Goriel and beyond, part 3

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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

No doubt you trust her, thought Tim. But then, you trust Rose, too, don't you? His whole life he'd been taught that elves thought of humans as their natural slaves. And here was his first elf - behaving exactly the way he'd always been taught. It was in her eyes as in her actions - of course the little human worm must obey immediately, and he belonged at her feet, and his mind was hers to ravage as she willed. So, Brad-the-Reformist said he had it coming and she was trustworthy? So much the worse for him. He had no friends here.

Veracians had a proverb - one of its forms was this: "Through my ears I hear your lies / Truth comes to me through my eyes." Parents recited it when a little boy swore he hadn't eaten the cookies, but the crumbs on his shirt told a different tale. He'd seen what the elf was like. Seen it and felt it. Rose's ordering on the elf's orders, the elf's bullying and ravishment, Argus' slapping - these hadn't made him trust her or betray Eli. Neither would Brad's words, or any mere words, from anyone here. The fear on Eli's face had been real - real and justified. He'd seen it.

And if it were a matter of debate - You know it's the Patriarch's policy to work with the elves when he deems it appropriate. This is one of those times. - was not an accurate portrayal of - "Way back in the past some time, the Patriarch gave us permission to work with this elf." Not that he really believed that, either. But he wasn't going to debate the point. It'd been stupid even to tell them his concern. He wasn't going to debate anything with Brad, or this group. Especially now the point was moot. The elf was gone. He couldn't betray Eli to her if he wanted to. And Rose had been emphatic that she had no interest in Eli, until after Blaise was caught.

"She's gone, anyway," he said, looking down. "I saw what I saw and won't betray anyone to her." Then he looked up again, at Argus. "Do you want my report from what we saw tonight? Or to tell your host what's happened to his young men?" He didn't speak as if these were the only options, or as if he were in control of anything - but to let them move to their other business if they wished.
Last edited by Alberich on July 1st, 2012, 6:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Graybeard
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Graybeard »

OOC:
Alberich wrote:"Do you want my report from what we saw tonight? Or to tell your host what's happened to his young men?" He didn't speak as if these were the only options, or as if he were in control of anything - but to let them move to their other business if they wished.
I'd suggest not waiting for Argus to answer, but assume the answer is yes, give the report. Go wild. :mrgreen:
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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

Tim began by giving the best account he could of what Eli heard at Clan Gibazov, the conversation between "Yuri Misyevich" (who had just returned from business) and "Kiril Vanyevich." (It would be easy for the group to discover later that Kiril Vanyevich was the clan's sub-chief, the brother of their chief, Semyon Vanyevich.) In particular Yuri's information that "Monsieur Laballe" was being very evasive about extending credit, and Kiril's concern about getting "stones."

The most puzzling phrase was "How were we to know the Second Step would so soon be in reach?" But if they discussed it later with Kirassia or any other experienced Gorielian, they'd learn that "step" was being used in the sense of "stair-step" - and that "second step" was a way of referring to the position of Second Clan, which stood on the "second step" below the Prime Clan. And there were proverbs about men standing on the highest steps having farthest to fall.

Tim then turned to what he'd seen at the Zukalin compound, a scene like the one Eli had seen briefly before (but Tim did not know that). A group of ten men - at least ten - had been hiding in the dark nearby, with a leader who kept them cheered up by whispering scurrilous jokes about Clan Zukalin. Tim had heard distant sounds - roisterous, celebratory sounds - from inside the compound. Finally, two persons had emerged from the compound, and the group of ten had pounced. Tim thought it wasn't on a signal from the leader, but a couple of impetuous fellows on the far left end, and the rest of the group had followed up. They seemed to be trying to take the two alive. But their cries for help drew help from inside the compound, and several more warriors rushed out.

And then there was a light - a magical light, obviously - that revealed the contours of the fight - and Tim was able to see the face of the leader of the relief party. Unusual for this place in that he wore no beard, but had shaved his moustache into huge, sweeping, barbaric curves. He was wielding a sabre and seemed extremely good with it, and the Zukalin rescuers fought like madmen. The bottom line was that all the would-be abductors were killed or captured. At least one tried to flee, but he was struck down by something Tim couldn't see - he hadn't seen any bows, though, which made him think it might be magic. At one point, a couple of young boys had actually run up from their hiding place with knives to try to stab a Zukalin in the back. They'd been killed almost instantly. (Though one of them had gotten a blow in, if that mattered.)

At least someone had been taken alive, which Tim knew because the Zukalin had been laughing over dreadful deaths they might put their captive to. (One involved staking a man to the ground with his face beneath a donkey's bottom, and feeding the donkey well 'til he suffocated in its dung.)

This compound wasn't in an uproar, which made Tim think Lord Yurkashev might not know what had happened to the flower of his clan's manhood.

He assumed Brad had already told them about their encounter with the astrologer, and the business in the sky that would go on for another week or two.
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Drusia
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Drusia »

"There," I say, nodding to the building across the street. My companion and I stand atop the building across the street. Although it looks calm enough, I can feel magic practically pulsing from one of the upper rooms. Eli seems to be having himself a little magical party. Since the place isn't on fire, I guess this must be the summoning that Rose mentioned. Summoning what, I wonder.

"Can you get both of us inside?" my companion asks me.

I nod. "This far, two at once, I'll be winded for a second. You'll have to take care of whatever he summoned." We both draw our Duris blades. Her's is bigger.

"I have just the thing," she replies. Her hand begins to glow -

"Go," she says softly.

- and I bend reality around us. It's harder with two of us, and I've gated a lot more tonight that I usually like to, but I pulled manuvers like this often enough during the war. There's a snap, and we're standing in an inn room.

Eli is there. He looks surprised - and afraid. Good. But there are a lot of other things - thing that begin disolving as my companion unleashes a blast of white light. Some sort of magic dispelling? It doesn't matter - the important thing is that, now, there is only one target. I leap forward, my blade singing as it extends to full length.

I strike for Eli's neck. I will get one chance at this.

I land the blow. A bloody gash appears where his shoulder meets his neck, and I hear the sound of metal shattering as I cut the chain of his necklace - and about an inch of flesh, and probably a small piece of his collar bone - nothing a healing spell and some bedrest won't fix. Eli grunts, raising his hand, fire already at his palm. I leap back and my companion steps up, casting a magical shield between us. Eli's flames bounce harmlessly off of it.

"Left," my companion says sharply. I turn and slice a - thing - in half. So her spell didn't get all of them. Damn.

I turn back to Eli, wary for more shapes in the small room, and see his pendant hit the floor.

"Eli!" I shout, "The necklace is gone! If you're still in there, stand down. I don't believe you're an Errant, but if you fight, you won't leave me any choice."

-- Drusia
Last edited by Drusia on July 1st, 2012, 10:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

[OOC: I don't know who's deciding what inside, obviously, but I suspect that whichever way it goes Tim won't be in the room with Rose when Drusia comes back to talk - might be better for "advancing the plot" versus "more social awkwardness" & also makes sense.]
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC edit- I've asked drusia if she wouldn't mind retconning so she finds the inn. I really want that scene to go ahead, i've been working on it on and off for months and i don't want eli all dressed with nowhere to go in the same situation twice in the same thread. I was stalling him leaving for that purpose./OOC

Udo, taking Tamina's advice - and not wanting the creature to be able to concentrate on her - grabbed up a couple of its mangled flechettes. Yelling his fool head off, he ran to one of its sides and hurled them both. They bounced off. They were nasty little weapons for sure, but he didn't have the A-game high heat to get them through its scaly hide.

Tamina watched 'Oooh-doh's' attempt with a wince and a mewl. The sharp things were sharp alright, but they still needed more force to make an impact. It was a shame that the highwayman had dropped his gun; it dawned on the kobold that if the barrel had been big enough, they could have simply loaded projectiles into it and fired them instead.

Oh well... no other options...

The kobold scrambled to her feet and seized one of the spikes, gripped its hard shaft in both hands (OOC get your mind out of the gutter/OOC), channeled and charged into it's side with as much force as her remaining mana would allow. The impact sent her flying backwards a second time (although not as badly hurt thanks to the spell absorbing some of the collision), but as the kobold landed she was dimly aware that the spike was gone, and embedded neatly and deeply into the freakish monster's ribcage. It roared in pain.

"Yay!" She called. "TOLD you you're not so tough! Ahh!"

As Tamina rolled away from another salvo in a shower of dust, she dimly reflected on the wise proverb that 'taunting was a practice best done to the dead'.
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on July 1st, 2012, 2:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

The monster was definitely hurt by that - but by no means killed. It was angry too - and it took twice as much silly taunting (and hurling of ineffectual missiles) by Udo to get its (not very focused) attention away from the wounded kobold. More shots would be needed to end its stupid, stubborn addiciton to life.

Scary as the thought might be, it seemed it would be up to Jamie to save the day...
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Graybeard
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Graybeard »

Sister Rose listened with half her mind as Tim described what he'd seen, the other half being ... elsewhere.

I'm having a very hard time following all this, she thought. I'll stay with it, for the sake of keeping him diverted; he's at least settling down out of the state he's been in. But all of these interclan mini-wars ... they're not what we're here for. Blaise is. She suppressed a rueful chuckle. The hell of it is: there's probably a clue in there somewhere. It's just so deeply buried in the murk that I can't find it.

When Tim was finished, she nodded approval. "Thank you. This may help us find Blaise." Or it may not.

[OOC: Sorry, there just isn't much that Rose can do here until some other shoes drop.]
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Alberich
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

Post by Alberich »

"You're welcome," Tim said, in a quiet voice - yet he meant it. In truth he was quite tired and drained - the excitement was over and he'd seen and been through a lot tonight. "Will there be...anything else?" He didn't know if he was going to be ejected from this group, sent to bed, lectured, punished, or what - but if there was sleep at the end of it he was ready for it to happen.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 3

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"Will there be...anything else?"

Sister Rose caught the fatigue in Tim's eyes. He's had a long, hard day. Yes, some of it was self-inflicted -- I really wish he'd get over the near-paranoia about non-Orthodox things -- but most was not. And he does care about Eli, that's obvious ... as is the fact that there's a reason for concern.

"I think not," she said, as gently as she could manage. "You're entitled to some sleep. While you were out checking out the astrologer -- thanks for that 'interpretation,' by the way [OOC: As someone else said, I'm assuming that got discussed with Brad while Tim and Eli were out -- /OOC] -- we arranged the geteroi for the evening." The look in his eyes practically demanded clarification, and she was ready with one. "You've been assigned one named Valentina, who's supposed to be exceptionally expert at massage. Take advantage of that, Tim; it'll be relaxing, and she knows not to -- well, she knows that our ways are different than Goriel's, and that her 'services' won't extend beyond massage and conversation." She turned to her cousin and his spouse. "I think Veronika will be with you. Same thing, she'll expect her services to be more -- chaste than in some cases." A wink to Lillith. "Or not." The last part was soft and conspiratorial.

After Tim, Brad and Lillith had left the room, she started to summon Kirassia ... but held back. "If you don't mind, let's stay awake and properly dressed for a little while longer. I somehow have this feeling that we might not be done with Drusia for the evening yet..."
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