[4e] The Wolfcrown, Chapter 1

[DistractingFlare]

As Baern removes the cap from the flask, a sharp, stinging odor invades the room. Upon splashing against the cobbled floor of the room, the pale green liquid hisses and begins melting into the floor. Mig's flask was filled with acid!

The acid pools in the cracks between the stones, bubbling viciously.

Mig's arrogant smile dissipates instantly, and he puts his head down in shame.

"Well, old chaps, I suppose the jig is up."

[sblock=ooc]I'll just let this IC chatter continue until the situation is resolved. If you've already posted, feel free to keep on chatting with the sneaky bastard.[/sblock]

 

[industrygothica]

Baern shakes the flask towards the assassin, ensuring that any remaining droplets of acid land squarely in the wretched sop's face. The acid wouldn't be enough to kill him, but if he manages to survive the interrogation, Mig will remember the name Baern Stoneheart each and every time he looks into the mirror.

"So what's the backup plan? Surely that dog-faced god of yours has a contingency plan of sorts, bein' that yer about as smart as a confused orc." Baern doesn't look at Mig as he speaks, but at the head of his hammer as he polishes it with a bit of cloth.

 

[Rathan]

Doren turns to his companions and speaks softly... not once giving the assassin the luxury of looking into his eyes....

"This one seems to have known Claymore.... perhaps before he's sent to see his maker Squeal might get some answers he was looking for?" Doren said softly caring not what happened to Mig but more the information he might hold for others gathered...

 

[DistractingFlare]

Mig looks straight ahead, dejectedly. He winces at the acid-burn as it melts into his gray cheeks. His voice oozes hatred.

"They don't tell me much, but even if they did, I wouldn't tell you, you rank bitches. This was my first big mission. 'Til now, I was just a street-rat. Now, I'm just a dead street-rat. Bollocks to the lot of you."

Mig spits on the floor, then looks up at you.

"Ain't no way you can stand against The Cloak for long. The Cap'n is gonna bring Munsu himself down on your heads. The backup plan, dwarf? Is that what you want to know about? The backup plan is this."

Mig pauses for emphasis, shouting and spitting each word at you as if it were the same acid that had just been poured to the pavement.

"MUNSU"

"ALWAYS"

"WINS."

 

[Shayuri]

"First mission," Thorn muses, having been watching the interrogation from a few paces back. "I believe that. In fact, I think that's the first thing you've said so far that I do believe. The second being that you don't know anything."

Without looking away from Mig's face, Thorn says, "I think he's fodder. Testing her defenses. Giving her a false sense of complacency. He wasn't expected to succeed."

"At least one or two of us should attend the Queen at all times," she concludes. "If I'm right, she's far from safe now. I'll go to her. Anyone want to come along?"

 

[industrygothica]

"I'll go," Baern says. Before leaving, he spins on his heels and brings his hammer down hard on the assassin's right knee. "Yer shape changin' may be able to hide them new scars, but ain't nothin' gonna hide that new limp!" He offers a wink to Mig, and then leaves with Thorn.

"What if we can turn the tables on this fella?" Baern asks Thorn as they walk. "I mean, yerself can change how folk see ya too, so what's sayin' we can't give ol' Teach a taste of his medicine?"

 

[Rathan]

Doren winces as the crack of the assassin knee. He would like them all to think he could just let some piss-ant of an assassin be tortured and killed without remorse, however it was much the opposite. Doren wasn't perfect by any means and his past has a couple of things he regretted within it's confines. Needless killing was not his way, but he also knew that to take on Mansu, even with Blackmoor at his side, Doren would have to do things he was not accustomed to or even fathom doing in the first place. He turned to one of Springseer's guards outside of the door and placed a hand on the eladrins shoulder. "Take the now gimped prisoner to your dungeon cells to rot for all I care. He should be no trouble for you now that his knee is broken. If he shape changes stab him in the eye.. I guarantee you he won't do it again. If he escapes I want to know IMMEDIATELY..." Doren said softly as he turned to catch Thorn and Baern as they headed off to the Queens sitting room.

"I won't have another Lord Hood on our hands my friends. I don't plan to leave her side until I can be sure she is safe." the tired priest uttered softly. "This has been one hell of a day hasn't it?" Doren added as he chuckled slightly to himself.

 

[DistractingFlare]

[sblock=ooc]I'll wait until everybody has posted back (just waiting on Squeal), then I'll have Baern, Thorn, and whoever else goes along arrive at the Queen's place. Feel free to continue the IC chatter, folks. I'd love to see more of that![/sblock]

[sblock=Phaezen]If Squeal wants to address Mig, go ahead and post your dialogue. I'll respond as if Squeal chimed in earlier.[/sblock]

The guard nods to Doren, then he and the other guard go into the gatehouse. While one points an ornate pike at Mig's head, the other loosens the shackles around the doppelganger's ankles.

"Let's move, scum."

They hoist the assassin up onto his feet and march him out into the late afternoon sun. For a moment, the beauty of this place sinks in. The White Vale really is a gorgeous place, and it's truly a marvel that so many people could live in harmony with nature.

The moment of peace is soon broken when another pair of guards come running across the grove, carrying something huge and heavy between them. As they struggle to maintain their speed, their booted heels dig hard into the soil. They draw closer, and you soon notice that what they carry is not an object. It's a body.

The body of a friend.

A body with a charred book still clasped tightly in its hand.

The body of a wizard.

Thomas.

The guards, gasping for air from their laborious cargo, speak in gasps.

"Tried to fight past us. Threw fireballs. Summoned beasts. We had...to shoot him down. He's dead now. Screamed something - like a battle cry. Screamed just set me free. I'm sorry. We'll take him to the Queen."

Mig looks down, too humbled to make a quip. Mig is escorted to the south, while the rest of you, in something resembling a funeral procession, march slowly toward the Queen's grove.

 

[Phaezen]

Squeal, Warforged barbarian

The warforged steps away once the assassin drops, storming off a short distance from the group, seeming like it is trying to regain control of itself. As the assassin is dragged away, Squeal seems to have regained control, approaching, and joining the assembled group almost sheepishly.

"This one does not require much sleep and can help watch. Does the group think there will be more assassins?"

 

[DistractingFlare]

[sblock=ooc]I'll wait until we've heard from everybody on the walk over, since it seems everybody is going together. Once IG, Shay, HM, and Rathan chime in, we can arrive at the Queen's palace. Also, please check the OOC thread for your next homework assignment![/sblock]