Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Two

[ewancummins]

The Lorelei-

Marie's room-

Van Diecks reacts to the ambush almost before it has begun- a pistol appears in one hand so quickly it almost seems to have materialized out of thin air. He spins towards the wardrobe as Norzak opens it, and shoots the dwarf full in the face from a distance of less than ten feet. Norzak hears the boom, feels the impact, and smells the acrid smoke mixed with his own blood- all at once. An instant later, the world goes dark... Norzak falls to the floor, unmoving.

Jonathon snakes out from under the bed and strikes Van Diecks in the side- but his dagger's point turns on something hard under the man's doublet. In the split second before Van Diecks turns to face the boy, Jon spots dull black mesh of metal links exposed where the raven-knife had cut away fabric.

Throughout all of this, Marie lies in her bed, crying and shaking in terror.

[ewancummins]

In the parlor of the Lorelei-


Benn and Dorgio rush inside, nearly bowling over a couple of frightened whores who are trying to escape through the front door. The whole place is in an uproar, with terrified women and girls running all about, many of the screaming or crying. Here and there Dorgio and Benn spot men- maybe clients and maybe goons. No one seems to be in clear command of the situation just yet. The way to the stairwell is clear, at least for the moment.

Crackka-boom!! The loud report of a gunshot echoes down the upstairs hall.

[ewancummins]

Outside the Lorelei-


Alain and Sir Cirdan can both hear the ruckus from inside the place, and the gunshot. People are now running out the front and side entrances. No one pays any attention to you, but most people simply flee into the night.

[JMaytr]

Noticing the blade has had little effect on Van Dieks, Jonathan rears up and attempts to bite the man hard on his throat, intending to hold his jaw clenched. With his knife hand he pushes hard on the blade willing the knife to cut into the man.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

He starts, his eyes growing wide at the sound of the gunshot. "Dawn be damned swordsman, get in here!!" He looks quickly to Benn, then rushes up the stairs, chanting a prayer of strength.

[ewancummins]

Marie's room-

Van Diecks lunges forward, slamming into Jon like a runaway horse. Jon's jaws close on thin air, but his blade sinks deep into Van Diecks' side- as both men tumble over the bed, crash through the glass window, and fall two storeys to the ground below!

THUD!

Jon smashes into the cobblestones so hard he sees stars for a moment, and the wind is knocked out of him. He's on the bottom, with his opponent's full weight pinning him to the cobbestones. Van Diecks grabs Jon's knife hand and bites down so hard that Jon feels like bones are breaking. The pain is intense!

Alleyway/exterior of building

Anyone in or near the alley [Alain and Cirdan] will have heard or seen the two men fall from the window.

At the top of the stairs with Benn and Dorgio-

Dorgio and Benn reach the top of the stairs and see two open doors close by-

To the left is bedroom with a broken window, an hysterical girl, and Norzak- who lays face down and motionless in a slowly spreading pool of blood! A sulfurous taint of gunsmoke hangs in the air.

To the right is a similiar bedroom. A woman with long red hair lies in bed, with blanket covering her body up to the neck. She isn't moving.

At the base of the stairs, two men with daggers drawn push through the panicked crowd, intent on reaching Benn and Dorgio. They are in street clothes, not armor, thank goodness!

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"Kurva!" He sees Norzak's prone form, and rushes as quickly as he can to administer an invocation of restoration.

[Adam]

Bennedict whirls in place, turning towards the men rushing up the stairs. Trying to catch up, he quickly shouts the words to the Harakiri sun god Ra, summoning forth a spiritual weapon of the god in front of the charging men.

"Hopefully that distracts them," he mutters, readying his crossbow.

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain casts a spell at Van Diecks from the shadows . (HS to only hit Van Diecks). Then if he is still hidden after that, he arms himself with his rapier . And prepares to cast a another spell at anybody who deserves it the most .

[ewancummins]

Inside the Lorelei-


Dorgio kneels next to the prone form of Norzak, praying to the Morninglord to save his friend.

A rose and gold nimbus of light flickers ever so briefly about the dwarf, and he stirs. Norzak stops bleeding and regains conciousness. He's pale and shaky, but alive and able to walk or fight if he must.

As this is going on in Marie's room, Bennedict stands at the top of the stairs and shouts the words he learned from an ancient Akiri papyrus. A brilliant disk headed mace suddenly appears, suspended in the air above the stairway. It doesn't seem to be made of solid wood or metal, but rather of concentrated golden light. As the dagger men rush the steps, the mace swoops down as if wielded by an invisible warrior, and attacks them ! A blow from the mace sends the first of the two men tumbling down the stairs.

[ewancummins]

Outside-

Jon grabs a handful of dirt and loose shards of glass, throwing this at Van Dieck's face. The gang-leader is quick to shift sideways, and the stuff only dusts the side of his face, not striking him in the eyes. Still, he's distracted and off balance just a second; long enough for Jon to wriggle free and tumble away, escaping into the street. Van Diecks gets up and begins to run towards the mouth of the alley. Without warning, a load of fist sized stones rains down on him from somewhere above. Under the assault, he staggers and reels, but manages to keep on running.

Sir Cirdan spots Jon as he runs out of the alley, seemingly pursued by a stranger [Van Diecks]. The strange man is not far way from the knight, perhaps twenty feet. Cirdan isn't exactly sure what Van Diecks looks like, but this might be he....

[Le Noir Faineant]

Run, and run to hunt.

Strike, and strike to kill.

[ewancummins]

Run, and run to hunt.

Strike, and strike to kill.

outside-

Cirdan moves as quickly as he's able in his heavy armor, but the unarmoured Van Diecks is faster. The man streaks off into the night as fast as his feet will carry him. He whips around the corner of the nearby warehouse, disappearing from view.

Cirdan, clanking like a wheelbarrow full of pots and pans, rounds the corner- and almost falls into an open manhole! The wooden cover lays off to one side, and the open pit gapes at the knight's feet. From below, he can hear running water and splashing feet. Van Diecks is nowhere to be seen.

As this is happening, people are streaming out of the front door: whores, clients, etc. They don't hang around, but flee into the night.

Someone is shouting-
''Gendarmes, the gendarmes are coming!''

[Neither Jon nor Alain is in position to intercept Van Diecks, but either man could easily catch up with Cirdan. ]

[ewancummins]

Inside the Lorelei-

When one of the two dagger-men is knocked down by the conjured mace, the other man turns to flee. No one is stopping Benn, Dorgio, and Norzak from leaving or exploring the building. Most people have abanoned the place or are hiding, it would seem.

[steveflam]

Norzak will get up uneasily at first then stand and take a deep breath. Gathering his wits he remembers now what has transpired. He looks around for Jon and Marie then sees Dorgio and then the girl, crying on the bed. After having looked around he notices the window is broken.

"Dorgio" he rasps, then swallows and speaks a bit easier "Thanks, bub. I owe ye one. I take it Jon and Van Dieks took the window?" he points over his shoulder at what used to be a window but is now an empty space.

"Dorgio, thass' Marie I tole ye about back at tha office. Make sure she's ok. I heard that dolt punch anuther girl in anuther room close to here. Kin ye help her out too?" Looking at Marie he says "Sorry I din' get him but we's gonna get ye home. Til we do we find ye a safe place and then from there get ye home, ok?"

"Bub I's gonna go out an perhaps one 'o' the others kin tell me where Van Dieks went." He looks hard at Dorgio and in a speaks in a clear voice, but his eyes say volumes "That varmint is mine, unnerstood? He don' deserve ta die tha easy way, ye get me meaning?" The dwarf turns and exits the room before adding. "Ah Marie this is my friend, Dorgio a cleric or somethin'. Ye kin trust him like ye'd trust me or ye da or ma, ok?" He exits the room and sees what is transpiring on the stairs.