[IC] Estermere - A Medieval Fantasy Roleplay

[Professor_Wyvern]

Elric continued watching the work for the carpenters for a bit, before he headed back inside his establishment. Walking back in he headed towards the ladder, and climbed back up. He observed his various tools and adjusted his saw so it was properly aligned with the edge of the table. Nodding he went back down the ladder and stepped back towards the hole at the front of his house.

[Shisa]

Anya stretched out as she woke up and looked up at her father, smiling sweetly. It was nice to be able to see him first thing in the day all the time. She hugged James back, resting her head on his chest.

"It's a big day today, right papa? I bet we'll find a cure this time. I'm feeling really good about today," said Anya.

Then again, she'd said that many times before. And had a good feeling about the day many times before. But this time, it was probably really going to happen.

Though she'd thought that before too.

But her spirits were just as high as the first time, and she knew that if she kept on hoping, one day she would be right.

[BingTheWing]

"HOW could this have happened?!"
In the fortunately rather intact town hall of Estermere, three figures were gathered around Mayor Festwith's desk, silhouetted only by the fleeting shadows of early morning. "You! You two! You are the only ones that can provide a level-headed, down-to earth explanation! I will NOT tolerate such madness in my town!"
A talk, hulking figure spoke up. There was a menacing, but not quite malicious tone about its voice.
"After some discussion, mister mayor, I have reached the conclusion that the hyena, obviously enhanced by something, bounded out of the surrounding forest to where the gnoll stood."
The mayor sharply turned his head to an elegant, more graceful figure. As he walked into the light, his sharp, cold features were twisted into a dark frown.
"My mages have dissected the hyena's body thoroughly, mayor." The elegant figure began pacing around the desk. "It had to be alchemically enhanced if it were able to run that fast." The figure stopped pacing. "Common gnolls don't magically enhance their beasts."
He dropped a scroll onto the mayor's desk, unraveling it in the process. On it was scrawled a wall of pictograms that were... eerie in manner. They would have looked perfectly normal as bloodstains on a wall. "The captain found this on the road. It's in Gnollish." He winced, as if Gnollish was the name of an unspeakable demon. "It reads -

Agent 456.

Your orders are:

Let Grushtov go without alcohol on the night of the mission. Self-explanatory.

In the chaos, get to Elric Barber's house and retrieve the following from his desk:

- On Glyconea Fulquea, painkiller and anesthetic
- Thesis on the Possibility of Elriquir Forronea as a skin hardener
- Surgical Method #198
- 1 bottle of Glyconea Fulquea (reddish liquid)
- 1 small box of Elriquir Forronea tablets. (Green box)

And Elric himself, if possible. But retrieve the above first. Agent 209 will meet at the agreed rendezvous and transfer contents to Agent 927. Kill anyone who gets in your way.

May the Emperor guide thee,

"The seal of the Nisceni Empire." The Captain growled. "Bloody bollocks. This means war. But why do they want it so badly?"
"You don't understand." The archmage's frown turned into a pursed worry. "Only true practitioners of medicine will understand, but these have the power to make an entire army invincible."
A hurried knock. "Captain! Captain!"
"What?"
"We found Kyril's body in the trash dump! Dagger wound!"
"Shit." The captain's usually emotionless face showed a mix of annoyance, anger and fear. "Raise the patrols! No one is to leave the village! Send a messager to Fayport. At once!" He turned to the mayor, a mix of worry and menace on his face. The mayor spoke.
"This is war with Nisceni. Do you know what that means? They have almost twice as much men as all the levies in Rostguard combined!"
"We cannot let this go unavenged, may-"
"Go home, both of you, and rest." The mayor's face, meanwhile, was a tangled mess of confusion and determination. "We'll solve this problem later. Good morning."
As Archmage Berion turned to leave, he stopped a running soldier with a tap of the shoulder. "You. Go to Elric Barber and tell him his life is in danger. Tell him to [i]stay[//i] indoors. You get it?"
"Yes, archmage."

[Professor_Wyvern]

Back outside Elric continued greeting the fellow townsfolk. "Lovely day isn't it?" A man with a scraggly beard who was dressed in white nodded, "Oh I saw the Gnome heading this way." He nodded to Elric, "And I could possibly use a shave. I'll be back in a bit for it!"

Elric nodded, "Take care Matthew, if I haven't drummed up a customer by the time you get back I'll make sure to give you first crack in the chair." He glanced back at his right forearm, checking his handiwork. After that check he continued waving and greeting the town, while checking to see if any of them needed a haircut and a shave at this moment."

[IncredibleBee]

"I hope we make progress today." James agreed, leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes, and went over today's plans.

The town was large enough to have a mage's guild of some kind, so it was worth looking in for research. More immediately, however, he had to feed Anya. She couldn't feed exclusively from him, and he couldn't spare much anyways if giant hyenas ran amok. He'd have to secure a meal for her quickly.
"I hope you don't mind, but I need you to stay with Elric for a little while." he said, getting up. James collected his armor from the ground, and began to strap it onto himself. "I have to go run a few errands outside, and I don't want you caught outside if the weather clears up."
After finishing with the armor, he belted on his sword. "I promise it'll only be for a while, though. If it's rainy when I come back, I'll take you out then. Sound good?"

[Shisa]

Anya's face fell a little when she learned that she would be apart from her papa. Just about the only good thing about being a vampire was that he always spent time with her now, and he was off doing things on his own.

But then she remembered that Mr. Elric was a very nice man, and smiled back at her papa. They would go sightseeing together later, and she would befriend Mr. Elric now. Mr. Elric was probably really fun anyways.

"Alright, papa," said Anya, waving goodbye to her father, "But come back really soon, OK? Have fun on your errands."

Anya still didn't like him leaving her, and it made her a little scared after that bad dream she had, but Anya got the impression that 'errands' were adults only things that she just wasn't allowed to go to. If her papa wasn't taking her along, it was probably something that absolutely could not be done with her around.

[The Fated Fallen]

"Elric!" Tirarian raised her hand to get his attention.
"Sorry I left sharpish last night, I was very tired and decided to get out of there before anything else broke. As you know, unlike my kinsmen I don't know much about building, but I can replace any broken potions from the attack."
The gnome put down the cart she was pulling and leaned against it. "I wanted to talk to you about you lodgers, don't they seem a little queer to you? I know you have a thing about strangers, and I know you have a thing about knowing people but... Some strange knight and daughter walk into town and we get attacked by a Hyena-man?"

[Professor_Wyvern]

Elric gave a wave to Tirarian as she moved up her hand, which was a good thing she did, otherwise he may haven't of noticed her in the crowd. "Hello!" Elric gave a sly smile at her, "Oh yes it was a rather queer situation. And of course the stranger could've dispatched a 'threat', sent in on purpose, in order to earn my trust for some reason. It is a possibility, I will admit." He clasped his hands together, "But I'm not too concerned about that. And how are you this fine day?"

[IncredibleBee]

"I'll come back as soon as I'm done." James promised, patting Anya on the head. "Be nice to Elric, okay? We're guests in his home, we should be polite to some extent."

The knight descended the stairway, overhearing Elric's midget-wife talk about the coincidence last night. His face grew stern.
"You say that like it was my plan to be attacked by a Dire Hyena and a gnoll. I assure you, if this were a mounted attack on my family it would not take place at a barber shop. But if what you suggest is something so low as that I conspire with gnolls, I advise you to find something akin to evidence."

[Professor_Wyvern]

Elric glanced back as he heard the knight spoke up. "Ah Sir Hawthorne, did you sleep well last night? And of course my apologizes if you needed any blankets and such." He scratched the back of his left ear for a few moments, before stopping and returning it back to his side. "I had a few people to deal with last night, what with the rampage and all. So what do you plan on doing this fine day, if I may inquire?"

[IncredibleBee]

"I need to go see what kind of happenings go on in this town. It's fairly large, so I'm sure there are guilds present. I'll need to catch my bearings if I'm to stay here for more than a day anyways." James explained, leaning on the railing.
"Besides, I promised Anya I'd take her out later, and that means I'll need to find someplace nice to visit."

He walked a little further, and stopped at the door before adding, "Oh. Are there any bad parts of town? One with more bandits or random muggings? So I know where to watch myself."

[Professor_Wyvern]

"Oh the largest guild is the Astronomer's Guild." He said. As James stopped at the end of the ruins of the door, Elric spoke up, "Typically near the Eastern End, not around this time. Usually earlier morning and night, at this time of day it'd be more near the south." He paused as he glanced at James, "What are you not taking her with you with you as you explore the town? I think she'd like it."

[BingTheWing]

Remington grumbled to himself silently as his scale male clanked in the wee hours of Rostguard morning. Jel was a total and complete idiot. Ever since the Emperor's cronies had picked up the screaming little worm when he was a mere babe from the ashes of a gnoll village, he was still incompetent. Oh, wasn't he the Emperor's finest man. Led over fifty successful reconnaissance Sorties. Huh! His only real talent was getting human whores so drunk that they were willing to lie with him. He couldn't do anything right. Of course, because he was of the Empire, he had to honor a fallen brother and blah blah blah blah. Now he'd have to stay in this dingy village for at least another week while they found a replacement, all because Agent 456 couldn't kill a barber with a mad hyena. Anyways, he wasn't really of the Empire. He was doing it for the money. The money.

Ah, there he was. Remington felt his dagger's hilt. Maybe I could chance it now... no, he was with an armed man. Hmm. Fitted the description perfectly. Now to get on with orders.
"Mister Elric Barber, I presume? I have orders to protect you and your house with a company of four-" He motioned to the soldiers behind him. "-until the... events of last night are fully accounted for."

[Professor_Wyvern]

"Why yes, I'm Elric Barber. Would you care for a sh-" He listened to Remington as he stated his purpose. Elric peered at the soldiers, trying to determine exactly who they were. After all, he wouldn't want to address them by an improper monikers, besides he would have to make sure their wives knew what they were up to. "Orders to protect me?" Elric shook his head as he chuckled, "Oh I'm sure you boys have others more important to protect, like the Community at large."

[IncredibleBee]

"If it's about the beasts, I left their bodies in the living area. That's accounted for." James said, pushing past the men. "And Elric, she's upstairs. You've blessed with five men to help you, so I expect you to keep her safe until I return. Don't disappoint me."

He set off, heading in a Southerly direction. "I'll be back in a few hours."

[Professor_Wyvern]

Elric gave a friendly wave as James pushed past the soldiers to leave. "Well take care then." He then processed the fact that he was being left to care for a random individual's child. Well I'm sure he wouldn't just leave me with an orphan. But stranger things have happened. He thought to himself as he glanced back at the various soldiers. "Well, I suppose I should offer you a drink and food. Would any of you care for something?"

[The Fated Fallen]

Tirarian raised her eyebrows, looked at Elric and walked off, as if to say "I'm out before things get weirder."
She decided to head off with the knight, James. "Sir Hawthorne, is it? From where do you hail?"

[BingTheWing]

”Orders to protect me? Oh, I’m sure you boys have others more important to protect, like the community at large.”

“I’m not the one you should be saying that to, Mr. Barber.” He gave a subtle salute to James as he walked out. “However, your friend has mentioned the two who started it all. I will personally see to that myself. But you may entertain my men, if you wish.”

Remington walked over to the bodies and began to thoroughly, methodically commence a body pat of Jel’s corpse. It puzzled him why the astronomers didn’t come back for him. Probably because it was too heavy.
Hmm.
Shit.
The scroll wasn’t in his pockets. The orders! So that’s why he was assigned to protect Barber. The Emperor would not be pleased.
“Alright, boys! Nothing’s in here. Two of you haul this body out.”
Two guards made their way to the corpse and hauled out the door what was left of Jel son of Drel.
“Oh, Mr. Barber, I’ve also received orders to confiscate some certain items from your desk for safekeeping by order of Captain Ironmaw. It’s rather... confidential so I’d prefer if I picked out what I needed inside your room.”

[Professor_Wyvern]

"You do know when people say confiscate items it usually tends to be a more ominous than it was implied." Elric said as he pursed his lips in a sly grin. "Oh alongside that confidential part. You do realize how ominous and spooky sounding you are right now correct?" Elric asked of the man.

[IncredibleBee]

"East." James replied, walking at a brisk pace. "Not in this country; my kind live on the borders of civilization. We receive visit from raider and beast alike. Even nobles must have a firm hand there, lest another take what's yours."