A Ranger Taken Captive

[Cordelia(#1394)] The trip into town is slowly and carefully done, Cordelia insisting on going over every detail along the way, including checking the scene of the crime again to make sure that no obvious clues are about. She walks along each of the bushes that they have passed, picking off bits of fuzz from the ranger\'s cloak...but not getting all, given that she is not a woodsman. She tries, though. Footprints are carefully brushed away. The wheel tracks from the wagon can\'t be helped, but then wagons normally pass along the road where the cart has stopped.

It\'s fortunate, perhaps, that no wagon and no Breelander or outsider passes by while they are getting the Dunadan settled into the wagon--a process that takes some time. The man is then covered, and Cordelia and Keldean both hide under a tarp. The wagon slowly makes its way into town, passing through the north gates without any trouble. The wagon pulls up near a warehouse where Cordelia makes them carry the Ranger in and tie him up.

Keldean doesn\'t get an answer to his question about Cordelia\'s language skills, but she seems busy enough that he doesn\'t press it. Instead he helps as best he can, and makes sure he\'s well hidden under the tarp. If anyone sees him in town now, it will completely ruin the story he intends to give Muir later. Once they\'re safely inside and in the warehouse, the teen leans against the wall near the door, watching quietly and staying out of the way.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

The unconscious man gives them no trouble at all. Once in a while, Rhifaroth seems to come to just a little bit and mutters, turning his head and his eye lids twitch open briefly. But he\'s not aware of what is going on around him or what is being done.

Taken into the warehouse, the two men pretty much dump the man on the floor, uncaring. One of them brings out a rope and drags the ranger\'s hands around behind him and starts to bind Rhifaroth\'s wrists. He stops and looks up at Cordelia, \"He\'s got leather wrist guards on. Ye want\'m off? Bind him better if rope tae flesh, lassie.\"

The other man stands back and scowls, \"This is the bastard who killed Jordy.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"K...\" Cordelia checks herself just in time, remembering not to use the teen\'s name, as she herself had warned him. It\'s dark down here, but as the ranger comes to, the last thing they need is for the man to recognize their voices or names. So she clears her throat and speaks lower--he\'s not awake yet. \"Where is that vial I gave you? We\'ll be needing it soon.\"

She turns at the question one of the workers asks her, nodding her assent. \"Take the bracers off. Search him for weapons again. He\'s crafty--no telling what he\'s got hidden.\"

Then a pause. \"Who was Jordy? Your mistress didn\'t go into it.\"

Keldean digs into his pocket and pulls out something small and wrapped in cloth. He hands it over to her and then sinks back against the wall again, keeping himself in the shadows. When Seeker stirs the teen looks nervous, fearful of being seen here. The man drifts off again and Kel goes back to watching the two thugs work, his expression guarded again.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

The man unbuckling Rhifaroth\'s archer\'s bracers looks up suddenly, \"Shaddup, you!\" He growls at his companion. A wary glare for the young woman, \"Aint none o\' your business, lassie.\" The leather wrist guards are removed and thrown at Keldean. Then Aleswyn\'s man binds Rhifaroth\'s wrists tightly with the rope. Tight enough to restrict bloodflow a little bit and make the Dunadan\'s hands and wrists hurt later, but not so tight as to cut it entirely off.

The thug grunts, standing up, \"He\'s already gots binding scars.\" The man looks from Cordelia to Keldean and laughs, \"Somebody didn\'a like him much before us!\"

The other of Aleswyn\'s men, the quieter one who mentioned \'Jordy\' steps close. He looks at Rhifaroth and then suddenly, swings his leg back and kicks the Dunadan as hard as he can in the ribs, \"Bastard!\"

Keldean lets his gaze travel down to the floor where the bracers landed, studying them for a moment, then he lifts his eyes again to continue watching. The teen seems mostly impassive, but when the thug suddenly kicks Seeker in the ribs Keldean flinches, worried fear flickering across his face.

\"Stop. You\'ll wake him.\" The boy hisses, licking his lips nervously. That guilt starts gnawing at him again. This is all so much more than Cordelia painted a picture of when she told him about the abduction.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

The kick lands soundly with a sickening sound. Seeker\'s studded leather armour has already been removed so there is no protection for his ribs. But the drug is strong and the man no more than grunts where he lays as breath is forced from his lungs. There is no other movement, but breathing resumes, a little less smoothly than before.

The coarser of the two of Aleswyn\'s men curses and grabs his friend. \"Don\'t ye deprive \'em o\' their fun, lad.\" He hauls on the smaller man to drag him out. After a moment, the two go back up the stairs but not without a few glances back. The quieter one mutters as they leave, \"I\'ll be back. Jordy was me brother.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] As the smaller man kicks Rhifaroth in the ribs, Cordelia enters the warehouse, pitcher of water that she has drawn from the well in one hand, mug in the other.

She pauses inside the door, clearly not happy with the men --her voice is harsh as she speaks. \"Leave him be! I need him unharmed for my purposes!\" she hisses at them, coming the rest of the way into the warehouset.

Keldean finally moves away from the wall to move up alongside Cordelia. He speaks softly. \"So now what? He\'s going to recognize your voice if you question him.\" She never explained what would happen after they grabbed the ranger.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

The two men are now gone. Everything is quiet in their wake.But before they had left, one of them had brought in the rest of Seeker\'s things. The long bow is set to lean against the wall by the door, the quiver dumped on the floor without care next to the studded leather jerkin. The long sword and elvish knife were set on the one table in the room.

Rhifaroth himself does not stir, though it has been more than two hours now since the man had innitially been drugged. The lays still, dressed in his loose, stained off-white cotten shirt, pants, and boots, but nothing more. The man\'s thread bare cloak is tossed over the back of one of the chairs.

[<#1394>] So innocent. Cordelia gives Keldean a dark -look-. What does he -think- is going to happen after they\'re done questioning the man? She doesn\'t stop to let the teen in on that, though--he\'ll figure it out soon enough. As soon as Ankh or Asht or Aleswyn return, in fact.

Crossing the room, she pours a little water into the mug, setting the pitcher on the floor and moving to the ranger. \"Rhifaroth,\" she coos gently, pressing the cup to the man\'s lips and wetting them with a little water. Her voice -is- somewhat different than normal, and with luck--with the man drugged--it will work. And she speaks the elven tongue--and well. \"(Sindarin) Rhifaroth, drink this. You need to wake up some. Come, drink cool water.\"

[Keldean(#23332)] There\'s a flash of irritation as Cordelia blows him off again. Keldean is starting to grow frustrated. He fumes for a moment as she moves over to Seeker, his hands clenched into fists, but now isn\'t the time to pick a fight. Instead the teen moves over to where Rhif\'s belongings were dumped. He picks up the long sword, surprised by the weight of it, and slowly pulls it free of the sheath.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Laying on his right side and slightly on his stomach, his hands bound snuggly behind his back, the Dunadan does not at first make any movement. Part of his face is pressed against the floor ... the scar seamed side.

But, Cordelia\'s hands pressing at him, the water spilling just a little over his dry lips, there is a faint stirring. A booted foot, unbound, moves a little upon the floor.

The sound of a long length of steel being drawn from a steal lipped scabbard is the only sound in the room besides Cordelia\'s voice. Rhifaroth makes no reply, but his breathing has shifted a little. Just barely, his eye lids might be cracked open but it\'s hard to tell with his face against the floor.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

When Keldean draws the sword, what he sees is a long blade that measures over three feet in length, plus the hilt and pomel. The steel is very high in quality, though it now carries a few nicks from decades of hard use. Honed and oiled regularly, the sword has been well maintained through those years as there is no pitting or rust.

The blade\'s cross guard is plain steel, unadorned except for a wave pattern like the sea. The hilt is wrapped with black leather and bound with a thin, double twisted wire of fine gold that is wrapped over the black grip in a spiral from guard to pomel. The pomel itself is also steel, but hard pine resin has been dribbled over the pomel to either adjust the balance, or to obscure the design. Likewise a bit of the glassy hard resin has been dribbled, with soot mixed into it, to obscure some design etched into the blade on either side, up by the hilt. It can\'t be easily removed, but perhaps it could be burned off, if desired.

The scabbard itself is plain, black leather bound, and accented with steel lip and tip.

[Cordelia(#1394)] Again Cordelia presses the mug to the man\'s lips, trying to get him a little sip of water. She puts one hand under his head, gently lifting it just a touch to help him drink. \"(Sindarin) Some water,\" she repeats in Sindarin.

Her face is still deep within her hood, her voice, when she speaks, higher and with a different cadence than normal. The girl is well trained.

The sound of steel being drawn gains Cordelia\'s attention, and she pauses in her work, looking over her shoulder to Keldean. \"I\'m sorry...\" She stops short of his name just barely again. \"I\'m scared. If I do this wrong, we will all die. Horribly. That sword...\" She frowns. \"We need to bring his weapons out of here. Hide them in the house or bury them in the woods somewhere. Though that sword... my uncle should get a look at that.\"

Keldean looks over, eying Cordelia for a moment. The apology doesn\'t work as easily as they usually do, especially when she dumps more tasks upon him. His brows narrow, but looks back to the sword, carefully sliding it back into the sheath. He tucks it under his arm and collects up the other weapons, then disappears out the door.

Once Keldean is outside, he pauses. He leans down and carefully shoves the elven knife into his boot, then pulls his baggy pantleg down to cover it up.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Cordelia\'s small hand beneath his head can feel the man shift his head just a little. Rhifaroth\'s eyes open a bit more and he tries to focus, but his pupils are still swollen and dark, making his pale eyes look black. He is thirsty... it\'s been rather too warm, covered up in the back of the wagon with the sun beating down. Very muzzy, he tries to sip a little of the water, \"Muir?\" he says, barely audiable. He is confused, tired... still so very heavy, sleepy.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Good,\" Cordelia whispers, feeding the man tiny sips of water at a time. She leans over to look at his eyes, seeming satisfied. Keldean...she turns to say something at the teen, but he\'s disappeared up the stairs. Bringing him along is starting to feel more and more like a mistake. As is the whole endeavor, but what choice did she have?

Shaking that off, she turns back to the ranger. \"Muir is sleeping with the children,\" she answers softly, then switches to Sindarin. \"(Sindarin) What is it that you need to do? How will you help the elves?\"

Keldean continues on into the house then, taking some time to explore the place before he stuffs all the weapons into a closet. As tempting as the sword is, he\'s not so foolish as to take that. The knife though.. that\'s easy enough to hide.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Still laying on the hard floor, the scarred and tattooed man tries to focus on the strange woman who is bent over him, \"(Sindarin) What? ... Help what elves?\"

Rhifaroth\'s words are still slurred, a little difficult to follow. His Sindarin is oddly structured and stressed, with pronounciation that is not like how the elves themselves speak. \"Iston le?\" he asks, wanting to know who this person is that gives him water.

A few breaths more, eyes closing and not otherwise stirring. He slips back into his faintly accented Westron, \"Am ... I ... hurt?\"

Cordelia sighs, settling herself on the floor next to the Dunadan. This is going to take a lot of patience. She gives the man only one more small sip of water, teasing, almost, then sets the mug aside. Not too much. She feels in her skirt pocket for the vial of medicine, checking and double checking to make sure it\'s there.

\"You are..healing...\" she answers, tentatively, drawing back so as to stop him from getting a clear look at her. It is dark here, too, thankfully. \"Where are you from?\" She stays with Westron for the moment, her own accent not revealed, as she is speaking carefully. And then in Sindarin--a poor imitation of the elves, but an imitation nonetheless.

\"(Sindarin) No, you don\'t know me. I\'m here to help you get better.\" She glances back at the stairs. Where is that boy?

Keldean is returning, but he\'s moving very quietly now, attempting to sneak in without making any noise. Just inside the door he sits, back against the wall and cloaked in the shadows of the warehouse. His brown eyes are very dark in the dim light as he watches her speak such fluent Sindarin to the man. All those doubts are returning.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Licking his lips, not so dry now, the Dunadan tries to open his eyes and refocus on the woman again. He doesn\'t seem to know her, \"(Sindarin) Hurt? What ... happened?\"

Talking is difficult. Sluggish... his mind doesn\'t wish to form words yet. Still a bit too much of the drug in his blood to think. Breathing, laying still, sleeping. That is what he wants to do.

Maybe this woman will leave him alone. \"Archet... lately.\" he says, softly in Westron. Rhifaroth\'s eyes have closed again. He\'s not awake enough to stay fully conscious.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"No, not now. Before now. Who is your master? Who do you serve?\" Frustration creeps into Cordelia\'s voice, doubt gnaws at her mind. Either she is in this or she\'s not, but so far her heart has not been in it. And Keldean. Another glance over her shoulder--the boy is /still/ not back, or at least she sees nothing.

\"Rhifaroth.\" She wets a finger in the water and puts water on his lips again. \"Who do you serve? \" Very gently she shakes him awake, or tries to, still trying to do this her way.

Keldean sits quietly, not certain if she can see him or not, but there\'s little else for him to do. He doesn\'t want to go out again until it\'s near twilight. If people see him in town before he talks to Muir it would be a disaster.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Whoever that woman is, she\'s damed annoying. She won\'t let him -sleep-. Like a pesty biting insect, pestering, buzzing, nipping. The man laying on the floor tries to move a hand to push her away, but something seems to be wrong with his arm.

Rhifaroth tries to turn his head away, but something she says seeps into his mind and he tries to look at her again, still unfocused, \"Serve? serve... no. Nobody ... anymore.\" The man sounds tired, but his words are starting to be a little more clear. He frowns, something nagging at him, \"Why ... where is ... Muirgheal? Where am... I?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"(Sindarin) Anymore? Who did you serve before? What Crown do you Seek? For what do you hunt? You -must- tell me.\" Cordelia -is- insistent, pressing her point, asking the same questions in different ways. It\'s dangerous--the man is becoming more coherent, but if she doesn\'t let him wake up a little, they\'ll never get anywhere. So she keeps up her questioning, sticking to Sindarin now, her voice light and musical, in the style of the elves. \"(Sindarin) It\'s important, Rhifaroth. Tell me. Who did you serve? The elves need to know. It\'s important. We need your help. Who holds your oath now?\"

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

He is aware a little more, but the normally pale grey eyes are still very dark. Thoughts are sluggish, slow to form but he\'s trying to focus, trying to clear it and think. Some of the questions don\'t make any sense. He must be hurt bad.

Swallowing, Rhifaroth seems to focus on the woman vaguely... knows where her face is now and is tracking a little, but still the light in the room is pretty dim, \" My ... Lord Steward.\"

Confusion knits the man\'s brow, \"(Sindarin) Hunt?  Do you mean my name?\" he asks, switching back to Westron, \"No Oath now... retired ... released.\" A slow breath, \"Far away.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] Steward. Now that\'s something to go on at least. Cordelia nods, her hood moving with her--and then she reaches up a small hand to make sure that hood is well pulled forward.

With a small frown, Cordelia turns back to the stairs. \"How much did you give him?\" she hisses into the darkness where Keldean should be. \"I can\'t figure when to give him some more...\" But she doesn\'t want the ranger to lose this train of thought, either, so she turns back without waiting for Keldean\'s answer. \"Steward,\" she says in the common language. \"Lord Steward of where?\" Focusing on that first.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Ah, a simple question, no confusion. Something he has not kept secret, at least... not at first. And not from the elves or others he has come to trust a little. The man laying on the floor doesn\'t open his eyes again, but though his baritone voice is softly spoken, not loud, the place he names is clear enough, \"Gondor...\" A leg shifts, booted foot slides across the floor a little and Rhifaroth moves his shoulder, turning a little more onto his back and less so on his side.

He opens his eyes, trying to see what the ceiling looks like. It is dim... rather ... dark in here. Smells ... stuffy? Dusty? Something doesn\'t seem right, \"Where am I?\"

[Keldean(#23332)] \"Not so much.. A few drops in the drink.\" The teen answers in a whisper from the shadows, not daring to come any closer with Seeker teetering on the edge of full awareness. He can feel the knife stuffed in his boot. It\'s mildly uncomfortable, but he figures he can get used to it.

[Cordelia(#1394)] Gondor--it\'s all Cordelia can do to keep from spitting at the sound of that land. So Tamara\'s suspicions about the saddle had been right after all. She sits quietly, ignoring Rhifaroth\'s question for now, thinking. \"Gondor. Why did you leave? Where did you go?\" she presses.

Turning in the dark, she whispers quickly to Keldean. \"Wish I knew how much more to give him. Too much and he can\'t talk.\"

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Whoever it is isn\'t speaking Sindarin anymore, and he keeps hearing whispering as though there is someone else here. The room isn\'t lovely. No arches, no beautiful windows, and not home either. This isn\'t a leaky roof with a stone stacked hearth. A strange place he doesn\'t know. Black brows knit as he slowly absorbs details.

That insistant voice again. Nagging... prying. Something in the man\'s belly knots up, \"You are ... not .. an elf.\" The statement is flat. Eyes a little less dark with dialation, but still not back to normal, try to peer at Cordelia. But the room is dim. The Dunadan\'s pale eyes might stay dark in the dim light, \"Who are you?\" Rhifaroth\'s words are still not entirely clear, but they come a little easier as time passes.

[Cordelia(#1394)] That\'s enough of a signal for the girl. She takes the vial out of her pocket and puts a single drop of the drug into the small amount of water in the mug. \"(Sindarin) Drink,\" she insists, switching back to the elven tongue. \"(Sindarin) Your mind plays tricks on you still.\" Leaning forward, she offers a little of the water, pressing the mug to the man\'s lips.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

No, not so easy this time. The man turns his head away and refuses the cup, \"No.\" Deeply ingrained mistrust of strangers digs its claws into him. Something, dimly, is not right here. There isn\'t pain.. not much. Just a little dully in his side. He can move his legs, but not his arms? Is he bound? Still can\'t think clearly, head so ... muzzy.

Rhifaroth\'s legs move, turning him over, his back to the woman. He wants to get up, but ... everything is still sluggish. He feels suddenly naucious.

[Cordelia(#1394)] The girl\'s hands grab at the ranger now, not so kind as before, trying to turn him back to her and force the water on him--the mug pressed to his lips. She doesn\'t speak, but focuses her attention on energy on trying to force the water on him. And she hisses in the dark again, jerking her head to Keldean.

Keldean doesn\'t answer her first question about when to dose the man again. He has no idea how the drug works. He only did as she instructed with the first dosage. Short of Rhif attacking her, not much will get the teen any furthe into the room. He leans forward to watch her more closely, growing nervous as she seems to have trouble with the man. The teen slowly stands and eases away from the wall. When he realizes what she\'s doing he sneaks over quickly, reaching to try and hold Seeker down by the shoulders.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

He may be drugged, disoriented, but the man is strong. A woman\'s small hands like Cordelia\'s are not enough to turn him over if he doesn\'t wish to be closer to her. The ropes binding his hands creak alarmingly as Rhifaroth tenses and strains against whatever is holding him. Be it hands, or ropes, or ... another set of hands though begin to press his shoulders back. Back against the floor. His head spins, his breathing rough. It can\'t be seen if he gets any of the liquid into his mouth or if it\'s just spilled to dribble down his chin. It\'s not well lit in here.

Jaw tight, his head turned away as far as he can, the tattooed man still refuses. But Keldean\'s added strength and weight has pinned his shoulders to the floor. Anger begins though, seems to be clearing his head. A knee comes up suddenly, aimed for Keldean!

You attack Keldean with your Bare Hands...

[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]

Your attack against Keldean mildly wounds him!

Keldean suddenly falls back away from the ranger as Seeker\'s knee digs into his side. He hits the hard floor of the cellar with a groan, stunned by the unexpected attack from the man. The teen slowly pushes up to his hands and knees, an injured expression on his face as he looks at the man. Then Kel jumps at Rhif again to try and pin him down, using all of his body weight.

[Cordelia(#1394)] Something in Cordelia snaps as Rhifaroth kicks at Keldean, and she takes the mug in her hand and tries to smash it into Rhifaroth\'s face, the blow aimed at the man\'s nose.

Cordelia attacks you with her Bare Hands!...

...and she misses!

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

For just a moment, his knee has knocked whoever it was on top of him, off! Rhifaroth tries to lunge forward to sit up, but the woman\'s body leans on him, trying to keep him pinned down. The man\'s legs thrash, trying to get some purchase. His head still isn\'t clear enough to know what is going on but he sure isn\'t in a bed, he\'s on a floor, isn\'t he? He doesn\'t seem hurt.

Hands grab him and push him back down and then BANG! Something hits him in the face, glancing off the side of his cheek and jaw. Was it a fist or a foot?

This man never was a brawler, but he\'s been in a few scraps. But, there are two of them and he\'s still drugged. Even his legs seem so heavy, even as his mind is clearing, growing sharper. Another heave to try and turn, but his shoulders are pinned. \"Let me go!\" Rhifaroth shouts!

[Keldean(#23332)] Rhifaroth is bigger than him, and Cordelia. If this goes on too much longer they\'re both going to be recognized. Keldean fights back with the only experience he has to draw on.. when Aaron fought him. He pushes up and then aims to slug the ranger where it counts.

Keldean attacks you with his Bare Hands!...

...and he misses!

[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]

You forego your chance to attack.

[Combat(#13388)] Cordelia draws a dagger from her belt.

[Cordelia(#1394)] Enough is enough. Pulling the knife out of her belt, Cordelia angrily strikes out toward the man\'s head, using all her strength to try to hit him with the knife\'s pomel. She hadn\'t wanted to have this whole scheme deteriorate to this, but the experience with Thari should have taught her otherwise. And now she is angry and frustrated. And frightened that it\'s all going wrong far too quickly.

Cordelia attacks you with her Dagger!...

...and she misses!

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

It is amazing how much a drugged, tied up man can move even with his shoulders pinned down. Cordelia\'s first strike misses Rhifaroth entirely and almost hits Keldean in the confusion. Angry eyes focus for an instant on Keldean\'s face, teeth bared as the Dunadan strains to try and break free of the weight that pins his shoulders.

Cordelia\'s second attempt scrapes his ear, but the third try just as Seeker turns his head to try and bite Keldean\'s hand presents a more stable target. Teeth find Keldean\'s flesh even as Cordelia\'s dagger pomel strikes the curved back of his dark head.

There is a sudden easing in movement. His breath ragged and fast, heart rate well up, Rhifaroth is for a moment stunned by the blow. He blinks, but is not unconscious yet - more dazed.

Keldean shrieks in pain when the ranger bites down on his hand. He has no experience in his kind of thing and the ferocity of Seeker is unnerving. The boy reacts reflexively, kicking at the captives in an attempt to get away from him.

Keldean attacks you with his Bare Hands!...

...and he misses!

[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]

You forego your chance to attack.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"DAMMIT!! DAMMIT ALL!\" Cordelia screams in sudden fury--it\'s not a tone that Keldean or Rhifaroth would recognize as coming from her before. \"Get rope! Get rope and tie his legs and help me tie him better!\" she roars to Keldean. She fumbles in her pocket trying to pull out the vial of drug. Her hand shaking, she tries to dribble some of it onto the man\'s mouth.

Keldean actually looks at Cordelia in alarm when she yells the command at him. Then the teen jumps to grab up some of the extra rope and pulls it back to Rhif\'s thrashing frame. He struggles to try and loop the binding around the kicking legs, panic beginning to build from Cordelia\'s growing anger and frustration.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

Ugh! Valar, what\'s that? He was dazed, trying to suck in breath through his mouth, trying to get past the dizzy explosion that went off in his head... then something very foul tasting, bitter, is in his mouth. Rhifaroth sucks on it and then tries to focus on whoever is closest. He spits it right back into whatever face he sees nearest! But Mumakil dung, it\'s a foul, familiar taste. The man can\'t help but gag, and swallow reflexively. Nasty. Who are these people?!?

Something heavy lands on his legs. The archer is still dazed from being hit on the head, and distracted by the rude entry into his mouth of something poisonous tasting. So for that instant, Keldean isn\'t kicked. But now the Dunadan struggles again, trying to knock Keldean\'s head clear off with a booted foot if he can. Alas, he can\'t see clearly. The room is spinning...

You attack Keldean with your Bare Hands...

[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]

Your attack against Keldean mildly wounds him!

Keldean almost.. almost has the rope around the man\'s legs. Just as he manipulates it into place and draws back with the intent to pull the binding tight, Seeker\'s boot kicks him right in the head and the boy is dropped to the floor again.

White spots explode through Keldean\'s vision and he lays dazed for a moment, utterly confused as his brain sorts itself out again. He pushes against the dirt with one hand, but that\'s when the pain catches up, and he aborts the movement as a wave of dizziness rolls through him.

[Cordelia(#1394)] A shriek from the girl, the spittle landing in her face. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Keldean dropped to the floor, and Cordelia rages in return. That pommel is swung wildly at the man\'s head again--skull, cheek, nose--she\'ll take whatever she can hit. \"Scum! Scum! Filth!\"

Cordelia furiously attacks you with her Dagger!...

...and she hits! Ouch!

ARB: You\'ve been injured for 8 hp\'s by Cordelia\'s attack...

...you have 92 left. Please RP this injury accordingly.

[Rhifaroth(#27282)]

His strength couldn\'t have lasted... some of the raw drug got into his mouth and at least a tiny bit of swallowed... enough getting back into Rhifaroth\'s blood stream to slowly begin to muffle him, his focus, weighting his limbs... or is that Keldean on his legs?

Breath, trying to get his breath from all this fighting against whatever binds his hands behind him, painful.. people pressing on him. Where is he? Who are these people? What do they want??

Something hits him in the side of the head - HARD. Lightning flickers before his eyes. Dimly he wonders, is there a storm?

Cordelia\'s wild strike hits home this time. Her dagger pomel smacks hard and firmly against bone and instantltly, the Varadja marked Dunadan ceases his struggle. Just like that, he is still and limp. His breath remains ragged, but at once begins to slow down... A trickle of blood seeps from just above his left ear from his hairline.

[Combat(#13388)->Rhifaroth]

You forego your chance to attack.

[Cordelia(#1394)] As soon as she is satisfied that the ranger is out cold, Cordelia crawls over to Keldean to check on the teen, cradling him in her arms if he lets her. Like a sudden switch that is thrown, all her anger disappears, and she softly kisses the teenager.

Then--business once more--she pulls off the man\'s boots, then tends to tying Rhifaroth\'s legs, the knots cruelly tight. She\'s not about to let him get loose like that again.

Keldean will slowly recover after Seeker finally is unconscious, Cordelia\'s gentle touch helping to bring him around considerably. He\'s dizzy for a few minutes, but eventually the kick settles into a dull headache. After a while Keldean will mutter that he better get to Archet and find Muir, not about to disappoint Cordelia and give up on the plan. Unless she stops him, he\'ll slink off to take care of that business.