A grin has spread across the faces of everyone in the room. Time for a prison break! "Okay, don't need to tell me that!"
As Eodum said that, its body began transforming and shifting, but Delacs quickly responded, "Wait, hold on! Just, hold on."
Eodum's shifting came to a halt, and transformed back into the form of a rat, "Why?"
"If we're doing this, we're doing it properly, " Delacs began, "If you just escape, what do you think literally anyone else would think?"
Eodum thought for a moment, and then something clicked for it, "… A criminal?"
"Exactly," Delacs confirmed, "We're gonna need to clear your name, that's why I said "plan an escape" instead of just escape. Now that we're on the same page, let's start planning; first off, I had some of my personal troops gather information. Turns out, there's a lot of people supporting this: SGT. Tnedor obviously, a lot of the guards, a few mercenaries and adventurers have their hand in this as well. Then there's the problematic person: Baron Ekud."
"Baron Ekud!? Isn't that the noble who looks over this town?" Henry chipped in.
Delacs nodded, "Yeah, Baron Ekud has lived his life riding off of the achievements of his relatives. He's a greedy pig with no regard for any life other than his own. He's a coward who wants to get rid of anything that'd pose a danger to himself. He's the reason orcs get a bad rep, most other orcs I know are actually hard working and kind folk."
"… so we're planning a coup?" Eodum asked.
Delacs nodded, "Yep."
After listening to this, Sheila finally voiced a question, "Why are you helping us. If our plan succeeds, we would all become enemies of the Empire. If you help kill us, you'll be fine and can rise in rank, so why?" When Sheila said that, all eyes turned to Delacs. Even the two guards that were on Delcas's side were expecting an answer. Delacs looked around and laughed.
"It's simple, you're one hell of a creature," Delacs explained, "You're going to go far, so I want to get in your good graces as soon as possible. A complete newbie in adventurering brutally slaughtered Ksilisab, a Royal of Kraude. It isn't exactly unheard of for a sudden rise in power, but it's rare. Last time it happened was two centuries ago, and that was the generation of one of the most recent heroes and devil kings."
"Heroes?" Eodum asked, never hearing the term before.
"Heroes," Delacs started, "They are beings with the purpose for fighting the devil king. There's a natural order in the world to create devil kings and heroes, and to make them at the same time to keep the other side in check. Demons and humans are natural enemies, and they're always battling. Because of our constant wars, certain beings are either summoned or born to fight for either side, the hero and devil king. They pop up every century give or take."
"Oh, ok," Eodum said, "Then what was this being that rose in power?"
"It was the Rampaging Ape, Gniepa," Delacs said with a frown, "It was a true monster. No intelligence, no emotions. This monster was a huge ape with red eyes, black fur, and yellow quills coming out of its back. It ran across the continent, destroying everything in its path. The hero, devil king, and all other enlightened beings had to take up arms against it. By the time we killed it, it had already wiped out half of all species. We recovered quite well, and now there is equipment out there made of the ape. It's quite powerful, but there aren't many pieces. You seem to be a being that can rise in power like Gniepa, but I digress. Now, let's get back to discussing the plan."
"Ok, " Eodum, "What do we need to focus on first?"
"Let's focus on troops first," Henry suggested, "What's our overall power like?"
Delacs thought for a moment, "Hmm, something around 200 strong. These are only my men, not including y'all. 63 infantry, 43 mages, 54 secret ops, 15 priests, and 25 cavalry. Their side is 'about 550 strong. More troops for basically everything."
The room went quiet as everyone tried to brainstorm ideas. They were weaker in all aspects, so they could only win by pulling the rug from beneath the enemies feet. They needed to outsmart Nomed. Sheila slowly looked back to the room, "What's the current political situation like in Nomed?"
"Rough, "Delacs replied, "There's a lot of people who dislike Baron Ekud. Even though they're on his side, many of his troops dislike him. Many other nobles also dislike him, even the devil king finds his presence unwanted."
Henry chimed in, "So, what if we show Eodum isn't that bad of a person?"
"That won't work. Even though no one believes that Eodum killed someone, they still fear Eodum and his power." Delacs replied, shooting down Henry's idea.
"When do you think that Nomed's defense will be at its lowest?" Eodum asked.
Delacs took a moment before responding, "I'd say on the second day. The first day and third day are when they are most expecting you to make a move. In addition, a messenger from a nearby kingdom is coming to Nomed on the second day, so they want extra guards to help protect the messenger."
"So we got to do this on the second day?" Henry followed.
Delacs nodded, "Yep." Silence spread across the room again as everyone started brainstorming again. Ideas were sent out and denied over and over, so nothing came to light. As time flew by, more and more ideas found themselves in the rubbish bin. Then, finally an idea came to light. Everyone had to think on it for a moment, but in the end it was accepted. With that, Delacs left, and everyone went back to playing the role of prisoner and guard.
*****
"Mmm. Baron Ekud, this is wonderful tea." The ambassador Olpid Yerat exclaimed joyfully.
The Baron smiled, "I'm glad you thought so, ambassador Olpid!"
The two laughed, and then went back to peace talks. Then Olpid began coughing, "Ahem, ahem! Sorry, not sure what got to me there. Ahem, ahem, ahem!" As he said that, his eyes shot open, and he grabbed his throat. He coughed and coughed, and collapsed to the ground.
"Ambassador Olpid," Baron yelled, "Get a doctor, now!" The guards rushed out of the door, but a scream followed as they closed the door. The Baron backed away from the door slowly, "W-What the hell!?"
That was when a voice came from behind him, "Hello, Baron Ekud."