| Logs |
2011 January 18
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
Don't Go Round Tonight
Suraksha blinks in amused perplexity, but returns Roy's 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 the 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.
Pierce looks at Chanticleer after they've left the tent, "What willow-men were you asking after, Chanticleer? There was moaning and the light went odd-colored, but we got the salt down after that and there's been no actual attack."
Chanticleer blinks to Pierce. "You don't know?" he asks curiously. Then he describes the willow-men, and the fight that took place. He neglects to mention the part where Suraksha turned into a tiger.
Pierce listens to this story with consternation showing briefly on his features, "This isn't good. We'll need to stay inside the salt until the sun is good and up."
Chanticleer nods. "I had thought you knew about them," he says apologetically, "else we'd have mentioned them a lot sooner."
Pierce nods and says, "Of course. It would be reasonable to assume they had attacked here. Fire worked to kill them, yes?"
Chanticleer nods, "Fire worked very well. We managed to avoid being hit but I imagine getting hit by them would... hurt."
Pierce nods, keeping half an eye on the half-ogre in glamour that's with them, "We should put several good archers out front with fire arrows. We don't want to burn the swamp down around us."
Chanticleer nods in agreement, then murmurs to Pierce, "How many of this complement are people Roy can really and truly trust? And why did he bring anyone with him whom he doesn't?"
Pierce thinks on that a moment, "Pretty much everyone here. There are a few unknowns, less than a half-dozen. We brought them so they weren't back in the palace."
Chanticleer makes a quiet sound and nods. "Understandable. Anyone we should be especially-but-not-obviously watching?"
In the tent, Roy looks Sulochana over and says, "Sugar, I been in worse shape than that. And bein' all-over mud don't make ya enny less beautiful."
Suraksha laughs aloud at that! She's still grinning mischievously as she wriggles into his lap -- they are, after all, supposed to be, ahem, enjoying themselves -- then whispers to the king, "Flatterer. So, who put this tent up, please? And who has access to it?" She adds in explanation as she loops a cuddling arm about Roy's neck, "That gives us our parameters as to who to suspect regarding the gris-gris."
Roy wraps his arms around Sulochana and carefully pushes her hair out of the way so he can nuzzle a less-splattered section of her neck, "Mmm... dunno who put it up. I din't watch. Most anyone wants to talk to me has access to it. I ain't all standoffish with my men."
Suraksha snorts amusedly, "Well, that's certainly helpful!" She giggles, then murmurs softly, "All right. So the goal now is simply to expose George's being a half-ogre. We should likely give him a chance to 'fess up and ask for sanctuary -- simply tossing him out seems... well, a bit harsh to me?"
Roy smirks, "Naw. A bit harsh would be a knife in his back while he's grabbing his chow."
Suraksha blinks a bit startledly at Roy, leaning away enough that she can see his face -- and accidentally interrupting his nuzzling, "Er... you are joking, yes?"
Roy mmfs at Suraksha and snorts, "'Course I am." He considers, "It would be harsh, though."
Suraksha giggles and hugs Roy in relief, "All right! Just checking. Um, what next..." She thinks a bit, then grins and says softly, "Come out, please, Alg? I need your help in this set-up."
There's a moment of silence... then the goblin slides nonchalantly out from under Pierce's bed. A little defensively he mutters, "Lady need guarding!" Roy jumps and swears shortly when Alg appears from under the bed, "Dammit! I'm gonna hafta start having someone check under my bed at night."
Suraksha giggles at Roy as she leans to offer Alg a hug, "Sorry, sorry!" To the goblin she says, "I know, sweetie -- I'm not upset, promise! But we'll need your help with this, I think. Let me give you the plan, and then you can whisper to Chanti what he needs to be ready for, all right?" Alg smirks smugly at Roy... then the Hetaera quietly whispers to the goblin. He nods when she's done, then scampers off. 'Chana turns back to Roy, clearly struggling not to laugh, and trying (not very successfully) to look remorseful.
Roy mutters quietly as Alg leaves. He lets his hand stray down to rest half on Sulochana's hip and half on her derriere. "Too bad our time alone is jest a facade, cherie. I can ask around to see who put up the tent, though -- or have someone ask around."
Suraksha grins cheerfully up at Roy as she gently pushes him to sit back down, "Oh, no worries there! I can keep us busy for a bit, and we'll find out soon enough on the tent, I suspect."
Outside, Alg leans around Chanti, studying the open pot at the fire -- then instead of grabbing at it, he accepts a bowl of food from one of the guards who knew him previously. The goblin sits next to Chanti, eating a bit before he leans to mumble very softly to the keen-eared sidhe, "Lady need crossbows ready soon."
Chanticleer nods imperceptibly to Alg and murmurs, "Thank you, Alg. We will." He looks to Pierce and murmurs, "We'll need to get the trusted soldiers armed with crossbows soon. Sulochana thinks there might be trouble coming, probably from the willow-men. We'll need bolts, pitch, and fire." Pierce nods and motions over a dark-skinned, scar-faced man, giving the man a list of names and telling him to have them brought over. To another man he gives orders on rounding up the weapons and supplies they'll need. Chanticleer considers, then says to Pierce, "Alg and I are going to do a quick look around the camp. We should make sure that nothing... untoward has come in and taken the place of any of the guards. We'll be ready when the time is right."
Alg gulps down the last of his food, then drops the bowl -- housecleaning is not his strong suit -- and bounds along after Chanticleer. When they're a bit away from the other guards, Alg updates Chanticleer: Sulochana is going to try to expose George while giving him a chance to 'fess up. If not, though -- he has to go out over the salt ring. Alg adds absently as he's sniffing around, "Lady say 'member salt stop magic, not fight."
Chanticleer nods grimly as they begin to look in the places where someone might stash a body. "Right. Anything physical can cross over it freely. Thanks, Alg." He glances around, and adds wryly, "I'm guessing you don't much miss working for Roy either."
The goblin cackles, slapping one clawed hand against his furry chest, "Alg great hunter! Stupid armor no more!" Then he cheerfully snorts and snuffles around, checking for anything untoward -- hunting, he's good at. Chanticleer smirks quietly and goes after Alg, keeping his eyes open.
There are no human corpses about the place. Here and there, however, places are becoming visible outside the salt ring that say there was something waiting there: broken twigs, stirred-up mud. There are more than two dozen such places and they would have been invisible from inside the ring of salt late at night. Alg finds two more of the gris-gris and dances gleefully each time. Both gris-gris are in places around the edge of the camp that would have been well hidden in shadow at night. The goblin prances smugly around Chanticleer as they head back, quite proud of himself. He'd enjoyed being the helpful cause of the consternation which accompanied each discovery, with men shouting and swearing, pouring salt and holy water on the nasty little items.
Chanticleer is glad when the gris-gris are destroyed, but of more vital concern is how they got there and who has been sneaking around the camp. With the number of gris-gris they've found so far it's starting to look unpleasantly like a trap. There doesn't seem to be an actual pattern to them, though. One of the things is found next to where the horses are picketed. One is found outside a random guard's tent, which just happened to be well-shadowed. Pierce is quite unhappy with finding more malicious objects inside the ring of safety; he says, "We need to unmask anyone unfriendly that we can. How would we do that?"
Chanticleer grimaces. "I'm not sure," he says to Pierce. "This isn't my forte. But we need to find out soon." He starts to say, 'At this point I wouldn't necessarily rule out anyone who's been with Roy for a long time,' but realizes how presumptuous that may sound -- especially to Pierce.
Around the time the second gris-gris is being uncovered, Roy and Sulochana emerge from the tent. The king has the demeanor of someone feeling quite good about himself, but with a lot of energy locked up -- Hetaerae, after all, are very good at the art of the tease. Sulochana is bubbly with amusement, giggling at something Roy's said as she emerges with him. She brightens at sight of the food, "Oh, breakfast! Mm, hungry," and heads on over. She grins at Roy as she collects a bowl of the hearty meal, "Want me to bring you one too?"
Alg looks up alertly, then pokes Chanti, hissing softly, "Ready now!" before he scampers over to crouch warily next to the Hetaera. She has placed herself so she has an easy route to the salt-edged circle.
Chanticleer nods to Alg, then looks to Pierce as he moves to the crossbows, "It's time," he says quietly. "She's going to confront George; he may not like that." Pierce nods to Chanti and quietly spreads a few of the trusted guards around George and Mary. Mary herself is one of the unknowns, but only because of her lack of tenure. She's not had time to prove herself.
Roy laughs and sighs at Sulochana's query, "Well, it's calories or sleep. So calories it is." He hangs back a little as she moves toward the food, appreciating the sight. Then he notices the place is in an uproar.
Sulochana laughs and collects another bowl for the king, as well as his eating utensils from the cook. She looks around her thoughtfully as she waits for the second bowl, studying what people are using to eat with. Shared utensils such as bowls are wood or pewter, but the eating tools are personally owned -- and thus express individual preference. The Hetaera is looking for someone who has a steel spoon, and personally verifying George is not using one such.
When they're handed to her, 'Chana sees Roy's utensils are of nicely forged and polished steel. Further, George -- like many of the men -- has a utensil that's halfway between a fork and a spoon and is carved out of wood. Making these things is something to do around campfires at night.
Suraksha also collects a bit of salt for the stew from the cook, thanking him with a mischievous grin. She appears to be having a bit of trouble juggling everything -- two bowls, the little paper twist of salt, and the handful of steel utensils. She finally ends up balancing them awkwardly between her arms and the side of her body, so she can use her teeth to tear open the twist of salt she's got pinched between two fingers. Unfortunately the stew starts to slop, and she gives a startled squeak -- just as the salt twist tears and goes flying towards George's face! Sulochana tries to catch it, and things go flying every which-ways. The young woman is fumbling for the bowls -- she manages to save one -- as she gasps, "Look -- look out!" One of the bowls of stew upends on poor George, while a heartbeat later the steel utensils flip and fall into his lap. She blinks at George, biting her lower lip in anxiety, "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry! Are you all right?"
Mary swears as that happens, but only because there's a sudden burst of movement. Her immediate reaction is to move between Sulochana and the creature that has suddenly erupted form George's seat. Ogres are not pleasant-looking creatures and half-ogres aren't less ugly; they're simply smaller -- and that's what everyone is suddenly faced with. The angry half-ogre flails with outsized arms to get rid of the steel in his lap and the salt in his face. Sulochana darts back gracefully to put the fire between them, putting down the remaining bowl and then straightening. Her voice is calm, "George, take it easy. I apologize. Are you all right?"
Chanticleer remains calm; George hasn't done anything at all yet to warrant being brought down, or even cursed at. What he does in the next few moments, though, will determined what happens to the half-ogre. The sidhe has a crossbow at hand; a sword would be better, to his thinking, and more proper, but a crossbow-bolt would reach George faster than Chanti and his sword could. Alg is snarling quietly, but sticking close to Sulochana -- he's also waiting for the half-ogre's response.
The half-ogre comes up swinging and keeps on swinging. He throws himself at Sulochana with a roar, snarling through a mouth of misshapen teeth, "Stupid woman!" There are welts on his skin from the salt and the steel and he's lunging forward with frightful speed and strength. Chanticleer brings up the crossbow, shouting, "George!" If it looks like that doesn't make the half-ogre stop and reconsider charging Sulochana, the sidhe will fire.
Suraksha whirls without hesitation and runs for the edge of the salt circle! Alg darts to one side... and just before the edge 'Chana falls to the ground and rolls back towards the ogre right behind her, trying to trip him up. The goblin roars and leaps forward, smashing all his weight as hard as he can into the backs of George's knees as well -- and carefully staying low, as instructed. Chanticleer blinks and... does not fire. He'd forgotten how agile Sulochana is. He keeps the crossbow ready just in case. George moves to follow Suraksha and finds himself suddenly in the midst of several crossbows and being tackled by something very much akin to a whirlwind with fur and teeth.
Suraksha rolls away as quickly as possible, coming up into a crouch and hastily pushing her hair out of the way to check on Alg. She also checks she's got crossbow wielders around her before she relaxes a bit. She takes a deep breath, then calls, "Alg, come away now, please? George, please calm down. Let us help you, all right?"
George, or the creature that has taken George's place, is squealing in pain, having landed on the salt circle -- but he's no longer attacking. It might look just as dangerous, however. Sulochana sighs, shaking her head as she rises. She grabs a bucket of water and calls to Pierce, "Re-lay the salt circle so he's outside it -- he needs to be rinsed down before he's hurt worse!" Then she heads over and carefully tosses water over the half-ogre, trying to rinse the salt off it as Pierce hastily runs a new line of salt to exclude the soggy area. The Hetaera is cautiously staying to one side as well, so she's not between the half-ogre and the crossbowmen. The goblin bounds back to 'Chana's side, still growling through a mouthful of fangs, and hackles raised.
Chanticleer keeps the crossbow aimed at George, though he is relaxing a little. At this point... it's all up to George. He holds himself ready, just in case George decides to lunge for Suraksha again. The half-ogre thrashes as he's drenched with water, which washes the salt along his skin before washing it away. He howls with a thunderous voice that would echo if the swamp were not so close. Roy is watching all of this with seeming shock and actual dismay. Sulochana looks unhappy -- she hadn't wanted to hurt the poor thing so. She glances at Pierce, "Is there anything else we can do for him?"
George's howl is getting more angry than pained now and he lurches to his feet, but then pauses at the circle of salt. He puts his hands up and pushes at the air, only to have them stop at the perimeter. Through his enormous teeth he snarls, "You can't keep us all out forever."
Sulochana blinks at George, "Keep out you all who?"
Not-George snarls again and says, "All of Mami Chat's people." He eyes the crossbow wielders and says, "You'll see them soon enough if you just keep going this way." He sounds smug -- or as smug as a creature with only half a soul can.
Sulochana sets down the water bucket and considers the half-ogre for a moment, where he stands just a few feet from her. "Why are you all attacking Roy? Why does Mami Chat hate him so?" Chanticleer narrows his eyes and aims his crossbow carefully. The half-ogre is one of Mami Chat's people; as soon as he looks like he's going to run or stop talking, the sidhe will fire. They don't have time for this, and for all they know George may be trying to distract or delay them.
The half-ogre says, "Ask her yourself..." He gives another of his horrible smiles and starts to back away, "You'll be meeting her soon enough. At least some of you will."
Suraksha calls after the half-ogre, "Tell her I'd like to talk to her, then, please! This isn't making sense." Chanticleer's finger twitches on the trigger, then loosens a little. If Sulochana wants George to bring a message it won't help to shoot George. Sulochana picks up the bucket and turns pragmatically back towards the fire, letting her ability to see chakras flare up. She's curious as to who, if anyone, might also be working for the female bokor, so she visually sweeps the small crowd as she says exasperatedly, "All right, anyone else working for Mami Chat here?"
There is a wave of voices assuring Suraksha -- and the glowering King Roy -- that they are not with Mami Chat. Roy himself turns to not-George and says, "Who killed the real George?" Sulochana turns to look at not-George as well for the answer to that one.
Not-George snorts, "Dunno. Don't care..." He's starting to back up toward the woods, "Salt doesn't keep everything out, little king."
The small woman nods once to herself; that reply is true, as far as the half-ogre knows. She calmly turns back to retrieving and cleaning Roy's steel utensils, so she can get them both some breakfast. To Roy she says, "So I have to ask: where are you all planning on going in this swamp?"
Roy says, "South. Down past Lafayette's place. She's deep in the swamps... unless of course, she's fifteen feet from here."
Sulochana grins over her shoulder at Roy, "That's my bet! Why don't you just wait for her here? You're comfortably settled, right? She knows where you are... so why leave the protective circle when you don't have to?"
The king says, "I don't know about comfortable, but we're settled." He raises his voice, calling for several people to start pulling things together into a fortified circle.
Chanticleer murmurs to Suraksha, "Buttressing here... it's defensible, but she can take her time about coming at us."
'Chana laughs again, bringing a bowl of stew over to Roy, "Here, handsome. Eat something." She has her own bowl as well, and she'll borrow one of Roy's utensils he's not using to eat hers. As she does so she glances to Alg and Chanticleer, nodding, "Yeah, but... is it better to leave the circle and let illusion and attack pick the guards off one at a time? You heard what the half-ogre said. I'm guessing she's already set up ambushes, y'know?" She frowns as she adds, "I want to know why she attacked us instead of Roy, too."
Chanticleer nods, "We saw evidence of movement and hiding around the encampment, in addition to several gris-gris." Now things have calmed down he explains quickly and comprehensively what Alg and he found in and around the encampment.
Sulochana eats with swift tidiness, her expression grim as she listens and nods. She praises Alg for his keen hunting skills, causing the goblin to preen a little, and sighs to Chanticleer, "Now the question becomes: could all of those gris-gris have been placed by fake-George? What happened to real George? Also, what was watching here? If there were over two dozen observation posts out there, why did we see only four willow-men?"
Roy says, "Some of her critters mighta got loose. Went hunting whatever they could find." Pierce adds grimly, "Or their orders were to kill any humanoids not protected in a certain way."
Sulochana absently runs her fingertips lightly over her lower lip as she listens, then nods, "That's... actually a very good suggestion, Pierce. I still want to talk to her, though. Too much doesn't make sense here, you know?"
Chanticleer considers, "I don't think fake-George was subtle enough to lay the gris-gris in camp, at least unnoticed. We also found no bodies, so he joined this group probably sometime before they encamped."
Sulochana gives the sidhe an appalled look, "Dear heavens, do you know what that means, Chanti?! It means there's someone else here working for Mami Chat too! Fake-George has been with this group for at least a week, according to Roy!" She looks around the encampment and sighs frustratedly, "But if it's a coerced or willing human... how do we tell?!" She sighs again, this time in bleak amusement, "Well... it'll be something to keep us all occupied while we wait for her, I guess. Any suggestions?"
Roy wolfs down his breakfast and says, "Besides going around touching everyone with..." He pauses, "Actually, that's not a bad idea." He calls Pierce over and arranges for every man in the encampment to touch a steel dagger.
Chanticleer considers 'Chana's question. "Tricks, mostly," he says. "Having them touch steel will at least show who's glamoured... and some creatures aren't affected by cold iron."
Sulochana grins at Roy, "Umm... mind if we exclude Chanti, please?" She draws her dagger, running her fingers lightly over the flat of the blade in front of Pierce, then crouching so Alg can touch it too. The goblin smirks as he does so, clearly proud it doesn't bother him as it does the half-ogre. Sulochana blinks at Chanti, then gets a very thoughtful look as people move about purposefully to fulfill Roy's orders. Finally she says softly to Chanticleer, "You know more about the fey than I, dear. Does holy water affect those who aren't affected by steel, by any chance?"
Chanticleer purses his lips and says carefully, "There's... superstitions... in the Courts about holy water and fae, but not much more. But it could have an effect on others. Like the willow-men."
Pierce thinks about it, "Holy water is said to affect zombies and other creatures called back from the dead. Or creatures made by what used to be called black magic."
Sulochana nods silently, considering... then grins up at the sidhe and the doctor, "All right! I'm thinking later tonight we might try something with that." She looks around at the tense, wide-eyed guards, realizing their morale is starting to flag. She laughs aloud, clear and rippling, and calls out teasingly to the guards, "Are you all getting nervous? Fear is Mami Chat's tool, you know -- are we going to do her work for her, or are we going to laugh in her face for fearing to meet and talk with us?" Her voice grows more powerful, more challenging as she speaks.
The guards who are gathered up and brought to touch the dagger all seem to be able to do so with no problems. Still, they are effectively trapped inside the circle and waiting for the bokor to come to them; tension is indeed the default state for most of them. Those closest to the perky and convincing woman feel their spirits lift slightly, and that starts a ripple effect through the camp.
Sulochana will suggest bustling activity to Chanti, Roy, and Pierce. Small groups exiting during the sunlit day to go forage for firewood or hunt, accompanied by one of the non-humans if possible, will keep everyone busy and alert. She volunteers to go as well, and while she's not out with the others she'll cheerfully sing and entertain the guards. She's deliberately half-teasing, choosing songs to make them all laugh:
So don't go out tonight!
Well, it's bound to take your life!
There's a bad moon on the rise!
Chanticleer makes himself shed his concern and worry. He's seen knights holed up in redoubts for too long, and what it can do to morale. First: They should be kept busy, and second: They should make the place defensible. He talks it over with Sulochana, Roy, and Pierce: While it's light out they should start to build bulwarks or ditches topped with at least a low wooden wall or stakes, with a 'moat' -- really a narrow line -- of salt. He asks them if this is a good thing; if so, he starts to work with the awake guards to plan and prepare for it. Again, better to be kept busy. There'll be more than enough time to wait and let fear and worry gnaw at them.
Throughout it all Chanticleer projects confident good humor, as if nothing Mami Chat can throw at them will faze them. Inwardly he can feel worry making his stomach churn; but that won't help. Outwardly he is trying to be an example of confidence for the other soldiers. Roy is also careful to keep up a good appearance of humor and confidence. Only those that stay with him through the day get to see the nerves running through his demeanor.
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