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-----He took a moment to pull forward his hood, and quickly rewound the scarf around his face, so that only his cold blue eyes glittered from within the shadows. Then he drew his dagger, and slid smoothly forward towards the open passage.
-----Whisper drifts into a sort of smallish hallway. He moves carefully letting the dark conceal him. An open room appears to his left with light from the village shining in through its windows. As he peers in, Whisper sees another vacant room with furniture that distinguishes it as a human bedroom. Quietly he passes two more such rooms, both vacant.
-----At the end of the hallway, he comes upon a stairway leading down where below comes the light of an oil lamp . . . and low voices.
-----Whisper considered, then reversed his grip on his dagger, so that the dark blade was further hidden by his forearm. That done, he began to carefully pad down the stairs.
-----After one step, Whisper freezes.
-----“I tell you something is not right,” says a low voice amidst the low light below. Whisper did not hear a reply to this, but was certain that whoever was downstairs was not alone.
-----After another step down, Whisper hears the voice again say, “You see how they guard the house . . . ”
-----“Let us douse the light,” interrupts another voice. Whisper can tell both voices are male and both fail to conceal a hint of nervousness.
-----The light suddenly changes as the oil lamp is extinguished and the only illumination is from the torch light outside the windows. Whisper takes a chance and sinks down to see if he can spot anyone on the lower floor. The stairs lead down and then turn to the left and Whisper finds himself looking through the railing to his left.
-----Below he sees a room with tables and chairs and what appears to be two men standing beside a window facing the front yard. They sink back as the soldiers outside pass so as not to reveal themselves.
-----Whisper hears one of them say, “Should we awaken the High Priest?” The other one seems to hesitate as he continues to stare out the window.
-----A flash from the distant storm suddenly brightens the scene outside the window before leaving it darkened once more.
-----For a while, the party stands close together surveying their surroundings. Suddenly, Lovan points toward the sky to the west. There in the distance, small flashes of lightning are seen dancing among the dark sky.
-----Soon the wind picks up and rumbles of thunder are heard overhead. Lovan positively beams with excitement as he turns and faces everyone. “This night the Rager brings the victory to us!”
-----“Ye be a’holdin!” Strolum says frantically with wide eyes toward the priest from under his hobgoblin leather cap. “Ye be a’warnin’ us fer ye be a’callin’ any bolt down on our heads!"
-----Oddly, Lovan smiles calmly and points toward the small bonfire close to the humanoid guarded barn.
-----“Move!” Strolum hisses as he urges all the others to take positions behind the Storm Priest.
-----“MiLady!” Dilton croaks as he helps Jeilin with her horse. Pil and Jyan look around warily at the hobgoblin mass as Lovan begins chanting toward the sky.
-----Suddenly, the air seems to explode where the bonfire was positioned! Many of Jeilin’s companions grab at their ears as the bright light and explosive sound assault their senses. Everyone looks toward the barn to see the remains of the bonfire smoldering; its pieces scattered. Close by lie four hobgoblins; their bodies fried in the lightning blast.
-----Looking around, various humanoids can be seen throwing themselves down on the ground or dashing for the tents of the hobgoblin camp.
-----“That’s our chance!” Raven says jumping up. “Let’s go!” Very quickly the three hunters dash across toward the barn. With the sudden turmoil and most of the hobgoblins shaken by the lightning blast, Raven finds it very easy to immediately down four of the unharmed guards around the large structure.
-----As the storm continues overhead in the clouds, rain begins to fall. Even though their original goal was to be the inn, Raven, Rinda and Garrison very quickly battle and take down the last four hobgoblins leaving the barn abandoned!
-----Rinda grabs Raven and says in the growing wind, “My love! Quickly now, we can save these children!”
-----“Go on!” Garrison tells them, “I’ll keep an eye on what is happening . . . ” His words are suddenly drowned out as a second large bolt of lightning comes down among the humanoid commanders’ tents.
-----Rinda then leads Raven around to the barn’s large doors. Roughly, the Hunter opens the two large double doors.
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