Chapter 10: Eye of the Storm

[Dave B.]

Shorak is a bit taken aback by the sight of the burned mercenaries. Fire induced injuries are just a little to fresh on his mind. He does respond to Nerrin's command without hesitation, however, following the hunched human towards the exit.

[Dave W.]

Adamant is about to lead his group out when the Claws enter. He moves out of the way but stays near Nerrin. He struggles with his curiosity and desire to help regarding the burn victims but discipline wins out. 

Instead he turns to make a mental catalog of the weapons and an estimate as best he can of the quality of the armored warriors.  His eye-gems meet the gaze of the female soldier, both catching each other making appraisals. Adamant makes an obvious show of admiring her glaive, moving his head to track up the pole to the blade... This is meant as a courtesy, setting aside subtlety and politics to acknowledge professionalism.

He considers asking about the fire, perhaps a quip about how often fires sprout up in this city... But Belarin calls him to play his part... 

"Of course Master Nerrin," the warforged replies, taking back up the role of the put upon bodyguard, "what exciting adventure will we set ourselves to now? Perhaps we could find some expensive cloths for you to soil with your nose drippings?"

With a short nod to the woman, he leads Belarin and Shorak back out into the midday heat.

[Brian]

Condign's hand, which had been resting lightly on the hilt of his sword, shifts to grip the weapon more firmly. He has only recently come to know the Emerald Claw, but he knows that seeing them in the open--and openly wounded--is unusual. How two of them could get burned so badly in a sea port is worth more thought later. For now, though, he needs to get everyone out of here. And quickly.

Then he sees the lightning crackling on Kal fingers. His grip on the sword grows firmer, and His gaze slides over the Emerald Claw soldiers, especially the female leader, to see if they have noticed Kal's display--

--and almost groans openly when Streko calls attention to their friend's animosity. The halfling's intentions are well meant, but Condign knows from experience that the fastest way to get angry warriors to do something is to tell me not to do it.

"Your friend is correct, my lord," he adds smoothly. "If you do not want to be late for your audience, then we must hurry. You have mentioned how important this meeting is."

[Jeff]

Seeing the obvious tension, the Jorasco attendants eye all parties warily. One of them nods in thanks when Streko speaks.

The Emerald Claw captain says nothing. She merely inclines her head at Kal, a slight greeting, and smiles. It's hard to read. The other soldiers, aware of their captain's manner and staring back at Kal's display of power, seem to bristle a little bit more. But they do not act out of turn.

And so nothing more happens, allowing Kal's group, as well as Belarin's, to exit the enclave unimpeded.

However, just as each group starts off down the street, you hear a voice call out from behind, "Lord d'Deneith?"

Turning, Kal sees a halfling messenger jogging out from the enclave gate. He has a steel scroll case in his hand. "Are you...Kalarian d'Deneith?"

[Darren]

Kal offers a small nod in return to the Emerald Claw captain, a promise that says, "We will meet again, I'm sure."

Kalarian stops and turns as he hears his name called. He eyes the messenger, then says, "I am Kalarian d'Deneith. You have something for me?" Kal motions for Rinti to retrieve the scroll case.

[Jeff]

The halfling nods and hands the scroll case to Rinti, who steps up. "This just arrived for you, my lord. From..." He pauses, more puzzled than hesitant. "...I'm told, the same place where you and Lord d'Jorasco were...found?" He shrugs and smiles.

Rinti turns to Kal, rattling the scroll case. "Something inside this other than paper, I think."

[Darren]

Kal quirks an eyebrow at the case and at the messenger. "Who gave this to you?" Kal considers asking Rinti to open the case, but instead reaches out and takes it from her. I need a squire I care less about, he thinks. He holds the case, opening it after the messenger responds.

[Jeff]

The halfling shrugs. "A knock and a voice, speaking your name at our 'back dooor.' When the door was opened, there was only that."

Behind him, a good twenty feet back at the open door of the enclave, the Emerald Claw captain is standing there. Watching openly.

__________________________

So Kal's opening it now? Just checking to be sure.

[Darren]

Kal eyes the messenger again, then the scroll. Then with a shrug, he turns the cap and peers inside the case.

_______________
If it's possible to see inside the case without exposing the contents to everyone else on the street, Kal will do that first. Otherwise, he'll just take whatever is inside out.

[Jeff]

When he uncaps the side of the case, Kal has just enough light from the waning afternoon to see that it contains a rolled up slip of parchment (not a full-sized scroll) and a slender rod of smoky black glass. If he wishes to unfurl the paper to read it, others will be able to see that.

[Darren]

Kal reaches two fingers inside the case and grasps the slip of paper between them. He takes it out and holds it up the light, examining what it says. He is careful not to disturb the rod inside nor to expose its presence to those around him.

[Jeff]

The script is elegant, and is only a single line. And written in Draconic.

[Darren]

Kal holds the paper up high, examining its contents, then nods to himself as if in response to the words on the page. "Crap," he utters with a smile plastered on his face.

He drops his gaze to the Emerald Claw captain and raises the edge of the paper to his temple and quickly away in a playful salute, then rolls the parchment, places it back in the tube and seals the cap. "Let's go, Rinti."

[Jeff]

The daylight is finally beginning to wane.

Back into the bustle of Cross you go, beneath washing lines and rope bridges, among the hawkers, locals, and visitors. You go in two basic groups separated by a little distance: (1) Kal, Condign, Tangat, and Streko, led by Rinti, who walks with a bit of a swagger now, even though she's not quite sure where she's going. (2) Adamant and Belarin, led more purposefully by Shorak.

"Who are we looking for now?" Rinti asks Kal at length, a little bit less sure of the destination.

Meanwhile, Shorak receives a telepathic communication from Larest, directing them into Dannel's Pride, the last place the drow would have expected a nobleman like ir'Zathyran to seek lodgings. And though Shorak knows why, the rest of you find out soon enough.

The name Dannel is known to all of you, though Shorak is more accustomed to hearing it because of this ward of Cross. She was the queen of Cyre and, like the rest of that nation, was slain in the Day of Mourning. Dannel's Pride was once an outpost of Cyre, just as the other nations have had communities in Stormreach for as long as it's been a "civilized" city. But now Dannel's Pride has become swollen with Cyran refugees and seems at time to be bursting at the seams. At a glance, Adamant can see from its architecture and its plants and occasional artistic sculptures that it's a place of nostalgia for Cyre's downtrodden.

Shorak knows it also to be a place of misplaced pride, danger, and overcrowding. Gangs and militias feed upon the people's desperation, and so only Cyrans and venturesome merchants tend to come through here. The Brelish are tolerated but kept at arm's length.

To Adamant, it looks like High Walls all over again. But at least here the despondent can look at the sky and the wonderment of Dol Arrah's light, without the crushing weight of Sharn's towers to lord over them. As in High Walls, Adamant can't help but think that more could be done. Should be done. And knowing Cyrans, they're doing their best to survive and flourish, but do they have any to represent and protect them?

Starg is waiting for you, Larest tells Shorak. By an old dry fountain resembling...a cow, I suppose. He pauses. Sem Darlesh insisted in that.

The hollow-eyed locals on the street regard your parties warily. You see pain, grief, hard living, and a measure of determination there. Though most of them are wearing threadbare clothing and look a little too skinny, there are a number of Cyran sculptures and works of art that gleam with diligence.

[Darren]

Kal seems lost in thought and at first doesn't notice when Rinti speaks to him. "Hm?" he says when she finally rouses him. "Oh, yes. Rinti, have you ever seen a minotaur?" Kal takes pleasure in watching the girl's face. "Well, that's what you're looking for. When you see him, then we will have arrived. He should be out in the streets of Cross....somewhere......" And with that Kal is once again lost in thought.

[Ken]

Belarian had seen, from a distance, Kal's opening of the mysterious parcel, but he knows he must swallow his typical curiosity for the sake of his group's masquerade... much to the apparent chagrin of the fey voices in his head, which have even less patience than he does.

As he walks, he pinches the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stave off the developing headache. And so, with his head down and eyes partially closed due to the pounding of his head, he doesn't pay much attention to his surroundings until Shorak pauses, as though listening to something. It's at this point that he looks up and around to see Dannel's Pride. The sense of desperation and despair is practically palpable. He wonders what Adamant is feeling -- and not for the first time, he marvels at House Cannith's creation of machines that can truly FEEL.

After Shorak relays the message, Belarin says as Nerrin, "Now to communicate this to the other, less interesting group. Redoubt, if they don't know what to look for, I recommend you make yourself noticeable when we get there. I'd suggest that Shorak do it, except that after what happened earlier today, I'm concerned that he'd immediately become a pincushion."

[Brian]

Heading into Cross, Condign keeps a few steps behind the others. Tall buildings hover over him. Merchants line the streets, shouting to gain the attention of passers-by. Again, he is amazed at how crowded everyone is in these large cities. Unlike his home, where whole spans of rock and flame could exists between tribes, here the citizens are butted up against one another. Sometimes he wonders how they can breathe.

The bustling activity eventually gives way to an atmosphere of cautious determination. People move purposefully; he can see pride in their steps. Here Condign feels more comfortable. He understands struggle. The willingness to fight for--and keep--what is yours. The tension in his shoulders begins to melt away.

"His name is Starg," Condign adds after Kal tells Rinti of the minotaur. "He has horns like me, but he is not nearly as handsome." His red lips spread into a wide smile.

[Dave B.]

After being sure that the other group easily hears their destination. Shorak leads the way to Cross. As they approach Dannel's Pride, he begins to actively look for Starg and the "cow" statue. When he spots them he points them out to Redoubt, letting him take the lead.

[Dave W.]

Redoubt moves through the city, the vigilant bodyguard. Somehow, he's walked several paces into this transplanted Cyre before he really sees it. 

It's a plant that does it. A simple plant, not expensive or special, though now, he supposes, rare. Where once he was Redoubt traveling beside his employer, he is suddenly Adamant and stopped. More properly, arrested. By a plant. A shockingly small number of years ago, he would never have noticed such a plant. Probably would have trod on it, marching with his brethren. 

He is still now.

A moment passes, perhaps only as long as a single pulse of the pump that moves alchemical fluids through his body, perhaps as long as all those small years, but with the smallest of shudders, something only his friends could recognize, he can move again. It's not terribly helpful as the first thing he sees is a child, too thin, in rags. And next an old woman, a kin to Old Wirtha back in High Walls. But then he catches a sudden image of Belarin's back and is horrified at how separated he has become.

"Move." he utters a command to himself. At first it is like moving through water, but the shock of seeing High Walls/Cyre slips away from him and he makes long steps to close the distance.

He is close enough to hear when Belarin... No, Nerrin, says something but he doesn't make out what it is...

--------------------
thanks Jeff, a wonderful opportunity for me to indulge myself with a bit of RP!

Hey, this would be a remarkable time for something to happen with Nerrin's bodyguard a round or so behind...  

[Joe]

Streko follows along, already planning to undertake the ritual that will allow him to read and understand the writing on the paper Kal quickly parused and dismissed.

[Jeff]

"Oh, I've seen minotaurs before," Rinti answers Kal and Condign with a smile. "Well, maybe not up real close. But everyone's heard of Kolos of the Ivory Horn! He was once a slave in the Red Ring. Now he's a stablemaster, and he champions the other slaves."

It doesn't take Shorak long to spot the "cow" fountain, which is in fact a sculpture of a tamed-looking female bovine beast sitting upright on a pedestal with a laurel of leaves (made of stone, like the rest of it) crowing its head. Once, water probably flowed from the holes of her nose into the basin below. Now it's bone dry.

And Starg is standing directly in front of it, peering intently into the black orb that he carries and seeming oblivious to the world around him. It is a little comical to see the two horned, bovine-headed figures facing the same direction.

[Ken]

"There's something motherly about that image," says Belarin/Nerrin after Shorak points out Starg's location.

"Shorak, Redoubt... let's walk over there casually. I'll ask one of you to quickly get the key information from Starg, and then we keep our distance. We don't want to be seen too often near the other group, so once we have Starg's update, let's move on. He's no idiot -- he'll recognize that we're still trying to maintain our masquerade. We'll have time for more details once we're all behind closed doors."

[Brian]

Condign, who had been keeping an eye on Belarin's group, sees them wander off in another direction. His eyes follow the direction they are headed, and he sees Starg standing beside a large statue.

"My lord Kalarian," the tiefling says. "I believe if you look behind us and a little to your left, you will see a rather fascinating statue of a cow. And someone equally interesting standing beside it."

[Dave B.]

Jun 10, 2012 8:40:42 GMT -4 Ken said:

"There's something motherly about that image," says Belarin/Nerrin after Shorak points out Starg's location.

"Shorak, Redoubt... let's walk over there casually. I'll ask one of you to quickly get the key information from Starg, and then we keep our distance. We don't want to be seen too often near the other group, so once we have Starg's update, let's move on. He's no idiot -- he'll recognize that we're still trying to maintain our masquerade. We'll have time for more details once we're all behind closed doors."

Shorak nods to Nerrin/Belarin. "I think I can do that." He turns towards the statue and Starg, moving slowly, without seeming to actually be heading that way intentionally. His eyes never stop moving. As usual, he tries to see every direction at once.

[Darren]

Kal keeps his eyes on Condign, but he shifts his sharrash from one shoulder to the other. As he does so, he looks up at the reflection in the blade and sees Starg behind them. He nods slightly. "Good," he says quietly. "We need to give some time before approaching him. Someone might be watching. Let's find somewhere near here to grab a drink, then we'll come back out and find out where the Professor is staying."

[Dave W.]

Jun 10, 2012 21:21:52 GMT -4 Dave B. said:

Shorak nods to Nerrin/Belarin. "I think I can do that." He turns towards the statue and Starg, moving slowly, without seeming to actually be heading that way intentionally. His eyes never stop moving. As usual, he tries to see every direction at once.

"Yes, I think it must be you" Adamant mumbles coming up to stand next to Belarin. "I'm sorry Master, umm, Nerrin... I seem to have become distracted. There are ... things ... that call my attention. Things I should by rights attend to. But obviously can not."

"Please bear with me."

[Dave B.]

Shorak approaches the statue and looks at it appreciatively. He does enjoy taking the time to examine the sculptures that present themselves around the city, when the opportunity allows. After a few moments, he sidles up to Starg.

"Well met." He says quietly to the focused minotaur. Just loudly enough to make his presence known.

[Jeff]

Starg looks up and over at Shorak, who isn't even looking back at him.

"It is good to see you..." the minotaur begins, then looks at Belarin and Adamant a short distance behind the drow.

"....still alive," he adds, puzzled, looking each of you up and down.

"You have seen trouble." A pause. "The Professor has procured lodgings in a small inn called the Cornerstone." He waits for Shorak to look his way, then swivels and points with his left horn toward a short tower thrust out from a building in the corner of the ward. "That is it." Another pause. "You are being watched?" he says, softly. "You are being...furtive, yes?"

[Dave B.]

Jun 13, 2012 8:34:45 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Starg looks up and over at Shorak, who isn't even looking back at him.

"It is good to see you..." the minotaur begins, then looks at Belarin and Adamant a short distance behind the drow.

"....still alive," he adds, puzzled, looking each of you up and down.

"You have seen trouble." A pause. "The Professor has procured lodgings in a small inn called the Cornerstone." He waits for Shorak to look his way, then swivels and points with his left horn toward a short tower thrust out from a building in the corner of the ward. "That is it." Another pause. "You are being watched?" he says, softly. "You are being...furtive, yes?"

Shorak chuckles softly. "Yes, furtive. We'll fill you in on the details when we are not so much in the public eye." He turns toward Starg. "Is there anything else we should know, or can we wait until we have all gathered at the inn?" He continues to keep his voice low.

[Jeff]

"Is there anything else we should know, or can we wait until we have all gathered at the inn?"

"There is no emergency at this time," Starg says quietly, peering back into his orb. "If that is what you mean. Come, let us go...furtively."

Starg leads Shorak toward the building where Larest had established lodgings. It takes a couple of hours of careful, surreptitious movement, between the minotaur and the drow, but eventually everyone from both groups is brought in at different times and on slightly different routes.

The Cornerstone turns out to be a tavern and inn situated in the corner of one of Dannel's Pride's many tenement buildings. Jutting from its northwestern corner, the "room" that Larest has secured is actually a suite of rooms occupying a small tower five stories above the street. Situated near one of the walls of the district, the windows look out upon the wall and allows you to see the taller structures in the adjacent district of Respite. The gardens and ziggurat, especially, but you can also see some of the sprawl that is the extensive graveyard and cemetery.

The Cornerstone is named for a glorified piece of rubble, but not just any. It's a heavy block of stone taken from a broken wall in the city square of Metrol, once the capital city of Cyre. Acquired by one of the first expeditions into the Mournland, the block was later purchased by the Cornerstone's proprietor, an old Cyran named Garzek. A year ago, it was mortared into the floor of the common room and now stands as a pedestal that the locals seem to revere. It's a literal piece of Cyre installed in a downtrodden district in a city far from Khorvaire. But it's easy to see how such things engender pride in Cyre's refugees.

But you haven't had time to hang out in the tavern just yet. Starg has led you up to the levels above and into the outthrust tower (the most expensive room in the Cornerstone) that Larest has paid for. There are three rooms in the suite, ten beds between them, and a central chamber. The spiral stairwell that led you up here also goes to the rooftop, which you have free run of as well. All on Professor ir'Zathyran's galifars.

And so you are reunited with your expedition crew. You last saw them only this morning at the docks, when you bid (perhaps a temporary) farewell to Morsha and the Merrow Down. That seems a long time ago now.

Larest seems to have been pouring over maps and spellbooks at one of the suite's tables. He looks up when Starg brings you in at last, blinking his eyes. "Welcome. I hope your day has been productive." He removes the circlet he usually wears on his brow and rubs his temples.

Sem whistles softly. "I'd say so." He gives Belarin look. "The kraken found you, didn't it? Cornered you in some dark alley?"

Histra stands in the doorway to one of the rooms, observing Belarin and his current clothing. As always, her expression is difficult to read. After a moment, she says coolly to Kal, "I didn't realize our expedition would include children."

Rinti stands just behind Kal, almost out of sight. She seems deeply intimidated being here among these people.

Sem shrugs and smiles. "It's brilliant! It's what our rivals will least expect! Whatever gives us an edge, right?"

Curiously, in the center of the suite, Larest and Sem Darlesh appear to have drawn some sort of protective magic circle.

I've added the Cornerstone to the map, right in the corner of Dannel's Pride in the district of Cross.