Hawaii:Sessions:19901208:Excitement in Carcross
They were about five miles from Carcross when they encountered a ten-man royal patrol. The patrol was heading east, but turned to talk to them. The detail's leader determined they were unusual but no problem, so he resumed his road patrol. Cartwright told one man at the rear about the seven they had sent south. The rest of the journey was no problem. The guard at Carcross's east gate admitted them after a few short questions. Alon led them to an inn/tavern where they could get supper and spend the night. They arrived at the inn at about 4 PM. Whitetop and Tormac unloaded the coaches after Tormac rented a room for them. Alon rented himself one also. A separate room was gotten for the prisoner/servant. Tanisha, Two-Leaf, and Kristi went to an establishment to sell the coaches and extra horses. The merchant was so amazed by Kristi and Two-Leaf that he bought the goods for 150 percent of what they were worth.
Everyone returned to the inn and went to their room, where they freshened up. Lara Lee settled in to eat lobster in her room. Tormac cleaned up, and at about 5 PM came down to the inn's tavern decked out in his entire Dwarf regalia; he wanted it to be obvious that he was a Dwarf. His appearance caused quite a ruckus among the serving girls, until the youngest was elected to go take his order. The others drifted down, first Dr. Ill who ordered ale and began to drink. Cartwright came down dressed in some of the formal clothes he found in the camp. Whitetop was formally dressed, with an eagle figure feather in his hair. Kristi came down dressed as Puss-in-Boots. Two-Leaf came as usual, just dressed in her fur. Tanisha appeared dressed semi-formal.
Tormac was generous with the gold, so the service was good. A buffer of empty tables appeared around them. The crowd, however, did not really decrease. The bard on the stage performed for a while, but finally gave it up as a lost cause, since more people appeared to be paying attention to the team than to him. As the bard was leaving, the team summoned him over. A little after he arrived, the crowd got to Tanisha so she went upstairs. The bard told the team about the fall of an evil empire, and the prophecy of the return of the Elves and Dwarves. Tormac said that he was a Dwarf, and the team implied that an Elf was with the party. The bard left and was rewarded with a gold piece. Tormac picked out the worst of the three knives and was getting ready to throw it when Dr. Ill lifted it without Tormac noticing. One by one the team headed upstairs. Dr. Ill stayed down to sleep in the rafters. Tormac was the last one up. (Whitetop later that night snuck into Tormac's room, dazed him, and modified his ammo clips so that each fifth bullet was a dud.) The rest of the night passed uneventfully.
At about 7 am the next morning, a tall old man positioned himself underneath Dr. Ill's sleeping perch. Then he bade Dr. Ill good morning and introduced himself as Starsinger. When asked what he name was, Dr. Ill told Starsinger he could call him Clinger. Starsinger asked to speak to the leaders of their group. Dr. Ill made a com unit call but got no response. The next one down was Gary Cartwright. Introductions were performed, then they sat down at a table while Dr. Ill pulled up a piece of ceiling in the corner. Cartwright ordered breakfast, but Starsinger held off ordering. Tormac next joined the breakfast party.
Whitetop came down but didn't stop for food. Instead he headed out the front of the inn/tavern. He saw quite a crowd of people lining the street in both directions on both sides of the street. To the left about forty yards away, he saw two men in the black, red, and silver uniforms of the men they had fought yesterday. Whitetop continued on past them, then circled around behind the inn. Meanwhile Alon, Tanisha, Two-Leaf, and Kristi came down. Tanisha was dressed real fancy, and levitated down the stairs and into the tavern. Starsinger had been using magic rings to analyze each person and their objects. Starsinger began to ask and answer questions, once they were all accounted for. (Lara Lee had gone elsewhere, and Cartwright took food up to their prisoner.)
Starsinger was there to check them out and to confirm that Tormac was really a Dwarf. He'd heard about them from Jartan (the bard at the inn on the previous night). The news/rumor of their presence had spread throughout the city. Wagers were being made on the identity of Tormac. Starsinger believed Tormac once Tanisha revealed and showed that she was an Elf. Starsinger also asked each team member about what their race was. Starsinger also shared his distrust of the Duke's son, as well as the fact that the Duke, King, and their men had left for the hunting lodge yesterday around mid-morning. Cartwright finished eating and headed outside to check things out. He also noticed the two men in the familiar livery off forty yards to the left. Cartwright went out and began working himself around behind them. When he was about fifteen yards behind them, Tormac (in full Dwarf dress) came out the front of the inn and stood there. The crowd talk volume rose, and they shifted in order to get a better look at the Dwarf.
Cartwright had pulled and cocked his gun and was making his final approach behind the mercs, when a small kid (60 pounds, 4' tall, 11 years old) grabbed for the gun. Cartwright retained his grip on it but went down on one knee. He was now facing away from the mercs, but he aimed back over his shoulder, telling them to freeze. There was another kid in front of him who had pulled a knife. Seeing that he seemed to be paying more attention behind him, the first kid made another grab at the gun. Unfortunately for one of the mercs, the gun discharged and the bullet hit him in the shoulder, taking him down. Cartwright kept the gun and got a hold on the kid. When the guard went down, the kid with the knife ran down an alley. The other merc also decided to depart, but Cartwright hurled the kid into him as he passed. At that moment, Kristi, Whitetop, Two-Leaf, and Tormac arrived in response to the gunshot. The mark was getting up just as Kristi dropped him with a dazer shot. Tormac grabbed up the kid. Two-Leaf performed first aid on the injured merc. Whitetop and Tanisha arrived, called for Dr. Ill, and confirmed that Cartwright was okay. He also found out from him what had happened. Dr. Ill arrived and finished patching up the merc. The crowd had melted away at the first sign of violence, but now were beginning to come back, so the team carried their captives back up to the Black Hole with Alon and Starsinger following behind. Starsinger confirmed to the crowd that Tormac was a Dwarf. Several shouts of joy broke out.
Whitetop, instead of going in, headed off toward the barn to get the horses ready to leave. Dr. Ill went up to the top of the building to keep lookout. While Two-Leaf was trying to wake up the dazed merc, Cartwright went to get the prisoner. Two-Leaf woke up the dazed merc on the second try. Cartwright escorted in their prisoner, but it turned out that they did not recognize each other. The dazed merc gave the name of his guild. He was on his day off and had just wanted to see what was going on. He told them that the guild had about five hundred men in it. He'd only been with them eight months.
The boy had been set down on the couch and told not to move. Tormac blocked the doorway. The kid said he had just wanted the thing. He also said that the man had said he'd pay him and his friend one gold piece to get it. The kid kept looking for an opening. Meanwhile, Dr. Ill reported that the city guard was making its way down the street.
Then Tormac offered the kid a deal: two gold pieces if he would arrange a meeting between the team and the high-ranking member of the thieves' guild. The kid protested that he didn't know anyone that high, and that they wouldn't listen to him anyway. The kid finally agreed, and they gave him one gold piece. The kid said that he needed the gun to prove himself. Instead Cartwright gave him one live shell and one empty one. Once he had those, the kid was allowed to leave.
Dr. Ill followed the kid. The kid went down the street to the right for several blocks, where he met another merc. Dr. Ill saw them engage in an animated discussion, with the kid obviously trying to convince the man of something. Finally the man took the two shells and gave the kid a gold coin. The kid then tore off down the side street. The man seemed to recognize the shells, and started off toward the inn. Dr. Ill decided to follow him and not the kid. The man went into the inn's tavern, going right past Tormac who stood in the doorway. Dr. Ill came in. Over the net, he told the others what had happened. Tormac suggested that he get the shells back. Tormac then went into the tavern and sat down so he could see the door and the man.
The city guards came in and questioned the barkeep. They then came over and talked to Tormac. Tormac calmed his fear. Just after they left, Dr. Ill was over the man's head, adhering to the wall. He missed on his first quick grab for the man's pouch, and ended up clinging to the underside of the table. While Tormac provided a distraction, Dr. Ill got the pouch off of the man. He dropped one of his pouches in its place, then threw two steel balls to the other side of the room. The man stood up to see what had happened, and stumbled over the substitute bag while Dr. Ill exited the area. He had left the man two dimes, a Matchbox car, and a swizzle stick, which the man carefully examined. He even started playing with the car as he sat watching the door. Dr. Ill retrieved his steel balls, and then skateboarded up to Tormac and gave him the shells before going back up top.
Back in the Black Hole, they had finished with the mercs so they tied them up. Starsinger, at the suggestion of one of the team, said that the Duke's son would probably send for them. Just at that moment Dr. Ill, who had just reached up top, called in to report twelve guards (not the city patrol or the mercs) approaching the inn. The team decided to evacuate. Kristi, Tanisha, and Two-Leaf climbed down from the room to the alley beside the inn, after they scared away the onlookers that were there. Tormac took out through the back door of the tavern. Cartwright headed down the back stairs. Meanwhile, Whitetop brought their horses around to the back of the stables. Alon and Starsinger just walked out the front of the inn, heading for the stables.
Cartwright got out of the inn with no trouble, but a few feet from the door someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he could speak to him. Cartwright said 'no' and turned and continued walking. A hundred paces later there was another tap. Cartwright saw this time that the someone was in merc's colors, so he threw an elbow this time while saying he was in a hurry. After another hundred paces this happened again. This time Cartwright turned with his drawn .45 and the man said 'That's what I wanted to talk about' and Cartwright shot him. It had no effect. The man said, 'Well, if that's the way you want to be, I'll talk to you later,' and vanished. Cartwright, Alon and Starsinger arrived at the stables at about the same time. Starsinger took the horse that had belonged to the prisoner that they had earlier released when he had requested it. They mounted up and headed toward the north gate.
As they moved toward the north gate they collected quite a following of people. Dr. Ill continued to observe the ten guards as they entered the inn and talked to the innkeeper. Then they went up to the room, but when they found no one they came down, talked to the keeper some more, then headed out and turned to go toward the stables. When they arrived, the stable master told them they had left but he didn't know where to. Upon leaving the stable the squad moved at the edge of the crowd but could not proceed through it so they headed back to the castle to report to the Duke's son. During this time the team passed through the north gate, which was being manned by one of the patrol they had met the day before. As they left the city they began to lose their following. At just that time they got Dr. Ill's report that the squad had headed back to the castle. Dr. Ill then went over the wall right in front of a guard and began to parallel the team as they traveled north. He still had ground to make up.
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