Jump to content

Frontier - Act Two, Chapter One


Parrhesia
 Share

Recommended Posts

"Alright," said Rill, a little uneasily. "Well, did you have anything in mind?"

"All yours, mate," said the blacksmith breezily. "Beautiful bit of steel, that. Was a shame t' see it on the rack for so long." It's a vicious, hooked thing - almost resembling a beak, which is, you suppose, how it got the name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 318
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

"There was this woman. Not the best, by any means, but she knew her stuff. She would give me training, and I would... assist her in other ways, in return. Then, after I'd learnt enough to keep myself alive, her house burnt down. Not because of me, of course. A pity, really. Then it became a matter of getting around, observing other people, and honing my skills."

That's actually not too bad for something I came up with on the fly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Su San's warrior instincts could generally tell him if someone was not being entirely honest or not. And it tingled ever so slightly that the foreigner dismissed it, more concerned with nodding to ensure his eyes wandered top to bottom and back up. "Your master, she fight many people?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Former mercenary. She never told me how long, but probably... 10 years or so? She only stopped because she got a pretty bad injury. She got hit by an arrow or something and she couldn't move her left forearm after that."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Somewhere I can find good food for starters, maybe the servants here know some good place. Then maybe check what the city has to offer?" Inge answered with a bit of an obvious realization this wasn't Chenoworth --maybe he should ask the servants about that too. "Maybe... check the baths? They probably have better here, maybe a theather too, or... some clothing. This place makes me feel out of place with these worn out clothes. Of course, nothing too fancy would do." The brainstorm left the apothecary with quite a few options, and his priorities knew what to put first. First I'll get something to eat, then we could ask around in town... I'm sure there's enough to do around here.

"What about you, Rill? Anything in mind?"

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

Barth had a small grin as he picked up the axe, looking it once over as the blacksmith spoke highly of it. "Yeah, seems like a fine piece alright. Quite well done, thanks." He took the axe as more of a prize as he left the Arsenal satisfied.

Taking a breath as he analyzed his options for the day, Barth decided to make his way towards the Crown Quarter, he had to go there before reaching the Artisan's Quarter, so surely he knew his way back!

Surprisingly enough, he did find his way back quickly. In reaching the Crown Quarters, he decided to enter the baths, it was definitely due, and maybe they served something nice along with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rill shrugged. "I don't mind. But... clothes are a good idea. I feel shabby. ... Do you think I look the part?" She swept her fringe out of her eyes. "But yes, we should eat. Maybe we'll see if we can buy something from a street vendor?"

The baths are a refreshing change of pace to the outside world. It's packed this time of day - women alongside men, nobles with merchants, mercenaries beside commoners. A small group of men are gambling in the corner, while serving boys offer wine and ham as refreshments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Yeah, I know whose call it is. I'll think about it. Meanwhile," she said, leaving whatever food was left, "what're we gonna do today? Don't exactly feel like sitting still waiting for the marriage to end without doing anything."

----------

Arin decided to begin his walk around the town alone, as his companions had either forgotten about the excursion, or fallen into a spontaneous sleep. Either way, at least he was getting some fresh air. The mansion was lovely, but something about it felt stuffy to him. Hmm... Clothes, right. Arin quickly wandered about until he found himself a tailor, or at least what seemed to be a place where he could get clothes that weren't charred, full of holes, or stained with dirt. He looked a lot worse than he'd thought, actually taking a moment to look at himself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cliving shrugged. "I don't know," he said, wearily. "A day of rest won't be the worst thing. 'Less you have plans. Y' strike me as a city girl."

"Another customer!" says Cale as Arin enters - it was the closest place there was. "Today seems like it's been a good day for business. I suppose it's the marriage. How might I serve you?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"How'd you guess?" she asked with a smirk. "Anyway, I'd like to shop around, so I don't look like... Like a soldier, when the marriage happens, and see what's around fer weapons and the like. If you want to stay here, feel free. I don't need to attach m'self to your arm twenty four seven. Not that I don't like doin' that, don't want to sound like that, but you get it, I think."

----------

"Oh, hello!" Arin said, with gusto, to the cheery sounding merchant. "Yes, it would be the marriage. I'm looking for clothes that don't make me look like something the cat dragged in. More than a bit shabby, I'm ashamed to say. Then again, fighting for your life, you tend to ignore your clothes."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cliving sighed. "Go ahead, if that's what you want. Look all fancy, or whatever. But me, I want people to know what they're gettin'. Blood, sweat, tears, looted armour. Anyone got a problem, I'll look 'em in the eye an' tell 'em that's what soldiers look like. The ones dyin' for them on the front lines. ... But yeah. You can go ahead."

The tailor has more or less nothing new to say. You're measured with efficiency and shunted out the door - it's peak business hour, and he seems in a rush.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having left Mary at the temple, Feran wandered the town, somewhat perplexed by her lack of antagonism. She intrigued him, not in the same was as Sherry or Su San, but a confusing sense of kinship he'd never really shared with anyone before... well, other than his father. His usual attitude hadn't phased her, quite the opposite, it seemed to have caused her to ask questions. It made him think, what did she do differently to other people?

It was a mystery to him, the mercenary wandering around the village as he reflected on his encounter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Dodging very tired. After march, still got strength to dodge meh?" Su San replied grinning foolishly, "Su San lazy dodge. Like heavy armour, move less, weapon not pain. You should try one day."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Puffing his chest up with pride, the foreigner slammed his chest with his gauntlet and made his features appear as fierce as possible, "Su San learn from Hwa...real men. Su San born fighting caste. From small learn. No one trainer. Many many teacher. All like fighting. Some like killing more."

Edited by Rothene
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Inge had a soft smile as he gave Rill a once-over, but he knew he had no sweet nothings to say. "... Sorry, I don't think any of us look the part for some fancy wedding, unless we want to stand out. I don't think Lady Meredith asked for that. Yeah, we'll visit a tailor later." Taking a look at his own clothes, Inge saw a stain here, a small rip there... Still nothing compared to the frontliners, though. It managed to take his mind back to their first encounters, though. How long has it been since we left Fort Chevelle, again? Some road has it been.

"Yeah, let's look around and find a street vendor. Can't stay here and hope food falls from the sky, I'm sure." Inge said, taking the lead as they left, hopefully it wouldn't take long to find a street vendor... perhaps.

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

The baths were a fairly new experience to Barth, not unheard of, but never a common part of the mercenary's life. The custom was mildly distracting, but he was sure to relax and enjoy the colder baths anyways.

After a while, curiosity took the better of him, and he observed the gambling men, eventually approaching them with some intent to join. "Excuse me." He said. "Is there place for one more gambler?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rill nodded. "Come on, then. Let's do this."

While there's a couple rather tatty fruit vendors, you decide not to try them out until the day you acquire a taste for maggots. After a while, though, your noses take you to a small town square which seems to be developing into a marketplace of its own. That, or a large, loud, mass argument. Either way, a lot of hawkers - just within earshot you can hear a plucky fishmonger, a loud and very fat Baharese selling kebabs who is shouting very loudly at a nearby grocer, even the strange accent of a Westerman can be heard, though you have no idea what 'kimchi' is supposed to be. It looks... well, foreign. In the distance you can see clothing stalls as well, though it seems any leatherworkers have been shunted away from the public.

"Sure," said a rather heavyset man, and shuffles for you to join. Largely there's no comment. They're betting for money, but not a significant amount, more for the pleasure than anything. A canny, lanky blond is currently leading by a fair amount, but it seems you arrived fairly early in the game - the other four all seem more or less even.

You're given a decent initial hand, but there's no real place to hide cards to cheat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Wow. Not touchin' old demons again, am I?" she asked, with some concern in her voice, despite her choice of words. "I figure it'd be more intimidatin' t'see a soldier all dressed up like them, actin' like a soldier does. Probably just me, though. Enjoy yerself, an' come find me if you need someone to bother." Sherry closed in and gave Cliving a tight hug, before beginning to walk off, waving behind her.

----------

"Oh-- er-- that's-- ow-- don't pinch!--" Arin grumbled about being fit so quickly, but in the end, it was a rather quick and painless procedure, and now he looked at least presentable. Perhaps he had the time and cash to cut his hair as well, though he doubted the latter. It would be rather expensive, and instead, he could look around for armor or weapons. Though he had to think about which....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...