Stone Man Pass

[Drannin]

Argus really wasn't a healer. Inorganic manipulation was his forte, although wood was apparently on his list of things that he could re-shape and alter. So perhaps 'inorganic' and 'unliving' matter were misnomers. Still, being a battlemage meant that one picked up a few important skills, such as patching yourself up after a fight. ew wasn't much of a healer, but he could at least offer a bit of help to a friend. And be surreptitious about it.

Argus reached out his hand, but carefully kept his fingers about a quarter of an inch away from Rose's body. With a deep breath, he sent the healing energies flowing into Rose's body while consciously suppressing the pale glow that usually accompanied such magic. The result, to the the world at large, was a well-dressed man offered aid to a wounded nun while nun, while politely not gabbing hold of her. It seemed to mollify the crowd, but the glances they gave each other told Argus that he was still being a little too personal for their tastes. Well, too bad.

Suppressing the visual effect gave him a headache, and his healing was definitely rusty, but it seemed to have an effect on Rose. <"Sorry. Battlemage first-aid isn't quite the same as what an actual medic could do. I hope it helps, but you might want to see a real healer as soon as possible."> Out loud: "Are you all right Sister? Do you need to see a healer?" A few people in the crowd added their own concerns. Worried, Argus kept a close eye on Rose, ready to catch her if she lost her balance.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Anybody know how to embed Cyrillic or Greek characters in one of these posts? That would better represent what's going on in Rose's head right now, but lacking that:]

<"So..y. Batt...age fi..t-ai. isn't quite the s..e as what an a...al med.c could do. I h..e it helps, but you m...t want to see a real he...r as soon as po....le.">

Sister Rose blinked at the garbled mind-speech. Clearly some things still weren't 100% functional in her concussed brain. With time and rest, they'd get back to normal. I hope. For now, this was an indication that she'd probably better take it easy for a while.

"Thanks," she smiled. "My shoulder does feel better now. I'll take care of the rest myself, a little later. Luminosita's Blessings be on you, my son." That last was playing to the crowd, of course, but the forms must be observed ... and besides, she enjoyed the look on Argus' face.

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin was torn between his impatience at the delay and his very real concern for Rose's well-being.

"If nothing else, Sister, we can certainly see you safely back to your accommodations so that you can rest and recuperate," Maduin said politely, holding open the door of the carriage.

And I can also see just how badly you really got hurt, he thought privately, eyeing the way she was varefully holding her shoulder and the bruise purpling on her temple. That would need tending to. It was a good thing Dr. Wythe had taught him how to heal living tissue as well as manipulate it.

This really was not an opportune time for the good Sister to be wandering about the streets getting run over by carriages, regardless of whether it was the one they were riding in or not. He held back a grimace. Sometimes people could be so damn inconsiderate. It was all he could do not to grab one wrist and haul her inside. Not only were they in a hurry, but who knew what might run her over next if they let her wander by herself in such a state?

[Graybeard]

"Thank you," Sister Rose answered. "I'll take you up on that offer. Let me just do one thing first." She summoned the energy for a healing spell of her own, which she used to address some of the messier cuts and scrapes that she'd incurred. There were several reasons for doing that: she didn't want to be bleeding all over the interior of the cab, it could be useful for the passersby to see that she had magical healing skills, and not least, she didn't want Lillith and Kim to freak out when she got back to the Stone Man Inn. It wouldn't do for her injuries to look worse than they were, would it? Injuries or no, she still felt a need to be a calming presence for the two younger women.

Three or four minutes later, a mildly fatigued, but considerably less beat-up (or at least beat-up looking), Rose was ready to board the carriage. First, she turned back to Maduin. "Luminosita's Blessings be on you," she intoned again; although the crowd had largely dispersed as soon as they saw that she was going to be all right, appearances had to be maintained here. She started to step gingerly up onto the running board ...

... And that was when there was a loud BOOOMMM from the general direction of the Stone Man Inn.

-----------

Brad, Lillith and Kim heard it too, to put it mildly. Kim's room faced away from the source of the blast, whatever it was, and although the walls trembled perceptibly, the room (not to mention its occupant) was spared any direct damage from whatever had caused the percussion. She whimpered and pulled the covers over her head, but stayed where she was. Not so the downstairs sitting area, where an earnest Brad and a mildly uncomfortable Lillith were still sitting. A glass window yielded under the overpressure that the detonation had created, coming in from outside, and glass fragments flew into the room.

One thing about Brad: his reflexes, if not his body control, were excellent. He didn't even think before shifting incredibly rapidly to shield Lillith with his body, just as he'd promised Rose he would if danger threatened. He beat the glass splinters to her, but they still arrived ... and now Rose's wasn't the only Nuria blood that was issuing forth from cuts and lacerations that needed healing.

Somewhere in the inn, a woman screamed, as Brad started to pick glass shards out of his body -- after first making sure that Lillith didn't have any of her own, of course.

[Drannin]

"Oh, weave," sighed Argus. "NOW what?"

[Porcelain Fish]

"Now," Maduin said through tight lips "We get back to the inn and make sure no one is dead." With no more time left to waste, he shoved Rose and Argus inside the carriage, disregarding propriety as he shouted at the driver to make speed back to the inn.

[Graybeard]

"You silly, silly man," Lillith scolded Brad. "You didn't need to do that ... but thank you anyway. Here, let me help you." She bent to extract glass slivers from parts of Brad's anatomy that he couldn't reach, not seeing (or pretending not to see) the rapturous look on his face.

Meanwhile, the coach was careening to a stop in front of the inn. Sister Rose was relieved to see that the building was still standing; at least whatever happened hadn't blown the place up, and with it, Lillith, Brad and Kim. As she dismounted, her aches and pains forgotten for the moment, a distraught-looking maid was standing in the entry way.

"The big bang -- it be comin' from back there," the maid said, pointing with a trembling finger into the formal gardens and forgetting the manners that she'd been taught. "And it be so terrible..."

[OOC: Note that there's a "Background Noise" entry that tells what happened, from the standpoint of the unfortunate character at the center of the big bang. It is EXTREMELY spoilerific...]

[Porcelain Fish]

"Tragic," Maduin muttered. "Truly terrible, condolences to all pertinent parties." He shot a significant glance at Argus. "We had best hurry before anyone else gets hurt."

[Graybeard]

"That must have been quite a blast," Sister Rose said to the maid, her aches and pains still reduced to background noise. A few of the windows on the north side of the inn had been blown in, and voices could be heard behind the one at the kitchen, cursing at the top of their lungs. There didn't appear to be any other structural damage to the building itself, at first glance (maybe Argus could take a look at that), but a few pieces of scorched wood lay between the building and the gardens, as though propelled there by the explosion. Yes, it had been quite a blast all right. "Was anybody hurt?"

The maid fidgeted nervously. "I don't be knowin', ma'am," she said. "I be too skeered to be goin' to find out. So be the other help. We be simple folk, not wantin' to be messin' around with magic-like things."

That caught Rose's attention. "Magic-like things? How can you be sure it was magic, not -- natural?"

The maid's posture got slightly more stubborn. "I just be knowin', ma'am. I can be feelin' it, the magic, it all be unnatural-like." (Another one with undeveloped magic skills, Rose thought sadly. Just like that farmer back at the fire in the woods, she can sense it, but she's been browbeaten into not even thinking about the doors that the skill might open. We should really do something about that.) She looked up at Rose, an entreaty on her face. "You be havin' the favor of Our Lord Luminosita and all, might you be willin' to go be seein' what happen?"

Rose sighed, trying to conceal it from Argus and failing. "I suppose, but first there are some people we need to check on." I thought I was done being the investigator when ... Oh, damn, I'm about to start crying again.

[Drusia]

I see Lillith and Brad, alive if mildly lacerated. Good enough then. If that blast was intended for them, then either the bomber was incompetent or something interfered. Neither is likely, but the possibility exists. More likely, the blast was intended for someone else - and considering the smell, it seems to have succeeded. I wonder who it was.

I wonder if I have time to look around before Maudin and Argus leave. Rose wanted me with them, after all. Although I am sorely tempted to stay and body-guard Lillith, I doubt she'd appreciate my efforts. Hmm... well, a quick look around wouldn't hurt. I can always follow if they leave without me.

-- Drusia

OOC: Please feel free to let me know if I find anything while having my look around. ^^