Open The Nitrozian Party (Closed)

[Inoadar]

Ballroom dancing was a whole different thing. Inoadar's discomfort now came less from disjointed interaction with Alice, and more from concern about disrupting the entire room. These were steps that involved more than just your partner. Everyone dancing seemed to be interdependent upon the twirls and dips of others. He nearly knocked heads with one man while trying to avoid the toes of a woman that seemed to be doing everything she could to slide them beneath his boots.

Alice, of course, seemed completely entertained by his clumsy efforts, almost to the point of hoping for some ghastly collision to bolster the next day's scandalous gossip. Inoadar was determined not to let himself be such a patsy. He focused on her feet and the ways she leaned this way and that, not always in symmetrical counterpoint to the rhythm.

He began to get the pattern, ready to praise himself for the singular focus that allowed him to exclude all other matters from his attention. Had he not already forgotten them, he would have included the upstairs door and the guards to the list of things he was now ignoring. He found he was actually enjoying himself. Alice was a joy, and seemed quite satisfied to continue dancing with him. No, by the gods, he was not going to be the one to draw negative attention on this dance floor.

But someone else did. Commotion overrode the music as half the room turned in the same direction all at once and the momentum of the ballroom stalled in curiosity and alarm. A scream...Several of them. And shouts. Inoadar could not see exactly what was going on. He was not sure if it was in the actual ballroom, or if some disturbance was occurring in some adjoining room or chamber.

Then he remembered why he was here. He turned to look up at the doorway on the balcony and had trouble determining which one it was. Alice made a few efforts to refocus his attention on the dance, but with the milling hubbub, her attempts were unsuccessful. Inoadar realized that it was the lack of the guards that had confused him. He turned back to Alice, with a smile that fell short of his eyes. "Excuse me dear. You dance divinely, but I have business to attend to. I would be happy to find you again later, if you wish, but I'm afraid I can't bring you with me right now."

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde just looked back at her, as she insulted him, to his face, about his face. Or more so, she insulted how he used to look. At least as best Clyde could tell. However, he could not help thinking it was not that good of an insult, a weak one at best. He had heard better banter from half unconscious drunks. However as she went on, and said she had "been busy", he could not help feeling there was more to the story than she said. She did not look the greatest, surely time had not done so much, but she looked to have aged a few years or more... Clyde looked back though, as she changed the subject, asking of his Crucible coming up. Clyde shrugged back at her, and let out a sigh. "Yes and no. I think I am ready, and have been for awhile now. But at the same time... I wish it had been awhile ago... I think for the longer time they waited and the better mage I have become, the harder they will make my test. At this point, whatever they give me will be leagues harder than what the average Stryfe hopeful gets. But I think I will pass regardless. I am not one to quit, if I was I would not keep returning to Ravok." Clyde paused for a moment, thinking over his own words, and then turned back to Samara. "What of you? What do you have in the works, or coming up? Anything of interest?"

[Amelia Cross]

Saying Amelia was shying away from the man in front of her would be ignorant. She was quite found of attention, bout good and bad, even though one wouldn’t exactly call her an attention seeker. But something about this particular setting made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Potentially, it was the lack of attention, or maybe the face she was receiving it from. Yet, she chose not to ignore the man and his comment, or was it an offer? If her father would find out that she was chatting with a Nitrozian, and being rude to them, she’d be in for some harsh time.

Therefore, she just smiled at the man and set her long hair over her shoulder, baring the other side of her neck. ”I’d like that” simple and short, but as her body leaned closer towards the man, it seemed to take on a slightly different meaning. She wouldn’t call it flirting, just playing along as her father had instructed. After all, this was about making contacts, wasn’t it?

None the less, she couldn’t manage to keep her casual chatter going, as soon enough some screams were heard. It was hard telling where they were coming from, and surely, she would blame the chatter, the music and dancing, not her own lack of attention. ”please, excuse me” she said, with a polite bow of her head as she stood up from the table. ”We should continue this, sometime” maybe a bit pushing it, but those were the last words she said, before she left the table.

Finally free of the man, she walked towards the sound. It seemed like more and more people were interested in what had happened to cause this unusual noise. Eyes searching to see her father, who she failed to spot from where she was. With no familiar faces around her, she felt quite scared.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„It would be bad for you if the Rising Dawn had just given up, wouldn’t it?“ Valerius asked. He knew how much of his cousin’s influence depended on the fight against Ravok’s enemies. Valerius himself would be happy to be rid of them once and for all though. He had been there when they had attacked the Temple of the Black Sun, and he had not enjoyed it particularly. He preferred a peaceful Ravok where he could experiment on Kelvic and plot against the other families to one where enemies were hiding at every corner. Despite all his ambition he had never been much of a fighter. „But as you yourself remarked they may just be in hiding. Maybe they are simply waiting for the right time to strike again. Maybe some of them have even temporarily left Ravok. Who knows? That is what I would do if I were in their place. They might have allies somewhere else. I assume the Ebonstryfe and the Black Sun have looked for the Rising Dawn? Did you really not find a single hint as to where they might have gone?“ He ate some of the delicious food in front of him while he waited for his cousin’s answer. There was no point in letting it get cold, no matter how interesting the conversation was. After he had taken a few bites, he carefully wiped his mouth with a napkin, and then he took a few sips from his wine.

[Verilian]

"The problem is," Trevinus commented to Valerius, "Is that they come from our own flock. Mostly slaves, but even so, it allows them to hide openly." The Acolyte paused when the commotion began, a look of concern growing on his face. Suddenly Valerius was forgotten as a man ran into the room, holding a vial and wielding a sharp dagger. An arrow from behind flew past him, narrowly missing the man and everyone else in its path until it finally thudded into the table between the two Nitrozians. The man Amelia had been talking to did not even have time to respond to her exit. Even if he hadn't noticed the man and the shouting, it was hard to miss the arrow that zipped right by his face as he leaned forward, possibly in an attempt to reach out to the fortune teller and stop her from leaving. The man jerked back, falling over in his chair, prompting even more shouting. "Anything interesting? Well.. we are planning a strike on-" Whatever Samara intended to say was cut off as a man ran through the room towards the dining hall, I'tram limping after him. The slave stopped at the door to fire his bow, but the arrow flew astray, darting past the man and into the room in front of him. Clyde was all but forgotten as Samara turned her attentions to the new problem, shouting for the guards. Inoadar's dance partner may have put up a bit of a fight to keep him there, but when the Ebonstryfe paladin got involved she quickly forgot all about the fun. Her new objective was her own safety, and Inoadar would make the perfect human shield. For his part, Inoadar tried to get away smoothly. It would have worked too, but Alice quickly grabbed him by the arm, shouting for him to protect her. Up above the guards burst forth from the closed door and began running down the stairs toward whatever was happening in the dining hall. Sevris cut his conversation with the head of the Nitrozian household short when the commotion began, and it was a good thing. Right after he got up the arrow thudded into the table between Trevinus and Valerius, followed ticks later by the man entering the room wielding a dagger and holding some sort of vial containing a green, watery liquid. The man cracked the vial open, spilling it's contents on his dagger before jumping on the table and hurling it across the room to the other end. Sitanos was too shocked to move. The dagger hit him in the chest, causing the man to cry out in pain. All around people screamed in fear and attempted to clear the room, most of them having never been in a fight in their lives. Almost immediately Sitanos began to slump, and less than a chime later he lost consciousness. The assassin pulled out another dagger and began to advance across the table. Outside the room I'tram was nearly trampled by the people attempting to flee the building. Firing another arrow was out of the question, he would have to work his way through the crowd to get to the dining hall. The guards were having the same issue attempting to navigate the throng of frightened people on the dance floor. Unless someone tried to stop him, the assassin would cross the table in a matter of seconds to finish the job. OOCI know I took forever on this. The good news is the thread is nearly over and the plot can finally advance. Sorry for taking so long! I hope to have this wrapped up before the end of the month.

[Sevris]

Things progressed a lot faster than Sevris or anyone in the room had expected. All of a sudden their pleasant dinner was interrupted when a man came stumbling into the room, with a panic following him. The front door guard was limping after him. The hairs on the back of Sevris's neck stood up as he the tension in the place skyrocketed. Where Sevris was just seated an arrow shot forward and planted itself between Valerius and Trevinus. This didn't phase the man at all who had pulled out a vial from nowhere and poured the green, watery liquid substance onto an outstretched dagger in his other hand. Just as quickly the man hopped on top of the table. From one end to the other he threw the dagger perfectly, and it connected solidly into Sitanos chest. The man cried out in pain Sevris reacted immediately. The man took out another dagger and was beginning to advance on them. Sitanos after a chime slipped into unconsciousness and Sevris took the charge and jumped onto the table as well. Armed already with a serrated ivory double-bladed sword. "A foolish move assassin! Your death will not be swift!" Sevris threatened with a maddening look on his face. He walked towards the assassin twirling Double-Bladed sword in complicated kata. When they got within proper distance he ran forward and begun to throw a vicious barrage of attacks at him. Swinging up high and down low. He may be skilled with a dagger, but he felt such a thing could not stand up to the deadliness of his blades. His plan was not to kill if possible but to maim and injure. So that Lazerin could have his way with him.

[Inoadar]

Inoadar had not even thought of being so presumptuous as to take a seat at the dinner table. He had been invited as a guest-of-a-guest, which did not entail such an honor. But he could see a man nearby who seemed to be at the head of the "wake" of disturbance that had made its chaotic way through the crowd in the ballroom.

He seemed unable to shake off Alice, so instead he whipped an arm around her, "This way. Let's go. Hurry!" Something he had seen made him feel that great events were unfolding, and he wanted to be right at the heart of them. She seemed eager to follow, probably thinking he was leading her out a side door. In fact, he was heading right where shouts were bellowing and the sounds of hastily evacuated chairs were scraping and clattering.

A man suddenly rose above the level of the rest of the crowd in the dining room, a knife cocked to throw. One detail stood out in stark evidence. He was holding the knife by the handle, not the tip of the blade. It was not conclusive, certainly, but most knife throwers held by the blade. In a flash, Inoadar got the notion that the blade could be poisoned, so the man would not want to touch it as he flung it towards the head of the table...'the head of the table! Mr. Nitrozian himself?'

It may have only been because he was looking for it, but Inoadar was sure he caught just a glimpse of some liquid leaving drops in the air along the path of the blade. The width of the table, and the panicked scramble by most of the attendees, was defeating those few brave fools who were reaching to grab at the man. In the time it took Inoadar to get inside, Alice had realized he was NOT hauling her to safety.

Inoadar turned a furious snarl at her thrashing protests. "Damn it, woman! This is HUGE! If great events frighten you, then GET OUT! Just follow the rest of THEM." He waved with contempt at the fleeing crowd. "I'm going to save the petching day and be a hero!"

Of course, he didn't really care about 'doing the right thing', but he knew such fame was prestige, and such prestige was an in with the movers and shakers, and that was connections, and that meant power, and that meant money.

It seemed like time slowed. He saw that, though Mr. Nitrozian was reacting to the pain of the knife wound, he was NOT going into the agonized convulsions of poison. Then, he simply slumped over. Insight spoke to Inoadar that this was the intended goal. The reaction was more like a neuro-toxin, the truly lethal ones that stop your heart and lungs. But if this was the case, the killer would not still be approaching. His job would have been done the moment the knife struck. He didn't know why the killer would only want the target unconscious. 'Unless he has accomplices nearby!'

Well, there would be time to deal with those details. By now, a few other, more competent, defenders were converging from within the room and without. Inoadar knew he needed to act fast to get any recognition for an act of loyalty and bravery. He had no useful weapon, so he simply grabbed what was at hand, one of the chairs that had been upended in the panic.

Though nothing like a grand upholstered easy chair, these were still heavy and unwieldy. With a grunt, he hefted one up and raised it over his head. With a roar of adrenaline, he heaved it across the top of the table, hoping to catch the assailant's legs.

[Clyde Sullins]

Before Samara could get to what she was saying, all insanity began to break loose. I'tram came in chasing a man, and tried to shoot him with a bow, only to miss. The man then went on to toss a dagger across the room, which struck a man in the chest who had been sitting at the table. No immediate reaction was called for, since it was not coming at him, but he would certainly need to do something in regard to him. After all, it was quite rude to attempt to kill someone in the midst of a party, let alone one he was attending. That was when Clyde had to think, his mind abuzz trying to consider the options, to run over tactics for combat which was something he was not the best at. So he mainly settled on breaking down the situation logically. The man was a killer, or attempting to kill. Clearly they did not know why, so killing him would not be a good course of action, until they knew why he was doing so, or who sent him. As he watched people rushed into attack and stop him, one with a sword, came in swinging like a madman at him. The other came from another side, and took up a chair and tried to toss it at him. Clearly it would make little sense for him to head towards the killer, as there were already two there, and any additional people on him would just interfere with each other, or mess each other up. So coming directly at him was a bad idea, even if he could easily immolate the man... No, following his own line of logic, it made more sense tactically to not come at him, but instead be an obstacle, and go towards the man who had been hit. So Clyde did so, heading to get close to the man who had been stabbed, in case, something of interest occurred there, or if the assassin slipped by the first two men and still was heading towards the man. He would act as a buffer, a secondary obstacle, along with another point of observation. As he waited, he began to exude res out of his left hand, which he uplifted palm to the ceiling, his glowing silvery res coming forth and billowed out. As usual, he gathered it into a ball of res, and floated it above his head level, about two feet in front of him. All the while he would get in close to the stabbed man, while still trying to keep aware of what was going on around him, in particular the actions of the killer.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius frowned at the man that ran into the room. How dare he interrupt the conversation with his cousin? Didn’t he have any manners? He was just about to tell him to please go back outside as he didn’t have an invitation when he noticed that he held a dagger in his hand. A moment later an arrow thudded into the table between Trevinus and him. Valerius instinctively ducked. It was Winter and Lady Salvatrice all over again, another ruined party, another assassination attempt. Why couldn’t those people try to murder somebody that was not associated with him for a change? He had absolutely no interest in playing the hero – he valued his life, thank you very much – but it seemed as if he wouldn’t have much of a choice this time. This time he couldn’t just hide unter the table like a scared little boy and hope that the assassin didn’t notice him. There was too much at stake! He yelled, „Grandfather!“, but it was already too late. His eyes widened as he watched the dagger hit Sitanos in the chest. He was just about to look for a weapon - or a slave that he could use as a human shield, anything to distract the man from Sitanos, but fortunately a few other people had already decided to confront him. That was fine with Valerius. His combat skills were seriously lacking. He would let others do the killing and concentrate on saving somebody. He grabbed his grandfather under the shoulders and tried to pull him away from the table. „Help me!“ he called out to whoever hadn’t fled the room yet. „We need to get my grandfather to safety! He needs a doctor! Trevinus, help me!“ He glared at his cousin who wasn’t doing anything useful so far.

[I'tram Bearguard]

I'tram just managed to catch a glimpse of his arrow going wide of it's mark (almost hitting someone else in the process) before the assassin made his move, out came a vial of green watery liquid which he poured over his dagger before throwing it straight at the man sitting at the head of the table. I'tram could only watch with a feeling of dread as the dagger embedded itself deep into the man's chest, along with the vile green liquid. With a wound like that survival didn't seem likely. A quick ugly thought entered his head, what if the blade he had been stabbed with had been poisoned as well? It seemed unlikely though, after all who would waste money poisoning a mere slave?

Returning his bow to it's holder, I'tram tried to hurry forward only to meet a stampeding mob of people, all terrified and fleeing. He tried to push forward but it was like trying to move a brick wall, one that hit back. All around him people were screaming and pushing past each other to escape, it was madness. He was half-way through the crowd when an elbow connected with his nose, breaking it in the process. Unbidden tears sprung to his eyes but he still pressed onwards. Eventually the crowd began to lessen and he could start to navigate once more.

Putting his injury out of his mind the slave hurried inside drawing his gladii in the process. The assassin already had his hands full by the looks of it, fighting off two men along with Clyde guarding the wounded man. The assassin had his back to I'tram and the other guards so hopefully that would convey some sort of advantage to him, he certainly needed one in his current state. I'tram would hurry towards the assassin while he was distracted and try to help if a possibility presented itself. He certainly didn't want to end up killing the assassin or end up being killed by one of his allies.