The blood-drinker pulls her cloak around her, raises her hood, and bows her head.  She does not waste time looking up at the rooftops.

Then she moves off into the night, away from the inn, heading uphill, towards the marketplace.

The Blue Rose is typical of of Cadiniagartan architecture.  A sturdy, stone building, with a roof of blue tiles.  All designed to shrug off the worst of the storms which roll in off the sea at certain times of year.

That strong construction, designed to resist the elements, also works well for bearing the weight of panthers.  Even with an extra one, which suddenly leaps up from the ground, where there is a wide dry patch.  Or perhaps the dry area is just a trick of the light... it does seem to be fading as the rain continues.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:55, Wed 11 July 2007.

 

The latest addition of the big cats looked at the others and made a rumbling noise in greeting, and then it turned to gaze down upon the fleeing shape of a woman heading uphill in the streets below.  A moment later the large cat began to move over the rooftops, leaping across gaps and seemingly enjoying itself immensely - but without letting its target slip away.

Yellow eyes glowed in the dark and occasionally were turned underneath the cat itself, looking at the belly.  Few indeed would spot the pouch there, from which the head of an excited little kitten stuck out, a kitten having the time of his life, wishing even more to grow up to become a gigantic cat some day.  But it remained silent, as if knowing something was afoot.

Despite its size and weight, the large cat continued its chase, ignoring the rain and enjoying the hunt.

 

The other cats seem in the main more interested in the new additions than the woman leaving the inn (and two in a somewhat romantic way), but the six, eight with the pouched pair, have little trouble keeping up while flirting.



*(I'm assuming understanding of the language comes with the form).

 

Focusing mostly on the woman below, the new cat could indeed not avoid noticing the interest she generated, and found that she enjoyed the attention.

She had been along for...

                                                                                ...so long...

                                        ...that most any attention was welcome.


Indeed, even the attention first received when becoming aware again, and finding at least a home of sorts in the worlds and voids.

So she returned some of the attention she got, showing that she acknowledged them and their presence.

Even so, the game was afoot, and the purpose of the hunt never faltered.

 

Moving across the rooftops as smoothly as shadows, any sound of their passage hidden by the storm, the great cats follow the woman.  She reaches the marketplace, and turns into one of the streets leading off from it, running across the face of the hill.   She moves closer to the side which provides the most shelter, as the rain becomes more intense.  The water here is ankle deep against the fronts of the buildings, but still she walks on, splashing through it with obvious purpose.

Nobody else is about now, though faces occasionally appear at windows as she passes.

Once she pauses, looking around, and peering into the shadows of a nearby alleyway, then she snaps, "Doshpak!  That tomorrow speaker has me thinking I'm being followed!"  With one last glance at the alley, she moves away again.  Hurrying now.

Above her, dark shapes lope across the tiled rooves, almost invisible against the dark sky, and followed by an insubstantial swirling wind.

 

Sneaking, leaping and moving gracefully over the roofs, the large cat glanced back as well, towards where they had come from, but only for a brief moment.

Turning the attention back to the woman below, the great feline continued its stalking game, its intentions never wavering.

Underneath its belly, in the small pouch, the kitten looked on, so excited at this chase that it was a good thing muscles kept it from leaping out onto to roof thinking it too could keep the pace and make those impressive leaps.

But not today.

 

Roman simply follows, keeping both his ligtnings and the more deadly lighning of Wormwood quiet.  The time of storm is not yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:39, Tue 17 July 2007.

Comfortable, now, the others keep pace. This, they have missed, springing silently from place to place, balancing against the storm-winds, the electric thrill in the air...

It is almost like home.

The woman continues on through the storm.  Only now her course is more erratic.

Here she turns into an alley and waits awhile, before continuing back along the same route.  Here she turns right, into a sidestreet which leads obliquely across her way, only to take the next two lefts and return to the original street.

And, always now, she seems more and more nervous.

Overhead the shadows and the storm keep pace.

Once, just once, while she waits in the doorway of a closed shop, she glances up at the roof opposite her and sees something.  A dark silhouette.  She feigns ignorance of its presence, and considers doubling back.  Then lightning flares again, and the shape is revealed as nothing more than an oddly shaped chimney.  Just a trick of the light.

Direcly above her, two of the cats hang their heads over the eaves, and peer down at the doorway far below.  She is still there.  We can see the edge of her cloak.

Another shake of her head, at mistaking a piece of architecture for an enemy, and she steps back out into the rain.  Then doubles back anyway...

 

Finding the thrill of the chase exhilarating, the large cat peered down on the woman who clearly suspected she was being watch but looked in all the wrong places.

When she moved again, so did the cat, moving along the rooftops in the rain and wind, finding it invigorating and stimulating.  Big paws gently gripped the surface and moved the solid bulk of the body smoothly and with impressive power.

The hunt continued.

 

Finally, after much twisting and turning, the woman reaches what appears to be her destination.  A house, near the city wall, with boarded door and windows, and bearing signs of a fire.  The structure is set three or four yards back from the street, and has a small garden in front of it.

Two more figures wait there, seated on the steps of the building, ignoring the weather.  They stand, as the woman approaches, and one of them makes a rapid series of hand gestures.  The woman responds in kind, and all three of them move up to the front door, throwing back their hoods, which reveals that the pair who had been waiting are also women.

"I have agreed to meet with the Rokt, so I will take it now.  Good riddance too.  It may be that Haria Nex turns against us though.  Her life is forfeit if she interferes in this business, do you understand?"

The other two murmur their assent, then rhe door is pushed open, revealing that it is, perhaps, not nailed shut quite so tightly as it might appear.  It closes behind them, leaving Roman and the cats outside.


Elsewhere in the city, the horned Rokt moves through the deserted streets, oblivious to his own stalkers.  His cloak is pulled tight around him, as he splashes through the flowing water, up towards his rendezvous with the women.


A few moments later the door reopens, and the three women appear.  Now they all move together, away from the house, as a group.  Each of them now carries a heavy-seeming pack, and two of them (though in the heavy cloaks it's impossible to tell which two) also have sacks.  The house door is left open, as they move back towards the heart of the city.

For a while Roman wonders at why the woman would so strongly turn against her companion.  An answer comes.  Sad, but perhaps not surprising this close to Amber, home of treachery.  A message goes out over the bridging

[OOC - see the Inn Crowd]

 

Watching from above, the large cat waits patiently until the women comes out again, and then the chase is back on.  She leaps, sneaks and stalks once more, sharing the thrill of the hunt with her little passenger whose eyes nearly pops out of its skull from staring so intently in an attempt to keep track of the prey.

The open door is left alone - the interest is with the women and their packs.

 

Giant cats dance, light footed, over the storm-drenched rooftops.  Cadinagart has never before witnessed such apparitions... and yet tonight, on a night when it seems the very world must be on the verge of its final ending, these great black shapes leap and lope easily across the blue tiles.

The actinic flare of lightning, and the deep bass notes of thunder accompany them in their elegant movements.

And for all the unearthly spectacle of their dance, there are none among the citizens who witness it.

Closer they move, as those they follow make their way to the place where the destinies of entire worlds may well be decided.

The women move with grim purpose, across the city, and a little downhill, while the horned man makes his way up the steep streets, with the wind at his back.  All of them are bound for the same place.

Their voices raised just enough to carry above the storm, the women discuss their changed plans.  Mostly it seems to be their leader speaking, giving instructions... only one of the others is to follow her inside, and she must remain hooded, and in the shadows at all times.  The Rokt must not suspect that the leader is not accompanied by the same woman who was at the inn.  Nothing must happen to jeopardise the successful completion of the trade.  The third must wait outside, but unseen, in case Hariah Nex should try to interfere in this matter.

Roman sends out a message aimed at the big cats "Our priorities are to obtain the 'cube', capture the Rokt and to persuade the women to return to the inn.  In that order.  Taking the Rokt as they come out would be easiest, but we need to watch to be sure that none leave by other means. I beleive that one of you panthers would be best equipped to deal with the Rokt, while I stay in reserve to deal more lethally with other threats.  The witch spoke of death - it is likely that someone will attempt to 'crash the party'",

There is a shop, just on one side of the marketplace.  A sturdy stone building, like many others in Cadiniagart.  It has stood empty for a while, an unusual thing, considering its location, but there are those who claim it brings bad luck to its owners.  Six months ago, a woman was murdered there, and now a ghost has been added to the stories that surround the place.

It wasn't damaged in the riots, though there are those who wish it had been.

Now the trio of women approach the structure, aware that something is strange about the night, but dismissing their niggling edginess as merely the result of the storm, and their own nerves at the conclusion of such an arduous contract.

There is an alley, which leads to a small yard at the rear of the building, and a back door, which opens with surprisingly little effort.  After a brief, whispered discussion, two of the women enter.  The third crosses the yard, to conceal herself in the deep shadows behind a stack of barrels, peering out at the entrance to the area.

On the roof, three stories above her, the cats watch.  Still as gargoyles.  A familiar scent reaches them, faint in the stormy air.  More of their kind are coming.


The Rokt reaches the market, and looks around.  He can't shake the feeling that he's being followed, but can't place the source.  He starts to stroll around the square, pausing to admire the still incomplete gallows, which sways precariously in the wind.  Gradually he makes his way around, towards the deserted shop...