Sigil: T.C.o.D - [Walk-In][Modern Fantasy: Cycle 32][O/A]

[Kalmuli]

Fierach

arrow The Ladies Ward--The Mother of Loss

"Thank you...Consider this a trial for the woman who's life and memory you save today..." The Mother spoke, gently nodding her head. She brought her hand to her broach, the light glowing vibrantly. The Mother was overcome with the red light and her form changed. She shifted to a new one, but the face was the same. A woman in a peasant shirt and petticoat stood before James now. There was a bloody wound in her chest, and the presence of Lian stood before him with such a dreary, saddened, distraught face. Her voice shuddered as she spoke. "This is the form of the woman you will save...but my question is this...I am the Mother of loss...I have lost much. I have lost children...I have lost my dearest friends living and dead...I have lost the people who gave me their hearts and were crushed by the price of my own actions and advice. I am the mother of grief...I grieve for my errors and those effected...I am so afraid. I'm so afraid...that one day, I will lose everything...And I will lose the people I gave my heart and love so freely to in a world that finds it so peculiar that I do. I am afraid to lose all that I love and that I fight for...So tell me...Why should I not be afraid of losing, of grief or of love...Tell me why I should not be afraid of losing someone...of being without them because of my faults?"She asked, her voice shaky. The pain of the knife wound felt very real and her hand went to the wound. It would not kill her, but it would show that without an answer, the situation was dire just across town.

The Mother of Loss in Lian's form looked to him, pleading. "Answer it...And then find this woman whom I show myself as to you right now in the manor with the single tower... She will tell you all you need...For my Master gave me no name but 'Mother' in her wish for me..."She wept before she had to change forms again. The pain was too much. The Mother still sobbed painfully with the emotion she felt, looking to James again. "Answer it..."

Edit:

More men came, surrounding them. The Mother looked around, not terrified, but concerned. Those weren't ordinary weapons they carried and if they weren't kept from trying to kill her something would happen that would affect many. She looked to James, urging him to hurry with an answer. "Quickly...Please..."

[Weird Wizard]

Tresondros Ecstuffuan

James frowned as they moved through the Ladies Ward. He'd been here before, and he knew this kinda place... Even in other planes, such sanctuaries could be found, run by Elder Vampires, or Godlike beings... Enclaves of hubris, fools clinging to material things. He had a different sort of attitude; Material things were meant to be used, run ragged, and moved on from. What was the sense in having money and not spending it, or aged alcohol that is never tasted?

The place where he was taken seemed like a cross between a manor and a facility, with a decidedly "male" air to it. It reminded him a bit of his "Bolthole," only far prettier and more grandiose.

As he was asked to submit to a weapons search, his frown widened into a venomous scowl. He was a Gunmage, and he was rather hard to disarm, nor would he willingly allow such a thing. Fortunately, the confusion granted him the distraction that he needed.

With a few muttered words of abyssal, and a hand placed on the gun at his hip, the silver weapon was enveloped in a dim glow, a scrawl of luminous blue-green runes transcribing its surface. A moment more, and the glow and the arcane code faded, as did the weapon. It had been sent back to the "Bolthole" to await his call. The same process was repeated with his only other weapon, the mithril dagger in his vest.

Now, he would pass a weapons search. And with a bit of magic spent, a few words, and a moment of concentration, he could call these tools back to him from his small pocket of reality. He'd put a lot of people through literal hell to secure this power. And it was worth every gold spent and every life lost.

[DCronos]

Lei was actually surprised by the fact the market place held what he was looking for. His Onmyou was magic center around the balance of ki and the four elements as well as a number of other effects. The spells were written on special pieces of paper that didn't burn,tear,or get wet by normal means. He had used nearly all of the gold he had won from the little scuffle in the bar before he came here but it was worth it. Now strapped to his left thigh was a square pouch that held two stacks of his spell papers with different abilities ranging from attacks to summoning things from other realms. Now with the worry about his spells taken care of he now had to deal with the fact that he needed some how to earn money in this place.How hard can it be? A bodyguard sounds up my alley maybe there's a bar i....what the hell is all that screaming? Lei turned out the way just in time as a screaming person who seem to be rotting streamed pass him with black spots all over him. Lei looked around him and saw people just going...well crazy!. They attacked each other as if there lives were in danger by that person. And what was scary the more people got attack the more crazy people seem to pop of as if it was a disease spreading. What the hell? He decided it would be best not to touch anyone and he treadled carefully through the chaos avoiding contact. What the hell caused all this Lei didn't know but he sure was gonna try and found out. He made his way to a bar of sorts which more people seem to flock towards either another set of crazies or sane people trying to get away."Nine swords huh...Is that a 8 legged horse?"

[Fierach]

Gwendolyn Feaorne

arrow The Ladies Ward--The Mother of Loss

James didn't answer the men coming up behind him, instead choosing to focus on the lady in black and her riddle, or question, whichever it was. The only sign he gave that he sensed them was his other hand, going up in the universal signal for, "Hold your fire".

Whether they listened to him or not was something else, but if they wanted to live they'd be better off not interfering.

So, that was the question eh? Pretty lengthy, James supposed, but these types had to be long-winded to begin with since the answer to these was always a matter of opinion, but...

"Because everything is lost in the end, returned to ashes. Those who fear loss have already lost the most important thing that matters, themselves, and without the courage to press forward despite pain and hardship then one has nothing worth losing, and so, no life worth living. It is not the end that matters, but the journey to that end", the daemonslayer answered her with no small amount of conviction in his voice.

[Trexasle]

Terrance Vanguard

The sudden tug at his dreads is what caused him to realized that something was wrong. Lian would play around with his dread, maybe even ruffle them to try and make him feel better. However, she would NEVER tug them in such a way that made him feel like she was going to rip his hair off. She then moved her hands to his shirt, and blinked it seemed that she had no complete memory of what happened to her, which made Terrance a bit more fearful, he didn’t even need Julia to freak out for him. She ordered him to take Lian to the Infirmery, to which Terrance was already on his way to with Lian in his arms bridal style. Pushing the door open with his back he quickly, but carefully placed his boss on the infirmary bed and began to check around for something to clean out, and treat the stab wounds.

Again, he wasn’t that damned good at Medical Science and he only took it because he needed the extra credit that it gave him for his degree. He would need to apply pressure stop the blood from flowing out of her body. First the shirt had to go, not wasting time he began to unbutton her shirt, taking a look at said wound. The blood spewing from the Something wasn’t right with it, it seemed TOO close, to simply be a mistake. Whoever did this intentionally missed the vital organs instead just striking below the sternum. He proceeded to apply pressure to said wound, since it wasn’t near any vital organs it should easy to fix up without any true problems, he’s going to need Julia in here though. He had to keep the pressure on her wound after all.

Hopefully, if they’re lucky she will come with dressing for the wound, she’d have to check if they are sterile, but that should be enough to stop the wound for getting worse, stitches might also be needed but that’s only if the would itself was wide enough for it. Which it doesn’t seem to be.

[The Wind Thief]

Guildhall Ward
Near the Noodle Shop

The drunken thief continued his way over to the noodle stand, paying little attention to the people who passed him, heading the opposite direction. One man, however, had caught his attention. Some boring straight-edged lookin' old man, heading to work or wherever, dressed with finer assortments and a hat. He'd been rude enough to shoot the thief a disgusted sort of look, but carried on his way.

As soon as he'd passed, however, the Thief took careful steps back towards the man, reaching delicately over to his head, lifting his hat gently off of it, wary not to disturb the pompous man to what he was up to. With the hat removed, the thief investigated it for a brief moment before tossing it on his own head and continuing towards the noodle shop at the end of the road. Perhaps they'd have something to sober him up-- if he had the funds of course.

Bah, who needs that.

Looking around the road and the town, the hatted thief found what he was looking for. A poor old beggar with a cup and the coins of the generous sitting within it. He made his way over to the vagabond removing his hat, then gracefully swooped down and swiped the cup out of the man's hand. He dumped the loose money and change into his hat, taking note of the variable currency that was within it. There was no telling what this town's ecosystem was.

Before the homeless man could react to the thief's bold moves, he'd already find that he had his money back in his lap, but rather than in a cup, it was in the pompous man's hat from before. The thief continued on his way, not paying much attention to the homeless man much after that, wandering with tired legs to the noodle stand. Passing under a drain or gutter of some sort, he let the rainwater dribble into the cup he'd acquired, filling it about halfway with his graceful passes.

Finally, after applying some left over tea-leaves he'd had stashed away in his coin purse from before his strange journey here, the thief would find himself standing at the Noodle Shop's counter, placing the mug of leaf-water on it.
"Could you heat this up?"

[Kalmuli]

arrow Ladies Ward--The Mother of Loss

The Mother stared on, listening to the answer. She gazed around at the men who raised their weapons at her. "The answer to not fearing loss, grief and anger...is having courage to move forward despite the pain...Thank you James...I will do as I have sworn and restore those around you."She repeated, confirming what she heard. The Mother would back a little further away, the mist reappearing again but this time overhead of the area of the fountain. She looked up at it, outstretching her hands. Slowly, like little shining diamonds of snow, little droplets of light started to rain down over the Mother and the bodies of those that she had infected with her plague of death. It was not a true death...Rather when she took their minds, she took the involuntary functions with her that moved their bodies along and helped them function. Slowly, those who were lying on the ground were stirring and as they do, bits of the Mother would start disappearing from the feet up. When all had recovered, unconscious but alive, the Mother would stand there, lowering her arms. Her skirt was just a thin veil of what it used to be and incorporeal. The black mist above started to disappear as well as the little droplets of light, disappearing like a sudden and very quick snow shower.

The Mother brought her hand to her chest, removing the broach and in turn, the stone inside of it. Like a vacuum, the rest of her was sucked into the tiny red gem which floated there even when the mother disappeared. It drifted over to James, stopping and floating there. The power she had was gone to spread her plague, her only fuel and life for moving being the remaining energy from Gwendolyn's magic and Lian's mind calling back for her memory. "It won't be long before I depart back into the body of the woman I showed you...but I will act as your guide there to receive your answer about the one who created me and others."

Fierach

[Lian Feaorne]

arrow Ladies Ward--Lian's Manor

Lian sobbed painfully on the way to the Infirmary, gripping the blankets on the infirmary bed as she bit back the pain of the injury. She could feel it so much in her chest, it was on fire and felt like there was a boulder sitting on top of it. Lian reached her hand to Terrance's pressing it to the spot where she was bleeding as she cried out of pain and more. "Please, please make it stop..."She pleaded. Julia returned with a small machine and a series of wires. The bleeding would have to take priority over Lian's mind at the moment, Julia setting the machine on another bed and then ran over to a cabinet. She pulled out bandages, gauze and anything that could help, running back over. Julia took just a moment to roll up her sleeves, pulling out gauze and then coaxing Lian to move to her side instead of her back. The sheets were soiled with blood.

"The entrance wound is going to be the worse but keep pressure there on the exit wound. I know my knife wounds...This blade had jagged sides, not smooth. When the person who stabbed her was finished, she pulled out quickly and roughly."Julia said, putting pressure on the knife wound on the back while Terrance put pressure on the front. They needed more hands than this, Julia bringing out her vines and using the small ones to coil around Lian's torso to hold more pressure there while she got more gauze, loosening and slipping them to soak up more blood and slipping more under Terrance's hands. "I've got the pressure, grab some binding gauze and a sedative. We can't help her if she's freaking out like this."She ordered, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Lian breathed heavily with the different pressure on her chest, whining and gripping the sheets. She shut her eyes, trying to think of something else...but anything good in her memories was gone. It was just images of her laughing by herself or lying somewhere alone in her favorite place. "It hurts..."She whined.

Trexasle

[Trexasle]

Terrance Vanguard

“No gauze, will stick to the wounds, use Sterile dressing instead, Lightweight, increase her maneuverability even with it on.” He ran to the cabinets and began to dig through them. Stab wounds are not actually the worst things to deal with, it only becomes a problem when the victim still has the knife in their wound. Taking it out would be horrible as it ruptures arteries due to the force, which he was glad the knife wasn’t still in her body cavity. After a few seconds of digging he came across the First aid Dressing and quickly took the box, he was about to grab a syringe from there as well for the sedative, luckily for him he had managed to find Halcion, a pill based sedative, which would work for now. Rushing to both females near the bed he slightly moved Julia out of the way so he could work.

“I need the bed at an angle to simulate a semi seating position, comfort the wound a bit more, cause the blood flow to slow down.” He stated. He took a few of the pills in hand, two to be exact, waited for her to scream and literally placed them in her mouth, It’ll probably be a hard pill to swallow without water, However there was a lack of time for that. She would need to take it now if they were ever going to get a chance to work on her wounds.

[Lian Feaorne]

arrow Ladies Ward--Lian's Manor

Lian screamed again when she had to be moved, something being forced down. She choked on it a moment, swallowing it down and panting heavily. It would take a few moments to take effect, but she began to calm down quite quickly. Julia kept the pressure while Terrance dug, fumbling around for a switch that slowly started raise the bed up so Lian was sitting up. By then, the Elf was so conked out from the sedatives, her head lulled back onto the mattress and she was out. Julia kept pressure, following what Terrance asked when she was needed.

While he worked on caring and dressing for Lian's wounds, Julia kept the drugged up monarch steady and calm. Bringing her hand to the back of Lian's head, she saw there was another injury there too. A patch of her hair was missing. Tsking, she took more dressing there and started to wrap it around her head. "It must have been some fight...She's got missing hair back here. This was a woman that did this sort of damage...Someone with a pretty big grudge."She said as she used the vines to keep Lian steady as she finished bandaging Lian's head. "I think it can narrow it down to one of two who would do such a thing..."

Trexasle

[Trexasle]

Dnall Vinyaya

Essi the Thief

Master Borri

“Archmage Borri, leader of the Mages guild, and I am contracting you for a job, which you seem to be refusing…” one could not see his face from the hat and cloack that covered his face, but he was actually smiling. He did not plan to take no for an answer. He and his guild needed those artifact and this fae already seemed perfect for the job. “I will certainly pay you handsomely for your duty…” He continued tipping the side of his hat, His whole aura was just leaking with a magical red glow. “I can certainly gather your equipment to protect you from said dust, As long as you can work for my people, I’ll make sure that you are partially protected on your Journe…”

He was suddenly halted by what seemed to be a thief who had decided to join them, how did he know the man was a thief, his monocle of course. The item that he had just recently stolen still had slight traces of the homeless man’s skin cells on the male’s loose change. Not that he minded, it would simply be another asset. “Sir, instead of stealing loose change from hobo’s, How would’ja like to actually make some real money?” He was nonchalant, his noodles being slid to him in a bowl. He took his chop sticks, swirling them around the noodles and with a big glob in on said stick proceeded to shove it down the black void that covered his mouth. The taste wasn’t as good as he expected, the noodles themselves were still cold, and lacked any flavoring other than it being extremely salty. Certainly wasn’t going to spend his time coming back here again to eat.

[Ruthless Pulse]

The Guildhall Ward
Near the Noodle Shop

Each step the woman took sent the jeweled burgundy sash tied around her waist jingling away. It was her little ploy to turn heads and grab attention. Hm, I’m sure orange skin and red hair is enough of an attention grabber, the nymph thought to herself. And it’s not like bare feet make much noise either. A lime green corset clung to her torso. Earlier, she had run scented oil through her hair, more as a personal habit than a ploy. Long hair had been pulled back into a messy ponytail. As she walked, her hair swung down around her hips, playing peak-a-boo with any onlookers. The only protection she carried with her was a simple dagger strapped visibly around her thigh.

Although the man had not disturbed his victim, just about everyone else around had seen the crime. Only the stupid ones get caught. Huffing, she was about to storm over and berate the guy where he stood. Before Adrima could reach the guy, he acted out a very odd act of kindness.

What the hell is a homeless man going to do with a hat?

As he approached the noodle stand, Adrima looked back to the homeless man and remembered very gloomily being in the same situation. Not that I’m doing much better. Brushing her thoughts aside, she herself advanced on the stand. She nodded her head to the other three customers before placing her order.

”Noodles to go, if it’s possible,” she asked quietly. After getting onced-over, she beamed at the owner pleasantly. ”It’s possible, right?” She presented the man a bill withdrawn from the cleavage of her corset.

Pleased to the nines as the owner grumbled away, Adrima played the absentminded customer. Her ears perked to hear the conversation while her eyes remained on the homeless man not too far away. ”How would’ja like to actually make some real money?” She glanced quickly, just like any sane person would when money is discussed. Her finger itched at her nose while she now squirmed to get away from the crowd. Maybe it was that she knew the man was a thief that made her uncomfortable with the new man that had given a job offer. Give a thief a job, expect to get robbed.

[Betty Beelzeboop]

Tresondros Ecstuffuan

The Nine Swords > The Market Ward

"Well I was wondering if you had a place where I could take a shower. After splitting up the spoils from defeating KB, I spent my share on preparations for the future.", she knew of what he was referring to. It wasn't like Tres had Lian to throw him money any more and Tres was pretty broke as it is. "Didn't have enough left to by a place. Not one with running water anyway.", Tres finished as they sped off towards the Market Ward.

Lovi shook her head, "I sold the guild. I've been staying wherever's convenient. Hotels usually." She'd managed some reasonable funds since disbanding her former guild. Not enough to invest in her companion's grand scheme, but enough to live.

It had been a long time since she'd been on horseback, and never a creature made of such hard material. Horses were required in her homeland. There were no cars, and there was hardly any technology to speak of.. She missed it sometimes. Often, actually. But maybe it was the overwhelming sense of purposelessness here that gave her pause on the matter of her particular place in Sigil (or lack of it, as it were).

She wrapped one arm around his waist to keep herself steady throughout the brief ride. It was easy enough to ignore the general stink, but it wasn't altogether pleasant either. She rested her chin on his shoulder for a moment and smirked despite herself.

"I'm always willing to share a room, though."

[Tres Ecstuffuan]

The Nine Swords Tavern

That warmth in Tres chest sparked when Lovi put her head on his shoulder. He smiled yet despite it all he wasnt comfortable with it. So like always when Tres was put in a situation where he was unsure of himself he took refuge in his arrogance. "Who wouldn't want to share a room with the main man Tresondros Ecstuffuan.", Tres pronounced familiarly. After a following moment of silence the psion finally managed a solemn "Thanks."

Lovi was Tres's best friend and after what happened with lovi at the nine swords perhaps she was his only friend once again. She meant a lot to the psychic warrior though he would never admit it. However there were glories that the psion needed that he felt were his destiny as the member of a bloodline of gods and champions. Tres needed to achieve greatness and he hoped that he could mold the meager ex prostitute to fit within his grandiose destiny.

"where are you staying Id like to not smell rank before I eat."

[Betty Beelzeboop]

Market Ward

Lovi would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat aware of what she did to her psionic friend, but she attributed the general phenomenon to the fact that they'd been through too much s**t together, and thus offered one another a little more vulnerability than was their norm. Really, the two of them were great pretenders; Lovi for her persistence in seeming cold and uninterested, and Tres for...hell, I don't have to explain that one. The man was a walking, talking (always talking) showboat.

"I still have my room at Hotel 66," she said, "..or was it 666? Anyway it's in a part of the market ward that went to Hell about a year ago.." She recalled, because Gloria and Alan had called them into the mess. She'd barely known any of what would eventually become 'Team Sigil' back then. They had to trek through the sewers to get past the blockades if she remembered accurately.

"Smaller businesses bought up the broken properties and rebuilt it.. as cheaply as possible."

And indeed, her statement was evident as they approached the portion of the district on her direction. Some buildings were stripped bare and cleaned of rubble, but that only left the skeletons of what used to be architecture with a few whole structures in between. One of which was a surprisingly sizable hotel, though it was still dwarfed by most of the buildings in Sigil as a whole. And, as stated, there were two red 6's illuminated by flickering internal lights, and space for a third number that had either been removed or had fallen off due to poor installation. Either way, the building looked far too old and decrepit to be new, but it hadn't been there a year ago.