Outside 46

[Devixer]

Chapel

Faudre stays crouched near the door, tightening her grip on her bardiche and weighing her options. If there was ever a time to make her presence known...

Once Bakewell gets nearer to the door, Faudre makes her move, rushing out with bardiche in hand, to strike her in the abdomen with the weapon's handle. If she's successful, she'll also try to grab the priest's face and drive her to the ground, for the side effect of blocking her from any shots from any overenthusiastic escapees.

Regardless of the result, she yells out "Move! Make your way outside!" Then she yells out in a strange language - calling out for her wyvern companion.

[billtodamax]

[Horizon Colony]

Anastasia will try and tear the flamethrower tank off of the skeleton she had leapt towards, turning and hurling that bodily at the rider, hoping to dislodge him from his horse before he reaches her. He will again still find it quite difficult to run her down - when he gets close she'll drop her shoulder and ram it into the horse's ribcage, using the energy from the horse's charge against it to try and cave its chest inwards.

[Deathkeeper]

[The Crystal Cavern]

"M-more wine?" Spako, that's crazy talk! You've had two bottles between you already! "A-and we haven't even finished this date yet. I mean, um, I like you. And it's veery comforting to know there's another dragon like me around. Um, your choice next time?" Well I think Sylvie just said yes in a roundabout way. Well done Spako, second date secured!

The Crystal Cavern

”I’ve seen the humans do it! They come in these itty bitty little glasses. And good! I’ll try to come up with a place. But at the very least come home with me tonight so I can get you a guest bed. I can’t trust you to fly home yourself after all that wine.” he says mischievously.

[Earl of Purple]

Chapel

Sister Bakewell is hit in the stomach and forced to the ground, dropping her black dagger as she goes down with a muffled cry. The slaves, meanwhile, make a break for it, heading straight for the gap in the wall where there is, instead, a pit. The bridge is up, and the pit uncovered and guarded by a pair of guards. One goes down with a shriek as the shotgun-raider-slave fires at him, but the other raises his own shotgun and hastily fires at the slaves. He misses totally; he was facing the other way.

Four more guards are running to the sounds of gunfire, but the slaves are most of the way across, and moving fast in the dark- they're hard to spot and shoot, and most of the guards don't have good night vision since they spent too long near the fires.

Safehouse

The recently freed captives look around in wonder and amazement, and a little fear, at the bunker and its contents. They go to fetch food, not caring too much about what kind of food it is, though they have their preferences- the dwarf looks for meat, the satyr vegetables, whilst the halfling wants fruit. They'll eat whatever they find, except the satyr and the androgynous grey-eyed man- the satyr won't eat meat, and the grey-eyed man will avoid eggs and birds. The mother and daughter stick together, but the rest don't know each other.

The grey-eyed man will approach first. "Thank you for saving us, but... What are you doing to him?" The fact that they've been freed, but one of them has been taken and strapped to a chair (and still hasn't woken up) is a little bit worrying.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[The Crystal Cavern]

Lucy shrugs and makes the request to a passing kobold waiter, and soon enough they are re-wine'd, albeit a bit late for Lucy to really drink hers with her dessert. She sips the fruity beverage from her itty bitty little glass and gives a quiet "mm" of approval.

...and then splutters and nearly makes a mess of herself at Spako's suggestion. Be careful Spako, or you'll cause some serious wine spillage! "I-I really shouldn't, not after one date. I-It can take years for dragon courtship to get that far! Besides, I'm fine! It'd take more wine than this to ruin my flying!" Dragon courtship is serious business! Showing another dragon your lair is a very personal thing!

[Deathkeeper]

[The Crystal Cavern]

Spako blinks.
”It takes years to go read a book at home and sleep in the guest room? Dragon rituals sure seem boring.” he says, sipping the liquoure. Really, he didn’t know that his people were so incredibly lame.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

The contents of the food crate are as myriad as one could imagine, for the safehouse bunker appears to have once been some sort of food-storage facility. Once Arbrim is finished strapping the blood-mage to the chair, he turns back to the others, gesturing towards a dimly lit side-room.

He clears his throat before speaking.

"You go when I'm done."

--

Once the more easily disturbed people have ventured into the side-room, Arbrim grunts towards the individual strapped to the chair. The enormous man crooks his neck to the side before retrieving his heavily augmented shotgun from a magical sack at his belt, somewhat forcefully ramming the barrel of the gun into the unconscious figure's mouth.

A taser is produced soon after, which is promptly used to violently shock the man awake, likely causing him to bite down hard and shatter teeth upon the barrel.

"Wake up."

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The mother is quick to herd her daughter out of the room, and the satyr goes with them, followed by the dwarf to make sure the satyr behaves. The halfling is tempted to explore, but looks at the man in the chair and decides against it. She'll stay and watch, as does the grey-eyed man, though when the bloodmage is shocked awake, he hastily leaves. The halfling does not.

The bloodmage awakens with a convulsion and bites down hard, shattering some teeth. He screams in pain and spits out blood. "What do you want with me?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Arbrim chuckles darkly as the blood-mage startles awake and screams, teeth shattering and crumbling into his lap. The enormous bounty hunter glances towards the halfling woman behind him, frowning beneath his bandanna as he gradually rams the barrel of the shotgun somewhat deeper into the mage's mouth.

He raises a free hand up to scratch at his face before speaking softly to her.

"Got balls."

--

At that, he turns back towards the blood-mage, shifting his grip on the shotgun. With his massive cybernetic hand, he reaches for the mage's hair, pulling his head up. He cracks his neck before coughing loudly and responding, his voice echoing ominously throughout the grungy bunker.

"Someone's gonna pay me a lot of money for you."

"Why?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[The Crystal Cavern]

"I-It's tradition! It's a big deal when a-" Sylvie sighs, feeling like she's just repeating herself. "Showing your lair to another dragon is a big statement is all. It means you trust them, a lot. Many a brave, greedy or foolish and misguided adventurer has stumbled upon a dragon's lair a-and..." She gulps, and then gulps down some more wine. "I know it's different here but I was just taught that outside of exceptional circumstances, there's a certain way dragons have to do these things."

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The halfling smiles a little at the comment, but doesn't say anything.

The bloodmage groans as his head is moved, but doesn't try to struggle. "They're... Jealous. I have a secret for eternal youth. Mostly eternal youth. Pick a person, under thirty. Kill them, drain out their blood, add some herbs, heat it a little, strip down and jump in. Half an hour, no less. No more ageing, not for six months. Easy peasy liver squeasy." He groans again. "Let me go, and I'll tell you the best time to do it, the herbs y'need, how to sanctify the knife y'need to use, all of it." He's lying, a little. He knows the ritual needs to be personalised; his version works for him, but won't work for anyone else. It's one reason why his activities are not that common.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Arbrim remains silent for several seconds before he pulls the double-barrels of his chain-covered shotgun out from the man's mouth, calmly wiping the bloody end on the blood-mage's garb. The bounty-hunter seems deep in thought for a moment or two before the enormous man's blazing eyes narrow as he retrieves a piece of parchment from within a tome at the side of his belt, setting it down upon the table as gently as possible. He leans forward at this point, licking his lips and grinding his teeth beneath his bandanna.

Finally, he responds, offering a sideways glance towards the halfling.

"Ahh."

"Not worth more than the price on yer head."

--

He grins beneath his face-mask.

"Try again."

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

"Oh... Oh. Uh, I'm a bloodmage, I'll teach you! And the halfling, anyone you want! I won't kill anyone, I'll let myself age and die like anyone else, I promise! I can teach how to accelerate healing, how to stop a heart, how to form daggers from blood and how to kill a vampire that feeds on you! I know how to create a blood golem! Summon a blood elemental! Boil a man's blood in his veins! Turn blood into acid, or wine, or water!" He's panicking a little right now, desperate to stay alive... But the secret he considers his most valuable has been derided as worth less than his head.

The halfling looks interested, but she's aware she doesn't have a say and doesn't make any motions to save him. He's a murderer who killed to mimic immortality; she has no idea how long he's been killing to keep himself alive.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Arbrim snorts here, coughing up a bit of throat matter as he begins to laugh enthusiastically at this point, the unnerving sound echoing throughout the bunker. The bounty-hunter apparently found something that the mage had said to be thoroughly amusing, but his laugh fades once more into an uncomfortable quiet after a few seconds.

He steps forward to the mage, kneeling down in order to look him in the eyes. Cautiously, the bounty hunter removes his shades, revealing his blazing eyes.

--

He leans forward until his half-rotten cheek presses close against the blood-mage's face, whispering softly.

"Try to stay calm."

"It hurts more when you struggle."

--

Abrim offers a final glance to the halfling, as if nonverbally attempting to determine her opinion on the situation.

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

There's a smell of ammonia as the blood mage sees Arbrim's eyes, and he starts to cry.

The halfling's face is pretty expressionless, really. She shrugs slightly when she sees him look at her, but doesn't have much of an opinion. Whilst she'd like to learn magic, and blood magic did seem quite interesting, she's not willing to go out of her way to save him. Especially as she's under thirty, and therefore somebody he might kill for his youth ritual.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Arbrim frowns here before shaking his head and lifting his shotgun up to the man's chest, grimacing somewhat.

"No more tears."

--

With that, he fires.

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The force of the blast pushes the bloodmage over, the back of the head hitting the floor with a ghastly thunk. The halfling flinches at the sound of the gunfire, and walks over to have a look at the body. She'll nudge the head with her toe, but the body doesn't react. He's dead. She can't help but glance at the mess of his chest, and pales slightly before looking back at his face.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Once his business with the blood-mage is, for the most part, over with, Arbrim begins to slowly untie the man from his chair. Ominously, he retrieves a machete from his pack, setting it down nearby in preparation for what was to come. As he's working at untying the corpse and setting a blanket below where he would work, he notices the halfling.

Somewhat curious, he glances towards her, speaking gently.

"First time?"

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The halfling starts slightly at the question, turning to the massive bounty hunter. She glances at the body at her feet, and turns back to him. She shakes her head slightly, before nodding more vigorously. Not the first time she's seen someone die, but the first time it was violence that did it. She hasn't said anything. Most of the others have been quiet, though they've at least muttered amongst themselves, but she hasn't said a word.

The others have spent the time in the seperate room wondering what's going on, and they're currently discussing if the shotgun was directed at the man he'd tied down, or the halfling who, they think, may have tried something foolish.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Arbrim retrieves a sharpie from within his pack and sets to work on marking a specific line across the neck of the blood-mage's corpse. As he does so, he glances back and forth from the halfling, his brow furrowed partially out of curiousity, but also out of concern for the red-haired girl's wellbeing.

He grunts before speaking once more.

"Can you talk?"

"This will be messy."

[Deathkeeper]

[The Crystal Cavern]

"I-It's tradition! It's a big deal when a-" Sylvie sighs, feeling like she's just repeating herself. "Showing your lair to another dragon is a big statement is all. It means you trust them, a lot. Many a brave, greedy or foolish and misguided adventurer has stumbled upon a dragon's lair a-and..." She gulps, and then gulps down some more wine. "I know it's different here but I was just taught that outside of exceptional circumstances, there's a certain way dragons have to do these things."

The Crystal Caverns

Spako shrugs.
”Yeah, dragon hoards are pretty sweet. I spent half of mine on my home, though. It’s really not a lair. But sure. Whatever.” he says, taking another sip.
”But I do think you’re pretty exceptional.”

[Gnrlshrimp]

[The Crystal Cavern]

Sylvie raises a finger, mouth open, about to bluntly insist that a dragon's home is always referred to as their lair. It's the proper term for it! Doesn't matter if it's a cave, a castle, a throne at the heart of a great city of gold!

She puts the finger away and lets out an embarrassed laugh. Let's try not getting caught up on the finer points of dragon etiquette, eh? Spako's world isn't her world.

Instead she huffs, folds her arms, puffs her cheeks out grumpily and pouts at Spako. Can a kobold pout? Probably not well, but she's trying. "That was mean. You're mean. I can't refuse after a compliment like that without seeming like a toootal jerk." She whines petulantly, dismayed at having been verbally out-foxed so expertly. "Fiiine, I'll come home with you. B-but don't go putting me in a guest room then! If I'm coming along, I might as well spend the time with you."

[bc56]

Horizon Colony

The flamethrower skeleton is shattered, but the rider is still coming. He twists his horse away from Anastasia's strike and slashes with the sabre at her head, continuing past.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ancient Temple]

"Mallside? Yes, I can work with that. Name the time and place and I'll be there." This all feels like it's been nice and productive. What a rarity that is these days. "I can appreciate a leaning towards dramatic monologues. I've engaged in more than a few in my time, but it is disappointing in a way, isn't it? How people can just so readily accept all the wonders that are laid out before them? How can you look at something like a phone without having a thought about the work that went into producing it? Still, as you say, there's perks for people like us as long as everyone else is blind to it all."

Idle banter aside though, there is one thing he's curious about.

It bothers him enough to lean forward on his cane (insofar as the phone's little screen will allow him) and stare intently in roughly the direction of Shazhan. "And if you'll forgive some, mm, professional curiousity, you said my name did show up on some searches? Where did I fail to cover my tracks? What information is still out there about me?"

[Ancient Temple]

"The sources are dated, limited, and likely not all that accurate. Your name was simply mentioned in this information bank I keep track on without much context beyond the description "Mad scientist". I'll provide you with a link as you will likely find it in just about two seconds either way." Now Affidavit gets to see a glimpse of Shazhan as they lean down to do something with the phone. Underneath that dark hood is a bandaged face whose only features are two red glowing eyes, the rest of the body hidden behind those bandages is seemingly completely invisible.

Then a link will be provided to a site called "The Ark", which looks unassuming enough. It just presents itself as a unrestricted bank of information.

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The halfling smiles a little sadly and shakes her head. She can't talk, but she doesn't mind mess.

It's been quite a while, so the grey-eyed man leaves the side-room and approaches, to see what's going on. He glances at the corpse, but is more interested in the living people. He's also less disturbed by the sight of a corpse than he was of a person getting tortured. "Are you done, sir? Are we able to leave?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Arbrim frowns, adjusting his bandanna as he reaches for the machete beside him, taking the time to measure the angle of the blade against the sharpie-marks upon the dead man's throat. He glances towards the halfling, offering a sympathetic shrug before raising the machete up into the air. He could appreciate that, a bit of quiet.

With great strength, the bounty hunter brings the blade down, severing the head in one mighty blow.

--

As the gray-haired man enters, Arbrim lifts the head up by its hair before grunting a little.

"Door to the south."

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The halfling watches as the corpse is beheaded, though there's not much blood. His death was sudden enough his heart's stopped beating.

The grey-eyed man nods and returns to the room, fetching the remaining ex-slaves. The mother covers her daughter's eyes as they pass the body, the daughter is a little annoyed by that.

[Hattish Thing]

[Safehouse]

Abrim stares forward inquisitively towards the severed head of his target, frowning as he reaches forward to slowly droop each lid down over each eye, an unusually respectful gesture considering all that has just occurred. When he's done, he reaches for a sack at his belt, cautiously setting the head inside before closing it up.

He grimaces as he lifts the body up at this point, carrying it across the room to an enormous machine which appears to be some sort of fiery disposal device.

"Open that lid, would ya?"

[billtodamax]

Horizon Colony

The flamethrower skeleton is shattered, but the rider is still coming. He twists his horse away from Anastasia's strike and slashes with the sabre at her head, continuing past.

[Horizon Colony]

Anastasia twists with the blow, the sword tracing a line across her cheek as she falls. She reaches out, hand flying like a bullet, for the horse's back legs. She looks like she's getting worn down - better finish this quick Anastasia!

[Earl of Purple]

Safehouse

The halfling nods and runs over to open the lid, possibly flinching from the sudden flames.

The other slaves are hanging around the door, discussing where to go. Except for the grey-eyed man, who has shrunk and grown feathers, turning into a black-feathered bird with a greyish head and piercing grey eyes, and flown off. The others were a little disconcerted by that.