LOF: Awakenings

[Morgeruat]

Yevaud

Yevaud nodded suitably chastised for his prior actions. Whatever had taken hold of his mind had passed. His physical wounds were on the mend, though there would always be battle scars, the mental ones and the people he'd had to leave behind or watched die. An elf with a wolf would likely not raise too many questions, as most of the people in this burg would see race first and then only later wonder about profession. Yevaud nodded silently, brooding and surveying for any signs of danger, from within and outside the town, the last thing he wanted was to be run out of town by a mob of yokels, or worse. His blade hung easily on his side, a simple coil of string tied across it to prevent it being drawn easily, a custom he'd heard many human communities advocated to prevent needless bloodshed, a curiosity that humans felt it necessary, but he had prepared it just in case. A number of spells were in mind in case the situation warranted it, far more dangerous he thought than a sharpened steel edge.

[Larry_OHF]

Simon Locke

Simon was indeed shaken by his older brother's unease at the strangeness of their sick guest. This was the man that had arrived unconscious to their home only so recently, along with another...a younger man who had since disappeared and left this fellow to his fate here in Locke Manor. As Edward had mentioned, it was not their place to draw quick judgement on a guest who was in need of immediate care. Judgements come only after learning facts and taking consideration of what has been learned. Edward had tried to do just that, sensing that the time had come to begin an investigation as to who this gentleman was, how he had arrived inside the manor, and what his intentions were now that he was here. Edward had left that meeting seemingly shaken with curiosity, or concern. Now, it was Simon's turn to make sense of this matter. He neared the door and rapped on the wood, calling the guest from within.

"Excuse me sir, may I pass?" he called from outside the door, waiting for an answer from within.

Before the door had even opened, Simon knew, thanks to his brother, that this would be a very interesting discussion.

[ 02-11-2007, 11:13 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Kazilan]

Pandaros

Pandaros strode out from the gate, confidence in his step and determination in his gaze. Both melted away at the sight of the newcomers. He halted and turned to Xaver.

"You don't suppose this group has been causing all the trouble and is now descending on the town to unleash hell?" Pandaros squinted to see the group in better detail. "They don't look too aggressive, except that there is a wolf with them. I suggest we make ready our weapons but hold the attack until they've had a chance to explain themselves."

Pandaros drew his bow and set an arrow to it without drawing the string back. His memory flashed back to the pitiful state of the town guard. If this was an attack, Lockesville was in trouble. The scout began considering escape routes as he took a few paces back from the dwarf. "You guard the front, I'll, uh, watch the rear."

[Larry_OHF]

Anarrima

"Wait!" Ana stopped suddenly and thrust her arm out to stop the others from moving past. Just behind the dwarf, Anarrima's keen elven eyes saw a human male come from the gate as well and when he saw Ana and her team from the distance, he had prepared an arrow and taken a defensive step back while the dwarf seemed to still be studying them and had not yet made up his mind what he perceived. All the same, a spooked human was never any good.

Ana did not know what human signals were supposed to be used in a situation like this to represent themselves as friendly. She quickly whispered back to Vincent.

"They are suspicious of us! What are we supposed to do"?

[ 02-13-2007, 11:51 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[TAOWolf]

Kaylisa TAOWolf
She quietly sits next to Anarrima, and perks her ears forward at the dwarf and human. Nudging Ana's hand, she makes a gesture with her paw, hoping she gets the idea to raise her hand palm forward in greeting. She also puts a paw close to her staff,..... just in case..

Narrowing her eyes, she watches the two closely, looking for the slightest hostile movement. She would prefer not to use any magic whatsoever, and no druid spells. She is not healed completely, and knows she will not be, until she can do something about her missing human shadow, and the blackness of shadow that is slowly surrounding her soul...

[Larry_OHF]

Anarrima

Ana was surprisingly attuned to Tao's unspoken signals (must be a girl thing...) and only briefly hesitated because what she was about to do seemed to her like it would appear that she were about to cast a mage spell with her hand, but trusting Tao's opinion was a good thing to consider since she knew that Tao probably understood them as much as Vincent did...and so deciding to not wait on Vincent to reply, she raised her hand in a open-palm forward gesture.

OOC>>>Vincent, you can take initiative to make the party safe in your own manner if you feel that Ana is not doing something correct.

[ZFR]

Xaver

Xaver has been thinking about his new companions. Sever's disappearance confirmed his worst suspicions. That person was a simple crook. Xaver had met many of his type before. The loudest ones when it came to making promises were the first to run away when the work had to be done. He was sure Sever would reappear again when the time to collect the reward came.
"Good riddance" he thought. "I did prefer it to have him close to be able to keep an eye on him, but this is just as well."

His thoughts were interrupted by Pandaros's remark and he looked at the group he was pointing to. One of them at least seemed to be an elf, but what caught the dwarf's eye first was the wolf by their side.
The three of them seemed to notice them and slowly the wolf and his companion raised their hands. The gesture seemed a peaceful one but Xaver has travelled around enough to know that seemingly peaceful gestures could mean the exact opposite. What he saw now could be a greeting but could just as well mean "halt and go no further." He did not want to take chances.

"Alright, listen" he turned to Pandaros. "I don't know what those three are up to. They could be simple travellers, merchants or gods know what, but under these circumstances it would be wise to assume the worst. Could you fire an arrow and have it land some 10 feet before them? Just make sure you don't hurt them now. I'll go up and speak with them. They don't seem humans but hopefully they speak common. Now, the moment you see any of them making any threatening move, don't be afraid to shoot. Aim for the lady next to the wolf first, I'll go for the other two."

He took out his axe and proceeding slowly up the hill shouted out. "Listen the three of you. I don't usually greet strangers in this manner, but I'm sent by the rulers of this town and we are to look for whatever has been haunting the forest. Now, I would ask you to take out any weapons you might possess and place them on the ground. It is not my intention to hurt you, I just wish to talk. My companion behind me is armed and will respond accordingly should you make any threat. So put down your weapons, come forward and identify yourself. I just want to speak for a moment, and if you turn out all right, you can be on your way."

[Cyril Darkcloud]

Locke Manor – The Guest Wing

Joseph

He smiles as his visitor enters the room. “You must be Simon,” he remarks. “Your brother had mentioned that he would be asking you come and have a word with me.” Despite his weakness, a weakness which is only slightly evident in his bearing, there is an easy gracefulness about his movements as he sets aside the book he had been reading and indicates a chair next to his own. Unlike the Lockes, he is no stranger to such awkward and difficult moments as these and so it is he, the stranger, who assumes the responsibility of making the owner of the house comfortable. “Please allow me,” his tone is marked by the same easy grace as his gestures, “to extend to you the same word of thanks that I gave to your brother earlier this morning. That I would likely be dead if not for your hospitality is not lost on me.” He pauses and after the pause he smiles – a warm and engaging smile. “Which, of course, begs the question of just how I came to arrive within the walls of this house and for what purpose.” Once more he pauses. “Perhaps your brother has already apprised you of our conversation of this morning. Then again, perhaps he has not. Edward is a cautious man. And rather on the private side. And, therefore, perhaps, likely to prefer you to form your own impressions of me before disclosing too much of his own.” He notes the surprise on Simon’s face. “Please do not let my words trouble you. People are not so difficult to read should one know what signs to seek out and I am one who has spent his life learning how to perceive and read such signs.” Again he pauses. “But I am sure,” he says simply, “that you have questions of your own to put to me. Where then shall we begin?”

[TAOWolf]

Kaylisa TAOWolf

She can't help herself.. She has always loved dwarves, and she senses that this one is good for his word. She can sense that deep down he is true to his self. Her pricked-forward ears catch the soft conversation between the dwarf and the human with the bow.

She thinks to herself, "Ah.. haunting? That is the sense I am picking up in the forest.." Looking at her companions, she lays down next to Ana, putting her head between her paws. She will let them reply to the dwarf.

She woofs softly once in the direction of the dwarf, and her tail wags once, slowly. She then raises her head, and looks at Vincent, then shifts her eyes back to the dwarf and waits....

[ 02-16-2007, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[Larry_OHF]

Simon Locke

Simon took the offered seat as he heard this man's introduction that seemed well articulated and maybe hinging a bit on showing off.

"Indeed, my brother has mentioned that I should not take you at face value and to expect something of a unique experience during our conversation. He has told me that I should call you Joseph. While he makes most of the executive decisions in our town, I find myself comfortably serving as judge of civil disputes and crimal cases, for what it is worth to you.

But enough about us. I am expecting to find that you and your missing friend that arrived with you mean us no real harm and that fact is substantiated by the manner of your arrival. You came to us incapacitated, and your friend was not much better off. He has since fled, leaving you here to explain the whole thing. I am pretty sure that I can safely assume that you have come to our home in the manner of magical means that we do not understand, for magic is not practiced here like in the big cities. For the purpose of coming here I assume that you have fled from some horror, or maybe you are escapees from a jail somewhere...but what I am most interested in knowing is whether the villany or justice that you escaped from might still be trying to find you. In other words, Joseph, is your stay here a danger to my town?"

It was Simon's wish to discover if preparations needed to be made to protect the citizens from some impending danger that would at any time be knocking down the walls of the town in search of its prey, or if these were fugitives, and if so were they in need of protecting due to a false accusation or were they indeed criminals that needed to be taken into custody.

Simon kept into consideration that the younger fellow that had fled might still turn up somewhere nearby and did not want to count him out as gone just yet.

[ 02-16-2007, 06:15 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]