Where the hell is Ruin? And why did his parents give him such a name. No. Scratch that. After spending a day with him, you know the answer to the second question at least.

You lean against an alley wall and stretch your hamstrings by pressing up and back off the balls of your feet. You have ony travelled twelve blocks but, with the rummaging in every building and sifting through rubble, it feels like twelve miles.  You look around the wreckage of this district. It wasn't like this a week ago. Hell. Things change. Isn't that what Paddox used to say?

Ah Paddox. You miss that old bastard. He did more for you than anyone ever did. And all you could do to thank him was see he was buried properly. Reflexively you touch the sheath of the blade he bequeathed you. The only thing left of the closest thing you've ever had to a father...well. A good father...besides your memories.

Somehow your mourning transformed into rage. And rage always brought you back to Lamm. Or it did. You swore on Paddox's grave you would kill Lamm. And how had that worked out? You finally tracked him down, only to see his body taken from his hideout by the city guard. It seems Lamm hurt a lot of people. Some of his other victims found him first.

What was it you felt while you watched them take Lamm's body away? Sadness? Guilt? Relief? All of the above? None of the above? For a short period of time you got lost. With your two anchors, Paddox and Lamm, cut you had wandered Korvosa like a deserted ship on a vast sea. The tides of the crowds had pulled you to this tavern or that flophouse. Dimly, you were aware of everything going on in the city. The King's death, or as some would have it, his murder. The Queen's usurption of power. The way she dismantled the military and replaced it with the Grey Maidens. Hulking, humorless, silent women bound head to foot in armor. But the plague was the worst. Your aimless orbit had taken you to Old Korvosa when Blood Mist took the city. It turned out to be the worst possible place to be.

The disease struck quickly. You saw men, women, and children cough out their blood or weep it like tears from their eyes. You saw the riots and murders that followed as the healthy tried to dispose of the infected, whether they were dead or alive. And then came the fires. Whole blocks gutted and destroyed. The nobles, especially those damn Arkonas, had simply locked themselves up in their estates. The poor ad common were left to tread water as best they could. The tempest lasted for days.

Then, just as things quieted down, word spread through Old Korvosa faster than the plague had. The Queen wanted to consolidate her grip on the Old Korvosa district. She had dispatched a regiment of Grey Maidens to take back the island. One Swatsel Pitts, some kind of showman or actor or something, had whipped the crowd into a feenzy. This was their island. Not the Queen's. And Old Korvosians should hold it for Old Korvosa. He had managed to drum up a ragtag army of sorts to repel the advance. You found yourself swept up by the cause. Pitts 'army' met the Grey Maidens on the bridges connecting Korvosa to Old Korvosa. And thanks to the efforts of experienced fighters like yourself, had held the Maidens off. It was the first taste of victory you had in a long time. The taste was sweet.

Somehow you found yourself attached to Pitts 'court'. Because of course Pitts had dubbed himself a king. King Pig. The name fit. You were given the job of escorting foraging groups sent out into the city, protecting them from the rowdies and bandits not under King Pig's control. This is the third such group you've been in charge of. One of the members is a halfling named Ruin. Ruin has a knack for ferreting out small caches of useful items. This is balanced by his annoying personality and habit of wandering off. Which he's done. Again.

You sent the others back. The other guard who went with you can handle getting them home safe. And, like it or not, Ruin has value. His talent for finding jars of preserves, unspoiled barrels of wine, and bolts of good cloth is too valuable to lose at the moment. So here you sre again. Looking for him.

From what you can see, and from what you know of him, there seem two likely places he could be. One is a fairly unscathed tenement house just down the road. Across the street and to the left however is a toy store with it's windows shuttered. It looks like it escaped the looting.

Which one to search first?

Zuni pushed herself off from the wall that she was leaning against and slowly peers out from the alleyway into the street, looking for any activity.  More specifically, looking for Ruin.  She frowned.  That halfling was trouble.

She still wasn't sure if she liked Ruin or disliked him.  He was useful to their cause and that was something in his favour but his personality grated on her.  Then there was that habit he had of disappearing during supply runs like this.  It required extra effort to keep an eye on him and then to go and find him when he wandered off.

Gaedren Lamm would not have let such habits last long.  He would have beaten Ruin into line, much like he had beaten Zuni and the other Little Lamms.  Zuni rubbed her cheek and shuddered at the memory.

I'm going to tie a bell around that Halflings neck when I find him, Zuni thought.  She looked at the tenement and then at the toy store, trying to decide which one would be more attractive to Ruin.  Probably the toy store.  There might be a better chance of finding something useful, however useful toy store contents could be to the Old Korvosian cause.

Zuni looked up and down the rubble strewn street one more time and then quietly moved out from the alleyway and towards the toy store.

In reply to Zuni Runesong (msg # 2):

The street is oddly quiet, even for these days. You ste over the remains of a burnt out carriage and head across the road.

The front of the store is boarded up windows and doors. But the planks ofpver the door seem to have been pushed aside making a small gap. There also appears to be  door in the back. Yu are deciding which one to take when the sund of voices reaches your ears. The voices are muffled so you can't make out words. But they seem to be coming from inside the toy store.

From what you can see, there seem to be severa options. You can go to the crack in the boards ain the front and either squeeze through or look inside. You can try the back. The shop also has a second floor with windows. You can try to shimmy up a drin pipe or scramble up a pile of trash to get to them. Give me a perception check please. If you are trying to be stealthy and/or climb, give me those rolls too please. Thanks.

Voices.

Zuni leaned closer to the boarded up door.  She pulled out a dagger and started to crack the boards open a little more so that she could see inside.

OOC:
Perception Check ->21
Stealth Check ->23

"...this...Pig..."

"King Pig..."

"Yes. King Pig." You can see what appears to be four men. Maybe five. One of them is perhaps a dwarf. They seem to be gathered around a hooded lantern which is only allowing a thin spray of light out. Three of the men are cloaked in black. The other one you can definitely see, the dwarf, is wearing an old tan cloak with red patches sewn in to it. One of the black dloaks is the one speaking now. "You are sure he has Scream?"

The dwarf nods.

"And Scream knows where the Senescheal is?"

"He claims to," says the dwarf. "I think he has told King Pig. But the King has not acted on it yet."

"I see." There is a pause. There is the sound of a metallic clank and a small bag is tossed at the dwarf's feet. The sound as the bag hits is unmistakable. Coin. Probably a tidy sum. "This Pig has had his time. It was amusing but he has served his purpose. The red powder we gave you? Use it."

You hear the sack of coin being picked up. "What about Scream?"

"He is still kept in the same place you told us of?"

"As far as I know."

"Verify it. I will be sending Mr Sing and Mr Song tonight for him."

"OY! ZUNI!" You can't helo but flinch as you hear Ruin bellow from behind you. The halfling is walking out of the tenement, waving at you, with a large sack flung over one shoulder. "You'll not guess what I found!"

From inside you hear someone say, "Handle it. Now."

Zuni spun away from the door towards Ruin, urgency in her movements.  He was going to get them killed with his shouting.  "Quiet!" she hissed at him.

The shadowy men inside of the building were not going to just slink away and hope that no one heard them speaking.  No, they were going to come out and try to kill the both of them.  Zuni ran from the door towards Ruin.  There were two goals now.  Get Ruin to safety and get herself to King Pig with the news that she'd overheard.  "Go!  Get back to the others."

Ruin looks at you, eyebrow raised. He opens his mouth to retort and then a large man bursts forth from the boarded up window. Ruin turns and flees.

The large man is dressed in black. How apropos. He wears a red scarf around his lower face and servicable looking leather mail. He raises a sword...

Roll init, then state your acrion and roll for any attack damage etc. Thanks. 

Zuni turned at the sound of the boarded up window breaking and saw the large man in the red scarf.  She could run and follow Ruin but there was a chance that he could catch up to them.  Ruins short legs could not carry him as quickly as the taller mans could.  With grim sigh, Zuni knew that she had to buy time for Ruin to get away.

Zuni stepped forward and drew her Dueling sword, raising the hilt up to her chin in salute before thrusting the blade forward.  She would stop the larger mans advance with the point of her sword.

OOC:
Initiative: 5
Attack with the Blade: 21 to hit
Damage: 10 points

Your blade digs deeply into the man's side. He makes a whuff sound but manages to return a slice to your arm. You can take some grim satosfaction in the fact it did not bite as deeply as your blow did. 4 dam. Just to speed thins up, give me two actions next post. Thanks.

The cut hurt but didn't feel that bad.  Zuni couldn't spare a glance at the wound though, she wasn't going to take her eyes off of her opponent.  The man meant business however, and she still had to buy Ruin time to get away.

OOC:
Two more sword attacks:  11, 13
Damage (Assuming that they hit): 7, 4

You lunge and your foe steps backwards just out of reach. He then thusts, scoring on your side. 5 pts dam 

However his lunge has opened up his flank. You just manage to divert the wing of your blade and slide it into his ribs. He grimaces and chokes, then slides off your blade and collapses to the ground.

For the moment, you are the only iving soul on the street.

Zuni gave her sword a quick flick to clear off the other mans blood and quickly scanned the street.  The wounds that he had scored on her were not serious but would still require bandaging.  Now was the chance to get away and meet up with Ruin.  They had to get to King Pig and warn him, but that covered face roused her curiosity.

She knelt down and pulled the mask off of the man and tried to do a quick search to see if she could find any clue to his identity.

OOC:
Perception: 21

A quick search of the man shows he has a small pouch of coins, a thunderstone, his sword, and a small stoppered bottle of purple liquid. Of more interest are the tattoos on his body. Across his chest is a large tattoo of a pair of red crossed mantis arms. You have heard tales of the emblem. A Red Mantis assassin. Apparently your little kingdom has drawn some high level attentions.

Zuni ran her hand over the tattoo on the mans chest.  A Red Mantis.  She'd heard stories of them, stories that were not pleasant at all, but she'd never actually met one before.  Not only that, but she had killed the man.  That could mean trouble.  Did King Pigs assassination require the attention of a Red Mantis?  Either someone really wanted him dead or he was too well protected for a local killer.

Zuni used the mans sword and cut away the flesh marked by the mantis tattoo.  King Pig might not believe her if she didn't present him with some proof.  It was not nice work, and not something that Zuni would want to do again, but she needed something tangible to show King Pig.  With her icky prize, Zuni quickly stashed it and the mans possessions into a pouch and ran off after Ruin.

Let's get you caught up with the others.

Fortunately the others in the shop are gone. The arrogant fools must have figured the one man could take you.

You speed like a mare with her mane on fire through the ruined and deserted streets. Ruin must have been scared senseless. You do not overtake him, meaning he's beaten you home or he's been pinched. Either way you have other problems. You need to see Kenswa, Pig's left hand man. His right hand man, that creepy gnome in the executioner's hood who likes to work the guillotine Pig had built on the rooftop of his 'keep', isn't really an option. That gnome is just freaky.

You reach the outskirts of Pig's turf and stop to catch your breath. You hear your name called and look up. A member of your party is walking towards you, waving. You waste no time, asking him if he knows where Kenswa is. "Kenswa? Well supposedly they had a Blood Pig match while we was out. Kenswa an' tha King's entertainin' tha winners." Blood Pig. That stupid game the King came up with. You haven't taken part in it because it seems a waste of manpower. In just the week since it's initiation, it's cost the lives of four good fighters.

But that's another issue. Right now you have bigger fish to fry. You know the King's banquet hall...really just a gutted apartment on the fourth floor of an abandonded tenement....is up ahead. The sun is dipping below the horizon. The Red Mantis attack could happen at anytime.

You rush through the makeshift gate of the Keep and up the stairs. The guards look askance at you. One shouts out the King is in private audience but you shout back this can't wait. How are you going to explain this? Red powder? Mr. Sing and Mr. Song? What are you warning King Pig against anyway?

Ahead are the doors to the banquet hall. You ignore the guard and lay your hand on the door...

Please move to the Court Of King Pig thread. You may burst into the room, listen at the door, or what have you. You may describe your own entrance or I can if you like. Let me know here if there are any questions. Thanks.