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[Garret Sawyer]

35th of Winter, 513 AV

Snow still continued to shimmer down from the near flawless blue sky, bar a couple of crumpled grey clouds that continued to loom overhead, which every now and again, let loose a wave of snow to fill the foot shaped blemishes that lay scattered about amongst the indistinct ground. For one rare moment Sunberth was truly a spectacular sight to behold as the sun begun its descent into the horizon, it would be a bell or so before sunset was upon them but still the white snow had been tinged by the faintest of warm oranges, causing the entire city to almost glow and resonant with this hospitable tone, that seemed to melt the hearts of all Sunberth's harsh citizens bar the most brutish of thugs with hearts as cold as the falling flakes around them.

"By the gods I feel like shit" Garret thought as he clambered out of the tavern doorway, squinting as his red, raw eyes adjusted to sunlight bouncing of the pure, white snow that had blanketed the entire city. Of course it was unlikely that Garret would be admiring the view, partly because he was at the best of times a miserable old git who would rather deny himself the pleasure of the scenery to maintain his cold, stoic bravado, but also because right now he felt as if he had a apprentice blacksmith was hammering away inside his skull, each shrill ring causing his head to throb with pain as he took slow, ponderous steps forward, trying desperately not to slip on the compacted snow that would turn to deadly ice as soon as the sun dropped and the temperature with it.

Garret raised a coarse, rough hand to rub his aching temples and shield his usually sharp, green eyes from the glaring sunlight. "Wha... Urghh... What happened?" He muttered to himself as he walked along, taxing his sore brain as he tried to remember the last couple bells. "I... No... We headed into the forest... And we found a pile of crap and... Took it?" He must have looked mad as he walked around in circles, unintentionally muttering his bewildering thoughts out loud. Then again this was Sunberth; it would be strange to not have a street with a grizzled madman talking to either himself, a passersby or directing his questions to the heavens "No wait... We followed the tracks and found... A woman... Then we killed her and skinned her for fur?"

Garret groaned in pain as his mind tried to process a series of baffling images, he was sure of one thing though; he had drunk a lot. "Wait... We took the furs and the woman" He exclaimed suddenly as it all begun to make sense to him. After the deer had been dumped in the clearing they had wandered back to Sunberth, Noven with that bloody meat head friend of his carrying the deer over his shoulder and speaking in hushed voices with each other as Garret wandered lengths behind them, keeping a wary eye on the Kelvic.

"Then they... dumped her on me!" He remembered irritably. As soon as they had reached the outskirts they had mumbled some pathetic excuse about finding their new companion housing within the foul city. He would have left her right then if one of the morons hadn't piped up and suggested that Garret protect her while they found her accommodation. The idea wasn't one sprung from stupidity; new people in Sunberth get conned, mugged, and even kidnapped on their first day so the scum of Sunberth would be drawn to Serta like flies to honey, and the fact she was a goddamn Kelvic would make it all the sweeter.

But honour and chivalry didn't pay for Garret's ale so he had flat out refused to do it free of charge, so instead he insisted on charging the usual fee for, as he so callously referred to her as "cargo". With the deal struck and price agreed upon he had set about escorting her through Sunberth, and by that he meant heading to The Pig's Foot Tavern. Of course along the way he had pointed out a few key landmarks that any Sunberthian worth his salt would know to find their way around the labyrinth of streets and shanties that made up Sunberth like Brega's whorehouse, the Blood Pits, A Knight's Armoury, and to make a point he made sure to take a detour to show her Slave Market. As if to prove his point outside a young, brown haired girl with large, teary eyes was being viciously beaten by a new owner with a heavy, metal chain when she tried to run away, her dog-like yelps of pain and anguish could be heard many streets away as they walked in a tense silence.

After such a brutal scene even Garret felt like a drink so as soon as they had entered the stuffy, smoke filled tavern he had wandered up to ol' Merv, who was still a hostile after the brawl he had started a moon or so ago, and had ordered them both tankards full to the brim with ale to take the edge off things. But after the passion of battle, mixed with tankards of ale, each one following the other in short succession... Well one thing had led to the other... And Garret wasn't sure who had made the first moved but they somehow ended up...

...having a drinking contest.

"And who would have thought she'd out drink me" He moaned silently to himself as he struggled to find any sense of balance and direction "And where is she now?" He thought, turning around quickly, trying to survey his surrounding as quickly as possible but it proved too much for his frazzled mind and soon the sky began to spin around as the ground slipped beneath his feet. For once he was thankful for the snow underneath him, cushioning his fall as his head was buried in the snow.
"Oh... I am going to get such a bollocking for this"

[Serta]

Serta had wondered around the corner of the bar and had pressed her face to the rough but cool wood, groaning. I think I'm going to be sick... she thought to herself, fighting the urge to bring up her lunch. Being shown about Sunberth by a surly grump had been less than enjoyable, especially when you factor in the odd smell that seemed to linger around every nook and cranny of the place, but after Garret had loosened up and gotten some drink into him he had been surprisingly good company. Or as good as he could get while grumbling about losing to a woman.

She straightened as the rolling of her stomach subsided and trudged back into the street in search of Garret, still feeling slightly green. Her head was spinning and she was feeling rather giddy. "Ah, hullo there Sunshine." She greeted, looking down at where he laid in the snow. She grinned lopsidedly and pushed a lump of snow off of his face. "What're we doing next then?" She asked, sitting in the snow next to him as she swayed on her feet. "Petching hell, I think I drank too much!" She exclaimed, rubbing at her face but still smiling none the less.

Sunberth was as shabby as she had expected, most of the buildings on the verge of collapsing and waste lining the snowy streets. While it proved to be a dirty and smelly environment she didn't really mind, comforted by the freedom of the anarchic city. Serta looked at her nails, taking note of how red and cold they were, despite the warmth gained from the mead running through her veins. She prodded Garret with her boot and pulled at his ear in amusement, content to annoy the man until he took her somewhere else so she could sate her curiosity.

[Garret Sawyer]

"What're we doing next then?"

"Urgh..." Garret, not so subtly, groaned at the sound of her voice "Is it too much to ask for her to wander off and get stabbed in some alleyway?" He asked himself silently as his pale blue fingers curled around the bitter snow when she began jabbing her toes in his side "Give me a tick will you..." He muttered as his frazzled mind tried to make sense of his surroundings. Quite simply, he was lying face down on a pile of snow as more began to settle on him with some woman prodding him while passers-by simply walked on, uninterested by the probably common scene.

"Oh, piss off will you" He cursed as the snow, pushed up against his numb face, muffled his voice while the Kelvic began to tug on his numb ear. But she didn't relent and Garret had a suspicious feeling there was no deterring this woman from her curiosity but Garret knew that curiosity killed a hell of a lot more than the bloody cat in Sunberth, still when he took a job he made damn sure he got it done, in truth it was one of his few redeeming features.

"Fine, fine" He muttered as he pulled himself from the frozen ground, his face contorted into one of intense concentration as he tried to maintain a fragile, intoxicated balance. "I am never working for a bloody Kelvic again" He pledged as he rubbed his face, his skull continued to throb violently but the cold had numbed the pain. Still, his senses were shot to pieces; his vision blurry, his hearing distorted and his movement numbed as he tried to decide where to go next.

"Off your arse" He ordered as grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her up to her feet. "I hope you like cage fights, we're heading to Tall Johnny's Casino" He declared as he begun to stumble down the icy paths, "Just a heads up, if someone offers to cover your losses, decline. If ya lucky you end up working the floor at Tall Johnny's half naked, if you not... well, that's a life no-one wants to live for long"

He looked back at his charge, well the fuzzy outline of her anyway and shook his head "She's trouble, her type always are. I want my hands clean of her as soon as possible." But still something about her niggled at his mind, he opened his mouth to ask a question but thought better of it and turned back as they staggered into a one of the many alleyways that crisscrossed Sunberth "The less I know the better."

[Serta]

Serta's head span as Garret pulled her up and she staggered around for a few moments before finding her balance again and began to walk in what she sincerely hoped was a fairly straight line. She hummed appreciatively as she was told about their next stop. A cage fight should be interesting. She thought, having never been in a casino nor ever having seen a cage fight before. At the words that followed she pulled a face, trying not to think about what he meant by "That's a life no-one wants to live for long."

Jasper smirked at the older man as he gave her a considering look before turning away. "People don't tend to meet my kind with complete disinterest, you must have something you're curious about." She said, aiming for a matter-of-fact tone of voice, glancing around at the alleys as they passed through them, nose winkling in distaste. "I know that I have some questions." She quipped, side stepping a snow covered mound that look suspiciously human in shape. Clearly Sunberth is going to take some getting used to. She thought to herself, remembering the sheer amount of rabid dogs and rats the size of cats she had seen roaming around so far. I can cope with the environment, I think the people living here are going to be another challenge. She noted, eyeing her escorts back pointedly. How in hell am I supposed to bond to someone if I can't trust anyone around here! She wondered, suddenly reconsidering her thoughts in deciding to come to Sunberth.

Not just that, she realized, rubbing her face. The ale here tastes like cat piss. I wouldn't even bother with the food. She sighed slowly, finger combing her hair thoughtfully. It's going to be hard living here, but I'm sure I'll be fine. I can hunt, so I have that to fall back on, and I can start stealing should I become desperate. Or I could do mercenary work. I'm sure a place like Sunberth has a crap load of odd jobs that people are willing to pay to have done. I'll just need to be carefully.

She looked back up after a moment of groggily blinking at the snow. "So who's in charge here?" She asked Garret, curiosity returning once again.

[Garret Sawyer]

"People don't tend to meet my kind with complete disinterest, you must have something you're curious about."

“I wouldn’t trust a word that came out of that pretty mouth love” He retorted harshly, his words slurred slightly from intoxication, and his temper worse for it. Garret always tended to brownnose his employers but she was a step away from the usual fat merchants and sadistic slavers he worked for, whether or not a Kelvic was actually magic or not in, in his mind it was. She was lucky though he wasn’t a native of Sunberth, his dislike was more out of fear of the unfamiliar and unknown rather than ingrained prejudice like most people around here.

"So who's in charge here?"

Garret scratched his rough chin, pondering his answer, giving his weary mind time to think before carefully phrasing his reply “Depends which street you’re on…” He slurred truthfully before explaining further, thinking more about the girl's gold rather than her safety “I don’t know specifics, it’s none of my bloody business. Let's see... You've got the uhh... Daggerhands that's it; they control most of Sunberth and the gold that flows through it, then Sun's Birth... They control the gated... bit I think, and finally you have the Night Eyes, I know nuthin’ about them though, but they cause enough shit so I’m pretty sure they exist. That's not the end thought, between all of them you have dozens of small gangs in between, nipping at their heels. Is that good enough? Or do you have more bloody questions?” he answered irritably.

Before she could reply Garret paused suddenly, swaying listlessly from side to side as he looked around curiously. One might have thought he was lost, or even about to vomit as he clutched his rather unsettled stomach but something just seemed off about the place to Garret. "What are all these..." He thought as he wandered up to the side of the alleyway and yanked off a piece of parchment "...Bloody things?" He chucked the paper back to Serta "Don't suppose you can read the bloody thing?" He asked before he resumed his shaky walk once more.

"Let's hope those two meatheads find you a place to stay, wouldn't want to be on these streets at night" He said, but as soon as he spoke those words he became consciously aware that the sun had just begun to touch the horizon slightly, deepening the warm orange glow that radiated off the snow into an ominous scarlet red. Garret normally wouldn't be worried, but with her in tow in one of the more detestable parts of Sunberth he had cause to be concerned so he decided to pick up the pace, and began taking long, if not slight unsteady, strides through the damp, frozen alleyways.

[Serta]

Serta frowned at the man and rolled her eyes. "I'll take that as a complement." She replied sharply, kicking at a snow drift and nearly tumbling to the ground as she swayed, unsteady for a moment on one foot. She grunted and scratched at her neck, baring her teeth at a street dogs as it growled at them.

She listened carefully as he went on to answer her question. Ah, more complicated than I would have pinned. She realised, watching her feet as she followed along behind Garret. I'll have to be carefully what I say and who I say it too. She was about to speak again when Garret came to a sudden stop, causing Serta to stumble as she jerked back so she wouldn't walk into him. She looked at the parchment he was flapping around and furrowed her brows at the unfamiliar lines and shapes. Shrugging she crumpled it in her fist and threw it over her shoulder, following after Garret as he staggered away.

Serta frowned as Garret began it walk faster. Her legs were shorter than his and she was nearly jogging to keep up. "Tall Johnny's isn't too far away than?" She asked, taking note of the low sun. She didn't doubt that Sunberth was a nasty place and she could only guess at the things that might go on under the cover of darkness. Her nerves pricked slightly and she tried her best to eye their surroundings with as much care as she could muster, she breathed through her nose and took note of any scents that seemed suspicious and she strained her ears, focusing on any sounds apart from their own foot falls and the shifting of snow.

[Garret Sawyer]

Garret grimaced as he heard the hurried footsteps of his charge smack against the ground, the noise bouncing off the alleyway walls, as they traversed the icy path. It was strangely quiet in the alleyway, minus the incessant questions of the Kelvic of course, Garret was unsure whether to be comforted by the noise or worried that it might draw some rather unwanted attention from the scum of Sunberth. “Worried” Garret thought rather ungraciously “She needs to learn not ask questions, unless she wants to find her face cut from ear to ear”

Maybe it was just him being over-cautious, most people wouldn’t have expected it from the man but over the years he learnt it better not to question the man who pays you, but then again at this moment in time Serta was the one paying him.

“No, it shouldn’t be too far from here” He answered, it was the truth but only part of it. They weren’t far from Tall Johnny’s but this was Garret’s first time back in Sunberth for two or three years, and the wall and paths of these shanties are quick to fall down and even quicker to be rebuilt so this place looked as new to him as the woman behind him, so as he stumbled around the various corners and turns he was relying completely on his exhausted mind pointing him in the rough direction.

With a sudden right turn, Garret stopped dead in his tracks suddenly, his piercing green eyes widened, his shaggy jaw clenched tightly while the thick veins that ran down his throat bulged, making the thick, snake-like tendrils visible as Garret looked down towards his front. There he saw the tip of a dirty, blackened dagger buried in his abdomen, with a small amount of blood seeping in between the gap as it stained his dirty, dishevelled clothes. It wasn't stuck deep within him, but it would only take a small push to send the blade gliding through his gut, condemning him to a slow painful death in a place such as Sunberth where healers were few and unskilled.

A high, gravelly voice broke the silence that seemed to have filled the alleyway for an age "Ain't this my lucky day." It belonged to a lad no more than eighteen years old who fit in seamlessly with Sunberth. He stood only a couple of inches below Garret but when you are holding the knife Garret knew you felt like you towered over common men. His clothes that could be described as little more than rags that hung from his bony body, no doubt the result of Sunberth's slums but still the lad could have been handsome; he had a prominent jaw line with defined cheekbones and warm amber eyes but his face was gaunt, his eyes were wild and when he spoke he revealed blackened, rotten teeth.

But there was the slightest hint of fear within the lad, perhaps if he didn't have the knife to his gut he could be intimated to stand down but the lad held all the cards so that wasn't even an option. "I wager you have some coin on you" He remarked, grinning to himself but his top lip quivered ever so slightly and, rather more painfully, so did his hand as the blade moving around the cut, slicing up against the side as it sending sparks of pain, shooting up his torso. The lad lent forward slightly, his dirty free hand pull the flaps off his coat aside to revealing his gleaming morningstar that had no doubt been washed and cared for more times than the mugger.

"Nice... Very striking..." He muttered as his eyes travelled from the weapon to the woman behind him, licking his lips eagerly as any teenager would "I think I'll take the weapon, all the gold you have on you" He said before pausing slightly with a twinkle in his eye "And the woman, don't worry I'll let her go after I'm done, so a couple of hours at least. Otherwise I'll gut you." He said grinning.
"You wouldn't last five ticks boy" Garret retorted, placing emphasis on boy as the lad's smile faltered "Serta, do what you're told for once and run away, this won't take long" He said, very aware of the true meaning of his words.

[Serta]

Serta groaned, irritated as she was forced to pull up short once again. "Are you serious?" She asked half heartedly, glancing around Garret to see what was going on. Her mouth opened in surprise as her eyes fell to the dagger before shooting up to the boy holding it. She pulled a face as hi eyes combed over her and pulled her mouth into a intimidating grin that showed off her canines.

She nearly growled when the boy spoke about her, and rolled her eyes as Garret advised her to run. Do what I'm told? Like that's ever going to happen! She laughed to herself as she propped a hand on he hip to cast an appraising eye over the weedy street rat in front of them.

Serta slipped around Garret to approach the boy with slow measured steps. His eyes shot between her and Garret uncertainly and she tried for a reassuring smile. "Well, you look like more fun than that old man back there." She murmured playfully to the boy, smirking over at Garret. She pressed a her hand to the boys shoulder gently and her jumped, focusing on her, his eyes bright. She slid closer, practically pressing to his side and sighed. "He's so boring." She said, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously. "Maybe you could show me some fun." She whispered suggestively, pushing against his shoulder lightly so that he turned towards her, all but forgetting about the blade in his hand.

Serta brought her other hand up to his shoulder and grinned at him, eyes glinting before she slammed her knew up between his legs with all her strength. The boy howled in shocked pain and fell back wards, hands clutching at himself as he scooted back a few steps, eyes darting like a scared horse. "Sorry love, but I prefer men, not boys." She hissed before turning her gaze on Garret. "What do you want to do with him." She asked as the street rat scrambled to his trembling legs.

[Garret Sawyer]

The roar of the crowd erupted from the stands, drowning out any other noise as the overweight brawler hit the ground, his rolls of fat rippling inwards and outwards again as he laid spread eagled out on the ground, his body beaten and broken while the victor raised a bloody fist into the air. Garret let out a cry of dismay as several men dragged the man off, struggling with the weight as they left a bloody trail in their path. Rather begrudgingly he passed a few silvers to a scrawny man with a rat like face, a straggly black beard and narrow brown eyes. "Thank for you for your patronage good ser" He sneered with a blackened grin as he pocketed Garret's silvers "Fancy a chance to win your money back? Double or nothing on the next match."
"Piss off" Garret grumbled as he waved him off, clearly miffed about his lightening purse.
"Suit yourself" The bookie replied with a scowl as he slipped away into the ground to find another sucker for his odds.

"Bloody bookies" He thought as the announcer declared the victor, resulting in a final cheer from the audience before he limped off, leaving the announcer to list the next contestants as flurry of activity erupted from the gamblers in the audience, hastily declaring odds and exchanging hard earned Mizas. These competitors were slightly more even, both taller than Garret than and just as broad, but while one was covered in the graphic and violent tattoos the other was covered in vicious scars, his imposing image netting him more supporters as the they readied themselves to begin.

It wasn't long before blood was being spilt, while Garret shifted uncomfortably, his wound continued to cause him discomfort. He pulled up his top, disinterested with the fight and revealed a muscular if not hairy chest, and poked at the cut. It wasn't particularly deep, nor wide but the wound refused to clot up, and his incessant prodding did nothing to help as he flicked his top back over. "That bloody woman" He thought as he rubbed his stomach "Getting me knee deep in shit." In truth he was still bitter that the woman took care of the mugger so effectively, then again Garret could hardly start flirting with the bastard, she did have some rather obvious advantages where that was concerned "But did she have to such a smug smirk on her face? At least I dealt with him in the end." He thought as he recalled the events that unfolded.

As soon as the thief had scrambled to his feet Garret had put him back down on the floor where he belonged, ramming the hilt of morning star in his face to knock him down. The momentum of the fall sent the mugger's arms sprawling backward, leaving his tender torso exposed to Garret's 'justice'. The last bit of life Garret saw was flash of fear in the mugger's eyes as the morningstar implanted itself into his stomach with a nauseating crunch, sending the sound of shattering bones echoing down the alleyway. The dirty rags he was clothed in slowly turned a damp scarlet as blood seeped out in between flesh and metal. Garret pushed one foot on the mugger's chest as he yanked the bloodied spikes out of his stomach, sending another spurt of blood pouring from the wound as it dripped onto the dirty, white snow beneath him.

"Stupid bastard" Garret curse, as he spat on the body, his accent thickening considerably almost making him nigh unintelligible as he turned back to Serta "You scared girl?" He asked, his brow had been furrowed and his expression bleak, while clutched a blood-spattered spiked mace in one hand with his other hand furled tightly. Not waiting for an answer he beckoned her onwards, the rush of combat sobering his mind as he trekked towards too Tall Johnny's. From there onwards it had been a quick walk, with few detours they had reach they cage fights quickly, as Garret quickly went about gambling any money he might have earn from this job.

"You handled yourself well back there" Garret muttered resentfully to the Kelvic as the tattooed brawler performed a brutal flurry, sending a cascade of blows striking against his combatant's vunerable, exposed gut "But I am not old".

[Serta]

Serta cast an appraising eye over the fight club, sniffing the air carefully and resisting the urge to blanch at the scents that assaulted her. The place smelt most strongly of blood, thick and cloying, practically sticking in the back of her throat. Sweat followed closely, matched evenly by the bitter scent of ale and mouldy bread. The people that milled about weren't much better; the man who had crowded into the seat beside her would roar each time a punch landed in the cage, spittle flying from his revolting mouth. Despite all of that Serta could certainly see the appeal. The fights got her blood pumping and adrenaline running and she found herself watching each move, each blow carefully.

When Seta thought back on the moment in the alley she had to admit she had been rather unnerved by the mans expression. The odd accent that had suddenly leaked into his voice had added to that and she had firmly decided that should it ever come to a fight or flight situation with Garret she'd much rather choose flight. Not scared though. She thought, completely refusing the possibility. Part of her felt sympathy for the boy but she dismissed it, reminding herself of the way things were done in Sunberth. You fight and live or you die.

She laughed lightly when he finally spoke to her, ignoring his irritated tone and taking the complement. This is probably as nice as he gets. She noted to herself, leaning back in her seat and watching fixedly as the two brawlers fought, sitting a bit straighter whenever one seemed to get the upper hand. She shot a quick look at him from the corner of her eye and smiled cheekily. "Not old huh?" She laughed. "Don't tell me I wounded your pride, hun? How old are you then?" She questioned, curious as always. She leaned her elbow on her armrest and eyed the man thoughtfully. "And now that I have time to think on it, what's with the accent?"