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Post by Lysandor on Jan 29, 2009 13:57:47 GMT -6
Lysandor relaxes as Thane's attention is drawn from Pascha. He didn't want to stand against Thane, but neither did he want the Rachet, in his anger, to destroy the only person with any idea of what's going on. His head cocks to one side as he, too hears the chime. He stays with Pascha, just in case she should try to run, watching Thane while keeping the Demonling in his line of sight.
"It sounds similar to the orbs the Palace Guard carries with them," he replies, and turns a sharp look at Pascha. "Interesting that something of that value should be in your possession, old friend... And more so, that it is still in your possession..."
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Post by Thane on Feb 1, 2009 13:30:56 GMT -6
Thane stretches his hand over the little mound. The black chain comes to life as it uncoils from his arm and its linked tentacle sinks into the piled sand. The orb emerges from the soil cradled in the chains tines and links as it is drawn up to Thane's eye level for all to see. He leans in like it is whispering to him as his eyes sour and burn with what he hears. It looks as if a jibe against him was what the little glass orb whispers into his fuzzy ears.
"Traitors, spies and treachery..." Thane says as if the wind had been socked out of his mighty gut. The coils of Malice place the orb in the hound's thick claws and resettle about him in it's prior resting position.
The might of his roar has redound him as his anger has reached it's peak. "WHERE DID YOU GET THIS AND WHO IS PAYING YOU TO CLAIM IT?" He says as he storms across the sands, orb before him to stick it in Pascha's face as she sits on the desert floor. "WHO?" He repeats now salivating with each breath, growling menacingly as his thick black hair bristles off his neck like a spiny porcupine.
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Post by Narrator on Feb 11, 2009 17:08:41 GMT -6
Pascha knows she is cornered. She shrinks from Thane not to get spit on.
"I did not steal it, as you put it, nor have I any buyers... Though I know powerful demons are seeking it. That is why I have sought the solitude of the desert. I did not have time to return it, nor did I feel the they, at the palace, would believe me anyway. Besides I would not be able to sell it even if I tried, that thing is like a curse. Even the seedy people would rather not have it due to the implications... or be caught dead with it to be slapped with the collar of treason."
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Post by Lysandor on Feb 19, 2009 14:36:29 GMT -6
Lysandor puts a hand on Thane's shoulder. "She is speaking the truth..." He looks to Pascha. "Old friend... where did you get that orb? Knowing the implications, you kept it - why?"
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Post by Narrator on Feb 20, 2009 12:27:49 GMT -6
The little Demonling shrinks away from the Elite as she looks exasperated. "It is complicated... My former assistant brought it to me. Though I did not know what it was right away, I knew it was trouble. When I caught him trying to sell it as his part of the guild dues I understood right there that it was going to be the end of me. I knoodled him right there wher he stood, grabbed it and fled as fast as I could. When I heard that Scalloah was being hunted by the guild enforcer, that is when I made way for the deserts. It was only a matter of time that they would trace him back to me... They do not take 'no' for an answer, Lysie, and you know what they do to squealers. I had to get away, more of an instinct than smarts driving me to save my neck you know... I'm glad you are here to take it away now... I guess that I turned out the lucky one in the end. Only you would believe me and I thank my lucky stars for our chance meeting... still I doubt your snappy friend here will be so likely to let me off the hook."
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Post by Thane on Feb 21, 2009 11:21:58 GMT -6
Thane still seethes as Lysandor tries to calm him. "Fortunately for you I have absolute trust in Lysandor's word. You are not clear of this by any means, only now shall the truth be your advocate and save you from certain doom." Thane growls as he stands back to look Lysandor in the eye.
"That is just perfect..." Thane snorts in his disapproval of it all and the great hound begins to pace a circle around Pascha.
"Can you tell me more of what is after her? It would be good to know what could be following us so we may be better prepared to deal with them before they can interfere and/or jeopardize our own mission."
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Post by Lysandor on Feb 26, 2009 21:20:24 GMT -6
Lysandor frowns slightly as he hears Pascha's story and his sterling eyes scan the horizon.
"I highly doubt just the Guild's enforcers are after her," he replies at length. "Whoever lost this orb will want it back, at any cost." He turns his attention back in the camp. "And they will not want any knowing they have lost it. As for the Guild's enforcers... The Guild only hires the best, and many of them are former Elite who have been expelled from our ranks for some crime or another." He pauses, brows furrowing a little, and glances at Pascha. "Do you know who has been sent after you? Luck has been on our side thus far, perhaps it will have persuaded the Guild to send enforcers who still have respect for me."
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Post by Narrator on Mar 1, 2009 13:20:06 GMT -6
Pascha sits uncomfortably in the sands. She sits up to rest her head on her knees as she replies with a deep sigh of frustration.
"I do not know the name, only the reputation. A devil with blood red skin, coal black hair. His horns grandly twisted, sharper and thicker than any beasties in the outlands. Savagely blood thirsty and a temper that would make a volcano look tepid. When I heard rumor what is after me, I bolted to the only safe place I could imagine, here. Sound familiar to either of you?"
She says huddled into herself as she sits as still as she can in the cooling sands.
"Nothing but trouble..." she mutter to herself.
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Post by Thane on Mar 6, 2009 11:10:14 GMT -6
Thane continues his pacing as he struggles to calm down. "Respect or no... they must not be allowed to interfere." The hound grumbles in anger.
"I simply do not know who may be tracking this demoness, rest assured they must give chase. We shall see just how determined this hunter can be because we have merely a few days to achieve our mission. Should they plan to engage us for the orb... they will have to out distance us and be prepared for one helluva run." He says looking to the south sky. His fist clenches about the orb making the little glass ball almost disappear in his furry mitt as he sneers. "Certainly the proper motivation to double our efforts, wouldn't you say master Lysandor?"
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Post by Lysandor on Mar 12, 2009 19:02:39 GMT -6
Lysandor nods thoughtfully, a brief, small smile on his face. "Though I do not think we needed the motivation in light of... everything else." He turns to Pascha, thinking on what she said about her pursuer. "I do not believe I have heard of this demon, though his description is familiar. I had hoped that the Guild would have sent someone that I could convince or at the very least persuade to leaving their chase, and giving us that much more time. I know quite a few who are still indebted to me."
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Post by Thane on Mar 16, 2009 12:59:51 GMT -6
"Blessed complications. Let us hope that is the case master Lysandor."
The orb disappears into one of Thane's belt pouches, he nods a bit and snorts his disapproval of this situation before returning to the wagon. He scoops up the meteor and sits it on a flat bit of limestone jutting out of the sands with mild annoyance in his flaming eyes.
"We both know that we can't afford to be delayed. Let us hope for such a stroke of luck." Thane then withdraws his sword and in one fluid stroke brings it down onto the meteor cleanly slicing the unrefined metal in two. The uneven halves roll over and fall onto the sands on their rounded butts and rest unmoving. The black Scimitar sunken into the limestone to its base from the blow. Thane looks more relieved from his act of aggression relief and the hound just stands there staring at the blade driven into the stone. He becomes very still and very quiet lost in his own thoughts.
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Post by Narrator on Mar 16, 2009 13:10:53 GMT -6
Pasha looks up to Lysandor and extends her paw for him to help her off the sands.
"By the flames of the Styx Lysie, how do we always get mixed up in these messes? I don't know who has it worse, me with my rotten luck or you with your new saddle of service and a prop whip crazy driver." She says with a sly smirk nodding to Thane.
She frowns a bit, "I'm sorry I tried to hide the orb from you. A gal just don't know who to trust anymore, can you forgive an old friend for looking out for her own neck?"
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Post by Lysandor on Mar 30, 2009 12:28:28 GMT -6
Lysandor takes Pascha's hand to help her up, a slight frown appearing on his face for a moment.
"We have had luck on our side this far, Master Thane, let us hope that it continues to give us its favors," he replies, though he doesn't sound wholly convinced. When he continues, it's directed toward the Demonling. "You only did as you knew how. Though I would appreciate it if next time you would remember that though I serve our Queen as an Elite, I was not always the one who upholded the law."
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Post by Narrator on Mar 31, 2009 9:47:39 GMT -6
Pascha stands with Lysandor's help and she dusts off her skirts. "All right Lysie, I'll remember that." She says with a wink and a claw beside her nose.
The silent night cools swiftly as the Scrabbarnewts and the camels cuddle together for warmth. Pascha goes to her wagon and sets up her bunk. She nods to Lysandor and smiles to him. "I am about to make some desert blossom tea before bed, it calms the nerves and aids with sleep... shall I boil enough water for you two as well?"
The cool night air brings a cornucopia of scents to the camp most are natural but some are not. This is confusing to the elite Rachet and he drinks in the scents as he stands silently nose in the wind.
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Post by Thane on Mar 31, 2009 10:10:40 GMT -6
The hound stares off into the horizon as his eyes drink in the pale sands of the night. his nose working franticly trying to decipher the myriad of scents the shifting wind brings from the east. He begins to snort from sniffing so hard so he can clear his olfactory to sniff hard at the winds again.
"What... in the..." He grunts as he turns to look at Lysandor with a look of mass confusion distorting his doggy face. His red eyes squint questioningly and his ears lay back in a cautionary position.
"Do you smell that? I smell burnt metal..." He sniffs harder in the air.
"Some sort of sulphate and... swamp bog?!? In the middle of the desert?" He says with a shrug looking back to the others again with the look of confusion.
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Post by Narrator on Mar 31, 2009 10:18:10 GMT -6
A sharp snap rings softly through the night air. Soon followed by another and then another. The sound is distinct though faint way off in the distance. Soon the puzzling scent Thane had smelled wafts thicker and it becomes clear to everyone in the camp, faint but almost stinging to the olfactory with its metallic tinge.
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Post by Thane on Apr 20, 2009 12:59:08 GMT -6
Thane grabs his sword and shatters the limestone stone as he releases the blade from its grip. "By the flames of the Styx... What is that?" Thane growls. His nose in the air again, he begins to follow the streaming scent in the air.
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Post by Lysandor on Apr 29, 2009 15:45:14 GMT -6
Lysandor looks around, trying to find the source of the smell and the sound. He frowns to himself as he looks to Thane.
"Can you find the source?" he asks.
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Post by Thane on May 12, 2009 22:19:53 GMT -6
Thane's head snaps to Lysandor as he nearly barks his reply "Aye!" Thane says as he points off toward the horizon. "Roughly a few clicks east by north east by the sound of it. Tracking the scent will be child's play. Knowing what to do when we get there is another matter entirely, when we know more of what awaits us in the darkness."
He says eager to take flight after the odd scent on the air.
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Post by Lysandor on Jun 4, 2009 23:33:30 GMT -6
Lysandor looks in the direction the Rachet indicated. He weighs the importance of their mission against the importance of investigating the matter.
"Master Thane, I do not believe in fate," he says finally, "but I do believe in coincidence. Let's go."
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