Previously...
A brief respite during an Autumn rain has given Bujilli the opportunity to gather his thoughts. The chill gray killing rains pass. As does whatever was prowling behind it. The sun doesn't come out, but there are a few street lights still working in this area. The electric kind. The ones that are supposed to drive away the bad things. When they work.
Bang!
"More damned gonnes..." Leeja hissed.
"Upstairs." Bujilli looked out the doorway. The rain had washed away most of the blood except for what was spattered across the wall just below the eaves. A light fog was rolling in now that the rain had passed. It was a good time to leave this place.
Boom!
Bujilli could smell the reek of burnt powder. He hated the smell.
There was a loud crash in the back. Towards the stairs.
He looked out past the front door. Rain washed cobblestones, fog curling around the base of streetlights, the way back to the Academy. He glanced back at the archway, the boarded-over and barricaded entrance to the corridor leading back to the stairs. His eyes met Leeja's gold-green stare.
Hesitation kills. His Uncle had taught him that from an early age.
Bujilli strung his bow. Pulled out an arrow. One of the wickedly barbed-headed ones he'd found beneath Idvard's Keep.
"I say we do a little hunting."
Leeja smiled beatifically. Like an angel. Of death.
The way through the barricade was not difficult to discover. Whomever had erected the barrier had been trying to discourage casual inspection more than really hold-off any sort of a horde. A really fortified position would not always look all that daunting. Until it was too late. This sort of thing was more a statement. A designation of territory. The sort of thing he'd expect from a gang.
Only there wasn't very much graffiti in this place.
No one had camped-out down on the ground floor before. They both knew this from having checked the place out thoroughly.
Locals tended to avoid the place from the looks of things.
Bujilli climbed up and over the sturdiest bit of the barrier. Leeja beat him to other side, but he had no idea how she did it. She just smiled, turned and got on with the hunting.
He did his best to move as quietly as he could. She moved like a ghost.
The stairs. Blood. A body crumpled at the bottom. One arm caught-up in the railing.
Crumple.
Scraping noises. Heavy footsteps. Furniture shifting. Someone was rifling the place upstairs.
Bujilli checked the body. Warm. But dead. Half the guy's guts were strung along back up the stairs. It stank.
They were up the stairs in what felt like three steps.
crackBoom!
Leeja's gonne interrupted the investigative process.
Two dirty, bedraggled kids stood staring at Leeja.
"Yu Yu You shot Zeddy!"
"I wasn't going to shoot the wall. It wasn't doing anything wrong." Leeja began to nonchalantly reload her gonne.
"But we didn't do nothin' to you..."
"What are you looking for, if I might ask? I'm curious what could be up here that you'd kill to get your hands on it."
The floorboards creaked. Bujilli turned. Drew. Released.
His arrow took the would-be ambusher right between the eyes. Silently he swore. He should have hit them in the throat. His aim was a little off still. He could use some practice with the new bow.
He drew another arrow.
"Any more of you around? I don't like wasting arrows."
"N No. Just us. Now."
Someone crashed through one of the windows in the next room. Making good their escape.
Bujilli laughed.
"What are you going to do with us?"
"We could sell them to the Butchers..." Leeja teased.
"Look. We didn't know you were looking after this old place. We...we didn't mean no disrespect. Honest."
"So what brings you here?" Bujilli lowered his bow just a little bit.
"We--"
"Shut up Trizzi!" The smaller one, a girl with unevenly spaced eyes, slapped her partner.
The taller one, a boy painfully thin with washed-out gray eyes stopped talking. Began to stare at their mud-caked feet.
The little one glared at them.
Hatefully.
"Doesn't look like they're the talkative type." Leeja sighed in resignation and disgust. As if she thought somehow that she ought to be used to this crap by now.
"You're bluffing." Accused the filthy little girl. She was terribly upset.
"We'd rather not kill you if it's not necessary..."
"Your idea of necessary. Not ours. Not mine." Spat the child.
Her eyes went wide in shock. A faint glimmer ran through her.
"You're the ones that drove out the werms. Oh No! Trizzi RUN!"
The little one flung herself towards the nearest window. Her partner wasn't so quick. Leeja grabbed them by the shoulder.
"Please don't hurt me." Whined the skinny-kid. Then he bit Leeja's hand. The kid had lots and lots of really sharp teeth. All of them filed to points.
Leeja yowled more in shock than anything. Blood sprayed. She jerked back. The kid fell to the side of the window. An arrow through the throat. His blood was a noxious, unhealthy greenish-black oil that reeked of horrible things.
Bujilli went to Leeja. She was swearing in some language he couldn't follow. He examined her wound. It was minor. Superficial. She had reflexively pulled back before the kid could really sink his teeth in.
They wrapped her hand with clean wool and bound it with a couple of rags.
Then they both got out of there.
Those weren't really kids. If they ever had been born human...they were something completely other now.
They also weren't alone.
Down the street and behind the corner someone was pounding on makeshift drums. The sound carried oddly in the fog. But the malevolent intent was unmistakable.
Once they reached the open street Bujilli and Leeja ran for their lives...
Series Indexes
About Bujilli (What is This?) | Who is Bujilli? | How to Play
Bujilli's Character Sheet | Leeja's Character Sheet | Cast of Characters
Bujilli's Spells | Little Brown Journals | Loot Tally | House Rules
Series Two (Episode 20-36)
Series Three (Episodes 37-49)
Series Four (Episodes 50-68)
Series Five (Episodes 69-99)
Series Six(Episodes 100-ongoing)
Labyrinth Lord | Advanced Edition Companion
Series Six(Episodes 100-ongoing)
Labyrinth Lord | Advanced Edition Companion
I hope they're on the way to the Academy now. Does Leeja know where exactly they are? If she's lost her bearings, maybe Counsel can help. Could Counsel check her hand for infection too? It sounds like that wound has potential to turn nasty.
ReplyDeleteThat said, them keeping their eyes open for interesting diversions on the way, if those diversions seem reasonably safe, could be valuable. We don't know who Bujilli can truly trust and he might be in and around the Academy for a while. What he learns about Wermspittle out and about now could prove useful later.
Trey and Entirely Too Perky both suggested dealing with Gudrun next, and ETP mentioned visiting Gnosiomadus and Hedrard. I back that. The connections here are intriguing, especially with Sprague's dreaming about Bujilli and the Muck Raker. They ought to hurry too, because Mrs Cave might have means and reason to get word to Gudrun that they're coming.
It's wide open. They certainly do intend to head back to the Academy, but things rarely follow straight lines in Wermspittle. They could try to find Gnosiomandus, go see Sprague, or head back to Hedrard...or even go see Beatrice Eberhard if so desired. Gudrun is enrolled at the academy. So tracking her down won't be the problem. Gudrun knows they are coming. She knows.
DeleteAs for Leeja's hand, yes Counsel will prove itself helpful. Bujilli can remove the infection using a scaled-back version of his Green Fire Purging spell. If they make some time to attend to this matter. Or they can hire the services of a healer, street-surgeon, or some quack with a 'clinic' out back. The sound isn't particularly nasty, but the teeth still lodged in it are. Bujilli didn't notice them previously because they have burrowed into the muscle to hide. They exude a form of anesthetizing agent to allow them to do this without causing convulsions, which would be a dead give-away that something is wrong, for most people. The wound itself is really minor, but the teeth are eventually going to be a problem and so far Leeja has not been able to rid herself of them. Some form of intervention is going to have to take place.
A 'Puller could remove the things with a good pair of Werm-pliers for a small fee. If you let them keep the teeth they just might pull them for free.
There are shabby old goules who spend their nights along the edges of New Morgue Square playing chess and basically just staring morosely at the passers-by. some of them make a few coins every now and then by drawing out things like those teeth. They tend to be messy, but they do promise to get every last bit of the foreign matter out of the wound. Just don't watch how they do it. They tend to be self conscious. Performance anxiety, after a fashion.
Midwives and most bar-tenders can help out, for a price. The Midwives usually stitch things up much more neatly, but bar-tenders give you stuff to take your mind off of whatever it was that you were talking about.
Surgeons are a good option, so long as you know how to determine who has legitimate credentials, currently up-to-date licensure and who is a fraud or pretenders. The operating parlors closer to the Academy tend to be more legitimate, also more expensive. Those down along the Low Streets tend to have working relationships with the Butchers...
Aside from the matter of Leeja's wound, Bujilli needs new armor. It might be a good idea to go see some sort of armorer, haberdasher, or outfitter of some sort to see what is available. There might be a small alley-way market or two to check out along the way. Leeja knows a few shops and so far has not lost her bearings, but there are some streets, some of the Low-Streets in particular that no one really ever knows their way around. Things have a tendency to get a bit fluid, indeterminate in some of the softer areas...
There is a kindly old Nagrothean merchant down along Machen Street who'd be greatly pleased to make their acquaintance. And there is a really famous leathery over on Mordiggi Boulevard...
Based on what even your most recent post has to say about the Butchers, it might be best to avoid those Low Streets.
DeleteLetting Leeja decide how quickly and where they deal with the tooth seems fair. Maybe she's heard of things like this or has someone she trusts enough to try.
I don't want to hog the decision-making this week so I'll let others jump in with suggestions or questions first.
Will you need any rolls made?
If they're within range of the Academy (and Bujilli / Counsel determine the teeth don't have to be removed immediately) Hedrard could most likely extract the teeth from Leeja's hand and would probably let them keep some, if they're of any value.
ReplyDeleteBujilli needs to balance what Leeja says about her wound with what he sees. The anesthetizing agent might have an effect on her decision-making abilities as well as on her pain sensitivity. If they need to come out sooner he could consider studying and casting Dissolve or Remove from his Journals (learning the spell, not burning it up). Both spells are "Restricted to Surgeons and Medical Professionals." Maybe once he learns them he could adapt them so as to avoid any repercussions. Also, he should ask Counsel if it has any spell suggestions for removing the teeth. It has helped Bujilli adjust known spells to fit specific needs in the past.
Once a course of action for Leeja's wound is decided they should find some better armor for Bujilli, preferably before returning to the Academy. Gudrun knows they're coming and might ambush them as soon as they arrive, or even when they're just plain close.
I rolled 5d20s on the widget in the sidebar and got 20, 18, 12, 19, 16.