Getsemiel, part 2

[Graybeard]

Oh, dear, thought Sister Rose. If she'd understood Eli correctly, he'd come to the conclusion that this uncle that he'd gone to visit had somehow been involved in the kidnapping of Desiree. That ... couldn't end well.

She looked quickly for a second door to the warehouse leading outside, found one; it probably wouldn't look right, even in the rough-and-tumble warehouse district, to be seen again by the same people that had seen the group arrive, magically bust down the door, and loose thunderously destructive magic inside. Some degree of misdirection seemed like a good idea. Better, it looked like the couple that Argus had met earlier were approaching the warehouse on the path to that second door, hopefully with useful information. Good; maybe they could get back to doing what they were here for.

First, there was one question to be resolved. She turned to the beefy man who was enveloping a still-pale Desiree in a long coat; it wouldn't really fit her, but would do until more appropriate clothing could be found. "Thank you for your help in rescuing our friend," she told Udo. "... but who are you?"

[OOC: So does that get everybody relevant introduced, or have I forgotten someone?]

[Alberich]

Yep, figure one of the Veracians to go around asking personal questions like that. He looked at Rose no more than he had to as he answered. "Anytime!" - oh yes! - "Udo Fujomori..." highwayman veteran heliomancer escort guardian protector spy assassin "...adventurer."

[Jack Rothwell]

"A friend of mine." Tamina said quietly, still staring at Eli and wringing her hands. "Helped Jaime and me on the road. Shot bad bandit men with guns."

[Drannin]

Argus sighed. "In any case, let's get out of here before people come asking questions." Without another word, he moved to the back door, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure the others were coming. Argus stepped outside...

"Argie! There you are!"

Right into the line of vision of Eishun and Waiju. Lovely.

[Graybeard]

This conversation wasn't going exactly the way Sister Rose had hoped it might.

Another stray to pick up? she thought. And one that shot people with guns, despite looking very Tsuirakuan? Also, what's got into this kobold? She's not hard to read, and something's making her nervous here -- even though those three dead bodies, and what they were about to do to Desiree, barely fazed her at all. I'm not sure I like this.

For the moment, she turned to Udo, doing her best to keep both her face and her voice as neutral as possible. That kind of thing didn't come naturally to Rose; she was an expressive, emotional person by nature. However, it was one of those things you had to learn as a military officer. "Sister Rose of the Veracian Church," she introduced herself. "We're in town looking for a man of our church who -- is suspected of involvement in some rather non-churchly activities." That's true enough, and if he wants to conclude that Blaise was involved some smuggling or something else that would be a reason to be in this sleazy part of town, let him -- he might even be right. "Our office in charge of investigating priestly misconduct --" among other things -- "would like to have a word with him, but he's hard to track down."

She was starting to say more, but the couple that Argus knew was coming into the warehouse; it looked like they might have something.

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina's brow furrowed at Rose's words, distracting her from the pyromaniac, at least for the time being. he didn't seem much of a danger at that moment anyway. He busily taking off his coat to wrap around the woman they'd saved.

'Was there something?'

Focusing on something other than the here-and-now wasn't behavior that was usually needed in Kobolds, but it wasn't beyond her grasp. She thought of the picture of Jun Oshima, that she'd been shown, she thought of the Priest collapsing and dying at the bar and the people who'd been present at the time. Now a kidnapping and a mention of someone called 'Blaise'? Was it all connected? Was there any way to check?

'Is there any way to show her what you've seen?'

There was. Her magic was entirely contact based, but that didn't mean it could only affect the physical world. She'd had some lessons in sending images with her tutor, but it wasn't a skill she often practiced.

'Still, what harm could it do?'

Tamina turned and opened her mouth to speak just as the new arrivals appeared.

'Oh well, maybe later...'


OOC Someone let me know if that violates any 'magic rules' in Errant story and I'll retcon./OOC

[Graybeard]

OOC:

OOC Someone let me know if that violates any 'magic rules' in Errant story and I'll retcon./OOC

I think you're fine. Certainly telepathy is an entirely normal kind of magic in the Poe-verse; in Errant Story itself, Sarine, Sarna, Sara, Warrel and even Jon used it. In Errant Road, Drusia is fluently telepathic, and Rose and Argus have reached the point where they communicate as well with each other telepathically as verbally. Even Lillith has done it.

The question of whether imagery can be communicated telepathically is interesting. It would seem an entirely normal way for Tamina to use telepathy, kobolds being what they are, but it is less certain that a human recipient would understand the message, or at least all of it in detail. She can try it and find out, though. I think I know how Rose would react, at the bare minimum.

[Drannin]

"Oh, hello you two," Argus said awkwardly. The couple came up to him and stopped short, glancing into the warehouse. Eishun raised an eyebrow.

"Found some trouble, did you?"

"I seem to have developed a knack for it, yes."

"...Somehow, that skill seems so you." Eishun's voice was amused. Argus just sighed. The man wasn't wrong, really.

[Drusia]

Rose hands me some water and Argus finishes untying me. I drink some water to wash the bad taste out of my mouth.

Wasn't there anything he could do for her? His outer robe, if she wanted it. He stepped closer and spoke what he thought was reassuringly. "Um, 'evening, miss, would you like something to cover yourself?" Say no! Say no! Saynosaynosaynosayno...

I open my mouth to say yes, I would, but... there's something about the way he's looking at me. Ugh, I'm too tired for this. "No, thank you," I murmur. I move towards the door, away from the bodies.

He made his way on unsteady legs to Desiree and dropped to her side. He was unable to keep the tremble out of his voice.
"I thought I'd lost you." He said huskily. "When I thought about what might have happened to you I..." He cringed, but the anger was rising again. "Dead slavers... bad men dead. They won't be hurting anyone again."

"I can... see that," I reply softly. Eli reaches out to touch me - I flinch away.

"I... I just don't... sorry," I say softly. I take a step away from him, moving towards Rose. Except Rose is near the bodies - so I end up stepping away from her too. And there's that man leering at me, and a little cat woman, and -

"Please... can we... not be here?" I manage, trying not to burst into tears. Or pass out. Or run away screaming.

-- Desiree

OOC: Edited.

[Graybeard]

[OOC:

* OOC: I assume kobolds are small lizard people (as they are in D&D) - can't remember them appearing otherwise in the Poe-verse. If I am mistaken, I will edit as necessary.

More like catgirls. The original concept appeared here, and the name "kobold" came to be applied to the "cat people" mentioned toward the bottom of that entry (which, note, has a sort of tacit approval, or at least tacit non-disapproval, of Poe for game purposes). Tamina is a cat-person/kobold. /OOC:]

Sister Rose cringed at the look of sheer misery on Desiree's face. If I'd known she was going to be this much of a chew toy for unsavory characters, I'd never have given Drusia my agreement to take her along ... but what's done is done. "Here," she said, reaching into her travel bag for a spare robe; Rose traveled light, but a change of clothes was always good to have. It wouldn't fit perfectly, Desiree being a bit taller than she was, but it would do just fine for the moment ... although the irony of having a priestess of Anilis wearing an outfit of the Veracian Church was considerable.

"I'm with you. Let's get out of here," she said as she handed Desiree the robe. Seconds later, they were standing outside the warehouse, and Rose noted with relief that there were no external signs of what had happened inside there. Given the ferocity of Eli's magic, that wasn't a foregone conclusion. Just what had got into the man? Rose wondered. It hadn't been lost on her that Desiree was giving her fellow Snamishite a wider berth than earlier. That would need investigation, but first things first.

She went to stand with Argus, who was looking pained as he talked to his two friends. "What did you learn?" she asked the pair; it was time to get back to what they were here for.