BonerFart and the others reach the drainage steps, and stop. Two guards block the way down, heads bent over a ledger instead of the stair. One page is spread between them, and the mark on it matches the plan on Merrin’s table.
Joe tightens his grip on his weapon, Steven goes still beside the wall, and Garrick shifts weight toward the opening. Merrin’s eyes flick from the guards to the map in their hands, then to BonerFart. Edrin draws a slow breath, watching the stairwell.
The nearest guard taps the ledger with a knuckle. He is waiting for a name, or a signal. The second guard scans the dark above the steps, just a little too late.
BonerFart
Their map is a copy of ours.
That thought lands hard. If Barack has the route, then the trap is already laid, or the leak is inside the circle. The drainage path, the choke points, the timing, all of it now points straight back to him.
For one narrow heartbeat, the guards are distracted by the ledger, and the stair stands open. BonerFart has a chance to strike first, slip away, or turn this ambush into proof that Barack is reading their every move.
✓ Quest Accepted
Neutralize the guards at the drainage steps
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the leak in Barack’s circle
“I grab Steven and Garrick, i whisper to them..there's only 2.. stay low, stick to the shadows and keep quiet to sneak and overcome them. Lethal force if necessary for both, but one dies now to prove a point to the other and we press him for information before we dispose of him. If either of you slip, then I put an arrow in the one who got the upper hand and you both overpower the remaining guard.. try to get the information clearly before you kill, i want to know all I can...”
SUCCESS (Great Stealth, rolled -1)
BonerFart's whisper cuts through the stairwell, and Steven and Garrick melt into motion on either side of him. Joe stays low behind the lip of stone, while Merrin and Edrin freeze back in the dim mouth of the apothecary.
Steven slips from the wall into the blind angle above the steps. Garrick folds down along the shadowed rail, his weight silent on the wet stone. The guards keep reading, unaware their open gap is closing.
BonerFart drops from sight behind the stair edge, the injured hand tight around his bow. A single feathered shaft flicks past Guard One's shoulder and pins the ledger flat before he can look up.
Garrick surges first. His strike drives Guard One into the wall and the man goes limp without a cry. Steven is already on Guard Two, clamping a hand over his mouth as the second guard stumbles backward.
Guard Two
Wait, I can tell you who made the copy.
BonerFart's arrow settles at the man's throat from the shadows, and Steven holds him pinned against the damp stone. The stairwell goes still except for the faint pulse of violet light leaking from deeper inside the apothecary.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the guards at the drainage steps