First Glimpse

by **Kelmar Hedos** on February 17th, 2013, 1:39 am

70th of Winter, 512AV
Noble District

It wasn't often Kelmar found himself in this part of Ravok. Being a freelancr spy for merchant families meant thatmost of his time was spent around the Merchant's Ring following people and gathering information or at the docks hunting for hearsay that could give him some tips or following the less lucky folks. This time however, Kelmar's target seemed to be of an even higher sort, the kind who enjoyed a watching a good fight from the sidelines. Whether the man was betting or not was not Kelmar's concern, only that the snoop know where the man had been.

Sitting on a bench just outside the Pit, Kelmar's eyes were glued to the entrance where he'd seen his target go in, their direction hid by the cowl of his hood. His back was relaxed against the bench so as to not arouse too much suspicion, but he remained absolutely stock still, which would have given away a sense of not belonging to this area of relaxation. Not that Kelmar expected anyone to be observing him, he never did, which may yet come back to bite him. Still, he had to wait for his targtet to leave the Pit before he could continue anywhere, so he was stuck on this bloody bench until something happened.

The roar of the crowds in the Pit were deafening even at this moderate distance, and it was clear the fight was still going hard. The sun had reached its zenith a bit under half a bell ago, so the second fight of the day had only recently started. Assured that he had time before anything important happened, Kelmar let his eyes wander the park for anything interesting and opened his ears for any possible hearsay in this part of town. Information came in all shapes after all, not just words be visuals as well, so he made especial care to survey the entire park.

by **Imass** on February 22nd, 2013, 6:25 pm

Garonn was stinking of wine. He had been drinking since before noon. The alcohol calmed his nerves and dampened his feelings. He needed things to occupy his mind so that he didn't always think of old hatreds and bitter rivals. Wine was his preferred method of medicine when he didn't particular need his wits. His body was numb and his head floating as he sat in the boat. The Knight was cruising down a canal on his way to the The Pit.

The Akalak was a sight to behold. His face was grim, grotesque, and blue. His pale-gold eyes had no fire, but were cold and striking. He wore a fine silk tunic that shimmered like new snow. He tucked it into fine black wool breeches. His quality high-leather boots were light and sturdy on his feet. At his hip he wore a sword of good craftsmanship with a wide leather belt. Garonn looked like a Ravokian petty-noble, but being blue and having a deformed face made him look all wrong. Being drunk did not improve his overall image either.

From the moment he stepped off the canal into the Noble District, two soldiers where behind him. Garonn just ignored them. Just walking around brought sullen stares and whispers. He ignored them too. When the Knight walked through particularly crowded areas, like The Pit, two armed Ebonstryfe lackies would always be following close behind without fail. The open surveillance of the warrior brought an aura of danger with it and the smart people stayed away. Although the Knight wasn't trying to project hostility, most citizens around him seemed to believe that whatever Garonn was involved in must be treacherous. This didn't bother him none though for he preferred not to have to assert people's respect for him, 'It is better to be feared already than not at all,' he mused drunkenly.

The crowd was roaring many yards away. This made Garonn excited. As he made his way towards the entrance, a Ravokian noble mas making his way out with an armed guard. Behind this well dressed man was a slave fighter shackled in chains. The Akalak's mind brought him to examining the slave. The shirtless fighter was barrel chested and hairy. His stomach was great and a huge eight inch belt was wrapped around his belly to hold up a sack-cloth pants. His face was swollen and broken from brawling. Immediately, the Knight wanted to fight this man. It was apparent that this nobleman was sponsoring this man and although he was a slave he was taken care of well.

Garonn's cold, threatening eyes stared directly at the slave-fighter the whole time as he walked. The big-bellied fighter noticed the Akalak as well and stared back. Each step they took the tension rose, until both men clearly wanted to kill each other without a word being said. They crossed paths in the middle of the park right near the benches. The slave stopped dead in his tracks, despite the nobleman and his guards. He stared down Garonn and tried to intimate him was a simple look

The Knight stopped and stared back with drunken eyes. He slowly revealed a foot of gleaming steel and dared the slave to say something. The crowd at the Pit continued roaring, but all eyes where on the altercation that was about occur. The two Ebonstyfe put there hands on weapons and watched silently.

Big-belly laughed and spoke in a harsh tone, "Your battle wounds are a murmur and they make you look like a bitch! I'll kill you with my bare hands while you stroke my cock!"

The Knight response was a short and sweat jape on his status as a slave, "If I wanted to hear you, I would rattle your chains." The slave growled and spat towards the Akalak, but his saliva fell short.

"Everyone know's blue men are slaves, don't lie. You probably stole those cloths off the master you murdered. Stop being a coward and come fight me in the Pit," he said as the nobleman allowed for tensions to rise. The slaved eyed the Ebonstryfe as if to remind Garonn that it would be impossible to fight at that moment.

Smiling the Akalak retorted, "Who you trying to get crazy with slave? Don't you know I am insane!?" Dropping his sword back into his sheath, the Knight boldly bounded towards the shackled man. Right before he made contact, he saw fear light up in the man's eyes. Shooting out a hand, he grabbed the guy in the neck and grabbed him behind the knee. Using his hips to push, the shackled man had no where to go but backwards.

Pushing him down on the floor, the two of them rolled near a bench where a hooded man sat alone. Mounting him, the Knight grabbed him by the hair and slammed his face on the edge of bench, shattereing teeth and wood. Blood sprayed in a fine mist initially, but than began to flow black all over the ground. Before Garonn could do anything else the two Ebonstryfe had tackled him and began to drag him away.

The grotesque scene of the bloody-insane Akalak brought forth a roar of whispers, "You think I am afraid of your dungeons?!" He yelled drunkenly to everyone and anyone, "You think they scare ME!? I have already been locked up in Sahova and in your Black Hole!!! There is no cage that can scare me!!!!"

by **Kelmar Hedos** on February 24th, 2013, 5:57 am

From the left, the strong scent of alcohol wafted over and assaulted the operative's nose. Though he had spent enough time in the Silver Sliver to become acquainted tiwht the smell, that made it no less harsh or unwelcome. He himself never drank for the dulling of his sharp mind that would cause which would inevitably result in a slip up that was by all means intolerable. He made no move to shelter his sense from the stench though, not wanting to attract even that much attention, and instead Kelmar looked for the source of the stench.

What he found was quite interesting to say the least. A very tall blue man, taller even than himself, was walking towards the Pit, never stumbling but occasionally wandering back and forth across a straight path, indicating his drunken state. Obviously not human, but he wore an uncommonly wealthy set of attire that looked to be in pristine condition, tunic tucked nicely and neatly within the belt of his breeches. The presentation did not match what was beneath. A good length of sharp steel hung from his hip and his face was hideously scarred, suggesting that he both knew how to fight and had been in a few himself, only adding to the sense that he did not belong or maybe even want to be dressed the way he was. Behind him, two guards followed at a respectable and tentative distance, looking to be quite well trained and armed, perhaps even of the Ebonstryfe. Either this man was animportant member of their order and the soldiers were there to protect him and carry out his bidding, or he was a ward of theirs and the soldiers were present to make sure that he did not do anything that they wished him not to. The latter seemed more likely given his conduct and fancy dress, he could hardly imagine a member of the Ebonstryfe garbed so colloquially in public.

Others around the murmered and whispered to each other, backing away to give the obvious outsider a wide berth. There were likely to be rumors galore about this, but Kelmar would not need to listen for he was actually here. Whereas everyone else maintained a good space between the blue man and themselves, the operative remained seated and unmoving in his seat beside the path, watching the non-human approach gradually grow closer to where he sat.

From the opposite direction, a wealthy merchant noble Kelmar recognized as his target left the Pit in the company of his armed escort and a bruised bruiser with some obvious competition still in him from the way he carried himself. The fighter was obviously a slave of his, perhaps to earn the man extra money between business transactions. There was no need for the extra source of income as he was dressed even more fancifully than the ward, but the rich of Ravok always liked getting richer. After this, the merchant was supposed to make a routine visit to his wares, where Kelmar was supposed to observe what kind of signal was given to let him in.

In the meantime however, some tension began to rise between the non-human and the slave fighter, growing and culminating when they paused in front of each other when they met, almost right in front of Kelmar. Everyone else had cleared the area well by now, and the operative was the only uninvolved person within the geneal vicinity. Anyone else close enough was watching with a mixed sense fear and disgust, finding the situation and the two involved unsavory. To the snoop, he found it incredibly interesting. A staring contest of the darkest sense began, accented by the gleam of steel in the blue man's belt and broken by a growl of laughter from the slave. What followed was a relatively short exchange resulting in a headlong charge by the non-human that knocked the slave backward and onto the ground. The two grappled with each other until they tumbled near to where Kelmar was sitting. When the blue man grabbed the slave's hair and neck, what would come next was fairly predictable.

Turning just in time to hear a loud crack, Kelmar shielded himself with his cloak against the blood that flew in his direction, a gentle spray on his cloak that was lost in the dark grey and black colors.The scene when the operative turned back was one of resolution as both Ebonstryfe immediately dogpiled the blue man - confirming his earlier suspicions - and the slave remained on the ground clutching at his mouth, blood seeping between his fingers. The obvious conclusion was the one Kelmar had predicted earlier, that the slave's teeth had been smashed into the side of the bench. It even had the blood stains to prove it, but it was a bit of a surprise to see that the wood bench too was broken slightly at the edge, a testament to the blue man's strength. From beneath the two Ebonstryfe watchers, he began yelling something about being unafraid and having braved both the Sahovan dungeons and the Black Hole. Now, that last tidbit was quite interesting. This non-human walking free had come from the Black Hole. What reason could the Ebonstryfe have for doing such a thing was beyond Kelmar, but it was incredubly helpful to know and might prove useful in the future.

As for the slave, the big-bellied man was dragged to his feet by his owner's guard and hauled off behind the wealthy merchant. Kelmar waited until they were a good distance away before standing up to follow his target, casting a look down at the blue man who was still struggling beneath the Ebonstryfe. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, deep black voids reflected in pale gold irises, just as Kelmar turned to continue his task. So the man was a survivor and fighter, a competitor who wanted to fight and relished doing so, unafraid of any dugeon or the Pit. Such a man could prove useful in the future if their paths crossed again, especially near this particular place. Already plans were beginning to form in the operatives mind, all revolving around the use of the blue man and the benefit Kelmar would gain. Until then, maybe some favors were to be reminded of.

by **Cataclysm** on April 5th, 2013, 8:14 am

Kelmar :

Imass :

Safety comes in the oddest forms

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.

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