Metropolis (The World in Waiting) - Chapter One

[RobotRobotI]

[sblock]Knowledge - religion (DC 10) +17 - Success
[/sblock]

The night spent at the Sylvan Grove went swiftly as the priestess sleeps deeply after her recent experiances. Come morning her clothes are dry and wearable once more, but some of the colour has washed from them somehow, and several hardened stains are still clearly visable. Though she is clean, there are remanants from last night that just will not wash away.

Over breakfast Alexis discovers from the bartender that there are several temples in the district, and in fact she learns for the first time the various names of the suburbs about her. Collisieum, the Apartments, Ashstone, the Steel City, Opulant, the Green Fields, and of course her home of Dionysian.

The streets of Dionysian are cobbled are dirty and patchwork, the buildings majestic but old and in disrepair. The once wealthy suburb still sports the more well-to-do people of the city, but it seems that wealth does not conquer greed, for the suburb had begun its decay more than a few years ago.

Alexis learns of several temples in the district dedicated to Azran (the Sun God), Zsath (the Ghost King, of course), Kinderas (the Lord of Coin) and Kimbar (the Lady of Luck, brother of Kinderas). Each of them sport resonable followings, and she receives directions for each of the temples for future reference, now there was only the decision of which one...

The Lady of Luck sounded appropriate right about now. That was something she was finding herself to be severely lacking, and so, faith Zsath that she would find her way, and hoping that he would forgive the transgression she feared she was making, Alexis stepped out into the city, making her way to the Church of Kimbar.

 

[Bront]

The group as a whole continues into the pub itself though one of its members stops for a moment to call back, "He's alrigh' now little fella, just fought his way past an army of ghouls down there....bloody lucky elves eh?"

In seconds the crowd is ordering drinks inside, leaving Taran to look in through the door, barely able to see the room toasting the strange looking elf within.

Deciding this requires further investigation, Taran decides to follow the crowd into the in. He tries to maneuver his way though the crowd, till he gets to this lucky elf. Perhaps this was the break he was looking for. He'd hoped to find someone who might know what's down there and perhaps know something about the nobleman and the little girl.

"Excuse me sir, I hear you managed to escape some ghouls down in the sewers. What were you doing down there and how'd you manage to avoid them?"

 

[D20Dazza]

Ghost Hound Elf Bard

Ghost revels in the attention of his fellow drinkers. After having just spent a harrowing 24 hours or so roaming the sewers the sudden warmth of complete strangers has filled him with an almost manic euphoria. The effect, of course, was enhanced by the mead which was coursing through his veins and quickly going to his head.

"Excuse me sir, I hear you managed to escape some ghouls down in the sewers. What were you doing down there and how'd you manage to avoid them?"

"What was I doing?" Ghost says as he drills the halfling with his steely eyes "looking for clues" he continues in a hushed voice. Suddenly he stands and declares loudly "I must be going my friends. I thank you for your hospitality, your kind words and, more importantly, the drinks" he finishes with a chuckle and a wink "I have enjoyed your company but I must get back to the hunt. Prey to whatever deity you worship that Stephanie remains unharmed. And wish me luck my friends, I will ensure that I come back to tell you how the tale of the missing child ends". With a flourish of his lank, dirty cloak Ghost strides confidently from the room.

OOC: heading home, need to have a rest, do some laundry and refresh spells.

 

[Bront]

Ghost revels in the attention of his fellow drinkers. After having just spent a harrowing 24 hours or so roaming the sewers the sudden warmth of complete strangers has filled him with an almost manic euphoria. The effect, of course, was enhanced by the mead which was coursing through his veins and quickly going to his head.


"What was I doing?" Ghost says as he drills the halfling with his steely eyes "looking for clues" he continues in a hushed voice. Suddenly he stands and declares loudly "I must be going my friends. I thank you for your hospitality, your kind words and, more importantly, the drinks" he finishes with a chuckle and a wink "I have enjoyed your company but I must get back to the hunt. Prey to whatever deity you worship that Stephanie remains unharmed. And wish me luck my friends, I will ensure that I come back to tell you how the tale of the missing child ends". With a flourish of his lank, dirty cloak Ghost strides confidently from the room.

OOC: heading home, need to have a rest, do some laundry and refresh spells.

The halfling runs quickly after the elf. 'Darn elves dismiss the short ones way too easily' he thinks to himself.

Catching him just outside the door Taran says to the elf "Stephanie? Is that the name of the noble's daughter? Because I think I know where she is."

 

[D20Dazza]

Ghost Hound Elf Bard

The halfling runs quickly after the elf. 'Darn elves dismiss the short ones way too easily' he thinks to himself.

Catching him just outside the door Taran says to the elf "Stephanie? Is that the name of the noble's daughter? Because I think I know where she is."

"You what?" Ghost splutters as the halflings words penetrate the fuzz of his brain "Quick, come with me, we must talk but first I need to get more aahhh comfortable"

"I'm Ghost" the elf says to the small man, proferring his hand in friendship "I'd like to hear your story" he says as he leads the halfling through the streets of Metropolis. Dodging the worst of the traffic, they catch a ferry to his office and have time to draw breath, and unravel some of the mystery surrounding Stephanie.

 

[Phoenix]

"You what?" Ghost splutters as the halflings words penetrate the fuzz of his brain "Quick, come with me, we must talk but first I need to get more aahhh comfortable"

"I'm Ghost" the elf says to the small man, proferring his hand in friendship "I'd like to hear your story" he says as he leads the halfling through the streets of Metropolis. Dodging the worst of the traffic, they catch a ferry to his office and have time to draw breath, and unravel some of the mystery surrounding Stephanie.

Navigating the streets of Metropolis with expertise that borders on majestic, the two catch the ferry back to the Apartments, a trip that takes the most part of the morning. As Ghost leads the strange halfling thorugh the grand spyres that make up the suburb, he can't help feeling like they are kindred spirits of a sort, in the way that they are both covered in the city's filth that is.

Climbing the many levels of his tower, Ghost finally makes it to the comfort of his home, however on his door waiting for him is a small note simply reading:

Three more days.​

 

[Bront]

Navigating the streets of Metropolis with expertise that borders on majestic, the two catch the ferry back to the Apartments, a trip that takes the most part of the morning. As Ghost leads the strange halfling thorugh the grand spyres that make up the suburb, he can't help feeling like they are kindred spirits of a sort, in the way that they are both covered in the city's filth that is.

Climbing the many levels of his tower, Ghost finally makes it to the comfort of his home, however on his door waiting for him is a small note simply reading:

Three more days.​

Taran shakes Ghost's hand "I'm Taran and my illustriust companion over there is Twitchy" he says motioning to the quite large dire rat with a saddle (It's medium sized, so large for a dire rat)

Taran keeps watch for a band of surely half-orcs. Having not run into them, he steps into Ghost's office after noting the note on the door.

Taran muses "Where to begin... while out on business for my villiage, Twitchy and I found a little girl down a well, near what appeared to be a cadaver hanging ground. Upon returning her to the villiage, it was discovered that several of her organs as well as her teeth had ben harvested, but most disturbing was the fact that her soul had been harvested as well. Hoping to solve this and keep my villiage safe, I've come up here to investigate."

"After talking with a gnome from The Cryer, I spoke to someone working at Giante's stall who directed me to check out a sewer grate in the Steel City where mercs had failed in a rescue attempt of a nobleman's daughter. I arived there and checked to see if I could gather a bit more information, but other than the location, no one who knew anything about a previously failed rescue mission was talking about more than simply where it happened. So, I went to investigate the sewer, and found a huge crowd around you as you emerged, and heard something about ghouls. Figuring that perhaps I'd finaly caught a break, I went to talk to you. And I'm hoping my persistance with you is not in vein, because the city up here is quite big, the light up here isn't right, and in general people are in a much fouler mood, which has made this entire trip must unsettling."

Taran ponders if he left anything out. "Oh, and do you know who Bremman is? I think he has something to do with these Appartments we're in."

 

[Festy_Dog]

The priest looks up along the blade to Ba'aktar and flinches as each piece of tooth strikes him. Beside the great half-orc the floating hammer fades to nothingness, almost as a sign of surrender. The priests eyes flicker for a moment, something that Ba'aktar almost misses, and out of the corner of his eye he sees something move.

One of the children runs for the door nearby, just out of the half-orc's reach. In her hands he notices something dangling...a key! Ba'altar's keen eyes perceive the darkness in the corridor nearby as the small child pulls the hook on a wall and ducks into an alcove.

"Fck!" escapes Ba'aktar's mouth at an exceptional volume, and he turns to run after the child, "I'll be back for you later, holy man."

He dashes out after the child, the naturally fleet footwork of many of his tribe's warriors lending him a significant advantage in speed. Never would he allow the failure of a job to be his fault.

 

[Phoenix]

"Fck!" escapes Ba'aktar's mouth at an exceptional volume, and he turns to run after the child, "I'll be back for you later, holy man."

He dashes out after the child, the naturally fleet footwork of many of his tribe's warriors lending him a significant advantage in speed. Never would he allow the failure of a job to be his fault.

Swift in foot, Ba'aktar runs to the hidden door in the wall before it swings shut. Behind the door a steep set of stairs leads down into the basement of the chapel, cloaked in darkness the stairs would be hazardous to anyone without Ba'aktar's exceptional vision.

Taking the steps two or three at a time, Ba'aktar briefly wonders about the speed of the child ahead of him, for with his exceptional speed and larger stride, he should've caught the small boy by now.

The stairs end in a large chamber with only one exit, a small rusted iron door in the far wall that is barred and heavily locked. In the centre of the room the small boy stand, facing Ba'aktar, with the key dangling in one hand. Striding towards the child with purpose, Ba'aktar smiles and reaches out a hand...

...the ship heaves violently beneath Ba'aktar's feet, waves splashing up over the deck amongst the sailors that work hard to keep her under control. A halfling woman standing neat the helm argues with a strange dwarven man. On the water a dozen ships fight a deadly naval battle against each other in the pouring rain and failing light.

"Ba'ak!" Someone screams. "Secure that line!"

A rope lashes about the half-orc's feet, but the ship heaves once more, this time more violently, throwing Ba'aktar to the ground...

...where the dirt caked in his mouth. The sounds of a pitched battle around him raging in his ears, Ba'aktar almost lost concentration, rolling away just in time to watch the sword of his attacker pierce the dirt instead of his kidneys.

Rolling up onto his feet with one deft movement, his Khora swung heavily about and bit deeply into the cultist's flesh, causing the man to scream and collapse on the ground, vainly trying to stuff all of his innerd back through the hole in his abdomen.

Stepping backwards to put himeself against a nearby wall for a moment, the half-orc gauged the situation...hadn't he done this before? Why was he soaking wet, it hadn't rained for days! Three cultists with long thin sword spotted him through the crowd, dirty and tired. They charged, and even Ba'aktar couldn't stop one of them from sliding his blade into his...

...leg bled swiftly, as if someone had just stabbed it with a short blade. The boy hadn't moved an inch with his key, but Ba'aktar was wet, tired and bleeding. He wasn't beaten yet though, he'd been through worse before...actually, he'd been through that exactly before...hadn't he?

The room was no longer empty, now all six of the children stood around him in a circle, watching him slowly get up from on one knee. Staggering a little to rid himself of his sea-legs, there was nothing that could stop him from getting that key now, all he had to do was reach forward and...

"Ba'aktar!"

He was surrounded! There were six large men and women, humans too! How did he get in this room? Where was he? Ba'aktar was only four years old, he'd never been away from his people before, he'd never seen humans before, what did they want with him?

"Ba'aktar! You have to listen! You have to..."

The six humans shrank, regressing in age, becoming younger just as Ba'aktar was growing older. Within seconds the six children were cowering before the mighty half-orc once more, cowering before his brutal might...

 

[Phoenix]

The Lady of Luck sounded appropriate right about now. That was something she was finding herself to be severely lacking, and so, faith Zsath that she would find her way, and hoping that he would forgive the transgression she feared she was making, Alexis stepped out into the city, making her way to the Church of Kimbar.

Wandering through the streets of Dionysian, Alexis has time to stop and stare at the common people going about their daily lives. Pondering for a moment on the thought that it looked very much like an ant's colony like the one back in the temple, (Vrisse always had a thing for seeing Law in the tiniest of creatures), the priestess finds that she is the only person in the street that isn't rushing somewhere.

The Church of Kimbar was an easy building to locate, as many of the city's citizens knew instinctively where it was located. After over an hour's walk, Alexis' eyes finally fall on the large building that was home to the alien faith that she was intent on visiting.

A single colossal stone tree rising high above the rooftops of the suburb was hardly a 'church' as Alexis understood, but nevertheless it was home to a faith. Rope and wooden ladders both ascended into the limbs above, winding and twisting amidst platforms and chambers both within and without the trunk of the petrified plant. Dozens of people relaxed in the dirty sunlight that fluttered across the platforms, playing games of chance of simply drinking or smoking. It was difficult to determine if any of them were priests or not, as none of the people mingling in or about the tree had any uniform at all.