A loud, painful scream comes from the 9th legion's cabin. The cabin door slowly opens, and Stiers comes out, pale-faced and coughing blood. He props himself against the door with his left arm, the skeletal arm replaced by a geyser of blood. Unarmed, and without armor, Stiers looks at Ripper in agony. The pain of his lost arm was nothing compared to the shame of hurting his friends and pleads, ?Ripper, let me pass, it is done.? A trail of blood leads from the cabin to the town as the skeletal arm flops lifelessly on his belt as Stiers stumbles toward town, hoping to find Dreygor at the forge
Ripper looks up from her latest little ditty, sharpening stone still in hand after a fresh swipe across her blade. She eyes the Warlock suspiciously but gives him a surprisingly sober nod. She stands up to clear his path; putting the stone away and sheathing her sword. As she starts back to their cabin to let Arie know what's happened and that she won't need to take the next shift she calls out.
"Ariekins...you might wanna come see this!"
Ariekins steps out of their cabin, holding a bowl of some brightly coloured confection. Seeing Stiers and his trail of blood her faces goes uncharacteristically stony and she tugs on her twin's sleeve before falling into step a few paces behind Stiers, her hand on her sword hilt.
Ripper scoops up a handfull of the candies, wolfing them down quickly like an alcoholic taking a last shot to prepare for something important. Swallowing the sugary stuff, she gives her head a quick shake and scoops up both shield and sword to complete the duck-line toward town.
Corvax in bear form bursts out of the woods at the legions cabin. Corvax stops to smell the tainted blood and know it to be Stiers, looking at the blood and the foot prints leading toward town corvax lumbers off flowing the blood. He meets up with Stiers and the group of sprites and transforms in mid step asking " Stiers what is going on here?"
Ariekins nods gravely to Corvax as he approaches. "Stiers was a bad, bad man. He says he doesn't remember, but the scary flaming skull man had him do bad..." She reaches to clutch her twin's hand. "Bad things to us. He's -dangerous-, we gotta do somethin` about it."
Ripper shifts her sword to sit under her shield arm, wrapping her hand around Arie's and leaning over to press her cheek into the smaller fae's shoulder in a comforting sort of way (if you were a cat). Straightening back up she gives Corvax a serious look.
Her tone isn't the usual chipper ring, instead it's a deeper strain-harassed monotone.
"He made Ariekins cry."
Corvax Rizzik took over my body and made me hurt the fairys i have riped off the arm that he is linked to !! i am omw to Haven to get healin but not to restore the arm yet Dreygor is still thinking what i should do with it.....I dont think it can be liek this for long it might not be able to be fixed then
Dreygor steps out of the warroirs hall a talisman of Lemesin dangleing from his neck.
"Corvax. Nice to see you back. We have an urgent problem that must be handled. I would speak with you, the fairies and the sheriff if I could."
He then looks over to the two fairies.
"Come on in you two. We must know what happened, and please try to keep it only to the facts as you remember them."
Dreygor motions for the two small ladies to enter the warriors hall.
Ripper pouts at the arm on Stier's belt. For a moment she entertains a vivid fantasy in which she snatches the thing and runs away to beat it to a powdery ash between two rocks. Instead though, the fairy looks up at Dreygor and nods. She doesn't tug Arie, waiting for her sister to come along willingly, but attempts to enter the hall anyway.
"We'll tell the whole truth, promise. No mod-ee-fah-kay-shuns."
Ripper looks clearly less penitent than her sister, but still a bit less than one-hundred percent. She starts to pick at the tip of her sword as she walks, running her thumb across a new notch in the blade and making several quiet unhappy noises to herself.
"Well...we did do somethin' bad. It's like that time the cow bit the puppy..only no steak....I hope"
The faery suddenly makes a disgusted face at having imagined what Stiers would taste like.
"Either way, We did act imp-ols-ive-lee. So we gotta do the right thing."
Having finished recovering from the multipul slayings at the bottom of a barrel of ale Kirell notices the activity in the street and follows the group into the warriors hall.
"Stiers, Stiers, Stiers didn't I tell you nothing good would come of the evil you sought?"
"What is it you have done?"
"I told you, you would be manipulated, didn't I you dam fool?"
Friends come and go, but enemies gather at my feet in a heap!
Kirell turns to face the members of the Brotherhood.
"We must find Kevass. I can no longer support letting Stiers roam the streets of Jastrey. I don't feel that the people of Jastrey are safe. It's our responsibility to protect the citizens of this town, and Stiers is a threat of to their safety."
Kirell turns back to Stiers.
"You must sumbit to imprisionment. It is the only way you can protect the people of Jastrey from yourself."
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
"I agree Kirell, but first we must get all the facts. We must know the exact circumstances that lead up to this. Until then we will keep Stiers here with us to ensure he does noone else harm. I will keep him busy with me in the forge, I could use a fire stoker."
Dreygor then looks over to the Ripper and Arienna.
"Ok ladies, please take a deap breath, calm yourselves and speak one at a time. Tell us everything that happened leading up to this."
Dreygor listens intently.
Ripper glances back toward her sister, holding up her hand and nodding in an 'I got this' sort of way before she turns back to Dreygor. The faery marches up to the paladin, taking a long deep breath along the way and then looks up at him very intently.
"Our memories are somewhat cloudy during the event, but we talked and compared memories and there were a pair of witnesses who want to be kept nameless that want to stay ann-onny-mouse if they can.
Stirrups asked Arie and I to go help him find someone. He needed us to glow so that he could see. We walked into the wood and then a talking skull flew out. I put up my shield like Uncle Wreynn says I'm a'posed to, but it stuck us us to the ground and sewed my mouth shut so I couldn't scream.
It said somethin' about art an us bein' puppets which I didn't get, but I do remember it killin' Arie. The witnesses said it killed me too and told Stirrups to skin us."
The fae pauses to glance past the paladin toward Stiers, narrowing her eyes a little, but then shifts her attention back up to Dreygor.
"They said he hesitated but the skull thing convinced him to do it. Then we got filled up with bugs and maggots. We couldn't control what we were doin' and Uncle says we came back to town and got Mister Zenphere and him and told them to come with us back to the skull man. The skull man didn't wanna keep Uncle Wreynn 'cause he was an urdek, but he started talkin' at Mister Zenphere, an' popped Ariekins like a balloon. ...A bug balloon. After that I think he might'a killed us again 'cause I remember suddenly not bein' full of bugs but bein' really really hungry. An' he said the only candy left was in everybody's heads. Arie an I really -tried- not to want the brain-candy but we couldn't. So we came back with Mister Zenphere's skeleton and Stirrups an' Arie ate Miss Haven's brain. But they killed us event'lly an' we were all normal again."
She pauses for a few seconds, swallowing heavily as she glances toward Arie. For a moment it looks like she might -not- continue. But she does, after steeling her nerves up by balling her hands into fists.
"When we woke up Arie was upset an' cryin' and I still had bugs in my mouth...and I didn't remember everything but I remembered Stirrups and the skull an' Arie was cryin' a -lot-...so I got really mad. I grabbed my stuff and when we got up to the tavern Stirrups was sittin' outside talkin' to everybody like everything was all fine. And I got madder...and I started roarin' an' Miss Haven got scared an we chased Stirrups a -lot- an we finally caught up to him an' killed him.
...An then I kinda chewed some parts off him
...An then I carved a note in his back so ever'body would know what happened
...An then I cast-rate-id him, Uncle Wryenn says that's the polite way to say it"
"
Stiers* looks down with shame and such pain in his face,(the pain in his face looks so bad it looks as if he wants to die,) Dreygor I can not listen to this!! if this is the truth i can not stay like this restore my arm and i will take rizzik on my slef or die trying
Arie has been watching anxiously and nodding along to Rippers account of the events. She draws a breath and opens her mouth to add some details... and then hears Stiers. Her brow furrows up and she wheels on the armless warrior.
"Why are you SO stupid?! You keep saying you didn't do it on purpose so obviously the bad man can take control of you when ever he wants! We send you off to fight him and guess what?! You just COME BACK TO KILL US!" Her volume and pitch rises during her speech until she's once more standing in front of the man, scowling up at him and waving her hands. "YOU ARE SO STUPID! You can't just fix this by running off and getting killed! You'll just get us killed over and over again! You need to be watched and kept under control so you can't hurt us! And prevented from doing STUPID THINGS! We -said- that at the fire and you raaaaan away 'cause you're dumb!"
Dreygor listens intently to the fairy's story, eyes glacing momentarily in Stiers direction a few times. He then looks over at Corvax, Kirell, and Kevass, then back to the fairies.
"Thank you ladies, Unfortunatly I will need to know the names of the witnesses, and their whereabouts. We need to have their part of the story as well. Also I would like to speak to young Zenphere as well."
"Now Ladies on the act of your retribution against Stiers, although not without reason, we cannot have just anyone casting down justice. I understand his crimes against you were horrific, uncalled for, unprovoked, and heinous, but still we must keep law and order in Jastrey. I will leave the decision up to Sheriff Kevass on what to do about your actions, as for Stiers, he will get his justice for sure, along with Rizzik and that blind lieing filth near the void that ensured me he could teach Stiers to control this. By Lemesin's sword I will not be a fool twice, they will all meet their ends as Scorch did."
Dreygors glance falls on Stiers and with a scowl he yells.
"YOU! We warned you enough that this is what will happen, and you didn't believe us. Now your selfish lust for quick power has harmed people in this town. This will not be allowed. For now you shall assist me in working the forge, and trust me this will not be fun at all. Kevass, Corvax, Kirell and I have to deliberate and figure out a just punishment for your crime."
With that Dreygor throws a shovel at stiers with enough force to knock him down, then points to a large pile of charcoaled wood.
"Start shoveling we have some work to do."
Ripper pouts a bit, drawing up her shoulders with a deep breath. She'd wanted to keep the others out of this. But Dreygor -was- a nice man from what she'd seen even if he was an authority figure.
"It was Mister Leo and Mister Vessick. We can find them for you, they roll with us now. Mister Zenphere too."
Ripper eyes Arie for a moment, wondering if she ought to've taken the full blame for Stiers' execution afterall...if they would've believed that she could do it alone at all. The pixie looks back up at the paladin.
"Where can we find Mister Kevass?"
Off in the woods outside of the building, a lone figure stands watching, leaning against a large tree. Wearing a black and red tabard with a black hood, he waits motionless as he observes the townsfolk. He shifts his red shield with a golden lion in front of him, refusing to come any closer to the building.
Stiers Looks up at the paladin how do u expect me to work with one arm,, And Dreygor dont punish the fairys that acted good i will do this punishment and i will take there also and Yes i know that i could have been takeing over by rizzik but the arm was his link to me and now that is it gone i rather talk to more paladins for a cure of this!! Oh and dreygor i have not spoken to my tacher yet about controlling the arm but he might know how to fix it
Kirell bursts into the conversation from the corner he has been standing in.
"The arm was just a mark!"
"Rizzik is in your soul, you fool!"
The sisters no more deserve punishment than the sword they used to remove your balls!"
"I for one will be calling for you incarceration. Weak and powerless is where you need to be. Let Rezzik come for if he wants you. He has been defeated once by the protectors of Jastrey and our numbers and power have grown."
"Damit Drey, what the hell is there to investigate? If we should give him the chance to kill again?"
"To hell with the talk. I say we have at him now!"
The Angori has worked himself into a frenzy and begins to swing his arms wildly as he continues to preach, his voice can be heard booming through out Jastrey.
"Perhaps we should remove the other arm, or the head, yea that?s it remove his head!"
"Ashes to ashes, baby dust to dust, what you gonna do when that dam thing rusts. Keep on truckin momma truck my blues away"
Hearing yelling coming from a nearby building Garith stops and opens the door. Pearing inside to see a group of Jastriens Garith walks forward with Astrum in toe and says, ?Greetings all. My name is Garith. I have been told that I have been in your town for some time. So tell me why is there so much yelling in here?? Garith turns to the screaming Angori as he asks.
Dreygor looks over to the angori. Then heatedly speaks.
"Did you not hear what I said Kirell? I said Stiers will be held in custody by myself as my gopher in the forge. He will have no weapons, no armor, and no access to either. The investigation I call for is to figure out if the fairies here acted within our laws for murder. The fact is, they did take the law into their own hands. We have laws for a reason Kirell and as a deputies it is our job to uphold them, but not to deal out their punishment that is the sheriff's duty alone. So calm down. Justice will come of this, but not by you, me or anyone else other then the sheriff. I call for the others testimonies simply to make sure we have the story correct before dealing out justice. I know that this seems trivial to you, but it is a formality that we must do lest the town think us nothing more then brutes."
Dreygor then look angrily over at Stiers
"I don't care if you have to shove that thing up your arse to work it, start shoveling before I do let Kirell at you!"
Dreygor can be heard mumbling, his patience wanning.
"Where is Kevass and Corvax damn it."
"Scuse me...." Arie says anxiously. "I know you have a council, right? An' you have all been meeting to decide the laws... But, we looked and looked all over to see if we could find them and what we'd get in trouble for 'cause we didn't want another like the bak'ry, right? An' we couldn't find them -anywhere-. So... until they're announced, they don't really exist, right? 'cause people need to know what they shouldn't do and what they should do and what will happen if they don't. Otherwise it is, um." She pauses and thinks hard. "A u-ni-later-al decision un-just-ly ap-plied to those unfairly kept ig-nor-ant of the poss'ble con-se-quences."
She looks up at Dreygor wide-eyed. "We fight and kill Urdeks slavers all month 'cause they're bad men doing bad things. We fights and kills evil undead things for attacking us 'cause we don't wants them to kill us. So.. we foughts and killed Stiers 'cause he did a bad thing and tried to kill us and then attacked the whole town with our undeaded selves! Haven says it's diff'rent but I don't un'erstand -how- it's different. We try to be good, we really do. We do all the good things. We fight with you, heal you, try to protect your town... We was jus' doing what the town always does. Fighting bad people who're endangering it."
Astrum looks at the fairy with a slight smile. "Sometimes the answer is right in front of us and we just need someone honest to show us. I applaud your wisdom fairy. Do not lose that honesty, it is a noble and useful trait." Astrum flips the fairy a silver coin. "Go and buy yourself some candy, you deserve it after what you've been through." Astrum gives a severe glance towards Stiers before smiling once again at the small fairy.
Listens carefully to her sister, head cocked to one side. Though the more Arie talks, the more the savage begins to puff up at the shoulders until finally she looks rather more proud than guilty. Arie was right...they defended their own...surely Miss Haven -thought- chastising them was the proper thing but even Miss Haven's wisdom must end somewhere, no one knew everything, right?
"Dear people if you dont mind me asking what exactly has happened here? As my friend Astrum has noted i have apparently been here for some time but the alchemical concoction has made me forget all of my past experiences. He has also informed me of the kindness of this town and its people, but what is this I hear of killing each other?" Garith turns to the fey quizically.
Turning to Corvax, "Yes and by your apperance you seem to be the good Druid Covax. Astrum has told me that we were close friends before "my incident"." With a smile Garith looks Corvax up and down seeming to memorize every detail of his person the seems to snap back to reality. "There was another man and that fey (pointing to Ripper) in the room with us. I want to say his name was Wreynn and he said that he had taken the potion just like I had but he seemed to still be completely aware of his surrounding. So tell me good Covax what is the trouble here. Astrum has told me that I am on the Town Council as well as you are. O and I also recently found this note on my person that I think you may be interested in." Taking out a folded piece of parchment Garith holds it out and hands it to Corvax.
Corvax unfolds the piece of paper and looks at it for a moment, mumbling to himself he folds it back up and puts it into his pocket. Corvax looks at Garith then says " I'm healing your cuts and wounds." [ heal 40 ] and touches Garith on the forehead. Did that clear the fog in your mind??
Ripper gets a little bright-eyed at the mention of going after this Rizzik fellow, leaning toward Dreygor as if she's about to ask something. But then her pixie nature is distracted back into the forefront by her sister's question. She turns back, grasping Arie's hand and nods with a small giggle.
"Wanna go play hide and seek? Uncle Wryenn's the base."
Stiers starts to twicth and says * scummy paladin has me traped in here hmmm
then with a stronge pose him i am locked up in here i am wondering what i shuould do with this i must have relly done something bad
Stiers speaking loud enough for Dreygor to over hear him
Dreygor you know you cant hold me here right i have not broken any laws at the time
Dreygor looks down at the fairy staring up at him then realizes what she said may indeed be true.
"I have thought by now Garith would have scribed and posted them by now myself...."
He then looks over at Garith noting his lack of memory.
"Well, seems he is in no shape to have posted them........very well Arienna, Ripper, I cannot hold you accountable for Laws that have yet been announced to the general public. You were only doing what quite possibly I would have done....well minus the castration. I simply would have killed him. However this does not excuse what Stiers has done and he will remain in my costody until Kevass determins what should be done with him"
Dreygor gives a quick glance at Stiers already shoveling coal into the forge
"Personally I am all for killing Rizzik, that lieing filth near the void and this menence to society himself, but it is not my decsion to make as I have said. As for you fairies, you may go, you have answered my questions as honestly as you could and for that I am appreciative."
With that Dreygor looks over to Corvax and goes to speak with him and Kirell in private.