Post by The Stranger on Apr 30, 2008 10:34:49 GMT -5
When the third watch ended, Qarl the Shark knew it was his time to strike. He’d been watching the various guards on duty for the past week, and he knew that the man who held the fourth watch every other day was, to say the least, less than vigilant in his guard duties. He had once even seen the man sit down on the walkway atop the wall for an hour. From his stance and his walk, Qarl could tell he was a slow, oafish person, and he was confident sneaking past him would be a simple affair.
He gave the man sometime to get bored and lose his attention, before moving out from his tree cover. He crept along in the darkness of the moonless night, making no sound. When he reached the walls of the Tor, he brushed his hands along it, trying to find a good place to start climbing it. He found a solid grip and hoisted himself up, then placed his boots flat on the wall and let loose one of his hands to find another grip further up. Climbing the wall was easy enough, but doing it without making noise was the real challenge. His muscles were strained and tired as he reached the top, but he ignored them and poked his head over to look for Lazy the guardsman, as he had taken to calling him. Lazy was leaning against the wall, looking distractedly out to sea, with his back turned on Qarl. Qarl grinned to himself and eased himself over the top of the wall, crossing the walkway and climbing down the other side.
He moved slowly down into the castle’s courtyard, his black clothes blending him into the darkness of the night. Once his feet touched the ground he took a moment to get a measure of where he was and where his target was. He had spoken to several merchants and tradesmen who been in the Tor to get an idea of the layout of the castle, and then he had managed to getting one of the chambermaids drunk and talkative, and she had told him where exactly the steward’s quarters. He crept his way around to the north side of the main keep, being sure to keep well away from the guards whose torches kept them blinded to him. At the northern side he looked up, the steward’s window was a thin one, three up and two across from the left hand side. He squinted to see it in the darkness, but once he had he grinned again, as the old familiar smell of blood began to fill his nostrils.
It was a shorter climb this time then the wall had been. He reached the window easily enough and squeezed himself through it softly. Now he could hear the soft, heavy breathing of a sleeping man. He moved over to the bed. Beside it a pillow had been knocked down onto the floor. Qarl picked up the pillow and carefully edged over to the man. He stood above for a moment, staring heartlessly down at him, before bringing the pillow over the steward’s face and holding it down tightly. The man began to thrash and squirm immediately, but he was an old man, having served as steward for four generations of Jordaynes, and he could not fight the assassin off. The pillow dampened the man’s screams, and Qarl himself could barely hear them. When the man’s body finally went limp, Qarl took him off the bed quietly, and then removed the bed sheets. He tied a noose in the bed sheets then hung the noose from the ceiling. Lifting up the dead steward, he fitted his head through the noose, then stepped back and allowed the body to hang on its own. Finally he laid a chair on its side under the feet of the swinging corpse.
With the job done as ordered, he made his way back out the window to make his quiet escape.
Results
The steward of the Tor dies, and it is made to look like a suicide.
Qarl Drumm increases to Expert Climbing/Scaling
Qarl Drumm increases to Expert Stealth
He gave the man sometime to get bored and lose his attention, before moving out from his tree cover. He crept along in the darkness of the moonless night, making no sound. When he reached the walls of the Tor, he brushed his hands along it, trying to find a good place to start climbing it. He found a solid grip and hoisted himself up, then placed his boots flat on the wall and let loose one of his hands to find another grip further up. Climbing the wall was easy enough, but doing it without making noise was the real challenge. His muscles were strained and tired as he reached the top, but he ignored them and poked his head over to look for Lazy the guardsman, as he had taken to calling him. Lazy was leaning against the wall, looking distractedly out to sea, with his back turned on Qarl. Qarl grinned to himself and eased himself over the top of the wall, crossing the walkway and climbing down the other side.
He moved slowly down into the castle’s courtyard, his black clothes blending him into the darkness of the night. Once his feet touched the ground he took a moment to get a measure of where he was and where his target was. He had spoken to several merchants and tradesmen who been in the Tor to get an idea of the layout of the castle, and then he had managed to getting one of the chambermaids drunk and talkative, and she had told him where exactly the steward’s quarters. He crept his way around to the north side of the main keep, being sure to keep well away from the guards whose torches kept them blinded to him. At the northern side he looked up, the steward’s window was a thin one, three up and two across from the left hand side. He squinted to see it in the darkness, but once he had he grinned again, as the old familiar smell of blood began to fill his nostrils.
It was a shorter climb this time then the wall had been. He reached the window easily enough and squeezed himself through it softly. Now he could hear the soft, heavy breathing of a sleeping man. He moved over to the bed. Beside it a pillow had been knocked down onto the floor. Qarl picked up the pillow and carefully edged over to the man. He stood above for a moment, staring heartlessly down at him, before bringing the pillow over the steward’s face and holding it down tightly. The man began to thrash and squirm immediately, but he was an old man, having served as steward for four generations of Jordaynes, and he could not fight the assassin off. The pillow dampened the man’s screams, and Qarl himself could barely hear them. When the man’s body finally went limp, Qarl took him off the bed quietly, and then removed the bed sheets. He tied a noose in the bed sheets then hung the noose from the ceiling. Lifting up the dead steward, he fitted his head through the noose, then stepped back and allowed the body to hang on its own. Finally he laid a chair on its side under the feet of the swinging corpse.
With the job done as ordered, he made his way back out the window to make his quiet escape.
Results
The steward of the Tor dies, and it is made to look like a suicide.
Qarl Drumm increases to Expert Climbing/Scaling
Qarl Drumm increases to Expert Stealth