Return of the Iron Star (IC Thread)

[Enzeru]

Gloria nodded and looked around for the wood elf. Once she spotted her she walked over and smiled, "You're safe now." She tried to form the words clearly, in addition to yelling them in case she too had been caught in the thunder blast.

She turned back to check on Joesph. Gloria didn't want to let her injured friend out of her sight.

[TheCountAlucard]

It takes several seconds for the robed women to notice the druid. When Gloria finished speaking, the pair simply shrugged their shoulders. "THANKS FOR YOUR HELP," she says in an appreciative tone, bowing her head a little.

[Fishy]

Corrin waves at the cluster of magi and images, trying to communicate that she can, in fact, see the man directly in front of her. As best she can, she helps him backwards and towards Joseph and his waiting manacles.

"Not the smartest way to make money," she says, a note of sympathy under the joke. "Know where Liam is going? Don't want him to get in trouble..."

[TheCountAlucard]

The bandit continues to eye the black-robed man warily, as though fearing a retributive strike. "The bandits took me in when my family's farm was razed during the war," he says softly.

"As for Liam, he'll probably find his way back to the group," the swarthy-skinned human mutters.

[Lycar]

Joseph

"Hrmph, and here I was wondering why someone would become a bandit. Would have to be stupid or desperate. Or both."

Joseph retrieves the manacles form his warhorse's saddlebags and proceeds to put them on the bandits wrists.

"They didn't 'take you in', they recruited you. And you, instead of getting yourself to another village and going on wth your life, instead decided you'd rather turn yourself into a scavenger. Human vermin. Well, it's not up to me to judge you. That will be the job of the next magistrate we come across. Maybe you think of a good reason why you didn't stop being a bandit after the war. Maybe he won't hang you then."

Lycar

[TheCountAlucard]

The robed man watches as Joseph manacles the silent bandit. Making the motions as though he is about to whisper something to Joseph, the robed man bellows, "THANKS FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE. MY NAME IS WILLER NOSS. MY COMPANIONS AND I WERE TRAVELLING TO THE FESTIVAL." The bandit winces at the volume of Willer's voice, unable to cover his ears because of the manacles.

[Enzeru]

Gloria felt a smell sickness in her stomach. Something was wrong with this whole situation. She looked to Joesph a moment and then to Corrin. Gloria didn't want to tell the other parties present about this feeling, as it might set off some unpleasant chain of events.

The pondering look on her face was as clear as the wind. Gloria would never admit it, but she sometimes feared her face might give away her very soul if she did not control it.

[Fishy]

Corrin shoots Joseph a foul look at his entirely non-judgemental speech, but says nothing. once the prisoner is secured, though, she heads a little ways into the forest to look for the bandit who took a dagger in the back- maybe there's still time to do something for him.

[TheCountAlucard]

The backstabbed bandit lies facedown in the foliage, unconcious and bleeding profusely. It seems that the dagger had pierced a vital organ when it struck, the wound requiring either divine magic or skillful medical treatment if his life is to be saved.

[Fishy]

Corin, fortunately, happens to have some handy. Working as quick as she can, she draws a wand from her belt and mutters the command word- holding the scrap of knotted, twisted wood in one hand, and the bandit's bleeding wound in the other.

Spoiler

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Cure Light Wounds - (1d8+1)[8]

[TheCountAlucard]

The wound seems to knit itself together, the presence of positive energy staving off his grim demise. Though he is still quite unconcious, his breathing is no longer as shallow, and a bit of color is returning to his pale flesh. A second touch from the wand causes him to groan again; after a few seconds, the bandit attempts to raise his head, so he can look up at his savior. However, after a few tries, it becomes evident that the bandit is unable to move.

[Fishy]

Corrin puts away the wand and leans over the bandit- her feral, flat-nosed face isn't exactly the prettiest thing to wake up to, but it beats not waking up. "Can you talk? What's your name," she mutters, watching his eyes for recognition or movement.

[TheCountAlucard]

The human continues his attempts at motion, but his efforts are futile - the only things that seem to move significantly are the bandit's brown eyes, which look to and fro in a panicked fashion. His body lays rigid and helpless before Corrin.

[Fishy]

"Fought a wizard," Corrin explains with a bemused shrug. The next step is to see if she can move the man's arms- to see if it's paralysis of the mind or body- and, either way, attempt to sling him over her shoulder and lug him towards Joseph, the horse and the manacles. "Going to live."

[TheCountAlucard]

Meanwhile, in the streets of Arton, southeast of the Luna Forests...

The unpaved streets in the town of Arton were fairly empty today - almost everyone was either gone for the festival, or attempting to beat the heat. It wasn't really too hot - eighty degrees was far from being intolerable, but the humidity from the nearby river made it that much more unpleasant.

[Tar Palantir]

Adrian Inficio

Adrian strolled down the empty streets, his fingers idly tracing the red hand print that marked the left side of his face, evidence of a recent tryst gone sour. To be more accurate, it was two trysts, who happened to find out about each other at a most inconvenient time (i.e. while he was still in town). Ah well, other fish in the sea and so on. Adrian was not one to keep a sour mood for long, and he knew just the place to wash this one away.

Horace, the bartender of the Roc's Roost, had quite a beneficial arrangment with Adrian. Adrian was great for business, entertaining the crowd with bawdy songs or the occasional illusion, and generally encouraging revelry (and drinking), and in return Horace gave him a decent room and one round on the house. So when Adrian walked into the Roc's Roost, it was to a couple of cheers and a warm welcome from the tavern's patrons.

"Open up the taps, Horace," Adrian grinned, "A round of drinks for everybody, and put it on my tab."

Horace shook his fist from behind the bar and snarled, "You don't got a tab, you old scoundrel!"

Adrian quipped back, "Well then I suppose you'd better start me one!" Horace waved him off dismissively and started pouring the drinks. Adrian continued to a table at the center of the room and with a flick of his wrist spun a chair around like a top, before sitting down on it backwards, arms over the back. "Have I told you fellas the story about the two orcs and the cleric? No? Well, you're in for a treat tonight..."

[TheCountAlucard]

Free ale was not turned down at the Roc's Roost. Happy for his offer, the usual crowd proceeded to gather around the noble. "Oh, c'mon, Adrian," says a dwarf jokingly, "do we need to hear about your latest sexual conquest?" He nonetheless listens eagerly to Adrian's story, smirking with enjoyment as he listens to the tale. Horace smiled as Adrian entertained the group, filling up several tankards as he likewise listened in.

[Ezeze]

Desiree looks up with a modicum of surprise as the bar keeper places a mug of ale beside her. She'd been intent in her meditations and hadn't taken notice of Adrian's entrance. The bar was an odd place to come and think, but it was warm and the crowd there provided a pleasant hum of background noise. Desiree didn't like to be alone. So she'd sat, facing out a window and pulling idly at a pipe.

In response to her questioning gaze, Horace thumbs over his shoulder at Adrian, explains "bought a round for the house" and returns to what he was doing. Desiree comes out of her reverie long enough to listen to the man's story, but doesn't touch the ale.

[TheCountAlucard]

(OOC: I realize Horace is mostly a plot device, but I'll still do the talking for him, if that's okay... )

As Adrian tells his tale, a raven hops up onto the table next to Desiree's ale. "I do love a good story," the bird murmurs to the healer. Turning to her beverage, the raven asks, "Are you going to drink that?" and without waiting for an answer, dips its head and takes a beakful of the foamy ale.

"Ah, hello, Adennon," Horace says as he notices the bird. "How's your master doing?"

"He's feeling better now," the raven replies in between gulps of ale. "He'll take lunch in his room again, though, if that's no trouble."

"All right, then," says Horace with a nod as the bird drinks deeply.

[Tar Palantir]

Adrian Inficio

"...and he says, 'That's no ogre, that's my wife!'" Adrian concludes the joke to uproarious laughter. He chuckles a bit as his eyes scan the crowd, catching a glimpse of a talking raven (obviously a wizard's familiar) and a new, rather attractive face. Speaking of other fish....

Adrian waves down the requests for another joke, saying, "At this rate I'll run out of jokes and you'll run me out of town! Tomorrow, I'll tell you the one with the hag, the nymph, and the Rod of Lordly Might. Until then!" He gives the crowd a roguish salute, and, as individuals spread out to their separate tables, makes his way towards the young woman by the window.

Approaching her table, he says, "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of making your acquaintance, milady." He bows gracefully, elegant but informal. "I am Adrian, head of House Inficio and arcanist extraordinaire. And you are?" He smiles, a warm and confident grin that suits his face as water does a fish.

[Ezeze]

"Desiree." The woman returns a more modest, but genuine, smile. "I'm afraid I don't have any titles as impressive as 'arcanist extraordinaire.' Do you smoke?" She offers him her pipe, and the chair next to her.

[Tar Palantir]

Adrian Inficio

Adrian takes a seat beside Desiree, and accepts her offered pipe. He takes a long puff before handing it back to her. He sighs, and says, "It's been too long since I enjoyed a good smoke. Never managed to make a habit of it, sadly. Perhaps I could repay your hospitality with a drink?" He glances at the raven, headfirst in the mug on the table. "It seems that ale is not your taste, but perhaps some wine would be more to your liking? Please, tonight you eat and drink on me. And if there's anything I've learned from my time on the road, it's to never turn down a free meal. What do you say?"

[TheCountAlucard]

As Adrian eyes the raven, Adennon withdraws his head from the tankard, looking quite content. The bird appears to look at the arcanist for a few seconds, and then hops away from the half-full stein of ale, heading up the stairs to the second floor.

[Ezeze]

Desiree giggles as the bird hops away. "It's not the ale. I'm not much a fan of drink in general. It clouds the mind and hinders the body. But I will not turn away good company. I get too little of it, traveling as often as I do."

[Tar Palantir]

Adrian Inficio

Adrian leans in slightly, his expression one of fascination and interest."So, what keeps you out on the lonely road so much?"

[Ezeze]

Desiree

Desiree takes a deep breath, smiles, then lets it out in a sigh, half laughing to herself. "You're going to think it's absolutely ridiculous. Or else not believe me. Truth be told, it is a little bit ludicrous." She shifts in her chair. "I wander; doing Good Deeds." The way she says it, you can tell the 'G' and 'D' are capital letters.

[Tar Palantir]

Adrian Inficio

Adrian's reaction is relatively inscrutable, but he doesn't seem nearly as shocked as Desiree apparently expects. He says, "Nothing ludicrous about that at all. If more people were like you, the world would be a much nicer place to live in. What sorts of Good Deeds do you specialize in? Tending the sick, protecting villages from bandits or monsters, or just giving a helping hand where it's needed?" The tone of his voice indicates a certain admiration both for Desiree's virtuous behavior and modest openness about it.

[Ezeze]

Desiree

"Healing." She smiles jovially "you'll forgive me if I don't arrange a demonstration. What of you? You speak of your time on the 'lonely' road - what could draw an arcanist from his studies?

[Tar Palantir]

Adrian Inficio

Adrian leans back slightly in his chair, staring at the ceiling and taking a deep breath before saying, "A few years ago my father was killed by magic-using assassins. So now I travel in search of the killers and those who hired them, as well as for money to fund my travels and support my ailing House."

[Ezeze]

Desiree's expression changes to one of genuine concern. "A thirst for vengeance can lead a person to dark places."