Hmm, thinking this through, the one with the most pretext for getting through to Marquel is an NPC (I was thinking Sabrina could make some manner of sical call). Anyone got any bright ideas?
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As Dom ponders the situation, another question occurs to him, and he asks the captain, "This message we're sending. Will we be expected to bring back a response, or is the communication one-way?"
Dom's hungry eyeing of the pineapple is cut short by the Captain's mention of Davina. Snapped back to full attention, he bristles as he says, "Madame Eradon is indisposed, attending to other matters. She's no part of any matters happening in Kintargo at this time. If you need us to get a message to the Aulorian fellow, I'm sure we can work that out."
Dom is a little concerned at the woman's line of questioning. Sure, she's saying all the right things, but to what end? I'm the only one here that could be implicated in that whole mess, the realization hits him slightly. If things go bad I'll make sure the others are clear of it. Feigning ignorance, Dom replies to Nones, "I heard that thing at the salt works was the CCG sticking their noses in. Whether it was to try and muscle a piece of the action, or to try and flex for the new Lord-Mayor, who can tell with them?" He shrugs. Trying to draw her out some, he continues, "As a naval vessel, I'd have thought the Scourge to be exempt from any restrictions of the recent Proclamations...?"
Dom thinks back to the few times he saw this Aulorian fellow, back when he was a slave and Sabrina's bodyguard. He nods back to the young woman as if to say, Probably alright, yes? "We were a pain to find for good reason, and hope you can value discretion, Lieutenant. Now then, if there's no getting around it, let's get this compulsory business underway, hmm?" Dom picks at the last of his breakfast, and stands up. "Now I'll be able to say I've been on a ship. Damn but aren't I leading a full life," he quips.
Eyeing up the new arrival, Dom's fork is at the ready, and if she tries to go for anything off his plate (or those of anyone seated next to him), she's gonna get it. "Compulsory, eh? Sounds serious." He slow-walks his way through the rest of his plate, then gets up when he's damn good and ready. Turning to Sabrina, Dom asks, "Ogonka, have you got any idea what this is about?"
Faced with two unpleasant alternatives, Dom decides on the option that ends the threat sooner. Putting the tip of his falcata through the rat's corpse, he then swings back around to try and catch the Queen.
Trying to pick the best spot to strike the mass of rats, Domitius sidesteps and brings his Falcata to bear.
Dom looks at the cramped tunnels, and, not seeing much choice, moves to cut off the rats' path to Arani. "I thought we were going to try peacefully coexisting. Spreading plagues wasn't part of the deal!"
"We've willingly walked into worse." Figuring the quarters will be tighter, Dom switches back to his sword and heads in.
Domitius nods in agreement with Caldariel. "Yeah, that was pretty awful." Dom sheathes his sword and draws his bow. Frowning with concentration, he utters, "If they engage, we all back, firing as we go, then I'll go back to swords when we're out of maneuvering room."
A little more winded that he'd have ever expected, Dom gathers himself. Good work, let's get, uh..." he shakes his head trying to get right, "...let's keep on it. Arani, bow fire might count for a lot if we see more of that stuff. Maybe more to the front, reduce the risk of one of us blocking a target?"
Domitius reels as the rat's remains do a number on him. Still trying to hold it together, he lashes out at the rat that's left on the ledge, and steps up to chop at the other one if it shows itself.
Dom swipes at the rats in front of him with his sword, then grabs for his belt. Next time, drink the stuff before you go in, dummy!
Cal, I gotta say, I'm not liking the parallels I'm seeing here. :)
"I suppose so, yes." Dom accepts the man's answer with a certain resignation. He decides Cal is probably not laughing at him. He has only just met us, not out of line for him to play things a little close, he thinks to himself.
"Of course, Paqshari. You do your part and we appreciate it." It took a lot to choke back snide comments about robbing the place, but Dom thinks Davina would want him to 'take the high road,' so he bites back.
When they get to the sewers, Dom notes Falina's spell to provide light. "Thank you, Falina. The darkvision is useful, but not a constant among the lot of us." Dom advances into the sewer. Noting Caldariel's mask, he says to the man, "It seems you're more than just a physician, eh?"
Dom turns to Arani. "Yes, as I said, that's our first stop. Paqshari is a gnome woman, runs an alchemy shop. Has a thing for green. I've got a vial of antitoxin in here somewhere I'm reluctant to use for fear it'll make me greener than Belkzen himself..."
Dom nods in response to Falina. "You're right, that should be fine. In which case, if there's nothing else, let's get to it, folks."
Noting Falina's altered appearance, Dom quips, "Yes, I can see how the other face wouldn't have gone with those shoes." Shifting to speak to the group at large, he asks, "Anyone else have anything that needs doing? Falina, your errands, they have any sort of risk exposure of their own, or is it routine stuff?"
Dom nods at Caldariel. "Very well. We go to Madame Paqshari, or any other source we can think of, get a much of this antiplague as we can carry, and get to tracking this down." His first thought, of course, had been that Davina could've probably made this stuff without missing a beat, and that only irritates him even more. Some day, I will get my hands on the men plaguing Kintargo. Literally sending plagues on it, now! His fists clench tightly as he rises. "Let's get to this."
I'm away with my family until Saturday-ish. MCan probably get some posts in at night, like I'm doing now.
Dom continues to scowl, the facial expression he makes when he's trying to think of something, but he'd rather be hacking at something instead. Finally he says, "I wonder... Sudarynya and I, we encountered a creature that could be the source of this. When the Fushi sisters went missing, in our efforts to track them down, Davina and I met a... Okay, I don't know what to call it. It was like a mass of rats, all knotted together and acting with one mind. We bartered with it for the information we got, and at the time, it seemed like it just wanted to live and let live. Then we went back another time, and it was gone, and it may have gone wild or something." He turns to the others. "Who's up for tracking down some rats?"
Dom takes in the elf's words with a frown. He asks him, "I have two questions. That name, is it supernatural in origin, or did someone just have a flair for the dramatic? And does this disease ever occur naturally, or do you think it had a little help getting started here? We've seen the people of Redroof preyed on before, and I've just about had my fill of it," Dom clenches his teeth and his fists, thinking about the tooth fairies, which of course leads him back to when they met Zea, and his relatively good mood goes up in smoke.
Dom's eyes damn near pop out of his head when he sees the weapon. He hefts the blade, admiring the feel of it. He's a bit surprised when Chuko offers it to him, but doesn't want to offend him by refusing the gift. "Master Chuko," he says as he straps the new weapon onto his belt, "I promise I will use this justly, and anyone says the best blades in town come from anywhere but here, they'll get a piece of my mind!" Dom bows to the tengu, and smiles. "Give my regards to Miss Korva. And you have my gratitude, sir." He leaves in a much improved mood from the one he entered with. I guess we can change some things for the better, he thinks to himself. There will always be those who try to make them worse, but we will simply have to be more... insistent in our pushing.
Grumbaki, I love it. Vigilantism as a public health response. :) Arani, more thoughts on the loot thing later.
Are we reducing the shares' cash payout to players that claim magic items?
Did anyone ever call dibs on that buckler the guy was wearing? I definitely be down for that if no one else wants.
Dom accepts the sack of crowns with less enthusiasm than he maybe should have had for such a large amount of money. A lot of money, to be sure. But enough to solve Kintrago's problems? I don't think there exist enough coins for that. Wearily, Dom says, "Just make sure that when it's all done with, that thing is destroyed, okay? I don't want to run into some chmo with this knife ever again. It's done enough." If there's nothing else, Dom takes his leave of Mhelrem. Unsure what to do with himself, Domitius decides to head toward the War Cage. Maybe looking at some pretty sharp things will rouse the spirit, he thinks to himself.
Dom greets the proprietor, trying to raise his spirits. "Hello Master Chuko. What's new in the world of sharp pieces of metal?"
"Great, so now I'm off for Temple Hill," Dom grouses. "Thanks," he barks, without really sounding like he means it, and heads out the door. Grumbling to himself about bouncing from one useless fool priest to the next, Dom doesn't even notice he took the wrong turn out of Hetamon's shop until he's practically walking right into the Tears of Aroden cemetery. Oh, well isn't that just f@#$ing great, Dom thinks to himself. Part of him doesn't want to go, but he could no sooner refuse than cut off his right arm. He finds the grave in which he and Jessibel buried Zea, and kneels down beside it. "Hello, Zea" he says, very hesitantly."I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to visit. But I was nearby, so here I am. I uh, I avenged you, I bet that doesn't matter to you now, but, well, it did to me, I think. Your friends Garrik and Mezdelben, they helped. But you've probably seen Garrik around, wherever you are, so you probably knew that." He winces, still able to clearly remember the feel of that last scorching ray Scarplume blasted into him as he drove his gladius into the witch, with his full weight bearing down on her. "I haven't had a chance to grow you that rose yet. I'm still gonna, really. It's just… it'll be tough. We got chased out of Eradon Manor; Mayor Barry named Sudarynya as a wanted woman, so we had to go into hiding. She's left now too, she's gotta go look after her daughter. So we're kind of at in-betweens again. We might have a new place lined up, but it's underground, so growin' plants there is gonna be tough. But I'll figure something out, I swear." A deep breath, and he continues. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you, Zea. I'm fighting as hard as I can to keep folks, but it just seems like they keep going away. I don't know how to stop it, but I'm trying my best. Just… just know that, okay? I'm doin' everything I can." The young man's voice wavers a little bit, almost in tears. He eventually stands up, getting his composure. "I've gotta get going. I've got this stupid cursed knife I've gotta get rid of, and the first guy I talked to 'bout it was damn near useless, 'cept to point me toward someone else. So off I go to the Temple of Abadar. I'll come back some time soon as I can, okay? Rest well, brave woman." He nods at the ground, hoping that's an appropriate acknowledgement. With that, Dom heads to the House of Golden Veils, in about as miserable a mood as he could ever recall.
P.S. - I think I decided to stop using the Boons List because it never seems to grant anything worthwhile. My "free VMC" says hello. :P EDIT: and I'm sure I'm using it in the most pearls-before-swine way possible.
He's gonna get something like, "Has a lightsaber", I can feel it already. :)
I'm probably going to put that skill point into Intimidate, unless a better idea suddenly hits me. I'll finalize ASAP. And back in Gameplay, it occurs to me I'm not sure if it's common knowledge, but the "Madame Estrella" Dom refers to is Davina's mother. :)
Despite being devastated at the news of Davina's need to leave, Domitius does his best to not show it. Sudaryna's reasons are sound, and anyway, who would you be to question her? Before she leaves, Dom takes a moment to talk to her. "Davina, I cannot thank you enough for the kindness you've always shown me. You took me into your home, and you let me see myself as more than just a killer. Rest easy in the knowledge that I will guard your home and your family to the last. Right up until the time of my duel to the death with Madame Estrella," he smiles, hoping the joke chases away the heaviness in his own heart. Daring to be a bit presumptuous, he gives her a brief hug. "May Fortune keep you safe until we meet again. Proshchaniye, Sudarynya." Dom throws himself into anything he can find to keep himself busy. First order of business, get rid of that! He glares at Wex's knife, wrapped up in a sack. Not sure what needs to happen to make sure this gets done right. I may as well start with Hetamon Haace. He picks up the sack and heads out for Redroof.
Doesn't look like it was a sudden break. From what the mechanic showed me, it looks like it'd been wearing away for a while, and last night was when it finally gave out. But I'm glad it happened the way it did, a half mile from my house. I mean, it could've given way out on I-80, and I can't even think about how badly that would've sucked. /shudder
Welcome aboard! Sorry, I've been a little slower on the draw the last few days than I'd have liked. Our AC went out over the weekend (it's back now), my car's axle broke last night (fixed, but OMG, how does that even happen!?!?), and the pup got spayed yesterday morning (she's home and fine, wearing the cone of shame). So I'm just getting caught up now. I see a couple of beers in my future after this dentist appointment. :D
Yeah,those look good. I can't think of anything more pressing.
Be well. /wave
Hell, if it didn't mean rebuilding Dom from the damn ground up (literally from ability scores forward), I could even envision rebuilding him into a Warpriest, doing some story to work through his mad-on at the gods.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Dom is alternately relieved and confused. All he can do is stammer, "Wait uh, what? No...!"
Falina: Dom listened attentively as his comrade talked. He placed a hand on her shoulder in a manner he hoped would be seen as supportive; he felt very out of his depth in this entire conversation, and hoped he wasn't going to make anything worse.
"Again I'll say, I have no idea what goes on, but if you and she are both okay with what happens, I guess that's fine." He pauses, unsure how to word what comes next. "If some time, you find yourself wanting more than ogonka can give you, if I can stand in her place, let me know. I don't claim to understand what I'm offering here, but I was raised to protect her. Slave or free, I still wish to see no harm befall Sabrina."
Falina: Seeing the initial flashes of anger in Falina's face, Domitius braced for the worst. But her response was as much as he could've hoped for. "Thanks. Succeed or fail, I appreciate the commitment to trying; I think that's the most important part. You must understand, for Sabrina to have grown up in that house with Sharkey, to have witnessed his cruelties, endured some of them, even been made to partake in them... for her to still turn out as the sort of young woman that might free her slave, and help act for the good of Kintargo, this is a small miracle, and I don't want to see that jeopardized."
As Falina asks her follow up question, Dom frowns thoughtfully. Finally he responds, not sounding terribly sure of himself. "I guess? I'll be honest, Falina, I don't understand that sort of thing, but I don't think I have to understand everything in this world." Thinking about it for another long moment, he asks her, "If one night, you found yourself wanting more than you thought she could give, could you stop yourself?"
"Good riddance to bad trash," Dom says, as he sheathes his sword. "As Arani said, let's get out of here, and figure out some way to get rid of this piece of s***," he hefts the bag with the kukri. Falina: At some opportune moment later, Dom pulls Falina aside.
"I heard what you said to Sabrina, about putting a collar and leash on her. I don't think that sort of treatment is good for Sabrina, and as someone who wore a slave collar for a good chunk of my life, I won't say I like that kind of talk. Can you ease it back a bit, please?"
Dom locks his focus on the man in the window as he comes into the room. "Us? We're your reckoning."
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