In the Light

"Thank you, sser." Chay makes the Sign of the Hunter as he closes the door to the Waystation. The sith-makar wears a roughed-up duster, its leather dyed the rich, deep green of the deep forests. The sky is blue overhead, and casts him in rich contrast--a dark-coated figure in orange-rust scales, in the midst of one of Alexandros' major roads.

Azog lumbers up with a really huge barrel over his shoulder. It's easily a couple hundred pounds, and by how he handles it, it's full of liquid. Reaching the waystation, he heaves it off his shoulder, where it lands with a slightly wet crunch. He looks pleased with himself.

Along the road comes an armored figure moving at a brisk, if sustainable jog. Her hair is matted by sweat to her skin and her scythe is held out before her in both hands for relative safety in case she trips. As the waystation, surprisingly busy today, draws near enough at hand, her pace slows to a mild trot, a brisk walk, to a passable mosey. At that point, the scythe rests over her shoulder and she lifts the off hand to offer a, "Hey!" of greeting.

Victor strides in the direction of the waystation not long after Chay emerges. The way the roads cross here, and the location on the waystation guarantee that most standard travelers will come this way. Which is no doubt what the original builders of the station had in mind.

Twitch. "Peasse to your nesst, sser." The sith-makar steps to the side and towards the Waystation, again. Chay's shoulders are stiff beneath the leather, and, and... "There water there does not ssmell good, ssers. One is afraid it may be sstale. If you were sstopping here for a drink..." he says. He bows, awkwardly. The movement does not fit his form.

A pleasing song precedes the player, blown by the light breeze. From the direction of Alexandria strides a wee figure in leather. A Gobbo. Her music stops as she spies Chay, and she immediately makes a beeline for the Sith. "Chay!", Acedia calls out. "Chay!" She stops short of him, though it did seem as though she would throw herself at him. The Gobbo peers up at him with eyes that are completely black, with no delineation between pupil and sclera. "Guess what!?!?" She bounces up and down excitedly.

Azog calls out to Chay, "Fresh water is just what I've brought!" He points to the barrel. "There was a race, but I think I've won."

GAME: Chay rolls perception: (5)+11: 16
GAME: Azog rolls perception: (20)+15: 35
GAME: Braelnoir rolls perception: (4)+0: 4
GAME: Acedia rolls perception: (8)+9: 17

Well, that's disappointing, "That so? Shame." Braelnoir replies to Chay, "How've things been?"

Behind Chay the door to the Waystation opens and a cloaked figure steps out. The figure pauses at the people gathered at the front door and seems to take stock before brushing by Chay.

“Acedia! It is good--good--" the sith-makar starts to say. For a moment, he'd looked relieved. For a moment, the slave-scarr'd had smiled. The shoulders, relaxed. And then, and then--the inner lids flicker. Nictate. "This one is bleeding, sser. Ssers. Ssers! Sscatter, quickly!"

Yet, he seems frozen in place, inner lids flickering. Flickering. Before looking down to Acedia, and, "Run. Run, gobber. We need to get out of here!"

Victor like any good adventurer - or is that the Good adventurer - chooses not to run away when told. Rather he takes a few steps towards Chay. "Bleeding? Perhaps we can help..."

GAME: Chay rolls fort: (2)+11: 13

Azog is not quite sure what he's supposed to do. So he will run to block the exit of the person behind Chay, and demand from him, "Why did you stab him?" While looming Azog looms normally, but in the course of the run he's grown to fourteen feet tall, and so there's quite a lot of extra loom in his looming.

The Gobbo is happily stuffing her violin into its case as the cloaked one is stepping from the Waystation. "I'm cured.", she says, though her smile fades to a frown and then a look of anger. "Bleeding? Assassin!", Acedia calls out loudly. She begins to mutter something in Gobbo-talk, her wee fingers tracing in the air. A hand sudden glows white and she thrusts it at Chay, only just barely missing him.

GAME: Azog rolls intimidate +8: (9)+27+8: 44

"--Thiss one ssuspects that they do not like that there iss a. Possible. Cure--" And then a hand is being thrust towards Chay. A HAND and he leaps backwards, unthinking, slave-or-flight taking over and lands not as a hunter-caste would, but in the dust. Rolling awkwardly, but at least--at least, away from the cloaked figure.

GAME: Acedia rolls 1d8+1: (4)+1: 5
GAME: Acedia casts Cure Light Wounds. Caster Level: 3 DC: 13

The man in the cloak looks up at Azog showing a black mask on his face. He watches as Chay flees then falls, watches him fall still on the ground... and flees in the other direction, throwing himself away from Azog and running the other direction. He's so quick on his feet that there's no chance to grab him.

GAME: Acedia rolls heal: (5)+1: 6

Victor begins murmuring the words to a spell. He finished just when the cloaked figure flees. Then he moved to stand near Chay. "I don't think I can catch him," he begins. "Did you get a good look at him? Could you describe him to rangers?" He takes a second look at Chay. "Or perhaps we should visit a hospital first..."

GAME: Victor rolls heal: (2)+1: 3

Acedia blinks at Chay's reaction, and looks at her hand, sniffing at it curiously. "Oh, right.", she says and looks as the cloaked one runs off. She looks back to Chay and moves to his side. "Chay? Chay?" She reaches out to shake the Sith's shoulder. She blinks and shakes harder. "Chay!?" Her lower lip quivers, and the Gobbo bursts into tears. "Don't be dead! I even healed you!"

GAME: Victor casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 4 DC: 16

And...out. Maybe it's the threat of POSSIBLE HUGS. Maybe it was a poisoned dagger by the cloaked man. One of the two! Totally on equal ground, here! But, Chay lies there near Acedia, bare a breath escaping his muzzle. Well, he looks dead.

Azog is after the fellow like a flash, and despite the plate armor and boots, he's kicking up dirt and running with clearly enhanced speed after the villain. "Oh, you're not getting away," he declares, though it's all he can do to keep up.

The assassin in question draws Azog further and further away, rushing down the road before turning a sharp corner which... he vanishes into. Sort of. In fact what he does is teleport back to Chay and those now surrounding the sith-makar. There's a breath of moment where it's hard to tell who is going to act first. The assassin. Or the adventurers.

Azog has lost the fellow, and hits the brakes, boots throwing up turf. He sees where the fellow has gone, and reverses course, running back now.

Braelnoir is rather stunned at the factors leading up to the stabbing, honestly. She didn't get the word that Ace was well, let alone back on her feet just yet. That was probably why she didn't notice the assassination attempt. As the race gets going, she starts to turn to pursue when he suddenly reemerges amongst them. She white knuckles her scythe and charges with a battle cry she hopes will let Kor know someone's about to get their ass kicked.

GAME: Victor casts Stone Fist. Caster Level: 4 DC: 16

Victor looks up from where he was leaning over Chay's apparent corpse at the sight of the figure. He straightens, and moves to steps over the fallen Sith to position himself between assassin and target. Although a part of him realizes that may be futile given the masked man's speed and apparent ability to teleport. He raises his fists, palms facing himself. Then he chants another spell, clenching one hand into a fist as he finished.

Acedia kneels at Chay's side, openly weeping, when the assassin returns. She hisses at him, showing her mouth full of fangs and sharp teeth, and jumps up, pulling free her dragonspitter, pointing it at the cloaked person. "You stay right there! You're going to see justice for what you did to Chay!" She sniffles. "We're going to take you in to Alexandria."

The assassin flashes his dagger. "If you stand in my way. You die as well." With those few words he dodges to the side and strikes out at Acedia in a blur of lashing attacks. One, two - So many that you lose count.

GAME: Acedia rolls fortitude: (6)+3: 9

The Gobbo squeaks in surprise as the Masked one ducks to one side and kinda blurs right at Acedia. At first, there is the sound of metal on metal, even a spark or two as blades are knocked aside by her pistol. Then follows a rather horrible grunting sound from her, a few of them, and she drops to her knees and sprawls out between his feet. She hisses and raises her pistol... and it goes off with a loud bang.

Victor turns his head to follow the brief scuffle. As another Alexandrian is struck down, he hesitates. But only briefly. Apparently deciding that discretion is the better part of valor. No, wait. He decides it is critical that someone bear witness to these events and report back to others. Yes that is what is going through his trained and highly logical mind. Definitely. Changing another spell he begins to rise into the air and hopefully out of reach.

GAME: Victor casts Levitate. Caster Level: 4 DC: 17

Azog's boots churn up dirt as he sprints back, making it back to the scene of the crime in a huff.

Seeing not one, but two of her new friends hit the ground in this man's wake kicks Brae into a special kind of mood. Eyes widening in teeth gnashed fury, "The next to die-" she arcs the scythe around to try and part the bastard from right shoulder to left hip, "IS YOU!!"

With a quick step the man evades the most of Braelnoir's attack, catching the barest scratch from the blade which seems not to bother him at all. He keeps a weather eye on Azog, but steps over Chay's body. With one hand he picks the sith-makar up. Strong as well as fast. "There is no saving him. Me or one of mine will see him dead. But you... turn and leave and I will spare you." His blade rests securely at the base of Chay's throat. The silent threat clear. He will attack before any of you can move. He is ready for it. Chay's life is clearly in your hands.

Victor calls down from his position - floating two dozen feet above the danged - "You mean, they are -alive-?" He peers at Chay and Acedia's forms. Then he frowns. He begins to descend, cape swaying gently until his feet once more touch the ground. "We won't leave him," he says firmly.

GAME: Azog rolls heal: (19)+0: 19

Azog frowns at the fellow, and says, "Threatening a dead man's no one's bargaining chip, but I see you haven't quite killed him. That's good for you, because otherwise I'd cut you down where you stand. But if you kill him, we'll kill you, so it's a bit of a standoff. Until we get some snipers on the rooftops, of course."

With dawning awareness that she's probably punching well above her weight class, Braelnoir stays her followup swing, but remains primed to deliver it. She considers the scenario, the goal, the stalemate, and her grip shifts reangling the potential strike, "While he lives, you live." she agrees with the big man.

Dark eyes stare at Azog. "Then it behooves me to leave." He takes several steps back, dragging Chay with him. "Stay where you are or you hasten his demise." He moves away with the sith-makar slowly but surely.

Azog shakes his head, and commands, "No. Leave without him, or you both will die." His swordtip traces a complicated arc, intended to intimidate by demonstrating his skill. He's flashing the blade menacingly.

Victor betrays his first hint of emotion, a slight crease between his eyes. "You appear to have won...for now." He thinks furiously. "So it shouldn't cost you anything to explain...why. Why are you doing this? Why Chay? What is your reasoning behind this, and your other actions...?"

Braelnoir shifts her foot forward a little, and as the man tries to kidnap Chay to some darksome fate, she decides to gamble. At his first step the scythe lashes out to cross the hostage's abdomen, hoping he hasn't lost too much blood already. If this guy thinks the sith actually is dead, or at least one of the people he's dealing with is crazy, he'll flee, or at least drop Chay so someone can tend him later. If she's wrong, at least he'll die here, without pain.

Choices. Azog chooses to menance the assassin. Victor chooses to try and gain some insight into the killers motives. Brailnoir chooses a method of attack. All of it works to some extent. The assassin glares at Azog, his blade trembling slightly. He opens his mouth; surely to answer the words of Victors querry. And then... Braelnoir's attack hits Chay and the world seems to slow. The assassin's blade slips into Chay's body as the sith-makar is cut in twain by Brailnoir's strike. Chay's body hits the ground limply, whatever semblance of life remaining in it spilling out onto the earth. The assassin's eyes widen and he looks at Azog. The world picks up speed once more and it's time for more choices.

Azog's decision to try and bully his way out of the situation is eclipsed by more dramatic methods. But now that Chay is very clearly no longer a hostage, Azog leaps into the attack, sixteen feet and over a ton of oruch with magically enhanced speed slashing at the fellow. His attack is intense and unforgiving, his blade gleaming dully with a strange light.

Victor hesitates again. He's never developed (or for that matter understood) what others might call instinct and instead always relies on intellect. which seems to be failing him in this instance. And so he waits and watches and strives to remember some way to react.

The impact sends a jolt up her arms but her training carries her through the stroke. Her eyes locked on the masked man, fully aware of what she's done, how the house won the wager. The haft of her weapon creaks in her grip a her friend's(victim's) body slips to the earth, and she follows the Oruch in his renewed charge. It's her fault. He's dead because of her. He set up the scenario... she'll kill him for it, now and make it right, after. Somehow.

The flurry of blows puts the assassin on the defensive, he's bleeding now and heavily, and he's sporting at least one very serious injury. He retaliates with his own series of attacks leveled at Azog, trying to level the playing field. These attacks stop however when Braelnoir's weapon strikes across the back of his hand and forces him to drop his dagger on the ground. Quickly he puts up both hands. "I surrender! I surrender!"

GAME: Azog rolls fortitude: (16)+12: 28
GAME: Azog rolls fortitude: (11)+12: 23
GAME: Azog rolls fortitude: (17)+12: 29

Azog is struck by the assassin's blade, but none of the strikes is very deep, and they certainly don't slow him down. Azog's had worse before breakfast. But the fellow's surrendered, and unlike actual demons, he feels slightly honor-bound to accept it. Anyhow, the heroes gave him a raft of crap for killing a demon last time instead of hugging them and giving them warm milk, so, with sour grapes, he accepts the surrender, but he doesn't look happy about it, and he watches the assassin like a hawk. One move, and Azog is on him like a ton of rectangular building things.

Victor hurries forward to take Chay's body, lifting it and then moving back away from the assassin. Once he feels he's a safe distance he pauses. "Now will you tell us what this is all about?"

Braelnoir's followup stops by the man's neck and she snakes a foot out to scooch that dagger away from his reach then sets her weight on the flat of it. That she really wants him dead is plain on her face, but there are questions that need answering, first. As an aside to the Oruch, she mutters, "If he grabs me, take him."

Azog snorts to Braelnoir, and says, "If he does more than breathe, he'll be doing it with his head over there." He gestures with his shield without taking his eyes off. "One of you search him for more weapons, and another one of you go get the watch and a priest. Does anyone know which deity he honors?"

Acedia snores loudly, and murmurs something.

In spite of his surrender the masked man seems surprisingly calm, holding his hands in a way that suggests this isn't the first time he's been arrested. "The Black Masks kill to stop the plague." The words are intoned; said in a low dry voice as blood drips from his hand and weighs down his clothing. "You adventurers stand in their way; try to stop them. Do you not understand Vardama's will?"

His words answer at least some of those questions. He allows himself to be searched for weapons but the dagger is the only thing on him, and not too long after the guard comes to gather him. They thank you profusely and cart him off after binding his hands. The rest of your answers go with him. For now. There will be a time to question him more fully...

The priest takes Chay's body and Acedia with them on stretchers. One to be taken care of until she wakes and the other... Perhaps to be resurrected. Time will tell on all things.

-End