Return through the Swamp: Night of April 10th

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Rotipher of the FoS
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Silently cursing bull-headed merchant-mages and posturing samurai, alike, the bard intercedes in hope of defusing the razor-sharp tension between Hiro and the figure who may, or may not, be Draxton Serd. Knowing their attackers' night vision has surely pinpointed him anyway, if their darts could strike Gerard even after the lantern went out, he breaks his silence and calls out across the river in tones that are soothing, yet humbler than his usual wont:

"'Prove' that you're not our enemy? How? By returning insults with insults, threats with threats? Surely as shrewd a bargainer as Draxton Serd could never confuse extortion with diplomacy?

"If you wish to parley, let it be a duel of barbed words, not darts. One such as yourself surely cannot doubt that you will claim the victory, negotiating on equal terms! Let your servants fall back to their own place in the deeper swamp, and speak of what you desire from us without their teeth to our throats: that will prove you are no crass bully, but truly as great as your legend attests."

(If the VRS spy's words are feigned, not a trace of sarcasm or pretense is discernable in his tone ... but then again, when is it otherwise?)


[OOC: Crow is buttering up the figure on the opposite shore, in hope that its conceit will get the better of it and it'll send the lizard-creatures away. If it's really the Serpent King, it probably isn't much used to flattery from humans -- especially not ones as persuasive as the bard -- and might be tickled enough by his deferential manner to tone down the threats, even if it's not actually fooled by his words. He's also hoping some of Draxton's smug pride in his negotiating talents is rubbing off on the loa, so it'll take the bait of a chance to parley.]
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

"Deja avonssss conclu un accord, cchhhantre,*," the shadowed figure says, with what might be grim amusement in its voice. "Misss gensss voussss ssssuivent. Je vous surveille...*"

The moonlight breaks through the clouds overhead to pick out Draxton as he steps forward, his yellow eyes glowing hypnotically in the eerie silver light. Something like a great black serpent with yellow eyes seems to wind itself around his body once, twice, three times, and then twists itself smaller and smaller, knotting itself around his finger until it can no longer be distinguished from the Fraternity ring he wears. The yellow glow fades from his eyes, and the eerie force of the Serpent-King's persona fades, leaving him as the Richemuloise merchant-mage familiar to you.


*We've already struck a bargain, singer.
*My servants will follow you. I'll be watching..
Last edited by Nathan of the FoS on Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
[b]FEAR JUSTICE.[/b] :elena:
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VAN
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Post by VAN »

Hidding behind a tree, Dadrag follows the scene without talking. The ex-assassin doesn't want to betray his position since he doesn't know for sure if the lizard men are now their allies or not and most important if Hiro will indeed attack Draxton. At the samuari's threat, Dadrag has gotten 3 daggers out, so if Hiro attacks Draxton, he would find himself with 3 daggers at his back. However, Dadrag hopes that the samurai will be reasonable and doesn't attack, he has started to like the samurai and he prefered to not fight him if possible.
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Post by Coan »

Hiro retreats slightly into the trees again.

He will attempt to hide and move silently before making his next move.
[size=75]-Wake up... wake up and smell the ashes-[/size]
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Post by alhoon »

Back to himself and still smiling the merchant turns to Crow. "As you see I'm no longer held by the Serpent King. Also don't think that these fanciful tricks would take hold on me Crow. I haven't insulted or threatened anyone, I just said that I will forgive Hiro's rush attempts to harm me.
Trust me, my skills in diplomacy are better than many of those gathered here and detestable as it may be, I'm forced to use extortion sometimes as a tool for negotiations. We're all here to get what we want, aren't we?

The servants of the Serpent King will be watching us, but I'm not afraid of them.
Don't make a mistake there, any of you. The Serpent King will ask a favor for me for what I've done here for all of you. I put myself deeper in his dept. Instead of accusing me for bullying you when I just refused to back down to Hiro's insulting requests, you should thank me and be trying to put our guide back on foot.
Also Crow, professor Kingsley and Buchvold I think it is fair that once the Serpent King as me to return the favor he did for all of us here, you will help me pay back."

Inside Draxton feels a bit more angry with Hiro now that the Serpent King left him, and hollow. He was back in himself, in control but the feeling of being merged with a powerful being was ... good. What would be the price of such a feeling? The Serpent King certainly felt how much Draxton enjoyed the experience in general and the feeling of power. Along with the presence of his servants and the safety the Serpent King offered them all the price would be considerable.

OOC> Nathan, please don't change the price you have set for Draxton just because he enjoyed so much controling the LMen and giving the others a scare.
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
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Coan
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Post by Coan »

With the immediate threat seeming to have disappeared Hiro returns into view -distressingly close to where Dadrag was.

"Insults? If it were just you and me you would be dead by now puppet man. I've seen the end result of what you've started -and it doesn't end well. You think you are so intelligent that you can walk across a line and remember where it was? You can't go back there now and it'll get worse. Believe me, I know."

Hiro moves back towards the boat.

"Come on Dadrag, you and me have some talking to do." he gestures for the assassin to follow, when nearby he starts a conversation -the event seems to have forced his mind towards talking a bit more. "I don't know what training you've had but, sceat, brother Dadrag-san, but if you can't think straight you're no good on this journey."
[size=75]-Wake up... wake up and smell the ashes-[/size]
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Rotipher of the FoS
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Nathan of the FoS wrote:"Deja avonssss conclu un accord, cchhhantre,," the shadowed figure says, with what might be grim amusement in its voice.
Upon these words' hissing utterance, Crow blanches for a moment, his thoughts sent skittering in alarm back to the discourse in Chicken Bone's hut. Surely it hadn't... no, by perdition, the serpent spoke first... would it dare to mock its peers, thus? ... but Serd's own pact specifically excluded the rest of us from indebtedne--

Then the bard realizes what he is doing, blinks, gets a grip upon his wild speculations. As the Serpent King's shadowy presence lifts from Draxton Serd and takes its leave, the spy in Crow can't help but acknowledge the spirit's provoking retort, with a nod of genuine respect. Barbed words indeed, loa, he wryly muses, to bait me into doubting, thus! I'll not judge your venomous tongue by Serd's poor example, a second time: touché, dark prince of vipers.

At least I now know you really are that, and not some illusory ruse the Richemuloiuse called up to intimidate the reptile-men. That pompous parvenu you 'rode' is too short-sighted to concoct so telling a riposte on the fly.

Draxton's bluster, upon recovering his equanimity, confirms as much, as does his ludicrous denial that he'd threatened the others or belittled Hiro. Crow lets the merchant-mage's smug reply pass right through him -- if Serd is fool enough to believe the bard's words were ever meant for him, he's as hopeless as he is, damned -- and foregoes the chance to rub the Richemulouise's face in his own hypocrisy, when he tries to shift the cost of his unwholesome bargain onto the others. If Draxton has forgotten the terms of his own pact with the serpentine loa -- how he'd expressly insisted that only persons he trusted be a part of it: a group which, plainly, does not include the remainder of their company -- then let the consequences of that lapse fall on Serd's head, alone.

(Even if he were to judge it by Buchvold's extortoinate standards, Crow sees no need to deem himself indebted to Draxton for the ambush's outcome ... nor the Serpent King, for that matter. The merchants of their band aren't the only ones whose affinity for slipping through contractual loopholes is well honed; if the bard had ever truly felt himself bound by obligations of words -- or of blood -- then Brother Perrison's cards would have read in reverse array for him, at the outset.)

Listening with half an ear to Hiro's umbrage -- interesting, and something to look into later, but best to let the samurai's temper cool, first -- the spy leaves Serd's self-congratulatory preening for Kingsley and Buchvold to deal with, fishes another vial of antitoxin from his satchel, and resumes tending to Gerard: the first truly sensible suggestion he recalls Draxton has made in his presence.



[OOC: How's Gerard doing? Assuming he's not dead this time, Crow will give him the antitoxin after removing the dart. He'll also note what kind of symptoms the boatman is suffering, as he might find a use for the dart he'd recovered earlier.]
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by Pamela »

Gertrude listened to the exchanges without moving from her position, waiting for its resolution or upscaling into another bout of violence. She found some wary hope at the idea that the ‘servants’ would be following instead, and finally relaxed as the serpentine features left the wretched old man in its place. So what price will you pay now, Richemuloise…? She shuddered anew at the possession, and the stories of bargained souls. Thank the blessed sun that that was not mine…

She grinned invisibly to herself at Serd’s boast on his diplomatic prowess. Oh, I’m sure you don’t have to depend on extortion too often at all, she thought with sardonic amusement, wondering if the possession had addled his senses enough to create this foolish show of vanity. As for the idea of being involved in the repayment, she merely rolled her eyes and saved her breath. After all, they were not out of danger, with their guides injured. She went behind a nearby tree before removing her spell, and stepped forward towards Crow and Gerard, presenting him his guitar case. She turned towards the young Souragnien noble and called out, “Roland, how is your injury? Our good friend had the forethought to bring some medical supplies.”
His only real danger is if stupidity is contagious and lethal. In which case, we’re all dead…-Gertrude
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VAN
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Post by VAN »

Dadrag follows Hiro beside the boat. His voice is steady but betrays a little annoyance:

"Listen, I'm not a wizard and I don't know anything about spells. I have seen wizards control people though, so I thought it was a spell. Listening at Draxton's words I understood that something else had happened. I don't know exactly how, but Draxton was possessed from a certain Serpent King. Despite the way he did it, Serd forced the lizard men to leave and that was good. I have fought them before and despite they are not very strong, if they are many they could have caused a problem. You had no right to threat Draxton though, if his situation was uncontrollable his wizards companions would have interfere no? It's not up to you or me to judge him. I like you Hiro and for this reason I have hold my daggers when you threated him. But if you have dared to attack my employer, you would have faced me soon after. I'm his bodyguard and I will protect him."

OOC> Dadrag doesn't lie, he actually like Draxton and he respects him. Of course he might betray him if necessary but not for this reason. :wink:
Last edited by VAN on Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Post by Coan »

Hiro takes a breath to cool down.

"You mistake assistance for delayed danger Dadrag-san. You will fail your employer in the trials to come if you let him risk his life like that again -he is konitai now, tainted and has been controlled by the dead. That sort of thing costs a person Dadrag, eventually it costs too much if you rely on it." he looks over to the area Draxton stands as if to emphasise his point "You trust him, you protect him, but that wasn't him. What will you do if the Serpent King does not want to leave so easily next time?"

OOC> It is now apparent that Hiro did not want to kill Draxton, but to threaten the vassal (Draxton's body) in order to make it leave him.
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Post by VAN »

"I think you know very well what I will do Hiro, what I have to!"

Dadrag says that looking the dagger at his hand and hopes the samurai gets the hint.
Last edited by VAN on Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Post by Nathan of the FoS »

Crow's examination reveals two sliver-like darts, one in Gerard's chest and another in his upper arm. Roland pulls a dart from his own leg and mutters something under his breath. "Poisoned," he says more loudly, his face haggard. "I can feel...the leg, it is going numb."

"Merci. Merci beaucoup," Gerard mutters as Crow removes the darts and applies the antitoxin. "Fut ici, le Roi des Serpents?"


*Thanks. Thank you very much.
*He was here, the Serpent King?
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Rotipher of the FoS
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Crow checks the dart he'd recovered from beside the lantern, confirming its point isn't barbed, then gently plucks the other two from Gerard's flesh. "Perhaps so," is his soft reply to the ailing boatman's question ... that, and a reassuring squeeze upon Gerard's unwounded arm.

Glancing up at Kingsley's approach, he flashes the Zherisian a warm smile of gratitude for keeping his instrument-case safe -- he could count on one hand the souls he'd care to trust with it -- and retrieves it from her with equally-gentle hands, sets it atop the tree trunk where it'll be out of the mud. He grins, and nods toward the lantern, still sitting unlit on the channel's bank. "A bit of light, Professor? I believe we've seen an end to our scaly 'escorts'' blowgun sharpshooting, at least for the nonce."

Noticing Roland's distress, he checks his vial, finds the antitoxin is down to its dregs. He turn and calls to the bodyguards, each still striving to out-"professional" the other:

"Pardon, sirs, but might it be best if you compare notes after we've cleared the marshes? There's men hurt here, one of whom might benefit from that antitoxin I'd passed out earlier. Just thought you might spare the matter a moment's attention, considering they're the ones who know how to get both your employers safely back to town!

"And if you've any wounds that need seeing to yourselves, by-the-by, do let me know, won't you? Best to tend them promptly: that channel's foul murk must be crawling with contagion."

(Normally, chiding large, violent men with swords for their inattention is a pleasure the VRS spy would reserve for Buchvold. But really, there's a time and a place for such bickering, and the two hirelings' spat is ill-timed enough to chafe against his own professionalism: he's already seen enough posturing for one night.)
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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Post by VAN »

Dadrag looks Crow and then Gerard. Then he heads toward the bard.

"First I want to thank you for before, when I was fighting the beast, your song in a certain way gave me vigor. I have some wounds from that, if you can heal me I'll be glad. I don't want to get an infection. As about Gerard, let me see the dart. I'm always a ranger maybe I know a herb that might help him as well."
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Post by Rotipher of the FoS »

Glad to see that Dadrag, at least, has regained his discipline and sense of professional duty, the bard waves aside the Darkonian's thanks and offer to check on Gerard, nodding instead towards Roland.

"I believe our other associate has a more pressing need, now ... in fact, one of you'd best catch him before he falls over! The antitoxin seems to be aiding our boatman well enough, so that should serve to help Roland; perhaps you could see to that, as M. Harako seems to have need of his own vial." Crow points to the bloodied tear in Hiro's sleeve, aware the poison's numbing effects might lead the samurai to underestimate his own injury's threat.

He nods again, this time to Dadrag. "Once the darts' venom has been stymied, I'll see about your injuries, sir. No proper physician, I, and my healing talents are quite limited; still, as you felt earlier, there's vigor and renewal to be had in music, if the need is great enough.

"Any idea what that thing was, by the by? I never caught more than a glimpse of its hands, when it seized ahold of the gunwale, but it must have been formidable to have spilled the whole boat over."


[OOC: Crow'd kept track of who took what when he passed out the holy water and other supplies, so he knows Dadrag and Hiro each have one of the vials of antitoxin. Serd does too, but between Draxton's snobbishness and his recent possession by the deadly Serpent King, the bard doesn't much care to ask him to lend some of it to Roland! :wink: ]
"Who [u]cares[/u] what the Dark Powers are? They're [i]bastards![/i] That's all I need to know of them." -- Crow
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