Latest revision as of 04:23, 12 December 2016

Participants

• Elizabeth
• Fenris
• Galve
• Mal
• Shliek

Date

11/12/479

Log

The door swings open quietly, admitting the beings into a darkened hallway. A light glows from a room at the far end.

Galve follows quietly, looking around a little as he followed, examining the others.

Mal leans to the side, glancing inside the hallway before shrugging. He pushes himself off the wall and slips inside, following behind the talkative Fox. The Coyote glances at Galve, raising an eyebrow at the examination before looking back to the Fox, and the room ahead.

Elizabeth shrugs and walks in, arms still crossed. She gives everyone another look and twitches her muzzle. "Y'all aren't the talkactive sort, I gather? Gonna be pretty boring if I am the only one talking all...however long this will take."

Shliek the dimunitive reptile waits for the other beings to shuffle through the door before he quickly scurries in after. He stays near the wall as he cautiously proceeds down the hallway with the other contractors. He largely ignores the talking, keeping his attention on watching for danger from the environment or the others.

"It should not take long at all, Elizabeth," says a deep, fluid voice as the group turns the corner into a well furnished room, lit by a roaring fire and a few scattered lamps. A dark furred fox in a simply, but stylishly cut black coat, eerily similar to the fox outside, stands by the fireplace. "Only a moment of your time," he continues, turning to face the approaching group, "Thank you all for coming. I will keep this brief. I believe that you are aware of the incident with the fleshcrafter and its owner going missing in the last week or so?"

Galve raises an eyebrow. "Yes.. we are. At least I think so... hard to tell with so many people in heavy cloaks..." He says, putting down his hood and revealing his curled horns

"I talk. I just don't want to say the wrong thing to the wrong person," Mal murmurs to the Shark. "I'd prefer not to get on the bad side of...whoever it is hiring us."

The Coyote slips into the room, turning to eye the similar Fox as he slips his hands into his pockets. He nods, glancing to the other Freeswords. "I heard something of the sort," he says, agreeing with Galve as he looks over the Fox. "What of it?"

Elizabeth smirks. "Good to know, but if you are worried that every word you say might make somone mad, then your life must be pretty stressfull." She raises her eyebrows as the fox talks. "Hi there, Mister....Knowsofnames. But wait, the what now with the who what? First I hear of any of that sort."

Shliek finds a small table to climb on top of. He sits crosslegged with his hands folded in his lap, listening intently to the speaker, but shifting his eyes between each of the other beings, as if assessing each of their threat values.

"I can assure you, Mister Wright," the fox says, "You are unlikely to reveal anything to me that I do not already know." He considers Elizabeth. "It was not a very exciting abduction," he confesses, "Nevertheless, the coyote and mole who owned the machine kept the thing regulated. I believe it has fallen into the hands of the Technologists. Which I honestly find rather more irksome than when thar old coyote had it. We have reason to believe that both they and their machine are being held in a nearby warehouse."

Galve nods. "If so... what do we need to do?" He asks the onvbvious question.

Mal sighs and shakes his head, opting to continue this conversation with the Shark...later.

The Coyote's eyes narrow and he tenses ever so slightly. It's not like he runs around dropping his name like that. As quickly as it came, the suspicion is gone, swept under a grin. "Please; Mr. Wright is my father," he jokes, before falling silent again, content to hear what needs doing.

The shark's eyebrows stay raised throughout the conversation. "I suppose you want to us to take it back? Do you also want us to rough the guys who took it up or do you prefer if we reacquire the artifact and its owners in silence, seems to be a theme that goes around here." She flashes a smile.

"For now," the fox says, "I require only information." He points to a door on the far side of the lavishly appointed room. "Outside that door is a gated warehouse that was manned, until very recently, by a small shipping company. In the last week it seems to have come under new ownership and I suspect our missing Fleshcrafter and his remarkable machine are there. All I need from you is a confirmation of the precense of the machine or the coyote and mole operators inside, along with a scouting of the occupant's numbers and information on their dispersal. I leave the methods and means in your hands. Think you can manage?"

Galve nods. "Alright.... I don't know if I'm cut out for this particular mission.... but sure."

Mal nods. "Shouldn't be a problem," he says, looking to the door, then to his companions for the duration of the contract. The Coyote pats himself down, slipping his hands into various pockets as he takes inventory of his available equipment.

Elizabeth nods along. "Sure, should not be an issue, more used to recon in the woods, but its the same thing basically." She smirks. "Just with crates instead of bushes."

The fox nods and gestures toward the door. "Don't let me keep you," he says with a smile that is not exactly friendly. He steps to the door and holds it open, revealing a tiny, walled courtyard that points out to a street. Across the way is a ten foot high, brick wall, the second story of a warehouse peeking over the top of wide, sturdy, and very locked gates.

Galve nods. While they were all still gathered, he looked at the walls. "Hmm.... I wonder if there are any guards.... Could one of you scale that wall? We need in..." He asks, trying to figure out what to do.

The Coyote nods and makes his way into the courtyard, throwing open his coat to reveal the arsenal of weaponry beneath. Might as well keep his tools within easy reach...

"Let's see, let's see," Mal murmurs, stepping forward to survey the scene. How easily could one climb the wall, where are the guards...you know, the stuff you normally look for when planning a break-in.

Elizabeth follows the others into the courtyard, but seems to only half listen to them as she rubs her hands together for a short moment, then takes to a short sprint towards the wall, pressing her boot against it as reaches it, to give herself a boost to reach the top of it, from where she plans to access the situation.

Shliek rotates his spine, making a few light crackles before he gets up from his sitting position and hops off the table. He walks outside and addresses the other quietly, speaking in a high and oily voice. "Is someone in a soul appropriate for unlocking the gate? That would remove the necessesity of scaling the wall." He passes a glance towards the shark who seems to be rusuing ahead.

While there is not much to see from down below, aside from the wide, closed gates, Elizabeth has no trouble scrambling up to the top of the wall. From her perch, the shark can see a large work yard, that would usually be full of workers and pack animals, but things are pretty quiet in the heavy rain. The large doors of the warehouse are closed, but a smaller side door seems to be open, just a crack. The second storey has a number of tall windows, though all of them on this side of the building seem to be closed. Besides, a leap from here to the building would be out of the question. There are a few tarp covered stacks of crates that are within jumping distance though.

At the far corner of the building there is a sound of splashing footsteps. Guards, probably on their rounds.

Galve pulls up his cloak and rushes across the street to stand in the shadows by the gate. He wasn't nimble enough to scale that wall... so he'd wait for someone to open the gates from inside.

Mal grimaces as the Shark scrambles onto the wall, before shaking his head and climbing up as well. No way he's going to be able to pick that lock from over here, besides, a higher vantage point IS handy...

Elizabeth squint around the area for a moment, before nodding and deeming it safe. "The air is clear, as they say. You guys coming?" She secures her position on top of the wall and extends her arm, offering to pull up the less agile beings, as a way to circumvent the gate altogether.

Shliek shakes his head as others start to climb the wall. Too much effort for him, and he has at least 3 more feet to climb than the rest. Eyeing the muddy ground created by the rain, he moves over to the gate and starts digging with his claws towards the middle, trying to create enough room for him to slip under them.

It is not difficult for Mal to scale the wall, especially as Elizabeth boosts him to the top. Shliek, on the other hand, runs into a bit of trouble. The mud is not quite muddy enough, and the little lizard finds himself wedged tightly under the gates!

Meanwhile a pair of large beings shrouded in oilskins turn the corner. "Hey!" one cries, pointing a meaty paw at the wall, "You! Get down from there!"

Galve hears the commotion going on inside and wishes he could do more... but was stuck on this side of the wall and gate

Elizabeth jumps down the wall, onto the side the two beings are on. "Of course. I did not mean to intrude of course. May I introduce myself? Arika Whisperwind and this is my associate," She gestures towards Mal, "Reinhard Stonebeard. We could not help but notice how lightly staffed this warehouse of yours is and wondered if you are taking new hires. Since the gate was locked and nobody was in sight to ask, we thought it would be a good idea to jump the wall to find someone to talk to." The shark's smile is confident as she talks. "In retrospect, maybe not the best way to make a good first impression with a potential employer." She raises her voice. "Now, would you come down here as well, Reinhard?"

Mal swears quietly and looks from the guards to Elizabeth, letting the Shark take the lead on this. The Coyote hesitates for a moment before hopping down beside the Shark, nodding along with a pleasant, confident grin as he slips his hands into his pockets, ready in case this ruse doesn't work.

Shliek wriggles his body and digs with all four limbs to try and free himself from the gate. He hopes the other two who have alighted from the wall keep the guards distracted long enough for him to free himself and hide.

The guards lumber over, hazy forms in the rain resolving into two, huge, shaggy bears that might be twins. Each carries a heavy polearm and they regard Elizabeth suspiciously. "We weren't expecting anybody, right?" he asks his companion, keeping his eye on the shark and the coyote, "I don't like the look of em." They look at each other and level their weapons. "You better come with us."

Poor Shliek is still trapped, and Galve has only the lizard's backside for company, though he can hear the voices across the wall.

Galve hmms. He eyes the lizard's rump... he hustles over and prepares to help shove the stuck lizard through....

Elizabeth raises her arms at the threatening pose of the two guards, smile still confident. "Ah, I think there is a misunderstanding here." She takes a step closer to them. "We did not make an appointment or anything, did we, Reinhard?" Another step. "We just saw that this warehouse is in use, but lacking staff, is all." Another step, the shark now has poistioned herself dangerously close to the tip of the halberd of one of them. "But the two of you clearly do a fine job guarding this place here, so we should not bother you anymore, should we?" Elizabeth slowly lets her hands fall. "Right, Reinhard?" She pronounces the name sharper than before, a subtle hint. Her hands continue to slowly sink, until they are at the height of the halberd, which she quickly grabs, pulls and should she free it, use to assault the guard that still has his weapon.

Mal purses his lips and glares at Elizabeth, reluctantly continuing to follow the Shark's lead. "Of course, sirs," he says, quietly gripping a throwing knife in his coat, looking for a cue from Elizabeth. "Of course, Whisperwind," he says, eyes narrowing as he whips the throwing knife at the unoccupied guard.

Shliek continues scrabbling at the ground, unsure if he is making any progress or not. As a final ditch effort, he sucks in what gut he has and heaves forward, pushing himself forward with all his might.

Between his last effort and the shove from Galve, Shliek slides out from under the gate with a muddy squelch, leaving him exposed in the rain a few feet from the stiil closed gate.

Elizabeth is not so lucky, finding herself at a stalemate with the bear she tried to steal the halberd from! Both of them with firm grips, trying to wrest control from the other! The second bear is less fortunate, as he sprouts a shiny new knife from his shoulder. He grunts in pain, then turns to lumber toward the warehouse! "Attack!" he roars, "We're under attack! Thieves! Robbers!"

Galve hears the commotion and presses himself against the gate. "Come on, get this thing open!" He says, thinking what in his supplies would help him here. He had a sword.... but the chain looked too thick.

Mal swears loudly, pulling out another throwing knife, whipping it towards the fleeing bear before rushing him. "Gimme back that knife, I only have ten of those!" he growls, preparing Air Mathemagics with a free hand, building up to something big!

Elizabeth takes a moment to make a silly face at the guard that is playing rope tug with her, before suddenly letting go, a move that often, but not always, cause the opponent to fall over. Usually in strategically placed mud. "You pointed those sticks at us, we were here for a job interview!" The shark pulls out her own weapon, a large greatsword and assumes her stance, before she throws herself at her opponent, slicing at him.

Shliek scrambles to his feet and quickly wipes some of the mud off his stained clothes. He looks up at the chains and padlock, woefully out of his reach to be able to lockpick, especially considering not being in a particularily good soul for that. He bends down, whispers, "Climb over. I can't reach the lock." through the gap below the gate then pulls his dark cloak around himself, scurrying behind some of the boxes and using the sound of combat as a distraction to sneak towards the open side door.

Mal's thrown knife goes wide in the rain and the bear staggers to the open door, still sounding the alarm. His cries sre tsken up by others inside. Uh oh.

Elizabeth's opponent does take a step back as his weapon is suddenly freed, but not in a stagger. Just enough to give himself room for a blistering swing at the shark's head!

Galve pulls free a sword from its sheath and brings it down on the chain trying to sever it in half.

The bear facing off with Elizabeth takes the shark's sword in the side, the blade skipping over thick ribs, but his own weapon slams into the shark with full force!

"Eight," the Coyote says miserably, his mood worsening at the sight of the guard making it through the door. "...Shiiiiiit," he murmurs, glancing to where his knife has fallen before backing up. "I'll...I'll come back for those," he says, glancing back to the gate before running over. The big guy is still on the other side, maybe he can open the gate before all hell breaks loose. With a glance towards Elizabeth, the Coyote grimaces, torn between the two situations for a second, before continuing towards the gate. Best get the big guy, first.

Elizabeth's eyes narrow as the halberd tears through her coat and scrapes off her chestplate, injuring her side. The shark raises her own weapon again and resumes her stance. "That was a mistake. What you did, I mean." Nailed it. She takes a deep breath and throws herself at the guard with a short spring, swinging her oversized sword at his waist.

The little reptile manages to make it to the side door! He stands flat against the wall near the door, waiting and listening to see if anyone is coming out through that exit to join the ensuing fight in the yard.

The bear takes the sword to the gut and blood bubbles from his lips as he sinks to his knees in the mud. The freeswords are the best and discreet infiltration.

Galve's sword bounces off the gate, leaving a divot in the wood, but having no other effect. The heavy gate and its heavy chains unmoved by sword or rain.

Shliek, hidden by the door can hear a whole host of boot shod feet running for the door. Perhaps a hasty exit would be wise.

Galve stands back as he sees Mal heading for it

Mal slides to a stop in front of the gate, peering at the lock. He looks back to the door the guard ran through before grimacing and looking over the chain. "I don't have time for this," he growls, letting loose his Air Mathemagics in the form of Cutting Winds, aiming to break the lock open using the weakest link in the chain.

Elizabeth tilts her head. "You okay there? Its what you get for banditry and taking nice people prisoner, poking you sticks at them. How uncivilized." Ears twitching at the incoming horde, she tugs on her hood, after sheathing her sword. "Gotta go, kisses and all that, get well soon." The shark heads to the others, who seem to finally have gotten the lock of the gate open. "Just in time!" She gives the thing a heavy kick to quickly open it.

Shliek scowls as the others start to scatter and flee, silently judging them for clearly being unqualified for the contract. He slips a hand into his cloak and removes a small round orb from a satchel. He takes a deep breath before tossing it through the gap in the door, the device making a pop and a hiss as it starts to exude smoke! Seeing no other option without backup, he too makes a run for the open gate while the reinforcements are hopefully blinded.

The gate slams open under Elizabeth's boot, knocking poor Galve backward into the muddy street, after Mal's well placed air magic shatters a link in the heavy chain.

Shliek's smoke bomb could not have been better timed, a bevy of huge figures staggering around and coughing in the doorway!

Mal turns to see the Lizard running towards them and a group of guards behind him. The Coyote purses his lips before drawing his sword, holding out a hand to help Galve to his feet. "Alright, we got the big guy. Let's go kick some ass," he says, turning to glare in the direction of the warehouse. "I ain't leavin' without my knives. It's not a set if two are missing," he growls. "Let's finish this."

Elizabeth grabs Mal by the collar and drags him with her, at least symbolically for a couple of feet. "They are too many, we will come back later. Or they will send someone else, since our faces have been seen. Now come on and get out of here."

Shliek rolls his eyes when seeing the indecision amongst the rest of the crew. He crouches behind some cratres just short of reaching them to wait for them to figure out whether they are still in or not. "Figure yourselves out!", he rasps at them.

That smoke isn't going to hold them long. In fact, seven enormous bears stagger out into the rain, coughing and hacking, each of then near mirror images of each other. It is sort of eerie.

Galve pushes up and pulls his sword. "We came here to do a job.... so let's do it." He says, probably foolhardy in his decision, but deadset.

Mal grins wide, pulling himself free of the Shark's grip. "We have the big guy; this'll be easy," he says, readying his sword while he weaves another batch of Air Magic with his free hand. He's really getting a hang of this Mathemagic thing...

"Oh. Usually people want to run by now." The shark draws her musket. "They -are- bandits, right? Surely no 9 beings would look so alike without stole creator artifacts." She aims for the head of the nearest bear, holds her breath and pulls the trigger.

Shliek cracks his little knuckles before pulling out another smoke bomb from within his cloak. He whips it over the cover of the crates, waits for the pop of its detonation then makes a run for the next closest cover to the door.

More bears stagger out of the smokey interior, bringing the total to twelve. . . eleven as one of the coughing bears drops under Elizabeth's well placed shot. The first group has finally managed to clear the smoke from their lungs and is advancing on the little party, though none seem to notice Shliek as slips by them into the smoke filled doorway.

Two bears raise pistols in concert, both pointing at Elizabeth and firing!

Galve pulls an axe from inside his cloak and charging forward, meeting one of the bear with a pair of blades slicing downwards

The Coyote's eyes widen and he rolls behind crates, eyeing the Shark's gun. That could be useful... Mal looks over his cover just long enough to aim his Air Mathemagics at a Bear before ducking back down. He holds up a hand and call outs to Elizabeth, "Toss me the musket, I'll cover you!"

Elizabeth twitches several times as her chestplate is dented by bullets, before she raises an eyebrow at Mal, but tosses him the musket, powder bag and ammo bag. "Go nuts, try not to blow it up, has sentimental value." The shark reaches into her coat and frees several knifes from an inner pocket, throwing one of them at one of the gun wielding bears, aiming for a head...throw.

Shliek covers his mouth with a rag to avoid breathing in his own smoke. He squints, trying to make out any obstacles in his path as he makes his way towards the edge of the cloud and staying alert for danger.

The contingent of bears all finally have their feet under them and start to advance with purpose as a unit. One of the shaggy behemoths sidesteps Galves awkward charge and catches the fluffy sheep in a brutally strong bear hug, holding him immobile. Mal's magic sends a blast through the ursine ranks, but it does not really have much more effect than to annoy. Elizabeth's thrown knife is a bit more effective, lodging itself just above the collar bone of one of the pistol weilding bears as he tries to reload.

"Hey now!" the bear holding Galve roars, lifting a knife to the sheep's throat, "What say we all take a deep breath and talk a minute?"

Inside, Shliek finds the place empty aside from stacks of crates and a high, open ceiling. Stairs lead upward to a second level that runs around three sides in a balcony configuration, and a door at the back probably leads to an office.

Galve struggles. "Let me go!" He says, arms pinned to his sides by the bear, before shutting up as the bear holds the cold blade against his throat.

"I make no promises!" Mal yells to the Shark, reloading the musket behind his makeshift barricade. "But I can buy you a drink later, if I break it!" he adds, glancing out from behind cover for a moment, trying to get a look at the battefield.

"Uh...I don't think the big guy can talk with you crushing him like that," the Coyote says, angling to convince the Bear to let Galve go. Mal glances to Elizabeth before cautiously continuing, "But, uh, put...the big guy down and we can talk." Wait, Mal doesn't know the Sheep's name?

Elizabeth readies several knifes for throwing and stays in cover. "Sure. Lets talk." Awkward pause is awkward. "So uhm, how about letting us go?"

After registering the layout of the warehouse, Shliek scurries across the warehouse floor, though keeping near the crates in case he needs to duck behind them. His destination is the office; clearly the most obvious place to get the information he needs.

"Sure," growls the bear, "You lot bugger off and I'll keep your fluffy friend here company for a while to make sure you're good and gone. Then we'll see about getting fluffy to you, all safe and sound." A pair of the nearly identical bears take advantage of the lull in the fight to retrieve their fallen allies.

Inside is pretty quiet, and Shliek reaches the back office unmolested, finding the door locked.

Galve stopped struggling, eyes wide with fear as he swallowed audibly. "U-ummm.... guys, I think you should go...." He says, chuckling nervously.

Mal looks to Elizabeth and shakes his head, readying the musket should things go south. "No can do. How do we know you'll keep your word?" he says, trying to stall for time. "And why the hell do you all look alike? It's creepy, dammit!"

"How about you send one of yours with us, so that we have a similar insurance, eh? Would not want our ovine friend to not come back to us. Not that I don't trust you and all, but we did just shoot at each other, which tends to be kind of a bad impression to leave on each other." The shark is half negotiating, half stalling for time.

Shliek sighs heavily but takes out his set of lockpicks and concentrates as he tries to overcome his soul's lack of knack for this. He reaches up and starts working at the keyhole.

"No thanks, gills," the bear says, "You already killed one of my brothers and might have killed another. We ain't done nothing but protect our business. Watch'll be here in just a few minutes. Sent one of the boys the minute the alarm was raised. I hear their not so keen on robbers like you lot."

The lock opens with a click and swings open to reveal a small office. There is not much there aside from a small desk and a collection of papers. The place is bare aside from a small throw rug for decoration.

Galve waves to the others. "Go! You need to get out of here

... I'll be fine, honest." He says, though his face said he was totally unsure of what would happen to him

Mal purses his lips and hangs his head; if he'd just silenced that guard when he had the chance, things wouldn't have gone downhill like this. "Really? Shouldn't they have gotten here by now? There's been quite a few gunshots, after all. Doesn't take the Watch this long, usually...unless you never called them. Got something you don't want people seeing?" he says casually, a firm grip on the musket, ready to stand and fire.

Elizabeth pouts. "I am insulted, as I informed the two of you who welcomed us, I was looking to apply for a job! Yet they pointed their weapons at me and started ordering me and my friend around, we had no intentions of robbing you."

Shliek hops up on top of the chair in front of the desk and starts shuffling through the papers. He looks for any of them containing information that the client requested and, if any are found, carefully folds them and tucks them under his cloak. He makes sure to check the desk for hidden drawers as well.

Shliek does not find much of interest, aside from a small bag of glittering lunar dust and a small shipping manifest, detailing shipments to and from the warehouse.

"You can tell the guard that when they get here," the spokesbear says, backing toward the safety of the warehouse, now that their dead and wounded have been retrieved, "Or we can call this whole thing a misunderstanding if you step off now. Don't worry, fluffy here is in good hands."

Galve nods. "Yeah..

Galve nods. "Yeah... go on guys, I'll be fine...." He says, resigning himself to this captive fate.

Mal looks to Elizabeth, his expression one of near-panic as the bears start to head for the warehouse. The Lizard's still in there, they didn't take his bait, and they have the Sheep! "You take the one holding the Big Guy, I'll cover you?" he suggests quietly, for Elizabeth's ears only. The Coyote tenses, ready to leap into action on the Shark's word. "There hasn't been enough time..."

Elizabeth shakes her head at Mal. "We gotta take this way out." She speaks very quiet. "I have been stalling as long as I can." She clears her throat and starts speaking very loudly, hopefully loud enough for Shliek to hear. "Alright, we will leave." She coughs and lowers her voice. "But make sure to release him or we are the ones coming back with the guard."

Shliek pockets the manifest and moves out of the office, closing the door behind him. He scurries back across the warehouse floor towards the stairs, intending to take a look on the balcony floor. He hears Elizabeath calling, but obviously can't escape out the same door he came in through anyway. He scampers up the stairs and makes sure to try and open a window for his escape after looking around for any obvious clues.

The second floor seems to have little of interest, aside from an open window that points toward the back side of the warehouse.

"Glad you can see reason," the spokesman says as the bears inch back into the warehouse with Galve in tow, the sound of splashing, running feet can be heard in the distance.

Galve is carried off by the hulking bears, hoping that the lizard got clear and didn't meet with any problems inside.... and got what they came for... and that he'd be ok

Mal looks to Elizabeth, eyes wide. "Shit, they really did call the guards," he hisses, looking back to the Bears and squinting. The Coyote stands, pulling a hood over his head before tightening his long coat. "We need to go, NOW," he says, tossing the Shark her musket and equipment. He looks around and takes off, before the Night Watch arrives.

Looks like a certain Coyote will be laying low for a while...

Elizabeth catches her weapon and secures it on her back before taking to a sprint, utilizing her patented climbing method to access the roof of a nearby building that is not quite as tall as the warehouse, making an escape via the roof tops. Clearly those bears were criminals, but try explaining that to the guards when they are grumpy1

Shliek slides a dagger from his belt, holds it between his teeth, then slips another out. He hucks that one at the bear holding the sheep, aiming for the bears arm, intending to disarm him. He throws the other just after, aiming for his lower leg, hoping to topple the bear and give the sheep a chance to get away. Without stopping to make sure either dagger actually hits, he makes a break for the window and climbs out of it.

The Freeswords, picture of discretion, manage to escape. Shliek gets the extra satisfaction of wounding one of Galve's captors, but there is no way the poor sheep is getting away at this point. The group's mysterious employer will no doubt be thrilled with all of this.