Letters of the Damned:Endgames (Shai)

by **Antar** on November 16th, 2011, 12:47 am

70th day of Fall, 511av.

Frustrations warred within Antar as he paced the area outside the Simpering Seacow furiously. In his hand the last letter to arrive held a time, a location, and a small message.

The Northern Woods, Dusk.
It's time to finish this; I look forwards to killing you myself.
~Rastar Knifewinds

The name included in the byline was more infuriating to him. It brought back memories, memories of the woman who died in his arms by his hand, the name of one of the watchers who pulled him away. The name of the one who had cut his legs out from under him after the job had gone awry. Damnit.... Rastar was someone that simply needed to die.

Antar had told Shai to meet him here, on this day, at this place, and he was almost mortified that he needed to call on another for their help... but he needed help. His stubborn nature would get him dead if he didn't. He paced in his thoughts, a far cry from the cold , inhuman shell he had to adapt to survive. His features almost seething in anger. If anyone approached him he'd grumble and grunt and simply ignore them.

Any man of Sunberth in this state was not a good thing to see, especially not if it was a former assassin. 'Where was that spider anyways?!?!'

by **Shai** on November 16th, 2011, 6:43 am

What a long strange day Shai had lived previous to today. If she hadn’t made today’s plans days ago she would be happily sleeping away her aches and pains. Instead Shai was awake at the time of morning that she usually marked as bed time, jumping across roof tops. The sun was just peeking over the edge of the sea and admittedly it was a sight worth seeing. But this morning was not a time for gawking; she had to get to the Simpering Seacow before Antar lost his patience with her.

In rushed preparations Shai had shoved a small bit of her cloak through the lock bearing loop in her collar. Her collar was entirely the incorrect phrase to use, it was simply stuck there until she found time to have it removed. Preferably it would be removed by someone she would never need to meet again. Additionally she had carefully poured fruit slurry into her water skin. She was always careful to wash it at least twice a day otherwise it would get rank quickly. So with her breakfast and her accessory secured she had headed towards her meeting.

Only a few blocks away from her destination Shai scampered down the side of a building that was as far away from attention as possible. Then without bothering to put on her boots she headed towards the Seacow. She found Antar pacing, he was just as impatient as he had implied, and the man had seemed to be in complete control of his emotions last they had met. Quickly closing the distance between them she announced her arrival wearily, “Good morning.” The collar was well hidden by her cloak, she’d been careful to secure it in such a way that it was well camouflaged. On the other hand the man had proved exceedingly observant; regardless she wouldn’t bring up her new jewelry if he didn’t. So far the stupid thing hadn't jingled or itched either, maybe it would be a good day.

“Shall we get on with it then?”

by **Antar** on November 16th, 2011, 7:31 am

For a moment , just a moment his eyes, irritable and grumpy with frustration and aprehension looked into Shai's. His body was tense enough to belie his current mood, but in a flash as he opened his mouth to speak to her his body language suddenly changed.

It went cold. Dead cold with no signs of emotion and if anyone knew him well enough then they'd know that when a former assassin gets into that sort of mood it was a very very bad thing. Slowly a hand rose to caress its way down Shai's cheek to her chin as a little pressure was applied to turn her head slightly. There was a slight bulge under the fabric of her cloak that wasn't usually there and Antar's eyes could spot a glint of metal from under the cloak's ties.

A finger stretched out towards the item in question and slowly Shai's cloak was removed so he might see the object clearly. It was a collar... more importantly in fact it was a slave collar. Cold eyes bored into Shai's as a different sort of fury began to well within his belly, a cold fury that was different then the one he could focus in his own life. For the moment, the sight of the collar on Shai's pale skin was the external stimuli he needed to gain control of his thoughts after a long series of days. With a small whisper he asked his single question, hoping for the right answer from the woman, "Is the one who put this on you dead already?"

The rogue took a half step back, letting a short distance come between them. One hand thumbed the collar's metal specutively while the other hand tilting her chin so her eyes would meet his gaze. He watched her face for any sign of anything as he waited for her reply.

by **Shai** on November 17th, 2011, 12:39 am

Shai was completely ready for irritated, after all she was a little bit late. At first that seemed like all Antar would offer was agitation, but it changed in the span of a single breath. She almost panicked at the speed in which his demeanor shifted. Instead of jumping back she just tensed; they had to afford some trust to each other for this job to work. If this was a test she had no intention of backing down.

Her relief was palpable when he went for the collar. With the collar as the target for his mood it was much easier to remedy than some test which she might have failed. She spoke in a matter of fact tone, this slaver was not the first nor would he likely be the last. “He is taken care of, yes. I doubt anyone will ever find a piece of him.” She observed him hoping for her assurance to calm him. “It is not terribly noisy so I should remain unimpeded. But if you have the ability to remove it I have the instruments, I simply cannot reach the lock on my own.” The more she spoke about the subject the more annoyed she was he had noticed. It wasn’t that her attempts to hide it had been thwarted but that she had to ask him for help removing it. What kind of thief couldn’t pick one little lock? Regardless if he did take it off no one else ever had to know it was on her neck.

Navigating one of her hands into one of the buttoned pockets inside her cloak Shai located two of her picks. The thief hadn’t tried her skeleton keys on the lock but she didn’t want to ruin them by shoving them into a lock she couldn’t even see. The collar wasn’t more than an annoyance and reminder of her lack of skill, she could manage to ignore it if her company would be so kind to follow suit. “If not then we need to get about our errands.”

by **Antar** on November 22nd, 2011, 6:04 pm

Nodding slightly at Shai's words, the cold rage seemed to evaporate within his chest, leaving only the calculating field of ice across his features. "Very well. Let's deal with that collar first."

Taking Shai by the hand, the rogue pulled her into the nearest alleyway before gently pushing her up against a wall. His right hand reached out to take the lockpicks from her posession, ever mindful of the claws. "Hold still now."

The symenestra was slightly shorter then he was, and thus he had a means of seeing at angles where she could not. But for the purpose of any passerbys he at least felt it prudent to make it seem as if there was another concern between them. Pulling her a little closer he tucked Shai's head into his shoulder and set about rearranging the cloak about her shoulders before telling her to hold her braid to one side so that he might see the collar's lock.

It was situated over the base of the neck, along the spine and from his gatherings seemed to be a simple tumbler. Granted it was in a rather precarious position for the wearer to reach but the lock itself looked like a single lynch pin where a key grip would trigger the lock with a base pin for the lock to know a key was inserted. Taking both picks in hand, he inserted the smallest one towards the base pin, and the longer pick towards the lynch pin and depressed them both at the same time as he twisted the lock slowly.

With an audible click the collar opened and with some careful bit of manuevering came to rest between them. Smiling a little, the rogue returned the picks to her hand and let the moment of their closeness stretch a little longer as his mischievous side couldn't help but get in a teasing jibe. "So... do you want to save this little fashion accessory for later, or would you rather throw it aside so we can go get you that dress?"

by **Shai** on November 22nd, 2011, 9:48 pm

Shai raised a single eyebrow in response to his suggestion and stored the picks. Their proximity sent a thrill flooding through her veins but she wouldn’t be telling him that, the last thing Antar needed was knowledge of yet another way to get under her skin. Reaching out, Shai slipped the offending jewelry from his grasp and pocketed it within her cloak. “You should never waste a good lock, even one with such limited purposes.” Shai’s tone was all business, as charming as the rogue was she was already tired from the previous day’s adventures and being up at such an ungodly hour. She needed to conserve her energy for the coming subterfuge, however tempting it was to squander away her attentions.

“Now let us go see this dress you owe me.” Slipping out of his grasp only involved a quick duck and twist and the thief was headed back out of the alleyway. It never occurred to her to tell him how much her species knew of fabrics and their products. Nor that as a woman she knew this would take more than picking up a dress, whatever it was this man had picked he surely was unaware that she needed to coordinate the rest of the outfit. She was prepared to fill in the gaps and assuming they got this dress from a tailor the rest of the pieces she would need would be readily available.

Being the kind of distraction he needed her to be required just as much, if not more, planning than a normal heist. Shai needed to retake her old Symenestran grace, she’d spent to long focused on efficiency and lethality. While deadly grace could afford her the same effects it required much more time, several days at least, the mark would need to acclimate to her presence. No in a short time frame, elegance was a more potent tool than a reminder of a man’s mortality. She needed to ooze sophistication to the point where the idea that it was a façade would be absurd. On the other hand, the man Antar was sending her after was an assassin, maybe the chance for carnage would appeal to him. She would need to inquire about his personality and her precise role before she really set down her tactics. In retrospect Antar had never really told her what he needed her for, she had just drawn her own conclusions from the information she had on hand. “May I make surreptitious inquiries or would you prefer to wait until there are less ears to over hear?”

by **Antar** on November 22nd, 2011, 10:26 pm

With one hand on her back, Antar lead Shai through the streets of Sunberth towards the Gated community as he was thoroughly amused at how she twisted out from his arms. It was good that she could maintain her professionality at times, even letting it creep into the tone of her voice, it was precisely the quality he'd been looking for in someone he might ask for assistance. "Feel free to ask all the questions you like, but I may not answer until others have left the vicinity or maybe not much at all if it's too personal about my past. But rest assured anything you ask that pertains to the job will be explained in due time."

With those words they turned onto the busier streets and Antar's eyes spotted the bobbing trail of a wagon carrying a bowl of fruit on it's back. As it passed them both as simple stretching of his arm netted him an apple that was soon ensconced in the relative safety of his shadowsilk robe's sleeve. Another turn of a corner with Shai and the plazas which marked the entrance to the community were in sight, and soon they were joining the throngs of the masses. In line, he offered her a piece of the ripe fruit, thinking it best to address the weariness of her body that had made her gain the slave collar in the first place by giving her a little bit of nutrition.

He was still unsure of what exactly nutritional needs a symenestra would need but surely a bit of fruit might be soft enough for her to eat. When they were finally cleared to pass through the gates under the baleful watch of the dragoons , his steps lead her towards a few of the tailored shops with a variety of assorted garment choices of fine dresses and their equivalent ensembles... today was going to be expensive he knew. Shai would have to seem the perfect distraction to find her way into some of the back rooms at Tall Johnny's, or some of the higher floored rooms at the Pig's Foot, and all that meant preparations. Something clean and elegant, with a fine assortment of attire.

He'd be shopping a bit for himself too, something to replace the damaged articles of clothing he had accumulated over the past two seasons... one could only wear leg armor for so long after all... even if its leggings were made of blackened silks. Some of the better shops here in the Gated Community had dressing rooms of course, and for a moment he would have to imagine synchronizing some of their attires colors in order to play the part. A woman in Sunberth, wearing fine clothes wore them for one of two reasons: to display her own status amidst the myriad number of business owners, or to show off the status of another.

He wasn't going to say it aloud, but he'd need Shai to find a suitable garment that would allow her to do both if the situation required it.

by **Shai** on November 23rd, 2011, 3:45 pm

Locking her eyes on Antar’s face he Symenestra took a moment to memorize his features. She hoped he would be at side at least while walking down the streets of Sunberth, otherwise someone was going to attempt to harass her, it was a sure bet. Their complexions were almost exact opposites, the only way they could look more different was if she had red eyes and he was tanned. This was going to be rough. She took the apple and gave him back her water skin with no further explanation than an amused smile.

Shai strode in the store she was beginning to pick up the sinuous gait that could make a dress flow properly around a woman. The grace came naturally to most Symenestra and Shai was no exception, she was simply out of practice. For now it required concentration she would need to remedy that before the skill became a necessity later today. As she entered the shop she immediately began inspecting the wares, not really waiting for the attendant. It was highly unlikely the shop keeper would give her real information, it’d mostly be misinformation to drive her selection towards pieces that were selling poorly and needed to move or driving the price up with falsehoods. If she was going to pull this off the dress cut would need to display what little she had and hide the inhuman aspects. That meant her eyes had to hidden which was unfortunate it was one of her best qualities, additionally her hands couldn’t be visible even with gloves they were clearly not normal for a human.

Finally, she found a hooded style with acceptably long sleeves, it would do. Turning to acknowledge the shop keeper, “I wish to see any dresses in this fashion that could at least be altered to fit my stature.” As the attendant went about her command Shai watched him like a hawk, she was looking for what order he pulled dresses, how he handled them, and which ones he tried to display more prominently. There was an art to being a salesman but, like most tings, there ways to counter his tactics. The selection of dresses quickly diminished but Shai had expected this, she was only a hand taller than a human child consequently there wouldn't be many stocked dresses that would fit her. Without turning the Symenestra spoke to Antar to pass the time. “What sort of temperament does this friend you are introducing me to have?” Shai tried to be circumspect in her question and if someone overheard her they would probably assume she was a courtesan, although the very idea that a Symenestra would debase themselves enough to sleep with humans for money was deplorable.

As the dresses were pulled out Shai began to notice one glaring problem, they were human styles which meant they assumed the woman would be wearing some kind of brazier. Idiotic petching humans, making their designs so poorly that they almost eliminate mobility. She would give quite a bit of her small savings for a well made Symenestra dress right about now; it would afford her much more flexibility. Still she examined each dress and immediately turned away those consisting of only black and white fabric. The purpose of this was to stand out and that meant color.

Shai moved closer to the dresses she needed to feel the fabric. Her sister or father could have told from three paces away the quality of the cloth but she was never as good with fabrics or tailoring. Discarding two dresses for poor cloth and one for sloppy stitching she was left with five dresses. Red and Black, crimson, navy, green and gold, or teal and black? It was an interesting choice it would depend on Antar. “Will you be accompanying us this evening?” Shai laid hand on the crimson dress, she liked the idea of wearing Viratas’s color on a dangerous adventure, “Do you believe in luck?”

by **Antar** on November 23rd, 2011, 9:35 pm

With his mind on the purpose of why he was here, Noth quickly set about the business of his selections as quickly as possible as he formed a outfit from an ensemble of clothing. He wanted a matching set that was capable of complimenting many a situations, from a variety of sources.

The first item of his choosing was a plain set of black leather pants... to replace the one his present companion had torn off of him a few nights before. Eight silvers was a small price to pay.

At Shai's words , the rogue nodded and replied, "Of course I shall be accompanying you my dear, at least to the Casino and the Inn. Our friend might tend to try to keep me out a little later, he tends to be quite a dangerous sort in Sunberth, exceptionally well in how he blends in here."

By the words, Noth was trying to convey that the man he was after was extremely dangerous, elusive, and downright one of the most deadly things Shai might ever encounter. Including himself. He let his words trail off a little as he turned back to matching up his outfit, at first pondering what might be best suited in look or form, something high class, but not nobility, or at least passing as slightly that, a wealthy merchant look would do best... no coat of arms or identification either.

'Yes, that would suit.' With his mind made up on the look the next thing to come around was a careful look over the merchandise. Inspection of a surcoat, a silk shirt, another pair of black leather pants, along with a cropped coat vest and a set of gloves and riding boots was conducted with a methodical precision. All seemed to his eye to be in good condition, with the threads of their stitching neat, concise and well made. As well as durable enough not to fall apart, with the flexibility he'd require. The merchants in the Gated Community did tend to have higher qualities on the tailoring and in the end a set of stockings for under the pants a new scabbard , which his eyes could tell was the only secondhand good of the bunch due to a small hidden container in it's top even though its black laquer was quite a good match. Eventually the items were gathered as a whole and taken to the back changing room where they were quickly donned.

Emerging a short time later, with his garments upon his back he asked the woman for some assistance, watching as she had assembled her own matching set of wear, in fact, several sets of a myriad assortment of colors. Pitching his voice low to let it tickle her ears, he garnered a question of assistance to her. It was always best to get a woman's opinion, as men eyes were sometimes found lacking in coordination, (even former assassins who had to have some form of fashion sense to get close to high born targets)"Hmmm... my dear, would you be able to help me with assessing this before I go to pay the clerk?"

The rest of his gear and armor had been placed into his rucksack for safekeeping for the time being, looking like nothing more then a set of baggage which he placed by his ankles. His eyes looked at the spider expectantly, as if wondering if this selection choice merited her approval... or silently challenging her to find something which she could match to it?

He still held her waterskin and thinking he was quite parched he attempted to take a sip, surprised to find that the fruit slurry contained within was quite good. But he didn't show it, instead he took a small mouthful of the proferred breakfast of fruit, careful not to let it dribble down his chin and secured it away. Shai's bioligical differences of anatomy were intriguing to him to say the least. In a ... myriad number of ways. Even if he had hunted down symenestra before he always seemed to wonder at the trouble he had placing Shai squarely in his categorical views of the race. The woman was turning out to be the only exception towards them.

Bill :

by **Shai** on November 24th, 2011, 4:24 am

Shai gave Antar a once over from head to toe. He had made a decent selection by her eyes but once again to be sure she had to get her hands on the cloth. Striding in a circuit around the rogue she gathered a decent visual of the clothing. The black fabrics seemed up to bar, her biggest concern was the quality of the red and gold decorative panels on the vest. Running her fingers over the fabric she determined it to be of sound workmanship and the pattern was attractive. Taking a step back she took in the whole outfit, “They are of acceptable quality and you look practically . . . charming.” She nodded her appraisal seemed fair and she spun to return to her own selection. As she turned her eyes lit on a dress she hadn’t been shown, one that fit her specifications but for some reason the shop keeper had omitted.

It would match excellently which begged the question why she hadn’t been shown it. Shai stalked over the mannequin sporting the gown, and as she ran her fingers along the inside of one sleeve her fingers snagged on a strange stitching in the fabric. Lifting the cloth to get a better look she found that the sleeves had pockets stitched into them in the same fabric. She was sold on the dress almost instantly, while the shop keeper undressed the model Shai sought out the other small items she would need from around the shop. All the while the little attendant attempting to distract her with another dress, he apparently had plans for the one she picked out but she refused to be dissuaded.The most probable reason that struck Shai for his attempts were the time it required to stitch in pockets, it wasn't entirely difficult just time consuming, and he never claimed to have sold it to another customer so she had to assume it was still for sale. It was a lovely gold and burgundy were suitable colors for blood and life which made it an excellent choice for a worshipper of Viratas attempting difficult task. It was the luck she had spoken on earlier.

Disappearing into the back room with the dress and her arms full of other small bits of clothing Shai took her sweet time changing. While a corset was more appropriate for the dress she had opted for a high-waisted, cream colored girdle instead, it would give shape and not make her completely unable to maneuver if things went wrong. Additionally she had to make sure her racial abilities would work through the stockings, she had picked out the thinnest pair she could locate. The hooks extended and clung but she suspected if it came down to fleeing using them she would be ruining the stockings on the rugged walls of Sunberth. Pulling on small red slippers with golden leaves and vines embroidered on the toes was her final touch. Lifting the hood, she adjusted it so that anyone taller than her wouldn’t have clear view of her eyes; they were really the only part of her that clashed with the ensemble. Warm colors made her look less like a creature of the dark. After allowing the somewhat annoyed shop keeper to lace up the back portion of the bodice and lacing the front herself, she was ready.

Stepping back into the store front she kept a specific image in her mind; traversing the silken roads of her home. To successfully navigate Kalinor required what the humans perceived as grace and so Shai simply returned her step to a time before walls were her main network. Lifting the hem of the dress slightly, keeping her hands hidden, by pulling the fabric into her sleeves. In her other hand she carried her clothes bundled within her black cloak.

She approached Antar and spoke with an intentional Symenos accent to force her syllables to slip off the tongue.“Will he like this?” She'd almost let another phrase entirely slip out but remembered at the last second that she needed to be subtle.

Receipt :