Closed Snake's Path on the Rock (Stefan Teagan)

[Chandray]

The encounter with Rississarajor and her dhani thugs seemed to have shaken the young bard out of his usual elaborate and poetic style and he was now speaking in no uncertain terms. He spoke about truths and lies, death and trust … and used the dagger in a manner that wasn’t reassuring at all. Chandray wasn’t sure where the sudden surprise kiss had come into this. Maybe it was because she had saved him when he was in distress. Ah … well … for sure it was a one-time thing. He seemed slightly hysterical. But she couldn’t help wondering. He had acted swiftly in order to get the gold back. The events on the street seemed to have made Stefan Teagan lose that smooth and joking style she had started to expect from him at every occasion and come out as somebody with much more spine and steel in him than you could imagine. Or less. She couldn’t know what made him react the way he did. Perhaps it was the courage of sheer despereation. Anyway she thanked him for the gold. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Stefan would go directly from kissing her to trying to intimidate her with a dagger and interrogate her. The quick shifts really threw her. Maybe it was deliberate and part of interrogation tactics ? Or was he just unbalanced? She couldn’t see him so well, but nevertheless she looked thoughtfully at him in the near darkness in the tavern. The way he had stabbed the dagger into the table, the tone in his voice, the words he used, the dishonorable sounding things he said … to her all this were new and unknown sides of him. But she had a feeling this side of him was as true as the pleasant mandolin player was. Perhaps not more true, but equally true, like it often is with people. Chandray thought of how it was said that it’s not until people are under pressure you can see who they truly are. Danger and strain makes the real personality show. So - when under pressure and in danger Stefan Teagan dropped his harmless, charming gallantry and seemed pretty ruthless. The velvet eyed and generally fun-loving young poet suddenly came off as somebody who wouldn’t hesitate to take a dagger to a friend if he suspected betrayal. Stabbing people from behind, cowardly, seemed to be something he could suggest without thinking twice of it. Not that she was any scared of him. She didn’t have anything to hide. Also she didn’t’ feel she had any reason to fear a man she had so far never been at odds with. But she was starting to feel wary. “What are you speaking about?” she said. “I gave Rississarajor my word. I made a promise Stefan, and no matter the circumstances I don’t break my promises. I promised to serve her until I find her brother. So be it. I will trust her to not break her word, as she can also trust me to not break mine. There is no reason to think she wouldn’t be trustworthy now when the agreement has been made. We made a deal. I will keep to it. Honesty is what makes the world go round.“ To Chandray this meant the debate was over, as doing the right thing was the only option. But she could understand if the man felt confused, after all he had been through. He was babbling about her rapier and she gave him a dismissive answer : “I got the rapier the way I told you, I bought it in the Arma’Drex.” She made a pause before she continued. “Enough of this drivel Stefan. The dhani Rississarajor has her truth and I have mine. Now, let’s see if there’s a lantern here somewhere …” She started to investigate a shelf nearby and didn’t find a lantern, but actually an empty bottle with a candle in the neck and a kit of flint and steel. After a few tries she managed to light the candle and a dim and flickering circle of light was spreading out around the flame. Now she could see the table and the dagger better. And also Stefan Teagan’s somewhat menacing facial expression. There seemed to be lots of dried blood … she didn’t say anything but she reached out for the dagger, in order to have a closer look at it. If Stefan would object to her taking the dagger it could become a bit unpleasant there in the flooded and bloodstained shady tavern ... if he simply let her have the weapon she would give it a closer investigation, maybe even by auristics, she would make up her mind once the dagger was in her hands!

[Stefan]

Stefan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He wouldn’t have suspected that his friend, the clever, rapier-wielding Chandray would be so naïve. Stefan rubbed the bridge of his nose and counted to ten under his breath as the busker spoke. Of course, he should have seen it coming: her armour choice was a giveaway. Studded leather; light, yet excellent to withstand some hits. She was somebody that would not back up from a fight, and would especially play fair. Honour before reason: some people admired it, but Stefan considered it a bunch of rubbish.

He breathed deeply the tainted air of the tavern and then spoke again; this time not with a threatening tone, but almost as a father scolding a child.

“Chandray, my dear and beloved Chandray, you who has a especial place in my heart... are you petching insane? That snake was about to eat you and me, and you’re telling me you actually trust her? Grow up! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in my life!”

Quickly, Stefan took the candle off her friend’s hand, and carefully raised the left sleeve of his dark blue linen shirt. On his shoulder there was a miza tattooed, but there was something else: on Stefan’s left bicep, there was a huge, vertical scar, apparently made with a knife or a dagger, or another sharp weapon. The young bard held the candle for several seconds, as to make sure that Chandray gave it a good look. He accommodated his sleeve, and left the candle on the bloodied table. Chandray was a clever gal, and he hoped that the message was clear.

“That deal you just made can only end in two ways: she will kill you when you’re not more use to her, and probably eat you just because. That or she’ll enslave you for the rest of your life. Your body is too attractive for scars, let alone to be Dhani fodder.” He said as he passed his hand through his fellow musician's arm softly, essentialy making a flirt threatening.

Stefan took the dagger from Chandray’s hand, and examined it. Bloodied, a little blunt on the edges, but the point was quite sharp, enough to make a lot of damage. He gave it to Chandray again, with a serious, and even menacing expression on his face “Keep it, and hide it in your boot; you’ll need it. But if you don’t want to listen to experience, then I’ll only attend to your funeral to take the rapier, the dagger, and perhaps to play a sad tune.”

Stefan gave Chandray a last look and examined the bar. He found was he was looking for; a bottle of cheap wine. He uncorked it with his teeth, spat the cork and then drank from the bottle in the dark, away from the light of the candle. He was just a presence there, if a menacing one. There was no sound, not even Stefan’s breathing; only the sound of the heavy rain outside the tavern, and an eerie song that the young bard sang under his breath between gulps of wine.

What will we do with a treacherous Dhani?
What will we do with a treacherous Dhani?
What will we do with a treacherous Dhani?
Early in the morning

Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Early in the morning

Stab her in the back with a bloody dagger
Stab her in the back with a bloody dagger
Stab her in the back with a bloody dagger
Early in the morning...

[Chandray]

Chandray looked at Stefan Teagan’s dark form where he sat in the shadows outside the circle of light and drank wine and sang his sinister song. The way he had opened the bottle with his teeth and spat the cork away was the opposite of well behaved. A little bit eerie to be honest, but she knew it was only Stefan, the harmless velvet-eyed bard with the mandolin. Though she hadn’t like the patronizing tone he spoke to her in. Who did he think he was?! “You have your truth and I have mine” she said to him. “Just like the dhani has hers. I will certainly not stab her in the back. And there’s no reason for her to kill me.” They might have a reason to kill Stefan though. HE hadn’t promised the dhani anything. He was just a man who knew too much. And perhaps also a fine dinner, from dhani point of view. Chandray glanced at him and wondered if he realized that it was more likely they would come for him than for her. At least as she thought about it. Chandray was a useful servant and the dhani thought she knew the mysterious brother. She could visit Rississarajor at Coils to speak with her. They had a deal. But nobody had a deal with Stefan. If he went to Coils to make trouble ...however, Chandray didn’t want to be the one to point this out to the bard. Then again. What would a deal with Stefan be worth? It had dawned on Chandray that her fellow bard seemed untrustworthy and maybe even honorless. She was wondering how he had gotten that scar, but she didn’t ask. It wasn’t like she wanted him to believe she had looked at it. The same with that miza tattoo. She memorized it and it was possible that she was going to find out more about it at some point, but right now she simply pretended to not have seen anything. “Sometimes I would agree, but in a situation like this it’s better to think than act rashly” she said. “But perhaps you think you would be able to charm Rississarajor with a song? I don’t think so. And I don’t think it’s easy to sneak into Coils, step behind somebody and backstab her or him. And even if it was: They are allowed to be here by the Riverians and nobody bar you and me know what happened tonight.” A bard and a busker, both of them pretty new in town, with no influential contacts as far as she knew... Why would the city guard believe them, in particular if there was only them and a dead dhani or two who may have lived here for many years? And also, what about the brother of the dhani? Who was he? Where was he? It wasn’t like everything would be over so easily, she said to Stefan. They knew very little. She for one was going to be very careful. “I don’t believe in situations where only two things can happen” she said. “There’s always lots of things that can happen, never only two. But the best for you is to simply stay away from Coils and hope they will forget you. Just don’t irritate them.” She weighed the ornate dagger in her hand. Right now she didn’t feel like giving it a closer investigation. It was enough to deal with Stefan and his wine and corks. She put the dagger away in her cloak pocket. “Come on” she said. “Let’s leave.” She turned around and was about to head to the door when an opened scroll of papers caught her gaze. She investigated it in the very dim light. It was a map. A sea chart mainly, but it looked like there was a coastline on it too, and there were ...marks. Crosses, just like her father used to mark things on maps sometimes. It lay there on a chair, like somebody had been in a rush and forgotten it. It seemed dangerously near to fall down into the water on the floor. If it did it would be destroyed, and in her opinion a map was something valuable and ought to be handled with care and respect. She picked it up, folded it carefully and put in in the pocket inside her cloak. “Come on” she said again. She walked towards the door and out into the dark and empty street. Her boots were full of ice-cold water. She was freezing and all she wanted to do now was go home.

[Stefan]

As he finished the wine, Stefan listened closely to what Chandray had to say, without saying anything. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for his friend and fellow musician; she couldn’t see the truth behind this. There were some good people in the world, but for every one of them, there were at least five treacherous bastards that would stab someone in the back as soon as things looked dire. Stefan was one of them, because he knew about these things from experience. You can trust estrangers, and look at their bright side, but you should also see what they can do to you, and be prepared for it. Smile at them, and share a drink, but also keep a trick under your sleeve in case they also had something.

Stefan tried to warn her, but she’ll have to learn it the hard way.

Still, he was not only worried for her, but for himself as well. Now he had to sleep with one eye open, with the rapier on him at all times, ready to fight for his life in case that someone would want him as food... and it was freaking exciting. However, Chandray was also in danger, too, but he couldn’t do anything for her. Even though

It was probably the cheap wine, but he couldn’t help but feel some sort of thrill at the thought of the danger. Paranoia, perhaps, but that was part of an adventure. Besides, it could be the beginning of one of the best petching stories of his life.

It didn’t end there, though. Chandray wanted to leave, but when she did, she stopped to get something on a chair. A scroll, as it seemed... he was too drunk to care about it, but he knew it could be important. Perhaps he’ll ask her about it another day, but for now, it seemed that things were going sour between them. She saw the other side of the bard, after all: a thief, a scoundrel, and someone with scars and tattoos to prove it.

He waited a little bit for Chandray to leave, and then he did it himself after throwing the empty bottle at one side; the heavy rain washing over his long hair as he walked back home, without taking his hand from the hilt of his rapier.

[Chandray]

Continues hereand here OOCI have checked with Gossamer and got it approved that this thread is still valid i.e. it happened very early in spring before the PC Stefan died.

[Gossamer]

XP AWARD!
Thanks for threading in Riverfall.

Character: Chandray
Experience: Leadership +4, Observation +2, Running +1, Planning +4, Auristics +1, Brawling +1, Intimidation +1
Lore: Planning: Knowing when actions are a waste of time or valuable, Auristics: Using Auristics to Persue Prey, Being Captured By A Dhani, Being Interrogated, Intimidation: Making Threats
Item: A sea chart/map

Additional Note: Because Stefan is a banned PC, I omitted any lores involving him and didn’t issue grades to him.