Metropolis (The World in Waiting) - Chapter One

[Cathoi]

*Naten looks boredly over the dwarf before returning his gaze to the teeth, making a careful mental catalogue of anything that might've come from a childs mouth. He draws out his search as long as possible, keeipng watch for any suspiscious individuals, or those who take what might be considered too keen an intrest in Giante's stock. He waits until Giante is unoccupied (perhaps after a halfling customer is finished inquiring?) before calling the dwarfs attention to teeth that match the description of his current quary.*

 

[Bront]

Delilah frowns at the mention of soul stealing, almost like she was in two minds about believing such a tale. Once Taren had finished explaining himself, she spoke openly:

"Currently I'm on the lookout for the Yellow Cult, a small group of cultists that worship some strange god or another. They've been hanging around the city for years and haven't been more of a threat than any other mad cult that sacrifices chickens to their false gods, but word is that things have changed."

"A group of mercs headed into the sewers recently to extract a nobleman's daughter that had been kidnapped, they came across this Yellow Cult and the few that survived had some pretty wild stories to tell."

"They mentioned that the cult had a handful of priests that wielded magic like they'd never experianced before, and each of them wore dozens of necklaces formed of teeth. They thought they were sewer shamans at first, but their magic was more than a little unusual."

"Thirty men were taken down as the priest slowed and sped up time, pulling in moments from the past and future to assist their troops in battle. The stories say that the cult had the city's entire history on their side, it was very strange."

"Word on the street is that Giante is connected to the Yellow Cult somehow, but I'm yet to find out how. I thought that he may be supplying them with their teeth, but so far I've spotted nothing to tell me that this is the case. In fact I've spotted a couple of these Yellow Cultists at the stand, and none of them have shown any interest in Giante's wares at all."

She smiles a little after her explaination.

"Gunther'll be fine, he's a tough little fella. Though I should probably head back and see him soon, I'll be here until later this afternoon if you need me anyway. I'm sorry that I can't help you anymore than I have, I just don't know that much else."

"Who is this nobleman? I wonder if I found his daughter... " Taran pauses on that thought for a second, that would be most unpleasant for the nobleman. "Perhaps he has some connections to this Yellow Cult of which you speak. I will have to look into that."

"If you do find out anything more, please try to let me know. I'll try to give you the inside scoop on this story, because I think exposing it would do it good."

 

[Phoenix]

*Naten looks boredly over the dwarf before returning his gaze to the teeth, making a careful mental catalogue of anything that might've come from a childs mouth. He draws out his search as long as possible, keeipng watch for any suspiscious individuals, or those who take what might be considered too keen an intrest in Giante's stock. He waits until Giante is unoccupied (perhaps after a halfling customer is finished inquiring?) before calling the dwarfs attention to teeth that match the description of his current quary.*

[sblock]Sense Motive check (hunch - DC 25) +25 - Success
Heal check (DC 15) +17 - Success
[/sblock]

Looking as inconspiquos as possible, Naten browses the stall from the side, leaving the front open to the crowd. Giante looks to the ranger for a moment before his attention is diverted by the form of a small halfling and his giant rat companion. Both smell like something worse than death and Giante's face reflects that of a business man attempting to overcome his customer's worst attribue in order to part him from his money.

Their conversation is somewhat uninteresting, the halfling looking for some woman or another, hardly anything to do with teeth at all. Towards the end of the conversation though, Naten notices that the halfling takes attention to what the ranger is looking for, a small necklace of teeth that look to have come from a child's mouth. The halfling's interest seems to be passing, but his eyes betray more interest than is outwardly shown.

"You'd be lookin' for Delilah I'd say, she's the only girl I got working at tha' moment." Giante frowns for a moment. "She's out back in the alley polishin' teeth, if she gives you any lip though, you tell me an' I'll teach 'er a lesson."

Giante points towards the rear of his stall where several makeshift stalls have created a psuedo-alley between them. The halfling takes leave and wanders into the back of the stalls, disappearing into the rear of the markets.

 

[Phoenix]

"Who is this nobleman? I wonder if I found his daughter... " Taran pauses on that thought for a second, that would be most unpleasant for the nobleman. "Perhaps he has some connections to this Yellow Cult of which you speak. I will have to look into that."

"If you do find out anything more, please try to let me know. I'll try to give you the inside scoop on this story, because I think exposing it would do it good."

[sblock]Charisma check (DC 12) +8 - Failure
Knowledge - local (DC 8/18) +21 - Success
[/sblock]

Delilah returns to the ground, grabbing her small dirty brush and grabs her teeth once more. Looking up and pointing at the halfing with the mottled brush she looks the halfling up and down for a moment before starting, "I dunno who the nobleman is, but I can show you the area where the mercs went in, I went down to cover the stor about a week ago. Oh, and if you see Gunter again tell him to head to the printer's and hide out there for a while, I'll meet him later."

She hastily scribbles directions on an old issue of The Cryer with a piece of charcoal which she takes from pocket. Taren looks at the area and recognizes it as the suburb called The Steel City, an area reknowned for it's smiths and craftmen, as well as the strong mercenary presence. The directions lead into a small area of sewers that Taren knows a little of, if there is anything down there to find of course...

 

[Festy_Dog]

Yu'olan shrugs a little, "I know tha' them priests 'ave 'em, we jus' put the squeeze on them an' tehy'll tell us everythin' we need ta know."

He looks across at the halflings for a moment before staring back at Ba'aktar.

"So you're the man tha'll be our prime tank, is your call then. Front door or back? Swords or sneaky butchering?"

"Little from column A, little from Column B. I can kick in the front door and make a ruccus, and anyone who wants to be quiet can go through the back. And I'm happy to play the biggest, scariest, bstrd. Something I do well," Ba'aktar clarifies, "Heh, them kiddies are gonna have nightmares for a while I wager."

He drinks deep from his mug and belches loudly. He still couldn't get over how he was raiding an orphange. Ba'aktar wasn't sure he should be amused or disgusted with himself. The money would make that decision for him.

 

[Phoenix]

"Little from column A, little from Column B. I can kick in the front door and make a ruccus, and anyone who wants to be quiet can go through the back. And I'm happy to play the biggest, scariest, bstrd. Something I do well," Ba'aktar clarifies, "Heh, them kiddies are gonna have nightmares for a while I wager."

He drinks deep from his mug and belches loudly. He still couldn't get over how he was raiding an orphange. Ba'aktar wasn't sure he should be amused or disgusted with himself. The money would make that decision for him.

[sblock]Sense Motive check (hunch - DC 25) +11 - Failure
Knowledge - local (DC 12) +5 - Failure
Knowledge - religion (DC 15) +20 - Success
[/sblock]

With an evil grin and another thump on the back Yu'olan stands and addresses the group. "Right, me an Baaky 'ere will go through tha front door and let loose a shitstorm. Hentre and Ulam, find a back door, sneak in an' stop anyone from gettin' away. We wanna git our 'ands on a priest or two an' ask 'im nice-like where the coins are. Got it?"

The halflings nod and look at each other, grinning wildly. Within minutes the group had finished the food and had left the Dyke behind them, making their way slowly across to the Collisieum district. It took the motley crew several hours to make their way to the church, mainly due to Yu'olan's poor navigating of the streets, but it wasn't long before they could see the shattered remains of the suburb stretched before them, dozens upon dozens of buildings that had been left after the revolution that had torn the neighbourhood apart.

Hundreds of people could easily be seen in the partially burnt or collapsing houses that had survived the worst of the uprising, all of them desperate to find their own little hole away from the brutal remains of their lives. The priests of Urbanus had slowly begun to help the people of Collisiuem to rebuild their lives, scouring the city for supplies to assist those in need of their services.

In the centre of the better part of the suburb stood the small chapel, surrounded by restored buildings of dubious strength where people huddled inside in the warmth of their new homes rather than soaking their miserable lives away in the rain that pelted the district on nearly a daily occasion.

Through the pouring rain and dark skies that threatened to plunge the city into an eternal night, Ba'aktar watched the two halflings run into a nearby alleyway, making their way swiftly to the other end of the neighbourhood where they could approach the chapel from another angle. Yu'olan waits until they are away and looks down the muddy street towards the small two-story building that holds the group's goal.

The building would hold no more than six to ten rooms at best, with only a handful of chambers upstairs by the look of the structure. It would take less than an hour to thoroughly search the place, and less than ten minutes to root out all the priests inside.

"So big boy," Yu'olan smiles. "Would ya like to do tha honours?"

 

[Bront]

[sblock]Charisma check (DC 12) +8 - Failure
Knowledge - local (DC 8/18) +21 - Success
[/sblock]

Delilah returns to the ground, grabbing her small dirty brush and grabs her teeth once more. Looking up and pointing at the halfing with the mottled brush she looks the halfling up and down for a moment before starting, "I dunno who the nobleman is, but I can show you the area where the mercs went in, I went down to cover the stor about a week ago. Oh, and if you see Gunter again tell him to head to the printer's and hide out there for a while, I'll meet him later."

She hastily scribbles directions on an old issue of The Cryer with a piece of charcoal which she takes from pocket. Taren looks at the area and recognizes it as the suburb called The Steel City, an area reknowned for it's smiths and craftmen, as well as the strong mercenary presence. The directions lead into a small area of sewers that Taren knows a little of, if there is anything down there to find of course...

"Thank you, you've been of great help."

Taran sets off to explore this area, though feeling a bit uneasy about it. Hopefully he and Twitchy can keep a much lower profile. Unfortunately, having directions and knowing where you are going still doesn't mean you'll actualy get there in this big metropolis. After a few wrong turns and an extra ferry ride, Taran is able to reorient himself and finds himself in The Steel City.

"We're going down again Twitchy, but this isn't going to be home." Taran says to his companion. Twitchy twitches nervously, showing the trepidation that Taran feels. Taran checks the time and thinks to himself 'Should I realy do this at this late in the day?' Having found a way to talk himself out of it for at least the day, Taran looks to find a merc bar. Perhaps he can get the name of the nobleman who lost his kid, and perhaps even a description of the kid.

 

[D20Dazza]

Rubbing his eyes a little to clear the grime away, Ghost looked up through the grill to see an Orcish man gathering ore for the morning work, walking back and forth. His shadow flickered across the elf's face, causing him to look away as the bright morning sun attempted to blind him. And there it was.

Painted quite clearly at the base of the shaft was the symbol of the Hunters, as clear and new as if it was painted yesterday.

"Good Sah" Ghost cries to the heavily muscled orc "a little assistance would be appreciated, you wouldn't believe the day I've had. Praps you could see your way clear to opening the grill so I could exit this damp, smelly sewer?"

 

[RobotRobotI]

The young man pauses briefly for a moment, his head snapping sharply at right angles to stare at Alexis with wide eyes. His face distorts, twisting and warping unnaturally in pain, rearranging his features in a horrible display of alien visages.

"Heeeelp me.....it huuurts...."

Before Alexis's response can be forthcoming, the man looks away, then back again, his face normal and with a look of distaste on it.

"Girl...I suggest you find an inn that partakes of stabling farm animals..."

Spending only a moment to curl up is nose at the priestess, he ignores all further interaction with what he believes is common street skum, and marches off.

If only he knew who she were... was? She would have him slain!

But she couldn't, now, could she?

But her first plan was to get clean. She'd never been so dirty in her life, and she couldn't stand it. And the thought of bathing in a public bathhouse made her sick to her stomache - but that is what she'd do. She'd wander the street, confused and unknowing, looking for a bathhouse in which to bathe and clean her clothes.

And nevermind trying to get help from the peasants anymore. Ungrateful swine...

 

[Festy_Dog]

In the centre of the better part of the suburb stood the small chapel, surrounded by restored buildings of dubious strength where people huddled inside in the warmth of their new homes rather than soaking their miserable lives away in the rain that pelted the district on nearly a daily occasion.

Through the pouring rain and dark skies that threatened to plunge the city into an eternal night, Ba'aktar watched the two halflings run into a nearby alleyway, making their way swiftly to the other end of the neighbourhood where they could approach the chapel from another angle. Yu'olan waits until they are away and looks down the muddy street towards the small two-story building that holds the group's goal.

The building would hold no more than six to ten rooms at best, with only a handful of chambers upstairs by the look of the structure. It would take less than an hour to thoroughly search the place, and less than ten minutes to root out all the priests inside.

"So big boy," Yu'olan smiles. "Would ya like to do tha honours?"

Ba'aktar nods, "The others better be ready when we go in. Follow me."

Once he's done grumbling he starts pacing briskly towards the building's doors. Ba'aktar unlatches his khora from his belt and when he's close enough to make an assumption about the condition the doors are in he'll pick up his pace (and assuming they'll give after a bit of punishment) and work his way up to a sprint before launching himself at a door in an effort to smash it apart. If they look solid he'll just try opening them, and if that works he'll just stroll in and start yelling and smashing things. And if that also fails he'll try going in through a window, climbing to the second story if he must.

Once he encounters a priest or guard he'll try taking them hostage, or if there is too much distance between them he'll take a child hostage if there's one within easy reach (though he wouldn't actually harm the child, he'd try to look like he would) and getting the information they need from them that way. If there's noone he can take hostage he'll act generally threatening and if they don't back down he'll kill them (or try) if they back down he'll take them hostage. If they're stubborn after that he'll kill one of the oldies that are within sword's reach, which includes the hostage if they're an oldie (or try, assuming old = will drop easy) or failing that just shout and threaten the child hostage, mention something about burning the orphanage down, etc, etc.