The Circus of Horrors (IC)

[Lochar]

You all enter the town proper and are almost immediately surrounded by voices, people shouting to one another, deals, trades, buying, selling. As you walk down the street, you see that the buildings are made of the same stone as the walls of the town, but several of the buildings tower above the mark of the walls.

The buildings that do so are much more pock marked, where the sand and sandstorms have ravaged the buildings. As you continue towards the market area and the taverns, you pass by one building that catches all of your eyes. Adorned on the building is a symbol none of you recognize, it looks like a capital Y with a horizontal bar right below the split.

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Ɏ, but move the bar lower.

But that isn't what caught your eye. What catches your eye is the gargantuan construct that is half-way in the building, and you can see several people climbing on it, working on it with odd tools. One even sits inside it, and if you get closer, the inside of it includes many flashing lights and other oddities.

OOC:

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Hmm, can we guess what it is? Or better yet, can we guess what universe I dropped you all in?

[shaddy_24]

Adorned on the building is a symbol none of you recognize, it looks like a capital Y with a horizontal bar right below the split.

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Ɏ, but move the bar lower.

OOC:

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Hmm, can we guess what it is? Or better yet, can we guess what universe I dropped you all in?

OOC:

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Something like this? Ұ It sounds familiar, but I can't directly place it. Warhammer does come to mind though, or something like it. Sounds like the guards had guns, in any case. Anyway;

Sith's jaw drops at the sight. Such a massive construct. It rivals his effigies in magnificence. How could such a thing be made, how could it move on it's own? More importantly, what could it do? Such a thing may even be capable of tearing down the entire circus. Could the entire group combined even harm this thing?

[GryffonDurime]

Eerie

Eerie flits through the streets in her thick veils, jumping in the air and staying there just a bit too long to be really jumping. She sings, gently at first but then more brazenly as she goes if she judges the crowd's response to be generally receptive:

Oh, sand ravaged cities, and building so pretty,
Come along, come along, and come to the show.
We've lions of iron and a master so witty,
Come along, come along, let's all of us go.

There's no magic in her words yet save her own skill and preternatural charm, and she winks playfully at Altair as she mentions their master.

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Performance check! (1d20+26)[29]

[Gardener]

Gardener walks in silence. Even without speaking, it is obvious she is seething with fury.

War? This is slaughter. How many mountains and valleys have been ground to dust for this abomination? And when it comes to bear on this... Kislev... will it care how many oases get in its way?

There may not be much I can do, but at least I can find out what I can.

Gardener seems to come to a decision. She turns to the others.

"Well, our customers will be in the markets and taverns, so let's get looking. And we know what they say about hard times."

[WhiteKnight777]

Altair

Despite himself, the vampire couldn't help but be impressed by the war machine. It was a true work of art - obviously the product of master craftsmanship. He kept moving, however, and did his best not to stare - such things might be quite usual on this world, and he'd already made himself look out of place once - it was acceptable, of course, to a point, but like anything could easily be overdone. He spoke to his companions in a low voice designed to carry no further.

Aye, let's see what information we might exhume - this place seems like it carries with it many dangers, and we'd best be familiar with them. That machine, for example - reminds me of constructs used in some of the great battles of the Blood War. If such things are the usual tools of war in this place, we'd best keep on our toes should the war those guardsmen mentioned come 'a marching home. Still... where 'ere danger's on the wind so too do we find opportunity - deals to be woven in shadow and blood. Let us see what our eyes and ears might ferret out. With the sun so bright, the shadows will be all the darker.

He continued, heading towards the door of the most convenient tavern and for now leaving the war machine to its workers until he had more information about it. But remember, my friends... let's keep the claws in for now. We want to find their fangs, not show our own, lestways not yet.

[Tacitus]

Cairn

The dark skinned man does what he can to stifle and hide his surprise at the giant construct. He finds his voice lacking the words to even truly describe his awe in bearing witness to something so massive that was not a living being or a conjured monolith built of the elements by the armies of the Janni. While not truly harmed by the heat and the light of the desert he contemplates erecting darkness around himself to alleviate the strain upon himself and the others but not yet wanting to reveal too much about their troupe he restrained himself.

[Lochar]

Eerie's song gets a few claps and several interested people looking at the troupe a little closer, but since the group seems to be going into a tavern, no one actually follows. Instead, they look above the town walls if they can to see the circus tent rising high.

You all pass near the market to enter into a tavern named "The Sandy Oasis." Stepping inside, you find the tavern to be of fair size, with about a dozen tables. Eight men dressed as guards are sitting at three of the tables, and about fifteen others sit at most of the others. There are two unoccupied tables, one near the bar and another about in the center of the room.

For the most part, every one of them is human. At a far table, there are three non-human looking people, but they don't look like any humanoid you've ever seen before. They look more like a were in hybrid form, but extrude none of the aura of strength even the weakest of weres have.

[thevorpalbunny]

Rahul + Szrath
On seeing the construct, Rahul stops in mid-flip, floating for a moment before he drops. He goggles.
/~Do you see that?~/
/~I'd have to be blind not to. What do you think it would take to get it for ourselves?~/
/~I don't think it would be too hard to get. The getaway might be difficult, though. If we got Lacan's support. . .~/
/~Big if. Keep it in mind, though.~/
Both walk into the tavern with the others.

[shaddy_24]

Sith takes a look about the tavern. Mostly it seemed fairly normal. He shrugged and decided to see what was available to drink. Moving towards the bar, he leaned on his staff and anks the bar keeper "What's available?"

[Lochar]

"Whiskey, Scotch, Bartweiser, or Fatima Fallout are yer choices."

[Axelgear]

Luchorpan, who has been following in silence up until this point, has already been getting ideas in her head. Not good for someone, certainly, but she is enjoying herself. War, raiders... Conflict. Every good story needs conflict. Conflict is the basis of drama. All that's needed now is a little fire to the tinderbox and this could be a beautiful show. Now just to test the air... Instead of following the others into the tavern, she tries to find someone mildly inebriated nearby. When she has, she lands adroitly and skips across the sand towards them.

"Boi gar, tha' las' raid really di' a number, eh? Really ga' walloped." She says with a smile. Of course, she didn't say who, she's just trying to find the score and not seem like she came to the game midway through.

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Just in case I need to make one, Bluff Check - (1d20+31)[14](45). Should probably get a circumstance bonus if you find it believable or not suggestive of a bluff.

[Lochar]

Luchorpan lands near a man sitting against a wall in the shade from the heat and approaches him.

The man looks up at the spryte and frowns. "Yeah, and y' damn demi's didn't even have the c'rage to e'vn fight back. Get 'way for I swat ya, stu'pd demi."

[Tacitus]

Cairn

The silvery portions of his skin seem to grow lighter as he passes into the less opressive light of the tavern and a mischevious twinkle enters his eye. He takes a cursory glance around the tavern to see if anyone might have something he might be able to snatch without creating too much mischief. He'd much rather bend fanciful stories of lies to delude these mere mortals but figures their group is not yet well enough known for his stories to be anything but absurd to these folk. If he can find nothing of interest aside from the weapons of the guards he'll move up to the bar for the time being.

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Spot check: (1d20+8)[9]
I want to seeeeeee, but I'm so bad at it! I doubt I could even beat my own sleight of hand check, even if I was observing myself intently.
And then I roll a one. XDDD

[Lochar]

Cairn manages to spot the others he came in with, but it was a close thing. Other than that, not really anything that stands out.

[WhiteKnight777]

Altair

Altair slid up to the bar, ordering a shot of whisky and sliding a sliver of black sapphire accross the bar in payment - this one fortunately unoccupied, but still valuable for the material itself, far, far more so than one drink. A glass of your whisky for myself, and a measure of whatever the rest of the bar is drinking for each in turn. I'm afraid I've no coin at the moment... The Circus of Horrors travels so much, one finds it easier to deal in gem than in coin. if that will not suffice as payment, perhaps I can provide a little preview of the night's entertainment in recompense, instead... but only a taste, mind you. If you wish to drink deep of a different type of draught, you'll need to visit our tents when the sun falls below the horizon.

[Lochar]

The barkeep takes the piece of gemstone and holds it up to the dingy light, before putting it in a pocket. He then pulls a bottle from the bar behind him and pours for Altair. "Neat whiskey." he says, but doesn't make any mention of Altair's mention of the circus.

[Axelgear]

The man looks up at the spryte and frowns. "Yeah, and y' damn demi's didn't even have the c'rage to e'vn fight back. Get 'way for I swat ya, stu'pd demi."

Luchorpan laughs at that. Demi, that's a word she hadn't been called before. "Ha! Demi? Oi dinnae realoize ye ha' a group a' half-sproites about. Now, oi jus' got in'a town, sa' oi'll gi' ya a chance ta apologize, 'fore oi teach ya s'me respect fur de Fey." She says with a grin, a wicked smile that says that she is just waiting for him to throw the first punch so she can justify smacking his face into the dirt. She has a hand behind her back, a purple glow forming over her fingers and then burst into eldritch fire.

[Lochar]

"Fey?" The man says, the word sounding strange as he tries it, possibly saying the word for the first time. His eyes clear slightly as he looks closer at Luchorpan, as the glow from the fire cascades around her hand, visible because of her tiny size compared to the human. "God preserve me, you're a talking Wels!" His voice rises at that, and all sound around Luchorpan and the man stop.

And then the screaming begins.

The man scrambles backwards, sliding along the wall trying to get away from Luchorpan while the local area clears out.


The others in the tavern can hear screaming coming from a nearby area, but don't know what caused it, although they did hear someone shout about a Wels, whatever that is. Although apparently the people in the tavern do. The eight guards stand and shift weapons, before leaving quickly.

[Axelgear]

Luchorpan

Luchorpan isn't sure what a Wels is, but she knows that people don't like it, and that's a good enough reason for her to make herself scarce. "Oh boggles... Lacan is nae gonna li' this..." She says with a worried glance about. The unnatural fire burns out and she vanishes swiftly, taking off to get up to the rooftop, landing there and watching the man run. Then she makes the decision that would either be helpful or haunt her, leaping into the air and floating after him and watching to see where he was going. He would give her some answers...

[Lochar]

The crowd has fairly well disappeared by the time the man pulls himself to his feet and runs off, fleeing the last spot he'd seen Luchorpan.

He runs away from the market area and down several streets, panicked face but deadly silent, so once he is out of the area his voice was first heard, the streets start to have a few more people in them. Eventually, he enters into a three story building and slams the heavy door behind him.

[WhiteKnight777]

Altair

Altair sighs a little, but takes the sudden panic with an air of wry amusement. As the people clear out, he calmly downs his whisky in one swig, and stands, dusting himself off and adjusting the broad-brimmed hat on his head. Turning to the others, he spoke up Well... I've seen worse. So, any ideas on a plan of action from here? To retreat to the tents and speak with our circus' master, or to try to smooth over this little peccadillo?

[Gardener]

Gardener walks up to the barkeep. "Scotch and soda, thanks."

Heading over to one of the tables with apparently ordinary people, she tries to start up a conversation, drink in hand. "Hello, gentlemen. You wouldn't be able to help a lady, would you? I've just rolled into town, and I'm supposed to meet someone named Savron. Trouble is, no-one said much past 'in Dazil'. I don't even know what he looks like." She almost manages to sound silly.

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Hide - (1d20+38)[47]
Diplomacy - (1d20+14)[26]
Sorry about the screw-up.

[shaddy_24]

Sith sighs as the screeming starts outside. Someone was already having fun. Normally they had to wait at least a day, usually more, before that was allowed. But there wasn't time to join in the fun, as Altair had put it. "Give me a whisky if you please." When he receives his drink, he gulps it down and turns to the ringmaster "Let's try talking it out first. We don't want to ruin our reputations now, do we?

[Lochar]

Gardener:

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Unless you've got some link to Luchorpan you haven't told me about, you know nothing of any racist ideas. Luchorpan's stuff happened outside the bar, and you heard nothing of the conversation. Care to update your post?

[Gardener]

Gardener:

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Unless you've got some link to Luchorpan you haven't told me about, you know nothing of any racist ideas. Luchorpan's stuff happened outside the bar, and you heard nothing of the conversation. Care to update your post?

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Sorry. Also, if Diplomacy doesn't make much sense any more, Gather Information - (1d20+11)[27]

[Lochar]

Gardener:

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Tis fine, I just wanted to keep things from spilling over between locations. I'll start breaking things into spoilers to keep it apart if need be. And the Diplo and Gather Info rolls work well together.

"Savron? He's one of the more well to do merchants. Deals with a lot of the local excavations and mining and such. You'll usually find him at the Buyer's Hall, doing business. Can't miss him, he's probably the fattest man in Dazil."

[Gardener]

"Thank you, gentlemen." Gardener drinks her scotch and wanders over to Altair.

"Is Pan causing trouble again? Should we try to find her? I could find her cloak easily enough, and it usually stays attached to her.
"Anyway, I think heading back is a bad idea. This city isn't the frendilest of places, and if Pan's annoyed anyone important, we don't want to get run out of town."

[GryffonDurime]

Eerie

Eerie slides gently towards Altair, leaning in to whisper to him:

"Can I please just start enthralling them now? They've got all their big shinny bits of scrap, doesn't seem the kind of place that's likely to know siren magic from simple song," she says softly, then waits with her arms angled on her hips for an answer.

[WhiteKnight777]

Altair

The vampire lord chuckled softly. when he spoke up, his voice was so soft as to be almost a whisper One at a time, please, ladies. Gardener - I think our fey companion will be able to handle herself without our assistance - besides, I have the feeling she'd resent the assumption that she couldn't. If she asks for our help, we'll render it, but until then, let's just let things be.

And my dear siren... hmmm... while the idea is tempting, let's save it for now. While I doubt anyone here would know the tune you sing, we don't want any word of it somehow getting to someone who might be better informed. Someone had to build that construct, after all, and for all we know they might possess a great deal of magical power and knowledge.

[Axelgear]

Luchorpan

Shortly after Altair's speech, a sudden weight is pressed onto his shoulder, nothing to such a powerful creature though. Slowly, Luchorpan's form appears on his shoulder, laughing and giggling with glee. "Thanks fer the vote o' confidence, boyo." She says with a smile, messing up his hair and then cartwheeling to the side, landing on her feet. "Oi've found out a few int'restin' facts out 'bout this place... Seems woi ain't in the same world." She remarks, climbing onto an empty bar stool.