The Rone Resurgence - 2018-09-20 - Butcher's Dozen (log)

Imaerasta 20-21, 5118

by Leafiara Autumnwind of the [[::The_TownCrier|TownCrier]]

Summary

• Rone slaughters twelve Rooks one or two at a time over several minutes, with Stormyrain's loresinging revealing them to have been the twelve who slit the [[::Wehnimer%27s_Landing_Militia/saved_posts|militiamen]]'s throats the night before--and the last Rook is a militiaman himself.

• There outside the town barracks, Rone says that justice has only begun; he unmasks, revealing himself as Thrayzar, the former marshal of the militia, and says "no [[::Brotherhood of Rooks|Rook]], nor krolvin, nor DeArchon will be safe."

• Stormyrain says the Alchemist has succeeded where Raznel failed, at twisting Thrayzar into something he's not--and acting like Rysus, the Rooks, and others she had fought against with him. Thrayzar says he's free to do what the chains of a uniform could not and declares that "The rot of this town will be washed away in blood" before he vanishes for the night.

Log

Rone's Return

[Town Square Central]

This is the heart of the main square of Wehnimer's Landing. The impromptu shops of the bazaar are clustered around this central gathering place, where townsfolk, travellers, and adventurers meet to talk, conspire or raise expeditions to the far-flung reaches of Elanith. At the north end, an old well, with moss-covered stones and a craggy roof, is shaded from the moonlight by a strong, robust tree. The oak is tall and straight, and it is apparent that the roots run deep.

Rone flickers into existence.

Rone flickers out of existence.

Leafiara slowly comments, "Well, that--was something."

Speaking to Leafiara, Laralana says, "Something, indeed."

Rone flickers into existence.

Speaking to Leafiara, Clairette says, "He didn't try to kill any of us...."

Aerchodryn says, "There it is again."

Speaking offhandedly to Clairette, Leafiara says, "Never tried to kill me."

Speaking to Rone, Leafiara greets, "Good evening."

Rone looks around, silently surveying the area, cold dark brown eyes glaring out from behind a polished white steel mask.

Speaking slowly to Rone, Leafiara prompts, "Anything on your mind tonight? Thoughts to share? Justice?"

Rone looks around, silently surveying the area, cold dark brown eyes glaring out from behind a polished white steel mask.

Rone lowers his arms to his sides, and two black-bladed hatchets appear in his hands.

Rone snarls menacingly!

Otsakleia says, "That's... not promising."

Leafiara muses, "That would be justice, then."

Rone growls ferociously!

Lauranathalasa says, "Mebbe he is gonna chop wood."

Rone rushes off, running down a street and then suddenly flickers out of sight.

Slaughter

A scream echoes from South Ring Road!

[Wehnimer's, South Ring Rd.]

The rough-hewn, pointed logs forming the palisade of the town's defensive wall are a constant companion along this route linking sections of Wehnimer's Landing to the bazaar, the square, and the waterfront via the southernmost road. You also see a bloodied human corpse.

Stormyrain sings something in Guildspeak to a bloodied human corpse that you don't understand.

The human corpse seems to respond to the magic of Stormyrain's song.

Stormyrain sings something in Guildspeak to a bloodied human corpse that you don't understand.

The human corpse seems to respond to the magic of Stormyrain's song.

Stormyrain says, "Your vision blurs, colors melding together before forming a new landscape entirely. You see a dark hooded figure standing perched upon a rooftop, wearing a bird mask with a razor-sharp silver beak. The figure is clutching a dagger to the throat of a bound Wehnimer's militiaman, and when he notices a signal, he drags the blade across the prisoner's throat and throws him from the rooftop. The dark hooded figure then slips off the roof."

Stormyrain says, "Your vision blurs, colors melding together before forming a new landscape entirely. You hear screaming and commotion and the shape of a white armored figure suddenly appears before you, as a gauntleted hand grabs you and drags you out of your home. In a blur of motion, you see a black-bladed hatchet flash before your eyes then only darkness."

>look cor

The corpse is savagely mutilated, flesh torn from its body in patches and sinewy ribbons of skin still clinging to bloodied tendons and crack bones. Blood still pools out from the vicious onslaught of wounds.

A scream echoes from West Ring Road! Someone shouts, "We're under attack!"

[another corpse is found on West Ring Road]

There is a blur of white along North Ring Road, and two men are heard screaming as they are dragged out of their home. Their protest is quickly silenced when another whirlwind of white shreds their bodies.

[two more corpses are found on North Ring Road]

An elven man bursts out of his home near Cheridin Ave, running quickly as he tries to slip off into the night. Suddenly a black-bladed hatchet soars through the air and strikes the elf in the back, dropping him to the ground. In the blink of an eye, a white armored figure is now standing over the elf squirming on the ground. In a wild barbaric display, the white armored figure brings hatchet after hatchet strike down on the elf, blood spraying up and smearing across the white armored figure who then vanishes.

[another corpse is found on Cheridin Ave]

A man and his son, still in mid-youth, are seen stopping suddenly in their tracks in Shanty Town. The father looks around, as if hearing something, then shouts to his son to run. Before either can take further action, a blur of white appears between them, hatchets swirling and twirling as flesh is flayed from bone, and two bloodied corpses are left in their wake. The white figure blinks out of existance.

[two more corpses are found in Shanty Town]

A woman slowly steps out of Aznell's Armory, listening to the sounds of the night and some of the screaming. She places a hand on a sword hilt at her side, and begins to slowly creep out into the street when a blur of white appears. The white armored figured pauses for a moment, regarding the woman, but then buries a black-bladed hatchet into her side, before a whirlwind of additional strikes reduces her to a bloody pulp.

[another corpse is found outside of the armory]

A half-elven man steps up to his home on Locksmehr Way, near the bait shop. A woman with a small infant hugging her side greets him with a long kiss. The woman and child head inside, but the half-elven man suddenly stops moving. He looks down, a hatchet wedged into his ribs. His mouth opens to say something, but another whirl of white and hatchets turns him into a bloody corpse. A woman's shrill cry from inside her home is equally matched by the ear-shattering wail of a baby.

[another corpse is found on Locksmehr Way]

The glass of a second story window of Moot Hall suddenly shatters, as a white armored figure and another man go flying out into the air! The two figures seem to suddenly slow in their descent, as if time were freezing on and off. The white armored figure tears into the man with his hatchet as they both fall to the ground outside of Moot Hall with a thud. The white armored figure finishes his savage strike, then vanishes.

[another corpse is found outside Moot Hall]

A young human man stumbles out of a building on Valeria Street, and instead of running, he immediately falls to his knees and turns to face something unseen in the darkness. He shouts, and weeps, and begs for his life. A stain spreads along the front of his pants as he continues to cry out for mercy. A figure marches out of the shadows, his armor more red than white now, covered in the sanguine blood of his victims. The armored figure stands before the man begging for mercy, and with a flick of his wrist, a black-bladed hatchet appears in his hand. The figure drives the hatchet straight into the young man's face, splitting his skull before he proceeds to butcher him then vanish.

[another corpse is found on Valeria Street]

There is a brief blur of white along North Ring Road. There is a scream, and some shouting, and the echo of swords being drawn from their sheaths. A white armored figure is now seen dragging a young man from the town barracks, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him up against the outside wall of the barracks. The white figure, now bathed in blood, grabs the militiaman's badge and throws it to the ground. The militiaman swears and tries to squirm away as other militia members shout nearby, but slowly put away their blades. The white figure swings one hatchet, tearing the militiaman from chin to groin, then slices again and again and again, before he leaves only a multilated corpse and a wide smear of blood dripping down the wall of the barracks. The white figure blinks out of existence.

[another corpse is found outside the barracks]

[Wehnimer's, North Ring Rd.]

The east-west road continues, closed in on the south by the militia barracks and on the north by the twelve-foot-high wall of the city itself. The occasional thud of leather boots in unison upon cobbled pavement and the clipped shouts of barked orders reverberate off the modwir walls along this part of the road. The scents of leather, weapon oil and hearty cooking fill the night air. You also see an etched militia badge, a bloodied human corpse and the town barracks.

Obvious paths: east, west

Nazarr, Gryzzlbok, Stormyrain, Chaoswynd, Shinann, Waq, Volwulf, Ferrumus, Danthius, Yoojin, Madmountan, Lauranathalasa and Santiel followed.

Leafiara picks up an etched militia badge.

Mayor Lylia's group just arrived.

>look bad

The badge has been polished to hold a lustrous shine, its edges traced in hammered brass. Etched into the center of the insignia are a series of words.

There appears to be something written on it.

Leafiara offers her etched militia badge to Shinann.

>read bad

In the Common language, it reads:

Troydan - Member of the Wehnimer's Landing Militia

Shinann accepts Leafiara's etched militia badge.

Shinann says, "It was Troydan's."

Elphieya softly asks, "One of the militiamen? He was with the Rooks?"

Nazarr asks, "Whose badge is that? The corpse's or one of the victims?"

Shinann says, "He must have been a spy..."

Shinann slowly empties her lungs.

Shinann nods.

Shinann says, "That explains a bit..."

The Rone Reveal

Rone blinks into existence.

Rone clenches his gauntleted hands, blood dripping from them.

Ensayn asks, "What is this?"

Speaking to Rone, Zosopage asks, "So you have got your vengeance?"

Speaking slowly to Rone, Leafiara asks, "So... what kind of message were you trying to send?"

Speaking shakily to Rone, Elphieya says, "If you wanted our attention, you have it."

Rone darkly says, "Justice has only begun."

Speaking to Rone, Shinann says, "No."

Shinann says, "This needs to stop."

Speaking to Rone, Lylia says, "You would be arrested for murder, if any prison could hold you."

Speaking to Rone, Santiel asks, "But at what cost?"

Speaking to Rone, Volwulf says, "The brutality went beyond that message.."

Ensayn says, "This is anything but justice."

Speaking to Rone, Zosopage says, "All you did was endanger more militiamen at the very least."

Speaking to Rone, Lylia asks, "And why is there no thirteenth? Why not seek Rysus himself?"

Speaking to Rone, Leafiara asks, "Elphieya here asked a good question earlier... why not just go after Rysus directly?" [She had asked during the pursuit all over town.]

Rone reaches up with bloodied gauntlets, wiping blood from his polished steel mask, but all it serves to do is smear the blood more. Rone then reaches behind his head, and peels off the mask, revealing the face of the red orc Thrayzar. His eyes are cold and dark, his lips seemingly frozen in a snarl.

Stormyrain suddenly stumbles for no apparent reason.

Rone darkly says, "We will have justice."

Madmountan says, "Looks like many here were right."

Roelaren says, "Oh no."

Xorus says, "Good. Now I can stop pretending."

Danthius deeply says, "I remember this vision..."

Shinann says, "Thrayzar."

Rone shimmers briefly, as if in and out of existence. A moment later, there are two of him, then three, then back to one.

Naggarot says, "That I did.. . not expect."

Zosopage says, "Please, one of you is enough."

Speaking sorrowfully to Rone, Stormyrain says, "What the witch could not do, the Alchemist has succeeded in completing. Twisting you into something you truly are not."

Rone darkly says, "No Rook, nor krolvin, nor DeArchon will be safe."

Volwulf says, "Did not expect him to possess this kind of power..."

Rone glances at Stormyrain.

Elbromo says, "He's giving me a headache."

Speaking to Danthius, Waq says, "Oh, I so want to grope this guy."

Madmountan says, "That explains why I like this Rone better than the last one."

Rone darkly says, "I am freed."

Speaking to Rone, Stormyrain says, "You are in more of a prison than you ever were before."

Rone darkly says, "To do that which the chains of a uniform could not."

Ensayn says, "Those imagined chains will become quite real."

Speaking to Rone, Stormyrain says, "You are acting like Rysus, and the Rooks, and all the others we stood against side by side for years."

Speaking to Rone, Leafiara suggests, "How about... you put aside the gauntlets and come into custody and maybe we can find some kind of lenience because of whatever the Alchemist has done to you."

Speaking to Rone, Shinann says, "You know you were not chained and this is not you talking."

Rone darkly says, "The rot of this town will be washed away in blood."

Evrali quietly asks, "Is this not a uniform of a new sort?"

Rone replaces his mask and clenches his fists.

Speaking deeply to Waq, Danthius says, "You may unfortunately get groped back, beyond anything you'd even begin to survive..."

Rone touches one of his gauntlets and blinks out of existence.

Town guards move about the streets, carefully collecting and cleaning up the corpses scattered about town.