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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 4126085" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #431] The Wagon[/PLAIN]"Anania, stay your bow," Ahlear protested at once. "Why are you so aggressive?" She did not reply, favoring him with a single appraising glance before looking back to Morier. The albino nodded."Anania, stand down," he said, stepping forward, and Anania lowered her bow at once and released the tension on the string. "Ayremac, can you scout this situation quickly from above?" The holy warrior nodded."Huzair, give me that Invisibility Ring," the Officer of Umba said, holding out one gauntleted hand to the mage. Surmising the plan, Huzair pulled the ring from his finger and placed it in Ayremac's palm."The driver may fear an ambush by brigands, so I do not think he will just give in to a demand to search his wagon," Huzair added as he lifted the flap on his Valiant Vessel traveller's purse and reached inside. "Ayremac, I do have some Dust of Slumber. Perhaps if you dropped it on his horse, it would prevent a chase." Ayremac's eyes twinkled like twin emeralds in the late afternoon light."Great idea, Huzair," he said, grinning. "Give me the bag of slumber dust, too.""You've got one of the Ring of Communication, right?" Morier asked and Ayremac waggled the finger of his other hand. "Good. Fly over there and tell me what you see." Ahlear laid a hand on the albino's arm and spoke directly to him then."This man in the wagon might not appreciate the notched arrows and angels flying out; it will make him not amicable towards asking for information, specially if our dear target has already scared him before us," he asserted. "We need to be more subtle in our approach of him.""Ahlear, maybe after a few of your friends have died in the blink of an eye you will see that subtley is better suited for politicians or horny school boys," Ayremac said as he stripped off his gauntlet and slipped on the Ring of Invisibility. Ahlear turned then, regarding him with a confused expression."In your eyes your paranoia may be justified, Ayremac, but in other people's eyes it comes across as unneeded aggressiveness... and will provoke that which you seek to avoid, in my opinion, namely unneeded conflict," the druid argued. He turned to Morier and added, "And if you let Anania go on with an arrow pointed like that, and have Ayremac dive in invisible with sleeping powder on the man's horses, what is he to think about us?" Morier looked at the man but said nothing."Anania... Huzair... stay ready," Ayremac said as he took the tiny packet of fairie dust from Huzair. He spread his wings in anticipation of flight. "Things could turn at any minute.""I can cast Magic Missile at a moment's notice," the mage assured him. "Just give the word."Anania caught the holy warrior's eye and nodded her readiness. Ahlear shook his head in disbelief."I will have no part in this blatant and arrogant show of force," the druid said, stepping a half-dozen paces away from the group as Ayremac activated the Ring and vanished. Ahlear crossed his arms in a defensive posture, keeping his hands far from his weapons. He made a clicking noise with his tongue and Nibble waddled over to nuzzle his ankle."Everyone who can help to assess the situation before we find it on top of us should do so," Morier said. "The guy is probably just spooked, but let's see what he can tell us.""Let us spread out so a spell attack can not affect us all," Huzair advised as he looked off in the direction of the approaching wagon which was now close enough for them all to see. Most everyone took his counsel, spreading out from one another, wary of what Ixin had referred to on more than one occasion as 'fireball formation'.Ahlear looked bewildered at the others, and let them go on with their little world. He thought that safety in numbers was agreeable, but grumbled to himself. First they set a timetable which to his mind was far too presumptuous to make, especially with such dangers abroad. This situation was not such a danger, however. He presumed the man was driving so hard because he had an encounter with their culprit. And knowing their quarry babbled insane, Ahlear imagined, would not make anybody more comfortable with the villain's presence.The wagon, Ayremac saw from above, wasn't all that large, but it was large enough to serve one man as home for a long while if he needed and was a clever packer. It was of the sort that the holy warrior had seen halflings and gnomes occasionally use for travel, having a wooden roof and small smoked glass windows set to allow light to enter. A metal chimney jutted from the rear corner of the wagon. The whole was, unlike halfling wagons, unpainted and unremarkable in most every way.The man sitting in the narrow driver's seat was not, however. He was dressed in somber blacks and dark grays with a wide-brimmed hat shading his features. He was long-of-limb, Ayremac could see and thin beneath his voluminous wraps, but the holy warrior could discern little else before he man, seeing the assemblage in the road ahead, pulled mightily on the reins and forced the wagon to a stop."What deviltry is this?" the keen-eared Ayremac heard the man hiss in common. His hand slipped beneath his seat and pulled forth a staff of elaborate design and craftsmanship. Capped with a loop of what looked like polished brass, the staff fairly screamed "Magic!" as the man raised it."Stop!!" the holy warrior commanded from above and the man jerked in surprise, craning his eyes and the staff upward."Who's there?" the driver called menacingly and Ayremac could see a fierce energy in the man's features. He was middle-aged by human reckoning, but worn in such a way that the holy warrior did not doubt for an instant that there was still steel in the man. His face was gaunt and angular, with a pointed nose and a silver goatee that contrived to make his features seem longer still. There was white hair beneath that wide hat, that hung wild and unkempt about his face. A pair of spectacles were perched as if by magic on the hook of his long nose, and Ayremac thought that it might well be magic when the man raised the staff."Sir, I am not here to cause you harm," Ayremac said, shifting his position so that the man would not unexpectedly blast him. But instead of pointing the staff, the driver raised the brass loop to his eye and peered through it."Easy enough to say that when you're invisible, sir," the man spat back and began scanning the sky. "Are you in league with those folk ahead?""I am," Ayremac admitted. "And I must know why you are in such a hurry." The man snorted and continued searching the air above the wagon."What business is it of yours? This is a free road and I've paid my taxes," he said and suddenly shifted so that he peered through the loop directly at the spot where Ayremac hovered, invisible. The man's face suddenly split into a grin. "Ah, there you are! And using a spell to make yourself Invisible, I see." Ayremac hesitated, but then removed the Ring and dropped the fifteen feet to the ground nearby."I am Ayremac," the holy warrior told the driver.  He proudly displayed the symbol of Umba worked into his breastplate. "I am a holy warrior in the service of Umba." The man lowered his staff and tugged thoughtfully at his goatee."An Officer of Umba, eh?" he grinned. "Well, perhaps we can be of some use to each other. My name is Doctor Julius Akerman and I'm pursuing a man who has cheated his way out of Umba's rightful judgment.""Really?" Ayremac asked, intrigued."Indeed," Doctor Akerman said, placing his staff on the seat beside him. He leaned forward over the reins fixing Ayremac with an intense gaze. "Do you know of a man calling himself, Alechtus of Gudiberg?"</blockquote>

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