Rescue mission

Corvus the rogue spread out the roll of parchment on the table in Janno's room at the Wild Griffyn.

"It was a stroke of luck," Corvus said, "or perhaps fate, that led me to this, and to you." He passed a hand over the parchment, which was a large sheet edged with cryptic notations and what might have been bearings to landmarks. But the center was a sketch map showing walls, passageways, rooms, and entrances.

"This is a map I received in payment from a crippled man who was returning to his homeland, for help securing his passage on board ship. He told me that it was a map to an old treasure hoard hidden under a ruined manor in the hills nearby. He told a true tale, as far as I could mark it. Later I was able to discover the story of the manor's lost family and scout its location. There were a couple of stout lads I knew, to whom I owed a discreet mutual obligation, and this made them the right ones to help me with the pick and shovel work."

Janno grunted. He wondered where this was leading. Discreet mutual obligation, humph. He hoped that Corvus didn't have too many other entanglements.

"We approached carefully, since I marked the presence of others on the back roads nearby the ruined manor. I was able to locate the old escape holes here in a hidden ravine," Corvus said, pointing to the map, "and here, by the river. Both were rather overgrown. The river exit was blocked by a fallen boulder, and the ravine entrance had small animal bones nearby, as if something were using it for a den."

"Mm-hm," Janno said.

"So I decided to scout the ruined manor more directly," Corvus said. "I quickly discovered that it had been occupied -- trash, fire ashes, horse manure -- and reckoned it must be bandits or smugglers who were out at present. Carefully exploring downstairs, I found the beginnings of the old escape holes. They looked untouched. I searched for the hoard of treasure, hoping I could bring in my fellows and make quick work of the job before any company returned."

Janno coughed. "You worried, then?"

"It had occurred to me that I had been inside the manor for a while, and had not tipped off my fellows that there might be someone returning. I pricked up my ears to hear some sort of commotion upstairs, and I feared the worst had happened. Indeed it was true. Bandits had returned and attacked my companions."

"And you fled for your life?" Janno asked, wondering how dependable Corvus might be in a pinch.

"I went up the side stairs, hoping to flank them. But by the time I arrived, they had killed one of my fellows, and taken the other captive. It was too late. But there was one more thing I discovered, near the foot of the side stairs."

"What?" asked Janno.

"I heard voices wondering at the commotion, and looked through a barred window in a doorway. They played dumb when they saw a face at the door, but they were clearly captives of the bandits."

"Captives?" Janno asked. "Who?"

Corvus lowered his voice and described whom he had seen through the barred window in the cell door.