A Kerran Tailchaser in Lord Lucan's Court

A dark shape moved silently down the wall. The kerran had his claws hooked into the stone of the ledge, big red sack securely tied over his shoulder as he lowered himself down the side of the Citadel, the sleeping city of Freeport below him.

His cousin followed closely, Lintessa was making her way out of the window, cautiously using the same handholds. Every move careful and exacting to avoid tripping the web of traps and spells that covered the walls.

Drakkarious smirked and twitched his tail eagerly, moving down the stone walls, then dropping onto the lower base.

“Come on! Keep up! The dampening will only last a bit longer...”, the big kerran called as he held onto the stone, “Careful not to touch the spike here, its got a nasty spell on it.”

His cousin grumbled and hissed, “I know just fine, I was the one who did some of the initial scouting and research. You just hope that Thrax is not late or misses.”

Drakkarious flashed a grin and started to unwind a long length of rope from around his waist, a big wide hoop on the end. “Soon as I start to drop this, it'll trip the alarm wards. Be ready.”

He continued on in a conversational tone, “You know, people in magic flying towers guard against all sorts of things. Teleporting, gating, flying creatures landing. Even dispelling glide and feather fall spells. They always assume that the sheer height they are up keeps them safe. The ground will do its job...”, Drakkarious continued as he unwound the rope.

His cousin could barely hide a grin as she secured the line around a leather harness she was wearing. “Its like a safe, no one builds them to keep things from breaking out.”

He carefully looped the stoneweave rope so it would not snag, the hoop in his hand. “Did you want to know the secret to flying? Its to throw yourself at the ground... and miss!” A faint flash in the distance caught the big kerran's eye and Drakkarious dropped the rope. Immediately the loud gong of the spell triggering rang through their ears and shook the stone under their claws. Both kerrans kept their grip as the tower and most likely the city was rising to the alarm.

Drakkarious counted to ten, just like he and his cousin had done in their practice runs. He saw the faint shape of something moving very fast towards the lower end of the rope a couple hundred feet below him, the rope suddenly jerked and began to go taut.

“Time to go cousin! Lets fly!” suddenly letting go of his handholds, Drakkarious started to plummet!

Lintessa saw the rope holding them together race after Drakkarious, and let her claws out of the stone a moment afterwards, the air starting to whistle past her ears. The faint lights of rooftops rushing up at them quickly.

Drakkarious was watching the swift moving shape in the dim light as several spheres of light flared into existence across the city, throwing light on the tower they were perched on just moments before. One above a building of the city was bright enough to catch a glimpse of the shape that was soaring below them earlier: a dark griffon being ridden by a white furred kerran.

The griffon had a metal contraption around its shoulders and saddle, a big hook which had snagged the line they had dropped.

Suddenly, the griffin pulled up hard, pushing into a power climb. The Kerrans falling towards what would normally be their demise began to be pulled into a wide swing! It became a race between gravity and the griffon climbing, just on the edge of the arcane wards as it pulled the two out of their death dive.

The spwiff of crossbow bolts flying past them, still too high for them to be accurate, meant some guards were still quite active and manning their posts. One ballistae on the wall was taking aim at the flying griffon, the ogre behind it pulled the trigger and a loud WHACK followed by a deafening SNAP and splintering of wood and metal! He stared dumbfounded as the bolt carriage was stopped by a spike nailed in the base halfway up the base... the bolt sailed down far from its mark, splintering the roof of an apothecary shop below. He looked around the wall and heard four identical noises down the side of the wall in turn.

Lintessa pulled a pair of goggles over her eyes, calling out over the rushing air as they began a more controlled soaring on the end of the line.

“You're lucky, I remembered to spike the defenses on this side of the wall on the way in.“ she called out.

“Oh come on! Don't be so negative, this is the season for giving! The Overlord should feel warm and fuzzy for sharing a number of bottles from his private reserve!”, Drakkarious laughed as he held his arms out wide, flying through the air. There was a loud pop and large blooms of fire and electricity started to go up in the space a hundred yards behind them. They were travelling too fast for some of the war mages.

“I still don't think that was the Overlord's tower, the bedroom had too many frilly things in it. Besides, what does a lich want to drink wine and beer for?” She held grip of the rope in one hand as they soared out across the Commonlands, heading towards the coast.

“Bah, why do you have to spoil the best prank we pulled in months? Bristlebane will be proud we spread his blessing into Freeport this season! Come on, when we get back, I want to try intercepting another diplomatic courier again. Maybe get some suggestive language into something between Kelethin and Gorowyn. Twenty gold says I can get one diplomat to make a pass at the other.”

Lintessa sighed a bit, but patted the sack of bottles tied across her back. No arrows, nothing broken, they had lucked out. Knowing her family an arrow or two would not have diminished their attitudes any, it would actually be a mark of bravery. Such was the life as a member of the Tailchaser clan. Bristlebane worshiping Kerra who felt it was their duty to spread his love across Norrath. They were Kerran Romani, no real permanent home. They always eventually rubbed the locals the wrong way and as a result, were always one torch bearing mob ahead of the last place they lived.

Back in the tower, sitting on the table by the window, sat an elegant card with gilded designs signed “Merry Frostfell, The Tailchasers”