Aramek’s sense of what’s right requires him, at least, to try to help Dion and Cole, even though he doesn’t particularly like them. He prepares to let loose another magic missile at one of the Olman attacking Cole, in hopes of evening the odds.

Suddenly Rain appears, sprinting up behind the Olman that is on Dion, dropping the stupid padded spear and drawing sword and dagger in the process. She thinks to herself, Crap, I hope they weren’t robbing Parwyn. This may get messy. She throws her dagger from 9 feet away but the Olman shifts to the right and the dagger flies past him. 

Rain yells, “Aramek, help Dion and Cole!”

Aramek completes his spell and another arcane bolt shoots forth from his hands and fortunately hits one of the Olman fighting with enough force to take him out of the fight, leaving Cole facing a single rioter. Cole batters this last opponent into a broken heap, though suffering a few bruises himself in the process from the Olman’s club. Cole kicks him a few times for good measure once he’s down. 

Dion, his foe distracted by the daggers and magic missiles hurtling past him, takes advantage and slashes open the Olman’s jaw with his dagger. Then Cyrus leaps up to bite and scratch at the man’s face. The Olman knocks Cyrus away with his club, but it’s too late for him as he feels Rain’s shortsword enter his kidneys.

Dion finally has a moment to get a good look at his savior. His eyes go wide as he takes in the fully armed and armored Rain in the red tabard of the Guard. “Rain! Oh gods! You saved my life, but… but… You’re with them!” he steps back eyes darting all around and dagger out before him as if he fears the other members of the Guard are going to pounce on him at any moment.

Cole steps towards them and now recognizes her as well. “Rain? Is it really you? What’s going on?”

Rain addresses Aramek, “The Olman are rioting, hurry and get your things… we have to catch up with the squad.” She then turns to Cole and lightly smiles, “Cole, hi.” Next, she turns to Dion with a stern face. “Dion, cool it. It is still me and now is not the time. We will meet later and talk.”

Rain then asks Aramek, Dion, and Cole, “What happened here?” as she retrieves her thrown dagger.

Aramek watches the exchange between Dion, Cole, and Rain with growing confusion. He runs up to Rain and says, with a hint of confused anger in his voice, “Yes. What’s going on? You know these thugs? They were just threatening my master?! And what’s this rioting about and why are you all here at the shop? And …” Aramek stops, confusion finally taking over again. He waits for an explanation from Rain.

Dion is indignant, “We did not threaten anyone. We just came to collect Fergus’ fee for installing your new lock yesterday.” He turns to Aramek, “In fact, you were just serving us tea, when these bozos started throwing torches in your shop and we were helping you defend your shop. How could you lie about us like that?” Cole nods his head vigorously in agreement.

Rain turns to the confused sorcerer, “Aramek, Dion and Cole are my brothers. Thugs… yah maybe, but they are only acting on Fergus’ request I am sure. Let’s leave it at that and I will explain more later.” 

She then turns to Dion and Cole, “Dion, Cole, don’t pull this shit with me. Know this – Aramek is our friend. Period. Tell Fergus he now deals with me regarding any feel collection from Parwyn. I have other business to discuss with him anyways. I’ll come find him at the usual place when all this crap blows over. Got it?” Rain, angry at this situation, is showing it. She repeats to both of them, “Got it?”

At just that moment, one of the burning alchemy shops down the street behind Rain blows up spectacularly in a burst of flame and burning debris, sending a huge mushrooming cloud of smoke over the city. Aramek recognizes the shop as the one belonging to his master’s friendly rival, Argraine. Further up the street and closer to Parwyn’s shop, a group of six rioters are dragging a woman out of her house by her hair. Aramek sees that the woman is his kindly neighbor Imayna. Other rioters are still looting, attacking anyone in the streets, and torching buildings.

“Rain!” Aramek shouts. ”I can’t leave while Imayna is being attacked.”

At that point he yells, “Magia raketo!” and unleashes his last magic missile at the Olman dragging the screaming Imayna by her hair. This hits him square in the chest and he drops Imayna into the muddy street and the Olman all turn to Aramek.

Then immediately turning to Dion and Cole, while stooping to pick up a dropped club, Aramek says, “That was my last! Your sister is my friend and if you’re going to be my friends as well, you better start helping us now!”

Cole, already quite worked up and not particularly picky about whom he gets to pummel, charges the would-be-gang-rapists, scooping up a fallen club on the way. With a bestial roar he wields the club two-handed and cracks it across the head of the Olman just hit by the magic missile. He drops like a log, but the other five Olman have backed away from the fallen sobbing Imayna and go for the clubs tucked in their belts.

As Cyrus cavorts around him, occasionally stopping to pick up rocks or ordure to throw, Dion charges the Olman with a dagger.

Rain also runs towards them, hurling her dagger as she closes the distance, but this time she misses the throw. Fortunately, she has already shifted her shortsword into her right hand.

Aramek also runs towards the Olman yelling, ”frost-radio” at one of the two Olman near Cole. Unfortunately the bluish ray of energy misses his target.

As Fingol, Gar, Indranil, and Lorindel run towards Tanglefoot Lane they see the explosion and then the fight unfolding on the street next to Parwyn’s shop.

“Cole!  Dion!” shouts Lorindel, recognizing the two men battling the Olman as members of Fergus’ crew.

As Lorindel and the others close the distance, they see that Cole is unable to hit either of his opponents, but the two Olman manage to strike him again and again with their clubs with bone crushing force. Cole is soon down. Aramek finally manages to hit one of them. The Olman raises his left hand to cover his face and Aramek’s blue ray of arcane energy leaves his hand frosted over. The Olman shakes off the ice with a curse and turns towards the young sorcerer with a snarl as does the other Olman.

Rain, meanwhile, has ducked under her foe’s club swing and stabbed him in the right foot in return. He collapses in shock and a pool of blood forms around him. Rain leaps over him and engages one of the two who had been trying to hit Dion. This other Olman, however, is able to land a club blow to Rain’s right leg, and she lurches in obvious pain. Another blow like that one and Rain will be finished.

Dion seems very quick but also too small to be truly a threat with just his dagger against the club wielding Olman warrior. Fortunately, his black studded leather armor seems to be protecting him from the clubs blows, but it seems only a matter of time before the warrior gets a solid enough blow to take him out.

Rain withdraws, backing up 5′ saying, “Guys, withdraw. Let the Guard do their jobs.” As she does so she draws her other dagger with her left hand. Dion also begins backing away, in a defensive stance.

A bugle sounds from the direction of the keep signaling that mounted knights and paladins are riding out of the keep down the Processional to restore order to the streets.

Suddenly Lorindel is there, running up beside Aramek letting fly his arrow. It pierces the neck of one of the two Olman about to come after the sorcerer and he is down. Then Fingol is there also, throwing a javelin that hits the other Olman right in the forehead, and he too is down.

The last two Olman, the ones fighting Rain and Dion break and run, seeing that the odds are no longer in their favor and that four of their comrades are already dead or dying.

Gar and Indranil are soon at Aramek’s side as well.

“Run cowards!” yells Fingol as his excitement overcomes him, then he remembers the fallen Cole and Rain’s wounds and his face grows more concerned. He scans the area for any other threats, then dashes over to Cole and checks his condition.

Rain immediately goes to Cole as well. She finds that his right hand has been pulped and his right leg has a compound fracture. He is dying of shock and blood loss.

Seeing that the Olman are fleeing, Lorindel and Indranil also run up to Rain and her friends to check on the extent of their injuries.

Fingol kneels next to Cole and attempts to tie off his upper leg with strips of cloth to slow his blood loss. He then sets the broken bone as best he can. Looking around he calls out, “Father Gar, can you rub out a little potency from your little Green Man, and help this man? You’ve had it in hand quite a bit today! I hope it’s not spent.”

“Sure, I still have some life in me left.” Gar joins Rain, Cole, and the others. Fingering the Green Man around his neck, he loudly intones, “Om!” Healing energies radiate in all directions from the Flan priest, and Cole’s bleeding stops, though the wound looks no better and he is still pale and sweaty. Rain’s right leg begins to feel a little better, as does Indranil’s hand, though both are still painfully bruised. Even Cyrus, Dion’s monkey seems to be chattering happily, though he is still limping.

Rain is visibly relieved that Cole is not dead. After Gar invokes his healing aura she says to him in a soft voice, “Thank you for healing my brother.”

“Brother huh?” Lorindel asks. “Once we’ve cleared up this mess, I can’t wait to hear about the rest of your family. Seriously though,” Lorindel continues, “how’s Cole?”

Dion, biting his lower lip, looks at Rain and then Lorindel in confusion but keeps silent for the moment.

At the same time, affected by Gar’s healing aura two of the downed Olman begin to stir. The one who had been taken out by the combination of Aramek’s magic missile and Cole’s first swing of the club starts to climb to his feet, while the one with Lorindel’s arrow in his neck sits up with a gasp, and begins clutching at the arrow to pull it out, but it is too painful. Even the one Rain stabbed and the one with Fingol’s javelin in his eye look as though they are breathing more easily, though both are still unconscious.

Aramek looks around with gratitude, nods to Gar and smiling at Rain says, “Thank you all for your timely arrival and help,” then he notices the Olman, “but these thugs seem to be stirring and I think we need to restrain them and make sure at least some of them are fit enough to be questioned.

Fingol spins around looking at the reviving Olman warriors… “Shi…  We need some rope, or more manacles or something!  Quick!” 

Rain spins to catch what is happening. Her face turns to hard stone of anger as she stabs one of the rising Olman in the heart with her dagger, making sure to look him in the eyes as he dies. ”Fuckers,” she mutters under her breath.

Gar grunts his agreement with Rain. Fingering his little Green Man, he breathes fire on the Olman that Rain just stabbed, burning the corpse to cinders.

As Rain and Gar are finishing off the one, Fingol moves over to the one with Lorindel’s arrow in his neck. He grabs the end of the arrow, and start pushing him to the ground with it. ”Lay down and I can get this thing out without killing you…”

Indranil says, ”Fingol, why bother trying to heal that Olman? We have enough prisoners already and having more prisoners to lock away and feed will be trouble later. Let him die.”

Indranil turns to Gar, “That sure is a pesky side effect from Father Gar’s healing spell.  Father Gar!  Perhaps you can work on your aim?”

Aramek says, “I do not feel comfortable with you all offhandedly killing people when they are already down. I also need to know what is going on here that set off these riots.”

Dion starts kicking the other Olman, “Who cares! These swine deserve to die for what they’ve done! Burn them all why don’t you?” he says to Father Gar.

“He’s not going to die!” Fingol declares. “He’s just going to suffer. Maybe that’s what he deserves, but it’s not for me to decide. At least, I don’t want that kind of responsibility. I’d rather leave it to the executioner.”

Lorindel stands ready with his bow trained on the dying Olman, just in case.

With a smirk for Indranil, Gar fondles his little Green Man and says to Dion with a wink, ”You’re cute. This one’s for you,” then he belches fire at one of the unconscious Olmans.

Rain moves over to Dion, puts her arm around his shoulder and gently guides him a few yards away from the rest of the group. While gently stroking Cyrus she says quietly, “I know you have questions, Dion. I know this is confusing, but I know what I am doing, and it is not what it looks like. Lets you and I meet when this crap with the Olman is over so we can talk and I can explain. Okay?”

Dion looks at Rain uncertainly, he looks back at the others, and then back at Rain. “Well, what it looks like is that you left us to join the High and Mighties. But you’ve never steered me wrong before, so I’ll hear you out. Besides, I know Lorindel over there is okay. Fergus seems to like him anyway. And that priest…” Dion catches Gar’s eye and then winks at him. “He’s definitely okay with me. He saved Cole’s life and has the power to fry our enemies.” A wicked grin crosses Dion’s face. Gar raises his eyebrows at this and his body language clearly shows his desire to get lucky with Dion.

“Thanks for your trust, Dion. I’ll find you after we make it thru the next few days.” Still with her arm around Dion, she makes her way back to the group, speaking low to him still, “So Gar, huh. I guess I should have seen that one”, and smiles.

Indranil then says to Lorindel, Fingol, Gar, and Aramek, “This city has turned out to be more dangerous than several weeks in the Hool. I must say I am looking forward to getting back into the field. Friends, shouldn’t we get back to the fray and assist in the quelling of the riots?”

Fingol concentrates on getting the arrow out of the injured Olman writing in his arms without harming the man any further.

Lorindel holds his position and continues to keep watch.

Spent after the needless killing though not remorseful, Gar positions himself in the middle of everyone present and loudly intones, “Om!” twice more to heal the surviving Olman.

Indranil looks around and surveys the scene. Seeing that the war party is mostly healed and the remaining Olman warriors are secured he calls out, “Friends, let us send these rascals back to the palace for detention and questioning by the Prince’s inquisitors and then continue to seek out the remnants of the uprising.”

Aramek says, “I can’t head out without my things. I’m going upstairs to get them and make sure my master knows what’s going on. However, when I get back, I still want an explanation from someone,” at which he looks at Rain briefly, “because I’ve been here dealing with other issues and the riot managed to come and find me.” He then goes back into Parwyn’s shop and up to his room to get his equipment.

Dion goes over to Cole, “Cole, I thought that was it for you,” he says solemnly. Then he frowns and punches Cole on the arm, “You bastard, don’t keep charging into fights we can’t win!”

“Ow! Cut it out. My arm still hurts you know!” Cole says. He turns to Gar, “Thank you, whoever you are. You saved my life.”

The two Olman remain quite still watching their healers and captors in grim silence.

Fingol, still cleaning the arrow wound, looks over at Cole, “I am glad to see you up and about, but I suppose the brave don’t die easily. Father Gar does more than fix up arms, though. He also flies! The sight of that is something I won’t quickly forget!” He says this with a smile.

Fingol turns to Indranil and suggests, “While you all are waiting for Aramek to get back and I am trying to deal with this guy’s bleeding, perhaps you could gather a few of our party to do a sweep of the neighborhood. Even a single raider could do some harm, if we leave the people here unprotected. I can watch these two. They don’t look like they are in any shape to make a run for it.” 

Gar nods at Indranil and says, “I’m ready to roast some more Olmans too. We can leave Sir Fingol here to explain everything to Aramek since it was his bright idea that sparked the riot in the first place.” Gar shoots a sharp smile at Fingol. “See what happens when one tries to protect the gods? All hell breaks loose!” Gar laughs heartily and then pointing at the conscious Olman, belches a bolt of fire at the ground and says, “Behave or die.”

Rain turns to Dion and Cole, “You two should get going, tell Fergus I will come find him after a few days and that he had better leave Master Parwyn alone. Fergus is to deal with me regarding any debt he believes owed. Remember Dion, keep the family safe.” She smiles warmly to both of them then turns to Fingol’s misfits. Heh, Fin’s Misfits… I like that, she thinks to herself.

“I’ll stay with Fin,” Rain says. “After all, it’s me Aramek wants answers from. Why don’t the rest of you do the sweep and then meet back with us here. Then we can all go back to the palace together.”

“Okay we can do that,” Indranil says. “Brother and Father Gar let’s do a quick building check up and down this block to make sure they are clear and free from more troublemakers. Sir Fingol, we will return as soon as we can. Please wait for us.”

As Dion and Cole head out, Dion says to Rain, “I’ll tell Fergus that you’ll pay the 180 gold that Parwyn owes him for the new lock and other expenses. Find me when all this,” Dion waves his hand at the burning buildings, “is over.”

Once all the others have taken their leave, Fingol says to Rain, “Nice friends you have there, Rain,” while carefully watching her reaction. He also makes sure that the Olman prisoners are between them as he is now very wary of Rain.

Rain eyes Fingol, but the corners of her mouth form a slight smile despite her attempts to stop it. “Yah, funny thing when the cards start spilling out from inside your sleeves… then is when you’re usually being watched most. Norebo’s humor is my affliction today it seems.” 

She pauses then drops the smile, “Same rules apply by the way. I don’t mind lending my background and skills to…” she laughs slightly, “Fin’s Misfits… but what is known about me stays with us. I can’t be as effective if I have to watch my back from all of you. I’m counting on you, as the leader, to back me on this.” Rain holds his eyes with her gaze, waiting for affirmation.

Fingol shakes his head, “Good people may follow many paths. The only thing I see you and your friends being guilty of is in loving Westkeep more than Prospero or its laws. It’s my hope that in time, you will see less and less divergence between those roads. Of course, that means Prospero will have to earn your respect and trust, just as I have to earn yours. I am a hunter and a defender, not a sheriff. Let the Cudgels chase the lawless. I like people who aren’t afraid to wander off the narrow path – so long as the goal is for the good.”

“Heh, well I have seen a few paths in my life so far. We should get along just fine.” At that Rain produces a small flute from one of her pockets and begins playing what seems like a random assortment of soft tones but which quickly becomes a cohesive haunting melody.

Though Fingol is not sophisticated enough to appreciate the soulfulness or the complexity of Rain’s tune, he does find that the sound has an openness and ethereal quality that gives it a strong appeal. He had started off suspicious of Rain, but now does not know what to think.