Something Hits the Fan
Subject: Need an update
Ok, I need final actions from farron, kasen, and sa'id so I can write up the next turn.
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Need an update
Farron gave Kasen his key and (hopefully) any instructions that might get him inside the apartment unnoticed where he can grab Sa'id's and his packs (w/spellbooks and components). He also told Kasen about a farm or landmark of your choosing where they can meet outside the city. Then he and Sa'id are heading to the Sunmaster to try and convince him of the need for an immediate departure. (Unless Sa'id has other plans).
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Need an update
Got it. Sa'id and Kasen?
From: Dan
Subject: Re: Need an update
Assuming we've been pretty quick I'm going to head back to Farron's and grab his and Sa'id's gear using the back roads if I can. If Farron has any food/water skins there I'll be sure to stuff them in their bag. Then return to my estate to pack up as quickly as I can and get the hell out of the city before word spreads that I've been talking to the two of them. If there's time I'll buy some food while passing through a market. Otherwise whatever I've got in my larder will have to do.
That's my plan, of course. If I should run into anyone who calls "halt!" or some such, it's subject to change. I'm not meeting the Sunmaster though, I want to get out of town as quickly as I can.
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Need an update
I'm going straight to the Sunmaster's. As a foreigner I'm far too easily identifiable. I will explain the situation to the Sunmaster and find out if he has already spoken with the Duke.
From: Ty
Subject: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
By the time the wizards have exited through the kitchen door of the Haven, the enormity of the situation begins to sink in. Suddenly every passing face is suspicious. Did the fishmonger stare over long as they passed by? Why has that girl with the basked followed them for two blocks? Are the four guardsmen chatting at the intersection waiting for them?
Every time they think that they are getting ahead of the demon, his reach is revealed to be even longer. Now his high priestess Elise is manipulating Sir Danbury, one of the Lords of Nesalin. The demon has shown raw power and brutality in his displays at Gully's trading post and in the battle for Overlook. But he is also showing an insidious subtlety. It is the combination of these two things that leave Sa'id suddenly breathless.
"We are not smarter than him?" he says to Farron, his voice catching in his throat.
Farron turns to look at his friend. "What?"
"He was powerful, yes. Overwhelmingly so. And terrifying. He had many servants, and granted some of them dark powers. But I had been assuming we were smarter. We snuck into his lair and took his prize right from under his nose. We would beat him because for all his strength, we were more clever. It was only a matter of time."
Sa'id grabs Farrons arm for a moment, stopping him and pulling him into a dark corner beside a merchants booth. "But we are not. The demon was blinded through some agency of Pelor's while Cadfael was with us. The demon did not understand we were a threat. It did not know what was happening until after it had happened. Anileth must have believed it was just Mission and a few friends, trying to save the baby. Kor Garesh only knew what his servants told him.
"But know the demon knows. Now all its will and resources are turned against us. And Pelor no longer shields us from his black gaze. We are not smarter than it is, Farron. We have been fools to believe so. If we survive to escape this city, we should not make that mistake again."
Farron nods. He did not disagree, but how did this help? Sa'id tended to overanalyze everything, but Farron didn't want to discourage him. Sometimes his friend made startling leaps of intuition from these ponderings. Farron just says, "I agree, Sa'id. We must not make that mistake. But let's hurry to the Sunmaster."
**
Kasen walks quickly back to the wizard's apartment. He pauses a moment at a leather workers shop, pretending to look at boots, while scanning the street. No guards were visible. Perhaps Sir Danbury would not move as quickly on Elise's lies as the she devil wished. Sir Danbury was still a good man, despite falling under the blackguard's influence. Surely he would not be hasty to throw men in irons without further investigation.
Best not to tempt fate. Kasen hurries to the stairs, and uses his long legs to climb them three at a time. Farron's key opens the lock with a well oiled click, and Kasen slips inside closing the door behind him. The apartment was very lavish, to Kasen's eye. As a paladin's squire, he had only a stone cell with a hard pallet and a table for study and prayer. The wizard had two rooms and his own cooking space. He had shelves lined with books, and in his room a larges soft feather bed. Kasen feels a temptation for contempt at such soft luxury. But then he remembers that this wizard recently crossed miles of the most dangerous terrain on Huss, and faced a demon in its lair. He must be made of harder stuff than his rooms would indicate.
Shaking off his reverie, Kasen grabs the two well worn packs sitting in the Wizard's bedroom closet. He glances inside them, and sees they are equipped for hard travel. Also inside each pack is a slim but well bound book. That must be the spell books.
He moves to the kitchen to take what food he can find, when there is a hard knock at the door.
Times up.
Holding the two packs by their straps, he moves to the door. A second hard knock, followed by someone yelling to "open in the name of the Duke". Kasen takes a deep breath and opens the door.
Five men dressed in the livery of the City Watch crowd onto the landing at the top of the front stairs. Their leader, a very young looking lieutenant begins to speak, then stops. After a second, he says, "You are not the Wizard Farron Uphill."
With a grim smile, "No, I am not. And curse his eyes, but it seems he left his apartment before you could get here."
The guardsman seems to wait for Kasen to say more, but when the big man just keeps smiling, he says, "And you are?"
Kasen says, "I am Squire Kasen, of the White Hart. I am here to collect some of the wizard's personal things. We may have need of them." He gives the guardsman a knowing look.
"Ah. Right. We are here to take custody of the men."
Kasen gestures at the sitting room behind him. "Then perhaps you should wait inside. If they return, you will have the drop on them."
The guardsman nods emphatically. "Yes. Men, move inside and take up positions. Thank you for your assistance, Squire Kasen."
Kasen shakes the man's hand, "Carry on with your duty, Lieutenant. I am off."
Kasen is two blocks away when he stops to lean against a wall, and pant. I didn't lie, he says to himself. I never lied to the guardsman. I have kept my oaths. Even if my words were designed to mislead him, I never spoke falsehood.
The letter of the oath, if not their spirit.
Several hours later, Kasen sits on his gray charger, Stormcloud, and leaves through the front gate of Nesalin. The men manning the gate take one look at his brilliantly gleaming full plate with the emblems of Helm, and do not even ask his business. They just open the small trader's gate and let him out. It is a half hour ride to the farm Farron chose as the rallying point.
Once there, Kasen grazes the horse and oils his sword. Something tells him that he will be needing the blade soon?
**
Sa'id and Farron get to Temple Row without running into any trouble, though they take side streets several times to avoid patrolling guardsmen. No telling whether the guards would notice them or not, but no reason to risk it.
But they stop several blocks short of Pelor's temple. It is surrounded by guards. A dozen or more at the very least.
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
Shit.
Unless they're the men the Duke is giving him to go with us. ;)
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
The bitch.
She must have killed Cadfael. Maybe that was even the same knife she was going to use to kill Promise.
They had been stymied almost at every turn since coming to Nesalin. Now he knew why. Sa'id bristles at the thought of being outwitted, even by the hellspawned beast in the black pillar. No, he wasn't going to give up on the Sunmaster until he at the very least found out what was going on. Sa'id wishes he'd taken the time last night to review his spells. There wasn't much point in being a walking arsenal in a situation such as this, and he was precisely that at the moment. Still, he'd manage.
"Follow me," Sa'id murmurs to his friend, walking as normally and unobtrusively as possible into a nearby alleyway. Turning a second corner, behind piles of broken wood and other refuse, he gestures at Farron to stand near him. "You know the routine, stay within ten feet or they will see you," he says. "Six minutes." He begins murmuring an incantation softly [Invisibility Sphere].
[This part assumes that Farron agrees to come along rather than waiting outside. I'll just sort of write invisible actions for the both of us in the next paragraph. Also, when the spell takes effect I want to begin marking time so that I have an idea of how much longer the spell will last.]
The two wizards fade out of existence. "We should hold on to one another," Sa'id says, and they fumble about invisibly for a moment before clasping hands so as not to be separated. They walk out into the street, keeping away from the pedestrian traffic, and make their way toward the temple.
[We'll take a longer route to the main entrance if it means not passing too close to the guards. We'll walk slowish so that we can go quietly, though I don't expect the guards to notice us over the street noises. Once we're inside we'll see where to go next; obviously we're looking for the Sunmaster and hoping feverishly that he's alone and not so exciteable that hearing two invisbile wizards out of nowhere will give him a heart attack or something...]
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
Well crap. You're not gonna make this easy, are you.
I do hope at least that you are going to make it possible. ;-)
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
Farron agrees with this plan, of course.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
Sa'id leads Farron across the street, gripping his arm tightly to maneuver him. He slows down once he reaches the group of guards out in front of the temple. There are gaps large enough for them to move through, but if a guard moves suddenly and bumps into them, the caper is up.
Sa'id waits impatiently for the right time, then darts through as two guards begin a discussion that he thinks will keep them immobile for a few seconds. Farron stays right behind him, and moves quietly enough that if Sa'id wasn't holding his arm, he wouldn't know he was there. [two extremely good move silent rolls made here. Like, Kasen could have snuck through in his plate mail with these rolls. Pelor smiles on the wizards]
Once past the guards, Sa'id leads Farron to the entrance of the temple. There is a large golden sun symbol on the floor in front of the main door, and after he walks across it, he feels Farron pulling on his arm. He turns back, and sees his friend standing there in plain view.
Farron says, "The seal-"
Sa'id curses under his breath as the shout goes up from the guards on the steps. Of course. A temple as rich as this one would have many wards against stealthy entry. He wants to scream and hit himself in the head, but that will have to wait for later. He just takes time to say, "Run," then bolts inside the temple. He can hear Farron right behind him, and the clank of the running guards behind them both.
Sa'id has a dim hope that if he can get to the Sunmaster, perhaps the cleric can protect them. He runs through the main hall towards the private chambers in the rear of the temple. Around him, the shouts of temple workers and clerics join in the din of the running guards. The situation is rapidly getting out of control, and Sa'id curses again. He is about half way across the main floor when the cleric Dominic steps out from the back hall. His face twists up with anger at the commotion, and he yells, "Stop!" There must be some magic in the shouted word, because everyone in the hall instantly does, Sa'id almost falling on his face as his legs suddenly refuse to keep running.
The cleric strides forward, his hands in fists, and Sa'id cringes at the coming rebukes and accusations. But Dominic walks right past him, and confronts the guard captain. "How dare you bring your soldiers into this temple! By royal decree, no soldier may enter holy ground to lay hands on a supplicant. I will have your rank stripped and your back flogged if your men are not out of my sight in the next three seconds."
The captain opens his mouth once, but snaps it shut again, and with a glare at the two wizards, quickly ushers his men from the hall.
Dominic slowly walks back to Farron. "Now, what was that all about?"
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
"Now, what was that all about?"
From the floor, Sa'id gasps, "The Sunmaster. Is he safe?"
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
"Of course he is. Colin took him to the Duke shortly after the noon bell. He has been in council ever since."
He reaches down to help Sa'id back to his feet. "Why would the Sunmaster not be safe? Why are guards chasing you? What exactly is going on here? If you are guilty of criminal acts, the temple can not protect you. We will have to turn you over to the magistrate."
From: Karl
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
"In truth, we are accused, but we are most certainly *not* guilty." Farron stammer, then in a rush of words he tell Dominic of Elise's terrible lies and their desperate attempt to warn the Sunmaster of her infiltration of the city and the White Hart. He finishes with "Please! We must see the Sunmaster immediately."
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
[OOC: Going through the archives, the name of the deceased knight has changed from Sir Basil to Sir Conal. Were there TWO murders?]
From: Mark
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
Damn I want to be able to write like that.
Mark
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
No, other than the extreme length of time between turns and bad memory, nothing going on there. :)
His name is Sir Conal now, dammit. It's the unholy influence of the demon! Names are changing!
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
During Farron's tale, several of the clerics and adherents drift over to listen in, but Dominic gives them a hard stare and says, "Back to your duties, gawkers. This is not your affair." Those eavesdroppers disperse quickly. Farron is beginning to get the impression that Dominic might be a very stern fellow. If he can't explain what's going on to Dominic's satisfaction, he has no doubt that the cleric will drag them both from the temple and throw them to the mercy of the city guard.
After chasing away the gawkers, Dominic says, "Let us finish in private." He leads the wizards to a small room with a table and four chairs, and no other adornment. It is probably a private council room for penitents seeking Pelor's advice.
"Finish," he says to Farron, and the wizard does, ending with the plea, Please! We must see the Sunmaster immediately."
Dominic frowns. "These are serious charges. The woman you speak of is ranked highly within the paladins of Helm. Though her reputation was tarnished by her disappearance and the unsolved murder, no formal charges have been laid."
He points at the two wizards, "You are the accused here, not her, or the guards would not pursue you."
He gets up and paces. "I will not act until my Lord Fellus returns. He has taken you into his councils, and I will not risk his displeasure. You may remain here until that time. I will do my best to see to your comforts. But first I must speak to the captain who is surely waiting outside the temple for me. I will return in a few moments."
The cleric leaves, and a few moments after he's gone, a boy arrives with a decanter of wine and a basket of fruit. He murmers, "Pelor's plenty to you." Then dips his head and leaves.
Farron takes a grape, but his stomach is in knots and he does not eat it, just rolls in around on the table. Sa'id pours them both a small glass of wine that they ignore.
In fifteen minutes, Dominic returns. "I have seen the orders to arrest you. They are signed by Sir Danbury himself. You are accused of murder, joining yourselves to the service of a demon, conspiring against the city and it's noble lords, and of treasonously giving your service to the Halflings who now threaten it. As evidence, your recent trip to the demon's temple, and your known association with two wild Halflings are noted."
In a statement of astonishing obviousness, he says, "This is very serious."
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
Wow. Thanks.
From: Mark
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
OOC: A voice in the back of their heads yells "Don't eat the food."
Mark
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Two Wizards about town; Something hits the fan...
"Yes, it is," Sa'id says. "She has no evidence against us, we were verifiably out of the city at the time of the murder, and yet because of her position there is already a warrant for our arrest."
He pauses. "But there is more. There must be. When we arrived here, one of our companions mentioned her involvement and Sir Danbury wouldn't hear of it. His outbrust was most unbecoming. It is clear to me that she has some kind of hold on him -- either through her beauty, which alone would be more than sufficient to sway even the stoutest heart -- or through magic. He listens to her without question. -That- is why there is a warrant for our arrest and not for hers. It's the only logical conclusion, from my position."
"As always," Sa'id continues, "I am willing to have everything I say confirmed by a magical spell of truth. When we journeyed to the demon's temple with Brother Cadfael, it was to save the life of a child. Elise herself held a black knife over the child at the altar, and would have carried out the sacrifice were it not for Cadfael. I believe she used that same knife to kill him here in Nesalin upon her return. She has forsaken Helm for this demon, the Devourer."
"This is why I fear for Sunmaster Fellus. He is the only one who can stop this demon from destroying the island. I do not -think- Elise has sufficient influence to act overtly against him, but the knowledge that he is in the same city as her, let alone in the same hall, is deeply troubling. Given a hint of a chance she will try to kill him, and if she does all will be lost."
"I understand why you wish us to remain here until he returns, but please understand that -I- am afraid that he will -not- return. I wish only to protect him. When are you expecting him to return?"