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Farmhouse group

Laurius successfully cast his detect life-spell, the figures of two soldiers immediately becoming apparent to him. They were on the other long-side of the building, directly across from them. Both seemed to be sitting down, resting against the walls of the building. Otherwise, there seemed no be no-one within 20 meters of them. The detect life spell alerted no-one; or, at least, neither of the soldiers he had observed made any effort to move, continuing to talk among themselves.

"I just hope we get home soon, friend. You..." There was a pause before he continued, voice a tone more cagey; it had lowered until they found it barely audible. "You ever regret signing up?"

There was a longer pause before the response came. "I did so thinking I'd help build a better world for my unborn son. For the eight, and all. But then since...

..." He'd trailed off; or, at least those on the other side of the building could no longer hear what he was saying.

Farmhouse group

"It's just the two of them as far as I can see," Laurius whispered as softly as he could while remaining audible to his companions, holding up two fingers in case they didn't hear everything. "On the opposite side, outside. They're sitting." He pointed in their direction for the others' benefit. "Plan?"

"Backs to the wall, they'd see us before we could stab them. Probably raise an alarm." whispered Morello. He tried to dismiss the Thalmor having families, friends, loved ones, hopes, dreams. They were people and he wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of killing, but things were what they were. He knew what he signed up for and he'd do what he felt he had to. Philip nodded at the edge of the wall they were up against, in the direction of the barn. "We'll keep going, keep our distance from them, stay out of sight. I should probably take point." he added. "If I do, I want you right behind me. Grab my shoulder if you see anyone else with your spell."

Sorondil - Farmhouse group

Sorondil's hard expression remained unchanging as the soldiers' dialogue became audible. They were the enemy, and they were a threat, and they had made their own choice to join the Thalmor.

He nodded as his companions spoke. "That's our best course of action," he whispered in agreement, pleased that they at least had some sense, unlike that Orc that had been sent to the other group.

Arya

Shaken by her nerves, and her rather recent sprint, she could not help but shake her head in agreement. She didn't have the strength to murmur a whisper, but at least they didn't need to fight

Philip was ready to continue on and was pretty sure his companions were too. But before doing so he looked at the farmhouse, trying to see if there was a window they could climb through, a way onto the roof or a crawlspace under the house. He just wanted to know if such alternate paths existed.

Farmhouse group

There was a window facing out towards them, but it seemed to have been locked from the inside. It could be opened, but probably not quietly.

Otherwise, whilst there was no crawl-space, someone who was acrobatically-inclined might be able to get onto the roof with a little help. The top of the window frame jutted out to form a small foothold - toehold, more like it - and from there it would probably be possible to pull oneself up onto the roof. It might just be loud, if they weren't careful. The roof itself slanted upwards rather steeply and any climber would probably need to be on all fours if they hoped to reach the top.

The group could access the door without coming into the view of the Thalmor guards, so long as those guards didn't move.



Otherwise, the farmhouses they found themselves at stood roughly 300 meters from the closest entrance to the village, which happened to be the Eastern Entrance. The guards sitting against the (Eastern) farmhouse Phillip found himself surveying were facing across towards the second (Western) farmhouse - 8 meters separated the two farm houses - and thus whilst those guards had no view of the Eastern entrance, they could view the Western entrance. However a gaze in the direction of the closest entrance, the Eastern entrance, would reveal that it had at least two guards of its own stationed. It was impossible for the group, at the current position, to view the Western entrance. The alternative was climbing over the palisade, though it would require some amount of acrobatics skill, or entering through one of houses on the perimeter; though, they had been warned that they housed sleeping guards.



Slope Group

As he watched the figure grow closer to Remus, Shulbash suddenly heard a rustle in the leaves to his immediate left.

Though it was weak enough that it might have been the wind, he didn't feel any wind.

Philip mulled over his choices looking at the eastern entrance, rushing toward the entrance and the guards would be a risk. But so would killing the farmhouse guards. And he didn't want to pass through any of the perimeter houses, there could always be a guard who was having difficulty sleeping or who needed to get up and relieve themselves.

"Right, so we head for the eastern entrance, when we're halfway we drop down and crawl so a patrol doesn't see us." Philip whispered. "Or we could still take out those guards on the far end of the house, hide the bodies back here and go over to the western entrance. But I think we should leave them be." If the others were ready to follow Philip towards the eastern entrance, he was ready to move.

Remus rolled further towards his left, ending up lying prone upon his stomach, the crossbow loose on the ground in front of him. He attempted to stay completely still, willing the approaching person to pass him by unseen.

Slope group

Remus managed to enter prone with the lightest of sounds, alerting no-one to his position. It was only moments that passed before the figure headed out in front of him. From behind seemed a smaller than average elf; a crossbow hung from their waist.

Vila and Baelfire got a better view of the figure, now beginning to move into their vision, from their position across the clearance. Her armor was of the same extent and design as the two guards they had been watching. She moved in towards the fire, facing at it in from the side, facing out towards them; back now to Remus.

"Nope." She shook her head, and her companions grinned in response.

Remus picked up the crossbow, holding his breath as he steadied his weapon, aiming for the center of the female elf's back. He didn't expect it to be lethal, only to unbalance her long enough for the others to move in. He let the bolt fly, willing the recruits to respond quickly.

Slope Group

The bolt strayed, but not far; it bursted against the left shoulder-guard of the females armor, knocking her forward slightly but not unbalancing her. Whilst having creased with the impact, she had already begun to twist in Remus' direction before fully resuming her form. At the same time, the older male guard had drawn his weapon, and begun to move towards where Remus was hiding, at pace. The younger guard was slower to react and when he did it was only to take a step back.

Shulbash

Shulbash heard something to his left and knew it could either be the wolf from before or an elven scout. Either way, he had a job to do and could not go to investigate. Even the slightest second could make a difference and he was waiting for the others to bring the [&@%!] towards him. He would defend himself if it turned out to be hostile.

Baelfire - Slope Group

Baelfire perked up at the arrival of the third guard. As Remus' bolt flew, the Imperial's muscles tensed, like a coiled spring waiting to burst forth.
Unable to sit still any longer, and as the older guard began advancing towards his teammate's postion, Baelfire stood up suddenly and moved forward one metre.
Standing squarely, he directed his left hand forward to emit a magical stream of health draining magic directly at the youngest soldier.
His right hand grasped onto his sword, a look of satisfaction worn upon his face.