"He's different. Muziel isn't like most of these." she says gesturing to the prisoner. If the Nidal seemed tough to break perhaps Muziel would know how that might happen easier. Too bad he wasn't here indeed, but if she were him, she wouldn't enjoy turning on her people either.
"Don't think I am a soft woman Samuel, I know what torture is like, I suffered for several years before escaping the Calikang," she informed him, "hardly a lady anymore..." She left the room, as suggested and went towards the armory, asking a dwarf to accompany her along the way. Remembering the chain Karrick acquired she expected to find more of the same but perhaps they had other weapons also.
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Klara holds back from her group for a moment waiting on Pervince. Do you want to ride with us? We are going at a slow pace to avoid tremor mutants. A small group like yours could probably go a bit faster without too much worry. If you do come with us though you will have to split the reward for finding the Duchess.
Talking to herself inside the armory while searching she saw nothing she personally wanted, but she would have something courtesy of Grachius nevertheless. Using some minor spells to reveal anything she couldn't detect by eyesight before she touched anything. "He said he would have need of my services one day... well this is merely a small expense on his part to get it." She collected a couple weapons valuable enough to trade later and carried them back to Samuel. "Anything for me before I leave?"
I got nothin' for ya las, just watch your self and good luck on the road. Remember what I said about them Spellscar Fexts. Samuel says to Miikae as he continues to sort through things in the tower attempting to find any clues to recent events.
"Surely. Muziel, you don't mind travelling with an attractive woman like Klara, I imagine?" Pervince rides closer to her, looking to see that the others are obliging. He takes a long drink from his waterskin, taking care to fasten it properly back on the saddle-pack. "Do you enjoy heaps of money, or does the thrill of earning it do just as much for you?" he asks as though it were an enticingly interesting question.
Muziel was not at all enticed by Klara's fawning affection, but it seemed Pervince was. "I don't care that you want half my reward -- half of nothing is still nothing, since Samuel isn't paying me. It is the Duchess's safety that matters to me, now, and that means we should press ahead, find Karrick, and find the Duchess." After all, her reward was what really counted. "Don't you agree, Kera?"
Muziel looks over at Kera for support. He wasn't going to ride off alone - they had already split up enough. But he didn't much trust this strange woman.
Nodding at Samuel she then leaves the room and finds her way back to Sands. She secures her acquired goods in a saddle bag and walks him out. "Let's go find a smith Sands. Then we shall play catch up."
Miikae searches for a blacksmith that will trade for the scimitar she desires, asking directions to those that create and sell weapons.
Kera tries to look over the group from a distance. As Muziel comes to her and poises the question, aloud, that she had been thinking in her head Kera can only shrug.
’Maybe a group turned away from the city? Neither did I…other the Karrick that is.”
She had been keeping an eye out for their wayward thief. Shouldn’t they have come upon him by now? It greatly disturbed Kera that she was so worried about him. Now doubt he wouldn’t give her a second thought before leaving her to die. No…no that was to harsh a thought even for one like Karrick. The sound of Muziel’s voice brought her out of her thoughts of Karrick.
”We don’t dare leave the road or slow down. Without Miikae to guide us we would get lost in no time.”
Again her thoughts turned to another party member who was away from the group. When they came upon the other group and found it was Klara it only made her smile. Mostly because she picked up right where she left off with Pervince.
”It seems we have little to worry about.”
Kera said with a smile to Muziel. When he spoke to Pervince and Klara she nodded.
”I agree whole heartily Muziel.”
Especially with the part about finding Karrick. Turning in her saddle slightly Kera looks behind them to see if Miikae is anywhere to be seen.
Your friends are not keen on my company coddle bunny. That is ok I will meet you up in Martel. She leans over in her saddle and pets the Large Mastiff that bares Pervince's weight. The dog accepts her touch willingly and whimpers when she pulls it away. Take care of my friend She says to the dog and nods to Pervince as she turns back to her company.
Pervince lets a disappointed sigh escape him. "Majority wins this one," he reasons. "We'll have to deal with the tremor beasts, then. Until next time, Klara." He waves to her as they pick up speed.
Miikae finds a smith not too close to the Nidal embassy and offers to trade her weapons. "I wonder if you are skilled with glass good sir. A scimitar is more my style. I have other specimens of worth to trade." she shows the smith her stolen weapons and hopes he has what she is looking for. "I am traveling towards Martel, I hear there are some rather unfriendly creatures out that way these days."
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Miikae travels on the road and eventually sees Klara and her group up ahead, who tell her that her group continued on. Miikae speeds up to catch up. Suddenly she feels a strange sensation
Kera, Pervince and Muziel continue on ahead with a sense of urgency to finding Hana, and hopefully their promised reward. Kera notices someone walking toward the party on the Road. By the time Kera realizes it is not a living "someone" it is running at the Group with a strange but powerful gait quickly closing on the party. There is a river to the north{right) along the road and sparse brush to the south(left).
.
"Tremor mutants!"
Acquiring the new weapon and a sheath to hold it she secures the sheath on her back next to and just under her shield. The hand grip just peeking over her shoulder, the sheath curving along the diagonal between her right shoulder and left hip.
Wasting little time conversing with Klara, Miikae and Sands ride quickly on. Another storm, great.
"That is a tremor mutant?!?" He scrambles for his rifle, making sure that Hrun keeps moving away from the mutant.
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Miikae(will be arriving next round) 16
Pervince-9+
Muziel-9-
Kera
The Creature runs up ahead with supernatural speed and will be in melee with you next round. Your mounts(with the exception of Sands) resist encountering this thing and are attempting to move away.
The all too familiar clouds are forming of a magical storm. The last time you saw one so large it fried a Red Mantis Assassin.
Looking up at the clouds, Pervince grits his teeth. "Tch." As he keeps his dog in check and continues moving away from the approaching beast, he draws his musket out calmly and starts aiming for the mutant. He does not move more than 20 feet away from any ally.
_/
"Damn it, horsie," says Muziel. Lacking any real skill in horsemanship, Muziel instead dismounts. The horse was probably better as a running distraction at this point.
He pulls out a flask and quickly downs the contents, his skin turning more bestial, his movements quick and lithe.
Muziel tries to determine if the creature has eyes / uses sight, or if it works entirely by tremorsense.
Intelligence roll:
Initiative:
Handle Animal:
"It is vulnerable to glass!"
She yells out as she dismounts her horse and takes out her glass bastard sword ready for battle. Of course her horse and the horse she got for Karrick were being difficult.
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The beastly humanoid lumbers ahead and Pervince gets his shot off. A shot that would have been mortal to most humans that doesn't even seem to faze this creature as it continues to lumber towards Kera.
Damage to Kera from a deadly slam
Lesser Spellscar Fext(Human) 19 Slams into Kera after closing distance
Miikae 16 Arrives is up for initiative
Kera-15 Engaged with Enemy
Pervince-9+ Handles his mastiff with ease and retains his mount while getting his shot off
Muziel-9- Drinks his mutagen and becomes stronger
Kera and Muziel's mounts race past Miikae as she approaches on the road from Alkenstar.
"Glass?" Pervince considers his gear for a moment. A round of cheese, some meat, bread, flint and tinder... no glass. He puts away his musket and pulls out the Watts gun.
"What about lightning?" he questions as the capacitor whines in a high pitch.
_/
Miikae sees her companions up ahead and in trouble and Sands speeds to a gallop. Hearing the blast of Pervince's gun and Kera's shout, the pair charge forward towards the fext. Miikae draws her new scimitar with a quick flourish and brings it down in an arc as Sands reaches it, digging deep into it's shoulder.
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Pervince's weapon creates a sizeable wound. Miikae got her money worth from her new weapon. Cold Iron seems to do the trick against this creature also as it howls freakishly. Small blackish blue sparks are starting to fill the area and the clouds gather closer together above the road.
Spellscar Fext 19 Attacks Kera
Miikae 16 Wounds the Spellscar Fext with Cold Iron
Kera 15 Weapon Drawn dismounted Up for initiative
Pervince 9+ Fired another well placed shot with the Watts experimental gun
Muziel 9- has not acted this round
Attack:
Damage:
As Miikae slices into it's shoulder Kera buries her blade deep into it's side.
Now she wishes she had been greedy with Musiel's healing. It wasn't likely she could take another hit from this creature.
Still gritting his teeth, Pervince considers the charges left in the gun. Nine charges. Then again, Kera has only one charge of life. That was enough consideration. If this creature wasn't a good use for them, what was? He holds his breath.
_/
_/
I sure hope Samuel was right about these guys being undead," Muziel says. He moves up to the monster, quickly pulls out a vial of holy water from his bandolier and hurls it at the beast.
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Spellscar Fext 19 Attacks Kera
Miikae 16 - Wounds creature
Kera 15 - Wounds Creature with Glass
Pervince 9+ Uses hero points and opens a gaping hole in the creature
Muziel 9- Finishes off the Spellscar Fext with holy water
The storm coalesces into a heavy fog that feels like a gel.
The Storm fades and a shadow washes over the party. Muziel feels a cold embrace unlike anything he has ever felt, the closest was when he was baptized by Priests of Zon_Kuthon in his homeland and he receives an epiphany
Miikae feels nothing from the shadow, but gains a strange insight into negative energy.
Pervince detests the shadow. It burns him as it washes over his body. The strength of his will protects him from any further effects and hardens itself against the void.
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Klara and company help the group recover from the storm and the Fext attack. Klara and Pervince solidify their relationship as they camp overnight. Ironically Karrick passes the camp in the night, failing to see his friends inside tents caring for Kera. Gazerich Greystone meets up with the group in the morning with a group of Greystones that have business in Martel as well. The large group continues on to Martel and arrives the next night. The party gets rooms in the extremely large Inn in town called The Travler's Home a large 7 story Inn. Karrick easily finds the group with his new friend Ythl.
Martel is surrounded by a Huge Gate and tower system manned by enough personal to guard a large city. Martel is a town that is more Human inspired than dwarf. There are more humans here than in Alkenstar. This town is very xenophobic against mutants and non-Humans/Dwarves. Halflings and Gnomes are tolerated, Half-Orcs are rare. Mutants and Gnolls are servants at best, prisoner slaves at worst.
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It's the evening hours when Karrick wanders in from upstairs to find Muziel and the others at the inn. Having taken the day to sleep and recover from his harrowing flight across the Wastes, he looks to be both more comfortable and somewhat changed on his emergence. At first it was hard to tell it was even him, but the goggles worn over his luminescent eyes and the freshly shaved head gave him away.
It's the armor that sets him apart now, having donned the full suit of dark Nidalese-styled breastplate armor that had been salvaged from Grachius. Concealing some of the armor is Karrick's ratty traveling cloak he wore when he left Alkenstar, now dusted with the soot of the wastes and tattered on the bottom edge. Ubiquitous are his knives, though no longer sheathed at his chest, they are both tucked away in sheathes at the small of his back, with the blade given to him by Kera hidden in one of the armor's dark bracers.
"You ain't dead," is his greeting, though it's hard to tell if his smile is a genuine one or an affectation. "How'd a guy on foot beat a bunch'f people on horseback here?"
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Experiencing a vision in the fog following the storm, Muziel sees it as a sign. There was no question (in his mind) that Zon_Kuthon had spoken to him, and told him that he had to complete the binding for himself. Taking out the copy of the Umbral Leaves that once belonged to Lord Vyktor, he reads through the book, looking for any information in the book or in any notes along the margins. Memories of his training in the doctrines of Zon_Kuthon percolate to the surface as he focuses.
Also during the downtime, he's also going to take a look at that legal document that Zadock had looked at but never discussed.
He will also brew a few curative potions to nurse any injured back to health.
Once they are in town, and at the inn, Muziel is just discussing what might have happened to Karrick, when he strolls in from upstairs! Muziel is simply speechless, and looks at Karrick, then the group, then Karrick again, his mouth hanging open.
As the Fext falls and the storms shadows covers them all Miikae hears a scream and hugs tightly to Sands as they flee the storms reach. The fog clears quickly and a shadow passes over her and into her mind and then leaves. She is relieved to be unharmed. A scream pierces the silence. Kera! Remembering what happened to the assassin she turns around to see what is happening. Seeing Kera on the ground she dismounts and runs back to her. Thankfully no worms appear and Kera is alive. Miikae calls Sands over and does what she can for Kera's burns.
Miikae takes a closer look at the Fext.
Seeing Klara's party approaching Miikae stays next to Kera and with her as she is cared for that night, lending aid to Klara in healing Kera, over the next two days until she is well again.
Responding to Karrick, Pervince rubs his hair. "We went to see Reidford and camped overnight." He smiles, recalling that night. He collects himself quickly.
"Nevermind that, where did you get that fine armor?"
Once Karrick explains himself, Pervince brings up the next bit of conversation.
"Let us presume that Inglis is being honorable and taking up defense of Martel in Reidford's absence. Again my suspicions come upon that gnome, Slief. Either he snatched Hana's seal knowing what was about to happen here and wanted to protect something, or whatever happened here was dependent on receiving that seal."
Pervince's expression is intensely thoughtful, narrowing his eyes and looking to Kera.
"The timing of everything means both Slief and Hana knew something big was about to happen. Regarding the Reidford disappearance, my guess is that Hana arrived and commanded them to some action. If that's so, then she's been quite impulsive- hiring us for an outrageous sum, ordering martial law, and now possibly taking Martel's army to some end. I rather not suggest that the whole Reidford guild just disappeared."
Regarding his rifle momentarily, he paces off his seat, eyes darting as though looking for a clue. "We should take a look at the Vault of Martel. It surely has been opened, and perhaps some insight might be gained at finding out what for. Though that might not be easy."
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At the reappearance of Karrick, Miikae is unsurprised. She nods to him when he walks over. The armour reminds her of Venrich and she recognises it as his armour.
Interesting, he had taken the armour not entirely unlike she had gained a weapon, courtesy of the Nidal. At his greeting she replies, "It'll take more than some undead mutant and a mana storm to kill us."
When Pervince mentions Slief, Miikae speaks up, "I don't think we need to worry about Slief anymore. Samuel found him chained and almost dead in a torture cell of the embassy... He was fooled because of his 'love' for the Duchess... Grachius used him." She hoped Samuel found out something useful from his search of the place.
Muziel ponders whether he's ever heard of a Countess Norla Von Sil in his time at home or spoken at the embassy by Lord Vyktor or someone else:
He wonders if he can use this document to his advantage. He examines the document carefully, seeing if there is a way to discretely remove the present heir and add another of Muziel's choosing.
"Took the armor off of..." Karrick waves a hand, unable to remember one dead mutant's name or another. "The tentacle-face guy that Muziel did his 'doctor' thing on at Pip's house." Then, arching one brow, Karrick shifts his weight to one foot and looks askance at Muziel, then Miikae, then Pervince.
"Where the hell's Pip?"
That she's the scarred woman sitting nearby hasn't quite dawned on him yet.
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As you all get settled in the large Inn and share a few tales, you start to hear a commotion on the road. You look out a window and see the street is clearing for a duel. A woman screams loudly
I'm calling you out Hank Niven! Turn and face me coward
A human woman with a bandolier holding two pistols on her chest and another two on her hip stands ready to draw as she continues to berate another man who clearly looks like he would rather not face her. Maybe I should just kill your father, like you killed mine you yellow-bellied desert snake! Only I won't have to shot him in the back.
The road clears and only the two people remain staring at each other. AHHHHHHHHHhhhh! The woman yells as she draws and opens fire emptying two six guns into the mans chest and drops them and draws the other two before his body hits the ground. She walks up to him and puts one more round in the mans skull before picking up her other pistols and walking away. The road soon returns to being busy and street children strip the dead body of anything of worth.
Hmm, impressive. I always wanted to see Gloria shoot. Well coddlekins shall we start our search for our missing Duchess? Klara says out loud as she continues to watch Gloria out the window.
