DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games HWD: The Heartwood HWD: Introduction

Cesare - end of the alley with Kadri & others?

He takes it, turns it over in his hands as he examines it carefully - and then hands it back.

"If I were you I'd keep it out of sight now. Might have been what those men were after."

He takes a good look around, just to see if anyone seemed interested in what they were doing.

<Comfrey>

She bowed her head and put her hand gently on his cheek. “May your dance be a gentle one,” was all she said. The other thoughts, if she were faster, more skilled, if… if… stayed within as was proper. Sometimes the last resort was the only one. And he had been dead when they were still at a distance from the looks of him. Heedless of the blood she knelt on the cobblestones near him.

Hearing Mikal’s voice she shook her head. “I do not know the procedures here for the shell once the life has left if twere rudely done. Slashed and stabbed from what I see.”

She looked up and to the others, moving back slightly to reveal an average sized man with auburn hair. She spared a smile for Camelia and her concern in staying so close and a nod for Conrad.

Her glance to the one who called her there included the briefest of nods she would speak, but the distance seemed a bit too far. Perhaps later. Her eyes widened slightly at the groupings. It was amazing how much could happen in a short time. A life could be lost...

Conrad (At the body)

He bowed his head and said a short prayer for the man before he offered his hand to help Comfrey to her feet.

"We must find the Guard to report this." he said. "Then I will accompany you both to the Hospice."

(OOC - OK, as I see it, Cesare, Kadri, and Daxia are further down the alley. Comfrey, Conrad, and Camelia are near the dead man. Darian has moved towards the inn. Celi and Mikal are not too far apart near the alley mouth.)

Mikal

He nodded to Lady Comfrey's announcement, replying loudly, so she could hear, "Best to report it to the guard. They will know the procedure." The man did not appear to be dressed in such a manner to suggest that Mikal would take an interest in his final arrangements. And he presumed the Squire would take it upon himself to do the reporting. Squires of Rames were like that.

He glances further down the alley, seeing a few of the others gathered together talking, but he can't hear them and nothing is threatening any longer.

Turning to Celi, standing nearby, Talia's reins in one hand he says. "Care to come with me to the inn?" He nods after the retreating Darian. "I'd like to get out of this damned wet."

Daxia
<with Kadri and Cesare>

Returning her sword to the scabbard at her side, she looked as if she was going to say something more, but then simply shrugged. She noted the Lady's nod, and nodded slightly in return. Glancing to where Fern waited patiently, Daxia said to her companions, "We should seek shelter."

Camelia, with Comfrey and anyone else at the body

Camelia fell into place at the opposite side of the man from Comfrey while she tried to tend to him. Or whatever it was she would be able to do for him. He looked in a bad way and wasn't moving. She felt very helpless and all she could do was take the man's hand in hers.

Blood didn't scare her. She didn't know why, it just was.

When Comfrey pronounced the man dead Camelia felt a profound sadness for him. She wished she could have done something, anything to help him. She realized that even holding his hand like she was meant nothing, he never felt it. He never knew that anyone was trying to help him in his final moments.

Camelia just stared at the man whose hand she held, refusing to let go. Unable to let go.

The Heartwood
Between Dusk and Dawn, the Town of Cragside
Marketday
The Twenty-Fourth Day of the Month of Raven, 2623

After the last harsh thunderclap he rain seemed to lessen a bit, as if it took its cue from the funereal scene below. Thee driving cold became just a heavy shower, still coming down in sheets but without the hint of fierceness. Perhaps even a few stars peek out through the west bound storm clouds.

A breath, a long set of heartbeats, and the night swallows the brigands, even their footsteps swallows by the rain.

Cesare, overlooking the tragic scene, eyes sharp, watched the threat vanish. to the point that he is fairly assured that the brigands would not reappear soon.

Stepping back from the alley and the closest shelter appears to be the rambling set of buildings marked by the big shield like sign, emblazoned with two proud animalistic heads. With the withdrawal of the thunder what might be conversation drifts out, that and slivers of flickering yellow light can be seen through the cracks of the shutters.

Behind them, the two other big taverns exhibit the same ... the most noise comes form the one on the west side of the street; the eastern tavern is definitely more formal.

All in all the little group seems to be fragmenting. Just a bit. Though the nearest place out of the weather, to where there must be a warm fire, hot food and a place to rest is the one noted by both Darian and Mikal.

That little bit farther ahead, it is Darian who can finally resolve the closest tavern's sign; the two critters upon it are a Hart and Horse.

She is also the first to see the two figures slog down the main street, beneath heavy cloaks, hoods up. They too seem as wary as she and Longtooth as they approach, halting when they see just how big a group they have stumbled across.

"Night watch ..."

One of them grumbles, their posture becoming a mite defensive.

Closest of to the Town Guard, of course, are Darian and Mikal. Next is the Squire and Celi ... with Cesare but a few paces away with Kadri and Daxia. Leaving Comfrey and Camelia keeping the dead man his final company.

"Just what are you folks doing out here

"... after sunset

"... in the bloody rain?"

Darian w/the Night Watch and Mikal

She peers up at the sign, now that she can finally see it clearly in the continuing rain. Yes, this was the place the innkeep had told Mikal about. She is only a couple steps closer to the door and the promise of dry warmth when two more catch her eye.

Walking out in the open like they are, they do not seem to be the same sort that just ran. Their words confirm that.

"Seeking shelter," she answers simply.

Kadri, at the Alleyway, with Daxia and Cesare:

She looks up briefly and nods.

"Yes. Lets get out of this accursed rain.

Cesare with Daxia and Kadri, starting to head for the inn

He nods and smiles to both his companions from the previous night.

"Yes, a dry warm inn is certainly calling, especially as rooms may be scarce tonight."

He nods back down the alley towards the others.

"Let's find the inn we were recommended."

The town guard often have no love for his kind and so he inserts himself between Kadri and Daxia, leaving them more in a position to respond should they be challenged.

(Camelia, with Comfrey- still in alley with dead man)

The rain still coming down. And still coming down. It was like there were only two seasons in this part of the world, so far from her own. Rainy, and Monsoon. She longed for the simple aphorism that residents of Trundle on the Hill were wont to share with visitors- 'If you don't like the weather, just wait a bit, it'll change.' It never seemed to change here, not this time of year anyway.

Camelia held the man's hand, staring at his face and wondering who he was. She couldn't shake the weight that came with the understanding that all of this seemed so senseless. What could he have done or known that required so many brigands to hurt him so? Who was he? Did he have a family? Was there a wife and children peering out into the rain and dark wondering when their loved one was coming home?

No answers came to her, as she huddled tighter against the chill, feeling the warmth leave the man's hand, while the rain fell in a steady beating rhythm across her hunched over back.

"I wish we could have done something more... Sooner... A cruel twist of fate, help so close, and yet he would never know. Not close enough."

<Comfrey>

She nodded at Camelia as she stood unaided, hopefully having indicated to Conrad where his held was needed. After something like this, unless needed, contact was something she avoided. He moved off ahead.

"Camelia, fate is, but humans were the ones who did it. That is all we may be. Come, we must see to what we can. His tending is important, but so is yours." She did not forget the near frantic wolfing of food the other night. Authorities and the like must be informed from the sounds of it. But she was content that Squire Conrad would know the way of it.

She lifted her head at the sound of other voices but couldn't fully make out who or what was going on.

(Camelia with Comfrey, in alley with dead man)

"We can not leave him, not here... not like this," she replied, with her head craned just enough to see Comfrey standing over her and the body from beneath the hood of her cloak.

Kadri with Daxia and Cesare , starting to head for the inn

"This way. I know the way to this place well. After all. I stay there."

She smiles slightly.


"Not the largest of rooms, but then again I am not the largest of people, so it works."

Celi

Celi felt like a drowned rat, and the ordinary furze she was now wearing had little of the water-shedding capabilities of her former attire, the unfortunately-chosen buckskins. Even her sturdy boots squelched when she walked; the only positive thing she could say, was that the rain had damped some of the unfortunate smells of this place.

Sheer happenstance had paired her beside Mikal, who seemed to handle the soaking with remarkable aplomb. She quietly drew on his example, and suffered in silence. She was regretting leaving the comparative pleasantry of the stable to rejoin the group. She had hoped to somehow develop a level of ease with *someone* before hitting the road on the morrow. She was feeling the initial pangs of loneliness, which she knew would just get worse as her alone time attenuated.

She regarded the guardsmen with a critical eye, their presence eliciting one single though from her as she nodded vigorously to Mikal's suggestion ...

Those are really nice cloaks.

Mikal - with Town Watch, Darian, and Celi

As soon as he asks Celi if she wants to come to the inn, a pair of watchmen appear at the end of the street and quickly approach. Circumstances have them reach Darian first, but he leads Talia up the street a short distance until he can speak with them as well.

He nods to Darian's reply to their question, and then adds answers to the rest of it.

"Gate guards let us in. We were heading for the inn when we saw a man being accosted in that alley." He points back over his shoulder to where the rest of the group stands.

"They thought to add us to their list of victims." He adds, not bothering with the obvious answer that they did not succeed at that goal.

He then shrugs. "Man's dead. T'was too late to save him."

"Say, friend, might we continue this indoors? There's a Squire of Rames and a Lady of Attera there near the dead man. I am sure they can tell you whatever you need for your report, but I'd dearly like to get Talia stabled and out of this." He glances upwards at the still falling rain.

<Comfrey to Camelia>



"Go, inside with the others," she urged quietly. "You've not been well and should get dry and warm as soon as possible. I will stay with him until someone comes for him." She spoke with a gentle firmness. "My Lady and I can see to him."

Daxia
<with Kadri and Cesare, heading towards Inn>

She nodded, and pulled her cloak more firmly around herself; not just for warmth and to ward off the rain, but to keep her weapon concealed. Not everyone was as nonchalant as her two companions when seeing a woman with a sword. "Even a spot in the loft, as Katshka said, would suit."

Though her first destination was Fern, it appeared that there was already a group of people in front of the building where the mare patiently waited, and which appeared to be their destination.

(Camelia, with Comfrey in the alley with dead man)

Gently Camelia placed the man's hand across his belly and let slip her own from his with a gentleness born out of respect for the passing of life. She had no way to know whether this man was of honorable stock or not, but that didn't really matter. treating the dead with reverence was simply... the right thing to do.

"I am fine," she stated with some firmness, perhaps the first such gesture from the young woman. She stood and her height was a little more than average although she was rather thin of build and body.

"And I owe that to you... and that young child who dragged me inside at Plainsend. And... I know you're concern for me is true, for that I am grateful. But the Squire, he will bring back the watch or the Guard of this town. I am cold, for certain, but I have a reasonable cloak and that is more than I had for days, and I endured that. It would be... improper for me to leave you here alone... The Squire left only knowing that we were in each other's company. It would worry him greatly to know you were in an alley alone."

Camelia had no idea what Squire Conrad might think about anything, let alone this situation. But she said it all the same. She knew she would worry if she had left the healer alone, and she would be heartily concerned if she were left by herself in such a place on a night like this.

<Comfrey, with Camelia in the alley with dead man>

Comfrey looked at her with amazement. "When the Lady is with me, I am never alone. It would be... improper as you say for you to grow wearier due to staying out when there is no need. But it is your choice." Inwardly she smiled at the tone she heard from Camelia. She also planned a nasty tasting tea should the young woman grow ill from this.

She shrugged, "The Squire as you say may think what he likes of my propriety, but I am the one to guard that. Not him or any other." Comfrey chuckled softly, "Though I doubt watch will be needed for long. It would not surprise me to see quick speed for he can be rather firm in his requests."

Conrad

The tall lean Squire waved toward the town watch, motioning for them to come along and turned back to the mouth of the alley so that he could keep an eye on his two charges.

"The town watch approaches. We will settle this quickly and get ourselves out of the rain to dry. Comfrey, do you think the hospice will have a place for Cameila or should I engage a room in the inn for her?" he asked, awaiting the arrival of the watch.

(Camelia, with Comfrey in alley with dead man)

"He is at that," Camelia agreed with regard to Squire Conrad Shannon. Camelia didn't forget things, especially names. It was a way of life at the Palce. Forgetting something could cost you dearly, or cost someone else who was depending on you to see and hear... everything.

She looked back down at the man, trying to gauge his clothing, rain and blood soaked as it was, and then to Comfrey. She even looked about him and the immediate surroundings to see what else might have been left behind, or dropped... anything to appease her troubled mind about who the man might be, or who might be worried about him right now.

"Who do you think he was, to be out here, this late and in this weather?"

And then the Squire himself was back at the Alley entrance and speaking at Comfrey from a distance, in the rainfall.

<Comfrey (still in the rain!) with Camelia, Conrad and Corpse>

"We'll all go to the tavern here," she said firmly in response to Conrad's question. "The hospice will wait until tomorrow for we've been a whole day in the rain. Warmth, shelter, a fire and food right here is best for everyone."

She looked to Camelia and her face grew briefly troubled before serentiy dropped over it like fog over unfamiliar terrain. "I don't know. He doesn't appear to have been in their hands long, at least not from what I've seen. His wounds seem that of battle and fight. But I don't know. Maybe the Watch or others will be able to tell that."

Celi

Celi abruptly realized, as Mikal went to deal with the guard, that in this driving rain and the gloom, there was no way he could hear her head rattle, no matter how vigorously she nodded.

So when he finished his word with the guard, she approached, adjusted her scarf so her face was no longer covered, and touched his arm diffidently. "Yes, good sir." White teeth flashed in a brief grin. "I would very much like to come in out of the rain."

Mikal - with Watch, Celi, and Darian near the inn

He hears Conrad calling the guard to come see to the man in the street and he waits to see if they will leave, or if they need more of him.

In the meantime, the young girl moves up and touches him on the arm. He glances down at her as she addresses him.

Smiling back at her, he chuckles. "Careful how freely you pass out compliments like good sir. You don't know me yet."

He nods ahead to where Darian waits near the inn entrance. "Go ahead and get out of the rain with Darian. I'll see if the Watch needs me, then I have to take care of Talia, so I'll be there in a bit."