Wildcard Bluff - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/8/479
Log
Most people have cleared out of the main concourse, remembering what happened the last time the gangleader Wildcard made his appearance, leaving a contingent of guards and a scattering of freeswords to gaze up at what appears to be the disembodied head of a matte black hyena floating in the air. For the last 10 minutes, it has done nothing but grin and look around. Occasionally it looks like it is speaking or laughing, but there is no sound to accompany the apparition.
Zuri grips more tightly on the staff he's carrying. The small pegasus had just been doing his rounds and was soaring overhead when he spotted the familiar, giant head. No good news, for sure. He gently swoops down to a nearby street, and then approaches the main concourse quietly. He peeks around the area, remembering the wild stampede from the previous time and double-checking that noone is in danger before he steps up towards the gathering of freeswords, guards and other armed bystanders. He waves at the gathered as he steps up. "Hi.. what's going on? Anyone hurt?"
Cara is merely looking at the disembodied head of the hyena gang leader. She twitches for a second and begins to laugh as she removes her sabre from its sheath. Her smile practically grows as she looks up at the rather ridiculously grinning floating head. Soon, her laughter comes to a stop and she wipes a tear from left eye. She glances over to Zuri and grins as she holds her laughter back, "No, possibly the funniest member of the undead that I've scene in my life!"
Kurah exits the Freesword Inn to investigate the commotion, beady eyes wide at the peculiar spectacle. He looks to the small gathering and clears his throat. "... I am reasonably certain that this-" he gestures to the floating head, then looks to the laughing feline. "-is new. What... is going on out here?"
Angus sighs quietly as he adjusts the brim of his hat, having been awoken from a nap by a rather flightly guard with tales of a floating head. Of all the things to be panicing about, he had hoped it was more of a joke but the closer he gets to the main concourse the more he realizes the situation as he tightens the sling on his musket to keep it fom jostling in movement, squinting a little as he studies the image. "Don't see that everyday."
Cassidy was not feeling terribly sociable today. No crowds, no standing at the fore, ready to attack, no calling orders. Today, the fennec was off on a roof a few buildings over, by her lonesome, leaning on the edge of the building, her longbow propped next to her and a quiver on the other side. She'd be ready if she needed to be, but today she was simply observing from the distance, her feathered cap keeping the sun out of her eyes.
Lidara steps into the main concourse not too long after eveyone else, looking for the most part his usual self, he even still had his backpack on right now, though he did also grip a quarterstaff in his right hand. He had to come down here the moment that he heard about a floating head in the middle of the city of course, after all, who wouldn't have their curiosity piqued by that, and he had of course had also thought the entire thing was a joke.... But, here he is now, standing in the concourse and staring at a floating hyena head, his own slightly tilted to the side.
"Strangest bloody thing I've ever seen," the guard captain on duty says after saluting Angus, "And creepy as Hell. Hasn't done anything yet it just sits there an-"
The burly boar in uniform is interrupted by a sudden cackle of eerie laughter fills the square. "Is it on?" comes the familiar voice of Wildcard, "They can hear me now? Perfect!" The black hyena cackles again and grins wildly. "Hello again friends!" he says, eyes not really focused on anyone in particular, "It's been so long since I got to talk to the good people of Firmament! I'm here to give you another taste of the justice that has been so long absent in our fair city!" The floating image flickers and suddenly shows the hyena standing in the air beside the bound and gagged figure of a HIPPO in fine clothing!
Zuri nods at Cara. "It's unlikely we'll be able to beat it quite just by thacking it. But if last time was any indicator, they-" He pauses as the head begins to speak, the salamander not looking concerned until the image shifts to show a hippo, bound and gagged. Zuri, that sweetwater boy, born and raised in Firmament, gasps audibly. "Is.. is that one of the Goods? Is that a royal?" He looks around in a bit of a panic. "T-they wouldn't dare hurt him, would they?"
Cara's laughter immediately comes a slow, but sure halt. She turns her head slightly from the sudden sight of the Hippo in fine clothing being bound and gagged by a hyena. She turns to face Angus, Zuri, and Cassidy before taking a deep breath and asking in a deadpan tone, "Angus, Cassidy, Zuri, could you explain to me why I'm seeing a member of the royal family bound and gagged right now and who that hyena is?"
Kurah took a step back once the image began cackling, suitably convinced that the head was neither benign nor a prank when the image shifts to show the hippo. "... justice? Wait, is he going to..." He fell silent and faded into the crowd, a grave look on his face. He was no fan of the royal family, but this wasn't a time to crack wise, and instead eavesdropped on the others present who seemed more in-the-know.
Angus cringes a little as the thing laughs. "Yes, I can see why that's unnerving. Nails on a chalkboard sound better." Cara's laughter gets a roll of his eyes, but as soon as the Good comes into view his focus shifts and his attention is drawn while questions are thrown around. "Everyone calm down, we need to think not panic." He comments, studying the image for a few moments to see if he can pick up anything.
A frown crosses Cassidy's face, the fennec giving a quiet sigh. She wasn't going to react, though. He wouldn't get the satisfaction. Instead, she glances around the city's rooftops, seeking any other notable signs of life or projection point.
@Angus Roll me some history.
Lidara simply keeps his attention on the floating head, but he does perk an ear up when the captain starts to speak, and after a moment a small smile even starts to form on his face. This... was certainly something. "Wow...." Whether or not there was anymore to that thought, the orange cat immediately goes quite when the head starts to speak, his smile fading along with it. Once the hippo comes into view though, his eyes widen a bit and his other hand goes to grip his quarterstaff, wielding the weapon in a more battle ready way, giving a quick nod to Angus as he does so. "Right." Even if he's not a native, he knew that it'd be bad if this was really a noble.
"We are on the verge of a new era!" the floating hyena cackles, "The corruption ingrained in the system is embodied in the royal family!" He paces around the bound and frightened looking hippo who watches him like a minnow watching a shark. "Now, Romulus here is not a very important royal, I admit, but we can call this a symbolic first step, right?"
Zuri rubs his head. This is bad. This is -real- bad. He nods at the gathered. "R-Right, well.. I've met this guy once before. He was showing off Creator toys, lots of them. I guess he might have stolen them, as I don't think he'd have been able to get them by any.. legitimate means. He caused a ruckus here and kept harassing us via that.. floating head trick." He looks around, pointedly gazing at nearby buildings and structures, before returning his gaze to Angus. "Whatever.. device or wizardry he's using, it has very short range. Last time he was using it from a nearby guard tower they had cleared out." Killed them to a man, the salamander should have said, but subtext is enough right now. "It's almost certain he's not far from here. As is Romulus Good." He pauses again, then adds. "They're not subtle, they like making a mark. This is all about showing off. Maybe that'l help us find the place where they are."
Cara smiles and nods to Zuri, "Thank you for giving me some information about this. Now, all we have to do is find out where they are." She turns around and looks up at the image to hopefully see something that stands out in the image, a possible clue on where they might be located.
Kurah's brow furrowed deeply in disapproval. Rabble-rousers and shit-stirrers, nothing more. His beady eyes did wander though, intrigued by the technology being used to make a scene. He perks a little at the salamander's prediction that the hyena was nearby and turned to look at the rest gathered. "Is the device two-way?" he suddenly asked, butting in.
Angus crosses his arms a bit as he frowns. "Yes, I'm aware that he's carrying Creator devices. Lot of my men were wounded when he stole them to." He tapps his foot against the ground for a few seconds, weighing his options. "He can't hear us, can't see us either. There are only four towers where he could use this, he'd probably not reuse the same tower to make it that much harder to find him."
Cassidy slings her quiver around her back and takes up her bow, leaping off the roof and onto another, crossing the way towards one of the towers. She had her own plans there, and while she was not confident she'd be able to catch him in the act, she wanted to set up on a high vantage to get eyes on the street afterwards. She wanted to stop his escape.
Lidara flicks his ear slightly at the name, he... didn't particularly recognize it, but after a quick glance around and study of everyone else's reactions, particularly Zuri's, to it, he could gather that this was almost definitely one of the royal family. His stance tenses a little bit more now, his eyes still slightly wide. The cat's attention turns from the hyena and hippo to Angus and Zuri now though, giving a quick nod to each of them. "Alright, all of that's good to know. We're clearly not just messing with some thugs, then...." He glances to the magic... Creator stuff... whatever it is. "Any idea where we should start looking?"
Around the main concourse there are several guard towers and the towers on both the church and the academy are visible from here, along with a couple of high turrets on bigger buildings and inns. But with Angus's revelation, it has to be either a decorative turret on a fine inn off the main concourse, one of the two guard towers nearby, or a strange, private residence toward Saint's Square.
"And we have a special treat for you this time! I know that members of a certain secret unit are watching this, and you are just going to ADORE this one!" The image does not actually show the room or the things around the beings, only the beings themselves. The hyena lifts up the hippo's chin, causing the large being to start breathing heavily in worry and fear. Hung around the hippo's neck is a large, heavy chain and attached to it is a box with strange wires jutting from it.
Zuri looks around, taking in this information. He spreads his wings and nods. "Right.. I guess I'll go check one of the possible places. I'll head to the Inn, can fly up and just check without having to go through." He taps his staff to the ground and raises his hands, gesturing a few runes of the Divine Math as he calls upon the water in the surrounding air to fill himself and his friends with vitality. They're going to need the energy to do this quick and without tiring! He's so busy concentrating on his formula that he doesn't notice the 'box' detail, simply flapping his wings and taking off once the mathemagical phrase is complete.
Cara grimaces slightly as she looks at the image and she thinks to herself before she sighs, "I'll go check the strange residence in Saint's Square. I'm probably going to need someone to come with me just in case." From there, she turns to Angus and sighs, "He most likely wants us to split up, but which place do you think he might be located in?"
Kurah drums his fingers against his beak thoughtfully, then looks up. "... do we have enough volunteers between us to check on the three towers simultaneously? Fire a signal shot off once we've found them? That... would alert them though, and once they've been found, Romulus isn't going to be alive for long." Not to mention they weren't likely to leave that creator technology behind to be recovered, he adds mentally and exhales a deep sigh.
His attention then turns back to the image and he falls silent, giving the odd device a curious look and meandering over to study it more closely. When the pegasus takes off, he looks up and shrugs a little. "That's probably more efficient... I can fly as well, if more eyes in the sky are worth anything."
Angus tenses up as he sees the device, fur bristling for a moment as he swears. As Cara speaks, he looks her way, taking a few seconds to register what she was saying. "Splitting up? Ah...no, not the best idea." He answers, shaking his head a bit as he takes a moment to get his baring once more, taking a deep breath. "They've got eyes on us, so that's a start. Once we move towards one of the towers they'll know we are coming, may even scatter or set off that device."
Cassidy perches herself atop the guard tower, taking a moment to listen for any sounds coming from within and below, before setting one of her arrows against the longbow, taking a resting position ready to draw. Now she had to wait. And watch. Watch the other high spots, watch the bases of them. Watch the streets. No more running away.
Lidara turns his attention to the projection again at the mention of this 'special treat,' his eyes quickly going to the box once it's revealed, but... he has no idea what that thing is. Whatever unit he's talking about, the cat clearly isn't part of it. Instead, his attention goes to the others again, giving another nod up to Zuri as he does so. "So... if we're not going to be splitting up, then where should we check first? Or... should we make sure that people are blocking any escape routes they might have?" There's a short pause and a quick flick of the cat's ears before he glances to Angus and adds, "Wait, what device?"
"Not sure how long this will take," Wildcard says, "I'm told that it is unstable." The hyena reaches out and tugs a wire from the strange box. "I think you have about five minutes," he grins at the empty air and his image vanishes from the sky, leaving only a frightened and tied up hippo there.
Cassidy's guard tower seems secure. At least from the outside. Zuri meets no resistance as he takes wing and alights on the roof of the inn. There is a large, upper window that stands open on the inn's loft tower. . .
The guard captain looks as though he was ready to scramble his men, but stops when Angus advises against scattering. "What do we do, Sir?" he asks.
Zuri was too eager and agile to listen. By the time his friends had protested the risks of splitting up he was already soaring. After perching on the rooftop he stops to listen, first, before easing himself down to the window and having a peek inside, poking his little stubby equine snout into the open window to see what's inside.
Cara grits her teeth slightly and quickly speaks, "Well, do we have a better plan than to split up, because we don't have much time to act." She grits her teeth and begins to weigh her options, "If we don't make a decision than I'm going to go check the other guard tower instead from the outside.
Angus cringes as Wildcard starts yanking wires, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Pray to the creators captain? I don't know what the device is, for all we know it's used to massage a creators feet. But he's right to state it's unstable, the spirit within it could be angry, vicious and when let out it could cause as much damage as an airship crashing into the heart of the city. Maybe even more, five minutes is generous considering he's now yanking on things he shouldn't." He thinks on it a moment, before looking to the captain. "round up your men and check the nearest guard tower, signal if you find anything. The rest of us will find Zuri. We move fast, no one plays the hero."
"... I think I'd rather risk walking into an obvious trap than spend the next five minutes planning." the raven mutters, turning his eyes to the sky. "Zuri is... the pegasus that just took off? I can do that." His eyes dart back over to the image, growling a little. Even if he didn't care much one way or the other about the hippo, this seemed like a tremendous waste of creator technology, and he was antsy to get moving, wings fluttering a little behind him.
Cassidy was in position. That was as best as she could do. She was not clued in on the plans of the others. She anchors herself and pulls up a spyglass, leaving the arrow to rest against the bow as she scans the far streets of the city and other suspect locations.
The little Pegasus's stealth is rewarded with a peek into the most expensive suite of a high class inn! From the sound of the buzzsaw duet inside, he has not found the criminals, but rather an elephant couple enjoying a very, very late morning.
The Boar salutes Angus, then barks orders to the other guards whol set off at a jog toward the nearby guard tower, opposite where Cassidy lurks. Unless the criminals are sitting very, very quietly inside of Cassidy's tower, that leaves only the private tower off Saint's square and not much time!
Lidara blinks and again flicks his ears upon hearing a timer announced... and once Angus explains exactly what that timer is for.... Well... it's safe to say that his eyes are wide again, the muscles in his legs tensed and... just overall he looks more than ready to go dashing off on his own to figure out exactly where this thing is. Thankfully though, the cat is able to keep himself from doing anything stupid for the moment at least. "We need to start moving now, then. If we're lucky, Zuri will already be checking the right place."
Zuri sits up on the roof of the Inn again, the little pegasus blinking in confusion, then giggling. Nothing wrong with enjoying life, as a certain pig he knows would say. He takes off as softly as he can and flies straight up, high enough that his friends might see him breaking off from his chosen site, before he begins to glide down towards Angus, going to join him and the rest of his group. Omce having met them he flaps his wings down to a graceful landing. "Nope, nothin' suspicious there. Where to next?"
Cara was in a bit of a pickle. She had no idea where to go and she was nervous from the time limit. As she panics, she does something that most would do in this situation, decide to run off toward the other option in the off chance toward the other direction. As she frantically panics, she shouts, "I'm heading directly to the private residence!" From there, the feline runs off directly toward the private tower off Saint's square.
Kurah looks to the pegasus as he lands, then shrugs a little. "Well... that being the case, point me in a direction." he states simply, pacing in place a little. He wasn't quite panicking, but the urgency they reacted to the box with didn't do much to help his anxiousness.
Angus gives Zuri a nod, looking over the pegasus' shoulder for a moment to study the location, before Cara takes off directly for another location. "And that's why we remain calm, wasting time like this." He announces a bit, drawing his musket from over his shoulder to make sure it's loaded. "Right, so if we all die we know who to blame right? Follow that cat." He comments, flashing a bit of a smile to try and ease some of the tension before heading in the same direction.
If they WERE in Cassidy's tower being quiet, she'd see him leaving at least. The door is below her, after all. None could get in or out without her seeing, most likely, and now she was trying to make sure the same was true for most other towers and high spots, as well.
Lidara gets a somewhat hopeful grin on his face once he's spotted Zuri again, though that hope is quickly dashed with the delivered news, and after another quick nod his attention goes back over to Angus once more. Well... right up until the point that Cara starts running off, anyways, that easily draws his attention... and really sprinting off with her was an appealing idea by now.... He does, however, at least manage to wait for Angus's order. Almost the momnet the cat is given the go ahead though, his quarterstaff is slung over his shoulder and he's dashing after Cara.
The tower in the Saint's Square seems like the best target, the base is not visible from any of the vantage points, unlike the inn and the two guard towers. Fortunately, the floating head display has chased the people from the streets, clearing the way for the running freeswords.
When they arrive at the tall, boxy tower building, three pitch black hyenas standing at the door all grin, wave, and run away in different directions! One north, one south, and one to the west through the winding back alleys.
Zuri follows along with the rest of the group, alternating between sprinting and doing light, short wing-borne hops to keep up. As they arrive on location and three hyenas run off in different directions he freezes, undecided. "Is.. is it a distraction? Why are there three of them, identical.."
Cara grits her teeth and acts hastily. She rushes toward the door and brings gauntlet covered left hand back. It glows a vivid white as she swings her fist directly toward the door. After all, this is not the time to be chasing three henchmen and she assumed that the gang leader is inside the tower.
Kurah looks around as the three hyenas take off in different directions. "What..? Where are they going - this must be the tower, right?" He looks up at the structure, rather... worried. Surely they weren't abandoning the hostage. "This isn't a very subtle trap. Maybe it isn't supposed to be, though. He was along for the ride, though - and far more interested in that projector than whatever plans the hyenas had, and moves for the door, standing back while the stronger among them got to work.
Angus slows down as he notices the three fleeing. "Zuri, skies. Keep an eye on them!" He shouts as he lets Cara take the door, while pointing towards Kurah and Lidara. "Take the tower with Cara, I'll stay down here in case they come back to rush from behind."
Cassidy tilts her head to the side, spotting the running hyena. She lowers her spyglass, slipping it through a loop on her belt and takes hold of the bowstring, drawing it back as she lines up her sights. She wasn't aware it was a decoy, but she didn't need to be. It was a target all the same.
Lidara brings himself to a stop along with the others once the three hyenas come into view, glancing between each of them with his head tilted slightly to the side once more. "Uh... we should just go into the tower, right?" His attention goes to Angus now though, and once the orders are handed out the short feline nods and takes up a position standing to the left side of the doorway that Cara is beating down, a pistol in one hand and his other holding onto his quarterstaff, ready to swing it into his grip if necessary.
Up in the sky over the main concourse, the image of the sweating hippo suddenly vanishes, though there is no explosion. Yet.
Cassidy's shot flies true, catching her target in the shoulder. The inky black hyena staggers and carshes to the ground, thrown off balance by the heavy clothyard shaft before trying to scramble toward a side street. The other two hyenas have disappeared in the winding alleyways now. Following them will be hard.
Meanwhile, Cara's rather straightforward methods have smashed the door in with little difficulty. Unfortunately, it seems that the Wildcards planned on a Freesword assault. Cara's lightning reflexes save her from slicing herself on a pair of razor wires just below head height, but nothing could have prepared her for the carefully rigged armoire swinging toward the doorway! The huge piece of furniture seems to have been rigged to a system of pulleys and suspended from the ceiling as a battering ram for anyone coming through the door! The huge wardrobe crashes into Cara and takes part of the doorframe and Lidara with it!
Zuri nods at Angus as he's given the order. "Can do!" He unfurls his wings experimentally, gives one faux-flap, and then takes to the air with a little leap and a mighty push of his little wings. He flies up to about second-story level, coming to a stop as he regards the group. At that point the explosion rocks past, the little pegamander reflexively covering his face before looking back at the group to make sure eeryone is okay. He raises his staff into the air and starts tracing symbols of Divine Math, before aiming the staff towards Lidara. Gravel and rock from the street below begin to rise and climb as he tries to cover his ally in a layer of ablative, protective rock.
Cara goes flying back from the impact of the rudely placed wardrobe impacts her right arm. She goes hurling through the air and lands on the ground hard. For a moment, she lays on the ground and slowly gets back to her feet. As she gets up, she's holding her arm in pain. "Ugh, Angus, please deal with this guy." Her vision is getting blurry for a moment and she sighs, "Give me a moment."
Kurah was thankfully a bit slower in moving to join Cara and Lisandra at the door as instructed, jumping back with a yelp and fluttering. "GHAK! ... are... you alright!?" he exclaims once the shock has passed, springing to the tiger's aid, a hand darting to his medicine bag while he looks her over and takes inventory of her wounds, doing what he can to help. "... saw something coming, but it wasn't that." he admits with a dry, nervous chuckle.
Angus lets Kurah deal with the wounded, growling a little as he slings the musket over his shoulder and goes in with pistol drawn, taking the stairs two by two as he works his way up to the tower's top. His ears were perk, his attention on any movement or any trap that could be lying in wait for him as he seeks to deal with the device.
"You don't get off that easy," Cassidy mumbles, drawing another arrow and setting it against the bow, drawing back. They were scrabbling for cover now, but she still had enough time before they were out of sight, and this next arrow was let loose with the hopes of catching them through the back and keeping them down.
Lidara had, of course, taken his position for a reason, and once Cara has that door open the cat swings around the corner, pistol at the ready, to fire on any baddies that may be inside! To his surprise though, rather than baddies he's greeted by a wardrobe swinging forward and smashing into him, sending him stumbling backwards and sprawling out on the ground along with Cara, and likely leaving him at least a little winded and panting slightly. "I'm... I'm gonna... need a moment too...." Thankfully though, he has a little help from a particular pegasus, though the coating of rock armor does get a surprised look from him, followed by a smile up to Zuri of course. He's feeling better already!
The way to the stairs is clear, but it is a tall building, at least four storeys! The stairs spiral upward with a small landing every ten steps or so. It looks like the armoire was the only real surprise on the first flight. After the second flight of stairs comes the first obstacle: A heavy, locked door. And there is no way to know how much time is left.
Outside, Zuri is out of luck on the hunt for the other two Hyenas. It looks like they have gone to ground somewhere. Maybe literally as the pegasus sees a large sewer grating slide back into place with a clang.
Cassidy's shot is straight and true, but just a fraction of a second too late to take her quarry as he dodges inside of a building.
While it is obvious that both Cara and Lidara have been rattled, Kurah's limited first aid does not seem that it will do them much good, though he could probably prepare a makeshift sling for Cara's injured arm.
Zuri circles around the area after deploying his helpful spell. He grits his teeth as he spots the sewer grate. So that's how they've been avoiding detection.. He circles once more before swooping back, landing on the pavement and hurrying inside to join his friends as soon as possible.
Cara is still having blurry vision at the moment but it eventually begins to come back into place. She glances toward everyone else and groans. "Thanks for the aid, but you may want to bring me over to Angus just in case." She picks up her blade and groans as she attempts to put it back into its sheath, "Lidara, thank you once more."
Kurah does exactly that, taking a bit of the loose wrappings worn under his vest in his beak and tearing a strip off to fashion a makeshift sling for the tigress, helping her back to her feet. "Well... if you think you're in any shape to jog, be my guest." he remarks, moving over to Lidara and giving his wounds a once-over in turn. "Everything in one piece, relatively speaking."
Angus stops at the door, testing to see it's locked before taking a step back, laying his musket against the wall he tenses up, taking a deep breath as he removes his shirt. Making it easier for the shift from fur to scales as he bulks up, shoulder down as he charges the door in his dragon form to take it down with the added bulk of muscle and scale!
Cassidy scoffs and eyes the building, before looking up and down the street before gliding down to the street, slinging her bow around her back and drawing her sword as she makes her way into the building after the fleeing Hyena.
Lidara thankfully doesn't take too long to wait and catch his breath, the short feline soon hauling himself back onto his feet to prepare to follow the others into the tower. His chest would certainly still be hurting, sure, but there was no time to rest now! Besides, thanks to Zuri's magic the hurt was already fading. Once he's back on his feet it takes him a moment to acutally steady himself and get his bearings again, a quick smile given to Cara while he's doing that. The cat gives an appreciative smile to Kurah, along with a quick, "I'll be fine," before he turns away and makes his way up the stairs to get to the rest of their companions... even if he's a bit slower than before and a little unsteady.
The door blocking the way is a sturdy one, but not meant to stand up to the full bulk and strength of a dragon! The door does not shatter, but the lock breaks, allowing Angus to crash into the next room. It becomes evident why the owners would want a sturdy door. Whatever was kept downstairs, there is no way it could measure up to the beautiful living conditions here on the second floor. Finely polished wood floors are covered by beautiful carpets and the room is filled with lovely, high quality furniture and decor. The owner is also well dressed and was apparently in the middle of a small lunch with a lady, judging by the two garrotted corpses at the table. The food and dishes are scattered and broken from the struggle, but otherwise, it seems that the place was left untouched. Another flight of stairs leads upward.
Upon alighting, Cassidy finds the door her quarry vanished through open. The door leads into a small kitchen of a well appointed home. Aside from the rather inauspicious blood trail on the floor, it is very quiet.
Zuri catches up after zooming up the stairs. At some point he shed his wings, returning to the plain old form of a salamander now that they're indoors. He flails comically as he hears the sound of a rather large dragon-being crashing through a pile of debris formerly known as a door, before picking himself back up. "Woah, is everything okay? He slinks in and pauses, looking at the two corpses grimly. "Creators.. what injustice.." He lets the bigger, bulkier elements of the group take point and up the stairs, hanging back as he assesses the condition of his friends.
Cara smiles to Kurah and nods, "Thanks for the sling. Now we better get up there immediately." She immediately walks into the room and up the stairs as she tries to make it to Angus. At this point, she still knows that she has magic to rely on, so she can still be useful. As she makes it to the second floor, she looks at the corpses and groans, "Let's just make it to the top right now, but something is strange. Why would those three thugs run from us?"
Kurah follows the others into the tower once the wounded were back on their feet and on their way, staying out of the way and letting the others work. On spotting the carnage, he turns his head away from the corpses and keeps walking. "Making a statement is one thing, this is just... unnecessary." he mutters.
Angus stumbles a little as the door gives way instead of breaking like he thought it would. Getting his baring once more he doesn't bother going back for his musket. "Someone grab my gun." He states instead while heading up the next flight of stairs, doing his best to move quickly with his added bulk in the tight corridors as he fiddles with his soul gem, he would have to move quickly.
Cassidy nudges the door shut behind her, shaking her head. They always have to be difficult. She casts a glance around the kitchen before following after the blood, her footfalls making no sound upon the floor. She was expecting an ambush by this point, but it was not one that concerned her from an injured showboating individual.
Lidara reaches the top of the stairs not too long after Zuri does, though he does also pause and duck down a bit upon hearing the sounds of a door being crashed through, and once he gets line of sight on a very dracnoic Angus... his eyes widen in just a bit of awe. They don't linger for long though, before instead going to the bodies, and... well, his reaction isn't much different than Zuri and Kurah's, a sigh escaping him and his head shaking slightly. "It's a shame they got caught up in this...." Another sigh is heaved before his attention instead goes to the stairs leading further up, his pistol now holstered so he can instead carry Angus's musket up with him.
Crashing up the last flight of stairs reveals a large studio room with large windows opening up out over the city. On the far side of the room the hippo from the projected image is bound and gagged. The strange box around his neck pulses with an intermittent, red light and tears stream down the pachyderm's fat cheeks as he grunts in distress.
Meanwhile, Cassidy hears a wet cough beyond the little kitchen. "Good," rasps a choked voice, "Glad you came after me instead of looking for the others. I'm about done for anyway."
Zuri gasps as he spots Romulus, after squeezing in past the others into the new room. "Sir!" He doesn't rush right up to the poor hippo, not wanting to panic him by crowding around him. He has no experience with creator technology, and no idea of what to do in this situation, except.. He starts to mentally browse through a few options on what to do. "We'll get you out of that thing, don't worry!"
Cara walks up the stairs and grins, "Well, it's a good thing that we found him. Okay, I'll stand guard and try to deal with any reinforcements through magic if they come by. Don't forget to check for traps too and someone should be able to turn the device off." She stands at the door and gets ready for any kind of reinforcements that come up. For once, she already has a smart idea on what to do. The moment she sees any thugs coming up the stairs, they will have a taste of air mathemagic, get blown over, and fall the rest of the way down.
Kurah proceeds through the shockingly-sturdy door after the dragon and others present, giving him a wiiide berth and instead hanging back to head up the rear and keep an eye on their injured. He wasn't much good in a head-on fight anyway, whatever might be waiting for them at the top of these stairs - enormously relieved when it turned out that Romulus was what they found and not a group of hyenas. His eyes fixed on the pulsating box and he looked more than a bit worried, but... it seemed like the dragon knew what he was doing with the device, and so he continued to stay out of the way.
Angus steps up to Romulus as he shifts once more, dragon claws not as nimble as regular hands as he studies the device. "Evening my lord." He greets Rumulus casually as he sees if he can't fix the situation by at least soothing the spirit within the device.
Cassidy doesn't skip a beat. If there's any surprise, she doesn't show it as she steps through and towards the voice. "I'm looking for -you-. It's not your time yet," she mutters, adjusting her grip on her sword.
Lidara steps into the room already looking ready to fight, and likely shoot off Angus's musket in the process, his eyes darting about and searching for any possible threats in the room.... But, there's none. The cat's stance relaxes a bit, his eyes instead going to rest on Romulus, and he rather quickly realizes that there's probably not a whole lot he can do to help. Instead, he simply stands to the side of the stairway, staring down it and keeping an eye out for any baddies on their way up.
The bound hippo murmurs and groans in protest. He seems to have been informed about the danger of what is around his neck, and he tries to hold still while Angus does his work. The wires sticking out of the box don't seem to make any sense, in fact, nothing about the device makes any sense. It is just a box for all appearances. The moment Angus touches it, however, the thing lights up a bright red and then starts to flash in a pattern of random colors while emitting a loud, thumping sound accompanied by what, for lack of a better word, must be called singing. What kind of joke is this? Romulus, for his part, bravely faints.
"Nah," comes the voice, which is revealed to be a pitch black hyena, sprawled in a large chair in the front of the house, "I've had it. Didn't have much left in me anyway. You nobs took everything from me. Guess my dying breath ain't all that much more, but you get that too." He starts to laugh, but it descends into a wracking cough and blood and spittle fly from his lips. "Wildcard is gonna do you all, and good," he grins, showing bloody teeth to Cassidy.
Zuri blinks as the device starts what is clearly some kind of miniature dance party all on it's own. He scratches his head and.. laughs, at the absurdity of the whole situation. He flops down onto his tush and looks up at the others. "Phuf.. at least Romulus is okay.. right?"
Out of all the sounds that Cara expected, singing is not the one that would have come up to her. She promptly turns around to look at the face of the cowardly hippo and sighs. She grits her teeth as she glares at the device, "Really? That's it?! Is that all that its going to do?" She glances over to Angus and sighs, "Yeah, something tells me that you check the device one more time, Angus. Something isn't right about this."
Kurah recoils and is halfway to hitting the deck when the device begins to flash... but is immensely relieved, if confused, to find them all intact. His beady eyes are full of confusion, looking between the others present. "What... was all of this, then? An elaborate diversion..? A trap? One boobytrapped door couldn't have been worth this effort..." He walks over to the window and stares out, looking pensive.
Angus lets out a pent up breath, shaking his head. "I think our friend Wildcard underestimated what he was carrying, at least I now know what this blasted thing does." With that he starts to remove it from Rumulus' neck, drawing a knife from his belt to start cutting the hippo free. "A nice little distraction to say the least."
"It's not going to fix anything, you know," Cassidy says, leaning against the door frame. "All the killing and terror, I mean. He's going to die in the end. His gang falls apart. He won't be jailed, of course. Not him. Too dangerous for that. No, he'll die. I'll make sure of it. Because it's unavoidable. If he wants to get rid of nobles, then that means he would have to deal with me eventually. It's only a matter of time, and he can't kill me. I can wait. He can't change anything on the grand scale. The status quo will continue as it always has. Once he's gone, he'll be forgotten as people move onto new problems. So why put down your life for a madman and his useless cause? Do you have a family? Or did you lose one?"
Lidara blinks in surprise upon hearing the sound, his attention now going from the stairs to that device once more. His stance again relaxes, though now even more so than before, one hand now simply holding the musket at his side and his head even cocked to the side slightly now. There's a moment more of silence from him before he finally asks, "Is it supposed to do that?" There's a decent chance that he can answer that question for himself once Angus starts to remove the device though. "So... are we done here?"
"What do you care, nob?" the hyena rasps, "maybe Wildcard is off his rocker and all we can do is spit into the fire, but that's just what we're gonna do. . . " He trails off and his rasping breath rattles in his throat before he is gone.
Anticlimactic as that was, it was still pretty heart pounding for a minute there. Strange that Wildcard would mistake a music player for something more dangerous. Perhaps there was more here than meets the eye.
Zuri picks himself back up and dusts off his robe. "Like I said.. he likes to show off. He's got a bit of the flair for the dramatic, and for public spectacle." He looks at Romulus for a moment longer before turning to leave. "In his mind, giving us a fright was as much a victory as anything else he could have done."
Cara glances toward Angus and smiles, "At least Romulus will be okay." She glances over to the still unconscious hippo and turns to Angus, "I wish I didn't break my arm or otherwise I'd probably help you carry fat hippo. I wish you the best of luck in carrying him back home if he doesn't wake up."
"Well, that's delightfully petty." the raven remarks dryly, pacing around the rest of the room for whatever was being used to project. All this way and no creator tech to pilfe-er, borrow to get a better look at? Barring finding anything, Kurah would make for the door, certainly not about to volunteer to lug the pachyderm around.
Angus shrugs. "Less things I have to write paperwork about." Putting Romulus' arm over his shoulder he'll take the Hippo's weight as he starts heading towards the stairs. "Oh hey....I'm sorry I didn't get your name." He calls out to Lidara who is still holding his musket. "Could you hold onto that for just a little bit longer while I help get him down the stairs?"
Cassidy frowns softly as the being expires, shaking her head. "What a pity," she murmurs, returning her sword to its scabbard and turning to leave. She had her own things to get to. She only hoped the others were more successful in their pursuits.
Lidara finally steps away from the stairway, his eyes remaining locked on the device and shaking his head as he does so. "I can't believe that he all of this just to scare us though.... He even killed two innocent people." After a moment, the cat simply shrugs to himself before his shoulders slump slightly, his ears perk up when he's addressed though, and his attention goes to Angus now. "Sure. I'm Lidara, by the way," he pauses for a moment to examine the musket a bit closer now that things were calming down, "And this is a very nice weapon." He almost sounds a bit... disappointed. He never did get to fire it. He'd follow Angus down the stairs though, once he leaves.
