CHOCOLATE DESTINY, ARC 2

When Lee is out of the room and out of hearing range she suddenly speaks again. "Pardon me for being rude m'lord, but is it too late to ask that Mr.Lee be tested by myself for residue of black powder on him and his clothing? I have methods of using water and a few chemicals to see if someone has fired a black powder weapon recently."

"Yes, it is too late. Being involved yourself, you would not be allowed to determine that even if he were still here."
One of the seated knights speaks up. "My lord, if I may speak, trial by combat does supersede any individual claim of guilt by royal decree."
"Quite the advocate, aren't you? Very well Tooka, you have your fight. You or your champion will duel Sir Gerald for your freedom in the castle courtyard. We will adjourn for half an hour to allow for preparations."

Lee Gray arrives back at the inn, where Jorah Cabot is being served by a shaken-looking young bartender. A single guard sits nearby. The innkeeper's body has been removed, only a small red stain on the floor indicating where it lay.
"Hey, the minstrel here said one of his friends would pay his bar tab," the guard says to Gray, "Is that you?"

Amos has no luck finding any gunpowder. In a scribe's shop, he acquires several bundles of parchment and bottles of ink.

"Ye, dis my drinking buddy. Took ya long enough. Come, have a drink. It's on me... I mean on you."
Jorah motions to the shaken young lad to fetch another drink.

She bows again and heads to the courtyard, her club held at her side as she waits. As she waits she starts circulating adrenaline through her body in preparation for the fight, as well as temporarily changing her left eye colour to blue by changing the color of the pigments of her iris, before removing her eyepatch.

Amos approaches the scribe merchant and tries to get information about things beyond the mundane realm.

"Sir, the products here are all well and good but is there anything you can say about the availability of supernatural goods and precursor components here?"

Gray foots the tab, giving an extra bit of something to the shaken waiter.

"Mr. Jorah, I believe we must be going as unfortunately we have something that we must to take care of in the capital."

Gray makes his way around town to find someone who can sell him a cheap horse carriage (with a horse of course).

"Aight den, leggo have Sum fun"
Jorah follows Gray

The clerk looks up at Amos. "Supernatural? I carry a few bottles of vanishing ink. What sort of 'precursor components' are you looking for?"

Gray finds out that the components must be purchased separately. There is an ample selection of horses at one of the town's stables. A few prominent knights and minor nobles traverse the streets in their own carriages, but Gray does not see any carriages listed for sale. At a carpenter's shop he sees simple farm wagons with a driver's seat that can be hitched up to a horse in various states of disrepair. The carpenter offers to fix one up for him for a hundred gold rooks.

While Touka is steeling herself for the upcoming duel, the guard commander walks over. "Huh, so your other eye sees fine? Then why do you wear the patch?"

"Really? This town doesn't have any magi or credible stories about fonts of magic in the vicinity? Hmm... thanks anyways scribe, thank you for the service." Amos takes his things and leaves for the inn.

Gray purchases a young pack horse, a tent from the local general goods store and gets the carpenter to hitch up the largest farm wagon he can find onto the pack horse, attaching the tent to the open faced part of the wagon to form a cheap covered wagon.

Gray then purchases, and loads the wagon with a week's worth of rations.

He then walks his wagon over to the inn with Jorah in his wagon, and waits outside for a day for anybody he would recognize, casually training his gun loading skills in the meantime by repeatedly loading and emptying his pistol.

Jorah strums:

Then sleeps for 4 hours
And strums:

[Jorah does not actually strum those exact songs but rather rough approximations, as they were not performed with string instruments]

"Wait!" The clerk cries to Amos. "I didn't say I didn't have any, I just don't know what you want!"

Gray uses up about a quarter of his current finances arranging provisions and transport. He is busy improving his skill with the pistol when a group of kids stop by. "Hey, what's that? Whatcha doin'?"

She points at her eye, specifically the iris. "Accident with magic, having an eye that looks different than your other tends to freak out regular people. Just saves alot of time and harassment wearing an eye patch."

After a few moments of silence she speaks again. "If it's not too much of a hassle, could I ask you to check if Lee Grey fired a pistol for me? I'll give you everything you need, I just need you or your men to do it for me."

"I'm looking for credible reports on fonts of magic. Old or new anything is fine so long as it's accurate."

"Its a cool toy kids, you point it at someone you don't like, pull the trigger and they die, most of the time... and its easy as this."

Gray fires his pistol clear into the dirt ground, making sure the ground is soft enough first that a bullet would not richochet. The loud sound produces an audible response from the nearby crowd and the children, but upon discovering that nobody was hurt everyone returns to their everyday duties.

"Its pretty expensive though, so if you want one you might need to ask your parents for money."

Gray toots a tune while explaining to the children the wonders of the second amendment modern weaponry.

"Okay!" The kids run away. While Jorah snores in the wagon, Gray notices the sun will set soon. Whoever he is waiting for had better hurry up.

To Amos the clerk replies: "Fonts? I happen to use Comic- ah, like fountains you mean. Yes, this very town was founded on one such magic. Belle's Cross used to be just that- a lonely cross between two major roads. About a century ago, or so the story goes, people often engaged in combat when they met each other at the intersection. It wasn't just highwaymen looking to rob folks, everybody got pretty riled up for no reason. Sometimes a violent bloodbath would ensue between people who had no quarrel with each other. One day the Royal ArchMagus Lindlocks came over to investigate. He had been newly appointed to the office, and was looking for a small problem he could easily fix to start off his career. After scanning the area with his arcane gaze, he figured out the ley lines beneath the earth were all tangled up to emit negative energy, which was driving the random bursts of violence. He used a bit of earth moving magic to widen the roads, then descended underground. After about a week he came back up all starved and tired, but the lines had been sorted out. To prevent further violent misunderstandings from happening before they occurred, Lindlocks plopped down a huge lodestone that tapped into the energy of the lines to hasten the travels of all who touched it, speeding them on their way. It's still there to this day, though since the effect's worn down it's more of a good luck charm."


"Sounds like a tale," the commander remarks to Touka. "Your little check will have to wait until after the combat, assuming you survive. I agree with the Viscount that you can't yet be trusted with that."
A loud bell tolls, signaling the duel will begin soon.
"Well, good luck and God bless."

The inner courtyard seems like a world apart from the rest of the castle, open to the sky. Lush green vines wrap around the stone pillars. Colorful flowers grow from rectangular plots bordered by white marble. A wide, smooth gray-tiled area takes up the center, where Viscount Gilberm and a different herald stand.
Several groups of minor nobles and servants have set up chairs facing the area, chattering amongst themselves while they wait for the spectacle to begin. They give Touka bemused looks, and gold rooks change hands.
Touka steps onto the tiled area, the arena for her fight. She hears a light clanking sound coming from the far end of the courtyard. Moments later, a tall man clad in full plate emerges from behind a pillar, two liveried squires making last minute adjustments before scurrying away. He wields a flanged mace in one hand and a large round buckler in the other. Through the helmet's face slits Touka can tell it is the knight who spoke up in court before. His armor is unpainted but polished to a shine. He steps onto the tiles opposite from her.

A horn sounds twice, and the crowd falls silent. The herald speaks.
"In this trial by combat, the outlander Tooka Neesheekoojo will fight Sir Gerald Andala to the point of exhaustion or yielding, whichever comes first. If Tooka is the victor, no punishment will be set upon her and she will be free to go. If Sir Gerald is the victor, Tooka will be sentenced to 20 years of menial servitude in a labor camp."

Several complaints arise from the crowd. "Hey now, a labor camp?" "Why not just hang her?"
"Trial by combat is supposed to be to the death."
"Yeah, to the death!"

Lord Gilberm's voice booms out. "No. This woman was only an accomplice to murder. If they duel to the death, I run the risk of losing one of my most competent men, which I cannot afford in these crucial times. Nonlethal blows only."

He is answered with groans of disappointment, but the herald continues.
"At any time, either fighter may forfeit the combat by stating 'I Yield' and laying down arms. There will be no recesses. Both parties, are you ready to begin?"

Sir Gerald takes up a stance and nods. "I am ready."

Gray practices drawing his gun drawing skills along with his loading, occasionally consuming some jerky or listening to gossip to keep the routine from being too boring.

(If night falls)

[Gray wakes up Jorah, who has been sleeping all this time. "Brother, can you take night watch? You seem well rested. wake me up if you see Amos or Touka."]

Jorah groans and insists on staying asleep.
After about 2 minutes of Gray's pestering, Jorah gets up.
"Fine, I'll get up. Gosh. Man, I wonder where they are. Maybe dey at their worst, maybe dey down on their knees... Oh right, that's from a song."
Jorah sits up and watches for Amos, Touka, as well as the kid that stared at him intently for some reason earlier while strumming and singing silently so as to not bother Gray (too much).

She nods, taking a ready stance, holding her club with both hands "I am. And good luck to you, Sir Knight." She bows respectfully to her opponent. At the sound of begin/the bell/whatever, she doesn't take off, instead she waits for her opponent to come to her, her body readying to dodge a blow from the knight.

After Jorah is sure that Gray is asleep, he attempts to take the device which Gray was so infatuated with and examine it, taking extra care not to point the end that goes boom at himself.
If successful at taking the device without alerting Gray, Jorah also attempts to perform the actions Gray was performing with the devices earlier.

He does so while still on the lookout for Amos, Touka, and Dailu.

The pistol's wooden portion has a smooth surface. Jorah wiggles the flintlock hammer back and forth. He points it at the ground and pulls the trigger, but nothing happens. It is not loaded, and Jorah has no idea how to change that.

Lord Gilberm and his herald walk off the tiles.
"May God bless the righteous with strength, and truth be revealed," he says.
"Begin!" A single horn sounds.

Touka and Gerald both stay where they are, watching, waiting for the other to move.
"Come on! Fight!" a spectator calls.
The seconds pass in tense silence.
At last, Gerald breaks it, taking a single solid step towards Touka. And another, and another, slow and methodical, all the while holding his shield and mace upright at shoulder level.
"Hurry up! Crush the wench, Sir Gerald!"
One more step will take him within striking range. Sir Gerald bides his time, looking over the taut-bodied Touka, and notes that she is still waiting.
"Waiting for justice to come to you, I see," he says calmly.

"If I fight like my kind, I won't be able to stop myself from dealing a finishing blow." She states, preparing herself to counter or dodge the blow thats sure to come.

Sir Gerald sighs. "It wounds me that you would hold back, when your freedom is on the line."
"Hit her! She's right there!"
Taking a deep breath, he steps forward and raises his mace to strike at Touka's left.

Seeing the strike coming, she makes to counter by clashing with his weapon, hoping to use her weapons superior weight and her enhanced strength to throw him off ballance when he strikes.

"Well if the stone is running on fumes what does that mean about those mysterious leylines running beneath the town? Also, where is the stone precisely?"

"Well I'm not about to find out. With my luck I'd end up stuck in the ground permanently. Oh, but if you'd fancy a go at it, the stone's in the west plaza. Go left upon exiting the building, then turn right twice on the main thoroughfares. It's big and ugly, you can't miss it."

Touka swings her club up. [opposed roll]

The member 'Corenat Rovarnus' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

#1 'Coin' : 1

--------------------------------

#2 'fudge' :


--------------------------------

#3 'fudge' :

Through a strange stroke of extreme misfortune Touka somehow swings too fast and her club sweeps through air instead of clashing. Sir Gerald's mace comes down on Touka's left shoulder, staggering her and creating two small skin perforations with its flanges. He draws the mace back to shoulder height, letting Touka recover. Standing so close, Touka notices that he stands almost two feet taller than her in armor.
[FIRST BLOOD]

She bites back a cry of pain with practiced ease, her body sending pain killers to that area to numb any pain from the wound, and takes another swing this time aiming at the knight's torso.

Amos waves his hand as if to say "Never mind". He leaves the scribes shop and makes for the enchanted rock.

Amos arrives at the crossroad plaza. The lodestone is smack dab in the center of the plaza, the cobblestones on the ground artfully arranged in a concentric pattern around it. It is alumpy gray rock taller than it is wide. It has faint carvings on it that don't seem to make out anything intelligible. Sitting on top is a halfling playing a merry tune on her flute.

Meanwhile....

The member 'Corenat Rovarnus' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'fudge' :

Gerald takes Touka's next swing on his shield, sending out a metallic clang not ulike a gong. Minor vibrations move up her arms.

She grins and flicks the hidden switch on her weapon, hoping to impale the shield with the spikes that come out.

"A strong melody you play. A pleasant sensation for the ears." Amos steps up to the rock and pulls out an all divide and a displacement link. "What's it from?" Amos crouches over to pickup a rock and sets the displacement link to it while slapping the all divide on the rock.

@mos: It's about time I split you off --> https://churchofproz.forumotion.net/t1370-chocolate-destiny-amos-alone

The spikes pop out, but merely push the shield away with minimal damage. Sir Gerald steps back to get a better look at what just happened.
"So your cudgel hides fangs. Why did you not use them before?"

"You want me to go all out against you right?" she jumps backs a few times as well. "I didn't want to resort to this, but my mission is more important than your towns perception of me."

As she finishes she cuts off the adrenaline coursing through her veins, replacing it with a new cocktail of chems, her muscles tense for the briefest fo moments before relaxing as her unmutated eye starts changing to match her other eye, slowly becoming a light orange.

Hoping to finish this before anymore changes occurs she sprints to her opponent, swinging her club at the knights shield arm when she is close.

"What-"
*THWONK*
Sir Gerald is given almost no time to react as Touka's club slams into his shield yet again.

The member 'Corenat Rovarnus' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'Coin' : 2, 2, 2, 1

There is a brief screech of bent steel as the spikes punch through the shield with frightening force. Both combatants are badly jarred by the impact. Some of the spikes have struck flesh, judging by Sir Gerald's scrunched eyebrows. He gingerly inches the shield to his left, tugging the embedded club with it, and swings his mace at Touka's ribs.

As soon as the clubs spikes are within his shield she lets go of it, hoping to throw his body off balance with the added 30lbs of weight. She attempts to dodge the mace by leaning back.

Her body continues to change as she fights, her eye fully changing and her skin starting to change to a reddish tone.

Confused murmurs arise among the spectators.

The member 'Corenat Rovarnus' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'fudge' :

It's too close to tell. Despite being thrown off balance and wincing from his wound, Sir Gerald's mace manages to scrape across Touka's torso with an awful screeching noise, tearing her hardened clothes but not inflicting more than a scratch.

She rises up from her dodge and places her hands back on her club, flicking the switch to retract the spikes then shoving the knight back, using all of her weight and strength to shove him back.

She finally cuts off the chemicals, her skin now a light red and a small lump forming on the center of her forhead.

Almost like doing a reverse crunch, Touka's torso whips back to upright position. She grabs the club and attempts a bull rush.

The member 'Corenat Rovarnus' has done the following action : Dice Roll\'d

'fudge' :

Sir Gerald scrambles backward a few steps but regains his balance.

She presses her advantage, swinging her club at the knight again, specifically at his injured arm.

As Touka rushes at him, Sir Gerald readies his mace. They strike almost simultaneously. [next page!]