Author Topic: Whispers of War (Read 18114 times)

Nanshork · « **Reply #20 on:** November 21, 2015, 01:18:37 PM »

Xaver just watches. If his help is wanted he will give it but otherwise he will just watch this rabid beast get put down.

Stratovarius · « **Reply #21 on:** November 23, 2015, 02:01:15 PM »

A sharp howl split the night, the Biyou in the cage bleeding profusely where it had been struck by the thrown weapon of the Gyntaf. As the cry died down, the struck creature turned sad eyes upon the barbarian from the plains as he curled up around himself, starting to rock back and forth in the image of the little pybyr. Incidentally, now that Jac was closer to the cages that trapped the creatures within, he could see that despite the collapsed posture of the pybyr, its chest still rose and fell. Whatever the biyou had done had merely rendered the creature unconscious, not dead.

After a long moment of anguished contemplation, the biyou shuffled about in its cage, still pressing its hand into the wound so recently caused. Perhaps because of the weapon, the biyou's voice came out in a hollow rasp, a voice thin and reedy. "Free me? Please?"

skydragonknight · « **Reply #22 on:** November 23, 2015, 02:35:41 PM »

Jac collects his weapon, looking between the Biyou and the still-living Pybyr and thinks for a moment, as if reconsidering his previous actions. He eventually just shrugs as if what's done is done. While he does feel sorry for the caged ones, if what the guards said was true then this is the fate which they chose. And even if they were wrongly imprisoned, it was still no business of his.

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Gazzien · « **Reply #23 on:** November 23, 2015, 06:28:03 PM »

"Did he save that one's life?" Sadhbh asks her companions, and then unclenches hands that were balled into fists since they first saw the necromancer. "I... don't know if we can trust him, but..." [Sense Motive: 19]

Nanshork · « **Reply #24 on:** November 23, 2015, 10:50:03 PM »

Xaver continues to watch. "Why would we free you?"

Stratovarius · « **Reply #25 on:** November 25, 2015, 06:19:44 AM »

The question appeared to make the biyou somewhat frustrated, or angry. "You have the opportunity to right a great many wrongs, to me and to others. And I can pay you, too. I have funds! But I need that stone... that stone the Living Sun took from me. Even if you don't free me, follow it. If you do not, hundreds of people will die." He coughed, clutching his chest. "You think me melodramatic, but you have not seen what lies beneath the surface... I've spent too long there, too long covering my hands in blood before I realized I was wrong. Now I try to undo what I once helped. I'll tell you everything, but this cage is no safe place for a discussion. Free me? Please?"

Gazzien · « **Reply #26 on:** November 30, 2015, 09:32:56 PM »

Sadhbh takes a step forwards, and then haltingly begins to open the cage.

skydragonknight · « **Reply #27 on:** December 01, 2015, 06:14:02 PM »

Jac stands ready to eviscerate the biyou should it break their trust.

Nanshork · « **Reply #28 on:** December 01, 2015, 07:43:50 PM »

Xaver stands ready as well, Kiba at his side.

Stratovarius · « **Reply #29 on:** December 02, 2015, 09:30:44 AM »

The biyou watches with baited breath, his claws pulling and prodding at the latch, mostly getting in Sadhbh's way as she used a combination of her skill with items and her song to peel the latch apart. When at last the latch clanked onto the ground of the square, the sheer joy of the biyou as it bolted from the cage to stand on solid ground was almost infectious, although the loud pops and cracks as it stretched were wince-inducing, while the following gasp as it clutched a claw over the open wound was more pitiful.

Pausing, the biyou began to claw at the cage holding the little pybyr, still sleeping, despite the noises of freedom. "Quick, we must get him free too!" He looks meaningfully at Jac, remonstration in his eyes.

From the distance, there comes the faint clank of armour.

Nanshork · « **Reply #30 on:** December 02, 2015, 12:20:12 PM »

"Yes, if we are freeing one we should free the other. Nothing deserves to be in a cage like this."

Gazzien · « **Reply #31 on:** December 02, 2015, 04:21:14 PM »

Sadhbh steps over to the other one, but her voice is lyrical as she sings magic into the world, the pounding rhythm assaulting the lock, hoping to shear it off before the clanking boots can catch up with them.

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Stratovarius · « **Reply #32 on:** December 04, 2015, 10:42:44 AM »

The bolt shattered, the sound as it hits the ground echoing around the square, followed shortly thereafter by the boneless thud of the unconscious pybyr as it slid from the bottom of the cage to the stone ground, where it lay, sprawled atop the cobbles.

The shattering of the lock had clearly caught the attention of whomever was coming to the square, and what had been a steady march of boots upon the street turned into a staccato beat, pounding quickly as they rushed toward the commotion caused by the rescue.

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skydragonknight · « **Reply #33 on:** December 04, 2015, 10:52:32 AM »

Jac quickly scoops up the pybyr and prepares to bolt away from the oncoming forces.

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Nanshork · « **Reply #34 on:** December 04, 2015, 12:06:03 PM »

Xaver says, "We must flee, now." He then proceeds to do so, Kiba in tow.

Stratovarius · « **Reply #35 on:** December 08, 2015, 12:06:34 PM »

Having freed the biyou from the cage, the strongest member of the friends slung the poor creature over his shoulder, while the next took the much smaller and lighter pybyr, who remained thankfully unconscious. As they fled into the night, the only sound that followed them was the moans and complaints of the biyou, bouncing away upon a hard and pointy shoulder. But it was unlikely the Living Suns would treat them kindly if the friends’ role in the escape was ever made known.

Having reached a place of safety, namely an inn recommended by the biyou as “friendly” (whatever that meant), they were able to offload their cargo, although by this point the biyou was on his own two feet and walking. He also looked quite different, his robes ripped away to the waist to leave him in only a long kilt, and his back much straighter than it had been in the square at the beginning of the day.

But the friends could see that it was clearly an act, and that each step the creature took was pained, more an act of will than any natural motion. The truth of that became obvious to even the most casual of observers, for once the biyou reached a private room, away from the eyes of those in the public area, he collapsed, all but crumbling into a chair.

It was an entirely undignified sprawl, one that became worse as he slipped into slumber, and shortly thereafter off the chair and to the floor. Whatever knowledge he might possess, nothing would be forthcoming until the morning.

Upon arising, the biyou was chipper, the ill-effects of whatever had happened to him in the cage having been washed away by a night’s sleep… and possibly by whatever magic he had used on the pybyr the evening before. While said pybyr seemed not to be recovering quite so quickly, for he had so far failed to emerge from the small upper room that was fitted for the large portion of the population that was his small size.

Waving at the friends from over a plate of couscous, the biyou gestured them to the bench opposite him, in the same private room as the night before. “Come, join me. We shall eat before business, for business shall take some time.”

skydragonknight · « **Reply #36 on:** December 11, 2015, 03:10:08 PM »

Jac said nothing, clearly uncomfortable inside the room. He nodded slowly at the mention of food. He did not know if he would like the local fare, but a warrior has no business being picky about anything other than the sharpness of their blade.

Gazzien · « **Reply #37 on:** December 14, 2015, 02:37:46 PM »

Sadhbh nodded, looking around the room and then at the biyou. "What business do you speak of? The Living Sun, and the hundreds of deaths you foretold?" She shakes her head disdainfully, and then questions "And, I suppose, you wouldn't happen to be related to why the pybyr still slumbers, would you?"

Nanshork · « **Reply #38 on:** December 14, 2015, 03:54:12 PM »

Xaver remains as quiet as Jac but is still vigilant. He doesn't fully trust this man but this whole situation has been outside of his experience.

Stratovarius · « **Reply #39 on:** December 15, 2015, 02:58:26 PM »

The biyou shrugged. "I can't tell you. By now, I would have thought he was fully recovered, but apparently not. The poor thing had been sorely treated by the Living Sun Wardens." Noticing the shakiness of the tall plains-dweller, the biyou nodded in his direction. "Is there something wrong? If you are afraid of me, you need not be. Even after your uncanny accuracy last night."

While waiting for a response from the Yn Gyntaf, he rose from his seat to check the door, opening it swiftly to try and catch anyone hiding behind it. Resuming his seat, he spoke again. "Sorry about that, I've just developed a healthy cautious streak. Most of what I'm about to tell you is little more than guesswork, so some of it could be wrong. I say this up front, so you know what you've stumbled into by rescuing me.

There is, or I suppose I should say always has been, a dispute between the gods Lledrith and Drancedigaeth. It was the cause of the conflict that collapsed the Arhosan Empire, and their priests and other believers have been at one another's necks even more fiercely ever since then. It's taken a turn for the even worse, since the end of the war." He smiled, sadly. "Something I am all too well aware of. Suffice to say, that red stone that was pulled from me by the Wardens is no mere bauble - it's the stolen soul of a living being, slain and stored by the worshipers of Drancedigaeth. What they plan to do with it, I do not know. The person I... interviewed was very discrete. But the last time I saw stones of that sort, a village fell victim to a strange and brutal plague.

I wonder if it might have something to do with the violent Awyr-storms that have battered this region. They have certainly become worse recently, and the strange manifestations at the heart of the storms have driven many people into the arms of her temple. It would be the kind of deceit that Drancedigaeth's followers delight in. Gaining the trust of a community... " The biyou stared off into the distance a moment. "Let us leave it that they are good at it."

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Author Topic: Whispers of War (Read 18114 times)