Rodric's Respite: Part II The Disguise

[Xonumar]

The streets of Ekar are appalling to say
the least. How such a small village could
sustain the volume of creatures that bustle
about at this moment is mind boggling.
Merchant carts are arranged in an
interleaved pattern with a guard on
each side running along the whole of
the main road.
The level of organization dumb-founded
Rodric. Never had he seen such perfection
in alignment. His eyes begin to float
over the selection of trinkets. A
jug here. Some necklaces there.
"You there!", says a voice.
Rodric turns to face the direction of
the voice. There is a scrawny man in
clean commoner's close staring at him.
"Yes you. I couldn't help but notice
your sword and I thought heh I have
just the thing for such a sharp looking
warrior." The man reaches into his
shirt and withdraws his hand which now
contains a paper.
The man smiles in satisfaction as he
gains the attention of Rodric. "This
is a powerful scroll. I earned it
last night in a poker game. It is a
scroll of ummm...Loyd's Impentrable
Wall. It will protect you from all forms
of harm to escape nearly any situation.
Here have a look.", says the man thrusting
the paper at Rodric.
Rodric takes the paper and peers at it.
Several stains are on the front. What
kind of a wizard would let his
magical possession get so filthy. He
flips it over to look at the back. Tiny
letters. It reads "One Pinch Mandrake.
Two Pinches Nightshade..." Rodric
having been well travelled recognizes
the writing to have uncanny similarities
to a sleep potion. He thinks to himself
highly unlikey this is worth anything.
"I am not interested and also...", Rodric
states before having his attention yanked
from the paper and salesman.
A struggle breaks out outside the gates
of Ekar. A woman is thrashing about
madly. Each of her arms grasped by a guard.
The gatekeeper is brandishing his rod
in the air. It has a pulsating red glow.
The woman is dragged kicking and cursing
out of sight.
Rodric shoves the paper back into the
salesman hand and begins to stalk
toward the gate to get a better look.
The salesman follows Rodric's gaze
and quickly skips in front of
Rodric. "Woh! Wait a minute. You don't
want to get involved in that!", advises
the salesman.
Rodric shoots him a piercing stare. "Oh
yeah? Why is that?", says Rodric making
his irritation apparent.
"That is a witch. Do you want to be
cursed?", says the salesman.
"Where are they taking her? Out of my
way.", Rodric barges past the salesman.
Suddenly the vocal protests of the
woman are muffled by a howl...Nothing
more can be heard of the woman.
"Its done.", says the salesman. "I
just saved you from a bad omen. Purchase
my scroll for only 2 platinum?"
"No.", replies Rodric bluntly. Rodric
brushes past the salesman leaving
him behind.
Rodric makes his way to an unmistakable
inn house. Squeezing through the crowd
in the cramped places. He keeps one hand
on his wallet taking no chances.
As he walks past a well his hand brushes
against something sticky. He lifts his
hand. Blood. Not his own. Likely somone
was forced hard against the well by
the mass of humanoids on the street.
It took almost ten minutes to press
his way through a seventy yard stretch
to the inn.
The sign embedded in the wall read:
The Lust and Laughter Inn
Rodric entered the inn. There is
no entrance hall. Directly inside the
door is a large open room. A welcoming
desk is nearby, but before checking in
Rodric peers about the room.
There are many gambling stations
scattered about the floor. Some Rodric
had seen before like the poker table
and the dice dexterity rocker. There
were also many he had not seen. Spinning
wheels with strange points on them.
There is a stage at the back of the
room. Women are singing and dancing
on stage and many men are drooling
at them. On the side of the room
opposite the desk a long bar stretched
along the whole of the wall. Behind
the counter stood a triple racked
shelf of many concoctions.
The surrounding promised Rodric a
trustworthy bit of enjoyment.
Rodric purchased a room and immediately
afterward took a stool at the bar. His
gaze traced over the selection. So
many choices he thought to himself, but
first thing is first.
The barkeep had noticed Rodric's arrival
and he stood awaiting Rodric's order. "What
will it be?", he questioned.
"A pint of the house malt.", says Rodric.
"Righto the finest malt this side of Torril
comming up.", answers the barkeep pressing
the tap on a keg under the counter.
Rodric is startled by a hand grasping
his hind side. He whips around to see
a woman of stunning beauty. His eyes meet
hers and she smiles wickedly. Rodric
is stuck staring for a moment. He finally
looks down quickly unable to find words
and unwanting to make her feel uncomfortable.
The woman giggles and walks away.
Rodric turns back towards the bar. His
metal cup is waiting on the counter.
His hand inches to his mug. CLAP! A flash
of yellow light glimmers in the room.
A mage backsteps in the direction of the
door. A ball of crackling light hovers
near his shoulder. The mage shouts "I
know who you are! I see through your
guise! Allow me passage or suffer! You..."
Several humans and dwarfs spring at the
mage. The first three are zapped and
left unconscious by the mages spell. However
the rest manage to topple the mage and
subdue him. Dragging him from the
establishment.
Everyone watched in amazement at the
disturbed mage. Everyone except the
patron sitting next to Rodric. She cooly
and gracefully switched Rodric's mug with
her own.
Rodric reassociates himself with the
mug of beer in front of him. His hand
falls on the handle and he raises
the frothy malt to his lips.
He takes one sip and immediately places
the mug back on the counter. Unique
is the right word for this stuff alright.
Uniquely disgusting. Rodric thinks to
himself Eric you are something.
The fluid, which does not qualify as
being called malt, does have a slight
taste of beer, but something else sticky
is potent throughout the mixture.
Rodric ponders to himself. Perhaps I
should take my leave for this night. It
was a long ride to Ekar. I can start
anew tommorow.
Rodric makes his way up the stairs and
to his room. His room is fairly small,
but it is a solo room at least. He
would not have to share with ten
other inn guests. He walks to the corner
of his bed and drops onto it falling
asleep before his head hit the mattress.
Suddenly Rodric awakens to flickering
light flashing off his window.
"Whats this?", Rodric asks himself.
He stands and casually glances out the
window.
There is some kind of gathering outside
encircling the well. One of the attendies
is cranking the control arm on the well.
Strange time for a water party.
"Am I dreaming?" He gets his answer ironicly
in response from the contents of the
well bucket. The body of a naked man
dismembered is cradled on the bucket.
Rodric hastily ducks out of the window
view.
He checks his baggage. He breathes a sigh
of relief after he finds his items are
in order including his trusty saber.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Foot steps
can be heard in the hallway outside of
Rodric's room.
Rodric creeps to the door placing his ear
to the wood.
"Lets see. Who is next on the list?...
Rodric Steelguard.", says a man's voice.
A woman says, "Did you see his face
when I brushed up against him earlier.
What a gullible fool.", she chuckles.
"Keep quiet!", applies the man firmly, but
quietly.
"What? Those that are not with us are
under the sleep tonic by now...oh alright.",
adds the woman.
Rodric gently and slowly slide his saber
from its holster. He then slips back into
bed with his saber in hand under the
blankets.
The door creeks softly open. Two pairs of
feet can be heard entering the room and
closing the door behind them.
Thump. Thump. Thump. "I hope you enjoyed
your last night of freedom slave", cackles
the woman from a foot or two away
from the bed.
Shoooosh. The blanket rises with such
speed it causes air friction. To the
woman's dismay that is not all. Rip.
The sharp edge of a sword pierces through
the blanket. With increasing velocity
It finds a target in the womans abdomen
where it strikes through the her skin,
organs, and comes out the other side
of her torso.
Rodric leaps from the bed and jerks the
saber free. "As a matter of fact your
malt is comparable to mud and the reason
I stared so long earlier was I could not
decide which you resemble more, a medusa
, or a troll! Luckily I have the guts
to check out! Yours will be a permanent
resident!"
The woman looks shocked a moment. Then
a smile crawls onto her face. "Leaving
without a good night kiss?", she says
with great sarcasm. She bares a pair
of sharp fangs. The vampire woman
leaps at Rodric with a hiss.
The man accompanying the woman starts
mumbling an incantation.
The vampiress tackles and pins Rodric
to the floor. "This is all a dream! You
have nothing to fear. When you awake
you will be alright. Slave.", she hisses.
SMACK! The closet door in the room whacks
against the wall! The vampire man's spell
concentration is broken and his mind's
aim missfires.
The vampiress slumps and becomes dead weight
on Rodric. Rodric spares no time and
draws a dagger from his belt and stabs
into the vampiress throat causing an
eruption of blood. Her eyes open for a
split second then they slowly shut once
more.
From the closet leaps a woman with super
agility. A wooden dagger in hand. Deadly
accuracy leads the weapon into the
vampire's chest. The vampire gasps in
terror and drops.
Rodric pushes the vampiress aside and rises
to his feet. He stares at the woman who
could claim credit for his life.
She is an elf with green eyes and long
black hair. Her face is narrow and her gaze
seems a bit wild.
"Who are you?", asks Rodric.
"Marianne.", she says confidently. "You
handled yourself well considering the
guile of your foe.", she stops briefly to
drive her dagger into the vampiress's
chest. "But...You would not have been so
lucky if I hadn't saved your ass twice."
"Saved me twice? You did aid me now. Have
we met at some other time?", questions
Rodric.
"We met. Although you did not notice me.
I sat next to you at the bar for a
few moments. I watched as your drink was
poisoned while you stared at that vampiress
diversion. You are very lucky for the
outburst the mage caused. For that is
when I switched your own mug with mine.",
explained Marianne.
Rodric scratches his head. "Indeed. What
is going on in this forsaken village?!"
"Expansion...", answers Marianne.