OOC NOTES Before we begin, I'd like to make a few notes concerning format. First, the use of tenses in the PBeM format. For the sake of clarity and editing, please respond in present tense. This is opposed to the past tense and future tense some people are replying in. Present tense uses "does", as opposed to the "done" of past tense or the "will do" of future tense. Only in OOC remarks is future tense acceptable. Second, Katrina has awakened about two hours after Kyran and co. make it to the docks. At the same time she's waking up, Seg's finishing his ritual. Please keep this in mind. And here we go: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A hand shakes the elf awake. It is the older priest. "Ruathor, what the Oracle had to say was between you and her. Go with the blessing of the god of knowledge and the goddess of wisdom." Ruathor thanks the priests, and after donning his gear, leaves an offering in the collection box (273 gp) and absently heads back to the Mushroom, reflecting on his visions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Katrina thanks Drakar, smiling, as she throws up her arm, just in time for Paia to land on her gauntlet. The message is attached to her leg, and the bird gives him a long, measuring glance, before allowing Katrina to toss her back into the air, quickly disappearing from sight. "She will not take more than a day or two, and will be able to find us again, easily." When Paia returns, winging back in the late afternoon sun, Katrina holds up her arm as a perch, allowing the hawk a chance to land. After hearing that the message was delivered, she launches Paia back into the air, letting her fly to a tree just outside city walls, well within calling distance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Being somewhat confused himself (and possibly rightfully frightened), Kyran kindly declines the offer, although he will appear there later. Making a hasty exit out of town before nightfall, he sets up his own camp outside of town, surveying the trees while he does so... Very early in the morning, Kyran is up and awake, packing up his camp despite not needing to leave this day. He recollects the need for his shield, but a more pressing matter pushes him as he walks back into the city torwards the same temple that Menaria was at earlier, waiting outside near the steps and just looking around. Menaria sleeps better than she had since the HP of her temple was murdered. She sighs as she gets up and washes, then dresses. She then dos the ceremony morning prayers. Once done she tries to find her companions that decided to stay at the temple. She discovers Kyran on the steps, and smiles warmly at him. "Did you not stay here last night?" Kyran looks back at Menaria. "Hu-slee... Oh, no I didn't. I came by yesterday, but it was too late to find you, that it was. Perchance you have some information on our quary? I had a... feeling that you might." She *nods* slightly. "I do, but talking about it out here will not do. Come in, we can maybe find something to eat and talk about it." She smiles warmly once more. Kyran blinks, then smiles back and nods. "Oh, of course." He rises to enter with her, forgetting about the large bastard sword on his back. She leads him to the 'closet' where she asks for his weapons and armor. "Can't have any of this in the Temple. But fear not, it'll all be here waiting. We'll join the others and I'll speak then." Kyran pauses for a second, then hands over his sword, dagger, and his chain shirt. "It's a strange custom you have, yes it is. Why do you disarm those who seek to help you while they are in the grounds? Still... I'll leave my armorments here." As he removes the chain shirt, the medallion comes into view again. He quickly tucks it away before following her. "It has been a custom for years. My goddess does not believe in wars or fighting. Fear not they'll be there whenever we leave." She eyes the medallion as he tucks it back in. "Is that what gives you the form you take?" She asks carefully as she leads him through the hallway. Kyran nods. "Yeah. It was a birthday present from my family back home. I'm... pretty attached to it. Although if you want a closer look I can let you see." He looks about cautiously. Menaria smiles once more, her eyes sparkling. "That was a very special gift they gave you then. You can show me later, when we are not around all the people. It must be wonderful to be able to do that. A kind of freedom most people will never experience." Kyran looks at Menaria, then shrugs. "It's second nature to me now, really... I don't know what I'd do without it. How about you? What are the reasons for you being a priest of this temple of... Forgive me, I'm not too good with the pantheon. What is the name of the deity you worship?" Menaria chuckles. "Second nature now, eh? Well nothing wrong with that. My goddess is called Akanksha, goddess of love so to speak. We're lovers not warriors, literally speaking." Her eyes get a twinkle as she smirks. "As for me, well I was given to the priestesses at birth as far as I know. I have known nothing else but Akanksha and her beliefs." Kyran nods in understanding... you think. "I've been who I've been all my life. I know it sounds weird, but, I do have a lot to live up to. I can't say I have any beliefs, though. Unless you count the natural world and inner talent." "There are some that worship the natural world; most likely druids and rangers. Some farmers as well. My goddess deals with pleasure, healing, and love." She smirks again as she moves her body somewhat provocatively down the hall a few feet then walks normal once more. "If you get my 'meaning'" She wiggles her eyebrows slightly as her eyes sparkle once more. "Yes. I think many would fancy me a range-" He blinks, then blushes as he gets the 'truth' behind her words. "Oh, that. Well, I- uh... Maybe? I mean, I think... So, do you have any other hobbies?" He mutters as he tries to change the subject. Menaria stops in mid walk and gently caresses his face as she warmly chuckles at his blush. "Yes, I love gardening. Planting is one of my hobbies. That and helping people work out their troubles." Kyran relaxes a bit. "I enjoy working with animals myself. In particular, canines, but I suppose that's a given." He smiles as his stomach tells him it's breakfast time. "Oh, you said something about food?" She smiles and drops her hand and resumes walking. "Yes, the animals are a blessing from the deities. Indeed they are." She chuckles as she hears his stomach growl. "Yes, come along, I am sure my Sisters in faith will share morning meal with us." She'll lead him to the eatery area. Kyran follows loyally. "I know something of botany myself, that I do. If you aren't too busy, I could help you with your garden?" "When we return back to the temple that I reside in, I will show you my garden section then. Unfortunately it might be awhile since we have the quest to do. But I promise you, upon our return I will show you." Kyran nods. "That is well. How much longer until the late risers get up, I wonder." Almost on cue, Walker quietly strides in, his hood back. He is not a man that Kyran recognizes, but to those in the party that might have been present, he is Roland, or at least the man they knew him as. He sits by Menaria, enjoying her warmth silently until he speaks. "Good day." Kyran takes a quick sniff of the air. "Oh, good morning to you, if that's what it is." He smiles a little. "You're... Yeah, you're the person that left the group just when I had met them. Now why did you do something like that? Did you just want to get ahead of us? I hope I didn't do something wrong." He looks to Kyran calmly. "My penchant for anger at noble folk had gotten to me at the time. I am already a wanted man, and I felt that my continued travels in the open would lead the authorities in my direction. Discretion is necessary with my way of life, and I do not wish to endanger those I travel with because of my temporary lack of it." Menaria smiles as he takes a seat next to her. "Good morning, I hope you slept well?" Her smile reaches her eyes as the green darkens slightly and shimmers. Once more wearing the gossamyr thin gown of her faith, she moves the trailing of the sleeves in order for him to have more room. "I must admit that I haven't slept that well since...the murder." She shudders slightly as she looks down at her hands, her shoulders slouching slightly. "I just pray we find the culprit before more lives are lost needlessly." She shakes her head slightly causing the strands to drift over her shoulders and cover her face. "My dreams are ever-troubled, Menaria, but I don’t wish to discuss that in our present company. At least, when you do sleep, you will know that you sleep in safety." Kyran smiles. "I wouldn't say that, no I wouldn't. However, I wonder what would cause you to be restless in your sleep... And I am dismayed to think that someone couldn't do such. It's very important to all of us, you know." "It's simply not something that I wish to be pressed about, Kyran. I get enough sleep to function properly, but none more." A flicker of concern crosses her face. "Every night? You are bothered by your dreams?" She moves slightly to face him better. "Perhaps we can work on that. Dreams can be problematic at times, but should not be every night." "The men I have killed have time to catch up with me. They visit me in my sleep. When there are damned souls surrounding you, it is the only way they can get in." She lays her hand gently on his arm. "Perhaps we can lay them to rest eventually, if you are willing to accept my help on this matter?" He nods quietly. Kyran looks around and smiles. "We have other things to talk about now, yes we do. Like food, and the incident. After we eat, I could find a secluded place outside of town where we could discuss what needs to be said, right?" He's visibly trying to keep the conversation from getting more somber. Menaria turns to Kyran and chuckles. "Of course, let me see if my sisters have some food available. I'll be right back." She pats Walker's arm and Kyran's hand gently. She goes to see if the sisters have any grub to eat. She gets a little of everything so they can choose what they want. She'll come back with a hefty tray full of food. "Here you go, gents. Have at it. Juz leave me some fruit!" She chuckles as she grabs some. "What would you two like to drink?" Kyran takes more than his share of breads and meats, but generally stays away from the fruit. "I don't care much myself. I usually just have water." She smiles once more. "Water it is then. I'll got get a pitcher." She heads back and gets a pitcher and a mug to bring back. "There you go." She pours him a mug full. Kyran has finished eating just when she brings the water. He chugs all the water down in one gulp and smiles. "Thank you. I don't normally break the fast with others, that I do not. It has a different feel to it." Walker declines the option of a drink, sitting quietly and grabbing a few plums. "Oh? How so?" Walker asks, using the opportunity to break himself from his near- meditative state. Kyran shrugs. "For one, table manners actually mean something." He snickers. "Also, it takes longer to eat if you have people to distract you." Roland nods, then goes back to his meal. Menaria chuckles wholeheartedly at Kyran's comment, nearly choking on a grape. "That is something you don't hear everyday! Not eating with others because they distract you! How true is that? Hmmm?" She chuckles some more her green eyes sparkling with mirth. Kyran blinks. "Well, I am distracting you right now, am I not?" Menaria shakes her head slightly. "Possibly, but let me tell you something Kyran. I needed this laugh, believe me so your distraction is very welcomed." She smiles warmly at him. Kyran snickers. "If you needed distracting, I could have assisted in that endevour. It just comes naturally to me." He smiles back. Menaria chuckles again as she eats a few more grapes. "Well thank you very much then. I'll remember that. You will hereby be our morale entrade. Whenever we need a uplift we know now who to turn to." Kyran gets a slight gleam in his eye. "Really? Wait a minute... how well does it pay?" You can tell he doesn't actually mean it. Menaria smile widens as she eyes him. "Depends on how well you 'entertain'." She wiggles her eyebrows slightly as she chuckles in fun. Kyran realizes who he just said that to and blushes profusely. "I, um... Maybe not that way?" Menaria chuckles at Kyran's uneasiness and pats him gently on the arm. "I was teasing, I would never put you in a predicament that you felt uncomfortable with. Your humor is enough to shine our days." Kyran smiles, then frowns a little. "I hope so, that I do." He looks at Menaria's clean plate. "I guess you're done? Should we go out and look for the others to discuss what we shall do next and what information we have discovered?" Assuming nobody stops him, Kyran gets up and starts walking out. Before leaving, he calmly says to Roland and Menaria, "I shall attempt to gather Tanda and Korg. I believe a good meeting place would be Drakar's camp, that I do. If you have trouble finding it I will gladly help you find your way there after you have gathered the others. Remember, we don't have much time, although we still have at least a day. Let us not waste it." She nods as she begins cleaning the table off. "Good idea, we'll find the others if possible." After cleaning she gathers her belongings and Walker's. She looks over at Walker and smile. "Ready to track down the others?" Walker nods. "Aye, let’s get going, shall we?" After retrieving the gear, she heads out of the Temple bidding good bye to any of the priestesses she meets on the way out. "Guess we should head for the 'Shroom. That's probably where most of them will be." Saying such she heads off in that direction. Kyran walks out of the temple a bit before the others, reclaiming his equipment without much of an ordeal. He takes a quick sniff of the air and starts walking in the general direction of the 'Shroom without further guidance, although he looks over his shoulder every once in a while. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tana gets up with the morning sun, rising from his makeshift bed on the floor under the window. Tana thinks to himself, Smelling his shirt, deciding is it too soiled to put back on he pulls his spare out of his traveling sack. After putting on a clean shirt and breeches he laces up his boots, trying to keep as quiet as possible, not knowing how may others are sleeping nearby. Rolling up his soiled shirt and breeches, he carefully puts them in the top of his bag. Walking to the front entrance he retrieves his mail shirt, saying, "I shall return as soon as I may. Please inform Sister Menaria that I have some affairs to attend to, and I will be return before the afternoon repast. I will join her then." Getting directions, Tana heads directly to the oracle. Soon after leaving the temple of Akanksha, Tana arrives at the door to the Oracle. "Greetings, I have justification to confer with the oracle. Would you be so kind as to show me in?" Tana asks. Like Ruathor before him, Tana is asked his full name, and told to lie down on a stone altar in a darkened room to wait for the Oracle. His vision blurs slowly, the smell of burning incense intruding his nostrils. The incense smoke grows thick, and even thicker, to the point it's obscuring his vision. Soon, however, the smoke clears, and the area around him has changed. Tana is strapped to a different altar; a hooded priest is performing a ritual, and Tana can make out a serrated sacrificial dagger being raised, aimed to plunge into his heart. The symbol of some deity is visible on the dagger, but he can't make it out. The dagger plunges forward.... Suddenly, Tana is sitting on his own throne; a bevy of scantily-clad vieled harem women are dancing on the floor in front of him, while a bearded advisor leans over, commenting on the latest slaves acquired in the war. Tana smiles broadly, as one of the slaves catches his eye; the slave is a former teammate, her blue eyes downcast indicating her broken will. He reaches over and takes hold of a spear... A hand shakes him awake. "Tana Mauru, the Oracle will see you now." As before, a wizened crone enters the room as Tana sits up. "I have nothing to comment on the questions you came here with, for that knowledge Navor is not willing to part with right now. The visions you received pertain more to your Fates, not to the more mundane issues you arrived with. Use the insight well." She fades from view.... A hand shakes him awake. "What the Oracle said was between you and her; we are not privvy to anything she reveals to anyone. Go with Navor's and Ryl's blessings, my son." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drakar is woken in the morning by a wet tongue across his face, having successfully managing to ignore the rising sun, the hot fetid breath of a predator, and the 50 lb weight of dire wolf head laying on his chest. "Narush! Ugh..can't you let me sleep in peace!? It's not as if we have pressing duties to attend to." The dire wolf whines...an unerving ghostly sound from such a large beast that would raise the hackles on Drakar's back if he weren't so familiar with it. "Aside from your stomach I mean." Drakar picks himself up and stretches as he wipes his face off with the back of his hand, then yawns, his jaw almost as wide as the wolf's. Moving over to the fire, he portions out the stew into two wooden bowls...one for himself, and a larger one for Narush. The dire wolf sits patiently on his haunches, licking his lips and watching the half-ork pouring the last juices into the large bowl. The two of them dig in, and clean off the bowls. Sitting back with a satisfied sigh, Drakar regards his companion. licking both bowls clean. Eying the rising sun, he leans his head back upon the tree they had sheltered under and whispers a healing spell upon it to thank the spirits of the tree for watching over them. Then he begins his meditations of the morning to replenish his store of spells, immersing himself into the world of the subconcious and reaching out to the spirits of the land about him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early that morning, Segev wakes up, and, after a very quick breakfast, memorizes a short list of spells. Then he securely locks his door, lays out the corpse-in- armor on a large, thick canvas. After using a Mending spell to reattach the corpse's head (and helmet) to its body, he starts scribing arcane symbols on the canvas and the floor about it. Setting out ritual ingredients, some strange- looking, some common, and some extremely pungent, he lights the first of eight candles and begins chanting. Fortunately, no one in this particular part of town (or in this inn) seems to be willing or curious enough to find out if the strange noises and smells from room 112 are the result of a madman, a wierd party, or something darker. Especially when a strange music echos briefly, since it seems to be going into the room, rather than out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Korg looks up as Menaria and whoever else comes in and waves slightly. Both he and Tanda are at a table, working on leftover stew from the night before for breakfast, along with some coffee-equivalent. Well, for varying degrees of working on; while Korg is eating with his usual vigor, Tanda looks positively green and generally... like someone the morning after drinking too much. Both are already dressed for travel, though. "Good morning," he says as the others come closer. "Was wondering when you all would show up. Hope you had as fun of a time as Tanda and I did..." he cracks a bit of a smile, the fading bruise around his left eye well evident. Tanda shoots him an evil glare and picks at her stew some more. One of Menaria's eyebrows springs up at the comment of 'fun'. "It looks like one of you actually had some 'fun'. Does the other feller look much worse?" She cracks a smile as her eyes twinkle slightly with mirth. Korg looks thoughtful, for him anyway. "You know, I didn't check too much after they carried him out. I objected to him trying to take things from someone passed out on the bar, and then... well." Tana heads back to the temple and retrieve the rest of his gear. His inquiries of Menaria, lead him the Midnight Mushroom. His inexperience with cities forces him to ask directions a couple of times before finding the place. Tana has never been in an establishment such as the ‘Shroom, and is mildly shocked. He approaches Menaria quickly. When a bar maid offers him shroom beer, he declines. "Alcohol is the squanderer of water. In the desert one can ill afford such, so alcohol is disdained amongst my people. I will appreciate a flagon of water and a meal of meat, if you would? I did not stop to break the nights fast before effecting my affairs." Turning towards Menaria, "Sister Menaria, it is my understanding we will be departing henceforth?" Menaria smiles at Tana. "Yes, we will be leaving shortly as soon as everyone is together. I'll brief you all on what information I've been told once we're together." Seated in the dining room of the Midnight Mushroom, at the adjacent table, the mysterious wood elf (previously encountered at the city gates) dines on simple fare, pretending not to overhear the conversations of the gathering party about to depart on some journey of importance... Lannstucht walks into the Midnight Mushroom dressed for travel. By the angry squeals outside, you note that Dunnstacht is out front and some poor passerby must have stepped too close. Without offerng any explanation on her whereabouts for the past while, she scans the group and nods in satisfaction. "Good, I see that you are prepared to move on. With the slightest modicum of luck, those missing shall repair their tardiness presently." While the small group greets each other and talks about travel preperations, the piercing cry of a hawk splits the city sounds outside. Paia's telepathic cry for help echoes powerfully inside the heads of Kyran, Menaria, Segev, Lannstucht, and Drakar. Mental images rush through their minds, of Katrina falling amidst a mob of dirty looking, armed men; flashing glimpses as the hawk dives on the same men to keep them away from her mistress, and the sudden shock of pain as a club wielded by one of the men connects with the hawk; then another club comes into view seeming to swing directly at the viewers frame of reference before sudden darkness strikes them and the telepathic voice goes silent...the images gone. Segev simply chooses to ignore the visions, as pausing now to think about them would disrupt his ritual ceremony. Upon seeing the shock upon Menaria's face, Tana stands abruptly, knocking over the chair he was sitting on, his scimitar literally appearing in his hands, ready for combat. "Has an assailant, battered your mind? Where is this assault coming from?" Menaria pales slightly, "The woman with the animals... she's been attacked! We must hurry to her aide!" Lannstucht wastes no time, spinning on her heel and heading out the door at a dead run. Dunnstacht sees her coming and freezes in his antics just long enough for her to vault into the saddle without checking stride, and the pair of them thunder off toward the location seen in the visions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Katrina turns back to the hawkers selling wares in the morning market, a pair of street toughs eye her slender armed form. Watching her pay for several weeks worth of supplies and large amounts of meat with gold coin from a leather pouch, the older tough sends his younger compatriot off. By the time Katrina has finished her shopping for Drakar and is headed out of the market, a small group of burly men wander along, walking casually after her. At first there is nothing that would suggest to Katrina to pay more heed to them, but as she walks through the tangle of streets leading up to the gate she intends to leave the town by, more appear at every intersection she passes. The hairs on the back of her neck prick with a warrior's instincts and she throws herself to the ground as a trio of darts wiz past. One gets caught in her chainmail armor, and then another hits the side of her neck. She attempts to fight the wave of dizziness for a moment, then collapses. As the men move in, Katrina's horse rears back, hooves flying at their faces. They wave clubs and give out shouts as they fall back from the terrified warhorse. Wheeling around, the horse only narrowly misses Katrina's prone body, as it suddenly spots an opening and bolts, away from the men. Ananzi and Paia sense the fall of their mistress and both take off towards her. Paia reaches the scene first, swooping down to claw at the men. One of them falls, screaming as her claws rip through the skin of his face. She wheels in the air and swoops down again to attack, but she pays for it as one of the men clips her with a club. Paia falls to the ground in pain, broadcasting the distress of her mistress and her to those in the party with magic or animal empathy before another club brings painful unconsciousness down upon her. Ananzi cannot make it across town quickly enough to catch up to the men, and as he senses Katrina being moved further away, still unconscious, he continues to follow in the distance, drawn by the magical link that connects wizard and familiar. Kyran jerks his head up and takes a quick sniff of the air. Running into a nearby alley, he changes into a wolf before emerging out the other end. He takes off directly in the direction of the creatures, running at top-speed and probably spooking some commoners too. It is close to noon and Drakar and Narush have finished their foraging. Drakar packs up camp, strapping the armor about Narush for easier travel and stowing their equipment into his own pack. With that done, he begins to don his own armor and gear, desiring to make them ready to travel before heading down to the gate to await the others. Suddenly Drakar reels from the telepathic assault and drops to one knee. Already half-way armored and prepared for their journey, he shouts at Narush to stay and guard the camp as he runs down the forrested slope - buckling on the last of his weapons, longbow in hand - to the road leading into town. At the road he spots Katrina's panicked horse, Alystan galloping toward him. Blocking the way, he forces the warhorse to rear up by waving his arms threateningly into the air. Then quieting his movements and speaking all the time in a soothing voice, he uses his animal empathy to calm the creature. Taking the reins in his hand he runs to the town and to the scene of the ambush with a distance gobbling lope as Alystan canters beside him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, Kyran is the first to reach the scene, running in wolf form through the town. Townspeople leap out of the way of the wolf, many calling for guards and men to kill the wild animal running through town. Not much remains the alleyway where Paia was clubbed and Katrina drugged into unconsciousness. A few darts remain stuck in the dirt, and a handful of Paia's feathers are upon the ground. Kyran smells this, and with a fresh scent starts following the trail at a quick pace, unerringly to wherever her trail runs cold or becomes impossable to follow anymore. He's heedless of the townspeople, but of course doesn't attack any of the guards or people as he goes about his business. In fact, he intentionally avoids them now that he has a fresh trail. Any of the townsfolk who do actually decide to look right at his eyes see a faint spark of intelligence before Kyran continues on his way. Kyran glances up from the trail he is following just in time to see two town guards in the road ahead of him. They spot him just after he spots them and shout in alarm, both drawing swords and racing towards what they see as a dangerous rabid wolf loose in their streets. Doors on either side have already been locked and barred as the townsfolk hide from the dangerous wolf and the previous cross street is a good distance behind Kyran. The two guards are armored in chainmail and bear shields and helms. Each carries a heavy broadsword and one of the two has a horn hanging from his belt to call for help. Kyran judges his options and decides caution would be best used in this situation. He circles to the right of the guards, keeping at least ten feet between him and them. The street here narrows to approximately twelve feet wide between building walls. The two city guards have taken up positions side by side, shields angled slightly to the side and swords in front. Kyran can see no way around them and is forced to decide quickly as he runs out of room to circle. Kyran growls and sprints forward, attempting to charge forward and through the weaker-looking of the guards. The guards both stab at the wolf as it comes barreling down on them, the first one connects with a solid hit to the chest with the point of his blade. The second swings wildly, then the wolf is upon teheir sheilds as the two guards try to block it. Kyran hits the shields with such force that both guards are sent flying backwards, the sword of the first wrenched completely out of his hand as the blade is deeply burried in the wolf's hide. The wolf continues running past and the blade falls out, clattering to the stone cobbles down the street as the two men pick themselves up. Behind him, Kyran hears the sounding of a horn as he runs onward, following Katrina's trail in the direction of the harbor. Lannstucht hears the horn just ahead of her as she finds the location of the vision and it takes her only a minute to reach it on Dunnstacht's back. She arrives to find one guard blowing on a horn as the other holds up a sword, yelling frantically. "It's a monster! I stabbed it right in the chest and there's no blood! It didn't even slow down!" Drakar reaches the scene, Katrina's horse still running alongside him with its reins in his gauntleted hand. He too hears the horn further off and races down the street after a quick look tells him that a struggle actually happened in the place from his vision. Kyran, looking about frantically, finds an alley off to the side of the road where he can quickly transform back to human without any prying eyes upon him. Unless someone is *stupid* enough to chase him in there. Carefully looking around for a few seconds before he does so (to comfirm his expectations), he'll carefully slip out into the streets and continue his trail in his more acceptable form. The trail Kyran is following leads him to the docks, to the ramp leading onto a ship. The docks themselves are made of stone, better able to support heavy weights. Armed guards, both the city watch and private, roam the docks and the upper decks of both the ship the scents lead to and three other ships in the vicinity. The guards on the docks are carrying swords and shields, while those on board the ships are carrying bows and crossbows, and most are wearing leather, studded leather, chain, or breastplate armor. In addition, one or two unarmored men also seem to be present on every ship. The ship the scent leads to appears to be a warship, as it has two ballista emplacements visible on the top deck. Kyran is soon joined at the docks by Ananzi and Lannstucht, followed shortly by Drakar. The sounds of the city guards' signal horns still echo through town. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several hours later, as the sun is beginning to set, the chanting in the inn suddenly stops. Segev stands in the corner of his rented room, actually balanced on the nightstand, above the now-vanishing (slimy-looking, foul-smelling, haunting- whispering) fog. As he steps gingerly down onto the floor, he carefully avoids the rotting meat and gore that has formed a circle around the armor. In a voice somewhat raspy from hours upon hours of near-continuous chanting (not to mention ravaged by the noxious vapors released from some of the burned ritual ingredients), he commands, "Rise, Servant." The bloody and befouled armor clanks as it complies with the necromancer's commands, and Segev smiles in dark pleasure. "Excellent, it worked. Now, gather the meat that used to clutter your bones in that canvas, and wrap it tight. Then come with me." He leads his servant and its baggage to an open area, away from prying eyes, and proceeds to have his servant bury the non-skeletal remains of its body. He performs a short, mostly-accurate Yehevhone-religion lay-burial rites for the fallen Crusader, then returns with his servant to his room at the inn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Much later, Katrina wakes, bruised and battered, with her sight cut off by a hood pulled over her head. Her arms and legs are tightly bound with rope, and a squawk of pain alerts her to Paia's presence in the same room. Telepathically, Paia tells Katrina that she is badly hurt and imprisoned inside a metal cage, a falconer's hood over Paia's eyes also preventing her from seeing their surroundings. The door opens suddenly and Katrina can hear several footsteps. Someone chants in a magical tongue and there is a tingle of magic in the air nearby. When the footsteps leave again, Paia reports to Katrina that she is healed of much of her injuries, but the men have done something to her injured wing and it does not move right. Confused and still recovering from the drugs in her system, Katrina feels like the floor beneath her is in some kind of rocking motion. A carriage perhaps, or maybe a ship. With much struggling, she manages to loosen the bonds of her hands. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XP TIME! That's right, it's time for more XP for people! Everyone gets 200 session XP for this post, as opposed to the 100 standard session XP. This covers not only the length of the post, but also putting up with my absense and distractions during the last week or two. Don't forget to give yourselves 100 each from the previous two mailings. Plus, the following: Drakar: 500 Katrina: 500 Korg: 550 Kyran: 600 Lannstucht: 400 Roland/Walker: 550 Ruathor: 450 Segev: 600 Tana: 450 Tanda: 450 These cover the experiences from Mailing 16 to present, far too numerous to elaborate on here.