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Message: <blockquote data-quote="drnuncheon" data-source="post: 318839" data-attributes="member: 96">Session Four, Part One: Not Again...Di'Fier looked up as his partner swung easily into the chair next to him.  "Good morning," he said.She grinned.  "I see you survived the night as well.  Do you still have that coded message?"Di'Fier thought for a moment. "No, I gave that to you."Dru laughed. "Oh, that's right. But I meant, do you have a copy?  I was thinking that maybe we ought to show one to my father."Her partner frowned a moment. "Yeah, I've got the one Spruce made..." Dim shouts from the rain-drenched street caught his ear, and he looked towards the door.<img src="http://www.io.com/~jeffj/b2sep.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Dru grumbled as she stalked through the rain towards the inn where she always met her partner. You'd think after a century I'd get used to the rainy season, she thought. I'd kill the rest of the Captain's Council just to see the sun again.Her murderous train of thought was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a handspan of fletched wood slamming into her shoulder and piercing it. Ambush! She half-ran, half-stumbled forward, drawing her rapier and feeling the fire spreading through her veins from the poisoned bolt. "Cowards!" she shouted. "Come out here and fight!"Di'Fier turned to glance behind him. That sounded just like Dru, but......but his erstwhile tablemate was gone, leaving only a dawning realization in her wake. Oh. Oh, no. They fooled me. They fooled me good.  And with that thought, he was racing out the door, the words to his spell of haste tumbling over each other as they fought to escape from his lips.  Water flew as he splashed through puddles towards Dru...he hoped.The fire spread through Dru's body - and then, a sudden sharp pain in her wrists. She looked down, and saw a vile green-black liquid well up from the newly opened wounds...no.  Not newly opened - reopened.  They were the cuts she had given herself with the Fangs of the Serpent.  As she watched, the fire in her veins receded as the tainted blood tricked down her hand and the cuts sealed themselves.A movement caught the corner of Di'Fier's eye - just enough for him to turn and see the bolt of mystic energy spiralling towards him.  No way to dodge...At least there's only one of them, they can't be that good of a wizard, he thought through the pain.Dru looked up from her wrists to see the sniper fade into view. "Nobody chucks a spell at my partner and gets away with it!" she growled. Her sword clattered on the cobbles as she pulled bow and arrow from under her cloak and loosed an arrow to slice the woman on her arm.  Her partner didn't seem to happy about the idea either - with supernatural speed, he flashed forward, landed a blow on her with his blade, and returned to Dru's side.The air around them echoed with chanting from an unseen source.  Another bolt of energy slammed into Di'Fier, then the woman turned and ran - the the chanting continued.Dru stooped to grab her sword, when the chanting ceased - replaced instead by the the stench of sulfur and an unearthly howl, as a shaggy black wolf materialized in the rainy street.  Hellfire danced in its violet eyes, and steam rose from its flanks as it sprang to the attack.Di'Fier interposed his blade between the creature and his body - and Dru twisted and spun, realizing that something was not right. Her movement took her out of the path of the blade that had been poised to stab her - weilded by a cloaked man who was just fading into visibility.  Even as he did so, another voice began to chant."Gods damn them all, how many invisible people are out here, anyway?" Dru snarled, her blade slicing only empty air.  Strangely, none of their invisible assailants came forward to admit their presence - the only answer was fleeing footsteps, almost inaudible over the rain."I think they're all gone.  I need to scribe some scrolls of see invisible..." His eyes wandered back to his partner, and he tensed. "How did you get those scars on your wrist?"She scowled, rubbing at the just healed mark. "You were there. I cut them with the Fangs so we could get the Jade Serpent of Yig."He relaxed. "Good, you're you.  They sent someone to impersonate you to try and get the message." As he thought about the encounter, he looked more and more upset. "...and I went and told them everything.  They know you have it, and they know Spruce made copies for us.""Oh yeah?" said Dru. "Let's see how they like this." Snatching the message from a hidden pocket in her cloak, she pulled a tindertwig from her pouch and scraped it along her belt.  The paper caught easily despite the rain, burning into ash. "We'd better go warn Spruce, then."<img src="http://www.io.com/~jeffj/b2sep.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />"Dru...Di'Fier," Jaffar rasped. "Found another one of your heartless bodies down in the harbor."Dru leaned in very close and studied the man through narrowed eyes.  Jaffar swallowed, and moved back a bit."Did I ever tell you how I got this scar on my face?" she asked.Jaffar's jaw fell open. "Huh? Wha-?" Seeing th elook on the elf's face, he hastened to answer.  "It was when you an' Di'Fier busted up that za'this game on that one guys boat..."Dru straightened.  "Good enough.  We've had some trouble with magical disguises lately.  We'll go down to check it out as soon as we've talked to Spruce."<img src="http://www.io.com/~jeffj/b2sep.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The archivist stared open-mouthed at the two Watchmen.  "Magical disguises and impostors?" he said. "We need some way to recognize that we are who we say we are...we need a code word!"Di'Fier couldn't help but grin as he thought about it.  Remembering the disastrous undercover operation early in their careers, he said: "The code word is 'jongleur'.  And the answering sign is...""Calzone," supplied Dru.  "Just work one of those into the conversation and if we respond with the other one you'll know it's us.  But be careful - they know that you made copies of that message for us, and they can go invisible.  Get an escort before you go home tonight.""Or better yet, sleep here," added Di'Fier.  "Whatever you do, be careful."<img src="http://www.io.com/~jeffj/b2sep.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The body had been pulled from the water by some helpful bystanders with boat hooks, and now it lay on the dock - shriveled and pale, dined on by fish, the ribs cracked open and the heart removed.  Dru peered at the mutilated face.  It looked familiar..."This is the guy that was beating Echo.  Tovin.  Looks like whoever did this cut him up pretty bad after they killed him."  She frowned, studying the cuts on what was left of his face. "It almost looks like they form a pattern."Di'Fier shrugged. "Not like anything I've ever seen.  Better off dead anyway." Looking at the pair of watchmen with the cart, he shrugged. "Get him out of here."</blockquote>

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