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 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:22 pm
Letalus' hand shot out and caught the tankard right before it hit Leana. "Upstairs," he muttered, placing the tankard on a nearby table without glancing at her. "Ask the innkeeper what room."
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:01 pm
Knowing that the destruction would only likely get worse Tomlin decided to act.
Sliding the consealed dagger from out of his sleeve, he plunged it into the man's side as he upturn a table with his right arm. He twisted it quickly, ripping it out of his side before turning.
He looked Letalus straight in the eye as he turned toward the door. "Move.." he said quietly, already weaving around him to head outside. Hopefully the man would bring the havoc to the street, and away from the people inside the tavern.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:59 pm
The scent of blood was as recognizable to Letalus as his own scent, as often as he'd spilled the precious fluid. He silently moved aside and as Tomlin passed, he arched an eyebrow approvingly. For a moment, he considered dealing with the larger man still inside the tavern, but more than enough men with something to prove seemed more than willing to handle it. Besides, with Merro safely upstairs, it wasn't really his concern.
Instead, he followed Tomlin outside.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:45 pm
Leana watched as Letalus grabbed the tankard and seemed to blurt out orders as he went through his ordeal. Once he'd gone outside with Tomlin, she mustered up herself and headed to the innkeeper, holding all her desires to go after the raging bandit lord inside.
"Hi um...do you know what room Merro is staying in?"
She briefly described Merro to him, but he shook his head and said he couldn't help her. Looking quite disgruntled, Leana sighed and turned around at the ruckus.
"Well...I suppose I'll wait for them then. Surely if I don't arrive they'd come looking for me...right?"
She eyed the bandit, who finally stopped and looked at her menacingly.
"What're you looking at you little wench?!" he growled. "You want me to slit that pretty little throat of yours?"
Leana glared at him. "Leave me alone, bandit. I'm not afraid of drawing my own blade against you."
She noticed the other few men he'd been nearby. Were they friends of his, more of his horde? Or were they trying to get rid of him too? Tomlin had looked like he'd been in on the fight but once spotting Letalus, that had changed.
She set down the sack as quickly as she could without the chickens starting to make suspicious clucking. She smirked and folded her arms. Maybe a good fight against bandits would keep her busy until the others found her or she found them...whichever. Letalus was nearby at least...granted he was most likely busy.
The bandit glanced around at the other men around him. Leana's smirk widened.
"C'mon...afraid of a little girl?"
OOC: LOL Nami you called me Taylor instead of Leana in the other post. ^_^" And like you guys said, NPCs are freebies so I'm just making him kinda talk. You're open to attack or make him attack.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 12:28 am
While staring blankly out the window, Merro had been aware of the sounds of her companion undressing and bathing, but she was still startled by how quickly the minutes had passed when she found that it was her turn at the tub. Merely nodding to Sentelle in acknowledgment, she twitched shut the curtain. The angle of the window to the street hid Tomlin and Letalus from her view, and she wondered what was going on downstairs as she began to strip off her travel-stained clothing.
The stolen tunic, trousers and belt were discarded by the door for one of the servants to dispose of, and after a moment of consideration the silk blouse and chemise followed. She placed her earrings and necklace into the washbowl for safe keeping and then stepped into the tub. The water steamed and the room was not unpleasantly cold, but once she had wet her skin she felt chilled, and she set about scrubbing the road off of her body quickly.
Her hair was a simple matter, being short, and as she did at every bath, she blessed the Saints for the accident that had left her with this unstylish cut. Merro scrubbed herself from head to foot, the bathwater growing muddier with each part cleansed, and finally she was left standing in a tub of tepid murk, picking the last of the blood and dirt from her fingernails. Giving her hair one last stripping with her hands and stepping gingerly out, she shivered and quickly began to dry herself off with one of the towels left for that purpose.
Warm water, chill air, and now the rough fabric combined with the feeling of finally being clean once more was refreshing, and Merro felt herself perking up. Bathing had distracted her for a time, but now she found her thoughts returning to the absent others of her thrown-together party. Had Leana and Nova been successful with their individual hunts? She needed to find them soon and sacrifice some of the fruits of their labor to the sword to be secure of her well-being for the night and next day. And she needed the sword for that as well. Letalus...where was he? Had the scene in the common room dissipated without incident or would Merro feel that strange invigorating rush of energy soon that would tell her the blade had fed upon fresh blood?
Having toweled off to her satisfaction, she wriggled herself into one of her new shifts, glancing over at Sentelle as she poked her head out of the neckline.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:00 am
Having enjoyed a quiet bath Sentelle opted to return the favor. Instead of bombarding Merro with questions she had gone to her belongings and pulled out the tools needed to begin repairs on her maille shirt. The steel links were neither as shiny, nor as strong, as the mythril that comprised her shirt, but it was the best that she could do. Besides which it would be better than leaving a gaping hole in her shirt until she could find a smith skilled enough, as well as equipped, to repair her shirt.
Had she anticipated a casual conversation she could easily have continued her repairs while she and Merro chatted, but if their earlier discussion were any indication she would need to pay attention. As Merro emerged from the tub Sentelle went about the task of putting her tools away. She had decided the best way to approach this would be to offer her help. "You know, Merro," she said as she bent over her bag, "I was not able to read the script on your sword, but I can track down information that will allow me to translate it." she stood up and turned to see Merro's face poke out of her shift. "In the process perhaps I will also be able to turn up some information about your sword. Whatever you can tell me about the sword would be helpful."
Sentelle neglected to mention that merely reading the script would be a simple matter of performing a ritual in the morning allowing her to read anything written in that script for the next 24 hours.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:31 am
Finger-combing her hair into place to give her an excuse to avert her gaze for a moment, Merro wildly tried to remember the truths and lies she'd told Letalus. It might serve her well to make sure the stories she told about the sword were identical. She looked at Sentelle once more with her placid parlor face on and nodded and smiled slightly.
"Certainly. The sword was found in a cave on my father's grounds along with an ancient parchment," she said, conveniently leaving out the fact that she herself had found it while running away from the keep in the middle of the night. "The parchment has been long lost" - or rather it never existed in the first place - "but it spoke of a vast hold of relics held at the temple at Mount Kiadawel. Letalus is accompanying me to that place to return the sword." And there he intended to make Merro wait outside while he returned the sword before taking her back to her father, while Merro herself intended to seek sanctuary from her father's clutches by gaining entry into the temple. Virginity had its uses.
She'd sneak away from the temple itself later, of course. She had no more desire to become a temple maiden than to remain a pawn on her father's gameboard. But first things first.
Merro pondered a moment. She'd already blurted out some of the sword's less appealing aspects to Sentelle. Might as well repeat those facts.
"Also, the sword requires lifeblood to maintains its shining appearance," she added. "If it goes too long without fresh blood, the blade begins to tarnish and it drains me so that I am left dizzy and spent. That...was the reason for Letalus' behavior this evening. You have my deepest apologies." Merro slid off the bed and made as good a curtsey as she could in her shift. She blushed prettily. Hopefully Sentelle would read it as embarassment over Merro's companion acting in such an uncouth manner toward a noble. In actuality the memory of Letalus' face an inch from hers and his arm about her waist had risen up unbidden in startling clarity.
She had the idea that the most vivid impression of the night ought to have been the shocking revelation that Letalus would kill an innocent passerby in cold blood for her sake. She wanted nonesuch blood upon her soul, although Merro would have happily ordered her own father's assassination if she thought she could get away with it. Her code of honor was rather involved. Letalus' inappropriate manhandling of her ought to have been a simple offense to be reprimanded and then forgotten. Never mind how she'd thrown herself at him.
It was all rather confusing. And that was annoying.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:47 pm
Korix had used his time of invisibilty to prudently position himself on the opposite side of the raging thug as was the tavern's main entrance. Korix believed that others would simply assume he had fled. The thought had occurred to him of course. Korix was prudent in protecting his own life at least if nothing else. However, he was not such a coward as to not strike if he saw an advantage. When the right moment came, and the path was clear, Korix unleahed a spell. The bandit lord's eyes bulged as Korix appeared once more, sitting gingerly, legs crossed on a bar stool (the casting of an attack spell having dispelled the invisibility). Static electriity crackled and a lightning bolt shot from Korix's outstretched hand and struck the bandid boss square in the chest. The force of the electric bolt blasted the large man out the door and into the middle of the street outside.
At this point, the bandit boss had suffered what ought to have two been fatal wounds. His side bled profusely from a punctured kidney, and his chest was a blackened mass of scorched flesh. The bandit fell to his knees and it seemed he would retch. But then - incredibly - he laughed. And then he began to transform. The already large man increased slightly still in mass. His fingernails grew into claws, his human canine teeth into elongated fangs.
Corix watched through the doorway in horror but also sudden comprehension. This is how the huge man had somehow managed to keep on after him even after an electric spell barage had taken out three henchmen with him. "Lycanthrope!" Korix shouted what was probably an unnecessary warning as the man assumed a bestial form. The bandit beast-man seemed now not so much intent on revenge as on slaughter; His predatory gaze shot around perceiving all present as potential prey.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:06 pm
Leana certainly hadn't seen that coming.
She watched in awe as the young mage came out of nowhere and attacked the bandit head on with his magic. She'd wanted to keep watching and maybe help a bit, but then she heard excessive clucking. She turned to her left to look at the sack, which had fallen over and frightened the chickens.
Trying to calm them down she muttered, "Oh where are the others?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:17 pm
Not as quickly as he had expected, Tomlin thought to himself. He saw the man flung into the street. His eye was still on Letalus, but at this point his main concern now lay with the chuckling mad-man in the street.
"Oh ballocks..." muttered Tomlin, as the man started to transform. He pulled out his rapier, the glint of silver and steel reflecting the moonlight as the transformed bandit now seemed intent on killing whatever he saw.
"Get a cleric. We may need one." He yelled toward the door, having seen at least two or three people staring out the windows of the inn as well.
"Take your best swing mate..." he screamed, hoping that Letalus would flank him as the beast came towards him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:51 pm
He stepped out of the door, drawing his sword--another silver and steel blade to add to their arsenal. He grinned as he took the other side of the beast. "It seems as though I finally found my quarry. You've been a tricky b*stard for the last few weeks, but I'll finally get my pay."
It was true. He'd been sent to this very town to remove this unwanted pest and lo' and behold, here he was! What luck! He held the sheath in his other hand. "Come here, pup," he said as he stepped forward and brought the blade at a slanted downward angle, the leather cover moved simultaneously as a shield against the follow-up attack.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:15 am
Sitting across the bed from Merro Sentelle keept her tone conversational, "Pray tell, how did you come to be in possession of this sword? It is no mere trinket, nor such a thing as I can imagine your father granting you possession of. Nor can I imagine him having..." Before Sentelle could finish her thought there was a nearly inaudible knock at the door. Sentelle paused a moment, and not hearing anything further she continued. "Nor can I imagine him having allowed you to train..." There it was again, only slightly louder.
Sentelle sighed as she rose from the bed wondering if Letalus needed something before heading to his room for the night, she stopped at her bag briefly and slipped a simple white dress over her head as she made her way to the door. To her surprise she was greeted not by Letalus but by a young serving girl bowed on hands and knees trembling before her "B-b-beggin' yer pardon yer ladyship, but there's a bit of a ta'do downstairs an' one o' the fellers hollered som'in' 'bout a lycanthrope an' another hollered for a cleric. Anyone as can glow bright as day, linkin' yerself, I figured must be good as."
Sentelle lifted the girls' chin with her forefinger; greeted by the face of the same girl who had rushed over to clean up her spill earlier, Sentelle smiled warmly. "You did the right thing coming up to get me. I'll be down in a moment."
In a rush of adrenaline she dashed over to Merro and ordered her to do up the lacing in the back of her dress as she explained that there was a lycanthrope downstairs.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:02 am
Leana could hear the calls from the others outside. Finally, with frustration, she kicked the sack to the side and ran out to the street, but sticking close to the door. She saw the horrid scene before her, and the men who were ready to fight it off. But she understood the danger. If this thing got past their defenses, it could cause mass destruction throughout the town.
She pulled out her blade, ready to help if she had to. Sure, she could escape this thing on her own if it were after her...but other people didn't have such magic that she did. And she'd feel guilty leaving them to fend for themselves.
She turned to the doorway and shouted inside, "Hey! You heard him! Any clerics in here?!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:48 am
Caught between the two egos of the other men, Letalus raised an eyebrow and casually unsheathed the cursed blade, twirling it once in his hand and gripping it tightly.
Yet another obstacle on his way to strangling Tomlin.
It seemed both Tomlin and this elf were more than eager to cut the wolf down, so Letalus resigned himself to support. They both seemed quicker, more agile men then he was, he decided, glancing at them both before focusing on the lycanthrope again. It would be prudent to see how they handled themselves.
And if they slipped up, well...he wasn't about to let the beast endanger Merro, was he?
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:31 am
Merro just might let the beast endanger Merro, however, even if Letalus would not.
Jolted out of her polite-chat mindset by the news, she sprang up and did as Sentelle bid. Not quite so neatly nor quickly as an experienced lady's maid, of course, but the job was gotten done.
"Done," she said succinctly, to let Sentelle rush off, and then she glanced wildly about to find her own clothing. The only thing her eyes lit upon was her new grey cloak - her clothing having been neatly packed away in a chest - so she grabbed the material in one hand and sped after the other woman.
ooc: Since she has no weapon of her own, Merro will just trail Sentelle at a short distance wherever she goes for this next bit, so feel free to lead her wherever you like. Her shift is cream linen and floor length, and the cloak is grey wool and down to her ankles. She'll get it thrown around her shoulders as she runs down the stairs but she'll just grasp it shut with her right hand instead of tying the fastenings, so it'll be billowing out behind her for the most part instead of concealing what she's (not) wearing.
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