Scouting Medina al-Afyal - Chapter 11

[Vardaen]

And start her lovely dance of doom
When seven tasks ye undertake
And seven wefts pass on the loom.
The second task has now been done:
The twin-soul was slain and rose.
The third weft is now begun:
The seventh bhuts great power grows.
Now the six shall start to fall,
Their death heralding the final doom.
The seventh one shall take them all
And string their souls upon the loom.
The third task now awaits your hands:
To find the talisman the goddess bore,
The skull-crowned glyph that wasted lands
And gave her bones the goddess wore.
Then shall the third weft cross the loom,
The seventh bhut arise in power;
Then shall Suaramas final doom
Draw nearer to the final hour.

Karttika 22, Year 1096


This thread arrives from here: The Barber and the Brother - Chapter 11

Toranoshi and Ghanji, dressed as simple folk of the island, leave the safety of the jungle, and their companions Shamad, Rhokit and Janak, and head into the City of the Elephant to scout the situation of the locals. Crossing the open ground between the city and their friends, the two pause a moment at the gate, glancing back they can't see the others hidden in the jungle, and so turn and head through the open gate.

There are no guards there to greet them, no travelers or merchant or lumberjacks moving in and out of the gate. Everything seems silent and still, too silent. A few tendrils of smoke rise up from another side of the city, thick wide tendrils of smoke that appear out of place even for a smithing district. The road before the two is bare, void of traffic, and there is a chill in the air.

Ghanji turns to Toranoshi, "I don't like this." His statement is obvious, something is wrong, there should be guards at the gate, there should be people in the street. The road progresses forward to a large building then turns left and right, perhaps more answers can be found in that direction.

OOC

Welcome Wargie and Ghanji to this thread.

[Wargie]

Toranoshi frowns and turns to Ghanji, "You are right, something is definately a miss here.." he doesn't move any further, questioning the need to move any further for a moment. Then he shrugs and says, "I guess the only answer lies ahead of us." and with that the dhuka sneaks up to the gate and glances both left and right, and not to forget, upwards as you never know who might be looking down upon you. As soon as the road seems clear he signals to Ghanji to follow and enters the city.

[Vardaen]

Ghanji gives Toranoshi the lead and moves in once the signal is given. The pair move forward down the street, a few shops at a time. Toranoshi slips into and out of the shade of the buildings, keeping as low a profile as possible. Ghanji does the same, he's better in a the jungle, much better, but using turned over barrels, and empty storefronts like trees and boudlers he sneaks along quite skillfully.

The pair reach the T junction and Toranoshi out in front reaches there first. He kneels near the corner of a building and gazes around the corner. Down the street he can see two men in the road. They are running from one building to another, crossing the road as fast as they can. They appear terrified, looking up and down the street franticly.

When Toranoshi looks back at Ghanji he is gazing up at a nearby window, where two young children are huddled, peeking out of the curtains that bar it. The children's faces are curious, scared, and wide eyed, almost shocked to see the pair of you in the street below. "By Mahabhalla what is going on here?"

[Trogdor]

As the two crouch to look around the corner, a glint of light catches their eyes. It's Janak's psicrystal, hovering in the air behind them. Janak thought it might be good for me to accompany you, it says into their minds. I can relay messages back to him if you don't go too far away from him. Might I trouble one of you to stick me in a pocket to keep me out of sight? That would make us far less conspicuous.

[Bitom]

following along behind the psicrystal and making no attempt to stay hidden, Pazi comes streaking up the street and then jumps up onto Ghanji's shoulder, settling into the place she occupied when Rhokti was dead. She doesn't, of course, talk. And if she could, it's very unlikely that she'd be as polite as mani. However, she does seem to grasp that the others are hiding, and she remains quiet once settled into position.

[Wargie]

Toranoshi is startled for a moment as he hears a voice inside his head and for a moment is begins to wonder if he is about to be possessed again. He sees the crystal finally and lets out a sigh of relief, though the dhuka is far from relieved considering that people appear to be running for their lives and children hide in buildings. For some reason he feels that he is at the wrong place at the wrong time. He stretches out a hand and allows the crystal to climb up in his palm before he pockets it.

He then turns to Ghanji and then points up to the rood, indicating that he is going up there for a better view of the city and streets.

Action

Time to go parkour! Run up wall of building, get on roof and look up and down the T intersection.

[Vardaen]

Ghanji turns his head just as Pazi leap up onto his shoulder. He pats the monkey and smiles, "Pazi, now keep quiet, something is wrong." He frowns at the monkey and the feeling likely makes it way back to Rhokti. Mani on the other hand can see and sense the situation with a bit more intelligence even as it floats up into Toranoshi's pocket.

Ghanji steps back behind a wagon, "I'll stay here. Don't be long."

With that Toranoshi spins around jumps on a window sil and then then grabs rain gutter pipe, he scampers up the wall, jumps to an awning, then grabs a flag pole, and scampers some up some more. In a matter of seconds he pulling himself up onto the roof top of the building. The kids across the street are yanked away from the window and the curtains are closed by their parents.

On the roof Toranoshi gazes out of the city. The whole city doesn't appear deserted, there is movement toward the wharf district, ships seem to be pulling out of the harbor, and guards are moving in forced marches to get there and hold it. It all has the feel of being under attack. In the leather maker's district smoke rises from some smouldering buildings, and a flash back to Bhalluka days before the seige there coem to the shudra.

The populace is scared, defeated, in hiding, or attempting to escape out through the harbor. Just then a figure rises above the buildings to the north, atleast a mile on the other side of town. Its small and hard to see, but its flying, and then a blast of lighting screams down from it into the streets. A chilling cackle from beyond the grave reaches Toranoshi and makes him shiver.

[Trogdor]

You just shivered, Master Toranoshi, Mani says telepathically to the shudra. Since it's quite warm here, I assume that something else was the cause. Do we have reason to worry? Is there a warning I should send back to Janak, Shamad, and Rhokti?

[Wargie]

The dhuka is concerned as he sees the figure in the distance sending out bolts of lightning. He shakes his head, glances down the side of the building at Ghanji and motions of caution. And then he attempts to comunicate with the crystal Mani, which he considers a fitting name as it reminds him of mania or maniac, and at times he feels he's suffered from both.

..you may tell them that the city is under attack. Someone, or something is floating in the air, firing bolts of lightning at the crowd.

Toranoshi tries to pick out the dot in the distance again and sighs as he can feel the fear of the city. It is one thing to hunt down your prey as an assassin, feeling their fear, it is something else to torment a whole city, frying people on a whim. There's evil and then there's evil. He shivers again and speaks,

You may tell them to either join us or if we should depart..I am guessing this might be a little gift from my brother..

[Vardaen]

Ghanji and Pazi gaze around the street level, the pair get the signal from Tora on the roof and slip deeper into the shadows of their location trying to stay out of sight.

Toranoshi speaks to Mani. As he is looking into the distance he can see a second figure rise into the air, this one closer, this one clearly a woman. She appears almost transparent, and yes in fact she is transparent, like a bhut or a ghost. A roiling green mist of screaming faces fall from her as she casts a spell into the section of the city she's over. From the ground a few magical missiles are fired up at her, striking her body and causing her to scream out in anger and pain. If Toranoshi didn't know better he would swear that second figure was Narmada!

OOC

You may not have read this since you were away from the game, but the group fought a Bhut of Narmada once already!