RP-Baldrick Tells Ga'Elian of a Demon Attack
It's Ceriday, Callem 27 11:10:52 1018. The full moon is up. The tide is low and rising. Everything is pale grey, veiled by mist. It's warm, humid, and still.
A10: Temple District
On this late summer morning, Ga'Elian is riding his griffon at a walking pace through the Temple District. He is carrying under his left arm a wooden box.
Mornings in the temple district are usually busy ones. Many are out doing their normal routines and chores. Lots of tending the faithful and the temples. For the Altheans, that means lots of baking!
Most of that is just getting done, so the bread can be taken out to the square and around the city to the hungry. There's a lot of people in the city, and way too many don't get enough to eat.
Kira walks out of the temple carrying a very large basket filled with loaves. It's big and bulky, but at least bread isn't heavy.
Baldrick stiffles a yawn as he walks out of a side door in the Tarien temple, one of the many ways to get in and out for its members. Straightening his hat he wanders through the square until he finds Ga'Elian "Anything good in the box? Bow oil perhaps?" he says with a smirk although his gaze does veer to the basket of bread Kira is carrying.
Ga'Elian pulls up on the reins, bringing his companion to a stop. He smiles a greeting to Baldrick and replies, "Not today. It containeth some writings that I have borrowed to examine." The griffon sniffs as the smell of horseflesh mingles with the scent of freshly baked bread and the other aromas of the city.
"Good morning," Kira calls out to no one in particular (or maybe everyone!) with a smile almost as big as her basket. She does stop for a second to set down her big bread-carrier. This gives her both hands to pull at her frayed-looking rough under-robe. Some weave unravels from it, then more, and more until she has a decent-sized piece of twine. She weaves it through the side of the basket to give it improvised straps. Now she picks it back up and slips her arms through. Basket backpack! Now she can better see where she's going, and has both hands free.
Baldrick nods to Ga but then holds up a finger as he wanders over to Kira "Couldn't spare some bread if I were to donate to the church by chance?" he says holding up a gold piece.
A hungry person! And who wants to donate! That's a double-win for Kira and she nods to Balrick. "Of course I can. There's plenty!" She walks his way, pulling a loaf off the top. "The temple welcomes others being generous. Donations aren't required, but we can use them to help even more people."
Ga'Elian dismounts and tags along, too, toward Kira. "That smelleth good, indeed. Fain would I repeat Master Baldrick's arrangement." He extracts a coin from somewhere in his clothes.
Baldrick gladly takes the bread and tips his hat "May the luck of the Coyote be with you. Unless you already have a place to go may I suggest the Red Cobbles block in Goblin town. They have been hit particularly hard by demon activity due to the sewer service building there." he notes matter of fact.
Despite the warmth of this day, Ga'Elian relishes the soft loaf's oven-fresh warmth, and takes a moment to enjoy the aroma before biting off a bit. To Kira he says, "Thank you. This is fantastic." Then when Baldrick mentions recent demon activity, he perks right up and says, "Canst thou show me where this took place? For I am verily eager to observe any actual evidence of the fiends. Forsooth, 'tis demons that the papers in this box discuss."
Baldrick shrugs "Some tracks and lingering auras but if you go looking for a squat brick building you will have found the place. Everything leads deep down into the sewer." he adds. Clearly he must have looked into it himself.
Ga'Elian says, "Very well. I shall. These incursions need to be ended once and for all."
Humming a jaunty tune under his breath, Aldean meanders down the path from the mountains, a journey-pack slung over his back along with a complex-looking bow.
Baldrick shrugs "I am morwe worried if I don't see signs of them. Means they are up to something else. I would just as soon send them back to where they came from and keep them there."
Ga'Elian replies, "Well, 'tis that, more or less, that I have in mind." As he talks, he sees Aldean return from the mountains. To him he says, "Hail, sir. Wast thing hunting successful?"
Aldean blinks only briefly at the address, but flashes an easy grin at both of them. "Not 'less I were huntin' quiet," he returns, mobile features showing no disappointment or anger. "Damned scarce the now. Fair winds to the both of ye."
Baldrick tips his hat to Aldean "Luck of the Coyote to you. I don't hunt much, just look in on things. If I saw anything dangerous I would be sure to call the cavalry." he notes with a grin.
Ga'Elian says, "Hm. Perhaps it was, after all. Thy bow looketh unusual. Wilt thou show it to me?"
"Aye." Aldean pulls the weapon off his shoulder and hands it over for examination. "Be ye lookin' to do some huntin' of yer own, then, mate?" The man's voice is a well-produced baritone with a burr to it, marred further by a sailor's brogue, and he watches intently. The bow itself is a composite with a strong pull, and the odd ripple of blue-white electricity across the recurve.
Baldrick grins "Well I will leave you two to comparing bows. I have to be off, good day!"
Ga'Elian handles the bow reverently, and "ooh"s as he draws the string slowly, guaging the pull. "It is a marvelous specimen. It shocketh the target, then?"
"Aye," Aldean watches as Ga'Elian handles the weapon, though he doesn't seem pressed. "Served me well, it has ... though I ain't pull it so often as all that. Mind, ye ain't huntin' deer with that."
Ga'Elian chuckles, "No. I see that. Well, ere thou camest along, Baldrick there had told me of some recent demonic incursion in the sewers of the goblin quarter. Knowest thou ought of it? I am ever striving to hone my skills toward destroying the foul fiends, and am studying their lore," (he pats the wooden box under his arm) "but an actual examination of their tracks may prove educational in other ways, plus I may be able to question witnesses and glean thereby yet more knowledge of the fiends, especially the specifics of their combat style."
From the black twist of a scowl Aldean's features take on, he most certainly does. "That rat be still around, aye?" It's not a question. "Be they demons o' hell, or servants of the void, mate?"
Ga'Elian shrugs. "He did not say which. Perhaps the remaining evidence will shed enough light to answer it. He did say to look for 'some tracks and lingering auras... by a squat brick building."
"Aye? In the gobber area?" Now Aldean looks intrigued. "Could be Asumit or might be that Voice bastard. Depends. Ye thinkin' o' chasin' it?"
Ga'Elian looks Aldean straight in the eye. "I had assumed that the fiends must be long gone by now; the tracks should indicate how much time shall have passed. If the unholy creatures are still around, then by all means I intend to give chase and do battle."
"Ain't likely they be gone, not 'less they be banished or chased off. Bastards hide where ye ain't think." Aldean holds out his hands to take the bow back, the scoel turning to a warning look. "An' they'll hit yer mind do they get a chance. Be ye goin, I'll go wit' ye. Takin' demons alone ain't smart," he warns.
Ga'Elian smiles. "I shall be glad of thy company. If, indeed, they are there still, let us make haste to dispatch them. Wilt thou lead the way?" ...and off they go.