Mad God's Key - Chapter One

[Tinner]

"What was that? Are you tall fellows so weak that you can't take a little tap on the back? Where I come from the folk be little be tougher that that." Nuressa says amiably. WHUUM WHUUM WHUUM sings the hammer. Her expression hardens. "I don't much like killin', 'specially in places I'm not familiar with... Don't mistake mercy & level-headedness for weakness though. Lay down your arms and surrender, or you'll get a whole lot more o' my hammer then yer friend got!"

Eldred watches the scene unfold across the street, pondering what portents surround this strange ocurance, and feeling with some certainly that this seemingly simple robbery holds much for his future.

Kel holds his bow at the ready, waiting to strike should the hug choose to do things the hard way. "Arggh the little red-eyed dwarf hits like a boom in thar head." laughs Kel.

The thug's eyes flicker between his unconcious partner and Nuressa's whirling hammer. The vein in his temple seems to throb in time with the THRUM made by the spinning dwarven weapon. His hand slowly creeps toward his dagger.
"Easy there missus. I don' wan' no trouble." slowly he drops his weapon, allowing it to clatter on the cobblestones below. "We was just doin' a friend a favor, that's all." he chuckles nervously. "No need to get rough about it."
He raises his hands in surrender.

Urkulyr mutters a quick prayer to Chennet' and moves up behind the thug, kicking away the thief's dagger in the process.

Before another word can be said, a wail of dismay erupts from behind the half-orc.
A portly, copper-skinned man in his late forties is rushing towards the group, waving his hands in the air, and wailing in a loud voice. "My shop! My shop! Someone call the militia!"

The man rushes past the group and enters the building. There are sounds of him rumaging through the building, and a mffled cry of "It's gone!" then he emerges from the shop again, finally registering the scene in front of his building.

"What's going on here?!" he cries. "Who's responsible for this!"

His eyes scan each of you in turn.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

"Heh, you know you got two snakes danglin' from your nose." Nuressa cackles. "We're responsible, of course!" She beams proudly and gestures with her warhammer.

"Caught these two hooligans wreakin' all kinds of havoc with your store. I saw that and I thought to myslef, 'Nuressa, what are those two humans doing in that store so early in the morning?' And, 'cause I was talking to myself, I answered 'Well Nuressa, it looks like they be robbin' some poor merchant stall of all the wealth that he likley aquired over the past few years.' Well, I'll tell you what, where I come from we work hard for everything that we get so I thouht to myself, 'Nuressa, shouldn't you be doing something about this?' And as it turns out, I should have, so here we are." She pauses to take a breath and flashes her crooked nickle-plated smile at the merchant.

"I don't be supposin' that there's gonna be a reward for this? After all, we just saved your livliehood."

Her smile falters. "Hey! I don't have to call you 'ser' or anything do I?"

 

[Dragoon]

As Kel puts away his bow and trots across the street to join up with the Nuressa and the Merchant, he notices an man sitting and drinking tea like a nobleman, "Now whar in the Wooley Bay, a've I seen that lad," Kel thinks to himself.

As Kel approaches the mercahnt and Nuressa, he performs a sweeping bow. "Arrh there Gov', I be Kel o' the Nyr Dyv, just me helppin' to be savin yer booty form these here scalowags," Kel states excitedly.

 

[helium3]

"Uhhhh, Nuressa? Is the one on the ground going to die or were you pulling your punches? I can never tell with hammers. I don't think I heard the sound of any major bones cracking. Should we tie up the other one so he can't escape?"

 

[sleepystyle]

After stepping inside to leave his mug on a table Eldred makes his way over to the ransacked shop- ostensibly to act as an impartial witness if one is required. And though he might tell himself that on the walk over, he knows it isn't the real reason. It's the jangling sense just beyond the border of normal perception that he can't shake, can't ignore. Like ripples spreading from a stone tossed into a pond he can sense that this chance encounter is only a beginning and though his sense are not attunned enough to see where that encounter leads, his natural curiousity is enough to goad him into finding out. Of course he did have a similar feeling about a strange hunchback he saw in the playhouse last week who had sicced his dog on him after a few blocks of not so discrete tailing. And then there was the red haired woman he'd bumpd into a few months ago on the river boardwalk. She'd called the guards on him when he tried to explain how fate had dicatated their chance meeting. But Eldred didn't really have time to be concerned with things like that. One can't dwell on past failures, and besides who was to say they both the hunchback and the redhaired woman wouldn't play into the grander scheme in some as yet unforseen way?

As he crosses the street it becomes evident that though the observing scholar from the cafe must come from money (as evident in his clothing) he is in complete dissarray. The hems of his robes are tattered and mud caked, his hair is completely dishevelled, definitely unshaven for at least two weeks, and by the smell- unbathed for at least half that. His eyes are intense, rarely blinking and though he is smiling, somehow it makes him more unnerving than not. He is already talking to himself as he crosses the street and it isn't exactly certainly when or if that monologue is meant for you, "...different this time. I can taste it. And I saw it. All of it. It's true what they say. You might have lost that something, but what you didn't lose, yes, that you can thank them for. And you should. Now. But what have you lost? And who would have it with these two here accounted for? Perhaps we should all talk about it and the finer details... how it all connects. I can tell you now it does, but its difficult to trace the pattern. You'll help me though, yes?"

 

[Lobo Lurker]

"Uhhhh, Nuressa? Is the one on the ground going to die or were you pulling your punches? I can never tell with hammers. I don't think I heard the sound of any major bones cracking. Should we tie up the other one so he can't escape?"

Nurressa kicks the downed hooligan lightly with her iron-shod boot. "Nah, he'll be fine though he'll be having one heck of bruise when he wakes." She roars with laughter.

"Tie him up then, though I don't think he'll be waking any time soon. I hit him rather harder than I intended to."

 

[Tinner]

The merchant stands, mouth agape at the sudden barrage of activity around him.
"Two snakes? I don't ..."
His confusion is fortunately interrupted by the timely arrival of the Greyhawk city militia.

The leader of the watch quickly takes in the scene. Spying the two captured hooligans a grim swirk spreads across his face.
"Marek and Flegon. I might have known. Just look for a bungled caper and you're bound to find the pair of you." He roughly drags the still concious thug to his feet. "Breaking and entering? This isn't your scene Flegon. Who put you up to it? Were either of you near the Temple of Boccob last night?"

The captain motions to his troops. "Search 'em boys. We're looking for a book."
The guards quickly turn the thugs pockets out, and pat them down thoroughly. "No book here cap'n. Looks like this is just a random break-in."

The captured thug winces as he is taken into custody. "It was that stinkin' half-breed Irontusk! We met him in Barge End last night and he told us the place would be unlocked and unguarded early this morning. He said he was done wif the place, and we was welcome to 'elp ourselfs! We din't know it weren't his place. Honest!"

The captain turns to the still astonished merchant. "Well Mr. Meldorp, it looks like these four adventurers have kept your shop from being looted. We'll handle these two miscreants from here on out." Two of he guards have taken the unconcious thug between them, and the militia disappears almost as quickly as they arrived, taking their two prisoners with them.

"It seems I owe you four my thanks. Please take this small sum as a token of my appreciation." the merchant hands you each five gold pieces. He looks the four of you over, then as if coming to a difficult decision, he continues.

"My name is Theldrat Meldorp. I am a locksmith. I'm sorry that I don't seem happier that you stopped those thugs, but apparently this Irontusk friend of their has already made off with my greatest treasure - my father's key. You see, this key was a valuable family heirloom, and holds great personal importance to me. It's the only thing missing in the shop."
He pauses and shuffles his feet before continuing.

"I'm not a wealthy man, but if you could find this Irontusk person and get my key back, I'll reward you as best I can."

OOC: I know there's a lot of data here. If you want to get a question in before the militia leaves, that's fine.
Just jump on in.

 

[Dragoon]

Kel watches in satisfaction as the guard hauls off the thugs."Ahh they be headin' off to tha gaol, by tha looks of it."

The looking a the merchant, "T'was no problem there good Gov' to keehaul them fer ya, I was but a few lengths o' ship from them on tha starboard side."

 

[Lobo Lurker]

Nuressa guffaws, "That was easy money, good ser!. If that key is as easy to get as these thugs were to capture, then you'd better have more gold in those pockets." She flashes her nickle-plated smile at the man and waits as her companions as thier questions.

Almost to herself she mutters, "Guess we'll be going to this Barge End, won't we girl?"

 

[Dragoon]

occ: nothing to post, waiting on reactions, just saying "Hi."