Shadow Hide You

[ZeRoc]

Paras saw the Khajiit, and elected to have him open the door. No sense in ending his spell prematurely.

[DarkEastwood]

Valus attempted to sneak past the guard, to join the others. He tries to time his movement to the next door to match when the guard was most intently focused on Maugrim. By Stendarr, that Orc is nothing that anyone would want to meddle with...

[Rook]

"Die, Imperial! Die!" Maugrim roared, angered by the attack and high on his new-found strength. He attempted to drive his weapon through the most vulnerable part of the armor: the face.

[Argonanza]

Naragei watched in horror as Maugrim tried to put the sword through the guard's head. He backed up a bit, then rushed towards the guard and made an elegant dive towards the legs in an attempt to make him lose his footing.

[ZeRoc]

Seeing all this Paras thought for a moment.
The Orc and the Argonian seem to have this, but just incase...
Paras crept up behind the guard, ready to use his cutlass to decapitate him from behind if Maugrim's attack didn't kill him.
Please let there not be any negative consequences for this.

[Musicman247]

Valus

Valus succeeded in gathering with the others at the door that led further into the building.

Maugrim

Malacath had given Maugrim strength, but not agility or grace. His blow was too slow, and the guard dodged it easily. The guard then reached at his boot, unsheathing a dagger just as Naragei leapt at him. He hopped over the Argonian - who tumbled into Paras, knocking him over and breaking his invisibility spell. The guard went into a defensive position and waited to see what the orc and others would do.

[DarkEastwood]

Valus shrunk at the danger in the room, having an amount of pity for the guard, as well as the others in danger. Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die... He tried to ignore the situation, but the presence of a potential death was fresh in his mind. He tried opening the door to escape the situation.

[ZeRoc]

Paras lied on the ground for a moment, thinking his options through. I can outrange him with my sword, but a cutlass isn't the swiftest of swords. In hindsight, maybe I should have just opened that door... or rush back to the couches and grab one while we're all here.

[Argonanza]

A very confused Naragei rolled on the floor and remained there for a second before getting back on his feet. There had been a slightly unexpected absence of guard legs and a very unexpected presence of Paras.

He unsheathed his dagger again.

[Musicman247]

Valus

The door opened to reveal a stone hallway much like the others they had encountered this evening. At the end of the hallway was a single wooden door.

[DarkEastwood]

Valus slipped into the hallway, while closing door enough to leave a crack open, but enough so the guard couldn't see him approaching the next door. He quickly, but cautiously, made his way to the next door. The fight in the other room was still imprinted in his mind, even when he wanted to ignore it. He grasped the handle and slowly tried to open it.

[Rook]

"That needle won't save you, filth!" Maugrim snarled, "I'll have your bones for Malacath!" He swung the blade at the guard's head with all of his brutish strength.

[Musicman247]

Valus

When the door was opened, Value could see a room full of weapons and light armor. There were also practice dummies that had seen their share of blades, and targets made of hay with a few arrows still embedded in them.

Just as he entered, two Khajiits came in from the door on the opposite side of the room, one finishing a statement, "...the best of times! Come!"

It was Dar'Virr and Tsiani.

Maugrim

The guard gave a sharp laugh as the sword sliced through nothing but air. He ducked and pivoted on one foot, coming around to Maugrim's side. In a flash the tip of the dagger was up against the orc's neck, threatening a killing blow.

"Yield," commanded the guard.

[ZeRoc]

Paras, not caring to check if his spell was still in effect, had his long suppressed Forsworn bloodlust out and attempted a strong decapitating blow from behind, attempting to land his sword right between the armor and the helm. "Now is the part where you fall down and BLEED TO DEATH!" he yelled, forgetting his normal calmness.

[DarkEastwood]

Valus stood up from his crouched position. "What are... Where did you guys...?" He muttered, confused by the turn of events. Where are we?! He cleared his voice, then gestured toward the door. "The others. They're in trouble, just down the hallway" he whispered, as he reopened the door right beside him.

Hidden:

Nice ZeRoc

[Musicman247]

Paras

The guard brought his shield up, blocking the powerful blow. "Another time perhaps," he taunted.

Valus

Dar'Virr just stared at Valus, obviously annoyed that his time with Tsiani had been interrupted.

Hidden:

Now we wait for Eltee.

[ZeRoc]

Paras jumped back and waited for the guard to make the next move, staring his opponent dead in the eyes. "Clever, for someone who moves, and looks like, a pregnant cow."

[Eltee]

Tsiani narrowed her eyes, and her hand instinctively went to her knife belt. "Slow down, what's going on?" She asked.

[Per]

Ra'Krinrj had been catching his breath from the kick to his stomach, and been watching as the fight developed. His side still hurt, but he saw the tides of battle shifting back into the Thieves' favor. He drew his saber and joined the fray. With a hiss he moved to flank the guard, lashing out against his side, the often unprotected area of the armpit.

[Musicman247]

Valus and Tsiani

"It seems Dar'Virr will have to show you later," the Khajiit said, looking at Valus. "Tell me what happened."

Ra'Krinrij

As Ra'Krinrij began his swing, a dagger was thrown, the hilt hitting his hand.

Paras, etc.

"Enough!" came a booming voice from the top of the stairs.

Immediately the guard stood down, bringing his dagger and shield back down to his sides.

Maro stood on the top of the stairs next to the Argonian Paras has seen earlier. "All of you, stand down," he commanded.

[The SheoDovah]

Lalussa followed Raven. So that the DM would do a post.

[Per]

Ra'Krinrij swore foully under his breath but let his arm fall limply to his side. He looked on Maro in surprise, having forgotten all about his earlier assertions that this fight was all a ruse.

[Argonanza]

Naragei sheathed his dagger. He couldn't help but gulp nervously. They had to be in big trouble for the several attempts at lethal maiming towards the fake guard.

[ZeRoc]

Paras took a few deep breaths, sheathed his sword, and was ready for the inevitable tongue lashing he was about to receive.

[Musicman247]

Lalussa and Raven

Melaris was still staring at the two women, waiting for them to respond to her question from the previous page.

Entryway

Maro began walking down the stairs with the Argonian. "I'm quite disappointed, Dominic," he started, "you were confident you could defeat them all."

The guard took his helmet off and let it drop to the ground. Dominic's hair was dark and thick, hanging in bunches from his head down to his shoulders. His face bore the scars of past battles, the most prominent of which was on the left side of his brow, slicing from the top of his forehead in a diagonal, missing his eye by a hair's breadth. "And I would have been able to, had this orc not been able to disarm me," Dominic said. "It was a fluke, I'm sure of it."

Maro nodded sharply. "I am also disappointed with you initiates," the Master Thief boomed. "Instead of relying on stealth to sneak past the guard you decided open combate was the correct course of action." Maro and the Argonian made it to the bottom of the stairs and looked at each initiate individually. "If Dominic had been a real guard, he would have immediately called out for help, and you would have been outnumbered within minutes. Strength of arm is only necessary when strength of mind has failed."

The Master Thief waited for someone to speak.