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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 731071" data-attributes="member: 227">"There will be... repercussions, you know. You can't simply go slaughtering people in a city, even if they were cultists. The authorities are already aware something happened, after all." That must be Ecurius... where did he come from? Kale wondered, not knowing that he had stopped paying attention to anything once they had passed the gate guard. It was true, Wolf and Kale had tended to make their own law wherever they went, and Naseria was not the tacitly-permissive mercenary haven like his native Corinthia. It would probably take more than a wink and a nod to keep Ecurius and his mercenary 'hirelings' from unwanted scrutiny.As Burl listened to Ecurius, he opened Spike’s carry bag and allowed the hedgehog to scuttle out toward the fire where he raised his spikes and shook like a little dog splashes of water flying. Turning to Ecurius, Burl spoke, “I wouldn’t call it slaughtering innocents. Kale had been attacked and almost killed by Cancer and his hired thugs. We were given to understand that he would keep coming after us, so we took protective measures and struck back under our terms. Not only did we rid the city of an evil slaver, as Wolf said", pointing at the stack of smokepowder “we possibly stopped a major disaster before it happened.” Walking to his backpack, Burl began rummaging through it, pulling the papers and maps that he had gathered from the lair. “Take a look at these papers. Maybe you will see something of interest to you or the Wind Hawks. Also, if you know where Cancer lived or have the resources to find it, there might be more clues as to what he was up to. That is if we can get there before looters start tearing it apart.” Mel glanced up from her brooding slump to shoot Ecurius a pointed look. "My goodness, the 'authorities' must be very well informed here in Tarravus," she said a trifle sarcastically. "If news travels so fast, why hadn't they done anything about this before? Those children had obviously been in there long enough to be beaten and starved half to death." She waved a hand, turning back to the fire. "Anyway we don't really have time to slog through the swamps of justice, do we? We'll answer your questions, but I'm sure you'll agree that we should be moving on to more important matters as soon as possible. You'll handle the authorities for us, won't you Milord?" Inwardly she winced, picking up her mother's harsh tones in her own, usually softer, voice. A little late she smiled a sweet smile at Lord Ecurius and added a "Please?" for good manners, incongruous though it sounded. What's wrong with me? she lamented to Pierre, whose right head was emerging from his comfortably wet pocket. Either I'm acting like a nitwit or my mother. There's got to be another option! Pierre, accustomed to being of two minds, didn't really see the problem. He flippered himself out of the pocket doggedly and sat like a lawn ornament on her lap, enjoying the moist warmth rising from her soaked dress. Burned and exhausted, Kale was in dire mood. He sat gently in the Lord's opulent guest common room. Melisande levied her request that Ecurius manage the authorities, and Kale couldn't think of anything better than to drop all responsibilities so he could get away, get healed, washed, and into a warm bed. But the Truth Seeker had a point, the authorities had to be dealt with. Besides, some others needed tending to even more badly than Kale himself. "They can thank us later," Kale said of the guard, witholding any tone of condescention. Authorities in Tarravus actually had authority, not like the political facade and machine of Iril, where the shipping houses held the power, and the discreet mercenary bands were their insturments of choice. Here, some government folks might actualy care about their jobs, and when they realize the crew were not murderers, but 'humble public servants, doing their good turn for the community'... well, Kale expected they'd still be stepping on a few toes. This was beside the point that swift exectution was not the preferred method of problem-solving here in Naseria. Battered and burned, however, he couldn't care less. "I prefer my 'repercussions' in gold," was the mercenary bluster that became a bit of his own inside joke. Surely, Kale enjoyed coin and busty serving wenches and friendly barroom brawls as much as the next dirty swingsword. At its most banal, he killed for a living, yet at the end of the day, where was he? He and his disparate crew limped home from putting yet another ugly group of malcontents out of their misery, with little reward other than the mixed, horrible satisfaction of watching the foul men fall to their blades. Of course, this was not simply 'pest-control', but devoid of the facts, Kale doubted anyone would think anything else. Kale needed to be free from certain mages who prefer to fry him on sight, and more importantly, slaves needed their freedom. Truth was, Kale told himself, the temple and its people simply had to be eliminated, immediately. Mercenaries held no truck with this sort of 'charity', and authorities certainly frowned upon it, at the very least. But the job was done. Any local mercs could be taught quickly enough, should they be foolish enough question his mettle. And the authorities? Somthing told Kale he wouldn't be hassled about this one. Looking to Ecurius more seriously, the mercenary continued, still with a bit of bluster. "If investigators start hassling you too much, send them to me. We're a crew in high demand right now, but I'm sure we could clue them in to help them get the answers they want. They'll be able to find where there used to be the Gilamesh temple, its followers and tuns of flashpowder. It was all just about directly underneath the temple of Nashka, as I recall?" Kale asked rhetorically, as though it were of little consequence. The young mercenary had yet to scrutinize any papers Burl had recovered, but with support including an ancient 'seer-pot' from the heart of Gilamesh-land, and dragon-kin allies from the west... plotting some sort of attack while directly underneath the prime temple of one of the gods responsible for Gilamesh's fall... All the answers were not in place, but Kale supected that anyone who supported Nashka (read: all of Naseria) wouldn't be too bent out of shape over what Wolf's little band did that day. It was too much to think about for the moment. But one thing Kale did know was that it was time to be on the lookout to harvest favors and reward, 'repercussions' were hardly on his mind. "I also found a few guys in town who helped supply the boys with what they needed for their little project..." that was a nice additional bit of help, he planned to tell any investigators if only to offer the illusion of willful cooperation. Rat Trin, Kale hoped to protect. It would not do to hire a guide, only to bring the guard down on the fellow a day later. Besides, Trin might prove useful again someday. The men around the poker table that night past? They didn't really do anything wrong, per se, but those who choose to deal with the wrong kind of folks, Kale wasn't going to go out of his way to help them. Besides, some Hawks of some sort would probably just come into their place, break a few things, get a few scraps of information, then leave. It was a much smaller cost than Kale had to pay for getting tangled with Cancer... or what the slave children paid, for that matter. You are one cocky sonofabltch, you know that? Kale thought as he schooled himself carefully still, focussing on making sure the others were faring all right, and concentrating on looking around the room without moving anything that hurt. Bravado and a defiant attitude, those things helped. In the end, it's ego and will that keep a soldier going... and at the moment, that was just about all he had.Their patron sighed. "I didn't call it slaughtering innocents either, Burl, but you still went about killing people in the capital, which is not the way things are done. There will be questions asked by authorities, and they will want answers. Don't get me wrong, I have no love of slavers nor cultists, and I am glad that you destroyed such a malign presence, and others will be too. Nonetheless you cannot simply act as if you make your own laws, because you do not. You should have recoursed to the authorities." "I don't know where Cancer lives, though I could find out with a little time. Note that despite what you seem to think, looters aren't going to descend on the place in their hordes to steal all the evidence. I'll have Wind Hawks secure the place and search it for evidence. Most of the people of this city are only going to hear about your little incident as a tale on the streetm nothing more." "The reason why myself and a number of other notable figures in the city already know about the events of today," he shot an acidic look at Melisande after her earlier sarcastic comment, "is because we heard you had headed down into the Rat's Nest. I don't know exactly who saw you; the Wind Hawks won't tell mem and they were the ones initially told. Then the next thing I hear is a report from the Wind Hawk gate-watchers diverted over to me by a Sky Captain from the Air Tower - sent by arcanology, if you want to know how it arrived so fast -that you've emerged from the Nest in quite a state." "Now, I have every intention of dealing with this as best as I can, because yes, I do want you on your way without too many delays. Luckily it was nothing high-profile, and to be honest you've done more of a service to the city than caused a problem, because I know that news of slavers had recently reached the city guard and they wanted it dealt with. Like I said, most people will be happy with what you've done, but there will be many who are unnerved by the idea of a mercenary band being able to circumvent the laws so easily, and they'll cause me some trouble." "Now, I'd prefer you all to be off as soon as possible; by the time you're back, the small disturbance you've caused should all be over, and if anyone remembers it, it'll probably be in a favourable light anyway. I'm sorry that I may seem somewhat irritated over this, it's just that when you sweep in covered in blood and there's a threat it may all set back my plans... well, I'd prefer that things went smoothly."</blockquote>

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