Glayp'neir (Arc 1)

Dr. Atrium looks down at the girl and then looks around. He chuckles and picks her put and moves her down a dead end ally and drops her in a dumpster and shuts the lid, He keeps her rapier though. He walks back to Sharpe laughing. "I took out the trash. I also want to keep her weapon with us for a bit, don't want it used on us again."

He walks over to his bag and is happy to see that the cat is still there. He puts his bag on and holds on to the cat with one hand and has the rapier in the other. "lets get going. Also, for the time being, I would be happy if you didn't mention what you heard."

Jian remains silent. He is too stunned to say anything. He doesn't even want to leave this alley, regardless of how dark, cold and dirty it is there. He hides his face behind his legs again and curls up. At this point he's not really that kind of person that really engages or reacts towards any words or actions anybody's doing towards him. How could he let his brother get away with this? And who was the girl with that tank top again? He knew her from somewhere, but he can't put his finger on it so far.

He wonders who else might be involved into this, but then falls back into the state of just sobbing and crying to himself again. This lasts for several minutes, without any success to make it stop. Suddenly, something strikes his mind. He has an idea who this girl might be and why she's part of the group looking for him. His sobbing stops, followed by a tremble. He rattles himself up, looking at Airgetlam in a suddenly very serious manner. He balls a fist and his breathing turns heavier.

"Shit, this might be even more serious than it is already! Sorry to cause you any trouble, you can wait at the Inn people wanted to go to. For me, well, forget about me for the time I'll be gone, I have to check something, this might be more important than everything I had in mind so far. Now go, I'll see you later, like said, don't worry, I'll be fine!"

He runs off, his blade is being pulled out and held backwards down his arm. His pace is faster than ever and the destination he's trying to reach is his small apartment he got for a decent price back then. He then turns left after rushing out of the alley, disappearing into the crowds through the towncenter, aiming to reach the easter part of the city, where he lives. Knowing a shortcut and to make sure he's not being followed, he enters the basement to an building in the central area of the town. He knows that passage for quite a while and now is able to make use of it, it's a tunnel system which is usually only used by workers and builders to reach specific areas faster. They tend to go this way when things need repairing and normal citizen actually aren't allowed. But all of that doesn't concern Jian, all he's doing is running through the tunnels, one light swishing past him after another. His heart races, his vision cones up into a circle with a frame of blur, his whole body's being surrounded by the cold wind he feels while running through the systems. He's safe down here, he just knows it.

After about 20 minutes he reaches the hallway that leads him outside into the easter part of the town, where he ends up being next to the facilities that create building goods and tools. From here he's not far away from his apartment. He runs through some side alleys to avoid any people and finds his way there. He then disappears into the building and enters the apartment where he lives.

Airgetlam watches him run off around corner, and sees his renewed vitality is paying off. Hugs do wonders for people. At the last moment, she notices he has the dagger drawn, and she leaps up, an expression of alarm beswindles her face

"Jian! Wait! The knife!" She calls out, but it's too late, he's around long gone.

She looks down at the pamphlet and examines it more closely. On it stands the only words she really cares about: Chateau de Vikuur at the Solis et Umbra. Now she knows they've made the right decision to meet up there.

She gets up, bringing the parchment with her and pulls her cloak's hood over her head, going out into the crowd. She emerges on the other side, finding the boys with everything packed, but strangely a rapier is now present.

"Where'd you guys get the poking stick?" she asks, puzzled.

Sharpe takes the Rapier from Doc and slides it into his belt, next to his katana. That should keep it a bit safer. Oh how he detests these style of blades though, they don't look slender at all. He loves that about the eastern sword styles. Still, it's good to have a backup blade in case he loses the Katana, Gods forbid.

"So Doc, when you think they'll get back?"

Answering, he hears Airgetlam's voice ask about the Rapier. He turns around and grabs it, tugging it up to show.

"Oh uh, we had to "take out the trash" if you know what I mean. Someone tried to jump Doc, but she was really dumb about it and he knocked her out. I will say, he's more able than I thought."

She has her hood up. It either means she's pissed, sad, serious, or she has that sinister face under it like things are working out her way.

"Where's Jian?"

Before saying something more, Sharpe spies a piece of gold-tinted paper in her hand.

"Win over some noble with your looks? Got invited to a shindig?"

Dr. Atrium sees the gold-tinted paper and tries to think what it could be for but, he can't seem to get his thoughts together. That isn't good, this only happens when he drinks or when....

He walks over and takes the rapier out of its sheath and looks at it. He sees that in the handle there is a trigger, he pushes it and sees something drip out of the tip of the rapier. He drops the rapier, his whole body feeling numb.

"oh crap..." He says right before he falls on his face, knocked out.

She watches as the doc collapses to the ground. She opens her mouth and begins to move, kneeling by his unconscious body

"Doc! Doc!" She calls frantically, "Can you hear me at all?! Doc!!!" He lies there limp, not a whisper even escapes from between his lips.

She looks to Sharpe, who's simply stupefied. Something must have been up with the rapier...

She checks his body and sees that he has several non-life-threatening cuts and slashes, but they look to be healing over, except for a slight yellow discoloration around a few of them. She grabs the rapier, careful not to poke herself with it, and spies what looks to be a giant syringe implanted into the shaft of the blade. Clever, whoever it cuts does not fall victim to the bleeding, they fall victim to the concoction. She looks back at Doc and hopes it's not lethal.

The Rapier is snatched from the sheath. Sharpe looks at him in surprise.

"Hey, uh, can you ask next time?" Too late, Doc slumps over, unmoving.

"Well... Shit." Airgetlam cross and examines him, then the sword. Sharpe sees the same as Air, that the sword is exotic and carries a poison delivery system or the like.

He guesses their enemies must be more interesting than they let on to be.

"Well, I'll carry the guy and grab some of his stuff, he'll haul him off to the hotel from here."

The group manages to carry the unconcious doctor to the inn. On the way suspicious looks and glances are shot their way during the time that they spend outside of back alleys. The rather pompous Inn is noticeable from a whiles away. The stone building is decked with blue and silver tapestries and big windows in silver frames. The emblem on the tapestries carry a foxes face, one half consumed by silver and blue flames and two white swords crossing behind it. everything on the Inn suggests that this is a more lucrative building. The big double-doors lead to the Inn, the insides wider than the building would suggest when seen from the outside. Some fancy tables are decked with blue cloth and silverware and in the middle of the long room there is a big long table with a bunch of people gathering around the food that is laid out on it. In the back is a stage with an artist painting away where the people could see and behind him were four paintings he had displayed today. Two bodyguards of his were stationed on  either side of the stage, their vision obscured by shades, though the bodyguards did not look like professionals. They wore street clothes with some light armoring and each of them carried a pistol as a sidearm together with a longsword on the back.
A sign read to not disturb the artist until the show was over and judging by the time on it it would take about another hour or two. Off to each side of the stage were two doors leading to the back, one to the kitchen and the other to the upstairs and washrooms. Next to the stage and the kitchen was a small bar, leading out from the kitchen and along one side of the Inn. A excited looking woman with short red hair partially draped over one side of her face is standing behind the counter watching the artist work. Meanwhile two busy looking men in fancy blue garbs are running around the inn serving drinks and meals to the few seated guests. Today was, surprisingly, not very busy. The artist was not very well known and the people were more interested in tonight play to pay any heed to an Inn, no matter how fancy it seemed. One of the men looks up from the table he is serving, noticing the newly arrived guests. He nods at the people he is serving and makes his way over to the entrance. "Ah, fine evening!" He says, clasping his hands together in excitement. He looks at the fainted doc. "Out early tonight? Many people have been drinking early today. We will prepare a bed for him immediately." He smiles at the group and waves two men over that conveniently came from upstairs. They hurry over and lighten the group of the doctor and make their way upstairs. "Ah but don't worry." the man then says in a bright tone. "Today's rest is on the house, because of celebrations!" He then takes a light hold on Airgetlams hand and brings it up to his face while bowing slightly. A short peck on the back of her hand and he smiles at her. "Let me seat you two right away." He then leads them to a table in the corner of the room and puts down two books with different foods and drinks written down in it. "I'll return in a moment to take your order if you wish to place any." he says and moves over to the bar to talk to the bartender there. In the inn people are having conversation and calm music is playing, though there are no musicians nor recording devices around. Fancy decorations can be found all over the Inn and at the top of the bar are different images and photos as well as s ketches and letters pinned down.

Sharpe looks around, taking extravagances and luxuries and menagerie of earthly delights. Such a gilded place might hide secrets he feels. He waves the thought though, as it's nice anyway and nobody seems to be much of a snob.

"Faaaanccyyyyyy, but I still like the clubs back home more. Darker, more moody. Not so aristocratic, eh Air?" He looks over but finds the server has kissed her hand. He shifts his smirk from one side of his face, but figures it's fine, not like he's hitting on her. Plus it's proper and really shows you what the folks are about. Classy establishment like this sets the example.

He lets the men heave Doc off to a room, and they end up seated at a nice table in the corner.

"Hey uh, Waiter, could we get a table by a window? Facing the coast maybe? Uh...." he trails off, realizing that while the music is calm, it in combination with everyone talking is drowning out his voice. He stops before he makes a fool of himself tailing the waiter through the inn dining floor.

He sits down and slouches, putting an arm on the seat and looks through the menu. Some rather interesting food is listed, but none of which looks too appetizing to him at the moment. The pricing is fair, even for a place like this. He settles on a pasta of some sort, and orders some Sacra to drink.

He further looks about the room, and notices the men with pistols. They look to be single-fire, breach-loaders, but he can't be sure about rifling or if they even are regular guns or maybe weapons fitted with protraction tech. He doesn't know if protraction guns exist, but hey, magic is magic. For all he knows, they have a giant mass driver powered by the stuff. He watches one turn and notes the longswords, which to him honestly look more like claymores. Though he supposes they might look longer from where he's sitting, and the fact that most of the longswords he saw where worn at the hip rather than on the back, but it happens sometimes. They might also be made of lighter alloy.

He notes the painter, with his broad strokes, making such movements of grace and demonstrating creativity. Sharpe wonders if the artiste will take a special commission, something abstract.

As the walls glitter, the painter paints, a flirt swoons,a guard checks, Sharpe watches, and Airgetlam observes. The citizenry here were much more refined, but for all the luxury, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was a dark secret to the locale.

she glanced at the menu, taking her mind off of her suspicions. A glass of tea and a stew would do her some good. She looked about through the place, but nobody fit the bill as someone hireable.

She sighed, hoping Doc and Jian are ok. Where did Jian run off to exactly anyway?

He enters his apartment, looking around. Nobody was here and a deep sigh escapes from him. He walks in, sitting down on his bed. He rubs his face with both of his hands to get a bit rest. Another few sighs escape in the time being. A few mintues later he finally gets himself together again. He might lose it soon if this won't turn out good in the end.

He gets up and hectically searches for all kinds of things in his drawers, wardrobes and shelves. Books, opening them rapidly and going through thier content as fast as possible. Mostly the ones he was managed to take with him. He shuffles through them, page for page, adjusting his glasses. Going through pictures in his desk's drawers. Opening small boxes he has next to his bed. All his belongings are being completely scanned. He keeps looking, flashbacks constantly kicking in as he's doing so. All his past, events, family, it's all written in this books. This will take a while, he knows it. But he knows for what cause he's doing this. He believes in finding something that's usable. Usable to cure his mind and his soul.

A pile of books is already set aside due to them being completely scanned. Quite some time has passed. Jian, still in deep focus goes through everything in a fast and hectic manner. He gets back up, taking a box off the shelf. He sits back down, going through the contens of it. Another book, pictures, glasses with spices he never touched since he came here. And then also something that makes him stop for a short second. What is this...? He found a picture, his whole family. His brother, mom, dad, granddad, grandmother. Even his aunt and uncle, which he might be able to see again. They are not confirmed dead... Yet.

His fingers glide over the picture and he then snaps back into it. The picture slides back into the box and the book is opened instead. Again, he goes through it page by page, to find what he's looking for. His face, turning more serious any second, is covered in a few sweat drops all over. He takes out a not from the box. Names on them, designated to this book it seems. He then goes through the last few pages. And there... Well... He seems to finally have found what he is looking for...

A picture. The woman with the tank top is on there, just dressed in fine clothes. In combination with the emperor that ordered the ambush on the village. This must be the key... He knew he saw her before. He rips out the few pictures of her, pins one onto the wall where he has his recipies and throws a cooking knife into it.

"You're next. I knew that I saw that face before."

He then trembles in anger. So the right hand of the emperor, here, trying to rid a seemingly unimportant man. What is this? What makes him receive that kind of attention? He still doesn't know.

He sighs, looking back into the book. He grabs a small backpack which is a bit ruffed up and stuffs the book and the notes in there. He also takes out the picture of his family to frame it later, if he still will have the chance to do so soon. He then looks back to the exit. He needs to leave.

He rushes out, locks his door and then quickly tries to find his way back to the underground entrance. It already is quite dark so he might have a hard time getting around. On his way there though, he runs past a man, a suspicious one even. He knew that face too, but didn't have the time to confirm. The stranger looks after him, having an evil smirk on his face as he sees him running around the corner...

Jian then reaches the underground, where he runs through the passages to find the best way to get close to the mentioned inn earlier that day...

Sharpe looks out the window nearest to him and sees that the sun has long gone down. It is now evening, and he wonders about what is keeping Jian. Hopefully he didn't run into trouble. Still... Who would want him dead? Why would he be so dangerous that he becomes public enemy number one despite seeming so peaceable. Jian's lucky, neither him nor Air follow the doctrine of the empire very closely. He's lucky they found him. Still, it makes Sharpe think what the man really is capable of...

He smells the luscious scent of pasta and cheese with lobster and chicken to his left, and he turns back around. The waiter has also served Airgetlam. Sharpe starts to pick at it, but before he puts it in his mouth, finds himself with the urge to completely inspect his order. Must be the poison the Doc got nailed with, the thought's getting to him...

He looks up at Air.

"Did you check your food? I don't want anybody else fainting or worse dying because someone's order is spiked."

The thought hadn't crossed her mind yet. She looks down at her plate of fish she ended up getting instead of the stew. It looks rather normal, but Sharpe has a point... still, would they really target us? They're practically still strangers even though they've been thrust into this.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with the food. If there is, well, there should be another doctor around her... who knows, maybe it'll be that one guy with the shock of white hair!"

Airgetlam begins to eat, and pauses after a few bites, savouring the taste. She looks about, having not done much of that already. She doesn't really see anyone who manages to look at all useful or experienced...

She sighs and resumes eating. She hopes Jian's alright. She hopes Doc's alright as well...

Dr. Atrium bolts up from the fancy bed gasping. He looks around the room and tries piece together what has happened. He went to this town to cure the losers, he meet this the young man...Jain, that was his name, He got into a fight, no...two fights. This Jain is wanted for some reason, and the last fight got him poisoned and the person knew of his bounty. Looks like he lucked out, the poison seemed to of just knocked him out. It looks like the lady wanted to cash in on his bounty, he is only worth anything alive. He gets out of bed and stumbles around the room. His head is still foggy and the world is still spinning. He pulls out his charm and frowns. "Crap...looks like I just used the rest of your power..." He walks to the window and looks out in to the sky and at the moon. He takes a deep and and puts his glowing hands on himself, curing him a bit. With is head out of the fog a bit, he slowly walks of of the room and in to the dinning area.

The doctor comes down the stairs and a waitress points him in the direction of Airgetlam and Sharpe before going off to serve some other people. The Inn is filled with a warm and welcoming atmosphere and unlike the last inn, the people seem a bit more relaxed. The artist is adding some finishing details on the painting he is making. Just like the other paintings this one is a wildlife scenary of sorts. Behind him are the four paintings he had previously displayed. The first was a mountain scene with lots of snow and a beautiful evening sky. The second was a very old looking castle on top of a hill surrounded by lush forests. The third was of the ocean and the last was a night sky with improvised vibrant colours dancing across the canvas. The waitress soon returns as the doc arrives at the table and gives out drinks. "On the house." she says cheerfully and takes her leave again.

Jian came out of the underground panting, dizzy and exhauted. His adrenaline pushed him quite to his limit. He's close to one of the inns but forgot which one it is. He has to be careful, as the people looking for him could be in any of them. Maybe the rest of the group even ran into them? That would be the last thing he would like to hope for at this moment. He grabs his heart, which is pounding incredibly hard at the moment, and keeps on walking. The inn he's going for soon is visible and he walks to the entrance. Carefully opening the door he peeks inside, seeing an artist drawing and the group gathered at the table. He sighs and steps in, drenched in sweat and clearly hearable by his deep breathing.

"H-Hey... Remember me?"

He tries to pull a little joke on them by saying that, but his face just can't leave the serious attitude it has on it.

"Well I did some research at home and found th-...."

He falls silent, a really aching pain running through his body. He tumbles and curls up as he falls onto the floor. Overly exhausted and dehydrated his body kinda gave in to everything that happened. Today was too much for him and hs body just shut off. There he lies now, several people looking down to him. Is he dead? No. He's fast asleep, being forced to recover...

The group reassembled, Sharpe watches Jian collapse, but only raises an eyebrow. The artist simply keeps painting.

"Hey, Jian, if you're not completely out cold yet, there's a bed upstairs with your name on it. Doc just rolled out of it." he snarks.

He raises a glass.

"Two things, bartender! This guy in bed and another bottle of Sacra!"

Airgetlam gets out of her seat and rushes to Jian, checking his vitals.

"He's just overexerted, he needs rest and water." She looks at two waiters "You, help me get him up to the room our friend Doctor Atrium was in"

They hustle and assist. Once he's upstairs in the bed, she brushes his forehead and leaves some bread and water on the nightstand. She notices his herb pouch at the foot of the bed, and looks for something like and candle. She finds a sort of orange stick labeled "amber" and proceeds to light it. The scent of amber fills the room, one of her favorites. At least Jian will awaken to such a pleasant aroma.

She makes her way back downstairs and sits back down at the table, eating what is left of the fish.

"Sweet dreams?" She asks, turning to Doc.

Dr. Atrium watches as Airgetlam and the waitresses take Jian away. He chuckles and shakes his head. "The boy is going work himself to death at this rate."

He takes the glass that was "on the house" and looks at it carefully. Out of his pocket, he takes a coin that is about the size of half his palm, it has a picture of some man smiling. He dips his finger in the drink then rubs it on the coin. The coin doesn't do any and Dr. Atrium smiles and puts the coin away and stakes a sip of the drink, then looks at Sharpe. "The lady that attacked me was after Jian and me as well. The poison that she used was nothing more then a very strong sleeping agent. I figured you should know since you know a fraction of my secret."

He looks up and sees Airgetlam and puts his index finger in his lips, asking Sharpe silently to not say anything. When she sits down, he chuckles a little at her question. "not quite, sleeping agents give me nightmares."

He lets the two finish their meal while he looks at the painter. He sees the one with the castle and points at it. "That is what we are looking for. I have seen it in one of my many books, i just have to find the book and we can go there. the sooner we get out of here, the better."

Sharpe nods and doesn't spill a word to Air. He goes back to eating then pauses, looking back at Doc.

"You sure you don't want something to eat?"

He shrugs and keeps eating, then notices that the painting that Doc is pointing out is the actual castle they're looking for.

"Are you sure that's the castle? it might be a bit romanticized by the artist, you know how they get with Landscape works, sometimes they tend to get sloppy or make stuff up about the background. Still, if that IS indeed the castle, looks like we definitely need someone to cover our asses..."

He turns to finishes off his pasta and his bottle of Sacra, his shot glass now permeated with the musk of the moonshine-like beverage. He drinks the last of it, and wishes he had kept a few bottles of the really good stuff from back home. The hooch they have here is quite bad, but at least they got the best of the cheap stuff.

He sighs and looks back into who's there. He wonders if they have an actual tavern or cantina, maybe their they can find someone like those old action frontier stories.

She giggles a little, then gets up, practically done with her fish. She walks over to the painting and examines it... the forest, the terrain in general, and the imposingness of the castle. It looks very old.

She turns to the artist, and poses a question.

"What made you want to paint the castle?" She asks him.

She doesn't get a reply at first, but she still kind of waits there for one, maybe he's just absent minded or engrossed with his work. Nervously and randomly, as if it was a tic, she tightens the belt around her dress. She looks at the other paintings, but she definitely cannot take her eyes off of this one. She frowns, still having not gotten an answer from the painter. She runs he hand through the lower flow of her hair and walks back to the table.

"Doc, how old is that Castle if I might ask? It seems to be ancient. Who's the owner of it? Or are those the kinds of things you'd have to research?"

Dr. Atrium takes another sip of his drink while thinking of the answers. how old was that darn castle, who was the owner of if, where and what book did he read all theses things?

"To answer you in order, the castle is ancient. How old is it and who owns it? I couldn't tell you, I don't remember. All I recall it that it the place is very old and is very important. I wasn't very interested in the history of the place so I didn't try to remember. I just remember it being the pioneer of magic in the use of healing and not just harming. I will look for the book once we get back to our room. Speaking of, are we all crashing in the same room like I suggested or was privacy deemed too impotent and we have separate rooms?"

He looks from Sharpe to Airgetlam, waiting for the answer.

One of the waitresses passes by and stops at the groups table. "Do you require anything else?" she says with a smile. A notepad is in her hand ready to record the order. Behind her, the artist gets up from his chair and lifts up the canvas. He turns towards the big table in the middle and gives a subtle bow before putting the canvas onto the wall with the other pictures. Nobody seems to pay him much heed and he steps off the small stage. He walks past the waitress serving the group and stops, patting her on the shoulder. "Emily, the usual please." he says and gives her a nod before continuing and sitting down at the table next to them. He slouches in his seat, looking rather unsatisfied. He did end today prematurely but then... nobody seemed to care and there was not enough time to start and finish another painting. He flicks his wrist, revealing a small wrist watch and then sighs, letting his arm fall down on the table. The waitress returns her attention back to the group waiting for an answer, or to be sent off with no orders.

Sharpe holds up his hand.

"For now, no, but if we're still hungry we'll holler."

He looks back at that painting, familiarizing himself with the layout. He'll practically remember everything, given how eidetic his memory is. He keeps looking around, analyzing every single face, but none look like the kind they want. None look like a good mercenary.

"Also doc, we actually haven't rented out a room, just let me go and put down the tab."

Sharpe gets up and walks out to the main lobby, and goes to the help desk. A young woman with bright red hair in a ponytail is blowing a bubble of gum or something. She looks up at him lazily.

He puts his arms crossed onto the desk.

"Can you put us in for a large suite? Four, maybe Five most. Got something with that, or are all the rooms two-fers?"

She shakes her head and gives him a slip and 5 keys.

He in turn gives her a few coins and leaves for the table. He gives Air and Doc two of the keys, making sure they don't lose them. He slides the other keys into his pants pocket.

Airgetlam takes the key and stuffs it into a pocket under her cloak, on a breast pocket of her coat. She looks at Doc.

"Well I guess that info'll have to do. I'm going to see if that artist knows anything perhaps, now that he's not so deep into his work."

She gets up and puts her hand on Sharpe's shoulder as she walks past. She stands right to the side of the painter.

"May I sit?"

He nods and she pulls out one of the chairs.

"You didn't answer me earlier, but you might have been very focused on your work. I will say I really like your artwork, but I want to know... Why did you paint that castle? What do you know of it? Any information you could give would be vastly helpful."

She smiles cutely, maybe that'll win him over.