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

Bender Of Iron Will started laughing."Lad, when yer on sea ya have ta make yer own fun sometimes. Dinkle never really knew how t' control a crew. He had this constant fear that the crew would throw 'im overboard or somethin', so he let us get away with alot o' things. Sailor's 're more loyal than one might think. Keep 'em entertained, feed 'em well 'n make sure they get their pay on time. Do that, and ya won't have a munity on yer hands."

Flavio's comment made him chuckle."He probably had more than one, 'n he sure had his fair chair o' wenches. But he kept talkin' about Suzanne like she was his one 'n only. Man was in love, I think. Don't matter now. He's dead."

After the pause Bender took a deep breath and tried to keep the look in his face as neutral as possible."Suzanne got blown up with the rest o' the ship. I've no idea where my crew is, I presume they're dead. It's been about twenty years ago after all. Perhaps fifteen, I'm not sure no more. We got attacked by a bunch o' mercenaries. We were a lone ship. We couldn't protect ourselves against an entire fleet o' the sods. They wouldn't accept surrender either. They wanted our hides."

Arien reached forward carefully, patting his horse's neck and grateful for the solid ground beneath him after the mention of the sea. But when the story turned grim, he shuddered and straightened. "I'm sorry for your crew," he began, "but how'd you escape them?"

Flavio listened intently to the story, it even whiped his almost constant smile off his face. The hyena's head turned briefly to Arien and then back at Bender, nodding. "Yes. How d'you get away?"

Bender Of Iron Will forced himself a smile. He didn't like talking about that event, even though he moved on years ago."I wish I could answer ya, lads. But the last thing I remember is wood splinterin' everywhere, my mates diein' all 'round me 'n fallin' down into a hole. I woke up on a beach near Swimmin' Giant's harbor. I s'pose I was lucky 'n drifted on top o' a piece o' floatin' junk. All I could see was wood 'n a couple o' corpses. I've no idea what truly happen'd, but since that day I didn' see me mates nor me ship again. It probably didn' survive th' attack." He told, no longer capable of keeping his tone neutral. He sounded rather sad. Strange coming from a man who laughs so often. That was also the day he got his steel arm, but that was a detail he left out of his story.

"Thanks fer yer sympathy lad, but the past's the past." He said as he looked at Arien."I'm an old man. I know life's got ups 'n downs by now." He glanced over at Flavio, remembering his suggestion from yesterday."So y'see why I want this one fixed? She's there in honor o' me lost pals, and I won't leave it there just for some 'oles 'ere 'n there. If she still floats, she's worthy o' bein' repaired."

Arien nodded, falling silent for once. He wasn't usually quiet--the only times were when he was deep in thought, and usually when he was plotting a prank. But this time was different; his face was fairly serious.

Of course it was only for a minute, before his thoughts churned back to the items that Bender was concealing. "I guess that makes sense," he murmured, understanding Bender's resolve to fix his ship.

Bender's story hadn't struck but a single man as Flavio went awfully silent as well. His expression even became a tad gloomy, something that didn't happen very often. The hyena gave a soft groan and repositioned himself so he faced forward in the saddle. He nodded when Arien made his remark, but didn't say anything himself.

Bender Of Iron Will stayed quiet for a while too. He realised he had turned the mood down somewhat. He looked at the two and raised his brow as a wicked smile appeared on his face.

"Want to hear the story 'bout how Buttsey nearly lost 'is arse to a shark?" He asked, widening his eyes at the mere memory of it all.

[OOC: Sorreh, short post this time.]

Arien watched as Flavio faced forward again on his horse. He wondered briefly if the horse knew its rider wasn't human. But then the promise of an entertaining tale distracted him and Arien perked up. "A shark?"

He twisted to look back at Bender and in so doing caught sight of the crates. He was still working on how best to figure out what was in them. But for the meanwhile, he'd listen to the tale.

Flavio turned to the man and a grin spread on his face. "Aye. I'm sure t'is a namemaking tale for the lad!" But the hyena's interest was soon piqued when he noticed the rooftop of a building sticking out somewhere beyond a bend in the road.

Bender chuckled."Oh, it sure is. Buttsey was always the type o' sailor who'd do anythin' for a scrap o' ... well, anythin'. So one day Tagger dared Buttsey to put a fish down 'is trousers 'n hang over the deck close enough to the water to make a shark jump up and bite the fish out o' them."

"Buttsey o' course agreed and so we hoisted him down to the water and waited for maybe twenty minutes. Then this whale o' a shark jumped out o' the water to bite 'im. Ya'd have ta see it to believe! It was as if the Kraken wanted 'is sorry hide!"

"If we hadn't pulled 'im up on time, we'd have lost Buttsey. But all the lad lost were his trousers. We had a great laugh at that and started calling 'im Buttsey ever since." He laughed as he ended his story.

Flavio had noticed well, the inn was indeed there. And it was doing great business. there were at least 12 horses tied down and benches were placed outside for the travelers to sit down, and those were all filled up as well. The bartender came running out as she saw Bender and his heavy load. She was a rather stout dwarven woman with thick blonde hair and a plump face."Sir, take yer heavy load to the back, you'd block access for other merchants!" She shouted at him, waving her arms as if to lead Bender to the right direction. The rest of the travelers seemed like seafarers as well. Different races were to be seen, at least twenty people were running about. Elves, Orcs and Humans all shared a pint and talked cheerfully.

Arien nearly doubled over with laughter, recalling only at the last minute that he didn't want to lose control of his steed. He really couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so hard.

"Oh goodness, I wish I'd been there for that." He wiped his streaming eyes with a hand as he recovered himself and looked around. They were at the inn and his eyes brightened. It seemed they weren't the only ones out traveling.

His gaze lingered on a few of the more pretty ladies, before he realized they were being hailed by the bartender. "Aye, we'll go around back," he agreed.

Flavio uttered the typical hyena laughter, pitched much higher then even his regular laughs and having an almost maniacal tone to it. The horse started to become uneasy due to it, and the musketeer reigned it only in time to prevent it from bucking him off its back.

As soon as Flavio and the rest arrived at the inn the hyena lifted himself out of the saddle and back onto the ground, riding a horse hadn't been too enjoyable as usual, and his horse was giving him some leery eyes. The hyena stroked the place where he had whiped all his gungrime. "Ah you little ball of walking meat. You'll have some stable boy clean you up soon enough." The horse flattened its ears and reared it's head high.

The hyena uttered a sheepish laugh, and walked around to put Bender betweem him and his horse. "The horse'll follow.."

Bender Of Iron Will nodded as he lead his cart into the designated area where four more simular carts were 'parked'. The old sea captain tied the horses to the hooks on the floor."Well, lads. Enjoy while ya can. We've got us a few more hours o' travel after this." He said as he walked passed them.

A man was behind the bar taking notes of the goods on what could be premusably his own cart. His outfit was a stylish light colored tunic with a very short pitch black cape over his shoulders. His pants were rather puffy and he wore very high white socks in combination with tiny pointy shoes. Most notable was his hat. It was very large and it had gigantic red feather as adornment. The man also wore white gloves with a pricey looking ring on each hand."Oh, a fellow merchant heading for the festivities?" He asked in a rather delicate voice as he walked over to Bender, who had donned a grey tricone hat."Festivities?" Bender repeated, looking at the man.

The merchant smiled widely. His hair was wavy and he had a slight hint of a beard going on."Yes, the festival of the Great Conqueror. A great few days for business, my friend." Bender snapped his fingers."Oh, right, right. That explains all th' commotion 'round here." The merchant nodded."Indeed it does. Allow me to introduce myself to you." He said as he noticed the rest of the group."My name is Alexander Delaborgio." Bender raised a brow as he nodded."Fancy name, lad. Bender O' Iron Will's mine."

Out of behind the cart came two Orcs. Both of them seemed to be almost as tall as Bender were. It was hard to notice but they were actually both women. They covered themselves up well with thick plate armors that were encarved with all kinds of symbols, yet the features of their face gave it away. Male Orcs have broad faces while females were always thinner and with fewer outsticking teeth."And these two beauty queens are Ghend'rak and Segrid." The merchant introduced the two bald creatures as they stood behind Alexander protectively."Roughart should be around here as well, but he's probably drinking. Useless bastard, what do I pay him for?" Alexander said without expecting an answer.

"Entertainment?" Arien supplied before he could shut his trap. He'd followed Flavio's example in leaving his horse to the stable boys and he had arrived in time to hear the rhetorical question--and offer an answer. "Er, sorry. I'm Arien Chase; I'm with him." He gestured at Bender before glancing at the orcs and then studying the overly decorated man.

"I'm surprised you travel so openly with your goods; can't be too careful with thieves nowadays, unless you know something we don't?"

Flavio only barely followed Bender, having eye for everything around him in this roadside inn. "I wonder if the food is good in here..." The hyena thought out load as he cast a look at the bar.

But before the musketeer could order himself the course of the day, he was interrupted by the richly clad merchant. Eyes rose seeing his rich appearance, and the hyena could not help but nod at Arien's words. "You've got two strong ladies protecting you." Flavio tipped his hat at the two lady orcs. "But you seem like the kind of merchant bandits dream of."

Alexander laughed loudly as the two commented on him."I do know something, dear boy. I know that no thief is smart enough to cross me when I have three tough orcs to protect me and my merchandise. Besides, the roads are covered with traffic about now. The festival brings many people along with it, you see."

From behind the tavern came another Orc. The man had a very bushy beard and thick shaggy hair. Hints of mead drippled across his beard as he walked over to the group."Roughart, you useless swine! I hired you to guard me every moment of every day! Where were you!?" The Orc whiped the rests of mead off of his thick lips."Taking a leak. Is that still allowed without constant surveillance?" He asked sarcasticly, which made Bender Of Iron Will chuckle. This Orc refused to wear the heavy armor like the two girls did. Instead he wore a chainmail undercoat with steel greaves and a steel chestplate. His arms were uncovered. On his back was also a gigantic axe that was about the same size as he was.

Alexander sighed as he rolled his eyes."Good employment is so hard to come by these days, wouldn't you agree?" He sighed as he looked at the three gentlemen."Ah well, enough with the introductions. Allow me to buy you three a much needed lunch." He said as he took a little bow, walking towards the tavern. Delaborgio's orcs followed him, except for Roughart."I bet he told you some stuff about there hardly being any bandits around. Don't believe it." He said as he walked forward."They're more active than ever."

Bender grinned."Then the merchant's up to somethin'. Could be fun." He said as he beckoned his two companions to follow.

Arien made as if to follow Bender and Flavio, but in fact only did so far enough that they wouldn't readily notice his lack of presence. He dropped back and then returned to Bender's cart of goods. His curiosity was killing him, and now was as good a time as any to find out what was in them.

Sneaking a glance over his shoulder, he pulled a small throwing dagger from his boot and set to work attempting to open the nearest box. Surely there had to be some good reason for what Bender was hauling and why he had to keep it a secret.

The gnoll couldn't keep his interest tied to Bender, the merchant and his little band of orcs for long, but as Flavio started to wander off the word lunch made his ears twitch and brought him right back to the group. "I'm part of that 'three' am I good sir?" The musketeer longingly asked the merchant, not paying much head to Arien or Bender and his orcs.

The merchant took a seat and a round table surrounded by padded brown chairs."Of course, friend." Alexander smiled to the hyena as he beckoned him to sit down next to Bender. The three orcs stood behind Alexander like statues as the merchant sat down. Two fair elven maidens came out of the tavern, sweaty due to all the work they had to do."Three meals, my dears." Alexander winked at them."Make it four. I'm sure Arien wants a meal as well. Where is the lad anyway?" Bender Of Iron Will asked as he looked around.

"It matters little." Alexander said."I just wish to make a business proposition. You seem like a merchant who can handle himself. And you seem to be in good company-" Bender held his hand up."I know what this is about, lad." He grinned widely."There's more guards 'ere than merchants. The bandits aren't 'gone'. They're more active than ever. 'n in yer little head yer realisin' that three orcs won't be enough. In fact, yer even more likely to become a target with the clothes yer wearin' 'n the size o' your cart." The merchant bit his lip."They have some sort of giant among them. And I... didn't count for it."

Meanwhile Arien succesfully opened a box. This one however didn't smell bad. In fact, when Arien opened it there was a fat green root inside of it. It was no ordinary one though. He might have heard of a certain plant called 'Duskblade'. It was an extremely poisonous plant that was disguised as a root in order to leech off of trees that hardly get any sunlight. These plants were very sensitive to any kind of light and easilly burned away. Whoever Bender's contact was, these men wanted someone dead for sure.

Arien scowled when he saw the root and recognized it for what it was. He settled the lid once again, carefully, making sure he hadn't let in too much sunlight. Why would Bender be hauling something so potentially deadly? Who on earth were his contacts?

Well, he eyed the remaining boxes, knowing that the horrible stench was still the reason why he wanted to open them. And if he was caught, well, so what? He could say that he wanted to just keep an eye on the supplies. So he carefully began to open another box...