"I can assist with the cost as well."
"I cannot fly in such a manner as Imrik, so I will be one the creature will have to carry."
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"He does have a name, gentlemen." Morbury states plainly. Then cocking an eyebrow and peering off into the distance, "But for some reason I seem to have forgotten it. Blast it all."
Shaking his head, "None here. And I'm glad we're finally off that boat. Dry land is far better."
Morbury rides in the boat with the others.
Inspecting the items Cristo has found, "Fascinating. A boat with dried blood upon the bottom of it. An artisan's outfit - which is an odd set of clothing to be hidden - along with a detached human face. Now why would we find a detached human face?" he asks, leaving the others to ponder that one for a moment. "And there is this sack. Large enough to hold someone our size within it. Also soaked in dried blood. Who's? And some other items that also leave us with questions. A gag? Who was being silenced?" Rubbing his chin in thought, "I tell you what is going on here, Cristo. At least, what *I* believe is going on. The artisan's outfit must belong to one who was the culprit in removing the face. With the blood within the boat and the bag, the victim was alive initially. The gag was obviously to keep him quiet, and the rope to keep him restrained before he was killed. I cannot quite figure out why the face, though. Was it used to disguise themselves as the victim? And whose face does this belong to? Hm." He stares off into the distance, pondering something else but believing that may be too far-fetched. I wonder. No, that seems a bit extreme. But is it possible? Raising an eyebrow to his thoughts, he shakes his head, letting the thought go for now. "Anyway, the killers did not expect for any of this to be found. This is not the work of a crazed beast. Sune would not bother with all of this, mainly because he does not possess the mental capability to accomplish such. He would simply 'kill' and be done with it." He then moves over to the empty graves, "Also, if you will notice, these graves have been tampered with. These six are empty while the others have been left undisturbed. Why? For what purpose?" He ponders that, not knowing really where to go with it. He then thinks a little harder about his previous thought; his thoughts then return to the Crooked Kin and that eclectic lot. "I have another theory, but it may prove to be a bit of a stretch. Is it possible to have one's face removed and then have another sewn upon you? Could one survive an operation of such magnitude? If so, I would gather the 'victim' - as I've called him previously - could very well be our 'Beast', if there is some way to copy Sune's face and place it upon one's self." "Or is that simply foolishness on my part?" He crosses his arms, truly curious about their thoughts on the matter.
Watching the battle from the boat, Morbury simply observes the entire combat. When the creature is finally killed, Hm. Impressive. When they finally make landfall, "Let us find this village and see if we can get some answers, hm?" Morbury leads the way forward once Cristo is done examining the fetishes.
Narrowing his eyes, "Above! In the trees! A winged lion beast! Prepare yourselves!" he warns the others. Knowing there's no way he's reaching the beast, Morbury draws his bastard sword and prepares for its attack.
"Do we want to spend that amount of time or just introduce ourselves?" "I would vote we introduce ourselves and go from there. Seems to be our only option at this point." Morbury proceeds into the village and calls on the first adult villager he sees. "Hello! A moment of your time, please, if you would be so kind. We are new here and would like to ask a few questions about your town. By the way, I am Morbury Dedlock. A pleasure." He nods in greeting. "We were told about a tragedy that happened here a while ago, one that involved a large creature. One known as 'The Beast'. I do not suppose you could tell us what happened on that fateful day, could you?"
Morbury takes in the sight of the tiny village when they arrive. "Do any of you possess any information about this place? Unfortunately, I do not."
Nodding, "Fair enough, Sune. I will not press you on the matter. Thank you for your help. We must take our leave now. There is work to be done if we are to prove your innocence by tomorrow. We will find answers for you, Sune, I promise. Until tomorrow." Giving a slight bow of his head, Morbury exits.
"The "Beast" has been accused of several crimes. It might be worth investigating them. The man chosen to defend him in court sounds pretty incompetent. We should find out what has truly happened." Imrik says. Turning to the half-dragon, "That is the plan, Imrik. And it looks like Morast is our first stop." Stroking his chin in thought, Morbury quickly makes his way back to Gustav. "Barrister Gustav, a moment of your time, please. Who should we speak with specifically in Morast?"
Morbury moves his head back slightly as the beast appears to try to bite him. Looking behind him, he notices the guards and narrows his eyes. Interesting. With a slight grin, "It is good to meet you, Sune. And 'Mo'buy' will suffice." He nods in greeting. "They believe you have committed a multitude of crimes. They have accused you of killing several people over the past year. And for the record, I do not believe you are guilty of anything you have been accused of. What we are tasked with is finding evidence that you did not commit any of those crimes, which may prove difficult considering our lack of time. But I promise you, we will try." Looking back at the guards, They have obviously mistreated him. He lashes out due to their cruelty. Yet, he has not lashed out at us. I cannot fathom him killing children just to be killing. Not this creature that sits before me anyway. Hm. Interesting. "One more question, Sune. Who is the one who created you? Do you know his name?"
Giving a nod of thanks to Gustav, Morbury goes with the others to meet the Beast. The paladin is slightly taken aback at the size of the creature but keeps his composure. It is now quite evident why they call him 'The Beast'. Clearing his throat, "Good day to you, um, sir. First off, do you have a name?" he asks The Beast, tired of constantly having to refer to him as 'The Beast'. "Secondly, I am Morbury Dedlock. As this gentleman mentioned," he motions to Cristo, "we are here to help you in any way we can. They have pretty much convicted you of every offense, but we would like to hear your side of the story. Personally, I have a hard time believing it is an open-and-shut case as has been led to believe. Now, I could be wrong, but that is to be determined." "Now, I have a couple of questions before you get to your side of the story, if you do not mind. How old are you? And how long have you been around here in Ustalav? And where in Ustalav do you live?"
Barrister Gustav Kaple meets you in the Defense Chamber. When wearing his huge court wig, Gustav cuts an impressive figure. "Hello, come in and have a drink." He offers pointing to several cups and a bottle of wine. Nodding, "Thank you." Morbury takes a cup and fills it about a quarter full. "I am Morbury Dedlock. And as Imrik has stated, any information that can be provided would be of great help. We will assist you in any way we can. And if the Beast is innocent, I believe the truth will come out. It always does," he says plainly, taking a small drink of his wine.
With a slight raising of his hand, "If I may, good sir. We were wondering if we could speak with the defendant? We know that many around here have already convicted him, but we are curious about his side of the story."
"My interest is piqued." Morbury follows after the others.
Shaking his head, "I fear whoever this 'Beast' is, he is doomed. They talk as if he is already guilty. The one defending the Beast is rumored to be completely inept. Apparently, that large construct that stands outside the courthouse is The Beast's fate. He is to be placed within it and burned alive." Turning to the others, "Is this 'Beast' truly guilty? I know nothing of the creature. But if there is one thing I've learned in life, the uproar that comes from the locals, is not necessarily always true." "Have any of you spoken with The Beast? If so, what is his side of the story? Something else I've learned in life, there is always two sides to every story."
"Anubis? Another deity I am unfamiliar with. I do not believe I've witnessed such an interesting assortment of individuals, such as yourselves, working collectively against a common cause. Brilliant." He grins, remaining wary about revealing his fangs.
With a curious look, "Interesting. I am unfamiliar with Omrataji. I follow the Dawnflower. And as far as tasks go for myself, I do not possess any. I joined up with this lot because they did not look upon me as an outcast, and I had nowhere else to turn at the time. So I figured, why not? This is the first opportunity to accomplish something proper with my life that has crossed my path."
Nodding in greeting to the Pharasman, "And yours, Reverend. Please, Morbury will suffice. No need to trouble yourself with honorifics for me, good sir," he offers, nodding. "A follower of the Lady of Graves, I see. Fascinating. Perfect for one who seeks to eliminate the undead." "Speaking of which, what objective do you all currently share at this time? Are there undead within the vicinity that need to be dealt with? I would be honored to join you in such an endeavor. It would be a pleasant change of pace to finally not have to go it alone."
Morbury's wagon:
Fearful at the thought, he shakes his head. "I do not believe that is wise for me to use you to feed. If I do, I could become accustomed to it and may no longer be able to control who I feed upon. That is my greatest fear. An enemy is one thing; one who is not, could very well become a habit I may never break. That is too dangerous of a path I fear to take." "But, I am intrigued with your and your team's mission of destruction of the undead. And the Whispering Way you say? That truly sounds like a worthy endeavor. Eliminating undead is something I dedicated my life to, but found it quite difficult going it alone. With others of a like mind, this constitutes as promising. I would be glad to meet the others." Then a curious look forms about him. "A question, if you will. While I truly have no desire to feed upon you, and as I mentioned, am afraid of it becoming potentially detrimental to others, what is this 'ritual' you speak of? These 'conditions'? I am curious."
Morbury's wagon: Morbury bursts into laughter at the question, his fangs clearly seen, which are extremely pointy and appear to be quite sharp. "'What do I want?' That truly is a good question, Sir Drake. 'What do I want?' Hm. Well, I will tell you what I desire above all. I want to kill the one who did this to me. Who made me what I am." "Interestingly enough, I found him once. And I was so confident about how I was going to end him, it was my naivete that cost me. I was no match. Not in the least. So, he killed me. I was dead for twelve seconds, and then I awoke." "And now you're probably wondering how I know that, hm? How I know the length of time I was dead? Well, it's quite simple, really. He told me. When I awoke, he told me what had happened..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How do you feel, Dedlock? After being dead for 12 seconds. Alive? More dead?" The tall, pale, well-dressed man laughs wickedly, knowing he has won. "What have you done to me?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! "I've simply made you what you were born to be, Dedlock. I've converted you to your full potential. You should thank me." "Thank you?! My goal is to kill you!" "Yeah, well, good luck with that, Dedlock. You can see that worked out so well for you this time," he says with a cocky grin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "So I got up and ran out, hearing his echoing laughter behind me, and realizing there was nothing I could do now but wait for the full transition. And that's what I did. I waited. But it never came." "You see, Amdis Freyr was the vampire that bit me. His name translated means, "Eternal lord". I am a dhampir that was bitten by a vampire. But I never did fully turn, you see. I've only acquired some abilities of the vampire, yet, none of the weaknesses except..." he hesitates a moment, his focus cuts toward one side of the wagon before, "the hunger. If someone gets to near, and I suffer from the hunger, then I can hear their heartbeat, their pulse, whichever. It's so very loud. I can hear it as clear as day. Which means I need to feed. I have to fight off the desire to feed on humanoids. It's so very difficult. So very difficult." He seems to trail off in thought for a moment, as if lost in another time. Then taking a deep breath, and seemingly returning back to reality, "Anyway, that is what I truly wish. Until that time, I am stuck doing this until I can find a greater purpose in life. Which, you would think, would not be that difficult. It is not like this is some form of lucrative lifestyle, but for me, it truly is difficult. My mere appearance makes me unacceptable to others, so, I am with those that have no issues with it. I am not judged by those I travel with and it gives me a purpose in life, currently. A small purpose but it's better than nothing." He shrugs.
Morbury wagon: Turning his focus toward the elf, "I don't know what that means either. A strange crystal you possess there. I am Morbury Dedlock," he nods, cutting his attention back to the crystal. "So your crystal speaks to you?" he asks, truly curious.
Mobury's wagon: As Drake snatches the gem and takes his leave, Morbury breathes a sigh of relief. I do not understand what he was thinking. That was far too close. He now sits in silence within his wagon. He's only been a part of the Crooked Kin for a short time, and while it's not where he intended his journey to take him, he's managed to make the best of it. I must return to my true purpose again. This is not my calling, but for now, it is the safest.
Morbury's wagon: With a raised eyebrow, Morbury cuts his focus over to Drake, wondering what he's doing. He always works to keep himself at a distance from the others, mainly for their safety and especially in his weakened state. It's not long before he hears the all too familiar sound, *lub-dub*. He squints and places a hand to his head, as if he has a headache. He shakes his head vigorously, trying to remove the tempting sound, *lub-dub* but to no avail. *lub-dub*, *lub-dub*, *lub-dub*, *lub-dub*, *lub-dub* The sound then gets stronger and louder... , , He glares at Drake as his anger rises. He opens his mouth slightly and is about to say something until Drake pulls the colorful gem out, and he pauses, closing his mouth. Transfixing his eyes upon the gem, he finds it mesmerizing and somewhat peaceful. Which in turn, causes the , to recede. *lub-dub*. *lub-dub*. *lub-*. "Drake. I would urge you to find a spot that is not so near me," he advises in a mindless tone, as his focus remains upon the gem. His voice is smooth and comforting, yet strong. Who knows how much this gem will aid the dhampir, but as far as he's concerned, right now is all that matters.
Morbury Dedlock. Probably one of the most "normal" ones of the Crooked Kin. Fairly tall and adorned in a plethora of everything black, which contrasts greatly against his shoulder-length white hair, pale skin, and deep red eyes. He sits in his wagon as they travel to Lepidstadt. His dark, wide-brimmed hat pulled somewhat down over his eyes, he stares straight ahead in silence with his arms crossed, as he leans back against the wagon, bouncing slightly as it rumbles along. Typically introduced as, "The kindest Dead Man Walking you will ever meet!" for flair, Kaleb normally keeps Morbury under wraps until actual showtime. You see, Morbury Dedlock is a dhampir. Which is an offspring of a vampire. They are typically, and understandably, shunned by others due to their very nature. They are not undead, but they take on the characteristics of their progenitors. But this dhampir, one born into a high station, is not your ordinary dhampir. Oh no, not in the least. This one... this one has died, yet... He lives. How, you ask? Now THAT is a good question.
Morbury nods, backing away to allow the ranger to inspect the door properly.
Observing the large door, "Well, shall we simply walk in? That is, of course, if it is not locked."
"Outside of a few odd looking creatures, I say we continue onward. There appears to be nothing else of interest within this room."
"Trust me when I say this, Sir Bertholdt, I like it no more so than yourself. It is an unfortunate necessity for one such as I." Feeling the negative energy flow throughout, Morbury is grateful for it, yet, cannot avoid the shame that goes with it. "Thank you, Sir Bertholdt."
"Divine magic, you say?" Turning to the others, "Sir Karl? Sir Bertholdt? Do either of you have the ability to use Divine magic?"
My thanks for all you've done Morbury, and truly, y'can call me anything you like, 's just funny to hear you call me Sir. I wasn't raised in any lord's castle, that's for sure, and I don't come from no noble stock, furthest thing from it, really. He sighs, shoulders briefly slumping before he shakes himself free of the doldrums, rolling his muscular shoulders and gripping his bow with an affirmative nod. Yes, let's see to the rest of this place. "Thanks is truly not necessary, Sir Karl. Alas, with the curse still affecting you, it is discouraging I truly cannot do anything to help rid this blight upon you. I will feel far better about it when we can accomplish such. And as far as 'Sir' goes... proper etiquette is simply what I was taught growing up. It has been instilled within me since day one." He casually explains. "I know of naught else. But I am learning that there is a vast difference between what lies within the boundaries of the walls of my home, and what lies outside it. It's quite fascinating." He admits. As they ready to move on, Morbury removes an item from his pack and moves over toward the wizard. "Professor, would you be so kind as to use this upon me? I do not have the ability to use such, but I am in need of it." He offers the item to him. "Oh, and for the record: I highly advise none of you to use this. The consequences would prove painful."
Morbury sighs deeply at the discouraging news. Running a hand through his hair, "Very well, but there is yet hope. While I am unable to remove the disease until the curse is lifted, I can at the very least aid you in your fight. I'll have to check on you daily to see how you've progressed, and whatever I can manage to accomplish in helping to control this disease, I shall. Do not fret," he pauses a moment, thinking, and then, "Karl - I shall have to work on that if that is what you prefer - this shall not be your end. One way or another, we shall 'fix you up' as you call it." He grins at the figure of speech escaping his lips. "Sorry, but I find that to be an agreeable idiom. If there is nothing more to manage here, I say we continue on. The sooner we explore this estate, the sooner we can see to Karl's plight."
As the mummy falls, Morbury breathes a sigh of relief, sheathing his sword in the process. He then turns immediately around as he hears Karl. "Sir Karl? What is the matter?" He moves over to inspect him. Feeling an odd sensation, Morbury closes his eyes, concentrating on the healing energies of the Dawnflower. A vision comes to him, giving him a bit of hope over their current situation, yet, feeling as if it still remains little enough. Opening his eyes, a bright light burns within them for a split second before returning to normal. "Your flesh is rotting, Sir Karl. If we do not get this taken care of ... you will die. Hold a moment." Morbury then calls upon Sarenrae's blessing's to all who are injured with the exception of himself. Seeing that Karl is still heavily injured, he places a hand upon his shoulder and lets the healing energies flow once more. And once again...
As the ranger's wounds seem to heal up nicely, Morbury's look of concern doesn't fade. "Professor, Sir Karl has been cursed and diseased. I can remove the disease but I cannot remove the curse. Do you possess a means to rid him of it?"
As he finds the sand doing no permanent damage to his sight, Morbury is relieved. Not wasting another moment, he swings away at the undead.
Unable to avoid the sand blast, Morbury also finds himself unable to see, yet, he keeps his composure as he strikes again within the same area as last.
Next Round As he manages to finish off the mimic, Morbury turns his attention to the newest threat, a look of fierce determination about him. "Abomination! Time to put you to REST!" he declares adamantly, moving toward the undead and calling once again upon Sarenrae's blessing.
Noticing the newest arrival, Morbury's eyes go wide as he attempts to finish off the mimic in order to deal with the newest threat.
"Well, gentlemen, at least what lies within is no longer a mystery!" Morbury exclaims as he just barely manages to dodge out of the way of the attack before calling upon Sarenrae's blessing to aid him against the creature.
Seeing them all prepare themselves for the possibility of combat, "Very well, let us find out what evil awaits us." Morbury moves to the eastern sarcophagus carefully, with the intent to remove the lid and face whatever lies within.
Narrowing his eyes, "The eastern sarcophagi, gentlemen. Be warned, there resides a great evil within." Morbury double checks the security of his shield and reaffirms his grip on his sword. "Shall we proceed to eliminate what lies within?" He looks to them all, wondering how they wish to proceed.
Noticing the sarcophagi, Morbury concentrates on the one along the west wall before turning his attention to the one along the east.
Morbury nods in agreement to the Professor. Looking to Karl, "I believe that is our cue, Sir Karl. Let us see what is behind door number one... or two. I confess I've forgotten how many doors we've been through but nevertheless, let us proceed." Securing his sword and shield, he readies for whatever may take them by surprise, if any.
"This place is fantastic," Morbury observes. "Sounds perfect, Professor," Morbury responds as he follows Karl across.
"I would have to agree with Sir Bertholdt. It truly feels as if this place has been abandoned."
"What do you mean Morbury by it was never there?" "Merely suggesting the possibility that there has never been any source of 'evil' within its confines." Morbury shrugs. "If that were the case, that would truly be fascinating; especially considering its past." "Should we just leave it there? I suppose there could be something inside of it. We could cut it open..." Morbury looks to Karl with resigned sigh. "We will not cut it open, Sir Karl. If we are done here, then I beg all of you leave. I will flip the poor creature back over and leave, closing the door behind me. No reason in senseless slaughter of a... a um... furniture." Morbury clears his throat, a bit at a loss on such an odd issue. "Okay, time to go." He motions for everyone to step out. As soon as they do, he proceeds to flip the footstool over and then leave himself, shutting the door so as to prevent another bruised shin.
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