Journal entry for Lt. Gwenn of the Harriers….
I feel so bad! Firiel, I’m so sorry! Gods, you would think this was my first time on a job, stabbing an ally in the neck! I’d blame the darkness, the tension of the house… but to be honest, I think I was startled and still tired from not resting well last night. Nonetheless, it was a terrible accident, and I hope she’ll forgive me.
The Tanlin Job went down well, though our extraction was less than smooth. Ordune and I sneaked in through the tunnel to Olos’ quarters, left him a note to finish retiring already (based on his personal ledger, it’s clear he could do so any time he wants to stop gambling!), climbed to the roof, across the wall, and into the keep. We probably should have asked ourselves why Olos would have an escape route, when not even Tanlin has one… well, we would find out before the night was out!
Can I say right now that Ordune really surprised me with his reflexes tonight? He was cat-like and stealthy as a shadow. I wonder if Firiel and Emilien have been giving him pointers?
Firiel disguised herself as Fermina and bluffed her way back into the keep, dragging Tristram along behind her, as though he were her lover. We had that clever idea when it became clear that the real Fermina has a bit of a crush on him. I’m going to let the two of them sort that out on the road to Sava. I think I’ve already interfered enough with Tris’ personal life, just by asking him to negotiate with Ryan the halfling.
I have no problem using the talents my team offers. I will use every skill and talent they possess, both physical and mental. I’ll leverage any relationship they may form of their own will, too– if Emilien makes an “ally” out of a bored and lonely widow, I have no problem using that alliance. But affairs of the heart are personal at their core, and I won’t ask anyone to play a role they’re uncomfortable with. There may be only one benefit to having my former life stolen from me: having someone else decide who will someday share my bed and my body is no longer a threat. I won’t ask that of to anyone under my command.
I vandalized some of Lord Tanlin’s papers on his desk before heading down to the ground floor. Ordune and I sneaked through the rooms before encountering Firiel and Tris– which is when I accidentally stabbed Firi in the neck with my rapier. Ow– it had to hurt, and I was just stunned by the sight of all that blood gushing from her neck.
We found Tanlin’s seal inside the study desk, which made the next part easier, I must say. Also a few notes begging for financial aid from other nearby lords. I don’t think Lord Tanlin is going to be in power much longer. I’m concerned about who might replace him, but… we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.
We went down into the vault and worked on the door. Firiel did a great job there, but once inside, she tripped a pressure-plate trap, and the room started to fill with water.
Thanks to Ordune’s recon, we found two drains and opened them. While I’m sure this resulted in an obvious downspout out of the cliff, it had the advantage of buying us some time in the vault.
The vault itself was not very full. Just a pile of silver bars, arranged neatly in the middle of the floor.
Tris summoned the magical chest and we put 35 heavy silver bars into it before banishing it again. One bar went into my pack, and the remaining four remained in the vault– payment for a month of the Goblin Merc Company’s services, but nothing more than that.
The four bars also kept the last trap at bay– thanks to Fermina for warning us about that one.
We left at that point, going back up to the study, which now had guards trying to break down the door. Up the stairs, into Olos’ room, where Emilien joined us. Out the tunnel–
And into Olos’ face.  Turns out the elder halfling is not so thrilled at having his heist stolen out from under his nose. We bantered back and forth a bit, but since there was no way we could pay him off with one silver bar, I told him to take the three thousand he already had banked, and retire off of that. Emilien was impressed and annoyed at the halfling– apparently, Emilien thought the captain was trying to pull together a little bit of scratch to just get by. Not a small fortune.
Well, no matter. Olos is going to be well-employed in the near future. Too bad it’ll probably be for the other side. I could use a man like him in my army.
Anyway, we made a quick stop at the black cats to convert the silver to cash, then headed up to the shrine, where Sasha, Fermina, and the horses awaited. Blessedly, Fermina was actually there– I don’t want to imagine the headache if she’d betrayed us or simply left. Or worse, been captured. Whew!
I gave the shrine the gold from trading the silver bar– they’re going to need it, and a big part of our plan is to give the money we’ve stolen to the poor. Sasha gave us her letter, and told me that, if we are who she thinks we are, we can open the letter once we’re out of town.
I told her our name. It’s time to start spreading the word. We’re the Harriers for Ilyria. Despots and Regents will come to fear our name.