Patrols have just about everyone in the guard serving at different parts of the city on a more or less rotating basis. Today would see Sparte, Harper and Kenna working the visitors gate, as well as several other members of the guard. All is as it should be and merchants travel the road to the docks and beyond withouth much issue. Then in the distance, from the top of the hill, there's a rumbling sound. It's probably fine.

Cheryl the Assistant Innkeeper, Scourge, a sweater wearing rat-dog arrive, following Mae.

Cheryl the Assistant Innkeeper, Scourge, a sweater wearing rat-dog leave, following Mae.

Weird sounds totally happen all of the time. Kenna's bent down reaching into a crack between stacks of boxes trying to reach whatever caught her eye //just// beyond reach. "Allmoossttt.... have it... oh drat it!" There's a faint clink as whatever it is falls even further out of reach.

Harper eyes Sparte as she walks along, "Hungry, Sparte? And don't blame it on Tiny Tom... I doubt he's made a noise that loud in all his life." She teases Sparte, but still starts looking around curiously for the actual source of the noise veering off in the direction that it came from.

Sparte is oblivious. He looks up from a note he was reading, looking over at Harper and then Kenna. "No, not particularly. Do you want some of my soup or something?" He pats the soupflask on his belt, because he still carries that thing around. The note is passed to the less oblivious and much more cowardly Wilhelm, who doesn't wait for instructions before taking off. "...I missed something."

It's getting louder. It's coming from the top of the hill and barreling down. It's a cart, pulled by a confused pair of ponies and driven by a young man that's laughing hysterically. It's probably still fine. Until he starts throwing beets at the people he's passing. Most of them duck out of the way, except for a few unfortunate folks that don't. One old man tries to hit the kid driving the car with a couple of eggs.

"That do, oh crap!" Kenna is standing on a crate and STARES at the oncoming rage, "HENRY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Kenna is very very familiar with the idiot in the cart. "HALT HENRY! YOU IDIOT!" Yelling totally stops the bad guys, right?

Cale, the Highhill War Hound pup, Thunder, the Highhill War Hound, Jasper arrive, following Seth.

Cale, the Highhill War Hound pup, Thunder, the Highhill War Hound, Jasper leave, following Seth.

Harper just shakes her head, "Why does it always gotta be vegetables." Looking around she quickly heads toward the crates that Kenna is standing on. "Partner! Toss some of those crates out to divert him!" She quickly starts grabbing whatever she can find to set up something to try to direct the cart away toward a less busy part of the street, including herself as she waves and shouts at the ponies.

Kenna checked strength + athletics at difficulty 15, rolling 9 higher.

Calaudrin GM Roll checked composure(3) at difficulty 15, rolling 5 higher.

Sparte is caught off guard by the sudden sight. "What in the... You two handle the idiot on the cart." Sparte runs ahead of the cart. Not directly in front of it, but out to start warning people. Move people who are slow to get clear on their own. "CLEAR A PATH! OUT OF CONTROL CART, CLEAR A PATH!"

"Gottcha!" Kenna calls back to Harper for the suggestion of tossing the carts. They're weirdly light so the first one that Kenna throws goes all the way across the road rather than in front of where the cart is going. "oops." The next one Kenna will be more careful about tossing so that they get in the way of the animals. "HENRY YOU HAVE TO STOP." Just going to keep yelling it because... well, because it worked so well last time.

Sparte makes a good call there. Because as the cart is coming down the hill at top speeds with Henry laughing like a lunatic and tossing beets, most of the people are just flabbergasted. They stand in the middle of the street and stare at him as he comes hurtling toward them. Until Sparte yells for them to clear, they look at him and his official Iron Guard gear and decide to listen to him and get out of the way quickly. Meanwhile, Henry is unphased by the plan to put crates in front of him. He drives the car RIGHT THROUGH them. Boxes and wood and all sorts of things spliner into the air. Exploded apples. Water jugs. Chickens try to fly and fail. A baby screams. From far away, the baby wasn't in the crates. He's just POed. The good news? The ponies are /not/ impressed. They stop pulling the cart.

"Harper! You have to catch him now! He's //fast//!" Kenna's absolutely going to try to scramble her way up to Henry's side. Man. It's too bad they don't have a lasso right now. It would be useful.

Without hesitation, Harper sets off in a dead run for Henry, fully intending to tackle him if she reaches him. Doing her best to dodge bits of this and that scattered across the road as she goes, but trying not to let it slow her down.

Sparte quickly goes over to try keeping the ponies calm, avoid them getting spooked or the cart causing any more mayhem. Kenna and Harper can chase down the culprit... Right?

Kenna checked luck + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 21 higher.

Sparte checked luck + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 29 higher.

Harper checked luck + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 32 higher.

Harper checked luck + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 33 higher.

Calaudrin GM Roll checked dexterity(3) + athletics(2) at difficulty 20, rolling 5 higher.

GusGus, the fluffy Whitehold Mountain puppy arrives, delivering a message to Kenna before departing.

It's all fun and games until well... With the spray of exploding crates, no one gets a splinter to the eye. Everyone is incredibly lucky this day. Including Henry! He dives out of the cart as it comes to a literal, crashing halt. He abandons the ponies and goes fleeing through the various cargo that lines the visitors gate. The people Sparte is trying to calm down start shouting, "DAMN IT, HENRY!" and "Your mother is going to be disappointed!" and for people who don't know him, the standard, "Idiot!" works well.

Harper gets reinforced grey leather jacket from a double wrap sword belt made of quality leather.

Kenna checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 20, rolling 13 higher.

Aneka, 3 Iron Guardsmen, Meeka arrive, following Merek.

Harper checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 20, rolling 27 higher.

"Not //again!//" Kenna groans when Henry the Runner (aka IDIOT) flees from the scene of his beet-ings and takes off. "This guy //never stops running//." That's a complaint from Kenna as she scrambles out of the cart herself and is after him. "This is going to end the same way as last time!"

Merek had heard about Henry being around, and as such has come to reinforce the Guard. He has on his black and silver attire, while his hood is up on his cloak. He moves through some onlookers, as he moves to join in with those moving towards the man, also taking in all that's going on.

"Henry hold the hell up and stop! It's not gonna do anything but tee us off if you keep running!" Harper shouts as she still tries to run toward him, avoiding the debris as best as she can.

Henry is fast! Very fast! He hauls ass through the cargo, jumping over boxes and climbing past people. But when he looks back? Harper is /really/ close. "Aw, come on! I was just having some fun!" Kenna isn't much further away and he winks at her, waggles his eyebrows and bolts. They're getting closer to the river and he blows past Sparte and his crowd of people. "Nice stave!" Well, actually. He blows through them. Time to dodge human beings! (@check dexterity + dodge at 20)

Kenna checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 2 higher.

Harper checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 27 higher.

Merek checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 20, rolling 17 higher.

Sparte sighs as Henry dashes through the crowd, pulling the afore mentioned staff from his back. "Excuse me." He glances between Kenna and Harper, singling Kenna out as the one least likely to actually catch the man. "Guardsman Kenna, I need you next to me on one knee. Immediately." He slips the staff off his back that Henry pointed out, turning to eye the fleeing suspect. "Everyone else please move back for a moment."

Kenna puts a hand up to protect her eyes from anything else Henry might kick up and keeps blowing forward. "Sorrrryyyyyyy," that's to all the people as she runs through the people though she slows down lots and lots in the midst of the crowd. Enough that she can stop when Sparte calls out. CONFUSION, "You want me to do //what//?" Sory, what?

"Your version of fun and mine got a long way to go before meeting, Henry!" Harper shouts at him, her jaw setting stubbornly as she focuses solely on him. Then suddenly there are people everywhere. Trying hard to keep track of Henry, she desperately tries to keep from knocking anyone down or hurting anyone.

Merek weaves through the crowd, as he moves to walk amongst them, waitin for when he can be of assistance. He seems to be ready in case anything is needed, instead of making this a crazier issue.

Harper and Kenna are both fast enough on their feet that they don't smash into anyone. Henry clears the crowd and is sprinting down to the river where he's presumably going to go for a polar dive in February.

Sparte flips his staff up to reverse the grip, holding it like you would a hunting spear. The sort you throw at animals. He gestures to the spot he wants Kenna in. "Quickly, the further he gets the less force the blow will have."

So Spart is going to... stand on the smallest and most fragile person in the room. If Kenna didn't respect him so much... Down on one knee she does and then she's just.... going to cover her head. Just in case.

Sparte checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 10 higher.

If Sparte will be throwing that, Merek looks from the crowd, and moves towards the direction of the water. Just in case this doesn't go the way it's planned, he seems to be shifting his cloak and handing it to an assistant of his, as he shifts his shirt up as well, handing it to her.

Oblivious to Sparte's plans, Harper just keeps the chase alive trying to catch up to Henry as quickly as she can. Spying his path toward the water she tries to head him off if she can and divert him away. "C'mon Henry! Just stop and be reasonable! Then I can smack you upside the noggin and we can have a good laugh!"

Jared, an overworked-looking, nervous Apprentice Whisper arrives, following Bliss.

Jared, an overworked-looking, nervous Apprentice Whisper leaves, following Bliss.

Sure, Sparte isn't exactly short, but some people have nicknamed him beanpole for a reason. Plus he isn't wearing the heavy steel armor most of the iron guard are known for. Twice lucky is Kenna, she won't be squished under Sparte's massive thews or shining armor. He is up on her knee for one second as he lines up the shot, and off spins the wooden staff from his hand... Before down he steps on the other side of Kenna, turning to help her up. He either trusts his aim, or the two guards chasing Henry. "Thanks. I wasn't too heavy, was I? You're alright?"

Calaudrin GM Roll checked luck(2) at difficulty 15, rolling 7 lower.

Henry isn't very lucky. Henry gets hit with Sparte's stave from a distance, which hits him squarely in the back. It hurts. It hurts a lot. "OW." The young man goes stumbling and sprawling on down the hill and he starts to roll. People jump out of his way and Henry just keeps rolling and occasionally trying to get up and then... well. He stops just before he rolls onto the frozen, crusty edge of the river.

Kenna is so very very still when Sparte is doing that throwing thing using her as the brace. Her armor takes most of the weight so she can pop back up onto her feet. "YEah, did you get him?" She doesn't wait to find out but is going to make her way in his direction. Cuz Henry is SLIPPERY.

Merek watches as it seems Henry takes a roll on the hill. He winces a bit, but reaches for his attire once more as the man isn't in the water. He then moves towards him along with Harper, shifting along. Walk walk walk.

Aneka have been dismissed.

3 Iron Guardsmen have been dismissed.

Meeka have been dismissed.

Not wanting to lose the advantage of having him off his feet, Harper tries to make her way down the hill as fast as she can to get ahead of him if possible. Fulling intending to try to nab him as soon as he comes to a halt. "See?! What good did it do you to run, Henry! Now you're gonna be really damned sore in the morning!"

Sparte calls after Kenna when she resumes the chase. "If you could recover my staff, I'd appreciate that." Sparte turns his attention to the people nearby, once again trying to calm them down. "Relax, we'll figure out whose wagon the fool stole and get it returned. If anyone owned one of those barrels or crates, well, that'll be a matter for a magistrate."

Henry wavers on his feet, looking pretty dizzy. Then he leans forward and squints at Harper with blurry eyes. "It was a good run though! A lot of fun. Gave you guards your exercise." He glances between her and Kenna, "That Lord Commander is really hiring some pretty guards." Then he notices Merek putting his shirt back on, "Even the men are pretty!" He sounds like maybe he's indulged in some chemical therapy.

"Got ti!" That called back to Sparte and Kenna makes her way towards the staff to take it up before rolling her eyes at Henry. "Henry - why can't you just get //laid// like a normal person?" Exasperation clear in Kenna's tone. Also she's just going to move around just in case Chemical Assisted Henry The Runner decides to break for it.

Merek squints a bit at Henry's words, then he shakes his head a bit, "If you went in the water, do you know what that could do to you?" he asks. He then shifts his hair back with his hands and sighs. "What did you take?" he asks.

Harper smirks at Henry's comment and rolls her eyes, "Yeah I've never heard that one before, Henry." She makes her way over to him and tries to snag his arm to keep him from running again. "Just no running anymore tonight."

"Why do you think that I don't?" Henry smiles broadly at Kenna even as Harper begins to manhandle him. "Ow! My skin is delicate, I bruise easily." He winces and makes a sad face at her, but he doesn't appear to be resisting. He's on a very nice trip tonight. "Oh, I don't know. A little of this, a little of that. Nice hair." He'll reach out to pat Merek on the head as he's being taken away. Probably for a nice night in the cells.

Merek looks up as he is patted. He lets out a sigh, shaking his head a bit. "Sober up, and don't support the trade of such things," he states. He then takes a flask and drinks from it, while he nods a bit.

"If you did, then you wouldn't have time for this." So many overtones of duh' while Kenna takes Sparte his staff.

Henry giggles after he pats Merek's head and doesn't further speak on how much free time he has. It's probably a /lot/. There's some mumblings from the crowd about 'who's going to pay for all of this' and some cabbage is thrown at their captive before they move him fully along to the Iron Jail for the evening. Meanwhile, a little man rushes down the hill looking for his ponies. While upset about his beets, he's mostly just happy the animals are unharmed.