Port Lorrel- Prison Break

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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"It was so like... yeah, totally... you know?"

Eli and Myra had followed the young woman at a distance after she'd made her ungraceful exit. Internally, Eli's emotions were mixed, on the one hand he was pleased at the meat-shield's apparent lack of awareness of the trap they were heading into, it would make them look better when they rescued the brat, on the other hand, the brat herself was nearly intolerable to listen to.

"Whatever you say, Princess." Came the slurred reply of the long-haired pretty boy attached to the heiress.

"Yuh-huh. But Gretal was always such a drama queen, I mean, who goes behind people's backs bitching like that? So not cool, totally not my style."

Eli rolled his eyes and glanced sideways to see his expression mirrored on the woman who accompanied him. The half-elf felt an odd moment of unity with her despite himself.

"Are you sure we can't let the thugs rough her up a bit?" Myra whispered sidemouth.

"Unfortunately, no." Eli replied, a tic of amusement flicked across his face. "They're almost there. Be ready."

"Please." She sarcasmed.

The ambush went more or less according to plan. The small convoy neared the spot where a four man group was lying in wait just as Vanessa Mirrilum turned and grabbed the peacock's hand with an excited babble about something else completely devoid of interest, when a heavy-set man stepped from the shadows and clubbed the bodyguards with the dull thwacks of a hefty-sized club. Both men went down like sack of potatoes, the blood from the scalp of the more unfortunate of the two declared he wouldn't be getting back up.

The girl opened her mouth to sceam but the sound was cut off by a grimy hand from a second man clamping firmly over it. The remaining pair strode over to the startled looking young man, who gave a high-pitched squeal and bolted. The leader of the thugs drew a knife from his boot and pitched the weapon with unerring accuracy at the centre of his back. The panicked breaths as he ran turned abruptly into a 'whuff' followed by a rattling gurgle.

"Search him." The leader barked. "Now... as for you... let's see what you're hiding..."

The man stepped slowly over to the socialite with a leer and reaching hands. In the darkness of their own ambush site, Eli gave Myra a nod.

A hissing noise briefly tore the air and the man approaching his victim froze in place. He turned his head as if remembering something. The terrified Vanesse and the surprised man holding her beheld the wooden shaft sticking from the back of his skull before he collapsed.

"I'd let her go if I were you." Eli said, stepping from his hiding place. This too, was part of the plan. "This city and it's people are under the protection of the Black Guard. Scum like you are no longer welcome."

"A fucking half-elf!" One of the men spat, drawing a stunted mace which hung off his belt. "I hate fucking half-elves!"

"You shouldn't fuck with them, then." He replied evenly. (OOC No prizes for guessing that reference./OOC)

The two unencumbered men charged towards the bandit and the mage while the third, most likely deciding to hedge his bets, opted to hang onto his hostage. Eli drew his sword as the bandit out a bloodthirsty roar and darted forwards to meet her opponent. He blocked a wild swing from his own, then snapped his hand downwards with his free hand forked, a buzz and the thin white line of a lighting bolt descended from the air to strike the man on the top of his hand, he stiffened and fell. Myra, with buzzsaw quickness, knocked the other mugger's guard open and opened his stomach with a reverse of her blade. The man's screams were cut off abruptly as the bandit removed his head with a practised swing.

Eli held up his palm to the remaining men, who had a tight arm wrapped around the heiress' throat.

"Let her go."

"Don't come any closer! I'll break her neck!"

"As you wish." Eli dropped his hand with a brief glow of magic. Behind the last mugger, a black symbol etched into the ground with a flare of darkly-coloured light. Myra grinned.

"That's better." Said the mugger, backing towards the mark on the ground, unaware of it's existance. "Now, I'll take her purse and keep her with me until I'm safe. You stay here and I'll send her to back to you."

"Fair enough. One question though..." Eli raised his hand with another short pulse and kept it there as if he were in a classroom. A cold wind brushed the man's ankles. "...what if nowhere is safe for you to go?"

A low growling sound came from behind the mugger.

OOC Got a little more to add then I'm good to skip til morning./OOC
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Daddy!"

The drunk and crying young woman threw herself into her astonished father's embrace, nearly knocking the old man off his feet as he descended the stairs of his manor. Eli and Myra stood by, the half-elf striving to appear patient while the woman tutted and impatiently tapped her foot. John Mirrilum recovered himself but was forced to face his visitors with his daughter's arm clinging around his neck.

"Vanessa! What on earth is going on here?"

"M-men.. they k-killed J-Jason..."

"Sir." Eli said, stepping forward in a practised gesture that Gabriel had taught him. "My name is Eli Haverum, I'm a Captain in Logan's Black Guard. We came across your daughter being set upon by muggers and put a stop to them. I'm afraid to tell you that one of your men was killed in the thug's attack. We took it upon ourselves to escort her home."

The noble remained steady at the news, Eli felt a touch of respect for the man. It was almost a shame that he was going to use the needle on him as soon as inhumanly possible. He unconsciously touched the weapon hanging under his coat.

"You have my gratitude." He said, in a more or less steady voice. He managed to extricate himself from his child to give a gesture and a murmured word to one of the servants standing in the background. The crying girl was quietly escorted upstairs as their talk continued.

OOC Hit a creator's block. You ok to skip to morning? I can add relevant details retrospectively./OOC
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Eli was travelling to the waterfront the following morning.

The rest of the meeting had gone smoothly despite the half-elf's reservations about working with the banditwoman. Myra had, at least, managed to keep her lewd mouth shut as Eli had manoeuvred the noble towards the prospect of a beneficial investment. After the brief discussion of a reward for saving his daughter, the old man had offered his sincere thanks and a promise to meet with Logan around midday tomorrow. That meeting, of course, would end with Mirrilum placing his fortune at Logan's 'advisement' and a public endorsement for the work his organisation was doing. Word about the 'Heroic Black Guard' would get around the Port quickly enough, people were talking about the rennovation of Brambrook already.

But the past was the past and the important thing was to keep pushing forward, Gabriel was due to arrive at the Southern Continent within the hour (OOC This thread's a day behind the other./OOC) and Eli intended to have put down a notorious slaver by the time the Captain returned. With luck, he'd be back in time to take Tim to meet Aleron that night, he'd trusted the Priest to use his own initiative with the resources now available to him. Between the men issued to his command and the wealth allocated to the Priest, the half-elf suspected he'd be able to make significant progress.

Myra's curses snapped him out of his reverie as she walked unsteadily towards him with a smoking ciggarette in her hand. The bandit looked a little worse for wear that morning, Eli guessed she'd spent the advance for the escort job already. Indeed, the woman held out a hand with a 'gimme' gesture as she stepped into the shadow of the latest vessel acquired by Logan Exports. He tutted, and dropped a purse in her hand.

"You look like shit." He said, by way of greeting.

"Fuck yourself." She replied, although with less venom than he was accustomed to hearing from the savage.

"You up for killing some slavers?"

"Is there rum on board?"

"Yes."

"Alright, but these soldier boys that old merchant hired better be worth a damn. I can't carry your pointy-arse all by myself."

"Whatever you say buttercup."

"Let's just get this over with. I'm missing my bed."

OOC Carlson and co are at your disposal Al, you can assume Tim has access to funds from Logan's company. He'll have been given the address and the name of someone to talk to access it, or whatever method of acquiring it makes sense to you./OOC
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: The following is included as a hook for Alberich to hang a certain someone on. This guy has been mentioned previously in Errant Road, a loooong time ago, but has never appeared. He is an NPC, for use by whoever/however, but I do have a general outline for him; please check with me before proceeding, or ask me to play him if anyone does rise to the bait.]

As Eli was traveling, a tall man of a rather improbable appearance was frowning at the noise of someone pounding on his door downstairs.

He was well over six feet tall, and the top hat that he wore as though part of his skull made him seem even taller. Gold-rimmed glasses perched atop a large nose that dominated a face also notable for its dark, nearly black skin. He wasn't smiling at the moment, but when he did, a gold-capped incisor completed the picture.

"Hmmm," he sniffed in a deep bass voice to his familiar, a small, almost fastidious-looking monkey. "Too early in the morning for regular business. Please go see who that is, Zero."

"Aye, aye, Doctor Rabbitfoot," the monkey answered and descended the stairwell, brachiating most of the way, as the towering lifemage returned to his studies.

[OOC: Over to you, A, and feel free to ignore him if he doesn't fit your plans.]
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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Alberich »

Jargalan suppressed a smirk at the monkey. Human wizards' familiars amused him - like a sheep owning a cat and imagining it was a shepherd. He'd put on a shaggy blonde wig that concealed his ears physically and then cloaked himself in illusion. The form on the surface was lean and handsome, not far from what he looked like underneath, but the face was different, the hair neater, and the travelling clothes in better condition. He was armed with a single dagger.

"Good morning," he said nonchalantly. "Rothwell. Ross Rothwell, fortune teller! And I have such fortunes to tell as I think your master's friends will want to hear. A rare opportunity in these changing times!"

"We don't want none" said the monkey.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of charging, just to talk," said "Ross." "But" - and here he drew a folding fan from inside his tunic - "there are matters" - he unfolded it to show a wizard's rune for "destiny" - "of great moment that I'm sure his friends," - he turned it over and unfolded again, to show a picture of a mailed fist - "would want to be made aware of" - he turned it over and unfolded it again, but now it was a pattern of black and gold. He tucked it away.

"Well, hang on then," said Zero, reporting back to his master that there was some dipshit wizard outside who could do illusions, and was hinting he wanted to talk about the Eisenfaust. Rabbitfoot thought it best to have the man shown up - at the very least, the Eisenfaust would want to know about a new wizard in the area, and what he was trying to accomplish.

Ross began with a spiel about cards and destinies, and a rising star that could be made to fall. Rabbitfoot responded with a polite, talk-sucking silence that made it clear these gambits were wasting his time. So he switched tacks.

"Well enough," he said, "But I know something about these Logan's Black Guards. They're in a drive to control the territory. They're making themselves very popular just now, and they've got a lot of money and muscle, and it looks as if their stars are rising. But I happen to know who their real leaders are, and a major threat to them that's going to be available soon. Anyone wants to see them fall before they rise much higher would do well to pay attention to what I know.

"Now I couldn't find this Elkie I've heard about, and of course you don't have anything to do with the Eisenfaust. But maybe you know someone who does, someone I could talk with."
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

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Eli stood at the prow of the departing vessel, sparing a thought for his comrade who at that moment was arriving at the virtual hole in the ground the Southern Continent natives called Grendell. He touched the amulet around his neck as a rough, throat clearing noise came from behind him, followed by the sound of someone spitting over the railing.

"All better?" Eli said mildly, not turning.

"Much." Myra replied, clutching her stomach with one hand and retrieving a mug she'd jammed into the rigging when the retching had begun. "How long til we intercept this guy?"

"Two hours if the info is accurate, it might take a little longer though, what with the sea being choppy and everything."

"I noticed." The bandit replied tonelessly. "What are you fingering?"

Eli blinked.

"That chain around your neck, you're into jewellery? That might explain a few things..."

"This is-"

"...the penchant for tasteful clothes..."

"It's not a-"

"...and Gabriel mentioned you used to have long hair..."

"Would you just-"

"...tall and lean, having trouble coming to terms with a certain issue perhaps..."

"It's a communications device!" Eli snapped, as much to shut Myra up as anything else. "And I'm about to use it, kindly fuck off and allow me to do so."

Myra tipped a sarcastic salute, advised the half-elf to get laid and disappeared below deck, several of the Black Guard who were on deck turned from their watch to mark her unsteady progress. Eli muttered to himself and knuckled his temple, as if he could crush the headache he was suddenly getting.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Graybeard »

The tall lifemage listened intently to Jargalan, and sat in silence for a while after he finished. "Elke," he said, adjusting the pronunciation. "Elke. A rather -- uncommon name. And a name that is used by powerful people who don't like to be disturbed. But tell me: suppose that someone knew a person by that uncommon, powerful, sinister name. And suppose that a sufficient inducement was presented to cause a contact with this mysterious and dangerous 'Elke' to be brought about. Now how might one go about presenting the credentials of the person desiring this contact? And where would such a person be found once this purely hypothetical contact was arranged?"

An observer might have noticed that the air was growing thick and greasy with magic as Dr. Rabbitfoot waited for a reply.
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Alberich
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Alberich »

Detection, eh? Good! The tall black man in the tall black hat wouldn't see he was an elf -- not with this wig on under the illusion -- but would see that he was a mage for real, at the very least. And if he was detecting lies? Well, that was fine. This would help him cut through the bullshit, so that his cryptic talk would carry some weight. Ross spoke.

"I do so agree! That people like that don't like to be disturbed. And competition is so disturbing, don't you think? Especially the kind of competition that is itself annoyed by competition! And I think these Black Guards are just that kind, and what with having such powerful wizards on top, they'd be far from fun to compete with.

"Sooo, here's the deal about contracts. The information I have? That's free to the right people. If they want my little help" -- the "little" was a lie; he had a high opinion of his own power -- "it can be had for the price of a mage's staff, any model." In fact, he'd get involved in any case, but if these animals could get him a little "enhancer" to improve the odds a bit, he wouldn't dream of saying no.

"Where? Well, here's my thought. Why don't I stop by your shop around noon? And if you've thought of any good hypothetical places to meet these hypothetical individuals, why, then, I'll go there. And if not? Well, it's no hard feelings.

"But hear now" -- for if he was being lie-detected, he needed to make some perfectly true factual assertions -- "this information I have has a short fuse. I mean, this danger to the Black Guards...it may be turning up very shortly." This was guesswork on his part, but his reading of Drusia was that she'd be hopping mad after Gabriel and his friends turned up with a contract on her, and waste little time in following his trail back here, without bothering to warn anyone or gather any help at all. After slaughtering poor Gabriel's sheep and leaving his guts out for the seagulls. "Anyone who wants to take advantage -- and maybe hire help for the project? -- is going to need to know very soon."

He'd answer any other questions frankly and leave in peace. Any monkeys (or other magical beings) that tried to follow him would be detected and gently but firmly bound in a way that proved he was a mage to be reckoned with. After seeing the summoned Galdy in the fight with Eli and Aleron, he'd checked for such things around here, but the only magical creature he'd seen had been the lifemage's monkey familiar.

Part of him thought a one-eyed snake or a three-legged dog would've been a better fit for this establishment...ah, but then, he himself might fill either of those roles if need be.

* * *

Brother Tim, meanwhile, was back among the Ralkin minions. He had strict instructions from the Temple not to go out giving any Black Guard charity himself, or publicly associating himself with their community outreach - his role was to be strictly ambassadorial and was going to stay that way until and unless Emerylon said otherwise.

The Ralkin certainly did have the means to corrupt him, if they had time or he proved weak, but it was not going to be through money, nor Myra's flavor of lewdness, either.

So he spent time getting acquainted with the men off duty - learning something more of their recent activities, and praying for Eli's success against the slavers.
Last edited by Alberich on December 31st, 2012, 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Is that them?"

Eli stared at the ship in the middle-distance and mentally compared it to the description the lowlives had given up to the guard. It matched. He raised a hand to the helmsman and pointed for him to bank towards it. Myra crossed her arms and stared at the approaching vessel, seeing some dozen men running around the deck, most of them watching back warily, reaching for weapons as The Pride (Logan's personal choice for the name of the ship, Eli had conceeded, thinking the name appropriate) drew up alongside them. The Ralkin Captain reached into his pocket and drew out a white handkerchief, which he waved to the staring slavers.

"Good day seafarers!" He called in a pleasant tone, getting a cautious 'good day' in return. What followed was a brief but uninteresting exchange (OOC Read: JR couldn't think of anything interesting to write here/OOC) that finished with the ships drawing to a halt and one of the increasingly uneasy-looking slavers going below decks to find his captain.

Allan Darmain strode stiffly onto the deck with an aggrivated expression painted across his face, pulling a pistol from his belt even as he walked to the railings of the starboard side to converse with Eli. As Myra had bluntly summarised he did indeed have the appearance of an old bastard. He was lean but fit, with severe lines in his face which resembled something carved into stone. The banditwoman herself nodded once at the half-elf as the man approached to confirm his suspicions then disapeared below deck. Eli kept his hands empty for the upcoming exchange, serving the dual purpose of reducing the hostility and giving him free reign to use his magic.

"You'd better have a good explanation for interrupting our voyage boy." He growled.

"I have." Eli replied, keeping his tone neutral. "The people of Port Lorrel have a request for you, Captain Darmain."

"Where'd you hear that name?"

"A concern citizen informed us. He, like other conscientious members of our society, wishes to see you end your career in the slave trade and release the people under your 'care'."

"That kind of humour gets a man killed, whelp."

"I wasn't asking. Release your slaves, turn around and, on pain of death, never darken our doorstop again."

Allan looked incredulously at the humanoid addressing him in such a disrespectful fashion, then leveled his gun at the half-elf's face and pulled the trigger. The missle deflected harmlessly off the barrier Eli had raised, landing in the water with a 'plink'.

"Have it your way." The Ralkin Captain said mildly.

"Canons!" The slaver leader roared.

Eli made no move, even as the Black Guard began lining up with rifles to pepper the opposite deck. Darmain frowned at the lack of loud bangs and called out the order again. The half-elf smiled.

Below deck, Myra pulled her knife from the dead man and charged at her next target.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Prison Break

Post by Jack Rothwell »

With the Ralkin soldiers having the advantage of numbers, and the cannons of the slaver ship unattended, the battle was short, one-sided and bloody.

Eli dropped his arm to signal the men lining up to fire a volley at the slavers out in the open of the deck. Several fell, dead or incapacitated by the accurate hail of lead. The half-elf barked another order at his men to find cover as the enemy began returning fire. Eli cast his palms towards the opposite deck and then punched upwards with a flare of magic, the amulet glowed, boosting his shield against the impact of revolver rounds as he repeated the gesture. Snarls tore through the bangs of firearms as the galdy pack fell upon the slavers hiding behind cover.

With preplanned timing Myra emerged with her unit from below decks as the remaining slavers attention was distracted by the monsters tearing then apart. Eli dismissed his familiars with a grunt to avoid friendly casualties just as the bandit hit their backs, the men on the Ralkin ship, following the strategy the Black Guard leaders had outlined to them before their departure, began charging across the gap between the ships to finish off their opposition.

Myra had made a beeline for the slaver Captain, calling out a challenge as soon as she spied him. The man's furious orders fell silent as he turned to hastily defend against the banditwoman's ferocious assault. Darmain was a skilled fighter, but the massacre of his crew had his attention too divided to concentrate fully on his opponent. The swings and parries went on for mere seconds before the jagged shard of a rock spell punched through the man's leg and drove him to a kneel.

"I didn't need your help!" Myra called at the watching half-elf.

"You were taking too long." Eli called back.

"Traitor!" Allan snarled, clutching at his bleed thigh and panting through his pain. "Riekstien and I were on friendly terms!"

"I got offered better terms." The bandit replied. "It's nothing personal."

"You bi-"

Myra open the man's throat with a practised slice, turning his final word into a snake's hiss as he slumped and pitched forward.

With the battle over, the Ralkin Captain stepped aboard the late slaver's ship and ordered a unit of men to search the decks for any remaining trouble.

"Release the slaves while you're at it." He added. "And you, Sergeant, tell the Pride's sailors we need half of them onboard the slaver ship. We're taking over ownership."
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