Solo Angry Merchant

[Brandon Blackwing]

The 36th of Summer 514AV

The day was still young, twilight still darkened the world, Leth still gazed thoughtfully to the earth, reflecting on whatever divine problems he had experienced in his life as a god. The stars still shone brightly and clouds drifted through the heavens, carrying with them blessings to dry land. The Blackwing had only returned from one of his nightly hunting trips chimes ago, having eaten lots and lots of mosquitoes, moths and other kinds of insect-prey that dared to come out at night. There had been lots and lots, easy to find, easy to catch, they couldn’t hide in the darkness, his echolocation revealed all. Though sometimes his prey managed to escape by zigzagging or diving suddenly, disappearing, or sometimes the echo’s he received were odd, strange, off. All tricks the prey had developed to avoid becoming his meal, and even though he knew their petty tricks, he fell for them time and time again. Not like he could do much against it.

True, he was agile in the air, but not as agile as some bugs, those zigzags were hard to make and if he went straight ahead, most bugs just continued their new path. Those that dived when they heard his wings beating the air, hid between the flora, not even his echolocation could find them in there, nor reach through the leaves and return to his ears. And the strange echo’s … well, those were just confusing. No matter, there were enough insects to feed upon, others that weren’t so smart. Besides, he wouldn’t make a fuss out of one that escaped him when there were millions of others flying around in the dark.

Anyways, the bat had entered his house through the chimney, he didn’t actually dive in there of course, that would be suicide. No, he clambered down, the claws on his fingers and hind feet easily finding grip in the small cracks of rock, bricks and stone that made up the chimney. It wasn’t hard at all, it just took a while. Once he had reached the bottom he only had to crawl out of the hearth, through the ash and charred wood –he always made sure not to leave the fire burning when he left, not that it would still be on when he returned, but you never know. Then he could shift without risk of banging his head against the ceiling of the fireplace, it had happened a couple of times before.

Dawnrest was almost upon the city of Stars, and Brandon guessed that now he was at home he could stick to the Lhavitian sleeping schedule for a change, a short nap of two bells. Though he wouldn’t be surprised that if he’d wake it would be night again. His sleeping habits were persistent, not once had he been able to take a quick nap without someone to wake him in time. He’d either sleep for long periods or he wouldn’t sleep at all. After nightfall, it was usually the latter. Short rest periods? Nope, he’d always oversleep, but it was better than insomnia. Speaking of which, it had lessened the past two seasons, which was great!

Just as he was about to head to his bunk though, a quick rapping of bone and flesh on wood drew his attention from the bed away to the door. Curiosity quickly replaced the first-felt annoyance, and a couple of long strides brought him near the door. One ear was placed on the cold wood, fast-paced breathing could be heard as well as another hard knocking sounded, now much louder and close to his ear. The one on the other side of the door seemed impatient, he could tell by the small timeframe between the two times they’d knocked. The bat sighed, so they really needed him? Better open the door then.

What he saw was not really what he had expected, it was a girl of an age of … say … fifteen? Or twenty-five? He couldn’t really tell, human ages were hard to guess, but it was a female and she was quite young-looking. Good looking too. As soon as she got a good look at him though, she flushed and gazed to the side, head turned ninety degrees. Brandon wondered what was up with that, wearing a puzzled expression as he leaned against the doorframe. “A-are you B-Brandon Blackw-wing? ” she stuttered, her determination to stare to the side momentarily weakened, but not for long, as soon as her gaze touched his figure, her emerald orbs shot back to the point in space she’d been staring at before, her cheeks even redder than earlier. “Yeeeeeeessss….?” came the reply hesitantly, the short word stretched out, deforming into a longer version. Why in the world did a girl want to know if he was himself, how did she even know his name and the place where he lived? Who was she, anyway? Had they met before, by any chance?

“Mr. Kriegsfelt wants to see you immediately. He is waiting at the Azure market.” she continued. Well, that explained a lot. So that bastard of a black-clad old blackmailing creep wanted him to come? He’d send an messenger for that? It was important then? The bat was kind of curious, what did the man want from him? It would probably be to tell him to do this or that, or maybe he just wanted to insult him a bit more. Anyway, meeting him again wouldn’t be pleasant. Brandon sighed, he hated that man. If it were not for Engghaen, he’d just tell the messenger to deliver a message from him to Kriegsfelt stating that he could go petch himself, like he had six days ago. Unfortunately, there was no saying what the consequences of such action would be. “Right now?”
“Right now.”

Another sigh and the bat stepped outside his residence, the girl backed away hastily, startled and blushing again as she laid eyes on him by accident. “I guess I’ll go then.”
“Ehm … you might want to put on some clothes first…” the courier blushed, embarrassedly looking around, hoping there were no people out in the alley. Luckily, since it was Dawnrest, there were none. The Kelvic responded with an “Eh?” and then sent his gaze darting over to himself, to his own naked body. Clothes, oh yes! He’d almost forgotten!
“That… might be a good idea.”

Credit goes to Nyxie Nadira Draer

[Brandon Blackwing]

Clothed, the bat strolled to the Azure market, where Mr. Black supposedly was waiting for him to come. Obviously, Brandon did not do so with haste or in a rush, no, determined to get as much on Kriegsfelt’s nerves as possible –such was his silent rebellion, he casually strode through the streets, alleys and shortcuts, enjoying the night air, now he still could. Haste did not exist right now, his sluggish pace did force him onwards, but rather slowly. Let Kriegsfelt wait, he had said he should come immediately, well he did, but not with haste. The courier hadn’t explicitly stated he had to rush, though that had certainly been the underlying message. Heh, the bat couldn’t care less.

Eventually he arrived at last, the Azure void of nearly all people, except himself and a small group of three persons, standing a couple of meters away from the alley through which Bran had just entered the market. Despite the twilight and the dark clothes of the old, fat man and the dark blue skin of the two gigantic brutes (who were probably twins since they looked quite alike and even their names were similar) could be easily detected. As soon as the bat stepped closer and Solomon, who stood with his back towards Brandon, saw the change in expression of his two guards realized he had arrived, the thief was greeted with a bad mood.

“You are late!” the black-clad old blackmailer fumed, while taking a step towards the bat and drawing circles in the air with a finger, his numerous chins bouncing up and down as to underline his anger. “You have kept me waiting for too long, Brandon!” Brandon himself kept a straight face, but smirked internally, glad to see the results of his tardiness. “I came immediately, just like you instructed,” the rebel spoke innocently, feigning ignorance and playing dumb. Once again he grinned on the inside, while he struggled not to do so on the outside as well.

Kriegsfelt seemed to decide it didn’t really matter whether he indeed had or not, too angry about something else –something far more important, no doubt- to care. “Whatever, you are here, that’s what counts. Now, to business!” Business eh? Brandon wondered what kind of mess he’d have to solve, or what sort of dirty job he’d have to execute, but that he would be told the next instant of course. “I am no man to put my wealth on display,” Mr. Black started and was interrupted by Brandon immediately, who couldn’t resist to question that with a whisper. After all, the man did wear robes that looked like they had been made from the finest of fabrics by the most skilled of tailors, so obviously he did put his wealth on display, not to mention that heavy golden ring and that necklace-thing he had worn six days ago, the latter he was still wearing.

“Do not mock me, Brandon! I am in a foul mood right now and my patience is limited!” He shook his head from left to right and reverse a couple of times whilst speaking the first sentence, the fat of his face and neck swaying as well. A disgusting sight ,it was. Also, a warning finger pointed skywards while he did so, and when he spoke of his mood and patience, his hands gestured expressively. Hm, indeed, quite expressive was what Mr. Black could be called. “Like I said, I am no man to display my wealth…” he paused, eyeing the bat with a warning gaze, Brandon raised his hands in a gesture of innocence. “… but I do wear a bit of jewelry, a man of my standing has to, after all.” Heh, yeah right, no man to display his wealth, what a joke.

“Anyways,” the man of standing continued, his face getting red and his gestures quicker and more aggressive, the blobbing of his chins became wilder too, “I was selling wares here, at my stand –I was quite successful today, I must add- when I shook hands with a fellow because we struck a deal. A few chimes later, I realized that my ring was gone! My favorite ring!” A vein pulsed on his forehead, his chins swayed as if to scream “outrageous!” Brandon found the man’s anger, expressions and movements, as well as his now deep purple color, expressive gestures and the fact that he had been stolen from quite amusing, he had to use all his willpower not to burst out in laughter, the fact that his willpower was rolling over the floor laughing did not really help.

His amusement was ended brutally by the realization that he’d have to help this obnoxious merchant to retrieve the man’s ring. “So, what is it you want me to do? Search for the culprit? That’s like searching for a needle in a hay pile. Worse actually, more like a barn full of hay. There’s no way I can find that guy, you probably can’t recall his face, or clothes.”
Kriegsfelt shook his head again, wildly in denial of what Brandon just had reasoned. “No, no, no, no! Let me finish! Bells later, I walked through the market myself, and I saw my ring beckoning me. It was placed on a small pillow, on a jeweler’s stand! That thief had probably sold it! I told the vendor that that was my ring, I told him I could prove it by the engravings on it, but he refused to give it back! He said that if I wanted to get it back I should buy it back! Can you believe that guy? It is just outrageous! ” Solomon’s chins blobbed in agreement.

Credit goes to Nyxie Nadira Draer

[Brandon Blackwing]

“Thus?” the Blackwing queried, getting a bit impatient, he was tired and though dawnrest was still upon them, it wouldn’t be for long anymore, maybe a bell tops. “Thus I want you to go to that merchant’s house and take back what is mine!” Solomon demanded, with a tone that suggested he was used to giving commands. Well, those blue bodyguards were with him all the time, so it would be strange if he’d never command them around. “Right, and where exactly does that jeweler live?” Brandon hoped Kriegsfelt knew, if not, this would get a bit longer and less interesting, waiting around near the jeweler’s stand until the man decided to go home again, with Brandon on his tail.

“Dragha will show you the way immediately,” Mr. Black spoke, nodding to one of the identical giants, who bowed in response. Brandon moaned internally, so it really had to be done now? Couldn’t it wait until he had had some rest? “Can’t I do it some other time? I am a bit tired right now,” the bat negotiated, yawning as to demonstrate the truth in his words. Solomon kriegsfelt didn’t care though, insisting that it had to be done immediately, and that Brandon had to be finished by the end of dawnrest. Great, so now he had a deadline as well, just wonderful.

“Before you go though, I have something I want you to have. Wait here a tick.” With that, the man disappeared behind a stall, his stall probably, and returned with a pile of what seemed to be clothing. “Though you may have some skill as thief, you are way to naïve, Brandon. I have heard from some of my contacts here that you break into others’ houses wearing the same clothes as you wear when you walk the streets. That won’t do. Since you will get your assignments via me, I do not want to be linked with a thief in any way. Therefore, when you do jobs like these, you will wear this.” Authority lingered in his words, but even though Brandon was tempted not to do what the man asked –it wasn’t like he’d know what the bat had worn anyway- he did see the importance and the use in obeying that order. It would make him less recognizable, which was always great.

Solomon Kriegsfelt placed all the objects he held in his arms on his stand, and beckoned Brandon closer, inviting him to come check it out. The objects had been sorted, and three different categories had been made. The first was constructed out of a mask only, a white featureless mask, with only two eye-shaped holes in it through which one could see. The right eye- or the left when wearing the mask- was decorated with black swirls and one tear-like decoration that seemed to roll out of the eye and down the cheek. A beautiful mask, Brandon instantly liked it. Why, he did not know but he had always liked masks, maybe it was because of his profession or maybe just because most were really enigmatic.

Then, right next to it, Solomon had laid a folded up square of fabric, black of color. What exactly it was, the bat did not know, though once his hands grabbed it and it unfolded itself, it became clear that it was a cape. The inside was a dark green. “That is a cape you can wear both inside out as well as normally,” Mr. Black clarified, “It’s designed so you can disguise yourself within ticks. While pursuers will be searching for a man wearing a black cloak, they will pass a man wearing a green one. And it has a hood, which comes in handy, I suppose?”

Next came a pile of black clothing-like things, they felt leathery, and hard as well. The Blackwing raised an eyebrow in query. “That’s leather armor, but dyed black.” was all Solomon said, Brandon returned his gaze to the leather getup and started to understand what he was looking at: a chestplate made from sturdy and hard leather. Hard for protection of his body, but wouldn’t it hinder his movements then? Ah, the pants, gloves and boots were made of softer leather. A more careful observation of the chestplate revealed that it was attached to a leather shirt, made from softer leather, the same as the pants. Hm, yeah … it would be different than wearing clothes, but it seemed supple enough. “So, you are giving this to me?” the bat asked, suspecting some trap of sorts.

“Giving? No, I am selling it to you.”
“What! I have to pay for that?!”
“Of course, I am a businessman, I don’t do charity. That will be fifteen kina and six topaz. And you will buy! That is an order!” he spoke, noting the bat’s reluctance.
“Fine,” Brandon snarled, slamming the coins in the merchant’s hands.

Said merchant counted the sum he was given, just to be sure, and nodded contently as he let the coins slide into his pouch. The thief gritted his teeth in annoyance and frustration, one day, one day he would make this man pay for all this. And he would enjoy it, oh he would. For now though, he had to play along and search for a way to get out of this mess. “Good, now, Dragha, escort Brandon here home. Be sure to show him around a bit,” Solomon ordered, and the blue giant bowed once more, the bat was beckoned and led through a maze of alleys and streets, hands occupied with carrying his newly bought armor.

prices :

10kina for leather armor (pants and torso) 6topaz for boots, 1 kina for gloves, 3kina for cape and 1 kina for mask

Credit goes to Nyxie Nadira Draer

[Raien Ironarm Pitrius]

XP Award!

Name: Brandon Blackwing

XP Award:
Observation +2
Socialization +1
Rhetoric +2
Negotiation +1

Lore Award:
A late night Visitor
Mr. Black: Found of Couriers
Passive Resistance towards Mr. Black
Mr. Black: Impatient and not Inclined to Waiting
Mr. Black: "Not" a Showy Man
Being Ordered to Buy a Man's Wares

Ledger/Items Received:
+ Black Leather Armor
+ Boots
+ Gloves
+ Reversible Cape
+ Thief's Mask
- 15.6 Kina


Grader Comments:
Another great thread Brandon, I couldn't award much beyond the armor. But I still enjoyed reading it and I do hope you liked writing it just as much. It was an interesting way to further develop Mr. Black's personality and to acquire some armor, if nothing else. Keep at it my friend!