OOC: Welcome back! Are you driving this RP, or is it more just following on from whatever anyone posts? Any rules/guidelines we should know about?
Araith knew what he was doing; Khalrani would give him that. It actually took the robed man some time to spot the assassin within the crowd - even at his vantage point, and knowing who he was looking for.
Resting on a bench at the top of a stairwell which led down into the execution square sat what appeared to be a scholar; long-sleeved, darkened robes of a dried-blood colour encased the figure, held by a black cord, and a hooded crimson overcoat sat upon his back and covered his head. The face beneath the hood was just beginning to line and black hair, mottled with various shades of grey suggested an age of mid to late thirties. His left hand was covered with a thin, black leather glove and in that hand rested a small book, opened to a random page. His eyes weren't on the book however - rather they were peeled to the crowd beyond the base of the staircase.
And there he was - the long brown hair; the manner in which he was slowly closing in on Darion through the crowd, and Araiths favoured hand crossbow. Yes - Khalrani knew what to look for - he has had dealings with the assassin before; and had been on the other end of that crossbow more than once. It was nothing personal, of course - all business. The Alaramites(1) and Araiths cabal each had their own way of running their guilds in Dunbarr and on occasion their paths clashed.
That is what made this assignment so interesting to Khalrani, however; He has had many requests to dispose of those like Araith before, but in his history with the Alaramites, this was the first time he has been asked to aid one! And for what? A fresh-in-town militia official, coined by a portly merchant too frightened to deal with his own wares? No - there was something more sinister in the works here; however Khalrani had not been privileged with any backstory. He was simply told by the High-Acolytes of the Alaramites that they had obtained some information about a trap bieng set for a high-profile assassin, and that Khalrani was to aid the man in either escape or completion of his assassination.
"There he is!" yelled Darion, and Khalrani realised that Araith had already made his shot and failed; now he was face-first in a throng of militia and with no apparant backup. Promptly, Khalrani ran a finger along a particular verse in the book he was holding and read it aloud - clearly not the common tongue. There was a second where nothing happened, when the Alaramite thought his spell had failed, but in the next second an audible "screeching" sound could be heard in the execution square and half abruptly began to stumble. Some held their ears in pain; others fell to one knee, disoriented; and some even emptied their stomachs ungracefully.
It was fortunate that Khalrani had the knowledge that there was to be a trap here; and he had set a small trap of his own, arming the area with disorienting wards. He couldn't set off the ones too close to Araith however, or he would be affected too; this also meant that the guards which were close to the assassin weren't touched by the wards either. Additionally, Darion didn't seem to be slowed by his magicks either - perhaps whatever protected him from that bolt was also protecting him from the disorientation. Khalrani stood and waved Araith to him with his ungloved hand, yelling down the stairs, "Come, fool! Fall back and regroup!"
There was still a few unaffected guards between Araith and Khalrani however, and it didn't look as though the red-robed man was interested in doing much more to help out; his place wasn't on the 'front line'.
OOC: Basic crowd control; many guards should be disoriented for a minute or so; though Darion and about half a dozen militia are unaffected.
(1)Alaramites: Although not outlawed in Dunbarr, magic and magic users are seen as 'potentially dangerous' things and are always watched closely by militia, as well as assorted societies and groups. This would simply not do for one arcanist known as Alaram. Thus, in secret he formed the guild of The Alaramites, who on the surface posed as scholars, wearing the scholars traditional clothing and frequenting libraries and other such places. However, in the shadows the Alaramites are actually users of arcane magic who work behind the scenes to both expand their knowledge and to shape the city of Dunbarr to their liking. They are in control of several minor thieves and assassins guilds (without the guilds bieng aware they are manipulated, of course), and when the time comes to get their hands dirty, they often use these guilds to do the nasty work without having to get involved themselves. Only on very high profile tasks do they use one of their own members, who will try to use his wiles rather than brute force, and tend to use indirect magic which doesn't draw attention to the caster.
