TRITHAL reaches the doorway of the Inn as he drags CHRIS across the threshold. Staring straight ahead from the entrance, one can see that there are a few tables and a cafe to the right. A few bystanders and townspeople occupying a couple of these tables are sipping on drinks and carrying on light chatter. All the way to the right is a staircase leading up to the small amount of rooms the place has on hand to sell to people. One or two other tourists are seen walking up and down the stairs. The place is otherwise pretty dead. As one would look to the left, there lies a counter in the shape of an "L" boxing in an Innkeeper. The Innkeeper looks at TRITHAL kinda funny for obvious reasons.
TRITHAL: "Sumimasen! We would like a room please."
The Innkeeper lets his mind wander for a second or two about what two guys, one of them dragging a corpse around, would do with a room. TRITHAL drops CHRIS' leg and reaches in his pocket to whip out some of the winnings from the competition.
TRITHAL: "How much is a room, anyway?"
Since it is obvious to the Innkeeper that TRITHAL is able to pay for the room, he dismisses any wondering about the situation and any possible questions he had and replies, "100 GP. The deluxe rate is 250 GP for a better room and it allows you access to the cafe."
TRITHAL goes for the deluxe rate and figures THRAX, AXEM, and Ali might like a bite to eat as well as forseeing that CHRIS might enjoy a hamburger with cheese and ketchup only if he is revived.
After the Innkeeper gave them their door key, TRITHAL takes the key and begins to proceed dragging CHRIS across the floor.
THRAX (as he is stopping TRITHAL): "OK, I think he has had enough of that dragging shit."
THRAX picks up CHRIS on the other end and he and TRITHAL carry him to their room.
THRAX: "......well, maybe not."
The two drop his carcass ass on the bed as opposed to resting him on the bed. The death of a friend is a huge deal and anyone else who had suffered a loss like that would be devastated right now, so it comes as a shock that our heroes aren't too saddened by the death of CHRIS. Fortunately, since this game/story is set in some unknown region that is bound by the rules and regulations of RPGs, all it takes to bring someone back from death is the use of a ALLY DOWN item or the chanting of any revival spell...... UNfortunately nobody carries any of those items or knows any revival spells.
TRITHAL: "Well, lets go down to the cafe."
They leave CHRIS in the room by himself. The two close the door and head back downstairs. They make their way to the cafe. TRITHAL orders a Mike's Hard Lemonade and THRAX orders a bottle of Jack Daniel's Hard Cola. They take their drinks and sit down at a table.
THRAX: "OK, Trithal, you wanna explain what's going on? Or at least explain all of what you know regarding that dude?"
TRITHAL: "Not yet. Let's wait for Axem and Ali.....hey, what the hell are they doing anyway?"
THRAX: (humorously): "Hmmmm....I think he is trying to score with her or something. Axem has a little extra energy because he hasn't had a romp with any hotties for a few days now. Maybe he's restless for pussy or something, I dunno."
TRITHAL: "Yeah, who knows?"
TRITHAL downs his Mike's rather quickly. And with that he attempts to launch it in a near-by trash receptacle. He, having terrible aim, misses. He lets out a belch, stands up, walks over to the bottle on the floor and puts it in the trash.
TRITHAL: "Well, since those two are still outside, I'm gonna talk with all of the townspeople, cooks, servers, and barterders here at the Inn and see if we can find somebody who knows somebody who can perform REVIVE on Chris. He is a wet blanket, but he is kinda useful to have around...plus I miss pickin' on him already."
Since he is goal-oriented, TRITHAL walks away and immediately walks up to the first person he spots which is the Innkeeper. THRAX chugs his J.D.'s Hard Cola fairly quickly as well so now he is left with nothing to do besides whip out a smokage and take a look at the note CHRIS had found. As he is lighting his smokage, he notices right off that the note is not in English. He can't pinpoint the language because the note is somewhat illegible. His mind is still focused on what has transpired so he doesn't waste a whole lot of brain power in examining the note. He is, however, able to make out the "Xanatos" name that is the most legible of the words. He says the name to himself a couple of times and he feels that the name is remarkably familiar to him for some reason. He lets it moll around his noggin for a good couple of minutes. By this time, TRITHAL has asked nearly all of the people present at the Inn if they knew anything about reviving someone. There weren't very many people to talk to anyhow so he walks back over to the table where THRAX is sitting. As THRAX puts the note away, he asks, "Any luck?"
TRITHAL: "Pfff. No."
TRITHAL pulls out a chair and sits down. AXEM and Ali are seen walking in at that moment.
THRAX: "Pssh. 'Bout time."
TRITHAL (to Ali): "Hey, how are you feeling? Are you OK?"
Ali: "No, I'm not OK, but I guess I have to be. I must stay focused."
The two have a seat at the table THRAX and TRITHAL are sitting at.
AXEM (a'la Mike O'Malley): "Alright, Trithal, if you haven't already, time to spill your guts!!....like Chris always does."
THRAX: "...but please, don't ramble on like Chris."
TRITHAL: "Alright. Listen up. (clears throat) I'm not totally sure but I think this "Visaggo" guy is an old acquaintance of mine....Macha-Kao."
THRAX, AXEM, and Ali respond in unison, "WHA~~~?!!!"
TRITHAL: "Well, if he can still call himself a macha. that would be his name. Allow me to explain... Macha-Kao is what you might call a 'rogue' macha in that, among other things, he lacked one of the fundamental principles of the macha: patience. He was one who wasn't satisfied with the steady, gradual meathods the macha were best at employing. In fact, he was always the one who would try to find a faster way to do things, regardless of the consequences. He is credited, however, for perfecting the art of assimilation as we saw with Evan just now. Unlike most of the rest of the macha, he doesn't have to wait for a host to die before he can leave one body and take another. Given that he's had almost a thousand years to perfect his craft, he's become quite skilled... but at the same time he's a loose cannon. Given his never-satisfied nature, he was one of the handfull of macha who joined Macha-Kun in the Great Insurrection over 200 years ago. His last assimilation before this one must have been a sloppy one for him to have such a grotesque appearance. Since he knew what happened at Liiche's keep, I'm assuming that he must have traveled there and created a chimera using the spare demon parts we left laying around and absorbed the memories of the battle that happened there."
THRAX, who finds interest in such gruesome topics, asks "Can the macha really assimilate dead bodies?"
TRITHAL: "Well, if one knows how to... and if the corpse hasn't been dead for too long... they can. It's not an advised practice, though. Most consider it dishonorable for a macha to do so. Plus, the end result isn't pretty. But as I was saying, since he's so good at assimilating, the Grand Macha has had a difficult time keeping tabs on him since no one knows where or whom he happens to be at any given time."
THRAX: "Shit, and we had to run into his punk-ass!"
Ali: "This further fuels my hatred for machas."
TRITHAL: "Ali, this is not the time to pour salt on old wounds. Like I told you before, you can't be blinded by the hatred you have for one or two machas. They are not all that way. Liiche and Visaggo are among the few. Besides, it's rumored that Macha-Kao is able to take a person's body without killing them, and leave the person with no evidence or memory of him ever being there. With any luck, that might be what he's doing with Evan."
A tear falls down her eyes again while the three surviving members of the quartet can't help but think how their actions collectively have resulted in the state that Ali is in. The four of them try to stay focused while not losing their composure so they attempt to discuss how long they plan to stay at the Inn before they head back out on the road.
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