Legends of Belariath
Joker
Temple Raid
Joker grunted as he hauled himself onto the roof of the Temple, banging a hand on the intricate sculpture of the small domed parapet he jumped from. After taking a quick glance to the alley below to make sure nobody saw, he moved to the back of the temple, leaning over the side to get the attention of his compatriots below. He lifted the hood from the long black wool cloak and whistled a sharp high note. The two cloaked figures on the ground near the back entrance to the temple looked up, their faces hidden by the cheap wool.
Fox looked up from the lock he was working on and nodded. Kazz also looked up and nodded. Now that they had both seen him, Joker walked around the edge of the large main dome. About halfway around it he found what he was looking for, a smooth square panel in the wall with a lock on it. Joker slid the leather pack from his back and reached into his pockets, pulling out a small set of thin metal rods and started to work on the lock, deftly moving the rods inside of the mechanism.
After a few seconds, a pop is heard and the lock snapped open. Joker reached up and slid it out of its holder, putting the tools back into his pocket as he sets the rusty lock to the side. He reached up to the loop where the lock was, undoing the bolt and opening the panel slowly. It was dim within the top dome, the dull glow of the ceremonial torches surrounding the sacred sand pit cast deep shadows about the rafters.
Joker slipped in, stepping onto the rafters as he closed the panel behind him. He looked about for a moment to get his bearings, then started to creep on the rafters, moving into a corner where he could get a good view of the main hall as he set his sack down on a sturdy beam beside him and crouched, reaching into the bag to produce a large crossbow. He tested the string and hooked up the loading winch. It was a beautiful piece of work, polished wood and decorative fur at the tip, large and fierce looking. Joker admired it happily as he loaded a large bolt with a sharp barbed head. Then a clatter came from the back rooms as Fox and Kazz appeared from a door behind the altar.
Without their cloak on their faces were plain to see in the glow of the ceremonial fires. Fox was a tall dark man, with long wavy black hair reaching to his shoulders. Kazz was shorter, more delicately featured and paler than Fox, though still darker than Joker, but still handsome with his hair pulled behind him in a loose ponytail. Kazz handed Fox a large mallet before Fox moved to the center of the room while Kazz moved into a corner, putting his cloak back on and hiding in the shadows.
Joker reached into the bag and produced a small flint and steel tin, striking the tinder inside until the coal in the middle was glowing softy and placed it behind a nearby support beam to conceal it. Meanwhile Fox had taken his position in front of the ceremonial sand pit, placing his swallow on the nearby altar. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large black spike with red markings on the side of it. It seemed to glow unnaturally as he placed it into the soft sand. Joker couldn't remember where they got the unholy object, but their plan hinged on it working. Kazz gave it the once over though, so it should be good, he silently prayed.
As Fox hefted the mallet, placing it on his shoulder as Joker leaned against an upright support and began to wait. The minutes seemed to creep by like days until finally the large front doors opened with a creak and in walked four robed figures. Three of them wore simple robes of brown wool, while the other one, an aged man with a large graying beard and wearing an ornate white robe with a silver cloak, a large sun sewn on the breast with a silver scimitar crossing it. The symbol of a high priest of Kreshihd.
The high priest looked at Fox, the only one of the three who could be seen, and scowled. "How did you get in here? The temple is closed." The man said in a brisk gruff voice. Fox laughed darkly. "You know, when guilds wage war on one another, its bad, but when churches wage war on one another, its worse. When churches wage war on guilds, then it gets bloody." Fox said in a low tone, still looking to the ground, his long locks of hair hiding his eyes and the grin on his face. Joker, from his seat on the rafters, nodded approvingly at Fox's words as he took aim at the high priest. He waited for the signal to release.
The high priest laughed mirthfully. "Thieves, then? Your lawless institution has grown a little too large for our comfort and were going to stomp you out. I assume you didn't come alone, probably fifty of you in the shadows or in the rafters, but on this holy ground did you think you could harm us?" The three acolytes laughed with him as they started to chant and a clear blue dome surrounded them, glowing with energy. "I suggest you and your little buddies leave before I get angry." The old man said as he drew his scimitar gracefully. He held it as if he knew how to use it, and the crane engraved on the side was proof enough of that.
Fox grinned at the words and raised the hammer high. Then, with a grunt, he brought it down hard right on top of the spike, driving it deep into the sacred sands. The fires blazed high as the sand started to darken, turning black around the unholy spike as a wave of black smoke seemed to drift from the pit, staying low as it snaked across the floor. When it reached the holy shield, the shield disappeared in an instant, as if it was never there. It flowed around the priests as they looked on in horror.
"You will die for this sacrilege, infidel!" The old man shrieked as he charged at Fox, amazingly quick for his age and robes. Fox was caught off guard as the man leaped into the air ready to bring the blade down on his head. Joker was ready though, and as the man took to the air, he released the heavy bolt, catching him on the side of the head. The force of the impact sent him twisting through the air, flipping and landing on his head some feet away from Fox, crumpling into a bloody mess.
The other acolytes looked on in shock, but recovered quickly enough as two produced their scimitars and charged at Fox. By this time Fox had already dropped the hammer and reached his swallow. He took a stance just in time to deflect the two clumsy attacks, killing both of the acolytes with one spinning swipe.
As his compatriots crumpled, the last acolyte stepped back out of the black mist and pointed at Fox. "Estahl met tal regarash!" He chanted as a bright white light appeared in his hands. But he was seconds too late. A shadow moves behind him as Kazz gently touched the man's shoulder from behind. The light disappeared as the man's eyes widened in pain and he clutched his chest over his heart. With a blood curdling scream, his chest exploded in a mass of blood and black mist that trailed from the gaping wound. Kazz just smiled darkly as the man folded in front of him.
"Alright then," Joker said as he put his crossbow away and grabbed the lit tin, jumping from the rafters onto the altar then onto the floor, "lets torch the place." He pulled three ceramic bottles with rags in the top out of his bag.
"Hold on," Kazz said as he drug the exploded chested acolyte to the back entrance, grabbing the high priest as well, "let me haul these bodes to the meat wagon, I need more fodder for my experiments." Fox grabbed the other two acolytes by the hands and started dragging them out the back as he grumbled. "Great, more exploding corpses in the basement. Cant you do this necromancy crap somewhere else?"
After they had gone out the back Joker lit one of the bottles on the glowing coal tin, tossing it at the doorway. It made a high arc through the air, sailing almost lazily until it hit and shattered. The black oil inside splashed out, igniting on the flame spreading fire and thick black smoke all over. He lit another one and threw it at the left wall, spreading fire all over it. It was getting a bit hot in the room, so Joker went out the back, making sure to stop and toss the last bottle into the cellar, igniting the ancient stacks of scriptures and parchments like tinder. Joker regretted having to destroy books, he really rather enjoyed reading, but this place had to be totally decimated to get the message across.
In the back alley, Joker emerged from the back door just in time to see Fox and Kazz hook up the meat wagon, a cart that Kazz modified to haul bodies around in with a bucket and a drain to collect blood. "We should go snatch a mule to haul these things to the den." Kazz said as he threw his cloak over the bodies. Joker and Fox followed suit, concealing the bodies under the thick cheap wool. "Ill go grab one." Fox said as he slipped into an adjacent alley.
Joker looked at the burning building as he and Kazz pushed the wagon out of the alley and into the street. "Well Kazz, that went over smoothly." he said, rather pleased with himself. "At this rate well be official members of the guild in no time."