Act One: Tessa's Playground

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Prologue: Tessa

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Hello. What's your name?
i'm Tessa.
How old are you, Tessa?
i'm two and a half.
What happened, Tessa? Can you tell me where your mommy is?
mommy said i'm an angel. it's true. i remember things that happened a long time ago. i know words that i don't know.
What happened to your mommy, Tessa, where is she?
mommy's in heaven now. an angel man helped her there.
What was the man like? What kind of man was he?
he was a dwarf, i think. he was short. a short man. i liked him. he used to talk to me in my head. he told me about how i was an angel.
Write this down, Palkov. It might be important later.
why is the man with the funny hat writing?
We just want to remember what you say. What else did he used to say to you?
he said that i was pretty. and that if i wanted to go to heaven with my mommy, i could. i said i wanted to, but he said that the gods couldn't take me yet. i needed to do something first. VUTHA KEAR NURH STHYR RHYEAX KARIF KEPESK ARCANISS!
Get that cleric back here! She's freezing up and spitting! What in the gods is going on? What's that balderdash she's spouting?
OSVETH IXEN! OSVETH IXEN DARTAK! OSVETH!!! OSVETH!!!
Calm yourself, my child. Peace of the Saints upon ye.
...
i want my mommy. i know that she's right under the ground! can't she come back? can't you dig her up for me? somebody get her back for me, please.
...please.
It'll be okay, Tessa.
Come on, i'm going to take you to the main chapel of Coyote, in the Triple City. We'll get you right again, Tessa. We'll get you right.
Is that necessary?
It may be. I need a dream circle and some experienced adventurers.
Good luck, Sir Cleric.
Peace of the Coyote Upon Ye, Captain Havifir. And blessing on your mission of finding the criminal. Hire a mage if you can, he sounds dangerous.

For one reason or another, you have all elected to stay at the Temple of Coyote in the Three Cities. The Three Cities themselves are not the best place to be in the winter; all sorts of unsavory types come to eke out an existence on the backs of the elder gods, The Coyote, The Leviathan, and The Prot.
The district where the Leviathan is worshiped is full of sailors that cannot take the long cold nights at sea. Bordering the sea, it promises cheap ale and promiscuous women in the alleys. It also has a large, arched longhouse temple of The Leviathan that looks like an upside-down sailing ship.
The district that houses The Prot's mansion is full of shops, theaters, and poor residential housing. It's not a place one should walk at night- and if the guards are to be copied, it's not a place that should be walked during the day, either, because of all the crime that happens there unchecked.
Your current home, the richest district, houses a large Coyote temple in the center and many fortune tellers. The ruling class of the city live here, as well. The temple has a large room that has altars to the "new gods" that are commonly worshiped: Balder and Bhakrit, as well as nominal shrines to The Raven, Odin, and Thor near Balder's altar and a place to worship Ewendril Luan near Bhakrit's. In the upper pews, priests are busy cleaning. The rain pounds relentlessly on the ancient marble roof of the temple, but the sound never quite seems to reach the living quarters, where peaceful sleep comes to even those with the most horrific dreams.
Priests are absent, but all of you are in the main entrance area for one reason or another, to exit the temple, to pray, or to find something.
In the early morning, a cleric of Coyote comes stumbling through the main door, with a huge gash across his side.
"Tessa, Tessa. I lost Tessa. Out of healing magic... help me." He collapses in a wet pile on the floor, dripping blood, rain, and tears onto the tiled ground.

Zierath

Given the friendly attitudes between The Coyote and Forsetti, the monk called Zierath had decided to stay at the former's temple for the night while looking into the situation in the area surrounding it and deciding on his best course of action.

He did not expect to arrive to find one of Coyote's clerics stumbling out into his lap with a deadly wound practically flooding the area around him. Zierath moved immediately to the priest's side. "By the Scales! What has happened? Alas, I am no healer!" Zierath looks around for another cleric of Coyote or some other friendly deity. "Quick! This man needs healing magics immediately!" he bellows.

Aurellion

Leaning upon the shaft of a greatspear, the elf Aurellion surveyed the interior of the Temple of Coyote. It was unusual for him to bring his weapon into a holy place, but the priests seemed to favor his choice of weapon, and he kept tot he entrance nave, out of the way as he observed.

It had been a rough journey to this place, and the city was teeming with misfits who seemed to think that his elven heritage and the "sticks" he carried made him an easy mark for shakedowns and flat out assault. A few well placed blows with his "sticks" had convinced most of the less hardy to back off, and when he removed the "peace bindings" from his greatspear and inserted the leaf-shaped blade between the ribs of that ruffian with the crossbow, the others fled quick enough.

The peace of the Temple was what he needed now. To clear his head from the unnecessary violence, and to once again reflect that the exceptional training he had received since he was a small boy had proven itself more than equal tot he task.

When the bloody priest came crashing through the from door, Aurellion's first thought was that the crossbowman had come back, seeking vengeance. A second look, however, showed him that the man was a devout of Coyote, and in dire need.

Aurellion was about to leap to the man's aid when another intercepted him and fell to the cleric's side screaming for help. Aurellion diverted to the doorway, spear in hand and scanning the outside area for danger. Over his shoulder he called to the wounded man, "Who is Tessa? Is she dead? Out there in the streets? Tell me man, how can we help you?" Raising his voice even more he shouted into the main body of the Temple "By the blood! We need some healing here. Brothers of the Coyote heed me!"

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Do we have an OOC thread setup yet? I used Aurellion's template as the base for another character, so I'll need to rebuild him from the baseline I had saved. I'll gt it done by tomorrow lunch.

An old man came towards them and laid his hand over the cleric's chest. A soothing green light spread from his fingertips and sunk into the wound, and then swirled around and pulled the flesh around it together. The cleric started to breathe with less labor, but still silently wept.
"Tessa is the daughter of a noble woman to the south that recently died. She is only a scant two and a half years old, but she has full grasp of the common tongue. She was wearing fine jewelry, and I thought I would be enough to protect her... but, by the gods... there were so many of them...."
He looked down to his wound and took off his now-useless chain mail armor, throwing it to the side."This whole trip has been nothing but trouble." He took a small amount of cloth and bandages out of his long side bag and started to apply mundane healing to himself, grunting with pain the whole time. "I know not if she is dead. She isn't fast, or strong, however clever she may be, and I can only hope that the rabble was merciful enough to spare a child. Though after all of these experiences, I would not believe in mercy from any source, mortal or divine," he said, casting a glare that locked eyes with the mask in the center of the temple that represented Coyote. He then tied off the bandage around his middle by pulling on it with his teeth, grunting in a near scream while doing so.

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Here, have an OOC thread.

"Where did you last see her? Perhaps I can get to her before lasting harm comes to the child. Perhaps we can help", he amended,]" if this gentleman cares to join me." This last was said with a jerk of the chin in Zierath's direction.

"What in the world were you doing with a bejeweled noble's daughter in tow with no escort at this time of day anyways? What were you thinking?"

"I had no choice. I was trying to get here as soon as possible. I needed to get Tessa to the dream circle in town. She's suffering from some sort of derangement, and going inside her mind is the only way to find out what is wrong with her. We were jumped by the large black mansion in the south quarter of the town, but, but," his eyes were alight with fear as he choked out, "I think they had an evil cleric with them."

The old man gasped. "But surely we destroyed the clergy of The Prot? They haven't had activity in this city for almost twenty years!"

The cleric shook his head. "No activity that you could see, perhaps. But The Prot works in mysterious, and often unpredictable, ways."

Zierath

Cracking his knuckles in his fists, the monk shakes his head slowly, considering the information. "The Prot? Hrm." He pauses as green eyes gaze at each of those gathered, lips pursed. "Of course I will join. Forseti seems to have set me here at an opportune moment in which to serve best! A quick question: how did the girl's mother die? Was it free of intrigue or something that may have had a darker purpose?"

"Is there any cleric here with healing magic to support us? Or shall we go it alone. I am loathe to wait any longer if this girl's health and sanity are in true danger."

Turning to the injured cleric, he asked "The large black mansion? Did they come from there, so you suppose? Or was it just a convenient location?"

The cleric sighed and threw up his hands at all of the questions. "The girl's mother was murdered, with none of the treasure of her home taken, and the criminal appears to have been in contact with Tessa for some time. Is that enough intrigue for ye? I'm sure she'd be happy to babble ancient nonsense at you if you got her back!"
Turning to Aurellion, he said, "I do believe that they came from that manor. The door was open, and I believe that the cleric with them was using a very high-end set of magical gauntlets. Only a rich man could afford those." He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling, his blood still dripping onto the tiled floor.

The old man nodded at all of this, and then said in a wheezey voice, "Well, I suppose I better come with you. This could be trouble. Give me a few minutes to suit up." He goes upstairs and you hear some sort of metal clanging together. He comes back with a heavy book in one hand and a mace at his side. He wears chainmail, and has a wry grin on his face. "I don't have the strength I used to, but I don't suppose you'll mind if I come along? I have a few healing spells left."

"Not at all, brother. Your aid would be most welcome. And I imagine you are less feeble than you pretend". Aurellion flashed a grin to show that he meant no insult by the last statement.

Turning to the cleric on the floor, Aruellion said "By the grace and strength of Coyote, we will save the child if it is at all possible. Thank you for your efforts in this. Remain string in the faith, brother. All that we do would not be possible if not for you and your ilk. May there be a road!"

That said, Aurellion stripped the remnants of the peace bindings from his spears and javelins. Cinching leather straps and fiddling with buckles he made himself ready for war. The Way of the Three Spears was about to be unleashed on foes that had no idea at all what was coming...as it should be.

Nodding, Zierath rolls his shoulders, eliciting multiple pops, and waves a hand forward. "No complaints, whatsoever! I am not aware of this mansion, but if one of you will lead the way, I will follow! I am called Zierath, by the way," he says by way of introduction with a nod to each man, "a monk of Forseti." The young human has dull, spiky black hair that seems to move even when there is no wind to shift it. He wears a sleeveless tunic and breeches dyed to a pewter gray and carries a rucksack and standard supplies around his person, though there is no sign of a weapon anywhere.

OOC:

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Ninja'd! :smallbiggrin:

As the three of you walk among the city, fortune tellers cry out, perhaps trying to make a few silver from you. Their cries out are as abusive as any peddling salesman in any other city, but the goods that they offer make the journey out of Coyote's part of the city eerie, even as a sun that may have been beautiful under different circumstances rises.
A dark shadow looms over you! There is danger on your path! Your life will surely end if you continue on your course! Only I can save you, only I can tell your future!

"Terrible, every one of them," says the old man with no emotion in his voice, "Promising that dreams can tell the future. They come from all over the continent to here, looking to make a little silver. But even if they do have the gift, they would be better served staying in their hometowns and protecting their people. They're no better than whores. Why they are sacred to Coyote, I will never know."

As you walk from the paved streets of the richest district to the staggered cobblestone of the poorest, some of the aforementioned ladies of the night can be seen through the red curtains of their shutter-less windows, closing up shop and going to bed for the day. Ahead of you looms the black manor of Gabriel Delacroix, one of the three ancient founders of the city. There still seems to be blood staining some of the less than functional sewer covers.

"As to the second, i wouldn't know. But for the first, how do you think these people would be treated in a small village if their visions were true? Does anyone really want to hear that their husband is sleeping with the farmer's daughter next door? Or that their boy is going to drown next year and nothing you can do will prevent it? No, they want to hear nothing but fair news." Aurellion's mouth flattened from a grin to a determined line.

"So the ones with visions are ostracized, not for actually harming anyone, but for foretelling it. In small communities, you need each other to survive. So they come to the larger cities, where no one knows them. Where they can buy goods and services with the coin they earn, instead of having to barter with people who hate and fear them. I don't know if their visions are true or not, but for those that are I pity them."

As they walked, Aurellion thought about this for a bit, then seemed to snap out of it. "I apologize for the rudeness in not introducing myself earlier. I am Aurellion, a Spear from Alan and follower of Coyote, whose weapon I bear."

"Lovely area," Zierath mutters under his breath as they walk. He looks at the elf. "That's a pretty astute observation. And a pleasure to meet you, Aurellion. May your speartips always be sharp."

As he catches sight of their destination, he pauses a moment in his step before recovering. "Okay. That has to be the one, hm? Quite the abode, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Aurellion looks around for any signs of the mob or of the missing girl. Catching sight of the bloodstains on the sewer grates he pauses and scans about.

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Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

yeah, I know. No modifiers. He's not he best at seeing things around him. Put something in front of him to beat on though and watch him whirl.