Shackled City - Chapter II

[Verbatim]

ooc: Could this be a good chance for some Raven/Zeric rp? Survey says - definately...

If someone challanges you, they must be put to the sword. If you allow one person to question your authority and live, you weaken the strength of our Lord. Hextor does not allow for weakness of anykind...

Zeric heard the words of Braxtos echoing in his mind as he looked into Raven's dark stare.

~She and the others would have been put to the sword long ago were I the man many think I am...~

Keeping his gaze steady as he kept contact with Raven, Zeric turned away only after Raven had broken her silent challange first.

~She has fire, but it must be tempered...~

When she spoke of him using the benches, a humorless smile worked its way onto Zeric's face.

"Those who trained me stressed the importance of always being aware of your surroundings. Failure to see any advantage was met by the lash, or worse.

 

[Manzanita]

"Your upbringing was harsh, was it not? Even though I never knew my parents, the orphanages of Saint Cuthbert served me better than many a child's true parents. They fed me well, and taught me much. They worked hard to teach us discipline. Not that they always succeed."

 

[Verbatim]

"My parents were both entertainers, much like the dandy, except they were actors instead of singers. They were also thieves when they felt no one was watching them."

Zeric paused as he warred with the desire to speak, however briefly, of his past and his more pragmatic side. In the end, his words betrayed his decision.

"They were captured by followers of Hextor while we were on the road. They had been foolish enough to break into what they believed was a church of Heironeous, but quickly found out how wrong they were. My father had his throat slit in the street in front of me, and while they did not force me to see my mother being violated for their enjoyment, I heard them all the same..."

Turning a corner as they approached the gathering hall, Zeric's strides never slowed as his voice became flat and emotionless once more.

"For the next six years, I was in the camps of the Hextorites as they sought to mold me into their god's image. I was taught to kill men, women, and children without remorse if they stood in the way of Hextor's will, and truthfully, I learned my lessons very well. However, while they taught me to be deadly, they could not convert me to be a follower of their black blooded god and when I tried to escape from them, they taught me the error of my ways..."

Zeric's eyes were distant as the neared the room.

"I begged for death that night Raven. I begged for death with every god that would listen, but Hextor made my words fall upon deaf ears. However, in his folly, he called off his dogs before they finished the job and the Cuthbertians found me. Ironic is it not? The god of vengence taking pity on a soul such as mine, but the pity came with a price. The church does not trust me fully, they believe me to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but yet here I am, acting in their will to save those who can't save themselves. Perhaps this is why Cuthbert spared me, perhaps I am to be his tool of dark vengence..."

 

[Majin]

Zeric and Raven retrieve a bench from the theater and return to the party successfully without incident. They then proceed to make a bridge with the bench, laying it across the 5 foot gap.

 

[Verbatim]

As Zeric placed the wooden bench across the opening in the floor and used his body as a living anchor, he turned to face Raven.

"The door is yours once more."

 

[Manzanita]

Raven

As they walk back with the bench, Raven says "When this is over, and you seek vengence against the followers of Hextor, you may count on me for assistance."

Once the bench is laid down, Raven crosses over and inspects the door for traps. Listens. And if all seesm clear, will try to open it.

 

[Verbatim]

As they walk back with the bench, Raven says "When this is over, and you seek vengence against the followers of Hextor, you may count on me for assistance."

Looking at the female rogue, Zeric pondered her words for a moment before answering her.

"Be careful before volunteering in any fight Raven, especially one that can never be one."

 

[Majin]

Raven finds no more traps on the secret door and easily pushes it open to reveal a small room. One door, marked with a 'D' rune stands in the octagonal room. The floor is actually a large wooden platform supported by taut iron chains looper over eight enormous pulleys bolted to the 15-foot-high ceiling. One end of each chain is fastened to a corner of the platform while the other end drops through a hole in the platform, connected to something far below.

 

[Verbatim]

Once he was comfortable that the platform was not going to fall from their combined weight, Zeric turned to face the others and pointed one finger into the darkness as he spoke.

"Looks like there is only one way to go. Now we just need to find the one that lowers us.. "

 

[kirinke]

Alinis looks at the pullies and then at the rune. "Look for a lever or something with this rune on it. That probably operates the platform." she thought again. "Or it's probably alot more simple."

She moved over to the chain in the middle and tries pulling it, to see what happens.