Episode 6: Stealing The Show

"'Taxi and Velrisa are gone, and so is reason. Br'aad and Sylnan commit absurd crimes while Mountain enteres an unstoppable alcoholic frenzy.'"

Episode Events
The party awakens, heading downstairs in the tavern. Br'aad gives Taxi fish as a parting gift and gives Velrisa the ring the Gif gave him, and the party wish each other well as Velrisa and Taxi depart on borrowed horses from Hera towards Fairfel.

Mountain, Sylnan, and Br’aad spend the next few days getting acquainted with the theater before their heist. Br’aad flirts with Thardo in attempts to get closer to him, learning that Thardo is romantically interested in Slynan instead. More days pass, as the group trains for the play. Thardo approaches Sylnan during one of these days after a session of rehearsal, asking him to a dinner. Sylnan agrees, and Thardo invites him into his office. The office is very regal, with large paintings and fancy furniture. Sylnan asks for a tour of his office, learning about a locked door that Thardo declines to show him. Sitting down together, Thardo admits to Sylnan of his attraction, asking if Sylnan feels the same way back. Sylnan vaguely describes that he is ‘dating a goddess’ and therefore is not interested in Sylnan. The two eat and drink regardless, and the night ends.

The night of the masquerade arrives. Wearing their masks- Slynan in a regular mask with diamond shapes on it, Mountain in a bear mask, and Br’aad in a beholder mask with googley eyes coming off the sides- they enter, Mountain bee lines towards the open bar. As he is walking, Chirp approaches him, wearing a bow tie and top hat. The two walk over to the bar.

Avamire approaches Sylnan and Br’aad, asking the plan. They agree to let Avamire watch Thardo while the brothers scope the area.

Mountain drinks heavily, gathering attention of other drinkers as they encourage him to drink more.

Br’aad and Sylnan head towards Thardo’s office, noticing two individuals guarding the door. Sylnan tell the guards that there is a dwarf causing issues by the bar, meanwhile Br’aad attempts to disguise himself as a guard. Br’aad attracts the attention of some nearby partygoers, who applaud at his trick and start to gather around him asking for more tricks. Using this to his advantage, Br’aad disguises himself as a dwarf and yells, getting the attention of the guards, who run over to Br’aad. Sylnan slips into the office. Br’aad runs into the crowd, turning back into himself, and points down the hall telling the guards that the dwarf went in that direction.

Mountain, intoxicated, is continuing to drink when two guards disperse the crowd. They tell Mountain to calm down and that he is too intoxicated for the event. Mountain responds with anger, threatening the guard. Combat with the guards begin, one of the guards striking Mountain hard, the other missing. Chirp comes behind one of the guards, lifting him into the air. The other guard attacks Mountain twice, hitting both times. Mountain punches the second guard twice, missing the first but hitting on the second swing. He swings twice more, hitting two more times. The first guard gets out of Chirps grasp, attacking Mountain. Chirp strikes the guard in the back of the head. The second guard hits Mountain hard again, as to which Mountain punches the guard twice. The first guard goes to attack Mountain once more, hitting him again, then yells for help. Mountain yells at Chirp to stop the guard, so Chirp shifts his arm into a broadsword and attacks the guard, hitting. Mountain punches the guard twice more, hitting both once more. The first guard hits Mountain with his blade two more times, and Mountain falls unconscious.

As Slynan goes to lock pick the office doors, he hears footsteps inside, causing the brothers to hide in the women’s changing rooms. Seeing no one pass, the brothers go to lock pick the door again, and assume the footsteps inside are not Thardos. Popping liveclock into the office, Br’aad sees four guards. They plan to use liveclock as a distraction. Finishing picking the lock, Br’aad pops liveclock into the lounge adjoining to the office, and has liveclock break a vase in the room. Two of the guards move into the lounge, and Sylnan sneaks into the hallway. Br’aad busts in, charming three of the guards. He tells them to check out the noise in the lounge, meanwhile Sylnan moves into the records room.

There is a eerie feeling about the room, as it is not lit, and there is a large amount of shelves and files in the room. Sylnan searches the room for a hidden safe, discovering an ice cold area of a wall. Br’aad tells the charmed guards to come into the records room, and convinces the fourth and uncharmed guard that he is Thardos friend. The charmed guards help look for the safe. Sylnan knocks on the wall, and a cold breath comes out of it. Sylnan steps away from the wall, informing Br’aad of a magic Thardo used previously, where pulling a book revealed an area. Br’aad, Sylnan, and the charmed guards all begin tossing handfuls of books off of the shelves in attempt to trigger an opening to the safe.

Suddenly a phantasmal force comes out of the wall, attacking Br’aad. Combat ensues. Sylnan throws a flask of oil at where he thinks the creature is, a small patch of oil landing on the creature, revealing it’s location. Br’aad blasts the creature, while the guards attack the creature. The creature attacks Sylnan, who then attacks back unsuccessfully. The oil on the creature fades, making him harder to see, so Br’aad casts a minor illusion onto the creature, making it’s location visible to everyone. The guards attack the creature again, and Sylnan stabs it again. Br’aad blasts the creature effectively. The three guards stab the creature, and the creature disappears. The lights begin to ignite in the room.

They find the safe, telling the guards to step out. Br’aad puts liveclock into the safe, seeing bags of gold, a mahogany table, golden goblet, a jeweled scabbard, and a golden chair. Liveclock beings to eat up the gold, beginning with the goblet and scabbard, then moving to the gold bags. Br’aad disguises himself as a guard.

Ten minutes pass, and one of the guards addresses Thardo in the office. They hear Thardo approach the records room, and Br’aad, panicked, tells Sylnan to kiss Thardo as he opens the door. Panicked by the door beginning to open, Sylnan kisses Thardo. Sylnan tries to persuade Thardo that he changed his mind and does have feelings for him, and that he snuck in as a surprise to him. Thardo is not convinced, but ushers Sylnan into the office area with him, leaving Br’aad in the room. He sits Sylnan down, asking why he was in a private room and what changed his mind. Sylnan lies that he could not resist Thardo. Thardo invites Sylnan to embrace him, attempting to kiss him. Pressured by Br’aad, Sylnan obliges.

Suddenly, Thardo rams a knife into Sylnan’s stomach. Thardo questions him once more, but Sylnan grabs his hand so that he is unable to pull the dagger out. Sylnan explains the occurrence with the ghost and that the wall opened when he defeated him. Thardo is partially convinced, and tells Sylnan that together they will check the vault to see if what he is saying is true. Pushing the dagger against Sylnan’s back, they walk back into the records room. Br’aad speaks into Sylnan’s mind, telling him that upon the signal, they both run, locking him in the room. As Thardo begins entering the code to the vault, Br’aad, disguised as a guard, trips and knocks into Thardo, intentionally messing him up. Br’aad does it another time, and Thardo dispels Br’aad spell, revealing Br’aad. In order to buy time, Br’aad attempts to tell a long story, but Thardo cuts him off. Sylnan quickly cuts in, saying that they’ve been blackmailed into doing the heist by the grey elf Avamire. Thardo opens the vault, noticing the missing sword and goblet, and questions where they are. Sylnan successfully lies that they have not been in the safe, and Thardo buys the lie.

Thardo tells the guards to arrest the brothers, as to which Br’aad pulls out his wand. In response, Thardo produces a blue ethereal blade. Br’aad casts from the Wand of Wonder, reducing himself by half his size. Br’aad runs between Thardos legs, and Sylnan turns into a rat, both the brothers running out of the room.