Lia winces and starts to follow the redheaded lady as she moves towards the flash of magic. "Oh boy..."
She was smart enough to leave the protest before things turned really ugly...
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In her efforts to shake off any pursuit, Adonara traces a tangled path through streets and alleys she barely recognizes, like the shuttle of a demented weaver.
Once things seem to be safe and have quieted down, she slows down and resumes a more composed pace. Still trying to quite reorient herself, Adonara turns a corner to see some newly familiar faces, but before she can so much as offer a greeting, the burst of light and sound from the next alley captures everyone's attention, and so she contents herself with a small, bemused smile as everyone starts running again, "I suppose it is a change from the everyday, at least..."
Kesin, having follow Lia until they came across the alley, also hears the sounds and sees the light. "Not good. I got my cloak in such an ally, from some tourist stupid enough to wander down the wrong one. Couldn't do anything for the poor guy except offer some prayers to Pharasma-..."
Reluctantly, she follows Lia as she moves TOWARD the alley's entrance, instead of "quickly away to not get involved".
As (most of) the group hustles forward, there's a cry of pain from up ahead, where the light show had come from. Dipping around the corner, Rakhel spots a man lying on the ground in a small pool of blood, a deep wound in the side of his head. A few feet away is a small sword with an unusual handle.
Standing over the man are three of the same Chelish Thugs they'd seen previously, each with a light mace held in hand.
One with dirty blonde hair (5), the closest to the group (and unaware of their recent arrival), has a raised voice, "And I'm telling you, offing a noble, even accidental-like isn't gonna look good for our future with this gig. And I figure it's a nice, cushy job, yeah? So we need to figure out a way to get him back on his feet."
A redheaded woman (4) shakes her head. "And I figure we just loot the boy, and let it look like he was robbed. No one'll ever know." then she trails off, looking to the group, brows furrowing as she squints across the distance. "They'll know.." she finishes, prompting the blonde to turn back to towards the group.
Rakhel steps forward to within 25' of the thug in back and casts hypnotism, affecting hd of asmodean thugs.
Lia strides forward, twirling her knife and stopping short of the roughs around the injured man. "Typical. Can't take someone on in a one-on-one fight, so you gang up on 'em instead. How about you try me on for size, instead?"
Her eyes glow blue and her dagger seems to sharpen itself. "Don't worry--I'll be gentle."
The red-headed woman who had previously seemed keen on just finishing the man and emptying his pockets... or perhaps in bashing some new heads goes slackjawed as she stares at Rakhel.
Jack moves after the others, looking to get some idea of what's happening.
"Hey, hey. Put down the knife and no one has to get hurt." The blonde says, as the man with the shaved head looks between the blonde and the party as they arrive. The Redhead just stands quietly staring at Rakhel, head tilted slightly.
"Looks like someone's already gotten hurt," Jack replies, seeing the others and what's at the end of the alley. "I'd be willing to let you go without a fight, if the healer a bit behind me can confirm that man's still alive."
And he pulls the deadliest implement he can think of out of his pack.
Oh my...there's trouble...
Unwilling to simply move away on her own, Kesin follows the others, seeking cover behind Lia, not wanting to draw attention to herself.
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"Looks like someone's already gotten hurt," Jack replies, seeing the others and what's at the end of the alley. "I'd be willing to let you go without a fight, if the healer a bit behind me can confirm that man's still alive."
Seeing the condition of the man abused by the thugs, Adonara rushes forward behind Rakhel and Lia, trusting that they'll be able to hold the line, while she raises her hand, a prayer already on her lips. A spark of light, between white and fire-gold, flashes on her hand, and the gash on the man’s head begins to clot.
In the next instant, Adonara’s hand drops to the hilt of her sword, her eyes grim. “That should stop the bleeding,” she says, nodding at Jack. Turning back to the thugs, she continues, her voice low with menace, “Drop your weapons and leave this place. If you're still here by the time I've drawn my blade - well, I suppose it's not the first time you've 'figured' wrong today.”
The first couple of inches of her rapier's blade whisper from the scabbard...
Lia twirls her knife again. "What, afraid you'll get maimed? Because CLEARLY you don't have what it takes to fight fairly. How about you turn yourselves around and leave before you meet Asmodeus the hard way?"
The man tightens his grip on the mace as the woman begins to cast a spell... but when nothing bad happens, he seems relieved. He looks down when she says the bleeding has stopped and nods, looking between the two women. "Thanks for that... but I can't do that. This man attacked several of the Civilian Militia... we only just arrived to find several of our allies unconscious. We need to take him in for questioning.."
Lia's brow furrows.
Lia purses her lips. "Well... I kinda wish you told me that sooner. This just got kinda awkward."
She twirls her knife and sheathes it. "Do you need some help getting him back to your place?"
"This 'Civilian Militia'..." Jack frowns. "Your outfits remind me of a few hooligans we saw earlier today, disguising their colors and attacking unarmed Kintargans without cause. I'm sure the nice woman here would be willing to heal your allies, but do you have any sort of official writ or legal justification for your 'Militia' authorities?"
"Why would he attack you?...It seems like he was cornered in this ally...did you give him a reason to do so? Or did he actually corner the militia here until reinforcements arrived?", Kesin pipes up from behind the safety of Lia.
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Adonara resists the urge to shush the child she recognizes from Aria Park: the girl may be gifted, but Adonara is a bit nervous about letting her involve herself, no matter how bizarrely quickly human life is paced, especially for the precocious. She cuts in quickly, hoping to keep the thugs focused on other things.
“Courtesy of Thrune and his proclamations,” she says, answering Jack’s question. Her hand stops, but does not leave the hilt of her sword. She concentrates on maintaining her cool, hoping a show of confidence can carry them all through.
“Of course, if that man were conscious,” she continues lightly, “I’m sure he would tell a different story. The way I see it, it would be his word against yours, and we’ve already seen what your people like to do.”
“But maybe I can tell another story. You said yourself, when you got here, your … associates were already unconscious, and I’ll tell you what the view from the street was. Strange noises, flashing colours… I’m no expert in spellcraft , but it sounds to me like someone got lucky and got the drop on a mage. It’s a miracle you’re not all frogs now. As for what he did to those others, I’ll take a look. I figure if everyone can limp out of here with a couple of days’ worth of bruises, it’s best to call it even. Otherwise, there’s four of us and two - and a half, looks like - of you, and as for getting the story straight, that … cuts both ways. Think about it.” Adonara is perfectly sincere, which makes the sharp smile that spreads over her face as she negotiates so aggressively all the more unnerving.
"The Lord-Mayor's supposed to make our organization legitimate today! Part of his announcement he'd planned for this afternoon from the Opera House. What do you mean'attacking unarmed Kintargans?'" he asks.
"I don't really know. All I know is that there was a flash of light, and then we came round the corner and they were on the ground. We surrounded him, and Jemma clubbed him when he wouldn't drop the weapon."
"It seems there's a wee bit of a disconnect between your story and the situation as it appears... why don't you all take your compatriots, go home and we'll call it even... No harm, no foul... "
"Well..." Jack ponders, a bit for show, "I heard the whole proclamation, and your organization was never mentioned, but a few of its more zealous members did start attacking unarmed bystanders. And without obvious papers, proclamation or badge of office, I'd counsel against you making any more arrests until this all gets sorted out. Maybe let the woman heal your friends, and be on your way."
"One, two,..three, four......HEY! No fair! We are five! Or four and a half! That was mean.", Kesin counts, then addresses Adonara...before pouting and turning away.
Fine, they want to handle it, let them handle it, did not want to get involved anyway. Smarter not to get involved. As long as they don't try and hurt my new friend!
The young blonde man begins to reply, when the redhead nods blearily. "Yeah... we should just go home."
The blonde purses his lips, looking to her, before looking to Rakhel, and shaking his head. "Right. Just... make sure they're okay and we'll get them out of here."
Looking over the three thugs-turned-militia to the north, you quickly realize that none of them are injured in the slightest, aside from maybe a slowly forming bruise where they collapsed. They're even breathing slowly, but comfortably. Whatever the man on the ground did, it was pretty far from hurting them.
Rakhel moves to the fallen townsman and kneels by his side while the Asmodean thugs take their own fallen to make sure they don't try to coup de grace him or anything. "Just go then, and try to be more peaceful in the future, please."
"Right." The man says once more, still watching Rakhel, but eventually shaking his head. Jemma unceremoniously picks up the heaviest, a darkskinned man with gray hair, and starts out the alley-way past the others causing the blonde man to shrug. "Come on, Sorin. Time to go." he says, picking up one of the others, leaving the final man to just quietly go over to the third and pick him up with no signs of strain, before continuing to follow after, leaving the slightly-twisted body of the nobleman on the ground.
Kesin almost presses against the wall as they pass by her, clearly trying to keep as much distance between her and them as possible, then she looks at the man on the ground:"Will he be ok?"
"I don't know, I'm no healer, but he doesn't look good to me." Rakhel looks him over to see if she knows him.
Lia watches the militia leave before looking back down at the injured nobleman.
"Well, that was... kinda unpleasant."
"It could have been much worse if they'd decided to fight over it... Still I suggest we get this fellow home or to a healer as quickly as possible, in case they change their minds and return with reinforcements."
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Having helped the blonde man lift one of his compatriots, in an effort to encourage the thugs to leave before they have a chance to change their mind, Adonara gently lets out a breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding once they're gone. I wonder what that was - not a mark on them. A sleep spell? I should really review some of this, she thinks, Eris would be appalled at how much I've forgotten. Then again, if she wanted someone to scold, she should have found a proper apprentice.
"Sorry about that," she says to Kesin, as she crouches next to the wounded noble. "You looked a bit young to me, and it goes against the grain to put children at risk. Then again, I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about the pace of human lives..."
Giving her head a small shake, Adonara continues briskly, "Nor am I trained in healing. Still, the Goddess provides. Let's see if we can get this fellow up on his feet before those creatures decide to come back."
She takes a moment to collect herself, then lays a hand upon the man's brow, reciting a prayer in Elven as she does so.
"I'm not sure what spell might have knocked out those thugs either, but in case it's no more long lived than the spell that I hypnotized the red-head with, let's get this fellow out of here... If someone with some strength would help out, we can carry him out of the area.. I know where he lives, so we can take him straight home if you're all okay with that."
Kesin runs up next to the downed man, opposite of Adonara, then touches his breast gently.
"I am young. But I am not powerless."
Stepping back from the man, she smiles at Adonara:"The city provides, too. All one needs.", then looking back at Lia, to see if she approves of what she did.
Why do I even care about that? These are strangers-but it feels right...Kintargo approves...
When Kesin moves up and heals him further, Rakhel almost weeps in gratitude. "You two are most generous with your aid... thank you."
Lia nods. "Here's hoping this wasn't a mistake. The only question remaining is where we should get him to..."
"I know where he lives, so we can help him get there, or at least see him on his way if he's up to getting there on his own now. Though accompanying him doesn't sound like a bad idea, as it will get us out of the area as well... perhaps when we are well quit of this neighborhood, we can get together at a tavern... or someplace more private... and talk.... it seems we have some interests in common that might benefit us all."
Jack, follows, though a little hesitantly. "And I'm certainly wondering why a group of Thrune's thugs attacked a wealthy wizard in an alley, or what he was doing there," he adds.
Lia folds her arms and sighs. "I'm going to need to get home--Mom and Dad must be worried sick about me..."
She looks down at the strange little magical girl next to her. "You did good, kid. But I don't think I caught your name." She gives her a smile.
Kesin listens intently to Jacks words, then her eyes light up with expectation, one blue, one green:"You think maybe he could be with the rebels and thats why he was targetted?"
Looking up at Lia, Kesin lifts her shoulders in an extended shrug:"Those who do call me by a name, call me Kesin. Mostly it's insults and generic slang thrown my way, though...Miss....?", she attempts to recall if she caught your name, but if so, clearly it doesn't come to her right now.
"Or maybe he was just accosted in the street and forced down the alley and had to defend himself from greedy thugs? I know this man and I'm not sure he'd be a rebel himself."
"Rebel or not, we've got to make sure he gets out of here, and we have to make an exit, too... we are targets ourselves now I think... "
"My name's Lia. Lia Vantas." She pats Kesin on her head. "You ever get out to see the opera much?"
Some dried dirt turns into dust and flies off into the air when you pat her head: "Hi Lia...about the Opera...nah. I like singing and dancing, but isn't the opera something for rich or old people?"...some moments to think later, she quickly adds:"No offense meant if you like the opera, of course, I'm sure it's great to see if you have means to do so-"
Lia chuckles a little. "I mean I actually work there. Well, until... you know." She shakes her head. "I usually played bit parts or sang in the chorus. Huntress of Heroes was supposed to be my chance to finally become a proper actress in my own right."
"Hello Lia... and Kesin... nice to meet you, I am Rakhel.. and I love the opera, but I am also a fan of more.. well.. casual performances. The opera definitely has its place, but it isn't always as open and friendly to those who can't afford its price. Lia.. you were going to be in Huntress of Heroes? I'm impressed. I would have loved to see you in it, especially now I could say, 'I know her!'" Rakhel grins.
"Oh....Ohh...I am sorry to hear that...I heared about this Huntress play. Not much, but so you were to be in it...", thinking back to the protest, she continues:"Ah...you were reciting lines, back at Aria park, were you not? A sneak preview for the masses there!", Kesin grins widely, "You just wait, Kintargo will not stand for what Thrune is doing! We'll kick him out and you get to play in the opera house again, your big role." More silently, whispering, she adds: "Think you could manage to sneak me in so I can see the opera too?