Shimo slips into the dark alcove just as a blade flashes through the gloom, but a wet, pained groan from the corner arrests the motion.
Elias
Too late. The shadows already hold more than just me.
Elias sits slumped against the cold stone wall, clutching a blood-stained map of the northern gate to his chest. His eyes are wide, reflecting the flickering torchlight from the hall.
Elias
They are not common brigands, Shimo. The Iron Company has broken the perimeter. They intend to burn the gatehouse to draw the reserves inward.
Shimo
The Iron Company crest on this map matches the seal on the note I recovered earlier.
Kaelen
If they breach the inner ward, the whole bridge falls. We have to move, now.
+ Story Quest Added
Reach the northern gate
+ Scene Quest Added
Neutralize the Iron Company scouts
“Ask Elias for info on there being a leader that we maybe can off to lower the morale of the enemy, where and how many is the number to use the info for us to head to the northern gate to keep our odds the best with stealth and at the worst case a head on confrontation”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Shimo
Elias, stay with me. Who leads them, and how many are holding the gatehouse?
Elias
Captain Vane... he commands from the inner courtyard. There are six guards at the main gate, but only two inside the gatehouse itself.
Elias
The northern service entrance is left unguarded. If they move fast, they can slip right behind the line.
Elias points a shaking finger toward a narrow gap on his map, marking the service door in thick, dark ink.
Shimo
The service door avoids the gate guards entirely.
Kaelen
Six in the open, two at the house. Shimo, if you take the service route, you can neutralize the two inside before Vane even knows we are there.
“Any signal you want to agree on when the coast is clear to proceed with the rest of the plan? I imagine we want to either get you a clear shot for the leader or at the very least have me cause a distraction so you can take out the leader more easily. I've seen your prowess with your bow. You'd have the best chance to crush the head rather than me try to do my best with my familiar axe”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Shimo gives the plan shape with calm, practical words, and Kaelen leans in at once, all sharp attention and restless patience. The kitchen alcove feels smaller around them, but the map now lies between like a pact.
Shimo
What signal should we use when the coast is clear?
Kaelen
A whistle, low and once. If I loosed an arrow, that would be the sign. If not, you wait a breath, then move.
Elias
I can mark the door, if you need. A strip of cloth on the latch, something plain. I know the service way... I used to bring in stores here.
Kaelen taps the charcoal X, then traces a second line beside it with one finger, showing how a distraction would pull eyes from the gatehouse while the service door stays quiet.
Kaelen
You with the axe, I with the bow. That is cleaner than forcing the head-on rush. I would rather hit hard from cover than trade blows in the yard.
Elias
You two are treating this like a hunt... but I understand. If you make the signal, I will be ready to open what I can and keep low.
For a brief moment, no one speaks. The charcoal mark sits dark on the map, and the three men share the same quiet certainty before the next move.
“Then we have our plan to have me go towards the service house to have a angle to make a distraction so that you two can make your move and stay hidden as best you can. If we can get through this alive, then let's get a drink on me. We can make it work with our strategy and brains along with the element of suprise. These bastards want to act like beasts? Then they're gonna be taken care of like beasts”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -1)
Shimo
Then we have it, I go make the distraction by the service house, and you two keep low and strike when they look away. If we get through this, the first drink is on me.
Kaelen
Good. Keep it plain, keep it brief. If they bite, I loosed one arrow, then I vanish back into the stones.
Elias
I will mark the latch with cloth when the way is clear. No one will notice it unless they know to look.
Shimo slides a finger along the route on the map, and the others track it without interruption. The plan settles into simple steps, distraction first, hidden blade and bow second.
Kaelen
Then we move on your signal. One low whistle, and I am ready.
Elias
And if the gate is ours when this is done, I will owe you more than thanks.
The alcove falls quiet again. Pots rattle softly in the draft, the marked map lies flat, and all three men are waiting on Shimo to lead the first step.
“After nodding the plan affirmed, I make my way to the service house expecting the guards and all the while move stealthily as the night. Thinking to myself we have a good chance to settle this with us coming out alive”
SUCCESS (Fair Stealth, rolled +1)
Shimo gives the plan a final nod and slips from the alcove with the map still in mind.
He keeps to the shadowed edge of the billet, shoulders low, boots quiet on old boards.
A lantern glow leaks ahead from the service house, where two guards loiter near the entry.
Shimo
The route holds. If I stay light, we might all come out alive.
Shimo slows beside a stack of split logs, letting the guards talk over him and the wind.
One guard turns, chin lifting toward the dark, while the other keeps his hand on the latch.
The service house stands right ahead now, silent except for their voices, and Shimo must choose his first move.
“I watch them like a hawk to see any signs of break, habits that could be exploited, or anything that could let me get the suprise strike on at the very least one of the guards to make the odds still in my favor. Also the same with the area for any possible way to distract the guards to help this chance became a success”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +0)
Shimo studies the pair long enough for their habits to surface. Guard One keeps drifting toward the dark, always checking the passage to his left. Guard Two fusses with the latch instead of watching the rear, fingers worrying the iron as if he expects it to bite.
The service house itself offers a gift. A loose shutter taps in the wind, and a rain barrel sits half in shadow beside the wall, easy to jostle if needed.
Shimo spots the better opening too. The guards keep a narrow gap between them whenever Guard One turns his head, just wide enough for a fast strike if their focus breaks at the same instant.
From inside the billet, a dull clatter rises and fades, a harmless sound, but the guards both stiffen at it. Guard Two glances inward, and Guard One narrows his eyes toward the lane.
Shimo has the shape of their weakness now, and the quickest distraction nearby. One tug at the shutter or one shove to the barrel could pull both men off balance.
Guard One takes a step away from the latch, then stops himself, suspicious. Guard Two leans closer to the doorway, listening. The moment opens, thin as a blade.
Guard One
Did you hear that? Check the side, now.
“I steel myself with my axe in hand and ready a silencing blow to guard 2 aimed at the head and also have my spare knife ready to grab after the decisive blow is struck to then follow into guard 1 with my axe or the spare knife if the guard reacts fast enough to try and counter”
SUCCESS (Good Melee Weapons, rolled +1)
Shimo moves on the opening without a sound. His axe comes up first, short and brutal, and Guard Two folds before he can turn. The knife is already in Shimo’s other hand as the body slumps, and Guard One barely gets a breath before Shimo is on him too.
Guard One tries to shout, but the cry dies in his throat. Shimo drives him back into the wall and takes his balance away, the second strike finishing the fight before the alarm can carry.
Both men go down hard in the lantern spill, weapons skittering across the boards. The shutter keeps tapping. No shout answers from inside.
In the brief hush, Shimo spots a ring of service keys on Guard Two's belt and a strip of fresh wax on the latch, marked with the Iron Company seal.
The passage ahead is clear now, but the service door still stands shut, its ironwork waiting under the lantern glow.
Guard One
...
Quest Complete
Neutralize the Iron Company scouts
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Great→Superb