It's a cold winter night! The winter holds it's grip on the city, snow swirling around the streets and piling up against the buildings. Folk bustle to and fro going about their business. Most sane people would be tucked into their beds right now. However, the city never truly sleeps and people may have their various reasons for walking the streets of the Lowers.. at night.. in the winter. Smoke billows from chimneys, giving the entire area a nice cozy smokey aroma. However, one building has a LOT of smoke! Across from the Murder of Crows, a little merchant shop called the Dusty Bauble has a new flickering light glowing in the window. Suddenly a man yells out. "FIRE! FIRE!" He is loud. Faces go to windows to see what the ruckus is all about.

Cahal is often tucked up in a tavern somewhere listening to stories, telling stories, drinking, telling stories and generally being the extroverted person that he is. Thus, when the calls of fire go up, he can't help but follow the sound of yelling until he finally discovers the source of all the smoke and noise. Stopping not to far from the building he slowly turns around on the spot trying to work out what he should do, if anything. Wheres the nearest well? Are there buckets? Are there a dozen strangely dressed men wielding clubs hanging out on the street corner? His first perusal complete he calls back to the yelling man. "Whats going on?"

Ian emerges from within the Murder of Crows shortly after the call of fire went out, turning up the collar of his coat against the wind as he does so. He's one of probably a number of people to come piling out, and one of two Kennexes to do so. Lots of nobles stinking up the Murder tonight, apparently. He takes a moment to take stock of the situation while tugging his gloves out from where they're tucked into his belt and putting them on.

Jan comes from the murder following Ian and a gaggle of commoners coming to gawk and investigate. She lifts up on top toes and looks for the fire or the source of the shouting.

The man stands there with his hands on his head and a clear distraught look on his face. "My wife is going to KILL me!" He laments. "Please! You have to help me! I don't know what happened! I was downstairs and suddenly flames came out the back room!" Smoke goes billowing out through the cracks of the ceiling above, the gray plume swirling and dissapearing into the darkness of night. But then, there is a face that comes to one of the windows upstairs. A rather dapper young man with a maticulously kept goatee flings open the shutters. "Derlo! I'm stuck! I can't get out!"

Cahal's head tilts up from the chaos to the guy trapped inside. "Is it Just you in there?"

Ian looks from the glow of fire in the building to the man outside shouting for help to, after a moment, the man trapped inside. At first, the momentum of his movement seemed to be inclined in one direction, maybe something to do with a bucket brigade, but realizing there are still people trapped inside draws all of that up short. "Is the way up passable?" He shouts this up to the man in the window, on the heels of Cahal's question. He's already sizing up the outside of the building, the nearby rooftops, possibly anticipating the answer.

Jan's chin lifts and she notes the face at the window "Turdnuggets." She tersely declares under her breath. Without waiting to see if there are others in the building, "Who knows Where to find a wagon and a stack of hay?!" As soon as she finds someone who volunteers or assuming there's no answer she ducks back into the murder and bellows, "Buckets and water! I got silver for everyone who can find me buckets full of water!"

Ian checks perception and streetwise at normal. Ian is successful.

Jan checks command and leadership at normal. Jan is successful.

The man in the window coughs violently as the smoke begins to swirl out through the window he occupies. "Yes! I.. " COUGH COUGH! "I think so! Just me right now!" He looks back behind him towards the dark swirling smoke, "I don't know! There is fire in the stairs! The smoke makes it so I can't see!" Meanwhile, Derlo is really fretting. "Don't worry Kervan! We will get you out!" He looks to Ian, "Right? You have to help my friend!"

It is unclear what truly motivates the people around Jan. However, a few of them jump into action when she begins to organize people. Quickly, a line is being made to the closest water source while others run to collect buckets.

Cahal looks at Ian. "Reckon it'll be easier just to climb up there and lower him down. Unless you reckon you can talk him into doing it from here?" he looks up, already rearranging the heavy weight of his bearskin cloak. "Want me to go or shall I give you a lift?"

Ian scans the building, his brow starting to furrow. "You said it started in back?" He asks Derlo. He's already stepping away from the doorway of the Murder, more than a little uncertain on his feet on the wintery street. "Is there anything back there that'd make it spread faster than it should?" He gives Cahal a quick look. "I need to go around back. The last one of these I saw was set, and designed to burn hot and fast. This looks the same." To Jan, he adds: "Send a couple of people to the alley. If they can't get buckets of water together right now to bring, then have them bring buckets of snow. If we don't get on top of this now, it's going to spread to other buildings."

"She looks on top of it." Cahal flashes a wide smile in Jan's direction before poking his head inside the building to look at just how traversible the stairs might be. His fingers caress the head of his axe as he considers it but after just that glance he seems to decide its just easier to go up the outside. "Think that hay wagon will happen?"

Jan brandishes a finger at a young woman nearby "YOU! Mistress, FIND ME a wagon and hay! Promptly! Any means necessary! Promptly now!" She turns and nods to Ian crisply "On it." When the first filled buckets arrive she moves to grab one and calls, "I need fetchers and throwers! If you have a bucket in your hand right now-you are a fetcher! If you are standing around gawking! YOU are throwers! Throwers will EMPTY their buckets and hand it to throwers! THROWERS! You want empty buckets to be filled!" She moves around to the back of the building "WET THE BUILDING! IF you don't see fire then drench the building!" She tosses her bucket and runs back to grab another bucket and trades it for her empty bucket!

Ian breaks away from the (hopefully) organized chaos on the street and starts towards an entrance to the alley that runs behind and between buildings. Once he starts to slip, but is close enough to the alley by that point that he's able to catch himself on the wall before disappearing within.

Jan is super on top of it. The people of the Lowers don't seem to gawk at the fact a silk is ordering them around. It's cold. There is a fire. They just get into a mode of doing what needs to be done. The woman who was gawking and got ordered to get a wagon of hay pauses, blinks and then perks. "I know where to get one!" Then she is off!

Derlo is too beside himself at the moment to be of any good. He is stressed his home/business is in flames and that Kervan is still trapped! As far as Kervan goes, he begins to climb somewhat out the window. He sits on the sill, gasping for fresh air. Wait, is he.. nude? Yes, yes he is.

Behind the alley where Ian goes to, he will see the back is lit aflame! There is an aroma of perfume and oil. The flames so far are just on this one building, but they grow with intensity and coule easily grow large enough to lap at the next building.

Jan says, "Stop gawking! Unless that cock starts screaming too I want eyes on TASKS! Fetchers! Go go go! Throwers! Why am I the only one throwing water? Go Go go!"

Cahal checks strength and athletics at normal. Cahal is successful.

Ian takes in the scene at a glance, before emerging from the alley again. "Jan!" His shouting of her name peters off into a cough thanks to the lungful of smoke he breathed in before shouting it. "It's an oil fire. It's strongest back there." Then he'll draw on his many months of hanging out around the Murder to seek out someone who looks like they know the area who can be collared and asked more questions.

Jan says, "Buggering Ratsacks! OIL?!" She draws in a lungful of air "CHANGE IN PLANS! ASH! sand! Mud! Blankets! She removes her cloak and moves around towards the smoke "NOTHING THAT COOKS OR BURNS! If you can't find anything to fill a bucket with then find something to beat it with! HEAVIER THE BETTER! beat it like it has buggered your wife while you were away!""

Cahal checks luck at normal. Cahal marginally fails.

Ian checks luck at normal. Ian is successful.

Jan checks luck at normal. Jan is successful.

Kervan coughs violently, holding onto the edge of the window. The room behind him begins to glow. He screams like a little girl! "IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING! AIIEE!" He looks to Cahal! "HELP ME! I AM TOO BEAUTIFUL TO DIE!" He /is/ a beautiful specimen of man. A very scared specimen it seems.

If things aren't bad enough, a new kink in the whole scenario happens. A portly woman arrives bundled in a fur cloak! "MY HOME!" She is upset. Clearly upset. Her business and home is in flames. However, her gaze looks up to the nude man in the window and her eyes narrow oh so dangerously. "SNOOKUMS!" Derlo's eyes are as wide as saucers when the woman arrives. "Listen. It's NOT what it looks like!" The woman hauls back her fist and BLAM! Derlo falls over cold in the snow.

Cahal is able to easily climb up to get to the man, but.. suddenly the roof near him begins to collapse, making it super precarious for him AND Kervan! Kervan once again begins to wail. Now, Jan and Ian are much luckier. The people are listening and things are being retrieved! Wet blankets. Bags of sand! A barrel of pebbles. Whatever the folk of the Lowers can get their hands on, they do!

Given the choice between sitting on a collapsing roof or getting inside the room with Kervan, Cahal chooses to climb into the room with Kervan. "It's alright." he tells Kervan reassuringly. "We'll all get you out. You just gotta trust me alright?" he jerks his head towards the window. "Climb on out onto the ledge there and I'll lower you down." Just what will happen when he's on the group with the angry wife is Jan's problem..

Group=Ground

Ian casually sidesteps out of the way to avoid being tagged by the windup to that punch. It's not clear that he thinks that Derlo having the snot beat out of him is Jan's problem, but he doesn't seem to think that it's his. It might just be Derlo's, he of the snot getting beaten. He collars someone he recognizes to start asking questions about who lives in the buildings next to the one on fire, and whether they're out on the street already.

Jan says, "Where is that damned wagon?!" She points at the people helping out "Follow the smoke! stay low to avoid the smoke, chuck and get your backside out of there!"

And just right at the right moment, the sound of horses is heard coming around the bend! A rather nice wagon arrives, stuffed with hay. Hmm. That wagon sports the colors of some noble house. What is /that/ doing down here? Regardless, the wagon pulls up to a stop and the woman looks up to the very naked, yet handsome Kervan. "I brought the hay!" It's good quality hay too. Probably for some horses belonging to nobility.

Ian will find that people are rather cooperative with him and evacuate their homes. In fact, the adults not supervising any youngins will step in to assist with the fire efforts.

That portly woman has her eye on Kervan. Her arms fold across her chest as she waits. "That's right. Come on down ya jackass!" Her foot begins to tap. Kervan slinks up against Cahal, "I think I might take my chances with the fire..."

On a good note, the efforts of the people are beginning to work. The surrounding buildings so far are spared the flames and the flames in the back are getting smaller.

Jan coughs and turns her head to spit phlem. She stops shouting and turns her attention to whooping that fire! Smack! Smack! beating it back with a heavy quilt.

"Look Kervan." Cahal tells the dapper young man. "You've got two choices here. Either you go out under your own power and keep a bit of dignity or control or I decide for you. Hurry now." he jerks his jaw towards the glowing back of the room. "I won't wait long."

The morbid fascination is (briefly) too much even for Ian. Somewhere between making sure the nearby houses are evacuated and whatever else he's planning on doing next, he winds up watching the situation playing out at the upstairs window.

Jan coughs and sputters, "GET YOUR LILY-LIVERED ASS DOWN HERE _NOW_ OR AS GODS AS MY WITNESS I _WILL_ COME UP AND DRAG YOUR DOWN BY YOUR DAMNED BALLOCKS!!"

Cahal checks charm and intimidation at normal. Cahal fails.

Cahal checks strength and brawl at normal. Cahal is successful.

Ian inhaled a lot of smoke checking out the source of the fire and directing people towards it, and definitely what he's doing right now is coughing. You know, because of all of the smoke. That he inhaled. It is not, absolutely NOT, choked off laughter. (It is, tho.)

Kervan looks back out the window, then back to the fire, then down to the hay. Then for a brief moment he looks up the street one way. But then his gaze locks with the woman who continues to glare. "I.. I.." He backs from the window and right into Cahal. But.. suddenly his lily-livered ass is airborn! Fear grips him right in the heart! It is a combination of flying, falling, and facing his lover's wife. "AAAHHHhhhh!" He yells out the good ol' wilhelm scream before thunking into the wagon filled with hay!

The impending doom can be felt in the air as the woman trundles towards the cart. Kervan scrambles to fling hay off him as he scrambles to escape the soft landing! "KERVAN!" A hand goes into the cart to grab at the nude man, but he is a wiley one! He dodges and hops off the cart! He is not sticking around for NOTHING! All that people can see are the rounded cheeks of his bum shifting as he runs down the road, yelping the whole way! Portly wife.. she can move surprisingly fast. Threats are yelled and they dissapear around the corner, leaving the crew fighting the fire to finish off the rest of the fire.

Jan turns her head and spits more phlegm. Wielding her quilt with both hands and wobbling so she can swing it around and beat it down, again, and again, and again. She is briefly swallowed by the smoke as she chases the flames towards their origin.

It's the scream Kervan makes on the way down that finally kicks Ian from plausibly maybe coughing to just flat out laughter. Well, this is Ian, with Ian's twisted sense of humor, so actually the impending doom also probably plays a part. Either way, he leans his forehead in one gloved hand while he tries to pull himself back together.

For a moment Cahal forgets all about the fact he is in a burning building and instead watches Kervan running off down the street. His laughter bright and vivid and completely out of place. It ends pretty quickly when a piece of falling roof reminds Cahal that he doesn't want to stay where he is and he follows Kervan out the window. Only Cahal practices calm dignity in his own escape (hopefully), letting himself hang down from the window ledge before dropping the remaining few feet down onto the ground. Sometimes being a Blackram (and thus rediculously tall) is almost useful.

As if on cue, as soon as Cahal drops to the ground below, the roof caves in. This causes a domino effect, the building just crumbling in upon itself into a heap of smouldering rubble. Thanks to the combined efforts of team HEROS, nobody got hurt. Well, except for Derlo who still lays K.O in the snow. He will live though. A small woman from a neighboring building walks up to Jan, offering her a smile. "You are amazing! Thank you and your friends for all your help!"

Jan is somewhere in smoke. Not even around to snap at Ian to pull himself together! Laughing like he's never seen a flying asshole!

Jan comes out to get fresh air and coughs, spitting black nastiness and wiping her face which just leaves more grime, "Like you've not seen flying assholes." She wheezes.