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[Goonalan]

Saga of the Dragon Cult
Interlude 1
Intrigue at the Standing Stones
Scaled for level 3.

Turn 80: Explain.

“No, I don’t understand- explain?” Khan bangs the table again; he’s back on home turf, the Watch House.
“We’re wasting time.” Jim growls.
“And you’ll waste more of it, now explain.”
“We were attacked, there are witnesses, Mischa was poisoned, in the Wheatsheaf Inn.” Cas begins.
“Big Reg and a number of the locals have confirmed that your Druid friend was taken ill, they did not however see any attack.”
“She was poisoned you idiot, by the waitress.” Jim is prevented from getting up by a pair of Watchmen.
“I’ve had about as much as I’m going to…”

CRUNCH

The door to the interview room is flung open; Anya and Ala appear in the doorway, being manhandled, or more likely, vice-versa, by another pair of Watchmen.

“Mischa’s ok Jim- she’ll live.” Ala calls out, nods.

Jim looks to the floor, his eyes are stinging.

Bec sits silent in the back of the room, next to Newt who spends his time staring out of the window, he’s still in chains.

“You’ve got to let them go.” Anya states.
“Why?” Khan smiles thinly.
“We are called to duty.” Cas barks back.

Which gets a laugh from Khan.

“Called to duty”, he mimics, “that sounds very heroic. Really Cas you’re so melodramatic at times.”

Which is about as much as Jim can handle.

The Ranger leaps from his chair and is on Khan before the Watchmen can do anything to stop him.

THUMP

It’s a good right-hook, certainly enough to flatten Khan.

“JIM.” Anya screams.

“You jumped up little bastard.” Jim spits as he’s wrestled away from a prostrate Khan.

Bec takes note of the incident but remains seated. Newt goes back to starring out the window, humming a happy tune. Ala quickly crosses to Cas, who is trying his best to calm Jim.

“Jim. Jim- leave him, let him be… Calm down Jim, this is getting us nowhere.”

The Ranger continues to wrestle with his captors, spitting curses.

“You’re a sham. A sham, worse than that…”

Khan rises.

“Add ‘striking a member of the Watch’, a senior member of the Watch at that, to the list of charges Sergeant. I think that’s the last we’ll be seeing of you for a while.”

Cas goes to interject, Jim struggles on.

“And as for you…” Khan looks over at Newt, who notices he’s on display at last, and smiles back- winks.

“You’ll be off the streets for at least a few years, the ‘attempted murder’ of an Park Ranger. Tut, tut. Yes, quite some time.”

Newt raises his eyebrows, continues to grin.

Khan turns awat, just as Newt finds his favourite finger, on both hands, and proffers them to Khan’s back.

“One day fecker. One day…” Newt whispers.

“Now come on…” Cas begins.

“And the rest of you, well as soon as we find this poor serving girl you chased off, well… Regardless, there’ll be other charges. It may be time for your happy band to consider a parting of the ways, other career opportunities…”

“You’ve got a short memory Major Khan.” The voice is like treacle; no, that’s not it- honey.

The door to the interview room slowly opens, and framed in the light is Lady Arabella, dressed, disappointingly, somewhat demurely, swathed in a thick black cloak.

“I said you’ve got a short memory Major Khan.”
“Ma’am I…”
“Not so long ago these brave men and women tracked down and killed a savage beast that took his pleasure murdering innocent young women in the City.”
“They were hardly ‘innocent’, m’lady.”
“Nevertheless Major I wonder what the Town Council would make of this- is this how you treat heroes?”
“M’lady I…” Khan starts.
“You what, Major?” Arabella looks quite fearsome.

Cas finds himself smiling, thinking, slowly peeling off her thick cloak.

Newt goes back to looking out of the window.

“Release them major, release them now.”
“These are Watch matters m’lady…”
“Do you defy me?”
“I…”
“I said- do you defy me?”

Ala looks away from the confrontation, notices Cas’ look, she removes her hand from his shoulder, Cas shifts and turns to Ala, she stares through him.

The silence expands.

Finally.

“Release them.” Khan whispers, nothing happens.

“I SAID RELEASE THEM.” He barks and struts out of the room via a second door away from the crowd.

“That was…” Anya begins.
“Thank you.” Jim smiles, “we should be off- Tetknee, the Druid Circle, now.” The last word is sharp, final.

“Whiskin’s waiting for us- I thought you might need a little healing.” Anya adds quietly, still staring at Jim.

The Ranger nods and marches off out of the interview room.

The others follow on; Newt the last to leave after presenting his manacles for removal, the Gnome takes one last look out of the window.

“I think its going to rain.”

He shrugs and heads off.

Next Turn: To the Circle.