Looking back, I should have known it wouldn’t last.

Even though we’d been in the new digs for three months I still got a bit of a chuckle walking down the hall toward our offices.  The rich walnut paneling and supposed fine art on the walls and the thick soft carpeting under foot was still cause for a little bit of reveling at my good fortune. Or rather our good fortune; it wasn’t a one man show any more.  Hadn’t been for a good long while truth be told although the days of scraping by to make ends meet by myself after getting kicked off the force were still a pretty strong memory.   Standard crap back then, catching errant spouses, tracking down bail jumpers, living hand to mouth.  Not a great period for Mama Gilhooey’s son, too stupid to look the other way in corrupt system, too proud to ask for help.

And then a sea change, a right time right place kind of event that I still had trouble believing.  Edward Durant and his little girl Persephone getting nabbed by that psycho Uri Rasmuzi.  The father a bonus for the killer and the girl just another child in a string of them that last I heard they’re still trying to get a accurate count on.  Pursuing the sick bastard through three states, finding the father or what was left of him in that dirty warehouse in Indianapolis.  I still wake up at times in a cold sweat from what that psychopath left of the man to cool on the stained concrete.

And then the race through Indianapolis and then Ohio, always one step behind the bastard but somehow always catching a break to keep from losing him.  Tracking him to Columbus and then to abandoned row housing.

Then by some freak of chance, fate or maybe just the girl’s guardian angel looking out for her, hearing that single terror filled scream before the bastard got the gag back in place as I walked past a building no different than the rest.  Of that desperate struggle to move fast and quiet through the building before spotting the door with a finger of light coming from under it.  The smells of dankness and mildew mixed with the heavy musk of the candles flickering around the room as the door gave wave under a heavy shoulder and stumbling into the room.

The look of surprise and disbelief in the killer’s eyes as he turned to stare, crazy eyes, soul-less, dead eyes if truth be told.  And then that faint flicker of relief that still puzzled me even as I put two heavy 45’s through his nasal cavities and the back of his head exploded spraying gore across the girl strapped to the heavy wooden table.   Before the black knife in his hand hit the floor I emptied the remaining five rounds into his center of mass, a cluster of holes over his heart you could have covered with a small book.   It was the best shooting I’d ever done in my life, another sign that the Fates really wanted that little girl to live.

The girl was blindfolded and saved from the sight of the almost headless body, yet another small favor I added to my karmic debt.  I gathered her up, reassuring her she was safe now and getting nothing but little whimpers from her that near broke my heart.  I bundled her up in my overcoat, she was such a small little thing that she just disappeared into it, a golden mop of hair the only sign of her.

Leaving the body in a spreading pool of dark crimson I carried her downstairs and placed her in the car, handing her off to Stella where she immediately dove into her arms sobbing.

Stella, my sometimes partner, sometimes breakfast companion met my eyes with a question and I nodded.  She mouthed the word “Good!” to me and continued to stroke the little girl’s hair.  Slipping behind the wheel I pulled the car into the empty dark street, stopping only once at a payphone to let the girl’s mother know we had her safe and sound and would be back as soon as humanely possible.  A second call as a concerned citizen to the Columbus PD to let them know where they could find Uri aka the Pied Piper.  I hung up as the questions started, I had precious cargo to deliver and no time to talk.

The girl had fallen asleep before I got back to the car and slept the entire way back to Chicago in Stella’s arms.  The woman was a trooper, held the child without shifting or complaint during the long ride home. We rode in silence, we’d known each other since the early days when I was just another honest flatfoot on patrol and she was a unwed mother trying to make ends meet. Neither of us the type to need to fill empty spaces for the sake of noise.

Lois Durant was more than happy to get her child back.  And expressed her happiness in ways that had lead me to where I was now.  Walking down this richly appointed hall toward the heavy oak doors with my name in gold lettering on it.  Rescuing the only child of one of the wealthiest families in Chicago from a child killer had had its rewards.  Although I’d have done it for nothing more than the satisfaction of seeing the bastard’s brains paint the wall.

As I stepped through the doors to Gilhooey’s Private Investigations I was nodding in satisfaction at a future that looked rosy indeed.

And then I saw her, a raven haired beauty with skin like white silk and amethyst eyes to get lost in for days.  She rose from one of the heavy leather couches in our outer room as Candace, Stella’s niece, called out from behind the outer desk, “Boss, Sabrina De La Cote would like to talk with you.  She was referred by Mrs. Durant.”

I nodded, trying to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor and only partially succeeding.  That marble was genuine Italian and I’d hate to break it.  The woman was spellbinding, the knee high skirt she wore revealing legs that would have given Michelangelo trouble capturing their perfect curves.  Assuming the sissy had actually like dames.And those curves didn’t stop there but continued all the way up.

She held out her hand and from somewhere I managed to nod, bringing it up to brush my lips, bringing with it a faint musky floral scent I immediately fell in love with.

“Mrs. De La Cote?  Please, my office is this way.” Taking her gently by the elbow I pointed her toward the door marked Boss.

“Thank you Mr. Gilhooey.” she replied in a soft contralto that whispered things that would get a man arrested for.  And then she said something that near threatened to have me babbling like an idiot.  ”And it’s Miss.”

I turned my head to look back and my secretary and having nothing to do with me trying to get some faint grip on composure, “Candace, give Sargent Roberts a call and tell him to come by this afternoon, would you?”

“Sure thing boss.  Remember you have a ten o’clock with Fiduchi.”

“Right, thanks. Get Jocko over in case that conversation turns interesting?”

“Already taken care of, Jocko and Sully both should be here by nine.”

“Good girl.”

Candace had proven to be a life saver, smart way beyond her eighteen years, talented at making the office run smoothly and although I’d never say it in front of Stella, quite a stunner in her own right.  And her ditsy blond act had worked on more than one occasion to pick up information a prospective client perhaps hadn’t intended on telling us.  At least not immediately.

Door safely closed behind us I eased her into one of the two armchairs positioned in front of the big teak desk I used, mostly to impress clients if one was being completely honest.  Plopping down into my own seat, looking at the vision of lovliness sitting across from me I couldn’t help but think, “Tom old boy, this day just keeps getting better and better.”

Which just goes to show you, you can always trust Fate to build you up only to kick you in the nuts when you least expect it…

The blind woman’s eyes blinked, the milky white hidden for an instant behind pale flesh.  The unseeing eyes turned to point to the back of the heavily robed figure standing at the window, looking out at the rolling waves of the seas below. 

“Yes I felt it, Lady, Bokka Jothan is no more.  It seems our lowest Captain has met something he couldn’t entice, enslave or destroy. Or bore to death with his petty scheming.” Lord Volk said without turning from the view. “His line has proven itself weak…” the high lord over the slavers mused. 

Around the room, shadows stirred where they lay in deep pools, spots darker somehow than the deepest of shadows flickered in each and they all seemed to turn toward the still form by the window.

“Yes my pets, the line of Jotham has failed us.”  At his words the shadows began writhing and swirling.  If one had to make an analogy then perhaps the closest would be a pack of puppies about to be given a treat.  If the puppies were comprised of the stuff of nightmares given substance. “Go, you have your freedom to seek out all of of the Jotham line until the sun falls and rises one time and teach them that failure is not an option.”

Before Volk’s words were finished the shadows began streaming out of the room flowing over the stone like night made liquid.  Soon the chamber was empty aside from Volk and the woman.

She spoke, “Is that wise love?”

Volk turned away from the window and approached her, the rich silks of his robes sliding across the pristine floor without a sound. He reached out and cupped the woman’s chin, tilting her head up to his. “Wise, Lady? Perhaps not but not terribly unwise.  And my irritation with Bokka’s losing of the airship is well known.  To ignore his failure would weaken my position.  Loosing the shades on his line will give the rest something to fear for awhile and perhaps put a stop to their plotting and planning my downfall.  What says the warp?”

The woman, Lady Sethra, stepped in toward Volk and put her arms around him, “The lines are… cloudy now love.  A Great One has become involved and its presence stirs and fragments the now and the future into so many strange shapes that it becomes impossible to make sense of them.”

“Truly…” Volk’s deep baritone rumbled in his chest against her cheek.  “What would have peaked the interest of the one of the ancient reptiles?”

“I know not love but its actions impact the lines of everything.  I would advise activities in the north, the warp and web there are convulated beyond all untangling at this time.  Perhaps in time its attention will focus elsewhere.”

“Perhaps. I’m reluctant to give up the quest for that ship.  If we can duplicate its craftings, imagine the power we could wield.  The very air would become our oceans and our raiders could go anywhere they wished, descending where they would, taking what is rightfully ours by our very predation.”

“I advise time love.  It changes all things and the situation to the north will change in time.”

“Perhaps you are right Lady, perhaps.”  Lord Volk absently stroked the inky black hair of the woman, eyes focused and at the same time not seeing the far wall of the chamber.  He snapped his fingers, the sound belling out, louder than such a slow gesture should generate.  Before the echoes stopped resonating around the chamber the gilded doors opened.

“Yes mi’lord?” questioned the man who stepped through.

“Summon the captains who first issued the reports of the airship. I wish to question them, personally.”

“So it will be mi’lord.” the man bowed, waiting to be dismissed.

Lord Volk brushed his hand over his neatly trimmed beard, “And bring up one of the virgins from the last ship.  I found another gray hair this morning Jovan. It is past time I renewed myself.  Now go.”

“As you command mi’lord.”

Edit: A special thanks to Magnus on the Pinnacle forums for taking the time to read through this and point out where I made mistakes in the rules.

NOTE: If you’re familiar with Savage Worlds:

Scene:

Mary Alice, Jack and Pete , agents of  the detective agency Danger Inc “Danger is our middle name.” have gotten a tip from one of their stoolies that the girl they’ve been hired to recover was taken by a couple of thugs for the O’Toole gang and they have her in an old office building in an industrial park down by the river.  If the cops show up or get involved they’re going to kill her.   The group knows the reputation of the O’Toole’s and know she’s likely to be killed as soon as they get the ransom if she’s not already dead.

Characters (Pertinent for this scene stats only):

Jack: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Fighting d8, Perception d6, Shooting d6, Streetwise d8, (Think Tony DiNozzo from NCIS)

Pete: Agility d8, Strength d8, Vigor d6, Toughness 5, Fighting d10, Perception d8, Shooting d8, Stealth d4 (Think Pete of BCjr)

Mary Alice: Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Agility d6, Perception d6, Investigation d8, Shooting d6, Edge: Common Bond (Think Evie from the Mummy)

Shank: Agility d8, Driving d10 (Think Mel Gibson from Payback but more henchmany)

Preparation:

Jack: “I’m going to see if I can find any more information on what’s going on.  I’m going to make a few calls.”
Mechanically: Player is going to use Streetwise.  Rolls a d8 for his skill and a d6 for his ‘wild’ die.  Rolls a 1 for the d8 and and a 6 on the d6.  The 6 ‘explodes’ since it’s a ‘ace’ and he rolls it again and gets a 1 for a total of 7.  This beats a 4, the average Target Number so the player gets a success but would have needed an 8 to get a success and a ‘raise’.

GM: “You confirm the story but don’t find out much more information about it.  You did learn that one of the O’Toole brothers is running the caper and are supposed to be holed up in the top of the joint. [Note the clever use of historical vernacular].”

Pete: “I’ll see what I can dig up on the O’Tooles.” 
Mechanically: Player uses Streetwise but doesn’t have any skill at it so will roll a d4-2 as the base skill dice and a d6-2 as the wild die and ends up with a total of 3 (a 1 on the d4 and a 5 on the d6.  5-2 is 3, the 1 rolled on the d4 is discarded since it’s lower than 3).

GM: “No one you contact really seems to have any more information than what you know in general, it’s a sizable gang of irish immigrants, local crime lords of their area, run by three brothers at the top of the gang.  Kidnapping and ransom is right in line with their activities, they also run prostitution and gambling.  They’re not known for their pleasant outlook on life.”

Mary Alice: “I’m going to hit up the hall of records and get a floor plan of the area where they’re supposed to be keeping the girl.”
Mechanically: Mary has a d8 skill in Investigation and of course gets a d6 as a wild die.  She rolls a 4 and a 6.  Another exploding dice on the d6 which explodes again with another 6.  The third roll is a 3 so she has a total of 6+6+3 or 15.  This is a success (4) and two raises (4 and 4) and almost a third raise.  She was able to find all the information available and cut her research time in half thanks to the excess raises.

GM: “You have no trouble finding the blueprints, both original drawings as well as drawings showing every modification to the building and in record time, almost as if Fate stepped in to help you save this girl.  You’re back at the office before the boys finish making their calls and had time to get lunch.
The three of you go over the blueprints.  It has three entrances on the ground floor, a main door that opens to the street, one that opens into an side alley and another in the back that opens up into an alley that runs between it and the backing building. A building next to it, the one that forms the alley way is of the same height according to the area plans. You also find on the older plans a steam tunnel that looks like it might connect the boiler rooms of this building and the building that butts up against it on the back side.”

Players: “Yack yack yack, go in through the roof, the side, the back, the basement yack yack yack.”

GM: “Sounds like you’re going to go in through the adjacent building which as you found out is a chinese laundry.  You head downstairs and get Shank [an Ally character] to drive you over.  Per your plan it’s ten in the evening when you arrive and as you suspected the laundry is closed.

Jack: “Shank, circle the block, normal speed.  Let’s see if there’s anyone outside the office.”

GM: “Shank smoothly wheels the car around and you drive past the office.  The building is dark except for the top or fifth floor which has lights on.  There’s a guy sitting on the front steps to the building, he gives you the eye as you drive past and you spot his right hand is under the left side of his jacket.  Give me a perception check.”

Mary Alice: “I didn’t see anything.”
Mechanically: d6 for the skill and a d6 wild yields a 1 and a 3 so a total of 3 versus 4 is a failure.

Jack: “I’m too busy polishing my shotgun to look around.”
Mechanically: d6 and d6 yields a 3 and 2 so a total of 3 or a failure.

Mary Alice: “Is that what you’re calling it these days?”

Pete: “I see something.”
Mechanically: d8 skill and d6 wild yields a 6 and a 4 so a total of 6 which is a success against a TN 4.

GM: “Pete you spot the flare of a cigarette ember in one of the cars parked across the street from the office building and catch a glimpse of two guys in the front seat.”
Mechanically: Mary Alice and Jack both failed their perception checks as the Target Number assigned by the GM is a 4 but Pete got a success.  If Pete had gotten a raise the GM would have also told him about the two men in the back seat.  As an alternative the GM was going to give them that information if two of them got a success.

Pete: “Eyes front everyone, don’t look too curious. There’s at least three torpedoes out there, one on the steps and two in the lizzie across the street.  Shank go ahead and head straight for a few blocks and then turn and head back and find a parking spot within view of the laundry but not too close.”

Shank (NPC): “Roger boss.  Want I should keep it running?”

Pete: “Yeah, we may need to leave in a hurry.”

Mary Alice: “Hey does this place have a fire escape?”

GM: “Yes the office building has a fire escape on the side that doesn’t have the side door, it drops into an alleyway that runs the length of the two buildings.”

Mary Alice: “Shank park where you can see that fire escape, I want to keep our options open.”

Shank: “You got it boss.”

GM: “Shank pulls the car into an open spot on the street, there aren’t a lot of cars parked here, what vehicles there are tend to be delivery trucks for the various businesses.  You pause a minute but the streets are clear.  There’s only one functioning streetlight and one flickering the others are dark.  The shadows provide lots of cover for movement or to conceal yourselves in.”

Mary Alice: “And anyone else I’m sure.”

Pete: “Don’t sweat it toots.  Okay we head over to the laundry, casual, just three mugs out for an evening stroll to pick up their laundry.”

Jack: “Anyone know how to pick locks?”

Pete: “Nope.  But it’s 1922, no alarm system.  I pull my pry-bar out of my coat and jimmy the door open. After making sure the street’s clear of course.”
Mechanically: Makes a perception roll using a d8 and a d6 and gets a 12 (d6 was a 4, d8 exploded with an 8 and a 4).  That would be a success and two raises for a typical roll.

GM: “Looks clear.  Make an attack on the door lock for me, you can use the higher of your Fighting or Strength die.  It’s a surprisingly good lock, although given the neighborhood maybe not so surprising.”

Pete: “Okay, this should be easy enough.”
Mechanically: Pete rolls his Fighting die which is a d10 and wild d6.  Gets a 10 on the d10, it explodes and he ends up with a 16 total -2 for the difficulty of the lock for a 14 total.  That’s 10 over the target number so a success and two raises.

GM: “With your first wrench of the pry-bar the door pops open.  It happened so fast anyone looking would think you had a key.  Inside the room smells heavily of soaps and cleaning liquids overlaid with the smell of musty clothing. It’s dark in there though, the single working street light doesn’t go very far through the dirty windows.”

Mary Alice: “I slip a torch out of my pocketbook and flick it on.  I cover the lens with my hand to keep the light to a minimum.”

GM: “The place looks like every other laundry you’ve been to, a counter dividing the room from the equipment in the back.  Rows and racks of clothing and bags of dirty laundry fill most of the area with little aisles allowing movement through the room.  A door in the back leads deeper into the building.”

Jack: “Off to the back then.  Mary Alice can I borrow your flashlight?”

Mary Alice: “I knew you wouldn’t be prepared.  Here, I brought one for each of you.”

GM: “Weaving your way through the room you open the door into the back finding more cleaning equipment. In a corner of the room you find a set of steps leading down to the boiler room.  It’s hot and crowded and noisy but it’s only a few moments before you uncover the door to the steam tunnel behind a set of shelves holding soaps.  You shove it out of the way and the door opens into a tunnel filled with pipes running along the walls.  A couple of leaks keep the area hot and humid but not dangerously so.”

Jack: “I take a quick peek up and down the tunnel and if I don’t see anything I shine the light up and down it.”
Mechanically: Rolls a d6 and a d6 for Perception for a 2 and a 3, giving him a total of 3 aka Failed.

GM: “You don’t see anything unusual and shining your light around you see the tunnel heads much like it showed on the plans.  About sixty feet  south it ends with the pipes running upwards into a shaft.  Advancing down the tunnel you find a shaft leading up into the office building.  A rusted ladder is attached to one wall and at each of the four floors above is a ledge and a door where the pipes split and branch out to bring steam to the building.  The blueprints showed all this and each door opens up into a maintenance closet on the various floors.”

Jack: “Okay let’s get going, I’ll go first, Mary Alice you’re next and Pete is last.”

Mary Alice: “Think again buster, this mug isn’t going to be staring up my dress, you two go up first, I’m going last.”

[Edit: As pointed out to me, this would be a possible place to award a Benny to Mary Alice for playing in character as a prim and proper lady..]

Jack: “Fine.  Me, Pete and then her highness.  We hit the top floor.  I figure they’re going to be in that big office at the end of the hall.  If they have anyone in the hall it’s going to get hot fast.  We’ll need to hit anyone there quick like, Pete that’s where you and those pistols of yours come in, those silencing things Shank came up with make you point.  If things go to hell, we rush the office and shoot anything that’s not blonde, female and goes by the name of Rose.”

Trivia Note: Silencers or more accurately, suppressors were commercially available in 1902 for those flinching and shouting “Historically inaccurate!”  Also this is an alternate earth with a modified timeline as fits my needs.  So nyahhh!

GM: “The climb isn’t particularly arduous and the way the pipes knock and ping from the steam you don’t have to worry about stealth too much.  With a little effort you make it to the top.  The access panel leading into the maintenance closet has swollen a bit from the steam and takes some force to open.  You put your shoulder into it and knock it free but as it does a mop leaning against it starts to fall toward a metal bucket.”

Jack: “I grab for it!”
Mechanically: Makes an Agility roll, a d8 and the wild d6.  Gets a 5 and a 1.  That’s a success and he grabs the mop before it can crash into the bucket.

[Edit: As pointed out to me, this would be a possible place to award a Benny to Jack for bypassing a Complication .]

GM: “Good work!  With that out of the way you get the door opened without any more trouble.  The room is filled with cleaning tools, mops, brooms and soaps and the like.  The door to the hall is to the right.”

Pete: “Which way does it open?”

GM: “You’ll be able to see down the hall toward the big offices at the end without having to look around the door.”

Jack: “Wait a minute, I unlimber my sawed off and check the loads.”

Mary Alice: “Yes, I get my 38 out.”

Pete: “I screw on the silencers to both of my 45′s then put the left one back in the holster.  I ease the door open slowly and quietly trying to get the smallest gap I can to see down the hall.”
Mechanically: Player makes a Stealth roll.  A d4 and a d6 results in a 2 and a 5 for a 5 roll.  GM makes a Perception roll for the guard he knows is at the end of the hall.  Since it’s a mook it does not get a wild die and rolls a basic d4 getting an 1.  The player got a success and a raise as a result – 5 vs 1.

GM: “Without a sound you ease the door open, spotting a thug sitting in a chair at the end of the hall next to a closed door.  He’s reading something, a racing form it looks like.  The distance is about ten squares so it’s short range for your pistols.”

Pete: “I take a two handed grip and aim at the thug.  I’m going to put one in his heart, one in the head.”

GM: “Are you actually calling your shots, that would be two actions at -2 each and the called shots would add another -4 to each shot?“

Pete: “No, it just sounded good.  I am taking an Aim action though and going to Double Tap him.”
Mechanically: Pete spends one round to take Aim. This gives him a +2 to hit.  The GM rolls another Perception check for the thug with a d4 and gets a 2, failure.
The double tap is going to grant Pete a +1 to hit and +1 damage but will of course use two bullets from the 7 shot 45.  He rolls his Shooting die of d8 and the wild d6 and gets a 3 and a 6.  The wild die explodes and he ends up with 10 + 2 for the aim + 1 for the double tap for a total of 13 versus a TN of 4. 
This is a success and two raises.  The raise adds 1d6 to his damage total.  The equivalent of a critical hit in other game systems.   He rolls 2d6+1 for the 45′s base damage and adds another 1d6 for the critical hit and 1 for the double tap getting a total of 11 damage.  
The thug has a Toughness of 6.  11 versus 6 results in a success and a raise.  The success causes the thug to be Shaken and the raise causes a wound.  As this thug is an Extra or as they’re known in 4th Edition, a Minion, any wound incapacitates him. Be default in Savage Worlds it appears that Extras only really die in the Aftermath part of the encounter but it feels more ‘right’ to me that a character shot and incapped to be dead or dying unless the shooter specifically tells me they’re not going for a kill shot.  At which point I’d assign some modifiers to the shot most likely.

GM: “Your two bullets punch through his chest directly over his heart.  The thug, a big bruiser jerks, his racing form flipping up to float to the ground as the body slumps and then slowly slides out of the chair with a quiet noise and a spreading stain of blood starts to mar the carpeting.”

Pete: “How loud was it?  Does it sound like anyone heard anything?”

GM: “You barely heard it, mostly because you were watching it.  You pause a moment or three but there’s no outcry from inside the office.”
Mechanically: The GM knows that there’s an electric fan running inside the office, and the doors are thick and solid wood.  He assigns the noise of the body falling and the silenced shot a modifier of -2 to be heard.  He rolls a group Perception check for speed’s sake using the average inside with a +2 because there are multiple people who might hear. He rolls a d6 and gets a 3, 3+2-2 for a 3 total versus the TN of 4 which results in a failure.

Jack: “Get a move on then.  We’re going to move down the hall way, me and Pete in front, Mary Alice behind watching behind us.  When we get to the door I’m going to listen and see what I can hear and if there’s any cracks I could look through around the door I’m going to try that as well.”

Pete: “I swap my clip out for a full one and pull my other pistol.”
Mechancially: Since bullets are ‘real’ rather than abstracted in Savage Worlds it makes sense for the player to keep full clips in his gun and for any character to reload when they have the chance. As a general rule I’ll probably limit clips to avoid players clanking when they walk to something that makes sense based on the situation.   But for a person who carries two pistols, having a spare clip for each would make sense.

Mary Alice: “I’m going to walk forward but keep glancing back every few seconds.”

GM: “Cool. The hall is lined with a couple of doors on each side, mostly with frosted glass doors and various company logos on them.  At the opposite end from where the thug is is an elevator, a thick carpet runner goes down the length of the all.  Without any real issue, you get to the end of the hall, being quiet isn’t hard, the carpet although worn is still thick and padded and you ghost down that way like cats on a sofa cushion.  Pete you don’t spot any gaps but the lock is one of the old style, or would that be new style and the keyhole goes all the way through.”

Pete: “I listen and then peek through the keyhole.”
Mechanically: Pete needs to roll a Perception check for hearing at a -2 due to the thick wood and another Perception check to look through keyhole, again at a -2 due to the tiny opening. He rolls a d8 and d6 and gets a 5 and a 4.  The 5-2 is a 3 so a failure on hearing.  Peeking through the hole gives him slightly better results, a 6 and a 5.  6-2 is a 4 so a success.

GM: “You can’t hear much, there’s a faint humming sound, maybe a fan of some kind?  Through the keyhole you have a narrow view of the room but directly across the room you can see two thugs playing cards of some kind.  You can spot a revolver on the corner of the table by one of them and a Thompson leans up against the wall next to the other guy. You can just make out a closed door to the left and can see a sliver of light on under the door.”

Pete: “Two guys huh, even on my best day…”

Mary Alice: “Shut up Inigo.  What’s the door look like again?”

GM: “A big pair of heavy double doors, solid oak that swing outwards toward you. They have big brass handles with thumb locks.”

Mary Alice: “Are they locked?  I very carefully try them.”

GM: “The thumb press goes down easily and you can feel the door give just slightly.  They don’t appear to be locked.”
Mechanically: Some require a Stealth roll here but unless the doors were trapped to make noise it’s unlikely even if they were paying attention they’d hear a slowly pressed knob and they’re also not ‘alert’ as they have a guy outside, one downstairs and 4 more in a car across the street. They’re feeling fat and sassy to say the least.

Mary Alice: “Okay what about this.  You two stand right back there just out of the door’s arc.  Pete give Jack one of your pistols.  I pull the doors open and drop to the floor and you two nail the thugs, do it quick and quiet and don’t raise any alarm.”

Pete: “You know how I feel about people touching my piece…”

Mary Alice: “Shut up Briscoe.  Sounds like a workable plan?”

Jack: “It might work.  And if it doesn’t we get to blame you.  I’m all for this plan.”

Pete: “Here, treat her nice or we’re going to have words later. I give Jack my off pistol.”

GM: “You move into position with Mary Alice by the doors and the two of you about five feet back from them.  You two are going to Hold your actions until Mary Alice pulls the doors open and drops and then shoot the two thugs.  That cover it?”

Pete: “Right.  Can we get an Aim action if we kneel down?”

GM: “Sure if you want to spend a round after the doors are open.”

Jack: “Right no aim bonus.  Okay I’m still going to double tap them.”

Pete: “Yeah me as well.  Jack you go for the guy on the far side of the table, he’ll be looking at you and just left of the other guy. I’ll take the close one. Wait a minute the far guy has the Thompson, you take the close one, I’m a better shot and I don’t want that Thompson opening up on us.”

Mary Alice: “Say can I drop and roll?”

GM: “Hmm sure, you can pull the doors open and dive off to the side as an action.  I’ll ask for a basic Agility test with a +2 from you to avoid opening the doors too hard and they bounce closed or not opening them enough.”

Jack: “Okay I like this plan, we can do this.”

GM: “Mary Alice you grip the brass handles, they’re cold to the touch and carefully you depress the latches and then step back swinging the doors open and then drop and roll off to the side.”
Mechanically: Mary Alice rolls her Agility d6 + d6 wild and gets a 4 and a 4. At +2 that’s a 6 versus 4 so she’s able to swing the doors open without them getting in the way of the others.  The GM has decided to just give the group a surprise round to reward their plan and it makes sense in the situation.  He’s not going to let them get the Drop on the thugs though.  He’s nice but not that nice.

Pete: “I put two into the Thompson guy as soon as the door opens wide enough.”
Mechanically: Pete rolls a d8 and a d6 and gets a 4 and a 2.  +1 for the double tap for a 5 against a TN of 4 and gets a hit.  He rolls (2d6+1)+1 (base plus 1 more for the double tap) and gets a 4 and a 6 which explodes and gets another 4 for a total of 16 damage (4+6+4+1+1).  The thug has a Toughness of 6 so he does 10 damage.  The success shakes the target and the 2 raises for the excess damage adds two wounds to the target.

GM: “One bullet rips through his upper chest, pushing him back and the second catches him under the chin and bores a hole through his skull splattering the wall behind him with a reddish gray gore. He falls backwards still in the chair and thuds to the ground.”

Jack: “Nice shooting Tex!  I put two into the close guy.”

Mechanically: Jack has a d6 shooting so rolls a d6 and a d6 wild and gets a 6 and a 1.  The six explodes and he gets a total of 12 (6+5 and +1 for the double tap) on his attack roll.  That’s worth a success and a raise so he gets an additional 1d6 on his damage roll.   For damage he’s going to roll (2d6+1)+1+1d6.  Base of 2d6+1 for the pistol, +1 for the double tap and +1d6 for the critical hit.  He rolls a 3, 1, 2 for a total of 6+1 or 7.  The 7 versus the Toughness of 6 will only result in the Thug being Shaken.  If the thug had already been Shaken it would have been a wound of course.

Jack: “Ugh, horrible damage.  Can I spend a benny to re-roll the damage?”

GM: “No, you can only spend bennies on skill tests, not damage.”

Jack: “Crap. Okay what happened?”

GM: “You hit him twice but both bullets are only grazing hits and while you’ve scared him, especially since he got a front row seat to his buddy spray painting the wall with his cortex he’s not down although shaken up.  When someone is Shaken the only action they get to make is move up to half their base movement. We’ll need to draw for initiative.”
Mechanically: The three players and the one thug draw cards from a deck.  They get the following results – Mary Alice – 4D, Pete 5C, Jack JH, Thug 4C.   This puts their initiative order as Jack, Pete, Mary Alice, Thug. The GM pulls a fifth card though as there’s a third thug in an easy chair in a corner of the room that they don’t know about yet. Thug #2 gets a 6D so he goes right after Jack and before Pete.

Jack: “Two more into him before he can move.”
Mechanically: Jack rolls his d6 and d6 and gets a 3 and a 6.  Another exploding shot.  He ends up with a 6 and a 4 for a total of 6+4+1 or 11.  Again a success and raise yields a critical hit so he gets another (2d6+1)+1+1d6 as his damage and gets a 5,3,5 or 15 total damage which is a success and two raises against a Toughness of 6.  The two raises causes two wounds, the success doesn’t add an extra wound although if there hadn’t been a raise then he would have still taken a wound from the success.  This was a difficult concept to ‘get’ for me based on the wording of the SW:EX edition and I had to check their forums where it’s a VERY common question.  A better example, the same one that the forum admin Clint uses each time in the forums put in the manual would have forestalled most of those.

GM: “As the thug’s head whips around to stare at you, you put two 45 slugs into his open mouth as he starts to yell.  His head snaps back and falls dead to the floor in a spray of blood.”

Pete: “Nice shooting yourself.  What do I see or hear?”
Mechanically: Rolls perception dice d6 and d6 and gets a 1 and a 2. He fails to hear the other thug in the room as he draws a pistol and Holds an action waiting for someone to come in.

GM: “A large reception area, finely appointed but worn down now.  The two thugs appear to be the rooms only occupants from where you stand.  A closed door is on the left hand side of the wall opposite.  A partially open door leading to a dark room is on the right hand side.”

Pete: “No one heard anything?”

GM: “Not that you know about.”

Pete: “Crap.  I’m going to Hold my action, aiming at the door across the way.  Can I get the Drop on it?”

GM: “Sure if the door moves you can shoot it at +4.”

Jack: “I switch the pistol to my left hand and pull out my sawed off.  Does it count as a pistol since it’s so small?”

GM: “Actually it does so you can use it in close combat although like all close combat you’re attacking the target’s Parry value instead of the base 4.”

Mary Alice: “I move to where I have cover from the wall but can see into the room, my .38 aimed at the door.”

GM: “You shuffle weapons and positions without interruption.  Nothing seems to be happening for moment then you hear a voice with an Irish brogue call out from the direction of the closed, “Tommy?  Everything okay?”

Pete: “Can I tell where it’s coming from?”

GM: “Sure in the direction of the closed door.”

Pete: “Gee thanks.  Jack, Mary Alice get ready to cover me.  I empty both pistols into the door and walls on either side aiming up at an angle from the floor so that they should miss anyone sitting and probably miss anyone standing unless they’re right by the wall.”

GM: “Okay you only get one attack per weapon per turn but you could double tap from each gun and put four bullets through the walls. You’ll take a -2 to both attack rolls since you’re doing two actions in one turn.”

Pete: “Oh.  How long would it take me to get to the tommy gun over there?”

GM: “Move action to get to it and pick it up.”

Pete: “I couldn’t run over, grab it then run back?”

GM: “Sure a run would get you over and back, make an Agility test at -2 to grab it on the fly since you’re doing essentially two actions.”

Pete: “Okay Jack, Mary Alice, you to blow the hell out of that door if opens. Here I go.”
Mechanically: Since Pete is going to run and make a grab for the weapon that’s going to count as two actions so he’ll take a -2 on his Agility roll to grab it on the fly.  He rolls a d8 for his Agility and d6 wild and gets an 8 and a 2.  The 8 explodes for a total of 13-2 versus 4.
Unfortunately for Pete the thug has a Held action and is waiting to shoot at the first person who actually enters the room.  He has a Shooting of d8 and rolls a 8.  It explodes for a total of 11.  A running target is harder to hit [Established SW House Rule] so he has a -1 to hit.  But a 11-1=10 vs a 4 is a success and a raise.  The thug hits Pete and gets a critical. The thug is also using a standard revolver so there’s a big Bang.
The GM rules that Pete gets halfway to the Thompson when he gets shot.  The thug rolls (2d6-1) base +1d6 for the critical for a total of 3+3+5-1 or 10 damage.  Pete has a Toughness of 5.  10 vs 5 = success and raise so Pete is Shaken and takes a Wound unless he tries to Soak the damage.

GM: “As you run across the room there’s a loud gunshot from your left and pain burns across your shoulder.  You stumble and fall prone from the impact.”
Mechanically: There’s nothing that says the target actually falls prone from getting shot, this was a GM ruling for cinematic sake.  Others might not do it, and having the player make an Agility test might be an option for some with perhaps a modifier for each success and raise of damage done to them.

Mary Alice: “Nice going banana heels.  Next time look around the room before you charge across it.”

Pete: “Well son of a [bleep]!  I roll to soak the wound.”
Mechanically: Pete spends a benny and makes a Vigor roll d6  and a wild die of d6 and rolls a 3 and 1.  3 Vs 4 is a failure.  The player opts to spend another Benny and tries again and gets a 4 and 5.  This eliminates the wound but he’s still Shaken. [Edit: This is wrong, if you soak an attack and eliminate all wounds then you are not shaken.]

GM: “The wound isn’t as bad as you thought it was but you’re still shaken up.  To make it easy we’ll just use the existing initiative order and grant Jack and Mary Alice Held Actions.  That puts Jack up.”

Jack: “I really don’t want to wake the neighbors if we haven’t woken them yet, I’m going to drop the shotgun and draw my .38 and lean around the doorway and shoot whoever shot Pete.”
Mechanically: Dropping the shotgun is a free action, drawing the 38 is an action as is shooting so he’ll take a -2 penalty.  In addition the thug has light cover from a side table against the wall for another -1.  Jack rolls his Shooting die of d6 and wild d6 and gets a 6 and a 1.  The 6 explodes for a 11.  -1 for the cover and -2 for the multiple actions and he has an 8.  A success and a raise.  He rolls his damage 2d6-1+1d6 and ends up with a 1, 6, 3.  The 6 explodes and adds another 4 for 14 damage.  The thug has a toughness of 6 so it’s a success and two raises.

GM: “You lean around the edge of the door frame, pulling your pistol and put a bullet into a thug’s left eye as he’s peeking around a table with a smoking pistol in his hand.  The head snaps back and the thug drops bonelessly to the ground.  You hear a loud voice a little hysterical, “ [bleep]ammit, what the [bleep] is going on out there!?  Tommy if you guys are [bleep] ing around Shay is going to [bleep] ing kill you!  If I don’t do it first!”

Pete: When I can go again, I’m going to try and shake off the Shaken status.”

GM: “Mary Alice?”

Mary Alice: “I’m good, I switch back to covering the door.”

GM: “Okay Pete go ahead.”

Pete: “I tell myself it’s only a scratch.”
Mechanically: Pete rolls a spirit check using a d4 and wild d6 and gets a 4 and 4.  The d4 explodes with another 4 and then a 3.  For a total of 11 vs 4.  This is a success and a raise so he easily gathers his courage and can act normally on his turn.  With only a success he would have eliminated the Shaken condition but would have had to spend the whole turn doing it.

GM: “Great roll. You can act normally, what are you going to do?”

Pete: “Grab the tommy gun and head back to the doorway.”
Mechanically: Pete is going to Run and grab the tommy gun during his run.  This is an Agility test at -2 for the multiple action.  He rolls a d8 Agility and d6 wild and gets a 6 and 3.  6-2 or 4 vs 4 and grabs the gun without slowing down and makes it back to the door.

GM: “The voice is getting louder, ‘What in the [bleep] is going on?!’. What are you going to do?”

Pete: “I’m going to unload the tommy gun in a line across the wall, same way I was going to with the pistols.”

GM: “Okay you have a couple of options.  You can use the weapons rate of fire of 3 to shoot three times which uses 9 bullets as actual attack options.  The automatic fire incurs a -2 penalty.  Or you can go with suppressive fire which shoots 5 bullets per shot so you’d burn 15 bullets.  The suppressive fire will make anyone inside have to roll to avoid being shaken.   With the aimed bursts you’ll get to make 3 shooting rolls to hit where you want.  With suppressive fire you only roll once.”

Pete: “Suppressive fire it is then.  Rat-ta-ta-ta-tat!”
Mechanically: Rolls a d8 and a d6 for shooting at -2 for automatic fire and gets a 2 and a 1.

Pete: “Oh that sucks.  I can use a Benny to re-roll that right?”

GM: “Sure.”

Pete: “Cool, here’s the chip. Let’s try this again.”
Mechanically: Rolls a d8 and a d6 and gets a 1 and a 6.  The six explodes and he gets another 2 for a total of 8 on his to hit roll.  -2 for automatic fire and he ends up with a 6 versus 4.

GM: “You stitch a line of bullets about head high angled up across the wall, splinters and wood go flying as gun smoke clouds the room and shells tinkle to the floor.  From inside the room you hear two voices screaming, “ [bleeeeeep] !” and the clatter of light furniture.  Can you roll damage for me?”

Mechanically: The GM rolls a Spirit test for the two thugs he knows are in the room.  They both get a +4 for being in the equivalent of pitch darkness or heavy cover since the player can’t see them but the walls provide little physical cover and the spray of bullets and wood and debris is bound to be a little unnerving.  The thugs roll a 3 and a 1 between them.  The three is enough to not be shaken but the 1 unfortunately means one of the thugs is actually hit by a bullet.

Edit: Just to clarify, Rose doesn’t make the same Spirit check as Pete was carefully shooting an angle to avoid killing anyone, unfortunately for the thug, a slug ricocheted and ripped through his carotid artery.  Also I didn’t want Rose to die as long as the player made their attack roll. It’s one of those Fudge things that GM’s do to keep a story moving with the intent rather than the reality.

Pete: “That would be the same as my pistol right since they use the same ammo?  Do I get anything extra for the automatic fire?”

GM: “Right, 2d6+1-3 for the wall you’re shooting through absorbing some of the damage and no on the extra .  Automatic weapons let you shoot more things per turn than semi-automatics or revolvers, that’s their schtick.”

Pete: “Cool.”
Mechanically: Rolls 2d6+1 and gets a 6 and a 2.  The 6 explodes and gets a 4 so 6+2+4+1 -3 = 10 damage.  Against the thug’s toughness of 6 so a success and a raise and the thug takes one wound.

GM: “You hear an exclamation from inside the room, ‘O [bleep] , Will you okay, Will!?’ and no one responds back. The first voice screams out, ‘Whoever the [bleep]you are, I got a dame in here!  You’re gonna let me walk outta here or I put one right between her pretty brown eyes!  Tell him sister!’ and you hear the sound of a loud slap and a female cry from inside. ‘What’s it gonna be, I walk or she dies!”

Mary Alice: “We gotta move quick, sub machine gun Charlie there probably has the thugs downstairs running this way right now.”

Jack: “Danger Inc. doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Pete: “There a receptionist desk?”

GM: “Yes, dark wood, probably oak or cherry that makes a semi circle to the right of the door you’re standing in front of.  There’s another door behind it that’s partially open although dark, only some light from the outside coming in through a window.”

Pete: “Great, I shoot over to it and duck behind it.  You two let him walk, as soon as he goes past me I rise up and put one in his brain pan, he drops, we save the girl and escape down the fire escape.”

GM: “Ding!  The elevator at the far end of the hall dings and you see the needle heading backwards from 5 down.  Someone’s obviously called it down.”

Pete: “That tears it.  On the plans or when we were outside were there ledges running around the building?

GM: “Yes, maybe a foot wide below each window.”

Pete: “Okay we have a plan.  You take the hand cannon and set up in front of the elevator, doors open you pull both triggers and lay waste to everything in the elevator.   Mary Alice you keep this mug talking.  I go through that room and around the ledge and nail the creep from the window.  We save the girl and save the world. Or at least this little part of it.  Easy peezy.”

[Edit: As pointed out to me, this would be a possible place to award a Benny to Pete for coming up with a fairly good idea.  Bennies are the life blood of Wild Cards apparently and the reason they manage to stay alive against insane odds.]

Mary Alice: “Ummm.”

Pete: “No it’ll work, I got an angle.”

Jack: “Okay big shot, I break open the shotgun just to double check and head down the hall, I’m going to set up in doorway close to the elevator and when the doors open if who ever’s in there has hardware in their hands I’m blowing them away.”

Pete: “I’m off.  Mary Alice, here.  I toss her the Thompson and pull out one 45 and swap in my last full clip for the one with three shots left.  What’s that leave me, a 5 and a 7  in the guns and a 5 and a 3 in my pocket.  I move over to the room and check the windows.  If they open I give her the high sign and go out on the ledge and down to the other room.”

Mary Alice: “I call out, ‘Let the girl go now and you can walk away.  No harm no foul.’”

Thug: The voice inside sounds surprised, “A [bleep]ing dame?  What the [bleep]?”

GM: “Mary Alice you see Pete wave and then step out through the window.”

Mary Alice: “Watch the language boyo, there’s a lady present!  I’ll make the offer one more time.  Let the girl go, step out of the room without a gat in your hand and you can walk away from this.  Make us come in there after you and you’ll be dancing in the wind before you know it.”

Thug: “No [bleep]ing way.  You cops?!”

Mary Alice: “Boyo you done brought down the  might of the U.S. government on you.  You really don’t want us coming in there.  I can guarantee you, you’ll leave this place feet first if we do.”

GM: “Jack the elevator has stopped on the bottom floor. It took about 60 seconds to reach the bottom.”

Jack: “I tell Mary Alice to hurry it up.”

GM: “Pete give me a Agility check at +2, there’s plenty of carvings and stonework to hold onto.  You make it out on the ledge and need to work your way around to the other window.”

Pete: “Trying to be as careful as I can I edge down that way.”
Mechanically: Rolls a d8 and d6 for agility and gets a 7 and a 3.  For a total of 7+2 or 9.  Success and a raise.

GM: “You swiftly and smoothly move down the ledge and make it to the window.  You see a body on the floor with a spreading pool of blood coming out of it.  A thug is standing next to a desk chair that has a woman tied to it.  He’s facing the door and has a gun aimed in her general direction.”

Pete: “I give it a moment, taking aim through the glass at him.  I’ll give him two rounds watching the gun if it points away from the girl I’ll take the shot.  If two rounds go by I’ll take it anyway.”

GM: “Cool, okay you’ve got your pistol aimed at his back and are holding your action.  Mary Alice?”

Mary Alice: “I keep him talking, I want him focused on me.”

GM: “Excellent!  Jack, after a few moments stopped the elevator starts to climb up toward you.  It’ll be here in maybe a minute or a little longer, it’s not an express elevator by any stretch.”

Jack: “I’m ready, kneeling down in the doorway with the sawed off aimed at the elevator.  I’ve got two more rounds set up on the floor next to me ready to grab and reload.”

GM: “Pete as Mary Alice talks with the thug and he replies back he points his gun toward the wall with his head cocked.  Looks like he’s trying to figure out where she is so he can make a shot of his own.”

Pete: “I nail the  [bleep].  Double tap him in the center of the back.” 
Mechanically: Rolls a d8 and a d6 at a +1 for the double tap and +2 for the Aim and gets a 6 and a 5.  6+1+2 is a 9 so a success and raise.  2d6+1+1+1d6 for the damage. 2+5+3+1+1 or 12 damage versus 6 Toughness.  A success and a Raise.

GM: “You put two into his back, he jerks and his pistol goes off sending a round through the wall as he falls.   Mary Alice a bullet explodes through the wall and embeds itself in the floor in front of you followed by a loud thump.”

Mary Alice: “I swear. Loudly. Then call out, ‘Pete?!’”

Pete: “‘Got him M.A.!  Get in here!’  I go through the window and get out my knife, rule number 9 you know and cut the girl loose.”

GM: “Mary Alice you open the door to spot a pretty but terrified girl in a chair and Pete cutting her free of her ropes.”

Mary Alice: “Come on, we’ve got to move, elevators on it’s way!”

Pete: “Right, come on toots, we’re getting you out of here.”

GM: “The girl rises or tries to rise and would have fallen if you hadn’t caught her.  She’s been tied so long she’s not very mobile and has stiffened up.”

Pete: “No problem.  I toss her over my shoulder and we move out.”

GM: “You get to the hall, the elevator is about halfway up and should be here in about 30 seconds.”

Pete: “Change in plans, we go back down the tunnel and escape through the laundry.”

Mary Alice: “Do I think the girl can make it?”

GM: “Climbing down five stories of slimy ladder?  Doubtful without time to recover.”

Pete: “Okay back to the original plan. Wait a minute.  I toss the girl off to Mary Alice and run down the hall to the elevator and pry the doors open.”

GM: “Okay, Jack you see Pete race past you as the elevator signals it’s approaching floor 4.  Pete give me a straight strength check.”

Pete: “I jam my prybar into the gap in the doors and pry hard.”
Mechanically: d8 for strength and d6 for wild yields a 2 and a 1.

GM: “The door’s safety latch defies you and it doesn’t open.”

Mary Alice: “What was your plan there braniac?”

Pete: “Doors open should kick off the safety system and cause the elevator to stop.  We should have wedged the doors open from the start.  Hindsight and all that. Okay let’s go back to Plan A and just kill the bastards.  I motion Mary Alice to move the girl back into the office and I find a spot.  Hey are there any tables in the hall?”

GM: “There’s a little wooden table, the kind they put flowers or a vase on near the elevator doors.”

Pete: “I grab that and get in a door way.  As soon as the door opens I’m going to throw it as hard as I can into the elevator, should buy us some reaction time.”

GM: “Okay that would be an opposed Agility combat trick but that only effects their Parry defense, won’t make any difference in your ability to shoot them.”

Pete: “Oh.  Okay let’s just stick with Plan A.”

Jack: “I like it, simple, direct, no complications.”

GM: “The elevator dings and the door opens.  Perception checks please?”

Pete: “Got a 7.”

Jack: “A 5.”

GM: “Okay as the door opens you both see it has one male in it.  He has a 45 in his fist.  He spots you and starts to duck. Everyone including the thug had a Held action so let’s draw initiative.”
Mechanically: Three cards are shuffled out and Jack gets a 10C, Pete gets a 4H and the Thug gets a 8H so the order is Jack, Thug, Pete.

Jack: “I give him both barrels. BLAM BLAM!”

GM: “Okay with a double barred shotgun you can actually give him both barrels as a single shooting roll and both hit or miss together or you can give him two shots with two rolls.  That would incur a -2 penalty for two actions but the shotgun gives you a +2 bonus.

Jack: “Both barrels at once.  I don’t take kindly to thugs that manhandle women.”
Mechanically: Shooting dice of d6 and d6 at a +2 due to the shotgun bonus and rolls a 5 and a 4 for a total of 7.  Both barrels hit the thug.  Close range damage is 3d6 per hit or 6d6 in this case.  Jack gets a 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 3 or 14 damage versus toughness of 6.  A success and two raises.  [Edit: This is wrong.  The target takes two attacks of 3d6.  In this instance the first 3+2+1 or 6 would Shake the thug and the second 3+2+3 or 8 would in fact cause a wound and kill him since he's an Extra.  Same results but incorrectly figured in the original text]

GM: “The thug is literally cut in half as both loads of buckshot rip through his torso spraying the back of the elevator in gore.  The body parts waver for a moment before hitting the floor of the elevator with a wet squicky noise.”

Pete: “Ewwww.”

Mary Alice: “There’s at least two more downstairs somewhere, the ones from the car maybe. Unless this guy was too stupid to signal them?”

Jack: “Do we take that chance?”

Pete: “Momma said never take a chance you didn’t have to.”

Mary Alice: “I ask the girl how she’s doing.  Can she walk?”

Girl: “I think I can make it.  Oh my god why is this happening.”

Pete: “Don’t you worry your pretty little head sugar pie.  If we think she can make it, we go back down the ladder?”

GM: “With someone sticking close to her she can probably make it.”

Jack: “I call shotgun! Literally…”

GM: “Okay you exit the floor back through the maintenance tunnel, Jack you hang close to the girl going down right below her keeping her steady and secure.  You make it back through the laundry and the street appears to be clear.”

Jack: “I stick close to the girl as we run across the street and down to the car. I sling the shotgun back under my coat and keep my 38 handy.”

Pete: “Crap, I forgot the Thompson.”

Mary Alice: “You mean this one?”

Pete: “Good girl!”

GM: “You make it to your car, Shank’s sitting in the drivers seat with the engine revving. Jack you pile in beside him and Pete, Mary Alice and Rose squeeze into the back seat with the girl in the middle. As he pulls out and heads down the street there’s a flash of headlights behind you as a car comes around the corner.”

Shank: “Maybe trouble boss. Let me try some things.”

GM: “Shank takes a few turns but the headlights stay behind you and then fire rips through the night as someone unloads a machine gun on you from the car behind.”

Pete: “Step on it!”

Shank: “You got it boss! He floors the gas and the car leaps ahead with a roar of the mighty straight six engine.”

GM: “You’re at medium range from the car behind this puts you at a range of 3.  If you get more than 10 away from the pursuit you escape. We pull cards for initiative and Shank gets a 10H and the bad guys get a JD.”

Thugs: “They step on the gas themselves and close the distance to 2 (10 squares, 50′).  A guy leaning out the window opens fire again and the bullets rip through the air around the car but don’t hit anything.”
Mechanically: Driver rolls a d8 for Driving and gets a 4 or a Success and closes the distance by one increment.  The passenger opens fire with a shooting die of d6 taking one burst rather than going full auto, -2 for an unstable platform and rolls a 4 for a total of 2.

Shank: “Whips the car around a corner, trying to cost them some ground but the thugs keep right on their tail.”
Mechanically: Rolls a d10 for Driving and gets a 2 which fails and there’s no change.

Pete: “‘Mary Alice if I may?’  I take the tommy gun and shoot back full auto.”
Mechanically: The tommy gun has a rate of fire of 3 on fully auto so Pete rolls his shooting die three times and one wild die.  He’s going to be at -2 for the unstable platform and -2 for full auto.  Rolls a 7, 6, 5 and 2.  At -4 he misses with all three bursts.

Pete: “Not good.  I’m going to spend a Benny to re-roll my attack.”

GM: “You’ve already spent three bennies, you’re out.”

Mary Alice: “I yell at him to make his shots count, that last shot came too close! I give him a Benny to try again.”
Mechanically: Mary Alice has the Common Bond Edge which allows her to give her Bennies to another member of the group.

Pete: “Sweet, I remember to take careful aim, not wanting to see Mary Alice get shot.”
Mechanically: He rolls again, a d8 for each shot and a d6 wild with much better results.  5, 8, 8, 4.  Two of the shots aced or exploded and he ends up with attack rolls of 5, 14, 13, 4.  At -4 he has a 1, 10, 9 as his three attack rolls.  1 miss and 2 critical hits.  He rolls damage rolls of 2d6+1+1d6 (base plus critical bonus) twice. First burst nets him a 6, 6, 5.  The two sixes explode for a 5 and a 1 for a total of 6+6+5+5+1+1 or 24 damage.  The second attack also starts with a 2d6+1+1d6 and yields a 1, 2, 4 +1 for 8 damage.
The bad guys’ vehicle has a toughness of 10. The Thompson negates 1 point of armour so it has a functional toughness of 9.  The second shot at 8 damage has no effect.  The first shot at 24 damage gets a success and 3 raises. 
The driver of the other car has to make a driving skill roll at -3 due to the 3 wounds the car has taken and the car has to roll on the critical hits chart three times, once for each wound.  The driver rolls a d8 and gets a 3 for a total of negative one and the car goes Out of Control.  The out of control result is a 7 and the skids 1 square to the side but otherwise takes no ill effects.  The critical hit results are 8,8 and 9.  Two hits to the chassis with no special effects.  The 9 indicates one of the passengers is hit. The damage is rerolled and yields a total of 18 damage, (2d6+1+1d6) 6+5+1+4+2.  A d6 to randomly determine who is hit results in the guy leaning out the window.

GM: “You stitch a line of holes across the front of the car chasing you and sparks fly. A burst of bullets punch through the throat and head of the guy leaning out the window shooting at you and the gun drops to the ground.  As the driver jinks the car to the right it tosses the body out through the door and goes flying into a plate glass window.  The car is shooting steam or smoke from under the hood where your bullets punched through the body.”

Jack: “I stick the double barrel out the other side and blast him with both barrels.”
Mechanically: +2 to Shooting for the shotgun, -2 for unstable platform.  The range is 2 with an increment of 5 so 10 squares away putting it in the Medium range for the shotgun for -2 to hit.   Jack rolls a d6 and a d6 and gets a 2 and a 1 or 2+2-2-2 or 0.  Missed.

Jack: “I spend a benny and try it again.”
Mechanically: Rolls d6 and d6 and gets a 1 and a 6, explosion to 8 on the attack roll with a total penalty of -2 for a 6 attack roll versus a 4.  He gets a hit.  He rolls damage of 2d6 + 2d6 (both barrels at medium range) and gets a 1, 1, 6, 5.  The 6 explodes and totals 7.  1+1+7+5 = 14 damage.  That’s a success and a raise on damage.  This causes the car to take a wound putting it at 4.  This wrecks the car and the driver has to make an out of control check at -4 and the car takes a critical hit as well.  The driver rolls a d8-4 and gets an 8 which explodes to a total of 12.  He gets a success and a raise and easily manages to drive the car to a safe stop.  The critical hit roll is a 3 and indicates the engine is severely damaged  not that it matters since the car’s been Wrecked at this point from taking four wounds. [Edit: This is wrong like the guy in the elevator.  The damage would have been one attack of 2 against the cars defense and another one of 12 against the cars defense of 10.  As a result the car chase would have continued on for at least another round or three.]

GM: “Two barrels of buckshot blow through the radiator of the car and destroy several portions of the engine and the car shudders and clanks as the engine eats itself.  The driver is good though and pulls the car to stop without wrecking it.  He steps out and stares at you as you recede off into the distance.”

Mary Alice: “Great they have our tag.”

Shank: “No boss, seems it fell off while we was out for a drive this evening.  Sorry ’bout that, I’ll get them screws fixed real soon like.”

Mary Alice: “For shame!  But I guess we can let it slip this time.”

Pete: “I check on the girl, ‘hey how you doing?’”

GM: “She’s shaken up as you can imagine but isn’t physically harmed. She seems ready to fall asleep she’s so tired and worn out.”

Jack: “Shank, pull over and get the plate back on, we don’t want to get stopped by the cops, I don’t want anyone noticing us tonight then let’s swing out to Woodville and deliver the package to her family.”

Pete: “When we stop to put on the plate, I get the ammo box out of the back and make sure everyone’s topped off including the Thompson.”

GM: “Okay, Shank finds an alley to pull into and puts the license plate back on the car and checks it for damage finding one bullet hole in the back of one of the quarter panels.  He tells you there’s not much he can do about it now but back at the office garage he can hammer it back out and put a bit of paint over it and it won’t be obvious.  Pete refills his clips and the thompson and hands a few shells to Jack for his shotgun.  Mary Alice provides a shoulder for the girl who quickly is out like a light.
The drive out to exclusive suburb of Woodville is uneventful, traffic is light and no one seems to pay you any attention.  Arriving at the house, even at this late hour, a valet exits the house as you pull up into the roundabout.  Spotting the girl he hurries forward and helps you with her and ushers you into the house where she’s whisked away by the housekeeper and a maid even as Reginald Granger, your client is roused from bed.
You’re taken to the study, a lavish affair of dark woods and over stuffed leather arm chairs with bookcases filled with tomes that are probably more window dressing than anything where you meet with your client.
Mr. Granger is overjoyed to have his daughter back safe and sound and promises to have an agent at your doorstep first thing in the morning to settle your accounts.”

The case of the Missing Heiress can be considered closed successfully.

Of course the repercussions of taking down several of the O’Toole gang if the group is fingered in the rescue might make for an interesting time of it in the future.

Bodies, hundreds of them, most long dead it looked like from their appearance lay scattered, ripped and torn on grounds around the city walls. The walls of the city beyond were breached in several places but the holes were filled and blocked with everything handy from what he could see.  Wagons, push carts, crates, timbers and the rubble of the walls themselves were piled high in the breaches.   The main gates lay twisted and shattered but what looked like ship timbers filled the opening.  There was a sudden pop of light and sigils flared along the walls, twisting red arcane symbols floating above the walls that reminded him of the barrier wardings that Utha had cast in her lair.

The others joined him atop the hill each pausing to stare at the battlefield in silence for several moments.  The bodies lay sprawled, filled with arrows, blasted and burnt by fire or other forces.  They covered a wide spectrum, what were obviously farmers and peasants mixed with hobgoblins and goblins and even larger creatures as here and there a hill giant formed a large mound of dead flesh. 

Most appeared to have been dead for days even weeks, at odds with the time of length the group had been out of the city, obviously foul magics were at work here and the undead army they’d feared for such a long time had materialized, only in their absence.

“What do you make of those?” Torel asked Biminey as the strange symbols flickered into visibility atop the walls of the city. 

The artificer narrowed his senses, reaching out toward the city with that inner force that gave his creations life. His voice was uncertain when he finally spoke, “They’re wardings and artificer origin but they’re… odd.  I get a sense of great age about them but they’re weak, weakening even, running down.”

Stak spoke up, “Those figures on the walls, they’re townies.  I can see the Watch and the Anvil mercs up there along with normal folk.  They’re armed but just barely, a lot of fishing spears and table legs by the look of it.”

Everyone glanced at Stak and then at the minuscule forms, little more than dots in the distance. Visra said, a little incredulously, “You can tell that?”

In answer Stak held up his left hand, the stylized eagle beak running up his forearm from the swirled red patterns across his hand.

T’Balktu grunted, “So we won.”

The avenger shrugged, “Looks like.  Let’s get down there and find out what’s going on.”

The group picked their way through the corpses, the stench even worse close up and it was obvious that all the combatants had already been dead by the time they dropped on this battlefield at least.  The wounds were mostly dry or oozed a black ichor rather than the vats of blood that should have been covering the ground.

A crowd gathered on the walls as they approached and Torel made sure the city standard was unfurled and visible.  A small cheer went up from inside as they made their way closer.

The Captain, his left arm held in a sling next to his body along with Sargent Driskul met them atop the barricade filling the gap where the main gates had been. 

Stak nodded at the upraised eyebrow of the grizzled warrior, holding up his left hand, displaying the red tattoo of the Soul Eaters.  The Sergeant blinked then slowly nodded back.

“Hope we get a better reception than these got, Captain.” Biminey joked as they stopped at the base of the rubble.

“Depends on what news you have to give me.  Come on, Council wants you.  Sergent!”

Driskul glanced behind, “Pyotr and Jenna, get that ladder up here and over the side.  The rest of you lot, get back to your gods damned posts.  Move it or you’ll be defending this wall from outside!”

A long wood ladder came clattering down and quickly the group went up it and over the barricade.  The scene inside was grim, the citizens mixing with Watch and Anvil mercenaries alike atop the wall.   The large courtyard inside, that typically held all manner of carts and vendors was torn up, the cobblestones ripped and torn in a huge circle that encompassed easily a 30 yards across.  Biminey and Visra both flinched at the magic residue lingering over the circle, magic twisted and broken in feeling.

“What happened?” Visra asked holding out a hand, feeling the energies that lay in fragments over the courtyard.

The Captain shot her a look, “Funnel cloud sprung up, ripped up the cobblestones in that circle.  Priests say that let them use it as a summoning circle and creatures poured into the city.  We beat’em but it cost us.  It costs us a lot.  Bodies are piling up in a couple of warehouses on the docks waiting burial.  Same thing happened in four different spots around the city at roughly the same time, same day you left.  That night, an army of undead showed up.  We almost went under but then those showed up” he said jerking a thumb at the flickering wardings, “and the bodies all dropped like someone had cut their strings.”

“Where’d the wardings come from?” Biminey asked.

Captain shrugged, “Not sure on that one, Eris folk weren’t too clear, all I got out of it was they disrupt whatever powers the enemy is using to power the undead.  Surprised you made it through, every time I sent a squad out to try to destroy the bodies they roused long enough to drag them down or force them to retreat.”

Torel glanced up at the standard he held in his left hand and pursed his lips in contemplation.

“We’ll go over everything at the Temple, the Eris priests say we shouldn’t talk in the open, the rain can act as an extension of the enemy they say.  Temple’s supposed to be shielded from it.”

Image Credits

“I strongly protest your decision Lord Kotar!” the slaver mage said, indignation and fury apparent in his voice.

“Do you really Bokka?  You think we should continue to lose resources to these people?  We have the ship, I’ve sent teams inland after suitable… resources to let us recover its functionality and hopefully build more of them.  I don’t see any purpose in paying any more attention to them.  Lady Sethra has warned against our involvement in their activities any longer as it could prove… costly.”

“So we let them get away with what they’ve done?  I’ve given you the report that they killed most of our people in Larkson and caused our contact with the bandits and the tribes to disappear.  We don’t know what’s become of him, only that he wasn’t in the warehouse.  And what about my brother?  You’ve read the report, these people killed him and destroyed his ship.”

“Your scheme to take over that city doesn’t sit well with most of the Nine Bokka.  We don’t belong inland, we belong on the seas. And I really don’t care about your brother, he ruined more cargo than any other captain I’ve known. If you have an razor to hone for them, you do it on your time but I am not spending more men or gold to go after them.”

Bokka, a thin ascetic man of average height, swore softly and his hand slid toward the blade sheathed at his side, the green glowing gem in the pommel pulsing in time with his heartbeat.  The stocky figure in robes on the ornate large chair arched an eyebrow at the motion. 

“Really Bokka?” Lord Kotar’s voice held traces of amusement.  The shadowy figures swirling around the room fluttered close in anticipation, hunger apparent in their motions.

The room was a frozen tabluea for a long moment then Bokka’s shoulders slumped “I obey your wishes in all things Lord.” he said through gritted teeth, hands disappearing into the sleeves of his robes, away from his soulblade.

“Then please return to Safe Harbor and guard the airship for me.  I would be very… perturbed were anything to happen to it.  Send a fetch when the teams arrive with the artificers and keep me updated on their research.”

“Aye m’lord.”

“And Bokka, if anything happens to that ship, you’ll be a long time dying.”

“Aye m’lord.”

Bokka fled the room, one of the shadows silently closing the door behind him.  From behind an ornate tapestry a beautiful woman stepped, hair the color of night and skin so pale veins formed a pale blue web under it.

“Love, you should deal with that one now.  I’ve read the strands of the weave and in very few of them does he not covet your position.”

Kotar reached out and gently grasped the woman’s hand and pulled her close.  “And in all those possible strands does he ever succeed dear?”

Sethra’s mouth twitched in a slight smile, “Only in a very very few of them does he manage to take your place love.  I believe the phrase, ‘pigs are flying’ is appropriate for him.”

“As I thought, he is weak, tied to petty feuds, born of a weak strain.  I think before long the line of Jothan should be erased.  Only which of the minor captains to replace him?  Such a quandary…”

“What of the ‘heroes’ love?  In many strands, they oppose you and their fates are entwined in your downfall in many more.” she asked, running her head over his face, using her fingers to ‘see’ him as the dark sockets where her eyes had once been looked into the distance.

“We shall wait and see. They’ve lost one already to mischance.  I think we shall simply wait and see what else chance brings to them.  Send a fetch to Robear in Larkson, have him work on our contact there, I need a schism opened so we can operate more freely.”

“As you ask so shall it be love.”

Image Credits

“Kord’s balls, what the hell?” the guard exclaimed looking out at the east road. A naked figure was stumbling down the road, covered in blood.  As it dropped in the packed dirt in front of the gate she could see it was not only naked but most of the skin of it’s arms and upper chest had been removed.  In the distance at the top of the first rise of the road she spied what could only be a warband of hobgoblins.

A shout, the gruff voice of her sergeant barked up from below, “What is it trooper!?”

“There’s a man, I think it’s a man, he’s hurt, hurt bad in the road below and I shit you not sarge there’s a full hob warband no more than 200 yards up the road.”

“Awww shit.  Coleson, Donal, Tig spread the alarm, I want every square foot of this gods damn wall manned and I want it done NOW!”

Pounding feet sped off behind her and the brazen clanging of the alarm bell started to sound.  The halberd in her hand didn’t seem nearly as impressive as the dim light glinted off the naked steel arrayed among the hobgoblins.  The ladder behind her creaked under the massive form of the dragonborn sergeant.

“Well fuck me sideways…” Sergeant Drakotta said softly.

“What do you want to do about him Sarge?” she said pointing out the bleeding figure below.

“Shit, can’t leave him there.  And they’re held up far enough way for someone fast to get out and get him.  I remember you’re speedy Bawndi.  Get down that ladder, grab Hork and get out there and get him.”

“Crap Sarge, why…”

“Cut it trooper, get your ass down there now or you’ll be safer out there than here!”

Bawndi grimaced and nodded.  She slid down the ladder dropping lightly to the ground below. “Hork!  Get your skinny ass front and center, Sarge has a job for us.  Tally, you and Peete open the gate, we’re going to run out there and grab that guy.  If the hobgoblins charge you slam the gate you make gods damn sure that there’s no way I can make it back before they get to the gate or I swear to all hells I’ll have your ass no matter what it takes.”

As two of the guard turned the winches that pulled the massive bars back from the gate, Bawndi and Hork, a thin almost scrawny human but with surprising strength, stood poised as the thick iron bound wooden gates parted sideways.  As soon as the gap was big enough to squeeze through they did so, sprinting down the road toward the bloodied figure.

Bawndi slid to a halt next the man, eyes taking in the ruin, the skin was gone from his shoulders in long strips that ran halfway down his back.  She knelt, not sure where to grab the man as Hork retched next to her.  “Suck it up!  You toss on me and I’ll make you pay for a long time.” she hissed glancing up at the other watchman, tossing a glance toward the hobgoblins that remained motionless in the distance. “Grab the hands, I’ll get the feet.  Hurry up gods damnit!”

Together they picked the man up, carefully but quickly rolling him over and then moved back to the gate at an awkward shuffle, Hork moving backwards to keep an eye on the hobgoblins. Â  With release of held breath they passed through the gate again, multiple watch including the Anvil mercenaries were gathered around, weapons ready.  A stretcher appeared and they laid the man on it.  A watch healer stepped up and laid a hand on the man’s forehead and a glow appeared around her fingers and sank into the man’s flesh, the flesh knitting and healing.

The man screamed sitting bolt upright then trying to lunge away, troopers grabbing him and pressing him back down.  His struggles died as his terror filled eyes took in his surroundings.  Sargeant Drakotta pushed through the crowd, squatted by the man, “What’s going on?  Who are you?”

The man shook his head, stammered, “Stanal, my names Stanal.  They destroyed the village, killed everyone!  They kept me alive to deliver a message.”

“What’s the message?  What village?”

“My home, Greenoak village.”

One of the watch spoke up, “I know the place Sarge, maybe ten buildings, about thirty or forty people.”

Without looking back, Drakotta rasped out, “Next man that speaks is going to regret being birthed.  Now, you, Stanal, what do they want?”

“They want some book they say is here, some book with a name in it.  They’ll give you a week to come up with it.  Every week they don’t get it, another village dies. When they run out of villages then they’ll march on the city.”

“What the fuck? A book?”

“Yes, that’s what they said. Said someone would know what they’re talking about.”

A voice called down, “Sarge, they’re moving out, heading south.”

Drakotta rocked back on his heels, shook his head.  “Well someone sure as shit ain’t me.”  He rose, yanking the man up with him, hand locked like a bear trap on his wrist.  Bawndi, you’re with me.  We’re taking this one to the captain.  Frost, take over here.  Keep them on their toes and keep everyone’s eyes open.  This could be a feint of some kind.  Send runners, make sure the east gate is covered and send someone to Joncel and make sure he’s got the river side sewn up.”

“Aye sarge.” replied a hardbitten trooper, “I’ll get’em moving.”

“Come on you, let’s go.  And someone get these people moving, show’s over!”

Drakotta lead the way down the road at a swift pace, the farmer behind him and Bawndi trailing, naked steel in her hand and mistrust on her face.

Something wicked this way comes....

Excuse the hiatus, we take one week off out of every four and last week we also had a huge snowfall to contend with that made it dangerous to get together.  With any luck we’ll be playing this weekend.

In  the meantime –

“Councilman with all due respect I believe the idea has merit.  Council Lerik’s idea of locking the 5 of them up for a few days to see if the murders stop will harm no one and it might help uncover the truth.”

“See, even the guard are smart enough to know I’m right Garon.” came the oily voice of Councilor Lerik as he leaned forward, thrusting out a finger to point to the chainmail clad form of Captain Warik, commander of the guard.

The creases of Warik’s eyes bunched slightly and then smoothed out at Lerik’s tone, insulting without giving cause for insult. A skill the man possessed in spades, one that Warik couldn’t help but wish would get the man… hurt.  Not killed, he wasn’t that obnoxious but Warik wouldn’t be unhappy to hear that the councilor had met with some mishap, maybe a broken bone or two.  It would be too much to ask that Lerik became a victim to the person or creature that was killing townsfolk each night.

“Captain! Did you hear me?” Garon asked sharply.

“Sorry sir, something occurred to me about the murders that distracted me.”

Garon shook his head, “I said no we won’t be tossing them in jail.  They’ve done well enough by us.  They chased that creature out of the Eris temple, were captured and almost killed trying to solve our gold thefts, we know more about the murders because of them.  No, they stay free.”

“You realize they ‘found out’ information on the murders because they committed them!” Lerik spat out.

Garon leaned forward, planting his palms on the table, “That’s enough!  I know you have issues with them Lerik.  You have issues with anyone who doesn’t fit your god’s image of the ideal.  Oh I know who or what you worship.  So far your belief’s haven’t interfered with your ability to keep the merchants happy and in line but don’t push things too far.  Without my goods to sell and Teagan’s boats and wagons to ship them you’d be a little unpopular with everyone both merchant and commoner so I suggest you give up this little vendetta you have against these people.”

Lerik dropped back into his chair, mouth open and then a look of furious anger crossed his face.  Without a word he rose and stormed out of the council chamber, Jan, the pretty young woman who’d taken Tanner’s place following after an uncertain pause, tossing an apologetic look around the room.

“What a pleasant individual.” Warick growled.

“That’s enough from you too Captain.  We all need to get along.  I know we’ve had our differences, I know you don’t like the changes we’ve pushed down your throat as it were about hiring outside help, which again doesn’t indicate a lack of confidence in your or the Watch’s ability.  But with the slaver raid, the murders and I know you don’t care to believe in them but of late all the temple priests have spoken of auguries that bad times are coming, very bad times.  Better poorer but prepared.  Perhaps if we’d of had these extra troops then my own… Never mind. As I say we need to get along with him and each other for the protection and benefit of the town.”

Warick nodded curtly, “Aye, I can understand your position Councilor.”

“I hear a but in there but I won’t push it.  Please go on, we’ll go over your report and see if we can make anything out of it.  Do what you can to catch this killer and keep our people safe.”

“Aye, that I can agree with.” Warick saluted the two councilors and their aides and turning on a heel left the room.

Teagan, the eladrin in charge of shipping who up till now had been quiet spoke up, “Berylon would you and Spar be so good as to wait in the other room for a few moments?”

The two aides glanced at each other and Berylon shrugged, “Sure, just summon if you have need.  C’mon Spar.”

After the room was empty and the door closed Teagon leaned back in his chair.  Face calm and impassive, eyes wandering over the decorative carvings in the ceiling of the council chambers he spoke quietly, “You know that one is beginning to overstep his bounds.  His hatred of all non-humans is affecting his dealings with me. I know he’ll be dead in 20 or 30 years and be out of my hair but it’s going to be a long 30 years at this rate.  Out of curiosity as he’s without heir or acknowledged relation as far as I know who would inherit if something were to happen to our fellow councilman?”

Garon shot a sharp look at the eladrin, “You know the answer to that and I don’t like where that question is going Teagon.”

Teagon flicked his eyes over and gave a miniscule shrug, “I’m not proposing anything Garon.  I’m just noting that the man has a lot of people irritated at him.  And ever since that deal with the slaver, if it was a slaver, he’s gotten a lot worse.  Did you know he’s pushing all the merchants under his control to get rid of their non-human employees?  I also heard that he wants to erect an altar to that banal spiteful god of his.  Yes you humans make up the highest proportion of the cities population but humans versus non-humans you’re in a distinct minority.  It’s irrational hatreds brought upon people by the ideologies of the likes of that one and his ilk that could end up destroying this town much less the slavers or reavers or whatever it is that the priests are warning us is coming.”

Garon suddenly chuckled, “You know that’s the most I think you’ve ever said at one time.  Yes the man was never pleasant and lately he’s turned downright vile, even to his ‘own kind’.  I think though that you overestimate the draw of his beliefs and the power of Bain.  Did you know he already has an altar to his god in a cellar under his home?  Ahh, see, we both have sources of information.  And do you know how many people in his circle of ‘friends’ and acquaintances actually pay homage to his detestable little godling?  Only twelve that I know of.  Twelve followers out of how many people in this town?  Nay he poses no real threat to the security of the town.  And he’s brilliant at keeping the merchants in line, paying their taxes and not overcharging the commoners.”

Teagon’s lips curled up slightly, “I bow before your wisdom then Garon. Perhaps I shall learn somewhat of it during the time you have left on this plane of existence.”

“We live as the gods decree my friend.  Even your longevity might be cut shorter than you’d like as your gods wish. As for myself, I find it pointless to worry about it. Have you come up with anything we can do or have the Watch do to try and protect the people?”

Teagon shook his head, “Without knowing what we’re dealing with there’s little we can do.  Trying to ward every home, building and store against everything would be impossible.  But if we can find the creature’s nature we might be able to come up with something or so my people tell me.”

“The information that the group gave us was of no help?”

“Not really.  Necromatic arts are pretty far reaching.  We need to know the nature of the creature, if we could get something that belonged to it, an article of clothing or better yet flesh or blood then perhaps those skilled in the arts might come up with a way to track it.”

Garon snorted, “Blood? Hells we can’t even find the blood of the victims.”

“A chilling part of the deeds.  Where is the blood going and what is it being used for.  I fear the answer will not be one we wish to know.”

“Undoubtedly. Let’s get them back in here and start going over shipping needs.  The fish are pouring in from the boats and we’re going to have to get more barrels and crates to hold them.  I’d like another five hundred of the stasis crates as well, we should have planned ahead for this just in case.”

The two men, two of the most influential men in the city began studying the piles of documents that detailed the lifeblood of the city of Larkson, the fishing harvest and its dissemination.

“The wardings of that accursed place hold true still.  They sap my powers more than imagined I.”  A second voice was definitely feminine, a caressing shiver of a voice that spoke of silk and whispers and promises of shadows and touch.

The first figure shrugged with a sinuous wave of its body, “I do not know stay shall I.  My freedom is enjoyable.” The figure gestured idly and nearby a man dressed in the uniform of the Larkson Watch drew a knife across his throat, the cut joining many many others on his body.  As the last of his life’s blood fountained as a scarlet ribbon in the air he slumped to the ground.  Only to rise moments later, dead eyes focused on its master.

The feminine voice changed in a flicker turning into a thing of razors and pain, “Mine husband you shall see free or your usefulness is at an end, know this Phy’el Fleshwalker.”

The corpse white skin of the first split open as the second’s words played over it, bloodless flesh gaping open. With no sign of pain upon its face it smiled slightly and nodded, “An it pleases you my queen.”

The voice, once again silken caresses, “Keep up the pressure on the wards.  Use the humans as you can to subvert them.  The Accursed One’s guardians seek to undo our release and attend to them I need.” Wings of green fire erupted from the second’s back and the body elongated.  The grass for yards around wisped into ash as it rose into the air with a lazy beat of her wings.  Hovering for a moment the solid black eyes looked down at him, “And use your command over the dead and flesh to recover Krag’s animus and restore him.  I do not wish my beloved to be deprived of his personal guard.”

Phy’el turned his head to follow the figure, using the heat of it to track it while the eyes of his head, boiled and burst in the first instants of the wings coming out and caressing his body, slowly regenerated. “Some day my queen.  Some day…”

Ranks of motionless figures jerked in unison minutes later as a single cry of raw anger and rage ripped through the air.  With a crook of his finger he summoned one of them to him.

“I hear you’re asking for Shuk.” Dra’kin started as a voice spoke behind him, the staff of wood he was carving slipping out of his hand and rolling across the worktable. He turned to see one of Shuk’s halflings, Keri he was almost sure.

“Yes, I wanted to check on her, it’s been a couple of days since I’ve seen her and I wanted to make sure she’s all right.”

“That’s why she has me.  Me and Meri. To make sure she’s alright. She went up stream with Meri to Forge.”

“Oh?  Why?”  Dra’kin gestured to a nearby chair and sat on the edge of his bed.

Keri shook her head, “Guild business.  I’m sure you understand.”

“When’s she coming back?”

“Guild business.” the halfling thief replied.

“Uh, okay.  When she gets back could you tell her I’d like to see her.”

“I’ll give her the message.”

“Great.  Are you hungry?  My treat. The council came through with a little gold to thank us for our ‘efforts’ in looking into the murders and for driving the creature out of the temple.”

She shook her head, “No thanks, I’ve got to look into some things.  You can’t give people a chance to get momentum or your place in the order of things becomes at risk.”

There was a tap on the door and moments later it opened revealing Torel standing there, “Hey we’re going to go over to… Well hey there.  Meri?  Keri?”

“Keri.  Meri’s with Shuk who’s…” Dra’kin paused as Keri shook her head slightly, “…busy right now.”

“Mi’lady Keri would you care to join us for the evening meal?” Torel asked with a slight bow.

“Thanks but no, I must be off.” she replied.

“Perhaps next time then.”

“Maybe.  Later Dra’kin.” Keri said, flashing him a look, a warning in it.  Torel stood aside to let her leave, coming further into the room.

“So what about you?  Hungry?”

“Sure, let me get my pouch.”

“So what’s up with Shuk?”

Dra’kin grimaced, “Guild business. Don’t think I’m supposed to talk about it.”

Torel shrugged “Okay, just being polite.  We’re going to try some place that Stak found down on the docks.  Swears they have a fish stew to die for.  Personally I think it’s not the stew but the person bringing it that he thinks is to die for.”

Dra’kin rolled his eyes, “Okay I guess.  But if there’s another gods damned drunken brawl this is the last time I’m letting any of you pick a place to eat.”

Torel protested, “Hey those were all Biminey’s fault!  Him and that damn hand of his trying to steal drinks from drunks.”

“I’m just saying, your fault, my fault, nobody’s fault. I have to jump through another window to avoid being thrown through it and I’m going to burn someone’s pubes off.”  Hellfire flickered to life on the finger he was pointing at Torel.  A sympathetic light pulsed in red crystal in a silver mount on his worktable casting a red glow onto the room.

Torel held his hands up with an innocent look, “Hey hey watch that thing!”

Dra’kin closed his fingers into a fist, the action causing the flames to go out, “Just remember what I said.  Now let’s go I’m hungry enough to eat even bad food now.”

Torel clapped him on the shoulder, then pulling his hand back as Dra’kin stopped to look at it. “Right right, the warlock that walks alone. Come one.”

Dra’kin’s eyes narrowed as the avenger of Kord walked ahead of him, a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before clearing.

In the shadows across the street two figures stirred, one stepping out to follow the warlock and avenger down the street, the other slipping away down an alley.

Image Credits

Night Sky

Interlude – At Sea

The sound of sobbing drew him to the bow of the boat.  THe moon’s light was dim, hidden behind clouds.  Thank the gods that they were normal clouds, not the swirling banks of dark grey clouds lit from within by green flaring lights that they’d left behind at the ancient city of Darkmith.

Tucked into shadow behind two bales of fishing net, Torel found the girl sitting on the gunwhale, feet up on a bale and clutched to her chest.  She was rocking back and forth crying quietly. If the seas had been any rougher than the millpond it was currently he feared she’d have gone over the edge long ago.

Slowly he eased up to sit next to her, keeping just enough space between them to be able to grab her if she went too far back. “Hey,” he spoke softly, gently,”how’s it going?”

The girl’s muffled voice came softly from where it was buried between her knees. “I don’t want to die.  Things keep happening to me and I think I’m going to die and then other things happen and suddenly I’m not and I’m just so tired of it.  I’ve got this… thing inside me, I saw what it did, I don’t want to …” Her tear covered face looked up at him and she reached out to grab his arm in a grip that would leave a ring of bruises around his forearm. “Swear to me, swear on your life, on everything you hold dear in this world and the next that if this thing in me…if something happens…swear that you’ll end the pain.”

Torel didn’t, couldn’t look away from the fierceness of the girl’s gaze and found himself nodding, “Aye, Soozin.  This I swear on my life and my faith, if it comes to that, I will… stop the pain.”

For several long moments the girl was silent, eyes gazing into those of the holy warrior of Kord then she nodded and said simply, “Thank you.”

He moved closer, then hesitantly put an arm around her shoulders.  She leaned into him and he held her, offering what comfort he could.

They sat in silence that way, the salt taste of the water in the air, the gentle breezes from the south, warm and comforting blowing across the ship with the snap of the sails and the creak of rope and pulleys adding their own melody to the night.  Her tears like small raindrops rolling over his forearm.

Then the girl began to speak, voice calm as she watched the water flow past.  Telling him of her life, of growing up the daughter of a seamtress, her father lost at sea.  Of her hopes at the spring festival of finding someone, of her home and her brother, lost in Darkmith. Of Torn’s caring for her and their plans for the future.

“You said Torn was hurt but that the temple priests were going to fix him.  Was that the truth?”

Torel sighed heavily, “As far as I know little one. The temple has vast stores of knowledge and they seemed hopeful they would be able to find a way to heal him.  His brain was hurt during the attack and that’s the part they aren’t sure about.  I’ve seen those who’ve been damaged in such a fashion and I’ve seen them lay in a deep sleep for weeks and then come out of it.”

“And sometimes they don’t.”

“Aye, sometimes.”

“Thank you for the truth on that.”

“We’ll do everything we can for him, I hope you know the truth in that as well.  It’s only another two days and we should be home.  Gods willing he’ll be up and around and waiting for you.”

“The gods will as they will.  Damned be them all.” she said bitterly looking up at the skies.  “By all… what is that?” she whispered.

His eyes turned up as she gasped. A shadow was crossing through clouds overhead, outlined in green fire, the outline was that of a man but with abnormally long legs and arms and giant tattered shadow wings that beat the clouds into a frenzy at its passing.  Fragments of green fire dripped from those wings like water splattering into a rain puddle and each drop burned a section of the clouds away.  It soared without sound, significantly faster than the ship could sail, moving in a weaving graceful pattern, leaving wispy burned away clouds in its wake. 

Rooted to the spot they watched it, unable to look away as it sailed far ahead of the ship and then with a swirling loop it turned inland and vanished in the distance.

A deep terror filled the girl’s eyes as they shook off the spell.  “Do you…?”

Torel shook his head slowly, “No.  But I fear by all that I know that this does bodes dreadful ill for the future.  I fear those meddling fools may have doomed us all with what they’ve unleashed.”

He stood, helping the girl to her feet, “Come we must tell the others of this.”

Source Image

Familiar's Eye view of the temple

Interlude – Temple of Artificers

Biminey looked up, cocking his head.  The sound came again, the voice of one of Torel calling from outside the complex.  He put down the scroll he was reading and removed the glasses.  Rubbing his forehead he waited for the headache to go away making yet another mental note to work on the plan for the translation goggles, one that wouldn’t leave him feeling like a foot long spike was being shoved through his head each time he took them off after using them for more than a few minutes.

But without them the scrolls would be nothing more than scribbles and strange alphabets. He tossed the scroll into his pack where it joined a growing selection.  The ancient outbuildings of the temple of artificers had proven to be a wealth of information of curious natures of his craft.  Reluctantly he’d marked several an collected them but had no plans for taking them.  There was only so much space in his pack after all.

Head only pounding now rather than splitting he went outside, grabbing a silvered spear he’d found next to a jumble of parts that had once been one of the spear constructs.  Night had fallen while he was reading and the moon shone down giving the courtyard a silvery blue tint. Â  He headed to the gate, his feet making soft noises on the heavy stone tiles filling the inside of the temple walls.

“What?  I didn’t catch that?” he yelled over the wall.

Torel’s voice came back, “Just checking on you, we’ve found a good place to set up, it’s about 50 yards south, southwest of the gate.  Some walls are still standing and give us some concealment but we can still keep an eye on the gate.”

“Great, I’ll find a place in here to get some rest and keep at it!  There’s a lot of information here to go through but I’ve found a building that holds a lot of rituals and knowledge that seems to be specifically with the air ships!”

“Fantastic!  Okay scream if you run into a problem and we’ll stand here and mourn you appropriately.”

“What a friend you are!” Biminey called back laughing.

“Get to work!  It’s cold out here!  And there are dark priests!”

“Riiiiight!”

The artificer went back in, the building he was currently rummaging through looked very promising as many of the scrolls held illustrations of various ships and ship components. With a sigh at the upcoming pain, he slipped the glasses back on and continued his search.  The hours came and went as he scanned scroll after scroll, the building headache looming larger and larger.

Finally he found it, a set of scrolls outlining how to make field repairs to elemental ships and another set that outlined the control mechanisms.  He scooped them all up, hugging them to his chest before storing them carefully into his pack, pulling out several of the others that he’d collected to make room.

Even tensing in anticipation did nothing to prepare him for the shattering white pain that ripped through his head as he removed the glasses and he was literally driven to his knees by the pain.  As darkness took him, he though, “Perhaps I won’t wear them so long next time.”

Sun was shining through the windows as he woke up, groggy and disoriented and for a few moments unaware of where he was.  Panic set in momentarily before the memories came crashing back. Â  His head was pounding still and it was the work of several minutes before he was able to climb to his feet. And several minutes longer before he realized that the sun was slanting in from the wrong direction.  It was almost evening again with morning come and gone.

“Biminey!?  HEY!!!” called an urgent voice from outside.

He stumbled out, pausing to lean against the door frame.  It took a couple of tries before his voice worked and then he replied, “I’m okay!”

“Baphomat wept!  For the gods sake man, we’ve been calling all day!  Dra’kin lost his little eye familiar trying to see inside and we didn’t know if you were alive or dead!” It was Elisssa’s voice that came back.

“I’m alive!  Mostly! Over did it a little and… never mind!  I’m okay!”

“Don’t worry us like that! Did you find anything!?”

“Right, found something.”  He remembered now what he’d been reading right before he’d dropped and his eyes widened, “Found something?!  I found EXACTLY what we needed!  Let me collect my stuff and I’ll figure out a way to get out of here.”

Gear in hand he headed toward the gate, a panel on the wall inside that he’d seen earlier glowed with a soft pale light much like the light of the crystalline windows of the tower on the island, the gleaming controls of the air ship and the crystal plaque near the tomb of Larkson.  At his command his familiar emerged from from a pouch at his waist and he picked it up and placed it on the panel.  The massive gate slowly began to shift open and he walked through it.

His friends stood just out of range of the guardian bolters atop the walls and waited for him.  Biminey held up his pack, “Got what we need, well I know what we need to do and where we need to find it.”

“Great, where to?”

“First I need to make you some passes that will get you into the grounds.  I found the ritual on how to make a amulet that will get you into the grounds without triggering the defense systems.”

Dra’kin spoke slowly, “And why do we need to get into the temple?”

“Because we’re going to raid the vaults under it of course.”

“Raid the vaults… say that again?”

“I found scrolls that tell me how to repair the damage done to the ship at least enough to get it moving again.  For that I’m going to need residium.  An ass load of residium.  And I’m betting we can find it in the residium vaults under the temple.  We’re also going to need an override amulet of control.  These are also stored for safekeeping in the vaults under the temple.”

“What’s that do?” Stak asked.

“With that I’ll be able to direct the elementals powering the airship and we’ll be able to fly that bad boy anywhere we want.  We’ll be gods damned kings of the world with that thing under our control.”

“Riiiiight…” Torel said rolling his eyes. “Until someone steals it.”

“Or sets it on fire with arrows.” Elisssa chimed in.

“Or he crashes it into a tower.” Stak added.

“Or a….” Dra’kin started to say.

“Enough! I get the point.”  Biminey int erupted wryly.

Elisssa snorted, “Someone has to keep you down to earth. So we just waltz down to the vaults, grab what we need and we’re off to save our ship.  The ship we don’t know where it is?”

“Exactly.  Well maybe not quite that… easily.”

Torel sighed, “So what are we looking at?”

“The amulets I can make should get…”

“Should?!” Dra’kin sputtered.

Biminey continued on, “should get you all onto the grounds and into the main temple.  In there we’ll find an entrance that leads down to the vault.  I should…”

“There’s that word again…And by the way I need a new eye construct.”

“I should be able to get us through that door without a problem.”

Stak asked, “But?”

“The vaults probably have a few safe guards on them.  You know to keep people from doing what we’re wanting to do.  On the plus side, the place is falling apart. There are bits and pieces of constructs laying all over the place where they just gave out.  The nine spearmen that came out?  Those are probably the last working ones.  I got this spear from a pile of parts just inside the door.”

Torel held up a hand and started checking off fingers, “So, just to sum up, you get us into the temple maybe.  We find the entrance to these vaults. We fight our way past guardians, traps and whatever else they might throw on the pile.  That may or may not be working.  We break into the vaults. Damn ran out of fingers. Steal the temple’s loot.  Figure out where our ship is.  Go get it from whoever took it.  Fix it.  And then you pilot us out home again.  Where the city council is probably dying to try and take it away from us not to mention everyone else with a sword and a desire for the power such a ship would give them.”

Biminey grinned, “Yep, that about covers it.  So.  Are you in?”

Torel grinned back, “Of course.”

Image Credits

Dragonborn with Maul

“You smell that?  What’s that remind you of?  Smells like… snake.” a harsh voice cut through the evening air.

“Hells no Marti, it’s something with scales alright but I’d say it’s more like dead rottin’ fish.” a sardonic voice replied loudly.

Elisssa shook her head slightly. On the whole living in Larkson was enjoyable but of late the Bain followers seemed to be getting more overt about their humanistic beliefs.

“Oh yeah Jakia, fish might be right. Something smells fishier than an unwashed doxie’s crotch.”

Elisssa snapped over her shoulder without slowing, “Don’t badmouth your birthplace, you’ll make your mom cry.”

There was a startled silence and then, “What the fuck?!  What did you say?”

Elisssa sighed, turning as she heard footsteps hurrying toward her.  Two humans were moving toward her from the mouth of an alley.  The one in front of medium build, hair tied back with dirty blue rag, the other one stockier with broad muscled shoulders.  Thugs the both of them was her first impression.

“Snake bitch you want to be repeating that?  I don’t think I heard you right.”

The stockier one spoke, “Marti, I done think she called your mom a whore.”

The other thug snapped his hand sideways and a iron club grew out of it, fashioned of linked steel piping. “Whore she may have been but she was human and no fuckin’ snake bad mouths a human.”

Jakia’s hands disappeared into his tunic coming back into sight with small metal cylinders that snapped open with a jerk of his hands into twin clubs. “Snake gotta know it’s place Marti and that’s down in the dirt on it’s belly.  You want to get yourself down and apologize now snake bitch and we might let you walk away in one piece.”

Elisssa heaved a deep sigh, sending a mental plea to her goddess, the mother of her race for the strength to not kill the fools in front her.  She eyed the approaching men, slowly counting to five to calm the heat that roiled just below her surface.  ”We can do this hard or easy.  Easy is we both go our separate ways now, no harm no foul.”

“Oh I think you like it hard there snake bitch.  How’s about we give you the hard way.” Jakai leered, holding one of the clubs suggestively at his crotch.  ”This ain’t nothing to what I got for you.”

Elisssa felt her thoughts bubble toward rage and opened her mouth, lightnings playing off her teeth as her inner energies began to race.  With a new found trick she snapped her own hand out and there was a sound of ripping leather ties as Rock Crusher leapt into her hand, the red runes on the flawless black iron maul’s head glowing with a dim light.

“You sure you want hard fuck face?” she snapped, lighting arcing from her teeth onto the maul.  ”You really really don’t want to fucking push me….”

The two thugs faces tightened and they started to spread apart in the street when a voice, tone casual, almost bored spoke, “Hey girl, who are your friends?”

All three of them glanced sideways to see another human coming out of a doorway, dressed in the red trimmed chain and leather of the city watch, the hilts of two swords rising up behind his shoulders and a long bladed knife on each hip.  He leaned against the door frame, cold green eyes boring into those of the two men. His arms were scarred with the reminders of over thirty fights in the pits and a jagged slash rand down his face.  The savage scarring detracting little from his otherwise good looks.

“Hey Torn, I see that the watch took you in.” Elisssa said, after the first glance she’d returned her gaze back to the men.

“Yeah, wasn’t hard, Hells if you defeat all their trainers in one go, they even make you a officer and put you in charge of shit.”

“You sidin’ with the snake?” Marti spat out.

Torn stepped forward, with a blurred motion and rasp of metal on metal he held a short sword in each hand.  The one in the right of arctic blued steel, the razor-ed edge crackling with lightnings identical to those dancing over the great maul in Elisssa’s hands.

“No, I’m siding with my friend.  Now get the hells out here before I have to call a corpse cart.  I hate the paperwork and reports I have to give when I have to do that. Just the thought of it really pisses me off.”

The two men glanced at each other then glared at the dragonborn and the veteran pitfighter. “We’re going. The stink here is about to make me vomit anyway.” Marti growled out.  He jabbed a club at Elisssa, “Just a little advice snake, mind your manners next time a human talks to you. There’s bad things other than snakes sometimes in the dark, you might just run into them.”

The two men turned and stalked away, Elisssa and Torn watching them go.

“What was that about?” Torn asked, sheathing his swords in a smooth crisscrossing of his arms.

Elisssa shrugged, “Bain followers I think.”

“Bain?”

“Pissy little god that thinks humans should rule the world and everyone else should be dead, pets or unpaid help.”

“And here I thought you had such a nice little town.”

Elisssa snorted, the remnants of lightning flaring out to light the minuscule blue tinted scales of her face, “They’re nothing, just some lowlives that need someone to blame for their shit.”

“Seemed rather more than nothing.”

“Nothing to worry about, all talk, they’d of threatened, I’d of warned them off and life would have gone on.  How’s Soozin?”

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re changing the subject El.  She’s fine, I got her a little room over on the east side of town, as a watch leader I get a house allowance and the gold that Torel loaned me she’s not going to need to work for awhile and I’ll start getting a pay sack in a week or two.”

“And how are the two of you doing?”  Elisssa chuckled as a rose of color bloomed on the fighter’s cheeks.

“Wha…what do you mean?”

She reached out and clasped his shoulder, “I may have scales and breath lightning balls dear friend but once you get past that I’m still a woman.  I see the way she looks at you and you her.”

Torn grinned, “I guess we’re going okay.  I was going to wait till you guys get back from that job you’re doing for the Council but I might as well tell you now . We’re going to have a binding ceremony next month after I get a little more gold saved up and I want you all to stand Witness for us.”

“I’d be honored Torn.” she replied leaning forward to brush his cheek with a kiss and give him a hug. “And the others will too or they’ll answer to me.”

“Such a fierce one you are Elisssa!”

Elisssa’s belling peel of laughter rang out through the darkening street, “Come and we’ll tell them now, we’re meeting now at our inn to discuss our trip.”

“I cannot,duty calls El. But look me up when you get back and we’ll make arrangements.”

“The gods themselves couldn’t stop me.  I’ll see you in a few days friend.  Take care of the little one.”

“With my life, El, with my life and more.”

With a final clasp of forearms they split up, the dragonborn warden heading north to meet with her companions…

Image Credits

Keri, or is it Meri?

Dra’kin leaned back on the lavender scented down pillow, the better to enjoy the view as his lover, Shuk continued stretching her body into positions that looked impossible for her.  Born of human and orc she favored her human half more but still dense thick muscles covered her lithe frame, the skin a polished white jade rippling and flexing as the woman moved slowly and smoothly through a series of stretches and slow motion maneuvers.

Shuk paused, body frozen in place and she glanced through the strands of her brown hair, glinting with green highlights. “Love, best tell your familiar to stop staring at me or you’re going to need to get another one.”  The wicked looking dagger in left hand spun around her fingers sending sparkles of red light through the air in counterpoint to her threat.

Dra’kin, eyes rolling, exerted his will upon the hovering eye in the corner of the room sending it zooming down to disappear into his carefully folded clothing. “You know it’s just attracted by the motion Shukie.”

“Don’t care dear, I don’t like things staring at me when I work out.”

“So I should close my eyes?”

Body folded down her head turned to look at him from roughly around her knee, the position showing off her curves to excellent advantage. A slow smile spread, her elongated canines gradually showing, “Not if it has that reaction that I see it has.  Or is that your knee under the sheet.” she said with smirk.  She unfolded with a sinuous snap and somehow ended up on the bed standing over him.  “Now then… Let’s see if we can’t find another way to pass the time…”

Sometime later, the warlock was dozing and only partially registered the sound of someone clearing their throat. Â  The impact of the floor as he was violently shoved sideways out of the bed though woke him up quite effectively. Â  Naked he rolled sideways, hellfire blooming on his hands to end in a crouch in the corner of the room.  The flickering red glow highlighted the innocent face of Keri, one of Shuk’s lieutenants, one of a pair, twin halfings. On the far side of the bed, Shuk slowly rose from a crouch, a long jagged edge blade in one hand, the red flecked bade of Ravager in the other.

Keri whistled appreciatively as she glanced between them, “I see that what they say about the size of a warlock’s staff is true.”

Dra’kin stood, letting the flames flicker and die, “I don’t use a staff.”

“Exactly. You don’t have anything to compensate for obviously.”

“Keri, I thought we talked about this?”

The halfling pasted a contrite look on her face. “I know ‘mom’ but you had that new lock and warding put on your door and you know I can’t resist a challenge.”

Shuk sighed, “Obviously I was grossly overcharged, I should have been warned someone was trying to bypass the protections at the very least.”

Kery grinned, “Oh you got your money’s worth cutie.  I wouldn’t worry about it.  There aren’t many, alright, any as good as me at getting past wards don’t want me to.”

“What are you doing here Keri?  Anything wrong?”

“Your boytoy asked me to get some information for him, I have it.”

Dra’kin spoke, his voice muffled briefly by the tunic he was pulling over his head, “I said bring it by this evening at the tavern.”  He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his boots.

“Hate to break it to you hottie but it’s evening now.  You must of really been working overtime. Did you do that thing I told you about, where you put your…” Keri dropped to the floor as a throwing spike whiffed through the air where her head had been moments before.

“That’s enough Keri.” Shuk said calmly replacing the spike in the strap on her forearm with another from a box on the dresser by the bed.

“You never complained when I did…” Keri’s voice trailed off as the golden green eyes of her boss caught her’s.  Shuk had her scary face on, eyes and face calm and showing no emotion what so ever.  The same face she wore as she persuaded someone slow to pay their loan that prompt payment left everyone happy.  The same face she wore as she took a lead weighted club to someone who thought they could refuse to pay their loans.  And the little rogue was sure it was the same face she’d worn as she gutted the man who’d held her job at one time and thought he and his seconds could take advantage of the young half orc female newly joined to the night guild.

Dra’kin stepped over and kissed the most deadly woman in town on the neck, “See you later Shuk, I need to catch up with friends.” He ran a hand down her jaw in a caress and with a thought his familiar settled down on his shoulder, the dangling wires from the mechanical construct that Biminey had constructed for him wrapping around his neck like some odd necklace or collar.

“Later cutie, I’ll see you later then.” Keri said with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows.

As the door closed on Dra’kin, the corner’s of Shuk’s mouth twitched and she couldn’t help but smile, the cheerfulness of the haling infectious.  It was one of the reasons they’d shared a bed for awhile when Shuk was feeling the pressure of her step up from apprentice to leader of the guild.  She shook her head as Keri bounced up on the bed. “So what did you find out about the ship?”

Keri grimaced, “Not much.  Gonna need Meri on this one. I can take care of the wards but the watchers are good, you’ll need spookie to get in there see what’s going on.”

“Okay, make arrangements with Tork on the docks to give you a distraction if you need it to get her on board. I want to know if they’re hauling the gold that rumor has it.  And if she can find out their home port or a chart book, that might be useful for something.”

“I hear your man is heading upstream after the ones taking the gold shipments?

“He’s not my man love, just a distraction.”

Keri rolled her eyes, “Riiiight. So since you’re not stopping him I can guess you’re not behind those thefts.”

Shuk frowned, “Was that ever a question?”

“You never know with you hon. You keep them close to that bountiful chest of yours sometimes.”

“Not this time.  Personally I think it’s the buyers out east.  They get the cargo and the payment.  None of our concern at the very least.  Okay get with your sister and work out a time to visit the ship.  Yes I know she’s already working nights for that friend of Drak’s, work something out.”

Keri saluted her boss, a satire of the watch’s salute ending with her hand cupping her own breast and shaking it, “At your command!”

“Whatever. I also need you to have Pip pay a visit to the rug merchant and remind him he’s past due.  Nothing painful, just a threat of painful is fine.  I might want to take payment in goods later once he’s really worried.  I also need you to have…”

For the next hour talk was of business, the business of shadows and night before the two of them headed toward the tavern where their friends were talking…

]]> http://www.keyourcars.com/2009/12/25/drakins-interlude/feed/ 0 http://www.keyourcars.com/2009/12/23/interlude-stak/ http://www.keyourcars.com/2009/12/23/interlude-stak/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:51:44 +0000 Dennis http://www.keyourcars.com/?p=3383

Tavern

He’d been sitting in the dockside bar for an hour now, listening to the talk, occasionally trying to nudge the conversation around him with a discrete question or a raised eyebrow.  The ale was bad, green as hell but better than the water the gods knew. A loud clang drew his attention as the barmaid slammed her drink tray up against a drunk’s head and he used the distraction to swap his three quarter full mug with his neighbor’s empty one.

Stak signaled the serving girl, pointing at his mug.  She nodded, a world weary smile pasted to her face that didn’t come close to reaching her eyes.  Shorter than average, probably topping little over five foot tall, she was well proportioned although slight.  But apparently that didn’t keep her from packing a hell of a wallop as the tavern’s thug grabbed the unconscious drunk by the hair and started hauling him toward the door.

A scrap of conversation caught his attention, “…bugger all gold on that ship I hear tell.  And them sailors of theirs, never seen such a hard assed crew.  You don’t hire a crew like that you ain’t hauling a assload of gold and you know it Sammi.”

Stak dropped a silver on the girl’s tray as she set down another full tankard of bad ale.  For an instant a smile crinkled the corner’s of her eyes and she bowed in thanks before whisking away to fill another order.  She glanced back at the wolfkin born ranger with an appreciative eye, making note to make sure his mug was full in case there were any other silver offerings.

At the next table, two older peasants, probably fishermen judging by the leathery skin and sun bleached hair and the out-sized knuckles on their hands although he noted hard callus on one was missing a leg from the knee down, callus you only got from wielding a blade. The other’s right arm hung bound in a sling.  Casualties of a sea that life that didn’t treat kindly with those that dared it’s surface.

He picked up his mug and eased over to their table, “Afternoon gents, buy you a round?  It’s a holy day for me, I made some extra silver and my god requires me to tithe by spreading it around.”

The two men eyed the ranger standing by their table, then the legless one shrugged, “No skin of my nose stranger.  And if you’re buying why I reckon that gives you leave to sit as you like. Sammi, what do you think?”

The other one, showing a touch of shifter himself, nodded slowly, “Well Lonni, kinda hard to turn down free booze. Sit stranger.”

Stak took a seat, turning to see the serving girl watching him.  He gestured at the other’s mugs and pointed to himself.  A flash of a smile and she headed to the bar.

“So what tell god of this is yours that you have to waste your good money on the likes of us?  Ain’t never heard tell of such.” Sammi asked.

“Family god neighbors, not good for much to be honest but he does sometimes pull out a minor miracle and it’s a miracle I’m alive and sitting here so I figure, why risk it, pay homage to the little shit and maybe I’ll keep on keeping on.”

“Need to watch that kind of talk friend.  Gods is listening all the time.  Figure that’s how I lost me leg, too drunk to remember to make an offering last year before we went out and first day, rope snagged me leg, cinched down and clean ripped it off, taking it over the side.  Captain, he saw no point in coming back in, leg was lost so they just doused it in a healing salve to clean the cut up and we stayed out.  Docked my pay 25 gold for it, left the ship 4 gold and half a leg lighter than I left with.”

“Last time I heard this story that there leg of yours it was fighting off three reavers in the rigging and single-handedly saving the ship.” the serving girl said as she set down a pitcher of ale. Â Â  “You sure you wanna be buying these here lot ale?” She leaned one hand down on the table, ostensibly to give the table top a wipe with a rag while giving the ranger a magnificent view of her small, firm breasts in the low cut leather tunic.  “A person might find summat else to be spending their money on is all I’m saying.”

Stak rolled two silvers over the table where she adroitly swept them up without looking down. “Something else like…?”

She grinned, her otherwise plain face lighting up rendering it pretty, “I’m just sayin.  Come by toward high moon when we kick this lot out and send them home to disappoint their wives and mayhaps we might discuss it more private and proper like.”

A smile of appreciation curved Stak’s lips, “Perhaps I shall at that.”

Sammi chuckled as all three men watched the girl walk away, enjoying the view.  “See what I mean stranger?  You buy us ale to repay your god, your god repays you with that.  Karissa she don’t cotton to many.”

The elderly fisherman’s voice turned hard of a sudden and from somewhere a large bladed gutting knife had appeared in his right hand. Eying his fingernails he started trimming one with the razor honed edge, then looked up, hard eyes gone flat,  boring into Stak’s. “She’s a good girl.  Lost her mam in childbirth, her da to reavers when she was just hittin’ marrying age and left her an orphan with no dowry.  Fisherfolk look after each other but it’s hard times and she’s an independent cuss so she took to workin’ here.  Some of us, well, we’d get a little put out she was to come into trouble or harm.”

Stak’s left hand, held below the table since he’d sat down twitched as Sammi made the knife disappear.

“Just a friendly warning, stranger.” Lonni spoke up, pouring his glass full from the pitcher. “Man sees storm clouds in the distance, only fair he let people know they may be in for rough water.”

“I see…” Stak replied, taking a sip of the awful brew in his cup.  “Appreciate the warning then but you can rest easy.  I don’t take what’s not freely given and I return it in better shape than I got it.”

Sammi smiled a tight little smile, “Then we should have no problems, me and you.  Here, toss that whale piss out and fill it up with this.  Now why don’t you ask us what ever it is you wanted to ask, we’re drinking your beer, you got that coming to ya.”

Stak couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head, “Right.  I’m interested in that ship in the harbor, heard you saying it was filled with gold.”

Lonni glanced at his friend, shrugged, “Just bar talk friend.  You know how it goes, someone says something, someone else repeats, soon it’s the truth as far as them is concerned.  You don’t appear to be stupid or suffered a recent blow to the head so hear me then, that’s not a ship you want to be getting ideas on.  Filled with gold or no, that’s a crew there that you don’t wanna be fuckin’ with.  That lot’ll gut ya and feed your entrails to the fish without a blink I’m thinkin’.”

“Hard looking bunch then?”

“That’s how I read’em and I’ve been around the block a few times.  That lot’ll have your guts out of ya and over the gun’sel as fish food before you could blink.”

Stak took a sip of his ale, paused at the fairly palatable flavor rolled over his tongue. “Now that’s not bad at all.” he said, saluting the two men with his mug. “So the ship, unusual for a ship to have that… experienced a crew?”

Sammi shrugged, “Depends on the ship and what she’s haulin’.  Dangerous waters out there friend once you leave the pale blue.  Tough buys you a lot of things.  This’un though, she shows up, no cargo at all, riding high the way she is.  Says she’s here to haul part of our catch away and I hear tell her quartermaster been talking to Garon and his flunkies about buying fish. I also hear she don’t wanna pay what we can get it for upstream but what with the gold being stolen on the way back them that has might best figure a fish in the net is worth two in the sea.”

“The crew ever come ashore?”

“Bits and pieces of them, never more’n a handful.  They come ashore, get drunk, tumble a doxy or two, go back on board.  Spreadin’ tales and askin’ questions they does. Most of which I done heard a hunnert times in me life, water folk tend to go on they do about things they may have seen, or mebbe dreamt up during a long night watch to use to cage a few drinks when they come ashore.”

Lonni spoke up, “That’s cause it’s filled with gold you old fool.”

Sammi snorted, “Hush up you, or I tell Lorri how you really broke that arm.”

“Bah, I ain’t scared a her.”

“Right… shut up and drink the man’s beer.”

“What kind of stories?” the ranger asked emptying the pitcher into his mug.  He looked around and caught Karissa’s eye and signaled for another.

“Usual claptrap, sea monsters bigger’n a hundred ships, islands that belch fire or move about on their own, sailing ships that float through the air like a bird.”

“Huh, flying ship you say.  I’d like to see that.”

“I hear tell there’s some what sez they escaped the slaver’s and come through Darkmith spreadin’ the same tales.”

Stak noted Lonni making the two finger warding gesture of Troe at the name of the ancient city. “I guess I don’t put much stock in what I haven’t seen with my own eyes.”  He dropped several silver on the table, “Here have a round or two on me elders and I thank you for your time.”

“Any time you wanna stop by and buy drinks friend, you feel free now.” Sammi said, reaching out to stack the coins in the center of the table. “Any time.”

Stak headed to the door, brushing past the petite barmaid who murmured, “So… later?”

“Aye, barring end days coming early.” Stak replied.

She nodded and continued, swirling nimbly out of the way of a stumbling peasant, heavy drink tray held effortlessly out of harm’s way.

Pushing to door open, Stak stepped on the cobblestone street and headed back to the inn he was staying at with the others to let them know what he’d found out.

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Ancient Scrolls

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