Abstinence, 95 Letum 1999 [continued]
Morday, 41 Autumn
Colours 204 LE
The Black Watch are not immediately hostile. They demand the party
throw down their weapons and raise their hands. Most of them duly
comply, except for Gazahi who simply folds his arms and looks defiant.
Lycaon is in wolf form, and stays close to the Scribe, anticipating
trouble. Jirokichi urges Gazahi to comply, but when they also demand
that the nezumi throw down his bag of holding, he starts to get
worried. There are severed heads in there he really doesn't want
them seeing. However, a smart-ass comment gets him clubbed on the
head for his trouble. The Black Watch aren't brooking an insubordination.
Gazahi continues to defy the authority of the watch. Inevitably
this leads to combat. Gazahi draws his swords and attacks two Black
Watchmen. He is exceedingly quick and the Watchmen cannot seem to
land even one blow on him. A third Watchmen joins them while the
other three continue to watch the rest of the party. Working as
a team, the Watchmen manage to disarm Gazahi and throw him to the
floor. However, their weapons make little impression even when they
do hit, thanks to Gazahi's lycanthropic heritage.
It is Jirokichi who blinks and lets off a directed lightning bolt
at the Black Watch. Suddenly the battle is joined. The Black Watchmen
are far from pushovers, although they lack the unique and horrible
abilities of many of the party members. The Scribe summons his trusty
owl-bear skeletons, only to discover that the Watchmen are warded
against summoned creatures. The skeletons resort to throwing pieces
of furniture at their foes.
Revda remains completely oblivious to this battle for some time.
He is intent on the poorhouse. Eventually he notices the flickering
on the cobbled street in front of him. He clears a hole in the grime
covering the thick yellow glass of the windows and sees that he
is needed.
The truth is that the fight was probably won before the arrival
of Revda. However, he certainly expedites matters. The big problems
start after the last foe has fallen. They are left with a six dead
members of the Black Watch. They need to act quickly! They remove
the armour from the Black Watchmen - it immediately loses any magical
enchantment it had and turns very rusty. Jirokichi says that this
is normal. The bodies of the Black Watchmen are beheaded and, once
again, the heads are placed in Jirokichi's bag of holding. The bodies
are then placed in Glar's meat store in the alley behind the inn.
During the fight, Glar fled into the kitchen. Clara phases through
the wall to look for him. Glar ahs pushed the heavy table up against
the door and fled through a small fanlight window - impressive for
such a large man. He obviously cut himself getting through and there
is an small trail of blood that Lycaon should be able to track.
Gazahi announces that he is going to bed and heads upstairs. Revda
follows to check out the upper floors. He finds the two prostitutes
Kareena and Milly cowering in an upstairs bedroom. Milly is in a
particularly bad stats. Revda commands them to go downstairs and
help clear up. He wants them to open the bar as normal. They dare
not argue with him. By now it is dawn.
Temperance, 96 Letum 1999 GR
Sunday, 42 Autumn
Colours 204 LE
As Gazahi sleeps and the rest of the party help the prostitutes
tidy up the tavern, the Scribe and Clara get a room. The Scribe
uses his powers to cast Legend Lore upon Clara and try to determine
what he can about her history. Fortunately, there are legends surrounding
the elf, but they all stem from when she was alive. The spell reveals
this:
Bemoan the tragedy of Elliendael,
Of father broken, house destroyed,
Of daughter sent to war to fail,
Her spirit broken, flesh enjoyed.
On the plane of turgid dust,
In the sight of goal most black,
Tarkash betrayed the northern trust,
The servant of U'Femerak!
The lines abroke, chaos reigned,
Clara fled amongst the throng,
And hid herself, her honour stained,
Too scared to fight or to go on.
For fifteen years she trembled so,
And cringed at every noise she heard,
How she endured I do not know,
Her life pathetic, dark, absurd.
But no hiding place could hide her loss,
Or stand against the hunting eye.
Tarkash remade as Eligos,
His hand descended from the sky.
Cloying hands, they crushed her will,
Prepared her as a demon's bride,
Virtue spent for dark lord's thrill,
And in her shame the elf-maid died.
Combined with what the Scribe already discovered about the necklace,
they have now have a firm understanding of Clara's past. However,
it would seem that Clara has done nothing of legendary import since
she died.
Lycaon and Jirokichi decide that they cannot afford to let Glar
roam free. They must track him down. Leaving through the back door,
Lycaon quickly picks up the scent. However, they haven't gone more
than five yards before they are joined by Alarius who has flown
back from Oldgate. They apprise of him of the situation, and the
three quickly head off on the hunt.
Glar was taking a circuitous route through a number of cramped
and sewage-filled alleyways. However, it is clear that he was heading
forward the main gate into Fallowgate - he was attempting to flee
Irongate. Of course, the gates are closed and he would not be able
to get through. If he tried he could already be in the hands of
the Black Watch - something that the party cannot allow.
They hurry onward and come to within site of the gate. They can
see the Black Watch in force, and Alarius spots his old school friend
Isolde (quite incongruous). Lycaon can tell that Glar paused here.
He obviously saw that the gate was closed and wondered what to do
next. He then headed down a nearby alleyway. They continue to follow
the trail.
The alleyway is too narrow for Alarius to comfortably fly down.
Lycaon says that Glar is quickening his pace, as if something is
following him. It occurs to them that the Ripper often kills at
this time of day. Could Glar be it's next victim. They follow the
tracks and note where Glar fell heavily, and got up only to fall
down again. Suddenly Glar was airborne. Streaks of mud and filth
up opposite walls of the narrow alley tell Lycaon that he was pulled
upwards by something. The three follow the trail onto the rooftops.
These are the roofs of ill-kept brick houses and shanty dwellings.
Most are three stories high, some more and some less. There are
few windows, and few denizens of Tharkis wish to look out on the
party. Lycaon discovers the scalp of Glar. It has obviously been
torn from his head by something. There is more blood up here as
well. They continue the pursuit.
The blood trail reveals that Glar is now moving much faster. Lycaon
can also see the tracks of the things that was carrying him. One
foot is clawed, but the other is almost elephantine. They reach
the edge of a roof. It is thirty feet to the next rooftop. They
quarry obviously jumped the distance, the party are not so sure.
Alarius flies over, and Jirokichi climbs down one side and climbs
up the other. Lycaon jumps and makes.
Now the blood trail is more pronounced, and eventually they find
the body of Glar. It has been savaged and bitten in two. Jirokichi
is convinced that he is the victim of a shark attack. What manner
of creature is this Ripper? Glar's right leg is missing, however,
they hear something from the other side of a steepled roof.
Looking over they see a boy (no more than twelve years). He has
removed the boot from Glar's severed leg and is trying it on for
size. The boy see the party is obviously fearful, but doesn't run.
He says that he lives on the rooftops, scavenging what he can. He
did not see Glar's death, but he heard it. It was only about five
minutes ago. Evidently the Ripper is still in the area.
The Ripper Strikes
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