there when the creature bursts through the bay door and shrieks again.

Standing at nine feet tall, it needs to crouch to enter the warehouse. Although the party members cannot discern its features, they can tell by its dark silhouette that it's completely black and lacks any sort of clothing. It's a huge, elongated humanoid mass with slim limbs and long claws, and it's running at full speed towards them.

The adventurers arrive outside in an alleyway, where two shadowy figures are taking a smoke break. To the left is the street where they came from. To the right is another, narrower street that leads deeper into the Northern Ward.

Fluffle stands by the door, ready to do something.

Konrad almost loses his balance when he rushes through, bracing for an impact that didn't come. He looks back to see how close the long thin creature is, before following Mihai into the tighter alley.

Steve is bringing up the rear as it is and so doesn't waste his time looking back at the creature. He just focuses on following his friends and putting one step in front of the other.

Fluffle refuses to move before everyone is through the door, and Konrad checks the creature one last time to ascertain how long it will take before it reaches this door—which will be in only a few seconds.

Once the red mage is through, Fluffle his cantrip to close the door behind them, then flies up towards the sky where it's safer. The adventurers continue to run down the alleyway and just as they come up to the street, they hear the Shrieker crash through the wall and howl at them.

The party must now choose in which direction they want to flee: west or east.

The group keeps running into the street, which they notice is completely deserted at the moment. Konrad then feels Fluffle grab onto his hair and shout, "I'm here!"

"Steve, jump!"

Konrad waits until Steve turns into a puff of smoke before shifting back to the real world.

Steve doesn't hesitate, he jumps back.

For the briefest of moments, Mihai catches a glimpse of the creature that's chasing them, but because his companions are blocking the view, he can only make out its elongated head.

The surface of its black skin looks as solid as onyx. It has a maw full of teeth that are turning yellow and three sets of eyes that glare at the adventurers; and where the nose should be, there are two long vertical holes instead. But before it reaches them, the adventurers jump back into the real world, and they are immediately drenched by the rain, which has doubled in intensity since they were last here.

But at least they're safe.

Konrad had forgotten about the rain. It might as well have been a visual distortion caused by the anomaly they call the Shroud. Drenched twice in one night. He raises a hand to shield his eyes.

"Let's head back to the hotel. Learning more about those folks with the pointed ears can wait. Assuming they're waiting for us."

Steve does his best to be silent and aware. The heavy rain is both a blessing and a curse on those fronts.

Stealth 9

Awareness 9

Konrad lingers back and waits for Mihai's signals. He wipes his face and buffers his eyes with his cantrip against the pouring rain to help himself see better.

Awareness 21
Stealth 11

The walk back to the Grand Ward is long and unpleasant.

With Mihai scouting ahead, the party members are able to stay out of sight of the guards patrolling the streets, but there are still a few close calls that could have been avoided had Konrad and Steve been more stealthy. It's only because of the red mage's sharp senses that they were able to remain undetected.

But then, they finally encounter an obstacle they won't be able to bypass with stealth alone this time—the eastern gate that leads into the Grand Ward. Six armed men are posted outside of it, with four more standing atop the wall. Even in this rain, it will be impossible to slip past them. Unless they shift back into the Shroud again, of course.

"Shucks," Fluffle mutters from under Konrad's hood. "We really don't have much of a choice, do we?"