The other three do poke around while Ali'cor goes up the stairs.

"It was an art studio," Sarmya says.  "But it hasn't been used in a long time, look at all this dust!"

Tembli thinks it makes no sense.  "In all these years not one of the Dukes, or anyone in their family, wanted to do a painting or sculpture?  No one was curious?"

"Werebears aren't curious like Wererats," Nitcher says.  "Yeah, with them, I could see it.  Painting is lonely, they'd rather be gabbing with friends over a big meal."

"Yeah, but not one?"

Ali'cor goes up, and finds... the spiral stairs go up to a hatch.  A roof hatch.  And it's securely bolted... but from the inside, of course, and that's where Ali'cor is, so sliding the bolt back is east.

The stairway leads to a narrow catwalk along the eave of one of the palace's roofs.  At the end of the catwalk, a tower rises, and the catwalk leads to a door into it.  Near the door, the tower wall has holes.  Small, regular holes, spaced evenly in rows.

And the door... is small and battered and is hanging loose.


By this time, the others have begun to suspect that whatever Ali'cor is finding must be much cooler than an old art studio. So they follow, up the stairs and out onto the catwalk.

That's about the time when Ali'cor sees a sudden shadow shift behind the loose door of the tower.

Ali'cor was never one to take a step back when he could take a step forward instead. In other words, if he was given a choice between going forward and turning back, he would probably choose to go forward, unless of course, there was some sort of danger associated with going forward; in which case, he might still choose to go foward, but he do that somewhat more subtly, hidden away from both his companions and his foes.

In fact, he had gotten so used to acting with subtlety, that it had become almost like a second nature to him.

But that didn't stop him from simply... following the path until he reached a dead end in front of the door.

Just as he had decided to step forward towards the door and inspect it, he felt that he had just seen some sort of shadow shift behind the loose doors of the tower. It was a vague feeling, like an uncanny sixth sense, but something he had learned to rely on in his travels.

Taking a few steps back on the narrow catwalk, Ali'cor observed the door intently, while his hands traveled to his shortbow; although, as he heard the other three walk up behind him, he decided to leave the bow where it was.

"There... uh.. seems to be something here.." He said to the other three.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Tue 05 Mar 2013.

The four youngsters are on the roof catwalk, close to the door in the tower.  The wall of the tower is peculiar, with lots of small but regularly spaced holes in the wall.  And then, the shadow within.

"We should leave this alone.  It's scary," Sarmya Meadowhop says.

"Spoken like a bunny," Nitcher says.  "This needs a rat's touch."

Nitcher transforms.  In moments a large gray-brown rat with flashing whiskers scurries out from under a Nitcher's clothes, which now lie in a heap on the catwalk.

Tembli bristles.  Literally.  He hunches his shoulders, and a cap of sharp spines raises above his head.

Sarmya doesn't like this one bit.  She tenses, ready to run.  Or jump.  Whatever.

Nitcher.. in rat form... runs in through the loose open door.  And he's back out again in a few moments.  And then the shadow is back, and then, a gnarled, beaked, bird head.

"Vulturegryph," Sarmya says.  This is followed by "Eeeeee!"

"Don't run," Temblis says to her.  "It'll chase you!"

Ali'cor can see it in the doorway.

And quite suddenly, there is a blare of trumpets from somewhere, and the creature slinks back inside the tower room it has apparently commandeered.

Worried and eyeing the tower and ready to spring away at the slightest surprise, Sarmya tells the others:

"It's an official announcement," she says, after hearing trumpet.  "We're probably in trouble now."

"We're not in trouble," Nitcher says.  "Let's go listen."

A short trek across catwalks brings them to a roof facing the grand plaza to the southwest of the palace- the Clear Fountain Plaza.  They here a second trumpet, and they see the people gathering in the Plaza.

And more:  Ali'cor spots his friend Eadoin, a Centaur, and more Centuars, and Unicorns, and Elves and... there is Chara, King Theoderic's Half-Elven mother.  And Entherin, Theoderic's all Elven grandmother.

From his location, Ali'cor cannot see the Duke.  The Duke begins speaking, and quickly gets to his key point.  The Werebear's deep voice carries over the plaza:  "And so I am pleased to announce that the war is over, victory is at hand, and this very day, within hours, Theoderic will return here with the heroic troops that defeated the Hun invasion of the Ardennes."

"Hmm... looks like they're back.." He muttered, as he watched the gathering down below.

But truth be told, he was far more interested in finding out what was inside that tower, especially since there was now a creature guarding it. If past experiences spoke true, then towers guarded by strange creatures always had hidden treasure about.

Of course, he wasn't dumb enough to rush into the tower by himself, nor try taking on the creature alone. At the same time, he wasn't going to leave the other three by themselves if they were intent on exploring the tower.

In the end, he decided that it was best to leave the matter to them.

"So... should we go see what's in that tower...or.. should we just leave?"

Ali'cor has learned by now that the "animal natures" of the werefolk frequently manifest in their personalities.

Werehares are cautious and alert, but usually think that the best way to deal with something scary is the escape, quickly.  Facing danger is what Werebears and Werewolves are for.

Werehedgehogs are practical and often single minded.

Wererats have boundless curiosity, and a fascination with "collecting" things.

Sarmya is all in favor of leaving as soon as possible.  Creepy black bird thing in the tower... an by all signs, no one's used this place in years?  That's probably a bad thing.

Nitcher, on the other hand, is thinking the same thing Ali'cor is.. at least in part.

"I'll bet it's been stealin stuff at night and stashing it in there!" he says excitedly.  "Does that bow of yours work?  Can you shoot?  If you can shoot, I'm in."

Tembli the Werehedgehog is looks at the others, and stands with the adventurous ones.  "Well, we came this far, didn't we?  And I don't think it belongs here.  That's not a were creature."

There is a grunting sound from inside the tower, and it is all suddenly too much for Sarmya.  Monster?  MONSTER!!!  The Werehare bounds past Tembli and heads for the hatch.  "I'll get help!" she says.

"Yup," Tembli agrees quietly.

“Well, she was helpful,” Tembli says, looking at the empty catwalk where the Werehare had scampered away.

“Don’t need her,” Nitcher says. “Whatsa werebunny gonna do in a fight, right?”

He tries to tempt the thing they saw back out into the open again, but after a while, it’s clear it’s not going to work.  Light, noise, open air.. all the things your average urban monster tries to avoid.

“We’re gonna have to go in there,” Nitcher concludes.  “That is, if we’re gonna do this.”

“We don’t have to,” Tembli says, pointing out the obvious.

“No, we don’t,” says the Wererat, “but if we don’t, we don’t get to see what it’s got in there.  Someone else’ll get it all.”

“Spoken like a Wererat,” Tembli observes.

“Thanks,” Nitcher replies.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:43, Tue 12 Mar 2013.

"Right..." Ali'cor mutters as he watches the were-hare leave.

"I was hoping to draw it out into the catwalk and then shoot it until it stopped moving..." He added. "But I suppose that is not an option."

Ali'cor takes the bow from across his shoulders and pulls on the string a few times to make sure it was in working condition, before moving towards the door.

"Shall we get a move on then...?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:08, Tue 12 Mar 2013.

After studying the door for a while and waiting for the creature to come out, they decide to go in after it.

Nitcher pokes in first, warily, with Ali'cor right behind him.

"What sort of freaky place is this?" Nitcher asks.

There are small cubbies all over the walls.  Each cubby has its own little window.  There are scores of them.  The floor is covered with dirt and old straw.

They see the creature, across the room.  It's about the size of big dog, with wings.  It squawks at them angrily.

As it flaps and leaps towards them, they see something odd- it's wearing a pendant on a leather band around its neck.

Kyriel sees the trapdoor to the roof and nimbly clambers up the ladder. At the top she turns back to Cirrus and the warehare "Go find the Duke and tell him what I told you. I doubt that this is coincidence. Hurry!"

Once she's done that, she reaches into her pack and pulls out her rapier. As she does so, she wishes that Master Ulpius had been able to give her some kind of enchanted weapon. Who knows what kind of creature is up here? She'd rather face anything with an overwhelming advantage; just another holdover from her time in Lutetia Parisiorum.

She doesn't want to surprise "the boys" and maybe get attacked by mistake. Quietly she calls out. "What's going on?"

Unlike what he would like to think, Ali'cor did learn some new things from his recent stay at Geneva; after all, besides being great lecturers, the old elves were also quite proficient in bowmanship as well as in the arts of magic. Not that he had learned any magic, but he had picked up several new forms of using the shortbow.

Given the current situation, his brain had filtered out Nitcher's words, and so he did not answer. Not that he had actually even looked at the room properly anyhow, since he was far more interested in the creature across the room.

As the creature squawked and leaped at them, a rush of adrenaline made him forget everything other than himself and his target.

Quickly taking two steps back towards the door, Ali'cor knelt down on one knee, balancing himself on the other, and held the bow horizontally in front of him.

Notching a single arrow on the string, Ali'cor let it fly towards the target almost immediately, before quickly notching another one.

Before he can notch it properly though, he heard a quiet feminine voice from behind them. After taking a single glance at the source of the voice to make sure that it was not another monster, Ali'cor returned to notching arrow on the bow and preparing for his next shot.

"....hello there.." he muttered back, "..a little busy here."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Thu 14 Mar 2013.

Kyriel knows that the voice is familiar, but seeing that the boy in front of her is using his bow on something in the tower with him she decides to worry about his identity later. As she moves into the tower she says the word that activates the magic in her clothes.

She'd rather be using her bow as well, but sometimes you have to stand and fight. When she stops her advance, she's a foot or two in front of Ali'Cor and a similar amount off to one side. He should have a good opportunity to shoot, and she'll be providing cover for him since the beast will have to get past her rapier to get to him. "Looks like a fun time. Hope you don't mind if I join the dance."

Ali’cor and Kyriel have met before.  It was a few months ago, and it wasn’t for long, but they would remember each other well.  Being closer in age than most of the other characters, (Eadoin being another) they had that “kids hang out together” rapport that kids often have.

As well as a mutual disdain to limit themselves to what other, older people told them to do.

Now that they are both in the same chamber, Ali’cor gets a good look at the creature.  Kyriel follows along, and she sees it a little afterwards.  It is a strange thing, sort of like a cross between a vulture and a hyena.

Ali’cor’s small bow is an ideal weapon for close quarters fighting like this, and he is a very good shot.  But his first arrow hits a column.  Just as the creature is about to rake him with its claws, though, the second arrow hits and tears through a wing.  The wing suddenly goes limp; at the very least, Ali’cor has deprived it of its ability to fly.

It presses its attack anyway, with claws and sharp, powerful looking beak, but is unable to catch the young Elf.  Kyriel arrives to block it, instead, fending it off with her rapier.

It takes Kyriel a short time to get in position and get a good look at the beast. Whatever it is, it looks like someone went out of their way to find two ugly animals and take the worst traits from each. A well placed shot cripples a wing, and she grins. "Good shot! Now we won't have to worry about it attacking from the air!"

As she moves past the boy, recognition clicks; he's the boy from the boat in Lutetia Parisiorum and more recently the Ardennes. "Hey Ali'Cor! Good to see you again."

The confines of the tower aren't her ideal battle ground. While she's capable with the rapier, she much prefers to use her bow or attack from surprise. However at this point she doesn't have any other options, in order to keep the creature off of Ali'Cor she's got to go toe-to-toe with the thing. Her sword weaves in and out. Whenever she finds an opening she strikes.


10:46, Today: Kyriel rolled 3 using 1d6. damage #5.
10:46, Today: Kyriel rolled 18 using 1d20+8. attack #5.
10:46, Today: Kyriel rolled 9 using 1d20+8. attack #4.
10:45, Today: Kyriel rolled 2 using 1d6. damage #3.
10:45, Today: Kyriel rolled 21 using 1d20+8. attack #3.
10:45, Today: Kyriel rolled 6 using 1d6. damage #2.
10:44, Today: Kyriel rolled 20 using 1d20+8. attack #2.
10:44, Today: Kyriel rolled 6 using 1d6. damage #1.
10:43, Today: Kyriel rolled 24 using 1d20+8. attack #1.

Ali'cor smirked as the arrow managed to hit a mark, a good one too; it gave him that familiar sense of excitement, but it also made him feel something else, he wasn't quite sure what that was, but he didn't quite have time to think about that in the heat of the battle either.

"Great... now comes the part where we shoot it till it stops moving..." He muttered under his breath.

That arrow finding a good mark showed that his trip home wasn't a completely useless trek after all. In fact, the form of archery he had just used -- holding the bow horizontally, balancing his elbow on his knee, while knelt down on one knee -- was one of those new forms he had managed to learn.

Experienced archers used the form to shoot rapidly at the same time as keeping the aim steady; Ali'cor was neither that good nor that fast, but at least it cost him less effort to shoot than holding the bow vertically. Shooting in that form also meant that he could roll away if the danger came too close.

And it is just what he did as the beast charged at him to engage in melee. The dodge roll wasn't that impressive, but if it got him away from those fearsome claws, then Ali'cor was fine with it. Fortunately though, the maneuver had become unnecessary as the creature was forced to stop and engage the girl instead.

Now that he got a good look at her, Ali'cor found that her swordwork was amazing indeed; he wished he was half that good with it. It was strange, but this yearning to become better in the craft made him feel that again. He couldn't quite understand what that was supposed to be, but he made a mental note to think upon this at a more appropriate time.

Ali'cor was somewhat surprised as she called out his name, and her voice seemed quite familiar too; and suddenly, he remembered.

"Likewise.... Kyriel..." He said, as he assumed the previous shooting stance once more and notched another arrow. "...let's uh... catch up when the situation is less intense."

Although he had remembered her name, the other details were quite hazy in his mind. In fact, he couldn't remember most of the details of their last meeting overly well. Perhaps, it was due to the fact that he had spent so much time away from the company of others. He only hoped he would not turn this chance meeting into an awkward event; well, after he was done explaining his presence here of course, given the locked door they had to bypass along the way.

As for the situation at hand, Ali'cor wasn't overly good with finding weak spots even when his foe was occupied, although it was a skill Ali'cor wished to master eventually; but at least he had more time to aim. With a swift pull on the bowstring Ali'cor let the arrow fly, before notching another one.

Now that he had a good shot at the beast, and was able to assume his shooting stance without fearing having to engage the beast in melee, Ali'cor decided that he should match each blow from Kyriel's sword with at least a single arrow from his bow.

Nitcher maneuvers around to help.  It’s clearly an young, amateur effort- the Wererat youth does not have the experience of Ali’cor and Kyriel.  But he tries nonetheless. There’s pride, for one: to be shown up by these two?  With others looking?  And then, there is the old Wererat instinct:  If he doesn’t make an effort, he won’t get his share of Stuff.  And there had better be stuff.

Quite agile, he slips past Kyriel and Ali’cor, trying to get to the flapping vulture-thing’s flank.  The room is not spacious.  It has a peculiar U shape, wrapping around the exterior of the tower without having any apparent access to the interior of the tower.  It’s awkward but he makes it.  And then.. much to the surprise of Kyriel and Ali’cor, who quickly rate Nitcher’s fighting style as “beginner”, the Wererat hits it with his dagger.

The wound infuriates the creature, and it lashes out wildly with all its strength, hitting Nitcher with a claw, and then hitting Kyriel with it’s beak, drawing blood.

But then it is over quickly.  Kyriel hits it, and then Al’cor hits it, and then the strange creature is flopping on the floor.

It wheezes and dies.

As the fight keeps on, Kyriel has to admit that Ali'Cor has a point. it 's too dangerous to get caught up while they're fighting; besides it wasn't that long ago. The momentary distraction does give the creature an opportunity, and she feels the bite of its beak in her shoulder. It hurts, but it's not an incapacitating wound and together they finish it off.

She grimaces a moment and then turns to Ali'Cor "So, how are things?"

She watches as it flops around; just as she's about to put it out of its misery it wheezes and dies. Once that's done, she looks at the pendant that's still around it's neck. Once she's given it a good look, she examines the room for anything that might be of interest.

By the time the creature had started flopping on the floor, it looked to him like a pincushion of arrow shafts; and it had almost seemed like his had been the finishing blow. Perhaps it was not, but it still gave him a different kind of rush, which remained even after the rush from the fight had died down. He was still not sure what this feeling was about, but he suddenly had the revelation that it might have something to do with what he truly wanted -- that which had confounded him for so long.

"Not bad.. Nitcher..." He said, smirking at the wererat as he put his bow back across his shoulders.

Now that he could take a good look at the tower, Ali'cor decided that he didn't want to go into the room after all, what with the hay and the animal litter all over the place. He figured that Nitcher could probably do enough looking around for all of them.

"My thanks for keeping the beast off me." He flashed a smile at Kyriel. "Your swordwork was excellent..."

"I hope that claw didn't hurt too much." Ali'cor muttered, sad that she had to take the blow while protecting him, but secretly glad that it wasn't him that had been raked, since he was certain that it would have hurt, bad. He also hoped that Nitcher wasn't hurt too badly either.

Given the state of his memory, Ali'cor couldn't actually remember whether he had the occasion to witness Kyriel's swordwork before, so he decided not to point that out.

Before answering her question, he moved past the door to the catwalk, checking on whether the gathering down below was still there.

"Things had been a little hectic," he said eventually, "...so I returned to Geneva for a while."

"How about you, Kyriel?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:13, Tue 19 Mar 2013.

Nitcher isn't hurt badly.  He is a Lycanthrope, and his heritage offers him some protection.  Hurt a little, but not badly.

On the other hand, even a little is more than he has usually been hurt.

On the third hand... to run off and seek help now, when there's probably stuff... how could any self respecting Wererat do that?

But a quick search of the room reveals... nothing much.  Just the creature.. and the strange pendant around its neck, and some...

Nitcher kicks apart a pile of straw and says triumphantly, "Stuff!".

It seems the odd creature has been collecting shiny things.  Nitcher retrieves a knife, a small mirror with a bronze frame, a pair of small crystal bottles, a gold buckle, an ivory and gold comb, and a torn up jacket with very shiny amber buttons.

And there is the pendant the creature wore.  It's a teardrop shaped thing of polished stone, with natural bands of color, becoming pale pink at the center.

Then, curiosity abated, common sense returns to Nitcher.  "We should tell someone we found this.. no, they'd ask what we was doing on the roof.  We'd get in trouble."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Wed 20 Mar 2013.

Kyriel grins at the compliment. "Thanks. Your bow work helped a lot. It made sure that thing couldn't fly."

When he asks about her wound she shakes her head. "No, it's not too bad. I've had worse." How much worse she won't say.

It's easy to see Nitcher trying to scarf up everything in the room. "Just a minute, Nitcher. Let's see what you've got there."

Nitcher's comment about not wanting to tell anyone that they've been here reminds her of something. "We've got to find the Duke. Your sister and the King are in danger; the hun emperor has put a bounty on their heads. Your sister more than him!"

For a moment, Nitcher is baffled.  Then he realizes... Kyriel is talking to Ali'cor!

"Your sister?  What Emperor?  The Huns?  How..."

He stops himself.  Wererat instinct wants to ask, How Much of a Bounty... but that's probably one of those unsociable things to say that makes so many people distrust Wererats.

"You can tell him that, sure," Nitcher says.  "But please don't tell him we've been poking around where we're not supposed to be, okay?  Yeeps, we were supposed to be decorating!"

Nitcher shows off his collected haul, and suggests they split it.

Kyriel gives Nitcher a look that could melt steel. She can tell what he's thinking. "Not enough by far!"

When he says that they shouldn't tell the duke where they were, she gives him a quick nod. "No word to anyone else about what's going on here. Understand? If I hear that word gets out in general about the bounty, I'll know who spilled it. I won't be happy about it, and neither will the Duke, understand?"

When he shows off the stuff he collected, she nods at the suggestion that they divvy it up. "Sounds fair."

If given the opportunity, she will pick the comb and the buckle. They'll make wonderful wedding presents.

"I see.." Ali'cor muttered, looking thoughtful, "..that is grave news indeed."

Of course, Ali'cor wouldn't really be surprised if the Hun King had a bounty on the heads of every living thing besides other Huns. But given how serious Kyriel sounded, and how he had been out of the loop for a long while, it was likely a good idea to do as she suggested.

"Agreed..." He eventually said, expressing his consent to both keeping this trek a secret and dividing the loot equally, rather glad that Kyriel was being agreeable on the matter.

As for the loot itself, the knife looked quite interesting to Ali'cor, and he wondered whether it was enchanted. He also had his eyes set on that pendant the beast had around its neck, and he wouldn't mind getting his hands around it either, if only to determine how the creature managed to get hold of it.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:59, Thu 21 Mar 2013.

At this point, the characters being in agreement about the loot, the next question is, where does Ali'cor want to go?

Kyriel has already flown off into another thread, The Grand Hall of the Palace of Lucimburic, to let someone in charge know about the bounty on Aelasuria and Theoderic.  But not about this, it appears.

Cirrus, the courier girl who had come withe Kyriel (but dared not approach the tower) went after her.

The other young Lycanthropes are eager to get back to their assigned tasks.  A little side exploration is good, but people will start to wonder... and now that they know how to get to the roof, they can always come back.