Of Blighted Dwarves and Unfriendly Wizards

[Iolan Kephla]

He swore, hands tightening almost painfully over Eddie's wound, his blood pounding in his ears. Who did she think she was to talk down to him? He almost smiled as she stubbed her toe kicking the other one, wishing he still had his teeth in to feel the pain. It was a reflex and owed little to conscious thought; he needed the pain to keep his mind off the rage welling up within him at times. Being sharp kept him alive and rage, while fun, made him sloppy if it went unchecked. He also had to remind himself, increasingly, that that ceaselessly irritating woman was his current meal ticket and he did so enjoy eating. Swallowing his next retort, he just spat and turned to where Pippa was approaching.

"He's cut deep," Iolan growled, "not much I can do besides lean here."

Passing him off to more experienced hands as quickly as possible, he wiped the blood off on a rag and picked up his rifle, reloading while his employer swore at a prone figure who had offended her sensibilities. The sounds of fighting were trailing off now, replaced by cries of pain and the occasional drawn out scream cut off as someone finished them off, but there was still a chance, and he levelled his rifle with care, taking up position to cover both Pippa and the woman. There could still be another gun out there and he wanted to at least look ready.

[Deer]

The dull sound of flesh and leather hitting wood drifted towards Deer’s not-quite-ears, followed swiftly by a string of rather interesting curses. His eyes slowly left the beautiful sight of the sky, swiveling to land on Ysoria hopping around like a crazed rabbit. Though he could not move the expression on his face, the frozen half-smile that he wore gave the impression that he was enjoying the spectacle.

Deer slowly rose up from his prone position, sitting cross-legged with his arms calmly resting on his laps. He made almost no sound as he moved, only a dull creak and the swish of clothes coming from him. Now was the time to try and talk once again to the mage it seemed, now that she was no longer running up and about or threating him, but seemed rather interested in or spooked by him. Though she could as well be really bored he supposed, facial expressions were never easy for him. Nonetheless he focused his energy and sent yet another message to the mage.

“Mage, I hope I finally have your attention, if you can hear this please move your head up and down. I am not a threat to you, and I hope that you do not view me as one”

Done with that bit of business he kept the link open as he awaited a reply. To their side it appeared that Pippa knew what she was doing after all. Eddies breathing while still quite ragged seemed to be stabilizing, and the cut was not bleeding as much as it was some minutes ago, the once fresh wave of blood reducing to a lake running over banks of dried blood. If all went well and there were no more interruptions perhaps Eddie would survive the night after all.

[Ysoria]

Ysoria jerked back with a quiet, strangled noise, swatting at her ears as if at some biting fly. She shook her head a couple times, and held the knife forward. "Stay where you're at, then, and you'll not have any trouble." Her tone was lofty and stern at the same time, untouched by the troubled expression she wore. In the dim light, she didn't seem to take him for more than yet another ruffian.

Her free hand remained by her ear as she pressed at it like there was something distinctly off with it. "Iolan," her tone went a different sort of hard, capped with a very sharp edge, "how does it go?"

She wouldn't harangue Pippa, that was for certain. Iolan, however . . . well, they were settling into a pattern quite nicely, weren't they?

[Iolan Kephla]

Things were calming down in some respects, but by the Ancestors, Iolan could practically taste the fear in the air. Battles were odd things like that and he wondered, without bitterness, whether young Eddie had gotten his fill or if he'd need more stories to sate his appetite. The lad could have used the experience at any rate, both to settle him and to learn him what the world was like. Too many of these merchant types, and here he spat, with their perfumes, their powders and their fine silks, lived in a bubble with no concept of the blood shed to earn their coin. Big Eddie seemed an alright sort, having come to trade by the back door with the other grunts, but there were still hints about him. Having a family did that to people; they got soft, sentimental... Weak.

He turned at the motion of the other... Thing, bringing his rifle to bear on it in the same motion. He disliked strangers instinctively, and those that turned up at night, reeking of magic, like this one, he liked even less. It had been marinating in that box for Ancestors knew how long too, which only added to the stink. It was an unknown entity, a complication, and if he was reading the situation correctly then it was a complication that didn't look like it was going to get less complicated or leave. So, he responded like any fighter would when presented with an uppity civvy that they weren't allowed to kill, and watched like a hawk, his rifle aimed squarely at its chest.

He snarled at the woman's question, only refraining from rolling his eyes because it would take them off the thing. She was his employer and she controlled the purse strings, but more and more he wondered what her use was beyond nagging him. She did not fight, she did not scout and all she did was complain and imply that it was all his fault. If he'd had his teeth in, he would have ground them in frustration. Turning slightly, he rose and moved so that both the thing and Pippa were in his arc.

"Like shit on a slate," he said, looking to Pippa. "Bleeding has slowed and he's breathing easier. He'll make it. No sign of the young'uns."

He took a knee again, grimacing in discomfort, and settled his rifle more securely against his shoulder.

"Anyone care to explain that thing? Or will I blast it for good measure?"

[Deer]

Success. He had finally made contact with the mage, perhaps now he could find how where he was, and how far from Corezo he was. He noted the knife held firmly in his face, it seemed that while she could hear him, she didn’t quite trust him, not yet anyway. It did not matter, any damage that came from the knife would be minimal at best and the thought of her attacking him wasn’t that worrying. He trusted her, she had helped him.

The human on the other hand seemed rather agitated, if his raising a rifle in Deer direction was anything to go on. He demanded an explanation, one that Deer couldn’t give, not directly at least, so Deer in the spirit of not having extra holes opened in his body turned to Ysoria and sent a message.

“I would like you to explain to the one holding the gun that I unfortunately cannot communicate with him, only mages can hear my thoughts. My name is Deer, it is a pleasure to meet you”

[Ysoria]

For a moment, Ysoria presented Iolan with a blank face for his shit-on-slate comment - unappreciative audience, that was her - but then she was jerking her head back and pressing her fingers into her ears.

"Pisspot that won't shut up," was her reply to Iolan, though her tone was shaded with uncertainty, pitched high at the end like it was an almost-question. "Babbling all crossways like some backwater churl talking tongues." The sting that might have been in her words was dramatically softened by that upward-question-pitch, while she swatted at her ear like it was ringing.

[Iolan Kephla]

He wasn't quite sure what to make of that, if he was honest with himself, but he mustered a scowl all the same and kept his rifle leveled at the thing. He felt quite exposed there in spite of everything, aware of Eddie's ragged breathing, Pippa's insistent motions and the woman's nervous pacing as the barrel of his rifle kept pace with the thing's chest. It would have been simpler to kill the thing, he knew, and much less troublesome, but he wasn't in command here. So, against his better judgement, he had to wait for her to put her catty misdemeanor aside and make a damned decision.

The sounds of battle, though increasingly scattered and distant, were still occurring, and Iolan had the urge to check the bodies before the rest came back and absconded with the good loot. Perhaps not the most generous of thoughts, but one didn't get rich in his line of work by trusting in the wages given. More to the point, there was a second rifle out there somewhere, either in the hands of some filthy Apthonian shitheel or in the mud by his corpse, and Iolan was intent on finding it. Working his jaw, he narrowed his eyes and looked to the woman.

"Douse it in oil and grab a torch," he said, "then if it so much as hops in the wrong direction, burn it."

He shrugged, hearing a small, shocked gasp from Pippa behind him, and spat.

"If he isn't going to do anything interesting, then I'd rather get looting," he said, "there's a gun out there that's better in your hands than with those stunted little shits."

[Deer]

The caravan members had been crippled by the attack, leaving only a handful of dwarves that weren’t injured, lying dead on the forest floor or still engaging the bandits. When Iolan had given the order for oil to be poured on Deer, the remaining dwarves had exchanged dubious looks among themselves. On one hand the mercenary had protected them to some extent, but on the other hand Iolan could have just been acting to save his own skin. Their doubt coupled with their uncertainty of what exactly Deer was sapped their courage, so the dwarves merely shuffled their feet and cast to more mundane affairs, some milling off to see to overturned caravans.

For his part Deer could not understand what was going on, he had made contact with the mage but she had not offered up any information. He continued pressing on however, the link he had established was growing stronger by the second. Deer tried once more.

“Mage. My location. Where am I?”