The Infiltration of Calpe Hits Even More Snags

At about four in the morning, Martialis sees Ruth trying to meet up with Can and Arben. She only finds Protextus hiding in their room. She scuttles off. Martialis follows her back to her base, then flies over to the stables of the guild.

At around dawn, Patricius wakes up and wanders out of his cell. Arben says hello, and Patricius notices the "relics" he was carrying. They rap briefly about Saint Simon, and The Three Mira Sisters are disturbed by the lack of focus on Saint Nicholas. Patricius just shakes his head woefully. Just then, Artaky, Theophilactus and Narcis enter the room. They tell Patricias drinks are on the house and he's out of there. They ask the boys a few questions, then pass them their stuff. Narcis asks if they could ever be turned against Norwit and they say, of course not. That's just what Narcis didn't want to hear. They start attacking the sisters. Unfortunately, only two of them are there, the eldest, Arabia is hiding in the shadows somewhere. She spies Llyuanis concentrating on an illusion and stabs him in the back. Simultaneously, "Narcis" disappears. Arben locks himself back in his cell, but has his bow drawn. Can whips out a Flame Arrow, but misses the sister hitting Artaky right square in the chest. Arben takes the opportunity to switch sides. "Duck, Macedonia!" he says. Artaky sinks into the floor and Theophilactus looks very distressed. Arben shoots him in the face. Arabia drags a passed out Llyuanis into the room. Theophilactus gives up. They tie them up and throw them in a cell. The three sisters head to Narcis's room.

Narcis was entertaining a lady when Artaky came into the room through a wall. He was very surprised. He goes to question Arben and Can. Arben, overwhelmed by his lack of sleep and proximity to death, is unable to keep his lies straight. He says he killed Mario the Italian, Big Johanes is in Constantinople. He admits that in retrospect, the order to murder Mario probably came from an illusion. He claims the sisters wanted him to go in on killing Narcis and he refused. The sisters balk at this. Narcis takes everyone outside so he can figure out what to do. He drags Llyuanis and Theophilactus with him.

Outside, the Sisters suggest that Narcis track down Patricius, who saw the whole thing. Artaky phases out of there. Narcis has had enough of this; he wants all the thieves together in the courtyard, now. Narcis orders the sisters to kill the assassins. Once the sisters leave, Martialis comes down, hoping that Narcis has not yet made his save against the Charm spell cast on him. It has. Marty tells him that the assassins were sent by Norwit to figure out who in the guild was loyal. He probably shouldn't kill them. That makes sense to Narcis and he heads down stairs. Martialis changes into a rat and skuttles off. Luckily, Narcis stops the Mira Sisters before they can murder our heroes. He questions them some more, Arben gives some vague answers. Narcis tells them they have fifteen minutes to get out of town. If Norwit wants to pay them for Eorl's assassination, he'll track them down. They grab their stuff. "What about my books?" says Arben.

"Get out."

They head back out through the stable exit. Can leaves in a huff, blaming Arben for all their troubles. Arben asks him to meet him outside of town later. Once Can leaves, Arben looks around and notices that the only people around are the bound Llyuanis and Theophilactus. "I told you to play it straight with me," Arben says before slitting the illusionist's throat. He then steals a horse and rides out of town. Soon the theives assemble in the courtyard. Marty takes a survey of the attendants. There's the Mira Sisters, Protextus, Margareta, two half elves, one elf, a fourteen year old, Simakus, Patricius and five humans. Also, a pidgeon comes down from the sky. Narcis examines it, then hands it to Arabia. He informs them that there has been an attempted coup, but it has been put down. Narcis questions the guild as to who has had contact with John and Man, who knows what Artaky is, stuff like that. The gnomes can't get there stories straight, each one claiming the other was in on it. Narcis declares a fatwa on Artaky, and any thieves guild member that sees him should murder him. He then dismisses them. He tells Patricius to grab Llyuanis's body and take it downstairs. Marty changes in to a gecko and follows them in. Narcis tells Patricius to memorize Speak With Dead; he'll be back in a few hours. Marty follows him out.

Meanwhile, as Arben rides out of town, he gets accosted by two cloaked women. "Are you either John or Man?" they ask. Arben answers in the affirmative, but then asks them if they could continue this discussion outside of town. They head out to the beach and enjoy a picnic. They start asking about Eorl's assassination. Arben asks to see the ladies' arms; they don't have the mark. Arben, frustrated and tired, drops his cover, revealing that he is not John the Assassin, but is, in fact, Arben of the Danger Gang. Eorl isn't dead, but he has no idea where Eorl is. If they can just tell him who they are, he's sure they can work together. They introduce themselves as Martha Madeye and Hippomache. The finally remove their hoods revealing that they're both wearing headbands, though they admit no ties to Throk. They claim to be thieves from the nearby town os Diaspolas, and wish to free it from the yolk of the Thieves Guild of Calpe. They pull a human head from a basket and explain that it belongs to the pidgeonboy for the thieve's guild in Diaspolas. They pull a note out of his mouth which reads:

N-

Just in case, call off John and Man. Don't KILL EORL.

-N

P.S. May be late. Take steps.

Arben hopes they can work together to undermine the Calpeans. He explains that he and some of his associates will hopefully be meeting up later tonight, and perhaps the ladies will join them. For now, he's just going to lie down. Hippomache wants to get this thing going, but Martha convinces her to calm down (at one point showing her two fingers for some reason) and they agree to meet up with the Danger Gang at sundown.

Meanwhile, Xenon and Gershom have left the inn to run some errands. Gershom is out on the hunt for some French food while Xenon goes to his meeting with the captain of the guard. The captain informs him that, if he wants in, he has to prove his metal. Luckily, in a sense, such an opportunity soon presents itself. Down the street, Gershom hears screaming and sees a bunch of dudes running around. He sees B The Beholder floating down the street and remembers he had something to do today. Floating behind B is a large starfish with a flame thower on it's head. Gershom squares off against the giant starfish, and gets soundly slapped in the face with it's multiple limbs. Can, who was just outside of town, rushes back in to check out the goings ons. Xenon also rushes in, though slightly trepidacious. Can casts Color Spray and the vivid, fan-shaped spray of clashing colors knocks the big old starfish out. Can then bolts out of town to avoid the wrath of the guild, but tells the guys to meet him outside of town and they'll catch up. Xenon chops up the monster. The captain of the guard is impressed, and offers Xenon a position in the guard. Gershom finds B hiding in an alley. They toss a tarp over him and tell him to get in the back of their cart. They ride out of town.

Meanwhile, Martialis has followed Narcis up to the dry goods store. He meets up with Margareta and they go for a walk; Marty decides to wait at the store. Narcis soon comes back and then heads back downstairs to Patricius's room. Marty hids out on the wall, resting in gecko form for a few hours until Patricius is ready to cast speak with dead.

Meanwhile, there's a big reunion out on the beach. Arben is very surprised to see B, but glad to hear that he'll be sticking around. He apologizes that the position at the inn he offered him is not quite ready yet, and they're kind of in the middle of things. B is very understanding, and even offers to lend a hand. Arben tells the gang about the meeting with Martha and Hippomache and asks Gershom and Xenon to see if they can get Ruth and Theodulf out to the woods tonight. Everyone agrees. Xenon and Gershom head back to town while Can, Arben and B head out to the woods. Xenon buys himself a chess set, then they both head back to their room. Ruth and Theodulf are there, and they tell them about the evening's plans. Gershom then lays down to get some rest.

Meanwhile, Patricius stuffs a crap load of insence up Llyuanis's big gnome nose then asks, "Did Artaky plot against Norwit?"

"Yes"

"What was the plot?"

"John and Man seemed to specialize in shapeshifters"

Narcis leaves, slightly frustrated as those were not the two questions he asked the drunk monk to ask. Once he's gone, Patricius passes out drunk again. Martialis turns back into a man and casts Charm on him. He wakes him up and convinces him that they need to bury Llyuannis. Patricius wants to get the whole gnome gang, but Marty convinces him they should get a drink first. Marty keeps paying for booze until he passes out. Marty takes Llyuannis's body upstairs and casts his own speak with dead.

"Where is Artaky?"

"Someplace you'll never find him."

"What is Artaky?"

"Some kind of Armenian ghost dwarf."

"Who were the coconspirators?"

"Llyuannis and Theophilactus."

Marty heads back downstairs and Charms the bartender, then tells him that, if any body asks, Patricius wasn't here. Marty then goes back upstairs and grabs Xenon and Gershom. Those guys fill him in on what's been happening. They grab Patricius and Llyuannis's corpse and ride out to the woods.

Everybody meets up in the woods; the whole Danger Gang, Ruth, Theodulf, Martha Madeye, and Hippomache. B hides in the foliage. It seems Ruth and Martha used to know eachother, which helps get over a few trust issues. Marty casts Know Alignment, but can only get a read on Martha and Hippomache, who are Neutral and Lawful Neutral respectively. He also casts Detect Magic and finds out that Martha and Hippomache are, indeed, Charmed by their headbands. They all agree to take on the thieves guild. They plot and plan, and it's a greed that Hippomache will take Patricias to Diaspolas while the others launch a plan to get the spell books back.

Arben helps Can rehearse for his big show. Xenon heads to town to pick up some nice daggers. He tries to stop by the dice club to spot the Mira sisters, but the password has been changed. When he gets back, Martialis casts Reflecting Pool to locate the sisters who are sleeping soundly in their beds. It's go time. They head into town.

Can casts Alter Self to look like St. Nicholas of Mira. He tucks a lightstone in his shirt to give himself a holy glow. Martialis hands him what he hopes is an invisibility potion, then changes himself into a gecko. Can picks up a sack of coal they had prepared and B teleports him down to the Mira sisters' room. Marty follows close behind.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" Can bellows once in the room. The girls awaken with a start. They're very excited to see the big jolly saint, that is, until he informs them that they have been very naughty! He dumps the sack of coal out onto the ground. The girls are confused, but the saint is adamant in his assertions that the girls have, indeed been naughty, especially when they were so mean to John and Man. He insists that they fetch him their books, plus one additional book, to make up for what they've done. They scuttle away, leaving the disguised Can twiddling his thumbs. Luckily, they soon return with books in hand. Can tosses them in his bag and assures the girls that all is forgiven. He gives them the three fancy daggers that Xenon bought and told them to "have fun". Before he leaves, the girls really want to show him something. They show him a small room filled with icons and trinkets of St. Nicholas. He's flattered and everything, but he really has to go. He scratches his head for a moment, trying to remember what they escape plan was, when Marty in gecko form starts tapping his tail against the potion of invisibility. He swigs it and disappears, leaving a gecko floating in midair. Palestina, thinking it's an additional present, tries to grab it, but only snags his tail. The two of them get turned around a little bit, but eventually work their way out of the guild hall. They meet up with the rest of the gang and try to track down Ruth and Theodulf at their old hideout. Unfortunately, there's nothing to be found. They shrug their shoulders and head out of town. Arben eyes the book the gals gave them, which turns out to be the Chronica of F.M.A. Cassiodorus Senator.