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

[Fenris]

Minutes past slowly as the dozens of dragons swarmed the barge, feasting upon anything that took their fancy. By now the knights’ armour was blackened with dozens of flame strikes, though little damage past scorching and uncomfortable heat bothered Alexi. The sailors brought dozens of vats of tar onto the deck, covered by the actions of the knights to beat the creatures away long enough for the crew to fill the rowboats and cut them loose.

The entire ordeal had taken nearly half an hour and almost a dozen lives. Dragon stood over one of the severely burnt crewmen and swore. “Little bastards, those things are nothing but the plague. Didn’t know they came out this far.”

He held his hands across the brow of the injured sailor and spoke, “Zchrack thar maen, tel daronian!” The man’s skin renewed slowly, causing the man to scream in pain and the wound was forced from his body, in seconds though the pain had past and he was on his feet again.

Whale had removed his helm and shook his head so that his fat bearded chin wobbled, “Let’s jus’ hope we don’t yer little children again then Dragon.”

Across the waves a dozen small boats swarmed with fighting dragons as the barge passed by them, the heavy oxen dragging the mighty vessel towards the far shore.

Alexi looks at Dragon "Neat trick that. You ought to show me how to do it sometime" he says with a smile as he helps the injured man to his feet.

"Where do those little pests come from?" he asked

 

[Scotley]

Jazick

"I knew he was too still." He examines the candles on the alter. "I wonder who lit the candles or if they are magical?" He joins Jen in examining the body and the alter.

 

[Phoenix]

Alexi looks at Dragon "Neat trick that. You ought to show me how to do it sometime" he says with a smile as he helps the injured man to his feet.

"Where do those little pests come from?" he asked

“They hang around docks mostly, usually it takes a lot for them to swarm like that. My family breeds them for hunting and prestige mainly, they’re usually fairly tame once you remove their plasma glands.*”

Sailors watched with fascination as one of the boats exploded into flames and dozens of tiny dragons flew screaming into the fog. Soon enough they were left behind, forced out of the minds of the crewmen as they returned to work.

Within an hour dark shapes loomed through the fog on the far shore, large buildings took substance through the fog, and soon the streets of the city we in view once more. The far shore was deserted and all of the buildings were in complete ruins.

The Whale leaned heavily on Alexi’s shoulder. “Welcome to the Outskirts boy, you’ll love it here, if we survive.”

As the barge docked the sailors prepared crossbows and watched the streets carefully as the knights led their horses onto the pier. There was a muttered farewell by the Captain before the oxen were whipped to move the barge back onto the waters as fast as it could.

The rain pelted against the knights on the lonely shore.

“This is possibly the most dangerous place in the world gentlemen.” Boar slowly removed his heavy gauntlets and helm, resting them on his lap as he turned to the others. His neck was scarred badly and his hands looked scarred by fire. “This is my third journey, I know how bad this can get.”

His hands moved purposely through the air as he chanted. “Su regar, al marn, telle pharn.” Light glowed softly from his hands, then each of the knight’s breastplates showed similar illumination before fading.

“We must make plans of attack gentlemen.”

[sblock]*The Wagondriver’s Guide to Metropolis has much to say on the subject of Dragons, little of it good. The mighty creatures of myth that devoured armies and stole princesses are far from the dragons we know of today in the city, for our dragons can be seen in dozens and are regularly targeted for extermination to prevent large scale fires.
The Dragon’s fiery breath usually burns out of existence seconds after striking its target, the heat and flame dissipating too swiftly to force dense combustibles to ignite. This is not the case with thatch roofing and other tinder-like substances.
It is lucky that the largest populations of dragons are located in areas that possess vast amounts of water. The dragons have a taste for ‘sweet’ liquids, mainly alcohol and pitch. The heat that their plasma glands generate transform the fumes from the liquids into a sweet sticky substance that is akin to an addictive foodstuff to humans.
Dragons that have had their glands removed seem to be content to live on a stable diet of pigeons and rats. Without the gland to transform the fumes, the liquids lose all appeal. [/sblock]

 

[Phoenix]

"I knew he was too still." He examines the candles on the alter. "I wonder who lit the candles or if they are magical?" He joins Jen in examining the body and the alter.

Brief examination shows nothing more of note from the alter. The burning tapers must have been lit by somebody in the last hour or so, but the dust that rested upon the alter and skeleton was enough to show that neither had moved for some time.

The cathedral around them was huge, with dozens of doors as well as balconies several stories up that allowed people to look out over the congregation. One could spend their whole lives here without exploring every room in the building, and with no-one to guide them, Jen and Jazick were in for a long day.

 

[GlassEye]

Old Thom ducked in between Ymris’s legs as she made her way into Adzan Square, the large meeting of streets where the front of all eight school met, looking for cover from the unforgiving feet of running students. It was easy enough for Ymris to stop and question someone to the nature of her target, and a hastily pointed finger showed the way to a large compound surrounded by high stone walls containing at least a dozen small buildings and one large ten storey school that towered over the rest. One the closed iron gates, next to the dozen armed guards that stood in the streets, rested a sign.

The Zimmerman School for Girls​

Ymris stands on Adzan Square looking the place over as Thom twines around her ankles avoiding the running residents and falling rain. She eyes the compound pointed out to her by the one student she managed to stop and wonders in which building she'll find Devries. With a shrug she steps forward moving towards the iron gates. As she approaches the guards she calls out, "I'm looking for Devries."

 

[Phoenix]

Ymris stands on Adzan Square looking the place over as Thom twines around her ankles avoiding the running residents and falling rain. She eyes the compound pointed out to her by the one student she managed to stop and wonders in which building she'll find Devries. With a shrug she steps forward moving towards the iron gates. As she approaches the guards she calls out, "I'm looking for Devries."

The guards look down their nose at the approaching woman without emotion. Each of the guards was alert to their surroundings, scanning the crowd, nodding to girls that passed through the gate, each of them looked ready to respond to trouble.

"Where's your pass?"

 

[Bront]

Brief examination shows nothing more of note from the alter. The burning tapers must have been lit by somebody in the last hour or so, but the dust that rested upon the alter and skeleton was enough to show that neither had moved for some time.

The cathedral around them was huge, with dozens of doors as well as balconies several stories up that allowed people to look out over the congregation. One could spend their whole lives here without exploring every room in the building, and with no-one to guide them, Jen and Jazick were in for a long day.

"Where do we start? Maybe there's a library or storage room, or perhaps a priest's room where we can find what you and I are looking for." Jen says.

 

[Scotley]

Jazick

Jazick takes in the vastness of the place. "I suppose we better get started. This place is just so big," he says making an expansive gesture with his arms. "As you say a libaray would be good, perhaps the offices of the important priests? Something frightful must have happened here. I think we should stick together even though we could cover more ground apart," he adds protectively. "Someone must have lit those candles recently. If we could find them, then perhaps they could guide us." Inspiration striking he looks down. "If someone comes to change the candles regularly then perhaps there is a path in the dust or a trail of dripped wax?"

 

[Phoenix]

Jazick takes in the vastness of the place. "I suppose we better get started. This place is just so big," he says making an expansive gesture with his arms. "As you say a libaray would be good, perhaps the offices of the important priests? Something frightful must have happened here. I think we should stick together even though we could cover more ground apart," he adds protectively. "Someone must have lit those candles recently. If we could find them, then perhaps they could guide us." Inspiration striking he looks down. "If someone comes to change the candles regularly then perhaps there is a path in the dust or a trail of dripped wax?"

[sblock]Jazick Search check (DC 12) +20 - Success
Jen Search check (DC 12) +15 - Success
Jen Survival check (DC 10) +14 - Success
Jazick Survival check (DC 10) +11[/sblock]

The floor had not been disturbed for some time, the barrier of ivory outside had kept the curious away. It was strange that there was no evidence of looting within the cathedral, the people of the suburb must've had more important matters at hand, or respect for the great structure.

Dust was layered thick on the floor, but both Jen and Jazick's keen eyes could see a disturbance as well as tiny droplets of wax spattered on the cold stone floor. It was a trail, though not an easy one to follow, whoever was moving around had a routine that required moving through many of the lesser rooms on the ground floor.

It took some time following the tracks, but after half an hour tracking the scuff marks traversing walkways that skirted the upper levels of the cathedral hall, Jen and Jazick came to an open door to a study.

Within the skeletal frame of a man held the remains of a melted candle in one hand. In front of him a large box of candles and an odd looking flint-device. The room itself looked like a small library of sorts, containing probably less than a hundred books. Obviously not the most important room in the building, but perhaps could offer something of use.

 

[GlassEye]

The guards look down their nose at the approaching woman without emotion. Each of the guards was alert to their surroundings, scanning the crowd, nodding to girls that passed through the gate, each of them looked ready to respond to trouble.

"Where's your pass?"

Ymris frowns. "I'm just a messenger. No one said anything about needing a pass."