RP:Breaking In

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc

Summary: Kovl and Josleen sneak out of the war camp and climb up the mountain on a mission: to infiltrate Frostmaw and steal medical supplies which Hildegarde’s army badly needs if they are to win this war. They told no one they are going on this mission. After a series of hijinks, Josleen, disguised as a frost giant soldier, gets punched in the solar plex, fractures a few ribs, and is sent to the medical war. There she heals for four days. Meanwhile Kovl steals supplies and stashes them in his bottomless bag of holding, checking back with Josleen often to ensure he’s got the right stuff. Eventually, after depleting more than half of the fort’s supply, Kovl announces they need to escape.

Hildegarde’s War Camp

Josleen sent word to Kovl at the Mage’s Tower to let him know her back was well enough for her to continue with the plan. The letter arranges for a meeting place at dawn. The night before, after the camp had fallen asleep, the bard packed a bag of provisions and layers for the hike up the mountain, which is long and tough without a pack animal or ride. They’ll likely lose a day just hiking and climbing on foot. The last thing she did before leaving the mansion was write a note addressed to Kelovath. She considered leaving one for Hildegarde but thought better of it. The saurian senses would find Josleen too quickly; it’s best to sneak in and out of Frostmaw under all radars. She left the note to Kelovath vague for this reason too. Still, she feels guilty. If either the knight or paladin knew her plan, they would be disappointed and possibly angry. She tries not to think of them, though lately one of them has been near impossible to keep out of her mind. She scans the southern horizon for Kovl’s zipping speck. As she waits, she practices standing like a frost giant, smiling like one, laughing like one. Having spent more time with the race since the last time Kovl disguised her, the actress feels more confident in her ability to get their cultural tics just right. She models her behavior on a barmaid at Frostmaw Tavern, the dismissive way she flirts with men she doesn’t want to see again but wants to leech a hefty tip from. Josleen, a half-elf with a modest rack, isn’t used to flirting through boobs either, and practices this too, bending slightly over more than she usually would.

Kovl 's zipping speck is no where to be found because the pixie has other plans. "Boo!" His high-pitched call is carried on the Xalious winds as his form becomes visible, from thin air, hovering just above Josleen. Kovl's stupid smile betrays his childishness once again. Invisibility via pixie dust is just too much for the playful mage to pass up. The illusionist's smile grows bigger as he realizes Josleen's posture and flirtiness to apparently no one shows her investment in a believable character which will show later at Frostmaw's gates. "Well, hi there," The pixie jokes while his dark blue eyes can almost visually see the Frostmaw giant in her. Kovl's eyes widen for a moment. He shakes his head to remove the convincing imagery, telling himself his far too literal interpretation of Josleen's acting is just an effect of the 'sap' he took earlier, a result of the drug which has become his vice in recent months. "Shall we get going?" The illusionist is bundled with clothing he believes is strong enough to challenge Frostmaw's icy touch, but his bundles portrayed a comic visual. Kovl is a fluffy ball, zooming through the air. The pixie takes the lead as the two venture up the frozen, rocky path toward the gates up the mountain. The thin air is no friend of Kovl's drugged state, and he often has to rely on resting atop Josleen's shoulder when he finds himself gasping for air. Any time Josleen shows hints of exhaustion, the pixie encourages her. "Be the mountain. You are the mountain!" He chuckles. As the effects of the drugs wear down, his encouragement makes more sense and his concern grows for Josleen. The sobered illusionist, for part of the way, even becomes Josleen's size and uses his pixie dust to levitate her from the ground so he can pull her weightless form, like a wheel-less cart, up the uneven paths if she gets too tired. Kovl's booming headache is too much for him to laugh at the ridiculousness of how the two looked. As Josleen and Kovl are just less than a mile from Frostmaw's gates, the two stop, Kovl shrinks to his normal size, and the two rest. This is an opportunity for Kovl to rehash the plan to Josleen. "Are you sure you're up to facing those frost giants? I could just make you invisible, and we can sneak past. But then they may not lead us to those supplies we need." The pixie's eyes, over the course of the past hour fade back to their normal emerald hue.

Frozen Pass

Josleen grins at Kovl’s theatrical and puffy appearance. Physically demanding travel follows a certain script. First Josleen chats with Kovl, talking about the trouble in Xalious and the Frostmaw war, then the topics shift to more pleasant small-town gossip, then Kovl’s adorable pep talk. “I am the mountain,” she says with a laugh. Soon physical exhaustion labors her breath and she doesn’t talk anymore. She thinks about the mission, her role, the goal, but even this fades. Harsh elements, physical struggle, a passing blizzard, all blot out the facts of war and of their mission. For a while all she can focus on is where to plant her next footstep in the snow--who rules what town seems insignificant and worlds away. Once the monotony of hiking runs on subconscious cruise control, the mind, now unburdened, freely wanders. She fantasizes about herself as intrepid hiker, and of Kelovath; then thinks about the mysterious origins and improbability of life, and Kelovath; remembers a hiking-based book she really liked, and Kelovath. Although she is silent, Kovl may notice she is grinning to herself often, gaze soft, clearly a goner for someone. Eventually she realizes she’s thinking about the paladin too much and chastises herself for being so smitten so soon. How embarrassing. She focuses on the mission again just as Kovl becomes life-sized. Their dynamic changes without her realizing it. Normally in their relationship she likes to lead, but when he is man-size, she follows. He gives her a boost over some icy crags and she thanks him. Frostmaw’s high walls come into view and she’s all too happy to take a break. Kovl brings up the mission and anxiety flourishes in her gut. She’s scared, but she tries not to reveal her fear. “Too many risks with invisibility. If I’m caught, they’ll attack first, may not live long enough to be questioned, you know? I feel more in control as a giantess.” After resting for fifteen minutes and growing cold quickly, she takes a deep breath then stands. “I’m ready.” She holds her arms out to the side like she’s in a tailor’s shop, ready for her make-over. “Big breasts, yea?”

Kovl 's tired face sports a grin as Josleen makes her request, and then he nods. "Of course. Big breasts." His overbearing headache stops him from making a lighthearted joking comment about the power of breasts among even the strongest men. He, instead, pulls from his bag a necklace bearing a pendant. "Wear this." Kovl waits for Josleen to place it around her neck before he moves forward touching it slightly. The bard's illusion appears around her instantaneously. Infused in the jewelry is an image Kovl labored over the night before, and now is the time for the fitting. "May I?" The pixie asks before touching Josleen's elbows, knees, shoulders, ankles, knuckles, and toes. This is a part of the process to lock the image into place so his illusion will follow her movements like they are an extension of herself. As a final touch, the pixie enlarges the illusion's breasts as Josleen requested. "You're ready," he whispers before vanishing into thin air once again. Josleen may feel Kovl resting on her shoulder as the show begins.

Frostmaw Eastern Gate

The sky turns orange as the sun begins to set. They burned through the bulk of the daylight during the hike. Josleen’s fantasies of being a legendary, intrepid explorer are shattered by reality; she’s slow. She turns her frost giant hand this way and that and moves around in the illusion-suit to ensure it moves naturally and convincingly. It does. The pixie is highly skilled. She adjusts her boobs beneath the coat so they mark a better shape. She starts the final mile hike through the pines, then the clearing, to Frostmaw’s eastern gate. She raises her hands as she reaches the clearing. The guards call to her to declare who she is. She says she is Freya Raske, had left last summer to visit a far flung cousin, returning now. What is the meaning of this? What has happened? Is the city at war? She plays her hand ignorantly, letting the guards fill in blanks and assume innocence in her ignorance.

Kovl remains still atop Josleen's shoulder. He readies himself to react should this encounter go wrong. As Josleen approaches the gate, an interested guard looks down on her form from atop the gate. His form disappears for a moment as he motions for those on the ground to approach the visitor and then resumes his post, knowing fully that he, out of everyone, has a perfect view of the visitor. Yes, a -perfect- view. The gate opens only long enough to let a band of three giants, two males and one female, inquire of Josleen's story. The woman grits her teeth as she watches the other two guards stand a little too close to the visitor. "Frostmaw is closed, Ms. Freya Raske," she announces gruffly. "Why do you choose to come to Frostmaw now? Where did your cousin live?"

Josleen pretends she is taken aback, mouth slack in disbelief. “Closed? But it is my home.” She gestures westbound, “Across the ocean, in Rognir province.” A place where giants live, mostly storm giants, but the giant races are known to mix. Having answered the woman, she looks to the men more now. “She was an older cousin, very ill, and with no children to care for her in her old age. I went to care for her. She,” The giantess looks towards the ground and her bosom heaves as she takes a deep breath. “She passed a few weeks ago and I have returned here for it is my home. Surely the city is not closed to its own? Why is it closed? Is it the drow again?” She references the last war which was in full swing around the time she claims to have left, last summer.

Grendel's nostrils flare as she listens carefully to 'Freya's story. She gives a slight nod to the taller of the two other giants. "Papers please," an impossibly deep voice demands. The tall, muscular guard outstretches his hand to Freya. Grendal speaks, "Frostmaw is under high alert status, and no one but Frostmawian Giants who are residents here are allowed inside its walls." The rest Josleen's questions of the city's status go largely unanswered. The three guards wait. "Do you have your papers or not?" Kovl hangs on Josleen's shoulder, waiting to see how Josleen responds before making any action. Already he begins to fabricate what some papers would look like in his mind. Kovl thinks quickly on how he can possibly get Josleen out of this situation safely. Or better yet... inside Frostmaw. The illusionist's form dips away from Josleen's shoulder, leaving her alone after comfortingly brushing her ear to let her know she's safe and he'd be right back.

Josleen looks surprised that they would even ask this of her. Frost giant culture doesn’t typically fuss over paperwork, but perhaps the merchant in charge has changed things, enforced some sort of paper trail. “It’s in here somewhere,” she says. Using her magical bardic gifts she splits her voice in two and a second message peels off for Kovl’s ears only, thrown by ventriloquism and made very quiet just for him. “I’ll stall. Can you whip up papers? Don’t know what they look like.” When he touches her ear, she assumes he’s left to find what papers look like, somehow. She hopes he doesn’t take too long because stalling has a short lifespan before it becomes obvious. “I hope I didn’t lose it during travels.” In her bag she conjures the sounds of keys, other papers, and all sorts of items. Just as their tolerance and patience is about to succumb to suspicion, she wipes out an old receipt from Angrod’s shop in Xalious and hopes and prays Kovl is back and ready to cast a quick illusion. If not, she’ll have to keep lying. “Ah! Here it is!” She holds up the slip and inspects it. Please, Kovl, please.

The guards let out sighs as Freya searches her bags for paperwork. For each item retrieved from the bag and thrown aside, an irritated grunt matches it. "Well?" As Josleen brandishes the receipt and holds it into the air, Grendal snatches it from her hand and inspects it. "What is this?" The giantess scoffs as she reads it. "I don't care what you bought from a convience store. Good bye, Ms.Raske." She points back down the frozen path to Xalious. "Out." The tall male giant guard shoves Josleen into the snow. "Go on." He shouts before laughing. The three giants turn to the gate and begin to leave. As the gate opens, a fourth guard holds up his hand to stop them. This new giant is clad in nicer furs and has an authoritative gait. Grendel stops along with the other two, and Josleen hears glimpses of their voices on the wind. "Yes, Sir?" The authoritative, tall, muscular, powerful captain of the guards walks right past his subordinates and straight toward Josleen. He reaches forward to grab her arm to yank her to her feet and pull her toward the gate. The unnamed leader motions for Josleen to follow him.

Josleen insists, “I do have it! I must have misplaced it.” She starts searching her coat pockets as the guards shove her a few paces south. “Hey!” she growls the way angry frost giantess’s do. Then she borrows an expletive from the Frostmaw Tavern barmaid, “Who in Aramoth’s sweaty ballsack cares about paperwork! I’ll take you to someone who knows me and you’ll see! Escort me! I’ll lead you to someone who can confirm my—” She’s cut off by the arrival of a guard, who the bard can only hope is Kovl or else… This mission may be over before it started. Where is that pixie anyway? She follows the captain inside then makes as if to scratch her shoulder to see if her hand bumps into Kovl. He isn’t there.

Kovl can't help but smile at Josleen's sudden outburst. The pixie is there now, of course, but not where Josleen expects. He is flying high above her while simultaneously pulling her toward the gate via his convincing illusion of an authoritative figure he left to spot. Grendal and her crew did not notice the small inconsistancies of Rarguuf Fromal's appearance. They had no idea to scrutinize why his nose might be slightly too big or his lips are too thin. They instead knew, no matter how oddly at the moment Rarguuf acted, it is best to let him allow into Frostmaw who he pleases. Kovl leads his illusion, and Josleen by proxy, to an interior portion of the guard post before he dips to land onto Josleen's shoulder. "Meet me at the clinic." Rarguuf vanishes into thin air as the 'three' are out of sight of the other guards. A sprinkle of pixie dust falls on Josleen's head and she too vanishes. "Run there." Kovl takes off toward where his map indicated the clinic is located. The pixie watches Josleen's footprints form in the snow, and as they are in view of the Frostmaw guards, he masks the prints to appear as if the snow has always been untouched until the two are far enough into safety. As they round a corner into an alleyway, Kovl trusts Josleen knows where to go and flies overhead toward Eleenin's clinic.

Healing Room, Eleenin’s Clinic

Josleen knows Frostmaw well and makes the closest thing to a straight line to the clinic by using the network of seemingly random alleyways and desire paths through lots. The clinic’s exterior looks normal, save for the lack of activity that should be visible through the window. Susk has settled and warm candlelight pours out of neighboring windows. The clinic is dark, the door unlocked. Josleen steps inside and her boot crunches on a broken glass vials. The interior is ransakced and deserted. Eleenin is not at his station; there are no patients. “Oh no…” Josleen whispers. She rushes into the supply closet to find the shelves empty. “They must have taken everything. But where…?” Through the window she sees the towers of the fort to the north-east. “...I think we need to go to the fort.”

Kovl arrives just before Josleen, and the dark windows already raises an uncertainty in the pixie's chest. Kovl dispels his invisibility and Josleen's as well as the two inspect the state of the clinic. Broken glass, overturned cots and tables, and opened drawers indicates that if Eleenin was certainly targeted by someone. It also becomes evident that the supplies Xalious needs are not present. Kovl meets Josleen's eyes. "Why, Josleen? What is at the fort?"

“Because that’s where the thieves live.” Granted, she could be wrong, but she’s learned to trust her instincts. They’re usually right. She looks to Kovl for a plan, “How do we get inside? It’s also guarded. Balgruuf has taken up residency in there and he’s a coward.” Her lips purse as she tastes her own hate for the merchant giant. “Sneaking past guards while invisible seems risky. Perhaps if I was in uniform?” She gestures at her outfit. “Low rank so the fact they don’t recognize my face isn’t suspicious.”

Kovl nods at Josleen. "Yes, okay. Let's just hope they don't ask for papers. Breaking into a fort has more severe consequences than trying to get into a city. What do we know about these guys?" Kovl nods to Josleen's necklace and touches the pendant again, making the bard appear as she did before: the busty giantess, Freya Raske. Kovl recites a well-known incantation and begins to disguise Josleen's features once again, scrambling Freya's old face and making it appear slightly different. Smaller ears, bigger lips, eyes farther apart, nose slightly bigger... Kovl is concentrated at work as the artist he is. "I need to see what their uniforms look like. For now, you can go dressed like this. When we approach the fort, I'll scout ahead and come back with you looking more... guardly."

Josleen shakes her head soberly. “I don’t know much. I thought I knew them… but their actions thus far have violated the rules of their own race and religion. It’s…” She shakes her head as she remembers the day Balder lifted her and looked as if he would rip her apart, then remembers the mutilated corpses thrown at the camp in Xalious. “I don’t know what to expect any more.” As Kovl works she is silent, lifting her arms and moving here and there so that he has better access to every detail. She nods at his plan then leads them out of the clinic towards the fort. Once inside the city no other giants give her a second glance. In fact, they seem to willfully look down towards the ground, more so than usual. Josleen realizes that the people of Frostmaw, the common giants, are afraid — not of her, but of their new dictator, Balgruuf. She stops a block away from the fort and hides behind a building. She signals for Kovl to go ahead and scout. The fort looks the same as it always has in terms of construction and sentry positions. Guards litter the walkway, gates, and parapets. However, the attitude is quite different. They’re angrier, loyal to a brutal jarl, Balgruuf, and infected with the leader’s hate. Any errors Kovl or Josleen could cost them their lives. There is no leeway, no room for forgiveness.

Frostmaw Fort

Kovl nods to Josleen as they arrive at the fort. Already Kovl is tired, cold, hungry, and he has a headache that seems to threaten to split his head in two. Coming down from a high is the worst part of being high, he thinks. Now is not time to complain, but the normally cheery pixie is sombered and quiet. The fear in the Frostmaw residents and the oppressive numbers of those in the fort tilts Kovl's mood further. He reaches into a pouch at his side, sending a pulse of natural energy to his dust, and he vanishes. Flying high above the heavily guarded courtyard of the fort, the artist's eyes pick up details many are incapable of retrieving at first glance. Kovl has trained his attention to detail to be on point. It's a part of his business. Starting back to Josleen and making himself visible again, Kovl alters her appearance to match those of the guards he witnessed, and he makes one smaller change to the bard's garb: smaller breasts. "Sorry, those have to go. You can't stand out." One more glance over Josleen's illusion causes Kovl to nod again. "You're ready." The pixie pauses. "Although, we are risking quite a lot for supplies we have no idea are present in the building. Perhaps I should have gone in..."

Josleen reluctantly nods her head in agreement. “I know, but… If you scout ahead, well, it’s a large fort. May take you a while to check every room and closet. As a guard I may be able to ask the right question and be pointed in the right direction, even if you’re right and the supplies are stored outside the fort, we’d have no idea where in the city to look. May as well see if we can get a straight answer.” The plan works for her, but she waits for Kovl to agree before she moves forward with it. She briefly spies on the gate to see how guards arriving at the fort greet the sentry. She learns their salute, gait, star, then mimics it. Getting through the gate is easy enough, thanks to Kovl’s expert uniform. Once inside she walks towards what used to be the medical ward to see if it’s still in use, but she’s intercepted part way through. A higher ranking soldier barks, “Soldier, why aren’t you in training? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t lock you up for insubordination.” Apparently Kovl copied the uniform of a regiment that is currently in the training yard, his mark likely en route there at the time Kovl copied her. Josleen salutes the higher ranking officer and turns towards the training yard, in the opposite direction of the medical ward. Thankfully she doesn’t need to manufacture an excuse as frost giants don’t put much stock in those. On the way to the training yard she whispers to Kovl, “I cannot fight. We need to change my outfit again. Perhaps I can appear as a healer, now?” But before they can hide in a closet a troop of soldiers jog through the hall, surrounding Josleen and patting her on the back to get her jogging too, towards the training yard. She obeys the groupthink, not wanting to arouse suspicions. In the yard, she is handed a practice flail and placed third in a line of combatants destined to square off in a ring. To Kovl she whispers, “Help.”

Kovl agrees with Josleen. "I suppose you are right. We'll have to go in together." Kovl hides himself from the naked eye once again and hovers above Josleen as she is questioned by superior officer, keeping a hand on his pouch in case something goes awry. However, Kovl's approach is to not interfere unless absolutely necessary. The arising necessity becomes more evident as his partner in crime is hurried off with a flail in her hand and about to enter the training ground. "Jos," he whispers. "Just try. I'll do what I can on my end." Green eyes size up the soldier in training to square off against Josleen, and his mind is occupied with many choices in how he could possibly rescue Josleen from her predicament. Time's up. Josleen is called up to the field along with another rookie who clutches his flail with determination. Kovl shoots from Josleen's side toward the rookie as he steps toward his opponent, a bard in hiding. The rookie suddenly rushes forward aggressively toward Josleen, and he raises his arm to swing his training weapon toward Josleen. The pixie's hand shoots to one of the many pouches on his side, sends a pulse of magic through a fistful of dust and tosses it onto the enemy below him. Still charging forward, rookie swings and... sneezes... hard! His swing falls short, narrowly missing the imposter and exposing his shoulder to Josleen for a brief moment.

Josleen has the military instincts and reflexes of a slug. She sees the exposed soldier, understands it is her moment to strike, readies her flail, aaaaand the window of opportunity is over in a flash. The rookie opponent still has a lot of experience compared to Josleen and corrects himself back into a defensive position fast. What’s worse, Josleen is holding the flail wrong and her stance reveals her inexperience. It’s obvious to all those watching that she’s never trained with a weapon in her life. Spectators start to blink at each other in disbelief. What is this? Josleen sends the flail towards the opponent’s head in an overhand swing, which he easily deflects by slamming his armored forearm into her tricap from below and with his opposite hand punching her solar plex, hairline fracturing her ribs in several places. The wind is completely knocked out of Josleen and she sees all stars then black. The trainer stops the fight. They aren’t here to kill each other after all. Josleen-as-giant is carted to the medical ward, the same one she once worked in. There the shamans work quickly to fix her broken body. Thankfully they have blue iron dust in stock here, perfect for setting bone. The ribs they can repair within a few hours of treatment for the cracks are thin and clean, but the bruising and internal bleeding will take longer to repair and stymie. She’s assigned a cot in the critical wing of the ward, though her condition perplexes the shamans. Sure, she got punched, but she fell so hard and so quickly. Does this frost giantess have some underlying chronic disease? (Frost giant lupus???) Her condition appears far worse than the blow she sustained, or so it appears to those who still believe she’s a frost giant. Josleen forgets the mission for an evening, content to rest and heal. She sleeps fitfully through the night, and so will rest, obligated to do so under the shaman’s care, for two days and one night more to come.

Kovl's eyes widen as Josleen is suddenly down for the count with the rookie's counterattack. The pixie begins to feel dizzy and forgets to breathe, and he quickly moves to Josleen's side, touching her cheek, urging her to wake up. The rookie rolls over, unable to celebrate in his victory as his sneezing fit continues for several more minutes, crippling his efforts to stand again. Kovl watches helplessly as Josleen is carted to the medical ward and as the shamans begin to work on her, a realization crosses his mind... He's in the freaking medical ward. There's tons of supplies. Giant-sized doses of all sorts of ointments, herbs, potions, and wrappings. Shamans continue to discuss Josleen's odd condition from just one punch as Kovl slips a few things into his bag. Jars of herbs quickly shrink to Kovl's proportion and slip into his satchel. He can only grab a couple of items without suspicion. Content for now, he follows Josleen's unconscious body back through a complex series of hallways to a dormitory for rest. Josleen is prescribed a few days rest, and that night, Kovl slips more medical supplies into his satchel and follows up his success with indulgence. That sweet 'sap', the drug that holds Kovl over, ends his night hallucinating and passing out before the next day. The cycle repeats the following night: showing Josleen his successes, soliciting advice for the next items to retrieve, waiting until night to sneak more supplies, slipping them into his bag a few at a time to avoid being caught, and finally ending the night with his drug use as Josleen sleeps. Kovl knows that as the supplies dwindle in Frostmaw's fort, the two will need to leave. On the last night, the pixie takes everything. In the morning, still deep under the effect of 'sap', Kovl wakes Josleen, "We need to leave. Today."