The day waiting for Opera’s return was spent uneventfully restocking on potions and picking out spells and weapons. There was enough time that Spesof was able to take a break and fish in the the river. Plenty of time to sit and stew and worry before heading in for the night and worrying in bed. Or that might have just been me.
As we approached the cave in the morning sun, Opera’s gleam was visible easily a mile away. Travelling closer, the gleam resolved itself into TM Opera O proper and the smudges beside into the Duke’s mages and cannoneer’s under the command of Lt. Baggins. We turned to Opera, who gave his judgement of Jurge, denouncing them as a scoundrel, a ruffian and an evil doer before suggesting his preferred plan of charging straight in and smiting them. A quick tally and conference ruled this out, as we didn’t have sufficient flight for us all to break through. Spesof next contacted Rafnar to see if he could help. Even from hearing only Spesof’s side of the conversation, it was obvious enough that he wouldn’t help with anything dangerous.
That left plan C. Hope we can find a tunnel that runs close enough to Jurge’s castle that we can passwall in. We three of the CCMB went back underground to find it, taking care to avoid any of the Duergar guards. That turned out to be the easier than expected, as the entire town was a confused mess in the aftermath of the purple dragon fight. With the the captain of the guard turned and who knows how many other insurgents about, we didn’t even register. I felt a twinge of guilt and pushed it down, telling myself I’d done what I could and that I owed nothing more to those who swore loyalty to a dragon instead of the Dwarffather. By the time we got to Jurge’s castle I almost believed it.
We spent a fair amount of time searching for tunnels and checking the river’s tributaries. We eventually found one that surprised me, as it both led to the surface and was unguarded. With that the plan came together quickly. We requisitioned a barge and took it down the river, allowing us to infiltrate all the troops and, hopefully, haul Jurge’s body out. We used Rary’s Telepathic bond and had Opera hold back until we took the gatehouse, needing to secure our exit before he raised a ruckus.
The infiltration went as cleanly as I can imagine. We parked the barge under the closed drawbridge without a single note of alarm and I molded steps that let us quickly up the cliff. With everyone in position, Tittlin cast Pass Without Trace and I opened the wall with passwall. Everyone silently filtered into the wagon storage room, creeping out of sight behind the wagons. I followed in to find two guards. At a signal from Tittlin, I dropped one with Blight and he the other with his arrow.
Across the threshold of the room was laid a runic barrier preventing spells from reaching the next room which contained three guards all in sight of each other. With no other way out, we realized this was the end of our stealth. I mounted Ignis and after a moment of preparation we charged across the barrier.