A rickety cart drawn by an old mule is lead to town by a strange man in red and black robes. Three other strangers sit in the cart whispering amongst themselves, as they survey the town.
The voice of the Angori can be heard outside the tavern.
He can be seen from the door, standing in the middle of the street, one hand raised as he begins his to speak.
All of his companions know immediately to cover their ears, as he weaves his tale of deception.
? There was a time in Jastery, when you weren?t sure who to trust.?
?Was it simply misguided intentions or were those that seemed to be your friends really trying to subjugate you? ?
?Bonds of friendship broke down, and oaths taken were retracted. ?
?Who can you trust? ?
?Who is your friend? ?
?What are their intentions??
?You should ask yourself these questions??
?You only think you know the answers!?
?Better to strike first!?
?Mercy is weakness!?
?KILL THEM ALL NOW!!? ?Bar Fight?
Friends come and go, but enemies gather at my feet in a heap!!
Kevass steps from the Warriors' Hall and approaches Kirell and the wagon "Ho Kirell how are you? More visiters? I don't know if we can survive anymore visiters." Kevass says in jest. "You there with the wagon what business do you have here in Jastrey? You will have to disregard our suspisciousness, but we have seen too much strife here and aren't quick to trust." Kevass speaks cordially, but still causious. "What say you sir?"
After the loud outburst from the angori, Kavass' words are either not heard or completely ignored. After several moments the man holding the object that the others are focussing on stands up. Though no distinguishing feature can be seen as he is hooded and night is falling, his sudden intake of air gives the feeling that he is frightened.
His gnarled finger points ominously at the huge dragonling standing in the road. All of the other men turn their heads in the direction the fourth man is pointing. The men silently desembark the carrage. Clothed from head to toe in dark robes and hooded from view, all that look upon them get a sence of uneasyness.
Dreygor steps out of the warriors hall, he has been watching the commotion since the stangers entered town. He is fully geared with his sword strapped to his side.
"Great, first a vampire is brought into our town, and now another Dragon. Well, atleast we donot have to travel far here in Jastery to find evil to kill."
I don't see any Dragon Drey, what the hell are you talking about, and you in the wagon didn't your mother tell you it's not polite to point.
The Angori begins to stride toward the wagon, as he draws his axe and begins to speak.
Friends come and go, but enemies gather at my feet in a heap!
The man pointing lowers his hand and bows. Seeing their companion bow the others do the same in kind. Then the man stands upright and starts to sway from side to side. Not making a noise but moving his hands quickly in a repeating pattern. The other men do the same as Kirell approaches.
Kirell stops twenty feet from the wagon, he lowers his axe, and says calmly to the leader of the group.
"Come to me, I will help you". Compliment.
The Angori lowers his hand, and motions the stranger to him.
What if the Hoky Poky, is, what it's all about?
From the road beyond the wagon of newcomers, opposite the gathered townsfolk, another wagon rolls into view and stops suddenly. A commotion can be heard from within.
"Why can't you take me any closer?"
.....
"So what that there's a 'dragon thing' in the road? "
....
"I'll have to drag my bags all the way to the Inn if you drop me off here."
....
All of a sudden what appears to be a large bundle of cloth is tossed from the wagon and lands in the middle of the road, sending up a cloud of dust. After a few moments, the bundle unrolls and reveals in actuality a small woman in robes.
Attempting to spit the dust out of her mouth, she says to the unseen person in the wagon, "Fine...pppt....just set my...ppt...bags out here...ppt...then."
The curtains of the wagon part and the woman's eyes widen before she quickly ducks, throwing her arms above her head in a protective stance. A split-second later, several bags of leather luggage are tossed out of the wagon, barely missing the diminutive female.
Her already rosy cheeks flush even brighter and with hands on hips she loudly whispers at the wagon, "Fine! But you're not getting a tip!"
After thinking for several moments, she then adds with a sigh, "Well, you did bring me all this way." She rummages in the pouch hanging at her side and tosses a few coins into the open door of the wagon.
"Good day to you, sir."
The wagon hurriedly drives off and the woman turns to survey the scene before her. With an excited smile she whispers to herself, "Adyslaine was right. This place is full of adventure. A dragon man...and I just got here!"
Rummaging once more in her pouch, she pulls out a small book and a feather pen. Sneaking a little closer to the scene of the excitement, she hides behind a tree and watches everything unfold, every few minutes scribbling away in her book.
Alec stops his work at the forge to come see what all the commotion is all about. Looking out noticing the hooded figure, bowing followers, and a dragon Alec casually goes to armor up. Alec goes out into the street and calls out, "Yall have a dragon following you in case yall did not know dat. You didn't happen to bring an army of orcs too, we could have us a good ole time."
"I would suggest yalls be turning on around" Alec calmly states.
With a bust of fire from the wood line, a man with flowing robes strides forth from the trees. Behind him follows two men in cloaks and a large brutish human with a great sword thrown over his shoulder. The robed man approaches Kirell and lowers his hood. The friendly face of Garith emerges from beneth the hood as he smiles up at Kirell. ?It has been far to long friend. You look quiet??different. I have brought some friends with me. What trouble plagues this town now a days??
The spell from the acolytes comes to it?s conclusion as a mist of light green smoke emanates from around them in all directions. The air is full of this magical smoke and all near enough to breathe it are affected. ((Vicinity sleep.))
As the townsfolk collapse all around them the men eagerly start forward toward their prey. Suddenly as they get closer, they double over grasping their heads near their temples. They turn their eyes skyward , their faces contorted in silent screams of pain. Then they all quickly mount the cart and ride away very swiftly, past the sleeping townsfolk.
After they have been gone for some time everyone wakes up, feeling hung-over.
The small woman in hiding picks herself up from off of the ground and looks around, noticing that the group of ominous looking men are gone. Watching the remaining townsfolk picking themselves up as well, she mutters to herself, "Well, if they fell asleep as well, they must be okay....Hopefully." She cautiously steps out from behind the tree and walks toward them.
Kirell struggles to get to his feet as quickly as possible.
?
Staggering a little, he dusts off his new garb and begins to walk toward the tavern.
"I think we should prepare ourselves".
"If we leave now we might be able to track them".
Stopping at the doorway, but not turning to face the crowd. "Or would you all prefer to wait here for the next attack".
"In the age of chimpanzees, I was a monkey".
Kevass slowly picks himself up off of the ground and rubs the sleep from his eyes as confused about what just happened as he ever was. Turning towards the approching diminutive woman he straightens his clothes and speaks, "Hello mam. I appologize for the apparent chaos that has come upon us all. I am Kevass the Outcast, Sheriff of Jastrey. Of course I would like to inquire as to your busines here. I hope you are not here to cause any trouble. I don't think Jastrey could handle much more. May I be of service?"
A visible look of relief passes over the woman's face when she hears that the stranger who has approached her is the sheriff of the town. She curtsies slightly and timidly smiles up at him.
"Oh no. You shouldn't fear any trouble from me, Sheriff."
She sticks out a small hand for him to shake.
"I'm Beryl. Beryl Silverstone. My dear friend and mentor, Adyslaine, recommended your town to me. Do you know of her?"
Garith staggers to his feel brushing the dust from his cloak. He turns to look for Kirell. Spotting him in the bar he motions at the three people following him, towards the tavern. He enters into the tavern to find Kirell drinking and scoffs. ?It seem that you haven?t changed that much at all friend. So what do you propose we do? Shall we find a tracker and follow them across the shard or do we sit and wait for our deaths to come to us??
Kevass extends his hand with a smile to shake Beryl's hand, "I remember Adyslaine well, she was of great help to me in her final days here. She could always find an answer to our questions in her books. Is she well? Do you have news about her and her new position? What has peaked your interest about Jastrey? May I help you Lady Silverstone with your belongings and aid you in finding adequate lodging? Again, I do apologize for the recent chaos. Such is Jastrey." Kevass begins picking up bags off of the dusty street.
Beryl picks up one of her bags from off of the ground with a great deal of effort.
"Thank you. If I could just get my bags out of the road here, I can arrange for someone to pick them up. I was told to send a messenger to the Baumgarten's homestead once I arrived and they'd send a wagon to transport my things. Adyslaine was very kind to help me arrange to stay in a cabin on their property."
"I'll have to tell her you asked about her when I write her next. She's doing quite well, in her element, I'd say. The Library in New Jastrey is sending her from shard to shard to gather new treasures for their collection. I believe she's very happy."
"And she's actually the one who suggested I visit here for a spell. I was looking for something a little different than the everyday life in the city."
Beryl grins at Kevass.
"It looks like I might've found what I was looking for."
Kirell hearing the commotion outside proceeds to the door. "Someone should find Kevass. I don't like the look of these new arrivals, but considering what happened the last time someone came to town, I expect that?s perfectly natural". "I think I'll use the back door" Kirell whispers as he heads for the rear exit.
Friends come and go, but enemies gather at my feet in a heap!