The search for Brother Dalton, part 2

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina, for her part, didn't really understand the source of Anfisa's panic, or what a Gorelian was for that matter (although she entertained the thought that it was some kind of fish). The kobold's contribution to the approaching men and Drusia's reassurance to her lover was little more than a head tilt and a 'wha-?' which appeared to be a custom in the younger members of her species when they were confused about something.

[Graybeard]

The Gorielians passed by the entrance to Geno's, still belting out drunken boasts and crude songs, and getting a frown from Keyes. "Tugt," he said dismissively as soon as they had passed. "Prom tomewhere up nort. I taw dem walking around town earlier, acting like dey were looking por tomebody. It didn't take dem long to top looking and tart drinking, dough." He snorted. "Well, de -- poleete will tend dem on deir way toon enoup." He'd started to say "Eisenfaust," but it seemed prudent to be cautious with this group.

"To what bringt you here?" he said, turning back to Tamina, but making sure that the beauteous half elf was still visible out of the corner of his eye.

---------------

It was ironic that the last word that the troll Sonny spoke in his long life was in the Veracian, rather than trollish, language. "'Run'?" he said ...

And then, as Therese and Mordan took cover behind a rail car, the underground chamber echoed with a blast that made the large-caliber weapon fired only moments earlier seem like a soft whisper in comparison.

[Alberich]

Anfisa had frozen in panic, but Desiree's calming touch kept her from screaming or even yelping. As they passed she gripped her hand tight. Once they were gone she exhaled, then loosened her grip, then kissed the hand she was holding, then held it to her cheek.

Desiree's point had been a logical one, but Anfisa had grown up with the idea that Lord Duravsky's eyes were everywhere, and his vengeance was terrible. Hence the tale of Drusilla. How happy she would be when they were far away from this country, and safely nestled in Desiree's own zenana-house-temple-whatever-it-was.

[Jack Rothwell]

"To what bringt you here?"

"Lunch!" Tamina replied happily, before grasping the larger meaning of Keyes' question. "Oh... yeah, we were just getting some tasties 'fore we leave to go get some bad men. Different bad men from the Ralkin. Some kind of death cult thing, don't really know all the details. Might be dangerous... be more dangerous on an empty stomach." She added.

"What brings you here?" She queried. "If peoples get mad at the dri-, um, ee-years could be dangerous for you here too."

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Gonna take the liberty of putting one rather important line in Desiree's mouth, important because of what it introduces ... but how to follow-up that introduction is up to you all, particularly Drusia since Desiree is the one who was there.]

"What brings you here?" She queried. "If peoples get mad at the dri-, um, ee-years could be dangerous for you here too."

It took Keyes a moment to figure out what Tamina was saying; he hadn't been exposed to enough of the leaps and darts of the kobold mind and speech for the right filters to develop yet. However, he got it soon enough.

"You're right, Tammy," he said, hoping this alluring half elf would hear was he was about to say. "Dat why I don't pend bery mut time on tore, in town. De elb don't go out on boat ib dey can help it. Maybe dey're cared ob water, or tometing. I'be eben heard rumord ob a ploating tity built out at tea dat you can only get to by boat, a tape plate for halb elb to libe in. Neber been dere mytelp, dough, and I tink it dut a myt, maybe by people who don't know about Tuirakutiti."

This got a general round of nods and grunts, but Desiree decided to pose a question of this weird fellow half elf; it might turn up something useful (like a warning sign that this hidden city might be a garbled reference to Snamish, which would ... need to be addressed), and she didn't see how it could hurt. "So where all have you spent your time at sea?" she asked, hoping for a hint about this floating refuge (and also hoping that the question was posed neutrally enough that Keyes was interested in it, rather than in her).

She didn't entirely get her wish; Keyes diagnosed this question as an attempt at chatting-up by a pretty girl, and responded with a pleasant smile that showed even, healthy teeth. "Oh, all kind of platet, Mid -- Desiree." His mouth worked while he got everything lined up to pronounce her name correctly despite his impediment. "I dut go where my bot want me to, but mot ob de time dat ib between here, Kiyoka ober in Tuiraku, and tometime de Toutern Continent, whit id where I met Tammy." His smile widened slightly, although he was still trying to be modest. "Been to tome oder platet too, tome ob dem way out in de ret ob de world. Eben went to dit little tiny town ober in Veratia retently, little pate called Gettemiel ...

"... Now why are you looking at me like dat?"

-----------------

There was a roaring in Therese's ears as she regained consciousness , and she realized three things. One, apart from the roaring, she had been deafened by the blast. Two, otherwise she seemed to be unhurt apart from concussive effects. And three, she was covered in blood and gore that only seconds earlier had been a troll. Evidently his own body had taken the brunt of the explosion, for which she owed him her life.

The first of these required the most immediate attention, but she knew what to do about it. Her eardrums had been ruptured by the shock wave. A quick bit of healing magic took care of that, and the roaring receded, leaving in its place a ringing in her ears that she guessed might be permanent, and more reassuringly, an incongruous dripping sound of something wet falling from the ceiling. With a shock she realized that this was being made by pieces of troll falling from there to the floor. I'll make a special prayer to the Five Great Mothers tonight for that poor guy; he really did save my life. Well, at least her hearing was back, more or less.

She started to deal with the third insult via a Hygiene spell, but realized there was something more urgent to expend her magical energies on. Mordan lay beside her, still unconscious (at least) from the effects of the blast. "Mordan? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" she asked, and began to rally energy for some serious Healing magic.

[Alberich]

Audie waved at Rose as he and Tim approached her. Tim had already told him he'd be joining Rose on her upcoming mission, and didn't know whether Audie would be coming along or not. The boy himself was still enjoying the "holiday," and the extra freedom it afforded him. He had not yet faced enough danger to change his mind about that.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose watched the approaching priest and novice wistfully, that old familiar tug at the sight of a child pulling at her again. Well, maybe ... She shook herself gently to flush that thought out of her mind. (For now.)

"We should get ready to go," she said to Tim. And then to Audie: "But you ... you don't have to. I'm not even sure the church would want you to." They'd certainly say they wouldn't ... but officially, they wouldn't particularly want me to either. Even if the unofficial situation is clear. "And I need to tell you that what we're about to do could be rather ... dangerous."

--------------

Mordan seemed to be coming around, and the ringing in Therese's ears was at least diminishing. That was good; maybe there was little or no permanent damage. To her and her companion, anyway; the damage to the troll was about as permanent as it could get.

To her complete astonishment, the railcar into which she'd dived seemed entirely intact. The dwarves had obviously built things to last, but this was still impressive. On the other hand, the blast seemed to have collapsed some of the ceiling of the chamber onto the track in various places. This car wasn't going anywhere soon, and in all likelihood, neither were the others.

"If you're okay," she said to Mordan, "we'd better get topside and get away from this place, before whoever set that thing off comes looking for us. But first, there's something I need to do."

She pulled the four remaining figurines out of her pack and looked around for a rock fragment roughly the size and shape of the missing figurine of Coquette. Surely, she thought, the Five Great Mothers wouldn't mind the substitution under the circumstances.

She bowed in prayer for the departed souls, of the troll as well as the humans; she was pretty sure he'd had one, regardless of what the myths said.

-------------

OOC: Keyes is patiently waiting for a reaction to his name-dropping.

[Alberich]

"We should get ready to go."

Tim nodded. "I'm ready!" he said.

"But you ... you don't have to. I'm not even sure the church would want you to. And I need to tell you that what we're about to do could be rather ... dangerous."

Tim was shocked that she'd leave a decision like that to a boy that young. He liked kids himself, and where he came from you could work for a living and get married in your teens. But this lad was twelve. All right, he was in the Church, so he didn't have parents, and he was adept at healing, so he could certainly be useful. He wouldn't be the first child who'd carried powder on a warship. And he wasn't more vulnerable than that Desiree, whom Rose took into harm's way so much...

While Tim was thinking, Audie was volunteering. "Aye, I'm ready too!" Tim reached out to Rose with the mind speech, far more confidently than he'd done in the past:

He's in your charge so it's your choice. But he's a boy. Are you sure?

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Don't think the name means anything to Tamina, does it mean something to Desiree or Anfisa?/OOC

"... Now why are you looking at me like dat?"

Tamina certainly was looking at Keyes in a funny way. In fact, her eyes were following the edge of his clothing as if something of intense interest were there. With a strange delicacy, and no small amount of grace, the kobold leaned forward and plucked something off the half-elf's shoulder. She opened her palm and pointed to what was now crawling in bewildered circles upon it.

"Ladybug." She supplied.

[Graybeard]

<"He's in your charge so it's your choice. But he's a boy. Are you sure?">

Luminosita's Nethers, I'm not sure of much of anything any more, thought Sister Rose. However, she kept this thought to herself. <"He's a boy, but a boy of our church who has already been given unusual responsibility,"> she thought back at Tim. <"If he has any misgivings, or if I don't think he should go, then he's off the party. And I wanted to see his reaction before I decide my own feelings on the matter. It looks like he's made up his mind... so now I need to make up mine.">

Luminosita, give me strength to do the right thing here, she thought/prayed, not for the first time recently.

-----------

"Ladybug."

"W-wha?" Keyes said, momentarily perplexed by the gesture. Then he saw the bug in Tamina's hand ... but that was a distraction.

"No, I mean, it tometing wrong dat you tee? Did I tay tometing I touldn't habe?" He was looking directly at Desiree now.