Goriel and beyond

[Drusia]

Desiree's answer brought a bit of a frown to Lillith's lips. She stepped over to the girl and pulled her into her embrace. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you doing alright? Is there anything we can do?"

I'm surprised by Lillith's embrace. Is she just being kind? Oh, what does it matter? I return her hug.

"I'm okay," I say. And I even mean it. "Just feeling a little lonely. I could..." I hesitate, then go on. "I could really use a friend right now."

The last time I asked to be her friend she rejected me. Maybe... maybe this time will be different.

-- Desiree

[Jack Rothwell]

"At least they didn't send an advance guard. So do we hide? Surprise could only help."

Eli nodded at Tim's suggestion. The pair retired to a more subtle location, down an alleyway near a doorway to a fishmongers which was doing slow business that morning, and settled in to wait.

It wasn't long before they spied a ship on the horizon, a sturdy thing with red sails heading towards the empty berth a few dozen yards away. Eli grinned in the semi-light, his hand clutching the outline of the artifact under his shirt, his head cocked as if listening to the hubbub of the docks around them.

'Savour this.' Said the voice of Fucilious in his head. 'Your potential will reveal itself. They will fear you.'

On the crate that the half-elf had sat on, the symbol he'd drawn turned slowly to black.

[Drannin]

Argus sidled over to Brad and shook his hand... and sighed. "I sense chronomancy again. Do I even want to know how you got here?"

[Graybeard]

Elke nodded, called out into the warehouse. Presently two goons arrived and took up stations on either side of Jamie. "Take care of her and her catgirl friend," Elke ordered. "Next priority is making sure our competitors lose the fight down the road. Got it?" The large, violent men nodded, and they and Jamie set off.

There was more to be done in the Eisenfaust base, however. "Annabelle?" Elke called her lieutenant as soon as Jamie left. "There's a body in my office. Please see to it." She'd actually been looking for an excuse to hit Bruno for some time; the man's ambition had been ... inappropriate, and a point needed to be made. She excused herself to follow Jamie and the thugs, pausing en route to throw up, which of course had nothing to do with the life she'd ended, and everything to do with the one she was creating.

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

Sister Rose was worried. "It's not like Tim to run off when there's a mission to be done, if I judge the man correctly. Da-- drat." They were close enough to the temple that she had to use language that wouldn't offend Orthodox clergy. "Maybe we should go help him, whatever he's doing." But then she caught a look at Lillith comforting Desiree ... and another at Brad preparing to throw himself into harm's way for his beloved ("wife"? -- somehow the word just wouldn't come out).

Maybe I'll let them sit this one out... But I think I'd better check on him myself. "Argus, are you coming with me?"

[Drannin]

Argus nodded. "Right behind you."

[Sareth]

[OOC: "Rescue sex is the best sex." What a great forum quote that would make!]

[OOC]Just keep trying, dude. Just keep trying. *laughs*[/OOC]

"I could really use a friend right now."

The last time I asked to be her friend she rejected me. Maybe... maybe this time will be different.

Lillith's arms tightened around the girl. "I know. None of this has been easy." One last squeeze and then Lillith slid back, her hands on Desiree's shoulders. "Have you had breakfast yet? Maybe that will help."

****

Jamie stalked along with the two men. She wasn't sure quite where she was going, but somehow still gave the impression she was the one in the lead. Within a shockingly short time, the three found themselves in the harbor watching a red sailed ship carefully docking up.

"Okay, so Tami is down here somewhere? Point the way."

One of the thugs with her shrugged. "We know she's down here. We just don't know where exactly."

"So how do we find her?"

"I dunno. Draw her attention somehow?"

"Gotcha. Those guys on that ship. Not on your be-nice-to list, right?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Jamie reached over and yanked the rifle off the man's shoulder. "Lemme borrow this."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the man's objection, Jamie quickly climbed a pile of crates. "I hope this thing is well sighted..." Aiming the maniac drew a breath, let it out, held...

*CRACK*

The sound of her shot echoed amongst the warehouses and piles of cargo, the sound rippling out across the water. Aboard the ship, the man at the tiller pitched over with a cry.

"Damn. Got him in the belly."

The effects of the helmsman's being callously gutshot immediately began having an effect. The tiller, now unmanned, began spinning as the rudder straightened itself out. With a shout of alarm another man leapt for it, but not before it was too late. Though moving fairly slowly for its capabilities, the ships mass was enough to cause the entire dock to shudder and buckle as it kissed up against the pilings. Though neither the dock nor the ship were damaged enough to take them out of service for long, the crash was enough to send men on deck and on the dock both tumbling. The ship began scraping the last of its momentum away, now on a parallel course to the dock. It finally came to rest with a crunch as the bowsprit embedded itself in the cabin windows of the ship ahead of it.

"Reckon she'll notice that?" Jamie quipped.

[Alberich]

Udo heard the bang! and saw what the ship was doing. But it was important to stay hidden. When the dock started to buckle, well, there was no choice, was there? He had to hold Tamina to keep her from falling -- he had to hold her tight and get her onto firmer ground while still hidden. Jamie was out of sight, and while he'd seen a bit of the world since leaving Tsuiraku, he hadn't seen enough to realize that only one person, anywhere on it, could bring that much chaos in that little time.

"Shhh..." - he whispered - "Oh fuckin' weave I hope the slavers still come..."

* * *

Tim, hiding with Eli, did see the mystery woman cause the disaster. He turned to Eli - ready to lay a restraining hand on his arm, and calm him or throw up a barrier and die stopping him if he sought revenge on her for spoiling the ambush.

[Drusia]

Lillith's arms tightened around the girl. "I know. None of this has been easy." One last squeeze and then Lillith slid back, her hands on Desiree's shoulders. "Have you had breakfast yet? Maybe that will help."

"I was just on my way to find something to eat," I reply, smiling faintly. "Are you two hungry too? I know a pretty good place near here."

-- Desiree

OOC: Assuming that Lillith and Brad say yes, Desiree takes them to the place where she, Rose, Argus, and Tim had dinner - just to speed things along.

[Browncoat]

"Reckon she'll notice that?"
Even as the chaos of Jamie's shot began to unfold, a young man with with large, metal bands on his arms and legs turned the corner. When he saw the trio, he paused for a second, shrugged, adjusted his hat, and continued. He walked over to the pile of crates Jamie was perched on, grabbed one and started walking off with it.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose heard the crak of gunfire a long way off. She fought down the urge to bolt for cover; it wouldn't be appropriate here, and she had to show some leadership and discipline. She also fought down the urge to draw the pistol she'd confiscated from Brad. It had been a long time since she'd used one (and she had never, never shot anyone), and although her Special Ops training had been intense enough to leave firearms use ingrained, she still wasn't going to be a match for whatever was doing the shooting. No, this was a time to play defense.

"That wasn't intended for us, but I'd still have a Shield spell at the ready," she said to Argus. A wry smile crossed her lips. "I guess we hunt in pairs now..."

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

Elke saw the thumbs up from the goon with Jamie. The odds had just tipped one notch in favor of the home team. But then the consequences started to play themselves out, and the thumbs-up turned to a gesture of astonishment, if not horror.

I almost wish I had a box of popcorn to sit back and watch this play out, she thought, realizing that the action was far too distant, and too fast-moving, for her to do anything about it.

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

Meanwhile, Rupert Ricordiel, aka Rip, was receiving a message from an Eisenfaust courier to deliver to his captain.

[OOC: So somehow we've managed to unify three out of four threads ... and I have it on good authority that the fourth one may be coming.]