Game: Incubus (Solo)

Firefly gives no reply, but instead ushers you into the kitchen. She has two bowls of stew prepared and places them on the Oaken dinner table.

She pulls out a newsrag and begins perusing the headlines aloud.

-Jeremo founds Clerk's Ward Orphanage...

-Multiverse-wide bounty increased on missing Baatorian General (You feel a sudden uneasiness emanate from your locket).

-Xaositect firemage briefly terrorizes Lower Ward

ahhh. here..

-Harmonium conclude investigation on Temple of the Abyss
.... After an apparently exhaustive investigation (lasting several hours), the Harmonium have released a report on today's debacle at the temple. Head Investigative Officer Erlik Mafeso was quoted as saying: "It appears one of the potion racks in the food cellars in the basement (Firefly growls when reading "food cellars".. Baator be damned...THEY'RE PRISONS you sodding Hardheads!!!) exploded, leading to certain structural damage. A few barmies were also apprehended and sent to the Gatehouse for attempting to implicate the Temple on outrageous charges. All in all (Firefly's voice now dangerously quiet) it seems like another quick job by the new Investigative unit.

Firefly growls in anger...

Justice has been served. she caustically breathes through her clenched teeth.

My moody internet at home is working again!!!

Neh, unless ye're well connected, ye'd have an easier time finding a good Tan'aari.

Clearly upset, she decides to retire for the day.

Well, yer free to spend the Night if ye fancy - I'm sinking soon. If not, I'll meet back with ye sometime tommorro?

She gives you an odd look..then disappears into one of the bedrooms, promptly reappearing with a pen and paper.

Yeh, what are ye thinkin? We write them a strongly worded letter?

Go ahead and take 20

Firefly retires for the night - both of you agree to meet 8 hours after antipeak in the Lady's Ward by Ciash's post, should you decide to leave for the night (there is only one portal key to her kip, and it's hers).

You take time to draw out the beautiful woman from your dream, paying close attention to detail and nuance so that you can get as accurate a depiction as your abilities will allow.

As soon as you approach the entrance, a swirling light of light blue opens up - back out towards the exit.

You exit back outside the unremarkable door, back onto Redwind road, the Bariaur still stands guard outside the Dark House of Divination (not appearing to notice you, though you seriously doubt that she doesn't). Currently it is 1 hour before Antipeak. You estimate that it would take approximately 4 hours to travel to the Gatehouse (located in the midst of the Hive) and approximately 4 hours back - that is if you traveled on foot. Flying would reduce that time to 1 hour either way.

Times to traverse Wards - not from here, but in general:

Hive: 4 Hours
Lady's: 3 Hours
Clerk's, Lower, Guildhall - 2 Hours
Market - 1 Hour

Heading Downward (as in opposed to Spikeward, not 'upward'), you quickly pass over the Clerk's - making a note to someday smell the roses, so to speak.

There are no roses in the other Ward. In the Hive, anyone out at this hour is either a well armed basher, a clueless sod, a peeler, or a barmy. With surprising speed, you make your way to the Madhouse District. This area epitomizes human misery at its worst. The sick, hungry, and hopeless still queue day in and day out to seek refuge and temporary respite from their ills with the Bleakers within the Gatehouse.

One of the more notable, and utterly unofficial, spots within the district is the so-called Night Market, somewhere between Lot’s Lane and Laughing Cat Alley. Just like the Great Bazaar, but with a darker side, the Night Market sells goods and services, but nothing therein has a name or a past. If you do pass by, you know not to inquire as to the origin of any of the goods, or the names of any who might be hired for a service. It’s better that way.

The Gatehouse, former faction hall of the Bleak Cabal, sits atop a slight hill in the Hive, rising above the reek and filth of the slums that sprawl out around it along the edges of Bedlam Run. This massive structure sits just at the edge of the Hive, on one side nearly overlooking the urban wasteland of the Slags, in range of the stink carried on the wind, if not actual sight. On the opposite side it sits adjacent the Marble District of the Hive, and within actual sight of the Ditch, the filth-strewn canal that separates the Hive from the Lower Ward.

The center of the structure appears as a great semicircular, roofless tower with decorative, bladed spires that bubbers claim resembles the wings of some great slumbering beast. And to speak of great beasts, a titanic steel portcullis bars the entrance to the tower, its bars some five feet in diameter, each bar separated from the others by another fifteen feet. The gates no longer operate, having rusted in place uncounted centuries ago, but the sheer size of the gates make it not hindering in the least to the average size sod who wanders into the Gatehouse seeking the ministrations of the Bleakers.

Branching off from the gate are two large wings of the building, one of which serves as both hospital and poorhouse for the sick and hungry of the Hive. The Bleakers ask no questions of those who enter seeking aid, and give what they can, only spouting their philosophy of madness and inner meaning if asked by the curious or the desperate. The second main wing serves as both asylum and orphanage for the ward, a beginning and an end for many of the pitiful residents of the slums.

Behind the tower, and mostly out of the view of the rest of the ward, are two smaller wings. These serve as a madhouse for members of the Cabal, as well as the criminally and irretrievably insane. Several past factols of the Cabal, long ago descended into the madness of their calling, are housed within. They languish within, locked away for their own, and others’ safety. In their madness, as rumors leaked by their caretakers tell, some have come to possess frightening mental or psionic abilities, and seem all too willing to share their madness with those around them. It is unlikely they will ever see the light of day again.

Finally, walled off from the rest of the Hive, situated between the wings of the Gatehouse are three forested courtyards, one for the poor and orphaned, one previously open only to the Bleakers themselves, and one for the use of the insane.

The current occupants of the Gatehouse, the Bleak Cabal, only took up residency in the past five centuries, though the original origin of the sprawling complex has been lost to time. In fact, the Bleak Cabal took their faction symbol from an obscure symbol found upon an ancient tiled mosaic deep within the Gatehouse, meaningless out of the context of its unknown history. They found irony, or some manner of comfort, in taking a meaningless symbol as their own, mirroring their own philosophy of meaninglessness in the multiverse at large.

Likely the building is one of the oldest in Sigil, though it is probably not as old as the Palace of the Jester. But it does beg the question as to what use the truly massive steel gates of the tower were ever used for. Merely decoration, or in the dim past did they require actual use in order to keep something out, or lock something away? Could something that massive have simply walked the streets of Sigil at some point?

Further rumored is that somehow the Gatehouse, mostly because of its name and age, is in some way connected to the Lady’s Mazes. No real proof exists for this conjecture, but it doesn’t stop the barmies of the Hive, and some of the Bleakers themselves, from spouting the screed that the Lady’s Mazes bubble up all around the Gatehouse, and all one must do is simply find the elusive portals leading to each and every one of those personal hells…

At this time, the area is mostly deserted, and there is a tiny watchtower near the Gate with a dim light emnating from the top floor (which shouldn't be more than the second story).

As you approach the Tower, a booming, magically enhanced voice asks:

NATURE OF VISIT?

The door is unyielding, the voice continues:

NAMES OF PEOPLE, AND RELATION?

Silence...Almost three minutes of silence.. you begin to wonder if the 'voice' heard you. You are about to repeat what you said when...

INSUFFICIENT - ONLY SIGNIFICANT OTHERS OR BLOOD RELATIVES MAY VISIT. HAVE A SAFE NIGHT

You wait a while and no further response from the tower ensues. You get feeling it's going to take some mischief to find the information/people you want.

Looking around, you don't see any guards, but there will definitely be a few barmies roaming around here at this hour.

A short walk away from the gatehouse, you -not surprisingly- spot an old man hunched over rambling to himself incoherently- giggling every now and then. Observing him for a moment, you decide that he is alone.

Only if he was a blood relative/spouse (or posed as one)

The man is wide- eyed, with white hair, and wears oddly radiant clothing. He spins around and begins inquiringly: Aaa^%ja?jjaabujajajjaj hahain ifestiation mylsina?

Then you hear it, a shuffling sound about 10 feet behind you.

You see nothing.

BEHIND YOU!!! Beraszar comes alive, but it's too late, the apparent barmy stabs.

In front of you, the sound is unmistakable now, and no longer does its maker attempt to hide. Out comes a humanoid fully clothed in a hooded robe. His/her face is covered by a dark cloth. You notice it wields two very painful looking curved-swords that are adorned with spikes at random angles.

Your jink or your life, berk!!!! Comes the hoarse voice, confirming its a male, though the species is unknown.

OOC - the weapon is +1.

Yes, the old man is still an old man, though you do manage to see that the vacant stare in his eyes is gone, and now they are focused on you - he seems somewhat surprised that you're still standing after his sneak attack (tan'aari cannot be sneak attacked). His short sword is steadied at your neck.

The hooded man waits for you to give whatever jink you may have, both of his spiked swords are lifted high, and speak the words that aren't said - you better give him every last coin in your person, or suffer the consequences.

The man chuckles, but it's not a chuckle of amusement.

What are they? They're the last thing you're gonna pikin see!

The apparent barmy slices your neck, in an executioner's manner that would have instantly slain a mortal human. You feel your knees getting weak, and you realize this is neither from any magic they possess, nor weakness from your person in sustaining damage- you sense a great evil begin to manipulate your frame.

Beraszar.

Trust me, you fool! Your eyes begin to close and you fall to the ground... feigning death as Beraszar induced.

Your eyes are closed, but only in your human disguise- you can still see. Your neck bleeds, and the blood quickly begins to pool - to them you appear as a fresh cadaver. The two quickly begin to work on your corpse, frisking your person and removing any items. The hooded man looks oddly at your locket, then swipes it...

except he doesn't. You feel a strange tingle, and the hooded mans eyes pop out in terror, you've never seen such terror in anyone's eyes before!!! You hear them both screaming, and realize that your body is shivering with electricity. You sense the hooded man desperately wants to break the physical bond with the locket, but he is compelled to grip- his hands remain firmly around the locket.

Both men shiver erratically and the aroma of burnt flesh accompanies the smoke that emerges from their bodies. Nearby, you hear a..no two sets of unseen footsteps flee.

Finally, both doomed men, who happened to be touching your body, collapse weirdly on you, their skin blackened - both are without a doubt dead. You are unsure whether your innate resistance as an Incubus protected you from the electricity, or if it were Berazar himself.