Chapter Text
Beauregard Lionett
Beau sighed, raking a hand through her hair. Her undercut needed tending to, but she hadn’t had any time lately. She knew that she'd asked Dairon to give her more exciting assignments at the Cobalt Soul, but this was a lot of fucking work.
She had needed to assemble an entire team of folks that would be unrecognizable to anyone in the Empire. Then the first cleric she found couldn’t lie worth a damn, so she went searching again.
The tiefling cleric she finally found came along with a nice half orc gentleman who could lie his way into the King’s Court. She really lucked out on that one. Of course the first cleric, the firbolg, had glommed onto her at that point, saying he wanted to help her do great things. Even if he couldn’t lie about it, he would be good for cleaning up what could be a disaster. And he might actually make a convincing therapist, with the crap he was spewing. No one would listen to him long enough for him to need to lie.
He was also much more level headed than the tiefling cleric.
The muscle she found was perfect. They didn’t even have to lie, really, because she only told them what they needed to know. Well, the human woman was perfect. And tall. And gorgeous. Beau could deal with the rather annoying purple tiefling she worked with.
Probably.
He was only driving her a little insane.
Well, he was a fucking asshole, but his companion was worth it.
Fake patient number two was harder to find. Beau needed someone really deranged, with decently powerful magic, and willing to get drugged and thrown in a room with a completely unstable wizard with a proclivity for fire. Dairon eventually found the perfect individual for her. Beau came into her room at the Cobalt Soul to find both the strange monk and a goblin.
Dairon said this “Nott” was willing to do just about anything for resources only available at the Cobalt Reserve. So Beau had been living with the goblin for the past week, plotting together with her almost every night. Nott had a knack for acquiring the strange magic items Beau needed too, so she wasn’t asking questions.
Nott seemed to appreciate that, and they worked well enough together.
All in all, she had assembled what she hoped would be the perfect team. They were kind of a disaster, but so was she. Before they started the plan, most of them needed to go over the plan again. The night before they began the operation, they gathered on the top floor of the Grim Shelf Inn and Tavern, where most of them had been staying, before the plan started.
Beau sat in the blue tiefling’s room, cross legged on the floor, and started to go over the information one last time, “Okay, so tomorrow we’re going to be breaking into one of the most important facilities in the Cerberus Assembly, the Vergesson Sanatorium. This place is brutal, and almost everyone there was deemed a danger to themselves or society and is being kept there against their will. We’ve gotten reports of them using unsanctioned forms of restraints instead of fixing how understaffed they are. Over the years we’ve gotten bits and pieces about how the place is hazardous to all of its patients, physically and psychologically.
“It’s where Trent Ikithon’s laboratory is. He’s the Assembly’s Archmage of Civil Influence for the Dwendalian Empire, the guy in charge of Empire propaganda and constructing the face of the empire in upper echelon circles. We’re pretty sure he’s using the patients to experiment on, and has been for years. Because they’re not recognized as credible witnesses, no one has ever been able to build a case against Ikithon.”
Beau looked around at her assembled group.
The blue tiefling, Jester, piped up, “That’s the guy we’re after, right? Icky thong?”
“Yup,” the firbolg, Caduceus, confirmed, the one who had been with Beau the longest. “What did the anonymous tip say again?”
The monk nodded as well, “We got a tip that he has been basically torturing the kids that he turns into the Scourgers, the ‘Volstrucker’ bastards that are like his little puppets.”
“Tortured?” The purple tiefling, Mollymauk, frowned, sitting forward in his seat. “Like how?”
“The tip was from two of the scourgers themselves. Said that there were three picked by Trent from a town called Blumenthal. Bren Ermendrud and two unknowns, but most likely our two informants. They started at the Soltryce Academy until Trent took them for personal training. He did experiments on them. To make them stronger he had them force magic crystals into their arms,” Beau said, looking at the paper on the bed before her.
The half orc, Fjord, grimaced, “That’s awful.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Beau said, going on, “It says here that he would bring in people who were ‘traitors to the Empire’ and force the kids to torture them to death.”
“Kids?” Yasha, the tall human asked. Beau was starting to wonder if she had something else in her blood. She was crazy tall. Thinking about that wasn’t helping her focus, however.
Beau just nodded, “Fifteen when it all started is what it says here.”
“Fuck,” Molly mumbled, “fifteen years old?”
Silence fell over the room, until Beau cleared her throat. “Yeah, this Trent guy is a real fucking creep. There’s more too.”
“There’s more?” Jester asked, looking like she might be about to cry. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this. Well, she was supposed to act crazy, so maybe it would be fine. Hopefully.
She had to be okay; she was the linchpin of the whole plan. They needed her in there to give Bren back his memories. Jester would just have to deal with it. Sighing softly, Beau went on, “As a final test, Trent made these kids think their parents were traitors. Had them kill their own family.”
The firbolg made a quiet prayer to the Wildmother and Beau frowned, “Yeah, it’s fucking terrible. But none of that Wildmother shit in the Sanatorium though. She’s not a sanctioned deity in the Empire, remember? I don’t actually give a fuck, but do it on your own time.”
He nodded, putting the symbol tucked away under his shirt. “Apologies. I’ll do my best not to forget,” Caduceus said.
“Right,” she looked at Molly and Yasha, the two that didn’t get to hear the entire plan, “So our goal is to get in there and speak with this kid,” Beau pulled out the sketch. “Bren Aldric Eremendrud. I guess he’s not quite a kid anymore, but whatever.” She frowned, realizing that he was older than her.
Passing around the sketch, Beau went back to her notes, “A little over five years ago, the thing with their parents happened. The two other kids from Blumenthal did it, and so did Bren. Bren set his childhood home on fire and blocked the door with a wagon. But afterwards he snapped. Tried to go in and save his parents, and when the other two tried to stop him, he burned them.
“They dragged him to the Vergesson Sanatorium, and that’s where they’ve been keeping this kid for the past ten years, drugged out of his mind.”
Mollymauk and Jester shuddered at the thought. Beau lifted a brow at the two tieflings. Jester she had begun to suspect this from. Molly was supposed to be the muscle. That might not bode well, but she really wanted Yasha on their team. It would have to do.
“You two,” she pointed at Molly and Yasha, “your goal is to protect Jester and Nott. Understood?”
“Understood, unpleasant one,” Molly grinned. “Yasha and I will be hired muscle, looking after Jester and Nott when we can. No one splits off completely from the group.”
Beau looked them over again. “Right. You’ll take shifts that will overlap mid-day. They’ll be long ass shifts, but you’ll have nine hours to yourself each night to rest and a break mid-day before the other goes home.”
“I’ll be taking the evening shifts,” Molly said, looking over to Yasha.
It was hard to believe her deadpan voice but she said, “Because I’m the morning person.”
“And as long as there’s gold at the end of it, I don’t care about long shifts,” Molly shrugged. “You’ve got the gold, right?”
“You know I do. And you’ve got your stuff?”
They both waved around their equipment, rings that protected against magical effects and a healthy stash of healing potions.
“And the swords?” Beau still really wanted to know where the hell Nott got the retractable swords, but the goblin girl wouldn’t tell her. Yasha clicked the thing that looked mostly like a flashlight and it turned into a five foot greatsword.
Not to be left out, Mollymauk pulled out the two syringes that turned into scimitars.
Beau nodded as Jester clapped at the display. She was pretty sure those two were trustworthy just because they hadn't run off with the weapons at their first chance. "Remember, Yasha, that sword can also dispel magic shit. So if someone charms you or Molly, use that, and get the fuck out of there."
Yasha nodded back, putting the weapon away while Molly did the same with a ridiculous flourish.
Beau said, “Alright. Since you two can’t lie for shit, get out. We’ll let you in on the rest of the plan when the time comes, but for now you answer to me or Jester.”
“So long as there’s still gold in the mix, you’ve got a deal,” Molly said, sticking out a hand for her to shake.
“If anything goes wrong, you can say goodbye to all that fucking gold,” Beau frowned at him, trying to look severe.
“We’re clear,” Mollymauk said, rolling his eyes as the muscle went off to their own room in the Cobalt Soul. Or, most likely, to wait for her down at the bar. Not very discreet, but they wouldn’t be under any scrutiny until tomorrow, she hoped.
Beau sighed as she waited for them to leave the room. Dairon probably should have gotten someone else to do this, but the worst it could be was another dead end. No one she hired actually had any ties to the Cobalt Soul. She could go deep undercover and they could cover it all up if things got too fucked up.
Probably.
Worst case scenario, she created another rift between the Cobalt Soul and the Cerberus Assembly. That wasn't something she could really make worse, no matter how hard she tried.
Once they’d left she turned to Nott, “I know you can’t lie for shit either, so if anyone asks you anything, just don’t talk. You’re supposed to be a crazed patient anyways. Hell, you can attack them if you want.”
“I can do that,” Nott nodded, grinning so wide it was unsettling.
Beau turned to the others, “Now, our real goal is to get in there, posing as staff or patients, and get Bren out of there while getting all the intel and evidence against Trent that we can. But if anyone can act as a star witness in a case against Ikithon, it’s Bren. The tip said he’s had his memory tampered with, which is where the clerics come in.” Beau waved to Jester and Caduceus. “You guys know what you’re supposed to do?”
“Act as a crazy old magic woman under heavy protection by the Cobalt Soul, work my way up to getting close to Bren, cast Greater Restoration on him, and convince him to come with us!” Jester said, smiling. An odd thing to smile about, but whatever.
Caduceus let her finish, then spoke, “I’ll be posing as a specialist brought in by the Cobalt Soul to look after ‘Genevieve’ here, try and get some answers from her and whoever she interacts with. Which will hopefully be Bren.”
“I’ll be acting as your assistant, just so there’s always two people in the room,” Fjord said.
“Molly and Yasha will be doing the same,” Beau said, eyes flicking over to Nott.
“I’m Bren’s new roommate. I don’t mind being the only one alone, since I can defend myself pretty well. I’ll be reporting back to Beauregard, and I can ask for help like this,” the goblin pulled out a piece of copper wire and made a voice appear in Fjord’s mind.
The half-orc shuddered, squinting at Nott. “Now that’s weird.”
“Cool, right?”
Jester clapped, “I can do it too!” Fjord shivered again as she demonstrated, whispering to her copper wire about embarrassing things Beau couldn’t hear, but could judge based on Fjord’s flush.
“Yeah, yeah, very cool,” Beau nodded. She’d been on the other end of too many of those messages, between partnering with Nott and Jester. “I’ll be within the grounds every night to have a ‘check in’ with Trent or Ludinus or whatever lackey they send to talk about the patients. You can probably get me in range that way. Jester, I also expect you to check in once a day.”
Jester nodded, “Of course! I love sending people messages. Mine have a larger range, but can get heard out loud, so I’ll just sound extra crazy.”
“Try to keep it to when you’re alone or just with Yasha or Molly. There are some people interested in this operation too, who will turn a blind eye, but you won't be able to tell who they are. Plausible deniability for everyone and all. I’ll do my best to get you out of there once you cast the spell on Bren, but you’ll have to stay for a while just to make everything look legit.” Beau wasn’t ecstatic about this part of the plan, but if shit hit the fan, the more people inside the Sanatorium the better. The last thing she wanted was all of the people she hired drugged out of their minds and used as more of the Cerberus Assembly’s experiments.
It was going to be one hell of a mission, but they had figured out most of it. Jester could go in as a patient with a bit of a disguise since she was avoiding someone who might run in these circles. And blue tieflings were rare enough, but if they were traveling away with a purple and blue tiefling, they’d be the most conspicuous group in the entire Empire. Spells wouldn’t cut it, but she had a ring that would work well as long as the only people dealing with her would be Mollymauk and Yasha. Hopefully no one would question why the old elven woman was insanely strong if they never got near her.
Caduceus and Fjord were equipped with an object that cast a version of the silence spell that kept conversations private, and Fjord assured her that he had ways of seeing if people were scrying on them or sneaking in, invisible.
Nott would be brought in a few days later, hopefully around the time that Bren would be behaving more “normally” and able to be taken out of solitary. Even if that information about the Sanatorium was false, he would be able to have another contact point. And Beau would have another person on the inside.
She knew they would be watched like hawks by everyone there, but healing some of the rift between the Cobalt Soul and the Cerberus Assembly would hopefully be too promising to pass up on. Ikithon had been on their shit list for years, so asking him for help, as if they would owe him a favor, had to sound good.
Every part of her wanted to go in there with them, but she wasn’t exactly the best liar, as much as she hated to admit that, and she needed someone to act as the face of the operation. Someone who could act as a representative of the Cobalt Soul and get the rest of them in the door.
It helped that there was a fair amount of gold on the line for getting Ikithon out of the way. Beau was playing a few hands, doing this as an assignment for a few other members of the Cerberus Assembly. Members that would probably get taken down with Trent, but Beau needed the gold to get this ridiculous team of mercenaries assembled.
Luckily they all seemed pretty trustworthy.
At least they had all been willing to take a punch so she could knock the truth out of them. And if the people she hired weren’t able to take a punch, much less a consensual one, she didn’t know if they were worth the effort. They'd each done some work that random members of the Cobalt Soul had been able to vouch for, even though most of them came from the Cobalt Reserve in Port Damali.
That and after Caduceus had joined he offered his weird “make everyone tell the truth for a few minutes” spell. He informed her that everyone was pretty much willing to do whatever they needed to for the gold, especially since they were working to take down some corrupt forces.
That was all she really needed to know. That was the Soul’s whole thing.
“So is everyone clear on the plan?” Beau asked, looking around the room.
Jester smiled, “Crystal!”
Fjord and Caduceus just nodded serenely. Beau thought they passed pretty well as partners already.
"Caduceus, you've got your extra diamond dust, in case anything goes wrong?"
He said, "Sure do, and this, just in case." Caduceus lifted out a large diamond, watching Jester's eyes go wide for a moment. "No one will get hurt, if I can help it."
“I certainly hope so. And Jester you’ve got your ring?” she asked.
The blue tiefling giggled as she turned into an old elven woman and cackled maniacally. “Do I look crazy enough?” she asked, her eyes just as crazy as normal, but somehow made worse with the wiry gray hair.
“Sure do, weirdo. Fjord and Caduceus, you’ve both got those silence stones?” Beau turned to them.
Fjord waved his in the air, leading Caduceus to follow suit. “Right here,” Fjord said, tucking it back in his pocket. “And I’m all set to see whatever creepy invisible stuff that might scry or spy on us.”
Beau nodded at him and took a deep breath. The Cerberus Assembly assholes already thought everyone at the Cobalt Soul were hippie weirdos. This wasn't that far from the norm, in some places. She’d planned as much as she could, given their shitty information. It wasn't the best plan, for sure, and they hadn't been able to go over every detail in depth, but it was what they had time for. And the meeting Dairon had managed to get her was with Ikithon tomorrow, to help contain her "unstable patients" that could no longer be kept at the Cobalt Soul. There was no time to do anything else.
They were as ready as they’d ever be, given all the constraints.
Beau looked around at the group she'd assembled again. Dairon trusted her too much. She probably should have asked them for more time, but it was too late for that.
Tomorrow they would be descending into hell, and hopefully dismantling it completely on the way down.
But Beau knew the devil was watching.