Metropolis - The Weight of the World (and Found Wanting)

[Phoenix]

Jasmine sighs and shakes her head. "Seems like you should have hired him then."

Jasmine delicately slits the man's throat. No need to leave witnesses, particularly ones as stupid as this one.

Spending a moment to arrange her clothes, she emerges from the bar an elder drunken man and heads out of the apartments. Once she's made some distance, she'll resume a more feminine form. Time for her to see Riki.

[sblock]Jasmine attack roll (Ham - AC 5) +23 - Hit
Coup de grace damage roll - 11pts
Ham Fort save (DC 26) +14 - Failure <Death>[/sblock]

Ham's throat opened easily, splashing blood across the table and causing the fat man to spasm out of Jasmine's grasp, crashing into barrels and spraying all across the room.

The old drunk that left the Eighth Moon Inn was not covered in gore, but Jasmine could feel Ham's warmth on her still. It would take some time to get past Riki's men, but Jasmine knew Riki's turf better than he did himself, she knew all the nooks and all the safe passes, soon Riki would tell her what she wanted to know, one way or another...

 

[GlassEye]

It wasn't a picture of Ymir, but it could've been, years ago...

Ymris' words trail off as she sees the sketch and reads the Wanted poster committing the words to memory. She snorts and looks at the men, jabbing a finger towards the picture. "Who is this girl and what's she done? She would ask about Lylandra Spire and the Apartments but figures revealing such ignorance about the city so openly might prove dangerous.

 

[Scotley]

Jazick

Slipping his bow back into his quiver, Jazick stides forward to crush the blood whisle under foot. He marvels at a man who bleeds from the mouth, yet not the head wound. He searches the man quickly for anything that might identfy him or give a clue as to his origin. After a quick search he returns to the shadows to consider the mystery of this night. Perhaps Father Lunley could explain what he had seen tonight? If the man could be found at this hour.

 

[Fenris]

[sblock]Knowledge (local - DC 15) +8 - Failure
Artebly's? Isn't that a chain of burger stores?
Group Sense Motive (DC 10) +15 - Success[/sblock]

The Dragon stared at Alexi and a hush came over the group. None of them touched their mugs, all of them stared at The Stag.

"It seems to me that we all know why we're here, hell, I almost just 'bout spelled it out for you. I though that you we're jus' being cute Stag, now I come to think that you ain't who you say you are..."

As one, the three massive forms rose from their chairs, easily scooping their shields onto their arms and grabbing the hilts of their weapons...

Alexi doesn't move as the men jump to their feet. He camly sips his drink and places the cup on the table.

When he speaks though, his manner has changed, his face and voice are hard and commanding, the tone he has used with his troops.

Still seated and his hands upon the table he speaks: "Sit down now before one of you does something to get your selves hurt. You three have no idea who you're dealing wiht here or the repurcussion of your actions. Now sit down!"

"I never said I was The Stag. It was Dragon who said that. But I did not enter here to deceive you. I told you the truth in every way. Maybe I am not the man who was invited by Ham. But by the gods I am the man who showed up. Are you all so small minded as to think that at the appointed time and place the three of you were summoned to that two different men, both knights, both bearing the Stag as an emblem could arrive?!?"

"And if indeed as Dragon said I was late, where then is this other Stag I ask you? If I am the False Satg, where is the other? No where my friends. The reason why is that I am the Stag, whether you like it or not, whether Ham invited my or not I am the fourth member of this gathering."

Alexi takes a small drink as a pause.

"How did I get here?, What was my invitation? I shall tell you. On my way through this wretched rain in this beastly quarter, I came upon a stag. Yes I stag! Upon the very street outside. I followed it but it disappeared. A vision sent rom Metropolis herself. Upon my return what greeted me but this inn, again with the sign of the Stag. So I was invited my friends. But I did not recieve instructions with it."

"Now either sit down and discuss this like civilized men or draw you swords. But know this, I can be great help to you in the outskirts for I am The Stag. Should you choose to draw your sword know that some of you will fall if not all three. Should any best me however, such a bounty would lay upon your heads as to make Metropolis herself rise up and swallow you to gain it. The choice is yours to make, do you act like gentlemen and accept that I am who I am, or do you act like craven dogs, snapping at a strange hand?"


OOC:[sblock] Diplomacy +17, or Intimidate +11 as you see fit [/sblock]

 

[Bront]

[sblock]Jasmine attack roll (Ham - AC 5) +23 - Hit
Coup de grace damage roll - 11pts
Ham Fort save (DC 26) +14 - Failure <Death>[/sblock]

Ham's throat opened easily, splashing blood across the table and causing the fat man to spasm out of Jasmine's grasp, crashing into barrels and spraying all across the room.

The old drunk that left the Eighth Moon Inn was not covered in gore, but Jasmine could feel Ham's warmth on her still. It would take some time to get past Riki's men, but Jasmine knew Riki's turf better than he did himself, she knew all the nooks and all the safe passes, soon Riki would tell her what she wanted to know, one way or another...

Jasmine let the rain wash off what it could, and stoped into one of her havens to clean up the rest. Odd how in the end, the fat man had got to touch her, in a way. Business was dirty sometimes.

Once she was clean, she headed for Riki's teritory. She knew she could always go through the proper chanels, but it was more fun this way. It was more of a game this way, keeping Riki sweating and looking over his shoulder, or perhaps lusting for her forbiden touch. Either way, it kept him in line, and she always knew where she stood with the man.

Moving through town, she drew a cloak tightly around her to keep what she could of the rain out. Quietly and methodicly, she moved though Riki's little part of town. The Darkroom, a little more upscale for the neighborhood, and Riki's favorite office space. She knew how to get in quietly, working her way up to his little anex. She nodded and made her sign to his guards, who let her pass as usuall.

As the door to Riki's office closed she sliped off her cloak revealing the tight leather dress underneath. She smiled with confidence as she strolled over and sat down in Riki's desk, leaning over to draw him by the chin into a teasing kiss, as her other hand grabed the belt from her bag. She smiled coyly, "So, now that I've got your attention," she droped the belt in front of Riki, "think you can 'splain this? Or you need me to do it for you? 'course, that'll cost you," she said, running her finger along his cheak before pulling it back to her lips, licking it off.

[sblock=ooc]Displomacy. Of course, if I assumed too much, I'll fix it, but it looked like you gave me the green light.

I'm envisioning the Darkroom to be kind of the equivilent of a bar/club for the times, with lots of noise, not a lot of light, and fairly busy, but you can take it where you want.[/sblock]

 

[Phoenix]

Ymris' words trail off as she sees the sketch and reads the Wanted poster committing the words to memory. She snorts and looks at the men, jabbing a finger towards the picture. "Who is this girl and what's she done? She would ask about Lylandra Spire and the Apartments but figures revealing such ignorance about the city so openly might prove dangerous.

The group jumped a little at Ymris'...insistance. Their eyes scanned the picture and then tried to avoid her gaze as a poorly dressed, thin man yammered at her. "Jasmine, I dunno who she is. These have been around for months, local lads are handin' them out."

His eyes looked past Ymris, scanning the crowd for something, someone. "They been sayin' that she offed some people, and now their friends wan't her...local law y'know?"

 

[Phoenix]

Slipping his bow back into his quiver, Jazick stides forward to crush the blood whisle under foot. He marvels at a man who bleeds from the mouth, yet not the head wound. He searches the man quickly for anything that might identfy him or give a clue as to his origin. After a quick search he returns to the shadows to consider the mystery of this night. Perhaps Father Lunley could explain what he had seen tonight? If the man could be found at this hour.

There was a grinding sound as the whistle scratched across the cobblestones under his feet, resiliant little thing. A piece of stone crashed down upon it made sure that the thing would not be blown again.

Hours later thunder boomed overhead as Jazick pounded at the door to the huge, old building. The knocker came crashing down on the door, as the pouring rain soaked him to the skin.

The old church belonged to some religion or another, but it was abandoned decades ago. Some of the old people spoke of a time when the dead would not die, there were no children, and that the god of death was slain by a man. The congregations were gone now, the priest's faith had disappeared, now there was only the people.

Another clap of thunder boomed across the sky as the door opened, an old haggered looking man staring at Jazick, weary from little sleep and barely any fresh water. Still, a weak smile crossed Father Lunley's face as he ushered Jazick in.

"Welcome back son."

 

[Phoenix]

Still seated and his hands upon the table he speaks: "Sit down now before one of you does something to get your selves hurt. You three have no idea who you're dealing wiht here or the repurcussion of your actions. Now sit down!"

"I never said I was The Stag. It was Dragon who said that. But I did not enter here to deceive you. I told you the truth in every way. Maybe I am not the man who was invited by Ham. But by the gods I am the man who showed up. Are you all so small minded as to think that at the appointed time and place the three of you were summoned to that two different men, both knights, both bearing the Stag as an emblem could arrive?!?"

"And if indeed as Dragon said I was late, where then is this other Stag I ask you? If I am the False Satg, where is the other? No where my friends. The reason why is that I am the Stag, whether you like it or not, whether Ham invited my or not I am the fourth member of this gathering."

Alexi takes a small drink as a pause.

"How did I get here?, What was my invitation? I shall tell you. On my way through this wretched rain in this beastly quarter, I came upon a stag. Yes I stag! Upon the very street outside. I followed it but it disappeared. A vision sent rom Metropolis herself. Upon my return what greeted me but this inn, again with the sign of the Stag. So I was invited my friends. But I did not recieve instructions with it."

"Now either sit down and discuss this like civilized men or draw you swords. But know this, I can be great help to you in the outskirts for I am The Stag. Should you choose to draw your sword know that some of you will fall if not all three. Should any best me however, such a bounty would lay upon your heads as to make Metropolis herself rise up and swallow you to gain it. The choice is yours to make, do you act like gentlemen and accept that I am who I am, or do you act like craven dogs, snapping at a strange hand?"


OOC:[sblock] Diplomacy +17, or Intimidate +11 as you see fit [/sblock]

[sblock]Diplomacy check (DC 23) +25 - Success[/sblock]

The three knights looked at each other a little warily, though the Whale's helm came a mutter, "Bloody hell, a paladin...great..."

Each of them took their seats once more, still keeping their eyes on the new arrival. For a moment nothing was said, not a drink was touched, until the Dragon raised his voice again.

"Fine, however this works, it doesn't really matter. Ham has a substantial amount of money for us safely tucked away. Once we find this wizard's tower, kill everyone there, and return, we'll get our reward. He hired us because we're the best, we can take wizards without a problem, right? Now, avoiding any further divine interventions, where do we stand?"

 

[Phoenix]

As the door to Riki's office closed she sliped off her cloak revealing the tight leather dress underneath. She smiled with confidence as she strolled over and sat down in Riki's desk, leaning over to draw him by the chin into a teasing kiss, as her other hand grabed the belt from her bag. She smiled coyly, "So, now that I've got your attention," she droped the belt in front of Riki, "think you can 'splain this? Or you need me to do it for you? 'course, that'll cost you," she said, running her finger along his cheak before pulling it back to her lips, licking it off.

[sblock=ooc]Displomacy. Of course, if I assumed too much, I'll fix it, but it looked like you gave me the green light.

I'm envisioning the Darkroom to be kind of the equivilent of a bar/club for the times, with lots of noise, not a lot of light, and fairly busy, but you can take it where you want.[/sblock]

[Sblock]Displomacy check (DC 17) +28 - Esceptional Success
Bah, who am I to make digs about spelling [/sblock]

Smoke clouded the inside of the Darkroom, shrouding the many affluent customers from the identities of each other at a casual glance. Many of the men stared at Jasmine swaggered across to Riki, past his men, and literally threw herself at him. They obviously didn't know Riki like she did.

"Jasmine my girl, always a pleasure." One hand hovered down the length of Jasmine's leg, though never touching, and finally grasping the belt and raising it to his eyes. Studying it for a moment, his short scruffy beard quivered a little as he calmly placed it back on the table.

"Snake skin, typical for the Black Guild's more important operatives. The workmanship is high, but obviously not crafted by the same hand as in the old days. I won't say that it's old either, we both know that this was crafted recently."

"Since Devries has been dead for a while now, I think it's safe to say that he's not behind this, and that The Organiztion, if back, is still in it's early days if you got this with ease. My ears tell me little of this kind of activity, but then again the boys that work for me are no Black Guild."

"My professional eye tells me that this is little more than a copy-cat group, probably some of the old guard trying to get it all back together. I wouldn't worry about it dear, if Devries was back you'd be the first one he'd be after."

One of Riki's hands drifted to the toes of Jasmine's boot, rubbing it softly as his eyes drifted along her leg. "Course, I could be wrong. Apparently this isn't the only area of disrepute in Metropolis, if they knew what was good for them they would've relocated. I can look into it if you like, but you'd have to help me of course..."

 

[Phoenix]

"Food and directions. I seek the Leaguers, where are they?"

Keeping his eyes locked with the gnome, Azot tried to see if the name Sebek had given the prey was recognized with the Upworlders.

[sblock]Sense Motive +3 to see if he can tell if the gnome answers him truthfully, if he even answers him at all.[/sblock]

[Sblock]Sense Motive (DC 2) +11 - Success[/sblock]

"Yar what?" The scrubby gnome stared at Azot, and even though others shied away from his stench, the gnome seemed unfazed. "I dinna know whet ya meen ya funni leekin' fella, I git sum fud if'n thas wayya want?"

The huge man slowly turned the spit, his eyes lazily looking across to the new arrival.

"Leaguers:" His voice was slow, considered, careful, and very deep. "Slang dated only thirty-eight years old, dating back to the arcane societies of Aimsbridge during the resurgence of the studies of ancient history. The word pertains to a particular group of people dedicated to the research of a particular theory of geneology, archaeology, biology or suburbian history. Considered out of date in the current frame of society, Leaguers usually now refer to educational extremists looking to prove a wild theory to people considered to be of greater knowledge, experience, or intelligence."

Across the fire the gnome quickly shot, "Shuuuuduuup ya stoopid cow!"