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Making a turn as abrupt as they get, Marcello changes the course of his otherwise nonchalant walk through the city.
"Give me a minute." He says, his voice changed. Where it had been emotionless and non-caring before, he now sounded strained and annoyed.
The walk even changed to a brisk walk speed from the before slow-and-steady.
If the others cared to follow or look where he ran to, they would notice a bunch of people making way for the big angry Warrior.
Reaching the kid Marcello would stop in front of him. "Where did you get that from?" If the kid refused to answer, Marcello would take a step closer. "This can go 1 of 2 ways. First option, you tell m and I will let you get away with 1 Silver coin." Fishing up a shiny silver up from his pouch, he let him have a good look at the coin.
"The other option... Well, it is less pleasant."
Fethryth looks around, trying to remember what's in this part of the city.
If Marcello threatens the kid she scowls at the Hellknight. "Really, threatening children now?"
Patricie looks on Marcello's interaction, she peeks around the big man and whispers loudly with a comically frightened look, "I'd go for the coin!"
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"Our library was rather lacking on the subject of vampires, and unfortunately they are not a creature I am personally familiar with. So if you know nothing of them Victor, I fear the most likely person who does is the one we are seeking."
Melaphi watches the exchange between Marcello and the child, biting back a sarcastic remark that is echoed in Feth's words to him, then turns back to Victor, "This part of town though, not much about it..."
Garroth followed behind, though he kept out of the others way as soon as he noticed the necklace. Instead, he simply crossed his arms and leaned on the nearest available surface that could support his weight.
"You know, it never hurts to start nice before gettin' nasty." He remarked.
Sarcon appears out of nowhere, apparently recognizing the child. However, before he is able to speak, money and tokens change hands and "Franky" is impressing everyone with his new land speed record down the city streets. Feth and Sarcon scold the harsh warrior while Patry apparently appreciates his methods.
While the other hardened adventurers busy themselves with scaring children, Melaphi and Victor discuss vampires and the City itself. Melaphi conveys that this district is of generally lower-middle-class citizens and is just a few blocks away from the east city gate.
"Afternoon Sarcon." Melaphi greets the half-orc before addressing Marcello, "What have you purchased there?"
"Patry, will you see if you can pick up the trail again? Sniff around the edges of this area where there isn't as much foot traffic. Unless Marcello already knows where we are heading?" he queries.
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Not giving a Damn about the kid, Marcello turns the holy symbol in his hands. Nodding, like some internal discussion went on, he simply ignored the "harsh" words of the others.
"Greetings Sarcon." He stuffed the holy symbol down another pouch before remarking on that kid, "That "Franky" kid sure runs fast" followed by an impressed whistle.
Walking back to Victor and Melaphi, he nods again. "Correct. I know where this trail ends within city limits, after that I know very little of how to follow blood." as he start walking, he adds a quick answer "Have you never seen someone haggle? First you spot the item you want, you know that it is stolen from a priestess and you pay the very low price of 1 silver."
Had it been said from anyone else, there might have been a chance he was joking, but it was hard to hear if Marcello actually meant anything when he spoke in the same tone.
So he continued to the East gate, the place where he and Sarcon had followed the blood to earlier. Stopping up, he made some gestures against the trail. "This is as far as I can come, so go ahead and "sniff" out what you can from that." and with that, Marcello forfeited his position of walking in front.
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Fethryth looks curious. "As far as you can come? Does that mean you can't leave the city? What would happen if you tried walking out the gate?"
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Staring quizzical at Feth through the helmet, Marcello answered dripping with sarcasm "I would probably burst into flames."
The gloved hand pointed at the obvious blood trail on the cobblestone. "No, the same thing that happened to everyone else who doesn't know how to track... They would get lost." as he spoke, his hand gestured to what would be the obvious trail out of the city.
Patricie nods briskly at the suggestions, and proceeds to track the captors and priestess into the wild, with no effort whatsoever to mask the glee on her face. It was clear that this daughter of nature had clearly been uncomfortable in the city, and was now moving as if 100 pounds lighter.
Fethryth mumbles something about the proper usage of words under her breath before following Patricie out the gate. As she passes Marcello she stares at the symbol in his hand.
After Fethryth follows Patricie out the gate, Fate stops next to Marcello, shaking her head. "Do not antagonize the help, Marcello. Ve vill find your Mistress much faster if ve do not vaste time vith banal arguments." She glances back to the women ahead of the party. "Ve may have uses for them still, but not if they despise us."
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Shrugging off what Fate said, he did consider what she said. With the help they were more likely to find Crystal, they could cover more ground and handle tougher fights...
Stopping mid-shrug, he made a small nod. "You are right, but if I started smiling, and greeting them as comrades, they will be suspicious . If I act like I do now, they will also be suspicious."
Throwing his hands up in a most theatrical manner, something he learned from Victor, he shakes his head. "Better to keep them at arms length then."
With those last words he chose a position on the right side of their little row of people so that he could he keep an eye out for trouble and have a clear way of charging, if need be.
An oily haired aasimar wearing long flowing red robes with a large case on his back can be seen running towards the group "sorry I'm late, I was carving some wooden stakes because I was told we'd be fighting vampires" after he catches his breath he raises one eyebrow "what's with the kid?
"He is very very fast." Patricie said absent mindedly as she continues tracking. "Did you see him running your way?"
The strange party bickers amongst themselves as they head off into the wilderness, a lone Aasimar apparently joining them for some purpose just before they make it out of town. Once outside, the tracking becomes considerably more difficult.
Patricie, losing the trail briefly, puts her finger in the dirt, then back into her mouth, and hums in thought.
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Sighing, Marcello stops trying to spot tracks for Patricie. He saw nothing worth noting and it seemed that he couldn't be of any help for Sarcon either.
Stamping the ground as an annoyed kid, he says nothing. Raging over something he had no control over, would be stupid and might ruin whatever track they would be able to follow. So for now, he simply keeps a look on their surroundings... Making sure there are no wolfs or the likes around them.
Victor, being the paragon of wisedom, learning and knowledge, attempts to rack through his long gone brain cells to find the required information. Somehow gaining access to information through the power of necromancy, to the memories and experiences of his living days.
"A mere suggestion, if I may, however, I believe it is rational to believe that an enemy such as ours could be expected to reside within the...
You know that, as creatures of the night, vampires tend to prefer secluded locations. However, still retaining many sensibilities from their prior humanoid life, yet also empowered by their vampirism, many will seek out grand castles or mansions in which to hide away during the day. However, other kinds of humanoids may seek other ideal dwellings, depending on what that race tends to value.
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Victor lets out an amused chuckle in-between his words, his mask turning and twisting between the collected heroes and villains. His otherwise nearly hollow and hoarse tone quickly laced with something akin to amusement. He raises his hands outwards, as a preacher from his pulpit.
"Pardon, "within" might be the wrong word for this location. As it lays outside of the city limits. If I am not much mistaken, we will find this enemy of ours within the decrepit castle in the northern reaches of this realm. It is a mere two days of marching away, so you might wish to consider bringing some tents. It appears we are going on a little camping trip together."
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Looking back at Victor Marcello is once again surprised by the certainty of which he place in his logic. But as it stands, Victor could just as well be the most crazy person in their midst, but at least he came with a suggestion, so...
Beggars can't be choosers.
Clearing his throat Marcello raise his voice. "Well I will stand vigil until our Priestess have been saved, so I will need no tent."
With that being said, he simply waited for Victor to point out which way to go.
"I stand ready as I am. Anyone who needs to get their stuff together can do so." He took a few steps out of the gate. "Ill go now, ill use the head start to prepare a camp site, assuming the stragglers dont catch up before nightfall." He looked at his companions, sparing a few glances at members of the other group. "Who is coming now?"
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Not wasting the time, Marcello stepped forward. "Only battle will make me more prepared, so let us move on."
Stepping a solid 5 feet next to Garroth, he was ready to move. "Due to the weight of the armor, I do move a bit slower. It will only speed us up if I start walking before everyone else."
As soon as Garroth moved with whoever of the group ready to leave, or Victor pointing which way they were meant to go, Marcello would start moving.
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"Oh, um, an overnight trip? I'll have to run home and get some things." Fethryth seems to hum with nervous energy as she strides off. This is only the second time she's spending a night outside the city.
"Tents?" Patricie says, struggling with a foreign concept, "Oh, right!" she remembers, "The cloth caves people carry with them...no, as long as Milley comes with us, I'll be fine." She makes a clicking noise with her mouth and waves a horse out from her hiding spot. The horse Patry bought never did warm up to travelling with a carnivorous bear, so she tended to stay out of sight. But the druid's hold over her was too strong for her to disobey.
The oily haired individual says "uh if other people are going to get tents then I is guess if would be better if I go and grab one too
As Feth starts to leave Melaphi catches up to her quickly, "One moment Feth."
He dismounts and hands the reins of his horse to her. "Be quick and catch up to us. My food is in the saddlebags, and my bedroll on the back here as you can see. I'd like them before nightfall."
Melaphi adds in a whisper, "Otherwise I'm going to be as grumpy as one of those two already heading out the gate."
"Oh, um, alright. Ok. Ride the horse. Yes." Her first few attempts to get in the saddle end in failure. Finally Melaphi gives her a boost and she's off! The horse trots away with her holding the reins in a death grip.
Victor pauses for a moment, akwardly shuffling between the leaving parties until he, too, heads off to gather some items, the required equipment for setting up a nice little campground and a few treats. Darting off towards the keep "I will return to this very position in an hour or two."
Some of the party heads out immediately while others go back to prepare.