As Broneslav starts to open the door ahead of him, he hears footsteps rushing past. He pauses and lets the person get a short headstart before he carefully puts his head round the door to see what is going on. He sees the man with the wooden mask opening a secret door in the wall. Broneslav decides that he has a good chance here, so he quickly removes his robe so that he can move more freely, before stepping through to follow the man.
He hears loud voices raised beyond the secret door. As he reaches the door, there is a familiar strangled cry. Someone has just been stabbed! He draws his sword and pushes the door open hard. The scene that confronts him is a familiar one by now. A middle-aged man holds a sword to the chest of a younger man. The man with the wooden mask lies dead on the floor, his lifeblood pooling around him. Some of that blood is still on the middle-aged man's sword.
"Stop him!" the younger man yells, "He has killed our father!"
At this point, Broneslav realises that the man on the floor is Anton Radu, head of the Radu clan. That means that the other two must be Zweis (younger) and Cartha (middle-aged) if he remembered correctly.
"Put the sword down, Cartha," he ordered, "the jig is up."
"Pah," scoffed Cartha, "I'm done with your meddling in this. Your time is up, not mine!"
He swings his sword away from his younger brother and launches a frenzied assault on Broneslav. Cartha's sword cuts Broneslav (2 DAM) before he can react. Broneslav returns the favour with a long cut down Cartha's arm (2 DAM). Zweis takes this opportunity to try to stab his brother in the back, but is knocked back. With a swift stab, Cartha slices a gash in Broneslav's leg (2 DAM). This is enough to put Broneslav off, and his next blow goes wide. Cartha uses this opportunity to slice another chunk of flesh from Broneslav (2 DAM), while fending off yet another attempt at fratricide by his brother. The three then settle into a series of attacks and ripostes that are easily blocked, before Broneslav finally gets through Cartha's defences again (2 DAM). This is enough to slow Cartha down, but not enough to put him down. Meanwhile, he is easily able to fend off Zweis' attacks until Zweis lands a lucky blow (1 DAM) that is quickly followed by another lucky blow (1 DAM). Cartha falls lifeless over the body of the father he had murdered.
Breathing hard, Broneslav eyes Zweis, wondering if this brother will now turn on him.
"So," says Zweis, "thank you for helping me out of a sticky situation. Family is absolutely the worst, dontcha know. I'm guessing you know about the Veiled Society, what with being here and all. What I'm wondering is if you could see your way to joing us. With my brother and my father out of the way, there are several opportunities available within our command structure. As a scion of a merchant family (Yes, I recognise you, Torenescu) I'm sure you can see the advantages for both of us. What say you?"
"Yeah," replies Broneslav, "That's not going to happen. I see you for who you are."
Zweis looks disappointed.
"Well, how about I give you this box of gems, and you walk away from here?"
"Nope, I have all the wealth I need. Now, put down your sword and come peaceably to the guard with me."
Zweis looks defeated. He hunches his shoulders slightly and begins to crouch. Then he launches an attack. Broneslav is not caught out at all. He hammers Zweis on the side of the head (2 DAM) and steps easily to the side, to avoid Zweis' attack. A follow-up blow with the pommel of his sword smashes the young man to the ground unconscious. Broneslav checks he is ok and then ties him up. No point in taking chances.
When he searches the room, he finds papers detailing the Veiled Society's doings and their contacts. Looking at some of the names, he realises that this will rock the upper echelons of Specularum society. He also knows it could have been much worse if the Veiled Society had spread its tentacles further afield.
Further searching of the room nets the box of gems that Zweis had promised as a bribe. Cartha's and Zweis's swords are both good quality, so he takes those and a fancy ring that Cartha is wearing. Furthermore, there is a pack containing a mail shirt, sword and bow). These do not look like the sort of gear that the Radu family leaders would wear, so it suggests that someone else has been taken by them.
Deciding that he needs to see if this person is still alive, Broneslav makes sure that Zweis is properly secured and sets off to search the rest of the tunnels.
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