Supply Run

[*Cadence]

An alarm rang out from.... somewhere Seraphel isn't sure from where exactly - but it wasn't from the caravan. The high-pitched bell-rings clanging ominously like cathedral bells at a large funeral.

From her perch, she sees billowing clouds of smoke erupt in every direction on the street. The crowd scatters though they don't run off, instead many of those walking down the street now form a circle around the caravan, observing the happenings with understandable interest.

One of the officers attempts to climb up to the top of the trolley, but something.. or someone pulls him down into the smoky periphery.

[*Seraphel]

Seraphel exploded in a flash of smoke and reappeared on the top of the trolley in a puff of shadow, starting to shovel the small boxes of supplies into her bag of holding.

[*Cadence]

The top of the trolley was covered with a thick burlap sheet that was tucked in (seemingly tight) at all sides. Seraphil would have to spend some time cutting through the burlap sheet. Alternatively, she could go to the edges and more quickly untuck the sheet though this would likely invite trouble if she neared the edges of the wagon. Though the smoke occluded much of her vision - she could make out a scrum that had broken out between two of the guards and some bariaurs.

Behind her she heard more hoof gallops as a sizable number of bariaur approached and someone screamed.

[*Seraphel]

Seraphel grimaced as she heard the sounds of screaming. She drew a keened kukri and cut through the burlap sheet to get to her target.

[*Cadence]

The burlap sheet gave way with some trouble, and the gash Seraphel made revealed numerous small, labeled crates of food, water, general supplies and luxury items likely for the senior officers. There were also some weapons arranged in the side- mostly standard issue halberds.

She had the option of quickly stuffing the nearest crates into the bag of holding and making a relatively unhindered escape or doing a more thorough search yet risking being ambushed by the small mob that had started to gather. Even as the burlap sheet was moved apart, she could see that the last of the officers on the ground had fallen to his or her death before a bariaur's bloody blade. As random, brazen bashers began to attack the bariaurs to stake their own claim to the supplies, Seraphel could feel the wagon buckle. Preventing it from tipping over was the weight of the supplies within - weight that would surely be decreased with every crate that Seraphel managed to steal .

[*Seraphel]

Seraphel collected a few crates of food, water, and medical supplies, filling up her bag of holding as much as she could before shadow jumping back to her perch to survey the scene. She looked to see if the snared Harmonium was still alive.

[*Cadence]

Seraphel managed to snag a few crates and was able to successfully escape the inevitable fall that the trolley took. It came down with a thundering crack, clearing a billowing cloud of dust in all directions from the epicenter. Though there was a brief pause as crates broke and food and water began to spill out, the Hive mob broke out into a frenzy as a free-for-all ensued for the supplies. The bariaurs were being shot at with various unseen crossbows and slings, a couple of them falling as the chaos swirled out of control.

Angry chants reverberated throughout the area as the mob reached a fever-pitch. Sera looked up to see that the Harmonium officer was bleeding from the respiration cage of her hemlet. Closer inspection revealed that there was a crossbow bolt sticking out of her neck, apparently causing the blood flow up her face and out the cage in front of her nose and mouth. The crossbow bolt wasn't fatal (yet) as she wildly thrashed about in agony.

In other words, the anarchist had managed to predictably incite a riot.

[*Seraphel]

Seraphel brought a hand to her mouth, horrified. She didn't expect or want any of this to happen. She never expected a harmless in-and-out theft would turn into a damned bloodbath! The woman saw there was a chance to save the hanging officer, so she took it.

Seraphel got a running start and jumped, latching onto the rope that suspended the soldier and threw her momentum forward to make them swing to the nearby roof.

"I need you to curl up and roll," she said to the guard. "Don't let the bolt dislodge from your neck when you land."

She then cut the snare, dropping them both on the roof.

[*Cadence]

It was unclear whether the guard was cognizant of Seraphel's words.. or of anything at this point as she continued to writhe in agony. Her movements were noticeably more sluggish than they were even 30 seconds ago, though.


The duo falls to the ground, the Harmonium officer's head unceremoniously striking the semi-paved street in a funny manner. If the fall didn't kill her, the crowd that started to gather around her body will certainly do so. Seraphel's ears burned from the deafening roar of the crowd at this level. She felt a crossbow bolt pierce the back of her shoulder-blade and warm fluid started to trickle down her back.

One thing became clear- she had to separate herself from the snared Harmonium officer. Hungry, indigent, desperate, angry Hivers began to swarm around the officer's body and quite literally pick it apart with knives, axes, and in some cases - their bare hands.

Not too far from her location, she saw that the wagon had been almost completely looted by the feeding frenzy of the crowd, though there was still some fighting around it for the last crates or scraps of food that had fallen to the ground.

[*Seraphel]

Seeing as things went from bad to worse, Seraphel had no choice but to fade into the shadows and make her escape, physically and emotionally wounded from the ordeal. She would no doubt never do something like this again.