Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 428083" data-attributes="member: 221">Chapter 17 – Geanavue (Tilliana’s Day Out)    The sun was just starting to rise over the edge of the city wall as Kall and Jozz headed out of their house, looking for something to occupy them.  At the age of 14, both boys were already as tall as most of the men around them.  Though Jozz was slender and Kall was thick and muscled, the similarity of face and feature made it easy to tell they were brothers.  Their father helped in various stables around the city, having a reputation for being one of the best horsemen in Geanavue.  He also worked as a craftsman, as did the majority of workers in the city.  His specialty was the carving of fine wooden images.  Both boys, of course, had been trained by their father to assist in the work when need be, but their adolescent blood cried out for adventure and what they really wanted to do was be great heroes.      Around them the city was already bustling.  Indeed, by Geanavue standards, the twins were getting a late start.  But their father had given them the day off and so they were out on the city to see what adventure they could scrounge up.  Kall carried the huge club he had purchased the summer before and Jozz had a crossbow strapped to his back.  They were ready for anything.    Their chance for some glory that morning was destined to come in the form of rats, giant sewer rats that had invaded one of the warehouses on the south side of the city.  As they wandered the streets, dreaming of their chance at glory, they had espied a man sitting outside a closed warehouse.  He was clearly upset.  Curious to learn what was the matter they had approached him.    “Why are you upset,” asked Jozz diplomatically.        “I’ll tell you why!  Its those rats, twenty or thirty sewer rats came up out of the sewer sometime last night and invaded my warehouse!  They bit one of my workers and scared the horses near to death!  My men all left and said they would come back when I got rid of the rats.”    He looked at them a bit closer.  Then he smiled.      “Say, you two look like capable young men.  I will pay you 1 silver coin for each rat you kill and if by some miracle you can get rid of all of them, I’ll throw in 5 glint.”    Jozz and Kall smiled.  This was the chance they were looking for.  Money and glory!    “Yeah!” said Kall, enthusiastically.    “We will do it!” said Jozz.    “Now be careful,” said the man as he opened the door for them, “some of those things are downright nasty, don’t get yourself killed.”    The two boys headed into the warehouse excitedly, scarcely heeding his words.  Their were wooden boxes and crates stacked everywhere.  In the middle of the large dimly lit room, a wagon sat, half loaded.  It was Kall who spotted the first rat.  It was over a foot long, sitting under the wagon near the wheel watching them.  Gleefully Kall gripped his club in both hands and charged forward.  Though the position was ackward, Kall managed to swing his club in such a way as to connect with the rat.  Furious, the rat sprang out, teeth bared in an attempt to bite the boy.  Wanting in on the action, Jozz ran forward to help, but even as he pulled up alongside his brother, Kall swung his club again in a great overhanded arc and flattened the rat in a mess of gore.      “Alright!” said Kall.    Even as Kall smiled another rat leaped out of the shadows and ran at them.  It bit at Jozz who managed to leap back just in time.  Kall swung at the rat with his club and the result was another dead rat.    Nothing else leaped at them and so they looked around, seeing what they could see.  “There,” said Jozz and cocked his crossbow and fired up into the shadows above them.  A rat squealed and, impaled by the bolt, flew off the box it had been perched on.  It landed on the ground dead.  It was Jozz’s turn to smile.  They could see no more rats where they were standing and so together they began to walk the warehouse, peering up at the tops of boxes and back, into the dark corners.  Despite their close scrutiny, they were still surprised by two ferocious rats that charged at them from out of the shadows.  Back to back, the brothers swung around, avoiding being hit and fighting to hold back the two rats.  Jozz managed to scratch one with his dagger even as it was charging in to bite Kall.  It connected and Kall cried out from the injury.  Enraged, Kall swung hard at the other rat, killing it.  The first rat continued to bite Kall as Jozz struggled futilely to stab it.  Kall managed to kick it away and with a swing of his great club he finished its life.  Jozz looked questioningly at Kall’s bleeding leg.  Kall shrugged it off.“I want to kill more rats,” said Kall smiling.They killed another rat that ambushed them, Jozz sustaining a minor bite.  Then Jozz managed to shoot another one that was crawling along above them.  That seemed to be an end to the rats that they could see.  Looking around the warehouse however they saw that there were stairs going down.“Let’s go,” said Kall.  It was dark at the bottom of the stairs however and so prudence dictated that they find a light.  Jozz scrounged up a lantern from one of the walls of the warehouse and lighting it they proceeded down the stairs.  There were three rats at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at them and hissing.  These were even bigger than the ones that had been above.  Seeing them, Jozz fired.  But his shot was wild and missed them completely.  Hissing furiously, the three rats charged up the stairs.  Both boys were bitten.  “Now I am mad,” roared Kall and he swung hard, smashing one of the rats open.  He was bitten again, as was Jozz.  Kall swung a second time and killed a second rat.  Jozz, ignoring his pain, feinted to the left and then when the rat opened itself up, he plunged his dagger into it’s side, killing it.“Let’s go on,” snarled Kall.“We need healing,” argued Jozz.Listening to his brother, Kall relented and the two boys made their way to the warehouse entrance.  The warehouse owner looked at their bleeding bites and winced.  “How many did you kill?” he asked.“Ten,” said Jozz.“Good job boys!  I can find someone else perhaps to get the rest.  In the meantime, here is the 10 silver pieces I promised you.  Get those bites tended to.”Jozz took the coins and smiled.  Money and glory indeed!  With happy hearts they headed northward towards the temples.*********************************As the sun was rising higher into the sky, Tilliana strolled out of Muratuur’s Welcome for a day on her own.  The companions had been in Geanavue for a couple of days now, enjoying the bustling city and the comforts of the inn.  Tilliana had a rough plan for the day.  She planned on checking up on the girls they had rescued from the clutches of the vile cleric and his men and then perhaps looking for her aunt Zilma.  The air was warm and the sky was clear.  With a light heart Tilliana set forth.“Excuse me, miss!” yelled a man at Tilliana.  He was dressed as an officer of the watch and Tilliana noticed a squad of men with him.  The officer, a young handsome man, left his men and made his way over to her, striding briskly.  “Are you Tilliana?” he asked as he came closer.“Yes sir.”“I thought so, we don’t see many female Servants of Naemae in the city.  I am Latoor Soi, Caalavelar of the Teerel district.  It’s good to meet you.  I was looking for you or one of your friends.”“What can I do for you?”“Well, first of all, I want to officially welcome you to Geanavue.  But I also wanted to talk to you.  We heard about a little mix-up that happened in Loona and we talked to the priests at Geona Hau and so we are aware that you rescued a number of women that had been kidnapped, included three or four that we had been officially looking for.  Still, there did seem to be a number of corpses in Loona and we thought it would be a good idea to caution you.  Geanavue is a peaceful city and we like to keep it that way.  I would greatly appreciate it if you did not kill anyone else while you visit with us.”“Uh-huh,” said Tilliana, feeling slightly guilty at having to be cautioned by an officer of the watch.  “Still, I am sure that we won’t have any troubles with you,” sail Latoor with a broad smile, “Just make sure to listen to members of the watch, citizens are duty bound to do whatever a watch officer tells them to do, understand.”“Yes sir,” said Tilliana.“Good, and I must say, I look forward to seeing you around.  You have a good day.”“Thank you sir,” said Tilliana.Latoor strolled back to his men and they walked off through the crowd.  Gathering her thoughts, Tilliana headed west, planning on strolling past the castle and then north through the market to Geona Hau, the temple to the god of peace.  As she walked through the market, she heard loud laughter from her left.  Looking over she saw a small crowd beginning to gather in front of an open tavern.  An argument was apparently starting between a well-dressed young man and a rather provocatively dressed woman.  The woman was clearly upset and the man was laughing at her.  Glaring, the woman moved to slap the man who ducked and kicked her into the mud.“That’s where you truly belong!” said the man with glee.The young woman, sitting in the mud seemed about to cry.  “But you promised…”“I promised?  My dear I believe you are mistaken, I said nothing of the king.”“But you said,… you said after last night we would be together.”The man made a face and the crowd laughed.  Tilliana, though she felt no real sympathy with a woman that could let herself be used like that felt irritated at the coldness of those who were laughing at her expense.  The man fished some coins out of his pocket and threw them in the mud besides her.“I suppose I do owe you something after last night… I should think this is better than the going rate,” he sneered.  The woman turned scarlet, embarrassed and began to cry.  The man and his friends laughed and turned to walk away.  Savagely, the woman snatched the coins off the ground and turning to the crowd she yelled, “Is there no one here who will defend me?”  She quickly counted the coins, “Eight gold glints to the man who will be my champion.  Thrash this brute who has insulted me and I will give you all the money I have.”  A second woman stepped forward, “I’ll add my coins to that.  12 gold glints to the one who will defend the honor of my friend Sabine!”There was an amused gasp from the crowd and the young man turned around in surprise.  Seeing that no one else was stepping forward, Tilliana stepped forward.“What did he do to you?”The woman took in Tilliana’s outfit, her armor and her sword and then answered, “He insulted me, my lady.  He lied to me and now he kicks me into the mud.”“What did he promise you?” asked Tilliana, though she knew the answer.Before the woman could reply, the young man laughed, “A woman threatens to fight me!  They do have to stick together I suppose.”Tilliana glared at him.  She had intended to try to avoid violence, still recalling the cautionary visit of Latoor Soi.“I will defend your honor,” said Tilliana to the woman.  She turned to the man, who somewhat surprised raised his fists.  He was wearing light leather armor Tilliana noticed, so she did not feel too guilty about being in armor of her own.  She moved toward him and the fight began.  Almost from the beginning it was clear that the young gentleman was outclassed.  Tilliana moved to avoid most of his punches, landing two good, hard jabs.  He circled warily, and for several seconds neither one managed to land a good solid punch until finally Tilliana, landed a fierce uppercut that laid him out cold on the ground.   “He shouldn’t have laughed,” muttered Tilliana to herself.  “Thank you,” said the woman, Sabine, handing Tilliana the coins and grinning broadly.“Keep them,” said Tilliana, “I don’t need them.  I only fought to teach him a lesson.”    “Thank you very much then,” said Sabine and she and her friend walked off laughing.  Several people congratulated Tilliana on her victory and the young man’s friends hefted him up and made their way southward through the market.    “Excuse me,” said a voice.  It was a young man trying to get Tilliana’s attention.  Tilliana looked at him.  He was a young man, blonde, very tall, but most likely in his early teens.  Next to him stood another young man who, despite being almost twice as big, could only have been his brother.  Both were, Tilliana noticed, bleeding from a number of wounds, bites perhaps.    “Yes,” said Tilliana.    “Me and my brother were attacked by some rats today and you looked like a cleric.  We wondered if you could help us?”    Tilliana sighed and looked at their wounds, “I guess.”  She offered up prayers for both of them and their wounds healed up completely and the bleeding stopped at once.  The crowd around her murmured its approval at her generosity.    “Thanks a bundle, I am Jozz and this is Kall.”     “You’re welcome,” said Tilliana.    “My dear,” said another woman, grabbing Tilliana by the arm, “Can it be?”    Wondering at this new intrusion, Tilliana turned to the woman and caught her breath.  For a moment she thought it was her mother.  Then she saw it was not.  The appearance was similar, but this woman was older and slightly heavier.    “Aunt Zilma?”    “You must be Tilliana!  You look just like Zailoo!  I haven’t seen you in years girl, not since you were what, five, no not even that old!  But I would know you anywhere!  You must come home with me!  I am not working right now, I can feed you and we can talk!  What are you doing here in Geanavue?  I see you are a cleric of Naemae, just like your father, I bet he would be so proud of you!”    Zilma took Tilliana home and fed her and talked.  She pried Tilliana for news of Zailoo and of Tilliana’s brother and relayed quite a bit of information and gossip about the various relations of Tilliana’s in the area.  The talk turned eventually to the fact that Tilliana was planning on soon heading up to find her father’s old temple and to the fact that Tilliana actually knew very little of her father’s activities in that area.   “I am not surprised,” said Zilma, “Your mother never did like talking about it and she was so miserable when she was forced to leave I think she would be ahppier not talking about it, but I am here.  I can tell you what I know.  Your father was in a group of adventurer’s.  They were all four from the coast.  There was Roanai, your father of course.  And there was Fleet, and Elias, and Tamil.  These four found an area where there was a great deal of evil and they worked to eliminate it.  There were some caves, and an evil temple and this castle, built right over a waterfall and all sorts of horrid monsters lived there.  They succeeded though and totally cleaned the place out and then they settled down and built right there in that spot.  Your father built a temple and then built his house right next to it.  Fleet, he loved horses and he built himself a ranch.  Elias built himself a little fort and then a water-mill and Tamil, he was a wizard, he built a tower for him and Angel, his cat.”At the mention of Angel, a vague memory jarred in Tilliana’s memory.  “Angel,” said Tilliana, “was he a white cat?  And he could talk, couldn’t he?”“That’s right.  All you children thought that was the neatest trick in the world, that talking cat.  And you are right, he was a pure white, short haired cat.  Anyway, there we moved soon after that mill was built, your grandfather working the mill and soon farmers were moving in and things were being built up.  Your father married my sister and your brother was born and then you.  I was sorry when we had to leave, that was a real nice piece of country.  You know, I have a map I have kept back.  Let me get it for you.  You can have it.  If you are going that way it might be useful.”Zilma left Tilliana for a few minutes, only to return covered in dust and carrying a parchment upon which a map was drawn.  Tilliana gazed at it as Zilma pointed out the features.  “Here’s where your father’s temple was, marked by the eye of Naemae, and down here was the mill and up there was the ranch and the cat marks Tamil’s tower.  The castle was up here.”“What do you know about the castle?” asked Tilliana.“Only that nobody lived there while your father was alive.  They always felt it was too out of the way, hard to get to and they wanted to be where people could live, so they just let it stand empty.”“The woods,” asked Tilliana, “anything in them?”“Only deer when we lived there.  Over here was your father’s favorite fishing spot, a nice little pond.”“Did you know my father well?”“He did marry my sister.  He was a good man, very likable.  I always liked him anyway and he treated your mother well.  Your mother hated it when she had to leave her house.”“Why did we leave?” asked Tilliana.“Well, there was a dragon in the mountains and people said it was forming an army of fire-giants.  Your dad and the others thought they were the ones to take care of it.  Off they went.  I think Angel, that was the cat, knew they were dead first.  Tamil did not take him with him and Angel knew when Tamil died.  After they were gone, there was nobody to defend us.  Things started coming back to the caves and your poor mother couldn’t fight them.  She was forced to move back with us, and then things just got worse and we all had to leave the area and come back south.  There weren’t enough of us to fight and it didn’t seem worth dying for.”“What happened to Angel?”“We left him.  That cat refused to leave that tower and we couldn’t make him so we just had to leave him there.  I don’t know what happened.  He’s probably dead now, he was after all, in the end only a cat and it’s been fifteen years.  Will you look at that!  Where has the time gone.  I have to go to work dear, but you come visit again!  Where are you staying? ”Happy at having had such a nice visit, Tilliana said her good-byes and let her aunt leave for work.  Then she herself turned to head towards Geona Hau, still wanting to find out how the girls they had rescued were doing.  It was about an hour after noon.As she walked down the streets, trying to find her way back, she was startled by a small cloaked figure that bumped into her and then took off at a run down the street.  With a start, Tilliana realized she had just been robbed.“Hey you,” she shouted and started to give chase.  Her armor slowed her and the thief slowly gained ground.On the other side of the street Jozz and Kall were walking home. “Did you see that,” said Jozz as he saw Tilliana run by, “she was chasing someone, come on.”Tilliana turned a corner, following the thief into a narrow alley between two buildings.   Stopping she grasped her silken holy symbol and barked out a command, “STOP!”The thief instantly came to a screeching halt.  With a smile Tilliana started forward again when she heard another voice from the shadows mutter something.  Her muscles froze.  A spell, she realized with frustration.  In a second about eight people were surrounding her, clubbing her to the ground with saps. Everything went black.A block away, Jozz watched from around a corner.  “Let’s go get them,” said Kall.“There are too many of them,” said Jozz, “lets follow them.”Tilliana came to and immediately felt cold.  With a start she realized that she was nude and that her hands were bound to the wall above her head, a very compromising position.  “I thought a small healing spell would bring you around,” gloated the man in front of her.  He was completely shaven and was wearing only a loosely fitting toga.  Around his neck was a boar tusk on a leather sting.  He reached out and stroked Tilliana’s face.“That was a very profitable little enterprise that you and your friends busted up on me and I was not happy in the least.  But you shall have a chance to make it up to me, my dear.  I shall be back in just a minute as soon as I get some toys and some other friends to play with you.  I am so looking forward to a moment of revenge upon you.”He savored the look of horror on Tilliana’s face and then left her.  He closed the door to the room behind him, leaving her naked and alone, tied to a wall in an otherwise barren room.  On the floor Tilliana saw her clothes and armor piled in a heap, her sword next to it.  There was no way however for her to get to them.There was however a window in the room and even as Tilliana noticed it, she heard something outside the window.  Somebody crouched down and looked in it.  Tilliana realized she was in a basement of some sort.  As Tilliana scrutinized the face through the dirty glass pane, she recognized it.  It was one of the boys she had healed earlier in the day.  For his part, he looked slightly surprised to see her.  He fiddled with something and after about a minute, he had the window unlocked.  He wiggled his body through and landed on the floor.  A second later his brother followed suit.  “Untie me,” hissed Tilliana at the first boy who was gaping at her.  Quickly he complied and pulling out his dagger he sliced the ropes over her head.  His brother moved to help him, undoing the knots for Tilliana.“Thank you dears,” she said, “Now turn around, don’t look.”  As they blushed and turned their backs on her she rushed forward and grabbed her clothes, dressing hastily.  As she dressed she talked quietly to them.  “There is a man coming back in here in a minute, a very bad man.”“We will help you,” said Jozz.  His brother nodded in agreement.“Thank you, you can look now.”  She moved to don her armor next and readied herself for battle.  They soon heard footsteps out in the hall and Tilliana motioned for the two boys to stand back out of the way.  Jozz moved behind the door and Kall his himself on the other side of the room from Jozz.  As the door began to open, Tilliana muttered a brief prayer and reached out to touch the man coming through the door.Even as she touched him, she realized that it was not the priest of the Vice Lord.  But as she recognized him as one of those who had been beating on her in the alley she did not check her hand.  As she touched him, there was a flash and the man fell to the floor dead.“Was he a bad guy?” asked Jozz.“Yes dear,” said Tilliana, hefting her sword and noticing another man standing in the hallway outside the door.  As the boys were moving out of hiding, Tilliana was charging into the hall.  She swung her sword in a vicious arc and cleaved the man open.  Like the first man, he never had the chance to say a word.The boys looked out in the hallway.  There was a door on the left and another down the hall at the end.  Jozz moved forward to take the lead and he opened the door on the left.  There was a man standing inside.  He looked up startled.  He could see Jozz, but Tilliana and Kall were still out of sight.“Who are you?” he demanded.“I’m Jozz.”“Yeah well, but who are you?”“Oh, I’m a hero.”With a start the man drew his short sword.  Before he could do anything else though, Jozz raised his crossbow and shot him in the chest.  The man fell dead.  Jozz stared a minute.  He had actually killed someone, a person.  “Search his pockets,” directed Tilliana, snapping him out of his thoughts.  They searched all three bodies and found quite a few glints and a key.  It looked like perhaps a house key.  Tilliana too the key.  Jozz marched over to the other door in the hallway.“Follow me,” he said gallantly.  As Tilliana did so, she suddenly realized with a start that the boys were unarmored.  It was dangerous for Jozz to be so bold, but it was brave.  The door opened to reveal stairs going up.  The three started up them just as two other men were starting down.  Jozz fired but missed.  With a shout the two men ran down the stairs charging.  Tilliana parried one sword thrust and with a powerful swing she ended the life of her attacker.  Kall with his club did the same to the other man.  As Tilliana looked at the bodies, she guiltily remembered what Latoor Soi had told her that morning.  Thinking of that, she let out a little groan as the boys searched the bodies.  These two also had gold and the boys also found another key matching the one Tilliana already had.  The stairs led into a kitchen.  As they entered the small room, they heard voices through an open doorway.  As the voices drew nearer, Tilliana prayed for a blessing upon Jozz.“Come on men, I promised you a treat and I am going to deliver.  She…,”  The sentence was cut short as the speaker entered.  It was the toga wearing priest.  With him were two men, though the second man was actually a halfling.  In the priest’s hands were all manner of strange rods, whips, chains and ointments.  “Who are you?” demanded Jozz.“There you are little one,” said Tilliana to the halfling, realizing it was he that she had been chasing.Kall did not waste time speaking.  With a shout he rushed at the halfling, clubbing the small man over the head.  Tilliana, only a fraction of a second behind sliced into the unarmored evil cleric.  Jozz, realizing that dialogue was not going to occur, shot the other companion of the priest.  His aim was true and the man died clutching the bolt through his chest.  The priest raised his hands to defend himself, but with a terrific shout, Kall brought his club around and literally tore the man’s head off.  Tilliana wiped her blade.  Behind the men she could see the door leading out.  She did not want to stay any longer than she had too.  She helped them search the bodies and after dividing up all the gold they had found between the two boys, she made them leave the keys they had found on the bodies and made Kall clean his club off.  Then, as casually as she could manage she and the boys left the house.  “I would greatly appreciate it,” said Tilliana with an embarrassed smile, “If you would not mention this to anybody, alright.”“Sure,” said Jozz.She healed herself on the way to Geona Hau.  It was about four hours after noon when she finally managed to reach the temple and inquire after the girls.  It turned out that they had all been released the day before.  After the drugs had worn off, they had known who they were and each of them had possessed family to go to.  Tilliana tried to get specific information, but none was forthcoming.  Not quite satisfied, but having nothing else she could do, she left the temple, aware of the scathing glances her attire caused within.She was making her way back through the market towards the castle when she became aware of two men moving through the crowd talking to each other.  She could not help but overhear their conversation.“That fat fool didn’t even notice it was missing.”“Shut up and move, he will notice it soon enough.”She saw the two men clearly and noticed they were tussling over a black velvet pouch.“Give it here, let me see it.”“I have it, just move.”A shout for the watch rang out from a stall nearby and the two men startled started running, still fighting over the pouch.  As they ran a small red stone fell and landed on the ground in the gutter.  Tilliana moved towards the men but they were lost in the crowd.  She glanced down and saw it was a small gem lying on the ground.  She wrestled with her conscience for a moment, tempted to just leave it there and forget she had seen anything.  Then with a sigh, knowing it was the right thing to do, she bent down and picked up the gem.  It did not seem all that valuable.  Holding it she made her way to the stall where even as she walked a group of watchmen were gathering.“Excuse me sir,” hollered Tilliana, holding out the gem and offering it to the merchant behind the stall, “is this yours?”“Who are you?” shouted the merchant angrily, “Where did you get that?”“Tilliana?” said a voice.She turned.  It was Latoor Soi.  “It’s alright Necoot, I know her.”“Two men were running that way,” said Tilliana, “they dropped this on the way.”Latoor took the stone and handed it to Necoot.“Thank you Tilliana, I appreciate you honesty, did you get a good look at the men?”“Yes,” said Tilliana and she described them.“I think I know just the men responsible,” said Latoor, “I’ll dispatch some men immediately to check on it. ”  He spoke to one of the watch men and shortly a group of them was leaving.  “So tell me,” said Latoor in a very friendly fashion to Tilliana, “How was your day today?”Tilliana hesitated, immediately feeling guilty.“Um, I had a very interesting day.  I found a relative of mine, an aunt and had a nice visit with her?”Latoor looked at her curiously.“Why do you look guilty about something,” he asked.“No reason,” she lied.  He was not fooled.  Smiling he grasped her arm and said as they walked, “I want to compliment you on helping out back there.”“I try sir.”  “But I find it surprising that such an attractive woman could get into so much trouble.  Do me a favor and stay out of trouble.”“Yes sir,” she said curtly and freeing her arm she walked away, determined to head back to her inn and go to bed early.Latoor smiled as he watched her walk away and then chuckling he returned to his duties.</blockquote>

Verification