The Secret Scion

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like speech to be in "quotes," as well as some color that I can easily read. Thoughts in italics, preferably in the same or similar color to your speech. Everyone please put your name, gender, and race in the titles of your post.

People on the run

Bront - Melphina Delena, Female Changling Rogue 1

Rystil Arden - Rayni, CG Female Elf Warlock 1

lotuseater - Kazan Oleander - N Male Half-Elf Spellthief 1

D20Dazza - Bail - NG Male Human Barbarian 1

Erekose 13 - Hxaptös Halcyrunne - CN Male Human Cleric 1 of the Dragon Below

Someone - Harolk Karrathen - CN Male Human Fighter 1

~~~

Sharn was a city so big anything could be bought or sold, found or lost. It was the latter that brought each of you here. In a place of endless warrens, many hiding places, and thousands of others also attempting to keep a low profile, you thought you would be safe. In seemed today, however, your luck was not in. There had been footsteps behind you, a half-hidden glimpse of a face, and panic swelled through you. They had found you! You took off running, dashing through the lower streets of Sharn, desperately looking for someplace, anyplace, that could hide you. There, up ahead! A dark doorway, a quick place to hide. You lunge into it, and immediately crack heads with something. Somebody else is here! No, several someones! Who are they?

 

[Someone]

Harolk Karrnathen, male human fighter.

Harolk feels safe in the crowded... streets? bridges? of Sharn, and decides to visit the upper city. It´s a long way from the low levels where he found a place to live, but he fancies a walk and he starts climbing.

But there´s something wrong. A face that repeats too often. The feeling of being followed or watched.

Harolk turns, but there´s nothing here. In fact, the crowd has dissapeared in this lonely part of the city. He laughs at his own concerns and thinks that he´s growing old. "I must be careful, or I´ll become a moron as big as my father!"

No, this is real. Harolk stops, and tinks they could be just thieves. Looking worriedly, he turns around, and hurries.

Thieves? no. They wouldn´t act as strangely as they´re doing. If they have found him, Harolk isn´t going to flee! everything will end here and now. Twin swords come out flashing, and he challenges the unseen enemies: "Come here! I´m not afraid of you" shouts to the empty street.

But when he´s turning slowly, a chill climbs his back like an ice snake. Fool! says a disgusting voice in the back of his head. Listen to me at least once in your life. Run like hell, or you´ll end there!" Normally, Harolk doesn´t listen to that voice, but this time definitely what it´s saying makes sense, and Harolk runs.

...

He slams the door shut and tuns. The inside´s relative darkness prevents him from realizing the people there looking at him alarmed. Then he looks down and realizes that his swords are still hanging from his hands. "Oh!" pants, returning them to their scabbards. "I´m sorry. I´m... er... was... making some exercise."

 

[Bront]

Mel, Changing Rogue (Melphina Delena, Female Elven Princess)

Mel noticed they were eying her strangely. First she thought they were drunk. Shouts of "Hey Princess, wanna dance?" from the bar were easy to ignore, but they kept coming, and more and more people moved closer to her. She should have known better than to dress in her finery here.

Deciding that perhaps she should go elsewhere, she tried to quiely duck out. But she wasn't alone. "Come on baby, come to daddy" she heard the men lustily call. How had he found her here?

She slipped through another ally, and ran. She could hear footsteps behind her, and strange things being called out behind her. She kept running, dodging in and out of allys, across bridges, down stairs, till she didn't know where she was herself. She sees a doorway out of the corner of her eye, and rounds a full block till she gets to it and ducks in.

Catching her breath, she slowly starts to change her outfit. Just about ready to undo her shirt when she hears a crash though another door. She turns around, caught in an awkward position, only to find several someone's eyes darting between her and some out of breath man holding realy large swords.

Then he looks down and realizes that his swords are still hanging from his hands. "Oh!" pants, returning them to their scabbards. "I´m sorry. I´m... er... was... making some exercise."

Blushing, she quickly fixes her shirt and says "Oh, um pardon me...." with as much class as she can salvage. 'Good thing I hand't changed yet.'

 

[lotuseater]

Kazan Oleander - Male Half-Elf

Kazan had not been in the city long, but he had spent every moment of it exploring. He swore he would not let himself be ambushed again. Having finally let his curiosity get the better of him, the half-elf had looked inside the package he had been employed to carry to Sharn. He could not be sure of it's full range of powers, but he knew people were willing to kill him for it, and that was enough. So he had been up and down the city planning an escape route and a hiding place should he come under attack again.

When the attack came, he was waiting for it. In fact, he initiated it. He saw the same two thugs from the first ambush, plus a couple others. They were all watching him stroll down one of the busy thorughfares of upper Sharn. He led them around several corners, to an isolated alley that dead-ended at a panther fountain. When his pursuers turned the corner, Kazan shot one with his crossbow, kicked another to the ground, and quickly immersed himself in the crowd, making it impossible for them to follow.

But just in case, he followed the zig-zag of his preplanned escape route all the way to the lower reaches of the city, where the light of day never penetrated. He found the doorway that he had marked as his hiding place of last resort, and sure that no one had followed him this far, he calmly stepped inside, calculating all the while how long he should hole up here before he could safely return to the more hospitable upper city.

When he stepped inside, and heard the intake of breaths, his hand instantly went to his new dagger. Before he could say a word, however, the door opened again, and a hulking brute of a human came barging in, two swords blazing. He seemed as surprised to find others inside as Kazan himself. "Oh!" he panted, returning the swords to their scabbards. "I´m sorry. I´m... er... was... making some exercise." And then the door opened again, and a small women entered, and all eyes fell on her until she too realized she was not alone. Blushing, she quickly fixed her shirt and said "Oh, um pardon me...." with as much class as she could salvage.

Kazan quickly gauged the situation, and he believed that he was safe. None of the people in the room seemed particularly interested in him. What he sensed more than anything was fear. He wondered if they could sense his own fear as well. In any case, he tried his best to calm his racing heart as he stepped forward and spoke up, "It seems all of us had the same idea in coming to this place at the same time. But since the kitchen appears to be closed, could I suggest we head to the tavern around the corner and discuss how we might be able to help each other."

He actually had no idea why all these people were here. Nor did he care really. But Kazan did want to get on the good side of the tall, strong, sword wielding human that entered behind him. And he had been thinking for several days now that the best way to stay hidden was to find himself a group to blend in with. His pursuers would be looking for a lone half-elf, not a member of a party. Perhaps his ticket out of danger had finally arrived.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Rayni, Lost Elven Girl

"Oh, hello there!" A beautiful elven girl with long golden locks and amethyst-violet hair flashes a winning smile at the others in the room. There is something extraordinarily bewitching about her smile that makes all around her feel at ease in her presence, as if she were an intimate friend of many years, "So...I hope none of you is out to kill me today--you all look like such nice people that I hope we can just be friends instead!"

 

[Someone]

"So...I hope none of you is out to kill me today--you all look like such nice people that I hope we can just be friends instead!"

"Friends and whatever else you want, sweety" says Harolk. He leans against the wall and tries his best smile, quickly forgetting everything else in the room and outside it. "And how´s that anyone would want to kill you?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

Rayni, Accidental Assailant

"I'm not sure you would understand...but it is not easy for me because I mistakenly caused serious injury to an important noble. It was so stupid of me...but...I didn't mean to," Rayni stops smiling momentarily, allowing a sad look to take over her face, but she smiles again quickly, "But anyway, that let me go off on this grand adventure of running desperately for my life! And look, I even get to see Sharn--its just as impressive as I thought it would be!"

 

[Someone]

Harolk, male human fighter.

"Oh, yes I understand. Those nobles and important guys tend to be somewhat fragile, and blame on the nearest guy when they have an accident." says Harolk unconvincingly. "Look, seems that we have a lot in common. What´s your name, by the way? I´d call you babe, but I don´t know if that´s appropiate with hot elves""

 

[Rystil Arden]

"My name is Araynia, but my friends call me Rayni. I hope we can all be friends!"

 

[Bront]

Mel, Changing Rogue (Melphina Delena, Female Elven Princess)

Mel ponders 'They are all running to. Perhaps they can help me as well.' She lets out a long sigh of relief. "Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Not that you're running and all, that's just horable, but that you're not after me." Mel becomes a bit tongue tied and teary eyed "My father wanted to do such horable things with me, and my mother and I couldn't deal with it anymore so she helped me escape and now I'm afraid that they're after me, and then the men in the bar started calling me princess and told me to come to daddy and I just ran and I ended up here!"

Mel takes a few breaths to calm down, "Maybe, if we're all running, we can help each other."