In a wallet you find some Lassaian identification papers with his face and the name Jenison Favraux. Also some kind of card or pass for the University across the river, with writing indicating he's some kind of doctor or nurse. Psychology, perhaps? It's all gibberish to you.
You're surprised by what you find stuffed into an inner vest pocket. There are three pieces of paper of different weight and textures. The first one is a precisely folded piece of nearly white paper. It seems to be a letter, but there is no name at the top or the bottom.
- The threat is found. Nanette Delacroix. Tests inconclusive. The young man, Simon Ambrose, will be a problem. Will recover the girl and remove the boy.
The second piece of paper is a course paper, torn on one edge then cleanly folded like the first, with a handwritten message (though in different penmanship than the first):
- You must meet us tonight. If you can do so inconspicuously, come armed. We will meet you there. Keep your eyes open and watch out for Thorns.
The third, however, is the most intriguing. It is coarse paper similar to the handwritten note. It is messily folded into quarters, and one edge is soaked in congealed blood. When you open it, there are two renderings on it. One of Rabbit and one of you - with both of your names scrawled under them. The handwriting is like that of the second note.
Other than those you find about fifty strips of cash, then a rolled up leather case with strange metal instruments.
Callum looks up from his search of the Nervous Man's body to see three people standing just inside the doorway. A short IssLaani man stands in front with two behind him. A young man and woman.
The IssLaani looks at both of you for a second before raising a hand in an awkward gesture, as if he's holding something that's not there. He speaks in a thick IssLaani accent, "I was wondering if either of you gentlemen has a light for my cigar. I seem to have left my matches in my other pants."
Rabbit looks him over, "It seems, Captain, that our actual contact is here. Can we discuss this out of the rain?"
The IssLaani steps back into the hallway, taking care to stay between the two young people and Rabbit and Callum. "Mr. Giles. Mr. Rhens. I'm assuming my partner never made contact with you?"
There is a slight bump on the door through which you saw the prostitute. When you look over, your ears are greeted with the same rhythmic gasping and shuffling as before.
Well, is it the same? The woman's gasps are stronger, faster. The moaning more urgent. Weakly frantic, even.
That's when you notice it. The sliver of light that penetrates into her darkened room from yours lights up a strip of pale, naked skin across her rib-cage. But what catches your eye is the red pool beneath her.
Reiko moves fast. She sneaks to the door, senses on alert, and opens it... looking for the woman's attacker or any other danger, and wishing yet again that she was armed with more than her smile.
Seeing nothing, she crouches down by the woman and attempts to stabilize her condition.
Rabbit looks him over, "It seems, Captain, that our actual contact is here. Can we discuss this out of the rain?"
The IssLaani steps back into the hallway, taking care to stay between the two young people and Rabbit and Callum. "Mr. Giles. Mr. Rhens. I'm assuming my partner never made contact with you?"
Callum places the papers in his pocket, along with a pair of the unused daggers. He turns to the newcomers, and gesturing back inside, addresses the IssLaani man. "Your partner is probably dead. And these two fellows have at least two more with them, probably waiting for us inside."
Simon keeps his body in front of Nanette as they watch their IssLaani companion talk to the two strangers.
He spends a second trying to get the measure of the two men, but then something the IssLaani said sparks his memory.
"As we were coming out here, I saw someone over in the northeast corner of the courtyard. I think they might need our help..."
And with that, Simon leads Nanette back toward the hand hidden in the paper stacks.
The hand belongs to another IssLaani, his dark eyes staring blankly into the falling rain, a look of pain frozen on his face. Nanette checks the man for a pulse before shaking her head.
The IssLaani curses softly in his native tongue, sitting quietly for a few moments before whispering something that sounds like it may be a prayer or something. Then he lifts his eyes to the group, "This was ShoPi. He was supposed to contact you."
The woman's labored, gasping breaths are coming shallowly, rapidly, and so faintly she must be only seconds from death. She lies on her back, arms thrown weakly to the side as if she had tried to get up before she went into shock. Her clothes are mostly torn from her body. Beginning a half-hand below her ribs, her body has been ripped open, her insides a scrambled bloody mess that has been pulled from her body. The skin at the edges of the torn opening has a distinctly gnawed on raggedness, and a pool of bright red lifeblood mixes with the darker, ranker liquids of the lower organs.
The man who had been furiously riding her earlier lies lifelessly a feet away, his head laying at an impossible angle to his body, his throat torn out with a spray of blood running along the floor and up the wall.
All of this your mind registers instantly, before the lightning can recede, but what your eyes lock on and refuse to leave is the creature across the room. It huddles in a corner that would have been lost in complete shadow before the lightning. It is a nightmare creature of only roughly human form. It's wiry muscled body and arms are hidden beneath a course, quill-laden mat of nearly black fur. It's semi-human muzzle, along with its hands twice the size of a man's and ending in eight inch claws are all dripping with blood fresh from the woman's body. The nightmare completes when somewhere in the back of your mind you realize it's wearing a pair of torn dark pants…. some crazy parody of nightmarish humanity.
Then the flash of lightning is gone, plunging the room back into darkness, and a low, horrible clicking growl begins to emanate from the blackness in which the monster hides.
"And these are Simon and Nanette. The deal I offer is simple. I will trade you what information I have in return for your help."
"I suppose that depends on what help you require. Let's discuss this inside." Suiting action to words, Callum heads back inside, out of the rain and in sight of Reiko.
It is a credit to her lifelong martial training that Reiko doesn't panic. When the lights go out, her mind starts clicking through the salient factors as she wishes YET AGAIN that she had her katana: One, I'm betting this thing doesn't have a glass jaw. Two, I can't see in the dark, it probably can. Three, its got long-ass claws, I've got manicured nails. Four, I'm good - but not THAT good.
Reiko does the only thing that makes sense - she dives for the door while screaming for help and hoping that racist bouncer is standing close to the other dressing room door.
MOVE -
MOVE -
FREE -
He turns and follows you back into the building.
Reiko dives backwards, slamming the door and leaning against it as soon as she hits her feet. She gets her feet planted an instant before there is a slam against the door at her back. It throws a shock through her body. Whatever it is… it's strong. And big.
After a few seconds, her cries draw the bouncer into the room. He steps in, obviously not knowing what to expect, and yells out over the rain, "What's all this, then?"
As soon as he shouts, the pressure from the doors resides.
As the group returns to the warehouse, Callum scans the crowd for watching eyes. The tall man and nervous man have backup somewhere, possibly among the spectators. They'll be expecting their friends. Seeing us should be a surprise.
"Keep an eye out for more trouble. I found a note suggesting that there might be more assassins."
Reiko doesn't slack off from bracing the door. She musters her best military command tone, trying to will the bouncer into compliance. "Get Hobbs, right now. Also if the men holding my blade are around - get them too, on the double. There is some beast in this room that gutted two people and tried to come through this door." She holds up a palm stained with the whore's blood as proof. "Don't think - just do it. Get Hobbs, get my blade, and grab a weapon for yourself."
Reiko wedges herself against the door and debates what to say when help arrives. I've got to lie; they won't believe the truth. Hell, I'm doubting what I saw. Reiko works hard at coming up with a plausible story that won't get her locked up if the room is empty.
As Callum, the IssLaani, Simon, Nanette, and Mr. Giles (who has since been introduced to Simon, Nanette, and the IssLaani as 'Rabbit') move back into the commotion of the Fight Night festivities (with all the crazy commotion that entails - what with fights still going on), it becomes quickly obvious that not much has changed. Callum's eyes at first don't pick up anyone watching for them. Or doing anything out of the ordinary, for that matter.
As they find their table, however, Callum notices a thick-bodied bouncer moving towards you all. "Um… you all need to go meet the Tzin woman in Hobb's changing room." When you begin to ask questions, he just shrugs and gestures urgently with his head, "The woman said to just come. And bring her hat and blade."
He walks you back towards one of the side walls of the main printer room into a series of long dressing rooms, but not before Rabbit remembers to stop to pick up any winnings from teh fights that have happened so far. Apparently, in the time you've been gone, Reiko has been able to win two bouts. One a close thing with a local named Steams, and the other a ten-second shame of a bout where she downed a Lassaiz man nicknamed "The Weasel" in two shots. Finally, after a few minutes of walking, he ushers you into a long room with a set of lockers along one wall, a changing station with a mirror, then - way down at the other end of the room - Reiko (a tall Tzin'Xhian woman with dark hair wearing common gray pants and a simple, sleeveless white undershirt) is bracing herself against a door, apparently pushing back on it with all of her considerable strength.
The bouncer looks at her with thick-lidded eyes, "There. I brought'em." He adds defensively, "Dens said Hobbs has left for the night… something about a message from is wife."
The stone-faced Tzin woman shows small signs of relief at seeing Callum and Rabbit though her pressure on the door doesn't let up. "My sword, please." She holds out her hand, the palm soaked with blood. Embarrassed, she quickly wipes the blood on her shirt, leaving a crimson hand-print on the loose white shirt. She turns her attention to the bouncer. "Thanks for the help. Leave or stay - but close the door." Again her tone expects compliance.
Reiko's mind whirls... Hobbs left? Coincidence? She turns her silver ringed black eyes on her war comrades saying tightly, "Gear up, boys. There are two bodies behind this door and maybe the killer - though he isn't pushing to get through anymore. When you're in position, we'll do this."
Not forgetting her manners, Reiko nods politely at the two people she doesn't recognize. "Good evening." It seems like a strange thing to say under the circumstances... but perhaps no greeting was adequate to smooth over this odd scene.
Simon and Nanette seem to be on the verge of overwhelmed with everything that's been happening for the last few hours - which makes them look even younger than their 18 years.
Simon stares openly, first at the large bouncer, then at the exotic woman speaking, then to the sword that's handed to her, to the tall man who seems fairly calm despite all that's going on, and finally back to the woman.
Nanette notices that Simon's attention has been completely distracted, so she steps up and gives Reiko a short, polite bow. "Pleased to meet you."
The sound of Nanette's voice startles Simon out of his daze, and he stammers, "Um, yes, a pleasure. Sorry... "
Callum takes a look at the carnage, and the blood on Reiko's shirt.
"What happened, here? Not just part of the fight in the ring, I take it?"
As the bouncer moves to close the door through which you all came, Rabbit hands the long Tzin blade to Reiko, then follows her lead by turning the handle to his umbrella. With a snap, he draws out the thin blade hidden within the umbrella shaft. "These two are somehow connected to some deal our IssLaani friend here has in exchange for some information for Callum." He drops the subject as he takes up a stance on other side of the doorframe, thin blade at the ready. "Ready when you all are."
As Reiko opens the door, the sight that greets you is grisly.
The only light in the room spills through the doorway Reiko just opened, and on the floor lie two bodies. A step from the now-open doorway lies a woman. Her pretty features are frozen in a mask of pain and terror, her mouth open as if gasping… or screaming. Her hair, a black fall of tight ringlets is fanned out behind her, slowly soaking in a growing pool of thick, dark blood. She lies on her back, arms thrown weakly to the side as if she had tried to get up before she went into shock. Her clothes are mostly torn from her body. Beginning a half-hand below her ribs, her body has been ripped open, her insides a scrambled bloody mess that has been pulled from her body. The skin at the edges of the torn opening has a distinctly gnawed-on raggedness, and a pool of bright red lifeblood mixes with the darker, ranker liquids of the lower organs.
A man lies lifelessly a feet away, his head laying at an impossible angle to his body, his throat torn out with a spray of blood running along the floor and up the wall. He wears the clothes of the working class, though his pants lie around his ankles.
Sliding bootprints can be seen in the blood. Someone stepped over and around the body, a rapid series of scuff-marks between the doorway and the woman's body. Bloody bootprints then lead away from the bodies, getting lost in the darkness beyond the only other doorway into the room.
Rabbit, for once, is speechless. Behind you the bouncer's voice cuts the tension, "Sh!t!" He looks a little green as he looks into the blood-soaked room.
The Tzin woman merely nods at the bouncer's apt summation while watching the corners for the murderer. "She was a working girl. I saw her... um... 'plying her trade' in here before my last bout. When I came back afterwards, I saw this. I wasn't gone more than a couple of minutes, possibly quite a bit less. I tried to save her - no luck. And then the killer jumped out and I managed to get through the door and block it before he could come through. He seemed a big guy in the dark - fast and strong. He's probably gone, but I'm going in to check."
Reiko enters the room in a combat stance blade loose but ready. She steps lightly around the blood and boot-prints. Her eyes are everywhere.
Checking to be sure his holdout pistol is loaded, Callum nods and draws a dagger, covering Reiko. "Try to take him alive... the last two died too quickly for answers." He steps carefully into the room, watching for hidden threats. Gesturing to the doorway, he signals to Reiko to take point.
Just like that, and you're giving orders again. She's not a soldier anymore - neither are you...
It's rapidly becoming clear to Nanette and Simon that they are out of their depth.
When the door is opened, Nanette's attention is drawn immediately to the corpses on the floor. While she has had plenty of exposure to cadavers at school, she's never been this close to such violent death.
As she's looking into the room at the bodies, Simon notes the actions of their companions. In particular, he sees how quickly Reiko, Callum, and even Rabbit prepare themselves for what's coming.
Trying to follow their example, Simon slips out one of his stilettos, and motions to Nanette to do the same.
The four of you cautiously enter the room, followed by a jumpy Rabbit and a reluctant IssLaani. The bouncer gives you all a 'you're crazy' look before muttering to Reiko, "You still got another fight comin' up… you don't show, you forfeit."
Other than the bodies and blood, there is little seemingly out of place in the dim room. Your eyes and ears strain for hints of danger or things out of the ordinary, but all you sense is an oppressive darkness, the white noise of the rain, the quickened breathing of your companions, and your own blood rushing in your ears.
Reiko glances at the bodies and gives the bouncer a flat look. "Ripped corpses and killers stalking the arena are bad for your business, friend, if you wanna keep getting paid; so cut me a little slack. I'm just going to do a little recon. Hopefully, I'll be back here in just a couple of minutes."
Reiko grabs a gas lantern off the wall, turns, and slinks down the hall looking to unravel this odd set of events but expecting, at a gut-level, the rabbit-hole is just going to get deeper...
The bouncer shrugs, but - to his credit - sticks around, leaning against the wall as he watches you disappear down the hall.
Reiko spends a few moments lighting the gas lantern, and it's low light turns the hallway a dingy orange. The bootprints are easily followed; their spacing indicating the killer was running.
The IssLaani speaks up nervously as you walk, his clipped manner of speaking made more difficult to understand by his fear-shaking lips, "Mr. Rhens, you spoke of some letters indicating two more men are after you. What else did the letters say? It may have bearing on our deal."
You pass two offices before the hallway turns to the left. The bootprints turn to red streaks on the floor as they approach the corner, and there are smudges, splatters and streaks of blood on the outside wall of the turn, then more running boot-prints that lead straight to a door at the end of the hallway.
It hangs open, letting out into a thin alley on what must be the east side of the warehouse. The alley must act as a wind tunnel for the door swings wildly every few seconds, letting burst of rain into your hallway. There is a large streaky red handprint on the door, but the bootprints are lost to the rain in the alley.
Reiko stares at the hand-print as if her gaze will force it to confess its secrets. It doesn't. She turns to the others with a "what else can we do?" shrug.
Hitting a dead-end to the pursuit, Reiko heads back along the hallway towards the dressing room, brushing past her comrades and newcomers, to await her next bout. Might as well get paid if we've got nothing else to do.
The IssLaani speaks up nervously as you walk, his clipped manner of speaking made more difficult to understand by his fear-shaking lips, "Mr. Rhens, you spoke of some letters indicating two more men are after you. What else did the letters say? It may have bearing on our deal."
"I'd prefer not to show all of my cards, but given the circumstances..." Callum pulls out a slip of paper, and reads the contents aloud: "You must meet us tonight. If you can do so inconspicuously, come armed. We will meet you there. Keep your eyes open and watch out for Thorns."
"The two that attacked us held this - leaving me to deduce there are two or more still waiting for them."
Callum addresses Reiko with an embarrassed tone. "Sorry about that, back there. Old habits - you know what they say about dogs and tricks."
He turns to Nanette, and hands her a slip of paper. "Ms. Delacroix - you should know that I also found this on our attackers."
(speaking the contents fo one of the notes) "You must meet us tonight. If you can do so inconspicuously, come armed. We will meet you there. Keep your eyes open and watch out for Thorns."
The IssLaani looks up sharply, "Um… that was a note ShoPi and I left for Nanette and Simon, actually. We needed to make contact with them, but not in public." He looks curiously at the note handed to Nanette, but doesn't comment.
Callum addresses Reiko with an embarrassed tone. "Sorry about that, back there. Old habits - you know what they say about dogs and tricks."
Reiko dismisses it with a wave. "Not to worry, Captain. I assumed you'd back my play in going in there. I probably should have asked first. So think nothing of it. Besides, I'm not sure we really wanted to cross blades with that killer." For a split second her eyes fall on everyone but Rabbit and Callum.
Reiko tries to pass a message to her former comrades but fails.
The IssLaani looks up sharply, "Um… that was a note ShoPi and I left for Nanette and Simon, actually. We needed to make contact with them, but not in public."
"It seems I was overcautious in my assumptions. What did you mean by watch out for Thorns?"
Nanette stares at the note in her hand. Anyone watching can see the range of expressions on her face: confusion, questioning, anger, and fear. After a moment, she hands the note to Simon, and then closes her eyes, as if wanting to hide from the world.
Simon takes the note... and his face is equally easy to read - anger approaching rage.
After a moment, Callum's words sink in. Simon balls up he note he's holding, and turns on the IssLaani.
"Right. Who are the Thorns, and what do they want with us? You have answers that we need!"
The IssLaani stops when you all look at him, then looks around at the dark, isolated hallway. "I guess this is a good place for our dealings. Secrecy is paramount." The words hang in the empty hallway, the raging of the storm at the end of the hallway adding an ominous weight to his words.
"I know things are crazy tonight." His eyes shift over to Simon and Nanette, "And I know it must be difficult to trust anyone at this point, but you must believe me. ShoPi and I are working to keep you safe. I do not know why the Thorns want you, but what they want, I want them not to have." His eyes scan back over everyone, but come to a rest on Callum. "Here is what I'll do. I will tell you some of what I know as a sign of good faith. This information is dangerous to myself to reveal. ShoPi's death is evidence of this. Once it is revealed, we will speak of our deal. I will give you information you want in exchange for a promise to help me.." he indicates Simon and Nanette with a nod, "… and these two as well."
He moves over to the wall, where a smudge of blood runs at shoulder height. He draws an angular "v" in the blood, then wipes his fingers clean on his pants. "What do any of you know of this symbol? Of an organization called the Brotherhood of the Black Thorn?"
Reiko doesn't know much of Eastern things but she wracks her brain, recalling the history books she studied as part of her military training....
At the mention of the Brotherhood, Nanette and Simon look at each other, the evidence of nearly overwhelming confusion still showing on their faces.
When the IssLaani draws the 'v' in the blood and mentions the name "Brotherhood of the Black Thorns", your mind latches onto what had nagged at it earlier. You've heard the name a couple of times with some of your friends from back home growing up. The name of an organization - somewhere between myth and urban legend - that always felt like some sort of pseudo-religion or cult or something. A secret society meeting in shady locations doing gods-know-what.
You'd heard they're not really tied to any nation, but have powerful connections across governments and militaries.
You've certainly never seen one before, though.
Then a memory emerges… an old one. Of you and a friend of yours when you were younger and in training. You to be a warrior and he to be a scribe and historian.
He would always meet you beneath the Lo Xiyang trees - with their willowy branches and bright blooms - and you would share the things you've both learned.
One day in particular he seemed particularly interested in a subject. Something from the Far West. You can't remember what all he said, but you do remember him talking about some organization called the Night Thorns that apparently had been in a centuries-old shadow war against those wretched Lost Ones.
Reiko scrounges up a small basin and ewer of water and sets about washing the blood from her hands and shirt. She is quiet for a long moment. Without taking her eyes from her task, she begins.
"One thing I miss from my homeland are the Lo Xiyang trees. As a girl, I spent many summer days cool beneath their willowy, nodding branches, their bright blossoms filling the air with sweetness... The closest tree you have to it is your 'Weeping Willow'." Reiko's frown says it is a poor comparison at best - like saying an alley cat is 'close' to a Battle Tiger.
"Those were good summers, and I often spent them with my friend Mi Po Hanshin. We met after our classes and discussed what we had learned. Mi Po was to be a scholar-historian so his studies were less martial than mine. We were very curious about each other's worlds." She lapses into a brief silence.
"One time, Mi Po nearly missed our tryst beneath the Lo Xiyang. He had stayed late, engrossed in some subject. As I vaguely recall, it was a story of the Far West about how the..." she slows to select the right word, "...the Iss'Lanni fought a shadowy war over many centuries against a group called the Night Thorns or something like that. I believe the 'v' was their symbol."
Satisfied she had sponged as much blood from her shirt as possible, Reiko stops - both her actions and her narrative. She ponders the pink-tinged water in the basin for a moment before adding her inner musings, a snatch of poetry, to the words she has already shared.
- Oh sad Lo Xiyang,
Do your branches weep for me
As I do for them?
Something in the name seems to stir a memory for Callum. He fishes a V pin from his pocket, and turns it about until the point faces up. "Brotherhood of the Black Thorn. Boogeymen. Shadows. Tales of a secret cult with powerful ties in all governments. Stories meant to scare children and fools. You mean to tell us that they are behind these attacks? I suppose they sent assassins because I didn't finish all of my supper?"
Callum's sarcastic grin does not reach his eyes, and he looks at Nanette curiously. "What would set them against me, these two, and the pair on the floor in there? I've made enemies enough on my own, but I've never met any of these Thorns before. Save Reiko and Rabbit, I've never laid eyes on the rest of you - so what are they after?"
As Nanette listens to the comments, she shakes her head slowly. When Callum turns to look at her, she says, "No, no, you must be mistaken. The Thorns aren't real - they're a myth, a conspiracy theory held by anarchists..." Her voice fades, and with a whisper, she adds, "Why is this happening?"
Simon takes her hand in silence, offering what little support he can.
The short IssLaani's nearly black eyes switch between Reiko and Callum. "That's actually fairly accurate, Miss." he says pointing to Reiko. His finger points to Callum, "And that might as well be right. Though I can assure you they are definitely real. Fools dismiss the Black Thorns at their own peril. The Bla-"
Rabbit's voice cuts in. "Now hold on, there. Do we know all o'this is connected? What do we actually know about tonight's events?" His eyes wait on the Iss'Laani, obviously expecting the short man to have answers the rest of you don't.
All the Iss'Laani man can do is shrug, "I do not know how the murder in the next room can be related. That type of savagery is not what I would call normal for the Thorns. And I cannot imagine why you, Mr. Rhens, are being targeted other than your connection to myself and ShoPi tonight." He stops and thinks for a few moments, almond-shaped eyes drifting towards the floor. "If they were the ones to kill ShoPi - and I think that's a justifiable connection given their search for Nanette, then we must assume they tried to discover what his goal was tonight… which was to make contact with the man in the bowler hat with the red feather." His eyes linger on Rabbit and his bowler hat before they return to Callum. "As far as I know, you are simply as much a victim of this situation as Simon here is. Unless you have reason to believe otherwise."
"Perhaps the deaths are unrelated. At the very least, the methods of execution are dissimilar... judging by the fact that none of you have mentioned that ShoPi suffered the same gruesome death as the people in that hallway."
Reiko turns to address the Iss'Lanni. "I appreciate you are trying to make a deal with Callum, but I have a question of my own. Are these Black Thorns known, either in fact or in believable legend, for tearing apart their victims such as we have seen?"
The IssLaani shrugs again, "Not that I have heard. They do their work in the shadows, and scenes such as the one in the next room tend to draw attention. That's not to say they are incapable of it. Their organization is made up of many types of men. Men possibly capable of that. But to a man their efforts are to stay hidden."
"If they were the ones to kill ShoPi - and I think that's a justifiable connection given their search for Nanette, then we must assume they tried to discover what his goal was tonight… which was to make contact with the man in the bowler hat with the red feather." His eyes linger on Rabbit and his bowler hat before they return to Callum. "As far as I know, you are simply as much a victim of this situation as Simon here is. Unless you have reason to believe otherwise."
"Mr. Giles. Mr. Rhens. I believe we have some business to discuss." He gestures with his head towards the back of the warehouse, beyond the game night partying. "In private?"
"One problem with that theory - they knew our names. They knew each of us on sight."
The third, however, is the most intriguing. It is coarse paper similar to the handwritten note. It is messily folded into quarters, and one edge is soaked in congealed blood. When you open it, there are two renderings on it. One of Rabbit and one of you - with both of your names scrawled under them. The handwriting is like that of the second note.
The IssLaani continues, "I am not sure how or if this murder is connected, but one thing I know. Our time grows short. The lady (pointing to Reiko) will need to fight again soon, and I am not keen on being connected to this grotesque murder in any way. As I have said, what the Thorns want, I and my friends wish to keep from them." His dark, slanted eyes shift over to Nanette, "Which brings us to our deal. Ms. Nanette, you are in danger. When the Thorns take someone, it usually ends in their death. I do not know why they want you, but I and my friends will offer you help. We want to get you away from here - at least until we can discover why it is they want you. Unfortunately, I am afraid i have none of the necessary skills to get you there without raising suspicion. And I have my responsibilities here. I beg that you allow us to try to protect you until we can know more of your situation."
"That's where you come in, Mr. Rhens. I have been told you have some on-going business with some former students out in the frontier areas. I have a cousin in Brackwood who would be ideal in finding a hideout for Ms. Delacroix and Mr. Ambrose. The wilds of those frontier towns make it excellent for getting lost. If you could personally ensure their safe travel to my cousin, then I will give you the names of three of your former students who have been… plying their trade… in that area. Those names will be waiting for you in Brackwood. What do you say, Mr. Rhens? I would be happy to put together a little bit of expense cash for you to fund a security team if you would desire. It is imperative that we keep these two safe."
Simon glances over at Nanette to see her reaction to the conversation. It's finally beginning to dawn on him that they're going to be leaving - and he watches as that recognition is reflected on her face as well.
Another thought pops into his head, and he turns back to the IssLaani. "You mentioned a deal... I understand that you want to help us, and that you're asking these gentlemen for assistance. But a deal goes both ways... what do you want from us?"
The IssLaani shrugs, "From you specifically? Survive. The payment to me and my family is another victory against the Thorns. Like I said, what they want, we would deny them. And until we know why they want her, we will simply work to keep her from them."