A strange man walk gingerly through the center of Jastrey clad in violet, green, and gold with a parasol resting lightly over his right shoulder. He sings jovially to himself and anyone who wishes to listen as he meanders through the streets stopping briefly at the town post outside of The Shady Corners.
He stops briefly, turning to look toward the tavern as a large angry voice can be heard from inside. Returning to his song, he thumbs through the old posts noticing nothing of interest or importance, and continues his stroll through the town, the bells of his hat jingling through the streets.
The Jester looks at the large Angori savage with question as he's shouted at in a frenzy. "Why yes, me," he replies sidesteping Grall as he charges past, "as I see nobody else out here." The Jester gently taps the charging man on the rear with his parasol as he passes [1 Blunt] and continues his walk through the center of town.
"My dear boy, I'm not sure what I've done to earn your ire," he says over his shoulder, "but you seem to be a calf that's yet to grow into those horns of yours."
Grall falls flat on his face after being pushed by the Jester's parasol. He quickly rights himself and spins around, facing the comic bafoon.
"Calf? CALF!?! I'll show you who has yet to grow into his horns!!" Grall charges again, this time swinging his weapons at the Jester. *5 sharp*
Paying no heed to the angry Angori behind him, The Jester notices Stiers step out from The Shady Corners and turns to walk in his general direction.
"Why if it isn't Jastrey's very own town fool. I see you got your arm back, good for you." The Jester begins to courtesy toward Stiers but gets his foot stuck on a cobblestone causing him to tumble to the ground just in time to be narrowly missed by Grall's angrily thrashing blades.
"There, there, dear fellow." The Jester says, standing up while parrying Grall's attacks with his parasol. "You fight with the fury of a bull, but the soft touch of a mother cow. I don't know if I should strike you back for your incredulity or to wonder if you just need to be milked."
"Ooh!" The Jester exclaims, "You might actually have a little fight in you yet!"
The Jester begins to prance around excitedly as he bursts into verse, weaving and swaying as he leads Grall in a dance around the area outside the tavern.
"The old Elf King, Cole
He was a merry old sole
A merry soul, indeed was he;
As he called for his pipe
And he called for his bow
And he called for Angori three."
The Jester's voice begins to grow louder and more melodic with each line as he continues.
"Each Angori had a bounty
And a very fine bow had he;
Oh, there be no story so rare
As one would compare
To King Cole and the Angori three.
The Jester smirks as the attacks from the savage begin to get slower and weaker as the song progresses.
The arrow flies, an Angori dies
And a pair of bulls have we.
Two arrow he knocks,
and the Gonks hits the rocks
No more are the Angori three."
[Performance Sleep.]
"What a shame," The Jester sighs, watching as the Angori passes out from the chase. "I did expect him to put up more of a fight then that. Maybe he'll do better with the next round."
The Jester turns, and realizes that Stiers is still awake from the old Elven Lullaby and walks over to propose a challege. "From one fool to another, I entreat you to play a little game with me. I rarely go for a walk without meeting interesting people and putting a bit up for a wager, what say you shake your little Uordeq friend awake there, and we put your reflexes to the test." He removes a small pouch of gold from underneath his skirt. "10 gold says I can tie a rope around that Angori before either of you can. And to make the wager more fun, I'll even wake him up first! What say you?"
The Jester turns suddenly, pops open his parasol, and leans over the Angori attaching a small post to the back of his pants. "I call the game, 'Pin the Tale on the Angori!' "
Sounds fun Jester lets have some fun but first ....Stiers shakes Rasiri ..wake up buddy we gana have some fun Stiers reachers i his pack and pulls out some war paint and walks over to the angori and carefuly writes ( Gonk ) on his far head between his horns and turns around and walks back.. Ok jester lets have some fun!!!
"Ok, now that the two of you are awake, here are the rules." The Jester pulls two short lengths of rope from up his sleeve, about 2' in length each. "When I wake up the Angori, he's likely to come chasing after me again. The first to attach their length of rope to the post on your friend's pants wins the prize. 10 gold to match my bid to play, if you gentlemen would care to oblige. Others are welcome to play should they arrive in the tussle, the more the merrier. Agreed?"
Wandering from the tavern with a teacup full of something viscous and red...a pile of sugar standing high enough to breach the surface by at least an inch, the pix shakes out her (for once) loose hair so that it better shields the portions of her face not covered by reflective goggles. Tilting her head and leaning forward to survey the scene all the better, she straightens and then toddles up behind Rasiri. Stirring her drink with a finger, she blurts,
"What's a guh-ohn-k?"
Musing quietly by repeating the word 'gonk' to herself like a short song, she plucks out her stirring finger, gives it a quick clean on her tongue and begins to sip the now even more syrupy fluid.
Astrum walks into the tavern with cold purpose in his eyes. His shoulders are squared and his mouth is set in a grim line.
"I'm sorry Ripper. I cannot allow undead to wander town, feeding on the blood of fallen warriors. Brave men and women all of them. The paladin will kill off mischevious goblins for nothing more than a bit of disruption but an undead, a vessel of Rissik and noone lifts a finger. Well if the law will not act then I will. 'Now feel the cold grip of death!'" A wand is revealed and bright red light erupts hitting the vampire.
*slay*
(Two different options, if the slay is countered, I will cast another. If that is countered I will attack with '40 fires', The rest of this is assuming her death follows)
After the desired effect is achieved, Astrum slides his wand back into his sleeve. "May the aether guide my path!" With that, Astrum snaps out of existance, leaving the onlookers to their own devices.
Thalenir, who was listening to the conflict closely from within the tavern, bursts through the front door just as Astrum looses the Death Spell from his wand. His eyes flare with azure wrath and it seems like he is about to pursue the fledling mage, but he quickly calms himself and walks over to tend to Ripper.
Thalenir speaks, and the tone of his voice is gravely serious. "Rasiri, fetch Haven. She should be in the Healer's Den. Stiers, get Dreygor. He should be in the Warrior's Hall. Do it quickly. Jester, I'm afraid your merriment is at an end for now."
Thalenir yells out. "To any members of the Academy or Silver Wing Monastery, if you should aid or abet Astrum Farstep in any way, your guild charter and citizenship will be forfeit. He is henceforth declared a murderer and a fugitive from justice."
"Oh my. I can hear you ALL from the healers' den. What happe...." Haven's voice trails off when she sees a fairy with her eyes closed on the ground. She surveys the scene, runs over to Grall and says "Now is not the time for sleep" *Awaken*. She then looks curiously at the jester. Then runs over to the fairy touches her gently on the shoulder and says, "Light of the prime, bring you back to whence you were before you died."*Revive* The fairy comes back to life. "What in the PIT is going on here?!"
"Nevermind, Rasiri. Thank you, Haven." Thalenir kneels beside Ripper. "I trust you're feeling alright. Don't worry; I saw the whole thing. Rest assured; Astrum will pay for what he's done."
Thalenir rises and turns back to Haven. "Astrum has decided to take it upon himself to murder a citizen of Jastrey, and seems to want to involve two guilds in the matter. For their sake, I hope they aren't stupid enough to assist him."
Thalenir glances about for any sign of Dreygor's approach. "I hope the Sheriff gets here soon. We have an arrest to make."
The Jester sighs and props himself up against a wall. "Seems I have no need to sow merriment and intrigue in Jastrey today. You lot of adventurers are entertaining enough. Perhaps I'll simply be the audience today." Opening the parasol to keep the sun from his eyes, The Jester stands merrily against the tavern wall singing quietly to himself.
Garith rises solemly from the back of the tavern. "The time has come to sweep evil from this town. Harboring and aiding a monster treason, the slaying of a monster is not. It is sad yes that we have lost Ripper but we cannot condone evil and undead in our town. If I remember correctly it was the Sheriff who condoned and participated in the killing of an entire, non offensive, goblin village. So in what way is the slaying of a vampire any different?" Garith seats himself in a chair and waits to hear what everyone has to say.
Thalenir storms up to Garith, his eyes again blazing, although this time his rage is not quite so well contained. "Killing a citizen of town is murder, plain and simple. If you or Astrum disagree that Ripper should be a citizen, there are appropriate channels for that. Murdering that citizen in cold blood is not one of them."
"More to the point, MAYOR, as of now, Astrum is a murderer and a fugitive. You can defend his actions if you like, but mark my words: The moment you or any member of your guild impede justice in this, I will see you removed from your post of authority, your guild charter revoked, and all of the members of your guild share in his punishment."
Thalenir points behind him toward Ripper. "Ripper has not been lost. She's right there. She has an affliction that was forced upon her. She should be pitied and helped, not murdered in the street. More importantly, she is a citizen with rights, rights that cannot be ignored. As the author of our laws, I would expect you to have more sense than this."
"That is completely true, good wizard, however citizenship was granted to Ripper, the fairy. Once she however became a monster, monsters cannot be citizens. I also am not by any means condoning his actions, just anazlying them from a neutral point of view, something that you my Magistrate seem not to be doing. I do think that Astrum's actions where a tad harsh however the killing of monsters is by no means illegal." Garith walks of to Ripper. "My dead I enjoyed being your boyfriend of the longest time and being your Mister Shinny Man. Due to this unfortunate turn of luck you must see why Astrum acted the way he did." Garith then turns back to Thaliner. "Astrum is no murderer just an assulter because Ripper isnt dead. Furthermore you have not power to revoke any charter of a guild that is the concils realm of power." Garith then turns from Thaliner and says, "I will go and seek Astrum in the tower. If he is there I will bring him back here." Garith then walks out of the tavern toward the tower.
Thalenir bluntly stops Garith from walking away. "Please point out exactly where in the laws it defines what a monster is, Garith? And where it says monsters cannot be citizens? Or that citizenship status is automatically revoked when contracting vampirism? Apparently I've read the letter of your words more closely than you have, because those are nowhere in the sanctioned laws of Jastrey. More importantly, I wonder how it is that you and Astrum both agreed to appoint her to the position of executioner if you really believed she wasn't a citizen. Your argument fails on all counts."
"Furthermore, yes, this most certainly was murder. Ripper was most assuredly dead; I saw it with my own eyes. The fact that she did not dissipate is not spoken to in the laws. Again, perhaps you should read them again rather than assuming your cohort can get away with cold-blooded murder."
"As for disbanding the guild, you are correct. In fact, disbanding a guild is nigh impossible since a 100% council vote is required. However, removing that guild's representation on the council is quite easy and within my power if you commit more than one crime. Since one has already been committed, then stepping out of line again, such as by assisting Astrum, for example, should be more than sufficient."
"Oh, and I've been meaning to ask you. You are a member of the academy, yes? You and Astrum are its guildmasters, as I recall. In fact, that precludes you from being mayor, so you might want to address that. You do realize the mayor cannot be in a guild, yes?"
"First things first, though. Please do retrieve Astrum. If he comes quietly, I may take that into account in my later judgments." He steps aside and allows Garith to pass.
Garith laughs as he walks away. Stops and turns. "It seems that I do know my laws far better than you, because no where does it say that a mayor cannot be in a guild. It says however that they cannot represent a guild on the council, which I don't Astrum is the Guilds representative."
"It also seems to me that you are perhaps, biased on this matter my good sir based on the fact that you are already threatening to disband a guild and charge all of its members with a crime that you have no evidence that they condoned nor committed."
"As far as citizenship goes I assumed that it was common sense that undead, and other monsters, we not even eligable for citizenship. If I am wrong then all of those undead servents of Scorch that came into town recently where guests of town. By those means they fall under the protection of town. Furthermore by that logic we are all murderers due to the fact that we killed them."
"I have never disliked Ripper from the day I meet her. If I recall correctly I was one of the major pushers for punishing Stiers when he killed Ripper and Arie and through that I created our towns laws. The fact that she now has a horrible affliction, even though it is not her fault, is a sad occurance and one that needs to be dealt with."
"Your interpritation of our laws and your memory also falter good mage. It is true that Astrum did vote for her to be exicutioner however how could I have if I dont have a vote on the council?"
As Garith cooly finishes puncturing holes in Thaliner's flawed logic Drux walks from the tower with a quizical look.
Rasiri stands Ripper up and helps her brush off, "I refuse to let Astrum get off lightly for what he has done! I was standing right here and he attacked her in cold blood! I am a citizen of Jastrey too and i am disliked almost as much as any monster that walks into this place, and as such i see no reason why she should be punished! She has done nothing wrong... she didn't ask for this to happen and i don't think she should be punished! And if the Academy and the Monestary stand against Ripper i am setting the Black Wolves, or at least myself beside her!" Ras raises his voice as he goes along and ends very confidently.
Thalenir raises an eyebrow as Garith walks away in apparent smugness, then reaches into his pouch, unfurls a scroll, and reads aloud:
Powers of the Mayor
- The Mayor is the deciding vote in case of a tie for any council matter.
- The Mayor cannot vote unless it is to break a tie.
- The Mayor cannot represent any guild or organization nor be a member of any guild, faction, or organization.
- The Mayor declares when and where meetings will be held and will declare when discussion is over and it is time to vote.
- If any law is passed by the council the mayor reverse the right to veto the bill for any reason.
- Vetos may only be overruled by a 100% agreement in the council and the support of the Magistrate.
- The Mayor is responsible for the Sheriff and his deputies. They may act without his consent but answer to him.
"Well, I'd say that settles that, then. To those of you standing here, please be aware that Garith Gray is no longer Mayor of Jastrey by virtue of being ineligible for the position, despite what he may say to the contrary."
Thalenir turns to Drux. "You hear incorrectly, Drux. Ripper has done nothing to any townsfolk to the best of my knowledge. Astrum walked up and slew her in cold blood in front of several witnesses, including myself. He is a murderer and a fugitive, whereas Ripper is still a citizen in good standing. Those are the facts."
Thalenir glances at Rasiri over his shoulder with a sad sort of smile. "Uordeq, goblins, half-dragons, werewolves, vampires... Jastrey has had many colorful citizens in the past, most of whom were proud and stalwart defenders of town. We all know Ripper. Who are they to pass such judgment? The army of Ressik would kill them all just for being 'evil' mages. Obviously, they aren't considering that, or else they might not be so cruel to a good friend..."
Thalenir glances down at the copy of the laws in his hands. "Now that I think about it, I don't believe these were ever posted. In light of Garith's recent attitude, I'll have to rectify that." He then walks over to the town post and carefully nails up each sheet so they've visible for all to read.
After being awakened by Haven, Grall stands up and watches the events before him unfold having apparently forgotten about the Jester.
While watching in silence, he scratches at a slight itch on his forehead, smearing the paint put there by Stiers. Lucky for the backwards paladin, the Savage's already limited ability to read is rendered useless by the smeared insult written across his forehead.
After listening to the various arguments, Grall deduces what has occurred during his slumber. Finding the answer perfectly simply, he decides to throw in his opinion to the mix.
"Well, the answer here seems perfectly simply," he begins, a menacing smile spreading across his beastly face. The large Angori picks Ripper up from the back of her bat pajamas with one great arm and places her on his shoulders, much like a child riding the shoulders of an older brother. "From this moment forth, I will guard Ripper with my life. I've recently gained a new respect for Fairies, and I very much respect the raw power of Vampires. Anyone who attempts to attack our dear friend here again will find himself precariously placed at the business end of my horns. Anyone who succeeds...I will kill." Grall turns pleasantly from the gathering group and walks cheerfully towards the woods with Ripper on his shoulders, gripping his horns and pretending to ride him like a horse.
"Come, dear Ripper, let us go hunting!"
After the effect of the blindsiding spell has been removed, the pixie sits up, staring at the entire ruckus with head tilted and brow creased trying to both follow listening to the words flying from every direction as well as process the meaning of some of the more adult nuances. Finally, as she's helped to her feet, and then to the Angori's shoulders she blinks and then shakes off the mature concerns to quickly blurt out.
"I didn't eat any city-zens... I chewed on Mister Stiers and Mister Rasiri but they said I could, I didn't even bite, they cut themselves for me. Bitin' a city-zen who didn't say I could would bee ass-alt. I'm only eatin' monsters like everybody said to. An' I definitely wouldn't eat any dead people 'cause they taste bad..."
All of this comes out in the span of a few second with no breath taken in between because, honestly, none is needed. She reaches up, itching behind one ear for a few seconds and then screws her mouth off to one side before leaning down to speak more toward the angori.
"Um...if they hit me first is it still ass-alt? 'Cause it isn't pixie just-us to not hit back. An' Daddy always said if somebody bites you to bite back harder...but...I don't wanna be a criminy-all...but I don't wanna do the perma-sleepies either 'cause they sound borin'..."
Having grown more and more terse with each word, mind half leaning toward the reactions of a threatened animal and the further attempts to process concepts that were at the border of what a pixish mental age was meant to bear, she finally snaps out of the flood of commentary and ends with a quieter...
"...My head hurts, can I have some candy? Or maybe we can go chase some giant rats?"
Garith walks into the tower and looks at Thaliner, "Astrum is gone. I searched the entire tower and he is no where to be found." Garith then walks over to Ripper and sits down beside her. "Ripper if you wouldnt mind could you please stay here in the tavern until Astrum is found. I wouldnt want you wandering around town and have him pop out again. I have observered him slowly slipping from his own mind ever since the battle with Scorch. I have been trying to find what caused this slipping but it seems I was not quick enough. His crimes are unexusable and he does need to pay the punishment if you wish to press charges against him. Do you wish to press charges for assult?"
Alec hearing the commotion from the warriors hall comes running down the road to the tavern. "What seems ta be tha problem? i hear about somebody doin wrong to another citizen. Then I heer about all ya threatening mayor ship tis and that." Not one known for his patience Alec begins glarring at individuals for answers.
Hearing the call Alec throws up his hands not really caring about what happened. Walks out.
Ripper raises an eyebrow from her perch atop the Angori's shoulders, and then reaches up to scritch behind her ears again, a sort of tic in response to the pixie part of her not enjoying certain sort of thought processes. The stare she levels at Garith is cautioned at best and suspicious at worst.
"But you -just- said that you didn't think I was a city-zen 'cause I'm undead...an not city-zen's can't press charges. ...So I -am- a city-zen then? An' you said I was a monster... An'..."
Sliding off the Grall's shoulders and itching her ears one last time, the pix gives Garith one more sidelong glance.
"Are you just sayin' that 'cause Mister Thally-near wants to make you not the mayor? That'd be...that'd be awful unseelie of you."
Weaving back around to stand between Grall and Rasiri she stares up at the both of them with a brief but still bewildered smile for their voiced support and then scoops her sword and shield from the ground. Shaking loose dust and sheathing the sword while propping the shield against her so that it won't fall again and will be in ready reach. Her fingers dive into the ever-present candy bag, popping a hard candy into her own mouth and then offering a handful toward the rest of them.
"No Ripper I am not asking you this for fear of my job, things like that no longer are my main focus, I was asking you to see if Astrum even needs to be seeked out but if you admit that you are no citizen of town then this has all been a wonderful waste of time." With that Garith walks over to the corner of the tavern and goes back to his tinkering.
Thalenir smirks at Ripper's response. "Quite unseelie, indeed. I think you have your answer, Garith. And you'll forgive me if I don't take these laws you've presented all too conveniently at face value. Given the circumstances, I will need to speak to the other council members who were present when this revision was voted on in order to verify its authenticity. Even if it is authentic, it brings into question your competence for keeping knowledge of the laws from the magistrate sworn to enforce them, or from the citizens who must live under them. If it's not... let's just say, for your sake, I hope that it is."
"As for your sudden change in attitude toward Ripper, I'd say your own motives are becoming more transparent by the minute. Suddenly you're saying Astrum is insane and showing compassion to Ripper to try and get her not to press charges. It seems you'll do anything to prevent your murderous guildmate from seeing justice."
"Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that you're still calling the charge assault. As I said before, this is murder, clear as day, and Astrum will be punished accordingly. Even if your position as mayor is still to be considered legitimate, such judgments are not your authority to make."
Cocking her head, Ripper moves to carefully place a candy in Grall's mitt of a hand, then in Rasiri's, and finally in Haven's. Crossing from the three to Thalenir she begins to itch at her right ear again.
"Could you show me the part of the law papers that says what a city-zen is so I can tell if I am one? If I am, he oughta be punished for breakin' a law...an' can I read the part about ass-alt and murder too? So I can tell which one it is? Or should I ask Mister Dreygor since he's the sheriff?"
Dreygor storms into the tarvern damn near busting the door off its hinges. He sends a cold glare at Garith, points his sword tip at him and coldly states.
"Your coming with me, and pray that I can hold my temper long enough to find your friend. Rasari tell Taklinn to meet me at the warriors hall. We have a rogue mage to hunt down. I will not stand for vigilantism in my town"
Dreygor sends an icy glare at Garith
"Or those that so blatantly would condone it."
With that Dreygor swiftly disarms Garith taking any wands or vails that may be used as weapons.
"I wouldn't want you helping your friend if he would so chose to resist."
Dreygor looks over at Thalenir.
"Would you accompany me on this as well. If his wand does have the kind of power you stated he could be dangerous."
Noticing Drux also in the tavern Dreygor looks directly at him.
"Your coming as well, I may not be able to disarm you, but I can make sure your no threat."
Dreygor pulls out a set of manacles and locks Drux's arms behid his back and another set on his feet. He then chains the two together.
"Now lets find this murderer"
Thalenir sees the scene unfold and places a hand on Dreygor's shoulder to prevent him from immediately stopping Garith. He whispers in the paladin's ear, "Let him go. I'll bet you 10 gold coins he leads us straight to Astrum."
Thalenir calls to everyone present. "Haven, Rasiri, Grall, Ripper, Stiers, come on! Let's get after him." The seven of them quickly exit the tavern in hot pursuit.
Dreygor smiles almost coldly
"I was hoping they would do that. Let it be known that the entire mage guild is now considered fugitives from the law and shall be treated as such. All those who would harbor these fugitives will also be considered outlaws as well and be charged accordingly. Any merchant caught selling any items to these people will also be held responcible for aiding and abbeding."
As Grall exits the Tavern, he storms past the Jester. After taking exactly three steps, he stops dead in his tracks and turns around slowly with an expression on his face capable of scaring the undead.
"YOU!" he howls. Drawing his weapons, Grall dashes at the Jester in a bull-rush, horns lowered.