CHOCOLATE DESTINY, ARC 2

"Thanks Mr. Smith, I'll be seeing what I can do. Here's something for your trouble."

Gray hands the smith a rook or two, and heads back to the inn where everyone is staying, waiting for the arrival of Richard.

Daliu nods his head.

"Thank you very much for the lesson and information, Sister. How do you know Father Mayhew, by the way? What was he promoted for?"

Before he leaves, Daliu makes sure to ask for a vial of Wildfire.

"Armed with this new knowledge, I feel empowered to aid in the containment of Enarou's ghastly curse. Please give me the tools I need to purify the curseholders."

(Daliu gains a rank in Knowledge: Religion)
"Ah, yes. Pelivar Mayhew was one of the lay brothers that trained under me for the priesthood while I was stationed in Domiente a decade or two ago. He was an energetic lad, and once accepted he quickly rose up through the ranks to become the finest preacher Jaquim has known in years. The people's faith in God had been slumping, and his journeys across the land helped to renew it with his almost infectious piety. He was recognized by the Council of Archbishops for organizing the construction of the Great Church in Torean, and Saint Anthony himself vouched for Mayhew's promotion."
The priestess is at first confused by Daliu's second question.
"Wildfire? Do you mean that vile alchemist's concoction?" A knowing glint appears in her eyes. "Ohhh, I see. I am sorry child, we do not have any of that at the moment."

Meanwhile, two naked men have somehow managed to sneak into Touka's room and started mutually masturbating each other beside her bedspread. They are doing it so quietly that if she closes her eyes, she can almost pretend it isn't happening.

Not even being asleep yet, she grabs the club next to her and presses a switch on the bottom, extending the hidden spikes within. "Leave or be castrated." Her normally soft voice lowers somewhat and takes on a threatning tone.

"You can't castrate our love!" They cry as they flee the scene, masturbating all the way out.

"YOU BETTER STAY OUT YOU LITTLE SHITS!" She shouts loud enough for the whole building to hear. "AND IF ANYONE ELSE COMES IN HERE, I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!" She then slams the door behind her with enough force to shake the walls.

Jorah is shaken awake and confused by all the yelling and the sight of the naked men exiting Touka's room. He finds he is no longer lying on a comfy bed but the hard wooden floor of the inn.

Downstairs, Lee Gray walks into the common room to see the Feiren agents interrogating a grizzled old man wrapped in a green cloak.
"The Empire requests your cooperation," one of them tells him.
"Don't tell me you speak for the Empire, especially not now. Where are your banners?"
The other patrons are keeping their distance or leaving.
"That is not your concern. We will be asking the questions."
"It is my concern, it's in these troubled times where your loyalty matters the most. You should be wearing your colors with pride, not hiding them in shame!"
"Who is working with you?"
He crosses his burly arms. "I came here alone."
"So you wish to add treason to your long list of crimes."
"How dare you!"
The cloaked man stands up. The tension in the room is palpable.

Jorah gets up and tries to get back in the room.
*knocks on the door
"hey bruh, why u gotta toss me out bruh, preezu, izduhcomfy. lemme haz a bed bruh"

"No, this is a 1 person to a 1 bed kind of thing. Plus a guy needs his privacy bro."

"Preezu lemme in bruh"
*starts strumming the ukulele and singing

Amos is in awe that the minstrel is able to sing the sounds and beats of drums and piano keys from the international classic Baby Come Back but continues working.

"Keep going and I might tip you."

"Look man, I don't want any tips right now. Just let me in when you finish your activities...
Oh, here, this might help your oceans spill forth"

The minstrel begins strumming and singing again.

Gray pretends that he doesn't care, but he carefully eavesdrops on the conversation in an effort to find something interesting, while waiting for the return of Richard.

"It's going to take a few hours bro, take a spin around town. Come back later."

"Fine"
Jorah goes back downstairs and spots Gray.
"Yo, you're a pretty coo guy, no? Lezgo find a fun party to crash! If we can't find one, lets start one!"

"Brother, there is a party over there,"

Gray points at the mob.

"Don't know if you wanna crash it right now or wait for it though, they seem kinda not friendly."

"Man, those guys are having a party that's not the fun sort. Lets go around town and find the kind with the trippy grass and happy juice"

"Oh man brother, I wish to remain vigilant so those grasses aren't for me. Daliu seems quite keen on substances, you can ask him to party when he comes back."

Gray slowly chews on a piece of jerky.

Seeing as she can't fall asleep because of all the distractions, she gets out of bed, changes her clothing into a tight fitting sleeveless wool blouse, a knee length red skirt, and black boots. After retracting the spikes on her club, she straps it to her back snd heads downstairs, joining her traveling partners.

The cloaked man and the sugoi shinobi have been staring at each other silently for the past minute.
"Uh, fellas? Take it outside please." The innkeep walks over and tries to break them up, but is ignored.
Gray finds something interesting: They are all gripping sword hilts.

Meanwhile, Richard suddenly finds himself surrounded by several rough looking people.
"What is that?" one of them asks, pointing at the particle gun.

Daliu is in awe at the depth of Father Mayhew's faith, and of his mentor the priestess. Trace on.

Having received training in the Faith, and knowledge on the route to the dragon, Daliu ventures back to the Inn to meet up with his traveling companions.

"Man, you're boring. Wanna have a drink with me then at least? You're the only one I can really hang with right now. The two upstairs are having some private climactic fun time"

Richard is wary. He has been approached by people asking him about the particle gun before, but the interest they show is rarely genuine. He answers, on guard:

"This is just a simple self-contained particle accelerator. It's a bit hacked together right now, but it should work as intended. Are you," and here he pauses, as he already knows the answer, "interested in learning how it works?"

"Ok then, I would like something to drink innkeeper."

Gray pulls out a few coins from his pockets and hands them to the man at the counter.

"What would you like?"

The innkeeper replies, his annoyance from the sugoi shinobi leaking through his voice.

"Two of whatever's the cheapest."

Gray, as a very frugal fellow, does not hesitate to imply that he is a miser through his actions. The innkeeper slaps down two mugs of unknown liquid onto the counter, the consistency of which seems closer to urine than alcohol. It seems that the innkeeper is so out of it at this point he just speaking in a foreign tongue that Lee Gray somehow also understands.

"Sonna sake de daijoubu ka? (Is this drink fine?)"

Gray, unwilling to back down from his cheap tendencies, nods earnestly.

"Daijoubu da, mondai nai. (No problem)"



Gray hands one mug to Jorah, and downs his own right after. As soon as the liquid hits his tongue, however, a surreal sensation erupts across Gray's taste buds. The taste of the drink is so surprising, alarming and indescribable that Gray immediately drops to the floor convulsing.

Jorah stares on in awe as this occurs for a few more moments until Gray is able to grasp a hold of himself. Gray is gasping for air as he finally manages to speak.

"In hindsight, I should've gotten the best they had... but it does taste very interesting. Would you like a sip Mr. Jorah?"

Wow! Looks like one hell of a ride.
*Jorah chugs his drink

She simply stands back, content with watching the boys make fools of themselves. She after seeing Lee collapse, she walks over to the bartender and orders a bottle of wine, paying in full when he returns.

"Ey, Bar-man, u got any..."
*takes out ukelele...

The green-cloaked man continues to face down his interrogators.
Daliu walks in while Gray, Jorah, and now Touka partake of alcoholic beverages.
The other patrons continue to slowly trickle outdoors or upstairs, unwilling to brave the tension in the air.
"There's only one way this will end," a Feiren woman says.
"I disagree," the man replies.
"Okay, that's enough," the innkeeper declares, "I'm calling for the g-"
*swish*
The man suddenly springs into action, grabbing the edge of his table and flipping it up, sending plates and cups flying. The table slams into three of the Feiren, knocking them to the ground. The other two reach behind their left shoulders and lash their arms out in a single fluid motion. The man ducks.
*thud* *thud*
Two hiltless knives hit the wall behind him. The man starts running towards the exit.
"Stop him!" a sugoi shinobi cries as he gets up from the floor, his shirt soaked in beer.

Richard's words are lost on these people. "Is he crazy?" one of them mutters.
The man who asked the first question speaks up again. "So uh, what does it do?"

Daliu watches in confusion and awe at the exchange between the mysterious green-cloaked man and these Seemingly Sugoi Shinobi. Trace on.

He wonders why his companions are drinking while the bar fight plays out, but his contemplation is cut short as he ducks for cover behind a bar table. Eager to diffuse the confrontation, Daliu shouts out.

"WHAT THE HELL, GUYS?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST LOOKING FOR HENRY!"

"Aw man, looks like we ain't gettin our shots. I guess this will be more fitting"

In a fit of pretend drunken stupor, Gray fires his pistol into the crowd of active people, most likely hitting one of the many sugoi shinobi.

"Sh-shut the fuck up you fuckers, fuck man, what a piece of shit drink, what a piece of shit place, what a piece of shit..."

Gray fires a few more shots in the general direction of the sugoi shinobi, seemingly unable to aim properly because of his supposedly hazy vision.

"What the fuck man, like fuck, eeehhhhhhhh... I want some chicken, ya got that? CHICKEN AND RIBS."

"Man, you really can't hold your liquor huh, buddy. I agree tho, dese peeps need to go.

[Sings Law the Second: Universal Entropy Increases]

She sprints at the fleeing man, drawing her club and swings at his knees when she is within range.

Gray's pistol goes off with a flash and a bang. The townsfolk scream. [first roll]
Touka lunges at the cloaked man and swings. [second roll]

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

#1 'fudge' :


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

#2 'fudge' :

The sugoi shinobi scatter in an instant. "AUUUUGH!!"
Gray's inebriated aim proves horribly effective, and the innkeeper falls to the floor with a bloody hole in his chest.

Unfortunately for Touka, the cloaked man saw her coming. He dodges her swing with some fancy footwork and dashes out the door.

"Stop that man! He's in league with the kidnappers!" the Feiren woman shouts in response to Daliu.

She makes another vharge at the man ,this time using her abilities to have more adrenaline than usual run through her body, and takes another swing st him, this time aiming for his torso.

Daliu realizes that the Feiren are probably not in the mood to further explain the situation, so he follows the conflict at a safe distance, readying his sword to defend himself if need be.

He spots Lee, Jorah, and Touka, but doesn't see Amos. Maybe he is the key to resolving this conflict.

"Where's A.D., guys?" asks Daliu to anyone that's listening.

"Amos is fucking himself and demanding that we all stay out of the room, so I'd advise against trying to talk to him right now. Who know's how long I'll be kept away from dat comfy bed"
*Sobs

"I wonder if we'd get an award from chasing down dat guy"
*runs after the man Touka's attacking
[Sing Law the Third: A Pure Crystal’s Entropy]
[Trigger before a Touka attack after at least first verse is finished]

One of the ninjas assaults the inebriated Lee Gray, grappling and pushing him to the floor. "Drop the gun!" he demands. "Now!"

Touka speeds out into the street after the cloaked man. Jorah follows close behind, but is only halfway through the first verse when she strikes.

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

'fudge' :

Gray struggles, but drops his empty gun as he is told.

"Wuh.. Wuh happen!?"

He looks like hes confused.

"Where did you get the gun from!?" the sugoi shinobi demands of Gray. "Who are you working for!?"

Touka lands a glancing blow on the man, but it does not seem to slow him down. She continues pursuit and readies another swing.

Jorah suddenly switches from normal singing to making a strange squawking noise. The cloaked man's body goes rigid and he stops in his tracks. Seeing this opportunity, Touka strikes again.

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

'fudge' :

Touka's club slams into the man's torso, scoring a solid hit. He groans in pain and falls to his knees.

Behind her townsfolk and travelers alike are cramming through the inn's doorway in a panic.

*strums

(just the first part)

When he gets on his knees she quickly places a hand on his neck, a mixture of DMSO and mild knockout drugs being injected into his bloodstream through his skin to pacify him until the shinobi come over.

Daliu watches Jorah's and Touka's strange combination with confusion. Was that a purposeful set-up, or was Jorah just singing randomly? Either way, it was strikingly effective. Trace on.

Regardless, Daliu cannot stomach the image of the cloaked man getting cracked on the ribs with a giant club. It brings up fresh memories of Noire's execution, which he failed to prevent.

Daliu runs over to Touka and the cloaked-man.

"What are you doing, Touka?! Do you even know this man? What has he done to you?"

"To me, nothing. But shinobi wouldn't be chasing him unless he has done something wrong. If you are worried about me hurting him don't, my abilities will not kill him, it's regulating the correct amount of chemicals through his body, so there is no chance of killing him by overdose"

She smiles at the boy. "Your a good kid Daliu, most wouldn't show care to an enemy. Lets hope you remain that way when you grow up."

After seeing Touka inject the man with some substances, Jorah can't help but ask:
"Hey, u got any of da good stuff?"