"I can do that," Dak replied to the elf, putting the valuables into the chest and setting the ax and dagger aside.

He then retraced his steps up the spiral stairs to drag one of the supposed sleepers into the smaller room.  He then went to find a window facing the town to see if green cloak would return with reinforcements.

"Do you want to see where that passage Lady Pathwyn found leads, Alvador?" said Hewney.  "Or we can leave well enough alone and let the message of one-time mercy be delivered and get ourselves out of town while we can."

Alvador replies. I might as well. He retrieves his staff and enters the passage.

Upstairs
By the time Dak had moved the one man as Pathwyn had requested, it was obvious that the man was not actually asleep, but he certainly was not about to do anything to assist Dak and seemed to be doing his level best to make his weight as awkward to move as possible.

Looking out the window, Dak did not see anyone approaching the church, but the way was clear for Pathwyn to start delivering messages to the bound men.

---

Downstairs

Down in the cellar, Hewney closed up the box again after Dak had added treasure, and then left the box there as he moved to follow Alvador.

Prodding the area ahead, Alvador found no indication that the way was any less safe than it appeared, with the timbers holding the ceiling above.  Fortunately, once his eyes adjusted, he could see in the dark passage, finding that the passage seemed to turn with a slight right curve, which seemed to be further away from the church and perhaps toward the edge of town.

Alvador continues along his way, still probing because past trouble-free performance is no absolute guarantee of future trouble-free results.

Dak kept his vigil in the window while the others worked.  He didn't know whether the green cloaked one was in league with Canibal, or if all his men were here in the church.  Either way, he didn't want anyone to surprise them.

Pathwyn set aside her spear, shield, and the borrowed longswords in the basement for the moment.  She slipped the hatchet into her belt at easy reach and drew her knife before going upstairs.

Bound and gagged as he was, Pathwyn rolled Damon's guard onto his back with her boot so he was lying on his tied arms.  She climbed onto his chest, straddling him to further pin his arms in place with her legs.

"The bad news is you're unemployed now that Damon is gone," she told the man from her perch atop him.  "The good news is you've got a chance to turn over a new leaf and start fresh.  I'm going to ask you a few simple questions.  If you answer them, and your answers match the one your sidekick gives me then you're free to leave Farnworth and start a new life.  You can be a scout, a miller, a brewer, a town guard.  Whatever you want that isn't running with Cannibal's gang.  We're merciful once, not twice."

"If you don't answer..."

Pathwyn brought the point of the knife down threateningly near to one of the bandedmail-clad thug's eyes.  With her off hand she loosened the gag to let the man speak.

"Let's just start with the questions.  First, I want to know about Cannibal's dogs.  What do they look like?"

She described the man who answered the door at Eliphas' house.

"Do you know this man?  Does he handle the dogs?"


She has other questions after she gets an answer to the first couple.

"What is Cannibal's racket here?  How does he get the coin to pay all his men?"

"How many of Cannibal's men are there left at the inn?"

"Where is Penrhyn getting his magic?"

If she's reasonably happy with the guard's answers she'll go on to question the second thug in the other room.

The bound man glared at Pathwyn for a few moments before he said, "Cannibal's dogs more like wolves.  Pretty yella color, and ain't that big but plenty mean."

Listening to the description of the men at Eliphas's house, he shook his head.  "Don't know 'em.  Not working for Cannibal."

"I ain't never worked for Cannibal and I don't know his business.  Not a healthy thing to be wondering about.  None o' that be healthy."

Finally, when the matter of Penryhn came up, he said, "How should I know?  Man been around, he get stuff."

Pathwyn sheathed her knife and put the gag back into place.

"This makes me feel better about letting you go," she said patting his shoulder as she stood up.  "Now lets see what the other guy has to say."

She left the bandedmail thug tied up, and went into the smaller room where Dak had dragged the other man to repeat the warning and questioning process.

It seemed like the blood priestess was making headway as she came out to question the bound man in the church.  He had a suspicion she wasn't as devout as she should be.  Or perhaps her faith was so different than those he was familiar with.  It really seemed that killing people in a church, even if it wasn't one of your own, would be bad form.

In the tunnel

As Alvador continued his cautious exploration in the tunnel, he found that the way seemed to continue its slight curve and then when the light of the room behind was no longer visible, the passage descended with a set of stone stairs.  At the end of the stairs, there was a faint, diffuse sort of light.

---

Church Proper

As Dak continued his watch at the window, it seemed that no one was, as yet, interested in following up with the group at the church.

---

Offices

In the small room, Pathwyn moved to the second thug to set her questions to the man.

The man gave Pathwyn a sullen stare as he listened to her.

"Ya should jus' leave town," he said.  "Ya won't be gettin' th'jump on Cannibal, nor his dogs.  An' he ain't lettin' no fools handle 'is dogs. None'd do that."

POST 974!

Alvador continues, going up the stairs one step at a time.

"Oh?  Why won't we get the jump on Cannibal?  He doesn't seem that smart or organized.  I mean, we've been here less than a day and we've already killed a bunch of his lackies and got a spy in his ranks," she said waving the knife around carelessly near his face.  "...who can verify your answers and your pal's, so think real hard."

After she got his answer to the can't-get-the-jump question she re-asked about  Cannibal's men at the inn and the description of the dogs.

"Ya don't know Cannibal," said the man, "an' ya ain't gonna get me hurtin' him.  Ya ain't got no spy, no one that much a fool."

"It's someone you'd never suspect.  Some people are just pretending to be fools."

Pathwyn knew she wasn't going to get anything useful out of this one.  She put away her knife, pulled the gag back into place, got up, and rolled the stubborn thug onto his belly.  She drew the hatchet, flipping it around to the blunt end, and smashed the helpless thug's right hand until she was sure broken bones would render it useless for a while.

"If we ever see you in Farnworth again, you won't live to regret it."

She put his lights out with a blow to the base of the skull with the back end of the hatchet.

---

OOC: Doing real damage to cripple the hand, but non-lethal to knock him out.

There she is, Dak thought, recognizing the blood priestess' penchant for pain and maiming.  It really had to be an racial thing.  He wondered if she'd have been so brutal if it had been another elf.

"I don't see anyone coming up from town," Dak announced.  Then again, the man had been invisible.

Below the church

As Alvador, trailed by Hewney, continued cautiously down the stairs, they found the stairs terminated in front of a door from which diffuse light around the edges could be discerned.  Based on the light, it looked like the door might lead outside.

---

Upstairs in the church

The outside remained quiet, without anyone coming to storm the church in response to the events that had taken place.

Pathwyn conducted her punishment and disabling of the thug without resistance as the man was, after all, bound and gagged.  Even so, there had been a muffled cry of pain against the gag at the blow struck to his hand, and then quiet as the man was knocked unconscious.

Alvador, if possible, opened the door a crack and put an eye to the opening slit. If all seems quiet, he closes the door and starts returning. He tells Hewney what he saw. Probably, he advised using this egress.

Pathwyn was surprised to find the basement lounge empty when she descended the stairs.  Neither Alvador nor Hewney had passed through the church, so unless they were up in the bell tower they had gone to check out the secret passage.  She shook her head and then shrugged.  Hewney should just stay put with those injuries.  She sat down and had more wine and cheese while waiting for them to return.

Dak sighed and turned back to the window.  It was probably better to be ignored by her at the moment, anyway.  She seemed a little cranky after her interrogation.  They must not have been very helpful.

Below the Church

Alvador found the door opened easily enough, swinging outward from his position.  From what he could see, there was no one about the area, and it sounded quiet enough, with a large tree just barely visible, as though the tree was meant to shield the door from view.  The perspective suggested that the door was indeed at the bottom of the hill the church sat upon.

Alvador has returned to Hewney, told what he saw. Assuming Hewney has nothing to say, Alvador informs Dak and Pathwyn of the egress and (while no baddies are listening) suggests they leave that way.

"Sounds good to me," Dak agreed with Alvador's suggestion.  He'd been wondering what everyone else had been up to until the half-elf had beckoned for him to join them below.

"Did the two upstairs offer up anything useful?" Dak asked of Pathwyn.  He'd only heard a little of the second interrogation and it mostly sounded as though Green Cloak didn't have anymore allies in town that were noteworthy.

Hewney had followed Alvador as far as the stairs, keeping the mage in sight, seeming unwilling to exert himself too much unless it proved necessary.

"That sounds like the best exit," he agreed.  "A most unusual church, but perhaps that's something to ponder over when we're a bit safer--and that means let's grab the box and get out of town."

And with this, let's move to the next thread.