[WFRP] The Lord of Lost Heart (II)

[Exeson]

Ithelus slides the knife back into it's sheath and walks slowly over to the boy. 'Can I have a chat with you, son? won't take long, and you know these two are trustowrthy people. They won't hurt him.'

Without even waiting for a reply Ithelus steps outside the door and puts a hand on the boy's shoulder. Moving in close and lower his voice he asks, 'How much do they pay you? It can't be much.'

[LCP]

Ithelus & Pieter

Rodrik looked a little confused, and more than a little unsettled to be addressed by an elf. He rubbed the bruise on his head and looked at his shoes.

"The Verlorens?" he asked, dimly. "I dunno... they keep us fed, like."

[Exeson]

Ihelus nodded sympathetically. Reaching into a pouch he pulls out a Golden crown, 'Ever held one of these?' The elf smiles as he plays the coin through his fingers, carefully watching the lad's reaction.

[LCP]

Ithelus & Pieter

A certain wide-eyed shine entered the boy's expression.

"Don't think so, sir."

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

Illiiya headed directly to the small shrine, treating it with the sort of quiet reverence one might save for the highest of citadels. Kneeling before the small wood-carving, she bowed her head.

Goddess Shallya. She said softly, You preserved my man's life... and my own. For that, I will be eternally grateful. I do not know your ways, but I will learn them in thanks for your deed.

Pulling from her belt the short blade she carried, Illiiya drew the sharp steel across her hand with barely a wince, holding her fist over the small area upon which she had made offering before. With a firm squeeze of her fist, she let her blood drip freely before the small carving.

Accept this offering, and my gratitude. Sae traal veshk ma'tira. For your kindness to me, I will not abandon this place that you have preserved. In your name, I will fight.

[Exeson]

Ithelus grins, continuing to play the coin between his fingers, 'Well, I got a job for you. If you want this that is. Do you get any time off? If so come find me and we can discuss it.' the elf's expression turns serious all of a sudden, 'needless to say if you talk about this... the coin might not be the only thing that you lose.'

[LCP]

Ithelus & Pieter

Rodrik swallowed and nodded. He certainly wasn't about to contradict the elf: Ithelus loomed over him in a most disconcerting fashion.

[Exeson]

'Good lad. don't keep me waiting too long. I'll be at the inn mostly.'

Ithelus turns and pops his head back into the room. 'All done?'

[-Sentinel-]

"I believe we are," sighed Pieter. "For now."

Five minutes away from his weapons, and already he could not wait to feel their leather grips under his fingers. Was that normal for someone who barely used them?

He resolved not to grace Reifennen with a parting shot or cold glare for him to sneer at. The initiate was heartily sick of smug, overconfident weasels like him and Ribault; the knight was surely better company, as far as mortal enemies went.

[LCP]

Pieter & Ithelus

Leopold nodded, seeming a little preoccupied. "Nothing more," he said.

Rodrik shut the door on the doctor behind them. Back upstairs, Gundred was waiting by their weapons: he saw them out with a nervous kind of look.

Once they were a little way clear of the manor, Leopold stopped, looking across to Ithelus. He didn't look happy.

"What in Ulric's name was that back there?" he asked, angrily. "With Esther? She's not your enemy!"

[Exeson]

Ithelus's head tilted to the side with confusion, 'Sorry?' he asks.

[-Sentinel-]

It was strange to hear Leopold swear by Ulric.

"Leo, listen." Pieter sighed. "You really want to be in the know? Fine. I've been avoiding the issue whenever you were around, but since it involves two people you love, I better stop treating you like a child."

He looked at Leopold square in the eyes and took a deep breath. As Esther had said, it seemed he was a bearer of bad news. "Remember when I told the villagers yesterday, and Reifennen today, that the letter hadn't reached Esther? Well, I lied." He paused to let his words sink in. "Rosa got her hands on the letter when Esther ordered her to burn it."

[LCP]

Pieter & Ithelus

"So what are you saying," demanded Leopold, in a confrontational tone. "That the doctor's working for her?" He did seem a little thrown by Pieter's statement. "We know why she wanted no-one to know. She told us." He lowered his voice, as if someone down in the village might somehow overhear. "Because of the child."

He looked over at Ithelus again. "You threatened her - you threatened to break into her home. How does that make you any different from Ribault?"

[Exeson]

"You threatened her - you threatened to break into her home. How does that make you any different from Ribault?"

'I don't intend to get caught.' The elf replies automatically. Pausing he then adds, 'If anyone, be it a peasant or a Lady, doesn't want me to talk to someone who might even have a slight chance of being a cultists... Well that just makes me more determined to speak to them.'

Ithelus puts two fingers on the bridge of his nose. 'Look Leopold. I know this is scary, I know that things here are... wrong. I'm scared too, everyone is. But we've been through these things before, in Delbrez we came across a nest of mutants and another group of cultists. We lost a friend... We spent too long being scared of acting, and people died because of it. If people are going to die now then I'd rather know that I at least did something.'

The elf looks at the crossbow in his hands, running a finger over the mechanism, 'Even if sometimes things go too far. I'm... I'm not as scared anymore. Because now I'm doing something about it.'

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter shook his head at Leopold. "No, the doctor's not working for her. He offered her a deal, his help against hers; I don't know if she was ever planning to follow through her end of it, but the fact is, she told no one about it. I learned this from the bandit we hanged. Yesterday I confronted her about it - she didn't even deny it. She said I wouldn't understand. I'm sure she's on our side now, what with Reifennen poisoning everyone and the knight murdering her father, but surely you understand why my patience with her is wearing thin."

[LCP]

Pieter & Ithelus

Leopold seemed out of counter-points, but he didn't look happy. He stood there for a few moments, his mouth alternating between open and closed as he struggled to come up with something to say.

"If... If that's true, he must have put her in a corner, somehow," said Leopold, at last. "I don't know." Something else flashed into his mind, and he seized upon it before it could flash away. "But on our side now? After all that? I wouldn't be so sure."

Putting his hands in his pockets in a rather sulky fashion, he turned away. "I'm going to see my father," he announced. "You do what you like."

Turning away from the two of them, he started off down the hill. Ithelus watched with a faint spark of amusement as the young man gave a sharp kick to a small stone that lay on the path, sending it bouncing away down the hillside.

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter watched the young man go.

What are you up to, Leo? Not something reckless again?

"Right... I don't know what you want to do next, Ithelus, but I need to go to Mother Yilese's house. I'm almost out of bandages and poultices. I figure she won't mind if I borrow some."

[Exeson]

Ithelus nods his head, 'I guess I'll see you back at the inn.' The elf begins to walk back to the town, the beginnings of a plan forming in his head.

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

I... will return goddess. Illiiya said, rising from her knees and looking to Lothar. Thank you again for your mercy.

She lingered only long enough for Lothar to make offering or prayer as well before returning to town along the main road, an eye out for any townsfolk she happened upon along the way. She knew very few of the people here by name, and even the few she had met she ha difficulty telling apart at times. Human names all sounded so similar at times.

Wulli has passed. She told all she came across, And now his widow may be ill. Spread word, please.

Her real destination however, was to reconnect with Pieter and Ithelus.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Left room for Lothar to post about something at the shrine if he needs. I don't know where he is, but Illiiya wouldn't leave without him. I'll assume he did something there and left with her though, to get things moving along.

Illiiya will head for the doctor's improved "prison" at the lord's place... which is where she thinks Pieter and Ithelus are (if I recall correctly, which I might not be). She will tell anyone she happens upon along the way of Wulli's demise and asking they pass the news along. Beyond that, she's expecting Pieter will be better at spreading the word once she finds him. Humans tend to react to her poorly.

[LCP]

Illiiya & Lothar

Lothar looked more than a little disconcerted at Illiiya's blood offering. Perhaps he thought it was inappropriate, although Illiiya couldn't understand. The symbol of the bleeding heart was right there on the shrine.

They made their way back over the bridge. The village was still quiet, though the morning was gone. There was something about the empty fields and the shuttered windows that Illiiya found unnerving, deep in her bones. The treetops of the surrounding forest were not silent – they swayed and rustled in the breeze.

Near the well in the centre of the village, a thin-faced woman was sitting on her doorstep. She would do. Illiiya gave her the news, though she seemed frightened to hear the elf speak to her. Without so much as a word in reply, she scuttled sideways out of Illiiya's sight, dashing off in the direction of the inn.

On their left, Illiiya could see the small figure of Leopold descending from the manor mound, cutting across the fields towards his father's house. Looking up at the crumbling roof beyond the treetops there, she tugged on Lothar's arm and led the way.

---

1

All

They met at the foot of the hill, just beyond Axel the blacksmith's deserted smithy. Seeing Ithelus and Pieter coming, Illiiya waited at the bottom, rather than climb to meet them. Lothar was sitting on a low stone, nursing his eye. He still didn't seem entirely himself.

“Any luck?” the soldier asked.

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

Wulli is dead and his widow almost certainly carries his sickness now. Illiiya said, looking straight to Pieter, I... do not know what to do.

Her tone was soft but worn and desperate, as if she were quietly pleading. Sorcery and elven lore meant less to her right now than the advice of a human she considered wise.

[-Sentinel-]

The death of the innkeeper left Pieter both saddened and worried. The disease killed more quickly than he expected; as Reifennen had said, panic would spread soon. If only the initiate had managed to save Wulli, perhaps the villagers would trust him to do Reifennen's job. Now, though...

I... do not know what to do, said Illiiya.

"I wish I did," said Pieter softly. "Mrs Flycher will speak to us at nightfall near the mill; she's very frightened about something. Other than that, Reifennen is still smug, and I'm no longer sure we can now trust Esther. She's certainly been keeping the doctor in touch and seemed hesitant to let us speak to him. As for what to do today, I'm open to suggestions."

He glanced at Lothar disapprovingly. "You should be resting."

[Exeson]

Ithelus did not take the news well. The innkeeper had been extremely sick yes, but for him to actually die.

'Things are going to get bad from now on. I hate to be the one who says this but can't we just run for it? If the Knight left Lothar alive then maybe it will let us leave as well...'

[goblinpaladin]

Lothar looked up at Illiiya, then over to Pieter. He shrugged. "Wanted to thank the Daughter for not sendin' me to her Father." He kicked at the mud with a booted foot. "Seemed the right thing to do."

There was a heavy pause as Ithelus spoke. Lothar's mood was writ clear as the stained glass of an Altdorf cathedral - he was at least half with the elf, his shoulders slumped and his face tight.

"Reckon he might. But I don't reckon he'd leave many here as were before he got here. And I think the doctor's got his own game. More'n that, ol' Three-Eyes the Lord of the Flies is dancin' about, playing King o' the Hill. The knight is his man - or what's left of him is, anyway. The doctor might be tryin' to get in his good graces, like them chaps up North - only instead of layin' about with an axe, he's being all sneaky and culty."

He swore, a thick Teutogen word, and pulled himself to his feet.

"Maybe the Flycher woman has somethin' to say. Maybe she doesn't." He wouldn't look anyone in the eye, still staring at the mud. "I'm sick of all this. We meet her. We hear what she has to say. I ain't bettin' on much."

He squinted at Ithelus and then Pieter. "I wanna go as well. But I'm not goin' have lost my soddin' eye for nothin'. If Frau Flycher doesn't lead us any closer an' no other facts emerge, then we'll just drag the doctor out and have us a warlock hangin'. Maybe he'll talk when he sees a noose. Maybe he'll just die."

"Either way, this'll be the last place he does his filthy work."

[-Sentinel-]

Pieter was visibly relieved when Lothar chose to stay in Hohlesbruck to finish the job. Had the soldier decided to leave, Illiiya and Ithelus would no doubt have followed.

Would I have, too?

"This isn't just about ourselves, Ith," he said. "If you'd rather leave and wait for us at the next inn down the road, do so; I'm sure the road is safe. But at the very least, we must deal with Reifennen permanently." He sighed and looked down. "I don't like it, but if we let him go, we'll be indirectly murdering dozens. And we're running out of options. I'm sure both the Crow and the Dove would understand."

He straightened his slingbag. "I'll take a quick look in Yilese's shack for medical supplies. After that... I'm not sure."

[BloodyAngel]

Illiiya Jaelrae

If we are certain he is to blame, why not just kill him? Illiiya suggested as if it were plain as day, No hangings or public spectacles... We would only need one person to get in close unnoticed, so they could kill him in his cell.

Her eyes flicked to Ithelus.

[-Sentinel-]

"I've thought about it," said Pieter. This admission gave him a chill. "It should be our very last resort; if and when we do this, we'll have to run for the hills, no matter what unfinished business we still have here."

A month ago, he would have objected to murder on moral grounds. Now, he only worried about getting caught.

[goblinpaladin]

"I thought about it." Lothar shrugged, exhaustion closing his eye. "I think we'd just get chased as murderers. At least the look of an execution keeps 'em from chasin' us."

He looked around at the others. "So. Can we at least go somewhere dry, with a chair?"

[Exeson]

Illiiya Jaelrae

If we are certain he is to blame, why not just kill him? Illiiya suggested as if it were plain as day, No hangings or public spectacles... We would only need one person to get in close unnoticed, so they could kill him in his cell.

Her eyes flicked to Ithelus.

'I've been working on that' Ithelus says, 'Or at least thinking about it. At what point do we stop letting these ignorant backwater humans from hindering us. We are just trying to help them.'

Ithelus nods at Lothar and begins to walk t the inn.'The Doctor seems very confident that he will be set free soon, so I'm not really sure we have time to find conclusive proof...'

[goblinpaladin]

"'M not interested in proof anymore. I'm no priest of Verena. I wanna stop him and I wanna get out of here. I wanna stop the knight too, but if we can't have 'em both then we can have one."