Linley and his companions arrived in Decker County City half a month early.
They found an abandoned mill in the west of the city, three streets away from the Radiant Church's rendezvous point. The mill had long since stopped grinding flour. Moldy wheat straw and torn sacks lay piled inside, and several holes in the roof left the sky visible. Linley spent a few silver coins buying hay from nearby farmers to spread on the floor, then put together a few makeshift beds from wooden planks.
Sessler had no complaints about the lodging. He had slept in coffins before; what was a mill by comparison? Early the next morning, he began setting up a magic formation, using bone powder to draw a three-layered summoning formation on the mill floor. The outermost layer was for defense, the middle layer for trapping enemies, and the innermost layer was a passage to the Undead Realm. He drew very slowly, stopping after every stroke to recite an incantation before drawing the next.
Linley went out to scout every day. He walked every alley around the rendezvous point and drew a map, marking the visible sentries, hidden sentries, escape routes, and high ground. The rendezvous point was a three-story stone building with a courtyard in front and stables behind, flanked by houses on both sides. Its main entrance faced south, with two locust trees outside. Their broad crowns made good hiding places.
Linley crouched on a rooftop across from the stone building, counting the people who came and went. Three arrived on the first day, five on the second, and eight on the third. They were all Church men dressed in plain clothes, but their gait gave them away-straight backs, steady steps, eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. They were clearly well-trained warriors.
Sessler asked him