IceAndWave/AHotNightOut
A Hot Night out
In which pretties are found, a new player revealed, and a different sort of ride is had...
The 27th Day of Resplendent Fire, Realm Year 763
Cassia considers the knowledge of the guards patrols now stored in her mind, trying to find a time about an hour before dawn when she could scale the outer wall and then the side of the building up to Iron Gull's old office... a gap in the walking pattern of the guards to slip through in the dark of night.
The door to Gull's office closes silently behind her as she steps through, with only the pale light of the moon shining through the half-shuttered windows providing any light. A faint creak of booted foot on floor just outside informs the young Dragon-Blood that the timing was even closer than she had initially thought.
Cassia smiles smugly to herself as she creeps across the floor towards the desk, her feet making less noise than a whisper with her light treads, the subtle magic wrapped around her ensuring that no evidence of her being here would come to light. If she'd timed it right, and there were no suprises, she had half an hour here before the next patrol...
Iron Gull's lockbox, the first thing she looks for, is right where she left (and originally found) it, hidden in a small secret drawer underneath the large wooden desk.
Cassia carefully lays out the tools she will need, starting to tease at the locks with small slivers of metal, gently coaxing the lock to open for her and reveal the secrets it hides within.
Without a sound the intricate mechanism that keeps the box locked unwinds, and a moment later the lid moves almost imperceptibly. As well made as the rest of strong box, the hinges open silently, revealing a small, black velvet pouch with a handful of brightly coloured gemstones scattered atop it. They sparkle brightly in the silvery light of the moon.
Cassia's eyes light at the sight of the gems, and she notes the position of each one before she carefully lifts them out, picking up the pouch and checking inside before she carefully checks the rest of the box.
Within the pouch is a dull iron ring, of the approximate size of a man's finger, unmarked and unadorned beyond a suggestion of age in the scratches and wear on the band. Apart from the pouch and the gems, the rest of the box is empty - the thick steel walls solid and near-unbreakable.
Cassia frowns and carefully replaces the items within the box then relocks the box and sets back in the drawer, closing it quietly.
The room beyond the desk is lavish and ornate, marble statuary in alcoves and shelves containing ancient books are all limned with silver light, and a series of artistically formed bottled filled with, no doubt extremely valuable, exotic drinks line one glass-fronted cabinet.
Cassia frowns and carefully replaces the ring within the bag then slips the jewels into several of the carefully hidden pouches within her clothing, then locks the box and replaces it. Cassia's ears pick up the sound of a quiet footstep outside the door, and the handle moves slowly, as someone outside tries to silently open the door.
She picks up the lockpicks and slips them into her clothing, closing the distance to the bookcase in two light steps then scaling them in an instant, folding into the space at the top no human could easily, somewhere with a view of the room and a clear route to the window.
The door opens and a figure in dark robes melts into the room, apparently floating silently across the floor. It approaches the desk with a sense of purpose and, kneeling before it, retrieves the lockbox that, only moments earlier, Cassia had been looking inside. The box is opened forthwith and the pouch removed, the interloper placing it within the robes before casually discarding the box and heading back towards the door.
Now what was that all about? Cassia unfolds from the shelf after the figure has left, slipping out of the door the way they left then padding silently down the corridoor after them, tailing them through the darkened hallways...
The dark robes seem to hug the shadows of the Palace of the Oligarchs, blending seamlessly into them as a guard approaches, only to emerge as they pass. The figure pauses outside a door for a moment before opening it and passing through, taking the stairs beyond up and up, heading towards the roof of the palace.
Cassia tails him up and up the stairs, her footfalls lighter than the breeze she had wrapped around the figure, always covering for any small noise that might betray her... why was he heading to the roof? ... an airship wouldn't be good.
While the walls of the Palace are heavily patrolled, the roof of the structure is only lightly watched, the looming shadow of the airship overhead reason enough for that. Outside the world is rendered in shades of silver and black by Luna's light, and the robed figure is almost indistinguishable from its own shadow as it moves towards the centre of the Palace roof.
Cassia pads after him, a small shadow amongst the larger ones, careful to hide herself from both possible observers on the ship and the figure she tails...
A sudden scream, as of an angry raptor, shatters the silence of the night as a massive fiery eagle flies out of the western night and slams into the gondola of the airship above. The explosion is massive, lighting up the skies above Icehome with orange fire. Burning debris is sprayed across the rooftop, directly above the robed figure that Cassia has been watching, apparently unconcerned by the destruction being wrought above.
Cassia hurls herself aside as a section of heavy timber from the airship above crashes into the ground where she was standing just before, rolling into a protected corner. She looks around carefully after she picks herself up, searching for the figure in the robes and then any other guards that might be on the palace roof ... now would be a very bad time to be caught
The mortally wounded airship, the giant gasbag aflame, begins its final descent into the city below, accompanied by screams of panic rising from the streets as the citizens look up at the sudden noise and flash of light.
Meanwhile, the figure on the roof has been joined by another, this one robed in white and riding atop something that Cassia can only comprehend as a demonically beautiful wasp, the rider reaching out with a pale hand to retrieve the black pouch held up for it.
Cassia waits for the airhsip to descend a little lower... just a little lower, then she runs towards the figure in white and the figure in black, leaping and tumbling between them, grabbing the ring without breaking stride then hurling herself off the side of the palace and into the firey ball of the airship, wrapping her anima around her as she does.
An inhuman roar bursts forth from the figure in black robes before it gives chase, while the wasp-rider directs his mount to follow the thieving Dragon-Blood. Cassia, meanwhile, finds herself in a veritable inferno of oil-treated canvas and wood beams, the airship making the final part of its journey into the city.
The sound when it strikes in indescribable, the noise of tearing metal combines with the roar of the flames and the screams of those citizens who were unable to get out of its path.
Cassia luxuriates in the flames as she rides the airship down to the ground ... trying work out both where it will land and how long it will burn as it falls, finding somewhere to brace herself as the airship comes in to land.
Alarm bells ring throughout Icehome, and the few people in the city who weren't woken by the explosion are now rousted as the need to extinguish the fire overwhelms the guards. Another need makes itself felt in the screams of citizens who spy the demonic wasp in the air or the fire-wreathed Exalt it seeks.
Alarm bells ring throughout Icehome, and the few people in the city who weren't woken by the explosion are now rousted as the need to extinguish the fire overwhelms the guards. Another need makes itself felt in the screams of citizens who spy the demonic wasp circling over the burning wreckage. Soldiers already heading towards the conflagration unhook their crossbows and fire at the demon and its rider.
Cassia remains hidden within the flames of the airship, looking around for the demonic wasp or the guards. When she sees the figure being shot at, she watches for a time... looking for signs of what he might be, concealed within the protective flames.
Quarrels arc through the air, most missing, but one strikes home on the mount and with what is almost certainly a vile curse, the sorceror disappears into the night sky, drops of prismatic blood dripping from the demon.
The floor beneath Cassia, she suddenly remembers, is the wooden construction of the summer streets, and they creak horribly as the flames around her eat through them apace.
Cassia shakes her head and pulls back into the flames, seeking the street level, waiting for a hole to burn through, then slipping through into the streets below. As she clears the area below the airship, her anima is drawn back into herself and she runs on memory in the darkened streets, heading back to the inn, concealing magic wrapped around her tracks...
The fire of crashed airship begins to consume the adjacent buildings, although the response of the citizens to the fire is already having an effect as well-oiled pumps are brought forth and gallons of water sprayed onto the flames. Underneath it all, Cassia hears the shouted commands and panicked screams fading behind her, as she returns to the inn.
