Rordan, unsure of the situation, moves in silently to get closer and observe.
Mok lays unconscious on the ground...dreaming of waking and asking what happened!!!
Stepping into the alleyway, Hund corrals the two women more towards the back and hidden away before he steps into his own position. As the men walk into the alley after their prey, Silas steps out to confront them. Hund waits just a moment for them to assume he's their only target and to get overconfident before he steps into the fight.
Baros uses the momentum of kicking off the club wielding thug to increase the force if his attack but as the cord around his neck tightens his attack falters.
Silas, Hund, & Riordan
The men look at eachother as their surprise is turned. The wounded one turns to his companion. Grab the girl, remember what Vance said. We won't have to kill them if we get her. he says, as he lashes out at Silas. , , striking a smarting blow on his shoulder.
The other thug tries to run past Hund and Silas, to try to grab Fallon , seizing her firmy
Silas catches the blow on his shoulder and while his shoulder drops, the chain shirt underneath absorbs the damage entirely. Silas grins a wicked smile, shaking his head.
"Stupid f!+#ing move, mate." The other thug begins to run by them both, going after Fallon and trying to capture her back.
"Don't let him escape with the girl Hund. I'm not losing my f%+*ing pay." Silas hisses out, focusing on the man who had struck at him. He goes to strike at him but in the swing, kicks up a plank of wood. The man stumbles back some, a momentary distraction to let him get his strike in.
Hund ejects a mechanical growl as he swats the cultist.
Rordan finds it may be time to act. He maneuvers into a position where he can see into the alleyway while, hopefully, maintaining his distance. Rordan then nocks an arrow, takes aim, and fires at the closest of the two men.
I swore an oath to help the Mechanical Hound the best I could... Better hope I'm doing the right thing here.
Rordan's shot goes wild.
Well... Just gave away my position. Doesn't seem like a lot is going well for me today.
A strange arrow passes overhead, but Hund doesn't turn to look at whatever new for has arrived. He focuses on the cultist trying to capture the girl and rushes after her.
The thug who was trying to run away with Fallon falls to the ground as HUIVD slashes him open, covering the cowering girl in blood.
The one Facing Silas is battered, and in bad shape. but he seems determined to carry out Swiet's Orders. but he fails to do anything as he brings his club around.
Silas hears the rewarding sound of a man screaming behind him and gives a fierce, wicked smile to the thug in front of him.
"I hope Brother Vance was worth it. After this, I'm going to cut his head off and put it on a f~$!ing pike." He growls, dodging the retributive strike from the club. Ducking low, he brings the sword up and across to try and open the man's insides for all the world to see.
Hund steps around the bloodied girl after the kill and eyes the other cultist trying to flee.
The Cultist decides to cut his losses after all. He falls back, guard up against the pair of assailants and he runs off down the eastern road
The three of you also hear the militia gathering and approaching... this is not a great scene.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Protect girl, Hund tells Silas before the mechanical dog bursts out of the alleyway, running as fast as his can to the other cultist, not allowing him to flee.
He quickly catches up (movement 14!) and tries to grab the cultist, preventing him from fleeing the scene. With the militia showing up, Hund can turn the cultist in to the local law. Just like he did when he was a mercenary.
Silas watches as the mechanical hound chases after the fleeing, bloodied man with incredible speed, earning a wide grin from Silas as he nods.
"That's a good boy." He mutters to himself, making his way towards Farron and picking her shocked, bloodied self up off of the ground. The sound of men and women shouting and the occasional ruffle of armor brings a soft sigh to his lips. A militia was coming and even though they were in the right, they were also strangers here.
"Lady Cassenault, I'm going to need you to speak up for us when they come around the corner." Silas says as he wipes his blade clean on the dead man's back and sheathes his weapon. Gesturing for the women to follow, he moves to the mouth of the alleyway to greet the militia.
Rordan places his bow across his back and takes a deep breath. He steps out from his hiding hole to confront the, presumably, dangerous people from the alley. His hand are held up disarmingly toward the group.
I am here to help, if I can. Though we seem to have company arriving.
Rordan nods toward the fast-gathering Militia.
Here's the thing though, I need to ask that guy a few questions. About The Adepts. Questions with answers we both may benefit from. Do you think, uh, your Hound would oblige?
The cultist begins to panic as he is grabbed. Get off, dog! he shouts, holding his club in two hands as he swings at the metal captor and gets the road instead.
Of course I will support you, you've saved our lives... though my house is likely unsalvageable. she says, rather calmly for someone who was almost murdered. Fallon, for her part, is mostly sitting on the ground, covered in blood.
Silas can appreciate the woman's calm nature even as things get desperate; cool heads kept one alive longer. He would walk over towards Fallon, hefting her up off of the ground and looking the poor girl in the face.
"You're alright. We'll get you cleaned up and looking proper soon enough." Silas mutters as he turns to catch sight of the goblin popping out of his hiding hole. Was that the errant bolt he heard fly by? Giving the goblin a once-over, the bloodied man would grin and nod. "Only one way to know, right? Everyone with me, lets talk to our guest out there."
Silas would move out to where Hund had the man pinned down. This was the best place to be when the militia came and spotted them.
Hund holds his captured prey, waiting for the militia to show up.
Rordan approaches the cultist with the group. Hastened, a bit, by the shrinking window of time before the militia shows up. Considering The Hound's fervor for taking down these cultists he keeps his distance.
He quickly tries to glean some information on the walk over from the man from the alley.
Apologies for the stray arrow. I was trying to help, but today seems not to be going in my favor. I've been tracking this Cult for some time. But no one in this town seems to know much about them... Or even what they're about. Any ideas?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Well...they have charmed this lady's daughter and had her drugged beyond belief. We took her out of that situation, grabbed some incriminating papers, and then were attacked by thugs that I saw this "Brother Vance" send after us. Our friends should be at the temple, learning what they're planning on doing. Lady Cassenault says that it is some kind of demon-summoning or something." Silas says, explaining the situation as best as he can to the goblin as they approached the downed man. He would kick the man's hand that held the club in it, growling down to him. "You dent our dog, I'll dent your f@*~ing head, you hear?"
Baros
it's hot. Very hot. And you are covered in a sticky substance. There are people shouting, and everything smells of smoke.
You force your sore body to sit up, and look down, at clothes covered in red-brown drying blood. The armed men, dressed in ragamuffin armour, look at you.
Captain, the Halfling ain't dead.
And how the f@+% do you figure tha- he turns and sees your regaining your senses Revel's cock, how Does a person lose that much blood and keep going?
Might not all be his blood. The first voice, a young-ish man, probably from a little further south by his complexion
No way a halfling does that to someone.
HUIVD, Silas, and Rordan
The cultist stops struggling as he is outnumbered, and even less as three militia members come over to see.
Now, what in the high holy hells is going on here? the lead man asks There's a girl covered in blood, a house on fire, a man dead in the streets, another getting held at swordpoint.
Silas turns towards the militia members who made their way over, smiling wide with his lips pressed tightly together. Sheathing his blade, he would open his arms widely.
"Gentlemen, good day." Silas says, gesturing towards the vicious scene around them. The smell of burning wood mixed with the metallic scent of blood lingering in the air from the torn apart man. Farron was still shaking in her mother's arms and the man on the ground was whimpering in pain as Hund's magical fangs sunk in slowly.
"What you see here is...truly...an act of self-defense. This man and his dead cohort had been sent to kill us and Lady Cassenault, reclaim her daughter, and then summon some kind of horrendous entity." Turning to point at the man nearby. "This man and others work for a "Brother Vance", the cult leader down in the commune. He sent two to kill us on the road here, then sent another group after us to kill Lady Cassenault. They set her home on fire in order to get us out of the house, and then wanted to ambush us here in the alleyway."
"Joke's on them though. Ol' Silas ain't dumb, is he?" He says, giving another kick to the man's shin before turning towards them. "There were two others of my party; the meanest little halfling you ever met and a godly orc. Trust me, I know how it sounds. They're good people. Have you seen them?" Silas asked, realizing he had not heard or seen a thing of his friends since then. He had hoped they were alright and that these militia members weren't complete buffons.
Baros reflexively reaches for the garrote that had been wrapped around his neck only to find more blood, his or possibly someone else's, sitting up he turns to look at whatever 'that' was that the young man was referring to.
Baros you look at what the Guard indicated. it takes you a moment to recognise the man who was trying to kill you moments ago. he's torn to peices, his ribcage torn open, his guts torn out. his partner's head sits behind him, but the body is close to the fire, and your knife is so deep in his sternum, you'd be surprised if it wasn't in his spine. Only 2 reasonable explanations: either a really pissed off bear (or beastman, or similar) wandered through, or black magic was used on these two.
Silas
The apparent leader gives a look to his subordinates, and nods. they sheathe their weapons, except two, who go to manacle the thug. Saint's bones. This was a quiet town before those bastards set up shop nearby. he says You two, Jail him. We'll have to call the inquisition, let the experts deal with this cult. he says.
Another militia member steps forward as you ask about Baros and Mok Lace said something about corpses behind the house. said it wasn't pretty. he says I'm... I'm real sorry.
Baros staggers to his feet, filling almost hungover, after steading himself he walks over to the corpse impaled by his dagger. Wrenching the blade free from the bones and gore. Baros then recovers his spear, moving around any militia but not talking to any of them. He then checks on Mok who seems to be out but alive. "Where are the others?" he asks to no one in perticular.
Silas's trademark scowl returns when he hears that there are corpses behind the house. The halfling and the orc better not have had the audacity to have died when he needed them to deliver those papers, damn it. Watching the man get manacle, Silas would finally let out a sigh. "Well, best we see if its them Hund. Then we'll see about some kind of f~#&ing Inquisition or what have you." Waiting seemed like a terrible idea when there were demon summoners in your backyard, potentially summoning demons.
"Hey goblin. The name's Silas. He's Hund. You want to investigate the cult, stick with us." Looking back towards Lady Cassenault, he'd give her a nod. "Miss, please take your daughter and go to the Temple to the Old Gods. We'll meet you there. As for you..." Silas said, turning towards the militiaman. [b]"Keep these two safe and don't let the young girl run off. Cult has her brainwashed like a fool."
With that, Silas would begin to make his way towards where the burning building was and where his comrades may lay.
Hund doesn't release the cultist until he is firmly in the hands of the militia. Afterwards, he trots over the the new goblin and makes a show of sniffing him.
Smell funny. Don't trust. he says in his low voice coming from the voice box installed near his throat.
Baros
As you stand, one of the guards is by you in a moment, impeding your progress without menacing. Hey, you should probably sit down. We'll take you and your buddy over there to the watchhouse to get a healer to look at you. probably have you stick around while we sort this out. He offers you a wineskin Sound good?
Silas, Hund, & Rordan
the Captain seems a little affronted as Silas Barks orders at his men, but after a moment, he nods Seems as reasonable a plan as any. Probably one of the safer places for those two.
Hund's shoulders shake, as though he is laughing silently at his own bad joke. Come. We hunt. Find Mok.
With that, Hund turns and runs towards the house to look for the orc and the halfling.
Silas watches the machine's shoulders shake and pivot and a worrying raise of his brow comes up. He hoped the damn thing wasn't breaking down again, he was certainly not in the mood to carry it anywhere.
Silas and the others would approach the burning building, where a scene of carnage laid out. Yet it seemed the halfling had survived and was trying to make his way to Mok.
"Baros! Baros, are you alright?" Silas shouted, actually concern reflected in his voice.
Rordan shakes free of discomfort. He's not sure why but being so close to the Hound triggered a memory. Something deep something not forgotten but actively, willfully, ignored. He felt the familiar anxiety as though insects were swirling inside of him.
He then realized he'd been standing stock still blankly staring at The Hound. Wait did that dog just say he smelt funny?
He just said something to me didn't he... God's damn it! When will I get this under control?
Thank you Silas it see-
And they're gone.
Rordan follows them to the burning building since this group seems to have it under control. He watches silently as the Halfling approaches the group.
I am way out of my depth here. He says to himself.
Baros glares angerly at the man barring his path and offering him a water skin. He breaks his eye contact briefly to reply to Silas,"I am fine, I will be better when I have my spear and dagger back," returning is ironclad stare to the man-at-arms, "check on Mok, he went down pretty hard." Despite being unconscious Mok probably looks better than Baros does at the moment. Baros finally takes the skin, takes a swig and uses the remaining contents to wash his face and hands.
It's okay the guard says Those cultists are dead. You'l get your weapons after this is all sorted out. he says. he does not say, but it is clear to everyone that Baros is being arrested.
Silas, Rordan, and HUIVD
You arrive... it is a gruesome sight. Mok lays behind the house. uncomfortably close to the fire, and 5 metres away you see a decapitated corpse, with Baros's knife in him, deep enough you think it might have broken through his spine.
Further away, another cultist lays, his abdomen and ribcage torn open. the decapitated cultists head sits there. Three guards are there, two of them trying in vain to extinguish the fire, while a third tries to politely arrest Baros.
Mok! Hund exclaims! As soon as he sees the young orc, he bursts forward, running as fast as he can. When he reaches him, he immediately clamps his jaws on the orc's clothing and starts pulling him away from the fire.
Silas walks over to the gruesome scene and hisses a slew of curse words underneath his breath. Shaking his head, he steps in closer towards the guard who is politely talking to the blood-covered halfling. Hund rushes over towards Mok, grabbing the ugly little orc's clothing and dragging him away from the heat. Grumbling, he lifts his finger to tell Baros he'll be there in a moment before rushing over to Mok's unconscious form. Riodran was not spared too much attention; pleasantries could be had once he was certain that his comrades weren't dead, dying, or being arrested.
Grabbing a hold of Mok's shirt, he dragged the beaten orc away from the burning building with Hund's aid. Turning around, he'd regard the guards and Baros.
"Baros, what in the f$~+ing name of Hell happened? And you, let him grab his knife. He got his arse kicked trying to help protect Lady Cassenault!"
"What is there to sort out? They tried to murder me and my friends, and are charges, and so I murdered them better." The halfling pauses a moment, but how the hell did I manage this level of carnage....
The guard goes pale as Silas and Baros admit that Baros slew the men. You.... No. No way can a halfling do that. I couldn't do that. It would take some sort of ma- he abruptly stops talking.
Meanwhile, one of the other guards gives up the house as lost, and moves to help HUIVD. Come on little fella he says, in a tone indicating he hasn't heard Hund speak. you're doing good, but we gotta take your orc this way, to the stretchers. Don't want to drag All the way him to the temple.
Hund moves Mok towards the stretcher, following the lead of the guard. He is completely concerned for the young orc, uncertain of what he'd do without the boy. The years alone were nearly forgotten once he became friends with Mok, and combined with Silas, Baros - and now perhaps that old goblin who looked incredibly familiar (where did he know him from?), life was starting to feel like it used to back in the militia. He was finally starting to feel like he belonged. He couldn't lose Mok now.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As he is being moved, the young orc lets out a groan and partially opens one eye. See Hund by his side, he smiles and starts breathing easier as he sinks back into the beckoning darkness.
Rordan realizes he's not about to rain on this reunion. And instead decides it might be a good opportunity to take a look around. Besides the... Devastation apparently caused by the Halfling? Is too much to pass up.
He lightly maneuvers himself into a position to investigate what happened here. Perhaps there are some answers in the bloodshed.
S%~+... Nothing. Not a God's Damned thing. The hell's Rordan this is the one thing we've been training our whole life for and it's as if we've hit a wall.
Defeatedly he speaks to whomever is closest enough to listen.
What... Happened here?
"You haven't seen this little bastard. Slew undead like it was his hobby." Silas says with a nod, looking back down at Baros. "Of course, you're also saying it couldn't be him either. So let us get his weapons, get him cleaned up at the temple, and we can all talk yeah?" Silas offers as a compromise. Mok and Baros were beat to s@+@ and the last thing he wanted was for them to be alone and be easy pickings for the murderous cult outside of town. "We have Lady Cassenault and her daughter at the temple too. My friend on the stretcher has paperwork that the priests and the militia need to read. Bad things outside of town, really f+@&ing bad things."
Hearing the goblin let out a defeated tone, Silas stepped over and crouched down on his heels to be by his level. Giving a shrug, he looked back at the ugly little thing before he spoke. "A@!&*+&s. That's what happened. You said you were investigating this cult, right? What do you know?"
The guard backs down. We can figure this out after they've been healed. He decides.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pushing things along, because we've been inching toward the temple for too long~~~~~~~~~~~~`
The initiates are willing to offer their healing power, after you explain the situation, and Who Mok is. . The head priest asks to see the diary. What do you do?
Blinking in the sudden light of a lantern, Mok sits up suddenly, feeling for the deadly wound that was dealt to him...and only discovering a new scar.
"I take it we won!?" he says with a horse voice
Yes, Hund says. The mechanical dog has been sitting by Mok's side since they came in to the temple. For now.
"Barely, you f#+$ing t##&. Baros had to...well...I don't know but he did something to keep you both alive. The priests here healed you up. You still have that journal, yeah?" Silas asks. While irritated, it wasn't difficult to see the worry on his face for the young orc and his small but fierce companion.
Rordan looks toward Silas
Honestly not much... Every lead I've had led to a dead end. I... uh... mostly came because I heard that guy would be here
Rordan nods towards Hund
I think we have history... Anyway. Apparently these guys are some sort of Drugs or Sex cult and I accepted the job to come out and see what's going on here.