Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

The key. That was it! The suggestion of a cup looming large in his future wasn't just an analogy at all. There was an actual key in a cup, and it reminded Arlo in the strongest of terms, considering that he and Tio could be burned alive the two of them in just the next few bits, of the dangers of thinking entirely too much. A key, that fit exactly into the lock, that opened up the portal to a handy escape. Or at least he hoped it would be just that. Otherwise they were done for. "Fortune teller," he said when Tio asked, as he pushed William to go in ahead of him, then dropped down behind him. The dog seemed perfectly able to do it on his own. If the animal had needed help, Arlo would have done it. On the other hand, he had a very strong compulsion to leave the man behind, and block the hatch door in their wake. Would serve him right before having been a part of it all.

In the meantime he'd held his pistol crossbow in reserve, when he'd surrendered his sword and shortbow. And he kept it pointed at William's back as they went. William groused. But did Arlo care that the man had been betrayed? Not in the least. In fact, the more he talked, the more Arlo was tempted to just put the man out of his misery. Arlo's and Tio's misery, not William's. In fact when William began describing what would have happened to Vega had they all had their way, it took all he had in him not to pull the trigger on his bow. And why shouldn't he? Even though he'd managed to warn Vega, it didn't mean she was out of danger. And it didn't change the spirit behind what the men had planned.

"You know nothing about my style, plainly," he said with a particular gleam in his eye that wasn't a friendly one. Ordinarily? He'd never consider killing an unarmed man unless his own life or a loved one were in immediate danger of being killed themselves. But these weren't ordinary circumstances. The only logical reason to have brought the man along was that he and Tio might need him. But more and more, Arlo was coming to think that they didn't. "Why would we need your help? You've already, just now, told us what we need to know to identify the rest of them," he reminded William, who seemed to have a knack for running his mouth.

Still, they were in a cellar with no immediately clear way out. Soon enough it would fill up with smoke, in spite of the door being shut tight behind them. Except that the dog, apparently, knew the way out. So the question sprung once again to the forefront. What did they need William for? "Shut up," he said, tempted to put a bolt between the man's eyes. Except that William was right. It wasn't really Arlo's style but he didn't need to know it. "You're only marginally useful at best right now. And the more you yammer, the faster you're wearing out your usefulness."

So far as Arlo was concerned, William's usefulness was simple, though Tio might have other ideas. A canary in a coal mine. He and Tio could rely on the dog to show them the way out. But there was no telling what pitfalls laid between here and there. Sending William in first then, with a bolt at his back, had a certain appeal. At any rate time was ticking, and they'd best push those shelves aside and get moving. "Logging Consortium," he said, muttering to Tio as they worked. "Same one involved in the derby, weren't they?"

Arlo had been in a lot of cramped, dark places by now. For any number of different reasons but the fact remained that he didn't like it. But it paled in comparison to his lingering concerns of Vega's safety, and that of her family. So long as the men who'd threatened her were on the loose it would remain that way. He needed to get out of this place and back to the boat. That was all that mattered and dead or alive, if he had to go through Willie to get there, he would.

He wasn't sure yet whether dead was better, or not. Which meant that Tio had a better chance of convincing him not to silence the man's taunts at the pointed end of a bolt from his bow. But yeah, they were probably involved in something worse than slavery. At any rate, Arlo had no probably with playing the part of bad guy, while Tio played at the more reasonable one. "I can be plenty civil," he quipped, and kept his bow aimed at the other man's back. "Until Willie here gives me reason not to be."

Of course he couldn't care less if this...Smith could perform well or not. But was he an Immortal or mortalborn, or just a mage of some sort. None of those diminished the danger that the man posed to Vega. And that was enough for him. There were three though, and that was important. "What are their names?" Their real names, he meant, and implied that he'd know if Willie was lying. And it sounded like this Consortium needed to be done away with completely.

When the door opened, Arlo pushed Willie in first. Canary in a coal mine, that was him. And assuming that nothing came of it, Arlo followed, groped around for a torch and lit the thing in hopes of better than what they were seeing already. So which was the way out? The dog probably knew. On the other hand there were plenty of signs that there were others who passed through this place fairly frequently. Dropping to his heels, Arlo examined a number of the prints, trying to get an idea of how many different individuals might have passed this way recently. Every human, or otherwise track was different. And those that were more recent, headed in the opposite direction might give him an idea before they went on, how many had traveled this way in the last trial or so, heading up into the inn itself?

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"Either that, or he just wants to make sure that nobody knows where to find him," Arlo suggested, as part of the reasons for separating the prostitutes, aka victims, from their tongues. He wondered, did the man ever consider that one of those women might know how to write. Or might learn to sign? It wasn't worth asking William. The man seemed to be growing bolder by the trill, more eager to taunt and so on, under the very false assumption that Arlo had backed off even a hair's breadth of being all too happy to send a bolt flying into the middle of his back. He didn't say as much, and let the man have his delusions. All the better to keep him running his mouth, and telling them what they wanted to know.

Tio made a good point. This Consortium and their ringleader needed to be brought down before anyone else was harmed or killed. It was a powerful temptation though to reach into his pocket and use the gift that U'frek had given him, the last time they'd met in the dreamscape. A portal that could take him back to Vega in a heartbeat. But if he did it, then the threat the man posed to her would go on and on. "Lyova," he said. "I need to know if Vega's alright. Check for me?" he said through the silent link the two of them shared.

"If we can close enough, I've got a little trick that might immobilize him long enough to get hold of him." The ring he wore, Arlo didn't say aloud, no so long as Willie had ears to hear with. Willie's Winning, however. With a deceptive smile, Arlo clicked off the safety on his pistol crossbow. "You sure about that?" He didn't put it away. "There's a dozen or more of them," he told Tio as he examined the tracks. "In and out...for a number of trials by now."

The place was a maze. It would be all too easy to get lost by now. Arlo's special compass would help quite a lot, and presumably the dog knew where he was going. Or maybe not. Maybe he'd only decided that he liked Tio and himself better than his previous company and had decided to stick around. So, did they explore or did they find a way out? he could follow the tracks or other signs, and presumably those that traveled through this place would exit into the open at some point. Or some might split off and opt for other locations down in the tunnels. For now, so long as they were headed in the direction that many others had passed before them, Arlo was willing to carry on forward.