wierdw

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

If it were possible to frown any harder, Henri would have done so.

He was too old for this shit. Instead, he propelled himself from the back flank, and up the right side to function as cover against musket fire. He was already damaged to hell and back- a few lead slugs would only mar the iron coating a bit more. "Mobile cover" was not really what he had intended this day, but it would have to do.

Several rounds hit him in the chest and face, peeling the iron back with loud pings, before it once more molded over the top of the shattered ceramic underneath. Jazdia leveled her bow, sucked a breath, and pulled back the string before making a carefully timed release.

"Well, miss Jazdia, quite a pickle we seem to be in. And the birdie is getting away. We should have made him sing when we had the chance. Do you have any more ideas, or should I start showing the constable how much he has bitten off this morning? His majesty will be most interested in this turn of events, I am sure. If I may be so bold as to suggest-- we should take some of these fools alive, so they can sing about their keeper to the inquisitor."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"I would be happy to attend his sessions." said Henri coldly. "Am I to assume that this .. Gentleman.. is in some way associated with his majesty's .. inquest? " he asked with his head cocked to one side. "If so, may I ask how, and why? Quite a lot has happened over the past 2 days, and I would like to give a .. coherent.. report to my employer, when I report back to the castle."

The look of suspicion on Jazdia's face suggested she did not trust him.

"Dont be so distrustful. A number of warehouses belonging to a certain guild were recently demolished, leaving no discernible evidence as to the cause. The authorities believe magic may have been involved, but the investigations were still pending, when I interviewed them last night. The fact that the city is under lockdown suggests the attacks are associated with our mutual quarries. Regardless, their destruction will cause problems of ... a political nature.. for our employer. Sadly, my... Recent activities... have rendered my effectiveness at completing his majesty's orders less than acceptable, and I must retire for repairs. Since I am going there anyway, I am sure our mutual employer will want answers from me concerning these matters. I do not know if the incident with the warehouses are in any way associated with your own activities to date, and his majesty is sure to inquire. It would reflect poorly if I had no answers to give him. Our associate in our other line of inquiry turned up only a corpse, and a long cold trail at the end of her investigations, and I grew.. Impatient. I was hoping that your lot had found something more tractable. It seems you have. I have a .. Personal interest.. in a positive resolution to our contractual obligations."

He turned again to the cornered man.

"I would very much like to know how this little bird fits into the larger puzzle, before I retire. It would help me in ...suggesting.. questions to the royal inquisitor."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Jazdia ran past him and up the stairs, quipping about his being resourceful to find her here. Now was not the time or place to discuss 'business'-- they were clearly in a hurry for something, suggesting time was precious-- AND there were more than two dozen witnesses within earshot all clamoring over each other to escape the compromised seating area-- Discussion of a clandestine mission in those circumstances was beyond foolish. He said nothing, but gave her a stern look as she leaped past.

"That's not the way! Follow me! Gerrald is heading toward the catacombs. It seemed our guy doesn't want to leg it to the surface. He has five goons blocking the way for him."

she called to the others that had preceded him.

So, it was a man name "Gerald" they were after. That's at least more than Matilda's investigation had turned up. He wanted some real leads so much he could practically taste it. These fools would easily outpace him if he did not use more unconventional modes of travel.

Abruptly, he sank through the floor as if it had become quicksand, and vanished from view. In the total darkness of the spaces between the floors and walls, the only sense he had was was sound-- Thankfully, sound traveled better through solid surfaces than through the air. He strained to detect the footfalls of the group, as they charged in the opposite direction of the thunder of the people escaping the stadium.

He could detect when an exit through the dark void of the walls and floor were near, by the way the sound distorted at the interface, and he used this to his advantage, taking as direct a path through the void as possible to keep pace with their movements. Abruptly, the sounds of their footfalls stopped, and he feared he had lost them-- Then a deafening wave of pressure went through the material around him, indicated an explosion. That had to be the elf woman, Jazdia-- He made a beeline for that location, as straight and narrow as possible.

As he approached, muffled speech was present, but he couldn't make it out until he got nearer. He could tell from the tone that it was not friendly or polite, and that it was female in origin. As he approached, the words became distinct enough to understand. She was in an enclosed space just beneath him.

"Nice tunnel you've got here. I believe you had several interesting guests last week. Let's say the Kindeance Monarch wants to have a word with you, with four horses, ropes, and hatched. How's that sound?"

"Sounds like a public spectacle. Fun for young and old-- Bring the kids." He said, as he emerged head first through the ceiling, before tipping forward to expose his chest and legs while still embedded into the roof overhead, then continuing the tipping motion to bring his legs through first, then landing with a loud clang.

"It sounds like you caught a little bird." he mused aloud at Jaz, before directing his gaze at the terrified fat man. "I'm sure it's to find out what song he sings? Shall we find out?"

His eyes glowed a terrible crimson in the gloomy lamplit illumination of the dank cellar room, before he turned his head to face Jazida "Or is there some other reason I got rewarded for tracking you down by having my ass handed to me repeatedly?"

"I ain't tellin' you nuthin!" the man spat "you'll all be dead for this!"

Henri chuckled without moving his mouth, or showing any sign of outward movement or mirth.

"You can't kill what's not alive. Surely you noticed. Now, please answer the lady's questions. I'm old, and impatient, and I am... DYING.. to know what you have to say, little man-- I can be most persuasive when I need to be."

He held up a single finger, which promptly began to very visibly heat up and glow cherry red.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

@Randomness@A5G

Cedar's face erupted into a mischievous smirk at the notion that Solomon was paying.

"Ya sure fella?" he mused with a sparkle in his eyes. "No takesies backsies now--"

Solomon made a gregarious "Be my guest" hand gesture at the food available with his own benevolent smirk in response. The farmer just looked back and forth between them with a sparkle in his eyes and a wide smile, awaiting payment.

"Innat case...." the bear chortled, "I'll have somma dis-- somma dis-- Somma dis--- Somma dis, Somma dis-- somma dis-- Somma dis-- somma dis, and somma dis."

"Is that all?" asked the farmer, started at the rather large assortment of foods the bear had selected, including half a barrel of fatty bacon, a 20lb sack of potatoes, 4 large cabbages, a sack of carrots, a 20lb sack of pottage beans (mixed), 3 cauliflowers (whole), 4 broccoli (whole), a tray of ripe tomatoes, and a whole ham hock.

"Nope-- Ya gots a renderin' vat? How's about some nice garlic-- an onions! OOH-- an cell'ry-- Gots ta has the cell'ry--"

"Are you... Truly gonna eat all that?" asked the farmer, incredulously.

"Sure is! Not all at oncet acourse, bu' I's should has it all polished off by mornin!"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Henri felt the bear finally tear the plate free, as it tossed it, and him, aside like old garbage. This suited him fine-- He really just wanted the metal the beast was wearing. Needed it in fact-- he was so damaged, he needed a heavy coating to be able to withstand walking for any distance. He really did not pay much attention, as he commenced assimilation of the steel, and the make-shift full-body reinforcement. He plucked the eyeball from his throat, where it had been shoved down when he had been slammed into the pillar, and popped it into his dull grey eye socket, letting it spin and click into place, before getting up and observing the room-- The frenzied cries of the announcer being quickly cut off by a deafening explosion. He was thankful to have been thrown behind the third pillar, as the debris rained on either side of him.

He surveyed the room-- Yvonne sprang up like a rabid animal, and dashed up the stairs through the enormous gaping wound in the wall. The samurai slew the wolf that had foolishly tried to pick him up earlier-- and the bear lay on the ground gurgling and snorting blood with his scalp peeled back like the skin of a ripe fruit.

His thoughts once more returned to the kindly, and childlike bearman he had been acquainted with the day before. It struck him how at once, both of them could be so similar, and yet so different. He supposed circumstance played a great role, and he wondered how this bear might have lived, had things been different. It was not like they were a common sight-- Creatures like the two of them were so rare as to be myth, which is precisely why they sometimes ended up in places like this. For a single, solitary moment, he was sorry he had burned the beast the way he had.

Carefully, and with great deliberation, he tottered rather than walked, toward the prone bear, who only growled at his approach, before cursing at him. "GO ON AND FINISH ME THEN, YOU FILTHY LUMP OF CLAY."

Being angry was an entirely natural reaction to having your body beaten, battered, torn, and burned-- He himself was so angry he felt he could rip somebody's head clean off their shoulders, and he knew exactly which head he wanted-- but it really wasn't this bear.

"I didn't come here for that." said Henri coldly and flatly. "So I will do no such thing. I just wanted you to know, you are not alone."

The bear snorted a disgusted laugh, before speaking again.

"THE FUCK YOU'RE GOING ON ABOUT-- MUST HAVE MARBLES FOR BRAINS, THE WAY YOU PRATTLE."

"There's another bearman, you idiot." Henri retorted flatly. "Outside. Free. I met him yesterday. I thought you might want to know."

"... WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THIS, ...FUCKING MUD-HEAD... TO RUB SALT IN MY WOUNDS? TO GLOAT AS I DIE?"

"No. To give you hope."

Finished with his good deed for the day, he levered his now considerably heavier frame to turn around, and slowly ascend the stairs behind the group that had dashed up earlier. An insanely crazed looking old crone dashed through the wide door and around him, cursing "BUTCHER!" at him, as she passed, rushing up to the downed bear man in a flurry of tears. He didn't care. He had his own fish to fry, and she wouldn't get away so easily.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Henri reached the dead giant while the bear was curled and nursing his battered groin. The lumbering creature probably wouldn't stay down long, so he worked fast-- once more searing off the steel helmet and pauldrons, filling the air with the acrid stench of burned meat. He could not smell it himself, having long ago lost that sense-- but he remembered well enough. The heavy plume coming off the giant would have risen a stench to heaven.

As the metal flowed into him, he felt his legs begin to work, and the damage to his chest subside from the metal sealing the gaps between the cracks, and filling the shattered empty voids. He looked like an irregular jigsaw puzzle, of broken white shards and dark grey bands between them where the iron had solidified.

He chuckled, then staggered up onto his feet. The repairs were not that great; Iron was tough, but lacked the hardness and strength of the ceramic, and was much heavier. His legs threatened to bend in ways that were not conducive to walking with each step, but at least he was upright.

Yvonne looked spent, clutching her arms against her body with a grimace of her own. He waved at her and smiled. She only looked at him for a moment as the hairy brute stood up and once more started to lunge, a thick trickle of blood going down its rear legs, matting the fur.

He crouched, then propelled himself forward by skating on the sandy ground, to dart between those legs, before turning over, and reaching up with both hands to grasp the breast plate in a bear hug. The bear had the metal he needed, and he intended to have it.

The bear tumbled from the sudden increase in mass on his chest, and fell forward on top of henri-- an event he made full use of, despite several hundred pounds of usine bulk crushing him into the sandy floor. The beast bellowed, then tore at Henri's back with its clawed hands, but to no avail-- he had fused himself with the breastplate, and the center of it glowed red hot as it flowed around him like a shell, leaving the corners pristine and shiny, with an ugly blue, purple, and orange banding pattern surrounding where he had stuck himself fast to his opponent.

He looked like a crucified man, stretched out over the beast's chest.

"GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!!" roared the creature, as it rolled and tossed while tugging at the straps of the breastplate.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Henri grimaced from the impact. It wasn't like he felt pain-- More, his jaw was jammed into the top of his head from the impact, causing him to make a face that resembled a grimace, before he fell to the ground with a thud.

Thankfully that overdressed fool of a samurai was taking the heat off him. He'd be thankful, if he felt it would do any good.

Instead, he started crawling as fast as he could toward the next bit of armor he could absorb, while repairing himself as best he could. The short noble woman was busy playing tag with an enormous bear-man that could well have been cedar's angrier, (and probably stupider, despite initial appearances of the young bear he had met the day before) and more physical older brother. The shimmer of a lovely steel breastplate caught his eye, and he decided he wanted it.

Yvonne switched her tactic into a full on crotch-assault-- a thing that he was glad he was no longer vulnerable to in any capacity, given the intensity with which the woman went for it-- while he closed in on the dead giant, and his extremely useful steel helmet and pauldron...

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Cedar's stomach rumbled furiously at him. He actually felt rather drained, from not eating much of anything over the past week. In all honesty, the smell of blood and intrails was actually welcome, in terms of appetite-- not so much in terms of the instinctual impulses it was causing to throb in the back of his head. He was finding it very difficult to avoid just straight up stealing one of the bins the man had there, and running off with it.

"heh--- Ya could says I is--" he mused, trying to diffuse his internal tensions with light humor. "--Big AN' Hungry. Long walk from Rascade ya know. --Whatcha got for sale tuday?"

His stomach made a loud gurgle, and he was glad to be leaning on his walking stick.

"Dun suppose ya gots an 'all yer can eats' special tuday does ya?"

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

Henri had slowly been moving toward the tattered remains of the ruined net that had been dropped on him, and the steel helm and pauldrons his assailant had been wearing, after stuffing his dislodged eye into his mouth for safe keeping. With only one arm, and barely functioning legs, movement toward the much needed raw materials had been tedious, slow, and beyond enraging.

If he somehow remained "alive" after this, he would have the singularly most corrosive discourse with that elf woman she had ever had, he guaranteed it.

He had just closed in on the head of the fallen lout, when the gates opened, the announcers barked even more bullshit, then released yet more attackers into the ring.

Would they have to exhaust the entire gladiatorial compliment to get out of this? No-- An acidic discussion would not be sufficient. He would send her the repair bills too. The costs to restore his shell to proper function after this much abuse, just for the raw materials alone, would not be cheap. "Wreckless endangerment of a royal courtier" seemed a suitable charge to make the demand hold bite.

He did not have long to consider just how exactly, he would get the elf woman to pay for the damages her mad scheming had caused him before a large hairy oaf with shaggy fur came barreling toward him.

Working with a little more expediency, he melted the steel off the corpse of the fallen freak of nature, burning the face to an unrecognizable charred husk in the process as the steel turned white-orange and liquid, then swirled up into his broken shell, taking new shape as more make-shift replacements for the shattered ceramic of his face, shoulder and arm. His torso was still damaged, so he fused the shield on his back to himself for added reinforcement, before the remaining bits of his clothes burst into flames.

He could not really fight in this condition, but he could make it very unpleasant for this fool to try and grapple him at least-- He heated his body up to a searing high temperature, but not enough to soften his structures. With any luck, it would buy him time while he continued his crawl toward more raw materials.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

THUD

A very heavy metal cleaver on the end of a dark wooden pole came down hard on his shoulder, shattering his shell, and threatening to dislodge his entire left arm. Henri was livid.

His eyes glowed brilliant crimson, as did the blade under the intense heat Henri subjected it to. The steel melted, and burned through his coat, then integrated with the damaged arm, forming a make-shift repair-- destroying the enemy's weapon in the process. The gladiator drew back a smoking and charred shaft in confusion, as Henri grasped the axe over his right shoulder with both hands, sending the hot iron back to a dull shade of red. The tension of the net pulled the rope down over the blade, and the combination ignited it, making it fall off him with a pop.

Not missing a beat, the angry tutor decided to help these gentlemen get "A head" of the class, and swung the massive metal instrument right into his attacker's neck.