Act 4: The Rescue - Bastard

14th of April, 422
Villevieille, Virginie's house

Konrad, Steve and Mihai all wake up at the same time. The first thing they notice is that they're not lying in their beds anymore, but on top of futons that have been laid down in the living room. And sitting next to them are the people they love the most.

Amber, Zelk and Femke.

"Mihai!"

The teenage girl wraps her arms around her brother's shoulders, relieved that he's safe. Mihai then notices another strange thing: his clothes are wet.

"By the Eight. You had me worried there for a second."

Zelk is holding Steve's hand, a smirk on her face.

As for Femke, she's sitting right next to Konrad, smiling down at him.

Konrad sits up. He's warmed by the Tyke's smile. Seeing one that big on her is a rare treat. But he looks around. "Did something happen? Why are we all in one room?"

He looks for his weapon.

Spellcraft 23
Green magic, and other shenanigans not related to enchanted gear.

Steve yawns and smiles up at Zelk, happy to see her despite the confusion of finding himself waking up in the living room. He squeezes her hand back and says, "How long were we out?"

Konrad:

Konrad sees that his gear, as well as his companions', has been placed against the wall, next to the chimney. Nothing appears to be missing.

"It's almost one in the afternoon," someone says.

It's Virginie. She's sitting in one of the armchairs, her eyes fixed on Mihai.

"We couldn't wake you up," she continues to explain.

Amber finally lets go of her brother and then punches him on the shoulder. "That's for worrying me!"

Zelk chuckles at this display of affection, then faces Steve to answer his question. "When we realized none of you could wake up, we decided to bring you here to see if we could find a way to bring you back. Well, that failed, so we opted to wait instead..."

Although she's smiling, Steve can feel that Zelk's hand is shaking.

Meanwhile, Femke has stood up from her spot to pick a glass of water from the table which she appears to have prepared for him. She's now offering it to Konrad.

Konrad takes the glass and drinks, then rubs his forehead. "Usually I have to quaff a cup of wine in the morning. Praise the bells for White magic!" He stirs and rises from his futons and leans in for a kiss, then goes to retrieve his gear. "What about you guys? How do you feel?"

Steve sits up and squeezes Zelk's hand and looks her in the eyes, letting her know without words that he understands and that he's sorry for scaring her. But out loud he says, "I'm starving. Do you guys have anything good to eat?"

"I would advise against that," Virginie says. "I just got word: Gregory knows you're in town, and he's ordered his contacts in the police to cordon off the port from the rest of the city. I've had my people give him false information, so he thinks you're either on your ship or staying at one of the inns over there."

Amber crosses her arms and adds, "Zelk's friends are scouting out the area where he's hiding right now. I say we kick down his door and say hi to him."

Amber wrinkles her nose in revulsion. "Ugh. You're planning to use the Shroud? Again?"

Judging by Virginie's frown, the idea doesn't enchant her either but she voices no protest. Before anyone else can speak however, a new person literally appears out of nowhere in the middle of the room.

It's Filarion, and he's in his human disguise. The young elf, now looking like a middle-aged man with a fair bit of stubble on his face, has his hands raised in an appeasing manner, aware that his sudden appearance could cause Virginie and Zelk to reach for their weapons—which they did with impressive speed.

"Apologies for the intrusion," he says with his unusual accent. "I'm an ally of these mercenaries here. From what it looked on the other side, now was a good time to join this conversation."

"Yeah, he's cool," Steve says, literally pooh-poohing away the thought that Filarian is a danger with a wave of his hand.

Konrad pauses mid-dress to look at him. "Filarion?" He resumes dressing. "I thought you were staying on the ship. What are you doing here?"

"That's all right," Filarion says to Mihai. "You're blocking their line of sight."

The adventurers check and realize that Mihai is indeed standing between Filarion and the two other people in the room who don't know him, Zelk and Virginie. Had they decided to attack him, they would have had to go through Mihai first.

"I was watching over you," the elf says to Konrad. "You appeared unable to wake up, so I stayed in case something tried to sneak up on you through the Shroud."

"The situation has changed since we were unable to wake. I don't suppose you have a way to get past the guards' checkpoint without drawing their attention?"

"Not any more than you do."

By now, Virginie has sheathed her dagger and Zelk has lowered her right hand. Still, they eye Filarion suspiciously.

"This is a good opportunity, actually," Zelk says. "Since most of the guards are over there, we can assault the hideout without worrying about them. Gregory only has fifteen men with him, correct?"

"Correct," Virginie answers.

"Where should we enter the Shroud anyway? We aren't walking through the streets again are we?"

"My squad, Smirk, Tom Blackcliff and Fluffle are already surveying the area. Once we get there, they can cut off all the escape routes while you go in and deal with the man himself."

"I've made a map of the hideout," Virginie adds. "It's outdated, but it should provide you an idea of what to expect."

Konrad shrugs his coat on, feeling the familiar shape of his hidden invention right where it should be, and leans over to Femke.

"Did you have time to go out while we slept to learn anything useful?"

Femke smiles at Konrad and shakes her head.

Meanwhile, Virginie motions for everyone to gather around the low table around which are placed the couches and armchairs. She sits down and lays down a roll of parchment on it.

"We own multiple buildings in the area and have connected their basements together," she begins to explain. "We've then removed access to the first floor of these buildings, so there are only three ways to enter the hideout. The first is east, through the tavern. Last I checked, there were only two doors, one in the kitchen and the other in the bathroom. Here and here. The second entrance is through the warehouse to the north. There's a ramp leading down into the hideout that leads into an underground warehouse where we keep our contraband. However, there's a third entrance which has been added only a few months ago. Gregory had it built in secret, along with a whole new wing; I hear there are now barracks and guest rooms there. You can access this third entrance through the sewers to the south. I don't know the layout of this new wing, nor where Gregory is keeping his new creatures, so you'd be going in blind."

The middle-aged outlaw pauses to gauge everyone's reaction.

"Thoughts?"

Map: