Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The swordsman, the pirate and the hyena (closed)

Bender Of Iron Will panted heavily."I'm too old fer this." He managed to utter as he looked down at the manhole one last time."Yer a brave lad, Arien." The old pirate said."Though pretty damn stupid." He sighed angrily. Bender figured Arien would die for sure, something the lad didn't deserve. He still didn't get why he wanted to stay down there in the first place."We better run!" Willow yelled."I'm not going to wait around until that tiger shows its mug again."

Bender shook his head."yer forgettin' the festivities. There's guards everywhere, 'n they don't like no Goblins 'round them wealthy folks. Much less a giant tiger 'r a banished king. I wouldn't spend 'nother night 'ere if I were ye though." The captain opened his chest, revealing his treasure once more. A mixture of golden coins and bars, as well as gemstones. He grabbed a gold bar, worth 40 gold coins at least, and an emerald. He handed that to Flavio."I hoped this deal wouldn't end like this, but ya did yer job, didn't ya? Go on, take it. It's yer payment."

"What about me?" The Satyr asked in distraught."Yer not me problem, lad. Discuss yer payment with yer employer." He said as he nodded towards Flavio.

The man put his box of gold on his carriage, which was still standing there."If yer interested fer some more work, I can offer ya both a good rankin' role on me ship once it's fixed." The man said as he crawled onto the driver's seat."No need ta answer me now. Come find me on the marketplace in a few hours. I'll be sellin' Delaborgio's stuff there in 'is absence." With that, not awaiting an answer, the pirate rode off, to the inn to change into an attire that smelled less like poop.

Meanwhile down in the sewers the angry tiger still wasn't able to get the burning sensation out of its fur. It only angered the beast more as it once more charged towards the robed man, with a glare on its face that spoke death. It was so furious and careless it would probably smash into the wall, should Arien be able to get away in time from the impact.

The man would find more manholes on the way, though, some of which weren't even that heavy to lift, though there was no telling where he'd end up once he found one.

It was as the tiger charged that final time that Arien funneled as much of his energy into teleporting as he could. He needed the escape now. He was not going to die in a sewer smelling like poop and half eaten by a tiger. Even a monstrous tiger like the one attacking.

His life flashed before his eyes and then fresh air assaulted his senses. He stirred and blinked his eyes open. There was a blue sky above him and a man on a box shouting stuff nearby.

"Ungh," he groaned, slowly rolling over to pick himself up. He stunk to the high heavens. "I'm never going underground again."

Flavio was a bit uncertain, he liked the slab of gold he'd gotten and you couldn't break that stuff in two. "Ehm... How about you take the emerald? After all, I've been on this job for longer than you have." The gnoll holds out the green gemstone. "Take it or leave it! You won't find a better pay here in this city."

The gnoll didn't respond to Bender's offer, even if he would lie if he said he didn't enjoy this trip, he also knew being alone would be dangerous for a while.

Arien was in luck. He appeared behind a stack of crates that some working men were loading into nearby carts for transportation. This part of the city didn't have that much festive cheer going on. Seeing the houses here were much differently built. Arien found himself to be near the poor district, near the grande road that lead to all the different districts, though the only thing noteworthy to see was the Colosseum that was surprisingly nearby.

Willow gratefully accepts the emerald. It was more than he expected to get. The Gnoll could easily give him nothing and there wouldn't be a thing the Satyr could do about it."Hey, thanks man. I knew you were a safe bet." He laughed, holding the jewel in his palm."So what're your plans, friend? Celebrate a job well done by eating a baby? Oh, I know. You'd best stop by the bank. They'll exchange that bar for coins, I bet. That way it's easier to spend, don't you think?"

Bender in the meantime would have freshened up and changed his clothing, donning a blue cloak with a black shirt and grey linnen pants. He looked pretty much the same as always, but with a pallet change. For the rest of the day he'll be manning his own stall alongside the other vendors at the market, selling Alexander's former gear for a bit of extra coin. His chest of coins was safely stored underneath the stall from which he'd do his business.

Arien gamely got to his feet and looked around. He had no idea where he was, but he could tell the people here were poorer.

The Colosseum caught his attention and his natural curiosity took over. He'd head there and keep an eye open for Bender and Flavio. The latter he remembered, had sealed him into the sewer in the first place.

"I will see, we'll part here though. Go enjoy your emerald." Flavio said as he started looking around for his second companion. He was certain Arien would just use his fancy magic to teleport, but the gnoll couldn't see him anywhere. "I hope he didn't... eeeegh." Not really keen on taking a look Flavio sighed and left the alley.

Going to the bank was easier said than done, he wondered if they'd even let him in, being a monstrous gnoll and all.

The Satyr nodded."Well, it was nice to have some decent company. Sorry about the kid, though. I kinda liked him. He didn't comment my hairy legs. Well, I'll see you around my friend." Willow bowed as he left with his riches.

Going to the bank was surprisingly easy, actually. When a creature, no matter how vile it seemed, had money on him, he didn't look so bad anymore. Money sure was a powerful tool in Human cities. The bank wasn't far away. It had the look of a large mausoleum, with its many columns. The guard wouldn't allow the Gnoll in though, not unless he showed his gold bar.

Inside the area was big and mostly bright, with in the middle the statue of a long haired woman in a robe and a winged helmet, Cassandra Kurin. The nameplate said. Mistress of Coin. Behind the statue were many stone cubicles which offered to help those who needed money changed.

Once Arien would walk towards the Colosseum, he would notice how many workers there were actually working on what was supposed to be a holiday. Especially with the Colosseum in view, it must be torturous for these poor people. When Arien reaches it, he might remember that Alsillia, the elf that he had found beaten up by a strange figure, would be here training. A lot of people were leaving the Colosseum, either packed with money, saddened by a bad bet, or families leaving with big smiles on their faces. In Kurin's Pride people were allowed to watch the training of the gladiators, but few rarely did. The seating around the battlefield would be extremely empty.

As Arien drew closer to the Colosseum, he watched the workers around him. It astonished him how hard they worked while others seemed to be celebrating and lazing about. But he also knew that he'd been one of those hard workers several times, to earn coin for traveling, and so if he did catch their eye, he'd nod and offer an understanding smile.

However, when he heard swords clashing at the training grounds, he was quickly distracted and headed over to watch the sparring. He still had his sword out, which he'd been holding in his hand forgotten until now. He would take up a seat not far from the battlefield, watching the styles of people train as he caught his breath and replenished his energy. He squinted after a few minutes--was that a familiar face?

Flavio kept an eye out, he was still hoping that somehow he hadn't caused Arien's death. He did not even have the spirit to mess with the guard in front of the bank. He just casually showed him the gold bar and then continued in, walking with a clear purpose.

In the bank they didn't gladly help Flavio, but they did their job and got him a bag of 40 gold coins instead. Though this was still a lot of money to carry around like that, he would at least be able to spend it.

Where Flavio went was his choice now. The festivities offered something for everyone. Whether is was shopping for things no one needs, games or watching clowns shoot fire from their mouths in the middle of the streets.

And indeed as promised, the Queen Of Broken Bones was there that day. It was easy to see why she was called that. For training she wore no helmet, so she was recognizable. Her chainmail outfit seemed a bit worn, as well as her plate skirt and breastplate. The two maces she donned though were in perfect shape. Both were made of a dark type of steel and both resembled a glaring skull on top a handle. She still looked as horrible as yesterday night, perhaps even worse because of the fights earlier in the morning. She was sparring with a rather small, black haired Minotaur. He could easily be mistaken for a bull if he didn't walk on his hind legs and wore thick mail plating. He donned a blunt claymore for this training, but seemed to have a hard time trying to hit Alsillia. Whenever the bull tried to hit her, she easily dodged the attack, mockingly so even, only enraging the beast. She didn't notice Arien in the stage right now.

Arien continued to watch; he wanted to see what moves she'd use, and how she'd manage against a claymore. But regardless of the minotaur's success or imminent defeat, Arien was going to want a try. He waited on pins and needles for the fight to commence.

Flavio in fact only realized how much of a target he was making himself when he walked out of the bank with his big bag of gold in his claws. From his pirate heydays he knew that thieves would flock to him like pigeons to some seeds, hell, there was a time he'd have shot someone in the face for this much money. He wasn't even sure if that time was over.

For lack of a better option the musketeer slipped into an empty alley and then just started loading his pockets full of gold, then his actual money pouch, and then any other place he could find until he was rid of the large bag. He sniffed and looked around when he was done to make sure nobody had seen him, he didn't want to give some mangy pickpocket the score of his life.

The people passing the alleyway did not take note of Flavio. They were to busy feasting upon some treats to look at some random alleyway. Though there were plenty of untrustworthy people lurking about. Perhaps Flavio is lucky he is no Human, he made himself less of a target to them. No one suspected a monster to carry around enough gold to live like a king for at least 10 years.

A bit further down the street a couple of guards were pushing a couple of green skinned creatures back, yelling things like "stay in your sewers, overgrown rats!" Clearly these were the goblins, and they were growing bold it seemed. Perhaps they were worried they found their king's tiger back without any pirate like remains.

Meanwhile Alsillia kept on dodging the Minotaur's attacks, tiring him out quickly. When the beast's attacks were no longer as powerful as they used to be, the slender Elf smashed both her maces onto the Minotaur's head, making him collapse on the floor. It was clear who won this little spar.

"Better luck next time." Alsillia laughed as she walked close by Arien to get a mug of water. When she looked up, she saw him sitting there. She stared at him awkwardly, not sure if this was the same man from the bar. Her mind had been clouded since last night. She decided to be direct."So you came to spar after all, huh?"

Arien watched, impressed in spite of himself with Alsillia's single-minded determination in fending off the minotaur. Although every swordsman had to have that to be successful.

He grinned when she walked past him before hailing him. He stood and gave a sloppy salute. "Of course. I see you're warmed up now," he gestured at the fallen minotaur. "Unless you need a moment to catch your breath." After all, it wasn't like Arien had just fended off a giant tiger in the sewers of some dank Goblin underground resistance camp.

Flavio made good use of the festival to look for someone selling black powder, he was slowly running out. It felt so weird no longer having a stash of them, when he'd been in the Lion's Dawn crew there was never a lack off, even the powder currently in his horn was still from their barrels.

Of course black powder was hard to come by too, he wondered if he'd even find it at all, with the golems about this seemed hardly the city where you'd find black market dealers.

Alsillia grinned. So it was him after all."I honestly didn't think you'd come." She wiggled her nose a bit as he stood up."You smell like shit, literally. Did you step into something?" She asked as she lead him down to the staging grounds. Arien could grab a blunt sword off of the weapon's rack."No lethal weapons here, princess." Alsillia grinned, swinging her two maces around. Once Arien got his weapon, and stood before her, she'd grin one final time."I'm about to show you why they named me Queen Of Broken Bones, princess. Ready or not, here we go!" The Elf ran for him, her maces to each of her sides. It was an easy hit to block, but if it hit, it would surely hurt Arien's sides.

Flavio would have a hard time looking for black powder. The golems did indeed not truly attract black marketeers to the city. They were there, of course, but they were incredibly hard to find. Especially during the festivities. The only truly questionable items Flavio would be able to find were the trinkets and statues of a pair of light green scaled Lizardfolk wearing a buck's hide for clothing, with the head and antlers used as hat. Clearly these two were Druids, and perhaps Flavio would recognize them as part of the Shazak clan. Shazaks are the most peaceful of the Lizardfolk, which must be why they were allowed to be in the city in the first place.

There seemed to be nothing to indicate that there were any shady characters about, ready to sell the Gnoll black powder. There were simply too many guards.

Arien smirked at the nickname, a glint of good humor gleaming in his eyes once again. "Princess, is it? Well, then, my knight in shining armor, maybe you should rethink rescuing this particular damsel in distress."

He grabbed the blunted practice sword, hefting it for balance and weight before he followed her onto the training grounds. Readily he turned to watch her, his guard up. "Then Queen of Broken Bones get ready to meet your maker."

He waited as she came for him, tensing as he brought his sword into the guard position. He wasn't sure about which mace she'd strike with first--and in any case, he'd try to dodge it.

Luckily the hyena didn't expect to find any black powder, and so he just settled for the next best thing: Food! He was hungry from all the work he'd done, the running, the danger, and what better place to find lots of good food than a grand festival!? Of course he had some money now so not just anything would do, he set about to find the strangest most outlandish thing he could find.

Alsillia grinned at Arien's comment. Kind of awkwardly too. It was the first time ever went along with her insults. This none the less didn't stop her from showing the stud she could stand her ground easily.

Her swing was indeed easily dodgeable. Arien's swift move was anticipated though. Once he dodged, the woman did a neat trick. She swung her entire body towards Arien with help from the weight of her maces. If her tactic works, she'd bash her shoulder into the robed man, which would surely stagger him.

Now when it came to food, Flavio was in heaven. He'd soon find a marketplace dedicated to "foods from around the world." This was basicly a fair where people came together to sample and/or buy foods that one could otherwise never eat in a Human city. There were many stalls to be found selling odd looking foods. Stringy Drake meat, gigantic bugs coated in sugar, roasted baby shark on a stick, and even barbequed troll legs, that didn't seem to sell well, as the drunk Dwarven cook kept yelling at passing by people about 'how they wouldn't know fine cuisine if it forced itself into their mouth.'

He dodged the blow of the maces, but never expected her shoulder to ram into him. He did stagger and removed one hand from his sword to grab her shoulder for stability. Thankfully she had her hands full of mace to keep her from just landing a punch or brushing him off.

And even better--he was now inside her guard. He twisted, running his hand from her shoulder to her wrist, and yanked, gaining his balance and throwing her off (he hoped) as he raised his sword.