Chapter 2b: An Enchanting Offer

[Eanwulf]

Tenebrous' spell deposits Remnant, Himself, and Pilgrim in the back parking lot of a long-since abandoned strip mall. The cheerful and upbeat sounds of Latino melodies echo throughout the surrounding neighborhood. Somewhere in the not-too-far-off distance, a engine motor revs loudly as its tires squeal shortly thereafter. Most assuredly, someone nearby is either trying to impress someone or simply drag racing.

Once the sounds settles, our heroes being to chart their next course of action...

[Muskrat]

Pilgrim looks around, trying to get his bearings. He is slightly disoriented from the teleportation spell--if he had walked or driven into the neighborhood, he would have a better sense of where he was than he does not just appearing in the middle of it. Once he has figured out where he is, he tells the others, "If the word on the street is correct, Esmeralda should be this way." He begins leading the others in that direction.

[veritas]

Jack nods and follows after Pilgrim, more quiet than usual. He glances about every so often, as if expecting something to jump out and eat the small group of heroes.

OOC

So the original version of this post had something jumping out and eating a small group of herpes. Sometimes I wonder if I should stop correcting my typing mistakes and just let fate make my posts more interesting

[Trogdor]

"You know this area best," Count Tenebrous replies. "And this kind of situation. I'll defer to you on where to go and how to act." Then he proceeds to follow Pilgrim, his cape flowing in an non-existent breeze.

[Eanwulf]

Pilgrim leads the group eastward, pausing to poke his head out from behind the corner of an abandoned Dentist's office. "Just what I thought," the young man murmurs softly to himself, "We're on Washington Street, near 8th." Though the way ahead seems to be clear enough of any forms of major traffic, plumes of thick white smoke still hang in the air headed eastward down 8th street. The sounds of squealing tiles fades away in time, replaced instead by the distant sounds of powerful motors still racing against one another.

Map

You teleported to the Blue 'X' and Esmeralda is rumored to be holed up up top at the Orange 'X'.

[Muskrat]

With growing confidence about where they are going, Pilgrim leads the others towards Esmeralda's hideout. "So, how do we want to approach her once we get there?" he asks. "I'm not sure how receptive she'll be to visitors. And she may still have a few of her gang members around her for security. We have to give her some reason to want to talk to us. I guess we can just tell her or her guards that we might be able to help her with some problems."

[Trogdor]

"That seems like a good approach," Count Tenebrous replies. "I have some non-lethal ways to deal with her guards if they become difficult. But I'd prefer not to use them. It would be far better if they let us in to see her. "Perhaps you could tell them that we come under a flag of truce. Would she likely recognize the sanctity of such an approach?"

[veritas]

Jack adds in, "I don't know the woman personally, but it seems like her gang is actually trying to help, more or less. As such, she'd likely be willing to at least hear what we have to say, if only to hear us 'grovel' before her greatness. By all accounts, she is quite vain. If we appeal to that sense of vanity, it may give us an edge."

[Muskrat]

"It might help if we tell her we come under a flag of truce," says Pilgrim. "If she wants to style herself one of the good guys, she would probably feel the need to respect it." He thinks about Jack's words and says, "The Lord considers vanity a sin. Even for a good cause, I don't think I can encourage that in someone. I would only be helping them down the path to perdition, when the Lord wants me to help them find a better path."

[Trogdor]

"If we're going to come under a flag of truce," Count Tenebrous says, "then we ought to let them see us coming. It does us no good to claim we're trying to talk and then sneak up on them. It might be a little more dangerous. But it's better diplomacy." He smiles and adds, "I could whip up a white flag if you think that would help."