Using the skills his father drilled into him while patching up their fellows of their Ifrit tribe, Py examined the body for any sort of fatal wound. Finding nothing similar to anything he’d seen before Pyralis felt comfortable in ruling out murder as the cause of death. This led him to believe that the body would not be rigged with a trap. With precise hands Py removed the scroll clutched in the dead human’s hand and took the chain of keys from his neck, careful not to damage the body any further. The Ifrit then bowed his head and said quietly ”Requiescat in pace. And please forgive me.”
Returning to his feet, Py stepped over into a corner away from the body and away from his companions putting the chain of keys around his own neck. Turning to look at his friends, the Ifrit cleared his throat.
”Well good news; this man doesn’t seem to have been murdered. At least not by a sword. Bad news; that leads me to believe that this man may have been killed by something more difficult to identify. Possibly a poison or spell or even a disease that could be transferable. So may I request that both of you stay away from me and the corpse for now, until I see if this scroll can provide any further information.”
Frowning as he finished, Py glared at the scroll in his hand, while with the other he absent-mindedly played with the keys around his neck. Finally Py opened the scroll.
Aella put on a disgusted frown as she glanced down at the man's corpse. "Poison and disease? What a terrible way to die. There's no honour in that. When I go, it'll be on the tip of a worthy opponent's sword in the defense of my friends." It was said so matter-of-factly that her friends may have just thought she had seen her fate already.
Py cleared his throat to gain the attention of the two and spoke:
"URGENT NOTICE:
To whom it may concern,
Something wicked in the pit of peasants stirs. I have observed many strange things down here while on duty, and after investigating I have come to the conclusion that foul magic is involved. I have discovered traces of something sinister in a warehouse in Queenstown. I am requesting the aid of a Spellbreaker Inquisitor level four or higher. There is more - worse - but I could not trust such details to the contents of this scroll.
With haste,
Inquisitor Marloren"
As Aella finished, Py gave her a polite smile. ”Uhuh. Well Aella, I’ve never really given much thought to my preferred demise. But I’m really hoping it isn’t going to be to a mystery disease in a broken down elevator. So I’m gonna read this now and hope for the best.” Py then opened the letter and read it aloud.
”Whew. I’m gonna take this to mean that I don’t have some fatal disease. So let’s work on the other half of the problem and find a way down.”
The warrior woman shook her head as Py finished and gave a shrug.
"I am sorry friends, but I have nothing to offer there, it doesn't mean a thing to me. You're from around here though, aren't you Felix? Have you anything to add?" As she spoke, Aella found herself wandering to the middle of the cabin. She studied the lever that sat there for a moment, grabbed it, and pulled.
There was a sickening crack of snapping wood, the cabin lurched... then began its slow - and peaceful - decent.
"I can help with that, though!"
Felix grabbed his chest, his heart beating so fast from the fright.
"Phew, man what a scare..."
Felix watched as Felix does his thing, and listen as Aella claimed to she'll die in defense of her friends. He thought it was quite admirable really, definitely something he wouldn't want for himself though. Felix thought to himself that he'd want to die as an old man, surrounded by babes. Like that rich mogul with a bunch of Playman concubines... Hefner Hughes.
As Py read out the scroll, Felix comes into a sudden realization. "S!+~... I bet thats the warehouse that we're supposed to go into... To search for Rodrigo...." At least they know they have some troubles of a magical sort ahead of them... But thats already pretty vague.
"Hm... I might know a couple of things about the fifth level... I just need to remember..."
Felix tries to think of any information in his head that might help them in their adventure in the lower level.
Aella rubbed her chin, frowning, as she considered Felix' words.
"That's... worrying. Or not. If the Church has found Rodrigo's den already then I fear the worst. However..." She looked down at the dead body, nudging it with her foot. "This man seems to have run into some trouble in transit. Who knows how many others did he tell before he died? And who killed him? It'd be nice to think that Rodrigo caught him before he could escape, and yet... I somehow don't think he'd be foolish or careless enough to leave the body here, incriminating scroll and all." She gave a shrug and smiled. "These are questions for a smarter woman than I. I'm just hoping I'll be able to knock a few heads along the way. Look, we're here."
The cabin rumbled, leaving Py to stagger as it came to a stop. Aella opened the door and swiftly stepped out, eager to be out of that wooden death trap. The part found themselves in a fairly small enclosure, a shadowed exit bay that had room enough for the two cabins, and a seemingly out-of-place hitching rail. Right beside them was the pile of splintered wood that held the remains of their previous cabin, and to the north was the only exit, which seemed to be barred by a rusted gate. A man sat slumped, resting against the wall just on the other side, not paying them any attention.
Felix streched as he steps outside of the cabin.
"Ugh! Glad to be out of that rusty death trap."
As soon as he looks around for anything unusual in the area.
He also notices the man far in the distance, slumped on the wall.
He tries to stealthily approach him in the shadows to try and get a better look.
(if the man doesnt look dangerous)
As he reaches the man who doesn't notice him, he taps him on the shoulder and shouts "HI! EXCUSE ME, HELLO!" with a big smile smile on his face.
(if the man does look dangerous)
Felix moves back to tell Aella to come next to him (thinking that she might scare him with her exotic buffness), and then taps him on the shoulder
(if he looks dead)
Felix taps him, finds out he's dead, and screams.
As Felix sneaked over to the man two things became apparent: firstly, he appeared to be mostly non-threatening as he was a standard city guard not under direct employ of the church, and secondly, that he was either asleep or seriously out of it and... crying?
Which is why, when Felix so suddenly and rudely yelled in his ear, he jumped a solid five foot in the air, dropped his poleax, and squealed. The man scrambled for his weapon and pointed it at Felix (butt end first, but hey who's judging?).
"W-what are you? I m-mean who are you? I mean s-s-state your b-business!" He seemed to realize how ridiculous he must look with his weapon back-to-front and tears still wet on his face, so he did his best to fix both. It was only then that he saw that he had dropped his keys dangerously close to the door. He tried to keep his eyes on Felix as he bent down to pick them up, but his weapon got caught in the bars of the gate, swung up and knocked off his helmet, then proceeded to slip through the bars and land at Felix' feet. The man licked his lips, snatched the keys, and took a poleax-length step backwards. He held out the keyring in front of him like a weapon, pretending as if nothing had happened.
With the guard now awakened by Felix’s shouting, the distress was very clear on his face. The guard’s fear made Pyralis very aware of his flaming hair. Taking a step behind the towering Aella, Py bowed his head and brought the hood of his cloak up to cover himself. ”I don’t want to set this man off any more than he already seems to be. I’ll leave the talking to Felix.” That thought sent a shiver up Py’s spine but he hoped it would be the for the best.
"Oh! Sorry for scaring you there, my good man. Greetings! Me and my companions here are assigned by the Kingdom to proceed with a top secret mission. Would you please open the gates for us and let us through, it is very urgent. And please, turn that key ring away from your colleagues. You wouldn't want to be in trouble would you?"
Felix says sternly as he stands tall and proud as if he's someone important.
***
If he asks for proof or anything he says.
"Unfortunately, we don't have any letters or some sort as this is top secret. Any letters or evidence of this happening might set off a trail to our enemies... You don't want that do you?"
Felix was quite convincing in his story, so much so in fact, that the man missed Felix' "kingdom" faux pas. He stood there, scratching his skin, with the gears quite visibly ticking in his head. Eventually he sighed in resignation.
"Well, I s-suppose it doesn't really m-matter, does it? I'm a dead m-man either way. Just, p-please, don't be bad guys, okay? You're not criminals, right?" After mustering up what meager courage he had, he stepped forward and unlocked the gate, letting it swing open.
"Just don't t-tell anyone I- PRAISE BE, WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" He guffaws at the shambled remains of the broken cabin, eyes bulging. "What did you do!"
"Thank you... but wait... why are you a dead man? What happened?" Felix says back, feeling bit sorry for the poor man.
"There's evil afoot around this area, I suggest not going anywhere near the loading docks for now, nor warn anyone else about it. This is a part of our mission, and so we cannot discuss it with you. I'm sorry, friend, but I must warn you not to question us any further for both our safety."
He seemed genuinely taken aback by your interest in his well being, standing there and twiddling his thumbs for a moment before speaking up again.
"Well, I mean, not literally dead but... If Jasmine leaves me I may as well be. 'One more month', I say it every damn month, 'One more month and I'll have enough money and we can get married.' But it never happens. They told me this would be a great job, respectable, SAFE! They never told me that most of the pay comes from commissions from handing in bozos. You're the first damn people who have come down these elevators in... in... in forever!" He stopped to shake his head. "She's wonderful, but no one has that much patience, especially for a loser like m-..." He blinked, realizing he'd been rambling on to complete strangers, and promptly shut his mouth.
"Like you c-care anyway. Go on, if y-you need me, Jake'll be here. Like always..."
Felix, a man of romance himself, sympathizes with the man and pities him...(although he's never really had any problems with any woman... ever)
Felix says "Uno momento" to the guard and slips back to his friends.
"Okay guys... I've got a plan. How about we help this guy up to grab some monsters here in the loading bay... So that he'll be indebted to us... It wouldn't hurt if we have a friendly guard in our pockets, also we can find out what the hell is happening here.." He whispered
He looks at Pyralis... "And the guard freaks out and runs off to the authorities... You can burn his face off... I mean if you want to..." Felix shrugs "Maybe Jasmine's into that s@+&, might help him a bit."
He sighs as he puts his hand on the guard's shoulder. "Okay... look... How about we take you with us for a bit, you can take the bad guys with you and earn some money on the way?"
"Just so happens that we might run into some trouble while doing our mission. You know... Bandits, maybe magical creatures... and maybe even turncoats *gasp*. If you help us take care of them, you can turn them in for your commissions... As long as you don't tell anyone about us, of course. This IS a secret mission. That's an added bonus, we'll give you all the credit."
"And if you want to come. You HAVE to agree to be okay with some weird s&$#."
Felix gave a smirk after that statement when he saw the guard's reaction.
"Not that kind of weird s*~$... It's just that we are on a special mission... And because of that we have special privileges... My friends here are an odd bunch, so don't freak out or run away when you see something out of the ordinary..." Felix stated as he gives a friendly smirk. "Is that okay with you, Jake?"
Jake looked at Felix, mouth half agape. He motioned to speak, stopped himself, then shut his mouth and stood there blinking as Felix talked and talked and never shut up, (as usual). As the rogue finished he took a breath and opened his mouth once more,
"W-well... that's, wow, that's a l-lot to think about? Would you really do that? F-for me?" He turned to look back around him, making sure no one was around, before letting out a resigned sigh. "Okay, it's the only chance I'll g-get in this gods-forsaken level, isn't it?" The lousy guard unlocked the gate as he spoke, taking some time as he clearly hadn't done it in quite awhile. "B-but, uhh..." he held the gate open for Felix and his companions, chewing his lip "Someone will surely notice... P-perhaps, if we, uhh, made a... d-dummy?" He looked at Felix apologetically, hoping the man could come up with a better plan than that!
Felix looked at Pyralis in hopes that he will be able to do something with his magics... Unfortunately, nothing came up and it left Felix to follow suite with the plan of making a dummy instead.
With haste and precision he created a dummy out of the items inside the loading dock. He swiftly grabbed the guard's cloak and helm off him before he could complain and dressed the dummy to make it look somehow like the guard. With the pen and ink on his hand, he drew a comical smiley face and placed the dummy in an angle where passerbys cannot recognize that the figure was fake.
With a flourish, he presented his creation with a big grin on his face and said 'TADA!'
'I call him... Jim!' He laughed 'What do you think?' He turned to Aella and Pyralis.
Aella shook her head and sighed. Was this to be her last adventure? Lacking a better idea, she looked to Py and shrugged.
Py met Felix’s gaze, knowing the rogue wanted him to magic something up. ”I got nothing.” Pyralis shrugged, leaving Felix to work his own magic. Py took a seat in the decrepit elevator that saved their lives just a few minutes ago. As he sat Py watched his new companions. Felix was rushing around the loading dock gathering bits and pieces and then took the cloak right off Jake’s back before huddling in a corner to begin his creation. Aella stood close to Jake, occasionally nodding to him and giving a big grin to reassure him. By the look on Jake’s face it wasn’t working. The worry was clear on his face and who could blame him. ”How is this ever going to work? How are we ever going to escape this city alive? We nearly died getting this far.” Py asked himself quietly, suddenly becoming very sullen. As if feeling the decline in her master’s spirits Tana flitted down to his shoulder and began nibbling on his ear. The corners of Py’s lips turned up slightly and he pushed those thoughts out of his mind.
Shortly after Felix released a loud TADA and revealed his new creation. Py came to join Aella and Jake to see the fruits of Felix’s labour. A rather sad looking… man? Apparently a man named Jim. ”He looks great Felix.” Py lied, a fake smile plastered on his face. “Jake should we actually expect anyone to come here? Does it have much traffic? Not that Jim wouldn’t fool anyone who came by.” Py asked of their new ally, careful to keep his head low so Jake couldn’t catch the faint glow of his hair.
Felix stood there proudly, chest puffed, his hands to his hips. "THANKS!" He beamed proudly, completely missing Pyralis' obvious lie.
'Hehe.. I should do this more often. I'm a great artist!' He thought to himself as Pyralis asked his questions.
Jake flails and whines as he's flustered back and forth by Felix. He made a snatch for the helmet, trying (and failing) to keep his scruffy, mousy-brown hair covered. When all was said and done Jake felt half nude, like he'd just been stripped! He'd never been on duty without his helm and tabard before...
When he saw the end product the man almost gagged. "Mercy..." The guard wrung his hands together, looked down the street either way, then sighed. "Well, if it's a-all we have... it'll have t-to do. No one really c-comes here often anyway, I s-suppose. Well then... what now?" It was obviously a big step for him, but it seemed he was at least somewhat determined to move on.
"You'll be fine!" Felix smacked Jake on his back as some form of encouragement as Jake let off a loud "OOF!"
Felix grinned as he stepped forward a few paces before he realized he doesn't know where he's going. He turned back and hurried over towards Jake. "Uh.... Sorry... Would you be able to guide is to Queenstown?" He smiled apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head in embarassment.
"Queenstown? Uhh, y-yeah sure. It's not f-far from here at all. What are we doing t-there?" He seemed a bit awkward, wanting to get moving without directly leading the way in a sort-of half-shuffle. "Ahh, I h-have a, uhh, selfish request. C-could we please make a quick s-stop at Eileen's? It won't take long, I p-promise. Plus, she won't have a p-problem with you guys at all!"
"Hmmm.. Who is Eileen?" Felix asked. He grinned "Is that a girl on the side?!"
He place his hands on Jake's shoulder and stated "Look man if you're serious about Jasmine this ain't worth it. Brother to brother here... I've been there (not really, I've never been serious with any girl in my life). Too many girls can be a headache."
Jake stared, wide-eyed and mouth open.
"Eileen is m-my Mother in Law."
"By gods Jake! So you're into that huh!" Felix said, surprised at the statement.
Felix put his hands on his hips. "Well I suppose we can, just remember though, we are in a secret mission. We can't have you talking to her about who we are and what we are here to do." He said seriously "Why would you want to visit her?
Jake looked at Felix, then over to Aella who only shrugged, then back at Felix. He shut his mouth and started walking.
"I just... need to tell her something. In case, y-you know, something goes wr-wrong..." He turned and gave a slight smile. "She may even give you some good advice. She's g-great with stuff like that."
As Felix and Jake had their odd discussion, Py was absent-mindedly scratching Tanna on the back of her head. When Jake asked for his detour to see his ‘Mother in Law’ Py’s gaze snapped onto the novice guard.
Pyralis began intently examining Jake’s body language and tried to read his face, to determine if their new ally was lying to them about his request.
Though Py was very astute in his studying, he came to the conclusion that there could really only be two options; he truly was the bumbling, down-on-his-luck, depressed man he seemed to be, or he was the most genius actor this side of Glamriel. It was probably the former.
After observing Jake for a few moments Py came to accept that there was no malevolence to Jake’s request. Calm down Py, not all humans are horrible. The Ifrit told himself, trying hard to believe it. He then began following his friends away from this god forsaken loading dock.
After making a strange trek through the dead streets and cluttered back alleys (and strange it was for someone like Felix, who rarely, if ever, stepped foot on real earth) the group made a turn into a slightly busier street than any they'd seen so far.
The second he stepped foot from the dirt sidetrack to the stone-cobbled street Py, who had been staying to the back of the group at the time, was immediately overcome by the feeling of being watched. Scanning the crowd ahead of them, however, turned up nothing. He glanced up and to the sides, trying to get a good look into the dim second-story windows, but could not get a good view without breaking his nonchalant stride. The feeling followed him right up until the otherwise clueless group stopped in front of a homely looking building just off to the left, at which point the feeling abruptly vanished.
The one-and-a-half story house was decorated out front by an array of different kinds of wonderfully smelling loaves of bread, with various (extremely low) prices painted onto signs behind them and some barely-filled payment collection baskets below them.
"H-here we are! Let's go say hello." Jake wasted no time, hurrying up the three front steps, though he was polite enough to stop and hold the door open for everyone else.
They entered to the unmistakable ding-a-ling of a shop-keeper's bell, and were greeted at the door by an obviously teenage boy, with apron on and broom in hand. Perhaps "greeted" was a too-strong word for it, for the boy stood there gawking at Aella, mouth hanging unashamedly wide.
"Terrance, what are you doing, boy? Greet th- Oh, Jaximus! My son, you don't know how much you've warmed an old woman's heart with your visit. I thought you would be on duty right now? Never mind that, come talk with me." An old lady, who could be none other than Eileen, beckoned to Jake from behind the rickety front counter. Though her back was hunched with age, and her face was wrinkled, it was not hard to tell that she would have been a beauty in her prime.
"Terrance, get Jaximus' friends some fresh loaves to munch on, they must be starving.
...
...
..." The boy was jolted from his trance by the baguette that thunked off the back of his head. He mumbled an apology and quickly dashed off to hand some delicious smelling bread to Py, Felix, and especially to Aella.
Jake, after some light chat with Eileen, grabbed her by the elbow and tugged her to the corner, speaking in hushed tones.
DC 15 Perception to eavesdrop.
Following behind the group, Py felt no urge to catch up to them completely. Instead he strolled along at his own pace, his attention focused on Tana. As always she was sitting on his shoulder pecking at her master’s hood where she thought his ear should be. ”For such a little creature you’re gonna change my life in a big way aren’t you?” After waiting a moment, half-hoping the bird would answer him, Py started to think back to the eve of what was to be his and Felix’s death…
Stepping out onto the new street his thoughts evaporated completely. His focus had shifted to a very familiar feeling. Someone was watching him. Trying not to tip his hand, the Ifrit began to scan his surroundings for the set of eyes boring down on him. He found no sign of his observer. Finally the gaze he felt fell away as the group arrived at the home of Eileen.
Following his companions inside, they were met by a rather annoying little human, his eyes locked on Aella. ”It’s rude to stare, boy.” he growled, not in the mood for human foolishness. And then another loud human entered the room, who by the way she spoke to “Jaximus” was sure to be Eileen. Am I cursed to be ever surrounded by human noise? Taking the bread but ignoring the boy offering it to him, Pyralis trained his attention on Eileen and Jake speaking in the corner.
Felix stepped through the door and breathed heavily. The smell of fresh bread was delightful and definitely something that Felix missed.
Though it felt like years, it has only been a few days since he last spent his night comfortable on a soft bed, eating crisp biscuits as a lady slept on his arms.
After a few seconds of savouring the smell, he saw Pyralis growl at a poor boy who seems to be unable to control puberty. He gently taps the boy with the back of his forehead afterwards "Haha, don't worry about him. He's right though, you shouldnt stare. But, it's perfectly understandable! Don't worry you'll have your moment with lovely women in the future when you come of age" He remarks as he walked past "P-probably..." He bellowed.
He greeted Eileen with a handsome and respectful smile, his grace only to be interrupted by a delicious piece of bread that he shoved in his mouth barbarously.
Still hungry, Felix moves into the corner where Jake brought Eileen, not noticing they're talking.
"Hey Eileen, darling, can I have some more br--"
He abruptly stopped after realizing they were discussing something serious.
"Oh? Whats all this about?"
"...I...I h-have to do this. I c-can't be the man she needs me to b-be doing guard duty for much longer. I d-don't know really how dangerous it might be, but I'm d-determined." He took a small, black package from his pocket and placed it in her hand. "Please, if anything happens, tell her I loved her. And that I'm s-sorry. And..."
A hand brushed along the back of Py's neck and promptly yanked him back by his collar.
"It's also rude to eavesdrop, fireman." Aella looked at him as if she had expected better from the more "responsible" of the two. Without looking away, she threw a rock-hard loaf of bread with exquisite accuracy across the room to plonk Felix on his noggin and send him sprawling. "Sorry Eileen, perhaps we should wait outside" she said as she dragged the dazed man out of the room by his ankles. Tugging Py by his elbow, Aella made sure all three of them were outside before letting go.
It was only a few minutes before they were rejoined, giving them enough time to eye the few miserable, shifty, angry, or emotionless people that shuffled past. One person in particular strode with confidence and authority, a rarity if what they had seen so far was indicative. He looked at the group intensely, frowned, then carried on. Eileen stepped out first, followed by Jake, who looked a little flustered, but otherwise ready.
"If there's anything you need, just ask. I know this place better'n the wrinkles on my hand. Born an' raised an' all that."
Felix cried with a loud "OW!" rubbing his head from the pain. "That's a waste of a perfectly good bread!" He frowned, and struggled as Aella dragged from the room.
"I must say, my friend, you'll have nothing to worry about. You saw this hunk of a lady throw that piece of bread with accuracy! You're in good hands. He said, still rubbing his head.
"Three questions"
He noticed the confident man walk past with a noticeable swagger. "Who's that man over there? I like him already" He asked, slightly annoyed from the pain and now struggling to eat the weaponized piece of bread that Aella threw.
"And do you know anything about an old warehouse at Queenstown by any chance? And any sort of odd... rather dangerous things happening around the area?"
"And you're noggin' has a waste of perfectly good space inside it."
***
Eileen turns to Felix and listens intently, nodding her head.
"That man? Hmm?" She raises up on her toes to get a better look, making it quite obvious she was looking right at him. "He's not one of us. By the look of him I'd say he's from the church up above."
She takes a moment to think upon your further questions.
"Hmm, judging by how you ask I'd say those two are related, yes? Well I don't have anything concrete, but there's been murmurings around town of things bein' off, people goin' missin' and all that. More than usual at least. There's a lot of warehouses down here, you may be out of luck. But... I'd say your best bet is to head down to Harry's Harehouse. And uhh..." She looks off to either side, just to make sure no one was close enough to listen in, then leans in close. "When you talk to him, say this: 'It's getting dark down here, can't wait for the sun to come out.' He'll say: 'Well you'll know it because the rats will be gone.' Then you reply: 'Yeah, but the owl's will still be around.'" She coughs and goes back to her normal, smiling self. "Sorry I couldn't be of much more help. Feel free to pop by again if you ever need to take a break, okay? Good bye, Jaximus. Be well."
Forced to stand outside the bakery, Pyralis ignored the passers-by. Instead his eyes were locked on Aella, glaring at her without caring if she noticed or not.
Before coming to this damn town it had been quite a while since Pyralis had been treated in such a way by a human; being dragged from a building. Deep down he knew Aella's actions were not out of cruelty.
But the anger that had spawned from such interactions in the past began flaring up and was difficult to keep under control.
***
It took the entire time from waiting for Jaximus and Eileen to exit the bakery until the woman finished speaking to the group, for Py to get his anger to a manageable level.
He had ignored most of what she had to say except for her direction to find Harry’s Harehouse, whatever that was.
When finally a lull in the conversation appeared, Pyralis spoke. “Miss Eileen, thank you for your help.” Giving her a cold and quick smile Py then turned to his associates.
“Can we leave yet?” the look he gave each of them made it clear that Pyralis was ready to be done with this place. “Whoever knows the way to this Harry person, lead on.”
Eileen takes Pyralis' hand in both of her own and smiles at him. "I sense you've some conflicting emotions, young man. I can tell by the light of your eyes. There's a fire there I've not seen since my Arthur passed away. Though you must not be afraid to embrace it in times of need, do not let it overcome you."
She gives the group one last wave goodbye and then returns to darkness of her shop.
"Yes, l-let us be on our way."
Jake leads you down off the front porch and into the small throng of human traffic on the street. Following him is easy enough, considering he stops every few steps to make sure you're following. Though it may look slightly suspicious, he was moving fast enough that there was no easy way to tell him.
Before long the group stands before a seedy looking building at the square end of a T-intersection. The inside is lit up quite brightly, and spews out the sounds of drunken insults, outrage, but mostly laughter. A weathered sign hangs over the entrance, picturing a hare wearing a top-hat and corset, with its legs spread.
Jake looks at you, blushing somewhat. This was the end of his turn as leader, and he looked eager to be rid of the responsibility.
"And you're noggin' has a waste of perfectly good space inside it."
Felix looked at her, his face warped with annoyance and shock, reacting to the cruel irony coming from the thick headed woman.
***
He looked at Eileen, and laughing nervously at the weird phrases that she spoke. "Uuuuhh right.... Let's just hope one of us remembers that."
Snickering on the side, Felix fought hard to ask "Is Harry a wizard?" Knowing full well that no one will get his dumb joke.
He then looks weirdly at Pyralis and the old woman, and cringed at the somewhat intense conversation they were having. "Is she comparing him to her husband? Oh god.... Maybe that's what Py's into."
Not saying a word, Felix just gives Pyralis a pat on the back, a thumbs up and a wry smile as they walked off, following Jake to Harry's Harehouse.
***
Felix looks at the rickety old building, listening to the boisterous laughter of its occupants and the good-willed insults of what sounds like his type of people. The smell of liquor and his sense hopeful debauchery, Felix didn't think twice about going in.
Side stepping quickly behind his group, he pushes everyone into the building excitedly, before they could even react.
"LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!"
Taking the coin from Eileen, a gentle calm ebbed into him. Looking up at her, Pyralis returned the woman’s smile with a genuine one of his own. ”Thank you, Miss Eileen.”
***
The entire time the group travelled to find this Harry’s Harehouse, Py had been focusing on his new talisman. Hoping that if he concentrated hard enough, the calmness it emanated would grow stronger.
It may have just been his imagination, but it felt like it was working.
Unfortunately, as usual, Felix ruined the moment.
Feeling Felix’s hand on his back begin to propel him forward, Py looked up. His gaze fell upon the Harehouse and the din of its patrons finally broke through his bubble of isolation.
”…God’s damn you Felix.” Sighing loudly, Py let the rouge traffic him into hell.
Aella and Py were bundled together and pushed through the door by an over-excited Felix. Despite his lack of musculature, the man sure seemed to pull out an odd strength when it came to satiating the needs of his loins... The group was swallowed up by the warmth and light of communal camaraderie. A hooded man, watching from the murky safety of a hidden doorway nearby stands up, jotting down something on a sheaf of paper before moving off into the night.
***
"IF YE CAN'T PISS FROM 'ERE TO THA WALL, YE AIN'T A FOOKIN' MAN!" Though Py must have felt a little out of place, Felix would be right at home. Men and women alike, most admittedly ugly through a mix of genetics and hard labour, laugh and carouse together merrily. Though the weight of living below the city is present even here, the mirth, even if chemically induced, is a nice change to the stifling depression of the common folk outside. Upon walking in, the group is quickly accosted.
A hulking brute of a man, equal in presence - if only due to size - to the warrior's grace with which Aella held herself, this man was intimidating to say the least. He's also quite obviously drunk, and by the sneering faces of his friends nearby, it appears he's confronting you upon (bad) advice from his friends. He grins, scratching at his shaggy beard, and begins, "Oi, you." He says, pointing a thick sausage of a finger at the somewhat surprised Aella. "Oim the King 'ere, and it's my decca-... declura-... my law 'ere that you gotta beat me in an arm wrassle to drink. I don't mean to pick on the girly, but this fella couldn't wrassle the cork from a bottle," he says, pointing at Felix "and I'm not even sure what you are!"
Aella grins, interlocking her fingers and flexing them so she could let out an intimidating crack of her knuckles. "You are on, little man. There shall be a Queen here before the night is through!" With that, Aella leads the way back to the table where the man came from, deliberately challenging the man's honour in front of his friends. This left Py and Felix alone to do as they pleased.
However, before long a girl with auburn hair and cheeks full of freckles skips to a halt in front of the two. Her dress is obviously suggestive, and her head sports two lilting wire-supported rabbit ears. She grins wildly, a chip on her front tooth incredibly obvious. "Welcome to 'arry's. What can I do for ya?" She gestures first to the bar area, and then to a battered mauve curtain which you can only assume separates the common room to upstairs rooms.
As the atmosphere of what smelt to Py like stale ale and bodily fluids washed over him, it felt like a piece of his soul had died. Py had been in places like this before accompanying some of his Ifrit clan into a bar or inn. Most nights they would leave merry and drunk. Other nights they would be run out by patrons too drunk to remember how to be civilised. With those nights burned into his memory, Pyralis prepared himself.
Taking Tana from his shoulder Py rubbed her little head, and then secreted the baby bird away into a deep pocket of his cloak. With his friend safe, Py then pulled his hood up even higher and wrapped his cloak tightly around him. Becoming an amorphous form of mottled shades of green beneath his cloak, Py probably stood out like a sore thumb but he felt safe within its folds of cloth.
***
As soon as the drunk stops before them, Py lets out a low groan. The curse continues. About to let his attention turn to the rest of the room and let the others deal with the man, he hears the slurred insults. Py’s eyes lock onto the man. When Aella leaves to accept the man’s challenge, a hand shoots out from beneath the cloak that shields Py and grabs Aella’s arm. Py looks up at the tower of a woman and smiles mischievously. ”Break him.” As he says the words, magic begins to flow into his hand but he catches himself. Remembering the city they are in right now, Py halts the magic and pulls his hand back in swiftly. Watching Aella swagger off with the brute, Py is confident that she needs no assistance taking her rightful place as Queen.
Py begins squeezing his calming talisman, focusing intently on it to avoid any further outbursts.
***
When the bunny-girl finishes her greeting, Pyralis stays silent and shifts slightly putting himself on the outside of the upcoming conversation so he could see the faces of both Felix and the girl. This should be good.
Felix inhaled the stench of booze and debauchery, looked at its patrons and felt at home immediately.
A little annoyed at the remark by the brutish drunken pig, he gave a mighty slap against Aella's shoulder blades as a form of encouragement. It hurt a little bit. "Go get them tiger!" He exclaimed...
Besides, he's not much for shows of strength like that, it is merely but to compensate for their lack of brains.
Felix let out a whistle as the freckled girl come upon his audience. He quickly stepped infront of Pyralis, bumping him slightly, redirecting all the girl's attention to him. Immediately he brushed his hair with is fingers confidently and smiled.
"What CAN you do for me? For a beautiful woman such as yourself, I can think of plenty..." He smirked flirtatiously, his voice sultry and sweet as if he's singing. He stepped slightly towards the lass, towering over her. "What is there beyond those mauve curtains, love?
"What's behind the curtains? Well, poisoned wine and a shank to the ribs!" The girl snorts, covering her mouth and just barely manages to stifle her laughter. When she looks up, and sees that no one else is laughing, she coughs to regain her composure. "Ah, boys and girls of all shapes and sizes, sir. Should you purchase some time, the first drink is on the house! Follow me, sir." The girl walks over to the curtain, hips swaying, and slips behind it, confident that Felix would follow.
"My pinky! She broke my pinky!" A wave of raucous laughter rolls from the tables nearby, where Aella is standing, smugness plastered all over her face. Some more conversation, mostly friendly jeers and mock hails to the new Queen of the pub, follows, before Aella can be seen escorting the wounded, yet smiling, man to the personal rooms above.
This leaves poor Py -unless Felix chooses to go completely against the very fiber of his being - standing alone amidst the crowd, bundled up as he is. Looking around, Jake was nowhere to be found either. Hopefully Py, had not forgotten why they were in there in the first place.
Py shakes his head as he listens to the ’charming’ rogue run his silver tongue.
How has he survived this long talking to people like that?
Taken aback by the girl’s response Py shifts slowly towards Felix. When she finishes her sales pitch, Pyralis rolls his eyes, claps Felix on the shoulder and tells him loudly so the girl will hear “I know this doesn’t take you very long,” then lowering his voice ”But do remember we are here on business.” With a smug smile on his face, Py leaves Corvus to his vices and heads towards the bar.
Hearing the cries heralding the new Queen, Py knows that Aella has her own preoccupation.
Yes, leave the information gathering to the short tempered Ifrit in a city of racists. This will go well for of us I’m sure.
***
Pushing through the drunken masses, Py finds an empty stool and slides up onto it. He knocks on the bar and attempts to get the bartender’s attention.
The barkeep, a short man with a mop of scruffy brown hair and a scruffier beard, finishes up his order with another patron before turning to confront Py.
"Aye, greetings lad. Haven't seen you or your mates 'round here before." He must have seen something on the Ifrit's face, for he shuffles back a touch and holds up his hand defensively. "No implications intended, of course. Could I grab you a drink, friend?" He turns and reaches for a few clean glasses, holding the variety of sizes up for Py's inspection. Noting the brief lack in customer's screaming for ale, he leans in to chat. "Name's Harry, by the way."
“Ah, as in Harry whose name is above the door? A pleasure to meet the proprietor of a business held in such high esteem.” As Pyralis speaks he strains to remember back to the conversation between the others and Eileen. He’s sure there was something important to do with Harry. Besides the fact that he owned the bar. All he can recall is how he had sulked after Aella bruised his ego.
Damn my foolish temper. It will be the end of me soon enough.
Before the silence becomes too awkward Py blurts out, ”A um, mutual friend of ours uh - recommended your establishment. Ms. Eileen... She asked me to say hello.” Watching for Harry’s reaction, Py grips his calming coin hard enough it’s mark will be left in his palm for a few hours at least.
Gathering himself back together now, Py remembers Harry had asked him a question. "Oh and um, water would be nice, thank you. Can't have anything uh stronger. Here on... Business."
Gods, I sound like a damned fool. Speaking of which, I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I wish Felix were here.
The smile that Harry so casually held at all times upon his face disappeared in an instant at the mention of Eileen. His mouth half agape, he blinks, licks his lips, then resumes his previous expression.
"Eileen? Nah, don't know an Eileen, sorry." He fills the glass with water and ice and places it in front of Py, a slight frown dragging down the corner of his lips. He seems to be waiting for something but unable to act in the meantime.
”You don’t know Ms. Eileen?” Py looks very confused and worried. Gods, I really zoned out didn’t I.
”Are you absolutely sure you don’t know Ms. Eileen? She runs the bakery not far from here.”
Taking a drink Py looks at Harry over the lip of the glass. Putting the empty glass down, another name comes to him. Leaning in, Py motions Harry to do the same.
He whispers ”If you don’t know Ms. Eileen, perhaps I could run another name by you? Have you heard anything of Rodrigo lately?”
As he speaks, Py watches Harry's face with a keen eye looking for any kind of tell.
The man frown deepens, a furrow creasing his bushy brow.
"I... may or may not know an Eileen. What's it to you?"
He leans down at Py's motion, intentionally or not.
"Rodrigo? Nope, definitely don't know of any Rodrigos..."
As Harry answers, Py could hear the man’s heart jump a few beats.
”Listen Mr. Harry, please speak truthfully with me. I’m sure you saw my companions when we entered. We’ve come to this level as a favour to a friend who wishes to know that Rodrigo is safe.
Our interests do not go beyond that.” Py takes a breath to think carefully about his next words, though at this point he assumes that he's already said too much so why not keep going.
”We came to your establishment Mr. Harry, solely on the advice of Ms. Eileen. She was quite intent that we come to you. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to disappoint her.
We both know the damage she can cause with a stale loaf of bread don’t we?” A sly smirk plays at the corners of Py's lips but his eyes are intense and locked with Harry’s.
A thought occurs to Py and he reaches into a pocket in his cloak. Removing the coin he rests it in his palm and reveals it to Harry, though covering it slightly to keep it protected from keen-eyed patrons.
"Perhaps a boon the Baker bestowed upon me would help solidify my claims?"