Julien's Diamond [IC]

[Mordae]

As if on cue, as Luna tries to forge a path through the crowd to get to the temple, the doors open and two men emerge. One is clearly the archbishop; his white robes shimmer as he paces forward, the jewel-encrusted mitre on his head casts gleaming refractions of the sunlight. He smiles beneficently to the massive crowd, and almost at once the general din dies down to a faint titter. His grey eyes gaze out serenely from under the few tufts of grey-white hair that peek out beneath the heavy headgear.

The other man, by association, is the mayor. He wears a mantle of deep crimson, and the draped cloth seems to weigh down his middle-aged shoulders. He walks with a confident stomp-shuffle, his blue eyes bright as he sweeps his attention from side to side, trying to connect with each one of his constituents on a personal level to offer them a smile of comfort. Occasionally, he rubs his shaved-bald head as though trying to massage away some discomfort.

When the two men reach the topmost of the steps, they stop, standing with the temple to their backs and the pyre to their left. It is the archbishop, however, who speaks. "Good people," he begins, "It is mete that all of you come forth this day to see justice done. Our holy patron smiles on all those who have zeal for the law.

"But his holiness is also a god of divine truth, and greater righteousness walks among you when you seek out wisdom ere you dispatch evil with pure and just strength. And so it is that I tell you this truth: in the light of additional evidence, Malanie Gerhert is declared innocent of the crime of witchcraft. She shall again walk among you a free woman, and in the name of Saint Cuthbert I charge you all treat her with the kindness and respect due every citizen of this grand city. Under his righteous light, go in peace and justice."

The hushed murmur among the crowd becomes a torrrent of conversation the moment the archbishop finishes speaking and bestows his benediction upon the crowd. The mayor is the first to turn toward the temple, but he allows the archbishop to resume the lead as they stride back toward the opened doors.

[sdream]

"That is a relief... do you think we should offer our assistance? We might be able to help them get to the bottom of this, and steer them away from automatically blaming the gifted among them."

Luna looks around at her companions who followed her so far...

"Where did the others go?"

[Cranthis]

"I don't seem to be doing anything today, we might as well." Kelsier said with shrug.

[sdream]

"Helping this town must now ride behind finding our own lost young ones. I haven't seen Ann or Flick since the bar... I hope they are just exploring, but we must make sure they are safe."

[Mordae]

Luna looks around and spots Flick "working" her way through the crowd. Ann, however, is not readily visible.

[Dr.Epic]

Flick approaches the nearest person. "Sure, they might not be a witch, but if you ask me there's still a witch problem in this town. Thing about witches, they always leave behind an invisible residue where ever they go. It's near impossible to detect without proper magical training. Luckily, I'm a elf so I've of course had such training. If I were any of you, I'd have my home searched for any witch residue before the problem escalates into something serious."

[sdream]

Luna approaches Flick:

"Did you see where Ann went?"

[Dr.Epic]

Flick replies "Not now. I'm trying to help these people with their witch problem." *wink*

[sdream]

"If you must; be careful. I'll circle back to the grape house several times tonight."

Luna heads back that direction to look for her missing friend.

[Mordae]

The crowd starts to disperse, albeit with much muttering and grumbling. The woman accosted by Flick is none too interested in the elf's musings. "Me, I doubt there is such a thing as a witch at all. Three times now they've caught one, and each time it's the same story. They're just covering up the incompetence of the town guard, that's what I say."

Luna, Bossa, and Kelsier mingle with the common folk returning to their homes and businesses. The three try to keep a sharp eye out for Ann, but she's not to be seen on the narrow roads, nor the wending alley-staircases that cross between the streets on a common hillside. It's not a long trip, but it takes longer than before on account of the streams of people flowing away from the temple square. The congestion does not ease noticeably until the group reaches the faded grapes sign they recognize from earlier.

[sdream]

Luna tries to enter the grape house. Ann never did get a chance to explain what was so odd about it.

[OrchestraHc]

"So there is our missing companion, and there is still the missing children, and maybe a witch." Bossa recounts as he follows Luna. "We should ask about the children. Someone may actually be burned at the stake."

[sdream]

"Our someone is missing, and other missing folks have not come back. This seems connected to me, and Ann's life may depend on our speed and focus in finding where the lost ones go."

Luna yanked on the door to the Grapehouse.

[Mordae]

The door to the tavern swings open again, revealing the interior basically identical to as the group left it. Luna's bread and jam remains on the bar, uneaten. The bartender's eyes, drawn to the door like a moth to a flame, spare a guilty glance to the food as he recognizes the elf upon her entry, but he covers it up quickly by starting the conversation toward the event of the day. "Back so soon?" he asks with unfeigned curiosity. "No stomach for the business?"

[sdream]

"It was called off. More urgently, I lost my young friend Ann, the one with blonde hair. Did you see her speaking with anyone after I left?"

Spoiler

Show

I can't actually find her hair color right now, but young girl with us and non- blue hair ought to identify her.

[Mordae]

The barman shakes his head. "She left with you, that's the last we saw her," he responds. "Hasn't been a soul that's come in here since then, to be quite honest."

Flaxen-haired Vense nods knowingly at Luna's pronouncement. "Ain't the first time they've had someone and let them go. Closest we've seen to an actual burning. Maybe the next time there'll be something worth watching."

[sdream]

Luna looks at her remaining freinds.

"I think we should retrace our steps to the mayor's house then, and look for anything odd. If we spot nothing suspicious, we can ask him for help, and information about the other missing young ones."


"What say you?"

[Cranthis]

Kelsier weighs his options. "Beer, friend, beer, friend, beer... Well, guess I'll help find 'er" he says with a shrug.

[Kaiisaxo]

Suddenly the bar door opens in a violent burst and the young 'witch' enters rushing and quickly scanning the place, she is visibly shaken "Oh! what a relief you guys are here!" she quickly closes the door and hurries to where Luna is "I think I just did something very stupid"

[OrchestraHc]

Well that problem solved itself. Bossa grunts at her return. "Like separating from the group when a woman was almost burned like meat." He sits down giving her a slightly worried and annoyed look. "Bar man? Is the Elf holiday offer still open? I am with her." He thumbs at Luna.

[Mordae]

The barman gives a resigned shrug. "I've only one more bottle like that left, but if you've the quarter crown to spare I won't withhold." His attention, however, is primarily fixed on the face of young Ann, who had burst in moments before.

[sdream]

"Are you alright? What happened?"

[Kaiisaxo]

"Well you see, when I lost sight of you I relaxed a bit and felt confident enough to try to earn some coins by playing on the street. It didn't go that well, nobody payed real attention, so since people were mostly ignoring me I decided to summon a dragon just to spice things up" Ann pauses to catch a breath "It wasn't a real dragon or even a real thing, but it got the wrong kind of attention"

[sdream]

"Someone is doing strange and terrible things in this town, and strangers with few allies cannot afford to stand out."

Luna smiles and lays her hand upon the small human's shoulder:

"And stay close... I feared we had lost you to whatever foul hungers preys upon this town."

[Cranthis]

Kelsier looked at Anne with a concerned face. Although this one wasn't for her. "Am I just really really drunk, or did you just tell us you cast up a fake dragon in a town full of people who clearly don't know squat about magic?" he asked, a little to harshly.

[Kaiisaxo]

"I couldn't help it, I got mad from being completely ignored by the people poassing by. But don't worry it was entirely harmless."

[OrchestraHc]

"What? No. Not wine. Ale," Bossa says curtly. He likes the explanation Ann is giving less and less. "I say you keep your anger in check next time. As for this time, thank whatever god you worship you were not taken. I also say we speak with mayor-man and families about the children."

[sdream]

Luna gave the cold smooth face that was the elven equivalent of a stern scowl.

"We are not entitled to the attention of strangers, nor to bully them into giving it. Do you need braids in your hair?"

Luna ponders.

"Given our recent scare, and the debt we have incurred to the people here, does anyone NOT wish to help?"

[Kaiisaxo]

"I'm sorry, I acted by reflex in the spur of the moment. I'm kinda thankful I'm not really dangerous, but couldn't really help it." Ann was both sad and scared "anyway count on me, I wanted to help from the beginning"

[Mordae]

The barman returns with Bossa's fourth ale of the afternoon. "You all planning on staying in town awhile?" he asks the big man with an obviously forced as he slides the tankard over. "My brother runs a nice little inn the next street down the hill." He keeps stealing glances over toward Ann, whose admission to conjuring an illusory dragon has also garnered attention from the otherwise imperturbable card players.