IC I

[Rodriguez]

Styr the Axe Murderer

Styr jumps out of the bed, grabbing his axe before his eyes are completly open. "Wa... what? Bloody Hell... Treason? Thats a new one". He quickly grabs his pack, stuffing his remaining things in, donning his leather armor quickly before stumbling down the stairs, axe in hand, muttering a "Dey wont get me alive..." when passing Harald.

Once in the main room he suggest to grab the cart and make a run for the city gates.

Styr is ready of a violent solution to this problem.

[thirdkingdom]

Harald yanks open the door to see a young man, unkempt and dirty, wearing stained brown clothes and a red sash. "Mr. Sugar sent me," he drawls, "seems someone paid a visit to the Lord Mayor last night; the order for your arrest went out this morning."

[NJWilliam]

Tychon the Blue, Mage

Waking suddenly to the rapping on the door and words of "treason" and "arrest," Tychon quickly dons his clothes and gear and finds Adtas.

"Adtas, the horses are ready, aye? Get them and the gear, fast!"

Turning to the urchin, he says, "I bet you know a little used way out of here, no?"

[thirdkingdom]

The young man gives Tychon a wink. "'Tis why I've been sent, your lordship."

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


"Damn! That Spelani witch did this!" Kaa hisses. "I'm with you now, Styr. These things are going to burn!" Most of her own effects are still in her pack luckily, so she focuses on buckling into her armor. "Should we split up? Some of us fight through the town? Kūndala and I could stay – none would think to look for pythons. Or are we done with this city for now?"

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

Babu gets dressed quickly, and makes sure Kondo is ready for a fight, should there be one.

"Only one path now. Get to the house, and clean it out, and this evil spirit's influence with it. It's our turn, Spelanos."

Babu would attempt to get his house packed up and get going quickly with the boy.

[sulldawga]

Harald

Harald shrugs. "We were headed out of the city anyway this morning." He quickly returns to his room and gathers his things.

As they are leaving, he asks the boy to get a message to Sylmarchael to have the Hawkeyes meet them at the cliffside house. He will give the boy 5 gp as an incentive.

"Make sure you tell her that their loyalty will be rewarded with gold."

[thirdkingdom]

The boy winks again at Harald. "It shall be done, your lordship. I would recommend leaving by the North Gate posthaste; arrangements have been made. Claferum is the captain of the morning watch; he shall need a payment of twenty gold to let you pass unmolested. When you do, tell him 'the sun rises red, today'. He will know what it means."

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

"Let us be out of here. Twenty gold is a small price to pay to be free of a crow's cage".

[Rodriguez]

Styr the Axe Murderer

Styr bellows orders to Isha and Mordred to get the horses ready mumbling a "this better be no bad joke..." while trying to get some food on the go for himself and his two henchmen.

[thirdkingdom]

The companions prepare to leave as quickly as possible, making for the gate the youth suggests. The guards responds to the passphrase as indicated, and a bag of gold surreptitiously changes hands. In no time at all the adventurers have left the city of Mellas. After traveling a safe journey from the city walls they hunker down to wait; within an hour they are joined by their hired mercenaries.

1-15% chance they are pursued directly: (1d100=81)Plans?

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


"I don't know about you boys, but I'm out for blood, now. I ST we make a hard burn to our target – and raze it, if necessary. There's no way we can clear out the night stalker with public approval, but we may as well leave satisfied!"

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

"This is a sign to let the ways of the dead stay to the dead. There are ties that bind Spellanos to the living of Mellas; day or night we will face opposition". Pesha looks over his shoulder to the city, "No matter what we decide, it must include that we keep moving".

[sulldawga]

Harald

Harald is relieved to see Sylmarchael and the Hawkeyes appear. He slaps the merc leader on the shoulder and gives her a broad grin.

"I want two of your fellows to watch the road back to the city. No surprises coming from our rear. The rest are to keep a sharp eye on that house. Have them get the fire-bolts ready."

Then he turns to his companions.

"We need to make sure there are no innocents in that house before we burn it to the ground. Should we go in force, or send the quieter among us to scout it out?"

[Hrafn]

Kaa, Shaman


"Let us leave it to the scouts themselves. It is their skin to choose with."

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

"There will be no innocents at the house, given the power of the fiends. They will have beguiled any there. The questions are if they are there themselves, and what guards the house by day. We can ask this of the spirits, but cannot expect an easy answer. If they were there up until last night, the question is, what could they have arranged in one night. We know only that they returned to the city, and visited the mayor. What else did they do last night? Could they have set up coffins in the city, as well?"

Babu offers to commune with the spirits, if the others want.

[thirdkingdom]

I am ready to move on, but can we get a vote on whether or not you guys want Babu to commune with the spirits, as per his recent IC post?

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


Kaa nods and look sideways at Babu. "We may be at the point of 'acceptable loss' now. Ask your spirits what they know, if we need more information we can instead seek my own for counsel."

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

Babu positions himself to commune with the spirits, asking to borrow the weapon that injured Una the other night. He dances and sings in an unknown language.

Babu asks the following of the ancestors:

1) Is the vampire who was wounded by this spear in the Spelanos' beach house property we saw in pictures in Mellas?
2) Is there a vampire in Mellas right now?
3) Are there supernatural defenders which can operate in daylight at the beach house we saw in the pictures?

[thirdkingdom]

Babu dances and sings in an unknown tongue and his movements begin to slow until he suddenly collapses in a pile, eyes vacant and glazed. His soul is now free of the chains of his body, journeying through the ether.

Spirit-Babu finds himself in wholly insubstantial jungle; the trees and leaves surrounding him seem made of smoke and vapors. Before him slouches an enormous monkey, idly plucking spirit ants from the ground and popping them into his mouth, chewing contentedly. Ritual words are exchanged, respects are paid as is only proper. Babu poses his questions to the spirit ape.

The ape looks uncertain upon hearing the first question, and frowns slightly while cocking its head to one side. Finally, it shakes its head "no". The next two questions are answered much more swiftly, both in the negative. The ethereal jungle begins to dissolve, until the only thing left is the giant ape, staring deeply into Babu's eyes. Then everything goes black and Babu is assailed by the dry heat of this forsaken land, and the bright sun stabs his eyes through closed eyelids.