Tregario's Manse

[Horas]

An expansive, opulent, walled manse owned by one of Braavos' foremost families.

[Horas]

It is late at night. Quentyn crouches in the shadow of a nearby building, waiting for the guards on the wall to pass. He is dressed in dark clothing and wears a mask. Bannen waits in an alley a bit farther back, carrying a bow in addition to his other weapons. He had his instructions.

Quentyn found he was nervous for the first time in a long time. He exhales, then moves quickly and smoothly towards the wall, throws his grappling hook up the side, and clambers up the wall after it.

[The Stranger]

Quentyn hits the wall, and begins to climb. But the wall is smooth, and Quentyn can find no footholds, as he goes to throw his leg over, his grip loosens, and Quentyn has the unique sensation of hovering in the air for just a moment before hitting the cobblestones with a clatter.

"Eard, did you hear that?" Quentyn hears from the far corner of the manse.

"Hear what?"

"That sound, Imma check it out, wait for a minute for me."

[Horas]

Quentyn blinks up at the sky. This was not a good start. He hears a faint murmuring in the distance and quickly scrambles to his feet. No time to try to climb up again, no time to loosen the hook. It was either cut and run now, and see security heightened even more, or... His back pressed against the wall, Quentyn waves frantically at Bannen, then points in the direction of the guard, then cups his hands around his mouth, though he makes no sound. He hopes Keath would get the picture.

Bannen runs in the opposite direction as the guard is moving, making no attempt to hide himself. He bellows in his best drunken imitation, at the top of his lungs,

"I bang on the door but she won't let me in
'Cause you're sick and tired of me reeking of gin
You lock all the doors from the front to the back
and left me a note telling me I should pack

I walk in the bar and the fella's all cheer
Order me up an ale and a and beer..."

Quentyn scrambles up the wall again, hoping the guards' attention would momentarily be distracted by the loud drunk man skipping in their direction.

[The Stranger]

The bravo approaches Bannen swiftly, hand on the hilt of his sword, "Hey you, bugger off, you ain't to loiter here!"

Quentyn darts up the wall without any trouble this time, having successful shaken the cobwebs loose. He vaults to the other side, landing softly in the brown dirt of a flower bed, crushing several daisies.

Scanning in the distance, Quentyn can see two bravos standing at the front door of the manse. The building itself is three stories high. There four windows on the wall of the building closest to Quentyn. Only three of the windows are lit, one on each floor.

[Horas]

Bannen reaches the chorus, and bellows it out in a horribly off-key baritone.

"Fuck you I'm drunk, fuck you I'm drunk
Pour my ale in the gutter, I've got more in the trunk
Fuck you I'm drunk, fuck you I'm drunk
And I'm gonna be drunk 'til the next time I'm drunk!"

Bannen laughs and stumbles aimlessly away from the manse, back toward the darkness of the alleyways.

Quentyn, meanwhile, scurries into a particularly thick hedgerow. He waits there in the darkness, trying to identify any guards patrolling on the grounds within the walls.

[The Stranger]

The guard eventually stops pursuing Bannen, and returns to his position.

Quentyn watches, but does not see any guards patrolling the interior grounds. The only guards he sees are the two at the front door of the manse.

[Horas]

Quentyn circles the manse, moving quietly from hedge to low wall to tree, timing his movements so that the guards on the wall are always past him. His intentions are to scope out the building.

How many entrances are there, and are there any other guards? Is any part of the manse climbable, with or without the grapnel? Is the roof flat or pitched? He also keeps a close eye on the lit windows, to see if a feminine shadow passes across any of them.

[The Stranger]

It is a long triangular roof, made up of roofing tiles. The exterior walls are made of marble, but there are carved columns and molding on each of the floors which would make good hand-holds.

Quentyn sees another entrance beside the main one, but upon closer inspection, it is clearly chained up and locked with a heavy padlock.

[Horas]

Before making his approach into the house itself, Quentyn takes a long look at the gate and its locking mechanism. Can it be opened from the ground on the inside? He also checks to see if there are any outbuildings, such as a barracks for the guards, separate kitchens or servant quarters, or anything of the like.

[The Stranger]

Quentyn is already familiar with the location of the barracks, and there does not appear to be any additional outbuildings.

The chained door is made of heavy wood, the chain itself thick iron with a heavy metal padlock. Breaching it with brute force would probably require Bannen's strength, and probably his polearm.

[Horas]

Quentyn bites his lip. His gut told him that Tregario's youngest and fairest daughter would have a room on the third story. He chooses a shadowed portion of the wall of the house and trusts that the night will shield his ascent should one of the guards on the wall chance to glance back.

He picks his handholds carefully, making his way toward the lighted window on the third floor.

[The Stranger]

The climb is difficult for Quentyn's already exhausted wrists and fingers, but he makes the ascent undiscovered and is soon perched on a ledge, gazing inside the room.

Inside Quentyn can see a large, claw foot tub, where a very attractive young braavosi woman is bathing. She is not looking at the window, focused on washing long black hair which falls over her shoulders. The room is lite solely with candles, but appears otherwise empty.

[Horas]

Quentyn pauses with his back to the wall, regaining his breath and working the feeling back into his fingers. Then, with a glance to make sure the girl is still preoccupied with her hair, he unlatches the window and opens it as silently as he can manage, slipping silently into the room.

Should the girl turn or notice him, he will eschew stealth for speed and have a hand over her mouth and a dagger at her throat before she can scream.

[The Stranger]

Despite his precautions, Quentyn is not prepared for what happens next. As he opens the window, and climbs inside, the woman's attention is turned towards him almost immediately. She eyes him carefully, but does not say a word except, "Oh... hello," in a quiet voice, followed by an open smile.