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<blockquote data-quote="InVinoVeritas" data-source="post: 3438981" data-attributes="member: 41485">Sasha casts a sidelong glance at Torhan. &quot;Pity... it's from Borca, and quite good.&quot; She sighs as she puts her glass down.&quot;Alek's the eldest son of the Combledorn family,&quot; Sasha begins. &quot;They run the gnomes' black market. Smuggling, assassinations, you name it. If you need it and can't get it, the Combledorns have it.&quot;*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *Darian raises the key. The smoky air fills with muffled shouts and clanking chains.*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&quot;We first met when Alek got me a job as a dancing girl. The place was rough, and there were a lot of humans there... I learned a lot about what humans like... Right. Sorry, officer. Anyway, Alek showed up about a month ago, selling some new pink crystal he called 'Love.' It was, um, more powerful than he expected.&quot; Sasha mindlessly rubs her shoulder. &quot;He installed metal bars on stage the very next day.&quot;*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *Calahan slowly walks over to the madman and hits him with the knuckle of his kukri, dry and hard. &quot;Keep quiet, bastard, or I will cut your ears.&quot; The madman does not stop his thrashing.*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&quot;Love was the big new thing at the club. You take it, fall in love. The next day, you fall out of love. It's a beautiful, terrible thing.&quot; Sasha fixes her gaze on Torhan's eyes. The look there is fearful, guilty. &quot;You'll do anything while you're in love. Anything. Like wear a mask he gives you as your new face. I suppose I was lucky, though. I got to keep my hands.&quot;*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *The madman starts shaking his head back and forth, in a desperate attempt to avoid the key. Calahan grabs the beak at the tip and tugs hard, reminding him who's in control.&quot;Looks like you found what the bird's afraid of, Darian,&quot; Ru says.*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&quot;He called us his 'pets.' He kept us in line by holding onto all the keys himself. If you wanted to talk, to eat, to drink, almost anything really, you had to do as he said. And never get caught. Because he also gave us this.&quot; Sasha reaches between the scarves of her outfit and pulls out a small silver key. &quot;It's not a key to anything. And if you try to take the mask off with it...&quot;*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *Calahan holds up the mask. Darian slides the key into the lock and turns the key with a *click.* The madman screams in abject terror.&quot;Wait...&quot; Fr. Berman calls, realizing something is wrong. *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&quot;...it explodes.&quot;*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *BOOM!Shards of the bird-mask fly into and through Darian and Calahan. Ru, caught off guard and still smarting from earlier, fails to fall out of the way of the hot debris. Fr. Berman manages to get a cloaked arm up in time to deflect some of the bloody shrapnel, but is still hit. He slowly lowers his arm to see his companions, lying in shock, covered in blood and ceramic, stunned by the event. The madman is far, far less fortunate.*&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; *Sasha starts at the sound. &quot;Garl, what was that?&quot;[sblock=ooc]Ru, Darian, and Calahan take 20 points of damage each. Fr. Berman made his save and takes 10.[/sblock]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="InVinoVeritas, post: 3438981, member: 41485"] Sasha casts a sidelong glance at Torhan. [COLOR=Magenta]"Pity... it's from Borca, and quite good." [/COLOR] She sighs as she puts her glass down. [COLOR=Magenta]"Alek's the eldest son of the Combledorn family,"[/COLOR] Sasha begins. [COLOR=Magenta]"They run the gnomes' black market. Smuggling, assassinations, you name it. If you need it and can't get it, the Combledorns have it."[/COLOR] [center]* * *[/center] Darian raises the key. The smoky air fills with muffled shouts and clanking chains. [center]* * *[/center] [COLOR=Magenta]"We first met when Alek got me a job as a dancing girl. The place was rough, and there were a lot of humans there... I learned a lot about what humans like... Right. Sorry, officer. Anyway, Alek showed up about a month ago, selling some new pink crystal he called 'Love.' It was, um, more powerful than he expected." [/COLOR] Sasha mindlessly rubs her shoulder. [COLOR=Magenta]"He installed metal bars on stage the very next day."[/COLOR] [center]* * *[/center] Calahan slowly walks over to the madman and hits him with the knuckle of his kukri, dry and hard. "Keep quiet, bastard, or I will cut your ears." The madman does not stop his thrashing. [center]* * *[/center] [COLOR=Magenta]"Love was the big new thing at the club. You take it, fall in love. The next day, you fall out of love. It's a beautiful, terrible thing."[/COLOR] Sasha fixes her gaze on Torhan's eyes. The look there is fearful, guilty. [COLOR=Magenta]"You'll do anything while you're in love. Anything. Like wear a mask he gives you as your new face. I suppose I was lucky, though. I got to keep my hands."[/COLOR] [center]* * *[/center] The madman starts shaking his head back and forth, in a desperate attempt to avoid the key. Calahan grabs the beak at the tip and tugs hard, reminding him who's in control. [COLOR=RoyalBlue]"Looks like you found what the bird's afraid of, Darian,"[/COLOR] Ru says. [center]* * *[/center] [COLOR=Magenta]"He called us his 'pets.' He kept us in line by holding onto all the keys himself. If you wanted to talk, to eat, to drink, almost anything really, you had to do as he said. And never get caught. Because he also gave us this." [/COLOR] Sasha reaches between the scarves of her outfit and pulls out a small silver key. [COLOR=Magenta]"It's not a key to anything. And if you try to take the mask off with it..."[/COLOR] [center]* * *[/center] Calahan holds up the mask. Darian slides the key into the lock and turns the key with a *click.* The madman screams in abject terror. "Wait..." Fr. Berman calls, realizing something is wrong. [center]* * *[/center] [COLOR=Magenta]"...it explodes."[/COLOR] [center]* * *[/center] [b]BOOM![/b] Shards of the bird-mask fly into and through Darian and Calahan. Ru, caught off guard and still smarting from earlier, fails to fall out of the way of the hot debris. Fr. Berman manages to get a cloaked arm up in time to deflect some of the bloody shrapnel, but is still hit. He slowly lowers his arm to see his companions, lying in shock, covered in blood and ceramic, stunned by the event. The madman is far, far less fortunate. [center]* * *[/center] Sasha starts at the sound. [COLOR=Magenta]"Garl, what was that?"[/COLOR] [sblock=ooc]Ru, Darian, and Calahan take 20 points of damage each. Fr. Berman made his save and takes 10.[/sblock] [/QUOTE]

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