Shackled City - Chapter II

[kirinke]

Alinis grins at Orpheous. "Relax my friend. I was agreeing with Zeric. I don't much like planning on killing this fellow if he gets out of hand, but we will do what we must do and deal with the consequences of our actions as they happen."

 

[hippocrachus]

Orpheus bares his teeth in a bleached-white smile.
"That's the talk of a serial killer, that is," he whispers through locked-jaw to Elyas conspiratorally, trying to companionably scare the mage into keeping the dark creeper talking anyway. Just in case.

 

[Mimic]

"Is a spell of thought speak a difficult one to cast? Also must the target be known to them? I ask this as perhaps our enemies seek to further delay us by planting doubts in our minds through smoke and mirrors."

"Aye," he replys with a nod, "the person recieving the spell must be known to the caster. A passing knowledge at most I believe. As for its difficulty... I admit it is beyond my abilities to cast but someone like Priestess Urikas can seem to cast it without difficulty at all."

Glancing over towards the Creeper, Althron takes a step closer to Zeric and lowers his voice so only he can hear it. "Once we get to this fortress the creature must be dealt with, I don't like it but we can not just release it."

ooc: Majin, any chance that Althron has heard of the Malachite Fortress?

 

[Manzanita]

Raven

"Of course, I will scout once we know which way we are going. Malachite fortress sounds dangerous, but I'm glad we're getting some direction. Perhaps we can ask him about the one the mimic spoke of, I can't remember the name."

 

[Dhes]

Pausing in the translation, Elyas turns to the rest of the group, flashing a knowing smile to Orpheus. “Maybe we can postpone thinking of ways to kill him, for one we don’t even know if he has any thing to do with the orphan’s. For god’s sake we found him sleeping on the floor, that’s not really a crime deserving death.” Turning back to the creeper he mumbles to him self, “Why must everyone always be so hasty, one minute more or less won’t change any thing.”

 

[kirinke]

Alinis grins again, still keeping hold of the creature. "True, but we have to think of our own safety as well as others." she thought again. "What about oh hang it all. Some of my relatives spoke of mind-magic, like it was seperate from the stuff sorcerers and wizards use. Could that be what they're using? I hear that it can mimic some spells like the thought-speach spell."

 

[hippocrachus]

"Let's hope for our sake they're not. Unless brother Althron is stronger in the faith than he lets on?" Orpheus says, not knowing anything of psionics past what they are, but bluffing as if he did. he turns to the dark creeper.
"They'll kill you, don't mess us about," he says in Undercommon, waiting for it to answer their questions.

(Gather Information +6)

 

[Verbatim]

"
Glancing over towards the Creeper, Althron takes a step closer to Zeric and lowers his voice so only he can hear it. "Once we get to this fortress the creature must be dealt with, I don't like it but we can not just release it."

Zeric nodded simply and answered back.

"Cuthbert's justice will be delivered, to that there is no question."

Zeric heard the scribe's comment to the dandy and felt the familiar flush of frustration rush through him.

~Do they not understand that I want this thing kept alive for as long as he is useful? Sending it to his death recklessly will accomplish nothing...~

Keeping his tone as civil as he could, Zeric looked over at both the scribe and dandy.

"As it if it knows anything about the one the mimic called Kazmojen."

While he let the two half-elves speak with the creeper, Zeric waited for Raven to return from securing the chest they had found. While he hated the delay, he knew the others already thought of him as fanatical, but could they not see what was at risk? What if one of the children they sought was their kin? Would they still be nonchalant with their actions?

So deep in his thoughts, Zeric missed Alinis and Orpheus discussion of mind magic, and as they talked, Zeric stopped in his tracks and turned to the scribe, a wild look easily seen in his eyes.

"Malachite fortress...the creature said malachite fortress....High Priestess Urikas' riddle spoke of a malachite hold...the children are there...just as her riddle said they would be...where life is bought with gold and half a dwarf holds them..."

Looking at the others, Zeric wondered if the others understood what this meant. Wondered if they could see the answer staring at them all.

"Once Raven returns, we have to head towards the fortress, any further answers we need from it, we can get while we travel..."

 

[hippocrachus]

Orpheus skirts back a step at the glazed-over look Zeric gives him when he recites the riddle.
"Okay," he stammers, "calm down."
Gods, I'd hate to see what he's like at the gates of epiphany...

 

[Dhes]

Elyas lets Zeric’s last words sink in, “maybe I’m totally wrong, but it sounds to me that this malachite fortress is some stronghold beneath the city where a dwarf is selling kidnapped orphans into slavery.” Giving the creeper a quizzical stare (in undercommon) “what do you know of one called Kazmojen?” pausing for a second “tell me this fortress, does it hold a lot of slaves?”