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Gavaroc Fevinor · #21 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Deathdrinker exhaled slowly as he took in the information. Items of power... Should I show him the- no, no. It couldn't be anything important. Still, that orb seems dangerous as all hell. He simply nodded, "Right. Trust me, I'll keep it safe if need be. For now though, long time no beer, eh?"

***

It was during his first week in Aeolida that he bought the odd stone. An old shopkeeper was the previous owner; a cantankerous trinket-store clerk. It was an ordinary looking ruby; but the mysterious man had maintained the fact that there was something odd about it.

For a demonstration, the man asked a passing wizard to cast a spell at one of the less valuable items in the store. The spell - a fireball - would have completely destroyed it's target. However, the clerk grabbed ahold of the stone, emitting an odd cloud of purple smoke. The smoke enveloped the ball of flames before it could reach its target, consuming the fire and dissipating.

Deathdrinker knew an enchantment when he saw one and agreed to buy it. However, considering he had no money on-hand, he instead decided to rob the poor man. It was a simple trick; he snatched the ruby out of the man's hand and ran off. Only one week in this new city and he was already wanted for theft. Quite a record, that was. However, after a month within the city walls, the guards never seemed to come for him. He wasn't sure why; certainly the clerk would have reported the robbery? The man knew what Deathdrinker looked like; the assassin was standing right in front of him. So why were the guards passing over him?

Falco Leahcim · #22 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Falco exchanged a silent nod and the two men walked back into the Dragonfly Inn.

After ordering a round for Deathdrinker and himself, Falco took a seat at an empty table and took the time to observe the other patrons of the Inn. He smiled gently, amazed by the sheer diversity. A curious Fey was engaged in conversation with the woman with the large cat and Drisk, whose hair was taking an an odd orange tint. At the bar, a man with long white hair was shouting out to his beast, which had all of its attention turned to the large cat that belonged to the woman. Then, a man with unusually green eyes approached the white haired man at the bar and they began to converse.

Falco finished off his ale. Perhaps the drink had weakened his self control, or perhaps he was genuinely curious. Whatever the reason, Falco closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. When he reopened them, they were glowing a faint gold color. But before Falco had a chance to really look around, something broke his concentration. A strange feeling overcame him and the golden color of his eyes faded back to blue.

Just then, a man entered the Inn. He was dressed in very plain clothing of brown and white color. A large, shaggy dog followed him at his side. After a quick stop at the bar for a beer, he made his way to Falco's table and sat down. "Are you Falco Leahcim?" he asked after taking a deep drink from his mug. The shaggy dog stood at the side of the table, almost if begging for scraps.

Falco raised an eyebrow. "I am. How did you learn my name? Or, more to the point, who are you and why have you approached me?" Falco realized this man was the source of the strange feeling that had overcome him.

The man grinned as he spoke. "I have gone through great pains to find you. You have something that belongs to me, Falco Leahcim." Falco's eyes went wide. The man continued speaking. "I promise you, Falco, this will be much easier if you give it to me willingly. I have every advantage. Give me the Orb!"

Falco's left hand began to glow with a purple light underneath the table. I have one shot at this... Falco's left hand shot forward as he shouted, "FeeblemiaaaaAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The illusion upon the man and his dog was broken for the rest of the people in the Inn when Falco's verbal component turned into a scream of agony. Across from Falco sat a tall figured draped in a dark black cloak. His only visible features were two yellow reptilian eyes peering out from the hood of the cloak. Instead of a dog, a quadrupedal lizard as large as a horse, that had two bat-like wings folded up on its back and long horns on its head, stood with Falco's left arm clenched in its maw.

"That was a mistake, Falco Leahcim, you'll soon regret," the cloaked man hissed. There was a sickening crunch as the black dragon tightened its grip on Falco's arm. Before the blood from Falco's arm could even drip onto the table, the cloaked man raised a clawed hand towards Deathdrinker. There was a flash of light and a fizzling sound, but nothing seemed to happen. The reptilian eyes appeared shocked. "Curse that Fruendithas! It will be mine!" With those last words from the cloaked man, the black dragon released Falco from its vice and the dragon and the cloaked man faded away.

Falco collapsed onto the table with a groan, his mangled arm hanging limp as blood dripped onto the floor. Strange burn marks were also apparent, as if caused by some form of chemical. Most of the other Inn patrons had yet to move, too shocked by the event.

(Edit:I see you all reading but not replying. If you need more to work with, just say so in the OOC or by PM!)

Free Faller · #23 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Keladry looked down at her Ahalad-Kaaslane after the Fey woman, Yoshe, had called him odd. ~Finally someone else agrees with me~ her mind-voice laughed, though she was clearly just poking fun at her other half. He, however, didn't seem to like either of the statements very much and showed it by out blatantly ignoring the both of them, seeming far more interested in cleaning off his front paws.

His human counterpart shook her head; he was certainly a cat. "I'm Keladry, or just Kel, by the way," she explained. "My companion is Eango and he is indeed special. He is one of the Goddess Amiya's blessed animals and was sent to me so that we may fulfill our roles as guardians of our land and people. The Blessed Lady has granted him a humans level of intelligence, so he understands everything you say to him, and because of our bond we are able to communicate telepathically with each other along with a few other things."

When the scaled creature entered the Inn it caught the attention of Eango, who followed the bigger animal with his eyes. Only when it started to approach him did he actually move, but it wasn't much. He simply stood up and moved to the other side of Kel, putting himself between her and the beast and then bared his teeth slightly as if to say "You'd better not touch her" and then laid back down. The other creature didn't seem threatening, but the cougar wanted to make sure he knew his place, even if he was outweighed by a good fifty pounds. ~And you thought I was strange~ he said and gave out a huff.

Keladry turned to see what her Ahalad-Kaaslane was talking about and immediately raised a brow. ~Aww, he looks like he wants to play with you~ she remarked and gave Eango a playful kick with her foot in an attempt to urge him into being more sociable. As odd as the scaled feline looked to her, he could very well be a normal thing to see on his own world. Really, who was she to judge?

So caught up in the blue creature and her own thoughts as she was, Kel take much notice the drama going on until she heard a thunk and groan. Her and Eango's heads turned in complete unison and as soon as their minds had processed what happened they were both on their feet. "Eango, get a towel!" she yelled, though quite unnecessarily as he was already leaping up over the bar to find one, and ran towards the injured man. When she reached him she grimaced, but the look turned into a reassuring smile as quickly as it had come. Her Ahalad-Kaaslane came up next to her with and laid the cloth in her lap and she immediately grabbed it up and pressed it to the wound. "You shouldn't go sticking your arm into the mouths of things with sharp teeth," she scolded teasingly, trying to lighten the situation as she was prone to do, "It usually ends up hurting."

Desperado · #24 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Bane raised an eyebrow as the animal infront of him bared his teeth and walked in between himself and the female. "Ok..." He spoke to Athradien, trying to get him to talk or something. Bane looked from the woman, then back over his shoulder at Athradien again. "I think she looks alright by... humanoid standards..." Bane had a sarcastic tone to his voice which flowed through Athradiens mind. Athradien sighed and looked at him, "Just shut up..." A faint grin had showed up on his face, though it wasn't really traceable. Bane seemed to grin, at least moving his mouth and showing a little of the large fang at the front of his mouth.

About that time, Athradien felt something all too familiar which brought a gnarled ball of furry back into his being. He could feel the same dark presence which he did the day he returned to his home city... And it was right behind him... Bane let out a low growl, standing up and in a stance to attack when ever signaled to, Athradien had already slipped his index finger into the loop on his large knife.

Athradien turned in his seat and ripped the knife from a hidden sheath under his cloak, twisting his back as he pulled his arm backward. He held that position but for only a fraction of a second, ripping his arm forward just before the two began to fade away. The knife left his hand and lodged itself in the wall, resonating with an odd tone as it wobbled back and forth.

"You felt that too...?" Bane asked, looking at Athradien quickly before looking at the injured man and the place where the dragon and humanoid had been standing. "Yeah..." He had a deep and rough tone to his voice, emotions returning which were washed away over 15 years ago. He cursed himself under his breath, standing up and walking to his knife, pulling it from its position and sliding it back into his cloak, the sound of metal sliding on metal signaling he had sheathed his blade.

He walked over to the man who had been attack, kneeling down next to him. He stared at the odd burn marks for the longest, not sure where they came from. He reached into his cloak again and pulled out a mason jar full of some odd green paste. He opened the jar and a distinct smell of spearmint washed over the bar rather quickly, opening up quite a fews sinuses. Bane as a matter of fact began sneezing repeatedly, "GAH! PUT IT AWAY!" He yelled into Athradiens mind, swiping his nose with his paw.

He didn't pay much attention to Bane, holding out the jar to the woman holding the towel, "Take some and rub on the cuts..." He glanced at her for a second, "Your touch should be quite gentler than mine." This was really the truth... Bane sneezed again and began to nod to agree with Athradien. Once when he was small, he had gotten a nasty cut on his nose... It wasn't the cut that hurt the most, it was Athradien putting the ointment on...

Falco Leahcim · #25 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Falco sat rather still and allowed his wounds to be treated. He was staring into space where the cloaked man was sitting a minute ago. Falco had heard the woman's joke, and he could spell the strong scent of spearmint, but he did not seem to acknowledge these facts. Instead he began to speak, but his words were directed at no one in particular, more as if he was speaking what he was thinking.

"A black dragon, a child, perhaps adolescent. Yellow eyes and a clawed hand...Burn wounds from the acid, that makes sense. I should have lost my arm. How did he know about the Orb? I thought I was careful, when I must have instead been careless. Fruendithas, who is he? Who would know who he is, or who the cloaked man was? Perhaps the Inn patrons?" Falco brought his right arm up to his left shoulder and winced in pain as the adrenaline wore off from the shock.

"Hell, I was doing it again, thinking out loud...You will have to excuse my rude demeanor. I am Falco Leahcim and I thank you for attending to my wounds. Now I must be rude again and ask bluntly do any of you know who that man was or what he was talking about?" His question was directed across the entire room, although most of the patrons either shook their heard or got up and left.

Solipsistica · #26 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Lander noticed the man and his dog enter the inn and something feral flared up inside him as he watched the man casually stroll over to a table where two other men were sitting. He almost emmited a low, wolf-like growl despite himself.

When the newcomer and the other started speaking in raised voices, Lander's right hand immediately went to one of the pistols in its holster, but he didn't interfere in what was going on. Experience had taught him not to get involved in another person's business, or you might find yourself on the wrong end of this kind of business transaction.

Then the man at the table emitted a long cry and suddenly the man become much more tall and imposing, dressed in all black, and at his side was not a dog but what looked like the kind of dragons Lander had heard of in fantasy stories.

There was a scuffle, something happened, and both the man and his dragon disappeared. The man who was attacked was bleeding from the arm, and a few people rushed to help him, while several more of the inn patrons were staring, some of them getting up to leave rather quickly.

When the wounded man finished speaking, Lander walked over to the table. "I've seen a man get his arm bitten clean off, that way. You're lucky. I suspect you probably know more about what that was about than most of these people here do. What the hell is this place, and what is the orb?"

Gavaroc Fevinor · #27 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Deathdrinker shook his head, growling in a low tone. "He tried to strike me. The bastard tried to strike me. This of course means that if the bastard isn't dead by the end of the month then I have lost my touch!" He sighed, "That was the weirdest bloody thing I have ever seen!"

The man had made the Orb seem to be much more dangerous than even Falco had made it out to be. Just minutes ago, a dragon was in the tavern. A dragon! Not even Deathdrinker had ever killed a dragon. Could he take a dragon? Surely, he could, surely. Still... there was always a chance. Nobody was perfect.

"I've no idea what that was," he quietly confirmed, "But by hell I'll find out. Sounds like we've an investigation on our hands, Falcy-boy!" He chuckled and grinned, attempting to hide his shock and confusion. "Anyone want to join us in hunting Puff, the Ugly Dragon an' 'is cloaked mate?" He called out, making an attempt to destroy the incredibly awkward silence throughout the tavern.

Kinen · #28 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

Yoshe was fairly quick to move when she realized there was a dragon in the inn. She had gracefully turned to face the potential threat and jumped into the air where she would be the least inhibited for movement, but before any further reaction could occur, the dragon and its master had disappeared, leaving one wounded man in their wake. Yoshe’s whole body flushed warm with adrenaline for a moment before she calmed down again. Once calm, she immediately started moving again.

Floating over the heads of the other patrons, Yoshe moved to where she could see the wounds of the man who’d been attacked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kokensiu and two of the other wardens coming into the diner from the hallway. They were alert and distrustful of every shadow. Yoshe signaled Kokenshiu, then turned her attention back to the wounded man for a moment.

Someone started to apply spearmint to the wound, making Yoshe’s nose wrinkle for a second at the unexpected assault on her senses. She was nearly upside down and almost directly above the action, examining what she could see of the bite. Kokenshiu joined her and demanded an explanation.

"As for what happened," Yoshe started in hushed tones, "I not see them enter, but suddenly there was man with youngling black dragon that attacked this man." She indicated the victim. "Then they disappear with magic. As for why... him you ask."

"You see to asking questions," Kokenshiu commanded. "I want to try to find their path." With that, the three other other Yaksa Fey started hovering around in circles where the two attackers had been. Small points of light could be seen occasionally as they probed for any kind of magic teleportation. Yoshe was left alone in the group of people tending to the wounded man, who at this point had given his name and thanked the other human-things for tending his wound.

Yoshe was about to asked her first question after a man came up and inquired about "this place" and "the orb". Sensing he was new to Aeolida, Yoshe chose to ignore him for the moment so she could ask the more pertinent question: "Why those two come here for you?"

The man that was with this Falco human spoke out to the whole of the tavern, but Yoshe ignored it, focusing her attention on this human as she did on the children of her own race who often trespassed on the temple she was charged to protect. It typically had the effect of getting answers out of children and making adolescents feel uncomfortable. There had been few adults she ever looked at in that way, but they always seemed to at the least appreciate how serious she was being.

Before Falco could answer her first question, she asked another, "Do even you know who they be?"

Falco Leahcim · #29 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008

I did not think this through. Now I have to tell them, as a lie would easily be seen through under this much scrutiny. Falco first turned to Lander. "Luck had nothing to do with it. The cloaked man was unable to attack with his magic, likely because of the Fruendithas, whoever he may be. It seems it was sealed, at least to the point where he could not attack. If he had been successful in blasting Deathdrinker, I imagine he would not have fled and I would have one less arm."

Whether intending to be insulting or as some form of humor to lightened the mood, Falco then gestured with his good arm towards the fairy hovering around them and said, "Did someone forget to seal the doors to the Feywild again? I think a few got out..." This was quickly followed by, "Of course I did not know who that man was, otherwise we would not be here having this discussion!"

Shaking his head and calming himself, Falco began to explain: "Each of your worlds has its legends. I am correct in assuming this, no? Perhaps about the origin of life or some powerful items of lore. It seems some worlds share such legends. The Orb the cloaked man spoke is this." Falco withdrew a first sized sphere of brass from a bag at his side, holding it in a vice grip in his right hand. "It is an Orb of Dragonkind, one of several Artifacts created from the spirits of ancient dragons. I do not know the full extent of its power, only that with it one can control brass dragons. If the legends are true, there are nine others, each corresponding to either a chromatic or metallic dragon variety, each allowing the possessor control over its corresponding dragon variety. I am not going too fast for anyone, am I?" Falco said rather blandly.

"Now then, I intended to share this information with as few people as possible. Mainly because I cannot trust anyone, not with knowledge of an Artifact. Controlling even a single branch of the ten common varieties of dragon would give one unbelievable power. Hell, as far as I know any one of you could attempt to take it from me right now, although that is unadvised. Not to mention now that you know about the Orb and who possesses it, you are all in danger from men like that cloaked figure. And if that was not enough, you all now also know who possesses the Black Orb of Dragonkind. Did anyone of you see the wyrmling's eyes? It was under magical compulsion, most certainly from the Black Orb which I believe the cloaked man possesses. It was not my intention to burden you all with this information, but I suppose that is the payment you get for lending me your aid and asking too many questions." Falco bit his tongue after that last sentence.

"I do not mean to sound ungrateful. It is the pain speaking. Yet, I have more to ask. I intend to find whoever this man is and kill him. I dare not invoke the power of the Brass Orb, so I ask you all to assist me in his slaying. I doubt I was the only one who felt the evil emanating from that man when he entered the Inn. A man such as him cannot be allowed to wield such power."

The remainder of the Inn patrons had cleared the room at this point. It was getting late, after all, but it was more then likely that Falco's words had frightened them away.

Drisk Kayne · #30 (**permalink**) 07-04-2008

Drisk sighed, this was just great. He had felt the stirrings of hope, hope that he might be safe in this other world. But apparently it was not so, and once again he was marked for death because of events out of his control. Back at home his rage had been unfocused, the whole world being blameworthy for his curse. Here, his anger was easily focused, and right now with every fiber of his being, every molecule if his body, with all four of his unnatural forms, Drisk hated the cloaked figure for once again jeapordizing his safety.

Drisk's hair had abandoned it's orange tint of earlier, and now Drisk was thinking completely independently, none of his forms making suggestions. "You mentioned legends" Drisk said. "Legends are something that is rare on my world. They might lead to rebellion, and so anyone spreading the word of legends is sent to prison for the rest of their lives. Not all the world's share common freedom's." Here Drisk's voice sounded slightly less cold, and began to develop a small confidence in its tone. "I will help you slay that thing. Especially if what you say is true, and once again I find myself in danger for reasons out of my control." Drisk would have offered to heal the wound with his healer form, but it seemed unnecessary after the care that had already been given to the arm.

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