Tales of Ikhorus

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The tabaxi idly turns one of the glasses on the table, his tail resting motionless around his leg. "What kind of errands do they have you running? And who's giving them out? And for that matter, what are the guards so busy with? Monsters at the gates? Rebellion within the city? War on the horizon? Been a little while since I flexed the old bowstrings. Wouldn't mind some practice," Murk says with a chuckle. He can hear the twang of the string, the whisper of the arrow through the air to his target, the thump as it hits the ground before it even knew what hit it. Killing something before it even knew to be afraid seemed a small mercy. People and animals alike didn't deserve to suffer. Well most of -- Holy nip is that a FIRBOLG? He catches a glimpse of the big man out of the corner of his eye. I wonder if they can really turn invisible ...
 
Zalbam chuckles at how odd this encounter has been. "Slow down, buddy. Most of our jobs are handed out by the captain of the guard himself. There hasn't been any monsters at the gate, but they know of several settlements of orcs, gnolls, urodeli, anything you can imagine really. Since they can't leave their post in fear of an invasion, we get loads of contracts." His smile ceases as the tabaxi mentions a rebellion. "I don't know of any rebellion. And I'd be more careful when talking about that, you wouldn't want the guards to think you're plotting against the king."
 
Murk's wandering mind suddenly snaps back to Zalbam.

"Orcs? I'm always in the mood to hunt orcs. Maybe I'll see this captain of the guard." He stands and considers the untouched glasses of gin. He quickly downs one, and his fur stands on end. "Gods that's terrible." Then he repeats it with another and gags a little. "Worse." He picks up the third, but stops short of drinking it. "Thanks for the information, Zalbam. Good luck out there. Stay together and stay safe."

With that he marches right up to the firbolg. "Name's Murk. Can you really turn invisible?"
 
The Firbolg gives a startled expression and he freezes slackjawed like that for a few seconds. Then, he turns invisible and is nowhere to be seen, but a bit of a rumbling can be heard. Another few seconds pass, and he is "hiding" under the table.
 
Nodding along to the whole story, Mells is surprised at her name. But she quickly schools herself. "I was to visit my father shortly. He lives in the center of the town. But he would be asleep by now. So I am waiting for the morning." She smiles sweetly. "But other than that I am free to do whatever."
 
"Then tell me my friends, what say you to seeking some adventure with me tomorrow? After our darling heiress visits her father of course." He gives them both a roguish grin.
 
Over the many voices inside the tavern, a sound can be heard - a well-known one, but not one any of you expected. Silence falls over the crowd like a veil, the dreadful bells cutting through it from the guards' quarters in the center of town, the sign that the village was being raided. Nobody in Dewfall has heard those old bells working, probably no one in the whole kingdom since the Horned Ruler became king. All the faces inside the tavern convey the collective fear that spreads throughout every single one of them. Shortly after, the screams followed from afar, most people still paralyzed in fear of what that would mean. Liza says under her breath, what in the silence seems like a scream, "mother," and she bolts out of the tavern doors into the night.
 
Murk follows the sound of the invisible firbolg, then relocates him under the table. "How do you do that anyway? Is it natural or something you have to learn? Can you teach me to --"

He stops abruptly as the bells begin to toll. His quiver all but leaps to his hand, an arrow appearing in the other in a flash. He watches the girl dart out and is behind her a second later, pausing only long enough to look at Zalbam. "You coming?"
 
As the five of you run outside the inn, you come to the dimly lit street where Liza is screaming to some creatures up ahead. "You slimy bastards, drop her! Where are the bloody guards when we need them?" The moment she says that, several heads turn around and stop running away. What you see is small humanoid creatures, with an appearance that resembles a salamander, holding scimitars and slings looking over at the six people outside the tavern. A cry that sounds like a mix of water running and waves hitting a beach comes to your ears, Barost, you recognize that as Aquan meaning "we'll get rid of these few witnesses, the rest of you, run." And five of them stay behind, while the rest keeps running away, pulling a full cart along with them.
 
Barost hesitated slightly when he heard the noises shift into meaning for him, glancing around to see if anyone else seemed to react. Watching Garret move forward and create a blast of thunder, he smirked as faint sparks moved across his own hands -- rushing forward he went on the other side of the creatures and did the same spell, managing to knock the group away and for the most part down, then gathered the air around himself to dance backwards out of their reach in case any still lived.

Watching the rest of the group finish off those who remained, Barost pointed towards the cart that had continued further away, first speaking in the same language as the creatures had before catching himself and speaking in common, "They've got people on their cart -- we need to catch up!"
 
After a few spells going off from his allies, Kaesalor attacks with newfound confidence. He attacks their leader, lodges an axe into its head, cleaving it in twain down to the neck.
 
"The alarm Bell!" Garret reached behind the bar, grabbing the sword he had hidden earlier. Not hesitating too buckle it on, just toss it over his shoulder, and he was out the door.

The sight of the slimy creatures shocked Garret but for a moment, he didn't break stride, this was his town. He flew at them using the skills his mother had taught him, and let loose a powerful blast of energy. A second blast went off and by the time he stopped playing the strangers had finished off the rest.

Who were these creatures? What were these creatures?

No time for that now, the cart was still getting away!
 
As the last of the amphibians' bodies fall to the ground, you keep chase of the cart that turned right into one of the side streets. As soon as you get to the side street, no cart is there to be seen, just two big grooves in the ground that indicate its passing. Moments later, Liza catches up with you, "did anyone see where they went? Those damned urodeli are gonna pay for it."
 
Seeing the groove marks, you all decide to follow them hastily to try to keep up with the urodelus cart, you follow them for a few minutes to the edge of town when the grass starts growing and the tracks get harder to follow. However, without the city lights, the cart is nowhere to be seen in the dark night. Now, stopping to catch your breath, the sound of battle has ceased and the village falls silent once again.
 
Kaesalor turns to his newfound friends.
"All right. You find out where these... things came from and where did they go. Don't hesitate to call upon me if you need another pair of hands, you can find me in the tavern." With that, the firbolg leaves to sit back into his corner and finish his drink.

Back in the tavern, he will take no rush with downing his tankard of rum. After he is done, he looks for Liza - the only person whose name he knows - but he doesn't see her. So instead, after some contemplation, he leaves for the counter and places a silver piece in front of the barkeep. "Be sure to give the change to Lisa, she deserves it." With that having been said, Kaesalor returns to his seat and sits down waiting, playing a tribal rythm on his drum quietly.
 
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After the firbolg strolls back to the tavern, Garret hastily leads everyone to the guard quarters to seek out the captain. Soon after, they reach the largest building in town - and their destination. The building was different from the other guard quarters most of you have seen throughout the kingdom, since it appears to be old and badly kept, nothing like the symbol of the ruler's power you are used to seeing. You notice a lot of commotion in the front of the building, as several members of the Iron Guard are regrouping and getting ready for something. Over to the side you see Liza talking to a man in armor holding his helmet under his arm. "Are you sure they took the witch, Liza? We need her healing powers to get through this mess, it's bad enough to have some civilians taken, it's worse to lose her to those monsters." Liza nods and answers back. "I'm sure, sir. I saw them as they rushed past the tavern. I hope the guard is able to get her back."
 
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Mel makes her way up to the crowd, her cane supporting her. "Excuse me sir. May I inquire about those things that attacked. You see I am not from this area. And I am terribly curious. And if theres anything I could do to help."
 
"Don't waste your breath Mel. They have the witch? Where are they Captain?" Garrets blunt tone lacks any sort of respect for this man's authority.
This is just another thing he will ignore, or be paid off. If he were anymore incompetent he would mistake his boot for a helm.
Turning to Liza, "We'll get your mother back."
 
Having followed the group and the trail of the wagon, Barost had followed Garret through the town somewhat out of concern of getting lost and losing track of these people who had so quickly joined together to face a threat. Standing somewhat awkwardly to the side, messing with his earring and making his fingers spark, he felt out of place in his rough clothing from his time sailing -- the odd trace of lightning shifting across his form as a leftover of the magical protection he'd put upon himself.

Hearing Garret's blunt way of speaking to the captain, Barost raised his eyebrows -- such a manor of disrespect would not last long on a vessel. Raising a hand somewhat meekly he spoke up, "Er, I'm not a local either, so getting some information would definitely help if we're gonna be looking for this ... 'witch'? An' it sounds like some other people were taken too? Who else?"
 
The captain puts his hand on Liza's shoulder, "we'll do our best to make sure she gets back here." Then, he turns to face the three people that were inquiring. "We ultimately don't know where the prisoners are, as those skittering creatures kept our man busy on the other side of town so they could, apparently, go about to do as they please. We know there's an urodelus outpost around two hours from here, but not its exact location. And there's another one further away, although if they were carrying people even they would think twice about crossing long distances at night." The middle-aged man glances back to the other troops. "For now, we only know for sure about the witch and the two guards that were patrolling the west front. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to account for the injuries and the casualties." He trails back inside the guard quarters.

Liza waits until the captain is back inside before turning to the people she briefly saw at the tavern. "Garret are you trying to get yourself arrested?!" She sighs deeply shifts to a calmer tone. "If you're gonna try to find my mother, just be careful. When I still worked at the temple with my mother, we sometimes treated the acid burns those monsters left on their victims, it's not pretty."
 
Murk listens to the firbolg speak and watches him depart one way, the rest of the group another. These were all handy fellow to have in a fight. The slimy things that attacked them were interesting, but Murk has killed slimy things in the night before, and Cat Lord willing, he would again. But he didn't run into firbolgs often. So he turns and follows Kaesalor back to the tavern, interested in recovering his terrible bottles of gin anyway, and takes a seat on the other side of the room after picking up his bottles, watching the curious fellow.

As Kaesalor begins to play his drum, the rhythm is like a siren's call to Murk. He can't help but get up and take a seat at the table next to the one at which the firbolg is sitting. He does his best to study him without staring, but his curiosity soon gets the better of him.

"Hey big guy, want to some gin?" He holds out one of his three bottles. "Pretty impressed with the way you split that salamander's head open. I thought firbolgs were supposed to be peaceful. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
 
Kaesalor wishes he could turn invisible again, but alas, he needs to draw the magic back into himself. So, he realises he must talk, but he chooses to reveal as little as he can. "My tribe... was like that. Once. But some creatures... Don't understand... Peace. And if you stare into the abyss long enough, the abyss WILL stare back into you." He pauses for a while in contemplation ere he continues. "Sometimes, I'm angry with the thing I've become. But more often than not, I can tell myself: the world is a better place without those that I... murder. And that is all that matters, in the end." He reaches for the gin and downs it, caring naught for what it is.
 
Garret spits on the ground, "he already tried to arrest me once after the tavern burned. To bad for him everyone knew he stood by while bandits terrorised our town. He'd have his head on the block if his superiors knew." Looking around at those who have followed him here, "your lives are your own, and you have done more then enough already, but I must ask you once again for your help." Pausing a moment to let what he said sink in, "I'm headed back to the tavern for my gear and to organise. Join me if you want. Come on Liza." He places a reassuring arm around Liza and walks with her back toward the tavern.
 
Mel smirks as he leaves. "Then your wish is my command." She glances at Barost, still smirking "And I would be grateful if you were to join us. It will be mighty helpful if one knew the language the urodeli spoke." Offering her hand to Barost, Mel flutters her eyelashes.
 
Nodding to Garret, Barost moved to follow, pausing at Mel's comment, "Er ... I think you may've misheard during all the commotion." The half-elf gave an awkward smile as a hand went through his hair, "I'll definitely try to be as much help as I can though." Reaching for her hand, he accidentally gave her a small spark and pulled his hand back, "Apologies! Didn't mean to ..."
 
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