08.15.3013: Ghosts of the Past
Summary: A lead on Ioan Mordain sends Rebecca, Lionel, Jeremy, Talynne, and Balius to a farm settlement, where they find him in the thrall of an Underworld drug ring. (GM: Rebecca)
Date: 15 August 2013
Related: Hopes and Dreams
Balius Ioan Jeremy Lionel Rebecca Talynne 


The Sign of the Dying Thief — Acre Settlement — Plains of Ares
See log
15 August 3013

24 hours ago, Rebecca Mordain was visited by one of the Rovehn citizens who traveled in from a trip to visit her brother in the farming settlement of Acre. She told the Scout that her brother was suffering from drug addiction, and she had seen his pusher while she was there to try and salvage part of his harvest. She swears that the man bringing drugs to her brother looks exactly like Ioan Mordain, Rebecca's missing husband.

Since then, Rebecca contacted Jeremy, Lionel, and Talynne, the knights she trusts most, and asked for their help. Talynne brought along a healer from Arboren, Balius Quellton, and they prepared for the trip to see if it was, indeed, Ioan in the small outlying settlement.

They set out early that morning for the long trip, on horseback. Rebecca brought her falcon, Ghost, along, as he knows Ioan well, and won't be fooled by things that might fool human senses. They draw up to the settlement, and she dismounts from Spectre, looping his reins over a post and looking at her companions. "She said they linger in a tavern near the center of Acre. Said it has a picture of a hanged man on the sign."

Talynne rode on the giant, black destrier that she'd had since her knight hood. Sinner kept the pace steady, moving in response to the flexion of her thighs as opposed to needing any reigns to direct him. On the back of her armored saddle was the quiver that held her arrows, many of them, while her crossbow was slung over her back on its fastener that connected to her armor.

While the armor wasn't particularly heavy, Talynne's armor was lithe and able to move quickly. The maintenance of agility was always important for someone that used a bow on horseback, especially someone that counted on being able to do so with any sense of speed and direction. It was dark leather, stained black with age or dye, it was hard to tell which, smooth and supple to the touch. Over the black leather suit there was metal portions that affixed with complicated straps around her thighs, hips, shoulders, chest, and a strip along her spine. If she chose to wear it, there was a helmet that matched, black leather with metal around the crown and over the top, with a guard for the face that left a solid, wide slit for her eyes to see through.

Currently, she didn't wear the helmet, and flashed Balius a grin where he was riding on his own horse. "If we want to go in less noticeable, I can strip off some of the armor and go in looking like a.. well like a woman, do a little looking to see. Someone else can accompany me. I'd say you do it, Rebecca, but if you were recognized it could cause immediate problems." Talynne spoke quietly, but loudly enough for the group to hear.

Lionel "The Mane" Keats swings out of the saddle of Chamer, the scarred and cybered golden destrier. The horse paws sharply at the dirt, giving his mane a small toss as his nostrils flare. The Rovehn Knight pats gently at his neck, casting a glance toward the others — particularly Rebecca. He thins his lips a bit, but he has already told her to keep steady and not to be disappointed if they are merely coming across a look-a-like. He adjusts his leonine armor a bit before he adjusts his helmet hanging off his belt. He glances toward Talynne, bowing his head to the noblewoman before he smirks. "They shouldn't be surprised seeing scouts and those of the Vale out here searching about for rogue Hostiles."

Jeremy rides, but he does so without the grace of a Valen, betraying his Arborenin roots. He has his Vale camouflage input on scout armor, leaving him to fade into the grasslands if one looks out of the corner of their eyes. Shifting the crossbow slung on his back, he looks over to Lionel a moment, then turns his visored gaze back to Rebecca. He doesn't put in his own opinion, instead shifting his horse over to Rebecca's side to rest a hand on her shoulder. No words are spoken, just silent comfort.

Wearing a green tunic with leather vest and pants. He's got a simple recurve with a quiver and arrows. Riding a large brown bay, Balius will keep pace with Talynne, a large array of various medical supplies being carried by Victarion. Wearing a simple leather helm and no footwear, he'll return her teasing smile. "Don't want to get everyone too excited now, do we Taly?" The young stablehand will give as deep a nod as he can on horseback to Lionel. A polite greeting. Bey also has various satchels attached in a belt across his chest.

Rebecca checks the knives on her belts, and the small hand crossbow on each hip. It's moderate armament for her, but better than nothing. Toting a longbow around in a tavern would look awkward. She has a hooded cloak in plain brown on over her scout armor. There is a leather pad on one shoulder on which Ghost perches, cheeping softly. "That's what the hood on my cloak is for, Milady," she replies to Talynne. She nods to Lionel at his words as she tugs the hood up, casting her face in deep shadow. She begins heading towards the center of the small farm community, passing a mercantile, a general store, and a smithy before the tavern is in view. The sign indeed has a hanged man on it, above the words "The Sign of the Dying Thief". She pauses and takes in a deep breath. She hasn't had a lead like this in 11 months. The very idea of hopes being dashed has her terrified. She steadies herself, then pushes open the door and steps inside.

"Normally, I'd totally agree with you. It's more worry that they have a man captive, perhaps they're likely to be a little bit more.. flighty." Talynne smiled to Lionel, then inclined her head to him. "Alas, it's been some time, so if the sense of urgency on their end is likely to be overlooked, then let's be on with it." She flashed a slight grin to Rebecca, then glanced over at Balius and winked. "You know me, I hang with the excitable crowd." After that, she was silent save for the everpresent slight curve of her almost smiling lips. And in she followed, behind the cloaked woman.

The interior of the tavern is dimly lit. Most of the light in the tavern at this time is lit from a fireplace on the right side. There are tables and chairs all around the room, and at the back the bar. If they were to look up they would see that the Tavern also has a second story with a balcony, also with tables and chairs. The place seems to have been converted into a makeshift base, complete with guards and what looks to be a guy standing over some papers barking out orders.

There is a total of eight men inside the Tavern. Four of them look like henchmen, two up on the balcony and two by the bar. Three bruisers, one at the back door, one at the front, and one more standing over the papers with the boss. When the door opens they all stop what they were doing and and stair at the party.

Lionel glances over toward his husband, flashing a bit of a boyish smile toward him. "Told you I'd bring you to a party." Then the Mane steps into the tavern after the ladies. He rolls his shoulders a bit, relaxing with his retractable spear on his back. He looks around as they move in, taking careful count of all those present, and then he glances toward Rebecca to get a sense of her reaction to all of this.

Jeremy smiles softly inside his helmet, "Don't you always, Lie?" He guides his horse away from the group, comming to the rest of them as he does, "I'll watch the back door, make sure no one comes out or goes in that way." Riding through the small settlement, he circles around the back of the tavern, tying up his horse a block away. It's the work of a minute to climb up onto the roof of the next building over, clambering over the faux-thatch to try and find a place where he can look in a tavern window and watch the back door alike.

Sneaking in behind Talynne, wrapping his cloak quickly around himself as Balius stayed towards the shadows behind Talynne's obviously superior armor. Drawing as little attention to himself as possible.

Jeremy is able to see clearly into the tavern's second floor, and the two henchmen on the balcony. He can see the crossbows on their backs too. They have a vantage point to shoot down with near immunity.

Rebecca halts just inside the door, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light. "Up," she whispers to Ghost, who takes off to perch in the room's rafters. "I was told this was a good place to get a drink, and maybe some other things," she says confidently. "The sort of things the general store doesn't carry, if you get me."

The boss looks up from his paperwork and smirks. "That depends, what are you looking for?" he asks. He stands, looking to be well over 6 feet tall, with scars on his face, a nose that's clearly been broken several times and a tattoo that covers the top of his bald head.

Up from the balcony a man walk in, one that looks much like Ioan. His eyes are red, and it's obvious he's not all there. He looks at the newcomers and tilts his head… the woman talking looks familiar, but he can't quite place it. "Yeah, we got what you need… I think? Uh… What are you looking for?" He gives the party a half grin, further solidifying that the man is clearly high. He looks around, but his eyes return back to the woman. Where did he know her from?

Glancing around the inside of the building, Talynne paid close attention to those that were stacked within it. Rather than speaking, she shifted over to the side a bit of Rebecca, not going too far into the building, but far enough away from the others to allow for arm movement if there was a figh afoot.

Lionel maintains a relaxed stance as he hooks his fingers in his belt. He searches the rafters after where Ghost has gone, but it is then that his eyes alight on the red-eyed man that looks remarkably like Ioan Mordain. His perfectly blue eyes linger on the man for a heartbeat before he drops his gaze down toward Jeremy. He nods his chin a bit in his best casual nod, though his eyes flicker upward to the balcony. Then he glances toward Rebecca before he clears his throat a bit. "Stay cool, Bex," he mutters.

Continuing his position in the rear, Balius will lean against the wall, keeping his eyes on all possible exits.

Jeremy settles into an easy crouch on the roof, murmuring into his helmet's comm unit, "Jere, in position." There's a slight backwoods twang to his voice even when he's speaking so quietly, "The two up on the balcony are carrying crossbows. You'll need to find cover if things get ugly." He shifts slightly across the roof, bringing his crossbow up alongside his leg where it isn't obvious, but is at the ready if he needs it.

Rebecca's eyes sweep upwards to the very familiar voice. Her eyes settle on the man who looks and sounds like her husband, uncertainly for a moment. From the rafters, a cry comes from the peregrine. Ghost sweeps through the air to land on Ioan's shoulder, cheeping at him in familiarity. And that cements it. She lowers the hood of her cloak, her hair visible, the thing that got her dubbed the Red Wraith. "Ioan" she breathes out. "What are you doing here?" she asks in shock.

The Overseer looks up at Ioan as the falcon heads for him, then back at Rebecca as she lowers her hood. "He's doing his job, selling the merchandise you're looking for girlie."

Lionel's lips thin a bit at the overseer's words, and he ducks his chin a bit to breathe words into his communicator in the gorget of her helmet. "Be on your toes," he says softly before he looks up toward Ioan. Then he looks toward Rebecca. He doesn't say a word else as he just widens his stance a bit, still trying to look relaxed as he does.

It takes a few seconds for Ioan to even notice the Falcon perched on his shoulder. When he realizes his eyes go wide and he turns his head to look at the bird of prey. He tilts his head a little and whispers, "… Ghost? What are you…" And then it hits him. That's /Rebecca/. What was he doing here? He looks back down, still a little unsure what's all going on. "B… Becca?" Is all he says.

Noting that people were already exclaiming in recognition of identity, Talynne took a deep breath and moved slightly, getting to where she could dive under cover if need be from any overhead fire. In addition, she cleared her throat and glanced to Rebecca, watching to make sure she wasn't leaving herself in danger with her shock.

Jeremy waits on his perch, keeping silent for now and merely watching the bully-boys up on the balcony and the area outside the back door. If he were more electronically-talented, he would have a picture-in-picture view, but he's an Arborenin.

Eying the exchange carefully, Bey will clench his fists by his sides, continuing his same strategy with baited breath. Adrenaline pumping, he'll attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone, just trying to blend in or hide behind objects as much as possible.

Rebecca's eyes narrow at Ioan, picking out the red in his eyes, the drugged reactions. She nods to him, confirming that's who she is. She looks back at the Overseer and her hands slide under her cloak to flip the safety off her hand crossbows to begin charging them. "What have you done to Ioan?" she says through gritted teeth. "What did you do to my husband you bastard!?" she shouts. She drops her cloak to unlimber herself for combat, and the sigil of the Rovehn military is visible on the breast of her scout armor. Both crossbows come up to aim at the underworld drug dealer and his goons.

Her declaration of the man's identity has him smirking. He snaps his fingers and all of the men in the tavern activate their armor. Helms come up to enclose their heads, weapons are drawn, and the Overseer throws a table onto its side to use as cover. "Kill them all!" A tavern brawl without any booze involved? Who would have thought it?!

"Excuse me," Lionel says to one of the gents down in the lower level of the tavern. He reaches for one of the shots of brown liquor that the patron has gathered and downs it in one easy motion. He coughs a bit. "As you were," he chokes out before he pulls his spear off his back, causing the weapon to extend to its full length, immediately dropping into a standard battle stance.

The angry words from Bex causes Jeremy to grimace, and he brings his crossbow up to his shoulder, his eyes flashing all-white and ethereal vines and leaves drifting up away from within his armor, the indications of his aura spreading out as he enters his Awakened state. "Lie, did the barfight really need booze involved?" Luckily, the patrons can't hear the words, or they might take offense.

Quickly taking a defensive stance, he'll eye the room, his left hand prepping with a series of salves while his right clenches in a fist. Determined to not draw any unnecessary attention to himself, Balius holds steady, prepping to defend himself or treat the wounded quickly.

Talynne smirked darkly at the fact that they were about to be attacked, then she flipped her helmet up from her back and withdrew her crossbow, ready to fire it at the men in the upper areas so that they wouldn't have the upper hand on them with firepower for long.

Patrons scatter out the doors and windows as tables are overturned and the drug runners advance on the Rovehn contingent.

Rebecca fires a hand crossbow off at the Overseer's head but it plinks off his raised helm. Almost immediately the leader of the drug runners, one of his bouncer-sized thugs, and one of his henchman target her in reply. The Overseer's sword slices across her chest, along side a stab from the thug. From up above, one of the crossbow wielders on the balcony shoot her in the stomach. Somehow, she's still standing.

The Mane looks up sharply toward the Overseer as he lands a sizable hit on his compatriot. "Bex!" He snaps. "Watch yourself." Then he turns his attention on the pair who are trying to poke holes in him. He jabs out with his spear even as his bright orange shield launches to life.

Dodging the first flail of a bludgeon, Talynne managed to get her shot off at one of the armed Henchmen, hitting him solidly in the arm and giving him a very, unhappy sort of night. Of course, a few moments later, a slash comes down and hits her chest as another henchmen attacked her.

Jeremy grimaces as chaos breaks out down below, murmuring, "Shit." He fires off a shot at the man he had been aiming at, blasting a bolt straight through the window and into the man's side, low down and into the guts. It doesn't drop the criminal, however, and he rises to his feet, letting the crossbow drop down onto its sling and bringing his hands up. The false thatch of the roof tears up slowly around him, beginning to whip around him. "The Valen will probably want someone alive…"

Feeling his hit to the abdomen with a groan, he'll return a swing and feel the armor on his fist. Giving up on combat, Balius quickly attempts to dodge future attacks and get the med kit.

Watching his wife being attacked subconsciously arouses something angry as him as Ioan turns to one of the thugs on the balcony and throws a punch at the man. The drugs in his body makes him miscalculate however, and his punch doesn't connect.

Ioan throws another punch at the thug, another punch not connected. The Thug, looking a little confused and surprised strikes Ioan with his club. Ioan looks a little surprised, but either from the drugs or from the armor he is wearing he doesn't seem to be phased by the blow and is still standing.

The Overseer laughs as Rebecca doesn't drop despite the assaults, and manages to dodge his next attack with a stagger step and a hand on her torn open chest armor.. "She's a tough one, your wench," he quips at Ioan.

One of the thugs swings a hammer at Talynne and strikes her in the chest, but her armor absorbs most of the impact. Ioan is equally saved from another thug's warhammer. One of the crossbowmen on the balcony is in the midst of reloading his weapon when Jeremy's attack strikes him and sends him tumbling to the tavern floor below, unconscious. The other crossbowman sees his fellow go to the ground and he reloads faster, turning towards the window the attack came through. "One of them is on the roof next door!" he shouts. One of the henchman bearing a sword rushes up the stairs to leap across the gap between roofs after the Arboren.

The remaining thug on the ground floor stabs Lionel in his hand, while one of the sword-wielders gets a spear to the leg for his trouble.

Focusing his efforts on healing the fairly wounded Rebecca, he turns to survey the party for other wounds. Bey's hands are skillful and he's moving deftly in between the combat.

Lionel is already bleeding, and now he's bleeding a lot more. He tries to twist out of the path of the attack, but ends up getting sliced across his right hand in a way that sends spurts of blood across his armor and the Thug. He grimaces, and even while he staggers, he manages to stab his spearhead into the Henchman. He looks as if he is about to fall over, but catches himself on a chair. "I need another shot," he croaks.

One of them was on the roof next door. Jeremy throws one of the tiles in the window to slam into the man he hit with his crossbow bolt, but then he hears Lionel's pained sound, and he rises to his feet. Taking a deep breath, he murmurs, "You owe me, Lie…" And then he's leaping from the roof, curling one arm and one leg to go through the already-shattered window. At least he thinks to bring the telekinetically-hefted tiles with him, swirling around him as he leaps.

There was an 'OOF!' from Talynne as she takes a slam to the chest from the Henchman, though while she dodged the sword coming her way she managed to load her crossbow to have it at the ready again.

Rebecca's weapon is recharged, but she takes the time instead to throw her other hand crossbow up to the balcony within easy reach of Ioan. "Take it!" she calls to her husband. She manages to roll aside just as the Overseer tries to take off her left leg. His blade bounces off her armor. She growls as she sees Ioan dropped by the thug and she turns her weapon on that one with a hiss.

"Dammit, Rovehn witch! Hold still!" the gnarled Overseer bellows as he comes at her again. The thug attacking Talynne with his warhammer manages to strike her arm soundly this time, even as he dodges her shot. One of his fellow henchman has his blade bounce off Talynn's armor.

Running around amidsts the chaos, abandoning Lionel after he seems back to almost full fighting shape. Seeing Ioan fall, Balius moves, motivated more by adrenaline and instinct than thought.

Ioan looks over to Rebecca's voice, attempting to catch the crossbow. "Thanks Bec-" He says, being cut off as the thug he'd been attempting to punch gets another good hit on his neck and he falls to the ground right after he's grabbed the crossbow.

Lionel is thankful for Balius's brief attention, but it only gives him a window to catch his breath. He dodges out of the path of the sword, though he is rewarded with the faint tink of his spear stabbing at armor. He looks up as his husband comes flying in, and he smirks at the successful landing. "Thanks for dropping in, Jere…"

Jeremy hits the ground amidst the shattered glass of the window, dropping down into a crouch with his hands bracing him against the floor. He swirls the tiles faster around him as he drops right into the midst of the fight, "Seemed like the right thing to do." Behind the visor of his helmet, he scans the room, "This isn't going good, is it?"

The hit against her had Talynne crying out, dropping her crossbow to her back and switching to her sword, pulling it free from the side scabbard she held along her leg.

"I don't know," Lionel manages to Jeremy. "Remember that time up in the Swamps when you got your horse stuck in a sinkhole… and you refused to leave her behind because she was on loan from… what was his name? Marcus?" The Mane pauses in his story to drive his spear through the Henchman's chest, kicking him aside when he falls and doesn't get up. "Ronald? Ronald… I'd say that, that was a less pleasant experience than this."

Talynne takes a bludgeon hit, and for a moment.. the floor really does look like the best place to be… the idea of all that blankness creeping into her vision has her losing it… losing it… but wait! No.. You can't just pass out mid fight, that's how you die. So, instead Taly rallies herself with a war cry, maintaining her awareness so she can battle on.

Groaning as Ioan remains largely unresponsive, Bey's looking increasingly concerned about the damage taken by other party members, specifically Talynne. After less than a moment's consideration, he returns to Ioan, hoping to this time get him to get some response.

Jeremy throws another tile into the man attacking Lionel, slamming it into the criminal's chest. The last one keeps whipping around him, interposing it between himself and the hammer coming at him. The tile shatters, but it buys him enough time to step aside, "Ronald. Ronald was less than pleasant himself." And then he spots Bex taking another hard slash, and he rushes down the stairs, reaching out with one hand to pull a chair off the floor telekinetically.

Rebecca fires at the thug who attacked Ioan, but her hand crossbow just can't penetrate his armor. She drops it to pull out the sword on her back even as the Overseer slashes her across the chest again. Somehow, she's still upright.

One of the other swordsman strikes Talynne lightly with a sword as his partner hits her harder with his warhammer. One of the Henchman takes a double damage assault from the Keats men and he goes down hard.

Despite his best efforts, Balius cannot wake Ioan from his sudden unconscious state. Ioan just lays there, the crossbow now laying at Ioan's side close to where he fell.

Seeing the damage being taken by both Rebecca and Talynne, he shoves Ioan 'bout damn time dude, come on!' He rushes quickly over the multiple wounded Talynne, hoping for the loud couple to be an adequate distraction. "You do know there are better ways to get my attention, right?" He'll force a smirk as he works towards quickly getting her back in fighting shape.

"Fuck!" Lionel breaks off as he takes an armor-shuddering slam to his chest. He staggers back a few steps. "I'm telling a story here!" He announces to the Thug who attacked him, turning sharply to thrust his spearhead into the throat of the Henchman. Blood burbles and bubbles in the wake of the violent thrust, and more blood spatters his armor. He turns sharply toward the Overseer now as he turns his focus on Jeremy. He steps forward sharply, preparing to guard his husband.

The Overseer is beginning to look very irritated that the tall woman is somehow still breathing. "What are you!?" he hisses at her. Then he gets a faceful of tile which gashes into his chest armor.

"The Red Wraith," she replies. Rebecca seems to have some sort of guardian angel watching over her, keeping her alive and moving despite her wounds. She manages to juke out of the path of the Overseer's next sword swing, and duck beneath the blade of one of his thugs. She swings her sword at the overseer, hoping it has a better chance of penetrating his armor.

One of the other swordsman connects again with Talynne, this time her leg. The big hammer wielding thugs turn on the Keats men and dish out some pain to the pair with strikes. But not before Lionel's spear goes through one of the crossbow men as he reloads.

The cut on her leg has Talynne hissing sharply, the sound like that of suddenly steamed water dancing on a griddle. Dripping blood, she grunts as her sword does no damage to the thug that attacks her in kind. "If I fell to teh better ways to get your attention, I'd end up dead because.. I'd have to lose the clothes.." Talynne managed to answer Balius with a slightly less delightful grin before she readied herself to keep fighting.

The leaves and vines spread wide around Jeremy as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, the chair… unraveling… under his influence and wrapping around the Overseer's torso, and squeezing. The Arborenin's focus, however, causes him to miss the approach of the other thug, the hammer smashing into the back of his helmet and sending him staggering. One hand comes up to press to his dented helmet, and he turns toward his attacker, "These two are… persistent. Are they trying to flirt?" His twang is cut down somewhat by pain.

Ioan wakes up suddenly, somehow after being bludgeoned in the neck and the drugs he grabs the crossbow, pointing it at the man he was once trying to punch just a few seconds earlier.

The Mane takes a hard hit to the belly, and it knocks the wind out of him. He collapses onto the bar floor in a clatter of armor and limbs. A soft groan is released from his place on the floor.

Rebecca dances out of the way of a thug's sword again. Now it almost seems preternatural. Wraith indeed. Even if her return sword strike misses.

Seeing their leader crushed with vines and bleeding, the woman who won't die, and one of their own pushers turning against them, one of the sword wielding henchman and the two hammer toting thugs decide maybe this life isn't all that it was cracked up to be. They flee out the back door, leaving the boss and the sword-wielding thug behind to fend for themselves. "Not worth it man!" one of them hollers as he runs away.

Giving Taly's bandages a quick kiss, Balius will follow the sound of the moans and head towards Lionel. Thinking to himself about this bit of deja vu, he leaps towards the unconscious man.

Jeremy is knocked about, battered and beaten by glancing blows, drawing blood from his arm and getting knocked back by a hammer to the chest. His left hand goes to the cut on his right arm, coming away bloody. Cursing softly under his breath, Jeremy drops away the constricting chair, instead reaching out with his left hand and picking up a nearby table telekinetically, and moving to stand over Lionel, "I don't know who you are, but I think you'll get a better deal from Lady Cindravale's magistrates than from the Red Wraith."

Swinging the sword at the Thug that had hit her felt good, and she got a nice, solid attack into his body, slicing into his chest solidly. When she drug the sword away and then received a deep wound into her right hand, the same arm with the damage from earlier, Talynne veritably growled with anger. Thank goodness for Balius and his medical skills in helping repair her almost immediately.

Ioan curses under his breath, he was sure it was aimed at his head! He quickly begins reloading. Somehow though, the shot to the hand was enough to scare the guy as he starts running. Ioan begins laughing, almost to the point of being uncontrolled.

Finished reloading the hand crossbow, Ioan will crawl to the edge of the balcony, still laughing and aims the crossbow at the Overseer.

Rebecca turns on the Thug with the sword who has been dogging her the entire fight. She dodges nimble past his strike like a dancer. She stabs at him with her blade, every moment she's lost with her husband over the last 11 months fueling her rage. Her expression is hidden under her helm but if it were visible, the remaining thug might flee with his brethren. She hits his chest, through his armor, drawing blood. "There is no mercy. None. You took from me something I value more than your lives," she says.

The Overseer misses his strike on the Knight now attacking him, and he begins to look unsure. As his other men flee he hollers, "I will hunt you turncoats down to the ends of the Vale!" He's surrounded now. He can't defend all sides at once.

Unable to get a good hit in on the Overseer, Talynne slipped her sword back away and pulled her crossbow back out, readying herself to shoot him, if she couldn't cut him!

Hurriedly attempting to get the Mane conscious again, Bey will have his med kit handy. Successfully having roused the sleeping lion, he'll proceed to bandage. "Lemme stop you from doing that again in the next two seconds, shall I?"

"Ugh," Lionel grunts, spitting out a bit of blood as he is brought back from that black and dreary brink. He grimaces a smile up at Balius. "You Arborenin folks are so… wonderful." And then he starts to drag himself up to his feet, allowing Balius to fuss at him for a few more moments before he steps forward to intercept that Overseer once more.

Jeremy slams the table across his body, sending the heavy sword flying away from his body. It does mean that the only thing flying at the Overseer himself are the shattered shards of the table, which bounce off the man's armor. "Bex. We should take them alive…" He blinks, feeling the ache in his head, "…shouldn't we?" Now without his furniture weapons, he sizes up the Overseer once more, drawing the sword at his side to aid in his defense. "Fight now, Lie, flirt later."

"There's the unconscious one you tossed off the balcony. He'll do fine," Rebecca replies to Jeremy. Clearly that is going to be unnerving for the remaining pair of drug dealers. She swings her sword at the remaining thug, but he slips to the side and stabs her in the hand. Somehow, she's still up. As if seeing Ioan alive is keeping her heat beating no matter how much blood she's lost.

The Overseer strikes Jeremy with his massive sword, but the Knight refuses to drop either. He feels the air whizz by him as Ioan fires a bolt, and jukes to one side to avoid Lionel's spear.

Lionel nods his head to Balius. "Much thanks," he says, though he scowls a bit toward Jeremy. He steps back up to the Overseer in an attempt to thrust his spear at the big bad, but it doesn't appear to be doing much good. He plings against the armor. "Alright…" He grimaces, his shield dropping.

Rolling his eyes at the silliness of Lionel and Jeremy, he'll successfully get the Mane back into fighting shape. Looking around, he'll look at the battered torso of Rebecca and rush quickly. Not wasting any time, Balius will shake his head. "Lets try and keep everyone alive so there can be an actual reunion, shall we?"

"Oh come on!" Ioan shouts, rolling over and beginning to laugh yet again. While he's laughing he's reloading again. All of this movement is making him rather dizzy.

Talynne takes aim at the Overseer, planning to actually harm him!

The last of the overseer's thugs seems to think his pals were right. He heads for the hills, leaving the big bad bossman all alone against the Rovehns and Arborens.

Jeremy throws out concentrated telekinetic force that goes awry as the Overseer's blade hits his gorget, cutting into the side of his neck and half-twisting him around. He comes back upright, dancing back and raising his sword to take up a more defensive stance, "I don't know how you got a hold of that armor and that sword, but I'm getting less and less inclined to stop her from killing you." His voice is harsh now, and his left hand comes up to his throat, pressing against the bloody gash.

Rebecca spins on one heel, sweeping her blade across the Overseer's chest, drawing blood.

Talynne lets loose an arrow, smiling darkly as it thunked home into the Overseer's chest, just after Rebecca's hand was out of the danger zone.

Looking on as Rebecca's newly bandaged hand hits the increasingly wounded Overseer. Bey starts to consider the long term needs of those around him, specifically Rebecca and Talynne, who were looking the worst for the wear.

Anger laces Lionel's face as the Overseer continues to assault his husband. He snaps his jaw, teeth flashing as he snarls out a sharp. "HEY! ASSHOLE!" And then he launches forward several steps when the Overseer turns to look at him. He slams his spear forward, sending it right at the man's face as the spearhead cuts through any obstructions.

As Ioan finishes reloading he rolls back over, still giggling a little. It's not that funny, but the /way/ that his bolt bounced off the armor was /hilarious/. As he aims again he notices that the Overseer is already down. His giggle fit begins again, partially from realizing he's no longer in immediate danger, and partially because the group downstairs started to bend!

Jeremy takes his left hand off his neck long enough to reach out past the Overseer and pull a chair toward the heavily-armored man, deflecting the criminal's attack with his blade. And then the situation is… dealt with. Jere steps back, grounding his sword and resting his left hand on his knee, "I'm okay, Lie."

The Overseer takes a bolt to the chest from Talynn's crossbow. It staggers him a moment and he stumbles into Rebecca's strike. Jeremy's telekinetic attack further off balances him, just perfectly for Lionel's spear to slam through his helm, into his open mouth, and out the back of his head. There isn't even a sound as his brain switches immediately off, and he slides down to the floor. He is an ex-Overseer.

"Lady Sir Talynne, can you have a contingent sent here to round up the remains of this man's operation? They need to make reparations for what they've done to my husband, and this settlement," Rebecca says flatly. Then she looks up at where her husband is, and begins limping his way, trying to climb the stairs despite her entire torso looking like mincemeat at this point. "Ioan…" she croaks out.

Ioan still giggling intermittently, he rolls back on his back, "This is he!" He exclaims. "What can I get you tonight?" He doesn't bother getting up, but does shoot the crossbow at the wall. Giggling some more.

Rushing back to Victarion, Bey will open several bags and head straight towards Rebecca. "Just take a seat." He motions, momentarily questioning if she'll even be able to, seeing the numerous wounds she's taken.

Lionel is breathing heavily once the Overseer falls. He grimaces as he yanks his spear loose of the man's head, and he gives that armor a kick. He glances down toward Ioan, and a frown laces his lips. When he looks back at Rebecca, the concern is quite obvious. "Jere," he says, glancing his way. "How you doing?"

"Of course, I will do so immediately." Talynne nodded to Rebecca surely. Then she looked over at Balius and smiled to him softly, looking him over to make sure that he was alright, even as she continued to bleed. "Balius, I can't thank you enough for your medical assistance, I would have been in dire straights without it, and I'm sure the rest of us here would say the same."

"No, take care of Ioan first," Rebecca insists to Balius, despite his condition not being nearly as critical as hers. "They did something to him, drugged I think. Please, help him." She does sit on a stair as she can't make the climb in this state. Bex holds both hands to her chest to try and stem her own blood flow. All that matters is that her husband is alive, and she never gave up hope. Sophia will have her daddy back. Then she passes out. Up above in the rafters, Ghost makes plaintive cries as both his people are down.

Ioan somehow manages to stop his giggling, as he begins to start processing what happened. His wife had been hit. He stands up rather quickly and stumbles around for a bit. He just not started to notice his neck hurts. He walks groggily over to the stairs. "Becca? Becca where are you?"

Jeremy finds an unbroken chair, dropping himself into it and only then sheathing his sword and securing his crossbow. "I hurt. How's your chest?" He looks up at the others around, "I think we got off light though."

"Oh… fine and dandy," Lionel wheezes a bit. He glances over toward his husband before he looks to Balius. "We should take him back to the Caravans… he will need to go through some sort of rehabilitation if he's been… drugged for as long as I think he has." He glances toward Rebecca. "And he'll be safe there."

Shaking his head at Rebecca, he'll look at the man, immediately recognizing the effects of Red Eye. The depressant would mostly need to run its course, but…Bey rushes quickly over to his kit and will inject him with a stimulant, which would hopefully help cycle the drug out faster and limits its effects. "I'm sure he'll be fine Rebecca. Know you have to promise me that you are gonna take it easy." Looking at the offer from Lionel, "He speaks truly. Withdrawal in this case is…difficult."

Jeremy reaches out his left hand, pulling another chair upright and over to his side for Lionel, and then his eyes fade away from their brilliant white mask, the play of ghostly leaves and vines fading away from around him, "I like shooting things a lot better than I like getting close enough to get hit."

The locals begin to creep back in. Some of them cheer to see the Overseer dead. Later, the group will learn his name was Fenton Scythe, and he was the local arm of some drug producer whose origins are sketchy at best. His operation kidnapped people, drugged them, brainwashed them into being pushers and thugs, and grew the operation that way. With the head chopped off in this area, the stragglers aren't likely to return, but there are people that need to be detoxed, and another head may replace the removed one.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License