Moonlight spills across the high temple's marble roofs as Hagrtich clings beneath a cornice, his claws finding seams no mason intended. Below, bronze doors stand unguarded.
A rope drops over the far parapet. Captain Veyra, a broad-shouldered middle-aged woman with sun-dark skin, braided black hair, and a scar through one eyebrow, climbs first in a salt-stained red coat.
Captain Veyra
Quietly now. The priests hear every coin that falls.
Three pirates follow her onto the roof: a wiry young man with gold rings, an elderly woman carrying a hooked blade, and a heavyset man whose blue scarf hides his throat.
Captain Veyra
The treasury lies beneath the idol chamber. We take jewels, sealed relics, and nothing that curses us before dawn.
From within the temple comes a low chime. Pale fire briefly outlines the rooftop gargoyles, then fades, leaving the air tasting of ash and old incense.
Veyra's crew begins lowering a rope toward a shadowed balcony, directly above Hagrtich's hiding place. One pirate pauses, glancing toward the darkness.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past the pirates
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the temple's treasures
“I remain put where I am beneath the cornice, and wait until the pirate's crew descent makes a third of the way down. Silently, I shift within the shadows, using the nearby gargoyles as cover to slip unseen, before I turn back to the rope and extend a single claw to cut it and drop them all from the still-deadly elevation. No one will stand in my way. Not tonight.”
SUCCESS (Superb Stealth, rolled +4)
Hagrtich remains beneath the cornice while the pirates descend. Their boots pass below the roofline, and the rope tightens under their combined weight.
When the lowest climber reaches the third mark of the balcony rail, Hagrtich flows between gargoyles, cloak merging with their carved shadows. No face turns toward him.
the wiry young pirate
Steady below. The balcony is clear.
His single claw touches the rope. One clean draw parts the fibers, and the severed line snaps upward as the descending crew drops into darkness.
Captain Veyra
By the drowned gods!
Their fall ends out of sight with a distant crash and scattered cries, while the upper rope whips across the roof. The balcony below is suddenly empty.
The severed end catches on a stone gargoyle instead of falling away, drawing a concealed bronze latch open beneath its wing and exposing a narrow stair into the temple.
Quest Complete
Get past the pirates