Game: Blades of Git'riban : Primal State

After visiting his favorite gem merchant on Transcendant Way, Rey'arteb retires to his apartment for some rest ...

... he dreams of a lovely, pale githyanki mage. She slides into his bed and kisses him on the neck. Her whispered silken voice echoes through his dreams ... "Not far at all .... " ...

Rey wakes up hours later, well rested but hungrier than a Slaad. Very little he has in his place appeals, however. He craves protien, red meat to be specific. [Rey's constitution score has gone down by 1 point, by the way - Evil DM]

And so, Rey wraps the ulitharid head in a cloth, places it in a sack with the 'hubris crystal', and walks back out into Git'riban. Some distance short of Haven Port, as Rey passes by the mouth of an alley, he hears someone try and get his attention.

"Hsst!" A figure wrapped in a dark grey cloak emerges, and Rey sees it is one of his most valuable contacts among the sharpshadows, Grazz the Accursed. "Rey. Rey, come here, I need to speak to you."

Grazz does not look good. In fact it looks like he either hasn't slept in a long time or that he just woke up from being beaten to unconciousness. Of course, Rey knows this particular githzerai pretty much constantly beats off assassination attempts (Rey himself was hired for this purpose once, before he betrayed the assassins), yet he has never seen Grazz look so harried.

"Shaa! They've tried, they try, and they'll try again. I'll be greatly disapointed in my kin if I do not die violently. It is about some 'yanki's that I wish to speak to you." Glancing around in every direction to make sure they are alone, he hands Rey a small pouch full of jink.

"Not that I'm telling you your business, friend," he starts off using a comman phrase in the gith(zerai) language, "...but my grey mood would not be as dark, where I to *know* where these four particular githyanki walked or slept. A half-dragon with wings but no tail. A warlock with a scar over his right eye. A muscular githwarrior, more muscular than most githyanki have a right to be, with a heavy spiked flail and a bow. The last one is the most problematic, for he's not what he seems to be, but he may be with any of the others."

Grazz's eyes widen at the sight of the head bag. "You?" A huge grin takes over his face. "You got ... how? Great Z himself!" Grazz tries to keep from being too loud.

"A resonance stone. On the ulitharid you say?" His hand reaches out, but does not touch, the crystal. His brow knots in confusion as he withdraws. "The flayers make these. Hmm ..."

Seeing Rey's blank expression at the name, Grazz puts his hand on Rey's shoulder, "Sorry, man. That's a mind-fuck you aren't ready for yet. It'll take three minutes to explain and three hours before you stop asking questions, so we'll save it."

"Instead, why don't you tell me when and where you're meeting them, 'cuz I'd LOVE to be in the next room."

When Ar'dru leaves Du'minh's abode, he walks back toward his own place. Not far from his door, he sees the tall robed figure of Ar-Xan waiting for him. Without looking at him, the blind sorcerer smiles at the sound of his approach.

"Ar'dru, your footfalls are music to my ears. I need to speak with you very quickly, but then I must go. Our sister has already left Sigil. We will soon have a very important visitor, and Ar-Fossch and I have been chosen to help provide security."

He pauses and listens for any hidden eavesdropers.

"The Singer of Fire, a Princess of the Ascendancy, is coming to Sigil, to Git'riban. I suspect she may also may be coming to confront the keeper of the Embassy. She arrives soon, in perhaps as little as a couple of days, but for security reasons the time of her arrival is a mystery, even to myself as yet."

"She comes to garner more support, for there are many who do not believe a duthka'gith should become Vlaakith the 158th. And so, she is prepared to gain the support of the exiles in Git'riban who would return to the People should their sins be forgiven. There may be other reasons she is coming to Sigil as well, I know not her mind."

"All we want you to do is to keep your eyes and ears open. There is a strong possibility that supporters of the other Princesses will try to strike The Singer while she is here. As a duthka'gith, you'll not blend into a crowd. Don't worry, the covert security is being taken care of. You'll just need to be around, looking intimidating and staying alert."

"There is one other thing. Another duthka'gith has very recently arrived in Git'riban from one of the incursion worlds. We have not approached him yet, so stay on the lookout for him as well. All I know of him is that his name is Lahar, and he was The Queen's Firebringer, a position of honor, for his incursion. Ar-Fossch knows more, she says that he barely looks draconic at all."

"I shall return to Sigil when The Singer of Flame comes. I doubt if you'll be able to reach me before then. And good job, clutch brother. Slaying a ulitharid is no small feat. Unfortunately I know little about Illithid House, and I doubt our sister knows any more."

The pair of tieflings advance on Daraz with blades drawn. One of them, a tiefer with red leathery skin and a long scar on his face, bares his fangs at Daraz

"So, we've got a cutter with the clueless. Nice shivs, berk. Dibs."

"Fine but I call the threads." His companion, wearing more tattered of rags, replies.

The pair spring forward blades first, but the narrowness of the alley gets in their way, as they had not come to any agreement on who would attack first. [Daraz has the initiative as well as an AOO for each attacker]

Meanwhile, Elly turns her scream into a shouted spell. Managing not to slur the verbal component, she fills the alleyway in front of the third tiefer with arcane webs. Her beau, Ian, proves less than competant. He tries to stand back up and cast a spell as well, but he is so drunk and dizzy that instead he stumbles forward and manages to stick himself to the webbing.

Daraz's two attackers appear to be simple street-thugs, young tieflings out to rob and stab, but inexperienced and clumsy. They lunge forward together, but the narrowness of the alley causes them to get in each other's way. Daraz has little trouble avoiding their clumsy attacks, and gives eack a nick for his idiocy. Daraz catches the red-skinned tiefer on the back of the hand. The planetouched drops his shiv with a shouted blasphemy.

From behind him, Daraz hears a spell being cast in a feminine voice that is NOT Elly's. There is the sound of a quickly-growing fire, as Elly's web spell is set alight. Ian, still trapped by the webs, cries out first in panic, then in pain.

[Daraz has 1st initiative for round 2 and on.]

Daraz Pulls out his crossbow, but notices the string is frayed from so much recent use. Firing it would only endanger himself, as it could easily snap and lash his face. He has to drop the crossbow in favor of some other attack ...

Meanwhile, the tiefling's face contorts with rage, "Hey Berk!" The ball of flame rolls right past Elly and heads for Daraz.

Elley scrambles to her feet and gets out of the flaming sphere's way when it rolls by. She spins around and screams "Back to Hell, Demon!" However, in her drunken and grief-stricken state she is not able to prepare a spell in time. The tiefer points her hand toward Elly and a lace of dark fluid shoots forward and strikes the prime in the face. An audible sizzling sound preceeds Elly's screams of pain.

[Daraz must make a reflex roll to avoid the flaming sphere]

Daraz runs up to the tiefer emerging from the last of the burning webs with blade drawn. She pulls out a pair of daggers and tries to avoid the stroke, but recieves a cut on the upper arm regardless. She slashes back at Daraz with a snarl.

"You killed my baby brother, you're gonna pay!"

[ 1 miss, 1 hit for 4 damage

Daraz also takes 4 damage from the flaming sphere as he charges forward.]

Daraz gives the tiefling another cut, this time across the collarbone, and slicing part of the redskirt's bodice. The tiefling retaliates with her daggers. Once agin Daraz dodges the first shiv but the one in the tiefling's left hand catches him on the thigh. Daraz realizes that the redskirt has more than a passing skill with the blades.

[6 more damage from the stab, but the flaming sphere burns out before it can hit him again]

Meanwhile, Elly continues to scream and claw at her face, which is still sizzling under the lingering effects of the tiefling's acid arrow spell.

"Hss ... I recognize that accent, Sharpshadow!"

Daraz slices her accross the ribs. The longer reach of his shortsword over her shorter shivs allow him to dance back out of reach as he takes her apart piece by piece. At their feet, Elly still squirms on the cobbles, steam that smells of burning flesh and alkali smoking from the right side of her face and head.

"Gar! Mibix of slaad-shait! Stand still so's I kin shiv'ye Stag-turner! Feh!" She spits and mumbles a command word in a fiendish dialect. Her daggers then burst into flames. Yet the trick is no substitute for skill, still Daraz dances around her flaming shivs, then stabs her in the breastbone. The sword does not go through to her heart, but the blow stops her cold. She looks into Daraz's eyes and there is a mixture of hatred and fear.

Meanwhile, Elly starts crawling over to the burned body of Ian.

Daraz and the tiefling look at each other for a few moments, then she smiles slightly ... and stabs Daraz in the bicep.

"Life is harder than death for a Hiver, Bub! I've sliced up a few Zerth down in the nightmarket before!"

[4 stab damage, 1 fire damage (lucky berk)]

Daraz yanks his sword out of the tiefling and in a fluid motion swings it around and slices her face. She spins around from the blow and falls down, dropping her daggers. Cluching at her face with one hand, she raises her other in surrender

"Stop! Unh ... Please, I'm sorry! Gah, never should have messed with a Sharpshadow, but how were we to know? Looked like three clueless bubbers 'till we saw ya spot us! Please, don't kill me, I'll be your slave, I'll do whatever you want, just don't kill me! I can do things, I've got talents." She looks up at Daraz, blood pouring from the right side of her face.

"And then I've got TALENTS." She winks.

"They're yours! I'm yours. Please, I don't want to die! You got me shiv to shiv, but I can cast spells. Take my daggers, take everything!" She pulls out a couple of small pouches of jink from her slashed bodice and throws them at Daraz's feet. "Sell me into slavery if you want, just don't kill me. Please, Cutter?"