The Road to Salaband

[Alberich]

She reached the inn with no more incident than a few stares. Tom Odd wasn't in so she'd have to wait a while for his return. Cunning plan to delay showing her the goods, or genuine business elsewhere in town? Her imagination went to work.

[Jack Rothwell]

Jade stayed in the tavern for roughly thirty seconds, jiggling from one foot to another, before making a huffing noise, followed by a swift exit. She'd officially wasted enough time. If the goods were in Ester they would keep for a night, if they weren't, they wouldn't.

She was no tracker, but following a trio of men, one of them in shackles, down a country road? That she could do.

[Alberich]

The country was hilly, and the Lipther road uneven, but not so ridiculously constricted as the Lorrel Road. Udo and Aden ambled along jinglily while Angrist let the way and kept an eye out for bandits. For the time being all three were speechless, though Angrist was sure those two would limber up their tongues again before it was time to make camp.

Jade had no chains to carry and was still young and spry. She caught up as the sun sank behind her, just one rise behind the three. And as she gave 'em the old eyeball, she saw some action.

Aden had kept his body language easy and safe. But now he struck like a snake. Left-handed. Udo let out a whoof! and then he was on the ground with the chain twisted around him. Aden was on top and he had Udo's boot knife -- which Udo would've sworn he hadn't known about -- and was pressing it right above the ex-highwayman's carotid artery. A quick thrust or slash and Udo would be gushing blood.

"Drop the stick, tubby," Aden muttered seriously. Udo did. The man had the drop on him.

"Nothin' personal, but I'm not letting those hypocrites mob me to death." He kept his eyes on Udo but his ears were open to Angrist's movements. "You try something, Tubby here gets it. Just toss me the key nice and easy, and don't go punching through any brick walls."

"There's plenty you don't know about Sensei," said Udo loyally, dusty and flustered and slightly out of breath. He was a lot more durable than he appeared, and there were moves he could try if he had to fight, but trying them now wasn't worth a fatal throat slash. Better to let Sensei handle it.

Udo did not fully understand that Angrist normally wore weights and suppressors to prevent him from having access to his full range of powers. He also did not know that a suspicious female weaponsmith was watching the whole thing from the west, let alone whether she found the scene alarming or amusing or something in between.

[Jack Rothwell]

'Well, this is an interesting turn of events.'

Jade unholstered the revolver from her hip and sank into a crouch, peeking over the rise as the scene before her unfolded. Some friends of hers might look at the prisoner's escape attempt as an opportunity to snatch the pack. Jade, however, understood that caution was an important part of longevity, and so decided to let the situation play out. If the dishwasher died it would give her a better chance of getting her hands on the pack; if the prisoner escaped they'd have an emergency to deal with. Either way, her odds of success went up.

"Dance, puppets, dance..." She murmured.

[Browncoat]

As Angrist contemplated the situation, he realized there was something of a complication...he'd forgotten to get a key for the chain he'd attached to Udo and Aden. After a moment, Angrist pulled out his slate and started writing. When he was done, he held it up so Udo could read the message to Aden.

" A virtuous man once said 'Laws are justice writ large.' A wiser man said 'Laws are justice writ possible.' You have told us your story and now we will put it to the test. If they try to murder you again, we'll see you go free. For now, I suggest you have something to eat."

Angrist shrugged off the bags and settled down to meditate. Neither of the men had even the slightest idea why the monk had opted for this unexpected decision.

[OOC: Given his back-story, Angrist has some sympathy for Aden...if Aden is telling the truth.]

[Alberich]

Aden and Udo were twins in flabbergastery.

"Ummm...Sensei...you do have the key, don't you?" Udo was thinking back to the moment he'd been chained to the prisoner.

Angrist looked up unconcernedly and gave his head a single shake.

"So you mean - I'm chained to this guy 'til we get to a blacksmith?"

Angrist didn't even bother to nod.

"Actually...that's brilliant!" exlaimed Udo. "Hah! No matter what he does, he's stuck to me until we reach town. No blacksmiths for miles!" Udo was two kinds of wrong, but you couldn't blame him. Aden cut in.

"Unless I cut your foot off at the ankle," he said. "But this little knife isn't made for that. And I don't really want to." Now that he thought about it, he didn't remember the Patrolmen giving his captors any key. He looked speculatively over at Angrist. "This fellow's been telling me you're some kind of colossus in combat," he said, leaving out the "tubby" now that he was negotiating. "Are you really tough enough to keep that mob off of me?"

A convincing enough "yes" and he'd let Udo go.

Udo, for his part, was keeping still, but contemplating several moves. If this sonofabitch started anything with Sensei, he'd get some pain, but quick!

[Jack Rothwell]

Jade, for her part, watched the spectacle resolve itself with a quiet stream of unladylike curses. She re-holstered her firearm and shuffled backwards until her quarry was lost from sight.

"Fine." She muttered to herself; a bad habit she'd picked up that came whenever she was particularly stressed. "Wait until nightfall, swipe the bag, then hightail it back to Ester. No problem. Easy money."

She wished she sounded as confident as her words were.

[Browncoat]

Angrist unclasped one of his armbands and tossed it next to Aden. The fugitive picked it up with his free hand.
"What's this made of? It barely weighs a thing."
The monk tilted his head and gestured for Aden to put the armband on. Aden cautiously maneuvered the armband onto the arm with the knife. As soon as he fastened it, his forearm slammed to the ground from a weight Aden couldn't believe. Despite his strongest efforts, he couldn't shift his arm.

[OOC: Mechanics of the weights make it so the actual weight is magically induced and only kicks in when fully on. A side effect of this is that Angrist's magic resistance has bled over in response. (Mentioned briefly in character creation)]

[Alberich]

Aden struggled the weight off and tossed it back. "Right, then," he said. Playing hardnose with this stranger didn't look too smart, all-a-sudden. He got off of Udo and offered him his knife, hilt first. "No hard feelings, 'kay?"

Udo huffed himself into a sitting position. "Well, maybe a few," he said. He took the sheath from his boot, put the knife inside, and tossed it over to Angrist hilt-first. "Sensei, would you hold it for me 'til we're through with him?" There being no key, Udo knew he was stuck with this prisoner, and for once felt safer without a backup weapon.

Angrist was settling into his meditation, so Udo looked back at Aden. "Hard feelings or not, let's do what he said and have some grub." He hauled up the pack to share it out, but not in such a way that a distant watcher could see what all was in there.

[OOC: I'm happy to move forward to the night's encampment - but also for any scene that happens first. The travelers are a good day from the next town and only an hour or two from sunset. Udo's got the tent and camping gear, which he bought in Goriel. What's Angrist's plan for sleeping/watch arrangements?]

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC I'm ok for fast-forwarding. What do you say BC?/OOC