[Taocow PBEM] Chapter XV - The Demon's Minions

[Aaron Clausen]

> > [Osiris]
> > "For Alex, Lady Frost, Talas, Ted and I, this is a keen loss." Osiris
> > says, his voice hoarse with grief.  "Bongo was a friend.  Still you are right,
> > this is a great indignity, even if Bruth was a foul traitor and agent of
> > evil."
> >
> > Osiris turns to Lady Sialillion.  "M'lady, you seem to know this city
> > very well indeed.  I think we have little choice but to follow your
> > lead.  Let us gather are things together and be gone from here."
> > [/Osiris]

> > > [Talas]
> > > Upon hearing Carlos's words, Talas turns to face him, and in a
> > > slightly raised voice says "And You Mr. Carlos. Have you never given
> > > in to grief and vengeance?" And with that turns back to Bruth's
> > > remains to see if there is anything that Lady Sialillion may find
> > > useful still in one piece.
> > >
> > > Once Talas is done with searching the body Talas asks if there are
> > > any objections to him burning the remains. If there are none, then he
> > > uses a weak fire ball to burn the remains.
> > > [/Talas]

> > [GM]
> > There's virtually nothing recognizable on Bruth's body.  There are a few
> > hopelessly twisted and unrecognizable pieces of metal, but any further
> > exploration would require something akin to an autopsy.
> > [/GM]

> > [Osiris]
> > Osiris nods his approval to Talas.  "There has been enough blood shed
> > tonight.  Burn the body, my Elvish friend."
> > [/Osiris]

> > [GM]
> > Max takes one last hard look at the two prisoners.  "Then I shall bid my
> > farewells to you.  If you find your way back to here, you'll have drinks
> > and a meal on me.  I must attend to my wife and to my inn.  May She Who
> > Has No Name be with you."  With that Max darts back out the way he came.
> >
> > Moments later there is another explosion, this one powerful enough to
> > shake the building.  Bits of the ceiling fall to the floor.
> > [/GM]

> [Ted]
> Ted points to the orc-man with his free hand. "You! You speak English?
> Get your butt over here."
> [/Ted]

[GM]
The orc-man stands up, still shivering.  He walks haltingly towards Ted, his
head bowed.

"Aye." he says.  "I speak your American well enough."
[/GM]

> [Ted]
> As soon as the orc-man is close enough, Ted asks his name.
> [/Ted]

[GM]
"My name is Amslaw... Ord Amslaw." he says quietly.
[/GM]

> [Koba].
> Looking over at Lady Frost he sees the gory spectacle. The display and
> threats may have been too much, and would have turned his stomach upside
> down, but no one was harmed. "Self defense and preservation is not evil
> Carlos. It is a necessity at this point."
>
> Koba turns away and starts to walk towards the Orcish man. "Cooperate with
> him, and we might believe you. You will still have to prove yourself."
>
> The shaking building catches him by surprise. He latches his helmet and
> slings the rifle off of his shoulder. Moving towards the door while dodging
> pieces of falling concrete he says with some urgency, "Ok, NOW I'm ready to
> leave"
> [/Koba]

> [Lady Frost]
> The fast crumbling building and the continued explosions force Frost's
> attention to the matter at hand.
>
> "Out of here is good, but I'm fairly sure we have to go back up the river....
> I didn't want to say anything when Max was here, but we need to get to that
> island.   The one nobody's supposed to set foot on."
>
> "Ideas anyone?"
> [/Lady Frost]

> [Talas]
> "Well I for one need to go back to the inn, in order to retrieve my equipment,
> before we go leave this town."
> [/Talas]

> [Sia]
> "I, likewise, have to get my equipment.  I propose we split up and get
> our things, then I'll meet you all in front of the inn and lead us out
> of here."
> [/Sia]

> [Ted]
> "I will run ahead and make sure it is safe." The lizard man shoulders his
> weapon and takes off for the hotel.
> [/Ted]

> [Koba]
> Koba swivels his head and watches the lizard man run through the door. He
> mutters to himself, "I'm not trying to keep up with him again."
> [/Koba]

> [Talas]
> Talas watches Ted run out the door, then turns to the others "Well my friends,
> I think we should follow Mr. Ted's lead and head out to claim our belongings."
> And with that Talas heads out the door and back to the inn as well.
> [/Talas]

> [Sia]
> "Alright, see you all soon.  Sellus Siss!"  Sialillion steps into a nearby shadow and
> is gone.
> [/Sia]

> [Carlos]
> Grabbing his stuff, Carlos follows the crowd.
> [/Carlos]

> [Alex]
> Over where Bongo was last seen, Alex says the Lord's Prayer. She does
> not know if Bongo was Catholic or not but she does not see it as doing
> any potential harm. She goes over to where Bruth's 'remains' lay, a bit
> sick from what was done but does an abbreviated Lord's prayer over his
> body as well.
> [/Alex]

[Osiris]
Osiris, at least, joins Alex in the prayers.
[/Osiris]

> [Alex]
> The scout then quickly grabs her grenade so she might fix it later on.
> She states, "I thinking grabbing our gear might be a good idea as well.
> I will grab our fallen comrades gear as well."
> [/Alex]

OOC: I can't seem to find it, but I think Lady Frost is carrying the
taller, heavily wounded prisoner.  Unless her player has a problem
with that, I'll go with that assumption.

[GM]
Ted is well ahead when everyone else follows him.  The streets are chaos, some
buildings are on fire, and the town's small fire brigade is hard
pressed to keep the fires
from spreading.  As they approach the inn, they can see clearly that
the fire fighters
have all but abandoned the docks, where the flames leap hundreds of
feet in the air,
and loud explosions still rattle windows and teeth as fuel and
chemicals explode.

The orc-man, Ord Amslaw, sticks close to the company.  The wounded prisoner
moans as they make weave through the wrack and ruin.  Finally they
find their way
to the inn.  Max can be glimpsed on the roof, hosing it down as
red-hot cinders fall
on it.

The inn itself is empty, and the equipment left behind is unmolested.
Bongo had left
behind most of his possessions.  Osiris picks one of the bags up, and
hands it to
Alex.  "For our brother." he says simply.  Bongo had most of his
weapons on him when
he disappeared.  There is still an old style C-12 Heavy Assault Laser
Rifle, which, unless
anyone objects, Osiris takes charge of.

Along with their belongings, the company finds two weeks of good
rations; hard bread,
cheese, dried meat and dried fruit, a final gift from Max.

The company make their way out of the inn and back out on to the
street, where they
find Sialillion waiting for them with her own gear.
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen mightymartianca at gmail.com