[Sunberth] The Street Fires

by **Twister** on March 16th, 2013, 12:19 am

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Sunberth--Spring 12, 513 AV

It was only a few days after the first hangings. The city was in a temporary state of peace and accomplishment, a few true atrocities met and dealt with for the sake of the populace and their collective sanity. It was an unusual thing that the entire city unified in such a manner in order to fight a threat against the populace, even if it wasn't particularly dangerous in and of itself. A few cannibals? They really weren't all that dangerous to the general populace, even though they'd preyed on an few unfortunate souls in the most morbid of ways. Fear and rumours spread like wildfire, however, and most Sunberthian could unite and agree that they wouldn't stand for it. That's what led up to the hangings on the sixth, only six days prior. The people needed it; someone to blame and punish for their collective suffering. While everyone knew and had come to terms with what sort of lives they were living in Sunberth, it was no less difficult a reality to spend your life in.

Unfortunately, it wasn't about to get any easier.

Malkar was his name. He wasn't a very remarkable individual in his own right. He'd lived in the city since he was a child and was lucky enough to have lived in the orphanage under the protection of the previous proprietess before the fires. A child of anarchy, he had a free spirit and a mind for mischief even as a boy, and neither had faded away with the years. Today he was a grown man in a big city, and he was only starting to come to terms with his own insignificance in the large scheme of things. It wasn't something that was about to stop him, however. Casting one last glance down the street running past a row of homes in the Sunset Quarter's less torn-down sections, he set off together with three other masked figures. It wasn't a remarkable operation, but he knew this was going to be essential for the city's future. It had been stirring under the surface for a long time now and he could feel it in every fibre of his being as the small group navigated the many narrow pathways and alleys of the city, that today was a big day. Today, something great would happen.

He had prepared himself for this for a long time. Him and the others had practiced the routines and the quick get-aways, coordinated their efforts with a number of sympathisers and the following they'd managed to gather was quite remarkable. Should everything go as planned, things were bound to change around here. Of course, they'd have to move quickly and quietly. This was happening under the noses of the Big Three, and they couldn't risk the secrecy of their operation to be compromised at this time. Not now. Not before they'd succeeded. Urgency was in the air like the oppressive scent of grime and muck of this city, and Malkar covered his nose with a gloved hand while picking up the pace to take point as the four of them hurried through the streets.

A few eyes were cast after the odd group moving about this early in the day. Most of the city had barely woken up yet, although it was mostly because of recent events that most citizens seemed to have decided to take a few extra hours of sleep in the early mornings. The last few days had been exhausting for many, celebrations and the like being thrown in pretty much every bar or alcohol-serving establishment. The whorehouses kept themselves wide open for more than just their patrons and the working girls and boys were up to their necks in extra work to keep the celebrating Sunberthians entertained. The defeat of the vultures seemed to call a very joyous reaction from most of those who attended the hanging and those who awaited the onlookers upon their arrival back to the city. They'd ridden the city of unwanted beasts, after all.

The lack of attention seemed not to bother the group in the slightest. It was rather welcomed as they could rather effortlessly transport themselves to their ultimate destination, where a smaller crowd awaited them and a single unmasked individual---a woman---stood in their midst, eyes turned upon the new arrivals with a snide smirk crossing her face. Malkar and his associates bowed their heads in apology and she batted a dismissive hand; "You're late."

Her name was Thelma. Appointed the "head mistress" of this section of the city, all the men here answered to her. She wasn't the leader sort, but at least people listened to her. There was something about her that made people want to listen when she spoke and that was deemed an effective enough quality to put her in lead of this part of the operation. It needed a strong leadership to keep people together, since this was going to be everything but risky. Malkar knew that. Everyone present knew that. Even Thelma did, and you could tell as much by the look in her eyes even as she tried to cloak it with that devilish smirk of hers. Malkar knew as well as anyone what this city had done to her and everyone else standing before her at this moment. "It's about time we got started. The plan is to set five blazes before sunrise and keep at least five active at all times. We'll need good surveillance of our chosen locations and we've already gone over effective use of ammunition and fuels..."

She trailed off for a moment in order to glance over the group and survey their reactions to her. Most of them seemed to just quietly listen, so she continued; "It's of vital importance that everyone does as we've practiced. We can't fail now. You're all on your own once we're out there and make sure you remember that. In order to ensure the longevity of this operation, we need to watch out for the safety of the whole." Her eyes narrowed a bit and locked them in Malkar's, however. "If I find out any of you pull any underhanded stunts between eachother, I'll personally see to torching you alive."

He swallowed. There was no beating around the bush; He knew exactly what she meant.

"Are we clear on that?" Everyone nodded. "... Good. Let's move out!"

The crowd dispersed from there. Malkar was left all on his own to gather his appointed supplies and get moving to his station. He knew there would be a signal before he was supposed to light his own blaze, so he had to hurry to put himself in place. Thelma's attention back in the meeting place had caused his anxiety to stir in his gut again and he couldn't do anything else than hate her for that. It was a low blow and it wasn't the right time to pull up old dirt when so much was on the line. He knew that Thelma knew that. Gah!, he'd just have to dismiss the thought for now. Focus Malkar, focus. Now's not the time to dwell on old grudges.

Everything fell into place very nicely. It seemed most everyone reached their dedicated positions just in time and Malkar was prepared with his torch when the signal smoke rose above the rooftops on the other end of the city. He let his burning torch touch down to the drenched hay before he quickly evacuated the stables. The shrill cries of the animals inside soon enough caught the attention of the surrounding citizens as they rushed out to save what could be saved as the flames quickly rushed to devour the building and the next. Smoke rose in several parts of the city as the fires spread, and this was only the start of it. There would be more fires as the days passed as the group and Malkar worked to keep them lit at all times. People would most likely suffer for this, but Malkar forced himself not to think about it. He knew what they were doing was necessary.

They would smoke them out. Every last one of them.
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OOC :

by **Michaela Abendroth** on March 16th, 2013, 1:02 am

Michaela was at the meeting setting the fires. She was going to make and light her fire at the west end of the city where there was a farmhouse that had a barn many fields around it. She just needed the find the perfect place to set it so that the barn and the fields would catch on fire and to do it stealthy enough. She knew that if she did it at night time that would be the best, because then she could fly in unnoticed, set the hay beside the barn on fire and then fly out very quickly but what she had to make sure was that the fire would spread from the barn to the nearby fields. Maybe she could make a trail that would lead from the barn to the fields. Yes, that sounds like a good idea. So she gathered her supplies and took off to do what needed to be down.

She waited for the people to go to sleep inside the farmhouse, and upon waiting for that, she took some hay from the pile and made a path from the hay pile to the fields. She knew that this was probably not the best idea to get people’s attention, but this is what was asked of her and there was no way that she was going to get torched alive for not doing what was asked of her. As soon as she seen the last light go out in the farmhouse, she awaited the signal. A couple of minutes later she seen the signal, lit the hay on fire and then flew up into the sky and watched the fire burn. It caught the barn on fire, it caught the path on fire and it lit the fields on fire. Good. The plan was successful. She decided to hover over, where she would remain unseen and watch the people from in the farmhouse come running out of the house to see what had happened. She then flew off to her home and thought of where her next fire was to be lit. There would probably be a meeting to make sure everything went smoothly but she was positive someone would tell her.

by **Zenobia** on March 16th, 2013, 8:50 am

Zenobia had been leaning gently against the door to her small apartment, having just said goodbye to one of her regular clients - Orlando - who had to leave early that morning, before taking a few moments to breathe in the relatively fresh air. It looked to be going to be a rather pleasant day weather-wise and she was glad of it, for she missed the sun and it was always nicer looking for a client in the sunshine... at least she thought that this would be so until she saw a dark cloud of smoke, almost blue in the early morning light, creep ominously across the sky. For a moment, there was nothing but silence, but then she heard screams break out from the direction of the smoke.

Without thinking twice, Zenobia walked speedily through the streets towards the sound. It took her a few minutes to get to the right quarter of Sunberth, but it was far from difficult to find, for now it looked like two houses were completely enflamed, from one of which she could hear screams, and the sparks looked set to jump.
The two buildings were completely irreparable and the screams from the inside were dying out and Zenobia knew it was too late, but not too late to make sure that everyone was out of the house next door. It was early morning and fire had a way of creeping up on its victims. The crowds who had come down into the streets had started milling around but none looked set to do very much. Tying her hair back, just in case, Zenobia ran towards the third house along with determination and was duly joined by a couple of other people as she tried to break down the door.

"I'll go to the second floor. Two other people should take the first floor and the ground floor." she indicated as they finally erupted into the dark and dank hallway of the house, if it could indeed be called that for though it seemed that those who lived here were largely better off than the general population of Sunberth, in Zeltiva, it would have been considered barely more than a hovel.

Realising the urgency of the situation and smelling a dark, bitter substance, she took no time in running up the rattling stairs and entering the first room. In it, there looked to be four children, in narrow bunks against the wall. As expected, they were all deeply asleep and the smoke which was billowing in, dangerously through a window, highlighted the danger of the situation and the immediacy of the rescue needed.

"Wake up." she said, shaking them violently, one after the other, but not too much. People in Sunberth were cunning and even a child might sleep with a knife to stab the perpetrator of a rude awakening.

"What you doin' in this 'ouse?" said a burly blond boy, immediately standing up, looking at her aggressively. But before Zenobia could answer, there was a sudden crash and a beam fell down from the ceiling, in flames, across the centre of the room.

Zenobia ran to the door of the bedroom followed by its inhabitants, including a little girl in tears. Then it was all chaos as smoke billowed in from under the door to the room, through the cracks in the walls and through the open window. Zenobia noted with seeming anger that the reason for the smell she had noticed earlier was that someone had entirely covered the walls in tar.

by **Nemanjak** on March 16th, 2013, 12:16 pm

Nemanjak just picked up his stash and went to the Tent City. As soon as he set up his tent he saw a small smoke, then another, and another! He knew that fire was to blame for the smoke and so he decided to get the hell out of the Tent City. He picked up his stuff and started running away from it knowing that it'll be hard to get out if the fire reaches the city. He placed his stuff where he always does, in a small alley in a hole. He only took his knife and helmet. He placed the helmet and put the knife in a small pocket of his camouflage armor he always wears.

He has reached a house that was on fire. He heard crying from inside and started yelling: "Oi! Anybody up there!!! He asked himself every question he could think of now. If someone is inside, how could he save them, if not, how could he put down the fire? But he decided to forget about all that. He saw a window, an open one, and there the crying was heard. Smoke was filling up the place so he decided to attempt and help the people get outside. He yelled "I don't know if there is anyone in there, but if there is, jump out the window! I believe I could catch you if you jump one by one!!!

by **Michaela Abendroth** on March 17th, 2013, 8:35 pm

I seen the people running out of the house to see their barn and fields on fire. I know this went against what I was for, but this had to be done ... I knew in my heart that it was not good that we were doing it to these people, but attention needed to be brought about what was going on and right now this seemed like the best thing to do. It wasn't that I was killing anyone, no, I made sure that I wasn't burning any houses down that people were living in but I was burning what was theirs. I could hear the screams from the people on what horror that they had seen set in front of them, but I knew that they would be okay. They would move on and they would move on to other things. I noticed that they looked around for someone, anyone, they looked around to see if maybe they could see who or what had started this fire. I made sure that I was up in the sky and away from there as fast as I could... I thought to myself about the fire as I laid down in my apartment wondering where the next fire was to be set. The screams, I could still hear the screams in my head, but I knew that no one got hurt and that was what made it okay to me.

by **Kel Ehmry** on March 18th, 2013, 6:29 am

After the chaos surrounding the hanging of the vultures, Sunberth began its string of random celebrations throughout the city. Cheering coming from the taverns late at night, whorehouses wide open for business. Basically it was Sunberth being Sunberth, but with a bit more cheer than usual. Eventually it would pass and life would continue on as usual. This was what Kel expected anyway. Within days Kel would be back at his usual work, that being nothing. It was routine at this point, and Kel wasn't exactly looking forward to it, not that he was a fan of public hangings either. Sunberth was beginning take it's toll on the Zeltivan, and he had made so little progress.

Fortunately, or was it unfortunately, today wasn't going to be routine in the slightest.

It was the smell of smoke that first made him wake from his slumber. Next, the sounds of high pitched screaming pierced his ear. His eyes flashed open. What the..., Kel jumped from his makeshift bed and put on his clothes before racing out of his tent into the cool morning air. He glanced around, first noticing the other people in Tent City, all scurrying around in a panic. And then he saw the flames. One of the buildings a few streets down was engulfed in bright red and orange. Black smoke rose from the burning building. Kel looked around once more, and this time he noticed several other towers of smoke throughout the city. First public hangings, and now the city is in flames. Sunberth has gone mad... Kel thought as he bolted towards the nearest burning building.

Kel stood as a member of the crowd as they watched and listened to the screams coming from those still trapped in the building. The cries for help were sickening, and Kel was half tempted to run in and save anyone he could. But Kel was no hero. He wasn't heartless, but he wasn't stupid either. Risking his life for those he didn't know was not in his interests.

by **Zenobia** on March 18th, 2013, 7:22 am

Finally Zenobia stumbled down the stairs with the little troupe of four following her. They finally made it out of the door, and the two people she had gone in with had already come out. As soon as the broken door swung behind them, the building erupted into flames. Zen smiled lightly then looked around at those she had rescued. The eldest was a burly blond boy, about fourteen. The next was a girl who looked of the same age, with the same hair - on second thoughts, they might be twins. In height, this was followed by a girl with flaming red hair, at the moment employed in anxiously biting her thumb to hold back the tears. Finally, there was the tiny, crying girl, who looked to be younger than the other three by about six years.

"Mother was still in the building!" cried the red-haired girl with anguish, "And all our possessions. What are we gonna do?"

Zenobia didn't answer, but she thought she knew exactly what to do. The youngest must go to the orphanage... but the other three. After all, Zen had risked her life and she wasn't the sort to do that for nothing. The two eldest (they were twins, she decided) were tall, blond, burly and healthy for someone who lived in Sunberth. The girl was particularly attractive.
Now, Zenobia was not a completely immoral person. Quite the opposite, but she knew as well as anyone that she couldn't take care of the children and that the elder ones wouldn't be taken into the orphanage anyway, and they were fine specimens, quite unlike most of the bedraggled population of Sunberth, all skin and bones. She was nobody's fool and recalled that one of her regular clients, Ender, was a slaver. All she needed to do was to get the four back to her apartment, which she knew would be easy for they were all in a state and clearly needed some attention, from where she would call Ender to pick up the eldest three.

"How old are you?" she asked gently of the red-haired girl, with a light smile hiding her true intentions, "What are your names?"

"I'm Erin and I'm thirteen. Toby and Fabiola are fourteen. Josie is seven." the girl then burst into sobs again and Zenobia, genuinely touched but unrelenting about her plan, did her to best to comfort her.

"I thought you could come back to my home with me, then we can decide what to do from there. Would you like that?"

The girl nodded between snivels and the other three indicated that they agreed likewise.

"It's this way..."

by **Nemanjak** on March 18th, 2013, 5:26 pm

Nemanjak has saved one house, but others remain, he told them to get the hell out of here and moved on. He was running with all his remaining energy, coughing and feeling weak for some reason. He loses his concentration and falls down on his arm injuring it a bit. He gets up, barely and continues walking to the next building which he knew people were in. He saw that there was no way out other than the door and he knocked it down, running in the house, coughing. He entered the room in which were 4 people, 2 adults, married apparently and their 2 children. The adults were max 30 year old Humans, the male had short black hair while the female had long blond hair. The children were twins apparently, one had blond and the other had black hair. The blond hair was a boy, and the black hair was a girl. She was crying, a lot while the boy was just sitting there, in shock and the parents, well, there are no words to explain them other than, well, traumatized. He told them to get the hell out and followed them. When they all left the building, the only exit was shut still and Nemanjak was still inside!

He coughed and coughed, and he went up the stairs again. He was barely moving and was almost dead but he pushed on because of the adrenaline. He reached a small room, which was closed. He knocked down the door and fell down. He almost fell unconscious and was barely moving. He pulled back, and jumped through a closed window getting cuts all over. He fell from the second floor and he walked to an alleyway away from the buildings where he fell unconscious hidden in the darkness, the last thing he heard and saw, was panic. But, it was only the last thing for a while.

by **Michaela Abendroth** on March 20th, 2013, 1:25 am

Everyone was worried about these fires, but not many people did anything about them. They were mostly in shock. I had my stuff in my apartment for the next fire that was to be set tonight ... It was going to be fun. It was another farmhouse except this one was different. The people in this one apparently were known to have associated with the ones who killed my parents. I am not sure if the rumor was true or not, but if it was I hoped that they burned inside the building and that nobody saved them. I knew that was bad to say, but hey, if they did what was apparent that they did, then I did not care what happened to them. I was probably more excited about this fire then I should have been, but i knew I had to calm down soon and make sure that everything went according to plan.

by **Kel Ehmry** on March 20th, 2013, 8:35 pm

Why was he just standing there in awe? Other members of the crowd were rushing into the burning building, saving lives. So why wasn't Kel. The Zeltivan couldn't help but feel guilty, just watching the city burn. Heroes, every last one of em' Kel thought to himself. But what was he? Just a nobody, a member of the mob. The screams coming from the building rang in his ears as he stood idle and guilt was building up inside of him. The idea of joining the efforts was becoming more and more tempting. What do I have to gain from this? Gratitude? Well that's not exactly useful... he thought to himself.

A crash followed by more screaming came from inside the building. Something had collapsed inside. Kel winced as the sounds reached him. But he still didn't budge an inch. Hero wasn't Kel's role to play.

Another crash, more screaming. God dammit, I didn't sign up for this when I came here. Kel was going mad watching these people burn.

Open [Sunberth] The Street Fires