Oh how lovely you look (Solo)

[Darian]

1st of Fall, 511 AV

The idea was simple, he was supposed to keep himself outside of the door, all quiet like and make sure nobody saw what the slaver didn't want them to see. The whole thing rather bored Darian, but he needed information about a certain slave on the market, and rumors suggested he was the man to learn of such things from. If had to watch a simple door for a few nights then so be it, it was hardly much of a price to pay to be privy to such secrets. The only thing bad about the night was the rain that continually poured with no signs of ending soon, soaking him to the bone even fully dressed in his armor as he was.

A large rat scurried at the end of the alley he stood, but a simple glare did wonders to prompt it to make itself scarce. Yet another reminder of the grime, and decay that so characterized Sunberth all these years, a thing that until now he had been indifferent to. Now it seemed things where setting up for a change, looking more and more like they needed a bit of altering, those same dull grey stones freezing themselves into his vision. After his near death, so many things had come into focus, and mounting a investigation over the girl in his dreams took it's place as most important among those. Now also as well Sunberth drew his attention like never before, his mind no longer so addled by vengeance could see clearly the oddness of some going ons as well as a yearning to pull back the shadow, learn, and become stronger. Knowledge was power, that much hadn't changed, but what purpose to put that to had altered somewhat.

Somewhere just behind the wood he rested on a soft thud echoed, bringing a wicked smile to his face. Business has concluded.

[Archelon]

Turtle Appreciation at it's finest ^-^ Or perhaps interference runs if this was a football game. Just don't use my shell as a ball !;_; Beyond the doorframe a cold pair of slaver's eyes, a man named Callick looked down at the woman he had just beaten to unconsciousness... She was the way for her husband to pay her debts and soon to be up on the block soon enough. Looking back at the horrified man he motioned to his guard, Grotto to throw him out the front door. Business was business, and business was over. Reaching into a box to pick up a pipe he filled it with a bit of tobacco and lit it up before sitting down at a table. One of his goons would take the woman, and clean her up a bit. She was old, kind of stringy but she could cook and farm. Such slaves were useful in places like the Plantation. So Callik would probably get a good price for her there. When Grotto came back in, he looked as he showed the man out. The husband it seemed had been blabbering about coming back for the woman. He snorted, they all did that, but many a times if there was a turnaround of station, the men just bought newer wives off the block. Just a fact of Sunberth's streets. But something hadn't been quite right. "Hey Grotto. Bring me Darian for a second. I got a request for him."

[Darian]

The door clicked sharply as someone inside moved to unlatch it, and he took a few steps away from it reflexively, his eyes sharp and focused on the wooden portal. Now with things finished, it was most likely the time Grotto told him to be on his way with words of when and where they would meet next. Something was different about this time though, and he was sure it wasn't just the rain pouring over his head, drenching him to his heels, and causing him to shiver like a malnourished pup in the bitter colds of winter. There was something about the quiet of the street, the relative ease the night had progressed through that tipped him off that things where off. It was never this easy, and if it appeared to be at first it was a deception meant to get you to lower your guard and fall prey to the wicked, grimy claws of Sunberth to be consumed.

His heart pounded in his chest as the door opened full swing, the burly guard standing squarely in the doorway, and blocking out any and all light that might have radiated from within. Tension eased from his shoulders, and his eyes feel easily upon the man, the familiarity of the whole situation seeming to relax him. Any second now the man would tell him time and place he was needed next, furthering the wild goose trail he had been following out of the quality that it was something to do, and brought a rare sense of clarity to his mind. He would of course simply nod his head, his covering that sheathed him from head to toe continuing to maintain its fragile attempt of mystery, hiding grotesque scars in favor of any edge he could get and offering nothing for the man to go on except his "exemplary" word. Darian would do all of this, bow down under the bonds of servitude, all for the sake of a lone woman who had saved his life, and so awakened a long dead innocent curiosity within him.

Instead of doing that though, the man waved him in, and the tension flew back to his shoulders like it had never gone away. He couldn't help but betray the suspicion festering inside of him, evidenced by his eyes slanting in confusion at the man that stood squarely in the doorway. Still despite the confusion in his head, his legs headed the voiced command, seeking shelter from the rain just as much as it was obeying the words that left the man's mouth. Reflexively he ducked through the door way, always keeping his right hand on the hilt of his longsword, while occupying his left with tapping the place of the sheathed dagger strapped to his leg. Even in company that you worked for, trust was none existent, after all this was indeed Sunberth, and only a naive fool would trust another man on these streets.

When he was just before Callik, he stopped, his eyes meeting those of the man, and with some effort, released the hilt of his longsword, and allowed the hand to drape relaxed at his side. It was more a gesture of respect then anything to allow the man to feel safe. He had a hulking bodyguard for such things, and probably wasn't even a bit threatened by Darian with a hand openly on his blade. " You called for my presence? "

[Archelon]

"Come in Darian... " Callik answered gruffly before looking away for a moment. Pressing his lips together the man stood and turned his back towards Darian. It was obvious something was bothering him. Something that was setting him on edge. "Something... something about that last customer wasn't right. I can't put my finger on it..." Spinning quickly on a heel Callik's cold eyes bored into Darian's as he barked what would only irrefutably be an order, "Follow him! Find out what was wrong about him! Kill him only as a last resort but I need to know what's happening, and the farmer said he'd head back towards the farmlands in the Agremmon Fields. Go!" The last word was a word of command, almost like a dismissal as Callik gestured towards the door. By now, callik knew the man had quite a lead on Darian and hopefully like any good guardsman he'd have recognized and remembered the farmer's features. From the slave quarters he'd have to run for the outskirts, bypassing the routes of the Gated Community in the midst of the cold rainy night. In his mind the man pondered what the Crow and the Raven would say if someone was trying to gain an inkling of the Night Eyes business. When darian would reach the door, he'd hear Callik hiss,"And stay out of sight!"

[Darian]

"As you wish" Darian grunted, and spun on his heel to storm out the door. He grimaced, and offered a curt nod at the parting jab, accepting it for what it was as he ran down the alley. Of course he knew full well to stay out of site, it wasn't his first time trying to follow someone, but it was the first time he let them get so much of a head start. He remembered the brown, weathered features of the farmer that had stepped out from the door, his square jaw, and needle like eyes fresh on his mind. The overcast night made it hard enough to see in front of him as it was, the rain continually poured down limiting his vision to but a few feet but he supposed that would be all the more to his advantage this night. After all perhaps the poor wretch was stupid enough to believe that he wouldn't have a tail on him and would get careless.

" All the more to my gain " Darian whispered to himself, as he stalked along the sheltered, shadow soaked walls under the overhang of a sloping roof.

Trying to spot the man outright in weather like this would be stupid, and his mind reeled to remember the basic layout of Sunberth that might lead him to where he needed. He had lived in the farming fields as a boy so finding that wouldn't be to hard, and glancing at the buildings all around him, and recognizing that he was deep in the slums. Coming up fast on a intersection, he took a sharp turn down an alley before sprinting down it, eager to make up for lost time and possibly arrive at the fields before the dead beat did. The stones where slick with mud, and garbage, causing him to stumble at times into a wall, but when he did, he was still yet in shadows, and as far as he knew, no one was around. Even if they where, he wasn't much for appearances right now, only getting a job done, and as long as he wasn't seen by the fighter because of it, the occasional stumble could be forgotten and put behind him.

He burst from between two large buildings into another sheet of rain, his feet slapping hard against the ground, pushing off a bit farther when traction could be found. Darian knew he had to make it between the two smaller buildings before him as fast as he could. Moving out in the open like this, even in blinding rain was dangerous, and was doing no service to him other than to pain a nice target on his back. It also wouldn't make his employer too happy to know he was taking such risks, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and the spot between the two shacks seemed as good a place as any to stake out and wait for the farmer to come along. When he was but a few feet from the space between the shacks, he leapt as far as he could, clearing a few feet in the air, before slamming down on the soft, muddy soil, and sliding the rest of the way into the comfortable shadows.

Putting his hands underneath him, Darian grunted as he pushed himself up hastily to his knees, but pretended not to notice the mud that caked the front of his armor, as he twisted around to look from where he came, his vision set on the western outskirts of the city. He sat in the comforting silence that followed, the shadows always seeming to be his friends, and the source of greatest comfort.

Darian sighed.

There he would wait for half a bell, his eyes continually scanning before him, and all around him as well in case his little run had been spotted, but most of all he looked for the farmer hoping he would come along soon so Darian could follow him where he may. If the man didn't present himself within the half bell, Darian would start off for the southern part of the fields, growling all the way at having guessed wrong.

[Archelon]

In the still of the fields... At first to Darian's vision came a sign of a swinging lantern bobbing in the night rain and the sounds of horse's hooved clopping on the dust of the night road barely carried over the pelting of the rain. Along the road a driver in a wagon could be seen, heavily robed in a deep maroon red, and a tome case of waterproof leather could be seen upon his belt. A brief flash of lightning illuminated his features, a clear sign that this was the farmer Darian was supposed to follow... save he looked nothing like the farmer who had previously entered the abode of which he had been guarding. Instead of heading towards the nearby farms, the wagon angled sligthty to the northwest towards a few of the more abandoned farms as the rain began to pour down even harder... In its path there was only scrubland and if Darian chose to follow he would have to find some way of keeping close to the ground. Perhaps slithering like a snake?... Back in Calik's office... Grotto came in a few moments later, it had been a good half bell since Darian had left. The woman who had been sold lay now at his feet, bound and gagged, and drugged out of her mind with premium poppy to keep her sedated while the inspection began. Normally, Callick wouldn't have cared for a full inspection of the merchandise, but still he had to be thorough. The woman was soon searched by another underling of his, a female named Kallina whom only came here for 'special purposes." Kallina was the one he had tasked to run down rumors of Darian's strange dream woman and now her specific expertise was needed. Soon enough, two small patches of false skin on the woman's back was discovered, one a deep wound carrying a small razor, and the other hid something far more insidious. A tattoo. It wasn't a gnosis, to be sure... but that didn't mean it didn't bode trouble... for the tattoo was the in a form resembling that of a bloody hand. A devotional aspect of Kryssus if Callik had ever seen one. Muttering a curse, Callik turned towards Grotto. " Just my petching luck!" He spat to the side, "This shyke just got too hot for my blood, take this woman and dump her alive somewhere outside Sunberth. There's no petching need to make enemies we know nothing about... or rather... enemies we don't want to petching know anything about!" "So what about the farmer?" Grotto asked. "What about him?" Kallina's brow furrowed as she thought,"What about the tail you had after him? What if he screws up?" Callik nodded at the point and sighed, "If he gets any information, then that's fine and doesn't do anything to attract attention. I'll pay 'em a little to forget about this. Otherwise... otherwise-" Kallina's interrupted, "But who was her target?" Callik squinted at her, and took a toke of his pipe, "Target? We don't even know if there was a target ye-" Kallina's pressed him, information gathering was her business after all. "But if there was?" The slaver sighed a moment and looked towards the sky, "Akajia bless us if there was... if... if... the tail does find something then we'll deal with it then..." Callick paused a moment, Kallina's interrupted, "Of Course, that's only if he survives that is." Grotto just stood there dumfounded until Callik pointed towards the woman and the door, the brute lifted her up and began to haul her off in the night to be dumped outside of Sunberth's streets like he'd been told. Turning towards Kallina , Callik had to ask a question, "So... you ever find anything on that dream woman of his?" The woman smiled a little before she leaned back against Callik's desk, "Of course... but... just a little. A possible confirmation perhaps. There's just a bit of a snag on that." "Oh Really?" Callik sighed as he wondered how his night could get any worse. "Of course, he may need to recruit a small army to get where the possibilities of those that fit the bill of what he describe. A place where a few Rak'kelli being kept ..." "Where's that? Rober-" "No, up North of the city..." For a moment Callik seemed a little puzzled. There wasn't much up in the north except the wilds , the clay mines, and a small track of land where a few old ruins were... there had been no sign of anyone being up there before, not in years. Uttering a small grunt of displeasure Callik only voiced a single word of reply. "Interesting." Callik and the woman lapsed into silence as they waited... pondering the permutations of what the new information might bring to their doors. Perhaps they might string Darian along if he failed to come through here, without dying of course. It was just the nature of business in Sunberth after all...

[Darian]

Something didn't seem quite right, and it was made all the more obvious when a stray flash of lighting betrayed a stranger as the farmer he had been sent out to follow. If it wouldn't have gotten him killed, Darian would have cursed aloud at the turn of events. From the shadows of his perch he watched the farmer move towards less inviting lands, and otherwise completely avoid the ambush position he had chosen as most favorable. Not only that, but he looked different, much different than the man that had been ordered to follow, and was almost enough to make him call this quits and return the the slaver, but there was more at stake here than just collating some gold for the service he was providing. Information was on the line, and for a man who lived in the shadows for most of his life, he knew just how valuable that was, and it was enough to press on and risk his neck further. Besides wanting to find out who the konti woman of his dreams was, the man struck him as even more curious now with the change of outfits and he aimed to find out just why he was keeping himself disguised at times, even though that in the streets of Sunberth, following such a curiosity usually got you killed.

Offering a short prayer to the queen of shadows, he fell onto his belly, and crawled forward, his forearms pressing and pushing him along to mud with limited aid from his feet. Spreading his body weight out so helped his pace, and avoid getting caught in the mud repeatedly but crawling like that was slow and grueling work, and looking up with gritted teeth from time to time was all he could do to muscle through the pain and frustration that built up within him.Mistress of the shadows, guard me this day I beg. Darian plead silently, his eyes constantly searching through the darkness to seek out the bright bead of light echoing from the farmer's lantern. Putting one muscled arm in front of the other he continued his crawl, grumbling silently the whole way.

[Archelon]

In the Abandoned farmhouse's fields... As Darian crawled in the muck and the murk of the fields the rain continued to pour down as the lantern light from the wagon could be seen to come to a stop a bit aways away at an old abandoned farm. To his mutterings a small squeak came to his ears as he passed a rat, floating and scrabbling in the rains as it was slowly being washed away. Truly, this was a horrible method of traveling. A freak Lightning bolt struck a building in the distance , momentarily blinding him with a flash of light. Still, Darian pressed onwards towards the lantern. By the time he reached a rise over the dilapidated farmstead the man on the wagon could be seen being joined by two torchbearers in the middle of the farm's three sided courtyard. A barn with a roof lay on one side , an old hut opposite of it, and a field fence boxed in the third side. One, was a man he never seen, but looked dangerous with a scar on his face and a longsword on his back. But the other... the other was a man he had seen before... a man known to him as "Reacher.' A cretinous villian who had hired him and a group of others for a job at the start of the summer, and had failed to tell them of a second danger.The three began talking, with the crimson robed man now seeming to be perturbed about something as Reacher began to wave his arms in placating gestures. After a few moments to exchange words that Darian could not hear, all three began to walk by the torchlight, around the side of a building and out of Darian's view. If he wished to follow, he would have to find a means to get ever closer, following a variety of paths that were available to his options. He might sneak down directly, or take a side route to attempt to climb either the side of the old hut or the barn to get a better view. Or even take the time to encircle and come in under the cover of a few wild fields, still covered in the stalks of corn. Whatever path he chose, the choices were up to him. Perhaps he'd even have another method of sneaking down? Only time would tell. oocI tend to let PC's chart their own courses Ingenuity is greatly rewarded ^-^. Dont' be afraid to try something new to add it to the story.

[Darian]

From this distance, in the sheets of pouring rain that fell, it was hard to make out the faces but eventually his eyes caught up, and he could see among the small group, a man he knew all to well. It was all so confusing for him as he lay on top of the muddy rise, his body slowly sinking in the mud as if the earth was slowly trying to reclaim the body of his that was so very much alive. Why would Reacher be all the way out here, unless he was planning to con, or already had done the very same to the man in the crimson robe and what looked like his accomplice. His accomplice seemed the most dangerous of the terrible three, and Darian made a mental note to avoid him at all cost, and Reacher for that matter as well for the salt and pepper haired man had caused him no end of grief none too long ago. His eyes instead avoided those two and sought the man he had been following, watching him till he disappeared behind the large barn that obstructed his view of that side.

Darian grunted.

He needed to get closer, to hear all what was being said, to be put more into the loop then what his employers off handily told him. From them he knew, and very much suspected he would never get the whole truth, and sometimes not even truth at all. It was the way of Sunberth, a way he had lived by well and he could hardly blame others when they did the same. If there was ever a unwritten code of Sunberth, that would be near the top in the few tenants such a tomb would hold. Ideas came to mind, but they where all too obvious, almost expected even, and if the men where worth their weight in salt, they would have pickets out there in the field watching for such brazen tactics aiming to steal upon the group. All there happened to be around him though where thin shrubs, already well loosened by the mud that surrounded him, some looking like they would fall over with just a sneeze.

A knowing smile came to his face.

Working his hand underneath himself, his hand wrapped around the broad bladed dagger still strapped securely to his thigh, and with fingers made nimble from long hours of carving in his childhood, he pried it loose and brought it to bear in front of himself, making quick work of the shrubs and grasses around him. When he was done a few chimes later, he had a small pile of twiggy brush, grass, and leaves in front of him, and resting the dagger down, went to work stuffing the leaves and grass first in the edges of his armor all around making his silhouette blend a little bit better in the back ground. Next he applied the twigs around his shoulders and back in such a way that they stood up from it, furthering the idea that the outline of his body in the heavy storm would match his overall surroundings. It was a half hearted hope that it would work, but it was more than worth a try, and with that last thought he started off, back at first to crawling a little bit before the steep other end of the rise forced him to slide down on his belly the rest of the way, covering his face and neck entirely in mud.

Guess it adds to the disguise. Was a sour thought, but held no malice behind it as it did actually help him blend in with the ground the brief moment it stayed on his face. His slide had brought him between the fenced in field, and the barn from which the men disappeared behind, and slowly he eased up on his elbows and knees, his body tense and rigid to drop back down on his belly in a moment's notice. Being caught out in the middle of no where with no advantage what so ever was not on his list of things to do. Pushing up to his hands and feet, he padded across the mud like a dog, the manner of movement keeping him close enough to the ground to feel secure but also much faster than his crawling had been. Every once and a while when he though someone might spare a glance in his direction he would drop back down on the ground, and simply pretend to be weather ravaged plant life out in the scrubland.

Clearing the last few bounds between him, and the side of the barn he had been facing all along, he stood up on his own too feet, glancing a wary eye to the side before hovering in close to the wooden wall of the barn, leaning against it and peering inside through the cracks that looked like they had been there for a while. If no one was yet in the barn, he would slowly back away from the wall, and drop down into a crouch, whispering yet another prayer for himself to remain secret while he tried to pry into this one the shadows seemed to hold most dearly.

Again he was crawling across the flat muddy ground, this time just under the wooden fence of the broad field, and even though he didn't notice any animals immediately he made sure to keep and eye out for any for if anything he sure didn't want to be trampled by livestock, or eaten by some unnamed predator. His heart thundered in his chest, crashing against his ribcage like a waterfall. Through the underside of the wooden posts of the fence, he looked through staying as still as possible as he watched for the men he had seen just moments previous, his breathing rate slowing to a relaxing and controlling rhythm. I have much to learn of you darkness. It was something directed to no one in particular, as usually such thoughts went with the self interested Darian, and with cold eyes he continued his vigil.

oocLoving how it is going so far, I enjoy your writing. If you would ever wish me to change something in my writing like say my rough description of the barn feel free to ask and I will try to be prompt about it.

[Archelon]

oocYou're doing good Don't worry about descriptions, they're coming along just fine. If there's anything, I'll pm you

At the abandoned farmhouse... When Darian entered into the farmyard proper, to where he might see in the barn, the horse of the carriage looked up at him and whinnied slightly pawing the ground with his hooves. No one else could be seen within the barn itself. Thinking it better to move onto other pastures, Darian began moving along the fence, westwards till he gained a better view of the hut. Eventually the man stopped in the slop of the mud and the rain to a point where he would have been ten feet from the hutt's walls. If it had all of them intact. But rather it did not have four walls like any structure should. Instead it possessed three. One wall had a large hole knocked out of it, but a larger overhang of the straw thatch roof still protected it from the wind and the rain. Or did it? As he looked closer a small shimmering came to his eyes any time the rain pelted the break in the wall. Fizzling the drops to steam which seemed to cloud his vision. A clear sign of a high level shielding mage being present? He didn't know. But it was a shield. whether the mage was present or not was another thing to question. Whatever the case, the barrier did not stop sound from coming out to his ears, and over the rain the voices of the three inside escalated into brazen shouts of denial. Reacher was standing now, a clear sign of fear upon his face as he stared at the two men... "Listen, I know we were talking about that job last summer. The one's with the konti, but it doesn't matter. You got what you wanted in the end. Even if it was the other group that brought them to you. I had nothing to do wit-" The crimson robed man cut him off as the longsword bearer remained silent."Shut up you insipid wretch! You fool! That initial trouble has brought far too much attention to us! We needed them then... not later, and we sent those other men because you failed to acquire them for us in a suitable time." "Listen... listen to me Margrave. It worked out in the end. You got your girls, If I had known the other group had been hired by you I would have never intervene-" "Bullshyke! You were thinking about your own skin! What we would do to you if you failed! And you did Fail! Miserably. You sent a bunch of amateurs to reclaim our prizes, reclaim our property because the first group you hired to bring us the marked one's of rak'elli were incompetent enough to have a leader who wanted to betray you!" "Now, now that's not fair. I've done three good jobs for you since then haven't I? I even helped track down the one which escaped your boys, didn't I? Found her in the streets stumbling over a corpse! No problems, no traces really. No one knows about you. You're as fine as you were before! Safe!" The man's hand fell limp to his side as Reacher was suddenly propelled through the shield and out into the ground skidding to a stop before Darian's eyes. About five feet away from him in fact."Don't you ever patronize me again, Reacher. In fact I think a little lesson is in order to ensure you properly learn it!" At an unspoken signal the crimson garbed man gestured towards the longswordsman, who silently nodded and walked through the open door to the outside, heading towards the sputtering man. If Darian uttered a sound, it might betray his presence. But he would have to choose the risk of whether he wished to fade back into the field brush to hide himself or flatten himself down further and hope his mud caked form was enough to keep himself hidden. Whatever the case he chose he would be able to see Reacher putting his hands up and pleading to the approaching swordsman, "Please... Please Marchon. Tell Rionne I didn't mean, it. It'll never happen again. I promise!" From the hut, Rionne's voice rang out through the darkness. "Bring that piece of filth back here. We aren't finished our conversation yet!" Marchon, the longswordsman, smiled coldly before he reached down to pull Reacher to his feet by the hair, unceremoniously bringing him along on a short run to toss him back back inside of the hut. "Thank you Marchon. Come back inside, it's dreadfully pouring out there. Now, as I was saying before you interrupted me... no you were not circumspect enough to keep our secrets... and there will be a consequence for that. There have been others sniffing around lately. Night Eyes to be exact. And you have failed on your shipments twice to find more Rakkeli' slaves for us. You know our leader needs them when our goddess' blessing inflict's itself upon him when he doesn't cause others pain. Especially since..." A flash of lightning on the other side of the hut, followed by the resounding roar of thunder that echoed in Darian's chest deafened the conversation from his ears. A purple haze of spots from the sight blinded him slightly for a few moments making him see pale afterimages as he blinked to try to regain his night sight. The brute being still outside, Marchon grunted with satisfaction at the slight praise and the elemental display of nature before the swordsman made his way back towards the hut. Ther was no sign he had seen Darian's presence. Seemingly oblivious to anything but the satisfaction of causing pain to Reacher, the large man plodded back towards the hut, taking the doorway and settling to stand behind the crimson robed man, Rionne. It seemed that these were those Reacher had warned were dangerous enough to kill him if upset, and perhaps they were going to tonight. But for the moment; just the moment, it seemed they would not take the man's life just yet. Did Darian have the heart to get close enough to hear the next few words? Or would it be time to him to simply wait and watch what was happening while his mind digested the snippets and scraps of conversation he had heard already?