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 Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:33 pm
Vartan leaned down to pick up the unconscious cleric, sweeping her easily into his arms like she was a fragile life-sized doll. He turned towards Letalus and the diminishing crowd. "I'm certain the women will need a decent night's rest to recover from the spells they've weaved as well as the injured lass."
He reentered the Inn and spoke swiftly to the deskman, inquiring of the room this lady had reserved. The man took one look at the sleeping angelic face and up at Vartan before fumbling for the keys and leading the way upstairs. The man even went the extra step to turn down the bed for the elf to lay her comfortably in bed. He knew she's probably wake up with a start and wonder who'd brought her here, most women behaved that way, so he simply covered her up so she wouldn't catch a chill. In the morning, he might have hell breathing down his neck from the fire of this one, he thought as he stepped out and closed the door behind him.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:50 pm
Leana smiled over at Letalus and Merro. He'd be able to handle this. Instead, she went inside. The people in the tavern would probably like to know what had gone on.
"Excuse me, everyone." she said, trying to get their attention. "Just to inform you, the bandit problem has been fixed, and you're no longer in any danger."
And now she figured it'd be best to check on those chickens...just to make sure no one had taken them.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:39 am
Merro responded not at all to the mage's weak query, still wrapping her mind around how well her spell had worked and coming to realize that there was some benefit to being cursed by that sword after all. The amount of energy she'd drained in that one burst of healing left her feeling more herself, although she could sense that she was still harboring a great deal of life force that was not her own. Calming down somewhat, she noticed Sentelle being swept off by a well-looking stranger. Leana followed them inside the inn, leaving the young woman in bloodied blue and white to be tended to by themselves. Merro briefly wondered if the ferret had also slipped by, or if it was still out hunting.
She finally noticed the steady hand upon her shoulder and turned her head to look briefly up at Letalus. There was too much to be considered and too much she wanted to - and perhaps feared to - ask. After only a second or two, she turned back to the young woman still lying before them. Deal with the simpler matters first. She'd have to comb out her thoughts later.
"Do you live in Parnell, or are you perhaps staying in this inn?" she asked the young woman, wondering even as she did whether the mage might have slipped into a faint. Her wounds had been healed to a great extent or perhaps even completely, but the spell Merro cast had not the effect of restoring blood or treating shock. At the very least, she would need an escort home. And a change of clothing, Merro amended. In fact they were all three of them in varying stages of bloody ruin.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:40 pm
Come what may..."I'm...staying at the inn..."
Demi managed to murmur before passing out, her body still too weak from blood loss to really keep her conscious. I will love you until my dying day...
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:07 am
Having lingered behind Letalus's leg upon their approach on the mage, Nova crept over to Merro's hip, almost glaring at the woman with a dazed look. It seemed the mage had survived her ordeal with the werewolf and would recover with rest. Has bitter hatred of their kind boiled in her gullet, she let out a soft hiss without realization of her outward actions. Her tail was fizzed and her body pressed closely to Merro's leg as she sat there in her unsettled state.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:13 pm
With a cursory glance at Nova, Letalus let go of Merro's shoulder to gather the unconscious mage in his arms. He stood, tilting his head at Merro. "I'll take care of this," he said, "this" being the girl he was carrying none too gently. "Take the ferret and check on the other one." The other one was, naturally, Sentelle, but he was past the point of even pretending to have manners. Besides, the incomprehensible look Merro gave him made him nervous and he wanted nothing more than the sanctity of his own room for a few hours.
He turned and heading indoors, looking over the heads of bewildered fellow guests for the inn keeper.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:54 pm
She silently watched Letalus walk off with the mage girl and then turned to Nova with a tired little sigh. Saints be merciful; no more adventures tonight, for her life's sake.
"Shall I carry you?" she asked quietly, not willing to simply grab the ferret by the scruff of the neck as if it were truly nothing more than a tame animal. Merro slowly got to her feet, not aching or weary, but cautious of the strange sensations in her body and mind that she was still trying to get used to. She remained crouched slightly, one hand proffered to the intelligent creature at her feet and her eyes tired but curious at Nova's seeming upset. Was the ferret unnerved by the body of the werewolf?
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:18 pm
He moved passed Letalus on the stairs, mumbling an apology in his haste to get out into the streets. The head that he'd stuffed in the bag was swinging recklessly at his hip and he had to use one hand to keep from knocking into anyone. When he got outside, he saw that the girl and a strange little thing were still outside near the body.
He glanced between the girl and the headless werewolf. "Excuse me, Miss, but perhaps you should proceed inside and allow me and the gravedigger to take care of this mess?" He added in a small sweeping bow with one arm that extended towards the welcome inside. He still wasn't sure just what kind of trouble she seemed to be in currently, but he couldn't exactly pry as someone slowly approached them.
It seemed he would haven't to find the crazy coot at this hour of the night. "Ah, sir. Do you need assistance with the disposal?"
"Nay, Ah've got eet from 'ere, sir."
Vartan bent low to whisper in Merro's ear. "I don't know what kind of trouble you're in, but should you ever need assistance, please don't hesitate to ask me." He straightened with a click of his heels and took a few moments to figure out what direction he needed to head off to deliver the goods, so to speak.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:27 pm
The noise of battle had subsided, and Korix took notice as both the fighters who had originally taken up his offer entered the inn. The human simply went upstairs, obviously fatigued. The elf carried an unconscious woman inside - the same who had responded earlier to the call for a cleric - and took her upstairs as well. Korix found it interesting that neither of them seemed concerned, at least for the moment, in collecting the pay promised them.
If it hadn't been obvious enough that the fight was over, a female half elf entered the inn announcing the bandit's defeat. "Excuse me, everyone." she said, "Just to inform you, the bandit problem has been fixed, and you're no longer in any danger."
Then another man whom Korix did not recognize carried in yet another woman, this time the mage he had seen in the tavern when he arrived. She had obviously been on the wrong end of the fight. Was it her who had screamed? As people kept streaming in, half of them who Korix had never seen before, Korix mused to himself as to how so many people had ended up outside the inn in the middle of such a fight.
Korix looked back around at the half-elf who had announced the bandit's defeat. "Hey there, doll-face." Korix called back to her, "So you were out there in that fight huh? Why don't you let me get you a drink for your troubles."
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:14 am
Merro would certainly have noticed Nova's eyes following the mage's body as Letalus lifted her up and carried her inside the quarters of the inn. Huffing softly as she eased her emotions down, she looked up at the hand that had been offered to her. She nodded and softly hopped onto Merro's palm, slinking up her arm to her shoulder, curling her body near her neck, her head laying over the edge of the woman's collarbone a tad. The day had proved to be quite eventful, and the strain of it all was finally weighing on Nova's stamina. She was obviously staying silent till they were out of earshot of any that would quirk an eyebrow at a talking ferret.
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 1:32 am
Distracted by a thousand things - one of which was very tall and possessed of pale grey eyes - Merro failed to light upon the true nature of what was disturbing her four-footed companion. She did follow the ferret's line of sight, but all she made mental note of was the sight of Letalus stalking off with the bloodied and torn form of the young girl who'd been attacked by the werewolf, and it was an unsettling sight enough in and of itself. She attached no significance to the nature of the girl's calling.
Upon being approached and advised by the unknown elf, she gave him a nod and a faint "Thank you" for his concern. She had regained enough of her poise to the point that the "Miss" miffed her a bit until it struck her suddenly that she was wearing nothing but a shift and about a gallon of blood. The elven man's offer of future assistance was accepted with a sort of half-bow, half nod from where she was crouched, and as soon as Nova was perched securely, she hastily stepped forward to gather up her cloak where it had fallen and wrap it about her shoulders, being careful not to dislodge or smother her small companion.
She hurried into the inn and accosted the keeper in the common room, snapping almost automatically back into Noble mode despite her decidedly ignoble appearance.
"Have the maids bring up more hot water immediately; I require another bath," she said peremptorily. "My companion is fatigued from her exertions, so I would have them be wary of making much noise." Having delivered her demands, she stepped as quickly as she could along one wall and then up the stairs, taking notice of no one else.
See that Lady ZhaDurn was resting comfortably. Strip. Bathe. Sleep.
Seriously consider becoming a temple maiden at the Mt. Kiadawel shrine if she manages to accomplish these four tasks quickly and without interruption.
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:15 am
Leana swerved when she heard the unfamiliar voice talk to her. She stared at him for a second, realizing he'd given her an offering. But..."doll face"?
"Oh..." she said, raising an eyebrow. "Um...I suppose you could...that whole situation was...quite a douzie."
She could hear those poor chickens clucking confusedly behind her. She still didn't quite know what to do with them but decided to leave them there for the moment. But the rabbits might pose a different problem, since they were a bit more eager to escape.
"Um...I may just have to drop these sacks off to a friend of mine...they're taking up quite a bit of space down here."
It then occurred to her that she had no idea where their rooms were.
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:08 am
As Merro set forth on her path to the room, Nova's mind began to drift with the rocking motion of the woman's pace, allowing her heavy eyelids to close and let fatigue set in. The small ferret had fallen asleep, soundly and surprisingly well balanced upon her perch.
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:16 am
Merro stepped quietly into the room, leaving the door ajar so that there would be no unnecessary knocking once the parade of bucket-bearing maids began for the second time that evening. Thinking to let Nova sit comfortably on the bed while she checked on Sentelle and then scrubbed herself clean, she crouched by the foot of it and patted the coverlet to indicate that it was time to disembark from her shoulder. When there was no response, she tucked her chin down a bit to try and peer at her passenger, but all she could get a view of was the top of Nova's head, which was not very enlightening. She racked her brains for a moment, trying to recall the ferret's name.
"Nova?" she whispered after a moment. Still nothing. Merro shrugged her shoulder a bit, and then patted the creature, and then nudged it. Nothing. She experimentally leaned forward slowly and then stared as the ferret simply slithered down her shoulder and coiled into a furry pile onto the coverlet. Saints preserve her; had Nova died on her shoulder on the way up the stairs?!
The two maids who entered with the first re-supply of hot water were treated to the sight of a blood-covered noblewoman alternately pressing her ear to and then hissing "Nova?!" at a small fur muff. Before Merro's repeated smushings and whisperings could actually wake the snoozing ferret, the young woman finally realized that she could see the small ribcage rising and falling regularly. Relieved and then amused, Merro carefully arranged Nova into a comfortable seeming donut and then spent a few moments smoothing the silky fur. Such an interesting creature, this. She wondered what it would be like to have the capacity for thought of a human and yet be contained in this small furry body.
The wooden tub was filling nicely, but it would be a short while yet before she would be able to bathe, and so Merro stepped over to the head of the wide bed for a moment to satisfy herself that Sentelle was resting comfortably.
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:06 pm
Having deposited the mage on her bed, Letalus was in his own room across the hall by the time Merro returned. Unlike Merro and Sentelle, he was not granted the privilege of his own bath and, as befit his station, was expected to make do with a large bowl of lukewarm water and a rough towel.
He unclasped his cloak, tossing it carelessly on a nearby chair, and began the mundane task of disrobing while his mind worked over the past few hours. There had certainly been an unnatural amount of distractions and obstacles. Merro, he decided with a set jaw as he shrugged off his tunic, was more trouble than she was worth. But he paused in the unlacing of his shirt, recalling a hidden memory of a long-haired maiden running breathless and uninhibited in the snow. She was so alive then, dark blue eyes like bright midnight as she laughed at him...
Snorting with self-loathing and disgust at his own sentimentality, he made quick work of the rest of the lacing and inelegantly pulled the shirt over his head. The muscles of his bare torso were inhumanly smooth and despite the centuries of brawls and battles, completely unmarred by scars, though stained with the blood that had soaked through his clothes. As he tossed his shirt to the growing pile of clothing and removed his gloves, he caught sight of the only scar he had.
He gazed down at his palm, brow furrowed. If the cursed sword could do this to him, the possibilities of what it could do to Merro were limitless. The sooner her link to the blade was severed, the better, if tonight was any indication. She was wild and disobedient enough without a supernatural dose of energy. And whatever happened to those chickens, anyway?
Letalus' eyes widened suddenly. The man! The scarred b*****d who took his gold! Once again distracted by Merro, he'd failed to keep track of where Tomlin had gone. Narrowed eyes and a frown being the only indication of his extreme annoyance, he stalked out of his room and unceremoniously into Merro's, wearing only his breeches and boots. "Merro!" he barked as he opened the door, "Did you see where that scarred thief went?"
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