27FEB06 Still Day 5:
7
MAR/21
Into House Gardiward:
They hid in an alley just out of sight from house Gardiward’s main gate. Wink took a quick look at the gate, “looks like one guard and it is not locked.” Niki gave her a couple of hand signs and slang. He wanted to make sure she knew how to get into his former room. That thought slowly permeated through him, “former room.” It was as if he knew he would never call that room his again. He was grateful for her ladyship taking him in and did not want to insult her, but he had grown and would likely never be in that room again. Arnia started to share some of the other more discrete exits from the house. She was a servant slave and they often had their own ways into the house. Wink, Inex and Arnia each picked one and started to watch them. We needed to know if anyone was using them. Niki took in a deep breath. He moved a little closer to Yetto to take in another one. He wanted to draw in a little of his essence before moving up. Yetto smiled his most charming smile and headed to the gate.
The two of them walked up to the gate. Yetto engaged the guard. Niki, now the painting concierge, observed the area. The gate was indeed not locked. They only had one guard now. There used to be a least two here at all times, but now just the one. Things were a mess beyond the gate. The chaos had entered house Gardiward. Niki took a quick look at the gate. It was damaged. He was not sure if it could even be locked currently. He looked back to the guard as he and Yetto started to talk. His eyes contained stars, and a small amount of drawl, could be seem on his sweat stained chin.
The Guard: “Halt what do you want.”
Yetto: “My good man, we are here to see the Lady of house.”
The Guard, now with a big smile: “come on in, they are down the hall.”
Yetto: “Thank you sir, you will be well rewarded.”
Yetto and Niki headed in. Yetto went first. The guard turned and watched Yetto walk into the house. He eyes, tore his clothes off and never even noticed Niki was there. Even as Niki walked past him blocking his view, his entire body just shifted so he could watch Yetto leave. Niki was about to shake his head but found himself watching Yetto walking away. He was barely able to keep enough mindfulness to follow him.
They walked into the parlor at the far end of the house. Every room had scavenging damage as they walked through the house. Yetto almost sashayed as he walked to the house. The place seemed creepy in its inactivity. Raam’s chaos was here too. They stepped into the room. The only two in the room were her ladyship, Lady Meshah and her husband Hurum. They were having a quiet disagreement. They were so engrossed in that conversation that they did not even notice them as they entered. Yetto stood quiet for a moment. He could not stand, not being noticed and cleared his throat.
The two of them looked over to Yetto. They both drew him in with their next breath. He was all they saw. Both liked him, both wanted him. Hurum briefly broke his gaze to look at his wife. He watched as her tongue mildly came out of her mouth and gently brushed across her lips. He went back to look at Yetto again, and his tongue followed suit. She spoke to Yetto, as neither had yet to notice Niki. They now saw Yetto, but Niki was in the shadow of his glory. Her eyes scanned him from crouch to face, “how can I help you?”
Yetto started to describe the problem with Lady Sabrina. Meshah did not believe or did not want to believe that it was true. Hurum used the words “I told you so,” as he had tried to convince her of this issue before. They broke into a another somewhat heated conversation between them. They did this until Yetto came back into their thoughts. His charms could sink in quickly. Lady Meshah looked back to Yetto, still not seeing Niki, “again what can I do for you?”
Yetto: “we are going to try and rescue Lady Sabrina. We would like you to keep this painting safe.”
Meshah taking the painting from Niki, likely seeing him for the first time: “how will this help? Who would have a painting of yourself so beat up?”
Yetto: “She is connected to the painting. We have even healed her through the painting. We are hoping you can do the same as we go in after her.”
Meshah: “our healer is out, helping. We have not heard from him in a couple of days.”
Yetto: “can you at least keep this safe?”
Meshah: “yes.”
Niki bowing slightly: ”My Lady, I have something else for you to keep.”
Meshah barley taking her eyes off Yetto: “And what is that.”
Niki: “we found what we think is their contract room. We could not tell, but we grabbed the latest couple, and we found some magical ones.”
Meshah taking them and handing them to Hurum: “What should I do with these.”
Niki: “hold on to them and protect them for Lady Sabrina.”
Yetto: “we fear that her enemies would find them before we can get to her.”
Niki, bowing deeper: “and if the house is crushed, I think it would be better if you had them, then them.”
Hurum speaking mostly to himself: “This contract has her children as the security for them.”
Meshah: “we can keep these safe.”
Yetto: “thank you, we should go gather our forces.”
Meshah: “surely you can spend the night.”
Yetto: “as much as I would love to, I must muster my force.”
Meshah: “do you need anything else.”
Niki: “I hate to ask my lady, but some weapons would be great.”
Meshah: “take what you need.”
Meshah knowing he was not going to stay, bows. Feeling the painting to be safe they left the room and house. They walked past the awe-struck guard and into the street. It felt normal for the moment. The fires and chaos were a couple of streets away and seemed normal. The streets were mostly empty now. This might have been the true punishment that Badna desired. Shut the city done and stop all commerce. It was a success. The city of Raam was even more broken than it ever was.
The team gathered on Wink’s location. They spoke in the shadows for just a moment. No one had seen anyone leave the house while they were watching. This was good. Niki did not think there were any people in the house. It was mostly empty. The life within the house that he was familiar with was dead. The house felt like a corpse slowly rotting.
They started to head towards the hideout. Noises of a giant celebration could be heard coming from the north.
The Parade:
Pakku’s Raiders gathered in an empty shop. It had been burned to the ground a couple of days before. Arnia perked up, “do you hear that, it sounds like a celebration?” everyone lifted their ear a little in the air. To the north roars of cheers could be heard. Most of the city was either in chaos or empty and just north of them was a celebration in full swing. The Raiders were about to move on. Wink snuck across the street, so she could watch as the less stealthy made their way to the next hiding spot. Niki heard something. He was not sure at first but then it sunk in. He raised his hand up into the air as a fist. The group knew this as a sign to stop.
Wink ran back over to join them. They all looked at Niki. Niki was still listening in the air. Wink gave him a quick nudge, “what is wrong.” Niki sank down, “I think my Mul friends are in danger in that celebration. I need to check.” The Raiders all looked around to each over. Niki breathed a big breath out, “I can meet all of you later, but I need to see what’s going on. They are my friends.” Arnia’s face became sharp with a little anger, “No way, they saved us. We will all check.” Niki moved to the north end of the shop. He was going to move a little faster and forgo the stealth a little.
They came out in the middle of a parade. It was being performed by the great folks from Augustbow. They had jugglers and acrobats. They were pulling a couple of carts. One near the front with a beautiful owlbear caged within and one towards the back of the parade filled with the crazed. Crowds were watching and enjoying the show. They were throwing rotten food at the crazed. A large puff of blue powder blew into the air. It was mildly horrifying watching all these “good” townsfolk enjoying the torment of the crazed. This mild horror sank deep as Niki noticed that the crazed cart was being pulled by his Mul friends. Even worse, the old Mul gladiator was being dragged behind. His body was not moving and he could be dead.
Rage filled Niki. He had seen Sora go into a fighting rage. He felt that rage move through him. He had to tamper it down. He switched back to his friend, “I need a distraction. I am going to rescue the Mul.” Without waiting for an answer or agreement, he sulked off to the get closer to the back of the parade. He was going to rescue his Mul friends or die trying. Wink stared at the owlbear. Yetto smiled. Creating a distraction among people was just his game. He moved closer to the front. He would be able to draw the attention to the front. Wink never stopped watching the Owlbear. She moved through the crowd to get close to it.
Yetto nearly danced to the front of the parade. His best way to disappear in a crowd like this was to just be a part of it. He was beautiful and many would watch him, but never really see him. He started to use his magical charms to convince the crowd that even more was going on with the parade. Even the performers presumed this was a part of the show. They just were never told about it. He then added fowl smells to contaminate the crowd and the one beast of burden. The crowd was in awe. They watched the front of the parade, even as they covered their noises. He had almost single handedly moved the entire crowd’s attention to the front of the festivities. This converted this to a megillah for the crowd and they would all tell the tale for many years. If they lived that long.
Niki moved up to get a good look. He saw one lock holding all the Muls of burden. It was attached to the front end of the cart. He crouched and rolled under the cart to pull himself up. He moved so he could pin his legs, giving his hands the freedom to work the lock. A couple of Mul saw him. They knew him but were scared of the whips and swords, “stop, you will make it worse.” As Niki worked the lock, he smiled up to the Mul. With the moving cart he could not feel the pressure on his picks. It broke. The lock opened and the chain started to slide out. The chain was about to hit the ground and make a loud noise. The main piece of his pick was flying through the air and about to hit the ground, to be lost forever. He had a choice. He grabbed the chain. He gently set it on the ground, knowing he would not be able to mend his picks.
Wink slid through the crowd. She had worked crowds many times as a pickpocket and no one would ever see her. She did not exist within this crowd. She was violating all her own person rules as she moved up to the Owlbear cage. It noticed her and started to flutter around. The crowd went wild. She tried to pick the lock, but it was beyond her skill. Frustrated she looked for another way to free the beast. She found a trap door on the underside of the cart and cage. The trap door lock mechanism opened with ease, but the weight of the bird kept it closed. The Owlbear started to jump around, popping the door open a little. Wink needed to help it more. Lucky for her Yetto’s distraction was still in full swing.
Niki started to hand out short swords to the Mul. Once the weapons hit their hands their fear was replaced with rage. They started to fight and free each other. Niki dropped to the ground, to get closer to the old Mul. He was still alive. The crowd still had not noticed him, but they did notice the Mul and started to scream. The front of the parade was still distracted on their end. He found the shackles and the lock. He pulled out the bits of what was left of his picks. After a quick prayer to Selune and picked the lock. He was surprised, but the shackles opened. With the old Mul free, Niki wrapped his body around him and rolled off into the crowd. Arnia who had been watching came up to the two men. Niki looked at her in panic, “do you have healing.” Without answering him, she healed the old Mul.
The old Mul looked at Niki. He is saying thank you again with his eyes. Niki bows a little, “we should get out of here and had back to the cart.” Taking a short sword from Niki the Mul stands a little taller. The crowd notices the now free Mul start to chant a mix of, “they are free,” and cheers as many think it is part of the show. The old Mul raises his voice just above the crowd noise around him, “descamisados we are leaving.” He starts to move towards an alley to exit. Many Mul start to follow. An Augustbow guard stood to block the path of the wounded old Mul. His confidence as he saw an unskilled Mul holding a shortsword without a good stance. The Mul moved with a speed of a much younger gladiator. He picked the guard up and broke him in half. The Mul through him over his shoulder as he ran off. The guard was now the standard for his group to rally on. It is a bad idea to judge a sword by its scabbard.
Wink pulled out her crossbow. Her legs still held her to the bottom of the cart. The crowd presumed she was going to do trick shots. She just wanted to get the draft animal moving faster. She shot, just a cart lurched, and the bolt went off target. She grabbed the cart, so she did not fall. She looked up and the bolt was a rest through the sack of the beast’s balls. The creature charged. Wink dropped off and rolled to the side.
Inex knew this was the time to help his friends. He created some fog in the middle of parade. Niki looked to the front of the crowd. He saw what was happening. He ran and started to do some acrobatic flips. He wanted to look like he was part of the show. The Owlbear was able in the chaos to get partially out the trap door. It was bouncing on to the ground below. Niki reached Wink, “time to go.” They started to run into the smoke. Yetto moved off into the ally to gather up with Inex and the rest of the raiders. Wink and Niki started to head to the alley. She looked back one last time to the Owlbear. She was so worried about it. She grinned as the beast finally made itself free.
The raiders gathered and started to head to the hideout.
The Street Assassins:
The Raiders escaped from the parade and started to moving through alleys as they moved towards the market cart. They never saw any of the Mul as they moved. Niki hoped they were safe. Yetto noticed they were being followed. Three men were systematically moving through the streets, following the Raiders. Yetto moved through the group, quietly making sure everyone knew about them. Sure enough, three guys were following them. They made sure to never group up as they moved. They seemed to move as if one mind. Niki thought to himself, “must be Psions.” He hated the mind benders.
Yetto worked through the raiders, building a plan as they went. The only issue was they were close to the market cart. Niki did not want to do their plan here, but they were there, and the plan was ready to go. They went quickly around a corner. They were out of site for the three assassins. They hoped to drive them into a kill box where they could control the fight. Wink jump to a rooftop. Niki stashed himself behind a dry sparse bush. Inex hid under the cart. Arnia hid behind some boxes. Yetto moved up to a door. His plan was to be in the open. Niki looked around and saw most of the team. He worried they were not as hidden as he hoped.
The three moved like a team of assassins. One followed Yetto. He did not seem to see any of us. Yetto moved back into an alley. His follower followed him. One of the three moved across the street. He was the point man. The third jumped to a roof and made himself the cover. They had moved like chess pieces and had out moved them. In the alley behind Niki he heard the assassin, “Turn yourself over to us and they live.” Niki could not wait for an answer as a bolt slammed into the ground next to him. He had been spotted. A second bolt smashed into the ground next to the first.
Niki dashed across the street. Wink started to move from roof to roof to get to the other side of the fight. Niki stabbed the man on the street and shifted under the lip of the roof for a little cover. Arnia charged across the street to flank the same assassin as Niki. Inex was a little slow and ended his movement in the middle of the street. Niki yelled back to him, but it was a little late as bolts slammed into Inex from the roof. As he fell to the ground, he through some of his magics up to the sniper. Wink was still trying to shift around to the other side of the battle.
As Niki and Arnia attacked the front man on the ground the sniper started to slip around and shoot Niki in the back. He was getting peppered. Arnia took the front man down. Niki slipped out to blast the sniper. The sniper fell dead and rolled off the roof. At the same moment, the front man stood and attacked Niki again. Niki knew these mind benders had just swapped positions. Even in death they can use their powers. Niki hit him hard, but that left him exposed, and the sniper stabbed him deep. As Niki spun and fell to the ground, he saw the third assassin frolic away from the area. He was completely naked and was yelling something as he left. Niki fell unconscious.
Minutes later Arnia was healing Niki and Inex. They all looked around. They were about to head into the hideout and did not want anyone to see them enter the sewer. Niki kneeled next to the cart. There were small amounts of fresh blood all around it. He presumed that the Mul had been here. He hoped to find them safe and sound as they entered the clubhouse. He took one quick look around. Yetto had a strange smile. Niki walked up to him, “what did you do back there.” Yetto looked at him, “I convinced him he was a messiah. He will believe that for about an hour.” Yetto went into the sewer.
The Clubhouse was even more full. The Mul had arrived. They were armed better, but more injured. Murray came up to Niki as if to give him a report. He made sure to tell him and them that the food supply was starting to get short. Niki knew this problem, but it was good hear again. He barely nodded, “I will find some if I can.” He looked over to the Mul and wondered if they could find some. This might be just the relationship they need. Niki knew this was a problem for tomorrow.
Niki and the Raiders rested finally, for the day.
Into the menagerie of a dungeon:
Day 6:
In the morning the Raiders headed to the Whitehal compound. Inex was able to guide them through the sewers all the way to the complex. They climbed up to what was an ancient sewer access. Niki lifted it and moved it to the side. It was in the center of the courtyard. The Pegasi barn was off to the right. He did not see anyone around, so he ran over to the barn. Wink stayed on the edge of the sewer. The two of them guided the group into the barn. Wink lifted herself up and used all her strength to push the cover back over the access.
The barn was devoid of people. There were a couple of Pegasi, but no one was walking around. Niki looked at the mounts. Could they take them. This would be the biggest theft in Raam history. Could they ever run hard and fast enough? He was about to run towards one of the beasts. He noticed Wink had a very similar look on her face. Niki imagined this was the look she gave before trying to free the Owlbear. He nodded his head.
Niki: “the offices are over that way.”
Yetto: “I think if we go around the over side of the barn, we can approach without being seen.”
Wink: “do you hear that?”
Niki: “what is it?”
Wink: “I hear three people talking. I think one of them is Pakku.”
Wink started to move into the barn. Niki grabbed her and pointed to the far side of the barn. She was so excited to hear Pakku’s voice she was heading straight into danger. With Niki’s guidance they moved down the far side. The Raiders moved carefully through the barn. They wanted to make sure none of the Pegasi were startled. They moved through to the far wall and headed towards an open door. Niki could now hear Pakku’s voice. He was talking to Sandini and Richeut. The two men were disagreeing. Richeut was there for Lady Sabrina and Sandini was not giving her up. He acted with impunity. Niki now abhorred Sandini.
Yetto moved up and into the room. Niki and the rest of the raiders follow right behind him.
Sandini looking up: “what do you want?”
Yetto: “we are here for Lady Sabrina.”
Niki using street signs to Pakku: “you okay?”
Sandini: “do you have the princess?”
Yetto: “we had her, but she was taken by a Corga.
Richeut: “I know Lady Sabrina is here.”
Pakku to Niki: “I cannot help you here.”
Sandini: “Pakku, saddle up our mounts.”
Niki to Pakku: “come with us.”
Yetto: “where is Lady Sabrina”
Pakku: “I cannot.”
Niki handing the shackle pin back to Sandini: “here, I don’t think I need this anymore.”
Sandini: “did it help?”
Niki: “nope.”
Sandini: “did you get into the house?”
Niki: “yes, but no one ever asked for the pin, and I never showed it to anyone.”
Sandini: “Pakku. Did you not hear me, saddle up our mounts?”
Pakku: “yes sir.”
Richeut: “WHERE IS LADY Sabrina?”
Sandini: “in the dungeon. Go get her yourself.”
Wink ran over to be by Pakku. Wink looked up at him, “come with us Pakku.” Pakku looked at Niki first and then down to her. He was terrified. His voice trembled a little as he slightly pushed her away, “I cannot. I must go saddle up.” Sandini looked over. He did not like what was going on. He did not and could not know what the relationship was but Pakku was his and he was not going to let him go, “there are bigger things at play here my child.” He looked at Pakku directly, “Now, go saddle up.” Pakku left the room. Wink was crushed. Pakku would never be afraid. He was the one person in all of Raam that was never afraid. She lowered her head as he tucked his tail and left the room. Sandini was done with the Raiders as well, “Feel free to head into the dungeons and get your Lady Sabrina, I am leaving.” He left the room.
The Raiders all looked at each other. Should they go kill Sandini or go into the dungeon. Richeut did not hesitate. He headed for the dungeon. The raiders followed them to a set of stairs on the other side of the offices. He had remembered these stairs from his last time in this place. He could not know what was beneath their very feet. They started to descend the stairs into the lower level. Niki lit a coin. The lower level was not bright but it was lit with an eerie green glow. The walls were covered with a moss that gave off the faint of light.
Yetto was amazing with people. He could work them like pawns in his personal game of chess. In the search of a dungeon, he was a impatient child. He rushed ahead of the group. He passed through the first small chamber and entered the second chamber. He moved up to a central statue and it erupted in flame, blasting him. He had found a trap the hard way. Niki moved up to investigate. He found the trap. It was pressure plates all around the statue. His tools of the trade were broken and could not undo it. He told the group where it was so they could pass without fear.
They moved down several corridors. In a small alcove they saw a chest. They could hear the sound of knocking from within it. The knocking seemed to come from all directions once they heard it. It even seemed to pound within their own brains. They moved past it leaving it for now. It was too tempting to approach. Wink thought there was a trap in front of it in the alcove. They continued to examine all the little halls around it.
The next chamber they found was a small room with a great purple crystal in it. They room also had two beautiful ferns living in this dark place. The purple crystal had an ever so slight pulse. Yetto pulled a tiny piece of the fern off in his hand. It turned to dust and fell through his fingers. Niki moved on beyond the room while Arnia and Yetto studied the crystal. At some point they touched and moved the crystal. All of the green moss dimmed as they did. They understood that it helped bring this dim light life to life.
Niki moved on into the next room. Wink followed him but stay behind. The heat of this room was intense. The center of the room had a pit or well. Heat poured out of it in waves. Niki took a quick look down. Some thirty feet down lava flowed. Heat came up the hole as it flowed by. As he looked down a hand of lava or magna reached up and pulled itself out of the flow. A creature of liquid heat started to climb from the very lava below. Niki yelled back to Wink, ”fall back! A lava creature is coming.” Wink went back into the crystal room. Niki started to fall back as well. Wink ran into the room, “a lava creature is coming.” The create flung fire at Niki. Niki ducked behind his shield and it flew over his head. As he backed out of the hall, he scrutinized the creature. To Niki it seemed too large to leave that room.
Knock, Knock. The pounding from the chest seemed even louder. Niki was panting as he spoke, “that is blocked by a big fire creature. I think it is too big to leave the room.” Arnia cocked her head, “I have heard legend of magical creatures that could alter the hall around them to move through them. I think it is the Legend of Nalla and the tree staff, where I heard it.” Niki shot a quick peek out down the hall. Knock Knock. Niki could not see the lava beast, “seems to be just in that room.” He moved to the other side of the room, “we should try the hall on the north end of the dungeon. Knock, Knock. The moved up towards the north end. Arnia stopped in the chest room, “we must figure out that knocking.”
Arnia stepped towards the chest. A green acrid mist formed around her, and she became a husk of her former self. Niki barely reached into it and pulled her out. She would now follow you, with her blank stare, but nothing more. “Wink, do you have those tools,” Niki said to her in hand slang. She slipped the tools into his fingers. Niki was about to check it out. He did a quick prayer to Selune. Others through some protections on him and he stepped into the green mist. He held his breath. The knocking was even more pronounced now. Thinking the real danger must have been the mist he opened the chest. To the Raider’s horror two mummies stepped out.
Niki yelled to his friends, “I have an idea. You guys circle around to the far side.” Niki had remembered some old myth about mummies. They hated fire. He saw all the dry cloth surrounding them and thought the fire creature could hurt them more than him. The Raiders fell back out of sight. Niki stood his ground blocking their blows with his shield. He fell back down the long hall to the fire pit. The creature was there at the end of the hall. The two mummies followed him. His stood his ground. Only for the grace of Selune did he now fall victim to the mummies. Lava balls came flying down the hall. He was able to duck under his shield just in time as the two mummies burst into flames. Richeut took up a position behind them. They were boxed in. It was a fiery kill box. Niki just needed to dodge and duck long enough.
The mummies could only survive two blasts for the lava creature. Once they dropped the singed and wounded Niki ran for the cover of the crystal room. Richeut joined them from the other side. The fire beast was still blocking the passage to the south. Time to head north. Arnia was led through the northern passage and into the chamber beyond. Yetto moved a little quickly into the room and set off another plate trap. Most of the raiders were in the still in the hall when the roof started to collapse. Niki and Richeut were left by themselves on the wrong end of the chamber. The rest of the raiders were able to make it into the far end room Richeut dug out Niki. The two looked at each other. Richeut shrugged in frustration. Niki took control, “well, I guess we will need to rush past the lava monster. Let’s go back south.” They headed south hoping to connect with the group again on the other side.