| Logs |
2011 January 12
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Taps Logs |
Bad Moon Arising
Once they're safely inside the salt circle, Suraksha slides off the stag's rump, pausing to pat Chevrefoil and thank the big deer for the lift. After that she pulls her light pack and shoulders it, glancing around happily -- she's in a surprisingly good mood! She grins suddenly as she identifies its source: she's getting small trickles of interest from the few guards who are not too nervous to glance admiringly her way. She straightens the long tunic, making sure she's decorous despite not wearing any trousers. Chanticleer slips off of Chevrefoil, not bothering to tie off the reins to a post or branch. Chevrefoil would just worry open with his mouth any knot Chanti could make, and in case something happens, Chanti would prefer Chevrefoil could make good a fast escape.
Suraksha glances out into the darkness, a thoughtful look on her face. Roy had salt laid after the moaning started. If Suraksha were an angry and malicious bokor... she'd have a threat sneaked into place in the king's encampment before she tried to stop reinforcements! Plus she'd be sure she had some way to get information regarding the encampment fed back to her. The guard with the little group is seeming somewhat nervous, but he does as he's told. The small woman smiles faintly, her eyes flashing scarlet for an instant in the reflected firelight as she follows the guard, and she opens her backpack, pulling out a sheathed blade on a belt. She buckles it about her waist -- on her diminutive form it's Bowie-knife-sized -- then pulls out a handkerchief as well, wrapping it about her right hand before she shoulders the backpack again.
Roy's tent isn't any fancier than the others. It's just a bit larger, with a pair of guards standing outside it. There's a lantern burning inside, throwing strange shadows against the walls. The man with them orders the door guards aside and sticks his head into the tent, telling the king he has visitors. There's rustling and the familiar sound of Roy's voice saying, "Visitors? Here? Who in hell..." followed by Pierce's voice, "Have they been searched?"
Suraksha laughs and calls, "Nope! I'm going to whack anyone who tries, too!"
There's a whoop of laughter and Roy tells the guard who brought them over to move aside. He sweeps out of the tent with his arms open, "Cherie!" Pierce is right on his heels and grabs Roy's shoulder, "Hold on. It looks like them."
Chanticleer arches a brow amusedly, but understandably, at Pierce's comment. Suraksha laughs and cheerfully bounces forward, throwing her arms about his neck, "Hiya, handsome!" She grins at Pierce, "I have your letter as proof, if you want?"
Pierce relaxes at that. Roy grins and scoops Suraksha up in a hug, laughing, "Damn, girl. Thought I'd get to git this done 'fore ya'll got back."
Suraksha giggles and hugs Roy tightly, "What, you thought we'd let you have all the fun without us?! Heck, no!" She looks a sight just now: slightly soggy, slightly mucky, slightly not very well dressed! She adds cheerfully, "I brought Chanti and Alg too!"
Roy is barefoot, wearing simple breeches, and with his shirt untucked. Pierce, of course, is still completely in uniform. The king sets the Hetaera down, eyes twinkling, "I see that. Also see ya'll got past the salt an' that the light's not all wrong still. Betcha had somethin' to do with that."
Suraksha's eyes are sparkling with delight, but all she says is, "And I see you're all wary of illusion -- excellent! So, may we come in?" She waves at his tent, smiling.
Chanticleer says wryly, "We met a few of the new residents." Alg snorts, simply trotting between everyone's legs to dart into Roy's tent and start to sniff around.
Roy steps aside and makes a very gallant gesture, "Sure, sure. C'mon in... Alg, Chanticleer. Good t'see ya. This's Mary and George." The guards at the tent are new. One is an exceptionally tall, pale man that seems to have a completely hairless face. The other is a short, stocky woman with dark chocolate skin and close-shorn hair. Chanticleer nods pleasantly to the two new guards, wondering briefly when Roy decided to hire on a female guard; it's not something he's known for.
Suraksha smiles and nods politely to the two new guards, murmuring, "Pleasure to meet you both," before she follows Roy in. As they enter she glances around the tent with an extremely assessing eye -- right here is where she'd expect the bokor to sneak in her ace-in-the-hole, whatever it might be. Sura wonders thoughtfully what sort of animal or entity it might be, so it could be the bokor's eyes and ears... a small poisonous snake, maybe? Just like Alg, she's casually roaming around the tent-room, looking unwittingly rather cat-like as she noses curiously about.
The inside of the tent is spartan -- as much as Roy likes his creature comforts at home, he apparently knows how to travel light. There are two bunks, two camp desks, and two camp chairs; two small chests as well. The lantern hangs from a hook in the center of the tent's ceiling. Roy steps back, "C'mon in, ya'll. Have a set-down." He pushes his hands into his pockets and grins as the goblin and the woman prowl the space, "Not much t'see."
Suraksha is running her hands over things, checking for illusion or something there that shouldn't be. She laughs softly as she murmurs, "Oh, it's what we can't see that I worry about." She thinks a moment, then draws the steel blade in her left hand, using it to lift things to peer under them before running her hands along them... like blankets or pillows. Chanticleer eyes the blade Suraksha has, and instinctively keeps some distance between him and her -- at least when she has it unsheathed. She adds a bit absently, "Chanti, tell them about our visit with Froid Jacques, would you, please?"
Pierce and Roy watch this with interest, though they don't try to stop her. The chirugeon looks intently at Chanticleer, "You went to see him?"
Chanticleer nods to Suraksha, and briefly explains to Roy what transpired when they met with Froid Jacques, concluding with, "What exactly happened to make Froid Jacques... to make it necessary to guard him? Are the other holy folk of Baton Rouge also being watched?" He isn't being challenging; he's just being curious.
The three newcomers spot the gris-gris at about the same time; Chanticleer would have seen it first had he not been talking about Froid Jacques. The bundle of feathers and twine would have been almost completely missed, tucked as it is under the furthest corner of Pierce's bunk, right against the wall of the tent. Suraksha raises an eyebrow and slides the steel blade under it, carefully backing out from under the chirugeon's bunk to pull the gris-gris out, then turning around with it on the blade, to face the two human men, "Also, we were wondering why you left him back in the city?"
Chanticleer's voice trails off as he spots it. "Oh, blast," he murmurs. Alg hisses at the nasty thing, then goes back to searching the room, muttering angrily to himself.
Pierce's eyes blaze and Roy swears in a heavy drawl that's damned near unintelligible. He snatches a pouch off one of the camp desks and pours salt over the thing. Pierce reaches for a small, sturdy flask and splashes some water on it, "To answer your question, Froid Jacques is being watched because he was the one almost killed last time. Mother Therese died three weeks ago from a sudden fever. We have the Catholique with us."
Suraksha's eyes widen in horror at the news, "Oh, no! The poor woman." She frowns, staring down at the soggy pile of salt, then murmurs softly, "Why does she hate you so, Roy? And... why did she attack us -- not you and your guards?" She glances up at Chanti and says with quiet grimness, "Keep searching, please. This Mami Chat has never struck me as the type to put all her eggs in one basket." She turns and heads off to examine the underside of Roy's cot, completely unaware of the rather nice view she's offering of her rump as she crawls underneath it. Her voice trails out from underneath it as she calls, "Go on -- we're all listening!"
Chanticleer blinks at Pierce's comment about Matre Therese. "Why do I get the feeling her fever was hardly coincidental?" he murmurs. He nods to Sura, and continues searching through the tent.
Pierce's voice is hard, "Because it was not coincidental. It was a poison. Mami Chat sent Froid Jacques a message, offering to spare him if he would join her, and telling him how she dealt with Mother Therese when she refused."
Chanticleer grimaces. "I liked Matre Therese. Mami Chat needs to be ended. Soon."
Suraksha calls out again from beneath the bed, "What sort of poison was it, please? Snake is the classic for voudon, no?" She carefully keeps the hankie wrapped about her hand... it will hopefully function as camouflage for her poison immunity, should she find a snake here. Pierce confirms it was indeed snake venom.
By the time the whole of the tent has been searched, nothing else has been found. Suraksha backs out from under the king's cot and sneezes once, then shakes her head, "Whew! All right, I feel better." She pushes her damp hair back out of her face and grins up at the others, "We've missed something in the camp, though, I'm sure. She'll want to know what's going on in the encampment, you know? There's got to be something here to be her ears and eyes." She wipes the salt and water off the blade and carefully sheathes it, then glances up at the two human men, her voice dry, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but are the both of you sure of all the guards you have here? Not that they're trustworthy -- but that they are still indeed who you think they are?"
Roy says, "Oh, I'm sure everyone here is who I think they are." He cuts his eyes toward the doorway of the tent.
Suraksha considers carefully, then brightens, "Oh, you have someone here that can see through glamour?"
Chanticleer frowns a little. "When did George and Mary join your retinue? I don't remember them, and it's not really like you to have fresh meat as your guards." He's itching to loosen his sword in his scabbard.
Suraksha blinks startledly at Chanticleer, "Fresh what?!"
Roy chuckles and says, "Yeah. Been told that was a mistake, but Miss Mary'd drop me in my boots if I tried it." He settles on the edge of his bunk, but doesn't seem to relax. Pierce shifts around until he's near the opening of the tent, "No, we don't. Chanticleer was the last sidhe on the guard." Roy grins at Sura and says, "He means female guards. Don't usually hire 'em. Too easily distracted by 'em."
Suraksha raises a very disbelieving eyebrow at that! She watches Pierce thoughtfully, then nods slowly to herself. Padding over to settle on the bunk next to Roy, she laughs with every appearance of careless relaxation, then says teasingly, "Oh, riiight... are you sure it's not because you don't want to be shown up by women, dear?" She leans to whisper to Roy after that question, her voice pitched just for his ears, "How do you check it's really them?"
Chanticleer isn't quite sure he likes the reason Roy's giving -- it's never stopped the king before. The sidhe also wonders why Pierce is moving to the entrance. He mentally makes sure he knows where his sword is. He's getting a very bad feeling about this. Suraksha smiles and beckons to Chanti, so she can whisper to him too -- although with his better hearing she knows she doesn't have to be right next to him, "Can you see through glamour, dear? I think it's the two at the door they don't trust."
Roy reaches to stroke Suraksha's hair and says, "Nah. Women been showin' me up all my life. Why would I give a damn 'bout that?" He lowers his own voice and replies to Sura's query, "Don't know, actually." Suraksha laughs at that! -although at the same time she nods slowly to Roy, considering carefully.
Chanticleer murmurs, "I usually know what to look for, sometimes." He's inwardly glad this isn't an ambush on the part of a mesmerized Roy and Pierce. He purses his lips. "Let me go check on Chevrefoil," he says a little loudly. "I'll be right back."
Suraksha brightens, bouncing to her feet, "I'll come too! Want to get the rest of my stuff." She doesn't glance at her pack, which is all she brought -- instead she holds out a hand for Alg, "Come with, please, Alg? When it's this dangerous, I get worried." She whispers to the goblin, when he's next to her, "Can you sniff the two guards outside, and tell me when we're off by Chevrefoil if they smell at all odd or strange to you, please?" Alg gallops over to Suraksha and nods once at the whisper. He snorts and snuffles around the two guards as the sidhe and the Hetaera head out of the tent, then bounces after them. The two guards seem a little puzzled by the goblin's interest; Mary seems amused, George a little irritated.
Chanticleer heads off easily to Chevrefoil, glancing briefly at the guards; it's an awkward way to look at them without appearing to be staring at them, so he isn't surprised he doesn't spot anything unusual. As he reaches Chevrefoil, he makes a bit of a to-do about checking the stag's hooves. Suraksha chatters cheerfully about nothing to Chanticleer, helping to untack the stag and shouldering one of Chanti's packs for him. When they head back to the tent, she pats Alg and waves a hand, smiling, "Go on! We'll catch up." To Chanti she murmurs softly, "Let me take your arm; I can guide you if necessary?" Alg bounds ahead after snuffling around Chevrefoil and being greeted by a couple of the guards who recognize him. Most of the camp is still asleep, but people are beginning to rise. Suraksha glances around as she guides Chanticleer back to Roy's tent, letting her ability to spot chakras flare up.
On the way back Suraksha and Chanticleer both get a good look at the two guards; Alg has already slipped into the tent with the chirugeon and the king. Mary seems utterly normal for a guard -- she's exactly what she seems to be. George, however, is not. Chanticleer is surprised; he had thought Mary would be the unusual one, in fact thinking her to be Mami Chat. But in actuality it's George who's the different one. [Some sort of half-ogre? Wow... I haven't seen one of them in years, since one was captured by the Seelie Court. I wonder what he's doing here?] He doesn't let it show on his face, though, and since he's pretty sure whomever's outside the tent can hear inside, he looks for paper and pen to write down what he saw. "Well, Chevrefoil is all right. I'd thought he'd gotten something in his hooves..."
Suraksha draws in her breath in startlement -- George's chakras are completely wrong! He has his Root and Will chakras, as well as the two for Throat and Third-Eye... but where there should be a heart, sexual, or crown chakra... nothing! The Hetaera hastily recovers, though, calling out gaily to the tent, "Ro- er, your majesty, did you happen to bring Theophile with you? I would adore some of his cooking for breakfast!" She nearly skips into the tent, then heads immediately for Roy, her eyes a little wide. She beckons Alg over, leaning to whisper to him, "Anything?"
Chanticleer finds pen and quill and starts to scribble out what he saw: Mary looks normal. George does not: Half-ogre? Alg snorts and scowls, rubbing his nose, "Everything smell like muck things." The sidhe considers: his initial concerns that Mary was Mami Chat, or some other bokor, might not necessarily be wrong. Anyone clear Mary? or George?
Suraksha laughs softly, hugging the goblin gently, "No worries, dear!" She rises to pad over silently to read over Chanti's shoulder, then nods in relief -- so that's why George looked so wrong! She borrows the pen once Chanti's done, adding, What do we do about George? then looks inquiringly at Roy, wondering if he'll answer her question.
Pierce peers at the writing as Roy laughs, "Theophile wouldn't be caught dead in the swamps any more. No, it's camp rations while we're out here, cherie." The king scratches out a reply, They were cleared by M. Therese before they started. He pauses, looks at the door and writes, Have him on door guard to keep an eye on him.
Chanticleer frowns a little at that news. That means they should be all right, except why would George hide who and what he is from Roy? Unless... no, thinking Matre Therese was actually Mami Chat would be too ridiculous and too paranoid even for him. Suraksha sighs and murmurs, "Alas! Should have stayed in town, I see." She grins -- then glances at what Roy wrote. She shakes her head firmly, tapping the word 'George' and then drawing a line with a finger across her throat as she mouths, 'not human!'
Roy frowns, thinking hard on this. He stands up and says with every evidence of jocularity, "Too bad we're on the trail or I'd toss these three out and invite you to have a little rest with me, cherie. Instead, it's starting to come on for dawn and we gotta shove on."
Suraksha laughs delightedly again, although her wary gaze is on the door. "Aww! Not even for an hour, while they're making breakfast?"
Roy scratches on the paper, Don't want to get too distracted, but I'll play along. He drawls in a very good imitation of a man looking forward to a lovely tumble, "Well... if you really wanna a quickie, cherie, we can steal an hour. Gentlemen, would you mind?"
Suraksha gives Roy a slightly exasperated grin, then takes the pen, What ARE we going to do about George?! He can't stay! Pierce takes the pen, Send him with us for breakfast. Say you want privacy.
Roy chuckles and adds, "Take Mary and George wit'chall to get some food."
Chanticleer says dryly and noticeably -- hopefully as Roy answers Suraksha, "Have there been any more sightings of the willow-men?" He glances to Pierce, frowning a little and tapping his forehead, asking indirectly if there's the possibility of some sort of mentalism -- "mind-whammy," as some of the other guards used to put it -- at work here.
Suraksha gives Pierce a puzzled look, wondering why they don't just try tossing some salt on the weird man... then she shrugs mentally -- Pierce must have a reason for taking George away with him. Once Pierce has left with the two current guards and the two former guards, Roy visibly relaxes. "Sorry 'bout that, cherie. Wanted t'ask what ideas ya had 'thout havin' t' write it all down. George's been actin' odd a week 'r two."
Suraksha says softly, "He's definitely not human. I have to ask, though -- how long ago did Mother Therese die, if she okay'd George and Mary? You've all been out here no more than two days, I know."
Roy shakes his head, "Not too long ago. They been with us since not long after ya'll left. I needed new blood after Chanti and Alg left."
Suraksha nods silently, thinking hard as she tries to remember: was George wearing the steel armor? She murmurs softly, "So... he was okay'd as a guard by Mother Therese a while ago. Then she dies, he starts acting weird... hm. Have you seen him handle salt or steel?"
Roy blinks at that, "No. Not really. Couldn't get the normal armor for him, so he wears leather. He ain't had to draw his weapon, either."
Suraksha nods quietly again, "All right. We need to get him out of the protective circle of salt. Do you want him exposed first, for morale for the other guards?"
Roy says, "Yeah, I think so. Makes most sense that way." He grins and leans in to kiss her, "Yer a jewel, cherie."
Suraksha blinks in amused perplexity, but returns the kiss cheerfully. Once Roy leans back again she grins teasingly at him, her eyes sparkling, "I'm barefoot, half-dressed, muddy and wet, I smell like swamp... and you think I'm a jewel? Are you sure you're not the one with glamour on your eyes?" Outside, the sidhe's keen hearing catches that amused comment. Chanticleer's lips quirk in a smile: Roy hasn't changed. He's still smitten with Sulochana, and he still hasn't admitted it to himself yet.
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