CH. 4: False Gods

[JadedDM]

Tulbas, Darga and Haahqae (Cult Hideout, Harbor District)
Nora raises a brow at Haahqae. "Tournament? No, they're just taking inventory of who among us can fight. We won't actually start recruiting for the giant until tomorrow. But if you like, you can assist in choosing the group then."

Kendra Greylock (Unknown location, Harbor District)
Crystal chuckles. "Not for a Holy Guard, at any rate. Anyway, we just need to wait for the signal." Up above, on one of the rooftops behind her, Kendra hears some kind of bird call. "Ah, there it is," Crystal says. She opens the door and gestures to Kendra. "After you."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra steps inside before Crystal, taking in her surroundings, as she is expecting to see a rundown building.

[Haahque]

"Ok gottit, burly duo it is" Haahqae re-iterates, answering his own question before marching off in search of these folk to help them out.

[BishGada]

Tulbas looks at the crowd searching for Biggs and Wedge. Even that it was not his original intent, he currently see them as friends, but suddenly his features turn almost desperate when Nora talks about taking the Holy Guard.
"Nora," he says hesitantly, "You know that a lot more than the Holy Guard is going to be taken down by this act. In the previous riots many innocent people were hurt and even some children were killed. Isn't there any better way to handle it? The Holy Guard already lost most of it's muscle. It loses his power with every passing moment. Shouldn't we just let them slowly fade away without any aggressive act? While they can't help the people in the city, we can offer help and charity. With the ransom money that wasn't spent on Darewind save, we can offer food and shelter, and Darewind can offer healing and leadership. This way we will take control over the city without bloodshed in no time."
To himself Tulbas takes a mind note to warn Kendra about the revolution planed for tomorrow, so she won't get hurt or even killed during the take over.

[djhyland]

Darga thinks on the man's words. "Yer probably right," he replies. "I hope that things don' get that bad, then." After an uncomfortable moment of silence, he ventures, "Th' name's Darga, an' I'm glad I kin help ya out. But ifn' ya don't mind me askin', what brings ya here ta th' Master?"

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (Unknown location, Harbor District)
Kendra steps inside expecting a rundown building. She is not in any way disappointed. The place is clearly in shambles. A thick layer of dust covers the floor (save the area by the doorway, which is marred by multiple footprints), most of the furniture has been looted and she even spots a couple of old dried blood splatters on the wall.

Her attention is largely drawn to a single desk that has been set up in the back of the room. It's clean and and in decent shape and illuminated by a couple of burning candles. None of the wax has melted yet, suggesting they were only recently lit. A man sits at the desk, his face shrouded in shadow. Two more men, both muscular and armed, stand at his sides. Their arms are crossed and their faces are covered with cowls. They appear quite intimidating.

Crystal walks in behind her and closes the door. She gestures to an unoccupied chair in front of the desk.

Tulbas, Darga and Haahqae (Cult Hideout, Harbor District)
Haahqae wanders off into the crowd, searching for a pair of heavily armed, burly men. He has little luck. There are so many people in the warehouse, but the closest he finds is a pair of men that are lightly armed, one sort of short and stout and the other tall and lanky.

Nora looks Tulbas in the eyes and shakes her head. "You should know as well as I do that the Holy Guard aren't just going to 'fade away' no matter how much we might hope so. Whether this turns violent or not is up to them. If they turn over control of the city peacefully, no bloodshed is needed. But if they try and fight, we will fight back." She shrugs. "So really, it's all up to them, not us."

The man runs a hand through his hair as he considers Darga's question. "Well, to be honest, I grew up never really thinking about the gods one way or the other. They either exist or they don't, I guess, but they had nothing to do with me, so I had nothing to do with them. I grew up on a farm to the north with my family. Praying to gods didn't help my crops grow or keep away the locusts. It didn't make the winters less harsh or keep the burning sickness from taking my oldest son. Life was hard, and we had to work hard. No time for praying," he explains. "But still, couldn't complain. We got by. It was our farm, and it might not have been the biggest or the best, but it was ours--a home. But then came the army. Men and ogres and creatures like those of nightmares. They killed my sons and took my wife and daughters. I managed to escape with nothing but the shirt on my back. There was nowhere to go but south, so I walked all the way here, surviving anyway I could."

The man looks away, a distant look in his eyes. "I did things I'm not proud of. I had to, to survive. But I finally made it. For all the good it did me. I would up on the street, starving. It was the Master's followers who took me in, gave me clothes and food. I admit, at first I didn't give two farts about some 'master' as long as I had something to eat and a warm place to sleep. But when I heard the speeches Darewind gave, when I saw all the good he was doing...and when I saw, with my own eyes, the miracles he can do, I realized that it wasn't so much hogwash like I thought. The Master is real, and he's working to save this city, he is."

[Haahque]

"Good day sirs," Haahqae begins, a little aggravated by his seeming lack of progress. "Would either of you happen to know where a pair of burly chaps going by the names of Wedge and Biggs? I'ma supposed to help them with sorting threw the recruits for my giant."

[HorizonsDream]

"This reminds me of a scene in a book," Kendra says in amusement as she takes a seat in the chair Crystal motioned to.

[JadedDM]

Tulbas, Darga and Haahqae (Cult Hideout, Harbor District)
"I'm Wedge and Biggs," says the smaller one. "Wait, no, I mean I'm Wedge. He's Biggs." He points to himself than to the taller companion.

The taller one has what appears to be a scroll and is jotting notes on it with a quill. Having not heard any of the previous exchange, he turns to Haahqae and says, "Okay, what's yer name and do you have any fighting skills?"

Kendra Greylock (Unknown location, Harbor District)
"Forgive the use of dramatics," the man sitting across from her says. "But it's often necessary in our line of work." He pauses, then shrugs. "Also, kind of fun." He lights another candle so she can see him better.

Necolai is a handsome man with brown hair and a vandyke beard. He's a large man, fairly burly, with an old scar across one cheek from his mercenary days. He's also wearing quite a bit of jewelry, including gold earrings and several pendants.

"So, I understand you wanted to leave the Holy Guard and come work for me?" he asks with a grin.

[djhyland]

Darga nods in agreement. "I don' know if'n I kin believe in all that they say th' Master can do an' such. Mebbe I just ain't been 'round long enough ta see it m'self. But I kin see as well as any that th' Master's folk are 'bout th' only ones doin' anything good fer th' people in th' town, refugees an' those from here alike. That's enough fer me ta help out as I kin."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra looks over to Crystal for a moment, with a raised eyebrow before she focuses her full attention on Necolai. "That wasn't exactly why I had in mind," she admits with a shrug. "Besides, the Holy Guard has pretty much left your...guild alone since the refugees came in," she points out. "No, I just feel that all of this, everything that is going wrong in this city, is going to hit a boiling point. When that happens, I want allies."

[Haahque]

"I'm Haahqae and yes. Wait, you're Wedge and Biggs? Or you're Biggs and he's wedge. I would have thought you'd be a bit more heavily armed, more like my good friend Kynsaton the Hero. Well no matter, we'll need all the help we can get, after all it is a giant we're up against. How is the recruitment going?"

[JadedDM]

Tulbas, Darga and Haahqae (Cult Hideout, Harbor District)
Just as Darga finishes speaking, the two boys return with the wire he asked for and hand it over to him.

Meanwhile, Wedge shrugs his shoulders at Haahqae. "Not recruiting at all. Just getting everyone's names down. I wouldn't get your hopes up, though. Most of the people who can fight wouldn't last long against a giant. I hear those things are two stories tall and can kill a man by just stepping on them."

Kendra Greylock (Unknown location, Harbor District)
"Well, you're wiser than most," Necolai says. He sticks a cigar in his mouth and then lights it up with a nearby candle, dripping a bit of wax on his desk in the process. "We've been busy ourselves, just in case this volcano does decide to burst. Speaking of which, have you heard anything to suggest that's going to happen soon?"

[djhyland]

Darga takes the wire from the boys with a nod of thanks. "Now ta get ta work..." he mumbles, and fishes around in his bag for his shiv. After retreiving it he walks about the warehouse, cutting loops of wire and using them to set snares in likely places--behind stacks of crates, in dark corners, near holes to the outside, and the like. Upon setting each snare, he baits it with a scrap of dried fish from his pack.

(OOC: Darga rolls a 10 for his set snares check, beating his score of 11. If he needs to roll more for the number of traps he sets, I'll be happy to roll more. He's breaking into the beef and fish in his backpack to bait the traps.)

[HorizonsDream]

"Well, vaguely," Kendra admits. "I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but I was given a time period when something was suppose to happen. It should be a few days from now," she explains. "As to what that something is, I don't have a clue and that makes me nervous."