Letter 28: We Ambush the Ambush, and I Fall

General Summary

Dear Mother,
Again I write not knowing when you might read. Perhaps this is more for me that you, a way for me to sort through what's happening, my thoughts, the implications.
So I shall continue writing.
We decided to rest a bit before proceeding. We worried that our location might be compromised, but we were in no shape to survive another encounter. The risk of an attack was greater if we left now, while even if our enemies were en route we were likely to have enough time to rest up before they arrived. Plus we might be caught in the open, while if they attacked us here we at least had the advantage of cover and knowledge of our surroundings.
I didn’t need to rest after our last encounter, and neither did Ingoria, so Ingoria went to the roof to keep watch, and I went to the sky.
Though... it’s a cave, the whole place is a cave, so it’s not really the sky. The beneficial side effect is that it’s always dark, so I can easily evade detection when I'm airborne. However, as I ascend I am just as visible as anything else. To avoid being seen as I rose, I flew down to the water and headed away from the warehouse. My plan to head up, around, and back to the warehouse changed completely when I saw the four sub-aerials clustered together, as if conspiring. They didn't catch my interest at first. They were so nondescript.
Too nondescript. Three were dressed so as to be innocuous, but their innocuous dress made them stand out in Bloodwater. Their clothes were...boring, regular. They fit well, and were clean. Nothing was dirty, ragged, used. Their garments were certainly plain, but plainly new.
The fourth, the leader perhaps, we dressed more nicely. But still...
I paused in my ascent, focused.
As I watched them another “innocuous” assassin jogged up to them, excitedly gesticulating to the west...in the direction of our warehouse hideout. They consulted quickly and the leader nodded. The four assassins immediately headed off, climbing walls and scooting along the rooftops. This was clearly an attack. The leader hung back a little, so I loitered over him, close enough to shoot him as soon as combat erupted. I would not fire the first shot, but I would land the first kill!
I used the sending stone to tell Baermak “5 assassins incoming from the docks, leader holding back, other 4 on the way.”
And I waited, watching, bow drawn. Ready.
I loitered to the north of their leader, directly above the warehouse, in order that I might quickly land on the roof after I fired.
Meanwhile the assassins sprang from roof to roof, moving ever west, closing in on our safehouse, when an arrow appeared in the arm of one of them.
Ingoria!
Hidden so well that I hadn’t spied her when I left the warehouse, I saw her clearly now. Shortbow in hand, she unleashed arrows at the incoming brigands.
I smiled and shot the leader.
Focusing in on him, my first arrow landed squarely in his chest, dead center. Unexpected. Beautiful shot. Even from my distance I saw the shock in his eyes as he turned to look around, trying to spy his attacker. He staggered back on his left leg, just a little, from the impact, so I shot him in the thigh.
Panic set in as he turned, finally finding me: looking down right at him. I'm not sure if the panic was due to spying me, or the incoming arrow.
My third arrow was already in flight when he saw me. Opening his mouth to shout a warning (or perhaps scream in pain, or cast a spell), that final arrow pierced his neck, silencing whatever might have been coming.
He collapsed, never having made a sound.
Our ambush of their ambush was off to an excellent start!
One of the remaining four leapt across the rooftops and closed with Ingoria, punching her, while another leapt across to our rooftop and shot me with a hand crossbow. The bolt itself didn’t hurt any more than I expected, but it left a stinging feeling: I had been poisoned.
I dropped down to the rooftop, landing as close to Ingoria as I could, and shot the assassin facing her. He batted the first arrow away, but didn’t see the second one, which pierced his bicep.
One of the other assassins appeared behind me and I felt a searing pain in my back.
When I woke Vessyr was standing above me, an empty potion bottle in his hand, shouting “Fly! Fly! Fly!”
Behind him, directly behind him, stood one of the assassins, bearing down.
I flew.
But before I got too far I turned and shot that assassin. My first arrow went wide to his left, likely due to my just having been recently deceased. My second shot, however, found its mark, appearing in the assassin’s shoulder as I ran to the north and dropped off the edge of the warehouse roof, out of sight.
I could hear Vessyr fighting with the assassin, so I flew a little bit to the east, popped back up, shot the assassin, and dropped back down, out of sight again. As before, my first arrow missed. I was clearly not fully back to myself.
My second arrow, however, landed perfectly, slamming into his chest and causing him to audibly gasp. It was a wet gasp.
I moved further east, in case the assassin tried to get to the edge and shoot me; at least he’d be farther away. But one hit and I would fall again; I could feel the weakness in my wings, the lightness in my head. When I popped up to send another shot I saw nothing; neither assassin nor Vessyr. I heard Vessyr shuffling along to the west, so I headed that way as well. He was moving in the direction of the back door to the warehouse.
I followed him in.
Vessyr crept in to the dome of darkness that filled the center of the room. I followed still.
We found Ingoria and Baermak laying on the floor in the pitch darkness. We fed a healing potion to Ingoria, restoring her.
But Baermak was dead.
Already stiffening.
Alyona appeared at the door to the south.
We gathered Baermak up and left, looking for a better place to be, though our assailants were nowhere to be seen.
The body of the leader, likely a mage, who I had killed in the opening shots of the battle, was gone.
A boat bobbed by the dock, next to us, gently bumping into the pier. We loaded into it, covering Baermak’s corpse with a tarp, and headed out into the lake. I flew above, keeping an eye out for watchers, but saw no one.
After 5 hours we found a cove sufficiently obscured from the town, hid the boat, and hid ourselves in my rope trick.
Slightly refreshed, we found a secluded area of our secluded cove and finally rested. Seriously rested.
Except Baermak.
Baermak remained dead.
Keesha was likely looking for us. Some of the assassins had survived; at least two that we know of. And likely the mage. So she knows that we survived and she knows how close she’s come to finishing the job. She’s certainly on her way.
We need to take the battle to her.
But we can’t do that without Baermak. We needed to get him resurrected.
Refreshed, I headed to Midtown to find somebody.
Various churches in town are capable of resurrections, but which one? I was unfamiliar with the local religions. Actually, with any of the sub-aerial religions.
But I did know somebody who might be able to help. I flew directly to the Wünderbar, purveyors of excellent magical items, and talked to Prescot.
He was very pleased to see me! After I explained our situation he immediately went off, brought me a glass of wine, and bade me wait a few minutes. He came back with Osterman, his brother-in-law, who we had saved nearly two years ago, and conferred.
Osterman told me he’d be back in 30 minutes.
He returned in 45 with positive news: he knew a priest who could perform the procedure.
Prescot asked for something to secure a short-term loan. The priest would require payment up front, and I did not have the 1,250 gold required. I offered my beautiful short sword as collateral.
Osterman led me to the priest, a dwarven man. Old, probably, as Vessyr, with a long white beard and such wrinkled skin. He would perform the ritual, but wanted us to bring Baermak to him. I explained the difficulty associated with moving a body through Midtown, which he assured me happened all of the time. So I explained the risk associated with us, in particular, moving a body through Midtown. That he could not refute.
He agreed to meet us down by the lake for an additional fee, bringing our total to 1,400 gold.
I agreed.
Osterman wrote him a check and we headed out to meet the rest of the group…and Baermak’s corpse.
The group was quite pleased to see us, and our new friend successfully reanimated Baermak. Clearly understanding the peril, he left with due haste.
What now?
Alyona needed components for her spells, and asked me to get them for her. They were available at a Drow church. And if it was a Drow church, then surely Keesha will know that a Person arrived at the church. That Person would have to be me.
So doing this would somewhat expose us.
Actually, it would absolutely expose us.
I agreed to do it.
Gathering up the gold pieces from the group, I headed immediately to the Wünderbar to pay off my debt and retrieve my sword. From there I went to Alyona’s church and acquired her materials.
Candles.
Stinky candles, to be honest.
But that's what she needed for her important spells.
As soon as she got them she performed a ritual with one of the candles. Smoke swirled around her and her eyes rolled back in her head, but instead of white, her eyes were completely black. She asked her god what we should do, and her god answered…but not very helpfully.
Perhaps she has the wrong god. I cannot imagine Sky Mother refusing to help a Person in need. She is, after all, a mother.
Baermak needed rest and we needed information. While he rested I headed out to find Keesha’s secret base. It took some doing, because the instructions were extracted from our captive were quite vague, but I did finally find it, nestled into a crack in the cavern walls and protected by two ballista high above.
I flew in closer to get more details on the ballista emplacements, but it was really hard to see in the darkness of the cavern. The same darkness that obscured me from detection also hindered me from observation. I had to get closer and closer to see, and as I closed in I saw one of the structures move…it was not a structure, but a giant! The giant grunted and looked around, having perhaps heard the soft beating of my wings?
He moved toward the ballista and I looked...the ballista had handles…
I had enough information, and they were alerted to a presence, so I left.
While I had been scouting, Alyona had messaged GG. Apparently he was being tried for treason in five days, so our clock was ticking.
Tick tick tick!

Report Date

03 Nov 2023