Reade manages Lif’t while the party does an evening reconnoiter of Gralhund Villa, suspected of harboring Zhent henchmen, the Stone of Golor, and possibly the fireballing nimblewright.
The front of the two-story Villa faces north to a busy street. The grand front door is set back by a yard containing a few trees. A balcony overhangs the front door. The yard is accessible by a locked iron gate allowing a view of the villa but not solicitors. The twelve foot outer wall along the street is otherwise continuous and well-maintained. The wall turns down the east and west sides of the zero-lot-line property forming a narrow path along the next-door houses of vigilant, north ward, middle-class neighbors. The back of the villa offers a rear entrance right off the street, but the back street is similarly teeming with potential witnesses at all hours. A horse stable built into the southeast corner of the wall is detached from the villa and offers a locked double door to the street as well as several barred but open windows along the top through which horse odors easily pass but not adventurers. Nimblewright detector samples discretely taken around the property wall indicate a nearby presence, spinning stronger toward the villa side signaling either a nimblewright resident or a parade off to the west.
The party adjourns back to Lif’t to kick around the ethical, moral, and legal implications of breaking into the villa. While not explicitly prohibited by the Code Legal, odds are that getting caught after dark in a noble’s habitat liberating the Stone of Golor, however ill-gotten, or dismantling a nimblewright without due process will create prodigious legal entanglements. On the other hand, a lot of orphans, not to mention Reade’s lifestyle, could be generously fed with Degalt’s stash of gold dragons.
Emotionally committed to the path of chaos, the party dons Force Gray armor and slips back to the villa at a criminal hour. Rather than breach one of the outer doors, the party climbs or parkours the wall at an architectural crook on the east side off the corner of the neighboring house. Janky and Smoll scout the yard ahead to the cover of trees while Luth and Togy linger on the wall, a bit tuckered from the exertion. Their labored breathing attracts three shadows. Although the shadows are martially defeated, the melee generates some noise and light and drains Janky and Luth of some much needed strength.