Maude and Malek ran from the cover of the trees and joined the dwarf and the elf on the road in front of the gate.
"So far so good. Excellent work, Tarth," Maude complimented the beaming elf.
"What about me? I'm the one who made a horse's ass out of himself to get them to open the gates," Borik pointed out in protest.
"Quit your whining, you big baby," Malek sniped.
"I'll show you whining, you pompous deviant halfwit!" the dwarf shouted throwing off the robe and pulling his mace out.
"Stop it, you two, now! We still have a barracks full of guards and more inside the mansion we have to deal with and I would rather that it be a surprise!"
Chastised, Malek and Borik followed their leader through the gates and around to the rear of the huge manor house. There were several buildings at the back of the mansion. A stable, what looked to be servant's quarters, and a long low building that most likely housed the remaining guards.
The party crept up to the door and peeked inside. Another entire shift worth of guards lay snoring within. Borik looked around and pointed to a stack of timbers lying against the stable wall. Maude lugged one timber out and braced it against the front door while Borik and Malek carried another around to the other side and did the same to the other door.
Once they securely barricaded the barracks doors shut, the four adventurers crept to a side door that led to the kitchens. Maude gently pulled the door open and slipped inside with her companions close behind. The group stepped into the large kitchen and stood face to face with several maids and a cook.
"
Shhh
, don't be frightened, we're here to help you," Maude whispered reassuringly to the frightened staff.
Unfortunately, seeing armed and armored intruders was not a reassuring sight and several maids screamed and ran for the door that led into the mansion. Maude was just able to dodge the cleaver that the cook hurled at her before following on the heels of the women.
"So much for surprise," Borik grumbled as they all heard the sounds of booted feet running towards the kitchen.
Not wanting to be caught in an enclosed space, Maude led a charge into a large dining hall. A huge polished wooden table sat in the middle of the room surrounded by ornately carved wooden chairs with red velvet padding on the seat and backs. Three brilliant crystal chandeliers provided light to any evening dinner guests.
The cook and scullery maids bolted through the door at the far side of the room at the same time several guards burst in, shoving past the terrified kitchen staff. Maude leapt upon the ornate hardwood table, furrowing large gouges into the polished surface with her hobnailed steel boots. Borik ran under the large table, barely having to duck his head. Malek called upon his god for aid and a sense of well being and righteousness filled him and his companions as they charged the oncoming guards. Tarth stood in the far corner admiring the faceted crystal of the chandelier, the scrollwork of the dining table, and the artwork that hung upon the walls seemingly oblivious to the impending threat.
Maude swung a large two-handed cudgel into the helm of one of the guards knocking it clear off his head and sent him sprawling across the polished granite floor. Borik burst out from under the table catching another guard completely by surprise with a wicked blow to the knee before rendering the hapless guard senseless with a hard whack to the head with his mace. Malek waded into the fray swinging his hammer with wild abandon while calling out to his god.
The adventurers tried their best to keep their promise to not slay any of the mind-controlled guards, or at least not cause permanent injury, by using only blunt force weapons and checking their blows. The strange but oddly effective adventuring party quickly brought low the hire swords and charged through the door that the kitchen staff had fled through moments before.
The small band of heroes burst through the door and came face to face with half a dozen guards, crossbows leveled with deadly intent. Maude leapt to the right as soon as she cleared the doorway and Malek dove left as the house guards loosed their deadly bolts. Borik ducked his head as the quarrels zipped past like angry hornets but Tarth, being typically distracted, was not so fortunate. Several of the razor-sharp steel-tipped projectiles tore through his magnificent silk and saffron robes.
The elven wizard let out a high-pitched shriek of rage and indignation at the effrontery of the inconsiderate guards. He summoned the power of the Source and conjured two huge semi-transparent fists that he directed to slap viciously at several of the guards, pummeling them into submission. Maude and Malek rolled to their feet and charged the flanks of the guards that yet stood unchallenged by the furious elf and were seeking cover behind a large padded couch whilst the dwarf charged straight up the center.
The experienced and powerful adventurers quickly overwhelmed the hired soldiers. Maude and Borik pressed a trio of house guards backwards towards an ornate staircase that led to the second floor and the likely bedchamber of the lord of the manor, unless he slept in a coffin in the cellar as many vampires were reputed to do.
Several more guards from the second floor ran to help those forced into a fighting retreat by Maude's Marauders. Malek and Tarth added their magic to the battle, freezing two more guards into immobility and dropping a few into a magic slumber. Borik struck one guard in the stomach hard enough to double him over as Maude dropped him with a solid hit of her cudgel to his head.
The battle raged up the grand staircase, Maude and Borik fighting side by side, slowly grinding down the overmatched household guards until only a scant few remained standing by the time they reached the top of the stairs.
"Mercy please I beg you!" cried one of the guards, his plea quickly taken up by his two remaining comrades.
"Drop your weapons and you will not be harmed!" Maude commanded, breathing heavily from the fast-paced battle. "Borik, bind and gag these men securely, Malek, Tarth, follow me to the vampire's chamber," Maude instructed as the guards were being secured.
"Is your master in that chamber?" Maude asked indicating the large double doors at the end of the hall.
"Yes, but…" the guard answered.
"Is he alone? Is there anyone else left we must fight?
"I don't believe anyone else is left but…," the guard stammered out before Borik put the gag in his mouth.
Maude, Malek, and Tarth stalked alertly down the hall as Borik finished securing the fallen guards. She looked at her two companions and nodded before launching a hard kick at brass door handles where the two doors came together. The doors flew apart as Maude and Malek burst into the room taking up a stance several feet into the chamber and to each side of the now open doorway. An old man with wispy white hair stood before them dressed in dark clothing and a black flowing cloak.
"By the holy power of Solarian I command you, back foul creature of the night!" Malek shouted, holding his holy symbol high.
Before the invaders could react, the wretched creature let out a primordial shriek of rage and charged between the fighter and cleric. The dreadful-looking creature fled with a speed that made him appear as little more than a black blur and bowled over a surprised Tarth in a flurry of silken robes.
"Borik, heads up!" Maude shouted in warning.
The dwarf looked up from where he was finishing binding the surrendered guards just as the balding wrinkled face of the laird barreled into him, sending him tumbling down the steps of the staircase. The old looking man in black garb somehow kept his feet and made the bottom floor landing just ahead of the rolling dwarf. Maude and Malek came running just as Borik came to a stop while Tarth was still upstairs trying to untangle himself from his silken trappings.
The three Marauders chased after the fleeing lord, just catching a glimpse of black darting through the door to the dining hall. Maude, Borik, and Malek sprinted across the sitting room, through the dining hall, and out the door of the kitchen.
The pursuers had to throw themselves down and to the side as a black carriage sped by, pulled by four black destriers, a young stable boy or coach driver clinging to the seat rails as the shriveled, white haired devil screeched and lashed at the horses, black cloak flapping in the wind.
The three adventures stood up as Tarth and Borik finally made their way out of the house, and all four watched the rapidly retreating coach disappear in the distance.
"Damn it!" Maude cursed. "I thought a vampire couldn't go out in sunlight?"
"Perhaps his cloak protected him from the cleansing rays of the sun, or perhaps he possessed some magical talisman. I am sure that the sun will force him into hiding shortly. Nothing can protect such a creature from the sun for long," Malek offered.
"Let's finish tying up the rest of the guards before they come around and get any ideas then we'll see what treasure we can find in this place," instructed their leader.
A few questioning eyes looked at the group as the wounded guards were bound and gagged. They then spilt up collecting gold, gems, jewelry, and anything of value that they stacked in the center of the sitting room before searching out more valuables. It took over two hours before Maude finally called a halt to the looting of the mansion, a huge pile of treasure already heaped in the center of the floor.
"That is a lot of loot," commented Malek. "How are we ever going to pack it out of here?"
"I found an open wagon and two more horses in the stables," Borik offered.
"Perfect, hitch it up and bring it around and we'll load everything into it," suggested their fearless leader.
"What should we do about this estate of evil, this demonic domicile, this house of horror, this charnel chamber, this …," Malek asked in a rant that appeared would go on if unchecked.
"Yes, Malek, I get it. We'll set the place aflame before we leave. Drag all of these guards outside. The town's fools can come and claim them when we're finished," Maude said.
Thirty minutes later chests of coin, jewelry, silver flatware, plates, pitchers, paintings, furs, and tapestries were all loaded into the cart and covered with a tarp. Borik and Tarth tied their two mounts to the back of the wagon and rode on the bench seat of the wagon while Maude and Malek followed behind on their own horses.
The group passed through the town without stopping, the townsfolk cheering them the entire way until they left the town of Duskshire behind them.
"We'll make our way to Brightridge; it's the nearest city of any size where we can pawn a lot of the loot. We will camp off the road and outside of towns. We don't want to attract any kind of attention carrying this much valuables or we're bound to attract outlaws," Maude said.
"We're rich, Maude. I never thought we would do it, but we hit the mother lode this time," Borik said, positively giddy for maybe the first time in his life.
The successful adventurers followed Maude's plan, avoiding the towns along the way and sleeping in the woods a couple hundred yards away from any roads. They passed a few people along the road, only exchanging short greeting or pleasantries and were fortunate to avoid any bandits that normally plagued the roads nearer the larger towns and cities.
Two days out from Brightridge, they rounded a bend in the road and came face to face with a large contingent of armed men. Their surcoats and heraldry marked them as belonging to some lord and not bandits or highwaymen.
That small comfort quickly evaporated as over two dozen guards circled Maude and her Marauders.
"Halt, in the name of the King and Duke William, Lord of Brightridge," a large guard with a short-cropped blond beard and blond hair hanging below the rim of his pot helm commanded.
Borik pulled on the reigns and urged the horses to bring the wagon to a halt.
"What is the problem, good sir?" Maude asked in the most polite tone that any of them had ever heard her use.
"I am Captain Jorgenson, captain of Duke William's regional highway guard. Are you recently come from Duskshire?"