"Why does he have to stay here, of all places?" Jesz asked as she paced back and forth in the small hut. It was the perfect size for her, but not much more than that.
"We can't take him to my dormitory," Ouxps said. He watched her from his seat at the table. His cloak hung on the back of his chair, leaving him in the white and purple robes reserved for clerics, in particular clerics who worshiped Murphy, the god of Randomness. "The priests would go crazy!"
"And I can't take him!" Chloe said from the bedroom next door. Of course, with only 3 rooms, they were all next door. "Besides, your home was closest and we had to get him somewhere fast."
Ouxps leaned over the table with an exhausted sigh. "I've done what I can, but there are only a few clerics that can regenerate a whole hand!"
Jesz walked into the bedroom with a growl. Chloe sat next to the bed on the only other chair Jesz owned. She had a bucket of water next to her, along with towels and bandages. Laying in the bed was the man in black, unconscious with a wet towel on his forehead. "Swing this around in a circle, will you?" Chloe asked as she handed a damp towel to Jesz.
"What? Why?" She'd learned long ago that it was just best to do what Chloe said, so she began whipping the towel in a circle next to her. "Hasn't he been healed?"
"The dart had some sort of poison on it. He's burning up. Ouxps tried an antidote spell but this stuff is pretty potent. Alright, hand me that towel." She took the one off of his head and held out her hand expectantly. When Jesz handed it to her, she let out a little sound of surprise when she realized that simply swinging the damp cloth had made it very cold. Chloe dabbed at his face with it before laying it on his forehead.
"Did you find anything on him that might show us who he is?" Jesz asked.
Chloe's cheeks turned a rosy pink. "Of course not! I'm not rifling through a strange man's clothes! I'm not that kind of girl."
Jesz smirked and nudged her in the rib. "Prude. I'll look." But she was not much better, blushing as she felt around for any pockets. The once-upon-a-time thief had no trouble sticking her hand in someone's pocket if she didn't know them, but as the man lay on the bed with his brow knotted in some unknown concern, she found herself empathizing with him, mesmerized by him. He had a complexion almost as dark as hers, but his features were exotic. He had short black hair that was swept up, but when he opened his eyes in delirium, they were so dilated their color could not be determined. A bag had been tied around his stump of a left forearm to cover it. He was handsome and in distress.
Chloe stood up. "Watch him while I take a break?"
Jesz nodded and was soon alone with the stranger. The hushed conversation between Chloe and Ouxps made Jesz feel worried, even though she didn't know anything about him. There was a decent chance he wouldn't make it through the night. She gently ran her fingertips in his hair before examining him more closely. Now that she was alone with him, it was easier for her. Fingers trained to use a quick, light touch scanned his body, which was stronger than she expected. She found an inside pocket with small blades, another with vials, a third with long needles. There were numerous items throughout his robes, and the more she discovered, the more concerned she got. But instead of getting concerned for her welfare should he wake up, she was concerned for his should anyone else discover the weapons and tools of an assassin.
"Ming... it's not right..." he moaned.
She put her hand on his cheek. "Shhh... just rest. It's safe here." As she sat up, she found the dart on a little bedside table and picked it up. The moment she brought it close, her nose was flooded with the scent of an alchemist's study, a sickly sweet musk but far more concentrated. "Ah!" She quickly put the dart back down as light-headedness caused her to feel dizzy. "It's some sort of nightshade, I think," she said loudly enough for the others to hear.
"Nightshade? That narrows it down. You know there are thousands of varieties, right?" Chloe called.
"Think Angel's Trumpet or Belladona."
"Concentrated? Th-th-then he should be dead by now!" Ouxps replied in a soft tone.
Chloe walked back into the bedroom. Jesz had her hand on the man's chest, under his robe as she felt for more weapons. When she saw Chloe, her cheeks flooded crimson and she sat up stiffly. "I was, uh, just looking... uh, for more weapons! Any weapons! For weapons. I haven't found any weapons yet."
"Right. Look Jesz, it's getting late and I don't know how much more we can help him. Do you want us to stay with you tonight, just in case?"
The man clenched his fist and arched his back. "No! No, don't do it!" he cried out.
Jesz nodded. "I'll watch him. It will be all right. You guys can go if you need to." Chloe nodded, but before she got far, Jesz added, "By the way, has Aryx returned yet?"
"Not yet. He's not the best at night. I'm sure he'll find me in the morning. We'll keep looking for Occam's Gazer then."
***
Somewhere in Kells, a barrel made its merry way down a narrow street, which led to larger and larger streets. A number of unfortunate souls, either awake from insomnia or for some deed best left for the night, found themselves having to jump out of its way. It was picking up speed.
Kells was a very large city, and like most large cities, it suffered from an excess of roads. This made getting around the city difficult*, but for a barrel having a night on the town, it meant lots of routes to explore. This particular barrel was enjoying a roll down the main thoroughfare, "Whatever You Do, Don't Go Down That Rd," when a loose stone caused it to veer off to the side and run into a lamppost. The lamppost creaked and fell over. The sound of the glass shattering woke up an old man who had been sleeping on some coats nearby.
"Wot! Who! Criminy!" he called and jerked into a sitting position. As he did, he knocked the empty bottle off of his chest and sent it skittering along the ground, just under the foot of one of the city's guards. To keep from falling, he grabbed onto a nearby pole. Fortunately, he managed to keep his footing. Unfortunately, the pole was part of a system of scaffolding that stretched for miles. The guard's weight was too much for the piece of wood and it snapped, setting off a chain reaction down the length of the scaffolding and out of the guard's sight.
"Oh crap," The guard looked around, and, seeing no one other than a sleeping old man, turned around and quickly walked away from the scene of the crime.
***
*Not only did you need to take at least 15 turns to get to the local grocer, but the people who planned the city were not terribly imaginative and ran out of names for its roads ages ago. This has led to many roads with the same name, and others with names like "A St," "The Other St," and "That Street And Then Turn Left At The Next St."
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