Chasing Legends

[Max Dirks]

(Closed to Max Dirks, Chidori Draconid, Witchblade, Mikami, and Cyrus)

“For Christ sakes, Alex, just do something!” a woman screamed at her husband.

“And what exactly do you want me to do? We don’t even know if he was kidnapped. There was no ransom demand. There was nothing! How do you know he didn’t just run away?”

“Alex, please,” she said before falling back into her chair.

“It’s not like finding a lost dog, Andrea. You can’t just go around and put up signs. Until we hear something from the authorities we don’t even know where to start. We don’t want to complicate the situation even more by butting in.”

“Authorities? Authorities!” Andrea was standing again. “Alex, we live in Corone. There are no laws here. The ‘authorities’ only work for those who can pay for them.” She paused for a moment then spoke softly. “But we have money...they will work for us.”

“Wait, Andrea.” Alex was standing. “You cannot do what you are thinking. It’s too dangerous.”

“But he’s your son!” she interrupted.

“Damn it, Andrea.” Alex slammed his hands against the wooden table. “No one can know about that.”

“How do you know they don’t already know? How do you know that wasn’t why they took him?” She walked over to the parlor and grabbed her coat. “I will not stand idly while my son is in danger.”

“Your son…” Alex stopped himself before he could verbalize what he was thinking. He took a deep breath and asked, “What exactly are you going to do?”

She started walking to the door. “I’m going into Radasanth to find some mercenaries.”

“Andrea! Use your head!”

“Maybe that’s problem. Maybe you should stop using yours.” Before Alex could retort, Andrea slammed the door and ran off into the night.

---

The Silver Tavern in Radasanth held a hearty mix of dregs. It was dingy enough to serve the scum of the city, but popular enough to catch of the attention of some of Radasanth’ more prestigious citizens. To those who were often considered prestigious scum, it was the place that offered the best Lornian ale outside of Lornius itself. This was partly because one its more frequent visitors was one of the bouncers at the bartender’s wedding.

Max Dirks sat at a stool in the middle of the bar with his trademark smirk on his face. Life was good for the scoundrel. He’d finally let go of his internal demons and he’d fallen in love. Starlynn was never a fan of the Silver Tavern despite the fact that it was where the two had met. Of course, they had met when Dirks was still an arrogant, benevolent gangster bent on taking over the world. Well, he was still arrogant, but at least now he wasn't as benevolent.

He shared a short laugh with Tshael, and then spun around on his stool. That’s when he saw her. A woman clad in a dirty brown robe walked into the bar. She took a quick look around then turned to the ‘dark corner’ of the bar. Dirks watched her as she walked to the far booth. She walked with her shoulders slouched, like she was trying not to stand out. Dirks smirk faded from his face and he lifted his brow in sheer curiosity. After scrounging for a moment, the woman began looking at other patrons of the bar. First she looked at a woman and then at a ravish looking young man. Her eyes moved from the man, to an elf and then to a dwarf. Eventually her eyes fell on Dirks’. When she realized that he was watching her, she immediately turned away and looked down at the table. “Hmph.” Dirks mumbled. He stood up and walked to the bathroom.

When the scoundrel emerged, he quickly glanced to the corner booth to see if the odd was still there. To his surprise, she was talking to the young woman she’d eyed earlier. The young woman shook her head ‘no’ to something, walked off. The strange guest lowered her head and then walked to the young man sitting at the booth. The two talked for a moment and the man laughed. He moved lifted his hand and brushed her away. After this, the cloaked woman became distraught began to cry as she walked to the elf and the dwarf. She tried to speak to them, but then began to sob uncontrollably. She fell to her knees, and the shocked pair stood up and backed away.

Dirks, who hadn’t moved since he started watching her, quickly walked to the bar and set his drink on the table. “Watch this for me, will ya Tshael?” She nodded and he ran off to the sobbing woman. He kneeled down next to her and offered his arm. “Are you ok?” He asked. She blew her nose, and started dry heaving.

“Please help me.” She called out.

“Help you with what? Would you like some water?” another man asked.

“They took him. Please help me.”

“Who took what?” another woman with a heavy accent asked.

Dirks said nothing, but more and more people were beginning to take interest in the scene that was unfolding in the bar. The nonchalant looks on their faces plainly showed they thought her to be nothing more than an emotional drunk.

“They took…they took him,” she coughed and reached into her coat. She fumbled for a moment and finally pulled a small picture from her pocket. “My boy.” She showed the group a picture of a young man, no older than 8. He had long waivy hair. He looked like his mother.

“Who took him?” the woman with the accent asked.

“I don’t know.” She cried. Several patrons shook their head at this. One yelled, “crazy drunk” before turning back to his own drink. The woman didn’t seem to care. She called out, “Please help me find him. I…” she hesitated, “I’ll pay you.” She received a few grunts of “yeah right” and “how much.” In response, she reached into her cloak again and pulled out a small pouch. She laid the contents out on the floor. It held various coins easily adding up to more than 1000 GP. “Please.”

Dirks found it extremely strange that such a poor woman was able to present so much money. Something didn’t add up. Could she have stolen the money? Is that why ‘they’ had taken her boy? No. If that were the case, she would have given the money back. She seemed more concerned with finding her child than with the dangers of dumping nearly 1000 GP on the floor of a bar. He shook his head and looked up to those who had gathered waiting to see what their responses would be.

(Feel free to post at will. I'm avoiding a posting order in case someone disappears for a short time. If you fall behind, just try to catch up. Use the OOC thread for questions. Have fun and thanks for participating).

[Cyrus the virus]

Ah, Silver Pub, flowed the thoughts of the young mage. Never have you let me down on cold, lonely nights such as this.

The man who held these solemn thoughts was atop one of the stools that stood in front of the bar, each of which was occupied by some man, woman or inhuman creature on this busy night at the Silver Pub. At the far left was he, Luc Kraus, a small figure who sat huddling next to a mug of ale, a simply beautiful green and black cape pouring over his shoulders and down his back. The velvet accessory gave him a look of width that might have made him look far more imposing than he was. That was a good thing, for a small man like him was easy pickings for anyone alone on a night like this and looking for a fight.

Of course, young Luc was no normal man, and some of the dwellers of the Pub knew that. He really had no need to fear a bar fight. Through the years he had made some reputation for himself, though it varied depending on who you talked to. He was an enigma to those who only observed him, a short-tempered tyrant of a wizard to others, and a simple man to a few. Despite his power, he was not quite as well known as he'd aspired to be in recent years. That need to be recognized was beginning to fade at his age caught up with him.

He started to feel more and more human, more like he had a timer on him that was set to expire in any number of years. His reflexes, though still quick, were a hair slower, and his eyesight was just a tiny bit worse than it used to be. He was approaching middle age, and was aware of it.

Even the ale doesn't taste the same, his mind muttered as the goblet left his lips.

The commotion behind him stirred the mage, who turned his head just enough to peer at the goings-on from his peripheral vision. A woman was on the floor, babbling something about someone being taken from her. It made Luc think of his own mother, who he hadn't seen in over 20 years.

"Has it really been so long?" He wondered aloud, though his voice was far too quiet to be carried to any nearby ears.

He downed the ale quickly, spun in his stool and nimbly came to the floor, the wind assisting him in just the slightest way. He did not even have to will it anymore, but a gust came up under his feet to slow his descent just enough to be comfortable.

"Are you really so surprised?" Asked Luc, not to the woman but to the ones surrounding her. "Has Radasanth not become a hovel of a city, compared to what it was only five years ago? The republic has become nothing but a phantom, a government of ignored rules. It's sickening."

Walking quickly, the mage went to the woman and looked down upon her, paying little attention to the folk around him. "I'm certainly not surprised that some desperate fool took the boy. Years ago I'd be surprised, but now? Ha."

"I have no need for your gold, woman," said Luc in his best kind tone, which really wasn't very kind. "But I will find your child. The young do not deserve to be robbed of their parents. I know this very well."

Perhaps it was some excitement that he needed to bring him out of this funk. Ale simply wasn't doing the trick. Maybe helping someone in need could bring his spirits back, maybe not. If nothing else, it was worth a try.

[Witchblade]

Darkened pubs with questionable patriots. That’s how everything in Althanas worth any kind of mention seemed to start. One walked through the doors and already the chains of fate were beginning to work them towards some new adventure, some new goal, some new good deed. That seemed to happen to her a lot, even though she never signed up to be the good guy in anything, every time she stepped through tavern doors and into noisy pubs she would rather stay out of, she ended up doing the ‘good guy’ thing. She would save someone or help someone, or do something hero-ish. It was rather annoying, but then again, she had nothing better to do with her time and as long as she kept herself entertained who really cared if she was helping people in the end?

Witch sat alone in a darkened corner of the tavern, if alone meant she didn’t have any human company. Though she blended perfectly into the shadows with her cloak about her and her hood up, the small white dragon perched on the table did not. Daegun stood out amongst the shadows, his small clawed hands grasping a piece of bread and nibbling on it. A bowl of water and a plate with more bread and cheese was also before him, but he didn’t seem to like the cheese and Witch was not about to eat it herself.

A lot of the patrons had taken an interest in her activity when the small dragon had jumped out of her rucksack and she’d ordered something for him to eat. After all, it wasn’t very often that one saw a dragon from all those tales and stories sung by bards, in fact she was sure they were becoming a fast extinct race due to all the heroes thinking them evil and attacking them just to earn a name for themselves. Not a one of these patrons had dared come over and talk to her and she couldn’t really fathom why. Perhaps it was the deadly aura that just seemed to radiate from her, or the fact that she was covered in weapons that all gleamed in the candlelight whenever she shifted slightly and her cloak parted.

So far nothing interesting had happened in the tavern. No talk of going on adventures just ones spewing forth from lying mouths of how back in their time they’d killed a million dead and had fought off the minions of darkness from Haidia. She even heard one man talk of how he’d gone to the demon world by ship to attack their armies before they invaded Corone. This she snorted at, one could not get to Haidia by ship, they had to travel there through portals. And the last time she’d checked, the Demon Army was not invading Corone.

Suddenly though, there was a bit of a commotion and Witch leaned forward in her chair. A woman had collapsed to the floor and was mumbling about something being taken from her. After a few minutes to subside her sobs she was finally able to get across the fact that she son had been taken and she didn’t know by who. She was looking to hire people to find him and she had enough money to do it as well.

Witch looked at the form of her little dragon, his eyes were peering at the small group of people gathered around the woman as well, though he was still munching on his bread as if he had all the time in the world.

“What do you think, Daegun?”

The dragon let out a cute high pitched call and then, grasping the bread in his mouth, jumped off the table and ran on all fours towards the group. Witch quickly stood up and went after her little pet wondering how much simpler her life would be without him, but them she remembered all the lonely nights before she’d gotten her dragon and pushed it aside. His habit of getting her involved in things was well worth his company.

Daegun raced over to where the woman was, through the legs and over the feet of the people around her. He even passed an interesting, although short, human wearing a rather pretty green cape that he wanted to run over and touch, but he refrained. Not everything pretty could be touched and right now he was more concerned with the human on the ground.

“I have no need of your gold, woman, but I will find your child. The young do not deserve to be robbed of their parents. I know this very well.”

Witch glanced at the man who’d spoken it, shorter than her, yet he had a powerful aura coming off of him.

Her little dragon let out a small cry as it stopped in front of the human woman and dropped the bread in front of her. The woman probably had no idea what that meant, other than the fact that a baby dragon was before her eyes, but Witch knew she’d just accepted the job. Apparently she was taking orders from her pet now, but she couldn’t really complain, she’d been thinking of coming over to check things out herself.

Without the need of being called back, her dragon raced back through the legs and then over to her. Witch knelt down so he could jump onto her shoulder and rest there.

“I shall assist you as well.” She said as she stood up.

The telepathic link was open so that anyone near her could hear it, however with her hood up and the shadows covering most of her face—including the fact that her mouth was sown shut—Witch was hoping they would all think she was just speaking normally. It happened a lot around humans, without seeing the fact that her mouth wasn’t moving they all assumed she was speaking normally, that was of course unless they had psychic powers themselves.

[Chidori Draconid]

The Silver Tavern, although a little more successful than the average Radasanth pub, was absolutely nothing special. The patronage was the same, ninety percent vagabond, nine percent desperate, and one percent barely worth giving the time of day… just like any old tavern in Radasanth. In fact just like any old tavern on Althanas. Tonight, however two patrons sitting and smoking in a dark booth made the Silver Tavern special.

One was a young caramel man who barely looked old enough to be there as he lazily leaned across the entirety of the wooden pew. His black deck shoes hung out of the side occasionally brushing up against those passing by. They matched his fully black silk suit, which featured golden embroidery, and his shiny black cane, which leaned on the side of the dark mahogany table. Someone as classy as him always drew attention in a place like this, possibly through admiration, probably through detest. He closed his starburst grey eyes as he blew a few smoke rings from his pipe. Then he let the rest of the smoke rise like a thick mist from his mouth and tangle between the wavy strands of his orchard black hair. After all the smoke was gone he looked across the table with a sly smile.

“Can you make smoke rings, man?”

“Please, Chid Kid.” The muscle bound man said. “I’ve had seven thousand years to work on it.”

This bald fellow inhaled on his thick cigar and performed the same trick three fold. There were six thick rings of smoke between the two of them, each varying in size. He triumphantly rapped on the table with his large fist and leaned back further showing of the black bear fur vest he wore on top of his brown leather tunic. It was ironic that his Godly title was Baby Bear, and in his human form he was twice as large as Chidori Draconid. Baby Bear’s hazel eyes scanned the room. The two of them were being watched. No matter. He kept on smoking. No matter how much the two of them smoke or drank they would always carry the scent of the divine lotus flower. Anyone within ten feet would have the pleasure of noticing that.

“So,” The man in the bear fur said just before puffing out some more smoke. “Do you think you’ve made any progress so far?”

“Please, Double B. Do I need to go down the list?” Baby Bear’s silence answered that question. “Alright then. In Scara Brae I liberated fifteen slaves and four dragon eggs. The slaves can barely take care of themselves, and the baby dragons, including mine, died. Then I went to Raiaera, meandered around until I got a home with my mother’s best friend. Talk about independence. I found a really beautiful girl whom I care for, and I get attacked by eight immortals for expressing my feelings. After that I get caught in an age old bitch fight between Survani and Mitra for Fallien. Then I seek my own home by becoming a henchman for one of my estranged wife’s sugar daddies, and when I finally earn the home Loki plucks it out of the ground and puts it in the sky. There’s a twenty five square acre crater about an hour east of here. That’s where my home was supposed to be, but now I can’t get there. All in all I’ve had a great time here on Althanas… *sigh* Sorry. I needed to vent.”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.” Baby Bear was certainly that, a friend. One of Chidori’s best friends. “Besides I’m sure there’s something you’ve gotten out of your God ordained adventures here.”

“I know what you’re getting at.” Chidori said as he rolled his eyes. “The Gods cannot take credit for Avakra and I. That was us and us alone.”

Baby Bear scrunched his nose as he smiled creating a doubtful look on his face. “Now I know you’ll think this is far fetched, but think about the way the two of you were born. The godly personification of the sea gave birth to Avakra after having dreamt of her for three centuries, so he knew what she was going to be like, personality and all. A year later your parents give birth to you, and as Gods they can ‘conceive’ you any way they like. Now I know they wouldn’t go right out and say it, but your parents could have listened to Apa’s stories about Avakra, and molded you accordingly. It’s been done before, and your marriage wasn’t arranged by your parents. Think about it. When they made you they gave you caramel skin to match her honey tone, a combination so sweet it’ll make your teeth rot. I’ve seen the two of you together, and as early as it is, it seems like the two of you have been together and happy for years. You seriously look like an old happy couple…”

Chidori wasn’t hearing the rest of it as he hid his blushing face in a glass of red wine. He took a hard swallow and returned to the conversation.

“I’m pretty sure there are about a hundred thousand sailors and travelers in Althanas that are missing your constellation right now, Double B.” A moment of silence passed as Chidori scanned the dim lit tavern. He really was the odd man out here, and his pumped up friend didn’t help him look any better. “Why are we here anyways?”

Baby Bear went back to his cigar. The end pulsed an incandescent orange as he inhaled. Just then a woman in a rough cloak made a great plea and held out a picture of a boy. Chidori was too far away to see it in detail, but he didn’t need to. He could figure the rest out. She was a mother and her son had been abducted. The young deity stuck his pipe in his mouth, sat up as he grabbed his cane, and leaned forward with intrigue. His eyes widened at the realization of what this was. This wasn’t a meeting of old friends. This was an assignment… Again.

“You know what?” Chidori said in a whispered tone of frustration as he turned to his Godly friend once again. Baby Bear was stunned to see the look of pure anger on his friend’s face, with his eyes narrowed and his nose scrunched. “I am sick and tired of the Gods toying with me every opportunity you get. I’ll do this for two reasons,” He said as he pointed to the desperate reason. “Because it’s right, and more importantly because one of you dumb sons of bitches probably had your hands in this, and you’re too lazy to pick up after yourselves. Be sure to tell everyone with divine origin that if they aren’t my love or my guardian to stay the hell away from me! That includes my parents. Have someone else be your janitor.”

The young deity wiped the anger off his face, rose with his cane, and approached the woman. The wooden panel floor pounded with each step, making even him feel heavy. A couple of others had offered their services. It was good to know that there were other good people in the world.

“I’ll assist. But really I don’t know how much help I’ll be, so there’s no need to pay me.” Just then the large hand of Baby Bear grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He’s a pansy.”

“Hey!” Chidori’s old friend said in a hushed tone. He could sense the irritation in his voice, but the young deity wasn’t going to let him speak.

“I’m okay. You’re forgiven.”

“Don’t do that, bro!” Baby Bear pulled Chidori to the side. “Look. I can understand your frustration with everyone. They’re making you do all this pointless crap and you get little or nothing in return. That’s why I’ve arranged a reward for you. You said you needed access to your floating house, right? Only you and I can see him for now, but look outside.”

The heavy vibrations of a dragon’s growl traveled through Chidori’s body as he looked out the square window to see the eye of a great silver dragon. It peered into the tavern as it walked on by with a regal grace and composure. Its luminous platinum crest was more radiant than the lights inside the tavern.

“Honestly I don’t know what’s happened to this boy. If you help solve this case, not only will you have transportation to your home, the property will have divine protection against any God or Goddess not aligned with you and Avakra… including your wife.”

The young deity didn’t have to hear any more. He gave his friend a nod of approval, and Baby Bear left the building. Now back to the mater at hand. Chidori turned back to the disheartened mother, picked up the pouch of gold and handed it to her with what he hoped to be an uplifting smile. It probably wouldn’t work though. He really had nothing more to say. Detective work wasn’t really his forte, but his purpose in this had to emerge some time or another.

[Gadgeteer Mikami]

"OK, let's see..."

Radasanth, the crown jewel of Corone. The splendid city was as the travelling merchants had described it, if not a bit understated. Its sturdy buildings showed both elegance of the elves and the strength of the dwarves, lending the city an air of wondrous awe in stark comparison to the simple, minimalistic Akashiman architecture. On the streets, a multitude of heads flocked from one place to another as they went about their daily tasks. Among them, a young naiive girl wandered through the crowd with eyes glimmering with excitement.

"...That should be about it. I never thought I could get any of this anywhere!" Reina Mikami was no native to such a large city as Radasanth, but she was too preoccupied with the newly bought gear acquired from a small clockworks workshop in the city's more active parts. Things such as springs, gears and screws were really hard to come by at all in Akashima, even with the occasional caravan of traders making quick stops on their way to Jadet.

In fact, Akashima itself was a tiny kingdom compared to even the city of Gisela to the west. It was not hard for many people to miss the borders, but the Palace had decided against defining clear borders in hopes that it will not anger the Corone Assembly. The Akashimans had more than enough on their hands struggling to be self-sufficient and sparking hostility with the rest of the island would certainly bring about the kingdom's downfall.

The young gadgeteer, on the other hand, was enthralled by the trip. It was not often she would ever get a chance to go travelling at all had it not been for a kindly merchant lady who happened to be on her way to Radasanth herself. It took a lot of coaxing before her parents allowed such a trip to be made. After all, she was their only child. Nonetheless, it wasn't like they didn't have anything to tell her before she left.

"Remember, sweetie." Her mother said just as the lass hopped onto the hooded wagon, her back leaning against bags filled with merchandise from Akashima looking to strike a new market elsewhere. "Don't talk to strange-looking people. And always keep your pouch of coins where you can see them."

Her father couldn't help stepping in and giving his two cents either. For what it was worth, anyways. "And if all else fails, high-tail it out of there as fast as you can. There's no shame in retreatin', I tell ya."

She remembered the worried looks on their face as the wagon slowly glided towards its destination, her small house disappearing around the corner of the street. The journey would prove to be a long one, but it was all worth the trouble.

Now that her business was done for the most part, at the heavy price of 70 gold pieces, the girl felt she needed something to quiet her grmbling stomach.

"Eh, now where should I go? I do hope there's a restaurant around here..."

Reina wandered down the streets for a while, the sun rising to the top of her head and the buildings looking more run-down as time passed. But it wasn't long before her eyes came across the name of a well-known pub on the outskirt. In fact, the young gadgeteer was more than happy to finally find a place to eat despite its location was no less than the dregs of society. She had seen worse and this was far more welcoming than some she would rather not name. Thinking she would not find any better place for good food with affordable prices, the gadgeteer carefully stuffed her shiny new gear into her brown shirt pocket and stepped forward to open the weathered redwood door.

Just as Reina was about to push the door in, a lady with wary eyes hurriedly rushed past the young girl and knocked the lass onto the hard stone pavement.

"Oww~! Hey~!" Reina painfully got onto her feet, wincing from the sharp pain on her backside and the snide chuckles from nearby drunks alike. "Is everyone in big cities that much in a hurry? Whatever happened to 'taking it easy' nowadays..."

By the time the Akashiman entered into the dingy tevern, a commotion had broke out in a section near the far corner of the large establishment. The dank smell of draft ale and metallic smoke did little to help the lass in adjusting to the scene, but the urgency of the situation helped her to cope with it rather quickly.

As if by fate, the center of attention was the very same lady in brown who had run into her a little while ago. The lady mumbled incoherently about her child being taken away from her, sobbing uncontrollably and falling on all four. It was a disheartening scene to witness, especially to someone with a loving family who was waiting for her safe return. There were people offering their help already, looking far more capable in combat than the gadgeteer was by far.

Wow... Poor lady... Reina absent-mindely made her way towards the small group of well-wishers in hopes of offering her help. It was then that her mother's words popped into her mind.

"Remember, sweetie. Don't talk to strange-looking people."

Strange-looking people, right? Reina pondered for a moment as she continued to look at the distraught lady and her helpers. Two of them looked noble and capable, possibly with enough power between them to break even the strongest fortress. One guy looked as if he came straight out from the slums itself - rough and imposing. Another person there, mostly obscured by the hood above her head, fit the definition of wierd by her books. The little white dragon further made the woman look like someone from an old folklore, but the lass still thought more help couldn't do much damage.

"Hey, I'll help." Reina piped up, grinning childishly and offered a friendly hand to the sobbing lady at her feet. "I hate to see anyone look sad. Plus, you're not a strange-looking person at all." The lass froze for a moment after realizing what she said, but returned to smiling with a shy laugh. "Heehee, don't mind me. I'm blunt from time to time."

Even though her conscience protested the decision, in the back of her mind she knew she had to do something. It was not as if they would need to break into an impregnable fortress to rescue a child, anyways. Having more heads to help think up plans would be better than having just one, anyways.

Why not the mind of a gadgeteer?

[Max Dirks]

One by one the patrons approached the woman. An arrogant man came first, followed by a woman with a dragon, an odd pairing of human males and then a goofy looking girl came last. All of them refused to take the women’s money, but Dirks still couldn’t get a read on any of them. The former criminal doubted so many Althanians would flock so quickly to assist the woman based on a sob story unless they had some ulterior motive for helping. The woman smiled at all of them though, accepting them all as her saviors. She seemed so happy that when the odd man handed her the money, she laid it out again.

It looked as though some of the originally uninterested patrons had taken notice of the money poured out on the floor. A moment later a sixth adventurer approached the woman. “I’ll help you,” he said. The man did not look at her when he spoke. He was just eyeing her money. “Though they seem generous, these people most likely don’t have any experience with kidnappings,” the man scoffed. “Missing children are my specialty. I’ll lead them,” he motioned to the volunteers, “in the search for, oh, let’s say 1000 GP.”

The woman smiled and nodded her head and smiled. “Oh thank you!” She said before pushing the entire pile of money to the man. A sideways grin appeared on his face. Dirks knew that if she gave the money to him, she’d never see it again.

“Wait,” Dirks finally said. He reached down and started scooping the money back into the pouch. The woman looked up at him dumbfounded. When the money secured, Dirks handed the pouch back to the woman. “We work for free.” The man frowned at Dirks. The scoundrel glared back, refusing to turn away. Eventually the sixth man turned away, and left, giving a cat call of “your loss” as he walked out the door.

Dirks smirked, and then turned to the other volunteers. “Come on, let’s go to the back.” He said as he stood up and offered his hand to the woman. She took it and he pulled her up. “It’s not safe to talk here anymore.”

---

Moments later, Dirks led the troupe to a conference room at the back of the pub. Tshael often used the room to count money after the bar closed. “Sorry about that,” Dirks called out as he helped the woman into the seat. “If we stayed out there I think someone would have gone for the money.” He paused and looked around, “Can we take a look at that picture again?”

“Oh, yes!” The woman said, reaching frantically into her cloak. The tears had dried from her eyes. “This is him. This is my son, Thad.” She held the picture out for all to see. Upon closer examination, Thad really didn’t look as much like his mother as Dirks had originally thought. He had his mother’s eyes, but his facial structure, his hair, and his lips presumably looked like his father’s. “I love him so much. I don’t know why they took him.”

Dirks sat down and put his hand on his chin. He waited patiently as the others began to speak up and ask her questions.

(I was going to continue, but I want our dialogue to seem natural. Thus each of you has permission to bunny dialogue for both Dirks and the woman. If you decide to offer her name, it is Andrea Eitan. If we run into talking situations like this again (where it’s multiple character conversations) I suggest we all give permission to add dialogue. Remember, there is no posting order and my posts are a little longer because I have to drive the thread. You can post a few shorts lines of dialogue if nothing else to stay involved. Just don’t have them leave the room yet and make her unwilling to talk about the money (i.e. don’t focus on it))

[Cyrus the virus]

Luc was almost angry at the many responses the woman got. This was supposed to be his chance to set off alone and do some good, to spend time in reflection and thought. He'd been at a loss for what to do in these past weeks, and a good day of effort was just what he needed. The mage was close to telling the others their help would not be needed, but a man interrupted his coming spiel.

However sudden the man's need for the gold was, it was not he who Luc paid attention to, but rather the man who silenced him and set him to leaving. He was a man with spiked black hair and green eyes like his own, and he led them into a back room. Luc thought to leave, his reasons for wanting to save the boy now rendered useless, but something about the situation intrigued him. Common men and women, brought together to help someone? It had something heroic about it that made Luc want to participate.

However, his words did not betray this feeling. "Why would someone kidnap your son? A thousand gold seems hardly enough for all the trouble," he asked, obviously a bit of skepticism had come over him.

The woman shook her head. "I don't know," she answered, and Luc figured it was honest enough.

He wanted to go on, to ask her something else that would give them some kind of lead, but the mage was not a skilled interrogator. It was his lack of this kind of ability that made him such a fitting wizard in the first place, since everything he did revolved around his magic.

Luc sighed. Someone else would have to do the talking.

[Gadgeteer Mikami]

More and more people began to swarm over towards this lady in rags at the prospect of "getting paid" to help find her young child. Reina, however, did not like the way they spoke or looked - each one of them, saved for the ones already within the vicinity when the initial cry for help went out , had strange glimmers in their eyes. But the kind of glimmer the gadgeteer saw was neither out of passion nor good-will.

But things quickly quelled down when a dangerous-looking man, clad in black and equally dangerous eyes turned away the enormous sum of money being offered as payment. A strange commanding aura seemed to permeate the very air he breathed, drawing the young girl to comply without protest.

~~~

The back room where the stranger in black took the small band of rescuers to was quite small for such a large group, but by the way things looked it would be more than enough for all six people to fit in and have a seat. The simple oak furniture creaked lightly as Reina flopped onto one next to the lady, opposite to the dark-haired man who led all of them inside. The air smelled of an interrogation despite the fact everyone was there to help. The girl didn't like the atmostphere very much at all but she had to agree with the way things are going - gathering information should be the very first thing on the list.

Thad's only a little boy... why would anyone-

"Tell, me, miss... umm..." Reina blurted out all of a sudden, but paused at the realization that she did not know what the lady's name was. The motherly woman smiled and replied while Reina still had her mouth half-opened and standing half-ways across the table. "My name's Andrea, miss."

"Sorry..." The young girl replied with a meek apology, absent-mindedly scratching the back of her head. At least she now knew who to address, which was a good thing to the girl. "Anyways, Mrs. Andrea. Seeing that you don't know why anyone would take your child away," Reina continued, her hands still planted firmly on the table and a determined look in her eyes. "Can you tell us anything about the people who kidnapped your child?"

If the motive was a mystery, then perhaps the identity of the culprits could shed some light on the matter. Reina was unsure if her question would be f any help, though, but it was worth a shot.

The lass waited silently, a beat of sweat dripping across her unblemished face and seeped into the leg of her glasses.

Boy, it's getting hot in here...

Andrea closed her eyes intently and pondered over the question, the single source of light casting deep shadows across her otherwise unblemished face. Reina tugged uncomfortably at her shirt collar, eyeing the lady intently as her mouth opened to give her response.

"No, I'm sorry..." The mother shook her head, "I wasn't even there when they took my child... I'm sorry I couldn't hep you with that..."

Aww, doggonit. The gadgeteer slumped back into her chair, sighing in disdain. Now what do we do?

It appeared someone else would have to start asking questions, the lass resolved as she wiped a hand across her brows. She was stumped.

[Witchblade]

The room was small and reminded her of a place you’d take someone to feel uncomfortable in. Whether or not the human woman before her was uncomfortable the halfling couldn’t say. She seemed elated to finally have someone helping her with this, adventurers, mercenaries, people who cared. Well, maybe the other four people in the room gave a damn but personally she was just here to keep herself entertained. Finding the child was just a by-product of that, if he was alive, well, whatever. As long as he didn’t make a lot of noise he’d stay alive too.

While everyone else piled around and sat down in plain chairs surrounding a plain table, Witch endeavoured to casually lean against the wall, watching the situation. Idle conversation was not her forte and as such she did not usually ask a lot of question. However, there was one question those among the group were just not asking and she was curious to know.

“Where’s the boy’s father?” Like before, her telepathic link was open and everyone in the room would hear the question as if she were speaking it.

Though the halfling did not really understand the whole concept of parents since she couldn’t remember hers, or even if she had any, the woman’s behaviour was intriguing. It was clear she could not defend herself yet had decided to carry a large sum of money around Radasanth—which wasn’t known to be very safe anymore—at night and then entrusted it and the safety and return of her child to a bunch of strangers she didn’t know.

Why wasn’t the man who had sired this child helping?

The little dragon on the halfling’s shoulder jumped down before she could stop him and ran over to the man with the extravagant cloak. Witch just shook her head, wondering when her little pet was going to stop being lured to things with pretty colours. At least he was cute though, that way the human probably wasn’t going to get too mad when the dragon started playing with the cloth.

She just hoped he wouldn’t try to eat it.

[Chidori Draconid]

It seemed as though every time the young deity was blessed with allies fate would throw him the most unlikely of the lot. This time it wasn’t as unlikely as it was just plain old random. He had questions, but they had wither already been asked or they were bound to come up fruitless. Instead of asking this woman useless questions, Chidori decided to observe his partners for this mission.

As always a natural leader emerged from the lot. Chidori was happy to see that it wasn’t him. He had no problem following orders. It was giving orders and those orders not being followed that caused him more stress. He was also happy to see that he and the leader of the pack had a similar sense of fashion. Like the young deity, he was color coordinated wearing almost all black. It’s almost as if the two of us are wearing a dynamic duo’s uniform. Chidori held in a chuckle. If his psychic darling were here she would have been laughing at that thought.

He followed the crew into a dark room well fit for interrogation purposes. It certainly wasn’t there for lounging purposes like the rest of the building, but it would be a good place to bring suspects to if they found and captured any. Chidori didn’t take a seat. Instead he kneeled down at the far end of the table as the other four and the desperate mother took their seats. They all seemed to tower over him from this angle.

The first to make inquiry after the leader was an older man, possibly the entire group’s senior. It was his body language and his demeanor that gave him away as the oldest member of the group.

The young woman, seemingly of Chidori’s mortal age got the name of the mother out, which was important. It reminded him that none of the makeshift private investigators knew each other’s names.

He waited for the fourth woman, who was accompanied by a cute infant wyrm, to make her own inquiry into the case. It was then that her pet hopped onto the table and curiously headed for the cloak of the older man. Chidori wanted to smile at the sight of a familiar creature, but he knew it would be misinterpreted somehow. That was when a question of productive means came to mind.

“Can you think of any adversaries that would have enough motivation to kidnap your son? Keep in mind that many people take different offenses with different intensity,” The young deity said as he reached over to pet the baby dragon. “So someone you may have caused even a small inconvenience could be behind this.”

“Well if you put it that way, the list grows infinitely large.” Andrea looked away and clenched her cloak. That was probably a very disturbing thought. To know that anyone in her life could commit such a crime.

“Are there any names that stick out? Anyone in particular capable of doing this?”

“No… I can’t think of any.”

He looked around the table at his comrades with an apologetic. “That’s all I have for now. My name is Chidori Draconid by the way.”