Clarissa does a fair impression of the Woman in Black as she sways back into the taproom. She takes her seat, and Hammond's perceptive eyes notice that three guys walked out while they were gone. She leaves, followed by Janus, according to the plan, and ten minutes later, three other men leave.
The pair leave the tavern, winding their ways through the crowds of the plaza towards a scarf merchant's cart. As they walk, they see three brown-cloaked men, tailing them. Janus recognizes them from the tavern.
Casting a casual glance over his shoulder.
"Don't you just love it when a plan works?"
Janus says quietly to Clarissa
"As much as I'd like to have a chat with one of them, there's no way I'm going to try it tonight."
Looking around he says
"Quick! This way follow me."
He darts into an alley to the left moving swiftly down the darkend alleyway. His Dark and Low light visions allowing him to easily navigate the refuse strewn path.
He abruptly pauses at an intersection. Bending down he snatches up a broken piece of pottery and hurls it down the alleyway to the right. Then grabbing Clarissa by the hand and dashing to the left. There is an audible crack as the missile impacts somewhere in the darkness. It is immediately followed by the loud and very intense barking of a dog.
"I know the neighborhood.
He says as they run.
Oh, great. Probably just muggers. Maybe I can get them to distract and or beat Janus long enough for me to ask him-hey! Clarissa's train of thought is broken by his sudden rabbit impression. She swears and takes off to follow him.
She snatches her hand away with a hiss. "Don't touch me. Just lead on," she says while ditching the cloak in some random refuse down the alley.
"Bloody hell" Hammond cursed under his breath. His fist punched down into the wooden rail surrounding the edge of the roof. It cracked slightly from the impact as a vague imprint was left. He spun around and headed back to the trapdoor. He pulled the door closed as he shimmied down the ladder.
Once back inside, he went back to the bar to fetch Gio. "Storeroom, trapdoor to roof. Why don't you go keep an eye out? You got better reach with that little cannon of yours. Three guys went after them."
Janus and Clarissa dart down a darkened alley as the three thugs approach. They do a decent job of blending in, but their shoulders are too square, they look up to much. The toughs inch nearer, slowly closing the their trap as Hammond bursts out of the tavern and Gio heads up to the roof.
If she wasn't so slow we might have pulled this off.
Janus thinks as their pursuers gain on them.
"We can still salvage the plan."
Janus says to Clarissa
"Follow my lead, as soon as we get the tavern in sight we stop and turn on them. You throw off the disguise and we do our best to sell the story that the Woman in Black slipped away while they were chasing us. So what do you think?
He gives her a shoulder shrug and a weak smile.
"I think we should have ambushed them instead of making a ton of noise, but this is where we are now. I just hope you actually know how to fight." She adds the last bit with a contemptuous glance at his black eye and bloody lip.
"My aren't we bloodthirsty. You know leaving bodies isn't always the most expedient solution to a problem. Although it is sometimes necessary."
Janus says with a slight grin.
"HEY!" Hammond shouted.
"Back off. That one's mine!" he said through bared teeth, pointing at Janus.
"I don't know what you boys are thinking, but think it somewhere else, while you still got a head to think with."
"I never said anything about murdering them. But I suppose you are more used to making arrangements than doing the deed itself, huh?"
Clarissa's question is cut off by Hammond making a sudden scene. She sighs heavily, but is secretly happy to know she is near a place that is safe. Relative to the thieves, goons, muggers, possible stalkers, dottari, Hellknights, and shadow beasts prowling the streets at night, that is.
What trouble did those two get into anyways
Gio climbs the ladder and out onto the roof, putting himself in the best position to get a shot off if need be. Taking careful aim, Gio steadies his hand waiting for things to go sideways.
Gio readies an action to shoot the first one to make a move toward Clarissa.
The toughs slip through the crowd, hot on Clarissa's tail.
Well this is it. Still if I can sell the "She got away" story it might not come to a fight.
Says Janus's always annoying inner voice.
Stepping into the pool of light cast by a rare working street lamp. Janus grins allowing "Fangs" to show and raises his head slightly to catch the light in reddish Dhampir eyes. Drawing the Elven blade and a dagger as he says.
"Are you Mug's sure you want to do this? Especially since your target slipped out the other way while you were chasing us. Let's have a big hand for the Prima actress here."
[dice=Intimidate]1d20+8[/b]
[dice=Bluff]1d20+9[/b]
Clarrisa takes a big bow following Janus' quip. "I would imagine the fair Lady is tucked away quite safe considering how long we distracted them."
She puts a hand on her hip, just behind the hilt of her rapier. "Now, who wants to lose a limb first? He will kill you, I prefer to permanently disfigure."
The thugs pause and share a quick look, clearly weighing the risk of going up against Janus and Clarissa. One of the smirks and the two of them pull out their steel.
"Heh, the Boss didn't say we got to rough another dame!" The thugs run forward, murder clear in their eyes.
Clarrisa's hand hovers over the rapier, but she instead grabs a handful of sand from her purse. She sings a few lines of a soft lullaby before blowing the sand at the goons.
"Damn, I hate it when they're too stupid to run away. Oh well at least no one will miss these morons."
Janus says as he moves to the fountain and throws a dagger at the thug who is alone
Idiots Hammond thought to himself. He assumed Janus could handle himself well enough, but he knew practically nothing about the woman. He hoped this wasn't going to get drawn out. They didn't have time for this. The longer they were outside, the more likely they were to attract the Dotari, or even the shadow beasts that had been plaguing the streets. One was bad, the others were worse, but neither were preferable.
He could have run straight at them, even barreled right into them, but he was trying to be more cautious. He didn't know them anymore than they knew him and he had enough secrets of his own. He glanced around for a stick or pipe or something. Anything he could use as a club. He didn't want to have to show his own weapons if he didn't have to.
clarrisa's hand hovers over the rapier, but she instead grabs a handful of sand from her purse. She sings a few lines of a soft lullaby before blowing the sand at the goons. The sandman pulls at their peepers and they fall to the ground, sawing logs.
Janus uses the distraction to toss a dagger from behind the fountain. Steel flies and blood sprouts from the thug's shoulder. He grunts with pain and then rushes Janus. The thug swings, but Janus ducks the blow just in time and metal clatters uselessly against the fountain.
The crowd screams, running in every direction. And the he almost loses the wounded thug in the screaming people.
Hammond curses and looks around for a club. He rips the handle off of a cart, and tests its heft. It will do.
asleep!
Looking for a clear shot but unable to find one, especially at this distance, Gio decides to cast magic missile instead. Hopefully it drops him.
Mystic bullets of silver light shoot out from Gio's fingers. The glisten in the air, shining doves on the wing. The bullets collide with his chest with a dull "thump". The man blinks and falls to the ground, lifeless.
The crowd has cleared, leaving three bodies--two sleeping, one dead--on the stones of the market. Gio and the others stand in the broad light of day, along save for their fallen foes.
Suspiciously, the dottari are nowhere to be seen...
Quickly scanning the area for further threats and the unusually curious Janus sheaths the long blade and moves to the fallen men deftly recovering his dagger along the way.
That's right never leave evidence Quips that ever present inner voice.
Looking at the bodies and saying to no one in particular, but loud enough for all to hear.
"Oh my these poor fellows obviously had a little too much to drink last night. We had better take them somewhere quiet so they can sleep it off. Yep nothing to see here but some drunks."
He looks over his shoulder at Hammond and raises an eyebrow and gestures slightly with his head toward the "drunks".
Hammond looked at the two unconscious men lying in the street. Then he glanced down at the club in his hand, then back at the sleeping men. With a shrug, he tossed the club down and made his way over to the two snoring bodies. With a heavy grunt, he hefted one over his shoulder and then the other. If the men had been a decent size or had heavier armor, he probably wouldn't have made it far, certainly not back to the bar. As it was, he was able to stagger along as his face turned red from the exertion. Luckily, the bar wasn't far.
Whoever stayed behind during the fracas took no interest in Janus or the others. Conveniently, none of them would have gotten a good look at their faces. Under the weight of the thugs, Hammond and Janus stumble back into the bar with the thugs on their backs.
The patrons take one look and then turn back to their cups. They won't remember any faces either.
"So I guess your plan worked then huh? Now what?" Hammond asked as he dumped his baggage onto the floor. He didn't want to dirty his limited furniture with trash.
With his hands on his hips he arched his back until a muffled 'pop' escaped. "Ahh, that's better. Gotta get the kinks out. So, whatcha wanna do with 'em? Ain't got no iron to put 'em in..."
"Keep them separated." Clarissa says, thinking of her old fencing master's wisdom. "People who know each other can say a lot just through their eyes. And no, I don't have anything to tie them up with either," she adds with a frown and glancing at the others.
Shaking his head slightly at the others Janus moves to the sleeping thugs and quickly and efficiently secured their hands. One with the man's belt and the other with the thug's thin cloak. Moving the men slightly (And straining to accomplish it)
Damn these guys are heavy. Hammond is a beast to have carried them The inner voice muses
He makes sure they cannot see each other.
"It's a good thing you two have day jobs."
He says with a slight smirk, while looking at Hammond and Clarissa.
"May I borrow that?"
He says indicating Hammond's filthy wet bar cleaning cloth.
"Thank you. Now down to business."
Janus slaps one of the restrained men with the cloth. Resulting in a loud and very satisfying plop.
"Hey pal! Wakie, Wakie... So you like to rough up Dames, do ya?"
Leaning close to the man Janus makes sure he has a good look at his Red eyes and "Fangs"
"Who hired you to attack the Woman? And you had better have the same answer as your buddy gave us or things are going to get very messy and painful.
With the threat now passed, Gio hustlers his weapon. Still a little weary of someone following, Gio stays perched up on the roof, keeping a look out. Hope they get some good info out of those two Gio thinks to himself.
Clarissa rolls her eyes at Janus. A little over-the-top. She smirks, But sometimes that works, maybe I should one-up him.
She stands in front of the woken thug and leans in close, whispering while staring him dead in the eye. "Some dames should not be trifled with, you know. I know my...associate...may not seem that threatening, and honestly, he is not. I am the one you need to fear. See, I like to put 'em to sleep, right? Bring them somewhere private. Then...well, I doubt you want to know the rest, but if you don't talk quick, I promise you will find out." She throws the man a smile and does her best attempt at 'crazy eyes'.
The mook looks Clarissa and Janus in the eye, sweat trickling down his brow. "YOU don't scare me none, the Boss.... he.. he hired us to do a job. And, people who cross him? They only find pieces of them. You don't got the nerve."
He's clearly bluffing. He's not exactly terrified of Clarissa or Janus, but he's definitely not as brave as thinks he is.
He also.. doesn't seem to even know his boss.
With a sigh Clarissa turns away, throwing her arms into the air and muttering under her breath.
"Waste of time, talking to these two. They are too dumb to be scared of us, but just dumb enough to be useful as..." She pauses and turns her head, starting directly at the goons, "disposable assets. We can torture him enough to make a Hellknight squirm but he will never have anything useful to tell us."
Dropping his head and closing his eyes Janus sighs. Then snapping his head up he says.
"I'm afraid you're right. Oh well only one thing to do now. Hammond get a mop. Okay Clarissa be ready, I'm going to bite this guy and make him into a thrall. then he'll tell us everything. But he will be so ravenous that he will eat this poor other fellow's face. So be ready to stake him and cut his head off."
Smiling slightly to the others when his back is turned to the hapless thugs.
Clarissa nods in silence, emoting regret and pity with her eyes. "Sorry pal. 'For devils are we all, until the day we fall.' Sarini. I do hope you had the chance to enjoy some culture in this life. May the Lady of Graves be merciful to you," she says while picking up the discarded club Hammond dropped earlier. She turns to Gio. "Do you have anything to sharpen this in a hurry?"
Hammond looked around the room. This was, after all, his broom closet. Apparently Janus had moved it out when he moved in. Hammond nodded and turned to leave the small room. He walked around the bar for a minute, checking on everything. He did a quick count of the patrons, checking to see if he noticed any new faces that had come in since she had.
He went to check on Vincent before going to look for a mop and some cleaning supplies. It took a little longer than he had expected but eventually he found the mop and bucket. He took the time to half fill the bucket with water before returning to the small room.
The stentch of urine fills the room as the thug looses all sense of reason. "NO! NONONONO! Please! Please don't! No! I'll talk! Promise!! I'll talk! Just.. don't do that! Please! I'm a gods-fearing man! I am! C'mon! Give a guy a break, eh? I don't want to be no soulless slave!! Please! Call 'im off!! Call 'im off!!!"
Clarissa holds the broken wood in her hand and says nothing, waiting for the blubbering mess to continue. She arches her eyebrows and waves her hand in a, "come on then, go on," gesture.
Walking back into the small room, two things became clear. First, the thug was going to talk. Whether or not he had any useful information was a different story but at least they may learn something about who wanted this woman dead or what was going on. It was a small chance, but it was better than no chance at all.
Second, he was going to need to use the mop. His head shook with disgust. At least blood didn't reek nearly as bad.
Trying not to look too smug and working hard to avoid snickering at the expressions of Clarissa and Hammond Janus resumes his "game face" and says.
"Okay pal start singing. And it better be a good tune. Who do you work for and just what were your orders. Oh and make it quick before I DO, get hungry."
The thug whimpers and tries to scrunch his neck low into this shoulders. "Look. I don't know much, Ok? He calls himself the Prophet. Keeps his face hidden behind a mask. He likes to eat at that tavern.. the one by the Pleatra. The.. the Hung Bull?
"Okay, so that covers the who, now the what? What exactly did this 'Prophet' want you to do?" She thinks for a moment and bites her lip. "And, uh, what does he like to eat at Bull Dung, or whatever you said. Might want to answer quick, the ugly guy can get hungry in a hurry."
Standing behind the hapless thugs Janus is unsuccessfully attempting to keep from snickering, so clearing his throat he steps forward and says.
"Hammond can you get me a mug? I may not be able to bite this guy but I can still open a vein and get something to drink."
Leaning close to the thug and drawing a dagger he says.
"Hey bud, the lady asked you a question. So better talk fast. Before you...you know pass out."
"Hey! I'm not hungry" Hammond said. "When did I become the waiter?" he muttered to himself as he leaned the mop up against the wall and turned to go get a mug from the bar.
Still posted on the roof, Gio sits back with a couple of pint Hammond didn't notice Gio take with him. Gio tries his dam dist to hear the interrogation going on inside. Waiting for the moment he might have to step in and add a little something to this interrogation, but it sounds like Janus and Clarissa has it handled.
sorry, for the delays. holiday and competition happening saturday. I've been getting home around 8pm every night (including the weekends) trying to get robots up to snuff.
thanks for being patient with me. Ugh, i'll be updating tomorrow. I'm about ready to crash...apparently i need more than 3 hours of sleep a night.