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Without a word, Abby walks out of the garrison and enters the back of her covered wagon. With one swift motion, she beckons for Twyla and Revenge to follow her. Once everyone is inside, she speaks in a lowered voice.

"We have to get the others; they are in danger. I have no idea how Aria found out and got here so quick, but I'm sure this town is now infested with their agents. Those three in there played it cool, but I'm sure they recognized me. They had lenses in their helmets, no doubt to shield them from Petra's gaze. If they know I am here, as well, they will send soldiers equipped to nullify my mind attacks and illusions."

Abby buries her head in her hands as tears begin to well up in her eyes. "Oh, how could I have been so careless? This is all my fault. They must have suspected Petra might be here, but now they know I am here for sure. Everyone is in danger now, all because I didn't stay hidden."



Petra cranes her neck up towards Kuori and, through her trembling, a small smile breaks across her face from underneath her hood. "Right... I trust you. I'll lead us to our house, but I'll stay outside for now."

Petra leads Valac and Kuori down the street to the house where she and Abby had stayed. The the house looks vacant with no outwards signs of occupancy. Curtains were drawn over all the windows and the front door locked. Petra produces a key and attempts to unlock the front door but the key doesn't turn "T-they must have changed the locks. There is a door in the back, but it's probably locked too."

Revenge would frown as his wife covered her face, but did not immediately go to comfort her. Instead, with all due seriousness, he would turn to Twyla.

"Twyla, what's the casting time on the Sending ritual? We might not have time to get the others. If Abby's right about her being recognized, our best bet to stay below the radar is to engage this men now, before they can inform their comrades. If we have time, we'll definitely need the others, but if not, we may have to hope they realize we're taking too long and come looking for us on their own."

Twyla felt perturbed. This wasn't turning out at all like she'd hoped. Her hopes of helping the guards were beginning to sink.

"I... I don't really know... You think that's what they're doing? I, well, I can't really do stuff like that, so I don't know..." She listened to the streets outside. Everything still seemed calm.

"We have to reconnect with them somehow. They could be in trouble themselves. I mean, they went to the place where the guards were petrified... That could be a place Aria would check out, too. If we wait around for them, they might not come back! Then we'll have wasted more time than if we just went to them right away. Besides, Abby brought us here. What if they don't know the way?"

She shook her head. "No, we can't just assume they'll come to us. We're stronger together. But we do need to stay hidden. Maybe..."

She looked at Abby quizzically. "Miss Abby? If the way you look, uh... isn't how you REALLY look... can you change it? Can you look more than one way? What I mean is, can you disguise yourself with magic?"

((Arcana to figure out sending: 18 sweatdrop DM tells me it's a fail.))

Valac moves into the narrow alleyway behind the house and kicks the back door with all his might. The door pops off its iron hinges and falls forward. However, as it falls, the tiefling hears a metallic click. Smoke colored gas suddenly floods the area around Valac, and he immediately feels drowsy. The barbarian tries to resist the effects, but after a few seconds Valac's vision fades to darkness. (Valac falls unconscious.)

On the other side of the house, Kuori and Petra hear a crash, followed by a dull thud, then silence.



Abby takes her hands from her face and speaks bitterly."I would say we go in there and eliminate them now, but I don't think we would get away with it surrounded by Gladesdale guards. Perhaps we should let them lead us out of the city, then jump them on the road. We just need one of them to tell us where they took the petrified guards before we're done."

When Twyla asks about her illusions, Abby would answer. "I haven't tried it yet, but I believe I could adjust the illusion I cast on myself to look like someone else. I developed it shortly after I escaped, based on a picture of myself I found in my records. If I had a different image or person to focus on, I think I could make myself look like them."

As to Revenge's question, she would respond. "I-I'm not sure how Aria sends messages. This is my first time encountering them since escaping and I... I don't really have memories of that kind of stuff from when I was being held."

The inside of the wagon is completely enclosed, but as Revenge pulls the flap open at the back to get a view he would immediately notice the stone garrison building had a bell tower, most likely used to signal the town guards of trouble. Something else would also catch the Tiefling's eyes. Several birds would suddenly take off from a barred window in the garrison. Their flight seemed a little too organized to be natural. The birds would immediately fan out and seem to head for different parts of town.

Revenge would also see that one of the Aria soldiers had come outside and seemed to be making small talk with the guard at the door.

"No, no, Abby. I meant, do the guardsmen themselves have any..."

"... any..."

Revenge's head would tilt and follow something out of sight of the others.

"Nevermind. They do. Okay, then. Now this has transitioned from minutes to prevent the message from getting out, to minutes for getting away." Ducking back into the wagon, Revenge would turn and moved towards his wife. Grasping her by the shoulders, he would nod to her.

"I'm all for getting to the others now. Abby, my love..." He would look to her, trying to look into her eyes as best he can. "You're going to need to get this wagon moving as quickly as you can. Now that they've sent out warnings to their compatriots, there's nothing from stopping those soldiers in the garrison from attacking us now, even if they're at a disadvantage. Can you do that?"

Petra nodded and began to creep around the side of the building in front of Kuori. Once they got closer to the back, Kuori heard the sound of movement. As they rounded the corner to the back, Petra and Kuori saw a man standing over Valac, patting him down. He had already removed Valac's Fullblade and placed it to the side.

At first the man did not seem to notice them, but once Kuori and Petra had walked around the corner into view he would straighten up and turn to them. The man looked to be in his mid to late 30's with messy orange hair. He wore dark colored leather armor with a black cloak. He also had on smoked glass spectacles and was armed with a hand crossbow. Across his chest were strapped several vials and small glass jars.

Once he saw Kuori had her bow drawn, he raised his hand crossbow as well. "More would-be burglars, eh? I assure you this isn't a fight you want."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abby would look back at her husband. In her eyes, he could see she was still quite unsettled by this turn of events. He could only assume seeing Arian soldiers again must conjure back terrible memories for her. "R-right, I'll take us back to Petra and the others. We will be safer together. It will take me some time to perfect a new illusion. It would be best if we just get going now."

Just as Abby was about to move out to the driver seat of the wagon, a scrap of parchment was slipped into into the wagon through a gap in the boards. For anyone who picks it up, they would find a hastily written note in common.

Kuori's bow stayed true, (if he attacks I am using an immediate interuption ), "So says the squatter. This home belongs to my," Her brain went onto the defensive, "employer, and I was told to come check it out and investigate the crime that happened earlier in the week. Meanwhile the locks are changed, my friend is ..." She watched the body move with signs of breathing, "Knocked out, and a squatter is pointing a weapon at me. I've shot men for less. Potions and crossbow on the ground and we can get all civil like. Otherwise, your outnumbered, and outskilled, and we can see if this is indeed a fight I want or not. Any day I kill an Arian is a good day."