Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (Nisana, closed)

[Smudge]

OOCSorry for being extra late on top of my already evident lateness, but i hope it was worth the wait! Do provide the timestampt yourself. The night was still young at the Kulkukan tavern. Nightlife on the third tier was an ever present factor within the city because of this small establishment. And that night, the building was packed with patrons once more. When one entered they would found themselves facing a blue tide with all sorts of meddling colors on that enormous sheet; still they were nowhere near enough to overwhelm the sky colored folk. Even with the ruckus inside the inn, there was still some order – almost like an unwritten rule even. All Akalak patrons that could fit in the left side of the room were there, and the rest just gravitated around them as if they were waiting for their chance to jump into the fray. The right side on the other hand wasn’t crowded so much. It reminded by its appearance of the shady joints of Sunberth and anyone who ever visited such places would immediately revel in that discovery. Almost all of the guests on that side were strangers to Riverfall, and so it wasn’t really a happy place for them as they unnervingly looked at the blue crowd each time they felt even the slightest change in the atmosphere. Among many, there were seven who could capture the attention of newcomers. Two tables were placed at the most solemn corner of the room, one full and another with all spots empty but a single one. The full table was occupied by two young Symenestra males and with them sat a small boy. The boy was likeable in appearance and he seemed human, but the only fact that didn’t quite fit in was his absolute need to sniff on everything at least once. Across the table from the three sat two more shady figures, and by the looks of it, one of them was an Isur. The other one, however was so heavily cloaked that no one could loom through his disguise. A single spot remained and it was filled by no less than an Akalak who even while sitting down promised to be higher than any of them should they stand up. The Akalak’s seat had its back turned to the table next to them, as the man was eyeing the people in front of them carefully; almost as if he was trying to fend them off his woman. And then last, and possibly the least, there was a small human girl. Her appearance gave her away as no more than sixteen years old, but it was a small silver bracelet that was bound to her hand much like a shackle that caught the attention of the other table. The girl was using a small knife as subtle as she could, trying to harm the silver bracelet that revealed her status. She was talking to herself, and should anyone come closer, they would hear it too. “No, they will never let me go!” “Only three kids and then I’m free?” “They said the same thing to Amanda, and she couldn’t even outlast a single one!” The girl was speaking in common, only those three lines, over and over again. She looked at nothing other than the piece of silver on her hand, as she kept trying to scratch it off. Some blood was now visible around the bracelet, as a proof that her knife work was indeed less than exquisite.

[Nisana Curare]

Season of Spring, Day 84, 511 AV

When Nisana arrived at the Kulkukan tavern that evening, hoping to snag a quick fortifying drink before heading out to hunt for the night, the veritable ocean of dark skinned brutes that greeted her was almost enough to turn her away. When her eyes fell on the other side of the room she couldn't believe it. First her amethyst eyes fell upon the two Symenestra, and the joy of seeing two of her elegant kin present was enough to draw her a couple steps in their direction without any thought needed.

Her feet stopped however when she saw the girl. Viratas must be smiling on her tonight because there was what she had been looking for most of the season, a excellent surrogate that was currently a dissatisfied Nakivak, and she looked more than ready to leave this town.

As subtly as she could Nisana slid her left hand into her belt pouch, slipping her fingers through the silver bracelet within, and then pulled out her little mirror as the silver bracelet slid into place on her wrist. Looking herself over in the mirror for a few moments she then replaced it in her belt pouch and carefully started making her way towards the girl.

The scene at the other table was not lost on her, and her amethyst eyes lingered for a moment on each of the people seated there. It was near impossible for her to guess what was going on, but she figured at least that the Akalak seated there was the one who claimed the girl. She would have to be careful of drawing unwanted attention from him.

Drawing closer to the girl at the table Nisana listened to her words, and a hint of a smile touched her lips. Viratas was indeed smiling on her tonight. Approaching the table with the girl she reached out with her left hand, the one bearing the bracelet, intending to lightly touch the girl's arm that held the knife. As she moved she spoke softly, in the most soothing tone she could manage, "Child, you should not do such a thing. You will only hurt yourself."

[Smudge]

OOCIf Nisana decides to fight the males, PM me about it and i will alter my post. Viratas was not smiling that night, no; he was showing his good sense of humor. As Nisana drew closer to the girl, all of the shady characters noticed that she wanted to pose as a Nakivak. It was a suicide act that would not only kill her, but make them all public enemies. The plan needed to move much more swiftly than it was originally planned. Even while Nisana wouldn’t notice it, the Akalak was sound asleep in his seat. The Symenestra brothers quickly sat down at the same table with Nisana and the human girl while gesturing the boy and the Isur to keep steady watch on the dazed man. “Take that off woman, do you want to get us all killed?” the older one hissed at Nisana in Symenos. Just in case she wasn’t the brightest one in the bunch, he gestured at the bracelet after he spoke. “I am Daratur, he is Avadon. We are here for the girl. You are either with us and we pay you, or you are against us and we kill you. Pick your poison. Quickly!” the man was not compromising, and even while he spoke in Symenos, he kept whispering out of caution. Before Nisana had time to answer, he gestured Avadon to show her a glimpse of the dagger he had up his sleeve. Without further ado, he cut to the chase. “We will pay you 100 golden mizas if you can help us get out of the city safely” he paused, looking back at the table behind them to scope the situation again. “Our Isur friend over there and his bondmate are already on board, and the cloaked gentleman is our fail safe. Pay attention, this information might save your life!” still assured Nisana was on board, he stopped. Turning to the girl, Avadon took her knife away smoothly and removed the bracelet with a subtle click. Caressing her hand, he whispered to her in Common. “He was but a cage” he gestured to the Akalak “and we are the wind that will bust you out and make your free again. Listen not to the ill stories about the Symenestra, those are Akalak lies, all of them!” anyone skilled in it, would recognize his smooth talk as hypnotism. However to everyone not in the know, it seemed like a rather confident man winning over a lost girl. Avadon’s eyes started bleeding, but he wasn’t trying to hide it since he was sure that the girl knew next to nothing about magic. Wiping his face using the sleeves, he continued. This time his voice was normal, there was no djed weaved into it; after all he had already won her over. “We are your ticket to a bigger world, brighter days instead of darker nights. Will you follow us?” as soon as the girl nodded, he turned his head towards Nisana rolling his eyes; apparently sick with all the sweet talking. “We move” Daratur started silently “should he move, start a fight like planned, I don’t care about the details, as long as he dies!” two men at the next table nodded slowly and the third gave no response. Should Nisana speak, she would find herself unconscious and carried along with them before she could finish her shout, but should she follow them, they would all end up in front of the tavern. “You will all be required to fight, except you my dear!” he patted the human girl on the shoulder. “We are neither warriors nor a fitting choice for servitude; should we be caught, we will all die!” for the first time some worry was present in his voice, but overall he still sounded too cocky for his own good. Two Akalak men passed by and they seemed to pay no attention to them. The group was wrong not to rely on force immediately as the duo drew out their lakans quickly and both of them charged; one for Nisana, and the other for Avadon. Daratur kept moving forward, holding the girl by the hand as his pace turned into running quickly. Should Nisana side with the guards at that point, she still had a chance of surviving within the walls of Riverfall, but should she bear her teeth against the Akalak she would find being unwelcome an improvement of her status with the city.

[Nisana Curare]

Had any other race than a fellow Symenestra spoken to Nisana as such she would have ignored their warning, but as that was not the case she slipped off her silver bracelet with a soft frown. Daratur's next words only deepened her frown, but before she could answer he pressed on. When Nisana could finally get a word in she softly spoke back in Symenos, "There are no need for threats, I would not abandon a fellow Symenestra," it was true, but at the same time she would not be opposed to taking the girl on her own if they proved too foolish to 'rescue' her.

Listening as Avadon comfort the girl Nisana tilted her head slightly. There was something in his voice that tickled at a memory, and the blood from his eyes seemed a sign of magic. What was it that human boy had used? Nisana couldn't remember fully, but it was enough for her to be more cautious around these two. Their aggression could turn dangerous for her and the girl.

At Daratur's word to move Nisana stood with the rest of them, and followed along to the front of the tavern. Though it was foolish, never mind much less subtle than Nisana would have done, at the mention of fighting Nisana took her bow from where it was lashed on her pack and carried it at her side. Flipping open the covers of both her quivers she continued to follow the group, lips tight at the pain from her still injured ankle.

The approach of the two Akalak drew Nisana's amethyst eyes, but she did not draw an arrow as they seemed to not be paying them much attention. When they proved otherwise by drawing their lakans Nisana grimaced with displeasure and drew one of her regular arrows. Notching the arrow quickly she took aim at thighs of the one charging her. She would not shame herself in front of Viratas by killing without need, but a solid shot to the leg should slow him down enough for her to make her escape and follow after Daratur.

She paid no attention to Avadon or the Akalak attacking him unless Avadon fell or Nisana's opponent did. If he could not handle a fight like this he was a bigger fool than she had first thought. Instead she focused on the Akalak before her. She'd do her best to dodge without causing too much pain to her ankle if he got close while trying to incapacitate or slow him with her arrows.

[Poison]

OOCPermission to guest moderate given by DS Baku.

By the time that the two Akalak attacked, Daratur and the girl had somehow managed to make it past the tavern, into the city. They were running towards the docks at almost lightning speed. Daratur didn’t seem to have any intention of fighting right now, but was mostly focused on protecting his prize. If the girl was lost, everything would be in vain. He had to get her away from the tavern.

Avadon on the other hand produced a small crossbow. He knew that neither of them had a chance against an Akalak if they fought hand to hand – an Akalak would literally be able to crush a Symenestra. The best they could do was attack from a distance, hope that they’d somehow be able to slow them down and that their friends did their job.

Nisana fired her bow, and shortly afterwards Avadon fired his crossbow. Nisana missed, but Avadon’s bolt embedded itself into the second Akalak’s arm. It was in no way enough to incapacitate the huge, blue brute, but it provided a brief distraction. For a moment the Akalak that had been attacking Nisana turned around to see what had happened to his comrade. Avadon took the opportunity and hurried to Nisana’s side.

„Run!“ he hissed. „Run as fast as you can! Run for your life!“ He didn’t wait for Nisana’s reaction, but hurried into the direction where his brother and the girl had disappeared. The other three members of the group were nowhere to be seen. The Isur, his bondmate and the hooded figure were still inside. It was from there that Nisana could hear a few loud cries.

There seemed to be quite a commotion going on in the tavern. Chairs were being moved, people talked. A few figures were moving towards the door. It had taken the patrons a while to realize that something was happening.

[Nisana Curare]

Nisana grimaced as Avadon ran off as well, her amethyst eyes flicking between the two Akalak and the tavern they had just left. At this point she was fully committed, and she was glad she typically carried all her possessions with her since leaving Kalinor. Gritting her teeth in anticipation of the coming pain she muttered in Symenos, "Zlynge," and then turned to run after the others.

Her injured ankle burst into fresh burning pain as Nisana took off running for the docks, but Nisana fought against the desire to stop. Teeth clenched tightly as her fangs pressed downwards she forced herself forward despite the pain as best she could. Even if she couldn't claim the girl if she could get away and live then she could at least continue her Harvest somewhere else. There was no shame in taking more than a couple seasons on your first Harvest.

Breathing heavily through her nose, tears sliding down her cheeks from the pain, Nisana ran with her bow clutched tightly in her hand. Hopefully the brash fools who had gotten her involved in this mess at least had some kind of escape planned from the docks. She had little doubt that trying to swim away would only result in them dying wet and tired.

[Poison]

It didn’t take the two Akalak too long to recover from the momentary surprise. A few seconds passed, and then the two men already turned in Nisana’s direction again, readied their weapons and started pursuing her. No matter how much she tried to tried to fight the pain, no matter how much she struggled, her ankle injury slowed her down. The Akalak were much taller than she was, and they moved much faster. Within a few seconds they would reach her. They would likely kill her or make her suffer the girl’s fate and force her to bear an Akalak’s child, and quite a few women didn't survive that ...

And then a slender, pale hand that ended in black nails grabbed her wrist. Avadon had briefly turned around and noticed that she was slowing down. He’d debated with himself whether she was worth saving – if they sacrificed her, the chance that they would make it out of Riverfall alive was much greater – but then again, she had tried to fight the Akalak, and thus he would take her with him – for now at least. He pulled her with him, through the street, around a corner, steadily towards the docks. Behind them chaos errupted, and the two Symenestra’s allies were still nowhere in sight. Had they been killed or would they join their allies later?

In a doorway, hidden behind a few crates, Avadon stopped for a moment to catch his breath, crouched down and turned to face Nisana. „There’s a ship in the harbor. We are trying to reach it. You can come with us if you are fast enough, but I won’t risk my life for you again. Do you understand me?“ As far as he was concerned, he had risked his own life when he had turned around and dragged her with him. He waited for just a moment to hear her answer, then he abruptly rose to his feet and looked around the corner. The Akalak were standing there, apparently wondering where they had gone. They were just talking to another, younger Akalak – a witness. The young Akalak was gesticulating a lot and pointing vaguely in Nisana’s and Avadon’s direction.

And then something unexpected happened. Some distance in front of them Nisana could see two shapes. Daratur and the Nakivak had been hiding in a house entrance, and now they were running again. The Akalak immediately started pursuing them, and Avadon and Nisana had a few moments of relative safety. Avadon watched the Akalak for a few seconds, and then he nodded to Nisana and whispered, „Now!“

Meanwhile the people at the tavern had figured out exactly what was going on, and more Akalak had decided to pursue. The theft of a Nakivak was one of the more severe crimes as far as the citizens of Riverfall were concerned, and the thieves had to be caught and punished.