Chapter 3: Things better left alone - Page 3

GuyFawkes · 08-14-2012, 01:53 AM

Lucien

Seeing the target of Ma go down easy, Lucien stands more confident now. Upon hearing the old man's irritated rambling, his hopes that this would end soon is doubled; either they mow these nuisance down, or they resolve this with words.

"Poor fella. That needn't have happened, ya know. We just wanted to chat with Burt, but then ya had to go and do this. So I'm asking again, where is he?"

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Golden Ladybug · 08-15-2012, 04:05 AM

Gesturing towards the quickly dissolving support beam with one hand, I put on a crazed smile, and pointed my finger at the closest thugs.

"That was a warning shot; I think it's time you backed down. We just want to talk to One Eyed Burt. We think he might have information about why this all happened," I shouted, "No one needs to get hurt, okay?"

I tensed up, hoping that they'd back down. They didn't seem accustomed to magic, and they'd all looked nervous enough already before all this happened.

They'd back down. I think.

I grasped the hilt of my newly acquired Kusari-Gama (which, it began to dawn on me, I didn't know how to use!), just in case.

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BelGareth · 08-17-2012, 10:57 AM

The ugly pirate sighs and takes a stool at the bar, the same one he was sitting at before, waves his left hand drunkenly in the air dismissing the poised thugs in the bar.

They seem to back down, although some mutter under their breath and all glare at you all with a murderous gleam in their eye. Two pull the man with holes in chest courtesy of Ma to the backroom behind the bar.

Grabbing his drink again he takes a swig, ale spilling over and down his beard and onto his chest, he seems not to notice.

"Eye, I be One eyed burt, What're be needin from the likes o',me?"

GuyFawkes · 08-17-2012, 12:40 PM

Lucien

"Sheesh, ya had to have one of your buddies take some holes when you could just have said that in the first place. But I'm guessin' somethin's got ya spooked to get ya this cautious," Lucien replies, though he still has his weapons drawn, though he has them down at his sides.

"We could have our friend here look at your buddy if you need it," he motions to Alyera.

"Anyway, I'm going to be direct here. We were pointed to you. A friend. Or was...told us you knew something about...all of this. About why this happened. Or at least something about it. So, what do you know?"

SamBurke · 08-17-2012, 04:11 PM

Alyera takes her cue from Lucien, and climbs to the bar, continuing to keep an active eye out for trouble. The dancing golden dweomers slowly fade from her hand, crackling viciously as they finally die down. With determined stride, she leaps to the top of a stool and then the counter, leaning back in what seems an eminently relaxed manner, almost flirtatious. "So... you know something about the undead? Anything at all?" Her voice has gone from murderously deep to a light, bubbly one without even a noticeable change.

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BelGareth · 08-18-2012, 01:10 PM

He looks at you both wearily, slams his empty flagon onto the bar as if expecting to see the bartender to appear and refill it.

And then the barkeep pops his head out like a prairie dog assessing the danger, wide eyed and a little pale, he nods and refills the flagon without question.

"An who wus yer friend?" one Eyed Burt simply replies, after taking a large swig of his now refilled drink. The bartender hangs around nervously moving from one foot to the other.

SamBurke · 08-18-2012, 01:23 PM

Alyera's voice morphs again, to a low, comforting tone. "Halfling girl... dead, because of this. Anything you know would be..." What does he want? What's his angle...? We need some sort of leverage. Power and threats are all so good, but he's going to have to fight back pretty soon, or lose his standing. No rough-and-tumble pirate's gonna let a halfling wench shove him around, especially not here. So what's he waiting for? What's he trying to get out of us? Alyera paused, having lost her train of thought, and put on a grim face in hopes of him completing her thought.

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Golden Ladybug · 08-18-2012, 06:19 PM

I vaulted back over the bar, and sidled over to Alyera and Burt, lowering my staff as non-threateningly as I could manage.

"Look, we just want to know what's happening, and, if we can, fix it all," I gestured towards the door, and the low moans of zombies in cages, "But we need to know where to start. Everyone else who might have a clue about what's going on is either dead, or enemy...or both"

I smiled sadly, and sat down on one of the bar stools, "I'm sorry about what just happened; we all handled it badly, and your friend didn't need to get hurt. But **** happens, and if we want to survive, we're going to need to forgive and forget, and work together"

"So...do you know why this is all happening?"

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SamBurke · 08-19-2012, 01:17 AM

Alyera turned and gasped, legitimately surprised to see a dying man on the ground. Leaping from the bar, she runs to his side with a flashing step, and makes what looks like a flame-handed punch, straight to his chest. "Don't worry about him! He'll be..." she grunts, and another golden dweomer explodes from the tip of her hand, and another. The flashes get consecutively brighter, but she doesn't seem to notice the strain on her eyes.

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Fireheart · 08-20-2012, 06:58 AM

Ma continues down the steps, her staff in hand.

She barely glances at the man she had hurt before turning her attention to the pirate.

She raises an eyebrow. "So..."

BelGareth · 08-22-2012, 12:54 PM

Alerya moves to the corpse as it is being moved and is futile in her attempts to restore the life to it. The men shrug at her with hostile eyes and move the corpse to the back of the room coming back into the common room rolling up their sleeves and looking darker than before.

The pirate takes another swig and turns to regard you all, eyeing those who are trying to intimidate him on the bar and those others who gave nice soliloquy.

"So....How about you be answerin ma question? I be One Eyed Burt, you's found me, tis true that'n I might know a thing or too, but you'll ave to answer ma question afore i tell you somethin!"

GuyFawkes · 08-22-2012, 01:04 PM

Lucien

"Yeah, I guess that's good 'nuff," he replies. "You answer one of our questions, we answer one of yours. Ya know what, I guess you already answered one of ours questions, so you can go first."

BelGareth · 08-23-2012, 04:56 PM

One eyed Burt squinted an eye at you, the irony almost bringing you to tears and looks long and hard in your direction. At what, you have no clue.

And then he starts to answer your questions. "Aye..."

But gets interrupted by something a little more verbose. A man in a red velvet doublet and pants, fine boots and a clean white shirt walks into the room, slamming the door as he does so, several large looking men holding swords hang behind him as he makes his way through the tables of the building. Those thugs who you backed down into submission, move from his path and do not meet his gaze.

Interrupting what One Eyed Burt says the intruder speaks, loudly and boldly at the group.
"Oh! I do, hope I am not interrupting anything? I shant be long, just need to wet my whistle so to speak! Har har!" He seems to be eyeing your group, searching and looking over everyone, his tight thin lips pursed as if in thought the whole time he is talking.

A needle thin rapier hangs at his hip and shimmers with the redness of his clothing, it is obviously magical in nature and seems to lure you in towards itself.

You notice One Eyed Burt stops talking and keeps his head down to himself, not even looking up to see who it is.

He stops at the bar and leans on it with one arm with his back to Burt and facing Lucien with a dazzling smile.

It is painfully obvious that this man demands obedience.

And that he is dangerous, ever so dangerous.

SamBurke · 08-24-2012, 01:40 PM

Alyera pauses, perplexed by the sudden turn of events. "And who might you be?" Then, taking on a sweeter tone, "It's good to meet you, sir... how can we help you?"

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GuyFawkes · 08-24-2012, 10:06 PM

Lucien

Lucien stares at the new arrivals, especially the one in front, following the man's movements with his eyes. When the latter arrives at the bar and stands between him and Burt, his eyebrow raises. From the reactions of everyone who did not seem to cower at the sight of weapons and magic earlier, this man clearly is someone who demands respect, either through authority or power. Lucien thinks he could very well have both.

"If you're looking for the bartender, that ain't me."

BelGareth · 08-25-2012, 10:16 AM

The newcomer looks towards Lucien and smiles at his obvious Souffleter, smiling he ignores him for a moment and focuses on the audacieuse Halfling, an amused smile splays across his face. It reminds you all of something, but you can't remember, its stuck in the back of your mind wiggling like a little worm ready to get out.

This man, this thing, has a sick charisma about him, something is not right.

He laughs rocking his head back so he was looking directly at the ceiling, none of his men move, or even show a hint of amusement.

"Oh ma chérie, nous ne pouvons pas avoir cela, mais pouvons-nous?" he says as fluid as a serpent dripping in wine, he stops himself and then snaps his fingers, summoning the bartender who magically appeared and poured a cup of deep Red. Taking a sip he looks back to the bold little one, swhirling his wine.

"Oh do excuse me, my mother tongue has a habit of slipping in on me from time to time." he pauses and his eyes pinch in a tiny smile "so to speak" he says. "I am Lord Méchant, Master and lord of the Violet Snakes and this little place of home." he finishes with another disarming smile. The whole time he speaks his left hand is raised as if he was playing the part in a royal ball the whole time.

He takes another sip of his wine, swhirling the contents while looking at it before speaking again. "I was just wandering about the new comers to my little paradise among Enfer, it would seem they are already breaking things, hmmm?" He snaps his fingers and two of the thugs who you were about to kill only moments ago get up and bring in the dead body displaying it before Lord Méchant.

He eyes the body and raises an eyebrow, "Roderick, who is this man?" he says without looking away, one of the stooges who came in with him steps forward and looks the man over, "Seems to be Ol'Ben of Stoneway, mi'lord" he replies in a low gruff voice.
"Does he owe me any money?" he asks, the man thinks for a second, pulls out a roll of parchment and checks it.
"Nay mi'lord, he just done paid of his loan with us." Lord Méchant smiles at that.
"Ah yes, I remember. Bjorn was all ajoy when he did so." waving his hand he dismissed the scribe and continued to sip his wine.

Placing the glass down on the bar, he looks to Ma sternly.
"I trust you can behave yourself and not break any more things? Oui?" He moves from the bar and starts to walk around the dead body, "I try ever so hard to make this a petit sanctuaire for everyone here. Would be a pity if a few ruined it for all, pas?"

He stops and puts his hands behind his back, "Well then, I do believe we are done here, Jorge, take the body, and to you, Je vous souhaite au revoir."
With that he walks out of the tavern and two men move to pick the body of ol'Ben taking him out with the rest of the entourage.

One Eye Burt seems to have hunkered down further into himself and seems like he doesn't want to talk to anyone anymore.

It would seem the sick halfling was at least telling the truth on the matter of who ran this place, but to who that man was, you are unsure. The Halfling talked of Bjorn, and unless that man suffered from talking in the 3rd person, he was not Bjorn.

Knowledge Local

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Sparrow · 08-25-2012, 12:02 PM

Ralph stood in the back of the room as he had been since the fight broke out. Again, he hadn't been able to find the words he needed to say. He seemed to be lost inside altogether.

It just got worse when the gang-leader entered the room. The man had a certain forced charisma that made Ralph stay quiet. After the man left the room, Ralph managed to get out a few words. "Great, just what we need, somebody else watching our every move, just waiting for us to screw up.

Golden Ladybug · 08-25-2012, 07:32 PM

"Well, if we're being honest, that isn't really something we can hold against him..." I muttered bitterly, "we don't have the best track record at the moment"

Once again, I was feeling out of my depth. With Oakenstaff as a Lich and the Frenchman both pitted against us, not to mention all the zombies... we needed a proper plan, because at the moment, all we had going for us was luck and bloody-mindedness.

But to make a plan, we needed information...

I turned to the others and whispered "So, where do we go from here? I don't really want Burt, and the rest of this gang, to know too much about us..."

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GuyFawkes · 08-26-2012, 06:47 AM

Lucien

The half elf's right brow raises as his eyes follow the man who calls himself Mechant, lord of the Violet Snakes. So here now is the leader of the gang to which their friend, the purported evil cleric, belongs to. And now apparently this man 'owns' this part of the city.

Great.

"...Well, excuse us for wanting to protect ourselves." he mumbles under his breath as soon as he could speak. The man did indeed have something about him, something that makes one listen to him.

"What could they know about us that could hurt us? We are nobodies now. We need what they know more than what they want to know from us. And I imagine this old man right here's under them. Or he fears 'em at the least." He faces Burt again.

"Let's get back to where we left off then?"

SamBurke · 08-26-2012, 02:52 PM

Alyera waits, thinking as the noise of the tavern buzzes around here. Turnign to Lucien, she says, "But where do we have to go? 'where we left off' is pretty much nowhere. We're on the run, and we have no leads. I mean, sure, we can try and stop this all-it seems like the right thing to do. But how? Where? We need answers. So, if need be, we'll just talk rough to Burt over there. Not violent, never threatening. Just make sure to sound tough."

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Fireheart · 08-26-2012, 09:35 PM

Ma shrugs as the man speaks to her. Something about him...what is it...

When he turns to leave, she listens briefly to the whispered conversation of the others before shaking her head quickly.

She walks back over to One-eyed Burt and kicks back a chair, plopping herself in it, she sighs.

Oye, what a wisser that one is...own's the whole area, does he? Wouldn't want to wiss him off.." she shakes her head. "I am sorry for reacting so hastily. Ol'Ben, did he say? (nodding her head toward the door) Did he have family? I spose when this is all over, I can send my apologizes to his family. She shakes her head again. Aye,ye imagine, most could wish for a life less complicated by debt collectors on top of zombies? Perhaps a nice boat, a little fishing, yes?

OOC:

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BelGareth · 08-28-2012, 12:48 PM

One Eyed Burt seems to visibly relax, but is obviously still shaken up and fighting the want to shrink up and die in a pool of beer and ale.

He turns slowly to Ma and speaks without looking to her "Did he have a family?" he says a sick grin spreading over his blistered chapped lips. "Did he have a family? He DID, until those debt collectors as you call them came to collect. It weren't money they was looking for, no, something much worse." He pauses and almost loses himself looking at nothing.

He starts up again, "Those people" he waves his hand behind him, "The man named Bjorn took delivery of his debt in the form of his Wife and child. They took his woman and fed her to the monsters he keeps and then he raised her like one of his own vermin zombies. He took his 8 year old son and uses him as caged bait for the zombies at the gate to move." he stops staring at nothing again. "He wont last long..."

He seems to snap from his frozen stupor and grins at Ma, "Don't morn for him deary, you did him a favor, you took him from this Hellhole, this eternal purgatory of crap."

He stands apparently having gotten over his morose depression with the quickness, he stumbled for a second putting his hand out to steady himself and wrinkles his nose. Waving his hand to follow him he half walks half stumbles to the back.

"Come, sfollow me."

SamBurke · 08-28-2012, 03:21 PM

"SLAVERY! Bah." Alyera spits roughly, and blushes for a moment afterwards. "Where exactly are we going, Burt? You were trying to kill us just moments before he showed up. How do you know him, anyway?" Her voice quavers for a second, and then she continues resolutely. "You still haven't told us what you know, unless this is some demonstration."

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Golden Ladybug · 08-28-2012, 09:23 PM

Stunned by the Pirate's sudden shift to the sombre, I looked at the door to the outside, and shook my head in disgust. Using children as bait and feeding innocents to the dead...

I walked purposefully after the pirate without a word, not even pausing to hear his answers to Alyera's questions.

Bjorn may or may not be behind the plague of undead on the city, but regardless, he wasn't innocent. Neither was the Frenchman. I wasn't just going to stand by and let them get away with what they were doing!

But...whatever horrible stuff they were doing here, they were keeping an area of the city safe. Trying to deal with the Violet Snakes now would only lead to more problems for everyone within their blockade.

Suppose that means we need to get all this fixed even faster now... I thought to myself

GuyFawkes · 08-29-2012, 12:23 AM

Lucien

Lucien follows Burt wordlessly. He is still reflecting on the plight of Ol' Ben and his family. Truly cruel if you would look at it, but the old pirate's words may have some sort of light in it.

He shudders at the thought.

Since when has he started thinking that it is better off to kill someone in misery? This chaos has truly changed him, surely.

This has to end soon. Before it consumes us all, one way or another.

Fireheart · 08-29-2012, 09:23 AM

Ma rises to follow with a quick glance around the remaining.

"Murder and child slavery, how horrible." she says softly as she catches up.

"Easy Alyera" she whispers as she comes up next to her. "We're getting somewhere..."

BelGareth · 08-30-2012, 03:39 PM

One Eyed Burt leads through a dark hallway and finds a door in the dark, opening it,he leads you into a dim room with barely any furniture, the only thing you can see is a desk where the light from the lamp is flickering from the draft of the opened door.

He waits for you all to enter and then starts to talk.

"Aye, I be Lord Barenhacks man, he slips me a few coppers every now and then, in exchange for information and the like." he stops and makes sure everyone is listening. "I know what you're after, I saw some men moving barrels of something strange into the basement of the House Ortell. Not sure what it was, but it was mighty strange, plus they killed several fellas doing it." he shrugs again, "Like I said, don't know what it was about, but you should look there, I think. But first we ave to get outa here, Bjorn is going to be coming back soon, and you guys don't want to meet him."

SamBurke · 08-30-2012, 04:17 PM

Alyera shrugs nonchalantly. "Don't mind either way... but if you say so, I believe you." As per usual, her voice switches in an instant, to a kind, sweet tone. "Thank you deeply for the information, Burt... I know right where the Ortells are. If we should meet again after all this, it would be my pleasure to enjoy a drink with you." She bows.

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Sparrow · 08-30-2012, 04:21 PM

Ralph follows the rest of the group as they walk with the pirate. As One-Eyed Burt finishes his small speech, where he tells them that they don't want to Bjorn. I suppose that's the smartest thing. We don't want to get mixed up in whatever he has going on, especially not when we're so ill-prepared..Ralph thinks to himself.

Fireheart · 08-30-2012, 04:46 PM

You have our thanks. Ma says. Is there a good way out of here without attacking any more notice?