Port City of Ozirwell
Esmeralda von Krauss stands on the balcony at an inn in the city. She watches as the others in her group are in the middle of town square and set up camp for the night around a blazing bonfire. They are staying in Ozirwell for the night before moving on to the caverns. Donzig wants to live out some kind of pirate fantasy.
They have not seen any of the vampires or other monstrous life that has been said to have claimed the city, but that may change as the bonfire shrivels in the night.
She breathes in the sea air, tainted by the smoke from the burning wood. It’s been an eternity since she’s been in Ozirwell. She was sent by the Roman Republic to act as a diplomat/courtier. It was a cover to assess Carthage’s military resources and maybe assassinate a few key leaders.
Sensing motion, Esmeralda pulls an upholstery needle as she turns and throws it at the shadows. The needle is snatched out of the air by a man who steps out of the shadows with a smile. It’s not the night life that she had expected, but the host of the event to come.
Nebiryau.
He stands with dark hair and clothing that was regal and important over a century ago. He holds the needle in his hand before snapping it in twain with the barest of efforts.
Nebiryau: Caia Ultia the Merciless. How is it that you are as beautiful now as you were over two thousand years ago?
Esmeralda scoffs, but it’s pretty clear that the flattery found its mark.
Esmeralda von Krauss: How are you even alive? I thought you died when the Carthage fleet sank beneath the dark seas. My husband slew your monster and broke the back of your defenses.
In the blink of an eye, Nebiryau is across the room with his arm around the small of Esmeralda’s back to bring her in close with his face just inches from hers. She can smell the iron on his breath and see the fangs.
Nebiryau: I did what I had to in order to survive. I became a monster…
Esmeralda looks at Nebiryau’s chiseled looks and licks her lips slowly.
Esmeralda von Krauss: If this is what a monster you have become, it should be as a rite of passage for young men who seek to become as dashing as you.
Nebiryau’s expression does not change so it’s hard to tell if the flattery found its mark.
Nebiryau: My brothers will be returned to me after this event, you know. I will be transformed into my former self once again and I will have to make war upon you. My brothers will demand Roman blood.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Then, they can have it! I nor my husband are of Roman blood.
Nebiryau pulls away with a sneer.
Nebiryau: How is Vithmiris anyway?
Esmeralda von Krauss: If you did any research, you would know that Virthmiris is no longer his name as Caia is not mine, but he is fine. We have a would be adopted daughter causing trouble, but nothing that cannot be handled.
Nebiryau leans in closer again, his face tantalizingly close to hers, as if he were going to swoop in for a kiss.
Nebiryau: And does Armand ignite your passions as I once did?
Esmeralda’s breath quickens and you can tell that she is torn between being loyal to her husband and taking that kiss. Until finally, Nebiryau hisses.
Nebiryau: Is it just me or do you have a blade against my ribcage?
Esmeralda von Krauss: It’s a silver blade. Do you want to lean in for that kiss and find out how well silver works against you?
Nebiryau swallows hard. You can tell that he’s torn between wanting to back away from the blade and going for that kiss.
The moment hangs in the air until…
“Esmeralda?”
Esmeralda and Nebiryau to see where Donzig is at the door frame.
Donzig: Am I interrupting something?
Nebiryau backs away from Esmeralda and Donzig can see his side where he is bleeding where he had made his choice. He smiles and extends a hand.
Nebiryau: You must be Donzig! I am the host of this year’s Call to Arms. I am Nebiryau.
Donzig’s gaze glides off of Nebiryau almost as if he was not there and goes to Esmeralda.
Donzig: We think, well Blaze thinks, that she’s seen an asanbosam in the distance. It was hanging upside down from a tree. You want to check it out?
Esmeralda looks to Nebiryau and her eyes narrow.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Are the asanbosam your children?
Donzig: Children?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Once upon a time, Nebiryau was the Master of Monsters…before he became one. Isn’t that true, dahling?
Nebiryau sighs.
Nebiryau: My children will not bother you on this night, but I cannot control them for long as that power has left me when I became a monster. Wherever you are on this island, my creatures do not harm me, but when others come so willingly into their domain. I can hardly blame them for wanting fresh meat.
Donzig: Then, you won’t mind if a few of them die so that we live?
Nebiryau shrugs.
Nebiryau: It is the circle of life…or unlife as it were. Do as you must. Now, if you excuse me, I must away.
In the blink of an eye, he is gone. Esmeralda takes out a cream colored foot long cigarette holder and lights herself an Egyptian cigarette.
Esmeralda von Krauss: We should get back to the others if they have seen one of those freak vampires.
Donzig: I may have made that up to see if he would leave us.
Esmeralda raises an eyebrow, but she smiles.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Oh, you little devil you! Let’s go anyway as I am famished.
Donzig: We have supplies. Most of which can be cooked over a roaring fire.
Esmeralda nods and begins to lead the way back down to the others. She looks over her shoulder to Donzig.
Esmeralda von Krauss: And, dahling. You have my thanks.
Donzig: Of course. You are welcome.
The party sits around the bonfire. They roast a variety of different foods on a stick over the fire while enjoying some adult refreshments. The exception is Donzig as he stands away from the fire and looks into the distance. Blaze Freya laughs as she eats some roasted chicken on a stick.
Blaze Freya: Hey, Donzig. You know that you can’t be allergic to having a good time? Come on back here and join us.
Sinclair Godfrey shakes her head.
Sinclair Godfrey: I think he is allergic to a good time.
Esmeralda walks over to stand next to Donzig, peering into the distance to try to see what Donzig is looking at as she smokes at her Egyptian cigarette in a cream colored foot long holder.
Esmeralda von Krauss: What do you see, dahling?
Donzig: Something humanoid is jumping from building to building. More monsters?
Esmeralda von Krauss: Before Carthage was defeated in the First Punic War, Nebiryau was a man who could communicate, control, and even create monsters. He was unaffected by the curse that took his brothers, but unlike them…he was a mortal man. It seems that he sacrificed his powers to become a monster to try to break the curse. Monsters on this island are what’s left of his force from then.
Donzig: Sometimes, I wonder if you are real or if all of this is in my head.
Esmeralda takes a drag and blows the smoke into the air with a laugh.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Oh, dahling. Of course this is all taking place in your head, but does it make it any less real?
Blaze Freya: Make out! Make out!
Esmeralda turns around and glares scathingly at Freya.
Esmeralda von Krauss: If you are not silent, I will find another hook to hoist you up upon as a virgin sacrifice to whatever evils still remain in this place!
Freya blinks, but sits back down in relative silence.
Relative being that she sits there and grumbles around another mouthful of chicken.
Blaze Freya: Jokes on you, bitch. I’m not even a virgin…
Death Trap joins Esmeralda and Donzig.
Death Trap: Is there trouble coming?
Donzig: Something strong enough to leap from rooftop to rooftop.
Just then, something bellows in rage, its roar echoing through the narrow streets.
Rat Bastard jumps, but he hides it well by acting as if he were jumping to get another Bastard Brew.
Rat Bastard: Are we gonna be throwing down with something, something?
Donzig: Probably. Esmeralda…
Esmeralda looks to Donzig, who tosses a ruby at her that she catches.
Donzig: The cursed gem of the Spanish Princess’ lost fleet. I got it from some guy at the caverns.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Indeed. This could prove useful.
With a tremendous leap from a nearby building, a humanoid lands ten feet from the party. It is around twelve feet tall with a club in its hand. It seems to be an extraordinarily short giant or an ogre.
Death Trap: Would it be useful against that?
Sinclair Godfrey: It smelled the food!
The ogre charges through Death Trap and Esmeralda von Krauss, shouldering them to the side as he makes his way toward Blaze Freya, who has a fresh cooked skewer of chicken in her hand. She looks at the monster with wide open eyes.
Rat Bastard: Do something you loony cow! Are you a wrestler or not?
Blaze Freya jumps to her feet and runs AT the ogre, who stops lumbering in his tracks in confusion. Freya leaps up as high as she can, hitting a drop kick to the midsection. She comes to a crouch against the ogre’s chest and shoves the skewer down his throat before backflipping away.
Blaze Freya: Beat that!
The ogre stands by the fire, choking on the skewer of chicken. By the time he pulls it out of his throat, an empty bottle of beer shatters against the side of his head. The ogre looks at Rat Bastard, who had thrown the bottle with anger.
Rat Bastard: Oh, you didn’t like that. You know she did worse.
Rat casually points at Blaze Freya.
Blaze Freya: Hey!
The ogre starts walking toward Blaze Freya, who backs away slowly. Death Trap spears the ogre from behind, but the move doesn’t bring the monster down. The ogre flattens Death Trap with an elbow to the top of the head.
Donzig: If you have any ideas, Esmeralda. Now would be the time. Donzig-gun! To me!
Moloch and Mormo come running at the ogre to mash it between them. They struggle to hold the arms of the beast at bay to keep it steady. Esmeralda draws up her gown, grasping at an upholstery needle and throwing it.
The needle bounces off of the chest of the ogre and to the ground.
Donzig: My turn.
Donzig rushes at the ogre while it is still being held. He sends a thunderous kick to the inside of the left knee to bring the ogre down to his knees. He tries to lock on the Sicilian Clw, but the ogre’s head is just too massive. The ogre shakes Moloch and Mormo off of him and plunges the chicken skewer into Donzig’s side where his stomach would be. Donzig drops to his knees and Esmeralda takes a running leap, springboarding off of Donzig’s shoulders, and brings the cursed ruby down against the ogre’s forehead.
An explosion knocks everyone down and sends Esmeralda flying through the air until she bounces off of the side of a building and lands on the ground. The orge is incinerated down to the waist. Its arms and bottom half flopping to the ground.
Death Trap is up first, walking over to check on Esmeralda, who still has the ruby in hand. She coughs up dark blood in a splatter across the ground.
Esmeralda von Krauss: To answer your earlier question? Yes, it will help.
Death Trap: Are you alright?
Esmeralda sits up and winces, feeling broken ribs shift back into place as they slowly heal. She smiles to put on a brave face.
Esmeralda von Krauss: I’m fine, dahling. Check on Donzig.
Death Trap walks over to Donzig, who is pulling the skewer out of his side. None of the chicken went into the wound thankfully, though the delicious bites are covered in Donzig’s blood. Donzig merely grunts when he sees Death Trap coming to check on him.
Donzig: I would prefer to chew my food rather than a direct injection.
Esmeralda rejoins the group, lighting a fresh Egyptian cigarette.
Esmeralda von Krauss: Good teamwork to take down a threat, everyone. We should do well at the tournament.
Blaze Freya: Damn straight!
Esmeralda sighs as she takes a drag from her cigarette.
Esmeralda von Krauss: I hope you get eliminated first…
