The butler spills the tea and it seems the family in question has been whispered about for years. Lurid tales of demonic blood and whispers of slave trading drift about the Noble Quarter. A bit of reconnaissance is carried out and a plan is carefully concocted, discussed, rehashed, deliberated, refined and recapped. Of course, it promptly goes out the window once they actually gain access to the estate. It seems the ground are protected by guards (noted), dogs (planned for) and werewolves (totally did not see that coming).

This precipitates a running battle through the ground floor of the mansion...

They follow the tunnel, noting that it has been clawed through stone and soil. It is six feet wide and about twice as tall, pointing to a creature of some size having churned through the earth to make a passage that stretches eastward, under Oldtown and towards the Spire. At one point, the passage splits but the group continues straight ahead. The passage splits again – and the group presses onward. Eventually they find themselves in a dead end, so they set about looking for hidden areas…but none are found.

While they search, noises tell of another group coming up behind them, but they head down the nearest side passage and are lost from sight. The dwarves tell of a lamia, a minotaur and a pack of goblins so the decision is made to tail them and attack with surprise, which they do...

Leaving aside the tempting trapdoor and the stairs beyond, the group sets about spending the stipend and trying to blend into the uppermost crust. None of them are any good at it. However, their notoriety does afford them a bit of celebrity status, and the helpful hints of the house butler do head off the most egregious faux-pas.

The group goes out shopping and seeing how the top tier lives. Is very nice. Very very niiiiice. It is also quite expensive and the stipend is dwindling at an alarming rate. While the furniture is delivered and the barbarians settle into the routine of guarding the villa, the group starts to receive the first invitations to parties and the like. Now, the real tests begin. The test of patience, primarily.

A birthday party here, a luncheon there and a whole lot of...

The march is mostly uneventful save for two encounters. The first is a party of foragers, on the wings of the barbarian horde. They spot the party and head inland. The barbarians indicate that the group should follow and they do so. A bit later on they are spotted by a cavalry company – presumably outriders from the city’s defense force. There are some tense moments, but the troopers seem content to watch and do not try and make contact. Eventually, they ride in the same direction as the party of foragers.

Within a couple of hours, the group runs into signs of struggle. Dead troopers, dead horses, blood spatter and trampled foliage all indicate contact between the groups...

…they see five figures, four of whom seem unaware of this new development. The room is a barren rectangle, with multiple exits. Two doors sport prison bar motifs and are guarded by a single armored figure. A hallway out the room is guarded by a pair of the same. In the middle of the room, a darkly beautiful elven woman, wearing a stylish studded leather coat, stands and watches the hallway.

Digin is through the door, stubby legs pumping and axe swinging. As he hews at the elf, Fingers lurks off tho the corner where he remains invisible for the duration of the battle. Kegdrain and Zaal launch arrows while Sniffles and Bayga remain a bit confused about what is happening so far away in the darkness.
The advantage of surprise is good and all, but there is a swift turn to the tide of battle as...