Goriel and beyond, part 3

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Drannin
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Drannin »

The man choked, breathing in heavily. "Extraordinary... how did you... the detail!"

"And the positioning of the subjects... so creative..." his companion's eyes glittered with barely concealed lust.

The first leaned closer. "And you say there's literature to accompany it?" The merchant only nodded, grinning widely.

"Would you hurry up?!" someone shouted irately from behind the two front-most customers. They were about to turn and respond... aggressively... but the merchant just chuckled.

"Calm yourselves, gentlemen. There's plenty to go around! And anticipation is the best part of any purchase, you know!" These words of profound wisdom quieted the rather sizable crowd that had gathered around the stall, and the two front-most customers quickly settled on their purchases before making way for others.

Ah, what a time it had been! Investigating Goriel had been a trying task, but a simpler option had soon presented itself: do business! Get the attention of men from all walks of life, speak to them over drinks, follow up on their information independently... The strategy had paid off handsomely in terms of both information and money, once a booth had been acquired in the market. The previous owner had moved on leaving this spot vacant, which suited its new owner just fine.

Harker smiled. Goriel's tastes may have been crude, but that just made business as a purveyor of fine pornography all the more lucrative.
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Sareth
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Sareth »

Lillith caught the tone in Eli's voice. She tossed him a sharp look that was out of place for a woman in Goriel, but said nothing. Instead she returned her eyes to the front, and began reaching out and feeling the spirits of the place, readying for if she needed their aid.

****

Jamie sat at the mouth of the cave, watching the rain fall as her two companions napped and the not-a-kobold did whatever not-a-kobolds did. She really did want to be continuing on to the mine. But as heavy as the rain was, Tamina's coat would rapidly become soaked, making her twice as miserable as she'd wind up looking. Wet cats and kobolds...

As she watched, she saw two bedraggled figures emerge from the obscurity of the rainy distance, looking distinctly unhappy.
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Graybeard
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Graybeard »

May as well start to set this up, thought Therese.

"I should warn you," she told the chief thug, "that the street vendor from whom I bought the objectionable artifact is ... unusual."

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

"They're going to the market place," Sister Rose muttered, her gaze still fixed on Argus' nether regions. (Gorielian deference, or something else?) "Of course they are. I should have figured that out. We'd better get moving."

In fact, the group was catching up to Therese and the thugs from the compound. She could see them now: the tall woman, dressed as a man and with flame-red hair sticking out from under her hat, surrounded by four lumpish (but no doubt violent) men ... and with them, one of the men from Clan Duravsky that they'd been warned about. The other four could be dealt with, she decided; that one might be ... difficult.

<"Let's try to talk her out of trouble here,"> she thought at Argus. <"If we have to get into a fight ..."> Letting a mind-sentence trail off into uncertainty might not have the same impact as a shudder and shaken head, but it would have to do.

Later, Rose would reflect that it might have been better to say that last part out loud, so that Eli and Tim and Brad and Lillith could hear it. However, hindsight was 20/20.
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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

Malyuta's amusement added just a tiny touch of menace. "No worries about that, young friend! If he's done all you say, he will be much more unusual at the end of the day!" The boy's words sounded like the beginnings of a weasel-out, and he knew just what he'd do if "unusual" turned out to be a variant of "not actually there."

The man with the hand on Therese's shoulder gave an affirmative, "Mmmm. He will be a mythical creature. Whoever heard of a man wih his dick growing out of his chin?"

A couple of the others laughed. Another added - "Or his intestines used to make sausage out of him? While he watches and we ask his opinion? Oh, I know! Let us ask him whether the kidneys are on the inside or the outside of a man, and when he says 'inside,' we say, 'it was a trick question...'" This sort of wit continued as they walked along through the marketplace, until they reached the crowd around the booth in question, with no one having had the presence of mind (or the level of respect) to ask the young stranger what was so unusual about this vendor.

When they reached the popular pornographer's booth, Malyuta led the way, gently but firmly pushing the customers aside. They made enough room until -- he saw what this merchant was. (He did not recognize Harker as a companion of Argus - rumor had brought only so much information.)

Malyuta Tarasovich Duravsky was not as flabbergasted as one might have expected. The men of his household were not as dedicated to hard-living-for-the-sake-of-it as the Yurkashev, but they drew their wealth from outside the city, and he had spent a lot of time in the wild lands to the north. And he had seen strange creatures there. He didn't know about Tsuirakuan familiars, or their near-total indestructibility. His magical senses were nonexistent. But he did have a strong "radar" for situations that could cause his clan embarrassment. There were many Tsuirakuan men who cracked up under stress but lived their lives in constant embarrassment and got used to it. Malyuta, a Gorielian, was quite the opposite - he could live in the air of dread that surrounded Lord Duravsky, and thrive in it, and take a great deal of pain and misery and the companionship of death - but embarrassment must be drowned in blood.

So, the first thing to do was to disperse this crowd. He held up his hands. "Friends! Neighbors! I give you joy! See how late in the afternoon it is? This shop is closed for business for today! There will be no more business today!"

A few of the more self-preservation-oriented had already started slipping away when they recognized Malyuta. Others took the hint, or got the hint given to them by their neighbors. Malyuta ordered two of his lads to help spread the good news, and they did not need to wield their cudgels much to transmit that message. Only two were not so occupied. One kept a hand on Therese's shoulder. The other held the bundle. Once the crowd was gone, Malyuta meant to turn back, and have speech with the strange creature. Having his back to it now was deliberate - to show his lack of fear or concern. Talking to it, bargaining with it, asking it for favors in front of this crowd - these would have sent the wrong message, and he would not start a conversation 'til the audience was gone.

Harker's own thoughts were unreadable 'til he spoke or acted, but really, in Tsuiraku, strangers showing up with weapons to shut your business down would at least utter a classical salutation - such as, "You guys got a permit...?"

* * *

A day's journey to the north, several hours later, Udo was catching some Z's. And if Tamina was doing the same beside him, then wet cave or none, he was in Udo-heaven. No doubt he thought Jamie would sleep when her watch was over and dream of her own kind of heaven.

"The" Kobold, having no more silver to eat, nor the presence of mind to check to see whether there was more, had gone silent and was probably back asleep, invisible in the rock formations at the back of the cave. If travellers were lucky, it would be "many years" more before he woke up again.

Whether the two bedraggled figures seen by Jamie were going to disturb anyone's sleep - well, that would be seen.

[OOC: No idea what you're doing with them - so over to you, Sareth.]
Last edited by Alberich on June 21st, 2012, 4:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"That them?" Eli looked to his comrades for confirmation, one hand falling to the hilt of his weapon.
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Graybeard
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Graybeard »

Therese could merely gasp. "No ... what is that thing?"

-----------

Crap, Sister Rose thought. "Yes, that's the party we're chasing," she told Eli.

[OOC: A contract bridge player would recognize these two lines as a "relay."]
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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

Had Therese's escort known her sex, a question like that would've drawn a ribald reply. This man was not so bright as Malyuta, and responded, "If he's doing what you say, we'll find out what he is! On the inside."

[OOC: A poker player would recognize that as "stupid kibitzing."]

The man with the bundle hefted it and grinned evilly. The others continued to disperse the crowd - which would be gone in moments. Malyuta hadn't even heard Therese's surprise, or registered that this wasn't what she was expecting.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: I'm not going to write anything for Rose or Therese at the moment, because it is rather important to know exactly what other characters are up to, particularly Argus and Eli -- and time zones and geography being what they are, I suspect JR has already turned in for the evening. However, if I understand what Sareth implied, one thing can still happen out in the boonies, so:]

"By all the crabs in Luminosita's pubic hair," Shorty puffed, "I hope we've finally caught up with them."

Rip didn't say anything in reply at first; he was too wiped out by the rigors of the hike to do anything other than glare. Thurston, however, had been riding on Rip's shoulder for most of the trek out into the boonies, and so he still had plenty of spunk left. "RAAWWK. Let me go check, boss." He took wing.

Now that loosened Rip's tongue. "I can't believe it," he panted to his large companion. "That animated feather duster is actually going to be useful for something."

And so he was. A minute or two later, Thurston was back. "RAAAWWK. That's our party, all right -- and you should see the gadget they've got with them."

"Thanks, Thurston," Rip answered, meaning it. "I owe you a cigar for that one. Let's hike on up there and see what they've got." Two bedraggled figures (and one bedraggled parrot) approached the cave where Udo, Jamie and Tamina had gone to ground.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Eli tensed, he pulled his sword free with one hand and held the palm of the other out at the man with the bag. Under his shirt, the amulet began to glow. The half-elf didn't have a clear shot at that moment, but he soon would.

"They mean trouble, Rose." He hissed. "I don't know what's in that bag but it would be foolish to wait to find out." He turned back to look at her, his intentions clear on his face. "If you're unwilling to act, I wil."
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Sareth
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Sareth »

"No," Lillith hissed. She put her hand on Eli's shoulder, hoping it wasn't too late already. "Put your sword away until we need it! Are you er... are you mad?"

****

Jamie nodded as Rip and Shorty walked up. "Got any silver?" she asked with a grin that no one should trust. "Hey! Crudoil! Wake up!"
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