Patchwork Universe

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 381 Location: The Museum

"'Apologies'?"

Dr. Odom's left hand clenched and unclenched on the mace.

"That's it? You offer apologies?"

The mace dropped from his hand. The tip of the wand quivered before Kalyndis's nose.

"You ought to be begging for forgiveness for killing a better man than you."

Perhaps Kalyndis had been right. Perhaps, at this point, Dr. Odom really was a bit mad. He certainly had been becoming more and more agitated as everyone politely talked around the unfortunate faux pas that was Father Michael's murder.

"You think you can apologize and make everything pleasant again? You think that absolves you?"

The ebony wand fell to the droplet-covered grass. He could not use such a device against a man, however much younger he appeared to be.

"Is it even remotely possible that you are that ridiculously arrogant?"

Dr. Odom had not been exaggerating about hefty drunks. His right cross spun Kalyndis around and sent him sprawling.

Kalyndis · Good Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 206 Location: Kerya

It was indeed possible that Kalyndis was, from a human viewpoint, ridiculously arrogant. That was why he laid on the grass for a few moments, fingering his chin, unable to comprehend that a human had actually assaulted him.

This incomprehension would not last long.

Kao Sheng · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 7:30 am Post subject:

Kao Sheng strode briskly forward.

"It is unfortunately the case that there are indeed no other dragons in this territory, unless there be some in the catacombs below, and as regards their role in this matter it can be categorically stated that none have come within a considerable distance of the surface with the last many years," he stated.

By this point he had reached Doctor Odom's position, and then moved to step between the Doctor and Kalyndis, although which of them he might be seeking to protect from the other might possibly be objectively unclear.

"Let us all, please, take advantage of this momentary opportunity for peace, and proceed to an ordered and reasoned discussion of these events, before anything more is done that would later prove regrettable."

He looked calmly at Kalyndis.

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

Trubshawe sighed inwardly. There seemed to be much more talking than listening going on, and such a state of affairs could only get worse now that Kao Sheng had entered the fray.

So the draconian quadruped was indeed Kalyndis. Fascinating! His mind raced through the Zookeepers' Code, burned imperishably into his memory as a boy, for guidelines on the ethics of keeping a beast that could pass if it chose as a customer. If it could be established that this ability to take human guise was no more than a defence mechanism evolved by a lesser species... Yes, there was certainly mileage there.

Another subject of intense academic interest was this fight between Odom and Kalyndis, which appeared to have crossed its Rubicon with the doctor's haymaker. As someone who had fantasised about seeing Dr Odom take one on the jaw more than once in the past twenty-four hours, Trubshawe was rather hoping that Kao Sheng's words would not be able to avert the boy's counterattack. Or better still, that the prince of verbiage would get caught in the crossfire.

Stroking his chin fascinatedly, Trubshawe began to sidle a safe distance away from the potential melee.

Jones · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:56 am Post subject:

Jones sighed to himself.

There was an advantage in seeing things in black and white. If it had been one of his family that Kalyndis had killed - human or dragon, he'd now be resting in pieces.

But then again Jones knew a bit more about the veil that divided the living from the dead than these untested newcomers. Father Michael's death, if death it truly was, he had laid to the Gods account.

He glanced back at his pub, thinking of the mess there would be. It seemed callous to mention it in this company but he thought a dragon ought to be rich in treasure. Kalyndis would need to offer some restitution before he was served again on Jones' premises.

"Gentlefolk," he said, trying for one last time to stop the fight. "In this quilt of lands there is no royal army, no high judge, no place to take a grievance. Fight if you will but it is blood feud you begin, for surely Kalyndis can kill Odom, and just as surely Jewel can kill him. Those who fight when words would let them live are beasts, not men."

Dr Jewel · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:42 pm Post subject:

Jewel turned her head slightly and caught Jones' eye. She nodded to acknowledge his reasoning and looked from Dr Odom to Kalyndis.

Kalyndis · Good Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 206 Location: Kerya

Kalyndis had risen slowly to his feet as Kao Sheng stepped between them. The elder's intervention showed that aggression was not appropriate at this time; nor could Jones's threat be altogether ignored, for these humans obviously had considerable resources.

He brushed dirt off his robe as he spoke. "Your mention of catacombs is intriguing, Kao Sheng. Perhaps this world is more like mine than I at first thought. If a subterranean wyrm is loose, it might be the beast that killed Michael; or, if it has not come to the surface, it might have clouded my mind with sorcery and tricked me into doing the deed. Alternatively, there may have been some property of the unnatural darkness itself that directed my actions, for I remember nothing between leaving Jones's house in darkness and arriving here in the light." He gave no sign of how difficult it was to make such a humiliating admission -- his loss of memory was deeply disturbing, which made it all the more important to determine what had really happened.

"I will submit to any reasonable investigation to establish the true course of events." His eyes flickered as he pointed at Dr Odom. "However, if this one attacks me again, I will respond with force."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 381 Location: The Museum

"This one will give you a good solid thumping if you have any clue what a fair fight is, you coward! Look at you! You're even afraid to respond directly to anything I say, you miserable, spineless worm!"

Jones · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 3:41 pm Post subject:

It would be a pity, though Jones, if Dr Odom were to die. He was a brave man and one with great loyalty.

"Come now," he said, clapping a firm hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "Would the priest want his death commemorated with blood lust? Or would he rather that you give this young fellow a chance to explain? You can't punish a man for a crime he doesn't remember, he'll not repent an act he can't recall."

"Come back to the pub, Doctor." He glanced at Kalyndis and added in an undertone. "He's not worth your life, I assure you."

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 381 Location: The Museum

"'Can't'? I am the highest authority in the largest institution in the world." Dr. Odom's fist slowly rose and it looked for a moment like he would swing at the larger man. "If anyone has the authority and the responsibility . . ."

He took a deep breath.

"If you really need to hear the dishonorable wretch try to justify himself . . ."

Dr. Odom lifted his eyes to the sky, to that endless, empty, vacant nightmare overhead through which monstrous mass of whiteness drifted impossibly like airborne monuments, drawing the eye around and around and around . . .

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

"So we're going to settle a murder trial by a cosy fireside chat in a half-demolished public house?" butted in Trubshawe from the sidelines.

"I'm sure I'm hoping for far too much here, but doesn't this place have any more substantial apparatus for settling its disputes? If someone is going to pronounce on this fellow's guilt or innocence, I'd rather it be a higher authority than the local bartender. No offence of course, Jones."

Jones · Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:49 pm Post subject:

Jones gave up. He had tried. But he couldn't stand any more of this. Not while Kao Sheng stood there cloaked in oriental inscrutability and doubtless laughing at them all.

His concern was his pub. If these people chose to stand around arguing about how a civilised man should behave, he would leave them to it. Stepping back from Dr Odom, he shouldered his axe and turned his back on the company.

He began to walk away, heading back towards the Public House.

[ooc: Unless anyone stops him while he's within shouting range Jones will return to the Public House via the 'Repairs and Reparations' thread. Anyone else who returns there should also join that thread unless a new one had superceded it by that point.]

Trubshawe · Good Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 303 Location: The Zoo

"Clearly not," said Trubshawe sadly as he observed the publican's response.

"Well then, chaps, what's it going to be? Might makes right, or perhaps, he who has the most friends, wins?"

Kalyndis · Good Joined: 22 Jan 2004 Posts: 206 Location: Kerya

Kalyndis literally bristled, his hair giving off crackling sounds and a slight smell of ozone.

"'Justify'? 'Authority'? 'Afraid'? I saw no point in responding to your baseless ravings. While in Jones's territory, having been offered Jones's hospitality, I will submit to his direction as a matter of politeness, but I do not see how you have any authority here. And although a fight between us would be anything but fair, if you sincerely wish to die, I can accommodate you."

He turned to walk in the direction Jones had gone.

Dr. William T. Odom · Good Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 381 Location: The Museum

Dr. Odom stared at the sky. He understood the general explanations about gravity, but he also could not accept that he was standing on the surface of a sphere that was spinning at somewhere around a thousand miles per hour at the equator and maybe six or eight. hundred miles per hour at these latitudes. That meant that if he jumped then he himself, untethered to anything, would be going six to eight hundred miles per hour, did it not? And if he fell off the next solid object, unless C. H. Fort was correct, was the moon.

Dr. Odom swayed slightly and turned an unhealthy grey color similar to when it had occurred to him that the ghost might breach another seal.

[OOC: Sorry to any geologists, physicists or other scientific types, but Dr. Odom is no more a scientist than I am.]