Iron Kingdoms: Tides of War

[B4UTRUST]

Engas blinked slowly, then glanced over at the door the intimidating female had disappeared through.
"Ah, that explains it. I think. But she was eyeballing him the way I've seen a dog eyeball a piece o' meat. I don't think she's planning to let him be the man...

"And if that's the case, I think he can have her. She scares me."

[Bloody Good]

Ardal stopped dabbing at the now-gummy trail of blood that ran from his eye to his neck. "So then what's the problem? Do you humans always make things more complicated than they need to be?" He shook his head. "You little people are weird. He turns down a potential roll in the hay why? Doesn't he like women?" He paused as though he just realized something. "That's it, isn't it? He's bent. And that's another thing I don't get about humans!"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Corey looked around sideways at the comment about not liking women, making sure no eyes landed on him. He even masculinized his body positioning a bit. However, he did feel it necessary to help Malkamar a bit

"Now now. let's not go that far. There is a difference between not liking women and not liking scary women"

[Charon]

"Tank hyu Jessica." Was the reply, and a minute or two after Jessica left the room an armored behemoth stepped out. Dressed in thick plate armor with a number of her weapons strapped to her in various positions. The sword was sheathed at her side, a Vanar liberator was slung across the back, with two more pistols strapped to a belt on the waist. Nothing about the armor suggested there may be a woman under all that armor. The helm itself covered the whole of her head, with little decoration upon it and leaving only a wide slit for her eyes and a few holes to ease breathing.

When she spoke, even many of the feminine qualities of her voice were lost beneath the armor. "Come den. Der is a nekromancer to hunt."

[LadyTevar]

Teghe looked the armored female up and down. There was only one appropriate thing to say in this situation:
"Yes Ma'am."

Teghe grabbed his stuff and walked out the door.

[rhoenix]

Hearing the clanking thuds that could only be the footsteps of a person wearing heavy armor, Zedrin finished the last touches on the bullet he was turning into a proper rune bullet, and put his bullet-smithing materials carefully back into their special case. Carefully blowing off the errant shavings from the head of the bullet itself, he inspected it carefully, even as the weighty footsteps grew closer to the main doors of the church.

Finally, he carefully put the rifle bullet into his pouch, and set it back at his side, at its usual place. Only then did he turn around, taking a puff of his pipe as he beheld the newcomer to their group tromping toward him. Tipping his hat to her, he smiled teasingly as his eyes twinkled with mirth, even as the embers of the pipe illuminated his face. "Oh? Ready so soon? By the Twins, it hasn't even been an hour yet!"

[Cynical Cat]

The church and its attendant graveyard were located in a now run down part of Rivermet. Large brick buildings that housed the poor were nearby, as were poorer shops and buisenesses. Smoke poured from the smoke stacks of rendering plants and factories, industrial facilities that were too unpleasant to live close to if you had enough money to live somewhere else. Most of the industrial facilities were located on the river bank where they could make use of water intakes and wheels for power.

[Charon]

The armored behemoth glanced towards Zedrin and tilted it's head to the side some, apparently confused at his comment. Then it extended a hand, "I do not belief ve hav ben properly introdused. I am Akina, hyu are?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Alright... If I were an Iron Lich, I would probably try getting the souls to power myself from people that no will miss or notice are gone. Which means that he will probably do his murdering in this part of town, probably the homeless and destitute will be his victims. We should begin our search where they congregate. Does anyone know where such a place is in this city?"

[LadyTevar]

"Why not just go to the alley and follow him from there, Corey?" Teghe answered, reloading his pistol and making sure he had more ammo in easy reach. "What do you say, Malk?"

[SirNitram]

"Lichs, as I understand, are potent users of the arts arcane. Could it not have escaped via magic down some other path? But a worthy start."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Perhaps. The two are hardly mutually exclusive options. Tracking him physically however will not be possible if he is competent, which I suspect he is"

[rhoenix]

The armored behemoth glanced towards Zedrin and tilted it's head to the side some, apparently confused at his comment. Then it extended a hand, "I do not belief ve hav ben properly introdused. I am Akina, hyu are?"

At this, Zedrin's teasing smirk became a true smile, extending his hand to shake Akina's. "My name is Zedrin, and I'm honored to properly meet you, Akina. I bid you an unofficial welcome to our merry band of misfits."

[Cynical Cat]

"If we're going to start looking we should start looking," said Jessica.

[Charon]

Akina grinned beneath her helmet. "Misfitz is ver I fit best."

"I am vith dat vun." Akina resounded under her armor, pointing with a thumb towards Teghe. "Hyu said hyu broke i's magik ja? Den maybe it couldn' run away."

[rhoenix]

Akina grinned beneath her helmet. "Misfitz is ver I fit best."

"I am vith dat vun." Akina resounded under her armor, pointing with a thumb towards Teghe. "Hyu said hyu broke i's magik ja? Den maybe it couldn' run away."

Zedrin grinned back. "It only had two orbs where the foul thing stored its magic. I shot out one of them, and I'd be quite happy to give an encore performance."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, as he gave a less flippant reply. "If the thing is indeed hampered by the loss of the first, then we should learn what we can about it, while moving to hunt it now. A good hunter studies the prey pursued, after all."

[LadyTevar]

Teghe said, tipping his hat to the heavily armored lady. "My name's Teghe McArthan, ma'am... nice to meet you." With his pistol locked and loaded, he set off back down the street towards the alley and the remains of the broken coach. "Now, why don't we get going. Sunlight's a-wasting."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Indeed. We check the alley first, see if we can track the bastard, once that fails, we check places that easy victims congregate and follow the screams"

With that the mercenary wizard turned and headed for the door muttering

'Gods it is like trying to get a bunch of amorous Alexanders to leave a tavern..."

under his breath

[rhoenix]

Though his walking pace was measured and calm, and his head didn't move much, Zedrin's eyes were never still as they neared the alley the dread iron lich had emerged from. His eyes glanced in all directions the nearer they got, checking for signs, no matter how subtle, that their quarry was near.

Casually reaching up to his shoulder, he removed his rifle from its holders on his back with practiced ease. As he walked with eyes glancing everywhere, his hands went about their practiced business of loading his rifle with one of his rune bullets.

[Cynical Cat]

The alley appeared empty, a simple narrow street running between two buildings. A half a dozen different sets of footprints were visible in the hard packed dirt

[rhoenix]

The alley appeared empty, a simple narrow street running between two buildings. A half a dozen different sets of footprints were visible in the hard packed dirt

Upon seeing the six different footprints in the dirt, Zedrin smiled slightly, and began to examine them closely. Even if his prey was an undead horror, it was still his quarry, and the exhilaration of the hunt was upon him.

[Cynical Cat]

The footprints showed that the undead entered the alley from the other direction. Unfortunately, they ended when the alley merged with the cobblestone street on the other side.

[B4UTRUST]

Engas trailed with the group, his hand resting nervously on the hilt of his sword. He kept looking around, wondering if they were about to be attacked at any minute.

"Hey Corey, know any spells to track the thing from its footprints?"

[Charon]

Akina bent low to the ground, her armor creaking quietly as she lowered herself. "'Ow long ago vas dis vight? If et ran dis far it might 'ave been spotted." Akina glanced towards the rest of the group. "Hyu said it had a broken soul cage. Perhaps hyu could trak dat?."

[rhoenix]

Akina bent low to the ground, her armor creaking quietly as she lowered herself. "'Ow long ago vas dis vight? If et ran dis far it might 'ave been spotted." Akina glanced towards the rest of the group. "Hyu said it had a broken soul cage. Perhaps hyu could trak dat?."

"It happened a little more than an hour ago," said Zedrin absently. His eyes narrowed as he had traced the footprints of the undead through the alley, where they became nearly untrackable amongst the cobbles.

Akina's second suggestion hit him then, and he looked at the footprints and alleyway around them thoughtfully for a few moments before answering. "I know not how to track the lich's soul cages, unfortunately."

Turning to look at Corey, he asked him. "Corey, have you any way of tracking the lich's damaged soul cage?"