Having formulated a quick plan of action the adventurers move. Serion takes advantage of the cloudy night to melt into the evening shadows of an alleyway to the left. Johann does likewise on the right of the street. Torsten, Andreas, Otto and Karl take the chest down the street toward the waiting Brettonnians.
Serion looks back in the direction they came from. He sees four crossbowmen following them and decides to head down the alleyway to find a better vantage point. He disappears into the darkness and easily scales a fence to hide in the back garden of a nearby house. One of the crossbowmen heads down the alleyway, looking for signs of the elf. As he strains his eyes looking into the darkness, Serion launches an arrow into the back of his head. The arrow slices straight through the mans scalp stunning him as blood pours into his eyes. Instinctively he turns to the direction the arrow came from just as a second arrow pierces his open mouth, pinning him lifeless to the fence behind. Serion calmly walks over to the dead man, removes his arrow and drags the body around the corner to hide it from searching eyes.
Johann also realises that he is being followed, so quickly scans the alleyway for options. He sees a pile of rubble to one side and picks up a large chunk of rock and slips behind a fence. He lanches the rubble further down the alleyway as a distraction and a man with a crossbow runs towards the sound. Once the man has passed, Johann vaults over the fence to attack him from behind, unfortunately he knocks over a barrel as he jumps and alerts the thug. The man spins around and fires a crossbow bolt wildly into the darkness. Johann takes advantage of this and slashes at the man with his dagger but he manages to dodge the blow. The thug then swings his crossbow at Johann but the unwieldy weapon sails past him and the momentum causes him to fall over. Johann immediately lunges with his dagger catching the man in the arm, quickly followed by a fatal stab to the throat.
Whilst Serion and Johann make their way down the side alleys, Torsten, Andreas, Otto and Karl carry on towards the waiting Jorge Lappin with the chest. The Brettonnian calls out to the four men, telling them to only send two forward with no weapons or backpacks. Torsten shouts back telling them to leave their crossbows. Torsten and Andreas both hide daggers in their belts, take the key to the chest from Otto and start walking. Lappin turns to another man and speaks in Brettonnian, saying that the job will be easy as they have only been sent a one armed cripple and a retard. Andreas, understanding the foreigners lets Torsten know. As they near, Torsten asks Jorge if he is supposed to be the cripple or the retard. Jorge is taken aback and tries to move the deal on. Lappins henchman opens up a crate revealing bottles of Brettonnian brandy. Torsten opens the chest with the key, to his surprise, the chest is full of stones and not gold. Torsten curses under his breath, realising that Adewald has double crossed the adventurers. Jorge starts to get twitchy as Torsten closes the chest again smiling. Torsten hands over the chest and as Jorge opens it he gives Andreas a wink and they both draw their daggers. Jorge sees the stones in the chest then looks up to see Torsten and Andreas holding weapons. He too draws a dagger and orders his henchman to attack.
As Serion leaves the hidden body of the man he just killed he looks up and sees another on the roof of the building across the street and one on the roof of the house next to him. Both men are holding two crossbows and look as if they are targeting somebody in the street below. Serion, hoping that Johann is taking care of the other side of the street takes aim at the man above him. Serion aims at the mans leg, and lets loose his arrow knowing that if his shot hit correctly the man would fall backward into the garden and not down into the street. The arrow strikes the back of the mans thigh, he stumbles and falls backwards off of the roof into the garden in front of Serion. He cries out as he falls and Serion curses his luck at not making the perfect silent kill. Serion quickly takes aim at the downed man and fires a second arrow straight into the injured mans heart, killing him instantly.
Meanwhile, Johann picks up and loads the crossbow from the thug he has just killed. As he is about to move off he notices a man on the roof above him aiming a crossbow into the street below. Johann takes aim with his crossbow and launches a bolt straight into the back of the mans head. The thug stands motionless for a second then slowly topples backwards and slides down the roof before landing with a sickening crunch on the floor below. The crossbow he was holding and another land on top of his body with a soft thump. Johann drops the crossbow he has just fired and takes the other two which are both luckily still loaded.
In the street, Torsten and Andreas square up to Lappin and his henchman Henri. Henri grabs a sword from behind the crate of brandy and prepares to fight. Torsten lunges at Lappin with his dagger, piercing his leather armour and scraping along his ribs. Henri swings his sword at Andreas but the one armed mercenary manages to dodge to one side and then plunge his dagger into the mans neck killing him instantly. Andreas then picks up the sword. Torsten continues to look for an opening on Lappin and as the Brettonnian starts to back off Andreas swings his sword around, disarming him expertly. He follows up with a solid blow that connects with the mans right arm breaking it at the elbow. Realising that he cannot win the fight, Lappin drops to his knees and begs for mercy. As Torsten bends to pick up the defeated mans dagger the Brettonnian shouts out to hidden crossbowmen telling them to open fire. The remaining crossbowmen fire at Torsten and Andreas. A crossbow bolt glances off of Andreas's chainmail whilst Torsten is struck twice in the chest. Both bolts penetrating Torstens breastplate and causing damage beneath. The two men look at each other in surprise then with a roar charge past Lappin into the crossbowmen. Faced with two charging armed men, one of the crossbowmen turns and runs, the other desperately tries to reload his weapon. Before he gets chance to aim, Torsten slashes a dagger across his face. He swings his crossbow at Torsten but it is parried with Lappins dagger. Andreas then launches a punch at the man flooring him. Torsten lifts the man to his feet and tells Andreas to watch him. As they are doing this, Lappin makes a dash for an alleyway. Angry at letting the Brettonnian escape, Torsten turns to the captured man and slits his throat.
Johann slings both crossbows over his shoulders and proceeds to climb up the drainpipe of the house from which he shot down the thug. Once on the roof he sees the fighting below him. Not wanting to risk a shot into the combat beneath he turns his attention back up the road they came along and sees two men aiming crossbows at Torsten and Andreas. He takes aim at one of them and fires a bolt into the mans shoulder causing him to drop to the floor in agony. He then attempts to fire the second crossbow at the downed man but the bolt ricochets off of the floor in front of him.
Serion heads back to the alleyway and looks up at the building opposite where the other crossbowman was hiding. The man is gone and Johann is in his place holding on to a crossbow and aiming down into the street. Serion scans his eyes back the way they had come from for the other two crossbowmen that had been following. He sees one man slumped against a wall with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his shoulder and another man preparing to fire his crossbow down the street toward Torsten and Andreas. Serion quickly fires an arrow at the man, striking him in the chest making him drop his crossbow. He then fires a second arrow at the man, hitting him straight between his eyes, killing him instantly. The elf then quickly spins to look down the street and sees Lappin starting to run towards an alleyway. Serion aims towards him, hoping to hit the mans leg and knock him to the ground. The arrow flies true but its power is so great that it pierces the first leg and pins it to the other. Lappin suddenly finds himself falling midstride as his legs can no longer move independently. The arrow also manages to sever an artery and the man is dead before he hits the floor.
As scene calms down the trio loot the bodies of the Brettonnians. Johann and Torsten help themselves to several weapons and items of clothing whilst Serion is not interested in weighing himself down with extra equipment. He does however take a share of the silver shillings found on the dead men. They then load up the cart with the crate of brandy and chest of stones and head straight to Adewalds warehouse.
On arriving at the warehouse the adventurers meet a man who introduces himself as Max. Angry at being double crossed by Adewald, Johann manages to persuade Max into getting them into Talabheim. He agrees to set up a meeting with Finch, whom the trio failed to find at the Ten-Tailed Cat previously. Max tells them to go to the Crooked Shoe inn and Finch will see them.
Leaving the warehouse, they head to the Crooked Shoe inn.
The trio enter the Crooked Shoe and are greeted by a man who introduces himself as Finch. Finch is asking for twenty gold coins from each man to get into Talabheim. After several rounds of negotiation and haggling Johann gets the price down to ten gold coins each. Realising that Finch is not actually bothered how much he is getting paid and that he is mostly likely doing it because he has been told to, Serion knocks him down to fifteen gold coins for the three of them. Finch tells them to meet him at warehouse fifteen in the docks district an hour before dawn and leaves.
Deciding to settle down for the night the adventurers ask about rooms. As they are speaking to the barmaid Serion and Torsten start to cough and she immediately tells them that there are no rooms available. Deciding that she is lying, Torsten grabs the girl and Johann whispers something into her ear that makes her eyes widen in fear and she changes her mind instantly.
Having acquired a room for the remainder of the night, Johann sets to work healing the two puncture wounds in Torstens chest from the fight with the Brettonnians earlier. Serion gets himself comfortable and is asleep in minutes. Satisfied with his healing, Johann sits on his bed and mixes up various herbs to make a poison for one of his daggers. It is not long before the remaining two adventurers are asleep and resting before their journey into Talabheim in the morning.
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