515-SPRING-41
East Street
The dirty streets bustled with activity, and the cacophony of noise was a rightful representation of the assembly of people that milling about in the more ill-reputed part of Zeltiva. Despite the uniform disrepair of the surroundings, the crowd was of a more colourful make, though each of them seemed focused on looking straight ahead and hurrying to wherever they needed to go.
As a newcomer to Laviku's City, Aedi had been warned about East Street and its bad reputation, and especially its inclination for crime. He would normally have no business here, but his eccentric boss Rals had tasked him with the delivery of a certain sack of metal implements. Unfortunately, the address stated was situated somewhere deep in East Street, and the mistrusting owner of the Armed Scholar was loathe to place faith of the delivery into the hands of a courier service.
The Isur gripped his belongings and the sack tightly as he fought his way through the crowd, but he found him continually pushed sidewards by the wave of bodies coursing through the streets like blood. Gritting his teeth, he continued to push forward as he strode, and he crossed yet another one of the many alleys that snaked through the streets.
At this exact moment, there was yet another sharp push, and he stumbled into the mouth of said alley. There was a sudden tug, and he found himself several pounds lighter. Snapping his glance towards the direction of this strange force, he spotted a rough looking urchin sprinting down the alley with the sack of metal tools that he was supposed to deliver.
All rational thoughts left the student's mind as he yelled after the thief, and without a thought he sprinted after the child. He was not a proficient runner, but the adrenaline of the situation combined with the fear of losing the delivery package and facing Rals' wrath helped to motivate him, and pumped additional energy that fuelled his chase.
Down the winding alleys the pair went, and despite the attempts the urchin made to dissuade the pursuit, the Isur remained doggedly on his trail as they made the rounds about the winding side roads of the East Street.
The thief rounded the corner, and Aedi followed suit, but instead he found himself colliding into a rather fleshy, and beefy man that stood several inches over the shorter humanoid. The urchin was nowhere in sight, but the familiar sack that he had been carrying laid in a corner of the dead-end. There were also tables and chairs with several bottles of half-consumed alcohol, and a trio of burly men playing cards seated nearby.
Aedi took in the sight as he gulped, and he cleared his throat, "Ahem. Can I have my sack back?"
"Well, we need it too, shorty," The standing man he pumped into grunted while sizing the Isur up.
Aedi's mind raced as he thought of his next plans, and he decided it probably made more sense for him to return with the Wave Guards to get back his property.
"Pardon me, I will leave then, please have a good day."
As he turned to leave, several more men appeared from behind, blocking his path of escape.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, little man. This is a toll gate, and you have to pay tax for stepping in here. How about leaving all your gold and belongings here, and we can consider letting you out with all your limbs intact?" The gatekeeper leered.
The Isur mentally swore as his heart rate quickened. He also began to regret not learning any form of combat skills while back at Sultros, since he had been so focused on crafting. His eyes shifted sneakily as he contemplated paths of escape.
"Or we could just take it from you now," The contemplation was not unnoticed by the thug, and the man raised an arm to strike the Isur.
Reflexively, he raised his left arm to block the blow. There was a meaty thud as bone crashed against divine metal. Since the Isur had been fully robed and so the nature of his blessed arm not evident, there was no indication of his race other than the assumption of being a very short human.
Being capable of blocking steel swords, there was a loud crack as the thug's forearms fractured from striking an Isur's blessed arm with full force, and his eyes widened in surprise as he swore loudly, cradling his broken arm.
"Get that vagik!" He yelled, and the men lounging behind surged towards the Isur with a hearty roar.
Today was a very bad day indeed.
East Street
The dirty streets bustled with activity, and the cacophony of noise was a rightful representation of the assembly of people that milling about in the more ill-reputed part of Zeltiva. Despite the uniform disrepair of the surroundings, the crowd was of a more colourful make, though each of them seemed focused on looking straight ahead and hurrying to wherever they needed to go.
As a newcomer to Laviku's City, Aedi had been warned about East Street and its bad reputation, and especially its inclination for crime. He would normally have no business here, but his eccentric boss Rals had tasked him with the delivery of a certain sack of metal implements. Unfortunately, the address stated was situated somewhere deep in East Street, and the mistrusting owner of the Armed Scholar was loathe to place faith of the delivery into the hands of a courier service.
The Isur gripped his belongings and the sack tightly as he fought his way through the crowd, but he found him continually pushed sidewards by the wave of bodies coursing through the streets like blood. Gritting his teeth, he continued to push forward as he strode, and he crossed yet another one of the many alleys that snaked through the streets.
At this exact moment, there was yet another sharp push, and he stumbled into the mouth of said alley. There was a sudden tug, and he found himself several pounds lighter. Snapping his glance towards the direction of this strange force, he spotted a rough looking urchin sprinting down the alley with the sack of metal tools that he was supposed to deliver.
All rational thoughts left the student's mind as he yelled after the thief, and without a thought he sprinted after the child. He was not a proficient runner, but the adrenaline of the situation combined with the fear of losing the delivery package and facing Rals' wrath helped to motivate him, and pumped additional energy that fuelled his chase.
Down the winding alleys the pair went, and despite the attempts the urchin made to dissuade the pursuit, the Isur remained doggedly on his trail as they made the rounds about the winding side roads of the East Street.
The thief rounded the corner, and Aedi followed suit, but instead he found himself colliding into a rather fleshy, and beefy man that stood several inches over the shorter humanoid. The urchin was nowhere in sight, but the familiar sack that he had been carrying laid in a corner of the dead-end. There were also tables and chairs with several bottles of half-consumed alcohol, and a trio of burly men playing cards seated nearby.
Aedi took in the sight as he gulped, and he cleared his throat, "Ahem. Can I have my sack back?"
"Well, we need it too, shorty," The standing man he pumped into grunted while sizing the Isur up.
Aedi's mind raced as he thought of his next plans, and he decided it probably made more sense for him to return with the Wave Guards to get back his property.
"Pardon me, I will leave then, please have a good day."
As he turned to leave, several more men appeared from behind, blocking his path of escape.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, little man. This is a toll gate, and you have to pay tax for stepping in here. How about leaving all your gold and belongings here, and we can consider letting you out with all your limbs intact?" The gatekeeper leered.
The Isur mentally swore as his heart rate quickened. He also began to regret not learning any form of combat skills while back at Sultros, since he had been so focused on crafting. His eyes shifted sneakily as he contemplated paths of escape.
"Or we could just take it from you now," The contemplation was not unnoticed by the thug, and the man raised an arm to strike the Isur.
Reflexively, he raised his left arm to block the blow. There was a meaty thud as bone crashed against divine metal. Since the Isur had been fully robed and so the nature of his blessed arm not evident, there was no indication of his race other than the assumption of being a very short human.
Being capable of blocking steel swords, there was a loud crack as the thug's forearms fractured from striking an Isur's blessed arm with full force, and his eyes widened in surprise as he swore loudly, cradling his broken arm.
"Get that vagik!" He yelled, and the men lounging behind surged towards the Isur with a hearty roar.
Today was a very bad day indeed.