Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Two

[ewancummins]

Marie stops crying and pays attention to Norzak.

''Yes. I will go with monsieur Dorgio, then. ''

[JMaytr]

Jonathan sees Van Dieks run in another direction towards a warehouse and breathes a sigh of relief. The man had been stronger than he thought. The knight Cirdan comes into view and appears to give chase to Van Dieks. Jonathan relaxes against the side of a building, running his hand along his left side. He felt several broken ribs there and his lungs stung sharply with each breath. But he was alive.

Barely. Jonathan could taste blood in his mouth and he could feel the hot wet crimson running down his face.

As his breathing calmed Jonathan realized with a sudden terror that the stinging wasn't in his lungs but in the bite wound Van Dieks had delivered.

[ewancummins]

Norzak moves out into the hall and spots the dagger weilding enemy running back down the stairs. Raising his magical wand, the dwarf lets loose a bolt of eldritch force, which strikes the man squarely between the shoulders. He cries out in pain and tumbles to the base of the stairs, unconscious or perhaps slain.

[steveflam]

Norzak eyes the closest thug and fires off two missiles at him, hitting him square between the eyes. "Ye better hope yer dead, bub, cuz yer gonna tell me where ta find Van Dieks!" the dwarf yells at the thug he hit with his missiles.

Though Norzak has been healed by Dorgio, his face is a bloody mess and he is furious. Whoever of his companions is inside on the stairs or nearby can vouch for that. "Try ta keep one alive, boys! I's in one a me moods! Thet Van Dieks shot me in my purty mug an he's got it comin' back tenfold!" He can barely stand in place as it is. He'd rather be out looking for the brute but will be patient for once in his life. HE heard somewhere that patience was a virtue.

[ewancummins]

One of the two fallen thugs is moving again, crawling on his hands and knees, trying to get to the door...

[steveflam]

Norzak spits on the ground. "Ye ain' goin' nowhere, bub." HE aims and fires his wand twice, and right at the man's head.

[JMaytr]

Still wheezing in anguish Jonathan makes his way towards the office. He clings to the shadows and moves as silently as he can, wondering if van dieks is around the next corner. Jon wondered if Alain was there, he hadn't seen the mage at the brothel.

Maybe he can freeze the water he creates. Jonathan thought. Then I could ice these ribs.

[ewancummins]

The conjured missiles strike the thug is his head, crushing his skull like a rotten pumpkin. He's very obviously dead.

[steveflam]

Norzak shrugs. "He deserved it. Leass' that other one ain' dead. We's be needin' some answers an he kinna give us some. Lemme get 'im ta answer, I's good at that. Plus" he looks at the others there "Van Dieks shot me in tha face, boys. This twit is mine to question. I's got me some rope. Gonna tie him up and drag him around a lil or we bring him somewhere 'n; ask 'im questions then off 'im?" The dwarf is very serious about the whole thing and doesn't look like he cares about the thug's life one bit.

Norzak goes about tieing the man up, feet and hands, real tight, trussed up like a rustled calf or cattle in a rodeo.

[ewancummins]

Still wheezing in anguish Jonathan makes his way towards the office. He clings to the shadows and moves as silently as he can, wondering if van dieks is around the next corner. Jon wondered if Alain was there, he hadn't seen the warmage at the brothel.

Maybe he can freeze the water he creates. Jonathan thought. Then I could ice these ribs.

Jon moves down the street alone. When he gets to the next intersection, he hears the tramp of boots. Looking about, the boy spots a patrol of ten gendarmes, with swords and lanterns, moving towards the Lorelei. They don't seem to have noticed him just yet, but they will pass by his current location any minute now....

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"Do not be mentioning it," he tells Norzak after the healing. "The scar, it might be ragged, but ay, it will only make you the prettier!" He gives a rough grin, but his expression turns blank and serious when Norzak mentions going after Diecks. Finally, his head tilts to the side, subtly, barely perceptible. "Learn what you can from him." It would seem that there are certain rules the cleric is willing to bend, certain types even he will not tolerate. And besides, the law couldn't be trusted with somebody like Diecks. "But the others, though, take care."

He then gives Marie a smile that he hopes looks comforting. He reaches am arm out to her, trying to shield her from Norzak going off to do whatever it is the dwarf has planned. "Come along, let's check on your friend."

He steps out into the hall with the Marie, then into the next room, looking for the other girl.

[JMaytr]

Jonathan clings to the shadows, hiding as best he can from the law men. He holds his breath, willing even his heartbeat to be silent. Let them not find me, the boy thought.

[ewancummins]

Jonathan clings to the shadows, hiding as best he can from the law men. He holds his breath, willing even his heartbeat to be silent. Let them not find me, the boy thought.

Jonathon looks about and spots what appears to be an abandoned building with an open doorframe missing a door. Darting inside the derelict structure, Jon finds a spot near an broken window where he can hide from the patrol and observe them all at once. The patrol marches past his hiding spot without noticing him or stopping.

[ewancummins]

He steps out into the hall with the Marie, then into the next room, looking for the other girl.

Immediately upon entering the small room, which is similiar in dimensions and general layout to Marie's chamber, Dorgio notices the blood stains on the floor and the smell of blood thick in the air. A redheaded young woman lays in the bed, a dark brown blanket drawn up to her chin. She appears dead at first glance. She certainly doesn't look as if she's breathing. Her blue eyes stare fixedly at the ceiling, and her pretty face is distorted in a rictus suggestive of an agonizing death or a terrible fright.

When he pulls back the blanket, he sees something so horrible that words may fail him in the future, should he attempt to describe it in detail. The poor dead whore has been carved almost to pieces below the breasts. Her white throat has been slit from ear to ear. Numerous stab wounds mar her flesh. Blood is everywhere under the blanket.

Marie, who stands behind the priest, takes one look at the mutilated remains of a woman who had been her friend, then falls to the floor unconcsious.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio is no stranger to blood. The plight against undeath, the brutal ethnic struggles, even the childhood sheep cullings. But the soaked and stained sheets, and the slivers of what were once a woman underneath, send the dusky priest's face ashen. His pupils dilate, then constrict to pinpricks. He stares for a few moments, until a drop of spittle falls on his hand. He looks down, realizing that he'd been to shocked to swallow.

With a jittering hand, he closes her eyelids, a sweet but wholly futile attempt to give the corpse some dignity. He the turns and drags Marie away from the doorway to protect her from danger.

He hear's Norzak's question from out in the hall, but makes no response. Instead he lights another smoke, then tries to collect himself, to little avail. <i>Who could have done this? Was it pure bestial lust? Some sort of foul magic, a dark ritual? Revenge, a warning of some kind? Damn you, Lathander, why?</i>

Through the fog of shock, his thoughts go back to the ritual. He starts a nervous, tentative search of the room, looking for anything that could explain what he has just seen.