OOC: I don't remember if Roland ever learned Pseok's name, and I don't feel like checking. So he calls him Eagle, and thinks of him as the Eagle.
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Roland listened as the Eagle shot off questions, mispronouncing taheen. He didn't know if he had misheard or was being wise, but it was not important.
Roland: "When we enter the tent, we are likely to see what they want us to see: a circus. But I have a feeling that this is just a cover. As for Fisher, he may be taheen, or he may be ... something else. I have no way of knowing."
The idea that Fisher might be a vampire was something Roland thought the Eagle could go without knowing.
The taheen in the bright and garish suit had now led them into the tent. And Roland was right: It looked, indeed, like a circus. The audience was only half full, likely because the show hadn't started yet - there were no acts in any of the three rings. The only active attractions were all outside.
Roland spoke to the taheen. "Now, where can I find Fisher?"
The taheen began to smile - a cunning, I-fooled-you-and-you-don't-know-it-yet smile. "You won't be zeeing mizter Fizzer in thiz life, gunzzlinger."
And the audience rose, as one, to their feet, and rushed the gunslinger and the Eagle.
Roland quickly drew his revolvers and delivered a single, swift shot to the taheen's head. As he dropped he turned to the eagle.
Roland: "Can you fight? There are at least a hundred of these things, and I doubt that we'll be able to evade them long enough for me to pick them all off."
---
Art looked down at Drakko. He was much larger than himself, but ...
Art was already planning things out in his head. He would ask if the cats could try any more magic, and then ... then, he would have to try and carry Drakko to the elevator. They certainly couldn't call an ambulance. Imagine that conversation: "Hello, 911? Yeah, I have a larger Anthro wolf here with a bullet wound partially healed by magic ... what happened? Well, he came up here to perform a mob hit ...." No. Calling an ambulance would be a disaster.
So Art would have to carry him.
Art: "Kix. Krisha. Do either of you know any more magic that might help?"
---
I feel the need to add some profiles.
NAME: Benvolio (The Circus Guy)
SPECIES: Raven Taheen
OCCUPATION: Ringmaster
AGE: 62
HEIGHT: 4'9"
Other Details: Benvolio works for the elusive Robert Fisher. He is a raven taheen - a creature with the body of a human but the hands and head of a raven. It is a semi-demon who believes that disguising itself as a human, it will eventually become human. He brings rare attractions to the circus, and recruits Breakers (whom Roland will discuss later on).
NAME: Robert Fisher
SPECIES: Possibly a Vampire
OCCUPATION: Owner of Sombra's Travelling Circus, vice president of Sombra Enterprises.
AGE: Ageless. Often takes on the form of someone in their early thirties.
HEIGHT: 6'4"
Other Details: Fisher is a being who, to use words directly from the Dark Tower, darkles and tincts. This means he exists in multiple worlds at multiple times. The fact that he lives as a vampire - not the Hollywood Dracula type of vampire, but a carniverous, cannibalistic beast - is uncertain, but seems likely. He is skilled in the dark arts - nothing like altering landscapes or demon raising; he uses dark magic to, for instance, travel between worlds, change his appearance, see futures, direct the will of others. Though he is high up in rank, he is not on top. He answers to one unknown figurehead.
---
Benvolio pushed onward towards the tent. He was too busy thinking about earning Fisher's favor for bringing in two more anthro tigers to hear their conversation.
That was when he heard the second gunshot, from inside the tent.
The hell?
He prodded the anthros forward and into the tent ... and saw exactly what he knew Fisher would not want.
A gunslinger was at the circus.
No time to lock up the anthros. He raised his guns and slammed the two of them in the back of their heads. They were big, and likely wouldn't stay down long, but if he could even get thirty seconds away to find Fisher ...
No. Fisher likely already knew that that bloody Gunslinger was here. So instead of wasting time going to tell Fisher, Benvolio ran forward, into the onrushing crowd, visions of glory in his head.
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