drnuncheon
Explorer
Session Ten, Part Five: Butchery and Bloodbath, Part I
Dru looked back at her partner, indicating the door with a nod of her head. With the kind of silent communication that only comes from years of working together, Di'Fier moved up to cover the doorway even as Dru reached for the handle. The battered Brother Egil huddled in the corner, well away from whatever was behind the portal.
Careful to avoid the slowly spreading puddle, Dru took the time to look at it before opening the door. Definitely blood, she thought. and fresh - it's barely started to cool. With a firm motion she depressed the handle, flinging the door open and leaping back, her rapier flying to her other hand.
The door opened on a scene out of Hell. The thick carpet of Verlaine's bedchamber was entirely soaked with blood - far more blood than could have come from a single man. In fact, a full five men lay in the room - some expertly slain with a single stroke, while others seemed to have been literally hacked apart. There was no movement in the room.
Dru looked at her partner and Brother Egil. The brother looked as if he were about to vomit, had he any food in his stomach. Even Di'Fier was pale - a slaughter of this magnitude was rare even in the lawless streets of Freeport.
"They can't have gone far," whispered Dru to her partner, jerking her head towards the second door. They skirted the pool of blood and moved down the hall. Dru reached out, pushed the door open...
There, in the midst of the chaos that was Verlaine's study, was a heavyset ruffian. The canvas sack in his hand bulged with what looked to be valuables. "I'm just about done," he said as he turned...and saw not what he expected, but the forms of two City Watchmen.
With a shout, he spun, dropping the sack. Jewelry and silver spilled out as it hit the ground, and he sprung forward, sword in hand. Dru leapt back into the corridor, and the blade slammed into the doorframe, knocking loose a chunk of wood.
A robbery? she thought wildly, as she locked blades with the killer. But that makes no sense... Di'Fier's blade flashed over hers, but somehow the bulky man managed to deflect it as well. From behind, they heard a muffled cry. "Egil!" Dru cried, risking a glance over her shoulder.
A second man had emerged from the blood-soaked room - tall and whipcord-thin, dressed in dusky black. One arm was locked across Egil's mouth, and the other held a dagger to his throat!
Di'Fier's wand was already in his hand. Raising it, he called out the word that would release its power, and a streak of golden magelight shot forth, curving around the form of Brother Egil to sear into the assassin's arm.
With a hiss of indrawn breath, the killer jerked his arm...drawing the knife across the priest's throat. He took a step back, and the astonished priest fell to his knees, hands at his throat in a vain attempt to stop the pulsing flow of blood. Softly, he crumpled into the widening pool of gore at his feet.
Dru looked back at her partner, indicating the door with a nod of her head. With the kind of silent communication that only comes from years of working together, Di'Fier moved up to cover the doorway even as Dru reached for the handle. The battered Brother Egil huddled in the corner, well away from whatever was behind the portal.
Careful to avoid the slowly spreading puddle, Dru took the time to look at it before opening the door. Definitely blood, she thought. and fresh - it's barely started to cool. With a firm motion she depressed the handle, flinging the door open and leaping back, her rapier flying to her other hand.
The door opened on a scene out of Hell. The thick carpet of Verlaine's bedchamber was entirely soaked with blood - far more blood than could have come from a single man. In fact, a full five men lay in the room - some expertly slain with a single stroke, while others seemed to have been literally hacked apart. There was no movement in the room.
Dru looked at her partner and Brother Egil. The brother looked as if he were about to vomit, had he any food in his stomach. Even Di'Fier was pale - a slaughter of this magnitude was rare even in the lawless streets of Freeport.
"They can't have gone far," whispered Dru to her partner, jerking her head towards the second door. They skirted the pool of blood and moved down the hall. Dru reached out, pushed the door open...
There, in the midst of the chaos that was Verlaine's study, was a heavyset ruffian. The canvas sack in his hand bulged with what looked to be valuables. "I'm just about done," he said as he turned...and saw not what he expected, but the forms of two City Watchmen.
With a shout, he spun, dropping the sack. Jewelry and silver spilled out as it hit the ground, and he sprung forward, sword in hand. Dru leapt back into the corridor, and the blade slammed into the doorframe, knocking loose a chunk of wood.
A robbery? she thought wildly, as she locked blades with the killer. But that makes no sense... Di'Fier's blade flashed over hers, but somehow the bulky man managed to deflect it as well. From behind, they heard a muffled cry. "Egil!" Dru cried, risking a glance over her shoulder.
A second man had emerged from the blood-soaked room - tall and whipcord-thin, dressed in dusky black. One arm was locked across Egil's mouth, and the other held a dagger to his throat!
Di'Fier's wand was already in his hand. Raising it, he called out the word that would release its power, and a streak of golden magelight shot forth, curving around the form of Brother Egil to sear into the assassin's arm.
With a hiss of indrawn breath, the killer jerked his arm...drawing the knife across the priest's throat. He took a step back, and the astonished priest fell to his knees, hands at his throat in a vain attempt to stop the pulsing flow of blood. Softly, he crumpled into the widening pool of gore at his feet.