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The Rise of Felskein [Completed]
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4440119" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 9, Part 2</p><p> </p><p>-Notes: I'm going to update Wednesdays instead of Mondays. Not sure why I picked Mondays since they tend to be my busiest days. Extra updates didn't happen due to second job taking up ridiculously more time than I thought it would. So, next update Wednesday, maybe one extra one in there if I can finish up this job.-</p><p> </p><p>The small warehouse was, from all appearances, abandoned. The roof was partially collapsed and the wind blowing in off Mirror Lake whistled through chinks in the boards. They might have never found it amidst its equally rundown companions if Suniel hadn't noticed that the door was heavy and new.</p><p> </p><p>"All right, get ready," Kezzek said, quor'rel in hand. He slammed his shoulder into the door hard and sent it flying open. Grok'nar and Suniel followed in quickly.</p><p> </p><p>Inside it was quiet, mostly empty, and dark aside from the faint moonlight that came in from the collapsed corner of the building. Broken crates and other debris littered the floor, except at the corner opposite the door where it had been swept clean, stacked with a few chests and half-a-dozen or so long, narrow boxes.</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek held his finger to his lips and crept towards the coffins. The others followed and gathered around one, exchanging quick glances before Kezzek and Grok'nar grabbed the lid. On a nod from Grok'nar, they threw the lid off and stepped back, weapons ready.</p><p> </p><p>Nothing happened.</p><p> </p><p>Suniel murmured and a light flared on the tip of his finger as they approached the now-open coffin. Inside lay the body of one of the assassins, his wounds gaping, but not bleeding. They repeated the procedure for the other coffins, finding one empty and the other six occupied by the assassins they had dispatched earlier, all seemingly lifeless.</p><p> </p><p>"What did Harold say about finishing these things off?" Grok'nar said, prodding one of the bodies with his sword.</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek walked out into the main part of the warehouse, kicking the debris with his feet. Then he stopped, bent down, and there was a <em>cracking</em> sound. He came back with a sharp wood fragment as long as his arm. Suniel and Grok'nar stood back as he slowly positioned it over the assassin's heart and, with a grunt and a heavy shove, drove it in. The corpse's eyes flew open, it thrashed once, and then went limp. Kezzek nodded and looked up. "Find five more of those."</p><p> </p><p>They went through the warehouse gathering makeshift stakes and repeating the procedure with the other five corpses. Afterward, they stood looking over their grim handiwork.</p><p> </p><p>"Ok, now what?" Grok'nar said. "These things going to wake up if someone pulls those stakes out?"</p><p> </p><p>"They might," Suniel said. "Probably best if we drag them outside and burn them. I don't think they'll survive that."</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek grunted in acknowledgment and they set to it. When they had five thrown together in a pile and Kezzek had gone in to get the sixth, Suniel dug around in one of his robe's many hidden pockets, procuring a wand after a short search. He pointed it at the coffins, spoke a sharp word of command, and they went up in flames. Grok'nar stood beside him and watched them start to burn.</p><p> </p><p>Then there was a thud from inside the warehouse and Kezzek shouted in alarm. A second later Suniel and Grok'nar were through the door.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek stood half-crouched, quor'rel in hand as he stared at the shadowy form that had suddenly appeared in the corner. Grok'nar and Suniel came up on either side of them, both alert and ready.</p><p> </p><p>"It's no use," the figure said, pulling the cowl of his dark cloak back. "It's all futile."</p><p> </p><p>"Come along peaceably Annandor or we'll have to take you down," Kezzek said.</p><p> </p><p>Annandor didn't even look at them as he took a step towards them and then stopped, picking up a small chest in one hand. "I do his dark work and this is what he gives me, <em>this</em>! Worthless!" He threw the chest to the floor, shattering it and sending silver, gold, and platinum coins flying in all directions.</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek saw Suniel and Grok'nar exchange questioning glances out of the corner of his eye. He stepped forwards. "You killed seven Greywardens in cold blood. Do you deny it?"</p><p> </p><p>Annandor met his gaze for the first time, his eyes a pale blue that almost seemed to glow. "Them? In cold blood? Tell me, what would your Greywardens have done if they had come across my coffin and found me alone and unarmed resting there? Tell me, if your Greywardens had come across me in that abandoned barn, would they have just left me to rest?"</p><p> </p><p>"If they knew your true nature, yes," Kezzek said.</p><p> </p><p>"Really? So, if you knew someone was going to murder you in your sleep, would you not take the steps to insure your survival?" Annandor looked down at the coins that littered the floor, shaking his head. "Not murder, self defense."</p><p> </p><p>"You know, he has a point there," Grok'nar said with a glance at Kezzek.</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek growled and pointed one of his quor'rel blades at Annandor's chest. "You are an abomination! Do you deny causing the destruction at the docks, of murdering all those people?"</p><p> </p><p>Annandor laughed, a cold, empty sound devoid of any real mirth. "Abomination? The half-breed vigilante calls me an abomination? An no, I don't deny boarding that barge with the intent to kill. I went to kill the Ambassador, to fulfill my side of the agreement. I should have known better."</p><p> </p><p>"Agreement with who?" Suniel said, taking a few careful steps closer.</p><p> </p><p>"Who do you think?" Annandor said, hurling something at Suniel. Grok'nar snatched it out of the air a foot from Suniel's face and looked at it.</p><p> </p><p>"What does this carving mean?" the hobgoblin said, shrugging and handing it to Suniel.</p><p> </p><p>The elf looked at it for a long moment. "It means the Ashen Tower. It means Thessalock," Suniel said, without looking up.</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek looked back to Annandor, growling. "Explain, assassin."</p><p> </p><p>"It was a lie, all a lie. One death in exchange for one life, that was the agreement. But now I have more blood on my hands and nothing to show for it but these useless trinkets." He kicked a pile of coins, sending them clinking and rattling through the warehouse.</p><p> </p><p>"You needn't have any more blood on your hands," Kezzek said, lowering his blade and extending an open hand. "Come with us peacefully and I promise you fair justice."</p><p> </p><p>"Ha, you are blind if you believe your words, Greywarden," Annandor said, fingers curling. "There is no justice in this world, except what you can seize with your own hands."</p><p> </p><p>"So you will not come peacefully?" Kezzek said, readying his weapon again.</p><p> </p><p>"I will not come at all," Annandor said quietly. He gestured at the stacked chests and scattered coins. "It is yours if you want it. It is useless to me."</p><p> </p><p>Annandor shifted and Kezzek immediately charged with a roar. The vampire grabbed his cloak hem, thrust it away from him, and vanished. Kezzek swung at where he had been, hitting nothing but a faint cold mist. "He's turned to vapors!" Kezzek said, watching as the mist slipped out through a crack in the roof. "Suniel, outside, you might still be able to hit him with your magics."</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek ran to Suniel and grabbed his shoulder but the elf still stared at the chest fragment in his hands. Grok'nar was picking coins out of the detritus on the dirt floor. "He's getting away!" Kezzek shouted in frustration.</p><p> </p><p>Suniel looked up and shook his head, as if shaking off a bad memory. "There's nothing we can do about that now. Besides, I have the feeling we'll be seeing him again."</p><p> </p><p>"Well, then we'd better spend this fast, in case he wants it back," Grok'nar said, cradling an armload of coins with a grin.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>When Harold found Suniel's carriage in the small park beside the Garden Inn the next morning, the others were already there. Kezzek looked half-asleep, head drooping as he leaned against the carriage and listened to Grok'nar talk about the "feast he bought last night with the treasure..." Suniel sat on a hay bale watching Keeper, who stood staring at a bottle set upon a fencepost.</p><p> </p><p>As he rode up, Keeper's eyes flared and a beam of energy blasted the bottle apart, stopping Grok'nar's story in mid-sentence and sending him scrambling for his sword.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, it was just your construct," Grok'nar said with a sheepish grin. He sheathed his sword and nodded to Harold. "Hello archer-boy, how's your Diplomat doing."</p><p> </p><p>Suniel winced, but Harold just shook his head. "He's fine."</p><p> </p><p>"Fine?" Kezzek said, voice even more gravelly than usual, as if he'd just woken up. "Isn't he, well..."</p><p> </p><p>"Dead? Crispy? Corpsified? Murdered? Mangled? Massacred-" Grok'nar supplied.</p><p> </p><p>"No, I had him resurrected last night." Harold said, climbing down from his horse and pulling out the writ Stevens had given him.</p><p> </p><p>Grok'nar whistled. "Got him resurrected? Where did you dredge up the reagents for something for that? It cost a small fortune for me to just get back that piece of my soul one of those assassins knocked off of me. What's that?"</p><p> </p><p>"This? The Ambassador was grateful enough to give me a writ for 500 acres of his Stevens family land for when we get back to the Crystal Towers. As for the assassins, they are-"</p><p> </p><p>"We know what they are," Suniel said. "You were right about them. We found their hideout and dealt with them appropriately."</p><p> </p><p>"Including their leader?" Harold said, taking a seat on a hay bale next to Suniel wearily.</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek shook his head and growled. "No, he escaped us. Did the Ambassador give you any information about what happened on the barge? I was up all night gathering testimony and writing reports on it."</p><p> </p><p>Harold nodded. "Apparently, he was having a talk with the High Priest - who has also been raised by the way - and there was a commotion outside. They investigated and saw Northmand guards and Crystal Tower honor guards fighting each other. Then one of the Northmand guards turned on Stevens. He said the guard's eyes were blank, like he was staring into the distance, oblivious everything around him and what he was doing. So the High Priest and Stevens closed themselves in until it quieted down. They were about to investigate when the door opened, our assassin opened the door, slammed his hand into the center of the Priest's chest and the Priest died, gasping. Then Stevens, well..."</p><p> </p><p>There was a long silence. Finally, Kezzek said, "go on."</p><p> </p><p>With a long sigh, Harold continued. "Stevens knew what the assassin was when he saw him and... killed himself to avoid rising after he was killed."</p><p> </p><p>Grok'nar laughed and they all stared at him. "The Crystal Towers is in good hands, good hands," the hobgoblin said, walking away from Harold's glare still chuckling.</p><p> </p><p>"If you see something too scary, archer, let me know and I'll kill you for you," he called back over his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"So, he murdered the Priest?" Kezzek said, rubbing his eyes, pulling out his journal, and jotting some things down. "How did he get aboard the ship? I have down that of the 80 people onboard, 34 died - of which 5 were raised - and 45 survived. That leaves one unaccounted for."</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I ran into Captain Donnolan on the way over here, with the barge captain," Harold said. "The man said he was somehow given official papers with the wrong dock information - which is why he was at our dock and not the correct one. Also said he overheard complaints about the musicians not playing especially well, I think he said something about their flutist."</p><p> </p><p>"Hm... so maybe Annandor disguised himself as this flutist to get on board? They said after they floated the barge and dredged the area, the corpses were all taken to the cemetery church and that 3 were too badly burnt to be identified." Kezzek tapped the tip of one of his tusks for a moment, staring at his journal. "Maybe we should investigate the corpses and see what we can find." </p><p></p><p>Grok'nar came strolling back, a frothing mug of something in hand. Kezzek stared at him for a moment before he continued. "Also, this may not be related, but they said most of the valuables of those who were on the barge when it sank were missing. Including some of those who were raised this morning."</p><p> </p><p>Grok'nar tripped, spilled his drink, cursed, and turned. "Damn. Guess I need to go get another one now."</p><p> </p><p>Harold put his hand on the hobgoblin's shoulder. "Not so fast."</p><p> </p><p>Kezzek stood and joined them. "Yes, we're going to the cemetery and I think it'd be best if you came along with us. You were there at the barge that night when it sank and might have noticed something we didn't when you were... doing whatever you were doing."</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Grok'nar eyed the small stone chapel warily. "Never had much use for religion myself," he said.</p><p> </p><p>"Just come along, we'll get this over quickly. Remember, she was short, slender, long brown braid," Kezzek said. The five of them - Keeper had joined them this time, drawing many looks as he followed them through the town - walked up the stairs to the chapel. "Hm... you'd think they'd have a guard or someone here."</p><p> </p><p>"Probably left 'cause of the smell," Grok'nar said, wrinkling his nose as they entered the chapel and the charnel smell of charred flesh assailed them.</p><p> </p><p>They examined the corpses quickly. When they were done, they met up again at the entrance. "Anyone find someone that looked matched the description?" Kezzek said.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone shook their heads except for Keeper, who said, "Confirmation: negative."</p><p> </p><p>They all shot him a look and turned to walk down the steps. "I guess we know how he got on board then. Maybe we should be searching the city for the body of a flutist..."</p><p> </p><p>He stopped and the others followed suit. "You said Stevens killed himself to avoid being raised?" Suniel said to Harold.'</p><p> </p><p>Grok'nar snorted and stifled a grin. Harold seemed to be ignoring him. "Yes, why?"</p><p> </p><p>"It was hard to tell, dark when we staked them but..."</p><p> </p><p>One of Kezzek's eyebrows shot up. "You know, I think you could be right. One of them could have been her."</p><p> </p><p>Grok'nar sighed, wondering why they'd skipped breakfast to come look at corpses and ramble on about missing flutists. He stretched and started to arch his back, but stopped, squinting at the sky.</p><p> </p><p>The others were in the midst of some deep discussion when he cut them off. "Look, sorry to spoil your little mystery here, but I think we have a problem." </p><p></p><p>They all stared at him as he walked over to Keeper and casually put a hand on his iron shoulder. "So, Keeper, you expecting friends to drop in?"</p><p> </p><p>There was a chorus of curses and all gazes shot skyward.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4440119, member: 60965"] Session 9, Part 2 -Notes: I'm going to update Wednesdays instead of Mondays. Not sure why I picked Mondays since they tend to be my busiest days. Extra updates didn't happen due to second job taking up ridiculously more time than I thought it would. So, next update Wednesday, maybe one extra one in there if I can finish up this job.- The small warehouse was, from all appearances, abandoned. The roof was partially collapsed and the wind blowing in off Mirror Lake whistled through chinks in the boards. They might have never found it amidst its equally rundown companions if Suniel hadn't noticed that the door was heavy and new. "All right, get ready," Kezzek said, quor'rel in hand. He slammed his shoulder into the door hard and sent it flying open. Grok'nar and Suniel followed in quickly. Inside it was quiet, mostly empty, and dark aside from the faint moonlight that came in from the collapsed corner of the building. Broken crates and other debris littered the floor, except at the corner opposite the door where it had been swept clean, stacked with a few chests and half-a-dozen or so long, narrow boxes. Kezzek held his finger to his lips and crept towards the coffins. The others followed and gathered around one, exchanging quick glances before Kezzek and Grok'nar grabbed the lid. On a nod from Grok'nar, they threw the lid off and stepped back, weapons ready. Nothing happened. Suniel murmured and a light flared on the tip of his finger as they approached the now-open coffin. Inside lay the body of one of the assassins, his wounds gaping, but not bleeding. They repeated the procedure for the other coffins, finding one empty and the other six occupied by the assassins they had dispatched earlier, all seemingly lifeless. "What did Harold say about finishing these things off?" Grok'nar said, prodding one of the bodies with his sword. Kezzek walked out into the main part of the warehouse, kicking the debris with his feet. Then he stopped, bent down, and there was a [I]cracking[/I] sound. He came back with a sharp wood fragment as long as his arm. Suniel and Grok'nar stood back as he slowly positioned it over the assassin's heart and, with a grunt and a heavy shove, drove it in. The corpse's eyes flew open, it thrashed once, and then went limp. Kezzek nodded and looked up. "Find five more of those." They went through the warehouse gathering makeshift stakes and repeating the procedure with the other five corpses. Afterward, they stood looking over their grim handiwork. "Ok, now what?" Grok'nar said. "These things going to wake up if someone pulls those stakes out?" "They might," Suniel said. "Probably best if we drag them outside and burn them. I don't think they'll survive that." Kezzek grunted in acknowledgment and they set to it. When they had five thrown together in a pile and Kezzek had gone in to get the sixth, Suniel dug around in one of his robe's many hidden pockets, procuring a wand after a short search. He pointed it at the coffins, spoke a sharp word of command, and they went up in flames. Grok'nar stood beside him and watched them start to burn. Then there was a thud from inside the warehouse and Kezzek shouted in alarm. A second later Suniel and Grok'nar were through the door. *** Kezzek stood half-crouched, quor'rel in hand as he stared at the shadowy form that had suddenly appeared in the corner. Grok'nar and Suniel came up on either side of them, both alert and ready. "It's no use," the figure said, pulling the cowl of his dark cloak back. "It's all futile." "Come along peaceably Annandor or we'll have to take you down," Kezzek said. Annandor didn't even look at them as he took a step towards them and then stopped, picking up a small chest in one hand. "I do his dark work and this is what he gives me, [I]this[/I]! Worthless!" He threw the chest to the floor, shattering it and sending silver, gold, and platinum coins flying in all directions. Kezzek saw Suniel and Grok'nar exchange questioning glances out of the corner of his eye. He stepped forwards. "You killed seven Greywardens in cold blood. Do you deny it?" Annandor met his gaze for the first time, his eyes a pale blue that almost seemed to glow. "Them? In cold blood? Tell me, what would your Greywardens have done if they had come across my coffin and found me alone and unarmed resting there? Tell me, if your Greywardens had come across me in that abandoned barn, would they have just left me to rest?" "If they knew your true nature, yes," Kezzek said. "Really? So, if you knew someone was going to murder you in your sleep, would you not take the steps to insure your survival?" Annandor looked down at the coins that littered the floor, shaking his head. "Not murder, self defense." "You know, he has a point there," Grok'nar said with a glance at Kezzek. Kezzek growled and pointed one of his quor'rel blades at Annandor's chest. "You are an abomination! Do you deny causing the destruction at the docks, of murdering all those people?" Annandor laughed, a cold, empty sound devoid of any real mirth. "Abomination? The half-breed vigilante calls me an abomination? An no, I don't deny boarding that barge with the intent to kill. I went to kill the Ambassador, to fulfill my side of the agreement. I should have known better." "Agreement with who?" Suniel said, taking a few careful steps closer. "Who do you think?" Annandor said, hurling something at Suniel. Grok'nar snatched it out of the air a foot from Suniel's face and looked at it. "What does this carving mean?" the hobgoblin said, shrugging and handing it to Suniel. The elf looked at it for a long moment. "It means the Ashen Tower. It means Thessalock," Suniel said, without looking up. Kezzek looked back to Annandor, growling. "Explain, assassin." "It was a lie, all a lie. One death in exchange for one life, that was the agreement. But now I have more blood on my hands and nothing to show for it but these useless trinkets." He kicked a pile of coins, sending them clinking and rattling through the warehouse. "You needn't have any more blood on your hands," Kezzek said, lowering his blade and extending an open hand. "Come with us peacefully and I promise you fair justice." "Ha, you are blind if you believe your words, Greywarden," Annandor said, fingers curling. "There is no justice in this world, except what you can seize with your own hands." "So you will not come peacefully?" Kezzek said, readying his weapon again. "I will not come at all," Annandor said quietly. He gestured at the stacked chests and scattered coins. "It is yours if you want it. It is useless to me." Annandor shifted and Kezzek immediately charged with a roar. The vampire grabbed his cloak hem, thrust it away from him, and vanished. Kezzek swung at where he had been, hitting nothing but a faint cold mist. "He's turned to vapors!" Kezzek said, watching as the mist slipped out through a crack in the roof. "Suniel, outside, you might still be able to hit him with your magics." Kezzek ran to Suniel and grabbed his shoulder but the elf still stared at the chest fragment in his hands. Grok'nar was picking coins out of the detritus on the dirt floor. "He's getting away!" Kezzek shouted in frustration. Suniel looked up and shook his head, as if shaking off a bad memory. "There's nothing we can do about that now. Besides, I have the feeling we'll be seeing him again." "Well, then we'd better spend this fast, in case he wants it back," Grok'nar said, cradling an armload of coins with a grin. *** When Harold found Suniel's carriage in the small park beside the Garden Inn the next morning, the others were already there. Kezzek looked half-asleep, head drooping as he leaned against the carriage and listened to Grok'nar talk about the "feast he bought last night with the treasure..." Suniel sat on a hay bale watching Keeper, who stood staring at a bottle set upon a fencepost. As he rode up, Keeper's eyes flared and a beam of energy blasted the bottle apart, stopping Grok'nar's story in mid-sentence and sending him scrambling for his sword. "Oh, it was just your construct," Grok'nar said with a sheepish grin. He sheathed his sword and nodded to Harold. "Hello archer-boy, how's your Diplomat doing." Suniel winced, but Harold just shook his head. "He's fine." "Fine?" Kezzek said, voice even more gravelly than usual, as if he'd just woken up. "Isn't he, well..." "Dead? Crispy? Corpsified? Murdered? Mangled? Massacred-" Grok'nar supplied. "No, I had him resurrected last night." Harold said, climbing down from his horse and pulling out the writ Stevens had given him. Grok'nar whistled. "Got him resurrected? Where did you dredge up the reagents for something for that? It cost a small fortune for me to just get back that piece of my soul one of those assassins knocked off of me. What's that?" "This? The Ambassador was grateful enough to give me a writ for 500 acres of his Stevens family land for when we get back to the Crystal Towers. As for the assassins, they are-" "We know what they are," Suniel said. "You were right about them. We found their hideout and dealt with them appropriately." "Including their leader?" Harold said, taking a seat on a hay bale next to Suniel wearily. Kezzek shook his head and growled. "No, he escaped us. Did the Ambassador give you any information about what happened on the barge? I was up all night gathering testimony and writing reports on it." Harold nodded. "Apparently, he was having a talk with the High Priest - who has also been raised by the way - and there was a commotion outside. They investigated and saw Northmand guards and Crystal Tower honor guards fighting each other. Then one of the Northmand guards turned on Stevens. He said the guard's eyes were blank, like he was staring into the distance, oblivious everything around him and what he was doing. So the High Priest and Stevens closed themselves in until it quieted down. They were about to investigate when the door opened, our assassin opened the door, slammed his hand into the center of the Priest's chest and the Priest died, gasping. Then Stevens, well..." There was a long silence. Finally, Kezzek said, "go on." With a long sigh, Harold continued. "Stevens knew what the assassin was when he saw him and... killed himself to avoid rising after he was killed." Grok'nar laughed and they all stared at him. "The Crystal Towers is in good hands, good hands," the hobgoblin said, walking away from Harold's glare still chuckling. "If you see something too scary, archer, let me know and I'll kill you for you," he called back over his shoulder. "So, he murdered the Priest?" Kezzek said, rubbing his eyes, pulling out his journal, and jotting some things down. "How did he get aboard the ship? I have down that of the 80 people onboard, 34 died - of which 5 were raised - and 45 survived. That leaves one unaccounted for." "Well, I ran into Captain Donnolan on the way over here, with the barge captain," Harold said. "The man said he was somehow given official papers with the wrong dock information - which is why he was at our dock and not the correct one. Also said he overheard complaints about the musicians not playing especially well, I think he said something about their flutist." "Hm... so maybe Annandor disguised himself as this flutist to get on board? They said after they floated the barge and dredged the area, the corpses were all taken to the cemetery church and that 3 were too badly burnt to be identified." Kezzek tapped the tip of one of his tusks for a moment, staring at his journal. "Maybe we should investigate the corpses and see what we can find." Grok'nar came strolling back, a frothing mug of something in hand. Kezzek stared at him for a moment before he continued. "Also, this may not be related, but they said most of the valuables of those who were on the barge when it sank were missing. Including some of those who were raised this morning." Grok'nar tripped, spilled his drink, cursed, and turned. "Damn. Guess I need to go get another one now." Harold put his hand on the hobgoblin's shoulder. "Not so fast." Kezzek stood and joined them. "Yes, we're going to the cemetery and I think it'd be best if you came along with us. You were there at the barge that night when it sank and might have noticed something we didn't when you were... doing whatever you were doing." *** Grok'nar eyed the small stone chapel warily. "Never had much use for religion myself," he said. "Just come along, we'll get this over quickly. Remember, she was short, slender, long brown braid," Kezzek said. The five of them - Keeper had joined them this time, drawing many looks as he followed them through the town - walked up the stairs to the chapel. "Hm... you'd think they'd have a guard or someone here." "Probably left 'cause of the smell," Grok'nar said, wrinkling his nose as they entered the chapel and the charnel smell of charred flesh assailed them. They examined the corpses quickly. When they were done, they met up again at the entrance. "Anyone find someone that looked matched the description?" Kezzek said. Everyone shook their heads except for Keeper, who said, "Confirmation: negative." They all shot him a look and turned to walk down the steps. "I guess we know how he got on board then. Maybe we should be searching the city for the body of a flutist..." He stopped and the others followed suit. "You said Stevens killed himself to avoid being raised?" Suniel said to Harold.' Grok'nar snorted and stifled a grin. Harold seemed to be ignoring him. "Yes, why?" "It was hard to tell, dark when we staked them but..." One of Kezzek's eyebrows shot up. "You know, I think you could be right. One of them could have been her." Grok'nar sighed, wondering why they'd skipped breakfast to come look at corpses and ramble on about missing flutists. He stretched and started to arch his back, but stopped, squinting at the sky. The others were in the midst of some deep discussion when he cut them off. "Look, sorry to spoil your little mystery here, but I think we have a problem." They all stared at him as he walked over to Keeper and casually put a hand on his iron shoulder. "So, Keeper, you expecting friends to drop in?" There was a chorus of curses and all gazes shot skyward. [/QUOTE]
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