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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Breakstone" data-source="post: 894091" data-attributes="member: 481">Chapter 9- Part 1 A Touch of EvilThe monotonous stone buildings of Steinbruch reflected the dull gray sky above. Men and dwarves wandered about, silent and focused. As Keith and Arudan arrived on horseback, carefully keeping a hold on the unconscious angel, their gazes drifted from the stolid faces of the townsfolk to the large yet colorless church north of them, then to the twin peaks of the Horsehead Mountains towering in the distance.However, like embers in a bed of ashes, two men stood out. One was a cheery-looking oriental man in a bright red and yellow flowing robe, blissfully smiling at the drab village. By his side stood a stoic figure, dressed in the crimson clothes of a jester, but adorned with a black and white mask that hid his entire face from view. A careful observer would note the missing eyeholes, if they rallied the courage to stare long enough.The oriental man suddenly met gazes with Keith, happily-squinted eyes locking with pale blue irises. “Oh, you brought back Abadon!” he cried in a surprisingly gentle voice, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. “Come Dmitri!” he gestured for the masked jester to follow him, “we must help our friend!”Keith dismounted, and carried the angel forth. “Who are you, and how do you know this angel?”“Oh?” the robed man continued to smile, “I am Sun Mao Tsu, a, eh, traveling priest, mm-hmm!” Arudan raised an eyebrow at the priest’s gleeful giggle.Sun Mao Tsu continued. “I was healing this, eh, angel, as you called him, when he flew out the window in one of his feverous hallucinations. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll bring him back into the temple and, eh, continue the healing. Mm-hmm!”Keith put a hand to his jaw as Dmitri silently carried the angel away. He scratched his chin thoughtfully, then asked, “You say you are a traveling priest, correct? Why have you come to this town?”“And just who is Dmitri?” Arudan added.“Ah,” Sun Mao Tsu folded his hands under his chin and chuckled like a child, “I came to cure this town of a, eh, serious illness. And Dmitri, well, he volunteered to be my, eh, personal assistant. Mm-hmm!”Sun Mao Tsu turned with a flourish of his robes, and ushered Dmitri, laden with the angel, into the large temple.“I don’t like this one bit, Arudan…” Keith whispered.“Me neither!” Arudan hissed back, and pointed at one of the local men dressed in dull gray. “No self-respecting elf would wear those colors!”Keith simply rolled his eyes and followed the jovial priest and his masked assistant through the great stone doors of the temple. Arudan tied the horses to a post, then ran into the darkness after the three.Back on the road, Ruskin poked at something buried in the mud. “What’s that?” Uel asked, catching up with the fast-footed halfling. Ruskin answered by playing a few random chords on the buried object. “Oh, it’s a lute. How… odd.” Uel bent down and pulled the instrument from the puddle, and wiped away dust to reveal an interesting design.    <img src="http://breakstone.freezope.org/lute.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />    “That’s strange… there seems to be an eye painted on this, but with a hole instead of a pupil…” He glanced down at Ruskin, who splashed in the mud gleefully. “Should we bring it to Keith and Arudan?”    “Meh…”     The temple was empty. Pews sat in rows, devoid of praying men and children attempting to hide giggles behind splayed hands. At the north of the church was a stone stage, with a pedestal lacking a heavy religious tomb or a preacher to teach from behind it. Keith and Arudan entered to see Dmitri, angel in hands, step though a back door to another room. Sun Mao Tsu turned, face still glowing with simple delight.    “Why are you following me?” he spoke in a voice devoid of anger.    “I don’t believe your story,” Keith announced, accusation echoing between the empty stone walls.    “I’m just following him,” Arudan smirked and pointed at Keith.    But Sun Mao Tsu’s smile did not falter. “The people of Steinbruch believe me. Go ask them; they can answer any questions that trouble your mind. Mm-hmm!” Again, he laughed a childish giggle. “Now, be gone!”    Keith took a breath to argue, but found himself already outside.    “Whoa…” Arudan spoke with awe.    Keith shook his head to free his mind from troubling thoughts, and surveyed the town. “Let’s go ask some townsfolk about this Sun Mao Tsu character.”    “You can do that, Keith,” Arudan reached into his pocket to fish for change, “I’m going to visit the tavern. That Sun Mao left me with a dry throat.”    The two split ways, and thus neither heard the tortured screams muted by the thick stone walls of the temple…</blockquote>

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