Martinez grumbled at his companion. Instead of the lovely Stille at his side, he was stuck with the oafish Raoul. The duelist had hoped for a chance to impress the baroness with his charm and wit at the Admiral's gala, but instead he felt he was babysitting a large drunk.
"This is a swanky place. "remarked Raoul while marveling at the high marble architecture, the graceful arches , and the magnificent glass work that adorned the walls. Everything here screamed high class to Martinez , even the subdued flowery scents somehow being piped through its halls. "It's an open bar right?" the half giant added bluntly to his boss's displeasure.
Martinez growled , he wanted to part ways with his companion and attempt to at least mingle with the upper strata of Grommish society. Though to most foreigners, Grom appeared to be a plutocracy, rule by the rich, in reality it was a brutal meritocracy , rule by the most competent. Those in power tend to accumulate the most money rather then those with the most money accumulated the most power. It seemed a trivial distinction, but Martinez knew the difference well. Years of warfare and skirmishes against the monsters that surrounded that country tended to breed a more self reliant aristocracy. Even the withered emperor, Clovis the Crafter , was crowned due to his blood but kept his throne more from his artificer achievements . His home country of Darokin on the other hand, was a true plutocracy and he saw the stagnation in that system. Unlike the vibrant frontier nobility of Grom, the nobles of Darokin were soft , and knew only how to exploit others to make money . They literally threw gold at their problems in terms of crisis. They relied too much on foreign mercenaries and trouble shooters in Martinez's opinion. In Grom , the nobles were a harden lot . Though not all were competent , there were enough dangerous folks in the upper echelons of society to get the job done. The duelist was quite impressed by their resourcefulness and was all too eager to rub shoulders and make his mark among these important and powerful people.
Recently the Grommish naval fleet had secured several victories against their long time enemy, Gnomar, recently, and Admiral Edmund was holding this gala to celebrate some of his senior officer's successes . More importantly it was to remind the people of Grom which military branch had succeeded while the others either failed or were stalemated. Tactically , the gnomish fleet was still relatively whole, but several strategic ports and supply depots were denied them in the recent campaign. The enemy was forced to regroup and consolidate their position, which in effect caused them to abandon much of their military gains inland. It did not signal an end to the war, but almost everyone foresaw a ceasefire was imminent.
This of course caused those that attended this party to be in a happy mood. The war had dragged on too long, and the people longed to resume their lives. Though Grom had a long martial tradition, its people were more industrious then militant. With the end of the war nearing, Martinez could feel an optimistic feeling in the air . Peace meant a new round of profits, and now was the time to secure some future contacts or possibly a hefty retainer . Everyone needs a demon hunter sooner or later.
Before Martinez could begin his crude networking, a blue clad servant appeared before him. "Martinez …and friend…from North Darokin?" he asked.
The duelist eyed the man suspiciously but nodded.
"Admiral Edmund wishes to see you in his private quarters." Stated the man and politely waved for the duelist and the half giant to follow him.
Martinez looked at the crowds of nobility and government officials and noted that Raoul stuck out like sore thumb . He was dressed in a simple blood stained tunic and trousers made of a heavy material that one would find on a dock. Despite its crude appearance, thankfully its rips were sewn by the baroness recently else he would have looked even more out of place. Martinez on the other hand , always considered his clothing choices impeccable, he was disappointed that his associate did not behave in the same way. He was dressed in a dark blue doublet with billowing sleeves in the manner that most nobles and swashbucklers had. His pants were tight and snug and had a stylish black and purple checkered pattern on them. He had hoped to abandon his socially stagnant acquaintance quickly to avoid association with him but it seemed inevitable that they would be seen together. He decided to quickly followed the man to shorten the length of time he had to hang around with his companion.
Perhaps the Admiral was going to personally thank him for ridding one of his vessels of the sea demon but he suspected it was another job offer. He wondered why they would conduct such business at the gala and not in his offices during the day.
After a long trip through various trophy rooms and display cases of war memorabilia of past campaigns the servant stopped a large oak door. The duelist expected a small office lied behind it , but was pleasantly surprised by a spacious opulent sitting room. Inside was Admiral Edmund who was engaged in a chat with a foreign man. The man was an older gentleman . He was short with brown skin, darker than Martinez's . Despite being dressed in silks and jewels, he still radiated a masculine dominant image.
"Ahh…Martinez. So glad you could come to my party. I was telling Sardar Milan here some of your exploits." stated the elderly Admiral. The naval commander , was a thin man with wisps of grey hair on his balding head. He wore a traditional red Grommish uniform that seemed too big for his light frame. Despite his frail appearance, the man projected an aura of command that Martinez had seldom encountered. The admiral waved at two guards who promptly left the room and closed the door behind them.
The man in silks pointed his chin at Martinez , a sign of acknowledgement rather than a greeting. If it was anyone else the duelist might have gotten mad and done something he might have regretted, but fortunately Martinez had dealt with these people before.
From his dress and title , the duelist assumed the man was a noble from the numerous city states in Vinnraj. The inhabitants there were an ancient people, dating almost as far back as the Empire of Dawn. The city states had many collective names, but the most common were the Lands of Mystery , the Impossible Kingdoms and the Isles of Gold. The people there regulated themselves into rigid castes, and it was their habit to not greet people from lower classes in a friendly manner. Despite the cultural insult Sardar Milan had bestowed on the duelist , Martinez let it slide. The kingdoms of Vinnraj were a wealthy land, and the duelist swallowed his pride in an attempt to get his hands on some of that gold.
"Lets get this over with. I assume we weren't invited to this party to mingle . I assume you're not here to listen to any of my demon hunting tales. You guys have a job for me? " asked the Duelist directly while glancing nervously at the roof. He noted that Raoul had spotted…no smelled …..something there as well and the two exchanged inquisitive glances.
The Admiral smiled, but the Sardar seemed less than impressed. The noble rapped his fingers along an ornate box for awhile till he finally sighed. "Yes. Before I tell you what I wish, I think it best if you know a bit of my situation. I am a minor noble from a royal bloodline, from the grand city of Nashput. Through hard work and luck, I've managed to amass a vast fortune , mostly in foreign trade. However, due to my father's unfortunate choice of my mother , I will never be Maharaja , or king if you prefer, but I am still fiercely loyal to my family . Roughly twelve years ago, my half brother's daughter, the princess Charvi was slain on a hunting trip. We found her remains and were horrified to find her heart had been ripped out. We blamed demons in the forest, and literally burned the jungle to the ground in retribution. Around ten years ago the Prince Rajeev was also slain during a trip to the market, his heart also ripped out. Sensing a pattern and expecting the worse, we immediately sent Princess Sampada to one of my foreign holdings in Barkwark for safe keeping. We took every precaution , including renting a castle, and hiring a small army to protect her. Sadly , the army was killed, the castle burned to the ground with all in it. We suspect that this was some sort of attack on the noble heirs of our family and immediately sent into hiding the last legitimate heir to our family, Prince Lalit. We faked his death in our home province of Nashput and exiled him to various foreign lands in the last decade. This plan seemed to have worked till an incident last year. Prince Lalit's major domo had uncovered a plot against his charge while they were staying in the distant city of Thyatis. He swiftly extracted the prince and headed to Grom City , our nearest holding and thankfully one that I was currently staying at. I am overseeing his protection here, but it is only a temporary measure. We need to get him safely back to our stronghold in Nashput . It may not be the wisest course of action, but he is almost of age to claim his birthright. Thus allowing him to claim leadership of the holy temples and unleash their ...less then cooperative might on his foes. This is if he can make it back home for his coronation. ", explained the Vinnraj noble.
Martinez nodded while staring at the ornate box on the table. It was made of some dark wood, but he noted that the artisans framed and reinforced it with what appeared to be rough iron. "I see, you wish to hire my companions and myself as an escort ? I guess your major domo fellow uncovered demons in Thyatis."
Sardar Milan shivered at the mention of the word demon . "Yes, we always suspected it was some sort of evil spirit or at least monster that would murder children and tear their hearts out, but the major domo found direct evidence of involvement by "outsiders" from one of the lower planes. Mainly a spirit native to Vinnraj , a creature called…"
"A Raksasha ! "interrupted Martinez with a dramatic declaration. The room fell silent save for the clinking of glasses made by Raoul , as the half giant had wandered to the well stocked bar in the room.
"Yes. I've been told you've dealt successfully with these creatures before . ", noted Milan.
Martinez shrugged. "I've killed a pair , engaged in a simple plot to replace a nobleman and his wife in the Rock of Doug. From what I know , they are very intelligent animal headed spirits, that are motivated only by hedonist pleasures and the accumulation of power. Not unlike most nobles, save for the fact that they feed on human guts. ", noted the duelist. " Not only are they competent mages, but they are resistant to spells and all weapons , saved specialized ones. They are master shape changers but they can be identified by some odd backward appendage they each possess . "
The admiral's face contorted to what could only as a frowning look of approval, but the Sardar shook his head. "I see you are well informed of my foes, but sadly I do not wish to employ to you. Admiral Edmund has assured me that you would be up to the task that so many others have failed at, but sadly you have failed my test."
Raoul snorted from across the room as he quaffed a shot of Agave worm spirits he had found amongst the Admiral's well stocked bar. Martinez smiled at the Vinnraj noble. "Oh you mean the old "spot the demon" in the room trick? I would have pointed it out earlier, but it seemed such a crude ploy. You have one in the cold iron box, I assume a quasit or something of that nature…"
"An imp…."corrected Raoul from across the room as he began pouring another shot.
Martinez shot a warning glare to his companion. The half giant needed a kick to show him who's boss he thought, before he continued. "Also the two above us are particularly well hidden. I assumed they were a test right away since they did not attack while you two were alone. "
Martinez stopped as the room froze. The Admiral and the Sardar nervously looked up and saw nothing.
"What two on the roof? ", asked Admiral Edmund before the room exploded in violence.
"Its so unfair!", exploded Jimmy uncharacteristically. The small thin dark haired boy was normally quiet and reserved but his age showed as he ranted about his lost opportunity. "Raoul didn't even want to go, but he then drew a straw. There goes my chance to see the Admiral's personal palace, and to meet all the famous people of Grom City."
Sir Jose shrugged and reclined on his seat. " Listen nino, you only have yourself to blame. You shouldn't have mentioned free booze. Never…Ever…reveal everything you know, unless there's something in it for you. ", chortled the North Darokin knight at Jimmy's expense. "Look, what are you….12…13? They prolly won't let minors in anyways. Its probably an adult theme party."
"Whateva…and I've snuck into adult theme parties before. Its just booze and strippers. ", declared the young demon hunter apprentice.
Jose grew red. "Err…those are the parties Martinez throws. These high class guys are really swanky. I mean formal dancing, masquerades, maybe even some racy cabaret acts. ", explained the knight with a bored tone.
Jimmy shot a distrustful look at Jose. "This is …rubbish! I rather be there than stuck with you…a drunken knight. I'll go find my own fun.", the boy declared before racing out the inn.
"Err…come back, before the other guys return." shouted the knight . He then waved the busty waitress over . " Another bottle of this red stuff. I hope that boy doesn't get into too much trouble. "
Stille knew she was in trouble. When she exited the shrine and into the street, she saw four men wrapped in dark silks, wielding scimitars, attempting to break into an ornate wood and gold palanquin. A fifth man or creature seemed to be commanding dark chains telekentically and were wrapping them around the litter. The whole scene was framed by the tall stone and wood buildings of Grom City, in the evening sky. Despite the dusk, the area was well lit , by oil lamps and the occasional magical stone lamps. Most of the citizen had fled, but a few poked their morbidly curious heads out of windows and doors to watch the carnage. There were slain guards and porters strewn about, and even the corpses of what appeared to be innocent bystanders. The baroness noticed that despite their relentless strikes the attackers were unable to enter the litter.
"A ward of some sort. Most likely a spell protection the litter from evil. ", thought the baroness as she considered her options. She could hear the guards coming. She knew she operated better in a group as a support caster, rather than a front line spell slinger. It would be more prudent to assist the guards , but by the time they arrived the occupant of the palanquin might be slain. She couldn't allow that so decided to intervene directly.
"HOLY SMITE", she commanded, as she intoned one of her few offensive prayers . The area around the palanquin rippled with magic and was then bathed in a halo of divine light. Three of the scimitar wielding attackers scattered momentarily, and for a second Stille thought her tactic had worked. One of the darkly robed men fell to the ground clutching his eyes, screeching like a wild animal in pain. The other two seemed stunned for a few seconds but otherwise her spell had no noticeable effect on them.
The lead attacker scanned for the direction of their new foe , the one with the chains seemed undeterred from his task, while the remaining two backed up in surprise. Stille took the opportunity to telekentically push a peddler's cart in front of her and into the confused robed men. Though she guessed they were resistant to direct applications of magic, indirect uses such as a hurtling cart could still affect them. She rushed her incantation and poorly judged the structural stability of her projectile as it ripped apart and hurtled shards towards her foe. The planks and shards slammed into the lead robed man , but the other two nimbly leaped and rolled out of the way.
Even though she only struck one, Stille hoped that her attack would again scatter her foes. She was surprised when she saw the leader struck by the debris rise from the ground as if nothing had happened. Parts of his clothing were ripped away, and it revealed a stern dark skin man with a toned muscular physique. The man stared at Stille with his cat like eyes and the priestess felt a cold shudder run down her spine. The man then smiled evilly and for a second his visage faded into that of a tiger's before reverting back to his humanoid appearance. The priestess knew it was a taunt, not a failure of his magic, or an illusion to scare her.
As Stille contemplated what she was facing, one of the other two men charged at her with his scimitar raised. The priestess snapped back to attention and with practiced skill brought her shield to deflect the blow. The man or most likely creature was stronger then Stille, but thankfully not supernaturally strong. The angle she placed her shield dispersed most of her opponent's strength , and allowed her to lash out with her holy blade at him. Even though her opponent was quick, he over committed his earlier strike and allowed her to slash him in the chest before he could parry or block her weapon. Stille saw the holy light of her weapon burn her foe, but was disappointed when the rest of the blade bounced off his skin .
The priestess only had a second to contemplate her next action before another attacker struck her in the opposite side. The direction of the attack was too great for her to shift her shield in time, and she felt the blade slash into her ribs. Thankfully her dark iron breast plate absorbed or deflected most of the strike, but the curved blade still managed to gouge through the leather and mail joints of her armor.
Stille realized her position was untenable. Even though she had disabled one earlier with her smite, and their leader seemed uninterested in battle, the two on her were too fast , and worst yet seemed immune to most of her attacks. At best she could fight one at a time, but the current situation was beyond her skill. For a second she wished that giant and dependable Raoul, the swift and smart mouthed Martinez, or even the dour and deadly Jose was at her side. They were more suited to this sort of close quarter combat than she was.
The priestess ignored her wound and cautiously backed away from her foes. She considered running, but knew her faster opponents would swiftly pounce on her back. She hoped to at least make it to a corner and wall to shore up her defensive position. Her first attacker feinted a strike, hoping to draw her shield up, but Stille saw through the simple ruse. She instead blocked the second waiting attacker and slashed him for good measure as she retreated further back. She managed to intone a prayer of healing to heal her sides and was glad that her foes didn't use anything bizarre like poison, or cursed blades.
The lead attacker seemed to watch in interest at the affair, like a cat playing with its prey thought Stille. As the blinded robe man recovered, it shouted something in a language that surprised the priestess. Although her adopted father was a man of few skills, the one thing she found most impressive was his mastery of languages. Though her own repertoire of foreign tongues was a fraction of her sire's , she still recognized the shout as Vedic speech. Something along the lines of the " Blood food has escaped. " or perhaps the "Sacrifice has escaped" , she reasoned.
Stille glanced at the palanquin and noted it's door was slightly ajar. She reasoned that her distraction gave the victim a chance to flee. The robed attackers seemed to ignore the priestess and sniff the air. One of them seemed to have caught a scent and the rest followed him , as they leaped catlike onto the roofs above.
As one of the creature's facing Stille lept a way, the priestess was determined not to let it escape that easy. She lashed at it with her blade striking him squarely in the back. Though the holy blade did not penetrate his skin, it did burn him and cause him to fall to the ground. Stille hoped to take advantage of a fallen foe, but the attacker rolled towards the cobblestones as he fell, and managed to twist into a crouch as he landed. The priestess marveled at the agility of her foe, and wondered if it was a were tiger or something of that sort.
Her foe eyed her warily and shouted something into the night. Stille interpreted as "I will catch up." Before it turned its full attention to her.