Stepping back and groaning, "Damn, pick her up and lets go!"
Moving over to Audria and grabbing her hand and running in the opposite direction of the noises.
"Man still breath, heal or grab him too." He already has the ghoul in hand, so he just tosses her over a shoulder.
Moira stops her story with a sad "Well, I'll finish that one later I guess!" and nods at Rigo's suggestion. She bends down to the man and gives him a shot of Cure Light Wounds.
As his wound closes and his eyelids flicker open, she smiles at him and says, "So sorry to interrupt. Got pants somewhere?"
Audria isn't much slower off the mark than Alexis, despite the way her mind was gibbering at the moment. She still has enough of her wits to know that being caught by the watch would be a very, very bad end for them.
"C'mon Moira, let him find his own pants. We need to bounce." he quickly follows the others, away from the sounds of the guard.
Salom scoops Thea up with one arm and she assumes her customary position over his shoulders. Then he takes off with the others in search of a safe house. As if such a thing exists in the Blight.
If the man is healed enough to regain consciousness, Moira hauls him to his feet and says, "I hate to leave you hanging. You can come with us or wait for the watch. Your call. We won't bite." Then she remembers Rigo and Thea... "Well, most of us won't bite." Then Moira scoots, following the group at full speed.
The man, his bleeding stabilised yet his dignity long since departed, barely managed to stumble along as Moira guides him through the lanes, alleyways and urban crevasses that litter the periphery of the Great Fayre... he doesn't talk... doesn't ask... he simply runs - as everyone else ahead of him does.
Until, with the soiund of the Watch's whistles somewhat subsided and the sign of any chase gone, the group finally stop to catch their breath... and the man very nearly collapses again. Slumped and with nothing but the tails of his muddied tunic to hide exposed legs, he gasps thanks towards Moira, "Th... thanks... I don't know what happened... Liza... we were, you know, and she suddenly bit... only it was more than just a bite - she tried to... OH MY GOD!!! She was going to eat me!!!"
As events sink in, the tell-tale signs of shock start to show - wide eyes, babbling, shivering...
"There there... have a seat..." Moira looks around for a bench or, failing that, a cleanish wall to prop him up against. "Seems like you're the only one who hasn't heard that some of the working girls in this district are out to consume their clientele." She pulls out her waterskin and gives him a swig before splashing some water on his cheeks the way one does. "Gal was named Liza, was she? Hmm, we were looking for Grace."
Rigo steps over to the man, and presses a finger firmly against a pressure point. Then he rubs another firmly, and then sharply jabs another pressure point, he continues this in cycles, trying to calm the man down.
It takes a few minutes but eventually Moira and Rigo are able to calm the man long enough for hin to start talking again, "Grace? She went off with her sister, Maude I think it is? And some young fellow from the Capitol... pale looking lad, probably noble blood and with a coin purse to match... anyway, Grace said she was going to take him back to hers... show him a good time... oh..."
...the man's voice trails off as he realises the likely fate of this boy from the Capitol.
"And here I was thinking 'maneater' was an expression," Audria mutters as they hide in an alley. She, pointedly, does not look at the man who'd been in congress with undead lady of negotiable virtue.
"And where did they go? Did she state an address or location? In which direction did they flee?"
Moira nods and tries to look reassuring. "We want to help him."
After a brief run from the law, the group rests. Aishe nods at Salom's question, got right to the point he did. Excellent.
He keeps his eyes open but rests his crossbow back on his belt.
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"If not sure where she went, can you show me location where she and boy were? I might be able to track them down. Or if you have anything that belonged to either of them, that would help." Rigo drops the un-needed ghoul body into a trash bin, as it was not needed.
"They went back to her place... I don't know where Grace and her sisters live... is live the right word? They're not alive really are they? I'm sorry... I can't help... and we can't go back to that alley - the Watch will still be searching", the man pauses and then addresses his lost dignity, "Any chance anyone has some spare pants?"
"Grace is up here most nights... she can't resist coming around and threatening my sisters and I", Asa's voice quivers, "She says that she's going to take us in the dead of night - and that the best food is food that knows it is going to be eaten... it's never been more than words, not yet anyway... but, good sir, if something untoward were to befall her" – there is a hopeful note in Asa’s squealing voice. "If she isn't in the Fayre tonight then I know where she lives… she’s always talking about it – and, oh dear, its big oven. Down near the Black Finger… there’s a cookhouse called the Squealing Piglet – Grace and her dead sisters, they live somewhere near that place, and oh my!!! Oh, I never want to know that place…”
Moira notices Rigo's unceremonious treatment of Liza's body, and feels a moment's internal conflict.
This is no time to stand on ceremony...
She marks her surroundings in the hope that sometime soon she'll be able to retrace her steps and give Liza's corpse a more dignified end.
Moira passes the man a gold coin. "Here's a loan. Find yourself a drink and some clothes, and once you've recovered a bit and find your coinpurse, repay the money to Grunwaldt the pig gambler. He's a friend and will get it back to me."
Perfect, a chance to show Grunwaldt that I wasn't making up that tale!
Moira occasionally has trouble keeping her head in the game...
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Yes, Aishe shared that info, but was hoping for confirmation. We'll go with what we have...
"Well, shall we go save the man? If it's not already too late that is..." he wonders with a shudder what sort of foreplay they might do and tries to clear his head with a shake.
"Let's go."
Rigo looks at Moira. "Clean us up, we don't want to walk around with dead blood on us. Nor do we want to smell of dead blood, it will make it hard for me to narrow down where she lives." He wiggles his paw. "Make with the magic as we walk. We'll try to find her and her sister before she eats the fool."
Rigo pauses. "Try not to clean the dye off our fur though, we all need to keep that."
"What's more dangerously conspicuous on Festival: being covered in blood or casting arcane magic? If I'm going to clean us off, it will be in an alley or, preferably, a room. But I'm willing, of course. Follow me, and hold still..."
Moira pulls Rigo, Salom, and Thea into a quiet alley and scrubs them off.
Rigo looks at the dingy alley they had run down to avoid the cops, the one that's like the 15 before it, that are used by the dregs of the Fayre. "This deserted alley not as good as another one? We run for 5 minutes, it be 10 minutes of walking before we get back to area where people around."
"She's near someplace called the Black Finger around the Squealing Piglet according to Asa," Audria says as quietly as she can and still be heard.
A quarter of a mile of iron, timber, rust, and rope stretches gingerly across Sister Lyme... this is the Black Finger, the largest of the piers that jut out from the island. It is host to a limpet army of stalls and events, plays and scams on various levels of pier, many of which are newly lashed bamboo scaffolds which groan nervously above the black waters of the river.
From what Asa told Audria and Aishe, the 'Squealing Piglet' isn't on the Black Finger... but is somewhere nearby...
While some people talk, Rigo lets his nose do the work...
Aishe waits for Rigo's nose to do the trick. Should it fail to do so, as he expects it will so busy is the place, he'll start asking around.
Sadly, he fares no better, and likely worse...
Moira decides to give it try...
...but seems like these city folk just don't have time for a country girl hunting for an undead cathouse.
Chuckling to herself and wandering a good distance away from the group to do her own asking for the creepy courthouse.
Audria sighs at Moira and Aishe's antics and scoots a ways down the street before trying to strike up a conversation with some folks that don't look too unsavory.
And only gets a gruff "Get lost girly," before being shoved roughly aside.
Audria, Aishe and Moira, clearly unused to the way things are done around these parts, manage to gather nothing other than dismissive grunts from folks who are 'too busy' - and that is at best. The worst they get in response to their questions is abuse and suggestions that they return to whatever rural carrot-crunching dunghole they came from in the first place... and Rigo, hoping to use his natural sensitivity to scent. finds the smells down here at the river's edge too overpowering to be able to discern the presence, or location, of his quarry.
It is fortunate then that Alexis, with maybe a little more savvy than the others have shown, is able to talk to a few people... and, in between the kind of chatter that passes the time of day, determines that the 'Squealing Piglet' is on the short pier to the north of the Black Finger - and furthermore, and by the way of a warning, has garnered a very dubious reputation for exactly what it puts into its pies, cobs and roasts.
...of rickety, and somewhat decrepit, construction, the pier is far less grand than its supposedly illustrious neighbour - indeed, whilst the Black Finger has, along most of its length, two distinct storeys, the smaller pier has only the one. Yet below the Squealing Piglet, a makeshift structure has been lashed to the iron struts and stanchions of the pier... this surely must be 'the Urchin' - the place of Asa's nightmares - and Grace's home.
From the group's vantage point on the shore, steps leading down to the structure beneath the Squealing Piglet can be seen... but, at least from this distance, the 'staircase' doesn't seem to extend all the way to the walkway of the pier - leaving a jump of some ten feet to be negotiated...
Rigo gestures. "I can climb that. Need ropes, you climb ropes. Like on ship." He displays claws, to show the climbing method.
Aishe shrugs, "No rope, sorry. I should get some though at some point."
He looks at the height, he hopes someone else has some rope or it's going to be a challenge.
"Maybe." Dropping her bag on the ground and digging around before pulling out a length of slightly tattered rope.
Rigo takes the rope in his teeth, and then clambers up to the landing before tying it off.
Rigo drops down, with his rope, onto a jagged iron stairway that slithers around the outside of the building, framed in iron bars. The walls of this ramshackle building are made of flotsam, iron sheets, and ship’s timbers, and - now that the friends are close enough to examine it - looks very thick. The stairs are slippery with seaweed and salt-sprayed water.
The stairs arrive at a small platform between 10 and 15 feet above a turbulent river... where, with scrawled chalk writing suggesting that trespassers should beware, a crude opening allows access into darkness.
...peering into the darkness, Rigo sees a collection of junk - heaps of mangled metal and bits of scrap - and centrally within a remarkably large chamber, what appears to be a carousel. But no sign of life...
As things get darker, Audria clings more tightly to closest person. She makes her way slowly down the stairs, not trusting the footing in the slightest.
Salom slithers down the rope to join the others. Thea flits down, slow and sailing, on her tawny orange wings. Once she lands, Salom kneels down, turning her around. Frowning, he withdraws a small oil can from his satchel, applying a few squirts to the joints of her wings.
Moira follows carefully! (Post from phone)
Rigo takes the lead, as he can see, and begins creeping forward, moving silently.
As he enters the darkened opening, he sniffs the air and rotates his head back and forth in a well oiled imitation of Thea's head motions when she's flying, moving in precise short arcs that give him a good view of everything, both ahead, to either side, and above.
Taking Audria's hand and doing her best to lead the uncertain girl on a questionable path. [i]Wish I could see better.[/ooc]
Aishe moves slowly, half speed, down into the carousel. "Can anyone help out with some light?" he asks of the group as he peers poorly into the darkness.
Moira lights up her hatband with a casting of a cantrip.
The light helps Audria relax some, but she's still wound a little too tight, and maintains a deathgrip on Alexis' hand.
A curious space surrounds what looks like a rusting carousel, but this is a carousel made of rusting iron horses with blades thrust into their heads, making them appear to be ghastly unicorns. The area between the horses is tangled in wire and pointed rusty barbs. The surrounding lot is strewn with straw and rotten turnips; beyond, there is a lean-to shed of some sort.
...and as Moira casts light on to the situation, the carousel bursts into life - slowly turning as music discordantly echoes around the confines of the chamber.
"I guess some people find stuff like this sexy, hmm. I'm more into long walks through the forest followed by picnics and skinny dipping myself. Or candles, wine, good music, and maybe a little magic. Good company being the most important element, regardless. But who am I to judge?" She draws her sword and checks that her buckler is properly attached to her left arm.
Rigo puts a big finger up to his muzzle, in the universal sign for 'shhhhhh', and points to the shed, then to his ear. He begins to move as silently as possible toward the shed. Watching all around him.
Audria freezes in place as the carousel begins to move. Her eyes are wide and her fingers squeeze even tighter around Alexis' hand.