"Plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, the fancy types would say. We just say it how we see it. Shit happens." - Leander Gavin, retired mercenary.
Elfriede went down the stairs of the establishment together with the giant of a man. She stood by and just observed through her senses as Zyd rapped loudly on a door and called out the man named Vasco - not someone she knew, likely a newer addition to Varsha's crew - from where he was playing cards with some others.
Those people threw a questioning look her way, but refrained from asking further when Zyd introduced her as "Varsha's Guest". Together the twenty of them walked out of the establishment and headed towards a nearby building Elfriede had not recalled being there when she left.
The building was quiet at night, but through her magic-reinforced senses Elfriede could sense the presence of many softly breathing adolescents and children in the main building, many of them as young or younger than Ery.
They skirted around the main building, and headed to what felt like a warehouse in the back. Except it was not. The warehouse was guarded by a good twenty thugs inside, who waved them through on seeing Zyd.
Underneath the warehouse was an entrance to the sewers Elfriede had not known of. Probably one built during her absence. Zyd quietly led their group through the labyrinthine sewers and brought them to smuggler's cove rapidly, clearly familiar with the route.
As they approached the cave, Elfriede relaxed a bit as she heard some happy chatter through the air, accompanied by what sounded like soft snoring noises. At least her old friends and new friends had stayed peaceable while she left.
Sure enough, she found them sitting around while playing cards in the cave. Grünhildr had clearly passed around some of her stash of good ale, one so strong none of the others other than the dwarves in the company liked it. The cave positively reeked of it.
"Oy, Nina, Varsha wants ye back. Vasco's takin' over the watch," said Zyd as he turned the corner after he rapped his cudgel against the stone in a three-four-two pattern. "Those be our other guests I take it?"
"Yo, Zyd, nice for you to come fetch us," replied Nina as she folded her hand of cards in frustration - Salicia's usual lack of expression proved to be a great advantage for her in games like these - and greeted the big man with an affectionate peck to his cheek. "You heard him, guys. Pack your shit up."
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To their credit, most of the people in Nina's group gathered up their stuff in minutes. Other than Cassie. That girl was sprawled over one of the barrels they used as seating, snoring softly and reeking strongly of alcohol.
Not that it proved to be much of an issue, as Arne just slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes with a long-suffering sigh of resignation. Something that elicited smirks from several members of the group, and even some of Vasco's.
After the quick change of guards, they followed Zyd back through the same route they had taken. It took a while longer to traverse than Elfriede's rooftop path, but was also much safer from prying eyes.
Salicia and Grünhildr seemed to have integrated themselves well with Nina's group, while Nicole and Loren seemed more guarded, as they were still unused to such environments. Dealing with criminal elements was nothing new for Elfriede's former partners though, given their previous line of work.
When they reached the establishment that served as Varsha's headquarters once again, Zyd led them to the dining room, where Varsha had awaited them along with several other people. Elfriede recognized some, while others were new faces to her. Most of Nina's group also dispersed when they saw the gathering, though Nina herself and surprisingly, Zyd, remained.
"Your other friends?" asked Varsha, to which Elfriede nodded. They gathered around a long table, over which she could sense a large scroll of parchment. She naturally couldn't tell what was on it, though Salicia whispered to her that it looked like a detailed map of the city.
"I've gathered my lieutenants while you were gone and discussed it with them. We're throwing our lot in with you over this shithole of a kingdom," stated Varsha plainly, to which Elfriede noticed that most of the rest of the gathered people gave firm nods. One of them briefed Nina and Zyd and quickly got them caught up as well. "How much do you know of the current city's garrison?"
"We know the troops on Fort Prydwen were withdrawn here, and also saw the ships flying the Norouz flags by the port," replied Elfriede honestly. "Adding conscripts, we expected a garrison of twenty to thirty thousand."
"Thirteen thousand soldiers. Another two thousand town guards. Norouz sent their count's younger brother with three thousand more. Around twelve thousand conscripted from the poor districts," elaborated a young woman, probably in her early twenties or so, from Varsha's side. Elfriede recognized her voice as Annelise's, a younger girl that many in their group had treated like a little sister. "Thirty thousand sounds about right. That said, the conscripts are not exactly willing… and the guards are compromised. We have no ins with the soldiers though."
"That is a problem," admitted Elfriede honestly. "Without the walls and moats, the army outside could probably handle even three times what's gathered here. The walls and moats are a problem though."
"Think if we can lower the drawbridge and open the gates for them it'd count as a big enough contribution for the offer?" asked one of the older men in the room after he pondered for a moment. "While we could probably make a mess amongst the conscripts and get the gates open, I don't see us doing that much more. Definitely won't be able to help with the citadel."
"That would definitely fit the bill, yes," admitted Elfriede. "Do we have enough manpower to force the gates open?"
"Not all of them," stated Varsha. "They got around five thousand of their best stationed in the citadel, with the rest spread mostly over the north, east, and south walls. I'm thinking we might be able to force one of the gates open provided we start a distraction to the west first."
"One would be plenty," said Elfriede. "The roads in Zefirous are large enough that the heavy cavalry can go through them. Once those things get inside town… I don't see the garrison repelling them."
"We will have to arrange things first, and also coordinate our movements with your… employer outside. I assume you came prepared for that?" asked Varsha, which was answered with another nod from Elfriede. "All right then… this is what we'll do…"