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Heng leaves the hall with Koya looking for the others. Sighing loudly, he confers with her. "I can only think this all will not end well. I asked to speak with the Prince, but he is not entertaining visitors tonight. My only thought is to find Maeve and have her explain herself to the Prince in the hopes that we might leave this city with some of our honor intact."
Heng rubs his tattooed scalp, "It sounds as if Ameiko was checking Maeve's quarters and the rest went to the caravan. Do you have any other suggestions, Tata? Let us check Ameiko Quarters as she may be sulking near there given her previous odd behavior. Fortunately, there are no ships nearby for her to copy Ameiko's escapades in Kalsgard."
Feast of the Honored Visitors - Maeve's Quarters
Maeve makes her way through the palace with tears silently streaming down her face the whole way. By the time she makes it to her first goal, the makeup applied to her has been completely ruined, turning her face into a hideous mask of grief and anguish. Once she's through the door, she quickly shuts it, locks it, then shoves the nearest large object in front of it.
It says a lot about her state of mind that the last is going to be little more than a speed-bump with the sliding doors in the palace.
Thereafter she quickly strips out of the overly elaborate dress provided by the Prince, then pulls on Dancing Butterfly and tightens the magical sash she added to the ensemble later about her waist.
Parity will loiter outside Maeve's room, not hiding, but leaning against the wall, waiting.
Did she just shove furniture in front of the doors? Let me know if she takes to the window
A few minutes later, Ameiko walks up through the candlelit corridor, Shalelu and Miyaro in tow. "Good, I'm glad I found you," she says with a relieved sigh. "Is she in there?"
"This is the life. This is what I miss. I didn't think I'd say it but now that I've seen the road the palace is pretty boring. And they wouldn't know a good goat if it walked up and jumped in the stew pot. What do you think Mal? Has the world changed since you died? Do you notice colors more? Does the black bean goat chili taste better or worse?"
The elf blushes and becomes quiet for a moment as he looks up at the stars. "I no longer fear death. I can no longer remember how it felt where I was while I was gone, but I know it was wonderful. I now fear for the lives of my friends, some more than others. I had not felt like that before and I am scared of some of my feelings I am having for some of our group. I know most of you will be dead of old age while I am still young and that makes me want to keep my distance from you, but I also want to keep you close, if just for the moment that your here."
Malnival pulls the hood of his cloak to cover his face then he places his hand on Harlan's shoulder "One thing has remained true through it all my friend. A constant in this ever changing world. Your chilli really sucks."
"Maeve? Are you in there? If so, let me in so we can talk."
"...fine." She finally says, loudly enough to be heard, but makes no move towards the door herself.
Harlan nods somberly as Mal speaks on his experiences and fears.
"It's true Mal, barring another dragon, if we all live through this then you'll outlive us all. But if you refuse to care about the people close to you then you won't really be living. You'll just be existing. Besides, we'll meet again on the other side."
He then smiles at the description of his chili.
"I'll let you in on a secret. You shouldn't worry about where I got the goat, but ask yourself where I get all those beans."
"I see four, two behind and two on the roof. Do we think the palace sent them? Are they hostile? Maybe the...others have found us?"
Going with Sandru and Kelda, the four of you leave the palace grounds...
Two others detach from the servant eaves along the far wall, hurling shuriken at Parity and Ameiko. The first misses, but the latter connects, sinking into Ameiko's leg.
The two figures, realizing they've been made, detach from the shadows and draw their blades. The edges are tinted with poison. Both take a moment to quaff potions, and their forms become distorted and displaced.
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A half-glance back, Heng sees the two figures are following at a distance.
"Too many innocents, and if they're from the palace I don't want them to see our caravan is ready to leave at any time. Let's just ask them what they want and be done with it."
Harlan turns to the shadows.
"Hello! Hello? What can we help you with?"
Parity swears, "Wha ..? Damn it, how did I miss that?", he whips out Suishen and activates a couple arcane abilities throwing a purple wave of force out of Suishen as he attacks those threatening Ameiko.
As soon as Harlan turns to confront the trailers, they duck into cover and move out of sight.
Ameiko moves away from the ninja assassins, backing up against the suite's doors and drawing her rapier. She casts a quick spell, bringing up illusory decoys around her. Shalelu steps between the attackers and Ameiko, drawing her short sword and stabbing, but their magic spoils her aim.
With a yipping kiai, Miyaro jumps in, drawing a kukri from thin air and moving around to flank. Still, the agile ninja deflects her strike aside.
Parity closes with one of the two on Shalelu, slamming the foe with a devastating empowered blow. The ninja's corpse flies across the corridor, nearly bowling over his two comrades.
These two close quickly on Parity, moving to flank and stabbing viciously with their blades. He manages to parry one attack, but the flanker nicks him across the back.
One of the ninja grunts in pain as the glittering spell comes into effect, while the other charges forward through it. He moves incredibly fast, closing the distance before Maeve can blink. He slashes his sword down powerfully, but her dancing outfit manages to spoil the strike, if only just.
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HP: 78/93
Swift: 1 used
Lev 3 spells: 1 used
Calling upon arcane energies, Parity 5 foots away out of the flank but slashes out twice (striking the second ninja if the first one drops)
"By Pharasma, I hate ninjas"
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EDIT:
The ninja's poison continues to weaken both Shalelu and Ameiko. Parity's foes continue to harry him, one stabbing him viciously in the back. Shalelu takes another hit, and the toll of her several wounds is starting to show. The elf shifts her position to turn the ninja's tactic against them, moving to flank the foe between her and Miyaro. Miyaro picks up on in, sliding into attack and landing a deep cut with her kukri.
Parity moves and counter-attacks, hitting one foe twice. Ameiko casts a fast spell, inspiring Parity's second blow enough to finish the ninja off in spectacular fashion. The ninja falls to the floor in three bloody pieces.
The ninja stay in step with Maeve, maintaining their flanking tactic and harrying her with their blades. Viciously, they stab her several times with deadly precision.
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Maeve winces as she fails to duck away from the first blow, but just when the second seems like it will cut her nearly in twain, she briefly vanishes from view before reappearing. "Not bad...but time's up. My turn." Then she launches into a spinning assault against the first one to strike at her.
Parity continues to assault the remaining ninja. "Get through the door and help Maeve!"
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; Parity gains 15 temp hps
"Ok. We should check on the others though yes?"
Harlan limps as fast as he can to catch up to Mal and the others.
Both ninjas fighting Parity and Shalelu burst into a ki-powered flurry, striking their targets quickly several times. Bleeding all over, Shalelu stumbles to a knee, then slumps to the floor.
Ameiko tries to move the blocked door, but weakened by the poison, she struggles vainly. "It won't budge!"
Miyaro slashes her kukri, misses to the ninja's displaced image, then somersaults backwards across the corridor, coming to a stop by Parity. "Move to flank," she says, threatening the ninja. Parity's attack with Suishen drains some vitality from the foe.
At the far end of the corridor, Heng rounds the corner and sees the melee at Maeve's door.
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Maeve's counterattack takes the ninja by surprise, or enough that she lands three telling hits before he regains his balance. The ninja's continue to surround and attack, one landing another deep wound.
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