WW XXV: Wolf of the Dunes

[Patrick]

"Retreat! They're breaking through! Retreat to the second defensive line!" - the voice of Captain Algers carried through the lines.

 

Above them, several artillery shells flew past, and exploded among the houses of the settlement they were supposed to protect.

 

Captain Algers lifted his radio.

 

"Warren! Take your men, and commence evacuation of the civilians."

 

-----------------

 

 

"You there! Take this gun!" Captain Algers and his barely two dozen remaining men were already fighting among the houses of the settlement, completely overpowered by the sudden assault.

 

"What?" - Edi replied, still half-drunk from the night before.

 

"Just take it and shoot at the Harkonnens!" - the Captain said, thrusting the Maula pistol among Edi's hands. Shots whizzed past and two more of the Atreides troopers fell to the ground. The radio on Algers shoulder crackled.

 

"Evacuation of civilians is complete. Losses are severe, sir." - Warren reported.

 

"Selton, Wisrag, you cover our retreat. Lay down covering fire. The others follow me. Once we're clear of the danger area, Selton and Wisrag we'll cover your retreat."

 

"Aye, aye sir."

 

Only four of them, including Edi made the two hundred meter run. They were joined two minutes later by Selton.

 

"Wisrag took a shot in the neck, sir."

 

An artillery shell exploded next to the house they had been using as cover the last ten minutes.

 

--------------------------

 

"This is all that remain?" - Algers asked, upon seeing that Warren had only evacuated about three dozen people.

 

"The rest were dead, sir. We were caught by a barrage of artillery fire."

 

Algers glanced at the five personnel carriers, four of them packed full. He ordered his men on the fifth, and ordered the improvised convoy to head towards Arrakeen, to headquarters.

 

-------------------------

 

The third jeep in the line exploded without warning, the explosive shell not having been heard over the sound of the engines. The two behind it swerved to avoid the wreckage, and stopped to look for survivors. Only one remained, a swordsmaster serving with them, Ibis Ginray, who miraculously escaped unwounded. As they were about to leave to follow the other two jeeps, the first in the line, some fifty meters ahead also took a direct hit.

 

"We can't get through here!" - the voice of Warren came back frantically from the second jeep over the radio.

 

Captain Algers paused only a fraction of a second. "Escape plan two!" - he ordered, and the three remaining jeeps made a U-turn, and five minutes later entered the non-forgiving desert.

 

--------------------

 

 

 

"Sand killed the engine of this one also, sir." - reported Selton, the only remaining mechanic. Harkonnen thopters had chased them the first two miles of their escape and their snipers had killed and wounded several of them. Altogether, there now remained but four soldiers, including the captain and seven civilians. Two of the soldiers and one civilian were wounded, one of the soldiers severely.

 

Fleur and Jamilla were tending to the severely injured soldier, trying to ease his pain.

 

"We have no chance on foot against the worms out here in the deep desert." - one of the civilians remarked and from his accent Captain Algers realised that the man was a fremen.

 

"Who are you?" - he asked, surprised at having a Fremen in the group.

 

"Tor Salvis, fremen scout, I was passing the night in the village you were supposed to defend. I guess we share the same fate now." Tor did not bother masking the sounds of his movement. He knew that with all these people untrained to desert survival next to him his only chance of surviving an attack by a worm would be soundlessly moving off when a worm approached. "Your only chance at saving your remaining men, is an abandonded cave one mile away in that rocky outcropping."

 

"How can we know that this is not a trap?" - Ibis Ginray asked.

 

"We Fremen hate the Harkonnen as much as you Atreides do." - Tor replied.

 

"I don't see any other possibility Ibis, we'll have to trust him." - said Captain Algers, then noticed Tor staring fixedly in the distance.

 

"Worm." - the scout announced. "You'd better run for the rock."

 

-------------------------------

 

"Selton!" - the captain shouted, but in vain. Selton had helped the civilians onto the rock, and in doing so had been caught by the worm.

 

"So you know this cave?" - Captain Algers asked Tor.

 

"I know of its existence, I have never been here before."

 

Ten minutes later Captain Algers and his two remaining men had scouted the entirety of the cave. There were sufficient supplies for several weeks of food, and a large basin of water in a lower level.

 

-----------------------------

 

Not far away

 

"Niab, the worm took one of the men, and the jeep." - Chakyakha announced.

 

"I saw it with my own eyes, no need to point out the obvious." - Niab replied. The five fremen huddled in a rock outcropping three miles away, hidden in the shadow.

 

"Niab, I shall take a worm and go back with Ibrahim to Sietch Tabr, to report of the Atreides here. You three go on." Assan had been the leader and most experienced of the group. The others all accepted his judgment.

 

---------------------------

 

It took the three fremen, Niab, Chakyakha and Rahnia fifteen minutes to reach the sietch where the Atreides were. The guard on duty, Ibis hadn't even spotted the three fremen before they were only ten feet away from him, so well had they blended in to their surroundings.

 

"Who goes there?" - he asked, bearing his weapon on the three Fremen.

 

"We're just Fremen, looking for a place to spend the next few days away from all the fighting." - Chakyakha replied. "Surely you wouldn't refuse us the shelter of this cave."

 

OOC: free roleplay has started. First NPC kill shall be about two days from now.

Edited February 5, 2006 by Patrick Durham

[Gwaihir]

Co-written with Fleur/Sweetcherrie:

 

The soldier was squirming with pain, and Fleur really didn't like this job. She always got given them though, somehow they seemed to think that she was good for nothing else. Her hands were covered in blood by know and she felt as if she would have to throw up sometime soon, but bravely struggled on, after all he too was one of theirs. Jamilla on the other hand was doing her work with what seemed cool indifference. Sometimes Fleur wished she would be able to icily do what they told her. Her eyes wandered while her hands carried on and suddenly she saw the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He was tall and had a strong build. His skin was a deep brown from the sun, but what stood out most were his eyes. They seemed to mesmerize her, and the deep dark blue seemd to capture her soul.

 

As Chakyakha entered the cave he grumbled to himself. "Water wasters and in our caves too. I will stay away from them" Stilll, despite himself he looked across the crowd. They all looked t he same to h im...except for one. He tried not to look at her but she was blond and her face exuded a kindness that he had not seen since Sichana. He glanced over at Niab and glared but the man did not notice. Slowly, almost against his wil, his eyes traveled back towards the blond off worlder.

 

He looked at her, and Fleur's heart stopped beating, and she forgot the wounded soldier. What would she say when he came over? She would probably make a fool out of herself. She squeezed her hands together as the handsome man took a step towards her, their eyes locked. The soldier's breath was wheezing slowly in and out, but Fleur had only eyes for the Fremen.

 

His mind suggested that he should not take one further step into the cave but slowly Chakyaka found himself taking one two three steps towards the blond. Suddenly he squatted by the wall and sat. He would not go over there. That was an offworder and he was a dignified fremen. She was probably foolish and he did not respect her he told himself repeatedly. Still, he peeked at her from under his eyebrows.

 

Dissapointed she redirected her attention to the soldier, and her eyes opened wide when she discovered that he was dead. Oh no! She looked around stealthily, and hoped that nobody had noticed it. She was so stupid at times! She sighed, his wounds would probably have killed him anyway, but at least she should've given him some attention in his final minutes. Now how would she move his body?

 

She looked up at the muscled Fremen and wondered if she could ask him to help her.

 

Chakyaka sighed and was about to settle for a nap when he became aware. He more felt than saw a certain tension in the blond-a slight jerk. He looked over and realized her charge had died. Only foolish offworlders would try to save the wounded anyway. He looked at the girl's build lingeringly and decided she wouldn't be able to put the body in the deathstill by herself. He strode quickly over. "Here, I'll help you pick it up."

 

Her hand touched hers and an electric shock went through her body, a blush spread over her cheeks. "Thank you, I'll go get the shovel."

 

"Shovel" Chakyaka blinked.

 

"No need to dig, the way is already clear. I've been here recently--no cave ins."

 

Fleur smiled a dazzling smile, and giggled a bit, "We'll have to dig a hole to bury him you silly."

 

Chakyaka growled. "First you waste part if his water by trying to save a dying man and then you want to waste more by buryiing the water? This is Arrakis, girl."

 

She cringed slightly under the grump he gave her, "But, but, I thought that we had to bury them for their spirits to be free?"

 

For the first time in years Chakyakha's face broke into a grin. "Here, they say the spirits are freed as soon as people die. I don't know about all that but I know that this man will"... He paused for a moment as he thought about to say this without making the bright young thing upset. "This man will help us in days to come if we put his body in the still back there. Under the earth his water blesses no one.

 

Fleur thought about this for a second. She'd always been taught that human bodies had to be buried, but what he said made sense. Slowly she nodded, and helped him lift up the body.

 

"I do wonder though," she said as she took the arms, "How can all this be water, I mean he's made of flesh and blood, no? Wouldn't want to drink that." She shivered with the thought of drinking blood.

 

Chakyaka smiled slightly. "Do you really want to know dear?"

 

Her insides warmed, he had called her 'dear'. His voice had sounded warm as well, she shook her head, as long as he was around he could choose to tell her anything, as long as he called her 'dear'.

[Pillow]

Tor examined the cave's deeper alcoves. Rumor had it that there was a cache of stolen Harkonnen weapons were stashed somewhere within the cave. If he could locate the cache then the refugees could be armed and give the group a better chance of surivial. After almost an hour of searching, he found a small trap door in the floor. Removing the lid to the cache, it revealed a few dozen various arms and ammunition. With a smile, he replaced the lid and made his way back to Captian Algers to report his find.

[Jammeez]

Jammilla could sense the unease in the girl beside her, as well as the fading life force of the poor fellow for whom they labored. She knew he would be dead soon - she was unsure why they had even carried him to this cave, for his weight had slowed their progress just enough to lose them another group member...Selton had been his name. She ran through a learning litany in the back of her consciousness to impress it upon her memory.

 

In less time than anticipated, the life of the wounded slipped into the beyond, and with a bow of her head Jammilla rose smoothly to seek Captain Algers. "Captain..." She waited patiently for him to acknowledge her.

 

"The man is dead", she murmured matter-of-factly. Captain Algers nodded, and Jammilla retreated again.

 

Upon her return she found the girl and the body gone. What?...where are they? Jammilla allowed a bit of mild surprise to show in her expression...then chided herself for foolishly relaxing her discipline among so many strangers.

[Akallabeth]

Warren looked about the cave and the persons inside it. This cave appeared to be a defendable spot, a strong point from which they could live and watch with relative safety.

 

Sighing, he looked about the people. It was unfortunate that there was only one other soldier and the Captain left in the group. Few of the others appeared to be capable of defending themselves from the Harkonnen invaders, though perhaps the Fremen might be able to assist. . . if required. Though Warren had been on this dry rock for a while now, he still was suspicious of those blue eyed devils. They appeared to be quite fit, and very able in a scrap, but he did not know how they had gained these skills and who they fought. And some of the rumors of their customs were certainly enough to make the blood run cold. . .

 

He looked around once more, and noticed that the soldier the blond-haired girl had been caring for had passed on. Warren's expression stiffened. Only him, Ibis, and the Captain were left to defend this cave. Him, Ibis and the Captain. . . .

 

With these thoughts echoing in Warren's mind, he went to the mouth of the cave to relieve the guard on duty. Perhaps he would find some solace in the solitude of watching the shifting sands of Dune. . .

[Tanuchan]

Post written with Azuran/Niab

~~~~~~~

 

 

Rahnia instinctively entered the sietch quietly, followed by Niab. Of those gathered inside, Chakyakha was the only one who noticed their presence immediately and to both Rahnia’s and Niab’s mild surprise, went over to help an outlander carry the dead body of one of the Atreides soldiers. Rahnia raised an eyebrow, then nodded - she knew he would do what was necessary at the deathstill. She also observed the offworlder girl, noticing in a glance she was already quite taken by Chakyakha.

 

"His eyes always attract the prey," she mused with a small smile. "That offworlder will get into trouble."

 

Niab watched Chakyakha walking off and scowled. “He’s probably just trying to show off to get a rise out of me. Fool.” He’d never really liked Chakyakha, ever since the man had blamed him for certain events that had happened concerning Rahnia’s mother…

 

Rahnia grinned, despite Niab’s harsh words. "It might be, father. But you cannot deny him the truth. Women like him."

 

With a slight smile still lingering on her face, she observed the caves, and the offworlders in there. She noticed the fremen scout, and frowned a bit. Hadn't she seen him before? The exact memory eluded her, and she decided to let it come back on its own accord. Her mind would figure it out if she gave it a little time.

 

Niab touched her arm softly, and she nodded - both walked silently towards the back of the caves. Niab wanted to check the windtraps, and Rahnia went down to the cistern.

 

I wonder if the Maker could still be there... She wasn't sure how long it had been since that sietch had been abandoned, but she knew what she was looking for. Niab looked at his daughter disappearing into a section of the sietch, and turned his attention towards where the windtraps would be. He thought about inspecting the deathstill, too, but frowned when remembering Chakyakha would be there with that offlworlder girl. Oddly enough, the very fact that the blonde had seemed to like Chakyakha only made the old rivalry rear up inside Niab. He didn’t care about the girl at all, but still, whether purposefully or not, Chakyakha had already succeeded in annoying him.

Edited February 6, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Venefyxatu]

When Edi staggered into the cave, he didn't bother sitting down or moving to a comfortable place ... at a certain point he just stopped moving. He stood looking around himself for a few moments, hardly noticing his surroundings as the throbbing of a major headache was getting worse.

 

Suddenly, he realized he was still holding something and looked at it.

 

"What's ... hmmmm ... "

 

He turned it around and came to the conclusion that it was now pointing in the wrong direction, so he turned it around again. After staring at the object for a little longer he decided that it wouldn't be of any more use to him, since there was no liquid in it for him to drink, so he opened his hand and let go of it.

 

The shock of the weapon hitting the ground caused it to fire a needle, which wedged itself into a crack in the rock right next to captain Algers.

The latter frowned and moved over to Edi.

 

With something of a growl in his voice, he spoke, "You might want to be more careful with those things. Just to be sure ... I want like it back."

 

Edi blinked and stared at the Captain for a moment.

 

"... that?"

 

Then, slowly, he picked up the weapon again and held it out for the Captain to take it back.

 

 

OoC : Thanks to Patrick for the answers to my questions

[DeanTheAdequate]

Ibis stared at each face deeply as they passed. He had been on Arrakis for only five days, but he'd been stying on for weeks on the way here from Ginaz. There was little to know from official government reports. Just of the araid climate, the spice harvesting numbers and the like. He was sent to make sure the transfer of power went smoothly. He was going to be a gift from the Guild. But this was all cut too short.

 

It was who was left he had to protect. But how would a warrior protect so many from an entire world that would simply kill a man just by allowing him on her own soil?

 

So he sharpened his knives, checked his shield belt. He didn't dare use it out in the sands, he retained that much. He checked his maula pistol as well, and ancient design that had been passed to him from a family he had served before. He went through the process of oiling each piece and shining it. As he reached down for another cloth... whe sprang around, knife in hand. He held the blade close to a fremen's throat. Ibis could swear he hadn't heard a thing.

 

"You're fair with a knife..." said the rust colored freman "Fairer than any of us, I may wonder?"

 

Ibis felt the prick of a knife at his stomach. Both simply searched each other's eyes, then puth thier knives away.

 

"I have brought you a stillsuit. One of our warriors who has died is about your size. Be grateful for such a precious gift. I give this to you in the hope you will be helpful in battle. If you are not so helpful... I can find another to take the suit, and your water."

 

Ibis nodded wearily.

 

"My blades are yours." He said "Which is much more valuble at the moment than my life at the moment. They'll kill for you, oh yes. These blades will kill any Harkonen who is unlucky to gaze in our direction."

 

The Fremen grinned.

 

"They will kill for us. THere are many who must die to make everything right again. The Makers will see to it that those less virtuous are destroyed. Let me show you how to use this suit..."

[Patrick]

Several hours passed as the group settled in the cave, exploring every single cavern.

 

To Edi's immensive joy he was the one who discovered a large stash of beer in one of the storerooms, which he was able to claim for himself, before anyone else saw it.

 

Night slowly started falling and Captain Algers set up a rotating watch for the night, getting help from the Fremen also. It was on Niab's watch that the bloodcurdling scream literally erupted from one of the inner caverns.

 

Niab rushed to where he had heard the scream come from. At the entrance to one of the small storerooms he spotted Jenny, the daughter of a merchant, who had travelled with them. She was leaning against the wall next to the storeroom, shaky sobs heaving her small chest up and down.

 

"Daddy..." - she softly whispered. Captain Algers came rushing from the other side of the corridor and reached the storeroom before Niab did.

 

Even he, the experienced soldier had to struggle with his emotions at the sight which faced him in the store room.

 

"Fremen! Take the girl away from here, she can't see this." - he ordered, even though he knew he had close to no authority over the desert natives.

 

"I've already seen it..." - the girl whispered and her back slid down the wall, until she was crouching next to it.

 

"Shall I still take her..." - Niab started asking, but Algers waved him down. He had noticed something in the storeroom, which hadn't been there on his first inspection a couple of hours earlier.

 

"Blasted Harkonnens..." - Captain Algers, whispered as he fingered the sewn Harkonnen emblem he had found next to the body...

 

 

OOC: Jenny's father, Gary Herts was the first NPC kill. Day phase has now started and shall end about 48 hours from now. Good luck!

[Venefyxatu]

OoC : Co-written with Sweetcherrie / Fleur. It was definitely fun

 

 

 

The rumours had reached Fleur fast enough, and she tried to get closer to what was happening. The body of Mr. Herts was still lying in the cave, and now some people even had the indignity to start argueing about whether the body should be buried or if it should be thrown into the death stills. She wished Chakyaka was there, he would certainly be able to clear all of this up.

 

But wait a minute, maybe she could as well. Lets see...what had he said again that afternoon? Something with spirits being freed as soon as people dried. No, that wasn't it. They had to be buried, no they had to be thrown into the death stills before they would dry, and then their spirits would be free. Well, something like that at least.

 

Fleur decided not to interfere, ever since she had met Chakyak that afternoon her head had been full with him, and she seemed to be unable to remember anything else. She backed away slowly, not knowing how she would be able to help, and bumped into Edi.

 

"Oh, hey Edi."

 

Edi hadn't heard any of the rumors since he was too busy with his newly-found treasure and making sure that it remained hidden, but everyone seemed to be moving to the same spot. He took another swig from his bottle and staggered closer.

 

Just as he stumbled a bit to the side, however, someone backed into him and he spilled some of his beer. He was about to launch into swearing fit (about the only thing he had in common with the Fremen was his aversion to wasting liquid, although he didn't care as much about the non-alcoholic variant) when he saw who it was that had bumped into him.

 

"Errr ... h ... ho ... he ... "

 

He stopped to think for a few moments, frowning in concentration.

 

"Hi?"

 

The air of alcohol waved over Fleur and she felt slightly nauseuous. Edi was drunk that was clear, but somehow she felt sorry for him and could understand it as well. The past couple of days had been pressure to everybody, and it was only logical that he would need a drink to take the stress off. He held onto the wall and Fleur rushed to help him stay on his feet.

 

"Seems to me you'll be as down as poor Gary is if you continue like this..." Fleur thought for a moment, it wouldn't be a good idea for everybody to see Edi like this, "Shall I help you back to your bed?"

 

"B... bed? I just ... eehhhh ..."

 

For a few moments, Edi just stared in the distance, almost as if he'd forgotten everything and everyone around him. Then his eyes more or less focussed on Fleur again and he managed some sort of smile, although the alcohol in his body made it an overly happy one.

 

"... slept."

 

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the words "pretty, nice, be" and "very" appeared, and arranged themselves. Edi held up his bottle, only instinct saving both him and Fleur from getting showered.

 

"Wanna ... "

 

A pause, followed by the rest of the sentence.

 

"... drink?"

 

He wobbled dangerously, and Fleur had difficulties keeping him up straight now. Someone from the group looked back, and she wanted to get Edi out of there. He was a nice guy as far as she knew, but would get into serious trouble probably if they would catch him this drunk.

 

"You know what? I'll have a drink with you in your part of the caverns, ok?"

 

"Caverns ... yah."

 

Edi had quite a lot of experience with staying on his feet while drunk, but now that he was offered support he gladly used Fleur's help.

 

"So why ..."

 

Putting a hand on a stone to rest for a moment, Edi took another drink from his bottle. There was still quite a lot left in it, he observed happily before the two of them continued on their way.

 

OoC again : no vote yet

[Akallabeth]

Warren was at the opening to the cave standing guard, his mind in turmoil over what had happened the last night. No one would have gotten past the Fremen Niab if he was truly standing watch, that was certain. Nothing escaped those blue eyes.

 

The soldier's eyes clouded over as he thought back to when he had first arrived on Dune. Upon leaving the Guild shuttle, the sun blasted his eyes, making him raise his hand in self defense. He had never seen anything like it before. Sand and sunlight as far as the eye could see. And the Fremen, well, he wasn't prepared to see exactly what spice did to the eyes. And he could just feel the gazes of every man, woman, and child within sight going up and down him and his men, even though he never saw one actually turn his way. He knew that they could see the slight variation in his step from his one leg which had broken, and never exactly healed correctly. He knew they noticed his weakness for tolerating bright light. Oh yes, they could certainly see. . .

 

His conciousness jerked back to the present, back to guard duty. He couldn't be dreaming at these times, he had to stay alert. And to try to figure out who would have possibly killed that merchant the last night.

 

(OOC: No vote yet)

Edited February 7, 2006 by Akallabeth

[Jammeez]

OOC: It's been almost 24 hours and only two posts with no votes... Shall I start the bidding?

 

Jammilla sat with legs akimbo, back straight, eyes closed. Certainly study of the situation would bring clarity and show her who was the "wolf" among them. They all may as well have been sheep, trapped as they were in this stony prison. She began to feel the yearning for home again, but quickly quashed the emotion. There is no room for emotion in reason. Emotion leads only to confusion. Fact is the only tool with which to discover Truth... Jammilla forced her mind through the litany and returned to her deliberation.

 

OOC: Random vote, Vene/Edi (rolled 7 on a d9 at RPoL.net, Comedy, J*O*K*E)

Edited February 8, 2006 by Jammeez

[Pillow]

"Blasted Harkonnens," Tor spat. He had a feeling that there might have been a spy among them. He remembered back to the attack the day before. He had discovered two Harkonnens in disguise coordenating the artilliry barrage and subsequent attack. He had taken great pleasure in slaying those two. Mentally, he evaluated who the Harkonnen be. He immediately waived off the possibility of the other Fremens. The off-worlder seemed the likely canidate. He was unaccounted for during the night. He could have been exploring, but the cave wasn't quite that big. Plus his drunken apperance could have been an act. After all, where the hell did he get the alcohol? Tor decided to keep an eye on him.

 

 

OCC: Vene/Edi *just going with the flow.*

[Gwaihir]

Chakyakha had been asleep before that shriek but after it he was groaning at being woken up. Soon however the news spread that an off-worlder named Gary Herts had been murdered by some Harkonnen infiltrator.

He shook his head. It probably isn't a fremen because the murderer isn't just evil, he's crazy. Why would you kill someone when we're all stuck together in this cave?

 

After getting dressed, Chakyaka did a round of the cave to see what was going on. It seemed taht half the people were sitting in a stunned silence and most of the others were quarrelling about what to do with the body. (off worlders!) He thought about teaching them a thing or two but then he heard the quiet sound of crying. In a corner Miss Hertz was weeping as others fought over the body of her father. He walked over adn put his arm around her. She didn't react but she did cry a bit more softly.

"I don't know who did this to your father, but we [/i]will[/i] find out.

 

"Who could have wanted to hurt Dad; he was nice to everyone!"

 

Chakyakha nodded grimly. "You'll have to tell us about him sometime."

 

Miss Hertz just started crying again and then caught her breath for long enough to say "I need some air."

 

As she went in search of air, Chakyakha thought. 'We need to organize and find out who the hell did this and why. Was it general animosity against all Atreides-supporters? Maybe this man was just too patriotic and pissed off the spy? Or was it planned and this man knew too much perhaps? We need to search his belongings.

And who woudl have done it? I must say I haven't a clue. I guess I'm mildy disgusted by the drunk over there but taht doesn't really prove anything. I wish we could justu wait and see what happens but mob violence seem so much more likely lhere. Particularly since we have heaps of confused people here who arent' used to this harsh world.

 

OOC: Vote for Edi

[Akallabeth]

Warren went off guard duty when the Captain came to relieve him. He entered the cave quietly, and began to walk down a main passageway. As he passed an ajoining passageway, he heard a voice drifting up from it. A Fremen voice. . .

 

Though he couldn't identify which of the Fremen was speaking merely from the voice, he heard bits of what they said. Something about Edi. . . being the killer?!? Certainly, he was a drunk who wasn't aware enough of his surroundings to distinguish a weapon from a bottle of alcohol, but that didn't make him a killer. From the way he had seemed so far, being drunk didn't even make him violent.

 

Warren heard quiet footsteps approaching, and silently continued walking down the passageway, as he listened for following footsteps. Hearing nothing, he turned down another corridor and stopped for a short while. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the Fremen Tor walk by, who had evidently gone silently behind him ever since Warren had continued walking. He was the one who had talked of Edi. . . Warren's mistrust grew. Fremen had been on Arrakis before the Atreides, and the Harkonnen had been on Arrakis before the Atreides.

 

(OOC: voting on suspicion for Tor/Pillow)

[Venefyxatu]

Edi was still sitting quietly in his part of the caverns, where Fleur had left him, his bottle now as good as empty. With a dazed smile on his face he was staring straight ahead of him, every now and then taking another sip of his, for the moment, favorite bottle.

 

Had he been more sober, and more attuned to picking up the general sentiment of a group, he might've been able to feel some of the animosity towards him. As it was, however, he emptied his bottle and let his hand slide to the floor while slipping into a blissful half-sleep, the happy smile still on his face.

 

OoC : No IC reason, but adding my vote to Pillow/Tor for general skin-saving purposes

[Tanuchan]

Rahnia crouched against a wall, observing quietly the offworlders. She had been in and out of the inner caves, making mental notes of what each contained and what it should have been used for when the sietch was still inhabited. During those silent visits she had listened to a lot of speculation, and seen more than be seen. The other Fremen had noticed her, and Chakyakha had even come for a short teasing talk about the blonde girl.

 

Chakyakha... he's always getting his eyes caught by strange beauties anyway. She smiled at her memories. Being with Chakyakha had had its moments of pleasure and fun, even if her father hadn't approved of it. But the way Chakyakha sometimes looked at her, his eyes clearly thinking of Sichana, had started to annoy her at last.

 

Still, he was a friend. If only he stopped upsetting her father on purpose, they could have still kept some bond.

 

Rahnia's eyes drifted to her companions. Niab was coming to her, bringing some portyguls - she loved those. Salvis intercepted Niab, though, and Rhania focused her attention on the Fremen scout.

 

He was a tough one, she already knew it. Scouts were always tough. And she had heard him talking about the Harkonnen, and also about the weapons and how to make them the most effective. That made her frown; she would never get completely used to using anything but the crysknife.

 

Her hand drifted towards the place her own crysknife was hidden, and let her fingers caress its scabbard. Never to be drawn if not to taste blood.

 

Rahnia remembered suddenly a scene she had witnessed from a corner, earlier in the day. A Fremen in the shadows, offering a stilsuit to one of the foreigners. What had been the meaning of that gesture? She was almost positive it had been Salvis. Her father had been with her, and she knew Chakyakha's shadow as well as her own. There were no other of them.

 

A soldier came towards Rahnia, clearly not having seen her. In an impulse, she stood up and went towards him.

 

Warren slowed his steps a bit, watching Rahnia quite carefully and seriously. He felt his muscles tensing up, prepared to attack or be attacked; but he forced himself to avoid any body language saying that he was thinking or feeling anything out of the ordinary. He hoped that the only action that might be noticed as being unusual would be the way his eyes moved, that they watched her, especially as she came near him with a small smile. But, contrary to what he had expected, she barely nodded at him and went straight to the other Fremen. One of them was her father, he thought. The other was the scout.

 

Looking at her surreptitiouly, Warren thought again that he respected the Fremen. He just wasn't sure if he should be respecting them as he might a snake, or as a venerable ally.

 

 

Rahnia looked again at Salvis, nodding at him.

 

"I need to talk to my father."

 

Salvis took his leave. Rahnia still looked at him.

 

"What is it, Rahnia?" Niab offered her one of the portyguls. She wondered how he could have brought them so far, but she knew how much her father would go out of his way to make her feel happier.

 

"Salvis bothers me somewhat, father. I am pretty positive I saw him handing out a stilsuit to one of the offworlders. The one they call Ginray."

 

"Even an offworlder might be an honorable one, still."

 

"Yes." Rahnia felt the sweet juice of the portygul moisting her throat. "But unless they have met before, he hasn't proved himself yet."

 

Rahnia knew no Fremen would ever side with the Harkonnen. The sewn badge seemed to point out to some of the others. That last soldier, so tense when she passed by.

 

But still... why not? Scouts might have so many reasons, even honorable ones.

 

She wanted to talk to Salvis.

 

~~~~~~~

OOC: Vote for Pillow/Tor Salvis. Sorry Patrick...

 

 

Edit: typo

Edit2: Sorry, credit where credit is due... Thanks to Akallabeth for (sort of) writing this with me

Edited February 9, 2006 by Tanuchan

[Azuran]

Niab had no idea who could possibly be the Harkonnen, but he was sure about one thing: he would do everything he could to protect himself and his daughter. And he had always been excellent at protecting people, except for Sichana that once...but that had been very different. He frowned, suddenly. Despite all his fighting prowess, he couldn’t defeat an unknown enemy, and so in his mind he simply pictured the one who annoyed him the most. That Chakyakha always had managed to be so irritating.

 

OOC: Quick vote for Chakyakha

Edited February 9, 2006 by Azuran

[Sweetcherrie]

Fleur had seen him, her stomach had turned twice, but she had seen him! After she had brought Edi to his room she had walked back through the caverns when she had seen him. Chakyaka had been doing some rounds through the caverns and she had walked passed him. Fleur had even smiled, but he had been lost in thought it seemed, or maybe...

 

Maybe he didn't want to see her, maybe he felt guilty about something so he didn't want to look at her. No! she didn't want to think that way, he would love her as well. Sure, he was a bit of a grump, but he had also smiled to her, but what if?

 

What if he had found someone else? What if he had gone back to that other girl, ooooh! and what if he liked Jammilla instead of her? Oh no, that would be bad. Fleur got angrier and angrier. Jammilla had looked at him, had he looked back? But she was certainly prettier than Jammilla wasn't she? Fleur shook her head, this meant war.

 

Chakyaka was hers, and she would let Jammilla know as well! In a rush she hurried towards where she had last seen Jammilla, and along the way she was thinking up all sorts of stuff she wanted to say to the girl. She couldn't let Jammilla steal Chakyaka from her, she simply couldn't.

 

OOC: No Vote. Sorry, I kinda like a tie in the first round, this way the dice can decide, since first round is random anyway

[Patrick]

Captain Algers had been awake for more than two days and after the events of the morning, the gruesome discovery were sorted out he had welcomed the possibility to sleep for just a few hours. When he woke up it was already nighttime and he heard angry voices shouting in a corridor some distance away. He got up and dressed quickly, but was already too late in preventing what happened.

 

Ten minutes earlier

 

Edi did not understand why all these people were shouting at him. One thing he was sure of. If they knocked the bottle from his hand, there would be murder. In his alcohol induced haze he barely heard the allegations thrown at him, and didn't even bother responding. A hand suddenly shoved him roughly against the wall, and the bottle smashed to the ground. Suddenly alert, Edi lunged at the man, who had pushed him, and were it not for the fact that there were three of them facing him, he would have caused some major damage.

 

Two of them restrained him, while the third hit him repeatedly on the head.

 

"You filthy Harkonnen traitor!" - they shouted.

 

Edi only made feeble attempts at protecting himself.

 

"Send him to the desert!" - one of the three suggested. The other two nodded and they dragged him to the cavern entrance.

 

Edi was given a kick from behind and tumbled down a couple dozen feet, bruising himself on the rocks.

 

"Don't come back, you slime!" - they shouted after him.

 

Edi stumbled blindly down the remainder of the slope and stepped on the sand, where he collapsed in a heap. He shakily stood up, and ran over the sand, trying to distance himself as much as possible from those wanting to harm him.

 

Little did he know that the sound of his footsteps were transmitted through the sand as sound would have been transmitted through air. It did not take long for a worm to come. Edi didn't even realise what was going on next to him, as the enormous beast swallowed him whole.

 

 

OOC: The random numbers decided against Edi. Edi/Venefyxatu was an innocent villager. Better luck next time! Specials, you have 24 hours from this time stamp to send me your targets.

Edited February 9, 2006 by Patrick Durham

[DeanTheAdequate]

After the worm had taken Edi, Ibis stared across the shifted sands where he was last seen. Before he had sworn to live by the way of Ginaz, he had been brought up to pray. His mother had pressed the Orange Catholic bible into his young mind early on. He could still remember every passage, even if the swordsmasters code burned brighter in his mind.

 

"Woe is strong drink, for a clouded mind cannot be read by God."

 

He walked back into the cool of the shades.

 

"And as my master taught me, anyone who can't hold a belt or two in a fight is better off dead. I'm not sure how I feel about this..."

 

"Perhaps you should take a Fremen's point of view on this" said the voice of one of his new colleagues "Just curse the water wasted."

 

Ibis nodded. It seemed the warrior culture here was much like Ginaz. If... no, never if... When he got back to Ginaz, he'd have to take the philosphies of this place to heart. Not only could it serve here, but such righteous fighters combing the galaxy? Who knows what they could accomplish...

[Pillow]

"At least that's less water gone to waste," Tor said to himself. He lended on a rock at the mouth of the cave and watched the sands sway to and fro in the desert winds. He knew in the back of his mind that there were several that distrusted him. He didn't blame them. From what he had seen, Harkonnens where good at spreading the paranoia that caused people to turn on one another. Shaking his head, he walked over the other Fremen. He sensed a bit of distrust from them as he approached. Mildly suprised, he asked,"Did I do something wrong?"

 

Rahnia glared at him,"I don't know. Maybe giving the stillsuit to an off-worlder might have something to do with it."

 

Tor raised an eyebrow at the Fremen woman,"It wasn't me that gave an off-worlder a stillsuit. There's no way that I trust any of them with something like that." he waved his hand in the direction of the others as he spoke. "As far as I'm concerned, with the exception of Captian Algers; are as good as Harkonnen."

[Patrick]

"No!!" - the child's scream echoed from the depths of the cavern. Captain Algers, not sleeping, not wanting last night's death to be repeated was the first to reach the scene. He expected to find Jenny Herts having found another dead body, but the sight he encountered was even worse. Slowly the others started arriving and shared Captain Algers' horror over the dead body.

 

"Who could have wanted to kill little Jenny? She meant harm to no one." - a voice said from those gathered round.

 

"My guess is she might have seen something last night, that she shouldn't have and the same person, or persons killed her for that." - said Captain Algers, his voice quivering with anger. He did not know how to fight this unseen enemy, how to direct his anger against it. He was a simple soldier, he had not been trained for this.

 

"Warren, Ibis come with me for a moment!" - he ordered. He walked with them to a smaller cavern alongside the one where the dead body was. "It is clear that at least one Harkonnen agent has managed to infiltrate our group." - he said, his voice grave. "I would like you two to keep your eyes and ears open to what goes on around us and report anything suspicious to me. I just hope that I am not wrong in placing my trust in you." - he sighed. "Warren, go back to guarding the cave entrance. I shall relay you once Ibis, and I are done with disposing of the body."

 

 

OOC: Jenny Herts, just as her father was an innocent NPC. There was no PC kill this night. You have about 48 hours from the timestamp of this post to find a wolf. Good luck!

Edited February 10, 2006 by Patrick Durham

[DeanTheAdequate]

Ibis crept down the winding paths of the steich. He couldn't sleep here, the spice that permeated the culture seemed to keep him on edge. Further down he crept, listning to the water gathering webs feed precious moisture down below.

 

He still had energy to burnand took an out of the way path to limber up his arms. It cut sharply upwards and was only used as an easy way to shout orders to those at the bottom. Ibis took it as a spelunking challenge.

 

In an effort to keep things interesting he climbed as silent as he could. Should a rock fall, he would simply give up and go the other path. But in the silence he heard something... a voice.

 

It was a woman, probably whispering sweet nothings to her man. Perhaps a love unknown, here in these deep caverns. No pause for it, if the sights were interesting, he might take a rest. Otherwise, it would be a good test. Forbidden lovers ears were usually the most sensitive.

 

He crept further up and founs a small hidign place, a dim glow of light therein. A woman in a stillsuit, hunched over a communicator.

 

"Yes, each one falls, one by one... And you've promised me this region? Yes... My bargain is blood bound..."

 

She turned for a moment, but Ibis was gone. Slipping back down the pathway. He remembered that haunting blue as the woman looked arond. A Fremens eyes... What was this bargain? Atraides blood for spice rights? If so, why was she killing her own as well.

 

He slipped out the bottom of the cave, thinking only of the death that's left to come...

 

 

(Accusing Tanuchan)

Edited February 14, 2006 by DeanTheAdequate

[Akallabeth]

Once again, Warren was left on guard duty. Though it was often a lonesome duty, it gave him time to think, time to try and discover who the killer might be.

 

Though he was not entirely sure of many of the people, he was fairly sure that Ibis was not a killer. After all, he had served the Atreides faithfully, and Warren hadn't noticed any falsehood in him throughout his time of service as a soldier.

 

Warren watched over the sand hills beyond the enterance to the cave, and noticed that there was a glint in the distance. He slowly moved as close to the rock face as he could, and tried to become one with his surroundings as he had been taught. Gradually, he took his viewer from his belt and put it to his eyes, aiming towards the glint he had seen.

 

"Harkonnens," Warren thought, as he watched a carryall slowly lift a spice factory from the sands. Slowly the carryall and factory moved off, followed by their spotters. As he watched, they passed over the horizon and out of sight.

 

Seeing that Ibis had just come into the cave, Warren stopped him. "Tell the Captain that I saw a carryall, probably working for the Harkonnens, removing a factory a fair distance away. I did not see it in operation, so I assume they saw a worm coming for the factory shortly after setting down."

 

Ibis left for the interior of the cave, and Warren continued his watch on the outside. It was unfortunate that the Harkonnen danger could not be averted merely by keeping them from this enterance. The danger inside must also be dealt with.

 

(OOC: Still suspicious of and voting for Tor/Pillow)

 

EDIT: clarification

Edited February 12, 2006 by Akallabeth