Post by Lord_Fartknuckle on Jun 24, 2014 1:08:25 GMT -5
The night streets of Utoria basked in the weak moonlight coming through the clouds. It was a quiet night with very few shadows darting about to break the calm and most torches had been snuffed out long ago. One inn, sitting next to a market place was, at a passing glance, as dead as the rest of the city. Upon closer inspection the faint glow of orange light shined through the curtains of one of the upper rooms. Chanting also came from the window. The voice came out soft though many of the words were harsh sounding and often dragged out by whoever spoke them. The chanting grew louder and orange hew danged wildly across the window. The song went on building more and more until it came clearly through the window and the halls of the inn. Suddenly the chanter stumbled on a word and the candle went out. The chant started up again, but weaker, with the voice trembling with more and more with each verse. Heavy footsteps mixed into the words. The chant turned to crying, then pleading, than a scream that carried farther than the chanting ever could.
The Prince yawned into his hand as he studied the dusty room he'd been presented with. When the captain of the guard had woke him so early in the mourning, Goinin had strongly considered executing the man. Instead he'd let himself get dragged to this stuffy inn that wreaked of death. The smell came from two human corpses, one human woman and one elf man. Sitting in an elaborate circle drawn in chalk the woman wore no cloths and sported a gash across her neck, blood stained a bowel underneath her, though the dried puddle continued out of the bowel and crossed through the circle. The elf wore a satin red robe which went well with the gaping red hole taking up all of his chest.
"This is a summoning ritual by my reckoning my lord". The captain of the guard anxiously spoke. When the bodies and ritual circles had begun to appear a few months ago he'd opted to keep the investigation a secret, fearing the average denizens of the city might use it as an excuse to riot. As the days passed, his men found nothing and he grew to fear the news of his utter failure against something as serious as a rampant reaching the king's ears. This recent incident gave him a killer lying dead on the floor, but whatever killed the man had alerted all the people in the area would soon spread the word of vile sorcery. The Captain went straight to Goinin in a desperate attempt to indirectly keep the king from executing him. With the truth out and the problem solve, he hoped his chances of dying at some far off date had improved.
"An astute observation." Goinin muttered before moving over to the elf. The prince wasn't as certain as the Captain that situation had been resolved. He bent down over him, his long black beard just nestling up to the corpses wound. He quickly pulled his beard back with a massive gauntlet. With his other hand, the prince searched the content's of the elf's robe. He came back with a silver ring carved with images of dancing figures. The figures moved slowly across the surface of the ring as the object glow with intense heat. It was obvious though he could only guess the purpose of that magic. Whatever it was he did not believe it was in the best interests of Utorion. Goinin stood up and handed the ring to the captain.
"Tell your men to search for anyone wearing a ring like this." The prince looked away, lost in thought for a moment."Offer a reward of 300 gold coins to any who can lead us to those in possession them."
The Captain's face paled. "My lord." he stuttered. "If word gets out of such an organization working right under my nose-"
"What organization?" Goinin asked tersely. "All we are looking for is rings."
The captain of the guard let out a sigh of relief. The prince barely took notice as he strode out of the room, ducking his head underneath the door frame.
"I suppose I'll go look for whatever monstrosity they unleashed."
The Prince yawned into his hand as he studied the dusty room he'd been presented with. When the captain of the guard had woke him so early in the mourning, Goinin had strongly considered executing the man. Instead he'd let himself get dragged to this stuffy inn that wreaked of death. The smell came from two human corpses, one human woman and one elf man. Sitting in an elaborate circle drawn in chalk the woman wore no cloths and sported a gash across her neck, blood stained a bowel underneath her, though the dried puddle continued out of the bowel and crossed through the circle. The elf wore a satin red robe which went well with the gaping red hole taking up all of his chest.
"This is a summoning ritual by my reckoning my lord". The captain of the guard anxiously spoke. When the bodies and ritual circles had begun to appear a few months ago he'd opted to keep the investigation a secret, fearing the average denizens of the city might use it as an excuse to riot. As the days passed, his men found nothing and he grew to fear the news of his utter failure against something as serious as a rampant reaching the king's ears. This recent incident gave him a killer lying dead on the floor, but whatever killed the man had alerted all the people in the area would soon spread the word of vile sorcery. The Captain went straight to Goinin in a desperate attempt to indirectly keep the king from executing him. With the truth out and the problem solve, he hoped his chances of dying at some far off date had improved.
"An astute observation." Goinin muttered before moving over to the elf. The prince wasn't as certain as the Captain that situation had been resolved. He bent down over him, his long black beard just nestling up to the corpses wound. He quickly pulled his beard back with a massive gauntlet. With his other hand, the prince searched the content's of the elf's robe. He came back with a silver ring carved with images of dancing figures. The figures moved slowly across the surface of the ring as the object glow with intense heat. It was obvious though he could only guess the purpose of that magic. Whatever it was he did not believe it was in the best interests of Utorion. Goinin stood up and handed the ring to the captain.
"Tell your men to search for anyone wearing a ring like this." The prince looked away, lost in thought for a moment."Offer a reward of 300 gold coins to any who can lead us to those in possession them."
The Captain's face paled. "My lord." he stuttered. "If word gets out of such an organization working right under my nose-"
"What organization?" Goinin asked tersely. "All we are looking for is rings."
The captain of the guard let out a sigh of relief. The prince barely took notice as he strode out of the room, ducking his head underneath the door frame.
"I suppose I'll go look for whatever monstrosity they unleashed."