Mists of Winter: Chapter Three

[alhoon]

Raen frowns "And now you put that image to my mind also..."

[ewancummins]

Raen frowns "And now you put that image to my mind also..."

Vlad set his empty mug down on the table.
"I say we go now, before full dark."

He looks around at his companions.

"Well, what are you thinking?"

[VAN]

Rather disappointed that they have missed Mathilde's father and a bit annoyed of the cold weather Sara orders a hot soup and places her wet coat near the fireplace. She listens the others making plans when remembers Franz mentioning Mathilde's father back injury and how fast he was moving.

"I know that we failed tracking Mathilde's father earlier today but what if we haven't actually following him but someone else...I know that somebody who lives in the city can hide and mingle and make it really difficult to follow but both me and Kat know Pont pretty well and for what I have seen and heard the rest of you are quite observant and skilled investigators. But still we managed to lose this man. What if was Jenny the one we were after? We know she casts spells, maybe she can change her appearence. As Franz said this looks like a trap and what a better place for Jenny than the docks, near water...I think we should go really late, afterall she already had enough time to prepare, but if she waits for long she might get annoyed and frustrated, even go out of her cover and look if we are coming. Also maybe we can split in 2 groups, 1 that will go openly and if necessary confront Jenny and one that can hide and actually look for Mathilde. Jenny cannot be in 2 places at the same time so if she fights with one group the other will have the chance to snoop around."

[Adam]

"Let's go, there's no point in waiting," he says.

[steveflam]

Franz gathers his gear and once everyone is ready, he heads out.

[alhoon]

Raen, with one last longing look at the fire, heads out with them.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio looks down at the bloodied scrap of cloth he'd recovered from the scene of Mathilde's disappearance, and considers the options.

He strides out the door with the rest of them, but with an expression creased with thought. "Better to go early than to go late, yes. But we must be careful about it. Whomever we're chasing will likely be there before midnight as well. And if they sense we are trying to out-trap them, Mathilde's life may be forfeit."

"We need to scout the area first, have lookouts to keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious. Any trap that may have already been lain, or any sign that the kidnappers are approaching. Franz, they'll be looking for you, and you'll be easy to spot. So will I, with my spears and my armor, and I'm not thinking of leaving those behind."

"Sarah, Raen, can you scout the area first?" He frowns again. "And we must be prepared that somehow, this is linked to the hag. We'll need to be on the lookout from land and from the river, even as icy as it is."

[steveflam]

Franz listens as they walk, to Dorgio.

"Let dem look for me. I am more dan ready, mein freund. Dis Jenny or her fazzer,"he cracks his knuckles loudly, flexing his hands.

"It ist time now to brink it to dese shweinhunts. I tink ve all tire uff beink ambushed unt not prepared. Dis Jenny needs to
fint out vut ve are made uff. She hast seen nuttink yet uff vut ve can do. I am eager to show her the error of her vays in
crossing us."

[Adam]

"It ist time now to brink it to dese shweinhunts. I tink ve all tire uff beink ambushed unt not prepared. "

Bennedict looks grim, walking down the street. "You have no idea, my friend. You have no idea." He shakes his head. "Dorgio's plan is a good one. Let's be as ready as we can for what is coming."

[alhoon]

"We need to scout the area first, have lookouts to keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious. Any trap that may have already been lain, or any sign that the kidnappers are approaching. Franz, they'll be looking for you, and you'll be easy to spot. So will I, with my spears and my armor, and I'm not thinking of leaving those behind."

"Sarah, Raen, can you scout the area first?" He frowns again. "And we must be prepared that somehow, this is linked to the hag. We'll need to be on the lookout from land and from the river, even as icy as it is."

"Not really, unfortunately. I've not prepared the right spells I'm afraid. There is one very expensive but also effective option. I can use a scroll that I can't afford to replicate and turn us all invisible. I save it as a last resort though, in case we need to escape. I expected we may find ourselves in the need to fight"

He hesitates a bit. "I guess I can tell you what I can do today, but this is difficult for me. I've been schooled that even when in the open, we wizards should not inform others what we can and cannot do. But I see it's needed to save lives. Just... don't tell anyone, all right?

Today, I can protect myself or another person with various spells. I can create a solely visual illusion the size of a house. I can call forth a swarm of rats or bats to confuse and delay an enemy. I could create a mess of strong, sticky webs to cover a quite large area and hold down enemies. I can produce a small cloud of blinding, glowing particles to temporarily blind enemies and forbid them from hiding. You have seen that one in action when we... acted against the person in Jenny's lair. I could also break the power of one spell or stop several magical effects on the same person. Finally, I can throw small bolts of lighting as I did to Golithos."

[VAN]

"Good plan Dorgio. I can indeed scout the area but maybe Raen can use his illusion to make it seem we are all with Franz while me and Kat are scouting so we will not risk Mathild's life. Also we might use the swarm of rats as a distraction if needed."

[ewancummins]

The party makes for the eastern docks, slogging through slush and muck in a light, chilly rain.
Along the way, they see warm firelight glowing behind glazed windows of houses, big and small, some in good repair and others falling down but still inhabited. Now and again they hear familiar sounds: laughter, voices conversing, and dogs barking.
As they draw nearer the river the homes give way to closed shops and chained- up warehouses.


The fastest route to the river takes the walkers over a footbridge spanning a frozen canal and down one of the city’s “Ghost Streets.” Tumbledown houses line the narrow roadway. The intruders here no voices but their own and see no hints of fire or light in the houses. A white object hangs on a string tied in the branches of dead tree that stands in the middle of the road.

Munchen whines, pressing close to Franz’s legs.

Getting close to the blasted tree, Franz sees that the suspended object is a skull. Not human. It probably belonged to a dog.

Vlad pauses only a moment to examine the tree and its strange decoration.
“An evil place. We should be going now.”
…

When the party reaches the eastern docks a short while later, the sun has fallen low enough to cast a false firelight across the tiled rooftops on the western side of town, across the river.
The Musarde spreads below the high street overlooking the docks. Ice floes drift northward in the middle of the river but thicker ice clings to the banks on either side of the wide stream. Refuse litters the shelves of ice on the near bank, caught in the freeze.
Upstream and downstream as far as they can see clearly, the river looks almost empty of traffic. Almost, because a few small boats play the half-frozen waters farther upstream. Nearby, nothing large moving on the water.

Franz spots the lumber barge all the way across the broad river; a massive, low rectangular craft loaded with stripped trees. The ice on the far side extends around the barge at the waterline-- or so it appears at this distance.

“Now we must be getting across, eh?” Vlad frowns as he looks out over the water.

[kintire]

Kat wraps her cloak around her more tightly, but not because of the frigid night. She is well wrapped up. She gazes across the silent river with her mind flicking back to the flooded tunnel and the shape moving swiftly through the water.

"Across the river? Having made an enemy of a river swimming witch thing? Taking a small boat would be madness...."

[alhoon]

"So you'll go by the bridges? I could go with you if you want a bit of help and leave the rest to spring the trap.
Whichever side I am with, I could potentially use an orange light to warn the other side that we found trouble or a green light to signify we're in position."

[VAN]

"We will definitely not going to use a boat we need to stay as far away from the water is possible. The problem with the bridge is that till we cross it we cannot hide very well so we need to stay low and hope this hag cannot see in the dark...Also will be good idea have a boat nearby ready to get it if needed, you know in case one of us falls in the river and is unable to swim. These eyes are nasty, make you feel hopeless and we don't know if Jenny has them here as well."

At Raen's idea of the signal Sara nods:

"Good idea the signal."