Fantasy Uncertainty and Unease (Paused)

[ArcticFox]

"We can't, that's sacrilege." Terry's cheeks had turned red as she hissed out the words. There was fire in her eyes, something that Louisa had not seen before, anger.

"We've come this far." Nyv placed a hand on her shoulder again, but this time gently. "Terry, please. We'll be polite. Just go up to the window and peak inside or something." He said with a small smile.

This seemed to defuse Terry's anger, though only slightly. She still glared daggers at Rhain. The assassin only shrugged in response, which seemed to infuriate her further.

"There are two options. Either the three of you go through the front entrance, pretend you are there to pay respects." Rhain spoke after a moment. "In the meantime I will go around the back and seek out my target. There is a back room through the main hall of the temple. You have to get inside. Once you do, you'll see what's exactly going on in there." He paused. "There is a second option, which I prefer. Go with me and sneak into the backroom directly. Create some noise, let me kill my target. It will be easier for you to deal with the rest of the gang then."

"No." Terry shook her head, flatly refusing. "If we have to go, let's go through the front. It's not right any other way."

• Go through the main entrance.
• Sneak in with Rhain.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Louisa's brows lifted in surprise. She hadn't expected a reaction like that - not from Terry. Absently Louisa wondered if Rhain would ever get along with others - the answer being no seemed to be an ongoing trend - before glancing at a window, prompted by Nyv's suggestion. Dragged a hand down her face slowly, thoughtfully, forefingers stalling to drum against the scar on her lips. Truth be told, Louisa didn't care much about the temple, but she did not want to anger Terry further.

Plus, she had become more adept at sneaking than she had acting. Rhain's idea would be overall easier for her, but... Louisa groaned. "We will go through the main entrance," she said. A good leader considered the concerns of those around them. The respect of others kept them strong.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Suit yourself." Rhain shrugged again, before taking a hold of the string and using it to slide down to the ground. They could see him leaping over the wall and then disappearing among the trees on the other side.

"That looked kind of cool." Nyv said with a slight tinge of awe in his voice, before he stepped up to the ledge and took a hold of the string. "Oh, it's not that hi-" But his words were cut off as his foot slipped and he slid right down the string, biting his lip in order not to scream. He fell down to the ground in front of the wall quite inelegantly.

Terry grinned, though she hurried to follow behind the elf, landing a couple of feet away from him and crouching to check on him.

When Louisa slid down she saw that neither of them were injured and Terry was suppressing a laugh.

"Let's go." She said after taking a deep breath and they set to climbing up a set of steps that led through the archway of the entrance to the temple.

There was a figure waiting at the top. Just one of the resident priests it looked like. He watched them with an unreadable look and even though he did not stop their progress, he did not move out of their way either.

"Good people, I apologise but the evening prayers are in progress. No visitors are allowed at the moment." He announced.

• Demand to be let in.
• Ask nicely.
• Let Terry talk.
• Let Nyv talk.
• Push him aside.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Louisa had to school her face into one of neutrality; like Terry, she suppressed a laugh at Nyv's poor footing. All the same, though, she was glad he hadn't hurt himself on the slide down. Made moving on to the staircase easier (and prevented a guilty conscience, since she was the one who suggested the rooftops).

Now that she thought about it, what had been the point of rooftops if they were not taking a stealthy approach? She resisted the urge to sigh. Terry was helpful, but she also made things far more complicated than they needed to be. And Louisa had let her.

It's what made her a little irritable when speaking to one of the resident priests that stood atop the stairs and tried turning them away. Unfortunately, she couldn't just bludgeon him; they weren't even in the door yet, and one member of their party had already been arrested. "Please," she frowned and proceeded to the top of the stairs, already anticipating rejection, "we came all this way to pay respects."

 

[ArcticFox]

"You are not from Nihaya." The priest at the gate spoke. "Only residents of Nihaya are allowed to go inside. And only during the day."

As he spoke, Louisa could notice another figure watching them from a window on the first floor of the temple. The figure stood still for a while as they exchanged words with the priest and then it backed away from the window in hurried steps.

Terry stepped to the front, speaking in Nihayan dialect. She and the priest exchanged a couple of short sentences which seemed to be getting pretty aggravated toward the end, on both sides.

"Terry says that something is wrong. Your assassin friend might be right." Nyv spoke in Louisa's mind.

Except the priest at the gate, who was not about to move, three more figures crept outside from the entrance of the temple. Judging by the movement of shadows inside the temple, more of them were stirring inside. They all looked to be dressed in orange and red garbs of the monk, like Samten, but their behaviour was significantly less calm.

• Attack the priest at the gate.
• Back away and try to sneak in.
• Insist on entering.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Of course he was right," she snapped mentally, noticing the figure on the first floor. She wondered if that was the target. As much as Louisa wanted to bust out her daggers right then and there, she forced a calm breath through her nose. Thought about the consequences. Tried not to be too irritated with Terry's decision to make a more honest approach. Nyv was upset with her; Zay and Tool were doing community service; and Terry had convinced her to give up the element of surprise. She'd hate to see this mission get any worse.

Four to three, plus however many were inside, and that's assuming Nyv could play offense. If not, that was four against two. Unless... "Nyv, contact Zay if you can. Get ready for a fight."

"You are not very hospitable, are you?" Slowly, leaned forward in a bow, mimicking Terry from earlier and not caring if it was a faux-paus to the culture or not. She was a foreigner; she could play ignorance. As she made to rise, she slipped the daggers from her boots and lunged at the priest.

Louisa wasn't very hospitable, either.