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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3675052" data-attributes="member: 35788">Rhema frowned at Ischarus’ suggestion.  “Oh no you don’t!  We are not hanging around here while you have a toxin running through your system.  There is no telling how that green stuff might affect your body!”Ischarus frowned.  “I’m fine, really.  The poison sapped my strength a little, but I’m fine.  I can certainly stay here for a few more minutes to help search.  Then we can all go back together.”Rhema looked her husband straight in his eyes.  “I don’t think so.  It’s stupid to not go and get healing right away!”Charis didn’t particularly enjoy getting between Ischarus and Rhema.  She didn’t like the idea of choosing sides; and she liked even less the thought of becoming involved in a marital dispute.  However, she knew that the quicker they moved past this issue the less time they had to stay in potential danger.  So, she looked up from her position of tending to the fallen assassin and interrupted their dispute.  In spite of what her heart told her, she interjected her opinion anyway.  “Rhema, I guarantee that I can keep him alive for another hour.  I can’t deliver him from the poison here, but I can make sure that so long as we leave within an hour that he will live.  Give me that hour and then I’ll take your side.”Ischarus saw his opening and smiled.  “Besides, if I go back to the Temple of Reah now, someone will have to go with me.  If Allyssa is watching and she has friends like the poor guy lying here on the floor, then we put ourselves in more jeopardy if we split up.  If we search and then go together, then we’ll be more likely to all arrive intact.”Rhema shot a nasty glance towards Ischarus.  She wasn’t very appreciative of his logic; and in terms of his safety she hated being argued with.  “Fine, do it your way.  But if you die before we get back to the temple I’m going to have one of the temple priests bring your spirit back so I can kill you myself!  I might even ask Brandt to do it!”Semeion tried his best to not laugh at Rhema’s suggestion.  A slight snort came out of his mouth and his lips curled up in amusement; but he was able to hold in the rest of his laugh.  His look vanished completely when Rhema and Charis both turned to him and glared.  Rhema’s look was one of anger.  Charis gave Semeion a look that told him to stay out of Rhema’s way.Rhema turned to the bedroom.  “You’ve got an hour.  I suggest you use it.”  She spun on her heels away from Ischarus and marched into the bedroom.  Her pace indicated that she was not pleased about the decision.Semeion turned back to Ischarus and Charis.  “I’ll search the bedroom with Rhema.  I don’t think it is safe for either of you two to be in there with her right now.  Besides, Charis should stay near you, Ischarus.  That way if something does happen she’ll be here.”Ischarus nodded and watched Semeion leave the room.  “Well?”Charis nodded with an interesting smile upon her lips.  “Come here.  I found something in the bathroom earlier and I’d like you to see it for yourself.”Ophee stayed in the main room to search while Ischarus followed Charis into the small bathroom and watched her bend down to the floor.  She removed a small gold ring from where it was rest behind the wash basin.  “It looks like some kind of token for an organization.”The ring had a flat face which would rest above the finger.  Upon the face of the ring was a very intricate design.  The picture presented a small hand reaching into a coin purse.  The drawstrings were opened and hanging free from the edge of the purse.  The coin purse was currently full, but the implication of the picture was that it was soon to become empty.Ischarus accepted the ring from Charis and examined it thoroughly.  “Do you know what this is?  I came across this picture yesterday while I was doing the research on the succubus.”Charis nodded in full agreement.  “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.  It looked familiar from last night, but I wanted someone else’s opinion before I went wild with the implications.  If this is true, then Allyssa could well be a follower of Yrraxea.  If that’s true, then who knows what else could follow.”Ischarus sighed heavily as he thought for a few seconds.  His voice was quiet when he finally spoke.  “How do you know it is Allyssa’s?”  He nodded in the direction of the main room where Ophee was currently searching.Charis pulled back from Ischarus and gave him a disapproving look.  “Come on, Ischarus.  You can’t be serious.  After all she’s been through?  No way is she a follower of Yrraxea.  It’s Allyssa’s ring.”  Her voice lowered to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard easily.Ischarus nodded in agreement.  “I’m just saying, that’s all.  We don’t know for certain.  I think it’s kind of odd that Allyssa would leave a holy symbol lying behind a washbasin.  This looks more forgotten than left behind.  People who take their religion seriously aren’t usually forgetful about their holy stuff.  This is especially true about holy stuff that is banned in the civilized lands.”Charis grinned.  “Unholy, Ischarus.  Yrraxea is evil enough to qualify for being unholy.”  She took the ring back and slipped it into a pocket before nodding that they should return to the main room.In the bedroom, Semeion and Rhema were also making progress in their search.  Once they had collected the bed sheets that had been strewn everywhere and then piled them on top of the mattress, they began to find items of interest.  When Semeion crouched to the ground to look under the mattress he discovered something shiny and pulled it out.The object that came out was an interesting looking dagger.  The steel blade was bent nearly forty five degrees about eight inches after coming away from the handle.  The actual edge of the blade was on the inward side of the blade, indicating that the blade would most likely be used in a slicing motion by a hand moving backwards or in an arc around the body.  The outer edge of the blade was wide and flat, and Semeion could see that there were several marks along the edge where the blade had been used to block an attack.  “It looks like some kind of dagger.  And on each side of the flat of the blade there is an unusual marking.”Rhema turned towards Semeion and held out a hand in order to ask for the blade.  She examined the strange dagger and the delicate carving inscribed twice on the blade.  “Ischarus pointed this symbol out to me last night in the library.  It is a symbol used by the followers of Yrraxea.  It is a hand reaching into the coin purse of another.”Semeion nodded.  “Well, Yrraxea does seem like the greedy type.  If it was indeed Ankh-Bahl that we fought, she certainly wasn’t concerned with who she used and destroyed.”Rhema corrected Semeion.  “Not just greed, Semeion, avarice.  Someone who is greedy is nothing more than a simple horde collector.  The typical evil dragon is greedy, but not all of the evil dragons display true avarice.  Avarice takes greed a step further.  Avarice is greed without care of whom or what is lost in the process.  Anyone can be greedy.  Yrraxea takes greed to another level and delights in combining greed with power.”As she spoke to him, Semeion took another look around the room.  “You know, Allyssa left in a hurry.  The bedclothes don’t tell me that; they could just indicate that she was messy in her housekeeping.  But look over there.”  His hand extended to a small pile of papers.  Underneath the papers was a delicate golden colored drawstring leading from a cloth bag.  “That looks like a coin purse.  The more we talk about Yrraxea, the less likely I think someone who follows Yrraxea would leave a coin purse out in the open like that.”Rhema moved so that she could remove the papers from the coin purse.  Semeion cautioned her as she worked.  “Careful, it could be trapped.”Rhema frowned in Semeion’s direction.  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.  But I don’t see any traps.  I think that you’re right.  I think she saw us coming and panicked.  She wanted to get out quickly and couldn’t afford to take her valuables with her.  I could see the ceremonial dagger being left behind, but the coin purse?  That isn’t something becoming of an Yrraxean.”Semeion nodded.  “Yeah, but this dagger has seen action.  I don’t think it’s as ceremonial as you think.  I think it was left because she couldn’t find it in her rush to leave the apartment.”Rhema had moved the papers and opened the drawstring of the bag.  Nothing happened as she did so, and she reached in to remove some of the contents.  She pulled out several gemstones.  “No coins, but there is plenty of obsidian in here.”  Her left hand held enough obsidian to provide food for several families for half of a year.  “She’s obviously not short on money.”Semeion nodded as he spied the obsidian.  “Nor influence, I’d imagine.  Are you planning on taking it?”Rhema knew better than to think Semeion was trying to give her a moral dilemma.  “Stealing is stealing, Semeion.  But since she did send an assassin after my husband, the least I can do is exact payment for his healing at the temple.”Semeion reached out and lifted the end of the bag off of Rhema’s hands once she had removed enough money to pay for Ischarus’ healing.  “You know, I’d hate for someone else to follow us in here and take this money from her.  I think I’ll take possession on her behalf.  When we find her tonight, I’ll give it back.  Or in the more likely case that we find her and take her to jail, I’ll turn this over to the temple for the benefit of the poor here in Fingerdale.”Rhema lifted an eyebrow at his words.  “Stealing, Semeion?”  Her lip curled mischievously.  If Semeion wasn’t planning on bringing the moral question into play, then she would do so.Semeion nodded.  “Technically, I agree.  This would be stealing.  And the fact that she’s an Yrraxean doesn’t make it alright.  But this kind of money could sustain her for a while if she slips through our fingers tonight.  You can’t tell me that there isn’t wisdom in removing resources, even if it is technically wrong.”Rhema smiled.  There was wisdom in his words, just not pure holiness.  “You know what they say about a certain road and good intentions.”Semeion held up his hands as though he were going to be arrested.  The coin purse dangled in midair below his right hand as his fingers held onto the drawstring.  “Guilty as charged.  But I admit it.  Maybe I’ll just do confession and penance with Brandt later so he can atone me for my error.”  His voice was teasing just enough that Rhema thought he might seriously be considering it.Rhema nodded.  “I’ll hold you to that.  No we’ve got what we need.  We can connect Allyssa to an Yrraxean cult and pay for undoing the damage that Allyssa’s assassin did to us.  Let’s get out of here.”In the main room, Ischarus was looking over some documents that Ophee had found in a locked drawer.  Ophee had easily managed to pick the lock without destroying it.  She had stuffed a few documents into her pockets, and Ischarus was trying to help her decide if there were any other pieces of parchment they needed to take.Ischarus looked up to Semeion as he carried the coin purse and strange dagger out of the room.  “That is a nice kukri, Semeion.  Where’d you find that?”Semeion smirked.  “Hidden under the bed.  But what’s important about it is that it is Yrraxean.  We can tie Allyssa to Yrraxea.”Charis held up the gold ring.  “So can we.  And Ophee managed to find some documents with her name on them.  They mention the wizard, but they also talk about some other people.  We’re reading what we can and leaving the majority behind.  That way she hopefully won’t notice the few missing pieces if she returns here.”Semeion watched as Ophee scanned the last page.  “Good.  Let’s go, then.  We’ve got what we need, and we are going to need a plan for tonight.”[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]Rhema frowned at Ischarus’ suggestion. “Oh no you don’t! We are not hanging around here while you have a toxin running through your system. There is no telling how that green stuff might affect your body!”Ischarus frowned. “I’m fine, really. The poison sapped my strength a little, but I’m fine. I can certainly stay here for a few more minutes to help search. Then we can all go back together.”Rhema looked her husband straight in his eyes. “I don’t think so. It’s stupid to not go and get healing right away!”Charis didn’t particularly enjoy getting between Ischarus and Rhema. She didn’t like the idea of choosing sides; and she liked even less the thought of becoming involved in a marital dispute. However, she knew that the quicker they moved past this issue the less time they had to stay in potential danger. So, she looked up from her position of tending to the fallen assassin and interrupted their dispute. In spite of what her heart told her, she interjected her opinion anyway. “Rhema, I guarantee that I can keep him alive for another hour. I can’t deliver him from the poison here, but I can make sure that so long as we leave within an hour that he will live. Give me that hour and then I’ll take your side.”Ischarus saw his opening and smiled. “Besides, if I go back to the Temple of Reah now, someone will have to go with me. If Allyssa is watching and she has friends like the poor guy lying here on the floor, then we put ourselves in more jeopardy if we split up. If we search and then go together, then we’ll be more likely to all arrive intact.”Rhema shot a nasty glance towards Ischarus. She wasn’t very appreciative of his logic; and in terms of his safety she hated being argued with. “Fine, do it your way. But if you die before we get back to the temple I’m going to have one of the temple priests bring your spirit back so I can kill you myself! I might even ask Brandt to do it!”Semeion tried his best to not laugh at Rhema’s suggestion. A slight snort came out of his mouth and his lips curled up in amusement; but he was able to hold in the rest of his laugh. His look vanished completely when Rhema and Charis both turned to him and glared. Rhema’s look was one of anger. Charis gave Semeion a look that told him to stay out of Rhema’s way.Rhema turned to the bedroom. “You’ve got an hour. I suggest you use it.” She spun on her heels away from Ischarus and marched into the bedroom. Her pace indicated that she was not pleased about the decision.Semeion turned back to Ischarus and Charis. “I’ll search the bedroom with Rhema. I don’t think it is safe for either of you two to be in there with her right now. Besides, Charis should stay near you, Ischarus. That way if something does happen she’ll be here.”Ischarus nodded and watched Semeion leave the room. “Well?”Charis nodded with an interesting smile upon her lips. “Come here. I found something in the bathroom earlier and I’d like you to see it for yourself.”Ophee stayed in the main room to search while Ischarus followed Charis into the small bathroom and watched her bend down to the floor. She removed a small gold ring from where it was rest behind the wash basin. “It looks like some kind of token for an organization.”The ring had a flat face which would rest above the finger. Upon the face of the ring was a very intricate design. The picture presented a small hand reaching into a coin purse. The drawstrings were opened and hanging free from the edge of the purse. The coin purse was currently full, but the implication of the picture was that it was soon to become empty.Ischarus accepted the ring from Charis and examined it thoroughly. “Do you know what this is? I came across this picture yesterday while I was doing the research on the succubus.”Charis nodded in full agreement. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. It looked familiar from last night, but I wanted someone else’s opinion before I went wild with the implications. If this is true, then Allyssa could well be a follower of Yrraxea. If that’s true, then who knows what else could follow.”Ischarus sighed heavily as he thought for a few seconds. His voice was quiet when he finally spoke. “How do you know it is Allyssa’s?” He nodded in the direction of the main room where Ophee was currently searching.Charis pulled back from Ischarus and gave him a disapproving look. “Come on, Ischarus. You can’t be serious. After all she’s been through? No way is she a follower of Yrraxea. It’s Allyssa’s ring.” Her voice lowered to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard easily.Ischarus nodded in agreement. “I’m just saying, that’s all. We don’t know for certain. I think it’s kind of odd that Allyssa would leave a holy symbol lying behind a washbasin. This looks more forgotten than left behind. People who take their religion seriously aren’t usually forgetful about their holy stuff. This is especially true about holy stuff that is banned in the civilized lands.”Charis grinned. “Unholy, Ischarus. Yrraxea is evil enough to qualify for being unholy.” She took the ring back and slipped it into a pocket before nodding that they should return to the main room.In the bedroom, Semeion and Rhema were also making progress in their search. Once they had collected the bed sheets that had been strewn everywhere and then piled them on top of the mattress, they began to find items of interest. When Semeion crouched to the ground to look under the mattress he discovered something shiny and pulled it out.The object that came out was an interesting looking dagger. The steel blade was bent nearly forty five degrees about eight inches after coming away from the handle. The actual edge of the blade was on the inward side of the blade, indicating that the blade would most likely be used in a slicing motion by a hand moving backwards or in an arc around the body. The outer edge of the blade was wide and flat, and Semeion could see that there were several marks along the edge where the blade had been used to block an attack. “It looks like some kind of dagger. And on each side of the flat of the blade there is an unusual marking.”Rhema turned towards Semeion and held out a hand in order to ask for the blade. She examined the strange dagger and the delicate carving inscribed twice on the blade. “Ischarus pointed this symbol out to me last night in the library. It is a symbol used by the followers of Yrraxea. It is a hand reaching into the coin purse of another.”Semeion nodded. “Well, Yrraxea does seem like the greedy type. If it was indeed Ankh-Bahl that we fought, she certainly wasn’t concerned with who she used and destroyed.”Rhema corrected Semeion. “Not just greed, Semeion, avarice. Someone who is greedy is nothing more than a simple horde collector. The typical evil dragon is greedy, but not all of the evil dragons display true avarice. Avarice takes greed a step further. Avarice is greed without care of whom or what is lost in the process. Anyone can be greedy. Yrraxea takes greed to another level and delights in combining greed with power.”As she spoke to him, Semeion took another look around the room. “You know, Allyssa left in a hurry. The bedclothes don’t tell me that; they could just indicate that she was messy in her housekeeping. But look over there.” His hand extended to a small pile of papers. Underneath the papers was a delicate golden colored drawstring leading from a cloth bag. “That looks like a coin purse. The more we talk about Yrraxea, the less likely I think someone who follows Yrraxea would leave a coin purse out in the open like that.”Rhema moved so that she could remove the papers from the coin purse. Semeion cautioned her as she worked. “Careful, it could be trapped.”Rhema frowned in Semeion’s direction. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. But I don’t see any traps. I think that you’re right. I think she saw us coming and panicked. She wanted to get out quickly and couldn’t afford to take her valuables with her. I could see the ceremonial dagger being left behind, but the coin purse? That isn’t something becoming of an Yrraxean.”Semeion nodded. “Yeah, but this dagger has seen action. I don’t think it’s as ceremonial as you think. I think it was left because she couldn’t find it in her rush to leave the apartment.”Rhema had moved the papers and opened the drawstring of the bag. Nothing happened as she did so, and she reached in to remove some of the contents. She pulled out several gemstones. “No coins, but there is plenty of obsidian in here.” Her left hand held enough obsidian to provide food for several families for half of a year. “She’s obviously not short on money.”Semeion nodded as he spied the obsidian. “Nor influence, I’d imagine. Are you planning on taking it?”Rhema knew better than to think Semeion was trying to give her a moral dilemma. “Stealing is stealing, Semeion. But since she did send an assassin after my husband, the least I can do is exact payment for his healing at the temple.”Semeion reached out and lifted the end of the bag off of Rhema’s hands once she had removed enough money to pay for Ischarus’ healing. “You know, I’d hate for someone else to follow us in here and take this money from her. I think I’ll take possession on her behalf. When we find her tonight, I’ll give it back. Or in the more likely case that we find her and take her to jail, I’ll turn this over to the temple for the benefit of the poor here in Fingerdale.”Rhema lifted an eyebrow at his words. “Stealing, Semeion?” Her lip curled mischievously. If Semeion wasn’t planning on bringing the moral question into play, then she would do so.Semeion nodded. “Technically, I agree. This would be stealing. And the fact that she’s an Yrraxean doesn’t make it alright. But this kind of money could sustain her for a while if she slips through our fingers tonight. You can’t tell me that there isn’t wisdom in removing resources, even if it is technically wrong.”Rhema smiled. There was wisdom in his words, just not pure holiness. “You know what they say about a certain road and good intentions.”Semeion held up his hands as though he were going to be arrested. The coin purse dangled in midair below his right hand as his fingers held onto the drawstring. “Guilty as charged. But I admit it. Maybe I’ll just do confession and penance with Brandt later so he can atone me for my error.” His voice was teasing just enough that Rhema thought he might seriously be considering it.Rhema nodded. “I’ll hold you to that. No we’ve got what we need. We can connect Allyssa to an Yrraxean cult and pay for undoing the damage that Allyssa’s assassin did to us. Let’s get out of here.”In the main room, Ischarus was looking over some documents that Ophee had found in a locked drawer. Ophee had easily managed to pick the lock without destroying it. She had stuffed a few documents into her pockets, and Ischarus was trying to help her decide if there were any other pieces of parchment they needed to take.Ischarus looked up to Semeion as he carried the coin purse and strange dagger out of the room. “That is a nice kukri, Semeion. Where’d you find that?”Semeion smirked. “Hidden under the bed. But what’s important about it is that it is Yrraxean. We can tie Allyssa to Yrraxea.”Charis held up the gold ring. “So can we. And Ophee managed to find some documents with her name on them. They mention the wizard, but they also talk about some other people. We’re reading what we can and leaving the majority behind. That way she hopefully won’t notice the few missing pieces if she returns here.”Semeion watched as Ophee scanned the last page. “Good. Let’s go, then. We’ve got what we need, and we are going to need a plan for tonight.”[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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