Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf

[Graybeard]

"Just what was that thing?" Layla asked Galina as Ace urged the horses to pick up their pace.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it was, I don't like it," Layla's tutor answered, concern on her face. "It looked like a high-powered Evocation or Conjuration spell at work, I couldn't tell which. Not arch-mage-level, but still the work of a powerful spell caster. I wouldn't want to mess around with it."

And what was someone capable of casting it doing at the supposedly non-magical Temple of the Divine Dwarf? Layla asked herself. Well, now wasn't the time to worry about that question. "We've got to go faster," she said. "I don't think we're going to be in time."

Just then the KRAAACK of Rufus firing the mana rifle reached them, still five or six blocks from Barker Lane.

"Of course, I could be wrong..."

[Jack Rothwell]

Eve looked cautiously back at the monster her leader to shot. The hound's limp body lay flat on the wooden boards; its head was all over the place. As the pair watched the creature dissolved into a vaporous cloud in keeping with its magical origin.

Eve pushed her way back to her feet on legs made of rubber. She tottered unsteadily over to Rufus and threw her arms around the old man.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Have a seat soldier, you look like you need one."

......

Leo hit the broken entrance of the Barker lane guild at a dead run, not even bothering to wait until the cart had stopped before the approach. He skidded to a halt as he entered the ground room, spying Bert groaning under a pile of broken planks and dust.

"Bert! Dammit, are you ok?"

"Just-hunky-fucking-dory." The young man sarcasmed, pawing at the ground in front of him in a weak attempt to set himself free. The merc hurried over and busied himself clearing the debris from his injured comrade.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Up here." Rufus yelled. Leo looked at the balcony overhead with a relieved smile. The Captain tipped a hand to his employee and leaned of sight, the sound of his bootheels announced his descent with a second, lighter step declaring Eve was following. He called to the arriving group as he came down.

"We have a lot to discuss it seems. But first, can someone check Bert over? I'd rather not lose any new recruits today."

[Graybeard]

Fearing the worst, and feeling her Wraith reflexes kicking in, Layla did a fast drop and roll out of the cab. However, she hadn't yet reached for her weapon (not that it was likely to do much against the magical hound) by the time she realized that there were no sounds of combat coming from inside the building, just a pained groan from inside the door. Maybe Leo's people had found something to do to the dog after all. That was ... interesting.

Galina knew some healing magic, and as soon as the situation at the door clarified, she was more than happy to use some of it on the squashed man -- Bert, was it? Meanwhile, Layla noticed that Leo was talking to an older man -- Rufus, presumably; Leo's friend Jade had said something about him earlier. This sure looks like another guild to me, she thought. I'll have to keep an eye on them -- but at least for now, they're allies. Allies or not, Leo looked a little ... preoccupied, and under the circumstances, who could blame him?

She walked over to the two men, cleared her throat. "Looks like you've got some things to catch up on, and some repairs to do. Leo, we need to run my friend over to the consulate. Can we take a rain check on lunch, and catch up with you later to talk about the -- where we were?"

--------------

This time, when the hound's magical energy recoiled into the small amulet that had projected it, the amulet didn't glow; it simply shattered, sending pieces flying -- some of them into the skin of the man holding it. He cursed in three different languages, two of them rarely heard in either Farrel or Tsuiraku, and cast a healing spell of his own, to remove the magical shards and fix the cuts they'd inflicted.

Well, dammit, if you want a job done right, do it yourself, the man thought. He went back into the temple and stepped into a rarely-used (in fact, almost-never-used, because of the glyph protecting it) closet, where he found a cloak hanging that was not of dwarven, but rather Tsuirakuan, manufacture. He put it on and uttered a command word.

With a pop, he vanished from sight, although his footfalls could be heard leaving the temple, and on the way out of Tsuiraku-town.

[Jack Rothwell]

"That's a good question." Leo replied. "Eve and I need to piece together what we know exactly."

Rufus nodded appreciation at Galina's assistance for his man, and made a sweeping gesture to the mess around him.

"Someone owes me a new door for this." He remarked. "And I intend that the man who was holding the collar of our intruder should foot the bill. Tend to your business, we'll exchange information when you return."

[Graybeard]

Layla nodded. "Sounds good. We'll be back before dinner." She smiled wryly. "Don't worry about the mess, we've had worse."

A few minutes later, she, Ace and Galina (and Oxana) were at Rice's food stand.

[OOC: Koshkoo, you still there? /OOC]

------------

If the pedestrians between Tsuiraku-town and Barker Lane had been magically sensitive, they might have noticed that something was moving among them, projecting a noli me tangere sensation that had mind magic written all over it. However, most weren't. They didn't even notice that they were spontaneously moving out of the way of something they couldn't see, and could barely hear over the normal noise of the city. An observer in an airship would have simply noted that there was a bubble, less than ten feet in diameter, within which the crowds would not set foot. And it was moving.

Toward Barker Lane.

[OOC: On that note, I'm going to be out of touch for a couple of days, back Friday. I might still get one chance to post something today, depending on weather, but I'd say do whatever you want to at the lair, JR; the guy in the bubble is in no hurry. ]

[Jack Rothwell]

The weapon was complete. Jade sat in the corner of the forge, a trail of smoke rising from the ciggarette in the corner of the mouth which was drawn upwards in a smile. She'd outdone herself, she was sure of it. True, there were a few tests to run but if her reconstruction of the golem weapon had been on the money then the product in front of her would be something lethal.

She scribbled a note with her free hand onto the parchment scraps on the desk, sighing contentedly, glad she'd left the investigation in more capable hands. A moment later she ground the stub of her smoke into a makeshift ashtray and went back to her 'baby'. An expression of regret surfaced as she shut the power source down; it put her in mind of putting a dog to sleep. She wrapped the weapon carefully and placed it in inside a canvas bag, a minute later she'd changed out of her blacksmith apron and was heading out the door.

"Time to see the boss..." She murmured.

....

The reunited group at the Barker Lane Guild sat in a semi-circle on the top floor of the building. Below them came the grumbles of the newly-healed Bert shoving debris into a wheelbarrow he'd liberated from the yard behind it. The new recruit cleared the planks of wood from the broken door with annoyance; he'd been re-hanging the thing yesterday for no reason at all it seemed.

Rufus sat with his fingers pressed into a pyramid shape, a sure sign he was thinking deeply. The reports given to him by his subordinates hinted that things were getting more dangerous than he'd anticipated. The sight of his favourite student nearly being eviserated by a magical monster was enough to convince any commander to err on the side of caution. He looked up at Leo and Eve and saw them watching attentively, waiting for instruction about what to do next.

"Would you recognise your attacker if you saw him again?"

"You bet I would." Eve sat with her leg stuck out stiffly, it was still tender from the burn it'd recieved earlier. "That bastard's face is an oil painting in my memory right now."

"Then I think it would be best if the next time you ventured out you made sure he wouldn't be able to recognise you."

Leo smiled at the exchange. Eve didn't.

"You know I hate disguises."

"But you're good at wearing them." Rufus shot back.

"Your 'damsel in distress' is theatrical gold." Leo chipped in.

A few years ago the young mercenary would've fought her leader on the discision, and sulked all the way through until the task's completetion. Eve, to her credit, had matured a little since she'd first came into the old man's employ. He managed a resigned nod and wearily rose to get changed.

"If you're up to it. There's still the investigation at the burned out liquor store to do." Rufus called after her. "I was thinking of sending you and Bert; two pairs of fresh eyes might turn up something new."

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, no koshkoo, so stepping in to put a few words in Rice's mouth...]

"Ah! Miss Layla! Rice glad to see..." the food stand operator beamed as Layla, Galina and Ace approached the stand.

Layla returned the smile. "I'm glad to see you too. What's the special for lunch today?"

The woman behind the counter wore a blank look until she processed the unfamiliar language. "Ah! Special! Rice make special lunch, yes, called 'sweet and sour sky dragon.' You want taste?"

A look was exchanged among the three customers, and Layla almost demurred, remembering what some of the other "specials" had been like. Still, as ... peculiar ... as the ingredients had been, they'd actually tasted quite good. All three nodded, and Rice dipped tasting spoons into a large vat behind her ... pulling something out of the broth in the process.

That's the largest bat wing I've ever seen in my life, Layla thought, but she accepted the spoon anyway, and once the others had followed suit, they settled in for a lunch of sweet and sour sky dragon -- and conversation.

[Jack Rothwell]

Jade made her way across town with a light-step and the bag swinging gently in her hand, mentally rehearsing the speech she'd give to Rufus regarding the new weapon. Leo had told her earlier in the day the old man wanted to talk business, and business was what she needed if she didn't want to go back to working as bar security or taking escort duty for trade caravans. It had been a botched job that had lead to her being pulled into the situation with the rebels in the first place after all. Of course, the option was always open for her to lean on Leo's relative wealth but since Hell hadn't frozen over she wouldn't be taking that road anytime soon.

She sidestepped an approaching cart and picked up the pace, anticipation in her gut as she headed to Barker Lane.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Lacking koshkoo, just a few more words in Rice's mouth here...]

Layla smiled her appreciation at the weird dish, getting a smile from Rice in turn. "So ... Miss Layla want Rice make big party dish now?" the food-stand merchant said.

Galina looked puzzled as Layla tried to formulate a reply, but then she realized what was happening. "Ah! I can help with this," she said, and magical light flickered around her fingertips as she put on a Translation spell. "There. Now we should understand each other more easily."

Rice's smile widened. "Thank you! I don't get to talk to others in the dialect of my village very often. How did you do that?"

Layla chuckled. "Galina, you're going to have to teach me that one." She turned back to Rice. "It may be getting time to talk about you catering our grand opening, but first, I'm curious. Who else has talked to you in your language? Captain Kitaura from the mission, I assume?" She'd noticed Kitaura's business card on the stand, after all.

"Yes, yes, he has been nice to me," Rice confirmed. "And the other one who speaks in my own language is the nice man from the Temple of the Divine Dwarf."

I thought so, Layla thought. Kitaura was running in a ringer there. "Muscular fellow, name of Cosimo?"

Rice looked like she was rummaging her memory for a thought, and finally found it. "No, the high priest there." She snickered. "He has a funny name. Opium, Orpiment, something like that..."

Which was not the answer Layla was expecting, and suddenly she wasn't interested in talking about catering any more.

-------------

The touch-me-not bubble of magic was turning onto Barker Lane.

[Jack Rothwell]

Bert sat outside the Barker Lane guild with a grumpy expression on his face and a ciggarette stuck in his mouth. As he smoked he kept stealing glances back at the hole where the front door used to be, he rubbed his arm as if was still tender from the trampling he'd recieved earlier, thinking homicidal thoughts about magic dogs as he did.

Inside the Guild Eve stepped out of her sparsely furnished room in new outfit, stiffling a scowl as Leo caught sight of her and wolf-whistled.

"Looking good shorty! Love the new hair!"

"Shut up, Leo." She brushed irritably at the dress she wore. She would admit, grudingly, that the effect of it when coupled with the long wig was a jarring transformation. The outfit served to exaggerate her femininity, make her look younger and also...

"Naive, soft and helpless." She muttered.

Rufus said nothing, only smiled.